The music streaming service Spotify has struck a deal that makes it easier for music publishers to claim royalties they are owed, if they agree not to make copyright-infringement claims against the streaming service.
The Wall Street Journal reports the agreement with the National Music Publishers Association comes three months after Spotify was hit with two lawsuits seeking class-action status over alleged copyright infringement. The first was filed by musician David Lowery, singer of the bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, and an outspoken critic of streaming services’ business practices. It sought $150 million in damages. Another singer, Melissa Ferrick, filed the second, seeking $200 million. Both lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeking class-action status; a judge is due to rule soon on whether to combine them.
Spotify, which counts nearly 30 million paying subscribers and more than 80 million free users, says it has paid out more than $3 billion in royalties since it launched in 2008, but the company has about $16 million on reserve for what it calls “unmatched works,” or songs in its system that are missing certain ownership information, a person familiar with the matter said.
As part of the deal, Spotify for the first time will provide music publishers with a list of the unmatched works its users have listened to. That should make it simple for publishers to claim what is theirs, said NMPA Chief Executive David Israelite. Publishers must agree not to sue Spotify for copyright infringement in exchange for accessing that information.
The peace between Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly was very short-lived.
The GOP presidential frontrunner is once again taking swings at the Fox News host over social media, while Kelly is sharing insight into what it's like to be in Trump's crosshairs for months on end.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, during a recent interview with More magazine — the final issue of the New York-based publication — Kelly called out Fox News colleague Bill O'Reilly for not having her back to the degree that she would have had his if the tables were turned.
“I do wish that O’Reilly had defended me more in his interview with Trump,” Kelly told More. “I would have defended him more.”
The interview she was referencing occurred when O’Reilly spoke with Trump following his announcement that he would skip the second Fox News debate. O’Reilly, in a good-natured manner, tried to persuade Trump to change his mind.
Highly overrated & crazy @megynkelly is always complaining about Trump and yet she devotes her shows to me. Focus on others Megyn!
Kelly told More she appreciates that Fox News “did not cave” before the second debate. She also elaborated on the toll the Trump bombardment took on her.
“Honestly? People think I’m fearless. But I’m human," she told the magazine. "I was not looking forward to going out on that stage and dealing with Trump if he was going to attack me. I felt the pressure of that and the stress of that. But I also knew I would walk through that fear and I would go out there and I would handle it. I can muster up the courage in the difficult situations to get me through."
What started as a marathon has turned into an obstacle course. In Thursday’s wee hours, just before dawn, Tribune Publishing was named as the “winner” in the Orange County Register bankruptcy auction. Tribune’s winning bid of $56 million in cash—topping high-end estimates of the combined value of the Register, its sister Press-Enterprise and attendant real estate—seemed to signal an end to the big question of who would next own the paper. (Politico Media)
Making good on its pre-auction warning, the Justice Department Thursday filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in Los Angeles seeking to block the acquisition. The Justice Department had indicated this week that if Tribune, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, prevailed at the auction as expected, it would intercede to prevent what it called a monopoly of the market for both advertisers and readers. (Deadline)
The Morning Media Newsfeed reports A federal bankruptcy court judge still must approve the sale and has set a hearing for Monday. The sale would string together the biggest newspapers in each of four Southern California counties with a combined population of 18 million, consolidating control over news and advertising in the region. (Chicago Sun-Times / AP)
The Justice Department argued that, if combined, the merged operation would account for 98 percent of newspaper sales in Orange County and 81 percent of English-language newspaper sales in Riverside County. The deal would allow the Tribune to increase subscription prices, raise advertising rates and invest less to maintain the quality of its newspapers, the agency said. (WSJ)
Tribune beat out two other bidders vying for Freedom, including Digital First Media, a national newspaper chain whose holdings include the Los Angeles Daily News and eight other Southern California newspapers. (LA Times)
WDAE 620 AM & W237CW 95.3 FM, Tampa Bay's Sports Radio, announced Thursday it will provide radio broadcast coverage of the Tampa Bay Rays as they play the Cuban National Team in an exhibition game on Tuesday, March 22 at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana during an historic trip to the island nation.
