Radio History: Nov 17

➦In 1914...Broadcaster, comedian  Archie Campbell, best known for his work on TV’s Hee Haw, was born in Bullsgap Tennessee.

He was in country music radio prior to WWII; after the war he originated Knoxville’s first Country TV Show (1952-58.)  He moved on to Nashville & the Grand Ole Opry, where he started a recording career with RCA.

In 1969 he joined Hee Haw as the barber, famous for his spoonerism stories & “That’s bad, that’s good” routines. 

Archie died Aug. 29 1987 after a heart attack.  He was 72.

➦In 1917...Announcer, TV host Jack Lescoulie  was born in Sacramento. He was best known for his stint on NBC’s Today Show during its earliest years, and the Jackie Gleason Show on CBS.  He died July 22, 1987 at age 69.

➦In 1970…Elton John, backed by Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson, performed at A&R Recording Studios in New York City for a live radio broadcast on WABC 95.5 FM (now Contemporary Christian WPLJ) which was later released as his "11-17-70" album.

➦In 1979...Personality George Michael aired his last show on 77WABC, New York.

His first radio appointment outside of his hometown was in 1962 at WRIT in Milwaukee, where he worked the 6-to-10 pm shift until he was reassigned to 5-to-9 morning drive time in early 1964.  His next stop was at KBTR in Denver later in 1964, working under the name "King" George Michael for the first time. He earned the nickname due to his success in "ruling" evening radio.

He became one of the original Boss Jocks at WFIL 560 AM in Philadelphia when its new Top 40 rock and roll format debuted on September 18, 1966. He served as music director and evening deejay for the next eight years. WFIL, which was popularly known as "Famous 56" after the transition, ended WIBG 990 AM's listener ratings dominance and became the city's most popular station by the summer of 1967.  Michael was the first Philadelphia rock and roll radio personality to read the scores of local high school football and basketball games on the air.

On George's last WFIL show (on September 6, 1974) he played "When Will I See You Again" by the Three Degrees for the first time ever on any radio station. The playing of this on his show broke the song into the mainstream, and within two months was a huge international hit, reaching number one in the U.K., and number two in the U-S.

SF Radio: Cumulus Making Strategic Moves

Cumulus Media has announced strategic operating moves to its San Francisco market with stations including 104.5 FM/680 AM KNBR The Sports Leader, KSFO, The Bay Area’s Exclusive Hot Talk, and Classic Rocker KSAN-FM/107.7 The Bone.

Next week, KNBR begins the rollout of a new weekday programming line-up featuring new on-air talent teams in Middays and Afternoons. Joining the KNBR full-time roster is new Midday Co-Host and Producer Greg Silver, who will join popular Midday Host and San Francisco 49ers play-by-play announcer Greg Papa. The duo can be heard on KNBR Monday through Friday from 10:00am-2:00pm beginning Monday, November 18th.

Adam Copeland, current KNBR Afternoon Co-Host, welcomes a new on-air partner Derek Papa. The new duo of Adam Copeland and Derek Papa can be heard weekdays from 2:00pm-6:00pm beginning Monday, December 2nd.

KNBR will also move its primary broadcasts from offices at 750 Battery Street, San Francisco, to its studios at San Francisco’s renowned Levi Stadium, home of KNBR and KSAN broadcast rights partner, the San Francisco 49ers. The move will bring even more insight, access and “best-seat-in-the-house” opinions to Bay Area sports fans.

Cumulus San Francisco further announced that KNBR sister station, KSFO, now heard at 560AM, a 5,000-watt signal, will increase its signal and reach substantially with the News/Talk station’s move to 810AM, a 50,000-watt signal, on Monday, November 18th.

Larry Blumhagen, Regional Vice President and Market Manager, Cumulus San Francisco, said: “We make these moves as Cumulus San Francisco is experiencing an exceptionally successful year. We continue to evolve as an organization committed to excellence and to growing for the future. With these changes, we say goodbye to some of our most storied and influential talent and we extend our gratitude for their countless contributions.”

As for KGO (which has aired at 810 AM since December 1, 1947),  Cumulus Media has not released anything official.  There have been some trade reports that KGO's current sports betting format' would be ceasing operations. The betting format replaced the once legendary talk format on KGO in October 2022.

🎧To stream KNBR The Sports Leader, visit: https://www.knbr.com/. To stream KSFO, visit: https://www.ksfo.com/.

The KGO Timeline

KGO Building, Oakland, CA 1924

Considering the latest developments at Cumulus Media's KGO 810 AM, M-C presents a  timeline of station highlights:

• KGO first took to the air January 8, 1924.
• KGO went on the air initially on a schedule of 8 to 10 PM every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Immediately, it developed a reputation among its listeners for having consistentlyhigh program quality. Some of the top musical artists in the Bay Area were enlisted to perform over KGO by Studio Manager Howard Milholland. Indeed, most of the program staff itself was musically inclined. Milholland and three other staff members formed a quartet that was heard frequently over the air waves. Announcer Jennings Pierce, who later announced for NBC, was a very fine tenor. Carl Rhodehamel, Publicity Manager, directed the KGO Little Symphony. In fact, it is quite possible that KGO required all its staff members to have musical abilities.One of KGO's most popular programs was Ann Holden's Home Forum, which began shortly after the station's first broadcast, and continued to be a regular KGO feature until 1962. The original Ann Holden, whose real name was Flora Davis, was replaced by Francis Minton after the former's death.

