NYC Radio: Confirmed! ESPN NY 98.7FM Launching New Line-Up

• Beginning with Expanded, Four-Hour DiPietro & Rothenberg Every Morning (6-10 a.m. ET)
• Bart & Hahn Returns to New York-Focused Content, Bringing 98.7 Fans Exclusive Can’t-Miss Conversation (12-3 p.m.)
• Two New Shows Featuring Signature Hosts Added to ESPN’s National Network Lineup

ESPN today announced a new schedule for WEPN ESPN NY 98.7 FM featuring an expansive 16 hours of local studio programming between 6 a.m. and midnight every weekday beginning Jan. 3. 

The new schedule begins with the expansion of DiPietro & Rothenberg to four hours each morning from 6-10 a.m. Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg will continue to bring fans authentic reaction, expert insight and engaging conversation hitting all the headlines from the previous night and a look at the day ahead.

The new lineup also features the continuation of fan-favorite Bart & Hahn in the 12-3 p.m. slot, with the duo now exclusive to 98.7 and focused entirely on New York. Former New York Jets linebacker, NFL Pro Bowler and current co-host across Jets gameday coverage on SNY, Bart Scott and five-time Emmy Award winning broadcaster with MSG Network’s New York Knicks coverage, Alan Hahn will be connecting with local fans on the most impactful and timely storylines across New York sports both on and off the field.

“We are always looking for the best ways to serve sports fans and we are excited to bring even more New York flavor and content to local fans throughout their day on 98.7,” said Scott McCarthy, vice president, ESPN Audio. “Expanding DiPietro & Rothenberg in morning drive and being fortunate enough to have Bart & Hahn as a local New York-focused show will create consistency for listeners and give our hosts a greater opportunity to engage with audiences, and each other, on the day’s top stories.”

The rest of the day on ESPN NY 98.7 will retain the same great shows, featuring Greeny (10 a.m.-12p.m.), the legendary Michael Kay Show (3-7 p.m.), Dan Graca (7-10 p.m.) and Hardesty & Damer (10 p.m.-12 a.m.).

 ESPN’s national radio lineup including Keyshawn, JWill & Max, will continue to be available on 1050AM ESPN New York and digitally on SiriusXM, TuneIn and the ESPN App.

ESPN Radio Adding New Shows To National Line-Up

On Tuesday, Jan. 3, ESPN’s national network lineup will debut two new shows featuring signature hosts in the afternoon and evening windows.

Joe & Amber (7-9 p.m.)

Daily Wager host and contributor Joe Fortenbaugh and ESPN radio host and practicing attorney Amber Wilson – who both previously hosted local radio shows in San Francisco (2014-20) and Miami (2016-21), respectively, and have made regular appearances across ESPN Radio programming – will make their daily ESPN Radio weekday debut with a new show from 7-9 p.m. Monday-Friday. Fortenbaugh and Wilson will bring their expert perspectives to all the night’s events with a lean into all the sports betting angles, playing off Fortenbaugh’s role across other ESPN platforms.

Thursday, December 1, Spain & Fitz will air its final episode. Sarah Spain and Jason Fitz have set the table daily for the night’s games and discussed the biggest issues in sports for the past four-plus years. They’ll have a few special guests and surprises to celebrate their time together.

Upon her exit as a daily radio host, Sarah Spain – an Emmy and Peabody Award winner who has been a key part of ESPN Radio since 2010, beginning with Chicago's ESPN 1000  – will be taking on an expanded role with ESPN with details to be announced soon.

Jason Fitz – a multi-platform host across the network – will continue with ESPN Radio in a new 12-3 p.m. timeslot. Fitz will also continue his role with digital and social shows surrounding some of the biggest events in sports, including SportsCenter on Snapchat, Rankings Reaction, Monday Night Tailgate and The College Football Show.

Fitz & Harry (12-3 p.m.)

