In a bizarre marketing gimmick that may prompt frustrated drivers to reach for an easy-to-deploy projectile, Uber has started flying ad-carrying drones to within a few feet of cars stuck in traffic in Mexico City.
Buzzing in front of windshields, the dangling poster asks in Spanish, “Driving by yourself?”
It then berates any single-occupant car owners with the message, “This is why you can never see the volcanoes.”
According to digitaltrends.com, it’s a reminder to the city’s residents that beyond its infamous thick smog are two possibly picturesque peaks, which might actually be viewable if there weren’t so many cars on the road pumping out fumes the whole time.
But more than that, it’s an ad for UberPool, Uber’s carpooling product that encourages riders to share vehicles to the same, or similar, destinations.
The San Francisco-based company currently operates in 65 cities throughout the region, though has plans to double its presence by the start of 2018. It’s already making serious inroads there, as Brazil is currently Uber’s third-biggest market after the U.S. and India. Mexico City, meanwhile, is its busiest city on the entire planet.
Guy Laurence has stepped down as president and CEO of Rogers Communications, effective immediately, reports the CBC.
He will eventually be replaced by former Telus CEO Joe Natale, who resigned from the Rogers rival last summer in part because of a reluctance to move his family to Vancouver, where Telus is based, from Toronto, which happens to be where Rogers is headquartered.
But Natale can't come on board just yet, as he is still bound by the terms of the non-compete clause he signed with Telus when he left. It pledges he is not allowed to work for a rival for an undisclosed period of time.
Until Natale can start, Rogers veteran Alan Horn will act as interim CEO.
'"During the transition, it's business as usual," said Horn. "We have a strong management team that will continue to execute the plan and build on the momentum we have established as we head into the fourth quarter.
The news of Laurence's departure comes as a surprise to the investment community, since he had only been on the job for about three years, after coming from British wireless firm Vodafone, where he developed a reputation as a fierce competitor.
TD analyst Vince Valentini said "the abrupt CEO change will require some explanation," but he described Natale as "an excellent candidate for the role."
A statement from Rogers thanked Laurence for his work, but stressed the company's long-term vision.
The news regarding Laurence was also announced minutes before Rogers released its quarterly results, which show its second-quarter profit fell nearly in half, to $220 million or 43 cents per share, down from $464 million or 90 cents per share.
The wireless unit, however, had its biggest revenue growth and post-paid customer additions (114,000) since 2010. And the cable unit added 30,000 new customers, which also beat expectations.
iHeartMedia/Tampa has announced that Rob Kruz has been named Program Director of Top40 WFLZ 93.3 FM.
“I could not be more excited for Rob to join our team at 93.3 FLZ, which already amazes and humbles me on a daily basis,” said Travis Daily, SVP/Programming for iHM Tampa Bay.
“Rob is the perfect fit for this family and we can’t wait for him to help write the next chapter in the history of a very special radio station.”
Kruz previously served as the Program Director and afternoon drive personality for WZFT in Baltimore, MD. He has worked as on-air talent for WIHT-FM in Washington, D.C. and WQAL-FM in Cleveland, OH.
WFLZ 93.3 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
He began his radio career in Detroit, MI at WDRQ while he attended the University of Michigan.
A popular voice on WAIO 95.1 FM Rochester, NY radio is off the airwaves for the next few weeks. Brother Wease is recovering from vocal cord surgery for a condition that could have ended his career, reports WHAM TV13.
His new daily routine includes blowing bubbles into a cup. What looks like child’s play is actually therapy following vocal cord surgery earlier this month.
"They have nodules and they have polyps. According to Dr. John Ingle this was neither. It was some fancy, scary word,” said Wease.
The growth was removed in the 2 1/2 hour procedure. Wease watched video of it following the surgery.
"You could see him with his little tools, it's crazy. The great big thing he dragged out of here,” he said.
The surgery came with risks. One that could have ended his career.