KGO Control Room 1924

• KGO was part of an interesting experiment conducted by General Electric March 7, 1924. G. E. microphones picked up the proceedings of the alumni banquet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, held in the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. This program was broadcast over WJZ in New York, and sent simultaneously by wire to Schenectady, where it was broadcast by WGY and the G. E. shortwave station there. The shortwave broadcasts, heard in Europe, were simultaneously picked up by shortwave station KFKX in Hastings, Nebraska, which rebroadcast it for pickup by KGO. Thus, in 1924, a New York broadcast could be heard live anywhere between the Pacific Coast and Europe.

KGO Transmitter Building 1924

• In November, 1928, KGO settled on 7,500 watts at 790 kc. and they remained at this power level until 1947, when they were authorized to raise their power to the present 50,000 watts.
• In April of 1927, KGO became an affiliate of the new NBC Orange Network, along with KPO in San Francisco. (Keep in mind that NBC was operated by RCA, and General Electric was one of the companies that owned RCA.) On October 1, 1929, KGO was selected as the key station for the west coast network, and NBC took over complete management and operation of the station. After that date, KGO's programs originated from NBC's San Francisco headquarters at 111 Sutter Street. The Oakland transmitter continued to be used until 1947.

KGO newspaper ad, circa early 1930s

In June 1942 during WW2, June, 1942:  KGO special events director Bill Baldwin questions fellow worker and KGO program director Bob Dwan during the first broadcast from an American Red Cross wartime blood donor mobile unit. The broadcast was heard over KGO and the Blue Network.

• In 1946, the FCC decided that NBC controlled too much of the broadcast industry, and it forced a divestiture of NBC's second network. The Blue Network operation was sold to new owners, and it became ABC, the American Broadcasting Company. The Red Network remained under NBC ownership, and was now called simply the NBC radio network.

• After the FCC lifted its war-time freeze on the expansion of broadcast facilities , KGO immediately applied for improved facilities. The station was still operating with 7,500 watts from the same General Electric factory where it had originally begun. After the freeze, however, the F. C. C. granted KGO's application to broadcast with 50,000 watts, the maximum allowable power. What is today's KGO transmitter facility was constructed on land fill at the Eastern approach to the Dumbarton Bridge near Fremont. Three 300-foot towers were constructed, each anchored in salt water. KGO became the first San Francisco station to broadcast with one of the new multi-tower directional antenna systems. The new signal favored north-south reception, allowing KGO to be heard clearly along the entire Pacific coast at night, while protecting a New York station on the same frequency from interference. The new KGO transmitter was among the most modern then in use. It was the first to be air cooled, and featured a complete set of spare tubes that were kept heated at all times, ready to be switched into the circuit at the push of a button.

KGO 810 AM (50Kw-Directinal) Red=Local Coverage Area

• KGO's new signal took to the air December 1, 1947. The increase in power effectively doubled the station's daytime coverage area. KGO became the second station in Northern California to broadcast with 50,000 watts -- former sister station KPO had preceded it by 14 years.
• With KGO's increase in power, KGO became one of the most powerful stations on the Pacific Coast -- powerful because KGO's super-efficient transmitter, located in a pool of concentrated salt water, enables KGO to operate at better than 99 percent efficiency. KGO's nighttime signal spreads out -- sweeping up and down the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Alaska -- and along the way reaches listeners in all major centers of population from San Diego to Seattle.
• In the 1950's, KGO radio featured a recorded music format hosted by personality disk jockeys. KGO's most popular disk jockey was Rolfe Peterson, a former English instructor at Brigham Young University who had turned to radio because the pay was better. One KGO program that was notably innovative was a man-on-the-street program, hosted by comics Mal Sharpe and Jim Coyle. The program was essentially a radio version of TV's "Candid Camera". Coyle and Sharpe would pose as researchers for the Milpitas Physical Fitness Institute, and ask passers-by to do calesthenics; or, they would pose as experimenters from the University of California, testing animal-human brain communication through the use of impressive, if not genuine, electrical equipment.
• After trying various formats, KGO eventually shifted to news and talk programming, relying heavily on the ABC radio network for its news programs. KGO started carrying Paul Harvey's twice-daily programs but also began to develop a strong local news staff that produced extended morning and afternoon newscasts. The local talk show hosts included Les Crane, Owen Spann and Jim Eason, who often interviewed visiting celebrities in the KGO studios. Owen Spann also originated special broadcasts from Europe and Africa, interviewing government officials from those countries. Local director-actor Jack Brooks hosted a Saturday-morning entertainment program until his sudden death in June 1984, after directing a production of Kismet for the Capuchino Community Theatre that featured Jim Eason as the poet Omar Khayyám. Dr. Dean Edell began his regular medical programs at KGO,leading to nationally syndicated broadcasts.

