US digital advertising revenues reached $58 billion—a 17 percent increase year-over-year—during the first six months of 2019, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) “Internet Advertising Revenue Report.”
Though the growth makes it the highest spend in history for the first half of the year, digital is beginning to show signs of maturing, according to alistdaily.com.
The data shows an uptick in revenues across the board. Internet ad revenues in the US increased seven percent from $28 billion in the first quarter of 2019 to $30 billion in the second quarter. Mobile ad revenues, which make up 70 percent of total internet ad revenues, totaled $40 billion in the second quarter of 2019 compared to $31 billion in the first quarter. Audio adspend is also rising with the emergence of smart speakers, up 30 percent YOY to a total of $1.2 billion for the first half of 2019.
Smartphone ownership and social media is nearing saturation, pushing the industry to focus on new channels for growth such as connected television (CTV), augmented reality (AR) and 5G.
The report notes that marketers must evolve their strategies alongside technological advancements, particularly immersive media. Respondents cite AR ads as having the ability to foster an emotional connection, leading to increased brand recall, positive brand associations and sometimes, increased brand awareness. Connected device usage is also gaining traction, broadening marketers’ opportunity for contextual targeting. However, as marketers foster one-to-one marketing and develop personalized ads, they should remain transparent with consumers about data value exchange.
Advertisers still rely on Nielsen to measure households for linear television but seek a congruent measurement across linear television and digital video. Despite the fragmentation of cross-channel measurement, marketers are investing more in over-the-top (OTT) content and CTV as viewers are shifting their behavior towards CTV.
Walton and his brother, Bill, are the only siblings to have appeared in a Super Bowl and the NBA Finals. Bruce played with the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X. Bill led the Portland Trail Blazers to a championship in 1977, and played for the triumphant Boston Celtics in 1986.
Walton carved out a successful career as a radio broadcaster. He is credited with pioneering the “lites out” smooth jazz format in 1982, when he was general manager of KIFM. That station’s mellow rock format had struggled to find an audience, but its switch to jazz proved popular with broad range of audiences — African-American and white, younger and older listeners.
In 1996, Walton’s company sold Smooth Jazz 98.1 KIFM to the Jefferson Pilot group for $28.75 million.
➦In 1891...Parker Fennelly born in Maine (Died – January 22, 1988). He was an actor and playwright who appeared in ten films, numerous television episodes and hundreds of radio programs.
He was a longtime member of Allen’s Alley on NBC’s Fred Allen Show, portraying Titus Moody with a strong “Down East” accent. He was much in demand for numerous radio series based in New York, and over a 20 year span on various radio networks.
He died at age 96 on Jan. 22, 1988. ➦In 1939...the first televised pro football game airedfrom Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. NBC’s flagship, W2XBS, carried the action. Brooklyn beat Philadelphia, 23-14. NBC later changed those experimental call letters to WRCA, and even later, to WNBC. ➦In 1961... In the midst of a growing “twist” craze, Chubby Checker was on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show, performing his original hit from the previous year, “The Twist,” along with his followup “Let’s Twist Again.” The resulting attention helped boost “The Twist” back to #1 by early 1962, marking the only time the same recording has hit the top spot on Billboard’s singles chart in two different years.
➦In 1969…Paul McCartney appeared in public to deny rumors of his death.
➦In 1986...NY Personality/Traffic Reporter Jane Dornacker died in a helicopter accident while working for WNBC 660 AM Radio in New York City (which became WFAN in 1988).
Dornacker was aboard during two unrelated crashes of the helicopters leased to WNBC. She survived the first crash, but was killed in the second crash into the Hudson River, which occurred as she was in the middle of a live traffic report.
Her death came shortly after that of her husband, Bob Knickerbocker, orphaning their 16-year-old daughter. The NTSB investigation determined the cause of the fatal crash to have been use of improper parts and poor maintenance on the part of Spectrum Helicopters of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.
