Jonathan Harris had generally enjoyed his time working as a production assistant at One America News Network. Then he began working for Graham Ledger, the ultra-conservative host of the the cable news channel’s flagship show.
“It’s a nightmare he hasn’t woken up from,” Harris’ attorney, Britany Engelman, told a jury Thursday.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Harris, 34, is suing both Ledger and Robert Herring Sr., the CEO of One America’s parent company, on claims that he was harassed based on his African-American race and then retaliated against when he complained.
The case opened for trial this week in San Diego Superior Court, more than two years after Harris was terminated from the San Diego-based news operation.
Jonathan Harris
One America News Network itself is not named as a defendant in the case, but its parent company, Herring Networks Inc., is. Still, the channel provides the setting for the workplace dispute.
In opening statements Thursday, attorneys for both sides previewed their evidence, providing dueling narratives of Harris’ employment history at One America News Network and the ultimate reason for his termination in 2017.
Harris was fired after deleting documents from his personal work computer. According to management, he violated policy. According to Harris, it was an excuse to get rid of him.
Harris was hired in 2014 first as a production assistant for the news desk, then as a booking producer for “The Daily Ledger,” an evening opinion show hosted by its namesake, a longtime San Diego news anchor and television personality.
The two clashed.
Harris claims that he — the only African-American present at the show’s planning meetings — was regularly berated, demeaned and verbally abused on account of his liberal views and his perspectives as an African-American male, according to his attorneys, Engelman and Rodney Diggs. They did not present specific examples at the trial’s opening, and Harris has yet to testify.
➦In 1903...Radio game show host and actor Warren Hull was born in Gasport NY.
A movie actor in the 30’s, he turned to radio in the 40’s with announcer/host roles on such shows as Your Hit Parade and Vox Pop. Hull was also the emcee of Spin To Win, only the second game show created by the team of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman.
The next two decades he hosted TV game shows Strike It Rich, Top Dollar, Who In the World and Beat the Odds.
“Strike It Rich” was a wildly successful CBS radio‐television show of the 1950s that ‘was part quiz and part give‐away and offered the public the spectacle of often despondent people relating their hard‐luck stories to Mr. Hull.
Participants were able to win a few hundred dollars by correctly answering a few questions, in addition to which the program featured a “heart line” through which pitying viewers could telephone offers of cash, clothing, merchandise and jobs.
He died of heart failure Sept 14 1974 at age 71.
➦In 1949... after 18 years on radio, “The Goldbergs” starring Gertrude Berg, began its seven-year run on TV.
➦In 1964...the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was “There! I’ve Said It Again” by Bobby Vinton. This song was the last No. 1 song before the British invasion. After four weeks at No. 1, Vinton gave way to the Beatles and their first U.S. hit, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
➦In 1986...Longtime Chicago radio personality Joel Sebastian died at age 53. He began his radio career in his native Detroit at station WXYZ, moved to Chicago in 1966, after working at stations in Dallas, New Haven, Conn., and Los Angeles.
Over the last 20 years, he had been a disc jockey and morning on-air personality at eight Chicago radio stations, including WCFL, WLS, WGN, WMAQ and, most recently, WJMK-FM (104).
He began his Chicago career at WCFL as a talkative morning disc jockey. He would open each show with the greeting ''Good morning Chicago, baby,'' while playing Jack Jones` rendition of ''My Kind of Town.''
Sebastian performed a variety of radio roles, reflecting both the wide range of his abilities and the whimsical nature of the business. He was program director at WCFL, rock DJ at several stations and, in the late 1970s, an all-night classical music show host at WGN.
He survived a purge at WMAQ when the station switched to country music in 1975. Most of the on-air staff, including Mr. Sebastian, was fired. But he was rehired a short time later as production chief and weekend personality.
He also worked at WNEW, WKHK, WHN and WNBC in New York City, returning to Chicago in June 1983 to WJMX
➦In 1989...Scott Shannon last show at WHTZ Z100 NYC. Shannon founded the "Z Morning Zoo" concept and he was the driving force in helping Z100 become the top-rated FM station in New York City within a mere 74 days of signing on the air.
In 1989, Shannon left Z100 for Los Angeles to start up Pirate Radio, KQLZ. Pirate Radio employed a similar Top 40 concept. As the 1990s began, Top 40 radio experienced a decline, and eventually Pirate Radio struggled as well, leading to Shannon's departure.
