July 31 Radio History

➦In 1912...Irving "Irv" Kupcinet born (Died at 91  – November 10, 2003) was an newspaper columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, television talk-show host, and radio personality. He was popularly known by the nickname "Kup".

His daily "Kup's Column" was launched in 1943 and remained a fixture in the Sun-Times for the next six decades. In addition to writing his newspaper column and talk-show hosting duties, from 1953 to 1977 Kupcinet provided commentary for radio broadcasts of Chicago Bears football games with Jack Brickhouse (and was affectionately mocked for the signature phrase, "Dat's right, Jack").

Bill Todman

➦In 1916...Game show producer Bill Todman was born in New York City.  Todman teamed up with Mark Goodson for radio shows.

According to radio historian J. David Goldin, among their early work together was the show Treasury Salute, a program syndicated by the Treasury Department that honored military members. They later collaborated in producing game shows for radio, then moved into television, where they produced some of the longest-running game shows in history.

Their many shows included Beat the Clock, Card Sharks, Family Feud, Match Game, Password, Tattletales, The Price Is Right, To Tell the Truth and What's My Line?.

He died from a heart condition July 29 1979, two days short of his 63rd birthday.

➦In 1919...Curtis Edward Gowdy born (Died from leukemia at age 86 – February 20, 2006). He was a sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s. His accomplishments include coining the nickname "The Granddaddy of Them All" for the Rose Bowl Game, taking the moniker from the Cheyenne Frontier Days in his native Wyoming.

In November of 1943, recovering from back surgery, Gowdy made his broadcasting debut in Cheyenne calling a "six-man" high school football game from atop a wooden grocery crate in subzero weather, with about 15 people in attendance. He found he had a knack for broadcasting, and worked at the small KFBC radio station and at the Wyoming Eagle newspaper as a sportswriter (and later sports editor).

Curt Gowdy

After several years in Cheyenne, he accepted an offer from CBS's KOMA radio in Oklahoma City in September 1945. He was hired primarily to broadcast Oklahoma college football (then coached by new-hire Bud Wilkinson). In 1947-1948, in addition to calling football and basketball on KOMA, Gowdy was also broadcasting the baseball games of the Texas League Oklahoma City Indians, on station KOCY. When Gowdy announced in early 1949 that he was leaving Oklahoma to work in New York, his replacement was fellow Oklahoma City sportscaster Bob Murphy.

Gowdy's distinctive play-by-play style during his broadcasts of minor league baseball, college football, and college basketball in Oklahoma City earned him a national audition and then an opportunity with the New York Yankees in 1949, working with (and learning from) the legendary Mel Allen for two seasons.

Gowdy began his Major League Baseball broadcasting career working as the No. 2 announcer to Mel Allen for New York Yankees games on radio and television in 1949–50. There, he succeeded Russ Hodges, who departed to become the New York Giants' lead announcer when the Yankees and Giants decided to broadcast a full slate of 154 games, instead of sharing the same radio network and announcers for the 77 home games of each team that had been broadcast (no away games of either team were broadcast).

In April 1951 at the age of 31, Gowdy began his tenure as the lead announcer for the Red Sox. For the next 15 years, he called the exploits of generally mediocre Red Sox teams on WHDH radio and on three Boston TV stations: WBZ-TV, WHDH-TV, and WNAC-TV (WBZ and WNAC split the Red Sox TV schedule from 1948 through 1955; WBZ alone carried the Red Sox from 1955 through 1957; and WHDH took over in 1958). During that time, Gowdy partnered with two future baseball broadcasting legends: Bob Murphy and Ned Martin. He also did nightly sports reports on WHDH radio when his schedule permitted.

Gowdy called Ted Williams' final at-bat where he hit a home run into the bullpen in right-center field off Jack Fisher of Baltimore. He also called Tony Conigliaro's home run in his first at-bat at Fenway Park on April 17, 1964 at the age of 19.

He left WHDH after the 1965 season for NBC Sports, where for the next ten years he called the national baseball telecasts of the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week and Monday Night Baseball during the regular season (and the All-Star Game in July), and the postseason playoffs and World Series in October.

➦In 1933...Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy first aired.  It was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC.

Armstrong was football hero at fictitious Hudson High School who saved the day from dastardly villains. Somehow, these adventures would take Jack and his cousins, Betty and Bill Fairfield, to exotic locales where they would make use of industrialist Uncle Jim’s yacht and a hydroplane they referred to as the Silver Albatross.

➦In 1964...Country Music Hall of Famer James Travis Reeves died (Born - August 20).  With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville sound (a mixture of older country-style music with elements of popular music). Known as "Gentleman Jim", his songs continued to chart for years after his death. Reeves died in the crash of his private airplane.

Reeves began to work as a radio announcer in 1943, and sang live between songs. Influenced by such Western swing-music artists as Jimmie Rodgers and Moon Mullican, as well as popular singers Bing Crosby, Eddy Arnold and Frank Sinatra, it was not long before he was a member of Moon Mullican's band, and made some early Mullican-style recordings like "Each Beat of my Heart" and "My Heart's Like a Welcome Mat" from the late 1940s to the early 1950s.

Jim Reeves

He eventually obtained a job as an announcer for KWKH-AM in Shreveport, Louisiana, then the home of the popular radio program Louisiana Hayride.

Reeves scored his greatest success with the Joe Allison composition "He'll Have to Go", a success on both the popular and country music charts, which earned him a platinum record. Released during late 1959, it scored Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Songs chart on February 8, 1960, which it scored for 14 consecutive weeks.

On Friday, July 31, 1964, Reeves and his business partner and manager Dean Manuel (also the pianist of Reeves' backing group, the Blue Boys) left Batesville, Arkansas, en route to Nashville in a single-engine Beechcraft Debonair aircraft, with Reeves at the controls.   While flying over Brentwood, Tennessee, they encountered a violent thunderstorm. According to Larry Jordan, author of the 2011 biography, Jim Reeves: His Untold Story, musician Marty Robbins, recalled hearing the wreck happen and alerting authorities to which direction he heard the impact.

When the wreckage was found some 42 hours later, it was discovered the airplane's engine and nose were buried in the ground due to the impact of the crash. The crash site was in a wooded area north-northeast of Brentwood approximately at the junction of Baxter Lane and Franklin Pike Circle, just east of Interstate 65, and southwest of Nashville International Airport where Reeves planned to land.

➦In 1970…News Anchor Chet Huntley retired from NBC-TV, ending the 14-year run of the popular "Huntley-Brinkley Report." The network renamed the program the "NBC Nightly News".

