December 14 In Radio HIstory

In 1877...Ernst Werner von Siemens patents the first loudspeaker


In 1942...New York City personality, Dave Herman, was born. Most notably heard on WNEW and WXRK.

Dave Herman

Herman began his career at WHTG in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and then moved on to become WMMR's first rock DJ. His show, dubbed The Marconi Experiment, debuted on April 29, 1968. The first song played on the show was "Flying" by The Beatles. He then moved to WABC-FM, which would later become WPLJ.

Most notably, he later became the morning drive time DJ on WNEW FM, where he was the morning host from 1972 to 1982, 1986 to 1991 and then again from 1996 until the station dissolved in 1998. He was one of the station’s best-known voices.  He was included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of notable disc jockeys.

In 2013, Herman was arrested at the airport in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, after going there from his vacation home in the area. The criminal complaint stated he expected to meet a woman and her six-year-old daughter, who he allegedly believed was being brought for a sexual encounter with him. He was charged with transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Herman died of an aneurysm on May 28, 2014, in Essex County Jail in Newark, NJ, while awaiting trial. He was 78.


In 1953...WWRL 105.1 FM in NYC signed on. Station is now WWPR.


In 1956...Disc jockey Alan Freed's second film, "Don't Knock The Rock," starring Freed, Alan Dale and Patricia Hardy, with performances by Little Richard, Bill Haley and His Comets, Dave Appell and the Applejacks, and the Treniers, opened in U.S. and Canadian movie theaters.


In 1959…Billboard magazine reported that in the wake of the government's payola investigations, the pay-for-play phenomenon was just about finished. One Philadelphia record distributor complained, "You can't even buy the disc jockeys lunch!"




In 1977..."Saturday Night Fever," starring John Travolta and music by the Bee Gees, premiered in New York City.




In 1984...Broadcaster Howard Cosell retired from ABC-TV's "Monday Night Football."

Howard Cosell

Cosell was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. There's no question that I'm all of those things." In its obituary for Cosell, The New York Times described Cosell's impact on American sports coverage: "He entered sports broadcasting in the mid-1950s, when the predominant style was unabashed adulation, [and] offered a brassy counterpoint that was first ridiculed, then copied until it became the dominant note of sports broadcasting."

On radio, Cosell did his show, Speaking of Sports on 77 WABC, as well as sports reports and updates for affiliated radio stations around the country; he continued his radio duties even after he became prominent on television. Cosell then became a sports anchor at WABC-TV in New York, where he served in that role from 1961 to 1974. He expanded his commentary beyond sports to a radio show entitled "Speaking of Everything".

Cosell, Ali

Cosell rose to prominence covering boxer Muhammad Ali, starting when he still fought under his birth name, Cassius Clay. The two seemed to be friends despite their very different personalities, and complemented each other in broadcasts. Cosell was one of the first sportscasters to refer to the boxer as Muhammad Ali after he changed his name and supported him when he refused to be inducted into the military.

He was diagnosed with cancer in 1991 and had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his chest. He also had several minor strokes, and was diagnosed with heart and kidney disease and Parkinson's. Cosell died in a New York City hospital on April 23, 1995, aged 77, of a cardiac embolism.

He was placed as number one on David J. Halberstam's list of Top 50 All Time Network Television Sports Announcers on Yahoo! Sports. The sports complex at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem is named for Howard and Emmy Cosell. In 2010, Cosell was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

John Guedel

In 2001…Radio and television producer (The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, People Are Funny, You Bet Your Life) John Guedel died at age 88. According to a 1956 TV Guide story, at one point he was producing 25 half-hour radio and television shows at the same time.

His broadcasting achievements are said to include radio's first singing commercial in 1937, or at least the first one that went beyond a jingle like Jack Benny's famous ''J-E-L-L-O.'' He was also the first to present colorful characters as quiz show contestants, and the first who regularly involved the studio audience in game shows.

He then did a variety of radio work, including writing weekly dramas for a show sponsored by Forest Lawn Memorial Park, a cemetery. While researching President James A. Garfield at the public library for an episode of the show, he pulled down a nearby book on games.

He immediately made the second half of a quiz show he had been hired to produce into a game show called ''Pull Over, Neighbor.'' The first stunt on the show was shoving ice cubes in a contestant's mouth as he sang ''Smiles.''

In 1942 the show became ''People Are Funny,'' and Mr. Linkletter became master of ceremonies. It ran for 19 years on NBC, moving from radio to television in 1954.

Groucho Marx

In 1945 Mr. Guedel helped transform an afternoon variety show Mr. Linkletter had been doing in San Francisco into ''House Party,'' which ran for 25 years on CBS, moving to television in 1952.


On April 27, 1947, Guedel was producing a show sponsored by the Walgreen drugstore chain. Bob Hope and Groucho Marx were supposed to read a script, but Marx started ad-libbing, and Mr. Hope threw his script on the floor and joined in.

Guedel later asked Marx if he could be so spontaneously witty all the time. Marx responded that it would be almost impossible not to be. This resulted in ''You Bet Your Life,'' in which quiz questions were secondary to Marx's verbal jousting.

An example: When a contestant said she was from South Wales, Marx shot back: ''Did you ever meet Jonah? He lived in whales for a while.''



In 2005...Walter A. Schwartz - former GM at Musicradio 77 WABC died.

