Boise Radio: Chris Matthews Joins KIZN-FM As PD, Mornings

Chris Matthews

Cumulus Media announces that it has appointed Chris Matthews as Program Director and Morning Show Host for Country radio station KIZN Kissin 92.3 in Boise, ID. Matthews joins Co-Host Alana Lynn as KIZN’s new morning show team, airing weekdays from 5:00am-10:00am.

A 17-year radio broadcasting professional, Matthews was previously Program Director and Afternoon Drive Host for iHeartMedia station KBEB-FM in Sacramento, CA. Prior to that, he was Morning Host for Entercom/CBS Radio’s KMLE-FM in Phoenix, AZ, and was Director of Marketing and Promotion for CUMULUS MEDIA in Tucson, AZ.
 
Don Morin, Regional Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Boise, said: “I couldn’t be more excited to have Chris lead the KIZN team. His energy and desire to win is infectious. I have no doubt that Chris and Alana will dominate Mornings in Boise!”

Matthews said: "I am honored and thrilled to be taking the reins of a legendary brand in the most beautiful city in the country. I can't thank Don Morin, Charlie Cook and John Dimick enough for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am so excited to be working again with Alana Lynn, who is as brilliant and talented as it gets. As KIZN is set to turn 30, I firmly believe that our best years are still to come!"

Rachel Maddow Asked: "Are You Part Of The Problem?"

"The View" co-host Abby Huntsman had an awkward question for MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Thursday, suggesting that she might be part of the reason that people disbelieve media members who claim President Trump is guilty of wrongdoing in connection with Ukraine.

"There has been a crying wolf for so long," Huntsman told Maddow on Thursday, "'This is it, this is the smoking gun, he's out,' for two years now from Democrats, from some members of the media -- that now you have people in this country that are like, 'We don't believe anything anymore.' They're shutting it off, they are not taking it as seriously as they should and I ask you, do you think you're part of that problem?"

Co-host Joy Behar, with a surprised look on her face, asked "Rachel?!" while putting her hand on the MSNBC host's shoulder. Huntsman added that she was in the media too. "So, we're all guilty of things at times," she said.

Huntsman seemed to be referring to the years of media coverage surrounding the Russia investigation -- something that figured prominently in Maddow's shows.


Maddow told Huntsman she thought she made a good point but defended herself, saying Trump's presidency was "scandal-ridden."

"It's a consequence of having a really scandal-ridden presidency with all sorts of stuff happening all the time, that in any other presidency would have already led to impeachment," Maddow said.

CNN Rejects Two Trump Comnmercials

CNN is refusing to run an ad from President Trump’s reelection campaign that questions former Vice President Joe Biden’s role in the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor.

The Hill reports Democrats have been up in arms over the ad, which alleges Biden pushed for a Ukrainian prosecutor to be dismissed in order to protect his son Hunter Biden, who at the time was on the board of directors for a Ukrainian energy company that had been investigated for corruption.

The ad also swipes at three CNN reporters or anchors — cutting to images of chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta and anchors Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo — as the narrator says, “The Democrats want to impeach [Trump], and their media lapdogs fall in line.”

“CNN is rejecting the ad, as it does not meet our advertising standards,” a spokesperson told The Hill. “Specifically, in addition to disparaging CNN and its journalists, the ad makes assertions that have been proven demonstrably false by various news outlets, including CNN.”

There is no evidence that Biden pushed for the prosecutor’s removal to protect his son.

DRAIN THE SWAMP! pic.twitter.com/N3FaZ5Dkjq

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2019

According to The NYTimes, Tim Murtaugh, the communications director for Trump’s campaign, responded that the ad was “entirely accurate and was reviewed by counsel.”

“CNN spends all day protecting Joe Biden in their programming,” Mr. Murtaugh wrote in a statement. “So it’s not surprising that they’re shielding him from truthful advertising, too.”

Trump Suggests Starting A News Network

Trump News Network?

President Trump, who is a near-constant strong critic of the news media, who he calls the "enemy of the people," "corrupt" and producers of "fake news," suggested the idea yesterday of starting a news network, specifically positioning it as way to counter CNN.

While speaking at an event in The Villages, Florida about Medicare, Trump said, "CNN is a voice that really seems to be the voice out there and it's a terrible thing for our country. We ought to start our own network and put some real news out there, because they are so bad for our country. We're looking at that. We should do something about it, too."

Trump has previously tweeted a suggestion of creating a, quote, "worldwide network to show the world the way we really are," as opposed to what he called unfair coverage by CNN. Additionally, towards the end of the 2016 presidential campaign, there was chatter about Trump possibly starting a news network if he lost the election.

Survey: Trust In Mass Media Remains Low

Americans remain largely mistrustful of the mass media as 41% currently have "a great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news "fully, accurately and fairly." This latest reading represents a four-percentage-point dip since last year and marks the end of improvements in back-to-back years after hitting an all-time low.