Huntley began his radio newscast career in 1934 at Seattle's KIRO AM, later working on radio stations in Spokane (KHQ) and Portland. His time (1936–37) in Portland was with KGW-AM, owned by The Oregonian, a Portland daily newspaper. At KGW he was writer, newscaster and announcer. In 1937 he went to work for KFI in Los Angeles, moving to CBS Radio from 1939 to 1951, then ABC Radio from 1951 to 1955. In 1955, he joined the NBC Radio network, viewed by network executives as "another Ed Murrow".  He died in 1974.

➦In 1977...Johnny Dark aired his final show on WRKO 680 AM, Boston.

Johnny Dark

Dark grew up in South Florida and went on to become one of radio’s many jocks named Johnny Dark. This one, however, started out along Florida’s west coast and was Program Director, Music Director, and jock at Sarasota’s WYND in 1966. After a couple years there, he wanted to get closer to home, so he took at job on the air at Top 40 WSRF 1580 AM in Ft. Lauderdale and handled the music for its then-sister station, Easy Listening/AC WSHE.

Johnny moved to another Miami outlet, WMYQ 96.3 FM, in 1972 and then on to Bartel’s legendary WOKY, The Mighty 92, in Milwaukee in 1974 as combo Music Director and afternoon drive jock. The next year he landed at Boston’s WRKO where he survived five PD’s in three and a half years before leaving for WNBC in New York in 1978.

In 1985 it was back to Beantown as Johnny segued to CBS-owned WHTT 103.3 FM. (1985 Aircheck) He also made the dream of owning his own station a reality with WHQO Oldies 108 in Skowhegan, Maine. By 1990 it was time to move back home to South Florida so he began what turned out to be 12 years doing afternoon drive for Miami’s 97.3 WFLC, South Florida’s Coast.

➦In 1981...WXLO 98.7 FM NYC adopted its “Kiss” format.

➦In 1995…Disney announced the $19-billion acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC.  Created in a merger in March, 1985, Capital Cities/ABC owned the most profitable TV network, eight of the best-managed television stations in the country--which reach 25% of the nation’s viewers--21 radio stations, the ESPN sports cable networks, a gaggle of trade magazines and interests in cable networks, including Lifetime and A&E.

➦In 2010...Mitch Miller, the Coluimbia Records executive who nurtured the early careers of Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney died at the age of 99.  As part of the CBS Symphony, Miller participated in the musical accompaniment on the infamous 1938 radio broadcast of Orson Welles's Mercury Theater on the Air production of The War of the Worlds. He also hosted a Sunday evening CBS Radio interview show in the late 1950’s, headed up the early 60’s NBC TV show ‘Sing Along with Mitch’.

Geraldine Chapman is 78

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Don Murray is 93. 
• Jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell is 91. 
• Actor Susan Flannery (“Bold and the Beautiful”) is 83. 
• Actor France Nuyen (“South Pacific”) is 83. 
• Singer Lobo is 79. 
• Actor Geraldine Chaplin is 78. 
• Singer Gary Lewis of Gary Lewis and the Playboys is 77. 
• Actor Lane Davies (“Lois and Clark”) is 72. 
• Actor Barry Van Dyke (“Murder 101,” “Diagnosis Murder”) is 71. 
• Actor Alan Autry (“In the Heat of the Night,” “Grace Under Fire”) is 70. 
• Jazz pianist-actor Michael Wolff (“The Naked Brothers Band’) is 70.
• Actor James Read (“Legally Blonde”) is 69. 

• 

  Zac Brown is 44

  Actor Michael Biehn (“The Terminator,” ″Aliens”) is 66. 
• Singer-guitarist Daniel Ash (Love and Rockets, Bauhaus) is 65. 
• Actor Dirk Blocker (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) is 65. 
• Drummer Bill Berry (R.E.M.) is 64. 
• Actor Wesley Snipes is 60. 
• Country singer Chad Brock is 59. 
• Musician Fatboy Slim is 59. 
• Guitarist Jim Corr of The Corrs is 58. 
• “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling is 57. 
• Actor Dean Cain (“Lois and Clark”) is 56. 
• Actor Jim True-Frost (“American Odyssey,” ″The Wire”) is 56. 
• Actor Loren Dean (“Space Cowboys”) is 53. 
• Actor Eve Best (“Nurse Jackie”) is 51. 
• Actor Annie Parisse (“How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days”) is 47. 
• Actor Robert Telfer (“Saved by the Bell”) is 45. 
• Country singer Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band is 44. 
• Actor B.J. Novak (“The Office”) is 43. 
• Rapper Lil Uzi Vert is 28. 
• Actor Rico Rodriguez (“Modern Family”) is 24.

✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

• Andrew Johnson, the 17th U.S. president (1865-69) and one of three to be impeached, with Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, died on this day in 1875. He was 66.

SiriusXM Targeting Listening Beyond The Car

SiriusXM may have 34 million satellite radio subscribers driving around America, but through a series of calculated moves CEO Jennifer Witz says they are making inroads into the digital audio market, reports Inside Radio. That includes a streaming-only option to its satellite radio content, its Pandora app, and burgeoning podcasting business.

“We are evolving our business to focus on listening both in and outside the vehicle,” Witz said Thursday during a conference call with analysts.

For between $4.99 and $10.99, SiriusXM now offers the option for listeners to scrap the special receiver and instead listen to an app on any mobile device. As the car sales pipeline to new subscribers remains weakened by an auto industry still struggling with supply chain issues, the move could not have come at a better time.

“While our in-car subscription growth continues to see the impact of the macro auto environment, we are seeing solid uptake of our streaming-only subscriptions,” Witz said, telling analysts that the streaming-only subscribers have become a “meaningful driver” of subscriber growth this year.

Jennifer Witz

“All of these initiatives create new ways to reach and engage consumers, both those who already have a satellite subscription in their cars and those who may be new to the service,” Witz said.

“We remain committed to our long-term focus of shaping the future of audio and broadening our revenue base into the non-automotive market,” she said. “Ultimately, this translates into solid revenue growth, margin expansion, and strong cash flow generation, which can be reinvested in the business to create better products for our customers.” The company says its non-satellite radio ad sales totaled $119 million during the second quarter, up 50% from a year ago.

“I would expect monetization in podcasting to grow faster than the audience listening is growing just because we're still working with a largely manual process. There are a lot of host-read ads. There's a lot of working closely with the talent,” she said. “Programmatic is in its early stages. So, there's a lot of technology and capabilities that are going to come to the space to enable us to grow going forward.”

