Your favorite `local' radio host may be in California.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

They're right there, coming out of your radio as you drive down Coburg Road - Mark and Brian on KZEL, Oregon's Classic Rock.

They're telling you that they're "kinda favorite sons of Eugene," that they went to the high school in Eugene, you know, Eugene High School.

How old are these guys? Didn't Eugene High School become South Eugene High School in the late 1950s?

No, Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps are not from Eugene. Their advertising promo was just a spoof. They broadcast from Los Angeles every morning on stations up and down the West Coast. KZEL is now their 13th affiliate. They began doing their weekday morning show on KZEL earlier this month, initially confusing some listeners who wondered what happened to "Cyd and Mark," the local morning guys for the past decade.

Although Cyd Salpino and Mark Raney both still work at KZEL, their morning show is gone, a victim of the radio ratings war. The irreverent L.A. team and syndication are in.

It's a trend playing out across Eugene's radio dial: Local radio voices are dwindling as chained-owned stations strive to bring in more morning listeners to increase advertising revenue and profits.

KZEL is one of six stations owned by Atlanta-based Cumulus Media, which has the maximum number of stations allowed under Federal Communications Commission rules for a market of this size. Eugene-Springfield is the 145th largest market in the nation.

The chain has also brought a syndicated morning show from Charlotte, N.C., to KEHK and changed its format from '80s music to what's known in the industry as "Hot A/C" - hot-adult contemporary. Cumulus also has changed its morning show at KNRQ, although the talent remains local.

Russ Davidson, operations manager for Cumulus in Eugene, said the changes were made to appeal to listeners.

"It's not about local people losing their jobs to corporate America and syndication. The changes were made strictly to enhance the product and make KZEL and 102.3 (KEHK) more competitive."

But others see the trend as the continuing homogenization of American radio.

"What's happening in Eugene is part of a national phenomenon going on in this country," said Al Stavitsky, 47, associate dean of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication, who's working on a book about the state of contemporary radio in America. "I refer to it as the centralization of programming. It's generally cheaper. And there's also some sense among programmers that you can get more sophisticated talent from the big city. I'm of a generation where people had a personal connection to radio, and I think we've lost some of that."

It's less expensive to have a syndicated morning show than to pay salaries to local talent, Stavitsky said. And chains such as Cumulus Media, which is the nation's second largest with about 270 stations, can distribute syndicated talent over a number of stations.

But Cumulus Media isn't the only conglomerate on the local airwaves. San Antonio-based Clear Channel, the nation's largest chain, owns four area stations. McKenzie River, a local outfit, operates three stations.

Stavitsky warns that syndication could create a backlash from disgruntled listeners.

UO student Collin Casey, 25, who listens to KWVA-FM, a university station, might be lumped into the malcontent listener group. "This `Clear Channel' homogenization should be illegal," he said. "At one point, it was."

Clear Channel has more than 1,200 stations in 50 states thanks to the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, which removed the cap of 40 stations that any one entity could own.

Regardless of what listeners say, however, syndication is catching on. Clear Channel's KFLY, a hard rock station that moved to Eugene from Corvallis last year, airs the syndicated "Bob and Tom" morning show from Indianapolis.

Safety in numbers 

In Eugene, Cumulus has "cluster," which is industry lingo for a group of six stations, including KUGN, home of University of Oregon sports; KUJZ, smooth jazz; and KSCR, all-sports radio. While the stations' formats may be different, their common ownership is obvious.

In February, Cumulus moved all its operations into the same building at 1200 Executive Parkway next to Valley River Center. It's on the fourth floor of one of those upside-down-looking buildings with the black-tinted glass. There, Cumulus' six studios are side-by-side, allowing the competing DJs to see each other through glass windows.

"We have a new building, new equipment and new people," Davidson said. "When you're separated, you're not really a cluster. It's cost-effective."

Previously, the stations were in two locations in west Eugene. But Cumulus came to town in May 2000 and bought KZEL, KNRQ and KSCR from McDonald Media Group of Birmingham, Ala., said Michael Donovan, vice president and general manager of Cumulus. Nine months later, Cumulus purchased KEHK, KUJZ and KUGN from Chicago-based Marathon Media.

The change did not immediately result in success for Cumulus, however.

A look at last spring's Arbitron ratings - radio's version of the Nielsen ratings - shows that Cumulus' stations were falling behind in the coveted "morning drive" slot for the 25-54 age group, a key target for many advertisers.

KZEL slipped to No. 8 from No. 5 the previous year, and No. 3 the year before that. KNRQ, Eugene's only alternative rock station, finished a dismal 14th in the same category after finishing third in spring 2002.

McKenzie River's New Country topped the ratings in the morning slot for the 25-54 age group, a position it's held since 1997.

Cumulus' Davidson denied that poor ratings drove the station to make changes at KZEL and KNRQ, although the switches were made in time for the next rating period, which started this week and runs through Dec. 10.