In 1991 he returned to New York and resurfaced on Z100's biggest rival, WPLJ. He is now hosting mornings on Entercom's Classic Hits WCBS 101.1 FM NYC.
➦In 2004...TV talk show host, Jerry Springer, began a new radio show on WCKY-AM, Cincinnati, the city where he once had been mayor.
➦In 2012...Johnny Otis, a bandleader and songwriter often called the “Godfather of R & B,” died at home in L.A. at age 90. Best-known for writing “Willie And The Hand Jive,” Otis helped pave the way for Rock & Roll in the early ‘50s.
iHeartMedia announced today that three of its senior programming executives have been named Division Executive Vice Presidents of Programming for the iHeartMedia National Programming Group, effective immediately.
There are:
Jeff Hurley
Tony Travatto
Angela Watson Charles
They now will now join current Executive Vice Presidents of Programming Andrew Jeffries, Thea Mitchem, Maynard and Gene Romano. They will report to Brad Hardin, Chief Operating Officer of the iHeartMedia National Programming Group.
Each member of iHeart’s Executive Vice President of Programming team will partner with the company’s Division Presidents, collaborating with each Division to provide national programming assets, services and resources:
Mitchem and Jeffries will work with Kevin LeGrett and Scott Hopeck and the Region Division, which is comprised of the company’s largest markets, like New York and Los Angeles, that each reach hundreds of cities, communities and trading areas for local businesses.
Romano and Maynard will work with Division Presidents Tom McConnell, Tony Coles and Linda Byrd and the Metro Division, which houses markets that are large areas that still encompass multiple communities – but are not regional hubs like the company’s largest markets.
Jeff Hurley
Travatto, Hurley and Watson Charles will work with Division Presidents Shosh Abromovich, Nick Gnau and Dan Lankford and the Community Division, which includes markets that focus on the shared needs of one community and one trading area for most businesses and advertisers and will also group markets into areas which are geographically close and culturally similar.
“We’re excited to add Angela, Jeff and Tony to our already extremely talented Executive Vice President of Programming team,” said Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia. “They each have deep experience building great local brands with a blend of math and magic, and they’ll provide excellent leadership to our programmers in our Community Division markets.”
Tony Travatto
Hurley has served as Regional Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia’s Allentown/Harrisburg Region since 2013. He joined iHeartMedia in 2004 as the Program Director for WHKF-FM Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and later worked as a Program Director, Operations Manager and on-air personality for brands in the Region. Hurley’s on-air background includes stations in Philadelphia; Cincinnati; Rochester, New York; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Elmira, New York.
Angela Watson
Travatto brings more than 20 years of experience to his new role, most recently as Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Detroit and Program Director for Channel 955, Detroit’s #1 Hit Music Station, and 100.3 WNIC, The Best Variety Of The 80’s, 90’s & Today. He joined iHeartMedia in 2005 as the Program Director for iHeartMedia San Antonio’s KXXX-FM and has served on iHeartMedia’s CHR brand team. Travatto’s background includes working at radio stations in Michigan and Illinois.
Watson Charles began her career at iHeartMedia in 1990 as a Promotions intern for WQUE-FM before transitioning into programming and as an on-air personality. In 2015, she was named Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia New Orleans’ eight stations. Also known as Uptown Angela, Watson Charles is the midday on-air personality for Q93, New Orleans Hip Hop and R&B Station, where she has been number one in her daypart for more than two decades.
There’s great uncertainty about what the Cox Media Group sale will mean for TV and radio stations, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
Cox sold its TV and radio stations to Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm. When the deal closed, Apollo changed the official name of the purchasing company to Terrier Media.
In an email to employees, Kim Guthrie, president of Cox Media Group, called the sale “a huge milestone for CMG” and introduced Steve Pruett as executive chairman. Pruett was most recently executive vice president and chief TV development officer at Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Pruett is “wildly enthusiastic” about the new Cox Media Group, Guthrie said.
“There will be changes in the way the station is operated,” predicted Bob Jordan, who is also a former WFTV anchor in Orlando. “The buyer will cut expenses and attempt to find new sources of revenue. The people at WFTV have been largely sheltered from the new reality of the broadcast television business."
