Flint Radio: WFBE Hosts Granger Smith For Benefit Performance

Flint, Michigan's WFBE NashFM 95.1 hosted a benefit last Thursday, April 7, for Hurley Children’s Hospital and Hurley Children’s Clinic to help kids who have been exposed to lead from the city’s water.

Wheelhouse recording artist Granger Smith volunteered his time to perform at the event that brought 850 listeners to the Dort Federal Event Center for a community “eat & greet” and acoustic performances from local artist Tegan Marie and Granger Smith. Through tickets, donations and a silent auction, NASH FM 95.1 raised over $14,000.

Rush Radio Cure-A-Thon Raises $3.3M+

The Rush Limbaugh Show held its 26th annual on-air Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Cure-A-Thon on Friday and during the weekend.

On-air and online donations increased 15% over last year with the 2016 Cure-A-Thon raising more than $3.3 million dollars.

Limbaugh dedicated portions of his three-hour syndicated radio program to encourage listeners to join the effort to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

Over the past 26 years, Limbaugh and his audience have collectively raised more than $47 million dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, helping provide much-needed research and support for individuals and families affected by blood cancer diseases.

"Every year I think it's going to be the year that we finally have topped out and we're not going to be able to beat the previous year. And I've never been right," said Limbaugh. "I and everybody at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America thank you from the bottom of our sizable beating hearts."

Redstone-GalPal Settlement Talks Hit Snag

Sumner Redstone

Settlement talks between Sumner Redstone and ex-girlfriend Manuela Herzer have hit a roadblock, and attorneys now are busy gearing up for what could be a contentious trial.

According to The LA Times, attorneys representing the 92-year-old mogul and his former companion late last week were close to an agreement on the framework for a settlement that would have ended the lawsuit that challenged Redstone's mental competency.

But after details of the settlement leaked, negotiations fell apart.

“We have hit a snag,” Pierce O'Donnell, Herzer's attorney, said Monday. “We will see what happens.”

He declined to provide details of what caused the talks to stall.

Barring a last-minute deal, the case could go to trial early next month before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David J. Cowan.

Industry Mourns Loss Of Doug Banks

Legendary radio personality Doug Banks passed away on Monday due to complications from diabetes. His death shocked fans of the Doug Banks Radio Show, many whom had just seen him Friday at the Black Womens Expo in Chicago, where he usually broadcast his show live.

He was 58, according to Ebony.

Banks loved radio and he never backed down on a commitment. Rather than complain openly about diabetes, the affable radio personality chose to focus on the funny, which is why he made the Chicago trip despite feeling under the weather.

Banks started his career at the age of 16 in his native Detroit. From there, he came to Chicago radio, where he worked in the early days of now-defunct station WBMX. After Detroit, he went to Los Angeles to work for several stations before moving to  stations in Las Vegas and San Francisco before moving to Chicago, where he worked at WBMX. He most recently could be heard on i-Heart radio station WVAZ V103-102.7 FM in Chicago. His syndicated program was very popular.

When you talk to Banks’ friends and those whom he influenced, you hear one word repeated over and over again: nice.  His work laid the template for what black radio could be. An entire generation of Chicagoans, and as he syndicated, Americans, in particular grew up on Banks.

WGCI-FM hip hop personality DJ Moondawg was one of them. “That’s such a great loss for radio,” says Moondawg. “We had maybe like five encounters but he always gave me props and said he loved me on air and that I had a bright future. Coming from him, [that was] just a totally humbling and yet reassuring feeling. He was always kind, humble, and true to what you heard daily on the radio. Doug was authentic…a rarity in these times.”

House music deejay and in-house deejay for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Steve “Silk” Hurley, listened to Banks’ show frequently. He was a fan, and has history with Banks going back to the WBMX days.

Banks grew to be a huge radio personality, commanding ad dollars and important time slots. With all that success he never turned into a diva, says Hurley. “He was a good example for us in that he was humble. He was so good on the radio, but he was such a down to earth person. It encouraged us deejays. Even when we had success with different things, to still remain humble. I was raised that way, but Doug reinforced it.

