Cox Media Group (CMG) has named Alana Lujan as Integrated Digital Sales Manager for the company’s Jacksonville, Fla. market.
In her new role, Lujan will lead an integrated digital sales effort representing digital assets from CMG’s TV, radio and Local Solutions brands, including Action News Jax FOX30 and CBS47 TV stations and News 104.5 WOKV, Hot 99.5, Easy 102.9, 95.1 WAPE, The Eagle 96.9, Power 106.1 and X106.5 radio stations.
Lujan is a 14-year media veteran most recently serving as General Sales Manager at CMG’s Houston Radio Group where she led the digital sales effort for the cluster and managed a team of radio sales professionals.
“CMG Jacksonville has a history of innovation in the digital space, providing solutions and driving results for our advertising clients,” said Lujan. “I’m proud to able to help lead our digital team and add to that success.”
“Alana has a successful track record of generating broadcast and digital revenue for our Houston properties and I’m excited to have her join our Jacksonville team,” said Market Vice President Dan Lawrie. “We are fortunate to have someone with Alana’s leadership skills to help us develop an integrated sales strategy.”
(L-R) Anna Hensjens – St. Jude, Frank Kramer, Heidi Hamilton - KLOS, Neyra Valenzuela – St. Jude, Enrique Ramirez – St. Jude, Erik Scott Smith – KLOS, Frosty - KLOS
Cumulus Media announces that its Los Angeles Rock radio station, 95.5 KLOS, led by Frosty, Heidi & Frank in the morning, Marci Wiser and Steve Jones (Jonesy’s Jukebox) in middays, and Gary Moore in afternoon drive, raised $856,130 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the St. Jude Rocks Radiothon, held Thursday, February 28th through Friday, March 1st, 2019.
The two-day live broadcast drove donations from 95.5 KLOS listeners in the Southern California community that set a U.S. Rock Radio fundraising record for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for the second consecutive year.
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, iHeartMedia announced multi-platform campaigns in partnership with the Amazon Original Series, HANNA that galvanize the voices of influential women in music to bring attention to the incredible achievements that women have made to society and to the goal of creating a gender balanced world.
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, which has been celebrated on March 8 since 1913, is #BalanceforBetter and focuses on the role that gender balance plays in driving a more productive world. In support of this message, iHeartMedia will highlight a few of the most dynamic, influential and beloved female artists that are heard every day on iHeartMedia radio stations and on the iHeartRadio app.
Beginning Monday, March 4 and running through the evening of Friday, March 8, more than 850 iHeartMedia radio stations and on-air personalities launched a collaborative effort both on-air and online featuring top female musicians talking about their mentors and sharing personal stories about the artistic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world.
Participating artists, radio personalities and cultural influencers include Gwen Stefani, Halsey, Maren Morris, Meghan Trainor, Reba McEntire, Becky G, Bebe Rexha, Sabrina Carpenter, Sheryl Crow, Dido, Sara Bareilles, Trisha Yearwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Haley Reinhart, Carly Pearce, Bishop Briggs, Alice Merton, Jana Kramer, Lzzy Hale, Amy Brown, Amy Shark, Amara La Negra, Ann Wilson and dozens more.
“For International Women’s Day 2019, iHeartMedia is bringing together the voices and opinions of some of the most influential artists to highlight the immense talent and many contributions of women in music,” said Marissa Morris, iHeartMedia Senior Vice President of Artist Relations. “This year’s artist participation spans a range of ages, demographics and musical genres and is representative of the collective power of women in music -- both today and for the future.”
“The women who I look up to most in my life are the women who can overcome the obstacles of the boundaries that are placed around them,” said singer and songwriter Halsey in the exclusive iHeartMedia campaign.
The co-conspirator of for WFAN radio personality Craig Carton was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison in Manhattan federal court Thursday for his involvement in a $2 million ticket fraud scheme.
The NYPost reports Michael Wright, Carton and Joseph Meli were all convicted for their roles in defrauding investors. in a bulk event-ticket reselling business.
The men used millions of dollars of investors’ money to pay off other investors and personal expenses, including $600,000 used to pay off Carton’s gambling debts.
