R.I.P.: Delaware Broadcaster Thomas H Draper

Thomas H Draper

Thomas H. Draper, who built WBOC in Salisbury, Md., into an influential independently owned station with a strong local news presence, died Sept. 7 from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident near his home in Delaware.

He was 76, according to TV NewsCheck.

Draper was struck by a pick-up truck Thursday morning while out for his daily bicycle ride.  According to Delaware State Police, after calling 911, the driver stayed with Draper until help arrived.  No charges have been filed in the accident.  Draper was initially taken to Bayhealth Milford Memorial Hospital and then airlifted to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where he underwent surgery Thursday afternoon but did not survive the night.

“There are no words to express the profound grief the WBOC family feels at this time,” says Craig Jahelka, president of Draper Media. “Tom was a broadcast pioneer, who said often those of us at WBOC have a moral obligation to serve the people of Delmarva.  Our thoughts and prayers are now are with his family.”

Jahelka says Draper had just celebrated his 50th anniversary in broadcasting on Sunday, Sept. 3.  His broadcasting career began with the purchase of his first radio station WTHD, which bore his initials as its call letters, in 1967. Five years later Draper signed on WAFL-FM in Milford, Del.

Draper's broadcasting career would take a big turn in the late 1970s when WBOC-TV's then-owner, the A.S. Abel Co. — which also owned the Sun papers in Baltimore — put the station up for sale. But Draper was outbid twice.

Draper and his group of investors were asked to make a third bid for WBOC and its two radio stations. After the deal was done, Draper sold the two radio stations to focus on TV. Draper would go on to buy and sell other TV stations in Kansas and Texas. But WBOC always remained his first love.

Draper expanded his CBS affiliate to include Fox and Antenna TV on subchannels. He launched a separate digital division, and in 2015 got back to his roots with the purchase of a 50,000 watt radio station, WBOC-FM.  Draper was poised to announce the launch of Delmarva’s newest television station, Telemundo Delmarva.

September 8 Radio History

➦In 1897...the original Jimmie Rodgers was born. He was nicknamed “the Singing Brakeman” and “the Blue Yodeler” and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.   He died before his 36th birthday, from tuberculosis.


➦In 1930...WBEN signed on in Buffalo, NY.  However, its history dates to the 1920s. WBEN initially used the facility built by the Norton Laboratories organization from Boston, as part of an experiment to send voice transmissions between Niagara Falls, New York, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, as WMAK.

When WMAK was launched in 1922 it operated initially from Lockport, New York at 833 kHz. The station later moved its transmitter to North Tonawanda, New York (broadcasting at 1130 kHz there) and then landing on 900 kHz, with 1000 watts of power, as a result of General Order 40, which realigned American AM radio allocations in 1927–28. In the late 1920s WMAK was acquired by the Buffalo Broadcasting Company, based at Buffalo's Rand Building, which also controlled WGR and WKBW in Buffalo. WMAK was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.

WMAK was closed in the spring of 1930 as federal regulators began probing concentration of media ownership in the nation's largest radio markets. Buffalo Broadcasting Company chose to retain WGR and WKBW while shutting down WMAK and another daytime-only station, WKEN in suburban Kenmore, New York.

At the same time, the Buffalo Evening News was granted a broadcast license of its own, purchased the decommissioned transmitting facility of WMAK on Shawnee Road in Martinsville (North Tonawanda, New York) and re-licensed it as WBEN.

A new studio complex was built at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in downtown Buffalo (chosen primarily for access to the live orchestra there), and served WBEN, its sister FM station and sister television station (which opened in the spring of 1948) for more than 25 years.

In 1941, the station moved to its current position on the dial, at 930 kHz, as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).

The station also relocated its transmitter to Grand Island at during this time, increasing full-time power to its current 5,000 watts. The Grand Island transmitter and two towers are still in use today.

Click Here for more WBEN History.

