Talk-radio icon Rush Limbaugh said during his show Monday he is being treated for advanced lung cancer, adding that he could miss broadcasts as a result.
The Wall Street journal reports Limbaugh, a towering figure in conservative politics, said he had been considering how to deal with the diagnosis in recent weeks, and said he informed his staff Monday. He cited his relationship with God and connection with his audience as sources of strength.
Limbaugh, 69 years old, has in the past dealt with health issues while in the public eye. In 2003, he said he was dependent on prescription pain medication and was entering a rehab clinic to deal with the problem.
“This day has been one of the most difficult days in recent memory, for me, because I’ve known this moment was coming,” Limbaugh said. “I’m sure that you all know by now that I really don’t like talking about myself and I don’t like making things about me… one thing that I know, that has happened over the 31-plus years of this program is that there has been an incredible bond that had developed between all of you and me.”
Fox News reports Limbaugh then told his audience that his job has provided him with the “greatness satisfaction and happiness” of his life.
Limbaugh's remarks start at the 1:39:15 Time Mark:
"So, I have to tell you something today that I wish I didn’t have to tell you. It’s a struggle for me because I had to inform my staff earlier today,” he said. “I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down. The upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.”
"I first realized something was wrong on my birthday weekend, January 12th.
"I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, and I thought about not telling anybody. I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing, ’cause I don’t like making things about me. But there are going to be days that I’m not gonna be able to be here because I’m undergoing treatment or I’m reacting to treatment, and I know that that would inspire all kinds of curiosity with people wondering what’s going on.
Those of you who are listening to the Rush Limbaugh show now. Pray with us. Thank you. God Bless you Rush Limbaugh. Love you so much Rush.
Rich Bressler, President, COO and CFO of iHeartMedia issued a statement:
"Rush Limbaugh shared with us the news that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Over his last 31 years on-air he has developed a deeply personal relationship with his listeners and he intends to remain on the air, being there with his audience. I know millions of people nationwide join me and all of iHeart in wishing him a full recovery. Rush is both a colleague and a dear friend, and I know he will handle the situation with courage and grace. Our thoughts are with him and his family and we are supporting them in every way."
Stung by NBC’s plan to “pre-air” the Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers latenight shows on its upcoming Peacock streaming service hours prior to their regular broadcast, the NBC affiliates board has been talking to NBCU brass about modifying or scuttling the plan and appears be making some progress, reports TV NewsCheck.
Ever since they heard about it a week or prior to the official Jan. 16 announcement in New York, the affiliates have been squawking about losing the first-runs of the shows. After speaking to some of the affiliates, TVNewsCheck columnist Hank Price blasted the plan: “This is an outrageous breach of trust.”
Reached by phone late last Friday (Jan. 31), Gray Television Co-CEO and NBC Affiliate Board Chairman Pat LaPlatney declined to discuss the matter, but released a statement suggesting that some kind of settlement was in the works.
“The NBC Affiliate Board has had productive dialogue regarding Peacock and are working toward a plan that is good for NBCU and provides affiliates the opportunity to meaningfully participate in this business,” it says.
“The NBC affiliate body has had a very positive 70-year relationship with the network, and are in continual dialogue with the NBC on this matter and other elements of the network-affiliate partnership.”
Starting on April 15, NBC will offer Peacock to consumers with broadband connections in a variety of ways. Peacock Free will be ad-supported and contain past and current NBC series (the current ones after they are broadcast), movies and sports, including the 2020 Olympics.
The Kansas City Chiefs pulled off a 31-20 comeback win over the San Francisco 49ers last night (February 2nd), rallying from being down by 10 points with just under six-and-a-half minutes left to play at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, to nab the franchise's first Super Bowl championship in 50 years.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was named the game MVP, finally found his spark in the second half of the fourth quarter, leading the Chiefs to three touchdowns in five minutes for their third straight win this postseason after being behind by 10 points or more. The victory also gave Andy Reid his first Super Bowl ring in two decades as head coach, having previously won a championship as tight ends coach with the Green Bay Packers in 1996.
