Katz Media Group, the nation’s largest media representation organization, announced today that Rick Ramos has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Katz Multicultural Partnerships, effective immediately. Ramos will continue to report to Tucker Flood, President of Eastman Radio at Katz Radio Group.
In his expanded role, Ramos will continue to oversee the creation of dynamic multicultural marketing campaigns across all of Katz’s audio partners. Katz Multicultural delivers advertisers access to 96% of the Multicultural audio marketplace in one stop. Ramos will also continue to lead advocacy efforts for multicultural advertising and further strengthen relationships with marketers and agencies.
Rick Ramos
“Katz has an enormous audio footprint and strong commitment to Multicultural. By bringing together the assets of all our broadcast partners, Katz is in the unique position to build effective multicultural campaigns on a national scale with local execution to reach diverse audiences across the country,” said Mark Gray, CEO of Katz Media Group.
“Connecting brands authentically with the Multicultural population is key for a successful campaign,” said Christine Travaglini, President of Katz Radio Group. “Rick is exceptional at helping advertisers build and execute strategic multicultural campaigns. He has a deep knowledge of multicultural audiences and strong relationships with multicultural ad agencies and brands, making him perfectly positioned to spearhead this important effort.”
With more than 25 years of media sales experience, Ramos has worked with many of the top broadcast radio companies that provide information, entertainment, and content for the Hispanic audience, such as Univision Radio, Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (HBC), Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), and Tichenor Broadcasting. His extensive career includes New York Sales Manager of Katz Hispanic Media; Vice President Regional Sales Manager of HBC National Sales; Vice President of Univision National Sales; SVP, Director of Sales for Business Development at Eastman Radio; and most recently, SVP of Multicultural Sales for Katz.
➦In 1907...actor John 'Jack" Mather Born. (Died from heart attack at age 58 – August 16, 1966). He a radio and television actor, best known for playing The Cisco Kid on Mutual radio from 1947 to 1956. and for being the original voice of Wally Walrus.
➦In 1930...WBEN signed on in Buffalo, NY. However, its history dates to the 1920s. WBEN initially used the facility built by the Norton Laboratories organization from Boston, as part of an experiment to send voice transmissions between Niagara Falls, New York, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, as WMAK.
When WMAK was launched in 1922 it operated initially from Lockport, New York at 833 kHz. The station later moved its transmitter to North Tonawanda, New York (broadcasting at 1130 kHz there) and then landing on 900 kHz, with 1000 watts of power, as a result of General Order 40, which realigned American AM radio allocations in 1927–28. In the late 1920s WMAK was acquired by the Buffalo Broadcasting Company, based at Buffalo's Rand Building, which also controlled WGR and WKBW in Buffalo. WMAK was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.
WMAK was closed in the spring of 1930 as federal regulators began probing concentration of media ownership in the nation's largest radio markets. Buffalo Broadcasting Company chose to retain WGR and WKBW while shutting down WMAK and another daytime-only station, WKEN in suburban Kenmore, New York.
At the same time, the Buffalo Evening News was granted a broadcast license of its own, purchased the decommissioned transmitting facility of WMAK on Shawnee Road in Martinsville (North Tonawanda, New York) and re-licensed it as WBEN.
A new studio complex was built at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in downtown Buffalo (chosen primarily for access to the live orchestra there), and served WBEN, its sister FM station and sister television station (which opened in the spring of 1948) for more than 25 years.
In 1941, the station moved to its current position on the dial, at 930 kHz, as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).
The station also relocated its transmitter to Grand Island at during this time, increasing full-time power to its current 5,000 watts. The Grand Island transmitter and two towers are still in use today.
➦In 1935...A singing group called the Hoboken Four, one of whose members is named Frank Sinatra, made their first national appearance, performing on WOR's radio show Major Bowes Amateur Hour.
The Hoboken Four won the contest that night. Bowes said: “They walked right into the hearts of their audience.” The prize was a 6-month contract to perform on stage and on radio and they were earning a lot more than before.
The Bickersons
➦In 1946...The Bickersons was a radio comedy sketch series debuted on NBC, moving the following year to CBS where it continued until August 28, 1951. The show's married protagonists, portrayed by Don Ameche and Frances Langford, spent nearly all their time together in relentless verbal war.
➦In 1954...Alan Freed departed Cleveland, Ohio for New York City and 1010 WINS radio.
The station eventually became an around-the-clock Top 40 rock and roll radio station, and would remain so until April 19, 1965—long after Freed left and three months after he had died— when it became an all-news outlet.
➦In 1969...the radio voice of Superman (and TV game show host) Clayton “Bud” Collyer (Beat the Clock, To Tell the Truth), died of a circulatory ailment at age 61.
Collyer's best-remembered radio starring role began in early 1940 in The Adventures of Superman on the Mutual Broadcasting System, a role he also performed in the subsequent Superman cartoons.
Collyer supplied the voices of both Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent, opposite radio actress Joan Alexander as Lois Lane. Every Superman episode featured a scene in which Clark Kent changed into his Superman costume, an effect which Collyer conveyed by shifting voices while speaking the phrase "This is (or "looks like") a job for Superman!" his voice always dropping when becoming Superman.
Also pictured is Superman announcer Jackson Beck is on the left.
Willie Tyler is 82
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Ventriloquist Willie Tyler (with Lester) is 82.
Actor Alan Feinstein is 81.
Singer Sal Valentino of The Beau Brummels is 80.
Bassist Will Lee of the CBS Orchestra (“Late Show with David Letterman”) is 70.
Actor Heather Thomas (“The Fall Guy”) is 65.
Singer Aimee Mann is 62.
Bassist David Steele of Fine Young Cannibals is 62.
