ABC News president James Goldston is stepping down after 17 years with the network. Of those 17 years, he spent seven as president. reports The Wrap.
In a memo to staff sent Thursday, he said his last day with the company will be March 31.
Goldston cited the 2020 election as a turning point in his career, writing, “It’s a really tough decision. I’ve loved every day of my 17 years at ABC News, but in recent times I’ve always assumed that after this extraordinary election cycle, which we’ve covered at a full sprint for four years, it would be time for a change. After a great deal of reflection over the last few months, I’m ready for a new adventure.”
In the memo, he praised ABC News for continuing to win awards, launch new platforms and shows and see success in the ratings. He added, “This is one of the great jobs in all of journalism. My only regret is not being able to see our newsrooms filled again with people and energy and endeavor before I go, but I will find ways to say thank you to as many of you as I possibly can in the coming weeks.”
Goldston did not share what his future plans are, but mentioned he is “excited” for his “next chapter.”
The low-profile Goldston leaves at a time ABC’s flagship newscasts, “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America,” are both leading its rivals in the ratings.
His departure adds to the list of top jobs that need to be filled at major news organizations, including The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.
During his tenure, the network purchased the FiveThirtyEight blog, took over “The View” from ABC’s entertainment division and launched a more aggressive online offering, ABC News Live.
Goldston’s decision to install David Muir as “World News Tonight” anchor paid dividends as the show now dominates the evening news ratings, often reaching 10 million viewers a night.
Earlier this week, Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron announced his retirement. Searches for new leadership are also underway at the Los Angeles Times, Reuters, HuffPost, Vox, Wired and the Center for Public Integrity.
Some of ABC’s rival networks are also in the midst of reorganization or are preparing for the possibility of major changes. NBC restructured its news and entertainment divisions last year, when it also announced the departure of Andy Lack as chairman for NBC News and MSNBC. Rashida Jones will take over as MSNBC’s new president next week, following the departure of 12-year president Phil Griffin.
Meanwhile rumors have long swirled about management turnover at CBS News, as well as the looming retirement of New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet.
NBCUniversal has consolidated the operations and administrative functions of its regional sports networks into its owned-and-operated television stations, a move executives say will "help position all of our local businesses for continued success."
In an internal memo sent to employees Jan. 22 and obtained by the Philadelphia Business Journal, Valari Staab, president of NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, noted that last October, the six regional sports networks, or RSNs, begun the process of consolidating functions with the TV networks division. The decision is part of an effort "to figure out how we can maximize our shared resources," Staab said.
As of Jan. 25, the two started to "operate and collaborate as one team, focused on serving English and Spanish-speaking audiences with the best local sports, news and information for our markets," Staab wrote in the memo. "All of the resources that are currently available to the NBC/Telemundo owned stations will be available to the RSNs."
The news comes just a week after Comcast Corp.-owned NBC said it plans to shut down its NBCSN national sports channel by the end of the year — a move that will not affect the RSNs.
In August, NBCU laid off almost 10% of its 35,000 employees — just a week after Comcast reported the division suffered a 25% decline in revenue due to theme park closures, the postponement of movie releases and faltering advertising sales. Those cuts included 17 NBCSP employees, such as veteran sports reporter Derrick Gunn and longtime media relations professional Maureen Quilter.
The new structure will have Bill Bridgen, president, group leader for NBC Sports Regional Networks serving as group leader for the RSNs with the general managers reporting to him.
NBC has RSNs in Philadelphia,Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco and Portland. It also has a minority interest in SportsNet New York.
United Stations has announced that Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will jointly host its daily, weekday program “Backstage Country” to celebrate Garth’s birthday week, Valentine’s Day and the success of the couple’s emotional current single, “Shallow.”
Garth Brooks starts next week off with a birthday on February 7th, and Garth and Trisha will mark the occasion by hosting the 5-hour daily show from Monday February 8th through Friday the 12th.
Together, the pair will share their musical history, their personal stories and reflections and also talk candidly about the year we all just experienced and their positive outlook about the future. All of this will be capped by a theme of romance as the couple’s hosting week counts down to Valentine’s Day Weekend. The theme serves as no better time to share “Shallow,” Garth and Trisha’s latest hit at country radio, best-known from the film “A Star Is Born” and a release in response to overwhelming fan demand after the couple performed the track during a Facebook live performance. Working closely with to top programmers at Beasley Media whose seven country stations serve as the flagship affiliates, Backstage Country is assembled each week by a team at United Stations led by EVP/Programming Andy Denemark, Talent Relations Consultant John Shomby, Senior Talent/Content Producer Adrian Kulp and Technical Producer Mike Newman.
The addition of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood enhance an already stellar year so far for Backstage Country in 2021. The year began with Morgan Wallen hosting for a week, the same week his new double-album shot to #1 on the Billboard charts. Morgan Wallen’s week of hosting was followed by programs anchored by Russell Dickerson, Kane Brown and Brett Young who each sat behind the microphone for a week leading up to the Garth and Trisha week which happens February 8-12. More major names are on board to host Backstage Country in the coming weeks and months.
