P&G Is The Fastest Growing Advertiser On Radio

In light of Media Monitors’ just-release tally of 2018 top advertisers showing Procter & Gamble’s rise to the 5th highest rank, the latest Westwood One blog post examines the reasons why P&G has returned to AM/FM radio. In light of digital fraud and eroding TV audiences, P&G has rediscovered radio in a major way, running nearly triple the number of ads in Q4 of 2018 that they ran in Q1 2018.

Here’s what brands can learn from them:

• Branding via reach is how brands are built and sales and profits grow: AM/FM radio reaches 93% of households, giving brands like P&G scale to reach the people that are buying their products.
• Talk to people long before they come to buy: As described by Peter Field, building a brand takes time and requires a mass reach media.
• Remind the many. Don’t lecture the few: Les Binet and Sarah Carter recommend getting customers from all segments of the market. They also advise talking to them regularly and going for reach versus frequency.
• Take the “me” out of media: As a marketing professional, media usage looks nothing like the average consumer. Despite advertiser perceptions, AM/FM radio has mass reach.
• AM/FM radio is America’s number one mass reach media. Adding AM/FM radio to the media plan generates significant incremental reach.

Report: Super Bowl Ad Prices Stall

The meteoric rise of Super Bowl ad prices looks to be over, according to Bloomberg.

CBS Corp., which will broadcast the big game from Atlanta on Feb. 3, is selling 30-second commercials for $5.1 million to $5.3 million, people familiar with the matter said. That’s roughly the same price as last year, when Comcast Corp.’s NBC sold them for $5.24 million, according to research firm Kantar Media.

The Super Bowl is still the most-watched TV event of the year -- and the biggest advertising showcase -- but the audience peaked in 2015. Last year’s game drew 103.4 million viewers, the fewest in nine years. Prices for commercials may now be reflecting those realities.

Super Bowl ad prices had steadily increased over the past decade, in some years making huge leaps. Between 2012 and 2013, the price went up $500,000, according to Kantar Media. It jumped $400,000 between 2015 and 2016. Now Super Bowl ad prices “seem to be peaking,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Geetha Ranganathan said in a note Thursday.

CBS has sold over 90 percent of its ad inventory this year, a sign that marketers haven’t lost interest. And this year’s game will pit the New England Patriots against the Los Angeles Rams, a matchup that at least features teams from two of the biggest TV markets.

Westwood One Sports To Air Super Bowl LIII

Westwood One will present comprehensive coverage of Super Bowl LIII, live from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday, February 3, 2019.

The network will feature a full schedule of game day programming leading up to kickoff, when the New England Patriots take on the Los Angeles Rams for the title. This is a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVI, when Tom Brady and the Patriots beat Kurt Warner and the Rams. It was Brady’s first Super Bowl appearance. Next week will be his record 9th time playing in the game.

This is the 32nd consecutive year and the 46th time overall Westwood One will broadcast the Super Bowl, America’s biggest sporting event.

Kevin Harlan will handle the play-by-play duties for the Super Bowl for the ninth straight year, with Super Bowl XXXIV MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner making his debut as the color analyst. Super Bowl XXXI winning coach Mike Holmgren will also contribute throughout the game broadcast, his fourth year as a member of the broadcast crew.  Former All-Pro Offensive Lineman Tony Boselli returns for a third straight year as sideline reporter, and will be joined on the field for the second consecutive year by Hall of Fame reporter Ed Werder.  Jim Gray will anchor the pregame and halftime coverage, with appearances by Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. This is Jim Gray’s 18th Super Bowl for Westwood One. Scott Graham will return for his 10th straight Super Bowl and will also contribute to the pregame show coverage.

Kevin Harlan

Westwood One’s game day coverage begins at 2:00 pm ET, with “Super Bowl Preview,” co-hosted by Scott Graham and Kurt Warner, followed by “Super Bowl Insider,” co-hosted by Scott Graham, Tony Boselli, and Ian Rapoport at 3:00 pm ET. At 4:00 pm ET, live coverage from the stadium kicks off with “Super Sunday,” the Super Bowl LIII pregame show, hosted by Scott Graham. The Super Bowl game broadcast begins at 5:00 PM ET, with kickoff anticipated to be approximately 6:35 pm ET.