This will be the first visit to Cuba by an MLB franchise since the Baltimore Orioles played an exhibition game against the Cuban National Team on March 28, 1999. WDAE will provide live coverage of the game.
The broadcast will feature the Rays Radio Network team of Dave Wills, Andy Freed and Neil Solondz on the call, as well as a special 90 minute broadcast featuring WDAE’s Ronnie Lane and JP Peterson broadcasting live from the venue in Havana. The entire broadcast can be heard locally on WDAE and streaming live on MLB.com.
Ronnie Lane & JP Peterson will broadcast Tuesday from 12-1:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Rays Game Coverage will begin at 1:30 p.m. with the first pitch at 2:00 p.m.
Futuri Media has announced that Longtime radio programming Kris Abrams has been appointed Director/Partner Integration.
Abrams previously served three years as Operations Manager for Cumulus Radio/Albuquerque's eight-station cluster. Before that, he worked as OM for iHeartMedia/Jacksonville FL, Program Director at Greater Media's Hot AC WLNK-FM/Charlotte, OM CBS Radio/Phoenix and PDat WRIT/Milwaukee and WMQX/Greensboro.
Futuri Media President/CEO Daniel Anstandig said, "It's a rare to find such a talented, versatile professional with the kind of major-league success that Kris has demonstrated for so many years in so many different situations. We're very proud to welcome Kris to the Futuri family."
Senior VP/Operations Todd Thomas added, "Kris has done it all-on-air, programming and operations -- and across numerous formats. We are certain Kris is going to be an invaluable asset and partner to our stations around the world."
Abrams added, "This is a perfect fit that I couldn't pass up: the chance to work as part of a team of so many forward-thinking people, both here at Futuri and especially at stations across the globe. I am a big believer in Futuri's innovative technology and best-in-class services, and look forward to helping our client stations maximize their ratings and revenues."
At age 17, Bobby Estell began his radio career in 1998 at Henderson State University’s KSWH 102.5 FM. Today, better known as Bobby Bones, has one of the biggest country morning shows in the United States.
Bones, originally from Hot Springs, will be the speaker at Henderson State’s spring commencement May 13, according to the University.
“Had I not started at Henderson State, I would have never been able to get into radio as quickly as I did,” Bones said. “It opened doors that otherwise would have been closed.”
When asked what message he will deliver to the 2016 graduating class, Bones said, “You’re going to hear a million ‘no’s,’ but all it takes is one ‘yes.’ So keep fighting for that one, single ‘yes.’”
After earning his degree in radio and television from Henderson in 2002, Bones was hired by Q100/KQAR in Little Rock and The Bobby Bones Night Show was born.
In 2003, he moved to Austin, Texas, where he began hosting The Bobby Bones Show. He was joined on the air by his sidekicks Lunchbox and Amy. They attracted listeners in droves, as well as topped the market’s rankings.
Bones was named Austin Radio Personality of the Year for three consecutive years from 2009-2011.
The Bobby Bones Show was nationally syndicated on CHR radio from 2011-2013 when the program transitioned to a country music format.
Today, the program originates from WSIX 97.9 FM in Nashville, Tennessee, and can be heard on nearly 100 country radio stations nationwide by millions of listeners.
In addition to his weekday program, Bones added a weekend country countdown show. Country Top 30 with Bobby Bones, a four-hour music program, airs nationwide on about 130 affiliates.
Bones is also half of The Raging Idiots, a comedy band with his radio producer that plays shows across the U.S. and has raised more than $1 million to benefit various charities.
The fan-fueled third annual iHeartRadio Music Awards will be hosted by Jason Derulo on Sunday, April 3, bringing the music of the iHeartRadio app to life at the historic fabulous Forum in Los Angeles.
The event will air live on TBS, TNT and truTV at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and will broadcast on iHeartMedia stations nationwide, as well as on the iHeartRadio digital music platform.
The 2016 telecast will feature today’s biggest artists and songs with live performances by Zayn, Chris Brown, DNCE, Fetty Wap and Demi Lovato who were added to the list of already announced performers including Justin Bieber and Meghan Trainor, with more to come. The telecast will also feature first-time duets and collaborations, celebrity guest appearances, live award presentations, and exclusive can’t-miss special performances by Pitbull and Maroon 5 that will be simulcast from the Capital One JamFest, which is part of the March Madness Music Festival taking place in Houston, TX. This is the first year for the Turner networks to simulcast the event, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 3, the night between the NCAA Final Four National Semifinals and the NCAA National Championship on TBS.
