Last Day of KLSX: Tom Leykis

The final two hours of KLSX, with Tom Leykis.

http://www.blowmeuptom.com/

Last day of KLSX: Frosty Heidi and Frank

Frosty, Heidi and Frank from fhf video on Vimeo.

This is FHF's last show on KLSX (2.20.09).

A few things:

A) I'm in love with Heidi Hamilton.

B) Thie website is http://frostyheidiandfrank.com/ Youcan also go to http://www.frankarmy.com/ and hear archives of FHF from 10a-2p M-F PT Just click Blaze Radio.

C) See A.

The Last Day of KLSX: Adam Carolla

KLSX ended its FM Talk format on Friday, Feb 20th. CBS decided to air the last day and video tape the day.

Here is the last day of Adam Carolla's Morning show.

Adam, by the way, is now working a new TV sitcom for CBS, Ace in the Hole.

OC Weekly: Amazingly, Hugh Hewitt Only Classy Local Conservative Pundit for Obama Inauguration

The great tragedy of our local conservative yakmouth-gone-big Hugh Hewitt is that there is intellect in him. Yeah, he always seems to walk lockstep with wackos (see: Nixon, Romney, Palin), but the guy is well-read, fund-raises often for good non-political causes and isn't ultimately noxious. Silly, sí, but not noxious--especially when compared with his talk-show brethren.

Yesterday was further proof of that. On his blog, Hewitt characterized President Barack Obama's speech as "a fine beginning" and, for the small snippet that I heard his show on KRLA-AM 870, actually disagreed with a loon who hated Obama! Compare that with the following:

• Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin couldn't stop whining about the Rev. Joseph Lowery's bad-ass benediction...
• The John and Ken Show(KFI) was reduced to making fun of black women mispronounce words in expressing their joy about a black man in the White House (in their defense, they also ridiculed a dad who pulled his children from school so they wouldn't hear Obama's speech, and a 24-year-old listener who insisted he has nothing to do with slavery, so what's up with black people being so bitter about the past?)...
• Bill O'Reilly (KABC) yelling at callers as usual...
• KABC-AM 790's Mark Levin--the worst excuse for a radio show I've ever heard, even worse than my waste of an hour--playing Ronald Reagan clips like a junkie getting their comforting fix.....
• KFI's Kennedy and Suits Show--the second-worst excuse for a radio show in Southern California--whining about how the media will give Obama a one-year honeymoon (funniest moment, though, was when a caller predicted their show would be gone within a year. If God truly is merciful, that will happen) ....

-Posted by Gustavo Arellano in Hugh Hewitt Watch

The Bloodletting at the CC Deathstar in Burbank...among other things

By now you know that Clear Channel is reaping the whirlwind of buying 1500 radio stations, not all of them making money. The Sword of Damocles was swinging wildly this week, and if may effect what you hear on the radio in Los Angeles.

Here are the main casualties:

The big loss may be at KLAC which, after struggling to get an audience and finally finding one, was looted by CC and thier sports arm, Fox Sports Radio (FSR).

From http://www.radio-info.com/: The KLAC afternoon team of Petros Papadakis & Matt Smith joins Fox Sports Radio for evenings in the Eastern Time zone, 7-10pm. While KLAC’s Steve Hartman and Vic Jacobs are Chris Myers' new partners on the afternoon “Drive.” A very non-KLAC face takes late-mornings – The Content Factory’s Dan Patrick fits into the 9-12noon ET slot on Fox. Casualties of the changes include Andrew Siciliano, who’s out, along with Craig Shemon & James Washington and their “Out of Bounds” show, which was dropped to make room for Dan Patrick. Ben Maller’s overnight show is replaced by “Fox Sports Rewind” – which apparently won’t have a live host. Accordingly, KLAC will drop their local programming and carry Fox Sports shows. "

This may also free up Mychal Thompson to join crosstown KSPN/710 when thays start airing Laker games next year. KLAC was the flagship since the Lakers came to town and this is thier last year on the station.

In addition, John Ivey will pretty much oversee all of CC/LA's FM channels, including 98/7, Hot 92.3, KIIS-FM, and KBIG 104.3 My FM. KOST, KFI, and appearently mostly-automated KTLK-AM remain untouched.

Clear Channel is not the only one cutting. After decades of service as music and program director, and the smoky voice behind thier "Rock Reports," Rita Wilde is gone from Citadel/ABC's 95.5 KLOS, according to FMQB. She's been MS+D since '91 and PD since '95.

Air America Head: Rush is..........RIGHT??

Conservative talk radio has worked itself into a tizzy lately over the rumored revival of the Fairness Doctrine -- the FCC policy that sought to enforce balanced discussion on the nation's airwaves.

As the founding president of Air America Radio, I believe that for the last eight years Rush Limbaugh and his ilk have been cheerleaders for everything wrong with our economic, foreign and domestic policies. But when it comes to the Fairness Doctrine, I couldn't agree with them more. The Fairness Doctrine is an anachronistic policy that, with the abundance of choices on radio today, is entirely unnecessary.