KGO Tower damaged during 1989 Earthquake

The 1960's saw KGO inaugurate all-talk programming, with a full array of hosts who discussed the issues of the day with their call-in listeners. KGO quickly became one of the foremost talk stations in the country, and continued this format into the 1990's.

(H/T: The Radio Historian) 

More Recent:

• Until December 5, 2011, KGO created nearly all of its own local programming, with very limited syndicated content. The majority of its programs were hosted by San Francisco Bay Area broadcasters. 
• The daily schedule included many issues-oriented talk shows, with weekday hosts that included Gene Burns, Gil Gross, Ronn Owens, John Rothmann, and lawyer Len Tillem. The station also carried a variety of specialty programs, particularly on weekends, with John Hamilton discussing travel and leisure, Gene Burns covering fine food and dining (on a show separate from his weekday program), Joanie Greggains hosting a health-and-fitness program, and Brent Walters, who teaches "Comparative Religions" at San Jose State University, hosting the early Sunday morning show, God Talk. In 2014, KGO brought in John Batchelor at midnight. News/talk weekend hosts now include Brian Copeland, "Karel" Charles Karel Bouley, and Pat Thurston.
• On December 2, 2011, new owner Cumulus Media announced that KGO was rebranding itself as "news and information," moving to an all-news format from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. (in addition to the existing morning-drive, noon-hour, and afternoon-drive news blocks) on December 5. This had resulted in the abrupt termination, on December 1, of most of the talk hosts (including Gene Burns, Gil Gross, John Rothmann, Ray Taliaferro, Len Tillem, and Dr. Bill Wattenburg).
• March 31, 2016, at Noon, KGO dropped its News/Talk format and began stunting with recordings of speeches from influential figures and people talking about San Francisco, as well as songs about the city, while promoting "The Next Generation of KGO" to launch on April 5 (though with a break during the weekend for paid programming). Long-time KGO host Ronn Owens announced that he's moving to sister station KSFO in the afternoon slot beginning April 4. It is currently unknown what the supposed new format will be. At least 20 people, including the entire news staff, as well as some staffers from sister station KFOG, were laid off with the change.

NYC Radio: More Names Gone At WOR Becoming Known

Several prominent news anchors and reporters at WOR/710 AM have been let go as part of companywide layoffs at iHeartRadio, including Long Island native Lisa Glasberg — best known by her radio name Lisa G — and Sara Lee Kessler, a TV anchor with WOR/9 from 1976 to 1994, who joined the radio station as an anchor in 2013. Jeff McKinney — the afternoon drive anchor— was also part of the layoffs.

Both McKinney and Glasberg confirmed their departure from the station.  

"I was laid off and told it's due to restructuring," McKinney said in a brief phone interview. "This was in the midst of a large group of [iHeart] layoffs so it was very broad. But they've been very good to me for the 11-and-three-quarter years I've been there. I simply accepted that and I'm moving on."

"They had layoffs throughout the entire company, but all I can speak to is my news division," Glasberg said, who added that all three were part of a small news unit at iHeart's West 55th Street studios which has a particularly large footprint.

Lisa G

Besides WOR, this unit — 24/7 News — serves nearly 900 of the company's owned stations around the country, filing news reports from New York City, New Jersey and Long Island. Glasberg worked days 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. as a reporter and filled in as afternoon host. She said four on-air reporters and anchors were left at 24/7.

A pair of prominent morning hosts — Len Berman and Michael Riedel — were also let go last week.

Over a couple decades, Lisa G was one of New York radio's best-known personalities. Along with former MTV host Ed Lover and Westbury native Dr. Dre, she was host of New York's first hip-hop morning show on WQHT/97.1 FM — "Ed, Lisa and Dre" on "Hot 97" — during the '90s. In the mid-2000s she became a charter member of "Howard 100 News," before Howard Stern moved from terrestrial radio to Sirius in 2006. After a decade with Stern, she joined WOR in 2015. The Hewlett High School and Hofstra University graduate launched her career at WBAB.

"We'll see what the next chapter brings," she said, but "I still feel I have a lot more to give, and I'm proud of the blueprint I created, especially in hip-hop radio with the 'Hot 97' morning show. To this day, stations are still copying what we put into place — two guys and a girl talking not only about music, but community and what's happening on the streets, and bringing a sense of humor and having fun."

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, McKinney, 70, spent a long career in radio, including stops at top stations in Los Angeles and Chicago before joining WOR in 2012.

Report: Chris Wallace Departed CNN Over Pay Cut

CNN anchor Chris Wallace was reportedly told his two poorly rated shows would be canceled and his massive salary slashed before the veteran journalist announced he would leave the network.

Wallace, who was being paid a reported $7 million a year, was informed that he was welcome to stay on as an analyst but at a much lower salary as part of CEO Mark Thompson’s vast cost-cutting initiatives, according to Puck News.

Instead, Wallace announced earlier this week that he was exiting CNN, and portrayed the move in a Daily Beast interview as a pivot to podcasting and streaming — because “that’s where the action seems to be,” he said.

The NY Post reports Wallace insisted that he wasn’t engaged in any discussions with CNN brass about a future role, claiming he made the decision to leave before any discussions took place.

