June 9 Radio History

➦In 1900...Fred Waring born (Died  – July 29, 1984). He was a musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing". He was also a promoter, financial backer and eponym of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric blender on the market.

From 1923 until late 1932, "Waring's Pennsylvanians" were among Victor Records' best-selling bands. In late 1932, Waring abruptly quit recording, although his band continued to perform on radio. In 1933, "You Gotta Be a Football Hero" was performed on radio to great acclaim. His 1930 recording of "Love for Sale" by Cole Porter is one of the only period versions of this popular song.

The Fred Waring Show was heard on radio in various forms from 1933 to 1957.

Les Paul with wife Mary Ford

➦In 1915...Lester William Polsfuss Born (Died at age 94 – August 12, 2009), He was  known as Les Paul and was a jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his techniques served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul. Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music. He is credited with many recording innovations. Although he was not the first to use the technique, his early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention.

His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. He recorded with his wife, the singer and guitarist Mary Ford, in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records.

Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed. Les Paul is the only person to be included in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Early ins hie career he played or conducted bands that performed  on KMOX in St. Louis and WBBM and WLS in Chicago.

➦In 1934…Edwin Howard Armstrong conducted the first successful field test of FM radio at Alpine, NJ.

Edwin Howard Armstrong

In 1934, Armstrong began working for RCA at the request of the president of RCA, David Sarnoff. Sarnoff and Armstrong first met at a boxing match involving Jack Dempsey in 1920. At the time Sarnoff was a young executive with an interest in new technologies, including radio broadcasting.

In the early 1920s Armstrong drove off with Sarnoff's secretary, Marion MacInnes, in a French sports car. Armstrong and MacInnes were married in 1923.  While Sarnoff was understandably impressed with Armstrong's FM system, he also understood that it was not compatible with his own AM empire. Sarnoff came to regard FM as a threat and refused to support it any further.



From May 1934 until October 1935, Armstrong conducted the first large scale field tests of his FM radio technology from a laboratory constructed by RCA on the 85th floor of the Empire State Building. An antenna attached to the spire of the building fired radio waves at receivers about 80 miles away.  However, RCA had its eye on television broadcasting, and chose not to buy the patents for the FM technology.  A June 17, 1936, presentation at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) headquarters made headlines nationwide. He played a jazz record over conventional AM radio, then switched to an FM broadcast. "[I]f the audience of 50 engineers had shut their eyes they would have believed the jazz band was in the same room. There were no extraneous sounds," noted one reporter. He added that several engineers described the invention "as one of the most important radio developments since the first earphone crystal sets were introduced."

In 1937, Armstrong financed construction of the first FM radio station, W2XMN, a 40 kilowatt broadcaster in Alpine, New Jersey. The signal (at 42.8 MHz) could be heard clearly 100 miles away, despite the use of less power than an AM radio station.

➦In 1996...Jack Lacy, a New York radio personality and disk jockey who was heard on 1010WINS from the late 1940's through 1965, died. He was 79 and had lived in Spain since 1989.

Lacy was a contemporary of such veterans of the airwaves as Murray (the K) Kaufman and Bruce (Cousin Brucie) Morrow. His "Listen to Lacy" program on WINS treated his audience to "easy listening" music and live interviews. He left WINS when it changed to all news in 1965, after which he worked for stations in Baltimore and Los Angeles.



Anyone who lived in the New York tri-state area in the 1950s and early 60s will remember the great Jack Lacy. His breezy, casual disc jockey style kept listeners locked down to 1010 WINS Radio for hours on end. He would sell laundry soap with the same smooth flair as he announced the latest hit record. Lacy's eighteen year gig with WINS began in 1947 playing out the end of the swing era and transitioning to 50s pop. As the evolving sound of radio turned to rock & roll, his fish out of water personality really gave permission for a maturing audience to enjoy the new beat.

➦In 2004...The FCC agreed to a record $1.75 million settlement with Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) to resolve indecency complaints against Howard Stern and other radio personalities.

The controversy surrounding the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, aired live on February 1, 2004, led to the government's crackdown on indecency in radio and television following a surge in audience complaints. The situation prompted tighter control over content by station managers which made Stern feel "dead" creatively.

After Clear Channel Communications and Viacom were fined for content the FCC deemed indecent; the situation culminated on October 6, 2004, when Stern announced the signing of a five-year deal with Sirius Satellite Radio, a subscription-based satellite radio service exempt from the FCC's broadcast regulations, starting in 2006. It is a move that has been regarded as the start of "a new era of radio." Stern's final live show on terrestrial airwaves aired on December 16, 2005.

