Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
FCC wants more
This is going to get ugly.
From the very beginning the FCC exercised power over content. On one side they claim they do not want and in fact, have no regulatory authority over programming i.e music and political talk. On the other side they claim they dont like bad words. But until recently violence of all kinds was okie-dokie on TV. Comedians have mocked the double standard for decades and apparently
they just noticed. http://www.fcc.gov/
At the FCC a report is being circulated that says Congress can change that, without violating the First Amendment. The report says that Congress can craft a law allowing the FCC to regulate violent programming the same irational and uneven way they regulate sexual content and profanity. i.e. in the name of protecting children from reality.
Bush apointees, Kevin Martin, and Micheal Copps gave an interview about this to The Associated Press last week. Martin suggested several options, including creating a "family-friendly" tier of channels that would offer shows suitable for kids. To make this crap appealing he also suggested that cable and satellite providers should let consumers pay for channels "a la carte" Not a new idea, but a system that terrifies cable providers, and big networks but consumers love. Since they have money and we don't, know now that this is bait & switch.
The report cites multiple studies that link violent programming can lead to aggressive behavior in children. remember... they're coming for your videogames next. The report pissed off every sane person that heard a word of it including the broadcast networks, the cable industries, First Amendment advocates most mammals and even some coma patients.
CNN reported that three years ago a group of House Representatives requested the report. It's focus being a discussion of whether the FCC could define violent programming to distinguish what is harmful to children. It also asked whether the agency could regulate such programming "in a constitutional manner."
In the past broadcasters and cable companies have held the position that parents should take responsibility for what their children watch and take advantage of blocking technology, like the V-chip. Legislation in the past has operated with the assumption that censorship is bad idea. Most people voters have agreed with this because it's one of the pillars of our representative democracy. While we may care about freedom most when it effects us directly, in this case it is mutually beneficial.
If you want to stop them call them at work:
Kevin Martin - 202-418-1000
Michael Copps - 202-418-2000
Deborah Taylor Tate - 202-418-2500
Jonathan Adelstein - 202-418-2300
Robert McDowell - 202-418-2200
From the very beginning the FCC exercised power over content. On one side they claim they do not want and in fact, have no regulatory authority over programming i.e music and political talk. On the other side they claim they dont like bad words. But until recently violence of all kinds was okie-dokie on TV. Comedians have mocked the double standard for decades and apparently
they just noticed. http://www.fcc.gov/At the FCC a report is being circulated that says Congress can change that, without violating the First Amendment. The report says that Congress can craft a law allowing the FCC to regulate violent programming the same irational and uneven way they regulate sexual content and profanity. i.e. in the name of protecting children from reality.
Bush apointees, Kevin Martin, and Micheal Copps gave an interview about this to The Associated Press last week. Martin suggested several options, including creating a "family-friendly" tier of channels that would offer shows suitable for kids. To make this crap appealing he also suggested that cable and satellite providers should let consumers pay for channels "a la carte" Not a new idea, but a system that terrifies cable providers, and big networks but consumers love. Since they have money and we don't, know now that this is bait & switch.
The report cites multiple studies that link violent programming can lead to aggressive behavior in children. remember... they're coming for your videogames next. The report pissed off every sane person that heard a word of it including the broadcast networks, the cable industries, First Amendment advocates most mammals and even some coma patients.
CNN reported that three years ago a group of House Representatives requested the report. It's focus being a discussion of whether the FCC could define violent programming to distinguish what is harmful to children. It also asked whether the agency could regulate such programming "in a constitutional manner."
In the past broadcasters and cable companies have held the position that parents should take responsibility for what their children watch and take advantage of blocking technology, like the V-chip. Legislation in the past has operated with the assumption that censorship is bad idea. Most people voters have agreed with this because it's one of the pillars of our representative democracy. While we may care about freedom most when it effects us directly, in this case it is mutually beneficial.
If you want to stop them call them at work:
Kevin Martin - 202-418-1000
Michael Copps - 202-418-2000
Deborah Taylor Tate - 202-418-2500
Jonathan Adelstein - 202-418-2300
Robert McDowell - 202-418-2200
Saturday, February 24, 2007
A foundation to keep KBRD going
There are thousands of radio stations incorporated as non-profits. But this is somthing special, in a legally incorporated sense. KBRD is owned by a non-profit, tax free foundation but this one called "FOR THE MUSIC FOUNDATION" was started by Skip Marrow's estate. Yeah, Skip here left hsi life savings toward keeping KBRD just the way he left it. He didn't have quite the nest egg for that to happen so they are taking donations. http://www.hezzie.com/kbrd/
Long before anyone had thought up the Jack-FM branded concept of "we play what we want." there were actually stations that really did play whatever they want. Olympia businessman Skip Marrow bought himself a small AM station to do just that. Skip had some funny taste. About the most current thing in skips MP3 player was Leon Redbone.
Skips maxing his credit cards to make this wild radio station dream happen. he's got everythign running with chewing gum and duct tape. KLDY only had two 300 disc CD players 1 microphone and an antique cart player that comes on at the top of the hour to announce the legal ID. It is the largest juke box in America. Then the landlord tells Skip that his transmitter needs to move. Skip mortgaged everything he owned and bought a second staiton to move his hardware to that tower. To do it he ended up running 2 stations from his living room.
So Skip kicks it in 2005. But he set up a foundation to keep KBRD going. The foundation has decided to sell KLDY-AM to a Colorado company oddly named Seattle Streaming. The sale will free up money to accomplish one of Marrow's longtime goals: Boosting KBRD's power from the current daytime operation at 250 watts to 800, including some limited nighttime broadcasting.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Voxhaus and Lord Haw Haw
William Joyce was both a German citizen and an American citizen. He was 
born in Brooklyn NY and while he did live in London the only papers he got there were for member ship of British Fascist Limited, a group which lionized and emulated Mussolini. Later he joined the Union of Fascists who idealized the much more conservative Adolf Hitler.
At the same time Goebbels Goebbels was working hard to bring culture to the masses. He promoted the sale of cheap radios to serve his propaganda to the masses. He also put together Nazi Swing band which is dirty dirty dirty. But while he wasn't swing dancing, Joey kept a diary which was later captured... which is why we all know so much about this. (By the time Haw haw grabbed the mic for example, Jo-jo already had a German propaganda radio station in Salamanca Spain just to extend their thumb into the Spanish Civil War.)
In Hamburg in the fall of 1923 the stock corporation "Radiostunde Berlin" was founded by the Voxhaus - company. at the time is was just a commercial radio-station broadcasting on 750 AM and 1060 kHz . It was renamed in 1924 when Norddeutsche Rundfunk AG (NORAG) was created. In 1934 it was reincorporated into Großdeutschen Rundfunk broadcasting still on 699 AM. The site at Hamburg is still in use today. http://www.oldradioworld.de/vox.htm
In 1939 the British MI5 decides this non-citizen can't be left to wander around stirring up fascists. They plan to lock him up. Sombody tips off Joyce so he bolts to Germany with his wife. Only three weeks later, Joyce was doing radio broadcasts for the Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) i.e. Joseph Goebbels. It's here that Joyce inherited the title "Lord Haw-Haw" from the Eduard Dietze who preceded him. No that nick name had nothing to do with his nasal voice...oy.
