Nielsen Says Slow Economy Required RIFs

Amid the massive changes that are expected to come in media measurement, and a slowing economy, MediaPost reports Nielsen has confirmed an undisclosed level of global layoffs.

A Nielsen spokesperson, in an email to Television News Daily, said “the total headcount after this reorganization will be roughly in line with where it was a year ago.” According to one report by Axios, from a copy of a company memo, Nielsen cited economic conditions as the reason for the move

The news of layoffs comes after more than a year in which TV networks aligned with major media agency groups have been testing new alternative measurement efforts when it comes to calculating viewing/usage of TV and/or cross media platforms.

In October 2022, Nielsen Holdings closed sale, an all-cash transaction of $16 billion, including the assumption of debt, to a private equity consortium led by Evergreen Coast Capital/Brookfield Business Partners.

Three senior Audio division executives are among scores of layoffs at Nielsen:

NYC Radio: Michael Kaye Walks Back Producer Threat At ESPN 98.7 FM

Michael Kay has characterized his outburst threatening an ESPN New York producer with his job as performance art, according to The NY Post.

Last week, Ray Santiago, a producer for the morning show “DiPietro and Rothenberg,” made a remark about how Kay’s afternoon drive program is on the decline. After Kay scored major ratings victories over several WFAN shows in the time slot including a landmark win over Mike Francesa, WFAN’s “Carton & Roberts” has taken the driver’s seat. Kay reacted to Santiago’s audio bite by saying that one phone call could put him on the “unemployment line.”

On Tuesday, Kay denied that this segment represented the reality of the situation.

TV Ratings: Golden Globe Awards Slump 10 Percent

After a one-year hiatus, the ceremony televised Tuesday on NBC averaged 6.25 million viewers, according to The L-A Times citing Nielsen data. The figure is down 10% from 2021, when 6.9 million viewers watched the event presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. The show drew nearly 19 million viewers as recently as 2019.

NBC did not air the Golden Globes last year after a February 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation raised concerns about the HFPA’s ethics and financial practices and revealed that not one of its then-87 members was Black.

The show’s organizers now have the opportunity to shop the franchise to other outlets, and NBC must decide whether the show provides value to its broadcast network or streaming service, Peacock.

TV Ratings: House Speaker Election Boosts CNN, MSNBC

The drama over the election of a new House speaker sparked a 30% rise in CNN’s prime-time viewership and a 7.1% increase for MSNBC, while Fox News Channel experienced a 10.1% decrease.

CNN averaged 898,000 viewers for its prime-time programming between Jan. 2-8, fifth among cable networks, according to live-plus-same-day figures released by Nielsen on Tuesday. It averaged 691,000 the week of Jan. 3-9, 2022, 11th for the week.

The LA Times reports Prince Harry’s first American television interview in connection with the release of his memoir “Spare” gave “60 Minutes” its largest audience of the season, 11.215 million viewers, eighth for the week behind three NFL games, three NFL pregame shows, and the ABC-ESPN simulcast of the edition of “SportsCenter” that followed “Monday Night Football,” and most among non-NFL prime-time programs.

The week’s most-watched prime-time program was the ABC-ESPN-ESPN2 simulcast of the Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals “Monday Night Football” game Jan. 2 which averaged a combined 23.794 million viewers. Play was suspended after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field after making a tackle with five minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The top 20 most-watched prime-time programs consisted of three NFL games; five NFL pregame shows; two NFL postgame shows; “60 Minutes”; six CBS entertainment series episodes; and the three elements of NBC’s “Chicago” franchise, “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago Med” and “Chicago P.D.”

With “Sunday Night Football” drawing its largest audience since its season opener, NBC was the top ranked network for the 13th time in the 16-week-old 2022-23 television season, averaging 6.14 million viewers.

Two NFL games enabled ABC to average a season-high 5.23 million viewers, with its first second-place finish since the season’s first week. ABC has finished third among the broadcast networks seven times and fourth seven times.

CBS was third, averaging 4.77 million viewers. Its only prime-time NFL programming was a 34-minute runover of its afternoon coverage into prime time, which averaged 14.5 million viewers.

On “Sunday Night Football” the Detroit Lions’ 20-16 victory over the Green Bay Packers — which eliminated the Packers from the playoffs — averaged 22.251 million viewers, second for the week. The total audience, which includes streaming viewership on Peacock, NBC Sports and NFL digital platforms, was 23.6 million viewers, the biggest audience for a “Sunday Night Football” last game of the season in six years, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics figures.

