Miami Radio: iHM's WMIA Tries Totally 90s

iHeartMedia Miami announced today the debut of the new Totally 93.9, All 90s, All the Time.

WMIA Totally 93.9 will be the ultimate destination for South Floridians to experience the greatest hits of the 90s and is also available everywhere listeners are, on the devices they use most, via the iHeartRadio app.

To commemorate that legendary decade, Totally 93.9 will play the biggest hits from the top decade-defining artists including the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, NSYNC, Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, Destiny’s Child and more. In addition, listeners can also expect two 90-minute commercial-free music sweeps to start and end each workday-weekdays at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The 90s decade helped define the key tastes and traits of Gen X and the early millennial generation and was a significant time for new technology, the worldwide web, fashion, movies, TV and music.

“We are excited to bring our vibrant new 90s format to 93.9 listeners and advertisers,” said Brian Olson, President for iHeartMedia Miami. “We are certain that Totally 93.9 will quickly become a favorite destination for 90s music fans.”

“Totally 93.9 is South Florida’s first all 90s station,” said Rob Miller, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Miami. “In these anything but normal times, we believe our audience is craving a familiar and nostalgic listening experience that brings back fun memories of their high school and college years, and we think Totally 93.9 is ‘da’ bomb.’”

At-Home Audio Streaming Consumption Jumps 32%

As at-home streaming activity saw an immediate uptick during the first stay-at-home orders (mid-March 2020), new research from Comscore shows home audio streaming usage increased sharply beginning in early April 2020 and continued to rise through mid-June 2020.

According to Comscore’s Total Home Panel, from the week of December 30, 2019 to the week of June 15, 2020, total average daily audio streaming hours increased 32 percent.

Driving this increase in home audio consumption are leading streaming services like Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Pandora Radio. Listening hours in over-the-top (OTT) homes increased slightly for Spotify (+1%) from January 2020 through May 2020, where it maintained the top spot for total listening hours across all OTT homes in the U.S. iHeartRadio held the second spot for total listening hours across all U.S. OTT homes through May 2020, and the service saw an 11 percent increase in listening hours from January 2020 to May 2020. Pandora experienced the largest increase, with in-home audio streaming hours for January 2020 vs. May 2020 rising 42 percent.

Many households are using connected TV (CTV) devices to listen to audio at home – including streaming sticks/boxes, gaming consoles, and smart TVs. Amazon products top the list – Amazon Fire TV has the most audio streaming at home (over 67 million hours across all OTT homes in May 2020). Amazon Echo products take up second place with over 48 million hours of audio streaming across OTT homes, followed by Google Home, with over 14 million hours of audio streamed in May 2020.

Further insights from this new OTT streaming research and about overall media consumption during the pandemic can be found at Coronavirus Insights Hub.

Nielsen Launches Audience Planner Solution

Nielsen today launched Nielsen Audience Planner, an always-on solution that enables first-party audience segments to efficiently flow across systems to serve the various stages of the media planning and buying process. The new product offers marketers the opportunity to reach their most important consumers by performing blind-matches between their first-party data and Nielsen's world-class panel data with speed and ease, delivering Nielsen's viewing information in an efficient and relevant manner.

Over the past decade, the media industry has demanded increased flexibility and tools that enable the use of trusted first- and third-party data to be leveraged across all stages of an advertising campaign. For data-driven linear campaigns, the creation of first-party audience segments that leverage Nielsen's widely-used, gold-standard measurement data with representative viewing behaviors for media planning is more important than ever. Nielsen Audience Planner ensures consistency, efficiency and ease for the creation of advanced audiences and provides advertisers with the same level of confidence for planning data-driven linear deals as they have with traditional age and gender buys. The product also allows agencies, marketers and publishers to create media plans focused on strategic, action-oriented consumers to drive return on ad spend, improve efficiency and eliminate waste.

"Our clients have invested a tremendous amount of capital into their proprietary first-party audience stacks and we want to reduce the friction by allowing effortless planning with such key consumer segments," said Jay Nielsen, Senior Vice President, Global Media Planning Product, Nielsen. "The idea behind Nielsen Audience Planner is to enable a quicker, more efficient flow of first-party data, while really putting the user experience back into the client's hands."

