NBA Mavs Owner Mark Cuban Revokes Credentials for ESPN Reporters

Mark Cuban

Owner Mark Cuban has revoked Dallas Mavericks media credentials from ESPN.com reporters Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon this season.

According to The Star-Telegram, The media blackout also extends to all ESPN.com reporters wishing to cover Mavericks' games at American Airlines Center this season. The Mavericks are aired locally on ESPN Radio KESN 103.3 FM. ESPN is also a national broadcast partner with the NBA.

Cuban declined to discuss in detail the reasons behind the decision not to allow the two longtime Dallas-based reporters access to American Airlines Center during Mavericks’ games. The decision went into effect with Friday’s game against Portland, the second home game of the season.

“They’re not banned from the building,” Cuban said Sunday night. “They can still buy a ticket.”

Stein and MacMahon have covered the Mavericks, and the NBA, for years at ESPN.com and previously at the Dallas Morning News. The NBA league office is aware of the issue.

“We are in communication with both ESPN and Mark Cuban about this matter,” NBA spokesman Michael Bass said via email.

ESPN also issued a statement.

“We’re committed to thoroughly covering the Mavs and the NBA,” ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said via email.

The Associated Press is reporting Cuban says his decision to revoke the credentials of two ESPN writers who cover his team was driven partly by concern that automated game reports could eventually replace human-generated content.

Cuban said Monday that he banned Stein and MacMahon to bring attention to the issue of companies using automation in sports coverage.

The Associated Press, in a partnership with Automated Insights, produces automated stories on minor league baseball but does not use the technology for most of its sports coverage. The AP has at least one reporter at all games in the four major professional sports and most major college football and basketball games.

Jeezy Edges Kenny Chesney On Album 200 Chart

(Reuters) -- American rapper Jeezy edged past country veteran Kenny Chesney to take the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart on Monday with his new release "Trap or Die 3."

According to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, Jeezy's album sold some 89,000 copies in its first week, less than 1,000 more than Chesney's "Cosmic Hallelujah" at 88,000.

In a closely fought race for the top spot, rapper Meek Mill's "DC4" landed at No. 3 in its debut week, with 87,000 copies.

The Billboard 200 album chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

The new releases pushed Lady Gaga's "Joanne" off last week's top spot and back into 5th place.

In the digital songs chart, which measures online single sales, The Chainsmokers' catchy pop single "Closer," featuring Halsey, continued its hold at No. 1 for a 13th non-consecutive week, selling 71,000 copies.

Cleveland Radio: Sports Talker JG Spooner Pleads Guilty

 J G Spooner

 A former Cleveland sports radio producer and on-air personality pleaded guilty Monday to stealing more than $7,000 from a fundraiser he started for a woman suffering from cystic fibrosis.

Joseph Spooner, known to listeners of WKRK 92.3 FM The Fan as "J.G. Spooner," pleaded guilty to money laundering and petty theft. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Brian Corrigan will sentence Spooner Dec. 6.

According to cleveland.com, Spooner was fired by the radio station after he was charged in the case.

Spooner set up the GoFundMe account in February 2015 for Allyson Thadeus-Zappe, a childhood friend who was battling cystic fibrosis. He funneled every donation made to the campaign into his own bank account, according to police reports. He contacted Thadeus-Zappe's family and offered to use his status as a local celebrity to help them.

The family agreed, and Spooner launched the campaign in his name and raised about $7,300. Thadeus-Zappe died in July 2015.

The family waited several months for Spooner to transfer the money to an account they established, but it never came.The family confronted Spooner several times, and each time he denied that he had the money, police said.

Spooner said GoFundMe still had control of the donations. He also offered other excuses, including a busy work schedule and technical problems with his phone and email, according to Broadview Heights police.

Spooner became increasingly uncooperative and avoided the family's calls and emails.

Broadview Heights detectives contacted GoFundMe as part of their investigation and found that Spooner was banned from the site over a fraud complaint.