Anyway, the Lord Haw Haw program consisted of Joyce reading propaganda into a microphone. The scripts were contrived to generate in the listening British fear and mistrust of their government. Much of the content was laughably stupid, but every once in a while he managed to
be frighteningly extreme. It's hard to imagine now, but these broadcasts were audible via skip in the U.S. our cluttered radio band would put a stop to that today.
There was also a Lady Haw Haw, the wife of Lord haw Haw, Margaret Joyce . When Germany fell, Margaret was arrested in Flensburg and subjected to interrogation and imprisonment. The files noted: "Her case is only less serious than that of William Joyce because she was less well-known and not so frequently heard in England as her husband." Lord Haw Haw was executed for treason in 1946 But Lady Haw Haw was not prosecuted for treason by Britain because officials felt she had suffered enough...
So lets summarize this like a fluff 1980s comedic flick. Mr Haw Haw gets hung in 1946. His wife walks and but drank herself to death in Soho in 1972. Goebbels shot himself to avoid capture in 1945 but Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) is still on air. Radio out lives all.
born in Brooklyn NY and while he did live in London the only papers he got there were for member ship of British Fascist Limited, a group which lionized and emulated Mussolini. Later he joined the Union of Fascists who idealized the much more conservative Adolf Hitler.At the same time Goebbels Goebbels was working hard to bring culture to the masses. He promoted the sale of cheap radios to serve his propaganda to the masses. He also put together Nazi Swing band which is dirty dirty dirty. But while he wasn't swing dancing, Joey kept a diary which was later captured... which is why we all know so much about this. (By the time Haw haw grabbed the mic for example, Jo-jo already had a German propaganda radio station in Salamanca Spain just to extend their thumb into the Spanish Civil War.)
In Hamburg in the fall of 1923 the stock corporation "Radiostunde Berlin" was founded by the Voxhaus - company. at the time is was just a commercial radio-station broadcasting on 750 AM and 1060 kHz . It was renamed in 1924 when Norddeutsche Rundfunk AG (NORAG) was created. In 1934 it was reincorporated into Großdeutschen Rundfunk broadcasting still on 699 AM. The site at Hamburg is still in use today. http://www.oldradioworld.de/vox.htm
In 1939 the British MI5 decides this non-citizen can't be left to wander around stirring up fascists. They plan to lock him up. Sombody tips off Joyce so he bolts to Germany with his wife. Only three weeks later, Joyce was doing radio broadcasts for the Reich Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) i.e. Joseph Goebbels. It's here that Joyce inherited the title "Lord Haw-Haw" from the Eduard Dietze who preceded him. No that nick name had nothing to do with his nasal voice...oy.
Anyway, the Lord Haw Haw program consisted of Joyce reading propaganda into a microphone. The scripts were contrived to generate in the listening British fear and mistrust of their government. Much of the content was laughably stupid, but every once in a while he managed to
be frighteningly extreme. It's hard to imagine now, but these broadcasts were audible via skip in the U.S. our cluttered radio band would put a stop to that today.There was also a Lady Haw Haw, the wife of Lord haw Haw, Margaret Joyce . When Germany fell, Margaret was arrested in Flensburg and subjected to interrogation and imprisonment. The files noted: "Her case is only less serious than that of William Joyce because she was less well-known and not so frequently heard in England as her husband." Lord Haw Haw was executed for treason in 1946 But Lady Haw Haw was not prosecuted for treason by Britain because officials felt she had suffered enough...
So lets summarize this like a fluff 1980s comedic flick. Mr Haw Haw gets hung in 1946. His wife walks and but drank herself to death in Soho in 1972. Goebbels shot himself to avoid capture in 1945 but Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) is still on air. Radio out lives all.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
WMAQ, the innovator
1160 WMAQ-AM is a pioneering station. They are Chicago's oldest station, starting its first broadcast on April 13, 1922. WMAQ Radio signed off permanently on August 1, 2000, with the final playing of the NBC chimes at 6:00 AM. In the interceeding 78 years they had a lot of firsts.My favorite was The first trans-oceanic news broadcast in history (1928.)
They presented the first music appreciation program on October 12, 1922. It was a series of broadcasts analyzing the opening program of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. That same year they ran one of the first children's programs. It was called Hearing American First and was hosted by Mrs. Oberndorfer.The success of the program led to a second childrens program with Miss Georgene Faulkner, "the Story Lady" and her "Mother Goose" broadcasts. The next year they began the first educational broadcasts. Not actually classes like on AMRAD, but on November 28, 1922, Prof. Forest Ray Moulton, lectured on astronomy.
In 1925 WMAQ also ran some of the first sports broadcasts. They presented the first daily play-by-play descriptions of major league games ever. The first of these was the Pittsburgh Pirates Vs. the Chicago Cubs. In 1945 WMAQ pioneered the use of the wire recorder for
commercial broadcasting and is the only station that ever presented a daily spot news using the recorder exclusively. Most peopel didn't do that because the device was ridiculous. More here.On March 26, 1925 WMAQ also took part in what is believed to have been the first commercial network broadcast. It was the first of a series of concerts presented by the Victor Phonograph Company over an improvised network of some 20 stations scattered between WNBC in New York amd WMAQ in Chicago. More here:
From KAAA to WZZZ
All radio stations in the U.S. have call letters that begin with either a K or a W. Some grandfathered stations have three letters of course while others have four letters.
There are 676, (26 x 26) possible ways to combine any two letters. Since there are only two possibilities for the first letter (K or W), the number of possibilities for three letter call letters is (676 x 2), or 1352. But that forth position is tricky. It has another 26 possibilities all on it's own or (1352 x 26) = 35,152 [someone please check my math!] There are only about 14,000 stations so we have plenty of room left.
So even knowing the FCC won't let us spell out naughty words, or racial slurs etc. There are at least 15,000 remaining unused possbilities. I note this because both the first and last possibile stations have already been used. Thought only one is active.
107.5 WZZZ Portsmouth, Ohio is a small Classic Rocker serving The boonies along the West
Virginia border near to Huntington, WV. But the calls are new, They flipped from WNPM on 12/16/2002 as a still new CP. Prior to that the calls lived in Syracuse on 1300 AM out of Fulton. But when Donald Derosa bought the station and weent country he dropped the oddball calls for WAMF-AM to simulcast WOLF... more radio disney.