Audience Planner is dynamic by design, allowing users to leverage specific product capabilities after a one-time set up. It maximizes the utility of first party data, eliminates redundancies and saves time. At launch, the solution will feature the first-party data upload, access to the new segments in Nielsen Media Impact (NMI) and segment export capabilities including:

• First-Party Data Upload: Users can upload first-party audience data and match it to Nielsen's audience measurement data, resulting in the creation of unlimited audience profiles on-the-fly.
• Plan in NMI: For NMI subscribers, once new segments are created, they will be automatically available for tactical media planning.
• Segment Export: Newly created segments can flow seamlessly across multiple systems and workflows including in-house, third-party or Nielsen solutions for further analysis or data-driven linear deals.

In the future, Nielsen will look to incorporate features to enhance the client workflow; for example, a storyfinder feature which will offer users the ability to identify and visualize media stories for the custom segments.

Day 2 June 2020 PPMs: DC, Boston, Miami, 9 Other Markets Released

On Wednesday July 8, 2020, Nielsen released the second batch of June 2020 PPM data for the following markets:

   7  Washington DC

10   Boston

11   Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood FL

12   Seattle-Tacoma

13  Detroit

14  Phoenix

15  Minneapolis-St. Paul

16  San Diego

18  Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater

19  Denver-Boulder

21  Baltimore

24  St Louis

Click Here to view Topline numbers for subscribing Nielsen stations.

The Rundown: U-S Passes 3M Coronavirus Cases

TRUMP THREATENS TO CUT FUNDS FROM SCHOOLS IF DON'T OPEN: The U.S. passed three million confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University's count, which also reported just under 133,000 deaths. But even as the country reached that milestone, health officials have said the real number of cases is some 10 times higher, which would be almost 10 percent of the U.S. population. As cases have been surging in recent weeks in many states, particularly in the South and West, testing has ramped up, but many Americans are finding it hard to get tested, particularly in new hot spot states. People trying to get tested are waiting in line for hours in their cars, some sites are running out of test kits, and labs are taking longer to process tests as they are reporting shortages of necessary materials and workers to process them.

WSJ Graphic 7/9/2020

Meanwhile, President Trump for a second day pushed for schools to reopen in the fall, threatening to withhold federal funds from school districts that don't have students in classrooms, tweeting, "May cut off funding if not open!" He also complained about guidelines for schools to reopen issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, portraying them as too impractical and expensive. Soon after, Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the coronavirus task force, said the CDC would issue new guidance next week, saying they'll keep students safe, but, quote, "the president said today we just don’t want the guidance to be too tough." The original guidelines included students and teachers wearing masks, spreading out desks, staggering schedules, eating meals in classrooms instead of the cafeteria, and adding physical barriers between bathroom sinks. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield emphasized yesterday that the guidelines are only recommendations, saying, "I want to make it very clear that what is not the intent of CDC’s guidelines is to be used as a rationale to keep schools closed."

But some governors pushed back against Trump's pressure, saying he has no authority over what schools will do in the fall. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, "School reopenings are a state decision, period."

Chicago Tribune 7/9/20

➤AS FLOYD SAID COULDN'T BREATHE, OFFICER SAID 'TAKES A HECK OF A LOT OF OXYGEN TO TALK': Transcripts of police body camera recordings released publicly yesterday showed that as George Floyd told Minneapolis police officers more than 20 times that he couldn't breathe before he died, the officer who had his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes told him, "Then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Among what Floyd said while Officer Derek Chauvin's knee was on his neck was, "You're going to kill me, man," and "They'll kill me. They'll kill me. I can't breathe. I can't breathe." The transcripts were made public as part of former Officer Thomas Lane's request to have the aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter case against him dismissed, with his attorney, Earl Gray, contending there isn't probable cause to charge him. Lane was one of three other officers involved in the May 25th incident. Gray said Lane had asked twice if they should roll Floyd, who was on his stomach handcuffed, on his side and Chauvin said no.

 Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. The other two former officers, J. Kueng and Tou Thao, are also charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. All four officers were fired.

➤SUPREME COURT: EMPLOYERS CAN BLOCK FREE BIRTH CONTROL COVERAGE BASED ON RELIGIOUS, MORAL OBJECTIONS: The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that employers can be exempt from the provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires health insurance to cover birth control free of charge if the employer has a religious or moral objection. Two of the court's liberals -- Justices Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer -- joined the five conservatives in the 7-2 decision. The ruling upheld the administration saying in 2017 that it would allow the birth control exemption, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing in the decision that the administration had the authority to make the change and followed appropriate procedures to do so. The ACA had initially exempted churches, synagogues and mosques from the birth control coverage requirement, and created a way to allow religiously-affiliated organizations like hospitals, universities and charities to opt out too. But the Trump administration expanded the exemption beyond religious and religiously-affiliated organizations.

➤DRIVER WHO KILLED SEATTLE PROTESTER, INJURED ANOTHER CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR HOMICIDE: A 27-year-old man who hit two Black Lives Matter protesters with his car on a Seattle highway early Saturday morning, killing one of them and injuring the other, was charged Wednesday with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving. Dawit Kelete remains in custody on $1.2 million bail. Kelete, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from the African nation of Eritrea, drove around vehicles that were parked on the highway to protect the protesters and hit two people. Summer Taylor, who was 24, died hours later, and Diaz Love was hospitalized with internal injuries and multiple fractures. Kelete's attorney, John Henry Brown, said his client didn't intentionally hit the protesters, calling it a "horrible, horrible accident," and saying, "My client is in tears. He’s very remorseful. He feels tremendous guilt."

➤VINDMAN, WHO TESTIFIED IN IMPEACHMENT CASE, RETIRES FROM ARMY; ATTORNEY BLAMES TRUMP: Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who testified in President Trump's impeachment inquiry, announced yesterday that he's retiring from the Army, with his attorney, David Pressman, accusing Trump of carrying out a, quote, "campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation" against Vindman.

Pressman's statement said the 45-year-old was retiring after it had been made clear that, quote, "his future within the institution he has dutifully served will forever be limited." He stated, "LTC Vindman's patriotism has cost him his career." Vindman had been on a promotion list to sent to Defense Secretary Mark Esper earlier this year, but the list was delayed for weeks because the White House asked for an investigation of Vindman, AP cited an official as saying. A review was done and no misconduct was found, but the list was again delayed. A senior defense official told CNN Esper got the final list Monday and approved it and it was expected to be sent to the White House this week. It's not clear whether the White House would have signed off on it, or if Esper knew of Vindman's plans to retire when he approved the list.

Trump removed Vindman from his National Security Council job in February, two days after the president was acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial. Vindman had testified before House impeachment investigators about Trump's phone call last July that sparked the impeachment probe in which he pressured Ukraine's president to investigate his then-potential 2020 presidential rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, using approved congressional aid and a desired White House visit as leverage. During his testimony, he spoke about his father, who brought the family to the U.S. from the Soviet Union when Vindman was a child, and how he'd reassured his father about him testifying, saying that he'd be fine because he was telling the truth and that his father shouldn't worry, quote, "because this is America. . . . Here right matters."

➤MLS RETURNS WITH 2-1 ORLANDO WIN OVER MIAMI: Major League Soccer returned from its coronavirus shutdown last night with a 2-1 Orlando City win over Inter Miami in the opening game of the MLS is Back tournament at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex at Disney World. There were no fans in attendance. Before the game, nearly 200 players went on the field for an eight-minute, 46-minute moment of silence to protest racial injustice, representing the length of time George Floyd was on the ground with a police officer's knee on his neck. Some players raised their right arms, wore black face masks that said "Black Lives Matter," black gloves, and black T-shirts with messages that included, "Black And Proud," "Silence Is Violence" and "Black All The Time." Several players also took a knee.

