Saturday, May 24, 2014

This Memorial Day Weekend...

We thank the men and women who have kept us free....


The first Memorial Day — then called Decoration Day — was celebrated May 30, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War to honor the Union dead. Compared to a national population of 31.4 million in 1860, the Civil War dead, both Union and Confederate, are now roughly estimated at 750,000 and possibly more.

After World War I, the holiday commemorated all U.S. war dead. In 1971, Memorial Day became an official national holiday. “Historical Statistics of the United States (Millennial Edition)” lists war dead by conflicts as follows: the Revolutionary War, 4,435; the War of 1812, 2,260; the Mexican War, 13,283; the Spanish-American War, 2,446; World War I, 116,516; World War II, 405,399; the Korean War, 36,576; the Vietnam War, 58,200; the Persian Gulf War, 382. In addition, the Pentagon reports 6,809 deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and related combat zones as of May 22

Saturday Aircheck: Harry Harrison On WABC From 12/31/1976


Harry Harrison (born September 20, 1930 in Chicago) has been a popular American radio personality for over 50 years. Harrison is the only DJ to be a WMCA "Good Guy," a WABC "All-American," and on the WCBS-FM line-up.

In 1959, Harrison joined WMCA, New York, as the mid-day "Good Guy." Joe O'Brien (mornings) and Harrison gave WMCA a "one-two punch" for over eight years. Other WMCA "Good Guys" included Jack Spector, B. Mitchel Reed, Dan Daniel and Johnny Dark, and talk show host Barry Gray. Harrison became popular with his "Housewife Hall of Fame” feature, and participated in the 1966 WMCA Good Guy picnic. Often, he scored the highest ratings on WMCA. WABC program director Rick Sklar took note.

In 1968, when WABC morning man Herb Oscar Anderson left the station, Rick Sklar hired Harrison to replace him. Harrison was followed in the WABC day by Ron Lundy.

WABC personalities included, along with Harrison, Charlie Greer, Scott Muni, Bob Lewis, Lundy, Johnny Donovan, Dan Ingram, "Cousin Brucie" Bruce Morrow, Chuck Leonard, Bob Cruz, Frank Kingston Smith, and Roby Yonge, and others.

Harrison had a number of "trademark" phrases, such as "Morning, Mom", "Every brand new day should be opened like a precious gift", "Stay well, stay happy, stay right here" and "Harry Harrison wishing you the best... because that's exactly what you deserve!” Also, on the last day of every year, Harrison would bring his four children to work with him and at the end of his shift, he would join them in giving listeners New Year's wishes.

Harrison was let go from WABC as the station changed direction in November 1979.



In March 1980, Harrison became the morning personality at WCBS 101.1 FM, playing oldies music. In 1984, with Lundy joining the station, they were once again heard back-to-back. Harrison would interact with Morning Crew engineer Al Vertucci, Phil Pepe, who reported sports, and joke about "wacky weather" and toupee warnings with Irv “Mr. “G” Gikofsky (weather), Mary Jane Royce, and Sue Evans. At 7:20 AM, Harrison opened the "birthday book" and announced listener and celebrity birthdays.


On April 25, 1997 New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani issued a proclamation, naming April 25 "Harry Harrison Day" in honor of the second "Mayor."

On March 19, 2003, after a 44-year career in New York radio, Harrison left WCBS-FM, saying "I am not retiring." His farewell to his loyal radio friends (from 5:30 to 10:00am) was held before a live audience at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City. It offered old airchecks plus guest appearances by WCBS-FM colleagues Don K. Reed, Bobby Jay, Steve O'Brien, Randy Davis and Dan Taylor, his replacement, as well as his son and daughter, Patti. Harrison took phone calls from Bob Shannon, Mike Fitzgerald, Ed Baer, and Ron Lundy. Songs included Gladys Knight's "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" and the Little River Band's "Reminiscing," before closing with "That's What Friends Are For."

Shortly after he left WCBS-FM, Harrison's long-time wife, Patti, who he had always referred to as "Pretty Patti" on the air, died.

FOR MORE 77 WABC AIRCHECKS, Listen to 'Rewound Radio' on the Musicradio 77 WABC trbitue website:  Click Here.

On May 24, 25, 26 In Radio History


On the 24th In 1844...Samuel F.B. Morse gave the first public demonstration of his telegraph by sending a message from the Supreme Court Chamber in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" (now the B&O Railroad Museum) in Baltimore. The famous message was, "What hath God wrought?"


On the 26th in 1971...Don McLean recorded the classic hit "American Pie," about the plane crash that killed singers The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.




On the 25th in 1985...CBS Radio began coverage of major league baseball after the game's 20-year absence from network radio. Brent Musburger called the play-by-play for the Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Mets game.


On the 26th in 1989...Radio stations staged 30 seconds of silence at 7:42 AM (EST), to honor Radio.


On the 26th in 1993...Radio dramatist, Carleton Morse, best known for "One Man's Family", died at age 91.

