Viral Video: ‘You Didn’t Build That’ With M.C. Hammer

A new well-produced, mash-up Internet video marries President Obama’s controversial “You didn’t build that” statement with M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.”

The result, “U Didn’t Build That by MC ‘Bama,” is a funny send-up of a key moment of the 2012 presidential campaign from ABCNews.com.

Banned Promo: iPhone Parody Promo Rips Siri

The new iPhone is going to be so amazing, it will have features that are "unlike any free app you could've downloaded three years ago." That's one of the hilariously deadpan claims in this "Banned" promo (with some NSFW language) for the iPhone 5.

The actors upsell the iPhone — which will be sold out of every store in your neighborhood starting on Sept. 21 — with digs directed toward Siri, the new camera lens (cover) and, of course, the always overhyped thickness. "Are people still impressed by this?" one "genius" asks. Judging by the lines that have already formed outside Apple stores, we're gonna go with "Yes."

Beatles Themed Radio Show Premieres

Ken Michaels & Ringo

The world of Beatles internet radio shows just got an exciting new entry. “Things We Said Today” is a new podcast and radio show focusing on in-depth discussions of the latest Beatles news.

It premieres tonight on Fab4Radio.com and is available now on iTunes.

The show is co-hosted by Ken Michaels, host of the weekly syndicated Beatles radio show “Every Little Thing,” and Steve Marinucci, author of the Beatles Examiner column on Examiner.com and additional columns on the solo Beatles, vintage rock 'n' roll and TV DVDs.

Michaels has hosted Beatles radio programs for the past 30 years on XM Radio, WDHA (New Jersey), and is a former co-host of the Beatles-themed roundtable podcast Fab Fourum. He has interviewed Ringo Starr and Beatles associates over the course of his long career. Many of his interviews are archived on his website.

Marinucci is a former writer and editor for the San Jose Mercury News and has been writing on Examiner.com since 2008. He has interviewed many people close to or involved with the Beatles, including Yoko Ono, Brian Ray, Rusty Anderson, Lon Van Eaton, Mark Rivera, Gary Wright and Peter Asher.

The show is available on iTunes, on Podbean.com and will be broadcast on Fab4Radio.com.

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Indians Bid Radio Deal, and WTAM Has A Fight

The Cleveland Indians have offered for bid the rights to their flagship radio broadcasts, and WKRK-FM, 92.3, better known locally as The Fan, is mounting a stern challenge for them to the incumbent, WTAM-AM, 1100.

Multiple sources told Crain's Cleveland Business that WKRK 92.3 The Fan, owned by CBS Radio, is the front-runner to obtain the rights; WTAM's latest two-year contract is up after the current season.

CBS Radio Cleveland general manager Tom Herschel, who oversees both WKRK and other CBS Cleveland properties including WNCX-FM, 98.5, said in a phone interview from Chicago last Wednesday, Sept. 12, that The Fan “loves the Indians, and would love to have them on our airways.”

“We're a sports radio station,” Mr. Herschel said. “Why wouldn't we want to be a part of the conversation? But truly, no decision has been made.”

WTAM program director Ray Davis did not return a call from Crain's.

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Springfield, Mo: Woody P. Snow Bounces Back

The old Woody is back.

News-Leader photo

Springfield radio personality Woody P. Snow returned to the air in July. Two months in, he’s returning to a routine of shaking things up, according to a story by Jonathan Shorman at news-leader.com.

“I get to get out there on the edge, and walk on thin ice and push the envelope, and whatever other cliché you can think of,” Snow said.

Snow was fired from KGBX in April. He said he refused to sign a contract that would have ended the live format of the show. In an April interview, Snow said he had difficulty with new management at the station, owned by Clear Channel. Management told him his show was bad, he said, and that the days of the local radio star were over.

On July 2, Snow broadcast his first show from KTXR, from 5-10 a.m., the same time slot as his old show.

Snow had a noncompete clause with KGBX that he feared would prevent him from returning to the air so soon. But KTXR, located at 3000 Chestnut Expressway, took care of it, he said, adding he does not know how the station handled the situation.