“It doesn’t matter what was or wasn’t said in that meeting because I had already decided with my wife six months ago to leave CNN,” Wallace told Puck News on Thursday. “Any further speculation is irrelevant.”

Critical Indignation Rages Over Al Sharpton's 'Pay For Play'

Conservatives have slammed MSNBC after host Rev. Al Sharpton accepted $500,000 from Kamala Harris' campaign weeks before a gushing interview.  

The Daily Mail reports Sharpton's sit down with the vice president last month drew scrutiny for his softball questioning, with the conservative Washington Free Beacon releasing campaign finance records claiming his non-profit was paid handsomely before the gig. 

Billionaire hedge fund manager and Trump supporter Bill Ackman led the charge, telling Megyn Kelly on her show this week the payments were an attempt 'to manipulate the audience.' 

Harris' campaign allegedly gave two $250,000 payments to Sharpton's National Action Network on September 5 and October 1. 

And on October 20, Sharpton's went on to praise Harris' 'extraordinary historic campaign' in a gushing interview, and branded Donald Trump 'hostile and erratic.' 

MSNBC has stayed silent over the payment, despite suspending Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough in 2010 for making $4,000 in campaign donations.  

CNN Parent WBD Facing Supboena Over Financial Docs

A Delaware court ordered on Friday that CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has to hand over detailed financial documents if subpoenaed in support of a Plaintiff’s high-stakes defamation lawsuit, or else the company must offer a "sworn declaration" that they do not exist. 

U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young alleges that CNN smeared his security consulting company, Nemex Enterprises Inc., by implying it illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young believes CNN "destroyed his reputation and business" during a segment on "The Lead with Jake Tapper." 

A Florida judge previously agreed with Young’s legal team that CNN should hand over sensitive financial information that the cable network presented to its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, in order to determine CNN’s net worth. However, Young’s attorneys say that they have not received the appropriate documents and filed a motion to compel in Delaware, where Warner Bros. Discovery is based. 

Young’s attorneys, Blake Bennett and Joe Delich, said that Warner Bros. Discovery has "not been able to complete financial discovery" related to cash flow statements and balance sheets. 

"It’s simply inconceivable that Warner Bros. Discovery is incapable of providing cashflow and balance sheet information for its wholly owned subsidiary," Delich told Judge Lynne Parker. 

CNN: Trump’s Team Caught Off Guard by Hegseth Allegation

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team was in the middle of announcing new Cabinet picks this week when they were informed of a sexual assault allegation about one of his previous selections, Pete Hegseth, stunning several members of Trump’s team who have since raised questions about the viability of his nomination, according to CNN citing two people close to the situation.

Trump had announced he was tapping Hegseth as his next secretary of defense after only days of considering the veteran-turned-Fox News host and very little internal vetting. Within 48 hours, the heads of Trump’s transition team were brought a complaint about a sexual assault allegation regarding Hegseth.

The campaign was brought information that aligns with what Monterey, California, police described as an investigation into “an alleged sexual assault” involving Hegseth on October 8, 2017.

Hegseth was a speaker at a conference held by the California Federation of Republican Women at a hotel during the timeframe when the alleged assault took place, according to photos of the event posted on Facebook. Hegseth has not been charged in any criminal case or named as a defendant in any civil lawsuit filed in Monterey County since 2017, and his attorney denied any wrongdoing.

But the nature of the allegations caused incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles to question Hegseth during a call Thursday, a source told CNN. Wiles asked Hegseth if there were any other issues the team should be aware of moving forward. One source insisted that despite the surprise, the president-elect and the transition team were moving forward with the nomination at this time.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports Hegseth was flagged as a possible “Insider Threat” by a fellow Army National Guard member due to a tattoo on his bicep that’s associated with white supremacist groups.

Hegseth has said he was pulled by his District of Columbia National Guard unit from guarding Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration. He’s said he was unfairly identified as an extremist due to a cross tattoo on his chest.

This week, however, a fellow Guard member who was the unit’s security manager and on an anti-terrorism team at the time, shared with The Associated Press an email he sent to the unit’s leadership flagging a different tattoo reading “Deus Vult” that’s been used by white supremacists, concerned it was an indication of an “Insider Threat.”

Streaming Profits Now Offsetting Disney Cable Decline

Bob Iger returned to Walt Disney as CEO in 2022 with a bold promise of making streaming profitable.

Reuters reports the latest quarterly results have shown signs of a turnaround at the storied media company, suggesting that Iger may be getting the House of Mickey Mouse in order by focusing on its streaming business.

Disney on Thursday reported its second straight quarterly profit for the streaming business, riding on cost-cutting measures and a 4.4 million jump in subscribers after it started cracking down on password-sharing by users.

Its $253 million operating profit for the streaming business in the fourth quarter nearly offset the $307 million that its traditional television business shed in operating income.

The hope is that Disney's streaming business will start to do more "heavy lifting" as it improves and linear television declines, said Ben Barringer, technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot.

The company began cracking down on password-sharing in June, following in the footsteps of streaming giant Netflix betting it would lead to a jump in subscriber numbers and higher revenue.

"The right way to think about Disney is to add together the shrinking linear TV business and the rapidly growing direct-to-consumer business, because Disney is hedged," Needham & Co senior research analyst Laura Martin said.