➦In 1992...Sportscaster Walter Lanier "Red" Barber died (Born - February 17, 1908). Barber, nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds (1934–1938), Brooklyn Dodgers (1939–1953), and New York Yankees (1954–1966). Like his fellow sports pioneer Mel Allen, Barber also gained a niche calling college and professional American football in his primary market of New York City.
Red Barber
At the age of 21, he hitchhiked from his home in Sanford, FL to Gainesville, FL and enrolled at the University of Florida, majoring in education. During his first year he worked at various jobs including part-time janitor at the University Club. There in January 1930 Barber got his start in broadcasting.
An agriculture professor had been scheduled to appear on WRUF, the university radio station, to read a scholarly paper over the air. When the professor's absence was discovered minutes before the broadcast was to begin, janitor Barber was called in as a substitute. Thus the future sportscaster's first gig was reading "Certain Aspects of Bovine Obstetrics".
After those few minutes in front of a microphone, Barber decided to switch careers. He became WRUF's director and chief announcer and covered Florida football games that autumn. Then he dropped out of school to focus on his radio work. After four more years at WRUF he landed a job broadcasting the Cincinnati Reds on WLW and WSAI when Powel Crosley, Jr., purchased the team in 1934.
On Opening Day 1934 (April 17), Barber attended his first major league game and broadcast its play-by-play, as the Reds lost to the Chicago Cubs 6–0. He called games from the stands of Cincinnati's renamed Crosley Field for the next five seasons.
Barber had been hired by Larry MacPhail, then president of the Reds. When MacPhail moved on to be president of the Dodgers for the 1939 season, he took the play-by-play man along. In Brooklyn, Barber became an institution, widely admired for his folksy style. He was also appreciated by people concerned about Brooklyn's reputation as a land of "dees" and "dems".
In 1939 Barber broadcast the first major-league game on television, on experimental NBC station W2XBS. In 1946 he added to his Brooklyn duties a job as sports director of the CBS Radio Network, succeeding Ted Husing and continuing through 1955. There his greatest contribution was to conceive and host the CBS Football Roundup, which switched listeners back and forth between broadcasts of different regional college games each week.
For most of Barber's run with the Dodgers, the team was broadcast over radio station WMGM (later WHN) at 1050 on the AM dial.
Prior to the 1953 World Series, Barber was selected by Gillette, which sponsored the Series broadcasts, to call the games on NBC Radio Network along with Mel Allen. Barber wanted a larger fee than was offered by Gillette, however, and when Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley refused to back him, Barber declined to work the Series and Vin Scully partnered with Allen on the telecasts instead. As Barber later related in his 1968 autobiography, Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat, it was O'Malley's lack of support that led to his resigning from the Dodgers later that October.
Soon afterward the crosstown Yankees hired Barber. In 1955 he took his long-running television program Red Barber's Corner from CBS to NBC. It ran from 1949 until 1958.
Under the ownership of CBS in 1966, the Yankees finished tenth and last, their first time at the bottom of the standings since 1912 and after more than 40 years of dominating the American League. On September 22, paid attendance of 413 was announced at the 65,000-seat Yankee Stadium.
Barber asked the TV cameras to pan the empty stands as he commented on the low attendance. Although denied the camera shots on orders from the Yankees' head of media relations, he said, "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game." By a horrible stroke of luck, that game was the first for CBS executive Mike Burke as team president. A week later, Barber was invited to breakfast where Burke told him that his contract wouldn't be renewed.
After his dismissal by the Yankees in 1966, Barber retired from baseball broadcasting. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association inducted Barber into its Hall of Fame in 1973. In 1978, Barber joined former colleague Mel Allen to become the first broadcasters to receive the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. In 1979, he was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Florida, given a Gold Award by the Florida Association of Broadcasters, and inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. In 1984, Barber was part of the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame's inaugural class which included sportscasting legends Don Dunphy, Ted Husing, Bill Stern and Graham McNamee. Barber was given a George Polk Award in 1985 and a Peabody Award in 1990 for his NPR broadcasts, and in 1995 he was posthumously inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
In 1993, TV Guide named Barber the best sportscaster of the 1950s
Taylor w/Chaka Kahn 1975
➦In 1999...Radio personality Sonny Taylor, who died at age 59. He programmed WWRL for four years, starting in 1975. Later, he programmed WRKS and he was a deejay at both WWRL and WNJR, where he started in 1966.
