Thursday, February 16, 2023

Poll: Half of Americans Believe Nat'l Media Mislead


A new survey found that half of Americans believe that national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public.

More than half of the Americans surveyed, 53 percent, in the Knight Foundation and Gallup poll said they held an unfavorable opinion of the media, which was down slightly from 2020 levels.



“This study suggests that many Americans are not solely skeptical of news today — they feel distrust on an emotional level, believing news organizations intend to mislead them and are indifferent to the social and political impact of their reporting,” the report says.

The poll found that just 35 percent of those surveyed said that they think most national news organizations can be relied on to deliver necessary Information, while 72 percent said they think those organizations have enough resources and opportunities to deliver the information accurately.



The Major Takeaways:

Paramount’s Earnings Fall


Paramount Global posted lower earnings for the fourth quarter as losses mounted at its streaming business and higher film costs ate into profit, reports The Wall Street Journal. 

The New York-based media company said Thursday that higher revenue from its direct-to-consumer and film segments offset declines in its core television business. Higher costs, though, weighed on profit, and results missed Wall Street expectations.

In streaming, the company ended the quarter with 56 million Paramount+ subscribers, topping analysts’ expectations of 53.9 million, according to FactSet. Direct-to-consumer revenue rose 30% to $1.40 billion, while costs climbed 25%, reflecting higher content costs and international expansion.

Streaming companies have been working to rein in costs in recent quarters, shifting focus away from the rapid growth that defined the early stages of the sector and instead giving priority to profit. 

Overall revenue rose 2% to $8.13 billion, below Wall Street estimates of $8.17 billion, according to FactSet. 

Quarterly profit tumbled to $21 million, or a penny a share, down from $2.06 billion, or $3.16 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. The year-ago period included a roughly $1.8 billion gain on the sale of the company’s CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations were 8 cents a share, missing analysts’ estimates of 24 cents a share.

Without addressing the outlook for the current year, Chief Executive Bob Bakish said that the company expects to increase earnings in 2024.

In Paramount’s core TV business, revenue fell 7% to $5.88 billion, dragged lower by drooping advertising sales and affiliate revenue. Revenue from licensing also fell 11% as the company produced fewer shows for third parties. The company trimmed costs by 9% in the segment

Wake-Up Call: At Least 1 Dead In El Paso Shooting


One person is dead and three more were wounded Wednesday in a shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, adding to the dozens of people already killed this year in mass shootings across the United States. El Paso police said hours after the gunfire that two people had been taken into custody, though details of what led the shooting remained unclear. Interim police chief Peter Pacillas said that Cielo Vista Mall was still considered a crime scene, and that it would remain locked down until authorities had completed their investigation. Pacillas stressed that the danger had passed.

➤BUFFALO GUNMAN SENTENCED TO LIFE: The man who killed 10 people in a racist massacre at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., last year was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday. The 19-year-old white gunman, Payton Gendron, pleaded guilty to 15 counts brought by Buffalo prosecutors stemming from the May 14 attack at Tops Friendly Markets in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Gendron’s charges included first-degree murder and domestic terrorism, with the latter carrying a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.  Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan sentenced him Wednesday to life in prison without parole for the domestic terrorism charge and for each of the 10 counts of first-degree murder, which will run concurrently. 


➤BALLOON BELIEVED TO HAVE DRIFTED FROM PLANNED TRAJECTORY: U.S. officials believe a Chinese balloon that was shot down after crossing the continental United States originally had a trajectory that would have taken it over Guam and Hawaii but was blown off course by prevailing winds, a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday. The balloon, which Washington accuses Beijing of using for surveillance and China says was a civilian research vessel, drifted across Alaska's Aleutian Islands, then Canada and the central United States before it was shot down by the U.S. military off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.

➤CHINA ACCUSES U-S: China’s ceremonial parliament has accused American lawmakers of trampling on the sovereignty of other nations after the U.S. passed a measure condemning a suspected Chinese spy balloon’s intrusion into U.S. airspace. The statement issued Thursday by the National People’s Congress’s Foreign Affairs Committee repeated Beijing’s insistence that the balloon was an unmanned civilian weather research airship, a claim the U.S. has dismissed citing its flight route and payload of surveillance equipment. While China at first expressed regret over the Feb. 4 incident, it has toughened its rhetoric in a further sign of how badly relations between the sides have deteriorated in recent years.

