➦In 1904...David Ford Bond born (Died at age 57 – August 15, 1962). He was the announcer for several popular radio shows in the 1930s and 1940s, earning him a spot on the This Is Your Life television show. For his work on radio, Bond has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6706 Hollywood Blvd.
Bond began working on radio at WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky, and joined NBC in 1928. For 20 years in the 1930s and 1940s, he was the announcer for several radio soap operas and other shows, including the advertising voice for a sponsor's product called Bab-O. He was also a sports announcer for NBC radio in the 1930s, calling college football games as well as the 1934 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and 1934 World Series.
For almost 30 years, Bond was the spokesman for Cities Service petroleum company, "the longest sponsor-announcer association in the history of radio".
➦In 1928…RCA announced the creation of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum holding company, more commonly known as RKO, with David Sarnoff (general manager of RCA) as its chairman of the board.
➦In 1932...the "Fred Allen Show" premiered on radio. Allen's radio show (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the Golden Age of American radio.
Fred Allen
His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it was only part of his appeal; radio historian John Dunning (in On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio) wrote that Allen was radio's most admired comedian and most frequently censored.
A master ad libber, Allen often tangled with his network's executives (and often barbed them on the air over the battles), while developing routines whose style and substance influenced fellow comic talents, including Groucho Marx, Stan Freberg, Henry Morgan and Johnny Carson; his avowed fans also included President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and novelists William Faulkner, John Steinbeck and Herman Wouk (who began his career writing for Allen).
➦In 1940...Ellie Greenwich, songwriter with Jeff Barry on "Leader Of The Pack" by the Shangri-Las, "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, "River Deep, Mountain High" for the Supremes & Four Tops and many others, was born in Brooklyn, New York.
A small but growing share of U.S. adults say they regularly get news on TikTok, Aaccording to Pew Research.
This is in contrast with many other social media sites, where news consumption has either declined or stayed about the same in recent years.
In just two years, the share of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from TikTok has roughly tripled, from 3% in 2020 to 10% in 2022.
The video-sharing platform has reported high earnings the past year and has become especially popular among teens – two-thirds of whom report using it in some way – as well as young adults.
Adults under 30 are the most likely group to say they regularly get news on TikTok. About a quarter of Americans in this age group (26%) say they regularly get news there, higher than in 2021 and 2020. This compares with 10% of those ages 30 to 49, 4% of those 50 to 64 and just 1% of those 65 and older.
More of TikTok’s U.S. adult users are getting news there as well. Currently, a third of TikTok users say they regularly get news on the site, up from 22% who said the same in 2020. Still, TikTok users remain far less likely than users of Twitter or Facebook to get news on the site.
Sportscaster Al Michaels has landed himself in the cross hairs of Taylor Swift fans on social media following his comments on NFL's Thursday Night Football broadcast.
According to The Daily Mail, Michaels, appearing on the Amazon coverage Thursday, seemingly implied that Swift was only popular among teenage girls following an announcement regarding the singer's new album.
'You have four sons, if you had a daughter she would be over the moon,' Michaels told Kirk Herbstreit in the booth.
'I have a granddaughter and she's completely over the moon right now… nobody more popular among the teenage girl group than Taylor Swift.'
The 32-year-old singer has won 11 Grammys over the course of her musical career. The majority of Swift's music has been centered around the pain of relationships, growing up and experiencing life.
iHeartMedia Central PA has announced Mike Miller has been named Vice President of Programming for Harrisburg and Lancaster, PA, effective November 1.
As Vice President of Programming, Mike Miller will be responsible for day-to-day operations for the seven-station cluster, including daily programming duties for WRBT Bob 94.9 and WHKF Real 99.3. He will report to Jeff Hurley, Executive Vice President for iHeartMedia National Programming Group.
Mike Miller
“Mike brings an unparalleled understanding of our business and operations. His track record of innovation speaks for itself,” said Hurley. “He has created and grown unique brands from the ground up for over 20 years in Central PA. We’re excited to welcome Mike back to our programming team, where he got his first start on FM97 in Lancaster at age 16.”
Mike Miller joins the Central PA region from the Harrisburg sales team, where he most recently served as Account Executive. He also served as the PD/PMD for Z104.3 in Baltimore, MD; PD/PMD for 99.3 KISS-FM in Harrisburg, PA; APD/PMD for Z100 in Portland, OR; and Imaging Director for Q102 in Philadelphia, PA. He began his career at FM97 in Lancaster, PA when he was 16 and has been with the company ever since.
iHeartMedia Allentown has announced Derrick Cole has been named Program Director for WAEB B104, The Valley’s #1 Hit Music Station, effective immediately.
As Program Director, Cole will be responsible for day-to-day operations. He will report to Jeff Hurley, Executive Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia.
