Paramount Global has agreed to pay $14.75 million to shareholders of the former CBS Corp in a proposed class action claiming the company's failure to disclose sexual misconduct allegations against former CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves artificially inflated the value of its stock.
Reuters reports lawyers for Paramount, Moonves and the plaintiffs filed a proposed settlement agreement in Manhattan federal court on Friday. CBS and Moonves had denied that they misled investors.
CBS merged with sister company Viacom Inc in December 2019. The merged company was called ViacomCBS until February, when it changed its name to Paramount Global. read more
Amid the #MeToo movement, more than a dozen women accused Moonves of harassment and intimidation, including exposing himself and pressuring women for sex. Moonves has denied wrongdoing and said the relationships were consensual.
Moonves resigned under pressure in September 2018; that December CBS said it had fired him for cause and denied a $120 million severance package, following a board review of the findings of an investigation into Moonves’ behavior and the CBS culture conducted by two law firms hired by CBS.
A group of shareholders sued in 2018. They accused CBS and Moonves of misleading investors by not initially disclosing allegations against him and making public statements in support of #MeToo.
Cumulus Media has announced that it has appointed veteran Country radio programmer and on-air personality Steve Rixx as Program Director for Cumulus Beaumont’s heritage Country station 101.7 KAYD-FM.
Rixx will also be heard on-air in afternoons from 3:00pm-7:00pm on Cumulus Lake Charles, LA, Country station KYKZ-FM (KYKZ-96). He will also be heard on Cumulus Abilene’s 99.7 KBCY-FM. Rixx’s appointment is effective May 2, 2022.
Rixx brings over 30 years of radio programming and on-air experience to his new roles. Rixx started his radio career in his hometown of Lufkin, TX, at Country stations KYKS-FM (KICKS 105) and KJCS-FM (103 The Bull) and at Lufkin Classic Rocker KTBQ (Q107). Rixx then moved to Houston Country station KILT-FM (100.3 The Bull), where he was on-air in middays and afternoons. Most recently, Rixx was Operations Manager and Program Director for Country station 101.7 KSAM-FM and Classic Hits station KHVL (The Lake 94.1 & 104.9) in Huntsville, TX.
Elizabeth Blackstock, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Lake Charles & Beaumont, said: “We are incredibly fortunate to have Steve join our team. His deep experience in the Country format, his knowledge and love for Country music, and true passion for the business make him the perfect fit for KAYD.”
Steve Rixx commented: "I'm excited to begin a new chapter with such an amazing company as Cumulus! Thanks to Elizabeth Blackstock for never giving up on me, as well as Greg Frey, Josh Holstead, and Paula Divello for saying all the nice things. I can't wait to get in the seat and do amazing local things in these great markets!"
DJ Kay Slay, a prominent disc jockey, radio host and music executive from New York, died Sunday following a four-month fight with COVID-19, his family and the WQHT Hot 97 station confirmed Monday.
The artist, whose real name was Keith Grayson, was 55, reports The NY Daily News.
“Our hearts are broken by the passing of Keith Grayson, professionally known as DJ Kay Slay,” his family said in a statement. “A dominant figure in hip-hop culture with millions of fans worldwide, DJ Kay Slay will be remembered for his passion and excellence with a legacy that will transcend generations.
Grayson, who grew up in Harlem, rose to fame as a graffiti artist during the 1980s before transitioning to a music career in which he came out with six albums and dozens of mixtapes. He released his first album, “The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1,” in 2003.
Grayson also hosted the show “Drama Hour” on the Hot 97 radio station in New York, which aired on Fridays from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.
As an executive, Grayson led the artists and repertoire division for Shaquille O’Neal’s Deja 34 label, did similar work for Ray J’s “All I Feel” album, and signed the New York-born rapper Papoose, according to his biography on the Hot 97 website.
“Hot 97 is shocked and saddened by the loss of our beloved DJ Kay Slay,” the hip-hop music station said in a statement. “We cherish the many memories created through the 20-plus years he dedicated to the ‘Drama Hour.’
➦In 1924…A year before the "Grand Ole Opry" hit the airwaves from WSM Radio in Nashville, "The Chicago Barn Dance" aired on WLS Radio in Chicago. The country music show was later renamed "National Barn Dance" and continued on the air – on WLS, simulcast on the ABC Radio Network, simulcast on the NBC Radio Network, back to WLS only, then Chicago's WGN Radio – until 1968.
According to Edgar Bill, the first WLS station manager: "We had so much highbrow music the first week that we thought it would be a good idea to get on some of the old time music. After we had been going about an hour, we received about 25 telegrams of enthusiastic approval. It was this response that pushed the Barn Dance!" Indeed, Sears-Roebuck management was aghast by this "disgraceful low-brow music" that was being broadcast on their new station. When Bill and Agricultural Director Samuel Guard were confronted by the angry executives, they pointed to the audiences overwhelming approval.
The Barn Dance served two distinct audiences. It targeted the rural farm audiences as well as city listeners that had come from rural communities or those whom had been told about the "good old times."
In November 1925, WLS claimed to be the first to build an audience studio when it moved to larger quarters on the 6th floor of the Sherman Hotel in downtown Chicago. The theatre was designed to hold 100 people as well as technical and control room facilities. (WLS History)
National Barn Dance continued for more than two decades on WLS. WLW Cincinnati became the flagship from 1950-60, and Chicago’s WGN took over as host station from 1960-68.
➦In 1943...'Theater of Romance' anthology debuted on the CBS Radio Network as a filler show between 1943 and 1957. It substituted from time to time for such shows as Gunsmoke, Life with Luigi, Lux Radio Theater, and many others. Producers, directors, and actors changed constantly through the years. Even the locale changed from New York to Los Angeles in 1945.
Romance featured such stars as Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, Shirley Temple, and many other Hollywood stars, often binding the story lines with the films in which the stars were currently being featured. The themed stories often revolved around historical fiction as well, and broadcast before a live audience.