“He was successful because he came from local radio,” says Hurley, who adds that Banks and Joyner are ‘cut from the same cloth.’ “Even when he’s on his syndicated show and he’s talking to the listeners, it still sounds local. Not a lot of people know how to do that with the national audience.”

April 12 Radio History

[In 1924...WLS-AM, Chicago, Illinois began broadcasting.

After buying time on radio stations in the early days of broadcasting, Sears Roebuck & Co. in Chicago decided to start its own station.  Its first test broadcasts used the call sign WBBX and then WES (“World’s Economy Store”).  On April 12, 1924, the station became WLS (“World’s Largest Store”).

In its first month, WLS started its “National Barn Dance” program, a live country-music showcase that was the direct predecessor of the Grand Ole Opry.

A Chicago radio manufacturer signed on WENR Radio in 1925. The station entered a time-sharing agreement with WBCN Radio.  An investor bought both stations in 1927.  He later sold the licenses to NBC.  The network kept WENR on the air.  It shared a frequency with WLS for decades.  One station would sign off and another would sign on.

Sears sold WLS to the “Prairie Farmer” magazine in 1928.  The radio station became an essential part of agriculture in the Midwest.  Farmers relied heavily on agricultural news, commodity prices and weather reports from WLS.

Audio clips from 1924-1949:




WENR-WLS boosted power to 50,000 watts in 1932, beaming its programming over much of the nation.  Despite its part-time status, the station built a large amount of goodwill and a huge audience.

In addition to farm programming, WLS offered entertainment and educational programs.  It also made history in news broadcasting. WLS reporter Herb Morrison famously said, “Oh the humanity!” as he watched the 1937 Hindenberg crash in Lakehurst, N.J.  The recorded account aired the next day over NBC.



The station also experimented successfully in many forms of news broadcasting, including weather and crop reports. Its most famous news broadcast was the report of the Hindenburg disaster by Herbert Morrison.

VISIT SCOTT CHILDERS' WLS TRIBUTE WEBSITE: Click Here

VISIT JEFF ROTEMAN'S WLS TRIBUTE WEBSITE: Click Here 

For about 15 years WLS shared it's frequency with WENR as part of the NBC Blue Network. In 1941 WLS changed frequency from 870 to 890 kilocycles with 50 kw of power. The transmitter site was in Chicago's south suburb of Crete, Illinois from 1924 to 1938. In 1938, they moved to it's current location in Tinley Park.

WLS was an NBC Blue Network affiliate during radio’s golden age.  NBC was forced to sell the Blue Network, which became ABC.  In 1954, ABC bought a controlling interest in WENR-WLS, combining the two into WLS.  The network bought WLS outright in 1959.

The ABC era brought a major change.  The staid, conservative WLS that brought Midwesterners a steady diet of farm reports, news and weather, general-interest music and entertainment and the “National Barn Dance” became a Top 40 station at 6 a.m. on May 2, 1960.   ABC created one of the nation’s most influential radio stations in the rock era, attracting millions of listeners each week.

Here’s a sample of a 1962 aircheck featuring Dick Biondi:








By the late 1980s, it was an adult contemporary station during the day and offered talk programming at night. WLS switched to its current full-time news/talk format in 1989.  Cumulus Media now owns the station.

[In 1935..."Your Hit Parade," was first broadcast on radio.

Your Hit Parade began on NBC April 20, 1935, as a 60-minute program with 15 songs played in a random format. Initially, the songs were more important than the singers, so a stable of vocalists went uncredited and were paid only $100 per episode. In 1936-37, it was carried on both NBC and CBS. Script continuity in the late 1930s and early 1940s was written by Alan Jay Lerner before he found fame as a lyricist. The first number one song on the first episode was "Soon" by Bing Crosby.

Doris Day

Some years passed before the countdown format was introduced, with the number of songs varying from seven to 15. Vocalists in the 1930s included Buddy Clark, Lanny Ross, Kay Thompson and Bea Wain (1939–44), who was married to the show's announcer, French-born André Baruch. Frank Sinatra joined the show in 1943, and was fired for messing up the No. 1 song, "Don't fence me In " by interjecting a mumble to the effect that the song had too many words and missing a cue.

One source says his contract was not renewed due to demanding a raise and the show being moved to the West Coast.  As he zoomed in popularity he was rehired, returning (1947–49) to co-star with Doris Day.

