KABC-AM Pushes Jackson Talk Show to Weekend Slot

Suffering declining ratings against conservative powerhouse Rush Limbaugh, longtime KABC-AM radio talk show host Michael Jackson is being dropped from his weekday program in exchange for a weekend time slot.

The last installment of Jackson’s daily broadcast, which runs from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., is today.

Sounding wistful as he recollected his more than 30 years on KABC-AM (790), Jackson began his Wednesday show by telling his listeners he had “an announcement that honestly I’d never dreamed I’d be making. Simply stated, the powers that be at KABC have decided on a programming change and they’ve decided they no longer wish to have me as the host of a daily talk show on their station.”

Maureen Lesourd, KABC’s president and general manager, indicated Wednesday that the change was prompted by Jackson’s ratings, particularly against Limbaugh, whose show on KFI-AM (640), has bested Jackson since 1991. Jackson will be replaced beginning July 14 by Ronn Owens, a talk radio host at KGO-AM in San Francisco, who, according to Lesourd, “consistently beats Limbaugh.” Owens is also the top-rated host in his time slot.

Jackson’s on-air announcement came as a surprise to KABC management, who insisted that they were still in negotiations. However, Jackson said he has known for three days that the new weekend slot was a “fait accompli,” and said he knew definitively just before he went on the air Wednesday morning.

At the end of his six-minute opening remarks, Jackson told listeners he wanted to “meet head-on with all the issues of the day,” adding that “today should certainly be no exception. So help me make it a good show.”

But the callers wanted to talk about Jackson. They also called the station’s management offices, though Lesourd said, “we received calls, but certainly nothing out of the ordinary.” However, several people who contacted The Times said they had tried to call KABC but that the lines were jammed.

When one caller to Jackson said he was “outraged with KABC--I cannot believe this is happening,” Jackson interrupted: “I’m not a program director. I’m not a general manager. They may well be doing the right thing.”

In the most recent Arbitron ratings period, Jackson ranked 12th with a 2.9% share of the audience, while Limbaugh came in first with 6.8% among listeners 12 and over. In the key advertising demographic measuring listeners aged 25 to 54, Jackson came in 23rd with a 1.4% share, while Limbaugh was third with 4.7%. The station ranked 12th in overall ratings in the most recent ratings period.

Reached at home later Wednesday, Jackson conceded that ratings “probably” were an issue, but added: “I still feel that I could have passed Limbaugh had I been on six days a week as he was, had I not had preseason baseball, if I had a full three hours rather than two and three-quarters. . . . But I am truly blessed at having the run I’ve had.”

The shift in status for the British-born Jackson, who is 63 and started at KABC on Dec. 12, 1966, came less than two weeks after he was named Talk Show Host of the Year by the National Assn. of Radio Talk Show Hosts.

At the June 20 luncheon celebrating his award, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan presented him with a framed City Council resolution praising Jackson’s work.

Ironically, Jackson had ratings on his mind that day. Accepting his award, he said at the outset: “Our job is to enlighten, entertain and inform. Our job is to show hospitality. Or as management puts it so nicely: ‘Get your ratings [up], or get your ass out of here.’ ”

Jackson’s start date for weekends has not yet been announced, though The Times has learned that it will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, which is currently the slot occupied by Susan Estrich. Station executives would not confirm Jackson’s new time slot.

Lesourd said putting Jackson on weekends “is an opportunity to attack the competition in a new way. Michael is a tremendous talent, great at interviewing and offers us a unique opportunity to hopefully explode the weekends.”

Owens will be simulcast on both KABC and KGO, which is also owned by ABC Radio, and the host, who has been on the air there since 1975, will broadcast every other week from Los Angeles beginning July 14.

Starting July 7, in the interim week before Owens’ start, syndicated talk show host Tom Leykis--formerly on KFI-AM (640) and the former KMPC-AM (710)--will be heard in Jackson’s morning slot.