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Ken Leighton

Ken Leighton is a Reader contributor. See staff page for published articles.

'Tis the season to be nasty

jnojr- The fact that you and other listeners like you approve A&G and listen to them proves they have a place on the local airwaves. Good for you and good for them. I just think these slurs are cheap and easy and not very clever. I think it allows their competitors to say "look at these out of town hacks and how weak their material is." I actually asked the program director of direct competitor KOGO Brian Long what he thought. He declined to comment saying (paraphrasing here) he did not want to engage in a pissing contest with them. The reality is that KOGO is owned by the iHeartradio/Clear Channel monolith, a huge group of 850 stations know for firing live-and-local hosts and relying instead with syndicated shows. But in this case, the tables are turned and it is KOGO that has a live-and-local morning crew, while KFMB-AM pipes in these guys from Sacramento. The latest ratings show that KOGO is the top rated AM station in San Diego county. Among all listeners it is in 12th place with a 3.8 rating. Meanwhile KFMB is way down in 22nd place with a sad 1.3, just a notch above all-sports KLSD-AM (1.2) which has a very weak, uncompetitive, scratchy signal you can't even get in North County. It is interesting to note that both KFMB radio stations, Jack FM (100.7) and KFMB (AM 760) were just taken over by a newly created local radio group called SDLocal which also runs 91-X, Z-90 and 92/5. At this very moment a brand new program director is creating a new music format for JACK-FM which will be unveiled right after Christmas. The new format shows Jack-FM is trying to turn around its moribund ratings that appear when Dave Shelly and Chainsaw sign off at 10 in the morning. WHILE THERE IS NO OFFICIAL WORD, I would not be surprised if SDLocal doesn't also retool KFMB-AM sometime 2016. Is the "Will defecate for food" slur compelling radio content or just two creatively challenged hacks trying, but ultimately failing, to matter in a completely different market far, far away? That is up for interpretation I guess. It's just what JNOJR likes so they must be doing something right. Right? But KFMB-760 AM's sad ratings are not up for discussion. They are what they are. And according to Neilsen/Arbitron, JNOJR is in the minority. (These views of course are only my own, but I did not make up the ratings and I did not make up what A&G said on the air.)
— December 19, 2015 7:18 p.m.

Dead Man's Party can't call themselves an Oingo Boingo tribute?

Danny Elfman's "endorsement" has nothing to do with Johnny Vatos' representative Wendy Pineda demanding that Dead Man's Party stop billing itself as an "Oingo Boingo Tribute." According to the attorney and everyone I spoke with, it is completely legal and honorable for this decade-old tribute band to continue calling itself "Dead Man's Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo." The fact that Vatos was in fact a founding member of the original band and is now basically playing in a separate tribute band, somewhat confuses the issue. I guess you could say he is a tribute to the band he used to be in. But because Elfman likes Vatos' tribute band does not take away from Dead Man's Party right to continue billing itself for what it is: an Oingo Boingo tribute band. The reality is -- according to its fans and true believers -- there is not now nor will there ever be another Oingo Boingo, since its major creative force, Danny Elfman, doesn't want an "Oingo Boingo" to ever resurface. As the attorney suggested, it seems on its face a little sketchy that the sponsoring radio station for the November Johnny Vatos show and its venue (Music Box) is billing its show as the "Oingo Boingo Dance Party." But as the attorney also pointed out, ANYBODY can theoretically use "Oingo Boingo" since that name is not legally protected. It seems to me there is plenty of Oingo Boingo appreciation opportunities out there for everybody. Dead Man's Party has done a fine job for years, and according to James Wilson, so does Johnny Vatos' tribute band. The fun started when Pineda made legal-sounding demands to Dead Man's Party and the Belly Up.
— October 22, 2015 9:57 a.m.

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