a radio post (how rare for me) Stern, No Name, Soapy more...

The big story of bay area radio in 2004 was stations like KSJO flipping to spanish language formats. It happened all over the country last year. Legendary D.C. rock station WHFS is no mas.



Now we are just 1 month down in 2005 and we all know the big story for this year will be Howard Stern. He is headed to Sirius.



What will all the stations that carry HS do? Here are some options.



1. Move in a local show. Would No Name get the Live 105 gig? He'd fit in great, and would allow them to do morning show remotes and more. He could be as wild as they would let him, and probably have a shot at keeping some HS listeners, and adding fans of the music they play.



2. Bring in another national host. Who would it be? Is Infinity (HS current employer) grooming somebody to take over this national gig? I don't really know. Is there somebody out there who could replace HS on such a scale? I think Mancow could do it. Maybe they are looking for talent now, and are thinking more than 1 guy could replace HS, maybe giving PD's their choice of a few different shows and see what sounds good and works on the air.



I wonder if Stern will last to the end of his deal. He might just do something completely crazy and get kicked off. The publicity of the event would be a great launch for his Sirius show. Maybe Infinity would take him off the air thinking he might do something.



Some stations have already taken him off the air for plugging satellite radio. I am sure more stations want to. Think of a tv anchor on your local station telling viewers he is leaving in a year to work at CNN. Oh and this station he works at blows. And the boss is a moron etc. He'd get yanked fast.



Why does Infinity keep HS on the air and not freeze him out for the rest of his contract? You know why, "da money." He still makes tons of money for lots of stations across the country. A look at some stations show HS has huge ratings and when his show signs off so do the listeners. It keeps some stations alive. The downside is that some stations that carry Stern become known as "the Stern station" and they lose their identity. There are definitly some folks who don't like HS and they are not all moral majority types. Maybe some PD's will like the chance to have a morning show that fits the rest of their station. But the General Sales Manager (GSM) will miss those ad rates!



So what do I think will happen? This is all just a guess.



Stern somehow stays on the air on both regular radio and satellite. He might syndicate a "beeped" version of his show. I also think if either XM or Sirius gets enough listeners Infinity or Clear Channel would try to buy them. In fact that might happen sooner rather than later as with fewer subscribers it might be less of an issue to get govt. approval. It seems like it would be a lot tougher if satellite radio were big players in broadcasting.



next topic:



Richard Soapy said nice things about my pages here. Do I know who he is? No I don't think so...



He gives his thoughts about bay area radio and more at his blog and says he works in the biz but doesn't reveal where he works. A good idea if you really want to tell it like it is. Hey he could be me telling it like it is under a different name. Could be. Maybe. But maybe not.



He did mention the song scheduling at KFOG. It is kind of odd to mix up all the songs and styles we do at KFOG. That is why it is so fun to be on the air there.



Soapy thinks sometimes the mix sounds like a train wreck, and the music is put together at random. His ears might hear train wrecks but when you mix up the styles and sounds of music for people who are driving and listening in their car for maybe 45 minutes at a time you want them to get a nice sample of what we play. That's why you will hear such different styles back to back so often.



Here is an email I got last week:

----

Big Rick you are CRAZY COOL! Driving home tonight, listening to KFOG (it's the only station my car knows!), I got to listen to "Dance Me To The End Of Love" (a jazzy female vocal song) followed up by "Sharp Dressed Man"!



Only on KFOG is the mix that eclectic. And that is one reason among MANY I keep listening!



Thanks again Big Rick!

Gary in San Jose

----

Hey we can't please all the people all the time. But if we can please 4.0 of 12+, that would be fine!



If you are a radio geek check out Soapy's blog.



If you've read this far here's one more thing.



I got a email from a former co worker telling me of his time before a federal grand jury investigating Payola.



Wow. My jaw dropped.



PS: They weren't investigating him.



Ok one more thing. Is Jack(tm) coming to town soon?