Just like play-by-play announcer Joe Buck doesn't know why Fox Sports let him walk out of his contract to join ESPN as the new voice of 'Monday Night Football' on ESPN, analyst Troy Aikman — Buck's long-time partner — isn't sure either, reports USAToday.
Aikman was the first domino to fall after reports emerged late last month that Aikman, whose contract with Fox had recently expired, would be leaving the network to join ESPN as the lead analyst for 'Monday Night Football' broadcasts.
“I don’t know the answer to that," Aikman said in an episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast that published Monday. "I don’t know that I ever will get the answer to that one. I think through it all, it’s a business. Fox is welcome to do whatever it is they feel is in their best interest as I am, as everybody is, so there’s no hard feelings about anything. I had a great 21 years at Fox. I guess what’s perplexing to me is that I had no conversation with my boss (Fox Sports president Eric Shanks) until he called me to congratulate me on my contract with ESPN.”
ESPN officially announced the hirings of Buck and Aikman Wednesday.
After the Aikman reports about the move to ESPN surfaced, Aikman said he would welcome the chance to work with Buck again at some point in the future, when Buck was still employed by Fox.
While at Fox, Buck and Aikman worked together as the lead broadcast since the 2002 season and called six Super Bowls in that span. At ESPN, Buck and Aikman are expected to call 18 of the 22 NFL games the network will have in the 2022 season.
As the U.S. continues its emergence from the pandemic, the Federal Reserve finds auto sales are recovering. In January of this year, the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) was 15 million vehicles, up from a dip in Q3 and Q4 2021. Americans are spending, and the time for auto dealers to advertise is now.
This week’s Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® blog looks at marketing strategies backed by attribution insights for auto dealers.
Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time: According to a firm called Gain Theory: 18% of current marketing investments impact this month, measured via attribution modeling; 24% of this month’s advertising impact occurs in one and five months; 58% of this month’s advertising impact occurs in six months and beyond.
Creative and reach are the two biggest sales drivers: A major Nielsen sales effect study of 500 campaigns revealed half of all sales effect has to do with creative.
A Nielsen analysis finds one of every three ads on local TV are political in the run-up to an election. This means dealers will be shut out of local video platforms like local cable, broadcast TV, YouTube, and connected TV.
Nielsen: Since 2018, TV reach has dropped to 72% and ratings are down -34%.
Cord cutting is a major driver of TV’s audience collapse: The MRI Simmons How Americans Watch TV report reveals 46% of the U.S. have cut the cord.
Streaming is now “TV”: Half of Americans say streaming has replaced traditional TV. From 2018 to 2021, the number of video streamers who say “streaming has replaced traditional TV” has surged from 37% to 49%.
AM/FM radio adds incremental reach, making TV better: According to the latest Nielsen Total Audience Report, AM/FM radio outreaches live and time-shifted TV across every major demographic.
When it comes to ad-supported audio in the car, AM/FM radio is the “queen of the road” with shares in the mid to upper 80s across every buying demographic.
According to a LeadsRx analysis of 1.8 million AM/FM radio commercials, AM/FM radio campaigns generate significant auto dealer website traffic.
Two dozen striking WTTW technicians came out from behind the cameras and held a union rally in front of the station’s North Side studios Monday seeking support in their quest for job guarantees and a new labor contract.
The employees, all members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1220, went on strike Wednesday after being unable to reach an agreement with WTTW-Ch. 11 following nearly a year of negotiations. It is the first such strike in the 67-year-history of the Chicago public TV station.
“We’ve had a contract with WTTW since 1955 and we’ve never had a problem of this magnitude with the company,” said John Rizzo, business manager for Downers Grove-based IBEW Local 1220, which represents radio and television broadcast engineers at a number of stations in Chicago.
The striking IBEW workers include camera operators, graphic artists and floor crew responsible for various productions at WTTW, including the station’s signature nightly news program, “Chicago Tonight.” The IBEW technicians have been behind the scenes at WTTW since its inception as one of the first public TV stations in the U.S., bringing to life seminal local programming such as “Soundstage” and “Check, Please!” over the years.
The technicians had been working without a labor contract since July, when a one-year extension of the previous four-year agreement expired. The issues are job protection and work jurisdiction, according to the union, which alleges WTTW is trying to farm out their long-standing technical duties to news producers and nonunion personnel.
“They want to replace us with nonunion workers,” Rizzo said. “They’re trying to kill us on attrition.”
In July 1921, radio manufacturer Powel Crosley Jr. (above) began 20-watt tests from his College Hill home, broadcasting "Song of India" continuously under the callsign 8CR. Powell already owned a number of enterprises, including the Crosmobile and a refrigerator-freezer company, and for many years, he held ownership of the Cincinnati Reds baseball club. Powell was innovative, personally inventing or funding the development of many then–cutting edge technological advances in his ventures which he placed in the able hands of his younger by two years brother, Lewis Crosley who was a graduate engineer from the University of Cincinnati.
On March 22, 1922, Crosley and his Crosley Broadcasting Corporation began broadcasting with the new callsign WLW and 50 watts of power. Crosley was a fanatic about the new broadcasting technology, and continually increased his station's capability. The power went up to 500 watts in September 1922, 1000 watts in May 1924, and in January 1925 WLW was the first broadcasting station at the 5000 watt level. On October 4, 1928, the station increased its power to 50 kilowatts.
Again it was the first station at this power level, which still is the maximum power currently allowed for any AM station in the United States.
At 50 kilowatts, WLW was heard easily over a wide area, from New York to Florida. But Crosley still wasn't satisfied. In 1933 he obtained a construction permit from the Federal Radio Commission for a 500 kilowatt superstation, and he spent some $500,000 ($9.11 million in 2014) building the transmitter and antenna.
