Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2007 > November > 28
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
11/29: Whatever happened to Z93’s Kaedy Kiely?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former 96rock and Z93 jock Kaedy Kiely will be on air with Mara Davis on Dave FM Friday at 2 p.m. to talk about her new game Rock Riddles. It’s an offshoot of what she used to do on the radio — riddles about rock artists. She’s got a web site www.rockriddles.com. She’s going to start selling it on CD. “It’s easier than what I did on the radio because a lot of the questions were for Camp Jam,” a rock and roll summer camp for teens.
Kiely, who was on radio in Atlanta for 22 years including a long stint at 96rock back in its heyday, had worked for awhile at a startup drinkng company Viva Horchata after she got fired from Z93 in 2004 when the station switched over to Dave. Here’s my last update on her back in December 2005.. But she needed to pay the bills and got a job a few months ago doing production and imaging for 790/The Zone working with fellow Z93 expat Dave Marino. So she’s back in radio and you’ll hear her voice on the Zone, at least doing promotions and IDs. Her title? “Continuity director.” In other words, she’s the liaison between the sales people and the talent.
“I definitely miss being on the air. I miss the listeners and the music. But radio has changed a lot,” she said. She said she is enjoying the Zone’s folks and its entrepreneurial spirit.
This interview with Mara will be her first time on the 92.9 dial in more than three years. “I can’t wait,” she said. “It’s going to be fun.”
11/29: Alleged obscenity leads to WGCL anchor’s firing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A weekend WGCL anchor was let go this week after she allegedly said a nasty obscenity over the air, according to an online report by Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute, a respected non-profit media training organization.
Cari Champion told Prince via an email that she is appealing her firing to WGCL’s corporate heads, saying she was misunderstood.
Her take: “I was talking to my co-anchor during a commercial break. The floor director did not cue me or my co-anchor, and when it was time to tease an upcoming story, you could only hear us but not see us. My co-anchor and I were talking about a mechanical screenwriter. It is difficult to use at times. The last part of our conversation was silly banter and barely audible, but it was picked up. I called the screenwriter a ‘mothersucka’ not the f-bomb. I emphatically deny any attempted cover up of the mishap. In fact I was the one who brought it to the attention of the news directors. And, the beta tape, wherever it is, has conversation that clearly supports my position.” She said she was dismissed Tuesday.
Her former boss at WGCL Rick Erbach declined to comment. And Champion herself, through a friend, also declined to be interviewed. Her bio has already been taken off the WGCL Web site.
“On the beta [tape], the director and I have clear discussions where we were worried that the word ‘mothasucka’ had been picked up,” Champion wrote to Prince. “I did not curse on the air, and what happened should not have cost me my job. ‘Darn,’ ‘shoot’ and ‘heck’ are all words that a listener may see as substitutes for curse words. But, they are not curse words … and neither is ‘mothasucka.’ The penalty seems extremely heavy-handed.”
“Also, it happened at 11:30 at night when kids are asleep, and to my knowledge there were no complaints made about it to the station. I hope that the Meredith Executives in Iowa take the time to check the facts here and hire me back.”
Champion has also worked in West Palm Beach, Fla.
11/28: Project’s Giant Brian in 50-hour “lockdown” mode
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the Empty Stocking Fund devoid of $50,000 worth of toys and gifts thanks to the thieves who swiped them out of a City Hall East warehouse, Project 9-6-1’s Giant Brian morning show is going to air for 50 consecutive hours starting at 7 a.m. with a goal of raising $1,000 an hour to cover the deficit.
Sure, it’s a stunt to help get Giant Brian Carothers and Shaffee some attention for the new morning show, but at least it’s for a good cause.
And it’s been awhile since a local show has taken the marathon route. Si-Man a couple years ago raised money for Hosea Williams on 102.5 by holding a marathon airing.
11/28: WAGA adds an 11 p.m. newscast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Starting January 14, 2008, you’ll be able to see four different versions of that latest homicide or apartment fire at 11 p.m. thanks to Fox affiliate WAGA-TV.
Fox 5 will continue to air its popular 10 p.m. hour-long program, then segue immediately into “Fox 5 News Edge at 11” with a new anchor Tom Haynes from Miami. It’ll sub out “That ‘70’s Show.” “I’m not saying we’re reinventing news at 11 but Tom will give us a different look on air,” said general manager Gene McHugh.
WXIA-TV, WGCL-TV and WSB-TV already have beachheads at 11. But with the sitcom pipeline drying up in recent years, adding an 11 p.m. news operation has become more appealing financially to TV stations. Other Fox stations have recently added the 11 p.m. news including those in Boston, Detroit and D.C. This will up WAGA’s weekly total of local news to a whopping 43 hours, comparable to market leader WSB-TV.
WAGA-TV’s 10 p.m. newscast is competitive with the dramas the other three major networks typically air. The station’s strongest news time slot is the mornings, with its 5 to 7 newscast and successful “Good Day Atlanta” entertainment-oriented show from 7 to 9.
Here’s Haynes’ bio off his Miami Fox station Web site.. He has been in Atlanta before, working for a few years at CNN.
Services »
