ViacomCBS Expands Podcast Footprint

ViacomCBS has announced an expanded podcast footprint, featuring brand-new and returning hit series that build on beloved franchises and iconic IP from Awesomeness, BET, CBS News, CBS Studios, CBS Sports, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Noggin, MTV Entertainment Group, Paramount Network and SHOWTIME Sports. This robust slate will super serve consumers across comedy, news, true crime, sports, kids, entertainment, and music, reinforcing the company’s strategy to create premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide.

Since unveiling the company’s unified podcast slate at the IAB’s Podcast Upfront in September 2020, ViacomCBS has seen a nearly 14% increase in downloads year-over-year and is on track to produce over 120 shows, including more than 20 podcast premieres, this year alone.

“ViacomCBS is thrilled to return to the Podcast Upfront following a year of remarkable momentum and growth in the digital audio space,” said Steve Raizes, Senior Vice President, ViacomCBS Podcasts. “Honoring the quality and value of the company’s world-renowned content, this enhanced podcast slate will offer an organic pipeline for advertising partners to reach diverse audiences in a premium environment at scale.”

ViacomCBS also introduced a new and expanded partnership with iHeartMedia, where Nickelodeon will exclusively create podcasts from two of the brand's most cherished franchises: Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra and SpongeBob SquarePants. Additionally, ViacomCBS announced BET’s podcasting initiatives, emphasizing the massive demand for content from leading Black creators and reflecting the tremendous relevance, influence, and popularity of Black culture across the general entertainment ecosystem. BET will develop podcasts that will serve as a natural extension of the brand’s concerted investment in digital content.

Podcast titles from the upcoming slate include:

• CBS Eye on Money with Jill Schlesinger – host Jill Schlesinger, CFP®, tackles sometimes uncomfortable and even controversial money and investing issues without the financial jargon to get to the heart of what’s important for anyone to know. Jill takes listener phone calls and interviews informative and entertaining guests each week to uncover surprising insights and provide actionable information so listeners can make the most of their money from CBS News.
• She Makes the Rules – a podcast about rule-makers, record-setters, and rebel women who’d rather boss up than back down. They do not back down, they’re never intimidated, they’re never afraid to speak truth to power. When something isn’t right, they take a stand. Join CBS News as we take a look at some of the key women that have been Rule-makers and Rule-breakers.
• Risking it All – most of us don’t experience heart-stopping, adrenaline-pumping, high-stakes risks in our daily lives. But what if your job was all about taking those kinds of risks? That’s precisely what Dr. Sandra Magnus, a former NASA astronaut, and retired Navy Admiral James “Sandy” Winnefeld explore in their weekly podcast, Risking It All. Listen to conversations with professional risk-takers, including a deep-sea diver, a heart surgeon, an NFL quarterback, a secret agent, and more. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how these pros live life on the edge.
• Behind the Music (MTV) – the legendary series Behind the Music is expanding to audio with a companion podcast to the Paramount+ series, featuring career-spanning stories told by your favorite artists.
• Beyond the Scenes from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central) – host and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah correspondent Roy Wood Jr. gives listeners an inside look into how producers and writers of the Emmy®-winning series use comedy to tackle a variety of complex topics – from racial injustice to sex robots – and where these issues stand today. Beyond the Scenes features a rotating cast of The Daily Show correspondents including Ronny Chieng, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic, and Dulcé Sloan.
• Wild ‘N Out (VH1) – one of the most social series in the world, Wild ’N Out will continue to combine hip hop and improv comedy, but now for your ears.
• Yellowstone (Paramount Network) – the most watched cable show of 2020 debuts a companion podcast that gives fans exclusive cast interviews and behind-the-scenes glimpse into the gritty, modern-West community and culture behind the megahit – Yellowstone.

Other show updates include the recent launch of Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 and a new sports-centric podcast from “SHOWTIME Basketball” is coming soon.

CBS4 Miami Crew Attacked While Working Story About Violence

A television news crew was attacked by multiple people Wednesday night while working on a story about crime in Miami Beach. The NY Daily News reports.

CBS4 reporter Bobeth Yates and photojournalist Ebenezer Mends were in South Beach around 9 p.m. to report on a newly approved resolution banning the sale of alcohol after 2 a.m. in the city’s entertainment district, an effort to crack down on overnight fights and unruly behavior.

