Posted: Sunday, January 1, 2006 6:00 pm
2005 was a busy year in local radio and television, especially on the radio front, with KFOR dominating many of the headlines.
The following is a rundown of my top stories from the year listed in order of significance:
1. Ward & Cathy. I don’t think a lot of people realized how big a deal it was for KFOR’s morning team of Ward Jacobson and Cathy Blythe to win a Marconi Radio Award as small market personality of the year. It’s radio’s version of the Oscars. There is no bigger award in the business.
2. Natalie Faunce. In four short years the talented Faunce had become a local favorite at KLKN-TV. It was no surprise the weeknight co-anchor had three job offers on the table after she decided to leave Lincoln. She’s now at a Fox affiliate in Roanoke, Va.
3. KFOR tweaks format. In an attempt to attract younger listeners, the AM station tinkered with its programming, including adding talk-show host John Baylor and pairing personalities Mark Taylor and Kelly Garrett in the afternoons. The verdict is still out on the changes. The spring Arbitron survey saw the station drop from first to fifth, but one survey is not enough to make a judgment.
4. Linc FM. Triad Broadcasting changed the name of its oldies station Kool 105.3 as well as some of the music. It did away with hits of the 1950s and now plays music from just the 1960s and ’70s. Former Clear Channel exec E.J. Marshall is programming it.
5. J. Pat steps aside. Longtime B107.3 morning host J. Pat Miller put down the microphone to concentrate more on his duties as Triad’s operations manager. Former Eagle personality Joe Skare now teams with Gina Sherwood-Klein.
6. KFRX’s farm system. KFRX has become a talent hotbed, with the top 40 station losing two program directors — Ryan Sampson and Adam Michaels — in four months to bigger markets. Sampson went to Sirius satellite radio in New York City, and Michaels landed at a station in San Antonio.
7. “Reading Rainbow” in jeopardy. It appears Nebraska Educational Telecommunications will survive the federal budget process, but the Emmy-winning “Reading Rainbow,” which NET helps to produce, remains in limbo. Its funding may be lost if the Department of Education and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) modify their “Ready to Learn” program.
8. John Bishop and Pinnacle part ways. Pinnacle pulled Bishop from its baseball broadcasts and later released the talented sports broadcaster from his “Sports Nightly” and football postgame duties.
9. Roger T. Larson moves to KLIN. The Lincoln radio icon will air his commentaries on KLIN after KFOR, his radio home for 52 years, decided not to run them anymore.
10. Gunter Hofmann/J Marshall Stewart. Hofmann left NET Radio after 18 years, and Stewart hung up his headphones after 30 years in the business, including the last seven at Kool 105.3.
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.