October 12 Radio History

➦In 1937..."Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons" debuted on the NBC Blue network, where the series continued until 1947 then moved to CBS. Bennett Kilpack was the first actor to play Mr. Keen. Phil Clarke stepped into the role late in the run. The series continued on the air until April 19, 1955.

➦In 1944...What would come to be known as the "Columbus Day Riot" takes place in New York City, when 35,000 hysterical teenage girls crowd the Paramount Theatre for a chance to see the return of crooner Frank Sinatra. The crowd of teen "bobbysoxer" girls halt traffic in Times Square, refuse to leave between shows to the extent of fainting from hunger, and ruin several seats in the theater when several urinate there rather than take a chance on going to the bathroom.



➦In 1950…After a 15-year run on radio, "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" made its television debut on CBS, where the series continued through September of 1958.

➦In 1955...Chrysler introduces the world's first in-car sound systems -- vinyl record players, complete with an assortment of classical records, mounted under the dashboard.

➦In 1968...The Hot 100..The count had reached three for weeks at #1 for "Hey Jude" by the Beatles.  Jeannie C. Riley was a distant second with "Harper Valley P.T.A." and "Fire" from the Crazy World of Arthur Brown was third.  O.C. Smith remained at 4 with "Little Green Apples".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Girl Watcher" from the O'Kaysions, the Grass Roots had their biggest song move from 17 to 6--"Midnight Confessions", the Vogues climbed into the Top 10 with "My Special Angel", the Bee Gees were at 8 with "I've Gotta' Get a Message To You", Gary Puckett from Twin Falls, Idaho & the Union Gap moved from 25-9 with "Over You" and Clarence Carter dropped with "Slip Away".


➦In 1969...the "Paul is Dead" hoax began when Tom Zarski, a student at Eastern Michigan University, calls WKNR in Detroit, MI, and informs DJ Russ Gibb on air of the rumor that Paul McCartney died in a car crash, perhaps as long ago as 1966. Zarski tells Gibb that by playing a section of the band's "Revolution 9" backwards, a clue emerges: the phrase "Turn me on, dead man." Gibb proceeds to do just that. Listeners are stunned.



Two days after the WKNR broadcast, The Michigan Daily published a satirical review of Abbey Road by University of Michigan student Fred LaBour under the headline "McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light".  It identified various "clues" to McCartney's death on Beatles album covers, including new clues from the just-released Abbey Road LP. As LaBour had invented many of the clues, he was astonished when the story was picked up by newspapers across the United States.WKNR-FM further fuelled the rumour with a special two-hour program on the subject, "The Beatle Plot", which aired 19 October 1969 (and in the years since on Detroit radio).

In the early morning hours of October 21, 1969, Roby Yonge, a disc jockey at New York radio station WABC, discussed the rumor on the air for over an hour before being pulled off the air for breaking format. At that time of night, WABC's signal covered a wide listening area and could be heard in 38 states and at times, other countries.



Later that day, the Beatles' press office issued statements denying the rumour which were widely reported by national and international media.

Various 'clues' were used to suggest the following story: three years previously (on November 9, 1966), McCartney, after an argument during a Beatles' recording session, had angrily driven off in his car. He had crashed it and died as a result. To spare the public from grief, the Beatles replaced him with "William Campbell", the winner of a McCartney look-alike contest.

➦In 1991...The Hot 100.."Emotions" became Mariah Carey's fifth consecutive #1 song to begin her career.  "Good Vibrations" from Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch was #2.  Natural Selection's "Do Anything", Color Me Badd with "I Adore Mi Amor" and Karyn White's "Romantic" trailed.

The rest of the Top 10:  "Something To Talk About" by Bonnie Raitt at #6, Extreme's follow-up to "More Than Words"--"Hole Hearted" was #7, Firehouse slowed things down with "Love of a Lifetime", Boyz II Men were on their way down with "Motownphilly" and Aaron Neville's remake of the Main Ingredient hit "Everybody Plays the Fool" was at #10.




➦In 1997...Singer/songwriter John Denver died in the crash of a small airplane he was piloting on this day in 1997. He was 53

➦In 2012...Disc jockey (KLIF-Dallas, KILT-Houston, WHK-Cleveland, WXYZ-Detroit, WNEW and WNSW-New York, WICC-Bridgeport, WAVZ-New Haven) Russ "The Weird Beard" Knight died.