Although trust in the media has edged down this year, it is well above the record low of 32% in 2016 when Republicans' trust dropped precipitously and drove the overall trust reading down during the divisive presidential campaign. Republicans' trust is still at a very low level and a wide gap in views of the media among partisans persists as 69% of Democrats say they have trust and confidence in it, while 15% of Republicans and 36% of independents agree.

After hitting the low point three years ago, U.S. adults' trust in the accuracy of the mass media appeared to be rebounding -- increasing 13 points over two years. Yet, the latest reading from a Sept. 3-15 Gallup poll found levels matching those in 2017.

Gallup first measured trust in the mass media in a 1972 survey when 68% of Americans said they trusted it. Similar levels were recorded in 1974 (69%) and 1976 (72%), but two decades later, when Gallup next asked the question, trust had fallen to 53%.

Although overall trust was at the majority level until 2004, no more than 21% of Americans dating back to 1972 ever said they had the greatest level of trust. Currently, 13% have a great deal of trust, 28% a fair amount, 30% not very much and 28% none at all.

Partisans' Trust in the Mass Media Remain Widely Divergent
Americans' trust in the media has been eroding over time, but in the current highly polarized climate, the views of political partisans have become increasingly divergent. President Donald Trump's description of the media as "the enemy of the people" has undoubtedly colored the views of all Americans.

Report: Social Media In A Vise

The social media giants are stuck in a vise as both Democrats and the Trump campaign look for an edge by accusing the platforms of favoring the other side, according to The Hill.

On one side are Democrats, who are demanding that Facebook and Twitter censor President Trump and his campaign.

This week, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey demanding that Trump be suspended and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ripped Facebook for refusing to fact check -- and remove -- Trump campaign ads it said are misleading.

Democrats are deeply worried that Trump will spend hundreds of millions of dollars and leverage his massive social media following to distort public perceptions, echoing concerns from 2016 when foreign agents used the platforms to promote misinformation.

On the other end are Trump and Republicans, who have long held that conservative voices are being suppressed by Silicon Valley liberals reacting to elite media outrage at the president and his supporters.

Underscoring the pressure on the social media giants -- this week, both Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Donald Trump Jr., a top surrogate for his father's reelection campaign -- renewed their calls for the government to dismantle the tech giants, albeit for very different reasons.

Cable Companies Make $28B Yearly From Hidden Fees

The average cable customer pays $450 in hidden fees each year, and the unexpected charges add up to an estimated $28 billion for the cable industry annually, according to a new report from Consumer Reports.

Fox Business Network reports the nonprofit consumer advocacy group released its annual “CR Cable Bill Report” Thursday. Consumer Reports’ survey found that 85 percent of Americans have encountered an unexpected or hidden fee for a service they used in the past two years. Telecommunications providers, including cable companies, are the worse offenders when it comes to charging unexpected fees.

“What a cable company advertises to a consumer as a monthly price for services, and what the consumer actually ends up paying, can be dramatically different,” the group said in the report.

Company-imposed surcharges for services like broadcast TV, regional sports and set-top box rental add 24 percent on top of the average cable bill, Consumer Reports said. The national average monthly cable bill in 2018 had a base package of $156.71, but fees brought the total average bill to $217.42.

Cable companies are required by law to itemize these fees on customers’ bills. But Consumer Reports said the average cable bill contains more than a dozen line-item charges, creating a situation the group said is “ripe for consumer confusion.”

These fees have also been increasing. Consumer Reports’ survey found that 64 percent of respondents said they’re paying more in surprise charges now than they did five years ago.

For example, one company’s broadcast TV surcharge increased by 50 percent in a year. Another increased its fees for regional sports and broadcast TV by more than 600 percent over four years.

It’s legal for cable companies to charge these fees as long as they disclose them. But Consumer Reports said the companies aren’t all consistent. They’re recommending that the government require cable companies to include all fees be included in the advertised price.

Report: The Bloodshed Isn’t Letting Up At WarnerMedia

According to The NYPost, the entertainment colossus formerly known as Time Warner — whose name was changed after its merger with AT&T — has recently axed 49 jobs in New York alone as it eliminates overlap across its HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. units, a state government filing revealed Thursday.

That figure doesn’t include a host of big-name exits connected to AT&T’s restructuring of the division, which kicked off in March, a source said.

The source added that there “could be more” cuts coming. One insider said that since AT&T acquired the firm last year, the number of cuts has been closer to the “high hundreds.”

Cuts have been sprinkled across HBO, Warner Bros. and Turner, sources said, adding that they primarily come from departments like finance and legal.

In July, the company axed 20 ad sales jobs, dubbing them “redundancies.”

This week, Nancy Lesser, a 35-year veteran at the company who most recently was EVP of media and talent relations, stepped down, but her role is not included in the 49 slashed jobs, according to a source.

AT&T began restructuring WarnerMedia in March when Turner president David Levy and HBO’s longtime CEO, Richard Plepler, resigned.

A centralization of the company followed under AT&T exec John Stankey — now CEO of WarnerMedia — who appointed ex-NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt as the chairman of WarnerMedia’s entertainment and streaming businesses.

Inside the company, staffers are bracing for more cuts. “The bloodbath continues certainly through the rest of the year,” a source said, adding that “the morale is lower than Death Valley.”

Sports Illustrated Plans To Dramatically Cut Staff

Sports Illustrated plunged into turmoil Thursday as the magazine’s new management began laying off staff members in a plan to heavily rely on freelancers, according to The LA Times.

Dozens of staff members are expected to be laid off. The cuts began nearly five months after Iowa publishing giant Meredith Corp. sold the 65-year-old publication to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million. Authentic Brands then assigned licensing rights to a third-party firm, Maven Inc., which now runs the magazine.

The upheaval at the legendary magazine illustrates the difficulties facing print publications that have long relied on advertising and subscriptions. Sports Illustrated was once the dominant sports-themed publication in the U.S. and a marquee title within the Time Inc. magazine portfolio. Magazine magnate Henry Luce, co-founder of Time, brought Sports Illustrated to life in 1954.

But Time Inc. was dismantled in 2018 after Meredith purchased the company. It sold several of the titles, including Time, Fortune and then Sports Illustrated. Meredith Corp., which publishes Better Homes and Gardens and Real Simple magazine, wanted to bolster its female-skewing titles so it retained such Time Inc. properties as People magazine.

Authentic Brands is a New York brand management firm with rights to big-name celebrities Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, and brands including Thomasville furniture, Frye boots and Frederick’s of Hollywood. In August, private equity giant BlackRock bought a 30% stake in Authentic Brands for $875 million.

Authentic Brands retained ownership of Sports Illustrated but assigned licensing rights to Seattle-based Maven. That group paid Authentic Brands $45 million in advance royalties as part of the 10-year deal for use of the Sports Illustrated properties, including the swimsuit edition, in seven countries. Maven assumed responsibility for operating the digital and print editions of Sports Illustrated, which is based in New York and reaches an estimated 2.7 million subscribers.

Martina McBride: Women Have Been Erased From Playlists

Country star Martina McBride has again called out Spotify for recommending mostly male country artists for their playlists and said she felt betrayed at the idea that women were being “erased from the playlists.”



The "Concrete Angel" singer posted on her Instagram story last month that she was listening to a song by fellow country artist Sara Evans when she decided to create a "Country Music" playlist on the platform.

The recommendations Spotify suggested she add to the playlist were all by male artists in the genre.

"I just have no words. My heart is pounding. I can't remember when I've been this mad," she posted on her story about the lack of female artists recommended.

"Is it lazy? Is it discriminatory? Is it tone deaf? Is it out of touch? @spotify what.is.it??? Please help me understand," she wrote.

"I'm frustrated for my sisters," she wrote in her Instagram story. "For all the great female artists who are making fabulous music. For all the female writers. And MOST OF ALL for every little girl out there who doesn't hear this music And doesn't know that SHE CAN GROW UP AND DO IT!!!"

“”We have an entire generation of teenage girls that have a limited example of female perspective on their radio station.

October 4 Radio History

➦In 1922...Baseball's World Series first aired on radio over WJZ NYC and WGY Albany NY.  the announcers were Grantland Rice and W. O. McGeehan.

➦In 1925...The Atwater Kent Radio Hour debuted on WEAF NYC and carried by 11 other stations.  It was a top-rated radio concert music program heard on NBC and CBS from October 4, 1925, to December 17, 1934,[1] with stars of the Metropolitan Opera often making appearances. Classical music was performed by a large symphony orchestra.

➦In 1939...a barber from Canonsburg (near Pittsburgh) recorded 'That Old Gang of Mine' with the Ted Weems Orchestra. That singer was the feature of the Weems band for many years before going solo as a radio, TV and stage star. We know him as The Incomparable Mr. C, Perry Como.

His string of hits for RCA Victor spans four decades. He was an NBC mainstay (radio & TV) for almost as long.  According to Billboard, Como's last Top10 hit was "It's Impossible" in 1970.

➦In 1948..."The Railroad Hour," starring Gordon MacRae in "The World's Greatest Musical Comedies," began a one-year run on ABC Radio. The series moved to NBC in 1949 and continued until June 1954. Marvin Miller was the announcer.

➦In 1957...The comic strip and radio show “Blondie" made the transition to TV, starring Pamela Britton in the title role, and Arthur Lake as Dagwood.

➦In 1986...CBS newsman Dan Rather was mugged in New York City as he was walking along Park Avenue in Manhattan to his apartment. He was attacked and punched from behind by a man who demanded to know, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" while a second assailant also chased and beat him. As the assailant pummeled and kicked Rather, he kept repeating the question over and over again.

Ten years later, Rather's primary attacker was identified as William Tager, who shot and killed an NBC technician outside the "Today" show studios in 1994.

➦In 2014...Paul Revere, the organist and since 1958 leader of the rock band “Paul Revere & the Raiders,” died from cancer at age 76. With Mark Lindsay as lead vocalist they scored the hits “Kicks” (1966), “Hungry” (1966), “Him Or Me – What’s It Gonna Be?” (1967) and the Platinum-certified No. 1 single “Indian Reservation” (1971).