Backstage Country gives listeners and affiliates an insider’s look at Country music as it is hosted by the stars of Country Music. Each Country artist who serves as host for the program will do so for an entire Monday through Friday week. The program is currently in just its fifth month on the air, and already the network broadcast has presented week-long programming hosted by Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, Chris Janson, Chris Young, Kane Brown, Maren Morris, Morgan Wallen and more.
Each artist that serves as a guest-host has the opportunity to share their unique perspective on music, touring, events, the media and any other topic that inspires or matters to them as influencers and creators. The show now reaches dozens of cities around the U.S., and all seven (7) Beasley Media Group-owned Country stations have been on board as flagship affiliates since its launch.
Sonny Fox, the one-time host of "Wonderama" and among the best-known figures in the history of New York television, has died, his daughter confirmed in a statement Thursday.
Newsday reports Fox, who was 95 and had been living in an independent care facility in California, died Sunday night after a short illness related to COVID-induced pneumonia, his daughter, Meredith Fox, said.
A Renaissance man whose long career spanned radio and TV — including, briefly and memorably, as host of "$64,000 Challenge" — Fox found lasting fame at "Wonderama," a Sunday morning children's television program that originally aired on WNEW (now WNYW/5) from 1955 to 1977. (The show was revived from 1980 to 1987, and again in 2017.)
Produced on a tight budget, Fox's "Wonderama'' — which he hosted from 1959 to 1967 — was molded in the host's expansive interests. A studio audience of children might be directed to perform Shakespeare dramatizations in one segment and then, after the commercial break, compete in a spelling bee.
Fox — lanky and 6'3" — would wander among audience members, while his only deference to their youth was a slight stoop as he bent over to ask questions. He treated them as equals, which was almost unheard of in kids' TV, where kids were expected to be kids, and so were the hosts.
Over his eight seasons at "Wonderama," he became a superstar in the early world of New York TV, where the waiting list to get on his show stretched out five years. Besides Ch. 5, he often originated the show at the long-gone Freedomland USA theme park in the Bronx. There were a number of trips overseas too. Suring the "Wonderama" run, he also hosted a Saturday morning show, "Just For Fun."
In 1956, CBS named him inaugural host of "The $64,000 Challenge" — which drew its contestants from the show it had been spun-off from, "The $64,000 Question." The pressure was enormous, and Fox accidentally gave a contestant the answer to a question, on live television. He was fired a few weeks in — fortuitous became the quiz show scandals enveloped the entire genre within a year.
Fox returned to New York, jobless, but not for long. Ch. 5 hired him for "Wonderama" in 1959, and by 1960, he had concurrently hosted short-lived shows for ABC and NBC too.
➦In 1929...Newspaper gossip columnist Walter Winchell was first heard on radio. But it would be more than a year before he got his own show on local New York radio, which led to national success.
Walter Winchell
The show, entitled Saks on Broadway, was a 15-minute feature that provided business news about Broadway. He switched to WJZ, (later to be renamed WABC, now WCBS-AM) and the NBC Blue (in the '40s to become ABC RadioNework), in 1932 for the Jergens Journal.
Winchell opened his radio broadcasts by pressing randomly on a telegraph key, a sound that created a sense of urgency and importance, and using the catchphrase "Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press." He would then read each of his stories with a staccato delivery (up to a rate of 197 words per minute, though he claimed a speed of well over 200 words per minute in an interview in 1967), noticeably faster than the typical pace of American speech. His diction also can be heard in his breathless narration of The Untouchables television series as well as in several Hollywood films.
Winchell found embarrassing stories about famous people by exploiting his exceptionally wide circle of contacts, and trading gossip, sometimes in return for his silence. His uniquely outspoken style made him both feared and admired, and his newspaper column was syndicated worldwide. In the 1930s, he attacked the appeasers of Nazism, and in the '50s aligned with Joseph McCarthy in his campaign against communists. The McCarthy connection in time made him deeply unfashionable, his talents did not adapt well for television, and his career ended in humiliation.
➦In 1942...The 1st broadcast of Roy Plomley‘s “Desert Island Discs” was heard on the BBC. It went on to become the longest running UK radio show.
➦In 1945...Lionel Barrymore took over the host duties temporarily on the “Lux Radio Theatre” on CBS radio. This after longtime host Cecil B. DeMille refused to join the radio performers union.
➦In 1951...Major League Baseball signed a 6 year agreement for radio-TV rights garnering a million dollars a year.
➦In 1956...the show "Indictment" was first broadcast on the CBS Radio Network. The well-produced show remained on the air for three years.
➦In 1964...The No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles. This first American release by the Beatles was one of the biggest selling British singles of all time with worldwide sales of 15 million copies.
In ➦1980...a true entertainer who conquered vaudeville, radio & TV Jimmy Durante, who was confined to a wheelchair following a 1972 stroke, died of pneumonia at age 86.