While working on the segment, the pair noticed a fight break out on Ocean Drive and turned the camera toward the scene, Yates told viewers after the attack. Several people involved in the brawl then came up to the crew and aggressively demanded they stop filming, video shows.

The footage shows one man trying to cover Mends’ camera as other young men and women shouted at the journalists. Yates said the attackers also knocked down the camera and threw some sort of alcoholic beverage on the pair.

“They started really coming on to Ebenezer and attacking him,” she told her colleagues in the studio. “At one point, maybe four or five people surrounded him. And at that point, I kind of got involved and tried to push them back. They kind of hit me. They went over my head to attack Ebenezer and the camera.”

The crew was not injured, but Yates said their equipment was damaged and that she “was really shaken up.”

“To be honest, I have been reporting for a very long time — don’t want to date myself, but about 20 years — and I’ve never been attacked like this on a story,” she said.

“The ironic part was we were actually covering crime on South Beach and normally we would walk up and down the strip trying to interact with people, getting interviews, but in this instance, they came to us.”

Miami Beach police arrested two suspects following the attack, according to CBS4. Their names were not immediately released, but they were expected to be charged with felony criminal mischief and battery.

Police are still looking for the other attackers.

Bill O'Reilly Has 16th Best-Selling Book

Key Networks announces that Bill O'Reilly, host of its popular daily radio features, The O’Reilly Update and The O’Reilly Update – Morning Edition, has soared to the #1 spot on the New York Times Best Sellers list this week with the 10th book in his and co-author Martin Dugard's best-selling Killing series. 

KILLING THE MOB: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America (St. Martin's Publishing Group) is now the bestselling book in the U.S., certified by the New York Times. Radio stations across the country have heavily promoted the book since its launch last Tuesday, May 4th.

In the new book, O’Reilly traces the brutal history of 20th Century organized crime in the United States, and expertly plumbs the history of this nation’s most notorious serial robbers, conmen, and especially, mob family bosses. Covering the period from the 1930s to the 1980s, O’Reilly traces the prohibition-busting bank robbers of the Depression Era, such as Bonnie & Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby-Face Nelson. In addition, the authors highlight the creation of the Mafia Commission, the power struggles within the “Five Families,” and the battles to control Cuba, Las Vegas and Hollywood, as well as the personal war between the U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy and legendary Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa.

To date, O'Reilly's KILLING series includes instant #1 national bestsellers, sales of nearly 18 million copies worldwide, and over 320 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

➤The O’Reilly Update and The O’Reilly Update – Morning Edition currently air across 242 radio stations from coast-to-coast, and cut through the anonymous sources and phony stories dominating today’s news cycle and brings O’Reilly’s trademark “no spin” analysis to listeners across the U.S. Key Networks delivers The O’Reilly Update to stations of all formats and market sizes every weekday beginning at 11:30am EST. The O’Reilly Update – Morning Edition is available for distribution in morning drive in all time zones.

R.I.P.: Dick Kay, Veteran Chicago Broadcaster

Dick Kay

Veteran Chicago broadcaster Dick Kay — a fearless reporter who was well sourced and deeply knowledgeable about politics — died early Thursday at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, his family said. He was 84.

The Chicago Tribune reports Kay, who was living in the St. Charles area, suffered a brain hemorrhage earlier in the week, according to his family. Born Richard Snodgrass, Kay was remembered for his lengthy journalism career, which included 38 years at WMAQ-Ch. 5. After retiring from the NBC-owned station in 2006, he worked briefly as then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s “special advocate for health care.”

He returned to broadcasting in 2008 as host of “Back on the Beat,” a weekly talk show on WCPT-AM 820. His final show aired Saturday. WCPT general manager Mark Pinski said he was sharp until the very end.

“He’d come into the station with all these notes and papers, and he’d print stuff out. He didn’t need any notes whatsoever when he got on the air. He was the most amazing ad-libber I’ve ever seen in my life,” Pinski said. “Everything was off the top of his head. He just knew politics, and he fit perfectly with our station’s progressive disposition.”

The Tennessee native born in 1936, who earned the nickname “Doogie,” got into radio in Peoria after serving in the U.S. Navy and earning a degree from Bradley University. He adopted the on-air name “Kay” in honor of his wife. The year he joined WMAQ as a writer, Kay covered the protests that roiled the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

He became a full-time reporter, political editor and host of the public affairs program “City Desk.” He won the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in 1985 for a nine-month investigation into patronage in the General Assembly.

