Overtime or Less Time For Radio

A sweeping new rule by the U.S. Department of Labor will likely mean additional pay—or less time on the clock—for thousands of radio station employees, according to InsideRadio.

Employers preparing for a new federal overtime-pay regulation say the change will lead them to slow hiring, reduce workers’ hours and cut pay, bonuses and benefits.

The regulation, finalized Wednesday by the Labor Department, will make 4.2 million employees newly eligible for overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours a week, and will clarify that millions more have already been eligible but haven’t been getting the pay to which they are legally entitled.

According to The Wall Street Journal, when the rule takes effect in December, the threshold under which salaried workers will automatically qualify for overtime pay will double to $47,476 a year, from $23,660. Workers who are paid hourly are generally eligible for overtime pay, regardless of their annual earnings.

The Department of Labor calculates 385,000 broadcasters—or 8.2% of those who work in radio and television—will be in line for additional pay. The exact number of people working in radio who will be impacted by the new rules isn’t yet clear.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the average salary for someone working in the radio industry is $51,660, yet more than one-third of employees earn less. Positions pay varies as well. The BLS says the typical radio announcer earns $41,220 a year while promotions managers average $113,610.

Jim Leven

Community Broadcasters chief executive Jim Leven says the radio industry has long been blessed by attracting a passionate workforce that’s willing to work whenever stations needed them around the clock. He believes the new federal labor guidelines could have unintended consequences and actually hurt workers, especially at some of the most challenged companies.

“In broadcasting, margins aren’t as big as they used to be, and at companies where revenue is growing 1%-2% or staying flat, it’s going to be very challenging if further expenses are added on and it will end up hurting employees,” he says. “Ultimately, some salaried employees won’t be salaried anymore, they’ll be hourly and some companies could make sure they don’t go over 30 hours per week and meet Affordable Care Act guidelines so workers would no longer get benefits.”

Already several companies are hiring multiple part-time staffers to cover what would have previously been a single full-time position in order to avoid a growing benefit burden.

Report: Pandora Has Been For Sale For Months

Hedge fund mogul Keith Meister has opened a Pandora’s box.

The letter his firm, Corvex Capital, sent to the streaming radio service — pressing it to pursue a sale — sparked an optimistic 6.1 percent jump in Pandora shares on Tuesday.

But the letter also opened some eyes on Wall Street to the fact that the money-losing Oakland, Calif., company has been seeking a buyer for months — without success, sources said.

“Pandora has been for sale, and there are no buyers,” a high-ranking media banker told The NY Post.

The company’s shares have fallen 42 percent over the last 12 months.

Pandora Media Inc. (P) Stock Price | FindTheCompany

Besides, Meister at this point cannot even force the company to once again seek a buyer.

That is because Pandora, at least according to Meister, tricked him into withdrawing from a proxy fight.

Meister, who owns a 9.9 percent stake in Pandora, on March 23 said he withdrew his notice to nominate Pandora directors “based on our understanding of your openness to considering all paths to enhance shareholder value,” he said in the Monday letter.

Pandora, days before the March 23 withdrawal, had pleased Meister by putting Anthony Vinciquerra, who had a role in selling Motorola Mobility, on its nine-member board.

Five days later, Pandora replaced CEO Brian McAndrews, whom Corvex liked, with Pandora Co-Founder Tim Westergren.

Meister said he had not been informed about the upcoming move when he withdrew from the proxy contest, and said in the letter he did not believe the timing of the CEO change was a coincidence.

Miami Radio: Dolphins Return To WQAM, Add WKIS

The Miami Dolphins and Miami's Sportsradio WQAM 560 AM today announced they have entered into a long-term partnership with the station becoming the official flagship radio partner of the franchise.

WQAM 560 AM (5 KwD, 1 KwN)

The Dolphins previously had their games broadcast on Miami's Sportsradio WQAM during the 1997-2004 and 2007-09 seasons. In addition, all Dolphins games will be simulcast on WKIS Kiss 99.9 FM “South Florida’s NEW Country” and feature expanded pre, halftime and postgame shows.