“Derrick is a multi-faceted leader who embodies everything we seek in a Program Director for the year 2022 and beyond,” said Hurley. “He has great strategic vision and energy that will drive B104 to even greater heights.”
Sandy Hook families have asked a Connecticut judge to order Alex Jones to pay $2.75 trillion in damages in addition to the almost $1 billion a jury awarded for defamation, claiming only “the highest possible punitive damages,” will stop the Infowars host from continuing to harm them.
Bloomberg reports the families said they’re entitled to the amount because Jones broke a state law barring the sale of products using false statements. They reached the sum by multiplying the state law’s $5,000 per-violation fine by the 550 million social media exposures Jones’s audience received on his Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts in the three years following a school shooting that claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six educators in 2012.
Jones called family members “crisis actors” for years and said their loved ones weren’t murdered during an elementary school massacre. He denied his statements were defamatory.
A Dallas-Fort Worth radio DJ was sentenced on Friday to 24 years in a federal prison for producing images of himself sexually abusing a prepubescent child, a federal official said.
The Star-Telegram reports Clois Glenn Raborn, 49, was ordered on Friday to prison by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor.
Raborn was known for occasional appearances on IHeartmedia's then-rock station KEGL 97.1’s “The Russ Martin Show.” In a non-related incident Martin was found dead in his home in February 2021.
Raborn had been charged via criminal complaint in January and he waived his right to an indictment, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham said in a Friday news release.
He had pleaded guilty in March to sexual exploitation of a child.
The investigation began in March 2021 when Raborn’s roommate discovered lewd images of children on Raborn’s laptop. Law enforcement conducted a forensic analysis of the laptop and found images of an man, believed to be Raborn, engaging in sexual conduct with a young child, according to federal court documents.
The child’s mother confirmed her daughter’s identity based on images of her face and other items. She also told law enforcement she recognized Raborn’s hand in some of the images. She estimated that the child was between 4 to 6 years old when the photos were taken. In plea papers, Raborn admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with the child for the purpose of producing explicit visual depictions.
The U.S. Secret Service’s Dallas Field Office, the Euless Police Department and the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office of Digital Forensics and Technical Services conducted the investigation.
Earlier this month, KEGL-FM flipped formats to a Sports-Talk branding as The Freak.
A CNN commentator who said the cable network kept her off the air because of a tweet criticizing its handling of the Jeffrey Toobin public masturbation scandal said she “rejects” that “this is the one penis I’m not allowed to talk about.”
“As a woman in media, I have been asked to comment on every errant penis in the media industry, and there are so many,” Mary Katharine Ham told Kelly, the former Fox News anchor and current host of the SiriusXM podcast “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
The NY Post reports Ham didn’t name names, but was referring to big media moguls who have become ensnared in sexual misconduct scandals such as Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose, according to a source close to the show.
“For the past five years, sometimes to the exclusion of all the other things I’d like to talk about like tax policy, health policy, and foreign policy, yet I do it because it’s the right thing to do, even though it can be a little humiliating to be on TV talking about nothing but errant penises of your colleagues,” Ham said in the Friday interview.
She added of Toobin: “I reject that this is the one penis that I’m not allowed to talk about.”
Kelly agreed with Ham’s assessment that if a woman was caught pleasuring herself in public as Toobin was, it would have meant the end of her career.
Earlier this month, Ham wrote a blog entry on her Substack page in which she alleged that CNN’s then-president, Jeff Zucker, kept her off the air for months without her being informed that she was punished over a tense Twitter exchange with a network colleague.
CNN, the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news channel, has released a suite of fresh promos for “CNN This Morning” that show hosts Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlin Collins hanging out over coffee, a first look at the trio and their chemistry as the network bets on a new A.M. format to help vie more competitively in one of the most competitive time periods for TV news, reports Variety.
“We want familiarity in the morning,” says Ryan Kadro, the CNN development executive who has been working on the program. “We really want the audience to feel at home with the show.” The new program kicks off November 1.
In a marked change from how CNN typically presents its programs, the new promos show the hosts chatting in a restaurant, reflecting on how they know each other and what morning news audiences crave. Collins acknowledges she was in middle school when Lemon first appeared on CNN, and on-air graphics emphasize the trio’s banter. “It’s really all about the conversation,” says Lemon, clad in a white jacket and white turtleneck.
Gone are the Zuckerian flourishes of CNN’s recent past: no warnings about taking on the administration or holding newsmakers to account.
The three anchors may not adhere to the rules of morning television. “You’re going to see a little more relaxed approach from these hosts,” says Kadro, and not only from their conversational tone. “What they are wearing that day is probably close to what they are going to show up in,” he says.
“CNN This Morning” is one of the bigger programming salvos by CNN under its new leader, Chris Licht, one of the driving forces behind the creation of recent A.M. standouts like MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and CBS’ “CBS This Morning.” Kadro also worked as an executive producer at “CBS This Morning.” CNN’s current morning program, “New Day,” was meant to help set the network’s agenda for the day ahead — a phrase often used by executives in the past. Now “CNN This Morning” seems poised to give viewers a look at all the stories taking place around the world before the audience needs to set off on its daily routine.
