Variety Places Top Editor On Administrative Leave

Variety Editor in Chief Claudia Eller has been placed on administrative leave after a heated Twitter exchange over the lack of newsroom diversity.

The L-A Times reports the dust-up came late Wednesday after Variety published an opinion column written by Eller, in which she acknowledged that she and other editors in chief have not done enough to increase diversity in their newsrooms.

Nationwide protests since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and calls for social justice, have forced news organizations to face their own shortcomings in ensuring that their newsrooms represent the communities they cover.

Claudia Eller

In response to Eller’s column, a former reporter at a rival outlet, Piya Sinha-Roy, criticized the piece on Twitter. Sinha-Roy wrote, in a Twitter message, that she recalled a discussion with Eller and then co-editor Andrew Wallenstein several years ago about “the lack of diversity in your newsroom.” Sinha-Roy then added that voices of people of color “are constantly dismissed. We are not here to make you look better. We are here to work.”

Eller then lashed out at Sinha-Roy on Twitter, calling her “bitter.”

The tweet upset Variety staff members and prompted much soul-searching at the news organization. Variety is owned by Penske Media Corp., controlled by auto scion Jay Penske, who also owns Rolling Stone magazine, Women’s Wear Daily and the Hollywood trade website Deadline.

Penske called Eller’s tweet “plainly unacceptable.”

“She should have been listening vs. putting up a fight, and allowing for others to be heard and to heal,” Penske said.

Penske’s note to the staff added that Business Editor Cynthia Littleton is stepping in as editor in chief on an interim basis.

Report: Ryan Seacrest May Relocate To L-A Permanently

Ryan Seacrest has been shooting “Live with Kelly & Ryan” from his Los Angeles home since the spread of COVID-19 lead to quarantine orders. Following a recent on-air health scare, he is now considering moving back to his West Coast retreat permanently, Page Six at the NY Post reports.

“Ryan admitted he’s been exhausted since his health scare in mid-May,” according to a source.

During the “American Idol” ­season finale broadcast recently, Seacrest, 45, struggled with his words, seemed confused and had a visibly droopy right eye. Reps for the star denied he suffered a stroke, chalking up the incident to “adjusting to the new normal and finding work-home balance.”

"Live" will be going on a weeks-long scheduled hiatus next month, with sources close to Ryan and within ABC telling PageSix that the timing couldn’t be better.

“There are people at the network who are extremely worried that he is overdoing it,” said the ABC source. “People internally have started to ask questions.”

Podtrac Top Podcast Publishers (May): iHeartRadio Leads

Podtrac has released their May ranking of the Top 20 Podcasts based on U.S. Unique Monthly Audience for May 2020: 

• iHeartRadio resides in the #1 spot, closely followed by NPR. 
• All but one of the top 20 publishers saw an increase in US monthly Audience in May over April.
• All but two top 20 publishers saw positive growth in their Global Download numbers from April to May.
• The average Unique Monthly Audience for the top 10 publishers increased by 15% from April while it increased by 22% from May of 2019.
• Global Unique Streams & Downloads increased for the top 10 publishers by 7% over April and increased by 52% over May 2019.

Ranking is based on Podtrac measurement data for Unique US Monthly Audience and includes shows that participate in Podtrac measurement for the full month for which the ranking is being released. More information is available at Podtrac.com.

The Term 'Urban' Is OUT At Republic Records

Republic Records is banning the word "urban" from its company verbiage, doing away with the term for hip-hop and R&B, which many consider an antiquated generalization that marginalizes music by black artists.

The label, which is home to artists like Ariana Grande, The Weeknd and Taylor Swift, said on Instagram over the that it will remove the word from department names, employee titles and music genres, clarifying in a press release that this will not lead to any structural changes at the company.

"We encourage the rest of the music industry to follow suit as it is important to shape the future of what we want it to look like, and not adhere to the outdated structures of the past," the Instagram post reads.

According to Billboard, the term dates back to the mid-1970s, when black New York radio personality Frankie Crocker coined the phrase "urban contemporary," which was later shortened to "urban." While the term didn't carry negative connotations at the time, many argue that it has evolved to symbolize the music industry's history of lumping music by black artists into one category, marginalizing black musicians and those who work with them in the process.

Report: Bezos, Zuckerberg Respond To Critics

Jeff Bezos

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Friday expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement by posting an email exchange with an upset customer, CNBC reports.