"One Man's Family" centered on a family in the well-to-do Sea Cliff area of San Francisco, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. The tribulations of its main characters, Fanny, Henry and Jack Barbour, dominated the national airwaves from the time the show began in 1932 until it went off the air in 1959 after 3,256 episodes.
He covered radio and police news for The Sacramento Union before moving to San Francisco, where he worked for several newspapers, including The Call, The Bulletin and The Chronicle. He took a writing job at NBC in 1929 and went on to became a legendary radio pioneer.

At its peak, "One Man's Family" rivaled "Amos 'n' Andy" in popularity.


On the 26th in 2010...Radio and TV host (House Party, People Are Funny) Art Linkletter died at the age of 97.

Art Linkletter
Although he earned a degree in teaching, Linkletter worked as a radio announcer at KGB in San Diego. Radio paid better than teaching, and Linkletter directed radio programs for fairs and expositions in the mid-1930s. In the 1940s Linkletter lived in San Francisco and worked in radio.  In the 1940s, Linkletter worked in Hollywood with John Guedel on their pioneering radio show, People Are Funny, which employed audience participation, contests and gags. The series served as a prototype for future radio and television game shows. People Are Funny became a television show in 1954 and ran until 1961.

Other early television shows Linkletter worked on included Life With Linkletter with his son Jack (1969–1970) and Hollywood Talent Scouts (1965–1966). He acted in two movies, People Are Funny (1946) and Champagne for Caesar (1950).

Linkletter declined the opportunity offered by his friend Walt Disney to build and operate the Disneyland Hotel due to Linkletter's doubts about the park's prospects. But, out of friendship for Disney, Linkletter volunteered his experience as a live program broadcaster to help organize ABC's coverage of the Disneyland opening in 1955.

with Walt Disney
Besides being an on-air host, he recruited his two co-hosts: Ronald Reagan and Bob Cummings. The park opening experience convinced Linkletter Disneyland was going to be a huge success. When Disney asked what he could do to show his gratitude for the broadcast's role in the successful launching of the park, Linkletter asked for Disneyland's camera and film concession for its first ten years, to which Disney readily agreed. This turned out to be very lucrative.  He appeared for two stints of two weeks each, as a guest host of The Tonight Show in 1962 between Jack Paar's departure and Johnny Carson's arrival as its new host.

In the 1950s, Linkletter became a major investor in and promoter of the hula hoop.


On the 25th in 2013...Veteran radio talk show host (WOR-New York City, KGO-San Francisco, WRKO-Boston, WCAU-Philadelphia, WKIS-Orlando)/food critic Gene Burns died of complications from a stroke at age 72.


On the 25th in 2013...Harry Birrell, a Los Angeles radio news reporter and anchor at KNX for more than 30 years, died of complications from interstitial lung disease at 85.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Rochester NY Radio: Kimberley, Beck Buzz An Apology

Beck, Kimberley
Freshly-terminated Rochester radio personalities Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck have apologized for their comments made Wednesday on-air on Entercom's WBZA 98.9 FM The Buzz.  The two made comments about the transgender community.

SEE ORIGINAL POST WITH AUDIO: Click Here

In an e-mail sent to Rochester-area media, the pair offered a written apology:
We are very sorry for the hurt and pain we have caused anyone, especially those in the Transgender community and their friends and families. What we said and the manner in which we handled ourselves was wrong, we take full responsibility and we deeply apologize to any and all that we offended. 
Our attempt was to discuss a controversial healthcare issue; however our lack of sensitivity and understanding of the Transgender people and their plight created 12 minutes of radio we that wish we could take back. 
We fully understand Entercom's position and their decision to dismiss us. It is their right and we accept their decision and our responsibility in it. Entercom has been and will continue to be a strong advocate for the LGBT community and we are proud to have been helpful in Entercom's efforts over our 13 years with the company. 
It is our hope that this situation can be a time of learning and understanding about the Transgender community and not a time for additional anger and insensitivity. This is a community of individuals that struggle painfully to be themselves and find the support and comfort they deserve. We believe that this can be a chance for all of us to stop the ignorance and find our humanity.
During "The Breakfast Buzz" radio show on 98.9 The BUZZ, the two hosts Wednesday morning mocked an area transgender high school student who was born male but is part of a girls' softball team. The pair also expressed opposition to Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren's new health care policy that would allow city employees to receive services related to gender affirmation surgery effective Jan. 1.

Rochester NY Radio: The Buzz Cuts Morning Duo For Comments

Two Rochester, NY radio personalities have been fired for making offensive remarks about the transgender community. That's after the City of Rochester announced its new healthcare plan to transgender employees and their families.

Radio hosts Kimberly and Beck of "The Breakfast Buzz" on WBZA 98.9 FM The Buzz made the comments during a 12-minute portion of the show on Wednesday.

After being suspended indefinitely on Wednesday, on Thursday, the vice president and general manager of Entercom Rochester, Sue Munn, issued a statement saying “their hateful comments against the transgender community do not represent our station or our company. We deeply apologize to the transgender community, the community of Rochester, and anyone else who was offended by their comments.”

