Townsquare Media Utica, home to Big Frog 104 (WFRG), Lite 98.7 (WLZW), 96.1 The Eagle (WODZ), WIBX 950 (WIBX), and 96.9 WOUR, announced the retirement of Bill “Tad Pole” McAdams, Brand Manager and co-host of the “Tad and Polly” morning show on Big Frog 104. Bill’s co-host and spouse, Stacey “Polly Wogg” McAdams, will get a new morning show partner with the addition of Carl Neff.
Bill McAdams
“We are so incredibly thankful for Bill McAdams’ immeasurable contributions to Townsquare Media. As a programming leader over the last decade, he has helped build WFRG/Big Frog 104 into a mammoth radio brand, and helped expand WFRG and all of our stations into successful, multi-media brands,” said Townsquare Utica Market President Karen Carey. “We wish Bill the absolute best in his well-deserved retirement.”
Carey continued, “We are excited to welcome Carl Neff back home to our Townsquare Media team, as Big Frog 104’s new Morning Show Co-Host, with Polly. Carl is a fresh, energetic talent who is excited to connect with the Big Frog 104 audience. Carl is starting with this sage advice: Put on your seatbelt, Carl, because you are in for one heck of a ride with Polly!”
“We are ready to kick off 2022 by welcoming home Carl Neff. I know our audience on Big Frog 104 will be excited to have him on-air with Polly, and to follow their crazy shenanigans on our station app,” added Townsquare Utica Director of Content David Wheeler. “Bill McAdams has been an incredible Brand Manager for Big Frog 104, and an incredible coach in our industry, for so many years. It’s sad to see him go, but we are happy he will be able to have some relaxing time on the golf course when the snow finally thaws out. We wish him nothing but the best in retirement, and look forward to watching Polly yell at his cooking on Facebook.”
Carl Neff
“Getting this opportunity with Big Frog is huge for me. As someone who has grown up listening to Big Frog, joining the morning show is an unbelievable feeling. I have worked hard to get where I am, ever since I got my first opportunity on-air six years ago. Replacing Tadpole, a Central New York staple, has left me with big shoes to fill. But I can assure you, Polly and I will prove doubters wrong. We both have the same drive and love for media. Thank you to Townsquare for giving me this opportunity. I’m living my dream in the place I call home,” commented Neff.
Carl Neff first joined Townsquare Media as an intern in 2018 and worked his way up to weekend part-time on 96.1 The Eagle and Big Frog 104. After graduating SUNY Oswego for Broadcasting in 2020, he worked as afternoon news anchor on WHCU in Ithaca New York. He returns to his hometown and Townsquare to co-host mornings with Polly on Big Frog 104.
Grobstein, known to his WSCR 670 AM The Score listeners as “The Grobber,” died “suddenly” in his home on Sunday, according to his home station. He had been doing overnights there since 2009.
Grobstein had been out sick since Wednesday, his station’s operations director, Mitch Rosen, told Chicago media reporter Robert Feder. No further details were available.
“Grobstein’s deep well of sports knowledge, experience and passion earned him the loyalty and love of listeners throughout Chicago,” the radio station’s obit reads.
Born in 1952, Grobstein was a Chicago native who put more than 50 years into the sports-broadcasting profession.
Grobstein graduated from Columbia College and began his sportscasting career as a Northwestern Basketball commentator in 1970. From there, Grobstein worked as an announcer for several teams and as a reporter for Sportsphone Chicago. He had tenures as the sports director at WLS 890-AM and as a reporter for WMVP-1000 before reaching 670 The Score.
Grobstein is survived by his long-time partner, Kathy, and his son, Scott.
“It’s been quite a run for Chicago’s human sports almanac, who has been almost a Zelig in Chicago sports over the last half-century,” The Athletic’s Jon Greenberg wrote in a 50th anniversary tribute to Grobstein’s career in 2020.
Emery "passed away peacefully" surrounded by his family Saturday morning at Tristar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, his family wrote in a statement.
The broadcast star was known nationwide for his informal, relaxed hosting style and candid interviews with country music stars. He is widely credited with extending country music's reach throughout the nation during his 50-year career.
"Ralph and I go way back," Loretta Lynn said in a tweet Saturday. "He was a Nashville original and you cannot underestimate the role he played in the growth and success of country music. He made you feel at ease and interviewed everyone just like an old friend."
"Ralph Emery's impact in expanding country music's audience is incalculable," Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement Saturday. "On radio and on television, he allowed fans to get to know the people behind the songs.
"Ralph was more a grand conversationalist than a calculated interviewer, and it was his conversations that revealed the humor and humanity of Tom T. Hall, Barbara Mandrell, Tex Ritter, Marty Robbins and many more. Above all, he believed in music and in the people who make it."
Emery's talent and personality was well-recognized by the industry. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007, heralded as "the most famous TV and radio personality in country music." He was also inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 1989.
Emery was born in McEwen, Tennessee in 1933 and grew up with a deep love for radio, which served as a sanctuary during his rocky childhood.
He worked as an usher in a downtown Nashville movie theater and as a Kroger stock boy as a teen, saving money to attend the Tennessee School of Broadcasting under the instruction of Nashville radio legend John Richbourg.
Emery began his career at WTPR in Paris, Tennessee, eventually taking over the graveyard shift at Nashville's WSM in 1957 when he was 24 years old.
For 15 years, Emery filled WSM's late-night hours with records and candid conversations and jam sessions with some of country music's biggest names and newest talent — including Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Marty Robbins, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In prior interviews with The Tennessean, Emery credited his success in part to the "total autonomy" afforded to him by the early radio industry.
"I could play any record I wanted to play; nobody sat me down and told me what to play," he said in 2007.
Song catalogs from the Baby Boomer era and after are fetching enormous sums from publishers, private equity firms and others looking to capitalize on the music business’ recovery, reports The L-A Times.