Stats:
The 24-year-old Mahomes is the youngest quarterback to be named Super Bowl MVP, and the third-youngest player overall, behind Marcus Allen and Lynn Swan.
The 49ers are just the third team in Super Bowl history to give up a 10-point lead in the second half.
The Chiefs' only other championship was in Super Bowl IV in 1970 over the Minnesota Vikings. In their one other Super Bowl appearance, they lost the very first one in 1967 to the Green Bay Packers.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Braves three years ago when they suffered their own Super Bowl collapse and lost to the New England Patriots in overtime after having been up 28-3 midway through the third quarter.
Kobe Bryant Tribute:
The teams paid tribute to L.A. Lakers great Kobe Bryant, who was killed in a helicopter crash one week earlier along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people. The Chiefs and 49ers players lined up for a moment of silence, standing on their respective 24-yard lines in tribute to Bryant's Number 24 jersey. Several players also wore cleats during warmups with tributes to Bryant, and during Fox's pre-game show, the 49ers' Richard Sherman read a poem called, "Dear Football," adapting most of it from "Dear Basketball," the poem Kobe wrote as a way of announcing that he'd be retiring after the 2015-16 NBA season. Sherman ended by saying, "We love you Kobe. We love you Gianna. Love always, Richard."
"AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"
Renowned gospel singer Yolanda Adams performed a riveting rendition of “America the Beautiful” before the game. Standing atop a giant white football, the Texas legend was joined by the Children’s Choir of Miami for the pregame exhibition.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Demi Lovato crushed her performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” continuing her big music comeback after taking a year-and- a-half hiatus following a drug overdose. Many applauded Lovato’s rendition of the U.S. National Anthem, which earned massive applause at Hard Rock Stadium and praise from the online community.
THE HALFTIME SHOW
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez took to the stage during the halftime show and belted out some of their best known hits. The set included “Whenever, Wherever” and “Waka Waka” by Shakira and “Waiting for Tonight” and “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” by Lopez, among a slew of their other club anthems. The singers performed on a circular stage that was elaborately lit as fireworks erupted from the top of the Hard Rock Stadium.
'Ass Time' Show
During the performance, Shakira, dressed in a red sequin outfit, performed a belly dance with a rope that led into her iconic song “Hips Don’t Lie.” Then Lopez took to the stage in black leather while holding on to the antenna of a mock skyscraper and sang her thumping hit about her Bronx beginnings, “Jenny from the Block.” She then ran through a medley of her classic tunes as leather-donned backup dancers performed complex routines.
Lopez commanded the stage in a perfectly choreographed rendition of “Get Right,” joined Shakira in a salsa number and welcomed her daughter Emme on the field for a duet of “Let’s Get Loud” and “Born in the USA” -- while donning a cape with both the Puerto Rican and American flags.
She had five outfit changes and props, including a pole, in a tribute to her Hustlers character. At points J Balvin and Bad Bunny took the stage, continuing the celebration of Latin musicians.
"Groundhog Day," a brilliant 60-second reprise from Jeep starring Bill Murray, finished first in USA TODAY's Ad Meter, which ranks Super Bowl ads by consumer rating . The spot barely beat out Hyundai's "Smaht Pahk" commercial in which John Krasinski, Chris Evans, Rachel Dratch, and David “Big Papi” Ortiz marvel over the car's ability to park itself. Round out the Top 5 in voting were Google's "Loretta," Doritos' "The Cool Ranch" and Rocket Mortgage's "Comfortable."
Advertisers paid up to $5.6 million for a 30-second Super Bowl ad this year. Celebrities, as always, were everywhere, and advertisers kept things funny and playful, steering away from some of the more political or social cause-focused ads of the last few years. The most notable exceptions were the two campaign ads from President Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg. Both featured African-American women, Bloomberg's a mother whose son was lost to gun violence, and Trump's Alice Johnson, who was freed from prison after being granted clemency.