TV Ratings: The Big Game Was Just Super


Fox’s coverage of Super Bowl LVII was the second- or third-largest audience in U.S. television history, depending on who’s counting and how. Nielsen and Fox’s figures agree it drew 113.05 million viewers. NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015, which averaged 114.81 million for the New England Patriots’ 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, has the top spot, reports The L-A Times.

But because out-of-home viewing was not included in Nielsen’s viewership figures before September 2020, the 2023 game is No. 2 according to Nielsen and No. 3, behind Fox’s broadcast of the 2017 championship match-up, in the network’s calculations, which included out-of-home numbers for Super Bowl LI.

The 113.05 million figure for Sunday’s game consists of an average of 112.17 million on Fox and 882,000 for the Spanish broadcast on Fox Deportes and includes digital and out-of-home viewing and viewing on the Fox Sports and Fox Now apps and NFL+ streaming service, according to final figures released Tuesday by Nielsen.

Super Bowl viewership increased for the second consecutive year after dropping below 100 million for the second time since 2014 in 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Viewership for the Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles was 11.8% higher than the 101.085 million average for the Rams’ 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI in 2022, which aired on NBC.

NFL programming was the top-ranked prime-time program for 21 of the 22 weeks there was prime-time NFL programming during the 2022 season. The only exception was the week of Dec. 26-Jan. 1 when ESPN’s coverage of Georgia’s 42-41 victory over Ohio State in a College Football Playoff semifinal finished first.

Viewership for “Next Level Chef” was the lowest on record for an entertainment program immediately following the Super Bowl postgame shows. The second-season premiere of the cooking competition series averaged 15.657 million viewers.

President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Feb. 7 averaged the smallest audience for a presidential address to Congress on record, 27.312 million viewers on 16 networks. The previous low was 26.936 million viewers for Biden’s speech to a joint session of Congress in 2021.

As is typical for the network airing the Super Bowl, Fox overwhelmed its rivals, averaging 25.04 million viewers for its prime-time programming between Feb. 6 and Sunday, nearly three times the combined viewership of CBS, ABC and NBC.

CBS averaged 3.96 million viewers and ABC and NBC both 2.94 million. Fox’s most popular program outside of Sunday was “9-1-1: Lone Star,” 25th for the week averaging 3.802 million viewers.

CBS had each of the week’s top 10 prime-time programs airing Feb. 6 thru Saturday, led by “Young Sheldon,” which averaged 7.725 million viewers. Only one other prime-time program between Feb. 6 and Saturday topped 7 million viewers, the CBS action drama “NCIS,” which averaged 7.15 million viewers.

The top 20 prime-time programs consisted of Fox’s coverage of Super Bowl LVII, its two postgame shows and “Next Level Chef”; 10 CBS scripted programs; the CBS special “Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Battle of the Decades”; NBC’s “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars”; and four State of the Union-related programs, three on Fox News Channel and one on ABC.

Edison Insights: Listening Makes for Better Watching


By Gabriel Soto
Senior Director of Research, Edison Research

Earlier this week, viewers across the globe witnessed Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs triumph over Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles in a hard-fought historic Super Bowl. This year’s championship was the first time two black quarterbacks faced off in the big event and the first time two brothers on opposing teams, Jason and Travis Kelce, battled for familial and football supremacy in a Super Bowl. Historically, TV, radio, and online publications have brought us these colorful storylines -- making games more interesting to watch. But a younger medium has allowed fans to stay closer to their favorite sports and teams than ever before: podcasts.

The inexpensive entry point for podcasting means anyone can create their own. Even the aforementioned Kelce brothers started a podcast at the beginning of the 2022 NFL season, allowing us to come along on an incredible ride that would eventually lead to both of them meeting on the big stage. Sports podcasts like theirs, and the ability to listen whenever and wherever, bring millions of fans endless analysis and perspectives. But, just like in sports, there can only be one winner that draws in the largest audience.

In an Edison Research first, we tap into Edison Podcast Metrics to identify the most popular sports shows. Edison Podcast Metrics is the only dataset that covers the entire podcasting space, not just networks who opt-in to any particular download counting service. So based on our surveys of over 10,500 U.S. weekly podcast consumers conducted from July to December of 2022, we can measure the top podcasts in the beloved sports genre.




