As you may or may not recall, a few weeks back 100.7 Jack-FM announced that Garett Michaels would be returning to the San Diego market as Program Director of the station. This also happened shortly after Midwest and LMA, the group behind 91X, combined promotional and sales forces (kind of), and then they announced the station would be taking a new format, for which we've been patiently waiting. Today, it was revealed.
From this day forward, the station will be known again as 100.7 KFM-BFM (with the pause after the first M). They kicked off with history of the spot on the dial, then played a promo with snippets of Led Zeppelin, The Clash, Green Day, INXS, Guns n Roses, Nirvana, The Cars, White Stripes, and AC/DC with tag lines like "True Variety That Rocks" and "We play whatever, whenever." They kicked off the new format with Rush into The Ramones to Pearl Jam to Modern English into The Who, and Midnight Oil. (Then Tom Petty, The Black Keys, AC/DC, Foo Fighters). This is a dad rock station for your dad bod to chill in your man cave. Don't expect to hear many (any?) female artists on this format aside from maybe some tokens like Joan Jett, Blondie, or The Pretenders.
So there you have it. Let's see how it goes and grows. You can find the station online at KFMBFM.com.
Sophie flipped! Christy gets perm! Lefsetz Quits Being Mean!
Last week, I read that Sophie was changing formats and posted about it (thanks to sdradio.net and radioinsight.com for the scoop), but there was no word as to how soon it would happen. The very next morning, Radio Sophie sent a newsletter notifying their listeners to get ready for new Energy 103.7 which would launch at 5pm that afternoon. Now flipped (or expanded as they might sell it), the station, which is owned by CBS networks, is rumored to be modeled after their sister station, AMP 97.1, in Los Angeles, under the guidance of Kevin Weatherly, Senior Vice President, Programming, CBS RADIO. You can see their dreadful playlist here. The station press release also says a whole lot about a "360 degree audio and visual experience" using social media to complement the station and that Chàrésë Frügé, current program director, will remain, but with Kevin, I suspect she'll maybe have more of a media platform oversight role or will be let go at some point, as radio nationalization and delocalization seems to be the radio strategy du jour. I'm not trying to bust anyone's balls and I hope that the station retains staff, many of whom I consider friends, after their 10,000 songs commercial-free play through, but realistically, the station will probably move to voice-tracking as so many stations across the country (and plenty in this city, too) have already done.
In other station news, since Garrett Capone left his post as Program Director at 91X, there was a lot of speculation about who would step up and fill his shoes. Christy Taylor was acting as the interim PD and from the many loud rumors in town, there were plenty of submissions from all over the map, and in range of experience and qualifications. It was announced on Friday that Christy Taylor was officially named Program Director for the station, a promotion from her previous post as Music Director.
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.
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.
I really planned on sleeping in, but couldn't resist checking email while letting Pascha out to handle her business and I just thought I had to share this with you before I crawl back into bed: Michael Halloran is going back on the air at 91X. He'll be the new host of Loudspeaker after the spot was left vacant when Rowley accepted an amazing opportunity at Slacker. As you can read in the full press release below, Hal will also have a new program called "FTW", certainly a spin on "FTP" which he started at 94/9 years ago but is currently hosted by Tim Pyles from 7-8pm on Sundays. Pyles and Halloran will then go head to head on their respective local shows from 8-10pm. Having Hal back on the air is a smart move on all sides and certainly will be an outlet to pimp some visibility for that other thing that Mike's been working on that I'm not sure if we're talking about yet. Congrats to 91X and Halloran. Sundays just got a little bit more interesting.
Press Release:
Mike Halloran will return to the airwaves on San Diego alternative rock station 91X (XTRA-FM, 91.1) beginning this Sunday, October 2 as the permanent new host of “Loudspeaker,” San Diego’s longest running radio program dedicated to local music.
Loudspeaker will air 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. Sunday nights. Immediately following, Halloran will also air a new program from 9:00 to 10:00 P.M. on Sunday called “FTW.” The free-form program will adopt a “no rules, no gimmicks” moniker, driven by the unpredictability and immeasurable music knowledge Halloran is known for.
