Radio: June 2, 2023
Whether it was the threat of
legislative action that would require it, or just a reaction to simple lobbying
by government officials, listeners and buyers alike, Ford announced that it has
reversed its decision to remove AM radio capabilities from some gas-powered
vehicles in 2024 and through a software update will add the ability to receive
AM in its 2023 electric vehicles.
One of the arguments for
maintaining the ability to receive AM signals has to do with safety - the
Emergency Alert System often relies on AM stations to spread news and
information in the case of an emergency — KFI (640 AM) is the key link locally,
for example — and the long-distance reception that AM transmissions offer can
get news to distant rural areas with ease.
It is honestly a compelling
argument; while cell-phone notifications can also be used in emergencies, the
cellular network relies on cell towers and internet connections, which are not
nearly as universal or robust as AM transmissions.
The notice was made by Ford CEO Jim Farley via social media posts, writing in Twitter, “After speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system, we've decided to include it on all 2024 Ford & LincolnMotorCo vehicles. For any owners of Ford EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software update.”
Notice the year: 2024. Nothing is
stated on any year further ahead, so the battle may not necessarily be over.
And obviously Ford’s decision doesn’t affect the operations of other companies
with what I consider bad engineering departments — those that can’t figure out
how to eliminate interference from their electric vehicles even though it
doesn’t seem to be an issue with the likes of General Motors, Toyota, and now,
of course Ford. Yes, BMW, Volvo, Volkswagen, Tesla, Rivian and Mazda — all of
which have already or plan to remove AM from the dashboard — I just outed
your lack of basic engineering expertise. Convince me otherwise.
So the legislative action continues
and may indeed require AM reception in all vehicles in the future,
similar to how television sets were required to offer UHF tuners starting in
the 1960s.
Yet I can’t shake the feeling that
if more AM stations offered compelling programming and maintained their signals
better, we wouldn’t be having this discussion at all. But you already know my
position on that. Perhaps the renewed focus on AM will help start some
programming momentum.
Cheers and Jeers
More on your radio loves and
tune-outs:
“My wife and I enjoy listening to
the radio during the day. What we dislike is hearing the same five songs
(on every channel) over and over every day and usually at the exact same times,
when there is such a wealth of good oldies music available from the 50's, 60s,
and 70s. Thank you for asking” — Tony Elia, Mission Viejo
“My comment on news radio stations,
particularly morning KNX (1070 AM, 97.1 FM), is that they read the news too
fast and don't use proper nouns much. They usually say the proper noun of a
city or person at the beginning of the story but from then on it's just: city
or he or she. Sometimes I miss the proper name and don't know the location or
who the story is referring to. Also, an introductory phrase between stories
would help - sometimes I'm still trying to digest a story when they quickly
read the next one without warning.
“What I like: the three minutes of
CBS news on the hour on KNX as well as the in-depth reporting, the Jerry
Sharell show on KJAZZ (88.1 FM), and Rich on Tech on KFI (640 AM).” — Clive
Soden
“I love the Kevin and Sluggo Show
on KLOS (95.5 FM) 3-7 PM. There are different daily segments like a funny or
weird current news event, including audio, usually a human fail story. They
have listeners call in with their responses to the daily topic; ie what is a
tattoo you regret getting? There is a daily top ten list such as top-10 Easter
candy sold. Then Kevin tries to guess at least five correctly and if he does,
Sluggo gives him a dollar. It is very funny & entertaining for the
afternoon commute.” — Cee Cee Curti
“I love K-SURF (105.1 HD4) oldies.
I hate the fact that when I listen to it on my car’s HD radio setting it is
constantly cutting on and off all the time. Where I live, reception is
always spotty. Would I tune in to a different station? Absolutely, if only
they would play the 60s rock like K-SURF. There are plenty of us old
boomers still around who would love to hear the 60 music being played on the
radio.
“Why cant one of the regular
FM oldies stations play the stuff from the 60? At least with the regular FM
stations I don’t have any reception issues and they all come in nice and
clear. I have the KKGO app on my cell phone but really who wants to listen
to music on their cell phone while driving. It sounds so much better on
the car radio than on your cell phone.” — Dan Schary
(The trick is to get your phone
connected to your car stereo!)