R.I.P.: Mike McKay, Radio Veteran, Including Stint at Musicradio WABC

Veteran broadcaster Mike McKay died this week.

Cause of death was not given, but according to retired WABC Engineer Frank D'Elia, he died peacefully in sleep.

Mike McKay 

McKay worked at 77WABC as a DJ from 1979 until the change to talk in May 1982. After WABC started talk programming, Mike worked as a staff announcer alongside Johnny Donovan, but really wanted to be a DJ. 

In 1984 he left WABC and began his DJ trek around the country, with stops in Salt Lake City, Indianapolis and Detroit. 

Eventually he found a home in the Southwest and in 1997, he, his wife Nancy, and their daughter Erin moved to El Paso, Texas, where he did voice over work, and became part owner of a radio station and their morning man. He was a great radio guy, husband, father, and friend, and I will miss our interactions. 

A memorial service is planned in New York in the future.  

Radio History: Nov 16

➦In 1896...Jim Jordan, the man behind the iconic radio sitcom Fibber McGee & Molly, was born.

Jim and his wife Marian Jordan got their major break in radio while performing in Chicago in 1924; Jim said he could give a better performance than the singers they were listening to on the radio, and his brother Byron bet $10 that Jim couldn't do it. By the end of the evening, Jim and Marian had their first radio contract, at $10 per show for 26 weeks as The O'Henry Twins, sponsored by Oh Henry! candy.

He died at the age of 91 in 1988 in Beverly Hills from a blood clot in his brain, caused by a fall.

Mary Margaret McBride

➦In 1899...Mary Margaret McBride was born in Paris, Missouri. She started an advice program on NYC's WOR radio in 1934, and took it national with first CBS in 1937, NBC in 1941, ABC in 1950,and back to NBC 1954-60.  Along the way she mixed in her own unique style interviews with figures well known in arts, entertainment and politics. She died Apr 7, 1976 at age 76.

➦In 1904... John Ambrose Fleming patented the thermionic tube (diode tube) the “kenotron,” a key to developing radio broadcasting.  He was acting as scientific advisor to the Marconi company.

Stan Freberg, Daws Butler

➦In 1916...radio & cartoon voice actor Daws Butler was born in Toledo. He worked on Stan Freberg’s 1957 radio show & his many comedy creations for Capitol records.  On TV he helped voice Beany & Cecil, Woody Woodpecker, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Fred Flinstone & Friends, the Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show, and many others.  He died May 18 1988 at age 71, following a heart attack.

➦In 1940...In Atlanta, the "hillbilly music" show "The WSB Barn Dance" began its 9½-year run.

➦In 1959...National Radio Hall of Famer Harry Harrison debuted on WMCA 570 AM, New York. Here's Harry on WMCA from 1965...

NYC Radio: Dave Sims New Voice of Yankees Baseball

Audacy’s WFAN 101.9 FM / 660 AM announces Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Dave Sims as the new lead play-by-play announcer of its flagship broadcasts of the New York Yankees. Sims replaces recently retired broadcasting legend John Sterling, who held the position from 1989 until his retirement this past season. Dave Sims will join Suzyn Waldman to form the franchise's new radio broadcast team.

“The radio voice of the Yankees is a storied position in the history of baseball,” said Chris Oliviero, New York Market President, Audacy. “From Allen and Barber to Rizzuto to Sterling, the names are synonymous with the pinstripes. Dave Sims is a worthy successor to that lineage. We are honored to have Dave join the incomparable Suzyn Waldman in the booth in the Bronx.”

Dave Sims

“It’s great to be home,” said Sims. “What an honor to be part of the iconic Yankees franchise. New York is where it all started for me, and I can’t wait for Opening Day and to work with my good friend Suzyn!”

Sims is a Ford Frick Award Baseball Hall of Fame nominee and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and has spent the last 18 seasons as the lead TV play-by-play voice of MLB's Seattle Mariners. Sims previously hosted talk shows at WNBC-AM, WFAN-AM and the Madison Square Garden Television Network in New York, and also spent time at WCBS-TV and The New York Daily News. Beyond baseball, Sims has covered the NFL for Westwood One and college basketball for ESPN. He also launched the “Hey Now! Podcast” with his two sons in July 2024.

WFAN has served as the flagship station of the Yankees since 2014. From 2002 to 2014, games were heard on Audacy's WCBS 880. Games can be heard on WFAN and streamed via the free Audacy app and website within the team’s geographic region.

🎧Accessible on air and always free on the Audacy app and website, listeners can tune in to WFAN (WFAN-FM/AM) in New York on air and nationwide. Fans can also connect with the station via X, Facebook and Instagram.  

Syndicated Talker Dennis Prager Seriously Injured

Dennis Prager

Conservative talk show host Dennis Prager has announced a temporary leave from his nationally syndicated Salem radio program following a recent medical issue. 

On Wednesday, Prager disclosed that he was hospitalized in Los Angeles after a fall on Tuesday that caused a serious back injury. 

