CC-NYC, Alicia Keys To Light-Up Empire State Building

Tonight, the world-famous Empire State Building (ESB), in collaboration with Clear Channel Media and Entertainment and 14 time Grammy Award winner, Alicia Keys, will give a gift to New York City and the world by revealing ESB's new, one-of-a-kind LED tower lights with a first-ever light show on the Landmark. This show marks the official unveiling of a groundbreaking new LED lighting system, developed by the world's leader in LED lighting Philips Color Kinetics (PCK).

At 9:00 p.m. ET Monday, Alicia Keys will help kick off the light show by flipping the switch live in Clear Channel New York City studios

On hand will be Elvis Duran, Z100; DJ Clue, Power105; Helen Little, 106.7 Lite fm; and Cubby, 103.5 KTU.  The switch moment will be synchronized on-air to two of Keys' tracks--her single from her new album "Girl on Fire," followed by her smash hit "Empire State of Mind."

New Yorkers and those in the surrounding area with a view of ESB can tune into one of four Clear Channel radio stations--Z100, 103.5 KTU, Power105, and 106.7 Lite fm--as the stations simultaneously play accompanying music to the light show. The light show will be hosted for on-demand viewing at iHeartRadio.com, home to Clear Channel's digital radio service, by 10 a.m., on Tuesday, November 27.

The state-of-the-art dynamic lighting system from PCK is unique to ESB and allows customized light capabilities from a palette of over 16 million colors in limitless combinations along with effects previously not possible such as ripples, cross-fades, sparkles, chasers, sweeps, strobes and bursts. In addition to greater control and management of the lighting, the new computerized system will deliver superior light and vibrancy levels in real-time, unlike the previous floodlights.

"The Empire State Building's lights are the international icon of the New York City skyline. We use our tower lights to partner with select charities, organizations, and events around the world," said Anthony E. Malkin, President of Malkin Holdings which supervises the Empire State Building.

"Philips Color Kinetics' new LED lights were installed over the summer and have been set at the color and intensity of the incandescent lights they replaced. As of tonight, our lights' full range and intensity will be brought to life, forever changing the New York skyline. We wanted to celebrate with and thank New York City and our global audience with a specially choreographed, custom light show. I am so happy that real New Yorkers, Alicia Keys, Z100, 103.5 KTU, Power105, and 106.7 Lite fm are sharing in our gift of the light show tonight." 

CBS Sports Radio Ready To Launch; Line-Up Unveiled

CBS Sports Radio today announced it will launch on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013 with three media veterans as hosts of morning drive.

Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobson will anchor the program live from the brand new radio network’s New York City studio in Tribeca. The program will be broadcast weekdays from 6:00-9:00AM.

Dan Mason

“CBS Sports Radio has been able to attract some of the most renowned names in the business, and Tiki, Brandon and Dana are just the latest example of the network’s star-power,” said Dan Mason, President and CEO, CBS RADIO. “We’ve assembled an impressive group of professional athletes and accomplished broadcasters to bring fans unrivaled sports commentary, and the most entertaining lineup in all of sports radio.

“The launch of CBS Sports Radio provides an additional way for us to use our content, debuting original programs to millions of listeners across the country on day one. The network’s reach in the major markets is unsurpassed, and the marketplace has taken notice of our depth and broad range of offerings.”

CBS Sports Radio will offer around-the-clock national sports coverage and programming. High-profile personalities from CBS Sports, CBS Sports Network and CBSSports.com will play a prominent role on CBS Sports Radio which will reach more than 10 million listeners when it debuts.

Original programs across multiple weekday and weekend time periods will feature expert sports commentary and interviews with major sports figures along with listener calls and fan interaction. Cumulus Media Networks serves as the exclusive syndicator and sales partner for CBS Sports Radio.

Several Top 50 markets will showcase CBS Sports Radio’s Morning Show, including WIP-AM (Philadelphia), WFOM-AM (Atlanta), WXYT-AM (Detroit), WJZ-AM (Baltimore), KFNZ-AM and KJQS-AM (Salt Lake City), and WSJZ-FM (Orlando).  (Tom's Note: WSJZ-FM is licensed to Sebastian, FL and currently has no impact in the Orlando metro).

