Fox News has signed former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as a contributor, the network announced on Thursday.
“Fox News has been the number one news organization in the country for 17 years running and I am beyond proud to join their incredible stable of on-air contributors in providing political insights and analysis,” Sanders said in a statement.
The 37-year-old will provide political commentary and analysis to Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox News Digital, Fox Nation and the radio/podcast division. In addition, Sanders will make her debut on “Fox & Friends” on Sept. 6.
Sanders served as the White House press secretary for President Trump from July 2017 through June 2019, making her the third woman and first mom to ever hold the position. She previously joined the administration as deputy press secretary in January 2017 after working as a senior advisor for Trump’s election campaign.
Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is a Republican and a former presidential candidate, and worked in leadership roles for U.S. senators, governors, and presidential campaigns. In Arkansas, Sanders was a senior advisor to Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican, in 2014 when he defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, and was campaign manager for Sen. John Boozman, a Republican, in 2010 when he defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
Beyond politics, Sanders has advised major Fortune 500 companies and nonprofits, including serving as manager of the ONE Campaign, a global nonprofit founded by U2’s Bono to take action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease.
Despite multiple boycotts initiated against Tucker Carlson tonight and its host since 2018, the combined average cost for a 30-second unit on Fox News’ 8 p.m. show has managed to nearly double year-over-year, according to TV Newser citing a recent study performed by the New York-based media cost research & analysis company, SQAD.
In July 2018, a 30-second national spot on TCT was $11,099. Last month, a national spot went for $21,878.
Says SQAD, bottom line, it appears that the boycotts are not making a significant financial impact on the network (because committed ad dollars from boycotting brands are just being rerouted to other shows on the network.) And, those advertisers that stick with the host, pay a premium to reach the newly concentrated viewership.
Veteran sports talk radio show host George Plaster, who made a brief return to the Nashville airwaves on WSM 650 AM in July, will start another show on WNSR 560 AM / W240CA 103.9 and WNTC 95.9 FM in Drakesboro KY.
The Tennessean is reporting Plaster will launch the weekday call-in "George Plaster Show" in the 2-4 p.m. time slot on Sept. 3. WNSR will drop nationally syndicated show "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" to make room for Plaster's show.
News of his new show comes just one week after Plaster and WSM 650-AM decided to part ways. Plaster had started a weekday afternoon drive show there on July 15.
A couple of days after Plaster signed off from WSM, he received a call from Greg Pogue, co-host of the "Greg Pogue & Big Joe Show" on WNSR with Joe Dubin.
"Greg Pogue was kind of the person that got all of this going, and I really appreciate that," Plaster said. "Greg and I have been friends for a long, long time and he just reached out to me and asked if I'd be interested and I said, 'Sure, why not?' Ted Johnson (WNSR general manager) and I met a couple of days later and here we go."
Plaster, who has spent 39 years on the air at various stations, originally said he planned to start a podcast around Labor Day, but returning to radio was far more appealing.
Plaster left radio in 2016 to become associate athletics director at Belmont. He left that position in May when he announced he was starting the show on WSM.
Hubbard Broadcasting has named Matt Senne as General Manager of its stations in Alexandria and Wadena, MN.
Senne will oversee Country KIKV 100.7 FM and Oldies KULO 94.3 FM in Alexandria and Country KKWS 105.9 FM, Classic Country KWAD 920 AM and Sports KNSP 1430 AM in Wadena. Hubbard acquired 16 radio stations in northern Minnesota from Omni Broadcasting in 2015.
Senne has been with Leighton Broadcasting for 21 years, serving as morning host, Program Director, Operations Manager and Director of Programming. Most recently, he was GM for Leighton Broadcasting in Winona.
"I can't tell you how excited we are to bring Matt into Hubbard Broadcasting," said VP/Regional Manager of Minnesota Dan Seeman. "Matt‘s background provides the perfect fit for the experience, passion and creativity we need in the Alexandria and Wadena markets. He comes from a great family company at Leighton Broadcasting and we look forward to welcoming him to the Hubbard family and Hubbard Broadcasting."