“I love KFI. I listen to Gary and Shannon, John and Ken, and Tim Conway. I was crushed when John and Ken changed their time from 1-4, because I liked to listen to them after work. Dislikes? The monotonous KARS-FOR-KIDS jingle. I will slam the OFF button the second I hear it start. How about they just SAY that you can donate your car to them. FACT: I NEVER will!
“I also love The Patriot (KEIB,
1150 AM), especially the Joe Escalante show on Sundays, country and classic
rock stations, and Sirius Satellite Radio.” — Bonnie Hoy
Still more to come …
Radio: May 26, 2023
You
probably already heard that longtime UCLA Bruins men’s football, basketball,
and baseball announcer Chris Roberts passed away May 12th at the age of 74 due
to complications from Parkinson’s Disease.
This
paper had one of the best looks back on his career that I’ve seen, focussing
not only on his work with the Bruins but also his radio career beginnings start
in Victorville, as well as his stops in San Bernardino where he worked with
Jhani Kaye among others … I mention Kaye because the two would work together
again from 1981 - 1992 at KFI (640 AM) and KOST (103.5 FM) when Kaye was the
program director of the stations.
During
the KFI/KOST days, Roberts eventually became sports director, but it didn’t
start that way, exactly. He was actually first working the overnight shift on
KOST, and would prepare a sports report for the KFI morning show. You may
remember the tagline: every sportscast ended with “Chris Roberts, Athletic
Briefs.”
I
first heard of Roberts’ death from a Facebook post by Kaye. “My best friend in
broadcasting, Chris Roberts, Passed away this morning,” Kaye wrote. “He was my
pal. I admired him for the way he rose to become one of the most respected
voices of UCLA sports broadcasters.” I have never heard an unkind word about
Roberts; this is a huge loss to both the radio industry and the sports
world.
Likes
and Dislikes
It
actually started as a response to a column by InsideMusicMedia.Com’s Jerry Del
Colliano, who wrote of Top Listener Gripes on April 28th. I still haven’t
written of his gripes because I wanted to hear of yours first. But I also
wanted to know what you live about radio as well. Here’s what you think,
positive and negative, in no particular order … Jerry can wait.
“I
listen to Mottek On Money from KABC.com as a podcast. I don’t know if this
would fall under your question, but hey interject commercial ads mid-sentence
during the podcast. I find this very annoying … I don’t know if this is a
Mottek or Cumulus thing. No other podcasts I listen to does this
mid-sentence advertising. — Steve Lui
“The
morning DJs turn me off. It’s the same format almost everywhere you
turn. I like some introductions but not the stupid banter now. But, I
am not in their market group being 58 as of a short time ago.” — Erik Hassold
(Program
note: Happy birthday!)
“I
hate the annoying ‘this has been previously recorded’ preamble before an ad for
a radio show, as if the general listener isn’t smart enough to realize it’s an
ad. I’m sure it’s an FCC thing, but annoying nonetheless.” — Cody Lyons
“The
playlists are all the same songs OVER AND OVER AND OVER. There's no creativity
or imagination. And it doesn't matter if the station is ‘alt’ or ‘oldies’ ...
it's all the same stuff. It's actually dumb that 98.7 and 106.7 categorize
themselves as alternative. Those stations don't know what that means anymore.
What do I enjoy? Klein and Ally in the morning on KROQ; very talented and
underrated show that deserves more listeners. I was a huge Kevin and Bean fan
for years and this show is different, but equally as entertaining. “ —
Marc Levine
“BAD:
Same songs over and over. Ok, so your research says it's best to stick to
the superstars - I get it. But Journey, Elton John, Rolling Stones, Heart
etc. have more than a half dozen hits in their catalog. By just doubling
the number of songs played by the popular artists the stations would increase
their interest from me.
“If
you're a political-leaning talk show, fine. If you're not, please don't
say anything political. I have even heard political issues discussed on
local 88.5 fm - disguised as songwriting information from local artists.
“GOOD:
Variety. Stations can stick to their format and still have more
variety. Like my point above, include more songs from the favored
artists. Include more artists, and that doesn't mean they have to gamble
with ‘lesser’ names - there are enough established artists in each category to
expand. And what about including some live tracks of the hits? I
love when stations do that.
