In the February ratings, B98.5 continues to settle back to more normal numbers as Christmas recedes into memory but the station is still above its 2009 pre-Christmas levels. And it’s too early to judge the impact of the departure of Steve McCoy (left) from the morning show at the end of last month.

Arbitron’s February numbers cover Feb. 4 through March 3, 2010.

Praise continues its recent upward climb, finishing fourth overall. The gospel station is at its highest listener level since people meters came into use in early 2009.

And it’s impressive to see oldies do so well with True Oldies landing in the top 10 overall. A few years back, the format was considered so deadly in Atlanta, it simply didn’t even exist. Among 25 to 54 year olds, True Oldies finished an impressive tie for sixth during mid days and a solid tie for 13th for Randy & Spiff, which has seen steady growth since the pair reunited last fall.

The newest station 105.7/The Groove has shifted its music a bit more …

Continue reading Dave, Rock 100.5, Praise, True Oldies have solid February Arbitron ratings »

The Dirty South got sullied on MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.”

Although three metro Atlanta groups made the top nine, none made the top three.

Stone Mountain’s Jungle Boogie was the last local crew standing after Royal Flush and Swagger Crew left early. Over the weeks, the judges have praised their chest-pumping energy and tight, aggressive dancing.

They ended up in the bottom two crews out of four, based on last week’s voting. Against Blueprint Cru, Jungle Boogie had to do a magic trick: pass a body through a solid object. It was a hard-hitting performance and the trick worked well. Judge for yourself:

In fact, judges gave them great reviews:

“You guys have been one of our favorite crews,” Omarion said. He felt the opening was a bit slow. “After you guys did your illusion, you started doing your ATL footwork.”

“It was playful,” J.C. Chasez said. “Really great execution on the illusion itself. You guys tore the stage up tonight.”

Lil Mama: “Y’all off the hook. You …

Continue reading Did Jungle Boogie make it into the top 3 on ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’? »

“Saving Grace,” which begins its final nine -episode run Monday, couldn’t be saved. But the TNT drama is still getting an official sendoff.

The Atlanta-based network actually wanted to keep “Saving Grace” for a full fourth season. Unfortunately, Fox TV Studios, which produces “Grace,” deemed the show too expensive in relation to how much money they could get out of it.

As a compromise, TNT wrangled three more episodes to the original six it had planned to air over the winter. This allowed the writers to wrap up plot threads. TNT also moved the debut to March 29.

“I felt really proud we were able to do four seasons,” said Holly Hunter, the 52-year-old Conyers native who has garnered two Emmy nominations playing Grace. “It felt good to have an ending because that’s what I’m used to. That’s what I gravitate to. In storytelling, you always want an end. So many shows just get canned. The end to me is as important as the beginning.”

Hunter, an Oscar-winning film actress before …

Continue reading Holly Hunter interview for final season of TNT’s ‘Saving Grace’ »

Anthony Williams at his Atlanta showroom with his Marie Claire cover. PHOTO CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

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It was only a matter of time.

Atlanta’s delightfully fun Anthony Williams had already been in the bottom three three times so when he landed there again last night for a fourth time, the judges finally gave him the boot.

His problem: not taking enough risks. He didn’t show enough imagination and kept using similar cocktail-dress style silhouettes. And the judges got tired of listening to him making excuses.

The challenge: create a dress out of their very own textile design. Jonathan last night took a bigger risk and failed with his print that Michael Kors dubbed a “dirty tablecloth.” But judges this season seem to prefer high risk over safe.

So Anthony finished a respectable seventh and he actually did win the most …

Continue reading Project Runway: Season 7, Episode 10: Hey, that’s my fabric »

CBS hasn’t had a new reality show hit in several years so when it green-lit “Undercover Boss,” the network only ordered nine episodes, a dutiful sign of caution.

But after screening the show, execs felt it was good enough to launch after the Super Bowl, a platform like no other.

Viewers liked it.

Since moving to 9 p.m. Sundays, “Boss” has averaged more than 14 million viewers a week, a bona fide success in this day and age. The program, which features CEOs working at entry-level jobs at their own companies, has already been renewed for a second season.

And a metro Atlanta company gets the spotlight again, just a few weeks after “Boss” spent an hour with Atlanta’s Hooters. This time, it’s Norcross-based Herschend Family Entertainment, a privately-held company which operates 20 entertainment venues including Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Wild Adventures in Valdosta and Stone Mountain Park locally.

Joel Manby, former CEO of Saab Cars USA who joined Herschend as CEO in …

Continue reading ‘Undercover Boss’ on CBS spotlights Stone Mountain Park & the Norcross company that runs it »

“American Idol” outdistanced the competition in Atlanta, with last Tuesday’s top 12 show doubling anything else on the air – except the results show.