Bruce Springsteen in December reached a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to sell his master recordings and songs for $500 million. Warner Chappell Music early this month bought David Bowie’s songwriting catalog for $250 million. A variety of rights and assets from artists including ZZ Top, Tina Turner and Paul Simon all sold last year.
Trade publication Music Business Worldwide estimated that more than $5 billion changed hands through music rights acquisitions last year, including publishing assets and recordings, with more to come in 2022. Buyers are said to be circling Phil Collins.
Music assets are selling for unusually high valuations. During the last 25 years, songwriting catalogs generally sold for about eight to 12 times the “net publisher’s share,” or the amount of revenue the songs generated minus the royalties paid out to the performers and songwriters. Today, valuations are hitting 25 to 30 times the publisher’s share, according to industry experts and executives.
That has led some insiders to suggest that investors are overpaying.
The sector is attracting some of the biggest players in finance. Sherrese Clarke Soares, an entertainment investing veteran, in October launched Newark, N.J.-based HarbourView Equity Partners to buy music rights with $1 billion in backing from Apollo Global Management. This month, “All of Me” singer John Legend sold his songs to private equity giant KKR and music firm BMG for an undisclosed sum.
Songwriting catalogs are stable assets that generate consistent revenues from radio play, disc sales, streaming and placement in movies, TV shows and commercials. They’re safe bets for institutional investors like pension funds to put their money, especially when interest rates are low and bonds don’t yield worthwhile returns.
But why are investors willing to spend so much on music rights? The surging growth of the recorded music business, thanks to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, has made music catalogs hot properties once again. Total U.S. album consumption increased 11% last year, according to an annual industry report by MRC and Billboard.
Plus, older music is becoming a bigger part of Americans’ streaming diet. Catalog music accounted for 70% of album consumption in 2021, up from 65% in 2020. Consumption of current tunes declined 4% in 2021, while catalog listening jumped 19%. The report credited an uptick in nostalgia for old favorites during the COVID-19 pandemic, amplified by the proliferation of music on TikTok and on home fitness platforms like Peloton.
Veteran journalist Ted Koppel has become a critic of how certain media outlets cover former President Donald Trump — giving credence to the notion of a press that it politically biased and motivated by the takedown of Trump.
Koppel, now a senior correspondent for CBS’s “Sunday Mornings,” said in a one-on-one with Dan Abrams on NewsNation Now Friday that he’s stunned at opinion pieces that run on the front page of newspapers that would have never received such positioning in decades past.
“I’m terribly concerned that when you talk about the New York Times these days, when you talk about the Washington Post these days, we’re not talking about the New York Times of 50 years ago. We’re not talking about the Washington Post of 50 years ago. We’re talking about organizations that, I believe, have, in fact, decided as organizations that Donald J. Trump is bad for the United States,” Koppel said in 2019.
Koppel explained that commentary and opinions didn’t use to appear on the front page, but times have changed following Trump’s entrance into the world of politics.
“I think opinion belongs on the opinion page; that’s why they call it the Op-Ed section. And that’s where the opinion pieces and the columns, that’s where the editorials are, and that’s where it belongs. I don’t like seeing opinion being expressed on the front page of a great newspaper,” Koppel said. “Having said that, let me say again, I think the Times, the Post, the Wall Street Journal, are doing some of the best journalism that I have seen over the past 50 years; I just wish they wouldn’t slip into that category.
He continued, “It bothers me when I see them losing some of the criteria that always used to keep a wall between opinion and newspapers.”
A dangerous storm blew through much of the southeastern U.S. yesterday, bringing high winds, heavy snow, and bone-chilling cold with it. About a quarter of a million people were left without power across the Southern states by yesterday morning, according to Weather.com. The storm, named Winter Storm Izzy by The Weather Channel, then barreled through the Northeast, bringing snow, ice, and extreme cold temperatures with it.
In southwest Florida, a tornado touched down near Fort Myers, destroying at least 28 homes and damaging many others early yesterday. Four people were injured, but none seriously.
Up to 12 inches of snow fell in parts of western North Carolina. Roads across the state were slick with ice.
Snow flurries were seen as far south as the Mississippi-Louisiana border.
In Georgia, icy roads and wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour made traveling hazardous.
Parts of Virginia and West Virginia reported snowfalls of six to eight inches as of last night.
Snow emergencies were declared in three counties in Ohio, including Coshocton, Erie, and Huron counties.
The tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut was hit late in the day with a nasty mix of snow, heavy rains, high winds and bone-chilling cold.
The New England states were braced this morning for the storm's arrival there.
BREAKING: Close view of the Tornado that moved through parts of Fort Myers, Florida this morning. Take a look at the debris in the air...
➤VOLCANO EXPLOSION HAS FAR-REACHING IMPACT: An enormous explosion of an underwater volcano at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean caused repercussions from coastal Japan to California over the weekend. Tsunamis caused by the eruption hit Hawaii and Japan, and unusually high waves were recorded near San Diego, California, and King Cove, Alaska. The tsunami warnings were lifted late yesterday.
Huge volcanic eruption near Tonga. Reports of tsunami there and it's gone pitch black. Lots of lightning too. #tongapic.twitter.com/Eia4fidPRc
As of last night, emergency workers had not yet reached Tonga, the island nation closest to the extraordinary underwater explosion. A tsunami hit near the island's capital, and both flooding and a rain of volcanic ash were reported. Its population of 100,000 is largely cut off from the rest of the world right now, as phone and internet connections are down.
The volcano erupted on Friday and again on Saturday, sending a plume of ash, gas, and steam more than 12 miles into the air.
➤DEAD HOSTAGE-TAKER IDENTIFIED: The man who took four people hostage in a Texas synagogue on Saturday has been identified. Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen, was shot dead by members of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team after an 11-hour standoff at the synagogue in Colleyville. All of the hostages are unharmed. Investigators say that the hostage-taker was demanding the release of a Muslim woman in prison in Texas after being convicted of attempting to murder American military officers in Afghanistan.
