Saturday Aircheck: WFIL 56 & WIBG 99 Philly - 1970-1983

Includes George Michael, Long John Wade, Don Wade, John Records Landecker, Don Cannon, Chuck Knapp, Hy Lit, Joe Niagra, Tony Mann, Dick Fennessy, & Jim Nettleton.

Man With Horsehead Crashes TWC’s Jim Cantore

World-Herald photos

The Weather Channel wasn't horsing around when it sent its top correspondent, Jim Cantore, to Nebraska on Thursday to experience an oncoming snowstorm.

But somebody wearing a horse head was.

According to Paul Hammel at the World-Herald, while Cantore did a live report Thursday afternoon amid the wind-whipped snow at 10th and Q Streets in Lincoln, a man wearing a costume horse head walked into the background of the shot, waving and posing.

It elicited laughter from about 20 people who had gathered to watch the weather celebrity at work.

The man in the horse head cantered off before a reporter could catch his identity.

Cantore, who is based in Atlanta, is famous for his live reporting for the Weather Channel as hurricanes make landfall, tornadoes approach, and blizzards dump snow.

Read More Now.

NYC Radio: Jockless Days At NashFM 94.7 To End

Kelly Ford

WNSH 94.7 FM NYC, Cumulus flagship for NashFM, has hired its first personalities for the country station.

Starting Monday, Kelly Ford, a 20-year vet  at KYGO Denver, will handle mid-days.

She’ll be followed in PM Drive by Jesse Addy, who was at Cumulus’ WDVD-FM in Detroit.

Jesse Addy

Ford’s impressive radio resume includes three CMAs and one ACM for best Major Market Radio Personality and a Marconi from the NAB. Addy comes from Detroit where he did afternoons and was APD  at Cumulus' Hot AC WDVD-FM.

Although WNSH-94.7 probably won't be the only place where Kelly Ford and Jesse Addy will be heard, New York Market Manager Kim Bryant stated in a recent interview that Nash FM will not be part of a national network.

Announcements concerning the morning show and evening on NashFM should be made soon.

Study: Radio/TV Scores Well For Sandy Coverage

2013 Hurricane Sandy Responsiveness Study Released

Overall, state governments and electric utilities provided more effective responsiveness and handling of the 2012 Hurricane Sandy emergency than did local and federal governments, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2013 Hurricane Sandy Responsiveness Study released Thursday.

The study is based on interviews of more than 5,900 U.S. residential customers in 31 utility territories impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The online survey was conducted from January 4 to January 11, 2013. Overall responsiveness is measured by examining three areas across electric utilities and local, state, and federal governments: preparedness for the hurricane; efforts to support hurricane recovery; and effectiveness of communications.

Obtaining timely outage information is critical to utility customers. Customers received most of their information regarding the outage by calling their utility directly (37%); listening to radio or watching TV (29%); and going directly to their utility's website (17%). Nearly three-fourths (71%) of customers who made contact with their utility during the outage used their mobile cellphone or smartphone. Satisfaction is highest among customers who say they received proactive outbound communications, in which their utility sent emails, text messages or outbound phone calls.

Hurricane Sandy's damage is estimated at $50 billion and is considered the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history.

Rochester Radio: Com, Non-com Team For News Coverage

WXXI 1370 AM (5kw) and WDKX 103.9 FM (800w) in Rochester, N.Y., are very different stations serving very different audiences — and that’s a big reason that their unusual seven-year partnership continues to yield winning results for both broadcasters.

The public broadcaster, WXXI, first approached the commercial radio station, WDKX, in 2006 to team up on covering a mayoral race in the city. Since then, according to a story at current.org,  the two have continued to collaborate on examining race, politics, education and other community issues in a partnership that amplifies the voice of both stations and boosts their newsgathering capabilities.

At first glance, the two seem to be unlikely partners. WXXI operates both TV and radio stations; it airs news and public affairs on its AM signal for an audience that’s 81 percent white and 16 percent African-American. The locally owned WDKX airs mainly hip-hop and R&B for an audience that’s 60 percent African-American and younger than WXXI’s. It frequently is among the top-rated stations in the city.

But by partnering, WXXI has been able to get its news coverage and personalities in front of WDKX’s audience, who otherwise might not tune in for public radio fare. And WDKX has boosted the local news on its airwaves by drawing on the resources and connections of WXXI’s bigger news team.

Read More Now

Ingraham On Scarborough’s Disdain For Talk Radio

May stem from his own 2010 radio ‘cancellation’

On her Thursday program, conservative talker Laura Ingraham struck back at MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough and others who want to blame talk radio for 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s presidential election loss, suggesting that Scarborough’s anger may be linked to his radio show getting cancelled in 2010.

“You got to have leaders that will turn out against the crazies in your own party,” Scarborough said Thursday morning according to The Daily Caller, “and if you do — you start winning those middle, those swing voters.”

