Saturday, June 16, 2018

June 17 Radio History



➦In 1926...Colonel George Johnston and E. G. Hauselt took over WDBO, Orlando from Justice Lee and Maxwell Green.

According to cflradio.net, WDBO began in 1924 as a physics class project. In May  E.F.  Wineberg, a Rollins College math, physics and engineering professor, launched  a 50-watt radio station in a small wooden building on the Winter Park campus.

The first night's programming - less than an hour - included talks by college officials, a violin solo and a performance by the men's glee club, according to the Rollins newspaper that week. It was the first radio station in Orange County and only the third in  Florida. WDBO operated at 1250 on the dial with 50 watts of power for thirty hours a week. There are some conflicting stories surrounding the call letters.

Some research says the call letters were issued in alphabetical sequence as was the policy of the time.  There was WDBN Bangor, Maine, and WDBP, in Superior, Wisconsin. That would make the next set of call letters WDBO. Other research shows a request for the call letters WDBO to stand for "Way Down By Orlando."

Rollins College decided the $600 budget to run WDBO was too much and gave the station to Col. George C. Johnston. Johnston was a radiologist from Pennsylvania who headed an investment bank called The Morris Plan, Co. Johnston named the corporation that took ownership of WDBO, The Orlando Broadcasting Company.

Today, WDBO 580 AM airs ESPN Sports.

➦In 1927...WOR switches to 710 AM.


WOR began broadcasting on February 22, 1922, using a 500-watt transmitter on 360 meters (833 kc.) from Bamberger's Department Store in Newark, New Jersey.

The station's first broadcast was made with a home made microphone which was a megaphone attached to a telephone transmitter, while Al Jolson's "April Showers" was played.  Louis Bamberger's sale of radio sets to consumers explained their affiliation with the station.

The WOR call sign was reissued from the U.S. maritime radio service. The station initially operated limited hours, sharing time with two other stations, WDT and WJY, which also operated on 833 kc. WOR changed frequency to 740 kc. in June 1923 and shared time with WJY until July 1926, when WJY signed off for good and WOR received full use of the frequency. In December 1924, WOR acquired a studio in Manhattan.

On June 17, 1927, as a result of General Order 40, WOR moved to 710 kc., the channel it currently occupies (unlike most stations, it was not affected by NARBA). Later in 1926, WOR moved from its New York City studio on the 9th floor of Chickering Hall at 27 West 57th Street to 1440 Broadway, two blocks from Times Square.


➦In 1941...WNBT-TV, channel 4 in New York City, was granted the first construction permit to operate a commercial TV station in the United States. (WNBT signed on the air on July 1, 1941 at 1:29 p.m. but just months later went dark for the duration of WW2.) Owned by Radio Corporation of America (RCA), the station later changed its call letters to WRCA and finally WNBC.


➦In 1942...‘Suspense,’ known as radio’s outstanding theatre of thrills, debuted on CBS radio. The program kept millions of loyal listeners in suspense every week for the next 20 years.


➦In 1954...guitarist Danny Cedrone died of a broken neck suffered when he fell down a staircase.  Ten weeks earlier the 33 year old had recorded the lead guitar break on ‘Rock Around The Clock’ with Bill Haley and His Comets, for which he was paid a mere $21, although it is widely considered one of the greatest rock and roll guitar solos of all time.


➦In 1968...Seattle’s KOL-FM 94.1 switched from automated background music to “Progressive Rock”, a format based on album cuts and album sales, instead of the singles used in Top 40 radio. Today it is all-country KMPS.


➦In 1986...rotund singer Kate Smith, whose rendition of ”God Bless America” made her a symbol of U-S patriotism, following a long career in 30’s & 40’s radio as well as early TV, died of diabetes at age 79.


➦In 2004...Joe McCoy leaves as PD at WCBS 101.1 FM.  McCoy had been program director since 1981.

Joe McCoy
McCoy took over as program director in 1981, and at that point WCBS-FM began to gradually shift its focus to the 1964–1969 era, but would also feature a more pre-1964 oldies than most other such stations. The station continued to also feature hits of the 1970s and some hits of the 1980s while cutting future gold selections to one per hour.

Also in the 1980s, after 77 WABC and later WNBC 600 AM abandoned music in favor of talk, WCBS-FM began employing many disc jockeys who were widely known on other New York City stations, most notably Musicradio WABC alumni Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, Chuck Leonard and Harry Harrison, as well as former WMCA "Good Guys" Dan Daniels and Jack Spector.

Bob Shannon, whose only previous New York City radio experience before coming to WCBS-FM was as a fill-in DJ at WYNY, became well-known himself through his 19-year run as the station's afternoon disk jockey. Bill Brown (who had started with the station in 1969, during their rock days) and Don K. Reed (who started at the station 6 months before the switch to oldies) remained with the station during their entire first period as an oldies station.

