LA Radio: Revenue Surge Reported

The Southern California Broadcasters Association and Miller Kaplan Arase, LLC are reporting a September total market revenue surge of 7.2%.

“September produced impressive growth for the LA Radio market,” said SCBA President, Thom Callahan. “This critical swing month showcased some great revenue performances from our member stations, which maximized both local and national spot and blew the doors off digital revenue.”

“On a Year to Date basis, Miller Kaplan Arase is reporting total revenue growth at 3.4% through September. However, our trend line during 3^rd quarter 2013 reveals a 5.2% growth rate YTD for the same period,” notes Callahan. “Simply put, Q3 was powerful and we see the same trend developing for Q4.”

“While projected revenue from the Affordable Care Act has not met our initial expectations at this time,” says Callahan, “we are very encouraged by activity in the Insurance category overall as well as our 4^th quarter activity in significant new business development, solid automotive spending, impressive sports billing from the Lakers and Clippers, big LA Dodgers playoff revenue, and the ‘raw power of Southern California radio in Q4.’”

Biz Talk Radionetworks Acquires the Assets of BTRN

Biz Talk Radionetworks announced the acquisition of the assets of Business TalkRadio Network. Biz Talk Radionetworks partnered with its sister company, BizTV, now offers both radio and TV networks to listeners and viewers. In addition to TV and radio properties, the companies also operate a number of online properties that complement Biz Talk Radionetworks.

BizTV’s focus is serving as the home for business. BizTV finds the resources entrepreneurs, small business owners and families need to manage their money, start their latest venture or grow their business.

"This acquisition fits nicely in our portfolio of media centric assets," said Scott Miller, Executive VP of parent company Center Post Holdings. "With the combination of BizTV and BTRN the company will have a solid foot hold in both radio and TV. The combined reach will exceed 30 million TV Households and millions of radio listeners." Miller added, " A number of the programs are carried on both networks currently and we expect that number to expand as we integrate the operations. It's a natural fit for us and we are ready to expand our suite of benefits to small business owners."

Current Consulting Operations Officer for BTRN, Jeff Weber, has been appointed president of the network and will guide the expansion and development of the radio assets. Weber comes with a substantial history and experience with the radio format and BTRN in particular.

The Business TalkRadio Network provides business and financial radio programs, and features to more than 1,000 stations across the country on a barter basis and operates 24/7.

Centerpost Holdings is privately held and based in Arlington Texas. It's properties include, BizTV, Penny Sports, BTRN, LTRN, Austin I Lab, Everything Internet, College Real Estate, Key- Linx broadband, and various real estate holdings.

HuffPost Founder Pocketed "Only" $21M From Website Sale

Tim Armstrong, Arianna Huffington

In a new court filing, lawyers for two men suing Arianna Huffington for allegedly denying them credit and cash for their role in the founding of The Huffington Post have made public an internal document detailing exactly what Huffington pocketed following the site’s $315 million purchase by AOL, according to The Smoking Gun.

Marked “Confidential” and “Attorney’s Eyes Only,” the February 2011 memo was prepared for AOL board members by Tim Armstrong, the company’s chief executive, and Artie Minson, the firm’s former chief operating officer. Armstrong is pictured at right with Huffington.

The 11-page document details AOL’s proposed nine-figure purchase of The Huffington Post, the deal’s strategic rationale and potential risks, and provides financial and traffic projections for the influential news site. The deal memo, prepared days before AOL announced its purchase of The Huffington Post, also reveals the “total deal consideration” for Huffington, who launched the site in mid-2005.

According to the AOL memo, Huffington, 63, received about $21 million, of which $3.4 million came in options that would vest about 20 months after the deal closed. Additionally, her employment agreement--which was then being negotiated--called for Huffington to receive another $3 million in equity grants (stock options and restricted stock units).

At the time the purchase was announced, some media reports speculated that Huffington’s piece of the deal could approach $100 million. In fact, her share amounted to less than seven percent of the sales price (and likely was less than what was earned by several of the site’s financial backers, like SoftBank Partners and Alan Patricof’s Greycroft Partners).

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D/FW Radio: Chris Arnold Accused Of Plagiarism

Chris Arnold

Chris Arnold's radio future apparently is in jeopardy, according to The Dallas Morning News.

A Dallas-Fort Worth radio staple since 1980, Arnold wasn't on the air Monday with his mid-day co-hosts on KRLD 105.3 FM The Fan's G-Bag Nation. He has been accused of plagiarizing an entry he wrote for the station's website defending Tony Romo against critics who question his ability to succeed as the Cowboys quarterback.

