The 28th Annual National Radio Hall of Fame Induction ceremony and celebration will take place on Thursday evening, November 17 at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago.
Industry members are encouraged to submit nominations for the Class of 2016 inductees via email to nominations@radiohof.org. The last day to submit suggestions to the Nominating Committee is Friday, May 6 at midnight ET.
National Radio Hall of Fame Chairman Kraig T. Kitchin comments, “This is one of the best times in preparing for the induction ceremony because we get to see firsthand the tremendous amount of talented people who deserve recognition. It’s a proud moment for everyone involved.”
Nominations should be made for individuals in the following categories: Longstanding Local/Regional (20 years or more), Active Local/Regional (10 years or more), Networks/Syndication (10 years or more), Longstanding Network/Syndication (20 years or more), Music Format On-Air Personality, and/or Spoken Word On-Air Personality.
Best wishes go out to WOWO 1190 AM / 107.5 FM talk personality Pat Miller. He is expected to go off the air for several weeks beginning in May to undergo kidney surgery.
“Somewhere around a decade ago, we were made aware of the fact that I had what has been described as chronic kidney disease,” Miller announced March 25 on his talk show, the Pat Miller Program on WOWO Radio. “I’m to the point now that I need to have a transplant.”
Miller’s condition progressed into stage 5 chronic kidney failure where his kidney function is down to about 12 percent, he said.
His symptoms include weakness, anemia, urination changes, sleep difficulty, itchy skin, frequent nausea and muscle cramps.
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A donor stepped up to provide him a kidney.
“It is a gift that they are offering to me that I would have never asked for,” he said.
He also credited his wife as a source of strength in keeping the disease in check for as long as possible.
The transplant procedure is scheduled for May 24. Miller expects to be out for six to eight weeks.
During his time off, WOWO’s news director, Ryan Wrecker, and others will fill in on the show.
In the weeks leading up to his procedure, Miller stressed he’ll stay on point with issues the show covers and doesn’t want to bog it down with constant discussions about his disease.
In an example of life imitating art, Bradley Beach New Jersey's Oldies TV personality and producer TJ Lubinsky is taking a cue from the Harry Chapin songbook, and will be the new Friday nighttime DJ at Oldies 1079 WOLD-LP in Woodbridge, NJ and streaming live worldwide online at WOLDRADIO.com, playing New Jersey's Greatest Hits of the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s.
The show launches April 8.
Lubinsky's MY MUSIC fundraising series on public television feature historic musical reunions, interviews and archival specials including hundreds of performers from "Doo Wop 50" to Disco, Folk, Funk, Classic Motown, Rock & Roll, Big Band, Country Pop, ' 50s pop, "60s Pop, Rock and Soul with Peter Noone," "The British Beat with Petula Clark," "The Ed Sullivan specials on PBS," "Burt Bacharach's Best," "Close To You: Remembering The Carpenters," "Soul Rewind with Aretha Franklin" and many more.
"I've always adored doing specialty radio shows off and on over the years," says the 44-year old Native New Jersey on-air personality, "It's like a blend of all the good times from my years spinning these tunes at oldies clubs around the Jersey Shore, and on my public television programs. About a year-and a half-ago my father Herman Lubinsky, Jr. was facing his final fight with lung cancer - I had been doing live radio shows for many years - - but I needed to take time off from radio to spend more time with my dad. I remember playing Smokey Robinson & The Miracles "What's So Good About Good-bye" as my last record, thinking it would be a long while before I could find my way back on the radio airwaves and on-line playing "oldies" again.
WOLD-LP 107.9 FM (16-watts)
Lubinsky explains, "When I was ready to come back to radio, it had to be on a station that embraced a matching playlist similar to what I do on my public tv specials, with a heavy emphasis of the music of the mid to late 1950s from the teen idols to the great vocal groups, early and late 60s pop and soul, and rhythmic pop of the 70s and 80s - - and that's when I found the only station left that really could let me do my thing, full creative freedom to play the Big Hits, "B"-sides, album cuts, local hits and forgotten favorites spanning four decades of music Jersey loves. Plus it's going to be live for four hours every week from 8pm -12am every Friday night. On WOLD and especially on WOLDRadio.com, I can finally reach a local and national audience and have the time, free from commercial pressures, to really talk with callers about their memories and the music we love so much."
