On Jan 6, 6:05*pm, Pocket-Radio wrote:
On Jan 6, 5:39*am, PocketRadio wrote:





On Jan 6, 3:30 am, wrote:

Tuning the nightstand radio to the usual late night talk show on WCCO
Minneapolis I hear a familiar but misplaced voice - not Al Malmberg
but John Grayson who is supposed to be on another of the few "good
neighbor" radio stations left - KMOX in St. Louis. Hmm...weird. Must
be the filters on the cheap radio. Oh well I'll listen to the other
local talk show on KDKA Pittsburgh. WHAT the eff? Same voice and same
show as is on WCCO and KMOX! This is becoming twilight zone material.
I'll try WBX 1030 out of Boston - SAME VOICE SAME SHOW! Are you
kidding me? This can't be happening!

A search of the web today confirmed my deepest fear - syndication has
killed the few remaining local late nighters that have become my
companions over the years. Crap.
Not even a warning. Not even time to get used to the idea. What a
class organization you are CBS Radio. No wonder you are going broke.
Good riddance.

Guess it's shortwave and Brother Stair to put me to sleep at night
henceforth. He's better than a somonex laced Nyquil cocktail.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribunehttp://www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/37095119.html?page=2&c=y
No happy trails for WCCO's Malmberg

Late-night radio host of 12 years was fired and didn't get a chance to
bid farewell to listeners.

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

The smooth, friendly and rich sound of host Al Malmberg's voice on
WCCO Radio has been silenced before he ever got a chance to say
goodbye to his listeners of 12 years.

Malmberg, 57, was fired last week in the latest in a series of cost-
cutting measures taken by the CBS-owned station and by other media
outlets in the Twin Cities and elsewhere around the country. The
station also let go Brad Walton, who was behind the microphone on
weekends overnight for about the same length of time as Malmberg.

"I've never had a more loyal audience," said Malmberg. "You are a
companion, and people felt like they knew you. Unfortunately, that's
been lost."

Malmberg grew up in Richfield and remembers as a child hearing his
father, Larry, play the accordion as a live in-studio musician for
WCCO Radio and later WCCO-TV.

"He took it hard," Malmberg said, recalling when he told his 85-year-
old father the news. "I think he took it harder than I did."

Malmberg's slot has been filled by Jon Grayson's CBS-syndicated
"Overnight America," heard weekdays from midnight to 5 a.m. Its other
markets include St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Boston.

Turning to syndication overnight breaks "The Good Neighbor's" practice
of having only locally produced programming.

WCCO program director Wendy Paulson described Grayson's show as not
syndication but a "custom simulcast" between the four stations. Local
weather coverage will continue overnight.

Malmberg said he asked his bosses at the time of his firing, " 'When
is my last night?' And they said, 'Last night.'

"I couldn't say goodbye to my audience. It took me 25 years to make it
to WCCO."

He even had in the back of his mind how he wanted to sign off if he
had been given the chance to plan his final show. "I would put on Roy
Rogers and sing 'Happy Trails,'" he said, reprising how he departed
for WCCO from his own nationally syndicated radio talk show that was
based in Colorado Springs, Colo. "It would have been hokey, but it
would have been cool."

Paulson said "Al and Brad were beloved by our listeners, and we
completely understand that." She said their departures were because of
"economic events that we are not immune to."

The CBS fools are some of the last IBOC holdouts.

If these guys can't provide content for AM & FM how will they be able
to fill up their HD channels?
Get ready for more Rush, Hannity, Ryan Seacrest and more.
Who knew radio could cheapen radio even further?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"Bonneville pulls iChannel Music"

Bonneville has pulled the plug on its iChannel Music HD Network and
streaming. For the most part, it has replaced the HD multicast with
WorldBand Media content (brokered ethnic programming). iChannel
allowed indie bands to upload their music online for consideration.
The network included Chicago at 101.9 HD2;
Washington D.C. at 103.5 HD2; Salt Lake City at 102.7 HD2; St. Louis
at 101.1 HD2 and Phoenix at 92.3 HD2. The stream is dead, but the site
remains: www.ichannelmusic.com.

From the site: “Well today is iChannel's last day. It's hard to
believe that it's been 3 years since we started. And I think I speak
for everyone here when I say no matter how disappointed I am at the
moment, I wouldn't trade my time here for anything in the world. I've
had the opportunity to work with some extremely cool and talented
people over the past few years and made some life-long friends.
So I just want to say thanks to everyone that's been a part of making
my time at iChannel so special...Ken, Kane, Rider, Virg, JK, Huck, Big
Red, Dante, Aimster, Presly, Sky, Julie, Logan, AC, Matt, Eric, Sammy,
Jamie, Zip, Christy, Josh, the other interns whose names I never
bothered to learn, and the corporate folks who made it all possible.
It was a pleasure working with all of you. And also thanks to all of
the bands. (Don't worry...not going to mention all of them by name).
And finally, thanks to everyone who tuned in to iChannel, checked out
the website, or came to our events. Without you, we would have just
been talking to ourselves.”

RBR/TVBR observation: If it isn’t making money, the plug will get
pulled. That’s what most likely happened here. WorldBand Media brings
in the dollars instead. We commend Bonneville for giving it a shot—it
allowed radio to expose a lot of new, unsigned indie bands from around
the world. CC Radio's eRockster HD2 format is still around at a good
handful of stations and still outstanding. If that gets shuttered, a
good bunch of us just might be done with HD Radio listening
altoghether.

http://www.rbr.com/radio/12113.html