FBI Confirms 'Gag Order' On Agents Investigating Clinton

The FBI has confirmed to a senior Republican senator that agents were sworn to secrecy -- and subject to lie detector tests -- in the Hillary Clinton email probe, an extensive measure one former agent said could have a "chilling effect."

A July 1 letter sent by a senior deputy to FBI Director James Comey to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, detailed the restrictions on agents. The letter, reviewed by Fox News, confirmed agents signed a "Case Briefing Acknowledgement" which says the disclosure of information is "strictly prohibited" without prior approval, and those who sign are subject to lie detector tests.

The measures show the extent to which the bureau has gone to keep additional details of the politically sensitive case from going public.

A recently retired FBI agent, who declined to speak on the record, citing the sensitivity of the matter, said a "Case Briefing Acknowledgement" is reserved for "the most sensitive of sensitive cases," and can have a "chilling effect" on agents, who understand "it comes from the very top and that there has to be a tight lid on the case."

Comey said last week more than 100 classified emails were sent or received by Hillary Clinton, including some at the Top Secret level, which would require agents to have the necessary clearance to review and investigate.  Some of the intelligence came from the U.S. government's most closely held programs, known as Special Access Programs, or SAP and included human spying.

The "Case Briefing Acknowledgement" is more evidence that the probe was always a serious criminal investigation, and never a "security review" or "security inquiry" as described by Clinton and her campaign team.

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SF Radio: SAG-AFTRA Hints At KNBR Work Stoppage

Gabrielle Carteris, national president of SAG-AFTRA, speaks during a news conference

Newly unionized employees of KNBR 680 AM radio, the longtime broadcaster of San Francisco Giants baseball, staged a rally outside AT&T Park Wednesday as an opening salvo in what could be a long labor war.

According to sfgate.com, the employees are seeking a minimum of $17 an hour for off-air staff, and $30 an hour for on-air talent. The station’s owner, Cumulus Media of Atlanta, has countered with the San Francisco minimum wage, which just rose to $13 an hour, plus 1 percent, according to union negotiators.

The 35 staffers voted in 2014 to join the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) but have not been able to secure a contract. There has been no movement in negotiations on the wage gap since February.

This could definitely lead to a work stoppage,” said Len Egert, executive director of the SAG-AFTRA San Francisco local, “and I don’t know if we could continue programming.”

Employees insist that KNBR is a money-making station.

Pokemon GO Could Be Big Marketing Tool For Retailers

By Angela Moon

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pokemon GO, a mobile game that has rocketed to the top of Apple Inc and Android app stores in record time, looks set to challenge young internet companies which specialize in increasing foot traffic for small businesses and may end up playing a role in major brands' marketing, according to industry experts.

The augmented reality game from Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd, where players walk around real-life neighborhoods to hunt down virtual cartoon characters on their smartphone screens, has more than 65 million users in the United States just seven days after launch.

That is more users than Twitter Inc, and the game is already helping local restaurants, coffee shops and small retailers to attract new customers.

(NY Post Photo)

L'inizio Pizza Bar in Long Island City in New York claims its sales jumped 75 percent over the weekend by activating a "lure module" feature that attracts virtual Pokemon characters to the store, thereby tempting in nearby players. The store's manager spent $10 to have a dozen Pokemon characters placed in the location, according to a report in the New York Post.

That sort of instant effect is a potential threat for Groupon Inc, LivingSocial Inc, Foursquare and other relatively new companies which have revolutionized online marketing for small businesses in the last few years.

Pokemon GO's instant popularity appears to be the result of nostalgia for the classic 20-year-old cartoon franchise and players' desire to win kudos within the game by capturing as many characters as possible.

"People born in the 1980s and 90s, they grew up with this. It's approachable and reassuring and that's whyit's gone from zero to millions of users in just a few days," said Jeremiah Rosen, managing director at creative agency Reason2Be in New York City. "I see McDonald's, Home Depot, national brands playing into the culture."

A report on tech news site Gizmodo on Wednesday said a student in Australia had uncovered code in the game's workings that indicated a sponsorship system and mentioned the name of McDonalds Corp. McDonald's declined to comment on the matter or any of its marketing plans.