In 1932...Actor Gordon Jump, WKRP in Cincinnati's Arthur Carlson, was born. He died Sept. 22, 2003 at 71. In 1935...the first radio tube to be made of metal was produced in Schenectady, New York.
In 1936...a future superstar of “Boss Radio” The Real Don Steele was born in Hollywood as Donald Steele Revert.
Steele graduated from Hollywood High School, served in the United States Air Force and then studied at a local radio school, the Don Martin School of Broadcasting, where he also taught for a short time. Shortly thereafter, Steele began his radio career working outside of L.A. at a small station, KBUC in Corona, CA then moving on to KEPR Kennewick, KIMA Yakima and KXLY Spokane, all in Washington; KOIL Omaha, Nebraska; KISN Portland, Oregon, and KEWB San Francisco before returning to Los Angeles to help kick off what would become one of the most influential radio stations in the country, 93/KHJ, Boss Radio, in April 1965.
A poll seeking the top 10 disc jockeys in Los Angeles from 1957 to 1997 rated Steele second (behind Gary Owens) among the 232 personalities nominated.
Steele died of lung cancer on August 5, 1997, at the age of 61.
In 1951…"Paul Harvey News and Comment" debuted on the ABC Radio Network, where it continued until his death Feb. 28, 2009 at 90-years-of-age.
In 1956...Chet Huntley began his career with NBC News. Years earlier Huntley began his radio career at Seattle’s KIRO AM, later working at stations in Spokane and Portland, before landing a job at LA’s KFI in 1937. He moved to CBS Radio from 1939–51, then ABC Radio from 1951-55. After NBC successfully teamed him with David Brinkley for 1956 election coverage the duo became coanchors of the nightly Huntley-Brinkley Report. Huntley (in New York) and Brinkley (in Washington) closed each broadcast with the trademark, “Good night Chet. Good night David. And good night from NBC News.”
In 1958...WMCA debuts Top40 format. Among its deejay staff were future legends Scott Muni, Frankie Crocker, Harry Harrison and Murray "the K" Kaufman.
In the 1960s, WMCA's great competition was with rival WABC. Despite WMCA's superior ratings performance and its historic link to the Beatles, some radio historians have treated WMCA as a 1960s radio stepchild–the proverbial David going up against the Goliath that was corporate-owned, stronger-signaled WABC.
For four consecutive years (1963 through 1966) WMCA had the highest ratings share of all radio stations in New York City, according to Arbitron–in spite of its directional, 5,000-watt signal which geographically reached about one-third of the audience ratings area of non-directional, 50,000-watt WABC. WMCA's ratings strength was concentrated within New York City itself, along with the suburban areas immediately north and east. However, WABC proved more popular in outlying areas where WMCA's signal didn't come in as well on standard 1960s-era AM radio receivers. The areas where WMCA did not have a strong signal were southwest, west, and northwest of its transmitter in Kearny, New Jersey. By 1967 and 1968, WMCA still demonstrated a strong showing in total audience surveys, and as late as February 1969, Pulse ratings surveys showed that WMCA continued to best WABC in New York City.
In 1966...The radio comedy serial Chickenman debuted during the Jim Runyon Show on Top40 WCFL 1000 AM. (Exact start date is unknown, but the first episodes aired during Spring '66.)
Dick Orkin conceived and wrote the Chickenman radio series. Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1933, Orkin was 16 when he began his radio career as a fill-in announcer at WKOK 1070 AM in Sunbury.
After college he attended the Yale School of Drama, then returned to Pennsylvania to become the news director at WLAN 1390 Lancaster in 1959. Later he joined the staff of KYW 1200 AM in Cleveland.
In 1967 Orkin moved to WCFL and created Chickenman, which chronicled the exploits of a crime-fighting “white-winged warrior” and his secret identity as mildmannered shoe salesman Benton Harbor. Chickenman’s 250-plus episodes have been syndicated around the world and can still be heard on Internet radio, making it the longest-running radio serial of all time. At WCFL Orkin also produced more than 300 episodes of another popular serial, The Secret Adventures of the Tooth Fairy.
Inspired by the commercial parodies on Stan Freberg and Bob & Ray’s radio shows, Orkin created the Famous Radio Ranch in 1973 to produce his own comedic radio spots. Stationed in California since ’78, the Radio Ranch, currently helmed by Orkin and his daughter Lisa, has produced hundreds of memorable ads for a variety of clients, ranging from Time magazine to First American Bank to the Gap, and garnered more than 200 awards in the process. Dick Orkin was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2014.
