Jay Posner: Enberg is Ready to Talk Baseball

John Maffei: Padres makes a splash with hiring of broadcasting great Enberg

Gary Lycan: It was a big week in Southern California radio. First, the news that KFI/640 AM's Bill Handel and John & Ken are broadcasting their shows live from Orange on Tuesday (Dec. 8). Next, the historic news that classic hits KRTH/101.1 FM for the first time ever was No. 1 overall in the Arbitron ratings. Third, John Batchelor, ex-KFI, has replaced Curtis Sliwa on KABC/790 AM.

Inside Music Media: The end game for the private equity firms that now have the likes of Citadel and Cumulus on the ropes is to sell what they have acquired, but these companies are in such short pants, that they have to trade back equity for the huge debt that they cannot repay. The recession hurts, no doubt. But the real problem is that the debt was not repayable from the start

Ross on Records: Bobby Rich (Dec 4, 2009)

The most fascinating radio of the last week û at least for a few of us û was more than thirty years old. It was a Thanksgiving Weekend stream of airchecks on Reelradio.com featuring Bobby RichÆs 1976 ôTurkey Hoursö at KFMB-AM San Diego. RichÆs hour-long appearances on the full-service AM sister of KFMB-FM (B100), the Top 40 station that made him famous, specialized in songs that werenÆt necessarily campy but were long-gone from station libraries. They were ôLost 45s,ö before Barry ScottÆs show specializing in that type of Oldie.

RichÆs shows were often co-hosted by local record collectors, playing their own ôOh Wowö oldies from home. And on the show I heard, the thing that excited Rich the most was that his co-host had brought in ôNothing but a Heartacheö by the Flirtations û a No. 34 record that was only from 1969, but couldnÆt have been more gone from the radio seven years later. A few months later, I would discover ôNothing but a Heartacheö for myself on WGN Chicago, another full-service AM breaking format with a similar program.

IÆve never come across ôHeartacheö on an actual 1969 aircheck. I canÆt even imagine hearing it on todayÆs Greatest Hits FMs in regular format. But Rich Appel has played it in his anything goes shifts on WGHT (North Jersey 1500). ItÆs been in Clarke IngramÆs countdowns on WKHB Pittsburgh. And earlier this year, it was No. 2 on the countdown of ôshouldÆve been hitsö on Bob RadilÆs WNHU New Haven, Conn., show. And Scott says the song (which was a No. 3 hit in Boston) was indeed a fixture on the ôLost 45sö Top 100 countdown for many years, and still gets requests.

In other words, for Oldies fans of a certain era, ôNothing But A Heartacheö is ôBrown Eyed Girlö or ôCalifornia Dreamingö or ôMony Mony.ö And it deserves to be: it has an intro so ominous it makes RihannaÆs ôRussian Rouletteö sound like ôIÆve Never Been To Me,ö along with one of the great, high-powered female R&B vocals of all time, and the biggest finish ever (at least until ôRussian Rouletteö). It has a Spector-like massiveness to itùsomething that undoubtedly made it sound retro already in 1969. ItÆs also by an American R&B group through the decidedly different filter of British writer/producers, not unlike todayÆs sound of Scandinavian soul.

About a quarter of this columnÆs readers are already nodding in agreement. The rest will have to listen here.

Dave's Gone By 11/25/09 (Dec 4, 2009)

THIS LOCATION!

This episode features:

Denise Winston

* A chat with banker Denise Winston (pictured), whose tales of robberies, crazy customers and service wolves may send you screaming to the nearest ATM.

* Inside Broadway - news about New York theater plus a review of Superior Donuts and a contest to win a Sound of Music anniversary CD!: http://totaltheater.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=55

* Plus a visit from former DGB co-host Jeff Goodman (pictured, with Dave), just back from Thailand and Singapore with stories galore.

Says Dave about this week's show, "Turn on the TV, and every morning show, every news program has a segment about money. Understandable, considering the economy, but enough already! Finally, hereÆs a look at where we keep our money. You know, there's something to be said for the barter system."

DAVE ANYTIME!!!

Dave's Gone By episodes are archived, free, on the web! They're at www.davesgoneby.org. Over 300 vintage episodes are now on online so you need never miss a Dave again!

Among the guests in the archive: Linda Eder, Peter Tork, Neil Sedaka, Christine Lavin, Jill Sobule, Uncle Floyd, Ute Lemper, Joe Franklin, Issa, Wing, Juliana Hatfield, Fyvush Finkel and Tovah Feldshuh!

DAVE'S GONE BY offers a weekly mix of talk, humor and music, from political commentary to sketch comedy, from theater reviews to interviews, from musical detours to straight-talking monologues. Guests have included Neil Sedaka, Christine Lavin, Neil Innes, Uncle Floyd, Maude Maggart, Tom Paxton, Issa, Wreckless Eric, Joe Franklin and Fyvush Finkel. Popular segments include "News Gone By," "Inside Broadway," "The World Weird Web" and "Dave's Gone Cultural." Visit us at www.davesgoneby.org.

Since debuting Oct. 6, 2002, DAVE'S GONE BY has treated listeners to one of the most off-beat and engaging shows in terrestrial and now web radio. An award-winning playwright, Dave Lefkowitz is founder and editor of TotalTheater.com, co-publisher of Performing Arts Insider (www.PerformingArtsInsider.com), producer of ôShalom, Dammit!ö, contributing editor to TheaterNewsOnline.com, and monthly columnist for the Long Island Pulse.

DAVE'S GONE BY is produced by TotalTheater Productions ( P.O. Box 31, Greeley, CO 80632-0031. TotalTheater.com).

