Saturday, November 14, 2020

Nov 15 Radio History



➦In 1919...actress Carol Bruce was born in Great Neck NY. She is best remembered as the domineering station owner Mother Carlson in the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. She also had recurring roles in General Hospital & Knot’s Landing. She died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Oct. 9 2007 at age 87.


➦In 1921...Westinghouse signed-on KYW in Chicago.

At first, it was jointly operated by Westinghouse and Commonwealth Edison, with Westinghouse later taking over as sole operator.

In 1927, Westinghouse affiliated its four radio stations (KYW, KDKA in Pittsburgh, WBZ in Springfield and WBZA in Boston) with the National Broadcasting Company's (NBC) Blue Network, originating from WJZ in New York City, which had been transferred from Westinghouse to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1923. Westinghouse had been a founding partner of RCA, NBC's original parent company.

In 1923, Westinghouse established a station, KFKX in Hastings, Nebraska, located near the center of the country. The station was designed to serve a dual purpose, of providing an agricultural service, and for testing the practicality of using shortwave transmitters to link together radio networks, with KFKX receiving much of its programming by shortwave from KDKA in Pittsburgh. In 1928 the project was abandoned, although it was announced that the KFKX programming was being consolidated with KYW.

Westinghouse now controlled two stations in addition to KYW in the Chicago area: KFKX and WEBH. On September 1, 1928 the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) ordered that their operations should be consolidated.  WEBH was deleted, and the two stations were merged, with a dual call letter assignment of KYW-KFKX, although the latter call sign would be rarely if ever used. On May 15, 1933, after the FRC requested that stations using only one of their assigned call letters drop those that were no longer in regular use, KFKX was eliminated and the station reverted to just KYW.

1934 Advertisement
Under the provisions of the FRC's General Order 40, a sweeping reallocation of station frequency assignments was implemented on November 11, 1928. KYW was assigned to the clear channel frequency of 1020 kHz. However, under the provisions of the "Davis Amendment", eight clear channel frequencies were to be allocated to each of five national regions. Chicago was located in Region 4, while the reallocation provisions had reserved 1020 kHz for use in Region 2, a grouping of mid-Atlantic states.

Westinghouse fought a long legal battle, attempting to keep KYW operating as a clear channel station on 1020 in Chicago. Finally it proposed moving the station to a Region 2 location, settling on Philadelphia.

After broadcasting its last program in Chicago on December 2, 1934, KYW aired its debut Philadelphia program the next day.  The move made KYW the easternmost U.S. radio station with a call sign beginning with "K".  KYW became Philadelphia's NBC-Blue Network outlet, an affiliation that lasted 20 years.

On March 29, 1941, KYW's clear channel assignment was shifted from 1020 to 1060 kHz, its current frequency, as part of a nationwide adjustment of assignments engineered by the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).

KYW acquired a television counterpart in 1953, when Westinghouse bought Channel 3 WPTZ (now KYW-TV), the nation's third commercial television station and NBC's second television affiliate.[18]

In June 1955, Westinghouse agreed to trade 1060 KYW and TV Channel 3 WPTZ to NBC, in exchange for the NBC's Cleveland properties: 1100 WTAM, 105.7 WTAM-FM and Channel 3 WNBK. Westinghouse also received $3 million in cash compensation. The main impetus for the trade was NBC's desire to acquire an owned-and-operated TV station in the fourth-largest American television market. NBC had to receive a waiver for the swap because 1060 KYW and NBC Radio's New York City flagship, 660 WRCA (now WFAN) were both clear channel stations. At the time, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of clear channel stations with overlapping nighttime coverage. After clearing the final regulatory hurdles, the swap went into effect on January 22, 1956.

On February 13, NBC changed KYW's call letters in Philadelphia to WRCV (for the RCA-Victor record label). At the same time, Westinghouse changed the call letters of its new Cleveland station from WTAM to KYW.  The Westinghouse-NBC station swap, and its subsequent reversal nine years later, resulted in two alternate ways to recount KYW's history. In the records of the FCC, the station in Philadelphia on 1060 kHz merely underwent two call letter and ownership changes, taking place in 1956 and 1965. However most KYW histories follow the path of the call letters, and refer to KYW moving from Philadelphia to Cleveland in 1956, then returning to Philadelphia nine years later.

Almost immediately after the NBC-Westinghouse trade was finalized, Westinghouse complained to the FCC and the United States Department of Justice that it had been coerced into making the station swap, including a threat by NBC to revoke Westinghouse's NBC-TV affiliations. A lengthy investigation was launched. In September 1959 the Justice Department issued a decision which, in part, instructed NBC to divest WRCV-AM-TV by the end of 1962. Several months later in early 1960, NBC announced it would trade its Philadelphia stations to RKO General in exchange for that company's Boston outlets. That proposed station swap was held up for nearly four years until the FCC issued a final decision in August 1964. The Commission renewed NBC's licenses for WRCV radio and television, on the condition that the 1956 station swap with Westinghouse be reversed. RKO General initially contested the FCC's decision, but soon gave up its efforts and bowed out of the competition.  Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, Westinghouse regained control of WRCV-AM-TV on June 19, 1965 and subsequently restored the KYW call letters to the radio station.

Today, KYW is owned by Entercom and has been airing an All-News format since 1965.


➦In 1926...
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) began broadcasting comprised of a network of 24 radio stations.




The program was a gala 4½-hour broadcast from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Two remote pickups were also on the program. Opera star Mary Garden sang from Chicago and Will Rogers presented a humorous monologue from Independence, Kansas. Aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh was among the luminaries who attended the broadcast.


➦In 1926...AT&T sold New York’s WEAF radio to RCA.  It was the originating station for most of the early NBC schedule.


➦In 1927...KVOS 1200 AM Bellingham WA signed on the air with 100 watts owned by Rogan Jones.  It is now KGMI 790 AM.

Lionel Barrymore
➦In 1954...actor Lionel Barrymore,  who played Dr. Gillespie to Lew Ayres’ Dr Kildare in the movies & on radio, suffered a fatal heart attack at age 76.   He also was beloved as radio’s Mayor of the Town, and as Scrooge in the annual radio broadcast of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.



