The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday it would require Gray Television Inc and privately held broadcaster Raycom Media Inc to divest broadcast stations in nine markets as a condition for their $3.6 billion merger, reports Reuters.
“Without the required divestitures, Gray’s merger with Raycom threatens serious competitive harm to cable subscribers and small businesses,” Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said in a statement.
At the time the deal was announced in June, the two companies had a combined 142 full-power television stations in 92 markets, reaching about 24 percent of total U.S. television households.
The divestiture conditions were included in a proposed settlement the Antitrust Division filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia along with a lawsuit seeking to block the merger, the Justice Department statement said.
The settlement, if approved by the court, would require divestitures in Knoxville, Tennessee; Toledo, Ohio; Waco–Temple–Bryan, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida–Thomasville, Georgia; Augusta, Georgia; Odessa-Midland, Texas; Panama City, Florida; Albany, Georgia; and Dothan, Alabama.
The Weekly Standard, a primary voice of conservative Washington that found itself out of step with the Trumpward turn in the Republican Party, is ceasing publication after 23 years, its owners announced on Friday.
The cause of death was financial, ideological or personal, depending on who was doing the telling, according to The NYTimes.
The magazine’s parent company, Clarity Media Group, cited a steep decline in subscriptions and revenues. But editorial leadership had clashed with ownership in some instances over its critical coverage of President Trump and the hard-right views of his defenders.
The Standard’s editor in chief, Stephen F. Hayes, pronounced himself “profoundly disappointed” by the decision on Friday to cease publication. The editor of Commentary magazine, John Podhoretz, who was a co-founder of The Standard in 1995, described the closing as a “murder” and “an entirely hostile act” perpetrated by malevolent owners.
Clarity Media, which is controlled by the billionaire conservative businessman Philip F. Anschutz, has devoted resources to The Washington Examiner, a publication that provides cozier coverage of the president. Talk of selling The Weekly Standard was floated, but the company decided against it.
SiriusXM will feature its most extensive schedule of college football bowl games ever this postseason, giving subscribers from coast to coast access to all 41 Division I FBS and FCS games live, including ESPN Radio's coverage of the College Football Playoff Semifinals and National Championship, on their SiriusXM radios and on the SiriusXM app.
The schedule begins Saturday, December 15, with a lineup of six games that kicks off with Alcorn State vs. North Carolina A&T in the Celebration Bowl at 12:00 pm ET. Click Here for a complete schedule of games and their SiriusXM channel assignments.
On December 29, subscribers can tune in for both College Football Playoff Semifinal games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic featuring #2 Clemson vs. #3 Notre Dame (4:00 pm ET), followed by #1 Alabama vs. #4 Oklahoma in the Capital One Orange Bowl (8:00 pm ET). One week later listeners will get live play-by-play as the winners of those two games face off for the College Football Playoff National Championship at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA (Jan. 7 at 8:00 pm ET). All three CFP games air on ESPN Radio, SiriusXM channel 80.
In addition to the College Football Playoff games, listeners will also get access to the eight other bowl games that feature matchups between Top 25-ranked teams. These include: #16 West Virginia vs. #20 Syracuse in the Camping World Bowl (Dec. 28); #13 Washington State vs. #24 Iowa State in the Valero Alamo Bowl (Dec. 28); #7 Michigan vs. #10 Florida in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (Dec. 29); #17 Utah vs. #22 Northwestern in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl (Dec. 31); #8 UCF vs. #11 LSU in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1); #12 Penn State vs. #14 Kentucky in the VRBO Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1); #6 Ohio State vs. #9 Washington in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual (Jan. 1); and #5 Georgia vs. #15 Texas in the Allstate Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1).
SiriusXM also offers fans the most in-depth radio coverage of the college game with daily talk, up-to-the-moment news and expert analysis on several college sports-focused channels including ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM (channel 84), SiriusXM ACC Radio (channel 371), SiriusXM Big Ten Radio (channel 372), SiriusXM Pac-12 Radio (channel 373), SiriusXM SEC Radio (channel 374) and SiriusXM Big 12 Radio (channel 375).