In 1989, WCBS-FM limited current music to late nights and overnights. While most oldies stations were playing songs from exclusively 1955 to 1973, WCBS-FM continued to play a moderate amount of songs from the late 1970s as well as about one 1980s hit per hour. Most of the 1980s music came from core oldies artists.

The station's ratings increased during the 1990s (and were sustained into the 2000s) and market research studies showed a small and growing audience in the 35-to-49-year-old demographic as a new generation's "songs they grew up with" moved into the oldies format. The station even hit number one overall in the ratings on at least several occasions during the 1990s.

Chattanooga Radio: WGOW Host Shot, Arrested After Road Rage

Jeff Styles
Chattanooga police have arrested WGOW 102.3 FM host Jeff Styles on Saturday, charging him with Aggravated Assault and Vandalism.

Styles, 57, was involved in what was reported as a "road rage" incident Friday afternoon on Highway 153 near Gwyn Road. according to WRCB-TV.

Police say after Styles approached the vehicle of 35-year-old Nickolas Bullington, with a tomahawk-style weapon, and struck the windshield. Bullington then fired a single round, striking Styles in the right arm.

Bullington left the scene and contacted police about the altercation. Saturday, police arrested Styles, who had reportedly been treated and released from Erlanger Medical Center. Styles has worked in Chattanooga radio for many years, hosting WGOW's morning talk show since 1992.

Here is a summary of the investigation by the Chattanooga Police Department:
  • Upon arrival, police found a male party suffering from a gunshot to his arm. 
  • The party was transported to a local hospital by Hamilton County EMS. 
  • Investigators identified the party shot as Jeffery Styles.
  • Investigators were able to determine that there was a confrontation between Jeffery Styles and a second male party prior to the shooting.
  • Investigators determined Jeffery Styles had approached the other male party's vehicle with a tomahawk style weapon and struck the front windshield of the vehicle before the driver fired a single round which struck the male party in the right arm. The driver then left the scene.
  • Police were notified a short time later the shooting suspect had called 911 Dispatch requesting to meet officers at a different location where they made contact with Nickolas Bullington.
  • Investigators obtained warrants for Jeffery Styles for the offenses of Aggravated Assault and Vandalism.
  • Jeffery Styles was subsequently arrested on 6/16/2018.
Members of the Violent Crime Bureau are actively investigating this incident.

As of noon Saturday, neither Cumulus Media nor WGOW management has commented on the the arrest of Styles.

On Friday  Kevin West of WGOW said, "Our 26-year veteran morning show host on WGOW-FM was shot in the right arm in a road rage incident late this afternoon in Hixson. Jeff is being treated at Erlanger Medical Center's emergency room and is expected to be released tonight. Chattanooga police are investigating."

Buffalo Radio: Sandy Beach Observes 50-Years

Sandy Beach today
Sandy Beach, one of the most recognized names and voices in Buffalo Radio history. is celebrating 50-years on Buffalo radio.

His old friends and former co-workers gathered Friday in the studio at WBEN 930 AM to congratulate Sandy Beach on a half century of Buffalo broadcasting, reports WKBW-TV7.

It was fifty years ago to the day that Sandy was first heard on the airwaves of WKBW 1520 AM.

Sandy says he was prepared for the first day fifty years ago, but Stan Roberts advised him to rent furniture, adding "he didn't exactly say I know you're going to make it big here."

Over the years Sandy has changed stations, formats and hairstyles but feels that Buffalo was always a good fit, saying " I managed to pick places where my personality and the things I like to do fit."

For the last fifteen years he's been a talk show host at WBEN. He's been inducted into three halls of fame but admits that early on, he did consider being a CPA instead of a radio broadcaster."Because I love numbers" he says. What helped him decide his career path was he says he wanted to entertain people and didn't want to wear a tie.

Sandy Beach the..before joining WKBW
Throughout his career he has worked in Buffalo, Hartford, Dallas, San Francisco, and Milwaukee as an on-air talent. He was also program director for NBC and Capital Cities/ABC. His most recent success has been the #1 PM Drive personality on Newsradio 930 WBEN. Sandy is a three time nominee for Billboard Magazine Personality of the Year. In May of 2003, Sandy was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

NAB Urges FCC To Modernize Radio Ownership Rules

NAB announced Friday it will urge the Federal Communications Commission to modernize outdated radio ownership rules as part of its quadrennial media ownership review proceeding planned for later this year.

NAB's request comes at a time of unprecedented consolidation among radio's competitors in the media world. NAB noted that radio ownership rules have remained static since 1996, a date that preceded the introduction of streaming services like Pandora and Spotify, along with Sirius/XM satellite radio, podcasting, Facebook and YouTube.

