R.I.P.: Angelica Cob-Baehler, Veteran Music Executive

Angelica Cob-Baehler

Veteran music executive and television producer Angelica Cob-Baehler died Wednesday after a year-long battle with cancer, Billboard is reporting. She turned 47 less than two weeks ago.

Cob-Baehler, who was instrumental in discovering and developing acts -- most notably Katy Perry -- was a fierce advocate for the artists she worked with during her 25-year career, including Stone Temple Pilots, John Mayer, Death Grips, System of a Down and 30 Seconds to Mars.

Most recently, Cob-Baehler, known as “Geli” to her friends, was chief marketing officer for Big 3, the professional 3-on-3 basketball league, founded by Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube.

Cob-Baehler met Perry while she was a vp at Columbia Records. Perry was signed to the label and recorded a still-unreleased album. When Cob moved to Virgin Records in 2005 -- hired as svp of publicity by then-CEO Jason Flom, with whom she'd worked at Atlantic Records -- she began an ultimately successful campaign to bring Perry to Capitol Records (following Virgin’s merger into the EMI Music Group) and played a large role in the A&R and creative direction of Perry’s 2008 breakthrough album, One of the Boys, as well as the follow-up, Teenage Dream. They remained close until Cob-Baehler’s death.

"Angelica was a consummate professional," says Flom, now head of Lava Records.

"She had an uncanny ability to recognize talent and a gift for helping artists reach their greatest potential. I know Angelica as the person who believed in Kid Rock when few others did and she worked tirelessly to help transform him into a superstar. Angelica was the person who was responsible for bringing a then unknown performer named Katy Perry to Virgin Records. But what I will always remember about Angelica was her kind and gentle spirit. For even though she was strong and tough, she never lost her cool and she had a tremendous positive impact on my life and on the lives of countless others.  Rest in peace, Angelica. You are gone too soon, but you will never be forgotten."

R.I.P.: Bill Kelly, Longtime NEPA Broadcaster

Bill Kelly

Veteran Northeastern Pennsylvania broadcaster A. William (Bill) Kelly Jr., 71, of Drums, PA passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018.

A 1965 graduate of Towanda Area High School, he already possessed a passion for broadcasting for which he would dedicate his life, reports the Towanda Daily Review.

At age 12, Bill and his friends made and operated a homemade plywood radio control board in his basement. Hired two years later by his hometown radio station WTTC, Bill described everything from Harry James music to horse-pulling contests. On-air, news, sales and management roles followed. Nine stations in two states (including WHLM AM & FM in Bloomsburg, PA) came quickly, culminating at the then powerhouse number one Top40 WARM 590 AM radio in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre.

Realizing his love of broadcasting was a light bulb moment for which Bill was extremely grateful. His second revelation came when he began using the airwaves to help others. At 20 years old and station manager of WYBG in Massena, New York, Bill raised money for a new ambulance and launched a successful “Save the YMCA” campaign.

At WARM “the mighty 590,” his “Winter Walk” for the March of Dimes, a 20-mile trek from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, raised $20,000 for children with birth defects. Two years after the Hurricane Agnes flood, he reminded listeners of the Susquehanna’s natural beauty from his canoe in a one hundred-mile “Great Canoe Expedition.” Public service projects like these led him to WVIA, a newly developed public broadcasting television and radio station in Pittston. He volunteered at WVIA until he was offered a job as the station’s first Community Relations Director in 1974, beginning a 40-year career in public broadcasting.

In 1991 after 16 years contributing to the success of WVIA, Bill took the helm as the station’s president and CEO. During his tenure, he refocused WVIA to become a community minded station and created topical programming of regional importance.

Bill enjoyed a long relationship with his Alma Mater, Bloomsburg University. He graduated in 1971 from the College of Education with a bachelor’s degree in English. He was an adjunct faculty member teaching courses in Speech and Mass Communications from 1981 to 1990.