DISRUPTING DISRUPTERS 

The popularity of Pokemon GO threatens companies like Foursquare, which has a service called Swarm offering coupons and prizes to customers who "check in" at participating venues, and social e-commerce sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, which many businesses use as a vehicle to offer discount deals. Such "daily deal" sites get a cut every time a customer buys a retailer's coupon.

Groupon and LivingSocial were not immediately available for a comment. Foursquare said it was too soon to tell the impact of Pokemon GO.

Marketing experts said small businesses may increasingly turn to Pokemon GO - and redirect some of their marketing spend - as the mobile game racks up a bigger user base.

"With Pokemon GO, you are seeing it as bypassing a lot of digital (marketing) channels that the brick and mortar shops have been relying on for the past few years," said Christophe Jammet, director of social media and mobile at consultancy DDG in New York.

"There hasn't been a geolocation social platform that can lure so many people all at once."

Pokemon GO players are highly engaged, spending far more time in the app than they do with some of the most popularsocial apps such as Facebook Inc's Instagram and messaging services WhatsApp and Snapchat, according to SimilarWeb, a market intelligence and web analytics firm.

Many shops are attracting customers by advertising themselves as "Poke Stops," a place where gamers can grab new Pokemon balls and increase their level of power within the app. Experts said it is only a matter of time before major brands jump on the bandwagon.

"They are already looking into it," said Tom Kelshaw, director of technology at Maxus Global, a media investment management group in New York.

The Pokemon GO craze - and potential for further revenue from third parties - has sent Nintendo's shares skyrocketing since the game's debut on Thursday, adding nearly $10 billion to the company's market value.

Orlando Radio: Dani B Lands PM Drive At WQMP AMP Radio

Dani B

CBS Radio/Orlando has announced the addition of Danie B for PM Drive on WQMP 101.9 FM AMP Radio starting Monday.

"Danie B has an infectious energy and personality," said Dennis Martinez, program director for the station WQMP-FM. "I was drawn to Danie’s ability to create and execute an entertaining program. She is a welcome addition to the AMP family."

She replaces Jill Bucco. "We moved Jill to morning drive to partner with Chad Pitt on March 28th," Martinez said.

Danie B comes from Albany Broadcasting JAMZ 96.3 FM in Albany, N.Y., where she has hosted the morning show since last year.

She started as a traffic producer and anchor for Total Traffic Network and on-air weekend personality for WiLD 105.7 and 96.7 in Atlanta. Then she moved to Albany to be the afternoon host on JAMZ 96.3. She was promoted to mornings after a year and a half at the station.

WQMP 101.9 FM (92 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Danie B said she was excited by the new job. "Thanks to everyone in Albany and Atlanta who helped me to grow and develop my craft," she said in a statement. "I always say, 'Success is journey, not a destination,' and I'm more than ready to see what's next."

Summer Bummer: MLB All-Star Game TV Ratings Tank

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game seemed to suffer from a lack of buzz this year.

Though it was the last all-star outing for retiring Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, and despite little else going on in the sports world to steal attention, Tuesday night’s game fell to record-low viewership.

According to MediaLife, The contest averaged 8.71 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, off 20 percent from last year’s 10.9 million.

Among adults 18-49, the game averaged a 2.2 rating, losing 29 percent of last year’s audience.

In fact, NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” beat the All-Star Game on both counts. That means more people tuned in to watch Simon Cowell than Salvador Perez.

The network was quick to point out that the MLB game remains the top-rated all-star game among the four major leagues (MLB, NHL, NFL and NBA) and that the broadcast was its top-rated show of the summer.

That’s true, but it’s hard not to wonder why interest in the game, and some would argue baseball generally, has fallen.

Up until 1995, the All-Star Game drew 20 million-plus viewers regularly. The strike hurt viewership, and the game’s move to Fox, which two decades ago had significantly lower ratings, didn’t help.

And, of course, viewership for nearly everything has fallen in recent years. The game hasn’t drawn more than 11.3 million viewers in five years.

But others would argue there’s something more at play here than just the ratings declines seen across all of television in recent years.

Youth baseball participation declined 4.3 percent from 2009 to 2014, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, and some argue that the game is just too slow for today’s young people. In a sport like soccer, you can be involved in every play. Baseball rarely involves more than two or three people per play.

