Trojans Join KMPC in L.A. Radio War

USC has a new radio home, KMPC (1540), which means that XTRA (690) is out of the USC picture, and so is football play-by-play announcer Lee Hamilton.

A five-year agreement between the school and KMPC was announced Thursday, ending a three-year relationship with XTRA.

The call letters KMPC invoke memories of a radio station that was once the dominant sports station in Los Angeles, one that had the Rams, Angels, UCLA and Jim Healy.

These are different times and those famous call letters no longer belong to a Gene Autry-owned station at 710 on the dial. They now belong to the relatively new station at 1540. KMPC bought its call letters from Disney, owners of the old KMPC.

The new KMPC is owned by Paul Allen’s Sporting News Network, formerly One-on-One, which has 450 affiliates and is the largest network of its kind.

There is a sports-radio war going on in Los Angeles, and KMPC has served notice it’s not going away.

XTRA, even though it is based in San Diego, is the top-rated sports station in L.A. KXTA (1150) is No. 2.

ESPN Radio (1110), the Kings’ flagship station, could become a formidable force because of the ESPN name and a local show with veterans Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian that is drawing attention.

Besides becoming USC’s flagship station, Santa Monica-based KMPC, which is the L.A. affiliate for the Triple Crown races, including Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, is building a studio to house USC-related programming and at least one daily local show.

Of the new deal with USC, Chris Brennan, president of the Sporting News Network, said, “USC is now affiliated with the largest sports radio network in the country and that will give it a national identity.”

Nancy Cole, KMPC general manager, said her station’s signal will be strengthened and a network of affiliates will be put together to carry the games.

Kevin McCarthy, XTRA general manager, said his station will pick up San Diego State and Hamilton will be assigned to the Aztecs.

Said Hamilton: “It was a business decision. I understand that. There is no anger on my part, just disappointment.”

A likely candidate to replace Hamilton on football is basketball announcer Rory Markas. Other possibilities are Matt Vasgersian, a USC graduate, and former Trojan announcer Pete Arbogast. A USC spokesman said the hope is that commentator Paul McDonald and sideline reporter Tim Ryan will be retained.

THE WASSERMAN FACTOR

Todd Merkow, the head of Fox Sports Net in Los Angeles since November 1999, is leaving that job to become the president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League.

On the surface, it appears as though Merkow, 36, might be taking a step down. But the way Merkow sees it, he’s hooking up with Avenger owner Casey Wasserman on the ground floor.

“This is an opportunity to run a business with a tremendous growth potential,” Merkow said. “Casey has the ability to do anything he wants and I want to be there to help him build his dreams.”

Wasserman, the grandson of movie mogul Lew Wasserman, would like to own an L.A. NFL franchise. Buying the Dodgers is also a possibility. A guest on ESPN Radio’s “McDonnell-Douglas Show” show this week, Wasserman said talk of buying the Dodgers is premature, but he did not deny the possibility.

It is known that high-ranking Fox executives would like to see their parent company, News Corp., unload the Dodgers. The feeling is that the Dodgers and the way they have been run have been an embarrassment.

One problem, though. If News Corp. were to sell the Dodgers, Fox would have to pay for cable television rights, something it doesn’t have to do now.

SHORT WAVES

The Kentucky Derby has a new network, NBC, and a new post time, 3 p.m. . . . NBC had hoped to have an NBA playoff game as a lead-in. Instead, it’s an odd lineup, with the NBA pregame show on from 1:30-2 p.m., race coverage from 2-3:30, and then a playoff game. . . . NBC won the rights to the Triple Crown races with a bid of $51.5 million over five years. ABC, hoping to retain the package, bid $35 million over five years. . . . Al Michaels was ABC’s co-host with Jim McKay. His younger brother, David, will produce NBC’s coverage Saturday.

Tom Hammond is now a Derby co-host, but he almost wasn’t. Hammond, who has diverticulitis, had colon surgery March 26 and faced a long recuperation. He said the decision was made two weeks ago that he would be able to work the race. . . . Charlsie Cantey, who came over from ABC, is the other co-host and Tom Durkin will call the race.