USA Today' Ad Meter: USA Today held its annual Ad Meter review of the Super Bowl commercials in which people register online and vote on the ads. The full results, including the most popular and least popular ads, will be available today as of 8:15 a.m. ET
Spotted at The Super Bowl:
Apple's Eddy Cue and Paul McCartney, which prompted speculation about a future collaboration.
Jeff Bezos and Lizzo. The Amazon chief says he's "100% the singer's biggest fan."
Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall, Lachlan Murdoch, Fox Sports chief Erik Shanks and Fox Entertainment chief Charlie Collier.
TMZ posted the video Sunday of the celebrity couple sitting along with daughter Blue Ivy at Hard Rock Stadium, where the San Francisco 49ers were playing the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jay-Z, a co-producer of the halftime show featuring Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, announced his Roc Nation company had entered a partnership with the NFL for events and social activism last year. The rapper received immediate backlash since he had become one of the biggest supporters of Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a fissure in the NFL when he decided to kneel when the national anthem was played before games to protest the killings of blacks by police officers.
Jay-Z’s response was that he still supports protesting, kneeling and Kaepernick, but he’s also interested in working with the league to make substantial changes, the Associated Press reports.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said his organization is "very open to changing packages, very open to changing partners" when it comes to negotiating media contracts that will expire in the next few years during an appearance on "Sunday Morning Futures."
Fox Business Network reports Goodell said there are no "formal negotiations" about the future of DirecTV's Sunday Ticket package, which expires in 2022.
"We are very open to changing packages, very open to changing partners, very open to do the best thing we can for our fans and for the league overall for the long term," Goodell said.
The long-serving NFL commissioner also discussed how the way that viewers watch NFL games is changing, especially because of social media.
The conversation with Goodell starts at the 16:30 Time Mark:
"We love to be available on the broadest medium," Goodell said. "That's why our network partners are important to us. But we've supplemented that by bringing in other opportunities to reach fans that may not be watching on network television. They may not be watching a full game. They may be watching highlights, so social, over-the-top digital transmission of our broadcasts is really important to us."
Both Amazon and Twitter have signed deals to livestream NFL content in the past few years.
"We make it easy for people to engage because we want the broadest number of people to watch," Goodell said.
Two months after launching Disney+, the Walt Disney Co. is lobbying Florida lawmakers to slash taxes on video streaming services and other technologies — a move that could cost local governments nearly $200 million a year.
Emails obtained by the Orlando Sentinel show that a lobbyist representing Disney and Charter Communications Inc. — the parent company of cable provider Spectrum — has been working directly with the staff of House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, on a plan to rewrite the state’s communications services tax, which is charged on a variety of services, from landline telephones and cellphones to cable, satellite television and streaming video.
Two lobbyists involved with the legislation said Disney is leading the effort.
The proposal (HB 701, SB 1174) would make three significant changes. It would ensure the tax is charged on all streaming video services, forcing any providers who may not be collecting the tax to start doing so. It would make cities and counties, which currently set their own rates, levy a single, standardized rate. And it would cut the tax — but force local governments, rather than the state itself, to absorb almost all of the revenue hit.
The plan has been embraced by some lawmakers in Tallahassee eager to reduce what they sometimes call Florida’s “cellphone tax,” which averages 12.44% for most services.
“I want every Floridian who has a cellphone — or has Netflix, Comcast or Spectrum, any kind of communication service — I want every Floridian who has that in Florida to get a tax cut,” said Rep. Jason Fischer, R-Jacksonville, who is sponsoring the bill in the House.
But for Disney and other big streaming providers, analysts say the motive may not be to save consumers money but rather to create space for the companies to charge higher prices themselves.
The world’s biggest media and technology companies are locked in a potentially existential battle for streaming supremacy — and every dollar counts.
But consumers have finite budgets, and there is a limit to how much they will spend on streaming services. A survey commissioned last year by the Wall Street Journal found Americans are willing to spend an average of $44 a month on their combined streaming services. A survey by financial-consulting firm KPMG put the figure even lower: $33 a month. When it comes to paying for streaming services, KPMG found, there is “a high degree of price sensitivity.”
