Radio AM to FM

Radio AM to FM: September 22, 2000

Johnny B Leaving KLSX?

KLSX (97.1 FM) midday personality Jonathon Brandmeier is going to leave the station "as soon as this week and as late as January 12, 2001, when his contract officially expires," according to RadioDigest.com's Tomm Looney.

That rumor has been around for quite some time -- promoted primarily by Looney. But it is no secret that Brandmeier's ratings are not what the "experts" expected: indeed, a steep decline begins when morning man Howard Stern leaves the air and Brandmeier steps in.

In an interview published in the September 15th edition of The Chicago Sun-Times, Brandmeier gives some credence to the rumor by stating among other things that he doesn't want to continue in his present position -- broadcasting middays from Los Angeles and simulcasting on WCKG-FM/Chicago .

"It's like a tree in the forest," Brandmeier said of his show on KLSX. "I don't feel like we're on the air. It doesn't seem successful to me." Reflecting on his time slot and the Chicago simulcast, he commented, "Is this the right situation for me right now? No. Absolutely not. It's not right."

But does that mean he's leaving any time soon? "My position is I'm staying on until January 12, 2001. Then I want to take a breath, sit back and look at the options."

You Question, We Answer

Q: Any idea where Joe Crummey is? -- Don Baggett

A: As far as radio goes, Crummey is Missing in Action. His last stint in Los Angeles was at KABC (790 AM); as you know that ended a few months ago. Crummey has not been heard on any other Los Angeles-area station (that I know of) since.

Q: Around Labor Day, KZLA (93.9 FM) abruptly yanked thier new morning personalities Gene and Julie from the air. What happened? -- Linda Elliot

A: Call it the Emmis-ization of country radio. Emmis Broadcasting bought KZLA from Bonneville, and the first thing they did after taking control was to fire the husband-and-wife morning team. That's very common in radio, more so with Emmis. You can expect more changes in the future as the company tries to make KZLA more successful ratings-wise; Gene and Julie are currently searching for a new position.

Random Thoughts From a Cluttered Mind

The Ten Things You Can't Say in America by KABC's afternoon personality Larry Elder was recently #1 on Amazon.com in sales. Funny, didn't comedian George Carlin once get banned for his routine of the seven things you can't say on the radio? ...

How did KFI (640 AM) weekend host Jeff Levy suddenly get so big in computers? He writes a computer-oriented newspaper column, hosts a web site and sells "classes" in computer troubleshooting in addition to hosting his weekend computer show ... the one where all really difficult questions seem to be answered with "check your video drivers, let's go to a commercial." His complete lack of knowledge (ignorance) on Macintosh is humorous whenever he stumbles answering a question on Windows ...

Is it just me, or is KIIS (102.7 FM) one of the technically worst-sounding stations in Southern California? Must be a programming decision to compress the signal and remove all dynamic range; a broadcast engineer would never let a signal sound so bad on purpose.

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