“I am honored to take part in the ongoing resurgence of my first home and my first love in San Diego, 91X,” says Halloran. “Oddly enough, October 2 is two days before the 25th anniversary of my original start date of October 4, 1986. Seems like yesterday, not last century.”
“Simply put, Mike is the perfect host for Loudspeaker as well as our new musical brainchild “FTW.” New music, unreleased music, and tasty nuggets from the 91X archives,” says 91X Program Director Garrett Capone. “We are absolutely stoked to welcome Mike back to the 91X family and I assure you that San Diego radio on Sunday nights will never be the same!”
91X has seen its ups and downs over the years, with management changes and programming tweaks, the station known as "The Cutting Edge of Rock" that defined our formative years perhaps lost its way when they got sucked into the radio conglomerate, but the station has recently made efforts to get back from where they might've strayed and this weekend, they're bringing back many of the personalities that developed 91X. Obviously they can't have personalities like Cantore or Jen White who have found success at other stations around town, but they're bringing back some of our favorites, including Lou Niles' return to Loudspeaker on Sunday.
In advance of its 28th birthday on January 11, San Diego’s heritage alternative rock station 91X will celebrate with a “Resurrection Weekend,” bringing back many of the voices that have defined the station’s storied history.
Mike Halloran will return to the 91X studio to kick off the Resurrection Weekend tomorrow at 2:00 PM. Other former 91X DJ’s returning on-air include “Mad Max” Tolkoff, Billy Bones, Chris Muckley, and Dred Scott as well as current 91X DJ’s Robin Roth, Oz Medina and Steve West. The weekend on-air schedule is as follows:
Friday, January 7 2:00 – 6:00PM: Mike Halloran 6:00 – 10:00PM: “Mad Max” Tolkoff 10:00PM – 2:00AM: Muckley
Saturday, January 8 6:00 – 10:00AM: Steve West 10:00AM – 2:00PM: Muckley 2:00 – 6:00PM: Dred Scott 6:00 – 10:00PM: Billy Bones
Sunday, January 9 6:00 AM – Noon: Steve West Noon – 3:00 PM: Robin Roth 3:00 – 8:00 PM: Oz Medina 8:00 – 10:00 PM: Loudspeaker w/ Lou Niles
In addition to on-air, listeners can stream the weekend programming live on 91x.com, as well as photos and videos of the jocks in studio. Complete audio of the last “Resurrection Weekend” held in October 2010 is also available to stream on the website.
I used to really care about radio. In some ways I still do and I don't like to hear about shakeups because it usually means people I know at some capacity are losing their jobs. My first job out of college was at a media agency that was responsible for placing advertising on local radio, tv and cable. Arguably, we had the biggest accounts in San Diego and as such were privy to all changes before most people. I remember when "The Flash" flipped and our sales rep was in the office to tell us about it first, before it was announced on-air. Similarly when FM 94/9 changed to it's current format, the sales manager had all of us in our conference room and we listened to the new station, as they announced their new format and having new listeners call in. I was #13.
After 9/11, the urgency of advertising seemed ridiculous to me. The wrong Carl's Jr. spot would run on a station and you'd think it was a national crisis the way we had to respond to things. "We aren't changing the world," I'd think, "it's only advertising." After several years at that agency, I took a position as a media buyer at another agency...with much more pay but a more formulaic approach to media placement, and I suppose I lost my passion for media buying, though I thought I had become very good at the craft of knowing trends and following Nielsen and Arbitron ratings, and bringing value to the clients we had, as well as knowing all the industry research software. I got out of advertising completely with my next job, but when the opportunity to go back to the first company I worked for arose, I jumped at the opportunity. I was now a media planner and it was amazing to me how much the media landscape had already changed. I had already started this blog at that point, and I was still trying to report on industry related changes...like when Cantore was sidelined from 91X and Mat Diablo took the reins. But just as advertising on traditional media outlets changed, so too were the resources for information. Chickrawker was always brilliant at covering radio trends and all the breaking news locally could be found on SDRadio.net. With everyone finally getting on board all the social networks, I've covered radio even less than ever before. When people do something better, let them.