Scarborough, along with others on his program Thursday, attacked certain elements in the conservative movement, including talk radio. That has been a constant theme of his MSNBC program dating back to President Barack Obama’s re-election victory last November, including earlier this week when Scarborough tied conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Fox News to a string of lost presidential elections.

Ingraham explained that Romney’s appearances on her show were sparse and said that suggested that his campaign had attempted to distance itself from talk radio, as opposed to embracing it.

Read More Now

Bakersfield Radio: Talker Ralph Bailey Quits KNZR

Ralph Bailey

UPDATE 02/25/2013:  Click Here.

Talk radio host Ralph Bailey resigned without warning Thursday from his afternoon show on KNZR 1560 AM, among the top-rated stations in the local market.

Jennifer Self at bakersfieldcalifornian.com reports, Bailey could not be reached for comment moments after a posting on his Facebook page announced his departure, but local Buckley Radio General Manager Mary Lou Gunn confirmed Bailey resigned, adding that she wishes him well.

"He was a huge part of the success of the radio station," Gunn said of Bailey's nine-year tenure with Buckley. "He will be hard to replace."

Bailey's Facebook posting: 

"It was with a heavy heart that I tendered my resignation to Buckley Radio today. However, future opportunities and challenges make it virtually impossible not to seek out new adventures. I would like to thank Steve Darnell, Kathy Baker and posthumously Rick Buckley. To my colleagues, I hope I was a team player who made the station and the client top priority and someone who grasped the concept of pulling on one side of the rope. To my sponsors, I hope I played a small role in your success and thank you for your support! And to my listeners, (and you know I'm blubbering like a baby, by now) you gave me a voice in this community! I pray you will travel with me wherever I go!!! Thank you all!! It's been an incredible ride!!!!"

Shortly after 3 p.m., at the scheduled start of Bailey's radio program, fellow KNZR radio host Jaz McKay and producer Tony Whitnack announced Bailey was no longer with the station.

McKay, whose noon-to-3 p.m. program served as the lead-in to Bailey's show, said he noticed a change in his colleague's demeanor in the last week or so and noted Bailey missed two shows last week.

McKay speculated that Bailey might be poised to change careers or could be headed to arch-rival radio station KERN, owned by American General Media.

Read More Now

NYC Radio: Reunion Of Country WHN Staff Planned

Ed Salamon

It's been a good couple of weeks for country music fans.

First, they got a full-time station back, Nash-FM (94.7).

And now, WFDU-FM (89.1) will host an on-air reunion of the WHN-AM (1050) air staff to mark the 40th anniversary of WHN switching to a country format in 1972. The event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, February 26, according to Ray Edel at northjersey.com.

The broadcast will also be available via streaming audio, Click Here.

The New York station was country for 15 years, and during that period it became the most listened-to country radio station of all time.

Radio personalities reuniting on air will include Country Radio Hall-of-Famer and Sirius on-air personality Lee Arnold, WCBS-FM (101.1) morning personality Dan Taylor, Mike Fitzgerald and Jessie Scott. Gene Ladd will do the news, just like in the 1970s. Former WHN music director Pam Green will schedule the music and former program director Ed Salamon will oversee the event.

On Monday, Salamon's book "WHN: When New York City Went Country" will be released by Archer Books.

WHN staff will gather for a panel discussion at 6 p.m. Monday at Hill Country Live, 30 W. 26th St., Manhattan. Admission is free and the public is invited.

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Eugene Radio: ‘Donkey Show’ Suit Fails In Court

It took a jury less than two hours Thursday to reject all claims in a lawsuit filed by a former KFLY-FM 101.5 FM Eugene, OR radio personality who claimed that he faced such intense verbal abuse on “The Donkey Show” that he was forced to quit.

According to Greg Bolt at The Register-Guard, the jury of eight women and four men took less than two hours to decide against former radio personality Michael Fleming on all counts and awarded no damages.

Fleming had charged that he was subjected to vitriolic and demeaning verbal abuse while serving as an unpaid co-host of “The Donkey Show” in 2011 and early 2012. He said the on-air insults created such a toxic work environment that he feared for his safety and had no choice but to quit.

Attorneys for Fleming and Bicoastal Media, the company that owns station KFLY-FM where “The Donkey Show” airs, spent about three hours making their closing arguments Thursday morning. Mario Conte, the attorney for Bicoastal, said Fleming failed to show that he was subjected to discrimination, was demoted or was treated any differently from anyone else who appeared on the program.

“All alleged discrimination happened on ‘The Donkey Show,’ including the alleged demotion. It was all part of the show,” Conte said in e-mailed comments after the verdict was announced. “Mr. Fleming was a voluntary participant in ‘The Donkey Show’ for over four years without ever complaining to Bicoastal’s management.”

Conte said the insulting banter on “The Donkey Show” essentially was part of a shtick aimed at generating controversy. Yes, it was crude and crass, Conte said, but it was an equal opportunity insulter.

Lewinter told jurors that the abuse went so far beyond play­acting or good-natured ribbing that it started to affect Fleming’s quality of life and self-image. It forced him to seek counseling and caused weight gain, loss of sleep and other physical effects.

