It wasn’t radio’s finest year. It was, in fact, “the strongest decline I’ve seen,” said Lee Larsen, senior vice president for Clear Channel-Rocky Mountain Region. And he’s been here 24 years.
Ad revenue for Denver’s 45 or so stations fell 8.4 percent in 2006, according to Larsen.
What happened? “There’s a dramatic change in the economies of a lot of our core advertisers. The growth is in a lot of companies not consumer oriented.” Translation: Many companies (automakers, for example) had a poor year and cut ad budgets.
Plus, Larsen said, “(Denver) is an extremely crowded radio market. When things get tough, everybody cuts their pricing or adds in something free. That’s self-defeating.”
Meanwhile, Clear Channel is making its way from a public to a private company with its pending sale to BT Triple Crown Merger Co. Listeners should hear no change in Clear Channel’s seven local outlets.
Moss returns
Off-again on-again Gregg Moss on again at KUSA-Channel 9.
The station’s business reporter left in July to pursue “a great business opportunity” with Weisner Custom Publishing Division.
It didn’t work out. Health problems, which he declines to get specific about, derailed that. “It became apparent that I couldn’t keep up the pace of travel.”
He’s back at Channel 9 on a limited schedule, mainly in the mornings.
Weekend highlights
Today
Bless KBDI-Channel 12 for bringing back all the oddities from the former network series “Northern Exposure” (7 p.m. weeknights).
Saturday
Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones star in 2004’s “The Terminal” with Hanks as a man without a country (7 p.m., KMGH-Channel 7).
Sunday
On “I’m From Rolling Stone” interns get their first assignments, with varying results (8 p.m., MTV).
Around the dial
You’re not wrong if you think Channel 9 weekend anchor Carrie McClure is sitting a little farther from the desk these days. Her second son is due in March … The familiar voice of Theresa Schiavone no longer at Colorado Public Radio after she left the network suddenly on Tuesday. Management declined comment … Those back-to-back blizzards knocked KPXC-Channel 59 off the air for nearly a week … In from Idaho: Crystal Egger is the new morning weatherguesser on KDVR-Channel 31, replacing Stacey Donaldson, who left for KCNC-Channel 4 … Quotable: “If you’re going to insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what’s playing on the other screens.” George Carlin
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