The Hoboken Four with Major Bowes

➦In 1935...A singing group called the Hoboken Four, one of whose members is named Frankie Sinatra, makes their first national appearance, performing on WOR's radio show Major Bowes Amateur Hour.

The Hoboken Four won the contest that night. Bowes said: “They walked right into the hearts of their audience.” The prize was a 6-month contract to perform on stage and on radio and they were earning a lot more than before.

The Bickersons

➦In 1946...Don Ameche and Frances Langford introduced the domestic strife comedy sketch ‘The Bickersons‘ as a key element of the ‘Drene Time’ series which debuted this day on NBC Radio.


➦In 1954...Alan Freed left Cleveland, Ohio to go to New York City and 1010 WINS radio.



The station eventually became an around-the-clock Top 40 rock and roll radio station, and would remain so until April 19, 1965—long after Freed left and three months after he had died— when it became an all-news outlet. While in New York, Life magazine credited Freed as the originator of the rock 'n roll craze


➦In 1957...Pope Pius XII sent a letter to all Roman Catholic bishops throughout the world on motion pictures, radio and TV.

➦In 1969...the voice of Superman on radio.. and TV game show host Clayton “Bud” Collyer (Beat the Clock, To Tell the Truth), died of a circulatory ailment at age 61.

A young Bud is pictured center behind the Mutual microphone, Superman announcer Jackson Beck is on the left, with Joan Alexander (Lois Lane) on the right.

➦In 1979..."My Sharona" by the Knack took on all challengers with a third straight week at #1.  Chic could not get there with "Good Times".  Earth, Wind & Fire was up to 3 with "After the Love Has Gone" while ELO was up to position #4 with "Don't Bring Me Down".  The rest of an excellent Top 10:  The Charlie Daniels Band with their memorable "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", Maxine Nightingale edged up with "Lead Me On", Robert John had his biggest hit since his Top 10 remake of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in 1972 with "Sad Eyes", Barbra Streisand was on her way down with "The Main Event/Fight", Dionne Warwick had the #9 song--'I'll Never Love This Way Again" and the Little River Band had their third straight Top 10 song with "Lonesome Loser".

➦In 1984...Comeback queen Tina Turner made it two weeks at #1--"What's Love Got to Do with It". John Waite, former lead singer of the Babys, remained at #2 with "Missing You" while newcomer Cyndi Lauper had #3 with "She Bop".  Ray Parker Jr.'s former #1 "Ghostbusters" was at #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Lionel Richie with "Stuck on You", Prince came in at #6 with "Let's Go Crazy", Huey Lewis & the News had another winner from the album Sports--"If This is It", Scandal came charging in with "The Warrior", Corey Hart was at #9 with "Sunglasses at Night" and the Cars rolled in with their 11th hit--"Drive".

➦In 1992...the Howard Stern radio show began broadcasting on KGEL-FM in Dallas

NYC Radio: CBS Radio Suspends WFAN's Craig Carton

Craig Carton, a co-host of WFAN' 660 AM  / 101.9 FM morning show “Boomer & Carton,” was arrested on Wednesday morning by the FBI on charges that he helped orchestrate a fraudulent multi-million-dollar ticket-reselling scheme.

According to The NYTimes, Federal prosecutors in Manhattan accused Carton and another defendant of running a kind of Ponzi scheme in which they solicited investments from victims, including a Manhattan hedge fund, that the two men said they would use to buy and sell concert tickets. The money was instead used to pay personal debts and earlier investors.

He faces charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiring to commit those offenses, according to a criminal complaint filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

The 48-year-old Carton sought the investments last year around the time he also accrued millions of dollars’ worth of gambling debts to casinos and other parties, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a civil complaint filed on Wednesday.



The station’s owner, CBS Radio, said it had suspended Carton pending an investigation and was cooperating with the authorities.

The acting United States attorney in Manhattan, Joon H. Kim, said Carton and his co-defendant, Michael Wright, “deceived investors and raised millions of dollars through misrepresentation and outright lies.”