Following is the complete weekday lineup for CBS Sports Radio:

6:00-9:00AM: Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobson

9:00AM-12:00Noon: John Feinstein

12:00Noon-3:00PM: Jim Rome

3:00-6:00PM: Doug Gottlieb

Scott Ferrall serves as host of evenings program broadcast weekdays from 10:00PM-2:00AM on CBS Sports Radio, and Damon Amendolara will provide commentary overnights from 2:00-

6:00AM.

Gene Baxter Returns To ‘Kevin & Bean’ Show

Gene 'Bean' Baxter  was back on the air Monday at 106.7 KROQ LA. after successfully donating a kidney to 106.7  FM KROQ’s Chief Engineer Scott Mason.

Scott Mason, the station’s chief engineer of 30 years, had been on dialysis and never told anyone.

Mason told CBS News reporter Lee Cowan, “I didn’t want anyone to think I was less capable than anybody else at work.”

Bean did notice a difference in Mason recently. “He’s moving kinda slow … didn’t look that great and I thought ‘Whoa what’s going on?’” Mason confessed — he was on a waiting list for a kidney transplant. And he also said it could take upwards of eight years to get one.

Giving it a second of thought, Bean told Mason he would be willing to be a donor. “It wasn’t a big emotional decision for me. I don’t think that my part of this decision is all that big a deal. I’m not the one who has to do the hard work. All I have to do is go to sleep.”

Mason received what he called “The Kidney Bean.”

And to describe Mason as appreciative would be an understatement. “I haven’t figured the right words out that are three or four levels higher than thank you. What are those words?” Bean’s co-host Kevin marvels at his on-air partner. “What he’s doing is more than I would do you know? He’s the better man than I am.” Mason and Bean had two different blood types. A new procedure, offered at only four hospitals in the country (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is one) makes it possible for the organ transfer even with people of different blood types.

Jenn Hobby Leaving The Bert Show In Atlanta

Jenn Hobby is leaving WWWQ Q100’s The Bert Show in Atlanta after nearly a decade.   According to Rodney Ho at ajc.com commented on-air:

“It’s going to be a whole new chapter of life.  I wouldn’t be the woman I am without the Bert Show.”

Hobby got married two years ago and is pregnant with her first child.

Her voice cracked when she said that the Bert Show is how she met her husband, who is a high school principal. He showed up in studio when his school band came in and they fell in love.

Hobby posted a statement on her station blog:

“What a decade! I started working with Q100 in 2002, when I was just 25 years old and eager to join a cool morning radio show and brand-new station. I had no idea at the time that I was in for the ride of my life! The 10 years that followed have been full of more laughter, tears, surprise, growth, excitement and discovery than this girl ever dreamed possible.”

She will be officially leaving in two weeks. Her final day on air will be Dec. 7. Bert Weiss on air said he is in no rush to replace Hobby’s spot.

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Cumulus Stops 103.3 York Simulcast of WINK 104

Time will determine if “stop” means “end”.

WARM-FM 103.3 in York, PA has been simulcasting sister-station WINK 104.1 in Harriburg, PA for about a year.  It had been branded at WINK 103. 

But the simulcast has been stopped as 103.3 becomes “Central PA’s Christmas Music Station" and resurrects the WARM brand imaging, Official calls letters have remain WARM-FM.

Will WARM 103 resume its light-AC format?  Will it restart the simulcast of Hot/AC WINK in Harrisburg?

Or is something entirely different on tap?  Can you say CBS Sport Radio? 

Another possibility, there's street talk of new Cumulus AC format in the works to be based at WARM98 in Cincy.

Stay tuned.

The Radio Discussion board is speculating, Click Here.

Dodgers, Fox Sports Talking $6-billion TV Deal

Fox Sports could pay at least $6 billion to retain the Dodgers’ television rights, three parties familiar with the negotiations said Sunday.

According to the LATimes, The deal could be worth three times what the Dodgers’ new owners paid for the team and almost 20 times the value of the Dodgers’ current television contract.

The deal is not done, the parties said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing negotiations.

If the two sides do not strike a deal by Friday, the Dodgers would have until the following Friday to present Fox with a final offer, according to the team’s current contract. Fox would then have 30 days to accept or reject the offer.

In the absence of a deal, the Dodgers would be free to open talks with Time Warner Cable SportsNet or launch a team-owned cable channel.

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Tom’s Take:  Increasing cost of sports deals is #1 reason why your cable/SatTV monthly charges will continue to rise.

Media: Smaller Audiences Despite Longer TSL

Decades of channel expansion have made fragmentation an indelible feature of the marketing landscape. One of the curious qualities of fragmentation is that it yields audiences that appear large in aggregate form, but are actually smaller in real terms. This quality tends to hold true regardless of channel.

