Will Ouster Make a Dent in Ratings? : Radio: KSON cuts loose Lisa Dent, a key element in the station’s top show. Time will tell if that was a mistake.

Shortly after he suddenly disappeared from KFI-AM in Los Angeles last week, talk-show host Tom Leykis decried the “pet rock” theory of radio that has led to the hiring of such controversial, non-radio professionals as San Diego’s ex-mayor Roger Hedgecock and presidential offspring Michael Reagan, as well as his replacement, ex-Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates.

Lisa Dent had no such barbed parting shots last week after her equally sudden departure from KSON, and her replacement was not a big name “pet rock,” but her saga also speaks volumes about the radio industry.

Despite efforts by some of her fans to portray Dent’s and her partner Skip Mahaffey’s departure from KSON as a “firing,” both Dent and the station acknowledge that her departure was really little more than a dispute over money. And money is, after all, what makes radio tick.

Dent was hired by the station four years ago as a part-timer and eventually moved to the sidekick role on the morning show with Jack Diamond. After Diamond left, she assumed a more dominant role, as KSON remained at or near the top of the ratings in most key demographic groups.

With her two-year deal due to expire at the end of October, Dent wanted her salary to reflect her expanded role, which is certainly understandable. She was the consistent element of the top-rated country music station’s top-rated morning show.

Some industry sources say that Dent was looking for a three-year contract, complete with performance and appearance bonuses that would put her in the $150,000-a-year range, more in line with the deal awarded “Jeff and Jer,” the consistent ratings team that KFMB-FM (B100) wooed away from a rival station. But Dent denies she was looking for a big increase and says she wanted an amount far below the big bucks given to “Jeff and Jer,” “Hudson and Bauer” and the other morning shows in her ratings league.

Whatever the terms of the deal Dent wanted, the station said “no way.” It refused to budge on its offer. Dent hired an agent. The station refused to budge. Dent said she would leave.

Faced with Dent’s departure, station management called Dent and Mahaffey in after their morning show a week ago last Friday and told them it had been their last show. See ya.

Protests by listeners last week to the contrary, KSON, to put it bluntly, clearly felt that Dent simply was not worth the money she wanted. Period.

Only time will tell if station management was right or wrong. But it was their decision to make, just as the Padres will learn whether they can afford to let some of their high-priced talent leave town.

Dent, who is now looking for work around the boundaries of her KSON contract, which forbids her to work for another local station for six months, may have misjudged the market. This is not the free-spending radio industry of a few years ago. Leykis’ huge salary, reportedly in the $400,000 range, was one reason KFI was more than willing to let him go, according to newspaper accounts. In tough times, stations are willing to spend money only on sure-fire ratings draws.

Management clearly feels that KSON’s success is more a result of its exclusive local claim to the hot country music market more than any one personality.

Dent, of course, disagrees. She was one of busiest radio stars in town, appearing at a wide variety of promotions and charities, and there is no doubt that she had a loyal following.

“I think I’ve proven myself,” Dent said last week.

Of course, there is another industry issue lurking in the background. No one in radio will openly admit it, but there is a general attitude, either consciously or subconsciously, that a woman can’t carry a radio show as well as a man. It’s not biology, it’s simply that the power of a woman’s voice is not the same, they say, invoking a decidedly Neanderthal tone.

That’s ridiculous, of course, but the attitude still dominates radio. For evidence, an observer need look no further than the radio, where a quick scan of the dial find few female voices and none in prominent roles.

Dent was one of the few women in the country hosting a major show.

“It is obviously something that has to be considered when my male predecessor made more money than me,” Dent said. “What I was asking for was far less than the males on shows at other stations, who, by the way, I was beating in the ratings.”

KSON general manager Mike Stafford said gender had nothing to do with the negotiations. He didn’t negotiate the contract of Dent’s predecessor, Diamond, he said, noting that he was the one who put Dent in the key morning show role.

“I thought Lisa was strong enough to do (the show) without a sidekick,” Stafford said.

Either way, the end result is that a woman in a prominent role has been replaced by a man, former B100 program director Mike Novak, albeit one who probably will make less money than Dent wanted in her contract.

Although observers may question the hows and whys of Dent and Mahaffey’s departure, there is no doubt that the station handled the situation in heavy-handed radio fashion by suddenly taking them off the air, barely acknowledging their contribution.

“I thought they robbed me of a chance to say goodby,” Dent said.