Glen Campbell Family Feud Ends

Glen Campbell

Three adult children of the late-singer Glen Campbell have ended their effort to contest their father's will, which specifically excluded them from any inheritance.

Campbell died Aug. 8, 2017 at age 81 in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease.

According to The Tennessean, Campbell's will left his estate to Kimberly Campbell, his wife of 34 years, and five of his eight adult children, but cut out three children from prior marriages  — William Campbell, Kelli Campbell and Wesley Campbell.

On Monday, the three siblings agreed to dismiss their fight for a piece of their father's estate. A legal filing in Davidson County Probate Court did not detail why. The three had contested the validity of the 2006 will, questioning their late father's capacity.

The legal dispute pitting Campbell's widow against three of Campbell's children has long delayed resolution of the singer's final affairs, including the question of who has the rights to future royalties on his music. The legendary performer was known for songs like "Gentle On My Mind," "Galveston," "Wichita Lineman" and "Rhinestone Cowboy,"

Through her attorneys, Kimberly Campbell issued a statement that said she was pleased to put the matter behind her.

November 23 Radio History

➦In 1887...Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt in London.

In a 50 year acting career highlighted by four Frankenstein films, he found time to make an impact in horror radio & TV productions.  He is still heard today as the narrator of the annual TV cartoon favorite, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

He died at age 81 Feb 2, 1969 from emphysema.

For his contribution to film and television, Boris Karloff was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1737 Vine Street for motion pictures, and 6664 Hollywood Boulevard for television.

➦In 1889…In San Francisco, the Palais Royal Hotel installed the first coin-operated machine that, by about 1940, was known as a "jukebox." In the beginning it was a crude slot-machine apparatus connected to an Edison phonograph which, upon receiving a coin, unlocked the mechanism, allowing the listener to turn a crank that simultaneously wound the spring motor and placed the reproducer's stylus in the starting groove. This was before the time of vacuum tubes, so there was no amplification. The music was heard via one of four listening tubes. Despite its then-high price of a nickel a song, the new contraption took in $1000 in its first six months of operation.

John Dehner

➦In 1915...actor John Dehner was born in Staten Island NY.

After starting as a Disney animator & radio deejay, he started playing heavies in films & on radio shows such as Gunsmoke, Suspense, Escape and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar.  He starred in The Hermit’s Cave and Frontier Gentleman on radio, and was Palladin in CBS Radio’s Have Gun Will Travel.  TV series credits include Young Maverick, How the West was Won, Temperatures Rising, the Doris Day Show & the Don Knotts Show.

He died of emphysema & diabetes Feb 4 1992 at age 76.

➦In 1938…Bob Hope and Shirley Ross recorded his future theme song, "Thanks For The Memory," for the soundtrack of the motion picture "The Big Broadcast of 1938."

Also on this date in 1996,  Hope set a record for the longest continuous contract in the history of radio and television when his last TV special aired. Hope had been with N-B-C for 60 years.

➦In 1959…Alan Freed was dismissed from his daily television show, "The Big Beat," over allegations that he accepted money to play certain records. Freed denied any wrongdoing.

➦In 1962…The Beatles did a ten-minute audition for BBC Television at St. James' Church Hall in London. Four days later, Brian Epstein received a polite rejection letter from the BBC. They eventually made it on the BBC in 1963.

➦In 1964…The Rolling Stones were late arriving for the BBC radio shows, "Top Gear" and "Saturday Club" and as a result were banned by the BBC for "unprofessionalism."

➦In 1967…San Francisco disc jockey Tom Donahue, inventor of "classic rock" and "deep cut" radio, told Rolling Stone magazine, "Top Forty radio, as we know it today and have known it for the last ten years, is dead, and its rotting corpse is stinking up the airwaves."

➦In 1992...country music legend Roy Acuff died of heart failure at age 89.

