Not surprisingly, stations targeting black listeners did wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage this morning.

V-103’s Frank & Wanda at just past 8 a.m. interviewed Atlanta R&B singer Keith Sweat. his favorite MJ song: “She’s Out of My Life.” “I was devastated. He opened a lot of doors… he set standards.”

Later, Atlanta’s R&B superstar Usher called in to V from Paris. His earliest memory of MJ is “ABC” but what connected with him was “Off the Wall.” “Michael Jackson inspired me through dance and inspired me through music and vocal ability,” he said. “I gotta say, I wouldn’t be who I am today without Michael’s influence. Being able to share the stage with him and just be part of that legacy, same way I felt about James [Brown.]… God is calling all his children home.

On Rickey Smiley’s syndicated show on Hot 107.9, at 8:33 a.m., co-host Ebony Steele was talking about how much she liked “Ebony & Ivory.” Smiley had to correct her: that was Stevie Wonder, not MJ. Awkward.

At 8:35 …

Continue reading Radio/TV tributes to Michael Jackson »

South Carolina governor Mark Sanford’s quixotic road to cheaterdom became easy fodder for ALL the late-night talk show hosts (well, except Jay Leno, who isn’t on the air right now and probably muttering jokes to himself.). Politico created this wonderfully succinct one minute, 38 second summary of said jokes:

Continue reading Taking a break from MJ’s death for jokes about… Mark Sanford »

Michael Jackson. Such a mundane name. Such a singularly incredible entertainer — at least until a few years ago, when he more or less disappeared from the stage when his health started failing him.

The legacy can be summarized in song titles and ineffable images. “ABC.” “Rock With You.” “Billie Jean.” The Moon Walk. “Thriller.” That single sequined glove. “Bad.” “Black or White.”

But then came the weird behavior, the child molestation accusations, the pigmentation problems, the plastic surgery. At age 50, he had been in the public eye for 40 of those years. He arrived as an adorable ball of energy with the Jackson 5. He became a gangly teenager, then a fireball of a performer and pop culture icon. He revived top 40 radio in 1983 and forced MTV to air black aritsts that same year. To this day, you can hear MJ on the radio or snippets of his songs sampled by others.

Continue reading The Michael Jackson legacy and reaction »

WSB-AM syndicated host Neal Boortz is up for a National Radio Hall of Fame bid. But he needs your vote. You can do so here. It’s free but you have to register.

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Here are the four people up for vote:

NATIONAL – ACTIVE

Neal Boortz - the opinionated host of the Atlanta-based “Neal Boortz Show,” which airs throughout the United States on affiliates of the Jones Radio Network.

Bob Brinker – the knowledgeable host of “MoneyTalk” on Citadel Media Networks for over 20 years, Brinker shares investment advice and analysis with his audience.

Joey Reynolds – the legendary host of the nightly “Joey Reynolds Show” is heard nationally on the WOR Radio network, and was one of radio’s original “Top 40″ superstars during the 1960’s.

This American Life – the critically acclaimed …

Continue reading Neal Boortz up for National Radio Hall of Fame »

PHOTO CREDIT TO THE LEFT: Horne Brothers Films

Is Dwight Eubanks, the sassy gay hairdresser friend on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” getting his spinoff show on Bravo?

A good source of mine said it’s true but Eubanks, in an interview, said no, he doesn’t have a signed deal with them. This doesn’t mean it won’t happen. He just said it’s not a done deal yet. “We’re talking,” he said coyly via phone from his salon Purple Door.

Bravo spokesman Rachelle Savoia wrote in an email, “No truth.”

Eubanks, who claims to be friends with all five of the current housewives, has some other show ideas, too, including a day in the life of what goes on in the gay community from a transgender and transexual perspective and a sitcom possibly starring Dwight. (”I’m not an actor by any means. That’s not my forte,” he said.)

He said he’ll be seen in the second season of “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” starting July 30. “Oh yes,” he said. “I can’t let them have fun without me.” As for the …

Continue reading Is “Real Housewives” Dwight Eubanks getting a Bravo spinoff show? »

Last week was pretty dead in terms of big shows. Only four programs even drew 200,000 viewers in Atlanta. (”American Idol,” in comparison, would regularly draw 600K-plus a week.)

