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Local radio personality Dale Dudley, left, talks with Dr. Stanley Wang, right, a clinical cardiologist at the Heart Hospital of Austin, as they stand in front of the HeartSaver CT machine, which helped diagnose a heart ailment of Dudley’s recently.

Dinges: KLBJ-FM host pushes listeners to get heart test

It’s a commercial that’s near and dear to Dale Dudley’s heart. The 93.7 KLBJ-FM morning host was asked recently to promote the HeartSaver CT, a test offered by Heart Hospital of Austin. He said “yes” but, first, he chose to undergo the procedure himself. After reviewing the results, Dudley, 51, ...

Austin jewelry designer Kendra Scott is co-host of ‘Crowd Rules’ on the CNBC cable network.

Dinges: Austin jewelry designer co-hosts new CNBC show

Austin jewelry designer Kendra Scott knows what it takes to build a successful company from the ground up.Now, she’s hoping to help other entrepreneurs achieve similar results.Scott is set to co-host “Crowd Rules,” a new show on the CNBC cable network that will award $50,000 each week to one lucky ...

Nationally syndicated host Elvis Duran is now heard mornings on 96.7 Kiss Fm.

Dinges: New Kiss FM morning host an early ratings success

Elvis lives! Just weeks after making his debut on pop-friendly 96.7 KHFI-FM, New York-based Elvis Duran is already Austin’s No. 2-rated morning host among listeners ages 18-49, one of several advertiser-coveted demographics. Who’s first? Bobby Bones, of course. Bones shifted from KHFI (better known as Kiss FM) to 100.7 KASE-FM ...

Austinite Alli Baker is a contestant this season on Oxygen’s ‘Best Ink.’

Dinges: Austin tattoo artist featured on reality show

Couponing. Guys and gals looking for love. And even parking enforcement officers. There’s a reality show for just about everything these days. Now, there’s one focused on tattoo artists – and, of course, it features an Austinite. Alli Baker is one 12 contestants vying for a $100,000 prize and a ...

Bobby Bones moved his morning show from No. 1-rated 96.7 KHFI-FM to second-place 100.7 KASE-FM.

Dinges: Say ‘bye’ to Jammin’ 103.1 and ‘hi’ to iHeartAustin

Austin is no longer a Jammin’ city. Bummer. After just 10 months, San Antonio-based Clear Channel Media and Entertainment has pulled the plug on Jammin’ 103.1, replacing it with 103.1 iHeartAustin, a station focused on giving airtime to emerging artists. Initially, the company had said the switch to iHeartAustin was ...

Dinges: ATX Television Festival to reunite ‘Boy Meets World’ cast

It’s “Boy Meets World” meets Austin at this year’s ATX Television Festival. The hit TV show, which aired from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, will be front and center at the event, with cast members set to have their first reunion since the show went off the air. The festival, ...

Dale Dudley, left, and Bob Fonseca are the morning hosts on Austin’s 93.7 KLBJ-FM.

Dinges: KLBJ-FM hosts create Dudley and Bob Land

Just how much do you love the “Dudley and Bob Show” on 93.7 KLBJ-FM? If you’re a really, really big fan, you’ll soon have access to a brand-new daily podcast — provided you’re willing to shell out some cash. The uncensored, hourlong podcasts — as well as countless other audio ...

Paul Boukadakis, left, and Mix 94.7 morning host JB Hager have turned an Airstream trailer into a mobile music recording studio for up-and-coming performers.

Dinges: Radio host creates recording studio in restored Airstream

On-Airstreaming is movin’ on up. The mobile recording studio, co-founded by Mix 94.7 morning host JB Hager, has abandoned a South Austin trailer park in favor of a storefront at 210 Guadalupe St. in downtown Austin’s tony Second Street District. The old-school Airstream trailer now actually sits inside the store. ...

Fox 7 sports director Dave Cody is retiring after 28 years at the station.

Dinges: Fox 7 sports director Dave Cody retiring

Dave Cody, Austin’s longest-tenured TV sportscaster, is set to retire from KTBC this summer after almost three decades on the air. June 5 will be his final day at the Fox-owned station. Cody says his parents, who live in Montgomery, Ala., are ailing and that he’d like to spend more ...

KXAN’s 5, 6 and 10 p.m. news team features, from left, chief meteorologist Jim Spencer, newscasters Leslie Rhode and Robert Hadlock and sports director Roger Wallace. The station is No. 1 at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Dinges: In February, KVUE, KXAN are Austin’s top-rated TV stations

KVUE and KXAN continue to have Austin’s most-watched TV newscasts, according to the latest Nielsen ratings. In the recently completed February “sweeps” period, ABC affiliate KVUE finished in first place mornings, middays and at 10 p.m. NBC affiliate KXAN, meanwhile, continued its winning ways at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. ...