NAB urges the Commission to consider the following approach:
  • In the top 75 Nielsen Audio markets, allow a single entity to own or control up to eight commercial FM stations, with no limit on AM ownership
  • To promote new entry into broadcasting, an owner in these top 75 markets should be permitted to own up to two additional FM stations (for a total of 10 FMs) by participating in the FCC’s incubator program
  • In Nielsen markets outside of the top 75 and in unrated markets, there should be no restrictions on the number of FM or AM stations a single entity may own or control. 
NAB's Radio Board met in Washington this week, with the ownership rules a topic of discussion. Anticipating the FCC quadrennial review later this year, the Board voted in favor of seeking regulatory relief that will allow radio to remain competitive while continuing its commitment to localism.

As part of the FCC's quadrennial media ownership review, NAB will be filing comments along with supporting evidence that justifies radio ownership modernization.

Time-Warner Renamed WarnerMedia


Time Warner is changing its name to WarnerMedia now that its $85 billion deal with AT&T has closed, and Turner CEO John Martin is departing the company, according to an internal memo from an AT&T executive.

CNBC reports the memo, written by John Stankey, the new head of Time Warner, outlined a new operating structure for the combined entity. HBO head Richard Plepler and Warner Bros. chief executive Kevin Tsujihara will stay in their roles. Turner's president David Levy and Gerhard Zeiler, head of Turner International, will report to Stankey, as will Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide.

AT&T completed its purchase of Time Warner on Thursday, two days after a federal judge ruled that its bid for the media company was legal. The Department of Justice sued last year to block the deal, arguing that it was anticompetitive and could raise prices for consumers.

John Stankey
In a companywide memo, Stankey told WarnerMedia staff that the company has “a unique opportunity to truly lead in the transformation that’s taking place across media and entertainment.” He confirmed that Jeff Bewkes, the outgoing chief executive of Time Warner, will retire after a short transition period. Other major departures include Turner Chief Executive John Martin and Time Warner Executive Vice President of International and Corporate Strategy Olaf Olafson and Gary Ginsberg, executive vice president of corporate marketing and communications.

According to The Wall Street Journal, another change is that CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker will report directly to Mr. Stankey. He had previously reported to Mr. Martin. David Levy remains president of Turner with its other domestic operations reporting to him. Mr. Zucker recently signed a new deal with Turner that runs through 2020.

Mr. Stankey, a longtime telephone executive who recently ran DirecTV, said he has been watching more TV than ever.

"AT&T and Time Warner are incredibly storied and capable companies. However, both companies face an industry structure and competitive landscape that clearly places a premium on innovation and speed like no other time in our respective histories," Stankey wrote in the memo.

Stankey also said that Time Warner was getting its new name because it was often confused with Time Warner Cable, the former cable company bought by Charter Communications in 2016.

Earlier on Friday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said he feels he has all the right people in place to lead the various divisions at the combined company,and that AT&T plans to invest in the new businesses being brought into the fold.

Comcast To Take Disney Fight To Fox Shareholders

Comcast Corp. is preparing to go over the heads of the 21st Century Fox board and directly solicit Fox shareholders to reject the Walt Disney Co.’s $52.4 billion stock bid in favor of Comcast’s $65 billion cash offer, regulatory filings indicate.

According to philly.com, Comcast has hired MacKenzie Partners Inc. in New York to campaign and win support of big shareholders such as pension funds and institutional investors — a clear shot across the bow at Fox founder Rupert Murdoch and the Fox board.

Comcast officials did not comment on Friday. But they described a proxy solicitation of Fox shareholders as a Plan B in the event that Comcast believed that the Fox board failed to consider its offer.

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The move shows how important the Fox assets are to Comcast’s future. Analysts have said that Fox’s entertainment assets could help transform Comcast into a far more important entertainment company that could challenge the big content players like Netflix and Amazon. Likewise, if Comcast were to fail in this bid, there aren’t a lot of companies out there that could match Fox. So the struggle for this prize is shaping up to be a key turning point for the Philadelphia company.

Fox and Disney have scheduled shareholder votes that could approve the Disney deal on July 10. Fox is controlled by Murdoch who last year put into play his company’s entertainment assets, including its 39 percent stake in British network  Sky TV, the Fox Hollywood studio and the FX cable channel.

Bloomberg News reported on Friday that Murdoch and the 21st Century Fox Inc. board will consider on Wednesday, June 20, how to proceed with Comcast’s bid, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

“Comcast is trying to force [Fox] into negotiations because it knows that Disney has the upper hand,” said David Becher, associate professor at the Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. “There’s a short window for them to get Fox shareholders attention.”

Comcast, the largest U.S. cable-TV provider, believes that if it waits too long, Fox assets — and the chance for transformation they offer — could slip away for good. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has said that Fox businesses would make it an “entertainment company of the future.”

Report: News Consumption On Facebook Falls


The Digital News Report notes that social media, and Facebook in particular, has seen a sharp drop in news consumption globally, as well as in the US. “News consumption via Facebook is down 9 percentage points in the United States and 20 points with younger groups,” Nic Newman, a research associate with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, wrote in the report’s overview.

