Salem Media Group has announced that Chris MacCourtney, General Manager of Salem's Detroit radio cluster has been promoted to the role of Operational Vice President for Salem's Radio Division effective January 1, 2016.
MacCourtney joined Salem in October of 2004 as GM of WDTK 1400 AM later adding WLQV 1500 AM to the two station cluster. Prior to joining Salem he had more than two decades of broadcast sales and management experience. In his new role, MacCourtney will have oversight of the Detroit, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; and Louisville, Kentucky radio markets.
Allen Power, Senior Vice President of Salem's Radio Division said, "For more than a decade Chris has displayed proven leadership for Salem in a very challenging Detroit radio market. We're excited to have him expand his oversight to Columbus and Louisville, and are confident he will quickly have a positive impact helping our GMs and their teams grow the operations in those two markets."
His name is Ayinde Alakoye. And even if that fails to ring a bell, chances are you know his work.
In 2007, according to atlantablackstar.com, he created the mobile app that Clear Channel turned into iHeartRadio, the flagship Internet radio platform that boasts 70 million users.
“I grew up in a single parent household,” says Alakoye, whose father was murdered when he was seven. “Donnie Simpson in Washington D.C. used to get me off to school each day because he was the male voice I would hear.”
His musical seeds were sewn early on, but Alakoye, who graduated from Juniata College with a marketing degree, would play professional beach volleyball for several years before trading in his shorts for a suit. As a media sales professional, Alakoye quickly climbed the ranks at WTOP in his native Washington D.C. before moving on to Clear Channel and CBS.
And then, just as his career began to crest, in classic entrepreneur fashion, Alakoye left corporate America to pursue his unique vision for radio.
In 2003, he started a company called Thumb Radio, which sought to make every local station in the country accessible via mobile phone. Today, that concept is ubiquitous, but in 2003, Alakoye was early to the party. Thumb Radio debuted four years ahead of the iPhone, and five years before Apple launched its app store, which coincided with third party app development.
In 2007, Alakoye approached Clear Channel with his novel technology. At the time, the radio giant had nearly 1100 local radio stations streaming live on about 1100 different websites.
“I went to Randy Mays, one of the owners of Clear Channel, and I said ‘All of your radio stations should be on one property and you should stream them on mobile platforms’,” he says.“He loved the idea and we formed what is now the basis of iHeartRadio back in 2007.”
In January 2011, with few possessions other than a handwritten sign he clutched as cars whizzed by, Ted Williams stood in the cold at a busy intersection in Columbus, Ohio, hoping for a miracle.
"Broke, homeless, standing on a corner, addiction kicking my butt. My family had all given up on me," Williams told NBC News in an interview this week.
Williams' dream of getting off the streets and back in front of a microphone unexpectedly came true when a Columbus Dispatch reporter noticed his sign, which pleaded for help and boasted about Williams' "God given gift of voice."
The Dispatch posted a video of Williams' attention-grabbing baritone voice — and overnight, Williams went viral. He got a haircut, a shave and offers for big-time work, including voicing commercials for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
Now, nearly five years later, "the man with the golden voice" has another dream: to give back to the homeless community in which he once languished.
But the 58-year-old has even bigger aspirations. "I want to open up a homeless laundromat," he said. "A lot of times, homeless people discard clothes, or they walk down the street with millions of clothes, and they're never in the most presentable shape."
He envisions a laundromat where volunteer attendants wash and dry homeless people's clothes so they have a shot at getting back to work, like he did.
Last month, a federal jury slapped Cox Communications with a $6 million penalty for breaking antitrust laws. Cox had illegally forced customers to rent the company's set-top box as a condition of receiving premium cable service, the jury ruled.
Now, according to The Washington Post, a federal judge has overturned that verdict, saying that the consumers who initially sued Cox didn't do enough to prove that the company misbehaved.
Every year, the average household pays hundreds of dollars a year to rent cable set-top boxes from their TV provider. It's become an important revenue stream for some cable companies. According to the consumer complaint, Cox acted improperly by making it so that customers couldn't subscribe to its premium tier without also renting its set-top box, a fact that critics said was anticompetitive.
The jury agreed in October, but on Thursday Judge Robin Cauthron threw out the verdict because the case failed to show that Cox had actually prevented competitors from selling their own alternatives.
"There simply is no evidence from which a reasonable jury could determine that that arrangement led to a foreclosure of commerce," the judge's order reads.
Cox said in a statement that it was pleased to hear its behavior didn't violate antitrust law.
"Cox’s primary goal is to provide its customers with high value video services," the company said, "and this victory ensures that Cox will be free to continue to provide those services in the future."
Count ABC among the growing number of TV networks developing original programming for its own new streaming effort, but not quite like all the others are doing.
Instead of launching standalone subscription services like CBS All Access or NBCUniversal’s Seeso, the Disney-owned broadcaster is assembling a slate of series intended to live only on its WatchABC app, according to Variety. The first project has already been put in development: a short-form scripted comedy starring up-and-coming standup performer Iliza Shlesinger.
An ABC rep declined comment.
The network is also said to be using the initiative as an alternative breeding ground for productions or talent that could eventually graduate to primetime. The slate won’t be confined to scripted comedies and ABC is also considering long-form series.
Select executives at the network are already making deals with talent to be cast for what has been dubbed “ABC3” internally, though that isn’t the brand the slate will be known by when it launches sometime next year.
Cole Swindell swung by the New York City WNSH NASH 94.7 FM studios Wednesday, prior to his concert at PlayStation Theater in Times Square last night.
Swindell chatted with NASH's Kelly Ford about what it was like touring with Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean this past summer and playing huge arenas, including the MetLife Stadium. In honor of Veteran’s Day, Cole also talked about the special veterans in his life, including one of his best friends.
Alpha Media Portland, OR announced that Top40 KBFF Live 95.5 FM will be heating things up with the 15th annual Truckload of Coats event.
The event is taking place Friday, November 13, 2015 from 6am-7pm at two Kimco Realty properties; Clackamas Promenade and Tanasbourne Village. Along with Kimco Realty, Columbia Sportswear and Transition Projects, Live 95.5 is asking the local community to help fill two 50-foot-semitrucks with new or gently used coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, towels, socks, shoes/boots and other winter supplies for the homeless.
All donations collected from this drive will be distributed by Portland’s own Transition Projects Inc., whose mission is to serve people’s basic needs as they transition from homelessness to housing. The supplies collected from Truckload of Coats will be used to support the life saving programs that Transition Projects has to offer. Transition Projects is a leader in housing homeless individuals and serves more than 10,000 people each year. They shelter 310 people every day and provide life-saving and life changing services to homeless and low-income persons throughout the Portland metropolitan region.
Columbia Sportswear, another major contributor to the overall success of this event, will continue to partner with Live 95.5 and help by donating new coats from their warehouse, as well as, bring along the results of an in-house coat collection drive conducted by its employees.
Alpha Media Vice President of Programming, Phil Becker commented, “Here at Live 95.5 and Alpha Media, we are committed to help and support our community in every way that we can. We are fortunate to have the power of live and local radio that allows us to drive awareness and contribution. It is one of our beliefs that there are times when making a difference is more important than making a dollar.
L-R: Curtis Sliwa, Cumulus NY VP/Market Manager Chad Lopez, 77 WABC PD Craig Schwalb, Ron Kuby
Earlier this week, 77 WABC New York’s Curtis & Kuby invited listeners for an intimate dinner and political conversation at Delmonico’s Kitchen on West 36th Street.
40 of the duo’s strongest supporters reserved their spots for “Dinner with Curtis & Kuby: A Night of Political Entertainment and Fun” to kick off Election Central. Curtis & Kuby answered questions from the attendees and discussed the current political race, social issues, and much more – no topic was off limits!