Michaela Conlin is 42

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

• Comedian Jackie Mason is 92. 
• Sports commentator Dick Vitale is 81. 
• Guitarist Mick Box of Uriah Heep is 73. 
• Actor Michael J. Fox is 59. 
• Actor Johnny Depp is 57. 
• Actress Gloria Reuben (“The Agency,” ″ER”) is 56. 
• Singer-actress Tamela Mann (“Meet The Browns,” ″Medea” films) is 54. 
• Bassist Dean Felber of Hootie and the Blowfish is 53. 
• Bassist Dean Dinning (Toad the Wet Sprocket) is 53. 
• Actress Keesha Sharp (“Lethal Weapon”) is 47. 
• Singer Jamie Dailey of Dailey and Vincent is 45. 
• Actress Michaela Conlin (“Bones”) is 42. 
• Actress Natalie Portman is 39. 
• Actress Mae Whitman (“Parenthood,” ″Arrested Development”) is 32. 
• Actor Lucien Laviscount (“Scream Queens”) is 28.

'Heavy' Radio Listeners Are Ready to Spend

Nielsen has released the results of a second study tracking U.S. consumer sentiment on COVID-19 recovery and purchase intentions.

And according to the latest Westwood One blog posting,  this new study was based on 1025 nationally representative interviews with persons 18+, conducted May 27-29, and compared to the same study fielded with 1000 people on April 30-May 2.

While only a month separates the two studies, the shift in American attitudes on reopening of the economy and a return to normalcy is remarkable.

➤“Ready to go” consumer segment surges from 34% to 54%

In early May, 34% comprised the segment expressing the greatest optimism on a return to normalcy. The “ready to go” segment grew twenty points to 54%. The most pessimistic segment, “wait and see” consumers, dropped from 29% to 11%.

Consumers indicated varying levels of agreement or disagreement for reopening statements. The degree of agreement with these statements determined which of the three optimism segments consumers were assigned to.

There are massive gains in the number of Americans who say stores are reopening, normal activities are beginning to resume, and their area is starting to emerge out of the crisis. The average agreement with the recovery statements is up 18 points, a +44% increase.

Growth in recovery sentiment translates into economic recovery: “Ready to go” means “ready to spend”

On average, the “ready to go” segment is +23% more likely to make purchases within a month across a broad range of purchase categories.

The “ready to go” consumers are +33% more likely to be heavy AM/FM radio listeners compared the most pessimistic “wait and see” consumer segment. No wonder that Nielsen declares AM/FM radio to be “the soundtrack of American recovery and reemergence.”

AM/FM radio listeners are spending more time on the road, increasing listening levels

➤American AM/FM radio retains 94% of pre-COVID-19 audience

Combining the just-released April diary data with recent May PPM audiences to form a national perspective, American AM/FM radio has retained 94% of pre-COVID-19 reach levels and 86% of pre-COVID-19 average quarter-hour audiences.

Key findings:

• “Ready to go” optimists perceive less risk, feel safer, and indicate their cities are emerging from the COVID-19 crisis
• “Ready to go” optimists and heavy AM/FM radio listeners are opening up the economy, with strong lifts in spending on both essentials and non-essentials
• Home improvement, home services, professional services, and auto dealers will be the beneficiaries of strong spending from AM/FM radio listeners far greater than from TV viewers
• Driving has increased overall which in turn has caused AM/FM radio listening to recover and grow

Wichita Radio: Carol Hughes, 2 Others OUT At Summit Media

Country KFDI 101.3-FM in Wichita had layoffs recently. However, according to kansas.com, it was kept pretty quiet until news broke going into the weekend, and it reverberated for one chief reason: Carol Hughes.

Hughes was a staple at most country shows in the Wichita area in the past couple of decades.

“I have never seen a better ambassador for that radio station than Carol Hughes,” said Dan Dillon, the former news director who also could have been called one of the best former ambassadors for the station.

“Listeners loved her,” Dillon said. “Her contacts in the country music industry were unbelievable. They still are.”

SummitMedia owns KFDI. Summit general manager Todd Johnson wouldn’t comment on the layoffs or confirm the number.

Sources say the layoffs included Hughes, assignment editor Wil Day and one other employee who had been at the station only a matter of months.