➦In 1965..WINS 1010 AM in New York City flipped from Top40 to become the first All-News radio station. Two months earlier, personality Murray The K departed WINS...
Billboard Article 2/5/1965
Before 1010 WINS in New York City was “All News, All the Time,” it was one of the country’s first rock-and-roll stations.
WGBS signed on in 1924, owned by Gimbel’s Department Store. William Randolph Hearst bought it in 1932, changing the call letters to WINS, which referred to Hearst’s “International News Service.”
Crosley bought WINS in 1945, then sold it in 1953 to Gotham Broadcasting Corporation. WINS started playing rock music. Legendary broadcasters like Alan Freed and Murray “the K” Kaufman were some of the early WINS disc jockeys. Here’s a sample of WINS from 1960:
Westinghouse bought WINS in 1962. By that time, WINS was fending off three other stations for New York City’s rock audience. WMCA, WMGM and WABC all were airing Top 40 and rock music.
WMGM bailed on Top 40/rock in 1962 and flipped to a beautiful music format under its former WHN call letters.
By 1963, WMCA became New York’s No. 1 Top 40 station. WINS’ ratings slid below WMCA and WABC.
On April 19, 1965, Westinghouse pulled the plug on the Top 40 format at WINS. The final song was “Out in the Streets” by The Shangri-Las. WINS became the nation’s third all-news radio station.
Many observers predicted WINS would fail as other early all-news stations had. Westinghouse poured resources into the format and succeeded, It flipped two other stations, KYW in Philadelphia and KFWB in Los Angeles, to a similar format.
Soon, CBS decided to complete in the all-news arena. It flipped WINS rival WCBS toward an all-news format in 1967, eventually becoming a full-time all-news station in 1970. CBS expanded the all-news format to other owned stations around the country, including KNX in Los Angeles and WBBM in Chicago. NBC tried an all-news approach in the mid 1970s called “News and Information Service,” but it shut down after two years.
In 1995, Westinghouse purchased CBS, making sister stations out of longtime rivals WINS and WCBS in New York. The two stations continue their all-news formats, but gear them toward different audiences.
WINS has a harder approach, providing more of a headline service. It has stronger ratings in New York City itself. WCBS has a more conversational style, which does well with suburban listeners. Both remain highly-rated stations and are among the nation’s biggest-billing radio stations.
Listening to a WINS broadcast today is not radically different from the station’s early days. The teletype sound effect, the slogans (“All news, all the time,” “The newswatch never stops,” “Listen 2, 3, 4 times a day,” “You give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you the world”) and the basic 20-minute wheel format have remained in place for nearly 50 years. (H/T: Faded Signals)
➦In 1971...MLB Giants announcer Russ Hodges suffered a fatal heart attack at age 60. Hodges began his broadcasting career in 1934. He was sports editor of WBT, Charlotte, North Carolina until October 1941, when he moved full-time to WOL in Washington, D.C., where he had already been doing play-by-play for the Washington Redskins. He worked for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, and Cincinnati Reds before landing in New York City with the New York Yankees and New York Giants, who during much of the 1940s only broadcast home games and shared the same radio team — lead announcer Mel Allen and No. 2 man Hodges.
In 1949, Hodges became a No. 1 announcer when the Giants and the Yankees separated their radio networks to each broadcast a full, 154-game schedule. He would be the voice of the Giants for the next 22 seasons on both coasts. On October 3, 1951, Hodges was on the microphone for Bobby Thomson's famous Shot Heard 'Round the World.
➦In 2017...Fox News terminated their biggest prime time star Bill O’Reilly over allegations of sexual harassment.
Elinor Donahue is 85
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Elinor Donahue (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” “Father Knows Best”) is 85.
Keyboardist Alan Price of The Animals is 80.
Actor Tim Curry is 76.
Singer Mark “Flo” Volman of The Turtles is 75.
Kate Hudson is 43
Actor Tony Plana (“Ugly Betty”) is 70.
Actor Tom Wood (“The Fugitive,” “Ulee’s Gold”) is 59.
Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight is 57.
Country singer Bekka Bramlett of Bekka and Billy is 54.
Actor Kim Hawthorne (“Greenleaf”) is 54.
Actor Ashley Judd is 54.
Singer Luis Miguel is 52.
Actor Jennifer Esposito (“Blue Bloods”) is 50.
Actor Jennifer Taylor (“Two and a Half Men”) is 50.
Singer Madeleine Peyroux is 48.
Actor James Franco is 44.
Actor Kate Hudson is 43.
Actor Hayden Christensen (“Star Wars Episodes II and III”) is 41.
Actor Catalina Sandino Moreno (“Che,” ″Maria Full of Grace”) is 41.
Audio is a huge part of life for Americans. While AM/FM radio dominates the audio landscape with mass reach and significant time spent, podcasts and smart speakers are fast growing platforms representing engaging environments for brands, according to RadioActive at Westwood One Blog.
The recently released Cumulus Media 2022 Audioscape examines the podcast consumer and smart speaker trends using data from Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” Report from Q4 2021.
Here are the key findings:
Podcasts and smart speakers have opportunities for growth in markets 51+ where they are underrepresented
Since 2016, the two fastest growing audio platforms are podcasts and AM/FM radio streaming
38% of Americans have a smart speaker as ownership growth has moderated
The median age of the podcast audience holds at 33 despite massive audience growth
Most podcast listening occurs at home throughout the day
Podcast listeners are super fans of audio, spending +41% more time with audio than the average American
It is not immediately clear why markets 51+ are opportunities for growth for podcasts and smart speakers but it is worth further study and examination.
Since 2016, the two fastest growing audio platforms are podcasts and AM/FM radio streaming
Over the last five years, podcasts’ share of ad-supported audio has tripled from 4% to 13% among persons 25-54. AM/FM radio streaming shares have nearly doubled (6% to 10%).
