(Reuters) -- Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, whose two stints as mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, each ended abruptly due to felony convictions, died on Thursday at age 74 after a brief hospitalization.
Cianci, the longest serving mayor of Rhode Island's capital city, ran Providence for 22 years in all, from 1975 to 1984 and again from 1991 to 2002.
He attempted another comeback in 2014, unsuccessfully running as an independent for mayor seven years after he completed a 4-1/2 prison term for racketeering.
Despite his convictions, Cianci remained popular with many residents. Supporters credited him with improving an economically depressed, once mob-dominated city during his six terms.
The prospect in 2014 of another Cianci administration, however, was so abhorrent to the political establishment that even the Republican mayoral candidate donated money to his Democratic opponent and ended up voting for him against Cianci.
In 1984, Cianci was forced to resign after pleading no contest to assaulting a man he accused of having a relationship with his estranged wife.
In 2001, federal authorities charged Cianci with corruption in an investigation dubbed "Operation Plunder Dome." Cianci, who maintained his innocence, was accused of overseeing a City Hall in which officials solicited bribes and engaged in extortion.
His political saga made him a national figure. Journalist Mike Stanton chronicled the story in the book "The Prince of Providence."
Cianci hosted a talk show on radio station WPRO in Rhode Island, which reported his death on air on Thursday morning. Cianci was taken to a hospital on Wednesday night after falling ill while filming his weekly television show, "On the Record with Buddy Cianci," for ABC6 in Providence, the station said on its website.
WPRO issued the following statement:
“It is with profound sadness that the WPRO-AM and Cumulus Providence family acknowledges the passing of Buddy Cianci, a dynamic force on our airwaves all over Southern New England for the past nearly nine years.
We join his friends and family in their sorrow at this difficult time.
We choose to focus on the truly extraordinary and positive contributions the former Mayor made in the lives of so many in our community and among his fellow broadcasters.
The twice elected Mayor of Providence served for over 21 years and leaves a legacy that will be felt for many years to come.”
Cianci had battled cancer prior to the 2014 election.
Paul Kantner, one of the giants of the San Francisco music scene, died Thursday. Mr. Kantner, a founding member of the Jefferson Airplane, was 74 and had suffered a heart attack this week.
His death was confirmed by longtime publicist and friend, Cynthia Bowman, who said he died of multiple organ failure and septic shock.
Mr. Kantner had a string of health problems in recent years, including a heart attack in March.
With Jefferson Airplane, Mr. Kantner pioneered what became known as the San Francisco sound in the mid-1960s, with such hits as “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”
The Airplane was renowned for thrilling vocal gymnastics by singers Marty Balin, Grace Slick and Mr. Kantner, the psychedelic blues-rock sound developed by guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady and the LSD-spiked, ’60s-era revolutionary fervor of its lyrics.
According to sfgate.com, the band was formed in 1965 in a Union Street bar called the Drinking Gourd, when Balin met Mr. Kantner and expressed his interest in creating a “folk-rock” band. It didn’t take long for the Airplane to attract a sizable local following, enough so that when fledgling promoter Bill Graham opened his legendary Fillmore Auditorium, the Jefferson Airplane served as the first headliner.
The group quickly became an integral part of the ’60s rock scene, from the Matrix club to Golden Gate Park’s “Human Be-In” to Monterey Pop. The Airplane’s high point may have been its sterling early-morning performance at Woodstock, while its nadir may have come only months later, at the violence-plagued Altamont concert, when Balin was knocked unconscious by the rampaging Hells Angels.
After the band was grounded by feuds and a lawsuit, Mr. Kantner and Slick transformed the group into Jefferson Starship in 1974, taking the name from a Kantner solo album.
When Mr. Kantner left the Starship in 1985, he accepted an $80,000 settlement in exchange for a promise not to use the names “Jefferson” or “Airplane” without Slick’s consent.
Slick stayed with the Starship and had a hit with “We Built This City” before the band folded in the late 1980s.
In 1929...gossip columnist Walter Winchell first appeared on radio. But it would be more than a year before he got his own show on local New York radio, which led to national success. In 1937...The CBS Radio Network debuted "Aunt Jenny’s Real Life Stories".
In 1942...BBC Radio launches a new program called Desert Island Discs . Still on the air today, it's the second-longest-running radio program in existence, next to the Grand Ole Opry.
In 1945...Lionel Barrymore took over the host duties temporarily on the “Lux Radio Theatre” on CBS radio. This after longtime host Cecil B. DeMille refused to join the radio performers union.
