Cumulus Media, the owner of Washington talker WMAL 630 AM has put its 75-acre transmitter site in Bethesda on the market last week. According to a report, it's the first step in what will likely be the area's largest redevelopment project in years.
Cumulus Media is receiving offers until March 12 from developers interested in the residential property, located at 7115 Greentree Road near the Beltway and I-270 spur, according to the Montgomery County Sentinel.
Local real estate experts estimate the property could be worth hundreds of millions. There is no asking price, but a representative from Cumulus’ brokerage firm CBRE Group, Inc. said the property’s size and location should command strong competition.
“Seventy-five acres in Bethesda,” said John Sheridan, Senior Vice President for CBRE. “You don’t need to say anything more than that. It is a huge parcel of land with some of the highest income demographics. There’s the potential to build 300 or more homes.”
Cumulus took control of the 90-year old station in 2011 when it purchased Citadel Broadcasting for $2.2 billion. Soon after, it started simulcasting the station’s programming on WVRX 105.9 FM, renaming it WMAL-FM.
It is unknown whether Cumulus will abandon the AM station (10 Kw-Da, 5 Kw-N, DA2) altogether or relocate the transmitters and continue to broadcast.
Last year, Cumulus sold a 10-acre broadcast facility in Los Angeles for $125 million.
In a sign of deepening trouble, Brian Williams Sunday canceled an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, scheduled for Thursday, that had been a key part of his recovery strategy.
Decision was made because NBC was unsure what the situation will be on Thursday and Williams didn't feel he should keep a commitment to that appearance when his return to Nightly was still up in the air. It was on Letterman in 2013 that Williams gave one of his most vivid accounts of a close encounter with an RPG in Iraq in 2003
Saturday, Williams announced he would vacate the air "for the next several days" with Lester Holt filling in as anchor. The plan is an effort to buy time for NBC, which wants to protect it's No 1 asset. The sense inside NBC News has been that Williams is too big to fail.
Brian Williams may have a hard time retaining his popularity with viewers considering the results of a survey commissioned by Variety regarding the news anchor’s false claims to have been on a helicopter shot down by enemy fire in Iraq.
An overwhelming 80% think that Williams should no longer continue as a news anchor for NBC, according to a survey conducted Thursday by celebrity brand expert Jeetendr Sehdev, who polled 1,000 people who either watched or read the anchor’s apology.
If Williams keeps his seat in the anchor chair, he will have to face an uphill climb to regain viewers trust. Seventy percent of respondents surveyed by do not believe that Williams will overcome the mistake.
Eight out of 10 respondents reported that they will now struggle to believe what Williams says following his admission that he “made a mistake in recalling the events 12 years ago,” as he said during his Wednesday night newscast.
Seventy percent did not describe Williams’ apology as sincere, with 60% believing that the anchor attempted to minimize the significance of his fabricated story in his apology.
Sehdev interpreted the result as a reflection that transparency, authenticity and responsiveness are the most critical elements of credibility in this case, even though Williams is still considered an experienced journalist.
When Comcast acquired NBCUniversal in 2011, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts called NBC News "the crown jewel" of his new empire. With good reason: At the time, the news division was dominant on all fronts. 'Today' was number-one in the morning, 'Nightly News' was number-one at night, and 'Meet The Press' was number-one on Sunday.
Deborah Turness
But according to Dylan Byers at Politico, Comcast's "crown jewel" has been tarnished in four short years. Not only have 'Today' and 'Meet' both fallen from first place, their falls have been accompanied by the excruciating public humiliation of the programs' top talent. Ann Curry, the former Today co-host, was privately undermined and publicly humiliated before being kicked off the show in 2012. David Gregory, the former moderator of 'Meet The Press', was hung out to dry for over a year before being booted in 2014.
Now, Brian Williams is the subject of an internal investigation into his false claim that he was on-board a Chinook helicopter that was hit by an RPG in Iraq. Meanwhile, 'Nightly News' has been losing ground to ABC's 'World News Tonight,' which is now outperforming 'Nightly' in the coveted 25-to-54 demo.
Pat Fili-Krushel
Who is responsible for NBC's decline?
Deborah Turness is the President of NBC News; however, the division's real leader is Pat Fili-Krushel, the Chairman of NBCUniversal News Group. Fili-Krushel was promoted to that position in 2012, just weeks after Curry left the 'Today' show in tears. She hired Turness one year later to oversee the day-to-day machinations of the news division, but the big decisions ultimately wind up on her desk.
