FCC Upholds $44G Fine Against WLS-AM

A proposed fine against WLS 890 AM, in Chicago, has progressed to a forfeiture order to the tune of $44,000, according to RadioWorld.

Cumulus Media owns the station the FCC says violated the sponsor ID rules. The licensee disputes that and asked for the fine to be reduced.

The case began in 2009 when the Enforcement Bureau received a complaint that the station aired a program on behalf of the Workers Independent News without making it clear that the program was an ad, rather than a news story.

WLS told the commission it aired several ads of various lengths, promos, two two-hour programs and an additional half-hour program on behalf of the group. The station asserted all of the ads referenced “Workers Independent News” and identified the narrator, but did not specifically state that the program material was sponsored, paid for and provided by WIN.

“Despite this omission,” states the FCC in its decision, WLS contended the material satisfied the sponsor ID requirements except for 11 of the ads. The agency disagreed and proposed the $44,000 fine in 2012.

Read More Now

Chicago Area Radio: Digity Media Closes On 9 Stations

Dean Goodman

The NextMedia-owned radio stations officially have a new owner. Digity, LLC, which was created by West Palm Beach, Florida-based radio/television executive Dean Goodman, has taken over control of all 33 of the radio stations owned nationwide by NextMedia, including its nine suburban Chicago stations.

According to CRM, the transaction closed Monday morning for the price of $84,975,200. The sale, first announced last October, brings an end to NextMedia's nearly 15 years as a radio station owner/operator.

Digity now owns and operates the following suburban Chicago radio stations:

• WERV-FM/95.9 The River - Classic Rock
• WRXQ-FM/Q Rock 100.7 - Rock/Classic Rock
• WCCQ-FM/98.3 WCCQ - Country
• WSSR-FM/Star 96.7 - Hot AC
• WJOL-AM/1340 WJOL - News/Talk
• WKRS-AM/ESPN Deportes 1220 - Sports
• WXLC-FM/102.3 WXLC - Hot AC
• WIIL-FM/95 WIIL Rock* - Rock
• WLIP-AM/AM 1050* - News/Talk

(*CRM notes: Officially licensed to Milwaukee, WI to get around FCC regulations regarding number of stations owned in one market. These stations, located on the IL/WI border, primarily target northern IL.)

Two Chicago-area executives are gone:

• Patrick Pendergast, who was the General Manager of four radio stations: WJOL-AM, WCCQ-FM, WRXQ-FM, and WSSR-FM. Pendergast had been with NextMedia since July 2010. 
• WERV-FM General Manager Scott Kosak. He had been with the company since August 2011. 

Replacing both is Brian Foster, a 13 year veteran of NextMedia.

Read More Now

Wichita Radio: Man Found Murdered At Studios

Wichita police are investigating a homicide involving an employee in his mid-20s whose body was found Monday morning by another staff member at Steckline Communications, owner/operator of Sports KGSO 1410 AM and Talk KWBW 1450 AM / 98.5 FM, KQAM 1480 AM , and the MidAmerica AG Network, according to kansas.com.

A staff member found the man’s body in the basement, said Wichita police Sgt. Troy Nedbalek, who spoke to reporters Monday afternoon. The victim’s fatal injuries appear to be from blunt-force trauma, including to the man’s head. He was believed to have been in his mid-20s.

The death is being treated as a homicide, Capt. Brent Allred said. No one is in custody, but other station employees were being questioned.

Allred confirmed that the victim was an employee at the office. Police expect to provide the victim’s name at a briefing at 10 a.m Tuesday, Allred said.

There were no signs of forced entry into the offices. Greg Steckline said the stations continued to operate Monday. He wouldn’t comment further.

St. Louis Radio: Jack Clark Apologizes To Pujols

Jack Clark

A lawsuit that could have pitted one former Cardinals slugger against another over allegations of performance-enhancing drug use has been resolved as Jack Clark issued a public retraction Monday night for his comments made about three-time MVP Albert Pujols, according to stltoday.com.

Pujols will drop the lawsuit he filed against Clark as a result, a source with knowledge of the decision confirmed.

“I would like to address Albert Pujols’ pending defamation lawsuit and reconfirm that I have no knowledge whatsoever that Mr. Pujols has ever used illegal or banned PEDs,” Clark said in a statement he released and was provided to the Post-Dispatch.

