Buffalo's N/T WBEN Starts Simulcast

After 81 years of dominating the AM dial, WBEN radio is going to the FM side.

According to a story by James Fink at Buffalo Business First, starting today, Entercom Buffalo — owner of WBEN — is now simulcasting the news and talk station on both its longtime AM home (930) and on the FM dial (107.7) . WBEN-FM is replacing the eclectic classic rock format of WLKK-FM, the Lake, although the Lake is not going away entirely. The station will be aired on streamed format on its web site, 107.7thelake.com and 107.7 HD2.

“Clearly, this will be a loss for fans of the Lake, but the end game is that it makes WBEN a little louder and stronger,” said Tim Wenger, Entercom operations manager.

The move will see WBEN picking up new listeners, officials say, primarily those who only listen to FM stations. It will also increase its reach to the listening public.

“We want to expose WBEN to a whole new audience,” Wenger said. “While Buffalo is a strong AM market and WBEN is a ratings leader, the addition of the FM simulcast will make the WBEN brand more readily available to a vast majority of the listening public who spend time on the FM band.”

Read more.

TomzTake:  107.7 transmitter site in in a neighboring county in Wethersfeld, NY. some 40-miles SE of metro Buffalo. It will be interesting to see how much the FMer actually adds to WBEN's numbers.

Boston's BZ Radio Taps New Morning Anchor

WBZ NewsRadio 1030 announced Monday veteran radio news anchor, Joe Mathieu, will return to his professional home town and assume the morning radio news anchor duties at the top-rated, award-winning WBZ NewsRadio 1030 beginning in early May (Monday-Friday 5:00 a.m to 10:00 a.m.), it was announced today by Peter Casey, WBZ NewsRadio News & Programming Director.

With more than 20 years of radio news experience, Mathieu joins WBZ from Sirius XM in Washington, D.C. where he spent four years as Program Director of P.O.T.U.S., Sirius XM’s news and talk channel dedicated to covering the politics of the United States.

In fact, it was Mathieu who developed and launched the popular P.O.T.U.S. channel in 2007. Mathieu’s radio news career in the nation’s capital began in 1998, working as a news anchor and editor at Metro Networks, and delivering morning news on stations including DC101 and WASH-FM.

He spent seven years as managing editor and anchor at the CBS MarketWatch Radio Network, providing updates and analysis on the economy and financial markets to stations including WBZ NewsRadio 1030 in Boston, 1010WINS in New York, WBBM in Chicago, and WTOP in Washington.

Before Washington, D.C., Mathieu worked as both an anchor and reporter in several markets throughout the country including here in Boston where he spent time at WRKO as part of that station’s ‘96 New Hampshire Primary coverage team. Mathieu was also one of the youngest news directors in the country while working at the Boch Broadcasting radio group in Hyannis, Mass. He was the morning drive news anchor on Boch stations including WXTK and WCOD, covering news stories central to the Cape and Islands region and the state of Massachusetts.

Upon being named WBZ’s morning anchor Mathieu said, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to accept the morning anchor position at WBZ NewsRadio. Having grown-up listening to Gary LaPierre every morning and later delivering business reports on the station, I have long considered WBZ to be the gold standard in radio news. I’m excited to bring my wife and daughter back home, set my alarm clock, and play such an important role in the local community.”

Mathieu replaces Ed Walsh who retired in November.

TomzTake:  And there's good news for current WBZ fill-in morning anchor Rod Fritz. Medial Confidential has learned Fritz has been hired full-time for mid-day anchoring.

NBC News Pitch: Benchmark Us Against Prime Time

In the TV-news game, NBC's Brian Williams has handily trumped everyone from Katie Couric to Diane Sawyer. Can he do the same to "American Idol" or "The Closer"?

According to a story by Brian Steinberg at AdAge.com, as a new round of highly-scrutinized data confirms the continued erosion of traditional viewership for broadcast-TV news, NBC is pitching its "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams" to advertisers with a new angle: TV-news audiences may be older than others, but their interest in and receptivity to advertising is slightly stronger. And, oh yes, advertising on the nightly newscast is significantly cheaper than, say, "CSI: New York" or "The Big Bang Theory."