Walter A. Schwartz

He served as a Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps during World War II and again with the Air Force during the Korean War. Schwartz began his career in radio with WWJ in Detroit and then moved to New York where he became General Manager of WABC. In 1967, Wally was named President of the ABC Radio Network. During his administration, ABC adopted its unique four network programming plan which transformed the organization into the nation's largest and most profitable network.

In 1972 he was named President of ABC Television where he oversaw the ABC Television Network, ABC Sports and ABC Entertainment.  In 1975, he joined the John Blair Company as president of it's television stations and then became President and CEO of Blair Television from which he retired in 1986.


 In 2006…Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records, died after a fall at age 83.

Federal Judge Shoots Down SiriusXM Reversal Bid

A New York federal judge ruled Friday that a decades-old Second Circuit ruling wouldn't force her to reverse her ruling that SiriusXM needs to pay to play pre-1972 records, saying the satcaster's new attorneys at O'Melveny & Myers LLP made “a clear error” by digging up the old decision.

Sirius swapped legal teams last month after the latest in a string of losses over the old recordings, which are covered by state laws, not federal copyright.

The case in question concerns phonograph records, and SiriusXM was asking the Federal judge to use it as a basis to reconsider her finding in November that based on state laws, performers from the band The Turtles deserve an unprecedented copyright payout when companies play their old songs.

SiriusXM believed U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon overlooked the phonograph decision’s significance.

Penned by the famous jurist Judge Learned Hand, the 1940 decision concluded that a radio station did not have to pay an orchestra band leader, in addition to the song composer, each time it played a recording of his performance.

Learned Hand wrote that state law should not let performers, once a phonograph was sold, control how and when it was played:

We think that the “common-law property” in these performances ended with the sale of the records and that the restriction did not save it; and that if it did, the records themselves could not be clogged with a servitude.

Friday's decision could mean higher music prices for everyone, and yet another expansion of U.S. copyright law.

The Turtles claims are also just the tip of the iceberg, since every other performer (or their heirs) will be in a position to make claims over unpaid per-1972 royalties too. This could represent a major financial blow to radio stations and to music websites like YouTube and Vimeo, and would likely lead them to simply pull most oldies music from their playlist altogether.

FCC Approves Scripps, Journal Media Merger

Click to Enlarge

The E.W. Scripps Co. and Milwaukee-based Journal Communications Inc. now have approval from the Federal Communications Commission for their plan to merge their broadcast operations.

The move is related to a broader plan that includes both chains spinning off their combined newspaper properties into a new publicly traded company. Shareholders of Scripps and Journal Communications still have to approve the transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of 2015.

The FCC approval is related to another piece of both chains’ plan, which is for control of the Journal Communications TV and radio stations licenses to transfer to Scripps, since they’re merging broadcast operations including Scripps’ 21 local TV stations and Journal’s 13 TV stations and 34 radio stations. The combined broadcast and digital media company will keep the Scripps company name.

The new newspaper company, Journal Media Group, will be based in Milwaukee.

iHM's Most-Played Holiday Tunes Unveiled

If you wonder what are the most-played Christmas songs on iHeartMedia stations nationwide, Walt Hickey at FiveThirtyEight.com has the answer.

He pulled the most recently played 8,000 songs on 70 iHeartMedia4 soft rock, variety and oldies stations that had flipped to their holiday format. These are the most-played songs on holiday radio:

If you think the same songs are played over and over and over, you’re right. The top 15 songs compose half of the music played on holiday radio; the top 53 songs make up 90 percent of the spins.
And for a holiday ostensibly about a religious figure’s birthday, the most popular songs on the radio are vastly secular.

No Holiday From Radio RIFs

Michael Main

In San Antonio...The iHeartMedia Christmas-month cuts seem to be mounting. Several from WOAI-AM’s news team are the latest casualties.

Leading the layoffs was  staple Michael Main, a solid news journalist and managing editor who’s been with WOAI for nearly 30 years. He was let go Friday morning, according to mysa.com.

According to a radio insider, anchor/reporter Berit Mason and multimedia journalist Stephanie Narvaez were cut from WOAI as well.

In Tampa...Beasley Broadcasting, new owner of Country WQYK 99.5 FM, is making some changes.

Included is the dismissal of market veteran Steve Austin.  He vacates the PM drive shift after 16-years at the station.

After 16 years i was let go today at @WQYK995 ! I will miss my friends and listeners! #radio
— Steve Austin (@steveaustinwqyk) December 11, 2014

In Mobile...WABD-FM/Mobile Program Director and afternoon host Scott Adams exits the Cumulus CHR outlet. He previously served as morning co-host at Cumulus CHR KHCZ-FM (Z-95.7)/Kansas City before its flip to Rhythmic CHR as "95.7 The Vibe" in 2005.

In NYC...Fitz has exited his post as Production Director for Cumulus HotAC WPLJ's "The Todd Show." Previously, Fitz made stops at Modern Rock WRMR/Jacksonville-Wilmington-New Bern, NC as MD/afternoon drive host and CBS Radio for 5 years in various programming roles.

NYC Radio: Taylor Swift Headlines Z100 Jingle Ball

Taylor Swift onstage during iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2014, hosted by WHTZ 100.3 FM Z100 New York at Madison Square Garden Friday evening.