Fili-Krushel's problems are even bigger than NBC News. As Chairman, she also oversees MSNBC and CNBC, both of which have been beset by severe ratings declines. Both Phil Griffin, the President of MSNBC, and Mark Hoffman, the President of CNBC, report to her.
News/talk vet, radio news consultant and the guy behind the Fisher House holiday shows, Marshall Adams, checks in to say he's OK, following Saturday night's shooting at Monroeville Mall outside Pittsburgh.
His Marshall Adams Media leases office and studio space inside the mall, just steps from the Macy's where police-described "targeted" gunfire hit three people including two innocent bystanders.
Marshall says he was in his office during the shooting and subsequent lockdown, in an area where he was never in any danger. He learned of the incident via an excited "shots fired!" call on his police scanner (he's a news guy!). From his safe perch during the search for the gunman, he was able to monitor internal radio communications and give a hand to some news outlets.
Marshall's assist to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gave the newspaper the jump it needed to mobilize a team to gather impressive spot news coverage in time for Page 1 of its widely-read Sunday edition.
Marshall - who like many former news/talk programmers is now self-employed - admits he might be a little shaken up by what to him amounts to a workplace shooting.
Marshall says he'd consider it a personal favor if we keep the young eyewitnesses - and the shooting victims - in our thoughts. Says Marshall: "Radio can't love you back. Maybe tonight's a good night to hug your loved ones a little tighter and remind yourself what matters most." Reach out to him at marshalladams@hotmail.com.
Magnum.Media has announced it has rebranded WBWI 92.5 FM West Bend-Milwaukee, WI to WMBZ “Buzz Country.”
Company President Dave Magnum stated, “We nicknamed a station Buzz several years ago then flipped formats but hung on to buzzcountry.com with hopes of redeploying it someday. Infusing stationality into this big signal that touches 20 counties was important to us, so we commissioned an artist in Boston to originate the Buzz character. Another key was to create a clear distinction between the imaging of Buzz Country 92.5 and Continuous Country Q92.1.”
WBWI 92.5 FM (17.5 Kw) Red=60dBu Coverage Area
On December 1, 2014 Magnum.Media changed the format of 92.1 FM Racine-Milwaukee from Light Rock to Country as Q92 with the call letters WMKQ-FM.
Both stations are programmed by Mike Sommers and engineered by Del Reynolds.
Magnum is the licensee of 16 radio stations, one Class A TV and two LPTV’s all in Wisconsin.
WDRV 97.1 FM /The Drive's morning show host Steve Downes announced Friday that it is time to step away from daily radio after 44 years in the industry.
Steve Downes
The 64-year-old will continue to host his weekend show "The Classics" and will still do voice-over work, but Downes is looking to exit full-time radio work as soon as his morning replacement has been named, according to Chicagoland Radio&Media.
Downes has been hosting mornings on WDRV-FM since its launch in the spring of 2001. For four years prior to that, he was heard on then-Bonneville-owned sister-station WLUP-FM/The Loop. Along with his 18 years in Chicago, he has been heard on the radio in various markets since 1971, starting in Dayton, OH while he was still a student at the University of Dayton, before moving on to becoming a major voice in Los Angeles, CA rock radio.
Other markets he has worked include Santa Barbara, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; Fort Myers, FL; and Tampa, FL.
In addition to his radio work, Downes is internationally famous for his voice-over work and vocal acting. He has always been the voice of Master Chief John-117, the main character from the mega-selling video game series "Halo."
Downes says he will continue to do his voice acting work.
WDRV 97.1 FM (8.3 Kw) 54dBu Coverage Area
Regarding the loss of his morning star, Greg Solk, Hubbard Chicago Senior Vice President of Programming, said:
"Waking up and hearing anybody else on The Drive is going to be an adjustment, for sure. Steve has been such a perfect morning man, collaborator and friend to all of us. He has helped The Drive achieve wild success and is always going to be a part of our DNA. Steve has generously agreed to allow us to use his pipes in station promos and will continue to host the United Stations syndicated weekend show 'The Classics' that is broadcast out of The Drive."
Longtime Toledo radio personality Jeff Lamb, who left the terrestrial market and created his own Internet radio station, ClassicHitsToledo.com, is returning to the local dial.
According to The Toledo Blade, Lamb will be the new morning show host of Country WPFX 107.7 FM /The Wolf beginning today.
