Boston.com Launches 1st Online Radio With WFNX DJs

The Boston Herald is reporting a beloved Boston-area independent alternative radio station is getting new life online several times over in partnership with traditional print media, and experts say it could be a model for other stations that can no longer be found on a radio dial.

The station was known as WFNX until its frequency was sold to media giant Clear Channel earlier this year. The Boston Globe snapped up most of its popular, live local disc jockeys and created RadioBDC, which for the past several weeks has been streaming similar programming from Boston.com, the Globe’s current events and entertainment news site.

Lisa Desisto, general manager of Boston.com and chief advertising officer for the Globe, owned by The New York Times [NYT] Co., said she’s been taking calls from other newspapers asking how and why she launched RadioBDC, which takes its name from the initials of Boston.com. But she said the station would be hard to duplicate elsewhere for the reason Berman articulated: the DJs.

Phoenix Media/Communications Group’s MCC Broadcasting Inc. let most of the WFNX staff go when it sold its 101.7 broadcast license to Clear Channel’s Capstar Radio Operating Company this summer for $14.5 million. People tuning in now hear a hits station called The Harbor.

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Slacker Starts-Up ‘DWTS Radio’

A new station on Slacker Radio popped up Monday for fans of Dancing With the Stars, ABC’s popular reality show that pairs celebrities and professional dancers for weekly dance-offs.

Mashable.com is reporting the station, which debuted ahead of Monday’s season 15 premiere, will air episode recaps, highlights, behind-the-scenes gossip as well as interviews with the celebrity dancers and judges.

“We’re adding a new dimension to the Dancing With the Stars experience by offering on demand, digital audio content that compliments the viewing experience and increases engagement between the audience and the cast,” Steve Jones, ABC News Radio’s VP and GM, said in a statement about the partnership with Slacker.

The two-hour premiere of Dancing With the Stars‘ latest season airs Monday at 8 p.m. ET. This season brings back former DWTS winners and fan favorites for an all-star battle.

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Syracuse TV Drops Nooner For 4AM Newscast

TV  viewers in the Syracuse, NY market are now able to catch live, local television newscasts as early as 4am. CNYradio.com is reporting that NBC 3 (WSTM) will expand its Today in Central New York by a full hour, starting at 4:00am. But there’s a flip-side to the expansion: the station will no longer offer the noon newscast it had been simulcasting on NBC 3 and CBS 5 (WTVH).

President and CEO Chris Geiger said “viewers are turning the television on earlier.” The expansion of Today in Central New York will give WSTM the distinction of being the first broadcast outlet in Syracuse to get on the air with breaking news and severe weather. For now, that honor goes to ABC affiliate NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV), which begins The Morning News at 4:30am. Just a few years ago, both stations started their early morning newscasts at 5:00am.

Geiger explains the cancellation of the noon newscast is attributed to those early morning viewers “shifting to online and mobile news sites” during the middle part of the day.

Another possible reason — though not mentioned in the stations’ announcement — is the fact that having talent and crew start their day prior to 4:00am would mean an eight-hour workday ends before noon. At that point, producing a noon newscast would require the station to pay everyone overtime or add an additional shift of workers, a move which might not be cost-effective for a single, 30-minute newscast.

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Sister Joan Was Catalyst For Scotty Cox’ Humor

Scotty Cox and Cara Denis are co-hosts of “Scotty & Cara in the Morning” on Zimmer Radio’s KCLR / Clear 99 in Columbia, MO. Chelsea Bengier at columbiamissiourian.com writes it's prime time for listeners who tune in to hear their lighthearted commentary.

As the veteran, Cox, 45, leads the way — and his droll humor is a big reason why he continues to win both regional and national awards for the radio broadcasts.

Last month, he was nominated for a Marconi Award as "small market personality of the year." In 2011, he took home an award from the Country Music Association, once again as "small market personality of the year."

In March, he earned a "favorite radio personality/team title" in Inside Columbia magazine’s Best of Columbia 2012 contest…

A little black cross hangs from a dark leather necklace between the buttons of his shirt. He was raised as a Baptist, and both his parents worked as Sunday school teachers. They were pillars of the church, he said.