"One could argue that, given the long-held perceptions" about evening newscasts, "we haven't gotten the full value that I think we perhaps should have for 'Nightly News,'" said John Kelly, senior VP-ad sales, NBC News/MSNBC. NBC has primarily been pitching marketers other than those in the pharmaceutical and personal-care categories, which make up almost two-thirds of "Nightly's" ad base, he said.

Would any advertiser really want to trade in the scores of viewers between 18 and 34 who tend to watch prime time for the pill-popping crowd marketers tend to believe tune in to the daily evening newscast? Since 30-second spots in the three broadcast network evening news shows run anywhere from $23,000 and $45,000, according to media buyers, that's less than a quarter of the about $200,000 it costs to run an ad on Fox's "House" and substantially less than the about $135,000 price tag to run an ad in NBC's own "30 Rock." Indeed, some news veterans think the NBC effort makes sense in an industry where technology is scrambling many preconceived notions.

Read more.

Daytona Owner Wants News Crew Selling Subscriptions

Daytona Beach News (FL) Journal Publisher Michael Redding marked the one-year anniversary of the newspaper under his co-ownership with an offer to most of the 400-some remaining employees of the paper, including editors and reporters: Anyone selling a three-month subscription to the paper would get a $25 bonus, or $50 for a six month subscription. Anyone selling $100 worth of advertising would get $50.

A story at Flaglerlive.com reports Redding described the arrangement—highly unusual in news-gathering operations, and forbidden, for ethical and journalistic reasons,  in many that maintain a strict separation between news-gathering on one side and advertising and marketing on the other—as an “incentive,” rather than a requirement: no expectations were set. But staffers have had no raises in four years and were promised none this year.

Redding offered up his human resources director, Patty Morris, as an example of what others could do: Morris, he said, netted about 200 new subscriptions through her church.

As with most newspapers, the News-Journal’s circulation has been plummeting since the middle of the past decade, though at a faster pace than the industry average, and with a particularly pronounced dive after Halifax Media, Redding’s group of three investors, took over the paper last year. The paper lost 10 percent of its circulation between April and September 2010, compared with the same period the previous year. Average weekday circulation fell below 64,000, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Sunday circulation fell 10 percent, too.

On some weekdays, advertising content in the paper was falling to around 25 percent, compared with 40 percent in healthier times. More recently the newspaper has been attempting to swell its circulation by re-starting its Newspaper in Education program, which entails the distribution of reams of newspapers to schools.

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Rapping Weatherman Resurfaces

From SF Weekly:

You don't need a weatherman to tell you today is looking glorious. You don't need a rapping weatherman -- well, ever. Be that as it may, readers may recall how local TV station and numerology casualty KRON last year saw fit to hire Nick Kosir, the Rapping Weatherman.


First, KRON general manager Brian Greif told SF Weekly that the Rapping Weatherman would not be rapping on his station -- something of the equivalent of going to a steakhouse and ordering the chicken. Then came the shocking revelation that Kosir quit KRON after two days on the job. An enraged Greif says the Rapping Weatherman wanted the station to hire his wife as an anchor. When this didn't occur, Kosir broke a two-year contract and bolted to Twin Falls, Idaho, where both he and his wife secured on-camera gigs. Said Greif, "I hope he raps. I hope she raps. I hope everybody raps in Twin Falls, Idaho."


Guess what? That's exactly what happened. Here's a clip of Kosir rapping the weather in Twin Falls -- and getting everybody in on the action.

Read more.

Epsilon Hacking Incident Worsens

Millions have email addresses stolen in largest data heist in history

Millions of online customers of prominent banks, stores and services had their email addresses stolen in what is being called the largest data heist in history, according to a story by Helen Kennedy at nydailynews.com.