Fitz will move to the afternoon with ESPN analyst and former 10-year NFL veteran Harry Douglas. Douglas, a contributor across various ESPN studio shows, digital football shows including hosting Countdown to College GameDay, and a mainstay across the radio network in weekend and fill-in roles, will make his daily ESPN Radio debut. Fitz and Douglas – who have worked together on ESPN’s digital shows – will bring their high-energy style, unique perspective, strong opinions and urgency to the network lineup.

Fitz & Harry move into the Bart & Hahn timeslot as Bart & Hahn shifts its focus to a fully-local, three-hour show in New York on WEPN 98.7.

“Both of these shows create exciting new opportunities for signature voices across ESPN’s platforms to bring their expertise to the radio audience every weekday,” said Amanda Gifford, vice president, sports content strategy & ESPN Audio. “We know these shows will be a great addition to our strong existing lineup, led by our signature morning show Keyshawn, JWill & Max.”

Edison Research: Streaming Picking Up OTA Trending

Edison Research has revisited a data point they presented three years ago as part of their now-annual Top 10 Findings countdown. Finding #9 from their 2019 list was “AM/FM Listening is almost exclusively over-the-air...still.” At the end of 2019, 92% of AM/FM listening by those in the U.S. age 13+ was done over the air, versus eight percent to the AM/FM streams.

Edison's semi-impatient editorial comment “still” in the headline of they finding showed that with the available ways to hear AM/FM radio streams through mobile and smart speakers, they expected more of a shift to streams.

Three years later, is this still the case? Today Edison goes to their most recent Share of Ear® data to find out.

The graphic below shows annual data from the inception of Share of Ear in 2014. The comparison only is concerning listening to AM/FM radio content – comparing listening on a ‘radio set’ to that done on any streaming device – phone, smart speaker, etc. In 2014, five percent of the total AM/FM listening among those in the U.S. 13+ was to the station streams, with 95% being over the air.

There was almost no change in share of time with streaming compared with over-the-air listening from 2015 to 2019. In that four-year span, streaming increased by one percentage point. But in one year between 2019 and 2020, the percent of AM/FM listening time spent with station streams increased from 8% to 11%, and is now at 12%.

According to Edison,  it’s probable that time at home and away from our cars due to quarantine restrictions caused a bump in the percent of total AM/FM audio time spent with streams. It’s also worth noting that as overall time with over-the-air AM/FM decreases, the time with station streams makes up a bigger portion of the total.

Listeners age 25-54 are the most likely to consume AM/FM radio via a station stream. As shown in the graph, 12% of the AM/FM listening by those age 13+ is to the radio station streams. If you take a quick look at some age breaks: 13% of AM/FM listening by those age 13-24 is done to the streams, 17% of AM/FM listening by those age 25-54 is done to the streams, and of 7% of AM/FM listening by those age 55+ is done to the streams.

Edison states we are finally firmly in double digits with the percent of AM/FM consumption done to radio station streams on an overall basis, but probably still lower than one would expect given digital audio devices.

TV Ratings: A Week of Turkey and Sports

Some marquee contests led to some TV milestones, including the most-watched regular season pro football game ever and most-seen soccer game on American television, reports AP News citing Nielsen data.

The Dallas Cowboys’ defeat of the New York Giants shown on Fox Thanksgiving Day was seen by an estimated 42 million people, Nielsen said. Two teams with national followings, both having strong years, playing on a day where there’s a captive audience, led to the record. The previous best was a December 1990 game between the Giants and San Francisco.

Fox’s telecast of the World Cup match between the U.S. and England reached 15.38 million people on Friday. That alone beat the previous U.S. record-holder, the 1994 World Cup championship, and didn’t even count the audience on Telemundo, which lifted the total U.S. audience to nearly 20 million.

The Michigan-Ohio State college football game on Saturday — two traditional rivals both undefeated going into the matchup, playing a game with big scoring plays — was seen by 17 million people. That was the biggest audience for a regular season college football game since 2011, and the largest ever for Fox, Nielsen said.

