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.
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.
Dan Daniel - WCBS-FM
On the 26th in 1996...Dan Daniel starts at WCBS FM.
He started as a disc jockey at age seventeen on Armed Forces Radio with the US Navy. His first commercial job was at KXYZ in Houston in 1955 and he then worked at WDGY in Minneapolis before moving to WMCA in 1961.
His first broadcast at WMCA was on 18 August 1961. He started on the graveyard shift overnight but from 1962 to 1968 he played the top 40 hits from 4 pm to 7 pm. The station produced a survey of the current sales in New York record stores and Dandy Dan gave the countdown of the week's best sellers every Wednesday in this late afternoon slot.
From 1968 to 1970, he did the early morning drive-to-work slot before leaving WMCA after nearly nine years; his final broadcast was on 11 July 1970.
Dan was heard coast-to-coast on NBC Radio's "Monitor" in the summer of 1973.
He subsequently worked on WYNY-FM where he hosted the mid-day slot and later morning and afternoon drives. He then did a stint at WHN playing country music before returning to WYNY-FM. Finally, he moved to WCBS-FM in 1996. He retired from WCBS on December 31, 2002.
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.
Gene Burns KGO
In his early twenties, Burns was hired as news director for radio station WWHG in his hometown of Hornell, New York before moving on to WSBA in York, Pennsylvania. He began his career as talk radio host at WCBM in Baltimore in the mid-1960s. While at WCBM, Burns did two major international assignments, going to Vietnam in 1968 and the Middle East in 1969.
Following a brief stint with WEEI in Boston, Burns served as a talk show host as well as program director at WKIS 740 AM in Orlando, Florida, beginning in 1971. He would remain there until 1981, when he departed for WCAU in Philadelphia in 1981. He then returned to Orlando and WKIS in the early 1980s and was named the station's operations manager in 1984. In 1985, Burns returned to Boston, hosting a talk show on WRKO for eight years.
In 1993, Burns moved to New York City and began hosting a nationally syndicated talk program from the studios of WOR.
In 1995, he resumed his broadcasting career at KGO-AM in San Francisco. He hosted a talk show of political and social commentary called The Gene Burns Program on weeknights, as well as a program that focused on wine and fine dining in the San Francisco Bay Area called Dining Around with Gene Burns which was broadcast weekly on Saturdays.
Talkers magazine ranked Burns #24 on its list of The 25 Greatest Radio and Television Talk Show Hosts of All Time, in 2002
Harry Birrell
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.
Birrell joined KNX in 1968 and was a regular weekday anchor on the all-news station until 1993, when he retired. But he continued to file daily reports of Ventura County news from his home in Thousand Oaks until January 1999.
The Radio and Television News Assn. of Southern California recognized Birrell with multiple Golden Mike awards for excellence in local broadcast journalism.
He was born Henry Walker Birrell in Steubenville, Ohio, on March 5, 1928, but he was known throughout his life as Harry. He attended Miami University before beginning his radio career in Beaver Falls, Pa., in 1949. He criss-crossed the country working as a broadcaster before arriving at KNX.
The Jonesboro Radio Group decided to scale back their soldier salute in order to keep military members and their families safe in Region 8.
The decision comes after increased threats against members of the military by ISIS.
"It's been hard because it's such a great thing and I love our military and support them and it's just a shame that we can't put their pictures up anymore," JRG Operations Manager and On-Air Personality Christie Matthews said.
Though the radio station will still salute soldiers from the Northeast Arkansas area, the identifying information will no longer be included.
For years, Country KDXY 104.9 FM The Fox has honored military members. The posts have garnered appreciation and messages of support from hundreds of people.
But with increased threats from ISIS militants, concerns for the welfare of military members and their families has forced the Jonesboro Radio Group to change their method of operation...
"Years ago, you would have never thought that you'd go to facebook and find someone to target but this is the world we live in," Matthews said.
Matthews said it all boils down to safety.
"It's caused a little bit of a tiff because a lot of folks are like, well, this is America! and we should be able to do that but I would never want to put our military families at risk over a photo on Facebook," Matthews told Region 8 News.
KDXY 104.9 FM (13.5 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
Recently, the director of the FBI said that the biggest, most urgent threat to the U.S. is the ever growing presence of ISIS.