“Disc
jockeys. There's a place for music-only stations with no DJs, but a few
more DJ-led stations would provide more personal connection to us
listeners. And it doesn't have to include long comedy segments or
listener calls - just some connection.
“Don't
know how to title this - DJ emotions. This might seem hokey. These
days it seems like most DJs and their interaction with listeners is either
distant or factual. In my day — I’m your age — they seemed a lot more
emotional - you know, like hey it's Friday - school's out - party time (cut
directly to party anthem song) or "hump day" ...
Contrived? Maybe … maybe not. But they and the music helped steer
our emotions, usually for the better. They talked to us and with us and
took our thoughts away from everyday life. I don't think life's just a party,
but I think radio - like sports, entertainment, the movies - are to help us
temporarily escape from things like work and other responsibilities. — Darren
To
be continued …
Radio: May 19, 2023
If
you were a listener to KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM) during the station’s earlier
days and rise to dominance in the 1970s, you remember “The Burner” Mary Turner,
one of the early female pioneers of progressive and album rock radio. On the
KMET airwaves from June of 1972 until August of 1982, she in many ways
represented exactly what KMET was to its listeners: intelligent, passionate …
and human.
Details
are unusually lacking, but Turner passed away May 9th. The news was announced
by Turner’s KMET colleague Ace Young, who posted the news and a tribute on
social media.
Speaking
to LARadio.Com’s Don Barrett years ago
regarding her career and the early days of progressive rock radio, Turner
reflected on the times."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.”
Did
the fact that she was a woman in an industry dominated, especially back then,
by men? Turner told Barrett,”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.”
Just
a short time after her arrival at KMET, the station hired a female program
director, Sam Bellamy, who also spoke with Barrett, saying “When I
arrived at KMET in 1974, Mary was already there paving the way for
women in radio. We became fast friends and partners in crime, based a lot
on our shared sense of humor and intense desire to succeed.
“I
learned very quickly that Mary would set the bar high for aspiring air
personalities and radio executives alike, especially in the highly competitive
L.A. market. Before Oprah and others started preaching it, Mary was living
the purpose-driven life. Back in the early 70's, Mary had set goals for
herself and she kept building on, and and reaching for, those goals -
always mindful of inspiring and teaching others along the way.”
She
produced short interview and music information segments for KMET that evolved
into nationally syndicated special programs called Off the Record; these
specials reached an estimated 25 million listeners and are highly respected to
this day. She was among the first to ever interview a young Bruce Springsteen
for her regular evening air shift.
After
leaving KMET, she continued with Off the Record, did a daily show for Armed
Forces Radio, did a stint for a Canadian broadcast group, and even worked on
“Music in the Air,” an entertainment service used on the now defunct TWA
Airlines. She returned to the local airwaves on KLSX (now KNX-FM, 97.1) for a
time in 1993.
More
recently she was the chairwoman of the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower Hospital
in Rancho Mirage … the first chair to not be a member of the Ford family since
the Center’s inception. Her expertise in this area came from her own life and
determination to overcome her problems - in the early 1990s, she fought back a
substance abuse problem, went on to become a UCLA-certified drug and alcohol
counselor, and then earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Turner
is preceded in death by her husband Norm Pattiz, who she met through her radio
shows. Pattiz, founder and former chairman of Westwood One radio networks,
passed away just this past December.
As
if to prove the importance of Turner and her career, The Paley Center for Media
in New York City includes in its collection recordings of her last show on
KMET, dated August 6, 1982. The collection also includes a portion of Jim
Ladd’s program that followed immediately after, which on this night became a
tribute show to Turner’s career.
Hear
Turner’s interview with Springsteen from July 4th of 1978 at bit.ly/TurnerSpringsteen. Find other
airchecks by searching YouTube and others for Mary Turner KMET.
The
passing of turner hit many hard … as Ace Young said in his Facebook post, it
hit him “like a ton of bricks
“Mary
& I worked together for many years at KMET, Young wrote. “In fact, our
friendship dates back to San Francisco. We both came to the Mighty Met in the
Spring of 1972. Mary was the best. So much can be said of her career; her
success; her life with husband, and recently passed, Norm Pattiz. I’ll, for the
moment, leave that for others.
“I
am grief stricken!” he concludes.
Richard
Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern
California. Email
rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com.
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