Elton John Bids Farewell In Last Show of Final Tour

Elton John told his millions of fans on Saturday night that they would remain in his "head, heart and soul", concluding his marathon farewell tour in Stockholm with one of his biggest hits - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

The 76-year-old singer has won five Grammy awards in a spectacular career spanning 50 years and nearly 4,600 performances worldwide.

"It's been my lifeblood to play for you guys, and you've been absolutely magnificent," he told the audience at Sweden's Tele2 Arena.

The BBC reports Elton John paid an emotional tribute to his current band and crew, some of whom have been touring with him for many years.

He kicked off his show with Bennie and the Jets, and went on to perform many other hits, including Philadelphia Freedom, Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man and Candle in the Wind.

His Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour began in North America in 2018, and this was his second night performing in Stockholm.

The tour spanned the globe - he played to more than six million fans, and one of the highlights was his headline slot at the Glastonbury Festival last month.

Disney's Iger Needs To Decide ESPN's Future

For decades, ESPN was the ultimate cable TV cash cow, exacting a “tax” of several dollars of month in carriage fees from every U.S. cable TV household, every month, even of most subscribers never or seldom watched.

That worked great until tens of millions of households started cutting the cable/satellite/virtual MVPD cord, sending penetration levels (and carriage fees) from around 100 million households to what’s now estimated at somewhere south of 60 million.

The results at ESPN were predictable, but hardly welcome for the hardcore sports fans who feast on not only the live year-round games on the network but its iconic SportsCenter nightly wrap-up show and endless deep dives on a wide range of prominent pro, college and even high school players, teams and leagues.

Over the long holiday weekend, news seeped out that the fourth major cut in employees at ESPN was taking effect. The ESPN cuts were part of 7,000 layoffs Disney has implemented companywide over the past several weeks as it grapples with a variety of financial challenges. But these cuts involved people that viewers know. And they won’t be the last ones.

According to David Bloom writing for Forbes, the biggest question for Disney, should Disney finally make ESPN+, its undernourished streaming service, a real thing, a service that sports fans at least would pay for?

Iger and ESPN chieftains have been pondering thart question for years, but a changeover to streams comes with many risks, like whether cable providers would demand a significant cut in carriage fees because of the lost exclusivity. Such a shift likely would be exchanging cable dollars for streaming nickels.

All that would come as the many billions of dollars that ESPN/ABC/Disney have invested in rights to NFL and college football, the NHL, Major League Baseball and the NBA (whose renewal rights are coming up next year) will start to pinch the company’s bottom line just as big tech-backed streamers such as Apple (MLB and Major League Soccer) and Amazon (the NFL) aggressively bid for live sports rights.

It won’t be a pretty next couple of years as Iger, under a two-year contract that’s already more a quarter done, tries to figure out the future path for Disney as a whole and for ESPN as one of its most significant pillars.

Tampa Radio: Rich Ortiz Joins The Freak Show

Beasley Media Group announces Rich Ortiz is joining the Orlando and The Freakshow mornings on WiLD 94.1 in Tampa. He will officially begin his new position today. Ortiz most recently worked as the Promotions Coordinator at Beasley Tampa. Previously, he served as a fill-in On Air Personality and Street Team Coordinator at the station.

“Rich Ortiz brings a lot of energy to the show and I’m proud to have watched him grind it out and earn this opportunity to shine,” said WiLD 94.1 Program Director and Morning Show Personality Orlando Davis.

“I am ecstatic to join ‘Orlando and the Freakshow’ from 6am-10am WiLD 94.1,” said Ortiz. “I started at the station nine years ago and consider myself very fortunate to have worked in promotions and learn the business side of radio. I want to thank Orlando, Davy, Meredith, and everyone at Beasley for believing in and taking a chance on me. I am excited to see what the future holds and can’t wait to keep growing with WiLD 94.1!”

He replaces Davy Rolando, who recently left the show to pursue other opportunities.

Pay TV Lost 2.2M+ Customers During 1Q 2023

Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. – representing about 96% of the market – lost about 2,215,000 net video subscribers in 1Q 2023, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 1,850,000 in 1Q 2022. 

The top pay-TV providers now account for about 73.7 million subscribers – with the top seven cable companies having about 36.8 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services having 23.4 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services (now including an estimate for YouTube TV) having about 13.5 million subscribers.

📺Cable Companies Total Customers and (Loss During 1Q):

• Comcast 15,528,000 (614,000)
• Charter 14,906,000 (241,000)
• Altice 2,475,800 (60,500)
• Breezeline 300,684 (8,943)
• Cable One 167,000 (14,500)
• Other major private companies 3,440,000 (120,000)

➤Total Top Cable 36,817,484 (1,058,943)

Key findings for the quarter include:

Survey: 50% of Consumers Are Canceling or Cutting Streaming Services

With the cost of living crisis showing no signs of going away, people are now looking at reducing their spending, with streaming services being one of the major areas where consumers are making cutbacks, according to TomsGuide.com.