But with all these crazy changes, I thought I'd chime in. I mean, in the last few months radio has gone absolutely nutso in the market. The economy took a dump, old media failed to adopt new media, old talent tried to hold on to their spots in the marketplace because they felt they deserved it and now we're where we are today. Mikey is gone from 105.3, Jeff and Jer are without a gig at the moment, today Dave, Shelley and Chainsaw joined the unemployed, and apparently Halloran is gone, too. On top of that, 91X, Magic 92.5 and Z90 are being auctioned this week. Wow.
Chris Cantore was on NBC to talk about it and you can watch the clip below. As for my opinion of it all, I'm not surprised...in all my hats, be it a San Diego native who can trace my personal music interest in a timeline of the stations I listened to, as a media planner, media buyer, blogger, or just a fan of good music, I've heard all of this before and when all is said and done, the innovators and people looking toward the future, with their hearts in the right place, will rise to the top. The rest will become a distant memory of how things used to be, like the high school jocks who peaked in high school. Big companies are failing but leaving opportunities for small ones to be born. I look forward to 2010 and beyond as we all hold on and take it by the reins or slowly fade away.
For a long time I've been listening to Indie 103.1 online in the mornings. I'm a huge fan of Joe Escalante, but I also really like radio. Unlike my iPod, a good radio show can give you bits of news and information, make you laugh, and make you feel like a part of a larger community. I've enjoyed Mat Diablo's new morning show at 91X though I only hear about 10 minutes of it because it's over by the time I'm done with my daily conference calls. I like listening to Garrett at 94/9 because he usually tosses in a few songs that aren't standard for your morning commute and he's got immense knowledge of the bands that he plays. But there's a gap in my radio day before I go back to Indie for Jonesy's Jukebox at noon and then Stacy Taylor at 3, and now that gap has closed.
Chris Cantore, who was at 91X for what? 12 years? Something like that anyway. Now he's back on the air and he's free to play a whole bunch of music not normally heard in a radio show, and he even has the freedom to say Fuck. It's like when Bill Maher was fired from CBS and made the jump to HBO and could finally say what he really wanted to say.
This Monday, appropriately on Cinco de Mayo, Chris' broadcast launched officially and there was a little Cinco de Mayo brunch and carne asada to go with it. The studio is in National City, once the offices of The Flash. The station is online only, but the owner also took the time to explain that they were able to break code of the iPhone and iTouch and it can be streamed on both devices when wireless is available. They gave a tour of the studios and explained some of the other launches they have planned in the coming months, but there was so much stuff, I could barely wrap my head around Chris being not only streaming online but with cameras on so you can watch everyone as they do the show, and on top of that, chat with them on a message board. And the bonus for me is that the show runs until noon. I particularly like the cross border influence of the station, with a daily rock en espanol segment, Jen Correia (blogger at SanDiego-ish) doing news, and the chemistry the whole team has on air.
It was a nice way to start of a Monday, but even more, it's another innovation from our little town. Some people would prefer me to pick favorites when it comes to radio, and in this case online radio, but to me, we're pretty damn lucky to have some quality choices, because if you think about it, the more airplay certain artists get between those choices, the more inclined they are to stop here on tour, like how Death Cab did private performances for FM 94/9, 91X, and KPRi all to eventually announce that they'll be here this summer. I love this city, and it's nice to listen to people on-air who feel the same.