The combination of consumer price sensitivity and skyrocketing production budgets has made finding ways to squeeze other costs out of the system — like taxes — crucial for Disney and other big streaming providers.
A proposed bill in Maryland that would tax digital advertising is “extremely detrimental” and would “create a regulatory enforcement nightmare,” the Association of National Advertisers says.
MediaPost reports the bill, SB 2, would impose a tax ranging from 2.5% to 10% of revenue derived from advertising to users who appear to be in the state based on their IP address.
The measure would only apply to companies that glean more than $100 million in global digital advertising revenue.
The measure could raise an estimated $250 million, according to a memo prepared by the state Department of Legislative Services. The agency adds that the bill is aimed at “large multinational corporations, such as Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Facebook, and others that have a large presence in digital advertising.”
The memo also notes that the bill could face legal challenges.
“Past efforts to impose taxes on the news media or advertising revenues have been rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds,” the agency writes.
In addition, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in the 1950s that a proposed tax in Baltimore on television, newspaper, and radio advertising would have violated the First Amendment.
The ANA, which testified against the bill Wednesday at a hearing of the Maryland Senate Committee on Budget and Taxation, adds that the bill could also be unconstitutional because it would tax companies based on business activity outside the state.
Longtime Columbiam SC sports radio personality Teddy Heffner has earned what he called “a reprieve” when he announced his daily talk show will move from WFMV 620 AM, its home for the past five years, to WCOS 1400 AM Fox Sports 1400 and iHeartMedia, beginning Feb. 10.
Teddy Heffner
The State reports Heffner spent nearly 20 years with then-Clear Channel Radio (now iHeartMedia) before a format change forced him out in late 2014. His three-hour show will air from 9 a.m. to noon weekdays. Since March 2015, he had worked the 6 to 9 a.m. (later 7 to 9 a.m.) for Glory Communications’ AM and FM signals.
That position was to end this past Friday, with the former WGCV changing formats as of Feb. 1.
“I was ‘dead man walking,’ and I could see the door to the execution chamber,” Heffner said. “But fortunately, I got a reprieve before I got there.”
Heffner, a former sports reporter for The State, has worked in sports-talk radio for nearly 30 years.
“We are looking forward to having Teddy back on Fox Sports 1400,” iHeartMedia senior vice president/programming LJ Smith said Friday. “His knowledge of sports and the connection he has with his listeners is really unique to Columbia radio. And now people can listen to him no matter where they live or travel, on the iHeartRadio App.
“It’s a win-win-win. Teddy is back doing what he loves, listeners have their trusted sports expert back every day and we get to work with a great guy. We could not be more excited.”
Heffner, 68, announced on-air recently that his job at WFMV was ending Friday. After negotiations with iHeartMedia, he told listeners this past Wednesday of his new position.
The Des Moines Register, CNN and Selzer & Co. Saturday made the decision to not release the final installment of the CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll as planned.
"Nothing is more important to the Register and its polling partners than the integrity of the Iowa Poll. Today, a respondent raised an issue with the way the survey was administered, which could have compromised the results of the poll. It appears a candidate’s name was omitted in at least one interview in which the respondent was asked to name their preferred candidate.
"While this appears to be isolated to one surveyor, we cannot confirm that with certainty. Therefore, the partners made the difficult decision to not to move forward with releasing the Iowa Poll."
The Register has published the Iowa Poll for 76 years, and it is considered the gold standard in political polling. Selzer & Co., which conducts the poll, is recognized for its excellence in polling. It is imperative whenever an Iowa Poll is released that there is confidence that the data accurately reflects Iowans’ opinions.
In December, a jury ruled that US-based internet service provider Cox Communications was liable for the infringement of over 10,000 music copyrights by its users. The company was ordered to pay Universal, Sony and Warner a whopping $1bn in collective damages – equivalent to just over $99,000 for each of the 10,017 works infringed.
If you wanted to know the extent to which this news delighted the major record companies, Music Business Worldwide reports one only need read the words of Warner Music Group CEO Steve Cooper from his company’s quarterly earnings call on Friday (January 31).
Cooper noted Warner’s satisfaction with the ruling, which he pointed out was the fifth largest U.S jury award in the whole of 2019, and which, he said, “clearly demonstrates that juries understand piracy is not okay”.
Cooper noted that WMG and/or the record industry had also brought similar cases against four other ISPs: Charter, Grande, RCN and Bright House, “all of which should proceed to trial within the next 12 to 18 months”.
The inference is clear: with Cox being stung for ten-figure damages, a promising precedent has been set ahead of the record industry’s litigation against others working in the ISP space.
But now there could be a spanner in the works. Cox Communications just lodged a fierce legal motion challenging the $1bn damages verdict – calling it “unprecedented”, and suggesting that the amount of money it’s being told to pay is “grossly excessive”.
According to a Memorandum, filed Friday with the Eastern District of Virginia Court, Cox argues: “The $1 billion award is a miscarriage of justice; it is shockingly excessive and unlawfully punitive, and should be remitted or result in a new trial.”
Cox adds: “The award of $1 billion appears to be the largest award of statutory copyright damages in history. This is not by a matter of degree. It is the largest such award by a factor of eight.
The filing adds: “Cox respectfully submits that the evidence in this case did not support the jury’s findings of direct, contributory, or vicarious liability as to any of the works in suit, and that at least 8,000 of the works in suit should not have been considered by the jury.”
Cox also points out that the record companies “urged the jury to award massive damages based, in large part, on assertions of Cox’s massive profits”.
The minister charged with modernizing Canada’s broadcast and telecommunications law says if the government is to adopt recommendations laid out by an expert panel, licensing enforcement likely won’t be applied the same way for small media groups as it will be for global tech giants.
According to CTVNews, one of the report’s proposals, drafted by former telecommunications executive Janet Yale, specifically suggests requiring all companies that deliver "audio, audiovisual, and alphanumeric news content" to Canadians be regulated by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) or another body, through a licence or registration.
"If you’re a distributor of content in Canada and obviously if you’re a very small media organization the requirement probably wouldn’t be the same if you’re Facebook, or Google. There would have to be some proportionality embedded into this," said Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault in an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday.
He said the government will take time to carefully consider the 97 guidelines set out by the expert panel, most of which suggest handing over more powers to the CRTC.
Attempting to curtail freedom of speech and access to information under the veil of “regulation and licensing” is undemocratic and offends Canadian constitutional values. This is lipstick on the pig of censorship. #cdnpoli#cdnmediahttps://t.co/2Tl6BcPs58
Among those recommendations is a requirement for streaming companies to contribute to the production of Canadian content by applying a levy or requiring they allocate a portion of revenue to the cause. The tax model has been popularly coined as the "Netflix Tax," but Guilbeault says the two concepts are different.
Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, told CTVNews.ca the report is "candidly extreme" and has no "physical boundaries."
He said the goal of generating more Canadian content remains unclear, given the record success the Canadian film and television sector has seen in recent years.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, who holds the title of shadow minister for industry and economic development, shares this perspective and voiced her concerns in a statement following the release of the report.
Another of the panel’s submissions she contends with is the notion that the CRTC would identify news sites that are "accurate, trusted, and reliable" to enhance the "diversity of voices."
Michael Sanchez, the brother of Jeff Bezos’ girlfriend, sued the Amazon.com Inc. founder for defamation, alleging his representatives spread false rumors to news outlets that Mr. Sanchez provided graphic nude photos of Bezos to the press.
The Wall Street Journal reports the lawsuit, filed Friday in California state court in Los Angeles, also names as a defendant Gavin de Becker, a security consultant hired by Mr. Bezos. Mr. Sanchez, a talent manager, claims Mr. de Becker worked with Mr. Bezos to spread false statements about the public disclosure of Mr. Bezos’ affair with Lauren Sanchez, Sanchez’s sister.