May 14 Radio History

➦In 1910...Actor Paul Sutton born (Died from muscular dystrophy at age 59 – January 31, 1970), He was a film actor, appearing mostly in uncredited roles, and most often in low budget B-movies during the 1930s and 1940s. He is perhaps best known as one of the actors who portrayed Sergeant William Preston on the radio serial Challenge of the Yukon. He departed his acting career in 1947, and later entered politics. In 1954 and 1956 he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from Michigan.

➦In 1916...Musician and bandleader Skip Martin was born in Robinson Ill. He began on staff at radio station WLW in Cincinnati, before playing alto and baritone sax for a series of big bands, including Charlie Barnett, Jan Savitt, Glenn Miller, and Benny Goodman. He had stints with NBC & CBS radio in New York before arranging the theme and incidental music for the 1958-59 TV series, “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.”  He died in Feb 1976 at age 59.

➦In 1970..Actress Billie Burke, best remembered as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz, who had her own Saturday morning CBS radio sitcom (1943-46), died of heart failure at age 85.

➦In 1976...Lowell Thomas ended a 46-year career as a network radio reporter.

Lowell Thomas

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. When he returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, he established 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 simulcast of his radio broadcast), beginning on February 21, 1940, on NBC Television. While W2XBS New York carried every TV/radio simulcast, it is not known if the two other stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS, W2XB Schenectady and/or W3XE Philadelphia carried all or some of the simulcasts.

In the Summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who were about to or who had just addressed the convention.

However, 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).  His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs.

➦In 1984...Ron Lundy started at WCBS 101.1 FM



➦In 2006...Lew Anderson, the Howdy Doody Show's final Clarabell the Clown, died at the age of 84. Earlier in his career, he sang on radio with a group known as the Honey Dreamers.

Lew Anderson as Clarabell The Clown

➦In 2015…Riley B. B. King died at age 89 (Born - September 16, 1925), He was an blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that influenced many later electric blues guitarists.

B B King

King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and is considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues".

King was born on a cotton plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, and later worked at a cotton gin in Indianola, Mississippi. He was attracted to music and the guitar in church, and began his career in juke joints and local radio. He later lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago, and toured the world extensively.

In November 1941, "King Biscuit Time" first aired, broadcasting on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. It was a radio show featuring the Mississippi Delta blues. King listened to it while on break at a plantation. A self-taught guitarist, he then wanted to become a radio musician.

In 1943, King left Kilmichael to work as a tractor driver and play guitar with the Famous St. John's Gospel Singers of Inverness, Mississippi, performing at area churches and on WGRM in Greenwood, Mississippi.

(Getty Images)

He performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM in West Memphis, where he began to develop an audience. King's appearances led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, and later to a ten-minute spot on the Memphis radio station WDIA. The radio spot became so popular that it was expanded and became the Sepia Swing Club.[18]

He worked at WDIA as a singer and disc jockey, where he was given the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to "Blues Boy", and finally to B.B.

Miranda Cosgrove is 28

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

• Guitarist Gene Cornish of The Rascals is 77. 
• Movie director-producer George Lucas is 77. 
• Actor Meg Foster (“Cagney and Lacey”) is 73. 
• Director Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump,” ″Back to the Future”) is 70. 
• Musician David Byrne (Talking Heads) is 69. 
• Actor Tim Roth is 60. 
• Guitarist C.C. DeVille of Poison is 59. 
• Singer Ian Astbury of The Cult is 59. 
• Actor Danny Huston (“John Adams” miniseries) is 59. 
• Musician Fabrice Morvan of Milli Vanilli is 55. 
• Bassist Mike Inez of Alice In Chains is 55. 