➤IVY LEAGUE CANCELS FALL SPORTS: The Ivy League canceled all fall sports, including football, on Wednesday (July 8th) due to the coronavirus pandemic, becoming the first Division I conference to do so. Also affected are soccer, field hockey, volleyball, cross country, and the fall part of winter sports like basketball. However, the league left open the possibility of moving some seasons to the spring if the pandemic is better controlled in the U.S. by then.

Radio Hall Unveils 2020 Nominees

The Radio Hall of Fame has announced this year’s 24 nominees in a total of six categories. Industry voting in four of those categories begins next Monday, July 13. Listener voting in the other two categories begins on July 20. Due to COVID-19 health and safety concerns, the 2020 induction ceremony will be a live radio broadcast from multiple locations this October. The exact date and additional details will be announced along with the inductees later this summer.

“2020 marks 100 years of radio and, while we regret that we cannot hold an in-person event this year, we’re looking forward to the excitement of a live, multi-location radio broadcast,” stated Kraig Kitchin, Chair of the Radio Hall of Fame. “I want to thank Dennis Green, Chair of this year’s Nominating Committee, and all the radio professionals who are volunteering their time and expertise to the difficult task of selecting inductees from such an impressive list.”

Green, Chief Revenue Officer of Sun & Fun Media and Key Networks, added, “I look forward to working with the Committee and to honoring the 2020 Radio Hall of Fame inductees during the special live radio broadcast.”

Nominees were determined by the organization’s Nominating Committee, following suggestions from radio professionals across the industry. The nominees in the four industry-voted categories will be voted on by a voting participant panel comprised of 600 industry professionals, who will receive confidential ballots from online voting service Votem. The winners in the two listener-voted categories will be determined by the public, who will also vote via Votem, and the Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. The outcome of the listener vote will count as one vote among the committee votes. The votes will be monitored by certified public accounting firm Miller Kaplan Arase, LLP. Inductees will be announced on August 17. Premiere Networks has signed on as this year’s first sponsor of the live broadcast.

NOMINEES TO BE VOTED ON BY VOTING PARTICIPANT PANEL:

➤Longstanding Local/Regional (20 years or more)

• Mark & Brian - KLOS-FM
• Bobby Rich-KFMB-FM San Diego & KMXZ-FM Tucson
• Bob Rivers-KJR-FM Seattle
• Donnie Simpson-WMMJ-FM Washington D.C.

➤Active Local/Regional (10 years or more)

• Angie Martinez-WWPR-FM New York City
• Matt Siegel-WXKS-FM Boston
• Elliot Segal-WWDC-FM Washington D.C.
• Bob Stroud-WDRV-FM Chicago

➤Longstanding Network/Syndication (20 years or more)

• Sid Mark-Host, Sounds of Sinatra
• Joey Reynolds-Host, WOR Radio Network
• Cokie Roberts-Political Reporter, NPR
• Suzyn Waldman-New York Yankees Radio Network

➤Active Network/Syndication (10 years or more)

• The Breakfast Club-Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee, DJ Envy, Premiere Networks
• Larry Elder-Salem Radio Network
• Jaime Jarrin-Los Angeles Dodgers Network
• Kim Komando-Host, Kim Komando Show, Westar Radio Network

NOMINEES TO BE VOTED ON BY LISTENERS/RADIO HALL OF FAME NOMINATING COMMITTEE:

➤Music Format On-Air Personality

• Whitney Allen-The Big Time with Whitney Allen, Westwood One
• Bob & Sheri-The Bob and Sheri Show, Westwood One
• Sway Calloway-Sirius XM Shade 45 Channel
• John Boy & Billy-The John Boy & Billy Show, Premiere Networks

➤Spoken Word On-Air Personality

• Glenn Beck-The Glenn Beck Show, Premiere Networks
• John & Ken-The John & Ken Show, KFI-AM Los Angeles
• Stephanie Miller-The Stephanie Miller Show, WYD Media
• Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me-NPR

The Radio Hall of Fame honors notable radio personalities and showcases their accomplishments in the Chicago-based Museum of Broadcast Communications. Each year, 24 nominations in six categories are determined by the organization’s nominating committee, which is comprised of industry leaders. www.radiohalloffame.com

Rock Hall Cancels Live Induction Event

Celebrating the newest Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees will look a different this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers announced they will replace the annual live ceremony with an exclusive special honoring this year’s inductees.

