WSJ Radio Makes A Return, This Time On Tune-in

Dow Jones and TuneIn have announced a collaboration in which WSJ Radio will join the streaming audio giant with a dedicated 24-hour channel. TuneIn Premium subscribers will hear an ad-free presentation; anyone can listen to the ad-supported version.

“We’re thrilled to be able to partner with Dow Jones as they are the go-to source for international business news and data,” said Richard Stern, CEO of TuneIn. “One of the core focus areas of content for TuneIn is providing the most trusted and relied-upon names in news. Few brands have a reputation as honored as Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal when it comes to business reporting. It is the echelon of quality which our listeners have come to expect.”

This is not the first incarnation of a radio product from WSJ; the Wall Street Journal Radio Network existed previously on broadcast stations. That product phase ended in 2014.

Content for the current audio experience is taken from at least four of Dow Jones media brands: The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, and MarketWatch.

“This partnership with TuneIn is the latest example of Dow Jones’s commitment to expanding our audio experiences in innovative ways,” said Ann McGowan, senior vice president of New Ventures for Dow Jones. “Delivering trusted insights to new audiences requires us to meet them where they are, so we’re delighted to bring the depth and breadth of our audio and podcast suite to TuneIn listeners.”

TuneIn addresses a global audience of 75-million listeners in over 100 countries on over 200 devices and platforms.

Fox News 8PM Hour Was Most-Watched During April

In April, Fox News’ weekday 8 p.m. hour—titled Tucker Carlson Tonight and then Fox News Tonight—remained the most-watched hour on cable news, averaging 3.055 million total viewers. TVNewser reports Carlson’s highly-rated interviews with Donald Trump and Elon Musk in the middle of the month were apparently enough to offset the significant audience drop off that occurred in the aftermath of Carlson’s stunning exit from the network on April 24.

The Five was the second most-watched cable news show of the month, averaged 3.03 million at 5 p.m. Jesse Watters Primetime remained the third-most-watched cable news show for March (2.78 million), followed once again by Hannity (2.61 million) and Special Report with Bret Baier (2.21 million) rounding out the top five in average total viewers for April 2023.

Fox News Channel is home to the top eight cable news shows in total viewers, with The Ingraham Angle, Gutfeld!, Outnumbered, MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber and Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace rounding out the top 10.

Fox News is home to 15 of the 25 most-watched cable news shows in April, while MSNBC is home to the other 10.

Graphics Courtesy of RoadMN

As mentioned, The Beat with Ari Melber is MSNBC’s most-watched show for the month of April. The 6 p.m. program averaged 1.61 million total viewers, up from its March average.

Anderson Cooper 360 is CNN’s most-watched show in April, averaging 782,000 total viewers at 8 p.m. That’s No. 27 overall on cable news, both up from recent months.

Kayleigh McEnany To Guest Host Fox News Tonight

Kayleigh McEnany will host the 8 p.m. hour of Fox News next week, Mediaite has learned.

Kayleigh McEnany

The former White House press secretary under President Donald Trump turned Fox News host will become the third interim host of the timeslot, currently branded as Fox News Tonight, since Tucker Carlson’s stunning ouster from the top-rated network.

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade helmed the show the first week after Carlson was abruptly shown the door. Lawrence Jones, the host of the weekend program Cross Country, took over for the second week. Viewership has gone as one might predict with such a shocking change in programming.

McEnany co-hosts Fox’s midday opinion program Outnumbered, which often boasts better ratings than network talk show competition, including GMA3 and Today w/ Hoda & Jenna.

McEnany found herself embroiled in the headlines recently when Trump took an apparent jab at her over her support of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. She will now have five hours in the 8 p.m. slot next week to clarify her political position within the Republican Party.

Raleigh Radio: Ovies & Giglio Back In Actions With Podcasts

Two Joes Launch Podcast Effort

One week after Joe Ovies and Joe Giglio were abruptly terminated from their WCMC 99.9 FM PM Drive show was canceled the two have launched their own podcasting company. 