The original article, written by Scott Kacsmar, appeared at www.coldhardfootballfacts.com.

Station management and Arnold remained mum Monday. CBS Radio, the Fan's owner, is investigating.

The issue came to light Friday in a public Twitter exchange between Kacsmar and Arnold. It was reported soon after by the Awful Announcing website.

Read More Now.

Nielsen: 'The Kelly File' Ratings Surge Is Legit

Over the weekend,  MSNBC questioned 100% ratings increase for the Fox News Channel from October 7 to October 8.  However,  the further investigation shows Fox’s Megyn Kelly did crush MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on October 8.

According to the NY Daily News, Nielsen has conducted an investigation into the ratings for Megyn Kelly’s new Fox News Channel show, “The Kelly File,” following grousing by MSNBC chief Phil Griffin.  

On October 8, the day after its debut on the Fox News Channel, “The Kelly File” doubled its audience, crushing “The Rachel Maddow Show,” its MSNBC competition.

Griffin called for a probe, calling the ratings feat “impossible.”

Well, Nielsen took it seriously and investigated.

The bottom line:   the numbers for Kelly are accurate.

Nielsen declined to comment.

Siri Does Letterman's Top Ten List

Since she was unviled as Apple’s Voice of Siri, voice-over-artist Susan Bennett’s life has been a whirlwind of interviews with various media. See CNN for how her life has changed.

She’s even made an an appearance on Letterman doing the list of Ten Things You Don't Want to Hear From Your  iPhone.

Study: Music Taste Changes Over Time

British researchers have identified five categories of musical tastes during a person's life, and say people's musical tastes change to meet their social and psychological needs. Researchers say after gathering data from more than 25-thousand people over a ten year period, they've divided musical genres into five broad categories: mellow, unpretentious, sophisticated, intense, and contemporary.

According to The Daily Mail, the study found that, unsurprisingly, the first great musical age is adolescence, which is defined by a short, sharp burst of ‘intense’ and the start of a steady climb of ‘contemporary’.

‘Intense’ music, such as punk and metal peaks in adolescence and declines in early adulthood, while ‘contemporary’ music such as pop and rap begins a rise that plateaus until early middle age.

 

Dr Jason Rentfrow, senior researcher on the study, said: 'Teenage years are often dominated by the need to establish identity, and music is a cheap, effective way to do this.'

As ‘intense’ gives way to the rising tide of ‘contemporary’ and introduction of ‘mellow’, such as electronic and R&B, in early adulthood, the next musical age emerges.

These two 'preference dimensions' are considered 'romantic, emotionally positive and danceable,' the researchers wrote.

   

Dr Rentfrow said: 'Once people overcome the need for autonomy, the next life challenge concerns finding love and being loved – people who appreciate this "you" that has emerged.'

'What we took away from the results is that these forms of music reinforce the desire for intimacy and complement settings where people come together with the goal of establishing close relationships – parties, bars, clubs and so on.

'Whereas the first musical age is about asserting independence, the next appears to be more about gaining acceptance from others.'

As people settle down and middle age begins to creep in, the last musical age, as identified by the researchers, is dominated by ‘sophisticated’ music, such as jazz and classical and ‘unpretentious’ tunes, such as country, folk and blues.

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R.I.P.: NY Broadcast Journalist Tara Howard Knauff

Tara Knauff

Former WSYR radio host Tara Howard Knauff has passed away after a long battle with cancer, friends say.

She studied journalism and broadcasting at Utica College and Syracuse University before landing a job as a reporter and anchor with WGY radio. Next, starting in 1991, she worked at WSYR 570 AM in Syracuse as a reporter for nearly a decade.

According to The Post-Standard archives, Howard and Jim Reith took over the morning show as co-anchors in 1997 when Bill Baker left over the Clear Channel-owned station's shift to an all-news format.

"She was a great mentor for people new to broadcasting and radio news, especially women. She was an extremely talented woman, and liked to help mentor other women who were in the business," Reith said in a statement. "She was a very hard worker, and always wanted to make sure she got the story right."

Howard's LinkedIn page shows she left CNY in 2000 for a job as assistant news director, editor and anchor at KTRH NewsRadio 740 in Houston, Texas. She returned to New York in 2005, working as an editor and producer at ABC News Radio in the NYC area for the past eight years.