In 1951...Major League Baseball signed a 6 year agreement for TV-radio rights at $6 million.
In 1956...the show "Indictment" was first broadcast on the CBS Radio Network. It aired for 3 years.
In 1964,...the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles. This first American release by the Beatles was one of the biggest selling British singles of all time with worldwide sales of 15 million copies.
In 1964...Beatles record in German "Komm, Gib Mir Diene Hand" & "Sie Leibt Dich"
In 1980...a true entertainer who conquered vaudeville, radio & TV Jimmy Durante, who was confined to a wheelchair following a 1972 stroke, died of pneumonia at age 86.
In 2000...Longtime Detroit radio personality (WQBH, WJLB, WCHB) Martha Jean "The Queen'' Steinberg died at the age of 69.
Martha Jean Steinberg
Her first radio job was on Memphis’ WDIA starting in 1954. There, she was one of the first female disc jockeys in the United States, with a program that included the latest R&B hits along with the typical "household hints" programming that was de rigueur at the time for female radio personalities.
In 1963 she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she was heard on WCHB-AM and then throughout the late 1960s and 1970s on WJLB. On July 23, 1967 Steinberg convinced WJLB to cancel its normal evening programming and she did an on air program calling for people to calm down and stop rioting. It has been suggested that this prevented the 1967 Detroit Riot from being worse than it was.
During her time at WJLB, she led the station's on-air staff in protest of the fact that the station at the time had no African-American employees outside of the air staff.
In 1980, WJLB converted from AM to the FM dial (where it remains to this day), and Steinberg's show was dropped in the process. The former WJLB-AM became WMZK with an ethnic format. In 1982, Steinberg purchased WMZK-AM and changed the call letters to WQBH in order to offer more gospel music oriented programming. Steinberg remained on the air at WQBH 1400 AM until her death. WQBH is now WDTK.
In 2013...WRXP 94.7 FM, NYC changed call letters to WNSH
In 2008…Former U.S. First Daughter/singer/network radio series co-host (with Mike Wallace on NBC's Weekday)/author Mary Margaret Truman Daniel died at the age of 83.
(Reuters) -- Canadian sports fans cried foul after the National Basketball Association snubbed local rap star Drake in favor of the British singer Sting to headline the halftime show at its upcoming All-Star Game in Toronto.
Within minutes of the announcement, Twitter posts mocking the league's decision to go with Sting, a 64-year-old, Grammy Award-winner, since Drake, 29, is the Toronto Raptors' global ambassador, and will be in his hometown for All-Star Weekend, from Feb. 12-14.
"Canadians have six of the top 10 songs on the Billboard charts right now - and the NBA hires Sting to perform halftime. Brutal," read a tweet by local sportscaster Jim Lang. "Does anyone under the age of 35 even know who Sting is?"
Drake, a fixture in his courtside seats at Raptors' games, will nonetheless be involved as the coach of Team Canada, which will include Australian Open semifinalist Milos Raonic and former NBA champion Rick Fox, in the Feb. 12 celebrity game. Comedian Kevin Hart will coach Team USA, which includes actors Michael B. Jordan and Jason Sudeikis.
Really @Toronto2016? Sting? What were your backup options, Cher and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra? How about some TORONTO talent!
Many commentators lamented that the choice was made just months after a similar incident stung Toronto when local talent was shut out and rapper Kanye West was paid to perform at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
The NBA, however, did make some local choices for its lineup of entertainment at the game.
Emmis/St. Louis has announced two management changes as part of a restructuring designed to position Emmis' four St. Louis radio stations:
Tommy Mattern named Operations Manager The 19-year veteran of Emmis St. Louis will be responsible for overseeing programming at KFTK, KSHE, KNOU and KPNT. Since joining Emmis in 1996, he has programmed six different stations, and took KPNT 105.7 FM The Point) to the #1 spot among adults 25-54 and 18-49.
Kyle Guderian Named Director of Marketing In this role, he will consolidate all promotions and event activity for Emmis' four local stations. Most recently, Guderian split duties as Director of Marketing for Emmis St. Louis and as Promotions Director for KSHE-95.
"Both Tommy and Kyle are experienced veterans of the radio industry who have made amazing contributions to our success," said John Beck, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Emmis Radio-St. Louis. "I am confident that their leadership and experience will create even greater opportunities for all of our stations as we move ahead."