The Herald Online reports the OG Live Podcast Co. debuted an abbreviated version of their new show Wednesday morning. The new show, called “Ovies & Giglio” will record three times a week — on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings — and release a podcast along with content on a YouTube channel. 

“We’re going to try to do what we’ve been doing, only on our own,” Giglio told The News & Observer. ‘OUTPOURING’ OF SUPPORT Giglio said the show will cover all the local topics that earned them a loyal fanbase over the years, including ACC football and basketball.

“The outpouring from both listeners and from our sources — coaches, administrators, commissioners, (Canes owner) Tom Dundon — that part has been overwhelming and obviously super encouraging at a time when we obviously needed it. “So that’s kinda why we thought we could do this,” Giglio said. “We hope we can make the most of the chance that we have.”

Giglio said he will also do an NC State podcast and Ovies will do a beer podcast, both similar versions of popular podcasts they did with Capitol Broadcasting. ‘I’m looking forward to trying to make it on our own after 27 years in the business,” Giglio said. “It could be fun.”

Immediately after last week’s cancellation of the 99.9 The Fan show, Brian Grube, general manager of CBC’s radio division, said the company would replace “The OG” with a show featuring a single host. 

Giglio is a former News & Observer sports writer who left the paper in March 2020 to co-host the radio show with Ovies. Ovies has worked in radio for 22 years, the last 13-and-a-half of those at 99.9 The Fan.

April 5 Radio History

➦In 1899...Freeman Fisher Gosden born in Richmond, VA (Died – December 10, 1982).  He was a radio comedian, actor and pioneer in the development of the situation comedy form. He is best known for his work for the radio series Amos 'n' Andy.

Gosden, Correll

During World War I he served in the United States Navy as a wireless operator, which prompted his great interest in the young medium of radio. While attending school in Richmond, Gozzie worked part-time in Tarrant's Drug Store at 1 West Broad Street.

In 1921, Gosden first teamed up with Charles Correll to do radio work, presenting comedy acts, sketches, and hosting variety shows. They met in Durham, North Carolina, both working for the Joe Bren Producing Company. Their first regular show came in 1925 with their WEBH Chicago show Correll and Gosden, the Life of the Party. On this show the two told jokes, sang, and played music (Correll played piano and Gosden banjo).

In 1926, Gosden and Correll had a hit with their radio show Sam & Henry on Chicago radio station WGN. Sam & Henry is considered by some historians to have been the first situation comedy.

From 1928 to 1960, Gosden and Correll broadcast their Amos 'n' Andy show, which was one of the most famous and popular shows on radio in the 1930s. Gosden voiced the characters "Amos", "George 'Kingfish' Stevens", "Lightning", "Brother Crawford", and some dozen other characters.

In 1969, Gosden was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio. He died from congestive heart failure in Los Angeles, California in 1982 at the age of 83

➦In 1900...The music and entertainment magazine The Billboard began weekly publication after six years as a monthly. The name was later shortened to Billboard.

Perry Como - Early '40s

➦In 1970...Entertainer Perry Como recorded the song “It’s Impossible.” When it peaked a few months later at #10 on the pop music chart, it meant Perry had notched hits in four consecutive decades – the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.

➦In 2008...John R. Gambling rejoins WOR 710 AM NYC.

When WOR ended Rambling with Gambling in 2000 after 75 years on the air, John R. Gambling moved up the dial to WABC, taking over the post-morning-drive 10 a.m. - noon slot. Gambling was fired by WABC on February 29, 2008 in a cost-cutting move.  On April 30, 2008, WOR announced the return of John R. Gambling to its air waves in his old morning-drive time slot.