It was the first large amplifier used in the United States for public domestic radio broadcasting and was in operation between 1934 and 1939. It was an experimental amplifier and was driven by the radio station's regular 50 kW transmitter. It operated in class C with high-level plate modulation. The amplifier required a dedicated 33 kV electrical substation and a large pond complete with fountains for cooling. It operated with a power input of about 750 kW (plus another 400 kW of audio for the modulator) and its output was 500 kW.
In January 1934 WLW began broadcasting at the 500 kilowatt level late at night under the experimental callsign W8XO. In April 1934 the station was authorized to operate at 500 kilowatts during regular hours under the WLW call letters.
On May 2, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a ceremonial button that officially launched WLW's 500-kilowatt signal. As the first station in the world to broadcast at this strength, WLW received repeated complaints from around the United States and Canada that it was overpowering other stations as far away as Toronto. In December 1934 WLW cut back to 50 kilowatts at night to mitigate the interference, and began construction of three 50 ft. tower antennas to be used to reduce signal strength towards Canada.
With these three antennas in place, full-time broadcasting at 500 kilowatts resumed in early 1935. However, WLW was continuing to operate under special temporary authority that had to be renewed every six months, and each renewal brought complaints about interference and undue domination of the market by such a high-power station. The FCC was having second thoughts about permitting extremely wide-area broadcasting versus more locally oriented stations, and in 1938, the US Senate adopted the "Wheeler" resolution, expressing it to be the sense of that body that more stations with power in excess of 50 kilowatts are against the public interest.
As a result, in 1939 the 500-kilowatt broadcast authorization was not renewed, bringing an end to the era of the AM radio superstation. Because of the impending war and the possible need for national broadcasting in an emergency, the W8XO experimental license for 500 kilowatts remained in effect until December 29, 1942. In 1962 the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation again applied for a permit to operate at 750 kilowatts, but the FCC denied the application.
➦In 1929...KIT-AM in Yakima WA signed-on.
KIT-AM was originally licensed to Portland, Oregon, but the station's original owner, Carl E. Haymond, decided, since Yakima had no radio station, that moving the station there would be more advantageous in regards to serving the community and in generating station operating revenue. KIT began broadcasting on 1310 kHz with 500 watts, but later switched to its present frequency of 1280 kHz so it could increase power to 5 Kw-D, 1 Kw-N.
Today the station is owned by Townsquare Media and airs a news/talk format.
➦In 1942...the quiz show, “The Better Half”, was first heard on Mutual radio. The wartime radio program brought four married couples pitted against each other in various feats to find out which of them was the "better" one.
➦In 1948...The Voice of Firestone was the first commercial radio program to be carried simultaneously on both AM and FM radio stations.
Voice of Firestone Broadcast - 1949
The Voice of Firestone is a long-running radio and television program of classical music. The show featured leading singers in selections from opera and operetta. Originally titled The Firestone Hour, it was first broadcast on the NBC Radio network on December 3, 1928 and was later also shown on television starting in 1949. The program was last broadcast in 1963
Firestone's 25th anniversary program was broadcast November 30, 1953, and it was heard on radio until 1956.
➦In 1999...After WQEW in New York City became Radio Disney in late 1998, WNJR 1430 AM (Newark, NJ) began playing adult standards as Sunny 1430. Julius LaRosa was the morning host, while Johnny Michaels hosted during the afternoon. In March 1999, Multicultural decided to fill the hole and put a Standards format on 1430. WNJR changed its callsign to WNSW June 8, 1999. The station became known as "Sunny 1430". They originally planned to switch to this format full-time except for Sunday mornings, but initially would run this format from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to Midnight Saturdays and not at all on Sundays. The rest of the time they ran ethnic programming that was brokered. On Sundays they played Gospel Music and preaching.
During the week though they played a Standards format with artists like Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Petula Clark, Tony Bennett, Tommy Dorsey, Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, Pat Boone, The Carpenters, Jack Jones, Tom Jones, the Andrews Sisters, Bobby Darin, James Taylor, the Four Aces, Johnny Mathis, Artie Shaw, The Righteous Brothers, etc. The format was similar to 1560 WQEW's old format. Some of the air people included Johnny Knox (who was program director and operations manager the first year of operation), John Von Soosten, Chuck Leonard, Danny Stiles, Julius LaRosa, among others.
The Adult Standards were not a big hit and on February 28, 2001 WNSW dropped the format altogether with the playing of Frank Sinatra's Softly, as I Leave You. The format, however, continued with a few evening hours with Danny Stiles. The rest of the day reverted to brokered programming,
In April 2014, the station was sold to Starboard Broadcasting for $10 million and switched to religious Catholic programming with the branding of WNSW Relevant Radio.
➦In 2011…Radio personality "Big" Steve Rizen died at the age of 75 from complications from diabetes . KQV Program Director John Rook brought Big Steve Rizen to KQV Pittsburgh from KTLK in Denver. Steve joined KQV for middays on May 29, 1964. In July of 1965, Big Steve switched with Hal Murray and moved to the morning slot at KQV.
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor William Shatner is 91.
Actor M. Emmet Walsh is 87.
Singer Jeremy Clyde of Chad and Jeremy is 81.
Singer-guitarist George Benson is 79.
News anchor Wolf Blitzer is 74.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is 74.
Tiffany Dupont is 41
Actor Fanny Ardant is 73.
Sportscaster Bob Costas is 70.
Country singer James House is 67.
Actor Lena Olin is 67.
Singer-actor Stephanie Mills is 65.
Actor Matthew Modine is 63.
Comedian Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele) is 51.
Actor Will Yun Lee (“Hawaii Five-0″) is 51.
Actor Guillermo Diaz (“Scandal”) is 47.
Actor Anne Dudek (“Mad Men”) is 47.
ctor Cole Hauser (TV’s “Yellowstone”) is 47.
