King of Free Media, Mancow, Booted from LA

Is LA really that tough of a market that no one can stand out as the perfect fit in morning radio? Is it really that hard to entertain the infamous Los Angeles morning commute?

With billboards in LA proclaiming him The King of Free Media, and with KLAC's station manager calling him not just the future of radio but proclaiming that "there is not a more talented performer on the air today," starting Monday, Los Angeles will be minus one Mancow.

When Howard Stern left KSLX for Sirius, Adam Carolla took "FreeFM" straight to the bottom. Most would have thought that Mancow would have had the best chance to capture the attentions of the male demographic that Stern left behind, that Carolla wasn't attracting.

But Stern fans have been decidedly loyal. Never loved by Stern, Mancow seemingly got just as few orphaned listeners as Carolla, who actually got the real King's blessing.

KLAC is a mostly all-sports talk station that was really AM 690's sports line up of Jim Rome and Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton. The addition of Mancow seemed forced, and now it appears that even Clear Channel can't find an LA home for the Stern-wanna be.

Franklin Avenue reports that KNBC's Fred Roggin, the LA Times' T.J. Simers and Simers' daughter, Tracy will host a new morning show.

The new "Roggin and Simers Squared" show will air weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Lakers coach Phil Jackson is set to open Monday's premiere. Comedian George Lopez and "Access Hollywood" co-host Billy Bush are also signed on as regular contributors to the morning show -- as are sports legend John Wooden (who will read his poetry on Mondays) and boxing champ Oscar de la Hoya (who will give his advice on living Los Angeles).

Meanwhile there's still some time to listen to Howard Stern's free Internet trial on Sirius.com