2009 in radio

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Several events are expected to occur in radio in 2009.

Contents 1 Events 2 Debuts 3 Closings 4 Deaths 5 References

[edit] Events

• January 1: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey.^[1]
• January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City.
• January 17: Two well known and critically acclaimed Alternative outlets, KDLD/Los Angeles, California and WHTG-FM/Eatontown, New Jersey, flip formats; KDLD to Regional Mexican (but its "Indie 103.1" format continues on the internet), WHTG to Top 40 Mainstream.
• January 20: Clear Channel Communications lays off 1,850 employees, including some of the companies' well known DJs and programmers.
• February 2: Mark Levin's show expands from two to three hours.
• February 2: Tom Kent joins ABC Radio.
• February 10: Muzak files for Chapter 11.
• February 10: In the wake of Chris Brown's arrest on felony and assault charges by physically assaulting fellow singer Rihanna (of which he was also dating), several radio stations, including the syndicated American Top 40, announced that they will temporarily stop airing Brown's songs.
• February 17: KMVK/Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas drops Rhythmic Adult Contemporary for Spanish Hot AC. They also join KXJM/Portland, Oregon and WMVN/St. Louis in dropping the MOViN format. This flip from MOViN' would be follwed the next day by WMUV/Jacksonville, who flipped to Classic Country.
• February 20: In the first of three moves affecting late night television on NBC, Conan O'Brien left Late Night, with Jimmy Fallon taking over with his version of the show March 2. In turn, O'Brien has taken The Tonight Show June 1, immediately after Jay Leno left the show May 29. To complete the shift, on September 14, Leno will debut as host of The Jay Leno Show. As of February 20, Leno's Tonight and O'Brien's Late Night were airing radio highlights on Westwood One. Both shows, with their new hosts, continue to air highlights on the network.
• February 20: Pioneering Talk FM outlet KLSX/Los Angeles flips to a younger targeted, Rhythmic Pop-flavored Top 40 format as "97.1 AMP Radio." All of the stations' airstaff, including Adam Carolla and Tom Leykis were terminated. The AMP Radio format, which was heard on the HD2 subcarrier of KCBS-FM, will compete against the already established Mainstream KIIS-FM and Rhythmic KPWR for listeners.
• March 1: Thom Hartmann is scheduled to move from his current syndicator, Air America Media, to Dial Global.
• March 1: KPTY/Houston, Texas drops Rhythmic contemporary and returns to its former Regional Mexican format. This move comes just two days after parent owner Univision announced that they were eliminating 6% of their employees at their properties; the stations' airstaff, with the exception of the PD, would be among those being pink-slipped.
• March 2: Another "MOViN" station switches directions as KYMV/Salt Lake City flips to Top 40/Mainstream but keeps the monicker intact.
• March 9: WXRK in New York City drops its "K-Rock" format for contemporary hit radio "92.3 NOW FM;" though the format change was not expected until March 11; morning hosts Opie and Anthony were dropped, and furthermore CBS Radio discontinued their terrestrial syndication. Their satellite radio show will continue unaffected.
• March 17: After spending 3 decades with the CBC, 30 of them at CBC Radio One and as host of the networks' "World Report" since 1993, host Judy Maddren annouces her retirement.
• March 28: Dick Bartley leaves ABC Radio and joins United Stations Radio Networks the next week.
• April 1: Hot AC KFRH/Las Vegas becomes the second station this year to adopt the Top 40 "Now" approach.
• April 2: Citadel Broadcasting announces that it has renamed ABC Radio Networks Citadel Media. The Walt Disney Company will continue to retain its ownership of ABC Radio programming however.
• April 15: KMVN/Los Angeles will become the latest "MOViN'" outlet to exit the format, as Emmis leases the station to Groupo Radio Centro, who plan to broadcast a Spanish music direction on the signal.
• April 27: Active Rock outlet WXMM/Norfolk, Virginia brings Top 40 back to the Hampton Roads-Tidewater area.
• April 28: Clear Channel announces another round of job cuts, 590 total.
• May 11: The Randi Rhodes Show is scheduled to return to radio through Premiere Radio Networks, airing on flagship WJNO as well as several Clear Channel owned progressive-talk outlets on the West Coast.
• May 15: Sheridan Broadcasting sells WAMO-AM/FM and WPGR/Pittsburgh to St. Joseph Missions for $8.9 million. All three stations will flip to religious programming in July, leaving Pittsburgh without any type of Urban or R&B outlet.
• May 18: KKSF/San Francisco drops Smooth Jazz for Classic Hits as "103.7 The Band."
• May 18: Tony Kornheiser is released from his contract with Monday Night Football, clearing the way for him to relaunch his radio show, The Tony Kornheiser Show. Several stations are in negotiations to bring Kornheiser to their stations.
• May 21: A day of surprise format flips as Alternative outlets KWOD/Sacramento, WMFS/Memphis, and WSWD/Cincinnati all exit the format for 90's hits (KWOD), ESPN Radio (WMFS), and Country (WSWD), respectively, while WNUA/Chicago drops Smooth Jazz for Spanish Contemporary.
• May 27: Microsoft announces that HD Radio features will be added to its Zune products, beginning in the Fall. This will mark the first time that a portable device will include radio stations with HD subchannel capability.
• June 1: Washington DC will have a full time Dance outlet, as Mega Media launches its "Pulse 87" brand, currently only heard on WNYZ-LP in New York City, on LPTV outlet WDCN-LP. The station broadcast on channel 6.
• June 1: KZMP-AM/Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas is relaunched as an ESPN Deportes Radio affiliate. Program simulcasted on KNIT-AM.
• June 5: Toronto, Ontario once again has a full-signal Top 40 outlet as CJAQ drops Jack FM and returns to its former format and its "Kiss FM" moniker, just one day past the sixth anniversary of its 2003 flip from "Kiss" to "Jack". The move now leaves Canada's largest radio market without an adult hits outlet, though portions of the market are served by Jack-branded WBUF in Buffalo, New York.
• June 20: The "AMP" Top 40 format crosses the border to Canada, as Alternative outlet CFUL/Calgary, Alberta becomes the first non-U.S. convert.

