Radio Waves Podcast #102

Monday marks a new day for Ellen K. Longtime (25 years) sidekick to both Rick Dees and Ryan Seacrest on the KIIS-FM (102.7 FM) morning drive shift, Ellen will move down the hallway of the IHeartMedia building in Burbank to take over the morning shift on KOST (103.5 FM).

Current KOST morning host Mark Wallengren -- 30 years in that position -- moves to afternoons on the same station, forcing out current afternoon drive host Bruce Scott who leaves the company. No word at press time for Ellen’s replacement with Seacrest on KIIS.

Changes at KFI

Mid day (1-3 p.m.) hosts Mark Thompson and Elizabeth Espinoza have been replaced at KFI (640 AM); their last day was October 9th. Replacing them is Gary Hoffmann from the morning Bill Handel show and Shannon Farren from afternoon drive’s John and Ken. Jo Kwon will do the news during the program.

Be a Rebel

Rebel Industries, which is a marketing company dedicated to tying a client company more closely to culture at large as a way to make products stand out, recently launched Rebel Radio, designed to highlight underground culture and underground influences.

“All culture starts underground, the Rebel Radio website explains. “The hit-makers impacting modern culture today began as underground phenomena.” Rebel Radio shines a spotlight on these “rebels,” showcasing their influence and “reflecting on the roots and future of underground culture.”

Hosted by Josh Levine, CEO of the company, the weekly interview program explores youth culture and the journeys of those involved in what Levine feels is the creative next big thing.

Hear it for yourself via the website (recordings of all past shows are available at www.rebelradio.net) or hear the program live each week via Dash Radio, itself an up and coming internet radio service that provides live 24/7 programming via smartphone apps and an online presence at www.dashradio.com. Rebel Radio airs live on Dash’s “Hot Topic” station Thursdays at 6 PM locally.

New Station

Low power FM station KCLA (100.7 FM) is broadcasting from somewhere in San Pedro. Not sure where yet as the clear weather has allowed San Diego’s KFMB-FM to come in about as strong as a local on that frequency and saturate most of San Pedro with contemporary music. I’ll have details on KCLA as soon as I can get them.

Correction

Last week’s column on the changes happening at Cumulus and the radio industry as a whole brought more letters than I have ever received from a single column; all but two were in support, many telling impassioned stories of what it was like to work in or around Lew and John Dickey. I have never been so humbled by something I have written in my life. 

I unfortunately made a mistake in regard to the genesis of the company, and I’ll leave it to a reader -- wishing to remain anonymous -- to fix it for me:

“The Citadel/Dial Global purchase didn't happen until 2011.  Cumulus DID start in 1997, but on the local level in the Atlanta market. The big transformation came in 2006 when the Dickey's partnered with three capital investment firms to purchase Susquehanna Radio. This purchase is what allowed Cumulus to catapult to the national level with a stable of medium and large market stations. Up until Susquehanna, they were small potatoes.”

 Next week: a sampling of the responses pro and con, edited to remove the identities of those brave enough to speak out.