WBZA 989.9 FM (37Kw) 54dBu Coverage
During the radio show, Kimberly and Beck made comments about a high school student who was born male and now plays on a girls’ softball team. They also mocked the mental health status of transgender individuals and how city taxpayers would be footing the bill for transgender reassignment surgeries.

Read More Now

Chicago Radio: WGN 720 AM Deals With Meier Pushback


Gary Meier
WGN 720 AM's decision to move Gary Meuer from PM Drive to WGN.FM is meeting negative pushback from listeners.

WGN-AM's Facebook page has been overrun with negative comments, as has this website's message board.

According to the Chicago media website CRM, WGN-AM attempted to calm down the furor over its treatment of Garry Meier's show by posting up a comical photo on its Facebook page this afternoon. Instead, the "joke" bombed and only added more fuel to the raging fire. Most found it unfunny, while some went as far as to call it "rude," an "insult," and "tacky."

Some went as far as to say they were now done with WGN-AM completely because of it.




As for Meier himself, he clearly was not a fan of the decision to move his show to little-heard Internet station, WGN.FM, but said "I don't own the station. That how things happen."

VA Radio: Investment Firm To Acquire F-L-S


An affiliate of New York-based investment firm Sandton Capital Partners is in line to become the owner of The Free Lance–Star Publishing Co. and its radio stations.

According to the paper, Sandton submitted the highest bid of $30.2 million for all the assets of the Fredericksburg-based media company during an auction held last week at a downtown Richmond hotel, attorneys for the FLS announced during a Thursday morning hearing in front of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin R. Huennekens.

Sandton principal Robert Orr said the firm plans to finalize the purchase of the FLS’ assets as soon as possible and no later than June 20. Orr said in court that Sandton likes the FLS’ management, product and reputation in the Fredericksburg community.

“We really believe strongly in community newspapers, especially the good ones, and we think this is a good one,” he told The Free Lance–Star management and staff in a meeting late Thursday afternoon.

Sandton purchased a loan from BB&T last summer that had been made to the FLS in 2007 to build Print Innovators, a commercial printing plant on Belman Road in Fredericksburg. The outstanding balance is about $38 million.

The FLS’ assets include WFLS, WVBX, WWUZ, WNTX.

The FLS has been operating normally as a debtor-in-possession inside bankruptcy protection since its Jan. 23 filing. The sale will end the Rowe family’s 130-year ownership of the local media company.

The FLS took many steps to try to restructure the business to become compliant with the loan covenants. That included reducing the number of full- and part-time employees from about 454 in 2007 to 303 at the end of 2013.

SiriusXM Is Free..For A Limited Time


SiriusXM Satellite Radio is available free, nationwide, through June 2.

The satellite radio service is active on most Sirius and XM equipped radios right now.

No sign-up is required to listen to Sirius or XM Radio during the promo. You just tune your radio to the satellite band and it’s on.

Some older model SiriusXM radios may not be capable of receiving the free trial due to technical issues, according to the company.

The free trial includes 60 channels on either Sirius or XM.

SiriusXM provides free printable lists of the 60 channels available on each service for reference. The one for Sirius is here, the one for XM here.

If you want to continue past the trial period, subscriptions for Sirius or XM are $8.99 for 80 channels; $14.99 per month for 140+ channels (includes Howard Stern, all NFL games, all NASCAR races, and traffic/weather for selection locations); or $18.99 per month for 150 channels (adds in Oprah Radio, Opie & Anthony, Bob Edwards, NBA, NHL, and PGA TOUR Coverage, plus internet radio).

Florida Georgia Line Visit America's Morning Show


Cumulus Media's America’s Morning Show had a little fun Thursday morning with Florida Georgia Line at the NASH Campus!   Tyler and Brian shared about their upcoming tour and life on the road, and faced off in a head-to-head battle of the Show's favorite game, "60 Seconds Of Knowledge"!  The competition was fierce, and in the heat of the battle they revealed the name of the first single from the new album they are working on.   Tyler needed a lot more that 60 seconds to beat Brian so he had to sing some Backstreet Boys. Pictured: L-R  Brian Kelley (FGL), Blair Garner (AMS Host), Tyler Hubbard (FGL).


America's Morning Show can be heard in 21 markets across the country including New York, Nashville, New Orleans, Detroit and Charleston (SC,) Grand Rapids and Boise.

ESPN Unveils New SportsCenter Studios

ESPN has given its flagship program a high-tech makeover, as the "worldwide leader in sports" unveiled the new home of SportsCenter, according to THR.

Taking up 194,000 square feet with five studios and 25,000 square feet of production space, Digital Center 2 (DC-2) is the most technologically advanced studio in the U.S. and has been built to accommodate 18 hours of live broadcasts a day along with 24/7 programming.

"It is a big statement of where we are in terms of fans and sports media," ESPN president John Skipper told reporters on Thursday during a behind-the-scenes look at the state-of-the-art studio in Bristol, Conn., which will debut in mid-June. "This facility is future-proofed," he revealed, explaining that it was designed to not only showcase the latest digital developments -- but also accommodate those to come in the next decade.