"He was a great jock and a tremendous programmer," says Bobby Jay then of WCBS-FM, whom Taylor convinced WNJR to hire from their alma mater, the School of Broadcasting and Announcing. "I remember his words," says Jay. "He said, 'Don't embarrass me!
Like many radio people, Taylor got around: St. Louis, Chicago, Miami. He spent the '90s at WMMJ in Washington, where he was working until he died.
➦In 2009...Milton Supman died from cancer (Born - January 8, 1926), known professionally as Soupy Sales, he was a comedian, actor, radio/television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television show Lunch with Soupy Sales (1953–1966), a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his trademark. From 1968 to 1975 he was a regular panelist on the syndicated revival of What's My Line? and appeared on several other TV game shows. During the 1980s, Sales hosted his own show on WNBC-AM in New York City.
Sales got his nickname from his family. His older brothers had been nicknamed "Hambone" and "Chicken Bone." Milton was dubbed "Soup Bone," which was later shortened to "Soupy".
Sales enrolled in Marshall College in Huntington, WV where he earned a Master's Degree in Journalism. While at Marshall, he performed in nightclubs as a comedian, singer and dancer. After graduating, Sales began working as a scriptwriter and disc jockey at radio station WHTN in Huntington. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1949, where he worked as a morning radio DJ and performed in nightclubs.
On January 1, 1965, miffed at having to work on the holiday, Sales ended his live TV broadcast by encouraging his young viewers to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents' bedrooms and remove those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents" from their pants and pocketbooks. "Put them in an envelope and mail them to me", Soupy instructed the children. "And I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!" He was then hit with a pie. Several days later, a chagrined Soupy announced that money (mostly Monopoly money was unexpectedly being received in the mail. He explained that he had been joking and announced that the contributions would be donated to charity.
Sales hosted a midday radio show on WNBC 660 AM in New York from March 1985 to March 1987. His program was between the drive time shifts of Don Imus (morning) and Howard Stern (afternoon), with whom Sales had an acrimonious relationship. An example of this was an incident involving Stern telling listeners that he was cutting the strings in Sales' in-studio piano at 4:05 p.m. on May 1, 1985. On December 21, 2007, Stern revealed this was a stunt staged for "theater of the mind" and to torture Sales; in truth, the piano was never harmed.
Sales' on-air crew included his producer, Ray D'Ariano, newscaster Judy DeAngelis (recently retired as AM Drive news anchor on 1010 WINS), and pianist Paul Dver, who was also Soupy's manager.
When Soupy's show was not renewed, his time slot would be taken over by D'ariano. Near the end of his contract, Sales lost his temper on the air, and began to speak very frankly about how he felt he had been treated poorly by the station, and how he felt betrayed that D'ariano would be taking over the show. The show went to break after a commercial - Sales was off the air, replaced without comment or explanation by program director Dale Parsons. Soupy would not return to the air.
➦In 2016....Herbert Rogers Kent died at age 88 (Born - October 5, 1928) was "the longest-running DJ in the history of radio", a radio personality in Chicago, Illinois, for more than seven decades. As a high school student, Kent began hosting a classical music program for Chicago’s WBEZ. Over the years he “has served as an inspiration to a number of aspiring African-American broadcasters.”[2] He was known as the "cool gent", a phrase that he coined to rhyme with his name.
Kent was born Herbert Rogers Kent in Cook County Hospital in Chicago. An only child, he grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood in Chicago. He told a reporter in 2009 that as early as age 6 he "had a love affair with radio", as he enjoyed listening to a blues station at that age.