Adele is 35

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Michael Murphy is 85. 
• Actor Lance Henriksen (“Millennium,” ″Aliens”) is 83. 
• Comedian-actor Michael Palin (Monty Python) is 80. 
• Actor John Rhys-Davies (“Lord of the Rings,” ″Raiders of the Lost Ark”) is 79. 
• Former MTV News correspondent Kurt Loder is 78. 
• Drummer Bill Ward of Black Sabbath is 75. 
• Actor Melinda Culea (“The A Team,” ″Knots Landing”) is 68. 
• Actor Lisa Eilbacher (“An Officer and a Gentleman,” ″Beverly Hills Cop”) is 66. 
• Actor Richard E. Grant (“Gosford Park”) is 66. 
• Singer Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen is 64. 
• Newsman Brian Williams is 64. 
• TV personality Kyan Douglas (“Rachael Ray,” “Queer Eye For the Straight Guy”) is 53. 
• Actor Tina Yothers (“Family Ties”) is 50. 
• Singer Raheem DeVaughn is 48. 
• Actor Vincent Kartheiser (“Mad Men”) is 44. 
• Singer Craig David is 42. 
• Actor Danielle Fishel (“Boy Meets World”) is 42. 
• Actor Henry Cavill (“Man of Steel,” ″The Tudors”) is 40. 
• Bassist Josh Smith of Halestorm is 40. 
• Singer Adele is 35. 
• Singer Chris Brown is 34.

✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

• In 2020..Millie Small, Jamaican ska singer, and songwriter ("My Boy Lollipop"), dies of a stroke at 72

Ed Sheeran Cleared In Marvin Gaye Copyright Suit

 

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran was cleared by a Manhattan federal jury on Thursday in a lawsuit that accused him of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On.”

The British singer-songwriter stood up and hugged his lawyers after the verdict came in finding he had independently created his 2014 hit song “Thinking Out Loud” and not copied elements of Gaye’s 1973 R&B classic.

The jurors – three men and four women – deliberated for under three hours before coming to a decision, reports The NY Post.

The decision, expected to be read in Manhattan federal court later Thursday, followed a two-week trial that saw Sheeran, 32, take the stand — and perform songs — for the jury.

Jurors heard from dueling music experts who composed arguments about whether “Thinking Out Loud” used musical elements — like chord progression, melodies and anticipation — that were previously used in “Let’s Get it On.”

Sheeran – dressed in a black suit, grey tie and white shirt – denied that he copied “Let’s Get it On” when he wrote his song.

The “Shape of You” singer appeared regularly in court during the trial and treated the courtroom twice to an intimate concert, where he played acoustic renditions of his hit song.

He testified that he would walk away from his music career if the plaintiffs won ownership of the chord progression featured in “Thinking Out Loud.”

Paramount Global Reports Widening Streaming Losses, Ad Softness

Paramount Global reported quarterly results before the bell on Thursday that missed expectations on both the top and bottom lines as the company continues to battle advertising headwinds and greater losses within its streaming division, reports Yahoo! Finance.

The company reported a direct-to-consumer loss of $511 million in the first quarter compared to a loss of $456 million in the prior year period.

"Looking ahead, we are focused on continuing to drive market-leading streaming growth while navigating a dynamic macroeconomic environment," Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said in the earnings release, praising Paramount+ and Pluto TV for reaching milestones of 60 million subscribers and 80 million MAUs, respectively. The company also updated its dividend policy, cutting its quarterly cash dividend to $0.05 per share from $0.24 a share.

Bob Bakish

"The updated dividend policy we have announced today will further enhance our ability to deliver long-term value for our shareholders as we move toward streaming profitability," Bakish said.

Paramount stock sank in premarket trading immediately following the results, down more than 10%.

Here are Paramount's first-quarter results compared to Wall Street's consensus estimates, as compiled by Bloomberg:

• Revenue: $7.27 billion versus $7.43 billion expected
• Adj. earnings per share (EPS): $0.09 versus $0.14 expected
• Paramount+ subscriber net additions: 4.1 million versus 3 million expected
• Global Pluto monthly active users (MAUs): 80 million versus 82 million expected

Paramount recently announced it would merge its Paramount+ and Showtime streaming services into one product to take on larger competitors. It also unveiled a restructuring plan that combines Showtime with MTV Entertainment Studios. The company is eyeing greater integration between its cable television and streaming offerings amid escalating cord-cutting trends.

