Alexa Can Now Play SiriusXM

SiriusXM announced today that its 200+ channels – featuring Howard Stern, commercial-free music, plus live sports, news, entertainment, comedy, and more – are now available to SiriusXM subscribers nationwide with Amazon Alexa. Howard Stern announced the new SiriusXM skill for Amazon Alexa live on The Howard Stern Show on Stern's exclusive SiriusXM channel, Howard 100, this morning.

Customers can simply ask Alexa to play SiriusXM channels by saying, for example, "Alexa, play…

With the SiriusXM skill for Amazon Alexa, SiriusXM trial or paid subscribers will get easy access to exclusive music and entertainment, including Howard Stern's two exclusive channels, commercial-free music from multiple genres, plus news from respected national outlets, exclusive talk and entertainment, a broad range of comedy, and sports talk from some of the biggest names in broadcasting; as well as dozens of exclusive online-only channels that span music, talk, comedy and news.

"We are delighted that customers can now enjoy SiriusXM's exclusive shows, live sports, music, and news through Alexa," said Steve Rabuchin, VP Amazon Alexa. "Music, news, and sports are already some of the most popular categories of content on Alexa, and SiriusXM brings even more choices to customers. People with an Alexa device and a SiriusXM trial or paid subscription can simply enable the SiriusXM skill for Amazon Alexa, link their accounts and start listening at home or on-the-go with Alexa."

"Alexa is a leading voice service today by far and for good reason: The ease of use through the convenience of voice control with Alexa. We are thrilled to now deliver to Alexa our critically acclaimed, compelling and exclusive programming that spans all music genres, live sports, talk, live news, and comedy," said Jim Cady, SiriusXM's Executive Vice President of Products, Operations & Connected Vehicle. "Our millions of subscribers can get SiriusXM's great programming outside of the car and wherever Alexa devices can be found. It's as simple as asking Alexa to play SiriusXM."

Predicted Driver Behavior In Driverless Cars Is Surprising

Whether drivers like the idea or not, autonomous cars will one day become a fact of life. When Jacobs Media constructed the questionnaire for its thirteenth version of its annual web-based Techsurvey, the research team included a hypothetical question about a driverless car future:

“The year is 2025. You’re driving in an autonomous car. The technology has almost totally eliminated traffic accidents, leaving you to do whatever you’d like while  in the vehicle. Which one of the following do you think you’d do most often?”

Possible options centered around media and entertainment: listening to AM/FM radio or streaming audio, watching video, talking on the phone, working on a computer, reading, or the catchall “all of the above.” To be sure that no activity was left off the list, respondents also were given an “other” choice – the chance to write in something entirely different they’d do in a driverless car than what was listed.

The initial results were predictable, with AM/FM radio leading the way, followed by “all of the above.” But what was surprising was the fact that more than 2,500 respondents took the time to share other things they plan on doing while the car is driving itself.

The “word cloud” below is a compilation of those responses. The larger the word, the more frequent the response:

Sleeping is the lead activity, followed by having sex in an autonomous car. Playing video games and simply enjoying the view also are popular responses. It is noteworthy that drinking and knitting are also mentioned with frequency (hopefully, mutually exclusive activities).

“This goes to show that whenever new technology is introduced, consumers will find a way to adapt it to their needs,” Jacobs Media President and creator of the Techsurvey, Fred Jacobs observes.  “Because we serve broadcasters, we were curious to see how the audience might entertain themselves in driverless cars, but obviously, the respondents have a broader definition of ‘entertainment.’”

Supremes: Law Banning Offensive Trademarks Unconstitutional

By Andrew Chung | WASHINGTON

(Reuters) -- In a decision that could benefit the NFL's Washington Redskins, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a federal prohibition on disparaging trademarks as a constitutional violation in a major free speech ruling involving a band called The Slants.

The court ruled 8-0 in favor of the Portland, Oregon-based Asian-American dance rock band, which had been denied a trademark because the government deemed its name disparaging to people of Asian descent. The Slants challenged that rejection as a violation of free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, and the Supreme Court agreed.

The ruling likely paves the way for the Redskins to protect trademarks covering the team's name.

