Justin Bieber will hit the Power 96.1 stage Dec. 12. CREDIT: AP

Since the station arrived in late August, national radio powerhouse Clear Channel has been pumping massive marketing dollars into its new Top 40 station Power 96.1, especially in TV ads.

Now it’s introducing a big Christmas concert to get its new fan base excited featuring former Atlantan Justin Bieber, Enrique Iglesias, Ke$ha, Flo Rida, Owl City and Austin Mahone Dec. 12 at Philips Arena. Pre-sale tickets go on sale Thursday, October 25 for Facebook fans.

That’s a pretty impressive line up and Bieber alone should make it an easy sell. With Power’s mix skewing younger than Star, B98.5 or Q100, the line up fits the imaging of the station.

Power has dubbed it Jingle Ball, the same name as many other Clear Channel top 40 station shows in places such as New York (Z100, home of Power’s syndicated morning host Elvis Duran) and Los Angeles (KIIS, home of Power’s mid-day host Ryan Seacrest). There are more 20 Jingle …

Continue reading Power 96.1 brings Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, Enrique for new Jingle Ball 2012 at Philips Arena Dec. 12 »

Jazz station 91.9/WCLK-FM this week has been able to upgrade its signal, giving it much greater power north, south and east of Atlanta.

The signal can now extend into Henry County south, Rockdale County east and Gwinnett County north.

The Federal Communications Commission allowed them to move the signal to a new tower in the middle of the city at a higher height, giving the 38-year-old station its strongest reach ever.

“The coverage capability includes nearly 3 million people, providing WCLK with greater opportunity for membership, community engagement and financial stability,” wrote Shed Jackson, director of communications and marketing for the station, in an email.

The station, which is operated by Clark-Atlanta University, draws a consistent, loyal audience. It drew a 0.7 rating in September, which ranked 25th overall. That’s generally higher than its typical performance the past couple of years.

It’s now on a campaign to draw more members and re-energize existing ones …

Continue reading Jazz station 91.9/WCLK expands its FM footprint with stronger signal »

CNN has introduced a new measuring stick for what’s hot on social media called CNN Trends.

Fueled by Zute, a technology company CNN purchased last year, the dashboard tracks the top 10 biggest stories. It pairs the top story with CNN content, then provides up to 10 links to other stories on the same topic from other primary sources.(There’s an app, too, for iPads, iPhones and Android-compatible smartphones.)

“A healthy media diet consists of news, analysis and perspectives from more than one source,” said KC Estenson, SVP CNN Digital, in a press release. “CNN Trends embraces that concept and expands on it by allowing the social Web to determine which stories are featured. It’s the perfect place to discover new content and advance the narrative of a trending headline. ”

As the news cycle progresses, CNN Trends unearths new content and analysis to complement the evolving storyline.

It’s a cool way to track news. As I write this, the 10 hottest trending topics are a mix of …

Continue reading CNN creates CNN Trends, a new dashboard tracking the top 10 social media stories »

Cedric the Entertainer will be at Fox Theatre for a special talk about achieving your dreams at 2 p.m. Sunday. CREDIT: AP

Cedric the Entertainer more than two decades ago was Cedric Antonio Kyles, a State Farm claims insurance adjuster who dabbled with stand-up comedy at night.

On Sunday, the man whose career skyrocketed after the “Kings of Comedy” tour in the late 1990s will tell fans about how he navigated the road to stardom as part of a free “Dreams Protected Tour” at the Fox Theatre Sunday sponsored by a State Farm rival, American Family Insurance.

“When American Family Insurance called,” Cedric says in a recent phone interview, “it was just the kind of thing I like to talk about. I grew up in St. Louis area watching all these young people getting into crime. I want to give the young men and women in Atlanta motivation and understanding to be able to dream.”

In other words, this will not be a standard stand-up stop for Cedric, but his family-friendly brand of …

Continue reading Cedric the Entertainer coming for free talk Oct. 21 at Fox Theatre about dreams for American Family Insurance »

Callie Thorne stars in USA's "Necessary Roughness," which is "on the bubble" for renewal. CREDIT: USA

I just wrote about the iffy status of “Drop Dead Diva.”

Now we’re awaiting the fate of another metro Atlanta-based TV show: USA’s “Necessary Roughness,” which aired at 10 p.m. Wednesdays over the summer.

Kris Bagwell, who runs EUE Screen Gems where the drama is based, said he is expecting an answer by the end of the week from the network.

The show’s ratings so far in the second season took a major tumble from its first season. It averaged 4.2 million viewers per original showing last year. This year, those numbers dipped to 2.7 million. That’s a hefty and worrisome 36 percent drop, although most fans who did stick with the show agreed it was better than the first year. Eleven episodes aired this summer. Five more episodes are scheduled for this winter.