“Idol” drew 749,000 viewers Tuesday and 610,000 Wednesday in Atlanta (and 23 million and 20.5 million respectively nationally.) Fox’s “House” came in third with 396,000 locally.

Daylight savings time often depresses viewership a bit, especially during 8 p.m. “NCIS,” for instance, usually draws 20 million and brought in only 18 million last week.

“Life,” the ultimate nature miniseries, on Discovery opened with a strong 6 million viewers Sunday night.

And History Channel has another huge hit on its hands with “American Pickers,” which focuses on professional scavengers. The first-season finale drew a whopping 5 million viewers (not far behind the 5.8 million “Pawn Stars” drew a week earlier.). TLC’s new series “Addicted” (which is a lot like A&E’s “Intervention”) debuted last Wednesday at a passable 1.2 million.

“America’s Next …

Continue reading ‘Life,’ ‘American Pickers,’ ‘South Park’ have good weeks in TV ratings; Ke$ha tops in Atlanta radio »

The 790/The Zone’s brotherly duo Ryan and Doug Stewart got into a semi-serious physical altercation in the studio yesterday.

Doug was teasing the entertainment gal Jasmine “Jazzy” Spears about mispronounced names (e.g. Reba Jackson).

Ryan wasn’t happy. “Don’t disrespect her,” he said. “I don’t like how you call her out.” So the pair spent a fairly absurd amount of time wrestling around the studio. Doug unfortunately is far smaller than his brother, a former NFL player. So I’d say Ryan won. Doug looks quite sweaty at the end.

“I did that for you, Jazzy!” Ryan told her.

“it was just radio, basically,” Doug said today. When I asked who won, he said, “Clearly, I won. The tape going around was doctored. He has a Ga. Tech friend fix that thing up!”

His rationale for why Ryan really went after him: “I picked him up and ran with him in the studio five years ago. Body-slammed him. He’s been trying to get back at me ever since.”

Ryan, who is three years younger, four inches taller and …

Continue reading Brotherly brawl: the 2 Live Stews get lively in the studio »

PHOTO CREDITS: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Michael Baisden, the national radio host heard locally on Majic 107.5 daily from 3 to 7 p.m., stopped by Morehouse College yesterday to encourage students to become mentors for kids.

His goal: get one million people to become mentors. He said he was inspired by Derrion Albert, a 16-year-old Chicago honor student beaten to death by peers last year.

At first, he said he wanted to do a town hall meeting in Chicago but felt that wouldn’t have any lasting impact. He feels mentorship programs do.

The tour, sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters, The National CARES Mentoring Movement and 100 Black Men, will hit 73 cities this year. Atlanta was city No. 24.

During the program, he asked women in the crowd how many know three or more men they can trust (outside their father or grandfather) to take care of their kids. Only a handful said yes.

“A woman cannot be an example of a man,” he told the audience. “I can’t be an example fo a woman… This is …

Continue reading Michael Baisden comes to Morehouse College to encourage mentorship »

TLC has spun off its popular “Say Yes to the Dress” series by adding some Southern flair and dubbing it “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.”

Cameras have already started tracking brides at Bridals by Lori in Atlanta.

Lori Allen, the owner for 30 years, said the store is huge (25,000 square feet) and caters to a broad swath of Southern ladies, especially the debutante types who have already been there for a dress when they were teens.

“They have very high expectations,” Allen said, which naturally makes for good TV. “And they have Southern mothers who are very particular.”

The experience so far “has created a lot of excitement and buzz in our store

Continue reading TLC launches spinoff show ‘Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta’ »

Monica Pearson, Tanya Ski, Rozonda "Chili" Thomas as Local Legend Luncheon March 21, 2010. PHOTO CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Monica Pearson loves to give advice to younger folks. So when V-103’s Frank Ski and his wife Tanya invited the veteran WSB-TV anchor over to their home Sunday to have lunch with six promising female high school seniors who had won $1,000 scholarships, she jumped at the chance.

She told the women not to get caught up in guys obsessed with bling. “As my mama said, the raggedy ride is better than the dressed-up walk!” Plus, “Don’t judge a book by its cover. Read it!”

Tanya Ski, at one point, noted, “I’ve never seen you wear the same thing twice!”

Pearson grinned and said, “You just didn’t notice. When you’re used to dressing from Goodwill as a child, you learn to coordinate!”

The winners were Ariane Robinson, Nanisha Martinez, Brittany McGrue (all from Alpharetta High School), Cinnamon Murray (North Springs High School), Daria …

Continue reading Monica Pearson, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas of TLC mentor students at Frank and Tanya Ski’s home »