Cumulus Media and TuneIn, the world’s leading live streaming audio service, announce today that they have renewed and expanded their existing content partnership in a new agreement that adds 325 popular podcasts from the Cumulus Podcast Network to the TuneIn platform, which reaches an audience of over 75 million active users each month. In addition to the podcasts, TuneIn will continue to make Cumulus Media’s high-quality local sports, news, talk and entertainment programming across 405 owned-and-operated radio stations in 86 U.S. markets available to TuneIn listeners. Under the terms of the deal, audio streams of Cumulus Media stations and podcasts across the country will be available 24/7 through TuneIn, with 325 popular podcasts now available through TuneIn including: The Ticket Top 10 (Sports); Second Date Update (Comedy); The Chris Plante Show Podcast (News/Talk); The Michigan Insider (Sports) and Murph & Mac (Sports).
Brian Philips
Brian Philips, Chief Content Officer, Cumulus Media, said: “This is an ideal time to expand our relationship with TuneIn. Listeners win as we offer more ways for them to discover Cumulus’ premium audio content, custom- delivered on their terms and timelines. This partnership advances our audio-first content strategy, as we deliver our best shows and podcasts to TuneIn’s 75 million active monthly users.”
“TuneIn aims to be anywhere listening is occurring. In announcing this expanded partnership with Cumulus Media, TuneIn listeners not only have access to Cumulus’ 405 local stations in markets across the U.S., but also 325 of Cumulus Podcast Network’s most popular podcasts,” said Richard Stern, CEO of TuneIn. “This partnership with the premier audio-first media company is a milestone for TuneIn and we are looking forward to building this relationship and giving our listeners the best listening experience.”
Globally, TuneIn can be accessed in 100+ countries and can be found across 200 different major platforms and devices. TuneIn partnerships in the voice assistant space include Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung Bixby and Cortana, as well as key integrations with Sonos, Bose, and Tesla. Go to https://tunein.com/get- tunein/ to learn more.
Cumulus Media announces that it has promoted James Kurdziel to Vice President of Classic Rock.
Kurdziel will continue in his roles as Program Director for Cumulus Minneapolis Classic Rock station KQRS-FM.
James Kurdziel
Kurdziel succeeds Wade Linder as Vice President of Classic Rock and will work collaboratively with Troy Hanson, Vice President of Rock for Cumulus Media. Linder will continue to serve as Program Director for WLS-FM in Chicago, Cumulus Media’s biggest Classic Hits station. Linder will also handle Special Projects for the Cumulus Corporate Programming team.
Kurdziel has enjoyed fast success in the programming of a Cumulus Classic Rock flagship, KQRS Minneapolis. Before his 2020 arrival in the Twin Cities, Kurdziel programmed acclaimed Cumulus Alternative FM, The Edge/WEDG-FM in Buffalo, NY.
Brian Philips, Chief Content Officer, Cumulus Media, said: “James has met the challenge of refining, and redefining, the elements of Classic Rock. He’s helping to rewrite the rules. He balances a keen respect for heritage with fresh thinking and irreverence. Kurdziel has quickly become one of the new guiding voices in Cumulus programming.”
Kurdziel said: "The work we do now will provide a roadmap for the next several years and the future of Classic Rock and our talent. It's a great challenge to our creativity and imagination. I'm excited to show what we can do and I'm grateful for this opportunity."
iHeartMedia Boston’s WXKS 107.9 FM Kiss 108, “Boston’s #1 Hit Music Station”, announced today that long-time Kiss 108 on-air host and Assistant Program Director/Music Director Mikey V will join forces with his brother Frankie V and newcomer, Gianna Gravalese for an appropriately named multiplatform show, “Mikey V & Frankie V, The VBros.”
The new show will broadcast on Kiss 108 weekdays from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. In addition, the show can be streamed as a podcast on iHeartRadio, the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are available, with new episodes airing every weekday.
“Mikey V & Frankie V, The VBros” is a natural progression of the show that Mikey V had been doing. In recent months, his brother Frankie, former Kiss 108 on-air talent and currently on multiple iHeartRadio stations, has joined Mikey to develop an exciting new program that has received overwhelmingly positive feedback since the experiment began. This move is the recognition of the show that has been in development for months.
Mikey and Frankie were born and raised in the MetroWest city of Framingham, MA. Both have been on-air on Kiss 108 during their careers. Frankie, the older brother, has since spread his wings to the west coast with shows on Channel 93.3 in San Diego, KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, Kiss 107.9 in Sacramento and many other iHeartRadio stations across the country. Frankie will continue to co-host his successful morning show in San Diego. Mikey has made career stops in Ithaca, Indianapolis, and Detroit before coming home. He has been on-air on Kiss 108 since 2013, hosting nights, now PM Drive, and can be heard on other iHeartRadio stations across the country. Mikey is also the Assistant Program Director and Music Director of Kiss 108.
Newcomer Gianna Gravalese adds the female perspective and produces the program; Gianna is another local talent born and raised in Revere, MA. In addition to her role with The VBros, Gianna is an on-camera reporter for “Dirty Water TV,” a Boston-based nightlife cable program on NESN.
“This team has found the perfect combination of entertaining conversation and great music that resonates with the Kiss 108 listeners,” said Dylan Sprague, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Boston. “We’re excited to hear what lies ahead for this show.”