Carton and Wright were each ordered released on $500,000 bond by a federal magistrate judge, Andrew J. Peck. As the hearing ended, Judge Peck remarked, “With that, the radio crowd in the courtroom today is free to move on to their other business.”

NYC Radio: Boomer Still "Loves" WFAN Partner Carton

Boomer & Carton

WFAN radio host Boomer Esiason Thursday morning professed his “love” for his accused Ponzi schemer co-host Craig Carton – and insisted their show would go on in one form or another.

“I just want people know out there that I’ve loved my partner for 10 years and I still love my partner,” Esiason said on the air while joined by former Giants quarterback Phil Simms.

Esiason said he has not spoken with his partner since the last time they were on the air together.

Carton was busted by the feds Wednesday morning on charges he ripped off millions of dollars from investors by selling bogus concert tickets to cover his gambling debts.

Carton, 48, and business partner Joseph Meli, 43, an event promoter, allegedly ripped off at least $3.6 million from two investors. Carton also is accused of pocketing an additional $2 million from one of the investors.

Esiason began the four-hour show Thursday in light banter before he turned serious, saying the company wanted him to mention that Carton has been suspended “until further notice.”

“Thank you to all our listeners, I want to thank you, thank you to the people in my life, thank you to all our sponsors that reached out to me yesterday. As you can imagine my phone blew up as everybody was finding out what was going on and everybody read the complaint,” he said.

“It’s shocking, it’s shocking, but the people that reached out to me on Twitter, the people that reached out to me personally, the people sending e-mails and everything else … just blew me away, absolutely blew me away.”

The former Jets and Bengals quarterback vowed that the show will endure, despite his missing “point guard.”

NYC Radio: WABC's Sid Rosenberg Gambling Is A "Disease"

Sid Rosenberg

Radio talk host Sid Rosenberg had plenty of emotions spilling out of him after hearing that one of his former radio partners, Craig Carton, was arrested by the feds Wednesday morning on charges he ripped off millions of dollars from investors to pay off massive gambling debts.

According to The NYPost, the one emotion that rose up above the others: Sympathy.

“I know it sounds crazy, and I may be the only one in the country who feels this way but I actually look at it, because I’m a recovering addict, and I’ve had gambling issues in my life as well, there’s a part of me that’s sympathetic,’’ Rosenberg told The Post. “Like this guy is so sick. I went to Gamblers Anonymous time and time again, been abstinent for a long time, then I’d fall off the cliff a little bit.

“But I know how deadly the disease is, man. It’s like drugs and alcohol, that’s one thing, you can smell it, you can see it. But gambling is different. You can go years, no one is going to know. But you’re laying on your pillow at night and you’re like ‘How do I come up with a million dollars,’ and it’s terrible.

“He obviously did a lot of these things out of desperation and what he did was terrible, if it’s true. If he fleeced innocent people out of millions of dollars, he’s got to go to jail, he f—ed up. But that’s what happens with this disease.’’

Rosenberg is the co-host of the “Bernie and Sid Show’’ and a regular contributor on the “Imus in the Morning Show,’’ both on 77WABC. He has a history with Carton. Back in 2000, they were co-hosts of the “The Sports Guys’’ on WNEW. Rosenberg has endured his share of addiction issues — he resigned from WFAN in 2005 after failing to show up to host a Giants pregame show and was fired by 560 WQAM in South Florida after a DUI arrest — and knows how damaging this can and will be to Carton.

ESPN Radio's Ryen Russillo "I Embarassed Myself"

Ryen Russillo

Ryen Russillo is really sorry.

According to Fox News, the ESPN Radio host apologized again for his behavior as he returned to his radio show Tuesday after he was arrested for allegedly wandering into a stranger’s condo drunk and naked.

"It's all on me. There is no one else,"Russillo said on his ESPN Radio show. "I understand that this is a big mistake, because I’m a public figure, and I have my name on a show, and I work at a place like ESPN, and a place that I’m proud to come in to work every single day."

