Radio Waves Podcast #287

 Radio: February 26, 2021

Something happened on the way to the future: the past got in the way.

I’ve been spending time lately reading online forums and other pages dedicated to “vintage” electronics. This includes sites that involve sharing the passion and getting help, as I did with an old Zenith console television my wife and I bought shortly before we were married. Certainly it isn’t truly worth anything, but I hate to dump it; $2, three capacitors and some time later, it’s working fine. I’ll be using sites like this as I repair and restore some old tube radios, along with the RCA transistor radio I mentioned here months ago.

In reading the information and viewing videos (one account on YouTube.com from Shango066 has been my guilty pleasure; a So Cal local, he gets old stereos and televisions working again … including some just found dumped on the side of the road) I have discovered something fascinating.

Remember those console stereos that could be found in living rooms of the 1950s and 1960s? They’re back. Seriously.

This was from an era prior to component stereos that took over in the late 1960s and ‘70s. The better models from Magnavox, Zenith, and others combined fine furniture, good sound, and even occasionally a large screen — for its time — television. Earlier models were of course tubes; solid state designs came later. 

There is a small but dedicated group that is restoring these old consoles, and there are companies around that will do it for you. Some restorations bring in modern technology such as bluetooth connections and media players. But what surprised me is that you can even buy models brand new from more than one company.

They are not cheap. In part because the wood used in crafting the furniture is stunningly beautiful, and the products are handcrafted here in the United States. Models from Wrensilva (wrensilva.com) and Luno (iamluno.com) are constructed in California; list prices run from about $7500 to $15,000 depending on the model.

The new consoles include a record player but no radio tuner. To play radio, they rely on streaming internet services, or you can add an auxiliary tuner. That’s not necessarily bad, as the apps they use are often as easy to use as an old radio and the sound is usually better.

So what’s the purpose in bringing back an old idea that is in most minds way past its prime? Interestingly, it is a new technology driving it: flat screen televisions. Match a new wall-hung large flat screen with a new or refinished console stereo made of finely polished walnut or mahogany, and you have a new elegance missing from most modern electronics. The added bonus: even the old ones can make your home entertainment system sound great.

Kevin and Sluggo

In case you missed the story, Kevin Ryder, longtime morning star on KROQ (106.7 FM) when he was half of Kevin and Bean, has been paired with Doug “Sluggo” Roberts for the Kevin and Sluggo Show on KLOS (95.5 FM). The program airs weekday afternoons from 3-7 PM.

So what are two ex-KROQ jocks doing on KLOS? Playing music and having fun. KLOS’ management is taking a different path than so many other stations by maintaining not only a local presence, but allowing the station to still have some personality. 

Weird.

I am looking to connect with station programmer Keith Cunningham over longterm plans, but I am absolutely pulling for this to work. In my mind, radio needs to be local to compete against Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora and the like. And KLOS is being smart by making the move just as other stations across the country go with regional or national programming. Smart. Very smart. I’ll be watching and listening closely.

Limbaugh’s Effect

It’s funny. Whenever I mentioned Rush Limbaugh in this column, no matter what I wrote, I’d get mail and emails from people accusing me of being both a left-wing wacko and a right-wing fanatic. I suppose this shows that there has been polarization with politics longer than I realized.

But it cannot be denied that Limbaugh’s show, at least in its earliest years, rejuvenated talk radio, and in a sense extended the useful life of AM radio. Certainly as the show aged, the average listener aged with it and him, but the early days of the program brought a new type of listener to talk radio and to the band. I am convinced that Limbaugh’s previous life as a top-40 DJ is one of the reasons.

Limbaugh knew how to entertain. Like Tom Leykis, another entertaining talker and who was once the liberal counterpoint to Limbaugh when they were both on KFI (640 AM),  his training came from playing the hits. He knew how to entertain, and keep people hooked. Indeed, if you listen to airchecks of Limbaugh in his early radio days when he was known as Jeff Christie, you hear someone who was actually a damn good DJ. And you hear early versions of some of the elements he used when he launched his talk show, first in Sacramento and later nationally.

It is the entertainment aspect that made Limbaugh different. His show was exciting. Topical. Funny. Fun. It was designed to appeal to conservatives, but — especially in its early days — also attracted some from the left. He even put liberal callers ahead of the line if they called in. And like many great stars — and stations — of the past, he was difficult to copy, though many tried. Most unsuccessfully, on both sides of the political spectrum.

