The WNET Group in New York City is expanding its radio portfolio with the acquisition of WEER-FM in Montauk, N.Y.
WNET signed an agreement this month to purchase the station for $100,000 from Eastern Tower Corp., according to the asset purchase agreement. The station broadcasts on 88.7 FM.
In a statement, WNET said it “looks forward to providing its award-winning radio programming to Eastern Long Island. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and we anticipate it will close in the second quarter.”
WEER 88.7 FM (<1 Kw)
In 2020, WNET purchased WPPB, another radio station in Eastern Long Island. Now known as WLIW, the Southampton NPR station airs a mix of news and music. It doesn’t reach as far east as Montauk, according to an FCC contour map.
The White House brushed aside criticism Tuesday of its fragmented disclosures about the discovery of classified documents and official records at President Joe Biden’s home and former office, saying it may withhold information to protect the Justice Department’s investigation. Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, told reporters that the White House was releasing information as it deemed it “appropriate.” Responding to criticism of the piecemeal disclosures, Sams said the White House was trying to be mindful of the “risk” in sharing information “that’s not complete.” “We’re endeavoring to be as transparent and informative to you all in the media, to the public as we can consistent with respecting the integrity of an ongoing Justice Department investigation,” he said.
The discovery of the documents in Biden’s possession complicates a federal probe into former President Donald Trump, who the Justice Department says took hundreds of records marked classified with him upon leaving the White House in early 2021 and resisted months of requests to return them to the government.
Legal experts have raised questions about the White House’s silence. At issue is whether the White House kept quiet about documents that had been stored improperly in hopes of sparing President Biden the political fallout from such a disclosure. https://t.co/sjhgmrhnkd
➤BIDEN LAWYER HAS TALKED WITH DOJ: Joe Biden's personal attorney - who found classified material inside Biden's Washington DC think tank - has already spoken to federal prosecutors, reports say. Patrick Moore was reportedly asked to clear out Biden's office in November and found the documents. Moore then informed the National Archives and Justice Department. On Tuesday it emerged that Moore has already spoken to John Lausch, the U.S. Attorney for the northern district of Illinois. Lausch was initially tasked with investigating the classified material; his job has now been taken over by the special counsel, Robert Hur, who was appointed on January 12.
Also, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed Tuesday she has been 'forthcoming' as she was grilled about the classified documents found in Joe Biden's possession - but she repeatedly referred questions to other federal entities. She argued the president has been answering questions on the matter - on the same day he sat, smiling in silence, as he ignored inquiries being asked by the press. In an Oval Office meeting with Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Biden smirked as shouting reporters were led from the room.
TUNING THEM OUT: On "The Ingraham Angle," Rep. Byron Donalds rips the Biden White House for saying House Republicans are "playing politics" over the classified documents scandal. pic.twitter.com/fqjkgYQ3eN
➤UKRAINE CLOSER TO GETTING MODERN TANKS: Ukraine is a step closer to winning approval for German-made modern battle tanks to confront invading Russian forces and has secured a pledge of more Patriot defense missiles as its allies appear ready to rally for the next phase of the war. Germany's Leopard 2 tank, operated by armies in about 20 countries, is regarded as one of the West's best. The tank weighs more than 60 tons, has a 120mm smoothbore gun and can hit targets at a distance of up to five km. Ukraine, which has relied mainly on Soviet-era T-72 tank variants, says the new tanks would give its ground troops more mobility and protection ahead of a broadly expected fresh Russian offensive as well as help re-take some of its territory. Germany has been the West's biggest holdout on pledging tanks but a cabinet minister said on Tuesday the issue would be the first to be decided by new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
Ukraine's interior minister among 18 killed in helicopter crash near kindergarten outside Kyivhttps://t.co/FbLolgCWp4
The FCC chose the Friday going into Martin Luther King Day weekend to release the latest media-ownership diversity numbers and the tale of the tape for broadcast TV — as well as radio — still reads majority white and male on both the commercial and noncommercial side, though there is slight progress.
Looking at full-power commercial TV stations, the report said men had a majority interest in 51% of those stations, down from 56% in 2019, while women held majority interests in 6% of those stations. Female ownership is up a tick from 5% in 2019 (for 39% of the stations, no single entity had a majority interest).
Black/African Americans accounted for 3% of the majority interests in full-power TV stations in 2021, up from 1% in 2019, while Asian Americans had 1%, up from 0% in 2019.
No Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander held a majority interest in 2021, as was also the case in 2019.
Across radio and TV, men had attributable interests in 61% of commercial broadcast stations while women held only 9% and Hispanics/Latinos 6%. White persons held 73% of majority interests while racial minorities only 4%. African Americans had majority interests in only 2% of stations while Asians held 1% majority interests. No American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander held a majority interest.
Walt Disney Co. fired back against activist investor Nelson Peltz, saying Tuesday that he didn’t understand the company’s business and shouldn’t be granted a seat on the board, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The entertainment company offered shareholders a 16-page slide deck that defends its Chief Executive Robert Iger against a monthslong campaign by Mr. Peltz to “challenge Mr. Iger’s legacy.”
The company said, “Nelson Peltz does not understand Disney’s business.”
Peltz and his hedge fund Trian Fund Management LP launched a bid last week for a board seat at Disney in an attempt to fix what he is calling a series of self-inflicted wounds that have hobbled the company’s recent performance.
Disney sought to debunk Peltz’s assertions in the presentation by noting total shareholder returns outperformed other media companies during Mr. Iger’s first tenure as CEO, which ended in February 2020. It also said the company plans a reorganization that will cut costs and said it would prioritize profitability in its streaming business. Disney defended its acquisition track record.
Most of all, it said Peltz doesn’t have what it takes to get the board seat he has wanted for months. Mr. Peltz “lacks the skills and experience to assist the board in delivering shareholder value in a rapidly shifting media ecosystem,” Disney said.
The dust-up comes a week after Disney replaced its board chair Susan Arnold with Nike Inc. chairman Mark Parker, a move that Mr. Peltz has dinged as a rubber stamp for the return of Robert Iger. Mr. Iger returned to Disney as CEO in November when the company’s board fired Bob Chapek from the top job.
A U.S. Senate committee will hold a hearing on Jan. 24 on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry after Ticketmaster's problems managing the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets.
Reuters reports the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is titled "That’s The Ticket: Promoting Competition and Protecting Consumers in Live Entertainment." The committee did not disclose the witnesses.
In November, Ticketmaster canceled a planned ticket sale to the general public for Swift's "Eras" tour, her first in five years, after more than 3.5 billion requests from fans, bots and scalpers overwhelmed its website.
"The issues within America’s ticketing industry were made painfully obvious when Ticketmaster’s website failed hundreds of thousands of fans hoping to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift’s new tour, but these problems are not new," said Senator Amy Klobuchar, who heads an antitrust subcommittee.
"We will examine how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industries harms customers and artists alike."
Klobuchar and two other lawmakers argued in November that Ticketmaster and owner Live Nation Entertainment should be broken up by the Justice Department if any misconduct is found in an ongoing investigation.
Ticketmaster, which antitrust experts contend commands more than 70% market share of primary ticket services for major U.S. concert venues, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment late Tuesday.
In November, the company denied any anti-competitive practices and noted it remained under a consent decree with the Justice Department following its 2010 merger with Live Nation, adding that there was no "evidence of systemic violations of the consent decree."
Businesses and lawyers are beginning to assess what the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed ban of noncompete clauses in employment contracts could mean for worker mobility, wages and the way future compensation agreements are structured, reports The Wall Street Journal.
While a full or partial ban could expand the pool of potential hires, it also would weaken a tool that employers have come to rely on to retain talent and protect trade secrets and other proprietary information, lawyers say. More companies likely would turn to a patchwork of alternative mechanisms to keep people from leaving and taking valuable information with them, including nondisclosure agreements and employment contracts that reward longevity, they say.
“Employers have operated with an understanding that they can protect their interests through noncompetes,” said Matthew Durham, a Salt Lake City-based attorney with Dorsey & Whitney LLP who advises companies on employment matters. “What you’re seeing, reflected in the FTC proposal and elsewhere, is a growing hostility to the idea that there should be those kinds of restrictions, and it’s changing the environment that employers have been comfortable with in the last number of years.”
The FTC proposed a ban this month on nearly all noncompetes, saying that the clauses—which typically prohibit workers from moving to a new employer or starting new ventures of their own—hamper competition in the labor market, suppress wages and hold back innovation and entrepreneurship. The proposal came in response to an executive order from President Biden in 2021.
Businesses say they impose noncompete clauses on employees to protect trade secrets and other confidential information, including customer lists and financial data.