The conflicts between Fleming and Chad 'Tanner' Haney became so tense that they made Fleming fear for his safety, Lewinter said, particularly after the episode involving the Super Bowl bet. That was when Fleming complained to a supervisor about Haney, after which Haney made remarks on the air that Fleming took as threats.

“It was a crude, crass show,” Conte said. “People were called names and insulted on the air all the time.”

Read More Now

Toledo Radio: Andrew Z To Relaunch Show

Andrew Z

Andrew Zepeda hasn’t listened to WWWM Star 105 since Cumulus Media abruptly dropped his morning show Dec. 26 — but not out of spite. His radio is broken.

“The ironic thing is the one car we have, the radio broke the week after we got fired, I swear to God,” Zepeda told Srah Ottney at toledofreepress.com. “So I haven’t really listened to terrestrial radio since I left. I don’t have the money to get it fixed. Actually I use my phone. That’s what I use for all my entertainment now.”

Fittingly, Zepeda plans to relaunch “Andrew Z in the Morning” on Feb. 25 via a free mobile app called Toledo’s APP Station.

The show will stream live 6:30-9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Afterward, the show will replay on a loop all day. The show will be the first Toledo radio station exclusively available via smartphone, Zepeda said. The app is available for Android and will be available for iPhones soon.

The show’s cast will feature familiar voices, including Zepeda’s wife Michelle, Brandon Doriot, Calen Savidge and Corey W. King.

Zepeda said he is confident people will seek out the show because “it is still the best show in Toledo.”

To start, the show will broadcast from Zepeda’s Perrysburg home, but he hopes to find more sponsors and studio space soon. Zepeda also alluded to another project in the works featuring more traditional media that would be announced soon.

Zepeda said he was “blindsided” Dec. 26 when he was told “Andrew Z in the Morning: The People’s Show” was being dropped by Cumulus Media.

The firing came six days after Zepeda was sentenced to 30 days at the Wood County Justice Center, with permission to apply for work release, and five years’ community control, including no bars or alcohol.

In October, Mayberry found Zepeda violated his intervention in lieu of conviction by participating in a Sept. 13 celebrity charity boxing match at which alcohol was served. The violation meant Zepeda was convicted of three felony charges related to a 2010 break-in at his former business in Perrysburg. An appeal is pending.

Read More Now

Hoops Ref Tries To Interrupt Play-By-Play

The old saying, "talk is cheap" took on a new meaning during a regular season Atlantic 10 basketball game.

According to USAToday, Saint Louis play-by-play announcer Bob Ramsey didn't agree with a foul called against the Billikens' Dwayne Evans during Tuesday's game against VCU.

"They're going to call a cheap foul on Evans and I'll tell you what," Ramsey started to say on the live broadcast. The referee who made the call just so happened to overhear Ramsey's "cheap" labeling and didn't take too kindly to the announcer's criticism, confronting him live on the air.

The referee, Bo Borowski, probably wished he didn't start to jaw with the WXOS 101.5 FM (ESPN) radio announcer, who didn't back down one bit.

Read More Now

R.I.P. Lee Bayley Radio Ex, Former Tulsa Personality

Lee Bayley The 60s

Lee Bayley, former morning show host one of the original ‘Big Seven’ jocks at KAKC Tulsa in the 60s, died this week in Hawkins, Texas.

He was 73.

Bayley jumped to TV in 1965, when he joined KOTV as the host of "Dance Party."

He hosted "Dance Party" from 1965 to 1970, before heading to LA.  He served as VP/Programming & Operations for Drake-Chenault, Ops Dir. At American Independent Radio and PD at Top 40 KIQQ.  He also was VP/GM at TM Programming.

LEE BAYLEY KAKC AIRCHECK: Click Here.

In January 1979, KAKC shocked the Tulsa radio market by dropping Top 40 programming after 21 years for adult standards. A year later the station was purchased by the owners of KCFO-FM (now KVOO-FM) which changed the format to Southern Gospel music and Christian talk programming. In 1984 the legendary 970 call letters were changed to KCFO-AM.  

In 1985, KBBJ 1300 picked up the KAKC call letters.  On April 16, 2007 KAKC changed their format to sports, with programming from ESPN Radio.

His memorial service is Saturday.

Opinion: What Radio Can Learn From The Movies

Charlie Sislen

The Academy Awards will be made this coming Sunday and Charlie Sislen, a partner at The Research Director, offers radio food for thought.

Sislen writes in the 1980s when VCRs burst onto the scene people could watch movies at home when they wanted. Many proclaimed this advancement the death of the movie theater. People’s televisions have gone from a 19” tube to a 60” high-definition flat screen with theater-like surround sound. There are numerous commercial-free movie channels, and on-demand video is now available to most Americans.

Anyone observing this phenomenon would conclude that the movie theater business is dead. Why leave your home, pay for a ticket, and eat overpriced snacks, when you can watch that same movie at home in just a few short weeks in the comfort of your own home?