The new show and station has extended Snow’s reach beyond his old show. He said recently a woman in Tulsa called him to say that she could listen to his show on her way to work.

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Greg Kihn, KFOX Part Ways

Greg Kihn, the rock star turned morning DJ, is out at Bay Area FM radio station KFOX, according to mercurynews.com.

"I am unemployed, along with a large percentage of my fellow Americans, but I am an optimist," Kihn said in a statement Friday. "I believe for every door that closes others open ... and I'll be back on the air soon doing what I love to do most; entertaining my loyal fans."

Exactly why the door at KUFX-FM (better known as KFOX) is closing on Kihn, however, was not abundantly clear Friday. Both the DJ and the San Jose-based classic rock station acknowledged that KFOX is "going in a different direction" in its weekday morning show. Dwight Walker, the general manager and vice president of the Bay Area radio stations owned by communications giant Entercom, would not say what the new direction entailed, but invited listeners to tune in Monday morning and find out.

In a radio landscape often dominated by frequent and sudden changes in personnel and formats, Kihn had been a rare symbol of stability, having recently noted his 16th year at the station. He claimed to have been one of the longest-tenured radio morning personalities west of the Mississippi.

Read More Here.

Kihn issued a statement Friday on his website:

This morning I slept in for the first time in 16 years! It felt weird. I’ve been getting up at 4:00am for so long I didn’t know what it was like to sleep late. Why? 

KFOX radio and I have parted ways. They told me “they have decided to go in a different direction.” I know this may come as a shock to my many loyal listeners, but all good things must come to an end. 

It’s the end of an era. We had a spectacular run, one of the longest on record for a morning show at one station, and I have a thousand wonderful memories. 

It’s like breaking up with your wife of 16 years, and man, having been divorced twice before I know it’s no day at the beach. But, I am an optimist. I believe for every door that closes, another one opens. I love radio, and I truly love all of my loyal listeners, and I promise you this- I will soon be broadcasting again and doing what I do best- entertaining you guys and rockin’ the airwaves. 

Think about it. I am inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame and I am off the air in the same month. Wow! 

I am pursuing my writing career with a new novel this winter- RUBBER SOUL, and a screenplay for a cable TV series 45RPM. Of course the Greg Kihn Band will be playing gigs, that won’t change (in fact we’ll be playing more). To my KFOX fans, listen for me soon on a radio near you! 

In the words of Arnold, “I’ll be back.”

WJOB Hammond, Indiana Observes 90th Brithday

From Philip Potempa nwi.com

Jim Dedelow, WJOB

Jim Dedelow, owner of WJOB-1230 AM in Hammond, describes the regional radio station as "living history built on listeners." 

"Best of all, we've kept the focus on listeners the same as when the station began," said Dedelow, who uses "JED" as his on-air personality tag for his daily morning show 5:30 to 9 a.m. weekdays. 

"We're not only on the air talking, we're also hearing what our listeners tell us. Our audience feel very close to this station, treating it as their station, and that's what we want." 

He said they are particularly proud of launching the smart phone app last year, which he says ranks them as "the first radio outlet in our Northwest Indiana area to introduce this advantage." 

Dedelow started at the station in the mid-1980s as an on-air personality before leaving to work in Chicago. 

After the station was sold following bankruptcy, Dedelow purchased it in 2004 and returned to the airwaves, bringing with him Debbie Wargo as the station's director and Michael "Stew" Stewart as production manager and on-air personality. 

All three agree the station's strength remains honoring tradition and format, while folding in change "only as needed" for technology to reach new audiences. 

"The first license issued to a radio station in the Calumet area was in 1923 and it was to Hammond-Calumet Broadcasting Corporation with Dr. George F. Courier and Lawrence J. Crowley as the licensees," Dedelow said.  

"And even during the rough patch of bankruptcy that the previous owners had, the FCC always kept the license active." 

As for the station studio, it was originally in downtown Hammond at 402 Fayette Street at Hohman Avenue, before moving to 449 State St., and finally, to its present location when the new studio was built in 1956. 

"When you visit, everything looks like stepping back in time, which is what has helped preserve our history and tradition on the airwaves," Dedelow said. 