Instituted in 1949, the Fairness Doctrine obligated stations to "afford reasonable opportunity" for opposing views on topics of "public importance." At the time, most cities outside of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles had only a few stations. AM radio was in everyone's car and home, but there were just three or four stations per market. FM radio was still a quarter of a century away from commercial success.

Policy makers who introduced the Fairness Doctrine were worried that crafty special interests could overwhelm the airwaves with one-sided propaganda and tilt elections, sway public sentiment or foment civil unrest. Their fears were understandable. Joseph Goebbels effectively used radio in service of the Third Reich.

Contrary to what some people would have us believe today, the Fairness Doctrine was primarily an issue on TV, since radio didn't have much talk. Until the 1970s, AM stations had a steady diet of music with a couple of minutes of news at the top of the hour. But by 1978, music had migrated to FM, leaving AM in a programming lurch. The history of media is replete with new technologies stealing the content of the ones they supplant. Motion pictures killed vaudeville; radio was full of dramas and comedies before Jack Webb and Jack Benny switched to TV. As for AM radio, it was not until Rush found an audience on WABC in New York City in 1988 that the AM operators knew what to do with their once mighty stations.

The conventional wisdom is that Rush's success depended on the 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. Some say that if he had to make time for opposing opinions, Rush would have flopped. Personally, I think he is most entertaining when he is dismantling opposing arguments. He's successful because he is a superior entertainer.

Rush created the new AM template, and it spread like wildfire. When programmers and sales managers get a whiff of success, it is cloned in every conceivable way until the audience, once grateful for innovation, tunes out.

So why didn't liberal talk radio flourish as well? There are several reasons, none of which has to do with a lack of talent. Bill Maher, Al Franken, Stephanie Miller, David Bender, Janeane Garofalo, Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow all have the chops.

First, boring hosts made the occasional, unsuccessful foray (sorry, Mario Cuomo). Second, some talented lefties like Mike Malloy were cast into the abyss of right-wing talk radio where they were completely out of place. (Radio is a mood servicing drug; format purity rules.)

Finally, most broadcast owners are conservative. Programs like Rush's have made them rich, so the last thing they want is to mess with success, particularly if it entails airing opinions they don't share. Trust me, it took us years to get them to play rock 'n' roll.

No one tried a national, 24-hour liberal station before Air America Radio. When we founded Air America, we aimed to establish a talk network that lived at the intersection of politics and entertainment. Of course, we were motivated by our political leanings. But as a lifelong broadcaster, I was certain that at least half the American audience was underserved by conservative talk radio. Here was an opportunity to capture listeners turned off by the likes of, say, Sean Hannity. The business opportunity was enticing.

It never occurred to me to argue for reimposing the Fairness Doctrine. Instead, I sought to capitalize on the other side of a market the right already had built.

When conservative talking heads wave a red flag about the possible revival of the Fairness Doctrine, they know it's a great way to play the victim and rally supporters. But I'll let Rush continue with his self-righteous indignation -- and if I want, I'll tune into Rachel Maddow, or one of the thousands of other voices that populate radio today.

Mr. Sinton is the founding president of Air America Radio.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122990390599425181.html#printMode

More Operation Chaos

Limburger......errrrrrr.....Limbaugh tried this in Ohio.....and almost got his ass scorched. Fortuntaly for him, there were enough Republicans in the right places in OH to save his gi-normous bee-hind.

Ok...there IS something you can do.

• Call the guy's show. His on-air number is (800) 282-2882. He is on from Noon-3pm ET. Flood his phone lines. You probably will not get on, but the nightmare for all talk hosts is to have to fill three hours with you and nothing else. Rush IS good at that, but two or three days if it would cause.....CHAOS!
• Check who runs Rush here: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/menu/rush.guest.html. Get information on what thier call letters are, phone numbers, fax numbers, whatever, and tell them that YOU patronize advertisers too. And any advertiser who runs a spot during Rush's show while this "Operation" going on runs the risk of you patronizing whatever competition that sponsor has.
• There is no EIB Network. That is just a device of Rush's Limbuagh's REAL disitributor is Premiere Radio Networks, a division of Clear Channel. Thier addresses can be found here: http://www.premrad.com/pages/contact.html.
• Finally, and most importantly, you can complain to the FCC. This can be done under the threat of public safety. You will need to fill out form Form 2000D. https://esupport.fcc.gov/sform2000/new_complaints.action?request_locale=en

Randi's Back!

The first 16 minutes were a godsend. If only she didn't have to waste it playing some Melissa Ethridge deal....we wanted the Goddess!!

SHe spent her first moments thanking all of the people who moved over to Nova M with her...incuding her voice over guy (Christopher) Duffy who still voices for what Randi now calls SCARE America.

SHe spent the next few minutes talking about her suspension, which was more a contract war than anything else.

