The Infinite Dial

You may not have heard much about legendary programmer Ron Jacobs since his much publicized salvos toward Randy Michaels in the early '00s. But for the last four months, he's been back in action as the programmer/host of what he describes as "my newest and final project," WhodaguyHawaii.com--a site/stream devoted to the "full spectrum of Hawaiian music from the turn of the 20th century to today."

As Jacobs notes, "Gazillions of people have honeymooned, served in military, attended school, vacationed, etc., here." And beyond those looking for an audio souvenir as the mainland weather gets colder, he also has an eye on all those HD-2 channels that broadcasters are looking to find content for.

At home, Hawaiian music has splintered into at least three formats since it first came to prominence on the FM dial nearly 20 years ago. The top-rated Hawaiian station, KINE, is No. 3 in the market (sometimes higher) and the younger leaning KCCN is No. 5. By comparison, the first of the market's Rhythmic Top 40s is No. 8 in the market.

The Hawaiian music I heard in my two stretches of Whoadguy listening tended toward the mellower, more traditional side. There's clearly a market for that; (if you stop at the airport gift shop looking for Hawaiian music to take home, it tends toward the traditional side, too, and it's also the music that has proven irresistable to TV music supervisors in recent years). I actually found myself wishing Jacobs would launch a second, more contemporary stream along the lines of the more rhythmic/reggae-flavored music that emerged in the '90s. But Jacobs' ambitions of being Hawaiian music HQ for a long-tail world certainly makes sense.

There was a side benefit of checking out Whodaguy this week. Jacobs links to the site of veteran TV comedy writer/broadcaster/play-by-play voice Ken Levine (aka "Beaver Cleaver" to '70s radio junkies). Levine's very funny account of the WGA picket line can be found here.