RAB has announced the hiring of Bob Lawrence as general manager to oversee the National Radio Talent System (NRTS), a division of the trade organization. Based in Madison, Mississippi, Lawrence will report to RAB President and CEO Erica Farber and joins RAB at a pivotal time as it prepares to reboot five NRTS institutes in 2023 including Confer Radio Talent Institute, GAB Radio Talent Institute, Hubbard St. Louis/MBA Radio Talent Institute, Kellar Radio Talent Institute and the inaugural IBA Foundation Radio Talent Institute.
Bob Lawrence
Lawrence has held nearly every position in radio including on-air, programming and sales. Most recently, he served as general manager/market manager at New South Radio in Jackson and Meridian, Mississippi, and prior to that as vice president of programming at Saga Communications. Additionally, Bob has a strong research background including ten years as senior vice president of operations at Broadcast Architecture prior to launching research company Pinnacle Media Worldwide.
Since acquiring the talent system in 2020, RAB has assembled an NRTS Board Committee chaired by Seven Mountain Media’s Kristin Cantrell and an NRTS Alumni Advisory Council focused on helping the organization develop and plan for future institutes, recruiting new talent into broadcast radio and fostering engagement between broadcasters and institute graduates.
“NRTS plays an important role in RAB’s mission to develop and attract new talent to radio,” said Erica Farber, president and chief executive officer, RAB. “Bringing in a strong leader that can hit the ground running and further develop our vision, build on the strategy of the past institutes and grow the program is key to our future. I’m excited to partner with Bob Lawrence as we further develop NRTS.”
iHeartMedia Denver’s KOA RADIO NEWS, TALK, SPORTS has announced Ryan Edwards has joined “The KOA Sports Zoo” . “The KOA Sports Zoo” broadcasts weekdays from 3pm – 6pm.
“The KOA Sports Zoo” features Dave Logan and Alfred Williams, and spotlights topics such as current events and Denver sports, highlighting the Denver Broncos.
“I am thrilled to join radio and football legends Dave Logan and Alfred Williams on ‘The KOA Sports Zoo.’ I look forward to bringing a fans’ perspective to the Denver Broncos and all things Denver sports,” said Ryan Edwards.
Ryan Edwards joins “The KOA Sports Zoo” from “Broncos Country Tonight,” the evening show on KOA where he most recently served as the show’s co-host with Benjamin Allbright. He also served as the co-host for “First & Ten at 10” for iHeartMedia’s Orange & Blue 760. He began his career at KKFN and is a graduate of Colorado State University.
➦In 1913...comedian/actor Danny Kaye was born David Daniel Kaminski in Brooklyn.
While most of his impact was on the big screen, he had his own radio show in the 1940’s, and his own TV show in the 60’s. Surprisingly, he has only two appearances listed for the Ed Sullivan Show. As a partner in Kaye/Smith Broadcasting he was a co-owner of KJR AM/FM in Seattle & KJRB, Spokane.
He died Mar 3, 1987 at age 74 after a heart attack.
➦In 1914...announcer/actor Rod O’Connor was born in Houston.
He died June 5 1964 at age 50 after losing a battle with cancer.
➦In 1929...“New York Daily Mirror” columnist Walter Winchell made his debut on radio, broadcasting a blend of political commentary and celebrity gossip to “Mr. and Mrs. America…” His quick-jabbing, penetrating manner became his trademark. And so did his fedora hat.
Walt Winchell
He began his career in journalism by posting notes about his acting troupe on backstage bulletin boards. Joining the Vaudeville News in 1920, Winchell left the paper for the Evening Graphic in 1924, and in turn was hired on June 10, 1929 by the New York Daily Mirror where he finally became the author of what would be the first syndicated gossip column, entitled On-Broadway.
Using connections in the entertainment, social, and governmental realms, he would expose exciting or embarrassing information about celebrities in those industries. This caused him to become very feared, as a journalist, because he would routinely impact the lives of famous or powerful people, exposing alleged information and rumors about them, using this as ammunition to attack his enemies, and to blackmail influential people. He used this power, trading positive mention in his column (and later, his radio show) for more rumors and secrets.
He made his radio debut over WABC in New York, then a CBS affiliate, on May 12, 1930.
His newspaper column was syndicated in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide, and he was read by 50 million people a day from the 1920s until the early 1960s. His Sunday-night radio broadcast was heard by another 20 million people from 1930 to the late 1950s.