➦In 1959...Three ex-members of the Quarrymen -- later to become known as the Beatles' John, Paul, and George -- audition for a British talent program called TV Star Search at the Hippodrome Theatre in Lancashire, appearing as "Johnny and the Moondogs" and performing two Buddy Holly songs: "Think It Over" and "It's So Easy." Unfortunately, the trio is forced to return to Liverpool the same night, having no money to rent a hotel room, and therefore missing out on the next round of auditions.


➦In 2006...Personality Jack Ali, a fixture on Washington rock radio in the 1960s known as "JA the DJ", died at age 64.

Alix, who had a fluid and excitable style, became one of the premier rock deejays in Washington in the early 1960s, first on WEEL-AM and later on WPGC-AM/FM. He also hosted a weekday dance show for teenagers on WDCA-TV (Channel 20) called "Wing Ding," soon renamed "The Jack Alix Show."

He was among those chosen to emcee at Washington Coliseum when the Beatles performed their first U.S. concert there in February 1964. He also hosted the band's later concert at what was then called D.C. Stadium.  "There was only one of the Beatles who took the time to talk, who was friendly, who related on a one-to-one level, and that was Paul McCartney," he later told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "It was like talking to a next-door neighbor."

He hosted "Rock 'n' Roll Roots," a syndicated radio show in the late 1970s and early '80s that aired on more than 140 stations worldwide.


➦In 2007Baseball broadcaster (Cincinnati Reds)/former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Joe Nuxhall died of cancer at 79. Nuxhall was the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game, pitching 2/3 of an inning for the Reds on June 10, 1944 at the age of 15 years, 316 days.


➦In 2014Longtime Baltimore disc jockey (WCBM, WFBR) Joe Knight, known to his listeners as "The Knight of the Spinning Roundtable," died of broken hip complications at 87.


🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
  • Actor Ed Asner is 91. 
  • Singer Petula Clark is 88. 
  • Actor Joanna Barnes (“Spartacus,” ″The Parent Trap”) is 86. 
  • Actor Yaphet Kotto (“Homicide: Life On the Street”) is 81. 
  • Actor Sam Waterston (“Law & Order”) is 80. 
  • Singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA is 75. 
  • Emma Dumont is 26
    Actor Bob Gunton (TV’s “24,” film’s “The Shawshank Redemption”) is 75. 
  • Actor Beverly D’Angelo (“National Lampoon’s Vacation”) is 69. 
  • Actor-director James Widdoes (“Animal House”) is 67. 
  • News correspondent John Roberts is 64. 
  • Bandleader Kevin Eubanks (“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno”) is 63. 
  • Comedian Judy Gold is 58. 
  • Actor Rachel True (“Half and Half”) is 54. 
  • Rapper E-40 is 53. 
  • Country singer Jack Ingram is 50. 
  • Actor Jonny Lee Miller (“Elementary,” “Eli Stone”) is 48. 
  • Actor Sydney Tamiia Poitier-Heartsong (“Carter,” “Veronica Mars”) is 47. 
  • Drummer David Carr of Third Day is 46. 
  • Singer Chad Kroeger of Nickelback is 46. 
  • Drummer Jesse Sandoval (The Shins) is 46. 
  • Actor Virginie Ledoyen (“The Beach”) is 44. 
  • Actor Sean Murray (“NCIS”) is 43. 
  • Rapper B.o.B is 32. 
  • Actor Shailene Woodley is 29. 
  • Actor Emma Dumont (“Bunheads”) is 26.

NFL TV Ratings Dip Six Percent



The NFL Games are averaging 15.1 million television and digital viewers, according to The Associated Press citing the league and Nielsen, a 6% decline from last year. Despite the decreases, all but four of the top 30 shows since the season began have been NFL games.

“Considering all the issues the NFL has had to deal with, the ratings are OK,” said Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who now runs his own sports television consulting company. “It hasn’t been a great year for ratings considering everything that has happened, but they aren’t in the toilet either.”

Sports consultant Marc Ganis cited the lack of preseason games to build up fan interest, and all four major professional sports playing in September as other reasons for this year’s slow start.

The ratings also didn’t suffer precipitous declines compared to the last presidential election cycle in 2016, when they were down 14% compared to 2015.

The Thursday and Sunday night packages have suffered the biggest declines with each package down 16%.

 “I think the election was kind of a pivotal moment. We have seen the skyrocketing of cable news ratings. Now that the election (story) is nearing an end I think people will go back to kind of normal consumption patterns. So we think we have weathered the storm,” NBC Sports Group chairman Pete Bevacqua said. “We really believe with the schedule, particularly with us having the ability to flex games, should be unbelievably strong as we enter into the second half of the season.”

It’s not all bad news for primetime packages: ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” numbers were flat through the first eight weeks at 11.71 million.

CBS has rallied over the past five weeks and is down only 1%, while Fox has had a 6% decline. Both networks have faced competition from cable news, especially during the early afternoon window. The late afternoon numbers for both are flat.

In what isn’t a surprise, Brady’s move to Tampa Bay has translated to huge interest. The Buccaneers’ local ratings are up 29% from last season, the biggest year-over-year gain.

Las Vegas Radio: Programming Vet Cat Thomas Joins Beasley Media

Beasley Media Group announces Cat Thomas has been named Operations Manager of the company’s Las Vegas radio cluster, including KCYE-FM, KKLZ-FM, KDWN-AM, KOAS-FM and KVGS-FM. Thomas will officially begin his new position on Monday, November 16, 2020.

The radio veteran most recently served as the Operations Manager and Program Director of KNOU-FM, KYKY-FM and KEZK-FM in St. Louis. Previously, Thomas spent 27 years working as Vice President of Contemporary Formats at Cumulus Media and Vice President of Programming of Entercom’s Las Vegas properties, where he also served as an on-air personality.

“Cat’s knowledge of the market and leadership experience will be invaluable to our success across the breadth of our station group,” said Beasley Media Group Las Vegas Vice President and Market Manager Peter Burton. “We are thrilled to have him join our team!”