Pink is 43
Actor Thomas Kretschmann (“The Pianist”) is 60.
Singer Marc Gordon of Levert is 58.
Gospel singer Darlene Zschech is 57.
Singer Neko Case is 52.
Actor David Arquette is 51.
Actor Martin Freeman (“Black Panther,” ″The Hobbit”) is 51.
TV personality Kennedy is 50.
Drummer Richard Hughes of Keane is 47.
Actor Larenz Tate is 47.
Actor Nathan Corddry (“Mom,”) is 45.
Singer Pink is 43.
Singer-songwriter Eric Hutchinson is 42.
Actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas (“Home Improvement”) is 41.
A soft advertising market has smacked Audacy Inc., and the Philadelphia radio giant’s stock price is trading substantially below $1 per share, lower than during the early weeks of the pandemic, reports The Philly Inquirer.
Audacy executives declined to comment, but they acknowledge that the business — which recovered from steep financial losses in 2020, 2019 and 2018 — has taken a new blow amid uncertainty about a recession.
“We’ve all had some tough knocks,” Richard J. Schmaeling, the chief financial officer, told analysts last month in a conference call. “But we think we can muscle our way through what looks to be a slowdown.”
According to The Inquirer story, insiders say the Philly-based company has positioned itself to rebound with a national radio network, podcasts, streaming, and sports betting. Audacy, the former Entercom Communications Corp., is one of the nation’s largest radio networks.
The New York Stock Exchange has told Audacy last month that it could be delisted because its stock price had fallen below $1 for at least a month. Audacy could do a reverse stock split to boost the share price. In a reverse split, a company reduces the number of outstanding shares, leading an investor to own fewer shares but at a higher stock price.
Audacy’s woes can be blamed on the fragmenting media landscape that has devastated other legacy media platforms such as newspapers. Its acquisition of CBS Radio for $4 billion in early 2017, bringing KYW and other big-city stations into its portfolio, also hasn’t gone smoothly. That year was also the last time the company earned net income.
Since 2018, based on its regulatory filings, Audacy has lost $1 billion in net income, though the company dramatically improved its finances as the shock of the pandemic wore off, losing only $3.6 million in 2021. Audacy had revenues of $1.2 billion in 2021 and long-term debt of $2.2 billion.
The company has a staff of 3,585 full-time employees and 1,295 part-time employees.
Audacy had a strong first quarter in 2022 with revenues jumping 14%. But second-quarter revenue rose only 5%, weighed down by a slowing economy and weaker advertising by mortgage lenders — which face higher interest rates — and auto dealers. The company says that auto industry advertising is $60 million a year below pre-pandemic levels.
Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro’s appearance and the Podcast Movement’s subsequent apology for his presence became the headline story during the podcast group’s convention in Dallas last month. Now a month later the story has taken a new turn.
Cumulus Media, Westwood One’s parent has decided to 'disassociate' itself from any Podcast Movement activities in 2023 … maybe longer. Shapiro's syndication is managed by Westwood One.
The convention, was a gathering of podcasters and industry professionals.
Shapiro, the host of The Ben Shapiro Show podcast, showed up in Dallas 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. Complaints about Shapiro's appearance came from some other participants, including members of the alphabet community, which led the Podcast Movement Tweet an apology. That apology has been quietly removed from Twitter.
The apology set off a firestorm of its own, with Podcast Movement slow to respond to criticism of its now-deleted social media commentary deriding Shapiro.
Yesterday, we reported leaders of the Movement appeared to be 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.
In a statement Tuesday, Cumulus Media shared that its tenet is that Every Voice Matters. As such, the company said, “We support conferences and trade events where differing political viewpoints can be expressed and received with respect. As such, we were dismayed and disappointed by Podcast Movement’s handling of the reaction to our partner, top podcaster, and conservative talk leader Ben Shapiro’s mere presence at Podcast Movement.”
After giving the leaders of Podcast Movement what Cumulus believes is sufficient time “to appropriately address their misstep,” Cumulus announced that it is “disassociating” from Podcast Movement, including canceling our 2023 sponsorship plans.
The Cumulus Podcast Network has been The Daily Wire‘s advertising sales representative since 2016. Additionally, his radio show, The Ben Shapiro Show, has been nationally syndicated through Westwood One since 2019.
Podcast Movement organizers said that attendees and others in the podcast industry that called them out over the incident were right. “In nine wonderful years growing and celebrating this medium, Podcast Movement has made mistakes. The pain caused by this one will always stick with us. We promise that sponsors will be more carefully considered moving forward,” the organization’s statement said.
The Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing fumed about the treatment of his longtime partner at the company’s “Backstage” event last week, calling it “unadulterated bigotry.” On Tuesday, Boreing praised Cumulus and called for other media companies and figures to stand up for free expression, civil discourse, and ideological diversity.
“I’m glad to see our longtime partner Cumulus/Westwood One taking such a strong and public stand against Podcast Movement’s outright and abject bigotry,” Boreing said. “Though Podcast Movement quietly removed their bigoted tweet thread over the weekend, they still have yet to retract and publicly apologize for their hateful comments about Ben Shapiro and The Daily Wire.
The finalists for the 2022 CMA Broadcast Awards were revealed this morning with winners to be announced in October
Luke Bryan is set to co-host the upcoming CMA Awards alongside NFL star Peyton Manning. Performers and presenters will be announced in forthcoming weeks, while this year’s CMA Awards will air Wednesday, Nov. 9 on ABC, live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
📻2022 CMA BROADCAST AWARDS – FINALISTS FOR RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR
Major Market
KILT – Houston, Texas
KNIX – Phoenix, Ariz.
KSCS – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
WXTU – Philadelphia, Pa.
WYCD – Detroit, Mich.
