2DAY FM To Resume Commercials, Profits To Nurse Fund

Commercials will resume on 2Day FM on Thursday and all profits until the end of the year will be donated to a fund for the family of deceased nurse Jacintha Saldanha.

News.com.au reports a minimum contribution of $500,000 will be made to an appropriate memorial fund which will directly benefit the family of the nurse, who is suspected of taking her own life after last week connecting the Sydney radio station's call to another nurse caring for Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Chief executive Rhys Holleran said: "We are very sorry for what has happened. It is a terrible tragedy and our thoughts continue to be with the family.

"We hope that by contributing to a memorial fund we can help to provide the Saldanha family with the support they need at this very difficult time.

"The company today reiterates that it it deeply saddened by this tragic and unforeseen event and offers its condolences to the family of Jacintha Saldanha."

The decision comes as the company also cancelled the staff Christmas Party.

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Tom's Take: TMZ.com calls it 'guilt' money.

Rock’s Who’s Who To Perform At 12-12-12 Concert

The Rolling Stones are the latest band to sign on to perform at Wednesday's (December 12th) 12-12-12: A Concert For Sandy Relief.

The Stones join a veritable list of rock's who's who, with co-headliners Paul McCartney, the Who, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Bon Jovi, Dave Grohl, and Eddie Vedder, among others.

The show, which is expected to be seen by over two billion people, comes only three days before the Stones' own pay-per-view special on December 15th, which will catch the band live in concert at Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center.

Twitter:  #121212Concert

12-12-12 Sandy Concert Tickets Pricey, If You Can Find Them

A star-studded benefit concert is set for next Wednesday, but concert organizers are concerned that the money raised by ticket sales may wind up in the wrong pockets.

The “12-12-12″ benefit show is being put on by the Robin Hood Foundation, with every cent raised designed to go to Superstorm Sandy victims, including the fee Ticketmaster usually collects.

CBSNew York reports the Madison Square Garden show sold out almost immediately when tickets went on sale on Monday, leaving fans looking to the secondary market for tickets.

That’s where the controversy can be found.

On StubHub, floor seats were going for as much as $38,000 and Upper Level seats were being sold for at least $400, CBS 2′s Emily Smith reported.

“A regular ticket that would be like $200 would be at $700, $800,” one woman looking for tickets told Smith.

All of the face value money from the original purchases will go to help Sandy victims, but nobody can be sure what scalpers will do with their earnings.

The charitable organization sponsoring the benefit concert said there is nothing to stop scalpers from pocketing the profits they make off selling their tickets.

“I really hope that they don’t. Too many people need all of our help,” Robin Hood Foundation Executive Director David Saltzman told CBS 2′sSmith.

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To Find Out Where To Watch, Click Here

Twitter: #121212Concert

CBS Radio Completes NYC Deal for 101.9 FM

CBS Radio announced on Monday that it has finalized its purchase of radio station 101.9 WFAN-FM in New York.  The station features a simulcast of the award-winning programming of Sports Radio 66 WFAN-AM.  With this acquisition, CBS Radio owns and operates seven stations in the nation’s No. 1 market.

WFAN-AM is the original and longest-running sports radio station in the nation, celebrating its 25th anniversary this past July. With more listeners than any other station of its kind, The FAN provides audiences across the Tri-State Area with live and local programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is home to leading personalities Mike Francesa, Boomer Esiason, Craig Carton, Joe Benigno, Evan Roberts and Steve Somers.

The station is also the flagship broadcast home for several area sports teams, including the New York Giants, New York Mets, Brooklyn Nets and New Jersey Devils.  WFAN-AM is the recipient of four prestigious Marconi Awards from the National Association of Broadcasters, including most recently Francesa being honored as Major Market Personality of the Year.

In addition to the station’s programming being available on AM at 660 and FM at 101.9, WFAN can be heard online at WFAN.com and via the Radio.com app for a variety of mobile devices.

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Vox Radio Group Lays-off News Anchor Tom Conklin

As part of a downsizing that triggered what management termed a "restructuring" at the Vox Radio Group's Berkshire News Network, a 16-year veteran newsman has been let go.

Tom Conklin, 45, told The Berkshire Eagle on Monday that he was informed on Nov. 30 that his job was being eliminated.

That turned out to be his last day on the air handling morning news updates for WBEC-FM ("Live 95.9") in Pittsfield as well as WSBS (AM 860) in Great Barrington. He had started with WBEC in 1996 when it was privately owned, as were all other Berkshire radio stations at the time.

In recent years, as Vox gradually cut its news staff from five to two, Conklin had worked with news director Larry Kratka, a 25-year veteran of local radio who started as the morning show host on WBEC-AM.

According to Peter Barry, vice president and market manager of the Vox Radio Berkshire Group, a half-time news position is being created to assist Kratka, but he declined to identify the person who has been hired or transferred into the job.

Vox owns three signals in Pittsfield, two in Great Barrington and two in North Adams.

"We don't comment on personnel issues," Barry explained in a brief telephone interview, but added that the Vox stations are "doing fine" despite the tough economy that has affected print, radio and TV media nationwide.

In his statement, Barry declared: "Despite the reduction in the position from full- to part-time, we remain committed to live local programming. At a time when many stations across the country have eliminated their news departments and switched to satellite programming, we continue to employ a staff of eighteen full and part time employees dedicated to live local programming."