1490 KZZZ-AM is a talker in Bullhead City, Arizona. Their ID "1490 K Triple Z" Is a one-of-a-kind branding. Wildly more exciting than KKJG "The jug", just for example. KZZZ simulcasts on that magical set of calls KAAA-AM 12230, Kingman, AZ. They also use the letter "A" there in a way that normally will get you sued.
...and if it interests you:
980 WAAA-AM was a ballsy station in Winston-Salem NC with a format aimed at the African American community. The station went on air on October 29, 1950. They dropped their long standing Black Gospel format in 2005 for Adult Standards they in turn dropped six months laterfor country oldies. In 2/1/2006, a mere four months later they went silent and returned as a simulcast of 98.3 WIST-FM. My how the mighty have fallen.
There are 676, (26 x 26) possible ways to combine any two letters. Since there are only two possibilities for the first letter (K or W), the number of possibilities for three letter call letters is (676 x 2), or 1352. But that forth position is tricky. It has another 26 possibilities all on it's own or (1352 x 26) = 35,152 [someone please check my math!] There are only about 14,000 stations so we have plenty of room left.So even knowing the FCC won't let us spell out naughty words, or racial slurs etc. There are at least 15,000 remaining unused possbilities. I note this because both the first and last possibile stations have already been used. Thought only one is active.
107.5 WZZZ Portsmouth, Ohio is a small Classic Rocker serving The boonies along the West
Virginia border near to Huntington, WV. But the calls are new, They flipped from WNPM on 12/16/2002 as a still new CP. Prior to that the calls lived in Syracuse on 1300 AM out of Fulton. But when Donald Derosa bought the station and weent country he dropped the oddball calls for WAMF-AM to simulcast WOLF... more radio disney.1490 KZZZ-AM is a talker in Bullhead City, Arizona. Their ID "1490 K Triple Z" Is a one-of-a-kind branding. Wildly more exciting than KKJG "The jug", just for example. KZZZ simulcasts on that magical set of calls KAAA-AM 12230, Kingman, AZ. They also use the letter "A" there in a way that normally will get you sued.
...and if it interests you:
980 WAAA-AM was a ballsy station in Winston-Salem NC with a format aimed at the African American community. The station went on air on October 29, 1950. They dropped their long standing Black Gospel format in 2005 for Adult Standards they in turn dropped six months laterfor country oldies. In 2/1/2006, a mere four months later they went silent and returned as a simulcast of 98.3 WIST-FM. My how the mighty have fallen.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
a mysterious 1 khz tone
Interference is a constant in the universe. It varies in quality and quantity but there is always some. It's ever-present, and is just part of the deal in radio. Noise happens. Most interference when it appears has a pretty clear source, or is at least only audible over a small area. The source may be novel , or mundane but the list of interference sources is fairly manageable. 
In November of last year we had a mystery on our hands in radioland. There was a 1Khz tone
reported on the frequency of 590 kHz on November 27. Then a day later it moved to 1610 AM. Apparently unhappy messing up WIBG-AM in the expanded band, the tone moved 1020 kHz. While the tone interfered with little other than CHHA-AM on 1610 in Toronto, and was a minor offender on 590. On 1020 it was a problem. While initially reported in New England, it was also reported as far away as Florida, Oregon, Arkansas, and Scandanavia!.
Engineers and DXers began to examing the tone, and take signal bearings to locate it's source. Guesses ranged from New Jersey to North Carolina. As the geeks moved in, it moved out. The tone jumped from 1610 to the far more problematic 1020. It now interfered with the 50,000 watt powerhours KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh.
There have been reports that it's an experiment by the goverment on co-channel interference, it's a psyops project, it's a propaganda transmission to Cuba, it's an alien message! The oogily
Boogily stuff is amusing, but I can say that this is unusual in it's total lack of any kind of ID. the FCC does approve experimental broadcasts on the AM band. But these are limited to the 0100-0600 hours, and the ID is mandatory.
I've seen no paper work on it but it's been reported that BAE Systems had applied for an experimental license for testing mobile broadcasting systems. The original application had requested 590, 1020 and 1600 kHz using 10 kw of power from Fort A.P. Hill, near Bowling Green VA. Thsi is as yet unconfirmed...
In November of last year we had a mystery on our hands in radioland. There was a 1Khz tone
reported on the frequency of 590 kHz on November 27. Then a day later it moved to 1610 AM. Apparently unhappy messing up WIBG-AM in the expanded band, the tone moved 1020 kHz. While the tone interfered with little other than CHHA-AM on 1610 in Toronto, and was a minor offender on 590. On 1020 it was a problem. While initially reported in New England, it was also reported as far away as Florida, Oregon, Arkansas, and Scandanavia!.Engineers and DXers began to examing the tone, and take signal bearings to locate it's source. Guesses ranged from New Jersey to North Carolina. As the geeks moved in, it moved out. The tone jumped from 1610 to the far more problematic 1020. It now interfered with the 50,000 watt powerhours KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh.
There have been reports that it's an experiment by the goverment on co-channel interference, it's a psyops project, it's a propaganda transmission to Cuba, it's an alien message! The oogily
Boogily stuff is amusing, but I can say that this is unusual in it's total lack of any kind of ID. the FCC does approve experimental broadcasts on the AM band. But these are limited to the 0100-0600 hours, and the ID is mandatory.I've seen no paper work on it but it's been reported that BAE Systems had applied for an experimental license for testing mobile broadcasting systems. The original application had requested 590, 1020 and 1600 kHz using 10 kw of power from Fort A.P. Hill, near Bowling Green VA. Thsi is as yet unconfirmed...
Thursday, February 15, 2007
WV
There are a number of oddities in West Virginia I could mock. 
They have the highest percentage of toothlessness per capita in America. They have a very ironic town named Vegan. They are one of three states unimaginably named after other states...
But today I discuss their very unique ease in naming calls for themselves. They are one of only five states which name their call signs after their state abbreviations. Wisconsin, Wyoming, Kansas, Kentucky, and West Virginia that's: WI, KS, KY, WV, and WY.
But uniquely West Virginia is obsessed with the usage. There are only 194 radio stations in West Virginia, 30 of them begin with, end with or otherwise contain the sequential WV state abbreviation. That is 15%.
For comparison WI was at 6%, KS at 11% , WY at 6% and KY at a very excusable 3% considering they are on the wrong side of the Mississippi River to work about a third of the combinations. On June 30th, of 1922 there were only three radio stations in West Virginia out of the 378 licensed US stations. These were WAAO, WAAR, and WHD; notice there is no "V".
The first WV call precedes radio. It was the Merchant Steamer Vigilancia. It's calls were simply WV. It operated at 350 meters way back in August 1, 1907. But the first in West Virginia was WWVA-AM in Wheeling. http://earlyradiohistory.us/FCC2705a.htm
They have the highest percentage of toothlessness per capita in America. They have a very ironic town named Vegan. They are one of three states unimaginably named after other states...But today I discuss their very unique ease in naming calls for themselves. They are one of only five states which name their call signs after their state abbreviations. Wisconsin, Wyoming, Kansas, Kentucky, and West Virginia that's: WI, KS, KY, WV, and WY.
