March 17 is a busy day on radio and TV in Atlanta. Here are four new developments:
- Top 40 Power 96.1's new morning show Scotty K and Riley Couture debuts from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. The show replaces the syndicated Elvis Duran show. (The station at some point decided to shorten his stage name from Scotty Kay to Scotty K. He was Special K in Chicago.)
I will chronicle a bit on what happened on each show as they launch in this timeline:
6 a.m.: The 680/The Fan producers use an old opener that starts with "Rude and Perry and the Crew."
"It's official. We can actually say your name," Rude says. He then complains that the producers have failed to update the intro to reflect Chris Dimino's arrival as part of the team.
"I did my stretch," Dimino says in his debut on the Fan. "Every day of it. And now I believe I will go as being part of the crew... I've been called a lot worse than crew."
After the madness of what Dimino has had to deal with after the Mayhem in the AM bit that got him fired form 790/The Zone nine months ago, "we will achieve some level of normalcy,' he said.
He had a nine-month non-compete clause which has kept him off the AM/FM dial since that fated June 17, 2013 morning when Mayhem in the AM did a tasteless bit about former NFL player Steve Gleason, who has ALS. He was fired but fortunately for him, rival 680/The Fan picked him up last fall. He just couldn't be on air until this morning.
6:22 a.m.on Power 96.1: I missed the official opening of Power 96.1's new Scotty K and Riley morning show since I was listening to Dimino. This is Power's first local morning show since it debuted in August, 2012 and the emphasis will be on music.
Their first bit is to run some audio of drunk coworkers over the weekend at a welcome party for them, saying they may lose a couple of friends by playing it. (Scotty K comes from Chicago. Haley was last heart in Nashville.) Their coworkers (unnamed) burble on how great they are, one already proclaiming his love for them.
They peppy pair also promote "the most music." (During the 6 a.m. hour, the station played 10 songs by Lorde (twice), Eminem with Rihanna, OneRepublic, Bastille, Jason DeRulo, Miley Cyrus, Drake, Ellie Goulding and Katy Perry. They played very few ads, relatively speaking.)
6:28 a.m. on Power 96.1: How about this for bizarre? Power does not want you to totally forget Elvis Duran. The station plays a phone prank from that show, then says to listen to that show in full, try IHeartRadio. Maybe that was a salve for getting rid of the show although it's part of the Clear Channel/Premiere family. (Duran underperformed here in Atlanta, which is why Scotty K and Haley are even here.)
6:43 a.m. on 680/The Fan: The trio debate Phil Jackson coming back to save the New York Knicks.
6:45 a.m. on Power 96.1: They replay their favorite drunken co-worker bit where some dude named Trace says to Scotty, "I've only known you a few days but I feel like we're brothers." Riley also reveals that she's a big Miley Cyrus fan with tickets being given away for her upcoming concert at 8 a.m.. They give away tickets to Robin Thicke at 7:02 a.m.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
7 a.m.: Sam Champion and his new crew open with their Winter Storm Wiley with record snowstorm in the mid-Atlantic, including D.C. plus big storms in Texas and storm damage in Alabama. Champion runs Twitter photos of the show, then introduces Jim Cantore in D.C.: "I thought this was vacation time for you in the islands," he says to Cantore. "Welcome to the airwaves," Cantore tells Champion. Mike Bettes provides the science behind the show. Champion, now in Atlanta from New York City, cuts to Raegan Medgie in his former town for the St. Patty's Day parade.
7:12 a.m. on Power: Fellow jock Sonic was sent out with a "Power pot of gold" with prizes at the Disco Kroger on Peachtree/Piedmont. "Just dig in my pot," he says.
7:12 a.m on the Weather Channel: Anaridis Rodriguez debuts her non-weather news, going through news about the Malaysian plane, the Crimean/Russia situation, and the NCAA tournament, taking up about three minutes before going to their first ad break. The Weather Channel will base its NCAA bracket on which city has better weather.
7:23 a.m on the Weather Channel: Maria LaRosa reports new feature The Positive Tilt is about a new study showing Omega 3 Fatty Acids helps people sleep better. "The party does not stop," Champion says, leading into the second ad break.
7:29 a.m. on the Fan: Chris Dimino gets his first endorsement up! Honda at Conyers!
7:32 a.m. on the Weather Channel: "Nothing has exploded... yet," Champion says, thanking viewers for watching them on day one.
7:35 a.m. on the Fan: Dimino explains his life the past nine months after the firing, though he doesn't get into much specifics. (Dimino, a private person, has declined to be interviewed since he left unlike his former Mayhem hosts Nick Cellini and Steak Shapiro.) He does not detail how he was fired or even his former employer by name. So anybody who was listening out of context probably got confused. Maybe the presumption was that most listeners know why he was off air so long and what happened. Dimino choked up and paused when he brought up ALS and Steve Gleason a couple of times. He says the families are so compassionate. Why? "They don't have time to be angry," he says. He also thanks his wife for helping him because he admitted falling into a major funk after the firing. And he thanks his friends for giving him kind words. "Getting out of the house was tough," he says. Ultimately, he takes the dictum of controlling what he could control and let things happen from there.
8:27 a.m. on Power: Scotty and Riley create a "regret line" where someone admits something they did wrong and poof! It goes away.
The pair also posted a "get to know me" video with silly questions posed:
8:40 a.m. on the Fan: Dimino revisits the situation, referencing the Zone as "the other station."
"I'm proud of some of the things we did" there," he says. "I'm happy with the people I worked with there and for a time, the people I worked for." He acknowledges the rivalry between the Zone and the Fan and says "I admit at times I didn't go about it the right way." His colleagues empathized, noting how easy it was to go over the line on air. Ultimately, Dimino sees himself as a bartender lucky enough to talk sports on the radio.
9:13 a.m. on the Weather Channel: Pop Radar is a new feature where the hosts talked about David Brenner's death and gave Huffpost contributor Josh Zepps 30 seconds to talk about the "First Kiss" viral video and the parody videos.
noon on 640/WGST:
Rich "Sully" Sullivan
began, sounding confident and happy to be back on the air. He took some calls in his first 20 minutes, including
Mike Rose
, his former boss on WGST in the 1990s and now a mortgage banker. We do learn that Sully does not have health insurance from the station (Given the station's very low ratings, Sully's compensation package is probably pretty modest, but this is a great way for Sully to learn the craft of talking of two hours a day in an entertaining manner, which is different from DJing with music). Rose joked he might be able to pull some strings and help him out. Sully also told a story about how years ago he got into local politics while living in Snellville and discovering the city didn't sell liquor on Sundays. He was deeply offended. He called into a radio station at the time and offered to meet the Snellville mayor for lunch at an Applebee's that Sunday and much to his surprise, the mayor showed up. He also promoted St. Baldrick's to help children with cancer, nothing he had his head shaved for charity the day before.
About the Author