"I have admired Hubbard Broadcasting for a very long time for its quality of broadcasting, belief in local talent, helping its clients, and its dedication to the community," added Senne. "I am proud to be joining Hubbard Broadcasting and can't wait to work with our staff and clients in Alexandria and Wadena. My family is incredibly excited to make the beautiful lakes area our home."
Entercom congratulates program director and morning show host of KDGS Power 93.5 FM Greg “The Hitman” Williams for his induction into the Kansas African American Museum (TKAAM) Hall of Fame.
Williams will receive the Broadcast Journalism Trailblazer Award by TKAAM at the organization’s annual Trailblazers Gala on October 5 in Wichita, KS.
“We are thrilled to see Greg recognized for his significant contributions to radio and to the community,” said Jackie Wise, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom Wichita. “We’re very proud to have him as part of the Entercom Wichita team.”
“I’d like to thank the Kansas African American Museum for this incredible and humbling honor,” said Williams. “I’m fortunate to have a platform to reach our local community every day. I look forward to sharing this achievement along with my fellow inductees in October.”
Trailblazer honorees are leaders, pacesetters and pioneers who have made a significant impact in their respective professions and who have contributed to the community and have made a positive impact.
Williams is a seasoned radio personality with over 40 years of experience. He joined Power 93.5 as program director and on-air personality in 2000. For over 19 years his morning radio show has been one of the top-rated and most-listened to morning shows in Wichita. Under his leadership, Power 93.5 has been one of Wichita’s longest-running and top-rated contemporary music radio station’s in the city’s history.
Previously, Williams served as an on-air personality for now sister station 103.7 KEYN (KEYN-FM), KKRD-FM and KLEO-AM in Wichita, as well as KCBQ-FM in San Diego.
Listeners can tune in Power 93.5 (KDGS-FM) in Wichita on air, as well as nationwide on the RADIO.COMapp andwebsite. Fans can also connect with the station on social media via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
ABC News has announced Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos, “World News Tonight” Anchor and Managing Editor David Muir, ABC News Correspondent Linsey Davis and Univision Anchor Jorge Ramos will moderate the Democratic Debate on Thursday, September 12 and, if necessary, Friday, September 13on the ABC Television Network and Univision.
ABC News is partnering with Univision on the third debate sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. The debate will take place at Texas Southern University’s Health & PE Center in Houston.
In order to qualify for the September debate, candidates must cross polling and grassroots funding thresholds.Candidates must receive 2% or more support in at least four national polls, or polls conducted in the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and/or Nevada. These polls must be sponsored by an approved organization and publicly released between June 28 and August 28. Any candidates’ four qualifying polls must be conducted by different organizations or - if by the same organization - must be in different geographical areas. Candidates must have received donations from at least 130,000 unique donors over the course of the election cycle, with a minimum of 400 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. Qualifying donations must be received by 11:59 p.m. on August 28 for the September debate.
If more than 10 candidates qualify under the rules, the debate will take place over two nights. For the two-night scenario ABC News in accordance with the DNC will hold a selection event on August 29 to randomly assign the candidates to each night. The format of the debate will be one minute and 15 seconds for direct responses to questions and 45 seconds for rebuttals.
Joe Walsh, a conservative WIND 560 AM show host in Chicago and former Republican congressman from Illinois, is expected to announce he is running for president as early as this weekend, presenting President Trump with a challenger from the right his critics hope will weaken the president in the 2020 election.
According to The NYTimes, Walsh stands virtually no chance of wresting the Republican presidential nomination from Mr. Trump, whose approval rating with Republican voters is consistently in the high 80s, and whose political aides have been aggressively moving to tighten their control over state parties to thwart primary challenges.
The Times reports those encouraging Mr. Walsh, a Tea Party conservative who served one term in the House and went from staunch Trump supporter to acerbic critic, hope he can appeal to reluctant Trump voters who are open to an alternative.
Before his likely announcement, according to two people who have spoken with him, Mr. Walsh has hired a senior political adviser, organized meetings with high-profile Trump antagonists in New York City, and published an Op-Ed in The New York Times with the goal of previewing his campaign message.
Walsh has yet to definitively say whether he is running. “If I do it, it’s going to be before Labor Day,” he said in an interview.