Here is how PolState.com put down her first few minutes on the air:

It wasn’t about what I said it was about locking me into something that I had deserved the right not to be locked into.”

The lead in to the show was the entirety of Melissa Etheridge’s “What Happens Tomorrow“. It’s an odd choice when you think of part of the lyrics as asking why a woman can’t be president. It was written in Sept. 2007. … However, Etheridge is not a Hillary supporter and has said she will vote for Obama. (She had supported Dennis Kucinich.)

Rhodes has been off the air for about two weeks, for a variety of reasons including an Air America cruise.

Rhodes knows that “Randi Rhodes” was the most searched term on Google some time on Saturday. She name-checked Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, Willie Nelson and Melissa Etheridge as offering her support. “Do nothing out of fear, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” she said Etheridge told her.

Rhodes said she hasn’t told the story, yet. “Everyone’s biggest question is, what happened?”

Rhodes version of what she’s now calling “Scare America” can’t be trusted anymore than Air America’s version would. Somewhere in between is the the truth, but I guess there’s no confidentiality clause because Rhodes talked.

Rhodes said it was never about what she said in a standup routine in San Francisco, though she didn’t address whether Air America had paid her way there. She thought she killed at her stand-up, though even many of her fans (watching online) said it didn’t, that the timing was bad.

Rhodes said she had the right to leave on April 6 at anytime, that she had earned it.

“They aren’t radio professionals and have no radio background,” Rhodes said. “My own company fed this story to the press. … They released the statement saying I was indefinitely suspended. She had no morals clause, Rhodes said. She was “shunned and banished.”

…
“There had been no coverage of the event, pro or con. I called them and said, tell me what new story are you reacting to? They said they wanted to see the real value of the company and the ripple effect. What they found out was that without me they were nothing.”

“They offered me more money to stay, that’s right. … as long as I would amend my contract.”

According to Rhodes, it was a mutual decision because neither side would budge.

“I have a fortress around me and we’re good to go. I couldn’t be happier.”

The dripping, adoring callers were what I was afraid to have to listen to.

There was apparently serious feedback with the first caller, Kyle. Had to cut him short because of feedback. He was able to get through later.

Mike was next. Rhodes took a pretty hefty, unnamed, swipe at Sam Seder getting his ass kicked for being an ass-kisser (paraphrase), and the caller, Mike, right after gave a thank you to Seder for doing a good job filling in.

“By the way the idea that I should apologize, I will never ever apologize. … “I never said I wouldn’t apologize, I asked in what forum and to whom” after they cut me off. “I’m embarrassed for them.”

“I’m expensive. I cost more than everybody,” she said, in a pitch for $10-a month podcasts. A good deal for about 22 shows.

Rhodes also asked, where did my Web site go? Rhodes says she owns her Web site and if it wasn’t saved, “It’s not a civil matter it’s a criminal matter. That’s my property.” (This assertion made later in show)

“Obama got in trouble in San Francisco, too. Maybe we should agree that what happens in SF, stays in SF.”

http://polstate.com/?p=5382

A couple of things: Right now www.therandirhodesshow.com only leads to Randi's site on www.novamradio.com The content of that original page is still not up.

And Randi has here old number back: (866) 87-RANDI

BREAKING NEWS! RANDI QUITS!

NEW YORK -- April 10, 2008: After being suspended indefinitely for calling senator and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton a "f****ing whore" and saying the same about former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, Randi Rhodes has left Air America Radio. Rhodes made the comments in March at a KKGN (Green 960)/San Francisco-sponsored event.

A joint statement released Thursday by AAR Chairman Charlie Kireker and President Mark Green said, "Last week Air America suspended Randi Rhodes for abusive, obscene language at a recent public appearance in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air American affililate station. Air America Media was informed last night by Ms. Rhodes that she has chosen to terminate her employment with the company. We wish her well and thank her for past services to Air America."

But Rhodes may not be off the air for long: On the KKGN website, PD John Scott had early word of Rhodes' AAR exit and says, "We are bringing her back." Scott says that on Monday, April 14, "it will be our pleasure to announce the return of Randi Rhodes to the Green 960 family." Whether that return will be with KKGN itself or through a new syndication deal is yet to be determined.
http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=141727&pt=todaysnews

STATEMENT OF CHARLIE KIREKER, CHAIR & MARK GREEN, PRESIDENT, FOR AIR AMERICA MEDIA

By Tim Einenkel

Last week Air America suspended Randi Rhodes for abusive, obscene language at a recent public appearance in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air America affiliate station.

Air America Media was informed last night by Ms. Rhodes that she has chosen to terminate her employment with the company.

We wish her well and thank her for past services to Air America. We will soon announce exciting new talent and programming that will accelerate Air America’s growth in the future.

http://airamerica.com/live

AAR has wasted no time in killing Randi's website, http://therandirhodesshow.com and redirecting it to the AAR site. They also killed the forums.