➤NO RELIEF FROM SUPPLY CHAIN WOES: The supply chain breakdowns that have led to empty shelves in many American stores could get worse this year. According to The New York Times, manufacturers and retailers are worried about China's tough zero-tolerance policy towards Covid. About two million people in China are stuck at home in quarantine, threatening disruptions of work in factories and at ports.
The Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in Beijing next month. Chinese officials are determined to stamp out Covid before the games begin February 4th.
➤TUSKEGEE AIRMAN PASSES AT AGE 102: Brigadier General Charles McGee, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, died in his sleep yesterday at the age of 102. Over a 30-year military career, McGee completed 409 air combat missions during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black aviators to serve in the U.S. military.
➤APPROXIMATELY $1 MILLION WORTH OF JEWELRY STOLEN FROM LORI LOUGHLIN’S HOME: According to E! News, Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, lost $1 million worth of jewelry when their home was broken into earlier this month. They were not at home during the time of the incident. Masked thieves reportedly entered their home by breaking a bedroom window. Authorities say it is hard to identify suspects from the surveillance footage
🎾DJOKOVIC DEPORTED FROM AUSTRALIA: Tennis star Novak Djokovic flew out of Melbourne, Australia, headed for Dubai last night. He has been deported, ending his hopes of a 10th Australian Open men's singles title. Djokovic refuses to be vaccinated against COVID-19, which is currently required for most visitors to Australia.
With the biggest name missing from the Open, odds for the men's championship are now on Daniil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev.
🏈NFL WILD CARD PLAYOFF RESULTS:
Saturday, January 15th
Cincinnati Bengals 26, Las Vegas Raiders 19, (AFC)
Buffalo Bills 47, New England Patriots 17 (AFC)
Sunday, January 16
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Philadelphia Eagles 15 (NFC)
San Francisco 49ers 23, Dallas Cowboys 17 (NFC)
Kansas City Chiefs 42, Pittsburgh Steelers 21 (AFC)
Monday Night Football game on ESPN: Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams (8:15 p.m. ET)
🏈WELL, THAT WAS EMBARRASSING! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew the Philadelphia Eagles off the field 31-15 yesterday in a wild-card game that got the Bucs a step closer to the Super Bowl. Quarterback Tom Brady completed 29 of 37 attempts without an interception and extended is postseason record for touchdown passes to 85.
🏈NICK BOSA HAS A CONCUSSION: The San Francisco 49ers lost defensive end Nick Bosa in the second quarter of last night's game against the Dallas Cowboys. A tackle from the Cowboys' La'el Collins left Bosa sitting stunned on the field. He walked off under his own power but later was diagnosed as suffering from a concussion. The 49ers won, 23-17.
🏈EAGLES' JOSH SWEAT RECOVERING FROM EMERGENCY SURGERY: Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat was missing from last night's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because he was recovering from emergency surgery, the team announced. The announcement said the surgery last Tuesday was needed to correct "a life-threatening situation." It said Sweat was recovering but "not quite ready" to play.
🏀KEVIN DURANT OUT WITH KNEE INJURY: The Brooklyn Nets announced yesterday that Kevin Durant will miss some games due to a knee injury that occurred during the second quarter of Saturday's game against New Orleans. No date is officially set for his return, but ESPN reports its sources say he could be out for four to six weeks.
🏀DRAYMOND GREEN OUT FOR 2 WEEKS OR MORE: Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors will be out for at least two weeks after doctors diagnosed a soreness in his calf as being related to a problem with a disc in his lower back. He will undergo physical therapy and be reevaluated in two weeks. That means he'll probably miss at least eight more games through the end of this month.
Country music singer Sara Evans' husband, Jay Barker, was arrested in Nashville on Saturday morning and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He allegedly tried to hit Evans with his vehicle, reports A Taste of Country.
As of late Saturday afternoon, he was being held on a 12-hour domestic violence hold.
Barker, 49, was charged with one count of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Court records indicate he was to be held for 12 hours because the charge related to “domestic violence.”
His arrest booking report lists him by his full name of Harry Jerome Barker, reports The Tennessean.
Jay Barker was a Heisman finalist during his career as Alabama's quarterback and led the Crimson Tide to the 1992 national championship.
Documents on file with Metro Nashville General Sessions Court said the people in the vehicle were leaving a party around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. As they pulled into the driveway of a nearby home, Barker allegedly reversed his vehicle “at a high rate of speed attempting to hit them, but missed,” according to the arrest affidavit.
The vehicle's occupants contacted police after Barker drove away from the home, the affidavit states. Police made contact with Barker when he later drove by the house.
CBS-42 in Birmingham, Ala., uncovered the affidavit of Barker’s arrest, revealing that the incident occurred after 1AM. Evans is said to have been in the passenger seat of a friend’s vehicle, leaving a party at a neighbor’s house. She allegedly saw Barker backing up his vehicle "at a high rate of speed attempting to hit them." Barker drove off, but returned and talked to police officers.
Barker’s bond was set at $10,000. He is scheduled to appear in court in March. Barker has been married to Evans since 2008.
Evans' romance and marriage to Barker are a large part of her 2020 memoir, Born to Fly. The relationship began soon after her contentious divorce from Craig Schelske (2006), with whom she had three children.
Evans filed for divorce last August from Barker. According to court records obtained by Scoop Nashville, Evans filed a complaint seeking divorce on Aug. 23, 2021, citing irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct. At the time, Evans also alleged Barker was guilty of inappropriate marital conduct, court records added.
Barker led Alabama to the 1992 national championship, including a victory over No. 1-ranked Miami in the Jan. 1, 1993, Sugar Bowl. He is the school’s all-time winningest quarterback with a 35-2-1 record as a starter, and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in 1994 as a senior. He finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting that year.
