KFWB Anchor Kilgore Heads To Wall Street Journal Network
Media
by Claudia Peschiutta
Business anchor Ron Kilgore is leaving KFWB-AM (980) to host a nationally syndicated program for The Wall Street Journal Radio Network.
The KFWB veteran and co-host of the “KFWB/Los Angeles Times Noon Business Hour” is set to leave the station on Aug. 9. “The Wall Street Journal This Morning,” an hour-long business show, is expected to premiere in September.
“For a guy like me, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Kilgore said.
The Journal’s radio network provides short, hourly business reports, such as the 60-second “The Dow Jones Money Report,” to nearly 200 stations throughout the U.S. “The Wall Street Journal This Morning” is the network’s first full-length show, Kilgore said.
KFWB Vice President and General Manager Roger Nadel said Kilgore’s decision to leave “caught us out of left field.” No replacement had been named as of last week.
“(I am) thrilled for him, sorry for us,” Nadel said.
“He was instrumental in helping us create the ‘Noon Business Hour’ and has really embraced this whole area of business reporting and helped us elevate our business image on the radio,” he said. “That makes him a tough person to replace.”
KPCC Loses GM
Public radio station KPCC-FM (89.3) is going without a general manager in order to cut costs.
Cindy Young, who helped lead the station transition to an all news and talk format in March 2000, recently left KPCC and will not be replaced, said Bill Davis, president and chief executive of Southern California Public Radio.
“We organized the station at the end of the last fiscal year and just got rid of the general manager position and reassigned her several responsibilities to line managers,” he said. “It was a difficult decision but, both from an operational and a budgetary standpoint, it made sense.”
Eliminating the position saves the station about $100,000 a year. Young may provide some consulting services for KPCC, Davis said.
“The parting was very amicable and in no way related to job performance,” he said.
Clear Channel Consolidates
Clear Channel Entertainment is consolidating its L.A. operations into one facility at the Westwood Gateway building on Santa Monica Boulevard.
The live entertainment division of radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. had three offices in L.A. The move will not lead to any layoffs among the 70 or so employees, who work in management, marketing, music and touring, said Michael Ruthig, music publicity manager for Clear Channel Entertainment in L.A.
“(We are) just putting everybody under one roof,” he said.
PR Matters
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission is getting some help from local lobbyist and political consultant Richard Lichtenstein in its effort to attract a professional football team to the facility.
The commission has authorized General Manager Pat Lynch to employ Lichtenstein’s Marathon Communications on a temporary basis until a decision is reached on the award of a long-term public relations contract. There reportedly has been some disagreement among commission members on the hiring of a firm.
The commission’s pursuit comes just weeks after Anschutz Entertainment Group pulled a proposal to build a 64,000-seat football stadium near Staples Center.
Looking for Love
What does a scientist know about love?
Ask Mary Spio.
The former Boeing Co. engineer is preparing an August launch of One2One Living magazine, a Beverly Hills-based bimonthly for singles. Coverage will range from dating tips to singles’ travel spots and the magazine will feature a section with “photo personals.”
“It’s almost like ‘Cosmo’ marries Maxim,” said the 29-year-old Spio.
Inspiration for One2One comes from Spio’s experience working at a dating service while in college. The $150,000 needed to launch the magazine came from her own pocket, relatives and friends and a Small Business Administration loan, Spio said. The first issue of One2One will have 168 pages, about 60 percent of which will be advertising.
The magazine, with a cover price of $4.95, will mainly be distributed through its Web site, direct-response ads and at selected bookstores and gyms, Spio said. “You don’t want your mom looking through a magazine at the grocery store and seeing that you’re in there,” she said.
Sohikian Joins MWW
The MWW Group’s L.A. office has added another well-connected player to its management roster.
Arthur Sohikian, former director of government affairs for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, was named a senior vice president of the public relations and marketing firm. The move comes as Sohikian’s L.A.-based AVS Consulting Inc., a public affairs firm, merges its operations with the local MWW office.
Headed by veteran campaign manager and political consultant Harvey Englander, MWW also recently hired David Herbst, the former spokesman for the Playa Vista development.
In Other News
KSPN-AM (1110) has added a second live, locally produced program to its sports talk line-up. “The Todd Donoho Show with Dave Stone” airs weekdays from 1 to 4 p.m., replacing syndicated “GameDay.” “The McDonnell-Douglas Show” moves back an hour to start at 4 p.m…Jorge Mettey becomes news director at KMEX-TV (Channel 34), the flagship station of the nation’s top-rated Spanish-language network, L.A.-based Univision. Robert Yanez steps into the newly created post of director of news and production operations at KMEX…KABC-AM (790) and the Los Angeles County Fire Department are providing all-expenses-paid trips to Southern California this summer for 100 family members of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Several local venues are helping to sponsor “Operation Blue Skies”…Local football fans will get to see a former L.A. team play when KTLA broadcasts two St. Louis Rams pre-season games, on Aug. 10 and 30.
Staff reporter Claudia Peschiutta can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 229, or at
[email protected].