Considered the most influential figure in the history of country music, Acuff rose to fame in the 1930’s when radio was more important than records, so his chart hits were relatively few. But he made country standards of songs like “The Wabash Cannonball,” “The Great Speckle Bird,” “Fireball Mail” and “Night Train to Memphis.”

➦In 1993….FCC makes C-QUAM AM stereo standard.  WBZ-AM Boston playing Christmas music on Christmas Eve 1993 in C-Quam AM Stereo. This was recorded via skyway 480 miles from Boston in Lockport, NY, near Buffalo.

➦In 2004…pioneering sports radio talk show host Pete Franklin died at age 76. Franklin's stops included Cleveland and New York with his last job at KNBR, San Francisco.

➦In 2014…Veteran radio personality (WEEP-Pittsburgh, KSON and KDEO in San Diego, WJET-Erie) Bob Connors, who spent 33 of his 47 years at WTVN-Columbus, Ohio as the station's morning host, until retiring in 2011, died of mantle cell lymphoma at age 80.

The Bird Is The Word!

Thanksgiving in the United States was observed on various dates throughout history.

From the time of the Founding Fathers until the time of Lincoln, the date Thanksgiving was observed varied from state to state. The final Thursday in November had become the customary date in most U.S. states by the beginning of the 19th century, coinciding with and eventually superseding the existing holiday of Evacuation Day (a day commemorating the British exit from the United States following the Revolutionary War).

Modern Thanksgiving was first officially called for in all states in 1863 by a presidential proclamation of Abraham Lincoln. Influenced by the campaigning of author Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote letters to politicians for around 40 years trying to make it an official holiday, Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving on the final Thursday in November, explicitly in celebration of the bounties that had continued to fall on the Union and for the military successes in the war.

Because of the ongoing Civil War, a nationwide Thanksgiving date was not realized until Reconstruction was completed in the 1870s.

On October 31, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a presidential proclamation changing the holiday to the next to last Thursday in November, for business reasons. On December 26, 1941, he signed a joint resolution of Congress changing the national Thanksgiving Day from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday.


WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta. Many of the characters and even some of the stories (including season 1 episode 7, "Turkeys Away") are based on people and events at WQXI.

The ensemble cast consists of Gary Sandy (as Andy Travis), Howard Hesseman (Johnny Fever), Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson), Loni Anderson (Jennifer Marlowe), Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap), Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters), Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) and Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek).

WKRP premiered September 18, 1978, on the CBS television network, and aired for four seasons and 90 episodes through April 21, 1982. Starting in the middle of the second season, CBS repeatedly moved the show around its schedule, contributing to lower ratings and its eventual cancellation.

When WKRP went into syndication, it became an unexpected success. For the next decade, it was one of the most popular sitcoms in syndication, outperforming many programs that had been more successful in prime time, including all the other MTM Enterprises sitcoms.

Jump, Sanders and Bonner reprised their roles, appearing as regular characters in a spin-off/sequel series, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, which ran from 1991 to 1993 in syndication. Hesseman, Reid and Anderson also reprised their roles on this show as guest stars.

The Premise: The station's new program director, Andy Travis, tries to turn around struggling radio station WKRP by switching its format from dated easy listening music to rock and roll, despite the well-meaning efforts of the mostly incompetent staff: bumbling station manager Arthur Carlson, greasy sales manager Herb Tarlek, and clueless news director Les Nessman. To help bolster ratings, Travis hires a new disc jockey, New Orleans native Gordon Sims (who takes on the on-air persona of Venus Flytrap); and allows spaced-out former major market DJ Dr. Johnny Fever, already doing mornings in the easy listening format as John Caravella, to be himself. Rounding out the cast are super receptionist Jennifer Marlowe and enthusiastic junior employee Bailey Quarters. Lurking in the background and making an occasional appearance is ruthless business tycoon Lillian Carlson, the station's owner and the mother of Arthur Carlson.

November 22 Radio History

➦In 1899…Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America registered in New Jersey

➦In 1906…the "S-O-S" distress signal was adopted at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin.