Tommy Mattern
Mattern joined Emmis in 1996 as Assistant Program Director and Music Director of Q-104.
He was named program director of WALC (Alice) then WXTM (104.1) two years later. Tommy then switched to 105.7 The Point as its Program Director. Under Tommy's leadership, KPNT became one of the most highly rated Alternative radio stations in the country.
He was nominated for R&R Program Director of the Year in 2006, 2008 and 2010. Mattern lives in Wildwood.
Kyle Guderian
In 2002, Guderian accepted the position of marketing and promotions director at Emmis-owned 105.7 The Point (KPNT) and 104.1 The Mall (WMLL). He became Emmis' first director of Digital Solutions in 2008, before assuming the role in 2009 of operations manager at 97.9 The Loop (WLUP) and Q101 (WKQX) in Chicago, IL.
He relocated back to St. Louis as marketing and promotions director of KSHE 95 (KSHE) and K-HITS 96.3 (KIHT), and in 2014 was promoted to director of marketing for all four Emmis St. Louis stations while also being promotions director for KSHE. Guderian resides in Webster Groves.
(Reuters) -- U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday escalated a fight with Fox News, using the word "bimbo" in a derogatory tweet about anchorwoman Megyn Kelly after pulling out of a debate only days before the first nominating contest of the 2016 campaign.
Trump on Tuesday withdrew from the televised encounter, scheduled for Thursday night in Des Moines, Iowa, in irritation at host Fox News for allowing Kelly to moderate after her questioning angered him in a debate last year.
The real estate magnate, who is the Republican front-runner to win the nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, followed up with another round of insults on Wednesday.
I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!
"I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct," he wrote on Twitter. "Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!"
In a later interview on Fox News’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” he told host Bill O'Reilly that she was "highly overrated."
"I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly. I don’t think she’s very good at what she does," Trump said.
Trump's Republican presidential rivals were quick to criticize the former reality TV star, with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas blistering him in a series of tweets and accusing him of "trembling at being questioned by Kelly."
At an event in West Des Moines, Iowa, Cruz openly mocked Trump, calling him a "fragile soul" and "gentle," and renewed his offer to debate Trump one-on-one Saturday evening.
"It's not that he's afraid of me," Cruz said to the crowd. "He's afraid of you. He doesn't want to answer questions from the men and women of Iowa about how his record doesn't match what he's selling."
Another Republican hopeful, U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, told Fox News that he welcomed Trump’s absence from the debate stage because it means "we don’t have to put up with a lot of empty blather and boastfulness and calling people names.”
Trump's decision means the last televised debate before Monday's Iowa caucuses - which kick off the state-by-state nominating race to choose candidates for the presidential election - will not feature the man who has dominated the Republican race for months and leads many opinion polls.
It was seen as a bold gamble.
'A RISKY MOVE'
Trump has said that in lieu of his debate participation he will hold a fundraiser for veterans. It will be held at Drake University in Des Moines and begin at the same time Thursday as the Fox debate, according to an invitation his campaign circulated Wednesday evening.
"It's a risky move; it's very high profile," said Craig Robinson, a former Iowa state party official. "But I'm not sure it will really change anyone's mind about Trump."
Trump has been feuding with Fox News since the network hosted the first Republican debate in August, in which Kelly asked Trump about his treatment of women, prompting a stream of insults from the candidate and complaints he was not being treated fairly.
He did not renew his attacks on Kelly during an evening rally in Gilbert, South Carolina, but told supporters to watch a rerun of the Fox interview, which he called a "tough interview," when they got home.
Cruz, Trump's main rival in Iowa, used the hashtag #DuckingDonald to make fun of Trump for ducking out of the debate and tweeted a mocked-up picture of Trump's head on Donald Duck's body sitting on a pile of money.
Cruz, a conservative and a debating champion in college, tweeted a link to "duckingdonald.com," which asked visitors to sign a petition in favor of Cruz and Trump having a side debate.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, another Republican presidential contender, described Trump’s decision at such a crucial time as “a big mistake” that calls into question his ability to be president.
“Anytime you get a podium and a microphone and 15-20 million people watching in an election campaign, you should take it,” Christie told Boston Herald Radio.
Another Republican candidate, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, said he wanted to focus on keeping the party united in order to beat Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, if she becomes the Democratic nominee.
"These kinds of theatrics by Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are an entertaining sideshow, but they have nothing to do with defeating Hillary Clinton," Rubio said.