In addition to opening new programming doors, including the creation of branded channels, Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein said digital has also helped SiriusXM reach new demos. “The digital area is where the younger demo growth will come,” he predicted.

Smart Speaker Users Still Have Privacy Concerns

Smart Speaker penetration has expanded in recent years in the US, and the COVID-19 pandemic led owners to use their devices more. Yet as much as some things change, they stay the same: privacy concerns still weigh heavily on the minds of Smart Speaker owners, with a key issue being the devices always listening. So finds the latest Smart Audio Report from National Public Media and Edison Research.

The study indicates that this year almost half (47%) of Smart Speaker owners agree that it bothers them that their device is always listening. That figure actually represents a considerable rise from the 38% who agreed with this concern 5 years ago, in the 2017 edition of the survey.

There has also been a slight rise in the percentage of Smart Speaker owners who worry that hackers could use their device to get access to their home or personal information, with 52% agreeing with this, compared to 48% in 2017. However, fewer worry that their device could allow the government to listen to their private conversations (43%, down from 48%).

Despite these concerns, this year almost 6 in 10 (58%) agree that they trust the companies that make the Smart Speaker to keep their information secure.

Still, for those survey respondents who don’t own a Smart Speaker, these worries also figure prominently. Half (51%) say that concerns about a Smart Speaker always listening are a reason they don’t own such a device, and likewise half (50%) say the same regarding worries about hackers getting access to their information or home.

Indeed, 62% of non-owners say it’s “not at all likely” they’ll purchase a voice-enabled speaker in the next 6 months, up from 46% who responded the same in 2017. This is perhaps to be expected as the market matures, as some of those non-owners in 2017 will have likely purchased a device by now.

➤Voice Usage Trends

As digital audio listening rises, 1 in 5 Smart Speaker owners say that their device is what they use most often to listen to audio. That’s slightly more than say they use AM/FM radio (19% share) most often, though mobile devices (smartphone or tablet) are the primary audio listening devices for the largest share (34%) of Smart Speaker owners.

Among Smart Speaker owners, those ages 45-54 appear to be the most likely to listen to audio most through their devices: 28% said they mostly do so, compared to the 20% average across adult age groups.

Report: Spotify Is Cautiously Optimistic on Growth

This week Spotify reported it had a solid second quarter, finishing with 188 million subscribers — 1 million ahead of its guidance., It also reached 433 million total monthly listeners — 5 million above its guidance. Beating guidance helped Spotify shares climb 12.2% to $116.61 on Wednesday, its highest mark since June 24.

In the second quarter, Spotify’s subscription growth was led by Europe and Latin America, while emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines were standouts in monthly active users, according to the company’s Q2 2022 earnings report presentation. This is par for the course, according to Spotify CFO Paul Vogel who spoke with Billboard after the earnings report published. Emerging markets, he says, will provide user growth more than revenue gains — at least initially.

“We have this dynamic where we still have growth in our developed markets,” says Vogel “And we think the opportunity to increase monetization is really there. We see even faster [user] growth in our developing markets. And monetization will come — a little bit now but more in the years to come.”

Paul Vogel

Vogel says those emerging markets — large populations with sizable middle classes — are improving over time. Initially, Spotify wanted to launch in markets where it had complete understanding of the marketing and product/market fit. But after launching in roughly 80 additional markets in February 2021, Spotify is learning through experience. “We’re just getting better at local marketing, local advertising [and] tailoring the message to individual markets.”

Despite posting better-than-expected gains in monthly active users and subscribers, Spotify does not appear to be taking growth for granted. “I do believe only the paranoid survive,” said Vogel during Wednesday’s earnings call, “and we are preparing as if things could get worse.” That means watching spending and maintaining margins. Vogel reminded analysts Spotify decided to “proactively” reduce its hiring growth rate by 25% in the third quarter, which Billboard reported on June 15.

Importantly, Spotify does not see a “real impact” on subscriber outlook from the increasingly tenuous macroeconomic conditions. Vogel said during the earnings call that Spotify expects “similar” net additions — acquisitions net of churn — in the third quarter and “several” markets are trending ahead of forecasts.

Info-Wars Files for Bankruptcy

The parent of far-right conspiracy website InfoWars filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on Friday as the company and its founder Alex Jones face up to $150 million in damages in a trial over longstanding falsehoods he perpetuated about the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre.

Reuters reports the bankruptcy filing by the InfoWars parent, Free Speech Systems LLC, would normally result in the trial and related litigation being halted. But Free Speech plans to ask a bankruptcy judge to allow the trial currently underway in Texas to continue and is seeking an emergency hearing on Monday, according to a court filing.

Nevertheless, Jones and his company could later attempt to use the bankruptcy proceedings, commenced in another Texas court, to limit the size of any damages a jury awards.

A bankruptcy filing by three other InfoWars entities in April proposed $10 million to resolve the litigation, far less than what the Sandy Hook families are seeking. The proposal contemplated legal releases shielding Jones and his company from the lawsuits in exchange for the payment.

The entities that previously declared bankruptcy - InfoW, IW Health and Prison Planet - voluntarily ended their cases in June after the Sandy Hook families dropped them as defendants in the defamation litigation.

Jones was found liable last year in lawsuits Sandy Hook families filed after he falsely claimed that the 2012 school massacre was a hoax.

The unusual judgments occurred after Jones defied court orders to turn over documents in the litigation. The cases were then teed up for trials to determine damages, with the first one now underway in an Austin, Texas courtroom.

Jones claimed the shooting, in which 20 children and six school employees were shot dead at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, was fabricated by gun-control advocates and mainstream media. Jones has since acknowledged the shooting happened.

Shakira Could Face 8-Years For Tax Evasion

Shakira

A Spanish prosecutor is seeking a prison term of eight years for Colombian superstar Shakira over a 14.5 million-euro tax fraud case, a prosecutor's office document showed on Friday.

Reuters reports the singer, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide with hits such as "Hips Don't Lie", earlier this week rejected a settlement offer from the prosecutor's office to close the case.

She is accused of failing to pay taxes between 2012 and 2014, a period in which Shakira says she did not live in Spain.

The prosecutor's document, seen by Reuters, asserts that Shakira was ordinarily resident in Spain between 2012 and 2014 and in May 2012 bought a house in Barcelona which became a family home for herself, her partner and their son born in Spain in 2013.

It asked for an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of more than 23 million euros ($23.5 million) should she be found guilty. No date for a trial has been set yet.

Asked to comment, Shakira's representatives referred to a previous statement sent out on Wednesday saying she "is fully confident of her innocence" and that she considers the case "a total violation of her rights".