CBS and NBC both had strong numbers for their Thanksgiving games. The 31.6 million who watched Buffalo and Detroit was the most popular game on CBS so far this season, Nielsen said.

Meanwhile, NBC’s coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was seen by 25.8 million people, the most popular entertainment program of the year.

NBC was the week’s most popular network, averaging 8.2 million viewers in prime time. CBS had 4.1 million, Fox had 3.41 million, ABC had 3.35 million, Univision had 1.1 million, Ion had 870,000 and Telemundo had 820,000.

📺Top 20 Prime Times Show for the week Nov 14-20 (Total Viewers):

1. NFL Football: New England at Minnesota, NBC, 24.78 million.

2. “NFL Postgame” (Thursday), Fox, 21.66 million.

3. NFL Football: Green Bay at Philadelphia, NBC, 19.57 million.

4. “NFL Pregame” (Thursday), NBC, 18.13 million.

5. “NFL Pregame” (Sunday), NBC, 14.85 million.

6. NFL Football: San Francisco at Arizona, ESPN, 11.17 million.

7. “Football Night in America, Part 3,” NBC, 10.77 million.

8. “The OT,” Fox, 9.11 million.

9. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 9.03 million.

10. “Yellowstone,” Paramount, 8.36 million.

11. “The Masked Singer,” Fox, 7.86 million.

12. “FBI,” CBS, 7.54 million.

13. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.85 million.

14. College Football: Florida at Florida St., ABC, 6.71 million.

15. College Football: Notre Dame at USC, ABC, 6.68 million.

16. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 6.56 million.

17. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 6.19 million.

18. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 5.98 million.

19. “Football Night in America, Part 2,” NBC, 5.97 million.

20. “NFL Pregame” (Monday), ESPN, 5.87 million.

CNN Layoffs: 'Difficult Time'

CNN is facing its first major layoffs in many years as its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is in major cost-cutting mode in a very uncertain economic environment.

Rodney Ho at ajc.com writes Chris Licht, the new head of CNN, sent a memo warning that the layoffs would start Wednesday with cuts to paid contributors and full-time employees Thursday. He had given a head’s up last month that such cuts were imminent before the end of the year.

“It will be a difficult time for everyone,” Licht wrote.

It’s unclear how many employees will ultimately lose their jobs. CNN worldwide has about 4,000 employees with about 1,500 of them based in Atlanta.

In his memo to staff, Licht said laid off employees who are bonus eligible will still receive their 2022 bonuses.

While Atlanta was where CNN started in 1980 as part of Ted Turner’s vision of a 24/7 cable news operation, headquarters shifted to New York City starting in the 2000s as major decisionmakers left Atlanta. All weekday anchors left Atlanta after Jeff Zucker took over in 2013. The primary CNN network now only has weekend anchors based in Atlanta but many producers remain. CNN International and CNN.com also have major operations out of CNN Center.

AT&T, before selling off CNN’s parent company, sold CNN Center. CNN has maintained its operations there for now, but there are plans to begin moving employees to the Midtown Turner campus next year.

Ad revenues for media companies are largely down this year and others companies such as Disney and AMC have announced planned cutbacks.

Musk Now Calls Apple App Store Dust-Up 'Misunderstanding'

Elon Musk on Wednesday tweeted that the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from Apple’s App Store was resolved following his meeting with the iPhone maker’s Chief Executive Tim Cook, reports The NY Post.

“Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so,” the billionaire CEO of Twitter and Tesla said in a tweet.

On Monday, Musk had accused Apple of threatening to block Twitter from its App Store without saying why in a series of tweets that also said it had stopped advertising on the social media platform.

He had later tagged Cook’s Twitter account in another tweet, asking “what’s going on here?”

R.I.P.: Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac Hit Maker

Christine McVie, the singer, songwriter and keyboardist who became the biggest hitmaker for Fleetwood Mac, one of music’s most popular bands, died on Wednesday. She was 79, reports The NY Times.

