This past week Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media Strategies made his first presentation of the soon-to-be-released Techsurvey 2022.
In a blog posting Jacobs states it's difficult to point to one specific data point because the study offers much to learn from the mountain of spreadsheets and charts. But, according to Jacobs the one eyebrow raiser in the study that makes an impact is less an answer to a question, and more about the continuation of a trend. If there was a surprise, it happened in 2019. This year's study simply confirmed what many have known all along:
Radio's ultimate strength as a medium is dependent on the power and popularity of its personalities.
Jacobs writes every respondent (30,000+ this year) was given more than 20 possible attributes, and asked to tell the main reasons they listen to AM/FM radio.
Two of them are “DJs/shows/hosts” and “To hear favorite songs/artists.”
That's right – it's the classic faceoff between music and talk, Jacobs claims. And over the past four years, the tables have turned. Over time, broadcast radio's appeal is less about the music it plays, and more about its personality lineup.
This chart trending nine consecutive years of Techsurvey's paints a clear and compelling picture of what core radio listeners care about:
Says Jacobs: Music has become commoditized. Music listeners can get every song ever recorded on their phone – commercial-free. Music on the radio simply isn't all that exclusive. But personality? They can only hear your morning show on your station. Talent is your exclusive, proprietary content.
One of New England’s legendary radio personalities, “Tiger” Bob Raleigh, 87, from WBZ Radio, has died. After a 40-year career that spanned the beginnings of rock and roll radio to a talk show that was heard in 38 states, Raleigh enjoyed retirement before suffering two strokes that ironically took his speech. He eventually succumbed to congestive heart failure on Sunday.
Raleigh retired in 1999 from WBZ Radio after a 20-year career where he won a number of national and regional radio awards including “Radio Personality of the Year, twice. His popular overnight talk show dominated the ratings claiming a 51% market share at his peak.
Before Boston, Raleigh worked in Washington D.C. for WWDC & WPGC, where he become so popular that management made his successor keep his “Tiger Bob” moniker to fool the audience.
He grew up in Cambridge, graduated from Rindge and Latin High School and after a short stint working, he enlisted in the Army assigned to the Headquarters Battery of the 3rd missile battalion at Loring Air Force Base in Caribou Maine.
After the army, Raleigh borrowed $500 to study at a local broadcasting school and landed his first job in 1960 at WBBX in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Raleigh started the first Christmas Tree drive at WBZ Radio for underprivileged families and he became known for his charitable acts across Boston. This included WBZ Radio’s Charity softball team where he was once called “adequate” by Ted Williams during a benefit game at Fenway Park.
Cable video customer losses, which improved over the past few quarters during the pandemic, are back on the rise, according to NextTV citing a Moody’s Investors Service report.
While broadband subscriber growth exploded during the pandemic, lesser known was the impact stay-at-home orders had on pay TV video customer rolls. During Q3 2021, video losses tempered enough to cause a handful of analysts to rethink their forecasts. Wells Fargo Securities media analyst Steven Cahall modified his 2025 prediction for total pay TV video losses from 4.7 million to 4.3 million; MoffettNathanson senior analyst Craig Moffett expected cable video losses to spike to 2.4 million in 2021, falling to 1.98 million by 2025.
In his most recent report, Moody’s senior VP Jason Cuomo noted that the Video Replacement Rate (VRR) for the sector, a measure of the pace at which broadband is replacing traditional video subscriptions, fell to 1.5 times in 2021 from 2.21 times in the prior year. While that seems like a big improvement for video, it was more a factor of dramatically slower broadband growth. According to Cuomo’s report, broadband additions in Q4 slowed to 4.1% from 4.2% in Q3, while pay TV subscriber losses rose to 6.4% from 6.2% for the year.
In his report, Cuomo concluded that the temporary benefits from the pandemic are beginning to disappear and, coupled with newer subscribers taking only high-speed Internet services, should drive video’s decline higher as broadband additions even out.
While the two largest cable operators — Comcast and Charter Communications — had relatively strong increases in broadband subscribers (4.3% and 4.2%, respectively), their video losses varied widely. According to Moody’s, Comcast’s average video loss rate was -8.4%, while Charter’s was -2.4%. Comcast and Charter account for about 83% of cable video customers.
According to Moody’s, only three cable companies increased their VRRs in the period — Cable One (from 36.4 times to 85.1 times), Breezeline parent Cogeco Communications (from 7.5 times to 8.1 times) and WideOpenWest (from 0.7 times to 1.1 times).
There is only one certainty when it comes to locating the broadcast of a Mets or Yankees game this season: You can always find it on the radio, according to Bob Raissman at The NY Daily News.
That’s 162 dates of consistency for the Mets, on WCBS 880 AM, and the Yankees on WFAN 660 AM / 101.9 FM. Or as one of the mouths who works the Mets on the radio, Howie Rose, likes to say, you can “put it in the books.” Count on it. Just like death, taxes, and stupidity on sports-talk radio.
Raismann states Major League Baseball, and some of its member clubs like the Mets and Yankees, have found new markets for their TV rights and new ways to gouge fans. They are selling everything that isn’t nailed down. MLB’s television Gnomes have cut deals with multiple streaming services. Checking your “local baseball TV listings” is now akin to reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
On any given night or day, Yankees or Mets games could air on YES, SNY, Fox (Ch.5), WPIX-TV (Ch. 11), FS1, ESPN, TBS, MLBN, Amazon, AppleTV+, Peacock, YES app, SNY app. So, baseball fans, already paying through the nose for cable subscriptions, are also being asked to pay more monthly to subscribe to the streaming services. Then, they have to deal with the technology it takes to access those services and pray that it all works.