“iHeartRadio has been such an important supporter of mine, and I'm thrilled and honored to be hosting this year's iHeartRadio Music Awards,” said Jason Derulo. “2015 was an incredible year for so many talented artists. It's going to be a great night of celebration and performance for music fans all across the country, and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of it.”
Nominees for the iHeartRadio Music Awards were announced on February 9. Fan voting will determine this year’s "Best Fan Army presented by Taco Bell," "Best Lyrics," “Best Collaboration" and the first-ever "Best Cover Song," "Best Song from a Movie," "Most Meme-Able Moment" and "Biggest Triple Threat" awards. Voting began through iHeartMedia’s social media partner Telescope on February 9 and will extend through March 25, with the "Best Fan Army presented by Taco Bell" and “Most Meme-Able Moment” voting continuing through the evening of the awards on April 3. Fans can vote by visiting iheartradio.com/awards.
Superstar Gwen Stefani Thursday called in to Westwood One’s Zach Sang Show and poured her heart out about music, heartbreak, healing, and Fetty Wap!
Gwen spilled a lot about her new album, This is What the Truth Feels Like, which drops today.
During the interview, Gwen said she had to beg Fetty Wap to do a feature on her album and how excited she was when she got the news.
She also talked about how creating the album saved her life after a heartbreaking year as her marriage broke up and that she feels vulnerable about sharing this soul-baring album with the world. In another candid moment, Gwen also said the last No Doubt album was "forced."
Alpha Media, Fredericksburg, VA announced that they raised $136,089 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with a two-day radiothon.
Country WFLS 93.3. FM has raised $727,404 since 2011.
The three-day fundraising event kicked off with a two-day radiothon on March 10th & 11th, hosted by Steve Waters & Jessica Cash from the 93.3 WFLS Morning Show who broadcasted live 5am-7pm both days. The event campaign ended with “The 93.3 WFLS St. Jude Fun Day” at the Spotsylvania Towne Centre on March 12th.
The event included a Redskins Autograph Signing, games/prizes and live music from Fredericksburg’s own The Jerry Wade Band. Title Sponsor, Total Comfort Heating and Air, raised and donated over $6,000 during this three-day event as well.
Alpha Media Market Manager, Ralph Salierno commented on the announcement, “This is truly a team effort, only through the dedication and hard work of our programming, promotion and sales teams could we raise this kind of money for the kids at St. Jude. Thanks to our staff and clients’ who helped make 2016 our best year ever!”
In 1911...cowboy comic/singer Smiley Burnette was born in Summum Illinois.
He worked on a local radio station and in vaudeville after high school. Always interested in music, he was friends with Gene Autry and worked with him on the radio show “The National Barn Dance”.
He made 80 western movies with Autry, then in TV became a regular on Ozark Jubilee, and played Charlie the railroad engineer on Petticoat Junction.
He died from leukemia Feb 16 1967 at age 55.
Art Gilmore
In 1912...announcer/narrator Art Gilmore was born in Tacoma Washington.
He began in 1935 at Seattle radio station KOL, and a year later was hired at KFWB Los Angeles. He soon became the announcer for radio’s Amos ‘n Andy, The Adventures of Frank Race, Dr. Christian, Sears Radio Theater, Stars over Hollywood, etc. It was Gilmore who introduced Herbert W. Armstrong and Garner Ted Armstrong, reminding listeners to request free religious literature at the conclusion of “The World Tomorrow” on radio and TV. He narrated 156 episodes of syndicated TV’s Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford, 39 segments of Mackenzie’s Raiders with Richard Carlson, and 41 episodes of Men of Annapolis. He died Sept. 25 2010 at age 98.
In 1922...WHN-AM, NYC signed-on at 833Kc
According to Faded Signals, WHN, New York City, signed on in 1922 as the radio station of The Ridgewood Times newspaper. It was one of the city’s first radio stations, featuring a format of jazz and dance music of the era, as well as children’s shows, variety programs and newscasts. The Loew’s Theatre Organization bought the station in 1928.
