Axios co-founders: Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz
Cox Enterprises announced the acquisition of Axios Media Inc., a company dedicated to delivering vital, trustworthy news and analysis in the most efficient ways possible. Cox Enterprises has a long history in media and is committed to scaling and expanding Axios into more cities, covering more national topics and more premium niches for professionals. This acquisition follows a previous investment by Cox Enterprises in the fall of 2021 and is part of Cox’s ongoing goal to grow and diversify the company.
“With so much happening in the world, Axios plays a critical role in delivering balanced, trusted news that people need,” said Cox Enterprises Chairman and CEO Alex Taylor, who will join the Axios board. “Our company started in the media business, and we have always had a passion for journalism. Bringing a forward-thinking organization like Axios into Cox Enterprises is exciting for us on many levels, and we look forward to helping them continue to scale and grow.”
Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz will continue to hold substantial stakes in the company and will lead editorial and day-to-day business decisions.
“We have found our kindred spirit for creating a great, trusted, consequential media company that can outlast us all,” said Axios CEO Jim VandeHei. “Our shared ambitions should be clear: to spread clinical, nonpartisan, trusted journalism to as many cities and as many topics as fast as possible.”
Axios launched in January 2017 based on the shared belief that sharper, more focused, more efficient coverage was needed on the topics shaping the fast-changing world. The company is known for its Smart Brevity communication formula. It’s built by journalists to prioritize essential news, explain its impact on readers and deliver both in a concise and visual format.
Cox Enterprises’ current media companies — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dayton Daily News and other Ohio newspapers — are not impacted by the deal and each will continue to operate independently.
The Axios communications software business, Axios HQ, will become an independent company majority-owned by the founders and will include Cox as sole minority investor. Jim VandeHei will be chairman of the board of Axios HQ and Roy Schwartz will be its CEO.
“We are excited about entering into this new chapter with Cox and the opportunities we can explore with Axios HQ as a separate business,” said Roy Schwartz, president of Axios. “For both companies, our mission is to help as many people and companies get smarter, faster on what matters.”
Audacy announces the addition of Miss Jones as morning show host for 94.7 The Block (WXBK-FM) in New York. Miss Jones will be heard weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET beginning August 22.
Miss Jones
“Jonesy is a person of many talents and I’m so excited to witness the fun and excitement she’ll add to morning radio in New York City on 94.7 The Block, said Skip Dillard, Brand Manager, 94.7 The Block. “Welcome home!”
“After stepping away from the industry to raise my two sons, I am beyond thrilled to be back home and leading morning drive at 94.7 The Block,” said Miss Jones.
Miss Jones, also known as Jonesy, is the first African American female to be syndicated on morning radio in North America. As part of a two-decade long radio career on Hot 97 in New York and Philadelphia’s Power 99 and The Beat, the Queens, NY native’s career is highlighted by consistent number one ratings resulting in record-breaking revenues for all her affiliated stations. Miss Jones discovered, taught, and influenced some of the biggest brands in radio and entertainment including Stephen A. Smith, Ebro from Hot 97, and DJ Envy from “The Breakfast Club.”
➤Listeners can tune in to 94.7 The Block (WXBK-FM) in New York and nationwide on the Audacyapp and website. Fans can also connect with the station via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
iHeartMedia Boston’s WXKS 107.9 FM Kiss 108, “Boston’s #1 Hit Music Station”, announced today that long-time Kiss 108 personalities Billy Costa and Lisa Donovan will officially lead a newly revamped top-rated morning show along with co-hosts Justin Aguirre and Winnie Akoury.
The newly revamped show “Billy & Lisa in the Morning” will broadcast weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
“Billy & Lisa in the Morning” comes after Billy and Lisa took lead roles in mornings on Kiss 108 after the retirement of the legendary Matty Siegel in April. Billy, Lisa, Justin, and Winnie were all a part of the “Matty in the Morning” show. Since then, the audience has spoken and the ratings prove it. The Kiss 108 morning show has been number one in Boston with women for decades and in the first three months of Billy and Lisa leading the show, the ratings have only grown.
Costa has been on Kiss 108 since 1980 and has been a large part of the success of the station. In addition, Billy also hosts “Dining Playbook” on local cable sports station NESN and is involved with numerous charitable organizations.
Donovan has been with Kiss 108 since 2002, providing a positive energy, style, and female perspective in AM Drive. Donovan focuses much of her time with charitable endeavors with local Boston charities Good Sports and The Women’s Lunch Place as well as an 11-year annual event that Lisa created with Salon Mario Russo to benefit Rosie’s Place,
“We’re excited to usher in a new era in mornings on Kiss 108,” said Dylan Sprague, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Boston. “Billy and Lisa have been an enormous part of the station’s success over the years and it’s only fitting that the show bears their name.”
Costa added, “Kiss 108, the listeners, are a big part of my life and Boston is my home. I’m thankful that the audience has embraced the new show. We have a world class team at Kiss 108 and I look forward to continuing to entertain the audience in the morning.”
“Billy and I have always had great on-air chemistry and the new show is a natural evolution for us, building on the time we’ve spent working together for the last 20 years,” said Donovan. “It’s fun. It’s unpredictable. It’s Boston.”
“Billy and Lisa in the Morning” can be heard every weekday in Boston on Kiss 108, and worldwide on iHeartRadio.com, the iHeartRadio app and Kiss108.com.