This is through the glass from the conference room into the studio:
That's Kallao, who briefly joined Chris in the broadcast (and whose photography you can link to in my list of photo sites)
And for all my radio peeps, here's links to all of stations I've mentioned in this post, and they can all be streamed:
Last week, I mentioned that FM 103.7 was dropping their Free Radio format for a "K-Surf 60s and 70s format." While Free FM did drop the talk format, the new format is um... not sure what we can call it...I guess it's not quite alternative, not quite triple A, not really top 40. It's called Radio Sophie and it appears to fall somewhere between FM 94/9 and KPRi. Bands like The Kooks, Death Cab, Lifehouse, Rob Thomas, Arcade Fire, and Kelly Clarkson are all featured in their top 100. I might have to drop one of my Rock En Español presets and check her out. FYI, Sophie, wife of CatDirt, is NOT happy about the station name. ***** According to CityBeat's Blog (Last Blog On Earth), more Street Scene Bands have been announced. Sean Na Na (Har Mar Superstar's Mellower Indie Band), Kinky, Mika, Biff Clyro have all been added. As I commented on that site, I'd like to see más rock en Español. If ticket sales are sluggish, you can always count on enthusiastic Mexicanos to make up for it with just a couple solid bands...los Jaguares, perhaps? Tijuana local Julieta Venegas, maybe? And you've already got the Sweet and Tender Hooligans to bring out their crowd of "tacobilly" kids, right? LiveNation, I'm trying to help ya out here... Also, I think it would be a good time to remind Zach de la Rocha where he comes from. Rage Against the Machine would be a hell of a headliner and they seem to keep adding dates. Of course, pretty white Republican Del Mar might object and be the biggest obstacle. ***** American Idol hopefuls, get ready. For the first time ever, San Diego will be the first audition stop for the next season of AI. The open cattle call audition will be at Qualcomm Stadium on July 30. This the only west coast audition scheduled thus far. Get out your cameras because it's gonna be quite a scene. Last year's Rose Bowl audition drew over 20,000 people. Fortunately for America, I don't make the cut-off age of 28. ***** So-cal band Delta Spirit are working on a new album and are featured on KEXP. According to their MySpace blog:
We are back in the studio finishing up the last bit of recording for our record. Derek (the man) and Spot (the dog) are letting us crash here at the cabin again in the beautiful mountains of Julian (San Diego.)
You can read what KEXP has to say about them here.
This year's 93.3 "Your Show" will be held on May 11 at Coors Amphitheatre, featuring Ludacris, Fergie, Ciara, Hilary Duff, Robin Thicke. Tickets on Ticketmaster range from $21 to $85. A pit seat will run you $85, plus a $6 building facility charge, and an $11.75 convenience charge. For the common man, they are offering 4-packs of lawn tickets for $63, but when purchasing, the price breaks down to $15.75 per ticket, a $4.50 building facility charge per ticket, and a $7.45 convenience charge per ticket, for a grand total of $114.15. Good job LiveNation/Clearchannel. You really know how to throw a show for the people and make people wanna buy music, listen to your stations, etc.
A similar offer went out this week for the Honda Civic tour featuring Fall Out Boy, Plus 44, The Academy Is..., Paul Wall and Cobra Starship. Ticket: $9.05, Facility: $3.20, Convenience: $7.25. Total for four lawn tickets $81.35. This show was already postponed from April 29th to July 1st. Rumors suggest it was due to low tickets sales. Next year when everyone is bitching and moaning about ticket sales down, internet music causing poor record sales, etc., like they do every year, I would like to cite LiveNation as the bastard whores causing the problems for themselves.
Let's compare to FM 94/9 San Diego's Indie Jam, shall we? Interpol, Kings of Leon, Spoon, Living Things, Aggrolites, and Test Your Reflex and a local stage with Scarlet Symphony and others... Tickets are $40, NO service charge or parking fee, and $1.00 donation to the About The Music fund when purchased online at Casbah Tickets or in person at either of the two San Diego Hydroponics and Organics locations or M-Theory records in Mission Hills. Garrett, Hal, Owen, Pyles, et al...you guys get a big wet kiss. That show is gonna kick ass.