“We are excited that we reached this agreement to return home to Miami's Sportsradio 560 WQAM,” Miami Dolphins President & CEO Tom Garfinkel said. “This expansive and exclusive programming throughout the week and on game day will greatly benefit fans that have a desire to consume Dolphins content on multiple outlets in partnership with CBS RADIO.”

“We have rich broadcast history with the Miami Dolphins and are proud that the team is returning to Sportsradio 560 WQAM,” CBS RADIO President Andre Fernandez said. “This further demonstrates our strong and steadfast commitment to the sports radio format, and making continued moves in delivering extensive and exclusive programming on our stations. We are excited to bring premier content to our loyal fans and listeners on Sportsradio 560 WQAM and Kiss 99.9.”

WKIS 99.9 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local coverage Area

As part of the agreement, Sportsradio 560 WQAM will have the radio broadcast rights for all preseason, regular season and playoff games. Dolphins fans who tune into Miami's Sportsradio 560 WQAM will have the opportunity to listen to live broadcasts of Head Coach Adam Gase’s day-after game press conferences and “Dolphins Friday,” a day of Dolphins’ centric-content on the station featuring interviews with players, coaches, and team executives. Additionally, CBS RADIO Miami will promote Dolphins community and foundation initiatives across multiple platforms.

FB's Zuckerberg Meets With Conservatives Over Bias

By Lisa Richwine and Dustin Volz

(Reuters) - Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg heard from more than a dozen U.S. conservative leaders on Wednesday and said he will work to build trust with users who believe the social network displays politically biased news content.

After a closed-door meeting at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters, Zuckerberg defended his company's practices but acknowledged that many conservatives believe Facebook is politically liberal.

"It doesn't make sense for our mission or our business to suppress political content," Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook after the meeting.

"I know many conservatives don't trust that our platform surfaces content without a political bias," he added. "I wanted to hear their concerns personally and have an open conversation about how we can build trust. "


The editorial practices at the world's largest social network came under scrutiny after a former Facebook contractor anonymously accused editors there of deliberately suppressing conservative news. The allegations were reported by technology news website Gizmodo, which did not identify the ex-contractor.

Facebook has denied the allegations and said it would conduct a full investigation.

A Facebook spokeswoman said the meeting produced "a constructive discussion" and some attendees called it productive.

"I think Facebook is very sincere in wanting to resolve outstanding issues with conservatives," Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, said after the meeting.

Attendees were frank about their concerns, but the tone was cordial, Bozell said. "Facebook invited that frank talk. People didn't hold back too much," he said.  

On her Facebook page, conservative CNN commentator S.E. Cupp said the meeting had produced "strong commitments to address issues, as well as to work together on common goals."

Other attendees included former White House press secretary Dana Perino, media personality Glenn Beck and former Republican Senator Jim DeMint.

Zuckerberg said that while Silicon Valley has a reputation for being liberal, Facebook's 1.6 billion users span every background and ideology.

"The reality is, conservatives and Republicans have always been an important part of Facebook," Zuckerberg wrote.

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has more Facebook fans than any other presidential candidate, he said. Fox News "drives more interactions on its Facebook page than any other news outlet in the world," Zuckerberg added. "It's not even close."

Senator John Thume

Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox.

Facebook employees who donate to presidential candidates lean Democratic. Seventy-nine percent of employee contributions to 2016 contenders went to Democrats, according to a Reuters analysis of campaign finance data, and 21 percent to Republicans.

Zuckerberg has contributed to candidates in both parties. Sixty-percent of his donations during the 2014 midterm elections went to Republicans and 40 percent to Democrats. He has not supported a presidential candidate this cycle.

Although a U.S. Senate committee is investigating whether there is liberal bias in selection of trending topics, there is little chance the government will try to regulate Facebook's practices, said Republican Senator John Thune, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

"I don't have any reason to believe that would be necessary," Thune told reporters on Tuesday.

Thune sent a letter to Facebook last week to demand that it explain its editorial decision-making and how stories are chosen for the "trending topics" feature. He said his primary concern was that Facebook was potentially being deceptive about how its news feed curation algorithms work.