"Doc I don't want to hear this crap. I'll sign. I don't want to know it. She starts reading me this list of stuff, one was you could lose your whole voice,” said Wease.
The other big fear was whether that growth was cancerous. He got the news Wednesday -- it wasn't.
"I was preparing myself that if it was that I'd get treatment and I wouldn't be on the radio anymore, but whatever be is. That's how it's going to be. I've been lucky, I've been lucky a lot,” said Wease.
Back in 2005, Wease had been diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare form of sinus cancer. Wease underwent seven weeks of radiation treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
(Reuters) -- Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, informally approached LionTree Advisors Chief Executive Aryeh Bourkoff about setting up a Trump TV network after the presidential election, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing sources.
Kushner contacted Bourkoff, one of the media industry's top dealmakers, within the last couple of months, the FT reported, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
The conversation between the two was brief and has not progressed since, the report said.
Trump told the Washington Post last month he had "no interest in a media company" and reports that he was considering setting up one was "a false rumor."
Kushner, the owner of the weekly New York Observer newspaper, is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka.
Kushner and LionTree did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
LionTree was a media advisor for Charter Communications for its $55 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc. It also advised Verizon Communications on its $4.4 billion purchase of AOL and Liberty Global’s $23.3 billion deal for Virgin Media.
Business analysts have speculated that Trump would be looking to start up a TV network/media company after the presidential election should he lose. In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal opinion poll, published this weekend, Trump trailed Mrs Clinton by 11 points nationally.
NBC is in damage control regarding its handling of an 11-year-old recording of on-air personality Billy Bush and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump talking in crude and misogynistic terms about women, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Bush’s exit is being negotiated as a result of an NBC News review into the matter that determined he should have been more forthcoming about the existence of the recording, according to executives familiar with the situation. There are still unanswered questions regarding how long “Access Hollywood” may have been sitting on the tape, its path to the airwaves and who leaked it to the Washington Post last week before NBC could get its own story out.
Initially, an executive close to the show said the footage was discovered early last week when a producer recalled it after the Associated Press published a story about crude remarks Mr. Trump had made on the set of the reality show “The Apprentice,” which he starred in for NBC.
Since then, though, it has emerged that Bush himself shared knowledge of the recording with colleagues last August while he was covering Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and there was debate about how to proceed, according to the people close to “Access Hollywood” and Bush. “Access Hollywood” executive producer Rob Silverstein is a personal friend with Bush and was sensitive to the potential blowback the story could have, a person close to him said.
NBC News and NBC executives insist they were unaware of the existence of the recording until last week. The stance that no one outside “Access Hollywood” knew of the tape is disputed by people close to Messrs. Silverstein and Bush, who feel their show and staff are being “thrown under the bus” to protect the news unit.
Embattled “Today” anchor Billy Bush is likely to get a $10 million lump settlement from NBC after his abrupt ouster following the vulgar revelations on the Donald Trump tape, according to PageSix at The NYPost.
Bush and his legal team have been battling with NBC News chiefs to iron out a settlement — which, sources exclusively tell Page Six, will involve a large lump payment said to be the full value of his three-year contract, valued at around $10 million.
Bush’s attorney Marshall Grossman told Page Six on Friday, “Negotiations between Billy and NBC are progressing, and will continue to progress, and hopefully we will reach a conclusion in the near future. We were preparing for battle, but today we are preparing for settlement.”
High-powered Hollywood attorney Grossman declined to discuss what they were hoping for in the settlement, or the exact timing of the deal.
Bush was booted from “Today,” where he was a co-anchor of the 9 a.m. hour, following the leak of the tape to the Washington Post, where presidential can
After walking out of the WAYY studio Thursday morning during a live call-in show out of exasperation over the nasty tone of political discussion, local radio personality John Murphy was back on the air Friday morning as part of a program in which politics will be off-limits.
Murphy, 57, said Friday he agreed to remain involved with the revamped format because he still loves the radio business.
The new morning format calls for Murphy to join Luc Anthony and Dan Kasper, who previously hosted a local sports talk show called “Luc & The Captain,” in anchoring a call-in show that will focus on sports and lifestyles. Murphy said his longtime co-host Bob Bosold also may be involved at times
The working title, Murphy said, is the “No Politics Zone,” and it will air from 7 to 10 a.m.
The nastiness of today’s political debate finally became too much for John Murphy Thursday, when the longtime Eau Claire talk radio host abruptly walked out of the studio during the middle of his morning show, reports the Leader-Telegram.
The stunning move came about 15 minutes before the end of his show, which runs from 6:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays on WAYY 790 AM / 105.1 FM, owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting.
Murphy, 57, has been doing Eau Claire radio for 34 years, including the past nearly 14 years as co-host of the “WAYY Morning Show,” a call-in program in which hosts and callers discuss local, state and national news.
The problem, Murphy said, is that the talking gradually has become less of a conversation and more of an exchange of insults.
The trend is particularly disconcerting, Murphy said, because he knows many of the callers trading insults “are educated, wonderful people who have become caught up in this hurricane of hate.” He emphasized the rage comes from both liberals and conservatives.
Murphy acknowledged the frustration started to realize it was affecting him this summer when some old friends who had been listening to the show asked what had happened to the fun-loving, joyful guy they used to know. The friends suggested Murphy was starting to get short with callers and engaging in some of the behavior he despised.
“If I’m an enabler, even inadvertently, to this toxicity through the show, that troubles me,” Murphy said, noting that he didn’t believe he could be an agent of change without putting his foot down and saying, “There’s got to be a better way to do this.”
The degeneration of the dialogue on talk radio — and its potential impact on him as a person — saddened Murphy and caused him to worry about what he might say some day.
Superadio announced at NABOB’s Power of Urban Radio Conference that they will partner with Baisden Media Group in collaboration with American Urban Radio Network, Perry Broadcasting and others to distribute the show nationally starting early 2017.
The show will be hosted by renowned syndicated radio personality, Michael Baisden. Baisden is a NY Times bestselling author, motivational speaker, philanthropist, mentor and dad.
The Michael Baisden Show radio broadcast will air weekdays, with a start date to be announced in the near future. The show will be intensely interactive through social media, highly topical, driven by listener engagement and a music intensive afternoon drive program from 3:00-7:00 p.m. EST making it one of the best connected brands in the business.
Baisden is ready to bring “grown folks” radio back to the market and stated, “I’m excited to be returning to the airwaves! It’s been 3 long years and I’m more enthusiastic than ever because of the tremendous opportunity I have to partner with the team at Superadio. From our first meeting with CEO Chesley Maddox-Dorsey and her staff it was clear that we shared a vision to not only be successful financially but to have fun while working hard to bring quality programming to millions of listeners across the country. At this point in my career I want to impact and inspire as many people as possible and to give our advertisers and affiliates a product they will be excited about and proud to be associated with. There has never been a program in radio history that has done more to encourage community activism, address adult relationship issues, and promoted entrepreneurship and self-determination. And by the way, we play the best music on the planet. With partners like Superadio, AURN and Perry Broadcasting, the sky’s the limit. I can’t wait to start this next chapter of my life with this group of enthusiastic people who are just as passionate as I am about winning and serving our listeners, affiliates and sponsors. “Grown Folks’ Radio is finally back! Hold on tight, it’s going to be an exciting ride that’s going to make radio history!”
Black Millennials are 11.5 million strong and leading a viral vanguard that is driving African-Americans’ innovative use of mobile technology and closing the digital divide. Nielsen highlights this group in a new report, "Young, Connected and Black: African-American Millennials Are Driving Social Change and Leading Digital Advancement.”
With $162 billion in buying power and undisputed cultural influence, Black Millennials are using their power to successfully raise awareness of issues facing the Black community and influence decisions shaping our world. Media and brands are taking notice, creating campaigns and content that target this increasingly influential demographic with greater ad spends and more diverse programming.
The sixth in Nielsen’s Diverse Intelligence Series focused on Black consumers, "Young, Connected and Black" paints a picture of a Black diaspora that is tech-savvy; socially and civically engaged; growing in population (46.3 million or 14% of the U.S. population) and buying power (nearly $1.2 trillion in 2015); and optimistic about the future.
The 83.1 million U.S. Millennials are considered a key voting bloc this November. Black Millennials represent 14% of all Millennials and 25% of the total Black population. The top five markets for Black Millennials (by population) are New York, Atlanta, Chicago, DC and South Florida (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale). Weeks before the 2016 presidential race, the power of the Black electorate is a particular point of interest given the records set in 2012 when, bolstered by its Millennial population, African-Americans had the highest rate of voter registration and voter turnout of any demographic group in the U.S.
“African-American Millennials are blazing trails to the center of the debate over matters that are paramount to their future success and safety—all as their influence over mainstream consumers grows,” said Deborah Gray-Young, Managing Partner, D. Gray-Young Inc., a multicultural marketing consulting firm and Nielsen External Advisory Council member. “Nielsen continues to be the definitive source of independent third-party insights on consumers of color. This annual report is an essential tool for organizations looking to develop a deeper contextual understanding of the influence and economic power of Black consumers.”
The 2016 report delves into the spending and viewing habits of African-Americans overall and credits a voracious appetite for television content with the dramatic increase in diverse television programming. Between 2011 and 2015, broadcast network TV ad spend focused on Black audiences (defined as ad dollars placed on programming with greater than 50% Black viewers) increased by 255%. The Top 10 TV shows among Black Millennials 18–24 and Blacks 35+ all had predominately Black casts or lead actors who are key to the storyline (e.g. “Empire,” “How to Get Away With Murder,” and “The Walking Dead”).
The two main pieces of the family’s $40 billion media empire — Viacom and CBS — are set to spend tens of millions of dollars on an army of bankers, lawyers and advisers as the companies work to determine if a merger of the two companies is feasible, report The NYPost.
The Redstone’s National Amusements Inc., which owns 80 percent of the voting rights of both companies, asked the two media giants in September to look into a merger.
Viacom’s independent committee, established to weigh the pros and cons of such a combo, said Friday it hired Morgan Stanley, Allen & Co. and LionTree Advisors.
It is also working with PR agency Sard Verbinnen.
Banks usually work on a percentage fee basis, while law firms charge anywhere upward of $1 million a month.
PR firms can charge anywhere between $50,000 to $250,000 a month, sources said.
Separately, sources say, the real question is whether CBS will pay any kind of premium for Viacom.
The two were part of the same company until 2006 when they separated.
“The only question is whether Viacom deserves a premium,” a source added. “Is it growing or shrinking?”
TV Network executives have long used the National Football League’s live games as a last line of defense against the rapid growth of “cord-cutting” and on-demand viewing upending the industry.
But now, reports The Washington Post, the NFL is seeing its ratings tumble in the same way that the Olympics, awards shows and other live events have, falling more than 10 percent for the first five weeks of the season compared with the first five weeks of last season. A continued slide, executives say, could pose an even bigger danger: If football can’t survive the new age of TV, what can?
The explosion of modern entertainment options, offered on more devices and at any time, has splintered American audiences and sped TV’s decline, Hughes said. “Sports seemed to be immune from it — it was live, the last bastion of broadcast television. But [the world] has caught up to it now.”
Election years often thin sports ratings, but the NFL has never seen a drop as dramatic as this year’s, Nielsen data shows. In 2008, for example, ratings over the course of the year declined 2 percent, and in 2000 they declined 10 percent. During the first five weeks of this year, ratings have declined 15 percent compared with the entirety of last year.
Streaming services catering to sports viewers on the Web have seen their subscription numbers climb. Sling TV, a Web service that offers ESPN and other live sports starting at $20 a month, has seen “extremely strong growth,” said Ben Weinberger, chief product officer. With every live sports event, Weinberger said, they see more new sign-ups.
The Web-motivated trend toward short, punchy online videos, analysts said, may have also motivated some viewers to skip the four-hour football broadcasts until they’ve been distilled down the next day.
In the present-day of South Florida’s Spanish-language TV and radio, a personal connection edges out political agendas. This more moderate, restrained tone is a radical departure from what Hispanic media in Miami used to be in the 1980s and ’90s: an often bitter landscape dominated by hardliners who raged at Castro’s regime and stoked public sentiment against anyone they deemed sympathetic to communist governments.
The Miami Herald reports today, though, Hispanic media have evolved and caught up with their English-language counterparts — not just in terms of professionalism, but also in importance and advertising. That sophistication is critical in earning the attention of U.S. Latinos, who account for 17.6 percent of the country’s inhabitants and wield 11.3 percent of its purchasing power. In 2015, overall spending on U.S. Hispanic media (including TV, radio, newspapers and magazines) totaled $7.83 billion.
But immigration — Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, Syrian refugees, anti-Muslim sentiment — is a key factor in this year’s election.
Spanish-language talk radio in South Florida has transformed itself into a far more sophisticated and inviting arena than it was 20 years ago. According to a recent report by Nielsen Media Research, 97 percent of the nearly 57 million Hispanics in the U.S. tune in to radio every week, with nearly 10 percent of them listening to talk shows.
“Hispanic media in Miami went through a revolution after 2000,” says Dario Moreno, a political consultant and professor of political science at Florida International University. “First you had the consolidation of the old Spanish media, especially AM talk radio, under Univision. A lot of the decision-making authority was taken out of Miami and put into corporate, so radio now has a more corporate attitude.
An increasingly larger of the viewers and listeners are increasingly non-Cuban. News coverage is no longer Cuba-centric.
An Indiana broadcast pioneer and one of the first commercial female disc jockeys in the United States has passed away. Vincennes native Ann Wagner Harper, who was inducted into the Indiana Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1985, was 92, according to insideindianabusiness.com.
Harper began her broadcasting career as a vocalist with WHAS radio in Louisville in 1944. The next year, she returned to Vincennes and worked for the Brokhage Department Store after promoting an idea to have music and daily special announcements playing throughout the store. She joined WAOV radio in 1946 and hosted the "Silver Lining Time" show.
In 1947, Harper moved to Indianapolis to sing with the Art Berry's Orchestra at the Columbia Club and perform as a vocalist on "Annie's Almanac" on WIBC radio. She ventured into television in 1949, performing in a musical called "Circle B Ranch" on WFBM TV. She went on to perform on her own show, "Ann and Sue" on the station and earned the TV News Vocalist Video Award in 1951.
Harper was the first female disc jockey in Indiana, hosting WFBM radio's afternoon show, "Make Mine Music" and its morning show, "Party Line." After retiring from radio and television, she earned a degree from Butler University. Harper would later join the school as a professor of radio and television, become chair of the department and manage the school's radio station, WAJC.
The Houston radio community has lost another legend and civil rights activist, according to ABC-TV13.
Skipper Lee Frazier died Friday night at his home surrounded by family. Frazier has been a fixture on Houston radio since 1954, with him airing a show on KWWJ 1360 AM each day at 2pm.
Frazier was also a music act promoter and friend of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
"He became friends with Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali in his heyday would just drop in on his show like he was a regular guest," KCOH's Ralph Cooper said. "He would come in and sit for hours with Skipper Lee and in fact he even mentioned Skipper Lee's name on national TV after one of his fights."
Back in the '60s, Frazier produced the 1968 gold number one R&B hit "Tighten Up" for Archie Bell & the Drells. "Tighten Up" reached #1 on both the Billboard R&B and pop charts in the spring of 1968. It is ranked #265 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and is one of the earliest funk hits in music history.
At the time, he was a star disc jockey at radio station KCOH in Houston, TX. Tighten-Up was the B side of the single, "Dog Eat Dog" A fellow DJ convinced Frasier to flip the record.
Skppier Lee Frazier at WCOH
During this tenure at KCOH, which covered more than 22 years, he either MC'd or promoted shows for James Brown, B.B. King, Wes Montgomery, the O'Jays and the Kool Jazz Festival which was presented in cities all over the country.
Frazier played a distinctive sign-on at the beginning of each show and its most memorable line, that he was implored by voices to "steal away and carry a mountain of soul to Houston," is still associated with him.
After a 22-year career, Frazier retired and became a partial owner of the station. But Frazier’s career was not limited to the radio industry. He hosted a television variety show named "The Skipper Lee Show," ran an advertising business, and operated several budget motels. Frazier also had a long career in the music industry in tandem with his duties as a disk jockey.
In 1919...Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was created.
The incorporation of the assets of Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (including David Sarnoff, the Pan-American Telegraph Company, and those already controlled by the United States Navy led to a new publicly held company formed by General Electric (which owned a controlling interest) on October 17, 1919. The following cooperation among RCA, General Electric, the United Fruit Company, the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) brought about innovations in high-power radio technology, and also the founding of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in the US.
The Army and the Navy granted RCA the former American Marconi radio terminals that had been confiscated during the War. Admiral Bullard received a seat on the Board of Directors of RCA for his efforts in establishing RCA. The result was Federally-created monopolies in radio for GE and the Westinghouse Corporation and in telephone systems for the American Telephone & Telegraph Company.
The argument by the Department of War and the Department of the Navy that the usable radio frequencies were limited, and hence needed to be appropriated for use before other countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Canada monopolized them, collapsed in the mid-1920s following the discovery of the practicality of the use of the shortwave radio band (3.0 MHz through 30.0 MHz) for very long-range radio communications.
David Sarnoff 1922
The first chief executive officer of RCA was Owen D. Young; David Sarnoff became its general manager. RCA's incorporation papers required that a majority of its stock be held by American citizens. RCA agreed to market the radio equipment manufactured by GE and Westinghouse, and in follow-on agreements, RCA also acquired the radio patents that had been held by Westinghouse and the United Fruit Company. As the years went on, RCA either took over, or produced for itself, a large number of patents, including that of the superheterodyne receiver invented by Edwin Armstrong.
By 1926 the market for commercial radio had expanded, and RCA purchased the WEAF and WCAP radio stations and networks from AT&T, merged them with its WJZ (the predecessor of WABC) New York to WRC (presently WTEM) Washington chain, and formed the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).
In 1934..."The Aldrich Family" premiered on radio.
Ezra Stone, Jackie Kelk 1947
The Aldrich Family, a popular radio teenage situation comedy (1939-1953), was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' well-remembered weekly opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!", and he responded with a breaking adolescent voice, "Com-ing, Mother!"
The creation of playwright Clifford Goldsmith, Henry Aldrich began on Broadway as a minor character in Goldsmith's play What a Life. Produced and directed by George Abbott, What a Life ran for 538 performances.
When Rudy Vallee saw the play, he asked Goldsmith to adapt it into some sketches for his radio program, and this was followed in 1938 by a 39-week run of a sketch comedy series on The Kate Smith Hour with Stone continuing in the role of Henry. Kate Smith's director, Bob Welsh, is credited with the creation of the "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!" opening, which eventually became one of the most famous signature sounds in radio.
After finding an audience with Kate Smith's listeners, The Aldrich Family was launched in its own series as a summer replacement program for Jack Benny in NBC's Sunday night lineup, July 2, 1939, and it stayed there until October 1, 1939, when it moved to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m., sponsored by General Foods's popular gelatin dessert Jell-O, which also sponsored Jack Benny at the time. The Aldriches ran in that slot from October 10, 1939 until May 28, 1940, moving to Thursdays, from July 4, 1940 until July 20, 1944. After a brief hiatus, the show moved to CBS, running on Fridays from September 1, 1944 until August 30, 1946 with sponsors Grape Nuts and Jell-O before moving back to NBC from September 5, 1946 to June 28, 1951 on Thursdays and, then, as a Sustaining program in its final run of September 21, 1952 to April 19, 1953 on Sundays.
The main characters (created by Clifford Goldsmith) never age. Henry Aldrich (portrayed by Ezra Stone, Vic Jones and Bobby Ellis) is one of those types of teenagers everyone has met at sometime during life, as is his best buddy, Homer Brown (Jackie Kelk, Jack Grimes, Johnny Fieldler). More characters: Mary (Henrys sister).
The show was a top-ten ratings hit within two years of its birth (in 1941, the show carried a 33.4 Crossley rating, landing it solidly alongside Jack Benny and Bob Hope). Earning $3000 a week, Goldsmith was the highest paid writer in radio, and his show became a prototype for the teen-oriented situation comedies that followed on radio and television.
In 1938...a big day in the Hollywood radio community. NBC moved its studios to the corner of Sunset and Vine, the “Crossroads of the World”.
The new Hollywood Radio City drew thousands of visitors ready to fill studio-audience seats for NBC’s popular programs.
In 1939...the radio adventure serial Captain Midnight premiered from the studios of WGN Chicago. Within the year it was appointment listening for kids coast-to-coast, nightly on Mutual
NY Daily News 10/18/1966
In 1966...Jack Sterling does last show at WCBS 880 AM. Appreciation site: Click Here.
Jack Sterling was born in Baltimore on June 24, 1915, the son of Jack Sexton and Edna Cable. The names of Sexton and Cable were of considerable note in show business, a profession to which Jack's parents devoted forty years....It was natural then that Jack was destined to make his debut as an actor at an early age. He did, at age 2 when he appeared as Little Willie in 'East Lynne.' By the time he was 7 Jack Sterling had worked up a routine as a minstrel and played the same bill as his parents in their coast-to-coast tours. At 15 Sterling was a leading player in the John D. Winninger stock company which toured midwestern cities.
He rounded out his experience....and in 1939 settled down in Peoria, Illinois, where he joined WMBD as an announcer and producer.
One year later he moved to WTAD in Quincy, Ill., as program director and from there to CBS Radio's KMOX, St. Louis.
In 1947, after two years at KMOX, he was promoted to program manager of CBS Radio's WBBM, Chicago.
While in that post, CBS Radio sent out a call to its affiliates requesting audition records of its top local talent. Arthur Godfrey's heavy network broadcasting schedule was forcing him to give up his local WCBS Radio morning show and a replacement was needed. Sterling became active in the midwestern search for a candidate but overlooked the person who was to get the job: himself.
"I never considered myself as a candidate because I decided to devote my time to the executive phase of radio," Jack recalls.
"However, WCBS Radio asked for my audition record."
Jack's modesty was underlined by the fact that he would only make the audution record on the condition that WCBS Radio would pay the cost. The station did, and on November 5, 1948, Sterling made his debut on WCBS Radio in the early morning time formerly occupied by Godfrey.
In 1970...The Hot 100..The Jackson 5 first hit #1 with "I'll Be There", knocking Neil Diamond's "Cracklin' Rosie" out of the top spot. Sugarloaf was up from 8 to 3 with "Green-Eyed Lady" and Free edged up with "All Right Now". The Carpenters were up nicely (9-5) with "We've Only Just Begun".
The rest of the Top 10: "Candida" from Dawn, the former #1 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" from Diana Ross, the double-sided CCR hit "Lookin' Out My Back Door"/"Long As I Can See The Light" at #8, "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" from Bobby Sherman and James Taylor's first hit "Fire And Rain" moved from 17 to #10.
