Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2008 > December > 11 > Entry
12/12: Atlanta radio celebrates itself, broadcast TV viewership down
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: AIR Awards host and Dave FM jock Mara Davis with her agent and the lifetime achievement award winner Norm Schrutt.
At the Achievement in Radio awards for the March of Dimes Thursday night, radio stations handed out what I call “teacher’s pet” awards or the favorite people at the station internally.
Here are the results. (By the way, Mara Davis hosted the program and was a hoot as always).
TIm Orff (morning host) Dave FM, Rob Stadler (news director) Star 94, CoCo Brother (jock) Praise 97.5, Murph Dawg & CJ (morning hosts) 95.5/The Beat, David Hall (morning news man) 640/WGST-AM, Dutch Van Steeg (promotions) Rock 100.5, Scott Taylor Kicks 101.5, Dan Ratcliffe (afternoon host) 104.7/The Fish, Kaedy Kiely (morning host) 97.1/The River, Lorraine Jacques White (late morning host) 1380/WAOK-AM, Lance Houston (afternoon host) 94.9/The Bull, Twanda Black (public affairs) Kiss 104.1, Will Gara (morning producer for Steve & Vikki) B98.5, Giant Brian & Shaffee, plus Carlos (morning show) Project 9-6-1, Capt. Herb Emory (traffic guy) WSB-AM, Matt Edgar (program director) 790/The Zone, Ryan Cameron (afternoon host) V-103, Greg Talmadge (traffic) Kicks & True Oldies, Silas “SiMan Baby” Alexander (evening host) Grown Folks 102.5, Rashan Ali (middays) Hot 107.9
ABOVE: Doug Stewart, part of the 2 Live Stews heard locally on 790/The Zone, buys his wife a Christmas gift from the March of Dimes silent auction. (And no, I won’t tell what it is!)
My news operation also presented the readers’ pick for best morning show, Kevin & Taylor at the Fish. The AJC staff pick was the Bert Show at Q100. The newspaper will donate $1,000 each for the March of Dimes on behalf of the shows.
ABOVE: Wendy Adams, Q100 traffic gal, poses with the AJC $1,000 donation oversized check to March of Dimes after our staff picked the Bert Show as best morning show.
Mark Arum of WSB-AM also gave a lovely tribute to the late WSB-AM newsman Mike Kavanagh, who died suddenly last Saturday:
We lost a titan, folks. It’s ironic in a room full of titans… the Stews, Mr. [Norm] Schrutt, Ryan [Cameron.] Where’s Frank Ski?? That person cost me $30,000 in bonus money!
Mike also ran his own investment firm and hosted ‘Money Matters’ show for years. He just loved high finance in 1998. I came into some money after a trip to Vegas. Here’s money. I found it. Set this up for my retirement. I want this to pay for my kids’ education. I gave him $10,000 in 1998. And now it’s.. $3,200.” (laughs)
A genius! I don’t know how he did it… in all seriousness,… he was the guru before we had Internet in the newsroom. And he was our Walter Cronkite, our Edward R. Murrow… he was the guy when news happened. The day trader shooting in Buckhead, the courthouse shooting, 9/11. Mike was there to reassure our listeners. He reassured our newsroom, too.
Norm Schrutt was given the lifetime achievement award. The radio agent to the likes of the 2 Live Stews, Mara Davis and John Kincade, he did do a nice job mocking me on the dais, in deference to my fine last name.
ABOVE: “Autoscoop” man Adam Goldfein (heard on V-103) and WAOK-AM host Lorraine Jacques-White.
- Continuing a long-term trend, TV viewers are steadily skipping out on the broadcast networks and moving to cable. Four of the five major networks have seen dropoffs in viewerships this fall. Only CBS has build viewers.
Of 66 returning shows, only 8 of them have seen increases in viewership year over year (five of them on CBS including “NCIS” and “How I Met Your Mother”), according to an Associated Press story.. It’s not surprising this is why NBC is ceding five hours a week of primetime to Jay Leno.
Ultimately, viewers under the age of 30 don’t really differentiate between broadcast and cable. With 90 percent of the population with access to cable shows, increasing numbers of people couldn’t care less if ABC or NBC has something on TV. They’d rather go to ESPN, CNN or Bravo. The big tent, in other words, keeps shrinking.
Comments
By Yawn
December 13, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this
Who’d have thunk it? A night devoted to people who urinate on their own legs.
By Randall Bloomquist - WGST PD
December 13, 2008 7:53 PM | Link to this
Why wasn’t I invited?