San Diego Media News

Some media news I thought I'd share:

According to Radio Insights, Radio Sophie might be in the midst of flipping formats. According to the article, "(CBS radio) has applied for a call letter change to KEGY for the station. Additionally, a protected website at Energy1037.cbslocal.com and a blank Twitter account @Energy1037SD are in place." The article suggests that the "Energy" moniker implies a CHR format (contemporary hit radio in radio speak) that would make Z90 and Channel 933 its direct competitors.

San Diego's favorite Anchorman will return with a sequel.


and since it happened while I was in Texas, I never posted about Chris Cantore's new position at the Union-Tribune. He's the director of Entertainment and Lifestyle for the UT, which has him overseeing Night & Day, Style + Society and DiscoverSD and plans to launch U-T TV.

More Radio News: Chris Cantore to Exit KPRI 102.1

In what certainly can be considered odd timing, over the weekend, Chris Cantore announced his departure from KPRI via Twitter. On March 9 at 7:48pm, after his afternoon drive radio shift, Cantore tweeted, "OK, next friday is my last day @KPRiFM ... what's next ? details tuesday ... cool ? yew ! =)."

As Twitter followers began to suspect a possible move to FM 94/9's morning or even back to 91X where Capone's seat is still unfilled, Chris Cantore responded, "would make sense, but total co-ink-ee-dink ! xxoo". In the meantime, KPRI has begun airing job ads for the on-air vacancy.

Once again, sdradio.net was there with news that Cantore's next move will be "...using his social media skills, and will remain in San Diego in a non-traditional media outlet." While Cantore's official announcement won't come until Tuesday, Chris has been creating and developing SD Centric for a while now, so it is possible that the platform is finally where he wants it to be in making it a full time gig. The site's tag is "san diego, by san diegans".  I would suspect that after Chris' experience at X1FM and later with Legit Radio, those of you who want to hear  and interact with Chris will probably still be able to do so in some capacity via some UStream or LiveStream element, and there are already built in tabs on the site for SD Centric TV and Podcast elements, which will likely be expanded. Of course, there's always the possibility that there's some other new venture awaiting Cantore's direction, or he could still return to radio after some time but just can't say so because of common contractual non-compete clauses. I guess we'll have to stay tuned tomorrow. Regardless, I wish good luck to Chris Cantore in wherever his social stream takes him.

Update: The current rumor is that Chris Cantore will be joining the Union Tribune. I'll follow up if I get any more info. 

KPRI Presents Old 97s at The Abbey

Tuesday night was another amazing evening with KPRI for a private show with the Old 97s. The band performed a killer set in a beautiful setting and wowed all the attendees. Big thanks to Chris Cantore for hosting, KPRI for always giving their listeners amazing opportunities, and Steve Covault for saving me a seat up front. Sorry for the glare of the stray yellow light and for my jittery camera. I'll eventually go back and title all of the songs and get them in the proper order, but for now, here's the playlist. Click the right or left arrows to get to the rest of the videos.

SoundDiego Launches Today

I mentioned briefly last week that I'll be working with NBC San Diego and their new project SoundDiego. I want to assure you, things won't change around here. I'll continue to post photos and videos from shows a month or two late (har.har.) and you'll still get random pictures of my world, like these of my nieces:




This spring I also hope to get some more tour diaries from bands headed to SXSW, I plan on promoting a few more shows, and I'll still have content exclusive for this site, so San Diego: Dialed In is still going to exist as you know it. If anything, having a name like NBC behind me might open some new doors for my broke and (still technically) unemployed ass. I'll be doing my listings here as usual, and they'll be over there, too, with a recommendation or two each day, but the listings there won't have some of the smaller bars with 'house bands', art openings, karaoke & DJ nights, or the house parties, so the listings here will still be the most comprehensive in San Diego.

SoundDiego has other contributors I'm excited to work with, too, like Chris and Tristan from Owl and Bear and Chris Cantore from Legit Radio, as well as some other really talented and enthusiastic people behind the scenes. I'll also be blogging there on behalf of the Casbah, and there will be content from the other venue partners including The Belly Up and Anthology, so you will get content there that you won't get anywhere else.

I hope you enjoy the new platform and hopefully it can add to San Diego's musical landscape. Anyway, I'm not even sure what the web address is, but since I'll probably be sleeping when it launches (since I'm sitting here working at 4am), I think you can find the site here. If not, go here and dig around a little bit.

And, if you've read this far, I also wanted to share that this year, I have been asked to curate the mainstage for the North Park Festival of The Arts. The event takes place on Sunday, May 16 from 10a-6pm. I have the duty of booking six local, family friendly bands who are willing to play for pesos to a festival crowd. I'm bravely going to open up to email submissions, but know that I have a strong grasp of the San Diego music landscape and already have an idea of who I'd like to book.

Send me an email (sddialedin AT gmail) with subject "NPFoA" if you're interested. Include a contact person and phone number, a band bio (including band members names, instruments, and what you're about), a link to your social media (myspace, facebook, twitter, youtube), and at least 2 MP3s attached in the email. Band photos are also helpful. You have to be willing to play any slot between 10am and 5pm. ONE email will suffice. I don't have a firm deadline for submissions, but the sooner the better, and I'll probably solidify the lineup mid-February.

Chris Cantore Hosts The Green Room

Chris Cantore (@ChrisCantore) and NAS productions have started a new music video endeavor called The Green Room. This episode features White Rabbits during their recent Casbah appearance. Check out Chris' blog here for other happenings and future episodes.