Members of Kent's radio audience usually felt as if they knew him personally, even though they might never have met him — a familiarity facilitated by "his lively exchange with guests and co-workers during his broadcasts".
Kent began working in radio in 1944 when he was 16 years old and still in high school, hosting a classical music program on WBEZ in Chicago. That assignment resulted from his acceptance into "highly competitive" workshops conducted by WBEZ.
By the late 1940s, he was working at two stations -- acting in old-time radio dramas on WMAQ in Chicago and hosting a record program on WGRY in Gary, Indiana. He went on to work at WJFC-AM and WJOB-AM before reaching the role for which he became best known.
In the 1950s, Kent became known as "The King of the Dusties" for his development of the oldies format that he called "dusty records", a term he coined while working at WBEE radio in Harvey, Illinois.
Herb Kent, WVON-FM
In March 1963, Kent headed the disc jockey lineup at WVON, a newly launched Chicago station that resulted from the purchase of WHFC and a change in format to "uncompromising soul-style rhythm and blues." Kent, who was one of two disc jockeys retained from the WHFC staff, had the 7:30-11 p.m. program. Robert Pruter, in his book, Chicago Soul, noted that Kent had a distinct on-air style: "Unlike many other deejays of the day, black or white, he never shouted or screamed or used an artificial patter. He always talked in a conversational, ultra-cool style."
Hermene Hartman and David Smallwood, in their book, N'Digo Legacy Black Luxe: Media Edition, described WVON as "arguably the most popular Black radio station ever in America" and Kent as the station's most popular disc jockey at his peak. Gary Deeb, radio-TV critic for the Chicago Tribune, noted that Kent's popularity as a night-time disc jockey attracted an audience of young people who also listened to the station at other times.
In March 1977, Kent was fired from WVON. The station's owner blamed Kent's lack of energy, but Deeb wrote that the dismissal of Kent and other WVON personnel resulted from cost-cutting measures.
In 1978, Kent returned to Chicago radio with a 5-6 p.m. weekday program on WXFM. In the 1990s, he was heard on FM station WVAZ in Chicago. By October 1999, he had returned to WVON, but on the station's FM side.
For the summer ratings book (June 20-September 11), ESPN Radio saw its audience in the men 25-54 demographic in PPM markets on terrestrial radio increase 4 percent over the same time period in 2018 during the 6 a.m.-6 p.m. weekday hours, according to Nielsen. The upward trend was aided by an increase in time spent listening, which was up 6 percent.
ESPN Radio’s morning drive show Golic and Wingo individually saw success for the summer book among M25-54 with a 5 percent gain on terrestrial radio on Nielsen subscribing stations in PPM markets over 2018. The show drove audiences to stay longer with a 17 percent increase in time spent listening for the same period.
The Stephen A. Smith Show enjoyed an audience increase for M25-54 across all platforms of 5 percent for the summer over 2018. The growth was led by a 29 percent increase for the show’s ESPNEWS simulcast. In September, The Stephen A. Smith Show’s audience grew 9 percent for M25-54 across all platforms year over year and saw a 42 percent increase for its television simulcast specifically.
The Will Cain Show also saw audience growth for the ratings book and the month of September. Both time periods were up 5 percent across all platforms with M25-54 from 2018. The show saw massive increases on terrestrial radio in PPM markets and in addition was added to the local lineup for ESPN Radio in Los Angeles. The Will Cain Show’s ESPNEWS simulcast was also up 18 percent and 17 percent for the month and summer book over 2018, respectively.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz experienced double-digit percentage increases for its ESPNEWS simulcast audience, seeing a 28 percent gain for the month and 17 percent for the summer ratings window over 2018 for M25-54.
CUMULUS MEDIA’s Westwood One, America’s largest audio network and the leader in satellite-delivered 24-hour radio formats, is now offering a third version of the popular Classic Hits format, for stations that desire a gold-based pop radio format with more 60s music. Classic Hits Gold complements the company’s modern Classic Hits format, which has evolved to be a core `80s format with some `90s, and its Classic Hits Rock, which features rock classics.