Matthews said they will still do the soldier salute. However, the soldier's photo and hometown will not be listed.
There is insufficient evidence to charge Casey Kasem’s wife with elder abuse or neglect in connection with the death of the famous disc jockey, the Los Angeles County district attorney said Friday, according to the LA Times.
Kasem died last June 15 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and dementia. He died as his children and wife of 30 years, Jean, battled for control of his medical treatment and life.
Kasem’s children from his first marriage had accused his wife of neglecting and abusing their father.
But Deputy Dist. Atty. Belle M. Chen concluded that Jean Kasem had made “continuous efforts to ensure that Mr. Kasem was medically supervised."
The prosecutor noted that Casey Kasem had long-standing health issues that made it impossible to prove neglect or abuse played a role in his death. To be criminally negligent, the prosecutor noted, there needs to be evidence of more than ordinary carelessness or inattention.
Kasem died in Washington state after suffering from Lewy Body disease, a form of dementia with symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.
Casey Kasem at the peak of his career on "American Top 40" was heard on more than 1,000 stations in 50 countries. He was famed for his tenor voice, and also played the part of Shaggy, the mystery-solving human pal of a Great Dane in the TV cartoon series "Scooby Doo, Where Are You!"
Following the prosecutors decision, Kerri issued a statement:
“My family is very sad to learn the Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey has decided not to file charges against Jean Kasem. We did everything we could to save my Dad at the end of his life, including getting an emergency court order for conservatorship. But we were too late. My father’s second wife Jean had done everything she could to keep our father from us while not providing the quality care that he – and every other senior in our society – deserves.
“We’re hopeful that the prosecutors in Kitsap County, Washington, where my father was taken against his will and later died, will do the right thing and file charges against Jean.
“The Los Angeles County District Attorney, with her professed interest in ending elder abuse, could do more. Her website says ‘she leads the largest prosecutorial office in the nation, with nearly 1,000 attorneys, 300 investigators and 800 support staff members.’
“It’s a sad day in our country when our parents, family members and loved ones die at the hands of others, and our elected prosecutors elect to do nothing.”
The Federal Communications Commission and those trying to kill its new net neutrality rules agree on at least one thing: The court should make quick work of the case.
The Hill reports the FCC on Friday filed a brief urging the court not to put the agency's newly approved net neutrality rules on hold while the broader legal challenges are worked out.
But the FCC agreed with another motion by Internet service providers — like AT&T and CenturyLink — to expedite the case, so it can be resolved as soon as possible.
"Although petitioners have not met the standard for a stay, we believe that the public would be served by the Court’s expedited consideration of this case," The FCC said in a brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C.
A group of companies and advocates supportive of the new Internet rules made similar arguments in their own legal filing.
The bulk of the FCC's 42-page filing was meant to undermine arguments from opponents who have called to delay the rules before they are slated to take effect on June 12.
"The decision to reclassify broadband as offering a telecommunications service is consistent with the marketplace today and necessary to fulfill the goals of an open Internet," according to the FCC.
In February, the FCC approved controversial new rules that would reclassify broadband Internet as a "telecommunications service" — authority that covers traditional telephone service. The change was made to enforce rules that prevent service providers from blocking, throttling or forcing payment to speed up the Internet traffic of any website. The FCC also added a general conduct standard to guard against other forms of abuse.
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.
On the very same day after David Letterman had his final "Late Show," WFAN 660 AM /101.9 FM host Mike Francesa started making noise about his own retirement in the not-so-distant future.
He spent some of Thursday's show talking about Letterman's last show and it made him think a lot about what's ahead.
He also tried to figure out how many shows he's done (Letterman had over 6,000 in his career) and pegged it around 7,000.
But here's the important news from Francesa about when he's leaving the airwaves: "I know now, I'm not telling."
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Just last month, Francesa described his relationship with CBS as 'Poor". Click Here For Posting
A phone call between a taxpayer and an Internal Revenue Service collection employee was broadcast on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM radio show this week when the IRS employee accidentally put himself on hold after calling into Stern’s show.
Stern kept trying to get the attention of the IRS employee, identified only as “Jimmy” in Long Island, but he continued talking with the taxpayer about her payments, as Kelly Phillips Erb of Forbes reported.