"Basically, we look at each station individually and determine what's best for our audience and for us," he said.

A good run

Raney and Salpino said they had a good run as co-hosts at KZEL but are ready to move forward. Salpino now has his own afternoon show at the station, while Raney does news, traffic and weather breaks during the syndicated Mark and Brian show.

"I'm not too upset," said Salpino, while doing his show last week. "I saw it as an opportunity to do something fun."

Raney, who's been in radio for 25 years, said he didn't want to comment on losing the "Cyd and Mark" show after 10 years. "I enjoyed doing a local show," he said. "I would have no comment on whether KZEL should stay local. I need to be on board."

The Mark and Brian show is the No. 1 morning show in Portland on KGON, Davidson said. The broadcasters started their show in Alabama, and have been in Los Angeles since 1987.

"We've had our eye on Mark and Brian for a long time," Cumulus' Donovan said. "They do just fantastically up the road (in Portland), so that gave us further courage that they spoke a language that the Northwest understood."

Asked if he thought the show would go over well here despite its sometimes lewd content - the duo last week tried to persuade a caller with breast implants to visit their studio so they could give her "a squeeze test" - Davidson said he didn't think so.

"By today's standards, that's pretty tame," he said. "Cyd and Mark were doing that same kind of stuff. I mean, we're all grown-ups."

While KZEL, KEHK and KFLY go the route of syndication as they try to capture listeners in the local radio wars, McKenzie River Broadcasting, which also owns KKXO in addition to New Country and Magic 94, believes in staying local.

Bill Barrett and Tim Fox, along with former KEZI-TV anchorwoman Tracy Berry doing the news, form the morning show at New Country. The Country Music Association in Nashville named the show as the best small-market morning show in the nation last year .

"These guys have a genuine endearing quality about what they do," program director Jim Davis said. "There's nothing trashy about what they do. It's a very family feel. People in the community know them, and they're involved in the community. They remember where they live."

In the same Country Club Road building, Storm Kennedy and Dennis Nakata have been doing their morning show on Magic 94 since the late 1980s.

"We're extremely lucky to have five people like this," McKenzie River Broadcasting owner John Tilson said of the morning crews at the two stations. "They're major market talent who like to live here. And they're very active in the community."

But Davidson said listeners couldn't care less if their morning show crew lives in town.

"Most listeners don't even care where it comes from," he said. "It's all about entertaining your audience."

MORNING DRIVE RATINGS

Prime time for radio is 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. - morning drive time. There are 32 radio stations in the Eugene-Springfield market. Below is a list of how the top half fared during the spring rating period in the morning slot for listeners ages 25 and 54 - a target audience for advertisers.

1: KKNU-FM, 93.1, new country. Share: 16.7. McKenzie River Broadcasting.

2: KFLY-FM, 101.5, rock. Share: 9.5. Clear Channel.

2: KMGE-FM, 94.5, mainstream pop. Share: 9.5. McKenzie River Broadcasting.

4: KODZ-FM, 99.1, oldies. Share: 7.2. Clear Channel.

4: KUGN-AM, 590, news, talk. Share: 7.2. Cumulus Media.

6: KDUK-FM, 104.7, top 40. Share: 6.9. Clear Channel.

6: KLCC-FM, 89.7, NPR news, music. Share: 6.9. Lane Community College.

8: KZEL-FM, 96.1, classic rock. Share: 5.9. Cumulus Media.

9: KPNW-AM, 1120, news, talk. Share: 4.6. Clear Channel.

10: KEHK-FM, 102.3, the Hawk. '80s music. Share: 3.9. Cumulus Media.

11: KWAX-FM, 91.1, classical music. Share: 2.3. University of Oregon.

12: KRVM-AM, 1280, community programming. Share: 2.0. Eugene School District.

12: KUJZ-FM, 95.3, smooth jazz. Share: 2.0. Cumulus Media.

14: KNRQ-FM, 97.9, alternative rock. Share: 1.6. Cumulus Media.

15: KLOO-FM, 106.3, Albany. Rock 'n' roll classics. Share: 1.3. Clear Channel.

15: KRVM-FM, 91.9, community programming. Share: 1.3. Eugene School District.

- Arbitron, Inc. ratings provided by McKenzie River Broadcasting.

WHO OWNS WHAT

Together, national radio chains Cumulus Media and Clear Channel, along with Eugene-based McKenzie River Broadcasting, own more than a third of the radio stations in the Eugene-Springfield market.

Cumulus Media: KUGN, KZEL, KEHK, KUJZ, KNRQ, KSCR

Clear Channel: KPNW, KDUK, KODZ, KFLY

McKenzie River: KKNU, KMGE, KKXO

CAPTION(S):

Cyd Salpino at KZEL, which now has a syndicated morning show.