Wright — a manager at Sapphire strip-club — wept as he made a statement to the judge in which he asked for leniency and claimed he was seduced by Carton.
“[Carton] radiated energy and a drive that drew me in,” said Wright, 42.
Wright pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud last September for which he faced up to 20 years in prison.
Carton — who was convicted in November of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy — is slated to be sentenced on April 5. He faces up to 45 years in prison though he will likely get far less time because of federal sentencing guidelines.
Meli is currently serving a 6 ½ year prison term after pleading guilty to securities fraud in October 2017.
Angotti for years led Artistic Media Partners, which at one time owned as many as 20 radio stations in Indiana.
"It was such a great effort," said Jeff Smulyan, founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications, who worked with Angotti on civic projects, which he said eventually led to his purchase of the Seattle Mariners. "It epitomized Art being the ultimate entrepreneur who just wanted to make stuff happen."
According to his obituary on Dignity Memorial, Angotti was born on September 25, 1944 in Gary, Ind., and "grew up in a large and loving Italian-American family."
➦In 1925...John Bradley Gambling started on-air at WOR NYC. Bernard McFadden was a physical culturist who had a radio show in New York City. When McFadden failed to show up for his daily morning program, Gambling, a studio engineer, was forced to ad-lib on the air for a solid hour. Thus, WOR decided to gtive the time slot to Gambling.
John B. Gambling
John Bradley Gambling (April 9, 1897 – November 21, 1974) became the first of the Gambling family, 3 generations to host mornings on WOR. John B., John A. and John R. - were hosts of WOR Radio's 'Rambling with Gambling' over the course of over 80 years (1925–2000 and 2008–2013).
John B. was the host from 1925 to 1959, when he retired in favor of his son, John A. Gambling. With his Musical Clock, his all-in-fun setting-up exercises, cheerio music, wheezy gags, weather information and news scraps, John B. Gambling was a WOR fixture.
➦In 1945...George Michael Dolenz Jr. born. He is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a vocalist and drummer of the 1960s pop/rock band the Monkees.
On January 10, 2005, Dolenz replaced Dan Taylor as the morning disc jockey at oldies radio station WCBS-FM in New York. On June 3, 2005, Dolenz celebrated his 100th show with a special morning show at B.B. King's. In an ironic and controversial twist, that was also his last regular show at the station; at 5:00 pm, WCBS-FM announced that the station would replace its oldies format with a "Jack" format.
However, WCBS-FM had since returned to its oldies format on July 12, 2007, with Taylor re-assuming his role again as the morning disc jockey the following day. Several months later, Dolenz was invited back to do his long-postponed 101st show, and his final in-studio appearance there at the station, by guest-hosting on a three-hour broadcast stint during its Sunday evening New York Radio Greats program on February 3, 2008.
➦In 1949...WBAP 96.7 FM, Fort Worth Texas, signed-on. Today the station is Sports KTCK-FM, owned by Cumulus Media.
➦In 1979...Compact Disc Digital Audio, also known as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs, was first demonstrated.
➦In 1994...Jack Spector died at age 65 (Born - September 15, 1928). He was a longtime New York City radio personality.
Jack Spector
Spector began his career in 1955 and in 1961 became one of the original WMCA Good Guys. In late December 1963, WMCA, with Spector, earned the distinction of being the first New York City radio station to play the Beatles' Capitol Records' single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand." (Outside New York, the single's broadcast debut is widely accepted to have occurred earlier at WWDC in Washington, D.C.)
After WMCA moved to a talk format, Spector went to WHN, then a vocal-based easy listening station. He remained for a while after WHN became a Country music station in 1973. In 1974, Spector left WHN to go to WCBS-FM where he hosted a 1955-1964 based Oldies show called "The Saturday Night Sock Hop" and another regular weekend shift. He was also a full-time swing host there, filling in for various airstaffers over the years. In 1983, Cousin Brucie began doing every third Saturday night of the month. Spector remained at WCBS-FM until the Spring of 1985.