Mikey V added, “This is the type of show that I’ve wanted to host since I first started working in radio. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it’s unpredictable. It’s like a morning show in the afternoon. Best of all, I get to do it with my big bro and remind him daily that he is the older brother!”
“If Mikey tells you this was his idea, don’t believe him,” said Frankie V. “This was my idea from the start. He’s been stealing my game since he was born. I love my brother, but even though I am the older one, I look younger and if you call us twins, he will get mad. So please do it! Haha!”
Canadian police said Monday that one of the two suspects in the killing of 10 people in a series of stabbings Sunday was found dead. They said that 31-year-old Damien Sanderson's injuries were not self-inflicted, and that the other suspect, his 30-year-old brother Myles Sanderson, may be injured and is still at large. Eighteen people were also injured in the stabbings that began around 5:30 a.m. local time Sunday in the province of Saskatchewan. Victims, both dead and injured, were found at 13 separate locations at the James Smith Cree Nation Indigeneous community and the nearby town of Weldon. Police alleged the suspects targeted some of the victims while others appeared to have been chosen at random. They didn't give a motive for the stabbings, but a senior Indigenous leader, the chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, suggested they could be drug-related.
➤UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR PLANT GOES OFFLINE AFTER FIRE CAUSED BY SHELLING: The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine that's in the middle of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, leading to escalating concerns about a possible radioactive disaster, went off Ukraine's electricity grid Monday because of a fire caused by shelling.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said it was told by Ukrainian authorities that the last transmission line was disconnected in order to put out a fire, adding, "The line itself is not damaged, and it will be reconnected once the fire is extinguished." Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of attacking the plant, which Russian forces took over soon after the invasion, but is still operated by Ukrainian staff. The developments came days after IAEA inspectors arrived at the plant to assess the situation there amid the heightened fears, and a day ahead of their report being due to the U.N. Security Council today. Two IAEA experts were left at the plant.
➤BIDEN SEEKS TO SEPARATE 'MAINSTREAM REPUBLICANS' FROM 'EXTREME MAGA' 'TRUMPIES': At a Labor Day event Monday in Wisconsin, President Biden again sought to separate what he called "mainstream Republicans" from those he cast as "extreme MAGA" and "Trumpies," after his prime time speech last Thursday in which he said there's a threat to America's democracy from the, quote, "extreme ideology" of former President Donald Trump and his followers. That speech had drawn a blistering response from Republicans who accused Biden of trying to divide the country, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy charging the president was choosing to, quote, "divide, demean and disparage his fellow Americans."
Biden gives MAGA Republicans a new name - 'Trumpies' - and calls heckler an 'idiot' who is 'destroying democracy' https://t.co/h20uxdiptd
Biden said yesterday at Milwaukee Laborfest, "I want to be very clear up front: Not every Republican is a MAGA Republican. Not every Republican embraces that extreme ideology. I know because I’ve been able to work with mainstream Republicans in my whole career." But he continued, "The extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress have chosen to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division." He also referred to them as "Trumpies," and said that Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who's running for re-election, is one of them.
Biden's student loan handout 'blowing up in his face', top economist says https://t.co/HcJ2g4apKU
➤JUDGE GRANTS TRUMP'S REQUEST FOR SPECIAL MASTER FOR MAR-A-LAGO DOCS: A federal judge yesterday granted former President Donald Trump's request for a special master to review documents retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate early last month when the FBI executed a search warrant. The order also temporarily stopped the Justice Department from using the government records for their investigation into the presence of the documents, including some that were top-secret, at Mar-a-Lago. However, a separate assessment by the U.S. intelligence community of the risk posed by that apparent mishandling of the classified records will be allowed to continue. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's decision means an outside legal expert will review the documents to remove any that might be personal or protected by claims of attorney-client privilege or executive privilege. The Justice Department had objected, saying a special master wasn't necessary since a review had already been done to look for any potentially privileged documents. It also argued Trump wasn't entitled to the return of any of the records since he's no longer president and therefore the documents don't belong to him, and that personal items taken were mixed in with classified information, giving them potential evidentiary value. The Justice Department didn't say if it would appeal.
➤POLL: AMERICANS INCRESINGLY CONCERNED ABOUT POLITICAL VIOLENCE: Americans are increasingly concerned about political violence, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll, with nearly two-thirds, 64 percent, believing there will be an increase in the coming years, up from 57 percent who felt that way last December and 51 percent in January 2021, a substantial increase in a relatively short period of time. At the same time, an overwhelming 86 percent say violence is always unacceptable, with no difference between parties. But the concern about political violence is tied to a view of growing divisions in the country, with 80 percent believing the U.S. is more divided now than it was during their parents' generation. The poll asked how Republicans and Democrats see members of the other party. About half from each, 49 percent of Republicans and 47 percent of Democrats, see members of the other party as enemies, with a slight majority, 51 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Democrats, instead seeing them as political opponents, and therefore presumably able to work out difference through our political system. Looking ahead, a majority of 54 percent believe the U.S. will be less of a democracy a generation from now than it is today. But while just one-third are optimistic Americans can come together and work out their differences, younger people are much more optimistic about it.