“I publicly retract my statements that Albert Pujols used such substances. During a heated discussion on air, I misspoke, and for that I sincerely apologize.”

In a statement in response to Clark’s apology, Pujols said: “I have accepted Jack Clark’s retraction and apology to resolve my lawsuit against him and clear my name.”

In October, Pujols sued Clark in St. Louis County over the comments Clark made during an August broadcast of his local sports talk radio show, “The King and The Ripper.” The program, which aired on WGNU 920 AM, has since been canceled.

Clark said that Pujols “was a juicer,” a slang term for a ballplayer who uses steroids or another banned performance-enhancing drug.

Read More Now

Report: The Sochi Effect On Morning News Wars

For years, NBC’s Today show had been the gold standard, winning the morning news ratings for 852 consecutive weeks. But, as Pew Research chronicles, ABC’s Good Morning America forged into the lead in 2012 and widened it in 2013 and early 2014, although there have been some weeks when the competition has been close. One question now is how many Americans will go to sleep with the Olympics and wake up with Today – and whether it will be enough to reverse ABC’s morning momentum.

Much of the reversal of fortune between NBC and ABC has been traced to Today’s decision to part company with co-host Ann Curry in June 2012.

ABC first broke NBC’s long winning streak in April 2012, but the Olympics (from July 27-Aug 12, 2012) pushed the pendulum back toward Today. The first week of the games, it beat GMA by 1.6 million viewers and then won again by 1.5 million the next week.  But the week after the Olympics, GMA regained the ratings lead, essentially for good.

One reason why the battle for morning audience supremacy is so important is because of the advertising dollars at stake. In 2012, the most recent data available, Today brought in $644 million in ad revenue for NBC during the four hours it airs each day, according to Kantar Media. (That compares with $202 million in revenue for the NBC Nightly News.) GMA brought in $349 million in ad revenue in 2012, compared with $175 million for ABC World News, but that program airs for only two hours every morning. Breaking down ad revenues by hour, Today brought in $161 million per hour and GMA brought in $175 million per hour. (This Morning brought in $166 million or $83 million per hour.)

Read More Now

HLN To Target Social Media Generation

Cable network HLN is looking to turn the tables on "second-screen" TV viewing, in which people comment on social media while watching TV, by revamping its programming to appeal to the social media generation.

HLN executive vice president Albie Hecht contended that while other networks may report on the online conversation, quote, "HLN will be part of it."

The network explained that it will curate news, trending topics and other viral content from all media platforms, starting last night (February 10th) with a show called RightThisMinute, which features emerging online videos.

HLN said its social-media format will also be integrated into its existing programs, including Nancy Grace, Jane Velez-Mitchell and Dr. Drew on Call.

WaPo Denies Obama/Beyonce Affair Story

The Washington Post found itself having to respond yesterday to a claim that was more worthy of the National Enquirer than the paper of record for the nation's capital, after a French paparazzo claimed that the Post was planning to report that President Obama is  having an affair with Beyonce.

The French newspaper Le Figaro cited Pascal Rostain as saying, "You know, at this time, the United States, there is something big that is happening. Anyway, it'll go out tomorrow in the Washington Post -- we cannot say that it is the gutter press -- [a story about] an alleged affair between President Barack Obama and Beyonce. I can assure you that the world will be talking about it."

The Post shot the whole thing down, of course, with spokesperson Kris Coratti telling Poynter that it's, quote, "definitely not true." Coratti also told Vanity Fair France, "I can tell you that this is wrong. The Washington Post does not prepare articles like this."

What You Didn't See On The Beatles Special

(Note: If you missed the TV special Sunday, CBS plans to air it again Wednesday evening. Check your local listings as they say.)

Viewers who tuned in Sunday night to “The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles” on the 50th anniversary of the band's debut appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" got to see most of what transpired two weeks earlier when the show was filmed at the Los Angeles Convention Center. But, according to Randy Lewis at The LA Times,  a couple of noteworthy bits wound up on the editing room floor.

Musically, the biggest surprises were the elimination of Paul McCartney and his band's set-opening performance of "Magical Mystery Tour," and the editing of his and Ringo Starr’s reunion performance of “Hey Jude,” their first time playing the song together since 1968.