Large Market
KFKF – Kansas City, Mo.
WIRK – West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
WMIL – Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
WQDR – Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
WSIX – Nashville, Tenn.
Medium Market
KXKT – Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
WHKO – Dayton, Ohio
WIVK – Knoxville, Tenn.
WQMX – Akron, Ohio
WUSY – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Small Market
WCOW – La Crosse, Wis.
WKML – Fayetteville, N.C.
WKXC – Augusta, Ga.
WXBQ – Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.
WXFL – Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala.
📻FINALISTS FOR BROADCAST PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Weekly National
“American Country Countdown” (Kix Brooks) – Westwood One
“The Country Top 40 with Fitz” (Cory Fitzner) – Hubbard Radio
“The Crook & Chase Countdown” (Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase) – iHeartMedia
“Today’s Country with Kelleigh Bannen” (Kelleigh Bannen) – Apple Music Radio
“With Elaina” (Elaina Smith) – Westwood One
Daily National
“Angie Ward” – iHeartMedia
“The Big D and Bubba Show” (Derek “Big D” Haskins, Sean “Bubba” Powell, Patrick Thomas, and Carsen Humphreville) – Compass Media Networks
“The Bobby Bones Show” (Bobby Bones, Amy Brown, “Lunchbox” Dan Chappell, Eddie Garcia, “Morgan #2” Huelsman, “Raymundo” Ray Slater, “Scuba Steve” Stephen Spradlin, “Mike D” Rodriguez, and “Phone Screener Abby” Anderson) – Premiere Networks
“Nights with Elaina” (Elaina Smith) – Westwood One
“The Sam Alex Show” (Sam Alex) – Sam Alex Productions, LLC
Major Market
“The Andie Summers Show” (Andie Summers) – WXTU, Philadelphia, Pa.
“Chris Carr & Company” (Chris Carr, Kia Becht, and McKaila Poppen) – KEEY, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
“Danny Dwyer” – KUPL, Portland, Ore.
“Josh, Rachael & Grunwald” (Josh Holleman, Rachel Hunter, and Steve Grunwald) – WYCD, Detroit, Mich.
“The Morning Wolfpack with Matt McAllister” (Matt McAllister, Emily Raines, and Joe Wallace) – KKWF, Seattle, Wash.
Large Market
“Jim, Deb & Kevin” (Jim Denny, Deborah Honeycutt and Kevin Freeman) – WFMS, Indianapolis, Ind.
“The Wayne D Show” (“Wayne D” Danielson and Tay Hamilton) – WSIX, Nashville, Tenn.
“The Dale Carter Morning Show” (Dale Carter) – KFKF, Kansas City, Mo.– “The Big Dave Show” (“Big Dave” Chandler, Chelsie Shinkle, Jason “Stattman” Statt, and Ashley Hempfling) – WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio
“The Wake Up Call with David and Kelli” (David Bugenske and Kelli Green) – KFRG, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.
“The New Q-Morning Crew with Mike and Amanda” (Mike Wheless and Amanda Daughtry) – WQDR, Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Medium Market
“Buzz Jackson” – KIIM, Tucson, Ariz.
“Cliff & Tanya in the Morning” (Cliff Dumas and Tanya Brakebill) – KUZZ, Bakersfield, Calif.
“Julie and DJ in the Morning” (“Julie K” Kansy, “D.J. Thee Trucker” Dale Sellers, and Jon Dennis) – WPCV, Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
“New Country Mornings with Nancy and Woody” (Nancy Wilson and Aaron “Woody” Woods) – WHKO, Dayton, Ohio
“Steve & Gina In The Morning” (Steve Lundy and Gina Melton) – KXKT, Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
Small Market
“The Cat Pak Morning Show with Brent and Mel” (Brent Lane and Mel McCrae) – WYCT, Pensacola, Fla.
“Dr. Shane and Tess in the Morning” (“Dr. Shane” Collins and Tess Connell) – WPAP, Panama City, Fla.
“The Eddie Foxx Show” (Eddie Foxx and Amanda Foxx) – WKSF, Asheville, N.C.
“Liz & Scotty in the Morning” (Liz Del Grosso and Scotty Cox) – KCLR, Columbia, Mo.
“Officer Don & DeAnn” (“Officer Don” Evans and DeAnn Stephens) – WBUL, Lexington-Fayette, Ky.
John Dickerson has been named host of “CBS News Prime Time,” a daily live program on the Paramount Global unit’s CBS News Streaming platform, a free ad-supported service that supplies news 24 hours a day.
The L-A Times reports Dickerson is the first top-tier star at CBS News to anchor a live program since the service was relaunched in January. Until now, the biggest names on the network such as “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King have done weekly taped shows for the platform.
Since joining CBS News as an analyst in 2009, Dickerson has gone on to be moderator of the network’s Sunday roundtable program “Face the Nation,” filled a co-host role on “CBS This Morning” after Charlie Rose was fired in 2017 and served as a contributor to “60 Minutes.”
Dickerson’s program, called “CBS News Prime Time,” will stream live Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern and 4 p.m. Pacific. It will be available on demand afterward.
Dickerson remains as a CBS News correspondent and will continue to have a presence during special events and breaking news coverage. He was the sole moderator of two presidential primary debates during the 2016 campaign.
“CBS News Prime Time” will be less of a digest of the day’s events and go deeper into top stories with longer conversations and historical perspective, a specialty for Dickerson, who has written two books about the presidency.