In 1906...Lee de Forest, who coined the term "radio", patented Audion tube.
Lee de Forest
De Forest was interested in wireless telegraphy and invented the Audion in 1906. He then developed an improved wireless telegraph receiver.
On 25 October 1906, de Forest filed a patent for diode vacuum tube detector, a two-electrode device for detecting electromagnetic waves, a variant of the Fleming valve invented two years earlier. One year later, he filed a patent for a three-electrode device that was a much more sensitive detector of electromagnetic waves. It was granted US Patent 879,532 in February 1908. The device was also called the de Forest valve, and since 1919 has been known as the triode. De Forest's innovation was the insertion of a third electrode, the grid, between the cathode (filament) and the anode (plate) of the previously invented diode. The resulting triode or three-electrode vacuum tube could be used as an amplifier of electrical signals, notably for radio reception. The Audion was the fastest electronic switching element of the time, and was later used in early digital electronics (such as computers). The triode was vital in the development of transcontinental telephone communications, radio, and radar until the 1948 invention of the transistor.
In 1904, a De Forest transmitter and receiver were set up aboard the steamboat Haimun operated on behalf of The Times, the first of its kind. On July 18, 1907, De Forest broadcast the first ship-to-shore message from the steam yacht Thelma. The communication provided quick, accurate race results of the Annual Inter-Lakes Yachting Association (I-LYA) Regatta. The message was received by his assistant, Frank E. Butler of Monroeville, Ohio, in the Pavilion at Fox's Dock located on South Bass Island on Lake Erie. DeForest disliked the term "wireless" and chose a new moniker, "radio."
De Forest is credited with the birth of public radio broadcasting when on January 12, 1910, he conducted experimental broadcast of part of the live performance of Tosca and, the next day, a performance with the participation of Italian tenor Enrico Caruso from the stage of Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
Jack Gale
In 1925...Legendary radio broadcaster Jack Gale was born. During his remarkable career he has been a radio performer, programmer, owner, voice-over talent, music publisher, manager and record producer spans more than 50 years.
Born in Baltimore, Gale started in radio prior to the emergence of rock 'n' roll and the Top 40 format.
He was heard on WSRS in Cleveland, WTMA in Charleston S.C., WITH in Baltimore, and WMEX in Boston before joining Stan Kaplan in 1965 at BIG WAYS in Charlotte, N.C., where the station and "Jack Gale the Morning Glory" achieved #1 ratings in 36 North and South Carolina counties.
Gale is still active and lives in the Fort Pierce, FL area.
In 1937...The National Broadcasting Company, (NBC) formed the first full-sized symphony orchestra for the sole purpose of broadcasting on the radio. Arturo Toscanini worked as its conductor for the first 17 years
In 1956...Dickie Goodman and Bill Buchanan (known as novelty records duo Buchanan and Goodman) appear in a New York City court to begin untangling the thicket of lawsuits brought on by their hit "Flying Saucer," which utilizes any number of "drop-ins" of other artists' hit records for comedic effect. This novelty song reached #3 on Billboard in 1956.
In 1965...The Album Charts..After 35 weeks, the Soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" reached #1 on the album chart. That album toppled Help! by the Beatles while the Ramsey Lewis Trio dropped with The In Crowd. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass moved back up with Whipped Cream & Other Delights and Bob Dylan was down after peaking at #3 with Highway 61 Revisited.
The rest of the Top 10: Look At Us from Sonny & Cher, Out of Our Heads by the Rolling Stones, the Soundtrack to "Mary Poppins", Barbra Streisand was emphatic with My Name Is Barbra and Herman's Hermits dropped to #10 with Herman's Hermits On Tour.
In 2001...Yankees Radio Broadcaster Frank Messer died.
An Asheville, North Carolina native, Messer was a member of the Marines during World War II in the South Pacific. After the war, he worked as a broadcaster in minor league baseball in the 1950s.