Accounting Today reports the phone number of the unidentified taxpayer, from Cape Cod, Mass., was even broadcast over the air, and she told WBZ-TV news in Boston that listeners around the country quickly began calling and texting her while the conversation was being aired. She is worried about her tax debts being disclosed so publicly and said she has felt devastated and violated by the situation. “No one should go through something like this,” she said.
She asked the IRS employee if he was talking with Stern, and he admitted that he had been on hold with the call-in show.
During the call, Stern and his sidekick, Robin Quivers, joked about the IRS employee’s advice to the taxpayer on her payment plan. “I’m learning so much,” said Stern. “I feel like I’m in math class and I’m flunking because I don’t know one thing he’s saying. I think I’m going to bail on this guy. By the way, this is the most boring job ever. I’d rather live in my parent’s basement if I had to do that. I’d give out all the wrong information. All right, dude, later!”
An IRS spokesperson told the CBS Boston station, “We are aware of this troubling situation, and we are currently reviewing the matter. The IRS takes the confidentiality of taxpayer information very seriously, and we have high standards that we expect and require employees to follow.”
After the segment was over, is now threatening a lawsuit – against the IRS. The FCC doesn’t regulate satellite radio in the same way it does AM/FM radio and it appears Stern did nothing wrong.
The Howard Stern Show is currently broadcast on satellite radio on Sirius XM. In the show’s heyday on mainstream radio, it reached 20 million listeners. For the first quarter of 2015, Sirius reported 27.74 million subscribers.
Cumulus Media announces that KSZR 97.5 FM in Tucson is now the newest Classic Hip Hop station, 97.5 The Vibe.
The station, formerly programmed as Top 40, turned on the Classic Hip Hop format today at 12:00 p.m. Pacific.
97.5 The Vibe launched with wall-to-wall music and will play a unique mix of hit music from the biggest stars from the early days of Hip Hop. 97.5 The Vibe has a totally unique take on Hip Hop, giving Tucson Hip Hop fans big old school Hip Hop hits, mixed with some R&B “throwbacks” from the ‘80’s, ‘90’s and early 2000’s. The newly branded station also launched its new website, www.975thevibe.com today.
KSZR 97.5 FM (6 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
Westwood One, the leading provider of 24-hour radio formats, syndicates the Classic Hip Hop programming for KSZR.
Ken Kowalcek, Vice President/Market Manager for Cumulus Tucson said: “We are excited to deliver Tucson’s Party Station. There is a passionate energy for this music, which defined an entire generation. No one else in Tucson is playing these songs, so this is a huge opportunity for us and fills a real need in the market.”
Top/Bottom Left/Right: screenshot of Scott Shannon, Joe Nolan interview live on CBS-TV2 by John Elliott TV2/WCBS-FM Weather personality, Dennis DeYoung, Joe Nolan, Brad Blanks, Patty Steele & Joe Nolan, WCBS-FM's PM Drive personality Broadway Bill Lee
Scott Shannon's 16th Annual Summer Blast-Pff aired live Friday morning on Classic Hits WCBS 101.1 FM.
The early morning event was held at The Beach at Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Music by The Romantics and Dennis DeYoung aired live during the broadcast, which led into CBS-FM's Top 500 Countdown for the Memorial Day Weekend.
Only hours after David Letterman bid farewell to his “Late Show,” a demolition crew began dissembling the show’s iconic set Thursday morning at the Ed Sullivan Theater.
NY Daily News reports fans stood outside on a brisk morning hopeful of grabbing a souvenir as most of the set was tossed into dumpsters outside the theater.
“This is heartbreaking,” said a stage manager walking away with a “Late Show” sweatshirt.
The chairs where the Letterman audience sat were torn out of the floor and thrown in the garbage. A team of workers lugged out pieces of the city skyline that rose nightly behind Letterman’s desk since the CBS show’s debut in August 1993.
Several of the blue-shirted men squad carried pieces of the Brooklyn Bridge replica that provided a backdrop for thousands of Letterman interviews across 22 years at his Midtown home. Furniture belonging to Letterman musical director Paul Shaffer was removed carefully for shipment to the bespactacled bandleader.