There is a segment of both fan bases who won’t want to either 1) Pay up, especially with inflation running rampant 2) Install 3) Hunt down the games.
Raissman adds Radio games are easy to find and free. You can even listen without a password, night or day. Guess what? It’s always on the same stations. It’s anxiety — and glitch — free. Most of the time, baseball on the radio is a beautiful thing.
Award-winning hosts Chris Canty – Super Bowl XLVI Champion with the New York Giants – and Chris Carlin will debut a new, national show Canty & Carlin from 3-7 p.m. ET as part of ESPN Radio’s weekday afternoon lineup, beginning Monday, April 25. The show will feature the duo bringing listeners their unique insight on the day’s events and breaking news, as well as getting fans ready for the night’s action with the latest updates, analysis and more. The show will also regularly welcome a full lineup of special guests across sports and entertainment.
“I’m fired up to work with Carlin. We were able to establish chemistry going back to our days working at 98.7FM in New York,” said Canty. “He’s a pro’s pro that puts in the work to be at his best and also bring out the best in others. We both take sports seriously, but we won’t take ourselves serious. We’ll keep our audience informed, make them think and hopefully get a few laughs along the way.”
Carlin said, “I’m thrilled to be part of the national lineup for ESPN Radio, especially to be working alongside a pro like Chris. ESPN has been a great fit for me these last few years and I can’t wait to continue my career with the network. Chris and I both have strong points of view. I know we will have fun getting into the details with the players and fans who share our lifelong passion for sports.”
Amanda Gifford, vice president, content strategy and audio, added, “Chris Canty and Chris Carlin both bring strong expertise, perspective and opinion as well as great energy to every show and topic they discuss. We’re excited to be able to have them together on a national platform and for fans to enjoy this new duo every afternoon.”
Canty & Carlin will mark Carlin’s full-time national ESPN Radio debut. The Emmy-winning host most recently led his self-titled show on 98.7FM ESPN New York since 2019. His engaging, opinionated yet humorous style has resonated with audiences throughout his career. Prior to ESPN New York, Carlin had already been a fixture on the New York sports TV and radio scene for over a decade including hosting New York Mets pre and post-game shows and a debate show called Loudmouths on SNY. In addition, Carlin hosted a TV special on SNY, "Scandal in Sayreville," an investigative look at the bullying scandal in Sayreville, NJ. The story received national attention, and the show won a New York Emmy. He is also the voice for Rutgers football, which he has done since 2004 and has called games for ESPN Radio.
Canty also moved to ESPN’s national lineup from the network’s New York station. He has been co-hosting the ESPN Radio afternoon drive slot since Sept. 2021. Prior to that, Canty appeared on DiPietro, Canty & Rothenberg in New York, where they were multiple-time winners of the New York State Broadcasters Association’s Outstanding Radio Show award. Canty is a Super Bowl Champion who spent 11 years in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens (2013-15), Giants (2009-12) and Dallas Cowboys (2005-08). He is also the founder of The Chris Canty Foundation, dedicated to enhancing the total development of youth in our communities by utilizing the platform of sports to affect positive change in the lives of children through mentoring and educational programs.
America’s top 50 most popular magazines lost a combined circulation of nearly 1m in the second half of 2021, according to Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) figures analysed by Press Gazette.
The two largest magazines in the United States are both published by the American Association of Retired People (AARP) and distributed to paying members. The AARP’s Magazine (circulation, 22,890,227) and Bulletin (22,566,080) both grew their circulations slightly in the second half of 2021.
The next two largest titles – Better Homes And Gardens and People – both also retained steady circulations thanks to strong digital performances, especially through Apple’s premium aggregation service, News+.
Top 15 Magazines In The U-S
Following a 2021 merger between Dotdash and Meredith’s magazine division, 15 of America’s top 50 periodicals now share the same publisher. Hearst owns eight of the top 50, and Conde Nast publishes six of them.
Four of Hearst’s titles – Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Woman’s Day and Good Housekeeping — experienced the worst circulation declines in the second half of 2021, the AAM figures show.
TV Guide Magazine, members magazine Texas Co-Op Power and Time – which has grown strongly on Apple News+ – were the best performing titles in terms of period-on-period growth.
As Ukraine continues to brace for a renewed, more focused Russian offensive in the eastern and southern part of the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his nightly video message Sunday that the coming week will be as crucial as any in the war, stating, "Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state." In an interview from Kyiv aired on 60 Minutes last night, Zelenskyy said Ukraine's fate depends on getting more weapons and military supplies from the West, particularly mentioning the U.S. He said, "To be honest, whether we will be able to survive depends on this. I have 100 percent confidence in our people and in our armed forces. But unfortunately, I don’t have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need."
Meanwhile, U.S. and European officials said that Russia had appointed one a new military chief to oversee the invasion, after having no central war commander on the ground until now. General Alexander Dvornikov headed Russian forces sent to Syria in 2015 to back President Bashar Assad’s government during their civil war. U.S. officials say he has a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and elsewhere, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on CNN yesterday, "This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians. And the United States . . . is determined to do all that we can to support Ukrainians as they resist him and they resist the forces that he commands."