Newman continued: “In our urban Brazilian sample the use of Facebook for news has fallen to 52 percent — a 17 point change from 2016.”

According to The NYPost, the report was quick to add that the decline is not universal, with Facebook news usage rising in countries like Malaysia and the Czech Republic, “but in most countries the picture is one of decline.”

Facebook recently announced it was funding news shows on its Facebook Watch platform, including one from Fox News, known as “Fox News Update.”

Part of the decline is due to concerns about privacy and the often contentious nature of debate on the platform, but also a change to Facebook’s algorithms, which have de-prioritized news in users’ News Feeds.

Following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the changes, which included showing fewer viral videos, resulted in “reduced time spent on Facebook by roughly 50 million hours every day.”


The research was done by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, at the University of Oxford, and was based on a YouGov survey of “over 74,000 online news consumers in 37 countries including the US and UK.”

Seattle Radio: Angela King Joins KUOW As Morning News Host

Angela King
Non-com KUOW 94.9 FM has announced that Angela King is joining KUOW’s AM drive-time team on July 3 as Morning News Host, a new, expanded host role which will be responsible for leadership of the morning drive-time team as well as the overall sound and presentation of the show.

King is an Emmy-award winning journalist who’s been a part of the northwest news scene since the early 1990s. A proud University of Washington alumna, with degrees in Broadcast Journalism and American Ethnic Studies, she started her career as a news writer in Seattle, before becoming a reporter and anchor in Portland and Albuquerque.

Her work has been honored by such groups as the Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 2009, U.W.'s Viewpoint Magazine also named her as one of the “Top 40 to Watch.”

Casey Martin
In addition to her work as a journalist, Angela is an independent documentary producer and has contributed her talents to a variety of local organizations.

Angela joins Casey Martin, who has been promoted to Morning Reporter on the AM drive-time team.

Casey joined KUOW in 2015 and has produced Morning Edition and All Things Considered, announced, produced stories for The Record, and reported for Local Wonder.

His story, "The Good, The Bad, The Libre," was a finalist for the 2017 KCRW 24-Hour Radio Race.

KUOW 94.9 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
Stephen Gomes will be the morning team's Board Operator, managing the technical execution of the show. He’s covered news at KHHO in Tacoma, sports for Seattle’s Sports Radio KJR, and came to KUOW after several years of hosting and producing the Seattle radio program called Hawai’i Radio Connection, broadcasting to the Hawai`i community in the Puget Sound region.

Tampa Radio: Jessica Meszaros New Host At WUSF-FM

Jessica Meszaros
The new host for NPR’s Morning Edition on WUSF-FM 89.7: Jessica Meszaros.

The reporter and anchor on Thursday officially replaced longtime host Carson Cooper as the local voice of one of public radio’s signature shows, reports tampabay.com.

"She has real confidence in her voice — we call it ‘hostiness,’?" said JoAnn Urofsky, WUSF’s general manager. "It’s just the sound of a good radio host. And she loves radio, and I think that really comes through.

Meszaros, a 2014 graduate of Florida International University, has worked at stations in Miami and Fort Myers. She’s won awards for her writing and segments on such topics as toxic algae blooms, diseased orange groves, wild pig meat and the death penalty. In 2013, she interned with NPR’s All Things Considered in Washington, D.C.

Cooper, a longtime Tampa Bay radio fixture, had been WUSF’s Morning Edition host since 2000, but has been off the air since February dealing with a health issue. He also has hosted the WUSF show Florida Matters since its inception in 2006, but has stepped back from that since last summer.

WUSF 89.7 FM (69 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
"What I can tell you is he can’t wait to come back," Urofsky said. "He’s so good on the air, when he’s able to come back on the air, we’ll definitely have him back. That’s a skill set that not many people have."

Except For People, AMI Is Now Gossip King


The stunning sale of Bauer Publishing’s celebrity titles to American Media Inc. — first reported by Page Six — has produced some awkward situations in tabloid land.

On Friday, AMI tightened its grip on the celebrity magazine market, picking up In Touch, Life & Style and Closer from the German publisher.

AMI, which puts out the National Enquirer, Star, OK! and Radar Online, among others, already purchased Us Weekly from Wenner Media in 2017. So it now controls all the celebrity weeklies apart from People magazine.

But the marriage of the two biggest tabloid companies left is likely to lead to some tricky elevator rides at the 4 New York Plaza offices where the former Bauer staff will be moving in to join the AMI crowd.

One such case is James Heidenry who abruptly quit his AMI job as editor of Us Weekly, OK! and Star in November to go to Bauer to edit In Touch, Life & Style and Closer — and will now be returning to AMI.

Meanwhile, we hear that AMI owner David Pecker addressed his new staff at Bauer’s New Jersey offices Friday morning, and made job offers to the entire staffs of In Touch, Life & Style and Closer.