Paramount continued to lean on its franchises to drive streaming service subscriptions, with spinoffs for popular series like "Yellowstone," "Dexter" and "Billions" currently in the works amid the Showtime/Paramount+ rebrand.

Despite solid subscriber growth, ad softness continued to hammer the media giant's bottom line as macroeconomic challenges, coupled with a lack of political advertising and fewer NFL games, sent ad revenue plummeting.

Advertising within the company's TV media unit fell 11% year-over-year in Q1 after falling 7% in the fourth quarter. Management has maintained the second half of the year will see improvements in the ad market.

Diamond Makes Bally Sports Rights Payments to MLB Reds

Sinclair's Diamond Sports Group subsidiary has paid the Cincinnati Reds the initial payment for the team's 2023 local TV rights, within a mandated 15-day grace period after the April 17 due date, keeping the MLB club on regional sports network (RSN) Bally Sports Ohio. 

The Reds, which own a portion of the RSN, had made arrangements with distributors Charter Communications and DirecTV, and the team was prepared to self-produce its own games on a new channel, starting Saturday, if bankrupt Diamond hadn't made the payment, reports NextTV. 

Sinclair Broadcast Group paid $10.6 billion for 19 Fox Sports RSNs in 2019, and formed a subsidiary, Diamond, to manage the channels, which were rebranded as "Bally Sports." That was when margins on the channels averaged around 50%. 

Now, with cord-cutting and spiraling team TV licensing costs, margins are well below 20% ... and Diamond is in Chapter 11 restructuring, trying to trade equity to its secondary creditors to relieve about $8 billion of debt, and also also seeking to restructure deals with individual teams for which its losing money. 

In fact, Diamond didn't make its 2023 rights payments to the Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins, aiming to cough up the coin after a Texas bankruptcy court reconfigured Diamond's deals with those individual teams. 

Last week, the judge thwarted Major League Baseball's attempt to break the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Rangers and Twins free from their Bally Sports contracts so the league could assist the clubs in broadcasting their own games. The judge ruled that Diamond could pay half of what it owed each team, and that would keep the clubs under the Bally Sports umbrella, at least for now. 

The Reds case was different, however, since the club owns a portion of Bally Sports Ohio. The Reds also contracted their own production crew and hired their own announcers.

Sinclair Broadcast Braces For Weaker Economy

Sinclair Broadcast Group reported sharp drops in revenue and profit for the first quarter that reflect the Hunt Valley-based company’s move to deconsolidate its struggling regional sports networks.

The broadcaster said it is bracing for a weaker economy that is expected to dampen its financial results this year, reports The Baltimore Sun.

Shares of Sinclair plunged 9% Wednesday to $16.97 each.

Sinclair President and CEO Chris Ripley said in the earnings announcement Wednesday that the company has seen a “solid start” to the fiscal year, meeting or beating guidance on key metrics.

“Nonetheless, we remain cautious for the full year on expectations for a weaker economy,” Ripley said. “As we continue our evolution from a traditional broadcast company to a diversified content and data distributor, we have begun the process of reorganizing our company structure.”

Chris Ripley

Sinclair, which is the nation’s largest owner of local television stations, said a month ago that it plans to reorganize its business and drop “Broadcast Group” from its name to become Sinclair Inc. A newly created holding company called Sinclair would become the publicly traded parent of Sinclair Broadcast and its subsidiaries, which include Diamond Sports Group, which owns regional sports networks and airs games for 14 MLB teams. Diamond Sports filed for bankruptcy protection in March, burdened by more than $8 billion in debt.