60 Minutes met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the blacked-out hallways of his command center in Kyiv. Zelenskyy and his staff have lived in this newfound fortress for 46 days now. The Russian invasion plan expected Kyiv to fall in three. https://t.co/4pTtQusQULpic.twitter.com/xorgvlIqzg
Biden to Speak with India PM Modi: President Biden is set to speak with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, with a central topic to be the war in Ukraine. There have been concerns in the U.S. over India's netural stance on the war, and it continues to buy Russian oil and gas. India also recently bought advanced Russian air defense systems, leading the U.S. to consider sanctions.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson walked through the streets of Kyiv with Ukrainian Pres. Zelenskyy during a trip to the country, visiting the Monument of the Heavenly Hundred and speaking with locals. https://t.co/Z9VCFIb3iOpic.twitter.com/65xRHEp2Vo
➤FRANCE'S MACRON TO FACE FAR-RIGHT LE PEN IN RUNOFF ELECTION: French President Emmanuel Macron will face far-right nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen in a runoff presidential election after they advanced in the first round of voting yesterday. The two also faced off in 2017 an election Macron won by a landslide, but polls this time until now have shown a much closer contest. In yesterday's vote, Macron got 27 percent, Le Pen had just under 24 percent, and leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon was third with close to 22 percent, missing the two-candidate runoff. The deciding second-round vote will be in two weeks on April 24th.
➤TWO PALESTINIAN WOMEN KILLED BY ISRAELI FORCES AMID HEIGHTENED TENSION: Two Palestinian women were killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents in the West Bank Sunday amid heightened tensions after a series of attacks by Palestinian gunmen on Israeli civilians in recent weeks that have killed 14 people. In one incident, a 47-year-old woman was shot as she approached a checkpoint near the village of Husan, with the Israeli army saying she failed to stop when told to do so by soldiers as she approached. Soldiers fired warning shots in the air, and video appears to show her beginning to run as she moved forward, after which soldiers shot her. She was found to be unarmed. In the second incident, a Palestinian woman who stabbed a police officer in Hebron was shot and killed. The officer wasn't seriously injured. Israeli soldiers have been conducting sweeping operations in the West Bank after the attacks in Israel.
President Biden scheduled to introduce new policy measures on firearms. https://t.co/NeD2HacmxH
➤TWO KILLED, 10 WOUNDED IN IOWA NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING: Two people were killed and 10 others wounded, one of them critically, in a shooting at a crowded nightclub in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, early Sunday. Police Chief Wayne Jerman said investigators believe two men fired more than a dozen shots inside the Taboo Nightclub and Lounge just before 1:30 a.m. The police were searching for the suspects yesterday, with the gunmen having likely escaped as people ran out of the nightclub when the shooting began. Jerman said a motive hasn't been determined, but investigators believe one of the victims was targeted.
Yale Researcher Thwarts Attempted Brian Stelter Dunk on Fox News By Calling Out CNN for 'Partisan Coverage Filtering' https://t.co/GLbXMzBRLY
➤ABC NEWS..MOST AMERICANS BLAME PUTIN, OIL COMPANIES FOR HIGH GAS PRICES: Most Americans paying high gas prices who are looking to place blame are pointing at Russian President Vladimir Putin and oil companies, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll. Putin was blamed by 71 percent of Americans either a "good deal" or a "great amount" -- due to the war in Ukraine -- while 68 percent said the same about oil companies. When it comes to politicians, the Democrats get more of the blame, with 52 percent putting blame on Democratic party politics and 51 percent on President Biden, compared to 33 percent who blamed Republican party politics and 24 percent who blamed former President Donald Trump. Respondents were divided on how difficult gas prices increases have been for them, with 49 percent saying they've caused financial hardship for themselves or others in their household, while 50 percent say they haven't. Only just over one in five, 21 percent, said, it's causing them serious financial hardship.
Huge bang in Times Square around 6:50… followed by sirens and hundreds of people running away. Not sure what it was… but a lot of people on edge! #NYC#TimesSquarepic.twitter.com/nhTtSbKe4S
➤MANHOLE EXPLOSION IN TIMES SQUARE SENDS PEOPLE RUNNING: A manhole explosion in New York's Times Square caused by multiple manhole fires sent people fleeing yesterday evening. Three manholes caught fire around 6:45 p.m. in the area, which is usually packed with tourists. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries. Fox News cited Fire Engineering magazine as saying manhole fires often happen when gas builds up underground and is ignited by an electrical short circuit, sending an explosion through the path of least resistance, which is usually a manhole.
