KC Confidential

The timing couldn’t be more perfect…

Think King Kong versus Godzilla – AMC Town Center 20 versus Cinetopia Overland Park 18  -Kansas City’s 800 pound gorilla versus the upscale, upstart from Beaverton, Oregon.

For two weeks now Cinetopia has been ushering forth in the local movie marketplace with soft openings at its spanking new movieplex at the ritzy Prairiefire shopping and entertainment complex near 135th and Nall.

And in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t get much grander than Cinetopia with three different levels of upscale auditoriums and – at long last – in-theater dining options that transcend glorified fast food. Meanwhile back at Town Center, AMC has spent seven figures improving its plex with more food options and roughly 40 percent fewer seats in order to make room for recliners with more legroom.

So the battle lines are drawn.  Continue reading →

It hasn’t been pretty…

Not since in 2011 when News Radio KMBZ broadened its horizons from broadcasting exclusively at 980 AM to simulcasting on 98.1 FM, the longtime home of former adult contemporary station KUDL.

“It’s obvious that putting KMBZ on FM was a waste of a signal,” says a radio insider who asked not to be named. “KMBZ was doing a 3.7 share on AM before and now they’re doing a 3.7 share on two signals.

“And it’s pretty obvious that in the prime radio demo of 25-54 would rank even lower because news-talk generally appeals more to 45-plus listeners.”

KMBZ ranked 12th with a 3.7 share of listeners 12 and older in the most recent ratings.

“Basically, putting KMBZ on FM did nothing to drive ratings at this point,” the source continues. “They’re about the same as they were on AM only.”

Another point to consider: Continue reading →

KFKF heavy hitter Mike Kennedy

Round and round and round they go and…

The April 2014 radio rankings are in the books with country station KFKF still atop the heap – although slipping – and a surprise leap by classic rocker KCFX, the continued decline of News Radio KMBZ and another no-show by KCPT‘s new Triple A station The Bridge.

Check em:

1)     KFKF-FM, country, 7.5 share with a cume of 369,200 listeners, down from 8.8 and 9.0 in March and February.

2)     KCFX-FM, classic rock, 7.3 share with a cume of 461,700 – one of its highest non Chiefs season books in recent memory.

3)     KPRS-FM, urban, 7.0 share with a cume of 353,500 – down from March’s 7.0.

4)    KQRC-FM The Rock, rock, 5.4 share with a cume of 301,700  – up from March’s 5.0

5)     WDAF-FM, country, 5.3 share with a cume of 374,300 – up from  a 4.6 in March Continue reading →

Jay Z

Allow me to share with you, grouchy music and entertainment pundit / attorney Bob Lefsetz curious array of takes on What’s Happening and What’s Not. 

Check it:

WINNER

Luke Bryan, who creates a whole paradigm, releasing an EP every spring break, reaping dough and cred, and no one follows him. Kinda like none of the acts imitating Kid Rock‘s $20 ticket trek.

LOSER

Jay-Z. His sister-in-law hit him, but when you’re constantly parading around saying what a winner you are, people are looking to take you down, especially the press.

LOSER

Lady Gaga, who’s doing the same wrong thing once again, focusing on touring dollars while her recording career withers. Hell, she’s not even in the gossip columns anymore.

WINNER

Troy Carter. Brings back John Legend and builds up Lindsey Stirling, did anybody think this was possible? Looks like Gaga should have listened (to her former manager that she fired last year).

LOSER

SoundScan. Streaming is the only thing that counts. Don’t get depressed about the anemic sales numbers, people are listening to music ad infinitum…they’re just not buying it, (they’re) streaming it on YouTube, Spotify… The whole paradigm has changed, no one cares who bought it anymore, just whether they listened to it, and how much. Crunch the streaming data. If you’re not being played, be very afraid. Prop up your listens before you worry about touring or sponsorships.

