Category Archives: Hearne_Christopher

I’ll make this brief because, as many of you know, I’m bullish on Star sports scribe Sam Mellinger…

And I know that being a columnist with a finite beat like sports is a mixed blessing. On one hand it’s a somewhat sexy subject, a lot of people follow the local teams and and you can say almost anything you want because they’re public figures. On the other, you’re stuck writing about the Royals for six months.

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Here we go again, but this time for all the money…

Talkers Magazine – the talk radio trade pub for folks like Tom Becka and Chris Stigall – has unleashed its list of Top Talkers to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the magazine.

Think of it, 20 years of talk radio dating to the year 1991. And that’s just for the magazine.

Guys like Dave Dawson, Mike Murphy and Mike Shanin rummaging around local airwaves well before that.

I can’t recall the exact date, but I remember when a young freelance writer named C.J. Janovy, working then as an office temp, had the bright idea in the early days of the Pitch to round up a blowhard by the name of Rush Limbaugh and hang him out to dry.

Did she ever.

C.J. taught El Rushbo a lesson he’d never forget.

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Whatever became of the nobler aspects of rock ‘n’ roll?

You know, the part where the promoters, radio personalities and stations actually cared about the artists, fans and listeners? As opposed to declaring war on one another over small-minded, petty, percieved self interests?

Remember the "Save the Buzz" campaign several years back to try and keep KC’s then failing, only alternative rock music station on the air? Parent company Entercom had marked it for extinction. Word leaked out. And no less than Entercom corporate overlord David Field rode to the Buzz’s rescue and vowed that it would continue.

Things like the radio station’s Church of Lazlo came to mean more than merely a repository for corporate cash.

Which brings us to Entercom’s fully declared war upon KanRocksas, KC’s largest two-day rock fest ever.

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Yeah, you…

Well, maybe. We’re looking for a few inspired folks. Starting with – big surprise – a sportswriter. Someone with some grit and edge and attitude. Somebody looking for a low-seven-figure income (kidding). Better yet, someone so consumed by an all-fired passion for sports he or she would be insulted to be offered any kind of money (kinda not kidding, but okay, still kidding).

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With Star publisher Mark Zieman hightailing it out of town for greener ($$$) pastures there’s been talk editor Mike Fannin might be close behind…

For months, Fannin has kept very odd hours and been noticeably missing-in-action in the newsroom, sources say. Combine that with a litany of potentially career-killing disclosures about Fannin’s personal life and it’s little wonder that the news tongues have been wagging.

It started with former Star columnist Jason Whitlock’s radio and television-aired accusations that Fannin had an "inappropriate relationship" with now-former Star sports editor Holly Lawton. Which dovetailed nicely, with the observations of others in the newsroom and overlapped with Lawton’s divorce and unexplained departure from the newspaper to take a position, uh, job hunting during the worst recession in decades.

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About that Kansas City Star fire drill Wednesday…

"We had a crazy evacuation," says a staffer of the early morning smoke out.  "I walked in at 8:40 a.m. and there was a haze in the newsroom and the fire alarms were going off. Apparently there was a freon leak. And the first floor was all hazy, too."

Now the scary part…

"The fire alarms were going off for half an hour before anybody called the fire department," says the source.

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This just in…

The Mighty Casey is back at bat. In this case, it’s Blanc Burgers Bottles and the field of play is Groupon. And for the third time in a little over a year the local gourmet burger and fine dining powehouse is off to what is likely to be a record-setting start.

"They’re at 14,000 sold now," says spokesdude Will Gregory. "But by 7 p.m. they should be well into the 15,000 range. They hold the previous Groupon record for 14,000 and change sold."

Here’s the deal….

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Now that we’ve cleared the air on the sad state of local talk radio, lets take a look at Talkers magazine’s "Heavy Hundred" for 2011…

The first thing worth noting is there’s nobody on it that broadcasts locally. No Mike Murphy or Tom Becka types. And somewhat obviously, Mike Shanin and Scott Parks are nowhere to be found. Not even on the watered down 101 to 250 list that does include Becka, former KC guy Ray Dunaway and KMBZ’s Darla Jaye.

Columnist insert: Talkers is a mag that relies on radio hosts and stations as readers, subscribers and advertisers.

So it’s maybe a safe bet that some of the aforementioned personalities were listed in Talkers expanded Top 250 list via either schmooze or sheer attrition. My impression over the years being that just about anybody in the biz with a regular gig can more or less schmooze their way onto the list.

Let’s take a look…

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There’s been no shortage of twister footage on cable news this past week…

Not only have CNN and other news organizations run a ton of footage, they’ve dragged the storm chasers on camera to serve as eyewitness experts. Raising the question, are these dudes community heroes or just thrill seekers?

"No, they’re not heroes," says KSHB TV weather wonk Gary Lezak. "I would say there are some legitimate meteorologists who have a knowlege of what they’re doing and understand the science. And then there’s a whole lot of thrill seekers who go out there and just risk their lives."

Is storm chasing even legal?

