Taking a page from the "Today Show," morning personality Rick Dees -- who just recently returned to the L.A. airwaves after a nearly three-year hiatus -- will begin broadcasting from a street-level studio in Burbank on Valentine's Day.
According to Dees, passers-by will be able to watch through the windows as the show goes live over the air. Dees began building the multi-million dollar studios even before signing on to host mornings on KMVN-FM "Movin' 93.9" (the station formerly known as country KZLA). Dees will continue to split his time between the new facilities (which also includes a recording studio for music artists) and the KMVN studios.
(I do wonder whether the windows opens Dees up to pranks from rival morning DJs -- I'm thinking KROQ's Kevin & Bean, who have tweaked Dees in the past.)
I spoke to Dees for a recent Variety profile, and he was honest in one motivating factor behind building his own studio: After his bitter parting with KIIS-FM, which showed him the door in 2004 after 22 years, Dees wasn't going to let something like that happen twice.
"I never wanted to be kicked out of a radio station again," he said.
Meanwhile, in his most candid comments yet about what happened at KIIS, Dees was blunt:
"It was a nightmare," Dees says. "It's one thing to retire. It's another thing to have to stay off radio involuntarily."
Dees' contract at KIIS-FM was up, and although both sides were negotiating a new deal, the San Antonio-based owners at Clear Channel had other ideas. The company had been grooming "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest to eventually fill Dees' KIIS-FM chair. And although it came sooner than expected, KIIS and Clear Channel ultimately opted to part ways with the man who helped put that station on the map.
For Dees, it was a surreal moment. Seacrest, who patterned his radio career after Dees', was not just taking over his gig; everything else about the show -- even Dees' sidekick Ellen K -- was remaining.
"I heard my show being taken over, but still with all the players who I had hired," Dees says. "To take me out, stab me in the back and stick someone else on there because he's on a TV show ... it felt horrible. But I got over it.
"I slashed their tires," he quips. "But I got over it."
Dees still faces a steep awareness curve, as Movin' 93.9 owners Emmis Communications hasn't yet started promoting the fact that he's back on the air. Emmis radio president Rick Cummings admits that's been a mistake, and promises to start spending some money on getting the word out. Yes, that means more pics of Rick Dees coming soon to a billboard and bus shelter near you.
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