The National Football League team, which took the name Redskins in the 1930s, filed a legal challenge to a 2014 decision by a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal canceling its trademarks as disparaging to Native Americans. A lower court put the Redskins' dispute on hold pending the outcome of the band's case.

Lisa Blatt, a lawyer representing the Redskins, told Reuters the team is thrilled with Monday's ruling because it resolves "the Redskins' long-standing dispute with the government."

Writing for the court, Justice Samuel Alito did not mince words in ruling that the decades-old trademark provision is unconstitutional. "It offends a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend," Alito wrote.

Band frontman Simon Tam has said he chose to call the band The Slants to reclaim a term some consider a derogatory reference to Asian people's eyes, and wear it as a "badge of pride." The band's lawyers argued that the government cannot use trademark law to impose burdens on free speech to protect listeners from offense.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed legal papers supporting the band, hailed the ruling as a major victory for the First Amendment. ACLU lawyer Lee Rowland said government efforts to protect minorities from disparagement instead hurt members of that very community, in this case the Asian-American band.

"Fortunately, today's opinion prevents the kind of absurd outcome that results when the government plays speech police," Rowland said.

Members of the Portland, Oregon-based Asian-American rock band The Slants (L-R) Tyler Chen, Ken Shima, Simon Tam, Joe X. Jiang pose in Portland, Oregon, U.S., August 21, 2015 in a picture released by band representatives. Anthony Pidgeon/Handout via Reuters


'MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES'

The band welcomed the ruling.

"After an excruciating legal battle that has spanned nearly eight years, we're beyond humbled and thrilled to have won this case at the Supreme Court," the band said in a statement posted to its website on Monday. "This journey has always been much bigger than our band: it's been about the rights of all marginalized communities to determine what's best for ourselves."

Patent and Trademark Office spokesman Paul Fucito said the agency was reviewing the decision. The government previously said a ruling favoring The Slants could lead to a proliferation of racial slurs as sanctioned trademarks.

After the government rejected The Slants' request, Tam appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, which in 2015 ruled that the so-called disparagement provision of the 1946 law governing trademarks ran afoul of the Constitution's guarantee of free speech. The government appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.

The federal government said in court papers that it should not be required to approve trademarks "containing crude references to women based on parts of their anatomy; the most repellent racial slurs and white-supremacist slogans; and demeaning illustrations of the prophet Mohammed and other religious figures."

In the separate Redskins case, a trademark board in 2014 canceled the team's six trademarks at the request of Native American activists on grounds that the team name disparaged Native Americans.

The team's appeal, also on free speech grounds, was put on hold in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, pending the outcome of The Slants' case.

Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the court after arguments were heard in the case and did not participate in Monday's decision.

The Supreme Court also ruled on another free speech case on Monday, striking down a North Carolina law banning convicted sex offenders from Facebook and other social media services that play a vital role in modern life.

iHM, Fox Nets Partner To Create Data-Driven Products

iHeartMedia and Fox Networks Group (FNG) today announced the launch of Smart A/V Audiences, the first suite of data-driven advertising products available to the marketplace offering campaigns including both Audio and Video creative units integrated onto one platform. Smart A/V Audiences will bring the precision and immediacy of digital advertising to the scale of broadcast radio and television for the first time by creating custom audiences based on the combined power of FNG and iHeartMedia data sets.

Smart A/V Audiences will enable brands to deliver more relevant messages by leveraging Smart A/V data to target consumers based on specific interests and passions like music, sports, specific shows, teams and personalities and then serve to those audiences across a combined audio and video platform. Brands will be able to deliver more compelling creative across platforms by tapping into local data and dynamic creative capabilities based on triggers like weather, sports scores, stock market performance and more. Smart A/V Audiences will launch in beta this fall.

Smart A/V Audiences builds on iHeartMedia’s recently launched SmartAudio, which leverages the power of its programmatic solution to help advertisers evaluate, plan and buy broadcast radio, enabling them to build innovative campaigns that target key audience cohorts. It also complements FNG’s latest initiatives, including OpenAP and UP//LIFT, which leverage new ad formats and data to deliver higher impact ad units.

