Tuesday, June 14, 2022

June 14 Radio History


➦In 1908...John Scott Trotter born (Died at age 67 from cancer – October 29, 1975). He was an arranger, composer and orchestra leader, best known for conducting the John Scott Trotter Orchestra which backed singer and entertainer Bing Crosby on record and on his NBC Kraft Music Hall show on NBC Radio from 1937 to 1946.  He also worked with Vince Guaraldi scoring some of the early Peanuts cartoons for TV.

Burl Ives

➦In 1909...Burl Ives born (Died from oral cancer at age 85 – April 14, 1995) was an singer and actor of stage, screen, radio and television.

Ives began as an itinerant singer and banjoist, and launched his own radio show, The Wayfaring Stranger, which popularized traditional folk songs. He also performed  on WBOW radio in Terre Haute, Indiana.  In 1942 he appeared in Irving Berlin's This Is the Army, and then became a major star of CBS radio.

In the 1960s he successfully crossed over into country music, recording hits such as "A Little Bitty Tear" and "Funny Way of Laughin'". A popular film actor through the late 1940s and '50s, Ives's best-known film roles included parts in So Dear to My Heart (1949) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), as well as Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country (1958), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Ives is often remembered for his voice-over work as Sam the Snowman, narrator of the classic 1964 Christmas television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which continues to air annually around Christmas.

Warren Harding -1922 (AP Photo)
➦In 1922...President Warren G. Harding, while addressing a crowd at the dedication of a memorial site for the composer of the “Star Spangled Banner,” Francis Scott Key, became the first president to have his voice transmitted by radio, via WEAR Baltimore. The broadcast heralded a revolutionary shift in how presidents addressed the American public. It was not until three years later, however, that a president would deliver a radio-specific address. That honor went to President Calvin Coolidge.

➦In 1924...WOKO signed on in 1924 IN New York City.  The station moved to Mount Beacon, N.Y., in 1928.  In 1930, moved to Albany, N.Y.  WOKO was the first radio station licensed to that city.

The station picked up he CBS affiliation in the city.  In the early 1940s, CBS moved to rival WTRY.  WOKO adopted a locally-based independent format, focused largely on music. It carried a middle-of-the-road music format in the 1960s before flipping to country.  In 1978, WOKO flipped to a disco format.  As the disco fad passed, WOKO returned to country in 1980.

WOKO tried an all-news format in 1982, changing its call letters to WWCN.  The station flipped back to the WOKO call letters in 1987 with an oldies format.

Barnstable Broadcasting bought the station in 1988 and used it to simulcast WGNA.  ABC Radio purchased the station in 2002 and flipped it to the Radio Disney format as WDDY.  The station went silent in 2013.

Harold Peary
➦In 1950...After 13 years on radio, Harold Peary played the title character in "The Great Gildersleeve" for the final time. It was a radio situation comedy broadcast from August 31, 1941 to 1958.

The series was built around Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a regular character from the radio situation comedy Fibber McGee and Molly. The character was introduced in the October 3, 1939 episode (number 216) of that series. The Great Gildersleeve enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 1940s. Peary played the character during its transition from the parent show into the spin-off and later in four feature films released at the height of the show's popularity.

After Peary. Willard Waterman took over the role for the next eight years on radio and for several years on TV.

➦In 1965...Pioneering newscaster/commentator H.V. Kaltenborn died (Born July 9, 1878). He was a pioneering radio commentator, heard regularly on the radio for over 30 years, beginning with CBS in 1928. He was known for his highly precise diction, his ability to ad-lib, and his depth of knowledge of world affairs.

A good example of that is in the last part of the YouTube in Marlin Taylor's Musings for D-Day ... where NBC was to go to London for a couple of reports but couldn't connect. After those, H. V. was to do a 5-minute summary. Instead, he stepped in and talked for something like 13 minutes without missing a beat, according to Taylor.

Kaltenborn began his career as a newspaper reporter, but moved to radio when it began to establish itself as a bona fide source of news. When he was 19, he ran away from home and joined the armed forces to fight in the Spanish–American War. After that he spent some time in Europe, returning to take a job with the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. At 24, he went to college, enrolling as a special student at Harvard University. When he finished, he returned to the Eagle, traveling during summers to distant locales.

Kaltenborn was one of the first news readers to provide analysis and insight into current news stories. His vast knowledge of foreign affairs and international politics amply equipped him for covering crises in Europe and the Far East in the 1930s. His vivid reporting of the Spanish Civil War and the Czech crisis of 1938 helped establish the credibility of radio news in the public mind and helped to overcome the nation's isolationist sensibilities. Kaltenborn reported on the Spanish Civil War "while hiding in a haystack between the two armies. Listeners in America could hear bullets hitting the hay above him while he spoke."

Radio historian James F. Widner described Kaltenborn's skill as a news analyst: Kaltenborn was known as a commentator who never read from a script. His "talks" were extemporaneous[ly] created from notes he had previously written.

Kaltenborn joined NBC in 1940. On election night in 1948, he and Bob Trout, a former CBS colleague, were at the NBC news desk to broadcast the returns of the White House race between President Harry S. Truman and challenger Thomas E. Dewey. Throughout the evening, the returns were too close to call. As the evening progressed, Kaltenborn could see a swing in Dewey's favor. It was enough for him to project Dewey the winner, although the returns were still close. What Kaltenborn did not foresee was another swing in the votes going to Truman. As evening turned to early morning, Kaltenborn retracted his original projection and announced Truman as the winner.

