Benztown Inks Partnership With Radionomy

Justin Case

Benztown has announced that it has entered into a promotional partnership with Radionomy, a groundbreaking online radio platform. The partnership includes: the creation of a dedicated Benztown online radio station www.benztown.com/radionomy, promotional packages, and select Benztown imaging offerings and educational webinars to be made available to Radionomy broadcasters. Radionomy and Benztown will also offer the thousands of radio stations on the Radionomy platform discounts and special customization packages.

The first Radionomy webinar featuring Benztown’s imaging expertise will be presented today from 2:00-3:00 pm Eastern bit.ly/1rzRndD.The webinar will feature Justin Case, Vice President of Programming for Benztown, who will share best practices for creating a compelling radio brand through expert imaging.

As part of the promotional partnership with Radionomy, Benztown has utilized the Radionomy creative platform to program a 24/7 station of top hits, seamlessly integrating its hand-crafted radio customization and creative audio branding. The result is a great listening experience and a powerful marketing tool for Benztown’s 20 imaging libraries and custom imaging, voiceover, programming and jingles services. www.benztown.com/radionomy

Masa Patterson, Vice President, Sales and Operations for Benztown said: “Our mission is to bring our high quality creative imaging products and services to online radio. Radionomy made it possible for us to take our captivating content and create a radio experience that is quintessentially Benztown. We were up and running in a short time and are excited to share the results.”

Rae Palermo, Community Manager for Radionomy said: “"Radionomy is thrilled to be supported by Benztown's imaging expertise for radio. By galvanizing their rich experience to help both our Internet and terrestrial radio broadcasters everyone wins, including the listeners."

Radionomy was in the news earlier this year when the company purchased SHOUTcast and Winamp from AOL. With that acquisition, Radionomy is now engaged with one in every two online radio stations. The Radionomy Group also includes TargetSpot (another recent merger), which allows Radionomy to be the only complete, no cost, Internet radio solution that includes ad insertion and revenue shares with broadcasters.

NuVoodoo Promotes Mike O'Connor To EVP/Marketing

Mike O'Connor

NuVoodoo Media Services today announced that it has promoted radio programming and media marketing specialist, Mike O’Connor to Executive Vice President of Marketing.

O’Connor, a co-founder of NuVoodoo Media Services, was previously Vice President of Marketing. He heads the company’s marketing services for radio stations, and created NuVoodoo’s groundbreaking Social TV product with NuVoodoo’s Chief Executive Officer, Carolyn Gilbert. In his new capacity, O’Connor will lead the company’s expansion across the Social Marketing, Micro-Targeted Customized Direct Mail and Integrated Digital Media Marketing spaces for radio, television and newspaper. He is based in NuVoodoo’s Austin, TX, office.

O’Connor previously served as SVP, Innovations for Tribune Interactive. Prior to that, he was Brand Manager and Regional Vice President of Programming for Clear Channel Radio and was  Vice President, Interactive for Clear Channel Creative Services. While at Clear Channel, he launched the Format Lab, the predecessor to iHeartRadio. As Clear Channel Radio’s Executive Vice President, Content Research and Development, he helped create Stealth Marketing in partnership with Critical Mass Media. O’Connor programmed CHR, Classic Rock, Triple A, Sport, News/Talk and Alternative radio stations across a 20-year period that took him to markets including Albuquerque, Boston, Atlanta and Denver. O’Connor holds a B.A. degree in History from Dartmouth College.

Carolyn Gilbert, CEO of NuVoodoo, said: “Mike O’Connor has distinguished himself as one of the most brilliant minds in media marketing. He has consulted hundreds of America’s most successful radio stations and has created strategic marketing programs that have driven significant ratings and revenue increases across a wide spectrum of formats and markets. With our current extraordinary team, Mike created our one-of-a-kind Social TV product, which is our fastest-growing offering. He’s a creative genius whose masterful approach to engaging those people most likely to respond to ratings surveys has paid off big-time for our clients. Mike will work with the NuVoodoo team to expand our marketing service offerings across radio, television and newspaper.”