Westwood One will also produce “Seven Days to Sunday—The Road to Super Bowl LIII.”  This hour-long preview show will air each night during the week leading up to Super Sunday, beginning on Monday night, January 28th, and continuing through Saturday night, February 2nd, 2019. Hosted by Scott Graham, the voice of NFL Films, the nightly program will feature interviews with players from both participating teams as well as coaches and other special guests. Each night’s show will be co-hosted by a different Westwood One NFL analyst and will also feature a flashback to a previous Super Bowl.

Millions of listeners around the globe will tune in to Westwood One’s Super Bowl LIII coverage across more than 700 radio stations nationwide and 150+ FM translators. Fans can also hear the broadcast on SiriusXM, via TuneIn, and through NFL Game Pass, which is available on NFL.com and the NFL App.

The broadcast can also be heard worldwide via the American Forces Radio Network, which provides programming to America’s military forces.

Tampa Radio: Hulk Hogan Wants Agent Back Into $110M Lawsuit

Hulk Hogan, Heather Cole

Hulk Hogan showed up for a court hearing in St. Petersburg, FL on Wednesday where his attorney asked a judge to bring shock jock Mike "Cowhead" Calta's agent, Tony Burton, back into a $110 million invasion of privacy lawsuit, reports Spectrum News 9.

Hogan, 65, whose real name is Terry Bollea, is suing Calta, the morning host of WHPT 102.5 The Bone, Matt "Spiceboy" Lloyd, Cox Radio and others for allegedly conspiring to leak and financially benefit from illegally recorded video of the former wrestler having sex with Bubba Clem's wife, Heather Cole.

Hogan's attorney, Shane Vogt, asked a new judge on the case, Linda Allan, to bring Burton, along with the New York City agency where he's employed, Buchwald & Associates, back into the suit citing new phone record evidence that shows the agent downplayed his involvement in the conspiracy.

“In the one month surrounding that Gawker leak, Mr. Calta and Mr. Burton had 36 calls that totaled 276-minutes and 30-seconds," Vogt said. "By far, the most they had talked throughout these time periods.”

Back in December of 2017, a former judge dismissed Burton, along with the agency, from the lawsuit based on lack of personal jurisdiction and their sworn affidavits that they were not involved in the conspiracy. Hogan appealed the ruling to the 2nd District Court of Appeal whom recently agreed to relinquish jurisdiction for 60 days to allow the trial court to rule on a 'motion for relief from judgement' based on the new evidence.

“The concealment of these phone calls is very significant to the circumstances surrounding the conspiracy,” said Vogt. “No conspirator is going to admit that they were conspiring."

According to the complaint, in September of 2012, Burton e-mailed A.J. Daulerio, then-editor-in chief of Gawker that he had "a client that has a very significant DVD they want to send you." Burton's client was Calta. The following month, Burton sent Daulerio another email that stated, "I hear there's a second DVD of the same but has more racist comments by Hogan."

Daulerio responded to Burton, "We're gonna slice this up into a highlight reel then do some commentary on the stills. I just say this 'came across our desk' right?" Burton replied, "All I know is it was sent to you anonymously."

Gawker posted a 1:41 highlight reel on their tabloid website and a Pinellas jury in March of 2016, awarded Hogan a $141 million verdict for invasion of his privacy. Gawker went bankrupt and settled for $31 million. Hogan wants to recover the balance of the damages from the current defendants.

Burton and Buchwald & Associate's New York City attorney, Ilene Farkas, told the judge that the phone records are not sworn evidence that show her clients committed fraud on the jurisdictional motion.

The trial is scheduled to begin on August 31, 2020.

MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Playing Hoax On Viewers

Married MSNBC co-anchors Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are reportedly making it look like they’re broadcasting their show “Morning Joe” from different locations, when they’re actually traveling together, reports Page Six at The NYPost.

Fans have noticed that the duo have not been broadcasting their show from New York lately — and they appear to be co-hosting from two Washington, DC, locations, judging from different Beltway backdrops behind each anchor.

But Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi said on Twitter of Scarborough and Brzezinski:

So how come Joe and Mika never appear in the same camera shot? Two reasons: They’re broadcasting from a home studio in Jupiter. And there’s no formal set in their home studio, just a couple of (Washington) backdrops. Thus, a wide shot is out of the question. pic.twitter.com/cFrmVRoH46

— Paul Farhi (@farhip) January 24, 2019

He added via Twitter, “Joe and Mika are actually sitting a few feet away from each other. But they each address their own camera rather than turning to speak to each other (because doing that would expose the fact that they’re sitting on a makeshift set).”

The show’s panelists are back at NBC’s Rockefeller Center headquarters in Manhattan, but with a DC backdrop behind them as well.

The MSNBC show doesn’t disclose where in the world the co-hosts are via graphics.

NYTimes Reporter Ripped for Tweet

A New York Times reporter got criticized for revealing an apparent bias against religious education Thursday, when he asked to talk to people on Twitter about their experiences at Christian schools for a story, but included the hashtag #exposechristianschools.

The tweet inflamed Twitter users who saw the hashtag — which has been used recently by people writing negative Tweets about religious schools — as evidence the piece would be biased.

“Like a NYT obituary, this story is already written. Just looking for a few first hand stories that confirm what he already knows,” Patrick Deneen, a professor of political philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, wrote.

Guy Benson, a political editor at Townhall, simply wrote “expose” and included two eyeball emojis.

The hashtag started last weekend in response to the news that Vice President Mike Pence’s wife took a teaching job at a Virginia school that does not allow LGBTQ students or parents of students.

In several responses to critical tweets, Levin said his reporting would be balanced and also highlight positive experiences at Christian schools.

I write about American youth, and the hashtag #exposechristianschools, which I didn't create, went viral in recent days. I'm writing about the response to it and want to hear about all experiences, including positive stories/impact about your time in school. Plz DM me.

— Dan Levin (@globaldan) January 25, 2019

Levin did not immediately return request from the NY Post for comment.

Greeley CO Radio: Brian Gary KUAD To Become 'Happiness Warrior'

KUAD's Brian Gary

Radio personality Brian Gary has been getting up at 2 a.m. to be in front of the microphone since before most millennials were even born, reports The Greeley Tribune.

His radio career at Townsquare's Country KUAD 99.1 FM began in 1988. And after thousands and thousands of hours of broadcast, Gary is hanging it up today,  ending a career of entertainment as well as philanthropy, personal accomplishments as professional ones.

“It’s been in the back of my head that, maybe it’s time,” said Gary, 53. “The way life’s played out, it’s been real obvious that now is a really good time to go.”

The DJ’s swan song will come Saturday evening. Gary and his morning show co-host of all 30 years Todd Harding will host the 11th annual, and final, “Habajeeba Show,” a live variety act that Gary writes and the radio station hosts at the Union Colony Civic Center.  “Habajeeba” isn’t just a nonsense phrase, either: Gary and Harding invented it years ago to express their excitement over it being Friday, like their own version of T.G.I.F.

They said it on air and it caught on throughout northern Colorado.

Gary isn’t officially retiring — “when you work in radio, you never make enough to retire,” he said. His next venture will be managing Brian Gary Happiness Warrior, which Gary envisions will take him across Colorado and the rest of the world to inspire people to be happy in the face of adversity.

Just like Gary is, who has overcome anxiety, depression, obesity and a heart attack, he said.

“I’ll be on stage and behind a microphone the rest of my life,” Gary said. “As far as radio goes, it's done.”


Gary has been awarded Broadcast Personality of the Year. He and Harding were two-thirds of the morning show that was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2017. The third person on the show, Susan Moore, left K99 several months before Gary announced he would.

In addition to entertaining drivers during their early commute, Gary and the rest of the morning crew has also raised millions for 28 Hours of Hope to help abused children, and raised money for local veterans.

January 25 Radio History

➦In 1910...Actress/dancer/radio personality Portland Hoffa was born in Portland, Oregon.  After beginning a career in vaudeville she became known nationally as Fred Allen‘s wife and performing partner on his network radio series (1932-49).  She died of natural causes on Christmas Day 1995 at age 85.

