November 2005 News Archive

LATEST NEWS:

November 2, 2005
Mancow has a new affiliate: WTAO in Marion/Carbondale, IL. Also, Bob & Tom lost their Pittsburgh clearance (WRRK), which flipped to Variety Hits as, ironically enough, 96.9 Bob FM. But Bob & Tom have picked up KSEZ in Sioux City, IA and KNRX in San Angelo, TX as new affiliates.

November 8, 2005
Howard Stern is slated to return from his one-day suspension from Infinity Broadcasting tomorrow. The powers-that-be at Infinity put Stern on suspension for, in their opinion, his talking too much about his future endeavor at Sirius Satellite Radio, where he begins in January. On yesterday's show (11/7/2005), the dump button was being hit on the word "bitch" in an interview with rap star 50 Cent. The paranoia level in terrestrial radio has really grown that large.

It was fascinating to watch the news spread about the suspension yesterday. Howard 100 News broke the story; from there the trades picked up on it, with All Access and FMQB first on the board with it. Radio & Records soon followed, then Billboard, then some random websites picked up the story, including the site for WCBS-TV. From there it spread to UPI, and finally the Associated Press got a hold of it, and it was an international story. Thanks, Infinity, for the free publicity for Howard 100, Howard 100 News and Howard 101. To purchase that type of press coverage would cost much, MUCH more than the $800,000 spent by the company to buy every ad in Advertising Age promoting its new Free FM brand.

November 11, 2005
There are only 20 shows remaining on terrestrial radio for Howard Stern. From there, it will be him, Bubba The Love Sponge, and others making the move to Sirius Satellite Radio.

I'm a producer for Bubba's show, and I know things I can't talk about here. But let me assure you: Sirius is going to be worth every penny, and then some, for those of you who will be joining us there. It's going to be a very, very fun time for all involved.

Over on XM, rumor has it that Don & Mike are being courted, as the competition for radio talk talent heats up. Lost by many in the Free FM hoopla is that Infinity Broadcasting failed to give Don & Mike a single new clearance on any of its Free FM stations, which couldn't have pleased the Washington, DC based duo. On the west coast, Don & Mike would have been a logical choice for the oft-tricky midday hole, but inexplicably the pair were passed on across the board. With success in places like Las Vegas and Sacramento, it's not as if the move would've been unprecedented. If WJFK-FM loses Don & Mike, right after losing Howard Stern... well, good luck to Infinity replacing that advertising revenue.

November 14, 2005
Best wishes to Fez Whatley of Ron & Fez for a speedy recovery from his heart attack.

Thanks to Jason from radiogodsforum.com for confirming the story first rumored on DCRTV.com that Don & Mike Producer Beth Ann McBride is leaving the show, citing cost of living reasons. He also tells me that Robb Spewak will fill the Producer role again (one he filled on an interim basis in 1996) and that WJFK-FM Production Director John Normand will be joining the show.

Additionally, Jason adds that Don & Mike are under contract with Infinity through "June/July 2007." That, however, doesn't mean that a deal that could have them on both terrestrial and satellite radio isn't potentially in the works.

November 21, 2005
If you have Sirius Satellite Radio and have never heard Bubba The Love Sponge, tune in this Wednesday, November 23, at 6 PM Eastern on Howard 100 for a one-hour BTLS special. It introduces the various on-air show members, features some new material with Bubba and the crew, and has some great bits from the show's syndication days (2001-2004.) Even if you have heard Bubba before, either in passing or as a major fan, it's worth checking out. I've heard the show already, and I can tell you that it is very entertaining.

Congratulations to Rover, who landed KPNT/St. Louis as an affiliate. Once Howard Stern has his final live show on terrestrial radio on December 16, the station will have music-intensive mornings until it debuts with Rover at the first of the year. Rover has some interesting matchups coming up... such as Bob & Tom in St. Louis, Mancow in Chicago, and David Lee Roth coming into Rover's current home market of Cleveland.

There are so many rumors going around about Don & Mike that I don't know what's real and what's not. I do know that Infinity has really dropped the ball as far as utilizing them with their "Free FM" Hot Talk format, to the point where if Don & Mike are actually staying with the company through the summer of 2007, I really have to wonder what in the world the thought process is there. With NYC (Radio Chick) and Philly (Kidd Chris, the guy who really should have landed the WXRK morning gig) I can understand the afternoon drive slots being filled, but in many other situations, particularly those west coast stations where midday-4 PM would be such a perfect fit... it just doesn't make logical sense. All I can figure is that either Don & Mike are (or were at the time) posturing for a move to satellite, or Infinity screwed up royally in the decision-making process. Time will tell which one it was.

Beginning next week, Lex & Terry will begin having their show air on XM Satellite Radio (on Channel 152, ironically enough on the same channel on which Bubba The Love Sponge's show used to air when his program was carried live through the end of its syndication run). Lex & Terry's XM rebroadcast will run on a seven-hour tape delay. The program will air from 1-4 PM Eastern, with the show truncated to three hours (minus commercial breaks, it should be pretty easy for XM to make that work.)

Finally, the awkward looking sidebar on this site is going to be improved at some point, if for no other reason than because with shows airing on both satellite and terrestrial radio, a distinction is going to need to be made beyond just "Sirius" and "XM" and then the timeslots for the shows...

November 30, 2005
Shocker! 100.7 The Buzz (KQBZ) in Seattle flipped from Hot Talk to Country at noon (Pacific time) today. The Entercom-owned station, which had gradually phased out syndicated shows (such as Phil Hendrie and Don & Mike), was a major affiliate for Tom Leykis. Leykis moves to KISW, where he now airs on tape delay from 10 PM-2 AM Pacific time.

Full News Archive
October 2005 News/December 2005 News

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