Justin Bieber's Rough Week

UPDATE 9am 3/11/2013: Justin Bieber has scrapped one of his two concerts scheduled for in Portugal, the Lisbon venue Pavilhao Atlantico announced Monday. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, Justin Bieber was forced to cancel the second performance in Portugal, March 12," a statement explained. "The Canadian singer is eager to play for the Portuguese fans on March 11."
Original Posting...

Following his a brief hospital stay after fainting backstage, the 19-year-old pop star's preparation for a final concert in London on Friday hit a speed bump.

CBS News reports Bieber got into an altercation with insult-hurling paparazzi, lashing out at a photographer with a stream of expletives as he was restrained by minders.

The singer quickly took to Twitter to address the incident, which was captured by Channel 5 news, and pledged to channel his "adrenaline" into that evening's show:

Sometimes when people r shoving cameras in your face all day and yelling the worst thing possible at u...well I'm human. Rough week
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) March 8, 2013

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Boston Radio: Morgan Prue New PD At WMJX-FM

Morgan Prue

Greater Media Friday announced radio programming veteran Morgan Prue has been named as the new Assistant Program Director at WMJX-FM in Boston. She officially began her new position today.

In her new role, she will be responsible for helping to oversee all elements of the overall strategic direction for the radio station.

“It feels like home to again be working with two of the smartest men I know…Cadillac Jack and Market Manager Rob Williams,” said Prue. “MAGIC 106.7 is a heritage station and I’m thrilled and honored to be a part of the Greater Media Boston team!”

“As we continue to build our team of “A” talent at Greater Media Boston, we are fortunate to add someone of Morgan’s caliber and character to MAGIC 106.7,” said Greater Media Boston Director of Programming Cadillac Jack.

“The depth of her knowledge for the AC format is truly outstanding, and when coupled with her great instincts and passion to win, I’m confident MAGIC will continue to strengthen its long-standing position as one of Boston’s dominant radio stations.”

SC Radio: J.D. Hayworth Joins Mighty 1090 For Mornings

JD Hayworth

After an almost three month search for a co-host to join Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton in morning drive former congressman and radio host J.D. Hayworth has been named the winner.

Hayworth joins Hamilton on XEPRES 1090 AM March 18th.

The search included bringing seven finalists in to co-host the show with Hamilton. Program Director Mike Shepard commented, "we really appreciated all the 'players' who gave their time to this search and in the end, J.D.'s extensive background in radio, and true chemistry with Hacksaw made the difference. When the two of them were on together it was what we call 'lean forward and listen' radio. San Diego's sports fans will truly be entertained every morning."

Norman Feuer, Vice President-Market Manager for Broadcast Company of the Americas, which operates the Mighty 1090 said, "our dream team is now complete, with Hacksaw and J.D. in mornings, followed by Jim Rome, Darren Smith, the returning Scott and B.R. in afternoons and Coach Kentera at night. It's the best line-up of sports hosts on one station since the heady days of the original Mighty 690 fifteen years ago."

In addition to being a great radio host and former congressman, Hayworth is known for being active in his community, local schools and civic organizations. He will not only be a great addition to the station's line-up but also to the San Diego Community.

The last word is left to San Diego legend Hacksaw Hamilton. "I'm really excited to be working with J.D. We're good friends, we get along great in the office and when it comes to sports topics, we disagree on just about everything. How much fun is that going to be! And, if you want to get between the two of us, we'll be taking lots of calls. But be prepared to keep up because we'll be moving fast."

Utica NY Radio: Mimi Griswold Returns To The Air

Mimi Griswold

Less than three months after her retirement from Galaxy Communications, Mimi Griswold is returning to Utica-Rome, NY radio, six days a week.  The former VP of Programming for Galaxy is returning to host afternoons on 96.9 WOUR. A Galaxy station.

The website cnyradio.com reports the station made the announcement less than 24 hours after former afternoon host “Genesee Joe” Trisolino handed in his notice and joined the staff at crosstown competitor 92.7 The Drive (WXUR), owned by Arjuna Broadcasting.