For example, more consumers watch TV, and indeed, by eMarketer’s calculations, watch more of it, but those larger audiences are dispersed across multiple screens, or stream TV content to their PCs and smart devices. With rare exception, the mass audience accustomed to appointment viewing is long gone.

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Rolling Stones Kick-off 50th Reunion Tour

The Rolling Stones welcomed former members Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor back on stage at their 50th anniversary kick-off concert at London's O2 Arena last night (November 25th). The show also featured guest spots by Jeff Beck and Mary J. Blige.

Although Wyman and Taylor weren't onstage at the same time, the show definitely showed a small amount of nostalgia for the Stones, with the band tipping it's hat to the Beatles for the opening number by performing "I Wanna Be Your Man" -- which John Lennon and Paul McCartney finished for them in 1963 giving them their first Top 20 UK hit. 

The Stones followed it with a triple punch of '60s classics -- "Get Off My Cloud," "It's All Over Now," and "Paint It, Black" before settling into the set. Blige stepped up to sing the Merry Clayton part in "Gimme Shelter" and Jeff Beck joined the band for the 1969 Let It Bleed outtake, "I'm Going Down."

Bill Wyman made his first appearance with the Stones since June 27th, 1990 in Basle, Switzerland, sitting in on "It's Only Rock N' Roll" and "Honky Tonk Women." Taylor was featured on the band's 1969 classic, "Midnight Rambler" -- a cornerstone of the legendary shows he played with the band between 1969 and 1973. 

Although he hasn't played live with the band since sitting in with them on December 15th, 1981 in Kansas City, Missouri, he added new guitar work to the 2010 expanded reissue of Exile On Main Street.

Tom's Take: Did you know the average age of the US Supreme Court justices is YOUNGER than the Stones?

Cell Phone Being Used For More Than Calls

Fully 85% of American adults own a cell phone and now use the devices to do much more than make phone calls. Cell phones have become a portal for an ever-growing list of activities.  In nationally representative phone surveys in the spring and summer, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project obtained readings on some of the most popular activities.

'Gangnam Style' Now Most-Watched YouTube Video Ever

"Gangnam Style," the smash hit by South Korean rapper Psy that came out of nowhere this summer to become a pop culture sensation, has now become the most-watched YouTube video of all time.

The video, which as of today has more than 824 million views, passed the previous record-holder, Justin Bieber's "Baby," on Saturday (November 24th) to nab the record. Even more amazing, it's taken more than than two-and-a-half years for "Baby" to rack up its more than 804 million views since being posted in February 2010; "Gangnam Style" took the title in just over four months, since going up on YouTube on July 15th. 

In case you somehow managed to avoid the ubiquitous video -- or one of its many parodies -- here it is.

Monday Morning Memo: What Employees Want Most

From Jerry Del Colliano

Their bosses think it is money, but employees want – no, crave – appreciation.

And appreciation costs nothing to their employers.

Taraci Motivation compiled a list that compared what employees said they really wanted and what their employers thought they wanted.

For instance,

Employees ranked appreciation as what they say they wanted most from an employer, but their bosses thought they would rank it 8 out of ten.

Employers thought good wages would be what their workers said came first, but employees say it was only fifth on their list.

It gets worse – feeling “in” on things was ranked second by employees but employers thought their employees would rank it dead last – at tenth.

This says two things.

How out of touch employers and employees are with each other’s wants and needs which is actually alarming if you think about it.

And secondly, but more important, the awesome power of appreciation as an affordable motivator that never goes out of style.

Appreciation as the first thing that employees want is nothing new –similar studies confirmed it as long as two decades ago.

So if you want to motivate an employee – or for that matter, anyone in your life – express appreciation in person, in writing or in deed.

Voltaire said,

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing.  It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well”.

Or as someone once said,  “If you don’t show appreciation to those who deserve it, they’ll learn to stop doing the things you appreciate”.

For more on Jerry, Click Here.

Radio Host Suspended Over Caller’s Anti-Semitic Statements

A Montreal radio host was suspended for indulging a caller who made anti-Semitic statements on the air.

Jacques Fabi on his show last week on CHMP 98.5 FM did not criticize the woman during her four-minute call for comparing Israelis to dogs and saying that the Holocaust was "the most beautiful thing that happened in history," the QMI news agency reported.