NBC’s top rated non-NFL program was “Chicago Fire,” 13th for the week averaging 7.058 million viewers, fourth among non-NFL programs and third among entertainment programs. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars,” which averaged 5.272 million viewers, 24th for the week, 14th among non-NFL programs and 13th among entertainment programs, led the week’s four premieres.

ABC’s top non-NFL program was “The Rookie,” 27th for the week averaging 4.691 million viewers, 17th among non-NFL programs and 16th among entertainment programs. ABC’s lone premiere, the crime drama “Will Trent,” was 39th for the week, averaging 3.61 million viewers, 28th among non-NFL programs, 27th among entertainment programs, second in its 10 p.m. time slot Jan. 3 and fifth among entertainment programs beginning at 10 p.m.

The CBS crime drama “FBI” led entertainment programs for the fourth time in the season, averaging 7.591 million viewers, 11th for the week and second among non-NFL programs. CBS’ “Young Sheldon” was the most popular comedy for 11th time, averaging 7.428 million viewers, 12th for the week, third among non-NFL programs and second among entertainment programs. Each of the show’s nine first-run episodes have been their week’s top comedy.

Two NFL games put ESPN at the top of the cable network race for the fourth consecutive week and ninth time in 11 weeks, averaging 2.592 million viewers.

D/FW Radio: Cumulus Stations Raise Nearly $2.3M

 Cumulus Media announces that its Dallas, TX, radio station group raised a total of $2,288,467 for DFW Metroplex charities during 2022. 

The amount raised by Cumulus Dallas and its listeners overtook last year’s fundraising record of $1,767,990 by almost 30%. Cumulus Dallas supported signature community events with other groups to help raise additional millions in charitable donations. Cumulus Media owns and operates six popular radio stations serving DFW, including: 99.5 The Wolf/KPLX-FM; WBAP-AM NewsTalk 820; Sportsradio 96.7FM/1310 AM The Ticket/KTCK-FM; Hot 93.3/KLIF-FM; New Country 96.3/KSCS-FM; KLIF 570 AM.

Dan Bennett, Regional Vice President, Cumulus Media-Dallas/Houston, said: “Serving our Dallas- Fort Worth community with help for charities that really need it has always been our goal. Our staff and listeners combined efforts this past year for a historic amount of money raised of almost $2.3 million. Our staff and listeners deserve all the credit.”

Among the many local non-profit organizations that benefited from successful Cumulus Dallas radio station promotions, radiothons, events, and fund drives in 2022 are:

• Cook Children’s Medical Center/Children’s Miracle Network
• 
  Austin Street Center
• Denton State Supported Living Center
• Special Olympics Texas
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Arts Academy of Dallas
• Charles E. Nash Elementary School of Fort Worth
• Cornerstone Clothes Closet
• The Senior Source
• At Last! Urban Boarding
• Hope Supply Co.

Key community events in 2022 for Cumulus Dallas included:

Wake-Up Call: What Did Biden Know, When Did He Know It?

Aides to President Biden have discovered a second trove of classified documents in a different location from the last set, a person familiar told NBC News. The classification level, number and exact location of the documents is still unclear. On Monday it was reported that attorneys for the president had in November discovered documents at his office in the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., which he used after his time as vice president. Since the White House said Monday that Biden's attorneys had found 10 documents with classified markings at an old office at a Washington, D.C. think tank, the president has been peppered with questions about the discovery.

• White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn't tell reporters Wednesday when President Joe Biden was informed of the discovery of classified documents.
• A Florida congressman questioned 'who knew' about the documents between their discovery and the Nov. 8 elections and why they were not disclosed during that six-day window.
• KJParine Jean-Pierre insisted Wednesday that President Joe Biden was not coming after Americans' gas stoves.
• Hunter Biden could soon face charges for making false deductions on his tax returns, it was reported on Wednesday, as it emerged that a Chinese business associate of Hunter's asked him for advice on the FBI, because a colleague was being investigated.

Sources tell @ABC News that lawyers for Pres. Biden have found a second batch of classified documents from his time as vice president at a different location than the first. https://t.co/0pSBmTfIqn

— ABC News (@ABC) January 12, 2023

➤PUTIN TRIES NEW COMMANDER: Moscow named a new commander for its invasion of Ukraine while Russian private military firm Wagner Group said its capture of the salt mining town Soledar in eastern Ukraine was complete, though the Ukrainian military said the battle was not over. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday appointed Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov as overall commander for what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, now in its 11th month. The change effectively demoted General Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed only in October to lead the invasion and oversaw heavy attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Wagner and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said his forces had captured all of Soledar and killed about 500 Ukrainian soldiers after heavy fighting.