Although Griswold retired from her post as VP/Programming for Galaxy in December, she never completely retired — Griswold had remained on-staff as a programming consultant and as host of her weekly Blue Moon Café, which airs on WOUR, as well as Syracuse-market stations TK99 and TK105 (WTKV/WTKW).

Griswold will continue to host the Sunday morning show in addition to her weekday shift on WOUR.

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Feds Drop Probe Of WWL Talk Host Garland Robinette

Robinette (Times-Picayune)

With federal prosecutors' announcement Friday that they are abandoning the years-long probe into the River Birch, WWL-AM talk-radio host Garland Robinette issued a statement expressing his gratitude and reasserting his innocence in the matter.

According to nola.com, it emerged in 2011 that Robinette -- who had been a vociferous on-air critic of two landfills in eastern New Orleans that competed with Heebe's Waggaman dumps -- had in 2007 taken a $250,000 interest-free loan from Heebe.

Robinette maintained he had done nothing wrong.

He said he did not mention the landfills on the air after taking the loan, and last year, he repaid the loan by transferring to Heebe a property valued at $235,000.

He remains an on-air host at WWL-AM.

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Fargo Radio: WDAY 970 AM Doubles Power

WDAY 970 AM Fargom ND is at full power after engineers put the finishing touches on new broadcast towers and a transmitter about a mile northwest of Barnesville, Minn., said Erick Johnson, radio operations manager for WDAY.

New 10kw Pattern-Day

The station on Thursday began broadcasting at 10,000 watts day and night, doubling the power of its signal.

Old 5kw Pattern-Day

“We have already started to get calls from all around the region from folks saying they can hear us loud and clear,” Johnson told The Forum Friday. “We have gotten calls from Bismarck, Minot, Tioga and Belfield in North Dakota. On the Minnesota side, we received calls from as far away as Alexandria.” (400 miles from Fargo in the NW corner of  ND)

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Report: A New Tune for Pandora

Pandora is not yet profitable but there are encouraging signs for its mobile business, Miriam Gottfried discusses on digits.

Facebook Unveils Newsfeed Changes

Facebook Inc. hoping to keep users logged on longer as it faces competition from myriad new social apps, is tweaking its news feed again.

Changes to the feed—the key channel on Facebook's service where users post and consume content—include a more minimal design, larger images and new types of sub-feeds. The revamp reflects a big push to prod users to spend more time on the site and curry favor with brands hoping to be noticed by Facebook's users.

Newspapers Top Source for Sports News

Between social media, mobile and cable TV, sports news outlets have been proliferating -- but newspapers are still the top source for sports news for sports fans.

According to a story by Erik Sass at mediapost.com, among male sports fans ages 18-54, 76% cited the sports section of their local newspaper Web site as one of their “go-to” sources for sports news, while 69% cited the print edition.

That compares with 66% for ESPN.com, 46% for league sites, 45% for Yahoo Sports.com, and 45% for ESPN Sports Center. Further down the list, 33% said sports talk radio and 23% said Sports Illustrated or SI.com.

The finds are from a survey by M/A/R/C for the Newspaper National Network. The poll of 716 men ages 18-54, including in-depth interviews with 404, found that this key audience demo prefers both print and online newspapers to any other source for sports content.

Even more striking, men ages 18-54 who didn’t classify themselves as regular newspaper readers still cited newspaper Web sites as their top source of sports news.

Overall, 75% of non-regular readers cited newspaper Web sites as a go-to source, compared to 71% for ESPN.com, 40% for Yahoo Sports.com, and 38% for ESPN Sports Center. Sports talk radio trailed at 27%, and Sports Illustrated and SI.com came in at 16% and 13% among non-regular readers.

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Rupert Murdoch: CNN Getting Its Mojo Back

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch sits down with “WSJ Live” to talk about the state of media. Along the way, cable news comes up in the conversation.