Standing in third place is The Pat McAfee Show 2.0, while second place goes to Barstool Sport’s Pardon My Take. At the top of the podium is The Ringer’s Bill Simmons Podcast --having earned the highest number of U.S. podcast listeners in the third and fourth quarters of 2022.

NEPA Radio: A-E-B GM Elizabeth Pembleton Adds Regional VP Duties


Cumulus Media has announced the promotion of  Elizabeth Pembleton to Regional Vice President/Market Manager for Allentown, PA, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA. Pembleton has served as Vice President/Market Manager for Cumulus Allentown since 2014 and adds leadership responsibilities for Cumulus Media’s four radio station brands in Wilkes-Barres/Scranton to her purview, effective March 1, 2023.

Pembleton brings almost three decades of experience to her new role with Cumulus Media. She was named Director of Sales for Cumulus Allentown in 2011, and prior to that, was General Sales Manager for Citadel Broadcasting in Allentown, PA. She was also Senior Account Executive for Clear Channel Radio/iHeart Media in Allentown for 10 years. Pembleton holds a B.S. degree in Journalism/Media Studies from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters.

Audacy Partners with Special Olympics For “Agents of Inclusion” Podcast


Audacy has partnered with Special Olympics and JRSportBrief Productions to launch “Agents of Inclusion:” A Special Olympics podcast, an Audacy Original. Hosted by CBS Sports Radio host JR Jackson, this weekly show will highlight Special Olympics athletes’ stories and accomplishments to encourage listeners towards inclusion and action. “Agents of Inclusion” will launch February 15 and will be available on the Audacy app and wherever you get your podcasts.

Aimed to raise awareness and share stories of inspiration, the partnership will also extend to grassroots action. Audacy will connect with Special Olympics Programs across the country to support, volunteer, and get involved with programmed events.

“We’re delighted to partner with Special Olympics and JRSportBrief on content and action that will demonstrate our commitment to genuine inclusion, and will introduce listeners to Special Olympics athletes on a personal level they haven’t heard before,” said Lena Moss Glaser, Vice President and Executive Producer, Audacy’s 2400Sports. “We’re looking forward to leveraging our reach to raise awareness for the essential work Special Olympics does throughout the year.”

Chris Cuomo Claims He Considered Killing After Fired By CNN


Chris Cuomo said he was so distraught after being “s–t-canned” by CNN that he was “going to kill everybody and myself.”

The NY Post reports the former “Cuomo Prime Time” host was fired by the struggling cable news outfit in late 2021 after it was learned he was helping his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fight sexual harassment allegations made by ex-aides.

“I had to accept [my firing] because I was going to kill everybody, including myself,” the 52-year-old news personality told ex-Trump administration official Anthony Scramucci during The Mooch’s podcast, “Open Book,” which aired Wednesday.

Gemini XIII Launches The TJ Show In Syndication


Gemini XIII, announces the launch of its Personality Network with the debut of The TJ Show, starring major-market morning radio and podcasting personality, TJ Taormina. Gemini will produce and market this new nationally syndicated four-hour daily show hosted by TJ, a proven top market talent, recently at Boston’s 103.3 Amp Radio and one of the former co-hosts of Elvis Duran and the Z100 Morning Show.

The TJ Show – which began airing this week – ushers in a new generation of fresh, high-quality entertainment powered by an omnichannel user experience, personal brand endorsements, and an expansive content library that stations can integrate and monetize on their websites, apps, and social platforms. The show will be available in multiple formats including Hot AC, CHR, AC and Classic Hits, as well as, in all daytime dayparts.

Buffalo Radio: WGR’s Howard Simon Announces Retirement

Howard Simon
Longtime on-air personality and sports talk show host Howard Simon of a WGR 550 AM announced he's retiring on March 3, after more than 33 years in radio. Simon shared the news on Tuesday in an online letter, looking back on his career and thanking those who’ve been a part of his success as co-workers, friends, and more.

Simon got his start in the sports radio business in 1989 with WJJL Radio in Niagara Falls, NY. While not a native Western New Yorker, Simon adopted the region as his own and remained a mainstay on the official voice of the Buffalo Bills for over three decades.

