KC media roundup: New newscasts, Randy Miller’s latest gig, Fallon/Kimmel war

KSHB’s morning show will expand by an hour starting April 6, but not on Channel 41.

The new edition of “41 Action News Today” will air from 7 to 8 a.m. on sister station KMCI, better known as 38 The Spot. It’s an arrangement similar to what KMBC, Channel 9, does with morning news on its sister station, KCWE, Channel 29.

The TV simulcast of Sports Radio 810’s “Border Patrol” show will move to 6 a.m. on Channel 38.

Meanwhile, KSHB is also expanding weekend newscasts. Starting April 11, local news will air from 6 to 7 a.m. Saturdays, followed by two hours of the “Today” show (which Channel 41 has been running from 6:30 to 8 a.m.) and then another hour of local news at 9 a.m.

The 6 p.m. Saturday newscast will now run one hour instead of 30 minutes.

On Sundays, 41’s morning news will air from 6 to 7 a.m., followed by an hour of “Today” and then another hour of local news at 8 a.m.

Miller time anytime

When last we heard from Randy Miller, about a year ago February, he’d walked at the end of his first week after joining a country radio station in Warrensburg, Mo.

Now, Miller — whose outrageous stunts and characters made him a hit on Kansas City morning radio starting in the mid-1980s — is doing a daily comedy podcast from a studio in Blue Springs.

Each segment runs between 20 and 45 minutes. Recent episodes include an interview with KCTV-5’s Gary Amble and Miller remaking radio station The Rock into “Country 98.9 The Tractor.” He also recommends “Yelp Help: Dirty Laundry” (episode 14) and his chat with erstwhile light rail activist Clay Chastain (episodes 3 and 4).

Check it out at randymillerradio.com; also available on iTunes as a free download.

Late-night winners

Who’s watching whom since KMBC, Channel 9, dumped its popular late-night sitcoms and moved up ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Nightline”?

According to the February Nielsen ratings, Kimmel on KMBC and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on KSHB are in a virtual tie for first place, with David Letterman’s “Late Show” on KCTV-5 well behind.

In late December, KMBC started running “Kimmel” and “Nightline” after its late news, ending a decades-long tradition of airing late-night comedies.

So far, Kimmel’s numbers are well behind what “Modern Family” delivered for KMBC at 10:35.

One non-entertainment winner in all this is the station airing news at 10:30 p.m.: Fox 4. That newscast finished right behind Kimmel and Fallon.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 12:00 PM with the headline "KC media roundup: New newscasts, Randy Miller’s latest gig, Fallon/Kimmel war."