However, the reality is different. Box office receipts have been on a steady rise, and saw their highest level ever in 2012.  The 2012 growth was also significant since it was achieved without an increase in average ticket price.  (Source: Wall Street Journal)

So what did the movie industry do?

Simply put, according to Sislen, they invested in their product to create an environment that people were willing to pay for.

So how does this relate to our industry?

Radio needs to upgrade the environment that our audience experiences.

This is not only what comes out of the speakers; your audience must have a positive experience in all aspects of the radio station. This includes the station web experience and every time the station is out on the street.

Radio needs to build and reinforce that local companionship and be part of the community, which the others cannot offer. When they open up the mic, personalities need to remind themselves that people come to them for companionship, entertainment, and information.

Read More Now.

Harrisburg Radio: Heritage WTPA To Keep Rockin’

For more than 32 years, WTPA-FM Harrisburg has been the classic rock voice of Central Pennsylvania, but that position came into doubt last year, when the station fell into trusteeship following the 2011 merger of Cumulus Media and Citadel Broadcasting.

PennLive.com reports the station's trustee inked a deal with a new, independent owner — Pat Garrett.

His message: 92.1 FM will keep on rocking, although they have a new website URL.

Pat Garrett

“People seem excited by it,” Garrett said. “I know we are.”

On-air personality Randy “Rock” Johnson will remain at WTPA, alongside Kevin the Kid Beam and Bill Mulfair.

WTPA will be led by general manager Tim Michaels, who has 25 years of radio experience and received the Pennsylvania Broadcasters Award for Excellence. Michaels replaces Chris Tyler, who is now the program director and brand manager for Cumulus Newsradio 910 WSBA and Sportsradio 1440 in York.

Michaels and Garrett said WTPA will retain the classic rock format, with a few minor changes.

Read More Now.

CR&M Provides Look Into Chicago Ratings

Lars at Chicago Radio and Media again provides an excellent breakdown of Arbitron Ratings in Chicago. The Arbitron ratings for the Chicago radio market for the January period -- which covers the dates of 01/03/13-01/30/13 -- were released on Monday.

Persons ages 25-54...

In the overall numbers (Monday-Sunday 6:00am-Midnight), WTMX-FM jumps back into first place jumping up 1.6 share in four weeks time to a 6.2 share -- the station's highest share since 2011. Second place goes to WVAZ-FM, who improves .2 share to a 5.7 average. Third place is a two-way tie between WOJO-FM and WUSN-FM, each with a 4.2 share. For WOJO-FM, that represents a .4 drop, as fans seemed to have moved over to rival WNUA-FM. For WUSN-FM, it is a .9 share increase from the month before. WDRV-FM/97.1 The Drive drives back up to pre-holiday shape with a .6 increase in share to a 4.1 and moves back to fifth place.

CR&M notes increases for the January ratings period include WNUA-FM, which is now up to #7 and a 3.9 share. This marks the highest ratings the station has seen in this demographic since flipping to a Spanish-language format almost four years ago. WSCR-AM gains more strength moving up to a tie at #8 and a 3.7 share. WXRT-FM gains .6 and is back up to a 3.3 share, now ranked at #13.

Of course, the biggest decrease in ratings and share belongs to WLIT-FM. The post-holiday blues for the station has it dropping from its year-high of a 10.3 share and a #1 ranking to only a 2.9 share and a ranking of #14.

WTMX Morning Show

For the Morning Drive time of 6:00am-10:00am, the perennial winner is of course, WTMX-FM, whose "Eric & Kathy Morning Show" remains a ratings juggernaut, coming in at an 8.5 share. WBBM-AM comes in second place with 5.1 share. WDRV-FM is #3 with a 4.6 share. WNUA-FM is at #4 with a 4.3 share. WSCR-AM moves up to #5 with a 4.1 share. Worth noting is WUSN-FM's morning surge. The US99.5 morning show with Lisa Dent and Ramblin' Ray went from a 2.9 share last month to a 4.0 share this month, good enough for a #6 ranking. As usual, WTMX-FM was #1 in mornings with Women 25-54, while WSCR-AM was #1 with Men 25-54.

Read More Now

Tom's Take: WLS-FM has dropped to a tie at #16 with a 2.6 share 6+. The Classic Hits station has a 4.1 share at this time last year. WLS-FM needs to un-muzzle legendary talent.

WCBS-TV Anchor Resigns After Arrest

“I just lost my job today,” Morrison sighed to The NYPost inside a Buffalo Wild Wings saloon in Stamford, as he searched for answers at the bottom of a Bud Light pint. “I could not go on the air again,” lamented Morrison, 44, who was bending his elbow with a very shaky hand.

Rob Morrison, a news anchor for WCBS-TV in New York, said on Wednesday that he had resigned from his job after his weekend arrest on charges of choking his wife during a domestic dispute at their home in Darien, Conn.

According to Marc Santora at nytimes.com, after meeting with WCBS executives on Wednesday, Morrison announced his decision to leave his position, anchoring the morning and noon news programs. His wife, Ashley Morrison, works as a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch.