In 1985, Spector was at WNBC as the original host of "Sports Night". He went then to WPIX-FM, which was playing an adult contemporary format. Upon their change to NAC and soon after to smooth jazz, he became one of the first air personalities on CD 101.9. Spector also worked as an optician when he was not on the air.
Late in 1988, Spector left WQCD and joined the staff of WHLI on Long Island, NY playing an Adult Standards format. That station began mixing in more rock and roll oldies by the early '90s. After a few Radio Greats Weekends at WCBS-FM, Jack Spector returned as a part-time swing announcer there in 1993 while working full-time at WHLI.
On March 8, 1994, shortly after starting a recording of Louis Prima's "I'm In The Mood For Love", he suffered an apparent fatal heart attack and collapsed.
➦In 2016… Ronald Herbert Jacobs died in Hawaii (Born - September 3, 1937). He is best known as the program director of KHJ radio in Los Angeles during its ground-breaking "Boss Radio" period (1965–1969), and as co-creator of the countdown show American Top 40, and the seminal radio program The History of Rock and Roll (1969).
At 23, Jacobs moved to the U.S. mainland. In 1962, he was promoted to vice president of programming for the Colgreene Corporation. From there he programmed San Bernardino’s KMEN Radio, and then, Fresno’s KMAK.
In Fresno, Jacobs found himself competing head on with radio consultant Bill Drake. They soon combined their talents to program RKO General’s KHJ Radio in Los Angeles. Within six months, the Drake-Jacobs’ “Boss Radio” format was Number One in America’s second largest radio market, garnering national recognition for creating pop radio’s most influential sound of the 1960s.
Jacobs produced the 48-hour-long History of Rock and Roll. Radio’s first "rockumentary," which aired on KHJ and subsequently other stations in the RKO chain, and was accepted into the Library of Congress as the “first aural history of rock and roll music.”
While programming the RKO radio chain from KHJ, Jacobs teamed again with Moffatt and Tom Rounds to form Charlatan Productions to produce films featuring recording artists in strange but eye-catching settings.
After four years atop the L.A. radio ratings, Jacobs left KHJ to co-found and become vice president of Watermark Inc. In 1970, with Tom Rounds and veteran LA deejay Casey Kasem, Jacobs co-created the syndicated radio program, American Top 40.
At Watermark, Jacobs also produced the award-winning Elvis Presley Story, written by rock author Jerry Hopkins and narrated by broadcast personality, Wink Martindale. Next, Jacobs produced a 15-album record series of legendary top-40 DJs re-creating their station's sound with the original music, commercials and jingles. The albums covered 1955 through 1969 and were titled "CRUISIN': A History of Rock 'n' Roll Radio."
Jacobs then went to San Diego to program KGB AM/FM Radio. It was there that Jacobs conceived and produced the original Home Grown album. The KGB Chicken, later known to the nation as "The San Diego Chicken" was also hatched from Jacobs' imagination.
In 1972, Ron Jacobs was honored by Billboard as Program Director of the Year. Jacobs’ documentary about Max Yasgur, on whose farm the Woodstock festival was staged, won Program of the Year honors and two years later, Billboard named KGB, Station of the Year.
During this time, Ron Jacobs continued concert promotions with Tom Moffatt, Tom Rounds and Mel Lawrence. In 1964, the four men formed Arena Associates, staging the first rock show in the Honolulu International Center (now, the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena). In 1968, Arena Associates produced the Miami Pop Festival. Jacobs produced concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles Sports Arena, Orange County Fairgrounds (first US appearance of the Rolling Stones), San Diego Stadium, in conjunction with KMEN, KHJ and KGB radio stations, which he served as program director.
In July 1976, Jacobs returned to an on-air position doing morning drive on KKUA Radio, in Honolulu, as “Whodaguy Ron Jacobs.” It was at KKUA that Jacobs introduced Home Grown, a radio station promotion in which contest winners had the opportunity to record their winning songs for release on a compilation album with the proceeds being donated to Habilitat, a drug/alcohol rehabilitation facility in Honolulu. Jacobs did three albums, Home Grown (1976), Home Grown II and Home Grown III, that featured a track named " Kona Winds " that introduced singer Marvin Franklin, while he was at KKUA.