He was age 80.

President Signs MMA Into Law

President Donald Trump signed the Music Modernization Act on Thursday, passing into law landmark copyright reform that Nashville songwriters have battled to pass for many years.

According to The Tennessean, Trump was joined at the ceremonial signing by the legislation's chief champions, including advocates representing songwriters, publishers, record labels and digital music companies, along with the lawmakers who shepherded the Music Modernization Act rather smoothly through a bitterly divided Congress.

But at the urging of Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, and U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Georgia, the different interest groups came together to support the sweeping piece of legislation.

“The Music Modernization Act closes loopholes in our digital royalty laws to ensure that songwriters, artists, producers and providers receive fair payment for the licensing of music,” Trump said during the signing ceremony. "I’ve been reading about this for many years. Never thought I’d be involved in it, but I got involved in it. They were treated very unfairly. They’re not going to be treated unfairly anymore.”

The Music Modernization Act has three main tenets:

1. It creates a new organization which will be in charge of the digital mechanical licensing of a song. The new organization, run by publishers and songwriters, will be in charge of identifying copyright owners and paying them their royalties for when songs are played on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon or other streaming services. The onus for licensing had fallen to the streaming companies, and at times they failed to properly licensing songs, leading to multi-million-dollar lawsuits and class action settlements.
2. The new law also creates a new standard for setting digital royalty rates for songwriters and publishers, implementing the more favorable free market value standard, which advocates say will increase digital royalty payouts to working songwriters.Importantly, the law also calls for a random rotation among federal judges in New York for who oversees copyright hearings so that the power to set rates isn't clustered with a single court.
3. The legislation closes the loophole, which allowed digital radio companies to not pay artists and record labels royalties for songs recorded prior to 1972

Next comes implementing the Music Modernization Act, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2020. The board of directors for the new digital licensing organization will be comprised of publishing company executives, songwriters and self-published songwriters.

How the new organization is formed, operated and which private companies emerge as partners will be of immense interest in the music industry.

Emmis Reports Revenue Drop, To Reduce NextRadio Support

Emmis Communications Corporation today announced results for its second fiscal quarter ending August 31, 2018.

Emmis' radio net revenues for the second fiscal quarter were $30.7 million, down from $41.8 million in the prior year. Sales of radio stations (KPWR in LA in August 2017 and four radio stations in St. Louis on April 30, 2018) make our reported results not comparable year-over-year.

Pro forma for all radio station sales, Emmis' second quarter radio revenues as reported to Miller Kaplan, which excludes barter revenues and syndication revenues, were down 7% in markets that were down 4%. Our underperformance is principally due to weather-related issues for New York's Summer Jam in June, which led to Emmis' June revenues declining 16% for the month.

Jeff Smulyan

"Emmis' radio revenues were up 2% in both July and August, and Emmis' third quarter is off to a strong start with September revenues up 1% and October pacing up double digits, which would be our strongest month in four years," said Jeff Smulyan, CEO & Chairman of the Board of Emmis.

"Ratings remain strong in New York and continue to improve in Indianapolis. Austin has rebranded KGSR as Austin City Limits Radio, the result of a multi-year licensing agreement with Austin City Limits Enterprises, LLC, creating an eclectic format sure to connect with Austin listeners.  Also, our dynamic pricing business, Digonex, has seen a surge of new clients in the last couple of months and we are more excited than ever about the prospects for that business moving forward.

"For the past several months, Emmis and other companies in the radio industry have been working diligently to form a consortium that would own and operate the NextRadio and TagStation businesses," Smulyan continued.

"The participating companies envisioned using their collective scale and resources to build an attribution platform for the radio industry that would have provided the common language and measurement that radio advertisers are demanding.  Unfortunately, the consortium has not been formed and these efforts appear to have been unsuccessful.  Because Emmis is unwilling and unable to continue to fund the NextRadio and TagStation businesses as they are currently structured, we plan to dramatically reduce the operations of these businesses and explore other means of eliminating the operating losses from these businesses in the coming months."

Atlanta Radio: WAMJ Lands Ryan Cameron For Afternoons

Radio One Atlanta and parent Urban One are teaming with veteran Atlanta radio personality Ryan “The Ryan King” Cameron for a cross-platform partnership that will take advantage of Urban One’s various brands.