Byron Donalds' wife decries 'racist attacks' from the left: 'Cry harder, haters’ https://t.co/QtlA7xcCVk

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 12, 2023

➤MOM TELLS HUBBY 'I THINK I'M DYING' WAITING IN E-R: A Canadian mom of three died in agony at a Nova Scotia hospital after waiting for medical help in the emergency room for nearly seven hours on New Year’s Eve — and now her widowed husband is demanding answers. Gunther Holthoff told reporters earlier this week that his 37-year-old wife, Allison, woke up on Dec. 31 complaining of what she thought was an upset stomach. He said Allison had fallen off a horse back in September and had been suffering from pain ever since, according to reporting by CTV News.

Throughout the day, her condition deteriorated, and after taking a bath, the woman ended up writhing in pain on the floor. Holthoff drove Allison to the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Amherst, arriving there shortly after 11 a.m. and carrying her into the building on his back because she was unable to walk. The husband then got a wheelchair and wheeled his wife into the emergency room. He said she was struggling to sit up because of the excruciating pain. “I did tell the triage nurse and the lady behind the desk that it was getting worse,” he said. “She wasn’t doing good and was in pain.”

Experts say the study's findings underscore that, despite decades of effort, hospitals in the U.S. still have a long way to go to improve patient safety. https://t.co/jN49jbsLmT

— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 12, 2023

➤HARRY SELLS-OUT FAMILY FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER: Penguin Random House announced Wednesday that first day sales for the Harry’s tell-all memoir topped 1.4 million copies, a record pace for non-fiction from a company that also publishes Barack and Michelle Obama, whose “Becoming” needed a week to reach 1.4 million when it was released in 2018.

The sales figures for “Spare” include hardcover, audiobook and e-book editions sold in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. ″‘Spare’ is the story of someone we may have thought we already knew, but now we can truly come to understand Prince Harry through his own words,” Gina Centrello, President and Publisher of the Random House Group, said in a statement. “Looking at these extraordinary first day sales, readers clearly agree, ‘Spare’ is a book that demands to be read, and it is a book we are proud to publish.”

CNN Announces New Approach and Format to Dayside Programming

CNN announced a new Dayside programming lineup Wednesday, taking a fresh approach with two unique programs designed to embrace the events of the day and deliver an engaging experience for audiences. Inspired by the spirit and success of CNN’s special event coverage, these programs will feature CNN’s global reporting resources, bringing stories to viewers in real time, while leveraging innovative use of technology to offer context.

“CNN’s Dayside audience is highly influential, with executives and leaders watching from their offices around the country as the day’s news unfolds,” said CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Chris Licht. “We are leaning into our greatest strengths, showcasing our unparalleled newsgathering operation and giving our anchors the room to be more authentic. We’ve seen how our audience responds to this format, and we believe it will put us in a position of strength going into the evening and primetime hours.”

This energetic presentation and new approach to covering news events and developing stories will be produced from the heart of CNN’s operations in Atlanta, with anchor teams in New York and Washington.

The weekday 9am-12pm ET block will be a standalone program out of CNN’s New York studios anchored by John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. Berman, Bolduan and Sidner will combine their anchor duties and skill to add value to the news each day.

The weekday 1pm-4pm ET block will be a standalone program out of CNN’s Washington studios anchored by Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez and Jim Sciutto. Keilar, Sanchez and Sciutto will bring a powerhouse dynamic to covering the day’s news.

Inside Politics with John King remains at the 12pm-1pm ET hour out of Washington. Victor Blackwell will now anchor the 10am hour on Saturdays and co-anchor CNN This Morning Weekend with Amara Walker out of Atlanta. Alisyn Camerota, who has been filling in on CNN Tonight, will now focus solely on the 10pm show, and Laura Coates will focus solely on the 11pm show. Jim Acosta will also be expanding his role on the weekends, now anchoring 4pm-8pm on Saturday and 4pm-7pm on Sundays for CNN Newsroom weekend.

CNN’s line-up changes will go into effect in the coming months. More details will be shared in the weeks ahead.

Disney Board Room, Not So Happy Place

Walt Disney Co. began girding itself against a challenge from activist investor Nelson Peltz, who nominated himself to the board in what could become a highly public debate over Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger’s leadership.