NY Times Headline Jan 26, 1915

➦In 1915...Alexander Graham Bell in New York spoke to his assistant Thomas Watson in San Francisco, inaugurating America’s first transcontinental telephone service.

Leading paragraphs of NYTimes' account

➦In 1916...radio/TV script writer Les Crutchfield was born.  He became a prolific writer for Gunsmoke on both radio and television and wrote frequently for the CBS radio shows, Suspense, Escape, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, Romance and Fort Laramie, popular during the 1940s and 50s. He died while still quite young Oct. 6 1966 at age 50.




➦In 1919...Longtime Radio/TV journalist Edwin Newman was born. He died August 13, 2010 at 91.

➦In 1920...radio/TV announcer Roy Rowan was born in Paw Paw, Michigan.  He is best remembered as the warmup guy and announcer for all of Lucille Ball’s TV shows over two decades, but is also fondly recalled as the announcer for “People Are Funny” and especially “Gunsmoke” on radio, and “I Married Joan,” “Rawhide,” “Simon and Simon,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “The Lonesome Dove” miniseries and “Dallas” on television.  He died of heart failure May 10 1998 at age 78.



➦In 1937...NBC Radio debuted the soap opera The Guiding Light. The longest running daytime drama in history, it moved to CBS-TV in 1952 and aired there for 57 years until the final episode on September 18, 2009.

➦In 1938...Singer Etta James was born. She died on January 20, 2012 at 73.

➦In 1944...a black maid named Beulah (played by a white man, Marlin Hunt) joined the “Fibber McGee and Molly” radio show for the first time. A spinoff show, “Beulah”, became a radio series in 1945.  But it didn’t last long .. Hurt died a year later.

➦In 1960…Radio lobbyer The National Association of Broadcasters said it would fine any disc jockey who accepted payola, plaing particular records for pay on the radio.



➦In 1961...President John F. Kennedy gave the first live Radio/TV presidential news conference from Washington, DC which was broadcast on radio and television.

➦In 1964...the Beatles reached the #1 spot on North American music charts, as their hit single, “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, grabbed the top position in “Cash Box” magazine.

➦In 1999…Radio and television announcer/radio newsman (WOR-New York's Jean Shepherd and Long John Nebel shows) Ted Mallie died at the age of 74.

Mallie started at WOR-Mutual Radio in New York in the mid-1940s. There he announced on such programs as John Steele, Adventurer and I Love a Mystery. He is perhaps better-known to old-time radio buffs, however, as the final announcer for The Shadow during its last two seasons (1953–1954) on the air.

Following the end of WOR's affiliation with Mutual in 1959, Mallie remained with the station as announcer, handling such duties for, and occasionally serving as newsman on, the Long John Nebel and Jean Shepherd shows. After WOR's FM outlet (now WRKS-FM) launched its progressive rock format on July 30, 1966, he even served a spell as a disc jockey for a time, due to a strike by its regular disc jockeys that lasted until October of that year.

Not long afterward, Mallie gravitated towards the station's TV outlet (now WWOR-TV), where he handled station identifications, promos, bumpers and program introductions, most notably for their long-running Million Dollar Movie and horror-movie series Fright Night. By the time Channel 9 moved its studios to Secaucus, New Jersey in 1986, three years after they transferred their city of license there, he and Phil Tonken were the last of the WOR radio announcers from the old-time radio era to still be employed at the station. His last major announcing duties for channel 9 included handling voice-overs for the children's show Steampipe Alley, and announcing for The Richard Bey Show.

Mallie's announcing career at WWOR ended in 1994.

➤Click Here For More Historical events For January 25.

Smart Speakers, 5G Top Deloitte Global's 2019 Predictions

Deloitte Global forecasts smart speakers will be worth $7 billion in 2019, becoming the fastest-growing connected device category. This is according to Deloitte’s 18th edition of Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions.

Deloitte also predicts that in 2019 companies will further accelerate usage of cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) software and services. Among companies using AI, 70 percent will obtain AI capabilities through cloud-based enterprise software, 65 percent will create AI applications using cloud-based development services, and by 2020, the penetration rate of enterprise software with AI built in, and cloud-based AI development services will reach an estimated 87 and 83 percent respectively.