Actor Kellie Williams (“Family Matters”) is 46.
Actor Reese Witherspoon is 46.
Drummer John Otto of Limp Bizkit is 45.
Actor Tiffany Dupont (“Murder in the First”) is 41.
Rapper Mims is 41.
Actor Constance Wu (film’s “Crazy Rich Asians,” TV’s “Fresh Off The Boat”) is 40.
Guitarist Lincoln Parish of Cage The Elephant is 32.
Ukraine has refused Russia's demand that they surrender the besieged city of Mariupol in exchange for two humanitarian corridors for safe passage out of the southern port city, including of the soldiers. The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the Russian Ministry of Defense said authorities in Mariupol could face a military tribunal if they sided with what it called "bandits." The Russian demand for Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to have laid down their weapons by 5 a.m. local today and raised white flags came just hours after a Russian airstrike hit an art school in the city where some 400 civilians were sheltering. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address early this morning that the number of casualties wasn't clear, stating, "They are under the rubble, and we don’t know how many of them have survived."
In the capital of Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said a Russian strike hit the Retroville shopping mall on Sunday night, causing a fire in the mall and parking lot. AFP reportedly at least six people were killed. Mayor Vitali Klitschko also said shelling hit several houses in the densely populated Podil district.
Ukraine rejects Russia's demand for a surrender in Mariupol as fighting continues in the coastal city; and basic supplies like food and water nearly out in Mariupol. Here's what's coming up on CBS News: https://t.co/vvXgf6mBpvpic.twitter.com/MXBoaW2G4n
10 Million Displaced Ukrainians: The U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said Sunday that 10 million Ukrainian have had to flee their homes, either leaving the country as refugees or displaced inside Ukraine. That number represents about one-quarter of Ukraine's pre-war population.
Ukrainian officials have defiantly rejected a Russian demand that their forces in Mariupol surrender, lay down arms and raise white flags in exchange for safe passage. Russian troops have surrounded and are barraging the strategic southern port city. https://t.co/f8Mbftr8NJ
Zelenskyy Asks Israel for Stronger Stand Against Russia: President Zelenskyy yesterday called on Israel to take a stronger stand against Russia's invasion of Ukraine during a speech delivered via Zoom to Israel's Parliament. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, compared the invasion to Nazi Germany's actions during World War Two, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to carrying out a, quote, "permanent solution" against Ukraine, using the term the Nazis used for its genocide of six million Jews.
Biden goes for bike ride at the beach as Ukraine president warns of 'third world war' https://t.co/ZdgKbkpC1h
Poland Stop Added to Biden's European Trip: A stop in Poland has been added to President Biden's trip to Europe this coming week for talks with NATO and European allies about the war Ukraine, it was announced last night. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden will first travel to Brussels and then to Poland. Poland has taken in more than two million Ukrainian refugees, and is hosting thousands of U.S. troops. Biden's trip will include a summit of NATO leaders Thursday, as well as a European Council summit, and a meeting of the Group of Seven countries.
NEW: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas hospitalized with flu-like symptoms, the court says. https://t.co/btrhARmKo2
➤SUPREME COURT JUSTICE THOMAS HOSPITALIZED WITH 'FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS': The Supreme Court's public information office said yesterday evening that Justice Clarence Thomas was hospitalized, quote, "after experiencing flu-like symptoms," but doesn't have Covid-19. Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Friday evening. The press statement said, "He underwent tests, was diagnosed with an infection, and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics. His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two."
➤SENATE HEARINGS FOR SUPREME COURT NOMINEE JACKSON BEGIN TODAY: The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would be the first Black woman on the nation's highest court, will get underway today. The 51-year-old Jackson is expected to present an opening statement this afternoon, then answer questions from the senators on the committee over the next two days. President Biden announced Jackson's nomination in February, after Justice Stephen Breyer announced in January that he will retire this summer after 28 years on the court.
➤SURGEON GENERAL: 'PREPARATION, NOT . . PANIC' AS COVID CASES RISE IN EUROPE: As Covid-19 cases rise again in Europe, driven by the BA.2 variant, a subvariant of omicron, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said on Fox News yesterday that the U.S. should focus on, quote, "preparation, not on panic." Murthy said the U.S. has more tools than ever to keep people from being hospitalized or dying from Covid, and that we should be ready for rises and falls in cases in the coming months. Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, said on ABC's This Week yesterday that while he thinks the U.S. will likely have an increase in cases due to the BA.2 subvariant, as well as the relaxing of restrictions and waning of immunity, but he doesn't think we'll have a surge. The subvariant now accounts for about 23 percent of new cases in the U.S.
Fauci predicted that the BA.2 variant will eventually overtake omicron as the most dominant U.S. variant, but it's not yet clear how much of a problem that will be. https://t.co/00Cvz8mnTC
➤ONE KILLED, 27 WOUNDED IN GUNFIGHT AT ARKANSAS CAR SHOW: A 23-year-old man was killed and 27 other people were wounded Saturday evening when two people got into a gunfight during a car show in Dumas, Arkansas, authorities said Sunday. Several children were among the wounded at the show, which is part of an annual community event in the small town that helps raise money for scholarships and school supplies. Authorities said they had no indication that the man who died, Cameron Shaffer, was involved in the gunfight. A person who left the scene of the shooting was arrested on unrelated charges and was being questioned about the shooting.
➤SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND CLOSES DUE TO COVID SURGE: Shanghai Disneyland has closed starting today (March 21st) until further notice due to a a Covid-19 surge in China due to the omicron variant that is the country's worst since the early days of the pandemic. All of the Shanghai Disney Resort is being closed, including the Disneytown shopping and dining district, and Wishing Star Park, in addition to Shanghai Disneyland. Shanghai Disneyland was the first Disney theme park to shut down because of the pandemic in early 2020, with all of the Disney parks around the world later following. It was also the first to reopen, in May 2020.
