Tampa Radio: The Bone Bumps Bubba The Love Sponge

Cox Media Group (CMG) Tampa has announced it is redesigning its daily program lineup on WHPT 102.5 FM The Bone beginning Tuesday, Sept. 2.

The new lineup includes:

•  6 a.m. – 10 a.m. – Mike Calta

• 10 a.m. – noon – Billy Madison

• Noon – 3 p.m. – Shannon Burke

• 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. – In Your Face w/Drew Garabo 

• 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. – The Bone Daily Rewind

“CMG periodically changes direction, talent and format of its various media programs in order to provide our audiences with fresh perspectives and compelling content,” said Keith Lawless, CMG Tampa’s VP and Market Manager.

“The Bone has proven to be one of America’s most outspoken radio stations. Tampa Bay can expect The Bone to continue to deliver ‘Real, Raw, Radio’ every day.” The Bone will discontinue airing the Bubba the Love Sponge Show effective immediately.

WHTP 102.5 FM (100Kw) 60dBu Coverage

“We appreciate everything the Bubba the Love Sponge Show has done for us over the past six years,” Lawless added. “We now are taking the station in a different direction.” CMG Tampa will continue to be the technical head end to the Bubba Radio Network through the end of 2014.

The Bubba the Love Sponge Show will continue to be aired on KRZQ – Reno, NV, WTRS – Ocala FL, WRXK – Ft. Myers FL, WZLB – Ft. Walton Beach FL, WYBB – Charleston SC, and WRSO – Orlando FL.

D/FW Radio: Louie Diaz New PD At KLIF-FM

Louie Diaz

Cumulus Dallas announces that Louie Diaz has been appointed Program Director of Top 40 station KLIF-93.3 FM i93-3.

Diaz was most recently Program Director of Alpha Broadcasting’s KBFF and KUPL in Portland, OR. A native of Queens, NY, he started his radio career at the age of 16 at WPLJ-FM in New York City, where he ultimately rose to Assistant Program Director of the station.

Mike McVay, Senior Vice President, Corporate Programming for Cumulus said: "Louie continues the drive for Cumulus to add great programming minds to the company. We are thrilled to have him rejoin our ranks."

Dan Bennett, Vice President/Market Manager for Cumulus Dallas/Fort Worth said: “We are excited to have a great talent like Louie Diaz create the future vision of i93 and write the next chapter for our CHR station in Dallas.”

Diaz said: "I am excited to join the Cumulus programming team! Thank you, John, Mike, Gillette, Dan and everyone at Cumulus for this exciting chance to lead i93.3 Dallas.”

KLIF 93.3 FM (16.5Kw) 60dBu Coverage

The appointment is effective immediately.

NYC Radio: Judy DeAngelis Leaving 1010 WINS

Judy DeAngelis

After 26 years in morning drive, Judy DeAngelis will be retiring from All-News WINS 1010 AM in New York on Sept. 30, according to northjersey.com.

Few on-air voices are more familiar or more recognizable in the tri-state area than that of the New Jersey resident.

"I have such mixed emotions," said DeAngelis. "I feel the time is right to 'sign off' and begin a new adventure."

DeAngelis said she will miss being so connected to local and world events and all the people who bring the promise of "you give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world."

"I won't miss the alarm going off at 2 a.m. Twenty-six years is long enough," she adds.

No replacement has been named yet.

MLB Lawsuit Appeal Could Shake Up Sports Broadcasting

Major League Baseball could be on the cusp of enduring something almost unimaginable: The end of the lucrative system by which professional baseball games are televised by region, consumers pay high prices for out-of-market package fees, and some digital telecasts are blacked out in home markets, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

With the prospect that sports broadcasting might forever change, the league is seeking permission to file an interlocutory review of U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin's ruling earlier this month to reject summary judgment in a proposed class-action lawsuit.

