I AM/FM WOMAN FEMALE RADIO BROADCASTERS HOPE FOR OPPORTUNITIES AS PROGRAMMERS CONTINUE TO MAN THE STATIONS.

Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer

It's generally agreed that women hold up half the sky. Yet you'd never know it by listening to local radio's prime time, where female broadcasters are in the minority and the forecast calls for rain.

James Brown has nothing to do with hiring at the 51 stations in the Los Angeles area, but to borrow one of his best-known song titles, radio is clearly a man's, man's, man's world.

Unlike television, where high-profile news and chat stars like Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Pauley, Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters appear to go from strength to strength (although none currently anchors network news), commercial radio's leading ladies are a waning bunch. The city's top music and talk stations all have a few on staff, but none are headlining their own shows in the big-money time periods when the freeways are packed and radio listening is at its peak.

Sure, we've all heard of Dr. Laura, who periodically stirs up controversy by placing hoof uncomfortably close to mouth, but just try and name five other major local female radio personalities - and National Public Radio anchor Susan Stamberg doesn't count.

Some blame radio's male-dominated power structure for hiring and programming decisions that apparently refuse to concede there might possibly be a second half of the sky. Others say few women are willing to trudge around the country from hick town to hick town making a name for themselves before perhaps landing that all-or-nothing shot at the big time.

``I refuse to believe it's lack of desire or talent,'' says attorney Gloria Allred, a longtime host at talk KABC-AM (790). ``There needs to be affirmative action in radio. It was the same situation in TV - there were women who were not made anchors until there were lawsuits. Then, women were hired as anchors. Maybe that's what it'll take.''

Not a 'giggle box'

Worse, once a woman does land a coveted spot behind the mike in a city that has its own airport, she usually isn't being hired for her brains or wit. In radioland's morning zoo, anatomy is destiny.

Welcome to the human laugh track, women-in-radio job description No. 1B. Patron saint: Robin Quivers.

``In each radio job I had, I fought against being cast as the giggle box,'' says Jamie White of the popular ``Jamie & Danny'' morning show on KYSR-FM (98.7). ``So one day years ago, I decided I wasn't going to sit there and pretend to laugh at this guy's lame jokes and tell him how funny he was. So I said, 'Y'know, that really wasn't funny at all.' And I got a ton of calls from people saying, 'Good for you. We just don't know how you could sit there laughing at him.' ''

Today, White is one of the few female ``leads'' in major market radio and her highly rated Star 98 program has led to her own nationally syndicated afternoon-drive show due to kick off soon. Don't expect call-in therapy for wallflowers.

Everyone agrees a major market radio career is a high-stakes gamble irrespective of gender. And, to make matters worse, if you don't have the tacit support of a powerful player at Clear Channel or Infinity, the corporations that essentially control American radio, you really don't hold many cards at all.

It's also difficult building a reputation in a field where listening habits change at glacial speed and a station's earnings depend on fractions of a ratings point. But radio, once considered the bottom rung of show biz, one step away from circus clowns, is bigger and more lucrative than ever. Multimillion-dollar contracts, once unheard of in the medium, are commonplace.

Basso profundo

At the same time, gender research that seems as antiquated as those accidentally hysterical black-and-white ``educational'' films they used to show in health class is still taken as gospel by management, experts say.

``What you have is the old myth that women's voices do not carry authority,'' explains Dr. Judith Marlane, an author and professor in the cinema and TV arts department at California State University, Northridge. ``This ingrained sexual stereotyping is still prevalent. Radio programmers believe female voices are not the ones we look to on important issues. That is a fact of life in radio and broadcasting everywhere.''

In her 1999 book, ``Women in Television News Revisited: Into the Twenty-First Century,'' Marlane interviewed 70 female broadcasters on the sacrifices they had to make to move ahead.

``There are more women today working in radio, but the major roles are still played by men,'' Marlane said. ``I don't see that changing in the near future. There's still the sense that a woman is held back by the pitch of her voice. If you're female and sound like a man, it's to your credit.''

But while there are important exceptions, surveys continue to show males make up talk radio's largest audience while most women point their dial toward music or Stamberg's public-radio empire during rush hour traffic.

Sounds too obvious for comfort, doesn't it? It is. Still, for women, minorities and the disabled, radio hasn't progressed much past the string and tin can.

And don't look to the stars for relief, either. Satellite radio does have women on staff - but most are music DJs hired to keep the commercial- free tunes flowing.

``These are the public airwaves, and they should be representational of the public,'' Allred declares.

Talent rules

Is it the result of cultural bias, a thriving old boys' network or simply the nature of the beast that makes the airwaves an estrogen-free zone for much of the broadcast day?

None of the above, insists Jack Silver, program director at talk KLSX- FM (97.1).

``Talent rises to the top regardless of gender,'' he argues. ``When radio is done well, it attracts an audience. There are some cities where women do quite well in morning- and afternoon-drive (as music DJs and co- hosts). The people who are the most prepared and professional get ratings. That's the bottom line. Those are the shows that have a long broadcast life.''

One of those survivors is Allred, who has worked at KABC for more than a dozen years, although not during those all-important commute hours. In fact, Allred, currently paired with co-host Mark Taylor from 9 a.m. to noon daily, is said to be the only woman in a daytime slot on a major market commercial talk station in the country.

``The truth is, radio is a tough, competitive business that can be brutal - and I have the battle scars to prove it,'' she says. ``Clearly, women should be given more of an opportunity to make it. And they can make it. What often happens is, women are given nights and weekend shifts and then not moved to prime time. It's sad. I've seen hearts broken and people very upset because they weren't given the opportunity and support men are routinely given.''

To make it on a national level, a broadcaster must develop something unique that not only sets her apart but is impossible for listeners and competitors to ignore.

Star 98's White says such calculated and ego-fueled moves may not come naturally to females.

``That's another reason why you don't see so many high-profile women in prime-time radio,'' she reflects. ``Men are more egomaniacal when it comes to careers. A lot of women I know want security more than anything else. That's why I don't think a lot of women are willing to move from city to city, which is what you have to do in radio at the beginning.''

A new voice

One radio gal who's made a determined and successful effort to be noticed is Wendy Williams, outspoken afternoon-drive host on New York's WBLS-FM, which recently rocketed from 15th to third place with her help. Williams, 35, is a hip-hop DJ who mixes high-octane gossip and commentary with the latest rap hits.

Although KLSX's Silver points out that making noise in the press and sustaining long-term ratings are two very different things, Williams has made her show a must-hear for hip-hop fans, one of the most loyal audiences in the music industry.

Williams, who didn't respond to interview requests, gleans rap gossip from newspaper columns, tabloids, TV shows and her own sources. On-air feuds with Sean Combs, Foxy Brown and Q-Tip were reported as national news.

As a result, rumors abound that Williams will be a Los Angeles import before long.

If so, the syndication of an African-American female hip-hop DJ would be the most unexpected event in the straight-laced world of radio.

``Programmers go with what they know, and what they know is other white guys,'' Allred said. ``What they ordinarily do is take guys from other markets and bring them in. It's musical chairs, and a woman has to get into the chair in the first place.''

Maybe that game of musical chairs is about to open up after all.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Airing their grievances

Even today, female radio personalities don't get the billing their male colleagues do

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(2) KABC talkshow host Gloria Allred says women might have to sue for affirmative action on radio.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(3) Jamie White, top, who co-hosts a popular morning program with Danny Bonaduce on KYSR-FM (98.7), soon will flex her muscles on her own nationally syndicated afternoon show.