Barker hosts a radio show carried on WTUG 100.9 HD2 FM in Tuscaloosa as its flagship station. He previously had a morning sports talk radio show with Al Del Greco and Tony Kurre on WJOX in Birmingham.
Jon Lind, who wrote hits for Madonna, Vanessa Williams and Earth, Wind & Fire, died Saturday after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 73.
Lind’s death was confirmed by his attorney, Jeremy Rosen, Variety reported.
Primary Wave acquired a majority of Lind’s music catalog last year, the website reported. It included such songs as “Crazy for You” in 1985 by Madonna (which he co-wrote with John Bettis) and “Save the Best for Last” in 1992 by Williams (co-written with Wendy Waldman and Phil Galdston), which both reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. “Save the Best for Last” was also named ASCAP’s Song of the Year in 1992, Variety reported.
Williams also wrote “Boogie Wonderland” in 1979 and “Sun Goddess” in 1974, both of which were performed by Earth, Wind & Fire, according to the website.
Lind also co-wrote hits for Cher (”Skin Deep” and “Kiss to Kiss”), Aaron Neville, Atlantic Starr, Cheap Trick (”No Mercy”), the Emotions, Deniece Williams and Rick Astley.
Lind also headed the A&R division for Hollywood Records, where he worked with Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Jesse McCartney, Variety reported.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Lind was a folksinger during the late 1960s, opening for artists such as Judy Collins, Tom Paxton and Harry Chapin when he was a teenager, according to the website.
Bob Cavallo, who managed Lind when he was with the Fifth Avenue Band, convinced the young performer during the 1970s to become a songwriter. Cavallo later managed Earth, Wind & Fire and Prince.
Susan Bray was one of the best-known personalities in Iowa as a talk-show host on WHO-AM radio in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her husband, Ed DeLong, announced news of her death last week on the legendary radio pioneer's Facebook page:
"I lost my best friend today. Susan Bray DeLong passed away this morning, peacefully, ending a battle against a variety of bugs that started almost six months ago and gradually took their toll on her heart, lungs, and kidneys. She was 79 years, 4 months, and just under 16 days old."
Susan Bray
Susan was known as the "Saucy Aussie" because of her Australian accent and penchant for being an edgy, sometimes raunchy, talk radio host. She began flying solo behind the microphone in February 1979. Before that, she'd been teamed with conservative Cal Stout. It was, and sadly still is, unusual for women to have their own airtime in the Des Moines metro market. Susan was the first in Des Moines to have a one-woman radio show. She was celebrated, criticized and told to go back home to Australia, which she eventually did after a long talk radio career in Philadelphia.
Biggest challenge of a talk radio host is to attract listeners by getting people to call the show. Susan and her producer would cook up something naughty and get the lines to light up, writes Julie Gammick for The Des Moines Register.
"We saw a survey from a news source in England asking which are more sexy, full-size underwear or bikinis," said Beverly. Topic fodder for a Susan Bray segment.
Bing, bing, bing … the red lights on the switchboard swept the 10-line board, including the WATS line, where people from around the state could call for free.
Susan Bray was also a smart, well-read news hound. She took on presidential candidates and presidents, the most famous of whom was Ronald Reagan, who also started broadcasting on WHO-AM radio. If Reagan thought some woman would throw him softballs on his old station, he had another thing coming.
Former Des Moines Register columnist Chuck Offenburger thinks he was the one who gave Bray the "Saucy Aussie" moniker that followed her to Philadelphia. He said she brought new life to the station with her "spunk and sexiness."
"I think she was a bridge for WHO to new audiences of younger listeners and, especially, women. She was like a fresh breeze — or sometimes like a derecho — blowing across the Iowa landscape. And she had that great accent from her native Australia, and Iowans seemed to love it.
According to a family spokesperson, Jackson had suffered from Parkinson’s Disease for more than a decade.
Born in England, Jackson lived through World War II and The Blitz bombings of the British Isle, where his father served as a Royal Air Force Navigator Trainer. After the war, the Jackson family moved to South Africa, where Michael began a career as a radio disc jockey. In 1958, horrified by apartheid, the family moved to San Francisco, where Jackson worked as a DJ at KYA and KEWB, before moving to Los Angeles at KHJ and later KNX.
Eight years later, Jackson took a job at KABC Radio in Los Angeles (and syndicated on the ABC Radio Network), where he remained for nine years, kicking off a 32-year run as one of the most notable radio talk show personalities at the time. During his three-decade career, Jackson interviewed such political luminaries as Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, along with A-List movie and TV stars and other creative artists.Jackson received a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984, was named the Los Angeles Times’ “Number One Radio Talk Host of the Year” in 1997 and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. He was a Member of the Order of the British Empire who also earned accolades throughout his career including four Golden Mike Awards, an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Western School of Law and the French Legion of Merit Award. More than 2,000 of his radio interviews are housed in the Library of Congress.
Lee Kline, a noted farm broadcaster and Iowa radio personality, died peacefully of natural causes at age 91 in a Des Moines hospice on Tuesday, January 11, 2022.
Born Marvin Leon Kline on January 25, 1930, he was raised on a farm just north of Conrad, a small town in central Iowa. He graduated with honors from high school in Conrad and later graduated from Iowa State University in 1951 with a degree in agricultural journalism.
After a few years as a public relations specialist for the Chicago Stockyards, in 1954, Kline joined the growing farm department at WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa, his life-long career dream.
On the air for 41 years as a full-time farm broadcaster for WHO, Kline became known for his warm interviewing style, natural curiosity, recordings of unique sounds and an ability to prompt heart-felt stories from farmers, families, businesspeople, celebrities, and politicians. Kline retired from full-time broadcasting in 1995, but continued his popular, weekly "Lee Kline's Notebook" radio broadcasts on WHO and WMT (Cedar Rapids) for another 23 years until age 88 in 2018.
A radio station in Houltonm NMaine has fired two announcers after they were caught mocking the weight of players during a livestream of a high school girl’s basketball game in Maine.
Fox News reports Jim Carter and Steve Shaw were fired following outrage and numerous complaints from community members and parents, WHOU 100.9 FM owner Fred Grant told the Portland Press-Herald.
The announcers – who apparently didn't realize their microphones were on -- made their comments during a game between Easton High School and Central Aroostook High School, located near the Canadian border.
"Two girls out here extremely overweight," one of them apparently says on a hot mic, the Press-Herald reported. "Awful." Other comments were also made, followed by the sound of laughter, the paper reported.
Shaw specifically talked about finding "uniforms that fit the girls," while Carter identified a girl by her uniform number, Portland's WCSH-TV reported
"Wow," Carter said at one point, according to the station. "Would you look at her."
Grant fired Carter and Shaw after the broadcast on Thursday, he said. The owner noted that announcers hired by WHOU are trained to focus on the game and refrain from "commenting negatively about players, coaches, or officials."
"It’s in writing. It’s verbalized. It’s repeated," Grant said. "They knew the deal. It’s a colossal failure by them."
The station posted an apology on its website:
Our mission has been to highlight the best of our communities, our schools, the programs we love, and most importantly – our students. Last night, two broadcasters made comments that were not only inappropriate, they were also blatantly wrong. Those broadcasters were terminated.
For the last 11 years we’ve had the privilege of broadcasting students as they participate in the sports and events that they are passionate about with the people, teams and ensembles they love. We see the pride their families have for their students and the team as a whole. We collectively swell with pride when they perform their best regardless of the outcome. Every night students go out and give it their all, they learn, they pick themselves and each other up when things get tough. We might be disappointed when they lose, but we’re inspired by their resilience when they come back to give it another shot. That’s what is important and that’s what we embrace.
In all the events we cover, every single one of our students gets better, they learn and they grow. Every day they face the challenges of their situation, whether it be on the court, at home or at school, but the important part is that they keep going. All of our students deserve our respect. Our students are living through the most challenging times in our history. Not only are they struggling through a pandemic, they also have the challenges of living in an age of social media which many of us would say that’s even worse than the pandemic
I apologize that the broadcasters failed to see this fundamental belief and I apologize for their behavior. I know they are remorseful and I believe they, too, will continue to learn from their mistakes.
We’ve heard from many of you, and many have shared clips of the event in question. While it’s wrong that it happened, I’m going to ask each of you to help us shift the focus back on the excellence we see every day in our students. If you’ve shared the video post, I’m hoping you will take it down, not to downplay the incident, but to better help all of our students move on to the important work and events in their lives.
Thank you,
Fred Grant Owner, WHOU.live
Both Shaw and Carter had been broadcasting games for WHOU for roughly a month, the Press-Herald reported. Shaw previously worked as athletic director at Easton High School, while Carter is a retired teacher and coach from another school.
On Friday, Carter said he apologized to the superintendent of the school that has players he mocked.
➦In 1903...Radio game show host and actor Warren Hull was born in Gasport NY.
A movie actor in the 30’s, he turned to radio in the 40’s with announcer/host roles on such shows as Your Hit Parade and Vox Pop. Hull was also the emcee of Spin To Win, only the second game show created by the team of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman.
The next two decades he hosted TV game shows Strike It Rich, Top Dollar, Who In the World and Beat the Odds.
“Strike It Rich” was a wildly successful CBS radio‐television show of the 1950s that ‘was part quiz and part give‐away and offered the public the spectacle of often despondent people relating their hard‐luck stories to Mr. Hull.
Participants were able to win a few hundred dollars by correctly answering a few questions, in addition to which the program featured a “heart line” through which pitying viewers could telephone offers of cash, clothing, merchandise and jobs.
He died of heart failure Sept 14 1974 at age 71.
Betty White 1953 and 2019
➦In 1922...Comedic Actress Betty White was born. A pioneer of early television, with a career spanning over eight decades, White was noted for her vast work in the entertainment industry and being one of the first women to work both in front of and behind the camera. She was the first woman to produce a sitcom (Life with Elizabeth) in the United States, which contributed to her being named honorary Mayor of Hollywood in 1955. White is often referred to as the "First Lady of Television", a title used for a 2018 documentary detailing her life and career.
After World War 2, her first radio jobs included reading commercials and playing bit parts, and sometimes even doing crowd noises. She made about five dollars a show. She would do just about anything, like singing on a show for no pay. She appeared on shows such as Blondie, The Great Gildersleeve, and This Is Your FBI. She was then offered her own radio show, called The Betty White Show. In 1949, she began appearing as co-host with Al Jarvis on his daily live television variety show Hollywood on Television, originally called Make Believe Ballroom, on KFWB and on then KLAC-TV (now KCOP-TV) in Los Angeles.
After making the transition to television from radio, White became a staple panelist of American game shows, including Password, Match Game, Tattletales, To Tell the Truth, The Hollywood Squares, and The $25,000 Pyramid; dubbed "the first lady of game shows", White became the first woman to receive the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for the show Just Men! in 1983. She was also known for her appearances on The Bold and the Beautiful, Boston Legal, and The Carol Burnett Show. Her biggest roles include Sue Ann Nivens on the CBS sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973–1977), Rose Nylund on the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–1992), and Elka Ostrovsky on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010–2015). She gained renewed popularity after her appearance in the 2009 romantic comedy film The Proposal (2009), and was subsequently the subject of a successful Facebook-based campaign to host Saturday Night Live in 2010, garnering her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
White earned a Guinness World Record for "Longest TV career by an entertainer (female)" in 2014 and in 2018 for her lengthy work in television. White received eight Emmy Awards in various categories, three American Comedy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy Award. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was a 1995 Television Hall of Fame inductee. White died December 31, 2021, six days after suffering a stroke.