In 2008, the San Antonio Media Alliance named him “Radio Personality of the Year," according to an online bio. He was also heavily involved with SIDS, Susan G. Komen, Make-A-Wish and several other community organizations.
➦In 1891...Parker Fennelly born in Maine (Died – January 22, 1988). He was an actor and playwright who appeared in ten films, numerous television episodes and hundreds of radio programs.
He was a longtime member of Allen’s Alley on NBC’s Fred Allen Show, portraying Titus Moody with a strong “Down East” accent.
He was much in demand for numerous radio series based in New York, and over a 20 year span on various radio networks.
He died at age 96 on Jan. 22, 1988.
➦In 1939...the first televised pro football game airedfrom Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. NBC’s flagship, W2XBS, carried the action. Brooklyn beat Philadelphia, 23-14. NBC later changed those experimental call letters to WRCA, and even later, to WNBC.
➦In 1961... In the midst of a growing “twist” craze, Chubby Checker was on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show, performing his original hit from the previous year, “The Twist,” along with his followup “Let’s Twist Again.” The resulting attention helped boost “The Twist” back to #1 by early 1962, marking the only time the same recording has hit the top spot on Billboard’s singles chart in two different years.
➦In 1969…Paul McCartney appeared in public to deny rumors of his death.
➦In 1986...NY Personality/Traffic Reporter Jane Dornacker died in a helicopter accident while working for WNBC 660 AM Radio in New York City (which became WFAN in 1988).
Dornacker was aboard during two unrelated crashes of the helicopters leased to WNBC. She survived the first crash, but was killed in the second crash into the Hudson River, which occurred as she was in the middle of a live traffic report.
Her death came shortly after that of her husband, Bob Knickerbocker, orphaning their 16-year-old daughter. The NTSB investigation determined the cause of the fatal crash to have been use of improper parts and poor maintenance on the part of Spectrum Helicopters of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.
➦In 1992...Sportscaster Walter Lanier "Red" Barber died (Born - February 17, 1908). Barber, nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds (1934–1938), Brooklyn Dodgers (1939–1953), and New York Yankees (1954–1966). Like his fellow sports pioneer Mel Allen, Barber also gained a niche calling college and professional American football in his primary market of New York City.
Red Barber
At the age of 21, he hitchhiked from his home in Sanford, FL to Gainesville, FL and enrolled at the University of Florida, majoring in education. During his first year he worked at various jobs including part-time janitor at the University Club. There in January 1930 Barber got his start in broadcasting.
An agriculture professor had been scheduled to appear on WRUF, the university radio station, to read a scholarly paper over the air. When the professor's absence was discovered minutes before the broadcast was to begin, janitor Barber was called in as a substitute. Thus the future sportscaster's first gig was reading "Certain Aspects of Bovine Obstetrics".
After those few minutes in front of a microphone, Barber decided to switch careers. He became WRUF's director and chief announcer and covered Florida football games that autumn. Then he dropped out of school to focus on his radio work. After four more years at WRUF he landed a job broadcasting the Cincinnati Reds on WLW and WSAI when Powel Crosley, Jr., purchased the team in 1934.
On Opening Day 1934 (April 17), Barber attended his first major league game and broadcast its play-by-play, as the Reds lost to the Chicago Cubs 6–0. He called games from the stands of Cincinnati's renamed Crosley Field for the next five seasons.
Barber had been hired by Larry MacPhail, then president of the Reds. When MacPhail moved on to be president of the Dodgers for the 1939 season, he took the play-by-play man along. In Brooklyn, Barber became an institution, widely admired for his folksy style. He was also appreciated by people concerned about Brooklyn's reputation as a land of "dees" and "dems".
In 1939 Barber broadcast the first major-league game on television, on experimental NBC station W2XBS. In 1946 he added to his Brooklyn duties a job as sports director of the CBS Radio Network, succeeding Ted Husing and continuing through 1955. There his greatest contribution was to conceive and host the CBS Football Roundup, which switched listeners back and forth between broadcasts of different regional college games each week.
For most of Barber's run with the Dodgers, the team was broadcast over radio station WMGM (later WHN) at 1050 on the AM dial.
Prior to the 1953 World Series, Barber was selected by Gillette, which sponsored the Series broadcasts, to call the games on NBC Radio Network along with Mel Allen. Barber wanted a larger fee than was offered by Gillette, however, and when Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley refused to back him, Barber declined to work the Series and Vin Scully partnered with Allen on the telecasts instead. As Barber later related in his 1968 autobiography, Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat, it was O'Malley's lack of support that led to his resigning from the Dodgers later that October.