➤REPORT: TIKTOK ACTS ON CHILDREN’S BRAINS LIKE A ‘CANDY STORE’ SHORTENING THEIR ATTENTION SPAN: The effects of consuming social media aren’t all good, and a new report indicates that when children spend time on TikTok it negatively affects their attention spans. Researchers used MRI scans to show study participants had high activation in the addiction part of the brain when watching personalized (as opposed to general-interest) TikTok videos, and some users struggled to control when to stop watching. In general, activities that require sustained attention use the part of the brain responsible for decision-making and impulse control known as the prefrontal cortex. Kids can struggle with directed attention because their prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until age 25. Dr. Michael Manos with the Cleveland Clinic adds, “If kids’ brains become accustomed to constant changes, the brain finds it difficult to adapt to a non-digital activity where things don’t move quite as fast.” The Wall Street Journal reports that TikTok uses an algorithm to personalize the video feeds based on the time a user watches each video and then cycles similar content. But a TikTok spokesperson recently said the company is now working on ways for the algorithm to diversify its videos, and they’re also working on reducing excessive app time. Experts say your child needs practice to learn to pay attention, and some simple strategies to increase their attention-span include encouraging exercise and play time, but being sure not to deprive them of technology, and instead encourage them to reduce their use of it by building up other activities.
🚍YOUR NEXT AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT MIGHT BE ON A BUS: This seems like an April Fools’ joke, but it’s not. Some American Airlines connecting flights will be transported on buses instead of planes according to an announcement made last week. The company took to Twitter to explain in part, “We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with @AmericanAir! Seamless connections between American’s Philadelphia hub to Lehigh Valley Airport (ABE), and Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) beginning June 3rd.” The switch comes amidst increasing fuel prices and a shortage of pilots that has mostly affected regional airlines. Flights from Philadelphia to Allentown and to Atlantic City currently take about 30 minutes each, and by bus, the trips would take about two hours.
BREAKING: World No. 1 player Scottie Scheffler from Texas won his first major championship at Augusta on Sunday, finishing first at the Masters by three strokes over Rory McIlroy. https://t.co/cHHbOjmKy2
🏌SCHEFFLER WINS MASTERS, WOODS FINISHES FAR BACK: American Scottie Scheffler, the world's top-ranked men's golfer, won the Masters Tournament on Sunday, capturing the green jacket at Augusta National for his first major. The 25-year-old finished at 10-under 278, three shots ahead of Rory McIlroy, who had a record-tying final round of 64 as he tried to win the final major he needs for a career Grand slam. As for Tiger Woods, after being just four shots back following the opening round Thursday, he faded over the next days as he competed in his first PGA Tournament since a February 2021 car crash in which his right leg was severely injured. He finished at 13-over 301, his highest 72-hole score at the Masters and furthest, at 23 shots, he ever finished behind the winner. But Woods said he's planning to play at the British Open in July, while not being sure about the next two majors, the PGA Championship in May or the U.S. Open in June.
🏀NBA PLAY-IN MATCH-UPS SET: The NBA's regular season came to an end Sunday, and the match-ups are now set for the play-in games before the first round of the playoffs. Up first will be Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Brooklyn Nets and the L.A. Clippers vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night in the 7th Place vs. 8th Place games. On Wednesday, the Charlotte Hornets will play the Atlanta Hawks and the San Antonio Spurs will face off against the New Orleans Pelicans in the 9th Place vs. 10th Place games.
🏀MAVERICKS' DONCIC STRAINS CALF AHEAD OF PLAYOFFS: Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic suffered a calf strain late in the third quarter of the team's last game of the regular season Sunday, with the playoffs just ahead. However, ESPN reported there's initial optimism that it's not a significant injury. Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said, "We'll know more tomorrow, and we'll go from there. Hopefully, it's not too serious." The Mavericks will be playing the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs, beginning next Saturday.
🏀LAKERS TO FIRE HEAD COACH VOGEL: ESPN reported last night that the L.A. Lakers will fire head coach Frank Vogel, and that he will be notified as soon as today. The report said there's isn't a clear-cut frontrunner to replace him, and the search for a new head coach is expected to be, quote, "expansive and lengthy." The news came soon after the Lakers ended their disappointing 33-49 season with a 146-141 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets. Vogel, who signed with L.A. in 2019, said after the game, "I haven't been told s*** . . . we'll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow."
🏀76ERS' THYBULLE WON'T BE IN PLAYOFF GAMES IN TORONTO, NOT FULLY VACCINATED: The Philadephia 76ers won't have Matisse Thybulle with them for their first-round playoff games against the Raptors in Toronto, Games 3 and 4, since he's not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and therefore won't be allowed into Canada. The defensive specialist told reporters Sunday that he got a first shot of the Pfizer vaccine, but didn't get the second after learning he could still be infected with Covid despite the vaccination. He stated that he was raised in a, quote, "holistic household," adding, "I felt like I had a solid foundation of medical resources that could serve me beyond what this vaccine could do for me."
🏒PENGUINS' CROSBY REACHES 1,400 POINTS, SEVENTH-FASTEST TO DO SO: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby reached 1,400 career points last night with the second of his two goals at 2:21 of overtime in a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators. Crosby is the seventh-fastest player in NHL history to reach 1,400 points. It was also his 77th game-winning goal, one behind Evgeni Malkin and Jaromir Jagr for the most in team history.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk had some fun at the expense of The Washington Post in a response to an op-ed condemning his growing influence with Twitter, reports Fox Digital News.
Musk shocked the world last week when it was revealed he purchased 9.2% stake in Twitter, Inc., making him the largest shareholder in the social media giant. He then made even more headlines when it was originally announced that he was joining Twitter's board of directors, suggesting he could have significant influence over Twitter's policies in favor of free speech principles.
