Dave Letterman: "Thank-You and Good Night"

UPDATE 11AM 5/21/15:  “Late Show” got a whopping 9.3/21 in the household overnights from 11:30 p.m.-1 a.m.  Comparably, this was “Letterman’s” best overnight performance since Dec. 1, 2005 (10.1/24) with guests Oprah Winfrey and Bonnie Raitt.  It out-rated every primetime broadcast. And it lifted recently introduced “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (2.5/10 from 1-2 a.m.) to a series high.



David Letterman brought 33 years of latenight antics to a close late Wednesday afternoon by taping his last broadcast of CBS’ “The Late Show.”

In the final show, he acted as if he was emceeing just one more program, based on a screening of the first two segments made for reporters Wednesday night.

“His demeanor seemed to me as it always is. He did not seem emotional at all,” said David Oshinsky, a 45-year-old attorney who attended the taping of Letterman’s finale told Variety.  “He was clearly cognizant it was the last show, but you would not have read that,” he added.

Despite his cool demeanor, Letterman brought with him outsize surprises, including an introduction featuring President Barack Obama, former president George W. Bush, former president Bill Clinton and former president George H.W. Bush in videotaped segments. “Our long national nightmare is over,” each president said.

And Letterman served up the usual mix of tomfoolery and self- deprecating humor, reports Variety. “I’ll be honest with you,” he said in his last monologue. “It’s beginning to look like I’m not going to get the ‘Tonight Show,'” an obvious reference to the decision made by NBC in the early 1990s to award that program to Jay Leno, rather than Letterman, who then hosted the popular “Late Night” at 12:30 a.m., after  Johnny Carson retired. The maneuver sent Letterman to CBS and began a long process that splintered the audience for the time-slot among two handfuls of hosts across broadcast and cable.



Letterman has hosted “Late Show”  since its 1993 inception, and before that pioneered th concept of a looser, less formal talk show with “Late Night,” which he launched in 1982. He has been a pivotal figure in TV’s wee-hours schedule for more than 30 years — longer than Johnny Carson’s tenure on NBC’s “Tonight.”

#ThanksDave Tweets

Chicago Radio: WGCI Grabs Two From Power In HipHop Battle

Tone Kapone

iHeartMedia continues to overhaul its on-air line-up at HipHop/R&B WGCI 107.5 FM as the company raids crosstown rival WPWX Power 92.3 FM.  iHR has poached middayer Frankie Robinson and PM Drive Tone Kapone from the Crawford Broadcasting station.

To make room for the new hires, WGCI has parted company with middaye Lori Swain and PM Drive personality U.B. Rodriquez. There shifts are currently be filled with weekenders and no start date has been given for Robinson and Kapone (real name Anthony May).  Both have non-compete clauses with Crawbord.

“Loni Swain and U.B. Rodriguez are no longer with the company,” an iHeartMedia spokeswoman said in a statement. “It’s our policy not to discuss employee matters for privacy reasons.”

Frankie Robinson

Both are believed to be bound by standard noncompete agreements that are typically in effect for three to six months.

In January the station launched a new morning show with Kyle Santillian, Kendra Gilliams and Leon Rogers.

ChicagolandRadio& Media called Swain a rising star in Chicago media since her arrival in July 2009. Just two weekends ago, she premiered "The Loni Swain Show" on CLTV, which airs Sunday nights at midnight, making her a multi-media talent. Not only is she a talent on the radio and television airwaves, but also in the kitchen. She is the owner of Loni Loo's Homemade Candies, creating gourmet chocolate treats for customers.

While in Chicago, she hosted a show on SiriusXM for over two years, in addition to her WGCI-FM show.

Prior to her coming to Chicago, Swain worked in radio in Tampa, St. Louis, Baltimore, and New Orleans.

UB Rodriquez

U.B. Rodriquez has been with WGCI-FM since April 2008, taking over afternoons in March 2014. Prior to coming to Chicago, Rodriquez has worked in radio in Miami, San Antonio, West Palm Beach, Dallas, San Francisco, and Hollywood (FL). Via his connection with iHeatMedia, he has also voice-tracked shows in other markets, including Houston.

No word yet on new replacements for Robinson and Kapone at Power 92.

Robinson has been hosting middays since August 2011, after joining the station a few years earlier as a weekend and Friday night host. Tone was one half of the late night and weekend mixers known as The Hot Boyz, along with Shag Nice. In June 2011, The Hot Boyz were split up, with Tone taking the afternoon shift and Shag taking the nighttime shift. Tone has also been seen nationally on the syndicated television show "Dish Nation."