“The Wolf is excited to have Jeff take the morning chair," WPFX operations manager Sid Siddall said in a statement. "Jeff is incredibly talented, and comes with vast experience and huge name recognition. He will immediately become a huge asset to the Wolf.”
Lamb began his radio career in Flint, Mich., with “Buffalo Dick’s Radio Ranch,” which won a Billboard award for Best Locally Produced Radio Program/All Markets in 1981.
WPFX 107.7 FM (5.2 Kw) 60dBu Coverage Area
In 1990, Lamb moved to Toledo, where he teamed with Mark Benson for a top-rated morning show on WIOT 104.7 FM for years.
ClassicHitsToledo.com was recently sold to a Louisville TV station owned by Block Communications Inc., which owns The Blade.
New York Festivals World’s Best Radio Programs competition has announced the appointment of Phil Critchlow, Founding Director, TBI Media, UK and Valerie Geller, President of Geller Media, USA to the New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards Advisory Board and Grand Jury.
Phil Critchlow
“These two thought leaders each bring creative expertise and deep knowledge of today’s radio industry,” said Rose Anderson, Executive Director, NYF Radio Program Awards. “Phil Critchlow and Valerie Geller will add tremendous vision and valuable insights as we engage the world-wide radio community and are responsive to what matters to them.”
“We’ve been lucky enough to win a number of New York Festivals awards at TBI, which always mean a great deal to the team, so I’m delighted to become part of the NYF Advisory Board,” said Critchlow. He supervises TBI’s diverse output covering music, drama, comedy, sport, and history.
Valerie Geller
As President of Media International, Geller is an international content and story consultant, trainer and seminar leader. “It is stunning and so satisfying on every level to have the opportunity and honour to have the chance to hear the amazing work news, documentary and programme teams throughout the world are producing and creating,” said Geller. “It is an honour and a pleasure to serve as a judge for the NYF awards entries, and to help in any way that I can.”
New York Festivals Radio Awards enlists some of the most recognisable voices and captivating programming producers in the industry from all over the world to become members of the Grand Jury.
The deadline for entering the 2015 World’s Best Radio Programs competition is March 19, 2015. The awards ceremony will be held on Monday, June 22, at Manhattan Penthouse in New York City.
Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren last week recalled two instances where old media acutally help move new media on an upward trajectory.
Westergren explained that Pandora has received a lot of press coverage over the years — in print, on screen, etc. However, the only press hit that materially changed our growth trajectory was Doonesbury. Westergren says, "We were the subject of two consecutive Doonesbury cartoons. You can go in and see on our growth path where the Doonesbury article hit.'
Here are Gary Trudeau's cartoons from Nov. 27 and Nov. 28, 2007.
The most recognizable personality at Country Legends WAME 550 AM / 92.9 T-FM (W225BD) is set to also become its owner on March 1 pending approval from the Federal Communication Commission.
Bill Blevins, known on air as Billy Buck, has formed a company called Signal Hill Media Partners to acquire radio station WAME and everything that comes with it, including the land, the building, the antenna and the FCC commercial operator license.
It has been Blevins’ lifelong dream to own a radio station, and the 40-year veteran of the airwaves said he certainly has a few “tweaks” planned for when he officially takes control.
W225BD 92.9 FM (250 watts) Red=60DBu Coverage
Those adjustments may even involve personnel and the name the station itself, but the classic country music format is here to stay.
The biggest point of emphasis under Blevins will be to serve Statesville and Iredell County with a dedication to local news and local content, he said.
“It’s all about local. We’re not one of these 100,000 Watt stations that covers Dixie like the dew, but we cover the county and, mainly, we cover the city,” Blevins said.
“The news is important, the weather, the traffic and local information, and it will still be the music people love.”
The opportunity to take control presented itself to Blevins because the station’s previous owner, George H. Buck Jr., passed away in late 2013 at age 84.
A judge said Friday that Casey Kasem‘s widow has no legal right to object to the payment of attorney’s fees and costs related to the establishment of a conservatorship over her late husband, clearing the way for the money to be obtained either from the late radio icon’s estate or the family trust.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lesley Green will make the final determination of how much to award, but the petitioners collectively are asking for about $350,000. The attorneys involved in the filing the petition said they also will seek additional fees to compensate them for having to oppose Jean Kasem’s objections to the fees requests.
Jean Kasem was married to her husband for more than three decades.