ESPN suspended Russillo following his August 23 arrest. Russillo said Tuesday said, "And I’m not saying this because my bosses are listening, but I deserved the suspension."

"I embarrassed you guys, I embarrassed myself," he admitted. "I think that all the people that have been arguing for me, and me feeling like the underdog, and finally getting my name, and all these things that have happened the last 12 years here, I don’t want those people in the room that have been fighting for me to give up on me or to feel like, you know — because I have let them down. So I’m sorry to them."

Russillo was arrested in Jackson, Wyoming last month after police responded to a report of a nude, intoxicated male. He was charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of a $750 fine

August PPMs Released For DC, Boston, Miami, 9 Other Markets

Nielsen on Wednesday 9/6/17 Released  the second day of August 2017 PPM Data for the following markets:

    7  Washington DC
t
   10  Boston

   11  Miami-Ft.Lauderdale-Hollywood

   12  Detroit

   13  Seattle-Tacoma
   
   14  Phoenix

   16  Minneapolis-St.Paul

   17  San Diego

   18  Denver-Boulder

   19  Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater

   21  Baltimore

   22  St. Louis

Click Here to see the Topline Numbers for subscribing Nielsen stations.

FCC's Ajit Pai Praises Radio's Harvey Efforts

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai delivered the keynote to the 2017 Radio Show Luncheon Wednesday -- fresh off his visits to Houston and Austin this week to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey and to meet with local, state, and federal officials engaged in recovery efforts.

Pai started his keynote talking about Hurricane Harvey.  Said Pai it "was one of the most devastating storms in U.S. history. It poured over 25 trillion gallons of water into the region, causing flooding unlike anything we’ve ever seen. So many Americans have lost so much, including the tragic loss of dozens of lives. My thoughts and prayers are with those struggling as we speak to put their lives back together.

'But as saddened as I am by Harvey’s destruction, the past week’s events have also left me heartened and hopeful. Once again, we saw that the worst of tragedies brings out the best in the American people."

Pai also lauded the broadcasting community, "Station after station scrapped commercials and promos to provide nonstop, wall-to-wall emergency information and news. Some radio stations literally went above and beyond. CBS Radio’s KIKK in Pasadena, Texas, usually broadcasts only in the daytime, but it petitioned the FCC for authority to provide emergency information around-the-clock. We were happy to grant that request within one hour. You heard stories of producers and engineers spending night after night at their stations so they could stay on the air with the crucial information audiences needed, like which grocery stores were open and whether or not they still had bottled water. You also had on-air talent coming in just to answer phones and lend support where they could.

"Radio broadcasters were using every resource at their disposal to keep people connected to information and each other. Popular DJs like Nick Russo of 100.3 The Bull blasted out a steady stream of storm updates on Twitter to tens of thousands of followers. iHeartMedia leveraged its billboard assets to direct residents to emergency information and worked directly with the Red Cross to coordinate post-storm relief efforts. And, as millions now know, one broadcaster even helped save a truck driver on live television. I know she’s on the TV side, but you’ve got to tip your cap on that one. Brandi Smith of KHOU — bravo!

"I’m in awe of broadcasters’ response to Harvey. But I’m not surprised. Because that’s what broadcasters do. You go above and beyond to be there for your communities. That’s true anytime, but especially in times of crisis."

Pai also outlined a status report on some of the FCC's recent efforts:

FCC's Pai with NAB's Gordon Smith

"First up is one of the first issues I set my sights on five years ago when I became a commissioner: AM revitalization. This audience knows the broad strokes of this issue, largely because you were vital to getting the first AM revitalization order adopted back in 2015. So I’ll spare you any background and get straight to the most recent developments.

"As you know, the centerpiece of our reforms to date has been helping AM broadcasters get FM translators. So far, the response has been tremendous. Last year, the FCC gave AM stations more latitude to move an FM translator purchased on the secondary market. We received nearly 1,100 applications and granted almost 95% of these requests.