A flurry of alerts began filling up in-boxes Monday as companies scrambled to reassure their customers that their personal information was safe.

The hackers who breached the Epsilon marketing company's records made off with millions of email addresses but no sensitive financial information.

The vast extent of the hack, first announced Friday, only became clear Monday.

CBS reported that the Secret Service was on the case.

Among the affected companies: Disney, Capital One, Barclays, Citi, Chase, Target, Best Buy, TiVo, Walgreens, Kroger, Hilton, Marriott, Ethan Allen and even the College Board.

Experts said the biggest threat is that hackers can use the information to better target their "phishing" - attempts to fool people into giving up passwords or account numbers with bogus but official looking emails.

"Now they know which institution people bank with, they know their name and they have their email address," said David Jevans, founder of the non-profit Anti-Phishing Working Group.

Email users were cautioned to be extra careful about clicking on emails that seem to come from their bank or favorite store - even if the emails are now addressed to the user by name.

Companies reminded customers not to respond to any emails asking for personal information or passwords.

Read more.

Iconic Radio Vet Mark Samansky Passes

Mark Samansky, known to longtime Orlando radio listeners as half of the iconic Baxter and Mark morning team on Rock 100 WDIZ, has passed away. He was 59.

Samansky who had been living in Denver,  had died after suffering a stroke and cerebral aneurysm on Saturday, April 2, according to Jim Abbott at the Orlando Sentinel.

Mick Dolan, former promotions director at WDIZ and current air-personality with online www.Rock100DIZ.com, recalled that Samansky was one of the original Orlando crazy radio personalities before the term “Shock Jock” was coined.

On the air in the early 1980s with partner Allen Baxter, Samansky specialized in the outrageous. During his long tenure in Orlando, Samansky also worked on-air at 96.5 WHTQ and 101.1 FM WJRR.

“Mark knew the wrong thing to say, at the right time,” Dolan says, a high compliment in the radio business.

Read more.

A former partner, comedian Larry The Cable Guy posted this remembrance on his Facebook page:

ABC News Digital Chief: "Limitless Demand" for Video

Video news is being consumed by more people than ever before and viewership of digital video at ABC New is "exploding," presenting a "limitless demand" for video journalism, says Paul Slavin, who heads digital for ABC News, in this interview with Beet.TV.

According to Andy Plesser at beet.tv, the challenge, he says, is to create more video which is inexpensive, economical and high quality.



Slavin was a panelist at the Beet.TV Video Strategy Summit, which was taped on Thursday and will be Webcast on Tuesday, April 5 at noon EDT.

Orlando TV Pubcaster Sells For Just $3-Million

WMFE-TV: Pledges will be refunded

If you gave money to Channel 24, WMFE the PBS in Orlando,  in the last pledge drive and want it back, ask for it, according to Hal Boedeker, The TV Guy at The Orlando Sentinel.

WMFE announced on Friday that it is selling its television station to concentrate on 90.7 FM.

Over the weekend, Boedeker put more questions to WMFE about the sale, which the public broadcaster answered today.

Pending FCC approval, WMFE is selling Channel 24 to Dallas-based religious broadcaster Daystar. According to the filing with the Federal Communications Commission, the price is $3 million. You can see the filing here.

Yet WMFE said today that the actual money will come to $3.5 million over five years. The extra money comes from the sublease of the building space and the tower. The purchaser is listed as Community Educators of Orlando Inc., but Daystar is behind that name.

Here are some questions from Boedeker and WMFE’s answers about the sale:

What if people want the money back they pledged in the last drive? Could they get it?

Absolutely.  To request a refund from the Spring 2011 fund drive, viewers should mail their request to WMFE, 11510 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, Florida 32817 or call us during normal business hours, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Friday at 407-273-2300, ext 175.

Read more.

Sizzling TV Anchor Antics Revealed in Lawsuit

A bitter lawsuit involving two fired high-profile TV news anchors from Philadelphia features salacious details of their alleged make-out sessions and lovey-dovey on-air texting and a toy frog dressed like a prince.