The Senate passed the Democrats' sweeping health care, tax and climate bill Sunday afternoon, which was approved in a party-line 51-50 vote with Vice President Kamala Harris casting her tie-breaking vote. The Senate passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which heads next to the Democratic-led House, is a significant victory for President Biden and Democrats, while still far less than Biden's initial $3.5 trillion Build Back Better proposal put forward in the first year of his presidency last year. The legislation includes the largest-ever federal effort on climate change at close to $400 billion, and among its major provisions it lets Medicare negotiate what it pays for drugs, caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare to $2,000 a year, and extends expiring subsidies that help 13 million people afford health insurance. The package raises corporate taxes by imposing a 15 percent minimum tax on corporations with yearly profits of over $1 billion and a one percent tax on companies that repurchase their own stock. Those provisions and others mean the entire estimated $740 billion package is paid for, with some $300 billion extra to use for deficit reduction.
➤CEASE-FIRE TAKES EFFECT BETWEEN ISRAEL, PALESTINIAN MILITANTS IN GAZA: An Egyptian-brokered cease-fire took effect late Sunday local time between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza after nearly three days of violence in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed, the worst fighting since an 11-day war last year between Israel and Hamas. Israeli aircraft had fired on targets in Gaza since Friday, and the Palestinian Jihad militant group fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in response. The latest violence began Friday when Israel launched a strike on a leader of the Islamic Jihad, and carried out a targeted strike on a second prominent leader of the militant group Saturday. Both were killed. Israel said it acted against the militant group because of concrete threats of an imminent attack.
Israel said Sunday that it killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in a crowded Gaza refugee camp. https://t.co/DcWXgPZ1lY
➤UKRAINE, RUSSIA TRADE ACCUSATIONS OF SHELLING NUCLEAR PLANT: Ukraine and Russia traded accusations yesterday of shelling the nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the largest plant in Europe, which came under fire late Saturday. Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator said Russian shelling damaged three radiation monitors around the storage facility for spent nuclear fuels, while Russia claimed Ukraine was responsible for the shelling. Russian forces have occupied the power station for months. The shelling came after Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently warned that the way the plant was being run and the fighting around it posed grave health and environmental threats.
➤FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE LARGE BLAZE AT OIL TANK FARM IN CUBA FOR SECOND DAY: Cuban firefighters battled a large fire at an oil tank farm for a second day Sunday, joined by specialized teams from Mexico and Venezuela. The fire in the province of Matanzas began Friday night when lightning hit a storage tank and spread to a second tank early Saturday, triggering a series of explosions. Authorities said that a body found at the site Saturday had been identified as a firefighter, but didn't say if he was one of a group of 17 firefighters that had gone missing while trying to battle the fire. Officials said it was still too dangerous to launch a search for the missing firefighters. There were 122 people injured, including five that were in critical condition and nearly 5,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding area.
➤BIDEN LEAVES WHITE HOUSE FOR FIRST TIME SINCE GETTING COVID: President Biden left the White House Sunday for the first time since he got Covid-19 last month, after he tested negative on both Saturday and Sunday following his rebound case. Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, wrote, "He will safety return to public engagement and presidential travel." Biden boarded the Marine One helicopter outside the White House, headed to Delaware to reunite with First Lady Jill Biden, where they were to spend the day in Rehoboth Beach. Biden told reporters, "I'm felling good." Biden first tested positive on July 21st and began isolating and taking the anti-viral drug Paxlovid as he dealt with minor symptoms. He tested negative on July 26th and 27th, but then tested positive again on July 30th with a rebound case, forcing him to isolate once more.
CNN's Brian Stelter says Hunter Biden scandal 'not just a right-wing media story,' may prevent Biden 2024 run https://t.co/SGibZ7H0Ad
➤MUSK NOW SAYING DEAL TO BUY TWITTER MAY GO FORWARD: Elon Musk is now saying he may go forward with his deal to buy Twitter after all if details on its actual user accounts as opposed to "spam bots" can be confirmed. Musk tweeted Saturday, "If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not." He also challenged Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to a, quote, "public debate about the Twitter bot percentage." The Tesla and SpaceX CEO agreed in April to buy Twitter for $44 billion, but has been trying to back out of the deal since last month, claiming Twitter misled him about how many real accounts there are on the social media platform. Twitter sued to force the deal to go through, and a trial is set to begin in October.
➤HUMAN REMAINS FOUND FOR FOURTH TIME IN LAKE MEAD AS LEVELS RECEDE: Human remains have been found in Lake Mead for a fourth time since May as its water levels recede to historic lows due to an unrelenting mega-drought. National Park Service officials said park rangers were called Saturday about skeletal remains that were found at the Swim Beach area of the lake that straddles the border of Nevada and Arizona. It's unclear how long the latest remains found have been in the lake, which was filled to just 27 percent of capacity as of mid-July. The previous remains discovered included a body that was found in a corroding barrel with a gunshot wound.
➤AR-15s BEING PUT IN EVERY SCHOOL IN N-C COUNTY: A North Carolina sheriff says he's having AR-15 semi-automatic rifles stored in every public school in his county to be prepared in case of a school shooting. Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood said he wants his deputies to be able to react quickly, saying, "I do not want to have to run back out to the car to grab an AR, because that's time lost." Harwood said the AR-15s -- which have become the weapon most commonly used by perpetrators in mass shootings -- will be locked in safes at the schools. He also said there will be other items in there, stating, "We've also got breaching tools to go into those safes. We've got extra magazines with ammo in those safes." While saying he believes keeping guns in schools is now necessary, Harwood said he hates that it's come to that.
