Chicago Radio: WUSN Listeners Make Radiothon Successful

WUSN 99.5 FM in Chicago recently held its 24th Annual Country Cares for St. Jude Kids radiothon and raised $1,187,273. During the two-day radiothon, personalities for the CBS Radio station Lisa Dent, Ramblin' Ray, Drew Walker, Shila, Jax, Marci Braun and Trish Biondo broadcast live for 23 hours, encouraging listeners to donate to St. Jude.

To date, US99.5 has raised over $23.5 million through their annual radiothons.

WWOne Sports To Air Big East Hoops

Westwood One Sports, the exclusive radio network partner of the BIG EAST Conference, has announced its schedule of select marquee BIG EAST regular season games.

In addition to the regular season schedule, Westwood One Sports will broadcast semifinal and championship game coverage of the 2015 BIG EAST Conference Men’s basketball tournament and championship game coverage of the 2015 BIG EAST Conference Women's basketball tournament.

The 2015 Men's tournament will be held March 11-14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and the 2015 Women's tournament will be held March 7-10 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

Here is Westwood One Sports’ regular season BIG EAST Schedule.  More games will be announced at a later date:

• Wednesday, 12/31/14----Creighton @ Providence, 7:15 pm ET
• Wednesday, 12/31/14----Georgetown @ Xavier, 9:45 pm ET
• Monday, 1/19/15----Villanova @ Georgetown, 8:45 pm ET
• Sunday, 1/25/15----Duke @ St. Johns, 1:45 pm ET
• Monday, 2/16/15----Seton Hall @ Villanova, 6:45 pm ET
• Wednesday, 2/25/15----Marquette @ Butler, 7:45 pm ET
• Tuesday, 3/10/15----Women’s Championship Game, 7:45 pm ET
• Friday, 3/13/15----Men’s Semifinals, 6:45 pm ET
• Saturday, 3/14/15----Men’s Championship Game, 7:45 pm ET

Hall of Fame Georgetown Coach John Thompson, former Big East Coaches Steve Lappas and P.J. Carlesimo, and former Big East star Donny Marshall will be among the analysts working the Westwood One broadcasts this season.

In addition to the BIG EAST Championships, Westwood One will broadcast more than 20 other games during Conference Championship Week.

No Coke For 'American Idol'

When the Fox show returns for its 14th season on Jan. 7, it will be without its longtime sponsor, Coca-Cola.

The soft drink company has ended its relationship with the show after 13 seasons.

"Coca-Cola and Fox have mutually decided to end their 13-year American Idol partnership," a Coca-Cola rep confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. "We look forward to working together on new collaborations in the future.”

A source close to negotiations has disclosed to THR that the show is already negotiating with other potential sponsors who could come on before the beginning of the season.

This news comes on the heels of word that the longtime Fox singing show will be cutting back to one night a week when the shows reach the top 10 finalists.

Tampa Radio: Beasley Adds Cadillac Jack For PM Drive

Cadillac Jack

Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. has promoted veteran country radio personality Cadillac Jack to assistant program director and afternoon drive host for WQYK 99.5 FM in Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL.

His first day is Monday, January 5th and he reports to Operations Manager Tee Gentry.

Most recently, Cadillac Jack served as APD, music director (MD) and afternoon host on Coyote Country KCYE 102.7 FM The Coyote in Las Vegas. His career with Beasley Broadcast began in 1999 when he joined WXTU 92.5 FM in Philadelphia in that same capacity of APD, MD and afternoon host. He moved to Las Vegas Beasley's KYCE in 2006.

For nine years, Cadillac Jack served as host of Westwood One's "Stars of Country," which aired on more than 75 radio stations nationwide. He began his career as a DJ at a small radio station in Wilmington, Illinois after graduating from the Midwestern Broadcasting School. Eight years later he got his "Big Break" on Top 40 formatted WBUS in Chicago. From there, Cadillac moved to a Las Vegas station (owned by a broadcaster other than Beasley) that aired country music... and the rest is history.

WQYK 99.5 FM (99Kw) 60dBu Coverage

Cadillac Jack was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2014 and was this year additionally honored as 2014's "Music Director of the Year" for Country Aircheck. In 2001, Cadillac was a finalist for the Country Music Association (CMA) "Personality of the Year Award" and nominated for the Academy of Country Music Awards "Air Personality of the Year" in 2002.

Operations Manager Tee Gentry said, "We are thrilled that Cadillac Jack agreed to join us in Tampa. Having been with Beasley fifteen years, our Company knows his work ethic and his talent. Personally, I can't wait to have Caddy behind the mic, hitting the streets and getting to know our listeners and clients in Tampa Bay. He's one of the very best personalities in country music."

