Sam Rubin, Entertainment Reporter:
Hey, Peter Tilden is here!
Carlos Amezcua, Co-Anchor:
Yes, he is.
Rubin:
Uh, Peter from KZLA, eh, did the mornings there for…
Amezcua:
Are you unemployed, Peter?
Rubin:
No! Peter’s got a big…
Amezcua:
No? Sorry.
Rubin:
[Laughs]
Peter Tilden, Former Host, KZLA’s The Morning Show:
I could’ve stayed home for abuse. I could’ve stayed home for [unintelligible].
[Laughter]
Amezcua:
They yanked the radio station from out under ya.
Tilden:
It’s—you know what? I usually come here and we joke about stuff. Uh, I came here; I almost didn’t ‘cause it’s really an emotional thing…
Michaela Pereira, Co-Anchor:
I bet.
Tilden:
…’cause it’s not like you’re gettin’ fired. You know, you do that before in radio…
Amezcua:
Right.
Tilden:
…you walk in and just sit on the guys replacing you. If it’s dark, you go, “What are you doin’ here?”
Rubin:
[Laughs]
Tilden:
But this is, is a gaping emotional hole. There’s no more KZNO—say, KZLA. The—it doesn’t exist.
Mm-hm.
Tilden:
So I thought, “I’ll come in.” Well, I love all you guys, you know. You’re a good—you’re a great show. But I also wanted to say goodbye to the fans ‘cause you never get a chance to say…
Aww.
Tilden:
They’re very disenfranchised and very hurt.
Amezcua:
You don’t need to say goodbye. There’s got to be…
Tilden:
I’m hopin’. I’m hopin’.
Amezcua:
Someone’s gonna have to plug that country hole.
Tilden:
We’re workin’ on, we’re workin’ on right now saving country in, uh,
southern
Rubin:
Well, you know, I, I, I saw—I went to the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill show. This happened last Thursday that KZLA literally vanished from the air at about 10:30 in the morning. And the first thing Tim McGraw said Thursday night—A, which was very much a compliment—where is Peter Tilden and where is country radio?
Tilden:
It’s amazing. And then the sad thing is the country artists calling, “Well, what are we gonna do?
Yeah.
Tilden:
“What are we gonna do?” And I said, “Write a check! Write a check!”
Amezcua:
Yeah.
Tilden:
So, um, a lot of people are working on bringing country back, and I’m kinda trying to spearhead that; hopefully, get it, get it back on the air.
Rubin:
Well, you, you—you know, you and I have been pals for a long time. And when you first got this job, we talked about it. Now, you sort of became a convert to country music; not that you didn’t like it, but you didn’t know a lot about it.
Tilden:
I wasn’t as immersed as I became.
Rubin:
Right!
Tilden:
I mean, I did the video—all of Brad Paisley’s videos, became friendly with the artists, helped talk them through some album ideas and stuff, and really became—I mean, that was most of my day, twenty-four/seven.
Rubin:
Well, why…?
Tilden:
You know, I’m like you. When you leave it’s fog.
[Laughter]
Rubin:
But why not you? Because I, I feel this way, too. The music really does speak to me. I became a really big fan.
Tilden:
Isn’t it amazing? There, there is—it resonates. It is; it’s a thing that
should exist. Whether you like it or not, it’s part of our American culture. It
is a, is a musical genre that should exist in the second-largest city in the
[Laughter]
Can you tell us how it all went down, Peter? How did it all happen to happen?
Tilden:
I was away, I was away with my family in Montecito, and, um, I actually read it online, believe or not.
You didn’t.
Tilden:
I read it online. I got up and read it online and then called the station; I couldn’t get through. And got a call from my program director, uh, who was pretty devastated, too. ‘Cause they don’t—when they convert, they do it so quickly.
Mark Kriski, Weatherman:
So, Shawn Parr was—was he on the air?
Tilden:
Shawn was on the air…
Kriski:
And what—how did that…?
Tilden:
…and was told—what I heard was that he was in the mid—he played a Keith Urban record, our boss, RJ, came in and said, “Come into this meeting. It’s over."
Kriski:
Wow. Wow.
Tilden:
“We’re pulling the plug.” So, it is; it’s sad, it’s sad. There’s a bigger sadness. It’s not, it’s not a, a loss of a job. I didn’t even think of that. I thought of, “Oh, my God. The genre cannot not be on. It cannot—it’s a big,” like you said, “a big deal and a half.”
Amezcua:
So, from
Kriski:
Or that way.
Amezcua:
…and fifty miles that way to get KHAY or KFRG, to get country radio.
Tilden:
Yeah.
Amezcua:
For now.
Tilden:
For now. I’m hop—here’s what—I’m hoping the best wishes that somebody flips and puts country on. A radio station changes formats quick.
Amezcua:
There’s enough stations in this city.
Tilden:
The other part of it is if somebody wants to, to put a show—I did a syndicated show [unintelligible] that wanted to put that on, on a station that is not even country during the day, or put on a segment of country just for now. Somebody could be a hero, you know, by putting it back on.
Kriski:
You, you know, you are a talent. You’re very funny and, uh, and, and
right away I, first of all, think, “Okay. Uh, you know—well, the idea of trying
to get country back and that; but we gotta you get you back on. Uh, the, uh—the
two jobs I think of right away for you are, first of all,
Tilden:
With a large nose.
[Laughter]
Kriski:
No, but seriously—okay, the second place—and, and I’ve never minced words—Adam Carolla has got to go. And now they’ve got a person who could—uh, at, at, uh—what is it?—Free Talk or whatever? Whatever they call it. I mean, he is just so whiny!