Not every candidate was convinced Trump would follow through on his pledge to stay away.
"He apparently is not going to come to the debate, although I’ve got a $20 bet he’ll show up,” former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said at a town hall meeting in response to a question.
"Poor little Donald, being treated unfairly,” he said.
Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said Trump was not afraid to debate his rivals or take reporters' questions. He added that Trump would be happy to debate Cruz if the contest, in which 12 Republicans are vying for their party's nomination, narrows.
"If it comes down to a two-person race, Donald Trump would be happy to debate him," Lewandowski told ABC's "Good Morning America" program.
Fox News, in a statement on Tuesday, said it would not "give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees," but left the door open to Trump attending the debate. The event will be co-hosted by Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google.
"At the end of the day, Mr. Trump is going to have the last laugh," Lewandowski told MSNBC.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and James Oliphant in Iowa and Eric Beech and Dustin Volz in Washington; Writing by John Whitesides and Alistair Bell; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Leslie Adler and Lisa Shumaker)
"I'm stunned watching this. Everybody has to know that this is exactly one of the things Trump is hoping to achieve," Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday.
In the feud between Donald Trump and Fox News, Rush Limbaugh is personally close to both sides, but the radio personality couldn't help but weigh in on Wednesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"Fox News is acting like they've been jilted at the altar," Limbaugh told about 15 million listeners tuning into his show.
Trump has bowed out of Thursday's GOP candidate's debate hosted by Fox News because he's still upset that in a previous debate Megyn Kelly asked him about the demeaning way in which he has treated some women, including insults hurled at comedian Rosie O'Donnell.
"If it had been me, and Donald Trump makes a big to-do about not showing up at the debate, I'd report the story and move on," Limbaugh told his radio audience. "Don't devote the rest of the night to how a candidate's not showing up because of you. I mean the network, not just Megyn Kelly.
Limbaugh added that "Trump is controlling the media. ... He's the story when he's there; he's the story when he's not there.
"This is what it looks like when some guy stands up to the rules and the game and says, 'Screw yours, I'm looking out for me first!'" said Limbaugh.
Just got to listen to Rush Limbaugh - the guy is fantastic!
Trump has complained for months that he thinks Kelly is biased against him, but a recently issued statement from a Fox News spokesperson was the "nail in the coffin" that resulted in Trump's announcement he wouldn't show up at Thursday's debate, according to Limbaugh.
Donald Trump has made good on his threat to schedule his own event at the same time as Thursday's GOP presidential debate on Fox News.
The Republican front-runner, who said Tuesday he would skip the debate over a feud with the network, sent out special invitations Wednesday afternoon to a Donald J. Trump Special Event to Benefit Veterans Organizations. The event will be held at 9 p.m. EST at Drake University in Des Moines at the same time his rivals will take the main debate stage just three miles away.
The real estate mogul's campaign said Tuesday he would sit out the debate due to concerns about “bias” from Fox News anchor and debate moderator Megyn Kelly.
But, according to The Hill, Trump blamed a statement the network issued for his choice not to participate, insisting it wasn't the Kelly feud.
It was the childishly written & taunting PR statement by Fox that made me not do the debate, more so than lightweight reporter, @megynkelly.
At a pre-rally press conference Tuesday, Trump told reporters he planned to organize a charity event for the Wounded Warrior Project to help injured war veterans, but it remained unclear if the organization was involved in the special event unveiled Wednesday.
Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said on Laura Ingraham's radio program that the event would be used to raise funds for multiple veterans organizations.
Fox News is firing back at Donald Trump for the Republican presidential front-runner’s decision to skip Thursday night’s debate, accusing Trump’s campaign manager of threatening anchor Megyn Kelly, according to The Hill.
“In a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, [Corey Lewandowski] stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again,’ ” the Fox News statement said.
“Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees.”
“As many of our viewers know, FOX News is hosting a sanctioned debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday night, three days before the first votes of the 2016 election are cast in the Iowa Caucus. Donald Trump is refusing to debate seven of his fellow presidential candidates on stage that night, which is near unprecedented.
We’re not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage.
Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats, including the one leveled by Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski toward Megyn Kelly. In a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again.’ Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so.
We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees. Trump is still welcome at Thursday night’s debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can’t dictate the moderators or the questions.”
On Tuesday, Kelly herself hit Trump for calling her a “lightweight” and a “third-rate reporter,” telling the billionaire businessman that he will not convince her to step aside as moderator.
