Cumulus Media announces that it has appointed Jason Courtemanche as Vice President of Sales for Cumulus Los Angeles.
In his new post, Courtemanche will oversee sales operations of KLOS 95.5 FM, KABC 790 AM and L.A. Kings. He was previously Vice President of Sales for iHeart Media in Chicago. Prior to that, he was Sales Manager for WBBM-AM in Chicago and Director of Sales for MVS International Communications in San Diego. Courtemanche also served as General Sales Manager for Clear Channel (iHeart Media) in San Diego.
Tom Schurr, Senior Vice President, Operations for Cumulus said: "I’m thrilled to be working with Jason again. He’s a smart, competitive, experienced broadcast executive who attracts top talent and produces results for partners and stations. We’re excited to have a leader of his caliber joining the team.”
Courtemanche said: “I am looking forward to this exciting opportunity on the west coast with these two legendary radio stations and the highly respected sales team. I am committed to getting in the trenches and helping make Cumulus THE place to be in L.A. media."
Popular Northeast Pennsylvania radio personality Jeffrey Longaven has died.
The Scranton Times reports Longaven, best known by his on-air name of Jay Daniels, co-hosted the morning show on radio station WEZX/Rock 107 for a quarter-century as part of the team of Daniels & Webster.
He died Sunday afternoon at the Golden LivingCenter-East Mountain in Wilkes-Barre after a lengthy illness. He was 61. His death was confirmed by Susan Kolesar, a long-time friend.
Mr. Longaven joined Rock 107, which is owned by Times-Shamrock Communications, which also owns The Times-Tribune, in January 1985.
As Jay Daniels, he hosted the morning show solo until the following March. That is when he was joined by John Gasper, who went by the on-air name John Webster, and “Daniels & Webster” was born.
The pair co-hosted the show through March 2010, when Mr. Gasper resigned.
In July 2010, Mr. Longaven became the host of Rock 107’s midday slot. He continued to work with Times-Shamrock until April 2011.
In an announcement that is literally music to Apple fans' ears, an Apple executive says the debut of the new Apple Music streaming service Tuesday will be accompanied by the launch of iOS 8.4 and the Beats 1 radio station, according to C/Net.
The new 24-hour radio station and latest version of Apple's mobile operating system will go live Tuesday morning, according a blog post penned by Ian Rogers, former CEO for Beats and a current senior director for Apple Music. Rogers indicated in his post that iOS 8.4 would go live at 8 a.m. PT, a little earlier than its usual 10 a.m. release time, with the launch of Beats 1 following an hour later, according to 9to5Mac, but that time reference no longer appears in his blog.
Apple plans to launch its much-anticipated foray into the growing music-streaming business with Apple Music, its $10-a-month subscription service. With its offering, Apple will compete with Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody in offering tens of millions of songs played on demand as well as song collections tailored to listeners' personal tastes.
Please join us at 8am Tuesday morning as we set this ship a sail: Zane Lowe, the D.J. (NYT) http://t.co/ycXatH5pmm
The service is Apple's effort to grab a larger piece of the online music market, a sector that is undergoing a dramatic evolution. Revenue from global digital music grew 6.9 percent to $6.85 billion last year, with revenue from subscription services increasing 39 percent to $1.57 billion, according to International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a global trade group for the music business.
Beats 1 will not carry the normal audio and video ads that run on Apple's Pandora-like iTunes Radio service, which Apple seems to now refer to as simply Radio. Instead, Beats 1 will feature what Apple execs are describing in meetings with potential advertisers as "audio mentions" that will be interspersed throughout the songs and segments that will air on Beats 1.
AdAge reports Beats 1 will be anchored by three DJs stationed in Los Angeles, New York and London. Those DJs include former BBC Radio 1 host Zane Lowe, who will host Beats 1's flagship show; Hot 97 morning-show host Ebro Darden; and Julie Adenuga, who hosted an afternoon show on London indie radio station Rinse FM. Beats 1 will also carry shows hosted by celebrities like Elton John and Pharrell Williams.