Tilden:
But he’s got a con—but he’s got a con—didn’t these people have contracts?
Kriski:
You know what? Uh, David Lee Roth had a contract, too.
Tilden:
I heard that was so bad.
[Laughter]
Kriski:
Exactly. Well, you know what?
Tilden:
They actually put a contract out on him.
[Laughter]
Kriski:
And I never believe that the guy they replaced Howard Stern with is the guy they really want. That’s [unintelligible].
Tilden:
Radio’s tough. You know what’s funny? Mark—uh, it’s, uh—thank you, that’s very flattering. And, yes, I can be edgy and yes, I can do that.
Kriski:
Yes!
Tilden:
The interesting from—thing for me—the e-mails that I’m getting; and what meant a lot—which, which transcends, like you said—you were a convert because of me.
Rubin:
Right.
Tilden:
You listened and, and checked it out. I get that a lot. The people followed me over there and said, “Oh, I—you know, I really like the format.”
Rubin:
Yeah.
Tilden:
But the coolest thing is—‘cause I have my ten-year-old son with me and, you know, and I’m always around; we go everywhere—the family goes together ‘cause they’re very needy. But…
[Laughter]
Tilden:
…but the thing that I got the biggest compliment is I can listen in the car with my kids on the way to school, on the way to wherever I’m goin’. I don’t have to worry about turning it off. You’re not gonna be, eh, so edgy or offensive to families; and, and families really love country radio.
You know what’s ironic is—literally, I told Mark this. I came to work about three months ago and I said, “Mark, I’m listening to country music all of a sudden. I don’t know what happened.”
Tilden:
Right.
I was listening to KZLA. Somebody—when I had the car washed, somebody put 93.9 on.
Tilden:
It was me.
[Laughter]
Tilden:
What car was it? I did that.
Uh, yeah. But it was on my dial, so now I was listening to it.
Amezcua:
You know, country’s changed so much, too.
What about the question…?
Tilden:
Hey, listen, you got Faith and Tim…
Yes.
Tilden:
…just sold out three days—okay, Tim and Faith just sold off three days at
Yeah.
Tilden:
…uh, top-selling country act.
[Unintelligible]
Tilden:
Kenny Chesney just sold out the
Amezcua:
Just doesn’t make sense.
Tilden:
The
Dixie Chicks, even with the controversy. I mean, on and on and on, you’ve got
acts that will sell out the
So, what do you say to people who say, “Well, they can go to, uh, satellite radio, then, for their country music.” What do you say to that?
Tilden:
It is—yes, they can. And I get it; go to satellite radio. I just don’t know how many people want to pay for, for the satellite.
Yeah.
Tilden:
But, yes, it’s an alternative and I know that the satellite radio
networks are prob’ly tryin’ to figure how to scramble ‘cause
Rubin:
You know, but let me ask a question, then go back to you for a second, because we’ve enjoyed this experience for about fifteen years. You have this wonderful daily connection; and you did KZLA for how long?
Tilden:
Almost six years.
Rubin:
So, six years every morning, you know, and, and because it’s the morning…
Tilden:
You’re gonna make me cry, yeah.
Rubin:
Well, I’m not trying to.
Tilden:
It is—but it is emotional.
Rubin:
Yeah.
Tilden:
Imagine not ken—comin’ on—coming in here every day. You have listeners.
And, by the way, you stand on the stage of the [unintelligible] amphitheater, uh,
introducing Keith Urban to seventeen thousand people who you know. You’ve just
shaken hands and signed autographs for three hours, and you looked them in the
eyes and you know about the kid who died in
Can I show off the next generation of Tildens?
Tilden:
Yeah.
How ‘bout this? How ‘bout this handsome fellow? This is Robert.
Amezcua:
There’s no family resemblance.
No!
[Laughter]
Are you sure that’s Dad? Are you sure?
Tilden:
He’s a good boy.
He is a good boy.
Kriski:
In my radio days once, I was sitting there and the same sort of thing happened. It changed format and everything, and we got fired by a tape machine. They brought in a tape machine, pressed Play, and it was, “The format is gone.” Yeah.
Tilden:
No! What, what did it say?
Kriski:
It said—basically, he said [unintelligible]…
[Laughter]
Kriski:
We, we were a Top 40 station and, uh, in those days a Top 40 station and they want easy listening or whatever. The, the boss brought it and pressed Play and said, “I’ll see you guys outside.”
Tilden:
Is that because they were cowards or is that because they didn’t want to look...?
Kriski:
Absolutely [laughs]. We trashed the place.
Amezcua:
You are an enormous talent.
Tilden:
Well, thank you, man.
Amezcua:
You’re a great asset to the city and to all, uh, uh—every, everyone who listens to radio or even TV. You’re fantastic.
Tilden:
Thank you.
Amezcua:
And we’re lookin’—I think somebody’s gonna step up and we’ll…
Tilden:
It’s gonna change. I appreciate the support; I appreciate you lettin’ me say goodbye for now…
For now, for now.
Tilden:
…to, to country business.
Thanks for comin’ by to spend time with us.
Tilden:
Thank you. I had all the—you know, I can stay, I can stay.
[Applause]
All right. So now, I have to read from the teleprompter.
Amezcua:
Can you read that?
Can you read that? You wanna read that? Sure, go ahead. Can you read it?
Robert Tilden, Peter’s Son:
Up next, Kurt, the Cyberguy’s got so much video, but he’s letting you only see the best one.
Nice!