Its retention out of one of USA’s biggest shows “Royal Pains” at 9 p.m. (which averaged 3.9 million viewers) was a mediocre …

Continue reading On the fence: will USA’s ‘Necessary Roughness’ come back? »

Jessica Sanchez is dabbling in acting. CREDIT: AP

Season 11 runner-up Jessica Sanchez is getting into the acting game with a role on Fox’s “Glee.”

She’s the first “Idol” alum that I know of to get a part on that show.

TVLine says she may be a love interest for Finn in what is being dubbed a “recurring role,” which means it could go on multiple episodes.

***

Mediabase 24/7 chart update

Top 40:

Maroon 5’s ‘One More Night” is no. 1. Nicki Minaj’s “Pound the Alarm” falls to 22. Phillip Phillips’ “Home” edges up to 24.

Hot AC:

Maroon 5 is No. 1 here, too. Phillips is at No. 5.

Country:

Carrie Underwood extends her  incredible seven-year streak of top 2 hits on the country charts to 16 in a row, going back to “Jesus, Take the Wheel” in 2005. Her latest single “Blown Away” is now No. 1 on Mediabase 24/7 and Billboard. Casey James’ “Crying on a Suitcase” remains at No. 24. Lauren Alaina garners her third top 40 hit with “18 Inches” peaking in at No. 39.

Christian AC

Jason Castro’s …

Continue reading ‘Idol’ bits: Jessica Sanchez gets role on ‘Glee’; Carrie Underwood No. 1 again with ‘Blown Away’ »

CineStars’ Brittany Umar and I discuss the season premiere of “The Walking Dead,” Theresa Caputo’s upcoming appearance at Fox Theatre and “The Anna Nicole Smith Story.”

Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter. Oh, and Google +, too!

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Continue reading Video: talking ‘Walking Dead,’ ‘The Anna Nicole Smith Story,’ and the ‘Long Island Medium’ »

Jane's wedding didn't quite go through as planned. CREDIT: Lifetime

The first major broadcast TV series to come to Atlanta because of enhanced state tax credits was Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva” in 2009. It settled in Peachtree City and became a reliable performer for the network.

But as the show reaches relative middle age, renewal is in doubt.

Why do I say that?

Last year, Lifetime announced it was renewing “Drop Dead Diva” for season four on Sept. 22. In 2010, it gave the green light for the show’s renewal for season three on Sept. 23.  In 2009, it renewed the show for season two Aug. 20.

It’s now October 17 and the silence is understandably making cast and crew antsy.

Creator Josh Berman has heard nothing. The Georgia film office has heard zip. Lifetime publicity has no news for me (though I will update this blog entry if I get any insight.)

Nonetheless, I believe there are more reasons why Lifetime would bring “Drop Dead Diva” back than not:

- Ratings. The show isn’t doing …

Continue reading Will Lifetime renew ‘Drop Dead Diva,’ shot in Peachtree City, for a fifth season? »

Maks Chmerkovskiy and Kirstie Alley have an intriguing energy, don't they? CREDIT: ABC

Bristol Palin’s fan base on “Dancing With the Stars: All Stars” kept her alive for three weeks despite relatively low scores compared to most of the other dancers.

But for foes who found her both annoying and unworthy of being around much longer finally got their wish Tuesday night: she was ousted, just ahead of Kirstie Alley, another dancer who has been a bottom dweller.

Alley appears to consistently have fun on this show so from an entertainment stand point, she has earned her keep even if she has zero chance of winning.

Palin had the second lowest score of the night, ahead of Alley. She did receive respectable scores for her rock-and-roll dance, always bolstered by her partner Mark Ballas as the judges complimented her on her improvement. (And her mom Sarah cheered her on in the crowd.)

Top scores of the night came from former winner Shawn Johnson and former runner-up Gilles Marini. On …

Continue reading Who is out next on ‘Dancing With the Stars’? »

About 75 to 80 people are being cut at The Weather Channel, a bulk of that coming from Atlanta headquarters, according to TVNewser.

A spokeswoman wouldn’t confirm that number but released this statement:

In late September we began an effort to reorganize our company into business units based around our customers and the products and services we create and deliver to them. This effort was recently concluded and has resulted in the elimination of positions in several divisions of the company. With these organizational changes and our new structure, TWCC is better positioned for future growth. Employees who are directly affected by this position elimination or reorganization have been informed and we are working closely with them through this period of transition.

Before the cutbacks, the company had 1,200 employees, 700 in Atlanta.

A number of on-air meteorologists have left recently as well, including Adam Berg and Jeff Morrow.

The network, which was purchased by NBCUniversal …

Continue reading Atlanta-based Weather Channel hit with layoffs, cutting 7% of staff in ‘restructuring’ »