🥫GROCERY DELIVERY BOOM FADES: Grocery delivery soared during the pandemic, as people wary of exposing themselves to the risk of getting Covid-19 while shopping at the supermarket turned to the services. According to market research company Brick Meets Click, Americans spent some $500 million on grocery delivery in August 2019, a typical month pre-pandemic. But by June 2020, three months into the pandemic, it had skyrocketed to $3.4 billion. But now the demand for grocery delivery is cooling as inflation has driven higher prices for food and other necessities, on top of the delivery fees and tips for delivery service. While some people are going with pickup instead, which is less expensive, others have returned to doing the shopping themselves. But it hasn't returned to pre-pandemic levels, with Americans having spent $2.5 billion on grocery delivery in June 2022, down 26 percent from 2020, but still well above what it was before the pandemic. David Bishop, a partner at Brick Meets Click, told AP he doesn't believe it will return to where it was, explaining, "I don’t see it moving all the way back to pre-Covid levels. That can has been opened up."
Beatriz Barros and Richard Wilk: Most of the super-rich are spewing way more than their share of greenhouse gases because of their private jets, superyachts, multiple houses and mobile lifestyles. - @NBCNewsTHINKhttps://t.co/Zm9o8WjmH0
➤ANNE HECHE IS IN ‘STABLE CONDITION’ FOLLOWING CAR CRASH: On Friday, Return to Paradise actress Anne Heche was hospitalized after crashing her car into a Los Angeles home. According to People, she suffered burns as a result of the accident and is currently intubated, but she is in “stable condition.” Lynne Bernstein, a neighbor in the area, said Heche’s car went "almost all the way through" the house, and "almost immediately" caught fire. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call at approximately 10:56 a.m. local time. 59 firefighters spent approximately 65 minutes putting out the fire and extracting Heche from her car. According to Bernstein, the woman who lived inside the home “was in shock,” as she noticed three men in the house before noticing Heche’s car. "I don't think she got what was going on. She said, 'What happened? What happened?'" Bernstein said. He added, "She was extremely fortunate. So were the dogs and her turtle."
Here’s the now mangled vehicle owned by actress Anne Heche being towed away after speeding and crashing into a Mar Vista home and sparking a fire. @CBSLApic.twitter.com/rRSqnM1YDt
After the news broke, many people took to social media to express support for the Volcano actress. Two of Heche’s exes, James Tupper and Thomas Jane, shared their “thoughts and prayers” for her as well.
🎥‘BULLET TRAIN’ ARRIVES AT DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE IN NO. 1 SPOT: Bullet Train pulled into the box office with a decent $30.1 million opening. The film received a B+ CinemaScore, and some expect it to make $100 million domestically. Deadline speculates that the pic wasn’t a “super train” because some fans think it’s “too talky” for an action film. Box Office Numbers from Friday through Sunday:
1. Bullet Train, $30.1 million (Pitt right) 2. DC League of Super-Pets, $11.2 million 3. Nope, $8.05 million 4. Thor: Love and Thunder, $7.6 million 5. Minions: Rise of Gru, $7.11 million 6. Top Gun: Maverick, $7 million 7. Where the Crawdads Sing, $5.65 million 8. Easter Sunday, $5.25 million 9. Elvis, $4 million 10. The Black Phone, $1.46 million
⚾ROSE PART OF 1980 PHILLIES TEAM HONORED SUNDAY, DISMISSES SEX MISCONDUCT QUESTIONS: Pete Rose was part of the 1980 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies team that was honored before the Phillies' game yesterday. It was Rose's first appearance on the field in Philadelphia since the Phillies scrapped plans to honor him in 2017 due to a woman’s claim she had a sexual relationship with Rose when she was a minor. Rose dismissed questions about that yesterday, telling a Philadelphia Inquirer female baseball writer, "It was 55 years ago, babe." The 81-year-old career hits leader received a standing ovation at Citizens Bank Park field, appearing there for the first time since he received a lifetime ban from MLB in 1989 for betting on Cincinnati Reds games from 1985 to 1987 while playing for and managing the team.
⚾EJECTED TWINS MANAGER BALDELLI BLASTS OVERTURNED CALL THAT GAVE BLUE JAYS 3-2 WIN: Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli blasted an overturned call in the 10th inning yesterday that gave the Toronto Blue Jays a 3-2 win and got him ejected for arguing the call. Toronto's Cavan Biggo hit a sacrifice fly with Whit Merrifield running from third base. Merrifield was originally called out at the plate trying to score the game-winning run, but the call was reversed after replay officials said Twins catcher Gary Sanchez interfered with Merrifield by not establishing a clear lane for him. Baldelli said after the game, "It's one of the worst moments I think we've seen of umpiring in any game I've ever been a part of in baseball, and I think it was pathetic what just played out."
Gary Sánchez was called for blocking the plate after review and Rocco Baldelli was LIVID
🏌BUHAI WINS WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN: South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai won the Women's British Open for her first major Sunday at Muirfield, getting the win in a playoff on the fourth hole against South Korea's Gee Chun. Buhai was forced into a playoff after letting a five-shot lead heading into the final round slip away, with both her and Chun finishing at 10-under 274. Hinako Shibuno of Japan finished one shot back in third.
🏈BROWNS' RB HUNT PRACTICES AFTER MISSING TWO, DEMANDING TRADE: Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt practiced on Sunday after demanding a trade when the team denied his request for a long-term contract extension and sitting out practice Friday and Saturday in protest. The 27-year-old Hunt, who was the NFL’s rushing leader in 2017, is in the final season of a two-year, $12 million extension signed in 2020.
⚾WHITE SOX'S ANDERSON'S SUSPENSION REDUCED TO TWO GAMES: Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson's three-game suspension was reduced to two games after he reached a settlement with the league this weekend. Anderson was suspended after his helmet made contact with umpire Nick Mahrley's cap during an argument about a strike call. Mahrley had just kicked Anderson out of the game when the shortstop approached him and made contact.