Other surprises:
Amazingly, the ad-supported share of AM/FM radio streaming (10%) is nearly as big as the combined audiences of Pandora and Spotify (11%)!
Over-the-air AM/FM radio remains the dominant audio platform at a 61% share of ad-supported audio.
Pandora’s share has dropped steadily from an 11% in 2016 to 8% in 2021.
Over five years, Spotify’s ad-supported shares have been stagnant at a 3% share. (Spotify’s subscription service, which is advertising free, has soared 5X since 2016.)
SiriusXM’s ad-supported shares are up modestly (2% to 4%) but are still very small.
The penetration of streaming in U.S. households has expanded to 80% in the first quarter from 79% in the fourth quarter of last year, according to NextTv citing a new report from analyst Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson.
A year ago in the first quarter of 2021, streaming penetration was 74%, according to data Nathanson uses from a monthly survey by HarrisX.
Nathanson says the growth in penetration came because of increases in subscriptions to newer, smaller services like Peacock and Paramount Plus, while the OG streamers like Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and Amazon were relatively flat as a group.
In the quarter those established services appeared to step-down the increase in new episodes of original programming. By contrast newer services are ramping up with New series on Paramount Plus and the Olympics and Super Bowl on Peacock.
Peacock’s penetration was up 235 basis points quarter over quarter. Paramount Plus’ penetration increased 350 basis points quarter over quarter HBO Max was up 185 basis points.
Discovery Plus’ growth wasn’t exceptional, but its subscribers’ daily usage was a month the highest in the industry, trailing only Netflix and Hulu.
The increase in streaming penetration came from consumers who don’t have a pay TV subscription. Penetration in homes that do have a pay-TV subscription was flat.
Nathanson sees the shift to streaming continuing to be a problem for legacy media.
Infowars and other media assets backed by far-right radio host Alex Jones filed for bankruptcy after he was found liable for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
The Wall Street Journal reports Jones has ceded his far-right website and media company to outside administrators, who placed it and other business ventures he owns under chapter 11 protection to try to resolve the legal claims against him.
Chapter 11 filings generally put an automatic stop to pending civil lawsuits, allowing a breathing spell for corporate and individual defendants facing legal trouble the chance to negotiate a resolution.
The bankruptcy comes after Jones was held liable by default in Texas and Connecticut courts last year to families of the Sandy Hook victims in lawsuits alleging defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Neither court has issued a formal damages award against him or his businesses.
Jones and his lawyers have previously denied that he incited others to harass the victims’ families and characterized the lawsuits as a threat to his First-Amendment rights to free speech.
The Texas court was scheduled to select a jury later this month to calculate damages, court papers show. That risked dismantling Jones’ assets before the Connecticut plaintiffs or other creditors could collect, according to a declaration filed in bankruptcy court on Monday by the businesses’ proposed restructuring officer, W. Marc Schwartz.
Mr. Schwartz said the installation of “neutral management” at the businesses would preserve their value and ease a potential settlement, which is unlikely to be reached outside of a bankruptcy plan.
Jones and his businesses have spent $10 million in legal costs stemming from the Sandy Hook lawsuits, according to court papers. Mr. Jones had provided $725,000 to fund the administration of the chapter 11 case designed to create a settlement trust founded with another $2 million in cash, court papers say. Two retired bankruptcy judges have offered to helm the settlement trust and assume “full governance authority” over Infowars and the other assets.
Jones frequently uses his platform to tout discredited conspiracy theories, most notably saying that the Sandy Hook shooting didn’t happen or was staged by the government. In recent years, social-media companies like Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. have banned him from their platforms.
Key Networks has announced it will offer to radio stations across the U.S. the esports features Quick Hits and Game Pop through a partnership with Beasley Media Group.
Esports Quick Hits (for Sports stations) and Game Pop (for music-oriented stations) deliver high energy, entertaining video gaming and pop culture content that ties esports to the traditional sports world by keeping listeners up to date on the latest esports and pro-gaming news. Both are available now through a minimum of five 30-second segments each with a 30-second network spot for airing Monday through Friday from 6am-7pm. Quick Hits and Game Pop are produced by Benztown, and are upbeat, relatable, and easily sponsorable for both sports and music stations as a primetime benchmark feature.
In addition, SportsMap Radio will be running the feature on over 100 U.S. stations on the SportsMap network four times a day every Monday through Friday.
Esports and video gaming is one of the hottest and fastest-growing sectors of the sports and entertainment industries. As the younger market continues to migrate its entertainment interest to gaming and esports, stations can deliver short-form, easy to understand, entertaining audio content segments that will turn every sports enthusiast or pop culture fan into a video game-savvy tastemaker. With 600 million viewers watching esports, and 79% of esports fans falling under the age of 35 - including 1/3 of all men aged 18-34 spending more time playing and watching video games than watching TV – esports is on the brink of passing the NFL in terms of fan popularity, and video gaming is now displacing Pop Warner Football, Youth Hockey and Little League.
Caroline Beasley, Chief Executive Officer, Beasley Media Group, said: “Beasley Media Group and our Beasley Esports division couldn’t be more excited about this new partnership! Key Networks is very aligned with us on developing and distributing next-generation content that reflects the growing popularity of digital sports.”
David Gow, CEO, Gow Media, owner of SportsMap Radio, commented: “Esports is an exciting, high growth content category. We are excited to partner with Beasley and Key Networks to add this high-quality content to our SportsMap Radio Network. We are confident our affiliates and audiences will enjoy the feature.”
“Airing Quick Hits & Game Pop is a great short-form way for our P1’s to discover and embrace the cool, exciting personalities and happenings in the exploding esports and video gaming space—which keeps our audiences relevant, illuminated and ahead-of-the-curve,” cited Mac Edwards, VP & Market Manager, Beasley Media Group/Detroit, representing a few of the many stations presently carrying the Esports Network.