A lawyer for Mr. Bezos said, “My client has chosen to address this lawsuit in court and we will do that soon.”
A lawyer representing Ms. Sanchez provided a statement on her behalf. It said, “Michael is my older brother. He secretly provided my most personal information to the National Enquirer—a deep and unforgivable betrayal.”
Sanchez’s lawsuit acknowledges that he helped publicize the relationship in an attempt to get out in front of news about the relationship.
His lawsuit concerns what he says was a campaign by Mr. Bezos and de Becker to blame Sanchez for turning over graphic nude photographs, which Sanchez denies doing. People familiar with Sanchez’s dealings with the tabloid said he showed a below-the-belt selfie of Mr. Bezos to the Enquirer, without providing a copy, but turned over other images.
The lawsuit comes amid renewed scrutiny over the source of photos obtained by the National Enquirer around the time it published a January 2019 article. The tabloid published photos of Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sanchez in public, but it withheld photos it said Mr. Sanchez sold to the Enquirer.
Last month, a forensic audit commissioned by Bezos alleged that his phone was hacked by a WhatsApp account associated with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudi government has called that allegation absurd.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the alleged hack of Bezos’ phone and whether National Enquirer parent American Media Inc. attempted to extort Mr. Bezos. In a blog post last year, Mr. Bezos accused American Media of trying to blackmail him by threatening to release embarrassing photos.
Sanchez has denied giving the Enquirer “the many penis selfies” but declined to comment when asked by The Wall Street Journal whether he gave other photos of Bezos to the Enquirer.
Prosecutors have evidence showing that at least some texts supplied to the National Enquirer by Mr. Sanchez came from his sister’s phone, the Journal has previously reported.
Kal Rudman, the founder of Friday Morning Quarterback, the noted trade publication that covered the radio and broadcast industry, announced that the publication will be ‘retired,’ Celebrity Access reports.
Founded in 1968, FMBQ started as a mimeographed-and-stapled Top40 tipsheet catering to radio programmers.
Kal Rudman
The publication quickly became a staple for the broadcast industry, based largely on Rudman’s ear for future hits which he published in FMQB’s ‘Red Sheet’ front page which was literally published on red paper in order to prevent copy machine piracy.
Rudman’s Red Sheet and understanding of the radio market played a key role in the early careers of many noted artists, helping them break through to the mainstream.
“Kal Rudman is a force of nature,” added veteran rock-radio programmer Charlie Kendall in a press statement announcing the publication’s end.
“The two of them [Kal and his wife Lucille], turned a basement newsletter into a multi-million-dollar publication that was an asset to music and radio for 52 years. And their philanthropic efforts through the Kal and Lucille Rudman Foundation are legendary.”
Rudman sold FMQB’s assets to Cherry Hill-based Deane Media Solutions but said that while he’s done with FMQB, he’s not done with the radio biz.
“I am retiring from the music industry, but not the radio business,” Rudman said.
“For a long time, I have focused much of my philanthropic efforts in the medical world, and now I am merging that with radio. For over 50 years, I have been the specialist in predicting countless hits for numerous artists, and I’ve received unique recognition by the music industry as not only a tastemaker but a star maker. However, times have changed drastically, along with the industry, and it was time for me to move on to my original passion, medicine.”
Former South Carolina radio personality James Thomas “Tom” Kinard died Saturday morning.
Tom Kinard
He was 71-years-of-age and retired in 2012 ending a career that last nearly 50 years.
He is probably best remembered in the Pee Dee for his local radio show “Kinard N Koffee” on WJMX 1400 AM in Darlington, SC.
“He was the ‘Voice of Florence’ for many years,” said Dan E. Lockemy, a friend and former colleague. “He had such a welcoming and soothing voice.”
