SDNN: Legalize Marijuana to Save California?

SDNN: Hacksaw...Reverse the Padres Draft Curse

Radio World: When Was The Last Time You Saw a Tube Tester?

TV Tech: 3.1 Million Households Still Undready for DTV Transition

Jacobs Media: The news that Clear Channel is launching a project to help unemployed workers in markets they serve is interesting, to say the least. Overall, 21 Clear Channel stations are taking part in this project, which begs the question: Isn't that about 2% of the estimated 900 stations the company owns? That's the best turnout they could muster?

Reno Gazette Journal: KQLO-AM has been sold by the U.S. bankruptcy court in Reno to a Sun Valley man for $65,000, according to media broker Ray H. Rosenblum of Pittsburgh

XM Fan: Royalty Increases Being Passed Along To Sat Subscribers? Is SIRIUS XM planning to pass along the cost of an increased music royalty fee to subscribers? An anonymous poster at XMFAN.COM, who many suspect is actually a SIRIUS XM employee, writes, "The U.S. Music Royalty Fee will be applied to all music subscriptions that SIRIUS XM offers. The fee will be implemented on JULY 29th, 2009. The existing Subscriber base will receive this fee on their first billing after this date. The fee will be applied to all satellite plans with music content on a Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annual and all Annual Savings Plans. Lifetime Subscribers, who have purchased prior to JULY 29th, will never receive the US Music Royalty Fee." The new fees are reportedly $1.98 monthly for subscribers paying $12.95, multiple radios will be charged $0.97 monthly and Mostly Music plans at $9.99 will be charged a US Music Royalty Fee of $1.53.

SOSD: Jay Posner: ESPN Radio 800 has agreed in principle to carry NFL games broadcast by Compass Media Networks, which last week named Lee Hamilton as one of its announcers. So, unless there's a conflict with ESPN's postseason baseball coverage, we'll be able to guess along with the rest of the country in wondering who went into the pattern (“everybody”) or who caught a pass (“the receiver”). Ah, memories.

Mutterings (May 29, 2009)

Greg Simms is no longer at Jack-FM. He was a mainstay at the same frequency when it was once called Star 100.7 and paired off with Big Hair Anita for the midday shift in the late 90s.

FM 94/9 is coming up with yet another Coup d'eTat weekend in June according to its e-mailed newsletters. See http://www.fm949sd.com/ for more.

This year's Comic Con is sold out. They're thinking of moving to another venue in the future. Suggestion: open up for three consecutive weekends a year.

Unsalted almonds, protein shakes, salmon, hummus. I just read that Melissa Joan Hart lost weight in part by consuming these as part of her diet. Funny to think that they're part of my diet too.

The Wires (May 29, 2009)

The Independent U.K. Glenn Beck is 10 seconds into his daily talkshow, and already he's reached a rolling boil. "What are the mainstream media missing?" he wonders, bounding onstage like the Duracell Bunny. "I mean, besides EVERYTHING? You are not going to BELIEVE some of the crap that's going on in the world today!" And so it begins: a fresh dose of outrage from the latest "hot" voice in US conservatism.

Wired: Late yesterday, Microsoft announced the next move in its long-running, thus-far-unsuccessful campaign to chip away at the iPod's dominance of the media-player market - Like the Touch, the Zune HD will feature WiFi wireless networking, a Web browser and a color and a touch-sensitive screen big enough to watch downloaded TV shows and movies.

Hear 2.0: While the Zune is nothing special and HD radio is nothing special and together they're nothing special, it's also true that the Zune did not NEED to add HD radio, but it did anyway. And that says something, I suppose.

Radio-info.com: Lincoln, Nebraska’s “Breeze” KRKR (95.1) goes dark for “financial reasons.”Chapin Enterprises acquired the Class C2 station two years ago, when Rolland Johnson’s Three Eagles Communications needed to divest an FM. Since then, the station’s gone through several formats, from its original classic rock to talk to (now) soft AC as “The Breeze.” Richard Chapin tells the Lincoln Journal Star the surprise sign-off is due to “financial reasons” and says “hopefully, it’ll be back on the air in a couple of weeks.”

The Wires (May 28, 2009)

Tom Taylor of radio-info.com: Microsoft’s new-model Zune will carry an HD Radio chip. The “Zune HD” is Microsoft’s latest attempt to take market share away from the iPod Touch, and it features a touch screen, the ability to surf the Internet – and HD Radio. Though the “HD” in the product name likely refers to HD television, since this gizmo can be docked to a television set to play your favorite Sunday NFL game or movie in HDTV. But getting an HD Radio chip into the planning is a win for the HD Radio Alliance. It’s also a win for iBiquity, whose development efforts have reduced the HD chip down to a size where it can fit in mobile devices. Look for the new Zune HD this Fall.