The program will be available on HBO and to stream on HBO Max on November 7, replacing the 35th annual live ceremony originally scheduled for May 2 of this year.

“To protect the health and safety of our Inductees, their families, crews, and our attendees, we’ve made the decision that the scheduled live event is not possible,” said John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in a statement. “Together with HBO and executive producer Joel Gallen, we will still create an exciting program honoring our 2020 inductees, by telling the stories of their incredible contributions to music and impact on a generation of artists that followed them.”

The 2020 Inductee class includes Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T-Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees Jon Landau and Irving Azoff.

Former FOX Host Shepard Smith Gets CNBC Gig

Shepard Smith

CNBC has signed former Fox News journalist Shepard Smith to anchor a new one-hour evening news program, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“The News with Shepard Smith” will debut this fall in the 7-8 p.m. time slot on the cable news business channel. The Monday through Friday newscast marks a significant shift in the evening programming strategy for CNBC, which currently relies on light, unscripted fare.

CNBC Chairman Mark Hoffman said Smith’s show will try to be a counter to news and commentary programming.

“Information is coming at us from every direction,” Mr. Hoffman said in a statement. “If we’re not careful life-altering decisions will be made based on half-truth, rumor, misdirection or worse. We aim to deliver a nightly program that, in some small way, looks for the signal in all the noise.”

NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell has previously indicated a desire to see CNBC experiment with more news and commentary programming in prime time to offer a counter to the right-leaning Fox News and the left-leaning CNBC sister channel MSNBC. CNBC and NBCUniversal are units of Comcast Corp.

In announcing Smith’s hiring, Mr. Hoffman suggested there would be no other changes coming to the rest of CNBC’s prime-time lineup anytime soon. The Smith newscast will “serve as the perfect bridge between CNBC’s daytime investor-focused news programming and the network’s aspirational business-oriented entertainment programs in prime time.”

Other CNBC prime-time shows include “The Profit,” featuring businessman Marcus Lemonis on the hunt for businesses to invest in, and “Jay Leno’s Garage.” The repeats of “Shark Tank” will also continue to be part of the network’s evening lineup.

Smith said in a statement that he is “honored to continue to pursue the truth, both for CNBC’s loyal viewers and for those who have been following my reporting for decades in good times and in bad.” CNBC, he said, has a “vision for a fact-based, hourlong evening news program with the mission to cut through the static to deliver facts, in context and with perspective.”

Smith will be joining a network with a much smaller audience. At Fox News, Mr. Smith’s afternoon newscast averaged 1.3 million viewers during his last quarter. The 7 p.m. time slot he is taking over at CNBC has averaged fewer than 250,000 viewers so far this year, according to Nielsen.

Joy Reid To Host Nightly MSNBC Show

Joe Reid

Joy Reid, an MSNBC political analyst and weekend host, has been tapped to lead the 7 p.m. weeknight hour, the network said Thursday.

Reid's new Washington-based show, “The ReidOut,” will debut July 20. It will feature one-on-one conversations with politicians and newsmakers and cover the political issues of the day, drawing from Reid’s experience of covering the intersection of race, justice and culture.

Reid, one of the network's most prominent Black on-air personalities, will take the time slot previously occupied by Chris Matthews, who announced his retirement in March after a series of events that resulted in criticism of his statements about Bernie Sanders, Black lawmakers and comments he had made to female journalists and coworkers.

Reid has guest-hosted for several shows on MSNBC, which like NBC News, is owned by NBCUniversal.

Reid is the host of the weekend show "AM Joy," which will feature a rotating lineup of hosts until a permanent replacement is named in the fall.

The New York Times best-selling author joined MSNBC in 2011 as a contributor and previously hosted "The Reid Report," which aired daily. Before joining the network, she was the managing editor of theGrio.com, a news site that covered issues affecting African-American audiences.

Reid also has experience as a talk-radio producer and host and worked for President Barack Obama's campaign in 2008. She graduated from Harvard University in 1991 and is a 2003 Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellow.