He got his major-league break when he joined the Baltimore Orioles and worked alongside their noted longtime voice, Chuck Thompson. In 1966, the year Bill O’Donnell also joined the broadcast crew, the O’s won their first world championship. Messer also called Baltimore Colts football during the 1960s.
Messer’s next major-league break came after the 1967 season, when Joe Garagiola left the Yankees broadcast crew to concentrate on the network jobs he also had at NBC Sports and NBC News. Messer took Garagiola’s place for 1968, working with ex-Yankees Jerry Coleman and Phil Rizzuto.
Jerry Coleman, Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto
The Yankees’ longtime public-relations director Bob Fishel had urged team management to approve a traditional play-by-play sportscaster, which the Yanks had not had since the firing of Red Barber after the 1966 season.
Billboard.com today announced its first-ever “Billboard Greatest of All Time” rankings for the top Hot 100 and Billboard 200 songs, albums and artists.
According to the articles on the Billboard website:
Elvis Presley leads all acts on the Billboard 200 with the most charted albums: 107 (between Aug. 17, 1963 through Oct. 10, 2015).
Madonna paces the rundown of artists with the most top 10 Hot 100 hits, with 38.
From “12×5″ to “Forty Licks,” the Rolling Stones have rocked the Billboard 200 and own the record for the most top 10 albums (36 of them) on the chart (between 1963 and 2010).
In just six years on the air (2009-15), Fox’s hit TV series “Glee” rewrote Hot 100 history, as the show’s cast sports the most entries on the chart of any act all-time: a whopping 207.
Paul McCartney tells Billboard the origin stories -- some moving, some bawdy -- behind eight of The Beatles' record-breaking 20 No. 1 hits. Click Here.
(Reuters) -- Media mogul John Malone, known for striking complex deals and running companies with intricate structures, is restructuring two companies he controls using tracking stocks and spinoffs.
Liberty Interactive Corp (QVCA.O), which mainly houses Malone's e-commerce interests, said it would spin-off some of its businesses along with its 18 percent stake in online travel company Expedia Inc (EXPE.O) into two newly-formed units - CommerceHub Inc and Liberty Expedia Holdings Inc.
Liberty Interactive itself is structured into two tracking stocks - QVC Group, its home-shopping business, and Liberty Ventures Group, its cable assets.
The spun off stocks will be distributed to Liberty Ventures Group shareholders.
Separately, Liberty Media Corp (LMCA.O) - which was spun off from Liberty Interactive in 2011 - said it would reclassify its shares into three new tracking stock groups.
A tracking stock is a type of common stock that "tracks" or depends on the financial performance of a specific business unit or operating division of a company rather than the operations of a company as a whole.
One tracking stock will be designated as the Liberty Braves Group and will track its Atlanta Braves baseball holdings.
The second, Liberty Media Group, will track its ownership in stakes in Time Warner, Viacom and Live Nation. The Liberty Sirius Group will track its unit Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI.O).
"The move is positive and hints at more to come especially with the Sirius tracker," Robert Routh, an analyst at FBN Securities said.
"I don't see more trackers created but do think a deal with Sirius XM as well as Expedia is likely in the works as well as a combination of Liberty Broadband Corp (LBRDA.O) with Liberty Interactive in the future," he said.
Dell brought the tracking stock back in vogue in October, when it struck a $67 billion deal for EMC Corp (EMC.N). It added a tracking stock to track the value of VMware (VMW.N), which is 80 percent owned by EMC.
Malone, known as the "King of Cable" for buying and selling cable and media companies for decades, has also spun off several companies in the past, including Liberty Broadband and Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings Inc (LTRPA.O).
Liberty Media's tracking stocks and the companies spun off from Liberty Interactive will trade separately on the Nasdaq.
The spinoffs and the creation of the new tracking stocks is expected to occur in the first half of 2016, the companies said.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan and Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sayantani Ghosh)