The Divine Fits, featuring Spoon’s Britt Daniel, made their official debut at Beerland in July. They’ll be performing live on 93.3 KGSR-FM during South by Southwest.

Dinges: Listeners like what they’re hearing on KUT, KUTX

Two is most definitely better than one. The latest radio ratings are in, and acquiring a sister station for National Public Radio affiliate 90.5 KUT-FM appears to be a winning strategy for the University of Texas, yielding big increases in listenership. At the start of 2013, KUT went all news, ...

A look at Headhunters after it was remodeled and renamed Metal and Lace.

Dinges: Spike TV’s ‘Bar Rescue’ visits 2 Austin nightclubs

Roaches. Mold. And the scent of cat pee. Before a recent visit from Spike TV’s “Bar Rescue,” Austin’s Headhunters was the worst bar in America, host Jon Taffer says. “It’s repulsive,” he told me just hours before crews gave the place a top-to-bottom makeover. “This is the most disgusting thing ...

Nationally syndicated radio host Elvis Duran is taking over the morning shift on Kiss FM.

Dinges: Network carrying Astros, Rockets games unavailable in Austin area

It’s going to be a lot harder – if not impossible – for many fans to root, root, root for the Houston Astros this baseball season.That’s because many of the team’s games will air on Comcast SportsNet Houston, a new cable network launched late last year.The channel has exclusive rights ...

Bravo TV host Andy Cohen will be in Austin during South by Southwest.

Dinges: Blind date leads to marriage for Fox 7 anchor

Just do it. While blind dates frequently get a bad rap, Fox 7 newscaster Keri Bellacosa says she’s a big believer. After all, if she’d said “no,” the “Good Day Austin” anchor would never have met her husband, Greg. “You never know,” she told me. “I didn’t ask for it, ...

Fox 7 reporter Nancy Zambrano has landed a job at the Fox station in Houston.

Dinges: Christmas tunes pay off for Majic 95.5

Nonstop Christmas tunes annoy the heck out of many folks, but there’s clearly a sizable chunk of people out there who don’t mind hearing them all day, every day. Austin radio station 95.5 KKMJ-FM featured a Santa-centric playlist for most of December, helping it rocket up the ratings chart, according ...

Hillbilly Jane and her guitar-playing dog, Roger Pepito, auditioned for ‘America’s Got Talent’ in San Antonio.

Dinges: ‘America’s Got Talent’ auditions make stop in Texas

Texans have talent — and lots of it. So it wasn’t all that surprising to see thousands of people turn out Jan. 12 for “America’s Got Talent” auditions at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The hit NBC show has had excellent luck in our state, supervising casting producer Roz ...

Amy Hadley is the midday news anchor on YNN.

Dinges: Familiar face back on the air at YNN

A familiar face is back on the air at Austin’s YNN. After spending the past two-plus years in Prague, Amy Hadley has returned, anchoring the midday newscasts on Time Warner Cable’s 24-hour local news channel. She takes the place of anchor Paul Brown, who has shifted full-time to YNN’s political ...

Steve Harvey hosts “Family Feud,” which will be conducting auditions in Austin this month.

Dinges: Mohr debuts on 1300 AM; KISS FM ranks No. 1; reality TV eyes Austin

Bye-bye, Jim. Hello, Jay. Comedian Jay Mohr has taken over Jim Rome’s early afternoon spot on 1300 KVET-AM. Listen for Mohr, a regular fill-in for Rome in recent years, from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays on 1300 the Zone. “We’re excited about what Jay Mohr will bring to Austin every ...

Dinges: A lot of moves this year on Austin’s radio dial

Austin’s airwaves will never be the same. Is that a good thing? Depends who you ask. Local radio underwent tremendous changes in 2012 and, as we ease into 2013, even more are on the way. Let’s take a quick look at the year’s biggest events on the city’s AM and ...

‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ host Ty Pennington visited Smithville’s Zdroj family in an episode that aired this month.

Dinges: 2012 brought big changes to local TV stations

It’s been a wild, wacky year on Austin’s airwaves. Local TV saw changes aplenty in 2012 – some expected … others, not so much. Let’s take a look at some of the biggies. Anchors away: The on-air shakeup at KXAN continued, with Robert Maxwell settling into the morning and midday ...