Aunt Jenny
➦In 1937...CBS radio introduced listeners to “Aunt Jenny’s Real Life Stories” for the first time. A complete story was told in five, 15-minute episodes which aired Monday thru Friday each week. Aunt Jenny was played by Edith Spencer (pictured) and later, by Agnes Young. The show continued on radio until 1956 and was sponsored over the years by Spry shortening and Lux soap. Aunt Jenny’s whistling canary, for those of you ready to inquire, was played by animal imitator, Henry Boyd.
➦In 1948... Ted Mack came to television as “The Original Amateur Hour” debuted on the DuMont network. The program continued on different networks for a total 22-year run. The original, “Original Amateur Hour”, on radio, was hosted by Major Bowes. In the TV version, Mack introduced many up-and-coming stars who later claimed great fame in show biz. Teresa Brewer and Pat Boone are just two of those discoveries.
➦In 1964..Fifty-one years ago today, the Beatles appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time.
The band's breakthrough, and ultimately, pop culture-redefining, first U.S smash, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 45.
The issue was dated Jan. 18, 1964.
The following week, the song rocketed to No. 3. It became the Beatles' first of 20 No. 1s the following week (Feb. 1, 1964).
Beasley Media Group announces Rick Thomas has been named as the new Brand Manager of the company’s Tampa-based radio cluster, including WLLD-FM, WQYK-FM, WRBQ-FM, WYUU-FM, WPBB-FM and WHFS-AM. In addition, he will serve as program director of WQYK-FM in Tampa.
In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing all the stations in the cluster as well as programming WQYK-FM.
Rick Thomas
Thomas most recently served as the national format leader and day to day Program Director at Summit Media’s WWST-FM in Knoxville. Prior to that, he worked as the Program Director and Operations Manager for Cox’s Tampa-based radio cluster and CBS radio, where he had multi-format wins in both New York and Los Angeles.
“After an extensive nationwide search, it’s a pleasure to welcome Rick to the Beasley Tampa team,” said Beasley Media Group Chief Content Officer Justin Chase. “With Rick’s track record of success and experience in Tampa, not to mention the positive history he has with our Market Manager, I believe QYK is in good hands.”
“Having an opportunity to return to Tampa, make a difference for a company I’ve greatly admired and reunite with my New York City partner, Ron DeCastro, is a dream come true,” said Thomas. “I am thrilled to curate and lead the legendary 995 QYK into the future. We have amazing talent in the building, and I am super excited to be a resource to them and help grow our cluster.”
“I am excited to once again get the chance to work with Rick Thomas,” said Beasley Media Group Tampa Vice President and Market Manager Ron deCastro. “Rick is one of the best Programming minds and Culture builder and I look forward to teaming up again with him in Tampa.”
SiriusXM today announced the appointment of Suzi Watford to the newly-created role of Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer for SiriusXM, reporting to Chief Commercial Officer Joe Verbrugge.
In this position, she will take a leadership position in driving SiriusXM’s enterprise-level growth strategy with oversight across a variety of key areas, including the SiriusXM streaming subscription business as well as corporate marketing, analytics and research for SiriusXM and Pandora.
Watford brings two decades of experience architecting and implementing transformational growth strategies in the direct-to-consumer space, and will play a similar role at SiriusXM as she helps to propel the Company into the next phase of its evolution. In this role, Suzi will lead the distribution, acquisition, retention and engagement strategies of SiriusXM’s streaming businesses.
Suzi Watford
“Suzi is a dynamic leader who has played a key role in the digital transformation of media businesses, and she will be instrumental at SiriusXM as we continue to execute upon our vision to shape the future of audio,” said Joe Verbrugge, Chief Commercial Officer, SiriusXM. “Suzi has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to build and lead talented teams to evolve and grow profitable consumer subscription businesses, and we are thrilled to have her join us.”
“SiriusXM’s combination of world-class programming and talent with a passionate subscriber base is unmatched in the marketplace, and offers an incredible foundation for future growth,” said Watford. “I’m looking forward to joining the talented team at SiriusXM at this stage in the company’s journey and playing a role as we look to attract and retain new growth audiences.”
Prior to joining SiriusXM, Suzi held various growth leadership roles at Dow Jones. Most recently, Suzi led the overall consumer business for Dow Jones, including all aspects of marketing and subscription acquisition for The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch.