The terms of the earlier settlement offer have not been disclosed.

The 45-year-old singer - dubbed the Queen of Latin Pop - said she initially paid the 17.2 million euros that the Spanish tax office said she owed and claims she has no outstanding debt with the tax authorities.

The latest development in the tax case comes a month after Shakira and her husband, FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, announced they were separating. Shakira, 45, and Pique, 35, have been together since 2011 and have two sons.

Report: Taylor Swift's Private Planes Spew The Most Carbon

While private jets are used by rich folks of all kinds, their use among celebrities has come under scrutiny recently, with reports of the likes of Drake and Kylie Jenner taking flights that lasted less than 20 minutes. Rolling Stone reports the sustainability marketing firm Yard put together a new report using data to rank the celebrities whose private jets have flown the most so far this year — and subsequently dumped the most carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 

Drake and Jenner both appear on the list, but they’re actually nowhere near the top, which is occupied by none other than Taylor Swift. 

According to Yard, Swift’s jet flew 170 times between Jan. 1 and July 19 (the window for the Yard study), totaling 22,923 minutes, or 15.9 days, in the air. That output has created estimated total flight emissions of 8,293.54 tons of carbon, which Yard says is 1,184.8 times more than the average person’s total annual emissions. (At least one more flight can be added to that list, too: The flight-tracking Twitter account Celebrity Jets notes that Swift’s plane flew today, July 29.)

“Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals,” a spokesperson for Swift tells Rolling Stone. “To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.”

Coming in behind Swift’s plane on Yard’s list was an aircraft belonging to boxer Floyd Mayweather, which emitted an estimated 7076.8 tons of CO2 from 177 flights so far this year (one of those flights lasted just 10 minutes). Coming in at number three on the list was Jay-Z, though his placement does come with a caveat: The data pulled for Jay is tied to the Puma Jet, a Gulfstream GV that Jay — the creative director for Puma — reportedly convinced the sneaker giant to purchase as a perk for the athletes it endorses.

Yard's breakdown of the top 10 celebrity CO2e offenders:

1. Taylor Swift
2. Floyd Mayweather
3. Jay-Z
4. A-Rod
5. Blake Shelton
6. Steven Spielberg
7. Kim Kardashian
8. Mark Wahlberg
9. Oprah Winfrey
10. Travis Scott

To create this report, Yard scraped data from Celebrity Jets, which in turn pulls its info from ADS-B Exchange (“the world’s largest public source of unfiltered flight data,” according to its website). Yard based its carbon emissions estimates on a U.K. Department for Transportation estimate that a plane traveling at about 850 km/hour gives off 134 kg of CO2 per hour; that 134 kg estimate was multiplied with both time-spent-in-air and a factor of 2.7 to account for “radiative forcing,” which includes other harmful emissions such as nitrous oxide (2.7 was taken from Mark Lynas’ book Carbon Counter). That number was then divided by 1000 to convert to tons. 

R.I.P.: Clay Collins, Longtime Dayton Radio Personality

Clay 'Cooker' Collins

Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Famer Clay “The Cooker” Collins died Tuesday, July 26. 

He was 87, reports Dayton.com.

Collins was known in the Dayton area for his jazz program, “Jazztistically Speaking,” appearing on several radio stations.

In 1968, Collins moved from Chicago to Dayton for a job as a radio news reporter on WAVI/WDAO. He then advanced to become the station’s program and community relations director.

“I remember him being on the radio on WDAO in the evening,” Debra said. “He always did jazz on Sunday and then he went to Clear Channel and did jazz on Sunday. I remember him playing jazz all the time.”

Throughout his career, Collins also appeared on WING, WCSU-FM, Clear Channel and WDPS-FM.

Collins was inducted into the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2007 and decided to retire from Clear Channel roughly two years later. He quickly found retirement a tad boring.

“Retirement was good for about a week. I’ve been working since I was a 12-year-old paperboy in Chicago. I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I jumped at the chance to come back,” Collins previously told this news outlet in 2009.

Collins then worked at WDPS-FM, a radio station for Dayton Public Schools, for several years until he retired again in 2018.

Debra, who was married to Collins for 16 years, described him as funny, business-oriented and community-minded. In particular, he raised money for the sickle cell anemia fund at Drew Health Center and enjoyed attending the Roosevelt Memorial Track Meet. He was also a part of the Westmont Optimist Club.

R.I.P.: Bert Metcalfe, M*A*S*H Producer and Director

Bert Metcalfe (March 19, 1935 – July 27, 2022)

Burt Metcalfe wore many hats during his long career in Hollywood. He started his career as an actor, then transitioned to the casting department before becoming an assistant then associate producer and eventually executive producer.

He was 87-years-of-age, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

He is best known for his work on the iconic dramedy M*A*S*H, which garnered him 13 Emmy nominations. In addition to working as a producer for the show’s entire run, he also directed 31 episodes, wrote three and made a cameo as a driver in the season seven episode “The Party.”

Burton Metcalfe was born in Saskatoon in the heart of Canada’s Saskatchewan province in 1935. His family moved east to Montreal where he spent most of his childhood.

Metcalfe studied theater at UCLA in California and soon found a way into showbusiness. He made his screen debut with a small role in the 1954 Korean War drama The Bridges at Toko-Ri.

It wasn’t long before he was booking gigs on TV in shows like General Electric Theater and Whirlybirds. One of his first major roles came in the 1959 movie version of Gidget starring Sandra Dee and James Darren. Metcalfe played a goateed surfer named Lord Byron.

In the 1960s, he appeared in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Outer Limits, three episodes of Perry Mason and the memorable Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.”

Metcalfe transitioned to a career working behind the scenes in the mid-Sixties, first working as a casting director before meeting Gene Reynolds, a young producer pitching a show about Army surgeons during the Korean War.

Metcalfe was tasked with casting the M*A*S*H pilot, no small feat considering the large ensemble full of many different personalities. But he found the perfect actors for each role and one of the best shows ever to hit the airwaves was born.

July 30 Radio History

 

Vladimir Zworykin

➦In 1888...Vladimir Kosmich Zworykin born (Died - July 29, 1982). He was an American inventor, engineer, and pioneer of television technology. Zworykin invented a television transmitting and receiving system employing cathode ray tubes. He played a role in the practical development of television from the early thirties, including charge storage-type tubes, infrared image tubes and the electron microscope.  Zworykin, called the “Father of Television” invented the iconoscope in 1931 while in the employ of RCA, the parent company of NBC.  He died July 29 1982 on the eve of his 93rd birthday.