• 

  Danny Wood is 52

  Singer Raphael Saadiq (Tony! Toni! Tone!) is 55. 
• Actor Cate Blanchett is 52. 
• Singer Danny Wood of New Kids on the Block is 52. 
• Director Sofia Coppola (“Lost In Translation”) is 50. 
• Actor Gabriel Mann (“Revenge”) is 49. 
• Singer Natalie Appleton of All Saints is 48. 
• Singer Shanice is 48. 
• Actor Carla Jimenez (“Growing Up Fisher”) is 47. 
• Guitarist Henry Garza of Los Lonely Boys is 43. 
• Singer Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show is 43. 
• Singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys is 42. 
• Bassist Mike Retondo of Plain White T’s is 40. 
• Actor Amber Tamblyn (“Two and a Half Men,” ″Joan of Arcadia”) is 38. 
• Actor Lina Esco (“S.W.A.T.”) is 36. 
• Actor Miranda Cosgrove (“iCarly”) is 28.

Nashville Radio: EMF Picks Location for New HQs

A $220 million-a-year Christian radio and media company that broadcasts nationwide has dialed into Nashville's southern Williamson County as the spot to build a corporate headquarters with 320 jobs.

The Nashville Business-Journal reports Bill Reeves, CEO of Educational Media Foundation, revealed the choice and other details about his organization's upcoming relocation from California at an this week. 

The 40-year-old nonprofit, which Reeves said has $600 million to $700 million of assets, is the parent to Christian radio's K-LOVE, whose morning show now broadcasts from here. The operation is rapidly expanding into film, podcasting, live events and other productions. The Greater Nashville region, particularly Williamson County, already is home to much of the Christian music and entertainment industry, including record labels and publishers.

"We looked at Colorado, Texas and Tennessee. Tennessee, by far, won the day in so many categories," said Reeves, who has lived in Greater Nashville for a couple of decades.

It's at least the fourth headquarters relocation Williamson County has snagged this year, with the other companies coming from Illinois, Aizona and San Diego. Educational Media, in particular, highlights and extends a California exodus that has accelerated and intensified during the pandemic. Educational Media Foundation will be moving from offices outside of Sacramento.

"Believe it or not, guys, we don't badmouth California when we leave. They've been very good to us for 40 years, especially as a nonprofit, believe it or not," Reeves said. "But our employees are not nonprofit, and they need a place where they can afford to live without the burden that is beginning to fall on them."

In an interview, Reeves discussed hiring, his organization's temporary office, and where its permanent home will be. He provided new levels of details that built on the organization's March announcement of its arrival:

• Reeves expects half of his 320 employees in California to relocate. Educational Media Foundation will be hiring for the full range of jobs, from entry-level call center roles to C-suite positions. Other openings include cybersecurity, software development and media production. "We've been a radio company for 40 years, and I'm ready to see us as a full media company in many media outlets," Reeves said.
• The foundation has signed a letter of intent to buy 11 acres in southern Williamson County from Boyle Investment Co. The foundation has hired Nashville's Hastings Architecture Associates to design a 125,000-square-foot office building. Reeves said the exact location will be announced within a couple of months; he described it as being between Franklin and the Maury County line.
• Reeves is giving employees, and his organization, about two-and-a-half years to complete the relocation. "The reason we did that, in part, was because of some of the challenges here and in the area with with housing inventory," said Reeves. "For us, we felt like staging that over a two- to three-year period would be easier on the county and easier on us."

iHeartRadio Music Fest Returns To In-Person Event

iHeartMedia has announced the return of the annual star-studded iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 17 and 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The evening performance lineup and details for the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Festival will be announced at a later date.

A special early access ticket on-sale for the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Festival will be available for 24 hours exclusively to Capital One cardholders on Tuesday, May 18 at 10 a.m. PST through Wednesday, May 19 at 10 a.m. PST via axs.com. In addition, an early access ticket on-sale will be available for 24 hours to the general public Wednesday, May 19 at 10 a.m. PST through Thursday, May 20 at 10 a.m. PST. During this limited sale, tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and while supplies last. All remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public in June, along with a Capital One Cardholder Pre-Sale opportunity.

During the Capital One cardholder early access ticket on-sale, cardholders will also have the opportunity to add the Capital One Access Pass on to their ticket purchase. The Capital One Access Pass includes access to an exclusive cardholder event at the iHeartRadio Music Festival with complimentary food and beverage, as well as an experience with an iHeartRadio Music Festival artist.

The iHeartRadio Music Festival will broadcast live for fans via iHeartMedia radio stations throughout the country across more than 150 markets and also will be featured as an exclusive national television broadcast special on The CW Network at a later date.