ESPN Suspends Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith

ESPN handed pundit Stephen A. Smith a one-week suspension Tuesday in relation to comments he made last week regarding victims of domestic violence, according to The Chicago Tribune.

During a discussion on the "First Take" show of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice's two-game suspension from the NFL for allegedly hitting his then-fiancee, Smith said that women should be careful not to provoke such attacks.

When criticized for his remarks, Smith initially stood by his statements with a series of Twitter posts, then ultimately removed the tweets and issued a lengthy apology Monday on "First Take."

ESPN announced that Smith would be off its television and radio platforms before returning Aug. 6.

My apology on @ESPN_FirstTake Monday morning speaks for itself. I accept ESPN's Decision. See you all next Wednesday. God Bless!
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 30, 2014

In a statement, ESPN president John Skipper wrote, "We've said publicly and in this space that (Smith's) remarks did not reflect our company's point of view or our values. They certainly don't reflect my personal beliefs.

Stephen has called what took place 'the most egregious mistake' of his career. I believe his apology was sincere and that he and we have learned from what we've collectively experienced. I'm confident we will all move forward with a greater sense of enlightenment and perspective as the lasting impact of these last few days."

Broadcasting Treasure Vin Scully To Return In 2015

Vin Scully

Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully is returning for a 66th season of covering Dodgers in 2015, according to mlb.com.

The news was announced in the middle of the second inning of Tuesday night's 8-4 win over the Braves on the Dodger Stadium video board.

"It was pretty cool, actually," manager Don Mattingly said of the announcement, which was staged as a mock news conference with Hyun-Jin Ryu first giving the news in Korean and Yasiel Puig translating it in Spanish before Southern California native Justin Turner delivered the big news in English. "I like the way they did that. I was just hoping the bubble machine would be in there, too, somewhere."


Fans -- the first 40,000 of which received a Vin Scully 65th Anniversary Talking Microphone -- reacted by giving the American sports icon a standing ovation.

"It is very difficult to say goodbye," Scully said in a statement. "God willing I will be back next year. Over the years I have been blessed to have so many friends including those that sit in the stands and listen as well as those at home, who listen and watch. It is just too hard to say goodbye to all these friends. Naturally there will come a time, when I will have to say goodbye, but I've soul-searched and this is not the time."

Scully's 65 years of broadcasting Dodgers games marks the longest tenure in his field. This season Scully, 86, has announced home games and road games in California and Arizona for Time Warner Cable's SportsNet LA. He will reprise the same role in 2015.

Scully began his broadcasting career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 and has since called three perfect games, 25 World Series and 12 All-Star Games. He called the Los Angeles Dodgers' world championships in 1959, '63, '65, '81 and '88.

Scully was honored with the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award 1982.

FCC's Wheeler Getting To Umpire Dodgers Blackout

Tom Wheeler

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has written a letter to Time Warner Cable expressing his "strong concern" because Los Angeles Dodgers games still aren't available to about 70 percent of the viewers in Southern California more than halfway through the baseball season.\, according to THR.

While the FCC has hesitated to get into similar situations in the past, Wheeler said the agency would "intervene as appropriate" if that is what it takes to bring "relief to consumers."

Wheeler also gave Time Warner Cable 10 days to provide a long list of documents about the impasse and a detailed explanation as to why it has happened.

The letter was issued Tuesday, the same day that Wheeler met with two California Congressmen, Rep. Tony Cardenas and Rep. Henry Waxman.

Wheeler said in his letter he is "encouraged" by Time Warner's agreement to enter binding arbitration with DirecTV to make a deal, but he remains troubled by the "negative impact that your apparent actions are having on consumers and the overall video marketplace."

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SD Radio: Pandora Wants FCC Rule Change

Pandora Radio has asked the FCC to decide whether foreign investors can own a portion of parent company of the Internet audio service, according to RadioWorld.

