And now, ladies and gentlemen, courtesy of our ole buddy Matt at Big Apple Airchecks, since we’re on the subject of change (the only constant in radio), the final show for master programmer Scott Shannon at L.A.’s Pirate Radio!
“At Pirate Radio, our ratings are so low, it really doesn’t matter what we do. BITE ME!” That’s how this clip starts out, and sets the tone for the whole 14 minute aircheck. 1991. A time before corporate mergers and bottom line mentality trumped creativity. If you’re going to go, go out in STYLE!
I was lucky enough to work nights at a station where I could roll tape from the satellite…and I have tons of the Pirate on tape. I only wish I could have heard Shadow Steele’s last show, but I have plenty of tape from the beginning to the end of the Shannon days, as well as some from their AOR days, and one lone tape from their days as simply “100.3”…just an amazing station, the likes of which hasn’t happened before, or since. I still have the t-shirt and the hat too! Great stuff!
Amen brother. I also worked at a CHR that had a WW1 feed of pirate. Looking back I wish I’d purchased a vhs hifi vcr to grab some scopped checks.
Hi Andy ad a pirate radio megafan i’d like to receive some of your tapes on cds. If you like i could give you a 10 cds package of pirate 1990 recordings (unscoped) to change with. Waiting for your reply.
Although it kills him, because he wanted to be a KHJ Boss Jock more than anything, Scott Shannon is just not an L.A. kind of jock. Something indefinable. He simply appeals more and works better with an East Coast audience.
Pirate Radio was doomed from day one. 100.3 was Bill Drake’s KIQQ (K-100)from 1973-1977…a disaster. It was moderately successful after Drake, until KIIS-FM flattened it in ’82.
They’d been running Transtar’s Format 41 satellite AC until the flip to KQLZ (Pirate) 2 years before this tape.
The real problem: Westwood One paid a then-record $56 million for the station. It HAD to get ratings and revenue right away. And it didn’t. It took a 2.6 to a 4.1 the first year (but that was still more than a point behind KIIS-FM), and the novelty wore off fast. They were down to a 2.2 when they showed Scott the door.
But the numbers kept falling. It wasn’t until 1999 as Jammin’ Oldies “Mega 100” that they got a number better than the one Scott left with…and they spent most of the 90s with less than a 2 share.
It’s now Bonneville’s Classic Rock KSWD (The Sound)…and it’s #21 in the ratings.
Scott Shannon was also on WLS-FM up until the end of Sept ’12. Guessing my fellow Midwesterners didn’t care much for him, either, as they brought in long-term Chicago faves, once again. I didn’t find him very entertaining either. By the way, I had heard a couple of years ago that Bonneville was divesting itself of its radio stations (they were- at that time – owned by the Mormon church). Did they sell any of them?