Ryan Cameron

Cameron will return to the airwaves on WAMJ-FM Majic 107.5/97.5 for afternoons from 2-6pm beginning Monday, November 5. Most recently, he anchored AM drive at Entercom crosstown Urban AC WVEE-FM (V-103) in Atlanta. Cameron has won two Emmys, received two Marconi nominations and was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.

“Cameron is rejoining the company after establishing himself as one of the most successful radio personalities in the region,” said Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins. “We are making a 360-degree deal to leverage and develop his brand utilizing access to our radio, television and digital assets, which reach more than 80-percent of African Americans. It’s a win win.”

“It is a dream come true to add Ryan’s amazing talent to our line up,” said Regional VP and GM Tim Davies. “Majic is truly the Real Sound of Atlanta. We have the all-star team in the ATL.” This will be Cameron’s second stint with Radio One Atlanta. He hosted the Ryan Cameron Morning Show on Hot 107.9 for eight years in the early ‘90s.

Cameron’s radio career and various appearances on television and film has afforded him the opportunity to work across platforms, and earlier this year, he became a partner in Threaded.agency, a new Atlanta-based branding firm.

WAMJ 107.5 FM (18 Kw) Red=Local 60dBu Coverage Area

“In this new model, my recent and my on-going experience at Threaded.agency will let me help companies and brands in a way that impacts their audience in a positive way,” stated Cameron. “I’m very excited because I’m not only coming back to work with a phenomenal company but also doing it in a new model that was not possible earlier in my career. This is something I just couldn’t pass up.”

TV Ratings: New Low For American Music Awards

The American Music Awards hit a new all-time low in the Nielsen ratings on Tuesday night.

ABC aired only the AMAs on Tuesday, with the three hour show drawing a 1.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 6.5 million viewers. That is down 25% in the key demo and approximately 29% in total viewers compared to the 2017 broadcast, which drew a 2.4 rating and 9.2 million viewers. 2017 and 2016 had previously set the demo low for the awards show, with both of those broadcasts drawing a 2.4.

The AMAs also moved from Sunday in November for the first time in more than a decade this year.

According to Variety, this is the latest example of an awards show seeing serious declines year-over-year. Back in September, the Emmy Awards on NBC also put up an all-time low.

NBC’s Tuesday lineup remained strong, with “The Voice” (1.8, 9 million), “This Is Us” (2.3, 8.8 million), and “New Amsterdam” (1.4, 7.1 million) all holding mostly steady.

AT&T To Launch WarnerMedia Video Service

AT&T Inc is preparing to launch a subscription video service by the end of 2019 that will offer movies and TV shows from Hollywood’s biggest library, as well as licensed programming from other companies and, within a year, original content, a top executive told Reuters.

The service, to be anchored by HBO, will include everything from film classics like “Casablanca” to the “Harry Potter” and “Batman” franchises to TV series “ER” and “Pretty Little Liars.”

It is still in the planning phases and AT&T, the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier, has not yet articulated how it will be structured or how it will be staffed.

The announcement of the service delivers on a promise AT&T made in June after shareholders approved the telecom company’s $85 billion purchase of Time Warner in order to make more money selling products directly to consumers rather than just go through middlemen such as cable companies.

AT&T plans to finance the new service through “incremental efficiencies” at WarnerMedia, the company said in an SEC regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Stankey said he sees either bundling other WarnerMedia services or folding smaller services into the new product.

Google Is Gradually Reducing Its Reliance on Advertising

Google unveiled several new products at its big hardware event this week. Among the devices were the new Pixel 3 phones, a new tablet called Pixel Slate and a smart home device called Google Home Hub.

While Google’s hardware ambitions are still limited and widely considered a means to an end (which is to collect more data and sell more advertising), the range of the company’s products and services has widened significantly over the years. Along with the company’s “Other Bets”, i.e. businesses unconnected to Google’s core products such as Access, Calico, CapitalG, GV, Nest, Verily, Waymo and X, this can also be seen as part of a broader pivot away from its reliance on advertising towards becoming a more diversified company.

As the chart illustrates, Google’s many side-activities have steadily grown over the years and in 2017, the company’s non-advertising revenue reached $15.5 billion, up from just $667 million in 2008. More importantly though, the percentage of Google’s revenue that didn’t come from advertising sales grew from 3.1 percent in 2008 to 14 percent last year, indicating that the search giant can no longer be considered a one trick pony, according to Statista.