Though Kaltenborn left full-time broadcasting in 1953, he provided analyses during NBC's television coverage of the Republican and Democratic conventions in 1956. Those live newscasts were anchored by Chet Huntley and David Brinkley in their first on-air pairing. Kaltenborn was in his mid-seventies when the television age arrived.


➦In 1983...The FCC's Docket 80-90 created new FM Stations.  In 1980, as the non-com band started to fill up in most major metropolitan areas there was a little pressure on the FCC and Congress to make room.

The rule grandfathered the existing short spaced stations and reduced minimum mileage separation between new changes. It also limited new licenses to a maximum ERP of 3 KW, HAAT being 328' or 100 meters. Weaker stations = more stations crammed in. But it did not increase the spacing requirements between Class A and second- and third-adjacent channel Class B stations. It also allowed full-power stations to move-in on Class D stations. forcing some off air.

➦In 1986...after 29 years of what was considered North America’s longest-running continuously-published radio station survey, CHUM Radio in Toronto published its last weekly music chart.  It’s last #1 song was “Live to Tell” by Madonna.

Rod Argent is 77
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

  • Actor Marla Gibbs is 91. 
  • Singer Rod Argent of The Zombies and Argent is 77. 
  • Singer Janet Lennon of The Lennon Sisters is 76. 
  • Guitarist Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish is 75. 
  • Actor Will Patton is 68. 
  • Lucy Hall is 33
    Jazz bassist Marcus Miller is 63. 
  • Singer Boy George of Culture Club is 61. 
  • Actor Traylor Howard (“Monk,” ″Two Guys And A Girl”) is 56. 
  • Actor Yasmine Bleeth is 54. 
  • Actor Faizon Love (“The Parent ’Hood”) is 54. 
  • Actor Stephen Wallem (“Nurse Jackie”) is 54. 
  • Actor Sullivan Stapleton (“Blindspot”) is 45. 
  • Screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno”) is 44. 
  • Actor Lawrence Saint-Victor (“The Bold and the Beautiful,” ″Guiding Light”) is 40. 
  • Actor Torrance Coombs (“Reign,” “The Tudors”) is 39. 
  • Actor J.R. Martinez (“All My Children”) is 39. 
  • Actor Kevin McHale (“Glee”) is 34. 
  • Actor Lucy Hale (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 33. 
  • Singer Jesy Nelson of Little Mix is 31. 
  • Actor Daryl Sabara (“Spy Kids”) is 30.


🕇DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
  • American Revolutionary War general and traitor Benedict Arnold died in Britain on this day in 1801. He was 60.

Monday, June 13, 2022

Indy Radio: Emmis Announces Sale of Cluster to Urban One


Emmis Communications today announced an agreement to sell its Emmis Indianapolis radio stations to Urban One, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission.

The sale includes B105 (WYXB 105.7FM), HANK FM (97.1FM), The Fan (93.5FM and 107.5FM), WIBC (93.1FM) and Network Indiana.

"When Emmis launched our first station, WENS now HANK FM, in 1981, I never could have envisioned the journey we would go on. Indianapolis is my hometown, and I'm so proud of what we've been able to accomplish – we've become an invaluable contributor to the Indianapolis community, a leader of radio industry initiative and innovation, and a trusted resource for Central Indiana listeners and businesses," said Jeff Smulyan, founder and chairman of Emmis.

Smulyan noted that Urban One has deep media experience, including lengthy experience as an Indianapolis radio and television operator, significant resources, and a commitment to local radio.

In recent years, Emmis has sold many of its media assets and redeployed capital into new ventures which emphasize its sales and marketing experience including: Lencore Acoustics, a leader in high-quality sound masking solutions for commercial applications; Sound That BRANDS, the Los Angeles-based podcasting studio specializing in branded audio content for national advertisers; and Digonex, a leading provider of dynamic pricing solutions for attractions and live entertainment industries. Emmis also operates Indianapolis Monthly magazine and owns two radio station licenses in New York (1190AM and 98.7FM).

Emmis Indianapolis Radio has 77 full-time and 50 part-time employees, all based in the company's Monument Circle Headquarters.


The sale will close once the transaction receives approval from the FCC, which may take several months. Until that time, Emmis will continue to own and operate the stations.
Background on the stations

Emmis purchased WIBC (formerly 1070 now 93.1 FM) in 1994 from Horizon Broadcast Group. WIBC is Indianapolis' news talk leader. The frequency moved to 93.1 FM in 2007.

HANK FM (97.1 FM) was formerly WENS, the first station owned by Emmis. Purchased in 1979, the signal was moved to Indianapolis, and launched in 1981 with an adult contemporary format. The station switched formats in March 2005 to its current country format.

Indianapolis' sports talk leader The Fan is home of the Indianapolis Colts, the Indiana Pacers and the Indy 500. It currently operates at 93.5 and 107.5. It was launched in 2007 on the former 1070 signal (when WIBC moved to 93.1 FM) and moved to 107.5 in 2017, and added 93.5 in 2019.

WYXB, known as B105.7, launched in 2001. Emmis had purchased the frequency (but not the intellectual property) from WTLC, and it airs an adult contemporary format.

Network Indiana provides news, talk and sports programming to more than 70 radio stations serving the state of Indiana. Emmis purchased Network Indiana in 1998 from the Hulman Family.

'22 Nominees Unveiled For Radio Hall of Fame


The Museum of Broadcast Communications announced today the selection of the RADIO HALL OF FAME 2022 nominees. The 24 nominees were chosen by the Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, with input from the radio industry and listeners.