➦In 2000...Detroit radio legend Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg – known by her trademark phrase “I betcha” – died in hospital at age 69. Steinberg was a local fixture on Motor City airwaves for nearly 40 years.
Martha Jean Steinberg
Her first radio job was on Memphis’ WDIA starting in 1954m where she was one of the first female disc jockeys in the U-S, airing R&B hits along with "household hints".
In 1963 she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she became a larger-than-life figure on the air and in the black community. Steinberg cultivated a 46-year career and is a member of the Black Radio Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
During Detroit’s 1967 civil disturbance she remained on-air for 48 straight hours, imploring listeners to stay off the streets. That event evolved into a regular call-in show with the city’s police commissioners called “Buzz the Fuzz.”
In 1972, Steinberg became an ordained minister and founded a church called the Home of Love. Her shows became even more spiritual in nature, tagged by her sign-off, “God loves you and I love you.”
In 1982, Steinberg and several partners bought a Detroit AM station, changed its format to gospel and talk, and changed the call letters to WQBH (which many say stood for “Queen Broadcasts Here”). She bought the station outright in 1997 and remained its star broadcaster until her death three years later. Her impact on the station and its listeners was so profound that WQBH continued airing daily recordings of the Queen’s programs for years after her death. The station was sold in 2004 to Salem Broadcasting and is now a conservative talk station, WDTK.
➦In 2010... former NFL lineman and sportscaster Tom Brookshier, who was partnered with Pat Summerall on CBS’s #1 NFL playbyplay team throughout the 1970’s, succumbed to cancer at age 78. When Brookshier was promoted to play-by-play in 1981, John Madden moved into his old spot beside Summerall.
➦In 2013...WRXP 94.7 FM, NYC changed call letters to WNSH
HOA
➦In 2017...Radio Personality Herb Oscar Anderson died at age 81 at a hospital in Vermont. He was one of the original Swingin' Seven deejays when WABC 770 AM went to a Top40 Format in late 1960.
A longtime fixture on the New York radio station, popular in the metro area and beyond, Anderson began his tenure at WABC in 1960 at a time when the station was honing its Top 40 format. Anderson, who was a fan of big band music, was one of the station’s “Swingin’ 7” on-air personalities, WABC’s answer to the “Good Guys” on rival station WMCA 570 AM, where Anderson previously worked.
Anderson, who was born on May 30, 1928, in South Beloit, Illinois, was raised along with his four siblings at the Odd Fellows orphanage in nearby Lincoln because his widowed mother was too poor to support them. He and his mother were eventually reunited. He eventually moved to Wisconsin, where he worked as a newspaper reporter. The parent company also owned WCLO radio. He soon applied for a position at the station, figuring that announcing a sports story for 30 seconds would be more fun than spending three hours writing his high school sports column for the newspaper. After a three-year stint in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Anderson was hired in 1956 by St. Paul, Minnesota, radio station WDGY to host a Top 40 program.
The huge immediate success at the Storz Top40 WDGY prompted CBS, which had WCCO in the Twin Cities area, to get Herb out of the market by giving him a job at its Chicago station, WBBM.
HOA - circa the '70s
Before long, he was hired at WABC in New York City. In the late 1950s, Herb then went on the ABC network and was part of a line-up that included legendary talk show host and game show creator Merv Griffin, actor Jim Backus and singer Jim Reeves.
Herb hosted a show and sang before a live band, but the show didn’t work out. However, a short time later, he received a telegram from WMCA offering him a job.
In December 1960, he rejoined WABC as one of the original "Swingin’ Seven" air personalities when the station started its Top 40 format.
Unhappy with changing musical tastes, Anderson left WABC in 1969. his son later stated that a key reason for his father’s departure was because station owner ABC broke its promise to let Anderson host his own talk show. Anderson followed his WABC gig as a DJ at AM radio stations WOR 710 AM and WHN 1050 AM in the ’70s.
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
Actor Katharine Ross is 81.
Actor Tom Selleck is 76.
Singer Bettye LaVette is 75.
Actor Marc Singer is 73.
Actor Ann Jillian is 71.
Drummer Louie Perez of Los Lobos is 68.
Singer Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band is 68.
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is 67.
Country singer Irlene Mandrell is 65.
Actor Diane Delano (“The Ellen Show,” ″Northern Exposure”) is 64.
Kelly Packard
Actor Judy Norton (“The Waltons”) is 63.
Guitarist Johnny Spampinato of NRBQ is 62.
Drummer David Baynton-Power of James is 60.
Bassist Eddie Jackson of Queensryche is 60.
Actor Nicholas Turturro (“NYPD Blue”) is 59.
Singer-guitarist Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera is 57.
With less than a week and a half to go CBS has sold out national ads for the big game, reports Mediapost.
The Super Bowl, which is reported to have 77 commercials, is “virtually” sold out, according to a CBS spokesperson. Media executives say typical last-minute individual advertiser changes and additions can occur.