In Judge Scheindlin's ruling, she determined that MLB's antitrust exemption doesn't apply "to a subject that is not central to the business of baseball, and that Congress did not intend to exempt — namely, baseball’s contracts for television broadcasting rights." As a result, she allowed the plaintiffs to pursue claims that MLB, Comcast and DirecTV have violated antitrust law by making anticompetitive agreements that negatively impact the output, price and perhaps even quality of game telecasts.

MLB is quite disturbed by the opinion and now wants to go before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to present this issue: "Whether the professional baseball exemption to the antitrust laws bars Plaintiffs' claims against Major League Baseball with respect to Major League Baseball's territorial broadcast rules and structure."

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CBS Radio Stations Reject 'Local Choice' Commercials

CBS radio stations around the country have rejected to air a new ad from the American Television Alliance that supports a new proposal called “local choice” and was recently unveiled by the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee.

“CBS’s actions are certainly unethical and deserve the attention of Congress,” American Television Alliance spokesman Brian Frederick said. “It’s definitely not in the public interest to cut off voices because CBS disagrees with them. Broadcasters are stifling debate the same way they stifle innovation.”

All four CBS-owned stations that ATVA submitted its ad to rejected the ad. Those stations are: KMOX in St. Louis, WCCO in Minneapolis, KXNT in Las Vegas, and KDKA in Pittsburgh.

“Local choice will put an end to the back-and-forth negotiations between broadcasters and cable and satellite companies,” a narrator said in the radio ad states. “Instead, viewers can decide which local channels they want to pay for. Local choice will help update our TV laws to the 21st Century.”

If local choice becomes law, pay-TV companies will simply collect the money in full from consumers and pass it through to the broadcasters without any mark-ups. The idea for local choice came from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD), who propose including it as part of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) reauthorization.

“Local choice allows broadcasters to receive the fair market value they’ve been claiming they don’t receive and gives consumers choice,” Frederick said. “There’s no such thing as TV freedom when the government forces consumers to pay for broadcast channels they may not want.”

SiriusXM Has Good Week In Legal Battle Over Pre-1972 Music

SiriusXM could be on the verge of fending off the first major challenge in an ongoing lawsuit brought by major record labels over its royalty-free broadcasting of pre-1972 music, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel indicated that she was leaning towards rejecting a motion by Warner, Universal, Sony, Capitol and ABKCO Records to accept the labels' interpretation of the law in jury instructions. The plaintiffs believe that state laws protect the misappropriation of older sound recordings that were authored before falling under federal copyright protection. But the judge isn't ready to go so far.

The lawsuits against the satellite broadcaster have piled up in the past year over the broadcasts of pre-1972 tunes. There's the $100-million class-action suit led by Flo & Eddie of the Turtles, in which the band behind "Happy Together" contends that state law protects pre-'72 music and the broadcaster can't rely on statutory royalty rates for the recordings. (The Turtles filed similar suits in Florida and New York, leading Sirius to accuse them of "lawsuit lottery.") Then there's the $100-million suit from SoundExchange, a non-profit performance rights organization, claiming SiriusXM underpaid federal royalties for pre-'72 tunes.

The lawsuit from the major record labels represents one of the biggest tests -- and because the plaintiffs are jumping to jury instructions, offered the prospect of some early guidance on an issue that potentially impacts not just SiriusXM, but Pandora, other website operators, television broadcasters and restaurants throughout the nation that perform pre-1972 music.

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Mike Bennett Joins 'America Weekend' Line-Up

Mike Bennett

Envision Networks has announced host Mike Bennett (WHUD 100.7 FM Morning Show Host in the Hudson Valley, NY) as part of the all new America Weekend lineup. Bennett will debut the new show on August 30th and will continue to host Saturday mornings from 9am to noon.

“I’m honored to be a part of America Weekend and look forward to sharing what I find interesting with audiences across the United States,” said Mike Bennett. “I’ve been in the business a long time and I’ve got lots to say!”

“There is a reason Mike Bennett continues to have the number one morning show in his market,” said Michael Lichtstein, VP/Programming of Envision Networks. “His warm, engaging delivery and wealth of information will be destination listening for America Weekend audiences.”