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency urged Russia and Ukraine yesterday to establish a, quote, "nuclear safety and security protection zone" around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. There have been growing fears that the fighting around the plant, which is the largest in Europe, could lead to a radioactive disaster. Days after leading an inspection visit to the plant, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the U.N. Security Council, "We are playing with fire, and something very, very catastrophic could take place." In a report on its visit, the IAEA said shelling around the power plant should stop immediately. Both the Russians and Ukrainians have accused the other of attacks on or near the plant, but the IAEA's report didn't assign blame for the shelling. World leaders have been calling for the demilitarization of the plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since soon after the invasion, but is being run by Ukrainian engineers.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to agree on a demilitarized perimeter around the Russian-held Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine https://t.co/T8uuwuewFzpic.twitter.com/T0vEoe9Acu
➤TRUSS IN CHARGE AS NEW BRITISH PM: Liz Truss took over as the new British prime minister yesterday, becoming the third woman to lead the U.K. after it was announced a day earlier that she'd won a vote among dues-paying Conservative Party members to be its new leader. The 47-year-old Truss officially took office yesterday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where Queen Elizabeth the Second formally asked her to form a new government in a traditional ceremony. Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson formally resigned during his own meeting with the queen a short time earlier, two months after had announced he was stepping down. Johnson was forced out of office by a series of scandals.
➤MEMPHIS POLICE FIND BODY OF ABDUCTED JOGGER: Tennessee police said Tuesday that they'd found and identified the body of 34-year-old Eliza Fletcher (right), a Memphis schoolteacher who was abducted while jogging early in the morning on Friday. Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis said Fletcher's body was found behind a vacant duplex, but that it was too early to determine how and where she was killed. U.S. Marshals had arrested 38-year-old Cleotha Abston (bottom right) on Saturday after police found his DNA on a pair of sandals found near where Fletcher was last seen. He was released from prison in 2020 after serving 20 years for another kidnapping. He has now been charged with first-degree murder, in addition to other charges.
➤UVALDE STUDENTS GO BACK TO SCHOOL FOR FIRST TIME SINCE MASS SHOOTING: Students went back to school in Uvalde, Texas, yesterday for the first time since the mass shooting at Robb Elementary school on May 24th in which 19 students and two teachers were killed. Robb Elementary itself is permanently closed and will eventually be torn down. There were added safety measures at some other schools in Uvalde, including a new eight-foot fence at Uvalde Elementary and a state trooper standing outside the front entrance. Classes resumed weeks ago in many parts of Texas, but Uvalde pushed back the first day of class. First Lady Jill Biden tweeted, "Uvalde, as you head back to school today, you are in my heart - you are so strong. We are all standing with you."
➤WHITE HOUSE HEALTH OFFICIALS: PEOPLE LIKELY TO NEED ANNUAL COVID BOOSTERS: Top White House health officials suggested yesterday that people will likely need to get an annual Covid-19 booster shot going forward, similar to getting an annual flu shot. Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a briefing, "It is becoming increasingly clear that . . . in the absence of a dramatically different variant, we likely are moving towards a path of vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine, with annual updated Covid-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains for most of the population." That messaging came after the new updated Pfizer and Moderna boosters, which target both the original virus and the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants, were approved last week. White House coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha said, "[T]his week marks an important shift in a fight against the virus. It marks our ability to make Covid vaccines a more routine part of our lives.
HOWARD KURTZ: Biden, Trump boost each other as many are exasperated with both parties https://t.co/rnui7QXQgs
➤JUUL TO PAY NEARLY $440 MILLION TO SETTLE TEEN VAPING PROBE BY 33 STATES: Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced yesterday that electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has agreed to pay nearly $440 million to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products. The probe looked in Juul's early promotions, which have been blamed for leading to a surge of vaping by U.S. teens, and claims about the benefits of its e-cigarettes as a smoking alternative. The investigation found Juul marketed its e-cigarettes to underage teens after its 2015 debut with launch parties, product giveaways, and ads and social media posts that used young models. The settlement includes restrictions on how Juul can market its products, and comes after the company in 2019 dropped all U.S. advertising and pulled its fruit and candy flavors.
➤NEW MEXICO COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISQUALIFIED FROM PUBLIC OFFICE FOR JANUARY 6TH PARTICIPATION: A state district judge in New Mexico yesterday permanently disqualified Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin from seeking or holding local of federal public office for engaging in insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Griffin, a Republican who's a co-founder of Cowboys for Trump, was previously convicted of a misdemeanor in federal court for entering Capitol grounds on January 6th without going in the building. State District Court Judge Francis Mathew's ruling immediately removes Griffin from his position as country commissioner. He wrote, "Mr. Griffin aided the insurrection even though he did not personally engage in violence. By joining the mob and trespassing on restricted Capitol grounds, Mr. Griffin contributed to delaying Congress’s election-certification proceedings." Griffin blasted the ruling as a, quote, "total disgrace" and "perfect evidence of . . . tyranny," saying it disenfranchises his constituents in Otero County.
High school students have a strong shot at success with career technical education: 'A win-win' https://t.co/hhjvnnbeMT
🏠SURVEY...MAJORITY OF MILLENNIALS, GEN Zers WHO MOVED BACK HOME DURING PANDEMIC STILL THERE: Many Millennials and Gen Z-ers moved back home with their parents during the pandemic, and a new survey from LendingTree found that the majority of them are still live there more than two years after the pandemic began. The survey of more than 1,300 U.S. parents, Millennials and Gen Zers taken in late July showed 32 percent of the younger Americans moved back in with their parents during the pandemic, and two-thirds of those still live there. More than half of them said the move back home was done out of necessity, and many are focused on paying off their debt and saving to buy a home. Just under one-quarter, 23 percent, said they moved back home to save up for retirement. Among the parents, 85 percent said they'd let their children move back in as adults or have already done so, and 73 percent said they wouldn't charge their children rent if they came back. However, the majority said they'd expect their adult children to have a job and to help with household chores.