Voting for inductees begins Tuesday, June 22nd and runs through July 8th. The top six vote recipients will gain induction as part of the 2022 Radio Hall of Fame Induction class. The two additional inductees that will make up the eight-person induction class will be selected by the Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee.

More than 600 industry members will receive a confidential ballot on Tuesday, June 22nd, to cast votes for up to six nominated individuals. The confidential ballot will be conducted by Votem.com, and overseen by Miller Kaplan‘s Andrew Rosen.

2022 Radio Hall of Fame inductees will be announced Monday, July 25th, and honored in-person at the 2022 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, in Chicago.

The nominees are:
  • Bob Stroud-WDRV-FM / Chicago
  • Bobby O’Jay-WDIA -AM /Memphis (posthumous)
  • Broadway Bill Lee-WCBS-FM /New York
  • Carol Miller-WAXQ – FM / New York
  • Charles Laquidera-Boston
  • Chris “Mad Dog” Russo-SiriusXM
  • Dave Ross-KIRO – FM / Seattle
  • Diane Rehm-WAMU – FM / Washington DC
  • Dyana Williams-Philadelphia
  • Ellen K-KOST- FM / Los Angeles
  • John & Ken-KFI – AM /Los Angeles
  • Johnny Magic WXXL FM /Orlando
  • Kevin Matthews-Chicago
  • Larry Elder-Los Angeles
  • Laurie DeYoung-WPOC-FM /Baltimore
  • Lon Helton-Country Countdown USA
  • Matt Siegel- Boston
  • Mojo in the Morning-WKQI- FM/ Detroit
  • Pat St. John-Sirius XM
  • Pierre Robert-WMMR – FM/Philadelphia
  • Raul Brindis-KLTN-FM /Houston
  • Steven Van Zandt-SiriusXM
  • Suzyn Waldman-New York Yankees Radio Network (WFAN – A/F New York)
  • Walt “Baby” Love-Gospel Traxx
Kraig T. Kitchin, Co-Chairman, Radio Hall of Fame, commented: “We’ve made changes in 2022, to allow voting participants to vote for up to six nominees for induction, and limit the voting process to knowledgeable industry members. Listeners and industry members alike contributed more than 2500 suggestions for the Nominating Committee to consider in addition to their own considerations”.

Dennis Green, Co-Chairman, Radio Hall of Fame, added: “The 2022 list of nominees for induction to the Radio Hall of Fame this year represents some of the most talented individuals in the history of our medium. This year’s nominees made their mark in a variety of formats from coast-to-coast and town-to-town up and down the dial. All 24 nominees are deserving of Hall of Fame recognition. These amazing radio stars help make radio special to millions of listeners and pave the way for future Hall of Fame talent.”

The Radio Hall of Fame was founded by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. The Museum of Broadcast Communications took over operations in 1991.

Denver Radio: Orlando Franklin Is Back At Sports KKFN


Bonneville Denver has announced Orlando Franklin is back at KKFN 104.3 The Fan. Franklin joins Cecil Lammey on “Orlando and Cecil” weeknights from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Orlando Franklin
Franklin was a host with the station from 2018 through 2021 before parting for a coaching opportunity with the San Francisco 49ers last July. Prior to his broadcasting career, Franklin spent seven seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman with the Denver Broncos and then-San Diego Chargers. He was a member of Denver’s AFC Championship Team in 2013 and named to the Broncos’ All-Decade Team of the 2010s.

“I’m beyond excited to return to my family at The Fan and get back to talking with Denver fans every day,” Franklin said. “While coaching in the NFL was a wonderful experience, my true passion is radio and I can’t wait to team up with Cecil talking about the Avalanche, Broncos and all the big stories in Denver sports!”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Orlando home to The Fan where he brings a new insight after a year of coaching the NFL,” said 104.3 The Fan Program Director Raj Sharan. “In addition to Orlando’s terrific football credentials, he’s tremendously knowledgeable about hockey, which will strengthen our commitment to talking about the Avalanche along with all of our Denver sports teams.”

NYC Radio: WFAN Lines Up Pinch-Hitters For John Sterling


Last week was a whirlwind week NY Yankees radio voice John Sterling.

  • On Monday, The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reported “Legendary Yankees radio play-by-player John Sterling will miss 25-30 road games in the second half of the season as he, the team and its flagship station, WFAN, manage his schedule.”
  • On Tuesday, Sterling said he’s not being forced out.
  • On Wednesday, minor-league broadcaster Joey Zanaboni, who calls Single-A games for the Fredericksburg Nationals, made his pitch for replacing Sterling.

Now, NJ.com reports Sterling’s time away from the mic is coming sooner than expected. Per WFAN:

Justin Shackil will call the Yankees’ series in Toronto June 17-19, and our own Rickie Ricardo will slide over from the Spanish broadcast to sit alongside Suzyn Waldman in Tampa from June 20-22.

Shackil and Ricardo reportedly are on the initial short list of candidates to fill in for Sterling, as was YES/ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco. The NY Posr also reported WFAN has “thrown around the idea of radio analyst Suzyn Waldman maybe moving over to call a game or two, according to sources. ... The Waldman on play-by-play scenario, while possible, seemed as if it was the least likely.”

WFAN has considered former reliever Jeff Nelson to call a Yankees game or two as a play-by-player in place of John Sterling, according to sources.

Sterling still will hit the road for games at Fenway Park (vs. the Boston Red Sox), Camden Yards (vs. the Baltimore Orioles) and Citi Field (vs. the New York Mets).

Country Singer Toby Keith Discloses Cancer Battle


Country singer Toby Keith revealed Sunday that he was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer and has been privately receiving treatment, reports KTLA 5 Los Angeles.

