A-E-B Radio: Tommy Jordan New AM Co-Host At WLEV

Cumulus Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton announces that Tommy Jordan has been named host of WLEV 100.7 FM’s morning show. Jordan moves to Cumulus Allentown from Manning Broadcasting’s WAFY/Key 103 in Frederick, MD. Scott Evans remains on board as co-host of WLEV mornings. 

Jordan joins Scott Evans in the morning show effective immediately.

Jordan is known for his long stint in mornings at WPST in Trenton, NJ, and previously worked alongside WLEV Program Director Laura St. James at Clear Channel Allentown’s WAEB-FM/B104.

St. James said: “There are few people more passionate about winning than Tommy. He’s a tireless talent who loves radio completely. I’m personally excited to hear him and Scott together in mornings.”

WLEV 100.7 FM (11Kw) 54dBu Coverage

Jordan said: “Thank you to Manning Broadcasting for a great three years in Frederick at Key 103. I’m very happy to be returning to the Allentown market as part of Cumulus Media. Thank you to Laura St. James, Mike McVay, Emily Boldon, and Ron Giovanniello for making it all possible.”

Chicago Radio: MLB Cubs Jumping To WBBM

The Cubs are set to announce WBBM 780 AM / 105.9 FM  as the team's new flagship radio partner.

The Chicago Tribune quotes sources close to the situation confirmed Tuesday night that the Cubs have signed a long-term deal with the CBS-owned station to carry the team’s games beginning next season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources said it also involves promotion with other CBS Radio stations in Chicago.

The team is expected to announce the new broadcast partnership formally on Thursday, according to sources.

The move to CBS marks the end of a 90-year relationship with WGN 720 AM. The Tribune Co.-owned station reportedly was losing money on the broadcasts and chose to exercise an option to reopen its radio contract with the team last fall. Station executives cited low ratings after losing 197 games over the last two seasons as contributing to revenue declines.

The previous deal was valued at $10 million, according to earlier reports in the Tribune. WGN had the right to match the new CBS offer, but chose not to, according to sources.

Read More Now

Pandora Announces Final Monthly Metrics

Pandora announced today new metrics that were reached in the month of May 2014.

•  Listener hours for Pandora during the month of May 2014 were 1.73 billion, an increase of 28% from 1.35 billion during the same period last year.
• Share of total U.S. radio listening for Pandora in May 2014 was 9.13%, an increase from 7.29% at the same time last year.
• Active listeners were 77.0 million at the end of May 2014, an increase of 9% from 70.8 million during the same time period last year.

As previously noted on March 6, 2014, this marks the final monthly metrics release, covering audience metrics for May 2014. The company's standard practice of providing listener metrics on a quarterly basis in its periodic filings and earnings calls will continue unchanged.

To help advertisers make informed buying decisions, Pandora began monthly disclosure of information regarding users and usage in March 2012. The company has also expressed public support for respected third parties to initiate measurement activities across all forms of radio. Given recent changes in the marketplace, including Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics Local recently achieving Media Rating Council Accreditation, Pandora believes advertisers can now access the necessary tools to make accurate side-by-side comparisons.

Report: Local Radio Dollars Key To Internet Radio

iTunes once upended the music industry. Now it too is pivoting as music listening habits change once again.

People are increasingly listening to music via streaming services and that's causing revenues from digital music downloads to fall off.

According to Business Insider, this is likely why Apple is focusing on its streaming iTunes Radio service and getting set to introduce targeted local ads for the service later this year. In an effort to bolster iTunes Radio's content library, the company also plans to add content from local broadcasters.

Apple has steadily been beefing up its iTunes Radio ad sales team. Last winter, the company added former Cumulus Media sales executive Michael Pallad to its roster of iTunes Radio employees, and the company redirected its iAds mobile ad sales force to focus its efforts on the streaming radio service. Apple charges between $1 and $10 million to advertise on the radio service, according to AppleInsider.