📺MAURY ENDS AFTER 31 YEARS: People reports that, after 31 years on the air, the talk show Maury is coming to a close. Original episodes are set to air through September, and the show will live on in syndication in the future. Host Maury Povich told TVLine in a statement, “Six years ago when I was ready to retire, my NBCUniversal family asked me to continue the show. Even though I told them I was ready for assisted living, out of loyalty to NBCUniversal and my more than 100 staff and crew members, Tracie Wilson and I agreed to one more deal. I’m so proud of my relationship with NBCUniversal and all those who worked on the Maury show, but as I occasionally tell my guests: ‘Enough, already!'”
🙋FINLAND IS WORLD'S HAPPIEST COUNTRY: Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth straight year in the annual U.N.-sponsored index that's based on people’s own assessment of their happiness, as well as economic and social data. Afghanistan ranked in last place. The biggest increases in the index, which was done before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, were for Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, while the biggest declines were for Lebanon, Venezuela and Afghanistan. The U.S. rose three places to 16th, one ahead of Britain. Northern European countries again dominated the top spots, with Denmark second, followed by Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
➤WHAT DO ‘LURKERS’ GET OUT OF TWITTER?: Do you lurk on social media? In 2021 Pew Research found that about 25 percent of Twitter users produced 97 percent of all tweets, meaning most Twitter users behave like “lurkers,” on infrequent tweeters. The data showed that age seems to be the biggest factor between active tweeters and lurkers. Frequent tweeters, defined as users who posted more than five tweets, or retweets, a month, tended to between the ages of 18 and 24. Lurkers, who posted fewer than five tweets, or retweets, and made up roughly half of US users, tended to be between the ages of 30 and 49. Pew found the top reasons lurkers use the platform is for entertainment, to stay informed, and to see a different point of view. In fact, 76 percent of lurkers in the survey said they use the platform primarily to see what others are saying rather than express their own opinion. Past studies have correlated lurking with concerns over online privacy and anxiety. Meanwhile, the Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology argues that lurkers are legitimate online participants.
🏈BROWNS GET BACKLASH OVER SIGNING QB DESHAUN WATSON: The Cleveland Browns are facing some backlash for signing quarterback Deshaun Watson despite the sexual misconduct allegations against him. They made it official Sunday (March 20th), announcing that they'd traded for Watson from the Houston Texans. Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam addressed the concerns, saying, "We are acutely aware and empathetic to the highly personal sentiments expressed about this decision. Our team's comprehensive evaluation process was of the utmost importance due to the sensitive nature of his situation and the complex factors involved." Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said, "It was important for us to meet with Deshaun in person as part of our team's evaluation process, we had a candid conversation regarding his approach to coming into our organization and community," and General Manager Andrew Barry said the team did extensive, quote, "investigative, legal and reference work over the last several months" before signing Watson. Watson has been accused of sexual misconduct by nearly two dozen female massage therapists, who accused him of sexually assaulting or harassing them during massages. A grand jury declined to indict him this month, but he's still facing civil lawsuits by the women, as well as possible suspension by the NFL for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Watson's guaranteed contract is for $230 million over five years, the most guaranteed money at signing of any player in NFL history.
🏀AUBURN, WISCONSIN UPSET IN NCAA MEN'S TOURNAMENT'S SECOND ROUND: Auburn and Wisconsin were eliminated in the two big upsets of the second day of Round 2 games in the men's NCAA basketball tournament Sunday. Number 10 Miami defeated Number 2 Auburn 79-61, and Number 11 Iowa State topped Number 3 Wisconsin 54-49. There was also a more minor upset, with Number 5 Houston ousting Number 4 Illinois 68-53. The Sweet 16 games will start on Thursday.
🏀BAYLOR, IOWA UPSET IN NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT'S SECOND ROUND: Baylor and Iowa were both ousted in upsets in the first day of Round 2 games in the women's NCAA basketball tournament Sunday. Number 10 South Dakota toppled Number 2 Baylor 61-47, and Number 10 Creighton downed Number 2 Iowa 64-62. The eight other Round 2 games will be played today.
IT'S OVER‼️
Baylor's run of 12 straight Sweet 16s is ended by South Dakota, who advances to the round for the first time EVER! pic.twitter.com/Sl8xBFCV5a
🏀WARRIORS' CURRY EXPECTS TO BE BACK FROM INJURY FOR START OF PLAYOFFS: Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry expects to be back from his foot injury in time for the start of the NBA playoffs. Speaking to reporters Sunday, with 12 games left in the regular season, Curry said when asked if he'd felt he'd be available for the playoffs, "Yeah, we've got enough time for that . . . but I'm an optimist." Curry has a sprained ligament in his left foot that he suffered during last Wednesday's game against the Boston Celtics.
⚾RED SOX AGREE TO DEAL WITH ROCKIES' SHORTSTOP STORY FOR SECOND BASE: The Boston Red Sox have agreed to a deal with Colorado Rockies' shortstop Trevor Story for a six-year, $140 million contract to be their second baseman, according to media reports yesterday. The 29-year-old Story, who's a two-time All-Star, has never played any position other than shortstop.
Nielsen Holdings plc today announced that its Board of Directors has determined not to proceed with an unsolicited acquisition proposal from a private equity consortium ("Consortium") that valued the Company at $25.40 per share.
The Board reached this determination based on its comprehensive review of the proposal, with the assistance of its independent financial and legal advisors, and discussions with The WindAcre Partnership LLC under a confidentiality agreement. Nielsen also announced its intention to commence share repurchases under its previously approved $1 billion share repurchase authorization when the Company's trading window opens.