Lori Swain

WPWX-FM consultant Tony Gray, of the Chicago-based Gray Consultants, confirms to CRM that iHM Chicago approached both talents and made them a much higher offer then the smaller Crawford Broadcasting could match.

Power Program Director Jay Alan and sees this as an excellent opportunity to bring aboard a pair of fresh new talents to the Chicago market that will appeal to the station's younger-leaning demographic.

Chicago Media writer Robert Feder notes that in the latest Nielsen Audio survey, WGCI tied for 11th overall with a 3.1 percent share and cumulative weekly audience of 1,468,800, while WPWX tied for 23rd with a 1.8 share and 974,600 cume. Among listeners between 18 and 34, WGCI was fifth with a 6.0 share and 579,800 cume, while WPWX was ninth with a 3.7 share and 405,200 cume.

Providence Radio: Barbara Haynes OUT As Cumulus GM

Barbara Haynes

Long serving General Manager Barbara Haynes for the N/T simulcast WPRO 630 AM / WEAN 99.7 FM and Top40 WPRO 92.3 FM radio in Providence  was fired Wednesday by executives from the parent company’s Atlanta office, according to golocalpro.com.

Cumulus Media - the parent company of the radio cluster in the Providence market - is the second largest radio company in the United States.

According to sources in the Salty Brine broadcast center in East Providence, the dismissal of Haynes may be tied to a series of ongoing personnel issues or could be tied to the parent company’s weak financial performance. The other stations Haynes oversaw included BusinessWPRV AM 790, Hip Hop WWKX 106.3 FM Hot106, and WWLI 105.1 FM Lite105.

Haynes has overseen some major controversies as WPRO leader, including an infamous fight between former staffer Ron St. Pierre and host John DePetro, the hiring of Buddy Cianci, the boycott of WPRO by labor groups and the organization For Our Daughters, and, most recently, the arrest of a producer on child porn charges.

Haynes was one of Rhode Island's few female market leaders in media and is very active in the RI Broadcasters Association, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, City Year RI and efforts to support Rhode Island's military and veterans.

GoLocalProv reports Cumulus’ stock has been poor performing as of late, hovering around $2 per share - down nearly two-thirds over the past year. First quarter results were disappointing for the company as net revenue for the three months ending March 31, 2015 decreased $21.0 million, or 7.2%, to $271.1 million, compared to $292.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Digital advertising took the biggest hit - down over 16% year-over-year.

K-C Radio: Herndon Hasty New VP/Sales For Cumulus Cluster

Herndon Hasty

Cumulus Media announces that it has appointed 36-year Kansas City radio broadcast veteran Herndon Hasty as Vice President of Sales for its eight-station cluster in Kansas City, MO.

Hasty was most recently Vice President/Co-Market Manager for Entercom Kansas City, following 11 years with CBS Radio Kansas City, where he was Senior Vice President and Market Manager. Prior to that, Hasty had an 18-year career with Taft Broadcasting’s Kansas City stations, where he started his radio career as an Account Executive at KY102 and ultimately served Taft as President of WDAF-AM and KYYS-FM.

Hasty has served on the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Ad Club, the Missouri and Kansas Broadcasters and the Westport Merchants Association, as well as numerous college and university student advisory boards. He was President of the Kansas City Radio Broadcasters and a Mentor for Ad Club Scholarship winners for 17 years. He was named Radio Manager of the Year four times by the Kansas City Media Professionals, named twice to the KCMP Hall of Fame and won the coveted Diane Freels Award for Client Service. Hasty lives in Overland Park, Kansas with Lee, his wife of 39 years.

Donna Baker, Midwest Regional Vice President for Cumulus said: "There is simply not another sales leader with the legacy of respect, results, and development of the best teams in KC Media than "H". Herndon as my partner with the tremendous sales management and sales talent on our KC Cumulus teams are focused passionately on delivering wins for our clients and we will having fun doing it. This is the Dream Team!"

Hasty said: “I’m thrilled to be back in radio in the city I love, working with the best stations in the market to deliver the most creative and effective marketing solutions for our advertisers. Kansas City is a great radio city and Cumulus Kansas City’s programming and citywide presence are unmatched. After years in Kansas City radio, the opportunity to create and lead the best-in-class sales operations team for these dynamic stations is one I just couldn’t pass up. I’m excited to jump in with the team this week and get to work for our clients.”

