L.A. Morning Show Appealing to Broader Audience
Media
by Claudia Peschiutta
The appeal of “Good Day L.A.” is proving to be more than just a local phenomenon.
“Good Day Live,” a spin-off of the KTTV-TV (Channel 11) morning show, has done well enough in L.A. and six other cities during its first weeks to encourage Fox executives to try it out in a few more markets. The one-hour program was scheduled to begin airing on Fox stations in six additional cities, including Houston and Washington, D.C., on March 18
“To be honest, I’m pleasantly surprised,” said Robb Dalton, president of programming and production for syndicator Twentieth Television. “You never know when you take a show out how it’s going to be accepted.”
That’s especially true for “Good Day Live,” which is similar to “Good Day L.A.,” a program whose wacky antics have made it a target for television critics.
“Good Day Live” premiered in L.A. and four other cities on Dec. 3. Two additional markets were added in January.
Lottery Loss
The only winners in the contest for the state’s $100 million lottery advertising account last week were agencies that didn’t play.
When California Lottery Director Joan Wilson responded to a complaint from Grey Worldwide, Los Angeles contesting the awarding of the account to the local office of DDB Worldwide, both came out empty handed. The investigation of the complaint revealed both agencies had failed to disclose required information, said Jim Hasegawa, director of marketing for the lottery.
“(Wilson) decided that based on the information that’s come to light, we are essentially rescinding this procurement,” he said.
Grey, the incumbent ad agency, left out names and addresses of executives at media buyer MediaCom (also owned by Grey Global Group), Hasegawa said. DDB failed to mention OMD Worldwide (both part of Omnicom Group) would be doing media buying for the account, he added. “Obviously, the disclosure is really important,” Hasegawa said. “We take it seriously.”
Lottery officials plan to put out another request for proposals for the account, and both agencies can again pursue the account. Grey’s contract expires on June 30.
More Retirements at Times
The Los Angeles Times has quietly made more cuts to its staff by offering early retirement packages to some employees.
The paper already had lost about 40 of its newsroom staff members last year though a voluntary retirement program established to help parent Tribune Co. meet its goal of shrinking the company’s work force by 6 percent. This time, fewer than 20 employees accepted packages, said Times spokeswoman Martha Goldstein.
Some 900 Times employees were eligible last year for early retirement, offered to those 50 and older with more than five years experience at the company. More applied than were accepted, Goldstein said.
Like most media companies, Tribune has been hurt in the past year by the recession and a steep decline in ad spending. Aside from shrinking its workforce, the company has instituted a wage freeze for all of its nonunion employees and cut executive salaries by 5 percent.
Forget the Gifts
Like other public radio stations, KLON-FM (88.1) is trying to wean its supporters off the “thank you” gifts given out during pledge drives. The gifts run from free CDs to expense-paid trips.
Listeners who participated in the jazz station’s recent winter drive were given the option of foregoing the gifts, which eat up about 10 percent of the money raised, according to KLON membership manager Sean Heitkemper. The fund-raiser, held Feb. 8-24, brought in about $510,000, a drop from the $600,000 pledged during last year’s winter drive.
“It’s expensive to buy all those thank you gifts and it’s really not healthy,” Heitkemper said.
Premiere Head Out
Tim Kelly has a hard time suppressing his entrepreneurial impulse.
After 15 years at Premiere Radio Networks Inc., the Sherman Oaks-based firm he helped found, Kelly has stepped down from his post as executive vice president and general manager to work on developing platforms for content delivery. He plans to stay on as a consultant for Premiere.
The network, now owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc., syndicates more than 100 radio shows and features Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Casey Kasem and Rick Dees.
After years of working on both radio programming and the technology for delivering that content, Kelly said he had realized “the two camps really don’t speak to each other very well.”
While he eventually hopes to work on developing “seamless content delivery” through his small media consulting firm, Footsteps Inc., Kelly said he’s first going to take a couple of months off.
“Right now, I want to play golf,” he said.
In Other News…
KCRW-FM (89.9) added “The Next Big Thing,” a weekly, one-hour variety show, to its Sunday morning line-up, replacing “Joe Frank: The Other Side.” The program, airing at 11 a.m., is hosted by Dean Olsher and produced by New York public radio station WNYC-FM The Los Angeles Advertising Agencies Association launched a new Web site at www.laaaa.com…
KABC-AM (790) and KLOS-FM (95.5) became the only L.A. radio stations to make the list of 50 finalists for the National Association of Broadcasters’ 2002 Crystal Radio Awards, which recognize community service efforts. Ten winners will be announced at an NAB conference in April.
Staff reporter Claudia Peschiutta can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 229 or at
[email protected].
