R.I.P.: Radio Veteran James Brand Was 78

James Maitland Brand II passed away quietly in Hospice Care in Gainesville, FL this past Saturday.

Brand got his start in Dallas, TX working overnights at KGKO. After stops in Tyler, Austin and Denver, he spent ten years in Louisville, Kentucky, working for WAKY. He was hired by Gordon McLendon as Program Director and remained with the station under LIN Broadcasting as group Program Director. He hired and motivated one of the finest air staffs ever assembled in gthe ‘60s.

After being Program director of WLEE in Richmond, VA, from 1969-1970, he worked for WMEX in Boston, MA as Program Director. Brand moved to Florida in March, 1970. A close friend has purchased WDVH in Gainesville.  Brand orchestrated the change from top 40 to country.

He stressed staff involvement in the community through his own actions, and supervised a staff of six on-air dee-jays and a news department of seven.  

WJZ-FM’s Jim Duquette Donates Kidney To Daughter

Many people know former Orioles executive Jim Duquette, who now broadcasts on WJZ-FM The Fan in Baltimore. But few know the pain his family has lived with for years. Like so many others in this country, Duquette's little 10-year-old girl needed a kidney transplant to live.

CBS Baltimore went inside the operating room where a father/daughter miracle takes place before our eyes.

A kiss to start a new life.

"You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be great," Duquette said.

That was a conversation between Lindsey Duquette and her dad, Jim, moments before her kidney transplant-the ultimate gift from a father to his 10-year-old daughter.

"I'll see you when we're out, OK?" he said.

Lindsey's kidneys started failing when she was just two years old. She doesn't remember ever not having problems with them.

Doctors tried everything to avoid a transplant.

"When you start to get the experiment drugs, you're at the end of the line, really," Duquette said.

A year and a half ago, doctors were forced to remove both of Lindsey's failing kidneys. She needed dialysis to live.

Last summer, doctors knew Lindsey needed a transplant. Now they had to find a donor.

"They tested [my dad] from blood," Lindsey said.

He was a match.

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Five Year-old WHO Video Goes Viral

WHO Morning host Jan Mickelson  who grilled Mitt Romney about his Mormon faith in a 2007 interview is expressing dismay that a clip of that conversation has gone viral as Election Day arrives and says whoever put it out was trying to make the GOP nominee “look weird.”

“I’d say, No. One, it wasn’t a gotcha interview,” Mickelson, the host of the radio talk show based in Des Moines, Iowa, told Kathy Glueck atPolitico. “It wasn’t designed as an ambush for Romney.

The clip in question, which resurfaced last week and has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube, “left out the context,” Mickelson said.

The video making the rounds shows Mickelson and Romney sparring over the GOP presidential nominee’s Mormon faith in the lead-up to the 2008 primary contests. That piece of the interview, which was conducted after the two were already off the air, continued the on-air interview’s broader conversation about how Romney’s position on the abortion question had evolved since his time as governor of Massachusetts, he said.

“It wasn’t about his theology,” Mickelson said. “It was about the transition of his ethics, and why did he change his view, under what circumstances. I thought I was asking totally coherent questions that I thought were softballs.”

But the viral video focuses heavily on questions surrounding Romney’s religion, as the two delved into religious texts and discussed the Mormon Church’s positions on subjects including the second coming of Christ and abortion.

“I’m not running to talk about Mormonism,” Romney snapped toward the end of the clip.

Mickelson speculated that whoever is behind the YouTube clip — the user’s identity is unclear — likely wanted to highlight elements of Romney’s Mormon faith because “it makes him look weird.”

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When Will We Know?

From Michael Calderone for Huffington Post:

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, representatives from five TV networks and the Associated Press will head into the "quarantine room," an undisclosed location with no cell phone or Internet access. 