Once an ardent and vocal critic of Hillary Clinton, Mr. Walsh said the breaking point for him came last year during Mr. Trump’s meeting in Helsinki, Finland, with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Taylor Swift says she's going to re-record the masters of her earlier songs to regain control over them after her first six-album catalog was sold in a recent blockbuster business deal.
Swift told CBS News' Tracy Smith in an interview airing this weekend on "CBS Sunday Morning" that she's going to create the new masters to offset the deal. It put the earlier versions in the hands of music mogul Scooter Braun, a talent agent with whom Swift has had a contentious relationship.
In June, Braun got the rights to Swift's masters – and more – when his media holding company, Ithica Holdings, acquired Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Label Group for a reported $300 million.
In a Tumblr post at the time, Swift accused Braun of "manipulative bullying" and claimed she only learned of the deal "as it was announced to the world." Bochetta later disputed her account of how she found out about it.
Swift signed with Big Machine Label Group when she was 15. "I walked away (in November, to Universal Music Group) because I knew once I signed (a new) contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future," she wrote.
"Thankfully, I am now signed to a label that believes I should own anything I create," she added.
Smith asked Swift about re-recording the past songs as a way of regaining control of her master recordings.
Celebrated country band Alabama postponed the remainder of its 50th anniversary tour due to singer and guitarist Randy Owen's continued battle with cluster migraines and vertigo, reports USAToday citing a statement from the band said Wednesday.
Doctors have advised Owen, 69, that he needs more time to recover, the band said. The news comes after a string of already-canceled shows due to the singer's health.
Rescheduled tour dates plan to be announced in the coming weeks.
On Facebook, Alabama bassist Teddy Gentry said while the band is disappointed, "we know that Randy's recovery is what is most important for everyone at this time."
"The '50th Anniversary Tour' has been very special to us," wrote Gentry. "The support of the fans and their energy at all of our shows has led to some of the most fun we've ever had onstage. As disappointed as myself, Randy, and Jeff are to have to postpone this tour for all of our incredible fans, we know that Randy's recovery is what is most important for everyone at this time. We would like to thank our fans, promoters, and venues and we look forward to seeing you all soon."
SiriusXM Wednesday announced a new subscription package built for college students.
The "Student Premier" package gives college students all the content in SiriusXM's "Premier Streaming" package for $4 per month, a 69% discount off the regular price of Premier Streaming of $12.99 per month.
This new Student Premier Package gives subscribers streaming access to content outside their car, on a phone or tablet, at home on connected devices, and online. To subscribe visit www.SiriusXM.com/Student.
"Today's college students grew up listening to SiriusXM in their parent's car, and now we have a package built just for them," said Matt Epstein, Vice President, SiriusXM Outside the Car.
"Our Student Premier Package enables students to have their own subscription and continue to enjoy the SiriusXM programming they love in their dorm room, at home or on the go. We're delivering students an incredible selection of content, including the newly launched Personalized Stations Powered by Pandora, Xtra channels, SiriusXM Video, and more, all at a great price."
The band’s manager and one-time producer, Skip Taylor, confirmed on Canned Heat’s Facebook that Taylor died Monday, August 19th at his home in Lake Balboa, California after a 12-year battle with cancer.
Taylor, known by his nickname “The Mole,” joined Canned Heat in 1967, two years after the band’s formation, and helped form what most fans and critics consider their “classic lineup” through 1970. That group played at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, recording a mixture of originals (including their flute-tinged hit “Going Up the Country”) and blues covers in the studio.
He began his career as a teenager, touring with Jerry Lee Lewis; he then became a regular studio bassist for the Monkees, appearing on many of the group’s albums, including their self-titled 1966 debut (which features the hit “Last Train to Clarksville” and “(Theme From) The Monkees”).
Prior to joining Canned Heat, he worked as a session musician for artists like Albert King, Solomon Burke, Buddy Guy, JJ Cale, Ry Cooder, Harvey Mandel and Charlie Musselwhite, according to the Facebook statement. His discography also includes sessions with John Lee Hooker, John Mayall, John Hammond Jr. and Tom Waits (including his acclaimed records Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs). Onstage, he was a fixture in Waits’ touring band on upright bass.