Taylor Swift, Iggy Azalea and Ariana Grande came to glow and preen, along with breakthrough stars Sam Smith, 5 Seconds of Summer, Meghan Trainor and more. Few of the artists taking part even had a career two years ago. In this realm, 41-year-old participant Pharrell seemed like Methuselah, note the NY Daily News.

iHeartMedia stations are presenting Jingle Balls across the country for the holiday season, many with a lineup largely similar to the one at Madison Square Garden. But this show, four hours long with 16 acts, was the flagship.  Mostly female artists played no more than a few songs each, centering their set lists on hits.   The NY Times reports Swift had a huge live band, complete with horn section and backup singers. Iggy Azalea, Ms. Grande, Jessie J., Rita Ora and Meghan Trainor used recorded tracks or a DJ. That suited their music, which seeks a radio-friendly convergence of R&B, hip-hop, four-on-the-floor dance music and — somewhere in the distance — girl-group pop.

The concert was full of teens and preteens, some of whom were probably being treated to their first concert by the parents who brought them.

A 90-minute iHeartRadio Jingle Ball concert special airs on The CW network Thursday, December 18th at 8pm ET.

Z100's Cubby Bryant talked with Taylor Swift about the Billboard Woman of the Year Award.

December 13 In Radio History

In 1924...KOA-AM, Denver, Colorado, began broadcasting. KOA was originally owned by General Electric. The station started with 5,000 watts, and in 1927, increased to 12,500 watts. In the early 1930s, power was raised to the current level of 50,000 watts. KOA is the dominant clear-channel station on 850 AM.

At night the signal can be heard in over 30 states of the U.S. and over most of Canada and Mexico. KOA sometimes can be picked up in California, and is usually picked up in Central Washington state, both locations are west of the Rocky Mountains, an obstacle that prevents most east coast radio stations from traveling west of the Rockies. KOA is frequently heard in northern Europe, Australia and Japan, and is one of the most frequently reported stations worldwide

In 1926...1926 KXL 400 meters (749.6 K.C.) signed on the air with 250 watts.  KXL’s inaugural broadcast hit the airwaves on December 13, 1926 from the top floor of the Mallory Hotel, beginning with a concert from the Mallory Orchestra. The second hour began with dance music presented by the Lyle Lewis Orchestra.

On September 20, 1927, KXL moved into the “Rose Studio” on the seventh floor of the Bedell Building which featured a plate glass wall for public viewing from the reception room. KXL celebrated the move with a 40 hour broadcast dedication.

Alpha Broadcasting, a newly formed company owned by Larry Wilson, purchased KXL in 2009.  In 2011, KXL’s news/talk programming on 750 AM began simulcasting on 101.1 FM, the former KUFO-FM now called KXL-FM.  KXL’s news/talk format moved exclusively to the FM signal a few months later.  The old 750 AM frequency became KXTG-AM, carrying a sports format.

In 1964...The American Radio Relay League was founded for HAM radio operators.

In 1974...MC Flashbacks to the year-ender edition of Radio&Records from December 13, 1974.  If you remember, StreetTalk, Parallels...then you remember R&R. The Back Page Chart shows quite a variety...everything from Jethro Tull to Bobby Vinton!

To Read More of this R&R Issue: Click Here.

In 1983...In 1983, Bonneville Broadcasting Co. purchased KYA and the call letters were changed to KOIT.

December 18, 1926, KYA went on the air initially on 970 kc. with 500 watts, but it was planned to later increase its power to 20,000 watts.

In a massive nationwide reassignment of frequencies which took place November 11, 1928, KYA was ordered to the less desirable frequency of 1230 kc.  The station moved again in 1941 in another wholesale frequency shift, this time to 1260 kc.

In 1948, the SF Examiner sold KYA to a group of Stanford professors and instructors, doing business as "Palo Alto Radio Station, Inc." This started a turbulent period in the history of KYA. Over a period of almost twenty years, KYA was operated by no less than eight different owners! The Palo Alto group sold the station to Dorothy Schiff of the New York Post. In the mid-fifties, the station was purchased by Elroy McCaw and John Keating, doing business as KYA, Inc. They in turn sold the station to the Bartell Family Group in 1958, who subsequently sold to Golden State Broadcasters. From 1963 to 1966, KYA was operated by the Churchill Broadcasting Corporation, and in June of 1966 KYA was acquired by AVCO Broadcasting.

Rock'n'roll music made its first appearance on KYA during the Bartell Group days, and then for only a portion of the station's broadcast day. After an initial success, it quickly took over the entire day's schedule. In 1961, a young unknown Georgia disk jockey who called himself Bill Drake was given the task of programming the station. Drake made drastic changes, streamlining the carnival sound of early rock radio, until an entirely new concept was developed.

"The Drake Sound" became an instant success at KYA, and soon spread to other stations. Before long, Bill Drake had redefined rock'n'roll radio nationwide, which became "Top 40" radio. Drake became a multi-millionaire, programming nearly a hundred AM and FM stations from his home in Bel Air in the 1970s. KYA and KFRC shared the important rock radio audience in San Francisco through the '70s.

In 1983, Bonneville Broadcasting Co. purchased KYA and the call letters were changed to KOIT. The original call letters lived on, however, with KYA-FM, which was sold to another owner, KING Broadcasting of Seattle, which operated it together with KSFO. Two of San Francisco's most historic call letters were now resided under one roof.


In 1999...The performing rights organization Broadcast Music Incorporated declared "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" to be the most played (BMI) song of the century on American radio and television, with more than eight million airings. The original and most famous recording of the song is by the Righteous Brothers.

"Never My Love" was the second most-played song, followed by "Yesterday," "Stand By Me," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." Rounding out the Top Ten were "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay," "Mrs. Robinson," "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Rhythm Of The Rain," and "Georgia On My Mind."


