Z100’s TJ the DJ Is Headed To Boston

TJ the DJ

Elvis Duran’s cohost at WHTZ Z100 FM NYC is getting a new gig…his own!

TJ Taormina has been named as new morning show host at CBS Radio’s WODS 103.3 Amp in Boston.

He’s set to start in April.

TJ’s been at Z100 since 2002 and currently is part of CCM+E’s NYC-based Elvis Duran Morning Show.

Amp PD Dan Mason, "TJ is a unique talent, with a passion for radio that is unmatched. I'm thrilled that 103.3 Amp Radio is able to bring him to Boston."

"The chance to join the Amp team in Boston and host the morning show is a life-long dream come true!" said Taormina.

In-Vehicle Connectivity Takes the Front Seat

In-car connected services will affect car purchases and marketer pathways

The US in-car audience is massive. More than 105.6 million people drove to work solo in 2011, according to US Census data. This figure represented 76.4% of all employed people in the US over the age of 16. Add in those who carpool and the figure spikes to 86%.

In the next three years, this group will be increasingly available to marketers via in-vehicle smartphone data connections and integrated applications (sometimes referred to in the industry as telematics) developed specifically for use inside an automobile, according to a new eMarketer report, “Connected Cars as the Fifth Screen: A Market of Millions Connected by Asphalt.”

And music listening in another primary connected car activity. Use of smartphone apps for services like Pandora or Spotify for in-car music listening has shown rapid growth, rising from 6% of US mobile phone owners in 2010 to 17% in 2012, according to a survey by Arbitron. Not surprisingly, music services have been an active venue for third-party connected-car partnerships with automakers.

Beyond maps, music and voice communications, consumers express interest in a host of in-car media options, including browsing the internet and watching streaming video. Some of the first forays into this realm are already happening, with services that read news updates, allow Facebook interaction or deliver on-demand content.

Read More Now

Carrie Underwood Talks Taylor Swift Feud

Ahead of the Feb. 13 relaunch of her "Blown Away" tour, Grammy-winning country music superstar Carrie Underwood spoke with Gayle King about a rumored rivalry with fellow singer Taylor Swift.

Watch the full interview on "CBS This Morning," Wedsesday, Feb. 13 at 7 a.m. ET.

Tampa Radio: MJ Files for New Trial

Todd 'MJ'Schnitt

It's another wild chapter in the soap opera saga known as MJ vs. Bubba. The trial has made headlines all over the world, and now there's a new development.

Just days after nationally syndicated radio talk show host Bubba the Love Sponge was cleared in the defamation lawsuit filed against him by rival national host Todd MJ Schnitt, it's on once again.

MJ's team has filed a motion for a new trial.

WTSP 10 News has obtained an exclusive copy of the motion, which outlines various reasons that the Schnitts are looking for a new trial. A great deal of their reasoning for requesting a new trial stems from that fateful night at Malio's. That night has been the subject of frequent discussion through social media venues, in additions to newscasts all over the country.

Bubba's attorneys have 14 days to file paperwork in response to this current motion from MJ's team requesting a new trial.

Read More Now

Grammy Awards 2013: Second-highest TV Audience

The performance-heavy Grammy Awards on Sunday attracted more than 28 million viewers on CBS, marking the second-largest audience for the show since 1993, according to Nielsen.

Not surprisingly, though, this year's ceremony was down from 2012, which had an audience of 40 million. The gala took place the day after Whitney Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hilton hotel. The Recording Academy scrambled to pull a tribute together for awards ceremony, which also found Adele taking home six honors.

According to Bluefin, the 55th Grammy Awards set a new social TV record for an award show with more than 18.7 million social media comments, second only to this month's Super Bowl XLVII. That's a 44 percent jump from last year.

Read More Now.

How Did Fun. Avoid Getting Electrocuted?

Grammy Awards TV  executive producer Ken Ehrlich called in to “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” Monday morning after music’s biggest night and explained to us how Fun., who performed under a rainfall of water, didn’t get electrocuted during their performance.

Ted Nugent To Witness POTUS’ SOTU

Rocker Ted Nugent, a vocal critic of President Barack Obama, will attend the State of the Union on Tuesday night.

Politico reports Nugent will be a guest of Texas GOP Rep. Steve Stockman, who suggested impeaching the president over gun control last month.

"I am excited to have a patriot like Ted Nugent joining me in the House Chamber to hear from President Obama," Stockman said in a press release.  "After the Address I’m sure Ted will have plenty to say.”

well well well, there will be a freedom addicted all American uppity Motown guitarplayer facing the POTUS at the SOTU addresss tomoro-lovely
— Ted Nugent (@TedNugent) February 11, 2013

Last year, Nugent drew the attention of the Secret Service when he said, "If Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year."

In the same interview, he called the Obama administration “vile, evil” and “America-hating.”

“Our president, attorney general, our vice president, Hillary Clinton — they’re criminals, they’re criminals,” he said. “…We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November.”