Underlying the ground shift in how people listen to music, and how digital media companies make money from that listening, is steadily shrinking U.S. radio advertising revenue. BI Intelligence forecasts that revenue will fall from $13.4 billion in 2013 to $11.2 billion in 2014. Some of these losses will be picked up by online-only streaming music players, like iTunes Radio and Pandora. Unlocking local radio dollars will be key if internet radio is ever going to get beyond the relatively small number of brands that make national radio ad buys.

Pandora pulled in an impressive $521 million in advertising revenue in 2013, up 45% over the previous year.

Read More Now

Study: Internet Ads Poised to Top TV

Television's decades-long dominance of advertising is poised to give way to the Internet within seven years, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' new Entertainment and Media Outlook report that predicts revenue through 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

PwC's 15th annual report, released June 4, reveals that TV advertising will generate $173.7 billion worldwide in 2014 and grow to $214.7 billion in 2018. During the same period, Internet advertising will grow from $133 billion to $194.5 billion. PwC does not prognosticate beyond five years, but its research indicates a 5.5 percent compound annual growth rate for TV advertising compared with 10.7 percent for the Internet, suggesting the latter will pass the former as early as 2020 -- marking a sea change that will come about fairly quickly.

As recently as 2010, revenue from TV advertising was more than twice that from Web ads.

Read More Now

Report: Country Music Radio's Most Popular Format

New findings from both The Media Audit's National Report and National Radio Format Report suggest that country music radio listening and the station consumers listen to most often may have something to do with rising attendance at live country music concerts.

The Media Audit surveyed more than 100,000 respondents in 81 U.S. cities about what radio station they listen to most often and found that listeners are tuning into country music more often than any other music genre. According to the study, more than 8.4 million listeners across The Media Audit's survey footprint responded that they listen to a country-formatted station in their local market more than any other station in a typical week. As a result, country music represents the most popular music genre among the more than 50 genres measured by The Media Audit.

Also, attendance at live country music concerts is on the rise. According to the same study, 7.9% of respondents indicated they attended one or more country music concerts in the past year. The figure represents more than 11.6 million concert goers.  Four years ago, 7.2% of respondents had attended a live country music concert and the figure has been steadily increasing over the years.

Top markets for country music concert attendance include Nashville, Tennessee, where 15.4% of the metro area's population has attended a country music concert in the past year, tied with Columbia-Jefferson City, Missouri, (also 15.4%), followed by Peoria, Illinois (14.1%), Austin, Texas (14%), and Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina (14%).

A look at the demographic profile of the typical country music listener shows what makes this radio format a desirable advertising platform for many marketers. According to the study, those who are between the ages of 18 and 34 and who have an annual household income greater than $100,000 are 42% more likely to listen to a country music radio station in a typical week, with two-thirds of country music's total weekly audience is represented by the 18 to 49 demographic.

Comments At FCC Gums-Up After HBO Show

John Oliver

When the Federal Communications Commission released its proposed Net Neutrality regulations, Chairman Tom Wheeler said the founding fathers were likely looking down on the public outcry over the draft rules and smiling.

They must be laughing hysterically now, according to CNet.

The FCC's online public-comment system stumbled under heavy traffic Monday after comedian John Oliver capped a 13-minute segment about Net neutrality -- the concept that all Internet content should be delivered without preference or discrimination -- with a rallying cry to the Internet's trolls to visit the FCC's website and "focus your indiscriminate rage in a useful direction."

We’ve been experiencing technical difficulties with our comment system due to heavy traffic. We’re working to resolve these issues quickly.
— The FCC (@FCC) June 2, 2014

The clip, from Oliver's HBO program "Last Week Tonight" on Sunday, was shared widely on social networks like Twitter, with the YouTube clip's view count approaching the 700,000 mark. Oliver's program itself was watched by 1 million viewers during its first airing, according to TV by the Numbers, a website that reports television ratings from Nielsen.

Orlando Radio: WWKA Goes Bland

Drew Bland

Cox Media Group/Orlando has announced that Drew Bland as its new Director of Branding and Programming for Country WWKA 92.3FM K92.

Bland, known on-air as Bo Hunter, starts June 18.