"The idea was to come up with the ideas that other people don't have. It's all about being more interactive and asking: 'What is the coolest toy out there? We want it,'" he explained of the multimillion-dollar project.
Among those 'cool toys' are:
  • A total of 114 monitors, as opposed to the previous 15.
  • A 56 LED multidimensional monitor wall that can air live and preproduced segments simultaneously.
  • A platform that can be raised up from the floor and have desks and chairs added, or be used as a standup area for talent. "The anchors will learn to interact in a much bigger space, like a theater actor with the audience," said Kevin Stolworthy, senior vp, content and information technology.
  • Everything is a light box that changes color, depending on time of day, mood or the teams being reported on -- Green Bay Packers fans can expect to see green-and-yellow hues, while the set can morph into scarlet and grey for Ohio State.
  • 3-dimensional monitors so that the action "can actually look like it's coming at you as a fan," explained Stolworthy.
  • A touchscreen that can separate into six different monitors, with a "catwalk" in front of it that analysts can walk down (or fall off!) to interact with the content.
  • Two separate studios -- 6,200 square foot Studio X and 3,500 square foot Studio XA -- divided by a giant glass wall so that hosts can rehearse during filming.

Glenn Beck Show Roasts Demise Of Ed Schultz Radio Show

With talker Ed Schultz will now be hosting an online-only broadcast hosted on his website, WeGotEd.com. The digital broadcast will be just one hour (instead of three) and will go into effect next Tuesday.

Schultz announced the move on his MSNBC show Wednesday, and he painted the move as a positive step. “Really this change will give me more flexibility to be on the road to do the kind of shows I want to do here for The Ed Show on MSNBC,” he said. “This is on me, you know. I just don’t want to do a three-hour talk show anymore.”

Needless to say, Pat and Stu from The Glenn Beck Show couldn't resisttalking about Schultz’s career move Thursday:

Pew: Chasm Exists In News Interests

The country’s ideological divide can be measured a lot of ways, such as by votes or how people stand on issues. But, according to Pew Research Cetner,  it can also be seen in the news stories that people follow and, last week, conservatives were more interested in the return of the Benghazi story, while liberals focused on coverage of the kidnappings in Nigeria and the uproar over the racial comments of Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling.

Roughly half of liberal Democrats followed news about the Nigerian kidnappings(48%) and Donald Sterling’s comments (47%) very closely. Fewer conservative Republicans paid very close attention to news about the kidnapping (28%) and Sterling’s comments (18%), according to a survey conducted May 15-18.

By contrast, 38% of conservative Republicans followed news about the appointment of a new committee in the Republican-controlled House to look into the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, very closely.

R.I.P.: LA Radio Newscaster Liz Fulton

Liz Fulton
Liz Fulton, former newscaster, news director and sidekick to Rick Dees on KIIS 102.7 FM, died of natural causes May 7.

She was 61, according to Richard Wagoner at the LA Daily News.

In 1979, while Dees was just beginning his time at KHJ 930 AM, Fulton started at KIIS as a news reporter, and was later made the station’s news director.

In 1981, under new management, Fulton was paired with Dees, who was pushed out of KHJ when that station changed to country music in November 1980. And it may have been Fulton who helped Dees make his mark in Los Angeles at KIIS after a lackluster debut on KHJ. Within months on KIIS, Dees — along with Fulton and the rest of the staff — were setting ratings records not seen on an FM station before. Fulton also kept her job as news director, and was the voice of the station’s hourly public affairs segments.

In 1990, represented by attorney Gloria Allred, she filed a sex discrimination suit, seeking judgment on specified damages and charged Rick Dees and Gannett with breach of contract and invasion of privacy. She contended that she was often the object of Dees’ on-air sexual jokes while employed at the station. Liz went on to say that she and Rick hardly spoke to each other unless they were on the air. She said she didn’t complain to Dees or station management about the sexual jokes because she feared she would be fired. Rick referred to her as Liz “Rugburns” Fulton. In the mid-1990s Liz worked at KTMS-Santa Barbara and later moved to Lake Tahoe to work news at KRLT/KOWL, according to LA Radio.

R.I.P.: Shreveport Radio Personality Danny Fox

Danny Fox
KVKI 96.5 FM in Shreveport has announced the passing of radio personality. Danny Fox aka Kenneth Wayne Grimes.  His voice graced the area’s airwaves for decades.

During his radio career, he was heard primarily on the Home of the Legends KWKH 1130 AM, he was also the past program director of KITT-FM, now KXKS, Kiss Country 937, and continued on on air doing traffic as Lane Changer, Rocky Roads and the Tuff and Buff Traffic Guy on K945, 96.5 KVKI, Kiss Country 937 and News Radio 710 KEEL.

In a website tribute, KVKI posted, "When the building for our stations was originally built along the side of I-20 off of the Pines Road exit, it was understood that Danny was a part of the foundation. He was a part of our radio family and so much more....Danny might have been small in stature, but he had a big voice and an even bigger heart. Danny was a father, a husband, a dear friend, an animal lover and a master of Photoshop. You will be missed our friend."