Biden ripped for saying 'MAGA proposals are a threat to the very soul of this country' https://t.co/XuxAgX6IVR
➤LIZ TRUSS TO BE NEW BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Liz Truss will become Britain's new prime minister, after the Conservative Party announced yesterday that she'd been elected as their new leader. The 47-year-old Truss, who's currently foreign secretary, beat former Treasury head Rishi Sunak in a vote by some 170,000 dues-paying members of the Conservative Party. She will take over as prime minister today. Truss is succeeding Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who announced on July 7th that he would be stepping down, forced to resign after a series of ethics scandals. Under Britain’s parliamentary system, the Conservative Party, which Johnson led, was allowed to hold an internal election to select a new party leader and prime minister without holding a country-wide general election.
➤COAST GUARD SUSPENDS SEARCH FOR NINE MISSING AFTER FLOATPLANE CRASH: The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search Monday afternoon for nine people who were missing after a floatplane crash Sunday in Puget Sound northwest of Seattle. The body of a 10th person was recovered after the crash was reported Sunday afternoon. The Northwest Seaplanes flight left Friday Harbor, a popular tourist destination in the San Juan Islands, and was headed to Renton Municipal Airport. The plane went down about halfway through the flight, with witnesses reporting seeing it nosedive into the water. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to investigate.
➤ISRAELI MILITARY...AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST LIKELY KILLED BY SOLDIER: The Israeli military said Monday that there was a, quote, "high probability" that Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was mistakenly killed by an Israeli soldier, as it released the results of its investigation into the deadly May 11th shooting during a raid in the occupied West Bank. However, it said no one would be punished for the shooting. A senior military official told reporters there was a, quote, "very high likelihood" that Abu Akleh was mistakenly shot by an Israeli soldier in an armored vehicle who thought he was aiming at a militant. The military initially clamed Abu Akleh, who was covering the raid, might have been killed by Palestinian gunmen during a battle with Israel troops. Palestinian officials and Abu Akleh’s family accused the Israeli army of evading responsibility for her killing, and Al Jazeera’s local bureau chief said the report was, quote, "clearly an attempt to circumvent the opening of a criminal investigation."
A wildfire raging in Northern California took a tragic turn as two bodies were recovered after the blaze swept into a small town, authorities said. https://t.co/T1rUkjeDDM
➤HILLARY CLINTON: 'SUGGESTIVE' UPSKIRT PHOTOS LED HER TO START WEARING PANTSUITS: Hillary Clinton said in an interview aired Sunday that she started wearing her signature pantsuits after upskirt photos were taken of her while she was first lady. The former secretary of state said on CBS Sunday Morning that it happened during a state visit to Brazil in 1995, with photographers shooting her from below while she was wearing a skirt. She said, "I was sitting on a couch and the press was let in. There were a bunch of them shooting up." Some of the photos, in which Clinton's underwear appeared to be visible, were later used in ads for a Brazilian lingerie brand. Clinton continued, "All of a sudden the White House gets alerted to these billboards that show me sitting down -- I thought my legs were together -- but the way it's shot, it's sort of suggestive. And then I also began to have the experience of having photographers all the time. I'd be on a stage, I'd be climbing stairs -- and they'd be below me. I just couldn't deal with it, so I started wearing pants."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a nation-leading measure giving more than a half-million fast food workers more power and protections, despite the objections of restaurant owners who warned it would drive up consumers' costs. https://t.co/Eg13v99O7G
➤CANADIAN TIKTOK INFLUENCER DIES IN FIRST SOLO SKYDIVING JUMP: A 21-year-old Canadian TikTok influencer fell to her death during her first solo skydiving jump late last month, according to reports. College student Tanya Pardazi, who had more than 100,000 TikTok follwers, died on August 27th at Skydive Toronto, where she had completed a course before her first jump, CTV News Toronto reported, citing a friend. Skydive Toronto confirmed a 21-year-old's death in a Facebook statement that didn't identify Pardazi by name. It said the skydiver, quote, "released a quickly rotating main parachute at a low altitude without the time/altitude required for the reserve parachute to inflate." Skydive Toronto said it's working with police as they investigate.
🎾AMERICAN TIAFOE UPSETS NADAL IN U.S. OPEN FOURTH ROUND: Number 2 Rafael Nadal was upset by 22nd-seeded American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in their U.S. Open fourth round match yesterday to reach just the second major quarterfinal of his career. On the women's side, top-seeded Iga Swiatek beat unseeded Jule Neiemeier to make it into the quarterfinals, coming back for the 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 win after dropping the first set. Other winners included Number 8 Jessica Pegula, the highest-ranked U.S. woman, and Andrey Rublev.
⚾YANKEES' JUDGE HITS MLB-LEADING 54TH HOMER: The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge hit his MLB-leading 54th home run in the Yankees' 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins yesterday, 18 ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber. Judge has homered in three straight games and five of his last seven, and his blistering pace has him on pace to hit 65 home runs this season, four more than Roger Maris' American League record set in 1961.
🏈TRUBISKY IS STEELERS STARTING QUARTERBACK: It's now official that Mitch Trubisky will be the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting quarterback for the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, with him listed as the first-string quarterback on the team's first official depth chart yesterday. He got the job over first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett and longtime Steelers backup Mason Rudolph. Earlier in the day, Trubisky, a veteran signed to a two-year, $14.2 million contract in free agency, was voted one of five team captains by his teammates.
🏈JETS COACH SALEH SAYS 'POSSIBLE' QB WILSON STARTS GAME 1: The New York Jets said Monday that quarterback Zach Wilson worked out for the first time since having arthroscopic knee surgery on August 16th for a torn meniscus, and head coach Robert Saleh said, quote, "it's possible" that he could start Game 1 Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Saleh stated, "Looked good, felt good. . . . we'll have an answer for everybody on Wednesday." However, ESPN said the "realistic outcome" is that Wilson will have at least another week to recover, and backup Joe Flacco will start Sunday.