CBS had initially been pricing 30-second commercials at around $5.6 million, according to media-buying executives. Kantar, the advertising research company, says 2020 pricing was at $5.2 million.
The game airs on February 7, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Concerns about the pandemic, the U.S. economy and change in Presidential administration have pushed some longtime Super Bowl marketers to the sidelines this year, including Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi and Ford Motor.
Kantar says Anheuser-Busch InBev has been the most prominent advertiser on the Super Bowl, on average, accounting for 10% of total Super Bowl ad revenue in each of the last five years.
Creative and marketing executives have reportedly worried about what ‘tone’ TV commercials should have this year.
A year ago, Fox sold out all commercial inventory in the Super Bowl by Thanksgiving.
A list of some marketers buying the time include Michelob Ultra, Chipotle,Vroom, Toyota, M&Ms, PepsiCo's Cheetos and Doritos, Fiverr, Kellogg's Pringles and Intuit's TurboTax.
A year ago, Kantar says the almost four-hour-long game pulled in $448.7 million in advertising revenue -- up 33% over the previous year. There were a total of 46 commercial minutes for the 2020 game.
Comcast Corp. finished a challenging 2020 with $3.4 billion in fourth-quarter profits, an improvement of 6.9% from a year earlier despite headwinds from the pandemic.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the cable and media giant reported strong subscriber gains in its broadband business, signing up 538,000 internet customers during the quarter. But the coronavirus continued to crush its theme parks, dragging down revenues at NBCUniversal.
Comcast’s overall revenue during the quarter was $27.7 billion, down 2.4% from the same period in 2019. The company ended the year with $103.6 billion in annual revenue, a 4.9% drop from the previous year. Comcast made $10.5 billion in profits in 2020, a decrease of 19.3% from 2019.
Brian Roberts
“With the vaccines rolling out throughout the world, we are optimistic that the parts of our business that had been most impacted will soon be back on a path towards growth,” Comcast CEO and Chairman Brian Roberts said in a statement. “While this is certainly the most challenging period we have faced, I could not be more proud of how our management team and employees continue to pull together and deliver.”
Here’s how Comcast’s divisions did for the quarter:
Cable communications accounted for $15.7 billion in revenue, up 6.3%.
Cable networks brought in $2.7 billion in revenue, down 6.4%.
Broadcast television accounted for $2.8 billion in revenue, down 12%.
Filmed entertainment brought in $1.4 billion in total revenue, down 8.3%.
Theme parks brought in $579 million in revenue, down 63%.
The company’s broadband business boomed before the pandemic, but it is likely benefiting from consumers working and studying from home, too. Comcast’s cable unit added a record 1.6 million customers in 2020, boosting the division’s annual revenues by 3.4% to $60 billion. Fourth-quarter cable revenues rose 6.3% to $15.7 billion.
Consumers continued to flee pay TV for cheaper online streaming in rising numbers. The cable company lost 248,000 video customers during the quarter and 1.4 million in 2020. But Comcast has now embraced streaming, bundling internet service with its Flex streaming devices and Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service. Peacock has 33 million sign-ups since soft-launching in April.
But NBCUniversal’s hard year continued in the fourth quarter, when revenues fell 18.1% to $7.5 billion. Its annual revenues dropped 17.3% to $28 billion, as it saw declines across theme parks, film studios, broadcast television, and cable channels.
The coronavirus hit theme parks the hardest, as government restrictions kept its California park closed and reduced capacity at others. Theme park revenue plummeted to $1.8 billion in 2020, a 69% decrease from the $5.9 billion in 2019. In the fourth quarter, theme park revenue declined 63%, but Roberts said theme parks in Orlando and Osaka, Japan broke even.
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) today announced the launch of the Jazz Media Lab, through which some of the country’s most dynamic and forward-thinking nonprofit jazz radio stations will receive more than $1.3 million to participate in a program aimed at bolstering their individual strength and collective resilience as essential players in the jazz ecosystem.
KMHD (Oregon Public Broadcasting) in Portland, Ore., KNKX (Pacific Public Media) in Tacoma/Seattle, Wash., KUVO (Rocky Mountain Public Media) in Denver, Colo., WBGO (Newark Public Radio) in Newark, N.J. and WRTI (Temple University) in Philadelphia, Pa. will each receive grants of up to $275,000 over three years to support their involvement in the collective, and supply them with core support and innovation capital.
DoriThe Jazz Media Lab program will also provide these stations with a peer network, support system and contracted resource team for exploring and advancing strategies to diversify their listening bases, invest in new media platforms, engage with venues and community organizations, and establish meaningful relationships with jazz artists.