Revenue is not as high as it used to be, and the profit margin is down, said Chris Schmidt, another former WFTV news director. “But television is still better than most businesses,” Schmidt added. “Ratings aren’t what they used to be, but it’s still the best way to reach people.”
Jordan sounded more hopeful than alarmed by what could be ahead. “The buyers have made it clear that they do not plan on holding WFTV for the long term,” he said. “They are venture capitalists whose mission is to unlock new value in an asset. It will be interesting to see how they go about it. One good sign: They have retained top Cox managers to run the show.”
They may not be there for long, though. “I’ve been hearing they’ll keep them for a year, so the buyers can learn the business better,” Schmidt said.
Like many in the news business, WFTV staffers are working in a time of staff reductions and management changes. How to carry on?
“A change isn’t major unless it impacts you,” Jordan said. “For some, any change will be seen as threatening. My view is that if you perform an essential function and do it well, you’ll be OK.”
Schmidt’s advice to employees: “Do your job and do it well, you’ll be fine. Buyers see a tremendous upside. They’ll be looking for people on staff who can help generate that upside. Don’t worry about what’s happening at headquarters, because there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Bloodbath” is how some radio business insiders are describing the big round of layoffs for employees and on-air personalities affecting America’s largest owner of radio stations, iHeartMedia.
According to savingcountrymusic.com, the percentage of employees laid off by the company wasn’t especially high considering the company’s estimated 12,500-strong labor force, but it was who received pink slips that has left so many radio professionals and their local listeners in shock.
"iHM is replacing employees for algorhythms, eliminating local and regional talent for more national programming, and generally eliminating the last element that makes radio interesting and important, and able to compete with streaming services and podcasts in the digital age: a local personality to connect to and to serve you music, sports, and news with a local perspective.
"Though these moves will most certainly offload salary for the company and streamline operations, it’s at the expense of one of the last things that makes radio relevant. Undoubtedly for a major media company to survive, they must modernize, especially when it comes to a dying medium such as radio. But the future of radio remains local, and removing the local element is what has made the medium less viable over time.
"As major corporations like iHeartMedia continue to try and cost cut their way to profitability, locally-owned and privately-owned radio stations that set their own playlists, allow local and regional stars their first entry point to an audience, and can engage with communities through local appearances and events will be the ones who survive.
"The cuts may keep iHeartMedia in the black for the short term. But it’s at the expense of the last reason why anyone would turn their radio on in the first place, or pull up a local station through an app: to hear someone you can personally connect with, and serve you the audio content that is most relevant to you. Instead of doubling down on what makes radio cool, they’ve assured that further cuts in on-air personalities that communities connect with will be needed in the future in the further automation of American radio."
Today, Jerry Del Colliano, publisher of Inside Music Media, outlined where he believes iHeartMedia is headed. Among other moves, Del Colliano expects:
There will be only one manager per Market
High paid market managers will be targeted. They would be succeeded by less-compensated sales managers
Regional managers will become increasingly unnecessary
Meanwhile, Radio Insight is maintain an ongoing list of those affected.
Nexstar Media Group, which bought Tribune Media in September, is launching a nightly three-hour national newscast on cable channel WGN America based in Chicago, reports The Tribune.
Competing with established cable news networks such as CNN and Fox, “News Nation” will be broadcast to more than 75 million homes from new studios being built at WGN’s facilities on West Bradley Place in Chicago. The program will air nightly from 7 to 10 p.m. Central time beginning this summer, employing reporters from local Nexstar TV newsrooms across the country to provide content.
Sean Compton
Dallas-based Nexstar is positioning the network as an "unbiased national news” alternative to the current offerings on cable.
“The opportunity is great,” Sean Compton, executive vice president of WGN America, said Wednesday. “No one else is doing straight news in prime time. They’re all doing talking heads.”
The new network will make Chicago a national news center, Compton said, bringing jobs, providing a platform for local experts to weigh in on stories and highlighting news events from across the country that may “get lost in the shuffle” on other cable news outlets.
Anchors for the national newscast have yet to be named. Nexstar plans to hire 120 new employees in Chicago dedicated exclusively to producing the newscast, Compton said.
Jennifer Lyons
In addition to the nightly newscast, “News Nation” will update stories 24/7 online. Jennifer Lyons, news director at WGN-TV in Chicago, has been promoted to vice president of news for WGN America, and will oversee the new cable news broadcast.