The Rundown: Minneapolis Council To 'Dismantle' Police

Protests over the death of George Floyd and police brutality continued for a 13th day Sunday, one day after some of the largest protests there have been were held on Saturday. The demonstrations have been almost entirely peaceful in recent days, and AP reported several police departments appeared to have pulled back from aggressive tactics they were using earlier. Additionally, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Buffalo, New York, all lifted their curfews yesterday. President Trump tweeted that he'd ordered National Guard troops to withdraw from Washington, D.C., after he'd called them up earlier in the week in response to some vandalism, looting and clashes with police at protests in the capital city.

Romney Marches in Protest: Senator Mitt Romney marched in one of the protests in Washington yesterday, the first known Republican senator to do so. Romney, who was walking with a Christian group, told NBC News why he was there: "We need a voice against racism, we need many voices against racism and against brutality." He also tweeted a photo of him walking in the protest, and wrote above it: "Black Lives Matter." Romney had tweeted a photo a day earlier of his late father, former Michigan Governor George Romney, marching with civil rights protesters in the 1960s.

Minneapolis City Council Plans to Defund, Dismantle Police Dept.: Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council announced Sunday that they plan to defund and dismantle the city's police department after the killing of George Floyd by a city police officer. Council President Lisa Bender told CNN, "We committed to dismantling policing as we know it in the city of Minneapolis and to rebuild with our community a new model of public safety that actually keeps our community safe." Asked about details, Bender said she wanted to move police funding toward community-based strategies and the city council would discuss how to replace the current police department. The nine city council members of the 13 total would have a veto-proof supermajority.



Final Services for George Floyd: After memorial services in Minneapolis, where George Floyd died, and North Carolina, where he was born, a third and final service will be held in Houston, where Floyd was raised and lived most of his life. There will be a six-hour viewing today, followed by funeral services and the burial on Tuesday. Joe Biden will go to Houston today to meet privately with and offer his condolences to Floyd's family. The former vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will also tape a video message for Floyd's funeral. An attorney for Floyd's family had said last week that Biden was expected to attend the funeral, but he's reportedly not doing so because he didn't want to cause any disruption from his Secret Service protection.

He has been arrested and will be prosecuted without question, as he should be, as all murderers should https://t.co/aEymgfP8Sg

— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) June 8, 2020

➤PROTESTERS URGED TO GET TESTED FOR CORONAVIRUS: Officials in several places across the country are urging that people who've been taking part in the George Floyd protests get tested for the coronavirus, including New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Atlanta. That message comes as New York City, which had been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., will begin phase one of its reopening today after a more than two-month shutdown. It's the last place in New York state to reopen, and comes after the city met thresholds that had been set for daily hospital admissions, number of intensive care unit patients, and percent of residents testing positive.
There have been more than 110,500 deaths in the U.S. as of last night, according to Johns Hopkins University's count, and more than 1,940,000 confirmed cases.

➤TROPICAL STORM CRISTOBAL MAKES LANDFALL IN LOUISIANA: Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall in southeastern Louisiana Sunday afternoon, between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Grand Isle, with winds of 50 miles per hour and drenching rain and storm surge.

Tropical Storm #Cristobal has put much of Grand Isle, LA under water which "backed" in from Barataria Bay. The pumps that aren't submerged are up and running but it may take several days to get all of it off the streets. We're live on @weatherchannel #Flood @NWSNewOrleans pic.twitter.com/ZRqDBQlc8K

— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) June 7, 2020

The storm was also causing dangerous weather and flooding much further east along the Gulf Coast, including causing a tornado south of Lake City, Florida, with no reported injuries. It's forecast that up to 12 inches of rain could fall in some areas, with potential rainfall from Cristobal for days as it moves as an expected downgraded tropical depression through Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and then north through Illinois and Wisconsin.

➤AIR FORCE SERGEANT ARRESTED IN KILLING OF SHERIFF'S DEPUTY, POSSIBLE LINK TO FEDERAL OFFICER'S KILLING: A 32-year-old Air Force sergeant was arrested in the fatal shooting of a sheriff's deputy in California on Saturday and the FBI and local investigators are trying to determine if there's a link to another ambush-style killing of a Federal Protection Service officer outside the U.S. courthouse in Oakland more than a week ago.

