99XWatch.org

$5 million

As any long time fan of Leslie Fram knows, her husband's temper and willingness to confront people with whom he disagrees is legendary.  Yesterday, readers of Radio Talk got a glimpse, albeit a brief one, of Lanny West's famous temper.  Rodney Ho published a long email written by West taking exception to Ho's Sunday article on 99X.  A few hours later, Ho removed the post containing the email as a courtesy.  I have the email here.

While most of the email consists of West insulting Ho, there are a couple of items of note:  For one, Lanny claims to "manage talent to have $5 million liquid assest[sic] portfolio."  Presumably that talent is Leslie Fram.

The other interesting thing is the degree to which the antics of The Buzz's Whip and Chris Williams have succeeded in getting under Lanny's skin.  As one who has heard Howard Stern pray for his enemy's prostate cancer to spread, I've always thought that Whip and Chris' antics are pretty benign, abeit juvenile.  Welcome to morning radio.

While Rodney Ho doesn't need me to defend him, I will say that most of Lanny's taunts say more about West than they do about Ho:  "Wise up, make yourself look a bit more intelligent...Your lack of radio knowledge is really beginning to bore what readers you do have left."  From my perspective, ignoring a trend that has been happening since 2001 doesn't constitute intelligence or a knowledge of "how Atlanta radio really works."

Sunday 99X AJC Article

Via Radio Talk,  Rodney Ho's article, Faltering 99X goes in search of identity, to be run in this Sunday's AJC, is now online.  Ho's article discusses the ebb and flow of 99X's popularity and features a particularly insightful comment by a 38 year old computer programmer from Atlanta.

Jimmy on WGST (for a week)

Jimmy blogs that he'll be on WGST (640 AM or online) the week of July 3 - July 7th, 3pm - 7pm, subbing for Kim ("The Kimmer") Peterson.   Baron jokes that he'll obviously be a "perfect fit for [the Kimmer's] audience."  In preparation for his role, Jimmy will beat up an anti-war protestor.

Jimmy, Calandro Back on Free FM

I got the chance to listen to the Jimmy and Rick show tonight on 106.9 Free FM in San Francisco. Jimmy was in good form, as was Calandro who produced and was involved in several segments.  Jimmy had blogged several weeks ago that a San Francisco gig was a no-go, but things change and presumably this is one of the "possibilities" he mentioned in his June 15th post.

Jimmy Checks In

From Jimmy Baron's MySpace Blog:

So I get a lot of people every week ask me what's going on, when will I be back on the air, am I moving, etc. Here's the update...I've had some very encouraging meetings with people at CBS and ABC radio regarding some possibilities in and outside of Atlanta. And while my preference is certainly to stay here, Lisa and I wouldn't rule out moving to a very select handful of other places. Neither of us likes cold weather, so when we factor all the cold cities out of the equation that leaves us with only a few other options we'd really consider.

Answer: "funny," "edgy," "bright"

Question:  What are three words not used to describe the "The Everything Alternative 99X Morning Show?"

From the Boston Herald:

Now, things are looking a whole lot better for Boston’s WBCN.

While dynamic duo Opie & Anthony are sure to boost the FM radio station’s morning ratings, a new, funny, edgy act, “Toucher & Rich,” is creating a buzz.

Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb - along with news and sports guy Christopher “Crash” Clark and their “345-pound” teen sidekick Adolfo Gonzalez Jr. - debuted their 2 to 6 p.m. weekday show on WBCN (104.1) last week.
...
As for “Toucher & Rich,” Inside Radio editor Tom Taylor said it’s always good for radio stations when they “find bright, new talent.”

Update 7/11/2006, 7:31 AM
Here's a scanned version of the Boston Herald Article, via Toucher and Rich's MySpace Blog.

Last Week for Mitch

A source close to the show tells me:

This will be Mitch's last week on the show for now.  We launched a national talent search last week so there is a possibility that Mitch could be part of a new show. [Hyperlink added.]

Mitch Evans in the last two years  has done three amazingly tough gigs:  1) worked with Barnes 2) succeeded Crash, and 3) added life to the listless "upgrade" show.  In a fair world, he would get a medal instead of an unemployment check.

Toucher Not Talking Out of Ass

The brainpower of America's largest cities via My 'Lanta:
    Boston 13th
    Atlanta 17th

Note to cities ranked 16th and above, Toucher writes that WBCN will be streaming in "3 to 4 weeks".

Update 6/11/2006

A reader makes an interesting observation:

Actually, that figure is a bit misleading.  The biz journal study only took into account the population in the city of Atlanta. ...The 400,000 or so that live within the city limits are a fraction of the actual metro Atlanta population, and it skews downward...

Atlanta is the 6th most educated metro area, while Boston is the 8th.

Things Jimmy Learned

The best joke of Calandro's website soiree last Tuesday was when Jimmy opened his introduction with the line "I'm Jimmy Baron from ... Sandy Springs."  Jimmy, who has made a career out of self-effacing humor has managed to bring that same comic sensibility to his unemployment.  The latest issue of Atlanta Jewish Life is another prime example, featuring a piece by Jimmy titled "Unplugged and Unemployed, 10 Things I Learned from Being Out of Work." (excerpted on AtlantaJewish.com.)

For those those reluctant to pick up a magazine for a single article, I can assure you that Atlanta Jewish Life is well worth the $3.95.  This is actually the second AJL issue I've read*, and I can't help but think that if Atlanta Magazine were relevant, then it would be a lot more like Atlanta Jewish Life.  In addition to the Baron article there's an excellent article on the late Stu Unger, a world champion poker player who was cool before poker became cool.  The May/June issue should be hitting news stands this week.

*The first was the "Jewish Radio Mafia" issue.

Massey Replaces Mitch on Traffic

As previously reported by Rodney Ho on Radio Talk, Jamie Massey has taken over traffic from Mitch Evans.  Massey is doing the old Crash gig—both the 99X and Q100, morning and afternoon traffic reports.  According to a source close to the show, Mitch will continue to do sports for the time being, but adds "He's too good to be doing 3 minute sports segments."