A long wooden bench awaits visitors in the entry lobby and the station's logo call letters are still clearly visible formed in the concrete of the main interior hallway. 

Dedelow has even insisted the same studio sound board remain, and used for broadcast in the main studio, despite more recent and modern counterparts available and used in the smaller production studios. 

"It's become very hard to get parts for repair, but we do it. And we are also always looking for old WJOB broadcasts that anyone in the Region might have and would be willing to share with us." 

Dedelow and his staff also love to include vinyl music play during shifts, all pulled from the station's vast library collection of records and albums, including many personally autographed by noted names like Doris Day and Mitch Miller.  

Frank Reynolds

With their current broadcast day, it features 12 hours of live programming. Following Dedelow's morning show, it's Gene "Geno" Sferruzza's show from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and then Mike Huckabee's syndicated program until 2 p.m. before "Region Flashback" and "Afternoon Drive" leads into the night programming. 

Dedelow said the radio's roll call of famed on-air personalities are the most treasured part of local airwave history. 

From East Chicago native and newsman Frank Reynolds, who went on to host the "ABC Nightly News" to Chicago voices of today, like Felicia Middlebrook of WBBM, Dedelow said the names and voices are still heard in the halls at WJOB. 

And of course, Hammond's biggest name in the broadcasting game — Jean Shepherd, who also wrote "A Christmas Story."

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WSYR Syracuse Doesn’t Observe 90th Birthday

From CNYRadio.com 

"The early 1920s marked the birth of commercial radio across the world. While Pittsburgh’s KDKA is widely known (though often disputed) as the world’s first commercial station, Syracuse wasn’t very far behind. But to listen to WSYR today, you wouldn’t know the station has a big birthday this weekend. 

The launch date of September 15, 1922 comes from our colleague Scott Fybush, who devoted his “Tower Site of the Week” column to WSYR a decade ago, when the station turned 80. He said today, September 15, was the day in 1922 when Clive Meredith signed-on WMAC for the first time. Six years later, transmissions would be relocated from Meredith’s property in Cazenovia to a new antenna atop the Hotel Syracuse, and WMAC’s call sign changed to WSYR. 

Earlier this month, CNYRadio.com contacted Clear Channel Syracuse GM Joel Delmonico, Operations Manager Rich Lauber and WSYR Program Director Jason Furst to ask if they concur with that history, or if they had any information to the contrary. We also asked if there were any special plans in the works to celebrate WSYR’s 90th anniversary. 

We received not a single response."

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CBS Profile: Vin Scully, The Poet Laureate of Baseball

CBS’s Lee Cowan, during a piece for CBS’s Sunday Morning, says the legendary Dodger broadcaster still gets "goose bumps" from doing play-by-play - as he has for more than six decades: 

A bobblehead figure of Vin Scully is a good-natured tribute to the legendary baseball announcer's years of service to a storied team. Lee Cowan takes us out to the ball game for some Questions-and-Answers:

It was a perfect summer evening for baseball - and on this night in Los Angeles, thousands got to Dodger Stadium a little early - for a handout.

It was Bobblehead Night - popular at every stadium. But it wasn't a player being "bobbled"; it was a voice: Legendary Dodger announcer Vin Scully.

"This man is the reason why I come to baseball games. I love Vin Scully," said Denise Robertson.

"It's time for Dodger baseball!"

That melodic voice has been the soundtrack of the Dodgers since 1950, when they were still the Brooklyn Dodgers. And at 84, Vinnie (as the players call him) is still at it.

"It's been a sport that I've loved ever since I could throw a ball," he said.

"So you still get goose bumps?" Cowan asked.

"Yeah, still do. That's really the thermometer for my love affair, my fever. As long as I get the goose bumps, I know that I should still be doing it."

From his perch up behind home plate, Scully isn't just an announcer - he's a storyteller. He uses the English language the way Casey wielded a bat.

"Fernando Valenzuela has pitched a no-hitter. If you've got a sombrero, throw it to the sky!"

Many consider him the poet laureate of baseball - a description he seems uncomfortable with.

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Padres Honor Team Broadcaster Jerry Coleman

The Padres  honored a San Diego treasure Saturday night with the unveiling of a statue of Jerry Coleman at Petco Park, according to a Reuters story.