In a story by Reuven Fenton and Dan Mangamn at nypost.com, a bitter lawsuit involving two fired high-profile TV news anchors from Philadelphia features salacious details of their alleged make-out sessions and lovey-dovey on-air texting and a toy frog dressed like a prince.

On one side is journalist Alycia Lane, 38, a Long Island-born stunner and drama magnet whose troubles include a dustup with a New York City cop.

On the other is her ex-employer, CBS Broadcasting, and her ex-co-anchor, Larry Mendte, who is now a contributor at New York City's WPIX-TV.

Lane is suing both for damaging her reputation, and the case is set to play out in a Philadelphia courtroom next month.

She had been a star anchor at CBS's KYW station in Philly when controversy struck.

First, it was revealed that Lane had e-mailed bikini photos of herself to NFL Network anchorman Rich Eisen.

Then she was busted Dec. 16, 2007, in Chelsea for allegedly smacking a female cop's face in a drunken rage and yelling: "I am a reporter, you f - - king dyke bitch!"

Citing the "series of incidents resulting from judgments she has made," Lane's bosses at KYW fired her in January 2008. The charges against her in the cop case were eventually dropped.

Mendte was fired five months later -- just before he pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for illegally accessing Lane's computer and leaking material about her to gossip columnists.

The married Mendte says that he and Lane once enjoyed a steamy relationship -- a claim that Lane denies

Read more.

Disney Destination eMails Obtained by Hacker

Millions of e-mail addresses in a Disney Destination marketing database have been hacked.

The hackers did not get into Disney's computer system. Instead, they hacked into the system of its e-mail service provider Epsilon, Disney officials said.

According to a story by Gary Taylor at the Orlando Sentinel, Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said Disney officials are "disappointed" that someone was able to get access to some of their guests' e-mail addresses.

Epsilon released a statement saying it detected the problem Wednesday. Some of its clients' customer data was exposed by an unauthorized entry into Epsilon's e-mail system, the release said, adding the information obtained was limited to e-mail addresses and/or customer names.

Epsilon spokeswoman Jessica Simon would provide no other information Sunday night, other than to say the company is cooperating with authorities.

Epsilon sent e-mails on behalf of Disney Destination notifying them of problem and warning them to be careful in opening e-mails.

Read more


Media Confidential was able to obtain a copy of the Disney eMail:

Dear Guest,

We have been informed by one of our email service providers, Epsilon,
that your email address was exposed by an unauthorized entry into that
provider's computer system.  We use our email service providers to
help us manage the large number of email communications with our
guests.  Our email service providers send emails on our behalf to
guests who have chosen to receive email communications from us.

We regret that this incident has occurred and any inconvenience this
incident may cause you.  We take your privacy very seriously, and we
will continue to work diligently to protect your personal information.
We want to assure you that your email address was the only personal
information we have regarding you that was compromised in this
incident.

As a result of this incident, it is possible that you may receive spam
email messages, emails that contain links containing computer viruses
or other types of computer malware, or emails that seek to deceive you
into providing personal or credit card information.  As a result, you
should be extremely cautious before opening links or attachments from
unknown third parties or providing a credit card number or other
sensitive information in response to any email.

If you have any questions regarding this incident, please contact us
at (407) 560-2547 during the hours of 9:00 am to 7:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Monday through Friday, and 9:00 am through 5:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Saturday and Sunday.

Sincerely,
Disney Destinations

'Katie Era' Expected to End At CBS

CBS News soon will announce a transition from Katie Couric, who plans to launch a syndicated daytime talk show in the fall of 2012, according to industry sources.

According to Mike Allen at Politico, Scott Pelley is her most likely successor; another internal candidate is Harry Smith. CBS remains hopeful that Katie will continue contributing to CBS News, including "60 Minutes," in conjunction with a syndication deal. She has discussed a similar dual role with NBC.