➦In 1914...John Meston born (Died  — March 24, 1979). He was a scriptwriter best known for co-creating with producer Norman Macdonnell the long-running Western series Gunsmoke. He developed storylines and wrote radio scripts and teleplays for 379 episodes for the series, which was first broadcast on CBS Radio in 1952, and then adapted to the "small screen", as well, airing on television from 1955 to 1975. In addition to his work on Gunsmoke, Meston also served as a writer and editorial supervisor for other radio programs such as Escape, Suspense, Lux Radio Theater, and Fort Laramie; and in the 1970s, he wrote several episodes for two other television series, Little House on the Prairie and Hec Ramsey.

After the war, Meston was hired by KNX Radio in Los Angeles to be an assistant in the station's editing department, and by October 1945, he was promoted to head of that department.

Station KNX by the 1940s already served as the center of West Coast operations for the entire CBS Radio network, so Meston's next career move was a transitional one to CBS, where in 1947, he began working once again as a censor, more specifically in the network's program practices department.

Meston's scripts dominated the radio series' presentations for years.   He died of a cerebral hemorrhage March 24 1979 at age 64.

➦In 1930...The Shadow debuted as the mysterious narrator of the radio program Detective Story Hour, which was developed to boost sales of Street and Smith's monthly pulp Detective Story Magazine.  When listeners of the program began asking at newsstands for copies of "That Shadow detective magazine", Street & Smith decided to create a magazine based on The Shadow and hired Gibson to create a character concept to fit the name and voice and write a story featuring him. The first issue of The Shadow Magazine went on sale on April 1, 1931, a pulp series.

On September 26, 1937, The Shadow radio drama, a new radio series based on the character as created by Gibson for the pulp magazine, premiered with the story "The Death House Rescue", in which The Shadow was characterized as having "the power to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him". As in the magazine stories, The Shadow was not given the literal ability to become invisible.

The introduction from The Shadow radio program "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!", spoken by actor Frank Readick, has earned a place in the American culture.

The Shadow aired first aired on CBS.  It would be a radio favorite for the next 24 years, mostly on Sunday afternoons on Mutual.

➦In 1930...First broadcast of "Death Valley Days" on NBC Radio.  It was a radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945 and became from 1952 to 1970 as a syndicated television series, with reruns (updated with new narrations) continuing through August 1, 1975. The radio and television versions combined to make the show "one of the longest-running western programs in broadcast history."

The series was sponsored by the Pacific Coast Borax Company (20 Mule Team Borax, Boraxo) and hosted by Stanley Andrews ("The Old Ranger") (1952–1964), Ronald Reagan (1964–1965), Rosemary DeCamp (1965), Robert Taylor (1966–1969), and Dale Robertson (1969–1970).

➦In 1937...the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) organized. It was part of the American Federation of Labor. The union was for all radio performers except musicians. The union later became The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) to include TV workers.

➦In 1942...Stage Door Canteen began its three-year run on CBS Radio. It was inspired by the

The Stage Door Canteen which was an entertainment venue for American and Allied servicemen that operated in the Broadway theatre district of New York City during World War II.

The official estimate of attendance on the canteen's opening night was 1,250, with 200 "actresses of varying importance" as hostesses and 75 "'name' actors" as busboys.  In addition to shows, the canteen offered off-duty military personnel opportunities to unwind in various ways, including dancing with hostesses and female entertainers, eating, and writing letters home. Food was provided free. Between 5 p.m. and midnight daily, the canteen served 200 gallons of coffee, and 5,000 cigarettes were smoked.

The CBS Radio series aired through 1945.

Arthur Peterson, Mercedes McCambridge, Helen Behmiller, Henrietta Ledro

➦In 1952...the popular radio soap opera, The Guiding Light, was seen for the first time on CBS-TV. It debuted on NBC radio Jan. 25 1937.  The daytime drama aired its final telecast Sept. 18 2009.

➦ In 1964...WNEW 1130 AM in New York banned all comedy records that “ridicule the United States Government, its processes, institutions, officials, lawmakers and political candidates.” The station said the new policy was triggered by a new album entitled “I’d rather Be Far Right Than President.” - an album that spoofs Republican Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater.

Says John Sullivan, vice president and general manager of WNEW -“I would say the situation came to a head because of national conventions and an election year. But the taste level of some of these comedy recordings has grown progressively worse and there is a lot of cheap, badly done stuff in the field. What I resent is that anyone can put something on a record and it is passed off as entertainment. The radio industry should take a look at what it plays.”WNEW plays music from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Steve and Eydie, Dean Martin and other popular non-rock artists.

➦In 1966...WOR 98.7 FM, New York changed it's programming to a Rock format.

The original WOR-FM disc jockeys were Scott Muni (formerly of WABC and WMCA), Murray “the K” Kaufman (formerly of WINS), Rosko (Bill Mercer) and Johnny Michaels.

According to musicradio77.com, WOR-FM became extremely popular on college campuses.  It began to carve out an audience that had not been served by radio up until then.  It was achieving decent ratings (for an FM station) without taking audience away from the AM stations by appealing to new listeners.  This was significant.  A Columbia University survey of its undergraduates found that 93% listened to FM as well as AM and that they listened to WOR-FM for 3 1/2 hours daily as compared with AM stations WMCA (1 1/2 hours) and WABC (1 hour). WOR-FM grossed anywhere from $500 to $1000 a week from record company commercials because of its reach into the college campuses.

Even so, owner RKO wasn’t satisfied.  Bill Drake had been consulting RKO’s two West Coast stations; KHJ in Los Angeles and KFRC in San Francisco.  These were both extremely successful AM Top 40 stations built around the “Drake-Chenault” philosophy of playing just the hits while minimizing almost everything else.  In July of 1967 RKO hired Drake to consult its remaining radio properties which consisted of CKLW, Detroit; WRKO, Boston; WGMS, Washington DC; WHBQ, Memphis and, of course, WOR-FM.

The first sense of change came when memos appeared from management dictating to the air staff not to play certain cuts. Next the disc jockeys were removed from the new record listening sessions and not allowed to have input on the playlist. Next the playlist became all singles with only an occasional new record and it had to be from an established artist.

Murray the K had the highest rated FM show in New York; a 4 share on one ratings survey, a 3 on the next. This was higher than many AM shows and a terrific FM rating for New York.  He would have no part of these changes and his protests cost him his job.  He was fired by the station in September 1967.  His parting comment about the changes at WOR-FM was “Who can live with that?  Music has reached a maturity... people in radio are still treating it as if it is for teenie boppers."