Dennis Green, Chief Operating Officer, Key Networks, noted: “Key Networks continues to partner with best-in-class brands, and we are delighted to bring the esports features Quick Hits and Game Pop to stations across the country. Our partners at Beasley Media Group discovered early on that esports appeals to a young audience that continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Now is the time to get on board, as the future for esports is NOW!”
For more information or to lock in Quick Hits and Game Pop for your market, visit: www.keynetworks.com or contact Dennis Green, Chief Operating Officer, Key Networks, at 844.KEY.NETS or dennis@keynetworks.com. For advertisers and sponsors, contact Deidra Hoye, SVP, Ad Sales, Key Networks, at 310.739.8015 or deidra@keynetworks.com.
A few thousand Ukrainian soldiers were all that stood between the wrecked city of Mariupol and Russian troops late last night. The Ukrainian fighters rejected an ultimatum from Moscow to surrender by noon yesterday or die. The Russians are determined to take the strategic port city. As many as 100,000 citizens remain in the city with no way out.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday that the port city of Mariupol "doesn't exist anymore" after coming under siege by Russian forces for an unrelenting seven weeks. https://t.co/yTO5yj3WPT
Russia is believed to be preparing for an assault on Donbas, a predominantly Russian-speaking region of Ukraine where separatists already control some territory.
In an interview on CNN yesterday, President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that Ukraine would not give up any of its territory in order to end the war with Russia.
"I am Makar, today I turn 7. And this is my home. Thank you, Russian saviors, for doing that". I can't understand how nobody, including Ukraine, can do anything to make Russia stop. I can't understand how people can blame Ukraine for defending itself, and support Russia. pic.twitter.com/SbwkTBS9jl
➤SOUTH CAROLINA ROCKED BY TWO MASS SHOOTINGS: South Carolina suffered two mass shootings over the Easter weekend, including one at a mall in Columbia and a second at a club in Hampton County. One person was being held under house arrest in the mall shooting, but it appears he may have used a gun at the scene only in self-defense.
Nine victims were treated for gunshot wounds and five suffered "other injuries" while attempting to flee. pic.twitter.com/azysvP4MTH
In the state capital of Columbia, nine people were shot and five more were injured trying to flee the scene when gunfire erupted inside a mall on Saturday. In the early hours of Sunday morning, at least nine people were injured in a shooting inside a club called Cara’s Lounge in Furman. No fatalities were reported in either incident as of early this morning.
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, two teenagers were killed and at least eight others were injured during a party at an Airbnb rental. Police said there were hundreds of people at the party, and most of them were underage.
Five tipsters will split a $50,000 reward for providing police with information that led to the arrest of the suspect in the mass shooting on a New York City subway train, officials said. https://t.co/RPybGq27uw
➤NORTH KOREA CLAIMS SUCCESSFUL WEAPONS TEST: North Korea state media claimed Sunday that the nation has successfully fired a tactical weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. It is believed to be the nation’s 13th weapons test of the year. U.S.-backed denuclearization talks between North Korea and South Korea have stalled.
💰YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY PROCRASTINATOR: If you’re scurrying to finish your taxes today, you’re probably not alone. About 29% of tax filers don’t get it done until sometime in the last three weeks of the tax season, according to an NBC News analysis of IRS data. An average of 11% file for an extension so that they can put off the paperwork (but not the payment) even longer. Tax returns are due at midnight tonight for most of us.
➤FDA INVESTIGATES LUCKY CHARMS CEREAL: The Food and Drug Administration is investigating after more than 100 consumers reported that they got sick after eating Lucky Charms cereal. Thousands more have posted complaints online saying that they suffered nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea after eating the cereal. General Mills, maker of the cereal, told Fox Business News that its own internal investigation showed no evidence of problems with the product. No recall has been issued.
➤WHAT SCIENCE SAYS ABOUT TEEN GIRLS SCREAMING AND SOBBING AT CONCERTS: Sobbing, crying, and screaming at concerts are things girls have done since Beatlemania or earlier. So what’s up with that behavior? Musicologist Nate Sloan says, “Intense emotional reactions can actually trigger the body’s fight or flight response, which could be part of the reason why fans cry seeing their idols in person. Because that’s actually a nervous system flight response, and not triggered by fear, but just being in an intense emotional state.”
Sociologist Michelle Janning says there are various explanations, including that entering a concert space is “a kind of vacation from control,” which is especially needed by girls, she adds, “There is still a lot at play at how we socialize children into gender roles that make girls and women feel like they need to be small, to gatekeep themselves, that they can’t be loud.” Another piece is we’ve all been socialized to do things like scream loudly at concerts. But these days, female fans don’t just scream for boy bands or artists, they also scream for Billie Eilish. Teen psychologist Barbara Greenberg tells Yahoo Life that the screaming and crying could have to do with the feeling that a beloved artist is putting words to a fan’s private emotions, and “it’s really big to feel understood.”
Some other theories about people reacting emotionally to artists on stage regardless of their gender: sexual attraction, thinking the artist speaks for them and with them, a sense of frustration from being so close to their idol but yet so far away, and in some cases, just feeling like they relate so much to the artist and the message they're expressing that crying is a visceral response.
➤SMOKING REDUCES WEALTH’S TENDENCY TO INCREASE LIFE EXPECTANCY: Smoking is really unhealthy, to the point that it can dominate other factors, including amount of wealth, in shortening lifespan. University of California researchers found the percentage of Americans surviving from age 65 to 85 was 19 percentage points higher for someone with at least $300,000 in wealth than for those with no assets. However, there was a 37 percentage point difference between those who never smoked and current smokers. The wealth-related disparity in mortality was larger than the disparities by education, occupation, income, or childhood socioeconomic status, but smoking made the biggest difference among all factors. Study author Dana Glei adds, “Our results suggest that even if wealth has a causal effect on mortality, it cannot compete with the impact of smoking. If you want to live longer, you better avoid the cancer sticks.”