“Sometimes the stars align,” said Thomas. “I couldn’t be more excited to join the outstanding family at Beasley Las Vegas. “The company has shown to be the top of the class when it comes to local broadcasting and audience engagement. Many thanks to Brian Beasley, Peter Burton, Justin Chase and Mike O’Brian for their incredible support!”

Social Media Wonders: This Is CNN?

CNN has raised some eyebrows after comparing President Donald Trump's tenure in the White House to Nazi Germany, reports Newsweek.

The network's chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, made the comparison during her show's introduction on Thursday, prompting backlash on social media.

"This week, 82 years ago, Kristallnacht happened," Amanpour said. Kristallnacht, also known as the "Night of Broken Glass," occurred the night of November 9-10, 1938, when Nazis killed nearly 100 people and vandalized thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues

"It was the Nazis' warning shot across the bow of our human civilization that led to genocide against a whole identity, and in that tower of burning books, it led to an attack on fact, knowledge, history and truth," the CNN anchor said.

Amanpour continued, "After four years of a modern-day assault on those same values by Donald Trump, the Biden-Harris team pledges a return to norms, including the truth."

StopAntisemitism.org, which describes itself as part of a nonprofit foundation that "works to hold antisemites accountable and to create consequences for their bigoted actions," called on CNN and Amanpour to "stop using the horrors of the Holocaust to justify an agenda."






Milwaukee TV Anchor Suspended Over McConnell Posting

 A Milwaukee news anchor is off the air for a mean-spirited social media post questioning why “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died this year while Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell keeps on ticking.

The NY Post reports Ted Perry, WITI’s main anchor for its 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, was suspended by the Fox-owned and -operated station for a Facebook post on his personal page in the aftermath of Trebek’s Sunday death at 80 due to pancreatic cancer, sources close to the matter told The Post on Friday.

Ted Perry
“2020 takes Alex Trebek but leaves Mitch McConnell?” Perry wrote in the since-deleted post, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. “Just end already.”

Perry, 56, shut down his Twitter account and personal Facebook page following the controversial post. He still maintains a Facebook profile via the Fox affiliate, but hasn’t posted there since Saturday.

A message seeking comment from station reps, as well as Perry, was not immediately returned early Friday. Meanwhile, sources told The Post it’s unclear when Perry would be back on the airwaves.

Perry apologized for the post, which led to blowback both on Facebook and Twitter, including from conservatives who said the comment revealed the anchor’s “bias,” while others called for him to be fired. Hours later, he took it down, the Journal Sentinel reported.

“I made a statement on my personal page that was insensitive and does not reflect my journalist values and I was not speaking on behalf of my employer,” Perry’s mea culpa read. “I deeply apologize for my inappropriate and outrageous comments and have deleted them accordingly.”

Perry, an Illinois native, joined the station in 1993, according to his bio. It’s unclear whether he’ll be paid during his time off, the Journal Sentinel reported.

500 Gannett Staffers Take Voluntary Buyouts


USA Today’s parent company Gannett, the nation’s biggest newspaper chain, reportedly will see 500 employees take voluntary buyouts that were offered to the company’s 21,000 workers in October, reports The NY Post.

Over 40 percent of the buyouts, or some 214 staffers, are from the editorial side, according to Poynter.org, which obtained a list of all the jobs on the buyout list. That includes 124 reporters, 19 photojournalists, seven managing editors, three executive editors and 61 editors.

Poynter said that 600 people had applied for buyouts, but Gannett only accepted 500.

The old Gannett was taken over last November in a $1.4 billion acquisition by New Media Investment Group, the parent of Gatehouse Media, but the newly combined company continued to operate under Gannett name. At the time, then CEO Paul Bascobert said frontline reporters “are the last place we want to touch” when it comes to job cuts.

But the coronavirus upended those plans. The company instituted executive pay cuts and furloughs across its more than 250 daily papers in late March. Bascobert’s job was eliminated in June and Michael Reed, the CEO of the parent company, took over his job.

In its third quarter ending Sept. 30, operating revenue was down 19.6 percent compared to a year earlier to $814.5 million, although the company said the decline had slowed from the second quarter when it had collapsed by 28 percent.

In one bright spot, the company said it had passed one million paid digital-only subscribers. But digital ads were down 13. 5 percent and print advertising was down 30.9 percent int he quarter..

R.I.P.: Bob Hamilton, Iconic 'Voice of KMOX'

Screenshot of Radio.com

KMOX has confirmed that one of St. Louis' iconic radio voices, Bob Hamilton, 82, has died due to complications with COVID-19.

He was in the hospital for five days and died on Thursday night. The first day Hamilton was entertaining staff who recognized his voice, but then for four days he was intubated on a ventilator, according to his longtime friend Dennis Potter.

Potter says he died of kidney failure.

Hamilton, known for decades at "The Voice of KMOX" from the 1980s to early 2000s. He won several awards for his work at KMOX was even asked to continue working at the station past the retirement age of 65, according to STLMediaHistory.org.

He began his radio career in Fulton, Mo and in 1982 was hired at KMOX.


"I sang in the church choir when I was little, but I don't think I was that good. In high school, I always wanted to be in radio -- the people in radio were my heroes," Hamilton explained to the Riverfront Times when he was named "Best Radio Voice in 2000. "So I would just spend hours and hours reading the newspaper into a tape recorder. I would listen to the people I thought were the best, and I would borrow a little from this and a little from that and come up with something."

Nov 14 Radio History


➦In 1901...singer Morton Downey was born in Wallingford Connecticut. His national radio appearances began in 1930, in 1932 he was voted Radio Singer of the Year. In 1949 he debuted on TV, hosting the show Star of the Family in the 1950′s.

He died of a stroke at age 83, Oct. 25 1985.



➦In 1920...singer Johnny Desmond was born in Detroit.   He was featured on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club (radio& TV), and was a regular on TV’s Your Hit Parade, Face the Music & Songs for Sale.   He died from cancer Sept. 6 1985 at age 64.


➦In 1921...Chicago radio station KYW broadcast the first opera by a professional company. Listeners heard ‘Samson Et Dalila’ as it was being performed at the Chicago Auditorium.

The first words ever broadcast in Chicago were, "My God, but it's dark in here!"