Murray had a point. WOR-FM was different from the other RKO properties in that it was FM stereo as opposed to AM.  It had built a solid audience by attracting a different group of people.  Giving up on it after only a year seemed premature. Record companies had found the station highly valuable at influencing sales of rock albums especially of new artists and groups like Cream, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.  The format was noted for playing new records first, often playing new artists that the local AM stations wouldn't play.

➦In 1984...The FCC increased the number of radio and television stations that a company may own from a total of 14 radio stations and 7 TV stations to a new ceiling of 24 radio stations and 12 TV stations.

➦In 2004...Shock personalities Opie and Anthony announced they were joining XM Satellite Radio beginning Oct. 4. They were yanked off the air back in August of 2002 after broadcasting a live account of a couple having sex inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

➦In 2012...Radio programmer on personality Al Brady Law died at age 67.

Brady first came to New York as Al Brady late in 1969 as the night jock at WOR FM. Late in 1970 he left for WINZ in Miami but promptly turned back up in New York as the night jock at WWDJ. He eventually moved to afternoons and then left again for Denver. But he returned once more, this time as program director at WWDJ. In 1973 he moved over to WXLO as program director.

In March of 1974, Al moved on to WNBC where did some weekend shows and was also the station's assistant program director. In September of 1974, he became the station's program manager, but only for a month. He would go back to weekends and the APD slot. In 1976, it was off to Boston and in 1978 he took over as program director of the NBC Owned and Operated stations. After a brief stint  in Washington, DC, he returned to New York, yet again, this time as program director of 77WABC. In 1979, WABC was still reeling from the "disco inferno" of the October/November, 1978 book where WKTU rocketed to the top. They were, in essence, trying to right the ship. Brady came under a lot of criticism when three of his moves involved letting go Harry Harrison, George Michael and Chuck Leonard. Al always defended his moves and always insisted it was the right thing to do. He always said he never regretted any of it.

From WABC, Brady returned to Boston and then one more time to New York where he was to assume the position of Vice President and General Manager of WYNY. Under his guidance, WYNY became a major presence in the New York market, finally cracking the ratings top 10 in the Summer, 1981 book.

From WYNY, al took over as Vice President of Programming of NBC Radio. After leaving this post, he moved around the country working at various radio stations.

Terry Lee

➦In 2013…Longtime Pittsburgh radio, TV personality Terry Lee (Trunzo) died of lung cancer at 70.

He started working as a DJ at teen dances at age 16. That launched his radio career at the former WESA-AM in Charleroi, which was followed by stints at stations in Carnegie and Canonsburg. At 21, he joined the former WMCK-AM in McKeesport, which later became WIXZ 1360. That little station was the place where Lee really began shaking up the airwaves. His evening show was one of the most popular in the city throughout the '60s.

In the late '60s throughout the '70s, Lee hosted dance shows on TV: "Come Alive" on the former WIIC (now WPXI) and "The Terry Lee Show" on WPGH and later on KDKA.

Paul Anka is 81

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Blues guitarist Buddy Guy is 86. 
• Singer Paul Anka is 81. 
• Jazz saxophonist David Sanborn is 77. 
• Actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger is 75. 
• Actor William Atherton (“Die Hard” films”) is 75. 
• Actor Jean Reno (“The Da Vinci Code,” ″Godzilla”) is 74. 
• Actor Ken Olin is 68. 
• Actor Delta Burke is 66. 
• Actor Richard Burgi (“Desperate Housewives”) is 64. 
• Singer-songwriter Kate Bush is 64. 

• 

  Lisa Kudrow is 59

  Country singer Neal McCoy is 64. 
• Actor Laurence Fishburne is 61. 
• Actor Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”) is 59. 
• Guitarist Dwayne O’Brien of Little Texas is 59. 
• Actor Vivica A. Fox is 58. 
• Actor Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” ″Everybody Hates Chris”) is 54. 
• Actor Simon Baker (“The Mentalist”) is 53. 
• Director Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” ″Insomnia”) is 52. 
• Actor Tom Green is 51. 
• Drummer Brad Hargreaves of Third Eye Blind is 51. 
• Actor Christine Taylor (“Dodgeball,” “The Brady Bunch Movie”) is 51. 
• Comedian Dean Edwards (“Saturday Night Live”) is 49. 
• Actor Hilary Swank is 48. 
• Actor Jaime Pressly (“Mom,” “My Name Is Earl”) is 45. 
• Singer-guitarist Seth Avett of The Avett Brothers is 42. A
• ctor April Bowlby (“Drop Dead Diva,” ″Two and a Half Men”) is 42. 
• Actor Yvonne Strahovski (“Chuck,” “The Handmaid’s Tale”) is 40. 
• Actor Martin Starr (“Silicon Valley,” ″Freaks and Geeks”) is 40. 
• Actor Gina Rodriguez (“Jane the Virgin”) is 38. 
• Actor Joey King (TV’s “Fargo”) is 23.

✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

• Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared on this day in 1975 in what's believed to have been a mob hit. He was 62. Hoffa's body has never been found.

L-A Radio: Alex Silverman Named ND/Programming at New KNX

Audacy today announced Alex Silverman will join KNX News 97.1 FM in Los Angeles as Director of News and Programming, effective September 19. In this role, Silverman will oversee the station’s editorial strategy and newsroom, including broadcast and digital operations, with an eye towards audience and revenue growth and engagement on all platforms. Silverman previously served as Brand Manager of Philadelphia sister station KYW Newsradio (103.9 FM / 1060 AM) since 2018.

“Alex has led two of our company’s leading news brands to newfound success and industry-wide recognition,” said Jeff Federman, Regional President, Audacy Southern California. “We look forward to welcoming him to the team and further establishing KNX as the go-to news source for Southern Californians.”

Alex Silverman

“KNX News is iconic. I can't wait to work with the amazing team to build the future of the brand and set the agenda for news coverage in Southern California,” said Silverman. “Thank you to Jeff Federman, Chris Ebbott, Jeff Sottolano and Bill Smee for their confidence in me and commitment to impactful local journalism.”

Silverman has served as brand manager for KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia since 2018, where he guided the iconic brand through a modern re-image and the historic launch of an FM simulcast. Previously, he was Assistant Director of News and Programming at WCBS 880 (WCBS-AM) in New York. He joined WCBS 880 in 2011 and led coverage of major news events in New York and around the country, including Hurricane Sandy, the Boston Marathon bombings and the Pulse nightclub shooting. In 2018, Silverman received a national Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of the transportation crisis in New York. 