NYC Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM Hosts "The Great Sports Debate"

Michael Kay, Peter Rosenberg and Don La Greca during ESPN New York 98.7FM’s The Great Sports Debate (Jeff Skopin/ESPN)

Monday night, WEPN ESPN New York 98.7 FM’s The Michael Kay Show hosted its first-ever The Great Sports Debate at Fordham University in New York.

Michael Kay -- a Fordham alum -- and Don La Greca, the longtime co-hosts of The Michael Kay Show, faced each other in a battle of wits about the hottest topics in sports, with Kay Show co-host Peter Rosenberg as the moderator. Celebrity judges including Rick DiPietro, Chris Canty and Bill Daughtry from Hahn & Humpty decided on the eventual champion, Kay.

The day's judges (l to r): WFUV's Drew Casey, 98.7 FM's Bill Daughtry, former Islander and 98.7FM host Rick DiPietro, Super Bowl champ and former Giant Chris Canty.(Jeff Skopin/ESPN)

The special was also simulcast on the YES Network.

Paul Harvey Museum Opens In Branson

Paul Harvey

A Branson, MO museum space devoted to the life and family of iconic radio broadcaster Paul Harvey opened Friday.

The World's Largest Toy Museum Complex now has a "multi-room" exhibit devoted to Harvey, known for a down-home style of delivery and for peppering his broadcasts with expressions like "Good heavens!"

Harvey's shows including "The Rest of the Story" once reached more than 20 million listeners per day via 1,100 ABC radio stations plus 400 more in the Armed Forces Radio Network. The heyday of Harvey's career began in the 1950s, and he continued broadcasting until shortly before his death in 2009.

Harvey's son, Paul Harvey Jr., told the Sprinfield, MO News-Leader that the new museum at 3609 W. Highway 76 is "really the first time ever that my family's story has been told in detail, anywhere in the world."

"My parents never told their story when they were around," he said, referring to his father and his mother, radio producer Lynne "Angel" Harvey, who died in 2008.

"They were always very outward-looking and modest people," Harvey Jr. said.
Harvey Jr. said the new museum would include a number of Harvey-related artifacts, not just things related to his father's career, which began in 1933 at KVOO-AM in Tulsa.

The museum also completely recreated the nursery where Harvey Jr. spent his infancy in Chicago, the city where his parents got their big breaks in the radio business.

Harvey Jr., who did a lot of writing and research for his father's broadcasts, said he visited Branson for several days last week to set up the Paul Harvey museum.

November 8 Radio History

In 1939...WQXR FM NYC signed-on as W2XQR.

WQXR-FM is the outgrowth of a "high-fidelity" AM station, WQXR 1560 AM, which was founded in 1936 by John V. L. Hogan and Elliott Sanger. Hogan began this station as a mechanical television station, W2XR, which went on the air on March 26, 1929.

The radio station broadcast mainly classical music recordings. One of the station's listeners was the inventor of frequency modulation, Edwin Howard Armstrong. When Armstrong put his experimental FM station, W2XMN, on the air, he arranged to rebroadcast some of WQXR's programming. This ended in 1939, when Hogan and Sanger put their own experimental FM station on the air, W2XQR on this date, just down the dial from Armstrong at 42.3 MHz.

When the Federal Communications Commission began licensing commercial FM stations, W2XQR moved to 45.9 MHz and became W59NY; the special FM call signs were later dropped and the station became WQXQ.


In 1953...Buddy Holly's Sunday radio show (featuring the singer as part of a country duo called "Buddy and Bob") premieres on Lubbock, TX's KDAV.

In 2012....WXRK NYC changes call letters to WNOW-FM. The calls today are WBMP.

The station, first known as WMCA-FM, went on the air on December 25, 1948. It was co-owned with WMCA 570 AM by former New York state senator Nathan Straus. FM radio was not a successful venture for Straus, and he sought to either sell it or close the station down altogether.