In 2010…In New York, Paul McCartney performed an intimate concert for 1,400 people at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, as part of SiriusXM Radio's celebrations on acquiring 20 million subscribers. The planned 22-song set was followed by two encores of three songs each.

Celebrities in attendance included Keith Richards, Jerry Seinfeld, Simon Le Bon, Kevin Bacon, Tony Bennett, Alec Baldwin, John McEnroe and Howard Stern. McCartney told the audience, "I just want to just soak in the Apollo. I've dreamed of playing here for many a year. This is very special for us British boys. The holy grail."

NYC Radio: Jayde Donovan to Co-Host Mornings On WPLJ

Jayde Donovan

Cumulus announces that morning show personality Jayde Donovan joins WPLJ 95.5 FM mornings as co-host of the new weekday morning show, “Todd and Jayde (In the Morning)”. Donovan shares hosting duties with Todd Pettengill, longtime WPLJ morning talent.

The show debuts at 6:00 a.m. on January 5, 2015.

Donovan comes to New York City from Tampa Bay, where she launched one of the first female-led Top 40 morning radio shows in the U.S., “Hot Mornings with Jayde” on WPOI/Hot 101.5 FM. Donovan was also a correspondent for WTVT Fox 13 Tampa, with weekly segment “Hot Happenings” on Good Day Tampa Bay and daily segment “Hot Dish” on Dish Nation. She also hosted the television show “The Cue” on WOFL Fox 35 in Orlando. Prior to that, she was co-host of Johnny & Jayde in the Morning on Orlando’s WXXL/XL 106.7. Donovan has served as an entertainment correspondent with Billy Bush on Access Hollywood, and has co-hosted LIVE With Regis & Kelly with Regis Philbin.

Kim Bryant, Vice President and Market Manager for Cumulus New York said: “We are thrilled to have a talent like Jayde on PLJ. She is genuine, smart and beautiful. The New York market is going to fall in love with her.”

Gillette, Corporate Program Director for Cumulus said: “I've been following Jayde’s career for some time now, and have always wanted her in the Cumulus family. When this opportunity presented itself, we couldn't pass it up. She is the talent that will change the paradigm...that eventually becomes the paradigm. Having her join Todd and the talent we already have in the room will be lightning.”

Donovan said: “I still can't wrap my head around the dream job in front of me! To co-lead a show in the number one market in the world is more than a dream come true. Huge thanks to John Dickey, Mike McVay, Gillette, and my legendary radio friend Todd Pettengill for bringing me on the team. Can't wait to get to work!”

Pettengill said: “Our plan from day one was to assemble a team of talented people.
Sometimes you have to wait for those people to become available, but when they do, you make your move. I look forward to many fun mornings with Jayde, an intelligent, opinionated woman. I know our listeners will welcome Jayde with open arms and appreciate her honestly and sincerity as much as I do. It's gonna be a hell of a ride.”

CBS Radio To Present 'The Night Before' Super Bowl Concert

CBS Radio today announced the lineup for "The Night Before",  an exclusive concert the evening prior to football’s national championship, featuring live performances from some of country music’s biggest stars, including Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, and Florida Georgia Line.

The one-night-only event will take place on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Ariz. Award-winning singer and songwriter Bentley made the official announcement this morning on CBS Radio’s Phoenix station, KMLE 107.9 FM.

“I’m excited to be part of a huge night in country music the night before the biggest event in sports...in my hometown!” said Bentley. “We’re about to take tailgating in Phoenix to a whole new level.”

“There’s no bigger sporting event than the Super Bowl, and what better way to celebrate the greatest championship in the world than with a star-studded concert event The Night Before,” said Amy Stevens, Senior Vice President, Strategic Events and Partnerships. “We had an amazing inaugural show in 2014 with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in New York, and we’re thrilled to present the next installment in this emerging tradition with some of this generation’s greatest country acts.”

American Express Card Members will have access to tickets before the general public beginning Monday, Dec. 15 at 10:00 AM, MT through Thursday, Dec. 18 at 10:00 PM, MT. Tickets go on sale for everyone through Ticketmaster on Friday, Dec. 19 at 12:00 PM, MT.  For more information, visit www.Radio.com/TheNightBefore – the online home for the event, with performing artist news and exclusive coverage of the show.

Additionally, music fans across the nation can win premium tickets to the concert through Radio.com’s VIP sweepstakes or by listening to their favorite CBS Radio country and sports stations. Winners will also receive an exclusive travel package to Phoenix, including tickets to the Super Bowl courtesy of Bud Light.

ASCAP Announces Retirement Of CEO John LoFrumento

John LoFrumento

Today, the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced that John LoFrumento, Chief Executive Officer of ASCAP for the past 17 years, has decided to retire as of January 1st.

LoFrumento has served the members of ASCAP since 1981, when he first joined the executive team as Controller. He then served as CFO, COO and EVP, and was named CEO in 1997. LoFrumento’s successor will be named shortly.

As CEO, LoFrumento helped ASCAP develop one of the most sophisticated technology platforms for performance tracking and royalty distributions across all media. At the same time, ASCAP’s membership and distributions grew exponentially from 70,000 members in 1997 with distributions totaling $417 million to 520,000 members today with 2014 distributions to exceed $875 million. ASCAP licenses the most-performed repertory globally, with 10 million compositions created by the best-loved songwriters and composers as members, including such modern hit-makers as Beyoncé, Max Martin (STIM), Dr. Luke, Dierks Bentley, Katy Perry, Enrique Iglesias, Lorde (APRA), Justin Timberlake, Drake, Brad Paisley and many more.