Morrison’s decision came one day after he was arraigned and charged with strangulation, threatening and disorderly conduct. He was released on bail, but a judge in Connecticut ordered that Mr. Morrison, 44, stay at least 100 yards away from his wife, except at work.

“My family is my first and only priority right now, and I have informed CBS2 management that I need to put all of my time and energy into making sure that I do what’s best for my wife and my son,” Mr. Morrison said in a statement. “I very much appreciate the opportunity that CBS2 has given me, and I thank them for accepting my decision.”

Read More Now

Clive Davis Responds to Kelly Clarkson

Music mogul Clive Davis has responded to Kelly Clarkson‘s criticism of his new memoir, and her accusations that he is a liar, and that he “bullied” her, “belittled” her music and called her a “shitty writer.”

In his new book “The Soundtrack of My Life,” Davis wrote about how difficult Clarkson was to work with at the beginning of the career and how “emotional” she was at times. 

As anyone who has read “The Soundtrack of My Life” knows, I think Kelly Clarkson is a tremendous vocal talent and performer. In the book, I provide an in-depth look at our years together during which we shared major multi-platinum success, as well as a few creative differences. I am truly very sorry that she has decided to take issue with what I know to be an accurate depiction of our time together. 

Before the book was published, I had every fact checked with five independent individuals who were present on a daily basis throughout it all. The chapter as it is written was thoroughly verified by each and every one of them. I stand by the chapter as written in my book. At the same time I wish, and will always wish, Kelly’s talent and her career to soar to ever new heights. 

- Clive Davis

 Read More Now.

Howard Stern Slams Clive Davis

Howard Stern stood up for Kelly Clarkson on Wednesday, slamming Clive Davis for comments he made about the “American Idol” alum in his new memoir, “The Soundtrack of My Life.”

Study: Big Game Brand Name Recall Is Low

Despite unprecedented hype around television ads that ran during this year’s Big Game, many viewers said they didn’t watch them – and even when they did, consumer recall of brands advertising during the game was uniformly low, according to a research study conducted by Nielsen Entertainment for the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).

Although the game brings out the advertising industry’s best commercials, the results of the study show the limitations of television ads in selling products and highlight the fact that sight, sound and motion can distract from advertisers’ basic messages -- in contrast to radio, where the audio message is more direct and personal and is not obscured by video or picture.

While ad recall may have been as high as 57 percent, on average, only 12 percent of viewers could recall the type of product being advertised.  Similarly, the brand was recalled by only 14 percent of viewers, on average, but in several cases by fewer than 1 in 10 viewers. 

“The strength of radio’s unique audio delivery drives product and brand recall,” stated Erica Farber, RAB President and CEO, “As recent studies have proven, radio performs tremendously to extend brand awareness established on TV and further, impacts product and brand awareness as a stand-alone and when added to a TV campaign.”

CBS Radio Makes Fitzsimmons Director of Music Initiatives

Chad Fitzsimmons

CBS Radio Wednesday named Chad Fitzsimmons to the newly created position of Director, Music Initiatives effective immediately.

Working with the Company’s nearly 85 major market music radio stations, its array of digital assets, and CBS’s owned television stations across the country, Fitzsimmons will develop and launch a variety of unique partnership opportunities for record labels to promote today’s most popular artists and up-and-coming musicians to millions of music fans across the country.  In addition, he will create exclusive one-of-a-kind experiences that allow listeners to engage directly with their favorite artists.

Fitzsimmons will report to Greg Strassell, Senior Vice President, Programming, CBS RADIO, while also working closely with the entire senior programming leadership team, and Helen Leisengang, Vice President, Integrated Marketing and Special Events.  He will be based in Los Angeles.

“We’re delighted to name Chad to this exciting new position which will maximize exposure for artists on our stations, and elevate our ability to execute larger than life programs across the full spectrum of our portfolio,” said Strassell. 

“Chad has worked on some of the most highly regarded music events, including CBS RADIO’S pre-GRAMMY concert held at the famed GRAMMY Museum, and was instrumental in creating the Red Bull Sound Space at KROQ and AMP Radio in Los Angeles.  He knows what it takes to drive the best results for an artist using the powerful platform of radio.”

“Strengthening radio and records symbiotic relationship has countless benefits – the most important being what these new initiatives will provide for the fans,” said Dan Mason, President and CEO, CBS Radio. 

“We’ve had very creative meetings with labels and artist management as of late, and we look forward to continuing the two way dialogue, bringing to bear the full resources of CBS Radio.”

Billboard Includes YouTube Metrics For Hot 100 Chart

From Ben Sisario, NYTimes:

This week the Billboard Hot 100, the magazine’s 55-year-old singles chart, takes a evolutionary step by incorporating YouTube plays into its formula. The move comes just in time for Baauer’s song “Harlem Shake,” the latest viral video phenomenon, which will make its debut at No. 1 this week thanks to the change. 

