Saturday, November 30, 2019

December 1 Radio History





➦In 1931...Gene Autry, nicknamed The Singing Cowboy, debuted this weekly show on WLS Chicago.

From 1940 to 1956, Autry had a huge hit with a weekly show on CBS Radio, Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. His horse, Champion, also had a CBS-TV and Mutual radio series, The Adventures of Champion. In response to his many young radio listeners aspiring to emulate him, Autry created the Cowboy Code, or Ten Cowboy Commandments. These tenets promoting an ethical, moral, and patriotic lifestyle that appealed to youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts, which developed similar doctrines. The Cowboy Code consisted of rules that were "a natural progression of Gene's philosophies going back to his first Melody Ranch programs

Autry is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is the only person to be awarded stars in all five categories on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for film, television, music, radio, and live performance.

➦In 1941...WNEW (now WBRR) moved to 1130 AM. WNEW had been on 1250 AM and shared time with Newark station WHBI. In March 1941, WNEW and WHBI were both reassigned to 1280. Then, on December 1, 1941, a swap of call letters and frequency took place between WNEW on 1280 and WOV on 1130. WOV moved to 1280 (to later become WADO) and WNEW moved to 1130 and assumed full-time status.


For most of its first 70 years on the air, WNEW was known for its popular adult music selection as well as its staff of radio personalities including Martin Block, Dee Finch, Gene Rayburn, Gene Klavan, Al "Jazzbo" Collins, Ted Brown and William B. Williams. WNEW is credited with pioneering the role of the disc jockey, as well as for developing the modern morning radio show format and debuting the first all-night radio show. In addition to its music and entertainment programming, WNEW featured an award-winning news staff and became "The Voice of New York Sports" for its coverage of New York Giants football team as well as the New York Rangers hockey and New York Knicks basketball.  After years of declining ratings and management changes in the 1980s, WNEW was purchased by Bloomberg L.P. in 1992 and changed call letters to WBBR on December 15.

The station's origins go back to 1922 as WAAM in Newark, and 1925 as WODA in Paterson. The two stations merged, taking the new call sign WNEW to represent NEWark, NEW Jersey. The city of license changed from Newark to New York City only after the station's ownership changed hands.

Newspaper ad  - 1984
WNEW was acquired in 1934 by advertising executive Milton H. Biow and watch manufacturer Arde Bulova, under the name The Greater New York Broadcasting Company. It also acquired the Manhattan broadcasting studios which had been constructed for the recently failed Amalgamated Broadcasting System. New York socialite Bernice Judis was hired as WNEW's first General Manager, making her a rare female executive during the "Golden Age of Radio." The call sign remained the same, to represent "the NEWest thing in radio."


➦In 1972...Paul McCartney and Wings released "Hi, Hi, Hi." The BBC banned the song for its supposedly suggestive lyrics and because of their assumption that the title phrase, "We're gonna get hi, hi, hi," was a drug reference.


➦In 1995...FCC scrapped the need for the Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit requirement to operate a broadcast station.

➦In 1997...Westinghouse Electric Corporation, founded in 1886, sold most non-broadcast operations; renamed itself CBS Corporation, until it was acquired by Viacom.

Poll: Political News Via Social Media Least Trusted


It’s one of America’s leading sources for news about the government, yet also among the least trusted. Social media, a new poll finds, is America’s political news paradox.

Julie Ferguson, an occupational therapist in central Washington state, remembers getting TV news from just a handful of networks. “I grew up watching Walter Cronkite,” she said. Today, she sees more political news on social media than anywhere else. She doesn’t trust it, but worries many others do. “The information they’re getting, who knows where it’s coming from?”

The irony of where Americans get their news about the government, and what sources they rely on to deliver news about the government they can trust, was exposed in a survey published this month by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Opinion Research and USAFacts.



Yet the survey found only 11% of Americans say they trust information about government they see on social media a great deal or quite a bit. Nearly two-thirds said they have little to no trust in government news they find there. Of all the potential places to find news about the government included in the survey, social media was the least trusted.

Read More Here

TV Ratings: Turkey Day Parade Down, Dog Show Up

NBC Photo
NBC’s annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast on NBC drew 22.1 million total viewers on Thursday.

That’s down from last year’s audience of 23.7 million, a decline of just under 7%, according to The Wrap citing Nielsen data.

Among adults 18-49, the parade drew a 5.49 rating, making it the highest-rated entertainment program since the Oscars back in February. Year-over-year, the parade is down 8% in the demo, with the 2018 parade scoring a 5.98 rating.

As it did last year, the 2019 “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” broadcast came in as the third most-watched entertainment program of 2019 so far, behind only the Oscars and the post-Super Bowl episode of CBS’s “World’s Best.” (In 2018, the #2 program was the post-Super Bowl episode of “This Is Us.”)

Following the parade, NBC’s telecast of “The National Dog Show” drew 11.4 million total viewers, marking a 2% growth over last year’s 11.2 million. The dog show also came in up 4% in the demo, with a 2.80 rating vs. last year’s 2.70.

Gulf Coast: WPMI Snags Alan Sealls as Chief Meteorologist


Alan Sealls has been officially named the new Chief Meteorologist for WPMI, NBC 15, WeatherNation and MYNBC15.com in the Mobile-Pensacola-Ft Walton Beach DMA.

News Director, Bob Noonan says “Alan is a game-changer. No meteorologist in our market has more credibility and is more trusted than Alan Sealls. With 10 Emmys in his trophy case, he makes NBC 15 better just by walking in the door. He was voted ‘Best Weatherman Ever’ by Reddit. How do you top that? With the addition of Alan, NBC 15 will have the most experienced, evening-news team in the market! We’re beyond excited about this new chapter for NBC 15.”

“Over the past 5 months, I’ve heard from hundreds of people who’ve asked where I was going. The interest and support has been overwhelming! I’m very happy to give the answer and get back to serving the Gulf Coast on NBC15. I look forward to working with old friends and colleagues, and new ones too, to deliver the best weather coverage and forecasts around. On that, you can bet your barometer!” says The Gulf Coast’s Chief Meteorologist, Alan Sealls.