Nielsen's Board unanimously determined that the Consortium's offer significantly undervalues the Company and does not adequately compensate shareholders for Nielsen's growth prospects. As Nielsen's 2021 financial results demonstrate, the Company is achieving strong revenue growth while making significant progress in new product development and MRC reaccreditation. The Company also remains on track to deliver Nielsen ONE – a transformative cross-media solution that will evolve the metrics underpinning the more than $100 billion video advertising ecosystem – in 2022. With growing relevance as audiences shift to streaming, the Company is well positioned within the media ecosystem for long-term success and value creation.
Additionally, following feedback from WindAcre, one of Nielsen's largest shareholders, the Board determined that the transaction would be highly unlikely to receive shareholder approval. At the request of the Consortium, Nielsen entered into a confidentiality agreement with WindAcre. The confidentiality agreement permitted WindAcre to speak with the Consortium about the possibility of joining the Consortium. Following these discussions, WindAcre informed Nielsen and the Consortium that it had determined not to join the Consortium and that it would oppose the transaction as it views Nielsen's intrinsic value to be significantly higher than values proposed by the Consortium.
WindAcre, which initially invested in the Company in 2013, also informed Nielsen that, if Nielsen were to accept the proposal, WindAcre intended to acquire direct ownership of sufficient shares to prevent shareholder approval of the proposed transaction. As disclosed in WindAcre's Schedule 13D filed with the SEC on March 14, 2022, WindAcre has economic exposure to Nielsen through total return swaps with respect to approximately 51,914,900 shares, or 14.44% of Nielsen's ordinary shares, in addition to its 9.61% common ownership. Under UK law, a scheme of arrangement requires approval of at least 75% in value of the shares voting on the transaction, with members of the Consortium not eligible to vote their shares.
Variety reports TV networks and their owners have grown disenchanted with Nielsen’s ability to count viewers who may watch their favorite programs via digital means, on mobile screens on through streaming video. Nielsen has lost industry accreditation for its national TV ratings service, and is working on a new measurement methodology that would tabulate unduplicated cross-stream viewership, but it will not be rolled out in full for several months. Meanwhile, many of the media companies, including NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and others have struck pacts with new measurement vendors to create so-called “alternate currencies” in time for the industry’s next “upfront” ad-sales market.
Nielsen has confidence its current efforts to win back accreditation are on track, along with a retooling of its audience-measurement technology it believes will come online this year. Nielsen has already struck a testing alliance with entities such as Walt Disney Co. and Interpublic Group, and has begun to make available new data analyzing unduplicated audiences who watch their favorite programming across linear and digital venues. The challenge to that effort comes from the networks who have begun to create their own audience-measurement efforts using rivals such as iSpot, ComScore and VideoAmp, in hopes that advertisers will start moving some portion of their media buys to be graded by their alternatives.
April 12, 2020. That’s the day former Disney CEO Bob Iger’s relationship with his handpicked successor, current Disney CEO Bob Chapek, began to fall apart, reports CNBC.
Iger had stunned the world in February of that year by resigning as Disney’s chief executive, effective immediately. He elevated Chapek, whom Iger and the board had long seen internally as the front-runner for the position given his operational experience and decades at the company. Iger would stick around as executive chairman and direct the company’s “creative endeavors” to help with the transition.
The timing of a CEO change at arguably the world’s most famous entertainment company couldn’t have been worse. Just weeks after Iger stepped down, Disney began closing its theme parks around the world during the initial stages of the Covid-19 quarantine.
Iger and Chapek seemed to be ready for the pandemic challenge together.
“I can’t think of a better person to succeed me in this role,” Iger said March 11, 2020, during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, a day before the company announced it would begin closing its parks.
Chapek returned the optimism.
“I’ve watched Bob [Iger] lead this company to amazing new heights, and I’ve learned an enormous amount from that experience,” Chapek said.
One month after those comments, with everyone stuck at home, then-New York Times media columnist Ben Smith published a story after reaching Iger by email. He reported Iger wasn’t going to turn Chapek to the wolves as a brand-new CEO while the world was falling apart. Iger told Smith he would stick around to help run the company.
“A crisis of this magnitude, and its impact on Disney, would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob [Chapek] and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years!” Iger said in his email.
Chapek was furious when he saw the story, according to three people familiar with the matter. He had not expressed a need or desire for extra help. He wasn’t looking for a white knight.
People should be “outraged” at the New York Times for only just confirming the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop, Sen. Ron Johnson said Sunday, as he demanded apologies from the 51 former US intelligence experts who cast doubt on The NY Post’sreportingon the device.
“I am just amazed that the New York Times just now came to the conclusion that the Hunter Biden laptop was genuine,” Johnson, of Wisconsin, told host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM’s “The Cats Roundtable.”
Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, investigated Hunter Biden’s $50,000-a-month job with Burisma and Ukraine.
“Where have they been? That was pretty obvious within a week or two of the New York Post’s stories.”
The senator was referring to The Post’s exclusive reports in October 2020 on the first son’s foreign business dealings and his connection to Ukrainian energy firm Burisma while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president.
“The FBI had to know that. They wouldn’t tell us when we were offered the laptop. I couldn’t take it because I had to do my due diligence. The FBI knew,” Johnson said in the interview that aired Sunday.
“We reached out to the FBI. They wouldn’t tell us it was genuine. They should have. But they didn’t. People should be outraged,” he said.
The laptop, left at a Delaware computer repair shop by Hunter Biden, contained a trove of emails detailing his business relationships in Ukraine and China, which implicated his father.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for then-President Donald Trump, obtained the laptop and turned it over to The Post, which authenticated its contents by interviewing the computer shop owner and Biden cronies whose emails were found on the hard drive.
Hunter Biden is facing a sprawling federal probe into his tax filings and business dealings, the New York Times reported last week.