Prior to this new role, Bland was with CBS Radio/Phoenix for 10 years. He served as Assistant PD for seven years at KMLE and held positions as evening host, morning producer and most recently midday host. For the last five years he's been the Music Director and played the role as interim PD on two different occasions.

WPYO/WWKA Operations Director Stevie DeMann said, "I am so excited for Drew to join us at CMG Orlando, representing Orlando's Country, K92.3. The time is right and the time is now for Drew to take the next step in his career and he will be a great leader to the K92.3 staff. We look forward to his vision and leadership of our amazing brand!"

Bland added, "I am beyond excited to join the Cox Media Group Orlando team. I'd like to thank Susan Larkin and Stevie DeMann for this opportunity to lead the K92.3 brand. Plus, unlike Phoenix, I hear it's not such a 'dry heat' in Florida."

Study: Score One For The "Colbert Nation"

Viewers of “The Colbert Report” who watched faux-conservative TV host Stephen Colbert set up a super PAC and 501(c)(4) organization during the last presidential election cycle proved to be better informed about campaign financing and the role of money in politics than viewers of  other news channels and shows, according to a new study.

“It’s the first study actually showing that Colbert is doing a better job than other news sources at teaching people about campaign financing,” said Bruce W. Hardy, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a senior researcher at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. “Consistently, we found that Colbert did better than every other news source we included in our model.”

The study, published online in Mass Communication and Society, tested “The Colbert Report” against CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and broadcast nightly news, as well as talk radio and newspapers as sources of political information. The study, “Stephen Colbert’s Civics Lesson,” was based on phone survey data from 1,232 adults 18 years or older who were interviewed between Dec. 13, 2012 and Dec. 23, 2012.

Watching “The Colbert Report” served as “an extended civics lesson,” the researchers said. The show not only increased people’s perceptions that they knew more about political financing, but significantly increased their actual knowledge, and did so at a greater rate than other news sources. Other activities that also increased knowledge about super PACs and 501(c)(4)s, but to a lesser degree, included reading a daily newspaper, listening to talk radio, and watching Fox News.

“Colbert did better than any other news source at teaching,” Hardy said. “There were two reasons. First was the narrative structure. He walked us through creating a super PAC and every episode was a continuation of that story. And second was the use of humor and satire.”

The researchers said that the use of a continuing narrative in which the humorist crossed from being an observer to an active participant engaged viewers more than the traditional approach used by the news media. The “inverted pyramid” used in many news stories, in which the most important news comes first, has been compared with “being told the punchline before the joke,” the study noted.

Philly Radio: WRFF Forced To Find New Venue For Block Parties

CCM+E/Philadelphia has announced that WRFF 104.5 FM will move the remained of it's 2014 Summer Block Parties to a new location.

According to John Allers, PD of the Alternative station, "As the Summer Block Party concert series continues to get bigger and better every year, we’re excited to expand it to the newly made-over Festival Pier. Festival Pier is synonymous with live outdoor music in Philly and will be the perfect home for our monthly free concerts."

The station was forced to find a new venue after being kicked-out of the its previous location the Piazza  at Schmidt's in the Northern Liberties section of the city. Nearby residents were outraged after they say an out of control party in early May featured intoxicated teens having public sex and urinating on the street.  Many claimed there was lack of security and Kushner Companies, the owner of the Piazza, placed the blame on Clear Channel.

SEE ORIGINAL POSTING:  Click Here.

The Radio 104.5 Summer Block Parties are 'presentend' by State Farm and the upcoming monthly Saturday events features:

• JUNE 7: The Head and The Heart, Kongos, Bear Hands and Alright Junior.
• JULY 12: Neon Trees
• AUGUST 2:  Bleachers
• SEPTEMBER 13: Grouplove

The Summer Block Parties are free with a tickets obtained from the station website.

Sharyl Attkisson: Journalism’s Very Dangerous Trend

Sharyl Attkisson

Sharyl Attkisson, an award-winning investigative reporter who resigned from CBS News earlier this year, says the news media are heading down a dangerous path with attempts to “censor or block stories” that don’t align with their preferred agenda.