5G wireless networks are expected to arrive in scale, providing faster connections for consumers and enterprises, and opening revenue opportunities for telecommunication companies.

Wireless operators have been pouring resources into 5G network development – in fact, 72 operators are currently testing this offering – and Deloitte forecasts that in 2019, 25 wireless operators will launch 5G service, a figure that will likely double by 2020.

“Wide-scale adoption of 5G devices will take time, but we believe 2019 will be the starting point for sweeping change for the wireless industry,” says Lee. “5G can provide hundredfold increases in traffic capacity and network efficiency over 4G, and this has transformative potential on the future of connectivity worldwide.”

Additional topics from Deloitte's 2019 TMT Predictions include:

Betting on sports broadcasting - Deloitte predicts that 60 percent of North American men ages 18-34 who watch sports on TV will also bet on sports. As a result, about 40 percent of all US-based TV watching by men 25-34 years old will be driven by sports betting.

eSports continue to surge  - The North American eSports market will expand by 35 percent powered by advertising, broadcast licensing, and franchise sales. North American eSports franchise leagues will expand into specific cities, following the professional sports model.

Radio remains relevant  - Deloitte predicts that over 85 percent of the adult population will listen to the radio at least weekly in the developed world (the same proportion as in 2018), although reach will vary in the developing world. Combined, nearly 3 billion people worldwide will listen to radio weekly. In the US, Deloitte expects that more than 90 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds will listen to the radio at least weekly in 2019 and will likely spend more time listening to radio than watching traditional TV by 2025.

“2019 will be defined by how new technologies steadily reshape how we live and work,” says Mark Casey, Deloitte Global Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment sector leader. “From smart speakers to 5G networks, and everywhere in between, accessibility to advanced technologies is quickly improving. As the barriers continue to fall, the potential for greater connectivity and further innovation will increase exponentially.”

Deadline Is Friday for Nielsen Bids

Nielsen Holdings — the 95-year-old consumer research firm best known for its Radio and TV-ratings reports — has restarted a process to sell itself amid fresh interest from Blackstone Group, the private equity shop controlled by billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, The NYPost has reported.

Blackstone is partnering in a bid with fellow buyout firm Hellman & Friedman that could value the company at around $10 billion, according to sources close to the talks.

Nielsen’s banker JPMorgan has set a Friday deadline for first-round bids in the new auction process, sources said. Other prospective bidders include Bain Capital, TPG Capital and KKR, according to sources.

If successful, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman would own Nielsen for the second time. Previously, the two buyout shops had partnered with Carlyle Group in 2006 to buy Nielsen, formerly called VNU, for $11 billion.

Blackstone Senior Managing Director David Calhoun was CEO of Nielsen from 2006 through 2013. The buyout firms took it public in 2011 at $23 a share.

Since then, Nielsen shares have stalled. Its TV-ratings business, which it calls “watch,” is solid. But its “buy” business that sells data to consumer-goods makers and retailers has been hit by painful changes in the industry, including the rising dominance of Amazon.

Last August, billionaire Paul Singer’s hedge fund, Elliott Management, revealed an 8 percent stake in Nielsen, prodding it to sell the troubled “buy” segment of its business or sell the company altogether.

Nielsen announced it was considering alternatives a few weeks later in September.

Nevertheless, the auction never took off as Nielsen shuffled its executive ranks and signaled new turnaround initiatives.

It’s likely that any prospective buyer is looking to press ahead with Nielsen’s plans to slash costs and automate services as it faces slowing growth, analysts said.

Holiday PPMs Day 2: D-C, Boston, 10 More Markets Released

Nielsen has released the second batch of Holiday 2018 PPM data for the following markets.:

    7  Washington DC

  10  Boston

  11  Miami-Ft.Lauderdale-Hollywood

  12  Seattle-Tacoma

  13  Detroit

  14  Phoenix

  15  Minneapolis-St.Paul

  16  San Diego

  18  Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater

  19  Denver-Boulder

  21  Baltimore

  24  St.Louis

Click Here to see Topline numbers of subscribing Nielsen stations.