🏈HARBAUGH: PLAYERS SHOULD GET REVENUE SHARE FROM EXPANDED CFP: Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that players should get a share of the revenue generated by the expanded College Football Playoff. Speaking at his weekly news conference, Harbaugh said, "I do believe the players should receive a revenue share from the massive TV deals that have been worked out." A plan to expand the CFP from the current four teams to 12 was approved Friday, and could began as soon as 2024.
CNN parted ways with veteran White House correspondent John Harwood on Friday in what network insiders viewed as the latest evidence of a shift to a less politically charged tone under new leader Chris Licht, reports The Washington Post.
Harwood, a longtime Wall Street Journal reporter, joined the network in January 2020 after working as CNBC’s chief Washington correspondent from 2006 to 2019. According to two people with knowledge of the situation, Harwood still had time remaining on his CNN contract, which suggests that network brass decided to end his tenure prematurely.
As a reporter who often provided left-leaning political analysis, Harwood was a regular presence on the network’s airwaves who was “clearly in-demand by the shows,” said one surprised CNN insider.
His exit follows the the abroup departure of CNN's chief media corresenpondent Brian Stelter, host of the weekly media news show “Reliable Sources,” which had aired for three decades until it was canceled last month. Like Harwood, Stelter had time remaining on his contract. Another longtime CNN commentator, legal-affairs pundit Jeffrey Toobin, announced his departure on Aug. 12.
John Harwood
Several current and former CNN employees who spoke with The Washington Post — most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly — are interpreting the sudden exodus as evidence that Licht, who joined the network as chairman and CEO in May, is starting his tenure by casting out voices that had often been critical of former president Donald Trump and his allies, in an effort to present a new, more ideologically neutral CNN. That aligns with a vision repeatedly expressed by David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery.
“People are freaked out,” said one CNN journalist. “It almost feels like there’s a pattern. Is there a purge going on? They seem to be sending a message: ‘Watch what you say. Watch what you do.’ ”
Licht has provided little guidance publicly about a new mission for CNN, leaving some employees feeling unmoored. “Longtime CNN personalities are disappearing, and the viewers don’t know why,” another CNN insider said, noting that Licht has not hired many new voices to replace them.
Harwood’s vocal commentary set him apart from many of his CNN peers. In his final reporting appearance Friday morning, Harwood called Trump a “dishonest demagogue” when discussing President Biden’s address from Philadelphia the previous night. Harwood added that the “core point” of Biden’s speech, which asserted that Trump and his supporters present a threat to democracy, “is true.”
Licht has told CNN staff that he hopes to see more Republican politicians making guest appearances. He visited Capitol Hill in July and held meetings with key Democrats and Republicans.
Former President Trump on Sunday accused Fox News of pushing a Democratic agenda while offering to help rival network CNN become a “gold mine” by going “Conservative.” reports The Hill.
Trump, a regular cable news watcher, often appeared on and praised Fox News during his time in the White House, but the dynamic between the former president and the network has shifted in recent months.
The former president in Sunday's day’s post hen mentioned CNN, a rival to Fox that Trump has long described as fake news.
“If ‘low ratings’ CNN ever went Conservative, they would be an absolute gold mine, and I would help them do so,” Trump wrote.
Newly minted CNN President Chris Licht has promised the network will renew its commitment to objectivity and fairness after accusations from the right about the network’s partisan slant and sensationalism.
In his Sunday post, Trump specifically lashed out at Fox News contributor Karl Rove, who has criticized Trump during recent appearances.
Rove, who was a senior adviser to former President George W. Bush, has criticized Trump over his handling of classified information in the wake of the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, saying he had “no legal authority” to hold on to presidential records.
CNN correspondent Sara Sidner recognized the Hunter Biden scandal in a Twitter thread on Sunday, arguing that investigating Biden’s business dealings "shouldn’t be a partisan issue."
Fox News Digital reports the reporter stated that "legitimate questions" about President Joe Biden’s son, and the FBI’s investigation into him, "should be asked" even though the younger Biden is not an elected official.
The mere fact that Sidner mentioned the Hunter Biden scandal saga enraged many liberals on Twitter, who slammed her post and wondered if this was yet another sign that CNN had gone off the rails ever since new management proposed turning the network away from overt partisan bias.
There are serious questions that should be asked about Hunter Biden. H’s not an elected official but legitimate questions should be asked and answered about his former business dealings and how it was handled by the FBI. This should’nt be a partisan issue.https://t.co/C37oe1v1Rg
Sidner made her Monday morning observation by sharing a Yahoo News article detailing Hunter Biden’s alleged shady business relationship with Chinese billionaire Ye Jianming and his "international fixer," Patrick Ho, who was being investigated by the FBI in 2017 for a "global bribery scheme" that "appeared to advance Chinese government interests."
Biden administration officials and those in the president’s camp have long cast materials that came from the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden as disinformation, but intelligence community officials have said, as far back as October 2020, that neither the laptop nor materials on it are part of any sort of disinformation campaign.
Biden administration officials and those in the president’s camp have long cast materials that came from the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden (shown) as disinformation, but intelligence community officials have said, as far back as October 2020, that neither the laptop nor materials on it are part of any sort of disinformation campaign.
