Rick Dees … along the KOST
KOST (103.5 FM) listeners had a big surprise in store when they tuned in last Monday. Instead of morning woman Ellen K, they heard none other than Rick Dees.
Dees, of course, was the longtime morning man on KIIS-FM (102.7 FM) and spent many years with Ellen as his sidekick/news reporter.
Ellen was out due surgery; it seems she broke her wrist while snowboarding with her family recently and the surgery was scheduled for Monday. While she recovers (recovered? … she may be back as soon as by the time you read this) there will be a different fill-in each morning.
Daly Out
Carson Daly is gone from Amp Radio (KAMP, 97.1 FM); his last day hosting Amp mornings was July 27. The “official” reason is that he wants to spend more time with his family, telling fans on Instagram, “The truth is … The reason I’m going to stop doing radio for now is that I just want to have breakfast with my kids … I want to thank you guys. It’s been really incredible.”
At least one observer refutes that “official” reason. Claims Jerry Del Colliano through his July 31st “Inside Music Media” column, Daly’s contract was not renewed because soon-owner Entercom’s CEO David Field gave the order to CBS executives to not renew Daly’s contract. True? Hard to say, but it does seem a bit more than convenience.
No replacement was selected at press time; Daly will continue with his other duties including hosting The Voice on NBC Television and his syndicated countdown show that airs weekends on Amp.
Readers Revenge
“I have a question about KLOS. If I’m in my car around 5-6:00, I always put on the 5:00 Funnies, which usually comes on about 5:20 or so. The last few times I tuned into the station to hear the comedy, they just played music. Would you happen to know if they stopped the 5:00 Funnies, or did I just miss it —Brian Baldini
It looks like you just missed it. The KLOS website (955KLOS.Com) has the Funnies listed and available as a downloadable on-demand podcast. Find it on the main page, under the On-Air pull down menu; the Funnies were current as I wrote this.
Unfortunately I was unable to get through to anyone at the station to confirm the air time, so I will make an assumption that they are going back to being earlier in the hour, perhaps as early as 5:00 itself.
Short Takes
Kevan Weatherly is out as the programmer of Amp Radio, replaced by Chris Ebbott who also programs KRTH (101.1 FM). This is interesting because Weatherly is credited as the creator of the Amp format; he will remain as programmer of KROQ (106.7 FM) and Jack (KCBS-FM, 93.1).
With KFI (640 AM) no longer using HD Radio on the AM signal, why is the audio so awful? KFI used to be one of the best-sounding AM stations on the air, in the AM stereo days. Now they seem to be narrow-band with extra distortion added into the mix.
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