September 2005 News Archive
LATEST NEWS:
September 1, 2005
Today was the final day for the Howard Stern show on 99.7 The Blitz (WBZX/Columbus, OH). According to a statement read on-air by Hal Fish (the PD of The Blitz), North American Broadcasting (which owns the station) has received a notice of inquiry from the FCC concerning four separate incidents of alleged "indecent" broadcasts on the Stern show. The station will debut a new show (called the Grego show) on Tuesday, September 6. Hal Fish said that he'll host a show tomorrow morning taking calls from local listeners about everything concerning the situation. 99.7 The Blitz was North American's only Stern affiliate, but it had carried the show dating back to January 2, 1997. The move drops Stern to 37 stations.
Incidentally, I haven't bothered to post on here about stations that were in the path of Hurricane Katrina's rampage (such as Lex & Terry affiliate WCPR-FM in Biloxi, MS, or Phil Hendrie WSMB in New Orleans), since the status of radio stations there is secondary to what is going on with the human tragedy that has happened, and continues to happen, in that large path of destruction. I urge any and all of you who have the financial means to donate to do what you can to support the American Red Cross in its efforts to try and help the thousands and thousands of people who lost everything.
September 6, 2005
Mancow has landed morning drive on an all-talk station in Salt Lake City, on Simmons Media move-in KFMS (licensed to Franklin, ID, though it has applied to move to Coalville, UT), which is now known as 97.5 FM Talk. The station will also feature Talk Radio Network talent such as Michael Savage, Rusty Humphries and Jerry Doyle, which is the first time that Mancow has been packaged with them since signing with TRN last year (technically Mancow is in his own category of TRN-FM, but it's all owned by the same company).
For the first time in quite awhile, Bob & Tom are airing on a country station... and it's a classic country station, at that. It's Clear Channel's US 93.3 (KHUS) in Omaha. Longtime Bob & Tom fans might recall that the show one aired on KKCD in Omaha (Journal Broadcast Group's classic rock CD 105.9 picked up the show in January 1999 and dropped it in July 2002). Nashville's 102.9 The Buzz (WBUZ), which is a modern rocker that airs Bob & Tom, has had the show dating back to when it was "Power Country 102.9" in the late 90s, so this isn't unprecedented. But to my knowledge, this is the first time that Clear Channel has put the show on a country (or a classic country) station.
September 13, 2005
Howard Stern announced on his show on Friday that he has signed Bubba The Love Sponge to join him on his Sirius satellite radio channel. Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, Bubba is scheduled to be interviewed live on the Howard Stern show.
September 21, 2005
Since this website began (originally as a subpage on LouPickney.com in 2002), the Hot Talk industry has changed dramatically. With the FCC "indecency" crackdown of early 2004, coupled with the opportunity of satellite radio, things now are far different than they were when I started this three years ago. I've been contemplating how to best evolve this site to reflect that, and I hope to have a solution soon. Originally this was simply an information source of what stations aired various programs, since there was no such site out there on the internet (and besides this one, there still isn't).
It was because of this site that I got my job with Bubba The Love Sponge, but I've tried my hardest to keep my job and this site separate. You'll probably see some direct links to signing up for Sirius Satellite Radio on here soon, as I definitely want everyone who visits here to sign up with Sirius, but by the same token I will do my best to keep this as objective as possible when it comes to providing information.
Bob & Tom have added a new affiliate: Magic 105.1 (KMJX) in Little Rock, AR. Former morning man Tom Wood has been moved to middays on the station.
September 22, 2005
Bob & Tom are gone from Columbus, OH. Their affiliate there, 105.7 The Fox (WFJX), flipped formats on Monday to Variety Rock as 105.7 The Brew (with new calls as of today as WBWR). I'm told that Bob & Tom have not aired there since the change. This article has more information about the switch.
Incidentally, the former PD there, J.P. Hastings, told me in June 2003: "We just re-upped with Bob & Tom, they’re kicking ass." But Hastings left the station earlier this year, and apparently the station has moved in a new direction.
The Bob & Tom affiliate page has been updated (which includes new affiliates and deletes markets they've lost, such as Portland, OR).
DCRTV.com (which is a must-read site) has some very interesting information on what DC's WJFK-FM and Baltimore's WHFS will do when Howard Stern moves his show to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. According to DCRTV, the stations are being given two choices: either Mancow or Adam Carolla. That would counter the rumors from earlier this year of Don & Mike moving to morning drive on those stations, or The Junkies for that matter. The fact that Carolla is being mentioned furthers the rumors that he will be doing a pre-packaged show (as opposed to a live one) when he begins, as the likelihood of him waking up to do a show from Los Angeles beginning at 3 AM for east coast morning drive.
Meanwhile, 96 Rock (WOSC) in Salisbury/Ocean City, MD has moved Don & Mike to morning drive via next-day tape delay, effective this week.
September 26, 2005
Mancow is back in Kansas City. He has returned to his former market on the new 97.3 Max FM (KZPL), which very recently flipped from Modern AC to Rock. Read the details here (at least until the article disappears from the web). Also, Mancow has added a pair of new affiliates in lower profile markets: 104.1 The Blaze (WMZK) in Wausaw, WI and Rock 105 (KJML) in Joplin, MO. I can tell you first-hand that Joplin (market #229) didn't have much money AT ALL for syndicated shows when I was pitching Bubba to stations there, which leads me to think that Mancow has (wisely) lowered his asking price.
Bob & Tom are gone from Pirate 95.9 (still with the WSJZ call letters from its Smooth Jazz incarnation) in Melbourne, FL. The show disappeared from the station last Monday, and today a local show (Callahan and Deniro) debuted in morning drive.
According to DCRTV.com, Don & Mike announced on-air that they have decided to stay in afternoon drive. A smart move by them, I must say, since leaving that spot for mornings would create all kinds of clearance headaches (and create a huge hole in terrestrial afternoon drive).
September 27, 2005
Star & Buc Wild are up to eight affiliates now, as they've added Blazin' 102.1 (WZBN) in Albany, GA (their first Cumulus Broadcasting station, and to my knowledge their first non-Clear Channel affiliate) and 94.1 The Beat (WQBT) in Savannah, GA.
All Access reports that Infinity CEO Joel Hollender says that his company has signed fix or six different replacement hosts for Howard Stern in different markets, including what he classifies as "some surprises." Two that are known for sure are David Lee Roth (New York City) and Adam Carolla (Los Angeles and a few other west coast markets).
Something is going on with Bob & Tom simulcast affiliate in Bangor, ME (The Fox at 101.7 WFZX and 97.7 WNSX). All Access reports that Joe McMillan (former jock at WROR and WODS in Boston) is joining WNSX for morning drive... and that the format wheel will be spinning at WNSX. No mention was made of WFZX in the news blurb, so it's unclear if Bob & Tom will remain there (with the simulcast splitting) or what will happen. The northeast is the one part of the country where Bob & Tom have not had much success in the past.
September 28, 2005
The Chicago Sun-Times reports two more affiliates for Mancow: Clear Channel's KRZR in Fresno and Journal Broadcast Group's Z106.7 (KZRQ-FM) in Springfield, MO. He will begin in both markets beginning on Monday, October 3, 2005. The Springfield station is a former Lex & Terry affiliate -- it dropped the show in March 2005; L&T now air on Midwest Family's Q102.1 (KQRA). This latest development will create a head-to-head matchup between the two shows in Springfield.
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August 2005 News/October 2005 News
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