Today WBMP-FM

In late 1950, Straus sold the station to the owners of WHOM 1480 AM, now WZRC, and WHOM-FM appeared on February 26, 1951, featuring a variety of formats, including ethnic, background music, classical, Spanish, and easy listening. By the early 1970s, WHOM-FM had a Spanish-language easy listening format.

Following the sale of the WHOM stations to SJR Communications, the FM station became WKTU, taking on an adult contemporary format that began on June 5, 1975. At that point, WKTU was positioned as a "soft rock" station and called "Mellow 92". Ratings were relatively low. The station held on to the format in spite of low ratings until 1978.

That June, when a station executive, David Rapaport (father of actor Michael Rapaport), visited New York's Studio 54 discothèque on half a dozen occasions, and was very impressed with the crowds there. He then got the idea that a disco-based station was needed, as several FM-based Top 40 stations were leaning disco in other markets.

As a result, Rapaport purchased 200 disco records and brought them into the station. Keeping the same airstaff, adding Paco from their Spanish-language AM station WHOM, and with no notice, the station abruptly flipped to a disco-based rhythmic top 40 format with the tagline "Disco 92" at 6 p.m. on July 24, 1978.

In fall 1978, the station rose from "Worst to First", unseating WABC in the 18−30 age demographic.

Chattanooga Radio: iHM Names Justin Cole SVP/Programming

Justin Cole

iHeartMedia announced today that Justin Cole has been named Senior Vice President of Programming for Chattanooga, effective immediately.

iHeartMedia Chattanooga has a strong cross-platform presence and includes a number of iconic brands and franchises — both broadcast and digital — including Country WUSY US101 FM, WKXJ 103.7 KISS FM, Rock WRXR 105.5 FM and more – and produces legendary marquee events including Heart Strings for Hope, Concert 4 A Cause, and Christmas for Kids to name a few.

iHeartMedia has massive consumer reach and influence across multiple platforms and delivers more live programming than any other media company. Cole will work with radio station personalities and program directors to oversee on-air content and music programming for all five stations in the Chattanooga market, including day-to-day Program Director duties for US101.

“As a kid, I told my family I would be a part of WUSY one day, and now that is a reality. I am honored to accept the Senior Vice President of Programming position in Chattanooga,” said Cole. “I look forward to working with the amazing team there to build on WUSY, one of the most legendary brands in Country radio, and to grow the iHeartMedia radio station brands in the market.”

Cole previously served as the Director of Country Programming for Premiere Radio Networks in Nashville; he will continue to work with select programming like CMT After MidNite. Prior to that, he worked in programming and on-air positions in Asheville, Charlotte and Baltimore where he was the Program Director of WPOC.

WUSY 100.7 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

“We are thrilled to have Justin on the team and look forward to the next chapter for the market,” said Becky Sweeney, Market President for iHeartMedia Chattanooga. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our iHeartMedia Chattanooga team.”

Also today, iHeartMedia announced:

Chris Peterson has been named Senior Vice President/Podcasting for iHeartRadio. In addition, Beth Murphy joins iHeartRadio as the Senior Vice President/Marketing.

Peterson will oversee iHeartRadio’s overall podcast strategy and grow its profile in the podcast community. He will guide content partnerships, advise the product team on its podcast roadmap, and work with sales to monetize podcast efforts.

Murphy joined iHeartRadio to manage brand messaging and the user lifecycle process, as well as optimize user acquisition and retention. She works closely with iHeartRadio’s Chris Williams, Chief Product Officer and Adam Denenberg, Chief Technology Officer to oversee iHeartRadio’s overall streaming music and live digital radio strategy.

Beasley Names Dan Finn SVP/MM For New Jersey

Dan Finn

Following the recent acquisition of Greater Media Inc., Beasley Media Group, Inc. a subsidiary of Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. has announced the company will retain Greater Media’s former Senior Vice President and Regional General Manager, Daniel A. Finn.

Finn’s new title is Senior Vice President and Market Manager for the Beasley Media Group’s newly-acquired New Jersey cluster.