Her family announced her death on Facebook. The statement said she died at a hospital but did not specify its location or give the cause of death. In June, Ms. McVie told Rolling Stone that she was in “quite bad health” and that she had endured debilitating problems with her back.

McVie’s commercial potency, which hit a high point in the 1970s and ’80s, was on full display on Fleetwood Mac’s “Greatest Hits” anthology, released in 1988, which sold more than eight million copies: She either wrote or co-wrote half of its 16 tracks. Her tally doubled that of the next most prolific member of the band’s trio of singer-songwriters, Stevie Nicks. (The third, Lindsey Buckingham, scored three major Billboard chart-makers on that collection.)

Wake-Up Call: House OKs Bill To Force Labor Deal

➤HOUSE OKAYS RAILROAD BILL: The House approved legislation to force rail workers to accept a labor deal ahead of a possible strike. Lawmakers also voted to impose paid sick leave, a sticking point for workers and a step demanded by some in Congress. The freight railroads and unions representing engineers, conductors, machinists and others have been in labor negotiations for more than two years. Eight unions ratified a proposed contract the Biden administration helped mediate over the summer, while four didn’t. President Biden asked Congress to intervene earlier this week to avoid a strike during the busy holiday season. Both measures now head to the Senate.

A rail strike would likely increase prices for a range of goods that includes gas and food, experts told @ABC News. https://t.co/CFmumEDnwi

— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2022

➤HAKEEM JEFFRIES BECOMES HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries was elected House minority leader without opposition yesterday, replacing Representative Nancy Pelosi as the Democratic Party’s leader in the House. Jeffries is the first Black person to get the position. The 52-year-old New Yorker has been chairman of the House Democratic Caucus since 2019.

➤TORNADOES RIP THROUGH THE SOUTH: Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana were under a tornado watch yesterday as a severe storm system swept through a wide region. Heavy thunderstorms rumbled from eastern Texas to Georgia and as far north as Indiana on Tuesday night and into yesterday morning. Several tornadoes touched down, causing some damage but no reported injuries.

➤HOUSE COMMITTEE GETS TRUMP TAX RECORDS: After a three-year legal battle, the House Ways and Means Committee has received six years of former president Donald Trump’s federal tax returns. Trump’s effort to prevent the documents from being turned over by the IRS ended last week when the Supreme Court declined to intervene in a lower court ruling. Trump was the only president in modern U.S. history to refuse to release details of his finances.

Facebook groups, Reddit forums and TikTok posts are adding to the intrigue surrounding the deaths of four college students. Experts say they likely won't help crack the case. https://t.co/pqXII11GMi

— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 1, 2022

➤ECONOMIC GROWTH STRONGER THAN EXPECTED: The American economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.9 percent in the third quarter, according to a new government report. That’s much faster growth in the nation’s gross domestic product than was expected. And, it’s a big improvement over the negative numbers seen in the first half of the year. Higher consumer spending was credited.

➤SMALLER INTEREST RATE HIKES LIKELY: In more positive news on the economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed yesterday that smaller interest rate increases are likely starting as early as this month as inflation begins to subside. The stock market was pleased. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 737 points, or 2.18 percent, after three losing sessions.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried knew his company was heading for trouble on Nov. 6, when he realized its trading arm had too many assets tied up in the platform.

On Wednesday, he summed it up in his first public interview, saying, "I've had a bad month." https://t.co/2P9FiOk7eG

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 1, 2022

'GMA' Hanky Panky

GMA co-hosts Amy Robach, 49, and T.J. Holmes, 45, have been locked in a passionate romance for the past six months despite both being married to their respective spouses for the past 12 years. 

A series of pictures obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com tells the tale of their steamy relationship as the couple enjoy flirty post-filming sessions at a New York City bar, alone time in each other's apartments, and - two weeks before Thanksgiving - a weekend away in a secluded cottage in Upstate New York.