➦In 1934...a song destined to become a seasonal classic, “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” was aired on radio for the first time, on NBC’s Eddie Cantor Show.

➦In 1955...RCA paid the unheard of sum of $25,000 to Sam Phillips of Memphis for the rights to the music of a truck driver from Tupelo, Mississippi: Elvis Presley. Thanks to negotiations with Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, RCA tossed in a $5,000 bonus as well — for a pink Cadillac for Elvis’ mother.

➦In 1963…Many U.S. Radio stations suspended regular programming following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  The Number One song that week was 'Sugar Shack' by Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs.

More than three hours of KLIF 1190 AM audio from November 22, 1963, the day of President Kennedy's assassination.

Coverage begins at 11:30 AM (Dallas time) on 11/22/63, with Joe Long of Dallas radio station KLIF reporting live from Love Field Airport as President Kennedy arrives in "Big D".

Today 1190 AM is the home of KFXR.

Kennedy coverage as heard on WBAP 820 AM Fort Worth:




And From The Big One, WLW 700 AM Cincinnati (then an NBC Affiliate):

This is the initial bulletin heard on the NBC Radio Network about the shooting of President Kennedy in Dallas. Robert MacNeil reports live from a telephone located inside the Texas School Book Depository Building, which is where the gunshots came from.

This is the line feed from the ABC Radio Network News in the initial moments of the coverage of the JFK Assasination. Included is the ABC Log Book notes on what they were airing. Someone in ABC Master Control had to log literally everything that was broadcast each day. Also included UPI and AP wire copy which you can see the network anchors are relying on for information.

➦1963…In the UK, the Parlophone label released the Beatles' second album, "With the Beatles," and the single, "Roll Over Beethoven." Capitol Records in Canada issued the album as "Beatlemania! With the Beatles," which has the distinction of being the first Beatles album ever released in North America. Most of the songs from the album were not released in the United States until January 20, 1964 when Capitol Records issued "Meet the Beatles!"

➦In 1980...actress Mae West   died at her Hollywood home at age 87 following a stroke.



Famous for her double-entendres she had a sensational if brief radio career, appearing in two risque sketches on the Charlie McCarthy Show on a Sunday in Dec. 1937.  The listening audience was so shocked that Ms. West did not appear again on radio for another 31 years.

➦In 2002...actor Parley Baer died at age 88 after a stroke.  He was active in bigtime radio, playing Chester on Gunsmoke, and dozens of supporting roles on The Lux Radio Theater, Escape and Suspense.   On TV he was seen in everything from The Andy Griffith Show to Star Trek: Voyager. Six decades of character roles in broadcasting.

Gunsmoke "The Stage Holdup" CBS 1/2/54 Oldtime Radio Drama Western
Matt Dillon: William Conrad...Kitty: Georgia Ellis...Chester Proudfoot: Parley Baer

➦In 2011…he lead anchor for 25 years at CNN Radio Stan Case was killed in a traffic accident in Birmingham Alabama, as he was driving to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. He was 59.

➦In 2015…Longtime WCCO Minneapolis radio personality Charlie Boone, who spent 37 of his 51 years on the air partnered with Roger Erickson on the popular Boone & Erickson morning show, died at age 88.

Boston Radio: WEEI, Kirk Minihane..Just Disagreed

Kirk Minihane, former co-host of the top-rated "Kirk and Callahan" morning-drive talk show on WEEI 93.7 FM, says it was a “difference of opinion” that led to his leaving the show for a new position with Radio.com.

“There was just a philosophical difference between the station — Entercom, the ownership — and me,” Minihane told Jim Braude when he joined him on WGBH-TV's Greater Boston Monday evening. “They wanted to go one way. I didn’t want to go that way.”

Minihane said there was a document that station executives asked him to sign to remain on the show, but he ultimately refused, according to WGBH-TV.