Report: FBI Seeks Help Probing Media Buying

The Association of National Advertisers said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing media buying in the advertising industry and has requested help from the trade group and its members, confirming an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal.

The FBI has been interviewing people in the ad business about the way advertising is bought and sold, and about a 2016 investigation of the industry commissioned by the ANA, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The 2016 report, by corporate investigations firm K2 Intelligence, listed a range of suspect practices, such as agencies receiving cash rebates from media sellers for reaching spending thresholds and not returning those funds to clients. Ad companies broadly denied wrongdoing when the ANA study was released.

The bureau has contacted Reed Smith LLP, a law firm working for the ANA, to seek the cooperation of the trade group and its membership “in a criminal investigation into media buying practices underway by the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York,” ANA chief executive officer Bob Liodice said in a letter on Wednesday.

R.I.P.: Former Chicago News Anchor Warren Saunders

Warner Saunders, beloved NBC 5 anchor, well-known Chicago journalist and former teacher, has died at age 83.

According to NBC5, Saunders collapsed Tuesday night in Chicago, his wife said. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The award-winning journalist spent four decades in Chicago television and 29 years at NBC 5 before retiring in May 2009.

Saunders was considered by his peers to be the most versatile performer in the history of Chicago television. He was the winner of 20 Emmys for news, sports, documentaries, children's programs, conversation talk shows and community town meetings.

During his final sign-off on NBC 5 in 2009, Saunders thanked viewers as he held back tears.

"I think the first and most important thing is to say to the viewers is I’m just in awe that you have allowed me to come into your home for all of these years," he said that night.

Saunders came to NBC 5 from WBBM-TV, where he was director of community affairs, host of the four-time Emmy award winning "Common Ground" talk show and host of the three-time Emmy Award winning children's show known to many kids as "The Good Gang Express."

In addition, Saunders received the Illinois Broadcasters Association Public Service Award, the prestigious Gabriel Award, The Ohio State Award, and the 1999 Hull House Jane Addams Award for his commitment and service to the Chicago community.

October 11 Radio History

➦In 1868...Thomas Edison patents his 1st invention: electric voice machine. Edison was a prolific inventor, holding 1,093 US patents in his name.

➦In 1919...actress/voice actor Jean Vander Pyl was born in Philadelphia.  Her two main broadcast roles were as the wife Margaret in NBC Radio’s Father Knows Best, and as the voice of Wilma Flintstone in several cartoon series on TV.  She also provided the voice of Rosie the robot maid from the animated series The Jetsons,

She succumbed to lung cancer April 10 1999 at age 79

➦In 1936...the first radio quiz show premiered, "Professor Quiz".




➦In 1940...in New York City Glenn Miller recorded “Make Believe Ballroom Time” for RCA Victor’s Bluebird label, featuring the vocal group The Modernaires for the first time. It would become the theme song for Make Believe Ballroom on WNEW, New York, with host Martin Block.

Martin Block

Block created the aura of doing a “live” radio program, complete with performers (on records) like Harry James or Frank Sinatra, from the “Crystal Studios” at WNEW. Copycat versions of the ‘Ballroom’ featured Keith Sandy at CKEY in Toronto, and Al Jarvis at KHJ Los Angeles.

In 1935, while listeners to New York's WNEW in New York (now information outlet WBBR) were awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping, Block built his audience by playing records between the Lindbergh news bulletins. This led to his Make Believe Ballroom, which began February 3, 1935 creating the illusion that he was broadcasting from a ballroom with the nation’s top dance bands performing live. He bought some records from a local music shop for the program as the radio station had none. Block purchased five Clyde McCoy records, selecting his "Sugar Blues" for the radio show's initial theme song.



Because Block was told by the station's sales staff that nobody would sponsor a radio show playing music, he had to find himself a sponsor. Block lined up a producer of reducing pills called "Retardo"; within a week, the sponsor had over 3,000 responses to the ads on Block's radio show. Martin Block's style of announcing was considerably different than the usual manner of delivery at the time. Instead of speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard in a theater, Block spoke in a normal voice, as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with a listener.