🏀MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS: Who’s the NBA’s most valuable player this season: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic? It’s okay if you can’t choose one. Neither can the NBA. It’s a close contest among the three finalists for the 2021-2022 NBA Awards. The final choices will be announced in June.
🏀MAV’S LUKA MAY BE MISSED TONIGHT: Speaking of Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks are playing the Utah Jazz tonight in Game 2 of the opening-round playoff series, but Luka probably won’t be there. He strained his calf in a game last week and, barring dramatic improvement, is expected to be ruled out.
The new USFL kicked off Saturday night in a historic simulcast on FOX and NBC – delivering a projected 3 million viewers across the networks and their streaming platforms.
🏈USFL DEBUTS: The United States Football League, last seen way back in 1985, made its official comeback over the weekend. In its inaugural game on Saturday, the Birmingham Stallions defeated the New Jersey Generals 28 to 24.
🏌JORDAN SPEITH WINS RBC HERITAGE PLAYOFF: Jordan Spieth fended off Patrick Cantlay with a 56-foot shot from a greenside bunker that stopped seven inches away from the hole. That was close enough for Speith to win the RBC Heritage Playoff in Hilton Head yesterday. It’s Spieth’s 13 career win on the PGA tour but his first since the Valera Texas Open last year.
🏀KYRIE IRVING CLAPS BACK AT BOSTON FANS: Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving was greeted with boos and shouted insults by Boston fans when he made his appearance for the Nets games against the Celtics on Sunday. He replied by flipping the bird. Twice. He scored 39 points for Brooklyn during the game, too. No apologies from Irving: “It’s the same energy they have for me. I’m going to have the same energy for them,” he said after the game, which Boston won 115 to 114. Irving played for Boston from 2017 to 2019.
🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from first-round games yesterday:
New Orleans Pelicans 99, Phoenix Suns 110 (Phoenix leads 1-0)
Brooklyn Nets 114, Boston Celtics 115 (Boston leads 1-0)
Atlanta Hawks 91, Miami Heat 115 (Miami leads 1-0)
Chicago Bulls 86, Milwaukee Bucks 93 (Milwaukee leads 1-0)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday pointed out that those who serve on the board of Twitter each hold very little shares in the social media giant, adding that the “economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders.”
The Hill reports Musk was replying to a tweet that indicated he “was in for a bad time” alongside a photo of a list of names of those who serve on the Twitter board and the percentage of shares that each owns.
“I’m not sure he’s prepared to take on a couple PhDs, a few MBAs, and a Baroness who use Twitter once a year (to reset their passwords) and collectively own 77 shares of the company,” the user wrote.
“Wow, with Jack departing, the Twitter board collectively owns almost no shares!” Musk said in a reply, referring to former CEO Jack Dorsey, who owned a little over two percent of the social media company, according to a Dec. 2021 proxy statement. “Objectively, their economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders.”
Wow, with Jack departing, the Twitter board collectively owns almost no shares! Objectively, their economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders.
Musk also replied to another tweet from a user who said that the Twitter board, excluding Dorsey, owns about 0.12 percent of the roughly $34.4 billion company, which is around $41 million worth of stock, according to Yahoo Finance.
“They have not only, behind closed doors, rejected @elonmusk’s offer to purchase the company 20% above market value. They have threatened to dilute their shareholder’s stake in the company. Criminal negligence?” the user wrote.
“In fairness to the Twitter board, this might be more of a concern about other potential bidders vs just me,” Musk replied.
His comments follow Twitter adopting a so-called poison pill to help prevent it from undergoing acquisition after Musk put forward an offer to buy the company for $43 billion. Under the plan, if any person or group acquires 15 percent or more of Twitter’s stock without the board’s approval, other shareholders are allowed to purchase additional shares at a discount.
A CNN panel blasted President Biden's lack of leadership and cratering political support in an analysis of his poor approval numbers on Sunday's "Inside Politics," reports Fox News.
CNN's latest poll puts Biden at a 39% approval rating, while recent Quinnipiac University polling revealed 33% of Americans approve of Biden's job performance compared to 54% who disapprove.
"Inside Politics" panelists Jordan Fabian, Bloomberg White House correspondent, CNN Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona, and Time Magazine national political correspondent Molly Ball weighed in on how Biden is hemorrhaging support from all political demographics.
Republicans are largely unhappy with his lackluster economic efforts (inflation surged to 8.5% in March, marking a 40-year high), while environmental progressives are recently upset over the administration's announcement it was going to resume the sale of oil and gas leases on federal land.
"People correctly perceive that he's not in control of the situation," Ball said of Biden. She argued that his public support began to wane after his botched handling of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan last August.
"And I think ever since that Afghanistan last summer, people have had - voters overall - have not had a sense of leadership from the White House, have not had a sense that there's a president in control, who is strong and consistent and knows what he's doing and can project a consistent message from one day or the next," she said.
Even at a time when Americans may "agree" with his decisions, such as his moves during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ball said Biden continues to "step on his own messaging," an apparent reference to the contradictory statements the president has made, and which have consistently planted the White House in damage control mode.
In recent weeks, the administration has had to walk back Biden's misleading comments, including debunking the suggestion that he was sending U.S. troops to Ukraine, and his off-the-cuff remark during a speech in Warsaw, Poland, that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power." White House officials were compelled to assure Americans the U.S. was not calling for regime change in response to uproar over the unscripted Warsaw comment.
The CNN panel segment was accompanied by the chyron, "Are Voters Tuning Biden Out?"
Democrats in Congress distancing themselves from Biden, Ball added that should also ring some "alarm bells" for the president.
"It is a sign that they sense that there is nothing to be gained by continuing to be allies of the president," Ball said.
