Clear Channel Making "Whoopi" At KKSF

Billboard Radio Monitor reports today that Clear Channel's Smooth Jazz KKSF/103.7 will become the Bay Area affiliate for "Wake Up with Whoopi." The program, which will air from 5 to 9 a.m. on weekdays beginning August 14, is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, also a Clear Channel subsidiary, and features Academy Award-winning actress/comedienne Whoopi Goldberg.

"Wake Up" begins airing on July 31 on WKTU/New York, giving it a two-week head start before branching out to WLIT/Chicago and KKSF. New York radio stalwart Paul "Cubby" Bryant will serve as Goldberg's co-host.

According to a press release on Premiere's website, "Wake Up With Whoopi" will be "a fresh morning show blending daily topics, comedy, listener call-ins, guests, and locally programmed music." The emphasis is apparently on "welcoming women back to morning drive," a slogan used twice in the release.

"Women have been waking up to morning television for the past 15 years because radio hasn't always given them a reason to tune in," according to John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. "This is a new chapter. 'Wake Up with Whoopi' will go down as the first program in the next generation of entertaining morning radio because of the extraordinary talents of Whoopi Goldberg."

"Radio is an area I have always wanted to play in," Goldberg said in the press release. "There aren't many women helming their own show. I'm thrilled to add my name to that small list because I believe that we have something to add to the morning groove."

The show displaces KKSF's current morning show "helmer" Kim Dooley, a woman whose future role at the station has not been defined.

KMPH Up and Running: The continuing tale of Modesto's KMPH/840 reaches its next phase, as the station has begun regular programming with a combination of brokered talk, Adult Standards and foreign-language fare. KMPH is the Pappas company's 5,000-watt replacement station for 50,000-watt KTRB/860, which will move into the Bay Area, reportedly by the end of the year.

KGO Still Sitting Pretty In "Beauty Pageant"

Seemingly etched permanently atop the local ratings, news/talk grand champion KGO/810 remains at #1 in the Spring Arbitron numbers for all listeners (age 12+) in the San Francisco market.

Despite slipping from a 6.3 in Winter, KGO still posted a very respectable 5.6, giving the venerable station a healthy cushion between itself and #2 KOIT/96.5 (4.5). KMEL/106.1 (3.9) grabbed third, while KSOL/98.9 & 99.1 (3.8) leapfrogged from way down the list into the fourth position, up from a 2.6 Winter book.

KCBS/740 and KDFC/102.1, both of whom posted identical 3.9 marks in Winter, tied for fifth overall with matching 3.6 books. The seventh spot is occupied by KSFO/560 (3.2), with KBLX/102.9 and Wild 94.9 (KYLD) tied for eighth with 3.1 apiece.

Rounding out the top ten was KKSF/103.7 (2.9).

The rest of the list includes KFOG, 98.1 Kiss and the KNBR 680/1050 tandem (2.8 each), Star 101.3 and 107.7 The Bone (2.6 each), KFRC and KRZZ (2.5 each), Alice@97.3 (2.3), KBRG, Live 105, KSJO and KVVZ/KVVF (1.6 each), KRTY (1.4), KNEW (1.3), 98.5 K-Fox (1.2) and KMAX (1.1).

If your favorite station wasn't listed here, it means you weren't listening hard enough. Better luck next time.

Want to talk about it? Click on the "Post a comment" link down below and get to discussin' thangs. And the first person to post that the 12+ numbers don't mean nothing gets banished permanently from my grumpy little fiefdom.

CBS/SF Cuts Kohl, Nine Others

Count ten members of the CBS Radio team in the Bay Area among those caught in the wave that washed out 115 staffers in a nationwide cost-cutting move orchestrated by company chief Joel Hollander.

It's a great corporate philosophy: when in doubt, don't improve your product. Instead, slash and burn.

According to reports carried in today's Radio & Records and other electronic trade papers, the biggest name headed out the door is Ken Kohl, hired less than a year ago to oversee the launch of Free FM 106.9 (KIFR).

In an internal memo to local employees quoted by R&R, Doug Harvill, market manager for CBS Radio/SF, said "Our stations have implemented exciting plans that are delivering ratings and results. There is plenty of work for all of us to do, and I look forward to hearing how you may want to expand your role and contributions to our stations."

Others reportedly departing CBS include Vicky Biggs (national sales manager, KCBS/KIFR), Herb Anderson (controller, KFRC/KCBS), Angelina Fong (promotions assistant, KCBS), Kent Yeglin (chief engineer, KITS), Mark Silverstein (sales manager, KYCY/Oakland A's), Kari Fulton (NTR director), Cari Levine (NTR manager), and Jason Lee and Jay Vong, who worked in the business department for the group of CBS stations here.

Steve Dinardo, currently VP/GM of Live 105 (KITS), will take on the same duties at Free FM 106.9. Alice@97.3 (KLLC) VP/GM Greg Nemitz adds KYCY/1550 to his list of responsibilities.

DOTS & DASHES — The old original 1260/KYA has been dead and gone for nearly 25 years, but there are old original fans of the station (including me) who still pine for the days of Tom Campbell, Johnny Holliday, The Mighty Mitchell, Russ "The Moose" Syracuse, "Big Daddy" Tom Donahue and Emperor Gene Nelson.

Well, now we can relive those days, albeit vicariously and virtually, through KyaRadio1.com, which is streaming online from Clovis, Calif., through the efforts of Chris Edwards, the nom de radieux of Verne White. The KYA revival includes classic jingles and an extensive collection of oldies spanning the 1950s through the 1980s...

Speaking of which, Johnny Holliday sends along word that Ed Hider, a popular KYA jock back in the 1960s, is a real estate millionaire in Southern California these days, having invested his radio earnings in apartment buildings and other properties. See, I told you that going into radio would pay off eventually!