PK, Sarah Pepper, Ivan Trujillo
on KKHH's "The Hot Show"

PK and Ivan have a new place to play: pop station KKHH in Houston.

In Portland, the two had been on Jammin 107.5 (KXJM)'s "The Playhouse" since 2000, when the station was owned by Paul Allen on the 95.5 frequency. Their entire show, including cohosts DuRyan and "Extra Work" Tony, was canceled on December 1 of last year.

Now, PK and Ivan are on "The Hot Show" in Houston with a new third member: Sarah Pepper, who's been with KKHH since 2008.

Topics on this morning's show included how long to date someone before getting married; interviews of random people in court; and a prank call to a radiologist, asking how to get on the radio. Portlanders can listen online from 4 to 8 am PT through the station's Flash player or MP3 stream.

On Clear Channel's Jammin, mornings now consist only of music and an occasional remark from a recorded San Francisco DJ, Dreena Gonzalez.

Yesterday, Moody's upgraded Clear Channel, a company saddled with billions in debt, from "imminent" restructuring to "inevitable."

The Columbian in Vancouver today announced that it has emerged from bankruptcy. It's the paper's lead story online.

Bank of America gets ownership of the six-story building constructed for the paper by the publisher's own company, Downtown Vitality Partners. The Columbian moved into the building in early 2008 but decided within the year to return to its previous location in a cost-saving move. The paper went on to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May of last year.

Publisher Scott Campbell told employees this morning, "This county deserves to have a locally owned newspaper."

The Campbell family has owned The Columbian since 1921.

Robert Dove, general manager of Clear Channel's Portland cluster, says his company remains "committed to the format" of progressive talk on KPOJ (620) and has "no intention" of changing it following yesterday's bankruptcy of Air America and the dramatic decline in KPOJ's ratings now that Arbitron's Portable People Meter is being used in the Portland area.

Dove says that the station only learned of Air America's demise at 3 pm yesterday, after news of the bankruptcy went public, and that they are working with syndicators to fill programming hours. KPOJ was one of the original five stations to launch Air America on March 31, 2004, and it had long been the network's highest-rated affiliate. When the first ratings book came in after the format's launch, KPOJ was the #1 AM station in Portland and the city's #3 station among listeners aged 25 to 54, a key advertising demographic.

But following the progressive talk format's shift away from Air America's original network model and toward a more traditional syndication system, KPOJ is at a point where Air America's departure leaves the station's daytime lineup unaffected. KPOJ's morning show with Carl Wolfson and Christine Alexander is locally produced, as is Thom Hartmann's national program, which left Air America for syndicator Dial Global last March.

Midday host Ed Schultz has always been with Dial Global, while afternoon host Randi Rhodes left Air America in a messy 2008 breakup. She's currently distributed by Clear Channel syndicator Premiere Radio Networks.

The Air America shows that KPOJ does carry are Ron Reagan from 6 to 8 pm, Nicole Sandler and Rachel Maddow overnight, as well as several weekend shows: Ana Marie Cox, Lionel, Jack Rice, Ring of Fire and State of Belief.

Dove says the station hasn't yet made any decisions on replacement programming. They have until Monday evening to make a move, with Air America distributing "encore" shows until then. The station will be talking with Dial Global, among others, about filling the gaps. Dial Global distributes Stephanie Miller, a recent casualty of cross-town KCMD (970)'s movement toward more conservative talk, but Dove could not say whether her show might be added to KPOJ's lineup. He says a new syndicator, perhaps Dial Global, may end up distributing Ron Reagan's program.

As for KPOJ's ratings decline, Dove says that AM stations nationwide have been suffering under the People Meter, but that "part of the problem we have with KPOJ, being honest, is that we're competing with OPB." Oregon Public Broadcasting has a loyal audience in the Portland market. KOPB (91.5) had long been #1 in Arbitron's ratings, though the station dropped to #2 behind K103 (KKCW) under the People Meter. Dove says that converting that audience to KPOJ can be a challenge.

Air America has replaced its site with a farewell letter, while KPOJ's website has a statement thanking listeners for their support. Wolfson read a similar statement on the air this morning.

UPDATE (1/26, 10:45 am): Norman Goldman and Alan Colmes have replaced Ron Reagan (who has ended his show), Nicole Sandler and Rachel Maddow. Dove calls the changes permanent "for now."

In an interview on KINK's Sunday morning public affairs show, Speaking Freely, Alpha Broadcasting President Larry Wilson talks to KINK's Sheila Hamilton about taxes and Portland tax measures 66 and 67, as well as radio topics such as the importance of being local.

Also in the interview, which was posted to KINK's website on Christmas Eve, Wilson made what appear to be his first public remarks on the bankruptcy of Citadel Broadcasting, the company he founded and led until 2002.

He said that selling Citadel for $2.1 billion in 2001, nearly at the peak of radio station valuations, was more luck than genius. As for what led to the company's Chapter 7 bankruptcy last month, he notes the corporate culture imposed after his departure, but points chiefly to the $2.7 billion ABC Radio deal that Citadel made in 2006-2007. "That acquisition was their undoing," he says.

"It's the same with most of the radio companies out there today," Wilson explains. "They have too much debt. It's not their fault. They were on a spree and the game changed in the sixth inning and they didn't see it coming. Nobody really saw it coming. And so here they are, they had been paying these huge prices, which I had been doing the same. The only difference is, I got out when the getting was good, and they stayed in."