Both attacks involved shooters in vans. Deputies responded to a 911 call early Saturday afternoon about a suspicious van with guns and bomb-making devices inside in an area near Santa Cruz. When the deputies got there, the van drove away and they followed. The van went down a driveway at a home, and the deputies were ambushed by gunfire and explosives after getting out of their vehicles. Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller, who was 38, was killed and other officers wounded. Suspect Steven Carrillo was shot during his arrest, but has non-life-threatening injuries. 

Meanwhile, the FBI has been trying to identify a suspect and motive in the drive-by shooting that killed 53-year-old Dave Patrick Underwood and critically wounded another contracted security officer, and are looking at a possible link with Gutzwiller's shooting."

Opinion Editor James Bennet EXITS NYTimes

The New York Times announced Sunday that James Bennet, Editorial Page Editor since May, 2016, is resigning effective immediately.

The Times also announced that the deputy editorial page editor Jim Dao is stepping off the masthead and being reassigned to the newsroom.

Katie Kingsbury, who joined The Times in 2017, has been named as acting Editorial Page Editor through the November election.

Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger said, “James is a journalist of enormous talent and integrity who believes deeply in the mission of The Times. He oversaw a significant transformation of the Opinion department, which broadened the range of voices we publish and pushed us into new formats like video, graphics and audio. I’m grateful for his many contributions.

James Bennet

Katie has been instrumental in re-imagining Opinion since she joined The Times from The Boston Globe, where she served as managing editor for digital and won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. I look forward to working with her as she steps into this role at this important moment.”

James Bennet said, “The journalism of Times Opinion has never mattered more than in this time of crisis at home and around the world, and I’ve been honored to be part of it. I’m so proud of the work my colleagues and I have done to focus attention on injustice and threats to freedom and to enrich debate about the right path forward by bringing new voices and ideas to Times readers.”

The Hill reports the newspaper’s announcement did not mention the controversy over the Cotton op-ed, titled "Send in the Troops." But Bennet's resignation comes after the publication of the op-ed, which called for the president to invoke the Insurrection Act in order to deploy the military to quell nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, sparked an internal revolt at the newspaper.

On Thursday, the New York Times said in a statement the senator’s op-ed “did not meet our standards” and said the Times is planning to “examine both short term and long term changes” including expanding its fact checking operation and reducing the number of op-eds it publishes.

Numerous Times staffers criticized the newspaper’s decision to publish the op-ed, arguing such sentiments endangered the lives of black journalists.

“Supporting my colleagues, and particularly the black ones. if electeds want to make provocative arguments let them withstand the questions and context of a news story, not unvarnished and unchecked,” Times reporter Astead Herndon, one of many Times staffers who criticized the decision, tweeted.

In response to the decision, Times staff editor and opinion writer Bari Weiss said the “civil war” at the newspaper “between the (mostly young) wokes the (mostly 40+) liberals is the same one raging inside other publications and companies across the country."

My column: Leftists are in firm control at The New York Times: Goodwin https://t.co/Px71Hz6jYj via @nypost

— Michael Goodwin (@mgoodwin_nypost) June 7, 2020

Top Editor Resigns At the Philly Inquirer

Stan Wischnowski resigns as Inquirer Editor

Stan Wischnowski, the top editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, resigned on Saturday, days after an article with the headline “Buildings Matter, Too,” on the effects of civil unrest on the city’s buildings, led to a walkout by dozens of staff members, The NY Times reports.

Lisa Hughes, the publisher of The Inquirer, the 191-year-old daily controlled by the nonprofit Lenfest Institute for Journalism, said Saturday in a memo to the staff that she had accepted Mr. Wischnowski’s decision to step down after 10 years across two stints as the leader of one of the country’s largest newsrooms.

The headline of the article — a column by The Inquirer’s architecture critic, Inga Saffron, that was published on Tuesday — played on the slogan “Black Lives Matter,” long a rallying cry for civil rights activists protesting police violence against African Americans. It has been a key phrase for demonstrators in the nearly two weeks of protests across the country and in cities worldwide since a black man in Minneapolis, George Floyd, died last month after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white police officer’s knee.

The day after the Inquirer article was published, the paper’s top editors, including Wischnowski, who had worked at the paper for 20 years, issued an apology that appeared on its website.

“The Philadelphia Inquirer published a headline in Tuesday’s edition that was deeply offensive. We should not have printed it,” the editors wrote. “We’re sorry, and regret that we did. We also know that an apology on its own is not sufficient.

“The headline accompanied a story on the future of Philadelphia’s buildings and civic infrastructure in the aftermath of this week’s protests,” the apology continued. “The headline offensively riffed on the Black Lives Matter movement, and suggested an equivalence between the loss of buildings and the lives of black Americans. That is unacceptable.”