Soon afterward the crosstown Yankees hired Barber. In 1955 he took his long-running television program Red Barber's Corner from CBS to NBC. It ran from 1949 until 1958.
Under the ownership of CBS in 1966, the Yankees finished tenth and last, their first time at the bottom of the standings since 1912 and after more than 40 years of dominating the American League. On September 22, paid attendance of 413 was announced at the 65,000-seat Yankee Stadium.
Barber asked the TV cameras to pan the empty stands as he commented on the low attendance. Although denied the camera shots on orders from the Yankees' head of media relations, he said, "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game." By a horrible stroke of luck, that game was the first for CBS executive Mike Burke as team president. A week later, Barber was invited to breakfast where Burke told him that his contract wouldn't be renewed.
After his dismissal by the Yankees in 1966, Barber retired from baseball broadcasting. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association inducted Barber into its Hall of Fame in 1973. In 1978, Barber joined former colleague Mel Allen to become the first broadcasters to receive the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. In 1979, he was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Florida, given a Gold Award by the Florida Association of Broadcasters, and inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. In 1984, Barber was part of the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame's inaugural class which included sportscasting legends Don Dunphy, Ted Husing, Bill Stern and Graham McNamee. Barber was given a George Polk Award in 1985 and a Peabody Award in 1990 for his NPR broadcasts, and in 1995 he was posthumously inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
In 1993, TV Guide named Barber the best sportscaster of the 1950s
Singer/songwriter Carly Simon has sadly lost both her sisters this week: Broadway composer Lucy Simon, 82, died of breast cancer Thursday and retired opera singer Joanna Simon, 84, succumbed to thyroid cancer Wednesday.
Both deaths were confirmed to Deadline on Friday by a source close to the Oscar- and Grammy-winning pop star. Their younger brother, photographer Peter Simon, died of cardiac arrest in 2018 after his own battle with cancer.
In a 2015 New York Times interview, Lucy described eldest sister Joanna, whose family nickname was “Joey,” as “the imperial queen, absolutely gorgeous.”
Mezzo-soprano Joanna Simon made her debut at New York City Opera as Cherubino in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” in 1962. A decade later, she performed the title role in the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri’s “Black Widow” at the Seattle Opera. After her partial retirement from the world of opera, she was an Emmy-winning arts correspondent for PBS’s “MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour” until 1992.
She was married to writer Gerald Walker from 1976 until his death in 2004, and the companion of iconic news anchor Walter Cronkite from 2005 until his death in 2009.
Lucy wrote the music for Broadway musicals “The Secret Garden” (1991) and “Doctor Zhivago (2011),” winning Grammy and Drama Desk Awards, as well as a Tony nomination for Best Score.
She also performed with Carly as the Simon Sisters and told The New York Times in 2015, “So much of what I love about my work on ‘Doctor Zhivago’ comes from my work with Carly, finding the harmonies in duets and trios and quartets.”
In 2018, she received the Samuel French Award for Sustained Excellence in American Theater.
Russian and Ukrainian troops appeared Thursday to be girding for a major battle over the strategic southern industrial port city of Kherson, in a region which Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed and subjected to martial law, reportsAP News. Fighting and evacuations were reported in the Kherson region as Moscow tried to pound the invaded country into submission with more missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure.
Explosions in Kherson. The hammer is falling and softening up all Russian defenses which haven’t been destroyed or dismantled, yet. Russian end in Kherson (and beyond) is inevitable. #Kherson#Ukrainepic.twitter.com/YkEBZ3Ji1V
Putin declared martial law in the Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions on Wednesday in an attempt to assert Russian authority in the annexed areas as he faced battlefield setbacks, a troubled troop mobilization, increasing criticism at home and abroad, and international sanctions. The unsettled status of the illegally absorbed territory was especially visible in the Kherson region’s capital, where Russian military officials have replaced Kremlin-installed civilian leaders as part of martial law that took effect Thursday to defend against a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Drone footage of a camouflaged Russian main battle tank getting obliterated as a result of Ukrainian artillery fire, in Luhansk Oblast #Russia#Ukrainepic.twitter.com/FlBZkmXpK9
➤ELON MUSK PLANS TO CUT 75% OF TWITTER WORKFORCE: Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut nearly 75% of Twitter’s employee base of 7,500 workers, leaving the company with a skeleton crew, according to the report. The newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations. While job cuts have been expected regardless of the sale, the magnitude of Musk’s planned cuts are far more extreme than anything Twitter had planned. Musk himself has alluded to the need to cull some of the company’s staff in the past, but he hadn’t given a specific number — at least not publicly.
Snap Inc. posted a further slowdown in sales growth and signaled the digital-ad market could remain lackluster for some time, sending its shares sharply lower in late trading, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Snap, in an investor letter Thursday, said it is operating on an assumption of no revenue growth this quarter from the year-ago period, even though it has seen about 9% growth so far for the period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet have been expecting almost 7% growth for the fourth quarter
The parent of the Snapchat app is among several social-media companies that have been struggling to respond to the sagging ad market and privacy policy changes Apple Inc. introduced last year that make it more difficult to target ads and track their performance.
