In quick response to today's moves by KPAM (860), KCMD ("Freedom" 970) is moving the planned March 29 debuts of Sean Hannity and Mark Levin up to today. The new shows push Jerry Doyle and Dennis Miller later into Freedom's evening schedule, while Rusty Humphries is the odd man out.

A before-and-after of KCMD's lineup:

See Freedom's full press release after the jump:

KPAM (860) is launching a new schedule today, and the station is eager to play up a local "radio war" between KXL (750)'s Lars Larson and their own Victoria Taft. KPAM is also adding the syndicated Michael Savage to their lineup.

The programming changes are prompted by moves by Alpha Broadcasting's KXL and KCMD ("Freedom" 970). Freedom picked Sean Hannity and Mark Levin off of KPAM's schedule after moving toward more consistently right-leaning political talk. And when KXL bumped Savage later into its evening lineup to accommodate afternoon news, the host jumped to KPAM for a better time slot.

KPAM is now moving Victoria Taft up from evenings to middays, airing from 11 am to 3 pm against KXL's Larson from Noon to 4. KPAM is calling this a "head-to-head battle." Both shows also compete with noon news and Dr. Laura on KEX (1190). Taft additionally goes up against the last hour of Rush Limbaugh.

Savage will debut from 3 to 6 pm today, live in KPAM's afternoon drive. Elsewhere in the schedule, John Gibson bumps consumer advocate Clark Howard from late mornings to late evenings, and Hugh Hewitt moves from early mornings to evenings.

In response to KPAM's new schedule, KCMD is moving Hannity and Levin's planned March 29 premieres up nearly a month to debut today. Look for that story soon on OMC. (11:05 am update: Link.)

A before-and-after of KPAM's schedule:

See KPAM's full "radio wars" press release after the jump:

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."

Pacwest Center
(via pacwestcenter.com)

KINK is moving out of the KGW building and KXL will no longer be at the bottom of a hill as the six radio stations of Alpha Broadcasting are moving into a single space: the Pacwest Center in Downtown Portland.

Scheduled for May 1, the move will unite Alpha's corporate offices with its six studios and a street-level performance lounge. The studios will be on the sixth floor, with corporate offices one floor up. The Pacwest Center is at 1211 SW 5th Avenue.

"Getting all our employees into one location is key to our plan to achieve maximum efficiency in our operation," says Alpha Chairman and CEO Larry Wilson. "While KINK has had a live performance lounge for nine years, the new expanded lounge will be the live venue for all recording artists, sports figures, business dignitaries and political figures who visit Alpha headquarters. We also plan to host special events in the lounge for our largest advertisers."

KCMD, KUFO and KUPL currently share space at 2040 SW 1st Avenue. KINK's location in the KGW building at 1501 SW Jefferson is a legacy of the two stations' ownership by King Broadcasting in Seattle. KXL and what is now KXTG ("The Game") have been at 0234 SW Bancroft since 1996, when the stations were owned by Alexander Broadcasting.

Alpha Broadcasting is continuing to beef up the conservative credentials of syndicated talk station KCMD (970) by poaching from KPAM (860), Portland's fourth most listened-to AM talker. Alpha first replaced liberal comedian Stephanie Miller with a Washington Times-produced morning program, then substituted Tea Party protester Laura Ingraham of KPAM for Obama endorser Michael Smerconish. Now Freedom 970 is snatching Sean Hannity from Bob Pamplin's namesake station to air him middays. KCMD is also taking KPAM talker Mark Levin for afternoon drive, adding to a total of eight hours of programming they've forced KPAM to replace.

The start date for KCMD's new lineup has not been announced.

OMC has confirmed that Program Director Chris Patyk is no longer employed at Alpha Broadcasting in Portland. Notable on Patyk's watch was the move of The Rick Emerson Show from KCMD (970) to KUFO (101.1) in March of this year. Since 2007, Patyk programmed KCMD, KUFO, and, until this August, KXJM (107.5).

Emerson has hosted his show in various forms on various Portland stations since 1997, all on AM radio until his most recent move to KUFO. Also featured on the show are producer Sarah X Dylan, Tim Riley with news, and production assistant Greg Nibler, who is also a weekend host with the station.

OMC has not definitively confirmed any further news regarding The Rick Emerson Show or Patyk's replacement as PD.