In an Instagram post, Bezos posted a screenshot of an email from a customer who said it was “disturbing” and “offensive” that Amazon posted a message on its website in solidarity with the movement. The customer, whose name was blurred, wrote “ALL LIVES MATTER!”

Critics of the Black Lives Matter movement often seek to counter the phrase by saying “all lives matter” or “blue lives matter,” referencing fallen police officers.

“I have to disagree with you,” Bezos replied.

″‘Black Lives Matter’ doesn’t mean other lives don’t matter. Black lives matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that Black people face in our law enforcement and justice system.”

Mark Zuckerberg

Also on Friday, CNBC reports Mark Zuckerberg responded to Facebook employees who were upset over the company’s decision to not moderate or take down a controversial post in which President Donald Trump said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

In his memo, Zuckerberg promised the company would review a number of its existing policies, including how the company treats content dealing with the use of police or state force and how the company treats content in countries where there is civil unrest or violent conflicts.

“Given the sensitive history in the US, this deserves special consideration,” the Facebook CEO wrote.

Facebook will also review how else the company can moderate content. Currently, Facebook can either leave content up or take it down, Zuckerberg said. But he cautioned that adopting “in-between” approaches -- like warning users about content while still leaving it up -- might lead to a slippery slope where employees weigh in on content they personally don’t like.

Additionally, Zuckerberg said Facebook will work on products that will advance racial justice, and assigned the task to executive Fidji Simo, who is in charge of the core Facebook app.

He also pledged to build a so-called voter hub to provide users with “access to accurate and authoritative information about voting, as well as building tools to encourage people to register to vote and help them encourage their friends and communities to vote as well.”

Report: Apple Planning To Offer Monthly Payment Plans

Apple Inc. is preparing to allow customers to buy many of its products, including iPads, Macs and AirPods, over monthly installments via its Apple Card credit card.

Fortune reports the Cupertino, California-based technology giant is planning to roll out the service in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the plan. The offering will let customers buy a product through Apple and split up the cost over several months with interest-free payments.

The company will offer a 12-month interest-free payment plan for iPads, Macs, the Apple Pencil and iPad keyboards, as well as the Mac XDR Display monitor, and six months with no interest for the AirPods, Apple TV, and HomePod, the people said.

The payments will be managed through the Apple Card section in the Wallet app on the iPhone and charges will be added to a customer’s monthly Apple Card bill. Apple started a similar program for the iPhone last year, offering 24 months no interest.

The program is similar to those by carriers selling phones and other products, offering consumers another avenue to purchase these items with monthly payments.

The service is also designed to spur enrollment for the Apple Card, a joint effort with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and boost sales of Apple products by letting users split up the cost over time. It will be compatible with Apple’s education discounts, the people said.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call in April that the company would launch an installment payment service for products beyond the iPhone, but he didn’t specify timing or features.

Elmer Fudd Loses His 2A Rights

It just got a lot harder to hunt wascally wabbits.

Warner Bros is stripping Elmer Fudd of his rifle in a new Looney Tunes cartoon series on HBO Max, handicapping the grumpy hunter as he continues his decades-long pursuit of the wise-cracking Bugs Bunny, according to reports.

The change in the latest incarnation of the iconic animated series is a response to the gun violence in the US, the NY Post reports.

Historically the toons have largely revolved around Fudd’s persistent chase of the carrot-chomping Bugs, with his classic catchphrase, “What’s up, Doc?”

Fudd, known for his own catchphrase, “Shhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits,” gets outsmarted by Bugs at every turn, even though he’s always had his trusty shotgun at his side — until now.

“We’re not doing guns,” Peter Browngardt, executive producer of the new series, told the New York Times. “But we can do cartoony violence — TNT, the Acme stuff. All of that was kind of grandfathered in.”

Fudd won’t be empty-handed, however — he’ll now use a scythe to try to bag Bugs

The 200 new cartoons, which will feature other Looney Tunes “stars,” will still have an edge — Porky Pig sucks the poison out of Daffy Duck’s leg in one skit, Sylvester the Cat is haunted by the ghost of his traditional target, Tweety Bird, and Satan even makes a cameo in one toon.

“Some of them have maybe gone a little too far, so they might come out in a different format,” Browngardt told the outlet.