CBS Radio's KHMX 96.5 MixFM and morning host Atom Smasher have parted company.
Atom Smasher posted on his Facebook page that The Atom Smasher Morning Show on Mix 96.5 KHMX is no more.
Smasher and co-host Shawnda McNeal came to the CBS station from Hot 96 WSTO-FM Evansville, IN in January 2014.
"Grateful for the opportunity to return to my 2nd home and Katie's 1st, and trying my best, it just did not work out," Smasher wrote. "Such is life."
Smasher had previously worked for Houston's KRBE 104.1 FM as both a night jock and then later the morning show host along with Maria Todd after Sam Malone left for KHMX. In between Houston and Evansville, Smasher worked afternoons at Dallas' KHKS 106.1 KissFM.
Mix 96.5's morning drive slot has had frequent turnover in recent years.
Smasher grew up in south Louisiana and began his radio career at age 16. He worked at stations in Baton Rouge and New Orleans before moving to Houston in 1998 to join KRBE. He worked nights and afternoons and worked morning drive with Maria Todd until July 2006, when that show was canceled and he moved to KHKS-FM in Dallas.
McNeal has co-hosted morning radio for 10 years at stations in St. Cloud, Minn.; Mankato, Minn.; and Indianapolis before joining the Adam Smasher show in 2009.
First, it went country. Then, it called itself The Lake. Effective today, it's The Shore.
Racine radio station WVTY 92.1 FM, which had been a AC less than a year ago, is rebranding its new Adult-Hits format branding as The Shore. Less than a month ago, the station adopted the format and called itself The Lake, just hours after that format and label were both dropped by WKTI 94.5 FM, when it switched to country music.
The Racine station's decision to call itself The Lake raised eyebrows, as well as questions from WKTI's owner, E.W. Scripps Co. At the time, Scripps Vice President of Radio Steve Wexler said he was "surprised to see any appropriation of a slogan and logo like that."
Magnum Media, which acquired the Racine station as part of a four-station deal in November, announced the latest change to staff this weekend. Earlier this month, the station switched its call letters to WVTY — short, the station owners say, for "variety" — from WMKQ-FM.
WVTY 92.1 FM (2.7 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
In an email to station personnel, Dave Magnum said, "I’m pleased to report that we have completed the necessary steps and our nickname will change at midnight to “92.1 THE SHORE.” Our new website address will be 921theshore.com. We’ve been weaving in “shore” references on the air for the past ten days.
"It’s a natural fit because our new transmitting and antenna systems are delivering signal from Racine up and down the Lake Michigan shoreline from Milwaukee to the Chicago suburbs. We’re also pleased with our coverage to the west. Our upgrades exceeded our expectations."
The folks at KFOG shared some great photos from the San Francisco Bay Area Grateful Dead's sold out Fare Thee Well concerts Saturday and Sunday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
KFOG's promotions team and listeners had fun with special social media backdrops and giveaways.
The station also played around with a Jerry Garcia doll, who was on hand at KFOG's various booth and tailgate areas throughout the crowd and concert-- but then was "stolen", making for some great "Where's Jerry?" photos for KFOG's social media feeds. KFOG replayed each night's entire performance 30 minutes after that night's show concluded.
A former cop is giving Baltimore a look behind the cloak of its police department.
Former Sgt. Michael Wood spent a decade with the Baltimore Police Department. Before that, Wood was a US Marine. Last week he took to Twitter to blow the whistle on police brutality and misconduct within the Baltimore Police Department. Below are a sample of his tweets.
Punting a handcuffed, face down, suspect in the face, after a foot chase. My handcuffs, not my boot or suspect
— Michael A. Wood Jr. (@MichaelAWoodJr) June 24, 2015
A detective slapping a completely innocent female in the face for bumping into him, coming out of a corner chicken store.
— Michael A. Wood Jr. (@MichaelAWoodJr) June 24, 2015
Pissing and shitting inside suspects homes during raids, on their beds and clothes.