The article detailed how evidence of this relationship and huge monetary exchanges between the two parties, which also included the president’s brother, James Biden, could be found in emails on Hunter Biden’s now-infamous laptop.
The piece claimed that this evidence could associate Biden with a Chinese "counterintelligence threat" to the country.
"But the depth and breadth of the Bidens’ financial ties with Ho and Ye raise new questions as to whether they were targets of a Chinese influence operation that, separate and apart from an ongoing criminal probe into Hunter Biden for alleged tax fraud and potentially foreign lobbying violations, represents a counterintelligence threat," Yahoo News reported.
The ad industry’s downturn is continuing to ripple through related industries, affecting even giants like The Washington Post. The storied paper’s CEO, Fred Ryan, has floated implementing hiring freezes or laying off as many as 100 employees as subscriber growth and ad revenues begin to drag, according to eMarketer.
By the numbers: The Washington Post had a boost in subscriptions and revenues after its acquisition by Jeff Bezos in 2013, and again during the Trump administration. But now, it’s having trouble getting users to stay on.
The Times reports that while the Post had about 3 million subscribers at the end of 2020, that number has since decreased.
Internal documents also revealed that ad revenues fell 15% year over year to approximately $70 million (compared with a 2.4% drop for the Times).
The Post pushed back on the Times’ reporting, saying it planned to add up to 150 positions and was working to reach 5 million subscribers by 2025.
Publishing feels the ad downturn: The already embattled publishing industry has been hit hard by the ad downturn, and the Post news is the latest in a long string of layoffs and closures.
Earlier this summer, Recurrent Ventures shut down Mel Magazine and laid off its staff of around 15 employees just one year after acquiring it. That was followed by the layoff of about 39 employees at Vox, where CEO Jim Bankoff cited the ad downturn and hinted at another possible round of job cuts later this year.
Over the last month, Gannett laid off 400 employees across dozens of publications and closed an additional 400 open positions in one of the largest media layoffs of the year, per Poynter.
Layoffs and ad revenue wells drying up also color some recent publishing M&A. Axios was recently purchased by investor Cox Enterprises for $525 million—perhaps its previous owners sensed turbulent times and decided to cash out.
The future of ad-dependent work: Publishing joins several industries feeling the burn of the ad downturn, from tech giants like Meta to ad agencies themselves.
eMarketer noted that layoffs have hit advertising at every stage of the funnel, from indie agencies like The Many to social media marketing firms like Hootsuite, which laid off 400 employees in July.
But still, ad industry jobs are growing and industry employment is higher than it was just before the pandemic. Advertising itself is stabilizing and readjusting its focus after a year of record spending, but the same isn’t true for publishing.
Media jobs have been shrinking for years before the current downturn, and even alternative business models that were hailed as the new era of digital publishing like Substack are starting to reel in spending.
The big takeaway: Publishing is facing a bleak future. Ad revenues are dwindling in part because of the current spending downturn but also because of drastic changes to the ad tracking landscape that make banner and programmatic ads less valuable.
Subscriptions aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution, either. Consumers are starting to cancel subscriptions to save money, and only those that provide a broad range of content or services will survive.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will discontinue its daily print edition and go to a weekend print edition, but it will continue its digital news operation seven days a week, according to The Saporta Report citing interviews with a half dozen people close to the newspaper.
The time frame to implement the discontinuation of the daily print edition has not yet been decided, but sources say it likely would happen sometime in 2023 — most likely within a year from now.
Senior editors were told of the decision during a zoom meeting on Sept. 1. The meeting was led by Kevin Riley, editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Shawn McIntosh, the newspaper’s managing editor.
During the meeting, the editors were told there were no immediate plans to lay off newsroom employees, according to people familiar with the meeting. All newsroom employees also have been sent an email inviting them to an “in-person” staff meeting on Sept. 8 at 11 a.m.
In a brief telephone interview on Sept. 1, Riley did not confirm the decision. When asked if the AJC had decided to discontinue the print edition six days a week and only have a Sunday print edition within the next year, Riley answered: “No such decision has been made.”
Newsroom employees have been witnessing the shift to a “digital-first policy.” The AJC sold its printing press and contracted with another newspaper company to print its paper, but that meant daily deadlines were pushed from 4 to 6 p.m., which meant the morning newspaper did not include any breaking news from the night before, including sports scores. Readers began to rely on the digital news product to get the latest news.
In an AJC story in 2009, the newspaper announced a steep drop in its daily and Sunday circulation because of a decision to reduce its distribution area from 74 counties to 20 counties. At the time, the Sunday circulation was 405,549, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. And daily circulation had dropped to 214,303. Those numbers meant that the AJC “fell out of the top 25 newspapers for daily circulation.”
UK publishing giant Reach is considering a plan to expand The Mirror and Daily Express websites into the US market by employing more than 100 staff across the pond.
Press Gazette reports the proposal, which would involve the launch of .com versions of mirror.co.uk and express.co.uk, was discussed by managers at a meeting on Thursday.
The project has not yet been given the go-ahead and it is possible that Reach does not move forward with the plan or does so with a smaller staffing than is currently proposed.
If Reach goes ahead with its proposal, it has been mooted that it could involve as many as 60 journalists on the Mirror in the US and a further 60 at the Express, with somewhere between 120 and 150 in total according to a source.