“We launched SmartAudio with the goal of continually expanding it with innovative and impactful ways to help our advertising partners revolutionize the way they buy ads,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. “Now by combining our assets with the unparalleled data and video assets of Fox, advertising partners can leverage audio and visual as one integrated platform. This is a major breakthrough for the industry and for marketers, allowing brands to leverage both audio and visual platforms to reach consumers like never before."

“Our collaboration with iHeartMedia exemplifies our commitment to creating cross-platform and cross-company tools that enable us to efficiently and effectively deliver targeted audiences to brands, ensuring that the most impactful and engaging messages are being told,” said FNG President of Advertising Revenue Joe Marchese. “Smart A/V unites two companies that are innovators in their fields, and together we are uniting the power of customized targeting with real-time creative optimization across television and radio.”

The suite of data-driven products will include:

• Smart A/V Audiences: Audience profiles leveraging both companies’ collective data (auto intenders, moms, kids under eight, etc.) as well as more specialized audience profiles based on characteristics of their unique audiences (shows, sports, talent, news and music affinity, etc.)
• Smart A/V Adapt: Will enable creative and campaign optimizations that are driven by shared data and technologies. FNG will optimize flighting for brand lift performance and iHeartMedia will optimize creative messaging for the context of the consumer.

Gayle Troberman, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for iHeartMedia, added: “Marketers have been looking for more integrated data solutions and by joining forces we can deliver very specific targeting seamlessly across radio, TV and digital from cars to couches and everywhere in between. We will now have the ability to precision target at massive scale based on everything from consumer passions for music, sports and programming to sentiments, moments and locations, creating more relevance and better context for results than ever before in broadcast advertising. This is the next greenfield for creatives and data scientists to align.”

Ed Davis, Chief Product Officer for FNG Advertising Sales, commented: “Being able to assemble the right audience, at scale, is the first component in generating the best possible returns for advertisers.  The second component is the ability to tune live campaign creative and exposure profiles based on our real-time monitoring of brand performance data.  Sharing the necessary data between Fox and iHeartMedia unlocks the best mechanics to move consumers.”

NYC Radio: Shania Twain Visits NASH FM 94.7

Monday, WNSH NASH FM 94.7 welcomed Shania Twain, five-time GRAMMY Award-winner and the top-selling female country artist of all time, to the NASH FM 94.7 studios in New York City for an interview on Stage 17, high atop Madison Square Garden.

As Shania is preparing to release her first studio album in 15 years, she sat down to talk with Jesse Addy and Katie Neal to discuss the process behind her new single, "Life's About to Get Good" and her upcoming new album, NOW, what Shania fans can expect from the new music, and what song she likes best.

June 20 Radio History

Frank Gallop

➦In 1900...announcer Frank Gallop was born in New York City.

After starting his radio career in Boston, the sombre-voiced Gallop moved back to New York with friend and fellow announcer Ed Herlihy and soon established a busy career on CBS and NBC. He was heard on such soap operas as Amanda of Honeymoon Hill, Hilltop House, When A Girl Marries, and Stella Dallas, as well as Gangbusters, the Columbia Workshop and New York Philharmonic broadcasts. He was the announcer and comic foil for the host on Milton Berle’s program on radio and The Perry Como Show on TV. He narrated a 1966 hit comedy record, The Ballad of Irving.

Gallop died May 5 1988 at age 87.

.

Fanny Brice

➦In 1910...Fanny Brice, born Fannie Borach, debuted in the New York production of the Ziegfeld Follies.

It wasn’t long before Brice became known as America’s funny girl. A regular on Rudy Vallee’s radio show, The Fleischmann Hour, in the 1920s, Fanny Brice joined The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air at age 45. The show on CBS radio was the introduction of her funny-voiced character, Baby Snooks. In 1937 she joined NBC radio and continued as the Snooks kid, a seven-year old spoiled brat. Brice’s most famous line was, “Whyyyyyy, daddy?”  From 1936 through 1951,

Brice was one of radio’s biggest draws, right until her sudden death of a cerebral hemorrhage on May 29, 1951 at age 59.