A newly created Sinclair Ventures subsidiary will hold non-broadcast assets, including Tennis Channel, Compulse, a digital advertising platform, real estate and venture capital.

“While we’re optimistic about the future prospects of our core broadcasting business and its continued transformation through investments in niche programming, cloud and NextGen broadcast, continued regulatory uncertainty is causing us to think differently about the allocation of capital,” Ripley said during a call with analysts Wednesday. “We intend to allocate more capital to growing, non-broadcast holdings.”

On Wednesday, the company reported income of $185 million, or $2.64 per share, compared with nearly $2.6 billion, or $35.84 per share, in the prior year period when it recorded a large gain related to deconsolidating Diamond Sports Group from its results in March 2022. Excluding adjustments for nonrecurring costs, the company reported net income of $189 million, or $2.71 per share.

Sinclair said revenue decreased 40% to $773 million in the three months ended March 31, compared with $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2022, which includes two months of revenue from Diamond Sports Group. Excluding Diamond, revenues fell 7%.

Advertising sales fell 17% to $309 million, or a decrease of 6% removing Diamond from the results. Revenue that comes from distributing its networks and content was cut in half, to $426 million compared with $873 million with the Diamond networks included in the year-ago period.

TV Ratings: Carol Burnett Wins..Fox News Loses

Fox News Channel’s prime-time viewership in its first week without Tucker Carlson dropped 29.6% from the previous week.

Fox News Channel averaged 1.449 million viewers for its prime-time programming between April 24 and Sunday, third among cable networks, according to The L-A Times citing live-plus-same-day figures released by Nielsen. It averaged 2.058 million viewers the previous week when it did not have to face coverage of the NFL draft for two nights.

Graphics Courtesy of RoadMN

Fox News Channel had none of the week’s top 10 cable programs and only three in the 20 — two editions of “Hannity” and the first edition of “Fox News Tonight,” the network’s replacement for “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in the weeknight 8 p.m. time slot. The previous week Fox News had eight of the top 20 — five episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (two of those in the top 10) and three episodes of “Hannity.” In Carlson’s final week before being fired, the final five editions of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” accounted for each of Fox News Channel’s five largest prime-time audiences.

The rest of the top 20 cable prime-time programs consisted of ESPN’s coverage of the first round the NFL draft, 10 NBA playoff games — eight on TNT and two on ESPN; Friday’s “NBA Courtside” on ESPN; two NHL playoff games on TNT; the MSNBC news and opinion program, “The Rachel Maddow Show”; History’s “The Curse of Oak Island” and “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.”

NBA playoff coverage made TNT the most-watched cable network for the second consecutive week, averaging 3.178 million viewers. The combination of the NFL draft and NBA playoff coverage lifted ESPN one spot to second among cable networks, averaging 2.26 million viewers, 50.8% more than its 1.499 million average the previous week.

MSNBC was fourth for the second consecutive week, averaging 1.171 million viewers, 5.4% more than its 1.111 million average the previous week.

Coverage of the first round of the NFL draft was the week’s most-watched prime-time program, with a combined 11.4 million viewers watching on ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes and digital channels, an 11% increase over the 10.3 million viewers for the first round of the 2022 draft.

ESPN’s Thursday coverage of the first round of the NFL draft was also the week’s most-watched prime-time cable program averaging 5.622 million viewers, seventh among all prime-time programs.

📺BROADCAST TV

The top-ranked individual prime-time program was “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love,” the two-hour NBC special that averaged 7.597 million viewers. It was the sixth time in the 32-week-old 2022-23 prime-time television season that an entertainment program finished first for the week. The other five were two episodes of the CBS comedy “Young Sheldon,” one episode of the NBC drama “Chicago Fire,” the Oscars and Grammys.

CBS had each of the next four most popular programs — “Young Sheldon,” “60 Minutes,” “FBI” and “Ghosts” — to win the network battle for the seventh consecutive week, 10th time in 11 weeks and 12th time in 14, averaging 3.87 million viewers.