“It’s an honor and privilege to now be a part of the Beasley team,” said Dan. “My staff and I are excited to continue working with these heritage properties for such a legendary broadcasting company.”

Dan Finn held his Senior Vice President position at Greater Media since 2007. His joined Greater Media, Inc. in 2001, starting as Vice President & Regional General Manager, after Greater Media purchased New Jersey Broadcasting, Inc., where Dan had served as President & Chief Operating Officer. Dan has held several positions on the board of directors of the New Jersey Broadcasters Association (NJBA), including his role as treasurer, before being unanimously elected chairman of the organization several times.

Dan is a past member of the board of directors of the New Jersey Ad Club, and he is a founding Advisory Board Member, at the School of Business at City University of New York (CSI). Dan was named to the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB)’s Sales Advisory Committee (SAC) in 2014. In 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016, Dan was featured in Radio Ink’s annual “Best Managers in Radio” editions. In June, 2015, Dan was inducted into the New Jersey Broadcasters Hall of Fame, in Atlantic City.

“It was an extremely easy decision to bring Dan Finn into the Beasley Media Group family!” noted President Bruce Beasley. “We are confident our New Jersey market is in good hands. Dan is knows exactly what he is doing. His credentials, radio reputation and natural talent will assure our success in New Jersey!”

Jim Kennedy Keeps Cox Empire Going Strong

By Chris Taylor

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vast family fortunes may be rare, but here is something even rarer: Family fortunes that last.

Whether due to spoiled heirs or investment blunders, the money is usually gone within a generation or two.

Not so with Cox Enterprises, the media giant chaired by Jim Kennedy, grandson of founder and former Ohio governor James Cox.

Founded in 1898, the firm - with tentacles in TV and cable, radio, broadband and newspapers - ranks #16 among America's largest private companies, and Kennedy is the nation's 42nd richest person, according to Forbes magazine. (Fun fact: His sister, Blair Parry-Okeden, is one of the richest women in Australia.)

Kennedy, 68, sat down with Reuters for our series "Life Lessons," to chat about what he has learned from a lifetime in the family business.

Q: Your granddad was an impressive guy and founded the company, but died back in 1957 - did he have the chance to pass along any lessons to you?

A: Hard work pays off. He was only 28 when he started our company. Before that, he was a farmer and a teacher. He was a hard worker who gave 110 percent to every endeavor. He was never complacent, and was always thinking about what was next.

He was committed to his employees and the communities his company served. He was so committed that he asked his descendants to take care of them in his will.

Q: Who else was a major influence on you?

A: My mom. She was a fierce competitor, but she didn't like show-offs. She taught me that everyone is equal, and you work hard for what you get in life. She also instilled in me the value of helping others. It is the right thing to do. These are life lessons that are still part of who I am today.

Q: Most family fortunes go away after a couple of generations - why is that, and how have you managed to avoid that trend?

A: It can't just be about the money. It also has to be about doing good and being a contributor to society. We are extremely proud of our company's products and services, but we're even more proud of programs like the Cox Employee Relief Fund and Cox Conserves. These let us help employees in need, and lessen our impact on the environment. Our family rallies behind this because we want to leave the company and the world in a better place than we found it. Doing something good creates solidarity.

Q: Who do you hold up as a role model in life and business?

A: Ambassador Andrew Young said something to me many years ago, and it has really stuck with me. Businesses can feed more hungry, clothe more naked and cure more sick people than government ever can. Businesses move the world. He is a diplomat, but deep down, he has always been a pastor. He cares about people and that has given him a successful life.

Q: You support a number of philanthropic causes - how do you figure out where your dollars can have the most impact?

A: Rather than trying to support everything, find something that resonates with you personally and that you are passionate about. Three causes that are particularly important to me are education, healthcare and sustainability.

Q: Any money mistakes you made along the way, that you would like to have back?

A: If you have not made a mistake, you are doing something wrong. I try to create an environment where people are not afraid to bring crazy ideas to me. It is okay to fail once. Just don't fail at the same thing twice.