➦In 1949... after 18 years on radio, “The Goldbergs” starring Gertrude Berg, began its seven-year run on TV.
➦In 1964...the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was “There! I’ve Said It Again” by Bobby Vinton. This song was the last No. 1 song before the British invasion. After four weeks at No. 1, Vinton gave way to the Beatles and their first U.S. hit, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
➦In 1986...Longtime Chicago radio personality Joel Sebastian died at age 53. He began his radio career in his native Detroit at station WXYZ, moved to Chicago in 1966, after working at stations in Dallas, New Haven, Conn., and Los Angeles.
Over the last 20 years, he had been a disc jockey and morning on-air personality at eight Chicago radio stations, including WCFL, WLS, WGN, WMAQ and, most recently, WJMK-FM (104).
He began his Chicago career at WCFL as a talkative morning disc jockey. He would open each show with the greeting ''Good morning Chicago, baby,'' while playing Jack Jones` rendition of ''My Kind of Town.''
Sebastian performed a variety of radio roles, reflecting both the wide range of his abilities and the whimsical nature of the business. He was program director at WCFL, rock DJ at several stations and, in the late 1970s, an all-night classical music show host at WGN.
He survived a purge at WMAQ when the station switched to country music in 1975. Most of the on-air staff, including Mr. Sebastian, was fired. But he was rehired a short time later as production chief and weekend personality.
He also worked at WNEW, WKHK, WHN and WNBC in New York City, returning to Chicago in June 1983 to WJMX.
➦In 1989...Scott Shannon last show at WHTZ Z100 NYC. Shannon founded the "Z Morning Zoo" concept and he was the driving force in helping Z100 become the top-rated FM station in New York City within a mere 74 days of signing on the air.
In 1989, Shannon left Z100 for Los Angeles to start up Pirate Radio, KQLZ. Pirate Radio employed a similar Top 40 concept. As the 1990s began, Top 40 radio experienced a decline, and eventually Pirate Radio struggled as well, leading to Shannon's departure.
In 1991 he returned to New York and resurfaced on Z100's biggest rival, WPLJ. He is now hosting mornings on Entercom's Classic Hits WCBS 101.1 FM NYC.
➦In 2004...TV talk show host, Jerry Springer, began a new radio show on WCKY-AM, Cincinnati, the city where he once had been mayor.
➦In 2012...Johnny Otis, a bandleader and songwriter often called the “Godfather of R & B,” died at home in L.A. at age 90. Best-known for writing “Willie And The Hand Jive,” Otis helped pave the way for Rock & Roll in the early ‘50s.
Mick Taylor is 74
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor James Earl Jones is 91.
Talk show host Maury Povich is 83.
Singer Chris Montez is 80.
Singer William Hart of The Delfonics is 77.
Actor Joanna David (“Downton Abbey”) is 75.
Actor Jane Elliott (“General Hospital”) is 75.
Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor is 74.
Singer Sheila Hutchinson of The Emotions is 69.
Singer Steve Earle is 67.
Singer Paul Young is 66.
Actor-comedian Steve Harvey is 65.
Singer Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles is 63.
Writer-Director Brian Helgeland (“42,” ″Mystic River,” ″L.A. Confidential”) is 61
Actor Jim Carrey is 60.
Amanda Wilkinson is 40
Actor Denis O’Hare (“The Good Wife,” ″True Blood”) is 60.
Actor Joshua Malina (“The West Wing,” ″Sports Night”) is 56.
Singer Shabba Ranks is 56.
Actor Naveen Andrews (“Instinct,” “Lost”) is 53.
Electronic musician DJ Tiesto is 53.
Musician Kid Rock is 51.
Actor Freddy Rodriguez (“The Night Shift,” ″Six Feet Under”) is 47.
Actor-writer Leigh Whannel (“Saw” and “Insidious” movies) is 45.
Actor-singer Zooey Deschanel (“New Girl”) is 42.
Singer Ray J is 41.
Country singer Amanda Wilkinson of The Wilkinsons is 40.
Actor Ryan Gage (“The Hobbit”) is 39.
DJ Calvin Harris is 38.
Drummer Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers is 36.
Actor Jonathan Keltz (“Reign,” ″Entourage”) is 34.
Actor Kelly Marie Tran (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) is 33.
➦In 1939....the shrill siren call of radio’s “I Love a Mystery” was heard for the first time as the show debuted on NBC’s West Coast outlets. Creator Carleton E. Morse already had an established hit in a completely different genre, ‘One Man’s Family.’
FLASHBACK:
Click Hereto Flashback to Radio January 16, 1926. How's this for an astounding headline?
➦In 1944...the family sitcom ‘The Life of Riley‘ began a 7 year run on radio, the first 18 months on the Blue Network, thereafter on NBC. A blue-collar William Bendix starred as Chester A. Riley.
➦In 1947...SiriusXM Radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger was born in Brooklyn, New York.
Schlessinger's first appearance on radio was in 1975 when she called in to a KABC Los Angeles show hosted by Bill Ballance. Impressed by her quick wit and sense of humor, Ballance began featuring her in a weekly segment. Schlessinger's stint on Ballance's show led to her own shows on a series of small radio stations. By 1979 she was on the air Sunday evenings from 9:00 to midnight on KWIZ in Santa Ana, California. That year, the Los Angeles Times described her show as dealing with all types of emotional problems, "though sex therapy is the show's major focus".
In the late 1980s, Schlessinger was filling in for Barbara De Angelis' noon-time relationship-oriented talk show in Los Angeles on KFI, while working weekends at KGIL in San Fernando. Her big break came when Sally Jessy Raphael began working at ABC Radio, and Maurice Tunick, former Vice-President of Talk Programming for the ABC Radio Networks, needed a regular sub for Raphael's evening personal advice show. Tunick chose Schlessinger to fill in for Raphael.