“We’re thrilled to launch the Jazz Media Lab with this cohort of leaders in the field of jazz radio,” said Maurine Knighton, program director for the arts at DDCF. “Jazz radio plays an essential role in supporting the field of jazz, a vital art form with a rich history embedded in the fabric of this country and an exciting, evolving future. These stations have always been critical partners to artists and venues, and never has that been truer than today, as they’ve served as the central platform for connecting artists with audiences and for voicing issues affecting musicians and venues during the pandemic. As the largest national funder of jazz, we are dedicated to helping ensure the sustained vibrancy of jazz, one of very few contemporary art forms original to the U.S. This program is a pivotal piece of that greater commitment.”
AS MANY AS 90,000 MORE WILL DIE IN NEXT FOUR WEEKS: The Biden administration yesterday held the first of what will be its regular coronavirus briefings three times a week, with participants projecting that as many as 90,000 more people will die in the U.S. in the next four weeks. The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said, "I know this is not news we all want to hear, but this is something we must say so we are all aware. If we are united in action we can turn things around." The briefing was held virtually, with officials appearing from separate locations on Zoom, speaking about the administration's efforts to combat the coronavirus, including speeding up vaccines.
Severe COVID-19 infections are beginning to abate in many parts of the U.S. even as the death toll mounts, signaling an end to the pandemic's post-holiday surge https://t.co/lbsQ7Js6wmpic.twitter.com/HYK9XcV1KX
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said there are concerns about the new virus mutations that are emerging and if the vaccine might not be as effective against them. But he said scientists can make adjustments to keep their effectiveness, saying the government is working with pharmaceutical companies on potential booster shots for the new variants.
➤BIDEN SIGNS CLIMATE-RELATED ORDERS, SAYS 'CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER': President Biden signed several executive orders yesterday intended to help combat climate change, saying, "We can’t wait any longer" and calling the threat "existential." Biden presented his approach as being one of job-creation, saying, "When I think of climate change and the answers to it, I think of jobs," stating that his plans would create jobs in the automotive and renewable energy sectors, like solar and wind power, that would offset losses in oil, coal or natural gas jobs.
➤SECOND POLICE OFFICER DIED BY SUICIDE AFTER CAPITOL ATTACK: A second police officer who responded to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol died by suicide in its aftermath, Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee told a closed session of the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday evening. Officer Jeffrey Smith was a Washington, D.C., police officer. A Capitol Police officer, Howard Liebengood, also took his own life in the wake of the attack, and another Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died of injuries he suffered while trying to hold off the rioters. Meanwhile, the head of the union that represents Capitol Police, Gus Papathanasiou, described some of the injuries suffered by Capitol Police as well as members of Washington, D.C.'s police force, in a statement Wednesday saying nearly 140 had been injured. He said, "I have officers . . . who have sustained brain injuries. One officer has two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal discs. One officer is going to lose his eye, and another was stabbed with a metal fence stake."
➤HOMELAND SECURITY DEPT. ISSUES NATIONAL TERRORISM WARNING: The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin yesterday about a remaining potential for violence after President Biden's inauguration by people motivated by anti-government sentiment. While not citing any specific plots, the bulletin suggested the U.S. Capitol attack may embolden extremists, and believes the heightened threat environment will continue for weeks after the inauguration. A statement that went out with the bulletin said the potential for violence from a, quote, "broad range of ideologically-motivated actors."
➤PROUD BOYS LEADER WAS REPORTEDLY GOVERNMENT INFORMANT: The leader of the Proud Boys, Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, was a government informant who worked undercover and cooperated with investigators after he was accused of fraud in 2012, Reuters first reported Wednesday, with the information found in court documents. Tarrio denied to Reuters ever cooperating with authorities. The Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, was a major agitator during the Capitol riot, according to AP, however Tarrio was arrested in Washington shortly before the attack, accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during an earlier protest in D.C.
➤IS WATCHING TV ACTUALLY A GOOD WAY TO RELAX?: Watching TV is an American pastime, and with the pandemic, people are watching more TV than ever before. According to new data from Nielsen, 29 percent of remote workers have the TV on during billable hours daily, and the average American watches 5 hours and 56 minutes of cumulative videos each day. But outside of working hours, can watching TV actually help you relax? Science says kind of. Studies from 2012 found that rewatching old, familiar TV favorites can make our brains feel safe, allowing them to recharge. However, watching horror movies and the news can have the opposite effect, though this varies from person to person. Viale Wright is a clinical psychologist, and notes that watching too much TV can be problematic, noting, “If [watching TV] is your only coping mechanism—if you have nothing except TV—then that’s probably problematic.” As for having the TV on while you work—researchers say we’re likely ignoring it, and that have a low-key distraction in the background can actually help you complete creative tasks (though they add that any ambient sound that mimics the murmur of people talking and moving in the background should have the same effect).