Edison Research and Triton Digital reveal results of The Infinite Dial 2019 which shows Podcasting explosive year-over-year growth as gains. Among the U.S. population ages 12 and older, the total number of people who have ever listened to a podcast passes 50% for the first time.
“This is a watershed moment for podcasting–a true milestone. With over half of Americans 12+ saying that they have ever listened to a podcast, the medium has firmly crossed into the mainstream,” noted Tom Webster, Senior Vice President at Edison Research.
One-third of the population reported having listened to a podcast in the last month, representing 90 million monthly listeners. The spoken-word audio sector also saw increases with audiobooks, as the portion of the U.S. population that has ever listened to an audiobook surpasses one-half for the first time.
“It’s a pleasure to once again partner with Edison Research for another insightful presentation of media usage and consumption in the U.S.” said John Rosso, President of Market Development at Triton Digital.
Regarding social media, the latest study finds the number of current users of Facebook continues to drop. The study shows an estimated 15 million fewer users of Facebook than in the 2017 report. The declines are heavily concentrated among younger people.
Other findings include:
More than half the U.S. population now reports having used YouTube specifically for music in last week. This number is now 70% among 12-34-year-olds.
The percentage of Americans who listen to online audio (defined as listening to AM/FM radio stations online and/or listening to streamed audio content available only on the internet) has doubled since 2012, growing from one-third of the population to two-thirds.
Time spent listening to online audio has reached a record high this year, with weekly online audio listeners reporting an average of nearly 17 hours of listening in the last week.
The 2019 Infinite Dial is the latest report in a series dating back to 1998 that covers consumer usage of media and technology, has tracked many new mediums as they develop. The Infinite Dial currently provides the latest research in U.S. digital audio, mobile, smart speakers, podcast consumption, and social media.
The Infinite Dial study uses the “gold standard” of nationally representative survey research—a random probability telephone sample, comprising both mobile phones and landlines, of all Americans ages 12 and older. The study has become the report card on digital audio and other digital media and is widely used and quoted by broadcasters, Internet radio, ad agencies, and the financial community.
Los Angeles' longest-running morning radio team -- KROQ-FM's Kevin and Bean -- is breaking up, co-host Gene "Bean'' Baxter announced Wednesday.
Baxter told listeners of the rock station's "Kevin & Bean Show'' that after 30 years on the air, he plans to move back to Great Britain, where he was born, at the end of the year. Bean has co-hosted the show with Kevin Ryder since it began December 31, 1989.
Baxter will remain for another nine months and then the program will continue with Ryder and others, reports L-A TV4.
"So, it's time for my wife, Donna, and me to move on to new adventures on a new continent,'' Baxter said in a statement. "We are moving back to my homeland, England. I am a British citizen ... and have spent many vacations there over the years and it always feels like home."
He added that he is not retiring and wants to continue broadcasting in Britain, "even though I have this funny accent. I just hope someone will give me a chance."
Baxter has been doing his part of the broadcast remotely -- first from his Seattle home and recently from New Orleans -- with Los Angeles-based Ryder since the late 1990s.
In a Twitter post, Ryder said, "Bean has wanted to move to England for a LONG time and I truly think this will make him happy. That makes me happy.''
According to The Holllywood Reporter, Baxter's on-air colleagues often lovingly mocked him for his random tweets, his "bad example" choices and what they deemed his questionable tastes, hobbies and interests, ranging from singers Gordon LIghtfoot and Taylor Swift to the former planet Pluto and Clyde Tombaugh — the astronomer who discovered it — to the U.S. Postal Service, to his intense desire to be chosen to serve on a jury.
Baxter famously has not worked out of the station's Los Angeles area home base for years. He moved to Seattle for 17 years, broadcasting out of his home there, before relocating to New Orleans in 2016, where he continued to work out of his home.
Still, he would travel back to Los Angeles to attend major KROQ events including stand-up comedy showcase April Foolishness, benefiting charity, as well as the Weenie Roast and Almost Acoustic Christmas concert events featuring a lineup of rock and alternative bands that the station plays on air.