“Last fall I was diagnosed with stomach cancer,” Keith, 60, wrote on Twitter. “I’ve spent the last 6 months receiving chemo, radiation, and surgery. So far, so good. I need time to breathe, recover and relax. I am looking forward to spending this time with my family, but I will see the fans sooner than later. I can’t wait.”

Stomach cancer “begins when cells in the stomach start to grow out of control,” according to the American Cancer Society. Sometimes known as gastric cancer, stomach cancer accounts for about 1.5% of all new cancers diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Survival rates are based on how far the cancer has spread.

The singer has long worked to support those facing cancer diagnoses. In 2006, Keith began the Toby Keith Foundation, an organization that streamlines its efforts around no-cost housing for children with cancer. In 2014, the foundation opened OK Kids Korral, a cost-free home for pediatric cancer patients who receive treatment at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma. 

Cancer disappears in every patient during small clinical trial, researchers say.

Concerts scheduled for June, July, August, and September are still listed on Keith’s website. It’s unclear how many, if any, of these will be canceled or postponed. Keith is also scheduled to perform at Coachella Crossroads in Coachella, California on Nov. 11.

Apple's CarPlay Is Taking Over Your Car


by Daniel Howley·Technology Editor
Yahoo! Finance

Apple unveiled a host of new software and hardware during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) last week, giving the world a look at iOS 16, watchOS 9, macOS Ventura, and even the company’s new M2 chip and redesigned MacBook Air.

But one announcement should have gotten more attention than it did — an early look at the next generation of Apple’s CarPlay. 

Yahoo! Finance reports CarPlay is the company’s iPhone-powered automotive interface. Anyone with a car that is AirPlay compatible simply plugs in their phone, or connects it wirelessly, and the infotainment system automatically switches to an interface similar to your iPhone’s.

The upcoming version of CarPlay, however, goes far beyond the current iteration’s capabilities. Your iPhone will take over your car’s infotainment system, its instrument cluster, and even the A/C and seat controls.

Automakers have struggled for years to build interfaces that are as easy to understand as a smartphone, often making things more confusing in the process. And with the next version of CarPlay, which launches in late 2023, it looks like automakers may cede more control to Apple.

CarPlay will finally be able to control parts of your car

There’s no guarantee that automakers will completely get on board with Apple’s plans for their vehicles. After all, doing so would be like letting someone come into your home and allowing them to repaint the walls the way they like them.

But, consumers like using their iPhones, and in the case of Google’s Android Auto, their Android devices. I recently bought a Hyundai and while I love driving it, even in New York City, the interface is unattractive and clunky. That’s why, according to Apple, 79% of car buyers would only consider purchasing a vehicle that’s CarPlay-capable.

Thankfully, my Hyundai supports both CarPlay and Android Auto, so as soon as I get in, I just plug in my iPhone, and I’ve got all of my apps and settings ready to go.

CarPlay’s one shortcoming, though, is that it can’t control even the most basic vehicle features outside of playing music over my car’s speakers. To even access the radio, I have to switch out of CarPlay to the vehicle’s standard interface and then back to CarPlay. For drivers with temperature controls built into their infotainment systems, that’s doubly annoying. It’s also problematic when driving to have to switch between two different interfaces just to put the AC on.

The next interaction of CarPlay, however, will allow you to not only adjust the climate settings; seat position; garage door controls; and, thankfully, radio without having to switch to the automaker’s interface. You’ll even be able to expand CarPlay’s interface to the instrument cluster as well.

During its on-screen demo, Apple showed a vehicle with CarPlay displaying a vehicle’s speed, tachometer, fuel gauge, engine temperature, and odometer. What’s more, you’ll be able to change what appears between the large speedometer and tachometer, adding either a map, compass, the name of the song you’re playing and more.

Automakers are making deals with Big Tech

Apple isn’t the only tech giant making moves in the auto industry; Alphabet is increasingly pushing into the automotive space, inking deals that make its in-car version of Android the base infotainment system for vehicle manufacturers.

Last year, Ford signed a deal with Google that lets the tech giant build out Ford’s system, meaning Android will be built into future Ford vehicles from the jump. Google is already doing the same thing with GM, packaging Android directly into select 2022 vehicles.

While Apple hasn’t made any deals to become the default operating system for automakers, its CarPlay is already available in some 98% of cars in the U.S. And with Apple controlling 50% of U.S. smartphone market share in Q1 2022, according to CounterPoint Research, you can bet automakers will continue to offer CarPlay compatibility well into the future.

Apple says Acura, Audi, Ford, Honda, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercedes, Nissan, Polestar, Renault, and Volvo are working on the next iteration of CarPlay. How they integrate the next version of CarPlay, however, is still up in the air.

Newspaper Revenues Down Sharply


Newspaper publishers have seen revenues drop by more than half in the last two decades, as the internet disrupts advertising markets that once funded tens of thousands of jobs in newsrooms across the country.

The Hill reports new data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows newspaper publishers collected about $22.1 billion in revenue in 2020, less than half the amount they collected in 2002, according to the Bureau’s Service Annual Survey.

Revenues declined by nearly 28 percent between 2002 and 2010, according to the survey, and by another nearly 34 percent between 2010 and 2020.

Periodical publishers, who print and distribute magazines, scholarly and scientific journals and religious publications, saw their revenues decline by nearly as much, from $40.2 billion in 2002 to $23.9 billion in 2020.

