KC Confidential

First a compliment…

I’ve got to hand it to Pitch editor Scott Wilson for cleaning up and breathing content life into the local alternative weekly this past year.

But make no mistake, the Kansas City Star may get all the ink when it comes to sinking ship print pub stories, but times have been equally tough at the Pitch. Which was sold by longtime owner Village Voice Media two years ago this March to a small, Nashville publisher that goes by  SouthComm. Continue reading →

Inquiring minds want to know…

Why did Funny 102.5 FM have to be the one to buy the farm in order to make way for Cumulus’ new local sports signal The Fan?

When Cumulus launched its HD2 station on what’s called a translator two years ago this Valentine’s Day it took off like a ratings rocket and was an instant hit.

“Kansas City’s Most Successful Radio Launch in Almost a Decade!” shouted a Cumulus promotional piece touting its ratings rise. Speaking of which, check out some of those early returns. Continue reading →

Think of it as a textbook case of one man’s trash being another man’s treasure…

Virtually the entire Kansas City sports media hasn’t stopped kissing Chiefs owner Clark Hunt‘s butt since he hired newly fired Philly coach Andy Reid last week. Worse yet, the nonstop praise has been accompanied by little to no critical examination of Reid.

With the exception of former Kansas City Star scribe Jason Whitlock.

That’s right. For all his many flaws, Big Sexy was Johnny-on-the-spot with a critical look at Reid’s less than stellar past two years during which Philadelphia attained a 9-23 win-loss record, identical to that of the lowly Chiefs.

Let’s take a look, shall we? Continue reading →

About new sports talk station The Fan…

For starters it’s Kansas City’s only FM sports talk station at 102.5 FM. That’s actually huge, given that far fewer listeners today make their way to the AM dial where entrenched sports talkers WHB and 610 Sports reside.

As a 250 watt “translator” signal – coming off one of Cumulus’s HD2 frequencies here –  The Fan is hardly a force to be reckoned with. That said, in its previous life doing syndicated comedy it blew the doors off 610 Sports last month with a 2.1 share of listeners 6 and older and a cume of 199,800 listeners. Compare that to 610’s 1.6 share and  148,100 listeners.

The game plan for the new Fan: Continue reading →

Another Valentine’s Day, more brickbats and bouquets for local chocolatiers…

Almost like clockwork it’s become the norm for Consumer Reports to roll out its tasting results of boxed chocolate candy in time for the Day of Love. Which as far back as 1996 has not bode well for Kansas City candy king Russell Stover. Continue reading →

The moment of truth is at hand…

Sources say that the powers that be at Sporting Kansas City appear poised to end the soccer club’s affiliation with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong‘s charity Livestrong. At this point in time, a final determination may not yet have been made, but the betting money is it will come soon.

Very soon.

“The publicity about Armstrong is just too bad at this point,” says a source. “But if they decide to drop Livestrong, I think they’re going to look for another charity.”

It’s not like this hasn’t been in the works for some time. Continue reading →

Welcome to the Bigs…

Where there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Where tabloid “eyes” and cellphone cams lurk around every corner, in every honky-tonk and titty bar.

For months affable Belton street worker Tate Stevens has been living a dream life. Accolades aplenty for his award-winning performances on reality singing show The X Factor. A $5 million prize for taking top honors. Now he’s off to Nashville to record his first album.

So what’s not to like? Continue reading →

What’s with all the press releases?

It’s time for Chiefs “owner” Clark Hunt to dispense with all the carefully-worded, written statements, come out of hiding and communicate openly with Chiefs fans face-to-face.

That’s how his father, Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt played the game. Continue reading →

About that new FM sports-talk signal…

102.5 The Fan is the name of the Cumulus Radio’s new game and it replaces the popular two year-old comedy station Funny 102.5 FM

The signal is what’s called a “translator” or low power station with a maximum “radiated” output of 250 watts. Local sports-talk station WHB, for example, has a daytime signal strength of 10,000 watts.

Thus the Cumulus-owned 102.5 The Fan is considered a “fill in” station.

All of that said, there are several interesting aspects to Kansas City’s finally getting its first FM sports signal.

Let’s take a look… Continue reading →

Wham, bam!

Just like that ticket sales for this year’s Wakarusa Festival – the 10th – exploded with the partial announcement earlier this week of the lineup. Widespread Panic, Of Monsters and Men and Yonder Mountain String Band, to name three.

“And that was only a third of my lineup,” says promoter Brett Mosiman. “I think we’re going to sell out in advance this year.” Continue reading →