The Post published a piece on Friday titled, "Elon Musk’s vision of ‘free speech’ will be bad for Twitter." In it, tech investor and former Reddit CEO Ellen K. Pao bashed the billionaire's bought-in "welcome" to Twitter, calling it "highly disconcerting — a slap in the face, even."
"Musk has been open about his preference that Twitter do less to restrict speech that many see as hateful, abusive or dangerous. Given his new influence, the way he himself has used the platform bodes ill for its future," Pao wrote. "Musk, who has nearly 81 million followers, often punches down in his tweets, displaying very little empathy."
Pao mocked the tech mogul for calling himself a "free-speech absolutist," writing, "like many ‘free speech’ advocates, he willfully ignores that private companies are free to establish some limits on their platforms."
The irony of The Washington Post publishing Pao's remark calling for "regulation of social media platforms to prevent rich people from controlling our channels of communication" was not lost among critics, who pointed out that the paper is owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos.
The voice of Andrea Williams is well-embedded in many of Milwaukeean's memories from her years on WJMR Jammin’ 98.3. Now Williams is expanding her plate and moving into television broadcasting full time as a specialty reporter on WTMJ-TV4, reports The Milwaukee Business Journal.
She’s spent over 25 years as a radio personality with 20 of those years at 98.3 as the news/public affairs director for the Milwaukee Radio Group. In her new role, she will be in front of the camera where she will cover community stories that don’t usually make the news but still deserve the spotlight. She specifically wants to focus on the individuals making strides in the community who don’t necessarily even want the recognition.
“Sometimes I feel like we only see a surface of people,” she said. “I try to dig a little deeper to see who people really are.”
According to Williams, this change in career has been in the works for a while. Stations 98.3 and TMJ4 have a working relationship, so making the transition was not only accessible but possible for Williams.
Williams starts her new role in May and will be on air by early June.
She’s originally from Louisville, Kentucky, where she started interning in media at just 16 years old. Williams knew early on where she wanted to be in life so she left her hometown at age 18 for college. Williams received her bachelor’s degree in radio/TV communications from Central State University (Ohio).
“I just love it, I do,” Williams said about her career.
She moved to Milwaukee in 1996 to work for WKKV-FM, V100.7. She left that job for one in Washington, D.C., but she found herself flying back frequently as a Milwaukee Bucks original in-arena host. According to Williams, radio has prepared her to be a host and for broadcast.
Despite the increase in cordcutting, drawing viewers away from pay-TV, interest in live news and sports—a staple of traditional linear TV—remains high among older, wealthier viewers, according to TVTechhnoloy citing a recent study from Leichtman Research Group
When asked the importance of various programming genres, overall, 49% of adults rated news as very important (8-10) and 41% rated sports as very important, LRG said. While neither of these are the highest rated genre overall––that distinction goes to movies at 69%––there are significant differences in the importance of news and sports to pay-TV subscribers versus nonsubscribers.
The study found that:
56% of pay-TV subscribers rate news as very important, compared to 32% of non-subscribers
49% of pay-TV subscribers rate sports as very important, compared to 21% of non-subscribers
The rated importance of these genres is also higher among those in the demographic categories that (unsurprisingly) are typically more likely to get a pay-TV service.
News is more important among older age individuals, and in higher income households:
66% of ages 55+ rate news as very important, compared to 48% of ages 35-54, and 32% of ages 18-34
57% with annual household incomes >$75,000 rate news as very important, compared to 45% with household incomes <$75,000
Sports is more important in higher income households, as well as among men:
52% with household incomes >$75,000 rate sports as very important, compared to 39% with household incomes of $30,000 - $75,000, and 27% with household incomes <$30,000
49% of men rate sports as very important, compared to 34% of women
Going forward, these genres will continue to play important roles in balancing the legacy model with direct-to-consumer offerings. However these options are not mutually, LRG added, as consumers will continue to get the services and content that best serve their households’ needs and budgets.
The former CBS reporter Lara Logan, who compared Dr Anthony Fauci to the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, has claimed she was “pushed out” at Fox News because the conservative network does not want “independent thinkers”, reports The Guardian.
“I was definitely pushed out,” Logan told Eric Metaxas, a conservative radio host, last week. “I mean, there is no doubt about that. They don’t want independent thinkers. They don’t want people who follow the facts regardless of the politics.”
Fox News has not commented on reports that it “quietly benched” Logan over her remark about Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser. On Friday, a spokesperson for Fox News said the network would not comment.
Logan has not appeared as a guest on Fox News since making the comment about Fauci. There have been no new episodes of her show on the Fox Nation streaming service, Lara Logan Has No Agenda, which is still available.
Logan made the comment about Mengele, the “Angel of Death” who conducted medical experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp, in November, during a discussion of the Covid pandemic on Fox News Primetime.
Logan said: “Dr Fauci, this is what people say to me, that he doesn’t represent science to them.
“He represents Josef Mengele, Dr Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor who did experiments on Jews during the second world war and in the concentration camps, and I am talking about people all across the world are saying this.”
The show’s host, Pete Hegseth, and another guest, the Fox News host Will Cain, did not respond.
Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said: “There’s absolutely no comparison between mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other Covid-19 mitigation efforts to what happened to Jews during the Holocaust.”
A top House Republican thinks "something is up" as the federal investigation into Hunter Biden and his financial practices heats up, reports The Washington Examiner.