A sign of the season: goofy game show “Wipeout” was No. 1 in Atlanta by a huge margin, bringing home 323,000 fans June 15. The top cable show in Atlanta was “The Closer” with 194,000 viewers.

The big summer cable hit of the summer is clearly the new USA show “Royal Pains.” It was the top show of the week in cable, bringing in 6.5 million, virtually the same as week two. (In Atlanta, “Royal Pains” did not make the top 30 shows of the week.)

In cable land, Atlanta-based TNT’s new Tuesday lineup had mixed results. The Mark Burnett reality show “Wedding Day” crashed at 853,000 viewers for its opening day. Jada Pinkett-Smith’s “Hawthorne” followed with a respectable 3.8 million last Tuesday. Locally, the show brought in 174,000 viewers. And Holly Hunter’s “Saving Grace” season debut held most of …

Continue reading “Royal Pains,” “Hawthorne” get healthy ratings and Atlanta’s top radio songs »

Mara Davis on Dave FM, for years, has been doing great theme lunches but today is especially inventive.

When Kodak announced a few days ago it was no longer going to manufacture Kodachrome (made famous to a later generation by that song by Paul Simon), Davis decided to play songs which mention outdated items. Here’s the hour today:

The Police – “When the World is Running Down” Outdated reference: VCR

Train – “Drops of Jupiter” Outdated reference: Tao-bo

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Jammin’ Me” Outdated reference: Joe Piscopo

Primitive Radio Gods – “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand” Outdated reference: in the title!

Bryan Adams - “Summer of ‘69″ Outdated reference: “five-and-dime”

Sheryl Crow – “All I Wanna Do” Outdated reference: Datsuns

The Buggles – “Video Killed the Radio Star” Outdated reference: VTR (an old term for what is known now as VCR)

Derek & The Dominoes – “Bell Bottom Blues” Outdated reference: bell bottoms

Everclear – “AM …

Continue reading A “dated” but clever themed lunch on Dave FM »

After drawing just 2.9 million viewers last week, TLC’s promotion of a very “special” episode of “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ brought in a record 10.6 million viewers Monday night. That’s more than any other show that night, broadcast or cable.

And it’s also a record for a cable reality show, beating the opening episode of “Jon & Kate” a month ago when the show brought in 9.8 million.

And given that the pair have officially filed for separation, TLC said the show will be on hiatus for a few weeks, with a tentative new start-up date of August 3.

TLC continues to support the Gosselin family and will work closely with them to determine the best way to continue to tell their story as they navigate through this difficult time.

Following a retrospective of Jon and Kate’s first 10 years airing on June 29, the show will be on hiatus until Aug. 3. During this time the family will take some time off to regroup and then a modified schedule will be in place to support the family’s …

Continue reading “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ generates sky-high ratings »

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I know. It seems like they never went away but Bravo is bringing back “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” July 30 at 10 p.m.

Season two was shot here in April and May.

After the nutty first season and the best first-season ratings to date, the Atlanta ladies were overshadowed by “New Jersey,” which just concluded the biggest “Real Housewives” series of the four.

With DeShawn Snow gone for the mortal sin of being boring, the show will feature R&B singer and songwriter Kandi Burruss as the fifth housewife. Sassy Lisa Wu Hartwell, fashion wannabe Sheree Whitfield, Kim “Big Poppa” Zolciak and NeNe “Don’t Mess With Me” Leakes …

Continue reading Real Housewives of Atlanta coming back July 30 »

After 10 years, WGCL-TV meteorologist Laura Huckabee has left the station. “We didn’t come to agreement” for a new contract, she said, without being specific why.

She said she’d “love to stay in television… my agent is looking across the country. I’m going to see what happens.”

Over the past couple of years, the station has given its marketing dollars and prime time slots to Dagmar Midcap. What did Huckabee think of Dagmar? “I think management is very very pleased with Dagmar and what she does. And that’s all I would to care say about her.”

Do you feel a chill in the air?

Huckabee has a broadcast meteorology degree from Mississippi State and a masters in science from Kennesaw State University. Here was her bio on the WGCL Web site:

Laura Huckabee is the meteorologist for CBS Atlanta’s weekend news and reports on weather-related stories for the CBS Atlanta evening newscasts.
Laura always tries to incorporate “fun” into everything she does. That’s obvious in the way she …

Continue reading If you’re wondering what happened to Laura Huckabee on WGCL… »