Justin Bieber, who has previously spoken about his battle with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, has called off the remainder of his Justice World Tour to prioritize his health.
🛫HOLIDAY WEEKEND AIR TRAVEL TOPPED PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS FOR FIRST TIME: The number of people traveling by air over a holiday weekend, as measured by how many went through U.S. airport-security checkpoints, surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the time over the just passed Labor Day weekend. More than 8.7 million passed through airport security from Friday through Monday, beating Labor Day weekend in 2019, and the Transportation Security Administration said yesterday that it was a first for a holiday weekend. Although there have been air travel delays and disruptions throughout the busy summer, there were relatively few problems over the Labor Day weekend. Tracking service FlightAware said airlines canceled some 640 flights over the four-day weekend, just 0.6 percent of the total, which was less than one-third the cancellation rate between June 1st and Labor Day, and delays were also down.
➤OHIO AMUSEMENT PARK TO CLOSE WORLD'S SECOND-TALLEST ROLLER COASTER: Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, announced yesterday that it will be permanently closing the Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster, the second-tallest coaster in the world. The ride has been closed since August 15, 2021, when a small metal object flew off the 420-foot tall roller coaster and hit a woman at the park in the head. Cedar Point officials didn't say if the accident influenced their decision to close the roller coaster, which operated for 19 years. A state investigation found no evidence the park acted illegally or had reason to believe the ride was unsafe. The Kingda Ka roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey is the world’s tallest at 456 feet.
California grapples with another day of deadly fires and record-breaking heat. https://t.co/pmA9ZyPyYX
🎾RUDD, JABEUR, INTO SEMFINALS, GAUFF OUT: Fifth-seeds Casper Rudd on the men's side and Ons Jabeur for the women have made it into the U.S. Open semifinals after winning their quarterfinal matches yesterday. Rudd of Norway defeated Number 13 Matteo Berrettini and Tunisian Jabeur beat unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic, who had defeated Serena Williams in the third round Friday in the expected end of Williams' professional career. Twelfth-seeded American Coco Gauff lost to Number 17 Carolina Garcia.
🏀FREE AGENT HARRELL SIGNS TWO-YEAR, $5.2 MILLION DEAL WITH 76ERS: Free agent center Montrezl Harrell is signing a two-year, $5.2 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, ESPN reported last night. ESPN cited sources as saying 76ers star James Harden played a significant role in recruiting Harrell, presenting it as a reunion of when they were on the Houston Rockets together. Harrell is also reuniting with 76ers head coach Doc Rivers and assistant Sam Cassell, under whom he was Sixth Man of the Year with the L.A. Clippers in the 2019-20 season.
⚾MLB ASKED TO ACCEPT MINOR LEAGUE UNION: MLB was asked by the players' union yesterday to voluntarily accept the union to also be the bargaining agent for minor league players. Bruce Meyer, deputy executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, which launched the minor league union drive late last month, sent a letter that claimed a majority of minor leaguers had signed authorization cards. If MLB doesn't voluntarily accept the union, signed cards from 30 percent of minor leaguers in the bargaining unit would allow the union to file a petition to the National Labor Relations Board asking for a union authorization election. MLB didn't immediately comment.
🏈STEELERS TO RETIRE FRANCO HARRIS NO. 32 AS PART OF 'IMMACULATE RECEPTION' CELEBRATION: The Pittsburgh Steelers will retire Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris' Number 32 during a celebration for the 50th anniversary of the "Immaculate Reception." The former running back's number will be retired at halftime of the December 24th game against the Oakland Raiders. On the day before, the actual anniversary of the December 23, 1972, play, the Steelers will hold a ceremony at 3:29 p.m. on the marker outside the stadium in the exact spot where Harris made the legendary catch. The Immaculate Reception took place in the AFC divisional playoff game between the Steelers and the Raiders. The Steelers were trailing in the last 30 seconds when Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a pass attempt to John Fuqua. The ball either bounced off the helmet of the Raiders' Jack Tatum or Fuqua's hands, and Harris caught it just before it hit the ground, running it in for a game-winning touchdown.
California set a new record for peak energy demand, the state's power grid manager said https://t.co/wVvgYfLT8O
🌞CALIFORNIA BAKING: A historically severe September heat wave is baking the West, breaking hundreds of records, posing a danger to public health and pushing California’s power grid to the limit. Some records have been shattered by wide margins as the scorching air mass exacerbates the fire danger in the drought-stricken region. After San Jose and Sacramento soared to all-time records of 109 and 116 degrees Tuesday afternoon, California’s Independent System Operator (ISO) said the state’s electricity supplies were running low. It warned consumers on Tuesday evening that “rotating power outages are now possible” and raised its Energy Emergency Alert to Level 3.
Cumulus Media announces that it has appointed Ryan Fox as Morning Co-Host for Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, Country KPLX 99.5 The Wolf.
Fox joins Tara, Host of The Wake Up With The Wolf Show, beginning Monday, September 12, 2022, and will be heard weekday mornings from 5:30am-10:00am. This marks a return to the station for Fox, who was Afternoon Co-Host on 99.5 The Wolf from 2005-2011.
Ryan Fox
Fox heads to 99.5 The Wolf from Cumulus Media’s Westwood One, where he most recently served as Afternoon Drive Host on the Hot Country format, after having served for eight years as Morning Host on that format, airing on more than 150 stations across the U.S. Prior to Westwood One, Ryan was Morning Host at Los Angeles, CA, Country station KKGO-FM. Fox, a native Texan who grew up in the DFW area, is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Radio is in his blood, as his grandfather owned radio stations in Oklahoma where Fox first got the bug, spending many summers there learning the business.