Certainly the sport is more popular with older people. Nielsen Scarborough says people over 55 are 11 percent more likely than the average person to like baseball.

Detroit Radio: CBS Inks UofM Sports Renewal

CBS RADIO Detroit’s Newsradio WWJ 950 AM, Sports WXYT 97.1 FM The Ticket and CBS Sports Radio WXYT 1270 AM in association with IMG, announced Wednesday a long-term alliance to air University of Michigan football, basketball and hockey.

The multi-year agreement is an extension of a partnership that began more than twenty years ago.

WWJ-AM is the flagship station for U of M Football and 97.1 The Ticket will simulcast select games.  U of M Basketball will air on WWJ-AM and U of M Hockey will air on Sports Radio 1270.  In addition, 97.1 The Ticket will carry a weekly interview with U of M Football Coach Jim Harbaugh.

WWJ-AM and 97.1 The Ticket offer the most 24/7 live and local sports and news programming in the market. Listeners can hear all three stations online at www.cbsdetroit.com and via the Radio.com app for a variety of mobile devices.

“We are excited that IMG renewed our great partnership with the CBS RADIO Detroit family. This will continue to provide a consistent flagship home for Michigan football and basketball broadcasts in southeast Michigan and will place our hockey games on a regular channel in the market. We look forward to another multi-year partnership on game broadcasts and coaches radio shows,” said Warde Manuel, Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics.

Debbie Kenyon, Senior Vice President/Market Manager, CBS RADIO Detroit said, “WWJ Newsradio 950, CBS Sports Radio 1270 and 97.1 The Ticket are thrilled to renew our partnership with IMG and the University of Michigan. IMG and U of M are truly one of the best sports partners in the business.”

“It’s an honor to continue our relationship with the university and be the flagship station for University of Michigan football and basketball.  It’s a perfect partnership between two traditional organizations WWJ Newsradio 950 and the UM” said Rob Davidek, WWJ Program Director.

Consumers Buying More Experiences, Less On 'Things'

Traditional retail is having a tough go of it lately. Declining sales, pressure from online stores, and the fickle tastes of young people have all pressured the old guard of shopping.

Business Insider reports Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Tuesday had some more bad news for the mall stalwarts: No one wants to buy goods anymore.

Using the aggregated data of those with Bank of America debit cards and credit cards, US economist Michelle Meyer identified a growing trend in customers' spending habits: Instead of purchasing goods, more and more Americans are putting their incomes toward experiences.

"We show an assortment of categories in the Chart of the Month and observe the following themes: softness in housing-related items; continued shift away from department stores and teen & young adult clothing; strength in sporting goods; and an increase in spending on travel and restaurants," Meyer and her team wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.

Based on the data, spending at department stores such as Macy's and Nordstrom has declined 4.0%, reiterating the downward trend for the group. This follows survey data last month from Morgan Stanley finding that retail sales in may were down 3.9% year-over-year.

Spending is also down 4.6% at teen and young-adult stores, 3.6% on home goods, and 3.0% on electronics.

Meyer pointed to the home-goods sales as particularly interesting considering that the housing market has seen some strength in the past few months, with existing-home sales hitting a nine-year high in May despite supply issues percolating in the market.

"We see continued evidence that spending related to the home has weakened — sales at furniture and home goods stores are declining on a year-over-year basis, down 0.5% and 3.6%, respectively, after solid gains over the prior five years," Meyer wrote.

"Similarly, spending at home improvement stores has been sluggish since the start of the year, although there was a tick higher in June," as illustrated in the chart.

The big winners in the BAML data were businesses associated with activities and experiences, according to Meyer.

"On the upside, sporting goods stores look strong and the travel-related components — airlines and lodging — are seeing continued gains," Meyer wrote.

Bret Baier Defends Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes

Add Bret Baier to the chorus of mostly-female Fox News Channel female on-air talent publicly supporting their boss Roger Ailes since former show host Gretchen Carlson filed that sexual harassment suit last week.

Tuesday night Baier told CBS’s Late Show host Stephen Colbert all those headlines about the blockbuster lawsuit, followed by other lurid charges made against Ailes by other women, dating back decades, “are foreign to me.”