Their duties would include covering the overnight hours in the UK and they would have their own traffic targets, chasing The Sun in particular.
Reach’s US ambitions have likely been inspired by the successes of Mail Online and The Sun in America.
The Sun launched its US website, with new content aimed at US audiences as well as bolstering its existing royal and entertainment coverage that was already popular in America, in 2020 with an initial team of about a dozen staff in New York.
The-sun.com is now the 29th biggest English-language news website in the US, according to Press Gazette’s latest monthly ranking, with 41.1 million visits in July following growth of 78% year-on-year – making it the second fastest-growing site in our top 50.
Mail Online, which also has a heavy focus on celebrity news, is well-established in the US and has had the Dailymail.com domain since 2014. It was the tenth biggest news site in July with 115.7 million visits – the second biggest UK site in the US behind the BBC.
Police release images of suspect in reporter’s slaying
Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, one of Nevada’s most accomplished and trusted journalists, was found dead with stab wounds outside his home Saturday morning.
The Review-Journal reports German, whose work in Las Vegas spanned more than three decades, made a career of breaking big stories about everything from organized crime and government malfeasance to political scandals and the Oct. 1 mass shooting.
Jeff German
“The Review-Journal family is devastated to lose Jeff,” Executive Editor Glenn Cook said. “He was the gold standard of the news business. It’s hard to imagine what Las Vegas would be like today without his many years of shining a bright light on dark places.”
Las Vegas police said Sunday morning the homicide investigation is a top priority for the department.
“LVMPD enacted its major case protocol Saturday in the homicide investigation,” the department said. “This brings together a variety of resources to maximize the investigative effort and apply a sense of urgency to the apprehension of the suspect.”
Police responded around 10:30 a.m. Saturday after a person called 911 saying a neighbor was dead on the side of the victim’s house. Police found German, 69, with stab wounds outside of his home. Police believe he was in an altercation with another person on Friday in the late morning that led to him being stabbed.
Koren said the stabbing is believed to be an isolated incident and that there is no threat to the public. Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said Sunday afternoon the county coroner’s office determined German died “from multiple sharp force injuries.” The manner of death is homicide.
Cook said German had not communicated any concerns about his personal safety or any threats made against him to anyone in the Review-Journal’s leadership.
German joined the Review-Journal in 2010 after more than two decades at the Las Vegas Sun, where he was a columnist and reporter who covered courts, politics, labor, government and organized crime. Former Sun reporter and author Cathy Scott said Sunday German labored hard to cover the city and its happenings.
A morning news anchor in Oklahoma is in the hospital after she suffered what her doctors called the “beginnings of a stroke” live on the air over the weekend, reports Mediaite.
Julie Chin of Tulsa's NBC affiliate KJRH was reporting on NASA’s now-canceled Artemis I launch at 8:45 a.m. CT Saturday morning. She became visibly confused and was unable to read the words on the teleprompter.
In spite of multiple attempts to start over and continue the report, Chin knew something was not right.
“I’m sorry, something is going on with me this morning and I apologize to everybody,” she said. “Let’s just go ahead and send it on to meteorologist Annie Brown.
Brown took over and finished the newscast. Chin did not return to air.
On Sunday night, the veteran Tulsa anchor updated her followers on the situation and apologized.
“I’m so glad to tell you I’m OK,” she wrote on Facebook. “The past few days are still a little bit of a mystery, but my doctors believe I had the beginnings of a stroke live on the air Saturday morning. Some of you witnessed it firsthand, and I’m so sorry that happened.”
Former Bell Media radio host Jamil Jivani is taking the company to court, saying that he was fired for not subscribing to certain political or social views on racial identity and that he was not “woke” enough, reports The Epoch Times.
“Many of you have heard about what transpired when Bell Media fired me in January. Well, now it’s time for them to answer for their racism,” Jivani said in a statement released on his Substack on Sept. 2.
The 34-year-old Oshawa, Ontario, lawyer and author first joined Bell Media as an independent contractor in July 2020 to host a show that focused on issues surrounding the Black Lives Matter social movement, said a statement of claim filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. In September that year, Jivani signed a contract to do a nightly show on Bell’s iHeartRadio, saying that he was “excited” to bring on a variety of guests from the Black community representing a diversity of views. In January 2021, Jivani entered into a full-time employment contract with Bell Media, with the company saying the host was “poised to have a long career with the company.”
He was Bell’s only full-time black radio host in the talk radio market, with his program The Jamil Jivani Show beginning airing on Feb. 3, 2021, to coincident with the Black History Month—a central focus of the show. The show would air on News-Talk CFRB 1010 AM and across the iHeart Radio Network
But Jivani said tensions between him and Bell management began to rise over the next few month as he holds conservative views and pushed back against the “woke” agenda pushed by big corporations that try to submerge opposing views from people like him.
Tensions between Jivani and Bell Media sharpened as public interest in the Black Lives Matter movement waned. The movement gained traction over the police custody death of George Floyd, which sparked massive protests in the United States starting in May 2020. Thousands of arrests were made as the protests were marred by looting, violence, and arson.
“As news stories around Black Lives Matter and other racial issues faded from the news, Bell no longer had the same use for a Black employee,” Jivani said in his statement of claim.
“It became clear that Bell had a rigid but unspoken vision for how Black people should fit into the company. Bell wanted the Plaintiff to be a token beholden to the company’s identity politics.”