Is there anyone who can take his place? That’s a tough one. For now, no one needs to … Premiere Radio, which distributes the program, is going to use “archived” programs to keep his voice on the air until a long-term plan is figured out.

Cold Cast

KSL Podcasts and Amazon Music teamed up for the distribution of COLD, a true crime podcast launched in 2018 to much success. COLD: Susan Powell Case Files now has nearly 45 million downloads with a 5-star rating and has been optioned for a limited series TV deal. 

Season 2 begins on March 10th … go to https://kslnewsradio.com/category/podcasts/? Where you can listen and subscribe.

Radio Waves Podcast #286

 Radio: Feb 19

Civil rights attorney and longtime KABC (790 AM) contributor and host Leo Terrell has been named to a new role on Fox News Media, available on various cable television channels as well as SiriusXM satellite subscription radio.

Terrell will act as an analyst and commentator across the various Fox channels and platforms including the Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network. He will also continue his appearances on KABC radio — often heard on the John Phillips Show noon to 3 p.m. — and his program “Leo Terrell, America’s Fair Minded Civil Rights Attorney” heard on the Cumulus/KABC podcast network, available at KABC.com.

Side note: Phillips’ show is required listening in my house due to his 1 p.m. Doctor Hour. But I digress…

Terrell has been a practicing attorney since 1990, and has held leadership roles at such organizations as the Black-Korean Alliance, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and California’s Statewide Commission Against Hate Crimes.

For many years on various radio and television programs, Terrell was the liberal commentator often taking the opposing side to conservative Larry Elder. Something happened over the past few years, and in the most recent Presidential campaign, Terrell shifted positions and supported the reelection of President Trump. Calling himself Leo 2.0, it raised more than a few eyebrows. I asked Terrell if that made a difference in how his friends and associates saw him, and how he responds to the various critiques of Trump.

“I have definitely lost a few friends because of the change in my support of President Donald Trump,” he told me. “For the most part it’s been people who seem to have lost my phone number. A few friends on the golf course will say a word or two or just ignore me. My feeling is, if it’s that easy to lose a friend then they weren’t really a friend.

“I respond to the nonsense about President Trump being an alleged “racist” or “homophobe” by asking them to find the exact quote. The media seems to love taking parts of President Trump’s statements and making it fit their narrative. The truth is far far different. Prior to Covid-19, President Trump brought us the greatest economy in our history. This benefited minority communities more than any legislation from past Presidents. People may not like President Trump’s tweets - or his personality - but his policies did make America great again.”

Does he see problems with perceived or real censorship with news or social media? How should someone respond if they feel their views are being held back? “This is very simple - you must tell the truth and call the opposition out on their lies and talking points,” he said. “You can never argue with the truth. Ask the media what exactly they are afraid of. Put the pressure back on them to tell the truth and not just sell the narrative they’re being paid to sell.”

Any thoughts as he moves forward? “My experience since the Democratic party left me, and I joined sides with President Trump, has been wonderful. I have been embraced by a wide range of people from all over the country and all different backgrounds. People say I smile and laugh more on TV and it’s true. I definitely feel lighter since I stopped drinking the democratic koolaide. I am proud to be a Trump Republican.”

MailBag

“I enjoyed your article on many of the wonderful voices that I grew up with on the radio.  However, there was one missing that all my high school friends and I listened to at night until the early morning while we played cards and drank beer.  It was in the early 70's and we used to be in love with "The Burner" Mary Turner on KMET.  She played great music and all the long version of songs.  Can you please tell me what became of her?” — Larry Hatfield

What a great question!

  Turner was among radio’s first female DJs when she arrived at KMET in 1972. She stayed with the station for a full decade, then reappeared on KLSX (now KAMP, 97.1 FM) in 1993. Explains Don Barrett, of LARadio.Com:

“The Burner, Mary Turner, arrived at KMET in June of 1972 and left on the eve of her 10th year with the ‘Mighty Met.’ Mary reflected on her early radio days: ‘It was an exciting time back then, because you didn't operate under any rules. You could play anything you wanted, say anything you wanted and who cared? FM at that time was a joke, especially to Top 40 people. We were the hippies, and they were the stars.’

“On being a successful female: ‘I think being a woman helped more than anything else. The time was right for it, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.’”

Turner married Westwood One founder and chairman Norm Pattiz in the early 1980s. Mary Turner Pattiz is currently the chairwoman of the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower Hospital in Rancho Mirage.