Johnson called on the Gray Lady to apologize, as well as the 51 intelligence experts who cast doubt on the laptop as Russian disinformation in a letter released just days after The Post’s bombshell exclusives.
“The New York Times is finally, quietly, covering its tracks. … Where are all the other apologies? Where is the apology from the 5[1] intelligence … operatives?” Johnson said on Catsimatidis’ show.
“What they really said was that the laptop had all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation. I had absolutely no information whatsoever, no evidence that this was Russian disinformation. … So, you have all these intelligence operatives confirming … a false story,” Johnson said.
“It was obvious very early on that the Hunter Biden laptop was genuine,” he continued. “They never should have tainted the process with that letter, but they did. Are they going to apologize for it? I’m not holding my breath.”
The Wisconsin Republican also blasted the media, saying ignoring The Post’s Hunter Biden story while playing up claims that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia had serious implications on the 2020 presidential election.
Johnson also compared Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Russian state media officials who are suppressing information about the war in Ukraine.
“These are big-tech billionaires. You go to Ukraine and the complaint is always about the media oligarchs are corrupting the political process in Eastern European countries. We have our own media oligarchs. We just called them big-tech billionaires,” Johnson said.
Pay TV is in free fall, as more and more families cut the cable cord. By the end of 2023, less than half of US households will have a traditional pay TV subscription. The total number of pay TV households will drop to 65.1 million, a 4.8% decrease from 2022.
Beyond the chart:
Between 2016 and 2021, pay TV lost more than 50 million adult viewers (or 25.5 million households), posting the steepest drop in 2020, at 7.7%.
As pay TV declines, virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) will be on the rise. Many cord-cutting households will turn to such services as Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV. By the end of 2022, 15.0 million households will subscribe to a vMVPD, up 7.6% from 2021 and representing 11.4% of all US households.
The growth of vMVPDs will not be enough to offset the decline of pay TV. In 2022, 63.2% of all households will have either pay TV or a vMVPD, but this figure will decline to 54.8% in 2026.
The streaming landscape is changing, as streamers strike deals for live sports programming and introduce ad-supported tiers of membership. These factors create an increasingly enticing environment for disgruntled pay TV households to finally cut the cord.
Radio WHLM owners Joe and Nancy Reilly have agreed to sell their radio network for $450,000 to Seven Mountains Media, reports The Press-Enterprise.
That’s the corporate owner of Bigfoot Country stations here and in other Pennsylvania markets.
Joe Reilly said the decision to accept the offer made by Seven Mountains earlier this year came at the right time for his family, who plan to stay in Bloomsburg for now.
‘“I turned 70 two weeks ago,” Reilly said. “Our shareholders, me and my wife, are very happy.”
The deal includes the purchase of Columbia Broadcasting network of AM and FM stations. It also includes four translator frequencies running the same programming at 94.7 FM in West Hazleton, 96.3 FM in Berwick, 104.3 FM in Bloomsburg and 105.5 FM in Danville.
The deal also featured a non-competitive agreement that Reilly would not own or manage any radio station within 60 miles of here for the next five years.
Reilly, who with his wife has other local business interests, will keep ownership of the WHLM studio property at 124 E. Main St.
He also hopes a handful of his longtime employees and contract workers, led by operations manager Ben Willis and engineer Bob Wright, will continue working at the station.
WHLM listeners won’t notice any change in on-air programming, at least through the summer, while FCC licensing and broadcast red tape is being finalized, Reilly said.
Reilly and his wife formed the Columbia Broadcasting Company in 2001 with an initial investment of $45,000 for a radio station that was owned by Press Enterprise and had been temporarily off the air.
Seven Mountains Media is a diverse multimedia marketing and advertising company that has expanded its broadcast market with purchases of 28 signals from six owners in recent years.
It considers the Columbia FM network led by WHLM 930 AM in Bloomsburg and 1280 WBWX in Berwick as part of its Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market, according to a company press release.
In addition to Bigfoot Country radio at 106.5 FM here, Seven Mountains Media owns and operates Country Bigfoot 103.1 FM in Stroudsburg and Bigfoot Legends 107.7 FM in Dallas.
It also owns WARM 590 AM in Scranton along with Classic Hits Hanna 92.3 FM WHNA in Riverside and 97.5 FM in Bloomsburg.
WHLM began as WCNR radio in 1947. It changed its call letters in 1951 to the initials of Harry L. Magee, the late owner of Magee Carpet Co. and Magee Industrial Enterprises.
Its on-air format largely has consisted of “oldies” and classic rock music along with live broadcasts of local high school and college sports.
“We’re not going anywhere.... except to the shore. We still have a lot of friends down there we can visit now when we want to.”
Gene Deckerhoff, the Voice of the Seminoles for 43 years, has announced that he will retire following his radio broadcast of Florida State University's spring football game on April 9. Deckerhoff is a bona fide legend in broadcasting and among the most heralded and beloved announcers in the history of college and professional sports.
Among a staggering list of awards and honors presented to Deckerhoff is the 2013 National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame’s Chris Schenkel Award, the prestigious Lindsey Nelson Award for broadcasting excellence in 2015 and the Woody Durham – Voice of College Football Award presented by the National Sports Media Association. In 2019, he accepted the George Langford Award for a Lifetime of Service to Florida State University presented by the Seminole Boosters Board of Directors along with close friend Coach Bobby Bowden.
“It has been a lifetime of great moments—great players, great coaches, great games, great memories, and most of all great Seminole fans,” said Deckerhoff. “A life’s work that reads like a best selling novel played out on the radio. I have been blessed. Thank you FSU.
“I will finish my commitment to the Buccaneer Radio Network and who knows maybe broadcast another Super Bowl.”