TV Ratings: 'Hamilton' Audience Size 'A Mystery'

Disney+’s streaming of “Hamilton” was surely the biggest event on television screens over the holiday weekend. Just how big, however, remains a mystery, The Associated Press reports.

Disney knows, but it’s not telling. Data is coming in to the Nielsen company, too, but won’t be released until Disney gives the go-ahead. “Hamilton” is the poster boy for how the science of measurement is not keeping up with how entertainment content is being consumed.

Disney+, which announced in May that it had signed up 54.5 million paid subscribers worldwide, will not release information on how many people subscribed in time to get “Hamilton” or how many watched until its next quarterly earnings report, a spokeswoman said.

Nielsen said it is repeating what it did in the early days of cable television by letting networks and their corporate owners dictate how much information about how many people are watching is released. Nascent networks figured it was a buzzkill if people learned that the audiences for heavily-promoted shows were small.

The same is true for the streaming services. They’re also nervous about how viewing patterns will be depicted — a new streamed show will often get a big audience when it is first released, but quickly drop off.

The combination of “America’s Got Talent,” “Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular” and auto racing gave NBC its first weekly prime-time ratings victory since December, The LA Times reports.

“America’s Got Talent” was the most-watched prime-time program for the sixth time in the six full weeks of television’s summer season, averaging 8.441 million viewers, its least of the season.

The week’s only other prime-time program to average more than 6 million viewers was the CBS News magazine “60 Minutes,” which averaged 6.09 million viewers. All three segments were previously broadcast and updated for Sunday’s broadcast.

“Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular” was fifth for the week, averaging 4.761 million viewers. Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 was eighth for the week, averaging 4.343 million viewers.

NBC was the most popular network in prime time last week, averaging 3.8 million viewers. CBS had 3.3 million, ABC had 2.3 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Fox had 1.3 million, ION Television had 1 million and Telemundo had 820,000.

⏩ 20 most popular prime time programs (Total Viewers):

1. “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, 8.44 million.
2. “60 Minutes” (Sunday, 7 p.m.), CBS, 6.09 million.
3. “The Ingraham Angle” (Friday), Fox News, 5.7 million
4. “NCIS,” CBS, 5.21 million.
5. “Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks,” NBC, 4.76 million.
6. “FBI,” CBS, 4.57 million.
7. “Hannity” (Friday), Fox News, 4.41 million.
8. “NASCAR Cup Series,” NBC, 4.34 million.
9. “Hannity” (Wednesday), Fox News, 4.33 million.
10. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Monday), Fox News, 4.29 million.

11. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 4.27 million.
12. “60 Minutes” (Sunday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 4.262 million.
13. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 4.26 million.
14. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Thursday), Fox News, 4.22 million.
15. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Tuesday), Fox News, 4.161 million.
16. “Hannity” (Monday), Fox News, 4.156 million.
17. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Wednesday), Fox News, 4.13 million.
18. “Hannity” (Tuesday), Fox News, 4.08 million.
19. “The Wall,” NBC, 4.06 million.
20. “World of Dance,” NBC, 4 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening newscasts with an average of 8.9 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.5 million and the “CBS Evening News” 5.3 million.

Fox News Channel led the cable networks, with an average of 3.35 million viewers. MSNBC had 1.93 million, CNN had 1.56 million, HGTV had 1.26 million and TLC had 1.14 million.

CableTV Top Channels (Total Viewers)

CableTV Top Channels (Persons 25-54)

Boston Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub Scores Route Over WEEI

In the spring Nielsen Audio ratings, which mostly coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that affected listeners’ habits, Beasley' WBZ 98.5 FM The Sports Hub routed REntercom's sports radio competitor WEEI 93.7 FM.

The Boston Globe reports the Sports Hub 98.5 FM finished first, earning an 11.5 overall share in the targeted men 25-54 demographic from the period of March 26-June 17. WEEI finished eighth with a 4.5 share.

WEEI’s number includes its online stream (0.2) and the share it gets from Providence-based WVEI (103.7) in the Boston market (0.2). Without that data included, flagship station WEEI 93.7 would have tied WGBH for eighth.