ABC was second for the third consecutive week following four consecutive third-place finishes, averaging 3.26 million viewers. Its top-ranked program was “American Idol,” sixth for the week, averaging 5.921 million viewers.

NBC was third among the broadcast networks for the third consecutive week after four consecutive second-place finishes, averaging 3.19 million viewers.

Fox averaged 1.87 million viewers. The procedural drama “9-1-1” was its ratings leader, averaging 4.534 million viewers, 16th for the week and 13th among non-sports programming. Each of the six original episodes of “9-1-1” to air in 2023 have topped Fox’s prime-time weekly ratings.

The 20 prime-time programs consisted of “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love”; six CBS scripted programs, its alternative series “Survivor” and newsmagazine “60 Minutes”; the two editions of “American Idol”; coverage of the first round of the NFL draft on ESPN and ABC; NBC’s singing competition “The Voice” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”; four NBA playoff games — two each on ESPN and TNT; and “9-1-1."

📺BROADCAST EVENING NEWS

Tucson Radio: Iconic Personality Bobby Rich Retires

Radio icon, Bobby Rich, has announced his retirement.  He leaves a legacy career at 23 radio stations in 14 cities including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Seattle, San Diego, and Tucson.

Rich's decision to retire comes after over 50-year career in radio, including KDRI The Drive in Tucson.

He has been a prominent figure in the radio industry since the 1970's. 

During his time in the industry, Rich has received numerous accolades for his contributions, including Best Program Director, Best Morning Personality and other awards from Billboard, Radio&Records, and the Arizona Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame award. He has also been actively involved in supporting local charities.

"It's been an honor and a privilege to entertain, inform and make listeners happy for over 50 years," said Rich. "I've been blessed to have the opportunity to work with so many talented individuals and make so many great memories. I'm excited to begin the next chapter of my life and see what the future holds."

Rich is a best known for his role as Program Director and Morning Show Host on KFMB-FM San Diego "B-100" (1975–79 and 1984–89) and KMXZ-FM Tucson, Arizona "MIX fm" (1993–2017).

He began his radio career at age 14 in Ephrata, Washington as a DJ. While attending Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington he worked as a radio DJ in Spokane, Washington. His first Program Director position was at KSTT Davenport, Iowa. 

In the 70s, he was also morning host at WMYQ Miami "The Q"; Asst. program director/afternoon DJ at WAVZ New Haven, Connecticut "The New Waves"; DJ at KHJ Los Angeles "93 KHJ".

In the 80s, he was Program Director of WXLO New York City "99X"; KHTZ Los Angeles "K-HITS 97"; and WWSH Philadelphia "FM 106". He was a DJ on KFI Los Angeles and Director of Programming Consultation at Drake-Chenault in Canoga Park, California. In 1985 he returned to KFMB-FM where he developed the "Hot AC" format by melding top hits from the Adult Contemporary and the CHR/Top 40 music charts. He created a San Diego version of a "Zoo" show as "The Rich Brothers B Morning Zoo."

In the 90s, Rich was VP/General Manager and morning show host for KMGI/KIXI Seattle "I-107.7" before moving to Tucson in 1992. In 2011, he created BobbysB-100.com, an Internet Radio Station saluting the legendary B-100 in San Diego.

All-News WTOP Repeats As Nation's Biggest Billing Station

The list of the top 10 Billing Radio Stations for 2022 as compiled by BIA Advisory Services is out.

Hubbard's WTOP Washington DC is again the nation's top biller earning that distunction for the eighth consecutive year.  This year WTOP leads number two by a considerable margin. Number two is iHeartMedia's 102.7 KIIS-FM in Los Angeles.  Another iHM station, WLTW 106.7 FM, in NYC is ranked third.