Jeff Bridges

At the Convention Center, the extended vamp of the song’s signature “Na-na-na na-na-na-nahhhh” singalong was considerably longer than what ended up in the 2 ½-hour telecast. The show’s producers edited over the section in which McCartney first asked for only the men in the audience to sing the riff, then the women, and finally everyone in the house to join.

Another lost bit — perhaps they’ll be included as bonus material on a DVD/Blu-ray release of the show — belonged to Jeff Bridges.

One of several celebrities tapped to introduce various performances, Bridges told of his reaction to seeing the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” 50 years earlier, when he was 14. But his full story of subsequently meeting the Fab Four didn’t make the cut, a shame. writes Lewis,  since he was the only participant in the show with a story of a personal encounter with the group in the early stages of Beatlemania.

Read More Now

DC Radio: WMAL Recalls The Beatles' First US concert

The Beatles appeared on the "Ed Sullivan Show" and then were scheduled to fly to Washington for their first American concert. However, a major East Coast Snowstorm caused all flights to be cancelled. So, the Beatles – accompanied by their entourage and press – boarded a train and headed for the nation’s capital.

CHECKOUT THE WMAL WEBSITE: Click Here

When the train arrived at Union Station, there were as much as eight inches of snow on the ground, and several thousand crazed fans cheering and pushing toward the group and their travelling party.

After giving a press conference, the group visited the old WWDC-AM radio, which had been the first station in the U.S. to play a Beatles record. The group then travelled to the Shoreham Hotel before moving on to the arena, at that time called the "Washington Coliseum," for the evening concert.

Among the opening acts scheduled were The Chiffons, but the snow kept them away from D.C. Instead, the Opening Acts for the show were Tommy Roe, Jay & The Americans, and The Righteous Brothers. Attendance was reported to be about 8,000 screaming fans and The Beatles took the stage at 8:31pm. Their entire set consisted of twelve – yes, 12 – songs.




The Beatles attended a post-concert party at The British Embassy, and returned to New York the following day for their SECOND U.S. appearance, at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Read More Now.

Newser Confuses Samuel L. Jackson For Laurence Fishburne

KTLA (Los Angeles)  news anchor Sam Rubin really stepped in it when he mistook Samuel L. Jackson for Laurence Fishburne during an on-air interview on Monday.

The actor was appearing on the show to promote his new Robocop movie but things took a turn when Rubin asked about the reaction to his Super Bowl commercial even though it was Fishburne who starred in a new ad for Kia.

The 65-year-old responded, "What Super Bowl commercial? You know what...you're as crazy as the people on Twitter. I'm not Laurence Fishburne! We don't all look alike! We might be all black and famous but we don't look alike."



The reporter apologized a number of times and tried to shift the conversation back to Robocop but Jackson seemed to be enjoying making fun of the situation. He added, "You're the entertainment reporter for this station and you don't know the difference between me and Laurence Fishburne? There must be a very short line for your job outside there. Oh hell no! Really? Really? I'm the other guy. I'm the other guy, the other one...'What's in your wallet?' I'm that guy. There's more than one black guy doing commercials. I'm the 'What's in your wallet?' black guy. He's the car black guy. Morgan Freeman is the other credit card black guy. You only hear his voice though so you probably won't confuse him with Laurence Fishburne. There's a heavier weight black guy that's like putting cash down in the seats of a baseball stadium but he's also the black guy that turns off the house, the water, and the lights when his kid tells him the house is cool. I'm not that guy either. And I've actually never done a McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial...I know that's surprising."

Springsteen Tour Dates Announced

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have announced dates for their spring 2014 U.S. tour. It kicks off April 8th at Cincinnati, Ohio's U.S. Bank Arena and wraps up May 18th with a two-night stand at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. Tickets go on sale beginning February 14th at 10:00 a.m. EST.

2014 U.S. tour dates:

4/8 – Cincinnati, OH – U.S. Bank Arena
4/12 – Virginia Beach, VA - Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
4/15 – Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
4/17 – Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
4/19 – Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena
4/22 – Pittsburgh, PA - Consol Energy Center
4/24 – Raleigh, NC - PNC Arena
4/26 – Atlanta, GA - Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood
4/29 – Sunrise, FL - BB&T Center
5/1 – Tampa, FL - MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
5/3 - New Orleans, LA - Jazz & Heritage Festival
5/6 – Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
5/13 – Albany, NY - Times Union Center
5/14 – Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
5/17 – Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun
5/18 – Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun