Amazon's Smart Speakers Top Prime Day Demand

Prime Day has become a major shopping event in the annual calendar for retailers, rivaling the Thanksgiving holiday’s Black Friday as a driver of sales and most retailers now run their own special promotions to coincide with the 36-hour sale.

Reuters reports Amazon said its sales topped those for the Prime event a year ago as well as those for Cyber Monday and Black Friday, but it gave no breakdown of the value of sales or of the scale of discounts it had applied.

Having touched a record high that valued the company at $900 billion, almost double than a year ago, shares in Amazon fell back to trade marginally lower on Wednesday.

“Given Amazon’s prodigious spending, it is safe to say that any day compared to the prior year should be much better from a sales perspective,” Moody’s analyst Charles O’Shea said.

“The continuing challenge for the company (is) driving margin and profitability in its retail business.”

The world’s largest online retailer said it recorded the largest daily sales for its Echo range of smart speakers, helped by heavy discounts. Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote and Echo Dot were the best-selling devices.

Other top-selling products around the world included table salt in India, Coke Zero and Kleenex tissues in Singapore and electric toothbrushes in China.

NYC Radio: WFAN, Joe Benigno Slapped With Harassment Lawsuit

Joe Benigno

WFAN 660 AM / 101.9 FM was run like a frat house, with drinking by employees starting as early as 10 a.m. and executives condoning buying prostitutes for ad clients, according to a shocking lawsuit filed Wednesday by a 40-year-old former CBS Radio ad exec.

According to The NYPost, Lauren Lockwood, who worked at WFAN from 2006 until last summer, claims the station’s executives tolerated a hostile work environment that subjected her to sexual harassment.

On various occasions, WFAN host Joe Benigno pressured her into having a threesome, the lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn state court, claims.

Benigno, 64, has worked at WFAN since 1995 and is currently the host of “Joe & Evan” with Evan Roberts on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Benigno was also accused in the 39-page suit of ranking women in the office on the basis of their looks — and carrying on an affair with a female subordinate for roughly two years.

Lockwood claims that her career was short-circuited after she rebuffed Benigno’s advances.

Lockwood, 40, who sold ads for WFAN and the Yankees Radio Network, endured a “Mad Men”-like environment where male executives’ affairs with subordinates were tolerated, the suit claims.

The suit, which seeks $5 million in damages, names as defendants CBS Radio, Benigno, Argaman and Mark Zukerman, a second ad sales executive, as well as other unidentified employees.

Lockwood was an award-winning saleswoman and sold nearly $1 million in advertising in 2016, according to the complaint.

The suit paints a picture of a work culture at CBS Radio that was heavy on drinking, especially “pickle back” shots — that is, a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice.

CBS Radio, including WFAN, was bought by Entercom on Nov. 17, 2017.  A spokesperson for Entercom said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

Philly Radio: John DeBella Settles Harrassment Lawsuit

A former WMGK 102.9 FM on-air personality has settled a lawsuit against longtime Philadelphia radio star John DeBella that alleged the host sexually harassed her during her time at the station.

According to philly.com, Terms of the settlement were not announced. Jennifer Neill’s lawyer, Caren Gurmankin, and DeBella’s lawyer, Chad Flores, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Neill, who worked as a cohost on the John DeBella Show between 2010 and 2016, detailed about 30 instances of alleged harassment in the suit, which she filed in February. Among the various claims, Neill said DeBella requested sex from her, grabbed her breasts, and made inappropriate comments when she worked with him at WMGK.

According to the suit, DeBella described the alleged instances as “jokes” that were “mutual” between himself and Neill following an investigation into her claims by WMGK.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone dismissed Neill’s suit with prejudice, according to court records. A notice indicates Beetlestone’s decision was “pursuant to local rule 41.1(b),” a directive that allows judges to dismiss civil cases in the event that “issues between parties have been settled.”

Lawsuit: Jennifer Neill v. Beasley Broadcast Group and John DeBella on Scribd

Known on the air as “Jen Posner,” Neill joined WMGK in 2002 as a traffic reporter before becoming an on-air personality on the John DeBella Show in 2010. According to the suit, she faced “degrading sex-based harassment” at the station.

Denver Radio: Denise Plante Joins KWBL For Midays

iHeartMedia Denver announced Wednesday that Denise Plante will host Middays for KWBL 106.7 The Bull, Colorado’s New Country.

Plante will broadcast weekdays, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m to 3 p.m.

“Few names in Denver are as recognizable as Denise Plante,” said Tim Hager, President of iHeartMedia Denver Region. “She’s a best-in-class personality who has a knack for connecting with listeners and business leaders in a meaningful way. I’m thrilled to welcome Denise to the iHeartMedia family and I look forward to watching her grow with the largest media company in the land.”

“Welcoming Denise to 106.7 The Bull is the final piece of the puzzle for Denver’s fastest- growing country station,” said JoJo Turnbeaugh, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia’s Denver Region and Program Director of 106.7 The Bull. “Few personalities have a brand as strong and I’m confident that her warm, engaging style will instantly connect with our listeners, both on-air and on our digital platforms.”

Plante joins iHeartMedia Denver from KOSI-FM where she most recently served as a Midday On-Air Personality. She began her career at HOT 101 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, working with a variety of music genres and attended the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Plante is also the host of Colorado & Company on NBC 9 News weekday mornings and is a Lifestyle Consultant for Daily Blast LIVE airs nationally on 36 local stations, including Denver’s station KUSA.

KWBL 106.7 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

”I am so excited to join such a dynamic and exciting radio family,” said Plante. “ The team at 106.7 The Bull and iHeartMedia have made me feel so welcomed and I can’t wait to get back to my country roots and continue being a part of this great Denver radio community.”

Sinclair Broadcasting Tries to Appease FCC

Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest local television operator in the United States, tried to placate federal regulators on Wednesday regarding its proposal to buy a rival TV group. However, The NYTimes reports the FCC still voted unanimously to have a judge review aspects of the deal, a potentially ominous sign for the merger.

The company, known for amplifying the Trump administration’s talking points in commentary segments that air on numerous local newscasts, is seeking to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion. The deal would put Sinclair, based in Maryland, in control of broadcasters reaching seven in 10 households across the country, including in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

To satisfy rules that forbid a single company to own airwaves on such a dominant scale, Sinclair previously proposed selling 23 TV stations after the deal was completed. But several of those stations would still effectively fall within its operational control.

Chairman, Ajit Pai, said on Monday that he had “serious concerns” with those planned divestitures. Mr. Pai asked the agency’s four commissioners to hand off its review of the merger to an administrative law judge to determine the legality of Sinclair’s original proposal.

The company said in a statement on Wednesday that it would now sell off two of the stations in question, one in Dallas and another in Houston, through an independent trust after the closing of the deal with Tribune. A third station, WGN in Chicago, which Tribune owns, would be sold outright to Sinclair to make who controls the station more transparent.

Sinclair is trying to create a conservative-leaning news operation to rival Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News. If the company succeeds in buying Tribune, it will control more than 200 stations reaching 62 percent of households.

Sinclair’s divestiture plan came under scrutiny because several of the stations it planned to sell would effectively remain within Sinclair’s control through contractual agreements known as “sidecars.”

Cliff Richard Wins Privacy Case Against BBC Over Police Raid

Cliff Richard

British singer Cliff Richard won substantial damages on Wednesday after London’s High Court ruled the BBC had breached his privacy by televising a police raid on his house which he said had left him feeling violated, Reuters is reporting.

The BBC said the “dramatic” ruling would have a huge impact on the media’s ability to report police inquiries and scrutinize their conduct.

The broadcaster used helicopters to film detectives searching the home of Richard, 77, one of Britain’s best known entertainers, when he was away on holiday in August 2014 as part of an investigation into allegations of historical child sex offences.

Prosecutors later said Richard, who maintained his innocence throughout, would face no charges due to lack of evidence.

Handing down his judgment and awarding the singer $273,700 in damages, Justice Anthony Mann said the BBC had infringed Richard’s privacy rights “without a legal justification” and “in a somewhat sensationalist way”.

“I have rejected the BBC’s case that it was justified in reporting as it did under its rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press,” he said.

The BBC said it was considering an appeal, saying the case would have a serious impact on all media reporting because the judge had ruled that even naming Richard as a suspect was unlawful.

“This judgment creates new case law and represents a dramatic shift against press freedom and the long-standing ability of journalists to report on police investigations,” said Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s Director of News and Current Affairs.

“It means police investigations, and searches of people’s homes, could go unreported and unscrutinized.”

Richard, born Harry Webb in 1940 and who was often called Britain’s Elvis Presley early in his career, cried as the verdict was delivered and hugged supporters in the courtroom.

After 51-Years, Seymour Stein OUT At Warner Music

Seymour Stein

Legendary and beloved music man Seymour Stein is out at Warner Music after 51 years.

ShowBiz411 reports Seymour is a record business legend, still working as an international talent scout for Warner and their ADA collection of indie labels. He’s always been there. He started Sire Records 51 years ago, and brought the world Madonna, The Ramones, Pretenders, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Seal and so many others.

The news that he’s leaving comes as a shock since Stein was just honored two nights ago in Los Angeles for his Special Merit Grammy Award. He’s also just published a bestselling memoir called, “Siren Song: My Life in Music.” It’s full of juicy tidbits from his earliest days, like when he ran the charts at Billboard magazine.

Like Clive Davis, Seymour Stein is the last of the great record execs, music mavens of all time. He carved out a place for himself when he launched Sire, one of the few dependable labels within the shaky Warner Music Group. He survived the 1995-96 flip when Warner was sold to business killer Edgar Bronfman, Jr. And he survived again when Bronfman finally cashed out and sold to Len Blavatnik’s ACCESS Group.

Stein said in his exit statement today that he was eager to get back to his “indie roots.”

He said: “I was very fortunate during my youth to learn from so many great indie label people, like Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler at Atlantic, and my greatest mentor, Syd Nathan at King Records,” said Stein in his announcement. “I went on to work with so many other great indies around the world as Sire grew to become the legendary brand it is today. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all the amazing artists — far too many to name — who have called Sire home over the years.”

Stein has also been one of the few stabilizing voices at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, especially since the death of Ahmet Ertegun. Seymour has constantly stood up for early influencers, side man, R&B acts that Jann Wenner has ignored.

July 19 Radio History

WRC in the Trans Lux Building

First Home Riggs Bank

➦In 1923...WRC-AM, Washington, DC  began broadcasting.  WRC started out in the Riggs Bank building at 14th. And Park Road.The entire operation was self contained there with offices, studio, transmitter, and an antenna on the roof.

WRC started at 640 AM and share the frequency with WCAP.

WRC was owned and oeprated by RCA.  By the 1930, 500 watt WRC moved to 950 AM and was part of the NBC's Red Network. The station moved to 980 AM in the lates 1940s.

The two stations WRC and now WMAL were located in the Trans Lux Building at 14th & New York Ave.

In 1972,  NBC made the decision to take the MOR station to a Top 40 format and challenge DC champ WPGC in the ratings game.

The birth of The Great 98 had a lot of help from some Philly radio vets.  Lee Sherwood was brought in as PD and Bob Gross was Promotions Director.  Both were from WFIL.  The original on air team consisted of Johnny Andrews, Bobby McGee, Simon Trane, James Michael Wilson and Ron Starr.

Being an NBC O&O had its drawbacks:  NBC Hourly News, NBC Monitor on weekends, special features (Graham Kerr, Gene Shalit, etc) had to be carried.

Eve Arden, Dick Crenna and Gloria McMillian at CBS Mic

➦In 1948...Our Miss Brooks, starring Eve Arden and Gale Gordon, debuted on CBS radio. Arden played the role of Connie Brooks. The program stayed on radio until 1957, running simultaneously on TV from 1952 to 1956. Miss Brooks taught English at Madison High School. Her pal, the bashful, biology teacher Philip Boynton, was played first by Jeff Chandler and then by Robert Rockwell. The crusty, blustery principal of Madison High, Osgood Conklin, was none other than Gale Gordon. Also supporting Eve Arden was Jane Morgan as Miss Brooks’ landlady, Mrs. Davis. The main problem child in the classroom, the somewhat dimwitted Walter Denton was played by Richard Crenna.


➦In 1970...radio singer Barry Wood, who headlined radio’s Your Hit Parade just before Sinatra took over in 1943, and who hosted/emceed several shows in the early days of TV, died at age 61.


➦In 2012…Radio programmer/manager (KHJ and KIIS in Los Angeles, KFRC-San Francisco, CKLW-Detroit, WOL-Washington, WTAE, WWSW, WXMP in Pittsburgh, KROY-Sacramento, KLAK, KIMN, KBTR, KDAB in Denver, KUDL, WHB in Kansas City) Ted J. Atkins died of pancreatic cancer at age 72.

Ted began in radio in Denver at KLAK in 1957.

➦In 2017...Iconic Twin Cities Radio Showman Bill Diehl died at age 91.

Winnipeg Radio: Rogers Media Fires Dave Wheeler

UPDATE 7/18 1PM: Rogers Media says it has fired 92.1 CITI FM radio host Dave Wheeler following controversial comments about transgender people that he made on his Winnipeg program Wheeler in the Morning this week.

Rogers Media spokesperson Andrea Goldstein confirmed the firing in an emailed statement Wednesday morning.

"There have been multiple disciplinary incidents, and in spite of numerous conversations, he has continued to offend our audiences," Goldstein wrote.

"As a result, we have ended our relationship with him and he is no longer with the company, effective immediately."

The decision was made yesterday.

Earlier Posting...

A Winnipeg morning radio personality has been suspended just a day after making some politically-incorrect comments about “the whole transgender community” that offended listeners.

Dave Wheeler

Dave Wheeler, who hosts 92 CITI FM’s Wheeler in the Morning, was discussing on Monday the controversy over Scarlett Johansson signing on to play a real-life criminal who rose to power in the 1970s dressing as a man. LGBT activists accused her of “appropriating” a role that should have gone to a trans actor, and Johansson has since dropped out of the film. 

“I am so confused! I am so confused by the whole transgender community. I mean literally, there is nothing you can do to make them happy,” Wheeler said, according to CBC News. “People act and pretend to be different things. Kinda like what you're doing! Really! In the grand scheme of things.”

His co-hosts expressed mild discomfort with the analogy, with Dave Turnbull saying he “wouldn’t go that far” and Rena Jae suggesting “maybe take that back,” but both agreed that, in the latter’s words, “people just like to complain to complain nowadays.”

“What a bunch of snowflakes,” Wheeler concluded.



According to Lifesite News, that was enough to spark outrage on social media, with self-described transgender individuals claiming his words were “creating a culture of hate and creating a culture of fear in Winnipeg,” and that “[y]ou could hear the hate in his voice.”

One Facebook user also posted screenshots of a text correspondence between Wheeler and LGBT “ally” Kara Fraser, in which the host wrote that he does “not hate anyone that is trans, or anyone who is in a marginalized group,” but he does “have an issue with the hypocrisy where the trans community bullied someone who is not trans to the point where she left her job.”

He continued that it was anyone’s prerogative to change genders, but he considered the “grey area that’s been created for someone who is a woman, or man, who has not made the full transition surgically” to be “just playing pretend to their genetic make-up.” Wheeler concluded that “male” and “female” were objective realities, and that until someone physically makes the change, “trans” is a “made up word to defend people’s dysphoria and make it acceptable.”

The station’s parent company Rogers Media took Wheeler off the air Tuesday morning, and said he was suspended pending further, unidentified actions.

Transgender advocates tell the press that nothing short of firing Wheeler will satisfy them. “You can't support us one month of the year,” transgender “man” Theo DeSilva said. “He” also called for sensitivity training and a public apology, while declaring the former insufficient and the latter unlikely.

Tulsa Radio: Starting July 30 Griffin To LMA Scripps' Stations

Griffin Communications will begin operating E.W. Scripps’ five radio stations in Tulsa on July 30 ahead of a $12.5 million deal to buy the cluster that’s expected to close in the fourth quarter.