Here are two espisodes to enjoy.
In 1971...In anticipation of April Fool's Day, Super CFL Chicago published a special edition of its music survey. If you're of a certain age, you'll appreciate the humor.
In 1974...WWDJ switched from Top40 to religious.
WJRZ 970 AM had been sold to Pacific and Southern Broadcasting (which merged with Combined Communications Corporation in 1974) on January 6, 1971. The call letters were changed on May 16 of that year to WWDJ (known on the air as "97-DJ"), and the station attempted to take on WABC and replace WMCA as the New York market's second Top 40 outlet.
The station was hampered by a directional signal that covered Manhattan and parts of New Jersey well but suffered in the rest of the Five Boroughs and was virtually nonexistent on Long Island and western New Jersey. Eventually, FM competition from WCBS-FM and adult top 40 station WXLO (now WEPN-FM), and an evolution to adult Top 40 by WNBC (now WFAN), began to eat into WWDJ's ratings. In November 1973 it was ranked 15th in the Arbitron ratings.
By 1974, the station was losing money and unable to sell enough advertising, and the studios had been moved to the transmitter site. As a result, WWDJ dropped the top 40 format on April 1, 1974, and switched to a religious format. Because the change took place on April Fool's Day, many listeners thought the switch was some sort of joke. Initially, WWDJ sold two-thirds of its daily airtime to outside ministries and played traditional Christian music the rest of the time, with the exception of a few hours on Saturdays devoted to a then-new genre, contemporary Christian music. Prior to Combined Communications' merger into the Gannett Company in 1979, WWDJ was sold to Communicom Corporation of America in April 1978.
Today 970 is owned by Salem Media and airs talk programming as WNYM. From 1986...FLASHBACK to the April 4 Edition of Radio&Records
Fall '85 Arbitron Ratings
In 1988...the man who played the Radio character, "Fibber McGee", Jim Jordan, died at age 91.
''Fibber McGee and Molly'' was on the air on the NBC radio network from 1935 to 1957. For seven years, it was the top-rated show in the country. Among the show's familiar routines was McGee's overstuffed closet, the contents of which tumbled out on him whenever he opened the door.
The McGees' home at, Wistful Vista, became a place on the American cultural road map, and Molly's gentle rejoinder to her husband - ''Tain't funny, McGee'' - became a national catch phrase.
In 1996...the Howard Stern Radio program debuted on WBCN-FM, Boston, Massachusetts.
In 2007…Radio play-by-play baseball broadcaster Herb Carneal, voice of the Minnesota Twins for 44 years after four years with the Baltimore Orioles, died of congestive heart failure at age 83. In the 1960s, he also called NFL football games for NBC and the Minnesota Vikings.
Just over two weeks after CEO Leslie Moonves’ bombshell announcement that CBS Corp. is evaluating options for its radio group, the company says splitting CBS Radio off through an initial public offering is the principal path being considered. CBS Radio president Andre Fernandez made the disclosure in a memo to employees Wednesday.
InsideRadio reports Moonves met with Fernandez during a staff meeting Wednesday.
“First, the primary course of action CBS Corporation is pursuing is to split CBS Radio off via an IPO,” Fernandez said in the memo, obtained by Inside Radio. Among the benefits cited for being its own publicly traded company would be the opportunity to define its own operating strategy.
Andre Fernandez
“As a standalone company, we would most likely have a significantly greater focus on investing in ourselves and the future of the business,” Fernandez said.
Should it separate from the mothership and become its own enterprise, it would do so with what he called “a decided advantage in the industry” due to the strength its local radio stations and solid financial footing. “Both factors would play a pivotal role in how we are able to grow value for shareholders and our employees in the short- and long-term,” Fernandez said. “While life as an independent company might be different, we would still be a collection of the most iconic brands in all of media.”
Analysts have also cited splitting CBS Radio off into a separate company as a convenient way to keep all of the revenue, cost and bargaining synergies intact without incurring major tax liabilities.
But CBS isn’t ruling out a sale. “Of course, there are also other paths being explored for CBS Radio, including the possibility of becoming part of another company,” Fernandez admitted. That possibility, coupled with general uncertainty, is likely causing a fair amount of employee angst and Fernandez included a rally-the-troops message in his memo.
