Rozonda "Chilli' Thomas is still seeking a man in season two of "What Chilli Wants." Could that man be boxer Floyd Mayweather?

Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas spent a season fishing for a man on a VH1 show.

At the end of season one, the Atlanta-based TLC singer reeled in a guy named Bill who seemed to have all the elements most women appreciate – handsome, smart, confident, sweet, funny.

But when  I heard last spring that a second season was coming, it became obvious: Bill was not the one. (Perhaps if he had been, the next season would have been renamed “What Chilli Found.”)

Chilli’s reality show search for a man is obviously opportunistic from a career standpoint. Higher exposure from TV may help jump start her music career, as well as pay a few bills. (Reality shows have helped fellow R&B singers Monica, Fantasia and Kandi Burruss.)  Taped in the fall in Atlanta and in other cities such as Miami and New York, season two debuts Sunday,  January 2 at 9:30 p.m. This season will …

Continue reading Chilli of TLC still seeking a man on ‘What Chilli Wants’ on VH1 starting Jan. 2 »

Westminster Schools grad Rob Kutner has won five Emmy Awards, so many he actually had one to give to his mom Jeanney, who lives in Sandy Springs.

“Now she finally has something to talk to guests about that doesn’t involve the dog,” a yellow Labrador Retriever named Che, Kutner wrote in an email interview earlier this week.

Kutner is not a household name outside his own household. He didn’t win his Emmys starring in a big TV drama or sitcom. Rather, he was a writer for “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.”

Now, Kutner writes monologue jokes and throws out sketch ideas for Conan O’Brien on his new TBS show “Conan.”

“I bring in a little of the political awareness and topicality I gleaned from my ‘Daily Show’ experience, plus a still-annoying-after-38-years penchant for wordplay and silliness,” he wrote. “If all else fails, I bring Cinnabon.”

Kutner, who is married with a two-year-old daughter and lives in what he calls the “slums of Beverly Hills,” joined ‘The Tonight …

Continue reading Westminster grad Rob Kutner piles up Emmys, writes for ‘Conan’ »

Do you hear what I hear? It’s Christmas music on B98.5, which helped boost the soft rock station’s ratings for what is dubbed the “December” Arbitron ratings but actually covers the four-week period from Nov. 11 to Dec. 8.

How big an impact is Christmas to the station? It changed format for only two of the four weeks covered, yet the station’s average weekly unique listeners jumped nearly 20 percent from 1.4 million to 1.65 million. (After the Christmas switch, unique listeners jumped closer to 2 million.) Time spent listening jumped even more. The result: a whopping 63 percent increase in ratings, placing B98.5 at No. 2 behind only V-103, which had a strong ratings period to remain the city’s leader.

The jump for B98.5 this year was even greater than a year ago.

And if you isolate the four weeks in which B98.5 plays Christmas music (Nov. 24 to Dec. 25), the station would be No. 1 for that time period. Arbitron’s four-week rolling cycles don’t match that.

B98.5’s new listeners …

Continue reading Christmas boosts B98.5, affects other stations »

Syndicated host Rusty Humphries is officially launching his new local afternoon show on Monday, January 3 on news/talk 640/WGST-AM. He will be on from 3 to 6 p.m.

Humphries’ first guest is an intriguing one:  Kim “The Kimmer” Peterson (left). WGST canned the Kimmer in late 2006 after 15 years and unceremoniously replaced him for four years with syndicated consumer activist Dave Ramsey.

Humprhries, aware of the Kimmer’s rabid fan base, said he doesn’t want to be like Jay Leno, who he felt did not not properly honor his legendary predecessor Johnny Carson. He wants to give the Kimmer his props and hopefully transition some of Kimmer’s fans to his camp.

He said he will air his Kimmer interview  at 3:35 p.m. on Monday.

The Kimmer, now retired, said he was a bit skeptical when he got the call from Humphries. “I’m a cynic,” he said.”Would this be Mike Wallace with a hidden camera?” But ultimately, he figured Humphries was a sincerely nice guy and agreed to do it. (The managers who …

Continue reading Rusty Humphries first show Jan. 3 on WGST featuring… the Kimmer! »

Saints quarterback Drew Brees celebrates the victory over the Falcons Monday night. CREDIT: Johnny Crawford/jcrawford@ajc.com

A big game between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints Monday equaled huge viewership locally and nationally.

It drew more than half the TVs that were on in metro Atlanta and more than one-third of the entire local population. It was also the highest rated football game in Atlanta on record, according to Zap2it.com.

The game, which ended with the Saints winning 17-14 in the final minutes, aired on both ESPN as a “Monday Night Football” telecast and Channel 2 WSB-TV.  Combined,  the two networks brought in a whopping 37.2 rating, about three times larger than a typical top-rated show and equates to more than 1.5 million viewers. And of TVs that were on Monday night, 54 percent were tuned to the game.