In 1970...The Album Charts..Cosmo's Factory by CCR continued to hold on to the #1 album spot for the ninth week. Abraxas by Santana was generating excitement and moved from 8-2. Mad Dogs & Englishmen from Joe Cocker was #3 followed by A Question of Balance from the Moody Blues. The rest of the Top 10: Third Album from the Jackson 5, the Soundtrack to "Woodstock", James Taylor moved to #7 with Sweet Baby James, After the Gold Rush from Neil Young edged up to #8, Chicago II was still going after 36 weeks and Get Yer (sic) Ya-Ya's Out! by the Rolling Stones debuted at #10.
In 1981...The Hot 100.."Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross took over at #1 after a nine-week reign by Diana Ross & Lionel Richie's "Endless Love". The Rolling Stones saw an opening and got to 3 with "Start Me Up". Sheena Easton had "For Your Eyes Only" while Eddie Rabbitt hopped up "Step By Step". The rest of the Top 10: Hall & Oates with "Private Eyes", Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers had song #7--"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", Journey were on their way down with "Who's Crying Now", Dan Fogelberg had a big hit with "Hard To Say" and the Little River Band notched their 10th hit and fifth Top 10 with "The Night Owls".
In 1987...The Album Charts..Bad, which had debuted at #1 on the Album chart for Michael Jackson, continued to set the pace for the fourth week. Whitesnake was #2 with Whitney from Whitney Houston trailing. Hysteria by Def Leppard climbed up to #4 and Pink Floyd reached the #5 position with A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
The rest of the Top 10: The "Dirty Dancing" Soundtrack, La Bamba from Los Lobos #7, John Cougar Mellencamp with The Lonesome Jubilee, U2's The Joshua Tree was #9 and Heart's Bad Animals closed out the list.
In 1991...News anchor Bree Walker Lampley filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Los Angeles radio station KFI 640 AM saying it personally attacked her by talking about her having a disformed baby.
In 2006...Newsman Christopher Glenn, WNEW 1130 AM, WCBS 880 AM, CBS RADIO, died.
Christopher Glenn
Glenn worked at various radio stations in New York, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. before joining CBS in 1971. While at CBS, Glenn worked in a variety of capacities in its news organization. He was a narrator for In the News, a long-running Emmy award-winning TV news program geared toward children and young people, which aired between the network's Saturday-morning children's shows. Glenn also appeared on camera as an anchor for the short-lived "30 Minutes", a young people's version of "60 Minutes".
He served as an anchor for two of the CBS Radio Network's signature news roundups carried by affiliates in the United States - The World Tonight (now the CBS World News Roundup Late Edition) from 1988 to 1999, and the morning CBS World News Roundup from 1999 until his retirement. Glenn's final morning broadcast occurred on February 23, 2006.
From 1982 to 1984, Glenn served as a television news anchor, on CBS News Nightwatch, which aired from 2-6 a.m. weekdays.
Glenn made his best-known report on January 28, 1986, when he anchored CBS Radio's live coverage of the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Glenn had just signed off—after what was thought to have been a normal launch—when the shuttle disintegrated, killing the seven astronauts on board. "I had to get back on the air real fast to describe that, and had a very difficult time doing that," he recalled. Glenn and correspondent Frank Mottek (now a reporter at CBS Radio Station KNX) covered the Challenger disaster from that point as a CBS NetAlert bulletin.
Glenn was among the first CBS News correspondents to use a personal computer (an Apple II). Glenn continued to play sound clips in his newscasts from carts long after most of the industry had switched to computer-based playback systems.
Glenn, who suffered from liver cancer, died suddenly on October 17, 2006 in Norwalk, Connecticut. Glenn was posthumously inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago on November 4.
In 2010...WRMR, WDOK, WQAL, WHK, WGAR) "Tall Ted" Hallaman died at the age of 83. Hallaman used humour and musical standards to attract Ohio audiences over a 50 year career. He had been pulling regular air shifts until a few weeks before his death.