That's where the National Election Pool -- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and the AP -- start sifting through exit poll data provided by Edison Research. Six hours later, staffers will be permitted to start sending data to their respective news organizations, while additional exit polls, especially on the West Coast, keep coming in. While news outlets can begin reporting after 5 p.m. on some general trends they have observed in exit polls, such as whether voters consider the economy the most important issue in the 2012 election, they're not permitted to publish or broadcast any information that suggests which way a state is leaning until its polls close and actual vote numbers start streaming in. 

Four years ago, there was no mystery about who would become the 44th president when polls on the West Coast closed at 11 p.m., with all five TV networks and the AP calling the election for Barack Obama, who handily defeated Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the Electoral College. But executives and editors overseeing 2012 election calls -- like most of the news media -- expect a much closer outcome on Tuesday, resulting in a very long night.

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The Boss Meets the Gov

Al Roker photo

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who's have a difficult week dealing with the big blow Hurricane Sandy dealt to his state, and who's gotten a lot of political attention -- some of it positive, some of it not -- for his effusive praise of President Obama's handling of the storm, said yesterday (November 5th) that getting to meet his idol, rocker Bruce Springsteen, three days earlier moved him to tears.

While speaking at a briefing on storm recovery Monday, Christie disclosed that he'd unexpectedly spoken to Springsteen earlier in the day, when Obama, during a phone call to discuss Sandy-related matters, handed the phone to "The Boss," who was traveling with the president on a campaign trip.

Christie also said he got a hug from Springsteen at Friday's (November 2nd) benefit concert for storm victims and that he cried at home after meeting his idol, saying it was a major highlight of a tough week.

Christie hasn't made a secret of how big a fan he is of Springsteen, saying that he's attended more than 100 of his concerts. But the politically liberal Springsteen had never previously acknowledged the Republican governor.

Aerosmith: the Rock Of Boston

Yesterday (November 5th), Aerosmith returned to their Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood to perform an hour-long set in front of thousands of fans. The concert was played in celebration of the release today (November 6th) of their long awaited new studio album, Music From Another Dimension, the 2012 Presidential election, along with Boston Mayor Tom Menino declaring the 1325 Commonwealth Avenue building -- where Aerosmith lived from 1970 to 1972 -- a historic landmark, with a special commemorative plaque placed outside on the building. The band was introduced by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan. Joining the Kraft's was Pats quarterback Tom Brady and linebacker Jerod Mayo.

Among the tunes the band performed yesterday was the Rufus Thomas R&B classic "Walking The Dog," "Movin' Out" -- which Steven Tyler and Joe Perry wrote at the Commonwealth Avenue apartment, "Mama Kin," the new song "Lover Alot," "Back In The Saddle," "Sweet Emotion," the band teased a bit of the James Brown nugget "Mother Popcorn" before launching into "Walk This Way." Aerosmith closed the hour-long set with encores of the new track "Oh Yeah" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'."

Jim Rome Horsing Around

CBS Radio host Jim Rome has been in the horse racing game for a number of years -- his stable runs under the name Jungle Racing LLC.

But accoerding SI columnist Richard Deitsch Rome never experienced a day like he had on Saturday.

The four-year-old filly Mizdirection -- co-owned by Rome -- hit the wire first in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park.

"It was spectacular and surreal," Rome told SI.com on Sunday. "It really was thrilling."

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R.I.P.: KTKS Owner Jay Fisher

Jay Fisher, longtime local radio personality and owner of KTKS / KS95.1 Versailles, MO  passed away Monday, Nov. 5. He also was a local county commissioner.

A resident of the Versailles area, Fisher had been battling cancer for some time.

Arrangements are pending.  

The Tribute Wall for Jay Fisher at www.kidwellgarber.com is already filling with people honoring the memory of Fisher.

R.I.P.: ESPN Radio NBA Voice Jim Durham

Jim Durham, lead play-by-play commentator for the NBA on ESPN Radio since its inception in January 1996, passed away over the weekend at his home in Tomball, TX (outside of Houston). Durham was 65 and is survived by his wife, Helen, their three children, Patrick, Richard and Tracy and several grandchildren.