The Wires (Dec 4, 2009)

SDNN: Dick Enberg to join Padres broadcast team

Gary Lycan: It was a big week in Southern California radio. First, the news that KFI/640 AM's Bill Handel and John & Ken are broadcasting their shows live from Orange on Tuesday (Dec. 8). Next, the historic news that classic hits KRTH/101.1 FM for the first time ever was No. 1 overall in the Arbitron ratings. Third, John Batchelor, ex-KFI, has replaced Curtis Sliwa on KABC/790 AM.

The Grammy Nominations were announced and thereÆs no longer a category for ôBest Polka Album.ö This is NOT the change we voted for.

New York Biz: Comcast to pay $13.75B for 51% NBC stake

Los Angeles Times: K-Earth tops Southland radio ratings

ABC 7 TV El Paso: Famous boxing announcer Michael Buffer has filed a lawsuit against a Borderland radio station, alleging XHNZ 107.5 used his copyrighted catch phrase "Let's get ready to [you-know-what]" without his permission

SDRadio.net: Sophie@103.7 To Air Breaking And Entering

The Wires (Dec 3, 2009)

Motley Fool: So, what do you think of the new Sirius XM ad? I just think Sirius XM needs to do a better job in reaching out to the retail market or winning back its growing ranks of former subscribers. These are the people that don't just want to hear that satellite radio is "changing" the industry: They want to know how Sirius XM is setting out to do exactly that.

Wall Street Journal: Rupert Murdoch urges media to charge Internet users: At a two-day conference with the Federal Trade Commission, media mogul Murdoch says media must make consumers pay for online content

Randy Dotinga: It's that season: Give, give and get

The Wires (Dec 2, 2009)

Wall Street Journal: Radio's online audience is growing at an impressive pace at a time when the beleaguered radio industry needs all the ears it can get. But radio companies, suffering their third straight year of revenue declines, are having trouble turning that audience into the cash they crave.

Robert Felder: As far as IÆm concerned, the Loop hasnÆt been a real Chicago radio station since last March. ThatÆs when Emmis Communications, owner of classic rock WLUP-FM (97.9), fired most of the people who had any brains and outsourced all programming, imaging and branding functions to St. Louis. Yes, St. Louis. So the decision to cut morning personality Jonathon Brandmeier loose Monday was surprising only in that it took Emmis an additional eight months to pull off.

Mel Phillips: Radio Is Growing An Online Audience But WhereÆs The Revenue??? Radio streaming on the Internet is booming with more than 42 million listeners. This figure has doubled over the last five years, according to market-research firms Edison Research Inc. and Arbitron Inc.

Forum: The Waning Days of laradio.com? (Dec 1, 2009)

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,157866.0.html

A regular reader of laradio.com posts that "Lately Don Barrett has been strongly implying these are the waning days of LARadio.com and by the end of December LARadio.com will not be how we remember it. That is too bad, it was an good way for the Southern California radio community to connect. Granted breaking news or other industry news was often few, far and in-between, and more often than not it was an gossip site, and admittedly it seemed silly printing what songs were played on KRTH that morning, but it was enjoyable reading in the morning and I made some contacts through Mr. Barrett's site. Mr. Barrett has said the reason for ending the current site is basically the model he is using is no longer profitable, along with password sharing."

Another poster replied, "It is sad but I certainly don't blame him if it now takes more time and effort to produce and doesn't bring in the revenue. But then again I can't imagine that the site would have that much overhead, hosting is real cheap these days and it doesn't seem like he has a webmaster since it does look quite plain and simple."

The Wires (Dec 1, 2009)

Vocalo: This just in: Jonathon Brandmeier, one of the last of Chicago radio's million-dollar superstars, is signing off at the Loop. After four years this time around as morning personality at classic rock WLUP-FM (97.9), Brandmeier is expected to part company with the Emmis Communications station.

Examiner: Question: There's been a goodly amount of media coverage this year about smooth jazz radio's demise. To your mind, what is causing the decline and what, if anything, can be done to turn it around? Dave Koz: Everything in life has an ebb and flow. Smooth jazz radio has been flourishing for around 20 years - which is an amazing amount of time for any niche format. But as the audience has aged (and not enough younger people have come to the format), it's been a tougher entity to sell to advertisers . and, like it or not, that is the lifeline of radio.

NY Post: "The DVR phenomenon is a little bit higher than we thought," said David Poltrack, CBS' chief research executive - It seems that not only are viewers tuning out Leno and other shows offered at 10 p.m. -- they are actually using the slot to catch up on shows they've recorded.

Danville News: Although he seems to resent his Danville upbringing, "Mojo Nixon" also credits his youth spent in Southside - at least in some part - for his success as an eccentric personality, recording artist and, most currently, satellite radio host

LA Times: The signal is fading on radio traffic reports as motorists continue to rely on GPS devices and cell phones to monitor traffic

Inside Music Media: Six weeks and counting until January 15th - the deadline for the first failed radio consolidator to file for bankruptcy. That's when Citadel will either throw itself on the mercy of the courts or its lenders will bitch slap CEO Fagreed Suleman into a prepackaged reorganization that will cede operating ownership to the equity holders. But to understand what will happen, keep in mind the problems at Clear Channel and Cumulus as well and you can see why the radio industry is in for a rough ride. Its three largest consolidators are on the ropes

Ron Jacobs: Monday I crawled through traffic to reach Farrington High School in the Kalihi section of Honolulu - The staff and students were wonderful. The older folks remembered specific things from listening to KPOI-AM - from 50 years ago, 1959. The kids were quiet at the start. By the time I was finished I was getting laughs from usually taciturn teenagers, most of whom are one-fifth my age. A successful encounter with young people is always a good trip