Mike Preston, KPLX-FM Program Director, said: “We’re thrilled to add another true Texan to the Wolf team. Ryan’s market knowledge, love of Country music and skill as a great broadcaster will make him the perfect co-host of our show.”
Ryan Fox commented: “I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity to have FUN every morning alongside a true talent like Tara. She is a longtime friend, and a caring, strong, opinionated woman and mother, who I’ve always thought of very highly.”
Chris Licht, CNN’s new chairman and CEO, announced Tuesday his first big hires for on-air talent at the network following the firings of some hard-left hyper partisan personalities with more dismissals expected.
The Daily Wire reports John Miller was hired by the network to be its Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst. Miller, who most recently served as Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism for the NYPD, also has experience as a journalist, including serving as a correspondent for CBS News and ABC News and co-anchoring ABC’s “20/20,” CNN said in a statement.
Licht also announced the hiring of Dr. Tara Narula as CNN’s new Medical Correspondent.
Narula previously worked at CBS News as their senior medical correspondent reporting for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms, CNN said.
John Miller, Tara Narula
The new hires come after CNN has parted ways with some hard-left hyper partisan personalities in recent weeks, including Brian Stelter and John Harwood.
Licht started to evaluate the hyper-partisan at the network shortly after he joined CNN as he aims to dial down the extreme partisanship that has plagued the network in recent years.
Puck News reported that Licht is considering dismissing Jim Acosta and Brianna Keilar from the network, although a report in the New York Post from late last month suggested that Acosta was safe — for now.
The Daily Mail reported last week that staffers at the network, which is trying to become more nonpartisan, “fear a network-wide purge” of “woke” talent at the company.
CNN anchor Chris Wallace will make his return to the airwaves later this month, roughly five months after network execs pulled the plug on the doomed CNN+ streaming service, reports The NY Post.
CNN revealed it will release the first three episodes of a revamped “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” on HBO Max on Sept. 23. The best moments from Wallace’s interviews will also air on CNN beginning on Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. ET.
Wallace’s return will occur during a period of transition for the network, where CNN president Chris Licht is rethinking lineups and programming to reflect a new emphasis on non-partisan coverage.
“I am excited to be back in the studio having candid, real conversations with a rich variety of guests who are standouts in their fields,” Wallace said in a statement Tuesday. “I can’t wait for the HBO Max and CNN audiences to get to see what our team has been working on.”
The first season of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” will be 10 weeks long, according to CNN. Notable guests during the season-long run include ex-Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, actor and producer Tyler Perry and author James Patterson, among others.
“Chris Wallace is a legend in our profession. His unparalleled interviewing expertise has made an impact across industries and changed history,” Licht said in a statement. “And now with the launch of his program on both HBO Max and CNN, his iconic interview style will reach an expansive audience unlike anything before.”
After joining CNN following two decades at Fox News, Wallace was tabbed to anchor a show of the same name on the company’s streaming service.
But WarnerBros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav opted to shutter CNN+ just one month into its existence after the costly experiment failed to draw many subscribers.
The Cumulus Media and the Westwood One Audio Active Group have released a brand-new analysis of two non-traditional creative approaches to political ads. The results showed that utilizing candidate-voiced ads in political campaigns and customizing political copy with station-specific verbiage that seeks input from listeners drove greater voter intent and were seen as more uplifting.
The creative analysis reveals valuable insights and best practices for political audio campaigns. Some highlights include:
Station-specific ads that call out the station call letters, fit the energy of the station, and seek to improve the campaign through soliciting feedback performed better than standard political ads. They delivered higher lift in voter intent (+9) versus generic ads (+7).
The key segment of swing voters was more receptive to station-specific political ads versus generic ads (+3). According to Nielsen Scarborough data, AM/FM radio delivers an 82% massive reach of all swing voters.
According to Nielsen Media Local Impact, Nielsen’s media optimization platform, a 10% allocation of the media plan to AM/FM radio boosts voter reach by +8% with no increase in budget. Given that political races are being decided by such slim margins, adding AM/FM radio to the plan can help candidates optimize their media for the largest possible reach.
Ads voiced by a political candidate outperformed both Veritonic political campaign benchmarks and political ads with a professional voiceover. Candidate-voiced ads also drove higher voter intention lift (+6) compared to Veritonic political benchmarks (+5) and professional voiceover ads (+5).
According to Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” study, AM/FM radio accounts for 76% of the daily audio time spent with any ad-supported platform among registered voters. “Share of Ear” also finds that AM/FM radio has substantial ad-supported daily shares among Democrats (73%), Independents (75%), and Republicans (78%).
“Political candidates need radio,” said Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer, Cumulus Media. “The TV landscape is always going to be cluttered leading up to elections. AM/FM radio offers candidates a way to cut through the noise. We know that one of the big reasons listeners turn to radio is to feel connected. They trust the medium. Political candidates who have ads on the radio can benefit from the halo effect of being in such a trusted environment. With the new best practices uncovered in this analysis, not only will political candidates reach listeners who are primed to receive their message, but they will be set up for success by connecting with their most important target audience – swing voters.”
“We’re excited to partner with the Audio Active Group® in the release of this new data pointing to ways candidates can easily optimize their audio creative for maximum impact,” said Veritonic Founder and CEO Scott Simonelli. “Creative audio has the power to reach the right audiences at the right moment and time. Understanding your audience and what they respond best to is essential to building out a political campaign with the confidence to ensure that no ad dollar is wasted. We have seen the success of audio in its ability to create desired outcomes during critical political election periods and its influence on voters' intentions to elect office officials.”
Pat McAfee will be a full-time member of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” The NY Post has learned.
The former punter turned multimedia performer will be on the show this Saturday from Austin, where No. 1 Alabama will face Texas.