Cadillac Jack added, "When I first met Tee several years ago through the Country music industry, we just clicked. We're going to do good things at WQYK! But, as happy as I am for the opportunity to work in a larger market and with Tee Gentry, making the decision to leave our tight-knit radio family in Beasley Las Vegas wasn't easy. The fact that I get to stay within Beasley is a blessing and I'm very thankful to the Beasley family for the chance to experience Tampa Bay."

Phoenix Radio: Leyla Haupert New GSM For KDKB

Leyla Haupert

Alternative KDKB 93.3 FM ALT AZ 93-3 in Phoenix has named Leyla Haupert as General Sales Manager, effective January 12.

Haupert comes to Hubbard Phoenix from crosstown iHeartMedia where she most recently served as Director of Integrated Marketing.

Her previous experience also includes, Integrated Marketing Strategy Consultant at Clear Channel/San Francisco and interim President/Market Manager for Clear Channel/San Francisco.

Hubbard Phoenix VP/Director of Sales Jeff England commented, "I am thrilled Leyla is joining the Hubbard Phoenix Management team. Her diverse experience, success in developing solutions for advertisers, and leadership skills are a perfect fit for this position. As ALT AZ 933 continues to grow, I know Leyla will help accelerate our growth and be a positive influence within the Hubbard Phoenix cluster."

"I am honored to join the Hubbard Phoenix organization and lead the Alt AZ 933 team," added Haupert. "The opportunity to advance Hubbard's strong portfolio of brands, events and interactive solutions is truly exciting. I look forward to partnering with our clients and collaborating with such a strong team of marketing professionals."

Beasley Broadcast Promotes Rafe D'Amico To New Position

Rafe D'Amico

Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. has announced the promotion of Rafe D’Amico to Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, a newly established position created to develop additional revenue through enhanced relationships with advertisers and agencies.

D’Amico will retain his duties as National Sales Manager (NSM) for Beasley’s Las Vegas and Wilmington, DE markets and will add NSM duties for Charlotte, NC. This appointment is effective immediately and he reports to Executive Vice President of Sales Heather Monahan.

Based in New York City, D'Amico will oversee an intensified Beasley Broadcast effort to develop non-traditional and event revenue in all of its markets by creating and enhancing station events, and expanding integrated media offerings. Opportunities to develop deeper partnerships with current Beasley advertisers and agencies, untapped SMBs, (small-to medium-sized businesses) and other media companies will also be explored to further amplify this effort.

Monahan says, “We are looking forward to expanding our offerings for our advertisers through Rafe’s creative efforts. Rafe has proven his ability to create unique and deep engagement opportunities for advertisers across various platforms as our NSM, so this extension to a new position of VP Strategic Partnerships is a natural next step."

D’Amico comments, “I’m grateful to continue my career with the Beasley family and ecstatic to lead this initiative for the company. I am equally excited to begin working with our newest Beasley teammates in Charlotte and Tampa. With the large cluster of stations we now operate in those two markets and with Beasley’s clusters in Las Vegas, Fayetteville, Fort Myers, New Bern, and Augusta, we recognize the dynamic opportunities we have to grow relationships with our advertising partners and the local communities we serve.

Aussie Ratings: Kiis Lifts, 2GB and WSFM End Year On Top

The final radio ratings of the year have seen KiisFM’s Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson boost their lead in the FM breakfast radio battle climbing to an audience share of 11.3, still 3.5 per cent behind market leader Alan Jones on 2GB.

According to Mumbrella.com.au, Nova will be buoyed after its national Drive trio of Kate Ritchie, Marty Sheargold and Tim Blackwell reclaimed the top spot across all networks raising their share by 1.2 points to 10.1, leapfrogging ABC702’s Richard Glover who dropped 0.6 to 9.4 points.

2GB ended the year top of the pile for total people share with 12.1, down 0.2 on the last survey, whilst Australian Radio Network’s WSFM topped the FM charts with an 8.9 share, holding of stablemate KiisFM which had 8.6 points.

Fairfax Radio’s 2UE Evening host Clive Robertson enjoyed the biggest lift gaining 2.7 points to a 9.1 share, largely at the expense of rival  Steve Price who had the biggest drop of the survey losing 3 points dropping from 15.2 share to 12.2.

Of the departing shows Southern Cross Austereo’s 2DayFM trio of Merrick Watts, Sophie Monk and Jules Lund managed a 0.1 point increase to 3 per cent share, having polled a 3.8 share in their first survey of the year. They will be replaced by Maz and Dan in January, who also lifted in their Drive show to a 4.3 share.

WI Radio: NRG Makes Shane Sparks MM for Cluster

Shane Sparks has been appointed Market Manager of NRG Media's Northwood's Radio Wisconin cluster including Rhinelander, WI-based stations Country WHDG 97.5 FM, Adult Hits WRHN 100.1 FM, Classic Country WOBT 1240 AM / 101.3 T-FM and Classic Rock WRLO 105.3 FM, and Minoqua-based stations WLKD 1570 AM and News/Talk WMQA 95.9 FM.