“We’re going through this wave of anti-bullying, everybody needs to be friends, everybody needs to get along,” he said. “Looney Toons is pretty much the antithesis of that. It’s two characters in conflict, sometimes getting pretty violent.”

Jacapps To Present Free Webinar On Techsurvey 2020

jācapps, an award-winning mobile strategy and development company, is bringing their largest free radio webinar to the public on Tuesday, June 16, 2020 at 2:00pm EST. 

In partnership with Jacobs Media, jācapps will dig deep into information from Techsurvey 2020, the radio industry’s largest online survey as well as their recent studies on how COVID-19 is affecting media habits. Join Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs for this data and information fueled discussion.

Fred Jacobs, President of Jacobs Media, will share many new findings related to mobile apps, in-car listening via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and smart speakers. These findings will provide a road map for radio, their sales teams, and their advertisers regarding the consumer habits that are ready to take off, as well as those that may require more time, preparation, and education given the current climate.

Bob Kernen, COO of jācapps, comments, “With so many Americans working from home right now, the importance of digital audio platforms is higher than ever. And if there’s any kind of surge in the virus this fall, stations need to be prepared with a a robust, outstanding mobile program have a significant opportunity in today’s new world.”

Click Here to register for the webinar.

Meet Dee Snider: The Voice-Over Artist

Dee Snider

If the narrator of popular rock docuseries “Breaking the Band” sounds familiar, that’s because it’s former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider — who’s parlayed his hard-rockin’ raspy pipes into a successful voiceover career, according to The NY Post.

“I’m blessed with a voice that people like hearing,” says Snider, 65, on the phone from Belize, where he and his wife own a home. “It’s my cadence, or whatever. Many times I’m in a store and someone will come around the aisle and say, ‘I knew it was you!’

“My [voiceover] agent, Lisa Marber, says ‘You’ve got that cigarette smoker/whiskey-drinker voice.’ I never smoke or drink,” he says, laughing. “Screaming all those years and torturing my vocal cords [with Twisted Sister] has given me that rasp, that husky voice, that people want for certain voiceovers.”

That’s on full display in “Breaking the Band,” which airs on Reelz and chronicles the breakups of A-list bands (including The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue, KISS and Fleetwood Mac) amidst the rock ‘n’ roll tropes: worldwide fame, rampant drug use, sex, paranoia and recrimination — until, at the end, band members are barely speaking to each other.


Snider’s voiceover days date back to his first spot for the New York Lottery’s Quick Draw game in 1995. “It was a time when my career was not going well. I was broke,” says Snider, whose appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show (then on K-Rock) ignited the voiceover spark. “Twisted Sister had been over for a number of years and then grunge hit. As a performer I was looking for some other work and started to audition [for voiceovers]. That New York Lottery spot brought in tens of thousands of dollars for a regional ad and I was like, ‘Holy s–t! This is an amazing gig! And it’s been a consistent ever since.”

That led to a new career.

Snider, 65, has narrated “Breaking the Band” since its 2018 premiere; starting June 8, he can be heard in all his whiskey-voiced glory when Reelz will air four back-to-back episodes every Monday starting at 6 p.m.

He says his days with ’80s hair band Twister Sister — famous for teen anthems “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” — helped him land his narrating gig.

“It was the authenticity of having an actual rocker reading the copy, someone who really gets it, even though I’m learning something on every episode,” he says. “The company that produces the show is out of England and they wanted an American voice, someone who could also insert American colloquialisms. I guess I was the right guy for the job.”

R.I.P.: Mason Brazelle, WWCD Columbus OH PD/Air Personality

Modern Rock WWCD CD102.5 Columbus, OH PD Mason “Mase” Brazelle has passed away suddenly at the age of 53 from complications from a bleeding ulcer.

Grazeller spent years in the Atlanta music scene as a drummer in multiple bands, before jumping into radio at WKZQin Myrtle Beach, SC. He rose to PD at the Modern Rocker and spent 11 years at the station.

He joined FMQB as National Director of Alternative & Rock Formats at the beginning of 2014 and was a part-timer at iHeart‘s then-Modern Rock WXZX in Columbus for a time, before crossing the street to CD102.5 in 2016. He was named PD of the long-running independent Modern Rock station in October of 2019, where he also held down afternoon drive.

In a Facebook post, CD102.5 announced the loss:

R.I.P.: Rupert Hine, British Producer and Songwriter

Rupert Hine

British producer and songwriter Rupert Hine — who worked with musicians including Tina Turner, Rush, Stevie Nicks, the Thompson Twins, Bob Geldof, the Fixx, Suzanne Vega and Howard Jones — has died at 72.