Twenty-two of the bowl game broadcasts – including the College Football Playoff Semifinals and College Football Playoff National Championship – are produced and provided by ESPN Radio. Other broadcast providers are Grace Media, IMG, Learfield, RedVoice LLC, Sports USA and Touchdown Radio.
ESPN has announced that it will add two late-night shows to its programming line-up. Set to debut January 28, 2019, the two shows — Now or Never (ESPN2) and Ahora o Nunca (ESPN Deportes) — will be dedicated to covering the intersection of sports and pop culture for young, multicultural sports fans.
Now or Never and Ahora o Nunca will offer a new take on sports, with a laid-back vibe for the late-night fan. Fans can expect the co-hosts to have fun with sports headlines and reactions, chat about the latest news on movies, music, E Sports, celebrity culture and much more. The shows will feature social content that incorporates viewer interaction and engagement. Airing Monday through Friday, the two 30-minute shows will be produced from ESPN studios at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and air on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes at 2 a.m. ET / 11 p.m. PT.
Now or Never will be co-hosted by Steve Covino, Rich Davis, and Janelle Marie Rodriguez. Covino and Davis, who currently co-host Covino & Rich on ESPN Radio and SiriusXM’s Faction Talk channel, come to ESPN with a plethora of sports and pop culture experience. The pair have worked as television hosts for NBC Sports’ NY affiliate SNY, discussing daily pop culture and sports stories. They have hosted numerous red carpet events including the MTV Video Music Awards and Movie Awards, the GRAMMY Awards and private parties for ESPN and Rolling Stone, as well as numerous Super Bowl weeks, and the MLB All-Star Week, on behalf of SiriusXM.
Rodriguez is a South Florida native who began her career at a young age, making regular television appearances and her acting debut on TNT’s series The Last Ship. Throughout her career, she has interviewed many high-profile celebrities, including Steven Spielberg, Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana. She was nominated as Best Actress in a Webseries at The Official Latino Short Film Festival for her work on the digital network Flama, and was recognized as the first Latina to host MONSTER JAM in the U.S. Rodriguez will serve as the bilingual co-host and appear on both shows.
Ahora o Nunca will be co-hosted by ESPN Deportes’ Mauricio Pedroza, Herculez Gomez and Rodriguez. Pedroza was discovered in Mexico City in 2006 when he participated on ESPN Deportes’ Dream Job, a nationwide casting event centered around the World Cup. Since then, Pedroza has become one of the most recognized young faces on the Spanish-language network. He has served as co-host of Nación ESPN and Cronómetro, among others. Pedroza started his career at ESPN anchoring SportsCenter.
Herculez Gomez joined ESPN as a soccer analyst in January 2017, after announcing his retirement from professional soccer. The 17-year veteran of Mexico’s Liga MX and Major League Soccer – including the 2016 season with the Seattle Sounders, MLS Cup champions– serves as a studio analyst on ESPN’s English and Spanish-language networks. Gomez appears primarily as a pundit on ESPN FC, ESPN’s daily soccer news, highlights and information program, and as a studio analyst for the network’s coverage of Major League Soccer, U.S. Men’s National Team, and other international soccer competitions. On ESPN Deportes, he serves as an analyst on signature soccer studio programs including Fuera de Juego and Fútbol Picante.
Entertainment industry legend Alan Alda will receive the National Association of Broadcasters’ Distinguished Service Award during the 2019 NAB Show in Las Vegas. Alda will accept the award at the NAB Show Opening session on Monday, April 8.
Each year, the NAB DSA recognizes members of the broadcast community who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the industry. Previous award recipients include Robin Roberts, Bob Schieffer, Michael J. Fox, Mary Tyler Moore, President Ronald Reagan, Edward R. Murrow, Bob Hope, Walter Cronkite and Oprah Winfrey, among others.
Alda is best known for his starring role as Dr. Hawkeye Pierce in the hit television series “M*A*S*H,” which debuted in 1972 and ran for 11 seasons. “M*A*S*H,” a comedic drama set during the Korean War, was inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1996.