NBC planned to show Sunday’s Laker game at 2:30 p.m., but the time was changed to noon because of the possibility of a King game Sunday night at Staples Center. . . . Vin Scully, who missed the Cincinnati series this week, was just taking some time off. . . . Recommended viewing: Check out Shaquille O’Neal on ESPN’s new and improved “The Life” Saturday at 7:30 a.m. You’ll learn more about his special relationship with deaf towel boy Johnny Cortez, you’ll see him have fun with a young woman in a nearby car he screams at, and you’ll even see him have a flat tire. ESPN was granted unprecedented access to Shaq for five days in March and the result is an incredible show.

IN CLOSING

Maybe hockey fans in Los Angeles are spoiled. We get Bob Miller and Jim Fox on Fox Sports Net, and the telecasts, produced by Bob Borgen and directed by Mike Hassan, provide every conceivable angle.

On the other hand, there’s ESPN, which had the exclusive rights to Monday night’s game against Colorado at Staples Center. A third-period goal by the Avalanche, 34 seconds after a King goal, was missed because of a commercial break. A woman sitting next to Rob Blake’s wife was identified as Blake’s wife, which was played off with humor.

Announcer Gary Thorne repeatedly misidentified the Kings’ Adam Deadmarsh as Steven Reinprecht. Deadmarsh inherited Reinprecht’s number after those two swapped teams in the Blake deal.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for April 28-29.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share NBA playoffs: Philadelphia at Indiana 4 5.9 17 NBA playoffs: Utah at Dallas 4 5.7 16 NBA playoffs: San Antonio at Minnesota 4 5.1 13 NHL playoffs: Kings at Colorado 7 2.6 7 Auto racing: Busch Grand National 300 11 1.7 5 Golf: Greater Greensboro Classic 2 1.7 5

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Cable Network Rating Share NBA playoffs: Milwaukee at Orlando TNT 2.1 4 Boxing: Andrew Lewis vs. Larry Marks HBO 1.8 5 Baseball: Philadelphia at Dodgers FSN2 1.4 3 Track & field: Penn Relays ESPN2 0.9 2 Boxing: Joe Calzaghe vs. Mario Veit SHO 0.8 2 Drag racing: Thunder Valley Nationals qualifying ESPN2 0.5 1 Baseball: Atlanta at Arizona TBS 0.5 1 Golf: Senior Bruno’s Memorial Classic CNBC 0.5 1 Horse racing: Hollywood Park Today FSN2 0.4 1 Auto racing: Winston Cup Happy Hour FX 0.3 1 Auto racing: IRL Atlanta 500 Classic ESPN2 0.3 1 Baseball: Texas at Cleveland FX 0.3 1 Gymnastics: NCAA men’s final (tape) ESPN 0.3 1 Soccer: WUSA, Washington at Carolina TNT 0.3 1 NHL playoffs: Toronto at New Jersey ESPN 0.1 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share NBA playoffs: Lakers at Portland 4 13.5 31 NBA playoffs: Sacramento at Phoenix 4 7.8 21 NBA playoffs: New York at Toronto 4 5.7 17 Auto racing: Winston Cup Napa 500 11 3.9 11 Golf: Greater Greensboro Classic 2 2.6 7 Gymnastics: NCAA women’s final (tape) 2 2.1 6

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Cable Network Rating Share Baseball: Atlanta at Arizona ESPN 1.3 3 Horse racing: Hollywood Park Today FSN2 1.3 3 Baseball: Philadelphia at Dodgers FSN2 1.1 3 Drag racing: NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals ESPN2 1.0 2 NHL playoffs: St. Louis at Dallas ESPN2 1.0 2 Baseball: Seattle at Chicago White Sox WGN 0.5 1 Golf: Greater Greensboro Classic CNBC 0.3 1

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Note: Each rating point represents 53,542 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.