But uniquely West Virginia is obsessed with the usage. There are only 194 radio stations in West Virginia, 30 of them begin with, end with or otherwise contain the sequential WV state abbreviation. That is 15%.
For comparison WI was at 6%, KS at 11% , WY at 6% and KY at a very excusable 3% considering they are on the wrong side of the Mississippi River to work about a third of the combinations. On June 30th, of 1922 there were only three radio stations in West Virginia out of the 378 licensed US stations. These were WAAO, WAAR, and WHD; notice there is no "V".
The first WV call precedes radio. It was the Merchant Steamer Vigilancia. It's calls were simply WV. It operated at 350 meters way back in August 1, 1907. But the first in West Virginia was WWVA-AM in Wheeling. http://earlyradiohistory.us/FCC2705a.htm
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
KLPI powers down
The station has a good history and We all hope they survive these dark 
days. Back in 1988 under their old KNLU calls they became one of the earliest college staitons to webcast. KLPI started out as WLPI-AM, a thesis paper on the subject of carrier currents that was written for a graduate Electrical Engineering class in 1966.
By 1969 the students from this class rented an office on Railroad Avenue with their own money and founded the start-up and operation of a real WLPI-AM. The station prospered and by 1972 switched to FM operation at 10 watts. But by December of 1982 they were running at 4,000 watts. But then after they applied to go to 20,000 watts things just fell apart.
days. Back in 1988 under their old KNLU calls they became one of the earliest college staitons to webcast. KLPI started out as WLPI-AM, a thesis paper on the subject of carrier currents that was written for a graduate Electrical Engineering class in 1966.By 1969 the students from this class rented an office on Railroad Avenue with their own money and founded the start-up and operation of a real WLPI-AM. The station prospered and by 1972 switched to FM operation at 10 watts. But by December of 1982 they were running at 4,000 watts. But then after they applied to go to 20,000 watts things just fell apart.
Louisiana Tech University had a problem. Their transmitter was very old and falling apart. Normally a schools 
board of directors would choose (by not choosing) to allow the transmitter to die a slow death and refuse to take action until it went to that great parts store in the sky. But in their defence transmitters are not cheap, and can't exactly get picked up at Radio Shack. This was going to cost a cool 100 grand easily.
But while approaching senility the KLPI transmitter began to cause interference with research and experiments in the on-campus science labs. This forced their hand. They asked KLPI to power down to reduce the problem so they could get back to doing nothing and not fixing the problem.
As an Engineer I am absolutly flustered by "not-fixing" as a solution. The "do-nothing" option makes me batty. Read more here. So KLPI after 4 decades of forward movement... takes a step backward.
board of directors would choose (by not choosing) to allow the transmitter to die a slow death and refuse to take action until it went to that great parts store in the sky. But in their defence transmitters are not cheap, and can't exactly get picked up at Radio Shack. This was going to cost a cool 100 grand easily.But while approaching senility the KLPI transmitter began to cause interference with research and experiments in the on-campus science labs. This forced their hand. They asked KLPI to power down to reduce the problem so they could get back to doing nothing and not fixing the problem.
As an Engineer I am absolutly flustered by "not-fixing" as a solution. The "do-nothing" option makes me batty. Read more here. So KLPI after 4 decades of forward movement... takes a step backward.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Tom Clay was a wack job.
I cite three prime events that prove my thesis :1. He was busted for payola and lost his job
2. Despite this he went on to defraud the residents of Detroit of about half a million dollars.
3. He accidentally cut a top 10 single.
These were not three random events. These were well thought out goals. Tom just wasn't working off the same life-planning sheet as the rest of us.
Mr. Clay was born in 1929, an indigenous New Yorker (real last name Clague) He rose to popularity in the1950s as a Detroit area DJ on 1490 WJBK-AM. It was a good job that parlayed into side gigs hosting dances and events. He screwed it up in 1959 by accepting over $6,000 in payola bribes thereby falling in to scandal and disrepute. In 2005 dollars that bribe would be over $40,000. By comparison, Alan Freed accepted about $34,000 in payola bribes at the same time. Bigger fish = bigger bribes. More on that here and here.
He gets lucky and crosses over to work at a Canadian station in the same market 800 CKLW-AM in neighboring Windsor, Ontario. At the time, the station was a taste-making Top 40 station, back when AM stations could do that. He did a Beatles interview there. More here.
So after burning his ass mishandling the till, he gets fired from CKLW-AM for something equally as bad. He hatched this scheme. He started a non-existent Beatles Fan club. And members paid $1 to join. The club had no benefits so the $1 just got a sticker or something. But with 80,000 not-so-bright members that means 80,000 one dollar bills appeared in his personal PO box. That's $506,940 in today's dollars. So yeah, they really had to fire him.
He tried to stay in the Motor City, but after some short gigs at 1310 WWWW-AM, 560 WQTE-AM, and WTAK-AM he had to leave town. He did manage to get some part-time work at 1020 KGBS in Los Angeles. It would never parlay into a full-time gig... but it did get
him production studio access which turned out to be really very important for his future.
It was there that he put together a medley of sorts. It was based around the song "What the World Needs Now Is Love" performed by the Blackberries. It was originally written by Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Hal David and originally performed by Jackie DeShannon. Over this Clay interspersed a narrative made of sound clips from speeches by John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. It was a little schlocky but so was that 7 o'clock News/Silent Night song that Simon and Garfunkel did in 1966 and it's considered a classic protest song.
He gets lucky and crosses over to work at a Canadian station in the same market 800 CKLW-AM in neighboring Windsor, Ontario. At the time, the station was a taste-making Top 40 station, back when AM stations could do that. He did a Beatles interview there. More here.So after burning his ass mishandling the till, he gets fired from CKLW-AM for something equally as bad. He hatched this scheme. He started a non-existent Beatles Fan club. And members paid $1 to join. The club had no benefits so the $1 just got a sticker or something. But with 80,000 not-so-bright members that means 80,000 one dollar bills appeared in his personal PO box. That's $506,940 in today's dollars. So yeah, they really had to fire him.
He tried to stay in the Motor City, but after some short gigs at 1310 WWWW-AM, 560 WQTE-AM, and WTAK-AM he had to leave town. He did manage to get some part-time work at 1020 KGBS in Los Angeles. It would never parlay into a full-time gig... but it did get
him production studio access which turned out to be really very important for his future. It was there that he put together a medley of sorts. It was based around the song "What the World Needs Now Is Love" performed by the Blackberries. It was originally written by Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Hal David and originally performed by Jackie DeShannon. Over this Clay interspersed a narrative made of sound clips from speeches by John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. It was a little schlocky but so was that 7 o'clock News/Silent Night song that Simon and Garfunkel did in 1966 and it's considered a classic protest song.