The decision could clear the way for the pending sale of a broadcast radio station from Connoisseur Media.

Generally, not more than 25% of U.S. station ownership can be held by foreign entities; Pandora believes it complies but can’t prove it, at least not in the way the Audio Division needs. That’s because the identity, and therefore the citizenship of more than half of the beneficial owners of outstanding Pandora shares cannot be ascertained due to Securities and Exchange Commission shareholder privacy regulations.

So Pandora Radio is asking the FCC for a declaratory ruling to allow foreign investors to hold up to a 49.99% voting interest and 100% equity interest in Pandora, its parent company, without additional commission approval.

KXMZ 102.7 FM (50Kw) 60dBu Coverage

At issue is the sale of KXMZ 102.7 FM, in Box Elder, S.D., which has been pending since June 2013.

Pandora wants to buy the station in an attempt to lower its music royalty rates. By owning a broadcast station, Pandora reasons it would qualify for the same Radio Music Licensing Committee royalty rates that broadcast radio pays ASCAP and BMI.

The FCC has found the petition acceptable for filing and is taking comments on the proposal (to MB Docket 14-109) until Aug. 28 and replies until Sept. 27.

OK City: Historic Broadcast Tower Set To Be Dismantled

Many people may not know, or if they did, have since forgotten, but the broadcast tower at KWTV News 9 once held a pretty impressive world record.

When Channel 9 first signed on the air in December of 1953, it transmitted from a short temporary tower in northeast Oklahoma City.

"We were using a tower that belonged to KOMA Radio," said former KWTV General Manager, Jack DeLier.

DeLier said not for long though, as owner John Griffin had bigger plans.

"The higher the tower, the more viewers we got," DeLier said.

The tower stands at more than 1,572 feet tall, around 300 feet higher than the Empire State Building, making it at one time the world's tallest manmade structure. So tall In fact, Griffin decided against the call letters KOMA and instead chose KWTV, standing for “world's tallest video”.

By the fall of 1954, KWTV reached the widest coverage of any station in the southwest with the view from the top reaching a 60-mile horizon.

The tower cost $650,000 to build back then, that would be just over $3M today. And here are some other facts worth noting: 100,000 pounds of bolts were used in constructing the tower with an overall weight of one million pounds, 28,690 feet of cable was used, 770 gallons of paint is needed for just one coat and 14,400 watts of power is needed to light it up. It also has a one man electric elevator for workers to use for antenna and tower maintenance.

News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

With the change to digital from analog signals the News 9 signal moved to a different tower that is a shared tower with other stations. That’s why the KWTV tower is coming down. A company that specializes in removing broadcast towers has been hired to take it down piece by piece this fall. Once it's down, a scrap metal company will take it to be recycled.

Twitter Reports 124 Percent Revenue Spike

The micro-blogging site hit all the right notes on Tuesday when it reported earnings for the three months ended in June — sending the stock up a sensational 33 percent in late trading, according to The NY Post.

It was Costolo’s third time reporting earnings since Twitter took its stock public in a big splashy IPO last year. And it’s the first earnings report that hasn’t sent the stock plummeting amid fears that Twitter is having trouble growing and retaining users.

Costolo said revenue for the second quarter rose 124 percent over last year, to $312 million, well above Wall Street’s expectations of $283 million in sales.

The company’s losses widened to $144.6 million, or 24 cents a share, from losses of $42 million last year. But excluding expenses and items, Twitter earned 2 cents a share, above analysts’ expectations for a net loss excluding items of 1 cent a share.

Twitter also raised its revenue forecast for the upcoming third quarter to between $330 million and $340 million, above analyst’s projections for $324 million.

The stock jumped as much as 33 percent in late trading to above $50 a share after closing up 1.7 percent on Tuesday at $38.59 a share.

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Report: FCC Needs Better Data On TV Shared Deals

The Federal Communications Commission may have problems ensuring that its regulations on shared arrangements by TV stations meet the agency's goals on competition and diversity because "it lacks basic data," the U.S. government watchdog said on Monday.