Q: How would you define success?

A: I don't look at success as how wealthy I am. To me, success is leaving the company and the environment in better shape for future generations.

Q: What money lessons would you like to pass down to the next Cox generation?

A: It is our family's responsibility to preserve this company that my grandfather started. Investing is important. You need to invest dollars in the business, in people and in the community. Doing what is good for the community doesn't have to be separate from growing the business.

Fox News To Debut New Nearly $30M Dollar Studio

On the ground floor of the News Corp. building in New York, in a space that once housed a Charles Schwab branch and a FedEx Kinkos store, has undergone a multimillion dollar yearlong transformation to become the home of Fox News Channel's 2016 election night coverage, reports AdWeek.

With windows on three sides—which go from clear to opaque with the flip of a switch—viewers are encouraged to stop by the Avenue of the Americas plaza where inside Fox News stars will be counting the votes under the glow of a 31-foot-long, 9-foot-tall curved LED video display.

"It's a nice toy to have," said Jay Wallace, FNC's evp of news and editorial. "I hate to say toy because it cost millions of dollars." In fact, including a new control room to power the studio, the cost is "in the high $20 millions," said Warren Vandeveer, svp of engineering and operations. There are two touchscreen monitors and a separate glass-enclosed room for producers, and the Lucite-topped news desks include, wisely, USB and power ports for easy anchor phone charging.

The ground floor of Fox News Channel’s new street-side Studio F includes three news desks, a circular LED video floor, a 360-degree video chandelier (inset) that can be raised or lowered, a news ticker, four direct-view monitors and a 31-foot-long LED curved video wall.

Boston Radio: Jerry Thornton To EXIT WEEI 93.7 FM

Jerry Thornton

Jerry Thornton, who has been the third voice on Dale and Holley's program on WEEI 93.7 FM for two years, is leaving the station to return to Barstool Sports, reports the Boston Globe.

The station hired Thornton, a part-time comedian who wrote frequently about the Patriots, in November 2014, in part to try to attract some of Barstool’s large and demographically desirable audience to WEEI.com.

He continued to have a following at WEEI, and ratings for the afternoon drive program, which also features longtime station hosts Dale Arnold and Michael Holley, were strong.

But Barstool Sports, founded as a free newspaper by David Portnoy more than a decade ago, has grown massively in its website form. In January, it was sold for more than $10 million to an investment firm headed by Peter Chernin and moved to New York City, but has retained the same format.

Broadcast Nets Say They're Ready

For the traditional TV news outlets, Tuesday is the equivalent of the Super Bowl, as their hours of extended coverage will reach more viewers with election results coverage than any other night of the year, according to The LA Times.

“It’s a defining night for a news division,” said Steve Capus, executive editor of CBS News. “All of your MVPs are in the game. Everything was done for years now leads up to this moment.”

CBS will give prime-time exposure to its “CBS This Morning” team of Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell on election night. CBSN, the division’s digital channel, is expecting record traffic from viewers who want to stream coverage over the web.

NBC News will transform the area surrounding its Rockefeller Center headquarters into “Democracy Plaza,” bathing the concrete canyon in midtown Manhattan with red, white and blue lights. The iconic electoral college map — first conceived at NBC 40 years ago — will take shape in the skating rink for coverage on NBC and MSNBC.

ABC News will stream coverage throughout the day on Facebook Live before heading to its Times Square Studio for prime-time coverage on the broadcast network.

The election has become a business bonanza as well. The strong demand for advertising time on the night is consistent with what the networks have seen throughout the year for the debates. Cable news networks have been the major beneficiaries. CNN is expected to hit $1 billion in profits in 2016, a first in the history of the network, while Fox News profits are projected to reach $1.67 billion, according SNL Kagan. Profits for MSNBC are expected to grow 19% to $279.6 million.

Fox News is unveiling a new studio on election night that will allow its anchors Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly to have easier access to its “decision desk” — where analysts pore over the voting results and decide when to call a state and its electoral votes for one of the candidates.