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Once upon a time Talk Radio seemed to matter in Kansas City…

Notice I said, seemed to matter. By the 1990s most music listeners had migrated to FM or prerecorded music – CDs, even cassettes still. Pretty arcane sounding, huh? Let’s go back a little further.

In the late 1980s a local blowhard emeritus by the name of Rush Limbaugh was making his mark via a nationally-syndicated, politcally-driven talk radio show. Unfortunately, Limbaugh’s amazing success set talk radio upon a course of right wing rant radio that continues to dominate even today.

  But in those early, heady days of talk radio there was a lot of variety here in the Cowtown.

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Guess who didn’t fare so well in the April radio ratings…

News Radio KMBZ, that’s who.

It was the station’s first month of simulcasting on both 980 AM and sister station KUDL FM’s former signal at 98.1 FM.

The game plan: lure lots of new, news-talk listeners on the FM dial. Boost ratings. Attract younger, more affluent listeners. Pass those ratings wins on to advertisers via higher ad rates. Make lotsa money with less out-of-pocket.

However, here’s how things shook out in adult listeners ages 25 to 54, Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. until midnight:

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That dark, dank, dulcet jazz joint just off the Plaza called Jardine‘s is no more…

After a fashion.

That’s because owner Beena Brandsgard spent the past three months spiffing the place up. Newly refinished hardwood floors ( they were painted black), a fresh paint all around, new window and signage treatments, new kitchen and Vegas-style, lighted, red carpet on the stairs I tumbled down three years back.

"We’re the only ones in the city that has those lights," Brandsgard says of the stairs. "They’re from China and they’re LED lights so they save energy. But mostly they look cool – they’re more hip."

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Think of it as a barstool rush to judgement…

So eager were some comments crowd types to dismiss 610 Sports ratings win in April over sports talk powerhouse WHB 810, they threw everything at the wall. Happens every year when the Royals season starts, they clamored. Nick Wright sucks.

But does it happen every year? Did it happen last year?

Let’s take a look…

As reported here, 610 with a 3.2 share beat WHB’s 3.1 share in April for listeners 12-plus, 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Sunday.

Exact same thing that happened last year, right? Wrong.

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Turns out there is life after the Kansas City Star...

Even for folks who leave under a cloud. Take the case of former sports editor Holly Lawton aka Sportsbabe 68 on Twitter. Lawton’s sudden and unexplained resignation from the newspaper last summer went down amidst a growing controversy that culminated with sports scribe Jason Whitlock leaving the paper. 

But not before Whitlock made it perfectly clear in a radio and television interview that he and other Star staffers were convinced Lawton and bad boy Star editor Mike Fannin were involved in an "inappropriate relationship."

Lawton’s abrupt bailing from a high dollar position at the Star to go job hunting in the worst recession in decades added to the mystery.

Turns out Sportsbabe 68 is staying in sports.

Kinda. She’s landed a job at ad agency VML, her Facebook page says.

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There’s something to be said for being in the exact right place at the exact right time…

Such appears to be the case with Star publisher Mark Zieman. The Star announced yesterday Zieman is being promoted to VP at the newspaper’s embattled parent company, McClatchy.

Some newsies say they’re surprised at the promotion, given Zieman’s lack of business experience.

Zieman has only three years working the business end of the newspaper. He was appointed publisher in 2008.  And as for the Rockhurst "Executive MBA" the newspaper is touting, Zieman picked that up on the night school plan a handful of years back.

Second, there’s a reason the Star has fared better than many newspapers in the current catastrophic three-year downturn, insiders note:

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It’s not the most sophisticated measure of radio listenership but the 12-plus rankings are basically the broadest.

Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to midnight:

1)   KQRC-FM The Rock   7.3 Share

2)   KCFX-FM The Fox       6.6 Share

3)    KCMO FM    5.9 Share

4)   KMXV-FM Mix 93.3   5.6 Share

5)    KBEQ-FM   5.2 Share

5)   KFKF-FM   5.2 Share

6)   KPRS-FM   5.1 Share

7)   KCHZ-FM The Vibe  4.9 Share

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Here’s a sports shocker to everyone with the possible exception of Nick Wright…

Entercom’s 610 Sports blew by sports radio powerhouse WHB 810-AM in listeners 12 and older, Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to midnight for the month of April.

Blew past, you say?

610 Sports won with a 3.3 share and a weekly cume of 266,800 listeners.  To WHB’s 3.2 and 176,100 listeners.

There’s more…

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Bob Lewellen’s Memorial Service

Services for former KC Councilman and Parks Commissioner Bob Lewellen went down this morning at the St. Thomas More Catholic Church near his home at 118th & Holmes. The place was packed and highlights ranged from jokes about Lewellen being a die hard Kansas City, Missouri dude but having to die on the Kansas side of State Line, to a touching reference about him being trapped in a body that was falling apart, even "while his mind was as sharp as a sword."

Former KC mayor Dick Berkley – appearing to stand no taller than 4’11” – eulogized Lewellen from the pulpit.

"His motive was to improve this area," Berkley said. "Bob Lewellen was for what was best for the community, not what was best for Bob Lewellen."

Early Radio Ratings Returns…

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