“I called my parents Baptist Bob and Betty because they were like characters. They were so Baptist,” Cox says.

When his mother began teaching at a Catholic high school, a new comedic force entered Cox’s life, in the form of Sister Joan.

“Sister Joan was hilarious. She could’ve done stand up,” Cox said. “She nicknamed mom the ‘token Baptist’ and would yell stuff in the hallways like, ‘Hey Cox, what’s it like to wake up every morning and know you’re wrong?’”

Although he has been awarded a CMA, to Cox, the best award is not a glass trophy with his name engraved on a little gold plaque or a Marconi nomination. A simple autograph for a child would do.

“The first time I was ever asked for an autograph was by a little 8-year-old boy. I looked up at his mom and asked ‘Why would you want my autograph? It doesn’t mean anything.’ And she looked at me and replied, ‘It means something to him,’” Cox said.

“That’s what it’s all about – that connection with people.”

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Facebook Reverses Ban On Talker's "Hate" Book

UPDATE Tuesday 8:30a:  Facebook now says that advertisements for  Mike Gallagher’s latest book were denied “in error” and are now live on the social networking site, though did not provide details about why the ads were initially refused.

Original posting....

Conservative radio talker Mike Gallagher says Facebook refused to sell advertising space for his new book because the title “50 Things Liberals Love to Hate” contains the word “hate,”  according to a story at TheBlaze.com.

“I found out yesterday that Facebook rejected an ad for my book,” Gallagher said on Fox News. “My publisher Simon & Schuster and I were going to put banner ads on Facebook, and Facebook literally told the publisher, ‘we won’t accept the ad because it has the word hate in the title.’”

Gallagher said his publisher asked the social media giant whether having the word “hate” would disqualify any book for advertisement, such as one titled, “I hate broccoli.”

“Then Facebook conceded, ‘well we’ve gotten some complaints from people who don‘t like the title of Mike Gallagher’s new book,” Gallagher said.

Referring to Facebook as a “machine,“ Gallagher said the site ”allows pedophiles to troll the Internet“ and has ”defended perverts and stalkers” He subsequently posted a link on his Facebook page to a New York Post article from August about the site’s refusal to remove a “Pedophiles are people too” page.

“Free speech?” Gallagher said on Fox. “I don’t think so. … They don’t like a conservative buying time, they won’t take my money, it’s unbelievable.”

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Howard Stern Exposes Obama Supporters

Howard Stern contributors Sal and Richard travel to Harlem to interview Obama supporters and ask them why they are voting for Obama.

WLS-AM Talker Don Wade To Have Brain Surgery

WLS-AM co-host Don Wade, along with his wife Roma, of the 89 WLS morning show since August of 1989, will be off the air for at least four weeks while he receives treatment for a growth on his brain.

The following statement was released by WLS Radio, Chicago:

"Don Wade had a seizure while traveling last week. After a series of tests, doctors discovered a growth on his brain. He is having surgery this week to remove the growth. Recovery from the surgery will keep Don off the air for at least four weeks. Don and Roma remain positive and optimistic. The Cumulus/WLS family sends our love and very best wishes to both Don and Roma."

 Always maintaining a positive attitude, Roma commented, "It amazes me that Don can still be the smartest guy in the room with only half his brain." Don, showing his trademark candor, responded, "I think it's all the BS coming from the left that really gave me the seizure."

In the interim, Bruce Wolf and Dan Proft will continue to fill in on the Don Wade and Roma program from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., as have they have whenever Don and Roma have had time off over the past year. Jake Hartford and Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass will substitute for Bruce and Dan from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

You can send well-wishes to Don and Roma here:

getwelldon@gmail.com

Critic: ABC’s GMA Profiting Off Robin Roberts' Illness

TV Critic Tom Shales has harsh words for what he considers to be GMA's opportunistic handling of Roberts' battle with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), or preleukemia, for which she recently underwent a bone marrow transplant with her sister acting as donor.

"Now we come to Something That Must Be Said," Shales writes. "It may have been said elsewhere already, but just in case, here goes: ABC has managed to turn the very serious illness of co-anchor Roberts into a huge promotional opportunity for GMA."