ESPN and Fox are in an emerging battle for college football supremacy. This Saturday, for example, Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will also be on site in Austin. McAfee has made appearances on “GameDay” in the past.
Pat McAfee
McAfee, 35, will continue to do his daily talk show that is on YouTube, as well as WWE’s “Friday Night SmackDown” show for Fox. McAfee recently ended his relationship with SiriusXM, which had simulcast his show for two years.
The new deal will create quite a schedule for McAfee as he will spend Fridays on “Smackdown” and then fly – presumably on a private jet, as there is no other way – to appear on ESPN’s “GameDay” on Saturdays.
McAfee is in the midst of deal with FanDuel, which is set to pay him in excess of $120 million over four years.
He also recently agreed to do alternative broadcasts on select college football games on ESPN2, which is a partnership with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. He has held talks with Amazon about being a part of its “Thursday Night Football” coverage, but nothing has materialized yet.
The NFL is the most popular show on television – by a wide margin – and that will not change in 2022. But the cast of characters, and the way in which people will watch them, underwent seismic changes in the offseason, according to Neil Best at Newsday.
Much of the attention focused on a game of announcer musical chairs that made some play-by-play men and analysts extremely wealthy and affected every network’s No. 1 booth other than CBS’.
But the most fundamental change is the one on Thursday nights, where Amazon Prime Video will become the first streaming service to carry an exclusive national package of games.
As has always been the case for games shown on cable outlets, the NFL will require that these be available on a local broadcast channel in the markets of the two teams involved. But other than that, it’s streaming or nothing.
(Prime Video did strike a deal with DirecTV to show games in bars, restaurants and other public venues.)
On one hand, Amazon will be able to offer viewers more than a traditional TV outlet with alternate feeds, highlights on demand, stats and the like. But its core strategy with the main telecast is not to shock or upset fans with a radical new approach.
Hence the hiring of Al Michaels, a 77-year-old pillar of NFL play-by-play men, longtime ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit and executive producer Fred Gaudelli, a veteran of both “Monday Night Football” and “Sunday Night Football.”
Said Michaels, “I find it to be exciting in the sense that all of my friends and my kids and my grandkids all think this is about the coolest thing in the world.
“So even though it's a different platform, the one thing I think you can count on is that we are not going to reinvent the wheel. We're going to do the games. People are going to tune in to watch the games, and we're not going to do anything that's crazy.”
Michaels still will call some games for NBC, but when his contract there expired he ceded his spot in the Sunday night booth to Mike Tirico, who will work with analyst Cris Collinsworth.
Fox, meanwhile, will go with Kevin Burkhardt, a former SNY Mets reporter, and analyst Greg Olsen, who is keeping that seat warm until Tom Brady retires (again). They will call this season’s Super Bowl for Fox.
Fox’s booth opened up when its longtime lead announcing team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman moved to ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” Aikman when his contract was up and Buck when Fox let him out of his a year early.
Only CBS’ No. 1 team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo – whose 2020 contract to re-sign with CBS started the recent wave of mega-deals for announcers – remains intact among the major networks’ lead teams.
Friday’s US Open Third Round match on ESPN – apparently the last in the remarkable career of Serena Williams, as she lost to Ajla Tomljanovich of Australia 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 – is the most-watched tennis telecast on record in ESPN’s 43-year history.
An average of 4.6 million viewers (P2+) tuned in for the telecast from Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. The previous record of 3.9 million was for the 2012 Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Championship, when Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray, in ESPN’s first year with exclusivity and first-ball-to-last-ball coverage from London.
The Primetime telecast on ESPN was the best ESPN tennis telecast on record and was the most viewed telecast of the day for broadcast and cable networks in total viewers and all key male and person demos. Serena’s match averaged 4.8 million viewers from 7:15 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET and peaked with 6.9 million viewers in the 10:15 p.m. quarter-hour.
Through the first five days of the US Open, an average of 1.1. million viewers tuned in to ESPN networks, up +101% versus 2021. These are the most-viewed first five days of the US Open on record on ESPN networks.
Audacy announces legendary sportswriter John McClain as Senior Texans Columnist for Sports Radio KILT 610 AM in Houston.
In this role, McClain will provide weekly postgame observations, team report cards and Texans-driven columns throughout the season. He'll also continue to appear regularly on Sports Radio 610's weekly daytime programs “Payne and Pendergast,” “In the Loop with John Lopez and Landry Locker” and “Clint Stoerner and The Show.”
McClain will also co-host the Houtopia Football Podcast alongside Sports Radio 610 morning show host Sean Pendergast. With new episodes twice a week, the show will focus on all things Houston Texans football, including game breakdowns, player conversations, McClain’s stories from past and present experiences covering the team, and more.
“To officially bring a Houston legend in John McClain onto our team is incredible,” said Parker Hillis, Brand Manager, Sports Radio 610. “John has always been one of our biggest proponents in the market and I’m thrilled that Texans fans will now be able to read his observations and opinions at SportsRadio610.com, on top of his weekly radio appearances.”
“I’ve been doing sports talk on 610 for 23 years, and I’m fired up about the opportunity to write for the station’s website,” said McClain. “I’m especially excited to work with Brandon Scott, one of my favorite reporters in Houston. I think Brandon does a terrific job covering Houston sports, and it’s an honor to cover the Texans with him.”
McClain, a Waco, TX native, is best known for his 47 years spent covering the NFL, including the Oilers and Texans, for the Houston Chronicle (from which he retired earlier this year). He has also served as an on-air contributor for the Sports Radio 610 since 1999. In 2006, McClain received the Dick McCann Memorial Award, placing him into the writer's wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Committee, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
➤Listeners can tune in to Sports Radio 610 (KILT-AM) in Houston on air and nationwide on the Audacyapp and website. Fans can also connect with the station via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
➦In 1929...the forerunner to 'Let’s Pretend', a Saturday morning radio show for kids was heard for the first time on CBS Radio Network. The Adventures of Helen & Mary became Let’s Pretend 5 years later. Let's Pretend, created and directed by Nila Mack, was a CBS radio series for children. In its most famous form, Let's Pretend, the Peabody Award-winning series ran from 1934 to 1954.