Sparks comes to Northwoods from a decade of sales management at WFAW-FM, WKCH-FM (KOOL 106.5) and WSJY-FM (LITE-FM 107.3)/Fort Atkinson, WI.

Shane Sparks

NRG COO Chuck DuCoty said, "Shane Sparks is our ideal candidate for this position, offering both range and depth of experience in radio. Sparks understands all facets of the business with a successful track record in operations, sales management and on-air work, as a successful play-by-play announcer and sports show host."

In accepting the position, Sparks added, "I feel ready to take the next step. I know what it takes to lead a successful team, and can help the six stations in our Northwoods' group reach their full potential."

ME Radio: WEZQ Launching New Sports Show 'The Drive

Sportsradio WEZQ 92.9 FM /The Ticket and SportsNet Maine have teamed up for a new afternoon show called “The Drive.” The live program will air 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays.

According to Bangor Daily News, Veteran sports broadcasters Jim Churchill and Jeff Solari, along with Wes Hart, will serve as co-hosts of the show, which will focus on New England professional teams, the University of Maine, Husson University and Maine high school sports.

“The hosts are driven by sports and passionate about our teams,” SportsNet Maine’s Churchill said. “We are also driven to connect with Maine sports fans with a high energy, fast-paced and informative production each and every day.”

The slogan for the show, which will give Bangor three locally produced, sports-oriented radio programs, is “Your Sports. Your Teams. Your Show.”

WEZQ 92.9 FM (20Kw) 54dBu Coverage

The debut of “The Drive,” scheduled for Jan. 20, 2015, coincides with a move across the dial for the show that spent the past three-plus years on Townsquare Media’s WEZQ. “Downtown with Rich Kimball,” which features sports talk along with segments about the arts and culture, is switching WZON 620 AM.

Churchill explained “The Drive” will be listener-focused, interactive and opinionated. It will blend regular features around a fast-paced format driven by the day’s most talked about sports topics.

“Our focus is to deliver programming that is live, local and relevant to our audience and community,” Tom Preble, marketing president for Townsquare Media, said in a press release. “We’re excited to be adding ‘The Drive’ to our afternoon lineup.”

“The Drive” will boost WEZQ’s on-air sports presence, complementing Dale Duff and Clem LaBree, who co-host “The Morning Pitch” from 6 to 8 a.m. weekdays and broadcast high school and college games.

Report: The Best, Worst Magazine Covers Of 2014

Cover a Dud

From Will and Kate to the Kardashians, celebrity weekly covers in 2014 were dominated by familiar faces—but not all of them were newsstand gold.

According to AdWeek, the suicide of Robin Williams gave People as well as In Touch their best-selling covers of the year. Rounding out People’s top three were two of the year's biggest Hollywood weddings: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in September and George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin in October.

Kim Kardashian's wedding to Kanye West, meanwhile, bombed for both People and OK.

Britain's Royal Family showed its staying power, with cover stories on Kate Middleton selling strongly for Star and OK, while Prince Harry was among Us Weekly's single-copy stars.

What didn't work? Politics and current events. People's worst-selling cover was Hillary Clinton, while the Winter Olympics in Sochi were a dud for Us Weekly. Newsstand buyers were fickle about the Kardashians, who were among the year’s best and worst sellers. And suggesting that Queen Bey is no Princess Kate when it comes to moving magazines, Beyoncé sold poorly for both OK and Life & Style.

Rdio Launches Update For Windows Phone

Rdio has launched a major new update for Windows Phone, delivering a unique mix of ad-supported Internet radio and unlimited on-demand subscription to Windows Phone users around the world. Rdio on Windows Phone further extends the company’s commitment to providing everyone, everywhere access to its expansive music catalog of more than 30 million songs and innovative music discovery features.

Rdio on Windows Phone complements the streaming service’s existing presence on Windows products, which includes a Windows 8 app featuring Live Tiles. Now with the Windows Phone 8.1 app, Rdio’s superior music experience is available across all major mobile platforms.

Chris Becherer

“Rdio’s Windows Phone app relaunch reiterates our mission to give all music lovers the ability to listen to the music they choose anytime, anywhere, on any device,” said Chris Becherer, Senior Vice President, Product, Rdio. “We're thrilled to bring Rdio’s impressive music catalog and powerful new music discovery features to Windows Phone users around the world.”

“Windows Phone is backed by a rich developer ecosystem that is creating a variety of quality apps and games that take advantage of the phone’s unique features and design,” said Todd Brix, general manager, Windows Phone Store, Microsoft Corp. “Rdio is a great example of the kind of rich applications that people will find on Windows Phone Store to get the most out of their phone,” he continued.

The Rdio Windows Phone 8.1 app provides users with access to Cortana and live tile support, as well Rdio’s Home, Favorites, Downloads and Browse features. Windows 8.1 users can download the app beginning today from the Windows Phone Store.