The incident was confirmed by PragerU, an online conservative platform he co-founded in 2011, which shared updates on social media, asking for supporters' prayers and stating, “Dennis Prager suffered a serious back injury following a fall… he’s resting in a local Los Angeles hospital as doctors assess treatment options.”

pic.twitter.com/u26lviVEtS

— Dennis Prager (@DennisPrager) November 13, 2024

In Prager’s absence, Jennifer Horn covered The Dennis Prager Show on Tuesday, with Mark Davis from ‘660 AM The Answer’ taking over on Wednesday. Davis noted that Bob Frantz and Carl Jackson would host the program for the remainder of the week. Prager’s show, which airs from noon to 2 PM ET, is part of the Salem Media Group and is broadcast by KRLA in Los Angeles, a prominent conservative Christian radio station.

Since launching his syndicated show in 1999, Prager has been a significant conservative media presence, discussing topics spanning politics, religion, and culture across almost 400 stations. In addition to his radio career, Prager has authored nine books, including ‘The Rational Bible’ and ‘Happiness Is a Serious Problem.’

Charlotte Radio: John Boy and Billy To Exit WRFX

After nearly four decades on Charlotte radio, “The Big Show with John Boy & Billy” will air its last episode on 99.7 The Fox on Friday, iHeartMedia confirmed to WCNC Charlotte.

Paired together since 1980, John Boy & Billy have been a staple on the Charlotte radio dial. Currently in syndication to nearly 50 stations nationwide, the show will not be heard again on Classic Rock “99.7 The Fox” WRFX after Friday. The show will continue in syndication in other cities and through their podcast.

The duo previously hosted their show on Charlotte's 107.9 FM, which was then known as WBCY Charlotte, before moving to WFRX. The show entered syndication in 1993. 

In addition to the morning show antics, Johnny "John Boy" Isley and Billy James have been known for NASCAR news and insider interviews. The hosts have also used their show to support U.S. military personnel. 

The show will live on with original content on other stations nationwide, and also on the free iHeartRadio app and iHeartRadio.com, Rachel Nelson, vice president of public relations for California-based iHeartMedia — Premiere Networks said Thursday.

The show, featuring Johnny “John Boy” Isley and Billy James, started at Charlotte’s WBCY in 1980 and later moved to WRFX. The show grew into a nationally syndicated behemoth that rivaled Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern by the 2000s.

The show renewed its syndication agreement with longtime partner Premiere Networks in September, Inside Radio reported. Nearly 50 country and rock stations nationwide carry the show, along with its dedicated channel on iHeartRadio.

FCC's Carr Concerned About Tech Censorship

The senior Republican commissioner on the FCC is demanding that Big Tech companies fess up about their censorship activities targeting conservatives during the Biden years.

In a letter sent Wednesday and obtained by Newsmax, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wrote to the CEOs at the four largest tech companies — Apple's Tim Cook, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft's Satya Nadella and Alphabet's Sundar Pichai — demanding information about the censorship activities.

Carr began his letter, "Over the past few years, Americans have lived through an unprecedented surge in censorship" adding, "Your companies played significant roles in this improper conduct."

He noted that their companies and others "silenced Americans" for simply exercising their First Amendment rights.

Carr also lambasted the tech companies for working with so-called "media monitors" and other "fact-checkers."

Brendan Carr

In a statement to Newsmax, Carr said he issued the letter because "the American people are tired of Big Tech censorship and media bias."

In his letter, Carr asserted that these media monitors masquerade as truth arbiters, but their real purpose has been "to defund, demonetize, and otherwise put out of business news outlets" that differed from establishment media thinking.

Carr specifically identified in his letter left-wing media monitor NewsGuard, which exists to "censor free speech and conservative news outlets."

Carr's letter reported on evidence from Elon Musk's release of "the Twitter Files" showing that NewsGuard worked "as part of the broader censorship cartel."

Elon Musk has argued that NewsGuard should be "disbanded immediately" following a 2023 report that it worked with the European Union on a code prompting governments to take action on alternative news sites. Musk has called NewsGuard "a propaganda shop that will produce any lies you want if you pay them enough money."

NewsGuard claims to rate media outlets for risk and accuracy.

Report: Advertisers Returning to X

It’s been a dizzying post-election week for Elon Musk’s X. Many users appear to be fleeing the platform, but more advertisers might return. reports the Morning Brew.

More than 115,000 US users deleted their X accounts the day after the election, the biggest exodus in a single day since Musk took over the company, per Similarweb. Many seem headed to Bluesky, the smaller X rival which yesterday sat at the top of the Apple App Store’s US chart.

The platform has gained 1 million new users since the election, bringing its total user count to 15 million. (For comparison: Twitter reported 330 million monthly users in 2019.)

Over a year after a flurry of brands left X over Musk’s paring back of content moderation, advertising agencies expect some to return following the election of Donald Trump, the Financial Times reported. Media experts said it’s likely that some advertisers will start to spend more money on X as a way to gain “political leverage” with the incoming administration, in which Musk figures to play an influential role.

Big picture: X needs to get more brands buying ads to reverse a sharp revenue decline. Total US ad spend among the top 100 advertisers on X during the first half of this year dropped 68% from the first half of 2022, according to Sensor Tower.

CNN Tuesday's Audience Shrinks To 24-Year Low

Long-struggling CNN had its smallest Tuesday audience in 24 years this week among the demographic most coveted by advertisers. 