“What’s interesting here is Trump is not used to not controlling things,” Kelly said on tonight’s broadcast of her show, “The Kelly File."
“The truth is, he doesn’t get to control the media, and while he’s made his position clear about me after that first debate, Roger Ailes made his position clear too: I'll be there."
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough refused to rule out the possibility of serving as Donald Trump's running mate on Wednesday night, according to CNNMoney.
In an interview with syndicated conservative host Hugh Hewitt, Scarborough spent several minutes trying to sidestep questions about whether or not he would accept such an offer from Trump, should the GOP frontrunner win the nomination.
"I don't know where you get that from?" said Scarborough, co-host of "Morning Joe."
"You always get me in trouble with questions like this, Hugh. ... Nobody's going to ask me to do anything but, like, take them to softball practice and baseball practice."
"I don't know. I don't think he would ask me," Scarborough later said in response to Hewitt's persistent questioning. "Let's move on."
Hewitt didn't move on, and ultimately forced Scarborough to respond by saying he would do "just about anything to try to get the White House back," which Hewitt interpreted as a "yes."
"No, it's not a yes," Scarborough replied. "You're telling me this is why I walked away from dinner with my kids, to not answer this question?"
Scarborough Tweeted he has ruled out the possbility:
I HAVE RULED IT OUT REPEATEDLY. Nice distortion, CNN-> MSNBC's Joe Scarborough won't rule out he'd run as Trump's VP https://t.co/Iv1T8Lkk6L
A top editor at Michael Bloomberg's media empire has left the company, citing concerns over how it will cover the former New York City mayor's presidential aspirations.
Kathy Kiely, the Washington news director at Bloomberg Politics, said she resigned from her post after growing uncomfortable with the way her outlet responded to news that Bloomberg is considering an independent White House bid.
"I was not comfortable with how we were reacting to this story and I didn't see any indication that the situation was going to improve soon," Kiely told CNNMoney on Wednesday. "I think that every candidate should be covered the same way."
The New York Times reported last Saturday that Bloomberg, the billionaire mogul and former three-term mayor of NYC, has "taken concrete steps" toward a potential White House run. Bloomberg Politics aggregated the Times report that day with a brief post. Kiely submitted her letter of resignation on Sunday.
"I agonized about it because I really like the people I work with at Bloomberg," Kiely said. "We built a team and we built a website, and I admire my colleagues very much. But I've been a political journalist all my life and I felt I was not able to do the job I should be doing."
Kiely declined to say if there was a directive on how to handle Bloomberg's latest presidential trial balloon. When asked what specifically prompted the resignation, she said, "I just think the fact that we didn't jump on the story the way other organizations did. I was not comfortable with that."
Buyers and sellers are expected to flood the FCC with a torrent of FM translator applications come Friday. That’s when the Commission opens an historic filing window for Class C and D AM stations to relocate FM translators up to 250 miles.
How big will the wave be? One broker told InsideRadio he personally plans to file seven deals on Friday, which is almost half the number he’d file during an average year.
While the window will be open for six months, Friday’s action is likely to focus on large markets where opportunities to relocate translators are scarce. With the FCC treating applications on a first come, first served basis, operators are anxious to get first dibs. “In crowded metropolitan areas where there may be one or two available frequencies to move a translator to, people want to make sure they’re first in line,” says Media Services Group director Bob Heymann. “If you’re second and there’s only one frequency, you’re out of luck.”
Many Friday filings are expected to be for existing construction permits. Since applicants are filing to move translators up to 250 miles, CPs come without the baggage of an existing licensed translator, such as a tower site lease, antenna, transmitter or transmission line that couldn’t be easily used at the new location. “CPs have been much easier to sell than existing translators,” Heymann says.
ALSO READ: What AM Stations Need To Do. Click Here
(Reuters) -- Facebook Inc smashed investors' expectations with a 52-percent jump in quarterly revenue as it sold more ads targeted at a fast-growing number of mobile users, sending its shares sharply higher after hours.
The world's biggest online social network bucked the trend of underwhelming tech results from Apple Inc and eBay Inc, in the face of economic uncertainty around the world and a strong U.S. dollar depressing the value of overseas sales.
"It's phenomenal at these (currency headwind) levels that they're accelerating to that level of growth," said Rob Sanderson, an analyst at MKM Partners.
Facebook's dominance in mobile advertising helped to allay Wall Street concerns over its heavy investments in messaging service WhatsApp and virtual reality unit Oculus, which have not yet generated profits.