Jivani is seeking compensation of $42,500 for breach of contract and wrongful dismissal, $300,000 for the “bad faith manner of dismissal,” and breach of contractual duty of good faith and honesty, and an additional $200,000 in punitive damages.
Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro’s appearance and the Podcast Movement’s apology for his presence became the biggest headline to emerge from the podcast group’s convention in Dallas last month.
Now it seems leaders of the Movement are going back to the drawing board. At least it seems so after they posted this on Twitter Friday:
We’re listening to our Podcast Movement community - many who’ve been with us since the start. We’re putting in place policies to guide our social media & events with inclusivity, diversity & respect for all. It’s a journey. We’ll keep listening, keep growing together.
The tweet is in response to fallout from many attending the convention who voiced pro and con comments concerning the appearance of conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro.
Shapiro, the host of The Ben Shapiro Show podcast, showed up at a booth for The Daily Wire, the content production company and podcast network he founded after he left Breitbart in 2016.
Shapiro’s presence generated a critical response from attendees who objected to his views. From there, the discussion spilled over into the Twittersphere.
In a tweet, the Podcast Movement apologized for Shapiro’s appearance. “Though he was not registered or expected, we take full responsibility for the harm done by his presence,” the tweet read.
Shapiro fired back a tweet of his own: “Literally shaking [right now]. Podcast Movement is threatening my right to exist. This is erasure.”
Seth Silvers, who was the media moderator for the Firesides Presents panel, said in a reply tweet that, although he loved Podcast Movement, its response was "frustrating".
“I have always appreciated how inclusive PM has been. However, apologizing for hosting one of the largest networks in the industry because they believe differently than some in the PM community is the least inclusive move I’ve seen PM do.”
Just how 'inclusive' any reworks policies will be remains to be seen.
A lawsuit from the now-adult infant who graced the cover of the band’s 1991 landmark album “Nevermind” was tossed out Friday — as a federal judge said never mind to claims the grunge rockers engaged in child porn.
Spencer Elden, 31, had argued that the shot of him in the nude swimming towards a dollar bill on a fish hook amounted to child porn.
US District Judge Fernando Olguin of Los Angeles said Elden had waited far too long to take legal action against the legendary grunge rockers in a suit that named several record labels, drummer Dave Grohl, bassist Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain’s estate and photographer Kirk Weddle.
Elden had filed three versions of the suit, and Olguin’s dismissal prevented him from filing a fourth.
Elden alleged last year that the photo caused him “lifelong damage,” though he has the album title tattooed across his chest and recreated the famous picture in 2016 to pay homage to the seminal record on its 25th anniversary.
In a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, a 12-year-old Elden predicted he would probably “get some money from” his contribution to the album, which went triple diamond and revamped the face of popular rock music on the strength of the smash hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Nirvana — a previously underground group on an independent label — paid Elden’s family $200 to dunk the 4-month old in a pool at the Pasadena Aquatic Center in California before their major label debut made a splash.
Elden got the gig because his father was friends with photographer.
The school was a starting point for numerous radio and TV careers in the Motor City marketplace and across the country.
Among the many Specs Howard alums who went on to become Detroit media stars are local TV news anchors Glenda Lewis (WXYZ-TV, 7 Action News) and Amy Andrews (WJBK-TV, Fox 2 Detroit) and Detroit radio icons like Ken Calvert and Doug Podell.
Howard’s daughter, Alisa Zee, issued a statement Saturday morning that said she was “heartbroken” to have to announce that her father had “completed his journey here on Earth” in the early hours of Saturday.
“He was always grateful to the entire media community. He felt your embrace every step of his professional journey, knowing that his mission to help change lives for the better was supported and guided by all,” Zee wrote.
Born Jerry Liebman and known by his on-air name Specs Howard, the Pennsylvania native launched the school in 1970 in Southfield.
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Howard was a graduate of Allegheny College in his home state. After working as a DJ in Pennsylvania towns, he moved to Cleveland and became a top-40 radio disc jockey. He relocated to Detroit in 1967, where he shifted his career focus a few years later from radio announcing to educating future broadcasters.
Howard's on-air name was inspired by his taste in eyeglasses and stretched all the way back to the 1950s, according to a 2021 tribute in the Jewish News.
➦In 1902...radio newsman Morgan Beatty was born in Little Rock Arkansas. He achieved fame as a correspondent for the National Broadcasting Company radio network for 25 years. He began his career as a newspaper reporter and worked for The Associated Press before and after his years with N.B.C.
For many years in the 1940′s & 50′s in particular, he was a senior news broadcaster for NBC Radio based in New York. “This is Morgan Beatty speaking for Alka Seltzer bringing you news of the world! and the news tonight is…”
When TV arrived he became news anchor for the short-lived Dumont Network. A great radio presence with natural gravitas in his voice, he died July 4 1975 at age 72.
➦In 1920...WWJ Detroit became the first station to air a professional boxing match. The station is believed to be the first to broadcast news reports regularly, and the first to present regularly scheduled religious broadcasts and play-by-play sports reports. The bout was won by Jack Dempsey.
➦In 1942...The radio comedy the Mayor of the Town made its debut. It starred Lionel Barrymore and aired until July 3, 1949 on ABC, CBS, Mutual and NBC at various times.
