A new voice in drivetime.

The new morning host at KTRS (550 AM) knew going in that the station had gone through some turbulent times, but George Woods is feeling pretty good. Woods has replaced the ousted Scott Hasick and Casey Bartholomew. He says he had some questions going in, but they were all answered to his satisfaction.

"I like to think that I have been in this business long enough to know when to ask questions," Woods said.

He is settling into a show that sounds a bit like a more lighthearted version of "Total Information AM" on KMOX (1120 AM), which is exactly opposite of the approach KTRS management originally took. This time, they may have gotten it right. Woods is the former host of "AM Kansas City" on KCMO and is proud that he held down the job for three-and-a-half years, the longest tenure of any morning host on KCMO in a long time. Woods said the station had been through 11 morning shows.

One big advantage is that he is not completely ignorant of St. Louis like the previous hosts, since Kansas City is at least in the same state. Woods also appeared on KTRS during the "transition period" following the Christmas massacre of several longtime hosts.

Woods said "he is hearing 99 percent good things," with some listeners making a few minor criticisms. He admits that "after listening to someone for 30 years," it's hard for the audience to adjust to change. The topics are very timely and generally nail the top stories of the day, just like KMOX, perhaps with a little less of a hard news angle.

Woods said he might have "a little bit more attitude" than the hosts of "Total Information AM." He won't be afraid to disagree with callers, comparing it to a couple of guys talking sports in a bar.

"You may argue for three hours," he said, "but at the end of the night you might walk out, say 'see you tomorrow' and mean it."

Woods did come under fire from a couple of media pundits after saying "Happy Memorial Day" over the holiday weekend, but he's not the first to make such a slip, and certainly meant no offense. Woods will also benefit from newscasts by Brian Kelly, a great former KMOX news reporter. Victoria Babu, formerly of KTVI (Channel 2), is co-hosting. Woods said on the first day management suggested having her sit in to help ease the transition, and "we hit if off extremely well."

He is also taking calls from listeners on the morning-drive topics, something that KMOX has seldom done since the Bob Hardy days. The new host believes that 95 out of 100 listeners will never pick up a phone and call the station.

"But the five percent who do will provide a different experience and hopefully make every one think about the topic differently," he said.

Woods is happy to see the numbers pick up but is quick to point out that those numbers were gathered before he took over. He adds that the current staff is "all on the same path, the same team and with the same goal in mind."

In a related note, ousted KTRS sportscaster Jim Holder has turned up back at his former home on KMOX, filling in for Ron Jacober. It was great to hear him again.

The other morning show change has taken place at KSD (93.7 FM). Craig Cornett has settled back into his old morning slot, after a short stint at a station in Atlanta. "The Bull" program director at the time, Steve Geoffries, was a hard man to get along with, and he clashed with the strong-willed Cornett. Geoffries installed a horrific morning show that was voice tracked (pre-recorded) from Nashville. The numbers took a nosedive, Geoffries moved on, and the station realized its mistake.

One of the first moves new program director Billy Greenwood made was to get on the horn to Cornett. But "The Bull" will have to work hard to win back listeners alienated by the terrible product in the morning. "The Bull" launched an interesting promotional campaign, including a TV commercial making it seem like someone had hijacked the signal and started up a petition to "Free the Bull" from what management admitted was a mistake. The campaign began after the decision to bring back Cornett had already been made.

Evangelist and activist Larry Rice is a very forgiving man. And his latest act of charity should make for some interesting radio. His radio group has sold Christian-formatted WDID (1510 AM) in Highland, Ill., to Entertainment Media Trust. The station will be helmed by strip club owner and convicted felon Robert Romanik.

Rice opposed the sale at first, but changed his mind after meeting and reportedly praying with Romanik. The station has been playing automated '50s and '60s music, but plans to flip to what Romanik calls "Hot Talk Radio." The call letters will be changed to WXOZ.

Station promotional items even feature an impish red devil as a mascot. Romanik says he will host morning drive, followed by syndicated right-wing nut job and convicted felon G. Gordon Liddy. Back in 1997 Romanik was sentenced to probation and paid a $20,000 fine for lying to a grand jury and obstructing the federal investigation into video gaming kingpin and racketeer Thomas Venezia. Romanik was serving as chief of police in Washington Park when he tried to stifle the probe. In 1999 Romanik pleaded guilty on charges that he bilked two banks out of nearly $1.5 million to build more strip clubs. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay back the money. This should make for some great radio, if you can pick up the station outside the 1-270 loop.

After one of the most turbulent periods in St. Louis radio history, it's time to take a look at the numbers and see how it all shook out. The first phase of the Spring 2006 ratings "book" is out, and its gives us a look at the last eight weeks of the winter ratings period and the first four weeks of the spring period, which began March 30. These would be the first numbers to accurately reflect the seismic shift of the Cardinals' move from KMOX to KTRS.