Publishers took the biggest hits from a rapid decline in the value of advertising they sold. Since 2013, the revenues generated from subscriptions and sales of newspapers increased by about 10 percent, from just under $8 billion to about $8.8 billion. But advertising sales plummeted, from $16 billion in 2013 to just over $10 billion in 2020, accounting for virtually all of the lost revenue over those seven years.

The culprits are clear: Over the same time period, revenues generated by internet publishing and broadcasting firms and web search portals — companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon — saw advertising revenues skyrocket. 

More recent data from the Service Annual Survey shows advertising across those platforms more than triple, from $49.3 billion in 2013 to $160 billion in 2020.

News businesses have responded to the drop in revenue by shedding jobs and consolidating operations. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey shows the total number of newsroom employees peaked in 2006, at about 74,000. By 2020, that number had dropped to just over 30,000.

A Pew Research Center analysis of Comscore Media Metrix data shows the 50 largest newspapers in the United States attracted an average of 13.8 million unique visitors per month in the fourth quarter of 2020, up from 8.2 million in 2014.

At the same time, people are giving up their dead-tree editions of the paper. Total weekday circulation of top papers, compiled by the Alliance for Audited Media, has dropped from 34.6 million in 2016 to 24.3 million in 2020. The share of Americans who receive a daily newspaper is about half what it was in 2007, and down from a peak of 63 million in 1984.

Wake-Up Call: Senate Reaches Deal On Gun Safety


A bipartisan group of senators announced yesterday that they have reached a deal on a narrow set of gun safety measures. The agreement would enhance background checks on gun buyers under age 21 and bar known domestic abusers from possessing guns. It also provides funding for states to implement “red flag laws” that allow for the confiscation of guns in the hands of people deemed dangerous. The bill falls well short of what Democrats wanted but appears to have enough Republican support to ensure its passage in the Senate.

The deal falls well short of the gun bill that passed the House last week. That measure would have raised the age to buy automatic weapons to 21, banned sale of high-capacity magazines, and required a background check to buy an untraceable “ghost gun.”


➤HEARINGS ZERO IN ON ELECTION FRAUD CLAIMS: The House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol is expected to focus today on the continuing claims by former President Donald Trump that voting fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election. The televised hearing is expected to focus on testimony asserting that Trump was repeatedly told by his own circle of advisors that his claims of significant election fraud had no basis in fact but continued to make the allegations, beginning on election night. The hearings start at 10 A.M ET today.

Meanwhile, the D.C. branch of the federal office that enforces the ethics of attorneys has filed misconduct charges against President Trump’s former attorney, Rudy Giuliani. He is charged with making baseless claims alleging voter fraud in a federal court.

➤SARAH PALIN READY FOR A COMEBACK: Former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is ready for her political comeback. A preliminary ballot count released yesterday suggests she leads a field of no fewer than 48 candidates in a special election for the state’s sole seat in the House of Representatives. The top four candidates face a special election on August 16th.


🍲FOOD BILLS UP 10.1 PERCENT: You’re not imagining things. The average amount Americans spent on food has risen 10.1 percent compared to prices one year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the biggest jump in more than 40 years. Chicken prices alone are up 17.4 percent. Wage increases and fuel costs are blamed.


💸GOOGLE SETTLES LAWSUIT ALLEGING IT PAID WOMEN LESS: Google has agreed to pay $118 million in monetary relief to about 15,500 women who allegedly were paid less than their male counterparts by the tech giant. Four former employees sued the company, claiming women were systematically paid less than men in similar jobs. Google made no admission of guilt in the proposed settlement but agreed to allow independent observers to review its pay practices. A Superior Court judge in San Francisco must approve the settlement.


🍔PSEUDO McDONALD’S OPEN IN RUSSIA: A Russian businessman has reopened 15 of the 850 restaurants that McDonald’s shut down when it bailed out of the country along with many other American businesses. The new burger joints are called Vikusno & Tochka, which apparently translates to “Tasty and That’s It!” The restaurant in Moscow, where McDonald’s opened its first Russian location reportedly served 30,000 diners on its opening day yesterday.

⚾NOTRE DAME BLOWS AWAY TENNESSEE: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish dealt a stunning defeat to the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, 7-3, yesterday in the Knoxville Super Regional. That gets Notre Dame an unexpected trip to Omaha as one of the NCAA tournament’s final eight teams.


🏌RORY McILROY WINS CANADIAN OPEN: Rory McIlroy shot a 62 to win the Canadian Open yesterday. It was a repeat of his victory in 2019, the last time the Canadian event was held. It’s McIlroy’s 21st PGA Tour win.Meanwhile in London, South African golfer Charl Schwartzel won the first competition staged by LIV Golf, the new and controversial rival to the PGA Tour. Schwartzel won the individual stroke-play competition and his four-man team won the team competition by 14 shots. Phil Mickelson, one of the better-known players to join the controversial Saudi-backed tour group, finished in 34th place.

⚾DODGERS HAVE TO MAKE DO WITHOUT BUEHLER: The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to have to live without ace pitcher Walker Buehler for the next six to eight weeks. A strain in his right elbow will keep him off the field.

🏀WNBA’S IONESCU MAKES HISTORY: New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu scored her 10th rebound in the space of 30 minutes, making her one of only a few WNBA players to have achieved multiple triples. But none has ever done it in so short a time. It took her a flat 30 minutes. Ionescu finished the game with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. Despite her efforts, the New York Liberty lost to the Chicago Sky 88-86.

➤SUAREZ WINS NASCAR CUP SERIES RACE: Daniel Suarez won the NASCAR Cup Series race yesterday, passing Chris Buescher for a historic victory at Sonoma Raceway. Suarez is the first Mexican-born driver to win.


