RADIONew Radio ‘Machine’: A new Spanish-language station...

RADIO

New Radio ‘Machine’: A new Spanish-language station has burst onto the Los Angeles radio scene by playing the same song 4,396 times in a row. Calling itself “La Maquina 98.3 FM,” the station combines modern Mexican country music with hot Spanish adult contemporary, a combination of two already successful Spanish formats on stations KLAX and KLVE. Before debuting in its new form, “La Maquina” (The Machine) attracted attention when it played the same song, Los Bukis’ “Morenita,” continuously for a week.

Desert Listeners Get KCRW: Palm Springs-area residents can now hear programming from Santa Monica’s KCRW-FM, including such popular shows as “Which Way L.A.?,” “Morning Becomes Eclectic” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” The National Public Radio flagship station can now be heard 24 hours a day on Indio radio station KCRY-FM (89.3).

TELEVISION

Look Like Urkel? Or an ‘Untouchable’?: Being a dweeb may not be something to brag about under normal circumstances. But ABC’s “Family Matters” is launching a cross-country search for the funniest and best impressions of the show’s clumsy nerd, Steve Urkel. Viewers ages 4-12 can submit a VHS videotape of their impressions to Warner Bros. Television by Dec. 3, with the two best entries to win guest roles on an upcoming episode, in which series star Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) has a nightmare that his daughter Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams) marries Steve Urkel (Jaleel White), thus producing another generation of irritating Urkels. . . . Meanwhile, Paramount Television has launched a nationwide search for a 20-to-25-year-old leading man to join the syndicated series “The Untouchables.” Open casting calls will be held in Los Angeles at the Paramount lot on Monday.

Switching Networks: Dana King, who has been a co-anchor on ABC’s “Good Morning America Sunday” since its launch in January, is moving to CBS News to be a correspondent on a new magazine show to rise from the ashes of the defunct “Street Stories” early next spring. King’s last ABC broadcast is Dec. 19. King previously worked in Los Angeles under the name of Dana James, as a reporter and sometimes-anchor at KABC-TV.

MOVIES

‘Shame’ on Hollywood: Yet another award has come to Hollywood, but this time it’s an unwelcome one. The film industry tops the 1993 list of Working Woman magazine’s third annual Hall of Shame, which hits the newsstands this week. “Women continued to be shut out of most big-budget films, and when they did appear, it was usually as commodities, to be sold to the highest bidder,” the magazine says, noting such examples as Demi Moore’s $1-million price tag in “Indecent Proposal” and Uma Thurman’s $40,000 value in “Mad Dog and Glory.”

POP/ROCK

‘Common Thread’ Cleared: Tennessee officials determined Tuesday that there was no intentional wrongdoing in the financial structure of “Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles,” a charity album conceived by former Eagles singer Don Henley to raise money to preserve woodlands around Walden Pond. The state began investigating the Giant Records project after several Nashville managers and record executives complained that more of the proceeds should be going to charity. The state did find a technical violation, which the project corrected by paying a $1,000 fee to register as a professional solicitor.

ART

Weisman Museum Opening: The University of Minnesota’s Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum--named for the Los Angeles art collector and designed by Southland architect Frank O. Gehry--will open to the public on Sunday after three days of celebrations. Weisman, who gave $3 million in seed money to the $14-million Minneapolis museum, kicks off the opening festivities today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Inaugural exhibitions feature contemporary pieces from Weisman’s collection, works by artists who have influenced Gehry’s architecture and examples from the university’s permanent collection.

QUICK TAKES

Pop star Whitney Houston canceled a concert in Barcelona Tuesday night after she got food poisoning, apparently from eating oysters in a luxury hotel. She plans to reschedule the show for the end of the month. . . . Popular children’s TV character Barney, the purple dinosaur, will get his first prime-time network special on NBC next April, with the hourlong “Bedtime With Barney.” . . . Theatergoers who bring cans of food to the Westwood Playhouse box office will receive $5 off the ticket price of the comedy “Jeffrey,” from Sunday through Nov. 26. The food will go to the AIDS Project Los Angeles Necessities of Life Program. . . . Former NBC News anchor John Chancellor has been chosen to narrate Ken Burns’ 18-hour documentary about baseball that will air on PBS next year.