WINNER

Metallica, playing acoustic covers of Ozzy, Deep Purple, Rare Earth and the Beatles at the MAP dinner. Unfortunately, the only people who seem to know are their fans. The band is still trying to live down the Napster fiasco, beware Jay-Z, be very afraid.

LOSER

HTC

No one cares if you make a GOOD hand-set, your product must be light years better than the competition and be cool to boot. The only future in smartphones is Samsung, Apple and the cheapies.

WINNER

Gossip. You may not be rich, but you can talk about the rich. People just can’t resist the travails of other people.

LOSER

Artists. Because the major label paradigm is not paying, even if you’re owed the money.

WINNER

Jimmy Iovine. Because unlike the losers at the labels, he found a way out. Or, to quote someone Jimmy hasn’t worked with, “He not busy being born is busy dying.”

LOSER

The Wall Street Journal. Once a paragon of business reporting it’s now a lame, biased mainstream publication with too many superfluous lifestyle items, the last section is the new Redbook. Continue reading →

Mimosas, anyone?

Talk about burying the lead…

More evidence that the Kansas City Star reads KC Confidential comes in the form of a top of the page sports section story about Mizzou footballer Michael Sam’s significant other in today’s newspaper in an item written by FYI writer Liza Gutierrez.

“Sam’s partner ex-Hawklet swimmer” is the headline to a piece rehashing days old news reports about Vito Cammisano having swam competitively for the University of Missouri from 2009 to 2012.

However instead of just owning up to a lapse in reporting – as did the New York Daily News – Gutierrez buried the part about Vito’s ties to his family’s famous local crime ties in the final paragraphs at the end of her story.

Almost as an afterthought. Continue reading →

There’s such a thing as decorum…

And in the case of Michael Sam, the Mizzou footballer who planted a wet one on his boyfriend after being drafted near the bottom of the NFL barrel, it ought to have been observed.

“It doesn’t bother me, but if I were Sam I probably wouldn’t have done it,” Glazer says. “Why put that in everybody’s face? What’s to be gained? I mean, maybe if they were getting married or something, but it’s still unsettling to most people.”

Let’s see if turnabout is fair play.

Were Glazer standing before the cameras in a momentous moment – and say he was dating a stripper – would he have gone tongue fishing and copped a generous feel? Continue reading →

Michael Sam and Vito Cammisano

Small world…

Amidst the hullaballoo about openly gay, Missouri Tiger defensive end Michael Sam’s draft day smooch with Mizzou swim star Vito Cammisano of Kansas City, one small detail went missing; that Cammisano is the grandkid of notorious KC mobster Willie “The Rat” Cammisano.

He’s also the son of Jerry Cammisano who did time for allegedly running an illegal sports betting ring.

“Normally cavorting with the son of an underworld gambling figure would get you investigated by the NFL,” wonders one gully KCC tipster.  “I wonder if they will look into the connections.  Then again maybe I’m wrong and there are lots of Cammisanos?”

There may be “lots” of Cammisanos, but according to Daily Mail – not the Huffington Post, ABC News, Washington Post or Kansas City Star – Vito is indeed that guy.
Continue reading →

Been a while since we last heard from movie guy extraordinaire Wade Williams….

For years the prolific writer-producer-director-exhibitor shared his views in both news stories and the letters section of the Kansas City Star.

No mas.

“You know, I quit taking the Star after all these years because there’s nothing in it,” Williams says. “You’re not in it – you were fun – there’s no movie reviews worth a (darn) and all the news is a day old. And there’s not much movie news in the entertainment section; everything is about rock or some not very talented band playing at some bar.

“There’s nothing in it but sports and a bunch of ads. And the first thing I do is throw the sports section away and all the ads and then there’s nothing left. I’m not a sports fan and much of the paper deals in every aspect of sports. They don’t have much of a movie section anymore – they pick up syndicated reviews and have a couple of local freelancers.

Does Williams miss reading the Star? Continue reading →