➤WE LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES: Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio has deleted his Twitter account, no doubt having had enough feedback about his public reference to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol as “a dustup.” The team fined Del Rio $100,000 for the comment, and head coach Ron Rivera declared that the event was no dustup, it was an act of domestic terrorism. Then Fox News host Tucker Carlson called Rivera a “fascist moron.” Asked for comment, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen told NBC Sports: “I don’t care about his opinion as long as he shows up every day and works hard. That’s what I want from my defensive coordinator.”

🎥‘JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION’ HAS COLOSSAL OPENING: Jurassic World: Dominion dominated the weekend box office, bringing in $143 million. Deadline reports that 10.8 million people went to theaters to see the movie, making it the fourth-best in terms of admission during the pandemic. The top three spots are held by Spider-Man: No Way Home at 20.6 million, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at 14 million and Top Gun: Maverick at 11.6 million.

Box Office Numbers from Friday, June 10th through Sunday (June 12th):

1. Jurassic World: Dominion, $143.37 million
2. Top Gun: Maverick, $50 million
3. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, $4.9 million
4. Bob’s Burgers Movie, $2.33 million
5. The Bad Guys, $2.25
6. Downton Abbey: A New Era, $1.65 million
7. Everything Everywhere All at Once, $1.27 million
8. Firestarter, $820,000
9. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, $710,000
10. Ante Sundharaniki, $620,000

🌞75 MILLION SWEAT DURING HEAT WAVE: It was 123 degrees in Death Valley yesterday. That was the worst of it, but about 75 million people elsewhere in the U.S. sweated out a weekend heat advisory issued for much of the southwest and central U.S. It reached a record 114 degrees at the Phoenix airport. A cooling off is expected today as the heat wave moves east towards the Mississippi Valley and the Carolinas.




Miami Radio: Sale of Mambi Radio Puts Political Narratives At Stake


Phone lines lit up last week when Radio Mambí’s current owner, the Spanish-language mammoth corporation TelevisaUnivision, announced it would hand over the reins to Latino Media Network as part of a $60-million deal that includes 18 stations in majority Hispanic markets, reports The Miami Herald.

In Miami, the sale includes WAQI Mambí and WQBA-AM. 

Following months of increasingly polarized debate over the veracity of content in Miami’s Spanish-language media, the deal threw Mambí into an emotional firestorm tinged with references to communist Cuba, claims of censorship and threats of boycotts and strikes. 

Critics have noted that an investment firm tied to Democratic mega-donor George Soros is helping to finance the deal and called the new ownership group “Radio Granma” in an allusion to Cuba’s state-run media. 

Last week callers flooded Mambí programs with messages of solidarity. The opposition to the sale has grown so widespread that Cuban exiles, along with Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nuñez, have promised boycotts and denounced the sale as the silencing of Cubans in exile that would prevent access to news about human rights violations in Cuba. 

Sen. Marco Rubio and Miami Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart have sent letters to the federal government opposing the sale. And Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign released a Spanish-language website and ad backed by a $6,500 buy on Mambí attacking Soros’ investment and calling it a “propaganda takeover.” 

The deal between TelevisaUnivision and Latino Media Network includes stations in 10 U.S. cities. But the reaction was most intense among conservative Latinos in Florida, where the sale is the latest escalation in an ongoing battle that has unraveled since 2020 over control of content on the Spanish-language airwaves. 

Democrats argue that Spanish-language disinformation is rampant, largely unregulated and needs to be challenged, while Republicans say their opinions are being censored and conservative hosts scapegoated by a party that is bleeding support among Hispanic voters. 

“If there’s something that bothers this group of progressives,” Ninoska Pérez, a conservative commentator on Mambí, said while reacting to the sale on the air last week, ”it’s the Cuban exile.” It’s unclear what, if any, changes the new leadership will bring to WAQI and the 17 other stations that could soon be in its portfolio. 

The Federal Communications Commission still has to evaluate each station independently before approving a sale, and it’s a process that the buyers expect will take at least a year. LMN founders Stephanie Valencia and Jess Morales Rocketto say the sale was motivated by a desire to keep the station in the hands of Latino owners. 

The group has said there won’t be any personnel changes in the near future, but a spokesperson for LMN told the Herald it is difficult to predict the circumstances of the market once the sale is finalized. 

'Vulture' Hedge Funds Seen As Bleeding Newspapers Dry


Newspaper industry in state of decline: not exactly a stop-the-presses headline. 

For two decades now—owing largely to the loss of advertising revenue to Facebook and Google—fewer and fewer Americans get their news, comics and sports from all those gazettes and tribunes and journals. 

But that doesn't tell the whole story. As CBS 60 Minutes first reported in February, there's an additional threat: hedge funds and other financial firms that own nearly a third of the daily newspapers in America. 

And these new owners are often committed not to headlines and deadlines but to bottom lines. One fund in particular has been called by some in the industry a "vulture," bleeding newspapers dry.



Boston Radio: Another Longtime Personality Is Retiring

WMJX's David Allan Boucher

David Allan Boucher announced last week that he is retiring as the host of "Bedtime Magic" on WMJX MAGIC 106.7, the longest-running radio show in Boston.

Boston TV10 reports Boucher has hosted the show, which airs weekdays from 7 p.m. to midnight, since its creation in 1982. hHe has intentionally kept his face hidden from the public, lending a sense of mystery to his persona.

"40 years is a long time and I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend that time at one dial position, one time slot, on one great radio station," he said in a statement released by the station. "I'm very grateful to the generations of friends who spent so many years with us every night. Without them... there wouldn't have been a show."