➤S-F BOARD REMOVES NAMES OF LINCOLN, WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON, OTHERS FROM SCHOOLS: The San Francisco Board of Education decided in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night to remove the names of former Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson and other prominent figures from public schools in the city. Others whose names will be removed from a total of 44 San Francisco schools in the controversial decision include Paul Revere, "Star Spangled Banner" composer Francis Scott Key, naturalist John Muir, 18th century Spanish priest Junipero Serra, and current Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, who was a former mayor of San Francisco. A committee was created in 2018 to lead the renaming process, charged with identifying schools named for people who owned slaves or had connections to slavery, colonization or exploitation, anyone who oppressed women, children, queer or transgender people, anyone connected to human rights or environmental abuses, or anyone who espoused racist or white supremacist beliefs. Washington and Jefferson owned slaves, and the criticisms of Lincoln were related to Native Americans, including construction of the transcontinental railroad, which affected their lands, and his refusal to commute the sentences of 39 Native Americans sentenced to hanging. Feinstein was included because when she was mayor in 1984, she replaced a vandalized Confederate flag that was part of a flag display in front of City Hall. Seeyew Mo, executive director of Families for San Francisco, which has been critical of the renaming effort, called the process "top-down" in which a small group of people made the decisions without consulting experts and the wider school community. He also said, "We would like to have historical experts to provide historical context as we are evaluating people from the past with today’s sensibilities."
Hollywood has lost a star: Legendary actress, Cloris Leachman, has died at the age of 94. 💔 (📷: Getty) pic.twitter.com/pz3xf3iMnj
➤CLORIS LEACHMAN DIES AT 94: The Oscar and Emmy winner Cloris Leachman, best known for her role as Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, has died of natural causes at age 94. “It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time,” her longtime manager Juliet Green said. “There was no one like Cloris. With a single look she had the ability to break your heart or make you laugh ’till the tears ran down your face. You never knew what Cloris was going to say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of her unparalleled magic.”
🏈POLL: JUST 25 PERCENT TO ATTEND SUPER BOWL WATCH PARTIES: The holidays are over, but there's another event coming up that could lead people to gather together and potentially increase the spread of the coronavirus -- the Super Bowl. A new Seton Hall Sports Poll of just over 1,500 people from across the country found that while 64 percent said they won't attend a gathering with people from outside their home to watch the February 7th championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 25 percent said they will. Another 11 percent said they weren't sure. Among those who said they were avid fans, an ever higher 40 percent said they'd gather with people from outside their household. The poll also asked if respondents expected the game would be less exciting because of pandemic-related restrictions, including reduced fan attendance, and 47 percent either "strongly" or "somewhat" agreed it would be, compared to 28 percent who either "somewhat or strongly" disagreed.
🏈SEAHAWKS DROP WHEELER OVER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGE: The Seattle Seahawks have dropped offensive lineman Chad Wheeler after he was charged with first-degree domestic violence assault yesterday following his arrest last weekend. Wheeler's contract was set to expire in March.
Chad Wheeler
Police were called to a home in Kent, Washington, Friday night after the victim and family members called 911, saying she'd locked herself in a bathroom after being attacked. Officers heard a woman screaming when they arrived and forced their way in, finding Wheeler with the woman, who's face was covered in blood and had her arm hanging at her side. Wheeler was uncooperative and a Taser was used against him. The woman told investigators Wheeler told her to stand up and bow to him and when she refused, he threw her on the bed, choking and trying to smother her. As she tried to fight back, Wheeler twisted her arm and she lost consciousness. When she came to, Wheeler said, "Wow, you’re alive?" She then ran into the bathroom, where she called her family and 911.
Wheeler picked the lock to the bathroom and went in and began apologizing, and then police arrived. The woman had a fractured bone and dislocated elbow in her left arm, and lesions on her neck, some of which were in the shape of fingers.
🏈TEXANS HIRE CULLEY AS HEAD COACH: The Houston Texans have hired David Culley as their new head coach, according to media reports Wednesday. The 65-year-old Culley spent the past two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens as assistant head coach. This will be his first job as head coach.
⚾METS TRADE MATZ TO BLUE JAYS: The New York Mets traded pitcher Steven Matz to the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday, getting three prospects in return, all of them pitchers. Matz struggled in the coronavirus-shortened season last year, going 0-5 with a 9.68 ERA.
🏈NFL'S JASON WITTEN RETIRING AFTER 17 SEASONS: Jason Witten is retiring after 17 seasons in the NFL, ending a career in which he played more games than any other tight end in league history, is second only to Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez in receptions and yards in the position, and is fourth on the all-time receptions list behind Jerry Rice, Larry Fitzgerald and Gonzalez. The 38-year-old played 16 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, before spending 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders. He plans to sign a one-day contract with the Cowboys and retire as a member of the team. Witten first retired after the 2017 season and spent 2018 as a Monday Night Football analyst, but returned to the Cowboys in 2019. Witten told ESPN yesterday, "As I hang it up, I walk away knowing that for 17 seasons I gave it my absolute all."