The single "What the World Needs Now Is Love" went to #8 on the Billboard chart. A follow-up album had respectable sales, but his second single single, "Whatever Happened To Love" tanked and he ended up collecting unemployment checks. Tom did a show on 1490 KBLA-AM. But his time in radio came to and end and Tom finished his career doing voice over. Cancer got him in 1995. If his discography interests you, his hit single was originally part of an LP. It's track listing is as follows:
(Side 1)
1. What the World Needs Now (Abraham, Martin & John) - 6:19
2. Whatever Happened To Love (Butler, Tom Clay) - 3:13
3. What's Going On (Cleveland, Gaye, Benson) - 3:07
4. For Years? (Tom Clay) - 1:58
5. The Victors (Tom Clay) - 4:35
(Side 2)
1. MacArthur Park (Webb) - 1:32
2. This Guy's In Love with You - 4:13
3. Baby I Need Your Loving (Holland, Dozier& Holland) - 2:30
4. Both Sides Now (Mitchell) - 3:50
5. Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon) - 2:30
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Other Border Radio
The term "Border radio" Is almost always assumed to mean our southern border. But the lower 48 states boarder two nations. Both Canada and Mexico license radio very differently than us. In this case I refer to information radio. Our information stations are everywhere, they cover parks, tourism, travel, traffic, weather safety etc. But Canda only has three.
The CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Corporation) just isn't cold on the idea. One of those three places is St. Stephen, New Brunswick. ...and what's so special about St. Stephen?
Well, it's directly across from Calais, Maine and there is a very popular bridge between the two for passing between the two countries. (Minor mention here.) The line of cars is very long and as you can se on this map marking the poorly planned snaking path, you can see why it takes forever. To be honest, I can say from experience that the search portion of the passage at the crossing takes mere minutes. The obstruction of the journey is the nutty snaking of the road there, like at the airport metal detector.
So, despite the fact that St. Stephen on their side of the border is so small it only has one radio staitn of it's own (the U.S. side has 4) It was the Canadians that swooped in to broadcast traffic
and travel information to the stranded travelers.
Here are the four Canadian information stations. You'll notice it's all related. The 4 stations reach between the crown of maine and a the smallest province of Canada. Apparently American tourists are trusted to travel throughout the rest of Canada unmanaged, but this northern passage requires a little assistance.
96.5 St. Stephen Information Radio, (St. Stephen, NB) Play loops of customs and border crossings, weather and local St. Stephen tourist info. They have signs along US1 in Calais, Maine, asking you to tune to 96.5 for customs info. No calls are ever used.
90.1 Central Nova Scotia Information Radio. Covering an area between between Amherst and Truro they run tourist information, weather, traffic reports. It can be heard along the Trans-Canada highway throughout western Nova Scotia. There are signs along the Trans-Canada advertising this station.
101.9 Moncton Information Radio, (Moncton, NB) It too runs local traffic reports weather and local information.
93.9 Confederation Bridge Information Radio, (Prince Edward Island) It runs traffic reports for the eleven mile bridge to PEI. It's programming is very similar to the other FM stations above.
The CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Corporation) just isn't cold on the idea. One of those three places is St. Stephen, New Brunswick. ...and what's so special about St. Stephen?Well, it's directly across from Calais, Maine and there is a very popular bridge between the two for passing between the two countries. (Minor mention here.) The line of cars is very long and as you can se on this map marking the poorly planned snaking path, you can see why it takes forever. To be honest, I can say from experience that the search portion of the passage at the crossing takes mere minutes. The obstruction of the journey is the nutty snaking of the road there, like at the airport metal detector.
So, despite the fact that St. Stephen on their side of the border is so small it only has one radio staitn of it's own (the U.S. side has 4) It was the Canadians that swooped in to broadcast traffic
and travel information to the stranded travelers.Here are the four Canadian information stations. You'll notice it's all related. The 4 stations reach between the crown of maine and a the smallest province of Canada. Apparently American tourists are trusted to travel throughout the rest of Canada unmanaged, but this northern passage requires a little assistance.
96.5 St. Stephen Information Radio, (St. Stephen, NB) Play loops of customs and border crossings, weather and local St. Stephen tourist info. They have signs along US1 in Calais, Maine, asking you to tune to 96.5 for customs info. No calls are ever used.
90.1 Central Nova Scotia Information Radio. Covering an area between between Amherst and Truro they run tourist information, weather, traffic reports. It can be heard along the Trans-Canada highway throughout western Nova Scotia. There are signs along the Trans-Canada advertising this station.
101.9 Moncton Information Radio, (Moncton, NB) It too runs local traffic reports weather and local information.
93.9 Confederation Bridge Information Radio, (Prince Edward Island) It runs traffic reports for the eleven mile bridge to PEI. It's programming is very similar to the other FM stations above.
Friday, February 09, 2007
KZM and KLX go seperate ways
Oakland is overshadowed by San Francisco's coloful radio history and so, Oakland is not 
remembered for it's radio heritage, but it like many towns, had its notable events. This is more of a parable. Two stations that began very equal and with two very different outcomes.
Preston Decker Allen became interested in radio in 1910, and began working nights as a Western Union telegraph operator while still in highschool. His interest led him to get one of the first amateur radio licenses, 6PF that same year. By 1911 the industrious young man was working for Marconi operating his high-powered trans-Pacific telegraph station at Kahuku, Hawaii. He did a tour of duty in WWI and returned to marconi afterwards in 1921.
But working for marconi wasn't going to be enough. He left Marconi after 2 more years and started a radio operator's training school called the Western Radio Institute. (NBC announcer Bill Andrews was one of Allen's first students) About mid-1921, an experimental radio station was started as a part of the school's operation. Allen built the transmitter from spare parts and a couple of discarded French tubes he had acquired while in Europe with the Navy, and it was on the air as 6XAJ. 6XAJ became KZM in September that same year.
News material to the radio staiton was provided by the local newspaper, the
Tribune. Or it was until Allen himself mistakenly convinced publisher Joseph Knowland that the Tribune should apply for its own license. Tribune went on the air as KLX July 25, 1922, sharing the single broadcast frequency of 360 meters with all other area stations. such was the curse of 1922...
At this point KLX was kind of faking it. It was operated with the same staff and equipment as KZM. For all intents and purposes they are the same damn 5 watt station. In 1923 they went to 100 watts still sharing everything like brothers at the Oakland Hotel .
But in 1923, the Tribune's new office building was finished. KLX moved off of KZM's couch and got it's own 500-watt transmitter and studios. The station even got it's own frequency at 590. Dejected Allen sold the KZM license to Leon P. Tenney, a Hayward businessman. Tenney turned KZM into a sharingtime with KRE in Berkeley, first on 1300 (breifly on 1370 too)
In January of 1930, Tenney sold the station to Julius Brunton and Sons, operators of KJBS. But
the FRC decided that the transfer of licese to Brunton was unauthorized. They killed the KZM license on June 23, 1931.
