Rumor Mill Grinding Out Speculations About Q106

There often is a thread of truth running through a wild rumor. Toss in a little common sense, and a rumor can be quickly upgraded to the status of industry speculation.

These days, there is a tremendous amount of industry speculation about KKLQ (Q106), the local ratings champion for the past three years. At the same time that Edens Broadcasting, owner of the AM/FM combo, has been selling off stations like a weary auctioneer, the ratings for Q106, with its teen dance party sound, have been slipping--”taking body blows” is the way one industry newsletter put it--leading to speculation that cash-hungry Edens may make some changes.

One of the hot rumors has the acerbic morning team of Jack Murphy and Terry McKeever returning to the station. Murphy and McKeever made their share of enemies during their two-year stint with Q106, and both left unceremoniously in 1989. Yet, they brought in ratings and were masters at attracting attention.

Murphy is currently under contract to a Dallas station and McKeever is working in Memphis, Q106 general manager Bob Bolinger pointed out. “We’re not talking deal,” he said.

But there is that thread of truth in the rumor. Bolinger, noting that “anything is possible,” confirmed that he recently had dinner with Murphy.

“Our parting was never as bitter as it was played up to be,” he said. Hiring Murphy and McKeever is “not one of our options right now,” he said, which is just vague enough to keep the rumor mills cranking for a few more days.

Another persistent Q106 rumor revolves around the future of KKLQ-AM. Q106 currently simulcasts its signal on AM (600) and FM (106.5). The AM signal is one of the strongest in the area, and industry observers believe that it could be put to better use than as a simulcast outlet.

In recent weeks, Q106 has been hiring an unusual number of news personnel, and it made a bid for the rights to air San Diego State University basketball games, fueling that ol’ industry speculation.

“At some point I think it is logical that we’ll develop the AM, but it’s not in our short-term plan,” Bolinger said.

Bolinger also has spent much of his time fielding questions about the station’s fate with Edens Broadcasting. The company recently announced it was going to sell three stations it owns in Virginia to a group that includes local radioman Norm Feuer, the former chief operating officer of the Noble Broadcasting Group.

Bolinger said Edens told the staff that if the sale of the Virginia stations goes through, it would go a long way toward paying off the bankers hounding the company.

“Without Virginia, we’re a large part of the company’s profits,” Bolinger said.

But clearly the Virginia stations were not enough to solve Edens’ problems. According to industry observers, the sale of Edens’ Tampa station is imminent, which would leave Edens with only Q106 and a station in Phoenix.

Bolinger has heard the rumors about the possible sale of his station before. His favorite was the man who called him after hearing that a Canadian company had bought the station.

“I told him that the fact we were playing ‘Oh Canada’ every hour was just a coincidence,” Bolinger said with a laugh.

Lawyers for KFMB-FM (B100) have fired off a letter to KRMX-FM (94.9) telling Bobby Rich to stop using tracks off an album that was recorded during Rich’s tenure at B100.

The parody songs are from the “Rich Brothers Funny Song Album,” which the Rich Brothers produced for charity.

Bobby Rich owns the Rich Brothers name, and he’s hired one of the original members of the four-man Rich Brothers, Scott Kenyon, at KRMX. Rich contends that using songs off the album, which was copyrighted to the Rich Brothers and funded by he and his wife, is not unlike using material from any public domain album.

“I think it is ours to use as the Rich Brothers, and we are the Rich Brothers,” Rich said.

B100 general manager Paul Palmer pointed out that two of the original Rich Brothers, Frank Anthony and Pat Gaffey, are still employed at B100. All the Rich Brothers had contracts that specifically stated that any work they produced while at B100 became the property of the station, he said.

Of course, Palmer said that none of this has anything to do with a station sniping at another station it perceives as a competitor.

“I really don’t care (about the songs), it is more the talent that cares,” Palmer said, clearly stating that the issue was pursued at the urging of Anthony and Gaffey.

That was news to Anthony, who said the decision to move against KRMX was “strictly management.” He was told that it had been suggested Anthony and Gaffey were the instigators of the action against their old partners. “That’s not true,” Anthony said. When he learned that it was his boss, Palmer, who suggested it, he hastened to add, “obviously we’re not thrilled” that Rich is using the songs.

Now the dispute is in the cold gray realm controlled by lawyers. Rich said he will continue to use the songs.

KFMB-TV (Channel 8) reporter Loren Nancarrow won the television news Rain Fashion Contest with his stunning yellow-slicker hood ensemble. In the midst of a torrential drizzle last Wednesday, Nancarrow, protecting his hairdo at all costs, was accessorized to the fullest, tightening the hood around his face, creating the breathtaking look of a big yellow reporter bug. . . .

Former “Sun-Up San Diego” co-host Jerry G. Bishop, last seen hawking some sort of diet candy on one of those cheesy cable “infomercials,” officially joins Irv Harrigan on the KPOP-AM (1360) morning show April 1. . . .

Jack Merker, producer of the “Ross/Hedgecock Report,” entered the hospital last week. He reportedly had been suffering from gastrointestinal problems. . . .

Looking for ways to spice up the “Ross/Hedgecock” show, watch for Channel 39 to experiment with a studio audience in the near future. . . .

The Nielsen ratings released last week told pretty much the same story as the Arbitrons, showing KGTV (Channel 10) winning all the major weekday news periods. . . .

Channel 39 has hired Susan Mach from Austin, Tex., as its new 11 p.m. news producer. She replaces Tracy Record, who has taken a job in Seattle.