Cumulus Media announces that Bay Area Radio Hall of Famer Ronn Owens, KGO 810 AM talk host for 40 years, will move to sister station KSFO 560 AM, where he will host Afternoon Drive from 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m., starting Monday, April 4, 2016. Owens moves from the 9:00 a.m.-12:00 Noon shift on KGO 810.
He announced his new radio station home on KGO 810 this morning.
KSFO Program Director Mike Anthony said: “With Ronn Owens taking over afternoons from 3p-6p, KSFO is now live and local in both drive times. This is also a great opportunity for a whole new audience to hear the brilliance that has made Ronn a legend in San Francisco radio. We couldn’t be more excited to have Ronn driving afternoons on 560 KSFO.”
Owens said: “What a unique opportunity to keep doing what I’ve been doing for the past 40 years, in the place I love doing it , the Bay area… and I’m just a couple of clicks down the dial”.
KSFO 560 AM (5 Kw, DA-N)
Owens has had the top-rated program with KGO 810 for 40 years. In that time, he has had thousands of guests in the hot seat, including President Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Steve Martin, Condoleezza Rice, Benjamin Netanyahu, John McCain, Eliot Spitzer, Joe Montana, Tony Bennett, former President Jimmy Carter, Willie Mays, U.S. Secretaries of State, CIA Directors and community leaders. As a versatile talk host and author, Owens covers topics from politics to pop culture, and his show has been called the “ultimate town hall meeting.” He has long been the voice of reason in the Bay Area, balancing issues so that listeners can make up their own minds.
Owens has won numerous awards and was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in December 2007. The National Association of Broadcasters presented him with the prestigious Marconi Award for Major Market Personality of the Year Award in 2003 and again in 2010. Talkers Magazine named Owens one of the Top 25 Greatest Radio Talk Show Hosts of All Time, ranking him 13th and the top local personality in the country. His first book, Voice of Reason: Why the Left and Right are Wrong, was published in 2004.
StreetTalk has it that iHeartMedia's talk duo Armstrong & Getty are headed to KGO. The station is now airing 'Next Generation of KGO' teases. (Expect to hear more about it early next week). If so, does that mean A&G are exiting iHM and their regionally syndicated show? No word from iHM but...
iHeartMedia's Talk KKSF 910 AM has announced that syndicated Stephanie Miller is moving into A&Gs 6a-10a timeslot.
UPDATE 3/31/16 3:45 PM Justin Wittmayer, VP/MM for Cumulus/San Francisco sent a memo to remaining staff:
Team,
Today, we have set in motion new programming strategies for both KGO and KFOG that will help us better meet the needs and demands of our listeners, advertisers and community. Our goal is to reposition these two stations for future growth and strength through new and enhanced programming, and new additions to the KGO and KFOG teams, including programming veteran Bryan Schock, whom we announced this morning as the new OM/PD of KFOG and KSAN. We believe the new programming direction will put KGO and KFOG on the best paths to growth and success.
Unfortunately, to achieve that goal, we had the difficult but necessary task today of restructuring our KGO and KFOG station staffs to allow us to meet the new needs of these two stations as we invest in new programming that is redefined, refocused and of the highest quality. Today, we informed the affected employees about these changes, which included the elimination of a number of full-time and part-time positions across these two stations, primarily in the news department at KGO and in key dayparts at KFOG. I want to thank those professionals who are leaving us for their contributions and service to KGO and KFOG, and wish them only the best as they continue on in their careers.
I want to thank the remainder of our team for working with us through this transition and in the coming weeks and months, as the new KGO and KFOG take shape. Together, we will build these newly imagined stations into strong and vibrant brands that our listeners and advertisers will love.
I will be sharing with you more specific details on these programming shifts and additions in the next few days and weeks. In the meantime, please reach out to me directly with any questions.jw
Justin WittmayerVice President - Market ManagerKFOG/KGO/KNBR/KSAN/KSFO/KTCT
Cumulus Media announces that it has appointed seasoned radio programming professional Bryan Schock as Operations Manager/Program Director of Rock KSAN 107.7 FM The Bone and Classic Rock KFOG 104.5 FM in San Francisco, effective April 4, 2016.
Schock has programmed successful radio stations for the past two decades, serving as Program Director for high-performing stations including: 101.5 KGB-FM (Classic Rock), San Diego; XTRA-FM 91X (Alternative), San Diego; 105.5 KJAC (Jack-FM/Adult Hits), Denver; and KNRX 92X, Denver .