“I’ll never forget his laugh and voice,” said Cecil Chandler, who worked in radio with Kinard during the ’60s. “You could always recognize his voice. He had a great voice and personality.”
“Tom and I worked together for about three years before he went to (WAYS 610 AM Charlotte) ‘Big Ways’ and I went to WCOS (Columbia, SC),” he said.
“It was a shock,” Lockemy said, to hear of Kinard’s death. “It is a shock when someone of his stature passes away. You never get over it.”
Lockemy said they became friends when he joined Kinard at WJMX on the radio in 1990. He said at that time Kinard had the hit morning show on the AM side called “Kinard N Koffee.”
“He was a wonderful guy,” Lockemy said. “He was very personable. He was the ultimate radio announcer.”
An obituary for Kinard says he interviewed “countless people from presidents and actors to musicians and authors. His heart, though, was always with interviewing local people about events relevant to the Pee Dee.”
“He did a lot of public-service events,” Chandler said. Kinard was a big supporter of community events and always got them on the radio.
Kinard received numerous awards during his lifetime, including the national Marconi Award for Broadcasting.
➦In 1927...a forerunner of the F.C.C, the Federal Radio Commission, was created by a law signed into effect by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.The FRC was a government body that regulated radio use in the United States from its creation in 1926 until its replacement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1934. The Commission was created to regulate radio use "as the public interest, convenience, or necessity" requires. The Radio Act of 1927 superseded the Radio Act of 1912, which had given regulatory powers over radio communication to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The Radio Act of 1912 did not mention broadcasting and limited all private radio communications to what is now the AM band.
WEAV 960 AM (5 Kw DA-2)
In 1935...WEAV-AM, Plattsburgh NY signed-on as WMFF (1935-1948), owned by Plattsburgh Broadcasting Corporation (in turn controlled by the Bissell family), and operating on 1310 kHz. The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement in 1941 moved the station to 1340 kHz.
On October 23, 1948, the station changed its call letters to WEAV and relocated again, this time to the current 960 kHz. At one time an affiliate of ABC Radio and its predecessor, the Blue Network, WEAV switched to CBS Radio in the late 1950s.
The station inaugurated FM service on February 3, 1960, with the launch of WEAV 99.9. FM (now WBTZ-FM) as a simulcast of the AM station.
WEAV-AM currently airs Sports Talk as 960 AM The Zone. ➦In 1935...Martin Block started at WNEW-AM (now WBBR 1130 AM) in NYC at a salary of $20 per week. In 1935, while listeners to New York's WNEW in New York (now information outlet WBBR 1139 AM) were awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping, Block built his audience by playing records between the Lindbergh news bulletins.
This led to his Make Believe Ballroom, which began February 3, 1935 with Block borrowing both the concept and the title from West Coast disc jockey Al Jarvis, creating the illusion that he was broadcasting from a ballroom with the nation’s top dance bands performing live. He bought some records from a local music shop for the program as the radio station had none. Block purchased five Clyde McCoy records, selecting his "Sugar Blues" for the radio show's initial theme song.
Because Block was told by the station's sales staff that nobody would sponsor a radio show playing music, he had to find himself a sponsor. Block lined up a producer of reducing pills called "Retardo"; within a week, the sponsor had over 3,000 responses to the ads on Block's radio show. Martin Block's style of announcing was considerably different than the usual manner of delivery at the time. Instead of speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard in a theater, Block spoke in a normal voice, as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with a listener.
Abbott & Costello
When one of Block's sponsors offered a sale on refrigerators during a New York snowstorm, 109 people braved the elements for the bargain Block advertised; by 1941 potential sponsors for his show had to be put on a waiting list for availabilities.
➦In 1938... the kids radio adventure drama Challenge of the Yukon (about Sgt. Preston & his ‘wonder dog’ Yukon King) debuted in a 15 minute format on WXYZ Detroit. It completed George W. Trendle’s trilogy of juvenile adventures preceded by The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. The show went to the networks (ABC, then Mutual) in 30 minute form 1947 to ’55, and was retitled as Sgt Preston of the Yukon beginning in 1951.