InsideRadio reports that even before the LMA begins, Griffin is taking advantage of resource sharing opportunities that come with having a radio-TV combo.

Meteorologists Travis Meyer and Alan Crone from Griffin’s CBS-affiliate KOTV-TV in Tulsa are providing weather updates and severe weather coverage on the stations, which include talk KFAQ 1170 AM, CHR KHTT 106.9 FM, classic hits kbez  92.9 The Drive, classic country  KXBL Big Country 99.5 and country KVOO 98.5 FM. “For many of us, our livelihood and sometimes lives, depend on accurate weather information,” News On 6 chief meteorologist Travis Meyer said. “Our family at News On 6 is proud to offer our friends across the state another way to stay weather aware.”

The Oklahoma-based media company sees a strong upside to owning radio and TV stations in the same market.

Report: Ad Agency Says Schnatter Claim Not True

In an internal memo obtained by Ad Age, Laundry Service says "disparaging and outrageous comments about Wasserman and Laundry Service" made in the media regarding its relationship with Papa John's are "completely false" and that it will be going on the record with a response.

John Schnatter

Last Fridsy, Papa John's founder John Schnatter accused the pizza chain's former agency of trying to extort him out of $6 million after he used the "n"-word on a conference call with the shop in May. He made the extortion accusation in an interview with Kentucky's WLKY-TV.

Schnatter stepped down as chairman last week after acknowledging that he used the term during a training exercise. He claimed his former agency wanted $6 million to "make it go away."

"They made it pretty clear, the words were, 'If I don' t get my f-ing money, I'm going to bury the founder,' said one of the executives," Schnatter said in the WLKY interview.

According to the internal email sent to Laundry Service employees Tuesday afternoon, Laundry Service plans to go on the record and refute comments made about itself and its parent company, Wasserman.

Trump Expresses 'Complete Faith' In U-S Intelligence

U.S. President Donald Trump tried on Tuesday to calm a storm over his failure to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, saying he misspoke in a joint news conference in Helsinki.

Reuters reports Trump 'stunned' the world on Monday by shying away from criticizing the Russian leader for Moscow’s actions to undermine the election and cast doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies, prompting calls by some U.S. lawmakers for tougher sanctions and other actions to punish Russia.

“I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t,’” Trump told reporters at the White House, more than 24 hours after his appearance with Putin. “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.’”

Trump, who had the opportunity to publicly rebuke Putin during the news conference in Helsinki, instead praised the Russian leader for his “strong and powerful” denial of the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russian state meddled in the election.

Standing alongside Putin in Helsinki, Trump told reporters he was not convinced it was Moscow. “I don’t see any reason why it would be,” Trump said.

Although he faced pressure from critics, allied countries and even his own staff to take a tough line, Trump said not a single disparaging word in public about Moscow on any of the issues that have brought relations between the two nuclear powers to the lowest ebb since the Cold War.

Republicans and Democrats accused him of siding with an adversary rather than his own country.

Despite a televised interview and numerous postings to Twitter, Trump did not correct himself until 27 hours later. Reading mainly from a prepared statement, Trump said on Tuesday he had complete faith in U.S. intelligence agencies and accepted their conclusions.

Editor: Media Reaction To Trump 'Is Like Mob Violence'

A contributing editor for the left-leaning magazine "The Nation" described the media's reaction to President Trump's press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin as "mob violence" during an interview with Fox News's Tucker Carlson, according to The Hill.

The editor, Stephen Cohen, added that he'd "never seen anything like it" in his life.

“The reaction by most of the media, by the Democrats, by the anti-Trump people, is like mob violence,” Cohen told Carlson.

Trump was slammed by critics from the left and the right after he questioned U.S. intelligence findings confirming Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election while seemingly taking Putin's word that the Russian government wasn't involved.

During the news conference, Trump did not condemn Russian meddling in the election, opting to agree with Putin, who said "the Russia state" was not involved.

“He just said it’s not Russia,” Trump said in echoing Putin’s denials of involvement in the U.S. election. “I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be.”