When asked about Fox News Channel’s ratings dominance compared to its competition, Murdoch said that he was impressed by some of the recent goings-on at CNN.

Chris Tomlin, King Of The Sing-Along

Chris Tomlin

Chris Tomlin is out touring the country with his latest studio album, “Burning Lights.” In January, it topped the Billboard 200 charts.

But unlike those who've enjoyed performances by Beyonce, Johnny Cash and a host of others who've played this Baltimore hall, after these fans stream out the doors they will have ample opportunity to sing Tomlin's songs again, as one.

That is the secret to Tomlin’s success – the stage, the lights, the band - aren’t about him. As lively as his shows are, the point is not to get you inside the doors. The point is to get you singing in church.

“I strive for trying to write something that people can sing, that people want to sing, and that people need to sing,” Tomlin explained before the show.

CNN says Tomlin is the undisputed king of worship music, a genre of Christian music sung on Sunday mornings all across the world and increasingly played on Christian radio stations. The music is simple, devotional and easy on the ears.

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Chris Brown’s Frantic 911 Call Released

Moments after Chris Brown totaled his Porsche in a paparazzi chase on February 9, the singer explained the scenario to 911 dispatchers, sounding scared and out of breath in an audio recording released from the scene.

The tape, obtained by TMZ, features a female eyewitness describing the ordeal to a dispatcher, followed by a frantic Brown taking the phone and explaining what happened.

Beatles' Secretary, "Good Ol' Freda," Breaks Silence

Freda with Paul

Freda Kelly, one of the Beatles' longest-serving employees, worked for the British band for more than a decade but had never shared her stories publicly until now.

According to Corrie MacLaggan at Reuters, Kelly breaks her silence in a new documentary, "Good Ol' Freda," which had its world premiere on Saturday on the second day of the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.

"It's such a classic Cinderella story: Girl picks the job of a lifetime," director Ryan White told Reuters.

The tale is sure to delight fans of the Beatles, but White seeks to tell a story that transcends that audience, a story about an amazing decade in an otherwise ordinary life.

The film features four Beatles songs, which required the permission of many people, including the two surviving Beatles. It also includes never-before-seen photos of the band.

The documentary's title comes from the Beatles' 1963 Christmas recording, in which George Harrison thanks their secretary in Liverpool, and they all yell, "Good Ol' Freda!"

Good Ole Freda Facebook Page, Click Here.

Freda today

The Los Angeles filmmaker, 31, who co-directed and produced the 2010 soccer documentary "Pelada," grew up knowing Kelly as a family friend who was a secretary. In fact, she is still a secretary, for a Liverpool law firm.

"I didn't know that she had a crazy back story," White said, adding he only discovered it when a friend put them in touch two years ago.

Kelly, now in her late 60s, says in the film that she wanted to record her stories for her 2-year-old grandson - stories that in many cases she never got around to telling her family.

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R.I.P.: Richard Hawk, First KILO PD Dead at 59

Richard David Hawk, who rubbed elbows with many of rock’s greatest musicians and was himself a radio legend, died Thursday in a Colorado Springs hospital.

He was 59, according to gazette.com.

Hawk was the first program director of KILO 94.3 FM, which started in 1978. He carried out the vision to make the station, which had been broadcasting country tunes, into an edgy rock entertainment source that gained national notice.

As program director for 30 years, he was responsible for the sound of the station. He picked the albums, developed the on-air staff and arranged the music lineup, said KILO General Manager Lou Mellini.

Hawk was playing Nirvana and Stevie Ray Vaughn before just about anybody else did. In fact, he put Nirvana on the air even before stations in the grunge band’s hometown of Seattle would.

And through the years there was a steady stream of rockers through the station’s front door — Motley Crue, Steven Tyler, Aerosmith and Ozzy Osbourne to name a few.

Hawk was a mentor to many. “He was brilliant on the air, with smooth delivery and clearness of voice, and he insisted all his jockeys meet that standard,” Mellini said.

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