➦In 1982…WCBM 680 AM Baltimore announced it was switching from adult contemporary to news/talk. KEZL 102.9 FM in San Diego dropped Shulke II (The automated vocal/lite AC service) in favor of live adult contemporary.


➦In 1982….ABC Radio kills its much-promoted “SuperRadio” satellite fed A/C format. The network was due to premier July 1. The DJ lineup was completed only a few weeks ago when Jack Spector, Bob Dayton and Steve York were signed for weekends.  A lack of affiliates has been cited – with only three-full time stations ready to go.


➦In 1988...WABC 770 AM officially becomed the NHL NJ Devils new home radio.


➦In 1996…Westinghouse Electric agreed to buy Infinity Broadcasting for $3.9 billion, a deal made possible after the U.S. Congress in February passed the Telecommunications Act permitting expansion of TV and radio station holdings, and removing restrictions on how many stations in one market could be owned by one corporation.


➦In 2004…Ken Rank died at age 66 from lung transplant complications. Rank worked on KRMG in Tulsa and as “Ken Knight” and on KTCS in Fort Smith, Arkansas.


➦In 2006...Dan Rather reached agreement with CBS News to leave the network after 44 years. He later accepted an offer from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to do a weekly news program for Cuban’s HDNet cable channel.

Kelly-Jones Interview Ratings Are not Good

UPDATE 11:30 am 6/19: According to Nielsen data, the new installment of “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” averaged a 0.5 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.5 million viewers, airing at 7 p.m. The previous two episodes of the freshman news show have averaged a 0.7 and 4.9 million viewers.

Earlier Story...

(Reuters) -- NBC's Megyn Kelly defended her heavily criticized interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones by saying at the start of the Sunday broadcast of her program that the man who called a 2012 Connecticut school massacre a hoax has the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump.

"Some thought we shouldn't broadcast this interview because his baseless allegations aren't just offensive, they're dangerous. But here's the thing: Alex Jones isn't going away," she said on "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly."

"He has millions of listeners and the ear of our current president," Kelly said.


NBC is owned by Comcast Corp.

The interview prompted indignation, especially in Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in 2012. The local NBC affiliate in Connecticut that serves the area where the shooting took place refused to air the interview.

Jones, founder of the website Infowars, has questioned what he calls the "official story" of Sandy Hook and suggested a political cover-up took place. Although his theory has been discredited, people who believe Jones have harassed and taunted families of the victims.

Kelly said Jones never completely disavowed his previous statements about the killings being a hoax.

"I tend to believe that children probably did die there. But then you look at all the other evidence on the other side. I can see how other people believe that nobody died there," Jones said.

Kelly, who gained prominence as an anchor at Fox News, joined NBC this year. Her show made its debut on June 4.

Kelly’s interview with Alex Jones was much less interesting than the conversation that led up to the broadcast, according to Variety.

According to  TV Critic Sonia Saraiya, the decision to go after Jones actually put the spotlight on the fact that Kelly, despite the reputation she built at Fox News, is not a great interviewer. She also struggled during her much-hyped sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin on “Sunday Night’s” debut a few weeks ago.

"Her talent is less about extracting information from intriguing people and more attuned to leading the audience to a sense of vague unease about her subjects. As evidenced by the segment that immediately followed Jones’ — a pearl-clutching take on the phenomenon of (legal) delivery services for (legal) marijuana — Kelly’s primary mode is manufacturing and expressing concern, without much thought as to where that concern comes from and why it matters. That reluctance to dig deeper is what doomed the Jones segment. It is hard to not feel that Kelly has just emboldened Jones — an ideologue who will use any angle to advance his pernicious narrative," Saraiya wrote.

Bottom line on NBC's Alex Jones piece: Strong editing gave it an edge & made him look like a kook. Still a win for him; boosts his profile.

— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) June 18, 2017

The NYTimes reports Media Matters, the liberal advocacy site that had raised alarms about NBC’s decision to cover Mr. Jones, called the segment “a well-edited investigation of the dangers posed by an unstable megalomaniac with millions of loyal fans.”

Others said Ms. Kelly did not go far enough in her interrogation, or argued that the mere fact that the segment was being aired, regardless of its handling, would only serve to raise Mr. Jones’s renown. “Still a win for him; boosts his profile,” the media critic Margaret Sullivan wrote on Twitter.