Alan Sealls
Sealls is a ten-time Emmy award winner. He has won "Best Weather Anchor" from the Alabama Associated Press Broadcasters Association four times. He has also won a national award from the American Meteorological Society in 2009 for a series on climate change. Since then, he has won the “Best Weathercaster in the State” twice from the Alabama Broadcaster's Association, and he has won a “Best-In-State” award for his retrospective on Hurricane Ivan.

Alan has three decades of experience in television. His career started in Albany, Georgia, at WALB-TV, and from 1988-1992, Alan was a meteorologist at WTMJ-TV & Radio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Before arriving in Mobile in 1999, Alan was a meteorologist at the NBC TV station in Chicago. Prior to that Alan was a meteorologist for five years at Chicago super-station WGN-TV. While there, he was a meteorology professor at Columbia College in Chicago.

He continues to teach weather broadcasting at the University of South Alabama.

Alan not only holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in meteorology from Cornell and Florida State, but has professional certifications from the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. Alan is a Fellow of the AMS - a distinction held by a small fraction of meteorologists.

Beginning in January 2020, Alan will deliver the evening forecast, weeknights on NBC15 News at 5pm, 6pm and 10pm and NBC15 News on UTV44 weeknights at 7pm.

"Alan is by far the leading meteorologist in the market.  His aggressive, highly accurate and concise weather and severe storm coverage is second to none.  No other meteorologist in the market comes close.  This guy is awesome," writes a Media Confidential reader who watched Bealls when he was at WGN-TV..

The Most Popular Tech Gifts in 2019

by Felix Richer

As technology plays an increasingly large role in our lives, it is no surprise that it also features prominently under the Christmas tree.

According to the Consumer Technology Association, 74 percent of U.S. adults plan to buy at least one tech gift this year, spending an estimated total of $97.1 billion on technology this holiday season (October-December).

As the Statista chart illustrates, tech gifts range from big ticket items such as laptops or smartphones to smaller, more affordable things such as activity trackers or digital media streaming devices that connect to a TV set. Headphones and earbuds are the most popular tech gift this year with 58 percent of U.S. adults planning to give a pair away.

Infographic: The Most Popular Tech Gifts in 2019 | Statista You will find more infographics at Statista

November 30 Radio History


➦In 1924...the first radio photo facsimile was transmitted across the Atlantic.

The concept of sending images by wire had been around for a long time before it was ever applied to radio.  The first rudimentary fax patent was issued in Paris in 1843 and used a swinging pendulum to draw the image.  Englishman Edwin Belin first demonstrated his Belinograph in 1913.  Western Union and AT&T both transmitted photos via wire in the early 1920’s, and the technology was quickly accepted by the press as a way to send newspaper photos instantly to cities around the country.  RCA was the first company to adapt facsimile to radio, and sent a transoceanic image of President Calvin Coolidge from New York to London on November 29, 1924.



Two years later, RCA began a commercial service of transmitting transoceanic photos by shortwave radio for the newspaper industry, and transmitting weather maps to ships at sea.  RCA’s patented “Photoradio” technology was invented by RCA scientists Richard H. Ranger and Charles J. Young.  It used a rotating drum and a photoelectric scanner to convert a document into a continuous tone that varied in pitch with changes in the image.  The image was reproduced on the receiving end with another rotating drum having a stylus that pressed black carbon paper against white paper to reproduce the image.

 A few radio broadcasters showed early interest in adapting the technology to send pictures to the public.  KPO in San Francisco, owned by the San Francisco Chronicle, became the first radio broadcaster to transmit a photograph by radio when it transmitted a picture of cartoon character Andy Gump on August 22, 1925.  The image was signed by Chronicle publisher George T. Cameron with the message "Radio's latest wonder - pictures through the air.  What new marvels will this science bring forth?"   The image was received on a single machine invented by C. Francis Jenkins.


➦In 1929...Dick Clark born (Died at age 82 - April 18, 2012). He was a radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting American Bandstand from 1957 to 1988.

As host of American Bandstand, Clark introduced rock & roll to many Americans. The show gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences, including Iggy Pop, Ike & Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Talking Heads, Simon & Garfunkel and Madonna. Episodes he hosted were among the first in which blacks and whites performed on the same stage, and likewise among the first in which the live studio audience sat without racial segregation. Singer Paul Anka claimed that Bandstand was responsible for creating a "youth culture". Due to his perennially youthful appearance and his largely teenaged audience of American Bandstand, Clark was often referred to as "America's oldest teenager" or "the world's oldest teenager".

Dick Clark
In his off-stage roles, Clark served as Chief Executive Officer of Dick Clark Productions (a financial interest in which he sold off in his later years). He also founded the American Bandstand Diner, a restaurant chain modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe.[vague] In 1973, he created and produced the annual American Music Awards show, similar to the Grammy Awards.

Clark suffered a stroke in December 2004. With speech ability impaired, Clark returned to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show a year later on December 31, 2005. Subsequently, he appeared at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006, and every New Year's Rockin' Eve show through the 2011–12 show. He died on April 18, 2012, of a heart attack, at the age of 82, following prostate surgery.

In 1945, Clark began his career working in the mailroom at WRUN 1150 AM (now silent) in Rome, NY, that was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. Almost immediately, he was asked to fill in for the vacationing weatherman, and within a few months he was announcing station breaks.

While attending Syracuse, Clark worked at WOLF-AM, then a country music station. After graduation, he returned to WRUN for a short time where he went by the name Dick Clay.  After that, Clark got a job at the television station WKTV in Utica, New York. His first television-hosting job was on Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders, a country-music program. He later replaced Robert Earle (who later hosted the GE College Bowl) as a newscaster.

In addition to his announcing duties on radio and television, Clark owned several radio stations. From 1964 to 1978, he owned KPRO (now KFOO) in Riverside, California under the name Progress Broadcasting.  In 1967, he purchased KGUD-AM-FM (now KTMS and KTYD respectively) in Santa Barbara, CA.

In 1952, Clark moved to Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he took a job as a DJ at radio station WFIL 560 AM, adopting the Dick Clark handle. WFIL had an affiliated television station (now WPVI) with the same call sign, which began broadcasting a show called Bob Horn's Bandstand in 1952. Clark was responsible for a similar program on the company's radio station, and served as a regular substitute host when Horn went on vacation. In 1956, Horn was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently dismissed. On July 9, 1956, Clark became the show's permanent host.