Music defines this new version of one of the biggest format categories. Classic Hits Gold will feature proven hit music from the mid/late-60s through the early/mid-80s, from artists like The Eagles, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Hall & Oates, Queen, The Beatles, and Chicago.
Like the other Classic Hits formats from Westwood One, Classic Hits Gold will be hosted by top-quality personalities with a contemporary presentation. Distributed on the patented STORQ platform, it allows for complete clock and break flexibility, and can be localized with content from the affiliate. Regularly scheduled features and theme weekends will increase the local sales potential for this mainstay format. Classic Hits Gold will not be branded on-air, so stations will retain their desired image, slogans and live shows, and local identifiers will be supplied by the network image voice.
“The Classic Hits format has evolved, and with our flexible production platform we can offer it flavored however our customers desire,” commented Kirk Stirland, President of Programming at Westwood One. “Now, with three versions, we can provide a station with programming for whatever their local strategic position might be.”
Complete information on Classic Hits Gold, and all Westwood One formats is available at www.westwoodone.com, and through Eric Sundstrom, Vice President of Affiliate Sales, at esundstrom@westwoodone.com or (505) 510-2373.
Radio Influence has announced the return of the “MJ MORNING SHOW PODCAST” to the Radio Influence family beginning Tuesday, October 22, 2019.
For nearly two decades, the MJ Morning Show was a staple in the radio industry originating from WFLZ/Tampa. The show was also a longtime ratings hit for 14 years in the St. Louis market on KSLZ and had a successful run in Jacksonville, FL on KISS. MJ (Todd Schnitt), Fester, and Froggy left an impression on listeners that has yet to be filled since leaving the airwaves in February, 2012. Now, the guys are back with “MJ Morning Show Podcast.”
Todd “MJ” Schnitt said, “Since the MJ Morning Show left the air, I’ve been perpetually asked by listeners if there’s any chance the show could return? Today, the answer is yes, as we join Radio Influence with our new podcast series.
“Radio Influence is so excited to be a part of the relaunch of the MJ Morning Show,” said CEO Jerry Petuck. “I’ve known MJ, Fester, and Froggy dating back to my start in terrestrial radio in 1997 and have a ton of respect for them, both professionally and personally. I know a lot of people have approached them over the years about putting the proverbial band back together and the fact that it’s actually coming to fruition, especially in the podcasting forum, is phenomenal.”
The Radio Influence family of shows include a variety of both terrestrial radio hosts and established internet broadcasters providing a great mix and different perspectives on sports, entertainment, lifestyle, and more. All programs can be found on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, Google Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and RadioInfluence.com.
Since 2001, Todd Schnitt has hosted the nationally syndicated Schnitt Show, distributed by Compass Media Networks and heard daily on over 50 stations He also co-hosts the Fark and Schnitt podcast with Drew Curtis, the founder of radio’s favorite show-prep site, Fark.com.
Norah O'Donnell, he former “CBS This Morning” host who is getting paid at least $7 million a year by CBS News boss Susan Zirinsky to revive the perennially third-ranked newscast — is getting hammered in the ratings worse than her predecessors did, reports The NY Post.
In the last week alone, O’Donnell’s total viewers plunged 17 percent to 5.1 million, according to Nielsen. Among viewers in the crucial demographic ages 25 to 54 that’s coveted by advertisers, the drop was a heart-stopping 25 percent.
The slide has steadily accelerated during the past month, with weekly ratings in the key age group falling between 20 and 29 percent versus a year ago. That’s far steeper than the single-digit drops during the year-and-a-half tenure of her predecessor Jeff Glor, who was pulling down $2 million a year, according to a source.
It’s a troubling sign for CBS, whose evening newscast has been stuck in third place since the tail end of Dan Rather’s tenure, which ended in controversy over his reporting about President George W. Bush’s military service.