KLX asurvived unharmed for 30 years. In 1959 the Oakland Tribune sold KLX to the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. This company operated KFWB, a successful rock'n'roll station in Los Angeles, and KLX became KEWB and eventually KNEW. http://www.knew910.com/
remembered for it's radio heritage, but it like many towns, had its notable events. This is more of a parable. Two stations that began very equal and with two very different outcomes.Preston Decker Allen became interested in radio in 1910, and began working nights as a Western Union telegraph operator while still in highschool. His interest led him to get one of the first amateur radio licenses, 6PF that same year. By 1911 the industrious young man was working for Marconi operating his high-powered trans-Pacific telegraph station at Kahuku, Hawaii. He did a tour of duty in WWI and returned to marconi afterwards in 1921.
But working for marconi wasn't going to be enough. He left Marconi after 2 more years and started a radio operator's training school called the Western Radio Institute. (NBC announcer Bill Andrews was one of Allen's first students) About mid-1921, an experimental radio station was started as a part of the school's operation. Allen built the transmitter from spare parts and a couple of discarded French tubes he had acquired while in Europe with the Navy, and it was on the air as 6XAJ. 6XAJ became KZM in September that same year.News material to the radio staiton was provided by the local newspaper, the
Tribune. Or it was until Allen himself mistakenly convinced publisher Joseph Knowland that the Tribune should apply for its own license. Tribune went on the air as KLX July 25, 1922, sharing the single broadcast frequency of 360 meters with all other area stations. such was the curse of 1922...At this point KLX was kind of faking it. It was operated with the same staff and equipment as KZM. For all intents and purposes they are the same damn 5 watt station. In 1923 they went to 100 watts still sharing everything like brothers at the Oakland Hotel .
But in 1923, the Tribune's new office building was finished. KLX moved off of KZM's couch and got it's own 500-watt transmitter and studios. The station even got it's own frequency at 590. Dejected Allen sold the KZM license to Leon P. Tenney, a Hayward businessman. Tenney turned KZM into a sharingtime with KRE in Berkeley, first on 1300 (breifly on 1370 too)
In January of 1930, Tenney sold the station to Julius Brunton and Sons, operators of KJBS. But
the FRC decided that the transfer of licese to Brunton was unauthorized. They killed the KZM license on June 23, 1931.KLX asurvived unharmed for 30 years. In 1959 the Oakland Tribune sold KLX to the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. This company operated KFWB, a successful rock'n'roll station in Los Angeles, and KLX became KEWB and eventually KNEW. http://www.knew910.com/
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Radio station on Ebay
It's still uncommon, but the first time has come and gone as had the second and third and now partial ownership has been bought and sold and now people even aution off internet radio stations as if those have any assets of value. I've even seen DJ's sell themselves on enay. (click header) I broached the topic of the third last week, so now I'll start at the beginning. http://www.wyab.com/It was April 1st of 2002 that Matt Wesolowski and Mike Adkins became the proud owners of WYAB 93.1 FM, a 4,100-watt stick in Yazoo City, Miss. Matt got the radio bug back at WREK as the Sports director. He and Adkins had been looking to start a station for five year but they channel auction kept getting delayed.
WYAB was a fixer upper. The transmitter was junk. The tower needed work and the station barely made $600 pere month in sales with a staff of two. Wesolowski and Adkins pooled their life savings of less than $40,000 to get the financing. Today the station is solvent and a tight-knit part of the community. SSR communications currently plans to acquare additional stations.
Number 2 is a mystery. i've been told it was WTNS-AM but I can't find a coinciding change in ownership.
The third as previously mentioned was KTHO. You can read the gory details here. In March of 2003 KTHO's owner put the station up for sale on eBay. Included are the station's license,
studio equipment, and programming. Perhaps the sweetest part of the deal, however, is the transmitter site, which includes two 300-foot towers, plus nearly nine acres of tree-studded land in the Tahoe basin.Minimum bid for the station is $450,000,the movement appears to have petered out, with no stations sold on ebay from 2003 through 2007 and moset recently a station in spain selling 50% of ownership on ebay for $50,000 and getting zero bids. With the nuance wearing thin, owners go back to the trade magazines.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
A little more Fluff
I've been traveling the last 12 hours and I need to go to bed. In application this means I cannot write anything about radio. I am too tired to make any sense, of any kind. So here are more art deco & 1950s style motel signs. It has nothing to do with anything except my 2 spare hours this morning before the flight check-in.
If you forgot, it's here.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
The Sagebrush State
It's a moniker that has all the allure of "the Buckeye state" but none of the personality of "the Mighty 590", but Radio always had better branding than politics.
I hunted down a reputed record store this morning called Recycled records. Nice selection, and a very nice old box turntable for previewing. I picked up an Erase Erata remix EP and almost bought the Radiohead "Talk Show Host" import single, but opted not to drop the $10.
I drove around Reno afterwards trying to listen to 1400 KBDB-AM but above 1270 KBZZ-AM a local talker all I find are spanish stations. Evenualy I gave up and tried to get in K-Tahoe, 590 KTHO-AM but this too is inaudible in the neighborhood. KTHO almost lost their tower to a forest fire back in 2002. read about that here. They also have the bold position of being the third American radio station offered for sale on Ebay. Bidding started back in March of 2003 at $450,000. Which considering the last round of auctions is sadly a bargain.
I expected with the distant KTRB departure in Modesto that the RF haze at the bottom of the dial would clear somewhat but no dice. Maybe on the other side of the mountains...
Reno is a town built in the 1950s. The decor everywhere is a very indigenous art deco.. kind of like Cuba. The streets are lined with old Fords and Chevys. I actually saw a Ford Corcel sitting in front of a gas station for sale, only $1,200. And the motels all have large geometric neon lit signs, all very art deco leaning out above the roads. (pics here)
It is fairly certain that the first "licensed" radio amateur in Nevada was 6VI, operated by Mr. Willis Pressel. In the 1915 Department of Commerce Callbook he's listed with the address of "City Hall" here in Reno. it's generally assumed this is the location of his antenna. due to the location of his station's antenna which ran from the top of City Hall over to the Majestic Theater. Never to be left out of the game, The University of Nevada started a wireless station in 1916. I cant' find it's experimental calls but it became KOJ in 1922. It was revoked quickly because it was non-functional only 90 days later.
The first functional station 830 KDZK-AM was owned by the Nevada Machinery & Electric Company. It went live on July 21, 1922. Funding was difficult to maintain, but it's death blow was dealt by the Reno Musician's Union. In 1923 ASCAP began collecting royalties, even on the live performance of live music. The Reno Musicians Union was used as an enforcing arm which put a burden on the struggling new broadcaster.