Chicago Sun-Times Reporter Pleads For Someone To Save The Tribune

A reporter from The Chicago Sun-Times made a public plea in his paper Wednesday for someone to save its competitor, the Chicago Tribune, from being acquired by hedge fund Alden Global Capital, reports The Hill.

"This is an odd thing to do in the pages of the Chicago Sun-Times, but I’m asking someone to buy the Chicago Tribune," wrote wrote Andy Grimm, a Sun-Times reporter and president of the Chicago News Guild union that represents journalists at the Sun-Times and the Tribune. 

“No, don’t rush to a news rack or start a subscription. Buy the entire newspaper, lock, stock and ink barrels,” he wrote. 

Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, which owns the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun and many other newspapers around the U.S., are scheduled to vote on May 21 whether to accept Alden’s bid to acquire the company. 

Andy Gimm

Grimm, along with other journalists and industry analysts, say Alden’s ultimate goal is not to invest in the Tribune or local journalism but to extract as much value from the paper's assets as possible.

“Alden is widely regarded as the worst of a class of owners who regard newspapers as assets to be stripped, with profits put ahead of providing readers with the news and information a community needs to function,” Grimm wrote. The president of Alden, Heath Freeman, has denied similar accusations.

Baltimore hotel billionaire Stewart Bainum has made a separate offer to buy Tribune Publishing that could save the Chicago Tribune from Alden ownership.  

However, Bainum’s plan is to donate the Baltimore Sun and other Maryland papers to a nonprofit and then sell the Chicago Tribune and the other papers with similar plans to save them.

“But, so far, he has found no one in Chicago willing to take the Tribune off his hands,” Grimm wrote. “I can understand why Chicago’s ample collection of billionaires and millionaires might be gun-shy. Several members of their tax bracket have dabbled in Tribune ownership, and either lost money or damaged their reputations.” 

“With all due respect to those former Tribune owners, you did it wrong,” Grimm added.

Wake-Up Call: Colonial Pipeline Is Flowing Again

The Colonial Pipeline got up and running yesterday at about 5 p.m. although the company says it will take several days for the supply chain to get back to normal. The 5,500-mile pipeline supplies about half of the gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and jet fuel used by most of the Southern states and the East Coast. A Russian ransomware attack forced it offline last Friday.

Latest Update - Colonial Pipeline Return to Service: https://t.co/WkosDxQ0CV pic.twitter.com/mWTuJBVHVM

— Colonial Pipeline (@Colpipe) May 12, 2021

➤CONSUMER PRICES RISE 4.2%: Consumer prices rose 4.2 percent in April over the year before. That was even worse than expected. The increase in the Consumer Price Index is the biggest in 12 years. Government economists insist that the price increases will settle down later this year. They say the main cause is the reopening of the economy.

Here's what we're paying more for:

• The average gasoline price rose 49.6 percent.
• Fuel prices are up 37.3 percent.
• Used car and truck prices are up 10 percent.
• Food prices were up 0.4 percent.
• Prices for housing, lodgings, airline tickets, car insurance and furniture all rose.

➤STOCKS REEL AT INFLATION REPORT: Wall Street really did not appreciate that report of a 4.2 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 681 points to close at 33,588. The Standard & Poor's Index dropped 89 points to 4,063. It was the worst day for the stock market since January.

Israel-Palestinians Conflict Latest:

• Gaza braces for more Israeli airstrikes amid a somber end to Ramadan.
• Rocket fire continues from Hamas into Israel.
• Jewish and Arab mobs rampage across Israel after protests and violence in Jerusalem.https://t.co/mogQph4j94

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 13, 2021

➤ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE ESCALATES: The cross-border fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants is worsening. Israeli forces bombarded Gaza with dozens of airstrikes overnight. Palestinian forces responded with waves of rockets aimed at Tel Aviv and other targets in Israel. Street violence between Jewish and Arab mobs have been reported in several towns and cities, according to The New York Times.

NY Post 5/13/21

124 retired generals and admirals question Biden's election, "mental and physical condition" https://t.co/OutUZB3anI pic.twitter.com/2mHQCozO5F

— The Hill (@thehill) May 13, 2021

➤LIZ CHENEY PURGED FROM GOP LEADERSHIP: Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney was removed from her Republican Party leadership role in the House of Representatives yesterday, as expected. The voice vote came the day after a speech by Cheney in which she refused to repudiate her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump or tone down her criticism of his continued insistence that he really won the election.

• In his new blog, the former president dismissed Representative Cheney as "a bitter, horrible human being" who has "no personality" and is a warmonger.

“Bring it on!”

That's Rep. Liz Cheney's answer when asked about her message as Trump’s political team threatens to primary her in Wyoming’s next election. https://t.co/K3x2ydRonZ

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) May 13, 2021

➤WHERE THE WEALTHY ARE FLEEING: We knew that many affluent Americans fled the big cities when the pandemic kicked in, but where did they go? To smaller cities including San Antonio and Salt Lake City, according to a new report from real estate company Coldwell Banker. Denver and Dallas are also on the hot list, and Phoenix is a big destination for those fleeing California. Unmoored from the office, home buyers looked for bigger houses and quieter communities.

➤VAX-A-MILLION, OHIO: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine knows how to draw a crowd to a vaccination site. He announced that his state will give away a $1 million price every week for five weeks to an Ohioan who has gotten the COVID-19 vaccine. In a separate sweepstakes drawing, five teenagers who have been vaccinated will receive full college scholarships. To be eligible, you must be 18 or older and have been vaccinated before the drawing. The first prize will be drawn May 26.

➤BLAME THOSE SLACKER ROOSTERS: Chicken has been in short supply lately and many reasons have been cited, including the increasing popularity of fast-food chicken sandwiches. But here's a new one: Tyson's says its roosters just aren't up to the job. The giant chicken processor replaced its roosters with a different breed that frankly has proved to be a disappointing performer. A decline in chick hatchings ensued. The company has fired its rooster crew and is hiring its former stalwart.

🐶STUDY: PETTING A DOG ON A REGULAR BASIS CAN ‘SIGNIFICANTLY’ REDUCE ANXIETY AND ENHANCE THINKING SKILLS IN STRESSED STUDENTS:  Regularly petting dogs can really help lower stress levels. Washington State University researchers found that stress management programs that utilized therapy dogs were most effective for struggling students. Specifically, students who completed a four-week-long program with animal therapy were found to have improved cognitive skills that persisted for at least four weeks. Human-animal interaction expert and study leader Patricia Pendry says, “This study shows that traditional stress management approaches aren’t as effective for this population as programs that focus on providing opportunities to interact with therapy dogs. […] The results were very strong. […] when you’re looking at the ability to study, engage, concentrate and take a test, then having the animal aspect is very powerful. Being calm is helpful for learning especially for those who struggle with stress and learning.”

CBS News poll: How long have you known your closest friend? https://t.co/sDf79mZC1s

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 13, 2021

🎧STUDY..PEOPLE WHO DRIVE WEARING HEADPHONES ARE MORE THAN FOUR SECONDS SLOWER TO IDENTIFY ROAD HAZARDS:  Wearing headphones while riding a bicycle or while driving is really not a good idea. Ford conducted an experiment, and found that cyclists and drivers were four seconds slower to identify potential road hazards when wearing headphones. Ford is now letting the public try out the virtual experience themselves using their smartphones. It’s called Share The Road: Safe and Sound, and uses “8D” audio, a new sound technology that makes our brains think audio is constantly moving and coming from different directions. This issue is that wearing headphones causes a reduction in the vehicle and roadway sounds the driver can hear, and leads to the driver underestimating vehicle speed—this happened in both a lab setting and on the road, when driving during both day and night.

🚘AAA..MEMORIAL DAY TRAVEL TO INCREASE 60% IN 2021 COMPARED TO LAST YEAR: The American Automobile Association (AAA) is predicting that Memorial Day will see increased highway activity this year. AAA Travel predicts that more than 37 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over the holiday weekend (May 27th-May 31st)—which is 60 percent more than last year when just 23 million Americans traveled for Memorial Day weekend. The “significant rebound” in travel is expected because more Americans are getting the COVID-19 vaccine and because the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated its travel guidance saying that fully vaccinated Americans can safely travel around the country. It’s predicted that of the 37 million Americans expected to travel Memorial Day weekend, 34.4 million will travel by car (12 million more than last year), 2.5 million will fly (nearly six times more than last year), and about 237,000 will take a bus, train, or cruise. The AAA also noted in its report that its estimation could be impacted by last minute decisions related to COVID-19 case numbers and variants or significant progress in the vaccine rollout in the coming weeks.