Read More Now

Sam Malone’s Houston Radio/TV TriCast Starts Monday

Sam Malone’s new hybrid audio-video talk program will debut next Monday on KNTH (1070 AM) and the station’s website, 1070knth.com, and also will air on Phonoscope Cable channel 11, Malone told The Houston Chronicle Monday.

The station is being rebranded as “The Answer,” a corporate slogan for Salem Communications’ radio talk stations, and Malone’s show will be its first local program from 7 to 10 a.m. weekdays.

Malone said the show will be similar to his most recent program on KSEV (700 AM), focusing on conservative talk, news and pop culture.

Malone’s debut will reshuffle KNTH’s morning and midday schedule, with Bill Bennett’s show from 5 to 7 a.m., Mike Gallagher from 10 a.m. to noon and Dennis Prager from noon to 2 p.m.

Malone, who has hosted shows on KTRH (740 AM), KRBE (104.1 FM), KHMX (96.5 FM), KPRC (950 AM) and KSEV, will continue in his role as president of Phonoscope New Media, which will air the show on Phonoscope channel 11.

Read More Now.

Report: Behind The Buzz On Streaming Media

Streaming video has gained significant attention in recent times as the market continues to grow.

However, acccording to mediapost.com, a  USA TouchPoints analysis looks at the extent to which TV, Movie and Radio/Audio content is streamed in the average week by different age cohorts.

Interestingly, the results clearly show that while the majority of industry buzz is around streaming video, in all age groups analyzed, TV and Movies (individually and combined) were outstripped by the total reach of streaming Radio / Audio.

While this may seem counterintuitive to some, a possible explanation may be a plus of audio content -- it does not require fixed attention or even for the individual to remain in place. Also, Radio and any other kind of streaming can be done on the computer while working on the same device -- whether for the purpose of providing background music, sports commentary or other forms of talk-based content.

Services such as Pandora will also account for some of this sector.

RAIN, The Radio & Internet Newsletter, points out, streaming audio is technically easier (with a lower bandwidth requirement).

It's easier to enjoy audio on mobile platforms and while driving. And as MediaPost points out, "Radio and any other kind of streaming can be done on the computer while working on the same device -- whether for the purpose of providing background music, sports commentary or other forms of talk-based content."

Read More Now.

Orlando Radio: Strong Start To A Big Year

Credit a surge in spending by big categories such as auto

Radio spending is also pacing well ahead of last year through the first and second quarters, although pricing is down versus a year ago.

Last year the Orlando radio market was a seller’s market due to excessive demand from political advertisers leading up to the January primary, which resulted in pricing increases.

This year pricing is down to typical levels, although advertisers looking to get on the air at the last minute should expect to pay bump rates.

Financial, retail and auto advertisers have all increased radio spending versus a year ago, while telecom spending has slowed.

Eva Beckman broadcast buyer at Haworth Marketing + Media tellsmedialifemagazine.com the busiest dayparts are similar to other markets.

“Dayparts with the most pressure are drive times and midday, while weekends are most open,” she says.

There are a number of strong radio stations in Orlando, but the market was dominated by Clear Channel adult contemporary station WMGF-107.7 FM over the holidays as it switched to a Christmas music format.

During the holiday reporting period (Dec. 6-Jan. 2) WMGF averaged a 13.6 portable people meter rating, according to Arbitron, more than five points ahead of the No. 2 station non-com WPOZ-88.3 FM, which averaged an 8.5.

Stations owned by Clear Channel and Cox perform the best. In December those two companies accounted for seven of the top nine stations 6+ in Orlando.

Read More Now

Let The Other Guys Try This First

From Consultant Jaye Albright's Breakfast Blog: 

Jaye Albright

Anybody who can write, as he did this morning, "as obvious as an erection as a leotard" is worth reading if just for the titillation and powerful use of language which we can all emulate. 

I try never miss what Jerry Del Colliano writes. 

You too? 

Then you know that he presented research at his just-concluded Media Solutions Lab in Scottsdale with the intent of warning media content providers that attentions spans have been reduced so drastically that radio stations need to rethink the way they present content.

Jerry Del Colliano

 Streaming video users lose patience after just 2 seconds according to a recent University of Massachusetts study.  That’s only 2 seconds and then they move on.  Ever wonder why they can’t listen to, say, a talk (bit) that takes ten minutes or more to get a topic rolling? 

Half of the people who use a high-speed, fiber-optic connection believe that five seconds is too long to wait for streaming video. 

Each additional second of delay resulted in a 5.8 percent increase in the abandonment rate.  That’s major.  It only takes two additional seconds to lose another 10% of streaming video audiences. 

Survey participants were more forgiving when waiting for longer content like movies than for short form videos.  But not that forgiving.  Ramesh Sitaraman, science professor at the University of Massachusetts sums it up like this: “If you start out with, say, 100 users — if the video hasn’t started in five seconds, about one-quarter of those viewers are gone, and if the video doesn’t start in 10 seconds, almost half of those viewers are gone.” 

He advises:  "Get into your topic within seconds – perhaps 15 seconds and set the scene as they proceed.  The old master Larry King used to be skilled at this before short attention spans became a much discussed attribute of today’s digital age.  When Larry did his Mutual show and came back after the hourly news, he was in the interview within a minute."  