SDNN.com: Hacksaw: Sights and sounds from Padres homestand by Lee Hacksaw Hamilton.

SD City Beat: Shrinkage. San Diego News Network is losing staff and dialing back its mission

Telegraph UK: Listening to football on the radio while driving is dangerous, say scientists (read more - Lucy Cockcroft - The Telegraph U.K.)

Chronic Magazine: The hot-button issue of whether radio should pay performance royalties to artists for playing their music has split Michigan Democrat John Conyers from some of his long-time allies in the civil rights movement. Following in the footsteps of satellite, cable and Internet music services, the Performance Rights Act would result in AM and FM radio stations paying performers to play their songs.

Inside Music Media: You know the concept - national radio instead of local. The Times stuffed a white sheet of paper in the newspaper last week to tell me they were raising my subscription price again. I'm sorry that The NY Times is having financial problems. Sorry about buying The Boston Globe and taking on all that debt but don't screw with your loyal subscribers. In Phoenix and LA, the Sunday paper isn't even the real deal - only the metro area Sunday Times is the whole package and even metro subscribers are paying an increase. So, sit down and see how dumb I have been and how dumber The New York Times is being. How's $796 a year for seven-day service without the real estate section! That's their new rate. How about free on the Internet -- that's my new rate.

Jeff Foxworthy Countdown: This weekend, May 30 and 31, marks the 10th anniversary of Premiere Radio's The Jeff Foxworthy Countdown. The weekly four-hour radio show features the current Top 30 country hits as well as interviews with the biggest stars, and airs on nearly 300 radio stations nationwide.

No Performance Tax: NAB Launches 'Anti-Performance Tax' Spot Contest. NAB has set "Don't Tax That Dial," an anti-performance tax spot creation contest. Radio stations nationwide are encouraged to produce and air their own 30-second radio spots opposing the performance tax. The competition, dubbed "Don't Tax That Dial," will call on the creative skills and promotional power of radio stations in an effort to thwart a lobbying campaign by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which aims to levy a new fee on radio stations for music aired free to listeners.

Randy Dotinga: Static - On Airwaves...Less News is Bad News.

Voice of San Diego: Randy Dotinga: On the Airwaves, News You Can Lose?

Melissa Joan Hart Does a Valerie Bertinelli Impression on People (May 28, 2009)

Lose over 40 pounds and appear on the cover of People Magazine, out Thursday.

Click the picture to read more about it.

Twitter Down (May 28, 2009)

Some news wires are reporing that Twitter may transform parts or all of itself into a pay service.

I will dump my Twitter account when that happens. Enjoy it while you can.

For Those Who Wondered... (May 27, 2009)

Also down over the weekend is Tom Taylor's website radio-info.com. The message board has been down more of the time. At press time, the message board is still down.

Also remember that you can type in davidtanny.com and get the same exact website as sandiegoradionews.com so if you can't spell my name correctly, just use sandiegoradionews.com to get to this website.

KSNS Sold (May 27, 2009)

"San Diego’s former KSON-AM at 1240 is sold to longtime LMA partner Arthur Liu, and the price is $7.25 million. Liu’s been running a brokered format on the station that flipped to brokered Christian teaching back in January. It also took new call letters of KNSN, to distinguish itself from “Country 97” KSON-FM, which Lincoln Financial Media retains. Arthur Liu’s Multicultural Radio Broadcasting has been leasing the 1240 frequency for nearly six years, since July 2003. In those days, the station was owned by Jefferson-Pilot. Broker Michael Bergner notes that “the closing was delayed when a storm damaged the tower in late 2005.” KNSN operates with 550 watts, day and night. Bergner was the sole broker working on the deal – which just closed."

The Wires (May 27, 2009)

Radio and Records: After a 19-year run in Los Angeles, legendary classical radio station K-MOZART is back by popular demand and on May 31, will be broadcast 24/7 in digital stereo on 105.1 HD2. K-MOZART will also be simulcast Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on sister station KGIL 1260 AM, which will soon be installing HD equipment providing audio quality comparable to FM.

All Access: Classic Hits XHPRS (105.7 THE WALRUS)/SAN DIEGO has promoted Dave Mason to PD.

All Access: Veteran SAN DIEGO talker MARK LARSON returns to SALEM Talk KCBQ-A/SAN DIEGO for weekdays 7-9a PT, starting JUNE 1. LARSON, most recently at crosstown BCA Talk XEPE-A (SAN DIEGO 1700) and previously at CLEAR CHANNEL Talk KOGO-A and MIDWEST TV Talk KFMB-A, replaces two hours of SALEM's MIKE GALLAGHER in the lineup. He was with KCBQ as GM when SALEM flipped the station to the present version of its Talk format in 1999.