Z: What has happened to radio?
She: Oh, no! Is 1340 KIST off the air? I love Baron Ron Herron.
Z: No, Rip Van Winkle. I’m talking about the fact that Kevin and Bean have been canceled on KJEE. What happened?
She: I couldn’t tell you. Are those real people?
Z: Yes, and they were entertaining, but they weren’t local. And they had replaced Spencer and Adam, who were local, but not always entertaining.
She: I listen to books on CD. You should try them sometime.
Z: It’s one of those things that’s bizarrely difficult to find out about. Radio stations change DJs all the time, and you never quite know why.
She: I turned to one of my favorite radio stations once, and it had changed to an all-Spanish format. “Sólo éxitos y mas música, Santa Barbara!”
Z: Why is it so hard to find out about what’s going on in radio?
She: It’s not exactly the hottest entertainment form right now. But I’m OK, because when I want to hear the radio — and I’m out of NPR podcasts — I listen to Bill and Bonnie on KRUZ.
Z: They were taken off the air in 2005.
She: Oh. Well, then I’ll just switch over to Matt, Julie and Hayseed on KTYD.
Z: McAllister moved to Phoenix in 2008.
She: I listen to recorded books. You should try them sometime. You can get pretty much anything you want from the library.
Z: I think one of the problems is that radio isn’t something that I listen to all the time. If there’s ever any sort of announcement about schedule or format, I don’t hear it. I have the radio on for my two drive times, and that’s about it.
She: You don’t curl up in front of the radio at night for your fireside theater?
Z: Radio’s not that outdated.
She: It’s getting there. With Sirius, Pandora, iTunes and the entire Internet, there’s definitely a lot of competition.
Z: But it’s still free, and at its best, it’s still local.
She: I do like the idea of well-staffed local radio stations, able to be there as another news source in the case of emergency.
Z: And it’s nice to have local voices choosing local music, and playing to local music tastes.
She: So what did replace those Kevin and Bean things?
Z: I had to go online to find out, and even then there’s sparse information and it’s not entirely clear.
She: You couldn’t tell by listening?
Z: They’re just playing a lot more music. But I read that it’s supposed to be a show called, “More Music in the Mornings,” hosted by DJ Free and John Palminteri.
She: But Palminteri is Primetime. What’s the Palm doing on in the morning?
Z: I know, it’s very confusing. He’s always done the KJEE morning news, and it seems like that’s what he’s continuing to do. I haven’t heard a word from the supposed DJ Free.
She: Who can you call in to win free tickets to things? That used to be my primary motivation to even listen to the radio.
Z: I remember my sister on her princess phone dialing KIST over and over again.
She: Was that her? Drats! I was the other one on the line trying to beat her. I bet she got to see the Bay City Rollers.
Z: That was you?
She: I also used to love calling in to request song dedications.
Z: We need a program like that now.
She: I’ve got it! My dad does the color commentary for the Friday night football games on KTMS.
Z: No …
She: It’s an easy segue into hosting a drive-time morning show. He can replay his football commentary, talk about our kid’s soccer games, and then play Neil Diamond songs.
Z: Do you have any recorded books I can borrow?
She: Or you could do it. Aren’t people always telling you that you’ve got a great face for radio?
Z: Yes, dear.
— Share your radio free thoughts with leslie@lesliedinaberg.com. Click here for previous She Said, Z Said columns. Follow Leslie Dinaberg on Twitter.