U.S. television networks and news publishers are feeling the effects of a slowdown in the advertising market, the latest indication that an ad-spending retrenchment previously flagged by giant technology companies is spreading, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., home of cable channels including CNN, TNT and the Food Network, on Thursday cut its outlook for this year and next in part because of a slowdown in advertising. In recent days, the owners of outlets including the CBS television network, the New York Times and USA Today all said their ad revenue was under pressure during the latest quarter.
“Given the less-favorable macro environment, we are seeing softer demand in the scatter market,” said Gunnar Wiedenfels, chief financial officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, referring to the period when TV ads are sold closer to air date.
The ad outlook has become increasingly dim in recent weeks in the midst of signs that rising inflation is beginning to affect consumer spending.
Irwin Gotlieb, the former chief executive officer of GroupM, the ad-buying company owned by WPP PLC, said he expects more marketers to cut back on ad spending in the wake of Walmart’s announcement. “When they hear a decline across the board at Walmart, it confirms their worst fears,” he said.
WSJ Graphic
Despite the slowdown, some still expect overall ad spending this year to be strong. GroupM said in June that it expects global ad sending to grow 8.4% to $837.5 billion, excluding U.S. political spending. In December, it forecast a 9.7% increase for the year.
Advertising generated $7.1 trillion in sales activity in the U.S. in 2020, according to a 2021 study conducted by IHS Markit for the Advertising Coalition, a group composed of media companies and national trade associations. The study, which takes into account the direct and indirect effects of advertising, found that every dollar spent on advertising in the U.S. in 2020 drove nearly $21 in sales activity.
Advertising is often among the first expenses cut by companies looking to trim spending in times of economic uncertainty, according to industry observers. When that happens, digital companies are often the first to be hit since marketers can turn off spending in real time.
Last week, Gannett Inc., the publisher of USA Today and a raft of local newspapers, posted a 8.7% drop in revenue from advertising and marketing services and cut its profit outlook for the year in part because of industrywide headwinds in digital advertising, as well as rising costs.
New York Times Co. on Wednesday posted its first decline in digital advertising revenue since 2020, due in part to the macroeconomic environment.
“We see both headwinds and tailwinds in advertising,” Paramount Chief Executive Bob Bakish said during a call with analysts after the results. He said the digital-advertising market and the scatter market are facing challenges, primarily because of supply-chain constraints affecting advertisers including car makers. “But these aren’t long-term issues,” he said.
About 69% of Americans think the US economy is getting worse, the highest since 2008, according to Bloomberg citing a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Three months before mid-term Congressional elections, only 37% said they approve of how President Joe Biden is handling the economic recovery, unchanged from June.
The gloom comes despite significant job growth and a rock-bottom unemployment rate, which has been offset by inflation running at the highest level in decades. The US economy has contracted for two quarters.
Just over one in three of those polled, or 34%, said they approve of Biden’s handling of gasoline prices. That’s risen by 7 percentage points since June as pump prices fall.
Ahead of the Nov. 8 elections, 75% of Republicans said they were enthusiastic about voting versus 68% of Democrats and 49% of independents.
BREAKING: More than two-thirds (69%) of Americans think the nation’s economy is getting worse — the highest that measure has reached since 2008, according to a new @ABC News/Ipsos poll. https://t.co/8PYB3e2ufs
Almost half said they would be more likely to support a candidate who would keep access to abortion legal. The number in favor of the opposing stance was 27%.
The poll for ABC News/This Week with George Stephanopoulos was conducted Aug. 5-6 among 665 adults. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
Cable news programs can hold incredible sway over the American public. As of early 2020, Nielsen estimates the average American adult watches nine and half hours of cable news on a weekly basis. While it’s no secret that certain channels lean one way or the other on the political spectrum, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania find three of the biggest became increasingly more polarized between 2010 and 2020.
Study authors analyzed a decade’s worth of news programs on Fox, MSNBC, and CNN in an attempt to measure mounting political bias on a granular scale (by the day, the week, and the hour). All three networks steadily became more polarized during that period, especially directly after the 2016 presidential election. These trends moved more or less in sync with one another; when one event caused Fox to move further to the political right, that same event usually pushed MSNBC and CNN to move to the left.
“There has always been this assumption that media bias is fairly fixed,” says study co-author Yphtach Lelkes, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, in a media release. “Just ‘Fox News is the right. And MSNBC is the left.’ But what we see is that it moves, and pretty quickly.”
The research team focused specifically on one particular form of media bias: visibility bias. This type of bias is straightforward. For example, if most of the guests on a new channel are liberal, then researchers deemed that channel as liberal. Study authors viewed and analyzed thousands of hours of CNN, Fox, and MSNBC to track who appeared on screen during various news programs on the three channels for a minimum of 10 hours total between January 2010 and August 2020.
They assigned each guest a media bias score based on financial contributions to political candidates and organizations according to Stanford University’s Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections (DIME).
“If a person donates to Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, they’re assigned a media bias score based on their financial contributions to political candidates and organizations considered more conservative,” Prof. Lelkes explains. “And if they donate to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, they’re more liberal. So when we identify people on screen, we can also identify their ideology.”
The research team believes these bias scores are compelling evidence that between 2010 and 2020 Fox moved much further to the political right, while CNN and MSNBC moved further to the left.
“For many years, Fox News was to the right of MSNBC and CNN,” Prof. Lelkes adds, “but they used to track each other. When Fox moved to the right, so did MSNBC and CNN. They all flowed together. After Trump came into office, they responded to events in the news by leaning away from each other and more strongly toward their respective ideologies.”
All in all, the results certainly don’t convey a positive picture of American politics. Viewers seem more content than ever to only hear what they already agree with, and news channels are happy to provide just that.
Gannett recorded a dismal second quarter financially, the company reported Thursday – important revenues sources down, costs up and a loss of $54 million on revenues of $749 million.