The apology noted that the headline had been “created by one editor” and reviewed by another before publication.

Staff members, working remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic, convened for a regularly scheduled videoconference that day. It turned into an hourslong discussion of newsroom diversity, pay inequity and other issues, said Diane Mastrull, a weekend editor and the president of the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia union.

“This week, the pain was just so palpable,” she said in an interview.

On Wednesday, staff members sent a letter to management called, “An Open Letter From Journalists of Color at The Philadelphia Inquirer” announcing that they would call in sick the following day, and dozens did.

“We’re tired of shouldering the burden of dragging this 200-year-old institution kicking and screaming into a more equitable age,” the letter said. “We’re tired of being told of the progress the company has made and being served platitudes about ‘diversity and inclusion’ when we raise our concerns. We’re tired of seeing our words and photos twisted to fit a narrative that does not reflect our reality. We’re tired of being told to show both sides of issues there are no two sides of.

The letter continued, “Things need to change.”

Hughes, the publisher, said on Saturday that management would search internally and externally for Mr. Wischnowski’s replacement. Mr. Wischnowski declined to comment.

After the news of Wischnowski’s resignation on Saturday, NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia President Diane Mastrull sent a email to members with the subject line “YOU WERE HEARD!!” The note said that the company has never had a commitment to diversity.

According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, Mastrull’s note said the newsroom remains largely white in a city that is not and that there is still pay inequity along racial lines. She said the recent round of buyouts and layoffs have left the advertising department with almost no minority representation. The headline, she said, was an inflection point that sent emotions pouring out Wednesday.

Variety Places Top Editor On Administrative Leave

Variety Editor in Chief Claudia Eller has been placed on administrative leave after a heated Twitter exchange over the lack of newsroom diversity.

The L-A Times reports the dust-up came late Wednesday after Variety published an opinion column written by Eller, in which she acknowledged that she and other editors in chief have not done enough to increase diversity in their newsrooms.

Nationwide protests since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and calls for social justice, have forced news organizations to face their own shortcomings in ensuring that their newsrooms represent the communities they cover.

Claudia Eller

In response to Eller’s column, a former reporter at a rival outlet, Piya Sinha-Roy, criticized the piece on Twitter. Sinha-Roy wrote, in a Twitter message, that she recalled a discussion with Eller and then co-editor Andrew Wallenstein several years ago about “the lack of diversity in your newsroom.” Sinha-Roy then added that voices of people of color “are constantly dismissed. We are not here to make you look better. We are here to work.”

Eller then lashed out at Sinha-Roy on Twitter, calling her “bitter.”

The tweet upset Variety staff members and prompted much soul-searching at the news organization. Variety is owned by Penske Media Corp., controlled by auto scion Jay Penske, who also owns Rolling Stone magazine, Women’s Wear Daily and the Hollywood trade website Deadline.

Penske called Eller’s tweet “plainly unacceptable.”

“She should have been listening vs. putting up a fight, and allowing for others to be heard and to heal,” Penske said.

Penske’s note to the staff added that Business Editor Cynthia Littleton is stepping in as editor in chief on an interim basis.

Report: Ryan Seacrest May Relocate To L-A Permanently

Ryan Seacrest has been shooting “Live with Kelly & Ryan” from his Los Angeles home since the spread of COVID-19 lead to quarantine orders. Following a recent on-air health scare, he is now considering moving back to his West Coast retreat permanently, Page Six at the NY Post reports.

“Ryan admitted he’s been exhausted since his health scare in mid-May,” according to a source.

During the “American Idol” ­season finale broadcast recently, Seacrest, 45, struggled with his words, seemed confused and had a visibly droopy right eye. Reps for the star denied he suffered a stroke, chalking up the incident to “adjusting to the new normal and finding work-home balance.”

"Live" will be going on a weeks-long scheduled hiatus next month, with sources close to Ryan and within ABC telling PageSix that the timing couldn’t be better.

“There are people at the network who are extremely worried that he is overdoing it,” said the ABC source. “People internally have started to ask questions.”