Schock’s 33-year radio career also includes programming and on-air positions at stations including: WRXP-FM, New York; KNAC-FM, Los Angeles; WLZR-FM, Milwaukee; WHVY-FM, Baltimore; and KCUV-FM, Denver.
Justin Wittmayer, Vice President/Market Manager for Cumulus Media-San Francisco said: “Bryan’s vision and passion for KFOG and KSAN are unrivaled. This is a transformational time for KFOG. We are confident that his plans will exceed the expectations of both of our audiences.”
Schock said: "I grew up in California and I LOVE rock music... talk about landing the perfect gig! I can't wait to take KFOG to new heights in the Triple A world while keeping a hand in my rockin' roots with The Bone (KSAN). Big thanks go out to Justin Wittmayer, Troy Hanson, Dave Milner and Mike McVay. This is a dream job and I can’t wait to get started."
Cumulus Media announces that popular radio personality Jay Dillon (also known professionally as Jay Michaels) debuted this week as on-air host for Afternoon Drive on WFMS 95.5 FM.
Dillon’s new show hit Indianapolis airwaves on Monday, March 28, and airs weekdays from 2:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. on WFMS 95.5.
Dillon joins WFMS 95.5 from Federated Media, where he was Program Director for Willie 103.5 (WAWC-FM) in Warsaw, IN.
Stephen Giuttari, WFMS-FM Program Director and Operations Manager, Cumulus-Indianapolis said: “Jay's hire marks another step forward in our moving closer to our goal of returning WFMS to the top of the INDY Market as the #1 radio brand. Jay's a Hoosier through and through and brings a wealth of experience in many areas here to our team in INDY. I'd like to thank Dave Crowl, Mike McVay, Doug Hamand and Tom Stemlar for providing us with the resources necessary to achieve our major goal here.”
WFMS 95.5 FM (13 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
Dillon said: "I am excited to join the legendary WFMS here in the great city of Indianapolis."
Alpha Media Portland, OR has announced that Lauren Sessions will be doing nights on KBFF Live 95.5 FM starting April 25, 2016.
Lauren Sessions started her radio career on the RatBoy & StayPuff show at WFLZ 93.3 FM in Tampa Bay. She later graduated to individual on-air shifts for the station from 2012-2015. Prior to joining Alpha Media she served as the Mid-Day talent for WVAQ 102 FM in Morgantown, WV since Feb of 2015.
Alpha Media VP of Programming, Phil Becker commented on the announcement, “With Lauren joining the all star talent line up of Live 95.5, she is proof that talent pool has not dried up. We look forward to flannelizing her wardrobe.”
“I am beyond humbled and thrilled to begin a new chapter in my radio journey with Live 95.5 and the Alpha Media team! I’m looking forward to learning and growing with some of the best radio minds in the business. I’m also excited to embrace my ‘weirdness’ as I take on Portland,” remarked Lauren.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Donald Trump's campaign sought on Thursday to contain the fallout from his comments on punishing women for having an abortion, characterizing the flap as a "simple misspeak" as his White House rivals pounced on the controversy.
The billionaire businessman rowed back rapidly on Wednesday from his statement that women should be punished for having abortions if the procedure is banned in the United States. The comments triggered a flood of rebukes from both sides of the abortion debate, and his campaign tried to address the repercussions.
Katrina Pierson
"You have a presidential candidate that clarified the record not once but twice," Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson told CNN, describing the initial comments as a "simple misspeak." She described Trump as "pro-life with exceptions" and pointed to Trump’s two statements that followed the MSNBC interview as an accurate depiction of his views.
“We shouldn't make this a 24-hour headline when we have things like terrorism going on in the world,” she said.
Trump, leading in the race to win the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, pulled back from his initial comments within an hour, first issuing a statement that U.S. states should handle abortion issues and later saying doctors who perform abortions are the ones who should be held responsible.
Trump's latest controversy threatened to further erode his standing with women voters, many of whom have been offended by his use of vulgarities and insulting language to describe women during the presidential race.
The abortion flap erupted as Trump campaigned in Wisconsin ahead of the state's critical primary on Tuesday. An opinion poll released on Wednesday showed Trump's top rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, has moved ahead of him by 10 percentage points in Wisconsin.
Trump visited Washington on Thursday for a private meeting hosted by his top backer in the capital, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Critics have questioned Trump's suitability to be commander in chief after a series of controversial foreign policy statements.
