Gannett Closes On Journal Media Group

Gannett Co., Inc. and Journal Media Group, Inc. announced Friday that they have closed the transaction by which Gannett is acquiring Journal Media Group, Inc., including its 15 daily newspapers and affiliated digital assets.

Gannett will operate USA TODAY and 107 dailies in 34 states and Guam, in addition to Newsquest in the U.K., with its 150 local digital and print news brands.

“Today’s announcement marks an important milestone as we combine two award-winning media companies with a passion for delivering outstanding news and information, each focused on digital growth across all platforms and devices and being the market leaders in our communities,” said Robert Dickey, president and CEO of Gannett.

Boston Globe Denounces Trump Candidacy

(Reuters) -- Headlines screaming "Deportations to begin" and "Markets sink as trade war looms" top a parody newspaper front page the Boston Globe posted on Saturday, with a scathing editorial denouncing Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump's candidacy.

The mock-up, offering the Globe's satirical view of America under a Trump presidency, was set to run as the front page of the newspaper's "Ideas" section, followed on page 2 of that section by the anti-Trump editorial.

The novel front-page spoof, says the editorial, is designed to take Trump's rhetoric and his policy positions to their "logical conclusion."

"It is an exercise in taking a man at his word," the editorial says. "And his vision of America promises to be as appalling in real life as it is in black and white on the page."

The editorial brands the billionaire businessman as a "demagogue" whose own political vision is "profoundly un-American."

It casts his closest rival for the 2016 Republican nomination, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, as "equally extreme" and urges Republicans, if possible at the party's nominating convention in July, to draft a "plausible, honorable" alternative, suggesting U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

The mock Trump page was conceived and executed by the Globe's editorial writers, columnists and commentary editors, who make up the newspaper's editorial board, said Ellen Clegg, the newspaper's editorial page editor.

Noting that she reports to John Henry, the Globe's publisher, Clegg stressed to Reuters in a telephone interview that the front-page parody "does not involve our newsroom."

Report: Britain's Daily Mail Eyeing Yahoo Bid

The U.K.’s Daily Mail has emerged as a suitor for Yahoo Inc.’s assets, joining a wide group of interested companies that includes telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. as an April 18 deadline for preliminary offers nears, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The parent company of the Daily Mail, the British newspaper and global tabloid website, is in talks with several private-equity firms to launch a bid for Yahoo, the people said. Daily Mail & General Trust PLC, whose main interest is Yahoo’s news and media properties, is just one of some 40 players that have expressed interest in the Web portal.

Yahoo has held meetings with Verizon, IAC/InterActiveCorp and CBS Corp., one of the people said. The Mail hasn’t yet met with Yahoo executives. Verizon, which owns AOL and is looking to beef up its digital media and advertising businesses further, is considered a front-runner for Yahoo, according to many executives and analysts following the sale process.

St.Louis Radio: Talker Dana Loesch OUT At KFTK

Dana Loesch

Radio talk host Dana Loesch, who began her climb to national notoriety in St. Louis, will no longer be heard on KFTK 97.1 FM.

Marc Cox, a longtime KMOV-TV4 reporter and anchor, will take over the noon-to-3 p.m. weekday shift starting on Monday.

"This is like a dream job, back in the media full time," Cox said.

Marc Cox

"FM NewsTalk 97" program director Jeff Allen told stltoday.com the move had nothing to do with any dissatisfaction with Loesch, who now lives in Dallas. He said the change keeps with the station's philosophy to keep its programming "live and local."

Cox left KMOV in May 2012 after 19 years at the station. He was best known as co-anchor of "News 4 This Morning." He then took a job as a financial adviser at Edward Jones, a position he resigned to join the radio station.

Loesch, who wrote for the Post-Dispatch in 2006 and then became an early Tea Party organizer, began working at the station in 2009. She moved to Dallas in 2014 and now syndicates "The Dana Show."  The syndicated show will continue.

KFTK 97.1 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Report: Tidal Has Fewer White Listeners

Tidal, Jay Z’s music streaming service, recently announced that it had passed 3 million paying subscribers.

That number was helped by high-profile exclusives from Kanye West and Rihanna, both of whose albums have since made their way to other streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. But the exclusive windows did their job: getting people to download Tidal. Kanye’s release, in particular, rocketed Tidal to the top of the App Store download charts.

And, according to BusinessInsider,  there is one demographic where Tidal is doing exceptionally well, according to data provided to Business Insider by SurveyMonkey Intelligence, SurveyMonkey's new third-party app insights platform.

Ethnicity

In March, 2016, analysts found that 45% of US Tidal app users identified as black, compared to 16% on Spotify, and 20% on Pandora.