Rep. Jim Jordan said on Sunday it "sure seems" the president's son is on his way to being indicted, though the congressman acknowledged he could not say for certain. He pointed to an upswell in reporting on the authentication of contents on a laptop believed to have belonged to Hunter Biden, coinciding with a wave of grand jury activity.
Jim Jordan
"You mentioned those two stories from the Washington Post 10 days ago," the Ohio Republican told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox News. "I understand they were four minutes apart. One was at 11:00. One was at 11:04. So two eight-page-long stories four minutes apart from the news organization that said 18 months ago there was no story here, this was Russian disinformation. That tells you something is up. You don't see the Washington Post do that."
While the New York Post led the charge in reporting on the contents of the abandoned laptop, which contained emails detailing Biden's business dealings and rollercoaster personal life, other major media outlets sought to cast doubt on its authenticity, and Big Tech companies even took steps to suppress its spread in the final weeks of the 2020 election.
Hunter Biden story suppression 'conspiracy' between Big Tech, media, Dems: Rep. Jim Jordan https://t.co/gAHyclI7IT
Jordan, who is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, remarked how "interesting" it is that the "story has evolved" in recent weeks, coinciding with rising suspicions that President Joe Bidsen himself could be drawn into a federal criminal investigation, even as the White House has been adamant in asserting that the president is not involved and that his 52-year-old son did not commit any crimes.
Fox News host Jesse Watters called President Joe Biden “dull” and said the media is “so bored they are ready for a Republican president.”
“Joe’s running the show in D.C. now, and he’s dull,” he said simply, before referencing a Politico piece titled “Joe Biden’s ‘Cardboard Box’ Presidency,” in which senior editor Michael Schaffer said the president kept his promise to be “boring.”
The conservative talk show host lamented that Biden doesn’t want to “schmooze” with others or appear at social events, which he claimed is a cardinal “sin” for Democrats. “The guy just loves his basement,” he said. “Presidents are supposed to excite the Washington establishment, but Joe is doing the exact opposite.”
“And if the press is bored now, just wait. Eventually, Biden is going to catch COVID — it’s bound to happen. And you’ll never see Biden or another party again,” Watters said, referring to the superspreader event.
He continued, “Biden sucked the air out of Washington, just like he did the rest of the country. The Washington elite is whining, they’re stuck with our grandpa-in-chief. Isn’t that precious that the D.C. power brokers, who installed Joe Biden into the White House, are now bitching he’s boring?”
“This is actually the biggest insult the media has ever spewed at President Biden, that Joe isn’t cool,” he concluded. “For Washington, it doesn’t get any worse than that. For a town that trades on status, power and zhuzh, Biden’s the worst thing to ever happen to these people. Not only is there no action, there’s no access. And, worst of all, there is no gossip. This town is so bored they are ready for a Republican president.”
by Felix Richter, Statista2021 was another good year for the music industry. According to IFPI’s latest Global Music Report, worldwide recorded music revenues totaled $25.9 billion last year, up 18.5 percent from the previous year’s total of $21.9 billion. This marks the seventh consecutive year of growth for the global music industry after nearly two decades of gradual decline.
Interestingly, the transition to digital distribution has both fueled the music industry’s decline and helped stop it. After the golden age of the CD, which propelled worldwide music revenues to unprecedented highs through the 1990s, the advent of MP3 and filesharing hit the music industry like an earthquake. Between 2001 and 2010, physical music sales declined by more than 60 percent, wiping out $14 billion in annual revenue. During the same period, digital music sales grew from zero to $4 billion, which wasn’t even remotely enough to offset the drop in CD sales. It wasn’t until the appearance and widespread adoption of music streaming services that the music industry’s fortunes began turning around again.
According to data published by IFPI, the music industry bottomed out in 2014, when revenue was at a 20-year low of $14.2 billion, nearly $10 billion less than it had been 15 years prior, when physical music sales alone had amounted to $24 billion during the peak of the CD era. After some initial hesitance by the music industry to embrace streaming services, record labels and artists appear to have followed consumers’ lead in accepting that the future of music lies in digital distribution. Last year, digital music accounted for the lion's share of worldwide music revenues, with streaming services alone accounting for 65 percent of the industry’s total haul. According to IFPI, 523 million people were using a paid music streaming subscription by the end of 2021 and streaming revenues are now considerably bigger than digital download sales ever were.
All statements in this article attributable to IFPI represent Statista’s interpretation of data, research opinion or viewpoints published as part of the IFPI Global Music Report in March 2022, and have not been reviewed by IFPI. Each IFPI publication speaks as of its original publication date (and not as of the date of this article’s publication).
➦In 1904...Actor Paul McGrath born in Chicago (Died at age 74 – 13 April 1978). He was a film, TV, Broadway, and radio actor best known for his radio appearances in the 1940s and 1950s. McGrath was a regular on the soap operas Big Sister and Young Doctor Malone. He also played the host on Inner Sanctum Mystery. On TV he had recurring roles on The Edge of Night & Guiding Light.
➦In 1907...Paul Douglas Fleischer born (Died from a heart attack at age 59 − September 11, 1959). He worked originally as an announcer for CBS radio station WCAU in Philadelphia, relocating to network headquarters in New York in 1934.
Douglas co-hosted CBS's popular swing music program, The Saturday Night Swing Club, from 1936 to 1939.