In 2004, Alda joined the sixth season of “The West Wing” as Senator Arnold Vinick, for which he also received an Emmy. In total, Alda has won seven Emmy awards and has been nominated 34 times. He has made guest appearances on many popular television shows such as “ER,” “30 Rock,” “The Blacklist,” “The Good Fight,” and “Ray Donovan.”
“Alan Alda is an authentic entertainer whose incredible talent and enduring characters have engaged audiences for decades,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “We look forward to celebrating the immeasurable contributions he’s made to television and film at the 2019 NAB Show.”
Alda became host of “Scientific American Frontiers” in 1993 and continued with what became “Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers” until the PBS show ended in 2005. Alda’s deep interest in science led him to help found the nonprofit Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in New York. The organization has trained over 12,000 scientists and medical professionals in the United States and abroad. He also recently launched The Alda Communication Training Company, the proceeds of which support the Center for Communicating Science.
Left to Right The BOB & TOM Show's Grace Yinger, Tom Griswold, Kristi Lee, and Josh Arnold, the legendary John Landecker, and Chick McGee of The BOB & TOM Show (Photos: Art Vuolo)
Legendary Top 40 Radio personality and Radio Hall of Famer John Records Landecker paid a visit to "The BOB & TOM Show" last week to surprise BOB & TOM cast member Chick McGee on his birthday!
John Records Landecker
Landecker is a hero to McGee, and it was a very cool birthday surprise for Chick and a treat for BOB & TOM listeners, too.
"The BOB & TOM Show" cast brought listeners up to speed on John, his career in Chicago at WLS 890 AM, and The Boogie Check feature, and had him show off his D.J. talent of "talking up the post", which had everyone laughing. Art Vuolo, "Radio's Best Friend", was in the BOB & TOM studio in Indianapolis to capture all the fun for posterity.
Landecker's middle name, the source of questions throughout his career, was not, as most assumed, a stage name. His mother's maiden name was Records (her full name was Majorie Victoria Records) and was given to him at birth.
"Records truly is my middle name" is a saying Landecker frequently used on the air.
National Religious Bbroadcaster’s 2019 Radio Summit will be held in Anaheim, California, and feature a variety of speakers with decades of rich radio involvement who will help radio stations and their staff move forward.
Among those who will speak at the all-day event on Thursday, March 28, 2019, are Derric Bakker, president of Dickerson, Bakker & Associates LLC; Chuck Finney, president of Finney Media; Jon Hull, senior director of mentoring at KSBJ Radio; Fred Jacobs, president of Jacobs Media; Mark Levy, president of Revenue Development Resources Inc.; and Dr. Paul Virts, senior consultant at Advocace Media LLC.
The summit’s five sessions will cover topics ranging from basic strategies to deeply involved but proven promotional practices. Furthermore, the Radio Super Session will feature not-to-miss insights from Mike Lindell, founder of MyPillow; veteran media strategist, researcher and trend-maker Mark Ramsey; and Ben Stroup, director of strategic development at the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Access to the Radio Summit is part of a full registration for the four-day NRB International Christian Media Convention, Proclaim 19. To register, visit nrbconvention.org. The Convention dates are March 26-29.
CBS announced Friday that executive producer Ryan Kadro will be leaving "CBS This Morning" and the network. He's been with the show since its 2012 launch and been running it since his predecessor, Chris Licht, left to take over Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" three years ago
CBS said Kadro's exit had nothing to do with the network's settlement this week of a lawsuit filed by three women concerning Rose's behavior that had faulted management, including Kadro, for not acting to stop him.
Kadro, in a note to his staff, said he had been discussing his future with CBS News President David Rhodes since September. His contract expires at the end of the year.
"Through our discussions, I couldn't shake the feeling in my gut that I need a new challenge, and a serious nap," Kadro wrote. "It's the natural course of things."
"CBS This Morning" had generated significant momentum in the lucrative morning marketplace earlier in the decade with a newsier approach led by the on-air anchor team of Rose, Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell. While it remained third in the ratings to ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" show, its audience grew and it was competitive with its rivals for the first time in a long time.
After Rose's departure, that momentum halted. All of the network morning news shows are losing audience, but none as quickly as CBS. The show has been averaging just under 3.2 million viewers this year, compared to 3.6 million before Rose's exit in November 2017, the Nielsen company said.