The final Late Show with David Letterman last night drew its biggest audience for CBS since February 1994, when the show was goosed by the network's Winter Olympics lead-in.Preliminary numbers show the broadcast pulled 13.76M viewers, the fourth-best performance for the show, driven by heavy viewership in New York and Chicago.
The 3.1 rating in adults 18-49 is its best since Oprah Winfrey guested in December 2005.
Just last year, Jay Leno's exit from NBC's Tonight Show drew 14.64M viewers and a 3.8 rating in adults 18-49.
Stephen Colbert will replace Letterman in the show's time slot in the fall.The other implication for the CBS late-night lineup: With Letterman's exit as a lead-in, The Late Late Show with James Corden -- which has been building an audience for its new host this spring -- got its best-ever viewership, 4.01M viewers (1.1M 18-49, 1.4M 25-54).
ABC News’ “Good Morning America” ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers (5.191 million) for the week of May 11, 2015, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. “GMA” outdelivered NBC’s “Today” (4.853 million) by 338,000 Total Viewers.
“GMA” was up week to week in Total Viewers (+2% - 5.191 million vs. 5.098 million on w/o 5/4/15). With 3 days left to count, “GMA” is poised to win the 2015 May sweep in both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54, marking the 3rd consecutive year for the ABC newscast to win the May sweep in both measures.
Season to date, “GMA” is the No. 1 morning newscast in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. “GMA” is leading “Today” by 589,000 Total Viewers and by 132,000 Adults 25-54. In fact, “GMA” has increased its season margin over “Today” versus the same point last season in Adults 25-54 (+31% - 132,000 vs. 101,000). Furthermore, ranking No. 1 for the 3rd-straight season in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54, “GMA” is seeing its widest Adults 25-54 margin over “Today” in 22 years – since the 1992-93 season.
For the week ending May 17, CBS THIS MORNING was the only network morning news program to post year-to-year gains among adults 25-54 (+13%, 0.9/07 from 0.8/06), the demographic most important to those who advertise in news, viewers (+18%, 3.67m from 3.12m) and women 18-49 (+20%, 0.6/06 from 0.5/04) compared to a year ago. According to Nielsen live plus same day ratings, CBS THIS MORNING gained more than half a million viewers (+550,000) compared to the same week last year, and closed the viewer deficit with NBC by 690,000 viewers.
CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH CHARLES OSGOOD finished the 2014-2015 television season as the #1 Sunday morning news program with adults 25-54, the demographic that matters most to those who advertise in news, and viewers, according to Nielsen most current ratings. CBS SUNDAY MORNING posted its best season delivery in viewers since the 1987 advent of people meters. For the season, CBS SUNDAY MORNING delivered 6.06 million viewers and a 1.4/07 with adults 25-54, according to Nielsen most current ratings. Compared to last year, CBS SUNDAY MORNING was up +1% in viewers (from 6.00m).CBS SUNDAY MORNING also finished the May sweep as the #1 Sunday morning news program with adults 25-54 and viewers. CBS SUNDAY MORNING delivered 5.75 million viewers and a 1.3/08 with adults 25-54, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings.
ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” ranked as the No. 1 public affairs program for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 25-54 (1.056 million) on May 17, 2015, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. In the key adult news demo, “This Week” led NBC’s “Meet the Press” by 187,000 (869,000) and CBS’ “Face the Nation” by 282,000 (774,000). In fact, “This Week” led the CBS program by a season-best with its largest Adults 25-54 advantage since August – since 8/31/14. In addition, “This Week” posted its biggest news demo lead over “Meet the Press” since January – since 1/4/15.
“This Week” beat “Meet the Press by 165,000 Total Viewers (2.781 million vs. 2.616 million), its largest advantage in 3 months – since 2/15/15. Further, “This Week” has outdelivered the NBC program in Total Viewers for the 3rd week in a row and in 6 out of the last 7 weeks.For the 3rd straight telecast, “This Week” built on its week-ago performance in Adults 25-54 (+3% - 1.056 million vs. 1.030 million for 5/10/15). In fact, “This Week” delivered its best news demo performance in more than 3 months (since 2/1/15) and 2nd-best overall this season. In addition, “This Week” stood as the only program to grow week to week in the key adults news demo as CBS’ “Face the Nation” (-1%), NBC’s “Meet the Press” (-7%) and Fox’s “Fox News Sunday” (-12%) all turned in decreases.
iHeartMedia/Greensboro has announced the debut of "105.7 The Triad's New Choice for Rock," flipping Alternative WVBZ 105.7 FM to Rock/
105.7 will feature artists such as Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue, Nirvana, AC/DC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park and more. The Triad's 105.7 will also have limited commercial interruption thru the holiday weekend.