“It basically said you can’t be interesting, you can’t be mean-spirited, you can’t take chances, you can’t rip the Red Sox, you can’t rip The Boston Globe,” said Minihane. “And I said, 'I’m not going to participate.'”


Instead, Minihane said Entercom offered him a new national radio show, podcast, and column at Radio.com — an offer he is excited about.

“It’s going to be great,” he said.

Minihane also discussed his frustration with The Boston Globe and, more specifically, Interim Editorial Page Editor Shirley Leung. Last week, Leung wrote a column in which she praised Entercom for its decision to move Minihane, which Minihane referred to as a “hit piece” and questioned why Leung did not reach out to him about it before publishing. He also questioned her choice to call him racist without providing examples.

Consumers Love Smart Speakers But Not For News

Smart speakers like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are rapidly gaining in popularity, but use of news on the devices is lagging, according to the Nieman Lab, citing a report released last week by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Use of the devices for music and weather is still far ahead of news use. And among consumers’ complaints about news briefings: They’re too long.

However, there’s time for news publishers to catch up, finds Nic Newman, a senior research associate at RISJ, who did his research via in-home interviews and focus groups, online surveys, and publisher interviews. He also tapped Amazon, Apple, and Google for whatever data they were willing to share — which, unsurprisingly, wasn’t a lot; none of the companies would share data on how many devices they’ve sold or discuss trends in how news is consumed on them. Smart speakers are still devices for early adopters: 14 percent of U.S. adults are now using them. Juniper Research predicted last year that they’ll be found in 55 percent of U.S. households by 2022.

Here are some of Newman’s findings:

• News consumption on smart speakers is lower than one might expect. In the U.K., for instance, while 47 percent of smart speaker users said they use the device for news monthly and 21 percent use it daily, only 1 percent said news was the device’s most important function. In the U.S., 38 percent of smart speaker users use the device for news at least monthly and 18 percent at least daily.
• When it comes to which news brands people access on their smart speakers, the default matters a lot: In the U.K., for instance, the default news brand on Google Homes, Amazon Echos, and Apple HomePods is BBC News. In the U.S., there’s a more even split between brands in part because NPR is no longer the default on Alexa. (It is on Apple devices, however.)

Smart speaker news briefings didn’t get much love from users in this research. Here are some of the complaints Newman heard:

• Overlong updates — the typical duration is around five minutes, but many wanted something much shorter.
• They are not updated often enough. News and sports bulletins are sometimes hours or days out of date.
• Some bulletins still use synthesized voices (text to speech), which many find hard to listen to.
• Some updates have low production values or poor audio quality.
• Where bulletins from different providers run together, there is often duplication of stories.
• Some updates have intrusive jingles or adverts.
• There is no opportunity to skip or select stories.

Length in particular was an issue that arose. One American interviewee named Adam said, “When someone asks for an update on something, they are asking for a summary. Don’t give me something that is longer than a minute.” Right now, for instance, when you ask for news on a smart speaker from The New York Times, you get its podcast, The Daily, which is usually at least 15 minutes long.

WaPo Rips Trump Over Saudi Response

Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan ripped President Trump's response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday, saying it represented a "betrayal of long-established American values of respect for human rights."

"[Trump] is placing personal relationships and commercial interests above American interests in his desire to continue to do business as usual with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia," Ryan said in a statement.

"The CIA has thoroughly investigated the murder of this innocent journalist and concluded with high confidence that it was directed by the crown prince. If there is reason to doubt the findings of the CIA, President Trump should immediately make that evidence public."

Statement from Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan in response to President Trump's statement today regarding the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. pic.twitter.com/JJzw9yaU6Z

— Washington Post PR (@WashPostPR) November 20, 2018

TV Ratings: DWTS Ratings Down, 'The Connors' Stabilize

The Nielsen company says viewership is down for ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” franchise, which concluded its fall season on Monday with country radio personality Bobby Bones beating Disney star Milo Manheim, actress Evanna Lynch and model Alexis Ren.