The Sports Hub’s online stream is included in its share.

In morning drive (6-10 a.m.), The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich” show was first (12.7). WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” was third (7.3, including 0.2 from WVEI and 0.2 from its stream).

In middays (10 a.m-2 p.m.), The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” took first (13.8). WEEI’s “Dale and Keefe” was seventh (4.2, including 0.3 from WVEI and 0.3 from its stream).

In afternoon drive (2-6 p.m.), The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Massarotti” was first with a huge 16.9 share, nearly doubling up the second-place program, WZLX’s Chuck Nowlin-hosted show (8.7). WEEI’s “OMF” program, hosted by Glenn Ordway, Lou Merloni, and Christian Fauria, was fifth (4.3, including 0.2 for WVEI and 0.2 for its stream).

In the 7 p.m.-midnight window, The Sports Hub, which airs “The Adam Jones Show'' weeknights and had Bruins and Celtics games before their seasons were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, was tied for third (6.4). WEEI, which primarily has the “Mut at Night'' program in that window and would have had Red Sox games had they not been postponed, was tied for 13th (2.9, 0.0 from WVEI and streaming).

Last spring, The Sports Hub had a 9.2 share, good for first place, while WEEI was fourth with a 5.4. In the previous three-month ratings stretch covering the winter, The Sports Hub earned an 11.9 share to WEEI’s 6.4.

Because of the effects of the pandemic on listenership — so much of a sports radio station’s audience comes from listeners in the car — Nielsen has advised potential advertisers not to make buying decisions on data from the COVID-19 period. The radio listening audience in Boston dropped approximately 40 percent in the spring compared to the previous six months.

Philly Radio: Philly Union Games To Air On The Gambler

Philadelphia Union games will be airing on local radio for the first time in almost a decade after the team signed a broadcast partnership with iHeartMedia’s new sports station FOX Sports Radio The Gambler.

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports the team’s season — suspended in March after only two games due to the coronavirus — resumes Thursday morning at 9 a.m. as the Union square off against New York City FC as a part of the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando, Florida. The first live broadcast will feature be play-by-play announcer Dave Leno and Union alumni Sébastien Le Toux. Coverage will be led by The Gambler reporter Joe Tansey and program director Sean Brace, who have co-hosted a Union podcast for the past four years.

“Before The Gambler even went live in August 2019, the strong desire to become the Philadelphia Union’s broadcast partner was always on our mind,” Brace said in a statement. “It gives us all great joy to be able to provide one of Philly’s most passionate fanbases a place to hear every Union game this season.”

Union games will be available via The Gambler WRFY 102.5 FM, AM sister station WDAS 1480 AM, WDAS 105.3 FM HD2 and the iHeart App.

The Union’s games were last broadcast on the radio in 2012, when the team signed a radio broadcast deal with SportsRadio 610 WIP and its parent company CBS Radio, which has since been acquired by Entercom Communications Corp. The team was founded in 2010.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The partnership with The Gambler for 2020 comes a few months after the team renewed its television broadcast partnership with 6ABC and PHL17. For the first time in the team’s 11-year history, local fans will also be able to stream games on PhiladelphiaUnion.com at no cost. After being partnered for seven seasons with NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Union originally signed a deal with PHL17 and 6ABC before the 2018 season.

As for The Gambler, this is its first broadcast partnership deal with one of the professional sports teams. The Eagles and Phillies have deals with Entercom’s SportsRadio 94 WIP and the Flyers and 76ers with Beasley Media Group’s 97.5 The Fanatic (WPEN-FM).

The Gambler became the region’s third sports talk radio station last August as iHeart looked to capitalize on the fast growth of legalized sports betting in the tri-state area. It airs a mix of syndicated programming from FOX Sports Radio and local content hosted by Brace and Eytan Shander.

CA-AZ Radio: Chris Fleming To Manage El Dorado Cluster

Chris Fleming

El Dorado Broadcasters, owners of market-leading radio stations in Victor Valley, California (DMA #114) and Yuma, Arizona, has appointed Chris Fleming as the Executive Vice President for the company and general manager for the Victor Valley stations.