The company’s strategy has been to squeeze profits from the titles — which have generally been struggling to hold on to readers — by using one staff to produce an ever-growing number of magazines.

Apple Inks Creative Digital Deal With Oprah


Apple Inc. has struck a multiyear deal with Oprah Winfrey to produce original content, the technology giant announced Friday as the battle for talent among tech titans and traditional studios keeps heating up.

According to The LA Times, Winfrey, one of the most influential voices in media for several decades running, is also expected to have an on-screen role in the new Apple programming.

The Cupertino, Calif., tech giant has been courting Hollywood to produce original programming for the company, which manufactures streaming devices called Apple TV.

The company has not said when it plans to launch the upcoming streaming service that will carry its shows, or what it will cost. People who are familiar with the plans but not authorized to comment said it probably will debut next year. The iPhone maker’s content ambitions are part of a push to diversify its revenue beyond the devices it makes and apps produced by other developers.

The company hopes to compete in entertainment with the likes of Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which have been aggressively signing deals with prominent entertainment producers to boost their original content offerings.

Landing a deal with Winfrey is a coup because she provides instant star power that Apple needs to build an audience, analysts say.

For Winfrey, the deal provides a chance to expand her audience among consumers who increasingly seek out on-demand programming online.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Winfrey will remain chief executive of the Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN. Discovery Communications agreed to pay $70 million last year to take a majority stake in the network. As part of the Discovery deal, Winfrey agreed to remain with OWN through 2025. Despite early ratings struggles and staff turnover, OWN has become popular among African American women with such series as “Queen Sugar” and “Greenleaf.”

FS1 Mics Pick-Up Explicit Sex Talk

When Fox Sports' audio cut out briefly during coverage of Friday's second round of the U.S. Open, that was the least of the network's worries. reports USAToday.

During the broadcast on FS1 on Friday afternoon, microphones inadvertently picked up two fans talking about sex in explicit and offensive terms.

According to Awful Announcing, Fox announcer Joe Buck was commenting on a shot by Patrick Reed when the audio picked up two male fans talking about sex. After their voices cut out, Buck picks up with his golf commentary without missing a beat.

As expected with thousands on hand at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, yells from the crowd were pretty raucous during the action this week.

On Friday afternoon, a man impersonating Donald Trump was thrown out of a hospitality tent after yelling greetings at golfers.

Fox has microphones positioned throughout the course and will provide 45 hours of tournament coverage.



The United States Golf Association released a statement Friday night apologizing for the flap.

“We deeply regret the inappropriate language and sentiment expressed by a few fans that was unfortunately picked up by a microphone on the course during today’s broadcast.  We are working closely with our partners at Fox Sports to address this issue," the USGA said.

Later Friday, Fox Sports spokesperson Anne Pennington issued the following statement to the Sporting News: "Today, during the live FS1 broadcast of the 2018 U.S. Open, one of the many microphones on the course inadvertently picked up some offensive crowd chatter. We sincerely apologize."

June 16 Radio History


➦In 1934...Edwin H. Armstrong transmits FM signal 70 miles from Empire State Building to Long Island

➦In 1941...Frank & Anne Hummert’s latest daytime radio serial Front Page Farrell starring Richard Widmark made its debut for Anacin.  The first year was on Mutual, the following twelve years (without Widmark) were on NBC.

Charles Farrell, Gil Stratton Jr. "Freddie", and Gale Storm
➦In 1952...“My Little Margie” on CBS debuted as a summer replacement for “I Love Lucy” in 1952. The series, starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell, aired original episodes on CBS Radio concurrently with the TV broadcasts from December 1952 through August 1955.

➦In 1962...Bob Lewis did his first show on WABC 770 AM, New York. He stayed on for about 8 years.

Bob died in January 1987 at age 49. According to Steve West at Airchexx.com, Bob ‘Bobaloo’ Lewis was best known as one of the “All Americans” on 77 WABC. Lesser known was the fact that he was also heard on the FM side. WABC-FM 95 1/2 was a Progressive Rock station. The format was called “Love”. It featured tons of album cuts from all the heavys of the time, Hendrix, the Doors, the Who, and many more similar artists which would become the staples of AOR and later, Classic Rock stations.



➦In 1968...Jackson Armstrong premiered on CHUM 1050 AM, Toronto.

Jack Armstrong
Big Jack Armstrong, born John Charles Larsh in Durham County, NC, began his radio career at WCHL in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1960 at the age of 14 as an after school and weekend job. He also worked at WCDJ in Edenton in the summer when his family would go back home during summer break. At some point, he worked for WSSB in Durham, but the time frame is unclear.

Upon graduating from high school in 1964, Larsh moved to Atlanta, where he got an FCC First Class engineer's license, while working on the radio at WDJK. His parents enrolled him in Guilford College in Greensboro in the pre-med course. Larsh dropped out almost immediately, having gotten a radio job at WCOG.