Asked about the decline, CBS sent The NY Post a statement from Zirinsky, saying the network is “extremely pleased with how quickly the ‘CBS Evening News’ with Norah O’Donnell has established itself as a must-see destination for exclusive reporting and investigative journalism. We’re just getting started — ratings are not the sole measure at this time.”
ABC's David Muir, NBC's Lester Holt
To be sure, all three nightly newscasts have gotten slammed as viewers increasingly defect to the Web. In the 2018-19 season, ABC’s “World News Tonight” with David Muir came in first place, slipping 0.3 percent as it attracted 8.6 million viewers. On NBC “Nightly News,” Lester Holt’s total viewers fell 2.6 percent to 7.9 million, although he led the 25-to-54 group with 1.7 million.
But CBS’ dismal 2018-19 decline — in which its overall viewership sank 6 percent to 5.8 million through the middle of last month — has only worsened with the arrival of O’Donnell.
Nevertheless, critics say CBS executives have botched the transition, failing to launch O’Donnell’s tenure with a major publicity campaign or slogan. The network has pledged to move O’Donnell to Washington — the first time a major news network has anchored its broadcast outside New York since the 1970s. But the timing has been vague.
A star-studded lineup of presenters are slated for the 31st Annual Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York City on Nov. 8.
All inductees with their notable presenters along with industry heavyweights will come together to celebrate at Gotham Hall.
Presenters include Jimmy Fallon, host of The Tonight Show; Christian Slater, award-winning actor and producer; Kevin Frazier, co-host of Entertainment Tonight; Andy Schuon, veteran radio and cable television programmer and music industry entrepreneur; Dave Gorab, vice president/general manager talk programming, SiriusXM; Frank Osborne, retired general manager of WYNY-FM New York; Joe McCoy, longtime program director of WCBS 101.1 FM; and Connie Sellecca, television actress, producer and radio host.
“This event is traditionally heartfelt and emotionally charged as the talented inductees are honored for accomplishments that most only dream of,” said Radio Hall of Fame Chairman Kraig Kitchin. “But this year will be even more magical with this A-list group of presenters who share a special connection with our inductees.”
Tickets are available at www.radiohalloffame.com. A portion of the ticket is a tax-deductible charitable donation to the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
The Mix Group is the presenting sponsor of the Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
President Trump said Saturday that he will no longer host the G-7 Summit at his struggling Miami golf resort — but blamed the media and Democrats for his about-face rather than concern over an appearance of self-dealing.
Trump made the announcement in a trio of evening tweets, lashing out at his Democratic rivals and at press opposition to his holding the summit at Trump National Doral:
.....its own 50 to 70 unit building. Would set up better than other alternatives. I announced that I would be willing to do it at NO PROFIT or, if legally permissible, at ZERO COST to the USA. But, as usual, the Hostile Media & their Democrat Partners went CRAZY!
....Therefore, based on both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility, we will no longer consider Trump National Doral, Miami, as the Host Site for the G-7 in 2020. We will begin the search for another site, including the possibility of Camp David, immediately. Thank you!
Democrats squared off in a debate on CNN last week, but neither the participants nor the moderators focused much on the economy — much less on Moody’s 2020 Presidential Election Model, a well-regarded forecast which had just been released.
However, the economy is top of mind with voters, and the historically accurate Moody’s report has President Trump winning in almost all scenarios.
News-Talk WFPA 1400 AM in Fort Payne, AL, near the border with Georgia, is off the air as of Friday after falling behind in rent.
DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tyler Pruett confirmed The 1 kw station WFPA, owned by Wallace Broadcasting, was evicted from their studio after failing to pay rent. Pruett further stated the station had multiple notices before they were evicted.
One listener set up a GoFundMe to get the station back on the air. As of late Sunday morning, $330 had been raised.
WFPA owner Mike Wallace reached out to WHNT News 19 and stated the station was forced off the air during the morning show Friday.