These are the 12+ numbers, which reflect the total number of listeners over the age of 12. Though programmers and advertisers, who deal in specific demographics, deem the 12+ numbers basically irrelevant, these figures provide a look at the overall market.

At first glance, it might appear that the Cardinals' move had little impact, as KTRS lags behind at number 11. But the station ranked in the top five in April, the first month of the regular season. So "The Big 550" will have a better showing once the second phase of the spring book is completed and the winter numbers are rolled off. KMOX appears to be down slightly. But the station is doing better attracting 25-to-54-year-old listeners since the Redbirds took wing. Many baseball listeners are older.

But KMOX ranks as the third talk radio station in St. Louis among listeners 25 to 54 during the midday, when blowhard Rush Limbaugh holds court. Both KFTK (97.1 FM) and KTRS rank higher. The combination of John Carney and John Grayson at night on KMOX was rewarded with a big jump in younger listeners.

WARH (106.5 FM) is still a major story. The station is at No. 2 in the 12+ rankings but sits at No. 1 for the 25-to-54 group, the most coveted demographic. There's a good reason the station is so successful. It sounds like an oxymoron, but "The Arch" is playing the new oldies. When oldies station KLOU (103.3 FM) signed on in 1988, the station's core music was from 1965-70. Those songs were 18-to-23-years-old back in the days of big hair and Reaganomics.

Applying that same standard today, the core music would be 1984-89. The only complaint I have about "The Arch" is that it plays some pop, but skews toward classic rock. There is a major hole for a station to play more of the pop stuff (Prince, Duran Duran, etc.) along with the 1970s rock. It makes sense to apply the basic concepts of oldies programming, such as slightly tighter rotations, high energy and wide variety to the music of that era. That might put a dent in "The Arch."

Many industry types have declared the original oldies format dead, but don't write it off yet. KLOU took a cue from "The Arch" and broadened its play list considerably in tile spring. The station showed terrible numbers in January with an ultratight, corporate-controlled play list, but returned to normal levels in April. The play list is still too small, but it is better.

The problem faced by many oldies stations is that the corporate weasels think the music of the 1950s only appeals to older people. That's a fallacy, because younger people have been exposed to these songs by their parents, movies and television all of their lives. Even if that were the case, many oldies stations dumped an entire decade's worth of music without adding a decade oil the other end. They cut their potential audience in half. Oldies mainly focused from 1955-75 back in the day, a span of 20 years. Today, they mainly play 1965-75. Again, there's that hole for the music of 1975-85.

The return of Steve and DC to morning drive on WVRV (101.1 FM) was also a major story, but they don't appear to be helping the numbers.

The station still ranks No. 17 overall and actually slipped from No. 9 to 10 for the 25-to-54 ages during morning drive time. It's been a long running problem at "The River" that some of the on-air talent practically run the radio station and have even chased off some program directors. It's never good when the inmates run the asylum.

Howard Stern s widely publicized move to satellite radio appears to have really hurt KPNT (105.7 FM). "The Point" lost 30 percent of its 18-to-34 listeners between March and April and fell to a tie for 18th overall for 12+. Not all of the blame can be laid at Stern's feet. He's been gone since January.

Joe Sonderman is a former radio and TV traffic reporter, music director and on-air personality. He also works part-time for Clear Channel-St. Louis.

WINTER 2005/SPRING 2006 12+

            Winter '06      Spring '06 (PI)

Station   Estimate   Rank   Estimate   Rank

KMOX-AM      8.4     1         8.2     1
WARH-FM      6.6     2         7.2     2
KEZK-FM      6.4     3         6.2     3
WIL-FM       5.8     4         5.5     4
KSHE-FM      5.1     5         4.7     5
KMJM-FM      4.6     6         4.5     6t
KSLZ-FM      4.4     7         4.5     6t
KATZ-FM      3.6     10t       4.3     8
KLOU-FM      3.5     12        4.0     9
WFUN-FM      3.7     9         3.7     10
KTRS-AM      2.5     18        3.5     11t
KYKY FM      3.6     10t       3.5     11t
KSD-FM       3.3     13        3.4     13
WHHL-FM      2.9     15        3.1     14
KFTK-FM      3.0     14        2.9     15t
KIHT FM      3.0     14        2.9     15t
WVRV-FM      2.7     16t       2.8     17
KATZ-AM      2.1     20        2.3     18t
KPNT-FM      2.7     16t       2.3     18t
KFUO-FM      2.3     19        1.8     20
KFNS-AM      1.5     21        1.5     21
WIL-AM       0.8     22        0.8     22
WESL-AM      0.6     23t       0.6     23
WGNU-AM      0.6     23t       0.5     24t
KNSX-FM      0.6     23t       0.5     24t
WEW-AM       0.5     26        0.4     26t
KSLG-AM      0.4     27        0.4     26t