In recent interviews, Trump has declared NATO obsolete, said Saudi Arabia is too dependent on the United States and said Japan and South Korea may need to develop their own nuclear programs because the U.S. security umbrella is too costly to maintain.
In the same MSNBC town hall where he made the abortion comments, Trump refused to rule out the potential use of nuclear weapons in Europe or the Middle East to combat Islamic State militants. "I would never take any of my cards off the table," he said.
Many establishment Republicans have labored to block Trump from the Republican presidential nomination at the July convention in Cleveland, worried that he will lead the party to a broad and overwhelming defeat in November.
Trump's Republican rivals said his abortion comments were just the latest in a series of controversies that raise questions about his suitability for the White House.
"It just shows that he's really not prepared to be president of the United States," Ohio Governor John Kasich told reporters at a New York news conference arranged so that he could address the controversy.
Kasich said the president should not be constantly rowing back on a series of "wild-eyed suggestions."
"I have to tell you that as commander in chief and leader of the free world, you don't get do-overs. You need to be able to get it right the first time," Kasich said.
Opposition to abortion, which was legalized in a Supreme Court ruling more than 40 years ago, is a central plank in the platform of most conservative politicians. But conservatives have questioned whether Trump, who once supported access to abortions, is sincerely committed to his anti-abortion stance.
Cruz said on Wednesday that Trump had clearly not thought through the issue and later called his comments "unfortunate" and "wrong."
The Associated Press news agency entered a formal cooperation with the Hitler regime in the 1930s, supplying American newspapers with material directly produced and selected by the Nazi propaganda ministry, archive material unearthed by a German historian has revealed. (The Guardian)
The research by Harriet Scharnberg, of Martin Luther University, argued that The AP was complicit in allowing the Nazis to “portray a war of extermination as a conventional war.” The AP said Scharnberg’s research addressed a German photo agency subsidiary of A.P. Britain. The photographer, Franz Roth, was part of the S.S. propaganda division whose photographs were personally chosen by Adolf Hitler. (NYT)
AdWeek-The Morning Newsfeed report the AP responded to The Guardian with the following statement: "As we continue to research this matter, AP rejects any notion that it deliberately ‘collaborated’ with the Nazi regime. An accurate characterization is that the AP and other foreign news organizations were subjected to intense pressure from the Nazi regime from the year of Hitler’s coming to power in 1932 until the AP’s expulsion from Germany in 1941. AP management resisted the pressure while working to gather accurate, vital and objective news in a dark and dangerous time." (Mediaite)
Nielsen Audio has fired back at Telos, after claiming last week that its Voltair unit promises a significant increase in ratings for broadcaster. (Click Here for the M-C Posting.)
According to an article by Nielsen's Chief Engineer and Brad Kelly, manager director for Nielsen Audio, “Radio’s AQH audience has grown by double digits in PPM markets among persons aged 6 and older” and characterized the year-to-year growth as “a reflection of a significant improvement in our PPM measurement system,”
Nielsen noted that field testing found an average increase of “about 15% in AQH audience” compared with the prior version of CBET among those stations tested, and added testing found that enhanced CBET improved detection for radio stations in all formats — with significant improvement reported in spoken-word format AQH ratings
Nielsen's patented technology for embedding audio content is called critical band encoding technology, or CBET. Broadcasters embed their audio content with these CBET codes, and the PPM devices passively detect each panelist’s exposure to encoded content.
In the last year, Nielsen has worked with the industry to update the definition of listening, as part of its continuous improvement program. According to the company, the goals were to bring audio’s metrics in line with other media and better reflect a more complex consumer environment featuring greater exposure to a variety of media, as well as more simultaneous usage. The outcome was a significant enhancement to CBET, which we introduced in the fourth quarter of last year.
“We’ve found that enhanced CBET makes the PPM codes stronger and more robust, which improves code detection in challenging acoustic environments such as low volume and/or high background noise conditions,” said Ramaswamy. “Enhanced CBET was thoroughly tested in the lab and the field before it was deployed, and we received extensive feedback from a team of technical experts from various radio groups. We continue to work closely with our clients to implement this technology.”
Since the roll out began in November 2015, nearly 3,000 U.S. stations have upgraded to enhanced CBET. This represents three-quarters of our subscribers and about 80% of the minutes measured by PPM.
Now that most stations have enhanced CBET, we’re seeing the results in the real world. The 13% year-over-year gain in listening among persons aged 6 and older closely parallels the increases we saw in the field tests. But double-digit growths among hard-to-reach Millennials (aged 18-34) and the key buying demographic of people 25-54 are especially impressive.