May 23 In Radio History



In 1926...Christian broadcaster, Wilbur Nelson, was born. Best known as host of "The Morning Chapel Hour".  He was  pioneer religious broadcaster, passed away on August 22, 2003, in Laguna Woods, California, at the age of 92.

Nelson, who founded the nationally syndicated daily radio ministry, The Morning Chapel Hour, in March of 1944, was an evangelical renaissance man who excelled as a pastor, preacher, broadcaster, author, tenor soloist, song writer, choral conductor, and trombonist.



In 2005...Baltimore newsman Bob Lopez died of Lung Cancer. He had been part of the WIYY-FM (98 Rock) morning show for 27 years.

Joining the station in 1978, Lopez participated in 13 morning radio shows during his 27 years at the station. He was known for his humor, thoughtful opinions, and dogged liberal views.

 For the last part of his career, he was part of the "Kirk, Mark & Lopez" or "KML" morning show, along with Kirk McEwen and Mark Ondayko, with whom he worked for seven years. He also hosted the Sunday Lopez, a Sunday morning talk show where he discussed politics and listeners called in to express their views.

Lopez was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2004, having been a smoker for several decades, starting at age 12.  He died at the age of 52.



In 2012...Personality Hal Jackson - WMCA, WLIB, WNJR, WWRL, WBLS died at the age of 96.

Jackson began his broadcasting career as the first African-American radio sports announcer, broadcasting Howard’s home baseball games and local Negro league baseball games.

In 1939, he became the first African American host at WINX/Washington with The Bronze Review, a nightly interview program. He later hosted talk show, a program of jazz and blues on WOOK-TV.

Jackson moved to New York City in 1954 and became the first radio personality to broadcast three daily shows on three different New York stations. Four million listeners tuned in nightly to hear Jackson’s mix of music and conversations with jazz and show business celebrities.

In 1971, Jackson and Percy Sutton, a former Manhattan borough president, co-founded the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC), which acquired WLIB — becoming the first African-American owned-and-operated station in New York.  The following year, ICBC acquired WLIB-FM, changing its call letters to WBLS ("the total BLack experience in Sound").

In 1990, Hal Jackson was the first minority inducted into the National Association of Broadcaster's Hall of Fame. In 1995, he became the first African-American inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.  He was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 2003. In October 2010 he was named a "Giant in Broadcasting" by the Library of American Broadcasting.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Report: Internet-Connected Cars Are A Balancing Act

The Internet is coming to your car. Later this year, General Motors will put Internet connectivity directly into its vehicles. It's the largest auto company to do so.

Of course, safety advocates have some concerns about more distractions for drivers.

The promise of technology is always the same one — that it's going to make our life easier. But anyone who's tried to make a hands-free call in the car knows that's not always true. A task as simple as asking your device to call your mom can be an exasperating experience.

NPR's Sonari Glinton reports:

Survey: Advertisers Doubt Web Traffic Stats

A recent survey of advertising agencies conducted by STRATA, the leader in media buying and selling software, found that confidence in the ad economy is the highest it has been in the past five years.

Sixty-two percent of agencies polled said they see business increasing this quarter compared to the same time last year, the highest level ever recorded in the history of the STRATA survey. More than half (53%) projected future growth to be better in the first half of 2014 as compared to the last half of 2013, while 29% are increasing their ad budgets from last year, representing the highest level recorded by STRATA since 2008. Almost a third (32%) of agencies said they plan on hiring staff this year, the second largest group in two years, while only 3% plan on reducing staff.

As the advertising economy strengthens, trust issues have been brewing below the surface.

The STRATA survey found that a majority of advertisers doubt the legitimacy of Web traffic flowing to online advertisements. Over half of the agencies polled (56%) said they do not trust the Web traffic numbers and analysis provided by publishers with whom they advertise. When asked if they agree with an earlier report released by the IAB that found that 36% of Web traffic is fraudulent, 31% of agencies responded that they felt the figure was actually higher than the IAB reported, and an additional 43% answered that the IAB’s assessment was accurate. When asked about programmatic buying, 58% are still undecided on whether they trust those systems to accurately execute their ad orders. Respondents also question the ROI of social media and online video advertising.

Joy Baer
“Ad agencies revealed an interesting dichotomy within the advertising industry; agencies are displaying high levels of confidence and are increasing their ad spend while they question the accuracy of reported Web traffic numbers and the inflated CPMs they may command,” said Joy Baer, president at STRATA.

“Another interesting parallel was the optimism many agencies felt while they looked cautiously at rising ad costs as a major concern. The strength that our clients are reporting bodes well for the rest of the year.”

For only the second time in history of the STRATA survey, advertising costs appeared in the top two leading concerns for ad agencies. Twenty-one percent of agencies chose ad costs as their top concern, second only to client attraction at 37%. Client spend came in at third (16%), trailed closely by media mix concerns (15%).