Podtrac Top Podcast Publishers (May): iHeartRadio Leads

Podtrac has released their May ranking of the Top 20 Podcasts based on U.S. Unique Monthly Audience for May 2020: 

• iHeartRadio resides in the #1 spot, closely followed by NPR. 
• All but one of the top 20 publishers saw an increase in US monthly Audience in May over April.
• All but two top 20 publishers saw positive growth in their Global Download numbers from April to May.
• The average Unique Monthly Audience for the top 10 publishers increased by 15% from April while it increased by 22% from May of 2019.
• Global Unique Streams & Downloads increased for the top 10 publishers by 7% over April and increased by 52% over May 2019.

Ranking is based on Podtrac measurement data for Unique US Monthly Audience and includes shows that participate in Podtrac measurement for the full month for which the ranking is being released. More information is available at Podtrac.com.

The Term 'Urban' Is OUT At Republic Records

Republic Records is banning the word "urban" from its company verbiage, doing away with the term for hip-hop and R&B, which many consider an antiquated generalization that marginalizes music by black artists.

The label, which is home to artists like Ariana Grande, The Weeknd and Taylor Swift, said on Instagram over the that it will remove the word from department names, employee titles and music genres, clarifying in a press release that this will not lead to any structural changes at the company.

"We encourage the rest of the music industry to follow suit as it is important to shape the future of what we want it to look like, and not adhere to the outdated structures of the past," the Instagram post reads.

According to Billboard, the term dates back to the mid-1970s, when black New York radio personality Frankie Crocker coined the phrase "urban contemporary," which was later shortened to "urban." While the term didn't carry negative connotations at the time, many argue that it has evolved to symbolize the music industry's history of lumping music by black artists into one category, marginalizing black musicians and those who work with them in the process.

Report: Bezos, Zuckerberg Respond To Critics

Jeff Bezos

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Friday expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement by posting an email exchange with an upset customer, CNBC reports.

In an Instagram post, Bezos posted a screenshot of an email from a customer who said it was “disturbing” and “offensive” that Amazon posted a message on its website in solidarity with the movement. The customer, whose name was blurred, wrote “ALL LIVES MATTER!”

Critics of the Black Lives Matter movement often seek to counter the phrase by saying “all lives matter” or “blue lives matter,” referencing fallen police officers.

“I have to disagree with you,” Bezos replied.

″‘Black Lives Matter’ doesn’t mean other lives don’t matter. Black lives matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that Black people face in our law enforcement and justice system.”

Mark Zuckerberg

Also on Friday, CNBC reports Mark Zuckerberg responded to Facebook employees who were upset over the company’s decision to not moderate or take down a controversial post in which President Donald Trump said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

In his memo, Zuckerberg promised the company would review a number of its existing policies, including how the company treats content dealing with the use of police or state force and how the company treats content in countries where there is civil unrest or violent conflicts.

“Given the sensitive history in the US, this deserves special consideration,” the Facebook CEO wrote.

Facebook will also review how else the company can moderate content. Currently, Facebook can either leave content up or take it down, Zuckerberg said. But he cautioned that adopting “in-between” approaches -- like warning users about content while still leaving it up -- might lead to a slippery slope where employees weigh in on content they personally don’t like.

Additionally, Zuckerberg said Facebook will work on products that will advance racial justice, and assigned the task to executive Fidji Simo, who is in charge of the core Facebook app.

He also pledged to build a so-called voter hub to provide users with “access to accurate and authoritative information about voting, as well as building tools to encourage people to register to vote and help them encourage their friends and communities to vote as well.”

Report: Apple Planning To Offer Monthly Payment Plans

Apple Inc. is preparing to allow customers to buy many of its products, including iPads, Macs and AirPods, over monthly installments via its Apple Card credit card.

Fortune reports the Cupertino, California-based technology giant is planning to roll out the service in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the plan. The offering will let customers buy a product through Apple and split up the cost over several months with interest-free payments.

The company will offer a 12-month interest-free payment plan for iPads, Macs, the Apple Pencil and iPad keyboards, as well as the Mac XDR Display monitor, and six months with no interest for the AirPods, Apple TV, and HomePod, the people said.

The payments will be managed through the Apple Card section in the Wallet app on the iPhone and charges will be added to a customer’s monthly Apple Card bill. Apple started a similar program for the iPhone last year, offering 24 months no interest.

The program is similar to those by carriers selling phones and other products, offering consumers another avenue to purchase these items with monthly payments.

The service is also designed to spur enrollment for the Apple Card, a joint effort with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and boost sales of Apple products by letting users split up the cost over time. It will be compatible with Apple’s education discounts, the people said.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call in April that the company would launch an installment payment service for products beyond the iPhone, but he didn’t specify timing or features.

