Bugged by the Flu, Stations Scramble to Fill Deejays’ Spots

Although a handy can of Lysol and plenty of hot tea with lemon and honey can often protect the voices of radio personalities, the recent flu bug has overcome even those arsenals, with several local stations scrambling to fill spots left vacant by sick deejays and newscasters.

The toll seems to be highest at Orange County’s KEZY-FM (95.9), where program director Craig Powers says almost all the station’s deejays have missed a full week at some time since Christmas, and at Los Angeles news station KFWB-AM (980), where news director Ken Beck reports that at least six on-air people have been out in the past few weeks.

At KROQ-FM (106.7), disc jockeys Jed the Fish and Dusty Street have been out this week, and at country station KLAC-AM (570), the morning show’s Stoney Richards and the afternoon show’s Chuck Clifford were recently out with voice and stomach problems.

And although it was feared last week that the flu would force Lakers announcer Chick Hearn (heard on KLAC) to miss his first broadcast since 1965, Hearn said Thursday that after a 10-day bout, he is finally getting better.

KFWB’s Beck laughed when asked if the bug had brought problems to his station.

“Oh yeah,” he said, “everybody’s losing their voices--and their breakfast, but fortunately (that’s) not on the air.”

To replace sick newscasters, Beck said, the station rotates schedules and taps into its “bullpen staff.” “But our regular listeners will notice the change,” he said.

At KROQ, program director Van Johnson said illnesses don’t hurt the station because there are two alternate deejays, Lewis Largent and Mike Bell, to fill in. At KEZY, Powers said, healthy deejays’ shifts are extended and part-time and weekend people cover openings as well. At KRTH (101.1 FM, 930 AM), where three deejays have needed replacements in recent days, assistant program director Irma Molina said schedules are rotated and free-lancers fill open spots. Molina refused to name those who have been ill, however, saying this was “not relevant” because the station is dependent only on its music.

At some stations, however, such as KPWR-FM (105.9), KNX-AM (1070) and KMPC-FM (101.9), deejays have managed to stay fairly healthy despite a heavy flu toll on off-air people.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” said Denise Maynard, KMPC’s assistant program director. The disc jockeys “have all got it, but they haven’t gotten it to the point of being bedridden. . . . Mentally, they just tell themselves, ‘I’m not going to get this,’ up their doses of Vitamin C, eat better and get plenty of rest--much more than they normally would.”

That, and what KPWR deejay Todd Parker called the “ritual” performed by his colleague Mucho Morales--swabbing down the telephone and control board with alcohol and spraying everything with Lysol.

KLAC’s Richards, who is also the station’s program director, said his strategy to avoid developing the flu or a voice problem is to use throat lozenges and “drink tea with lemon and Jack Daniels or Jim Beam . . . and get into bed.”

Said KPWR’S midday deejay Brenda Ross: “You have to just hang in there . . . even if you sound kind of stuffy. And (the listeners) don’t want to hear about it if you’re sick. But there have been many days where many of us have worked sick.”

All those contacted agreed, however, that once a bug gets into a radio station, it’s very hard to stop.

“(The germs) hang around on the microphones and telephones,” KLAC’s Richards said. “Everyone uses their hands and faces to work with the equipment, and the germs are all right there.”