Rick Edmonds at Poynter.org reports strong cost reduction moves are on the way. Media division head Maribel Perez Wadsworth, in a note to staff, warned of impending layoffs. “In the coming days,” she wrote, “we will … be making necessary but painful reductions to staffing, eliminating some open positions and roles that will impact valued colleagues.”
CEO Mike Reed said in a conference call with analysts that the company’s long-term strategy of developing paid digital subscriptions and digital advertising remains sound. But he made no effort to sugarcoat what happened last quarter and is expected for the remainder of 2022.
Among the negative factor he cited:
Digital advertising fell below expectations as companies reduced their schedules. Programmatic advertising, priced according to digital traffic rather than subscriptions, was a particular trouble spot.
Both print circulation and print advertising were off more than expected. Reed said that, in effect, losses anticipated in future years have already been pushed forward into 2022. With consumers pinched, the company is seeing some customers dropping print because of how high the subscription price has become.
On the cost side, labor shortages and expenses are rising, making it increasingly difficult to home deliver print papers. The cost of newsprint is up 31% compared to a year ago. Overall costs showed a small increase year-to-year.
Inflationary pressures, economic uncertainty and a possible recession are all in prospect for the rest of the year so the short-term operating climate is not expected to improve.
Among positives, Reed cited continued growth in the number of paid digital-only subscriptions and the revenue they generate, both up 35% year-to-year. And Gannett’s Digital Marketing Services subsidiary continues to grow.
The company publishes USA Today and more than 200 regional dailies.
Football remains a big draw on cable TV, even as cord cutting becomes more popular, and the National Football League ranks as the most profitable sports league in the world. Yet, despite these strengths, a remarkable number of the NFL’s long-standing sponsorships and advertising deals have either ended or otherwise changed so far in 2022, according to Marketing Dive.Over a hundred years old, the NFL is a stalwart of sports marketing. However, in recent years it has faced a number of challenges, including scandals on numerous fronts and pandemic-induced complications that lead to declines in viewership. Still, at the start of 2022, it looked like the NFL could be headed for a banner year, with Super Bowl LVI averaging 112.3 million viewers — the big game’s largest audience in five years.
But the good times were short-lived. Over the course of just a few weeks in Q2 2022, Pizza Hut ended its relationship with the league after only a few years, with Little Caesars sweeping in to take its place. Anheuser-Busch InBev said it will remain the official beer and hard seltzer sponsor of the NFL, but will no longer retain its Super Bowl alcohol advertising monopoly, allowing for competitors such as Molson Coors to advertise during the game for the first time in 33 years. The development comes one year after Diageo was made the official spirits sponsor of the NFL, the first time Anheuser-Busch had shared NFL alcohol sponsorship with another company. Additionally, Pepsi stepped away from sponsoring the Super Bowl Half Time show after ten years, but will remain a close partner with the league.
“The movement of NFL sponsorships this year was definitely noticeable,” said Gretchen Walsh, chief client officer, McKinney, in an email to Marketing Dive. “It is likely brands with supply chain issues and/or COVID impact took a hard look at the value and the effectiveness of executing their legacy sponsorships.”
Beyond issues like supply chain and the pandemic, other factors impacting the perceived value of NFL sponsorships likely include viewer fragmentation and a larger cultural shift.
Value of a dollar
While Super Bowl LVI was the most viewed game since the New England Patriots won against the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 (which pulled in 113.7 million viewers), viewership among 18 to 49-year olds has been falling steadily since 2011. That year, 52.5 million people between the ages of 18 and 49 watched the Super Bowl, but by 2021, the number had fallen to 34.3 million.
The Super Bowl’s shrinking viewership could be interpreted to mean that football is losing popularity among the young. However, between 2017 and 2020, Sunday night viewership among this key demographic has remained relatively stable at 7.9 million, dipping to 6.4 million in 2020. The drop could be due to how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted sports, with many sports having their seasons at the same time, meaning more live sport options were available.
But viewer fragmentation has endured as an issue even as league seasons have returned to normal. Consumers simply have more options than they did in the past and big live sporting events are not always the cultural unifier they once were. And, with highlights and real-time updates at the fingertips of consumers, they don’t even have to tune into the game to feel involved or caught up.
How football games are structured may also be lending itself to viewer fragmentation. While the average football game lasts 3 hours and 12 minutes, the ball is only in play for an average of 11 minutes and the average play is only 4 seconds. On average, 20 commercial breaks are taken and over 100 ads shown, which may lead to viewers frequently checking their phones if not engaged.
Cox Media Group has announced the promotion of Jimmy Farrell as Vice President & Market Manager of Jacksonville Radio. Farrell will oversee all CMG Jacksonville stations, including WAPE, WOKV, WJGL, WEZI, and WXXJ.
James Farrell
Farrell joined CMG 19 years ago as an Account Executive in Orlando, launching an impressive career built on strong team development and driving revenue. His career continued to progress from Local Sales Manager at WWKA ‘K92 FM’ to General Sales Manager, and most recently as Director of Sales.
“This is an exciting time for CMG Radio, and I continue to be energized by our people,” said Rob Babin, EVP, CMG Radio. “Jimmy is an exceptional leader with a passion for the radio business, CMG, and the teams he leads.
He has a strong track record of leading sales teams and driving revenue at CMG Orlando and Jacksonville. I look forward to his impact in this new role.”
A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Farrell graduated from the University of Miami and received a Bachelor of Science in the School of Communication.
“CMG has given me the opportunity to work with the best and brightest in the business, and I’m truly honored to be appointed the next Vice President and General Manager of radio in Jacksonville,” said Farrell. “I look forward to these new challenges and the significant opportunities to come.”