White US users did not have as much of a presence on the service, comprising only 18% of users, compared to 40% on both Spotify and Pandora.

Lawmaker Claims The Boss Is A Bully

Bruce Springsteen

A U.S. congressman who represents portions of Greensboro, N.C., is accusing Bruce Springsteen of being a "bully," after the rock star canceled a concert there to protest a new law that's being described as anti-gay.

"It's disappointing he's not following through on his commitments," said Rep. Mark Walker, a Republican freshman congressman.

"Bruce is known to be on the radical left," continued Walker, "and he's got every right to be so, but I consider this a bully tactic. It's like when a kid gets upset and says he's going to take his ball and go home."

Springsteen was set to play Greensboro on Sunday, but canceled because he objects to North Carolina's recently passed House Bill 2, which requires people to use the bathrooms of the sex reflected on their birth certificates.

⚡️ “Bruce Springsteen joins North Carolina backlash”https://t.co/NBiQWZJxkf

— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) April 9, 2016

According to The Hollywood Reporter, activists say the law discriminates against the transgender community, and many in the entertainment industry agree. After speaking against the law, Lionsgate moved the production of its Hulu pilot Crushed from North Carolina to Canada, for example.

Lawmakers, though, say the new law is meant to keep would-be criminals from using legal loopholes to access women's bathrooms.

"I choose to stand with our sheriffs, who support this bill, which doesn't target the LGBTQ community; it targets imposters," said Walker. "It's a little crazy to think sexual predators wouldn't be devious enough to pull something off if they were free to go into any bathroom they want."

Garrison Keillor's Impending Departure Worries Affiliates

As Garrison Keillor wraps up his farewell tour over the next 12 weeks, the public radio world is anxiously preparing for “A Prairie Home Companion” without him, a future as tricky to forecast as spring weather in Lake Wobegon, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

In a survey of more than a dozen radio executives across the country, some questioned the survival of an old-fashioned variety show without its longtime star. Others were enthusiastic about the prospect of attracting a new generation of listeners with incoming host Chris Thile, who at 35 is less than half Keillor’s age.

Garrison Keillor

It’s a high-stakes moment for American Public Media (APM), which grew out of “Prairie” to become the nation’s second largest producer of public radio programming. While St. Paul-based APM sees an opportunity to refresh a fading franchise, it’s also risking a cornerstone of its business.

“I like to come with a clear-eyed view of what a program is all about, and that’s very hard to do without Garrison involved in some shape or form,” said Maine Public Broadcasting CEO Mark Vogelzang, one of hundreds of program directors who must decide this month whether to renew the show.

The 2016-17 season, scheduled to open Oct. 15 at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theatre, will include only 13 live shows — a substantial drop from the 37 offered this season — packaged with “classic” reruns featuring Thile and some of Keillor’s greatest hits.

In essence, APM is trying to absorb the shock by easing Thile into the Old Scout’s red stockings while cutting the fee it charges stations for the show.

Denver Radio: KCKK Sports Talker Irv Brown Retires

One of the longest-running voices on radio, not just in Denver but in the country, signed off for the last time as a full-time radio host on Thursday.

Irv Brown

Irv Brown aired his final broadcast on Mile High Sports KCKK 1340 AM on what Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper declared “Irv Brown Day” – April 7, 2016.

Hundreds of friends, family, co-workers, former players and most importantly listeners came out to Blake Street Tavern to bear witness to Irv’s final broadcast.

A who’s who of Colorado sports through the years made their way on to the airwaves to wish Irv success in his retirement.

Brown earned seven letters at North High School in Denver, where he starred in football, basketball and baseball. He played basketball and baseball at the University of Northern Colorado. After college, he coached football and baseball at Arvada High School in Arvada, Colorado, and he also coached baseball at the University of Colorado Boulder and Metro State College. From 1969 to 1977, Brown had a career as a basketball referee, officiating six Final Fours. Brown served as commissioner of the Colorado Athletic Conference in the early 1990s. In 2007 he was named the new commissioner of the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League (MCLB).


Brown began his broadcasting career in the late 1970s on KHOW radio. For the past 25 years he has been on the air with Joe Williams, currently hosting the show The Fan. Brown and Williams later co-authored The Great Book of Denver Sports Lists.

He was also an analyst for the NBA on ESPN during the 1980s.

Brown was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

SiriusXM's Phlash Phelps Makes NE-PA Pit Stop

A SiriusXM Radio DJ has endeared himself to a listenership in Northeastern Pennsylvania and found his face on area billboards for his efforts, according to the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader.

Phlash Phelps, who hosts “‘60s on 6,” which he broadcasts nationally from Washington D.C., has been featured on several Lamar Advertising spaces since 2013. Erected on April 7, the most recent, which celebrates Phelps’ 50th birthday as well as his mission to visit all 50 states in the next year, is bringing the radio personality to Scranton at noon Sunday.