Hugely popular on CBS through the WWII years, Your Hit Parade returned to NBC in 1947.

Dozens of singers appeared on the radio program, including "Wee" Bonnie Baker, Dorothy Collins, Beryl Davis, Gogo DeLys, Joan Edwards (1941–46), Georgia Gibbs, Dick Haymes, Snooky Lanson, Gisèle MacKenzie, Johnny Mercer, Andy Russell, Dinah Shore, Ginny Simms, Lawrence Tibbett, Martha Tilton, Eileen Wilson, Barry Wood, and occasional guest vocalists.



The radio series continued until January 16, 1953.

[In 1941...The Life of Riley family comedy was heard for the first time on the CBS radio network, as a Saturday morning half-hour. William Bendix starred in the more successful prime time version (first on ABC, then NBC Radio) from 1944 to ’51.

[In 1954…Bill Haley and His Comets recorded "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" at the Pythian Temple, "a big, barn-like building with great echo," in New York City. Most music historians agree that the song, featured in the 1955 film "Blackboard Jungle," ushered in the rock 'n' roll era. It hit #1 on June 29, 1955 and stayed there for eight weeks, remaining on the charts for a total of 24 weeks, and has sold more than 25 million copies.

[In 1989...David Cassidy's comeback begins when Los Angeles KLOS, to which the former Partridge Family singer is listening, wonder what happened to him. Before long, he's at the studio, performing three songs that land him a new record deal.


[In 2002...WTJM 105.1 FM NYC switched call letters to WWPR


[In 2007...Don Imus was fired from his syndicated program by CBS Radio after a week of controversy brought on by racial remarks broadcast a week earlier about the Rutgers women basketball team. One day earlier, Imus' simulcast of his show on MSNBC was canceled.

R.I.P.: Radio Personality Doug Banks

Doug Banks

The industry and radio fans are shocked to hear that longtime radio personality Doug Bank died Monday.

He was 57-years-of-age and died from complications of diabetes.

Banks was based at iHeartMedia UrbanAC WVAZ 102.7 FM V103 in Chicago, and his syndicated “The Doug Banks Radio Show” was heard on roughly 22 stations.

The Philadelphia-born, Detroit-raised Doug Banks began his radio career as an on-air personality for his high school’s radio station. Local station WDRQ took note of his talent and hired him for a temporary late-night weekend disc jockey spot. Even though he was the youngest DJ, he quickly earned a permanent position. After high school, Doug turned a six-week trial into a multi-year position at KDAY in Los Angeles.

His next LA stop was KFI, which was the stepping-stone to his first Morning show slot in Las Vegas at KLAV-AM. Next was KDIA-AM in San Francisco, followed by Chicago at WBMX (now WVAZ), where he took the Morning show from a 1.8 share to a healthy 5.6, beating rival WGCI.

After much success in the mornings, Doug was offered the opportunity to do a nationally syndicated show. The Doug Banks Morning Show, hosted by Banks along with DeDe McGuire, rose to become one of the top-rated syndicated urban programs in America. Each week, millions of listeners tuned in to hear some of the most creative and innovative programming on the airwaves.

Detroit Radio: WXYT-FM, Mike Valenti Renew Deal

Mike Valenti

CBS RADIO’s WXYT 97.1 FM The Ticket announced today that Mike Valenti, co-host of the long running duo “Valenti and Foster,” has resigned a long term contract with the station. The “Valenti and Foster” show airs weekdays on WXYT-FM from 2:00pm – 6:00pm and can also be heard online at www.cbsdetroit.com or the Radio.com app.

Program Director Jimmy Powers said, “I am pleased Mike will continue to be part of many Detroiters drive home every day for years to come.  He has the uncanny ability to give listeners a unique perspective, honesty and strong opinions like very few in the industry.”

Debbie Kenyon, Senior Vice President/Market Manager, CBS RADIO Detroit added, “Mike is an extraordinary talent who I respect personally and professionally.  He is opinionated and often controversial, but is always able to back it up with facts. Mike is a true professional and we’re thrilled to have him on the 97.1 team for years to come.”