...Now back to our regularly scheduled programming
I hunted down a reputed record store this morning called Recycled records. Nice selection, and a very nice old box turntable for previewing. I picked up an Erase Erata remix EP and almost bought the Radiohead "Talk Show Host" import single, but opted not to drop the $10.I drove around Reno afterwards trying to listen to 1400 KBDB-AM but above 1270 KBZZ-AM a local talker all I find are spanish stations. Evenualy I gave up and tried to get in K-Tahoe, 590 KTHO-AM but this too is inaudible in the neighborhood. KTHO almost lost their tower to a forest fire back in 2002. read about that here. They also have the bold position of being the third American radio station offered for sale on Ebay. Bidding started back in March of 2003 at $450,000. Which considering the last round of auctions is sadly a bargain.
I expected with the distant KTRB departure in Modesto that the RF haze at the bottom of the dial would clear somewhat but no dice. Maybe on the other side of the mountains...
Reno is a town built in the 1950s. The decor everywhere is a very indigenous art deco.. kind of like Cuba. The streets are lined with old Fords and Chevys. I actually saw a Ford Corcel sitting in front of a gas station for sale, only $1,200. And the motels all have large geometric neon lit signs, all very art deco leaning out above the roads. (pics here)
It is fairly certain that the first "licensed" radio amateur in Nevada was 6VI, operated by Mr. Willis Pressel. In the 1915 Department of Commerce Callbook he's listed with the address of "City Hall" here in Reno. it's generally assumed this is the location of his antenna. due to the location of his station's antenna which ran from the top of City Hall over to the Majestic Theater. Never to be left out of the game, The University of Nevada started a wireless station in 1916. I cant' find it's experimental calls but it became KOJ in 1922. It was revoked quickly because it was non-functional only 90 days later.
The first functional station 830 KDZK-AM was owned by the Nevada Machinery & Electric Company. It went live on July 21, 1922. Funding was difficult to maintain, but it's death blow was dealt by the Reno Musician's Union. In 1923 ASCAP began collecting royalties, even on the live performance of live music. The Reno Musicians Union was used as an enforcing arm which put a burden on the struggling new broadcaster....Now back to our regularly scheduled programming
Monday, February 05, 2007
The Biggest Little City
Or so they say...
The rental car agency, in a fit of strange humor rented me a white 2007 Mustang instead of the Grand Prix I requested. The auto fits in better in this weirdly country city. Althought the antennas and hardware do not fit at all well in the goddamned gas-guzzling 2-door muscle machine... Anyway, the presets on the car radio were all to country stations or static except one. 105.7 KOZZ.
A station that any other day of the week, any other hour of they
day would have bored me to tears was at that hour of the day running the Doctor Demento show. the man is a modern day Count Saint Germain seeming to live forever. His program has been running for more than 4 decades now, having spawned compilation albums, and even the careers of various novelty artists.
About 100 stations carry his program, I dont know what onces since he refusees to post them on his site mysteriously... The fine Doctor beggan his career not all that far from here on 106.7 KPPC back in 1970 while working Los Angeles. [KPPC is known as KROQ these days]
I stopped by a small guitar shop on 6th Street and head about some local color and the fine manufacture of a through-neck guitar. There is no community radio station in Reno, there are two NPR outlets KUNR and KKTO but both are talk heavy. A few miles away in Truckee, CA a repeater on 105.1 called K286AN-FM brings the eclectic KVMR tantalizingly close to Reno.
But these people want to change that, and good luck to them.
I wandered away from the casinos.. or I thought I did I keep finding more. they damn things are everywhere. There are slot machines in the damn grocery store. But in this wandering I found a nice eclectic music shop; The Antique Rocker on 454 Washington Street. They had a great collection of steel guitars, random LPs, and discount mandolins. behind the counter mixed in with the guitar strings was a random mutoscope disc... just sitting there. Well worth a visit.
The rental car agency, in a fit of strange humor rented me a white 2007 Mustang instead of the Grand Prix I requested. The auto fits in better in this weirdly country city. Althought the antennas and hardware do not fit at all well in the goddamned gas-guzzling 2-door muscle machine... Anyway, the presets on the car radio were all to country stations or static except one. 105.7 KOZZ.A station that any other day of the week, any other hour of they
day would have bored me to tears was at that hour of the day running the Doctor Demento show. the man is a modern day Count Saint Germain seeming to live forever. His program has been running for more than 4 decades now, having spawned compilation albums, and even the careers of various novelty artists.About 100 stations carry his program, I dont know what onces since he refusees to post them on his site mysteriously... The fine Doctor beggan his career not all that far from here on 106.7 KPPC back in 1970 while working Los Angeles. [KPPC is known as KROQ these days]
I stopped by a small guitar shop on 6th Street and head about some local color and the fine manufacture of a through-neck guitar. There is no community radio station in Reno, there are two NPR outlets KUNR and KKTO but both are talk heavy. A few miles away in Truckee, CA a repeater on 105.1 called K286AN-FM brings the eclectic KVMR tantalizingly close to Reno.
But these people want to change that, and good luck to them.
I wandered away from the casinos.. or I thought I did I keep finding more. they damn things are everywhere. There are slot machines in the damn grocery store. But in this wandering I found a nice eclectic music shop; The Antique Rocker on 454 Washington Street. They had a great collection of steel guitars, random LPs, and discount mandolins. behind the counter mixed in with the guitar strings was a random mutoscope disc... just sitting there. Well worth a visit.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
More Traveling
This shouldn't take long supposing there's no trouble. Posting may be late or interrupted depending on the reliability of air travel, rental cars etc.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
Spocko Vs. KSFO-AM
What a comedy this was.
in summary: Nerdy treckie turned Blogger decides he doesn't like
the racist jib-jabber and pro-violence blather on some talk programs on KSFO-AM. So he decides to fix it himself. He tapes the program for a few months. He edits together a "best-of reel" containing of some of the most violent, racist, and vile moments from the hundreds of hours of tape and then SENT IT TO THE SPONSORS!. Some Audio here, and here, of the offending remarks.
The sponsors yanked their ads. That got everybodys attention.
The best-of audio montage becomes a popular downloadable. Liberal blogs across the world mock the crap out of hosts like Melanie Morgan, Brian Susman, Lee Rodgers and others. Much fun is had by all. While the quotes are all out of context, they are all actual quotes... the mocking stung in the deep wound of the lost advertisers. The Bay Area-based blogger's days were numbered. http://www.spockosbrain.com/
My tale now approaches current events. Over the x-mas break ABC (the owners of KSFO) Issued a cease-and-desist letter that ultimately led Spocko's ISP to shut down his blog. On the morning of January 11th, on the KSFO Morning Show, co-host Ms.Morgan launched an assault on Mr. Spocko. More here.
