March 16, 2003
Apparently Howard was dropped in Anchorage in December, 2002, according to the information I've received.
Station troubles must be really bad there.
from the Anchorage Daily News
January 23, 2003
The future of two Anchorage radio stations aimed at sports fans and Howard Stern aficionados remains staticky.
The California broadcaster who owns KAXX at 1020-AM and KADX at 94.7-FM said Tuesday that he plans to revive them, but did not set a date.
"They'll be back on eventually," owner Chester Coleman said. Repairs and new equipment are needed, he said. "We've got some plans we're working on. We'll resume as soon as possible."
Technical difficulties took KAXX off the air for weeks last March, and Seattle Mariners game broadcasts moved to another station as a result. Transmission problems with the stations continued, and both stations quit broadcasting late last year, Coleman said.
A Howard Stern fan site says KADX dropped its contract in October.
Don't expect Stern or other shows back any time soon, said Dennis Bookey, general manager for Anchorage Media Group, which owns six area stations. Bookey said that if other stations in the market were interested in KAXX or KADX programming, they would already have snapped it up.
Stern's show is expensive too, Bookey said. Stern's is a cash-based contract, he said. More typical are barter contracts that swap programming for air time to sell to national advertisers.
His programming may wait, but Coleman will need new employees as well as equipment to get his stations back on the air.
Program director Matt Sherman said he was the last employee on his last day, Jan. 1. After three years, and with the stations off the air, Sherman said he was ready to move to a bigger radio market. As he packed his U-Haul on Tuesday to move to San Diego, Sherman said he was on good terms with Coleman.
Federal Communications Commission data show Coleman got the license for the AM station in 1997, and Arbitron ratings for the FM station show up in 2000, Bookey said.
Margot Davenport, an attorney for the Federal Communications Commission, said she did not have any information specifically on KAXX or KADX.
"But I can tell you there is a federal law that says if a station is dark or silent for a year the license automatically expires," Davenport said.
from the Anchorage Daily News
May 30, 2002
February 2001
From: xxx
Guys-
I don't have ratings info, but for the past month or so, KADX 94.7, has been running a promotion thanking "Anchorage for making Howard Stern #1."
Far be it that a radio station marketing is truthful, but I'm rather doubtful of it. I'm a loyal Stern listener, and they've had dead air a few times, and I would wait patiently to see how long before the board-op realized his mistake. But after 40 minutes and after just today for 10 minutes, I finally grew impatient and called into to what the hell was wrong. Both times the op had the lame excuse that the engineers were working on it. Immediately after hanging up, Stern got back on the air, when the op realized he messed up because he wasn't doing his job.
Furthermore, Stern has been on the air here for over a year and they still have no advertisers. I personally don't mind not listening to advertisements, but reality is that there seems to be little support for them.
As for that tired retread, J.J. Michaels, his morning show really bites.
I was injured and bedridden for a while over the holidays and since I couldn't sleep and was at a place without cable, I happened to click across a TV broadcast of his morning show on a remote UHF channel at 3 a.m.! It was so dreadfully not funny and so unwatchable (because it was basically shot on a security cam) he should give it up. Although I like some of the music on the station, I can't listen to it in my car because alot of car stereos can't digitally pinpoint their frequency because it's considered to be off the FM band.
Finally, J.J. Michaels in his correspondence with you implies that he's a true Alaskan, when that lousy fuck hasn't even been up here for a decade. He's just another lame-ass carpet bagger who's stuck here alright...stuck with a drug habit, and too poor and addled to move out of this backwater of radio hell.
March 21, 2000
Here's some fan mail I received from Howards Anchorage 'competition'.
He seems to think he's smart (note the poor grammer, spelling and capitalization), but his jealousy of Howard comes through loud and clear. Give him a call if you want at: 907-569-5963. Or I guess you can email his dumb ass at: jjmichaels@micronet.net
***** The original email he sent:
From: "jjmichaels" jjmichaels@micronet.net***** His reply to my first reply to him:
To: animaux
Subject: your friend stern
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 21:49:23 -0900stern is so past his prime that a rotting piece of meat has a better chance of success in anchorage alaska than he does.
besides, there is nothing alaskans dislike more than outsiders coming into our city. not one single syndicated morning show has ever been on the air here for more than a year and a half.
besides, in anchorage, stern is on a station with a bad signal, no promotions, and no presence. he will fail the same way his marriage has failed.
i look forward to the day he is gone from this business. he is the pus filled goiter of the broadcast industry. a silicone filled tit has more brain matter than stern.
goodbye.
From: "jjmichaels" jjmichaels@micronet.net***** I replied to him again, and this was his answer:
To: animaux@
Subject: Re: your friend stern
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 04:17:52 -0900nope, someone sent me the link. as far as obsessed, i'm far too busy with my own morning show to concern myself with his. which is dead last in alaska, by the way.
you're the one who devotes time and energy to a fan-site.----- Original Message -----
To: "jjmichaels" jjmichaels@micronet.net
From: animaux@
Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 3:59 AM
Subject: Re: your friend stern> You hate Howard yet you were compelled to search the Internet, find my www
> site, then send me email about Howard. You know all about his station,
> marriage, promotions... It sounds like you're obsessed about Howard. Are
> you a failed dj who's jealous as hell of Howard success?
>
> I bet you love Howard.