That’s how they usually do it in radio. KFI followed the same procedure with Leykis.

There is “probably some truth” to accusations that the station didn’t handle the situation very well, Stafford said. “She did have a following.”

But situations with “lame duck” on-air performers get “complicated,” he said. They preferred to pay Dent to the end of her contract in October (Mahaffey’s runs to the end of the year), and move ahead with establishing the new morning show.

Dent and her fans may have been surprised by the sudden hardball move, but that’s radio.

People will always remember longtime Channel 8 general manager Robert Myers, who died of cancer Sept. 24, for his solid on-air editorials. But his influence was far greater behind the scenes, even during the past two years during which time it was widely known that he was in ill health.

By all accounts, Myers was a well-respected businessman who provided the station with definitive leadership. He was part of the San Diego scene for 23 years and had as much to do with the development of the local television market as any one person. Along with people like the late Channel 10 general manager Clayton Brace, Channel 39’s Bill Fox and the late Harold Keen, he helped establish the tenor of the local television industry, bringing it to a professional level.

He was a pioneer in the development of local TV and radio, and for that he will always be remembered.

KNSD-TV (Channel 39) has hired former KFMB stalwart Clark Anthony to do weekend weather. He’ll replace Joe Lizura, who will handle the expanded weather segment on the new 4 p.m. weekday newscast set to debut later this month. . . .

Channel 39 has received formal approval from the FCC to reduce the power of its signal. Among other things, the unusual move will allow the station to save money. The station has been testing the strength of the reduced signal for several months without finding any dramatic decrease in reception, station general manager Neil Derrough said. . . .

KGTV (Channel 10) anchor/reporter Stephen Clark, producer Eileen Brennan and photographer Richard Klein are back from Croatia, where they were reporting on local relief efforts. They are preparing a special scheduled to air Oct. 24. . . .

Channel 10 news director Paul Sands, who was a candidate for a similar post with the ABC affiliate in Chicago, says he is staying in San Diego. . . .

After two attempts to buy stations fell through, Norm Feuer has broken his tie to New York financier Robert Sillerman. He’s now teaming with former Unistar chief Terry Robinson. He’ll run the group’s stations--located in small markets like Spokane, Wash.; Lincoln, Neb., and Mobile, Ala.--while actively pursuing the purchase of other stations from his San Diego base. . . .

Local media coverage of the Ice-T concert reinforced the musician’s claim that the media has no idea what he is about. In interviews, he often points out that he is constantly referred to as a rapper, even though anyone who listens to any of his current songs would know his music is actually more heavy metal. Sure enough, almost every local story last week referred to him as a rap artist. . . .

Harry Martin, who was once “Happy Hare,” the hottest disc jockey in town during his stint in the ‘60s at KCBQ, retired last week from a sales job at KSON. Martin says he plans to get back on the air and has already received a tentative offer to do a morning news talk show locally. . . .

If only there was a fire everyday. Immediate, concise and energetic, local TV news is at its best when there is fire. . . .

KKLQ (Q106) morning guy Matt Alan issued an on-air apology for a routine contemplating the sexual preference of a TV actor after a local gay activist group complained. “Neither I, Matt Alan or Q106 are homophobic, and if any comments were received as offensive, please understand it was not intended, and for that we apologize,” Alan said in the statement.

What kind of guy is Channel 10 weatherman Roland Steadham? Last week the California Highway Patrol gave him a “cellular hero” award for phoning in tips on erratic drivers. Steadham called in more than three dozen tips to the CHP in the past 1 1/2 years and even followed suspected drunk drivers.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

‘ASSIGNMENT’ WORTH A PEEK

Like most magazine shows, Channel 8’s monthly “Assignment San Diego” has its ups and downs. The program is cheapened by attempts to use it to shill for KFMB--this month’s show, scheduled to air Sunday at 9:30 p.m., includes a feature on Stacy Taylor, a talk-show host for KFMB radio. But each show also contains some nuggets.

The lineup for Sunday’s edition includes a feature on the Nissan Performance Technology lab in Vista, a piece on preventing sexual abuse and a Larry Himmel package on Rosarita Beach. If the program holds to form, some of the features certainly will be lame; others will be well-produced. But even with its good and bad points, the program, the only regular local news magazine, is consistently a refreshing piece of local television simply because it can explore subjects for 8 to 10 minutes instead of the usual quick and dirty 1 1/2-minute news feature.