Mary Garden
According to radio historian Rich Samuels, they were spoken by Mary Garden, world-class soprano and director of the Chicago Grand Opera Association. They were uttered 98 years ago tonight on radio station KYW, licensed to the Westinghouse Manufacturing and Electric Company.

Ms. Garden said what she said because she couldn't see: the area where she was standing was lit by a single bare light bulb.

In 1934, the assignment of clear channels took a frequency away from Illinois and gave it to Pennsylvania, resulting in Westinghouse moving KYW to Philadelphia.  KYW used the frequency of 1020 AM at the time.

In March 1941, KYW changed frequencies to 1060 AM as part of a nationwide shift of radio frequencies mandated by the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement. KYW and the other Westinghouse radio stations remained with NBC after RCA was ordered by the FCC to break up its radio networks, aligning with the former Red Network (the predecessor of modern-day NBC) in 1942. KYW acquired a television counterpart when Westinghouse bought WPTZ (channel 3) – the nation's third commercial television station and NBC's second television affiliate – in 1953.

In June 1955, Westinghouse agreed to trade KYW and WPTZ to NBC in exchange for the network's properties in Cleveland, WNBK TV and WTAM-AM-FM. Westinghouse also received $3 million in cash compensation.  The main impetus for the trade was NBC's desire to acquire an owned-and-operated television station in the fourth-largest American television market. NBC had to seek a waiver for the swap since KYW and NBC Radio's New York City flagship, WRCA (now WFAN) were both clear channel stations; at the time, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of clear-channel stations with overlapping nighttime coverage.

After clearing final regulatory hurdles, the swap went into effect on February 13, 1956. NBC took over the Philadelphia stations, rechristening 1060 AM as WRCV (for the RCA-Victor record label), and Westinghouse moved the KYW call letters to Cleveland.

However, almost immediately after the trade was finalized, Westinghouse complained to the FCC and the Department of Justice about NBC's coercion and an lengthy investigation was launched.  In August 1964, NBC's license for WRCV radio and television was renewed by the FCC – but only on the condition that the 1956 station swap be reversed.  Following nearly a year of appeals by NBC, Westinghouse regained control of WRCV-AM-TV on June 19, 1965 and subsequently restored the KYW call letters to the radio station (the television station became KYW-TV at this point).  To this day, the KYW stations insist that they "moved" to Cleveland in 1956 and "returned" to Philadelphia in 1965.


➦In 1922...The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began its domestic radio service.


➦In 1994...FCC adopted EAS rules.

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997, when it superseded the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), which in turn superseded the CONELRAD System.

It is jointly coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The EAS regulations and standards are governed by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC.

As with its predecessors, the system is primarily designed to allow the president to address the country via all radio and television stations, in the event of a national emergency. Despite this, neither the system nor its predecessors have been used in this manner, due to the ubiquity of news coverage in these situations. In practice, it is more commonly used to distribute information regarding imminent threats to public safety, such as severe weather situations (including flash floods and tornadoes), AMBER Alerts of child abductions, and other civic emergencies.

Authorized organizations are able to disseminate and coordinate emergency alerts and warning messages through EAS.


➦In 1996...WMXV 105.1 FM in NYC  premiered new Modern Adult Rock format, branding as as "The Buzz", with calls of WDBZ becoming official on November 29, 1996.

"The Buzz" turned out to be a failure, however, and less than a year later (August 5, 1997) switched back to its old call letters of WNSR and became a Hot AC station (later just strict AC) by the end of 1997. WNSR was also short-lived, when in January 1998, they started the "Big 105" phase.

Calls were changed to WBIX on April 13, 1998, and the format evolved back to Hot AC, and later Modern AC.

On December 4, 1998, 105.1 switched to a format that was sweeping the country: Jammin' Oldies - dance/disco music from the 60's to the 80's.

The station initially held a contest to name themselves. On Christmas Eve 1998, the name chosen was "Jammin' 105". Calls were officially changed to WTJM on March 1, 1999.

In 2001, with the Jammin Oldies craze dying down, WTJM refocused their playlist somewhat, to become a borderline Urban AC with the slogan "Jammin' 105-1: The Heart & Soul Of New York."

On March 14, 2002, 105.1 switched to a Rhythmic CHR format as "Power 105.1", going head-to-head with "Hot 97".

On April 12, 2002, 105.1 changed calls to WWPR. Today, the station is owned by iHeartMedia.


➦In 2000...Radio/TV Newsman Robert Trout, who spent 68 years at CBS, died of congestive heart failure at 91.


➦In 2016...Gwen Ifill, a groundbreaking journalist who covered the White House, Congress and national campaigns during three decades for The Washington Post, The New York Times, & NBC: and, latterly, was co-anchor on The PBS News Hour and host of Washington Week, died of uterine cancer at age 61.


➦In 2016...country singer Holly Dunn succumbed to ovarian cancer at age 59.

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
  • Actor Kathleen Hughes (“Babe”) is 92. 
  • Writer P.J. O’Rourke is 73. 
  • Guitarist James Young of Styx is 71. 
  • Musician Stephen Bishop is 69. 
  • Vanessa Bayer is 39
    Pianist Yanni is 66. 
  • Actor D.B. Sweeney is 59. 
  • Actor Laura San Giacomo (“Just Shoot Me”) is 59. 
  • Rapper Reverend Run of Run-DMC is 56. 
  • Actor Patrick Warburton (“The Tick,” ″Seinfeld”) is 56. 
  • Singer Jeanette Jurado of Expose’ is 55. 
  • Bassist Brian Yale of Matchbox Twenty is 52. 
  • Singer Butch Walker (Marvelous 3) is 51. 
  • Actor Josh Duhamel (Film’s “Transformers,” TV’s “Las Vegas”) is 48. 
  • Drummer Travis Barker of Blink-182 is 45. 
  • Drummer Robby Shaffer of MercyMe is 45. 
  • Actor Brian Dietzen (“NCIS”) is 43. 
  • Rapper Shyheim is 43. 
  • Bassist Tobin Esperance of Papa Roach is 41. 
  • Comedian Vanessa Bayer (“Saturday Night Live”) is 39. 
  • Actor Russell Tovey (“Quantico”) is 39. 
  • Actor Cory Michael Smith (“Gotham”) is 34. 
  • Actor Graham Patrick Martin (“Major Crimes,” “Two and a Half Men”) is 29.