Ultimately, Schlessinger began broadcasting a daily show on KFI which was nationally syndicated in 1994 by Synergy, a company owned by Schlessinger and her husband. In 1997, Synergy sold its rights to the show to Jacor Communications, Inc., for $71.5 million. Later, Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications and a company co-owned by Schlessinger, Take On The Day, LLC, acquired the production rights. The show became a joint effort between Take On The Day, which produced it, Talk Radio Network, which syndicated and marketed it to radio stations, and Premiere Radio Networks, (a subsidiary of Clear Channel), which provided satellite facilities and handled advertising sales. As of September 2009, Schlessinger broadcast from her home in Santa Barbara, California with KFWB as her flagship station. Podcasts and live streams of the show have been available on her website for a monthly fee, and the show was also on XM Satellite Radio.
At its peak, The Dr. Laura Program was the second-highest-rated radio show after The Rush Limbaugh Show, and was heard on more than 450 radio stations.
In May 2002, the show still had an audience of more than 10 million, but had lost several million listeners in the previous two years as it was dropped by WABC and other affiliates, and was moved from day to night in cities such as Seattle and Boston. These losses were attributed in part to Schlessinger's shift from giving relationship advice to lecturing on morality and conservative politics. Pressure from gay rights groups caused dozens of sponsors to drop the radio show as well. In 2006, Schlessinger's show was being aired on approximately 200 stations. As of 2009, it was tied for third place along with The Glenn Beck Program and The Savage Nation.
On August 17, 2010, during an appearance on Larry King Live, Schlessinger announced the end of her radio show saying that her motivation was to "regain her First Amendment rights", and that she wanted to be able to say what is on her mind without "some special interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent." Several of her affiliates and major sponsors had dropped her show after her on air use of a racial epithet on August 10.
On January 3, 2011, Schlessinger's show moved exclusively to SiriusXM Radio.
David Seville
➦In 1972....David Seville died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, just days short of his 53rd birthday.
Born Ross Bagdasarian, the musician was the force, and artist, behind the Alvin and the Chipmunks novelty songs of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. Seville first claimed fame, not through the novelty impact of the hit, “The Chipmunk Song” (it sold 3.5 million copies in five weeks); but by writing Rosemary Clooney’s biggest hit, “Come on-a My House”, in the early 1950s and the number one hit, “Witch Doctor”, in 1958.
➦In 1986...evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong, founder and longtime leader of the Worldwide Church of God, and original voice of the longtime radio/TV religious broadcast, “The World Tomorrow,” died at the age of 93. His son and fellow preacher,Garner Ted Armstrong, succeeded him on the air in 1957.
➦In 2016…Ted Marchibroda died at age 84 (Born March 15, 1931). He was a football quarterback and head coach in the National Football League. He spent his four years as an active player with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1953, 1955–1956) and Chicago Cardinals (1957). He was later head coach of the Colts in two different cities and decades, first in Baltimore during the 1970s and then Indianapolis during the early-1990s. Upon joining the Baltimore Ravens in a similar capacity in 1996, he became the only individual to serve as head coach with both of Baltimore's NFL teams. His career coaching record was 87–98–1 (.470) and 2–4 in the playoffs
Marchibroda was a radio color commentator for the Indianapolis Colts from 1999 to 2006 alongside Bob Lamey.
➦In 2017...Russ Thompson, a prominent afternoon drive time radio host for over 40 years in Toronto, succumbed to cancer at age 82. Russ worked for CKEY, CBC Radio, CKFM and finished his career at Easy 97 in 1992. He was also a TV spokesman for some of the Canada’s most prestigious brands including GM, Timex, CN/CP, Belvedere and Proctor and Gamble.
Barbara Lynn is 80
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Opera singer Marilyn Horne is 88.
Singer Barbara Lynn is 80.
Country singer Ronnie Milsap is 79.
Singer Katherine Anderson Schaffner of The Marvelettes is 78.
Renee Felice Smith is 37
Country singer Jim Stafford is 78.
Radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger is 75.
Director John Carpenter (“Halloween” films) is 74.
Actor-dancer Debbie Allen is 72.
Singer Maxine Jones of En Vogue is 63.
Singer Sade is 63.
Singer-songwriter Jill Sobule is 63.
Bassist Paul Webb of Talk Talk is 60.
Actor David Chokachi (“Baywatch”) is 54.
Comedian Jonathan Mangum (“Whose Line Is It Anyway,” ″The Drew Carey Show”) is 51.
Actor Richard T. Jones (“The Rookie,” “Judging Amy”) is 50.
Actor Josie Davis (“Beverly Hills 90210”) is 49.
Supermodel Kate Moss is 49.
Actor-playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Mary Poppins Returns,” ″Hamilton”) is 43.
Guitarist James Young of The Eli Young Band is 42.
Guitarist Nick Valensi of The Strokes is 41.
Actor Renee Felice Smith (“NCIS: Los Angeles”) is 37.
Diverging from the sharp gain in momentum in advertising and marketing spending in 2021, consumer time spent with media registered a more modest uptick, similar to pre-pandemic trends through 2019 when signs of device penetration saturation began to emerge, according to new research released by PQ Media.
Global consumer media usage, including all digital and traditional media channels, grew at a decelerated rate of 1.6% to an average of 54.4 hours per week (HPW) in 2021, slowing down from the pandemic-fueled boost of 3.1% in 2020, which was the fastest increase in annual media consumption in 15 years, according to PQ Media’s Global Consumer Media Usage Forecast 2021-2025.
COVID-19 and the lockdown measures employed to stem its spread, shook up the media economy in 2020 in such a way that secular trends driving down media usage growth in some segments were reversed, including several digital media channels, while cyclical trends expected to boost usage in other segments were postponed, such as the Summer Olympics, and emerging growth trends in newer media accelerated, like the rise of streaming video and audio.