'American Idol' finalist Caleb Kennedy is exiting the show after a social media post resurfaced depicting him sitting next to and filming someone wearing what appears to be a Ku Klux Klan hood. https://t.co/o1vc4xeQ9D

— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 13, 2021

😭CRY THIS OFTEN, ACCORDING TO SCIENCE:  Crying is one of those things many of us are taught not to do, but there are benefits to doing so. Cognitive neuroscientist and mental health researcher Dr. Caroline Leaf says prolactin, one of the main chemicals released into our bodies when we cry, is the same one activated in mothers when they breastfeed. She says it’s released “in response to negative and positive stress, and may help us manage our stress response.” She says that crying also: releases chemicals which can make us feel calm and more in control; may help us restore balance in the brain and body; and may help one’s ability to think. Also, science has found that crying emotional tears literally helps get stress hormones out of the body. So how often should we be crying? Whenever we feel we need to. But if crying is uncontrollable to the point that it interferes with your normal daily function, it can be a sign of a deeper problem.

The 2021 NFL Regular Season Schedule. #NFLSchedule pic.twitter.com/qd13dYye5j

— Deniz Selman (@denizselman33) May 13, 2021

 🏈2021 NFL SEASON IS ON THE HORIZON: The Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will meet the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL regular season on Thursday, September 9th. That Sunday's lineup will feature the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams. On Monday, the Las Vegas Raiders will host the Baltimore Ravens. This is just a sneak peak of Week 1:

• CHECK IT OUT: See the full Week 1 schedule at NFL.com.

➤THE WORLD'S HIGHEST PAID ATHLETE IS… In a year when pro sports were practically dormant, Irish mixed martial arts artist Connor McGregor managed to make $180 million, according to Forbes. That made him the highest paid athlete in the world for the last 12 months, and he didn't even have to fight for it. Most of the money came from the sale of his whiskey business to Proximo Spirits. Argentinian pro soccer player Lionel Messi ranked second at $130 million, and Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo was third at $120 million. The highest-ranked American on the list, at number four, was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, at $107.5 million. Prescott was on the injured list for most of the season but still won a four-year extension in March.

• CHECK IT OUT: Forbes on the richest athletes.

🎾SERENA WILLIAMS SUFFERS A LOSS: Serena Williams was blown out of the Italian Open yesterday with a second-round defeat to newcomer Nadia Podoroska. Williams lost 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 to the 44th-ranked Argentine player. It was Williams' 1,000th Women's Tennis Association game.

🏀OLADIPO OUT FOR THE SEASON: Victor Oladipo of the Miami Heat is out for the season after just four games. He needs surgery on his right quad tendon. He probably won't be coming back. He'll enter the offseason as a free agent.

🏒RANGERS FIRE COACH: New York Rangers head coach David Quinn has been fired after only three seasons, along with two of the team's three assistant coaches. The team president and general manager were booted only a week ago. The new general manager, Chris Drury, is in charge of the search for a replacement coach.

NYC Radio: Skip Eskin Talks About Move To WFAN

Skip Eskin To Success Mark Chernoff At WFAN, NYC

When Audacy's WFAN had approached Skip Eskin after Mark Chernoff, the longtime program director at the New York sports talk radio station, announced he would be stepping down. Eskin, the brand manager at SportsRadio 94 WIP in Philadelphia, seemed like a logical replacement after experiencing success in a neighboring northeast city with a similar fanbase.

But he admits to The Philadelphia Business-Journal he didn’t immediately jump at the chance when it came few months ago. Leaving Philadelphia and the team he assembled at WIP was not something he relished.

“It was less about leaving Philly and more about leaving the people,” Eskin said.

He came to believe, though, that New York, and specifically WFAN, was a natural fit. Not only is it the largest media market in the country, but it’s also not far from Philadelphia and has the same type of passionate northeast sports fans. Plus, he would get to work again with New York Market Manager Chris Oliviero, who he had known when Oliviero was chief content officer at Audacy predecessor CBS 
Radio.

“I thought about it and I was excited about the platform of WFAN, the challenge and privilege of working with the hosts and staff there, making them the best they can be and taking the station to its next chapter like we did here at WIP,” Eskin said. “I probably could have been very happy at WIP for the next 10 years but I thought this was a great opportunity.”