Snap said it generated $1.13 billion in sales in the most recent quarter, or 6% above the year-earlier figure. That was the slowest rate of growth since going public and below the 8% figure Snap said in August it was seeing. The sales figure narrowly missed Wall Street expectations, though its $360 million loss for the period was narrower than analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected.
The company, which has lost more than 85% of its value over the past year, didn’t issue detailed financial projections for the current quarter, citing market uncertainty.
Snap kicks off the quarterly results season for digital-ad-dependent companies, which have been grappling with market disruptions for more than a year. Soaring inflation, recession fears and the war in Ukraine have weighed on digital-ad spending this year, as have the Apple privacy changes.
The broadcast television and radio industry would lose $2.1 billion in digital advertising revenue annually, representing 6.3% of the industry’s total advertising revenue, if third-party cookies were eliminated today with no privacy-preserving alternatives, according to a new study released Thursday by Borrell Associates.
Borrell Associates President Jim Brown presented the study, commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters' (NAB) innovation wing PILOT, at NAB Show New York.
The study, "State of the Industry Report: What The Loss Of Third-Party Cookies Means For Broadcasters," examined the phase-out of third-party tracking cookies used in digital advertising to estimate the financial impact on broadcasting. The research used interviews with broadcast executives and an online survey of 54 broadcasters to gauge the industry's level of preparedness and identify best practices among those most prepared for the phase-out, which will be completed by the end of 2024.
In its research, Borrell Associates estimated the immediate elimination of third-party data would result in an annual loss of $1.1 million for the average TV station and over $730,000 for the average multi-station radio market cluster, with these losses possibly 40% larger by the end of 2024. The study found programmatic display and audience extension ads, which are the largest single sources of digital revenue for many broadcasters, would be negatively impacted by the phase-out of cookies, though previous research has found publishers are overestimating their value and profitability.
The study found the phase-out of third-party cookies offers an opportunity for broadcasters to increase their digital advertising revenue by spurring the development of initiatives focused on first-party data, or data that is set and accessible only by a website owner.
"When it occurs, the phase-out of 3rd-party cookies is likely to deliver more benefit than loss to broadcasters," said the study. "The main benefit may be that it motivates broadcasters to take control of their own audiences by establishing a 1st party relationship with viewers and listeners who've remained anonymous for decades. A secondary benefit could be that broadcasters begin reaching beyond their traditional audiences, developing relationships with new audiences altogether — some of whom may reside outside their traditional broadcast geographies. And that could have broad, positive effects that extend well beyond any revenue generated by digital ad sales."
Total preliminary registered attendance reached 9,576 for the 2022 NAB Show New York, held October 19-20 at the Javits Center. The show floor featured 245 exhibitors showcasing the latest technology in media and entertainment.
The 2023 NAB Show New York will be held October 25-26, 2023.
“The turnout for NAB Show New York reinforces the power of our brand and the value of in-person trade shows,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “We are incredibly thankful to our exhibitors, speakers, partners and attendees for making this event a success, and we are excited to build on the momentum leading into NAB Show in Las Vegas.”
Produced by the National Association of Broadcasters and held annually in October, NAB Show New York offers hands-on learning, discovery and insights into the technology and business strategies that are transforming media and entertainment. Through exhibits, conferences and networking events, NAB Show New York spotlights the products, practices and leaders promoting superior audio and video experiences.
Pundits have justifiably decried the loss of local newspapers -- 2,500 have shuttered since 2005, as employment in that field has decreased by 70% and revenues by 60%.
But, according to MediaPost, there is a replacement hiding in plain sight: public media, according to the Growing Strength of Public Media Local Journalism, a study written by Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, Mark Fuerst and Caroline Porter for the Wyncote Foundation, from which the above numbers are derived.
NPR estimated it had 53 million audience members in fall 2021, a slight decline from 60 million during the start of the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election, but still higher than 2016 and 2019.
Part of the reason is that news-focused public radio licensees have been investing in news as their revenues have grown.
An analysis of 123 licensees found that those outlets spent $640.2 million on content production in fiscal year 2020. When everything was included, that figure rose to $712.4 million—69% of total revenues.
Canadian Music Week (CMW) has teamed up with the massively successful organizers of Radiodays Europe to jointly host Radiodays North America in Toronto, June 8-9.
Radiodays North America is set to take at the Harbour Castle Westin Hotel as part of the weeklong CMW conference, bringing keynote speakers and panelists from around the globe to the city to discuss all facets of over-the-air and digital broadcasting and podcasting from executive leadership and workplace diversity to innovation, technology, talent, programming, marketing and revenue growth.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring the Radiodays Europe brand and its expert international content to North America,” said Peter Niegel, General Manager for Radiodays Europe, in a release. “Toronto is the ideal location to bring everyone together to ensure that we as an industry move forward with strategies for the future.”