In early 1966, WAYS-AM in Charlotte had begun 24 hour operations.the FCC required that any station must have an engineer on duty at all times the station was on the air. When Larsh applied for a job there, the station quickly saw an opportunity to fill two sets of shoes with one person, since Larsh already had a First Class license. He was hired to fill the overnight shift.



At WAYS, Larsh met Jack Gale, a seasoned veteran of both the radio and music business who would become his mentor. Larsh later remarked, "Jack (Gale) has forgotten more about the radio business than I've ever known." When asked, he would always cite Gale as one of his major influences.

Larsh's first big break came later in 1966, when he landed a job at WIXY 1260 AM in Cleveland, Ohio. The evening disc jockey at this station was always called 'Jack Armstrong,' after the 1930s radio serial Jack Armstrong the All American Boy. With his fast talking, young, friendly approach, Larsh became a huge hit in Cleveland - so huge that floundering WKYC 1100 AM asked him to break his WIXY contract, and come to work for the 50,000 watt blowtorch in January 1967.

'Jack Armstrong' was a copyrighted moniker in the market, so Larsh adopted the alias 'Big Jack Your Leader', and went to work for WKYC. He also occasionally taunted WIXY by calling himself Jackson W. Armstrong.

Larsh moved on, working at other 50,000 watt stations like WMEX 1510 AM in Boston; CHUM 1050 AM in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; KFI 640 AM in Los Angeles, KTNQ 1020 AM in Los Angeles and WKBW 1520 AM in Buffalo, New York.  Larsh was one of the original disc jockeys hired for the all new 13-Q in Pittsburgh in the early 1970s. Larsh also worked at KFRC, The Big 610 in the early 1980s, dominating the mid-day, late night, and overnight shifts at the station.

Larsh was working for WWKB 1520 in Buffalo, New York when the sudden format change in 2006 to liberal talk put him in the unemployed ranks. He died on March 22, 2008 at High Point Regional Hospital in North Carolina. He died from injuries suffered in a fall down his very steep stairs at his home.

➦In 1996...Mel Allen - Voice Of The Yankees - died.

Among Allen's many catchphrases were "Hello there, everybody!" to start a game, "How a-bout that?!" on outstanding Yankee plays, "Go-ing, go-ing, gonnne!!" for Yankee home runs, for full counts, "Three and two. What'll he do?" and after a robust Yankee swing and miss, "He took a good cut!"


➦In 2015…Detroit radio personality Alan Almond, longtime host of WNIC-FM's "Pillow Talk" program, died of a heart attack at age 68.

Friday, June 15, 2018

AT&T's Stephenson: 'We got our day in court and the system worked'

AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson told CNBC on Friday he feels "relief" at winning the company's court case against the government and completing its purchase of Time Warner.

AT&T got its day in court and "the system worked," Stephenson said on "Squawk Box."

"We live in an amazing country," he reflected. "We have three co-equal branches of government. The checks and balances in this situation worked exactly the way they were designed over 200 years ago."

The $85.4 billion acquisition closed late Thursday, shortly after the Justice Department said it would not apply for a stay of a federal judge's ruling that let the deal go forward. However, the DOJ could still appeal the decision even after the completion of the deal.


AT&T CEO on his reaction to judge's ruling allowing Time Warner deal from CNBC.


Stephenson said he's not worried about government retribution.  He also said he feels he has all the right people in place to lead the various divisions, and that AT&T plans to invest in the new businesses being brought into the fold.

AT&T Closes On Time-Warner Deal


AT&T Inc, the No. 2 wireless carrier, on Thursday closed its $85 billion deal to acquire media company Time Warner Inc after U.S. antitrust regulators indicated they would not seek a delay.

According to Reuters, the deal, first announced in October 2016, was opposed by President Donald Trump. AT&T was sued by the Justice Department, but won approval from a judge to move forward with the deal on Tuesday following a six-week trial.

The Justice Department still has 60 days to appeal the decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, even though the deal has closed.

Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Tuesday that the deal to marry AT&T’s wireless and satellite businesses with Time Warner’s movies and television shows was legal under antitrust law. The Justice Department had argued the deal would harm consumers.



U.S. President Donald Trump, a frequent critic of Time Warner’s CNN coverage, denounced the deal when it was announced in October 2016.

In its lawsuit aimed at stopping the deal, filed in November 2017, the Justice Department said that AT&T’s ownership of both DirecTV and Time Warner, especially its Turner subsidiary, would give AT&T unfair leverage against rival pay TV providers that relied on content like CNN and HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

The AT&T ruling is expected to trigger a wave of mergers in the media sector, which has been upended by companies like Netflix Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.

The first to come was Comcast Corp’s $65 billion bid on Wednesday for the entertainment assets of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc.