Dominick Stasi, executive producer of WGN-TV’s local newscasts, was named Wednesday to replace Lyons as news director at the station.
Nexstar has been shaking up the Chicago properties it acquired as part of its $4.1 billion purchase of Tribune Media, which created the nation’s largest TV chain, with 197 local stations. The deal moved "Chicago’s very own” WGN-Ch. 9, national cable channel WGN America, WGN-AM 720 and CLTV under the Dallas company’s ownership.
In December, Nexstar pulled the plug on CLTV after nearly 27 years as a local Chicago cable news network, citing increased competition from digital news sites and national cable news networks as factors in the decision.
Tegna Inc.’s third-biggest shareholder nominated four directors to the broadcaster’s board after its push for the company to explore strategic alternatives, including a sale, was stonewalled, reports Bloomberg.
Standard General LP, which owns about 9.7% of Tegna, unveiled its slate of directors Wednesday. Standard General has discussed its views with management but the company has stymied its push for board representation and a call to explore strategic alternatives, according to people familiar with the matter.
Soo Kim
“Given Standard General’s substantial investment in Tegna, our expertise in the broadcasting industry, and our focus on driving value for all Tegna shareholders, we strongly believe that Tegna shareholders would benefit from having a representative of Standard General on the Tegna board,” Standard General Chief Executive Officer Soo Kim wrote in a letter to the company’s investors Wednesday.
Standard General’s nominees include Kim, Standard Media Group LLC CEO Deborah McDermott, Marca Global LLC founder Colleen Brown and Ellen McClain Haime, according to a statement.
The New York-based investment firm believes there are several candidates for a takeover or merger with Tegna, the people said. It also thinks the company’s current strategy has failed to explore all the potential opportunities to unlock value, they said.
Standard General had been seeking two Tegna board seats before expanding its slate, the people said. Tegna has 11 directors, according to its website.
Tegna, based in McLean, Virginia, owns 62 television stations and four radio stations across the U.S., according to its website. In August, Tegna said it had drawn takeover interest from private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc.
Apollo closed its purchase of a portfolio of television and radio stations from Cox Enterprises Inc. in December.
Jason Fitz, former fiddle player for The Band Perry who launched his sports talk radio show career in Nashville on WPRT The Game 102.5-FM, has signed a new multi-year contract with ESPN.
The Tennessean reports Fitz joined ESPN in 2016 and most recently served as host of the twice-daily show "SportsCenter" on Snapchat, ESPN Radio’s "First and Last" and was a regular contributor on "Golic and Wingo."
On Monday Fitz will launch a new show "First Take, Your Take with Jason Fitz" on ESPN and simulcast on ESPNews (noon-2 p.m.).
Having a long term contract under his belt is new for Fitz, 41, who found the music business unstable at best in his six years with The Band Perry.
"The most amazing thing is from the get-go when I had the opportunity to work for ESPN I left the band with no idea how I was going to pay the bills and if it was going to work out," Fitz said. "So to be sitting here today with a multi-year extension, with the level belief ESPN has given to what I do, is incredible. If you'd have asked me two years ago when I made the jump and moved to Bristol (Connecticut) what the best case scenario would be, I couldn't imagine it could be this."
The details of Fitz's extension were not disclosed by ESPN.
A federal judge has tossed most of the claims a group of shareholders brought against CBS, but declined to toss out the entire case because of comments its former CEO made that may have been misleading, reports Fox Business Network.
Longtime CBS executive Les Moonves “falsely implied that he was not personally at risk of a forced resignation or ouster based on accusations of sexual harassment” when he spoke about the #MeToo movement and the firing of anchor Charlie Rose over accusations of sexual misconduct during Variety magazine’s Innovate Summit in 2017, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni wrote.
“It’s important that a company’s culture will not allow for this … There’s a lot we’re learning,” Moonves said at the event. “There’s a lot we didn’t know.”
Moonves stepped down from CBS in September of 2018 amid allegations of sexual harassment alleged to have occurred between the 1980s and 2000s. The allegations were exposed by a 2018 Ronan Farrow article in The New Yorker that included six women who accused Moonves of harassment and intimidation.