“Harlem Shake,” a bass-heavy hip-hop track with no lyrics beyond a few samples, got little mainstream attention when it was released in May as a free download. But this month its popularity exploded on YouTube, as thousands of fans uploaded videos of themselves dancing — some might say simply flailing — along to the song. By last week more than 4,000 videos were going up each day. 

Download sales and Spotify streams of the track also skyrocketed. But the remarkable trajectory of “Harlem Shake” led Billboard to move forward right away on its methodology update, something it had been in discussions with YouTube about for nearly two years, Bill Werde, the magazine’s editorial director, said on Wednesday.

 Read More Now.

Nash Bash Pleases NYC Country Fan

Photos from the Night 3 Finale at the Roseland Ballroom.

Top Darius Rucker performs, left: Kix Brooks, Center & Right: The Henningsens.

Tom's Take: Nash 94.7 should have aired their 'coming out' party.

Robin Roberts Returns To GMA

Robin Roberts, the "Good Morning America" anchor whose medical battles have kept her from the ABC show for months, returned to her job on Wednesday.

Boston Radio: Official Mike Salk To WEEI

Mike Salk

WEEI 93.7 FM announced Tuesday that  Mike Salk will join Michael Holley in afternoon drive, weekdays from 2-6 p.m., beginning in mid-March. Salk joins WEEI from KIRO 710 AM ESPN in Seattle, where he's co-hosted the midday "Brock and Salk Show" since April 2009.

Salk helped grow the "Brock and Salk Show" exponentially the last four years. As of this past September, the show ranked No. 1 with the station's core demo of men 25-54. Salk also was a frequent contributor to 710 ESPN's website and will do the same, in a variety of ways, for WEEI.com. He also has been a part of the ESPN Radio network since 2007, hosting "SportsCenter Saturday" and serving as a regular fill-in host over the past few years.

Salk is no stranger to the Boston sports talk radio scene, having worked at 890 ESPN Radio Boston from 2005 until 2009. He primarily served as co-host of the station's midday show with Bob Halloran, and he also was the station's Red Sox beat reporter, covering every game of the team's run to the 2007 World Series.

"For a kid who grew up rooting for Boston's sports teams, I can't wait to get behind that microphone and connect with the most avid sports fans in the country," Salk said. "From the best play-by-play in radio to their breakthrough work with the Jimmy Fund, WEEI is still the gold standard in sports talk radio.

Said Jason Wolfe, VP of Programming for Entercom Boston: "Mike Salk has a proven record of success, and I couldn't be more excited to bring him back home to Boston. He's a very skilled broadcaster, a fun personality and a passionate sports fan. I'm really looking forward to the new dynamic that he and Michael Holley will provide on a daily basis."

Bobby Bones Show To Launch On 35 Stations

Premiere Networks, Tuesday announced that 35 country radio stations will carry The Bobby Bones Show, which will launch nationwide Monday, February 25.

As the affiliate count continues to rapidly expand, the program, which transitioned from a CHR format and debuted on Nashville’s The BIG 98/WSIX Monday, February 18, will launch in the following stations: WFUS-FM/Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL; KSD-FM/St. Louis, MO; WCKY-FM/Findlay, OH; KWNR-FM/Las Vegas, NV; KASE-FM/Austin, TX; WCKT-FM/Ft. Meyers-Naples, FL; KNST-FM/Tucson, AZ; KTGX-FM/Tulsa, OK; KBQI-FM/Albuquerque, NM; KHEY-FM/El Paso, TX; KTOM-FM/Monterey-Salinas, CA; WAVW-FM/Ft. Pierce, FL; WMAD-FM/Madison, WI; KSWF-FM/ Springfield, MO; WSTH-FM/Columbus GA; KMFX-FM/Rochester, MN; KYKR-FM/Beaumont, TX; WTXT-FM/Tuscaloosa, AL; WOBB-FM/Albany, GA and more.

The news was announced Tuesday during a press conference hosted by The Big 98/WSIX at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s legendary Ford Theater in Nashville.

To kick off the event Country star Brad Paisley shared a special video message with Bones and revealed the national markets where The Bobby Bones Show will launch on February 25. Paisley will also appear as Bones’ first guest, adding to the excitement of the syndication launch.

WSIX’s Amy Paige and The AntMan then hosted a Q&A session with Bones, followed by special appearances from Country music stars including Jake Owen, Gloriana, Joe Nichols, Craig Campbell, Jana Kramer, Josh Thompson, Dustin Lynch, Parmalee, Brett Eldridge, Chris Janson, The Farm, Eric Paslay, Jon Pardi, Charlie Worsham, Kristin Kelly, Greg Bates and Joel Crouse, who all stopped by to give Bones and his co-hosts Lunchbox and Amy a warm welcome.

Broadcasting live from WSIX in Nashville, The Bobby Bones Show airs weekday mornings from 5 to 10 a.m. CT. and will also be available on iHeartRadio.com and the iHeartRadio mobile app, Clear Channel’s all-in-one free digital listening service.

Country Top 30 with Bobby Bones, a new four-hour weekend country music program, will launch nationwide, the weekend of March 2 and 3.