Gene Deckerhoff
Deckerhoff, 76, began calling Seminole men’s basketball games in 1974, assumed FSU football play-by-play duties in 1979, and added his role as play-by-play announcer for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1989. He has called 529 Seminole football games and over 60 percent (1,324) of the Noles men’s basketball games. By his own count, Gene has uttered his signature “TOUCHDOWN FSU” 2,218 times.
In 2000, Deckerhoff was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame and two years later was inducted into the Florida State University Athletics Hall of Fame. The Florida Community College Activities Hall of Fame tabbed Gene for induction in 2004. He has been named Florida Sportscaster of the Year by members of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association 14 times. And for 18 consecutive years was named the Best Play-by-Play Announcer in Florida by the Florida Sportscasters Association. He received the Circle of Gold medal from Florida State University for outstanding service to the university.
“I don’t think I can put it any better than Gene Deckerhoff is FSU,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford. “We are so honored that one of our most visible ambassadors has been a person with unsurpassed expertise, unique talent, boundless enthusiasm and a personality that so perfectly reflected Seminole athletics.
“Our fans genuinely love Gene. He is one of the most endearing figures in college athletics and it is truly remarkable to see him interact with fans from both teams.
“He is one of kind and thank goodness for the last four decades he was ours.”
➦In 1921...Broadway's The Walter Kerr Theatre opened at 219 West 48th Street in NYC. One of the smaller auditoriums in the Theater District, it seats 975. Designed by Herbert J. Krapp for the Shubert family, it operated as the Ritz Theatre from 1921 to 1990, when it was renamed for playwright and critic Walter Kerr. ABC operated it as a radio and then television studio between 1943 and 1965.
➦In 1922...KGW-AM, Portland, Oregon signed-on.
The Oregonian newspaper created KGW-AM (now Sports KPOJ 620 AM RipCity, owned by iHeartMedia) by purchasing an existing transmitter from the Shipowners Radio Service. The U.S. Department of Commerce licensed the station, and it began broadcasting on March 21, 1922
The studio was housed on the 11th floor of The Oregonian Building Tower at Sixth & Alder Streets. The transmitter was located on the 13th floor. The antenna consisted of a 70-foot, four-wire inverted "L"-type flattop, suspended between a 60-foot mast on top of the building and a 95-foot tower on the nearby Northwestern Bank Building.
R.G. Calvert supervised the operation and Richard “Dick” Haller was the program director. Their aim was to give their listeners news fresh from the press with the best music and outstanding speakers. KGW’s early announcers and writers were usually former newspaper employees, and the first engineers and technicians came from the ranks of former maritime wireless radio operators.
When the station first went on the air, 5,000 radio sets were said to have tuned in. Speakers included The Oregonian’s Editor, Edgar Piper and Mayor George Baker. There was also an opera singer, a novelist and a live musical presentation. Dick Haller became known as KGW’s “Million-Dollar Voice” and his broadcasts were very popular. He would go on to a successful career with NBC in San Francisco.
As an early radio station experiencing tremendous popularity, KGW implemented many innovative new broadcasting ideas. KGW set itself apart from the other stations by having the first radio variety show in the nation, the first audience participation show, the first quiz program, the first library program, the first radio debate, the first in-school listening program and the first singing commercial. In 1925, on-air advertising became a source of KGW’s operating revenue. KGW produced the first-ever singing commercial for Sears, Roebuck and Company in the late 1920s.
KGW was the first station in Oregon to affiliate with a national broadcasting service when they carried the inaugural program of the National Broadcasting Company’s Orange Network on April 5, 1927. The Orange Network was known as the NBC Pacific Coast Network.
The nationally famous Hoot Owls, officially known as "The Order of Hoot Owls Roosting in the Oregonian Tower" aired from 1923 to 1933 as a 2-1/2 hour variety show that was broadcast to over one million listeners. Their slogan soon became "Keep Growing Wiser," whose initial letters represented the KGW call letters.
One of the performers on the Hoot Owls program, Mel Blanc, achieved fame as the author of cartoon characterization in later years in Hollywood where he became the nation’s voice for cartoon characters such as Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny. Blanc, who received his high school education in Portland, joined the program in 1927. Nicknamed "The Grand Snicker" on the Hoot Owls, Blanc became well known for his comedy, as well as his skills as a storyteller, ad-libber, musician, vocalist, and, later, orchestra pit conductor.
Blanc left KGW in 1933 and moved down the hall to perform on sister station KEX in the popular "Cobwebs and Nuts" program, before moving to Hollywood in 1935.
➦In 1924...The first foreign language broadcast aired on WJZ 770 AM, New York City.
The WJZ call sign was first used on what is now WABC in New York City. The original Westinghouse Electric Corporation, whose broadcasting division is a predecessor to the current broadcasting unit of CBS Corporation, launched WJZ in 1921, located originally in Newark, New Jersey. WJZ was sold in 1923 to the Radio Corporation of America, who moved its operations to New York, and in 1926 WJZ became the flagship station for the NBC Blue Network.
In the 1929 movie The Cocoanuts the station was name-checked by Chico Marx in a sequence of running gags between Chico and Groucho: Chico uses the station's call-sign as the punchline of a punning joke based on his confusion over the meaning of the word "radius", which he confuses with 'radios', leading to the mention of the station's call-sign. NBC Blue would become the American Broadcasting Company in 1942. ABC later established WJZ-FM and WJZ-TV at the same time in 1948.
In 1953 ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, and changed the call letters of their New York area stations to WABC, WABC-FM (now WPLJ) and WABC-TV. Four years later, Westinghouse Broadcasting acquired Baltimore television station WAAM (channel 13) and changed its call letters to WJZ-TV, which remained an ABC affiliate until 1995 when the station switched to CBS.
Lowell Thomas
➦In 1925...Lowell Thomas was first heard on radio as a guest on KDKA, Pittsburgh PA talking about “man’s first flight around the world".