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Bob And Tom Leaving Premiere For Cumulus Media

The Bob & Tom Show is ending its syndication relationship with Premiere Radio Networks.  Effective January 1, the show will be syndicated via Cumulus Media Networks.

The Indianapolis-based show, featuring Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold, claims a line-up of some 130 stations nationwide.  The show is also carried on the American Force Radio Network. The show's flagship station is Clear Channel's WFBQ Q95 FM. 

In announcing the new deal, Tom Griswold said: 

“We have enjoyed a tremendous relationship with Premiere Networks and Clear Channel Media+Entertainment for many years. Cumulus stations have always supported the Bob & Tom Show in some of our largest markets and once I had an opportunity to meet with John Dickey, it became clean that our visions were aligned for the future. 

We really appreciate the years of dedication from Julie Talbott and the staff at Premiere Networks and we look forward to continuing to work with Clear Channels stations in the future.”

The show went into syndication in 1995 and has earned five Marconi Awards.

Going to Cumulus may actually mean survival for the synidcated show. Media Confidential has learned Premiere Network has had some difficulty getting payment from some affiliates.  Some are now hoping Cumulus Media converts the show to a bartered offering.

Philly Radio: Rush, Sean Returning To WPHT

CBS Radio Philadelphia has announced the return of the Rush Limbaugh Show to its Talker WPHT 1210 AM. 

Rush will air live from Noon to 3p. and the station also intends to clear on a delay Sean Hannity in the evening 9p to 12midnight.

Both start October 28.

Limbaugh and Hannity have been clearing on Merlin Media’s WWIQ 106.9 FM since June of 2012. However, the station’s sale to the Educational Media Foundation make the two shows available. 

EMF is expected to flip the format on 106.9 FM to Contemporary Christian music soon.

Senior Vice President/Market Manager CBS RADIO Philadelphia Marc Rayfield said, “We couldn’t be more pleased to bring Rush and Sean home to WPHT. They are leaders in the format and the standard by which talk radio is measured. Rush will be the lead-in for Dick Morris who has been developing a strong program the past six months.”

Rayfield added, “When combining Rush, Sean and the Philadelphia Phillies, we have the single best talk radio station in the country. WPHT has never been better!”

Effective October 28, the line-up will be as follows:

• 5:30-9:00AM Chris Stigall
• 9:00-12:00Noon Dom Giordano
• 12:00Noon – 3:00PM Rush Limbaugh
• 3:00–6:00PM Dick Morris with Gary R’nel
• 6:00–9:00PM Rich Zeoli
• 9:00PM–12:00Midnight Sean Hannity
• 12:00Midnight–5:30AM Coast to Coast

SiriusXM Claims No Law Requires Payment for Pre-1972 Songs

The Turtles

A proposed class action, started by Flo & Eddie of The Turtles, contends that SiriusXM has "reproduced, performed, distributed, or otherwise exploited" pre-1972 recordings without license. After the lawsuit was filed, major labels Sony, Universal and Warner filed their own lawsuit against Sirius on pretty much the same grounds.

Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the satellite radio giant is speaking up for the first time about the dispute brought by Flo & Eddie.

In a motion filed late last week to transfer the lawsuit from California to New York, Sirius says it has operated for some 12 years without ever paying license fees to the plaintiffs. The company asserts that no state law requires them to do so. And as for federal law, there's a gap there too since sound recordings didn't begin falling under federal copyright protection until 1972.

And so, in just one paragraph, Sirius highlights the far-reaching implications of this battle:

"Plaintiff apparently has become aggrieved by the distinction drawn by Congress in withholding copyright protection from its Pre-1972 Recordings; thus now, after decades of inaction while a wide variety of music users, including radio and television broadcasters, bars, restaurants and website operators, exploited those Pre-1972 Recordings countless millions of times without paying fees, it asserts a purported right under the law of various states to be compensated by SiriusXM for comparable unlicensed uses."

All of these lawsuits make the same point: Sirius hasn't been paying royalties on songs like "Happy Together," "It Ain't Me Babe" and "She'd Rather Be With Me." Sirius does pay hundreds of millions of dollars for music created after 1972, thanks to statutory licenses set up under federal copyright law. But Sirius doesn't pay for music created before 1972, as a lawsuit by SoundExchange made clear, and Sirius' own legal papers appear to now confirm.