The station played jazz and contemporary dance music, including Sophie Tucker, Fletcher Henderson, and Duke Ellington, as well as broadcasting Columbia University football games. In 1928 the station was bought by the Loew's Theatre Organization.
During the 1920s the station's frequency changed to 830, 760, and then 1010.
In the 1930s it broadcast the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, which was picked up by the CBS Radio Network.
WHN made its final frequency change to 1050 in 1941.
During the 1940s the programs Radio Newsreel and Newsreel Theater were prototypes for what would later become the all-news radio format. The station broadcast Brooklyn Dodgers games with Red Barber as well as the New York Giants and New York Rangers with Marty Glickman.
In 1948, WHN became WMGM, reflecting the Loew’s then-ownership of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio. The station continued its diversified format until flipping to Top 40 and rock music in the mid 1950s. While it included some R&B, country and instrumentals in the Top 40 mix, WMGM carried a narrower, more up-tempo playlist.
By the early 1960s, WMGM 1050 AM had several competitors in the Top 40 radio market. WINS, WABC and WMCA all were playing rock, and WMGM was falling behind in the ratings.
Storer Broadcasting bought the station in 1962, renaming it WHN and dropping the Top 40 in favor of slow-paced “beautiful music” and standards. Here’s what the switchover sounded like:
WHN also became New York City’s Mutual Radio Network affiliate. Bob & Ray, WABC legend Herb Oscar Anderson and Jim Ameche were some of WHN’s on-air personalities.
The station picked up New York Mets baseball and launched Marv Albert’s sportscasting career.
WHN’s ratings were low and skewed toward older demographics. After researching the market, Storer converted WHN to a country format in 1973. Here’s an aircheck from WHN’s Bruce Bradley in 1973:
Mutual bought WHN in the late 1980s. An FM competitor flipped to country from 1980 to 1984, hurting WHN’s ratings.
Doubleday Broadcasting bought WHN in 1985, and Emmis Communications bought it the following year. Emmis added sports talk in the evenings, keeping the country format during the day.
In 1987, Emmis announced WHN would become all-sports WFAN. When Emmis purchased NBC’s New York radio stations in 1988, the company moved WFAN from 1050 AM to 660 AM, formerly occupied WNBC.
Spanish Broadcasting System purchased the 1050 AM license and became WUKQ, a Spanish Adult Contemporary station. Spanish Broadcasting System wanted to swap 1050 AM with cash for the Jewish Daily Forward’s FM station, WEVD 97.9. The deal was approved in 1989.
WEVD’s call letters and programming moved to the 1050 AM frequency, as covered in an earlier post on this blog. The station mainly carried a brokered format of ethnic programs, talk shows and foreign-language programming. By the mid-1990s, WEVD moved to a left-leaning news-talk format.
An agreement with ABC/Disney brought ESPN’s “The Dan Patrick Show” to WEVD in 2001. A public campaign to save the old format failed. On the final day of the news/talk format, soon-to-be-terminated staffers occasionally interrupted portions of the brokered programming with sometimes-profane audio clips. On September 2, 2001, WEVD became “1050 ESPN Radio.”
The call letters were changed to WEPN in 2003 after Disney bought the station, competing directly with WFAN’s all-sports format. In 2012, WEPN’s programming moved to 98.7 FM. ESPN Deportes later moved the 1050 AM frequency.
In 1940...the daytime drama “Light of the World” was first heard on NBC radio. The soap opera was unique in that it featured the Bible as the center of the story line. In 1965...Chicago Cubs broadcaster Jack Quinlan was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 38.
In 1974...Jim Kerr started at WPLJ NYC
Originally from Detroit by way of Chicago, Kerr already had a half-dozen radio years under his belt when he arrived at ’PLJ.
After 15 years there he moved to WPIX, WYNY, WMXV, WQCD and Y107, before settling into his current gig with long-time sidekick Shelli Sonstein at WAXQ (104.3 FM) in 2003.
In 1978..."Night Fever" by the Bee Gees, from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, peaked at Number One on the pop singles chart and stayed there for eight weeks.
In 1985...ABC announced plans to merge with Capital Cities Communications to form Cap Cities/ABC, the 11th largest corporate merger in U.S. history.