CNN averaged only 61,000 viewers from the critical demographic of adults age 25-54 on November 11, its smallest audience on a Tuesday since June 27, 2000, when former President Bill Clinton resided in the White House. 

CNN also had its worst turnout during daytime programming in a decade on Tuesday, as the struggling network managed only 60,000 average demo viewers from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. ET for its worst non-holiday weekday rating since 2014. 

Fox News Digital reports CNN has failed to gain viewers despite President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The news has barely slowed up since Trump made history by becoming just the second president ever to win non-consecutive terms, with Harris' concession, breaking stories about his Cabinet picks and the ugly Democratic Party blame game driving the cycle.

But the nonstop flow of breaking news hasn’t helped CNN. 

Since Election Day, CNN averaged only 403,000 total day viewers compared to 2.2 million for Fox News. CNN has even a smaller share of the cable news audience during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET, as the struggling network has managed only 483,000 total viewers since Election Day compared to 3.4 million for Fox News. 

When it comes to the key demo, CNN has averaged only 86,000 critical today day viewers compared to 321,000 for Fox News. During primetime, CNN has averaged 112,000 demo viewers compared to 496,000 for Fox News. 

The ratings issues come as CNN staffers brace for significant budget cuts and layoffs that are likely to affect the entire network in coming months. 

Disney Multi-Year Forecast Leads To Stock Growth

Walt Disney shares surged Thursday after the entertainment giant reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates and offered robust guidance for the coming years.

Reuters reports the company projected adjusted earnings-per-share percentage growth in the high single digits in fiscal 2025, even with capital expenditures of roughly $8 billion. It also said it expects to buy back $3 billion worth of stock. Disney forecast double-digit per-share earnings growth in fiscal 2026 and 2027 as its investments in theme parks, its cruise ship fleet and streaming pay dividends.

"We do feel like it's appropriate for us to give you a multi-year look, because these investments are obviously multi-year in nature," CFO Hugh Johnston told investors. "In terms of our confidence in delivering, obviously, we've got confidence in it. Otherwise we wouldn't do it."

Disney's stock jumped 10.2% to $113.17, its highest share price in six months.

"Although Disney doesn’t typically issue long-term guidance, this earnings report was marked by an optimistic outlook through 2027," said eMarketer vice president Paul Verna. "Investors cheered the results."

The entertainment giant's recent success at movie theaters helped offset a decline in operating income at the company's Experiences and Sports divisions. Lower attendance at international locations dragged on theme parks results, and higher programming and production costs hurt ESPN.

Chief Executive Bob Iger, who returned to the company from retirement in November 2022, undertook aggressive cost-cutting and worked to revitalize the company's film and TV units after a period of misfires.

"We've emerged from a period of considerable challenges and disruption," Iger told investors. "We're well positioned for growth."

Disney last month said it would name a new chief in early 2026. The new boss would replace Iger, who returned to the company to take the top job after the board fired his handpicked CEO.

New London-Providence: The Wolf Welcomes Gilbert & Gersten

Will Gilbert

Cumulus Media Classic Rock Stations 102.3 The Wolf and 106.3 The Wolf Welcome Local Media Personalities Will Gilbert and Heather Gersten to Weekday On-Air Lineup in New London, CT, and Providence, RI

Cumulus Media announces that Classic Rock stations 102.3 The Wolf in New London, CT, and 106.3 The Wolf in Providence, RI, have added veteran Rhode Island media personalities Will Gilbert and Heather Gersten to the stations’ weekday programming lineup.

Heather Gersten

Will Gilbert joins 102.3 The Wolf and 106.3 The Wolf as On-Air Host, Afternoon Drive, Monday through Friday from 3:00pm-7:00pm. Heather Gersten signs on to 102.3 The Wolf and 106.3 The Wolf as On-Air Host, Middays, from 10:00am-3:00pm. Gilbert and Gersten join popular Morning Host Mike English, who is heard on 102.3 The Wolf and106.3 The Wolf weekday mornings from 6:00am-10:00am.

Will Gilbert was born in Rhode Island, where he has been a lifelong resident. He started in radio at the age of 16 at a small radio station and has worked in local media ever since, including at The Wolf’s sister station, 92 PRO-FM. Gilbert will continue as host of WPRI-TV’s lifestyle program “The Rhode Show” weekdays at 9:00am.

Heather Gersten (Perry) has been on the air since 1988, having spent time at stations in New York City, Boston, and Providence. Gersten has hosted mornings for 21 years on 106.3 and 102.3 The Wolf's sister station, Lite 105, where she also acts as Assistant Program Director and Imaging Director. She often interviews major celebrities for Cumulus Media, and has notably interviewed Rock royalty Billy Joel, Lenny Kravitz, and Steve Perry.

With Trump Back In TWH, Media Grudges Remain Center Stage

Donald Trump has filed lawsuits against Disney’s ABC and Paramount Global’s PARA 1.70%increase; green up pointing triangle CBS, railed against “fake” and “failing” news organizations, and called for the government to revoke some broadcasters’ licenses.