On April 14, 2015, Kevin and Bean were inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Amazon is launching a new feature called “Song ID” that aims to help users discover music they like by using Alexa.
When enabled, Alexa will announce the title and the artist name before playing each song while you’re listening to a radio station, playlist or new release on Amazon Music over your smart speaker, according to TechCrunch.
The optional feature for Echo devices can be enabled or disabled by voice at any time by asking Alexa to “turn on Song ID” or “turn off Song ID.”
When listening to music through mobile or desktop apps, it’s easy to give a quick glance at your streaming app to note an artist’s name or song’s title. But when you’re streaming music over a smart speaker, your device may be put away and not as easily accessible. And unlike on terrestrial radio, there’s no DJ to announce what’s coming up next as the music streams over an Amazon Echo.
The new feature aims to make Alexa that DJ, albeit one with less personality in this case — the assistant today only announces the title and name, but doesn’t interject any other information or commentary about the music.
Amazon says it was inspired to build the feature based on users’ requests to Alexa about music.
The Democratic National Committee said Wednesday (March 6th) that Fox News won't be hosting any of its 2020 presidential primary debates.
Party chairman Tom Perez cited a New Yorker article from earlier this week about the cozy relationship between Fox News and its personalities and President Trump.
“Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement provided to Reuters.
Perez had been considering choosing Fox to host a Democratic primary debate, although that had drawn criticism from some activists, having said it's important to expand the electorate and reach all voters.
Fox said it hoped Democrats would reconsider the decision.
Democrats just blocked @FoxNews from holding a debate. Good, then I think I’ll do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!
After the DNC's decision was announced, Trump tweeted a threat to not participate in the general election debates on, quote, "the Fake News Networks."
Trump has criticized CNN and MSNBC, among other media, as “Fake News” for their coverage of his administration.
The DNC’s decision is a rerun of the 2016 primary election, when it turned down Fox’s multiple offers to host a debate, citing the network’s longstanding conservative bent and prominent criticism of Democratic policies. At that time a Democrat, Barack Obama, occupied the Oval Office.
Democrats are reviving the battle over net neutrality with a new bill that would restore the Obama-era regulations on the broadband industry.
According to The Hill, Congressional Democratic leaders introduced the Save the Internet Act with a show of force on Wednesday emphasizing the popularity of the rules and calling on Republicans to back the legislation.
"Supporting this bill means supporting our democracy, ensuring that the voices of the public are heard, their will is respected and the internet remains free and open to all," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a press conference Wednesday alongside top Senate and House Democrats as well as net neutrality activists.
What it does: The three-page bill would merely codify the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 2015 Open Internet Order into law, prohibiting internet service providers from blocking, throttling or prioritizing certain web traffic.
Those rules were hugely popular among voters of both parties. Polls have found approval for the rules as high as 83 percent. And during the FCC's months-long process of repealing the rules in 2017, an unprecedented 24 million comments were submitted to the agency.
The political odds: Democrats are hoping that support can be translated into public pressure on Republicans to cross the aisle and support the bill.
Reps. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) -- the top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- though insisted that the internet has been functioning just fine since the FCC repealed the reclassification in December 2017. "Let's come together to ensure that continues, because all sides want a permanent solution," they said in a joint statement. "Instead of looking to the extremes, and discarding twenty years of bipartisan consensus, we can come together on shared principles to address blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization."
What's next: Pallone, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, promised that the panel will be moving quickly on the bill. The committee is scheduled to hold a legislative hearing on Tuesday.
Great Lakes Media Corp. Wednesday announced the first of several appointments to the Board and Senior Leadership Team – and announced its intentions to shift the company’s focus to larger market acquisition opportunities.
Tom Langmyer, CEO of Great Lakes Media, has added several experienced and respected names to the team, as the company moves to become a significant player in local media in the U.S.
Board/Advisor – John Gehron
Sr. VP, Business & Corp Development – Chris Petersen
Sr. Vice President, Digital – Bill Zaccheo
Sr. Vice President, Broadcast – Gabe Hobbs
John Gehron, Board/Advisor, brings a legendary media career to the team as an executive in America’s largest markets – in the Nation’s premier media companies.