In 1991...Radio/TV personality, Jack McCoy, died at age 72.
In 2005...Pat Cashman left KJR-FM, Seattle, after 12 years doing morning drive.
Following his graduation from the University of Portland (Oregon), he worked at various small radio stations in Oregon. But after moving to Eugene, Oregon, he left full-time radio work to take a job at a TV station as a commercial writer and director. For a period of time, he even served as the station’s weathercaster, though his humorous bits often took more time than the weather during this brief stint.
Pat Cashman
He moved on to another TV station in Boise, Idaho – this time serving as production director. While there, he originated a legendary Saturday late night TV show called “Peculiar Playhouse.”
Pat moved to Seattle in the early 1980’s, hired as a commercial writer and producer by KING TV. In 1984, he became the station’s first-ever creative director – writing, producing and directing a vast number of award-winning promos and commercials. He was honored with Clios, Addys and Tellys
In 1991, Pat returned to his radio roots on 1090 AM Seattle). He hosted his morning drive time news/comedy show until 1994, when KING Radio was purchased by Bonneville Broadcasting – and moved Pat to become the morning host on another station (then KIRO FM, later called “The Buzz”).
In 1999 Fisher Broadcasting – KOMO Radio hired Pat to immediate strong ratings. When KOMO switched to an all-news, no-Pat format, he left the building… and concentrated on his freelance work.
In the summer of 2003 Pat joined the legendary KJR FM 95.7 as host of the morning show from 6 to 10 AM.
Nielsen today announced the launch of Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings, the new solution to measure over-the-air radio listening, across mobile apps and web players, regardless of ad model and device—smartphones, tablets and computers. The service will provide the industry with the ability to assess the value of digital inventory and clarify return on digital investments, while aligning with established broadcast and digital currencies. Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings is a component of Nielsen’s Total Audience, an initiative that provides comparable metrics across all linear and digital platforms.
The Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings service, which is currently collecting data on more than 2,500 station streams across all 48 personal people meter (PPM) markets, measures the extension of broadcast radio to streaming environments. Initially, Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings will report the listening of digital streams of AM/FM radio stations and e-radio stations in the 48 PPM markets. Measurement for custom-curated and on-demand audio, including podcasts, is currently in development.
“With the way people consume content in a continual state of change, it’s critical to capture all of the platforms where people are listening to audio, whether on the radio, computers or smartphones,” said Brad Kelly, Managing Director, Nielsen Audio. “To achieve Total Audience for audio, we must provide a comprehensive view of listening behavior across all platforms and what better way to start than with radio. Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings allows broadcasters, advertisers and marketers to better understand the dynamics of a station’s over-the-air and online audiences.”
Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings employs Nielsen’s proprietary software development kit (SDK), which is integrated into mobile apps and web players. This method uses big data, a census-style measurement approach and demographic information from third-party data providers, which is calibrated with Nielsen’s PPM panel.
The product combines digital audio measurement with clear, industry-standard methodology, allowing clients to measure the total reach of radio listening. Additionally, Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings gives radio stations the insight buyers and marketers need to quantify the size and nature of a station’s online audience on smartphones, tablets and computers. The result is a seamless audio measurement that allows broadcasters and marketers to easily plan, buy and sell all audio content.
The service will formalize a two-month pre-currency preview period covering data from the February and March 2016 surveys, available in mid-March and mid-April, respectively. Beginning with the April 2016 survey data, released in mid-May, clients must license Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings to access data related to their own media properties and the data of other subscribers.
Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings audience estimates will include both an average quarter hour (AQH) and average minute audience (AMA) metric for digital streams. In the near future, Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings will expand reporting to include diary markets, as well as regional and national views.
“Radio is a crucial format to reach audiences and must be an integral part of Nielsen’s Total Audience initiative,” said Kelly. “With Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings we will be able to capture broadcast radio’s total reach and begin laying the groundwork to measure other audio platforms where people listen to music, syndicated programs or news/talk and sports content.”
The Radio Television Digital News Foundation(RTDNF) honored a distinguished group of journalists and First Amendment leaders for their commitment to press freedom at the 26th Annual First Amendment Awards Dinner.