Elmer Fudd Loses His 2A Rights

It just got a lot harder to hunt wascally wabbits.

Warner Bros is stripping Elmer Fudd of his rifle in a new Looney Tunes cartoon series on HBO Max, handicapping the grumpy hunter as he continues his decades-long pursuit of the wise-cracking Bugs Bunny, according to reports.

The change in the latest incarnation of the iconic animated series is a response to the gun violence in the US, the NY Post reports.

Historically the toons have largely revolved around Fudd’s persistent chase of the carrot-chomping Bugs, with his classic catchphrase, “What’s up, Doc?”

Fudd, known for his own catchphrase, “Shhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits,” gets outsmarted by Bugs at every turn, even though he’s always had his trusty shotgun at his side — until now.

“We’re not doing guns,” Peter Browngardt, executive producer of the new series, told the New York Times. “But we can do cartoony violence — TNT, the Acme stuff. All of that was kind of grandfathered in.”

Fudd won’t be empty-handed, however — he’ll now use a scythe to try to bag Bugs

The 200 new cartoons, which will feature other Looney Tunes “stars,” will still have an edge — Porky Pig sucks the poison out of Daffy Duck’s leg in one skit, Sylvester the Cat is haunted by the ghost of his traditional target, Tweety Bird, and Satan even makes a cameo in one toon.

“Some of them have maybe gone a little too far, so they might come out in a different format,” Browngardt told the outlet.

“We’re going through this wave of anti-bullying, everybody needs to be friends, everybody needs to get along,” he said. “Looney Toons is pretty much the antithesis of that. It’s two characters in conflict, sometimes getting pretty violent.”

Jacapps To Present Free Webinar On Techsurvey 2020

jācapps, an award-winning mobile strategy and development company, is bringing their largest free radio webinar to the public on Tuesday, June 16, 2020 at 2:00pm EST. 

In partnership with Jacobs Media, jācapps will dig deep into information from Techsurvey 2020, the radio industry’s largest online survey as well as their recent studies on how COVID-19 is affecting media habits. Join Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs for this data and information fueled discussion.

Fred Jacobs, President of Jacobs Media, will share many new findings related to mobile apps, in-car listening via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and smart speakers. These findings will provide a road map for radio, their sales teams, and their advertisers regarding the consumer habits that are ready to take off, as well as those that may require more time, preparation, and education given the current climate.

Bob Kernen, COO of jācapps, comments, “With so many Americans working from home right now, the importance of digital audio platforms is higher than ever. And if there’s any kind of surge in the virus this fall, stations need to be prepared with a a robust, outstanding mobile program have a significant opportunity in today’s new world.”

Click Here to register for the webinar.

Meet Dee Snider: The Voice-Over Artist

Dee Snider

If the narrator of popular rock docuseries “Breaking the Band” sounds familiar, that’s because it’s former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider — who’s parlayed his hard-rockin’ raspy pipes into a successful voiceover career, according to The NY Post.

“I’m blessed with a voice that people like hearing,” says Snider, 65, on the phone from Belize, where he and his wife own a home. “It’s my cadence, or whatever. Many times I’m in a store and someone will come around the aisle and say, ‘I knew it was you!’

“My [voiceover] agent, Lisa Marber, says ‘You’ve got that cigarette smoker/whiskey-drinker voice.’ I never smoke or drink,” he says, laughing. “Screaming all those years and torturing my vocal cords [with Twisted Sister] has given me that rasp, that husky voice, that people want for certain voiceovers.”

That’s on full display in “Breaking the Band,” which airs on Reelz and chronicles the breakups of A-list bands (including The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue, KISS and Fleetwood Mac) amidst the rock ‘n’ roll tropes: worldwide fame, rampant drug use, sex, paranoia and recrimination — until, at the end, band members are barely speaking to each other.


Snider’s voiceover days date back to his first spot for the New York Lottery’s Quick Draw game in 1995. “It was a time when my career was not going well. I was broke,” says Snider, whose appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show (then on K-Rock) ignited the voiceover spark. “Twisted Sister had been over for a number of years and then grunge hit. As a performer I was looking for some other work and started to audition [for voiceovers]. That New York Lottery spot brought in tens of thousands of dollars for a regional ad and I was like, ‘Holy s–t! This is an amazing gig! And it’s been a consistent ever since.”

That led to a new career.