The new AT&T will consist of four businesses:
  • AT&T Communications, housing all its U.S. mobile, broadband and other communications services
  • AT&T’s media business, which is where HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. will live. A new name for that business is on the way, which means the “Time Warner” brand is out. The end of an era!
  • AT&T International, providing mobile services to Mexico and pay-TV services to 11 countries in South America and the Caribbean
  • AT&T’s advertising and analytics business.

May PPMs Released for Austin, Nashville, 10 Other Markets

Nielsen on Thursday 6/14/18 released the final batch of  May 2018 PPMs results.  The markets  included the following markets:

 33  Austin


 38  Raleigh-Durham



 39  Indianapolis

 41  Milwaukee-Racine

 43  Nashville


 44  Providence-Warwick-Pawtucket


 45  Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News


 46  Jacksonville FL


 47  Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point NC


 48  West Palm Beach-Boca Raton


 51  Memphis


 52  Hartford-New Britain-Middletown CT


Click Here for the Topline numbers for subscribing Nielsen stations

St. Louis Radio: Hubbard Shuffles At WIL-FM, WARH-FM


Hubbard Radio St. Louis stations New Country WIL 92.3 FM and Adult Hits WARH 106.5 The Arch have announced staff additions and line-up changes to several of their time slots:

New Country 92.3
  • Beginning July 9th, the popular, fun and interactive duo of Mason and Remy will join the New Country 92.3 “Home Team” for Afternoon Drive.
  • Mason and Remy were a longtime fixture in morning and afternoon drive on local St. Louis Radio stations before moving to Chicago.  
Mason and Remy are thrilled to be returning to the town they call home. “We are both very excited to get back home to our amazing friends & family in St. Louis! And we’re looking forward to seeing our fans return and catch us on New Country 92.3!”

The duo continues, “We want to send a BIG thank you to Hubbard Radio’s John Kijowski, Scott Roddy, Greg Strassell, Drew Horowitz, Dave Besler and Ginny Morris for this opportunity!”


106.5 The Arch
  • With the addition of Mason and Remy to New Country 92.3, former Afternoon Drive talent “Stacey and Jonah” will move to their new home at New Country 92.3’s sister station 106.5 The Arch!
  • “Stacey and Jonah” will now host Afternoon Drive on 106.5 The Arch, beginning Monday, July 9th. Commenting on their new radio digs, Stacey and Jonah note, “We’re beyond excited to move to our amazing sister station! Huge thanks to Scott Roddy, John Kijowski, and Ginny Morris for continuing to believe in live and local talent. The Arch is such a fantastic station and we can’t wait to join the team.”
According to New Country 92.3 and 106.5 The Arch Program Director Scott Roddy, “Today is a banner day, a historical day, for Hubbard St. Louis. It is an honor to work with talent of this caliber. Today’s announcement cements that Hubbard continues to be the platinum standard for LOCAL broadcasting.”

Market Manager John Kijowski says, “Adding Mason and Remy to the roster of our already high profile talent on New Country 92.3 like Bud and Broadway, and Stacey and Jonah to the Arch’s talent corral that includes ‘Spencer’s Neighborhood’ with Cassiday, will further strengthen the relationship between our listeners and advertisers. I am very proud of our station’s teams.”

L-A Radio: Kevin Weatherly To Program KAMP, KROQ AND KCBS-FM

Kevin Weatherly
Entercom has named Kevin Weatherly, as Programming Director of KAMP 97.1 AMP Radio.

Weatherly, Senior Vice President, Entercom Los Angeles, will continue in his role as Program Director for KROQ and KCBS 93.1 JACK FM.

Chris Ebbott was named as Operations Manager for Radio.com in Los Angeles. This is in addition to his role as Programming Director for KRTH K-EARTH 101 FM.

“We are proud to cultivate our existing talent at Entercom Los Angeles,” said Jeff Federman, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom Southern California.

KAMP 97.1 FM (21 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
“Kevin was the original architect of AMP almost 10 years ago. He was successful at creating a format lane that was duplicated across the country. With Chris Ebbott focused on Radio.com in Los Angeles, we are guaranteed compelling, creative and innovative ideas that will lead to growth in our consumer base and expand our relationships with our clients.”

Sarah Sanders, Reporters Spar Over Immigration Policy

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders clashed with reporters on Thursday when they confronted her on the Trump administration's policy of separating families who illegally cross the border into the U.S.

The Hill reportsSanders fielded several questions on the issue during Thursday's press briefing, repeatedly deflecting blame onto Democrats. But CNN's Jim Acosta and Playboy's Brian Karem pressed Sanders on the morality of the policy.

When Acosta asked Sanders about Attorney General Jeff Sessions citing the Bible as justification for separating families, Sanders did not directly address Sessions's comments, but added that "it is very biblical to enforce the law."

"Where in the Bible does it say that it's OK to take children away from their parents?" Acosta interjected. "You just said it’s in the Bible to follow the law."



