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December:
A foggy evening on Thursday ... forced the KMOV Traffic chopper to land at the KTVI helipad on Hampton. For no apparent reason, they left it there unguarded and the KTVI folks helped "decorate" the "holiday bird", including several strategically placed MyFoxSTL bumper stickers.
Karen Foss "suddenly" retires from KSDK/NBC5.
Al Brady Law ... O-U-T as PD at KTRS. Law began at the station on Halloween 2005 and on December 16 executed the "Christmas massacre", during which nearly all of the station's talk and sports talents were given their walking papers. Through 2006, Al Brady Law subsequently fired all of the air talent brought in as replacements for the original crew.
Radio One appoints Michael Douglas as cluster GM of its STL stations, which include Urban AC WFUN (FOXY 95.5) and Urban WHHL (HOT 104).
November:
KMOX Sports Director Ron Jacober, who's been in the STL market covering sports for 37 years and at KMOX for 20 of them, has decided to retire, at least partially.
Beth Davis returns to CC/STL after less than a year as Director of Sales for Clear Channel in Chicago. She was GM of CBS' KEZK and Y98 before going to Chicago.
KMOX Auto Show Host Greg Damon hit the jackpot in Las Vegas when he competed against top mechanics from
across the country to take top prize in the BP search for the 2007 Amoco Ultimate “Golden Mechanic.”
October:
Linda O'Connor O-U-T as Radio One/STL Market Manager.
September:
The board of trustees of the St. Louis Regional Educational and Public Television Commission said Thursday that John "Jack" Galmiche III will be the new president and CEO of KETC-TV Channel 9, effective in November.
Secret Squirrel spins on ... Claire McCaskill's U.S. Senate campaign. Allegedly, someone purchased the remaining tickets for this Sunday's Rams' game in a deal with KMOV (they would air the game if it was sold out) to provide news coverage of Ms. McCaskill handing out free tickets. A deal was struck with the KMOV sales department for coverage of Claire handing out tickets if she bought the remaining tickets so Channel 4 could show the game this Sunday. This sale of the remaining tickets would generate ad revenue for Channel 4 if those tickets were sold.
Bonneville blows up The River to go "Movin'" and releases entire staff.
K-HITS vows no repeats for a solid week, music list is expanded exponentially.
July:
Cornbread & Pat renew for three years as the morning show on WIL-FM. The duo began at the Bonneville
station in the Summer of 2004, coming here from KFDI/Wichita.
Marty Linck O-U-T as River PD; other casualties include River promo guy Dave Jones and Aileen Grubbs in Sales.
June:
CBSRadio on-stage announcers at the Komen Run dissed WIL's participation by introducing Cornbread & Pat as being from The Bull. WIL's runners were wearing green station t-shirts and observers tell me that green was the dominant color downtown for the race. Were the CBS types trying to snark the Bonneville radio fans because The Arch has trounced Y98 and KEZK 6A-12M, 18-34 and 25-54?? If so, this was the wrong place and the wrong time to try payback. A charity event like this MUST be politically inviolate. Bad disc jockeys. BAD! Sit! Stay!
May:
Emmis' John Ulett celebrates his 30th anniversary at KSHE.
Radio One closed on its $20 million acquisition of the station that is now CHR/Rhythmic WHHL (Hot 104).
April:
P-D Publisher (since 1999) Terrance Egger resigns; his resignation follows Ellen Soeteber's in November 2005 as Editor, a position she had held for nearly five years.
Kevin Slaten, of KFNS, was suspended for two shows this past week after getting into an argument in the studio with Mike Claiborne. Slaten threatend Claiborne physically and was told to leave by GM Evan Crocker. The argument occurred because Claiborne would not say Slaten's name on the air when reading a promo.
The St. Louis Cardinals’ new flagship station, KTRS, sends letters to 50,000 fans who have lost access to the broadcasts because of their signal. The letters will offer those fans a free radio that can pick up the games via XM Radio. But to get the radio, a six-month subscription for the service has to be purchased.
March:
McGraw Millhaven rehired at KTRS for 9A-12N.
Jim McKernan named VP/GM at KYKY & KEZK.
Kupper-Parker Communications, hq'd here and with branches throughout the US and the world, closes its doors April 4, 2006.
KTRS'er Dave Lenihan uses the word "coon" instead of "coup" when speaking of Condi Rice taking over the NFL. He was fired within minutes and corporate fall guy Tim Dorsey apologized profusely on the air. The incident is reported internationally.
KMOX' Jon Grayson embeds with US troops to report from Iraq on KMOX.
February:
Lee Clear ... O-U-T as Clear Channel/STL Market Manager.
Billy Greenwood is named the new PD for KSD-FM.
January:
Paul Arca injured in freak accident. Arca was just finishing up a KLOU remote at the St. Charles Convention Center; he and the station promotion assistant jumped into the KLOU van in the rain and as she pulled away, she clipped a power line with the unlowered hydraulic antenna. The power line broke and hit the van, Paul was physically thrown out of the vehicle, taking the 7400-volt electrical charge full-on.
Longtime St. Louis Rams broadcaster Jack Snow dies at the age of 62.
Leo Chears, The Man in the Red Vest passes. A Jazz Hall of Fame inductee, he was heard on WSIE until recently; Chears was also a legacy inductee into the St. Louis Radio Hall of Fame in 2002.
Hitbounds:
The ongoing cost-cutting at Clear Channel/STL.
The ongoing staff turmoil and mismanagement at Cardinal's/CH Holding's KTRS.
The ongoing deconstruction of Chuck Norman's WGNU legacy.
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