It’s been a while since
Larry Elder has been heard on the local airwaves -- the Sage from South Central
was shown the door at KABC (790 AM) last December -- but that didn’t stop him
from being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He’s in rare company. Only
a handful of political talk hosts have a star: Bill Cunningham (awarded in
1960), Ray Briem (1992), Dan Avey (2006) and Bill Handel (2009), according to
the Hollywood Reporter.
I actually have little
information on Bill Cunningham, and his inclusion on this list may be a mistake.
It seems there are two, and even the Hollywood Walk of Fame info page has it
incorrectly listed as the current conservative talk host. The current syndicated
host is named after the radio pioneer who earned the star as host of “Meet the
Boss” from 1944 to 1952 ... hardly a political-sounding show.
Regardless, Elder was the
recipient of the 2,548th star on April 27th -- Larry Elder Day in Hollywood,
according to Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President Leron Gubler. The star can
be found near Hollywood and Vine, across the street from the famous Pantages
Theater. On hand for the celebration were Jon Voight and Dean Cain.
You can still hear Larry
via podcast -- live from 3-6 PM locally as well as on demand -- at www.LarryElder.Com
Boss Followup
Last week’s column on the
50th birthday of KHJ’s top-40 “Boss Radio” format brought out quite a few
responses. One caught an error ... it was not Bill Drake who voiced the promo
asking listeners to check out the competition for examples of “pre-Boss radio,”
it was station morning man and official voice Robert W. Morgan. Hear it at about
the 3 minute mark at tinyurl.com/WagBoss.
One of the more interesting
emails received came from Mary Cahill, who asked why I didn’t mention KHJ’s
current format, religious talk with programming from Immaculate Heart Radio, a
Catholic broadcasting group.
When I explained that it
just wasn’t the focus of my story but that I was personally excited to hear one
of the current hosts mention “new affiliate, 93/KHJ”, she wrote back: “I also
like to hear ‘93 KHJ’ - I've been listening to that station for 50 years! I
arrived in the U.S. on April 29, 1965.”
Few stations can claim
listenership that long. That’s impressive.
Would it Work?
The question does come up
... would a station like KHJ work today? Or is today’s radio audience so
fractured that it would be doomed?
Let’s think this through.
The major elements of Boss Radio were:
• Play the currently
popular music.
• Limit DJ chatter, but
encourage personality.
• Interesting and
innovative contests to lure listeners, especially teens.
• Limited commercials so
the focus is on music.
• An award-winning news
department that made news entertaining.
• Quick jingles to
eliminate on-air clutter
• Focus on being bigger
than life, entertaining, fun and accessible.
In a word: yes. I believe
successful would be an understatement.
Today’s top-40 radio -- as
well as many other formats -- is as cluttered as the popular stations were prior
to April, 1965. Sound beds under any talk, 10 minute commercial breaks (or
longer). Worse: DJs not allowed to do much more than read cards, yet the
messages on the cards themselves are part of the clutter. Quick jingles are
gone, replaced by long promos.
No matter the music, a
station that adopted the philosophies of original programmer Ron Jacobs, last
programmer Chick Martin, or many of those in between would clean up ... just
like KIIS-FM when they did exactly that in the early 1980s and set ratings
records for the era.
I dare say that KRTH (101.1
FM) and Go Country (105.1 FM) do much of that now, and that is why those two
stations are among the most popular of their type in the country. Even KFI (640
AM) has elements ... their “more stimulating talk” has much in common with Boss
Radio.
Good radio is good radio,
and good radio would keep people from seeking alternatives such as iPods ... at
least that’s my opinion. What are your thoughts?
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