Bandstand was picked up by the ABC television network, renamed American Bandstand, and debuted nationally on August 5, 1957.





➦In 1959...In a Billboard magazine article, disc jockey Alan Freed said his career had gone "down the drain" due to the recent "payola" scandal. In their story, Billboard claimed the scandal "will substantially damage the careers of at least twenty-five DJs."

➦In 1966...the radio time signal, WWV, moved from Greenbelt, Maryland to Boulder, Colorado.

➦In 1977...Newsman, commentator Eric Sevareid return from CBS after 38 years with the company. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents dubbed "Murrow's Boys," because they were hired by pioneering CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow.

Friday, November 29, 2019

NYC Radio: Russo On WFAN's Francesa Should Have Stayed Retired

Mike Francesa
SiriusXM's Chris Russo says his once longtime sports-talk partner should not have come back to the WFAN airwaves after quitting his drive-time show in December 2017, reports The NY Post.

Francesa returned to WFAN 660 AM  / 101.9 FM FAN barely four months later, but he has fallen behind ESPN’s “The Michael Kay Show” in the ratings and confirmed earlier this month that his afternoon program will be ending for good in December.

Chris Russo
“Mike should never have come back. He should have stayed retired,” Russo said in an interview with David J. Halberstam for the website Sports Broadcast Journal. “He had a great run and developed a great legacy. Those last couple of weeks before his first retirement were memorable and wonderful. He had an amazing sendoff. Three months later he was back. The whole return was crazy. No one expected it.”

Francesa initially was replaced by the trio of Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott, but Carlin has since parted ways with the station. The Post’s Andrew Marchand has reported that both Carlin and Scott are expected to land with rival station ESPN New York.

“WFAN had already placed his successors on-air. The station had to uproot them,” said Russo, who split with Francesa in 2008 to form “Mad Dog Radio” on Sirius XM. “People wondered whether Francesa can reclaim the wins he was getting consistently in the ratings book. All of a sudden, Mike was back in the mix and it created an unhealthy rivalry.

“Mike would likely not admit it but he might realize that it was a mistake.”

Louisville Radio: High Winds Force WAKY, WLVK Off-Air

The wind in Western Kentucky was so intense Wednesday that it snapped in half the tower for Classic Hits WAKY 103.5 FM and Country WLVK 105.5 FM.

"Heard the crash and said, ‘What in the world is that?’" Joe Fedele, director of programming for W&B Broadcasting's WAKY, said.

It was the strong winds that left the top half of the station’s 100-foot radio tower dangling.

Fedele said being off-air is a nightmare, but having the tower break the day before a holiday makes it worse; getting equipment and people they need for repairs is tough.

"Most places are already closed," Rene' Bell, managing partner for W&B Broadcasting, said. "They close early on Thanksgiving. Insurance agencies, people that would provide us parts."

Bell said because the damage is pretty bad, they are going to have to get a new tower. Being off-air on two of their most popular stations in the meantime could have a huge impact on business.

Bell said it may be a few weeks before WAKY FM and Big Cat are back to normal operations.

Until repairs are made to 103.5, WAKY listeners were guided to translator W261CO 100.1 FM in Northern Louisville and Southern Indiana . Jefferson and the Lake Forrest areas can listen on W292FS 106.3 FM. Metro Louisville and Southern Indiana can also tune in on WAKY 620 AM.

WAKY is also streaming online at wakyradio.com or on the WAKY app.

Cord-Cutters Willing To Pay More For Streaming Services

As legacy media companies like Comcast enter the video streaming wars, a new survey suggests that price-sensitive consumers are still willing to spend much more to watch movies and shows online, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A KPMG survey of more than 2,000 consumers found that consumers pay $22 per month on average for video streaming subscriptions and are willing to pay $11, or 50% more, for additional services. At the same time, the survey suggests that consumers care more about a streaming platform’s price than its content library.



The study comes as Apple, AT&T, Walt Disney Co., and others enter a highly competitive streaming business that’s been dominated by Netflix and Amazon and fueled by consumers ditching costly cable plans. The findings could be interesting for Philadelphia-based Comcast, which plans to launch a free, ad-supported version of its forthcoming streaming service.

Price was the most important feature consumers consider when choosing a streaming service, beating out content, advertisements, and ease of use, the survey found. A little more than half (52%) of 18- to 24-year-olds and 67% of people ages 25 to 60 ranked price above all other features. By comparison, 36% of younger consumers and 48% of older customers said content is most important.

“What was clear is that there is this high degree of price sensitivity on what they’re willing to pay,” said Michelle Wroan, who leads KPMG’s national media sector.



The new entrants into the streaming business are charging anywhere from $4.99 per month (Apple TV+) to $14.99 (HBO Max) for their libraries of on-demand movies and shows. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video each cost $8.99 per month, while Hulu charges $5.99 for its basic plan, which includes ads.

While most consumers prioritized price, the KPMG survey found that being ad-free was the second most important feature for younger consumers. Few consumers cared about reducing fees by inserting ads, with just 11% of younger consumers and 9% of older ones saying that was most important.

Assuming the price is right, “content is still king,” Wroan said, which is why media companies have spent heavily on acquiring rights to popular shows and lining up high-profile production teams.

Music Streaming Is Most-Wanted Subscription Service

Consumers’ most-wanted subscription isn’t Amazon Prime or Netflix but rather music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, according to Billboard citing a new survey conducted by MusicWatch.

In the online survey, which polled over 1,200 people aged 13-39 who aren’t yet subscribers to any service, MusicWatch posed a hypothetical scenario in which it would offer to pay for a total of three subscriptions, ranging from entertainment to food delivery to personal care.

”Imagine if we offered to pay for your mobile phone service and home WiFi,” the question read. “If we also offered to pay in full for your monthly or annual fee to other subscriptions, but you could choose only three, which of these three would you select? Please base your decision on what you really want and would use the most, and don’t worry about the difference in cost between them.”

According to the results, 44% of respondents chose subscriptions to music services, versus 42% for video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, 23% for Amazon Prime and 9% for SiriusXM.

MusicWatch is a marketing research company that provides industry analysis for music and entertainment.