“There’s a tendency in the news media, on the part of some managers, to censor or block stories that don’t fall in line with the message they want sent to the viewers,” Attkisson said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal.  It's a new journalism website operated by The Heritage Foundation.  Its goal is to cover news stories it considers 'under-reported.'

“I think that’s really a very dangerous perspective to have.”

In the first of three segments, Attkisson shared her views on journalism and life after CBS News. Her newest investigative report—about oxygen trials conducted on premature babies—was published by The Daily Signal today. She will serve as a senior independent contributor to the news organization, which made its debut Tuesday.

Attkisson made headlines in March when she left CBS News after a 20-year career at the TV network. In subsequent interviews, she cited her inability to get her stories on the air.

Triad Radio: WTOB Goes Live As 'Not-For-Profit' Station

WTOB 1380 AM in Winston-Salem is bringing back the Oldies, according to journalnow.com.

The station was a Triad favorite in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, with legendary local disc jockeys such as George Lee, Rick Dees and The Flying Dutchman. It later moved from rock and roll to other formats, including news, talk, Christian programming and Spanish language programs. 

But it is now under new management, and after playing music in an automated mode for the past month, it has gone live.

“Everybody’s going to find out what we’re doing,” said Dan Curtis, the station manager.

The station will have a “Classic Hits” format with popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s, as well as classic jingles, live DJs and interviews with past artists.

“We’re the only station that does the Classic Hits format between Charlotte and Raleigh,” said Coyote Nash, the program director, brand manager and one of the DJs, who previously worked at the original WTOB and other local stations such as WAIR and WKTE.

In addition to Curtis and Nash, other personnel at the revived WTOB will include Melanie Michaels from WTQR, Rick Archer from WAIR, Curtis Lee from WAIR, legendary radio DJ Jim Starr, and others.

WTOB 1380 AM (5Kw-D, 2.5Kw-N)

The station, which is owned by Davidson Media, will run as a not-for-profit station with the objective of raising money for charities. All profits after expenses are paid will go to charity organizations in the Winston-Salem area.

June 4 In Radio History

In 1942…Capitol Records opened for business, becoming the first major record label based on the U.S. west coast. The company had been established earlier in the year – by songwriters Johnny Mercer and Buddy De Sylva with Glenn Wallichs – as Liberty Records. It was Wallichs, Capitol's manager, who invented the art of record promotion by sending free copies of new releases to disc jockeys.

In 1963…"Pop Go the Beatles" was first broadcast on BBC radio.

Each edition of Pop Go The Beatles began and ended with a rock ‘n’ roll version of the nursery rhyme Pop Goes The Weasel recorded by The Beatles.

In 1973…WNBC 97.1 FM  switched format to “The Rock Pile”

In 1998… WNWK NYC changes call letters to WCAA

The station first came on the air on 105.9 FM in 1964 as WHBI, which was originally owned by Hoyt Brothers Inc.. In the 1980s, the station - by then property of Multicultural Radio Broadcasting - went by the call letters WNWK, and aired leased-access ethnic programming.

In 1998, the station, under new ownership, started playing hit Spanish music as "Caliente 105.9" ("Hot 105.9"), with the call letters WCAA. In September 1999, the station changed its slogan to "105.9 Latino Mix" ("105.9 Latin Mix"). In February 2004, the station's owner, Univision Communications bought the 92.7 FM frequency in Garden City, New York which was the home of WLIR-FM and made it a western Long Island simulcast of 105.9 under the call letters WZAA.

In 1998…WPAT 930 AM in NYC Market sold to Multicultural Broadcasting.

Next Round In Kasem Family Feud: Jean To File Documents

Jean Kasem

Casey Kasem’s wife of 33 years has shut out his family, released a distressing cell phone recording of the radio icon moaning and thrown a pound of hamburger meat at his daughter.

But no one knows why.

For most of the year that the Casey Kasem’s family has been fighting over his medical care and visitation, Jean Kasem has been tight-lipped, communicating only in court documents or through her lawyers and denying all interview requests.