“You guys over there are making some news that I’m sure you don’t welcome,” Colbert said right off the bat when FNC’s top political guy sat down to talk about the upcoming political conventions.

“Gretchen Carlson has accused your boss, and the genius behind Fox News, Roger Ailes, of sexual harassment and reprisal.” Colbert wondered what’s the mood in the FNC hallways, because “other people have come out and supported these accusations.”

“The Roger I know is somebody who has been amazing to me” and “one of the first people who called when my son had to have open heart surgery, not once but three times,” Baier said. “That’s the Roger I know.”

According to deadline.com, he quickly tried to turn the talk to FNC’s upcoming convention plans, beginning with “We have a lot of focus on; we have a lot to do.” But Colbert wasn’t finished with that other topic:



“It must be hard to do when you guys ARE the story,” he pushed back. Fox “has always been in the headlines, one way or another; I think unjustly sometimes,” Baier said, then he began again to plug FNC’s political confabs plans, including his upcoming interview with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, TV Newser reports that when Fox News journalists show up in Cleveland to cover the Republican National Convention next week they'll be packing gas masks,

Bret Baier says they’ll be ready for anything that might happen, especially involving protests.

“We have teams out there that will be covering protests. They have equipment, gas masks, security,” Baier told CBS’ The Late Show host Stephen Colbert. Security is “a serious concern” at both the Republican and Democratic conventions, he added.


“Anything can happen,” Baier said. “And this election has proven that we don’t know what’s next.”

ESPN Radio Promotes Marc Kestecher For NBA PbP

Marc Kestecher

Longtime, versatile ESPN Radio voice Marc Kestecher will serve as the lead play-by-play commentator for the NBA on ESPN Radio beginning with the 2016-17 NBA season.

He will pair with analysts including Jon Barry, PJ Carlesimo and Kara Lawson to call regular-season, All-Star and playoff games.  He will work with Hall of Famer Hubie Brown on the NBA Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.

Kestecher, a 17-year veteran of ESPN, will continue to call NFL, college football and college basketball games on ESPN Radio, and will remain as a studio host for a variety of ESPN Radio programming, including the pre- and post-game shows for the College Football Playoff Semifinals and Championship.

In addition, he will work select ESPN TV events.

"When I arrived at ESPN Radio 17 years ago, one of my goals was to work our NBA games alongside Hall of Famers Jim Durham and Dr. Jack Ramsay, which I was able to do for more than a decade,” said Kestecher. “It is with great honor that I will occupy JD's seat, which was filled so brilliantly the last few seasons by Kevin Calabro."

Tim McCarthy, Senior Vice President/GM Audio Play-by-Play said, “It is always gratifying when a commentator who grew up as part of the ESPN Radio team earns an opportunity such as this. Marc has successfully covered every area of play-by-play for ESPN Radio and we are so proud as he takes the helm of one of our marquee series - the NBA on ESPN Radio.”

Kestecher joined ESPN in 1999 as an ESPN Radio SportsCenter update anchor. He is currently the lead studio host for ESPN Radio’s Major League Baseball and college football broadcasts and is a fixture at major events like NBA All-Star Weekend, the NBA Finals, the NBA Draft, the World Series and the MLB All-Star Game.

Prior to arriving at ESPN, Kestecher was an anchor, reporter and talk show host at WKNR in Cleveland (1996 – 1999).  Previously, he served as sports director at WPTR/WROW in Albany, NY (1992 – 1996) where he also called Albany Patroons (CBA) and Albany Firebirds (Arena Football) games. He also provided play-by play for the University of Albany football and men’s basketball teams (1995-1996) as well as men’s basketball for St. Rose College (1993-1994).

Indy Radio: Emmis Takes Ratings Hit During Indy 500

Radio ratings for this year’s Indianapolis 500 didn’t exactly hit the wall, but they certainly brushed the barrier and scrubbed some serious speed.

The Indy Business Journal reports overall listener numbers and those in the important 25-to-54 age range for May's race airing on four Emmis Communications stations decreased significantly from last year’s race.

The dent in radio ratings was likely caused by an 11th hour decision by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to air the race—the 100th running—live on television in the Indianapolis market for the first time since 1950. The race, which was televised nationally on ABC and locally on WRTV-TV Channel 6, was viewed by more than 350,000 central Indiana households, according to New York-based Nielsen Media Research.

