Geez, what a suprise KILT nukes their lineup again

You know for practically having the monopoly on sports for Houston, KILT is always making lineup changes every few months.

From the Chronicle---
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/barron/990552

<i>TV-Radio Notebook: In new KILT lineup, night belongs to `Sports Junkies'
By DAVID BARRON
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

KILT (610 AM) will revamp its talk-show lineup beginning Monday, altering the schedules of its sometimes fractious morning crew, ditching its twentysomethings evening program and adding a syndicated nighttime show that veers as much toward guy talk as sports chatter.

The new lineup begins with a 5:30 a.m. scores/highlights show hosted by Jeremy Foster, whose evening show with Matt Jackson has been canceled. The morning crew of Russ Small, Lance Zierlein and John Granato will work from 6 to 10 a.m., followed by a pair of one-hour Jackson shows (10-11 a.m., 2-3 p.m.) sandwiching the Jim Rome show.

Rich Lord and Charlie Pallilo return from 3 to 7 p.m., followed from 7 to 10 p.m. by Westwood One's Sports Junkies -- four lifelong pals from Bowie, Md., whose show dominates nighttime ratings for male listeners in Washington, D.C., but whose material was described by the Washington Post as "hippy-dippy, slang-laced language, some from the sewer, (that) seems more suited for a boys junior high school locker room than the public airwaves."

Bill Van Rysdam, the station's operations manager, describes the changes to the morning lineup as "tweaks" and downplays the possibility that guy radio will squeeze out sports conversation as KILT's staple.

"I'm not a big fan of guy talk," he said. "What I think we will offer is a little more personality, a little more opinion, less focus on statistics and scores. I'm less interested in a stat than I am in what does it mean and how does it reflect what is going on."

KILT's total audience for the just-released spring ratings held constant from a year ago for listeners 25-54. From 6 to 10 a.m., however, the spring Arbitron for men 25-54 dropped from 2.7 a year ago to 1.9 for this spring, when the station unveiled its Small/Zierlein/Granato combination.

Although he downplays the significance of the ratings drop, Van Rysdam acknowledges the morning show has presented something of a challenge. But the three-host show is here to stay, at least for the moment. The new four-hour format eliminates the awkward personnel shifts (Small anchored solo for the first 80 minutes, followed by all three for two hours, and Zierlein and Granato for the final two), and it should provide enough air time for all involved to meet their ad voice-over quotas.

"There has never been any doubt in my mind that these three guys are going to be a great morning show," Van Rysdam said. "I think the problem was the way we set them up to begin with. It was awkward, and with hindsight I will grant that we needed to do the show with all three from start to finish.

"I think they make a unique group. Russ is a little older, John is in the middle of the age demo, and Lance is a Gen-X kind of guy. But they all love sports and love to talk and have outgoing personalities and like to have fun and do things. And that is what makes them interesting."

As for the decision to cancel the Jackson-Foster show, Van Rysdam said the station will be stronger with both men contributing during daylight hours. Foster will provide news updates in addition to the early-morning scoreboard show, and Jackson will add a second one-hour show to his 2-3 p.m. shift. Plans are on the drawing board for a 10-11 p.m. Friday high school score show.

The real change that could signal the future direction of the station, however, involves Sports Junkies Eric "E.B." Bikel, John "Cakes" Auville, John-Paul "J.P." Flaim and Jason "Lurch" Bishop. Although one aforementioned Post critic dislikes the show, another calls it the best thing on Washington radio.

"Sports is the unifying theme of our show," Flaim told the Baltimore Sun. "But at least half is not about sports."

The four constantly play music as a backdrop to their guests, who have ranged over the past couple of years from Texans general manager Charley Casserly to p*rn actress Nina Hartley to model Kathy Ireland whistling the theme from The Andy Griffith Show.

One half-hour segment last year instructed new fathers on how to tell whether their newborn was sleeping or dead. For another staple, "Bother the Pro," the Junkies call hotels in an effort to get sleepy pro athletes on the radio. "Bad Boys Honor Roll" is a sports-themed crime blotter, and "Junkerdy" is the group's version of Jeopardy!

Fortunately, given KILT's relationship with the Texans, Casserly likes the Junkies.

"You're liable to hear anything from them," he said, laughing. "They're four young guys who are enthusiastic and work their butts off. They're creative, imaginative, and they'll give you a fresh approach and opinion on sports and anything else you can think of."

Van Rysdam, not surprisingly, is optimistic the new mix will appeal to male listeners.

"We have some wonderful personalities, guys who are a lot of fun," he said. "They can be irreverent at times, and the bottom line is that it has to be entertaining. That is what we are looking for. We are trying to figure out where our players fit the best." </i>
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You would think that these guys could try to stick to a lineup for more than 3 months. One trend I have noticed through the years is the adding of more Westwood One programming (For example, Westwood's "Inside the Huddle"). The same company owns Westwood One and Infinty, so I guess its just corporate radio trying to get their crap played. In Infinty's mind 610 must not be equal to their other sports powerhouses, WFAN, WIP (Philly), & WSCR (Chicago). Those cities have almost all local programming with little to none syndicated programming. KILT has become the stomping ground for all these ex-KTRHers and Bill Van Rysdam's idea of that 3-headed morning show has, as Barron showed, hurt the ratings, of course if it didn't hurt their cashflow the suits are happy. Matt and Jeremy are lucky since they got to keep their jobs.

Rob