The petitioners, who include the lawyers for Kasem’s daughter, Kerri Kasem, said the primary evidence offered by Jean Kasem’s attorneys amounted to two declarations from Kjetil Johansen. He is a lawyer in Norway, where the former radio icon is buried. Johansen stated that Jean Kasem is the trustee of her late husband’s trust and the personal representative of his estate.
The petitioners disagreed and said there currently is no one serving in the role of settling Kasem’s financial affairs after his death.
Kasem was the subject of a vitriolic legal battle between his widow and his children from his first marriage until he died. He suffered from dementia and Lewy body disease, which has symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease.
According to MyLANews.com, a judge has to approve the fees and costs because they would be paid by Casey Kasem’s estate or the trust. Martin said he believes the estate and trust collectively are worth about $80 million and that the major asset is the Kasem home in Holmby Hills, valued at about $40 million.
Kasem’s court-appointed lawyer. Samuel Ingham, is also seeking to be paid for his work. Kerri Kasem is asking to be reimbursed for travel expenses to the state of Washington, where Kasem died after his wife moved him from a Santa Monica care facility.
Martin said private investigators hired in Washington also have yet to be paid.
Howe joined the KEX 1190 AM newsroom in 1962, and from then on, he was home.
In the 39 years he spent at the Portland station, he was there covering every major event. One of his first big stories came during his first year at the station: The birth of Packy the elephant at what was then called the Portland Zoo.
"He always talked about Packy," said his former KEX colleague, Bob Miller. "Jim was on the air when (former President Ronald) Reagan was shot and the Challenger exploded."
He was also there when Mount St. Helens erupted. "If it was big, he was on it," said Miller, who worked with Howe for more than two decades.
Howe's friends described him as an aggressive, meticulous, disciplined reporter. He was a storyteller who broke stories and got them right. City officials, through the years, trusted Howe and knew he'd always be fair, they said.
"I dare you to find anyone anywhere who has a bad word to say about Jim Howe," said Bill Cooper, who spent more than a decade working with Howe at KEX. "You won't."
During most of his time at KEX, Howe was news director. He worked an estimated 10,270 shifts and delivered 61,620 newscasts, according to the story on his retirement.
Well-respected Buffalo, NY radio veteran, Ray Marks, passed away Wednesday morning, after his battle with leukemia, according to WGRZ-TV.
He was 70-years-of-age.
Born Ray Markiewicz, he was diagnosed with leukemia in the summer of 2012, and underwent years of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant surgery.
He had a passion for broadcasting, as well as guiding and mentoring others. The former news director for WGR 550 AM, WBEN 930 AM, and WJTN 1240 AM in Jamestown, NY spent 40 years in the business doing what he loved. When he wasn't in the studio, he was an adjunct professor at St. Bonaventure University, Buffalo State College, and Medaille College.
In addition to having a love for radio and sharing it with others, he also loved the outdoors. Ray mentored and taught veterans having trouble adjusting to civilian life how to fly fish. Reflecting on his life, he said that he appreciates everything he has experienced, and that he wanted to make the world a better place.
In 1934...FCC granted 500kw license to WLW for W8XO.
Powel Crosley studio of radio station WLW
On March 22, 1922, the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation began broadcasting with the call sign WLW and 50 watts of power. Crosley was a fanatic about the new broadcasting technology, and continually increased his station's capability. The power went up to 500 watts in September 1922, 1000 watts in May 1924, and in January 1925 WLW was the first broadcasting station at the 5000 watt level. On October 4, 1928, the station increased its power to 50 kilowatts. Again it was the first station at this power level, which still is the maximum power currently allowed for any AM station in the United States.
At 50 kilowatts, WLW was heard easily over a wide area, from New York to Florida. But Crosley still wasn't satisfied. In 1933 he obtained a construction permit from the Federal Radio Commission for a 500 kilowatt superstation, and he spent some $500,000 ($9.02 million in 2014) building the transmitter and antenna.
Cooling Pond (James P. Hawkins photo)
It was the first large amplifier used in the United States for public domestic radio broadcasting and was in operation between 1934 and 1939. It was an experimental amplifier and was driven by the radio station's regular 50 kW transmitter. It operated in class C with high-level plate modulation. The amplifier required a dedicated 33 kV electrical substation and a large pond complete with fountains for cooling. It operated with a power input of about 750 kW (plus another 400 kW of audio for the modulator) and its output was 500 kW.