➦In 1906…The Victor Talking Machine Company began to manufacture a record player called the Victrola. The hand-cranked unit, with horn cabinet, sold for $200. Records had to be purchased separately, usually in the appliance stores that sold the machines, at a price of $1 to $7. Music onductor John Philip Sousa predicted "a marked deterioration in American music" and said that generations of amateur musicians would give way to "canned music."
Nipper
The advent of radio as a home entertainment medium in the early 1920s presented Victor and the entire record industry with new challenges. Not only was music becoming available over the air free of charge, but a live broadcast made using a high-quality microphone and heard over a high-quality receiver provided clearer, more "natural" sound than a contemporary record.
In 1925, Victor switched from the acoustical or mechanical method of recording to the new microphone-based electrical system developed by Western Electric. Victor called its version of the improved fidelity recording process "Orthophonic", and sold a new line of record players, called "Orthophonic Victrolas", scientifically designed to play these improved records. Victor's first electrical recordings were made and issued in the spring of 1925
➦In 1947...“Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy“, expanded to length of their aBC Radio Networks shows to 30-minutes and aired three-time weekly. The program had been a 15-minute program for 14-years.
➦In 1964...The Beatles were in concert at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, playing to 20,261 fans.
The Bill Black Combo, the Exciters, the Righteous Brothers, and Jackie DeShannon opened for the group. The show was broadcast locally by CKNW 980 AM.
➦In 1965...The Beatles performed two shows at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. Mike Love and Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys stopped by between shows to meet the group.
➦In 1970...Chart Check: Bread reached #1 with their first hit--"Make It With You". That ended a five-week reign for the Carpenters' classic "(They Long To Be) Close To You". Eric Burdon & War were up to #3 with "Spill The Wine" while the song "War" was at #4 for Edwin Starr. The rest of the Top 10: Mungo Jerry with "In The Summertime", Stevie Wonder had #6--"Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)", Clarence Carter moved from 16 to 7 with "Patches", Freda Payne's "Band Of Gold", B.J. Thomas moved into the list with "I Just Can't Help Believing" and one of the great One-Hit Wonders of the Rock Era*, "Tighter, Tighter" by Alive & Kicking was still alive at #10.
➦In 1990...Orchestra leader David Rose died aged 80. He had the 1962 US No.1 single ‘The Stripper’. He led the band on NBC radio’s Red Skelton Show, and wrote music for the TV series Little House on the Prairie and Bonanza.
➦In 2004...Al Dvorin, the announcer who coined the phrase "Elvis has left the building" while working the King's Seventies concerts, died in a car crash en route home from a Californian Elvis convention.
Jerry Leiber
➦In 2011...Jerry Leiber died in Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, aged 78, from cardio-pulmonary failure. He along with Mike Stoller, wrote many of Elvis Presley's big early hits, including "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock", as well as "Kansas City" for Wilbert Harrison, "Stand By Me" for Ben E. King and "On Broadway" for the Drifters.
➦In 2011...Nickolas Ashford of the duo Ashford & Simpson, who wrote songs such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "You're All I Need To Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing", and "I'm Every Woman" with wife Valerie Simpson, died at the age of 70 from throat cancer
Don Cannon
➦In 2014...A Philadelphia radio legend, Don Cannon, died at age 74.
Cannon, who was born Dominic Canzano in Yonkers, N.Y. He was known as “The Dean of Philadelphia Radio.”
He was a voice on morning radio in Philadelphia from 1969 until he retired in 2004. The “Cannon in the Morning” show started on WIBG and has been heard on WIP, WFIL, WIFI, WSNI and WOGL.
In the original Rocky movie, when the morning alarm clock goes off for Rocky’s run, it is Cannon’s voice heard on the radio.
WOGL 98.1 FM, the radio station where Cannon last worked in Philadelphia, put up a tribute page on its web site. It included this posting:
“It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of a member of the 98.1 WOGL family. Our friend and radio legend Don Cannon passed away peacefully on Friday morning, August 22.
Don was our morning show host from March 1990 to June 2004. He was born in New York but started working in Philadelphia radio at a young age, and Philly became his true home.
Don was a big (NFL) Eagles fan, and had a great sense of humor."
Ted Moore - 1969
➦In 2014...Ted Moore, the retired voice of the Green Bay Packers during the glory years in the 1960s and who made a memorable call in the famed Ice Bowl on Dec. 31, 1967, at Lambeau Field, died at age 87 from heart failure.