Sean Hannity Slammed for Fawning Over Bill O'Reilly

A group of former Fox News journalists have spoken out after the host Sean Hannity invited Bill O'Reilly back to the network O'Reilly left following multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

Hannity had O'Reilly on his radio show, "The Sean Hannity Show," on Tuesday to discuss a recent interview O'Reilly conducted with President Donald Trump.

During the show, Hannity told O'Reilly: "I keep offering you, go back on Fox."

Three former Fox News staffers, Diana Falzone, Gretchen Carlson, and Julie Roginsky, wrote in a joint statement that Hannity's comment "demonstrates how far we have yet to go in ensuring that survivors of sexual assault and harassment are treated with even the modicum of respect that Hannity has shown an alleged serial predator."

Falzone is a former Fox News reporter, while Carlson is a former "Fox & Friends" host and Roginsky is a former contributor and "Outnumbered" host.

Roginsky and Carlson previously filed sexual-harassment lawsuits against Fox News, and both women have been vocal in saying the network should release them, and other women who filed claims, from nondisclosure agreements.  Falzone also filed a lawsuit against Fox News in 2017 alleging gender discrimination.


O'Reilly left Fox News in April 2017 shortly after The New York Times reported that he and Fox News had paid about $13 million to five women who had accused him of sexual harassment.

The transcript of Hannity's radio show, which is broadcast on Premiere Networks and not by Fox News, was shared by Media Matters, the nonprofit that covers the media and is deeply critical of Fox News, reports Business Insider.

Twitter Suspends Plan To Delete Inactive Accounts


The news that Twitter would be deleting inactive accounts made waves online. Scores of people tweeted to protest the abrupt announcements, demanding that the accounts of their deceased loved-ones should remain live. Certainly not the best start to a Thanksgiving weekend.

That was something Twitter did not anticipate. On Tuesday, Twitter tweeted an apology, stating it would no longer be deleting any accounts until there was a solution to preserve ones from users who have died. Twitter had sent emails on Tuesday warning users that accounts which hadn’t been used for more than six months would be removed if they weren’t logged into by December 11.

Twitter does have an inactive account policy, but it is not “consistently” enforced, according to the tweet thread. Facebook does have a way to memorialize deceased users, and Twitter says it’s now working on a way it can do the same.


“We’ve heard you on the impact that this would have on the accounts of the deceased. This was a miss on our part,” tweeted Twitter. “We will not be removing any inactive accounts until we create a new way for people to memorialize accounts.”

November 29 Radio History

Thomas Edison - 1878
➦In 1877..U-S inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his hand-cranked phonograph for the first time.  Edison was one of the great inventors and designers in the history of the world. He invented the first practical light bulb, the motion picture camera and the phonograph. Others had attempted to invent the latter but Edison's was the first to actually reproduce the sound.

The phonograph was Edison's first major invention and the one that earned him the moniker "the wizard of Menlo Park" as the invention was so unexpected by the public as to appear magical. His first invention recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder, and although the recordings could only be played a few times due to low quality, Edison's reputation was cemented.

He demonstrated the device on November 29, 1877, having announced its invention days before. He would patent it later that February. Recalling a demonstration in December, an employee of Scientific American magazine wrote: " "In December, 1877, a young man came into the office of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, and placed before the editors a small, simple machine about which very few preliminary remarks were offered. The visitor without any ceremony whatever turned the crank, and to the astonishment of all present the machine said: "Good morning. How do you do? How do you like the phonograph?" The machine thus spoke for itself, and made known the fact that it was the phonograph..."

Edison did not improve on his design but Alexander Graham Bell invented an improved phonograph using wax cylinders in 1880.

➦In 1913...Announcer and actor Harry Bartell born (Died at age 90 – February 26, 2004). With his rather youthful sounding voice, Bartell was one of the busiest West Coast character actors from the early 1940s until the final end of network radio drama in the 1960s.

He was the Petri Wines announcer who interacted with “Dr. Watson” on 1940’s episodes of “The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” and in the ’60’s was the announcer on CBS Radio’s “Dear Abby.”  His TV acting credits include Gunsmoke and Dragnet plus Get Smart, I Love Lucy, Wild Wild West, and The Twilight Zone.

➦In 1917...Announcer George Walsh was born in Cleveland (died from heart failure at age 88 -  Dec 5, 2005). He was also a newscaster at KNX 1070 AM L-A from 1952 to 1986.

Beginning in 1952, Walsh opened the weekly series that was broadcast live on radio with these words: “Around Dodge City and in the territory out West, there’s just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that’s with a U.S. marshal and the smell of ‘Gunsmoke.’ ”

George Walsh
The radio version of “Gunsmoke,” which starred William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon, aired until 1961. When it moved to television in 1955, James Arness took over the starring role but Walsh remained as the show’s announcer.

For 34 years, Walsh worked at KNX as an interviewer, sports reporter, newscaster and announcer for a number of shows, including a fashion show hosted by film costume designer Edith Head.

One show, “Music ‘Til Dawn,” featured mainly classical music and aired overnight from 1952 until about 1970. The show won a Peabody Award in 1966.  Another, “This Is Los Angeles,” aired nightly at 8:15 and earned him a Golden Mike Award in 1961 from the Radio and Television News Assn. of Southern California.


➦In 1917...Merle Robert Travis born in Rosewood, KY (Died from a heart attack at age 65 – October 20, 1983).  He was a country singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons," "Re-Enlistment Blues," "I am a Pilgrim," and "Dark as a Dungeon." However, it is his unique guitar style, still called Travis Picking by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, KY for which he is best known today. "Travis Picking" is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger.

During the '30 and '40s, he was heard regularly on WLW radio Cincinnati as a member of The Drifting Pioneers.



➦In 1918...Humorist, radio personality ad TV host Herbert Arthur "Herb" Shriner born (Died in a car accident at age 51 – April 23, 1970). He was frequently compared to humorist Will Rogers.

In 1940, Shriner was hired by NBC for occasional radio appearances, which led to a regular spot in 1942 and 1943 on the comedy-variety program Camel Caravan. During World War II, he served in a United States Army special services unit and performed for two years in USO shows for GIs in Europe. After the war, he appeared on a number of radio shows, including The Philip Morris Follies of 1946 with Johnny Desmond and Margaret Whiting.