Designed to be a break from the usual brokered programming and political fare of most News/Talk stations, America Weekend covers the lighter side of news and lifestyle issues facing today’s on-the-go talk listeners.

For more information on America Weekend contact Hannah Rosenthal at 216-831-3761 or hannahr@envisionradio.com.

Baton Rouge TV Personality Murdered

Scott Rogers

A Baton Rouge television personality, who died Wednesday, had a sexual relationship with his son-in law, who allegedly shot and killed him, Iberville Sheriff Brett Stassi said Thursday evening.

According to nola.com, Scott Rogers, 52 and the host of the Around Town show that aired on WAFB-TV, died from a single gunshot wound to the head in what authorities are investigating as a murder-suicide attempt. Stassi believes Matthew Hodgkinson shot and killed Rogers and then attempted to commit suicide. Hodgkinson survived and was transported to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Rogers, who is from the United Kingdom, was acquitted of child molestation charges involving a 13-year-old boy in the early 1990s.  He then moved from the UK to the United States in 1996 with his daughter.

Seth Dornier, Rogers' attorney said Thursday that Rogers was concerned that the child molestation case in England would come back to light as he was undergoing a federal investigation.

"A federal grand jury had been called to investigate if Scott Rogers was really Scott Rogers," Stassi said.

Hodgkinson, 36, is married to Rogers' daughter, Kimberly Ann Scott-Rogers, who was reportedly testifying before a grand jury when Rogers was killed Wednesday.

Stassi, however, says the marriage was a ploy to get Hodgkinson citizenship in the United States. Rogers owned a dance studio in the UK during the early 1990s and Hodgkinson was a student of his, Stassi said.

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Just one day after Rogers died, two alleged victims came forward saying Rogers abused both of them when they were young boys.

Both spoke out anonymously for the first time on the Jim Engster Radio Show Thursday morning on WRKF 89.3 FM.

DC Radio: WTOP Poll Finds Support for 'Redskins' Name

A majority of adults in the region say they feel the Washington Redskins should not change the team name, according to a new poll. But a majority also believe the name will change, regardless of their personal views.

The WTOP Beltway Poll took the pulse of the area shortly after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled the Redskins' trademark registration.

Among the 604 adults reached by phone, 61 percent supported keeping the Redskins name. The poll was taken June 20-26.

Geographic lines pitted those in the suburbs against those living in the District.

Convincing majorities in Virginia (67 percent) and Maryland (60 percent) support the name. In the District, results lean in the opposite direction: 57 percent of those polled believe the name should be changed.

Curiously, the poll found more than half (55 percent) of all those in the survey believe the team will have to change its name eventually.

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Top Programmer At Turner To Depart

Michael Wright

Michael Wright, the president and head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), has decided to leave the company, according to Variety.

Wright was in the running to replace Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin, who departed in April, but pulled himself out of consideration and has since been pursuing other opportunities.

A source confirms he will be staying on at Turner while the search continues. Former Fox head Kevin Reilly is said to be in the running.

Wright’s exit comes during a time of turmoil at the company, which is facing headcount cuts. Earlier this week, Turner Broadcasting announced a voluntary buyout program for 6% of its U.S.-based employees.

Ariana Grande To Guest-Host AT40

Ariana Grande

Award-winning singer/songwriter and actress Ariana Grande will guest host American Top 40 this weekend, August 30 and 31.

In addition to counting down the Top 40 songs, Grande will talk about the making of her new album, "My Everything," which was released on August 25 by Republic Records. She'll also share what her favorite song is on the album, as well as what the album name means, who was the most fun to collaborate with, and plans for an upcoming tour. Plus, Grande will reveal who she wants to work with in the future.

American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest, the number one countdown show in the U.S., is syndicated by Premiere Networks on nearly 500 stations worldwide. Each week, Seacrest counts down the Top 40 songs and interviews the biggest stars in entertainment. The show, which is executive produced by Claudine Cazian and written by Miles Harvey, can be heard worldwide in markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Boston, Houston, Washington, D.C., Singapore, Shanghai, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Beijing, Dublin, Moscow, Berlin and many others.