KC Confidential

If you subscribe to the opinion that there’s eight more months until Christmas, cancel your subscription…

Because the sainted holiday arrived today for the gang at KFKF FM in the form of a No. 1 Arbitron ratings ranking for persons 12 and older, Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to midnight.

The country station pulled down an 8.1 share of listeners to soar past KPRS FM in the No. 2 slot with a 7.1 share. KCFX “The Fox” came in third with a 6.4, followed by Magic 107.3 at 5.8 and 98.9 The Rock in 5th with a 5.5 share.

The secret of KFKF’s success: would you believe Christmas music? Continue reading →

It’s not easy having to pay for something and then give it away for free…

From the earliest days of the Pitch as we now know it, it’s been an uphill slog. I began transiting the Pitch from record store rag to alternative newspaper in the mid to late 1980s. Back then the sky was the limit, although most players in the industry – starting with St. Louis‘ Riverfront Times – had passed on Kansas City, thinking the town wasn’t urban and hip enough to support an alt weekly.

One need look no further than the Pitch‘s 2004 “Best of” issue with 144 ad-packed pages to see they were wrong. But that was then.

Before print pubs morphed into money pits. Continue reading →

Excuse me while I finish rubbing my eyes…

There’s no shortage of boring press releases to be poured over when you’re in the entertainment media racket. Sundry barbecues, historical events, even shopping center fests that dot the area, usually featuring local bands few people have heard of.

To be blunt, they’re pretty easy to ignore. Continue reading →

It’s Kevin Kietzman‘s biggest nightmare…

Forget about Nick Wright or the current on air lineup at 610 Sports, the prevailing wisdom is that if the Entercom signal wants to take down WHB, it needs to move to FM. Period.

“Because that’s where the younger listeners are tuning into,” says one local radio insider. “Younger listeners don’t even think about tuning into AM. I would guess that 610 Sports is trying to appeal to 25 to 34 year-old men, but that is going to be very hard to do on AM.” Continue reading →

November 22, 1963, Dallas…

That was the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and to paraphrase former president Franklin D. Roosevelt, a date that will live in infamy forever.

It’s also a date that turns 50 this year.

A fact that hasn’t escaped one of Kansas City’s most esteemed conspiracy theorists, Larry Sells of the Uptown Theater. Continue reading →

Is there life after Nick Wright for 610 Sports?

One has to wonder in the wake of the past week’s shakeup at the Entercom sports-talk station. Because with the exception of a couple of bright spots – Nick Wright and D.A. – it’s been an uphill slog for the boys at 610 since the station signed on 10 years ago.

At this point, there’s a generational divide between 610 and it’s older, more successful rival, WHB.

As evidenced by all the trash talking Wright’s endured in the comments section here and elsewhere from older listeners. Continue reading →

In the wide world of rumors, what passes for “news” travels fast…

Take the New York Post‘s report that Kansas City refugee Jason Sudeikis will marry Olivia Wilde in upstate New York. Prior to that the couple’s pending nuptials were either a) unreported and unknown or b) rumored by Lawrence, Kansas insiders to be penciled in for Jayhawkville.

But this just in… Continue reading →

Ah rumors…

Sometimes they’re true, more often they’re not. For months Lawrence has been buzzing about Kansas City comic Jason Sudeikis tying the knot with actress Olivia Wilde there. And not just because Sudeikis and Wilde have been spotted in town shopping and buying jeans at Hobbs while attending KU basketball games.

One reliable source says she met and spoke with Wilde’s assistant who flew in to case the town for a possible wedding.

Well, scratch that possibility. Continue reading →

Many moons ago, I recall driving to Sandstone in the off season…

The mission: to cover the first annual Sandstone Auction. They didn’t have a ton of stuff back then, but there was more than enough rock n roll memorabilia to wet the whistles of music zealots with disposable incomes and a nose for news.

Noses for news were needed back then because in its early years, the auction was a best kept secret. Continue reading →

Twenty-six and out…

Word that the American Heartland Theatre at Crown Center is on death row begs the question, WTF?

For the 26 years the Heartland banged out mostly middle-of-the-road fare using largely local actors for a crowd composed predominantly of blue hairs.

And for the past 26 years the theater failed to make a profit.

Which likely explains the decision for American Heartland’s upcoming dirt nap in August. However, in the theater’s exit interview with the Star, neither the company’s executive director nor the spokesman for landlord Crown Center identified whose decision it was to shut it down. Continue reading →

This just in…

With odd exception, old people don’t like change. Big surprise. Then again, young people aren’t particularly fond of it either unless there’s something in it for them.

But in the case of music and entertainment biz attorney turned scribe Bob Lefsetz, when it comes to change, just bring it.

Some excerpts from a recent Lefsetz missive:

******* I don’t want to pay for sports. Continue reading →

Which Harrison Ford will show up here Thursday for the “red carpet” roll out of the new Jackie Robinson movie 42?

Will it be the one who played Han Solo in Star Wars? The one who played Rick Deckard in Blade Runner? Or perhaps the party boy who played himself in the pages of the National Enquirer and other tabloid media while in Wichita?

The town, not the movie. Continue reading →