“I’m happy to continue to be part of one of the great sports talk stations in the country where I can speak to, inform and entertain my loyal audience daily,” said Valenti.

WXYT 97.1 FM (15 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Originally from upstate New York, Valenti began watching the Big Ten conference from a young age, and by the time he was in high school, was a full-fledged Michigan State fan.  He arrived in East Lansing in 1998 to study journalism. In February 2004, Valenti joined CBS RADIO Detroit and was teamed with Terry Foster to form“Valenti and Foster.”  The duo have maintained their #1 position among men 25-54 and adults 25-54 for more than five years.

Update: Pat St. John Suffered Spinal Trauma

UPDATE 6/2/16: Pat St. John continues to mend and is now targeting July 5 as his return date to SiriusXM. Click Here For more

Earlier Posting....

SiriusXM radio personality Pat St. John remains in the hospital after a fall at home last week, but he is said to be in good spirits.

According to a Facebook posting, his daughter gives a clue about his injuries.  St. John suffered "spinal trauma".  She also reports he suffered a shattered and fractured vertebrase, when  he fell off a darkened porch, as he was carrying his grandson, who was not injured. Surgery is possible for St. John, according to another family member.

The posting:

I just wanted to express my gratitude for all of the concern, love and well wishes that my family and I have received over the past week. For those of you who don't already know, my father, Pat St John, fell and suffered severe spinal trauma, including shattered and fracture vertebrae. It really does help to hear from all of you who have reached out. we are so lucky to have so many compassionate and caring people in our lives.  

Pat St John is the man. I love that guy more than words could ever express. I am so appreciative of all of the good vibes, prayers and offerings of support he has received. Keep the good stuff flowing and I know he will persevere!

St. John does not currently have access to email or social media, but well-wishers can still post good wishes on his Facebook page, which eventually read.

It is not known when Pat will return to his 1pm to 5pm (Eastern) shifts on SiriusXM's 60s on 6 Channel.  But, his daughter stated his desire to get back on-air, will expeditie matters.

It was just a year ago that St. John sign-ed-off Classic Hits WCBS 101.1 FM, ending some 42-years in the market. His other on-air stints were on WPLJ, WNEW-FM and WAXQ.

Pat St.John has been referred to as “The Dee-Jay’s DJ”. Born in Detroit, Pat literally grew up on the music of Motown (read the liner-notes he wrote for the CD “The Motown Story, Volume 1, The 60’s”, which he also narrated).

In fact, check the box-sets of Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and The Supremes, and CDs by Marvin Gaye and Jr. Walker and The All-Stars, and you’ll see Pat thanked for his input, as his Motown association continues to this day. Pat has also known Bob Seger since he was a teen, and in fact, introduced Bob on-stage when Bob played a local Michigan Jr. High School!

It was Pat's love of Top40 radio that led to his first real gig in 1969 on 50,000 watt powerhouse CKLW in The Motor City. This was right after his 18th birthday, making him one of the youngest jocks to ever work at such a giant radio station. When first hired, Pat pulled down three DJ shifts a week, drove the "CK Camaro" getting actualities for the news department two days a week, and pulled a 20/20 news shift one day a week, as well as doing booth announcing on CKLW TV. While great experience, doing the news was not what he really wanted to do, and he eventually got the full time overnight shift.

In late 1970 he moved cross-town to WKNR, where he wound up in the afternoon shift. Two of the most notable things about Pat's "Keener" gig were the summer of 1971 when he did both morning AND afternoon drive for almost three months — and The ALSAC Radiothon, which Pat hosted for 17.5 hours. In 1972, Pat joined ABC's Detroit album rock outlet WRIF (his first 101.1 frequency) and in 1973 he moved to sister station WPLJ in New York, where he remained for almost 15 years.

While hugely successful as an AOR station, 'PLJ switched to Top 40 in 1983, and during those CHR years Pat was rated "the most listened to afternoon drive jock in America" according to Arbitron. In 1987 Pat moved over to 102.7 WNEW-FM "Where Rock Lives" for an 11 year run, including becoming the station's program director in 1992.



When 'NEW went "talk" in 1998, Pat concentrated on his voiceover career including his yearly gig as the announcer on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" and doing spots for clients like Chevrolet and Pepsi.

