Oregon Media Insiders

KING5/NWCN staffer Mary Loos is coming to Portland to co-anchor KEX's "Morning Update." Apparently the gig will allow her to keep a hand in entertainment reporting, too.

I'm surprised that no one else has mentioned this. Apparently, Sam Adams beer wants a couple of domain names that Mark Mason and Dave Anderson bought for Sam Adams candidate for mayor.

You can find more information here: http://tinyurl.com/2u3qe6

Hearing that four FT staff have been laid off at Clear Channel in Portland today. Some wonder if recent KEX resignations will be filled.

Update from Lynn: I hear Todd Tolces was the only air talent among the lay-offs; the other three were behind-the-scenes promotion/support folks.

I heard from two different people today about the loss of a bunch of newsroom folks at KEX. The memo from Brad Ford:

We have several changes coming in the KEX Newsroom. I’m sad that we’re losing these people, but happy about their new opportunities.

Marie Dodds is leaving us Friday September 28th to become the Director of Public Affairs at AAA. She’ll replace Elliot Eki.

Jeff Kirsch is leaving us Tuesday October 2nd to become a 9-1-1 dispatcher in South Bend, Washington which is near where he grew up and where his family still lives.

Neal Penland will be retiring from the radio business at the end of October.

All three have helped shape the KEX News Department and will be greatly missed. Most of all, I’ll miss the friendships of having Marie, Jeff and Neal in the newsroom.

Who's replacing these folks, if anyone?

Second quarter earnings reports are coming in. First up, KGW parent Belo reports a 15% decline, mainly due to falling newspaper revenues:

The results still beat Wall Street expectations, however.

Belo gave a cautious outlook for the third quarter, similar to recent comments from other newspaper companies. It said television revenue would be slightly higher but newspaper revenue would fall compared to a year ago. Newspaper companies have been hurt by competition from online outlets for both readers and advertising. ...

David T. Clark, an analyst for Deutsche Bank, said Belo beat expectations entirely because of a low effective tax rate. Belo said income taxes fell 15.3 percent.

The company trimmed costs 2.8 percent mostly due to job cuts last year at The Dallas Morning News and The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif. The company also saved money by freezing its pension plan on March 31.

Television group revenue rose 2.5 percent, while newspaper group revenue declined 8.5 percent on weak newspaper advertising conditions and a slowdown in the Southern California housing market.

Belo also said Douglas G. Carlston, 60, chairman of Public Radio International, was elected to its board. Carlston was one of the founders and chief executive of Broderbund Software.

A PRI guy on the Belo board. Interesting!

Turning now to local radio behemoth Clear Channel, we find earnings up 19% for Q2, also beating Wall Street expectations. But it wasn't the radio division what done it:

Revenues from the radio business, which is now competing with both satellite and digital music players, continued to be flat, increased just 1% during the second-quarter. But the company's outdoor advertising revenues jumped 12% to $836.7 million.

So what have we learned? Newspapers and radio? Not so much. TV and billboards? Better.

Can producers and editors maybe get jobs pasting up the signs, you spose?

REGION 1 (Northwest)

Television: Large Market
Continuing Coverage: KGW - Search for Mt. Hood Climbers
Investigative Reporting: KATU - OHSU: Shielded By The Law
Spot News Coverage: KATU - Police Shootout
Videography: KGW - Gibson Dreams

Radio: Large Market
Continuing Coverage: KEX - Kim Family
Sports Reporting KEX - Win at State

No small-market Oregon winners.

Former KEX newsman Rich Johnson has been named White House correspondent for Fox News Radio; Bill Cooper pastes in the story from All Access at PDXRadio, which is good since I can't seem to find it there myself:

Fox News Radio Names Johnson White House Correspondent
FOX NEWS RADIO taps RICH JOHNSON as WHITE HOUSE Correspondent. JOHNSON has been with FOX since 2005 as a WASHINGTON-based correspondent and before that served as a weekend news anchor at ENTERCOM Talk KIRO-A/SEATTLE and business anchor at sister Business News KNWX-A. JOHNSON has also worked at ABC, AP, FOX O&O WFLD-TV/CHICAGO, and as the founder of SPORTSPAGE.COM.

"RICH has brought the strong voice of an experienced journalist to FOX NEWS RADIO from day one," says Managing Editor MITCH DAVIS. "He is a master at fair and balanced reporting at its best."

Rich himself weighs in on the thread:

[Y]es, the back of Air Force One is nicer than N622CA, aka KING SkyView.

Better snackies, I'd bet. Plus also, a bathroom.

Also via PDXRadio, Beavers football is moving to KPAM for 2007. KEX apparently lost a bidding war.

...but don't blame the radio stations:

San Antonio-based Clear Channel has bet on a strategy to cut back commercial air time in a bid to boost ratings and prices per ad. The "Less is More" ad policy comes as radio operators face growing competition from satellite radio and digital music players.

For the second quarter, Clear Channel said radio broadcast revenue rose 6 percent to $983.5 million, while outdoor advertising grew 9 percent to $748 million.

Steve Lindsley interviewed me today for inclusion on Saturday morning's broadcast at KEX, airing some time between 6 and 8 am. And no, I don't love the sound of my voice enough to wake up that early on a Saturday either. :)