Luminate Data released last week in its 2022 Year End Music Report, a summary of the past year in music consumption, demographics, and other data. Although much of the report focuses on demographic data oriented towards advertising and brand partnerships, it contains a few buried gold nuggets that suggest that the album portion of the music market is returning to the state it was in decades ago: vinyl LPs.
Luminate (formerly Nielsen Music and then briefly MRC Data) has published year-end reports for the past few years. These have become one of a small group of landmark music industry barometers, along with the RIAA’s Music Revenue Reports, IFPI’s Global Music Report, and Edison Research’s Infinite Dial study.
Forbes reports Luminate’s data measures music consumption (streams, sales volumes, radio airplay) rather than revenue. Many of the statistics that the 2022 report shows are in line with what industry watchers have expected to see: continued growth in streaming music consumption; growth in video streams (YouTube, TikTok) outpacing growth in audio streams (Spotify, Apple Music); megastars like Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Bad Bunny taking increasingly disproportionate shares of listenership.
But the numbers also tell a hidden story about music albums and vinyl: namely that while the album is continuing its slow decline as a popular music release package, it’s also increasingly finding itself back where it came from: in vinyl LPs. The album as we know it today originated in its 20-minute-per-side configuration in the late 1940s; the data shows it going back to its roots after decades of variations, experimentation, and digitalization.
This chart from Luminate’s report shows that total album sales continue to drop—they decreased 8.2% since 2021. But album sales are split across four formats: digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPs, and cassettes. Not counting the latter, which are a rounding error on total sales, all categories of album sales are dropping except vinyl.
Although vinyl sales growth is slowing down, vinyl now represents 43% of all album sales. Vinyl already represents more than half (54%) of physical album sales, and digital album sales are continuing to plummet. It’s likely that at least half of all album sales will be on vinyl by next year.
Luminate’s data also shows that vinyl is helping to boost sales of older “catalog” music, which is increasing overall in proportion to current material. Of the ten top-selling albums of 2022 across all formats, two are catalog titles: Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (returning to the charts after more than 40 years thanks to Nathan Apodaca’s viral TikTok video in late 2020) and Michael Jackson’s perennial favorite Thriller. But on vinyl, in addition to those two titles, Taylor Swift’s 2020 release folklore sits at no. 7, and the Beatles’ immortal Abbey Road occupies the no. 10 slot. And the top-selling album of 2022, Taylor Swift’s Midnights, sold 52% on vinyl—945,000 copies, almost enough to go Platinum on vinyl sales alone.
Cumulus Media announces that it has named a new Midday On-Air Host for Tucson Country radio station, KiiM FM 99.5, and Classic Hip-Hop station, 97.5 The Vibe/KSZR-FM. Bobbi Pereyda moves from Middays on 97.5 The Vibe to her new on-air home as On-Air Host, Middays, on KiiM FM 99.5. Krystal Pino, who previously hosted Middays on KiiM FM 99.5, now hosts Middays on 97.5 The Vibe, moving from full-time to part-time duties with Cumulus Tucson.
Buzz Jackson, Program Director, KiiM FM 99.5 and 97.5 The Vibe, said: “I get the best of both worlds! I get to keep Krystal on 97.5 The Vibe and hand the keys to the midday show on KIIM to Bobbi, who has proven herself on the Vibe for the past year.”
Bobbi Pereyda commented: “As someone who was glued to the radio as a kid, getting the opportunity to be on The Vibe was a blessing and an incredible learning experience that opened a lot of doors. Little did I know that the door would be right across the hall at the biggest radio station in town, KiiM-FM 99.5. I’m excited and grateful that I get to continue my radio career in my hometown with listeners and a team that feels like family.”
Krystal Pino remarked: “I am grateful to be a part of a company that values my show and experience. I am honored to say I worked for the legendary KiiM FM and made lifelong friends with the listeners. The next chapter begins with 97.5 the Vibe. The Vibe allows me to experience nostalgia with the music I grew up trying to record off the radio and put on my pager. So Tucson - let's have fun!”
Cumulus Media announces that it has appointed Renee Castle as Co-Host, Mornings, on Memphis Country radio station, KIX 106/WGKX-FM. Castle joins On-Air Host, Andrew “Latty” Latimer, who debuted on KIX 106 Mornings last May. The dynamic on-air team entertains Memphis Country radio fans weekdays from 6:00am-10:00am.