His voice has long been a welcoming constant for Buffalo-centric sports talk radio for early morning weekday commutes and beyond.

R.I.P.: Edward Bear, Former SoCal Radio Personality

Edward Bear (1938-2023)
Radio personality Edward Bear passed away February 10, 2023,  Bear, whose given name was Stephen Hirsch, was born on May 30, 1938, in Manhattan and was raised in Brooklyn.

According to Neil Resnick at the Santa Barbara Reigster, Bear found himself in San Francisco at a critical and transformative time in the 1960s. His prior experience and passion for radio evolved into a position as the mid-day deejay at KMPX. Through some twists and turns, Bear became the all-night deejay at KSAN, the forerunner to what was later called progressive rock radio and on May 21, 1968, he began broadcasting a “Freeform” radio on May 21, 1968, the same open and free format that he and the other deejays had been doing at KMPX.

In 1973 a former assistant of his at KSAN, Laurie Cobb, became music director of a new freeform radio station, KTYD-FM, that was about to go on the air in Santa Barbara. Cobb invited Bear to be on the air for the debut of KYTD which, unknowingly at the time, evolved into a major turning point in Bear’s life. That first week turned into additional invitations to be a guest deejay for another week at Christmas, and again for a week that included Valentine’s Day.

What followed was a full-time offer to remain at KTYD to do the shift of his choice. Bear moved to Santa Barbara in March 1974 and chose the afternoon drive shift, 2 to 6 p.m. Soon thereafter, Bear became one of the most recognizable voices in the Santa Barbara tri-counties area. His mellifluous voice was heard over the airwaves on KTYD from 1973 to 1978, and on KDB from 1980 to 2002.

In early 1979, Bear was offered the position of programming, writing, and announcing an internationally syndicated three-hour weekly program called Jazz Album Concert. It was recorded in Los Angeles and was distributed to 143 radio stations nationwide and on 23 national broadcasting systems worldwide, as well as on Armed Forces Radio.

R.I.P.: Raquel Welch, Actress, Iconic Sex Symbol

Raquel Welch (1940-2023)

Raquel Welch, the voluptuous movie actress who became the 1960s’ first major American sex symbol and maintained that image for a half-century in show business, died on Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 82, reports The NYTimes.

Ms. Welch’s Hollywood success began as much with a poster as with the film it publicized. Starring in “One Million Years B.C.” (1966) as a Pleistocene-era cave woman, she posed in a rocky prehistoric landscape, wearing a tattered doeskin bikini, and grabbed the spotlight by the throat with her defiant, alert-to-everything, take-no-prisoners stance and her dancer’s body. She was 26. It had been four years since Marilyn Monroe’s death, and the industry needed a goddess.

Camille Paglia, the feminist critic, described the poster photograph as “the indelible image of a woman as queen of nature.” Ms. Welch, she went on, was “a lioness — fierce, passionate and dangerously physical.”

When Playboy in 1998 named the 100 sexiest female stars of the 20th century, Ms. Welch came in third — right after Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Brigitte Bardot was fourth.

Despite a career based largely on sex appeal, Ms. Welch repeatedly refused to appear nude onscreen. “Personally, I always hated feeling so exposed and vulnerable” in love scenes, she wrote in her memoir, noting that even when she appeared in a prestigious Merchant Ivory film (“The Wild Party,” 1975), the filmmakers, those acclaimed arbiters of art-house taste, pressured her to do a nude bedroom scene, to no avail.

Jo-Raquel Tejada was born in Chicago on Sept. 5, 1940, the oldest of three children of Armando Carlos Tejada, a Bolivian-born aeronautical engineer, and Josephine Sarah (Hall) Tejada, an American of English descent. They had met as students at the University of Illinois.

February 16 Radio History


➦In 1901...American musician, songwriter, singer and orchestra leader Wayne King was born in Savanna, IL.

In early radio of the 1920`s his band was featured in half-hour`remote` broadcasts from Chicago`s Aragon Ballroom.  In the 1930`s he was heard on the networks in weekly half-hour broadcasts for Lady Esther cosmetics, a line he is credited with popularizing.  In the mid-40`s he was a summer replacement for the Jack Benny and Jimmy Durante programs.  The saxophonist and bandleader died July 16, 1985 at age 84.

Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen

➦In 1903...American actor, comedian and radio performer, Edgar Bergen was born (died September 30, 1978 at age 75).    With his little wooden ‘sidekicks’ Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, he delighted audiences for decades.  He had a featured Sunday evening show first on NBC and then on CBS Radio from 1937 to 1955.  He died in his sleep following a performance in Las Vegas Oct 1 1978 at age 75. He was also the father of actress Candice Bergen.

➦In 1922...WDAF (now Sports KCSP)  was started by the Kansas City Star. The official starting date is open to dispute, because the Star's broadcasting activities pre-dated WDAF.

On February 16, 1922, the Star used WOQ, the station of the Western Radio Company, to broadcast what the newspaper described as a "wireless telephone concert". The Star had just constructed radio studios at its building at 18th and Grand. In that evening's newspaper, the program appeared on the front page:

Courtesy of route56.com

The Star adopted the WDAF call letters May 16, 1922. WDAF bounced around various frequencies, traveling to 750, 730, 680, 820 and 810 kHz. WDAF moved to 610 kHz in 1928, splitting time with station WOQ. WDAF joined the NBC radio network before moving to 610 kHz, running both Red & Blue programs up until 1930, when they became a primary NBC Red affiliate.

It also had become the westernmost affiliate of the NBC Red Network. WDAF retained its NBC affiliation well into the 1960s.

WDAF changed its call letters KCSP on September 23, 2003, after moving the longtime country music format to the FM. Entercom still maintains the WDAF-FM call letters at 106.5. Today KCSP airs Sports Talk.

➦In 1929...KGIO changed call letters to KID-AM in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The station was first licensed under the call letters KGIO, and began broadcasting on December 3, 1928 on a frequency of 1320 kHz.  On February 16, 1929, the call was changed to KID, and the station began broadcasting under this call.  The station had moved to 1350 kHz by 1942 (likely in the March 29, 1941 changes, pursuant to the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, that saw many stations raise frequency by 10 to 30 kHz), where it stayed for several years.  In 1950, the station changed from 1350 to its current 590 kHz frequency.

Today the station is owned by Townsquare Media and airs a News/Talk format at 590 AM.

Sonny & Cher
➦In 1935...Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono born (died in a skiing accident January 5, 1998 at age 62).  A talented songwriter and astute businessman, the multi-talented Sonny was, was, if not a great singer, then definitely an entertainer … I Got You Babe, Baby Don’t Go, The Beat Goes On. On TV, he co-starred in The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.  After show biz he became mayor of Palm Springs, CA, then a U.S. Congressman.

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Biden FCC Nominee Opposed By Republicans

FCC Nominee Gig Sohn

Republicans on Tuesday pushed back against President Biden’s nominee for an open seat on the FCC, Gigi Sohn, at her third nomination hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, reports The Hill. 

Sohn has appeared at two prior hearings to fill the long-vacant fifth seat on the FCC, which oversees interstate and international communications and has been deadlocked with just two Democrats and two Republicans as Democrats try to get her confirmed. 

A lawyer who served as a top aide to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Sohn has come under fire from senators on the right over her qualifications and alleged conflicts of interest, including comments she made about conservative social media. 


“Ms. Sohn portrays herself as a defender of free speech but has a history of campaigning to censor conservatives. She calls Fox News ‘dangerous to our democracy’ and has urged the FCC to revoke Sinclair’s broadcast licenses,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said. 

“To Ms. Sohn it seems that conservative speech is worse than obscenity,” the senator added.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) latched on to arguments that Sohn leans too far to the left, arguing that a post she’d retweeted characterizing Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as an “angry white man” would be unacceptable with “the races reversed.”

Republicans also criticized Sohn’s ties to Locast, a now-ceased nonprofit streaming service that settled a suit alleging the service infringed on television networks’ copyrights. Sohn has promised to recuse herself from some issues if confirmed.

Democrats, on the other hand, lauded Sohn’s qualifications, highlighting her decades of experience in the telecommunications space. They also stressed the urgent need to fill the open FCC seat to break the party-line deadlock and take action on matters such as the FCC’s broadband maps.