Buck Martinez, whose career with the MLB Toronto Blue Jays spreads over four decades as a player, manager and broadcaster, announced that he will be stepping away from the mix following Sunday’s game to undergo treatment for cancer, according to mlb.com.
Martinez, 73, played 17 seasons in the Major Leagues with the final six coming in Toronto from 1981 to ’86, including as part of some of the best teams in club history. He later returned as manager in 2001, a position he held to the midway point of the 2002 season.
“I’ve been so honored and privileged to have the support of Blue Jays fans, colleagues, staff and players since I arrived here in 1981,” Martinez said in a statement Sunday, “and that continued support through this next challenge means the world to me. I’m grateful for a tremendous medical team, who has given me great optimism that I will come through this with flying colors.”
Younger Blue Jays fans have gotten to know Martinez as the voice of the Blue Jays on Sportsnet, where he’s in his 12th year as a broadcaster. From the field to the broadcast booth and so many places in between, Martinez has become part of the fabric of Blue Jays baseball across Canada.
Martinez hopes to return to the broadcast booth later this season following his treatment, and in the meantime, says that “I will be watching from the sidelines as I fight the good fight.”
Art Rupe, the founder of Specialty Records, an innovative independent label based in Los Angeles that brought rhythm and blues into the mainstream and helped set the table for the rock ’n’ roll era with singers like Little Richard and Lloyd Price, died on Friday at his home in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Rupe created Specialty in 1946 with a niche audience in mind (hence the name). The major labels of the time, focused on mass-market pop hits, ignored the urbanized, blues-based music that appealed to Black audiences in the big cities. Rupe hoped to capitalize on this oversight by showcasing acts with “a big-band sound expressed in a churchy way,” as he put it to Arnold Shaw, the author of “Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues” (1978).
In the late 1940s and early ’50s, artists like Roy Milton, Percy Mayfield and Joe Liggins consistently put Specialty in the Top 10 of what were known as the “race record” charts until Billboard magazine began using the term “rhythm and blues” in 1949. In 1952, on a scouting trip to New Orleans, Rupe recorded Lloyd Price, then 19, singing his own composition, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” That record, which featured Fats Domino on piano, became the top-selling R&B record of the year and broke through to white listeners, too.
Three years later, Mr. Rupe hit one of rock ’n’ roll’s mother lodes when he signed Richard Penniman, known professionally as Little Richard, on the strength of a scratchy audition tape. During a lunch break at a recording session in New Orleans, Little Richard sat down at the piano and shouted out a risqué song he used in his nightclub act: “Tutti Frutti.” With hastily rewritten lyrics, the song became one of rock’s early classics, and the first in a string of Little Richard hits that included “Long Tall Sally,” “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Rip It Up,” “Lucille,” “Keep a-Knockin’” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly.”
Art Rupe was born Arthur Newton Goldberg on Sept. 5, 1917, in Greensburg, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh, and grew up in nearby McKeesport, where his father, David, was a salesman at a secondhand furniture store and his mother, Anna, was a music lover. After attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Miami University in Ohio, he moved to Los Angeles in 1939.
Wendy Rieger, who co-anchored the popular 5 p.m. newscast on Washington’s NBC station WRC (Channel 4) for more than 20 years, wining a loyal audience with her good-humored and well-crafted reports, died April 16 at a hospice facility in Montgomery County.
She was 65, reports The Washington Post. The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
A fixture of broadcast journalism for more than four decades, Ms. Rieger won local Emmy Awards, including one for a report on Vietnam 20 years after the war. She made news herself when she had open-heart surgery in fall 2020 to address a rapid heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) and a defect in a mitral valve. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had most of it surgically removed, and she retired in December after 33 years at WRC.
Rieger was an actress in Norfolk when she made her journalism debut in the late 1970s, earning extra money as a newsreader for a Tidewater-area radio station. She was advised by a station colleague to “sound” like a newsperson — “You know, serious,” she was told. “Like Walter Cronkite.”
After assessing her less-than-flourishing stage career — “There’s no closer way to get to Broadway than to do dinner theater in Norfolk,” she joked — she changed paths. Rieger spent much of the 1980s in public and commercial radio, with stints at WAMU, WLTT-FM and WTOP, and earned acclaim for her engaging personality and thoughtful handling of hard news and community features.
She also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN’s Washington bureau and, in 1988, joined WRC as a nighttime street reporter during the crack epidemic. She began anchoring weekend evening newscasts in 1996 and moved to the 5 p.m. weekday slot in 2001, sharing the table initially with Susan Kidd and later with Jim Handly.
On the air, Ms. Rieger was inclined to show a personally revealing, self-deprecating side when the mood felt right. Lashed by wind and rain while covering a hurricane, she quipped to the audience, “Note to self: waterproof mascara!” She followed with her observation after that maelstrom had tempered down and was only producing tiny waves in the Atlantic Ocean: The wondrous storm “goes all flat,” she said, “kind of like my dating life.”
Wendy Bell Rieger was born in Norfolk on April 18, 1956. Her father was an airline pilot, and her mother was an English teacher and later a polygraph examiner. Ms. Rieger was 8 when they divorced.
She graduated from American University in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Her first marriage, to Sol Levine, a CNN producer, ended in divorce. In 2021 she married retired WRC news photographer Dan Buckley.
➦In 1925...Robert Francis Hastings born (Died from pancreatic cancer at age 89 – June 30, 2014). He was a radio, film, and television character actor. He also provided voices for animated cartoons. He was best known for his portrayal of annoying suck-up Lt. Elroy Carpenter, on McHale's Navy.
Bob Hastings
Hastings started in radio on "Coast-to-Coast on a Bus" (NBC). Hastings served during World War II in the United States Army Air Corps. After serving in World War II as a navigator on B-29s, he played the role of Archie Andrews in a series based on the Archie comic book series on NBC Radio from 1945-53. Archie Andrews was sponsored by Swift & Company food products.