Chicago Radio: WJMK-FM Inks Jeffrey T. Mason For Middays

Jeffrey T. Mason

CBS Radio has announced Jeffrey T. Mason has signed a multi-year contract as midday personality at WJMK 104.3 FM.

Mason has been filling the time slot on K-Hits since the retirement of Tommy Edwards last September at the Classic Hits station.

“I am so happy with Jeffrey T. in the middle of the day on K-Hits,” Cavanah said. “He communicates really well with the at-work audience and his ratings success is no accident. After Tommy retired, we had big shoes to fill and he’s done a tremendous job with his own unique style.”

Mason launched his own subscription-free, commercial-free Internet radio station at JeffroRadio.com.

“I can’t remember a time when I’ve been more satisfied with both my life and career,” Mason told Robert Feder Wednesday. “Chicago is the absolute greatest city on Earth and K-Hits is, by far, the greatest station in this great city. I’m beyond excited to continue my relationship with Todd Cavanah, [Chicago market manager] Rod Zimmerman and everyone here at CBS Radio.”

WJMK 104.3 FM (4.1 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Study: Enduring Power For Broadcast News Brands

News consumers still rely on broadcast TV the most, according to a recent survey by SmithGeiger on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters. Polling more than 3,300 new consumers between the ages of 18 and 64, SmithGeiger compared the brand affinity of 22 broadcast, digital and cable brands, including ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX local affiliates, Google, Facebook, Twitter, CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC.

According to TV Technology, the big takeaway from the study was how relevant broadcast TV news was among all age groups. 66 percent of pollers get their news and information from a broadcaster, either on TV, the Web, or a mobile device at least once a week. 39 percent watch the news on broadcast TV everyday. That number may be on the rise too, as 48 percent say broadcast is more important today than it was a year ago and 45 percent say it could be even more important in two to three years – only 18 percent see its relevance decreasing over that time.

Viewers perspectives of broadcast news are changing as well. 53 percent of new consumers see local broadcasters as 24/7 services, with 39 percent utilizing broadcasters’ digital platforms for news and information. Even the traditional news broadcasts are going digital, with 68 percent of consumers reportedly having watched broadcast news video on a digital platform (56 percent of that on a mobile device).

U.K. Radio: 40 Percent Of Radio Listening Digital

Nearly 40% of radio listening is now on digital with record audiences for digital-only commercial stations including Absolute 80s and Planet Rock, according to The Guardian.

Absolute 80s pulled in an average of 1.45 million listeners a week with another 1.25 million tuning into Planet Rock, both owned by Bauer Media, in the first three months of this year, according to Rajar listening figures published on Thursday.

Kiss spin-off station Kisstory, another Bauer station, also hit a new high, up 21% to with 1.13 million listeners.

Digital listening was also given a boost by record audiences for the BBC’s Radio 4 Extra, which leapfrogged Radio 6 Music as the UK’s biggest digital-only station with 2.17 million listeners.

Digital platforms made up 39.6% of all radio listening, up from 36.6% in the same period in 2014, including digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio and online and via apps.

In the London area, digital listening has now overtaken analogue, with a 46.8% share ahead of FM and AM’s 46.2%.

But nationwide, analogue listening on FM or AM continued to take the lion’s share, with 54.3% of all listening, down from 57.8% a year ago.

U.K. Radio: BBC Radio1 Loses 1M Listeners

BBC Radio 1 set out to reach a more ‘youthful’ audience and that’s exactly what they did. Unfortunately, it's cost them nearly one million listeners, according to The Independent.

According to official Rajar listening figures, the station averaged 9.7 million listeners a week during the first three months 2015, its lowest audience since the end of 2003. Year on year, the station has lost 830,000 listeners from its 10.5 million weekly average in 2014.

Nick Grimshaw’s breakfast show has slumped to his lowest listening figures yet, with just 5.5 million tuning in to his antics every week.

The figures mark a record low for Grimshaw’s breakfast show.

After criticism that the station was not youthful enough, Grimshaw was hired to replace Chris Moyles in 2012 in an attempt to attract younger listeners.

According to the new figures, listeners aged over 30 accounted for around 90 per cent of the dip in figures, the most common age of a Radio 1 listener being 21.

Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper congratulated the host, saying: “Grimmy is doing what I've asked of him by keeping his young audience happy and scaring off the over-30's."

Atlanta Radio: Cox Names Zach Mullins Digital SM

Zach Mullins

Cox Media Group’s (CMG) Atlanta Radio has named Zach Mullins Digital Sales Manager.