Facebook last week released its guidelines for choosing trending topics, but the operations of the news feed algorithm remain closely guarded.

Legal experts said the government has few tools to dictate how a private company makes news decisions.

"As a legal matter, Facebook is not required to be even-handed," said Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Congress can't introduce something that tries to prohibit Facebook from making these kinds of choices."

Charter Communications Completes Purchase of Time Warner Cable

(Reuters) -- Charter Communications Inc said Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc  and Bright House Networks LLC, creating the second-largest U.S. broadband provider and third-largest pay TV provider.

The combination of Charter, TWC and Bright House will serve over 25 million customers in 41 states.

The completion of the deals came days after Charter won final regulatory approvals, about a year after the transactions were announced. On May 6, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission confirmed it had approved Charter's acquisitions. Last week, California state regulators approved the deal.

Charter has valued its deal for Time Warner Cable at $56.7 billion, excluding debt, and the acquisition of Bright House at $10.4 billion.

Charter said Wednesday the deals "will drive investment into the combined entity's advanced broadband network, resulting in faster broadband speeds, better video products, more affordable phone service and more competition, for consumers and businesses."

The U.S. Justice Department gave antitrust approval to the acquisitions with conditions on April 25, saying the deal prevents Charter "from using its leverage over programmers to harm competition.

The pay television industry faces stagnation due to new competition from over-the-web rivals like Netflix Inc  and Hulu.

The Justice Department said in a court filing last week that internal documents show Charter and Time Warner have typically been less concerned about competition from providers like Netflix "that do not offer live or current season programming" and more concerned by the threat posed by companies like Sling TV and HBO NOW that offer current season content.

As part of the approval process, Charter agreed to refrain from telling its content providers that they cannot also sell shows online, and to face restrictions from the FCC for up to seven years.

The FCC's approval conditions require Charter to extend high-speed internet access to another two million customers within five years, with one million served by a broadband competitor.

Charter, backed by billionaire John Malone's Liberty Media Corp, had pursued Time Warner Cable as far back as 2013.

The two companies had acrimonious exchanges in 2013 and early 2014 that ended with Time Warner Cable rejecting unsolicited approaches by Charter and instead finding a white knight in Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O), the No. 1 U.S. cable services provider. But Comcast ultimately abandoned the transaction.

Tampa Radio: Free Tats For Lightning Fans

More than 150 Tampa Bay Lightning fans are now showing their support for the team with bolts tattoos thanks to Cox Media Group (CMG) Tampa’s The Mike Calta Morning Show on WHPT 102.5 FM The Bone.

Host Mike Calta gave away free Tampa Bay Lightning tattoos to fans, including Bradenton mayoral candidate Warren Merriman, live in studio during his morning drive show on WHPT 102.5 The Bone. Fans can watch Merriman getting his tattoo on The Mike Calta Show website.

In support of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup Playoff Run, Mike Calta, Morning Show host at Tampa’s 1025 The Bone-WHPT, partnered with local tattoo shop “Atomic Tattoos” to offer die-hard fans their chance to be a Bolts fan, FOREVER.

“This was in response to a story from earlier this week, where the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau issued rally towels to tourists, supporting the Pittsburgh Penguins during the Stanley Cup Conference Finals against the Lightning,” said Rob Garguilo, CMG Tampa’s Executive Producer of The Mike Calta Show.

The free tattoo offer came on the heels of a local Bay area tourism bureau publicly supporting the Eastern Conference Final rival Pittsburgh Penguins.

Las Vegas Radio: Ross Mahoney New PD At KXTE

Ross Mahoney

KXTE X107.5 FM has announced Ross Mahoney has been named the new Program Director and Afternoon Drive host on CBS Radio's X107.5 airing weekdays from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM effective immediately.

In addition to listening to Ross live on X107.5 locally, listeners can also stream the station through x1075lasvegas.com or the Radio.com app for mobile devices.

“After a long, nationwide search, I am thrilled we have found Ross to take the lead at X107.5,” said CBS RADIO Las Vegas Operations Manager, JB King. “I am confident that his experience, great ideas, knowledge and passion for the format, will take X107.5 to new levels!”