He also appeared on the CBS network broadcast of the 1937 World Series between the New York Giants and New York Yankees alongside France Laux and Bill Dyer.
Paul Douglas
He made his Broadway debut in 1936 as the Radio Announcer in Doty Hobart and Tom McKnight's Double Dummy at the John Golden Theatre. Douglas began appearing in films in 1949. He may be best remembered for two baseball comedy movies, It Happens Every Spring (1949) and Angels in the Outfield (1951).
Douglas was host of the 22nd annual Academy Awards in March 1950. Continuing in radio, he was the announcer for The Ed Wynn Show, and the first host of NBC Radio's The Horn & Hardart Children's Hour. In April 1959 Douglas appeared on The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show as Lucy Ricardo's television morning show co-host in the episode "Lucy Wants a Career".
In 1955 he appeared in the play "The Caine Mutiny" but his union placed him on probation for allegedly saying, "The South stinks. It's a land of sowbelly and segregation," which offended southern audiences. Douglas claimed that he was misquoted.
Douglas was originally cast in the 1960 episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Mighty Casey", a role written for him by Rod Serling based on his character in Angels in the Outfield. Douglas died the day after production of the episode had been completed. He had been in his last stages of illness during filming, and his severe physical state was apparent on film. (The crew incorrectly assumed that his condition was the result of heavy drinking.) The episode – which was a comedy – was deemed un-airable. It was, however, resurrected some months later, and Douglas's scenes were re-shot with Jack Warden.
➦In 1912...John Larkin born (Died from a heart attack at age 52 — January 29, 1965). He was an actor whose nearly 30-year career was capped by his 1950s portrayal of two fictional criminal attorneys — Perry Mason on radio and Mike Karr on television daytime drama The Edge of Night.
John Larkin
After having acted in an estimated 7,500 dramatic shows on radio, he devoted his final decade to television and, from April 1962 to January 1965, was a key member of the supporting cast in two prime-time series and made at least twenty major guest-starring appearances in many of the top drama series of the period.
Larkin developed a distinctively resonant voice perfectly suited to radio, the prime entertainment venue in American homes during the Depression 1930s. By the latter part of the decade, when he was in his mid-twenties, Larkin had worked for a number of stations, including KCKN and WHB in the Kansas City, later, in Chicago, where he became known for versatility in performing announcing and hosting duties in addition to acting in front of the microphone for numerous scripted shows, including Vic and Sade, one of network radio's most popular programs of the 1930s, and the one for which he received his first major credit as a radio actor.
Following military service in World War II, he became one of the radio's top dramatic voices. He was offered, in 1947, the title role in CBS Radio Network's three-and-a-half-year-old afternoon crime serial, Perry Mason which, as was the case with all radio daytime dramas, consisted of an 11-minute script, broadcast Monday through Friday in a 15-minute time slot, including commercials, promos and credits.
Larkin's familiar authoritative voice had soon come to symbolize the Perry Mason radio persona and he remained with the role for eight-and-a-half years until the program's conclusion in December 1955.
➦In 1921...The first known boxing match on radio between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee was broadcast live on KDKA, Pittsburgh with sport writer Florent Gibson as announcer.
➦In 1924...the retailer Sears ended three days of test transmissions using the call sign WES (for "World's Economy Store"). Sears originally operated its station at the company's corporate headquarters on Chicago's West Side, which is also where the company's mail order business was located. On April 12, 1924, the station commenced officially, using the call letters WLS (for "World's Largest Store"). On April 19, the station aired its first National Barn Dance. The station shared time on the frequency with WCBD until November 11, 1928, at which point it began sharing time with WENR.
➦In 1924...KLO-AM, Ogden, Utah signed-on as KFUR. Its current calls came about in the 1930s in honor of Mt. Lomond located near Ogden. KLO was the flagship of the Interstate Broadcasting Corporation, later the Intermountain Network. The station trasmits at 1430 AM and airs standards.
Helen Choate, Lon Clark-Master Detective
➦In 1943...Nick Carter, Master Detective first aired on Mutual. The show was a crime drama based on tales of the fictional private detective Nick Carter from Street & Smith's dime novels and pulp magazines first introduced in 1896. Nick Carter aired in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Between October 1944 and April 1945, it was heard as a 30-minute program on Sunday afternoons at 3pm, sponsored by Acme Paints and Lin-X, with a 15-minute serial airing four or five times a week in 1944 from April to September. In April 1945, the Sunday series moved to 6pm, continuing in that timeslot until June 1946, and it was also heard in 1946 on Tuesday from March to August.
The series finally settled in on Sundays at 6:30pm for broadcasts from August 18, 1946 to September 21, 1952. Libby Packing was the sponsor when the drama aired on Sundays at 6pm (1952-53). In the last two years of the long run (1953-55), the show was heard Sundays at 4:30pm.
➦In 1947...The radio show My Friend Irma aired for the first time. It became a media franchise that was spawned by a top-rated, long-running radio situation comedy created by writer-director-producer Cy Howard.
The radio show was so popular in the late 1940s that its success escalated the films, television, a comic strip and a comic book that comprise the franchise. Marie Wilson portrayed the title character Irma Peterson on radio, in two films and the television series. The radio series was broadcast on CBS from April 11, 1947 to August 23, 1954.