Doreen Yakoski worked for Lamar for 19 years and was the charting manager when she pitched the idea to feature Phelps on a space.

Phlash Phelps

After hearing Phelps take a caller from Scranton to discuss the Steamtown National Historical Site and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Yakoski realized he’d spent time in the area. She went to general manager Tom Donohue with a proposition.

“I said, ‘Do you think if Phlash came to Scranton, we could do a billboard welcoming him to the city?’”

Donohue, also a fan of Phelps’ show, consented to the idea, and Phelps traveled to Scranton to see the advertisement. Grateful for the warm welcome, he befriended the folks at Lamar and several other billboards followed.

Donohue decided to issue a special advertisement letting Northeastern Pennsylvanians know about Phelps’ current road trip. The billboard stands off the River Street exit of I-81.

“The fact that Lamar right there in Scranton wanted to do that for me is incredible,” Phelps said.

A Baltimore native who worked at 16 different radio stations before landing his gig at Sirius, where he's been for the past 16-years.  Phelps is based in Washington DC for SiriusXM and says was bitten by the travel bug in his 20s.

SiriusXM Launching eSports Show For Gamers

SiriusXM and IGN, the leading Internet media company focused on video games and entertainment, tare teaming up to produce a new daily esports satellite radio show dedicated to the fast-growing world of competitive gaming.

IGN Esports Today will debut on Monday, April 11 and air live every weekday (7:00-8:00 pm ET) on the SiriusXM Bleacher Report Radio channel.  SiriusXM Bleacher Report Radio is available to subscribers nationwide on satellite radios (channel 83) and the SiriusXM app.

Hosted by IGN's Kevin Knocke, IGN Esports Today will give gamers the opportunity to call in on a live show that provides up-to-the-moment news and analysis. The show will also tackle the industry's marquee competitions featuring League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, Street Fighter V, Call of Duty and more.

April 11 Radio History

[In 1902...journalist/war correspondent/broadcaster Quentin Reynolds was born in New York City. He was prominent on radio during & after WWII, and worked on TV during its formative years.  Writing & narration was his forte. He published 25 books, and wrote as many as 20 magazine articles a year. He died March 17 1965 at age 62.

[In 1904...actor Paul McGrath was born in Chicago. For most of the long run of radio’s Inner Sanctum (and much more briefly on TV) he was the delightful but unctiously eerie host with the leer in his voice.  Also on radio he played the husband of the lead on the soap Big Sister.  On TV he had recurring roles on The Edge of Night & Guiding Light.  He died two days after his 74th birthday April 13 1978.

Paul Douglas

[In 1907...actor Paul Douglas was born in Philadelphia.  He did some prominent announcing during the Golden Days of Radio, notably as the sponsor spokesman on NBC’s Chesterfield Supper Club.  On TV he was a frequent guest star on series such as Your Show of Shows, Climax, Damon Runyan Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Chrysler Shower of Stars, Studio One, etc.  He suffered a heart attack & died Sep 11, 1959 at age 52.

[In 1912...actor John Larkin was born in Oakland Calif.  He had a perfect voice for radio, and played the lead in the daytime drama Perry Mason. On TV he was in The Road of Life, the original cast of Edge of Night, and played a lead in prime time’s Twelve O’Clock High. He suffered a heart attack and died Jan 29 1965 at age 52.

[In 1921...KDKA-AM became the site of the first live sporting event to be broadcast on Radio. It was a boxing match featuring Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee.

[In 1924...KLO-AM, Ogden, Utah began broadcasting.

KLO originally signed on in the mid-20s as KFUR. Its current calls came about in the 1930s in honor of Mt. Lomond located near Ogden. KLO was the flagship of the Interstate Broadcasting Corporation, later the Intermountain Network.

Today, KLO is a Talk station at 1430 AM with power of 25Kw-D, 5 Kw-N.

Helen Choate, Lon Clark-Master Detective

[In 1943...the long running melodrama Nick Carter, Master Detective debuted on Mutual radio. The show was based on a New York Weekly character who was first introduced in 1886.

[In 1947...the Cy Howard radio comedy My Friend Irma started its seven year run on CBS.  Marie Wilson played the ditzy blonde, Cathy Lewis was her best friend Jane who narrated the series, which also featured John Brown and Hans Conreid.

[In 1964…The Beatles set another music industry record by having 14 songs simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100.




[In 1973...Norm N. Nite did his first show on WCBS-FM, New York, New York. Nite was instrumental in bringing the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland.

[In 1976…The first commercially available Apple computer, later known as the Apple I, was released.