"His whole life was a home run." Presidents and everyday fans pay respects to Hank Aaron, the baseball legend who was laid to rest at Atlanta's South-View Cemetery. But not before the hearse rolled by the site of the former stadium where he hit No. 715. https://t.co/nU3h8R5cHu
⚾FUNERAL HELD FOR HANK AARON: The funeral service was held yesterday for baseball Hall of Fame legend Hank Aaron, who died last Friday at age 86, with former Presidents Bill Clinton attending and former President Jimmy Carter sending a videotaped message. Both had been friends of Aaron. Only some 50 people attended the service at Atlanta's Friendship Baptist Church because of Covid-19 restrictions. After the funeral, the hearse carrying Aaron's coffin detoured to the former site of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, where Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record in April 1974. The stadium no longer exists, but the outer retaining wall is still there, as well as a display that marks the location where the home run cleared the left-field fence. Fans have been leaving flowers, notes and baseball memorabilia since Aaron's death.
➤INAUGURATION POET GORMAN TO READ POEM AT SUPER BOWL: Amanda Gorman's time in the spotlight after reciting her poem, "The Hill We Climb," at President Biden's inauguration last week to acclaim is continuing, with news that she will read a poem before the Super Bowl. The NFL has chosen three people who have served during the pandemic as honorary captains for the game, and the 22-year-old Gorman will read her original poem about their impact that will be televised and shown inside Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. The honorary captains are educator Trimaine Davis, nurse manager Suzie Dorner and Marine veteran James Martin. They will take part in the coin toss.
NuVoodoo Media Services, a data-driven media marketing, programming and content intelligence provider, announces that it is offering a free upcoming webinar, “How to Get Your Ratings From Here to Vaccinated”.
Starting on Thursday, February 11th at 1:00pm EST, the webinar will share the latest findings of its Ratings Prospects Study XVII and important insights for marketing radio brands in 2021. With nearly 3,500 respondents, ages 14-54, across all PPM markets interviewed in January 2021, NuVoodoo’s Ratings Prospects Study XVII revealed that Smart Speaker penetration is up 67% among Persons 14-54. The findings are good news for audio brands poised to optimize the smart speaker platform in 2021. Register for the webinar at: https://nuvoodoo.com/webinar-signup/.
The NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study is conducted twice a year to learn more about those who are most likely to say “yes” to the opportunity to wear a meter or fill out a diary in order to provide NuVoodoo clients with competitive insights and advantages that they can exploit to capture higher ratings. This is the 17th Ratings Prospects Study that NuVoodoo has completed since 2011. The company shares the top-level findings of its studies with its radio broadcasting clients to develop winning next-generation marketing and programming strategies for stations of all formats in PPM markets.
Leigh Jacobs, Executive Vice President, Research Insights, NuVoodoo Media Services, said: “According to our January study, smart speakers are in the homes of 67% of 14 to 54 year-olds and the penetration rate is accelerating. Up from 60% last June and 56% in Jan 2020.”
Looking at the data, Mike O’Connor, Executive Vice President,
Marketing, NuVoodoo Media Services, remarked: “Smart speaker
penetration is even deeper among those likely to accept a Nielsen
meter. In fact, more that three-fourths of those who would accept a
meter are using a smart speaker for audio entertainment, compared to
just over half of those who’d say no to being a panelist.”
O’Connor continued: “This segment listens to a lot more radio,
too. A small fraction, about one in seven, in the PPM No Group
report are listening to radio for a half hour or more each week on
their smart speaker. Compare that segment to the PPM yes group, where
the percentage who listen for a half hour or more each is over three
times as large.”
Carolyn Gilbert, President and Chief Executive Officer, NuVoodoo Media Services, noted: “The great news here is that smart speakers are in many more homes and that continues to accelerate and provide listeners with greater access to audio information and entertainment. That presents a tremendous opportunity for radio in 2021 and beyond, as stations get smarter about optimizing their brands’ smart speaker positioning. We invite all radio professionals to learn more about the opportunities and insights uncovered by our latest Ratings Prospects Study at our Winter 2021 Webinar Series beginning Thursday, February 11th at 1:00pm Eastern.”
NuVoodoo will dive deeper into Smart Speaker penetration in “How to Get Your Ratings From Here to Vaccinated”, the first installment of its Winter 2021 Webinar Series starting on Thursday, February 11th at 1:00pm EST (with three more opportunities to participate through Monday, February 22nd). In addition to smart speakers, this first webinar episode will give you 2021’s first snapshot of likely PPM panelists and diary-keepers.
The 40-minute NuVoodoo webinar will cover the things your need to know to help put your radio station on top of the Nielsen ratings, including:
Work-from-home and workplace listening trends
Podcasts, smart speakers and streaming
National and local contests
Marketing messages that drive tune-in or boost TSL
Social and digital channels that move the needle
As usual, NuVoodoo will highlight the difference between those who’d say “yes” to Nielsen and those who would never participate in radio ratings.
A recently launched Sirius XM satellite suffered “failures” during preliminary testing in space, the company said in a securities filing Wednesday. It did not disclose the cause of the malfunction, reports CNBC.