Friday, November 13, 2020

NEPA Radio: John Webster, Longtime AM Host To Retire

After 40 years on NEPA radio, John Webster is signing off.

The Citizen's Voice reports Webster, 63, who has co-hosted WILK’s "Morning News with Webster and Nancy" alongside Nancy Kman for the last 10 years, said he will retire in mid-December.

“I thought after 40 years, the 3 a.m. alarm clock has finally taken its toll,” Webster said.

Webster started out at the college radio station at East Stroudsburg University and got his first part-time news job in 1980 on Saturday mornings at WCDL in Carbondale.

For 25 years, he was half of the "Daniels and Webster" morning team on Times-Shamrock Communications' WEZX Rock 107.

His partner on that show, Jay Daniels, died in 2015 at age 61 after battling an illness.

Webster left Rock 107 in 2010 to co-host the morning show at WILK, which is owned by Entercom Communications.

He joked that he chose to work in radio because of “laziness and lack of ambition.”

Entercom has been advertising for a replacement for Webster and interviewing potential candidates but has not yet made a decision, said Entercom general manager Ryan Flynn.

Flynn called Webster a “legend” in Northeast Pennsylvania and a valuable member of the WILK team for more than 10 years.

“I can tell you his slightly irreverent, anti-establishment persona on-air is very real and not just an on-air character,” Flynn said.

“We just gave him the tools he needed to be successful and got out of his way,” Flynn said. "John is definitely a 'work smarter' type of guy and a great example is how he incorporated one of his favorite hobbies into a show feature called the 'Friday Morning Beer Buzz.' That feature quickly turned into an award-winning benchmark on the station.”

Kman said she will miss Webster’s humor the most.

“He could find something funny in the most mundane things,” she said. “John is so naturally funny. There has never been a dull day or dull topic in talk radio.”

K-C Radio: Roxanne Marati To Manage Entercom Cluster



Entercom has promoted Roxanne Marati as Senior Vice President and Market Manager for Entercom Kansas City, effective December 1. 

In this role, she will oversee Entercom’s leading portfolio of Kansas City stations, including 106.5 The Wolf (WDAF-FM), 1660 The Score (KWOD-AM), 610 Sports Radio (KCSP-AM), 98.1 KMBZ FM (KMBZ-FM), 98.9 The Rock (KQRC-FM), 99.7 The Point (KZPT-FM), ALT 96.5 (KRBZ-FM) and Talk 980 AM (KMBZ-AM). Marati previously served as Vice President of Sales for Entercom Denver since 2013.

Roxanne Marati
“It has been a pleasure to watch Roxanne grow and deliver results the last seven years as our Vice President of Sales,” said Doug Abernethy, Regional President, Entercom. “She is a dynamic leader and a great fit to lead our collection of assets in Kansas City and I am thrilled to continue to work alongside her in this new chapter in her career.”

“I am so grateful for my career and years with Entercom Denver and couldn’t be more excited to lead the Kansas City team,” said Marati. “Kansas City has an amazing group of talent along with market-leading brands and portfolio of assets. Entercom is such an innovative, forward-thinking company and I am excited for what the future holds for both the organization as well as the community we serve.”

Marati is a seasoned radio industry executive with over 20 years of experience. She joined Entercom in 2006, serving in roles including Director of Business Development, Integrated Media and Event Director and most recently Vice President of Sales for Entercom Denver. She also currently serves in leadership positions with Children’s Hospital Colorado and American Heart Association.

Futuristic Audio Tech Will Beam Music Directly To Your Head

New futuristic audio technology developed in Israel allows music to be played in a person’s head without any headphones or wires.

The NY Post reports Noveto Systems is launching its new desktop device — the SoundBeamer 1.0 — on Friday, promising customers the chance to listen to music, watch TV and play computer games with little chance of disturbing anyone else.

The product works by using something called “sound beaming.” It employs a 3-D sensing module that first locates and then tracks the ear’s position and uses ultrasonic waves to send audio to the listener, creating sound pockets around their ears.

While sound beaming is not new, Noveto has created the first branded consumer item to employ the tech and has plans to unveil a “smaller, sexier” version of the prototype in time for Christmas 2021.

This week, buyers will have the option of using a traditional stereo sound, which will hit both ears evenly, or a 3-D option that creates a 360 degree audio experience that envelopes the listener, the company said.

“The listening sensation is straight out of a sci-fi movie. The 3-D sound is so close it feels like it’s inside your ears while also in front, above and behind them,” the Associated Press said after a recent demo.

“The demo includes nature video clips of swans on a lake, bees buzzing and a babbling brook, where the listener feels completely transported into the scene.”

Somehow, the device knows which ears to target and follows the listener wherever they go without the need to give directions.

Because the device is headphone-free, the listener can still hear other things going on in the room.


Noveto expects the new product to be an earphone-free solution to many of life’s mundane annoyances. Office workers can play music or listen to conference calls without bothering their colleagues and people in relationships can blast their favorite Metallica album horror movie with little chance of disturbing their significant other.

The AM Rundown: Feds Say Election Was 'Most Secure' In History


The top state and federal officials and election technology companies that run U.S. elections said yesterday that the November 3rd election was, quote, "the most secure in American history." As attorneys for President Trump continue to file unsuccessful legal claims in several states challenging the vote count, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency said, "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised," and said Americans should have confidence in the results, even though, quote, "we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections."

Meanwhile, Republicans largely continued to stand with Trump in his refusal as yet to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, but there was a little bit of movement. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, both of them Republicans, both said yesterday that Biden is the president-elect, joining the small number of other GOP governors and senators who've also done so. A few Republican senators, while not yet conceding the win to Biden, said out of concern over the national security implications that Biden should begin receiving the intelligence briefings that presidents-elect get during the transition. GOP Senators Chuck Grassley, Lindsey Graham and James Lankford were those saying Biden should be getting the briefing. Biden is otherwise continuing to move forward with the transition, but it's complicated by the administration refusing to grant him access to the funding and resources that are earmarked for presidents-elect during a transition. 