The findings come from BIA's Investing In Radio Market Report for 2023. The report shows the total local radio’s over-the-air and digital revenue for 2022 topped $13.6 billion in 2022, growing 7.4% from $12.6 billion in 2021. Over-the-air advertising grew 2.2% to $11 billion (up from $10.7 billion in 2021) and digital income rose 35% to $2.6 billion (up from $1.9 billion in 2021) — a reflection of trends that have been well-documented across broadcast media.

“Looking at last year’s ad revenue results, it shows that radio is maintaining an important position in their local markets, particularly as it expands and improves its online digital presence,” remarked Nicole Ovadia, VP of Forecasting at BIA. “This year, we are making a particular effort to track the digital revenue of local radio stations and believe this breakout in our forecast will be valuable to everyone in the industry.”

ESPN Plans To Leave Cable TV & Stream Online

A dream of all sports fans for years has been to subscribe just to the sports networks they want. Now it seems, at least for ESPN, someday you will be able to do just that without the need for a massive cable TV bundle or live TV streaming service.

Earlier this year, Disney had some huge news about the future of the company, including a plan to offer ESPN as a direct-to-consumer streaming option, but not yet.

Jimmy Pitaro

When asked about the future of ESPN as a direct streaming service during Disney's first quarter 2023 earnings call, CEO Bob Iger said, “Regarding ESPN and when we might make the shift, if you’re asking me, is the shift inevitable? The answer is yes, but I’m not going to give you any sense of when that could be, because we have to do it, obviously, at a time that really makes sense for the bottom line. And we’re just not there yet,” Bob Iger said. “And that’s not just about how many subscribers we could get, it’s also about what is the pricing power of ESPN, which obviously ties to the menu of sports that that they’ve licensed.”

Now ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro has once again made it clear that ESPN will be a streaming service but just not yet.

“We’re going to get to a point where we take our entire network, our flagship programming, and make it available direct to consumer,” Pitaro said in an interview with Bloomberg. “That’s a ‘when,’ not an ‘if’….We’re only going to do it when it makes sense for our business and for our bottom line.”

What’s holding Disney back from pulling ESPN off of cable TV and offering it as a streaming service has been the lucrative deals it has with cable companies, according to Cord Cutters News. The ability to bundle its Disney channels with ESPN has allowed ESPN to make $28 billion in revenue for Disney from traditional TV channels. This means if cable TV companies want the very popular ESPN networks, they have to carry other Dinsey-owned networks.

Study: Most Podcast Listeners Don't Mind Ads

Far from being an annoyance, podcast advertising may be helping to drive sales, judging by a new study from DISQO titled Proving the Power Of Podcast ads, reports MediaPost.   

Of the daily listeners surveyed, 45% say they pay more attention to podcast ads than to advertising in other channels. Overall, 33% pay notice to ads.. 

People in the 18-44 age group are most likely to notice ads in podcasts—49% do. And males show more interest—36%, compared to 30% of females. 

Overall, 33% give more notice to ads heard in podcasts than to ads in other media. And 33% of listeners like a brand more when it’s advertised within a podcast they enjoy or in one with a host they prefer. This goes for roughly 45% of daily listeners.

Of the consumers polled, 68% listen to podcasts, and 34% partake of them weekly or more.  Consumers aged 65+ are least likely to listen—52% do not. Those in the 25-34 cohort are most likely—only 21% never listen.  

How do listeners feel about podcast ads? Overall, 15% say outright that they like them, and 50% that they don’t mind them. Another 35% dislike them.   Persons with no college are more prone to liking podcast ads—19% do and 50% don’t mind them.   

Of course, podcasts in general face competition for attention. Consumers engage in these activities while listening: 

• Doing household chores—30%
• Driving around—30% 
• Unwinding after a long day—24%
• Taking a walk—24% 
• Working—22%
• Eating a meal/lunchbreak—18%
• Getting ready for the day—17%
• Working out—17% 

DISQO surveyed 34,841 consumers in its audience from April 6-8, 2023. 