Now, according to The Wall Street Journal, he will be bringing those grudges back to the White House. The question is whether Trump will stay in the realm of verbal attacks against news organizations and personalities—or extend into regulatory action. 

Mergers offer an avenue for Trump to exercise his clout. Business leaders expect the next Trump administration to foster a more permissive overall dealmaking environment. But Washington observers say media companies are a special case, because editorial content can be a wild card in influencing Trump’s approach to the sector.

“Will they feel a chill? They might,” said Robert McDowell, a former commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission. With plenty of pent-up demand for deals, he said, media companies considering such moves might have concerns. “I would definitely have to think how the administration views me and how that would affect regulatory approvals,” said McDowell, a Republican who is now a partner at law firm Cooley.

Trump will return to office as a handful of major deals await U.S. approval, including Skydance Media’s merger with Paramount Global and the union of satellite broadcasting companies DirecTV and Dish.

Comcast is also considering spinning off its cable-television networks, including MSNBC and USA, into a separate, publicly traded company, with an eye on acquiring assets to add into such a venture.

Telecom and media lobbyists say the next administration could be unpredictable when it comes to dealmaking and regulation.

Paramount Demanding ‘Nearly 50%’ Price Reduction

Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao has weighed in on the ratings measurement firm’s ongoing contract dispute with Paramount Global, pushing back against the media giant’s claim that it is seeking “substantial price increases” in negotiations.

“We are simply aiming to maintain fair value for the quality of our services—services that are empirically better than at any point in our history. Our proposal to Paramount is eminently reasonable and commensurate with the value our services deliver,” Rao said in a memo to clients obtained by TheWrap. “We’ve worked tirelessly to update our tools, refine measurement capabilities, and enhance your monetization options. These innovations are the result of significant investments over multiple years to build and also to maintain/enhance going forward. It’s hard work that we love doing, because it provides best-in-class, MRC-accredited solutions for our clients’ increasingly varied needs.” 

Rao said that Paramount is demanding a “nearly 50% reduction” in the price of its service, which “not only undervalues our substantial investments, but makes it unsustainable to provide the support and quality that all Nielsen clients rely upon.”

“We can not reset the value of our services to a fraction of their worth due to the circumstances and demands of one client,” he added. “We are an industry solution and price integrity matters for the role we play in the industry.” 

The current contract between Paramount and Nielsen expired on Oct. 1. In a memo to agencies ahead of the expiration, Paramount Advertising president John Halley argued that Nielsen’s costs as a percentage of Paramount’s ad revenue have “quintupled” over significant parts of its business, and proposed fees exceed the total ad revenue of the network being measured in some instances.

Diamond Sports To Emerge From Bankruptcy

Regional sports broadcaster Diamond Sports Group received court approval on Thursday for a bankruptcy restructuring that will rebrand its TV channels, trim nearly $9 billion in debt, and renegotiate broadcast contracts with six Major League Baseball teams.

Reuters reports U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Chris Lopez approved the restructuring after MLB dropped an objection that had challenged the viability of Diamond's future business plans.

Diamond will emerge from bankruptcy as "essentially a new business," more focused on delivering sports games to fans online, the company's attorney Brian Hermann told Lopez at a court hearing in Houston.

As part of the restructuring, Diamond agreed to rebrand its channels as FanDuel Sports Network, and partnered with Amazon to stream games on Amazon Prime Video. After emerging from bankruptcy, FanDuel channels will broadcast games for 13 NBA teams, 8 NHL teams.

The company recently reached new broadcast and streaming agreements with six baseball teams, allowing fans to watch games online and on cable TV. MLB had persistently opposed Diamond's efforts to add streaming rights to its deals, and Diamond recently said it was prepared to cut ties with all MLB teams except one if it could not rework its contracts.

Diamond ultimately reached last-minute, multi-year deals with about half of its MLB partners, while cutting ties with others. All of the reworked deals include online streaming rights, but Diamond did not disclose the length or financial terms of the contracts.

National TV Spending Rises To $3.1B In September

The return of the NFL in September pushed national linear TV advertising spending up 1% year-over-year to $3.1 billion, according to MediaPost citing data from Guideline.

Advertising spend for NFL programming witnessed a 32% year-over-year gain during the month.

The NFL's share of all national linear TV advertising dollars is now at 30% -- up from a 24% share in September 2023.

Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” is included because it is sold as a linear TV program, with guarantees coming via Nielsen.

The broader third-quarter 2024 period (July through September) grew 5% over the same period in 2023. Broadcast TV networks rose 24%, while cable TV networks were down 6% and national syndication advertising deal-making dropped 41%.

This year’s third quarter had a 6% rise in spend coming from deals made in the summer upfront selling period in 2023, a 13% increase from near-term scatter market deal-making and a 19% drop in direct response advertising deals.

Since the start of 2024 -- for the nine-month period so far -- overall national linear TV ad revenue is down 4% year-over-year.

Sports programming is up 19% over that period with entertainment programming down by “double digit” percentages and news programming rising 7%.

Since the start of the year, only four of 12 advertising categories have shown gains: technology (4%), financial services (3%), travel services (2%) and apparel & accessories (1%).

Radio History: Nov 15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1934 Ad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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