Arizona Called for Biden: Nine days after the election, most news outlets finally called Arizona for President-elect Joe Biden. NBC News projected it first last night, quickly followed by CNN, ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, and other news organizations that rely on Edison Research. Only Fox News and the Associated Press had called the state, giving it to Biden on Election Night. Georgia and North Carolina are the only states still not called due to their close vote.


Pope Congratulates Biden in Phone Call: Pope Francis congratulated President-elect John Biden in a phone call yesterday, with Biden's transition team saying in a statement that he'd told the pontiff he'd like to work together on issues including "caring for the marginalized and the poor, addressing the crisis of climate change, and welcoming and integrating immigrants." Biden is just the second Catholic to be elected president, along with John F. Kennedy. 

Wall Street Journal 11/13/20







➤SOME SCHOOLS SYSTEMS PULL BACK FROM IN-PERSON CLASSES AMID NATIONWIDE CORONAVIRUS SURGE: As the coronavirus continues to surge nationwide, some schools systems are pulling back from in-person classes, including in Detroit, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and suburban Minneapolis, and New York City on the brink of doing so if test positivity rates reach three percent. A growing number of hospitals are becoming overburdened as cases soar and hospitalizations have reached record numbers. Deaths are also rising, with daily deaths up more than 40 percent over the past two weeks to more than 1,000 a day.

➤TROPICAL STORM ETA KILLS SIX IN FLORIDA, NORTH CAROLINA: Tropical Storm Eta finally moved out into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday after it dropped large amounts of rain on the Southeast, killing one person in Florida and causing flooding that killed five in North Carolina, where it joined up with a cold front. Eta moved through northern Florida yesterday from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic, after making landfall north of Tampa in the morning. Eta moving into the Atlantic came after the storm made four landfalls: first in Nicaragua last week as a Category 4 hurricane, then on Cuba Sunday and the Florida Keys later that day as a tropical storm, followed by yesterday's landfall.

➤JUSTICE DEPT. SAYS ACOSTA USED 'POOR JUDGMENT' IN JEFFREY EPSTEIN PROBE: A Justice Department report found that former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta exercised, quote, "poor judgment" in his handling of a investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than a decade ago when he was a top federal prosecutor in Florida, according to the Associated Press. However, the report says he didn't engage in professional misconduct. The Justice Department investigated Acosta’s handling of a secret plea deal with Epstein, who'd been accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. Epstein's victims had hoped the probe would hold Justice Department officials accountable for actions they say allowed Epstein to escape justice. Under the secret plea deal, Epstein didn't face serious federal charges and was instead allowed to plead guilty to lesser state prostitution-related charges. He spent 13 months in jail, and was allowed to leave and go to his office almost every day. The wealthy financier committed suicide in jail in New York in August 2019 after being federally charged for sex trafficking.

➤REP. DON YOUNG, OLDEST MEMBER OF CONGRESS, POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS: Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who at 87 is the oldest member of Congress, announced yesterday that he'd tested positive for the coronavirus. Young, who was just reelected to another term, shared the news on Twitter, saying, "I am feeling strong, following proper protocols, working from home in Alaska and ask for privacy at this time." Older people have a heightened risk from the coronavirus.

➤WORLD HAD HIGHEST NUMBER OF MEASLES CASES IN 23 YEARS IN 2019: The number of children around the world who got the measles in 2019 was the highest in 23 years, according to data out yesterday from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study said there were nearly 870,000 cases last year, and there were 207,500 deaths, up by almost 50 percent since 2016. Officials blamed the record number of cases on a significant drop in children being vaccinated.

➤STUDY: TOO LATE TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING:
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports yesterday said that it's too late to stop climate change by reducing emissions, and the only way to stop warming is to extract, quote, "enormous amounts of carbon dioxide" from the atmosphere. The researchers said that even if greenhouse gas emissions were reduced to zero today, global temperatures will continue to rise, and cause sea levels to rise, for centuries. By 2500, the study said the planet's temperature will be about 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was in 1850, and sea levels will be about eight feet higher. Some experts, however, cited shortcomings with the study's model, while saying that it does point out that reducing carbon emissions is just part of what needs to be done.

🏈COLTS TOP TITANS 34-17: The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Tennessee Titans 34-17 in Nashville last night. The Titans had been leading 17-13 at halftime, but didn't score again as the Colts added 14 points in the third quarter and another seven points in the fourth. Indianapolis quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 308 yards and a touchdown, and passed Hall of Famer Dan Marino into fifth place for most passing yards in NFL history.

🏌CASEY IN LEAD AFTER OPENING ROUND AT THE MASTERS: British golfer Paul Casey is at the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the Masters Thursday at Augusta National in Georgia, which was being played seven months later than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic. Casey scored a 7-under 65, giving him a two-shot lead. Tiger Woods opened with a 4-under 68, his best-ever first round at the Masters. Because of rain delays, some players will have to finish their opening rounds today.

⚾BRAVES' FREEMAN, WHITE SOX'S ABREU WIN MVP: The Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox, both of them first basemen, won the MVP award on Thursday, Freeman in the National League and Abreu in the American League. Freeman hit .341 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in the coronavirus-shortened, 60-game season. Abreu led the majors with 60 RBIs and 148 total bases, batting .317 with 19 home runs.

➤IVY LEAGUE CANCELS WINTER SPORTS DUE TO PANDEMIC: The Ivy League canceled all winter sports yesterday, including men's and women's basketball, due to the coronavirus pandemic, becoming the first Division I conference to do so. The decision came 13 days before the scheduled start of the college basketball season. The Ivy League cited the, quote, "current trends regarding transmission," as the coronavirus is surging across the country. 

➤COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF, BOWL GAMES COULD BE POSTPONED: The College Football Playoff and the six New Year's bowl games could be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told Sirius XM Thursday that there have been discussions about moving back the playoff and the six bowl games. There have been 57 games canceled or postponed because of coronavirus outbreaks. Another two were added yesterday, when Saturday's games between Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech and between Rice and Louisiana Tech were called off.