> I bet you listen to Howard every day.
>
> good luck...
From: "jjmichaels" jjmichaels@micronet.net
To: animaux@
Subject: Re: your friend stern
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 04:27:32 -0900i'm "stuck" in alaska. you've almost certainly never even been here, devote your time and energy to a web site fawning over someone who's probably never even given you the time of day, and probably live in some government subsidised housing jacking off to the big tittied sluts sitting on HIS lap, not yours. get a life, halfwit. i've got my own radio station to run.
----- Original Message -----
To: "jjmichaels" jjmichaels@micronet.net
From: animaux@
Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 4:24 AM
Subject: Re: your friend stern> I knew it...you're jealous as hell of Howard. You wish you have had one
> iota of the success he's had: tv shows, movie, making millions from his
> radio show, etc...
>
> You wish like hell you were Howard and your jealously drips from your
> notes, because you're stuck in Alaska and no one else knows about your
> scary radio talent. Where's the fan site dedicated to you???
>
> Bwahhahahhahhahaa!
>
> c ya...
December 16-22, 1999 edition
from the Anchorage Press
Michaels says he doesn't think the Stern show will hurt KZND's morning show because KADX hasn't promoted it, and Stern doesn't have the momentum that he once enjoyed. "People are walking into the middle of a soap opera that's already had its best moments."
Meanwhile, Bob Lester, former morning-show host at KWHL 106.5, is waiting for his non-compete clause with KWHL parent company Morris Communications to run out. Lester says he can return to the Anchorage airwaves in April of 2000. In the meantime, Morris pays him to stay off the air, and he won't say whether or not he's talking with other stations. "Being paid not to talk is kind of frustrating," he says. "It's kind of like paying a porn star to be celibate."
Lester says it's about time someone brought Stern's show to town, and welcomes the chance to compete head-to-head with the category killer. A small market like Anchorage is the best place to beat him, he maintains: "Howard Stern has no local access whatsoever. He's got lesbians and midgets but he can't compete with someone who talks about local issues."
from the Anchorage Press
December 23, 1999 - January 6, 2000 edition
Letters
Anchorage radio: bite me
Next time you speak to JJ Michaels about his morning show competing with Howard Stern, try this question: If you claim Howard has had his best moments (a sentiment I agree with), why do you and your "wacky" morning show try so damn hard to imitate him?
Also, next time you run into that cutup KADX owner Chester Coleman, find out how he affords the Stern show since he’s not running any local advertising on it. Love hearing those commercials for businesses in Paramus and Manhattan.
Can radio in this town suck any more?
Brian Lepley
Anchorage
from the Anchorage Daily News
August 13, 1999
When last heard from, J.J. Michaels was hiding out in Mexico, according to the DJs who replaced him on "The Morning Show" at KWHL 106.5 FM.
Actually, the former program director never left town after the new honchos at what once was the most popular radio station in town fired him more than a year ago. Since then, ratings haven't been kind to the alterna-classic-rock "Freebird" style format.
Biding his time, Michaels hired out as a music consultant for a number of stations in the Lower 48 and interviewed for a few jobs. But he never wanted to leave Alaska. After five years in the state, he knew the market, and he knew good radio programmers were in short supply.
"Sales departments run radio stations in this town," he said. "Sales are more important than what's good for the listener. That's why KWHL and KBFX are almost indistinguishable."
As of Aug. 4, Michaels returned to Anchorage airwaves as operations manager for KZND, 87.7 The End. So far, the station boasts a modern-rock format with a few commercials sprinkled in. Don't expect any live DJs till September, Michaels said. He'll debut a new version of "The Morning Show" at that time.
The End's format courts an 18- to 34-year-old audience. Michaels said he doesn't intend to compete with any station; he hopes his format will fill a hole in the market created when KWHL shifted its emphasis.
"I don't want any listener to confuse The End with that other station for more than one song."
To that end, the 40-year-old jock assembled the whole 1,000-watt format on his home computer. He downloaded voiceovers, then hired a new local "voice" to do the spots between songs.
The low wattage, as opposed to KWHL's 100,000 or KGOT's 26,000, will blanket the Bowl, but potential listeners in the Mat-Su area will have to be patient, he said.
The far left of the FM dial generally is reserved for public radio, like KNBA or KRUA, but recent easing in federal regulations has allowed other programmers to slip in.
The new station may be a welcome fresh breeze over a stagnant pond, but Michaels didn't exactly leave his last job on the best of terms with his listeners or his cohorts. Some called him a "loose cannon." He blamed his bad attitude on management intruding on his creative process.
"I live my life on the air. If it's going badly, it shows on the air. That's real. You have to expose your underbelly to listeners, like a Buddha, and let them rub it."
Michaels' cocky, distinctive personality has ruffled plenty of feathers, but it comes with the territory. He doesn't require listeners to like him, just to tune in his show.
Don't compare him to Howard Stern, though. Stern's fine in limited doses, but when you do the things he does all the time, people stop reacting to it. Michaels said he knows when to draw the line between good taste and slander, though he admits to pushing the limits a few times. A guy who supposedly cut off his finger on the air to win Aerosmith tickets caused some problems, he said.
Music aside, Michaels enjoys the complaints because then he knows he's at least made listeners think.
"If I didn't p--- people off, I wouldn't be doing my job."
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