• Her contract as anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News" ends June 4, although she could depart sooner, or agree to a brief extension. She's headed to London to cover the royal wedding at the end of the month. Couric has chosen to move on because of the great opportunities being presented for her to do this syndicated show while still maintaining presence/visibility on various news platforms. Ultimately, Couric felt that the 22-minute format was confining. She recognized the importance of making her intentions clear so that CBS could take the necessary steps to begin the transition. This highlights the professionalism and lack of conflict. Katie's new book, "The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives," will be out April 12.

• Pelley, 53, has spent 22 years at CBS, covering everything from the Branch Davidians to Iraqi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, and has conducted six presidential interviews. He has been a "60 Minutes" correspondent since 2004, and has been a correspondent for "60 Minutes II," chief White House correspondent, and a Dallas-based correspondent. Katie returns from vacation today, and will be in the chair tonight for the "CBS Evening News." Then she leaves on a "60 Minutes" reporting trip with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Tom's Take:  Katie can thank Oprah for the daytime talk show op.

2nd Show: Sheen's Extreme Makeover in Chicago

Charlie Sheen's life has been lived, at times, as if he were starring in his own reality show, part "Celebrity Rehab," part "Cribs," part "Howard Stern Show," part "The Girls Next Door."

If we accept that premise, then Sunday at the Chicago Theatre was the makeover episode, according to a story by Steve Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.

Instead of the disjointed exercise in hero worship he had presented on night one of his theatrical tour in Detroit Saturday, Sheen mostly sat and fielded an interviewer's questions, bantering with the crowd, dropping the F-word, and actually seeming to satisfy, if not amaze, concertgoers.

Gone was the dime-store Hunter S. Thompson manifesto he had recited, losing much of the Detroit crowd in his first half-hour on stage. Gone was the raucous banging bass and the videos cobbled together from old movies and YouTube clips about Sheen.

And gone, almost entirely, were the boos for the embattled, family-troubled, recently fired, oft-interviewed sitcom star.

Read more.

Also See:

MEDIA CONFIDENTIAL: Sheen Tour Bombs in Detroit

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:  Dr. Drew: Charlie Has Lost His Sheen

Taylor Swift Wins Top Prize At ACMs

Steve Marcus photo

Taylor Swift took the top prize at the Academy of Country Music Awards for the first time on Sunday after being overshadowed at the Las Vegas ceremony by multiple winners Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum, according to a Reuters story.

The 21-year-old starlet was named entertainer of the year and was clearly stunned to hear her name called for the final award at the 46th annual event.

Leading nominee Lambert had already won four prizes and seemed poised to add a fifth to her collection. But entertainer of the year is decided by fans on the Internet and the enthusiastic young girls in Team Swift evidently took their voting duties more seriously.

"This is the first time that I've ever won this and I'm just losing my mind," said a tearful Swift, fresh from a tour of Europe and Asia. "The fact that this is from the fans makes it so beautiful ... You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Ever."

Swift, with four nominations in three categories, earlier premiered her new song "Mean," a defiant tune that labels as "pathetic" critics of her occasionally wayward vocal stylings.

Lambert was named top female vocalist for a second year, once again beating Swift. Her wistful tune "The House That Built Me" was honored for single, song and video of the year.

Read more.

THE WINNERS:

SONG OF THE YEAR: “The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert
TOP NEW VOCAL DUO: The Band Perry
TOP NEW SOLO VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: Eric Church
SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR: “The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert
TOP NEW ARTIST: The Band Perry
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
TOP VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR: Lady Antebellum
TOP VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR: Sugarland
TOP MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: Brad Paisley
TOP FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: Miranda Lambert
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR: Taylor Swift


The shocker -- and perhaps the most exciting performance of the evening -- came when Aerosmith's Steven Tyler showed up onstage to help Carrie Underwood sing her edgy single, "Undo It." Dressed in a white, floor-length coat, Tyler underscored his reputation as one of rock music's most charismatic performers while prompting Underwood to put some additional fire in her already-soaring vocals. They followed it up with Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."

Opening Night: Sheen Tour Bombs In Detroit