From 2010 to 2011, he was a reporter and anchor at KIRO-FM in Seattle, and from 2008 to 2010, he was a reporter and morning news anchor at WSYR-AM in Syracuse, N.Y., where he graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Silverman serves on the Board of Directors of the Radio Television Digital News Association and has been an adjunct instructor at Fordham University, where he designed a course titled “Social Media for Journalists.”

SIlverman will remain with KYW until Sept. 2. Audacy said the station has a team of managers who report to Alex, including a news director, managing editor, digital managing editor, director of traffic operations, director of podcasts, newsroom operations manager. They will continue to manage the day-to-day operations as a team and Audacy Philadelphia Market Manager David Yadgaroff will manage them while the station searches for his replacement.

KNX 97.1 FM (21 Kw)

➤Listeners can tune in to KNX Newsradio (97.1 FM and 1070 AM) in Southern California on air and nationwide on the Audacy app and website. Fans can also connect with the station via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Audacy Promotes Larry Morgan To Regional BM/Classic Hits

Audacy has elevated Larry Morgan to Regional Brand Manager of its classic hits format. In this role, Morgan will oversee 94.5 KOOL FM (KOOL-FM) in Phoenix and Sunny 98.1 (KXSN-FM) in San Diego. This role is in addition to his Assistant Brand Director role at K-Earth (KRTH-FM) in Los Angeles.

Larry Morgan

“Larry is an invaluable member of the K-Earth team and I'm thrilled to see his talents and influence now spread to KOOL in Phoenix and Sunny in San Diego,” said Chris Ebbott, Vice President of Classic Hits, Audacy.”

I’m so excited and honored to be an official part of the team at these two great stations,” said Morgan. “Both markets have a long history of radio excellence, and I look forward to working together to elevate these awesome brands to new heights. Plus, I have the added bonus of continuing to contribute at the legendary K-Earth 101 in Los Angeles. It's the best of all worlds for me, and all in the same time zone!”

Morgan joined K-Earth as Assistant Brand Manager in 2015, overseeing the day-to-day programming operations of the legendary classic hits station. Other previous roles include KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and Audacy’s 102.5 KSFM (KSFM-FM) in Sacramento and Mix 96.5 (KHMX-FM) in Houston. Additionally, Morgan spent over a decade as Senior Vice President of Network Programs and Services at Premiere Networks, shepherding the launch and development of a diverse lineup of shows, including “American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest,” “Delilah,” “After MidNite” and many more.

Trump No Longer Can Count On Murdoch

For the most part, President Donald Trump, a rabid cable news follower, could tune in to find Fox News star hosts heaping praise on him and his administration while lambasting his critics and political enemies.  

The Hill reports Trump still has his supporters on the network, but the dynamic between a former president openly flirting with another run for the White House and Rupert Murdoch’s top media asset is definitely changing.  

For one thing, Fox is more focused on President Biden, a subject of relentless prime-time attacks, than Trump, and the network didn’t air Trump’s speech this week in Washington, D.C., even as it did air a portion of an earlier address Tuesday by former Vice President Mike Pence.  \

“Trump’s superpower was getting all the coverage. That’s not happening anymore. Fox is not covering him 24 hours a day,” said Daniel Cassino, a media expert who wrote a 2016 book about the network’s influence over American politics. “So it seems that is leading to frustration that he’s not dominating Fox the way he did before.”  

That tension boiled over this week, when Trump lashed out at Fox and its flagship morning program, “Fox & Friends,” after two of the show’s longtime co-hosts threw cold water on polling suggesting young voters felt Trump was the best choice for Republicans looking to win back the White House.  

Other Murdoch-owned media properties have separately fired off editorials critical of Trump in the wake of damaging revelations from the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. 

“Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial,” The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board wrote last week. “Mr. Trump utterly failed his.”

The recent ascension of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to the national spotlight has given Murdoch’s news outlets a new face to put forth for its millions of viewers and readers as a potential successor to Trump as the leader of the Republican Party and conservative movement.  

British pundit Piers Morgan, whom Murdoch recently hired to host a show on United Kingdom-based TalkTV, penned an op-ed in the Post earlier this summer explicitly urging conservative voters in the U.S. to “dump Trump” and throw their support behind DeSantis.   

“I think that Trump is quite frankly a dead weight for Fox and Murdoch,” said A.J. Bauer, a professor at the University of Alabama who researches and analyzes trends in conservative media. “He did a lot of very helpful work for them, he boosted them for four, five, six years, but they’re not loyal in the way that he expects and the way he needs in order for his political winds to shift.” 

Wake-Up Call: Economy Shrinks Raising Recession Fears

The U.S. economy shrank for a second straight quarter from April to June, with the Commerce Department reporting Thursday that the gross domestic product fell at a 0.9 percent annual pace after dropping 1.6 percent from January to March, raising fears that the country may be headed toward a recession. The GDP has been falling as consumers and businesses have been dealing with high inflation, as well as higher loan costs as the Fed has been raising rates to try to tame inflation, attempting to do so without triggering a recession. Consecutive quarters of falling GDP is an informal indicator of a recession, but AP reports that Fed Chair Jerome Powell and many economists have said that while the economy is showing some weakening, they doubt it’s in recession, at least not yet, with many pointing to the still-robust labor market. President Biden pushed that message yesterday, saying, "Both Chairman Powell and many of the significant banking personnel and economists say we’re not in recession."

Eric Adams refutes Biden, says US is in recession and 'Wall Street is collapsing' https://t.co/PjZEZ7P6Zj pic.twitter.com/lLqLrAR5vV

— New York Post (@nypost) July 29, 2022

 
➤RUSSIA LAUNCHES MISSILE ATTACK ON UKRAINIAN CAPITAL REGION FOR FIRST TIME IN WEEKS: Russian forces carried out a missile attack on the region of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for the first time in weeks Thursday, launching six missiles. A military unit in the village of Liutizh on the outskirts of Kyiv was hit, while Ukrainian forces shot down one of the missiles in the town of Bucha. Fifteen people were wounded. The Russians also fired missiles into the northern territory of Chernihiv, which hadn't been targeted in weeks. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials announced a counteroffensive to take back the occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian media quoted presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich as saying the operation to liberate Kherson is underway.

