Providence Radio: A Talk With WPRO's Matt Allen

WPRO 630 AM / 99.7 FM talk show host Matt Allen for an open conversation about talk radio and what goes on behind the scenes of the show.

Allen has been on-air with WPRO for over a decade. Starting out with (former WPRO) host Jenn Brien in 2001, Allen reminices about his first on-air show "Mental Floss" by saying he has grown both personally and professionally since those days.

Now hosting a nightly talk show on the biggest talk radio station in the state, Allen goes in-depth with Profiles to talk about what it's really like working in radio, and how he's grown both personally and professionally over the years.

February 11 In Radio History

1938…Bob Hope's first feature film, "The Big Broadcast of 1938," co-starring W.C. Fields, Martha Raye and Dorothy Lamour, opened in theaters and introduced Hope's signature song, "Thanks For The Memory."

In 1940...the NBC Radio Network aired for the first time a program called "The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street".



In 1941...1st Gold record presented (Glenn Miller-Chattanooga Choo Choo)

In 1993...the Howard Stern Radio Show began airing on on WRQI-FM in Rochester, New York.



In 1994…Actor William Conrad, who provided the voice of Matt Dillon in the radio version of "Gunsmoke," died of heart failure at 73.

In 2012…Whitney Houston died at the age of 48. Six weeks later, the Los Angeles Coroner's report indicated Houston drowned accidentally and autopsy results revealed heart disease and her recent and chronic cocaine use were contributing factors. It was unclear if she suffered a heart attack before drowning.


In 2013…Bassist/Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Rick Huxley, a founding member (1958-1970) of the Dave Clark Five, died after battling emphysema at the age of 72.

In 2013…Foreign correspondent Tom Aspell, a 28-year veteran of NBC News, died of lung cancer at age 62.

Cleveland Radio: Rover Requesting Charges Be Dismissed

Shane 'Rover' Fremch

Lawyers for Shane "Rover" French and his sidekick Michael "Chocolate Charlie" Toomey are asking a judge to dismiss assault and other charges against the WMMS 100.7 FM radio personalities alleging that Cleveland police destroyed evidence in the case, according to cleveland.com.

French, 38, host of 'Rover's Morning Glory" and Toomey, 29, were indicted in October on charges including assault, criminal damaging, resisting arrest, including panic related to an early morning July 5th altercation with an off-duty Cleveland police officer over fireworks.

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges, which on air French called "absolutely absurd, ridiculous and not based in fact whatsoever."

Officer Steven Kinas reported that he was on his boat at a Whiskey Island marina when a drunken French shot fireworks in his direction – nearly hitting him at one point. The officer said he confronted French, who then shoved the officer. Other Cleveland officers later arrested French that morning.

An audiotaped statement from Kinas was deleted and replaced with a second statement that is riddled with inconsistencies when compared with police incident and use of force reports, according to a 20-page motion filed Friday by attorneys Larry Zukerman and S. Michael Lear.

Spokespersons for the Cleveland police and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office could not be immediately reached for comment on the court filing.

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Michael Smercornish Gets CNN Weekend Gig

Michael Smerconish

Michael Smerconish will join CNN as host of a new weekly program that will air live on Saturday mornings from New York, it was announced today by CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker.

Smerconish will also provide analysis and opinion on CNN programming throughout the week.  He joins the network this month.

“We are thrilled to have Michael join CNN,” said Zucker.  “At a time when the cable news landscape has become increasingly polarized, his independence and passion for reasoned dialogue makes him the perfect fit for CNN.”

Most recently, Smerconish was an MSNBC contributor and for the last four years served as guest-host for Hardball with Chris Matthews.  He will continue hosting his radio show The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM  Radio and writing a weekly column for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Said Smerconish, “I’ve long wanted to host a program of my own and I’m appreciative of Jeff Zucker for making that dream a reality.  I think the type of content I seek to provide is perfectly suited for CNN’s non-ideological brand."

Report: Industry Waits For FCC's Next Move

Tom Wheeler

In his first 100 days as the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler persuaded mobile phone companies to agree on rules about unlocking consumers’ phones, cemented an effort to increase the reliability of calls to 911, proposed tests to do away with old-fashioned telephone networks and freed $2 billion to connect schools and libraries to the Internet.

Those were the easy tasks, according to The NY Times. In the coming days, the telecommunications, media and Internet industries will be watching to see how Mr. Wheeler responds to last month’s federal appeals court decision that invalidated the rules created by the F.C.C. in 2011 to maintain an open Internet.

Mr. Wheeler has said that he views the decision, which many people saw as a setback for the agency, as an opportunity. He contends he can use it to assert the commission’s broad legal authority to enforce equality and access throughout the networks on which Internet traffic travels — a concept known as net neutrality.

MC ICYMI:  Net Neutrality..What's Behind The Telecom Price War. Click Here.

Stressing the depth of his conviction, Mr. Wheeler answered a Times reporter’s question at a recent news conference about how the FCC would react by pounding the lectern, emphasizing each word: “We will preserve and protect the open Internet.”

An open Internet means that the companies controlling the network through which digital traffic travels cannot determine who gets access to the network. An Internet company could not charge more for certain kinds of content, say a movie or breaking news, although the appeals court decision makes those kinds of practices possible.

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NYC Radio...Video...Scott Shannon Signing-Off At WPLJ

"Bye Buckaroos"...