— Michael A. Wood Jr. (@MichaelAWoodJr) June 24, 2015
Wood has also talked to the Derek Hunter Show on WBAL 1090 AM. Here is a clip of Michael Wood Jr. talking about his tweets:
And the entire interview:
The Baltimore City Police have issued the following statement:
The recent allegations made by Mr. Michael Wood are serious and very troubling. The Police Commissioner has made clear that the Baltimore Police Department will never tolerate malicious conduct.
We hope that during his time as both a sworn member and as a sergeant with supervisory obligations, that Mr. Wood reported these disturbing allegations at the time of their occurrence. If he did not, we strongly encourage him to do so now, so that our Internal Affairs Division can begin an immediate investigation.
In a recently published letter to the Baltimore Sun, the Police Commissioner made clear that his reform efforts remain focused on rooting out the type of conduct that is alleged. We implore Mr. Wood or anyone else with knowledge of such acts to contact our Internal Affairs Division at 410-396-2300.
What's really hard to convey is that some things are so common place, they didn't register until I was on the other side.
— Michael A. Wood Jr. (@MichaelAWoodJr) June 24, 2015
A longtime NFL receiver is set to become San Diego's new radio analyst.
Two sources confirmed to FOX Sports on Saturday night that the signing of Curtis Conway for the job is imminent.
Conway, 44, played 12 NFL seasons after being a 1993 first-round draft pick by Chicago. Conway, who was with the Chargers from 2000 to 2002, is currently working as a television analyst for the NFL Network and Pac-12 Network.
Conway works out of Los Angeles, which is where the Chargers may be moving as early as the 2016 season.
Conway will be replacing Hank Bauer, who had broadcast the team's games since 1998 but whose contract wasn't renewed by the Chargers' radio partner.
Orlando-based Living Sexy, LLC has announced the launch of the Living Sexy Music Channel, a fun and exciting new music station on the Living Sexy Radio Network.
LSR is now heard by almost two million listeners in 166 countries.
“Now you can listen to the sexiest music mix during your workday and on weekends and spend your nights laughing with the LS crew”, said Blackjack, co-creator and host of LSR.
“Many of our fans have asked for fun, sexy music in addition to our nightly talk show, so we developed a station with an infectiously entertaining mix. It really grabs you and you don’t want to tune away”.
The LSR network also features the innovative streaming podcast, Living Sexy, a two-hour hot comedy talk show heard weeknights at 8 ET.
“Having programmed award-winning music formats for many years, it was exciting to be able to create an all-new, original format that features the sexiest music from the last three decades”, commented co-creator and host Electric, “We feature a sizzling mix of Top-40 Pop, R&B, Rock, and Country. If it ain’t sexy, we don’t play it.”
LSR is currently featured on iTunes, Apple TV, TuneIn, SHOUTcast, Radiojar, Radionomy, Live365, Stitcher, Blubrry, Streema, other mainstream online streaming sites, and at www.LivingSexyRadio.com.
The creators are also working with veteran radio consultants Walter Sabo of Sabo Media and Bill Hennes of Bill Hennes Media to syndicate Living Sexy on terrestrial AM and FM stations in major markets across the U.S. later this year. Also in development is the Living Sexy TV show, to air this fall on a national TV network.
Alpha Media/Chambersburg, PA/Hagerstown, MD has announced after ten years, Courtney Foxx is making her return to mid-days on WIKZ 95.1 MixFM.
Courtney Foxx began her career as an air personality on WCHA in the late 80’s. She eventually became MIX 95.1’s mid-day personality spanning from 1997 through 2004. In 2004, Courtney left her first love of radio to be a full time mom to son, Casey.
This opportunity for Foxx to hit the airwaves again couldn’t have come at a better time. When she walked back into the studios for the first time in ten years as a full-time on-air personality, she said it was like she never left. Courtney knows that home is where the heart is and she feels like she is ‘back home’ with the MIX 95.1 team.