Just how long election night goes is an open question as the national polls have tightened in the past week. Obama’s victories were announced in the 11 p.m. EST hour of coverage in 2008 and 2012.

In 2004, when the results of the race between President George W. Bush and John Kerry were decided by the electoral votes in Ohio, none of the networks called the race on election night. They waited until Kerry made his concession speech the following day.

The networks’ coverage of Trump vs. Clinton could head into the wee hours of Wednesday as well.

Media Will Miss This Election

As we approach the presidential election tomorrow, public interest in Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — and subsequently news coverage of the two candidates as well as advertising rates — is at an all-time high for most media companies.

But, reports CNBC, though the 2016 election has led to record-breaking viewership and traffic numbers for most media companies, that gravy train won't last. Experts are skeptical that people are permanently interested in politics.

The top news websites saw a 13 percent increase in traffic this September compared to the year prior, according to Adobe Analytics. Compared to September 2012, the sites saw a 59 percent lift in traffic, Adobe said. The Washington Post's website in particular had its highest trafficked month ever in October, with 66.9 million visitors, according to ComScore. It also recorded 770 million page views, a 95 percent increase year over year.

And, it's not just websites that are benefiting. In October, Fox News led the three major cable news networks with an audience of 3.1 million during prime time according to Nielsen, a 72 percent increase from last year. October was CNN's most watched month since 2008 in total daytime programming among adults 25 to 54. CNN also finished first among the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demographic, up 131 percent since last October.

Last week's release of Nielsen’s portable people meter (PPM) ratings for October revealed that News/Talk stations are continuing to grow their audience, as has been the case over much of the past year. This month’s 9.9% share of audience among all listeners 6 and older is a sharp uptick from a year ago (9.1% in October 2015), and represents significant growth for the format from the summer months of June and July, when News/Talk was a full share point lower (8.9% in June).

These results show a rising tide for News/Talk, with audience growth happening across the board. And while this growth is expected during a presidential election year, it’s worth noting that the 25-54 audience to the format reached its highest point this month (7.3%) in more than three years. News/Talk ranked second in the PPM markets in October, vaulting ahead of Country, Hot Adult Contemporary and Adult Contemporary.

Higher-than-usual numbers for news media are expected for election years, said Merrill Brown, director of the Montclair State University School of Communication and Media. The 2000 and 2008 elections especially saw ratings bumps, though not quite as high as this year.

Report: Talker Michael Medved Pays For 'Never Trump' Stance

Michael Medved

Salem Media, home of some of the nation’s most conservative talk show hosts, quietly changed the time slot of one of its hosts in a major market and didn’t include him on a national tour — all in the wake of his anti-Donald Trump stance, reports Politico.

Michael Medved is the only major nationally syndicated host of Salem Media — a fast-growing player in conservative, Christian radio and online media — who is vehemently anti-Donald Trump.

Medved has blasted Trump as "insecure, unprepared and angrily unhinged.

He’s defended Hillary Clinton when callers call her “the most corrupt candidate in history.”
He’s said “I think Democrats are deluded. I think they’re wrong. But I don’t think they’re evil."

As a result of his unwillingness to even be even a reluctant Trump supporter, he’s angered his syndiator, many local affiliates, and many of Salem’s listeners.

“There’s no question it would have helped my career to even be reluctantly on the Trump train,”

Medved said, noting that the people who have done well are the Trump supporters. "But the problem is I can’t pretend. I really do see this as not just a job, it’s a vocation."

Medved, 68, has had his own conservative-leaning show on Salem Media since 1996. And while he’s been a steadfast conservative, he’s long been a “squeaky wheel” compared to some other conservative radio hosts today — he was always in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, blasted those who supported the “birther” movement, and hosts a regular segment shunning conspiracy theories.

Over the course of several interviews, Medved said there was no direct pressure or threats from Salem executives to be pro-Trump and that he thinks Salem is a “wonderful” company. But he did acknowledge his stance has created tension with his employer.