“When I became CEO in 1997, we set a course aimed at transforming ASCAP into a new kind of organization that would be ready to meet the demands of the 21st century, and I am so proud of what we have achieved,” said LoFrumento. “Through a commitment to innovation and continuous improvement in all areas of our operation, ASCAP has become the world’s most sophisticated and efficient music rights organization, home to more than 520,000 of the world’s greatest music creators. And I am able to retire with tremendous confidence in ASCAP’s future, knowing that the Board’s search for a new CEO is well underway.”

“Under John’s leadership, ASCAP’s innovations and embrace of new technologies have shaped the evolution of performing rights worldwide,” said ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams, an award-winning songwriter. “John is an extraordinary advocate for music creators, and his accomplishments and vision will have a lasting impact on the music industry for years to come.”

FCC To Extend On-Line Filing To Radio

Add extending public file obligations to cable, satellite and radio operators among the items that have secured at least provisional approval via three Democratic votes, according to Multi-Channel News.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Oct. 30 circulated the item to the other commissioners for a vote.  

The three Democratic commissioners, which includes the chairman, have all voted for the item, according to FCC sources, which means it will be official as soon as the Republicans vote, no matter which way that goes.

Once there is a quorum of votes(3) on an item, it goes on the clock and then must be voted within a set period of time--there can be an extension--or it would eventually become official without the other two votes.  

Currently, only TV stations are required to post their political files online to an FCC database, but in August the FCC asked whether that requirement should be extended, seeking input on a petition to that effect filed by the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation.

FCC Okays Big Spending For School Internet

Every American with a phone line will be paying a few cents more on their bills after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Thursday to approve more money for schools to pay for the Internet and other technology, according to The Daily Caller.

The School and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, better known as E-Rate, is a federal program that assists schools in paying for internet access or buying other technological improvements. The program, the third-biggest source of federal money for schools, has had its funding capped at about $2.4 billion per year for over 15 years. Now, in accordance with a proposal first made last month by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, its funding will abruptly rise by about $1.5 billion to support a more ambitious push to put high-speed Internet in every public school.

E-rate is financed through service fees added to Americans’ telephone bills, and they’ll also be footing the bill for this expansion. Fees are expected to rise by about $1.90 per year per phone line.

Read More Now

Report: Mobile Is Demoting TV

About 26% of customers who call US cable TV companies request "internet only" service, according to a survey of those calls by mobile advertising technology company Marchex. Of those customers, at least 60% actually end up getting internet-only service, Marchex says.

Business Intelligence reports the survey results — which came from 500 random phone calls via Marchex's Call Analytics customer phonecall monitoring technology — show that people increasingly don't want to pay for old-fashioned TV. (Name one other industry where one in four consumers calls up the company to ask not to have access to its main product?)

In place of TV consumers want the internet — through which they can get the video they want, which can also include TV programming — instead.

And numbers from BI Intelligence show that digital media — following a boom on the mobile web — is about to replace TV as the top venue for both audience share and ad revenue.

TV has been relegated to second-rung status by the arrival of mobile media, in just the same way that newspapers and radio were demoted by the internet.

Like newspapers and radio, TV still has a massive audience and commands lots of ad revenues. But TV's audience simply isn't as big as the audience being corralled by Google, Facebook, Apple and their competitors.

Read More Now

Springfield MO Radio: Traffic Stop Leads To Dismissal From KOSP

Richard Deaver

Radio personality Richard Deaver is out at Top40 KOSP 92.9 FM in Springfield, MO, according to The News-Leader.

The 26-year-old Deaver, who prompted a boycott by the Springfield Police Officers Association last month, was not on air Thursday morning.   The station website has been scrubbed promos for the morning show Rich and McClain in the Morning now mentioned "McClain in the Morning."

Jason McCuthin, the general manager of Mid-West Family Broadcasting — which owns KOSP, more commonly known as 92.9 The Beat — said Thursday morning that the company doesn't discuss employment matters.

Asked if he had any comment at all about the police boycott, McCuthin replied: "There's not a story in my opinion, so I don't have anything to say."

But Deaver, in his first media interview since his Nov. 14 traffic stop, said Thursday morning that he and the company "parted ways amicably, and I am going to pursue other opportunities." He said he felt no ill will toward Mid-West.

Traffic stop led to police boycott

Deaver, who hosted the morning show with Dawn McClain, was pulled over while driving a scooter to work around 5 a.m., Nov. 14. The scooter was searched for drugs after an officer claimed he smelled marijuana; nothing was found in the search, which involved a K-9 unit and an additional officer. Deaver was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car while the search was conducted. Ultimately, Deaver was issued citations for running a flashing red light and not having a valid driver's license. An officer also told Deaver that he had a non-extraditable warrant for his arrest out of Camden County, Missouri.

On air later that morning, Deaver claimed to have been "torn" off the scooter and "thrown up against the cop car" and said the warrant was not for him; he also played audio of a portion of the stop he recorded on his phone. Within hours, the association — a labor group which represents those lower in rank than lieutenant within the Springfield Police Department — called for a boycott of KOSP and said it was asking its attorney whether the statements amounted to defamation. The police department, meanwhile, quickly released dashboard camera footage of the stop.

Deaver and McClain appear to have been on "Rich and McClain in the Morning" as usual Wednesday. On Thursday, however, promos referred to the show as "McClain in the Morning."