"During the recently completed 2017 window for new AM translators, we once again received more than 1,000 applications from AM broadcasters. That brings the total number of applications received to about 2,100, or nearly half of all licensed AM stations nationwide.

"This recently closed window was for Class C and D stations only. The majority of applications — 698 to be exact — came from Class D AM stations. Many of these are daytime stations that don’t broadcast at night. Translators will enable them to operate on a full-time basis. That could be a lifeline, as I heard from a former daytimer in Kansas years ago whose ad revenues and listenership jumped after he found a translator.

"Our Audio Division’s talented staff is currently reviewing all of the translator applications that were filed this summer. I’m optimistic that we’ll have good news to report in the near future.

As for the commission's review of media rules:

"Back in May, the FCC launched a comprehensive review of our media regulations. Our goal is simple: let’s modernize our rules to match the realities of today’s marketplace. This better promotes the public interest and allows for more competition, innovation, and investment in the media sector. We asked for your thoughts on which rules should be modified or repealed as part of this review, and why. And we received plenty of feedback.

"When we came up with the idea for this proceeding, we thought of it as a way for us to clean out the regulatory underbrush. And as is the case with many ranches right here in Texas, there’s plenty of underbrush to be cleared among the 1,000 or so pages of FCC media rules. It’s time for us to get to work.

"Speaking of unnecessary and outdated rules, earlier this year, the FCC proposed to eliminate our main studio rule. As you probably know, decades ago, the agency required each AM, FM, and television broadcast station to maintain a main studio located in or near its community of license. The original idea was that local access to a station’s main studio was necessary for the public to give broadcasters their input and to review a station’s public inspection file.

"But the reality is that local access to a physical station is simply no longer necessary to satisfy those public interest goals. Broadcasters’ public inspection files are either currently available or will soon be available online. And, if anyone in the community wants to contact their local station, such contact is much more likely to occur via social media, through email, or by phone."

SBS Blasts SAG-AFTRA For “Malicious Claims”

The Spanish Broadcasting System has fired back at SAG-AFTRA, which has accused the media company of failing to pay minimum wages and overtime to its employees at Los Angeles Spanish-language radio stations La Raza and Mega and refusing to bargain in good faith for a fair contract for them, according to deadline.com.

“The recent allegations trumpeted by the union against our company are not only totally false and malicious, they are, in fact, an insult to the talented and professional on-air personnel the union claims to represent,” SBS chairman Raúl Alarcón said in a statement.

Raul Alarcon

“Not only are the recent claims not true in the case of our Los Angeles personnel, they are untrue as evidenced by hundreds of employees who have worked at SBS during nearly 35 years of operations at dozens of broadcasting facilities throughout the country.”

Alarcón said SBS “will vigorously defend itself against these false claims to the fullest extent permitted by the law.”

La Raza and Mega are the first Spanish-language stations to organize in Los Angeles after their on-air talent voted overwhelmingly to join SAG-AFTRA on August 1, 2016. The union claims that since then, SBS “has violated federal law by refusing to bargain in good faith with SAG-AFTRA, and by retaliating against its on-air talent for unionizing by terminating eight employees who were openly supportive of SAG-AFTRA’s organizing effort and/or were owed monies in connection with SBS’ wage violations.”

SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris last week called on the State Labor Commissioner “to vigorously investigate the rampant violations of California wage and hour laws at SBS. Over the past 12 months, the company has also engaged in extensive and severe unfair labor practices, which are currently pending before the National Labor Relations Board. It has also done everything possible to hamper its negotiations with SAG-AFTRA. This is absolutely unacceptable. I have a message for SBS: We are not going away.”

Report: Facebook Has A Fuzzy Math Problem

Facebook could do with some new friends in data. Its estimated audience doesn’t square with an official U.S. demographic tally. A growing list of counting problems could spell trouble as the $500 billion social network pushes into streaming and other higher-value material.