WCAP 980 AM in Lowell, NH listening tuning in to hear the familiar sound of Teddy Panos’s voice during the drive-time morning show on 980 AM were in for a surprise on Friday. Panos had gone radio silent, quitting the station after more than 15 years as a personality on WCAP.
The Sun reports Gerry Nutter, who normally cohosts Saturday morning with Warren Shaw, is hosting the popular weekday show in Panos’s absence.
“There’s really no dramatic story, here,” Panos said by phone, as his kids could be heard playing in the background. “I think I’ve pretty much run out of things to say at this point. The story is ‘loudmouth shuts up after 15 years.’”
Panos started as a sports director before moving on to hosting the 6 to 10 a.m. “Merrimack Valley Radio in The Morning” show. Previously, he worked for WXPO-TV, Channel 50, an independent television station.
Station owner Sam Poulten insisted that Panos was just taking a much-needed break.
“Teddy has done a phenomenal job over the last 15 years, built up a terrific following and is literally the voice of WCAP,” Poulten said. “Even thinking about him off the air for any amount of time is quite a loss for me. And I’m hoping he’s going to be back sooner rather than later, but no pressure. I want him to do what he needs right now. He’s earned it. We’ve been friends for a long time. I’m giving him the space he needs.”
The station is locally owned and operated by Merrimack Valley Radio LLC, licensed by Poulten and a group of other local businesspeople. It broadcasts with 5,000 watts of power to the Merrimack Valley and southern New Hampshire.
Panos sounded both sure and wistful as he considered Poulten’s comments, saying that, “I’ve known Sam forever, and he’s been very good to me throughout the years,” and while he wouldn’t rule out returning to the station “at some point, under different circumstances” he said he didn’t plan on going back.
For now, Panos said he’s going to spend some time focusing on his fundraising and communications work for the Megan House Foundation, a long-term residential treatment home in Dracut for women between the ages of 18 to 25 who are recovering from addiction.
After almost 28-yeard, Jim Rondenelli has delivered his final newscast on Newsradio WIBX 950 AM. In a Facebook post last week, Rondenelli said his position was a "victim of 'restructuring'" at the Townsquare Media station,.
Jim Rondenelli
It's not yet apparent who or what else may be impacted by this "restructuring." CNYRadio.com reached out to Townsquare Utica/Rome GM Karen Carey for comment but has not heard back.
Rondenelli's been a staple of Utica-Rome radio news since 1982, when he started at the now-defunct WRUN 1150 AM. As deregulation paved the way for different AM/FM pairs to merge into bigger groups through the 1990s, Rondenelli eventually found himself at WIBX. At one point or another, he probably worked every shift on the station, from mornings to evenings, even filling-in to host the station's now-defunct "SportsWatch" program. He most recently served as News Director.
Rondenelli said after more than 40 years in radio, he will most likely focus his job search outside of the business.
AMC Networks, known for “The Walking Dead” and the critically acclaimed “Better Call Saul,” has named Christina Spade as its new chief executive, taking over for the New York entertainment company’s interim head, Matt Blank, reports The L-A Times.
Spade, whose appointment was announced Friday, joined the company in January 2021, serving as chief financial officer and chief operating officer. She previously held executive posts at Viacom and ViacomCBS, the precursors of what is now Paramount Global.
AMC Networks, which has an array of cable channels and streaming services including AMC, BBC America, Sundance TV and Acorn TV, has been run by Blank since September, after Ed Carroll stepped down after 25 years at the company. Blank, a cable industry veteran who oversaw the chief executive search, worked with Spade when both were at Paramount’s Showtime Networks.
Christina Spade
The change at the top comes as AMC Networks attempts to navigate the TV industry’s transition to streaming. The company has been adding subscribers to its streaming channels — reporting 10.8 million in its second quarter earnings, up from 7.4 million a year ago.
But its legacy cable business continues to face the pressure of cable cord-cutting and declining viewership.
The company’s second quarter revenues ($738 million) and earnings ($153.2 million) missed expectations. AMC’s shares were down 9% on Friday morning.
AMC Entertainment is expecting low single-digit revenue growth in 2022, and operating income is expected to be down 10% for the year due to increased investments in technology, content and marketing, the company said.
Spade was chief financial officer at CBS Corp. before its merger with Viacom. She retained her role there after the companies were combined. She spent 21 years in various roles at Showtime.
AMC Networks has frequently been mentioned as a potential acquisition candidate for a larger media company. But the company, controlled by Charles Dolan and his family, has continued to forge its own path with the development of niche streaming services to supplement its mature linear cable TV networks.
Many Americans have been broiling through an above-average summer, but if the Farmers' Almanac winter forecast is right, some parts of the nation are heading for a polar opposite experience this winter.
Fox News Digital reports their annual whimsical forecast is hinting at a particularly harsh winter across much of the North with "real shivers" that "might send people in the Great Lakes areas, Northeast and North Central regions hibernating."
In fact, their forecast map declares much of the upper Midwest a "Hibernation Zone" with a "glacial, snow-filled" winter head with temperatures forecast to drop as cold as -40 in the North Central states in mid-January which would be near record territory for some cities (such as Fargo, North Dakota) if such forecasts came to pass.
While temperatures wouldn't be that cold in the Northeast, the Almanac is predicting "significant shivers" there. Even in the Southeast, whose forecast isn't particularly snowy, is still looking at a "shivery, wet and slushy" winter, according to the Almanac.
As for the Southern Plains, expect the brunt of winter to come in January, with heavy snow predicted in the first week of 2023 in Texas and Oklahoma.
If shivering is not your thing, head west. The Almanac forecasts continued drier than normal conditions across the parched Southwest and Intermountain West while the Pacific Northwest is tabbed as "brisk" but with normal precipitation. That would make for a wet winter as "normal" winter is the wettest time of the year up there.