Almost one-fourth of American adults earn money in the gig economy, and the ones who earn their primary income in the gig economy are much more likely to have anxiety and feel financially insecure than non-gig workers.
Twenty-four percent of Americans earn at least some income from “gig” work, such as driving for Uber or Lyft, selling products or services online, or working in some type of freelance capacity. Gig work may be the primary or secondary source of income, and as this study shows, those who rely on the gig economy as their primary source of income are more likely to have high anxiety levels, fear unexpected expenses, and feel financially insecure.
The Marketplace-Edison Research Poll is a regular series of surveys that examines how the U.S. population feels about their personal economy and financial situation in the landscape of the larger U.S. economy. The Economic Anxiety Index is a tool designed by Edison Research and Marketplace to measure the amount of stress a person feels about their individual financial situation through a series of twelve questions regarding job security, saving and expenses, and general financial anxiety.
Only 24% of those who are employed (not in the gig economy) have an Economic Anxiety Index score over 50. Almost half, 45%, of those who rely on gig work as a primary source of income have an Economy Anxiety Index score over 50.
“Our research shows that there are really two gig economies: one where gig jobs serve as the primary livelihood for employees, and one where they provide supplemental income. The 44% of Americans working in the gig economy who depend on gig work as their primary source of income show deep economic anxiety, which merits further study,” said Edison Research President Larry Rosin.
Key findings include:
24% of Americans earn some income from the gig economy.
For 44% of gig workers, their work in the gig economy is their primary source of income.
For 53% of gig workers aged 18-34, their work in the gig economy is their primary source of income.
Men are more likely to be employed in the gig economy than women. Thirty-one percent of men say they earn money through the gig economy compared with 18% of women.
Gig workers are vastly more likely to have a high Anxiety Index Score than those in traditional employment and those who rely on the gig economy as a primary source of income are the most likely to have a high Anxiety Score. Thirty-eight percent of those who do gig work as secondary income have an Anxiety Score over 50, while 45% of those who rely on gig work as their primary source of income have an Anxiety Index Score over 50. Only 24% of those employed (not in the gig economy) have an Anxiety Index Score over 50.
80% of gig employees whose gig work is the primary source of income say that an unexpected expense of $1,000 would be difficult to pay.
28% of those who rely on gig work as their primary source of income say they are not financially secure compared to 20% of those employed but not in the gig economy.
51% of gig workers say they work harder for their income than those in traditional jobs.
➦In 1922...deejay Alan Freed was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He is said to have coined the phrase rock ‘n’ roll, and was in large part responsible for the wide-scale acceptance of the music through his radio shows in Cleveland and New York. Freed became a scapegoat in the payola scandals and in 1962 pleaded guilty to accepting bribes. He died, a broken man, in a California hospital on January 20th, 1965. Freed’s life was dramatized in the film “American Hot Wax.”
➦In 1936....pioneering Seattle radio station KVL changed its call letters to KEEN. Later it changed again to KING-AM .. and in recent years KPTK, a talk station whose hosts espoused a progressive (left-leaning) philosophy. In the past several years AM 1090 went All-Sports, joining the CBS Radio Sports Network as KFNQ..
➦In 1941...the largest radio audience ever for a drama tuned in on the four national networks for “We Hold These Truths,” a one hour dramatic program written by Norman Corwin for the 150th anniversary of the US Bill of Rights. With the nation suddenly at war after the Dec. 7th Pearl Harbour attack, it was estimated that 63 million Americans, about half of the US population at the time, listened to the program.
➦In 1944...US Army Major and bandleader Glenn Miller's plane disappears in thick fog somewhere over the English Channel. The fate of Miller and his passengers, en route to play a Christmas concert in Paris with his Air Force band, has never been determined.
➦In 1961...John Battison calls for Institute of Broadcast Engineers in Broadcast Engineering editorial
➦In 1955…Johnny Cash released the Sun Records single "Folsom Prison Blues," which peaked at #4 on the Country chart but did not break into the Billboard top pop list. Cash included the song in his repertoire for decades.