“I am extremely happy to be back with CBS RADIO Las Vegas, working with a great team and to have the privilege of leading a legendary brand like X107.5 into its third decade,” said Mahoney. “I’d like to thank JB King, Tony Perlongo, Lisa Worden and Kevin Weatherly for this amazing opportunity.”

KXTE 107.5 FM (24.5 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Mahoney’s career in radio started in 1996 at the late great WPBZ 103.1 The Buzz. It was there that he worked his way up from intern to Music Director, Assistant Program Director and Afternoon Air Talent.  Most recently, he was Program Director at WRMR Modern Rock 98.7 before the opportunity to join X107.5 brought him to Las Vegas.

Bobby Bones Gets 'Today' Facetime

With nearly 5 million listeners, Bobby Bones is the host of one of the most popular country radio shows.

He tells Kathie Lee and Hoda about his new book, “Bare Bones: I’m Not Lonely If You’re Reading This Book,” and shares the slightly embarrassing story of how he got his name.

Report: Jeff Bezos Fires Back At Donald Trump

Jeff Bezos

Amazon.com founder and Washington Post owner Jeffrey P. Bezos fired back at presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, saying on Wednesday that Trump’s criticism of Bezos’s ownership of the newspaper and the threats issued against Amazon are “not an appropriate way for a presidential candidate to behave.”

In an appearance at a Post-sponsored technology conference called Transformers at the paper’s headquarters, Bezos also said that “a company like Amazon deserves to be scrutinized and criticized. I have no worries about that.”

But he offered a vigorous defense of freedom of the press: “It’s critical that we be able to carefully examine our leaders.”

The comments came during a question-and-answer session moderated by The Post’s executive editor, Martin Baron. Bezos was responding to criticism leveled against him and The Post by Trump last week.

In an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Thursday, Trump accused Bezos of using The Post to protect himself from higher taxes. He presented no evidence for his assertion.

Trump Refers To Alleged Bill Clinton Sexual Indiscretions As 'Rape'

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump used the word "rape" Wednesday evening to describe alleged sexual misconduct by former President Bill Clinton.

Trump made the comment during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity. The real estate mogul was answering questions about an unflattering story published this past weekend by The New York Times involving his relationships with women when he turned his attention to Bill Clinton.

"By the way, you know, it's not like the worst things, OK," Trump said. "You look at what Clinton's gone through with all of the problems and all of the things that he's done."

Hannity went on to question whether the newspaper would interview women including Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones and Kathleen Willey. All three have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct.

"In one case, it's about exposure. In another case, it's about groping and fondling and touching against a woman's will," Hannity said.

"And rape," Trump responded. (Comment starts at the 19:00 time-mark)

Cox Media Group Promotes Heather Boethin

Heather Boethin

Gamut, a Cox Media Group (CMG) company, has named Heather Boethin as its new Director of Sales South for Gamut, effective immediately and based in Dallas, Texas. In this role, Boethin will oversee all of the Digital Sales, South for Gamut, encompassing Atlanta, Dallas, and outlying areas. Additionally, she will also work closely with CoxReps Digital on driving high level strategic initiatives between the two companies.

“In her many years at Cox Media Group, not only has Heather proven herself to be a strong sales leader, but also a collaborative team player,” said Rachel Williamson, VP and General Manager of Gamut. “It’s exciting to have the opportunity to promote proven talent from within, and we are thrilled to add her to the Gamut team. Her unique perspective, great work ethic, and diversified skillset will play a crucial role in transforming the way we do business.”

Boethin began her Cox Media Group career in Tulsa Radio in 2007. Her career started in sales, and she was promoted to Digital Sales Manager and most recently Manager of Cox Local Solutions overseeing digital sales for Cox’s properties in Tulsa, Okla. for TV, Radio and Cable.

“I am thrilled to take on my new role,” said Boethin. “I’m looking forward to the opportunities and challenges of growing the South Region of Gamut.”

Viacom Takes Sumner Redstone Off The Payroll

Sumner Redstone

(Reuters) -- May 18 Viacom Inc's board voted on Wednesday to stop paying 92-year-old controlling shareholder and Chairman Emeritus Sumner Redstone, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Viacom had cut the total pay of its billionaire chairman, who also owns a majority stake in CBS, by 85 percent to $2 million last year.