Other key findings:
  • Facebook leads social media as 86% of agencies said they will likely use the platform in client campaigns, followed by YouTube (62%), Twitter (57%), and LinkedIn (38%).
  • 49% of advertisers are most likely to use Promoted Posts for their Facebook ad purchase, followed by Page Post ads (27%). 
  • YouTube is still the top online video site for advertisers at 76%, followed by Hulu (34%). 
  • 51% are more interested in streaming/online radio remains strong compared to last year

NYC Radio: CBS Radio Relaunches 92.3 FM As AMP Radio


The rumors proved correct as CBS Radio has announced it will relaunch WNOW 92.3 FM with a new brand and programming focus that will result in the station playing more songs than ever before.  Premiering on Thursday, May 22 at 2:00PM, New York’s New 92.3 AMP RADIO will be a destination for listeners to discover the best new music with a distinct local appeal and presentation.

AMP RADIO can be heard on-air: Click Here.

Among the artists to be featured on 92.3 AMP RADIO include the acclaimed Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande, and Calvin Harris, and breakout artists Iggy Azalea, Jhene Aiko and Tiesto, to name a few.  The station will initially be presented with limited commercial interruption.

“We are excited to introduce a dynamic radio station with an aggressive approach to highlighting today’s hottest names in music while also exposing audiences to those artists just emerging on the scene,” said Rick Thomas, Program Director of the station.

“As the number of music platforms continues to grow, study after study shows that consumers still look to radio as their leading source for hearing new music.  AMP RADIO will be that perfect combination of songs from established and up and coming voices that mirrors the tastes of its local listeners.”

NYC Radio: Sounds Like WNOW Is Getting Amped-Up

UPDATE 9AM: CBS Radio has announced a 2pm relaunch today of 92.3 FM as AMP Radio. Click Here for story.

Earlier Posting...

It sounds like CBS Radio is about to make a format flip/relaunch this holiday weekend of it's WNOW 92.3 FM.

Reports are circulating that the NOW staff has departed, including PM Drive host Zann who posted a Facebook video about the change.  Meanwhile, WNOW is promoting the start of a $1000 giveaway to start on Thursday at 12pm leading to specualation to giveaway could be tied to a relaunch.





Next move is up to new PD Rick Thomas.

6+Share Feb - Mar - Apr
WNOW 92.3 FM (6Kw) 54dBu Coverage

CFO: Pandora Can Extend Its Lead

Mike Herring
Pandora Media Inc. can continue to dominate in Web-based music, Chief Financial Officer Mike Herring said, even as rivals like Apple Inc. and Beats Electronics LLC join forces, according Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Apple, owner of the iTunes Store, and Beats, which started a streaming-music service this year, are already competitors, Herring said Wednesday at the Bloomberg CFO Conference in New York. Their talks to combine in a reported $3.2 billion deal are a recognition of the “huge” opportunity in online music, Herring said.

“People are trying to figure it out,” Herring said. “We’ve done the best job to date and we think we can extend that lead.”

Apple is close to a deal to acquire Beats, people with knowledge of the situation said this month. Streaming services that have emerged have been unable to challenge Pandora, the biggest player in Web-based radio, Herring said.

“Almost every one has failed spectacularly,” he said.

Read More Now

Can Music Streaming Become Profitable?

Bloomberg Businessweek’s Josh Brustein reports on the business of streaming music and the growth of Spotify’s subscribers on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.”

Radio/TV Host Bill Cunningham Sued By Devout Muslim

WLW 700 AM and syndicated TV talk show host Bill Cunningham doesn't have a shred of common decency -- or a clue about the Constitution -- according to a woman who says he humiliated her over her religion.

TMZ reports Nicole Johnson -- a devout Muslim -- attended a February taping of "The Bill Cunningham Show" in NYC wearing a traditional head covering -- a hijab -- as her religion requires.

Johnson claims in a new lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- show employees forced her to leave her front row seat and sit in the cheap seats ... because they didn't like the way her hijab looked.   She also claims she was prohibited from asking a question during the show.

Johnson says she suffered mental anguish and embarrassment.

Talker Ed Shultz Ends Radio Show, Going Online

Ed Schultz
MSNBC host Ed Schultz announced Wednesday that he is shifting his radio show The Ed Schultz Show to a new format and platform.

The current three-hour weekday radio program will change to a one-hour format, Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m. ET, starting May 27, the day after Memorial Day.

Production of the three-hour radio show will end Friday, May 24.

All of the audio/video content of the new ‘Ed Schultz’ format be moved to the website wegoted.com and will be offered for free.

“This change will give me more flexibility to be on the road, to do the kind of shows I want to do here forThe Ed Show here on MSNBC,” Schultz said Wednesday on his daily 5 p.m. ET television program. “And I hope all of you will follow me to my website at wegoted.com.”

Commentary and news-maker interviews will be the focus of the new format.

The Ed Show television program hosted by Schultz will continue to air weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on MSNBC.

Opie&Anthony To Liberals: 'You Have Become What You Hated'

SiriusXM Radio hosts Gregg “Opie” Hughes, Anthony Cumia and comedian Jim Norton, of the popular “Opie and Anthony Show” on SiriusXM, went on a fiery tirade Tuesday against “trigger warnings” and the current culture on college campuses, which they argue is producing childish adults unprepared to deal with the “real world.”