Average Quarter Hour Persons Increase – 2015 vs 2016
These effects were also felt across the industry—each of the major format categories gained compared to last year. Spanish Language, Urban, Spoken Word, Adult Contemporary (AC) and Classic Hits/Oldies formats each had increases that exceeded the overall average.
“All of these impressive metrics are testaments to the strength and value of the audio medium,” said Brad Kelly. “We are pleased to find new ways to help the industry monetize its valuable audience and identify emerging opportunities.”
Pandora Media Inc. may sell KXMZ 102.7 FM, the Rapid City, South Dakota radio station it bought last year to get lower music royalty rates, the online radio provider said in a U.S. regulatory filing.
Bloomberg reports online radio provider Pandora told the Federal Communications Commission in a document dated Monday that it’s reevaluating whether to remain a broadcaster.
The company asked if it could delay a shareholder vote on organizational changes associated with becoming a broadcaster.
Pandora on March 28 said co-founder Tim Westergren became chief executive officer more than a decade after he last ran the world’s largest online radio service, replacing Brian McAndrews.
Pandora is struggling to fight off competitors Spotify Ltd. and Apple Inc. and reverse a stock slump. It has been working with Morgan Stanley to assess strategic options, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
Pandora’s focus remains on “growing our relationships with the music industry,” spokesman Taylor Bennett said in an e-mailed statement.
Greater Media, Inc. (GMI) will be celebrating its 60th Anniversary in Broadcasting on Thursday, March 31, 2016.
Owned by the Bordes family, the company was originally founded in 1956 by Yale classmates Peter A. Bordes and Joseph Rosenmiller. Greater Media, Inc. is considered to be one of the premiere privately-held broadcast companies in America. GMI’s corporate headquarters are located in Braintree, Massachusetts.
Peter Smyth
From the ownership of a single radio station in Southbridge, Massachusetts, Greater Media steadily and quietly built a broad-based combination of successful communications companies, spanning America from coast to coast.
By the 1980′s, Greater Media’s business included radio, cable television, printing, publishing, and telecommunications operations. In 1999, the company sold its cable business in order to focus more exclusively on its radio and newspaper operations.
Today, Greater Media is the parent company of 21 AM and FM radio stations in Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia and New Jersey; a group of weekly newspapers in central New Jersey; and several telecommunications towers throughout the United States.
“I am very proud of the achievements of our company over the past 60 years,” said Greater Media Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter H. Smyth. “Greater Media is the culmination of Peter Bordes’ life’s work. I am grateful to our incredible employees for their continued dedication in making Greater Media greater on a daily basis over the past six decades. “
Weeks after he refused to testify in Hulk Hogan's invasion of privacy trial, radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem took the witness stand Tuesday in a trial that has its roots in derogatory comments he made on his show in 2008.
Back then, in the middle of a radio ratings war with rival DJ Todd "MJ" Schnitt, Clem insulted Schnitt's wife and wished his competitor dead.
"I will not be happy until I have an MJ funeral in the streets in Tampa, Florida," he said.
The Tampa Bay Times reports the Schnitts sued him for defamation, ultimately losing at trial in 2013, but not before they racked up a nearly $2 million legal bill with their attorneys at the Tampa firm of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick. When the couple paid only half of what they owed, the law firm sued them for the remainder. The Schnitts responded with a lawsuit of their own, asserting legal malpractice and arguing that the firm should return the money they had already paid.
Now in its third week, the trial is expected to conclude this week.
C. Philip Campbell
Perched on the witness stand Tuesday, Clem directed his scorn not at the Schnitts, but at their former attorney C. Philip Campbell, a man he called "bad," "unethical" and "dirty."
Campbell had represented the Schnitts in their unsuccessful case against Clem.
Taking aim at Campbell, who had been hired by Clear Channel to represent Clem in several cases in the early 2000s, Clem suggested the lawyer was a traitor for agreeing to represent his radio rival Schnitt.
Although a Hillsborough County judge and the Florida Bar reviewed the arrangement and found nothing wrong with it, Clem continued to sound wounded.
Stepping back briefly to reflect on his unusual role in the current trial, Clem marveled at his transition from the Schnitts' enemy to their witness.
"I was the bad guy for the longest time," he said. "Now I'm the pingpong in the middle. I just find that sort of comical."