This isn't inside information, just my opinion, but local bands, if you haven't been going regularly to Tim Pyles' Anti-Monday League, I HIGHLY recommend being there, talking to him, etc. The station only supports bands that in turn, support the scene and other bands in it. Invites have been going out to local bands for Indie Jam. If you're not on their radar, how are they supposed to find you? ***** Don't blame CityBeat for getting Vinyl Radio's drummer situation wrong again. But FYI, Dusty Paul was in the band for about 8 seconds, and their show on Saturday had original drummer Buddy Rose back in the band. For at least the next 48 minutes, Buddy Rose will be the full time drummer for Vinyl Radio. ***** Southern California band Delta Spirit will be returning home from their tour with Cold War Kids with shows in their home towns of Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. See them at the Casbah on June 7. Other bands and cost tba. ***** For you supermodels among us:
San Diego CityBeat is holding an open casting call for runway models on Monday May 14th from 8 to 10pm at the AC Lounge, 4673 30th Street San Diego CA.
The models chosen will get to walk in the fashion show at CityBeat's annual Summer Party on May 25th at 8:00pm. Models will wear the season's hottest fashions from San Diego's hippest boutiques. This is a great experience with ample networking opportunities. Previous runway experience is helpful but not required. A fierce walk and a hot look is!
Come to the AC Lounge on Monday May 14th from 8 - 10 pm to meet the designers, etc. Any questions please email Caitlin Rondoe at caitlinr@sdcitybeat.com
I'm personally just looking forward to CityBeat's annual Summer Party. Yay. I love summer. ***** A while back I mentioned that my friend Stefanie was on Wheel of Fortune when they taped in San Diego. The "Mom & Me" episode is finally airing this Friday, May 4 at 7pm on NBC. You can also read about her experience, featured on the Wheel's website. *****
If you haven't been following along, here it is in a nutshell.
Basically, the FCC was investigating terrestrial radio for evidence of payola, meaning that stations and/or program directors were given cash, trips, etc., in return for spins for their artists. The result of this investigation was that, duh, the 4 big labels were rewarding radio stations, especially radio conglomerates, namely ClearChannel, for playing certain artists which in turn, boosts record sales, etc., for those artists. It's bad for a number of reasons, but one major problem is that indie labels have a hard time finding airtime so many good quality artists never get noticed. Just think of Barsuk... Death Cab For Cutie was a great band for a long time, but until suddenly there was a demand created by an alternate venue, namely The OC, where people could discover them since they were pretty much absent from radio, did they get the recognition they deserved (though the quality of Transatlanticism had a lot to do with it, too, and resulted in them signing to a major.)
One side result of the investigation and subsequent settlements is that certain amounts of airtime would be set aside for indie labels (labels not owned by Sony BMG, Warner, Universal and EMI) . Of course, it's a voluntary side deal, but 8,400 half hour blocks of music will be set aside among the station groups. (Clear Channel, CBS, Entercom, Citadel)
It was rumored within the past couple months that this would be part of the settlement agreement, but it can only be good that it is coming to pass, even if it is voluntarily. In San Diego, it is unlikely we'll really benefit on the alt/indie stations since 94/9 is not in one of the named congloms and 91X is owned by Finest City Broadcasting, but in my recollection, it's the first time in many years that the FCC has made a decision that actually punished the corporate radio groups.
I was going to comment on these, but really, don't they speak for themselves? If I missed any, please let me know.
z90 Jingle Jam, December 2, $48, iPayOne Acts scheduled to appear (subject to change): Ludacris Lil Jon Danity Kane Rihanna Natalie Lil Al Brown Boy Mr. Capone E. Lil Uno
Channel 933 Your Holiday Show, December 4, $30-$75, iPayOne Nick Lachey JoJo Nelly Furtado Timbaland The Gym Class Heroes Ne-yo Frankie J The Pussycat Dolls
Star 94.1 Jingle Ball, December 8, $45-$250, iPayOne Ace Young (American Idol) Smash Mouth Chris Doughtry (American Idol) Five For Fighting 3 Doors Down Jewel
FM 94/9 Holiday Hootenanny, December 9, $32.50, Rimac Modest Mouse The Shins Pete Yorn Silversun Pickups
91x The Nightmare Before Xmas, December 10, $34, iPayOne AFI My Chemical Romance Taking Back Sunday Unwritten Law The Living End
Rock 105 Rock Before Christmas, December 10, $31, 4th and B Papa Roach Shinedown Saliva Eighteen Visions hed pe