“During in-orbit testing of SXM-7, events occurred which have caused failures of certain SXM-7 payload units. An evaluation of SXM-7 is underway. The full extent of the damage to SXM-7 is not yet known,” Sirius XM said in the filing.
Maxar Technologies built the satellite, which SpaceX then launched in December. The satellite is designed to support Sirius XM’s digital satellite radio network, with an intended coverage area across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
A Sirius XM spokesperson told CNBC the cause of the failure was not related to the SpaceX launch of the satellite. The spokesperson said Sirius XM is able to communicate with and maintain control of the satellite. Sirius XM declined to comment on whether it believed SXM-7 will be recoverable.
“SXM-7 was intended to supplement the existing fleet of SiriusXM satellites,” Sirius XM said in a statement. “Construction of our SXM-8 satellite is underway and that satellite is expected to be launched into a geostationary orbit later this year.”
Shares of Sirius XM had climbed as much as 24% earlier in the day but then gave up most of the gains, up about 7% in midday trading. Maxar’s stock fell as much as 8% from its previous close.
SpaceX launched the SXM-7 satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 4, with Sirius-XM beginning in-orbit testing of the satellite. The company said it does not expect its current satellite radio service will be impacted, with its XM-3 and XM-4 satellites operating normally and its XM-5 satellite standing by in orbit as a spare.
Sirius XM said it has $225 million in aggregate insurance for SXM-7, which covers the satellite through launch and in its first year of operation in space.
“We have notified the underwriters of these policies of a potential claim with respect to SXM-7,” Sirius XM said.
Apple Inc. finished 2020 with its most profitable quarter ever, fueled by an uptick in higher-end iPhone sales and a pandemic-induced surge in demand for its laptops and tablets, reports The Wall Street Journal.
All together, the Cupertino, Calif., company generated $111.4 billion in quarterly sales, an all-time high and the first time it has topped $100 billion in quarterly revenue.
“We could not be more optimistic,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in an interview about the company’s product lineup.
The results arrived Wednesday during the biggest week for corporate earnings this quarter as Apple, Tesla Inc. and Facebook Inc. sought to appease investor concerns over whether their rapid growth will continue.
Tesla posted its sixth-straight quarter of profits but fell in after-market trading. The company offered a full-year delivery forecast that appeared less robust than analysts had expected. Facebook reported record net income but also warned that uncertainty from regulatory probes and ad-targeting limits could create business headwinds.
Apple’s increasing might came under sharp criticism from Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, who went so far as to point to Apple as a threat to his business, saying the iPhone maker was increasingly a rival and taking steps that could benefit its digital ecosystem over rivals.
Apple shares rose 84% over the past year through Wednesday’s close on investor enthusiasm around its latest iPhone and heightened spending on its products from consumers working, going to school and seeking entertainment while stuck at home.
Profit rose 29% to $28.76 billion in the three months ended in December, its fiscal first quarter.
The holiday quarter is always a closely watched period for Apple, accounting for about 30% of its annual sales. This time around, however, it took on greater emphasis with the arrival of the iPhone 12 that some analysts and investors were betting would trigger a record boom similar to when the first large-screen iPhone was introduced in 2014.
Despite topping analysts’ sales and earnings expectations for the fifth time in its last six quarters, Facebook’s stock price took a small hit on Wednesday afternoon after the company warned in its Q4 financial report it’s facing “significant uncertainty” moving into 2021, reports The Wrap.
From a financial standpoint, Facebook’s earnings per share of $3.88 easily beat Wall Street’s expectations of $3.24 EPS; the company’s $28.07 billion in Q4 revenue also topped estimates of $26.43 billion.
Facebook added another 25 million daily active users during the holiday quarter, pushing the company to 1.845 billion DAUs overall, while its monthly users climbed from 2.74 billion to 2.97 billion. Facebook’s daily user base dropped from 196 million to 195 million in the U.S. and Canada — marking the second straight quarter the company lost domestic users.
“We had a strong end to the year as people and businesses continued to use our services during these challenging times,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. “I’m excited about our product roadmap for 2021 as we build new and meaningful ways to create economic opportunity, build community and help people just have fun.”
At the same time, CFO David Wehner’s note to investors struck a less enthusiastic tone, warning investors the company will “continue to face significant uncertainty” this year. In particular, Wehner warned changes to the iPhone’s operating system and the “evolving regulatory landscape” could negatively impact Facebook’s ad business. The comment comes as Facebook faces an antitrust lawsuit brought by the FTC over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp several years ago.
“We believe our business has benefited from two broad economic trends playing out during the pandemic,” Wehner explained. “The first is the ongoing shift towards online commerce. The second is the shift in consumer demand towards products and away from services. We believe these shifts provided a tailwind to our advertising business in the second half of 2020 given our strength in product verticals sold via online commerce and our lower exposure to service verticals like travel. Looking forward, a moderation or reversal in one or both of these trends could serve as a headwind to our advertising revenue growth.”
Another key point from Facebook’s Q4 report: The company’s board recently authorized a stock buyback up to $25 billion.