➦In 1938...the comedy team of Abbott & Costello made their debut as cast members on CBS Radio’s “The Kate Smith Hour.”
Their routine "Who's on First?" is one of the best-known comedy routines of all time in the world, and set the framework for many of their best-known comedy bits.
➦In 1959… it was “the day the music died,” as Don McLean named it in his 1972 hit, “American Pie.” 22-year-old Buddy Holly, 28-year-old J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) and 17-year-old Ritchie Valens died in a chartered plane crash near Mason City, Iowa.
At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens, Richardson and Dion & the Belmonts had joined the tour as well. The long journeys between venues on board the cold, uncomfortable tour buses adversely affected the performers, with cases of flu and even frostbite. After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by such conditions, Holly chose to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, MN. Richardson, who had the flu, swapped places with Jennings, taking his seat on the plane, while Allsup lost his seat to Valens on a coin toss.
Soon after takeoff, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield. Everyone on board was killed. A number of monuments have been erected at the crash site and in Clear Lake, where an annual memorial concert is also held at the Surf Ballroom, the venue that hosted the artists' last performance.
In 1979, Wolfman Jack emceed a sold-out concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, which commemorated the 20th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Featured performers in the “Tribute to Buddy Holly” show were Del Shannon, Jimmy Clanton and the Drifters.
➦In 1968...Paul McCartney recorded “Lady Madonna” at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London. The record is credited to The Beatles, but McCartney played with unknown session musicians.
The song was release in mid-March, the single was their last release on Capitol Records in the U.S. All subsequent releases, starting with "Hey Jude" in August 1968, were issued on their Apple Records label.
➦In 1971...Jay C Flippen died at age 71, during surgery for an aneurysm caused by a swollen artery, one month before his 72nd birthday. He was a radio announcer for the New York Yankees.
➦In 2003... authorities arrested producer Phil Spector at his mansion in suburban Los Angeles. The body of actress Lana Clarkson had been found in the foyer. Her body was found slumped in a chair with a single gunshot wound to her mouth with broken teeth scattered over the carpet. Spector told Esquire in July 2003 that Clarkson's death was an "accidental suicide" and that she "kissed the gun". The emergency call from Spector's home, made by Spector's driver, Adriano de Souza, quotes Spector as saying, "I think I've killed someone". De Souza added that he saw Spector come out of the back door of the house with a gun in his hand.
On April 13, 2009 a jury returned a guilty verdict against Spector. He was taken into custody and was formally sentenced, on May 29, 2009, to 19 years to life in the California state prison system, where he remains.
➦In 2003…Longtime St. Louis radio personality Ron Morgan died of a heart ailment at age 60.
Ron Morgan came to St. Louis in 1973, taking an on-air position on Pulitzer powerhouse KSD. It was the beginning of a stay in St. Louis radio that would span nearly twenty years.
Known as “Morgan in the Morning,” he peppered his programs with droll humor supplemented with an infectious laugh and gave his program team plenty of opportunities to share the spotlight.
He also did mornings at KSD-FM and KLOU, as well as other shifts at KMOX and KHTR.
Morgan was also program director at CBS-owned KLOU when it hit the air with an oldies format, giving the station a strong group of personalities to complement the music, and he served as operations director at KSD-FM.
Mary Healey and Peter Lind Hayes
➦In 2015...actress/singer Mary Healy, who was part of a husband-and-wife comedy team with Peter Lind Hayes in the 1950s and ’60s, appearing on television and in a “life in suburbia” WOR 710 AM from their home in their New Rochelle NY, died at age 96.
They appeared together on two early 50’s TV variety shows, “The Peter Lind Hayes Show” on NBC and “Star of the Family” on CBS. The couple also had the leads in the NBC sitcom “Peter Loves Mary,” and were frequent guest panelists on the CBS game show “What’s My Line?” and vacation hosts on Arthur Godfrey’s TV & radio programs.