Redstone remains chairman emeritus, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the pay cut.

Redstone controls both Viacom and CBS Corp. with a nearly 80% voting stake in each company. Both companies had scaled back his pay significantly already. His total compensation at Viacom fell from $13.2 million in fiscal 2014 to $2 million last year, as the media giant cut his bonus, according to a securities filing.

At CBS, meanwhile, Mr. Redstone’s pay also declined from $10.8 million in 2014 to $1.76 million last year. When the mogul stepped down as executive chairman of the two companies in February, CBS reduced his base salary from $1.75 million to $1 million. (Viacom didn’t take a similar action at the time.)

In the wake of the deposition, Viacom board members began considering whether to cut Mr. Redstone’s pay further, as well as what role he should continue to have at the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

The board's move follows the dismissal of a mental competence lawsuit against the media mogul that was filed by his former girlfriend, who challenged her removal from his healthcare directive.

The judge's decision to toss the case was victory for Redstone but did not address his ability to handle business matters at CBS and Viacom.

May 19 Radio History

In 1926...inventor Thomas Edison spoke at a dinner for the National Electric Light Association in Atlantic City, NJ. When asked to speak into the microphone, he said, “I don’t know what to say. This is the first time I ever spoke into one of these things … Good night.”

In 1960...On this day in 1960, the man who coined the term, "Rock And Roll", Alan Freed, along with Mel Leeds and 7 other disc-jockeys were accused of taking payola.

The others  included: Peter Tripp of WMGM, New York, Hal Jackson-WLIB, New York, Tommy (Dr.Jive) Smalls of WWRL-New York, JackWalker (The pear-shaped talker) - exWOV, New York.

Peter Tripp was immediately fired from his popular late afternoon air shift at WMGM.

After departing from 1010 WINS, Freed for a time was employed in New York by WABC 770 AM around 1958, about two years before it evolved into one of America's great Top 40 stations by launching its "Musicradio" format.

At this time, WABC (unlike Top40 WINS) was more of a full-service station which began implementing some music programming elements.

Freed was fired by WABC (1959) during a dispute where he refused to sign a statement certifying that he had never accepted payola.


In 1974...The #1 Popular song on the Radio was "The Streak" by Ray Stevens


In 1994....Henry Morgan, former personality at WMCA, WOR, WNBC, WNEW died of lung cancer at age 79.




In 1999...Last broadcast of the Mutual Broadcasting System. Tribute website: Click Here

Bob Liddle

In 2010…Longtime Seattle radio personality Bob Liddle, with more than 50 years on the air in the Pacific Northwest died at age 88.  Liddle spent much of his nearly 60-year radio career announcing, spinning big-band records, hosting easy-listening shows and reading the news on Seattle's KIXI 880 AM.

Liddle is perhaps best known for his years hosting KIXI's "Sunday Brunch." But in his long career he also worked as the station's program director and often hosted New Year's Eve "Tuxedo Junction" celebrations at the downtown Seattle Westin Hotel.


In 2011...Worcester, Massachusetts radio legend Dick Smith, who spent 30 years as a broadcaster for WORC, died at the age of 84.

Report: Bankruptcy Threat 'Disruptive' For iHeartRadio

iHeartMedia Inc.’s internet music service has struggled to calm industry partners, lenders and employees spooked by the bankruptcy threat created by bondholders’ attempt to declare $6 billion in senior notes in default, a top executive testified in Texas.

“It’s disrupting our operating business every day,” Darren Davis, president of iHeartRadio, said in the second day of a state-court trial in San Antonio, reports Bloomberg.

Davis told the judge that the company’s line of credit was recently reduced from $1.5 million to $50,000, hampering its ability to quickly respond to market opportunities. And two of its largest manufacturing partners, who offer iHeartRadio as an integrated feature of products like televisions and cars, also claim to be “very concerned”’ about sticking with a company rumored to be in financial trouble, he said.