Jean Kasem’s attorney Joel Paget told NBC News on Monday that his client will finally tell her story in court documents he will file on Wednesday in Kitsap County Superior Court.

“She does have a story to tell and document,” Paget said. “The only thing I will say now is that if I were as old as he was and in the condition he was, I would hope to have the care that his wife has been giving him.”

Read More Now

Video: Jean Kasem Throws The Beef

Casey Kasem was taken Sunday  by ambulance to a hospital in Washington state following an incident between his wife and daughter.

In the latest – and by far most bizarre – episode during a long family battle, Kasem's wife Jean threw a pound of hamburger meat at Kerri Kasem, his daughter from his first marriage, NBC News reports.

Kerri Kasem arrived with an ambulance at the home where her father is staying on Sunday, but paramedics were not allowed inside.

After the authorities were called and arrived at the house, Jean Kasem, 59, threw the hamburger meat.

"In the name of King David, I threw a piece of raw meat into the street in exchange for my husband to the wild rabid dogs," Jean Kasem said.

Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Forbes said Monday that Kasem could return to the home where he and his wife, Jean, have been staying with friends if there's medical supervision and doctors say it is safe to transport him.

Casey's First Wife: Jean Is 'Crazy'

Casey Kasem, Daughter Kerri

Several Kasem family members claim that the incident shows Jean Kasem herself potentially has mental illness.  "In my opinion, it does," Kasem's daughter Kerri Kasem tells THR.

"She is absolutely crazy -- no, I really mean it," says Linda Myers Naylor, Casey Kasem's first wife and the mother of his daughters Kerri and Julie Kasem, who are battling Jean Kasem over Casey Kasem's treatment.

"It's been like this for 34 years," says Casey's brother Mouner Kasem. "She's crazy. I'm not joking."

"Crazy, crazy, crazy," Julie Kasem says of her stepmother's actions. "It reminds me of Austin Powers saying, 'Who throws a shoe?'" says Kerri Kasem's publicist Danny Delaney. "I mean, who throws meat?"

Jean Kasem thinks it's the legal system that has gone crazy.

"The probate system in California is broken and vulnerable in facilitating corruption, and if no one wants to fix it, then I will," she said. "My husband is very happy and comfortable in our family, and has told me time and time again that he wishes to remain under my care and does not want a conservator."

"She is pathological," continues Naylor. "My daughters are trying very, very hard to bring him back [to health], to get the right medical care. When they saw him in Santa Monica [at a hospital] May 6, he recognized them and was very happy."

After that May 6 visit, Jean Kasem removed Mr. Kasem from the hospital and disappeared. Authorities located them in Silverdale. After Kerri Kasem saw her father again, the shock of his apparent decline after 24 days made her cry. "Casey has a 50 percent chance to make it six more months," says Delaney.

Read More Now

Report: SiriusXM Wants To Keep Howard Stern

Howard Stern

Satellite radio firm SiriusXM, which is controlled by John Malone's Liberty Media, would like to keep Howard Stern on the air when his current contract with the company ends, CFO David Frear reiterated in London on Tuesday, according to THR.

Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Telecom and Media Conference, he reminded investors that Stern's contract was coming up at the end of 2015. Last time around, "he signed the contract and said he couldn't believe he did it again because of how early he has to get up," Frear quipped.

He added: "I do think he loves what he is doing…I think he loves the creative freedom that he gets on the Sirius platform. I think he loves the reach that he gets." Concluded Frear: "As long as Howard wants to work, we'd love to have him on the air."

The CFO also said Sirius XM has no plans to launch in international markets.

He lauded Pandora, Spotify and other streaming music companies for growing their subscribers. But he said there are "pretty challenging economics for streamers" because "free sells best."

Asked if Sirius was planning a push into video services, the CFO said "it is hard to experience video in the car," so video is not in focus. But with self-drive cars likely to become a market opportunity down the line, he said there is no technical reason that Sirius couldn't offer video.

Read More Now