Eyes on the Prize

The dailies jockey for position for the Pulitzer.

A A A Comments By Michael Roberts Thursday, Feb 10 2000

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The move can't come soon enough: I haven't heard anyone berated for causing an accident in months.

J. Hadley Hooper

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Here's a new marketing approach: The Fox radio morning show starring Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax is currently being promoted on KTCL-FM -- sometimes during its own morning program.

Why the hell would KTCL okay ads telling listeners about something happening on another station right at that very moment? The answer has everything to do with corporate kinship. KTCL and the Fox are owned by the giant Clear Channel concern and even share the same program director, Mike O'Connor. Moreover, KTCL's a.m. offering is a ratings also-ran, while Lewis and Floorwax are Clear Channel's best weapons against Howard Stern on the Peak and the popular Alice morning team of Jamie White and Danny Bonaduce, about whom you read in this space last week. And since the Peak and Alice (which were purchased by Clear Channel but must be divested by FCC dictate) are hurt more by L&F than by KTCL, it makes sense to pump up the boys, even if it's at their sister station's expense. O'Connor swears this move is not a signal that Clear Channel is giving up on KTCL: "Since the spots are only running for a couple of weeks, I don't see how we're going to hurt KTCL." But the underlying message is, if you're getting ready to change channels anyway, keep it in the Clear Channel family.

Meanwhile, at KOA, Clear Channel's flagship station, sports talker Dave Logan confirmed last week that potential conflicts of interest often do have an effect. Logan, a University of Colorado grad who coaches high school football (he's moving from Arvada West to Chatfield next fall), generally defended former CU coach Rick Neuheisel throughout his tenure -- but after Neuheisel quit to coach at the University of Washington, Logan began criticizing him for not aggressively recruiting homegrown talent. On February 3, in response to a caller who noted this change in tune, Logan admitted that he hadn't been entirely honest when sharing his opinions about Neuheisel because he didn't want to hurt his players' chances of being recruited by CU.

Logan says current CU head man Gary Barnett is doing a great job convincing Colorado footballers to stay in-state. When Barnett eventually leaves the post, we'll find out if he meant it.

Have comments, tips or complaints about the media? E-mail "The Message" at michael_roberts@westword.com.