According to insiders, the two went from co-stars to lovers in June - when they were in London together covering the Queen's Diamond Jubilee for ABC. Holmes has been married to wife Marilee Fiebig with whom he shares a daughter, since 2010 - the same year Robach married actor husband Andrew Shue, 55. 

Budget Cuts Loom: NPR Imposes Near-Freeze On Hiring

NPR will need to cut at least $10 million from the current fiscal year ending next September 30, the network's chief executive, John Lansing, announced Wednesday, due to a sharp drop in revenue from sponsors, according to a post on the NPR Website.

Lansing told staffers in a memo that he intended to avoid layoffs, but would be forced to severely curtail hiring, amounting to what he described as "close to a total hiring freeze." The network will also sharply cut back discretionary spending and non-essential travel.

"As we did during the pandemic, we are prioritizing our staff and not anticipating layoffs at this time," Lansing wrote. Yet he noted that he recognized the strain that a near-freeze on hiring would put on NPR's current journalists and their non-newsroom colleagues. The figure represents approximately 3 percent of NPR's annual budget.

"It means we won't have the skills and support of the people who would have been in the roles that must remain vacant," Lansing wrote. "For those working long and stressful hours, that is not good news. But it is a reality we can't avoid if we are to save jobs."

Among the casualties: Lansing said he would slow down the search for a chief content officer, a new position that would be over the network's news and programming leaders.

Other media outlets have announced cuts that include layoffs. On Wednesday, CNN Chairman Chris Licht told the network's staff that long-planned cuts are starting. On-air contributors and full-time employees will be among those who will lose their jobs, he confirmed.

NYC Radio: WEPN ESPN Going Local To Take On WFAN

With WFAN eating ESPN New York’s lunch in the overall ratings, WEPN ESPN 98.7 FM is attempting to fight back.

The NY Post reports ESPN New York has plans to finally go head-to-head with WFAN by shifting to almost a full day of local programming. That will start with the expansion, on Jan. 3, of Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg’s morning show into a four-hour show to compete head-to-head with the top-rated “Boomer & Gio” program on WFAN. 

It is one of the first steps that could lead to a possible restructuring of ESPN Radio’s national morning program that features Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams and Max Kellerman, according to sources. 

ESPN declined to comment. 

Bad Bunny Pulls Off A Spotify Hat Trick

Happy Spotify Wrapped day to all who celebrate — especially Bad Bunny, the most-streamed artist in the world for three years in a row, reports The L-A Times.

The streaming platform revealed Wednesday that the reggaeton sensation is the first musician to pull off a global Spotify hat trick. Rounding out the global top five artists this year were Taylor Swift, Drake, the Weeknd and BTS. In the United States, Bad Bunny was the third most-streamed artist, behind No. 1 Drake and No. 2 Swift.

December 1 Radio History

➦In 1931...Gene Autry, nicknamed The Singing Cowboy, debuted this weekly show on WLS Chicago.

From 1940 to 1956, Autry had a huge hit with a weekly show on CBS Radio, Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. His horse, Champion, also had a CBS-TV and Mutual radio series, The Adventures of Champion. In response to his many young radio listeners aspiring to emulate him, Autry created the Cowboy Code, or Ten Cowboy Commandments. These tenets promoting an ethical, moral, and patriotic lifestyle that appealed to youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts, which developed similar doctrines. The Cowboy Code consisted of rules that were "a natural progression of Gene's philosophies going back to his first Melody Ranch programs

Autry is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is the only person to be awarded stars in all five categories on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for film, television, music, radio, and live performance.

➦In 1941...WNEW (now WBRR, NYC) moved to 1130 AM. WNEW had been on 1250 AM and shared time with Newark station WHBI. In March 1941, WNEW and WHBI were both reassigned to 1280. Then, on December 1, 1941, a swap of call letters and frequency took place between WNEW on 1280 and WOV on 1130. WOV moved to 1280 (to later become WADO) and WNEW moved to 1130 and assumed full-time status.