Fleming spent the past three years as Executive Vice President of Neuhoff Media, based in Lafayette, Indiana. Previously, Mr. Fleming spent ten years as Chief Revenue Officer/General Manager at Ramar Communications radio stations in Lubbock, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“Chris Fleming has a long history of building products and growing revenues in markets of all sizes” said Jason Wolff, President of El Dorado Broadcasters. “I’ve watched from a distance as Chris built tremendous value for Brad Moran at Ramar. Now I’m excited to give Chris the reins and see him guide El Dorado into a successful integrated marketing company with strong radio brands at its core.”

“This is a great time to be in the radio business, especially in smaller markets where radio is an integral part of the daily routine,” Fleming stated. “Radio listening remains strong, and audiences are making purchasing decisions every day based on what they hear on their favorite radio stations. This is especially true in the Victor Valley, where El Dorado owns virtually all of the radio stations and there is no local television; and in Yuma, where there are only four FM stations serving a metro area with nearly 200,000 listeners, and El Dorado owns the top-rated cluster of radio stations.”

“For me, it was very important to find a company with a solid vision for the future,” said Fleming, “El Dorado Broadcasters is a private, family-owned company with no debt and plenty of cash available for acquisitions. As we grow our businesses, we will continue to seek out the most talented people to join our team. Even though we have the dominant stations in each market, I still believe that our people are the company’s most valuable assets.”

The Group Formally Known As Lady Antebellum Sues Lady A

Attorneys for Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, have filed a suit against blues singer Anita White who goes by the name Lady A, Billboard reports.

According to the suit, filed Wednesday in Nashville’s U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the case arises from White’s “attempt to enforce purported trademark rights in a mark that Plaintiffs have held for more than a decade.”

The suit also alleges that after conversations broke down between the band -- whose members are Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and David Haywood -- and the singer and their respective attorneys, White’s new counsel “delivered a draft settlement agreement that included an exorbitant monetary demand.” While the dollar figure is not mentioned in the suit, a statement concurrently issued by the band says the amount is $10 million.

On June 11, the band announced via Instagram that it was dropping the name Antebellum from its name after reflecting on the Black Lives Matter movement and in an effort to be more inclusive.

The next day, June 12, Seattle-based White, who says she has been performing under the name Lady A for more than two decades, told Rolling Stone she was blindsided when she heard the news. “This is my life. Lady A is my brand, I’ve used it for over 20 years, and I’m proud of what I’ve done.... They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time.... It shouldn’t have taken George Floyd to die for them to realize that their name had a slave reference to it.”

In the suit, the trio says the group has used Lady Antebellum and Lady A interchangeably as early as 2006-2007, and includes a page from its website in 2008 that cites the band by the nickname, as well as several other references to the band as Lady A through the years.

In May 2010, according to the suit and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filings reviewed by Billboard, the band applied to register Lady A for entertainment purposes, including live musical performances and streaming musical programming. After there was no opposition filed by any person or entity, the application was registered on July 26, 2011. Further applications to register the name for musical recordings and clothing were also granted after there was no opposition.

The suit acknowledges that the solo artist Lady A has performed under the name and has used the name while touring and to identify herself on recorded music released as far back as 2010 and on streaming services, but adds that “based on information and belief,” White has never used Lady A as a trademark and if she did, she applied after Lady Antebellum had secured its trademarks a decade ago.

IN Radio: WGTO Flips To MeTV-FM

Sun Broadcast Group is happy to announce that MeTV-FM has a brand-new home on WGTO 910 AM / FM97.1 in South Bend, IN, who started airing the format this past Sunday.

"WGTO AM910 and FM97.1 has been a classic hits station for many years, but we found ourselves competing with higher power stations playing the same tight playlist and voice tracked DJ's. We needed to try something different,” said Larry Langford, WGTO Station Owner and GM. “MeTV FM pulls it off in a way that allows you to enjoy the music flow with creative and entertaining drop ins about the times and the music. We are looking forward to a long relationship in the South Bend, Indiana market!"

For more information on securing MeTV-FM in your market, call Rich O’Brien at 212-380-9338