Streaming Soars At Disney


Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+ streaming service turned one year old on Thursday, as the compoany posted its second consecutive quarterly loss from the effects of the pandemic which continued to ravage core businesses like theme parks and movie distribution that aren’t expected to return to normal in the foreseeable future, reports The Wall Street Journal. 

But the quarantine life has accelerated a pivot in the way Disney casts itself to Wall Street, and increasingly how investors see the world’s largest entertainment company. With movie theaters closed and TV production stalled, Disney’s streaming efforts have become the focus—and promise—of a company otherwise marked by layoffs and unprecedented losses. On Thursday, the streaming business delivered.

Subscriptions to Disney+ hit 73.7 million as of Oct. 3, the company said, up from more than 60 million reported in August.

“The real bright spot has been our direct-to-consumer business,” said Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek, referring to the division that includes the company’s streaming operations.

Analysts and investors have accepted that Disney faces some bruising quarters before it returns to full operations, putting an even brighter spotlight on Disney+ and prompting some on Wall Street to treat the company less like an entertainment stock and more like a tech one. That has helped Disney shares weather quarterly reports that would have seemed unlikely—if not impossible—at the company a year ago. When the company reported a nearly $5 billion loss for the three months ended June 27, it was the first quarterly loss since 2001.

Still, the three months ended Oct. 3 deprived Disney of critical summer months of tourism and moviegoing. Operating income in the company’s studio-entertainment division fell 61% as thousands of theaters remain closed.

The theme-park business was even more severely hit. Disney said it estimated the spread of Covid-19 had caused a $2.4 billion hit to its parks division.

At Disney and other major Hollywood studios, the pandemic has accelerated a shift toward streaming services that count on subscriptions, rather than box-office grosses, to boost the bottom line. Major releases such as Pixar Entertainment’s forthcoming “Soul” are skipping a theatrical release and premiering on Disney+, an approach Mr. Chapek said the company will continue to take as theaters remain closed.

Disney’s sports-oriented ESPN+ streaming service registered 10.3 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, and its Hulu service had 36.6 million subscribers. Of the three, Disney+ continues to yield the lowest average monthly revenue per paid subscriber, at $4.52, owing in part to a $6.99 monthly subscription fee that is lower than most competitors.

Behind the scenes, Disney has reorganized its corporate structure to make streaming an even bigger priority than it was before the pandemic closed movie theaters. Under a plan unveiled last month, Disney created programming divisions for movies, general entertainment and sports. Executives in charge of greenlighting movies and TV shows will be centralized in a distribution arm that determines where a given project premieres—on a streaming service, a TV network or in movie theaters.

The past several months have seen Disney take drastic measures to stanch revenue declines. Earlier this month, Disney’s ESPN cut about 10% of its workforce—or about 500 jobs—through layoffs and attrition.

That was minimal compared with the job cuts announced in late September, when the company laid off approximately 28,000 workers from its domestic theme parks. These employees had been furloughed since April, collecting health benefits but not paychecks. The job losses could mount, since Disney World continues to operate at partial capacity and Disneyland remains closed.

Pandemic Also Hurts Disney Movies, Cruise Biz

The coronavrius outbreak forced The Walt Disney Company to close theme parks, suspend cruises and delay movie releases. Disney said the pandemic reduced profit at its parks unit by $2.4 billion, reports Reuters. 

“Even with the disruption caused by COVID-19, we’ve been able to effectively manage our businesses while also taking bold, deliberate steps to position our company for greater long-term growth,” CEO Bob Chapek said in a statement.

The parks have started to welcome back visitors, though a rise in cases in Europe and the United States threatens that progress.

During the quarter, most of Disney’s theme parks, including its flagship resort in Florida, had reopened but with limited attendance, mask requirements and other safeguards. The parks and consumer products business lost $1.1 billion in operating income, less than analysts expected.

Disneyland in California has been shut since March, and Disneyland Paris was forced to close for a second time in October as virus cases spiked in France. The prospect of a coronavirus vaccine in 2021 could be crucial to the parks.

Chapek said Florida’s Walt Disney World had reduced the number of people who can visit to 35% of normal capacity. Thanksgiving week is close to fully reserved, he said.

The company also is seeing “very, very strong” demand for cruise ship bookings in the second half of fiscal 2021 and all of fiscal 2022, Chapek said.

At the media networks segment, the resumption of major sports helped boost ESPN. The unit reported $1.9 billion in operating income, up 5% from a year earlier.

Movie studio profit slumped 61% to $419 million, as the company delayed major films until 2021 and many theaters remained closed.

Disney said it will forgo its semi-annual dividend for the second half of fiscal 2020 to finance its streaming business.

Millennials, Generation Z Form the Bedrock of Disney+

Disney+ and Apple TV+ entered the streaming marketplace at about the same time, with different approaches to conquering the streaming wars: Walt Disney Co. leveraged its recognizable brands to draw in subscribers, while Apple Inc. invested in high-profile Hollywood names, such as Reese Witherspoon and Steven Spielberg. 

Now, roughly one year after their respective launches, Morning Consult Brand Intelligence data confirms that Disney+ has found its audience — namely Generation Z adults and millennials, many of whom are parents — within its first year and that consumer use of the service has remained consistent throughout the pandemic, positioning Disney+ as a competitor with other established streaming services, while Apple TV+ will need to focus on building its library to compete. 

“Disney+ has been a really strong success for Disney, so much so that Disney has really refocused significant parts of its business to really bolster that and to make it even more successful in the future,” said Brett Sappington, vice president at Interpret, a global market research company specializing in the entertainment industry. As of June 27, Disney+ had 57.5 million subscribers, according to Disney’s earnings report for the fiscal third quarter. And in October, the company announced it would undergo a strategic reorganization to build on its streaming strategy. 

Morning Consult data shows that since its November 2019 release, 10 percent of U.S. adults use Apple TV+ at least once a week, on average, compared with 26 percent who said the same of Disney+. 

Allen Adamson, a founder and managing partner of brand marketing firm Metaforce, said Disney and Apple’s established reputations contributed to the reception of their streaming offerings. 

“Disney has been creating content since Mickey Mouse,” he said. “Apple has been in the computer business.” When customers think of Disney, they think of things to watch, he said, but Apple brings to mind devices or things to use. 