Hastings moved to television in 1949. He is best known for portraying the aide to Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn), the yes-man Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter on ABC's McHale's Navy, humorously called "Carpy" and "Little Leadbottom" by McHale and his men.
After McHale's Navy, Hastings was a regular on the Universal Studios lot, where Universal paid actors during downtime to be on the grounds and talk to tourists. According to an interview, he got along so well with the people that he became one of the few regulars on the tour.
➦In 1939…Gene Autry recorded his signature song "Back in the Saddle Again" for the first time in Los Angeles for Columbia Records. It was co-written by Autry with Ray Whitley and first released in 1939. The song was associated with Autry throughout his career and was used as the name of Autry's autobiography in 1976. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. In addition to being used as the theme for Autry's radio program, Gene Autry's Melody Ranch,"Back in the Saddle Again" was also used for The Gene Autry Show on television as well as for personal appearances.
It was included in the Autry movie "Roving Tumbleweeds," then became the theme song for his "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch" radio series which aired on CBS from 1940 to 1956.
This is the original pilot episode that debuted on KNX Radio in Los Angeles as a private preview for the Doublemint Gum.
➦In 1944...Arthur W. Ferguson born (Died – February 19, 2016). Better known as Charlie Tuna, he began working at age 16 at his hometown's radio station, KGFW. Then, he went to work at KLEO in Wichita, Kansas for a year with the air name "Billy O'Day". He then worked for KOMA Radio in Oklahoma City in 1966, where he took over the "Charlie Tuna" pseudonym from Chuck Riley, who had used it for one show the week prior to Tuna's arrival. Tuna then moved on to WMEX in Boston for the first 9 months of 1967.
Charlie Tuna
In late 1967, KHJ in Los Angeles offered Tuna the 9 to noon slot, where he debuted on Thanksgiving Day 1967. On February 9, 1971, he had just commenced his morning show at 6:00 a.m. when the San Fernando earthquake occurred.
In early 1972 he did mornings at KCBQ in San Diego (during the original presentation of "The Last Contest") and later that year became one of the original DJs at KROQ AM, a new Top 40 station (formerly Country KBBQ). In 1973 be moved to KKDJ as program director and morning personality. He presided over its 1975 call-letter change to KIIS, and broadcast the first show at KIIS-FM as it began its AM/FM simulcast. He also worked at KTNQ, KHTZ (later KBZT), KRLA, KODJ (later KCBS-FM), KMPC, KIKF, and KLAC.
He worked at KBIG 104.3, where he hosted a long-running morning show Charlie Tuna in the Morning which aired from 5 to 10 am. His last full-time morning show aired on September 17, 2007, when the station flipped to a non-rhythmic-based adult contemporary format, as 104.3 My FM. He returned to radio February 9, 2008 when he became the weekend personality on Los Angeles oldies station K-Earth 101. CBS on August 27, 2015 began down sizing their stations in Los Angeles, at which point Charlie moved on to expand his syndicated radio business.
Tuna served as announcer for Casey Kasem on his 1980s television program America's Top 10, and occasionally filled in for Kasem on his radio programs American Top 20 and American Top 10. He co-hosted Your Good Time Oldies Magazine from 1992 to 1995, and he produced and hosted 52 weekly episodes of Back to the 70s, which were rerun at radio stations across the country until 2008.
Tuna had a year-long run in 2009 of a 5-hour classic hits daily and weekend show, syndicated through United Stations Radio Network in New York. He joined Black Card Radio in Los Angeles in 2010 as host of a 5-hour weekend show Charlie Tuna - The 70's, which is distributed nationally and internationally, and later added a 5-hour daily and weekend show for all radio formats. He moved his radio station voice imaging business to Black Card Radio later that year. In 2011 he introduced the syndicated "Charlie Tuna's Hollywood Minute", 4 to 5 top entertainment stories each day. Tuna reunited with United Stations Radio Network in New York in 2013 to do the ad sales for his Black Card Radio shows.
Tuna broadcast approximately 6,000 radio shows from 1971 through 1996 on the American Forces Radio Network.
➦In 1960...The 3M Company purchased the bankrupt Mutual Broadcasting System for $1.24M. MBS had 443 affiliates, easily the most of any network at the time. In July 1966, 3M sold the network to a privately held company, Mutual Industries, Inc., headed by John P. Fraim. Upon Mutual Industries's acquisition of Mutual, it was renamed to "Mutual Broadcasting Corporation". See below...
➦In 1999...Last broadcast of the Mutual Broadcasting System
On September 29, 1934, four AM radio stations—WXYZ in Detroit, WGN in Chicago, WOR in New York, and WLW in Cincinnati—agreed to form a cooperative, program-sharing radio network. WGN and WOR controlled the operation (first dubbed the Quality Group), and the Mutual Broadcasting System was incorporated in Illinois one month later. When WXYZ (which had contributed the popular western adventure program The Lone Ranger) withdrew to join the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) network in 1935, Canadian station CKLW in Windsor, Ontario (serving the Detroit market), replaced it. (The Lone Ranger remained on Mutual until 1942 under contractual obligation.)
After a year on the air, the new network carried 40 hours of sustaining (non-advertiser-supported) programs and 20 hours of commercial programming per week. The network’s first coast-to-coast broadcast came in September 1936, and by 1940 Mutual had 160 affiliates, nearly 20 percent of the stations then on the air. As Mutual’s stations in rural areas often had less power than the affiliates of the older national networks, many stations held primary affiliations with the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) or NBC and only a secondary relationship with Mutual. Nevertheless, Mutual had more affiliates than any other network—a record it held into the 1980s.