In a statement posted on Facebook, MAGIC 106.7 said Boucher hosted "Bedtime Magic" solo for 40 years and was the first voice on the radio station when it first signed on. "We will be celebrating his illustrious legacy with special programming, so continue to send in suggestions," the station said.

Fans of the Boston adult contemporary radio station lamented Boucher's retirement on Facebook while also wishing him well and thanking him for his many years spent entertaining them.

  • "It is the end of an era,' listener Maura Harrigan said. "Thank you, DA Boucher and Magic 106.7 for 40 years of Bedtime Magic. Best voice and best music after a long day, always particularly soothin' during snowstorms!"
  • "Forty years?!!! Who does that? Congratulations," said Steve Klamkin.
  • "Absolutely broke my heart but enjoy your well deserved retirement," Jennifer Johnston added.
  • "Will miss your smooth, calming voice after these many years of Magic. I have been with you for most of those 40 years. Enjoy your much deserved retirement!" Patricia Camaioni said.
  • "First Matty in the Morning now David Allan Boucher?" said Kathy O'Callaghan Piote. "How are we supposed to start and end our days now?"

The Beach Boys Reach Anniversary Milestone


Sunday marked the 59th anniversary of the Beach Boys recording two of their most memorable early hits, "Surfer Girl" and "Little Deuce Coupe," at Hollywood's Western Recorders. 

"Surfer Girl" was written and sung by Brian Wilson, who also produced the track. Wilson has stated over the years that it was the first song he ever composed. Wilson, who usually was never far from a piano, actually wrote the song while driving and created the song's entire melody without the aid of an instrument. Wilson has gone on record saying that he wrote the tune after being inspired by "When You Wish Upon A Star," from the Disney film Pinocchio.

"Little Deuce Coupe," which featured lyrics by Wilson's collaborator Roger Christian, included the original band lineup of Mike Love on lead vocals, Brian Wilson on bass, Carl Wilson and David Marks on guitars, and Dennis Wilson on drums.

The song was a double A-sided hit, with "Surfer Girl" peaking at Number Seven and "Little Deuce Coupe" getting as high as Number 15. Both songs were featured on the group's Surfer Girl album, which peaked later that year at Number Seven. Over the years, both songs have become a permanent fixture in the Beach Boys' live concerts.



In the days before the British Invasion, the Beach Boys were undoubtedly the top band in the U.S. Guitarist David Marks, who grew up with the Wilson brothers, remembers thinking that as the Beach Boys were forming that they were incredibly unhip: ["Well, yeah, I didn't think the band was cool at all. 'You're in a band and your name is Carl?' (laughs) or something. . . It was like, no. You can't be named Carl. Or Brian -- y'know, what kind of rock star's name is Brian??? But that was in the late '50s, early '60s when your name should've been Fabian, or Elvis, or Little Richard -- Chuck."



Decades after first laying down their voices on tape, Brian Wilson says he still values the Beach Boys for their contribution to his music throughout the years: ["I think the magic is Mike Love's vocal performances on our songs, and Carl (Wilson) and Dennis (Wilson), and Bruce (Johnston) and Al (Jardine) and I should be congratulated for some really good background singing."

RIP...Loretta Rogers, Canadian Communications' Executive


Rogers Communications Inc's Loretta Rogers who served as a corporate director for over fifty years and the wife of company's late founder Ted Rogers, died on Saturday at the age of 83.

Reuters reports Chairman Edward Rogers, the only son of Ted said, the family was profoundly saddened by their mother's passing.

"She lived a full and vibrant life and we, like all those who knew her, will deeply miss her leadership and guidance," Edward Rogers said.

"A beautiful soul left us today. She was a one of a kind spirit who spread love like wildfire", daughter Martha Rogers said on Twitter.

Loretta Rogers served as a director of Rogers Communications since 1964 and was a member of the Advisory Committee of the Rogers Control Trust.

Rogers Communications last week asked a tribunal to scrap Canada competition bureau's rejection to its C$20 billion ($15.65 billion) purchase of Shaw Communications Inc, arguing the merger would create more competition rather than stifle it.

The Rogers family was in a dispute when Edward Rogers attempted to drop Joe Natale as CEO in September last year. Loretta Rogers had said she supports Joe Natale as CEO and his management team.

The Canadian wireless giant on January appointed Tony Staffieri as president and chief executive officer from interim CEO, following a months-long boardroom battle on who should lead the company.

June 13 Radio History


➦In 1913...Ralph Livingstone Edwards born (Died at age 92 – November 16, 2005). He was a rado, TV host best known for his game show Truth or Consequences and This Is Your Life.

Ralph Edwards
Edwards worked for KROW Radio in Oakland, California while he was still in high school. Before graduating from high school in 1931, he worked his way through college at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a B.A. in English in 1935. While there, he worked at every job from janitor to producer at Oakland's KTAB, now KSFO. Failing to get a job as a high school teacher, he worked at KFRC and then hitchhiked across the country to New York, where, he said, "I ate ten-cent (equivalent to $2 in 2015), meals and slept on park benches".

After some part-time announcing jobs, he got his big break in 1938 with a full-time job for the Columbia Broadcasting System on WABC (now WCBS), where he worked with two other young announcers who would become broadcasting fixtures - Mel Allen and Andre Baruch.

He is best remembered as radio’s host for the audience particpation show Truth or Consequences, which he created in 1940, and the TV host of This Is Your Life. In his early years in radio he was announcer on as many as 45 shows a week.  In his later years he was one of TV’s most prolific producers.