Sappington added that Disney’s library of content dwarfed Apple’s offerings at launch, and that by offering exclusive access to favorite Disney titles, the Mouse House was able to satisfy subscribers who had finished watching the new releases, an advantage Apple TV+ does not share.


Usage frequency of Disney+ is higher among members of Gen Z and millennials, and has remained consistent, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, undermining early assumptions some had about the service.

Philly Radio: KYW Newsradio Shuffles Its Lineup



Entercom announces a revamped weekday on-air lineup for Newsradio KYW in Philadelphia. Ahead of its historic simulcast on 103.9 FM on November 23, KYW Newsradio elevates Denise Nakano to midday anchor and Jay Scott Smith to afternoon anchor. Current afternoon anchor Ian Bush will transition to serve as morning co-anchor with Carol MacKenzie. Michelle Durham will continue in her role as afternoon anchor. All changes are effective November 23.

Ian Bush, Denise Nakano, and Jay Scott Smith

“As KYW Newsradio broadens its reach on crystal-clear 103.9 FM, we are happy to expand the roles of these outstanding journalists,” said David Yadgaroff, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom Philadelphia. “Ian, Jay, and Denise bring invaluable experience and insight that will help Philadelphia’s most-trusted news team serve our region at this critical time and beyond.”

“Great things are happening at KYW Newsradio including the expansion to FM and I’m thrilled to be a part of this growing, diverse news team,” said Nakano.

Denise Nakano joined KYW Newsradio as a fill-in anchor in the summer of 2020 after 17 years as an anchor and reporter for NBC10 in Philadelphia, following stints in Seattle, Syracuse, and California. She is an Edward R. Murrow and multi-Emmy Award-winning journalist, as well as an active member of and previous National Board Representative of the Asian American Journalists Association.

“I am grateful for this opportunity and I’m looking forward to being a part of this new era at KYW Newsradio,” said Smith. “I’ve dedicated the last 16 years of my life to helping tell people’s stories — including the last five in Philadelphia — and I’m happy to be a part of a newsroom that looks and feels like the city of Philadelphia.”

Jay Scott Smith is an award-winning multimedia journalist who joined KYW Newsradio as a part-time anchor in 2019 after stints at media outlets in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Detroit. He is a winner of two Best Sports Feature awards and a Best Newscast honor from the Associated Press, and is a past Vice President of Broadcast for the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists.

“Waking up Philadelphia and the suburbs is an honor and a responsibility I don’t take lightly,” said Bush. “I’m excited to work with Carol [MacKenzie, morning co-anchor] and the team to tell our listeners what they need to know so they can get a head start on their day.”

Bush joined KYW Newsradio in 2002 and has served as the station’s afternoon anchor since 2019. He has also served as a reporter, news editor, and technology editor, and is the recipient of three Edward R. Murrow awards for his coverage of Villanova’s national championship in 2016. Bush will succeed longtime morning co-anchor Brandon Brooks, who is retiring.

Bush, Smith, and Nakano will all contribute to KYW Newsradio’s growing array of digital offerings, including original podcasts, KYWNewsradio.com, smart speakers, and the RADIO.COM app.


All changes will be effective Nov. 23, when KYW officially begins simulcasting on 103.9 FM. Parent company Entercom Communications Corp. acquired 103.9 FM (now WPHI) via a station swap with Silver Spring, Maryland-based Urban One last week. The station currently has a hip hop format.

Listeners can tune in to KYW Newsradio (WPHI-FM/KYW-AM) in Philadelphia on air, as well as nationwide on the RADIO.COM app and website. Fans can also connect with the station on social media via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Albany NY Radio: WGY's Host Chuck Custer To Retire

WGY's Chuck Custer

iHeartMedia Albany’s News Radio WGY 810 AM & 103.1 FM has announced that longtime on-air personality Chuck Custer is retiring, effective December 18.

Custer has hosted the News Radio 810 & 103.1 WGY morning show with Kelly Lynch since 2011. Prior to that, he served as News Anchor and later moved to mornings as News Anchor on Don Weeks’ show. Custer also previously served as News Director and Program Director for News Radio 810 & 103.1. He the station in 1984 as Evening News Anchor

“For over 36 years, Chuck Custer has been synonymous with WGY,” said John Cooper, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Albany. “From his time as the leader of the award-winning WGY News Department, his outstanding work with ‘Don Weeks in the Mornings’, his current co-host position with Kelly Lynch, and most importantly all the time he’s contributed to the people of the Capital District. Chuck has been the consummate professional. He’s a great broadcaster who will long be remembered.”

“Chuck has devoted much of his life to informing WGY listeners as well as serving our community with the WGY Christmas Wish campaign and annual Radiothon to benefit the Children’s Hospital at Albany Med,” said Kristen Delaney, Area President of iHeartMedia Albany; “we wish him a happy retirement.”

“It was a lifelong dream to work at WGY, a powerful, influential station with a great history and heritage,” said Custer. “I’ve been very fortunate to have such a great run here. I’ve worked with many tremendous and talented people, made many friends, and I have had an opportunity to take on many different challenges. For 36-plus-years, I’ve loved what I was doing and loved coming to work. Not many people can say that.”

“Chuck’s commitment to the WGY brand and its audience is one-of-a-kind,” said Jeff Wolf, News and Program Director for iHeartMedia Albany. “We should all be so fortunate to leave behind such a rich and enduring legacy.”

In a statement, Custer said  "Let me try to be succinct. It won't be easy after 36+ years. I am not sick. I am not unhappy. I am not being pushed out the door. But...I am choosing to walk out the door. I'm retiring. My last day on air will be December 18th.

"It's not a decision I make lightly. I love my job. I love working with Kelly and our world-class producer, Rachel Davis, as well as the great WGY News team and our Program Director Jeff Wolf. It's just time.  

"During my last annual physical, while complaining about some minor aches or pains, my doctor, without any emotion, matter-of-factly stated, "Well you're no spring chicken". Ouch. I know I'm not young but in my mind, I sure don't feel old. 

"The fact is, I'll turn 64 in March and I'm well aware that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one."