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Parody: Seasons Greetings From Clear Channel

‘Radio Bullies’ Discussed on MSNBC’s Morning Joe

“What do you do to a schoolyard bully? You punch them in the face,” Joe Scarborough said Monday morning during a discussion on reforming the GOP after the 2012 election.

Scarborough was specifically referring to talk radio hosts like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and their impact on the Republican brand. The latest column by conservative columnist Bill Kristol inspired part of the discussion.

“Do you think any of these people on talk radio if they’re punched in the face by a Republican nominee, do you think they would push back? No, they’re cowards. They’re bullies. Punch them in the face, and they back off. Bullies do that,” Scarborough continued.

Scarborough noted that during the 2012 campaign season, Mitt Romney missed his chance to silence Limbaugh.

“Mitt Romney…for two years he would never stand up to these bullies, so they framed his campaign and he got his tail whipped,” he said.

Scarborough suggested GOP nominees should push back on Limbaugh and other conservative talk radio hosts and bloggers or the GOP will follow what he called a “pathway to a permanent minority.”

RADAR Estimates For December 2012 Released

Arbitron Inc. reported in its December 2012 RADAR (Radio’s All Dimension Audience Research) Radio Network Ratings that over 181 million Persons 12 and older, or approximately 69 percent of this demographic, heard one or more network radio commercials in an average week of the survey period.

Selected Audience Results from RADAR December 2012

The RADAR December 2012 survey period demonstrates network radio’s power in reaching a mass audience in all demographics.  Commercials aired on the 49 radio networks measure reached:

69.2 percent of Persons aged 12+ (181,118,000 Persons)

69.7 percent of Persons aged 18+ (164,779,000 Persons)

69.0 percent of Persons aged 35+ (113,267,000 Persons)

72.2 percent of Persons aged 18-49 (97,075,000 Persons)

72.8 percent of Persons aged 25-54 (92,004,000 Persons)

2DAY FM’s Parent Co. Takes Major Financial Hit

UPDATE 10:30am 12/10/12:  Southern Cross Austereo, the parent company of 2DayFM, released a statement Monday saying Greig and Christian's show had been terminated and there would be a company-wide suspension of prank calls. The DJs themselves remain suspended.

Earlier Posting...

Investors wiped $46 million from the value of 2Day FM's parent company, Southern Cross Media Group, as fury over the royal phone prank scandal grew, according to a story at heraldsun.com.

Shares in the broadcaster plummeted 5.88 per cent, or 6c, to close at $1.04.

The share market walloping came as major advertisers, including Telstra and Coles, suspended lucrative advertising contracts in the wake of the scandal, involving 2Day FM hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

This is not the first time advertisers have fled the broadcaster, which operates other stations including Fox and MMM.

Last year up to 23 advertisers pulled the plug after presenter Kyle Sandilands made derogatory comments about a female journalist from News Limited, publisher of the Herald Sun.

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Austereo Attempted Contact Before Prank Call Aired

Austereo CEO Rhys Holleran says 2DAY FM attempted to call the hospital after the prank call was recorded.

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2Day FM Prank Jocks Shed Tears

UPDATE 10:30am 12/10/12:  Southern Cross Austereo, the parent company of 2DayFM, released a statement Monday saying Greig and Christian's show had been terminated and there would be a company-wide suspension of prank calls. The DJs themselves remain suspended.

Earlier Posting...

The 2DayFM Sydney-based announcers, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, said the tragedy had left them "shattered, gutted, heartbroken."

Mel & Michael express sorrow, shock to Clare Brady on Today Tonight TT in Australia about the UK hospital hoax prank pretend call funny joke scandal outrage bragged on twitter caused the death suicide nurse Jacintha Saldanha kills herself.

As seen on Australian news show TT Today Tonight on Channel 7Seven Network Australia.

Radio 2Day FM Prank: Police Now Investigating

The reverberations from the death of a nurse who accepted a hoax phone call about the ill Duchess of Cambridge spread through two countries Sunday, as Australian authorities said London police had contacted them about a possible investigation.

Gregory Katz at HuffPo.com reports The Australian radio station behind the call also announced an immediate review of its broadcast practices after the debacle, which began with a prank call made Tuesday to the hospital where the former Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness.

Two radio DJs managed to impersonate Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles and received confidential information about the Duchess's medical condition, which was broadcast on-air. The controversial prank took a dark twist three days later with the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, a 46-year-old mother of two, who was duped by the DJs despite their Australian accents.

The death has sparked an angry backlash against the DJs, who have been taken off the air indefinitely.

After an emergency meeting Sunday, Max Moore-Wilton, the chairman of parent company Southern Cross Austereo, which owns the 2DayFM radio station, said in a letter to the hospital's chairman that the company will cooperate with any investigation.

"It is too early to know the full details leading to this tragic event and we are anxious to review the results of any investigation that may be made available to us or made public," he wrote. "I can assure you we are taking immediate action and reviewing the broadcast and processes involved."

"As we have said in our own statements on the matter, the outcome was unforeseeable and very regrettable," he wrote.

Australian police Sunday confirmed they had been contacted by London police and said they would cooperate.

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