Renee Castle
Castle was previously On-Air Host, Nights, at Country-formatted WKLB-FM in Boston, MA. Prior to that, she was on-air at Cumulus Nashville Country station, 103.3 WKDF-FM. Castle, a former actor and television producer, has also been heard on KRTY-FM (Country) in San Jose, CA, and at WJXA-FM (AC) in Nashville, TN.
Chad Heritage, Program Director, KIX 106, commented: “I’m very excited to have Renee join the KIX 106 morning show. Her experience, passion for radio and for country music will only help make our brand even stronger. She’s a team player and she is a great fit for our team here in Memphis.”
Danni Bruns, Operations Manager, Cumulus Memphis, added: “As KIX106 celebrates its 40th birthday this year, I can’t think of a better gift than Renee.”
Castle remarked: “I am so thrilled to be a part of the KIX 106 family! Can't wait to hear from our listeners every morning from 6-10!”
Search teams retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders Monday of a passenger plane that plummeted into a gorge on approach to a new airport in the foothills of the Himalayas, officials said, as investigators looked for the cause of Nepal’s deadliest plane crash in 30 years. At least 69 of the 72 people aboard were killed, and officials believe the three missing are also dead. Rescuers combed through the debris, scattered down a 300-meter-deep (984-foot-deep) gorge, for them. Many of the passengers on Sunday’s flight were returning home to Pokhara, though the city is also popular with tourists since it’s the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit hiking trail. On Monday evening, relatives and friends were still gathered outside a local hospital, some shouting at officials to speed up the post mortems so they could hold funerals for their loved ones. Later, some did receive the bodies of relatives.
The fatal air crash in Nepal on Sunday adds to the Himalayan country’s reputation as the most dangerous place to fly on the planet. All 68 passengers and four crew on Yeti Airlines Flight 691 were killed in the disaster in Pokhara, Nepal’s second-largest city and a gateway for tourists exploring the Annapurna mountain range.
Indian Passenger's Livestream Shows Final Moments of Nepal Plane Crash #planecrash#nepal#india R.I.P. In the hours after Nepal's deadliest plane crash in the last 30 years, a video went viral in India - it showed one of the victims, Sonu Jaiswal, livestreaming from the plane pic.twitter.com/p92eH2BU2w
According to Aviation Safety Network data, the fatal crash was the 11th in Nepal in as many years. Only last May, 22 people died when a Tara Air flight came down en route from Pokhara to the trekking base of Jomsom. The latest tragedy, the deadliest since 1992, has led to a spate of tourist cancelations, according to travel-industry executives, costing the country vital revenue. Nepal’s topography and weather patterns make flying harder than in many other places. In 2015, the United Nations-backed International Civil Aviation Organization prioritized the country for technical assistance, later saying its “beautiful but rugged terrain makes the safety of air operations more challenging than in other areas of the world.”
NY Post Composite (1/17/23)
➤HAS BIDEN LOST 'MORNING JOE'? MSNBC’s White House-friendly “Morning Joe” program tore into the administration’s “stumbling and bumbling” response to the classified documents debacle Monday, following the weekend revelation that more sensitive records were found at the president’s Delaware home. “By stumbling and bumbling around, by not getting their timeline right … we just showed a graphic that says an unknown number of documents found in Biden’s garage,” said co-host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman. “No more unknown. No more unknown. “At this stage, we’re two months in. They need to clean this up … amateur hour is over, they need complete transparency and they just mishandled it from day one,” he added.
➤SIX DEAD, EIGHT WOUNDED IN SHOOTINGS ON BOTH COASTS: Six people including a six-month-old baby cradled in the arms of her 17-year-old mother were shot dead at a home in California's main agricultural valley on Monday in what authorities called a targeted attack and "horrific massacre." Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux linked the killings to the illegal drug trade, saying deputies had conducted a drug-related search warrant at the same home last week. "We believe this was a message being sent," Boudreaux told reporters at the scene. "We believe that this was a targeted family." Two suspects remained at large, he said.
Beasley Media has named Suzanne Carroll as General Sales Manager of the company's Charlotte-based cluster, including WSOC-FM, WKQC-FM, WPEG-GM, WBAV-FM, WNKS-FM and WBCN-AM.
Carroll most recently served on the Sales Acceleration Team with Audacy's Corporate Sales team. Previously, she worked as a Sales Manager at CBS Radio, Entercom as well as Audacy's radio clusters in Chicago, Baltimore and Virginia Beach.