WIKZ 95.1 FM (50 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
Rick Alexander, Alpha Media Hagerstown-Chambersburg Operations Manager and WIKZ Program Director commented on the announcement, “We’re very fortunate to have Courtney back. Nobody is more ‘live and Local’ in this market than her. Plus, her upbeat personality and her ability to learn quickly, makes her a great addition in today’s fast-paced radio world.”
CNN International’s Lucy Pawle saw something disturbing when she left work Saturday, or at least she thought she had. What she thought she saw was a man dressed in black waiving an ISIS flag in London’s annual gay pride parade.
“This man dressed in black and white was waiving what appears to be a very bad mimicry, but a clear attempt to mimic, the ISIS flag,” Pawle said.
The Daily Caller reports Pawle went further in her description, ending with “Anyway, I seemed to be the only person who had spotted this. And nobody seemed to be raising any questions or pointing it out,” she said.
CNN spent almost four minutes Saturday afternoon talking about how extremist group ISIS had apparently infiltrated a gay pride parade to wave an “ISIS Flag” at the event.
Except that the flag was clearly not the ISIS flag, but a flag filled with butt plug and dildo symbols.
Looks like CNN could use a little liberal sex education, eh?
WideOrbit Inc., the leading provider of advertising management software for media companies, has appointed Mickey McClay Wilson as Chief Marketing Officer. Ms. Wilson will be responsible for development and execution of WideOrbit's marketing strategy, including brand development, product positioning and go-to-market strategies.
Ms. Wilson joins WideOrbit after two years as Vice President at Walmart Global eCommerce, where she focused on advancing Walmart's digital marketing platform.
Previously, she was Chief Marketing Officer at CBS Interactive, where she directed marketing strategy for CBS Interactive and its brand portfolio, including CBS.com, CBSSports.com, CNET and GameSpot. Prior to its acquisition by CBS, Wilson was Senior Vice President of Communications and Brand Development at CNET Networks.
"Mickey brings extraordinary business expertise and marketing leadership to WideOrbit," said Eric R. Mathewson, Founder and CEO of WideOrbit. "She is recognized for executing strategies that spurred growth and enhanced brands for companies like Walmart and CBS that are among the world's most successful marketing organizations."
"I look forward to collaborating with the WideOrbit team to build on its strong reputation among television and radio professionals for products that drive advertising businesses," said Wilson. "As broadcasters look for ways to maximize revenue across media platforms and tap into new ad budgets, WideOrbit is uniquely positioned to introduce them to the best of digital and programmatic advertising. I'm excited to apply my experience uniting strong linear brands with digital platforms to accelerate the growth of WideOrbit's revenue and increase its industry presence."
Firing back at Univision for its refusal to air his Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, the outspoken GOP presidential candidate has barred anyone who works for Univision from the greens of his Miami golf course, report The NY Post.
In a letter Friday to Randy Falco, Trump advised the Univision CEO that “under no circumstances is any officer or representative of Univision allowed to use Trump National Doral, Miami — its golf courses or any of its facilities.”
Trump also demanded that Falco, whose company’s Miami office is next door to Trump National Doral, “immediately stop work and close the gate which is being constructed between our respective properties.”
Trump gave Falco one week to take care of that matter, or “we will close it.”
The letter was dispatched a day after Univision declared it was canceling its coverage of the Miss USA pageant July 12 on its UniMas network as well as the Miss Universe pageant, which had been scheduled to air on the flagship Univision channel next January, and was severing its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which produces both pageants. The reason: what Univision called “insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants” recently voiced by Trump, a part owner of Miss Universe.
During his presidential campaign kickoff speech, Trump had portrayed immigrants from Mexico as “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.”
Chris Squire, co-founder of Yes, has died, bandmate Geoff Downes confirms via Twitter.
The 67 year old had announced a hiatus from the band in May, following a diagnosis of acute erythroid leukemia.
“Utterly devastated beyond words to have to report the sad news of the passing of my dear friend, bandmate and inspiration Chris Squire,” says Downes, who appeared on three Yes studio albums with the bass-playing legend – 1980′s Drama, 2011′s Fly From Here and 2014′s Heaven and Earth.