Few in the political sphere have offered much support for Trump, who has even seen criticism come from friendly quarters such as Fox News and Drudge Report.

But he has received some defense from the left and from libertarians such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). In both cases, those defending Trump have backed him for meeting with Putin in the first place while putting aside his decision to seemingly side with the Russian president over his own intelligence agencies.

"Every president since Eisenhower, Republican by the way, met with the leader of the Kremlin for one existential purpose: To avoid war of two superpowers," Cohen said.

TV Ratings: World Cup U-S Figures Fall

The World Cup soccer final where France defeated Croatia was seen by just over 16 million people in the United States on Sunday, according to The Associated Press citing Nielsen data.

While that made the Sunday morning telecast on Fox and Telemundo the most-watched program of the week, it represented a significant drop in viewership from the 2014 World Cup finale, which featured Germany and Argentina. That game had 26.5 million viewers on ABC and Univision, the Nielsen company said.

The Fox telecast of the finale reached 11.3 million, with the remainder watching the Spanish-language station.

The company Eurodata TV estimated that 163 million people in Europe and China watched the World Cup final, with China leading the way with 56 million. Even with two European teams competing, Eurodata said the World Cup final was less popular in that region than the competition four years ago. There was no worldwide estimate of viewership yet.

In France, the final game against Croatia was seen by 19.3 million people — smaller than the audience for the Euro soccer final two years ago, Eurodata TV said.

NBC was the winner for the week in U.S. prime-time viewing, averaging 4.3 million viewers. CBS had 4 million, ABC had 3.4 million, Fox had 2.1 million, ION Television had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.13 million, Univision had 1.05 million and the CW had 900,000 viewers.

Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.69 million viewers. MSNBC had 1.58 million, USA had 1.48 million, HGTV had 1.4 million and TBS had 1.07 million.

According to TV Newser...Basic Cable Top 10 – Prime time (Total Viewers)

1. Fox News (2,761,000)
2. MSNBC (1,616,000)
3. USA (1,459,000)
4. HGTV (1,424,000)
5. TBS (1,042,000)
6. Investigation Discovery (1,003,000)
7. History (970,000)
8. TLC (921,000)
9. Food Network (885,000)
10. CNN (851,000)

Basic Cable Ranker: Week of July 9 (Total Viewers) on Scribd

Basic Cable Ranker: Week of July 9 (A25-54) on Scribd

ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening newscasts with an average of 7.7 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.2 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.3 million.

Seattle Radio: Hubbard's Marc Kaye Announces Retirement

Marc Kaye

Hubbard Radio Seattle Vice President/Market Manager Marc Kaye has announced that he will be stepping down after 45 years in the broadcast industry.

“I promised myself that when I hit the 45 year mark in the great business of radio, I was going to get a bit selfish and consider that milestone was enough to prove I have given it my all. I am looking forward to spending a whole lot more time with my wife and see what new challenges and chapters I can write as I move forward,” said Kaye.

Kaye’s radio career began in 1973 when he joined Susquehanna Broadcasting’s WGBB/Long Island, as an account executive. In his eight-year run at WGBB, Kaye was recognized for his talent and leadership, moving up the ranks from AE to Local Sales Manager and General Sales Manager. In 1979, at the age of 27, he was named General Manager.

From 1981 to 1996 Kaye led radio stations in St. Petersburg, Houston, Seattle, Tampa and Los Angeles for companies like Harte-Hanks, Westinghouse, Gannett and Jacor. In 1997, he teamed with Sandusky Radio to manage its five-station cluster in Seattle. In 2013, the stations were sold to Hubbard and he remained as VP/Market Manager.

“Marc’s broadcast career has been his dream come true,” said Hubbard Radio President and CEO Drew Horowitz. “It has been my good fortune to have had the opportunity to work with Marc as he is the consummate broadcast professional. Wishing him all the best in his next chapter.”

Hubbard Chair Ginny Morris commented, “Having the opportunity to work with Marc Kaye has been one of the great delights of my career. Marc’s positive spirit, creativity and passion for life made working with him a great joy. Marc will be very hard to replace but we are very happy that he will stay in his position through the transition and will help us find his replacement.”