May 02, 2006
What actually happened to the Star 98.7 DJs --Now UPDATED
The official party line is that the Star 98.7 DJs are all on "hiatus" and will be back...
Yeah, after Clear Channel figures out whether or not it can get enough ratings to substantiate firing all of them.
So here's the story for those of you out of the area, or unfamiliar:
Star 98.7 is an "adult contemporary alternative" station here in LA. It has been one of the most popular stations in the area for the last decade or so. It is also the launching pad of one Ryan Seacrest, who along with Lisa Foxx was the host of a morning show -type show during the afternoon drive slot. Due to various corporate acquisitions etc. the station now belongs to that behemoth of broadcasting, Clear Channel (aka corporate muzak).
Seems CC decided that Star was the perfect station to test out its new DJ-less format (think Jack/Alice stations, but more annoying) in a big market. So, as of April 6 or 7, they took all the DJs off the air with NO warning, and refused to discuss the changes with anyone. Announcements were made in trade media, but not to mainstream press or on the station's website. That website was literally revamped overnight, with all references to the DJs or station programming removed. But you can download songs for 99 cents now.
It took me over an hour of googling to find any answers, mostly buried in the comments of this THREE YEAR OLD post. Good thing dude didn't turn off the comments....
Most of the comments are regarding the morning show trio, Jamie, Jack, and Stench. Now, I HATE them. Will not listen to them. In fact, Jamie White makes my skin crawl, but they have been done dirt by CC and the station. I'd vote to bring them back just because I hate what Star and CC have done.
I hope the advertisers start leaving in DROVES.
More info here:
Jamie White's Page
Jack's MySpace
1/07 Update: go here for the details you seek
Posted by caltechgirl at May 2, 2006 12:22 PM | TrackBackWe have one of those stations here: BOB FM. Ick.
Posted by: oddybobo at May 2, 2006 12:59 PMGood thing dude didn't turn off the comments....
Believe me, I've been tempted! ;-) That was already the most-commented post on the site, but watching the comments more than double over the course of the last three weeks has been a bit unnerving. I went on vacation for a few days last week and seriously expected to see another 40 comments when I got back.
In general, though, I'm one of those weirdos who prefers to keep comments open on old posts, even though it makes it harder to filter out the spam. You never know what random piece of information might drop in, or what new conversation might launch. (Though really off-topic stuff does bug me.)
At least it's turned out to be informative to people, and the initial deluge has slowed down to something a bit more manageable.
Posted by: Kelson at May 2, 2006 03:18 PMI wouldn't really consider STAR to be Seacrest's launching pad. It was American Idol, he was on the verge of being fired from STAR until American Idol was a hit and clear channel looked to get ratings due to American Idol's sucess. Of course there is the humorous story of Seacrest's dad trying to get on of the big named talent guys to work with Ryan and was refused because Ryan had no talent.
The way the change was handled isn't all that uncommon. If you want to know whats happeneing in radio you don't go to the LA Time or NBC Nightly News (just think of all the format changes 97.1, KNAC, Y-107, etc) that were never mentioned. You have to get trade mags to know about it, ie R&R.
I also wouldn't call STAR one of LA's most popular it comes in at 23rd out of 44 stations with a 1.6 rating. (Thats 1.6% of avalible listeners, not population) By Comparison KIIS comes in 1st with a 4.9, KFI is a 4.0. On top of that thir market share has been in constant decline over the past few years, at about 20% in the last year alone. Mean while since the switch from The Arrow to Jack-FM, KCBS-FM has seen its ratings double (1.7 to 3.4).
Don't forget Clear Channel and their massive amount of billboard ownage.
Posted by: the Pirate at May 3, 2006 08:34 AMI'm so out of it, I didn't even know Danny Bonaduce had left the morning show...but every time I hear so much as a peep out of that Jamie woman, I am overcome with the urge to KILL.
I'm all for getting rid of DJs, but that Jack FM station has compensated by having some announcer make these stupid remarks that somebody obviously thought were clever, coupled with broadcasting the voice mail messages of stoned listeners babbling dopey nonsense. It's not much of an improvement.
Posted by: Emily at May 5, 2006 06:45 AMYou can't imagine how surprised and upset I was to get in my car one morning on my way to work and not hear Jamie, Jack and Stench. They have kept me company for years, crack me up and make the morning commute bearable.
I hate it when things change without warning.
Now I have to find a new station. Believe me
I wasn't listening to 98.7 for the music,
thanks alot.....