"I don't think there's going to be too many people crying for them to start monetizing other properties anytime soon because the core business is so strong," said Sanderson.
Facebook shares rose almost 12 percent in after-hours trading to $105.32.
David Wehner
They were helped by Chief Financial Officer David Wehner's comment on a call with analysts that he expected operating expenses to increase by 30 to 40 percent over the course of the year, a slower clip than last year.
Total revenue rose to $5.84 billion from $3.85 billion a year earlier, with ad revenue increasing 56.8 percent to $5.64 billion in the holiday shopping period, when spending on advertising typically spikes.
Excluding some items, the company earned 79 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 68 cents per share and revenue of $5.37 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Apart from focussing on mobile, Facebook has been ramping up spending on what it calls "big bets," including virtual reality, artificial intelligence and drones to connect the remotest parts of the world to the Internet.
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who returned from two months of paternity leave on Monday, has said virtual reality represents the next major computing platform.
Mark Zuckerberg
In January, Facebook began taking orders for a consumer version of the Oculus Rift, a head-mounted virtual reality unit.
The company has also begun monetizing some of its other units, such as photo-sharing app Instagram, which surpassed 400 million users last year and began selling ads in September.
Facebook said mobile ads accounted for 80 percent of total ad revenue in the quarter, compared with about 78 percent in the third quarter and 69 percent a year earlier.
"It's much stronger ad growth than we were expecting," said Ken Sena, an analyst at Evercore ISI.
Facebook's service is not available for users in China but it can sell ads to companies there.
"It signifies the importance of what they're providing to advertisers," he said. "They're making big investments and evidenced by their quarterly performance it seems to be working."
The company, which has the world's most popular smartphone app, has also been benefiting from a surge in video views that has attracted advertising dollars.
Facebook said it had 1.59 billion monthly active users as of Dec. 31, up 14 percent from the end of 2014. Of those, 1.44 billion used the service on mobile devices, an increase of 21 percent.
Analysts had expected the company to report 1.58 billion monthly active users, with 1.43 billion accessing the service through smartphones and tablets, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.
Up to Wednesday's close at $94.45, Facebook's stock had risen nearly 25 percent in the past 12 months.
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bengaluru and Yasmeen Abutaleb in San Francisco; Editing by Ted Kerr, Stephen R. Trousdale and Bill Rigby)
The e-commerce giant Amazon has held meetings in the past few weeks to discuss licensing tunes for a full-blown subscription music service that would ape streaming music market leaders Spotify and Apple Music.
According to The NY Post, the plan is the latest attempt by Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos to become the premier distributor of entertainment content from books to TV and movies to music.
Amazon currently offers about 1 million songs to customers of its $99 per year Prime shopping service. The planned stand-alone music streaming service would come with its own monthly fee..
It will feature a much more robust music selection than is now available via Prime.
Amazon claims to be the biggest seller of physical music in the US and the No. 2 seller of digital music.
E-commerce sales in the past 12 months were $71.8 billion, up 5.6 percent on the prior period, according to an eMarketer note out Wednesday. Walmart is in second place with just $13.5 billion.
SummitMedia has launched a Classic Hits format on the new WHTI Star100.9 FM. Featured artists will include stars such as Elton John, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, Blondie, Duran Duran, Bon Jovi, The Commodores and more. The format succeeds Easy 100.9.
“People who grew up with Top 40 music wanted a station more in line with what they remember from high school and college days,” said STAR 100.9 Program Director Buddy Van Arsdale.
The popular morning team of Bill Bevins and Shelly Perkins will be featured on STAR 100.9 as well.
“Bill and Shelly are a Richmond institution and our listeners love them,” said Richmond market President Bob Willoughby, “They will continue to be a huge part of everything we do.”
In addition to FM radio the new STAR 100.9 can be heard digitally at star1009richmond.com, the Tune-In Radio app and the SummitMedia mobile app, My Radio Preset.”
WHTI 100.9 FM (15 Kw) Red=Local Coverage
Star 100.9 will be competing with Alpha Media’s WBBT 107.3 FM which ranked 13th with a 2.0 share of listeners aged 12+ in Nielsen’s Fall 2015 survey.
SummitMedia Richmond stations also include Country WKHK-FM, Classic Rock WKLR-FM,, AC WURV-FMand Top40 Hot 106.1 (WURV-HD2-FM).