During his nearly 15 year run at WPLJ, his 11 year stint at WNEW-FM on the air and as Program Director, and his first tour of duty on WCBS-FM, Pat has interviewed all the heavy-hitters of Rock’n’Roll. From The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who… to Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and Dion, who calls Pat the “King of The New York Streets”.

An avid record collector all his life, Pat enjoys shared some of his rarest sides during his weekend shows, along with providing many of them for WCBS-FM’s “Collectible Cuts” segments.

During the week, Pat is busy with shows on SiriusXM, as well as doing commercial voiceover work from his home recording studio.

SiriusXM Surpasses 30.1M Subsrcibers

Jim Meyer

SiriusXM announced today that it added 465,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter of 2016, resulting in a record-high of 30.1 million subscribers as of March 31, 2016. Self-pay net additions were 348,000 in the quarter, resulting in a self-pay subscriber base of 24.6 million at quarter's end.

"SiriusXM has grown from a pioneering startup to a media powerhouse in less than fifteen years of service by providing listeners with the best audio entertainment available," said Jim Meyer, Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM.

"Our exclusive, unmatched content and ease of use has led us to this important subscriber milestone. I'd like to thank our dedicated employees, our valuable content creators and brands, our automotive distributors, and most of all our paying subscribers for their contribution to our success," added Meyer.

"We believe there is more success to come because of our relentless search for new and exciting content, our intense focus on subscriber satisfaction, and our significant investments in next-generation services and platforms," said Meyer.

SiriusXM plans to report full first quarter 2016 financial and operational results on April 28, 2016.

Pierre Bouvard: Pandora Is Clueless

Last Thursday, Edison Research released consumer research into listeners’ habits for radio listening in their cars. On Friday, Pandora has released its own whitepaper featuring the Edison findings, but also sharing some more insight into listener behavior during their commutes.

Pierre Bouvard

The paper reiterated many of Edison’s top findings, such as 90% of commuters listening to terrestrial radio but switching stations an average of 22 times per trip. But it revealed that commercials were the top reason for that channel-flipping, followed closely by disliking the currently-playing song.

Interest in controlling song choice had a bigger impact than just surfing stations: 40% of commuters connect their phones to their cars regularly in order to hear what they want. Because of this habit, 59% of commuters who plan to buy a car in the next year called connected dashboards an “important” factor in their decision.

And now, in his weekend blog post, Pierre Bouvard, Chief Marketing Officer of Cumulus Media and Westwood One, responds to Pandora’s recent piece on in-car listening. He notes the following data:

• AM/FM crushes Pandora in the car.  AM/FM has a 72% share of listening in the car, according to Edison Research.
• AM/FM holds 93% of the lead-in audience during commercials breaks, according to Arbitron/Nielsen and Media Monitors.
• 74% of in-car listeners say they mostly keep turned to one station or only occasionally change the station, according to Edison Research.

Bouvard states, "It’s easy to be envious of AM/FM’s massive reach and huge in-car audience.  Sixty-six percent of streaming occurs at home as background music.

AM/FM is a  foreground medium with 64% of time spent occurring away from home. AM/FM is the soundtrack of the American worker.

Pandora wishes they were used in the car; but barely anyone listens. Pandora’s bigger issue is YouTube and Spotify and hoping that they don’t become the MySpace of streaming audio."

Read More Now

Research Director Provides Ammo for Radio

Last Thursday, Tyler Plahankski presented The Research Director's latest industry webinar, “Radio and Pureplays: Keeping the Ad Dollars that Belong to Us.”

Pureplays are stealing a portion of radio’s advertising dollars. In an effort to hold on to the dollars that belong to our industry, radio needs to tell its story.

Radio delivers an incredibly impressive ROI, often times eclipsing a 10:1 ratio.

The time spent with radio on a daily basis is nearly 8 times higher than time spent with Pandora, and well over 15 times higher than Spotify.

New Pandora users are spending less time with the service than in previous years, and usage levels drop significantly after the first 12 months of using Pandora.

Pandora does not replace radio as an audio entertainment option. In fact, Pandora users typically have radio listening levels that are much higher than the average radio listener.

Click Here for the complete presentation