According to the Associated Press citing Nilesen data, each episode averaged 8.2 million viewers the night that it aired and during the week afterward, down 22 percent from last year’s average of 10.4 million, Nielsen said. The show was once a routine top 10 performer for ABC, but last week’s semi-finals finished out of the top 20. A figure for Monday’s finale was not immediately available.

"No one expects it, but Mirrorball, I'm coming for you!" Congrats to our #DWTS Champions @mrBobbyBones and @SharnaBurgess! pic.twitter.com/wzz4KQa6xg

— Dancing with the Stars (@DancingABC) November 20, 2018

In better news for ABC, the Rosanne Barr-less sitcom “The Conners” has turned into a solid prime-time performer. Its ratings don’t measure up to last year’s “Roseanne” revival, but last week’s episode was the third most-watched comedy on television, behind CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” and its spinoff, “Young Sheldon”

Among the 18-to-49-year-old audience that ABC watches most closely, “The Conners” ranked No. 15 last week, Nielsen said. Only “Grey’s Anatomy” and the annual CMA awards had more young viewers on ABC last week, Nielsen said.

Locked in a tight battle for supremacy with CBS this season, NBC averaged 7.1 million viewers last week to 6.8 million for CBS. Fox had 6 million, ABC had 5.3 million viewers, Univision had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.2 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW averaged 1 million.

ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.36 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel averaged 2.24 million, Hallmark had 2.19 million, MSNBC had 1.8 million and USA had 1.21 million.

Basic cable network ranker:... by Scribd

ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.3 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 9 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.6 million.

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Nov. 12-18. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. NFL Football: Minnesota at Chicago, NBC, 18.84 million.
2. NFL Football: Green Bay at Seattle, Fox, 16.89 million.
3. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 13.32 million.
4. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 12.56 million.
5. “NCIS,” CBS, 12.47 million.
6. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 10.78 million.
7. NFL Football: N.Y. Giants at San Francisco, ESPN, 10.65M.
8. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 10.29 million.
9. “CMA Awards,” ABC, 10.11 million.
10. “Thursday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” Fox, 9.46 million.

11. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 9.22 million.
12. “FBI,” CBS, 9.2 million.
13. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 9 million.
14. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 8.85 million.
15. “The OT,” Fox, 8.71 million.
16. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 8.63 million.
17. “This is Us,” NBC, 8.48 million.
18. “Mom,” CBS, 7.93 million.
19. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 7.88 million.
20. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 7.58 million.

Report: Megyn Kelly to Get All Of Her $69M Contract To Go Away

Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly is expected to walk away from Comcast Corp.’s NBC News with more than $30 million—the full value left on the three-year, $69 million contract with the network, according to The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

The TV anchor’s exit deal with NBC News could come as early as next week, one of the people said, more than a month after she came under fire for questioning on-air why using “blackface” for a Halloween costume was necessarily racist or insensitive. Her show, “Megyn Kelly Today,” was canceled days later.

The issues that the two sides are haggling over are largely “nonfinancial,” the person said, including noncompete and nondisclosure clauses. Ms. Kelly’s contract with NBC went into effect in the middle of last year, meaning she has a little more than half of her contract left.

In jumping from a star turn at Fox News to NBC News, Ms. Kelly attempted to transition from a hard-nosed prime-time interviewer of world leaders on Fox News to a cheerful morning host at NBC’s “Today.”

But she struggled getting traction on the broadcast network. Her Sunday evening newsmagazine show flamed out quickly, and her revamp of the 9 a.m. hour of the “Today” show attracted fewer viewers than its predecessor.

When she prompted an outcry with her Halloween comments last month, her relationship with NBC fully deteriorated. She apologized, but NBC executives and talent were harshly critical, and within days her morning show was canceled.

Ratings for her former 9 a.m. hour of “Today”—now led by Al Roker, one the sharpest critics of her Halloween comments—have improved since she left, according to Nielsen.