In 1947 he appeared in a Broadway musical review called Inside U.S.A. The performances were panned by critics, but Shriner's monologues made it a success and carried the show for over a year. Shriner hosted Herb Shriner Time, a CBS Radio weekday program, in 1948 and 1949 with the Raymond Scott Quintet, singer Dorothy Collins, and announcer Durward Kirby. The program was initially titled Alka-Seltzer Time (not to be confused with the later Alka-Seltzer Time that starred Curt Massey and Martha Tilton).  In August 1949, Shriner decided not to continue the program because it was too much work.

➦In 1927...Legendary sportscaster Vin Scully was born in the Bronx NY.

His 60-plus-year tenure with the Brooklyn & LA Dodgers is the longest of any broadcaster with a single club in professional sports history. Scully has called six World Series championships and 14 National League pennants for the club.

Vin Scully cica 50s
After serving in the United States Navy for two years, Scully began his career as a student broadcaster and journalist at Fordham University. While at Fordham, he helped found its FM radio station WFUV (which now presents a Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award each year), was assistant sports editor for Volume 28 of The Fordham Ram his senior year, sang in a barbershop quartet, played center field for the Fordham Rams baseball team, called radio broadcasts for Rams baseball, football, and basketball, earned a degree, and sent about 150 letters to stations along the Eastern seaboard. He received only one response, from CBS Radio affiliate WTOP in Washington, which made him a fill-in.

Scully was then recruited by Red Barber, the sports director of the CBS Radio Network, for its college football coverage. Scully impressed his boss with his coverage of a November 1949 University of Maryland versus Boston University football game from frigid Fenway Park in Boston, despite having to do so from the stadium roof. Expecting an enclosed press box, Scully had left his coat and gloves at his hotel, but never mentioned his discomfort on the air.  Barber mentored Scully and told him that if he wanted to be a successful sports announcer he should never be a "homer", never listen to other announcers, and keep his opinions to himself.

In 1950, Scully joined Barber and Connie Desmond in the Brooklyn Dodgers radio and television booths. When Barber got into a salary dispute with World Series sponsor Gillette in 1953, Scully took Barber's spot for the 1953 World Series. At the age of 25, Scully became the youngest man to broadcast a World Series game. Barber left the Dodgers after the 1953 season to work for the New York Yankees. Scully eventually became the team's principal announcer. Scully announced the Dodgers' games in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles.

➦In 1929...NBC began using the iconic chimes as an identification sounder.



The NBC chimes came to their familiar configuration and sound after several years of on-air development. They were first broadcast over NBC's Red and Blue networks on November 29, 1929. However, there are disagreements about the original source of the idea. One story is that they came from WSB in Atlanta, Georgia, which allegedly used it for its own purposes until one day someone at NBC's headquarters in New York City heard the WSB version of the notes during a networked broadcast of a Georgia Tech football game and asked permission to use it on the national network.

NBC Xylophone circa 1930
The company tested the chimes during 1927 and 1928, when it experimented with several possible combinations of notes. The first sequence consisted of the seven notes G-C-G-E-G-C-E. However, since the original NBC chime was an actual set of four-note chimes made by the J.C. Deagan Company, which the announcer would play 30 seconds before the end of every half-hour to signal the end of a program, it was left to the announcers to play this trademark sequence without error, which was unavoidable with such a lengthy cue. The chime sequence was shortened to G-C-G-E and then, on November 29, 1929, the cue was shortened for the final time, and the three well-known notes G-E-C were heard on NBC radio for the first time.

Despite the relative simplicity and efficiency of the new, shorter chime sequence, problems still existed in other musical aspects of the sequence, such as the tempo, rhythm, and volume at which it was played, as well as the musical tone of the set chimes. Therefore the NBC chimes were mechanized in 1932 with a unit that could play the sequence perfectly and consistently. Richard H. Ranger, a former Radio Corporation of America (RCA) engineer who also invented an early form of the modern fax machine, invented the NBC chime machine that generated the notes by means of finely tuned metal reeds that were plucked by fingers on a revolving drum, much like a music box.

The technical purpose of the mechanical chimes was to send a low level audio signal of constant amplitude that would be heard by the various switching stations manned by NBC and AT&T engineers, but not disturb the listening audience. This would serve as the system cue for switching the myriad local stations between the NBC Red Network and NBC Blue Network feeds as scheduled, as well as signalling the pause for local station identification immediately thereafter. In essence, it was the audio equivalent of a traffic signal. Because of fears of offending commercial sponsors by cutting their live network programs off mid-sentence, the mechanized chimes were always rung by an announcer pushing a button in conjunction with the program’s conclusion; they were never set to an automatic timer, although heavy discussions on the subject were held between the Engineering and Programming departments throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

On November 20, 1947, NBC filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to make the chimes a registered service mark for identification of radio broadcasting services, the first such audible service mark to be filed with that office. Registration was granted on April 4, 1950; the registration number was 0523616, serial number 71541873. This registration expired on November 3, 1992, as NBC Radio became part of broadcasting history. However a separate service mark registration was made in 1971 for identification of television broadcasting services (serial 72349496, registration 0916522). While this registration is still active, the chime was heard for the final time on the NBC television channel in 1976, the 50-year anniversary of the chime; the chime is now used only for various smaller purposes on the network.

The Fourth Chime

The variant sequence B - D + G = G, based on a G-major arpeggio in second inversion, was known as "the fourth chime". An NBC Interdepartment Correspondence memo, dated April 7, 1933, documents the conception and initial purpose of the fourth chime.

The memo states "In anticipation of the Spring and Summer months, when many in key positions will not always be available at home telephones, the following Emergency Call System will go into effect on Monday morning, April 16."

The memo goes on to say that whenever a fourth tone is heard on the network chimes rung at 15-minute intervals, it will indicate that someone on an attached list is wanted. Upon hearing this fourth chime, all personnel on the list are instructed to call in to the PBX operator to ascertain whether or not the Emergency Call is for them. The chime would continue at 15-minute intervals over stations WEAF and WJZ until the wanted person communicated with the PBX operator. The list contained the names of the following NBC executives:

The "fourth chime" was also used to notify affiliates and their employees of pending urgent programming. This variant saw such use during wartime (especially in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor) and other disasters, most notably the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. According to NBC historians, the last official use of the "fourth chime" was in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II. However, according to a handwritten note appended to an NBC internal memo originally dated 1964 on the history and usage of the standard chime, this chime variant was used one final time in 1985 to symbolize the merger with GE.