According to Reuters, Brian Wieser at Pivotal Research clearly has broader concerns about Facebook. He is the only one of 46 analysts following the company who recommends that investors sell the stock, according to ratings culled by Thomson Reuters. He also found that Facebook touts the ability to reach 101 million 18-to-34-year-olds in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are only 76 million of them.

Some factors might partly explain the yawning gap. Age is self-reported, so groups may not perfectly align with the official national tally from seven years ago. Facebook also might be capturing non-residents, visitors or users holding multiple accounts. What’s more, advertisers aren’t billed according to the estimated figures anyway.


Even so, the bloated numbers fit a troubling pattern. Last September, for example, the company found it had been flubbing calculations on how much time users spent watching videos. It was one of several such mistakes discovered over the past year.

Madison Avenue finds itself in a difficult spot. Media planners and big spenders like Procter & Gamble should have more negotiating power with Facebook. They also could shift some digital dollars to Google. But the company led by Mark Zuckerberg is dominant online and the internet search giant has had its own problems, including putting ads aside questionable material.

Russian Operatives Bought Facebook Ads

Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it had found that an operation likely based in Russia spent $100,000 on thousands of U.S. ads promoting divisive social and political messages in a two-year-period through May.

Reuters reports Facebook, the dominant social media network, said 3,000 ads and 470 “inauthentic” accounts and pages spread polarizing views on topics including immigration, race and gay rights.

Another $50,000 was spent on 2,200 “potentially politically related” ads, likely by Russians, Facebook said.

U.S. election law bars foreign nationals and foreign entities from spending money to expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate. Non-U.S. citizens may generally advertise on issues. Other ads, such as those that mention a candidate but do not call for the candidate’s election or defeat, fall into what lawyers have called a legal gray area.

Facebook announced the findings in a blog post by its chief security officer, Alex Stamos, and said that it was cooperating with federal inquiries into influence operations during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Facebook briefed members of both the Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees on Wednesday about the suspected Russia advertising, according to a congressional source familiar with the matter. Both committees are conducting probes into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, including potential collusion between the campaign of President Donald Trump and Moscow.

Facebook also gave its findings to Robert Mueller, the special counsel in charge of investigating alleged Russian interference in last year’s presidential election, a source familiar with the matter said. The company produced copies of advertisements as well as data about the buyers, the source said.

Al Roker Calls Out Rush Limbaugh Over Irma Theory

Rush Limbaugh

NBC's Al Roker isn’t playing any word games when it comes to ensuring people take hurricane Irma seriously. The weatherman called out Rush Limbaugh on Twitter after the conservative radio host suggested that the hurricane was being over-hyped.

During his show on Tuesday, Limbaugh suggested that Irma was being politicized by the left, fueled by the effects of hurricane Harvey in Texas, in an effort to push an agenda of climate change.

Although he opened the segment by admitting he’s not a meteorologist or anything of the sort, he explained to his listeners that he believes the constant media attention that Irma is getting is merely an effort to spread fear and panic that climate change is causing worse hurricanes.

According to Fox News, Roker, who has worked as the resident weatherman for the “Today Show” since 1996, took issue with Limbaugh’s characterization of the Irma coverage and went as far as to call the host’s words criminal for “putting lives at risk” on Twitter.

Do not listen to @rushlimbaugh when he says #Irma is not a dangerous #storm and is hype. He is putting people's lives at risk

— Al Roker (@alroker) September 6, 2017

“Now, in the official meteorological circles, you have an abundance of people who believe that man-made climate change is real. And they believe that Al Gore is correct when he has written — and he couldn’t be more wrong — that climate change is creating more hurricanes and stronger hurricanes. And, of course, when Harvey hit, it was the first hurricane that had hit in 12 years. There haven’t been more hurricanes and no more dangerous than any others in previous years,” Limbaugh told listeners.

“But it doesn’t matter because the bias is built in. So there is a desire to advance this climate change agenda, and hurricanes are one of the fastest and best ways to do it. You can accomplish a lot just by creating fear and panic.”