➦In 1954...1010 WINS NYC begins playing rock n roll with Alan Freed Show
➦In 1959...the hit radio sitcom “Fibber McGee and Molly” ended after almost 25 years. The situation comedy, a staple of the NBC Red Network for the show's entire run and one of the most popular and enduring radio series of its time. The show ran as a stand-alone series from 1935 to 1956, and then continued as a short-form series as part of the weekend Monitor from 1957 to 1959. The title characters were created and portrayed by Jim and Marian Jordan, a real-life husband and wife team that had been working in radio since the 1920s.
➦In 1965...Chuck Leonard started at WABC 770 AM. From 1968...
Chuck Leonard
His deep voice and smoothness resonated across 38 states for 14 years at ABC. During his over 40-year career in broadcasting, Leonard worked virtually every shift and played all styles of music at stations including WWRL, WABC, WXLO, WRKS, WBLS, WQEW, WNSW-AM and WJUX. He has been inducted in the Museum of Television & Radio and is known as the first African-American disc jockey to work on a mainstream radio station.
On WABC, Leonard began in the 11 p.m. to midnight slot, and continued working late nights and Sundays at the station until November 27, 1979. He did the 10:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. shift following “Cousin” Bruce Morrow and later George Michael. He also gladly handled weekend and fill-in work.
Leonard was the host of "Sneak Preview," a five-minute Monday-through-Saturday evening program on ABC's American Contemporary Radio Network, which featured newly released songs. He stayed at WABC until 1979, before moving to WXLO and WRKS.
Leonard died on August 12, 2004, in Manhattan, following lung cancer. He was 67.
➦In 1987...Pat St. John left WPLJ NYC, and returned to his rock roots on WNEW 102.7 FM, which had been WPLJ's rival during its AOR years. He became the station's program director in the early 1990s while continuing his mid-day show until moving to morning-drive from 1994 through 1996. and then moved to afternoons. St. John remained with the station until it switched to a hot talk format in 1998. From 1984...
St. John is one of the U.S.'s preeminent and longest serving radio personalities and voice-over artists.
St. John
Known as The Dee-Jay’s DJ, he began his radio career on Windsor, Ontario's CKLW 800 AM in 1969 and '70, followed by WKNR 1300 AM in late 1970 to early '72, followed by WRIF 101.1 FM to April 1973.
Pat is best known for his work in the New York City market on WPLJ 95.5 FM , WNEW 102.7 FM, WAXQ and WCBS 101.1 FM. Pat has done extensive television voiceover work, including announcing for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve from 2000 to 2010.
St. John was known for his conversational on-air style with interspersed bits of music trivia, along with "Collectible Cuts" from his extensive record library.
Today, Pat can be heard on SiriusXM's '60s Gold Channel 73weekdays 3 to 7 pm (Eastern)
➦In 2013…Don Wade, a pillar of Chicago radio, died of a brain tumor, about a year after the condition forced the morning show host off the air. He was 72.
Wade spent 55 years in broadcasting, 27 of them at WLS 890 AM. From 1989 to 2012, he worked mornings co-hosting "The Don Wade & Roma Show" with his wife.
Colleagues said Mr. Wade was a relentless researcher who would wake up in the middle of the night to get ready for his 5 a.m. show. The "lovable curmudgeon" became a Chicago institution by knowing the topics he covered inside and out.
During his career he also worked in Seattle, Denver, Hartford, New Orleans, Buffalo, Boston, Dallas and Philadelphia.
➦In 2017...WFAN NYC sports radio talk show host Craig Carton and another man were arrested on charges of bilking millions of dollars from investors in a concert-ticket selling scheme.
Jeff Foxworthy is 64
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Comedian JoAnne Worley is 86.
Country singer David Allan Coe is 83.
Singer-bassist Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) is 79.
Actor Swoosie Kurtz is 78.
Comedian-actor Jane Curtin is 75.
Country singer Buddy Miller is 70.
Actor James Martin Kelly (“Mob City,” ″Magic Mike”) is 68.
Drummer Joe Smyth of Sawyer Brown is 65.
Actor-comedian Jeff Foxworthy is 64.
Actor-comedian Michael Winslow (“Police Academy”) is 64.
Guitarist Pal Waaktaar of A-ha is 61.
News correspondent Elizabeth Vargas is 60.
Country singer Mark Chesnutt is 59.
Actor Betsy Russell (“Saw”) is 59.
Deborah Joy Winans is 39
Actor Rosie Perez is 58 Singer Macy Gray is 55.
Singer CeCe Peniston is 53.
Singer Darryl Anthony (Az Yet) is 53.
Actor Daniele Gaither (“MADtv”) is 52.
Actor Dylan Bruno (“Numb3ers”) is 50.
Actor Idris Elba is 50.
Actor Justina Machado (Netflix’s “One Day at a Time,” “Jane the Virgin”) is 50.
Actor Anika Noni Rose (“The Princess and the Frog,” “Dreamgirls”) is 50.
Actor Justin Whalin (“Lois and Clark”) is 48.
Singer Nina Persson (The Cardigans) is 48.
Actor Naomie Harris (“Moonlight,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies) is 46.
Rapper Noreaga is 45.
Rapper Foxy Brown is 44.
Actor Deborah Joy Winans (“Greenleaf”) is 39.
Actor Lauren Lapkus (“Orange Is the New Black”) is 37.
Singer Max George of The Wanted is 34.
✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti died on this day in 2007. He was 71.
Actor Burt Reynolds died on this day in 2018. He was 82.