CBS Extends Contract For CEO Les Moonves

Les Moonves

CBS Corporation announced Thursday a new agreement with President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves that supersedes his prior contract, which was to conclude in 2017, and extends his term with CBS Corporation by two years, through June 30, 2019.

Under the terms of the agreement, Moonves' salary remains at its current level. As before, he will continue to be eligible for an annual performance-based bonus and will receive equity-based compensation that further ties the value of the agreement to the performance of the Company's stock.

At the end of his new term, Moonves will become an executive advisor to the Company for an additional five years, and will have the option to establish a production company under CBS's auspices.

Moonves came to CBS in 1995 as President of Entertainment. He was promoted to President and CEO of CBS Television in 1998, became its Chairman in 2003, and was later named Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Viacom and Chairman of CBS in 2004. In 2006, when Viacom split its businesses into two publicly traded companies, Moonves was named President and CEO of the newly formed CBS Corporation.

Report: NBC News Woes..Too Many Cooks, No Real Power

The Hollywood Reporter takes a look at NBC News' Ratings Woes.

Beyond way too many cooks being in the kitchen, there are perhaps harder-to-solve problems at NBC News. News consumption, even more than other parts of television, has been transformed by digital competition. Cable news viewing is down, and left-leaning MSNBC is down the most. Once-dominant Today is losing the morning ratings race to ABC's revived and well-managed Good Morning America.

Read More Now

Report: CBC Radio Shrinks News Time

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is taking a page from U.S. radio shock-jock culture, putting its early morning local-radio programs on television as part of a strategy to distribute its content on as many different platforms as possible.

The Globe&Mail in Toronto reports, in a memo to staff issued Thursday afternoon, CBC/Radio-Canada offers more details on a plan announced in the spring which it believes will help it shift to a digital future.

As part of the plan, the broadcaster will shorten most of its local supper-hour TV newscasts from the current 90-minute offerings. Shows in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Windsor, Montreal, and Fredericton will be cut to 30 minutes, while shows in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Charlottetown and St. John’s will be cut to 60 minutes. In the North, the broadcast will comprise 30 minutes in English and 30 minutes in Inuktitut.

“This is not just about changing the length of supper hours, this is about changing how we serve the audience,” reads the memo. “It is transforming our concentration in communities from mainly over the supper hour, to a comprehensive, four-platform local news service – across the day and on-demand.” The memo was written by Jennifer McGuire, the general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News and Centres.

The broadcaster will also put its 6-7 a.m. local Radio One morning shows on TV, a once-popular strategy for U.S. radio hosts such as Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus.

In June, CBC/Radio-Canada executives announced a strategy that would see the broadcaster shift its priorities over the next six years, inverting a paradigm that currently favours TV and radio outlets, followed by Web-based and then mobile platforms. Like most news organizations, CBC/Radio-Canada is experiencing a titanic shift in audience preferences, as users embrace mobile offerings and spend far less time consuming the news on TV.

It will cut up to 1,500 jobs, or 20 per cent of its employees, by 2020.

List: Mike Francesca Tops Among Sports Talkers

Mike Francesa

For the third year in a row WFAN's Mike Francesa has been chosen the number one local sports talker in America by Radio Ink's panel of sports experts. That panel includes program directors, sports hosts, managers of sports stations, and consultants.

Mike Francesa (WFAN 660 AM /101.9 FM in NYC) has over 27 years of sports talk on the books already, having started out when the format was hardly as cool or lucrative as it is now. And after nearly three decades he continues to be ranked number one in the demo WFAN targets. Francesa is knowledgeable, influential, and opinionated. It's an amazing accomplishment that Francesa has been successful for so long in such a large and media-savvy city. According to RadioInk, ee's by far the most influential sports talker in New York, which was made crystal clear this past year when Alex Rodriguez got into hot water over allegations of steroid use. Rodriguez went racing to Francesa to get his story out.

Who follows the three-time champ? For Radio Ink's Top 30 Local Sports Talkers in America list: Click Here.

Pandora Lists 2014's Top Songs

As 2014 comes to a close, Pandora takes a look back and see what music was listened to most this year.

So, what songs spun the most? Your tastes run the gamut, from Sam Smith‘s top spinning song “Stay With Me” to a few selections from the Frozen soundtrack and many more in between.

WMG Reports $24M Loss In Quarter

Warner Music Group on Thursday reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $771 million, up from $764 million, and a net loss of $24 million, an improvement over a $57 million loss in the same frame a year ago, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

For the entire fiscal year, Warner Music said revenue was up 5 percent but digital revenue rose 11 percent.

For the quarter, digital, licensing and artist services and expanded-rights revenue each grew though they were offset by a decline in physical revenue, the company said. In the quarter, 43 percent of all recorded music revenue came by way of digital streaming.

Revenue in music publishing for the quarter was up 3 percent to $130 million.

Warner Music is the parent of several record labels, including Asylum, Atlantic, Elektra, Reprise and Rhino. Major recent sellers include Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Mariya Takeuchi, Blake Shelton and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, the company said Thursday.

Sony Boss: 'US Streaming Rates Are Unjustifiably Below-Market'

Martin Bandier

Sony/ATV boss Martin Bandier has used his artist's success at the Grammy nominations to highlight the "unjustifiably below-market royalty rates" paid by music streaming services in the US, according to
MusicWeek.com.

On the list of Sony/ATV nominees are Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Pharrell Williams, together with a host of songwriters who've contributed to titles up for Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year.