NOAA: Agree to disagree on winter forecast
The Farmers' Almanac's shiver-fest forecast is in conflict with NOAA's current winter forecast.
Which is predicting a greater-than-average chance of a warm winter across the Southwest, Southern Plains and the entire Eastern Seaboard.
On the other hand, it's the Pacific Northwest leaning toward another chilly winter.
A Windsor music radio pioneer remembered as the “girl with the golden ear” and credited with jumpstarting the careers of many superstars in the music industry could soon be commemorated locally with a bronze sculpture.
The Windsor Star reports City council on Monday will decide whether to approve $100,000 for a statue of Rosalie Trombley, legendary music director of famed Top 40 radio station CKLW, also known as The Big 8.
Designed and sculpted by Windsor artist Donna Mayne, the statue will depict a life-sized Trombley in bronze leaning against a monolith number ‘8’ carved in granite. It would be located within the Festival Plaza footprint and be ready for installation by April 2023.
“She broke barriers for women in the music industry that was dominated by men,” said Mayne, who also sculpted the downtown statue of abolitionist and Black newspaper publisher Mary Ann Shad that now sits at the corner of Ferry and Chatham Streets. “(Trombley) played a very historically significant role in our area.”
Trombley joined The Big 8 in 1968 as a switchboard operator and would eventually rise to the position of music director at the station. She was later among the organization’s top executives.
While it was a small Windsor-based station, The Big 8’s 50,000-watt signal reached other markets and metropolitan areas. By the early 1970s, CKLW was among the top 10 radio stations for North American listening audiences.
Through her programming choices, Trombley was responsible for boosting the careers of seminal musicians of the period, including The Guess Who, Bob Seger, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Gordon Lightfoot, and many more.
Trombley died shortly after, on Nov. 23, 2021, at the age of 82.
Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot described Trombley as an “integral builder of the music industry” who was “kind and encouraging” and “possessed the ears to determine which songs had that ‘hit’ factor.” He said he is personally grateful that Trombley played many of his records in high rotation.
“As a Canadian artist, Rosalie helped export my music to the world,” Lightfoot wrote. “For that reason, her accomplishments are culturally significant. The global success of Canadian recording artists to this day finds its roots in Rosalie’s endeavors.”
Dan Hill, another Canadian singer-songwriter who benefitted from Trombley’s work, wrote that his single “Growing Up” sold in excess of 10,000 copies in two weeks, mostly in Detroit, after Trombley added it to her “vaunted” playlist in 1976. Although she “could be tough” and only played Canadian singles that she “felt deserving” of her station’s airplay, Hill looked up to her as a mentor.
Former program director of CKLW and American entertainment executive Les Garland wrote that Trombley’s were the “best ears” of any music director he’s ever known.
Retired radio personality Charles "Chuck" Louis Benson, 89, of Elgin IL, died July 26, 2022.
Upon returning from Korea (1951-54), a buddy convinced Chuck to go check out a "quickie" radio school with him in downtown Chicago. Well, after one meeting with the microphone, the rest is history.
Chuck broke into the business during the 1950's rise of Rock and Roll music and Top 40 Radio. For 30+ years he entertained listeners around the country. He was heard on WHFB (Benton Harbor), KALL (Salt Lake City), KBOX (Dallas), KILT (Houston), WGR (Buffalo) and KSIR (Estes Park). Chuck spent most of his radio career in Chicago at WMAQ, WIND and WFYR. He worked alongside on-air greats like Clark Weber, Stu Collins, Dick Bartley, Kris Kridel, "Chicago" Eddie Schwartz and Kurt Russell, just to name a few. Chuck and Kurt Russell are one of the few non-newspaper celebrities whose picture hangs on The Wall of Fame at The Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Ave.
After leaving radio, Chuck had a successful 20 year voice-over career. He recorded hundreds of radio and TV commercials and industrial narrations for the likes of Lockheed Martin, Hewlett Packard and Jeppesen. He spent 18 years recording nearly 400 books for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, a program of The Library of Congress.
In 1996, Chuck received the Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Award for Fiction, to honor excellence in the narration of Talking Books, an award touted as the "Oscar" for the blind and visually impaired Americans. In 2000, Chuck won a Heartland Regional Emmy Award for narrating the documentary "Colorado's Historic Carousels".
After 20 years in Colorado and 5 in Arizona, Chuck finally retired in 2009.
➦In 1933...singer Joe Tex was born Joseph Arrington, Jr. in Baytown Texas. This soul and Disco singer-songwriter was most popular during the 1960s and 1970s leading the Joe Tex Band. His style of speaking over music, which he called “rap”, made him a predecessor of the modern style of music. His hits include I Gotcha, Hold What You’ve Got, Skinny Legs and All, and Ain’t Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman. He died following a heart attack Aug 13, 1982 just days after his 49th birthday.
Robin Quivers
➦In 1952...Robin Quivers, famous sidekick to Howard Stern, was born.
In 1979 after military service, Quivers returned to her hometown of Baltimore where she studied at the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland and worked in a hospital. She landed her first job in the radio industry with a newscasting position at WIOO 1000 AM in Carlisle, PA, followed by WCMB 1460 AM in nearby Harrisburg. She then moved back to Baltimore for a consumer reporter role at WFBR, where she also read newscasts with morning disc jockey Johnny Walker.
In March 1981, radio personality Howard Stern started his new morning program at WWDC in Washington, D.C.. He wanted an on-air newscaster to riff with him in the studio on the news and current affairs. That was when station program director Denise Oliver played Quivers a tape of Stern interviewing a prostitute on the air. She "had never heard anything like it...I just said, 'where do I sign? I’ll do anything just to meet this guy!'"