"I am so excited to be joining the incredible Beasley Media Charlotte sales team," said Carroll. "The individual Account Execs are knowledgeable and have the drive to WIN. Along with Rob, Tom, and Mac, I am confident together, we will all accomplish some very exciting sales goals in 2023 and beyond."
"We are so excited to have Suzanne join our team in Charlotte," added Director of Sales Rob Whitehead. "Suzanne brings an amazing amount of experience and knowledge from the Media industry. She has had an extensive career including roles as Account Executive, National Sales Manager, General Sales Manager, and Director of New business and Digital development. Suzanne's career path has taken her to major markets including Baltimore and Chicago. We look forward to her continued success."
"Suzanne is a proven winner who brings both broad view and targeted local market experience to our strong team of Account Executives in the market," said Beasley Media Group Charlotte and Detroit Vice President and Market Manager Mac Edwards. "Her abilities in leadership, team building, goal achievement, and client relations make her the ideal choice to partner with Rob and DSM Tom Neeley on our Sales Leadership Team."
Press Communications elevates WWZY and WBHX 107.1 The BossservingMonmouth-Ocean, NJ Director of Programming Robby Bridges to Vice President of Programming, effective immediately. In this enhanced role, he'll continue to oversee all aspects of programming, talent, marketing and promotion of the Classic Rock simulcast. In addition, Bridges continues to co-host mornings on "Robby and Rochelle in the Morning" which he's done since arriving at the station in September, 2021.
Robby Bridges
Press CEO Robert McAllan noted, "Anyone who observes Robby knows he works tirelessly on making The BOSS the success the stations currently enjoy. Under his leadership, we fully expect Robby will continue to build on that success well into the future. WWZY and WBHX combined have seen growth since his arrival."
Bridges added, "I'd like to thank Bob McAllan, Rich Morena and the entire Press team. This company is committed to creating great content to entertain and inform the listeners of our community and to best serve our advertising partners while doing so. It's been a pleasure working closely with Bob on building up the BOSS brand and I look forward to doing so into the future in this new role, appreciate the nod.
"Last, thank you to my predecessor in this chair Jeff Rafter for bringing Rochelle and I to Press Comm and being so supportive along the way. Glad we continue working together as Jeff programs Gold AC WHTG (100.7 and 1410 AM The Breeze) for the company."
Eric and Nick Vidal aka the Baka Boyz are now hosting mornings on Audacy’s Classic HipHop KRBQ in San Francisco. The daily show is now on 20 plus stations including KOAS ‘Jamin 105.7’ Las Vegas, KLBU ‘Jammin 94.7’ Santa Fe, WUSY ‘Real 96.1’ Chattanooga and KBHH ‘Forge 95.3’ Fresno.
Michael Martin, Audacy’s SVP of Programming and Head of Musical initiatives says, “On the first day in Morning Drive, Eric and Nick had the whole station buzzing. They literally brought the station to life! The Baka Boyz energy, chemistry, authenticity, and overall fun personalities can’t be duplicated. I’m ecstatic to have the Baka’s hosting morning drive on KRBQ in San Fran! They were amazing in their previous run in this market. Honestly, they haven’t missed a beat since then and sound better now than ever. They truly understand both the science and art of consistently creating GREAT radio!”
The Baka Boyz say, “This is a return to our roots. We were offered a national syndication deal for a weekend mix show 20 years ago while we were doing mornings at KMEL. It’s a dream come true to come back to the Bay Area with 102 Jams and the great Audacy San Francisco team. A great thanks to Dave Richards, Michael Martin, Gary Bernstein, and the folks at Compass Media Networks for making this happen.”
Launching Monday day, January 16, 2023, at 10 a.m., on the celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., The Block aims to service a portion of the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek radio listening audience that has been missing a presence in the airwaves that caters to them.
“I am beyond proud to be part of Kalamazoo’s new R&B radio station,” Townsquare Media director of content Dana Marshall said. “Over the years, people have expressed to me countless times at events like the Do-Dah Parade and Ribfest, that there is not a radio station for them. I’m so happy to say, now there is with 102-5 and 104-9 The Block.”
“I’m excited to be working on a project as big as this one,” The Block’s brand manager Da’Jzon Hughes said. “The Block will serve as a station for the urban community and I couldn’t be prouder to serve my community with something it’s been searching for!”
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