The winners will be announced at the 57th Grammy Awards, taking place in LA on February 8.

"A Grammy nomination is an incredible achievement and we should be extremely proud of all our nominees as they represent the very best in their class. This success comes at an exciting time for the business as it moves from a physical and download world to a streaming one," said Bandier.

"However, the changing market also brings about many challenges for us as it adversely impacts our mechanical income. I cannot help but mention that these Grammy nominated songwriters continue to be paid unjustifiably below-market royalty rates by music streaming services in the US."

Bandier expressed concern that songwriters are currently not being paid fairly by digital services such as Pandora for their performance rights. Earlier this year, Pandora won a decision in ASCAP's own rate court to pay songwriters just 1.85% of its total income.

John Legend's All Of Me, which has a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance, was streamed 55 million times on Pandora during the first three months of 2014, said Bandier. That generated $3,400 in publisher and songwriter royalties.

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Facebook Has Top Smartphone App

comScore, Inc. Thursday released data from comScore MobiLens® and Mobile Metrix®, reporting key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for October 2014. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 41.9 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the #1 smartphone platform with 52.3 percent platform market share. Facebook ranked as the top individual smartphone app.

Smartphone OEM Market Share

176 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (72.9 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in October, up 2 percent since July. Apple ranked as the top OEM with 41.9 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers. Samsung ranked second with 29.3 percent market share (up 0.9 percentage points from July), followed by LG with 7.4 percent (up 1 percentage point), Motorola with 5.2 percent and HTC with 4.1 percent.

Grand Rapids Radio: Balyo Sentenced On Federal Charges

John Balyo

A former Grand Rapids Christian radio host has been sentenced on federal child pornography and sexual exploitation charges.

WWMT reports John Balyo was sentenced in Grand Rapids on Thursday to 40 years in federal prison.

He pleaded guilty in July to similar charges in Kalamazoo County and was sentenced in Calhoun County last month to 25 to 50 years in prison in a separate case after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy.

Balyo was arrested in late June, following an investigation by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and the Michigan State Police Internet Crimes Against Children.

The state and federal sentences will run together.

R.I.P.: Fox News Reporter Dominic Di'Natale Was 43

Dominic Di-Natale, a globetrotting journalist whose work at Fox News Channel and other news organizations took him to Usama bin Laden’s compound, demonstrations in Egypt’s Tahrir Square and, more recently, to the scene of racially charged riots in Ferguson, Mo., has died.

The coroner in Jefferson County, Colo., where Di-Natale owned property, said the veteran journalist took his own life. Officials discovered Di-Natale's body Wednesday after being alerted by a friend who knew of his state of mind regarding serious undisclosed health issues.

Di-Natale, 43, a versatile reporter comfortable at the keyboard or in front of the camera, began his career as a magazine writer in Portugal in 1989, making a name for himself with his fearless coverage of the European drug trade. He returned to the United Kingdom in 1995, where he did freelance work for several national newspapers before taking a position as correspondent for BBC World, working out of Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, London and New York.

He began working for Fox News in 2007, covering international news for Fox News Channel, FoxNews.com, and often contributing to business and economic coverage for Fox Business Network.

“We were extremely saddened to learn of Dominic’s passing and send our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” said a statement from a Fox News spokesperson. “He was an esteemed journalist and an integral part of our news coverage throughout the Middle East.”

December 12 In Radio History

In 1896...Guglielmo Marconi gave the first public demonstration of radio at Toynbee Hall, London.

In 1901...Marconi sends first Atlantic wireless transmission

Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi succeeds in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, disproving detractors who told him that the curvature of the earth would limit transmission to 200 miles or less. The message--simply the Morse-code signal for the letter "s"--traveled more than 2,000 miles from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, to Signal Hill in Newfoundland, Canada.

Born in Bologna, Italy, in 1874 to an Italian father and an Irish mother, Marconi studied physics and became interested in the transmission of radio waves after learning of the experiments of the German physicist Heinrich Hertz. He began his own experiments in Bologna beginning in 1894 and soon succeeded in sending a radio signal over a distance of 1.5 miles. Receiving little encouragement for his experiments in Italy, he went to England in 1896. He formed a wireless telegraph company and soon was sending transmissions from distances farther than 10 miles. In 1899, he succeeded in sending a transmission across the English Channel. That year, he also equipped two U.S. ships to report to New York newspapers on the progress of the America's Cup yacht race. That successful endeavor aroused widespread interest in Marconi and his wireless company.

Signal Hill, Newfoundland

Marconi's greatest achievement came on December 12, 1901, when he received a message sent from England at St. John's, Newfoundland. The transatlantic transmission won him worldwide fame. Ironically, detractors of the project were correct when they declared that radio waves would not follow the curvature of the earth, as Marconi believed. In fact, Marconi's transatlantic radio signal had been headed into space when it was reflected off the ionosphere and bounced back down toward Canada. Much remained to be learned about the laws of the radio wave and the role of the atmosphere in radio transmissions, and Marconi would continue to play a leading role in radio discoveries and innovations during the next three decades.

In 1909, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics with the German radio innovator Ferdinand Braun. After successfully sending radio transmissions from points as far away as England and Australia, Marconi turned his energy to experimenting with shorter, more powerful radio waves. He died in 1937, and on the day of his funeral all British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stations were silent for two minutes in tribute to his contributions to the development of radio.


In 1915...Legendary singer Frank Sinatra, dubbed "Ol' Blue Eyes" and the "Chairman of the Board," was born. He died May 14, 1998 at 82.