➦In 1934...Daniel Trombley "Dan" Ingram was born. Ingram is an American radio icon with a fifty-year career on radio stations such as WABC 770 AM and WCBS 101.1 FM in New York. "Big Dan" started broadcasting at WHCH Hofstra College, Hempstead, New York, WNRC, New Rochelle, New York, and WALK-FM, Patchogue, New York.
Dan Ingram
Ingram mastered the talk-up, talking over the intro to a song, ending right before the vocals. Ingram could get the song title, the current temperature and a one-liner in his talk-ups. He wholeheartedly embraced one of radio's golden rules: When you're talking to the audience, do it like you're talking to one person.
Ingram was noted for his quick wit and ability to convey a humorous or satiric idea with quick pacing and an economy of words—a skill which has made him uniquely suited to, and successful within, modern personality-driven music radio.
He is among the most frequently emulated radio personalities, cited as an influence or inspiration by numerous current broadcasters.
He was well known for playing doctored versions of popular songs. The Paul McCartney & Wings song My Love Does it Good became My Glove Does it Good. The stuttering title refrain of Bennie and the Jets went from three or four repetitions to countless. In the same vein, the distinctive refrain added to Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede, Ooga-ooga-ooga-chucka would start repeating and listeners would never know when it would end. (Other examples include Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, and "rearranging" the spelling of "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y" on the Bay City Rollers' Saturday Night.)
Dan's longtime closing theme song was "Tri-Fi Drums" by Billy May. An edited version of the song was used for broadcast.
Dan commented occasionally about the pronunciation of his name: jingles often are heard pronouncing his last name as "Ing-ram," but Dan has said it is correctly pronounced "In-gram."
Ingram died June 24, 2018.
➦In 1936...Early rock & roll icon Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock Texas. His name was misspelled on his first record contract and he decided to leave it that way. At age 22, he died in a plane crash Feb 3, 1959 along with Ritchie Valens and J.P.Richardson (The Big Bopper.)
➦In 1949...Windsor (Ont.) radio station CKLW, later to become Canada’s all-time most listened-to station (due to its huge US audience), increased power from 5000 to 50,000 watts. The station had moved from 1030 to 800 KHz, a Canada/Mexico clear channel, in the great frequency shuffle of 1941.
As television's popularity boomed, CKLW, like many other stations, coped with the changes by replacing the dying network radio fare with locally based disc-jockey shows. Throughout most of the 1950s and into the mid-1960s, CKLW was basically a "variety" radio station which filled in the cracks between full-service features with pop music played by announcers like Bud Davies, Ron Knowles (who had a rock-and-roll show on AM 800 as early as 1957), and Joe Van. For a few years in the early 1960s, CKLW also featured a country music program in the evenings called Sounds Like Nashville. This ended in 1963.
➦In 1979...ESPN, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, made its debut on US cable TV as the world’s first full-time channel devoted to sports.
➦In 1999…Viacom made its biggest acquisition ($35.6 million) by announcing plans to merge with its former parent CBS Corporation (the original, not the current one). The merger was completed in 2000, bringing cable channels TNN (now Paramount Network) and Country Music Television (CMT) under Viacom's wing, as well as CBS' production units and TV distributors Eyemark Entertainment (formerly Group W Productions) and King World. CBS' production unit and King World (which has since folded Eyemark) operated under their own names; however, TNN and CMT were merged into MTV Networks almost immediately.
Gloria Gaynor is 79
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins is 92.
Singer Gloria Gaynor is 79.
Singer Alfa Anderson of Chic is 76.
Actor Susan Blakely (“The Towering Inferno,” ″The Concorde: Airport ’79″) is 74.
Drummer Dennis Thompson of MC5 is 74.
Actor Julie Kavner (“The Simpsons”) is 72.
Singer Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders is 71.
Keyboardist Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is 69.
Alyssa Diaz is 37
Actor Corbin Bernsen is 68.
Actor Michael Emerson (“Lost”) is 68.
Pianist Michael Feinstein is 66.
Songwriter Diane Warren is 66.
Singer Margot Chapman (Starland Vocal Band) is 65.
Actor W. Earl Brown (“Deadwood”) is 59.
Comedian Leslie Jones (“Supermarket Sweep,” ″Saturday Night Live”) is 55.
Model Angie Everhart is 53.
Actor Diane Farr (“Numb3rs,” “Rescue Me”) is 53.
Actor Monique Gabriela Curnen (“The Dark Knight”) is 52.
Actor Tom Everett Scott (“Southland,” ″That Thing You Do!”) is 52.
Drummer Chad Sexton of 311 is 52.
Actor Shannon Elizabeth (“American Pie”) is 49.
Actor Oliver Hudson (“Nashville”) is 46.
Actor Devon Sawa (“Slackers,” ″Final Destination”) is 44.
Actor Benjamin Hollingsworth (“Code Black”) is 38.
Actor Alyssa Diaz (“The Rookie”) is 37.
Contemporary Christian musician Wes Willis of Rush of Fools is 36.
Actor Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld,” ″Thirteen”) is 35.
Actor Jonathan Majors (“Lovecraft Country”) is 33.
Actor Ian Chen (“Fresh Off the Boat”) is 16.
✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
Rock drummer Keith Moon of The Who died of a drug overdose on this day in 1978. He was 32.