Bloomberg reports Mark Parker, the executive chair of Nike Inc., will take over as chairman from Susan Arnold, who is stepping down at the company’s next annual meeting, Disney said Wednesday. Parker will also lead a new succession planning committee to advise Iger, who has been criticized for failing to groom a replacement.

Disney said it rejected a proposal from Peltz’s Trian Partners LP to name its leader to the board, but “remains open to constructive engagement and ideas that help drive shareholder value.”

The moves pit one of the most notorious activist investors in corporate America against one of the most revered CEOs in media. Peltz is known for working his way onto the board of companies such as Mondelez International and Procter & Gamble Co. with plans to make them more efficient, sometimes forcing his way in through bruising proxy battles. 

R.I.P: Jeff Beck, Iconic Rock Guitarist

Jeff Beck, one of the most skilled, admired and influential guitarists in rock history, died on Tuesday at a hospital near his home at Riverhall, a rural estate in southern England. He was 78, reports the NY Times.

The cause was bacterial meningitis, Melissa Dragich, his publicist, said.

During the 1960s and ’70s, as either a member of the Yardbirds or as leader of his own bands, Beck brought a sense of adventure to his playing that helped make the recordings by those groups groundbreaking.

In 1965, when he joined the Yardbirds, to replace another guitar hero, Eric Clapton, the group was already one of the defining acts in Britain’s growing electric blues movement. But his stinging licks and darting leads on songs like “Shapes of Things” and “Over Under Sideways Down” added an expansive element to the music that helped signal the emerging psychedelic rock revolution.

Three years later, when he formed his own band, later known as the Jeff Beck Group — along with a then little-known singer, Rod Stewart, and the equally obscure Ron Wood on bass — the weight of the music created an early template for heavy metal. Specifically, the band’s 1968 debut, “Truth,” provided a blueprint that another former guitar colleague from the Yardbirds, Jimmy Page, drew on to devise Led Zeppelin several months later.

Edison Updates List Of Most Popular Podcast Genres

Comedy continues to be the podcast genre listened to by the most people in the U.S. 

The Edison Research Top Podcast Genres for Q3 2022 ranker based on audience size among those age 18 and older from Edison Podcast Metrics, and Comedy maintains its reign as #1. The Society & Culture genre moved up one rank to the #2 spot from Q2, pushing News to #3. History moves into the Top 10 at #8, while Religion & Spirituality and Education swap places from Q2 2022.

This ranker measures reach as a percentage of the weekly podcasting audience. The Q3 survey measures actual listening, not downloads, from a sample of 11,675 weekly podcast listeners. Edison Podcast Metrics is the only podcast measurement service that measures the relative audience size and demographics of all podcasts and podcast networks in the U.S.

Cumulus Media Launches Rich Valdes 'America At Night'

CUMULUS MEDIA Wednesday introduced listeners to programming from conservative commentator Rich Valdés in an all-new radio program and two different podcasts. Valdés assumed the radio time period from broadcasting legend Jim Bohannon last year and now launches his own distinct programming.

Westwood One introduces the syndicated radio program “Rich Valdés America at Night,” an all-new live show airing each weeknight from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET. Valdés brings late-night radio alive with a blend of news, entertainment, pop culture, and commentary. Valdés also talks with politicians, influencers, entertainers, and ordinary Americans from all walks of life. With an “Open Phone America” segment, the program creates a town hall format where listeners contribute their thoughts and ideas about celebrating America’s success and helping plot the right path forward. “The Best of Rich Valdés America at Night”, a compilation of the week’s finest moments, airs each Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET.

The Cumulus Podcast Network introduces the new podcast Rich Valdés America at Night, which provides on-demand access to Valdés daily content following the live over-the-air show. Rich Valdés America at Night can be found here.

Valdés’ current podcast, This is America with Rich Valdés, moves to the Cumulus Podcast Network and will publish each Friday. In this podcast, Valdés breaks down American politics, taking his listeners on a journey through poverty, prosperity, and politics with humor, analysis, and a dash of sofrito. This is America with Rich Valdés can be found here.

Poll: America's Most, Least Trusted Professions

by Katharina Buchholz, Statista

Some occupations have a better reputation for honesty than others. Gallup examines the issue in a reoccurring poll showing that nurses are the most trusted professionals in the United States, followed by doctors and pharmacists. They have actually topped the ranking for two decades and were regarded as highly honest and ethical by 79 percent of respondents in 2022, down from a coronavirus high of 89 percent in 2020.