In 1957...KEX, Portland, Oregon Disc Jockey Al Priddy, was fired for playing Elvis Presley's rendition of "White Christmas." He violated the radio station's ban against the song. The station had banned Presley’s interpretations of Christmas carols, believing that such a sexually-charged performer had no business recording religious music.

In 1961...Ham radio satellite Oscar 1 was launched with military Discoverer 36


In 1971...David Sarnoff, who founded the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and throughout most of his career led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), died at age 80.

Throughout most of his career he led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his retirement in 1970.

He ruled over an ever-growing telecommunications and consumer electronics empire that included both RCA and NBC, and became one of the largest companies in the world. Named a Reserve Brigadier General of the Signal Corps in 1945, Sarnoff thereafter was widely known as "The General."



Unlike many who were involved with early radio communications, viewing radio as point-to-point, Sarnoff saw the potential of radio as point-to-mass. One person (the broadcaster) could speak to many (the listeners).

When Owen D. Young of the General Electric Company arranged the purchase of American Marconi and turned it into the Radio Corporation of America, a radio patent monopoly, Sarnoff realized his dream and revived his proposal in a lengthy memo on the company's business and prospects. His superiors again ignored him but he contributed to the rising postwar radio boom by helping arrange for the broadcast of a heavyweight boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier in July 1921. Up to 300,000 people heard the fight, and demand for home radio equipment bloomed that winter. By the spring of 1922 Sarnoff's prediction of popular demand for broadcasting had come true, and over the next eighteen months, he gained in stature and influence.

In 1926, RCA purchased its first radio station (WEAF, New York) and launched the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the first radio network in America. Four years later, Sarnoff became president of RCA. NBC had by that time split into two networks, the Red and the Blue. The Blue Network later became ABC Radio.[3] Sarnoff was sometimes inaccurately referred to later in his career as the founder of both RCA and NBC, but he was in fact neither.

Sarnoff was instrumental in building and established the AM broadcasting radio business which became the preeminent public radio standard for the majority of the 20th century. This was until FM broadcasting radio re-emerged in the 1960s despite Sarnoff's efforts to suppress it (following FM's initial appearance and disappearance during the 1930s and 1940s.

In 1995...the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) announced the Radio Canada International service would end on March 31.

In 2003...Unkle Roger McCall, a long-time DJ on Classic Rock WCMF 96.5 FM, Rochester, New York, was fatally wounded by a gunshot in a robbery attempt.  His killer has never been brought to justice.

Unkle Roger

McCall was gunned down in December 2003 in his son’s driveway by “just a boy” who disappeared forever under the cover of a darkening night and a sudden snow squall — leaving behind holes in Roger’s stomach, in his family and in a wide circle of close friends, listeners and fellow musicians who knew him as Unk, Unki, Unkle Roger.

Unkle Roger was 52 and despite having a microphone in front of him for 30 years working as disc jockey for WCMF, he had a relatively well-kept secret.

Several years before he was killed, he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was terminally ill. He didn’t discuss his illness — though others on the radio did — said his wife, Denise McCall, because he didn’t want that to define what remained of his life.

In 2008...Spike O'Dell did his last broadcast on WGN-AM. He spent 21 years with the station, 8 of them doing mornings.

Spike O'Dell

Odell’s first radio hosting position was at WEMO-AM in East Moline at the age of 25.  While working at the factory, he disc jockeyed on weekends there as well as doing some fill-in slots. In 1977 Spike took another part-time job with WQUA radio in Moline Illinois. Following this, he obtained a full-time morning position at KSTT-AM, where he affectionately was referred to as “Spike at the Mic”. This proved to be a significant position, as it allowed O'Dell to move, in 1981, to a Major Market Morning Radio spot at WBT-AM in Charlotte, NC. After a brief stint as "morning guy," he returned to KIIK-FM. In 1987, Billboard Magazine awarded Spike “Top 40 Air Personality of the Year” in a Medium Market.

The Billboard magazine award lead to a call from then program director Dan Fabian to interview at WGN-AM in Chicago. In 1987, O'Dell was hired as the afternoon drive host for the station. Spike would go on to work 21 years at WGN. He remained at the top of the ratings in all the dayparts he hosted while at the station. O'Dell moved around a few times during his tenure at WGN, with notable stints in the afternoon, and ultimately, in the morning drive slot. The move to mornings occurred after the untimely death of then host Bob Collins.  O'Dell now enjoys spending time with his 5 grandchildren, golfing, photography, watercolor and acrylic painting, and sleeping late.

During the course of his career, he worked at:

• 1976-1977 WEMO-AM East Moline
• 1977-1978 WQUA Moline, IL
• 1978-1980 KSTT-AM Davenport, IA
• 1980-1982 WBT-AM Charlotte, NC
• 1982-1987 KIIK-FM Davenport, IA
• 1987 WGN-AM Chicago, IL Spike was hired as afternoon host 3-7pm and moved to mornings on February 9, 2000 after Bob Collins was killed in a tragic plane crash.
• 2008 Final Broadcast of “The Spike O’Dell Show” at the Metropolis Theatre on December 12.

In 2012...Veteran broadcaster (KABC-Los Angeles, KLAC-Los Angeles, KIEV-Los Angeles, KGIL-Los Angeles, KING-Seattle) Ray Briem, who ruled the Los Angeles overnight airwaves with his radio talk show for 27 years (1967-1994), died of cancer at 82.