"The station will be made up of the best rock of all time, from Soundgarden to Motley Crue," said Program Director Keith Allen.
WVBZ 105.7 FM (30 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
"105.7 will provide Triad listeners the choice to listen to music in the morning and not wait till lunchtime. Plus they won't have to listen to a station that only plays one or two rock songs every blue moon. Now, is the Triad ready to Man Up?"
USA Today may cease publishing a daily print edition within the next five or six years, according to Editor in Chief David Callaway, who made the remarks Wednesday during a panel discussion about the “Future of Media,” part of the Internet Week conference.
However, he added that the newspaper will continue publishing some sort of print product for years to come, according to MediaPost.
Owner Gannett is in the midst of spinning off USA Today and the rest of its newspaper division, in order to focus on its more profitable broadcast TV properties. A number of other big publishers have already done something similar, including Tribune Co., E.W. Scripps, and Journal Communications.
If USA Today were to shutter its daily print edition, it would become the second major U.S. newspaper to go online only, following the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which went all digital with drastic personnel cuts in 2009.
Other newspapers have cut back their publishing schedules, including The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press and the New Orleans Times-Picayune, while others have simply closed altogether, including the New York Sun and Rocky Mountain News.
Callaway’s prediction follows a series of print circulation declines for USA Today, one of the country’s few truly national newspapers, along with The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Over the last decade, USA Today’s average weekday print circulation fell by half, from 2.22 million in the six-month period ending September 2004 to 1.08 million for the same period in September 2014, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, previously known as the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
iHeartMedia/Chicago Thursday announced it is adding a music programming staffer Johnnie D as the new assistant program director for two of the radio stations it operates in the market — urban contemporary-formatted WGCI 107.5 FM and urban adult contemporary-formatted WVAZ 102.7 FM.
Johnnie D will begin his new role at the two Chicago radio stations on June 1.
For Johnnie D, the new assignment is a homecoming. He grew up in Chicago, but has spent the majority of his professional career to date working at radio stations elsewhere, including most recently at WVEE-FM in Atlanta, where he was music director and executive producer of "The Ryan Cameron Morning Show with Wanda Smith."
He has also worked at radio stations in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
U.S. attorneys Barbara McQuade and Peter Caplan on behalf of the Federal Goverment have filed a lawsuit against Birach Broadcasting Corp. for failure to pay a fine levied by the FCC
The government seeks payment of the $17,000 fine +interest slapped on Birach in 2012 for public file and tower fencing violations at Classic Country/Talk WCXI 1160 AM in Fenton, MI..
The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau says its previous $17,000 fine against Birach Broadcasting Corp. was justified and the penalty has now progressed to a Forfeiture Order.
The original penalty was levied in 2012 after an inspector noticed part of the fence for a two-tower array had separated, creating a gap allowing access to the towers. There was no perimeter fence around the property, either, according to the commission. In addition, part of the fine was levied because the station was missing all quarterly issue/program lists from its public inspection file.
Birach had argued the fine should be cancelled or reduced, telling the bureau it doesn’t own the towers, and so fence upkeep isn’t its “responsibility,” but the broadcaster fixed the fence anyway after it was fined.
The Enforcement Bureau didn’t find any of the licensee’s arguments persuasive, noting in its decision the fence gap is a “serious public safety issue.” The bureau notes the fence requirements apply to AM licensees, not tower owners, and it’s Birach’s responsibility to comply.
iHeartMedia/San Antonio and PD Don Gosselin part company after 11 months. Gosselin programed Country KAJA 97.3 FM & Classic Country KRPT 92.5 FM.
"iHeartMedia/San Antonio and I have mutually agreed to part company," he said. "I wish all the people there nothing but the best and I look forward to watching [KAJA morning personality] Randy Carroll inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in June. I'm going to take some time off before deciding what is next in my career."