➦In 1948...one of radio’s last premiering soap operas, “The Brighter Day”, took to the air for the first time on NBC. It’s interesting to take a look at the cast and see which names are still recognizable, like Hal Holbrook and William Redfield.  After six years on radio “Day” moved to TV.

➦In 1960...Radio/TV exececutive John Fetzer purchased a controlling interest in the Detroit Tigers.

Janet Jackson

➦In 1986...The Hot 100..Janet Jackson reached #1 for the first time of her career with "When I Think of You".  Canada's Glass Tiger moved to #2 with "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" and Stacey Q unbelievably reached #3 with "Two of Hearts".  Genesis moved from 7 to 4 with their great song "Throwing It All Away" and Tina Turner continued her comeback with "Typical Male".

The rest of the Top 10:  Huey Lewis & the News slipped with their former #1 "Stuck With You", Don Johnson moved into the Top 10 with "Heartbeat", Gloria Loring & Carl Anderson fell with "Friends And Lovers", Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" moved from 14 to 9 and Daryl Hall's solo hit "Dreamtime" was #10.

➦In 1976...the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was “Disco Duck (Part 1),” by Rick Dees & His Cast of Idiots. A morning DJ at Memphis radio station WMPS, Dees got fired when he mentioned his novelty song on the air.

➦In 1987...Rock DJ Sebastian Stone died in his sleep

.
Sebastian Stone on WOR-FM in New York City. Stone was known as Johnny Holiday at KCBQ/San Diego in 1959, as Johnny Mitchell at KHJ in 1965 and Sebastian Stone at KFRC/San Francisco in 1967.  One of his goofy stunts early in his career was setting a world record of 195 "stay-awake" hours while on WYDE-Birmingham. In Billboard's 1966 polling of djs, Johnny was one of the leading early evening Top 40 personalities.

➦In 1997...The Hot 100..Elton John debuted at #1 with "Candle in the Wind".  Boyz II Men dropped after one week at the top with "4 Seasons of Loneliness" and LeAnn Rimes had song #3--"How Do I Live".  Usher was on his way down with "You Make Me Wanna...".

The rest of the Top 10:  Mariah Carey's "Honey", the Backstreet Boys and "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)", newcomers Third Eye Blind remained the same with "Semi-Charmed Life", the Notorious B.I.G. with Puff Daddy & Mase with "Mo Money Mo Problems", Jewel was up with "Foolish Games"/"You Were Meant for Me" and the Spice Girls dropped with "2 Become 1".

➦In 1998...actor Richard Denning, who starred in Mr. & Mrs. North on radio & TV, who had the title role opposite Lucille Ball (right) on radio’s My Favorite Husband, and played the Governor on TV’s original Hawaii 5-0, died following cardiac arrest at age 84.


➦In 2008...actor & sportscaster Gil Stratton Jr. died of congestive heart failure at age 86.  In the ’60′s he was the radio voice of the Los Angeles Rams, and for more than 20 years handled sports at KNX Radio & KNXT Los Angeles.

Broadcasters Foundation Expects More Emergency Aid Requests

The Broadcasters Foundation of America is preparing for another influx of emergency grant applications from victims of Hurricane Michael, even as requests for emergency aid from those affected by Hurricane Florence are still coming in.

 Broadcasters whose personal lives or property are acutely affected by Hurricanes Michael or Florence are encouraged to find out if they quality for an emergency grant by visiting https://broadcastersfoundation.org/hurricanerelief/.  State Broadcast Associations in affected areas are working with the Broadcasters Foundation to alert members that they can apply for aid.

 The Broadcasters Foundation Emergency Grant Relief Program provides an expedited application process that is streamlined to deliver emergency funds as quickly as possible to qualifying individuals who work (or have worked) in broadcasting. Emergency grants are based on financial need.

 Earlier this year, the Broadcasters Foundation Board of Directors elected to double the maximum amount of an individual emergency grant from $1,000 to $2,000. This increase is particularly significant when considering that last year more than $300,000 was awarded to individual victims of a rash of disasters that included Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, as well as wildfires and floods.

 For more than 70 years, the Broadcasters Foundation has distributed millions of dollars to thousands of needy broadcasters and their families. To learn more about emergency or monthly grants or to donate, please contact the Broadcasters Foundation at 212-373-8250 or info@thebfoa.org or visit www.broadcastersfoundation.org.