Wallace said the station’s former tower was dismantled as part of the eviction, but they’ve already moved to a new space and have ordered a new tower, with plans to be back on the air before the end of the month.
Excerpts from Ronan Farrow’s book “Catch and Kill” provided new details into the complaint that resulted in the firing of former “Today” anchor Matt Lauer, spurring NBC News to defend its handling of the situation from nearly two years ago.
New polling finds that a majority of those who disapprove of network responses’ to allegations of sexual harassment or assault may be ready to turn away from those channels, or already have.
An Oct. 10-13 Morning Consult/The Hollywood Reporter poll asked 2,200 U.S. adults if they approved of how various television networks handled allegations of sexual harassment or assault. Thirty-four percent said they approved of how NBC has handled such allegations, compared to the 17 percent that disapproved — similar to the evaluations for ABC and CBS, and superior to Fox News’ rating.
Northwest Harvest, Washington state’s leading hunger relief agency, raised a total of $101,743 at this year’s KZOK Rock the Harvest radiothon, powered by Delta Air Lines. These donations equate to 456,000 nutritious meals that will be distributed to local food banks, meal programs, and high-need schools.
“For KZOK, it’s all about the fight to end hunger here in the great Pacific Northwest,” stated KZOK’s Program Director, Chris Sargent. “It’s totally awe inspiring to bring advertisers, listeners, and staff together for another year focused on making a meaningful difference here at home.”
The 12-hour on-air funds drive has become a yearly tradition – and a fabulous way for radio listeners to participate in and support the health and wellbeing of their local community.
“We are always so excited for this annual event,” said Northwest Harvest CEO, Thomas Reynolds.
“To be able to engage with radio listeners and hear the personal stories about their life experience as they are calling in to make a contribution is an amazing thing to be a part of. The support for Northwest Harvest from KZOK and their listeners is deeply appreciated.”
Over the past 22 years, Rock the Harvest has over nearly $1.2 million, making it one of the largest and most impactful annual one-day campaigns for Northwest Harvest and our state’s emergency food system.
If you missed out on this year’s event, please go to northwestharvest.org to make a donation.
The Weather Channel is moving beyond cold fronts and heat waves to wade into the politics of climate change, with a special planned for early next month that includes interviews with nine presidential candidates on the topic.
The campaign’s most prominent climate change skeptic — President Donald Trump — declined an invitation to participate, reports The Associated Press.
The hour-long special, scheduled to debut Nov. 7, interviews candidates at various sites chosen to illustrate the impact of climate change. Sen. Bernie Sanders, for example, speaks at the site of a devastating California wildfire and Sen. Kamala Harris along a flood-prone area of the Mississippi River.
The Weather Channel has done specials on the impact of climate change in Alaska and along the Louisiana coast, for example, but this is the first time the network has gotten involved directly in a political campaign.
➥In 1908...The first two-sided vinyl record was offered for sale.
The first sound recordings at the end of the 19th century were made on cylinder records, which had a single round surface capable of holding approximately two minutes of sound. Early shellac disc records records only had recordings on one side of the disc, with a similar capacity (both media could hold between three and four minutes by 1910). Double-sided recordings, with one selection on each side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records, and by 1910 most record labels had adopted the format in both Europe and the United States; the ability to effectively double the amount of sound on the disc was one major factor in its rising to dominance over the cylinder record which was obsolete by 1912.
There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations (by and large) did not play recorded music until the 1950s (when top 40 radio overtook full-service network radio). In this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important; the "side" did not convey anything about the content of the record
➦In 1915...First transmission of speech across the Atlantic Ocean was made by radiotelephone, Arlington, Va., to Paris.
➦In 1969...Radio personality Roby Yonge aired the infamous “Paul is Dead” show at 77 WABC, NYC.
Originally hired for the 1 - 3 PM shift, Yonge was moved into the overnight shift in August 1969 when Charlie Greer left the station. He was told by program director Rick Sklar in the early fall, that his contract would not be renewed. He subsequently went on the air with the Paul McCartney "death" rumor on October 21, 1969, having heard the rumor from WKNR Detroit radio personality Chris Randall.