[edit] Debuts

• January: Compass Media Networks launches, taking over syndication of the Lars Larson Show in April and The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show in March.
• January: The Huckabee Report. Short-form political commentary hosted by former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee and syndicated by ABC Radio.
• February 23: Jason Lewis takes his show national through Premiere Radio Networks.
• March 2: The Fred Thompson Show. Former U.S. Senator and actor Fred Thompson takes over the time slot to be vacated by Bill O'Reilly. Syndicated by Westwood One.
• April 13: Montel Williams debuts on Air America Media, replacing Lionel, who moves to morning drive the next month.
• June 15: America's Morning News, hosted by Melanie Morgan and featuring the staff of the Washington Times, debuts on Talk Radio Network.

[edit] Closings

• February 19: Nova M Radio goes bankrupt; a new network named "On Second Thought" is formed in its place. Mike Malloy will be on the new network, but The Randi Rhodes Show will not.
• February 20: The Adam Carolla Show and The Tom Leykis Show. Flagship station KLSX dropped the hot talk shows in a format change, leaving their affiliate bases to carry "Best Of" programming for a month.
• February 26: The Radio Factor. Bill O'Reilly will leave the show to focus on other projects.
• March 16: Mo'Nique's syndicated radio show is cancelled by Radio One after ten months.
• March 20: The Peter B. Collins show cancels itself after failing to secure a syndication contract.
• March 23: News and Comment (hosted by Gil Gross) and The Rest of the Story (hosted by Doug Limerick) simultaneously end their runs, to be replaced by The Huckabee Report. The move comes only three weeks after Gross and Limerick had been named permanent hosts to the two programs, which had previously been hosted by Paul Harvey.
• May 30: Tammy Bruce discontinues her weekend syndicated program, due to frustrations over sports preemptions. The show will continue as an Internet-only program, and her weekday syndicated show will continue.
• May 31: Costas on the Radio ends its run. No reason is given.
• June 5: R&R publishes its final issue after 36 years, the last three as sister publication to Billboard.
• June 12: The DTV transition in the United States occurs, forcing several stations on channel 6 to shut down their automatic FM simulcasts on 87.7 MHz.
• July 4: The final episodes of "American Top 20" and "American Top 10," hosted by Casey Kasem, will be released to stations; some stations will not air the shows until July 5. No reason was given, though Kasem, now 77, is likely retiring.

[edit] Deaths

• Larry Glick, 87. Overnight radio host at WBZ in Boston from 1968-1986. Died March 26.
• Paul Harvey, 90. Influential American commentator who hosted The Rest of the Story and News and Comment for 58 years. Died February 28.
• Irv Homer, 75. Philadelphia area talk radio host from 1975 to 2007. Died June 24.
• Michael Jackson, 50. Worldwide famous singer, dancer, and actor whose Thriller album was the biggest-selling album of all time. Died June 25 of a drug-related cardiac arrest. As the result of his death, most radio stations in the United States played tributes to Jackson and his music.
• Harry Kalas, 73. Play-by-play announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1971 to until the day before his death, as well as for the NFL on Westwood One and NFL Films. Died April 13. ^[2]
• George Kell, 86, Detroit Tigers play-by-play announcer from 1959-1996, died March 24.^[3]
• Ed McMahon, 86. Host of the NBC program Monitor and, at the time of his death, the weekly talk show Lifestyles, as well as several television shows. Died June 23.
• Ed Schwartz, 62. Longtime Chicago late-night radio host; died February 4.
• Ron Silver, 62. Actor, director, producer and political activist; was midday host on Sirius XM's P.O.T.U.S channel. Died March 15.
• George Weber, 48. Newsman for ABC Radio; stabbed to death March 20.
• Erika Roman, 33. Radio personality with WPYO/Orlando, Florida and promoter for Fever Records; car crash, May 1.^[4].

[edit] References