Report: News Anchor Becomes Homicidal

Rob, Ashley Morrison

6/22/14 UPDATE: Morrison arrested again, Click Here.

Original Posting...

NYC TV anchorman Rob Morrison turned homicidal while in custody for choking his wife early Sunday, promising “he would kill” her once cops turned him loose.

WCBS-TV brass are livid that the “News at Noon” anchor lied to them about how he bruised his face when he showed up for work on Monday, according to the nydailynews.com.

He “misled station management and has made a horrible situation even worse,” a source said.

Tuesday night, Morrison blamed his arrest on his mother-in-law, whose 911 call from her home in Indiana sent cops to his Connecticut house to defuse the volatile situation.

“Don’t piss off your mother-in-law is the moral of the story,” said Morrison, 44, Tuesday evening as he tried to relax listening to the Grateful Dead’s “Attics of My Life.”

Morrison claimed he initially called his mother-in-law, Martha Risk, hoping she could calm down him and his wife, fellow CBS anchor Ashley Morrison.

Morrison said he and his wife began arguing after watching the romantic comedy “Mystic Pizza,” starring Julia Roberts. He wouldn’t reveal what sparked the fight other than to say it was a “basic disagreement that any family would have.”

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Report: S.O.B. To Leave CNN

Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O’Brien is on her way out at CNN as new boss Jeff Zucker moves Erin Burnett into her morning slot, Page Six at nypost.com has exclusively learned.

Page Six quotes a source as saying award-winning journalist O’Brien has indicated she is ready to leave after she was initially promised a plum prime-time slot, but that role has so far failed to materialize.

“The deal to move Erin to the morning alongside Chris Cuomo is basically done. Soledad had been told she’d get a prime-time slot, but that hasn’t yet happened, and now she is telling friends she is likely to leave.”

The source added, “Soledad is talented at producing in-depth, serious pieces of journalism, and is a tough interviewer. That doesn’t seem to fit the direction the network is going.”

Another source added, “Soledad is a big star, and would only stay for the right show. There’s word there will be a flurry of announcements at CNN very soon, including Erin’s move to the morning.”

O’Brien jumped from NBC to CNN in 2003, anchoring “American Morning,” and then moved on to anchoring specials. She’s anchored the current morning show, “Starting Point,” since January of last year.

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Report: Mindy McCready Feared Losing Kids

"A perfect storm" hit Mindy McCready in the days before the country singer killed herself in the same spot where her boyfriend had died five weeks earlier, reports CNN.

McCready, who burst onto the music scene in 1996 with the chart-topping country hit "Guys Do It All the Time," suffered from addiction that stalled her career. Her biggest notoriety in recent years came from her participation in the 2009 season of the reality TV show "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew."

Private investigator Danno Hanks, who knew McCready for several years and frequently advised her, said she called him Saturday, a day before she died from what investigators have said was a self-inflicted gunshot.

"Saturday was a very bad day for her," Hanks said.

McCready, 37, told him about an e-mail she received on Friday from the Arkansas Department of Human Services' Division of Children and Family Services that included a proposed court order that would send her two children to live with her mother in Florida.

"The proposed court order was the nail in her coffin, the thing that sent her over the edge," Hanks said.

The Arkansas agency declined to comment on the case, citing confidentiality laws.

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CC Media Holdings Losses Rise to $191M 4Q

Radio and outdoor advertising giant CC Media Holdings Inc. reported Tuesday that it lost $191 million in the last quarter of 2012 even as sales increased.

Nolan Hicks at mysanantonio.com reports  the company's net loss was significantly worse than its results in the same period the year before, when it lost $43 million.

At the same time, CC Media Holdings' revenue increased 3 percent to $1.7 billion in the quarter, up from $1.65 million the year before.

“We are very pleased with our Company's progress in strengthening our businesses over the past year, and we look forward to continuing our momentum into 2013,” CC Media Holdings CEO Bob Pittman said in a statement.

For all of 2012, the company posted a loss of $424 million, compared to a $302 million loss in 2011.

The company has been struggling under a heavy debt load since two capital investment firms, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, loaded the company up with more than $20 billion in debt as part the deal to take the company private. The leveraged buyout closed in 2008, shortly before the financial collapse that sent the U.S. economy spiraling.

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“Despite the slow economic recovery, we delivered a solid financial performance for the 2012 fourth quarter and full year,” Tom Casey, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said. “At Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, we continued to outpace the competition in national advertising, digital, and total revenues. At Outdoor, the Americas’ progress in digital, airports and national advertising was encouraging, while International saw strength in emerging markets. Across the entire company, we remain aggressively focused on realigning our resources toward higher growth areas.

ESPN Set To Pass $7 Sub Fee In 2017

For help with its massive NFL rights bill and likely re-upping with the NBA, ESPN can continue to count on hefty per-subscriber fees that look to cross the monthly $7 mark in 2017. Based on distribution in 100 million homes, that $7 amount would give it an annual take of about $8.4 billion in affiliate fees alone within five years.

