2014: Letting It Go

English: Singer/actress Idina Menzel outside the Today Show studios following an appearance and performance promoting the release of her debut Warner Bros album "I Stand." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. and Cuba are reestablishing diplomatic relations after more than 50 years.  Is it an admission that Communism will survive the Castro brothers?  The biggest stumbling block to any lifting of the embargo contains the words "requires Congressional approval", and that's not going to be easy.

The Sony Pictures hacking scandal, which resulted in the movie "The Interview" being pulled from release, only proves that making a comedy about killing the real-life leader of a real country wasn't such a bright idea after all.  Or, for that matter, letting the world know what Hollywood studio executives really are thinking behind closed doors.

After the Senate released its report on the CIA allegedly using torture to get answers out of terror suspects, only to find they'd say anything to make it stop, are we really all that different from the terrorists, brutal regimes and Dick Cheney?

The Islamic State has used beheadings and recruitment videos to get its message across.  So how come it took until they had swallowed up half of Iraq before anyone noticed?

It's been a rollercoaster ride for Vladimir Putin's Russia.  First it was the triumphant and controversial Winter Olympics in Sochi.  Then it was taking a piece of Ukraine, and threatening to invade at least half the country.  Now it's an economic crisis brought on by cheap oil and international sanctions.  You sure you want to bring back the Cold War?

We haven't heard about the Ebola epidemic since the election.  That doesn't mean it's over, though.

Michael Brown and Eric Garner became symbols of protest against power-hungry police and the system that enables them.  What will it take to get law enforcement to realize that skin color is not always indicative of criminal behavior?  And how long will it be before the slogans "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" and "I Can't Breathe" are trademarked by Nike?

With Congress about to be run by Republicans for the next two years, should we expect more or less from them?

It sucks to be Malaysian Airlines right now.  Or, for that matter, CNN.

A simple request for all those soldiers returning home from whatever war America is fighting this week:  Would it be possible to keep those contrived homecomings to yourselves, and to not take credit for preserving freedom and democracy where there isn't any to keep?

Target, Home Depot and others whose consumer accounts were hacked into learned hard lessons in how not to react to a crisis without alienating your customers.

TV shows like "Naked and Afraid" and "Dating Naked" would be a lot more interesting if they were on HBO or Showtime.

Those who "cut the cord" in order to save money on their cable and satellite bills should remember two things:  (A) Broadcast TV really is the vast wasteland Newton Minow once talked about, and (B) many of those same cable giants you complain about also happens to control your broadband service.  They're also the ones who want to own the Internet.

We say goodbye to:  Joan Rivers, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Maya Angelou, Jan Hooks, Harold Ramis, Lauren Bacall, Shirley Temple Black, Mickey Rooney, Richard C. Hottelet, Mike Nichols, Polly Bergen, Don Pardo, James Garner, Casey Kasem, Ann B. Davis, Russell Johnson, Gerry Goffin, Marion Berry, Jane Byrne, Joan Mondale, Ben Bradlee, Garrick Utley and Robin Williams.

We got through this without once mentioning the name of a certain tune from a popular Disney animated feature, which made Idina Menzel the Celine Dion of the 2010s.  Oh, we already did?  It's in the title?  And we're using Menzel's picture?  Damn.  See you in 2015.

Five More Years for Tom Barnard

92 KQRS Morning Show (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As an indication that the more things change, the more they stay the same in local radio, the Minneapolis Star Tribune recently reported that Tom Barnard is staying as morning host at KQRS (92.5 FM) for another five years.

That would, by the end of the new contract whose terms weren't disclosed, mark 34 years for Barnard and KQ as the top-rated morning show in the Twin Cities, even though its ratings aren't in the stratosphere like they used to be.

It would also mean another five years of Barnard spouting off about politics, race relations and the news of the day with his personal sounding board of Terri Traen, Bob Sansevere and others.  Those, along with the sometimes juvenile atmosphere that surrounds the 'KQ Morning Show", have gotten him and his station in trouble before.

Recently, Barnard has been delving into the podcasting business, in which he puts out a daily two-hour show recorded from his home with material not suitable for radio.  The Star Tribune says he plans to expand the podcasts to three hours a day.

But there are indications that listeners are tiring of Barnard and KQ, which has had the same classic rock format since he began working there.  Three different owners in the past decade--Disney/ABC, Citadel, and now Cumulus Media--have determined that the station isn't broken, so why fix it?  It's great that there's a place on the dial for "More Than a Feeling" and Led Zeppelin.  But it wouldn't hurt to have something fresh once in awhile.

Barnard, who is now 63, doesn't seem to be contemplating retirement.  He told the Star Tribune that he got bored during the Thanksgiving holiday, saying "It's really hard to annoy people if they can't hear you".  He shouldn't have that problem for the next few years, whether it's podcast or broadcast.

Elsewhere in local radio . . .

• KQ's former sister station KDIZ (1440 AM) is being sold along with other Disney-owned stations that make up the Radio Disney network, which will continue digitally.  Some of these stations have already been sold to religious and ethnic broadcasters, who seem to be the only ones interested in low-watt AM signals that Radio Disney's intended audience--kids and their parents--have long since abandoned for the smartphone.  So don't be surprised if KDIZ starts quoting the Bible or speaks a different language than Ariana Grande in the near future.
• Hubbard Radio, the owners of KSTP (1500 AM, 94.5 FM) and KTMY (107.1 FM), has plunked down $8 million to buy 16 radio stations from Omni Broadcasting in northern Minnesota.  These include some familiar call letters if you've ever traveled or lived there:  KWAD and KKWS in Wadena, WJJY and KLIZ in Brainerd, KIKV in Alexandria, KBUN and KBHP in Bemidji.  Some of these new stations are affiliated with ABC News Radio, which ties in nicely with the coverage area of ABC's Twin Cities station KSTP (Channel 5) and its satellite in Alexandria.