This Just In`

KLOS (95.5 FM) just announced that Kevin Ryder, half of the Kevin and Bean Show once heard on KROQ (106.7 FM) has joined the classic rock station. Ryder has been paired with Doug “Sluggo” Roberts for the Kevin and Sluggo show, airing weekday afternoons on KLOS from 3-7 p.m. effective February 18th. More details next week.

Radio Waves Podcast #285

 Radio: February 12, 2021

Entercom is trying something new on its secondary HD digital stream for KCBS-FM, which can be heard if you have an HD radio at 93.1 HD3 as well as on the radio.com app available for smartphones.

Called “The Bet,” it’s a bit of a gamble (get it? OK, bad joke …) and replaces most, but not all, of the programming formerly heard on the station when it was running the CBS SportsRadio format.

The format is designed to tap into a growing interest in sports gambling, which may indeed become legal in California sometime in the future. For now you have to use out-of-state services such as those in Nevada to place bets on events.

Right now the programming is a bit of a hybrid, utilizing new programs as well as some that were previously heard on SportsRadio. According to company regional President Jeff Federman, “the move gives us an opportunity to dip our toes into the format in Los Angeles and Denver;” the plan is for The Bet to eventually be on its own.

Federman told me that the move follows Entercom’s purchase of BetQL, an online betting info app and service, providing information on anything game related: “Details on any game, how people are feeling, who is expected to throw more touchdowns … anything,” he explained. “It’s like having an electronic ‘tip book’ like is done for horse racing.”

Can the format work? In a sense, it doesn’t have to. The extra channels on HD radio currently, in general, make no money anyway. If this attracts people to the app and helps BetQL attract more users, it’s done its job.

Federman says his favorite program on the station is You Better You Bet, heard weekday afternoons from 1-5 PM. He’s also a big fan of SportsRadio’s Jim Rome, airing 10 AM to 12 noon. For more information and a full program schedule, heads over to tinyurl.com/RW20721.

Casey at (the KRLA) Bat

If you listened to radio any time during the 1970s through the ‘90s, you probably at least heard of Casey Kasem, the master of countdowns - the original voice behind American Top-40,  Casey’s Top 40, and Casey’s Countdown.

If you’re like me, you made it a regular listening habit. Perhaps not always for the entire show, as the bottom 20 songs could often be, well awful save for some new hits that would make their way to the top.

But Casey had a previous life, and it could be heard locally on the original KRLA (now KRDC, 1110 AM) from 1963 to 1969. Here you could hear elements of what would become his signature style of talking about the music rather than just playing it, a style he started developing in San Francisco at KEWB just prior to making the move to Los Angeles.

And though the magic of the internet, you can hear a sample as well … I just happened to run across one from 1964 via my friends on Facebook … at tinyurl.com/RW20721a.

One of the really “cool”  things of this air check is a full newscast, so you can get a feel for the era in which it aired in addition to hearing Kasem six years before the debut of AT40. Commercials, too, including one for the new Ford Mustang. KRLA at this time was the most popular station in town, just about a year away from the launch of Boss Radio KHJ (930 AM)

And a little known fact about Casey that I heard straight from his daughter, Kerri: In spite of his extensive knowledge of artists, bands, musicians and the popular songs they produced, Casey didn’t really like many of the songs he played. That surprised the heck out of me!

And if you want just a little more of KRLA from that era, head over to tinyurl.com/RW20721b for an hour of Bob Eubanks and Dick Mooreland. Eubanks was of course just a short time away from hosting televisions Newlywed Game, while Moreland was a DJ and programmer of KRLA, known to help expose new music on the station. He and his wife, Pat, later founded the record chain Music+. 

Remarkable is how professional the DJs all sounded on KRLA. The format was not nearly as “tight” as KHJ’s would be, but it’s definitely a sound that is “bigger than life,” and you can hear why it was so successful.

For Sale

Like hearing those KRLA air checks? Have a few bucks sitting around? You can buy the station for yourself and bring it back to its former glory. Unfortunately the call letters are not currently available — they are tied to our own talk radio station at 870 AM — but don’t let that stop you.

