Infinity Broadcasting Tuesday unveiled its vision for LAHS (Life After Howard Stern), announcing that ex-Van Halen singer David Lee Roth and comedian Adam Carolla will get the departing radio icon's morning slots in most of biggest markets.
Carolla, host of the "Too Late" TV talk-show on Comedy Central, will essentially be Infinity's West Coast personality. On Jan. 3, his morning show will be broadcast at the newly renamed San Francisco station KIFR-FM 106.9 (formerly KEAR), as well as on stations in Los Angeles; San Diego; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; and Las Vegas. Late-night TV talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel will work with Carolla as a creative consultant. KITS-FM 105.3 (Live 105), the station that broadcasts Stern's show, said Tuesday it will switch to an alternative-rock program titled "Morning Music Co-Op," which it described as heavy on listener participation and light on advertising.
Roth, who has never hosted a full-time radio show, most recently made headlines by becoming a certified Emergency Medical Technician in New York City. His show will kick off Jan. 3 in New York; Boston; Philadelphia, Pa.; Pittsburgh; Cleveland; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Dallas.
A virtually unknown, Ohio-based morning host known as Rover will be broadcast in a string of midsized markets like Detroit, Cincinnati and Memphis, Tenn.
Stern's last live broadcast is slated for Dec. 16. In January, he kicks off a new show on Sirius Satellite Radio.
MORE ON THE NEW KIFR: Infinity on Tuesday bestowed a new name and new format -- and brought back some old Bay Area radio names, to its station at 106.9 on the FM dial. The station, as of Tuesday, is KIFR-FM and follows a format dubbed "Free FM," which officials described as "a hybrid of provocative, political, pop culture, news and lifestyle formats." Provocative might be the key word here. Hosting the morning show (until January) will be the controversial "Dog House" team featuring DJs "Elvis" and "JV," who were jettisoned from KYLD-FM 94.9 after the pair were accused of berating members of a San Francisco drum and bugle corps on the air. What will happen to the Dog House team when Carolla kicks off his new show in January remains to be seen.
Darien O'Toole, who has stirred her share of controversy on the Bay Area airwaves, hosts the 10 a.m.-2 p.m. slot, and John London returns to the market to host the afternoon drive-time slot.
In January, Penn Jillette, the talking half of the comedy-magic duo Penn & Teller, will host a one-hour daily talk show that will air at 2 p.m. weekdays on KIFR, as well as on stations in New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
HOLLYWOOD GOING "POSTAL": Today's quick quiz: The video game "Postal" has:
A. Been banned in 13 countries
B. Been denounced by U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman for its graphic violence and anti-social images.
C. Sold more than 1 million units to kids who couldn't care less what 13 countries and Sen. Joe Lieberman have to say about anything.
D. All of the above.
The answer, of course, is D. And you can add a new development -- it's going to be a movie.
Reuters reports that producer-director Uwe Boll has optioned the game from developer Running With Scissors and plans to adapt it into a film that he describes as "Pulp Fiction" meets "Falling Down" (the Michael Douglas film about a angry working man who goes on a violent spree).
"The film will have all the political incorrectness and American craziness from the game, wrapped around an action-thriller story line," Boll told Reuters.
If that's not enough to whet your appetite, Gary Coleman, who appeared as himself in the game "Postal 2," is slated to appear in the movie.
"Oh my god, if the game was any indication ... 'Postal' will leave an indelible scar on Hollywood," Coleman said. "I can't wait."
Lieberman could not be reached for comment.
DOING THE MATH: D'oh! Tuesday's column about Janet Jackson said the singer's former brother-in-law claims she secretly had a child with James DeBarge, to whom she was married for three months in 1984. The claim was made by Young DeBarge, James' brother, who told a New York City radio show the child, named Renee, was now 18.
Of course, as we should have noted Tuesday, if the kid's 18, she would have had to have been born around 1987, well after the Jackson/DeBarge marriage was history. Young DeBarge didn't explain that in his interview, but he has not recanted the claim, and Jackson has not responded to it.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "My 1991 brawl with a transvestite is still the classic. He was a big guy, so once I got him down, I kept decking him. Then I saw the cops and thought, 'Hmmm. Danny Partridge beating the (expletive) out of a transvestite hooker. I should probably run.'" -- Danny Bonaduce recalling his favorite fight, and demonstrating why making a reality TV show about him is sheer genius.