KOST (103.5 FM) added the syndicated Delilah show to its schedule, weeknights 7 p.m. to midnight, replacing longtime \u201cLove Songs\u201d host Karen Sharp, who was \u201cretired\u201d as part of last month\u2019s nationwide cutbacks by station owner iHeart Media.<\/p>\n
To me, the move appears to be an obvious cost-cutting strategy, as syndicated programs are far cheaper than paying a live and local DJ \u2026 live and local being what radio executives keep telling us sets them apart from other entertainment sources as they move toward everything but.<\/p>\n
I can assume AI DJs are next.<\/p>\n
To paraphrase what my column mentor, Ray Richmond, used to say about syndicated and satellite-delivered programming back in the days of the Herald Examiner, it has many benefits: It\u2019s cheap. It also costs less. And did I mention that it\u2019s cheaper?<\/p>\n
In this case, we already know what to expect. If Delilah\u2019s name sounds familiar, she was heard doing her show on KBIG (104.3 FM) back in 2007, in the days when KOST and KBIG were competing. In a few words: I think her show is awful. While Sharp connected, Delilah just doesn\u2019t, unless generic advice to distant others is helpful to you.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t popular, of course. iHeart is a master of finding programming \u201cjust good enough,\u201d and now that they distribute the program through Premiere Networks, they get to advertise it being cleared in the nation\u2019s second-largest radio market, perhaps leading to more affiliates carrying it.<\/p>\n
I question if it will help KOST, however. Local listeners will most likely rarely, if ever, get their dedications and stories on the air as they compete against listeners from roughly 160 other stations nationwide. That one-on-one that Sharp provided is no more.<\/p>\n
Considering that many morning listeners tune in to the same station that they had on when they went to bed, I wonder if KOST\u2019s days as a market leader are numbered.<\/p>\n
More Holiday Tunes<\/p>\n
Over the years, radio app TuneIn has become much more than just a way to find local and national stations. It now carries podcasts and its own curated programming, and it announced last week that its 2025 holiday channels are now online.<\/p>\n
Rock, jazz, country, and more are available on TuneIn\u2019s new holiday lineup. There are channels dedicated to classical, children\u2019s music and Sinatra as well. You can find them all on the app or at TuneIn.com; search for the \u201cHear the Holidays\u201d links if they don\u2019t show up on your home page.<\/p>\n
Mailbag<\/p>\n
I received more email regarding our ever-expanding set of fun topics. Our first one covers two of them \u2013 shortened songs and custom songs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been enjoying your articles on shortened songs or custom edited songs,\u201d writes Frank Canin. \u201cOne song that just absolutely bugged me was the edited version of \u2018Listen To The Music\u2019 by The Doobie Brothers. The edited version cut out about a minute of the closing guitar solo. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked for KFRG (95.1 FM) in Riverside,\u201d he continued. \u201cI know we had a few songs where the call letters were inserted into the songs \u2026 the one I remember most was when \u2018K-Frog\u2019 was inserted just after Gary Allan sang \u2018Nothin\u2019 On But The Radio.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
I like that \u2026 it just makes things different and fun!<\/p>\n
\u201cI do remember KHJ (930 AM) would shorten the ending of the Beatles\u2019 \u2018Hey Jude,\u2019 writes Russell Cinque. I actually liked the short version better because the repeating chorus was just too much. Interestingly, they did play the entire Don McLean \u2018American Pie\u2019 and the full version of Richard Harris\u2019 \u2018MacArthur Park.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you wanted to hear the full versions of \u2018Ride My See-Saw\u2019 by the Moody Blues or \u2018In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida\u2019 by the Iron Butterfly, you had to listen to stations like KMET and KLOS.\u201d<\/p>\n
I agree about \u2018Hey Jude\u2019 \u2026 described once as a four-minute song with a five-minute fade. Russ also has my inclination when it comes to which version of remade songs he likes best. \u201cIn my case, it just depends on which version of the song I heard played on the radio first,\u201d he says. \u201cIt could be the original version, the cover version or the remake version.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u2014 with few exceptions \u2014 is my exact feeling.<\/p>\n
Steve from Chino remembers KFI (640 AM) and custom songs. \u201cI can recall KFI playing special versions of \u2018Fire\u2019 by the Pointer Sisters and \u2018Living it Up\u2019 by Bell and James \u2026 both mentioning tuning the radio to KFI in 1979,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
And finally, Ellis Lai wrote in again regarding a song change I never heard before: \u201cRadio stations in Kansas City would play a sanitized version of George Michael\u2019s \u2018I Want Your Sex,\u2019\u201d Lai remembers. \u201cThey would edit it to say \u2018I want your love\u2019 instead, completely removing sex from the lyrics!\u201d<\/p>\n
That reminds me of whatever station here in Los Angeles \u2014 I thought it was KHJ, but I can find no confirmation \u2014 that bleeped over the word \u201ccrap\u201d from Paul Simon\u2019s \u201cKodachrome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I think back on all the (bleep) I learned in high school,\u201d Simon sang as we kids rode in the car on the way to the Abalone Shore Club in Palos Verdes for a church group outing. I still remember it like yesterday.<\/p>\n
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email\u00a0rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KOST (103.5 FM) added the syndicated Delilah show to its schedule, weeknights 7 p.m. to midnight, replacing longtime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278,700,6490],"class_list":["post-169808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music","tag-radio","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}