Report: Cumulus Forced Scott Shannon OUT

Jerry Del Colliano

As the trade press reported the Friday “breaking news” that Scott Shannon announced his “retirement” from WPLJ 95.5 FM, New York on Friday, media blogger Jerry Del Colliano said, "Retired, my butt!"

According to Del Colliano,  Shannon was forced out and it was ugly.

He writes (Subscription Required) “Other Brother” John Dickey used hardball tactics that Cumulus employees will be seeing more of in the future.

In his piece, Del Colliano claims:

• He has the dirty details of contract negotiations that went so wrong and led to Shannon’s “retirement”.
• How Cumulus tried to whack his salary – take it or leave it.
• Allegations that Shannon may have also been knifed in the back on the way out the door by someone close.
• Which New York radio station that secretly made a run at Shannon.
• The New Cumulus Negotiating M.O. Revealed – 3 brutal tactics that will be rolled out to other markets. And their new salary sweet spot is.

ALSO READ: Our Saturday Update where Shannon says he's retired from WPLJ, NOT radio. Click Here.

BBC Explores the Future Of FM Radio

Letty B at CBS Radio's Top40 KMVQ 99.7 NowFM

Acknowledging the growth of on-line streaming, the BBC's Newsnight Show recently explored the future of FM Radio.

Host David Grossman called the survival of tradition radio 'unexpected.'  The NextRadio app is also mentioned during the report.

Good News: Radio Discussions Message Board Is Resurrected

Deborah Parenti, Executive Vice President-Radio of Streamline Publishing, Inc. has announced the return of RadioDiscussions.com and online community site for the radio and television industry, according to RadioInk.

Additionally she announced that Charles Bosworth (aka Charlie Profit), as the new General Manager and Chief Moderator of the site, which previously had hundreds of thousands of unique monthly visitors.

RadioDiscussions was originally called Radio-Info.com and was founded by Doug Fleming in 1998 and was continued by his family for several years following his death, until they sold the RadioInfo news site to publisher Michael Harrison. The Flemings kept the original foundation of the business Doug Fleming had founded and renamed it RadioDiscussions.com. In spring of 2013 they sold the site to Streamline Digital, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Streamline Publishing, Inc.

"Since the site went away we've learned how passionate radio people were about it and how much they missed it. I made it my mission to bring it back and integrate it back into the community of people who love this industry. It also broadens our offering to advertisers because of the different audience profile from our other publications. Plus Boz' (Charles Bosworth) is not only passionate about radio, he has a deep understanding of the technology and the importance of online communities. He was one of the original moderators when Doug Fleming was running the site. We think he will make it very successful."

Charles Bosworth

The 43-year-old Bosworth said, "There is nothing more fun than discussing radio with radio pros and enthusiasts. Radio Discussions will continue to be the premier site for talking shop about radio and I'm looking forward to being a part of it again. What can our users expect? Some things will be the same, such as the general functionality, but there are many improvements as well. We are adding more boards and some premium features that power users will enjoy. We want you to have a Radio Discussions tab open on your browser all day to socialize and network with other radio pros. It is my mission to make Radio Discussions be the radio convention that never ends."

According to Streamline Chairman/CEO B. Eric Rhoads, I'm reminded of Classic Coke and consumers who were clamoring to bring it back. RadioDiscussions had become the center of activity and chatter in the radio industry among those passionate about radio. I'm thankful Deborah had a vision for its return."

Nielsen Company Acknowledges Data Breach

The Nielsen Company recently began notifying an undisclosed number of employees that their personal information may have been exposed when an employee mistakenly shared a file containing the data by e-mail, according to eSecurityplanet.com.

"We recently discovered that on December 1, 2013, a Nielsen Audio Human Resources employee accidentally e-mailed a file listing Social Security numbers and names for a group of Nielsen Audio Employees to several other Nielsen employees who forwarded the e-mail to others within the Nielsen e-mail environment before realizing the e-mail's contents," company chief legal officer James W. Cuminale wrote in the notification letter [PDF].

Two days later, the company destroyed all copies of the e-mail within the Nielsen e-mail environment. "There is no indication that the attachment was ever printed, downloaded, or forwarded outside of the Nielsen environment," Cuminale wrote.

All those affected are being offered one free year of identity monitoring services

St. Louis Radio: KMJM Moves Tony And Tammie To AM Drive

Tony & Tammie

Popular St. Louis radio personalities Tony Scott and Tammie Holland are moving back to where they belong -- mornings, according to stltoday.com.

"The Tony and Tammie Morning Show" will air mornings from 6 a.m.-10 a.m. weekdays on KMJM 100.3 FM beginning Monday, displacing "The Steve Harvey Morning Show."

Fans of Harvey's morning show can still catch that show at iHeartRadio.

Scott and Holland had been airing during the afternoon drive slot.

A statement from the Clear Channel station said: " 'The Tony and Tammie Morning Show' will feature celebrity guests and interviews with St. Louis locals. The duo, who have been working together for 10 years, will be the only live and local urban morning show in St. Louis. Tony and Tammie have deep roots in the area and bring with them a wealth of information about knowledge about St. Louis -- Tony has been on-air for more than 25 years in the market and Tammie is a St. Louis native."

The move is part of the changes that have been happening at KMJM. Listeners noted last week the station's fairly unpopular and new format that tried to be everything to everyone switched to the more reliable "St. Louis' R&B and Back in the Day Jamz."

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