Partners in Radiodays North America include Bell Media, Corus, Rogers, Stingray, CBC, Sirius XM, Indie88, Slaight Music, the OAB and others.
While the action was on the field Thursday night as the Arizona Cardinals took on the New Orleans Saints, some TV viewers were more interested in the trailer of Taylor Swift's new album, released during the game.
"Midnights" debuted at midnight on Friday, soon after the trailer came out during "Thursday Night Football."
Here’s the teaser trailer for the videos I’ve made for Midnights 🌌 Thank you @amazonmusic for premiering this, the first video for Anti-Hero will be out tomorrow at 8am ET. And Midnights will be here SO SOON!!!https://t.co/jjqUNkpPkepic.twitter.com/xzmqXa5Cqy
The trailer was a succession of clips from the music videos Swift shot for the album, which showed her playing a range of roles from different periods of history, including a Marilyn Monroe-type actress, a flapper girl, Marie Antoinette and, at one point, a person who hides in a coffin for some reason.
Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson—the founder of Motown Records and the label’s first signee—have been named the 2023 MusiCares Persons of the Year, marking the first time the organization is feting two music luminaries with the distinction in one year.
Forbes reports the dynamic duo will be feted at a tribute concert February 3, 2023 at the Los Angeles Convention Center two nights before the Grammy Awards ceremony.
Gordy, the recipient of numerous accolades including the Recording Academy President's Merit Award honoree, and Grammy winner Robinson, whose hits include Tears of a Clown and Cruisin’ and The Tracks of My Tears, have set the standard for the ultimate bromance during more than six decades of friendship and countless shared industry spotlights.
"Wow! How honored I am to be named the MusiCares Persons of the Year, and together with my best friend of over 65 years, the great Smokey Robinson. How special is that!" said Gordy in a statement. "I am grateful to be included in MusiCares' remarkable history of music icons. The work they do is so critical to the well-being of our music community, and I look forward to a most exciting evening."
➥In 1908...The first two-sided vinyl record was offered for sale.
The first sound recordings at the end of the 19th century were made on cylinder records, which had a single round surface capable of holding approximately two minutes of sound. Early shellac disc records records only had recordings on one side of the disc, with a similar capacity (both media could hold between three and four minutes by 1910). Double-sided recordings, with one selection on each side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records, and by 1910 most record labels had adopted the format in both Europe and the United States; the ability to effectively double the amount of sound on the disc was one major factor in its rising to dominance over the cylinder record which was obsolete by 1912.
There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations (by and large) did not play recorded music until the 1950s (when top 40 radio overtook full-service network radio). In this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important; the "side" did not convey anything about the content of the record.
➦In 1915...First transmission of speech across the Atlantic Ocean was made by radiotelephone, Arlington, Va., to Paris.
➦In 1969...Radio personality Roby Yonge aired the infamous “Paul is Dead” show at 77 WABC, NYC.
Originally hired for the 1 - 3 PM shift, Yonge was moved into the overnight shift in August 1969 when Charlie Greer left the station. He was told by program director Rick Sklar in the early fall, that his contract would not be renewed. He subsequently went on the air with the Paul McCartney "death" rumor on October 21, 1969, having heard the rumor from WKNR Detroit radio personality Chris Randall.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) tonight presented the 2022 NAB Marconi Radio Awards during a dinner celebration held at the Javits Center at NAB Show New York. The ceremony, sponsored by Xperi, was hosted by media mogul Nick Cannon with entertainment from VERZUZ host DJ Scratch.
Established in 1989 and named after inventor and Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi, the NAB Marconi Radio Awards are given to radio stations and outstanding on-air personalities to recognize excellence in radio.
This year's NAB Marconi Radio Award winners are:
Legendary Radio Station of the Year: KTAR-FM, Phoenix, Ariz.
Legendary Radio Station Manager: Joel Oxley WTOP-FM, Washington, D.C.
Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year: Dan Patrick Premiere Radio Networks, Inc.,
Major Market Personality of the Year: Greg Hill WEEI-FM, Boston, Mass.
Large Market Personality of the Year: Chris O'Brien and Janeen Coyle WGRR-FM, Cincinnati
Medium Market Personality of the Year: Mo & StyckMan WUSY-FM, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Small Market Personality of the Year: Kristin Monica KTXY-FM, Columbia, Mo.
Major Market Station of the Year: WSB-AM, Atlanta, Ga.
Large Market Station of the Year: WYCD-FM, Detroit, Mich.
Medium Market Station of the Year: WOWO-AM, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Small Market Station of the Year: WXFL-FM, Florence, Ala.