➦In 1933...one of the earliest police ‘true crime’ radio dramas 'Calling All Cars' debuted on the CBS West Coast network. Calling All Cars is an old-time radio police drama in the United States. It also aired on the Mutual-Don Lee Network.   November 29, 1933 - September 8, 1939 and carried by transcription on stations in other areas.

➦In 1941...the passenger ship, "Lurline", sent a radio signal after sighting a Japanese war fleet in the Pacific.  Lurline was half-way from Honolulu to San Francisco on 7 December 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The ship's alleged reception of radio signals from the Japanese fleet became part of the Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge conspiracy theory.

➦In 1963..."I Want to Hold Your Hand" single released by the Beatles in the United Kingdom



➦In 1964...Dean "Dino On Your Radio" Anthony debuted on Top40 WMCA 570 AM, NYC.
He then went to an FM station for a while, then to Top 40 WWDJ in Hackensack NJ in 1971. He has since has worked for a variety of stations including mornings at WTFM in New York. Dean lives on Long Island where he is program director for WHLI, which he programmed for years.

Before coming to WMCA, Anthony was program director and afternoon personality at WPGC Washington, D.C., from 1960 to 1964 as Dean Griffith. Prior to that, he was at WGH Norfolk, Va.

Anthony died in October 2003 at age 68 from cancer.

Gene Rayburn
➦In 1999...Gene Rayburn, host of the TV game show Match Game and a host on the NBC Radio Weekend Show 'Monitor', died at 81 (Born December 22, 1917).

Before appearing in television, Rayburn was a very successful actor and radio performer. He had a popular morning drive time radio show in New York City, first with Jack Lescoulie (Anything Goes) and later with Dee Finch (Rayburn & Finch) on WNEW (now WBBR). Radio history pegs Rayburn's pairings with Lescoulie and Finch as the first two-man teams in morning radio.  When Rayburn left WNEW, Dee Finch continued the format with Gene Klavan.

Rayburn later landed the lead in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie when Dick Van Dyke left the production to star in his eponymous classic sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show.  Listen to an aircheck from 1964 with Rayburn hosting NBC Radio Network's weekend Monitor Show. Click Here.

➦In 2001...Beatle George Harrison died of lung cancer at the age of 58. In May 2001, it was revealed that Harrison had undergone an operation to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs, and in July, it was reported that he was being treated for a brain tumour at a clinic in Switzerland.

Speaking outside his home northwest of London, Paul McCartney said, "I am devastated and very, very sad." Ringo Starr, speaking from Vancouver, British Columbia said, "We will miss George for his sense of love, his sense of music and his sense of laughter."

➦In 2008...Pioneering "Boss Radio" programmer Bill Drake, died of lung cancer at age 71.

Bill Drake
Born Phillip Yarbrough, he chose his last name from among his relatives' surnames, because it rhymed with "WAKE", the station in Atlanta, where he worked as a programmer and disc-jockey in the late 1950s.  Later, Bartell Broadcasting, who owned WAKE that he had programmed to number one, transferred him to KYA in San Francisco, which also became number one.

It was later at KYNO in Fresno, California that he met Gene Chenault, who became his business partner. Together, the pair developed highly influential radio programming strategies and tactics, as well as working with future "Boss Jocks".

Drake-Chenault perfected the Top 40 radio format, which had been created by Todd Storz, Gordon McLendon and other radio programmers in the late 1950s, which took a set list of popular songs and repeated them all day long, ensuring the widest possible audience for the station's music. Jingles, news updates, traffic, and other features were designed to make Top 40 radio particularly attractive to car listeners. By early 1964, the era of the British Invasion, Top 40 radio had become the dominant radio format for North American listeners.

Drake streamlined the Top 40 format, using modern methods, such as market research and ratings demographics, to maximize the number of listeners. He believed in forward momentum, limiting the amount of disc jockey chatter, the number of advertisements and playing only the top hits, as opposed to less-organized programming methods of the past. Drake created concepts such as 20/20 News and counter programming, by playing music sweeps, while his competitors aired news. Drake-Chenault controlled everything from the specific DJs that were hired, to radio contests, visual logos, promotions and commercial policy. Drake essentially put radio back into the hands of programming, instead of sales. Drake hired the Johnny Mann Singers to produce the Boss Radio jingles, ensuring a bright, high-energy sound that engaged the listener, while providing a bridge from song to song.



After turning around the fortunes of Fresno's KYNO, Drake applied similar tactics to take KGB, from 14th to 1st in San Diego. KGB's owner, Willett Brown, suggested to his fellow RKO board members, that Drake could turn KHJ around.

In the Spring of 1965, Drake-Chenault were hired to turn KHJ in Los Angeles, from a financial and ratings loser into a success. Drake hired Ron Jacobs as program director, Robert W. Morgan in the mornings and "The Real Don Steele" in the afternoons. KHJ quickly jumped from near-obscurity, to the number one radio station in Los Angeles. Although it was criticized, "Boss Radio" moved faster and sounded more innovative than the competition, making it the #1 choice over competitors in Southern California.



Bill Drake also programmed KFRC in San Francisco, WOR-FM in New York, KAKC in Tulsa, WHBQ in Memphis, WUBE (AM) in Cincinnati, WRKO in Boston and 50,000 watt CKLW, in Windsor, Ontario, across the Detroit River from the city of Detroit.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

NYC Radio: Standard General, Emmis Close On WBLS, WQHT Transfers

Standard General has closed on the transfer of the licenses of Emmis' UrbanAC WBLS 107.5 FM and RhythmicCHR WQHT Hot 97 FM in New York for $91.5 million cash to their new public company Mediaco Holdings.

Also part of the consideration is a $5 million note receivable and 23.72% of the common equity of Mediaco.

Emmis will distribute the common equity of Mediaco pro rata to its shareholders in a taxable dividend. Mediaco will be a public company expected to be listed on NASDAQ, and Emmis will remain a separate public company, as well.

