KROQ disc jockey makes transition to ‘Real Radio’

Tuesday, April 16, 1996

Riki Rachtman drops late-night "Loveline" to play host for
unique brand of TV talk show featuring original celebrity-driven
coverageBy Kathleen Rhames

Daily Bruin Contributor

Stick Riki Rachtman in a group of people and he’s sure to stand
out. Maybe it’s his cherry-red hair, the nose ring or the tattooed
arms (he does have the 29-cent Elvis stamp on his left bicep). Or
maybe it’s none of these things.

Maybe it’s just his attitude toward life.

"You know what I am?" he says. "I’m real. I am exactly the way I
am. If you like me or hate me ­ whatever. But I’m not going to
be wishy-washy and I’m not going to go back and forth on the way I
feel. I’m going to tell you the way I feel."

This straightforward and candid approach has made Rachtman one
of the most listened-to radio DJs at KLSX Radio and secured his
show, "Real Radio," a competitive afternoon time slot.

Sitting in a makeshift kitchen inside the KLSX studio, however,
Rachtman fidgets awkwardly as if he’s not used to being on the
other side of the microphone. It’s when the conversation turns to
his latest project, a TV show of which he is the host, that he
cracks a mischievous smile.

"We did a pilot already that was really good," he says. "But we
wanted to make it different than just a regular talk show, so the
new show is going to be really different."

And that is all Rachtman has to say about that. The rest is
destined to remain a mystery, which he says is necessary to
maintain the show’s individuality, since no one is currently doing
what it plans to do.

"The TV show is going to be the return of something that hasn’t
been done for a long time on television," Rachtman says. "It’s
going to be celebrity-driven and we’re going to have celebrities,
only we’ll have celebrities that are interesting for more than
their big names, and we will have them in an environment that you
don’t usually have celebrities in on television."

But although Rachtman knows the content of the show, he states
that it’s still in the very early stages of planning. Preproduction
doesn’t even begin until May 17 or 18, and the actual premiere is
scheduled for mid to late summer.

Rachtman was given the idea to be in his own TV show while still
a DJ on KROQ’s late night call-in radio show, "Loveline," with Dr.
Drew Pinsky. KROQ expressed the idea of creating a "Loveline" TV
show with the two of them as co-hosts; an offer to which Rachtman
simply could not accept.

"The deal they gave us was the most stupid, worst deal in the
world," he says. "I told Dr. Drew, ‘Drew, let’s stick together on
this one ’cause this deal is so lame,’ but he was like, ‘Forget it,
I want a TV show.’ So I told ‘Loveline,’ ‘Screw it, I’m not doing
the ‘Loveline’ TV show and if you guys think you can do such a
great show without me I’ll go do my own show.’"

And go he did. With a hit radio show at KLSX and a ‘top secret’
new TV show in the making, Rachtman promises a future of fun and
excitement in a way that only he can present.

"The TV show is going to be very different. It’s going to be in
your face, it’s going to be sarcastic and it’s going to be fun," he
says. "I don’t think there are any television hosts that are
anything like me and I know that sounds egotistical, but it’s true.
I’m going to make the show different."

Regarding his job at KLSX, however, Rachtman speaks candidly
about his preference for the radio station. He turns to see one of
his bosses sitting nearby and jokingly comments that he would say
"mean things" even if he weren’t around. The camaraderie is
apparent.

"I get along with people here and they let me be me," he says.
"At KROQ they made me feel that the success of anybody on that
station was due to that station. Here, it’s like if your show is
successful it’s because you made it successful and if your show
sucks it’s because you suck … which is the way I want it."

"With ‘Loveline’ it was like, ‘Today, we’re going to talk about
16-year-olds jerking off! Tomorrow’s show: 16-year-olds jerking
off! Great!’ If here I want to spend half an hour talking about the
Ouija board with some witch, we’ll do it, and it’s a blast, and
then we’ll talk about the little kids jerking off, or
whatever."

Rachtman says making the move from radio to television was
nothing more than a "natural progression." From the continuing
advice of friends to his five years experience on MTV’s
"Headbanger’s Ball," the inclination to do TV seemed normal.
However, for right now, Rachtman is content to stick with radio and
plans to continue broadcasting "Real Radio" along with the TV
program.

"Radio is live and it’s real and it’s in your face," he says.
"I’m interacting with the people. If there’s something I say that
pisses people off, I know right away and if you screw up you’ve
screwed up and it’s there and you’re on. I can’t say ‘let’s do that
over.’ You have to work through it."

Rachtman pauses and then begins to speak with a firm
conviction.

"When I was on ‘Loveline,’ there was only 80 percent of me. On
my radio show, it’s 100 percent, and on the TV it’s going to be as
much as they’ll let, you know? We’re going to go up there and do a
good show and if it works it works. For better or for worse, take
it for what it’s worth."

RADIO: Riki Rachtman’s "Real Radio" airs weekday afternoons at 2
p.m. on 97.1 FM KLSX.

Riki Rachtman

… Rachtman promises a future of fun and excitement in a way
that only he can present.