Even though media usage growth decelerated in 2021 due to many countries relaxing COVID mandates as cases declined, allowing businesses to reopen and hire new employees, as well as executives returning to offices and students going back into classrooms, the gain was higher than anticipated and more in line with pre-pandemic levels. This was due to three factors that included: a) the unusual cyclical charge from the Summer Olympics, which were postponed from the prior year; b) some major markets needing to tighten pandemic restrictions when COVID-19 variants emerged in late third quarter and fourth quarter that required some consumers to stay home again; and c) resistance by some employees to return to offices and the so-called “Great Resignation of 2021,” in which workers quit jobs in record numbers.
One of the byproducts of the pandemic is that the shift to digital media consumption has accelerated, rising from 22% in 2015 to an estimated 33.4% globally in 2021. In most developed countries, the share is over 40%, and South Korea will become the first market in which the entire population averages more than 50% digital media usage in 2022. Select generation groups are already posting over 60% digital media usage, such as Millennials in the Netherlands.
This shift is a result of the strong growth of global digital media usage, which increased 8.3% in 2021 to 18.15 HPW, after a double-digit increase in 2020, whereas traditional media consumption is expected to fall 1.4% in 2021 to 36.23 HPW, the fifth consecutive year of decline, according to PQ Media’s annual Global Consumer Media Usage Forecast 2021-2025.
Key digital media growth drivers were mobile video, OTT streaming video services, audio streaming services & podcasting, digital books, digital out-of-home (OOH) media, and videogames (console and digital), according to PQ Media. Meanwhile, traditional media usage fell across most media platforms, with the exception of print books, over-the-air (OTA) radio, and traditional OOH, the latter two fueled by more cars on the road that exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2019. However, while movie theater admissions more than doubled in 2021, the overall traditional film industry suffered a decline in usage because DVD sales plummeted.
The pandemic altered media consumption patterns in the short term such that the growth acceleration in 2020 was more pronounced while the deceleration in 2021 was much softer. While most media are hit driven, in which consumer usage increases when there is a slate of blockbuster titles, media platforms in 2020 were reporting record consumption, despite fewer blockbusters because, historically, media tends to have a cathartic effect on consumers during difficult economic periods.
In 2022, media consumption is projected to grow at an accelerated rate of 2.5%, driven by new, more compelling original content releases, various international sporting events and federal elections in several of the top 20 global media markets. Foremost among the sporting events are the FIFA World Cup coverage from Qatar (almost 3.5 billion viewers in 2018); the Winter Olympics from China; and rugby’s World Cup in the U.K. In addition, the United States will feature a number of hotly contested federal elections late in the year.
The nation’s largest newspaper chain is discontinuing Saturday print editions starting March 5 at more than half of its newspapers nationwide, saying it will instead offer “new, additional benefits” including expanded access to online editions.
The Boston Business Journal reports Gannett Co. Inc. told staff in an email on Wednesday that it is “introducing a new Saturday experience in 136 of our markets which transitions from delivering the Saturday print edition to providing exclusive access to the full Saturday e-Edition.”
According to the company’s most recent annual filing, it operates 253 daily newspaper across the country.
Sources told the Business Journal that while the chain’s two largest dailies, The Providence Journal and the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, will not be affected, most others will, including the Cape Cod Times, the Fall River Herald News and the New Bedford Standard Times. Some of Gannett’s dailies, such as the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, have previously combined Saturday and Sunday print editions into one print product delivered on Saturday.
In a statement to the Business Journal, Gannett spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton said the company is “committed to the sustainable future of local news.”
"Our business — just like any other — is adapting to a competitive digital world. With more of our readers engaging with our content online, we are embracing our digital future with this evolved Saturday experience while ensuring our subscribers have unlimited access to the news, sports, events and information they value most,” Anton said.
Anton added that the company will offer subscribers new benefits such as “universal access to hundreds of e-Editions throughout the USA TODAY Network in cities across the country, as well as ad-free, 24/7 access to our USA TODAY Crossword puzzle.”
Saturday's first-round NFL Playoff matchup between the Bills and Patriots will be unique in that it stands to likely be among the coldest-ever NFL post-season games. It will fall short of some other memorably frigid playoff games, but only a small handful of post-season games in NFL history have had lower temperatures during the game, reports Accuweather.
Like the Bills, the Patriots are no strangers to playing in winter weather. New England’s dynastic run under head coach Bill Belichick began in a snowstorm began almost exactly 21 years ago in a game that was nicknamed the Snow Bowl (or for some, the Tuck Rule Game). Battling the Oakland Raiders, Belichick’s Patriots won on an overtime field goal in howling winds and fiercely falling snow -- a result that lives in infamy.
According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff, Reardon and the rest of Bills Mafia will need to prepare for the worst of the cold.
"Although the lake-effect machine has been cranking recently around Buffalo, New York, no snow is in the forecast for Saturday night’s game, but bitter cold is a guarantee," Duff said. "Temperatures are expected to remain around 3-4 F throughout the game, and while there won’t be much wind, a slight breeze will push AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures below zero at times."
AccuWeather forecasters say the temperature in Orchard Park won't make it out of the single digits for a high on Saturday. A game-time temperature of 4 degrees or lower at Highmark Stadium would put the game among the top 10 coldest ever NFL playoff games, according to Stathead, a sports research database.
Accuweather graphics
A mark of 4 degrees would make it the second coldest NFL wild-card round playoff game of all time -- second only to the matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings in 2016, which was 6 degrees below zero at kickoff. Moreover, a game-time temperature below 8 degrees would make this game the second-coldest Bills home game in franchise history, behind only the 0-degree kickoff temp on Jan 15., 1994, for a playoff game against the then Los Angeles Raiders. At that point, the Bills' home venue was known as Rich Stadium.