As of Wednesday morning, Hurricane Michael has intensified into an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm as it bears down on the Florida Panhandle, which is bracing for extreme winds and flooding on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Michael is poised to make landfall Wednesday afternoon, potentially near Panama City, Fla. The hurricane, recently packing maximum-sustained winds of 145 miles an hour, will be "the worst storm that the Florida Panhandle has seen in a century,” Gov. Rick Scott said.

And The 2018 AMA Winners Are...

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift, straight off a controversial dive into U.S. politics, was the big winner at the American Music Awards on Tuesday where she used her platform to again urge her fans to get out and vote.

According to Reuters, the 28-year-old pop singer won a record fourth artist of the year trophy at the fan-voted American Music Awards, beating rappers Drake and Post Malone, as well as Britain’s Ed Sheeran and rock band Imagine Dragons for the top prize.

She also picked up three other awards, for best female pop artist, best tour, and best pop album for “reputation,” the biggest seller of 2017.

On Sunday, Swift provoked a storm by breaking her silence on politics and announcing she would vote for two Democrats in Tennessee in the U.S. congressional midterm elections in November. Her comments drove a spike in voter registration.

On Tuesday, the “Fearless” singer told the American Music Awards audience in Los Angeles and millions watching at home to go and vote.

“This award and every single award given out tonight is voted on by the people. And you know what else is voted on by the people? - The midterm elections of Nov 6. Get out and vote,” Swift said when accepting her trophy.

CONGRATS TO ALL OF THE 2018 #AMAs WINNERS! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/QeafLaXvB1

— American Music Awards (@AMAs) October 10, 2018

Elsewhere on Tuesday, New York rapper Cardi B, brought down the house with an exuberant performance of dance hit “I Like It” with J.Balvin and Bad Bunny.

Cardi B, who has had a breakout 12 months, was also named favorite hip-hop/rap artist, but she lost the best new artist category to Cuban-born Camila Cabello.

Other winners included Post Malone (male pop/rock artist), Khalid (male soul/R&B artist), and country star Carrie Underwood, who accepted her 13th American Music Award.

Boy band BTS became the first Korean group to win an American Music Award, taking the trophy for favorite social artists.

Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight led a tribute to Aretha Franklin, who died of cancer in August at age 76. Other performers included Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez and Missy Elliott.

And The Winner's Are:

Twin Cities Radio: Country KMNB Launches New Morning Show

Entercom/Minneapolis has announced the debut of its new morning show featuring Mike Dubs, Mandy Travis and Paul P-T Thomas for its country KMNB Buz'n 102.9 FM.

Mike Dubs had been hosting nights at KMNB since September 2015 and previously hosted weekends at "US 99.5" WUSN Chicago. 

Minnesota native Mandy Travis joins from the morning co-host position at Townsquare Media CHR 97.5 WZOK Rockford, IL where she went by Mandy James.

Paul Thomas has been working in sales for Entercom Minneapolis since the start of 2017, but previously served as Director of Operations and on-air host for Starcom Country "Bob-FM" 106.1 KLCI Elk River/105.5 KDDG Albany/107.5 KBGY Faribault, MN.

KMNB 102.9 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local 60dBu Coverage Area

The trio replace Paul Koffy who exited in August after 6 1/2 years at KMNB to relocate to Texas.

Swifties Registering To Vote

Pop music princess Taylor Swift’s decision to wade into electoral politics for the first time on Sunday has driven a spike in online voter registration, particularly among young people, according to Reuters citing the website Vote.org.

The nonprofit site, which helps people register online, reported 240,000 new registrations since Swift posted a message on Instagram endorsing two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee and urging people to register.

By comparison, the site recorded 57,000 new registrations in all of August and 190,000 last month. About 102,000 of the registrations since Sunday were among voters between 18 and 29 years old, an increase that the site said was likely prompted by Swift’s post.

Vote.org acknowledged it was not possible to measure the direct impact of Swift’s move.

“But one thing is clear, we’re seeing a massive surge in the 18-24 and 25-29 voters,” the site said in a statement.

Meanwhile The Associated Press reports Swift's  her endorsement in a competitive midterm U.S. Senate race isn’t likely to result in a massive backlash against the country-singer-turned-pop-star, observers say.

Republicans now have some bad blood with the star after a surprise endorsement on Instagram Sunday night for Tennessee Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen and an argument against Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn.