John Gehron
Gehron, Chairman of AccuRadio, one of the leading Internet Radio companies, moved into major market media in Philadelphia as Program Director of CBS’s WCAU-FM (now WOGL), the first major market radio station to try the oldies format. That success led to being transferred to WCBS-FM in New York to start their oldies format in 1972.
In Chicago, Gehron spent 13 years in the 70s and 80s as Program Director and later General Manager of WLS. He re-joined CBS Radio to be General Manager of WODS in Boston, then returned to Chicago with Pyramid Broadcasting as Vice President and General Manager of WNUA-FM. There he created a national standard for the “smooth jazz” format that became a major factor in the nation’s third largest radio market.
Following Chicago, Gehron moved on to senior officer and COO positions at American Radio Systems and Infinity Broadcasting. He served as Senior Vice President of Programming for all of Infinity/CBS.
John was Regional Vice President and Market Manager for Clear Channel Chicago’s seven stations as well as handling the surrounding region including Madison, Milwaukee and Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Chris Peterson
Chris Petersen, Sr. Vice President, Business & Corporate Development, is an experienced senior executive in brand development & strategy, marketing services, media and local media. He has spent considerable time in project management for a variety of clients in both the B2C B2B sectors.
Petersen serves as CEO of On Brand Media, which works with clients to help them navigate the rapidly evolving business landscape. Previously, he was President & CEO of Brandstand Group, a national chain restaurant brand development firm.
He was President & CEO of broadband services (cable) provider Prime Time Broadband, Senior Vice President for Space Media at aerospace company SPACEHAB, President & CEO at PR services firm NewsUSA, President of the NSE Radio Network, General Manager of radio station and newspaper owner Lakes Country Communications and Producer of Space Shuttle Television at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Petersen started his career in Western New York at several stations before heading to Houston, where he served as a news anchor for KTRH, producer for KPRC, air personality for KYST, KBTL and KRBE and as Program Director for KXKX. He also was a sportscaster for KHOU-TV in Houston.
Bill Zaccheo Sr. Vice President, Digital has more than 25 years of senior management experience with global media companies where he has been responsible for all critical operating divisions.
Zaccheo has gained a broad-reaching and in-depth knowledge of business development, operations, marketing, programming, sales and general management for both start-ups and established enterprises. He has supplemented his corporate experience through a broad range of high-level consulting projects in today’s explosive digital environment; the combination of which uniquely positions him at the forefront of today’s media sector as both a visionary and a seasoned executive.
Throughout his career, Zaccheo has been at the cutting edge of new content and delivery systems. He championed one of the first efforts to stream video, both live and on-demand, via the Internet in 1998 with the multi-award winning ComedyNet.com. He was Senior Executive on the founding management team that created and launched E! Entertainment Television, the team that launched the NFL on ESPN, and the early rollouts of HBO and Cinemax.
Gabe Hobbs
Gabe Hobbs, Sr. Vice President, Broadcast, a well-known as a leader in media, brings a wealth of experience in the areas of audience acquisition, content creation, talent development and leadership,
He has served as President of Gabe Hobbs Media, a talent management, content development and media consulting company. In that role, he worked with television, radio and digital media. Hobbs clients have included The Wall Street Journal, The Dave Ramsey Show, the Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Club, The Blaze, ABC, CBS, Mike Huckabee and dozens of others, including several of the top radio station groups. He has also worked with technology companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, including Futuri Media.
Hobbs has also worked with individual talent including Todd Schnitt, Deminski & Doyle, Dennis Miller, Marilu Henner, The Fabulous Sports Babe and many others. He also teams with Don Anthony’s Talent Masters to present the annual Talk Show Boot Camp for sports, news and talk talent, which is now in its tenth year. Hobbs started out in music radio. Later, at Jacor Communications, he added news/talk/sports stations to his responsibilities while managing the southeast region.