Biden administration authorizes completion of the Trump-funded U.S.-Mexico border wall in an open area of southern Arizona near Yuma, where four wide gaps make it among the busiest corridors for illegal crossings. https://t.co/XUkmYOggev

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 29, 2022

➤AT LEAST 15 KILLED BY FLOODING IN KENTUCKY: At least 15 people were killed in Kentucky Thursday by flooding in Appalachia caused by torrential rains over the past few days. Eastern Kentucky and parts of western Virginia and southern Western Virginia were affected by the extensive flooding, and the region is bracing for more rain. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear deployed National Guard troops to the hardest-hit areas, and three parks in the region were opened as shelters for displaced people. Beshear said Thursday, "In a word, this event is devastating. And I do believe it will end up being one of the most significant, deadly floods that we have had in Kentucky in at least a very long time."

Chicago FOP president talks with @BillHemmer, slams Mayor Lightfoot amid crime surge https://t.co/ROJ1vo1bD0

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 29, 2022

🛫JETBLUE BUYING SPIRIT AIRLINES FOR $3.8 BILLION: JetBlue is buying Spirt Airlines for $3.8 billion in a deal announced yesterday after a bidding war that began in April, and one day after Spirit's attempt to merge with fellow low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines fell apart. A combined JetBlue and Spirit would become the fifth-largest U.S. airline, behind leaders American, United, Delta and Southwest. The merger must pass the scrutiny of the Justice Department's antitrust regulators. AP reports that JetBlue argues that its reputation for lowering fares, and the size of a JetBlue-Spirit combined airline, could force bigger carriers to cut prices. JetBlue has also volunteered to give up Spirit gates and takeoff and landing slots at airports in New York and Boston that could be given to smaller low-cost airlines, which would increase competition.

💸TONIGHT'S MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT UP TO $1.1 BILLION, THIRD LARGEST: The jackpot for tonight's Mega Millions drawing rose to an estimated $1.1 billion yesterday, the third largest ever, behind $1.5 billion jackpots won in 2018 and 2016. Most winners take the cash option, however, which would be $648.2 million instead of the 29-year annuity for the bigger total. Tickets cost $2, and if you want to give it a try, the odds against winning it all are 1 in 302.5 million. The jackpot has gotten so big because there hasn't been a winner in more than three months.

The family said it decided to come forward after videos of a Sesame Place character seemingly waving off two young Black girls at the same park went viral this summer. https://t.co/P0O54sPPrC

— ABC News (@ABC) July 29, 2022

🍫DARK CHOCOLATE CAN LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE AND MAKE BLOOD VESSELS STRETCHIER:  Dark chocolate might make your blood vessels stretchier...which is a good thing, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Surrey say dark chocolate, which is high in cocoa, can lower your blood pressure and make your veins and arteries healthier, too. Researchers studied 11 adults, who consumed cocoa or a placebo for two weeks. Those who consumed cocoa experienced health benefits within hours. Other studies have suggested that cocoa can even help lower cholesterol.

The city of San Francisco announced a state of emergency Thursday over the growing number of monkeypox cases. https://t.co/ArtKRpPh9O

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 29, 2022

🍵STUDY: GREEN TEA CAN IMPROVE GUT HEALTH AND SUGAR LEVELS: Ohio State University researchers studied 40 people who consumed green tea extract gummies for 28 days. 19 of the participants experienced conditions like high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and excess belly fat. Those who took the gummies saw reduced blood sugar levels and reduced gut inflammation. Coauthor of the study Dr. Joanna Hodges suggests that future studies should look at dosages of green tea and benefits on other conditions.

Pigs and a playlist? Farmer finds his pigs are happier when they hear music https://t.co/ryOKnSZOWm

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 29, 2022

➤BIDEN'S GRANDDAUGHTER TO BE MARRIED AT THE WHITE HOUSE: President Biden's granddaughter Naomi Biden announced yesterday that she will be getting married on the White House's South Lawn in November. It had been announced in April that the wedding reception would be at the White House, but Naomi revealed yesterday that the wedding ceremony will now be there too. She tweeted yesterday, "we have finally figured out where the ceremony will be...and much to the relief of secret service and with the dogs' endorsement...we'll be getting married on the South Lawn!" The 28-year-old Naomi is a Washington, D.C.-based attorney, and her finance, 24-year-old Peter Neal, graduated from law school this spring. They became engaged last September. Naomi is the daughter of Biden's son Hunter Biden and ex-wife Kathleen Buhle.

🏀RUSSIA SAYS POSSIBLE GRINER PRISONER SWAP MUST BE NEGOTIATED QUIETLY: One day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. has offered a deal to bring WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American imprisoned by Russia, Paul Whelan, home, with reports saying the U.S. had offered to swap convicted Russian arms deal Viktor Bout, the Kremlin said such exchanges need to be negotiated quietly. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "We know that such issues are discussed without any such release of information. Normally, the public learns about it when the agreements are already implemented." Peskov also said, "no agreements have been finalized," and wouldn't give further details.

🏈COMMANDERS OWNER SNYDER TESTFIES BEFORE HOUSE COMMITTEE: Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder testified yesterday before a House committee investigating the NFL team’s history of workplace misconduct. The deposition was conducted privately via Zoom, with Snyder appearing from Israel for more than 10 hours. A Snyder spokesperson said in a statement, "Mr. Snyder fully addressed all questions about workplace misconduct, described the Commanders’ dramatic two-year transformation and expressed hope for the organization’s bright future." The House Committee on Oversight launched the investigation last year after the NFL fined Washington $10 million following its review of workplace misconduct, but didn't release the findings.

⚾MARLINS PITCHER CASTANO HIT IN HEAD BY LINE DRIVE: Miami Marlins pitcher Daniel Castano was hit in the forehead by a 104 mph line drive hit by the Cincinnati Reds' Donovan Solano in the first inning of the Marlins' 7-6 win yesterday. The Marlins said Castano had mild concussion symptoms and was bruised, but a CT scan was normal. After falling to his knees, Castano rose to his feet about 90 seconds later and left the field under his own power.

Marlins pitcher Daniel Castano took a line drive to the head that was caught at third base for the out

He was alert and able to walk off the field on his own power pic.twitter.com/n911w3QfHH

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 28, 2022

🏈REPORT: METCALF AGREES TO THREE-YEAR, $72 MILLION EXTENSION WITH SEAHAWKS: Star wide receiver DK Metcalf has agreed to a three-year, $72 million extension with the Seattle Seahawks, ESPN reported Thursday (July 28th). The deal reportedly includes $58.2 million in guarantees, including a $30 million signing bonus, the highest ever for a wide receiver. The 24-year-old Metcalf had one year and just under $4 million left on his rookie contract, and is now signed through 2025.

The St. Louis area was under a flash flood warning as heavy rain again hit the area following what the National Weather Service called a "historic rainfall event" earlier this week. https://t.co/hsHu9IJbvO

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 29, 2022