Accompanied by a Polaroid-looking selfie, Swift acknowledged being reluctant to publicly voice her opinions in the past. But she says things are different in recent years, a possible reference to when she went to court last year to testify against a radio DJ who she says groped her.

Blackburn’s voting record, Swift wrote, “appalls and terrifies me,” noting Blackburn’s votes against equal pay for women and the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Trump, who has campaigned for Blackburn, dismissed Swift’s opinion of the candidate, saying Swift “doesn’t know anything about her. And let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now, OK?”

In Nashville, the persistent parable of the Dixie Chicks comes up any time artists voice a political opinion. The hugely popular and Grammy-winning country group was criticized after lead singer Natalie Maines told an overseas crowd in 2003 that they were ashamed of then-President George W. Bush over the war in Iraq. It’s so pervasive as a theme in Nashville that it’s become a verb: to be “Dixie Chicked.”

Diane Pecknold, professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Louisville, said Swift’s transition from country to pop has broadened her fan base.

“She doesn’t have to concern herself with potentially alienating what is perceived as a conservative country base,” Pecknold said.

Still the common refrain of “shut up and sing” gets lobbed at many artists, but in the age of social media, everyone has an opinion, even on Swift’s opinion, Keel said.

“On Facebook, I have seen my friends say, ‘I am never buying another Taylor Swift album’ to ‘I just went online and bought her entire catalog,’” Keel said.

TV Ratings: NBC Wins Second Broadcast Week

The Senate’s vote confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sent viewers flocking to Fox News Channel, which recorded its biggest Saturday audience in more than a decade, reports The Associated Press citing Nielsen data.

Meanwhile, NBC scored a prime-time victory over CBS for the second week of the television season.

Sunday night NFL football on NBC provided the margin, but the network is also showing strength with its entertainment offerings.

The new drama “Manifest” appears to be a hit. Its debut episode was watched some eight million times within a week on a time-shifted basis, second only to “Roseanne” for the biggest such “lift” for a show ever recorded.

For the week, NBC averaged 7.5 million viewers in prime-time. CBS was second with 6.9 million, Fox had 6 million, ABC had 4.7 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Telemundo and the ION Network tied with 1.19 million and the CW had 700,000.

Fox News was the most popular cable network, averaging 3.38 million viewers in prime-time. ESPN was second with 3.21 million, TBS had 2.98 million, MSNBC had 1.72 million and USA had 1.12 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.1 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 7.6 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.7 million.

Friday Pilots Club Wins Cumulus Media's neXt2rock Competition

Friday Pilots Club, from Chicago, IL, was announced as the winner of Cumulus Media's  2nd annual neXt2rock competition — a national and local grassroots search and artist development program for Rock music. The final competition event featured live performances from the top five national finalists, and a special performance by Roc Nation recording artist Dorothy.

Caleb Hiltunen, Friday Pilots Club lead singer, said of the band’s experience, “neXt2rock was an absolute dream come true. We’re endlessly thankful for the entire experience – from being in LA and performing at the Roxy to the immense hospitality of CUMULUS MEDIA, Chicago’s WKQX, and everyone involved with neXt2rock. To everyone who supported us on this journey, thank you for flying with us.”

The winner of neXt2rock was selected by a panel of Rock music luminaries and industry professionals, including, Big Machine Label Group President & CEO Scott Borchetta; fashion designer and record label head John Varvatos; musician, songwriter and producer Desmond Child; Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, and Fozzy frontman, actor and wrestler Chris Jericho.

The four runners-up who performed at finale event included:

• The Zealots representing Des Moines, IA (KGGO)
• Black Rock Revival representing Memphis, TN (WXMX)
• No Resolve representing Saginaw, MI (WILZ & WKQZ)
• Late Night Savior representing Salt Lake City, UT (KBER & KHTB)

On the Next franchises, Mike McVay, EVP Programming and Content, Cumulus Media, commented, "The Next franchises discover artists, enabling 1,000+ of contestants to have their music heard by industry professionals, and take advantage of an amazing opportunity to reach a massive audience.  We just wrapped up our Rock version in naming Friday Pilots Club the winner of neXt2rock, and on October 11th, we will host our 4th annual NASH Next finale to name this year’s Country winner.  We are relentlessly committed to music discovery, and radio is the one true platform that connects music to a massive audience and can make or break a song.”