CNN notes the commercial breaks on "Sunday Night" had lots of promos and PSAs... and fewer $$$ commercials than "typically accompany a first-run program," Variety's Brian Steinberg reports. NBC sources confirm that some sponsors avoided Kelly's Jones story, but the network thinks it'll be temporary.

Rickey Smiley To Host NAB Marconi Awards Dinner

Top-rated syndicated radio personality Rickey Smiley will host the NAB Marconi Radio Awards Dinner and Show on September 7 at the 2017 Radio Show.

Rickey Smiley

Produced by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), the Radio Show will be held September 5-8 at the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas.

Smiley is host of “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show,” which has millions of listeners in over 60 markets nationwide and is syndicated by Reach Media Inc, a division of Radio One. The show brings perspective to contemporary black life and parenthood, focusing on family, community and mentoring. Smiley’s quick-wit and rapport with program guests and listeners has established him as one of radio’s most popular personalities and comedians.

“Rickey Smiley doesn’t stick to the script, so we’re not sure what he’ll do as host, but be assured that it will be very, very funny!" said NAB Executive Vice President of Radio John David. "Get a good seat at the NAB Marconi Radio Awards and expect the unexpected."

In addition to radio and stand-up comedy, Smiley appears on the popular television show “Dish Nation” and TV One’s “Rickey Smiley For Real,” which chronicles his radio career and personal life as a single father. He is also author of the upcoming book "STAND BY YOUR TRUTH: And Then Run For Your Life," set to be released this fall.

Established in 1989 and named after inventor and Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi, the NAB Marconi Radio Awards are given to radio stations and outstanding on-air personalities to recognize excellence in radio.

Additional information about the 2017 Radio Show is available here.

Charlotte Radio: Beasley Fills The Air With Smoke

Beasley Media Group, Inc. announces the debut of W234BY 94.7 Smoke FM in Charlotte, North Carolina. The station officially launched at 6am on Monday, June 19th with 10,000 songs in a row commercial free and fed via WBCN 1660 AM (10 Kw-D, 1 Kw-N). which dropped talk

The core of the playlist will be southern rock, however, 94.7 Smoke will also play anything they deem “Southern”, including both local and new artists.

In addition, the station will focus all things deemed Southern, including hunting, fishing, 4-wheeling, pick-up trucks, cold beer, horseshoes, great BBQ, Myrtle Beach, The Smokies, NASCAR and more!

“We’re looking forward to this smoking hot concept,” said Vice President and Market Manager Bill Schoening. “It is a passion-based brand that we are very excited to launch in Charlotte.”

“I am really excited to launch 94.7 Smoke,” said Operations Manager and Program Director DJ Stout. “I grew up in Charlotte and know first-hand about Southern people and the fun lifestyle that 94.7 Smoke is all about.”

W234BY 94.7 FM (250 Watts)

94.7 Smoke is available at www.947smoke.com and the iRadioNow app on a variety of mobile devices. Follow 94.7 Smoke at twitter.com/947smoke and check out daily updates on facebook.com/947Smoke.

Chicago Radio: Longtime WXRT Host Wendy Rice To Retire

Wendy Rice

WXRT 93.1 FM Chicago will bid farewell to longtime host Wendy Rice as she retires from weekly hosting duties of the popular Saturday Morning Flashback program.

Rice will host her final show on Saturday, June 24 with the show’s content devoted to the music and memories of 1978 as a nod to her XRT beginnings.   Rice began her career at XRT as an intern in 1978; she later made a stop in Peoria, IL at WWCT-FM before returning to Chicago and joining the 93XRT air staff in 1982.

“I've been at XRT for 35 years. I have always worked on weekends” said Rice. “The opportunity to play great music every Saturday has kept me going, along with the support of the loyal listeners who have stayed with us all these years.   I am now looking forward to my ‘retirement’ and to experiencing the novelty of a two-day weekend.”
“I've had a wonderful run at Chicago's Finest Rock” continued Rice. “I married the boss [former WXRT Program Director Norm Winer] in '87, raised three amazing kids, and am now dedicated to my weekday gig as a middle school teacher.”