In January 1934 WLW began broadcasting at the 500 kilowatt level late at night under the experimental callsign W8XO. In April 1934 the station was authorized to operate at 500 kilowatts during regular hours under the WLW call letters. On May 2, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a ceremonial button that officially launched WLW's 500-kilowatt signal.
As the first station in the world to broadcast at this strength, WLW received repeated complaints from around the United States and Canada that it was overpowering other stations as far away as Toronto. In December 1934 WLW cut back to 50 kilowatts at night to mitigate the interference, and began construction of three 50 ft. tower antennas to be used to reduce signal strength towards Canada.
With these three antennas in place, full-time broadcasting at 500 kilowatts resumed in early 1935. However, WLW was continuing to operate under special temporary authority that had to be renewed every six months, and each renewal brought complaints about interference and undue domination of the market by such a high-power station.
The FCC was having second thoughts about permitting extremely wide-area broadcasting versus more locally oriented stations, and in 1938, the US Senate adopted the "Wheeler" resolution, expressing it to be the sense of that body that more stations with power in excess of 50 kilowatts are against the public interest.
As a result, in 1939 the 500-kilowatt broadcast authorization was not renewed, bringing an end to the era of the AM radio superstation. Because of the impending war and the possible need for national broadcasting in an emergency, the W8XO experimental license for 500 kilowatts remained in effect until December 29, 1942. In 1962 the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation again applied for a permit to operate at 750 kilowatts, but the FCC denied the application.
For more, visit Jim Hawkins WLW Transmitter Page: Click Here.
In 1958...the CBS Radio Network first aired "Frontier Gentleman".
In 1958...Ratings show that ABC's American Bandstand is now America's top-rated daytime television program, with an average of 8,400,000 viewers per day.
In 1964...The Beatles made their live U.S. television debut in their first appearance on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show." An estimated 73.7 million Americans watched as John, Paul, George and Ringo performed "All My Loving," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There," and "I Want to Hold Your Hand." During "Till There Was You," a message flashed on the screen when John appeared: "Sorry, girls, he's married."
The Beatles appeared on three consecutive Sundays in February 1964 to great anticipation and fanfare as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had swiftly risen to No. 1 in the charts. Their first appearance on February 9 is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the beginning of the British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for US television. The Beatles followed Ed's show opening intro, performing "All My Loving"; "Till There Was You", which featured the names of the group members superimposed on closeup shots, including the famous "Sorry girls, he's married" caption on John Lennon; and "She Loves You". The act that followed Beatles in the broadcast was pre-recorded, rather than having someone perform live on stage amidst the pandemonium that occurred in the studio after the Beatles performed their first songs. The group returned later in the program to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand.
The following week's show was broadcast from Miami Beach where Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) was in training for his first title bout with Sonny Liston. The occasion was used by both camps for publicity. On the evening of the television show (February 16) a crush of people nearly prevented the band from making it onstage. A wedge of policemen were needed and the band began playing "She Loves You" only seconds after reaching their instruments. They continued with "This Boy", and "All My Loving" and returned later to close the show with "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me to You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
They were shown on tape February 23 (this appearance had been taped earlier in the day on February 9 before their first live appearance). They followed Ed's intro with "Twist and Shout" and "Please Please Me" and closed the show once again with "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
The Beatles appeared live for the final time on August 14, 1965. The show was broadcast September 12, 1965 and earned Sullivan a 60 percent share of the nighttime audience for one of the appearances
A future music star from Britain also appeared on the Sullivan stage that night: Davy Jones, two years before he became a Monkee, performed as part of the cast of the Broadway show "Oliver!"
In 1964...1010 WINS personality Murray The K took John, Paul & Ringo to the then-famous Peppermint Lounge
In 1973...Max Yasgur, former owner of the dairy farm in Bethel, New York at which the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held in 1969, died following a heart attack at age 53.
In 1981...Rock 'n' roll singer Bill Haley, whose group Bill Haley and the Comets sang the classic "Rock Around the Clock," died on this day in 1981. He was 55.
In 2002...NYC Radio Johnny Michaels - WOR FM, WMCA, WNEW FM, WCBS FM, WJTU, WBLS, WNBC - died
In 2012...Longtime Boston radio and TV personality (WBZ-AM, WBZ-TV, WCVB-TV) Dave Maynard, who retired in 1991, died of complications from Parkinson's disease at age 82.