Emmis will remain active in the management of WBLS and HOT 97 and provide certain corporate services to Mediaco pursuant to a management agreement between the parties. Jeff Smulyan will be the Chief Executive Officer of Mediaco and will continue to serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emmis, which will remain a public company. Standard General will appoint a majority of the board of directors of Mediaco and Soohyung Kim, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Standard General L.P., will be Chairman of Mediaco.

“This is a landmark day in the forty year history of Emmis,” Jeff Smulyan stated when the deal was announced in July. “We look forward to continuing to manage two of the world’s most iconic radio brands in HOT 97 and WBLS and employ our award-winning New York team as we partner with Soo Kim and Standard General to form a new public company to invest in media opportunities. The transaction provides Emmis significant capital to aggressively pursue new business opportunities that align with our entrepreneurial spirit and management skills. We are also excited to work with Soo and Standard General to grow Mediaco Holding. We have already been evaluating great investment opportunities and I’m incredibly excited about the future. Today is a great day for the future of Emmis.”

“Our team is excited about partnering with Jeff and the Emmis management team in forming Mediaco Holding,” said Soo Kim. “We’re thrilled to acquire two of New York’s legendary radio brands in HOT 97 and WBLS and work with Emmis to build on each brand’s success. These stations will form the foundation for a new public company that will invest in media assets and build on our successful track record of media investments.”

No personnel changes are planned. All New York employees will continue to be Emmis employees with Emmis benefits as part of an Employee Leasing Agreement with Mediaco.

Pittsburgh Radio: John Shumway Departs KDKA-AM Morning Show

John Shumway
John Shumway has stepped down as the morning news co-host on News/Talk KDKA 1020 AM. His last day was Wednesday.

He will remain on KDKA-TV as a general assignment reporter, according to a statement from Michael Spacciapolli, senior vice president of Entercom in Pittsburgh, shared by KDKA.

“(John’s) tireless work ethic and news judgment has been a cornerstone of KDKA Radio mornings,” Spacciapolli said. “His integrity is unquestionable. Simply put, John is one the most gifted, well-respected journalists in our city.”

Shumway has been doing double duty at KDKA Radio and KDKA-TV for over 15 years. He co-hosted the morning radio show weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. with Larry Richert.

Spacciapolli said the company worked with Shumway to address his schedule and determined it was best to end the radio gig.

Albany NY Radio: David Oldread Named MM At Pamal Broadcasting


Pamal Broadcasting has announced the addition of radio veteran radio David Oldread  as General Manager and Market Manager of Pamal Broadcasting's six-station cluster in Albany, NY, effective December 4.

David Oldread
The Albany cluster includes: AC WYJB 95.5 FM, Top40 WFLY 92.3 FM, Country WKLIL 100.9 FM, HiHop WAJZ 96.3 FM, Alternative 104.9 FM and Oldies WROW AM/FM.

He most recently served as Director of Sales & Operations of Entercom's three market clusters in Springfield MA, Worcester MA and Providence.

Prior to his eleven years with Entercom, Oldread was a Senior Account Manager at Cox Radio Group in Orlando.

Pamal COO Steve Borneman said, "We are absolutely thrilled to have David join Pamal Broadcasting as General Manager/Market Manager of our Albany Cluster. Our six stations will all benefit from David's knowledge, drive and enthusiasm to lead us into the future."

Oldread added, ""I'd like to thank Jim Morrell and Steve Borneman for the opportunity to lead these incredible stations here in Albany. I'm excited to work with our amazingly talented and dedicated staff. Together, we'll do everything in our power to super serve the listeners and advertisers of the Capital Region."

November 28 Radio History


➦In 1917...Elliott Lewis was born in New York City (Died from cardiac arrest at age 72 – May 23, 1990). He was active during the Golden Age of Radio as an actor, writer, producer and director, proficient in both comedy and drama. These talents earned him the nickname "Mr. Radio".

Elliott Lewis made his radio debut in 1936, at the age of 18, in a bit part on a True Boardman-produced biography of Simon Bolivar. Lewis' role was to scream and bang metal chairs, in an earthquake scene.

Elliott Lewis - 1954
As an actor, Lewis was in high demand on radio, and he displayed a talent for everything from comedy to melodrama. He gave voice to the bitter Harvard-educated Soundman on the 1940-41 series of Burns and Allen and several characters (Rudy the radio detective, the quick-tempered delivery man, and Joe Bagley) on the 1947-48 series, many characters on The Jack Benny Radio Show (including the thuggish "Mooley", and cowboy star "Rodney Dangerfield"), a variety of comic and serious characters on the Parkyakarkus show, and Rex Stout's roguish private eye Archie Goodwin, playing opposite Francis X. Bushman in The Amazing Nero Wolfe (1945). He played adventurer Phillip Carney on the Mutual Broadcasting System's Voyage of the Scarlet Queen, and appeared on many episodes of Suspense and The Whistler.

But perhaps Lewis' most famous role on radio was that of the hard-living, trouble-making left-handed guitar player Frankie Remley on NBC's The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show.

During the run of The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, Lewis took over as a director of the well-known radio series Suspense.

In the 1970s, Lewis produced radio dramas during a brief reincarnation of the medium. In 1973-74, he directed Mutual's The Zero Hour, hosted by Rod Serling. In 1979, he and Fletcher Markle produced the Sears Radio Theater, with Sears as the sole sponsor. Lewis wrote the episodes "The Thirteenth Governess" and "Cataclysm at Carbon River" (the latter was pulled by CBS due to its subject matter of a nuclear disaster, and was never aired), and acted on the episodes "Getting Drafted", "The Old Boy", "Here's Morgan Again", "Here's Morgan Once More", and "Survival". [11]

In 1980, the series moved from CBS to Mutual and was renamed The Mutual Radio Theater, sponsored by Sears and other sponsors. Lewis scripted the episodes "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "Our Man on Omega", and acted on the episodes "Interlude", "Night", "Hotel Terminal", and "Lion Hunt".

George Hay
➦In 1925..."The Grand Ole Opry" debuted on WSM, Nashville under the name "Barn Dance". The first artist to perform on the show was fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson.

