Radio Waves Podcast #180

Radio: July 7, 2017

Legendary Los Angeles DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, who spent over 40 years on KROQ (106.7 FM) before being released last month in a pre-Entercom/CBS merger housecleaning, will join SiriusXM to host a new weekly show beginning Sunday, July 16 on the Underground Garage, Channel 21.

The move puts Bingenheimer back on a time when people can actually hear him -- he had been relegated to after midnight Sunday nights/Monday mornings on KROQ the last few years. On SiriusXM, he’ll be heard on the West Coast from 6 to 9 p.m. every Sunday night.

While somewhat “challenged” as a DJ -- you would never confuse him with Ryan Seacrest, for example -- Bingenheimer is nonetheless a passionate promoter of music and has helped launch numerous careers over his own long career. Van Halen, The Runaways, The Ramones and many more owe at least part of their success to Bingenheimer and his former program “Rodney on the Roq.”

The Underground Garage channel is executive produced by “Little Steven” Van Zandt, the musician and actor who is still part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. “Rodney was one of my first calls when I started the channel,” he said adding, “this is where he belongs!” Even if it took years to get his there.

Bingenheimer says he is glad to finally be on earlier on the evening, exclaiming, “I can have more listeners who don’t have to worry about missing school or work the next day” and adding, “I’m so honored to be on the same channel as Little Steven ... we’re going to keep great music alive.”

This is quite a coup for SiriusXM, which in many is out-doing local radio in the personality department. It also gives Bingenheimer potentially the largest audience he has ever had, nationwide. It would be nice to hear some new local bands get some exposure ... bands that traditional radio ignores. I am really looking forward to this.

Wood Good

Alt 98.7 FM has extended the contract for the tremendously entertaining morning Woody Show through 2022. Hopefully national syndication -- part of the deal -- will not screw it up. As it is, The Woody Show is one of the best morning shows in town.

Try Again?

AllAccess.Com reports that Lew Dickey’s new Modern Media Acquisition Corporation has filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission explaining what it plans to do with the $200 million it raised and must spend by November, 2018. Kind of ...

"We will seek to capitalize on the significant experience and contacts of our management team and our partnership with Macquarie Capital to complete our initial business combination,” the filing stated. “We believe our management team’s distinctive background and record of acquisition and operational success could have a transformative impact on verified target businesses.”

Whatever that means. There is more, but it tends to be nonspecific and full of jargon. What is worth reading are the comments posted from AllAccess readers in response to the story. Among them:

“It can't be translated... But, here is the best I can do: ‘I have to spend a lot of money quickly to ruin other companies and put good people out of work while continuing to devalue properties and pretend like I know what I am doing.’”

Dickey was head of Cumulus Media, owner of KABC (790 AM) and KLOS (95.5 FM) locally; his tenure saw the company’s stock lose the vast majority of its value and numerous company stations stagnate or falter before he was forced out last year. As one comment noted, most in the radio industry hope he buys a baseball team instead ...