In his new role, he will work along-side the current leadership team to deliver integrated marketing solutions to valued clients located in and outside of Atlanta while developing new profitable revenue opportunities for the Atlanta cluster’s five radio stations –award-winning N/T WSB 95.5 FM/750 AM, A/C WSB B98.5 FM, Urban WALR KISS 104.1 FM, Classic Hits WSRV 97.1 FM, and Alternative WTSH X107.1 FM.

“Zach has been a key player over the last two years supporting our sales team and their customers when it comes to simplifying our digital products and services,” said CMG Atlanta Director of Sales Walt Phillips.  “He always leads by example and symbolizes everything we look for in our new young leaders that aspire to grow.”

Previously, Mullins was one of CMG Atlanta Radio’s Digital Media Specialists. He joined CMG in 2011 as a Sales Associate and soon was promoted to Digital Media Specialist where he helped shape digital strategy and fulfillment campaigns for some of CMG’s largest accounts, integrating digital media with traditional media to exceed client objectives.  In 2013, he was awarded the Radio Wayne “Digital Sales Specialist of The Year” by Radio Ink magazine for his work that led to tremendous revenue growth over his time as a Digital Media Specialist.

“I’m excited to be leading the Atlanta radio cluster into our next chapter as a digitally integrated radio group,” said Mullins. “We’re building the radio station of the future, setting the standard for integrated sales and marketing, and it’s more exciting than ever to be in the radio business. I’m honored to be joining the ranks of such experienced sales leaders like Jaleigh Long, Kris Hackett and Beth Bowers, and I thank Walt Phillips, Director of Sales, and Donna Hall, VP and General Manager, for believing in me.”

Spotify Launches The "Now Experience"

Daniel Ek

Spotify is ramping up its service to compete with Apple by moving beyond music. The new streaming service will now offer live radio, podcasts and video as well as music that plays in beat with your running stride.

Spotify's new streaming channel will feature video and audio content from media partners such as Vice News, Comedy Central and Nerdist. The new platform includes "Songza-like" personalized playlists that will line up music, news and entertainment to match the user's daily routine in both video and audio format.

The announcement was made by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek at a press event in New York City on May 20. Ek described the move as a "massive leap forward" as he outlined the new Spotify, which essentially aims to provide you with all your daily audio and video needs.

"We're bringing you a deeper, richer, more immersive Spotify experience," said Ek, "We want Spotify to help soundtrack your life by offering an even wider world of entertainment with an awesome mix of the best music, podcasts and video delivered to you throughout your day. And we're just getting started."

The new Spotify, which the Swedish company has dubbed the "Now experience," will feature intelligent personalized playlists. It will learn from what you do at various times of the day and what you're listening to and remember it so it can replicate your playlist for your various activities.

TechTimes reports Ek also unveiled an impressive list of media partners, including major news organizations (NBC, BBC and ESPN), popular podcasts (TWiT, RadioLab) and online media sites. The full list of partners announced in the presentation is: ABC, Adult Swim, BBC, Comedy Central, E!, ESPN, Fusion, Maker Studios, MTV, NBC, RadioLab, Slate, TED, TWiT, Vice News and WNYC.

The Spotify revamp comes just as Apple is expected to enter the streaming music market in June following its $3 billion acquisition of Beats Music last year. It's unclear exactly what Apple's service will look like, but there's every chance that it could include video just like iTunes.

FCC Reform Proposals Advance On The Hill

Greg Walden

Communications and technology subcommittee chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) managed to get all seven bills aimed at improving the Federal Communications Commission’s process and transparency referred to the full energy and commerce committee, according to katyonthehill.com.

Of the seven bills, three were from Republicans, three from Democrats, and one was the FCC Process Reform Act, a bipartisan bill that passed the House last year.

The FCC process reform bills that will be taken up by the full committee when the House returns after the Memorial Day break would among other things, require the FCC to post procedures and policies on its web site, publish rules and orders at the same time they are circulated before an open meeting, publish orders and rules adopted on delegated authority, and publish texts of final orders or reports 24 hours after voted.

“We have seen enough to know the FCC falls short of the standard for a well-run agency,” said Walden, who has made reforming the FCC a top priority.

A bill from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) that would require the FCC to publish the draft of an order, report or rulemaking when it was circulated by the FCC chair, drew the most fire from Democrats, who saw the bill as retribution for FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s refusal to publish the net neutrality order before the vote.

Democrats were easily outvoted; all three Republican bills were passed by the subcommittee on party-line votes.