“Wendy is Chicago radio royalty” said Greg Solk, WXRT Program Director and Operations Manager.  “Her Saturday morning show has been a staple of XRT’s programming, and one of the most listened to specialty shows in Chicago radio history. All of us thank Wendy for her years of brilliance both on and off the air.”

Beginning Saturday, July 1, Saturday Morning Flashback will be hosted on a rotating basis by two heritage XRT voices, Frank E. Lee and Johnny Mars.  The show will run for three hours from 8 AM- 11 AM every Saturday morning.

Portland OR Radio: iHM Names Reynolds Marketing/Promo Director

Susan Reynolds

iHeartMedia/Portland, OR has named Susan Reynolds as Marketing/Promotions Director for the cluster, which includes Classic Country K279BO 103.7 The Legend, Sports KPOJ Rip City Radio 620, News Radio KEX 1190, KFBW 105.9 The Brew, HipHop KXJM JAM’N 107.5, Classic Hits KLTH 106.7 The Eagle, Top40 KKRZ Z100 Portland and Soft Rock KKCW K103,3 Portland.

Reynolds will be responsible for overseeing marketing and promotions for the region’s nine brands including their websites, social media, mobile and online presence for on-air personalities. She will also work with the stations’ programming departments to promote the market’s events on air and online.

“We could not be more excited to welcome Susan Reynolds to our team in Portland,” said Tim Herbster, SVP of Programming for iHeartMedia’s Pacific Northwest Region. “Her vast experience as a leader and relationship builder will help further serve our brands, clients and local community.”

Reynolds previously worked as a freelance publicist generating publicity and securing marketing activations, event sponsorships, promotional partnerships and social media activity for various lifestyle clients. She also served as a Talk Show Producer for CJAD-AM, Director of Marketing and Promotion for Alpha Media’s Portland cluster and Marketing and Promotions Director for KSOL/San Francisco, CA.

“This is truly a full circle moment for me as I not only am thrilled to be back in the awesome city of Portland, but also to serve K103 Portland, where I got my first shot at being a Marketing and Promotion Director,” said Reynolds. “The fact that I’m joining the iHeartMedia team and this market of iconic brands is absolutely the icing on the cake and I am grateful for this incredible opportunity.”

Media Habits: Gen Z Shifting Away From Blogs, Publisher Sites

Millennials say they are spending more time with video and social, but they are not necessarily cutting back their time with other media.

But according to eMarketer, younger internet users, those ages 13 to 17, are shifting away from text-based online content—and a bit from TV—while spending more time with video and social.

The data comes from a March 2017 survey by streaming solutions and content provider Fullscreen and market research agency Leflein Associates, which polled 1,173 US internet users ages 13 to 34.

Both the younger and older groups were considerably more likely to say they were spending more time streaming full-length TV shows and movies, and similar percentages said they were spending more time with short online video.

But the amplified video viewing didn’t necessarily mean they were watching less TV. Among the younger group, 40% said they were watching the same amount of TV as last year, while 35% said they were watching at least a bit less and 25% were watching at least a bit more. The older users (ages 18 to 34) were more likely to say they were watching more TV.

The study found that younger internet users are shifting away from text-based types like blogs and publisher sites.

For example, 22% of the younger respondents said they’re spending less time with blogs compared with a year ago. And 11% said they’re spending less time with publisher sites or apps.

According to Nielsen data for Q4 2016, US teens ages 12 to 17 spent 13 hours 54 minutes per week watching TV.

Monday's Hot Links..What Others Are Saying

➤Dick Taylor: If I say "door" what do you picture? If I say "radio" what comes into your mind?

➤Almost 80 Radio Stations Hit With New FCC EEO Audit Letter

➤The Persistence of Prog Rock

➤LPFM Is Important in Translator Debate

➤Snapshot of Music Streaming Audiences

Google Tightens Measures To Remove Extremist Content

(Reuters) -- Alphabet Inc's Google will implement more measures to identify and remove terrorist or violent extremist content on its video sharing platform YouTube, the company said in a blog post on Sunday.