Moore spent 48 years in the radio and television broadcasting business. But he was best known for his work with the Packers. At the Ice Bowl, with the Packers trailing the Dallas Cowboys, 17-14, in the NFL Championship Game, Moore peered through a small unfrozen section of the press box window and called quarterback Bart Starr's sneak into the end zone.
"The Green Bay Packers are going to be world champions, NFL champions for the third straight year," Moore yelled.
A native of Bristow, Okla., Moore worked for a number of stations in Madison, Marshfield, Neenah, Menasha, Green Bay and finally, in 1958, at WTMJ radio and television. Moore also worked for WEMP and WOKY in Milwaukee.
He was later inducted into the Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
At this year’s “Morning Show Boot Camp” in Chicago, Jacobs Media and Talentmasters/Morning Show Boot Camp released the findings of its comprehensive online study of on-air talent and producers from commercial radio stations across the United States – AQ2.
Respondents were asked a wide range of questions on their attitudes about the state of the radio industry, their careers, how they define their ever-changing job duties, and even if they have a “face for radio.”
Fred Jacobs
Fred Jacobs presented the study to the capacity Boot Camp crowd, eager to see research that reflects their aspirations, concerns, and their lives. The full results of the AQ2 study will be unveiled on a webinar scheduled for Wednesday, September 4th at 2pm EST.
“Last year’s debut AQ study – radio’s first talent on talent research study – turned out to be a milestone project,” says Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs. “This year’s follow-up survey provides tracking, as well as new questions to help inform both talent and those who manage them.”
There are great insights in AQ2 including why on-air talent have chosen the radio profession. The top three reasons are that “it’s fun” (79%), “to entertain” (75%), and because it’s “emotionally fulfilling” (56%). The least important reason? “Sex and relationships,” mentioned by only 1% as a main motivator for being on the radio.
Don Anthony, host/creator of Morning Show Boot Camp/Talk Show Boot Camp and publisher of Jockline Daily, notes, “Our second annual Jacobs Media/MSBC AQ2 (“Air Talent Questionnaire”) proved once again to be the perfect lead-off session for this year’s 31st annual event. And what a perfect source of material for sessions that followed. Considering the second year in-a-row that more than 1,000 on-air talent completed the nearly 15-minute survey speaks volumes about them, as well as the quality of work provided by Jacobs Media. I’m already looking forward to AQ3.”
AQ is an online study sent via email to both the Jockline Daily and Jacobs Media databases (and lots of word of mouth). The fieldwork took place between June 13 and July 18, 2019. There were 1,035 responses in total; 988 commercial radio air personalities and 47 commercial radio show producers in the U.S. AQ2 is a web survey and is not intended to reflect the attitudes of all air personalities and on-air producers.
Country Radio Broadcasters will present the next installment of its recently-launched CRS360 webinar series on Tuesday, August 27th at 1 p.m. (CDT), with an episode titled “Country Radio’s Podcasting Opportunity.”
Edison Research SVP and CRS veteran Tom Webster will help attendees better understand the unique relationship between Country radio, its listeners, and their community, and how Country radio is positioned to be something more in podcasting than just repurposed broadcast content. Webster will walk attendees through the latest data and talk about Country’s potential to “leave deeper footprints” with podcasts. Following Webster’s presentation, he’ll field questions from the online audience.
“The topic of podcasting was on the minds of our entire agenda committee when they met in June, to plan CRS 2020,” said CRS Executive Director, RJ Curtis. “With one third of Americans over the age of 12 having listened to a podcast, we know this platform is rapidly growing; helping radio retain current listeners, and possibly draw new ones to our format is exactly the kind of discussion CRS should be facilitating, and we’re thrilled to have Tom Webster share his insights.”
The August edition of CRS360 is a prequel to another session on the topic of podcasting, titled, “In Pod We Trust,” planned for CRS 2020, which will be held Wednesday, February 19th – Friday, February 21st at the Omni Hotel in Nashville. Registration opened August 1st and remains available; to register, click here.
In September, CRS360 will revisit continuous measurement in diary market, first discussed earlier this year, at CRS 2019.