The only major league player to see combat in two wars, Coleman joins Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn as the second person represented by a statue at the Padres downtown home.

AP Photo

A day after the Hall of Fame announcer's 88th birthday, the Padres celebrated the former Yankee second baseman's 70th year in baseball and his 40th with the Padres. Thirty-nine of those years were spent in the Padres broadcast booth, one (1980) as the Padres manager.

Coleman was a Marine pilot in World War II and Korea -- flying 120 combat missions in Dauntless dive bombers (World War II) and F4U Corsairs (Korea). Coleman, who retired as a Lt. Colonel, was honored with two Distinguished Flying Crosses as an aviator.

He played eight seasons as the second baseman of the New York Yankees at a time when the Yankees dominated baseball. Coleman was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1949 by the Associated Press, was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1950 and later that season was voted the Most Valuable Player of the World Series.

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Profile: Heart's Rollercoaster Ride of a Career

Opinion: What's Wrong with Hip Hop Music

From William Harrison, examiner.com 

Hey radio stations, stop playing the same 5 artists. There may be 10, but you know what I mean. If commercial radio is complaining about losing listeners and money, one would think they would change the formula a little bit. It’s a form of brainwashing that great minds have used for evil. Jim Jones, (The Peoples Temple) had his voice heard throughout Jonestown over loud speakers. Nowadays, people are conditioned to like certain artists by succumbing to these repeating messages. “Yolo” is a prime example. The voice becomes so recognizable because radio is such a huge avenue for extreme consumption. Try going 3 songs without hearing Drake on the radio. It seems impossible right now, but radio needs more variety to expand its brand. 

The last point about radio stations and their over indulgence on the select few, are DJ’s. There used to be a time when they would actually try to break a record. Bringing something new to the game was expected and appreciated. Most of these DJ’s won’t even try to incorporate something refreshing to hear. It would be better if they actually liked the songs they were playing. They’re just going with the flow and playing artists that musically don’t deserve it.

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Opinion: Why We Must Update Our Radio Stations

From Adam Hogue for PolicyMic.com 

Goodbye, radio — certainly your golden years are behind you. Run a quick Google search of anything to do with radio, and you will be met with not one but multiple headlines that begin “The sad, slow decline of [insert sector of radio here].” In the age of instant digital media, radio is in a period of decline. 

Commercial FM rock stations are being sold off, National Public Radio faces being cut off by the federal government at least once a year, and the voice of the youth one embodied by radio is growing old. Now that we can make a playlist and get any music we want, why do we need someone to do it for us? Radio is in a make-or-break period of transition, and has been for the past decade. The dilemna is, in a essence, an image crisis: what is radio? 

Even while I spent four years as a DJ and two years on the executive board of WKNH Keene State College radio, I still felt it dying. 

Sitting in the station at midnight on a Thursday night broadcasting a local band to maybe 30 online listeners, I couldn’t help but feel that I has holding the hand of a friend as their pulse slowly faded. I was a flannel-wearing crusader, trying to keep college radio alive as the hip, underground, free airwaves for the people it should be. All the facebook groups and status updates in the world weren't saving radio. But I was having the time of my life! How could it die?

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Perks: Every Yahoo Employee Gets A Smartphone

New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer just sent an email to all of Yahoo's full time and part time employees in the US, promising them a new Apple, Samsung, Nokia, or HTC smartphone.

"People are happy," says a source at the company.

A couple weeks ago, Business Insider reported that new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was considering giving every Yahoo employee a new iPhone or Android smartphone.

Mayer has now put that plan into motion through a program Yahoo is calling "Yahoo! Smart Phones, Smart Fun!"

BI learned about this plan from an internal memo, which we received from one source and confirmed with another.

Through the program, Yahoo employees will have a choice of phones: iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One X, HTC EVO 4G LTE, or Nokia Lumia 920.

Yahoo is also going to pay its employees data and phone bills.

Giving employees blazing fast new smartphones will certainly boost morale at Yahoo – just like free food will – but that's not the whole point.

According to the memo, the idea is for Yahoo employees to use the phones that Yahoo users are using.

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