Other than the healthcare sector, trusted professionals in the eyes of Americans also come from the fields of teaching, the judiciary and law enforcement, despite long-standing criticism of police behavior that came to a boil in the country in 2020. Other professions that more people see positively than negatively are accountant, banker and real estate agent.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Public opinion flips for labor union leaders, lawyers, journalists and business executives, with skepticism towards these occupations prevailing. Journalists were among the professions dropping the most in the ranking since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. At the very bottom of the list, members of Congress rub shoulders with those from professions traditionally considered untrustworthy, like car salespeople and telemarketers. 62 percent of respondents said Congresspeople had low standards of honesty and ethics.

Blue Wire Hires Jeremiah Crowe as Director of Operations

Blue Wire is pleased to announce the addition of Jeremiah Crowe as Director of Operations. Crowe brings 20+ years of media experience to Blue Wire, spanning ESPN Radio, Audacy, Cumulus and his own company Green Roll Media.

In his new role at Blue Wire, Crowe will play an integral role in the company’s in-person studio partnership with Wynn Resorts. Crowe will manage production, sales, promotions, events & marketing related to the Blue Wire Studios.

Jeremiah Crowe

Crowe, who will be based in Las Vegas, is reuniting with Blue Wire CEO Kevin Jones. The two were former radio colleagues at KNBR in San Francisco in 2016 and 2017. Jones launched Blue Wire in August of 2018.

“Jeremiah is a problem solver, a connector and an experienced executive playing a big role growing Blue Wire,” said Jones. “Throughout his career he’s worked well with talent and can be a major contributor on the business side for us. We’re thrilled to add Jeremiah to our team,” says Jones.

"I'm thrilled to join the innovative team at Blue Wire and push the limits of storytelling across all digital platforms. Their commitment to empowering young diverse talent & channeling truly unique perspectives is the future of media. I look forward to leading Blue Wire's state-of-the-art Wynn studio and elevating a variety of content across their expansive portfolio of podcasts,” said Crowe when asked his new position.

January 12 Radio History

➦In 1925...WGBI-AM  (now WBZU) Scranton, PA signed on the frequency of 1250 kHz owned by Edward Megargee.

In 1927, the station moved to 1300 kHz which it time shared with Scranton's other radio station, WQAN (now WEJL at 630 AM). The two stations which were time sharing a single frequency, moved to 880 kHz in 1931,  and then again to 910 kHz by 1941 (the later move, forced by a nationwide frequency reassignment which took place in 1941). WGBI remained at 910 kHz (at 1,000 watts) when WQAN moved on to its own broadcast tower and new frequency of 630 kHz in 1948. This meant that WGBI had full-time use of the 910 kHz frequency where it remains to this day, as WBZU. WGBI was a CBS Radio network affiliated station by the 1940s.

The Megargee family's company, Scranton Broadcasters, spawned an FM station (now WGGY) and northeast Pennsylvania's second television station (now WYOU). The Megargees held on to the radio stations well into the 1990s. By the turn of the century, WGBI had been sold to Entercom and become a repeater of WILK-AM, existing mainly to improve its signal in Scranton. While WILK's daytime signal easily covers most of Scranton, the northern portion of the city only gets a grade B signal. At night, WILK-AM must power down to 1,000 watts, leaving most of Scranton with only a grade B signal.

WBZU in 2007 moved its transmitter to the tower location atop the Times Building at 149 Penn Avenue in downtown Scranton also being used by WEJL's transmitter. The full-time switch over to the new transmitter facility and tower location happened on August 2, 2007.  This tower sharing arrangement repeats an arrangement the stations shared over 60 years ago in their early history. The efficiency of the new transmitter tower location also caused WBZU to slightly reduce its power to 900 watts to keep within FCC rules on signal strength and coverage.

➦In 1926...“Sam ‘n’ Henry” debuted on Chicago’s WGN radio. When they moved crosstown to WMAQ two years later the show was renamed “Amos ‘n’ Andy” and the voices of its creators, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll played to huge depression-era audiences via NBC radio.

Although the players were white, the characters were portrayed as black. The popular radio show would attract over forty million fans at its peak during the depression. In 1943 the daily show became a weekly half-hour with an audience and supporting black actors; and in 1954 Gosden and Correll turned into Monday-through-Friday disc jockeys on the “Amos ‘n’ Andy Music Hall” with skits between records until their final sign off in 1960.

➦In 1932...columnist & future TV host Ed Sullivan joined CBS radio in a program of gossip and interviews.

➦In 1951...Rush Hudson Limbaugh IIII was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri (Died February 17, 2021 from lung cancer). Limbugh was the most popular and most-listened-to conservative radio host in the United States.