Following the Telecommunications Act of 1996, station groups exploded in size through newly possible mergers and acquisitions, consolidating into a shrinking number of giant companies like Citadel, Clear Channel and Cumulus. In a sign of the times, CBS Radio renamed itself Infinity after a 1997 merger.

But the debt that was taken on in those transactions has become a threat to radio conglomerates following the recent credit crunch and advertising recession, which have significantly devalued assets. For example, Wilson purchased KXL and KXTG for $11 million last year. But in 1998, Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen purchased KXL alone for a reported $42 million.

"It's a real tragedy," Wilson says of Citadel's bankruptcy. And, though he no longer has a stake in the company, Wilson tells KINK that "it's a personal tragedy for me."

More: Meet KINK.fm's new owner — KINK

(Via the Portland Radio Message Board.)

KOIN owner New Vision TV has emerged from bankruptcy, eliminating $400 million of debt in roughly ten weeks.

"New Vision now has one of the strongest balance sheets in our sector," said CEO Jason Elkin. "Being debt-free will enable us to invest in our people, our product and complementary acquisitions to drive New Vision forward, while our competitors continue to focus on daily liquidity and covenant compliance."

No jobs or benefits were cut as part of the restructuring, the company said in a statement. New Vision also owns KOIN affiliate KBNZ in Bend.

The full press release is posted after the break:

Last Friday, news staff at WLAJ in Lansing, Michigan were told to "cease work immediately, gather all personal belongings, and leave the station," NewsBlues reported yesterday. The abrupt cancellation of local news programming at the ABC affiliate came as the station's parent company, Freedom Communications, is undergoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

So should workers at KTVL, Freedom's station in Medford, be concerned?

Freedom spokesperson Robert Emmers tells OMC that the cuts "have nothing to do with Freedom's Chapter 11 plan." WLAJ decided to "go with their strength, which is entertainment programming." Those are "two unrelated events," he says.

He emphasized that one "shouldn't assume that programming changes that WLAJ makes would apply to any other station." The move "shouldn't be taken as a portent for any Freedom station anywhere."

While WLAJ had only aired newscasts since 1990, KTVL has produced local news since the 1960s.

KTVL's general manger, Kingsley Kelly, tells OMC that "the key for any small market news operation is to make sure your cost structure is below your sales revenues. Fortunately KTVL's news ratings both on-air and on-line are growing."

UPDATE (10/1, 10:17am): Emmers provides an even more direct assurance this morning: "There are no plans to change news programming at KTVL; the change at WLAJ was based entirely on that local market."

Freedom Communications, owner of CBS affiliate KTVL in Medford, will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, according to reports first published by the Wall Street Journal last night.

The restructuring would allow the Irvine, California-based company's lenders to swap out a majority of Freedom's debt in exchange for a controlling interest in the company.

Freedom, which owns seven other television stations and more than 30 daily newspapers, instituted a five percent pay cut in July for all its employees, including those at KTVL.

The moves are an effort to manage what is roughly a $770 million debt load, with a large payment due at the end of the year. A spokesman tells the Journal, "We are continuing to work with our lenders to address our balance sheet."

(This story was originally published July 14, 2009 at 1:06pm.)

If you're wondering how the bankruptcy of New Vision Television might affect the hiring for a new show at KOIN, New Vision spokesperson Lisa Cohen tells OMC, "The restructuring process will not impact KOIN's daily operations." We hope to get confirmation from KOIN. Cohen adds, "When the restructuring process is over, New Vision will be a stronger company with more resources to invest in local stations."

We've received reaction from one KOIN employee so far today:

I was totally surprised to see this when I came in this morning! ... It's obviously a little unsettling ... but from what the buzz is around here, it shouldn't affect us too much as far as day to day stuff. Hopefully that's the case.

Also in KOIN news: The Communication Workers of America is initiating bargaining talks today. KOIN's current contract with the union began in 2007, when New Vision took ownership of the station, and expires July 27. We'll have more information this evening after negotiations take place.

UPDATE (7/14, 7:07pm): New Vision confirmed to OMC today that KOIN's new 4pm program is going forward as planned.

• Profits at Tribune Co., parent of Portland's "NW32" KRCW, have fallen 23 percent in the company's first five months of bankruptcy protection.
• The new 1859 Magazine hits newsstands "early next week."
• SOPTV.org officially unveiled its redesign last night. See our before and after.
• The Statesman Journal ran its first full-color op-ed today, with a column and cartoon on Sarah Palin, plus a guest editorial.
• KGW Senior Producer and consummate geek Aaron Weiss turns "2^5" today.
• And of course, practically everyone is blowing out their schedules for the Michael Jackson memorial today.

Beyond our region:

• Television news salaries are down 4.4 percent, while radio salaries fell 1.8 percent, according to RTNDA. It's even worse if you factor in inflation.
• Macy's stores have cut print advertising by 50 percent since 2005, according to an industry blog. It was feared when Macy's bought and converted Meier & Frank and other May Company stores that local ad buys would dry up in favor of national campaigns.
• McClatchy is given a nearly 50 percent chance of default.
• The Washington Post's Dan Froomkin is now The Huffington Post's Dan Froomkin.
• ABC shows are starting to appear on Hulu, beginning with Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.
• And finally, Casey Casem has hung up his headphones.

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