For most of its first 70 years on the air, WNEW was known for its popular adult music selection as well as its staff of radio personalities including Martin Block, Dee Finch, Gene Rayburn, Gene Klavan, Al "Jazzbo" Collins, Ted Brown and William B. Williams. WNEW is credited with pioneering the role of the disc jockey, as well as for developing the modern morning radio show format and debuting the first all-night radio show. In addition to its music and entertainment programming, WNEW featured an award-winning news staff and became "The Voice of New York Sports" for its coverage of New York Giants football team as well as the New York Rangers hockey and New York Knicks basketball.  After years of declining ratings and management changes in the 1980s, WNEW was purchased by Bloomberg L.P. in 1992 and changed call letters to WBBR on December 15.

R.I.P.: Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac Singer-Songwriter

Christne McVie (1943-2022)

Christine McVie, who played with Fleetwood Mac and wrote some of their most famous songs, has died aged 79, her family has said.

The British singer-songwriter was behind hits including Little Lies, Everywhere, Don't Stop, Say You Love Me, and Songbird.

She died peacefully at a hospital in the company of her family, a statement said.

McVie left Fleetwood Mac after 28 years in 1998 but returned in 2014.

The family's statement said "we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally".

Born Christine Perfect, McVie married Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie and joined the group in 1971.

SiriusXM Radio Orders Two Additional Satellites

Maxar Technologies and SiriusXM have announced a new agreement commissioning Maxar to build and deliver two new geostationary communications satellites for SiriusXM.

The SXM-11 and -12 satellite orders increase the total number of spacecraft in development for SiriusXM by Maxar to four, following the 2021 agreement for the construction of SXM-9 and -10.

"This investment reaffirms our commitment to satellite content delivery systems and cutting-edge technology," said Bridget Neville, SiriusXM’s Senior Vice President of Satellite and Terrestrial Engineering and Operations. "SXM-11 and -12, along with SXM-9 and -10, will allow us to innovate and improve our service offerings for subscribers and will extend the continuous and reliable delivery of our audio entertainment content."

BIA '23 Forecast Calls For Flat Revenues

In its newly released 2023 U.S. Local Advertising Forecast, BIA Advisory Services estimates revenues across all media in the U.S. will reach $165.7 billion in 2023, a decline of 0.5 percent from the firm’s final estimate of $166.5 billion for 2022. 

Removing political advertising revenues from the estimate, BIA projects $165.2 billion in total local advertising next year, a 4.8 percent increase in local advertising year-over-year. The almost flat revenue projections for the year indicate continued economic and supply chain concerns, yet the forecast is more bullish starting mid-2023. 

Local radio revenues – broadcast and digital -- are projected to decline from $14 billion in 2022 to $13.5 billion in 2023. The slippage is due to the loss of midterm political revenue next year; the number is flat at $13.5 billion when political revenue is removed from 2022’s number. 

Local Radio (Radio OTA + Radio Digital)$13.4 billion (2021)

• $14.0 billion (2022)
• $13.5 billion (2023)

Local Radio (Radio OTA+ Radio Digital excluding political)$13.3 billion (2021)

• $13.5 billion (2022)
• $13.5 billion (2023)

D/FW Radio: KSCS' Hawkeye Show Collects 106K+ Cards For Troops

Cumulus Media’s New Country 96.3 KSCS-FM morning show, Hawkeye in the Morning, concluded the Fourth Annual “10,000 for the Troops” holiday card drive to send warm, hopeful wishes to the brave men and women serving the U.S. Armed Forces overseas this holiday season. 

The DFW radio station has partnered with Support Our Soldiers, a local 501(c)(3) organization based in Fort Worth, TX, to send the holiday cards to “high risk” units/individuals that are either in isolated areas or do not have support coming from home. This year’s campaign collected 106,322 cards, with more expected to arrive in the mail over the next week. The cards will be included in care packages sent to the troops by Support Our Soldiers, just in time for Christmas.