In 2011 Durham was honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the Curt Gowdy Media Award, presented annually to members of the print and electronic media whose longtime efforts have made a significant contribution to the game of basketball.

“Jim was a respected play-by-play specialist who combined a tremendous gift for storytelling with a Hall of Fame voice,” said Mo Davenport, ESPN Senior Vice President and General Manager, ESPN Radio. “He’s been a dedicated friend and a trusted teammate to so many at ESPN for two decades and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his wife Helen and the entire Durham family.”

Durham’s final assignment for ESPN was last Tuesday’s season-opener between Boston and Miami. He worked the game with long-time partner, Dr. Jack Ramsay.


Early in his career, Durham worked on WJBC radio in Bloomington, Illinois. During his time there, he covered the career of Illinois State University basketball star Doug Collins, later coincidentally the coach of the Bulls during the early Jordan years in Chicago, including the famous call listed below.

Since 1995, he has called numerous National Basketball Association games for ESPN and ESPN Radio. Durham has spent more than 32 years calling NBA games on TV and radio; his previous assignments were with the Chicago Bulls, the Dallas Mavericks, TNT and TBS. With the Bulls, he was the play-by-play announcer when Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and their teammates won the 1991 NBA championship. In 1999, Durham called men's NCAA basketball tournament games for CBS.

John Cusack To Portray Rush Limbaugh In Film

Rush Feuds With NBC’s Brian Williams

Rush Limbaugh will be the subject of an upcoming movie from actor and filmmaker John Cusack. The conservative radio host has never shied away from attention but it could be tough for him to see his likeness portrayed by an actor who has been outspoken about his liberal views.

Director Betty Thomas told the Associated Press she’s finishing up the film’s script, and production will start in 2013. The working title is “Rush.”

Limbaugh, 61, has yet to comment on the news, according to ibtimes.com.  

Cusack has been vocal about his critical views toward President Bush and President Obama’s policy of drone warfare in the Middle East.

Limbaugh has been in the news of late for his recent sparring match with NBC news anchor Brian Williams. Limbaugh attacked New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for working together with President Obama in the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. On his daily show Limbaugh said the two had a “man love” and that Christie “has gone overboard in praising a failed president.”

Williams said on his show “Rock Center” that Limbaugh went too far by being too critical of the Obama administration after the devastation Sandy caused.

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‘Good Morning Columbia’ Off The Air — Again

Another Shake-Up In Columbia, SC Radio

“Good Morning Columbia,” the long-running radio show, is once again without a home. On Friday it aired for the final time on WWNQ-FM Carolina Country 94.3, the show’s third broadcast frequency in a year, according to a story by Otis R. Taylor Jr. at thestate.com.

The show, hosted by Doug Enlow, Bill Benton and Charlie Benton, was on WISW-AM 1320 for more than a decade before a Cumulus Media shakeup at the local level forced the show off the air in late 2011. In April, the crew returned and began broadcasting on WWNU-FM, then-known as Carolina 92.1, an easy listening station.

In June, Double O Radio sold its two local properties, WWNU and WWNQ, to Hometown Columbia, which purchased the stations in a joint venture with Davis Media and Triple M Broadcasting. WWNU flipped to a rock-based format and rebranded itself as The Palm, a nod to South Carolina’s nickname as the Palmetto State. WWNQ, known as Country Legends under Double O, was rebranded as Carolina Country.

Mike Allen, formerly of Charleston rock station WCOO-FM The Bridge 105.5, was hired to be WWNU’s program director and morning host. “Good Morning Columbia” was shifted to WWNU in July.

With “Good Morning Columbia” off the air, this is the second remarkable departure from local radio in five days. On Thursday Keven Cohen, WVOC-FM 100.1’s afternoon drive host for 13 years, was fired by Clear Channel Media and Entertainment. But unlike Cohen’s separation from WVOC, the release of “Good Morning Columbia,” which aired weekdays from 6-9 a.m., shouldn’t draw the ire of the show’s fans.

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