14 AUG 08: STILL FOXIE AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

For more than two years, interested people in Columbus were kept waiting. They wanted to know who was up, who was down and who might be heading out -- but they simply couldn't know. And amazingly, their interest had nothing to do with the Kenneth Walker case....

Today we are delighted to end that long wait -- as radio ratings for Columbus have been made public for the first time since January 2006. The last time we saw rating numbers, Columbus had no Spanish-language radio stations. Yet for some odd reason, opponents of illegal immigration were louder then than they are now.

The Arbitron radio ratings for Columbus are conducted twice a year. But they were blocked from public release four times in a row, because someone requested an "embargo" for them. Hmmmm - could it be that the Archway Broadcasting managers don't care anymore, since their stations are being sold?

So what do the spring radio ratings show? A familiar station at the top - WFXE-FM. "Foxie 105" has led the area in listeners for years. And imagine what could happen if they offer Dee Armstrong enough money to be a news anchor.

In fact, the spring ratings show Foxie 105 has more than twice as many listeners than any other station. Its lead over rival WBFA "98.3 The Beat" has widened in the last two-and-a-half years. Maybe this explains why it's now "THE Beat," and not "DA Beat" anymore.

While Davis Broadcasting has the top-rated station in Columbus, Clear Channel has the next four on the list. WGSY "Sunny 100" and WVRK "Rock 103" tied for second place - which I think means the wives have one station on in one room, while the husbands have the other on elsewhere.

If there's a really big gainer from the last ratings report in 2006, it's Rock 103. It apparently benefitted from "95.7 The River" changing its name and music mix. "John Boy" was a boy around here long before that Kidd named Kraddock showed up....

But perhaps the biggest surprise in the latest radio ratings is how similar they are from the last report two-and-a-half years ago. Many Columbus stations have similar numbers, and the stations which usually lead in various formats are still on top. The gospel announcers simply aren't converting people away from those country cheating songs.

WBOJ-FM "103.7 The Truth" had a modest beginning in the spring ratings, perhaps because it officially went on the air May 1. Yet if you listen to it during the day, you might be surprised by all the commercials for car dealers. If you're not careful, you'll wind up asking, "WW Jay D?"

Yet The Truth wound up with better ratings numbers than Spanish-language WHAL-AM - and even beat Columbus radio original WRCG. In fact, WRCG's ratings are so low that I'm surprised Clark Howard didn't try to buy the station at a bargain price.

A couple of Columbus AM stations are missing in the spring radio ratings. One of them is WEAM-AM "The Zone." This may explain why I've been hearing another sports radio network there from time to time lately, instead of ESPN Radio. When the hosts are interviewing Hokie Gajan in New Orleans instead of Tiger Woods, that's a budget cut.

And the future of WSHE-AM with its "Southern gospel" music clearly is in doubt. It didn't show up on the ratings report, longtime morning host Jim Foster has moved to North Carolina, and Clear Channel has designated the station for sale. If "Duke and the Doctor" make the right offer, Columbus could have a 24-hour infomercial channel.

E-MAIL UPDATE: We're making all the media rounds today - beginning with a reply to what we wrote Tuesday about newspapers:

Richard, "The Citizen" newspaper of Phenix city has a number of billboards up bragging about their number of subscribers but they don't say "paid subscribers". I receive one in the mail every week and have not paid for it (nor did I order it!). I got curious and started asking my neighbors and friends if they receive one and low and behold they all receive one by mail without paying for it. If you want to see where most of them end up at the Phenix City and Smiths Station Post Offices just check out their garbage cans the day of and the day after they are delivered to the post office boxes. It's very obvious that they haven't been read. The owner of "The Citizen" is the same person who owns East Alabama Cable TV, the monopoly cable company serving Phenix City, Smiths Station, Russell County, and the eastern part of Lee County. Nothing like having a monopoly on the local media! I guess that paper is worth what we pay for it!

Hmmmm - those 20,000 subscribers get the weekly paper for free?! Does this explain why I don't see any subscription information on Richard Hyatt's web site anymore?

But hold on - how can you say Cable TV of East Alabama has a "monopoly" on the Phenix City media? Columbus TV stations cover events there all the time, and so does the Ledger-Enquirer. So you don't have to wait an entire week to find out which Phenix City official is calling for a firing....

And speaking of Columbus TV....

Mr. Richard,

The new WLTZ new station really trips me out with their inability to pronounce and spell local information correctly. There is not a city called "Pheonix City" in Alabama. I thought I had missed the 2 minutes of local news when I saw that on the screen last night. The only people that this station can claim "Look of a champion" to is the blind people of this area. I am so over these Iowa reporters!!

If you think you're tripping over yourself now, hang on for this news - the reporters are NOT in Iowa. The news anchors are. But the reporters actually have been in Columbus for nine months, so they should know better.

It was stunning the other night to see WLTZ label an East Alabama location as "Beulah County." Perhaps she's the widow of Lee....

Since we already brought up radio ratings, I'm told the TV ratings for WLTZ are very small -- even though Oprah Winfrey is on right before the 6:00 Report. Obviously Winfrey needs to name this station one of her favorite things.

TODAY'S BLOG OLYMPIC MOMENT: Since the U.S. team is so good at it, I nominate women's fencing for addition to next year's Aflac Outdoor Games. Have ladies compete in the "chain-link doubles," for example....

Now let's see if we can run faster through the Wednesday news headlines:

+ A blog reader sends us pictures of "hours" of watering, which occurred on Whittlesey Road Tuesday. It apparently occurred as rain was falling. OK, but one vital question remains -- which side of the street was it on?

+ The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed it's proposing to close the Columbus crime lab, to meet budget-cutting orders from the governor. The lab opened only seven years ago, and now its work with DNA may be D.O.A. - dead on arrival.

(Will local lawmakers stand for this proposed closing of a crime lab? Or will they take microscopes to Atlanta next year, to show the Georgia Bureau of Investigation parts of the budget it might have missed?)

+ The Mobile Press-Register reported several punches were thrown at an Auburn University football practice. After what happened with DeRon Furr, the 2009 college football season could be the best Memphis has seen in a long time.

+ Instant Message to the American Association of Retired Persons: Yes, I received your second mailing in two weeks. Just because I'm now 50 does NOT mean I have Alzheimer's Disease, and forgot about the first one.

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