Smart advice. 

Two other bits of Del Colliano programming guidance, provided in light of the data, running commercials one at a time instead of in long clusters and that music sweeps are useless shows the danger of applying research on one thing to another, making me think that perhaps he's been out of programming a bit too long, at least for music radio. 

Sitaraman's "half the people" cited above isn't too far away from Coleman's PPM-based (actual radio usage) finding that 40% of the audience tunes out the instant they think a commercial might be starting.
 That factoid notwithstanding, using data from a full year across all 48 PPM® measured markets, the study shows:

• Radio delivers more than 93 percent of its lead-in audience levels during the average commercial break.
• One- to three-minute commercial breaks deliver radio audiences levels that are practically the same as the lead-in audience.
• Longer spot breaks of four to six minutes plus delivers a surprisingly high an average percentage of the lead-in audience level.
• Commercial breaks in morning drive deliver some of the highest percentages of their lead-in audience levels, on average. In the study, you’ll discover what drives this daypart’s performance.

 The difference between radio and You Tube is that radio's cume audience is constantly like a subway car with people getting off and on, thanks to a growing cume throughout the day for the average radio station. 

My advice:  keep clustering commercials.  Work to make them as engaging as possible, but no matter how good they get and how few you run, listeners come in for compelling content delivered by fun personalities who know how to entertain mixed with long sets of music. 

It's a mistake to apply research on one topic to something completely different.

Sterling, Waldman At Least 1 More Year With Yankees

Sterling, Waldman

The ink is drying on the contracts that keep John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman as the Yankees radio voices for 2013 on WCBS 880-AM.

However, fishbowlny.com speculates this could be a “lame duck” season for the Yankees broadcasters. It’s the second season that the team signed a one-year deal with WCBS. He has called every inning since joining the Yankees’ booth in 1989. Waldman teamed with Sterling in 2005.

There has been speculation that ESPN is going to be a major player for the radio package in ’14, now that the network moved to the highly coveted 98.7 FM. Although the signal, especially at night, is not as strong as what 880 offers on the AM dial.

Sister station WFAN could lose its rights to the Mets if CBS Sports Radio takes over the famous frequency– 660-AM.

Read More Now.

Howard and Beth Stern's Photo Shoot

Beth Ostrosky, aka Beth Stern,  Tweets some photos from her snowy photo shoot with photographer Howard Stern.  Beth wishes he’s get a new hobby. Could this be an audition for the next SI swimsuit issue?

Howard Stern also posted a video of himself conducting the photo shoot. He encourages his wife, now wearing a bikini, to drop on her back and make a snow angel. At first she says no, and he agrees she shouldn't, but a few seconds later, he suggests it again and she give it a shot.

“This American Life” Wants 'Whore" To Change Name

Chicago Public Media Demand Sex Podcast Change Its Name

Chicagoradioandmedia.com has an interesting story about "This American Life," the weekly public radio show, produced by Chicago Public Media's WBEZ-FM and distributed by Public Radio International. 

The show is going after a podcast with a very different format, but a similar name. The San Fransisco-based podcast "This American Whore" has received notifications from attorneys representing Chicago Public Media and Ira Glass demanding the show change its name.

Although "This American Life" moved to New York in 2007, the show is still officially produced and co-owned by Chicago's WBEZ-FM, where it got it start.

The popular talk show with a different topical theme each week was created in 1995 by host Ira Glass and Chicago Public Media CEO Torey Malatia. The radio show is now heard on over 500 radio stations.

Siouxsie Q

"This American Whore" is a podcast that started this past fall. Its creator and host is Siouxsie Q, a model, blogger, sex industry activist, and self-professed sex worker. The host prefers to keep her birth name a secret, but has been going by the name of Siouxsie Q since 2010. The podcast focuses on Q's own life and times as a sex worker, as well as shining a positive light on those who work in the sex industry.

Outside of two common words in the podcast's title matching those of Ira Glass' radio show title, the podcast has nothing in common with the public radio program.

However, Siouxsie Q told the San Fransisco alternative newspaper SF Weekly last week that she began receiving emails from TAL Director of Operations Seth Lind and attorneys for Chicago Public Media and Ira Glass demanding she cease & desist all use of the words "This American" in the name of her show.

Read More Now.

Dial Global Announces Upper Management Restructuring

Spencer Brown

Dial Global Monday announced some restructuring moves.  Out:  the three man co-CEO concept.  In: a more traditional solo CEO model..

Former Co-CEO David Landau has resigned.

Landau said, "Working with Spencer, Ken and many of the other talented executives at Dial Global over the last 10 years has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life, both personally and professionally. I have tremendous respect for Spencer and believe that he has the necessary qualifications and passion to lead the company through its next stage of growth.” 

Landau added,  “I remain a meaningful shareholder of Dial Global and its most ardent supporter."

Spencer Brown is now CEO and Ken Williams is named President reporting to Brown.  All three previously had been Co-CEOs.