AC Radio Station of the Year: KSTP-FM, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Best Radio Podcast of the Year: "COLD Season 2" KSL-FM, Salt Lake City, Utah
CHR Station of the Year: KTXY-FM, Columbia, Mo.
Classic Hits Station of the Year: WMGK-FM, Philadelphia, Pa.
College Station of the Year: WRHU-FM, Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
Country Station of the Year: KSCS-FM, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
News/Talk Station of the Year: KRMG-FM, Tulsa, Okla.
Religious Station of the Year: WFMV-AM, Columbia, S.C.
Rock Station of the Year: KCMQ-FM, Columbia, Mo.
Spanish Language Station of the Year: WZTU-FM, Miami, Fla.
Sports Station of the Year: WXYT-FM, Detroit, Mich.
Urban Station of the Year: WALR-FM, Atlanta, Ga.
Marconi finalists were selected by a task force of broadcasters, and the winners were voted on by the NAB Marconi Radio Awards Selection Academy. The votes were tabulated by an independent firm.
Also at the event, award-winning radio and television personality Ryan Seacrest was honored with the Distinguished Service Award, the NAB’s highest honor, which recognizes those who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the American system of broadcasting. Researchers and leading industry consultants Fred and Paul Jacobs received the National Radio Award for their outstanding leadership in broadcast radio.
The kickoff of the fall TV season and the return of football provided audiences with an abundance of new content in September, fueling a 2.4% rise in total TV viewing. The arrival of new broadcast programming provided the traditional lift that we’ve seen historically, but the 12.4% increase in volume from August wasn’t enough to alter the forward trajectory of streaming usage, as streaming services captured 36.9% of total TV usage, according to Nielsen.
Alongside the whopping, but perhaps not totally unexpected, 222% increase in sports viewing on broadcast channels, audiences continued to over-indulge on streaming content, resulting in yet another monthly high-water mark. Audiences also continue to expand their choice of streaming service, with YouTube hitting a new platform-best streaming record, claiming 8% of TV viewing and equaling Netflix’s July record high, Hulu securing its own record of 3.7%, and Pluto TV capturing 1% of total TV, enabling it to be showcased outside of the “other streaming” category. HBO Max also gained 9.9% in volume thanks to House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, pushing its share of TV to 1.3%.
In several cases, increases in volume did not affect total TV share. For example, Amazon Prime Video usage increased 3.9% in September on the strength of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power and specific Thursday Night Football games, but the platform’s share of total TV remained flat at 2.9%. Similarly, Disney+ saw a 2.4% increase in volume, yet its share of total TV stayed at 1.9%.
Broadcast recorded the largest month-over-month gain, driven by the sports genre, which accounted for 25.1% of broadcast viewing. That said, broadcast’s 24.2% share in September was 7.1% lower than it was a year ago. Cable also benefited from a 40% bump in sports viewing, but the 0.4% rise in usage wasn’t enough to move cable’s share of total TV. In fact, with the other categories gaining share in the month, cable dropped 0.7 share points to finish with 33.8% of total TV, its lowest share ever reported by The Gauge. Cable viewing was 9.3% lower in September compared with a year ago.
The Trending
The return of football was the true spark in September, as it provided new content across broadcast, cable and streaming. But even without sports, streaming—in all of its forms—continues to gain adoption, and it benefits from the emphasis that pure-play streamers and media companies alike are placing on it.
Inflation in the U.S. hit an annual rate of 8.2 percent in September, reflecting increased costs across the board for food, shelter, fuel, and medical care. Some relief may be ahead, though. Comerica Bank chief economist Bill Adams told NBC News that house prices and rents are likely to decline in the coming months, though food prices may stay high. The typical American consumer is paying $445 more per month for goods and services than just one year ago, according to Moody Analytics.
➤BIDEN’S MIDTERM PITCH: CNN points out that President Joe Biden’s schedule this week is a road map of his strategy to convince voters to get to the polls for Democratic Party candidates for Congress on November eighth. On Tuesday, he vowed to make it his first priority to get passage of a federal law codifying abortion rights if Democrats take the majority in the Senate and keep control of the House. On Wednesday, he announced that his White House will continue to release oil from the Strategic Oil Reserves to offset the production cuts that are sending gasoline prices up again. Today, he’s expected to visit Pittsburgh to talk about his plans for infrastructure improvements. And Friday, he’ll be in Delaware speaking about his plan for student loan forgiveness.
➤BIDEN SNARKS AT FOX WH REPORTER: Biden appeared to take a dig Wednesday at a Fox News correspondent who asked him if his top domestic priority was abortion or inflation. 'They're all important. Unlike you, there's no one thing,' he told Fox reporter Peter Doocy at the end of an event on the bipartisan infrastructure law. Biden has long called inflation his top domestic priority. But he and fellow Democrats have been focusing on the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, in issue Democrats think is a political winner. Biden said the first bill he wants passed if Democrats keep control of Congress is one to codify Roe.