In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco.
He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey).
➦In 1939…Radio Star Kate Smith recorded 'God Bless America', originally written by Irving Berlin in 1918. After updating and revision, Smith had introduced the song on her radio show in November 1938.
Smith was a major star of radio. She began with her twice-a-week NBC series, Kate Smith Sings (quickly expanded to six shows a week), followed by a series of shows for CBS: Kate Smith and Her Swanee Music (1931–33), sponsored by La Palina Cigars; The Kate Smith Matinee (1934–35); The Kate Smith New Star Revue (1934–35); Kate Smith's Coffee Time (1935–36), sponsored by A&P; and The Kate Smith A&P Bandwagon (1936–37).
The Kate Smith Hour was a leading radio variety show, offering comedy, music, and drama with appearances by top personalities of films and theater for eight years (1937–45).
Smith continued on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, doing both music and talk shows on radio until 1960.
➦In 1952...The Moondog Coronation Ball was first host by radio personality Alan Freed. It is generally accepted as the first major rock and roll concert.
At the time, its most remarkable feature was its mix of black and white musical performers, in a revue intended for a racially mixed audience, at a time when almost all performances, radio stations and record labels were de facto segregated by race. One popular belief is that this fact predisposed the authorities to seek reasons to limit or bar the show.
The concert was organized by Alan Freed (a disc jockey considered to have coined the term "Rock and Roll" at WJW-Radio), along with Lew Platt, a local concert promoter, and Freed's sponsors, including Leo Mintz, owner of the Record Rendezvous store. More tickets were printed than the arena's actual capacity, in part due to counterfeiting, and a printing error (tickets for a follow-up ball were sold with the same date printed after the first had sold out). With an estimated 20,000 individuals trying to crowd into an arena that held slightly more than half that — and worries that a riot might break out as people tried to crowd in — the fire authorities shut down the concert after the first song by opening act Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams ended. Freed made a public apology on WJW the next day.
Cleveland rock radio station WMMS 100.7 FM attempted to stage a revival of the concert in 1986 under the name "Moondog Coronation Ball II"; then-program director John Gorman had intended for the event to serve as an oldies rock and roll tribute concert – part of the campaign to bring the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland. For legal reasons, the event never materialized.
A few years later in 1992, Gorman, then at local oldies radio station WMJI 105.7 FM, successfully organized a 40th anniversary concert called "Moondog Coronation Ball '92". The concert has been held every year since, featuring oldies rock and roll acts, and sponsored by WMJI. In recent years, the event has been held at Quicken Loans Arena.
➦In 1995...New York City sold the two radio stations it owned: WNYC AM and FM.
WNYC is one of the oldest radio stations in the United States. Funds for the establishment of the station were approved on June 2, 1922 by the New York City Board of Estimate and Apportionment. WNYC made its first official broadcast two years later on July 8, 1924, at 570 AM with a second-hand transmitter shipped from Brazil. With the commencement of WNYC's operations, the City of New York became one of the first American municipalities to be directly involved in broadcasting.
In 1928 WNYC was forced into a time-sharing arrangement on 570 AM with WMCA, another pioneering New York radio outlet. This situation lasted until 1931, when the Federal Radio Commission (a forerunner to today's FCC) moved WNYC to 810 AM. The frequency move did not help WNYC from an operational standpoint as it now shared its frequency with the more-powerful WCCO in Minneapolis, over 1,200 miles to the west. WNYC was now limited to daytime-only operations, broadcasting from sunrise to sunset.
Shortly after becoming mayor in 1994, Rudy Giuliani announced he was considering selling the WNYC stations. Giuliani believed that broadcasting was no longer essential as a municipal entity, and that any financial compensation would be used to help the City cover budget shortfalls. The final decision was made in March 1995: While the City opted to divest WNYC-TV (now WPXN-TV) through a blind auction, WNYC-AM-FM was sold to the WNYC Foundation for $20 million, far less than what the stations could have been sold for if they were placed on the open market.
While this potential sale put an end to the occasional political intrusions of the past, it required the WNYC Foundation to embark on a major appeal towards listeners, other foundations, and private benefactors.
Kathleen Widdoes is 83
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Kathleen Widdoes (“As the World Turns”) is 83.
Singer-guitarist Keith Potger of The Seekers is 81.
Actor Marie-Christine Barrault is 78.
Singer-keyboardist Rose Stone of Sly and the Family Stone is 77.
Actor Timothy Dalton is 76.
Singer-guitarist Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry is 76.
Singer-guitarist Rodger Hodgson (Supertramp) is 72.
Cynthia Geary is 57
Bassist Conrad Lozano of Los Lobos is 71.
Singer Russell Thompkins Jr. of The Stylistics is 71.
Comedian Brad Hall (“Saturday Night Live”) is 64.
Actor Sabrina LeBeauf (“The Cosby Show”) is 64.
Actor Gary Oldman is 64.
Actor Kassie Depaiva (“Days of Our Lives”) is 61.
Actor Matthew Broderick is 60.
Actor-comedian Rosie O’Donnell is 60.
Actor Cynthia Geary (“Northern Exposure”) is 57.
Musician DJ Premier of Gang Starr is 56.
Musician Maxim of Prodigy is 55.
Keyboardist Jonas “Joker” Berggren of Ace of Base is 55.
Guitarist Andrew Copeland of Sister Hazel is 54.
Actor Laura Allen is 48.
Actor Sonequa Martin-Green (“Star Trek: Discovery,” “The Walking Dead”) is 37.
Actor Scott Eastwood (“The Longest Ride”) is 36.
Actor Jasmin Savoy Brown (“For the People”) is 28.
Actor Forrest Wheeler (“Fresh Off the Boat”) is 18.