➦In 1946...Edward Bowes died at age 71 (Born - June 14, 1874). He called himself Major Edward Bowes, and was a radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.   His nickname sprang from his earlier military rank, though historians are divided on whether he was an active-duty officer in World War I or held the rank as a member of the Officer Reserve Corps. His Major Bowes Amateur Hour was the best-known amateur talent show in radio during its 18-year run (1935–1952) on NBC Radio and CBS Radio

Major Bowes
Bowes brought his best-known creation to New York radio station WHN in 1934. He had actually hosted scattered amateur nights on smaller stations while manager of the Capitol. Within a year of its WHN premiere, The Original Amateur Hour began earning its creator and host as much as $1 million a year, according to Variety.

The rapid popularity of The Original Amateur Hour made him better known than most of the talent he featured. Some of his discoveries became stars, including opera stars Lily Pons, Robert Merrill, and Beverly Sills; comedian Jack Carter; pop singer Teresa Brewer; and, Frank Sinatra, fronting a quartet known as the Hoboken Four when they appeared on the show in 1935.

The show consistently ranked among radio's top ten programs throughout its run.

Bowes's familiar catchphrase, "...around and around she goes and where she stops nobody knows", spoken in the familiar avuncular tones for which he was so renowned, whenever it was time to spin its "wheel of fortune," the device by which some contestants were called to perform.

In the early days of the show, whenever a performer was simply too terrible to continue, Bowes would stop the act by striking a gong (a device that would be revived in the 1970s by Chuck Barris's infamous The Gong Show). Bowes heard from thousands of listeners who objected to his terminating these acts prematurely, so he abandoned the gong in 1936.

Bowes is credited for featuring more black entertainers than many network shows of the time.

➦In 1948...WBAM becomes WOR FM in NYC. WOR-AM's original owner was Bamberger's Department Store in Newark, New Jersey. In the early 1920s, the store was selling radio receivers and wanted to put a radio station on the air to help promote receiver sales as well as for general publicity.

Fran Allison
➦In 1989... Fran Allison died (Born - November 20, 1907). She was a television and radio comedian, personality and singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which ran from 1947–57, occasionally returning to the air until the mid-1980s. The trio also hosted The CBS Children's Film Festival, introducing international children's films, from 1967-77.

In 1937, where she was hired as a staff singer and personality on NBC Radio. A July 26, 1937, newspaper item reported, "Fran Allison, singer of WMT, Waterloo, Ia., makes her network debut in the WJZ-NBC club matinee at 3."

Beginning in 1937, she was a regular performer on The Breakfast Club, a popular Chicago radio show, and was a fixture for 25 years as "Aunt Fanny", a gossipy small-town spinster.

In 1947, the director of WBKB-TV in Chicago asked Burr Tillstrom if he could put together a puppet show for children, and he asked Allison, whom he had met during a World War II war bond tour, to join the show. She was the only human to appear on the live series, filling the role of big sister and cheery voice of reason as the puppets, known as the Kuklapolitan Players, engaged each other.

➦In 2008...newsman Tim Russert, the NBC Washington Bureau Chief and respected host of ‘Meet the Press,’ suffered a massive heart attack and died at age 58.

Chips Moman and Ringo Starr

➦In 2016…Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman died at age 79 from emphysema (Born - June 12, 1937). He was an American record producer, guitarist, and Grammy Award-winning songwriter.

In the 1960s, Moman worked for Stax Records before founding the American Sound Studio in Memphis, TN. As a record producer, Moman was known for recording Elvis Presley, Tammy Wynette, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops. As a songwriter, he was responsible for standards associated with Aretha Franklin, James Carr, Waylon Jennings, and B. J. Thomas, including the Grammy-winning "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song".

He was also a session guitarist for Franklin and other musicians.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, American Sound became one of the most successful recording studios in the country, producing more than 120 charting singles by pop, soul, and country artists and at one point contributing over a quarter of the hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

Moman produced Elvis Presley's 1969 album, From Elvis in Memphis – described as best album" – and the hit songs "In the Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", and "Kentucky Rain".

Bob McGrath is 90

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

  • Actor Bob McGrath (“Sesame Street”) is 90. 
  • Actor Malcolm McDowell is 79. 
  • Singer Dennis Locorriere (Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show) is 73. 
  • Actor Stellan Skarsgard (“Mamma Mia”) is 71. Actor Richard Thomas is 71. 
  • Comedian Tim Allen is 69. 
  • Actor Ally Sheedy is 60. 
  • Ally Sheedy is 60
    TV anchor Hannah Storm is 60. 
  • Bassist Paul DeLisle of Smash Mouth is 59. 
  • Singer David Gray is 54. 
  • Singer Deniece Pearson of Five Star is 54. 
  • Musician Soren Rasted (Aqua) is 53. 
  • Actor-singer Jamie Walters is 53. 
  • Singer-guitarist Rivers Cuomo of Weezer is 52. 
  • Actor Steve-O (“Jackass”) is 48. 
  • Actor Ethan Embry (“Can’t Hardly Wait,” ″That Thing You Do!”) is 44. 
  • Actor Chris Evans (“The Fantastic Four”) is 41. 
  • Actor Sarah Schaub (“Promised Land”) is 39. 
  • Singer Raz B (B2K) is 37. 
  • Actor Kat Dennings (“2 Broke Girls”) is 36. 
  • Actors Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen are 36. 
  • Actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Kick-Ass” films) is 32.

🕇DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
  • NBC journalist Tim Russert, the longtime host of Meet the Press, died of a heart attack while at work on this day in 2008. He was 58.