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NYC Radio: Pacifica Explores LMA For WBAI

Progressive radio station WBAI 99.5 FM, long teetering on the financial precipice, may resolve the issue by leasing itself to another operator, according to David Hinckley at The NY Daily News.

Steve Brown, a member of WBAI's local station board, revealed Monday that the Pacifica National Board (PNB), the governing body of WBAI and four other Pacifica stations, has started the process of seeking LMA bidders.

"Although WBAI might not be sold (yet)," said Brown, "it seems almost certain to be leased."

He circulated a memo from PNB member Cerene Roberts saying that the national board met Oct. 3 to ask that its executive director draw up a "Request for Proposals" - that is, a call for bids. The board met again Oct. 10 to order that the request be published. There is a Nov. 6 deadline for responses.

WBAI, which has been financially precarious for almost the whole six decades it has broadcast in New York, has recently slid to the edge of insolvency, laying off staffers and warning that it cannot pay its bills.

Some members of the PNB have reportedly advocated selling WBAI, which would relieve Pacifica of that ongoing debt crisis and provide capital for the other Pacifica stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and Washington.

WBAI supporters in New York, on the station board and off, have largely resisted that idea.

The station's listenership has also dwindled the last few years. Despite having a 50,000-watt signal in the middle of the FM dial, WBAI draws an audience closer to that of college stations.

 That big signal and dial position could make WBAI attractive to potential buyers, or leasers.

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TRN Suing Jerry Doyle Website

It appears the ‘third party’ mentioned by Mark Masters concerning his legal battle with talker Andrea Tantaros is TRN talent Jerry Doyle. See original posting, Click Here.

TRN claimed Monday that EpicTimes.com is trying to lure away its syndicated talent.  Doyle, currently embroiled in legal issues surrounding the recent dramatic changes and financial issues at Talk Radio Network, is President/CEO of Epic.

TRN alleges Epic is interfering with contracts TRN has with both Doyle himself and talk host Rusty Humphries by using their services for content for the EpicTimes.com site.

The TRN claims it has exclusive content creation deals still in effect with Doyle and Humphries. 

The complaint alleges Epic has “made disparaging statements,” “false statements” about TRN’s business prospects, and “released confidential business information,” or “trade secrets.”

TRN is seeking an injunction from the Medfrod, OR court to prevent further use of the proprietary information and $150,000 in damages plus legal fees.

St. Louis Radio: Jack Clark Issues Lie-Detector Challenge

Jack Clark

Jack Clark, days after being sued for defamation for accusing Albert Pujols of using steroids, is offering to take a lie-detector test if Pujols does the same.

According to stltoday.com, the offer was made in a letter sent Monday from Clark's attorney to Pujols' legal team.

Pujols, the former Cardinals star, filed suit Oct. 4 in St. Louis County over comments made by Clark in early August during “The King and The Ripper” sports talk program on WGNU 920 AM. Clark, the former Cardinals slugger, said on-air he knew for a fact that Pujols “was a juicer.”

SEE ORIGINAL POSTING: Click Here

He also claimed that former Pujols trainer Chris Mihlfeld confided in him about shooting up Pujols with performance-enhancing drugs in 2000. Mihlfeld has denied talking with Clark. The radio show was cancelled. The company that produced the show, insideSTL, last week issued a lengthy retraction and apology.

Albert Pujols

Pujols' suit called Clark's statements "malicious, reckless and outrageous falsehoods."

But Clark was not backing down.

In the letter from Clark's attorney Al Watkins, Clark proposed settling the lawsuit by both sides submitting to polygraph tests.

The letter laid out various remedies pending the outcome of the polygraphs. All of them involved one party or another apologizing.

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Cumulus Announces Savage Call

Cumulus Media Networks has announced a ‘national call’ with Michael Savage of The Savage Nation to discuss the show’s new 3p-6p ET timeslot that begins in January 2014.

Program directors and station managers nationwide are encouraged to call in on Thursday, October 17 at noon ET to 877-435-4145 using the conference ID 74443169.

“I am thrilled that the new timeslot debut is just around the corner,” said Savage. “This call will give station managers the chance to hear direct from me what the coveted drivetime means for ‘The Savage Nation.’”

The Savage Nation will air on more than 200 affiliates of Cumulus Media Networks, including 60 stations owned and operated by Cumulus. Some of the cities where The Savage Nation will air during drivetime include: New York (WABC), Chicago (WLS), Dallas (WBAP), Washington(WMAL), San Francisco (KSFO) and WJR (Detroit).