He later oversaw the programming of Clear Channel (iHeart) Radio’s 280 news, talk & sports stations. Hobbs also worked with Premiere Radio Networks, where he was involved the Rush Limbaugh Show, the Glenn Beck Program, Trumped with Donald Trump, Costas on the Radio with Bob Costas and The Dr. Laura Program. Additionally, he oversaw the launch of the Fox Sports Radio Network.
“As we have built the company, we have been fortunate to partner with some of the most accomplished, respected and known leaders in media.” Stated Tom Langmyer, CEO, Great Lakes Media Corp. “John Gehron, Chris Petersen, Bill Zaccheo and Gabe Hobbs” represent the first announced in a stellar group of people to build tomorrow’s local media platform model.”
Great Lakes Media Corp. was formed in November of 2018, with the initial intent to target media acquisitions in small communities. In a very short time, interest and support has shifted Great Lakes focus toward the acquisition of media properties and groups which operate in large markets. However, the vision remains the same, which is to invest in local broadcasting and digital media opportunities through the acquisition of local radio stations and digital platforms.
Urban One Inc Wednesday reported its results for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.
Net revenue was approximately $113.5 million, an increase of 4.1 percent from the same period in 2017.
Broadcast and digital operating income was approximately $44.6 million, an increase of 0.5 percent from the same period a year ago.
The company reported operating income of approximately $9.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018, compared to approximately $20.6 million for Q4 a year ago.
Net income was approximately $116.9 million, compared to approximately $121.3 million for the same quarter in 2017.
Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $35.3 million for Q4 2018, compared to $38.7 million for the same period a year ago.
Alfred C. Liggins, III, Urban One CEO/President, stated, “I was pleased that we came in slightly ahead of our Adjusted EBITDA guidance, led by extremely strong radio performance. Our radio segment revenue was up by 16.5% including political advertising, and by 8.8% excluding political. For the quarter, we outperformed the radio markets in which we operate by 850 bps.
"Our Cable TV operation posted strong growth in advertising revenues, up 9.3%, driven by increased direct response rates, and additional ad units, which was offset by a modest decline in affiliate revenues (-2.0%).
"Our digital revenues underperformed expectations, and we have taken significant steps to remediate. I expect improved performance from the division in 2019. In December, we substantially completed the refinancing of our 2020 Notes, which significantly extends the Company’s debt maturity profile.
"On January 19, 2019 we successfully launched our new Women’s lifestyle channel, Cleo TV, which will further enhance our ability to entertain and inform our core consumers.”
SAG-AFTRA’s Philadelphia Local has called for federal mediation at news radio station KYW-AM as part of its negotiations with Entercom, the station’s new owner.
“We’ve bargained for years with CBS Radio and never had to take this step, but now we’re dealing with a new company who won’t compromise, so we’re reaching out for help,” said Sam Clover, president of SAG-AFTRA’s Philadelphia Local and an Entercom employee at CBS Traffic.
Said Philadelphia Local Executive Director Stephen Leshinski, “They are low-balling on wages and retirement, which is always part of bargaining but they’re challenging our jurisdiction and, most offensively, looking to slash severance benefits 50-90 percent.”
Added Clover, “KYW reporters, editors and anchors are some of the most dedicated news journalists in the country and deserve better from Entercom.”
The contract, which expired Oct. 1, 2018, covers approximately 50 staff people. Negotiating last took place in December and no new dates are scheduled. SAG-AFTRA’s Philadelphia Local represents 3,000 actors, performers and broadcasters in the Delaware Valley, including CBS3, NBC10 and WIP-FM.
Last week Entercom released the following statement:
“We are incredibly proud of the award-winning work of our on-air teams and value their contributions to the company and the communities we serve. We have been negotiating with SAG-AFTRA in good faith to reach fair agreements. These discussions include contracts that had been open for years prior to our merger with CBS Radio, as well as more recently expired agreements. We prefer to negotiate directly with SAG-AFTRA and our employees, not publicly, and do not intend to comment further.”
“CMG Jacksonville has a history of innovation in the digital space, providing solutions and driving results for our advertising clients,” said Lujan. “I’m proud to able to help lead our digital team and add to that success.”