TheBlaze reports Norton also scolded the progressive left for becoming “exactly what you hated.”

“You have become exactly [like] the conservative, religious book burners of the 40s and the 50s and the 60s. You are it!” he said. “You are the speech repressors, you are the hypersensitive ones, you are the ones who want people fired immediately, you are the ones calling for people’s jobs. You have become what you hated.”

Listen to the segment via “The Opie and Anthony Show” below ([trigger] Warning! Very strong language):

Sara Evans Kicks-Off Fox&Friends' Summer Concert Series


Sara Evans
This Friday, Fox and Friends kicks off the All-American Summer Concert Series with Sara Evans! The country music star will perform live outside Fox News Headquarters in New York City.

Viewers are invited every Friday for free music and free BBQ! Arrive by 7AM/ET each week at 48th Street & 6th Avenue in NYC to be part of all the fun. Use the hashtag #foxconcert and stay up to date with latest details here.

Performances will take place on the plaza outside the News Corp. building on 6th Avenue, blocks away from both the “Today” Summer Concert Series at 30 Rock and the “GMA” Summer Concert Series in Central Park.

Fox News Channel Anchor Released From Jail

Greg Jarrett
Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett was jailed Wednesday after being arrested in a bar at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.

The Star-Tribune reports the 59-year-old Jarrett, who is a weekend co-anchor on the FOX News Channel was arrested about 12:30 p.m. at Northern Lights Grill in the main terminal, said Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Jarrett was released from custody shortly after 1:30 a.m. Thursday after a $300 bond was posted, according to Hennepin County Sheriff's Office records. The records show he's due in court on June 6.

Police had been called about an intoxicated man at the grill. Officers reported Jarrett refused to follow orders and was arrested for obstruction of the legal process and taken to jail, where he remained Wednesday night.

Jarrett requested time off from  FOX for personal reasons.  Jarrett has been with FNC since 2002, joining from MSNBC.

May 22 In Radio history


In 1900...In New York City, the Associated Press was incorporated as a non-profit news cooperative.


In 1922..WGR in Buffalo, NY signed-on...

The history of one of Buffalo's earliest radio stations has its roots at sea. On April 1, 1921 the Governor, a passenger ship, sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after collision with a freighter, the West Hartland.

The passenger ship’s assigned radio call letters were WGR. Due to maritime superstition, the call sign was never reissued to another ship and reverted to a pool of available call signs for new radio stations.

That same year, the Federal Telephone & Telegraph Company (FTTC), headquartered in a sprawling manufacturing complex in North Buffalo, began marketing its first, completely assembled radio sets. To fill a radio void in the city, and to stimulate sales of their new "high-tech" products, the FTTC applied for (and received) a commercial radio license from the Department of Commerce. The station was named "WGR" after George Rand (founder of Remington Rand), a key investor in the FTTC.

WGR Transmitter Equipment Early '20s
On May 22, 1922, WGR's broadcast operations commenced, beginning nine decades of continuous service to Western New York and Southern Ontario. It is the oldest continuously operating station in Buffalo.

1738 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo - Birthplace of WGR Radio
Published reports say that the first programs on WGR were: a clergyman’s lecture; a concert from Victor’s Furniture Store showroom; and a presentation on the advantages of a college education by Dr. Julian Park, from the University at Buffalo.

In the late 1940s, the station was bought by a consortium of Western New York families known as the WGR Corporation, which signed on WGR-TV (channel 2) in 1953. WGR Corporation bought several other television and radio stations in the 1950s, and eventually became known as Transcontinent Broadcasting. Transcontinent merged with Taft Broadcasting in 1964. Taft sold off WGR-TV in 1983 (it is now WGRZ-TV), but kept the radio station until 1987.

During its days as a full service radio station, its roster of personalities included "Buffalo Bob" Smith, later famous for TV's Howdy Doody children's show, and popular national TV and nightclub comedian Foster Brooks.


The station's longtime music format combining Adult Top 40 hits and rock oldies and featured some of Buffalo's top radio personalities, talk hosts and news reporters including Stan Roberts, Frank Benny, Tom Donahue, Randy Michaels, Jim Scott, Jerry Reo, Shane, Joe Galuski, Tom Langmyer, George Hamberger, Tom Shannon, John Otto, Chuck Lakefield, Don Dussias, Lauri Githens, Wayne Smith, Sandy Kozel, Jane Tomczak, Craig Matthews and Tom Bauerle. WGR gradually evolved to news/talk during the late 1980s.

In 1987, Taft sold the station to Rich Communications, which was part of the Robert Rich family's business holdings, which also included a major processed-food company and a venture applying for a National League expansion baseball franchise (for which WGR was projected to be flagship station of the team's projected network). Although the Rich interests were the National League's choice for the new franchise they dropped out of the competition for an expansion team (which ultimately went to Denver, Colorado (Colorado Rockies) for cost reasons. Soon after, WGR was eventually spun off to new owners.

Today,  WGR 550 AM airs Sports.