In June 1928, the Opry got its name by an unusual coincidence: Soon after Program Director George D. Hay started his show, WSM radio joined the NBC radio network. Since the program followed a performance on the network called the Metropolitan Grand Opera. So, Hay decided to call his program the Grand Ole Opry.

Hay was born in Attica, Indiana. In Memphis, Tennessee, after World War I, he was a reporter for the Commercial Appeal, and when the newspaper launched its own radio station, WMC, in January 1923, he became a late-night announcer at the station. His popularity increased and in May 1924 he left for WLS in Chicago, where he served as the announcer on a program that became National Barn Dance.

On November 9, 1925 he moved on to WSM in Nashville. Getting a strong listener reaction to 78-year-old fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson, Hay announced the following month that WSM would feature "an hour or two" of old-time music every Saturday night. He promoted the music and formed a booking agency.

In the 1930s the show began hiring professionals and expanded to four hours; and WSM, broadcasting by then with 50,000 watts, made the program a Saturday night musical tradition in nearly 30 states. In 1939, it debuted nationally on NBC Radio. The Opry moved to a permanent home, the Ryman Auditorium, in 1943. As it developed in importance, so did the city of Nashville, which became America's "country music capital". The Grand Ole Opry holds such significance in Nashville that its name is included on the city/county line signs on all major roadways. The signs read "Music City | Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County | Home of the Grand Ole Opry".



Membership in the Opry remains one of country music's crowning achievements. Such country music legends as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, Roy Acuff, the Carter family, Bill Monroe, Ernest Tubb, Kitty Wells and Minnie Pearl became regulars on the Opry's stage. In recent decades, the Opry has hosted such contemporary country stars as Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Dierks Bentley, Blake Shelton and the Dixie Chicks. Since 1974, the show has been broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House east of downtown Nashville, with an annual three-month winter foray back to the Ryman since 1999.

The Grand Ole Opry is broadcast live on WSM 650 AM at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday nights.

The Opry can also be heard live on Willie's Roadhouse on channel 59 on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. A condensed radio program, America's Opry Weekend, is syndicated to stations around the United States. The program is also streamed on WSM's website.

➦In 1932...Groucho Marx performed on radio for the first time. Besides, his film work Marx is best know for  his show 'You Bet Your Life' debuted in October 1947 on ABC radio (which aired it from 1947 to 1949) and then on CBS (1949–50), and finally NBC. The show was on radio only from 1947 to 1950; on both radio and television from 1950 to 1960; and on television only, from 1960 to 1961.

The show proved a huge hit, being one of the most popular on television by the mid-1950s. With George Fenneman as his announcer and straight man, Marx entertained his audiences with improvised conversation with his guests. Since You Bet Your Life was mostly ad-libbed and unscripted—although writers did pre-interview the guests and feed Marx ready-made lines in advance—the producers insisted that the network prerecord it instead of it being broadcast live.

There were two reasons for this: prerecording provided Marx with time to fish around for funny exchanges and any intervening dead spots to be edited out; and secondly to protect the network, since Marx was a notorious loose cannon and known to say almost anything.

The television show ran for 11 seasons until it was canceled in 1961.

➦In 1960...The CBS Radio Network expanded its Top of the Hours newscasts from 5 to 10 minutes.



➦In 1987...Pat St. John debuted on WNEW 102.7 FM, New York City. He was previously at WPLJ. In April 1973, St. John began an almost 15-year stint at New York's WPLJ. For most of his years at WPLJ he was rated by Arbitron as the most-listened-to afternoon radio personality in America. He survived the station's transition from AOR to top 40 in 1983.

He left WPLJ in 1987, and returned to his rock roots on WNEW-FM, which had been WPLJ's rival during its AOR years. He became the station's program director in the early 1990s while continuing his mid-day show until being asked to do morning-drive (which he did from 1994 through 1996) and then moved to afternoons where then followed Scott Muni who moved to mid-days). St. John remained with the station until it switched to a hot talk format in 1998

➦In 1993...Radio, TV host Garry Moore died of emphysema at age 78 (Born - January 31, 1915).

Starting in 1937, he worked for Baltimore radio station WBAL as an announcer, writer and actor/comedian.  He began a long career with the CBS network on radio in the 1940s and was a television host on several variety and game shows from the 1950s through the 1970s.

He hosted several daytime and prime time TV programs titled The Garry Moore Show, and the game shows I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth. He was instrumental in furthering the career of comedic actress Carol Burnett. He became known for his bow ties and his crew cut fashion  early in his career.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Here's How Apollo-Cox Deal Sidestepped FCC Duopoly Regs


The 121-year old Dayton Daily News and two other Ohio newspapers will shrink to three days a week from daily publication to appease regulators who on Monday approved a $3.1 billion acquisition of Cox TV stations and newspapers by private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

The NY Post reports the Leon Black-led Apollo proposed cutting back the print editions of the Pulitzer Prize winning Dayton Daily, among others, to get around FCC rules banning the same owner from having a TV station and daily newspaper in the same market.

The so-called duopoly rules were all but dead in recent years until a federal appeals court in Philadelphia reimposed them in September — throwing an unexpected wrench into Apollo’s acquisition plans of Cox Media Group.

To sidestep the rules, Apollo in late October proposed cutting the frequency of the three Ohio papers, arguing that since they would no longer be producing a print paper seven days a week and therefore not draw FCC scrutiny.

The FCC Ok’d the plan, which media observers say will likely result in job cuts to an already battered industry.

The duopoly regs did not have an impact on their original owner, Cox, because the company had started the Dayton-based TV station WHIO Channel 7 in 1949 and the duopoly rules to restrict media concentration went into effect in 1975.

The other two papers facing the cuts in print frequency are the Journal-News in Hamilton, Ohio and the Springfield News-Sun in Springfield, Ohio.

“Cox must modify the publication schedule of the three daily newspapers in Ohio in accordance with the representations made in the October 2019 Amendment within 30 days of consummation,” the FCC ruled in approving the merger Monday.

Dayton Daily News editor Jim Bebbington confirmed the news, which is just the latest jolt to newspaper markets as hedge funds and private equity firms buy up the battered newspapers nationally.

Apollo plans to call the new company Cox Media Group once the deal is finalized.