Current owner Disney is looking for interested parties to take the station off their hands. I haven’t seen an asking price,  but I would assume somewhere between $6 and $10 million. Maybe less if they get desperate …

Radio Waves Podcast #284

 Radio: February 5, 2021

KOST (103.5 FM) absolutely dominated the Nielsen radio ratings for Los Angeles in December, or the so-called Holiday ratings period (the 13th four-week ratings period of the year) after also dominating the “December” ratings (the 12th four-week period that are primarily in November). The Holiday ratings had KOST at 13.9, almost three times the rating of second-place KRTH (101.1 FM), which earned a 5.0 share. That’s an even bigger spread than “December,” when KOST earned a 10.7 share compared with KRTH’s 10.7, and may be a highest-ever rating for KOST.

The holidays were good for KFI (640 AM) as well, which was a strong third-place finisher at 4.7, followed by KTWV The Wave, 94.7 FM) at 3.9 and KBIG (104.3 FM) at 3.8. If you add in KTWV’s stream, which earned a 0.1 share on its own, The Wave had a 4.0.

The holiday period was not as kind to KLOS (95.5 FM), which for whatever reason had a drop that began in the December period, only to intensify in Holiday. This probably means it will spring back, but we’ll see … for Holiday, the station had a 2.7 share, preceded by 3.1 in December, 3.5 in November … and 3.8 back in August. That’s a full point drop since Summer.

KROQ (106.7 FM) had a little bump, which was some good news for the station which hit a low of 1.5 in October. With competitor KYSR (Alt 98.7) flat for the month and down since it had a 2.7 in November, the two alternative rock stations are once again within striking distance of each other. But, and this is important, both stations mirror the problems alternative rock formats are having in attracting large audiences nationwide. Neither station is tremendously popular compared with years past.

And what happened to Power 106? The rating for the station that once knocked KIIS-FM out of the top spot back in the 1980s is down to 1.5 … a lower rating than years ago when it dropped top-40 when it was known as K-WEST and even lower than when the station played adult contemporary music as Magic 106. Can we hope for a return of K-West? Is Chuck Martin willing to program it again? One can hope … Power’s direct competition KRRL (Real 92.3) was at 2.1.

Stevie Wonder’s KJLH (102.3 FM) — still licensed to the city of Compton, which I think is kind of cool  — is holding on to nice increase that began in November, 1.6. Just one month prior, it had a 1.2; it has been steady at 1.6 for three ratings periods. Go Country 105, which dropped country during the holidays in order to play holiday music, dropped a half point from the “December” period, 1.5 vs. 2.0. Back in November, Go Country had a 2.4.

KABC (790 AM) had a rough month, coming in at 0.8, a drop of 0.3 from December and 0.7 from November, when it had a year-long high of 1.4. Classical on AM — KMZT (1260 AM) came in lower than its previous incarnation as LA Oldies, but it didn’t drop off the map completely … earning a 0.1 share. That may not sound impressive, but the station was starting from nothing, and it marks the first time a station has earned any rating at all playing classical music on AM in, well, decades.

In total, iHeart earned a combined 31.5 share of the audience for its group of stations; Entercom earned a combined 19.1. Let that sink in for a second … one company controls almost one-third of the listening in town, and two companies combined control over 50 percent. Can we get the FCC to break up this essential monopoly before they drag every station in town into the revenue toilet? In my dreams …

The full story … each rating is an estimate of the average percentage of listeners aged six and older listening to a station between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 midnight.

1. KOST (13.9) 2. KRTH (5.0) 3. KFI (4.7) 4. KTWV (3.9) 5. KBIG (3.8) 6. KCBS-FM (Jack), KLAX (3.4) 8. KLVE (3.3) 9. KNX (3.2) 10. KIIS-FM (2.9)

11. KLOS, KPCC (2.7) 13. KSCA (2.5) 14. KRCD (2.3) 15. KYSR (Alt) (2.2) 16. KKLQ, KRRL (Real 92.3), KXOL (2.1) 19. KROQ (2.0) 20. KLYY (1.8)

21. KUSC (1.7) 22. KJLH (1.6) 23. KCRW, KKGO (Go Country), KPWR (Power 106) (1.5) 26. KAMP (1.4) 27. KDAY, KEIB (The Patriot), KLLI (1.1) 30. KBUE (1.0)

31. KFSH (The Fish) (0.9) 32. KABC, KDLD, KLAC, KRLA (The Answer), KWIZ (0.8) 37. KKJZ (0.7) 38. KFWB (0.6) 39. KSPN (0.5) 40. KCSN, KTNQ, KYLA (0.4)

43. KHJ (0.3) 44. KIRN, KKLA (0.2) 46. KMZT, KPFK, KROQ HD2, KTWV Stream, KWKW (0.1)