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:

After more than 22 years, Margie Boulé has closed her column with The Oregonian:

I wrote my first column for The Oregonian on Sept. 20, 1987.

This will be my last.

My first column began, "As a rule, people's beginnings and endings are untidy affairs. They're so often beyond our control. We cannot choose our birth dates; we cannot look ahead and know the day we will die. And in the intervening years, there are often exasperating gaps between the ends of things -- the day your true love packed his banjo and his softball glove and left for San Diego -- and the beginnings we wish to jump to -- the chance meeting by the Literature Fa-Fl shelves in Powell's Bookstore."

But Sept. 20, 1987, was a day of synchronicities. On that day I ended my career in television and began my career as a print journalist. On that day, too, my daughter started first grade, and my grandfather died. It was his 87th birthday. It was a day of beginnings and endings.

And so is today. Today I end my career as a columnist for The Oregonian and look ahead to something new.

She goes on to recount some of the most memorable stories ever told in her over 3,000 columns. If you haven't read it yet, do.

Boulé was among 37 staffers laid off from the paper last week.

Stacey Wilson, former associate editor of Portland Monthly, is joining The Hollywood Reporter as a television features editor. Byron Beck has an interview:

How did you hear about the job?

I saw it posted on Mediabistro.com two weeks ago and thought, ‘Wow, that sounds like the perfect job for me.' But knowing the climate and how many talented journos are out of work right now, I felt the site would be utterly flooded with resumes, so I got sneaky. I asked my friend who reviews films for Us Weekly (with whom I used to work in New York), if she knew anyone there and she did. I wrote him, and he referred me to the Editor in Chief, who referred me to the Executive Editor in charge of hiring. That was Monday two weeks ago. By that Wednesday, he’d asked if I was going to be in L.A. anytime soon; funny enough, I was. I changed my ticket to arrive a day sooner, and that was that. Honestly though, I felt like I’d won the lottery just getting an interview.

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."

Former KRON San Francisco anchor Chris Murphy has left KPTV for KGW, where he'll be a morning reporter and fill-in anchor. He replaces Teresa Yuan, who's moving to KING in Seattle.

"I left 12 for 8 because of KGW's continued commitment to quality," Murphy says. "I really feel like they are investing in experienced journalists/broadcasters. Case in point: my old friend Rod Hill with whom I co-anchored way back when at KPTV when we were across the river right next to OMSI."

Murphy was a weekend anchor/reporter at KPTV from 2000 to 2002.

"It is nice to join the number one news team in Portland and I will work hard to help in their continued success," he adds.

KPTV is currently undergoing layoffs, outsourcing and a transition to automated newscasts. Still, the station has the top morning and late news programs as of Nielsen's January book. KGW leads in the evenings, at 11 pm and at noon.

Before rejoining KPTV last year, Murphy co-anchored the evening and late news at KRON. He worked there from 2002 to 2009. Prior to his first stint at KPTV, he worked at KTVN Reno (1997-2000, anchor), KCPM Chico (1996, anchor) KIEM Eureka (1995, anchor/reporter/photog) and KGET Bakersfield (1994, assignment desk manager). He got his start in broadcasting as an intern for CBS News in 1994.

Murphy begins work at KGW in early March.

• The Oregon Court of Appeals has upheld former "AM Northwest" host Ken Ackerman's $1.4 million damage award for what Ackerman says has been constant pain and nerve damage after his spinal cord was accidentally punctured by an OHSU surgeon. OHSU plans to appeal to the state supreme court. Ackerman left KATU in 2005, two years after his surgery, and had been an original member of KPTV's "Good Day Oregon" until 2002. He's now selling real estate.
• Eric Taylor has replaced Art Edwards as co-host of "KOIN Local 6 Early." This round of musical chairs follows Kacey Montoya replacing Jenny Hansson and precedes Matt Brode's arrival to the green screen after Christine Ferreira's exit. Meteorologist Tim Joyce is delivering morning forecasts in the interim. Carly Kennelly, to David Letterman's delight, remains on traffic. See a promo.
• The Brew (105.9 KFBW) has added new Clear Channel syndicated host Nikki Sixx, the guitarist for Mötley Crüe, to its lineup, airing weekday evenings. The station recently cut Scott Lander from afternoons and now airs recordings of Program Director Chris Sargent from 6 am to noon and DJ Daniel Bozyk from noon to 7 pm.
• And I'm realizing that, with having a separate job, traveling around town, performing additional work related to this site and attempting more enterprise stories, day-to-day reporting for this site is slowing. So I could use some help. If you think you could have written any of the short items above, and you'd like to help out, contact me. There's no commitment in terms of story counts or word counts, I can give you leads or you can find items on your own, and then you, too, can foolishly blog for free about people who are paid to be in the media. For more info, reach me at oregonmediagmail [dot] com.

Columbian business editor Julia Anderson is retiring later this month, ending a long career with the paper. As Publisher Lou Brancaccio told employees today in an email, features editor Elisa Williams set to replace her:

I am very pleased to announce that Features Editor Elisa Williams will take on the responsibilities of business editor as well.

Elisa brings to the table solid management experience (she's been both an assistant metro editor as well as working in her current position) and also a wealth of business experience.

Please join with me in congratulating Elisa. She will take over the position after Business Editor Julia Anderson retires February 26.

We also will begin looking for a business reporter. Elisa will be in charge of that search.

Prior to joining The Columbian in 2003, Williams was a Los Angeles staff writer for Forbes magazine. She's also covered business for The Oregonian, The Orange County Register and The Palm Beach Post.

Williams tells OMC, "I'm thrilled about the opportunity to oversee two sections. It will be a wonderful challenge."

KOHD in Bend this week has swapped its 6 pm newscast and its 5:30 airing of ABC World News, realizing an opportunity to become the only locally produced news in the 5:30 time slot, General Manager Jerry Upham tells OMC.

KTVZ runs NBC Nightly News at that time, while KBNZ simulcasts big-sister KOIN's Portland news.

KOHD has also moved its interview segment, "Direct Connect," featuring questions sent in by viewers, from 6:30 to 5:30, helping to emphasize that newscast's locality.

KXL (750) has found its replacement for Michael Savage: The "Larswich."

When KXL debuted their afternoon news block in December, that pushed Savage to evenings, where Program Director Brian Jennings says he knew the host would be unhappy. Savage soon left KXL for KPAM.

Now Jennings has replaced Savage with the final two hours of Lars Larson's national show, which move up from late night. Paired with Larson's Northwest show at noon and the first hour of his national program at 3, this forms two buns of what Jennings playfully calls "The Larswich." The afternoon news, presumably, is the meat of the operation.

Larson is then followed by new addition Jason Lewis, a national host out of Minneapolis who has filled in for Rush Limbaugh. Jennings says he still hopes to "grow locally at night." KXL's parent company, Alpha Broadcasting, has been emphasizing live and local programming since purchasing its first two stations — KXL and KXTG (95.5 "The Game") — last May. Both stations each have 10 hours of local weekday talk, plus sportscasts, under Jennings' direction.

As for the nickname, Lars says, "I kinda like it."