According to David Goetzel at mediapost.com, ESPN’s current deal with Time Warner Cable calls for it to receive more than $5.40 a sub a month starting in the middle of this year; then passing the $7 mark in 2017; and closing in on the $7.50 mark the following year. The deal calls for an annual increase in the 6.5% range.

By the end of this decade, ESPN is set to collect just about $8 a sub a month.

Time Warner Cable serves 12 million homes, but if ESPN’s deals with other operators follow the same general pricing model, total sub fees covering 100 million homes should pass $9.5 million by the end of the decade.

The details (which may have since been altered) of the Time Warner Cable deal that was announced in September 2010 became public at a trial Monday, where Dish Network is suing ESPN charging it with violating “most favored nation (MFN)” agreements. MFN deals look to guarantee an operator the same effective rates as other distributors.

But it is not as simple as if one operator pays $7 for ESPN, another pays the same. The trial in New York federal court makes that abundantly clear with ESPN witnesses offering insight into how operators can choose various options, giving them what would amount to effectively the same rate as what another pays.

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Tom's Take: Everyone pays more for ESPN whether they watch or not. Keep this in mind when you pay your cable/sat bill this month.

ESPN Is Now Targeting Via Online Radio

As part of a companywide effort to up its digital ad game, ESPN is looking to innovate in an area often shunned by tech advancements: radio.

For the sports giant, the online radio and podcasting arms of the business are surprisingly robust. According to adweek.com, the ESPN Radio mobile app has registered over 3 million downloads while popular podcast titles like Bill Simmons' B.S. Report have attracted tens of millions of downloads over the years.

To take advantage of this audience, ESPN digital audio is unveiling a dynamic cloud-based ad insertion program with the hope of targeting listeners by device, location, age and gender in real time across live national broadcasts.

The new technology, developed with online radio provider Abacast, is a departure from the standard, static ad insertion platforms available to online radio providers where ads must undergo somewhat cumbersome coding and delivery processes.

Essentially, this means that during large radio broadcast events like last month's BCS Championship game, during which ESPN Radio hosted nearly 110,000 mobile audio streams, ESPN will be able to serve individual ads to each one of those listeners during live breaks. While it may sounds obvious, for online radio it is a first-of-its-kind technology for an industry largely behind the times in digital ad technology.

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Joe Garagiola To Announce Retirement From Broadcasting

Legendary broadcaster and former Major League catcher Joe Garagiola will announce his retirement Wednesday after a 58-year television and radio career, the last 15 of which were with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

According to Paul Casella at mlb.com, the team has scheduled a news conference to be held at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the D-backs' training facility in Scottsdale, Ariz, so that Garagiola, accompanied by Arizona president and CEO Derrick Hall, can discuss his decision to retire from broadcasting.

Garagiola, who turned 87 last week, had an extensive post-playing career that included stints as a regular panelist on NBC's "The Today Show," multiple guest-hosting appearances on "The Tonight Show" and hosting multiple game shows in the 1960s and '70s, along with his prestigious baseball broadcasting career.

He was the 1991 winner of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award and was inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Association's Hall of Fame in 2010. Among his other honors, Garagiola received the Bud Selig Award for lifetime achievement in the game of baseball in 2011.

Garagiola has associated with a number of legends throughout his life, starting all the way back in St. Louis, Mo., where as a child he grew up just a few doors down from future Hall of Famer Yogi Berra. The two both made their Major League debuts in 1946, with Garagiola's Cardinals winning the World Series that season. Berra, however, bested his childhood friend by winning the title the following season and going on to win nine other World Series as a player.

A left-handed hitter, Garagiola played nine seasons in the Major Leagues, parts of six of them with the Cardinals, and finished with a .257 batting average, 42 home runs and 255 RBIs in 676 games.

Upon his retirement as a player following the 1954 season, Garagiola started calling Cardinals games on the radio alongside Harry Caray and Jack Buck from 1955-62. Garagiola also worked with another legend, Vin Scully, during part of his 30-year broadcasting tenure at NBC.

As NBC's No. 1 baseball broadcasting crew from 1983-88, Garagiola and Scully called each Saturday's "Game of the Week," as well as three All-Star Games, three National League Championship Series and three Fall Classics.

FCC Chair Slated for Q&A At NAB Show

Julius Genachowski

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will participate in a question-and-answer session at the 2013 NAB Show in Las Vegas, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced Tuesday.

Genachowski will sit down for a conversation with NAB Joint Board Chair Paul Karpowicz, president of Meredith Corporation - Local Media Group, on Wednesday, April 10 at 9 a.m. in Las Vegas.

"NAB looks forward to hosting Chairman Genachowski at the NAB Show once again to hear his views on current and future communications issues before the Commission," said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. "This session is sure to be informative for radio and TV broadcasters and an excellent opportunity to learn about the regulatory issues shaping our industry."

Genachowski was sworn in as FCC chairman in June 2009 after spending more than ten years in the private sector as an executive and entrepreneur in the technology industry.