In 1922…Singer Ada Jones, the most popular female vocalist of the early 20th century, died of kidney failure at age 48. Between 1905 and 1922, she had an astounding 108 Top 10 singles, seven of which went to #1.


In 1955…Jack Benny's broadcast run of live network radio programs ended after 23 years. His TV show aired from 1952-1965.


In 1972...Dave Herman starts at WNEW 102.7 FM in NYC.  Herman interviews Elton John from 1976..





In 1998…Los Angeles radio disc jockey (KHJ, KMPC, KRTH) Robert W. Morgan died of lung cancer at age 60.

As a youth growing up in Galion, Ohio, Morgan's interest was piqued while listening to his favorite DJs on Cleveland's top forty giant KYW which would eventually lead to his first on-air job was at Wooster College in 1955 on WWST & WWST-FM, for an initial salary of $1 per hour.

In 1959 Morgan moved from college radio to KACY Port Hueneme, California where he hosted the over night show called Kegler's Spare Time with Bob Morgan live from the Wagon Wheel Bowl before moving on to a succession of brief stints beginning in 1961 at KTEE Carmel as the second half of a two-man classical music announcer on KTEE with Bob Elliott, a Marine Corps Heavyweight Champion who later went onto radio fame as "K.O. Bailey," then a short time later as the morning drive DJ and mid-day board op for the Arthur Godfrey Show at KMBY, Monterey, then a jump to KOMY Watsonville, then back to KMBY Monterey followed in 1962 at "K-MAKE", KMAK, Fresno where he first worked with program director Ron Jacobs. This was followed in 1963 by an eight-month stay at KROY Sacramento before finally landing his first major-market job in 1964 at KEWB, San Francisco. It was here that he met and worked with his lifelong friend "The Real" Don Steele.



On April 27, 1965 the careers of Morgan, Steele and programer Ron Jacobs would gain superstar status when they joined the staff of KHJ 930 AM, Los Angeles almost overnight. Programming genius Bill Drake along with a staff of talented DJs called "Boss Jocks" had transformed a sleepy giant into the city's most dominant radio station. It was here that Morgan enjoyed his greatest on-air success as one of the original "Boss Jocks" on 93/KHJ which dominated the Top 40 radio market in Southern California from 1965 to 1973. Morgan's signature, "Good Morgan Boss Angeles!" to his devoted morning drive time audience would stay with him until the end of his career. It was also Morgan that voiced much of the "Boss Radio/93 KHJ station promos and imagery.

It was also during this time that Morgan co-produced and narrated the 48-hour History of Rock and Roll in 1969, a definitive on-air encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. It was the first-ever "rock-umentary" aired worldwide as a definitive history of the Rock & Roll genre—a "rockumentary," as producers Drake and Gene Chenault would call it—that would stretch from the early 1950s to 1989.

In 1970 Morgan made a surprise move from Los Angeles to WIND Radio Chicago where he remained in the morning slot until finally being enticed back to his KHJ morning show in 1972.

Until his departure from KHJ in October 1970, Morgan had commanded unparalleled radio ratings in Los Angeles. Morgan's return to his former time slot in L.A., which saw a significant spike upward for KHJ until he departed just a year later.

In 1973, Morgan and Steele walked out of KHJ and joined Bill Drake six months later at KIQQ-FM, Los Angeles. The ratings were sub-par, though, causing Morgan to leave the morning slot a year and a half later for weekends and fill-in slots at the prestigious KMPC Los Angeles. He did that for four years before legendary morning man Dick Whittinghill retired in 1980, allowing Morgan to go back to mornings. He stayed at KMPC until 1984. After a short stint at KMGG, Morgan returned to KMPC.

Morgan was heard in 1973 on Saturday night segments of the long-running NBC Radio program Monitor, an attempt to freshen that program's image. While with KMGG, he was at one time heard as a substitute host of American Top 40. During the mid to late 70s, Morgan also did his own one hour radio weekly special highlighting one artist or group per show. "Robert W. Morgan's Special of the Week" was often played on radio stations that also carried Casey Kasem's American Top 40 as the same company, Watermark, distributed both.

The year 1992 would signal the twilight years of Morgan's distinguished radio broadcast career when he signed on as the morning show host of "oldies" K-EARTH 101 where he again enjoyed solid ratings in the Los Angeles market before announcing in May 1997 that he was suffering from lung cancer.



According to L.A. radio personality Bob Shannon, Morgan told his listeners, "It could have something to do with the two packs a day cigarette habit I had for the last 35 years." In an emotional on-air statement, Morgan stated that he was taking some time off to fight the disease full-time. His friend and colleague Don Steele died, also of lung cancer, in August 1997. Morgan continued to do broadcasts from his home studio until 1998.

On January 9, 1998, K-EARTH 101 held a retirement tribute for Morgan at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills. The tribute included a re-dedication of his Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and a three-hour broadcast from the museum’s theater, hosted by Gary Owens and Morgan's KRTH co-host, Joni Caryl. It concluded with a thirty minute retrospective on Morgan’s career, narrated by Dick Clark.

Morgan died on May 22, 1998. He was 60 years old. Morgan was married twice and was survived by a daughter.