Google said it would take a tougher position on videos containing supremacist or inflammatory religious content by issuing a warning and not monetizing or recommending them for user endorsements, even if they do not clearly violate its policies.

The company will also employ more engineering resources and increase its use of technology to help identify extremist videos, in addition to training new content classifiers to quickly identify and remove such content.

"While we and others have worked for years to identify and remove content that violates our policies, the uncomfortable truth is that we, as an industry, must acknowledge that more needs to be done. Now," said Google's general counsel Kent Walker.

Google will expand its collaboration with counter-extremist groups to identify content that may be used to radicalize and recruit extremists, it said.

The company will also reach potential Islamic State recruits through targeted online advertising and redirect them towards anti-terrorist videos in a bid to change their minds about joining.

Bill O'Reilly Promises To Make News About His Firing

As Bill O'Reilly sees it, the same forces that led to his ouster at Fox News are out to get President Trump. And, in much the same spirit as Trump, O'Reilly is determined to settle the score reports CNN.

"In the weeks to come, there will be a bunch of news stories that will explain what happened and why it happened," O'Reilly told fans at a show on Saturday in Westbury, New York. "It's pretty grisly. It's pretty nasty. It has to do with far-left progressive organizations that are bent on destroying anybody with whom they disagree, including the president."

Dennis Miller

For weeks, O'Reilly has vowed to reveal the conspiracy behind his firing, offering hints and teasing a blockbuster exposé that has yet to come.

O'Reilly made the comments at the latest stop on "The Spin Stops Here Tour," a slate of pseudo-comedy performances where he blends his commentary with corny jokes.

O'Reilly has been doing the tour with conservative comedian Dennis Miller since 2011. They held a pair of performances in Westbury on Saturday, and the doubleheader marked the resumption of the tour after O'Reilly was fired from Fox News in April following revelations of settlements paid to multiple women who accused him of sexual harassment.

Fox News host Jesse Watters was scheduled to join the tour before the network, wary of its on-air talent appearing publicly with someone who had just been been ignominiously fired, quashed the arrangement.

That appeared to be news to at least some of those in attendance.

"Watters can't be here tonight, I'm sorry," O'Reilly said, drawing groans. "It's not his fault. Fox didn't want him to go."

R.I.P.: Lakeland, FL Radio Host Jim Hendrick

Jim Hendrick

Colleagues of popular WONN morning show host Jim Hendrick remembered him as an entertainer, charismatic on-air personality and consummate professional.

“He was a larger-than-life character, and he could bring the music to life,” said Art Rowbotham, president of Hall Communications Inc., which owns WONN 1230 AM / 107.1 FM  and its three sister stations in Lakeland plus 17 other stations in the northeastern U.S. “That’s why he was so popular.”

Hendrick died Friday morning in Lakeland from unspecified causes after taking a medical leave of absence in July of 2016. He was thought to be in his 80s, although he did not like to discuss his age, according to The Ledger.

After a long broadcasting career in the Detroit area and a brief stint as a band singer in Las Vegas, Hendrick moved to Lakeland, FL in 2005 and joined WONN as the host of a 6-to-10 a.m. show featuring big band and American standards music of the 1940s to the early 1960s.

Between songs, Hendrick often would include recollections from his Vegas years, where his band, the Four Crowns, would play on the same bill with stars such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Sarah Vaughan, said Rowbotham and Nancy Cattarius, vice president and general manager for Hall Communications of Florida.

“He was passionate about music,” Cattarius said. “He had a history with that music, and he enjoyed sharing it with his listeners.”

June 19 Radio History

➦In 1912...actor/narrator Martin Gabel was born in Philadelphia.

His signature work was on May 8, 1945 as narrator on the CBS radio broadcast of Norman Corwin’s epic poem On a Note of Triumph, a commemoration of the fall of the Nazi regime in Germany and the end of WW II in Europe. The broadcast was so popular that the CBS, NBC, Blue and Mutual networks aired a second live production five days later.  He was the most frequent guest on TV’s Sunday night fixture What’s My Line, because he was married to regular panelist Arlene Francis.

He died after a heart attack May 22 1986 at age 73.