Ultimate Classic Rock reports Squire was the only constant in a band that began evolving almost as soon as it was founded in advance of a self-titled 1969 debut. Yes’ Aug. 7 concert with Toto will mark the first-ever without
him.
Yes later released a statement that marks Squire’s sad passing:
It’s with the heaviest of hearts and unbearable sadness that we must inform you of the passing of our dear friend and...
Posted by Yes (official) on Sunday, June 28, 2015
Squire’s final work on Heaven and Earth helped that project to a Top 20 finish on the UK charts. Yes’ best-selling albums include 1983′s triple-platinum 90125 and 1971′s double-platinum Fragile.
In 1947..."Strike It Rich" made its debut on CBS Radio with Todd Russell as the host. Warren Hull took over host duties a few years later.
In 1951…The radio sitcom, "The Life of Riley," starring William Bendix as Chester A. Riley, ended after a 10-year run. The TV version of the show ran for for a total of six years between 1949 and 1958, with Jackie Gleason as Riley in the first year and Bendix in the title role from 1953 to 1958.
In 1959...DJ turned "American Bandstand" host, Dick Clark, announced he was going to join with Irvin Feld for a number of "Dick Clark Caravans" to be staged in various cities highlighting pop stars.
In 1974...Wolfman Jack did last show at WNBC 660 AM
In 1978...Radio Personality and Hogan's Heroes TV star Bob Crane died in a still unsolved murder. He was 49.
In 1950, Crane started his broadcasting career at WLEA in Hornell, New York. He soon moved to WBIS in Bristol, Connecticut, followed by WICC in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This was a 1,000-watt operation with a signal covering the northeastern portion of the New York metropolitan area where he remained until 1956.
At that time CBS radio network executives plucked Crane out partly to help stop his huge popularity from affecting the suburban ratings of their New York flagship WCBS 880 AM, and partly to re-energize their flagging West Coast flagship KNX in Los Angeles. Crane moved his family to California to host the morning show at KNX 1070 AM. He filled the broadcast with sly wit, drumming, and guests such as Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and Bob Hope. It quickly became the number-one rated morning show with adult listeners in the Los Angeles area, with Crane known as "The King of the Los Angeles Airwaves."
Crane, Valdis
Crane's acting ambitions led to his subbing for Johnny Carson on the daytime game show Who Do You Trust? and appearances on The Twilight Zone, Channing, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and General Electric Theater. When Carl Reiner appeared on his show, Crane persuaded him to book him for a guest shot on The Dick Van Dyke Show, where he was noticed by Donna Reed, who suggested him for the role of neighbor Dr. Dave Kelsey in her sitcom from 1963 through 1965.
In 1965, Crane was offered the starring role in a television comedy pilot about a German P.O.W. camp. Hogan's Heroes became a hit and finished in the Top Ten in its first year on the air. The series lasted six seasons, and Crane was nominated for an Emmy Award twice, in 1966 and 1967. During its run, he met Patricia Olson, who played Hilda under the stage name Sigrid Valdis. He divorced his wife of twenty years and married Olson on the set of the show in 1970.
Trivia: It's Bob Crane playing the drums on Hogan's Heroes theme song.
Ron Lundy, Joe McCoy
In 1981...Joe McCoy became the Program Director at WCBS 101.1 FM, New York.
When Joe McCoy took over as program director in 1981, WCBS-FM began to gradually shift its focus to the 1964–1969 era, but would also feature a more pre-1964 oldies than most other such stations. The station continued to also feature hits of the 1970s and some hits of the 1980s while cutting future gold selections to one per hour.
Also in the 1980s, after WABC and later WNBC abandoned music in favor of talk, WCBS-FM began employing many disc jockeys who were widely known on other New York City stations, most notably Musicradio WABC alumni Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, Chuck Leonard and Harry Harrison, as well as Dan Daniels and Jack Spector.