He performed it at Folsom Prison on January 13, 1968 and that "live" version was eventually released by Columbia on the "At Folsom Prison" album the same year, and as a single that reached #32 on the pop chart.
➦In 1956…Elvis Presley gave his final performance on the "Louisiana Hayride" after 50 appearances on the radio show, a weekly broadcast from KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana.
➦In 1957…Columbia Records executive Mitch Miller and entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. disparaged rock 'n' roll as "the comic books of music" during a radio talk show hosted by Davis. Another guest on the radio show, Arnold Maxim, president of the MGM record label, disagreed with them saying he saw no end to the fad in the near future.
➦In 1966...Walt (Walter Elias) Disney died in Burbank at age 65, a victim of lung cancer.
➦In 1988..."The Godfather of Soul," James Brown, was sentenced to six years in prison for failing to stop for police during a two-state car chase. He was released in 1990 on probation.
➦In 1990... John R. Gambling takes over Rambling With Gambling on WOR 710 AM, NYC.
John R. Gambling
Gambling joined his father as co-host of Rambling with Gambling in 1985, and took over as sole host after John A.'s retirement.
When WOR ended Rambling with Gambling in 2000 after 75 years on the air, John R. Gambling moved up the dial to WABC, taking over the post-morning-drive 10 a.m. - noon slot. Gambling was fired by WABC on February 29, 2008 in a cost-cutting move. On April 30, 2008, WOR announced the return of John R. Gambling to its air waves in his old morning-drive timeslot starting May 5, 2008. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also moved to WOR, joining Gambling on a one-hour segment, Fridays from 8-9am.
On December 20, 2013 John R. Gambling did his last morning show on WOR after announcing his retirement from broadcasting. He and his wife of 37 years Wendy are retiring to Florida ending a run of over 80 years during which the Gamblings were a staple of New York Radio.
On April 14, 2014 Gambling returned to New York radio on WNYM 970 AM weekdays from 11:00AM to 1:00PM.
➦In 1999...Country music superstar Garth Brooks said that he planned to keep an "extremely low" profile in 2000 and that he would "probably" announce his retirement at the end of the year.
➦In 2001…R&B singer/songwriter (Walking The Dog) Rufus Thomas, a popular Memphis disc jockey from 1953 to 1974, died following a heart attack at age 84.
He began working as a DJ at radio station WDIA in 1951, and hosted an afternoon R&B show called Hoot and Holler. WDIA, featuring an African-American format, was known as "the mother station of the Negroes" and became an important source of blues and R&B music for a generation, its audience consisting of white as well as black listeners. Thomas used to introduce his shows saying: "I'm young, I'm loose, I'm full of juice, I got the goose so what's the use. We're feeling gay though we ain't got a dollar, Rufus is here, so hoot and holler."
CBS Corp. has divvied up $20 million among 18 groups that advocate for workplace safety and the elimination of sexual harassment — fulfilling a promise the company made in September when it severed ties with its longtime chief executive, Leslie Moonves.
According to The LATimes, the broadcasting company is using money from Moonves’ severance package to fund grants to the various groups. Moonves agreed in September, as part of his separation agreement, to donate the money to #MeToo causes.
CBS said the Producers Guild of America, Women in Film Los Angeles, the National Women’s Law Center, Time’s Up Entertainment, Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, and the New York Women’s Foundation will be among the groups receiving portions of the money.
The Producers Guild of America is receiving $2 million from CBS to launch a program to combat sexual harassment in the entertainment industry, with a focus on independent or non-studio productions.
Guild leaders said Friday that the Independent Production Safety Initiative, which will be administered through the guild’s foundation, will provide independent productions with no-cost access to professional, in-person training on issues of sexual harassment as well as no-cost access to legal consultation.
Two months ago, after being overwhelmed with requests for a portion of the money, CBS hired the group Rally to identify the groups who could best use the funds.
The donations come amid a broad review of CBS' workplace culture. The investigation was prompted by sexual misconduct allegations against Moonves, who served as CBS chief executive for 12 years. Multiple women have accused the former executive of making unwanted advances.