Reuters is reporting the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, at the request of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, spent a year investigating the impact of agreements between TV stations to jointly sell advertising or produce and acquire programming, or to share news or other equipment and resources.

Through interviews with stakeholders, a review of filings and documents, and a case study in six markets, the GAO found it "difficult to objectively determine" how such agreements affect the FCC's policy goals of competition, localism and diversity in the broadcasting industry.

"FCC has not completed a study of and lacks basic data on broadcaster agreements. This lack of analysis and information could undermine FCC's efforts to ensure its media ownership regulations achieve their intended goals," the GAO said in a report released on Monday.

"Without conducting a fact-based analysis of how agreements are being used, FCC cannot ensure its current and future policies on broadcaster agreements serve the public interest."

The FCC in March voted along party lines, with a Democratic majority, to crack down on joint advertising sales agreements. The FCC now counts a broadcaster as having an ownership interest in any station in which that party sells 15 percent or more of weekly advertising time.

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Report: How 'Johnny's Song' Became Tonight Show Theme

Today, singer/song writer Paul Anka turns 73, so in his honor, and on its Facebook page,  Eyes of a Generation has the backstory on a song we all know now as "Johnny's Theme".

In 1958, Anka wrote an instrumental for Salvatore "Tutti" Camarata's band which was called Tutti's Trumpets. Paul named the song "Toot Sweet". Tutti was actually the head of Walt Disney Records and started the legendary Sunset Sound Recorders studio the same year this was released and this was one of the first sessions ever recorded there.

After a lyric was added in 1959 "Toot Sweet" was re-named "It's Really Love", and under that title was recorded by Annette Funicello on her LP, "Annette Sings".

In 1962, when Johnny Carson took over the NBC "Tonight Show", he commissioned Anka for a new theme song, via his companycalled "Management Agency & Music Publishing, Inc."

Anka suggested re-using this old tune.


Carson knew all about royalties and wanted to be listed as an author so, being a drummer, he said he would think of something to put at the beginning of Anka's tune to "help author it." That something turned out to be a little drum break before the band joins in. So for 6 - 7 years there was that one-bar drum break at the beginning of the theme. Eventually that little break was shortened even further to just one and a half beats.

So, on September 12, 1962, less than a month before his debut Johnny became an "author" of his theme for copyright purposes, and got not only a piece of the publishing royalties, but a composer's share of royalties as well.

The co authoring offer must have been worth it to Paul Anka who once said he got $200 in royalties every time the show aired. Over the course of Johnny's 30 year run, that would give Carson and Anka about $1,664,000.00 apiece. Not bad for an old tune that was re-cycled twice. Happy birthday Paul!

Grand Rapids Radio: John Balyo Pleads Guilty

John Balyo

Former Christian radio host John Balyo admitted Tuesday, July 29, that he photographed sex acts with a 12-year-old boy at a Kalamazoo County hotel, according to mlive.com.

“I performed a sexual act as described and I knowingly possessed the images on my camera,” Balyo, 34, of Caledonia, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ellen Carmody.

“I knew it was wrong.”

Police in Kalamazoo County are investigating the assault of the 12-year-old boy, which could lead to additional state charges, U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles Jr. said after Balyo’s plea hearing in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Balyo faces a state charge of first-degree criminal-sexual conduct involving an 11-year-old boy in Calhoun County. Police alleged that Balyo paid Ronald Moser of Battle Creek to set up the sexual encounters.

Moser, 42, apparently got Balyo’s attention after he allegedly posted photos of a young boy bound to a bed. Moser was indicted on two counts of sexual exploitation of children, as well as counts of possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography, records show.

Balyo, a former morning show host for WCSG 91.3 FM spoke in a soft voice during the hearing.

Balyo is jailed without bond. He faces at least 15 years in prison, and up to 50, when sentenced in November.

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