➦In 1934...Communications Act of 1934 created Federal Communications Commission

➦In 1962...WMCA 570 began using “The Good Guys”.   Led by program director Ruth Meyer, the first woman to hold the position in New York City radio, this was the era of the high-profile Top 40 disc jockey with an exuberant personality aimed at a certain audience segment. With the advent of the Good Guys format, WMCA became more "on top" of new music and started to become known for "playing the hits."


➦In 1964...KDKA 1020 AM, Pittsburgh banned the song “Beans In My Ears” by the Serendipity Singers. The ban follows complaints from listeners and area doctors who claim that children have been putting foreign objects into their ears at an increased rate since the single was released.


➦In 1965...Since WINS went all-news in April, New York’s remaining rockershave been going at it - head to head. It’s the WMCA Goodguys vs. the WABC All-Americans. They’re the only two places on the New York dial to hear Top40.

The post-WINS Pulse ratings showed the stations neck-in-neck - WABC at a 16 and WMCA at a 16.3 rating. But WMCA has about one-third the signal of WABC, so it performs better with no WMCA competition - in the outlying suburbs.

WMCA was running a “Good Guy Derby” contest where you have the guess the WMCA Good Guy who will win his race “in the sport of kings.” Go-Go radio, WABC is doing a “prize of the day” A prize a day goes into the “Go Go Grab Bag” for end-week awarding.

Both stations were battling airplay of the new Beatles album -“Beatles VI” - and both stations were saying they had the exclusive on the album.  Actually, WABC had the album three hours before WMCA did - a rarity. WMCA usually scoops WABC on most records, including the Beatles.

➦In 1966...WOR 98.7 FM said it will drop duplicating talk WOR 710 AM on June 30 and go rock ‘n’ roll - the first FM station to go full-time rock . Robert S. Smith, vice president of both WOR AM/FMsays - “We will not have shouting disk jockeys on FM, but if there can be a quality rock station, that is, what we will be. We’re going after the WABC and WMCA audience.” The change in policy is a result of a recent FCC rule that FM stations in major cities may no longer duplicate more than 50% of their AM affiliates.


➦In 1966...comedian Ed Wynn, star of his own pioneering shows on radio & early TV, died of throat cancer at age 79.

➦In 1973...Wolfman Jack, heard on KDAY Los Angles announced he's going to WNBC, New York.


➦In 1973...Watermark has produced a three-hour special called “the 40 Greatest Disappearing Acts of the Rock Era.” Hosted by Casey Kasem, it will replace American Top-40 July 7-8.


➦In 1973...93 KHJ AM program director Paul Drew confirmed that the Real Don Steele and Mark Eliot have left the station.

Billboard 1973

➦In 1973...89 WLS  program director Tommy Edwards said the station is expanding its playlist and is cutting back on the use of jingles from 40 to five key jingles. Plus, - elimination of meaningless chatter by jocks, dayparting of music (more rock at night for example). WCFL was giving WLS a run in the ratings.


➦In 1973...KSFX 103.7 FM San Francisco launched a complete sound-alike format of WABC, New York, whose program director (Rick Sklar) is consulting the station. The first “Music Radio KSFX” playlists have been distributed to record stores.

Dixon's Wrecked Auto 

➦In 2005...legendary southern DJ, Mason Dixon, was injured in an auto accident which practically split his car apart.

Dixon suffered a collapsed lung, 2 broken ribs and a ruptured spleen. Dixon has been affiliated with legendary stations including Tampa's WRBQ-FM, where he was still employed at the time of his accident.

When his wife finally showed him pictures of his prized 1971 Dodge Challenger convertible, split in half in a crash over the weekend, there were more tears.

"There were angels watching out for me," he told reporters huddled around his bed at St. Joseph's Hospital. "They wanted me to learn something, and I have. Now, I've got to go back out there and do their work. And I'll be happy to."

Dixon, 55, whose real name is Jimmie Crawford, was critically injured after leaving a Father's Day promotional event.


➦In 2009…Radio/TV announcer Ken Roberts died of pneumonia following a stroke at age 99. In 1935, he was one of the founders of the broadcast performers' union now known as AFTRA.