Shortly after the Republican conventions, Medved’s show — which normally airs live in the afternoon hours around — was moved to the unenviable slot of 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. on KSKY 660 AM The Answer, the Salem affiliate in the prime Dallas market. Host Larry Elder took his slot.

Medved wouldn’t comment on why the time changed, only to acknowledge that it did. Phil Boyce, Salem’s Senior Vice President of spoken word format said in an email that it was simply a business decision.

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Michael Ovitz: Expect More Media Consolidation

Michael Ovitz

One Hollywood titan sees "a lot more consolidation" on the horizon, after AT&T and Time Warner reached an $85 million deal, according to CNBC.

The AT&T-Time Warner deal represents a marriage of Time Warner's limitless movie and television empire — including Harry Potter, Batman, Superman films and the next generation of superhero movies being developed by DC Comics — with AT&T's wireless network, which covers 315 million people.

Michael Ovitz, co-founder of the Creative Artists Agency, told CNBC's Scott Wapner on "Halftime Report" last week that the media industry is "a different world today."

"We've seen a complete change in what the definition of content is. We've seen a complete change in simple issues like how do we consume content? What is content? Is content social media? Is content entertainment? Is content in a 30-minute form, a 60-minute form? Is it binge watched? Is it watched as needed?" said Ovitz, who was once known as the most powerful man in Hollywood. "Everything's changed based on the mobile device."

While there's all these giant technology companies like Facebook and Amazon providing distribution and content, the media companies based in Los Angeles have been in the business of creating entertainment for so much longer, the former talent agent said.

NYC Radio: WEPN To Stage The Great Sports Debate

WEPN ESPN New York 98.7 FM’s Michael Kay and Don La Greca Face Off at Fordham this evening Monday, the night before Election Day.

The two will be featured in a live broadcast from Fordham University’s Keating Hall from 6 – 7 p.m. ET. The special will also have a television simulcast on the YES Network.

Michael Kay -- a Fordham alum -- and Don La Greca, the longtime co-hosts of The Michael Kay Show, will face each other in a battle of wits about the hottest topics in sports, with Kay Show co-host Peter Rosenberg as the moderator.

Celebrity judges Rick DiPietro, Chris Canty and Bill Daughtry from Hahn & Humpty decide on the champion. The Michael Kay Show will air in its regular time slot at 3 p.m. on ESPN New York 98.7FM before the special debate program begins.

The live showcase, presented in conjunction with the school’s Department of Communication and Media Studies, will be open to students, faculty and administrators at Fordham. In addition, a few lucky listeners who won an on-air contest will be in attendance.

November 7 Radio History

In 1932..."Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" was first broadcast on the CBS Radio Network.

In 1937…"The Vaseline Program," aka "Dr. Christian's Office" and later simply "Dr. Christian," starring Jean Hersholt, began a run of more than 16 years on CBS Radio.

In 1938...Radio station "W9XZY" broadcasted a facsimile of the St Louis Post-Dispatch by radio.


In 1994...Radio personality Howard Stern talked a caller out of attempting to kill himself.

Stern In The '90s

Stern, contacted by cellular phone by a man threatening to leap from the George Washington Bridge, kept the man talking during his Wednesday morning show until police could seize the would-be jumper.

"Once I determined this was a jumper, I said: 'I have to keep this man laughing . . . until the cops get there,' " Stern told a news conference.

"Who better to help someone who is psychologically disturbed than Howard Stern, who himself is psychologically disturbed?" he joked as police officers offered congratulations.

Police said Emilio Bonilla, 29, walked to the middle of the bridge, climbed over a railing and called Stern.


In 2005...Howard Stern was suspended for 1 day from his radio show after an alteracation with Tom Chiusano, General Manager of WXRK, New York, Stern's flagship station, owned by Infinity.

The argument, which took place following Stern's show, apparently centered around Stern talking too much about Sirius on the show.