➦In 1952..WMCA 570 AM NYC banned singer Rosemary Clooney's latest hit 'Botch-A-Me.
➦In 1963..."Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen was released and some radio stations thought it contained obscene lyrics.
➦In 1966...WABC moved to 1330 Avenue of the Americas
➦In 1982...WNBC-AM, New York City began broadcasting in AM Stereo.
➦In 1986...legendary DJs, Bobby Ocean and Dr. Don Rose aired their last shows on KFRC 610 AM, San Francisco.
From 1973 until 1986, Dr. Don Rose (Born Donald Rosenberg July 5, 1934–March 30, 2005) was KFRC's morning air radio personality.
With earlier experience at WQXI 790 AM in Atlanta and WFIL 560 AM in Philadelphia, he was known for his one-liners and sound effects. One of Rose's characteristic "sound bite" mannerisms around this time period was to state the words "that's right" in a continuous fashion that was intended to sound "crazy", or funny, which also served to represent the overall morning zoo radio format, style and "feel" of his show. Rose revealed in a Risky Business 1980s television interview that he earned in excess of $300K a year, still incredible compensation by today's radio personality standards.
With Dr. Don as anchor, and a supporting cast that included Bobby Ocean, Rick Shaw, Dave Sholin, Harry Nelson, Bay Area Hall of Fame inductee Don Sainte-Johnn, "Marvelous" Mark McKay and John Mack Flanagan, KFRC was "Station of the Year" four times by Billboard Magazine. Rose was considered by many to be the king of radio in the Bay Area during the last decade of AM's musical dominance. KFRC program directors during this period included Michael Spears, Les Garland, Gerry Cagle and Mike Phillips.
KFRC was known for its award-winning news department. It covered Bay Area news stories with tight writing, use of natural sound, short sound bites, live reports. Some of the best news anchors and reporters worked at KFRC in the '70s and '80s including Jo Interrante, Dave Cooke, Paul Fredricks, John Winters, Vikki Liviakis, Robert McCormick, Dave MacQueen, Stephen Capen, Mike Sugerman, Ken Bastida, John Evans, Joanne Greene, Jane Dornacker, and reporter, anchor and later News Director William Abbott. Known for his unique, confident style, would end each report with the station's signature, "This is William Abbott, KFRC 20/20 News".
Among the disc jockeys at KFRC during the 1980s were, in addition to Ocean and Rose, Chuck Geiger, future AT&T Park public-address announcer Renel Brooks-Moon and future Los Angeles radio programmer Jack Silver, who would be the last voice heard when KFRC ended its Top 40 era. Technically, Don Sainte-Johnn was the last Air Personality on KFRC (with all respect to Programmer Jack Silver, who was a manager, not considered Air Talent for KFRC). Sainte-Johnn had been specifically hired for KFRC as an Air Personality.
With the decline of the Top 40 format by mid-decade, KFRC's programming was flipped at 6 AM on August 11, 1986, to an adult standards format, and was known as "Magic 61", while still broadcasting in stereo. The last song to be played before the change was "Lights" by Journey, which had also been used in KFRC's TV advertising. Today, 610 AM is home to KEAR, a non-commercial traditional Christian radio station. KEAR is the flagship station of Family Radio.
➦In 2002...New York's WNNY 1380 AM changed call letters to WLXE. Today 1380 AM is home to WKDM, an ethnic brokered radio station owned by Multicultural Broadcasting and airs programming in Mandarin Chinese.
➦In 2017...singer/songwriter/guitarist/actor Glen Campbell died at age 81, three years after moving into an Alzheimer’s long-term care home. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting his own music and comedy variety show on CBS television, from January 1969 through June 1972.
He released more than 70 albums in a career that spanned five decades, accumulating over 45 million record sales worldwide.
Dustin Hoffman is 86
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Nita Talbot is 92.
Actor Dustin Hoffman is 85.
Actor Connie Stevens is 84.
Country singer Phil Balsley of The Statler Brothers is 83.
Actor Larry Wilcox (“CHiPS”) is 75.
Actor Keith Carradine (“Madam Secretary”) is 73.
Drummer Anton Fig (“Late Show With David Letterman”) is 69.
Actor Donny Most (“Happy Days”) is 69.
Keyboardist Dennis Drew of 10,000 Maniacs is 65.
Actor-turned-investment banker Harry Crosby (“Friday the 13th”) is 64.
Lindsey Sloane is 45
News anchor Deborah Norville is 64.
Guitarist The Edge of U2 is 61.
Drummer Rikki Rockett of Poison is 61.
Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 60.
Singer Scott Stapp of Creed is 49.
Country singer Mark Wills is 49.
Guitarist Tom Linton of Jimmy Eat World is 47.
Singer J.C. Chasez of ’N Sync is 46.
Singer Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees is 46.
Actor Tawny Cypress (“Heroes”) is 46.
Singer Marsha Ambrosius (Floetry) is 45.
Actor Lindsay Sloane (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 45.
Actor Countess Vaughn (“The Parkers,” ″Moesha”) is 44.
Actor Michael Urie (“Ugly Betty”) is 42.
Actor Meagan Good (“Think Like A Man”) is 41.
Guitarist Eric Howk of Portugal. The Man is 41.
Actor Jackie Cruz (“Orange Is the New Black”) is 38.
Actor Ken Baumann (“The Secret Life of the American Teenager”) is 25.
Singer Shawn Mendes is 24.
Actor Bebe Wood (“The Real O’Neals”) is 21.
✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
Actress Fay Wray, who starred in the original King Kong as the woman taken up the Empire State Building by the big ape, died on this day in 2004. She was 96.