Davis said he feared that at least one of the company’s partnerships wouldn’t survive any potential bankruptcy “based on conversations we’ve had.”

Davis testified to the damage done by what the media giant calls a “whisper campaign” by certain senior lenders who oppose the company’s shift of $500 million in shares of its outdoor-advertising unit to a subsidiary beyond the lenders’ reach. The company claims the move was specifically allowed under the loan agreements and will save millions in interest expense by letting iHM buy back some debt at a discount when company shares are trading at relative lows.

Darren Davis

The senior creditors in February threatened to call defaults on about $6 billion in priority guarantee notes if the company didn’t roll back the asset shift. iHM has told the judge those defaults would trigger calls on an additional $6 billion or so in debt and probably tip the company into bankruptcy.

The senior creditors complain iHeart’s transfer of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings shares to a different subsidiary violated loan terms and drained assets that could be used to repay roughly $423 million in debt that is due in the next two years on $20 billion in debt. IHeart hasn’t missed any debt payments, and company executives previously testified the company could become cash-flow positive if allowed to carry out the refinancing the share transfer would make possible.

“We’ve had $20 billion in debt for the last eight years, and we’ve never had any bankruptcy threat until the last 60 days,” Davis told Texas State Judge Cathleen Stryker of San Antonio, who is trying the dispute without a jury. “I know what’s coming due in the next two years, and I know we’ve got plenty of money to make those payments.”

“In the digital space, you’ve got to be growing your audience by 20 percent to 30 percent a year or you’re seen as a quaint service that’s found its place,” Davis told the judge. No digital brand can compete if it is viewed as stagnant, especially in the international market, he said.

According to Bloomberg, Davis told the judge the default threat has also kept skittish young job candidates from joining the company, because of the drumbeat of negative news bombarding their social media accounts. For example, iHeart recently failed to attract the software engineers it needed to code a new service that will soon be offered by competitors.

Other Firms Watching iHM Court Case

iHeartMedia Inc.’s trial in San Antonio this week against some of its biggest investors is being closely watched by other companies across the U.S.

The court case centers around the definition of an investment, which sounds fairly simple, but the outcome of the trial could impact other U.S. companies looking to restructure their debt as well as the buyers of their corporate bonds.

“The guidance for other corporations will turn on the how the final outcome impacts similar language for companies and their bondholders,” said Jacob Frenkel, chair for the government investigations and securities enforcement practice at Dickinson Wright law firm in Washington, D.C. “How the court rules will be noticed.”

According to the Express-News, if state District Judge Cathleen Stryker rules against iHeartMedia, it could kick off a cascade of events that could quickly trigger technical default on as much as $15 billion of its bonds and put iHeartMedia at risk of bankruptcy, company executives have said in court. The two sides tried to no avail to find a compromise before the trial, but may still be able to strike a deal that allows iHeartMedia to avoid bankruptcy if it loses in court.

The San Antonio media conglomerate has been fighting a group of its bondholders since early January, when investors began threatening to force the company into default on some of its notes over a transaction they claim technically violated their bond agreements.

At issue is whether iHeartMedia’s Dec. 3 transfer of 100 million shares of company-owned stock from one subsidiary to another qualified as an investment. The transaction was done as part of a complicated strategy to reduce iHeartMedia’s financing costs on its staggering $20.8 billion in debt.

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. (CCO) Stock Price | FindTheCompany

On Monday, iHeartMedia lawyer Kevin Huff told Stryker in San Antonio that the transfer was proper because it fits the definition of “investment” in its debt agreements.

“Investment has meaning beyond a profit motive. This was a permitted investment,” Huff said in court this week, because the company wanted to issue new debt secured by the transferred shares to buy back older, expiring debt trading at a discounted value. That would reduce company debt and interest expense, Huff said.

“When a company can save money, profits go up. So there is a profit motive,” Huff said.

IHeartMedia performed similar transactions in 2008 and 2009 by moving cash into subsidiaries designed to buy company debt at a discount. “No one threatened notices of default then,” Huff said. The “investment” definition used by iHeartMedia for the bonds under dispute are common, he added. “If iHeart is in default, then many, many companies would find themselves in default,” Huff said.