Dare I type this article using the Courier font; I wouldn't want Mercedes to not read my article about her new-to-Sacramento morning show. I also wouldn't want her to karate chop me.

The half Hungarian, half Spanish co-host of Mark & Mercedes in the Morning on KZZO-FM (100.5 The Zone) has been married for nearly nine years, has two kids, and her radio career is going in a direction that many radio folk would love to duplicate. She has been co-hosting a morning show in Las Vegas for the last 12 years, and now she has expanded to two markets.

Mark and Mercedes have a new challenge, and that is to remain relevant with radio listeners in Sacramento and Las Vegas. Is that possible? Mark seems to think so: "What we can do is discuss news stories of national interest and pop culture items that will appeal to both markets." He continues, "We also strive to create compelling content based on the events of our daily lives and the lives of our listeners."

M&M (as I like to call them) aren't the only ones facing this challenge. Sacramento has many radio shows on the air that originate in far away lands, like Rush Limbaugh on KFBK-AM (News Talk 1530) who originates from New York and sometimes Florida, Sean Hannity on KSTE-AM (Talk 650) from New York, Mark and Brian on KSEG-FM (96.9 The Eagle) from Los Angeles, Ryan Seacrest on KGBY-FM (My 92.5) also from LA, among many others.

Not all KZZO listeners have embraced M&M just yet.

"Some of the negative e-mails have indicated a desire for more music," Mark tells me. "Not surprising, given the fact that KZZO was extremely music intensive during (the) morning [commute] prior to the launch of our show."

Mark & Mercedes can be heard weekday mornings from 5:00am until 10:00am. But the question is, do M&M like the type of music they play on KZZO? Well, their favorite performance from Sunday's Grammy award show was Coldplay, if that means anything.

And if you're still wondering about the Courier font and karate talk at the beginning of this article, those are things Mercedes is very vocal about. She hates Courier, and knows karate.

I, too, know karate; and nine other Chinese words.

I Have Bragging Rights

Two stories I reported last week as rumors have happened, so I brag.

KCCL-FM (92.1 K-HITS) is bringing back the Sacramento River Cats this year. The season starts April 9th, and expect away games to be tape delayed as they were in 2008.

Armstrong & Getty, mornings on KSTE, are now also heard from 7:00pm to 9:00pm on sister station KFBK. No, they are not live. Most of the content is re-packaged from their morning show. In all honesty, I like the evening version better. All of the hot air has been taken out and it is nothing but pure news talk and entertaining content.

Talk To Me

I decided to start something new this week to make sure I am delivering information about Sacramento radio that you actually want to know. Each week I will ask a question in the Talk To Me portion of my column. Answer the question simply by posting a comment to this article below.

This week's question: Who is your single favorite radio personality in Sacramento radio? Why?