Nationally, the game drew 19.1 million viewers on ESPN alone, according to Nielsen ratings. That’s the highest rated cable telecast of the …

Continue reading Falcons/Saints game Monday is the biggest cable telecast of the year »

For the second time this year,  Rihanna tops the Atlanta radio airplay chart with “Whats My Name?” Her last chart-topping hit was “Rude Boy.”

“What’s My Name?” is getting maximum airplay on V-103 (38 spins) and Wild (96 spins) while getting coverage on Q100 (21) and Hot (62). Total: 217 spins.

She also has another single in the top 5,  “Only Girl (In the World),” just 27 spins behind  her other song. That tune is not getting any love on V-103 or Hot, just top spins on Wild (another 96 spins) and Q100 (84).

The Mediabase playlist of Atlanta airplay only includes 11 stations that play new music at least some of the time: Majic, Hot, Kicks, Project, Praise, Star, the Bull, V-103, Wild, Q100 and Z93. B98.5 and the Fish, for some reason, are excluded. So is 99X at 97.9 (which is on a repeater signal) and oldies stations the River, Rock 100.5, Kiss 104.1 and Atlanta’s Greatest Hits.

Top 10 most played songs in Atlanta

1. Rihanna “What’s My Name?” 217 (-18)
2. Waka Flocka Flame …

Continue reading Rihanna’s ‘What’s My Name?’ tops Atlanta radio for last week of the year »

For years as a struggling up-and-coming stand-up comic, Roy Wood Jr. knew the key to a free breakfast – literally.

He’d save old room keys from hotels so when he was in a city where he had no money for a room, he’d find the appropriate old key and stroll into the lobby of a hotel which offers a free breakfast.

“Act like you’re going to sight see,” he said. “Ask the staff questions. That disarms them. Then you have a free lobby TV, free Internet and free breakfast!”

Wood, a 32-year-old Birmingham native, no longer has to pull off that gambit. This past fall, he finished third on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” and will perform with a slate of comics from the season at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on New Year’s Eve. He’ll be the host.

Stylistically, Wood is an African-American comic with mainstream appeal.  Before “Last Comic Standing,” his proudest credits include “Late Show With David Letterman” and Def Comedy Jam. Gary Abdo, owner of Uptown Comedy Corner in …

Continue reading Roy Wood Jr. talks about ‘Last Comic Standing’ tour on Dec. 31 »

Morning host Suchita Vadlamani, rumored to be leaving “Good Day Atlanta” earlier this month, has actually left the building for good on her own volition, her attorney Mark Trigg told me today.

He referred to her Facebook fan page, where she provided a brief statement:

It’s official! After a memorable 8 1/2 yrs at Good Day, it’s time for another big adventure! Join me as I take it to the next level!

 Loading …

Vadlamani, through Trigg, declined to comment further. If she has plans for the near future, she is not saying.

No word yet from WAGA-TV who will replace her. Karen Graham would be the most obvious pick since she is already part of the morning team.

The station released this statement:

“Suchita Vadlamani has resigned from FOX 5 to pursue other personal interests and professional opportunities. We thank her for her contributions …

Continue reading Suchita Vadlamani has left ‘Good Day Atlanta’ »

Oprah Winfrey with hosts Carson Kressley and Nancy O'Dell on the set of 'Your OWN Show,' a reality competition program that premieres Jan 7.

The big news this week is the launch of the new Oprah Winfrey network Saturday just hours after the new year rolls in.

Discovery Communications has teamed with the talk-show queen  at a reported start-up cost of $107 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.  It replaces Discovery Health, available in 80 million homes. Folks with a Digital Classic package on Comcast or a Choice or higher package on DirectTV should be able to get it.

Oprah and her team are managing expectations.

“I don’t think we can come out of the gate hoping for blockbuster ratings,” said Lisa Erspamer, the network’s chief creative officer told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re going to have to continue to create and evolve over time.”

And if you don’t want to hear Dick Clark’s awkward post-stroke countdown into the new year, you can catch Anderson Cooper on …

Continue reading TV best bets with Oprah’s new cable network, New Year’s Eve specials »

I’m on vacation this week so I apologize in advance for no breaking news. But if you’re curious about what you heard the most this year on local radio, this is for you. Merry Christmas!

I was able to get the top songs and artists for most of the Atlanta music stations in town below. I wasn’t able to get a market-wide top 10 though nationally, the most played song was the cross-over hit by Lady Antebellum “Need You Now,” which was spun nearly 600,000 times nationwide through mid December.

Top 10 songs and artists at various Atlanta stations in 2010, through Dec. 14, 2010

Kiss 104.1
1. Switch – They’ll Never Be
2. Switch – I Call Your Name
3. Gladys Knight and the Pips – Neither One of Us
4. Earth, Wind & Fire – Reasons
5. Hall & Oates – Sara Smile
6. Glenn Jones – We’ve Only Just Begun
7. Al Green – Let’s Stay Together
8. Peabo Bryson – Feel the Fire
9. Peabo Bryson – I’m So Into You
10. Minnie Riperton – Memory Lane

1. Luther Vandross
2. Stevie Wonder
3. Isley Brothers
4. …

Continue reading Top songs on Atlanta radio for the year »