White House press secretary stumped by question about energy producers: 'trying to put them out of business' https://t.co/wLDEPLdRFb
➤JUDGE ORDERS RELEASE OF EMAILS TO TRUMP: A federal judge has ordered that 33 emails sent to former President Donald Trump by his attorney be turned over to the Congressional committee investigating the January 6th 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol. According to Judge David O. Carter, the emails suggest that the president, in a sworn statement, authorized lawsuits based on election fraud allegations that he knew to be bogus. The apparent purpose was not to prove election fraud, the judge said, but to delay or disrupt certification of the election of President Joe Biden. The House committee looking into the events of January 6th has previously been refused access to hundreds of emails sent by the lawyer, John Eastman.
Fetterman's medical report written by doctor who contributed more than $1,300 to his campaign: public records https://t.co/QT98XJeA20
➤PUTIN DECLARES MARTIAL LAW IN PARTS OF UKRAINE: Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared martial law in four regions of Ukraine that have been annexed by Russia. The announcement came after days of intense missile and drone attacks by Russia on cities and key infrastructure sites inside Ukraine.
➤FIGHTER JET CRASHES NEAR SALT LAKE CITY: An Air Force F-35 fighter jet crashed and exploded in flames shortly after takeoff near Salt Lake City yesterday. The pilot safely ejected. The cause of the crash of the $80 million jet is being investigated.
The CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” was the top-rated non-NFL program for the fourth time in the four-week-old 2022-23 prime-time television season, while “FBI” was the most-watched entertainment program for the first time since the season’s opening week, according to a story in the L-A Times.
“60 Minutes” averaged 10.719 million viewers, a season-high among non-NFL programs, and fifth among the prime-time broadcast and cable programs airing between Oct. 10 and Sunday, according to live-plus-same-day figures released Tuesday by Nielsen. The previous high was 10.274 million viewers for the Oct. 2 edition of “60 Minutes.”
Both of the season’s two most popular editions of “60 Minutes” followed runovers of CBS’ afternoon NFL coverage into prime time in the Eastern and Central time zones.
“FBI” averaged 7.407 million viewers, the season-high for an entertainment program. The CBS crime drama was sixth for the week and among four entertainment programs to average more than 7 million viewers. The others were CBS’ ‘The Equalizer” (7.32 million) and “Young Sheldon” (7.249 million) and NBC’s “Chicago Fire” (7.162 million).
CBS’ “Fire Country” was the highest-rated new series for the second time in the two weeks it has aired, averaging 5.802 million viewers, 18th for the week and 13th among non-NFL programs. Viewership dropped 1.9% from the 5.911 million average for its premiere one week earlier.
For the sixth time in the six-week-old NFL season, NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” was at the top of prime-time program rankings, with the Philadelphia Eagles’ 26-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys averaging 20.793 million, third among the season’s “Sunday Night Football” games.
The latest Infinite Dial study from Edison Research shows that 88% of Americans age 16+ own a mobile phone, and as the availability of audio apps and podcast apps has increased, so has consumption on a mobile phone.
Edison Research’s Share of Ear® database has been tracking audio consumption on various devices since the beginning of our study in 2014. The graph below shows the percent of all audio, not just radio content, that is consumed via mobile device versus via a traditional radio receiver. In 2014, around half (49%) of ALL audio content was consumed on a traditional radio receiver, compared with 18% that was consumed on a mobile phone. The years since showed steady growth for mobile devices as time spent with traditional radio receivers declined.
As of Q4 2021, radio receivers still had the slightest edge over mobile, with 33% of all audio being consumed on a radio and 32% on a mobile phone. With the latest release of Q3 Share of Ear data, consumption of audio on a mobile device just passed radio receiver consumption, 33.3% to 33.1%.
A SiriusXM Pandora says there is a high level of interest in sports events and related content on its flagship satellite and streaming radio service, but the company isn’t considering plans to offer a sports-only tier of service in the future, according to The Desk.
In an interview with financial publication Axios this week, SiriusXM Pandora’s chief content officer Scott Greenstein said the company’s investment in live play-by-play of professional sports and related content helps draw new customers into its ecosystem.
“Trial subscribers that listen to sports channels convert to a paid tier at a higher rate than those who don’t listen to sports,” Greenstein said during the interview.
SiriusXM currently holds the exclusive national broadcast rights to live audio simulcasts of pre-season, regular season and playoff National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) games. It shares similar rights for Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Hockey League (NHL) games with streaming audio service TuneIn.
Professional leagues require multi-year contract deals for the right to redistribute audio of their games, which is similar to agreements between the leagues and television networks. While SiriusXM Pandora has never revealed what it pays for the right to provide customers audio play-by-play those games, the rights are believed to be substantially less than what television networks pay for live video of the same games.