Ms. Morgan admitted that advertizers have pulled their advertising from KSFO. And responded as follows "We have been under attack here at KSFO radio... It is something that has been quite disturbing to us at a number of levels but we are prepared to fight back against people who are trying to get us fired here at KSFO radio and who are trying to deprive us of a livelihood and who are trying to deprive us of our free speech rights... these audio clips which are out of context, old, or in some cases just outright lies."
They went on to lambast Spocko for using a psedonym... despite the fact that many radio personalsities do the same thing.
The part that amuses me is the accusation that the audio is essentialy fake. It's abundantly clear that while the audio is out of context, it is real. Morgan clearly got her britches burned. Actually the following companies have pulled out: Aetna Insurance, Borders Books , Bank of America, California State AAA , In-N-Out Burger and MasterCard
In it's heyday in the 1950's KSFO was owned by Gene Autry, and it's morning show had the modern equivalent of a 30 share. That programs host Don Sherwood , was another bad boy of radio. Since those wonderful pioneering days, KSFO has gone talk and become just another outlet for right talk radio. You can read about it's history here with audio clips.
In my opinion... That program didn't like the taste of their own medicine. Djs' regularly use pseudonyms and take quotes out of context, and will gleefully will spur the verbal lynching of any public figure major or minor for the sake of their own ego or fame. Spocko got the best of them, and Ms. Morgan & co. threw a tantrum. ABC was withing their rights insisting that the ISP pull down the audio, but the ISP overreacted by yanking the site entirely. I don't think it's all played out yet. We'll see what it did for their ratings in 60 days.
in summary: Nerdy treckie turned Blogger decides he doesn't like
the racist jib-jabber and pro-violence blather on some talk programs on KSFO-AM. So he decides to fix it himself. He tapes the program for a few months. He edits together a "best-of reel" containing of some of the most violent, racist, and vile moments from the hundreds of hours of tape and then SENT IT TO THE SPONSORS!. Some Audio here, and here, of the offending remarks.The sponsors yanked their ads. That got everybodys attention.
The best-of audio montage becomes a popular downloadable. Liberal blogs across the world mock the crap out of hosts like Melanie Morgan, Brian Susman, Lee Rodgers and others. Much fun is had by all. While the quotes are all out of context, they are all actual quotes... the mocking stung in the deep wound of the lost advertisers. The Bay Area-based blogger's days were numbered. http://www.spockosbrain.com/
My tale now approaches current events. Over the x-mas break ABC (the owners of KSFO) Issued a cease-and-desist letter that ultimately led Spocko's ISP to shut down his blog. On the morning of January 11th, on the KSFO Morning Show, co-host Ms.Morgan launched an assault on Mr. Spocko. More here.Ms. Morgan admitted that advertizers have pulled their advertising from KSFO. And responded as follows "We have been under attack here at KSFO radio... It is something that has been quite disturbing to us at a number of levels but we are prepared to fight back against people who are trying to get us fired here at KSFO radio and who are trying to deprive us of a livelihood and who are trying to deprive us of our free speech rights... these audio clips which are out of context, old, or in some cases just outright lies."
They went on to lambast Spocko for using a psedonym... despite the fact that many radio personalsities do the same thing.The part that amuses me is the accusation that the audio is essentialy fake. It's abundantly clear that while the audio is out of context, it is real. Morgan clearly got her britches burned. Actually the following companies have pulled out: Aetna Insurance, Borders Books , Bank of America, California State AAA , In-N-Out Burger and MasterCard
In it's heyday in the 1950's KSFO was owned by Gene Autry, and it's morning show had the modern equivalent of a 30 share. That programs host Don Sherwood , was another bad boy of radio. Since those wonderful pioneering days, KSFO has gone talk and become just another outlet for right talk radio. You can read about it's history here with audio clips.
In my opinion... That program didn't like the taste of their own medicine. Djs' regularly use pseudonyms and take quotes out of context, and will gleefully will spur the verbal lynching of any public figure major or minor for the sake of their own ego or fame. Spocko got the best of them, and Ms. Morgan & co. threw a tantrum. ABC was withing their rights insisting that the ISP pull down the audio, but the ISP overreacted by yanking the site entirely. I don't think it's all played out yet. We'll see what it did for their ratings in 60 days.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
The Pirates of Girdwood
In certain parts of the old American west there were no laws. As manifest destiny rolled over
frontiersmen, indians, and the like law (for whatever it was worth) rolled right over top of them. Today there are no truly lawless lands in the U.S. [except New Jersey] But in Alaska, some laws are taken a little less seriously.
Ordinarily a pirate broadcaster is shut down, his hardware seized and then fined. In Girdwood Alaska it went a little differently. KEUL began as Glacier City Radio a project of the Girdwood Community Club. They fired up their illegal tansmitter on February 26, 1997 on 88.5 FM.
In every sense of the word, they were a pirate radio station. But unlike a large 96.9 in San Diego, this small community of 1500 was thrilled, as were its own 70+ DJs. . There were no other local stations to interfere with and as they say... what's a crime if nobody ges hurt? The FCC decided their "feelings" were hurt and delivered unto them a cease and desist order. No fine. No seizure of hardware. just the waggling finger.
As I was told, KEUL was able to convince the agency that their services were needed in their community. At the urging of the FCC agents themselves, KEUL pulled themselves together and in mere months, had themselves a CP. Within a year they were back on air; this time legally. http://glaciercity.us/KEUL/index.html Today they continue to serve Girdwood Alaska with news, talk, bluegrass, triple A and a variety of other fare.
To me its ironic that only a few years later in the discussion of licensing Low Power stations it is suggested that convicted pirates be prohibited from holding licences...
frontiersmen, indians, and the like law (for whatever it was worth) rolled right over top of them. Today there are no truly lawless lands in the U.S. [except New Jersey] But in Alaska, some laws are taken a little less seriously.Ordinarily a pirate broadcaster is shut down, his hardware seized and then fined. In Girdwood Alaska it went a little differently. KEUL began as Glacier City Radio a project of the Girdwood Community Club. They fired up their illegal tansmitter on February 26, 1997 on 88.5 FM.
In every sense of the word, they were a pirate radio station. But unlike a large 96.9 in San Diego, this small community of 1500 was thrilled, as were its own 70+ DJs. . There were no other local stations to interfere with and as they say... what's a crime if nobody ges hurt? The FCC decided their "feelings" were hurt and delivered unto them a cease and desist order. No fine. No seizure of hardware. just the waggling finger.
As I was told, KEUL was able to convince the agency that their services were needed in their community. At the urging of the FCC agents themselves, KEUL pulled themselves together and in mere months, had themselves a CP. Within a year they were back on air; this time legally. http://glaciercity.us/KEUL/index.html Today they continue to serve Girdwood Alaska with news, talk, bluegrass, triple A and a variety of other fare.
To me its ironic that only a few years later in the discussion of licensing Low Power stations it is suggested that convicted pirates be prohibited from holding licences...
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