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LARadio Archives - 7 Years Ago Today
Big Changes at
CBS/LA
(February 27, 2014) Today could be a big day at CBS/LA. All week there
have been some significant rumors and stories that the CBS cluster, in
particular in the sales area, will be announcing some big changes. The company
has already experimented with some of the rumored changes in other markets.
Sales
are always of great concern. Are we or are we not going to make budget? CBS has
always been aggressive about making changes when they deemed it necessary. It
wasn’t too long ago that the general manager at KROQ,
Trip Reeb, was let go after enjoying
much success, in fact, the Alternative station had experienced being the #1
biller in the country. During a 2 ½
year period, the CBS cluster rotated five market managers in and out of Los
Angeles. The rumored changes will not be with the cluster manager. The point
being that the company is not afraid to make changes. The possible
changes, perhaps being announced as early as today, will be in the arena of
sales. To help cut expenses, some sales people (account executives) will be
moving to a salaried position and eliminating commissions. With this change, to
whatever degree, there will be a real restructuring of people and executives. The role of
the sales managers may also be altered. Even though
some inside the programming arena feel there is little room for further cuts,
apparently there will be cuts. The cluster already demonstrated a few months ago
by letting go the long-time evening personality at “the WAVE.” With the
economy the way it is and revenues where they are, these impending changes may
be necessary and part of an on-going reassessment of how to do business better.
We will know better as the day progresses.
Blackburn Leaves CBS/LA.
Yesterday, Valerie Blackburn,
Controller of the CBS/LA cluster and general manager at KFWB, announced
that she was leaving the company, sometime in April. In a memo to the
staff she indicated that the timing was right to do some traveling and
reconnect with friends and family.
When she was asked
if there was more to the story, Valerie commented: “Nothing more
complicated than I’m just ready to take some time off. I’ve seen
you do it a few times over the years, now it’s my turn! Timing is
good right now to do some travelling and reconnect with family and
friends. I’ll wander back to radio at some point – I’ll always be
a radio gal.”
Valerie has spent seven years at the CBS/LA cluster. Before joining CBS,
Valerie spent seven years with Susquehanna Radio where she served as
market controller before being elevated to director of business
operations for the San Francisco market. Prior to that, Valerie held a
similar position for 11 years with Jacor Broadcasting in Denver.
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For 25 years, LARadio has tracked thousands
of personalities who have entertained us in the Southland from 1957-present. These pages were never meant to be a life-time resume/bio but rather a snapshot of each on-air personality – where they came from, where and when they worked in Southern California, and where they are now. If you are on the listings, please update and make corrections as needed. A\B\C\D\E\F\G\H\I\J\K\L\M\N\O\P\Q\R\S\T-Z\W |
Recently added to the LARP Passing Parade
LIMBAUGH, Rush: KFI,
1991-2013; KEIB, 2014-21. To fully appreciate Rush's
contribution to contemporary Talk radio, it is important to take
politics out of the analysis. Rush was a radio man first. He,
arguably, would have been equally successful as Liberal. He died
February 17, 2021, of lung cancer, at the age of 70. A year
before his death, he announced he had Stage 4 cancer. The
homepage on Limbaugh’s site reads: “In Loving Memory of Rush
Hudson Limbaugh III The Greatest of All Time.”
His show
launched in radio syndication in August 1988 on 56 stations, and
Limbaugh eventually became one of the most influential
conservative voices in the media landscape. Fairly consistent
over the years, he was heard on more than 600 stations, reaching
27 million people weekly. Clear Channel (now iHeart Media)
carried his show on KFI and KEIB since the early 90s.
He
was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1993 and
the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1998.
He also hosted a short-lived tv show, voiced a few episodes of Family
Guy, and had a brief stint as an NFL commentator for ESPN
in 2003.
Born on January 12, 1951, in Cape Girardeau,
Missouri, Limbaugh began his radio career as a dj in 1971 and
continued to work in the medium throughout that decade before
joining Major League Baseball’s Kansas City in 1979, involved in
group sales and special events. He returned to radio in 1983. A
year later, he replaced Morton Downey Jr. on KFBK-AM Sacramento,
which led to his syndicated program.
For 25 years LARadio chronicled the news of Southern California radio and the personalities who populated it. Alan Oda was editor for much of that time. With the closing of LARadio he opened a weekly blog, mostly about radio at ayodaradio.blogspot.com |
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After 25 years, LARadio came to an end in 2020 Read the final column by clicking the curtain |
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Ladies of LARP Calendar in 2007
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Early LARadio was dominated by men. In the 70s women began to
find an important place - on and off-air - in creating the rich
history of LARadio. In 2007, we saluted the women in LARadio with a
calendar that included the names of the LARP who were having
birthdays that month. Calendar was sponsored by Mt. Wilson
Broadcasting. You can access it at this
link.
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Radio with Pictures
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Shannon Farren, Suzanne Ansilio, Susanne Whatley
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Tim Cates; Sam Phillips; Eric Weiss, Shelly Wade, Heather Cohen
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Ken Orchard, Mark Elliot; Doug "Sluggo" Roberts, Kevin Ryder; Lindy Thurrell
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Margaret Carrero; Rich Fields, Peter Marshall, Hugh Downs, Wink Martindale; Lori and Chris Madsen
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Chaka Khan; Mary Wilson, Don Malloy; Lisa Foxx, Sam Smith
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Charlie Van Dyke, Brandon Castillo; Gene & Julie; Lisa May, Sioux-z Jessup, Dona Dower, Tori Signal
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( Don Elliott, Humble Harve, Johnny Hayes, Mucho Morales,Mike Daniels, Mike Wagner, Mark Morris, Dominick Garcia; Rick Shaw; Jeff Federman, Scott Mason
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Lisa May; Bill Handel; Art Roberts standing over the Beatles
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Lara Scott in red next to Mark Hall, Reba Toney, Big Wave Dave, Bob Shaw. Everyone else is in Casting Crowns; Jay Coffey; Maggie McKay, Michael Shappee
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Vin Scully; Chick Hearn, Bob Miller; Mark Thompson, Brian Phelps; Mimi Chen
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Johnny Yang, Kelli Gates; Tom Cruise, Leo Quinones; David Letterman, Larry Morgan
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Bill Stewart, Lloyd Sigmon, Ira Cook, John McShane,
Johnny Grant, Phil Brooks, Harry Hutchens,
Dick Whittinghill;
Frank Mottek, Emiliano Limon,
Les Brown; Patt Morrison
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Jason Griffin, Christian Wheel, Robert Lyles, Missy Higgins, Dave “Chachi,” Darice Lee; Casey Kasem; Mike Sakellarids, Paul Freeman
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John Leisher, Jayne Bower, John Brooks; Rob Ismael, Larry Marino; Leeza Gibbons, Randy West
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