Jason Rezaian
The event, held Wednesday evening in Washington at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, raises money for journalism scholarships, fellowships and training for the newsroom leaders of tomorrow.
"The Constitution enshrines freedom of the press in the First Amendment, but it takes exceptional people to make that promise live and breathe," said RTDNF Chair Amy Tardif. "We're proud to recognize those who have demonstrated a commitment to defending the rights of journalists."
"Our honorees have set a high bar," added RTDNF Executive Director Mike Cavender. "The money raised at tonight's event will grow our work in support of the First Amendment and help a new generation of journalism students enter our profession, looking up to outstanding role models like these."
First Amendment Award: Jason Rezaian, Washington Post
Washington Post Correspondent Jason Rezaian was held captive in Iran from July 22, 2014 to January 16, 2016. Accused of a number of charges including espionage, he was convicted and sentenced by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, but no specific sentence was announced, and he was finally freed in the weeks following an agreement to ease economic sanctions on Iran, as the world watched a story of international relations and press freedom unfold. This award honors an outstanding individual or organization which champions the First Amendment
and press freedoms.
Other Awards:
Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award: Cami McCormick, CBS News
First Amendment Service Award: Robert Garcia, National Public Radio
First Amendment Leadership Award: Rich Boehne, E.W. Scripps Company
First Amendment Defender Award: Tim Tai, University of Missouri
RTDNF Lifetime Achievement Award: Tom Brokaw, NBC News
Wednesday's awards ceremony included a tribute to Virginia journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were murdered on the job in August of 2015.
Nielsen on Wednesday 03/16/16 Released January PPM Data for the following markets: 23 Portland OR 24 Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill NC 26 Pittsburgh 27 San Antonio 28 Sacramento 29 Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo UT 30 Cincinnati 31 Las Vegas
32 Cleveland 33 Orlando
34 Kansas City 37 Columbus OH Click Here for Topline numbers of subscribing Nielsen stations.
The inital shock is wearing off since CBS Corp. announced Tuesday that its looking to sell off its radio stations.
Late Tuesday, CBS chair and CEO Leslie Moonves said the company was exploring strategic options, including a sale or spinoff, of its entire radio division. "The aim here is to unlock value for our shareholders," said Moonves, who made the announcement during an investor day in New York.
Les Moonves
Moonves declined to provide a timeline or any detail on the company’s plans beyond saying the aim is to “unlock value for our shareholders,” as it did when it spun off its outdoor advertising unit in 2014.
For several years radio has been seen as a drag on CBS’s results. In the fourth quarter, CBS took a $484 million write-down on the value of its radio licenses. For all of 2015, radio revenue fell 6%, a drop CBS attributed to a soft advertising market and lower revenue from political ads.
Wells Fargo Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker said in a report last week that CBS would likely have to sell its stations on an individual basis. “We just don’t see any realistic buyers for the whole kit and caboodle,” she wrote.
CBS, one of the big four New York-based media giants (the others being NBC, ABC and Fox), has been attempting to sell a portfolio of local radio stations for some time.
From 2011, the broadcaster has received various offers, but hasn’t accepted any of them. Now, it appears Moonves is done stalling. Radio revenue had fallen 5 percent compared with the year-earlier period, the company stated.
The move underscores the decreasing value of commercial radio. With podcasting, subscription Internet radio services and digital streaming now being the standard method of consuming non-visual media, broadcast radio is no longer considered a growth industry.
Other than political ad spending, which allows radio stations to bank millions during election years, advertising is exponentially less that it was in the past.
Still, according to The New York Business Journal, CBS Radio is the nation's second-largest radio chain, in terms of revenue, reaching an estimated 70 million listeners nationwide each week. It boasts 117 stations, down from 130 in 2011. Among the stations it has sold, are KFWB-AM (980) in Los Angeles. In 2012, however, it bought local New York station 101.9 FM from Merlin Media LLC for $75 million.
As the gravity of the CBS move began to sink in, some CBS Radio executives in Chicago insisted on clinging to the positives. "We're still making money!" said one. Yes, but for how much longer?