Eskin, who starts his role as vice president of programming for WFAN and CBS Sports Radio on July 1, said while northeast cities like Boston, New York and Philadelphia have similarly passionate sports fans, each city and station have their own culture. Eskin said he will start out by getting a feel for the New York audience and the WFAN hosts.

Eskin, who lives in Delaware County with his wife, said the couple plan to look for a home in North Jersey, where he will commute daily to Manhattan. Despite becoming a New Yorker, Eskin does not plan to give up his popular 76ers-centric podcast "The Rights to Ricky Sanchez," which he co-hosts with Los Angeles-based screenwriter Michael Levin.

This is not the first time Eskin has left Philadelphia for a job opportunity. He spent three years as assistant program director at Q101 in Chicago before returning home to take a similar role at rock station WYSP.

When then parent company CBS Radio decided to simulcast WIP, it took WYSP’s place on the FM dial in 2011 and Eskin switched over from music to sports. He worked behind the scenes on WIP's website and social media presence with occasional on-air appearances until he was named the station’s program director in 2014 and briefly served as midday host with Josh Innes and Hollis Thomas. The station parted ways with operations manager Andy Bloom in December 2015 and Eskin's responsibilities only increased.

Fort Wayne Radio: WOWO Goes With The Don Bongino Show

The search for someone to fill Rush Limbaugh’s spot on the Newstalk WOWO 1190 AM / 107.9 FM is officially over.

Federated Media station management announced Wednesdayday that conservative commentator Dan Bongino will step into the 12 pm to 3 pm weekday timeslot starting on May 24th. His first on-air guest will be former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Bongino is a radio show host, podcast host, frequent television political commentator, and New York Times best-selling author whose books about his career as a Secret Service agent include Life Inside the Bubble and The Fight: A Secret Service Agent’s Inside Account of Security Failings and the Political Machine, as well as Spygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump.

Bongino was a Secret Service agent from 2006 to 2011, serving in the Obama and Bush administrations. He served as a New York City Police Department officer from 1995 to 1999 and provides expertise on international security and political strategy for national news outlets such as FOX News.

Bongino holds an MBA from Penn State University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the City University of New York.

“We are excited to start a new era on WOWO,” said Program Director Mike Ragz. “Dan has been the most-requested host to take over for Rush, based on a listener survey, so we are happy to partner with Dan and make it happen.”

The Dan Bongino Show will replace the Rush Limbaugh Show, which has featured a rotation of guest hosts after Limbaugh’s death in February due to lung cancer.

Gowdy, Bongino To Host New Fox News Weekend Shows

Don Bongino and Trey Gowdy

Fox News contributors Dan Bongino and Trey Gowdy will begin hosting Saturday and Sunday shows for the network as part of a new slate of weekend programming, Fox News announced Wednesday.

Bongino will host a primetime Saturday show at 10 p.m. ET, while Gowdy will host a 7 p.m. ET Sunday evening program. 

Bongino, a former U.S. Secret Service agent who joined Fox as a contributor in 2019, will launch his program June 5, tackling the week's most pressing headlines and drawing on his law enforcement experience to discuss American priorities like liberty, security, and family.

His show will replace Greg Gutfeld's weekend program, after the titular host's new program "Gutfeld!" launched last month to record ratings in its weekday 11 p.m. timeslot.

In addition to his primetime role, Bongino will continue serving as host of Westwood One's "The Dan Bongino Show." FOX Nation will stream his daily radio program from 12-3 p.m. ET beginning May 25.

Gowdy, a former South Carolina Republican congressman and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, will break down legal and political news on his program, in addition to conducting interviews with decision-makers and Washington insiders. 

Gowdy joined Fox News as a contributor in 2019 and hosts "The Trey Gowdy Podcast" on FOX News Audio.

Gowdy: US intelligence community knows where COVID came from, even if Dr. Fauci does not Video

Fox News will also present a pair of panel discussion shows, "The Big Saturday Show" and "The Big Sunday Show," from 5-6 p.m. ET on weekends, featuring a rotating group of panelists discussing hot topics in news and culture.

Modeled after the network’s signature top-rated panel programs The Five and Outnumbered, the shows originally debuted on March 6 and after a successful test run, will now become a new fixture of the weekend lineup beginning June 5.