In a survey conducted by sibling site TechRadar of more than 13,000 tech enthusiasts and readers, 50% of U.S. respondents and 50% of U.K. respondents noted they have decided to stop or cut back on their entertainment subscriptions. That means canceling the likes of Netflix, Spotify, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services.

Cord cutting has proved popular in the U.S. with people shifting over to fully embrace streaming services instead. But at the same time, having a lot of subscriptions for a diverse range of streaming services can quickly add up to high monthly cost. 

Add in the likes of Netflix having a fairly cutthroat approach to canceling series, and it’s not hard to imagine people cutting back on their selection of streaming services as subscriptions become more costly. 

Speaking of cutbacks, 47% of U.K. and 38% of U.S. TechRadar's survey participants said they’d likely make cutbacks on eating out or drinking at a bar, while only 24% (U.K.) and 18% (U.S.) said they put planned tech purchases on hold or canceled them completely. Naturally, TechRadar readers are always going to be interested in new technology, but it’s illuminating that they’d rather cut down on entertainment and social activities over tech purchases. Clearly the appeal of one of the best laptops or the PSVR 2 eclipses a need to watch the likes of Andor or Ted Lasso Season 3. 

Of course, the flexible nature of steaming services means they are dead-easy to cancel at a moment's notice. But this data is a good indication that being selective with the services you sign up for, and how long you keep that subscription going, is one way to help you stretch your paycheck that little bit further. 

Des Moines TV: Forecaster Quits After 'Climate Change' Threats

KCCI chief meteorologist Chris Gloninger left the station Friday with an emotional goodbye, reports The Des Moines Register.

During the noon newscast alongside anchor Alyx Sacks, Gloninger addressed his exit, which follows a June 21 statement on Twitter announcing his departure. Gloninger said he received a "viewer death threat and resulting PTSD" diagnosis.

In his on-air goodbye Friday, Gloninger said it felt like "we accomplished a lot" at the region's CBS affiliate.

"I loved my time here, and again, since my announcement last month, this is just a small sampling of the support that you have shown me at home," he said. "I know two years isn't much time and even with some struggles over the last year, I wanted to reinforce the fact that my wife and I are leaving the state with mostly happy memories and more friends than we came with."

"In all of this, I found the importance of living life through love, kindness and compassion," he said. "I'm walking away from a career, an 18-year career in television that I dreamt of since second grade, so that's why I'm a little emotional.

Last September, a Lenox man was fined $105 for harassing the meteorologist in a series of emails that included threatening language and swear words. The messages continued for several weeks.

Milwaukee Radio: WMYX's Elizabeth Kay To Undergo Mastectomy

Elizabeth Kay and WMYX AM Co-Host Tony "Radar" Hess

As morning co-host on Audacy's 99.1 The Mix (WMYX-FM) in Milwaukee since 2009, Elizabeth Kay has addressed many issues, including family, relationships, funny and sentimental life moments and other topics her listeners can relate to and learn from.

Now, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports she hopes her summer life update announcement posted on The Mix website will save lives.

Because 13% of women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute, Kay, who lives in Waukesha County, said she will do anything so no one else has to go through it.

Elizabeth Kay

That's why on tomorrow, Kay, 41, is scheduled for a bilateral mastectomy, a surgical removal of both breasts, she announced.  Later this year, she will have reconstructive surgery. She will then have her fallopian tubes and ovaries removed.

No, she does not have breast or any kind of cancer, she said. But she has the BRCA2 gene mutation, a breast cancer gene, she learned earlier this year. Kay's preventive surgery is similar to the surgery Angelina Jolie had in 2013 when Jolie had the BRCA1 gene mutation, another breast cancer gene.

"The main message is to be proactive when it comes to your health," Kay emphasized to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as to why she is sharing her story.

"Breast cancer sucks," she said in her announcement.

The reason for her surgery is straightforward. She does not want her family, friends and 99.1 family to see her go through cancer.  "Screw you cancer, I am not letting you get to me."

'Top' BBC Presenter Suspended Over Photos

In London, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed it has spoken to the BBC about the suspended presenter accused of paying a teenager more than $45,000 for sexually explicit images. 

BBC Director-general Tim Davie said Sunday that the corporation was investigating 'swiftly and sensitively' into the 'deeply concerning' claims following urgent talks with government. However, the Met said the broadcaster has not yet made a 'formal referral or allegation'. 

In a statement a spokesperson for the force said: 'The Met has received initial contact from the BBC in relation to this matter but no formal referral or allegation has been made. 

'We will require additional information before determining what further action should follow.' The broadcaster confirmed in a public statement this afternoon that it had suspended a male member of staff, but did not reveal the identity of the employee.