5/4 WAKE-UP CALL: Atlanta Gunman In Custody

Police on Wednesday evening arrested a man accused of opening fire inside the waiting room of an Atlanta medical practice, killing one woman and wounding four others earlier in the day. Authorities had swarmed the city’s bustling midtown neighborhood shortly after noon in search of the suspect, who fled after the shooting. Police said in a statement that the gunman, who they identified as 24-year-old Deion Patterson, was captured in Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta.

Authorities said Patterson shot five women on the 11th floor of a Northside Medical building, which is in a commercial area filled with office towers and high-rise apartments. News of the shooting prompted workers and lunch-goers to shelter in place for hours. Patterson had an appointment at the medical practice and shortly after arriving shot the first victim, law enforcement officials said at a news conference Wednesday night. The shooting lasted approximately two minutes before Patterson left the building and went to a Shell gas station and took a pickup truck that had been left running and unattended, authorities said.

The victim of Wednesday’s shooting has been identified as Amy St. Pierre, her husband confirmed to AJC. St. Pierre was an employee at @CDCgov

In an e-mail, Benjamin N. Haynes, director of the Division of Media Relations said, the “CDC is deeply saddened by the unexpected loss of… pic.twitter.com/6gJFC7iu9w

— Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) May 4, 2023

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said a 39-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting. The Fulton County medical examiner’s office identified her as Amy St. Pierre.

Florida man accused of killing girlfriend, her 3 children, killed by officers during motel standoff https://t.co/WRp372KyPz

— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 4, 2023

➤FED RAISES INTEREST RATE: The Fed approved another quarter-point interest-rate rise—and signaled that could be it for now. The central bank’s tenth consecutive rate increase To curb inflation will bring its benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 5% and 5.25%, a 16-year high. The Fed upped rates at its previous nine meetings by a cumulative 4.75 percentage points from near zero in March 2022, the fastest rate-raising cycle in 40 years. In their policy statement, central-bank officials said they would monitor economic and financial-market developments and the effects of their earlier rate increases “in determining the extent to which additional policy firming may be appropriate to return inflation to 2% over time.” The language is broadly similar to how the Fed concluded its rate hikes in 2006.

➤RUSSIA CLAIMS PUTIN SURVIVED ASSISSINATION ATTEMPT: Russia has been accused of staging an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin that it blamed on Ukraine, with Ukraine with analysts saying it’s likely Moscow carried out the “attack” itself. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said Wednesday evening that “Russia likely staged this attack in an attempt to bring the war home to a Russian domestic audience and set conditions for a wider societal mobilization.” Ukraine denied any involvement in the incident that purportedly involved two drones, saying it more likely signaled that Russia was planning a large-scale terrorist attack against Ukraine in the coming days.

"We didn't attack Putin or Moscow, we fight on our territory" - President Zelensky denies Russian claim Ukraine hit Kremlin in drone attack https://t.co/hrd7JC8GOp

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) May 3, 2023

Two drones crashed into the Kremlin, according to the Russian government. Moscow said an electronic-warfare system downed the unmanned aircraft, which exploded over the grounds in the heart of the capital, injuring no one and causing no major damage. Kyiv denied involvement and suggested President Vladimir Putin’s domestic opponents were responsible. Another theory is that Russia itself was responsible for the incident, which some observers noted could give Putin political cover for further military mobilization.

➤LAWMAKERS BELIEVE FBI HAS BIDEN BRIBE FILE: A whistleblower tip about a document allegedly putting President Biden at the center of a bribery scheme triggered a guessing game across Washington Wednesday — as journalists and politicians pored over Biden’s extensive history of interactions with his family’s overseas business associates. Biden, 80, regularly met with his son Hunter and brother James’ international connections during and after his eight-year vice presidency, including citizens of China, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia and Ukraine. However, the tip pertains to alleged wrongdoing by President Biden, a source said, meaning that it may not necessarily involve figures linked to his relatives.