Gosselin served iHeartMedia over non-consecutive periods totaling 13 years in markets including Detroit, Toledo, Providence and Springfield, MA. He joined the San Antonio cluster in June after three years at iHM/New Orleans, where he served as cluster OM and PD of Country WNOE.
Gov Chris Christie, assuring reporters that he's still planning a 2016 presidential campaign, delivered a potty-mouthed tirade about the NJ press corps Wed night at the annual off-the-record Legislative Correspondents Dinner - it's a fundraiser for scholarships, supposed to be lighthearted. Christie, in his seventh year, seems to have got sick and tired of it
"Anything that gets me off this f**king stage next year, I'm willing to do anything," Christie said. "Why do you think I might run for president? Cause I don't know what primary is in May 2016 next year, but if I'm at it 1 f**king percent, I will be there."
In past years, Christie has made a video of the event, but Christie told the roomful of reporters that he was done with that. "The reason we don't have a video is that we just don't give a sh*t anymore," Christie said. "We don't give a sh*t about this or any of you." At the top of the list of things Christie didn't care about any longer was Claude Brodesser-Akner, a reporter for NJ.com
Christie pushed back at complaints that reporters aren't told where Christie is at times. "This is a guy who says he doesn't know what I'm doing every day. Then just get the f**k away from me. Every time I turn the corner in NH, you and that beard are there. So here's my suggestion: Open your eyes, clean the sh*t out of your ears, and pay attention."
Thursday morning, Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was a special co-host on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike alongside regular host Mike Greenberg and guest hosts Michael Smith and Jemele Hill, who filled in for Mike Golic.
Stevens dished on the use of analytics in the NBA, the best strategy for defending the Warriors, teams' approach to the Draft and Stephen Curry's three-point shooting abilities.
ESPN Audio has debuted The “Golf” Podcast with ESPN.com golf writers Michael Collins and Jason Sobel discussing the action on the course and everything surrounding the game and the athletes. The podcast, which joins ESPN Audio’s extensive offerings of sport-specific and general interest sports podcasts, will be offered bi-weekly and will generally last about 30 minutes.
The first edition was posted May 7 and featured an interview with Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee to discuss his golf game, his challenging of Tiger Woods on Twitter and more. The next edition went online yesterday with ESPN’s Skip Bayless. Topics include his passion for golf, the lack of African Americans on the pro tour and why Rory McIlroy is not the next Tiger Woods.
“Michael and Jason know the game of golf and they know the players, the issues, the scene and the hot topics that surrounds life on the Tour…that’s why ‘golf’ is in quote marks in the title,” said Pete Gianesini, senior director, ESPN Radio programming and digital audio content. “Our podcasts allow fans to listen whenever and wherever they are – all part of our mission to serve sports fans.”
Collins, who joined ESPN.com in 2011 after 10 years as a PGA caddie plus 20 as a stand-up comedian, added, “We can’t wait to deliver a fun, entertaining, and informative golf podcast. Golf is a game played by celebrities and athletes from all walks of life and we’re going to try and talk to them about the connection this game has made between people who otherwise aren’t be connected.”
Sobel, who worked for ESPN from 1997 – 2011 and recently rejoined the company, said, “We'll provide inside analysis, but in a fun way that any golf fan -- or even just any golfer -- can relate to their own games. We're going to speak with non-golfer celebrities about their golf games and professional golfers about everything but their golf games. If you've ever wondered what your favorite PGA Tour player is like away from the course, this will be your chance.”
Benztown’s internationally syndicated Sunday Night Slow Jams and weeknight Slow Jams show announces that—following a successful promotion to sign its 100th affiliate—Slow Jams has signed its 102nd affiliate.
The three stations that affiliated the show concurrently and tied for the distinction of 100th Slow Jams affiliate are: KKST 98.7 in Alexandria, LA; 104.7 KCLD-FM in Minneapolis, MN; and KAJM Mega 104.3 in Phoenix, AZ.
Dozens of industry executives and Slow Jams artists joined Sunday Night Slow Jams Host and creator, R Dub! at Slow Jams’ headquarters in San Diego last Thursday for a blowout celebration party—complete with a taco truck, a live performance from Al B. Sure, a ribbon-cutting for Slow Jams’ new studio, and champagne toast.