Stating that he had already been fired and that at 12:39 AM, he would not be "cut" because there was nobody around, Yonge began to speculate on rumors circulating about the possible death of McCartney. He enumerated various "clues" in album cover art which he said had been catalogued by thirty Indiana University Bloomington students. Callers lit up the station switchboard. It was an hour and a half before program director Rick Sklar got Les Marshak in to relieve Yonge. Marshak continued to do Yonge's show until a replacement was hired.
Yonge was hired by WCBS 101.1 FM, where he helped introduce their "Oldies" format in the early'70s. After a few years, he returned to his native Florida, where he served as general manager of Mother WMUM, an early FM rock station in Palm Beach. After the demise of Mother in 1972, Yonge became a morning personality on Y100 WHYI in Fort Lauderdale/Miami. He was fired after the first day on the air, August 3, 1973. He moved to the competitor WMYQ-FM, where he spoke as a commentator with a morning show. In 1987, Yonge did a morning show at WKAT in Miami, then returned in 1993 to do a music/talk show on 790 WMRZ.
Roby Yonge died on July 18, 1997 of an apparent heart attack at age 54.
➦In 2000...NYC Personality Frankie Crocker died from pancreatic cancer.
Crocker began his career in Buffalo at the AM Soul powerhouse WUFO (also the home to future greats Eddie O'Jay, Herb Hamlett, Gary Byrd and Chucky T) before moving to Manhattan, where he first worked for Soul station WWRL and later Top40 WMCA in 1969.
He then worked for WBLS-FM as program director, taking that station to the top of the ratings during the late 1970s and pioneering the radio format now known as urban contemporary.
Frankie Crocker was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2000, and the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2005
➦In 2014…Veteran Boston radio personality Dale Dorman died at age 71 after a long illness (Born September 2, 1943).
Dale Dorman
Dorman broadcast in Boston for close to 40 years, starting on WCHN AM/FM (Norwich, NY) doing an afternoon rock show, then going to WOLF (Syracuse, New York 1965), KYNO (Fresno, CA) 65-66, KFRC (San Francisco) 66-68, WRKO (1968–78), and later on WXKS-FM (1978-2003). He joined WODS during the summer of 2003.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Dorman was also an on-air announcer for television on WLVI-TV, Boston for children's programming as "Uncle Dale", and occasionally for the channel's Saturday afternoon Creature Double Feature showcase of syndicated monster movie presentations.
With his lightening fast reflexes, a gift for genuinely clever patter and an astounding ability to “post” a song intro, he did what few others have ever done — he remained a force and a positive influence on radio and music for 45 years.
Dale was 24 when he took over morning drive at WRKO in August, 1968 and delivered top ratings for ten years.
He also hosted the afternoon kid’s show on TV-38 and the weekend “Creature Double-Feature” as Uncle Dale. By the late 70’s FM radio had eclipsed AM for music listening. After a brief stop at WVBF Dale landed his second long-term gig doing afternoon drive at Kiss 108 (WXKS-FM) for 23 years. “To be able to be a top-rated jock on a Top-40 station in his 60s is really astounding,” Don Kelley, then Vice President of Programming for Magic 106.7 WMJX and now President of the Mass Broadcasters Hall of Fame, told the Boston Globe in 2003, when Dale left Kiss 108.
In 2003 Dale moved back to morning drive at Oldies 103 (WODS/Boston). “I wound up at Oldies 103 playing the same music that I played at WRKO when I was just starting out,” he told the Globe in 2008. “A bunch of people started calling. They were like, ‘Oh, wow! How are you? Where have you been?’ ” playing the same songs that he played on WRKO in the 60’s and 70’s, but by now they had become oldies.
Dale was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2015 the brand new Dale Dorman studio at Massasoit Community College was dedicated in his name.