Mutual ended its cooperative operation in 1952 when the network was purchased by General Tire and set up in New York. In the late 1950s network ownership changed several times, often within months, and none of its owners had sufficient funding to move Mutual into television. On at least two occasions, a shortage of funds threatened to close network operations, and Mutual filed for bankruptcy in 1959. The number of employees dropped to only 50, compared with 350 at its peak in the 1940s. The network faced a scandal when it was discovered that one short-term owner had secretly accepted money from a Caribbean country in return for favourable comment on the air, and Mutual lost 130 of its affiliates.
Ownership changes continued as the network shifted its headquarters from New York to Washington, D.C., in 1971. In 1972 Mutual began special network feeds to African American and Spanish-programmed stations with news and sportscasts.
One of the few primary network programs outside of news and sports that Mutual initiated during this era became one of the most successful in its history: the first nationwide, all-night call-in show, which launched on November 3, 1975, with Herb Jepko as host. Jepko, who had run a telephone talk show out of KSL in Salt Lake City for years, so determinedly avoided controversy that some callers simply talked about the weather where they lived.
Jepko was briefly succeeded by Long John Nebel, before Mutual tapped a local talk show host at WIOD in Miami. Larry King made his network premiere on January 30, 1978; by the turn of the decade, he was being carried by 150 stations and credited with attracting many new affiliates to Mutual. King continued his Mutual call-in show for years, even as he began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. From 1970 through 1977, Mutual was the national radio broadcaster for Monday Night Football.
In 1977 then-owner Amway bought Mutual’s very first outlet owned and operated by the company, WCFL in Chicago, followed in 1980 by the purchase of WHN in New York. Mutual also signed a contract with Western Union to use its satellite facilities, thus becoming the first radio network to employ satellite distribution. Aided by its satellite network, Mutual served 950 affiliates by 1979, but the number slowly declined.
Mutual was purchased by Westwood One in 1985. In its last 15 years Mutual largely produced newscasts. Westwood One closed Mutual on April 18, 1999, but its newscasts continued under the marketing name of CNN Radio. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
➦In 2012…Forever young Dick Clark died following a heart attack at 82. He had suffered a significant stroke in 2004.
Dick Clark
In 1945, Clark began his career working in the mailroom at WRUN 1150 AM (now silent) in Rome, NY, that was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. Almost immediately, he was asked to fill in for the vacationing weatherman, and within a few months he was announcing station breaks.
While attending Syracuse, Clark worked at WOLF-AM, then a country music station. After graduation, he returned to WRUN for a short time where he went by the name Dick Clay. After that, Clark got a job at the television station WKTV in Utica, New York. His first television-hosting job was on Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders, a country-music program. He would later replace Robert Earle (who would later host the GE College Bowl) as a newscaster.
In 1952, Clark moved to Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he took a job as a disc jockey at radio station WFIL, adopting the Dick Clark handle. WFIL had an affiliated TV station (now WPVI) with the same call sign, which began broadcasting a show called Bob Horn's Bandstand in 1952. Clark was responsible for a similar program on the company's radio station, and served as a regular substitute host when Horn went on vacation. In 1956, Horn was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently dismissed. On July 9, 1956, Clark became the show's permanent host.
Bandstand was picked up by the ABC television network, renamed American Bandstand, and debuted nationally on August 5, 1957. The show took off, due to Clark's natural rapport with the live teenage audience and dancing participants as well as the non-threatening image he projected to television audiences. As a result, many parents were introduced to rock and roll music. According to Hollywood producer Michael Uslan, "he was able to use his unparalleled communication skills to present rock 'n roll in a way that was palatable to parents."
Dick Clark interviews William Shatner 1958
In 1958, The Dick Clark Show was added to ABC's Saturday night lineup. By the end of year, viewership exceeded 20 million, and featured artists were "virtually guaranteed" large sales boosts after appearing. In a surprise television tribute to Clark in 1959 on This Is Your Life, host Ralph Edwards called him "America’s youngest starmaker," and estimated the show had an audience of 50 million.
Clark moved the show from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in 1964. The move was related to the popularity of new "surf" groups based in Southern California, including The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. The show ran daily Monday through Friday until 1963, then weekly on Saturdays until 1987. Bandstand was briefly revived in 1989, with Clark again serving as host. By the time of its cancellation, the show had become longest-running variety show in TV history.
James Woods is 75
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Robert Hooks is 85.
Actor Hayley Mills is 76.
Actor James Woods is 75.
Actor Dorothy Lyman (“Mama’s Family”) is 75.
Actor Cindy Pickett (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) is 75.
Keyboardist Walt Richmond of The Tractors is 75.
Bassist Jim Scholten of Sawyer Brown is 70.
Actor Rick Moranis is 69.
Actor Eric Roberts is 66.
Melissa Joan Hart is 46
Actor Melody Thomas Scott (“Young and the Restless”) is 66.
Actor John James (“Dynasty,” ″The Colbys”) is 66.
Bassist Les Pattinson of Echo and the Bunnymen is 64.
Actor Jane Leeves (“Hot in Cleveland,” ″Fraiser”) is 61.
Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is 60.
Talk show host Conan O’Brien is 59. A
ctor Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”) is 59.
Actor Maria Bello is 55.
Actor Mary Birdsong (“Reno 911!”) is 54.
Actor David Hewlett (“Stargate: SG-1”) is 54.
Actor-rapper Fredro Starr of Onyx (“Moesha”) is 51.
Actor David Tennant (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) is 51.
Guitarist Mark Tremonti of Creed and of Alter Bridge is 48.
Singer Trina of Trina and Tamara is 48.
Actor Melissa Joan Hart (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 46.
Actor Bryce Johnson (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 45.
TV personality Kourtney Kardashian is 43.
Actor America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”) is 38.
Actor Tom Hughes (“Victoria”) is 37.
Actor Ellen Woglom (“Marvel’s Inhumans”) is 35.
Actor Vanessa Kirby (“The Crown”) is 34.
Actor Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) is 33.
Actor Britt Robertson (“Under the Dome”) is 32.
Actor Chloe Bennet (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” ″Nashville”) is 30.