The Chicago Business Journal reports no matter how the CBS move is sliced or diced, it is tantamount to a death knell for the traditional radio industry. Increasingly radio is up against major competition ranging from Spotify and Pandora to Apple Music — all providing consumers with music they want to hear when they want to hear it free of major commercial interruption. Only a Chicago radio station such as CBS Radio's WBBM 780 AM & 105.9 FM, which offers locally-focused breaking news, weather and traffic, seems still to be able to muster a legitimate reason for being these days with an audience and ad revenue to support it.
The changing — and not for the better — face of the radio business has led to shrinking audiences and advertising revenue. Still CBS Radio's all-news WBBM brought in more ad revenue than any other radio station in the Chicago market in 2015 with $43.9 million in ad sales, up 11 percent year over year.
But tellingly, most of the other CBS Radio holdings in Chicago posted significant ad revenue drops in 2015, including Top40 WBBM 96.3 FM, which was down nearly 12 percent, and Rock WXRT 93.1 FM, down a whopping 21 percent in ad sales year over year. Even sports talk WSCR 670 AM's ad sales were flat in 2015 compared to 2014.
CBS’s decision to sell off had Boston industry insiders buzzing about the future of the five in Boston — N/T WBZ 1030 AM, WBZ 98.5 FM The Sports Hub, WZLX 100.7 FM , AC WBMX Mix 104.1 FM and Top40 WODS AMP 103.3 FM — and who would be the likely buyers.
And depending on how the sale shakes out, Entercom — owner of WEEI, WRKO and WAAF — could become a key player in the game.
The Boston Herald two of the nation’s biggest radio groups — iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media — are buried in debt and likely are unable to finance a purchase. Other possible suitors include Alpha Media and Connecticut-based Townsquare Media. But thus far both have concentrated on accumulating smaller-market stations.
Entercom already owns a sports station in Boston — WEEI — but would no doubt love to control the fate of arch-rival WBZ 98.5 FM The Sports Hub. The rest of the CBS Boston stations do not compete with any of Entercom’s other local holdings, which is a plus.
The other big local player, Greater Media, is not expected to be in the hunt. The company is privately owned and debt-free. The owners are unlikely to want to rock the boat with an ambitious expansion, insiders say.
The FCC limits the number of radio stations that any one entity can own in each market. So if the CBS stations are sold to a competing local entity, they would no doubt have to divest one or more of the stations that they already own.
According to The Detroit News, Moonves’s announcement comes less than a year after CBS Radio Detroit laid off more than a dozen staffers, including on-air talent, producers and salespeople.
In Detroit, CBS Radio holdings are Newsradio WWJ 950 AM, a sports talk radio station on AM 1270, 97.1 The Ticket, Country 99.5 WYCD, Classic Hits WOMC 104.3 FM and Top40 98.7 AMP Radio.
Moonves had told investors that “there is no better time for a content company to thrive” than an era where companies have so many properties available for advertisers. “It’s a time for confidence,” Moonves added.
“We are now being paid in more ways for our programming, advertisers are extremely confident, and consumers are spending more and more on entertainment,” Moonves said.
As CBS Corp. explores strategic options to separate its radio broadcasting business, one option under consideration is filing for an Initial Public Offering for the radio unit as its own publicly traded company.
According to InsideRadio, a first step might be to lever up the company somewhat to give it the right capital structure before shares are offered to the public. CBS might own a controlling stake in the separate company or it could get private equity partners involved. Remaining shares could be distributed to shareholders in a special dividend or through an offer to exchange one share of CBS stock for two of the radio company.
Mark Fratick
Such a maneuver may put the CBS Radio portfolio in a better position to grow through station acquisitions. As it stands now, the radio division competes for capital for investments within the larger CBS Corp., which is intently focused on higher growth areas. For example, if the CBS Radio cluster in St. Louis wanted capital to buy another station in the market, it might compete for funding with a new show CBS wants to launch on Showtime’s over-the-top streaming service. InsideRadio opines the bean counters would ultimately weigh which investment would produce a better return.
With its own balance sheet and capital structure, a separate CBS Radio could focus on growing and expanding its radio assets.
That CBS is evaluating its radio options shouldn’t be seen as a knock against the medium, BIA Kelsey chief economist Mark Fratrik says. “It’s a natural evolution,” he says. “Radio is still a very important player with a very prominent position in the local marketplace. People enter and exit industries all the time.”
