A Little of the Old In and Out

(image via movies.yahoo)

In: Howard Stern. Those who thought Stern was retiring quietly to the ghetto of satellite radio were sorely mistaken. A week does not go by without his name in headlines since he exited terrestrial radio. This week we've learned that he's going on Letterman's show on March 13th, and, no doubt, will make Les Moonves' life a living Hell (and, ancillary to that, help Letterman beat Leno in the ratings). Howard Stern is still a force in the mdia. According to TVNewser:

"Greta and Sean have discovered how to beat Bill O'Reilly in the (demo) ratings: Score big interviews with tabloidy newsmakers. Howard Stern helped give Hannity & Colmes a ratings win in the 25-54 demographic on Tuesday night. Sean Hannity's interview with the shock jock delivered 524,000 demo viewers, up 44 percent vs. Feb. 2006, making H&C the #1 cable news program in the demo. The hour also averaged 1,827,000 total viewers, up 24 percent vs. Feb."

Out: David Hasselhoff. Have you ever seen David Hasselhoff? (a considerable pause) We have, on the streets of Manhattan, several years ago. The man is HUGE. He's, like, 7 feet tall. And that head. (Averted Gaze)

Massive. Pumpkin-sized. That Hasselhead, with the soap-opera face, with the overlarge hair, is unimaginably obnoxious.But we digress.

The latest in the Hasselhoff divorce. From TMZ:

"TMZ has learned that David Hasselhoff's estranged wife filed a motion Monday alleging domestic violence. "Pamela Hasselhoff asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the former 'Baywatch' star. TMZ has learned that the judge did not grant a TRO based on domestic violence, but did order that David and Pamela each stay away from the other. We're told, with the judge's blessing, David has temporary custody of one daughter while Pamela has temporary custody of the other.

"A court official tells TMZ that the records are 'sealed in a lock box,' in part because they contain 'mental health records.' "David Hasselhoff filed for divorce against his wife last January. She filed a day later."

Considering the considerable amounts of "Hasselhoff money" involved, we can be sure of one thing: It's going to get, unfortunately, nasty.

(image via scripting)

In: Eliot Spitzer. There is so much that is wrong with the music industry. For whatever reasons, this is the historical moment that those wrongs are righting themselves. First, the digital age is fundamentally transforming the status quo at the labels. Now, Democratis Party golden boy Eliot Spitzer, who wants to be a Rooseveltian Governor of New York, is pushing for reform. From the LATimes:

"The nation's fourth-largest radio company, Entercom Communications Corp., traded airtime for gifts and payments in a payola scam that included formalized programs to sell airplay to record labels, according to a suit filed Wednesday by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer. The suit's most serious allegations focus on Entercom's 'CD Preview' and 'CD Challenge' programs, in which radio executives allegedly solicited payments to improve a song's position on national airtime charts.

"In one e-mail released by Spitzer, Entercom's vice president of programming, Pat Paxton, wrote to a colleague: "A quick lesson on how CD Preview works: Record companies buy the program to better their chart position�. It generates millions of dollars for Entercom that is found money." Spitzer's suit comes as Entercom and at least two other radio companies have communicated with the Federal Communications Commission about settling an investigation into payola practices, sources familiar with the talks said.Representatives of Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation's largest radio station owner, Citadel Broadcasting Corp. and Entercom have been in contact with representatives of the FCC's enforcement division to discuss pay-for-play investigations, said those sources, who did not want to be named for fear of derailing a potential settlement. The sources said some FCC officials had hinted at a willingness to quickly resolve the agency's inquiry."

Sounds like another slam-dunk for Spitzer. More here.