The judge found that Moonves’ statement at the event “implied that he had not known of these problems previously, even though, in truth, he was at that time actively seeking to conceal his own past sexual misconduct from CBS and the public.”
The shareholders have two weeks to amend their motion in the case and a hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 21.
CBS is now combined with Viacom following last year's merger. Longtime Viacom CEO Bob Bakish is now the CEO of the combined companies
“We have a lot of experience between the two of us,” says Martinez. “And while we want to help all talent, we are taking a special interest in female talent that may feel like they are not getting the advice and coaching they need.”
MC Media will provide services like air check sessions, expansion of the brand on air as well as in person, at events and on social media, career advice and negotiation, music and programming philosophy, a deep dive on your brand versus your competitor and a “Programmers Guide to Selling the Station” for both the on-air talent and the sales team.
With increased consolidation, MC Media will also offer companies seasoned music schedulers to curate and schedule playlists and music logs.
According to a new report by research firm Sensor Tower, Disney+ has pulled in over 41 million subscribers, or roughly 25% of Netflix's total audience, reports USAToday.
Netflix, the streaming leader, started offering streams in a big way in 2013 with the first original, made-for-streaming TV show, "House of Cards."
Sensor Tower says Disney, which charges $6.99 monthly to subscribe, has already generated $97.2 million since launch.
However, Disney has a long way to go to recoup its investment. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney is spending $24 billion to ramp up programming, compared with $10 billion for Netflix, $8.6 billion for Amazon Prime and $1 billion for Apple.
Part of the programming budget went to new hits like the "Star Wars" spinoff "The Mandalorian", remakes of "Lady and the Tramp" and "Lizzie McGuire," and most of the Disney, Pixar and Marvel film libraries.
Disney announced that some 10 million people signed up during the initial launch, but hasn't updated the number.
Two weeks before Disney's launch was the launch of Apple's TV+, which is offered free when you buy a new iPhone, iPad, iPod or Macintosh computer. Apple hasn't released subscriber numbers.
Disney and Apple kicked off the "streaming wars" of 2019, which picks back up in the spring with three new entrants: HBO Max, Peacock and Quibi.
Peacock, from NBC Universal, and Quibi, from former Dreamworks and Disney studio exec Jeffrey Katzenberg, both launch in April, while HBO Max is slated for May.
The rivalry between the two liberal senators was launched into high-gear before the debate when CNN reported that Sanders suggested to Warren that a woman could not take down President Trump in a private 2018 meeting.
In the immediate aftermath of the report, Warren said the account was true.
The two offered conflicting scripts on the debate stage Tuesday, with Sanders insisting he didn’t say it and has long felt a woman could become president — and Warren pointing to her record of unseating a Republican senator in Massachusetts to flesh out the case for her electability.
But Warren was still fuming when the show came to an end, and she turned down a handshake as she approached the Vermont senator, haranguing him as national TV cameras continued to roll.
In the freshly released audio, Sanders responded to Warren’s accusation with his own, saying, “You called me a liar; you told me — all right, let’s not do it now,” as he poked his finger toward Warren’s chest.
Tom Steyer, who stood between the two as the fireworks transpired, then went to shake Sanders’ hand.
“I don’t want to get in the middle of it,” Steyer said. “I just want to say hi, Bernie.”
The latest Democratic primary debate, hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register, garnered just over 7 million viewers.
The number is low for this debate cycle: The most-watched debates were the first, held in June, and the third, held in September. The June debate drew roughly 15 million viewers while the September debate brought in 3 million more than that.
The record number of viewers for a presidential debate was set during the 2016 election cycle by the first Republican primary debate, hosted by Fox News, which drew 24 million viewers.
The Washington Examiner reports the debate was overshadowed by drama between two of the candidates on stage: independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Days before the debate, reports suggested that Sanders told Warren that a woman could not win the presidency. Warren later confirmed the report in a statement from her campaign.
During the debate, Sanders denied making the charge. The CNN moderators ignored Sanders's denial and questioned Warren as if the exchange happened as Warren had described it.
Russell Simmons' accusers are speaking out ahead of the release of a documentary centered on sexual misconduct allegations against the music executive.
USAToday reports three women – Drew Dixon, Sil Lai Abrams and Alexia Norton Jones – sat down with CBS News' Michelle Miller Wednesday to detail Simmons' alleged actions.