After the caller made the Holocaust comment, Fabi replied, "I wouldn't dare say something like that." Later he said, "You know that in this democratic country, you can't ever say anything offensive toward Israelis because it could cost you dearly. You can't ever have negative views of any nature toward the Jewish people, or there will be serious consequences. That's how it is."

A few minutes later, Fabi said that one must "wear white gloves when talking about this nice Jewish population of Montreal." According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., he also said, "If you asked me if the Jewish population can sometimes be annoying, I would say yes."

At no point did Fabi reproach the caller for making the anti-Semitic remarks or denounce the remarks themselves.

David Cote, a CHMP spokesman, told the QMI news agency that Fabi's comments were "unacceptable" and that the station has issued "sanctions" against him.

QMI reported that Fabi has been suspended, but it was unclear for how long.

Read More Now.

Opinion: Internet Radio's Unheralded Rock Star

You never expect to teach an old-school media company some new-media tricks, but that's what appears to be happening with CC Media Holdings' Clear Channel Radio.

The terrestrial radio juggernaut -- watching over hundreds of AM and FM radio stations around the country and syndicating content to many more -- has a hit with its iHeartRadio app.

The free digital service that offers up Clear Channel's own stations, partner channels, and a customized radio offering along the lines of Pandora  announced last week that the application has been downloaded 135 million times.

Rick Arstotle Munarriz at The Motley Fool writes it's a big number, but we know that downloads don't translate into users. Well, Clear Channel is apparently doing fairly well on that front. The iHeartRadio network is attracting more than 48 million unique monthly visitors.

The company has now surpassed 20 million registered users, and that's something that is only required for users that want to take advantage of iHeartRadio's Pandora-like music discovery offering.

Are Pandora and Spotify scared? They probably shouldn't be. Spotify completed a financing round last week that values the European streaming service at a cool $3 billion.

Pandora served up 1.25 billion hours of content last month, 65% more than it did in October of last year. Pandora's active listeners of 59.2 million have climbed 47% over the past year.

Jacobs: “KHJ: Inside Boss Radio"

Jacobs 2002

Ninety-three dollars for a book?

Yep.

According to a story by Ben Fong-Torres at sfgate.com, that was the original price for a volume about the phenomenon that was "Boss Radio," a Top 40 format that swept the nation in the mid-'60s, and its flagship station, KHJ in "Boss Angeles." Its first program director, Ron Jacobs, published "KHJ: Inside Boss Radio" 10 years ago, and, in tribute to its dial position, put a price tag of $93 on the 455-page book.

LISTEN TO ONE HOUR SAMPLE OF 93KHJ, Click Here.

It's rich with his memos to his jocks, surveys and behind-the-scenes stories about DJs and promotional stunts, and about executing a format that was lean and mean, but also fun and innovative.

Still: $93?

Jacobs says he regretted the price, which was set with an exclusive, radio industry readership in mind.

Now it's out again, but in the digital age, the price is $9.30 for an e-book, at Amazon, via tinyurl.com/9fk9arr. 

For anyone interested in the format, conceived by the late Bill Drake (former DJ and PD at KYA in San Francisco), and a great success on KFRC, this is a must-read, writes Fong-Torres.

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R.I.P.: Radio Reporter John Picano, West Palm

John Picano was a longtime radio reporter and a promoter for the South Florida Fairgrounds.

It was game day on Saturday at the Picano house. There's a family tradition of watching the Florida State University vs. University of Florida football game.

But this year, the family watched without one of its biggest fans, according to a story at wpbf.com.

Picano was the voice of the Palm Beaches and broadcast at WJNO in the 1970s and 1980s.

"The voice was as smooth as amaretto, honey-like. It was beautiful," wife Kathy Picano said.

Kathy Picano met her husband at the beginning of his radio career. She keeps tapes with his best radio moments.

"He interviewed (Ronald) Reagan at the White House, Rose Kennedy and Jack Nicklaus," Kathy Picano said.

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According to The West Palm Beach Post, The day before Thanksgiving, Picano, public relations and guest services manager for the South Florida Fair, was in the office lining up his media contacts for the upcoming fair in January, said fair chief executive officer Rick Vymlatil.

That afternoon, Vymlatil said, Picano went home to his two sons, daughter and wife Kathryn in suburban West Palm Beach and told them he had a very productive day at the office. He died Thanksgiving morning, while he was sitting in his favorite chair watching television. He was 60.

Read More Now.