"I know it’s hard for you to understand even short sentences, I guess, but please don’t take my words out of context," Sanders retorted.

“How is it a moral policy to take children away from their parents,” Acosta asked. “Can you imagine the horror that these children must be going through when they’re coming across the border? Why is the government doing this?"

"Because it’s the law and that’s what the law states," Sanders responded.

Sessions announced last month that the Justice Department would enact a "zero tolerance" policy and aggressively prosecute adults attempting to cross the U.S.–Mexico border illegally. At the time, Sessions acknowledged the process could lead to children being separated from their parents upon being apprehended.

Trump administration officials have repeatedly defended the policy, arguing that it acts as a deterrent against illegal immigration.


On Thursday, Sanders echoed the president's frequent line of attack, laying blame on Democrats for the policy. Sanders charged Democratic lawmakers with failing to address flawed immigration laws.

"We would like to fix these loopholes, and if Democrats want to get serious about it instead of playing political games, they’re welcome to come here and sit down with the president and do something about it," Sanders said.

Karem then jumped in to question if Sanders felt empathy for the migrant children.

"Come on, Sarah. You’re a parent. Don’t you have any empathy for what these people are going through?" he asked.

Sanders circumvented the question, saying, "I know you want to get some more TV time but that’s not what this is about."

Survey: Commercial Stations Air More Local News Than NonComs

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey, conducted by Bob Papper, Professor Emeritus, found that, overall, 68.9% of all radio stations report running local news, including 74% of AM stations and 66.9% of FM stations. That’s down about two points overall. AM stations went up by about 3, but FM dropped just over 4 points.

CLICK HERE for the complete study

Overall in the survey, 81.7% of local radio groups report that at least one station in the group runs local news. That's 3 points up from last year – which had been down 2 points from the year before.




Most stations in our survey that run local news are not primarily news or talk stations; they’re music stations. Of the 433 stations that run local news – and told us what their programming was – just 18.5% included all news (2.3%), news and information (1.8%), news/talk (14.1%) and business news (0.2%).


Weekdays dropped in average amount of news while weekends went up. But medians (or typical numbers) tend to tell more accurate stories. Median weekday times went up for major market stations (usually the influence of all news stations) while all other market sizes went down. Medians for almost all groups (and overall) for the weekend remained at zero local news. The overall amount of local news dropped by about 12 minutes per weekday. That’s about how much it went up in major markets, but large markets slipped by about 2, and medium markets dropped by 20 with small markets dropping by 18.




Generally, the bigger the staff, the more news a station runs, although the real dividing line was two versus three or more news staffers. Overall, stations with 3 or more full time news staffers ran about 50% more news than stations with one or two full-timers. Geography made no difference.

Historically, commercial stations run more local news than non-commercial stations. Last year, the numbers were identical, but this year we’re back to a big edge for commercial stations, with the median amount of local news 50% higher at commercial stations compared to non-commercial ones.

FCC Call Sign Activity For May 2018


During May 2018, The Federal Communications Commission accepted applications to assign call signs to, or change the call signs of the following broadcast stations:

Disney Selling Building Housing ABC News

Disney is selling the New York City buildings that currently house ABC News HQ to a developer who’s expected to demolish them and build luxury condos. According to FoxNews, the sale is raising new questions about the future of Disney’s troubled news operation.

ABC News has struggled for identity in recent years, as the TV news spotlight has shifted to cable and the internet. And ABC News' notable shift away from hard news coverage, perhaps in search of viewers, has reduced its relevance in the news ecosystem in the eyes of some observers. Insiders tell Fox News that all this comes as Disney executives voice increasing frustration with the high costs and low returns of the news operation.

Media Research Center Vice President Brent Baker pointed out that media reporters have lost interest in all of the broadcast network news operations, preferring to focus on cable and online sites. He told Fox News that ABC was the “least relevant” of the three broadcast networks' news divisions, apart from its occasional exclusive interviews with newsmakers.

“That’s because it has no equivalent of an influential show like ‘60 Minutes,’ or a political team centered around a storied Sunday interview show like ‘Meet the Press,’” Baker said, noting that ABC’s public affairs program “This Week” is typically broadcast from New York, and rival NBC News has the luxury of overseeing cable network MSNBC.

Disney spokespeople declined comment on the sale of the buildings when reached by Fox News, though the transaction was reported in detail by a respected New York real estate publication, the Commercial Observer. The publication said Disney is selling the ABC complex for more than $1 billion to Silverstein Properties, one of the city’s biggest developers.

ABC staffers tell Fox News they have been informed that they will likely be moving far downtown in Manhattan to an area known as Hudson Square, which is not convenient to many commuters. A source with knowledge of the planned move said ABC is seeking about 33 percent less square footage downtown than it currently has, raising the prospect that the move will be accompanied by staff reductions.