Dixon says Simmons "violently tackled and raped" her in 1995 while she was working her dream job as an executive at Def Jam Recordings, which Simmons co-founded.
First on @CBSThisMorning: We're hearing from women interviewed for a new documentary who claim music mogul Russell Simmons violently assaulted them.@CBSMMiller spoke to three of the women in the documentary.
"He was ordering me a car, and he told me to come upstairs and pick up a demo," Dixon said while sitting at a table with the other accusers and Miller. "I thought I would be in his apartment for five total minutes. That's it. And he showed up naked, wearing a condom, and tackled me to his bed, while I screamed and fought and said, 'No,' and cried. That's rape."
Abrams claims she briefly dated and "hung out" with Simmons before he raped her in 1994. She denies that the sexual contact was consensual.
They may call themselves "The Raging Idiots," but Bobby Bones and his band have put in some important work over the last five years, reports The Tennessean.
The Nashville-based radio star and his fun-loving musical outlet raised more than $267,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during their sold-out Monday night concert at Ryman Auditorium.
The fifth annual "Million Dollar Show" also featured performances from Brooks & Dunn, Kane Brown, Brett Young, Colbie Caillat, Lainey Wilson, Heath Sanders and Gone West, plus surprise appearances by Sam Hunt, Old Dominion, Foreigner, Sawyer Brown, Lindsay Ell and King Calaway.
To date, Bones and his syndicated program "The Bobby Bones Show" has raised more than $14 million for St. Jude.
Darren Davis, President - iHeartMedia Networks & iHeartRadio recently listed his five-bedroom Cos Cob, Conn., estate at 271 Valley Road for $2.95 million.
The NYPost reports the waterfront home was built in 2008. It features curved staircases, five fireplaces and a grand foyer. There’s also an eat-in chef’s kitchen with water views.
French doors lead to multi-level slate patios for entertaining.
The lower level, meanwhile, has a yoga room, a gym and a basketball court.
Jerry Stevens, a Philadelphia-area broadcasting legend who helped create the sounds of four iconic radio stations over a long career, died Friday, Jan. 10, of pneumonia at Chester County Hospital in West Chester.
He was 85-years-of age, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Stevens, who changed his name from Jerome Salvato to Jerry Stevens to make it more radio-friendly, started out as a DJ in Gaum while serving in the Air Force in the mid-1950s.
After working as a DJ in smaller markets, he broke into Philadelphia radio on WIBG, or Wibbage 99, the area’s original rock-and-roll station. It introduced local teenagers to the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Motown.
In 1968, he was hired as program director of WMMR-FM. He recruited young DJs and gave them free rein in what they played. Ratings soared.
Among Stevens’ hires were the late Ed Sciaky, and Mimi Chen, who is still on the air in Los Angeles.
“He was the guy who hired me into Philly radio at WMMR, thereby giving me the big break into major market radio,” Chen posted online. “Jerry was a maverick, advocating being free-form, being the first on new music and pro-jock by letting us go wild on the air.”
Jonathan Takiff, an early hire at WMMR, said: “Jerry was a true genius at radio programming, talent spotting, and a classy air personality himself. With his liberated policies at WMMR, Jerry made Philadelphia one of the leading markets for breaking and making new talent.”
In 1976, Mr. Stevens created the “Fascinating Rhythm” disco format for WCAU-FM, which became very popular. In 1977, he rejoined WMMR.
In 1985, WPEN-AM hired Mr. Stevens as the overnight DJ and for a daytime show on Saturday called “Something Special." It played old-school radio music from performers such as Frank Sinatra and Nat “King” Cole.
“It was known as a nostalgia show,” his wife said. “He took those and ran with them, and it really picked up the audience ratings.”
“He quickly made it the hippest show on the air as the ‘Night Train’ with the 3 a.m. 'Club Car’ for nightly features,” Tearson said. “His work energized the station to becoming the highest rated of its kind in the country.”
After the death of legendary morning DJ Ken Garland, Mr. Stevens took over the morning drive show for six years ending in 1998. He developed a Wednesday feature called “Jerry’s Kitchen." The station printed up his recipes on WPEN paper and mailed them out to listeners on request.
He retired in 1998. “Jerry was really an amazing influencer, sparking Philadelphians’ love, and knowledge, and support, of new and emerging music,” Takiff said.