Are Twitter Users Ready to Walk Away?

by Felix Richter, Statista

After months of rumors, Threads - Meta’s very own Twitter competitor - has finally arrived. The new platform looks similar to Twitter and lets users create text-based posts with up to 500 characters. Taking advantage of its existing user base, Meta decided to link Threads closely to Instagram, allowing users to log in with their existing username and easily follow the same people. It will not be part of the Instagram app, however, as a new standalone app was released for iOS and Android on Thursday.

Threads arrives at a time when Twitter is very much a platform in disarray. Roughly eight months after Elon Musk completed his $44 billion takeover, the controversial billionaire may no longer be CEO of the company, but even in his new role as chief technology officer, he remains the platform’s public figurehead. When Twitter introduced a limit to how many tweets users could read per day over the weekend, it was Musk who announced and defended the changes on the platform, while the new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, remained silent.

Meta is clearly positioning itself to capitalize on Twitter’s moment of weakness, hoping to lure disgruntled users away from the platform. In an all-hands meeting last month, Meta’s chief product officer Chris Cox reportedly told employees that creators and public figures had repeatedly asked for a “sanely run” alternative to Twitter, after other Twitter clones such as Bluesky or Mastodon have so far failed to reach mass adoption.

R.I.P.: Peter Nero, Grammy-Winning Pianist

Peter Nero, the concert pianist who soared to popularity in the 1960s with a swinging hybrid of classics and jazz and kept the beat for nearly six decades with albums, club and television dates, and segues into conducting pops orchestras, died on Thursday in Eustis, Fla. 

He was 89, according to The NYTimes.

His daughter, Beverly Nero, said he died at the At Home Care Assisted Living Facility in Eustis, FL, where he had lived in recent months.

July 10 Radio History

➦In 1856…Nikola Tesla was born. (Died – 7 January 1943). He was an inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

Nikola Tesla

Tesla, one of history’s most under-appreciated and under-acknowledged engineers. Credit for his work is often gray and debated, sometimes due to unscrupulous competitors and sometimes due to timing.

Indeed, Tesla is known to have worked on a radio before Marconi, an X-Ray machine before Roentgen, an induction motor around the same time Ferrari claimed his, and experimented to find “small charged particles” years before Thomson was credited with proving the existence of electrons.

Tesla is perhaps best known within engineering circles for his work on AC (alternating current) and his “War of Currents” feud with Thomas Edison (side note: Edison, an employer of Tesla’s for some time, is known in some engineering circles as the man who copied and used Tesla's ideas).

Even with such challenges and a lifetime of illnesses, Tesla accrued about 300 patents. He died penniless and in debt in his New York apartment on January 7, 1943, at the age of 86. After his death, much of Tesla’s papers and works were impounded by the United States' Alien Property Custodian office. This was despite the fact that Tesla had become a US citizen at 35 years old.

Eventually many of his personal notebooks and works were declared “top secret” by the FBI and shuttered away from public view. Reasons given for doing so were that Tesla had done significant work with various US government agencies. 

Tesla's theories on the possibility of the transmission by radio waves go back as far as lectures and demonstrations in 1893 in St. Louis, Missouri, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the National Electric Light Association.  Tesla's demonstrations and principles were written about widely through various media outlets.  Many devices such as the Tesla Coil were used in the further development of radio.

Tesla's radio wave experiments in 1896 were conducted in Gerlach Hotel (later renamed The Radio Wave building), where he resided.

Tesla died January 7, 1943

In 1898, Tesla demonstrated a radio-controlled boat—which he dubbed "teleautomaton"—to the public during an electrical exhibition at Madison Square Garden.  The crowd that witnessed the demonstration made outrageous claims about the workings of the boat, such as magic, telepathy, and being piloted by a trained monkey hidden inside.  Tesla tried to sell his idea to the U.S. military as a type of radio-controlled torpedo, but they showed little interest.   Remote radio control remained a novelty until World War I and afterward, when a number of countries used it in military programs.   Tesla took the opportunity to further demonstrate "Teleautomatics" in an address to a meeting of the Commercial Club in Chicago, while he was travelling to Colorado Springs, on 13 May 1899.

In 1900, Tesla was granted patents for a "system of transmitting electrical energy" and "an electrical transmitter." When Guglielmo Marconi made his famous first-ever transatlantic radio transmission in 1901, Tesla quipped that it was done with 17 Tesla patents. This was the beginning of years of patent battles over radio with Tesla's patents being upheld in 1903, followed by a reverse decision in favor of Marconi in 1904. In 1943, a Supreme Court of the United States decision restored the prior patents of Tesla, Oliver Lodge, and John Stone.  The court declared that their decision had no bearing on Marconi's claim as the first to achieve radio transmission, just that since Marconi's claim to certain patents were questionable, he could not claim infringement on those same patents  (there are claims the high court was trying to nullify a World War I claim against the U.S. government by the Marconi Company via simply restoring Tesla's prior patent).

Graham McNamee

➦In 1888...Graham McNamee born (Died  – May 9, 1942). He was a radio broadcaster, who originated play-by-play sports broadcasting for which he was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.