UPDATE (10/21, 5:04 am): A 26-year radio veteran known professionally as Ditch will replace Patyk as KUFO's program director. He was most recently the afternoon DJ at classic rock KGB San Diego for five years. Before then, he was assistant program director and music director at classic rock KILO Colorado Springs.

Alpha Broadcasting continues to tinker with its newly acquired Portland stations. Freedom 970 (KCMD), which recently replaced liberal talker and comedian Stephanie Miller with a Washington Times-produced news and talk show during morning drive, will be making two more changes to its lineup tomorrow, All Access reports.

From 9 am to noon, KCMD will replace someone who's interviewed Obama inside the White House with someone who's lambasted Obama across the street from it. Michael Smerconish, who voted for Obama and interviewed him in August, will be replaced with Laura Ingraham, Bill O'Reilly's official guest host and a speaker at Washington, DC's Tea Party rally in April.

From noon to 3 pm, the station will substitute Republican congressional candidate-turned-declared independent Jerry Doyle for libertarian-leaning Republican Todd Schnitt.

(Thank you to OMC volunteer Cheryl Kanekoa for a lead on this story.)

I've had a backlog of stories this week, many of them in radio, and many involving Alpha Broadcasting, so here's a Friday radio rundown.

• Alpha Broadcasting's purchase of CBS Radio Portland is complete after FCC approval. Alpha had been operating the four-station cluster of KCMD (970), KINK (101.9), KUFO (101.1) and KUPL (98.7) under a local marketing agreement since August. Alpha also includes KXL (750) and KXTG (95.5).
• Arthur Davis, station manager at KBOO (90.7) in Portland has resigned from his position. (10/3 update: Davis has been reprimanded. False information was sent to the station regarding Davis' resignation.) This follows a controversy regarding his laying off of KBOO outreach coordinator Toni Tabora-Roberts at the non-commercial station.
• Michael Mason is bringing The Raizin Show to KUFO weekends starting tomorrow. After four years in Seattle, he returns to Portland, where he has hosted on both Z100 (100.3 KKRZ) and KNRK (94.7). He'll be on the air 3 to 10 pm Saturdays and 3 to 9 pm Sundays.
• Leela K has been heard again on KUPL's air after a run of a year and a half hosting afternoon drive at the station, ending in late 2008. KUPL has had so many familiar voices hopping on and off its air lately that we are honestly confused in keeping track.
• KUPL has also begun airing "CMT Radio Live" from 7 pm to midnight weekdays. That bumps out "Northwest Nights" with Jeremy Andrews, one of Portland's few radio outlets for local music, and one of even fewer outlets for local country.
• And as was posted in our forum, Pioneer Mikes, a book on the history of Oregon television and radio, has been published by Ronald Kramer, executive director of Jefferson Public Radio. It features everything from the pioneering 620 KGW to KPTV, the worlds first UHF television station, as well as local and national celebrities who broadcast in Oregon, including Harry Read, Jane Powell, Mel Blanc and Chet Huntley.
  

Alpha Broadcasting's 970 KCMD-AM in Portland has rebranded as "Freedom 970," replacing progressive talker Stephanie Miller during morning drive time with America's Morning News, produced by The Washington Times. The first topic of discussion on the new program was a rally in Washington Saturday to protest Obama's efforts on health care and whether the administration is "tone-deaf" to those opposing him.

All other programming on the station's lineup, weekdays and weekends, remains as it was last week. The rest of the weekday lineup includes syndicated talkers Michael Smerconish 9am-12pm, Todd Schnitt 12pm-3pm, Jason Lewis 3pm-6pm, and Rusty Humphries 6pm-9pm. Phil Hendrie and The Jon and Jeff Show air overnight, while weekends largely consist of repeats and paid programming.

Other local sources for conservative talk include 1190 KEX, 750 KXL and 860 KPAM.

The sale of Paul Allen's Rose City Radio to Larry Wilson's Alpha Broadcasting is final. With the news, Alpha's website has gone live, sporting the station group's new logo:

Wilson purchased Rose City Radio's Newsradio 750 KXL and KXTG 95.5 "The Game" for $11 million in May, and acquired the four remaining stations of CBS Radio last month for $40 million. Alpha currently operates those four stations under a local marketing agreement.

Also announced, Rose City Radio president and GM Tim McNamara is becoming director of Alpha's event sales and marketing, while RCR's Chuck Hall becomes controller.