The race was held May 29, and this month Nielsen released radio listenership numbers for the event.

The race aired locally on Emmis stations SoftAC WYXB 105.7 FM, N/T WIBC 93.1 FM, Country WLHK 97.1 HankFM and Sports WFNU 1070 AM / W228CX 93.5 FM The Fan.  In the 25-to-54 demographic, the race (noon to 4 p.m.) earned a 39.2 share. That means 39.2 percent of the people listening to radio at the time in that demographic were tuned into the race. That’s down from last year’s 58 share, according to Nielsen.

Despite the decline, the race remains “by far and away” the most listened-to radio event in the market, said Bob Richards, Emmis vice president of programming. This year’s Indy 500’s share was still about five times the size of a strong drive-time radio program.

Still, the race’s radio listening audience fell way short of Emmis’ earlier expectations

July 14 Radio History

Douglas Edwards

In 1917...broadcast newsman Douglas Edwards was born in Ada Oklahoma.  He became CBS radio’s premier news reader, and anchored TV’s first network newscast from 1948 to 1962 when Walter Cronkite succeeded him.  He then went back to radio, but continued with a 5 minute midday TV newscast.

He retired in 1988, and died Oct 13, 1990 at age 73.



In 1927...NBC newsman John Chancellor was born in Chicago. He succeeded Dave Garroway as host of Today, then became anchor of NBC Nightly News from 1970-82.  When Tom Brokaw replaced him he stayed on ‘Nightly’ doing commentaries. During the 1976 election he introduced the concept of Red and Blue states, which survives to this day.

He died of stomach cancer July 12 1996, two days shy of his 69th birthday.



In 1957…Master satirist Stan Freberg debuted a new weekly comedy program on CBS Radio in the time slot previously occupied by Jack Benny.



In addition to Freberg, the cast included June Foray, Peter Leeds, and Daws Butler. Billy May arranged and conducted the music. The program failed to attract sponsors and the network cancelled the series after 15 episodes. It was the last U.S. network radio show to devote itself purely to comedy.


In 1969...WBZ 1030 AM, Boston increased its talk programming to a full 10 1/2 hours-a-day.

Increased competition in the top 40 format — first from WMEX 1510 AM which had programmed a top 40 format since 1957, then from WRKO, which adopted the format in 1967 — led WBZ to shift its music programming to adult contemporary in 1969, playing several songs an hour between 6 and 9 a.m. (though it was not unheard of for Carl DeSuze to play only one, if any, song an hour during his show), 10 to 12 songs an hour between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 4 to 6 songs an hour between 4 and 7 p.m..

At night, WBZ programmed talk shows, with such hosts as Guy Mainella, a pioneer in sports talk; Jerry Williams in the evenings; and Larry Glick's overnight show. Music was also programmed during the day on weekends.

Beginning in the late 1960s, WBZ made a major push into live play-by-play sports. From 1966 through 1979, and again from 1991 through 1994, WBZ was home to radio broadcasts of New England Patriots football.  In the fall of 1969, WBZ regained the radio rights to the Boston Bruins (which it had lost in 1951), and also began carrying Boston Celtics basketball. The Bruins stayed through the 1977-78 season.

During the 1970s, WBZ was one of a number of clear channel AM stations that petitioned to be allowed to increase their power; WBZ would have used 500,000 watts transmitting from Provincetown, Massachusetts to reach all of New England during the day. A backlash from smaller stations led to the petition being denied and station protections limited to a 750-mile radius, in effect canceling the entire clear channel service.


In 1984...FLASHBACK..from R&R Week of July 13, 1984:

In 1988…At the height of "Elvis is Alive" phenomenon, Nashville radio station WYHY offered $1 million to anyone who showed up at the studios with proof that Elvis Presley was still alive.


In 1990...Howard Stern debuted in the New York market on WWOR-TV in 1990 as host of a talk show featuring his trademark of outrageous humor. The program entered national syndication in January 1991 and ultimately ended on August 8, 1992 because of the growing production costs.


In 2009…The iTunes Music Store reached 1.5 billion Apps downloaded.


In 2015…Former ABC News anchor/vice president Marlene Sanders died of cancer at age 84.