R Dub!, Sunday Night Slow Jams Host and President of Fusion Radio Networks, said: “I can’t tell you how humbling it was to be in the company of so many amazing programmers, record execs, syndication professionals and artists last Thursday night. This was above all a ‘thank you party,’ to show gratitude to all of the great people who helped Slow Jams get to 100. Not a day goes by that I don’t stop and appreciate all the folks who contribute to the success of Slow Jams, especially our amazing affiliate Program Directors.”
For more information and to get Sunday Night Slow Jams in your market, visit www.benztown.com/slowjams or contact Masa Patterson at Benztown at mp@benztown.com or (818) 842-4600.
President Barack Obama said Wednesday he plans to renominate Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, best known for her work on improving Internet access schools and increasing spectrum, to a five-year term.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was praised Thursday as a "tireless advocate" for increasing access to telecommunications services. Rosenworcel, who has been part of a 3-2 Democratic majority on the commission since 2012 was praised Thursday by fellow Democrats.
"NAB congratulates Commissioner Rosenworcel on her renomination to the FCC," said NAB President Gordon Smith. "She has proven to be a dedicated public servant and a leader in public safety, technology and consumer protection. We appreciate her fair treatment and open door policy toward broadcast-related issues and strongly support her swift confirmation."
Chairman Tom Wheeler issued a statement: “Throughout her entire tenure in public service, Commissioner Rosenworcel has been a tireless advocate for increasing access to crucial telecommunications services and leveraging technology to improve people’s lives. It has been a privilege to serve alongside her, and I know the Commission will continue to benefit from her deep knowledge of the important issues before us and her thoughtful approach to the complex challenges we face.”
Rosenworcel stated, "During my tenure at the agency it has been a tremendous privilege to work with my colleagues, the talented staff of the Commission, and the American people to develop policies that expand access to modern communications and the opportunities of the digital age. I look forward to the United States Senate considering my nomination and the continuing opportunity to serve.”
There are about 75 million people in America ages 18-34. That’s about one Millennial for every Baby Boomer. And a recently published inforgraphic from The Wall Street Journal indicate on average, Millennials watch less TV and spend more time on smartphones than their parents, but there are also marked differences within this young generation.
Some interesting artwork has popped up on the streets surrounding ABC News’ Good Morning America studios in New York City.
First noticed by Washington Free Beacon and the Weekly Standard’s Mark Hemingway, the posters feature Hillary Clinton with a smiling George Stephanopoulos, the ABC News anchor under fire for failing to disclose $75,000 in donations to the Clinton Foundation, along with the words “Pay Pal” and “Donate.”
They were posted near ABC News studios on “Peter Jennings Way” in Manhattan.
Country singer/songwriter Sam Hunt paid a visit to America's Morning Show at the NASH Campus in Nashville earlier this week. Please see attached photo.
The BBC’s global audience has passed 300 million, with television overtaking radio as the most popular platform for international news for the first time in the corporation’s history.
The Guardian reports the number of people tuning in to services such BBC Global News and the BBC World Service hit 308 million a week in the year to the end of March.
Tony Hall, the BBC director general, has set a target global reach for BBC news and entertainment content of 500 million by 2022, meaning the corporation needs to add about 30m per year.
The figures, which includes people looking at news content on the BBC’s Facebook page and on YouTube for the first time, shows that television has overtaken radio as the most popular platform for BBC international news for the first time.
The BBC’s overall weekly global news audience hit 283 million in the year to the end of March, up 7% or 18 million people year on year.
The figures show that the BBC World Service, of which the corporation took over full funding last year, increased its radio audience by 10% to 210 million.
Legendary Akron radio host Chuck Collins died after a long battle with cancer.
He was 62-years-of-age. He chronicled his own battle with brain cancer in an e-book.
Collins was a 40 year veteran of broadcasting in Northeast Ohio, mostly in Akron.
He was a host on N/T WAKR 1590 and served as operations director for Rubber City Radio Group.
Collins, who grew up in Warrensville Heights, started his radio career in Cleveland in 1974 as a producer and part of the morning team on the old "M-105," which later became WMJI. He also worked at WWWE.
He was better known in Akron, where he was program director for WKDD-FM through the 1990s.
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.