➦In 1973...Norm N. Nite aired his first show on Oldies WCBS 101.1 FM, NYC. Nite was instrumental in bringing the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland.
Nite began his career as a DJ at WGAR 1220 AM in Cleveland and later at WMJI there. Later he would host shows at WCBS-FM and WNBC in New York City. His historical interest in Rock & Roll led him to compile, as the first volume of "Rock On" describes it, "an exhaustive array of data on more than 1,000 of the most popular artists of the fifties and early sixties.
Subsequently, due to the popularity of this volume, first released in 1974, he authored a second volume in 1978, covering, as described on the dust jacket, "The Modern Years: 1964-Present" with an introduction by Wolfman Jack. In 1985 Rock On Volume 3 was released and billed "Rock On Volume 3 – The Video Revolution: 1978 – Present". During 1988 he narrated the radio program, Solid Gold Scrapbook.
In July 2005 Nite began broadcasting live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 5, now known as Sirius XM 50s on 5. In February 2014, SiriusXM made a sudden management move to drop live deejays from virtually all of its 50s on 5 programming, ending Nite's broadcasts accordingly without the chance to have a farewell broadcast.
➦In 1976…Apple I The Apple I, also known as the Apple-1, went on sale. It was designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. Wozniak's friend Steve Jobs had the idea of selling the computer. The Apple I was Apple's first product.
➦In 1985...Oldies WJMK-FM, Chicago held its "Rock 'N' Roll Reunion." A year earlier WJMK "Magic 104" flipped from AC to oldies. Initially, it was similar to what RKO's 103.5 WFYR, except that WJMK played more '50s and early '60s music. WJMK initially also played '70s and '80s music along with a new song every hour. By early 1985, all songs released after 1972 were dropped.
The station focused primarily on songs released between 1964-1969 with a good amount of '50s music as well. In 1991, the station's moniker was changed from "Magic 104" to "Oldies 104.3".
WJMK dropped the moniker "Oldies 104.3" by 2001, and returned to their former moniker "Magic 104.3".
In 1998, they began to add more '70s music to the format. In 1999, with new competition from the new "Jammin Oldies format of WUBT "The Beat", WJMK added a few disco songs and more '70s and early '80s songs to the playlist.
After WUBT dropped Jammin' Oldies for CHR in 2001, WJMK continued with their oldies format, though they modified the playlist over the years, dropping older music in favor of more recent material.
In 2003, the station once again changed monikers, going from "Magic 104.3" back to "Oldies 104.3" and began airing Dick Bartley's syndicated "Rock and Roll's Greatest Hits" to Saturday nights (which they'd drop at the beginning of June 2004 to return the 70s show "Saturday Night 70s"). By the winter of 2004/05, the station dropped the "oldies" moniker and became known as just "104.3 WJMK".
On June 3, 2005, at 4 p.m., WJMK switched to an adult hits format known as "Jack FM" at the same time veteran oldies station WCBS-FM in New York City made the same switch. The station had a 1980s centric playlist, along with some titles from the 1960s, 1970s, 1990s, and 2000s. It usually had no live DJs.
On March 14, 2011, at 1:04 p.m., after playing "Goodbye to You" by Scandal, WJMK switched to a classic hits format branded "K-Hits", playing hits from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Following a montage of songs and pop culture clips from 1966 to 1989, "K-Hits" was launched with "Beginnings" by Chicago
Today, the station is owned by Audacy and airs an Urban format as WBMX, Jamz 104.3.
➦In 1986...KXA-AM in Seattle WA changes call letters to KRPM.
➦In 1991...Personality Scott Shannon started at WPLJ 95.5 FM. WPLJ had been struggling since its glory days of the mid 1980s, and Shannon became program director and morning drive co-host.
At the outset, the station's direct rival was Z100, and used the slogan "Mojo Radio," downplaying the WPLJ call letters, but the approach was eventually changed. Shannon created a Top 40 format that was geared more toward the adult contemporary audience, brought in co-host Todd Pettengill (from WFLY Alabany NY) to form "The Big Show," and the WPLJ call letters were re-emphasized.
➦In 1992…The first commercially-licensed station in the U-S, 50,000-watt KDKA 1020 AM in Pittsburgh, ended its 72-year-old 'full-service' music format and flipped to local News/Talk.
➦In 2007...MSNBC stopped the cableTV simulcast of Don Imus' nationally syndicated radio show. The change was made after Imus became embroiled in a controversy over racial comments made about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Joel Grey is 90
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Joel Grey is 90.
Actor Louise Lasser is 83.
Kaitlyn Jenkins is 30
Actor Peter Riegart (“Animal House”) is 75.
Actor Bill Irwin (“Law and Order: SVU”) is 72.
Singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale is 65.
Guitarist Nigel Pulsford (Bush) is 61.
Country singer Steve Azar is 58.
Singer Lisa Stansfield is 56.
Actor Johnny Messner (“Killer Instinct,” ″The O.C.”) is 53.
Bassist Dylan Keefe of Marcy Playground is 52.
Actor Vicellous Shannon (“The Hurricane”) is 51.
Rapper David Banner is 48.
Actor Tricia Helfer (“Lucifer”) is 48.
Drummer Chris Gaylor of All-American Rejects is 43.
Actor Kelli Garner (“Taking Woodstock,” ″Lars and the Real Girl”) is 38.