No cause was given for his death, which was confirmed by the Ivors Academy of Music Creators, for whom he served as a board member, The NY Post reports.

Hine, who in the 1970s had a solo career and went on to work with bands including British group Quantum Jump, started his music career with 1960s folk duo Rupert & David. He subsequently rode the New Wave and worked with acts including Howard Jones and the Fixx in the 1980s.

In a tribute on Twitter, Howard Jones called him an “extraordinary man and one of my dearest longtime friends, my music mentor and producer, passed away in the early hours of this morning. I’m so fortunate to have spent a precious hour with him Tuesday. I will be writing about him on FB soon … luvya Roop !!”

But Hine is especially well-known as a producer on Tina Turner’s 1984 album “Private Dancer,” which proved a huge comeback for the sultry singer following her 1978 divorce from Ike Turner. He produced the Grammy-winning single “Better Be Good to Me” and also was a co-writer on the song “I Might Have Been Queen.” He additionally worked with her on subsequent albums “Break Every Rule” (1986) and “Foreign Affair” (1989).

"Easily the most lasting memories I have of working with Tina on those three albums in the ’80s and early ’90s are all to do with her extraordinary singing talent,” he said. “I shall never forget the physical, nerve-tingling feeling that I experienced the very first time I recorded her in the studio.”

Hine produced Stevie Nicks’ fourth solo album, 1989’s “The Other Side of the Mirror,” for which he also co-wrote several songs. He produced Rush’s 1991 album “Roll the Bones” and 1989’s “Presto.”

June 8 Radio History

➦In 1947...Lassie debuted on ABC radio. It was a 15-minute radio juvenile adventure program. It was broadcast on ABC from June 8, 1947 until May 30, 1948, and on NBC from June 5, 1948, until May 27, 1950

➦In 1967...The Beatles thematic album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' quickly climbed to number one after being released just a week earlier. It was their 8th studio album and spent 15 weeks at number one in the U-S.  In the U-K,  the album went to #1 after just one week, where it remained for an incredible 27 weeks. It was the first album to print the lyrics on the sleeve.

It was lauded by critics for its innovations in production, songwriting and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for providing a musical representation of its generation and the contemporary counterculture. It won four Grammy Awards in 1968, including Album of the Year, the first rock LP to receive this honor.

➤In 1988...Billboard Blast From The Past....

➦In 2003...Personality Dan Ingram aired his final show on Oldies WCBS 101.1 FM NYC. Here's an aircheck from 1992:



➦In 2011…Former Detroit Tigers outfielder and broadcaster Jim Northrup died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 71.

Juliana Margulies is 53

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

• Actor-Singer James Darren is 84. 
• Singer Nancy Sinatra is 80. 
• Singer Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night) is 78. 
• Singer Boz Scaggs is 76. 
• Actress Sonia Braga is 70. 
• Actress Kathy Baker (“Picket Fences”) is 70. 
• Country guitarist Tony Rice is 69. 
• Singer Bonnie Tyler is 69. 
• Actor Griffin Dunne is 65. 
• “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams is 63. 
• Actor-director Keenan Ivory Wayans is 62. 
• Singer Mick Hucknall of Simply Red is 60. 
• Keyboardist Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran is 58. 
• Singer Doris Pearson of Five Star is 54. 
• Actress Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife,” ″ER”) is 53. 
• Actor Dan Futterman (“Judging Amy”) is 53. Actor David Sutcliffe (“Private Practice,” “Gilmore Girls”) is 51. 
• Actor Kent Faulcon (“Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse”) is 50. 
• Singer Nicci Gilbert of Brownstone is 50. 
• Actress Kelli Williams (“The Practice”) is 50. 
• Actor Mark Feuerstein (“West Wing,” ″Good Morning, Miami”) is 49. 
• Guitarist Mike Scheuchzer of MercyMe is 45. 
• Actor Eion Bailey (“Once Upon A Time”) is 44. 
• Rapper Kanye West is 43. 
• Singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson is 42. 
• Guitarist Derek Trucks (Allman Brother Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band) is 41. 
• Singer Alex Band of The Calling is 39. 
• Fiddler Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek is 39. 
• Actress Torrey DeVitto (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 36.