"On every edition of GMA, there are shout-outs, warm wishes and detailed reports pertaining to Roberts' condition," he says. "She has been seen in remotes from the hospital, and the sympathetic outpourings of viewers have been heavily documented."

"Roberts was seen in a recorded message thanking viewers: 'I feel the love and I thank you for it.' ABC rushed out a press release, this one headlined 'Robin Roberts' Message: I Feel the Love and I Thank You For It' and including a disclaimer: 'News organizations using material from this report should credit Good Morning, America. "

The ratings have been strong since Roberts' departure: GMA has been Number One in the adults 25-54 demo since she began her medical leave on Aug. 31, and have been steadily gaining total viewers.

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Merlin Trims Chicago Staff…Again

Merlin Media, LLC, the owner of WLUP-FM and WIQI-FM, as well as the operator of WKQX-LP, has done yet another round of mass layoffs. Released Friday were almost all of the rest of the non-on-air staffers from the former FM News 101.1 format, according to Chicagradioandmedia.com.

In mid-July, Merlin Media abruptly ended the FM News 101.1 format on WIQI-FM, "officially" releasing 27 staffers, although the actual number of people who lost their jobs from Merlin Media's actions was much higher. The news format was changed to a 90s music format, which was again changed one month later. The company kept on its staff a few of the employees who were not on-air personalities and worked behind the scenes, to allow them to help with the company's other stations.

That changed Friday morning, as almost all of those employees were informed they were no longer needed at Merlin Media.

According to inside sources, the following employees all lost their jobs: Brad Robinson (former News & Sports writer/reporter/anchor), Safa Eshmawy (former new writer/editor/producer), Sarah Engel (former news writer/producer and an anchor for Merlin's Philadelphia station, while based out of Chicago), James Edwards (former news writer/producer/researcher), Michael Cronin (former new writer/producer/fill-in editor), Megan Buckley (former news writer/editor, who had been working as Merlin Media's music researcher since July), and Shannon Beverly (former news writer/editor), now Shannon Ward, who was just married this month and coming back from her honeymoon when she was given the news of her termination.

Of the many dozens of employees of FM News 101.1 FM that have been hired since the station started when Merlin Media, LLC itself started just over one year ago, only three former on-air staffers remain employed in some capacity by Merlin Media: Rob Hart, Mary Ellen Giest, and John Czahor. Only two non-on-air staffers remain: Christine Fiedler and Lindsey Reiser.

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Streaming Audio Gets Rolling Into Cars

Between 25% and 50% of new American cars already give buyers the option of having a digitally connected dashboard — and that number is expected to top 80% by 2014, according to panelists speaking at the Radio Show conference here on Friday.

According to a story by Carol Marie Cropper at netnewscheck.com, Ford cars have already reached that percentage, according to Scott Burnell, a mobile business development analyst with Ford Motor Co. About 80% of Ford cars are designed to allow the dashboard to synch with a user’s smart phone so the driver can use voice activation or touch screen icons to call up Pandora and similar streaming music services or a local FM station, he said.

Other auto manufacturers have jumped aboard the digital bandwagon, providing cars — especially high-end vehicles and those marketed to young adults — that let drivers easily access their beloved apps on the road, said John Rosso, president of market development at Triton Digital.

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Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong Enters Rehab

When iHeart Radio Music Festival organizers cut Green Day‘s set short on Friday night (Sept. 21), frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was far from happy about it. He went on an expletive-fueled rant onstage … and now he’s entering rehab, according to a story at popcrush.com.

A rep for Green Day confirmed that Armstrong is entering rehab for substance abuse (they didn’t specify which substance or substances those are) and told TMZ, “Green Day wants to apologize to those they offended at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas.”

Armstrong clearly felt disrespected by organizers for not only cutting his band’s set short, but also for letting them be the last to know about it. It appears he doesn’t quite believe a lot of the other acts have paid their dues yet, and it really didn’t sit well with him.

The punk staples were set to perform for 45 minutes, but were cut to 30 to accommodate sets by Usher (whose performance ran an extra 25 minutes) and Rihanna, who performed like she didn’t even want to be there. What’s worse? No one told Armstrong until he was already performing and had one minute left. He stopped performing during their classic ‘Basketcase’ and basically flipped out.

WARNING: Crude language in the video.

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