Leykis

It turns out KLOS-FM/Los Angeles morning hosts Mark & Brian (Mark Thompson, left and Brian Phelps, right) have both left the airwaves, and both are launching podcasts.

Thompson had long planned to retire Friday after nearly 25 years (it was the longest-running active morning show in L.A.), but in a surprise development, Phelps also announced his plan to immediately leave the airwaves -- and launch a podcast with actress and comedian Jill Whelan (known from roles in "Airplane!" and "The Love Boat"). The two plan to launch "The Brian and Jill Show" September 10.

Thompson is starting his own podcast, "The Mark and Lynda Podcast," co-starring his wife and their three grown children.

We've reported in RAIN (and often brought to RAIN Summits) various former on-air legends who've retooled their craft for a streaming and/or podcast presentation, like Adam Carolla, Steve Dahl, Bubba the Love Sponge, Heidi and Frank, and Tom Leykis.

Read more on Mark & Brian in the Los Angeles Times here.  And speaking of Heidi and Frank...

Tom Leykis today pledged his online Top-40 Pure Pop Hits will play 50-thousand songs back-to-back without commercials beginning today at 2pm CT (3pm ET/Noon PT).

Similarly, in July 2010 Leykis launched his indie pop stream New Normal Music by playing 50,000 songs in a row, all less than a year-old (RAIN coverage here). Leykis's NewNormalNetwork also produces or presents active rock New Normal Rock, oldies Great Big Radio, and podcasts like his own high-end cocktails-focused "The Tasting Room." 

In April Leykis returned to the microphone with a daily online show. His last on-air gig ended in February 2009, when KLSX-FM/Los Angeles owner CBS Radio changed the format to top-40 (RAIN coverage).

"50,000 in a row means that we won't play a single commercial for the rest of 2012," said Leykis. "Next time you're listening to hit music, ask yourself why you tolerate the constant commercials, phony rose giveaways and hokey DJs of your local top-40 radio station."

Read the press release here.

"Leykis holds up an Android smartphone he'd been twirling in his hand. 'This,' he said, 'is a radio.' A few finger swipes, and he's turned on an application streaming radio stations and programs from around the world, with presets for his favorites — like a car radio with a global reach. He presses an on-screen button, and the current episode of 'The Tom Leykis Show' starts playing. Plug that into a dashboard, and it's as if he never left the airwaves."

That's from the L.A. Times' story on the return of Tom Leykis, not to the terrestrial airwaves but with his daily Internet radio show (see RAIN's coverage here).

Not a podcast, that is, but a live Net radio show. "Leykis' streaming model," writes The Times, "better simulates the live radio experience for the audience, with the interaction of callers, host and subsequent callers reacting to earlier comments."

Leykis told the paper it's cost him about $1 million to get the show up and running, and that he is expecting to profit by year's end (he's offering $100/year subscriptions to his show, which include on-demand access to his archives, and he sells merchandise and on-air advertising.)

Read The L.A. Times piece on Leykis here.

There's so much news to cover today! We wanted to make it quick and easy for you to catch up with some of the great coverage from our colleagues, so here are some important news items in brief:

-- Yahoo, Spotify team up: Yahoo and Spotify have announced a global deal, that will have the leading on-demand music service replacing Rhapsody as Yahoo's music partner, and is perhaps the net portal's biggest music move since it shuttered its own on-demand service Yahoo Music Unlimited in 2008. Read more in the Los Angeles Times here and TechCrunch here.

-- TuneIn, Adam Carolla partner: Streaming aggregator and tuning service TuneIn and Carolla Digital have partnered to make the latter's shows (The Adam Carolla Show, ACE On The House, This Week With Larry Miller, Penn's Sunday School with Penn Jillette, and more) available on the TuneIn service. Read the press release here.

-- Slacker, ABC Radio launch lifestyle stations: Webcaster Slacker Radio and ABC Radio have launched "Men's Life" and "Women's Life," gender-targeted online talk radio stations. Read more in PCMag here.

-- Howard on Google TV: Reuters reports SiriusXM will make all of its programming available on Google TV, including Howard Stern's shows, plus live sports. A new app will allow listeners to pause live content and play back up to five hours. Google's I/O developer conference starts today in San Francisco. Read more here.

-- Radio One and a former employee battle over website, Facebook URL: Read Tom Taylor for more on the new "Streetz 94.5" in Atlanta, launched by former Radio One programmer Steve Hegwood, and the battle over the Streets94.5.com and www.facebook.com/Streetz 94.5. Taylor on Radio-Info coverage is here.

-- Leykis, Lionel on Talk Radio online: At the 2012 Talkers New Media Seminar, talk radio legend Tom Leykis appeared with LionelMedia's Lionel on a panel to talk streaming and podcasting strategy. Watch video (by Art Vuolo) from Talkers.com here.

-- ASCAP, BMI, SoundExchange obsolete, says economist: Stanford economist Roger Noll, at the recent recently asked a group of attorneys at a recent American Antitrust Institute conference, suggests we now have the information technology which has "eliminated the reason for (royalty-collection organizations) existing in the first place. Digital Music News reports here.

On Monday when he clicks on the mic, West Coast shock-jock legend Tom Leykis will become the latest former on-air talent to begin producing a daily radio show on the Internet (e.g. Bubba the Love Sponge, coverage here)

Leykis left the airwaves in February 2009, when KLSX-FM/Los Angeles owner CBS Radio changed the format to top-40. Leykis has a 5-year contract with CBS that continued to pay him (much like Chicago legend Steve Dahl (more here)), so he sat on the sidelines.

In July 2010, Leykis launched New Normal Music, an online stream of independent and new rock and pop music. Today, that stream is just one of eight audio options on his NewNormalNetwork.com site (there are two other music streams, several podcasts focused on high-end cocktails (including his own "The Tasting Room," which is syndicated on-air), and the daily "The Gary & Dino Show").

“We can produce the same or better content without real estate, without big, expensive and outdated equipment such as transmitters and satellite dishes, and without government regulation," he explains in the press release announcing his Monday debut. "We can be heard anywhere in the world rather than in select radio markets... We can sell advertising at a far more reasonable price than a local radio station... We are offering special rates to small and medium sized businesses that feel that they’ve been shut out from radio advertising..."

The new Tom Leykis Show will debut Monday and stream 3pm (PT) weekdays at http://www.blowmeuptom.com/. Read the press release here.