Snider, 65, has narrated “Breaking the Band” since its 2018 premiere; starting June 8, he can be heard in all his whiskey-voiced glory when Reelz will air four back-to-back episodes every Monday starting at 6 p.m.

He says his days with ’80s hair band Twister Sister — famous for teen anthems “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” — helped him land his narrating gig.

“It was the authenticity of having an actual rocker reading the copy, someone who really gets it, even though I’m learning something on every episode,” he says. “The company that produces the show is out of England and they wanted an American voice, someone who could also insert American colloquialisms. I guess I was the right guy for the job.”

R.I.P.: Mason Brazelle, WWCD Columbus OH PD/Air Personality

Modern Rock WWCD CD102.5 Columbus, OH PD Mason “Mase” Brazelle has passed away suddenly at the age of 53 from complications from a bleeding ulcer.

Grazeller spent years in the Atlanta music scene as a drummer in multiple bands, before jumping into radio at WKZQin Myrtle Beach, SC. He rose to PD at the Modern Rocker and spent 11 years at the station.

He joined FMQB as National Director of Alternative & Rock Formats at the beginning of 2014 and was a part-timer at iHeart‘s then-Modern Rock WXZX in Columbus for a time, before crossing the street to CD102.5 in 2016. He was named PD of the long-running independent Modern Rock station in October of 2019, where he also held down afternoon drive.

In a Facebook post, CD102.5 announced the loss:

R.I.P.: Rupert Hine, British Producer and Songwriter

Rupert Hine

British producer and songwriter Rupert Hine — who worked with musicians including Tina Turner, Rush, Stevie Nicks, the Thompson Twins, Bob Geldof, the Fixx, Suzanne Vega and Howard Jones — has died at 72.

No cause was given for his death, which was confirmed by the Ivors Academy of Music Creators, for whom he served as a board member, The NY Post reports.

Hine, who in the 1970s had a solo career and went on to work with bands including British group Quantum Jump, started his music career with 1960s folk duo Rupert & David. He subsequently rode the New Wave and worked with acts including Howard Jones and the Fixx in the 1980s.

In a tribute on Twitter, Howard Jones called him an “extraordinary man and one of my dearest longtime friends, my music mentor and producer, passed away in the early hours of this morning. I’m so fortunate to have spent a precious hour with him Tuesday. I will be writing about him on FB soon … luvya Roop !!”

But Hine is especially well-known as a producer on Tina Turner’s 1984 album “Private Dancer,” which proved a huge comeback for the sultry singer following her 1978 divorce from Ike Turner. He produced the Grammy-winning single “Better Be Good to Me” and also was a co-writer on the song “I Might Have Been Queen.” He additionally worked with her on subsequent albums “Break Every Rule” (1986) and “Foreign Affair” (1989).

"Easily the most lasting memories I have of working with Tina on those three albums in the ’80s and early ’90s are all to do with her extraordinary singing talent,” he said. “I shall never forget the physical, nerve-tingling feeling that I experienced the very first time I recorded her in the studio.”

Hine produced Stevie Nicks’ fourth solo album, 1989’s “The Other Side of the Mirror,” for which he also co-wrote several songs. He produced Rush’s 1991 album “Roll the Bones” and 1989’s “Presto.”

June 8 Radio History

➦In 1947...Lassie debuted on ABC radio. It was a 15-minute radio juvenile adventure program. It was broadcast on ABC from June 8, 1947 until May 30, 1948, and on NBC from June 5, 1948, until May 27, 1950

➦In 1967...The Beatles thematic album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' quickly climbed to number one after being released just a week earlier. It was their 8th studio album and spent 15 weeks at number one in the U-S.  In the U-K,  the album went to #1 after just one week, where it remained for an incredible 27 weeks. It was the first album to print the lyrics on the sleeve.

It was lauded by critics for its innovations in production, songwriting and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for providing a musical representation of its generation and the contemporary counterculture. It won four Grammy Awards in 1968, including Album of the Year, the first rock LP to receive this honor.

➤In 1988...Billboard Blast From The Past....

➦In 2003...Personality Dan Ingram aired his final show on Oldies WCBS 101.1 FM NYC. Here's an aircheck from 1992:



➦In 2011…Former Detroit Tigers outfielder and broadcaster Jim Northrup died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 71.

Juliana Margulies is 53

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

• Actor-Singer James Darren is 84. 
• Singer Nancy Sinatra is 80. 
• Singer Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night) is 78. 
• Singer Boz Scaggs is 76. 
• Actress Sonia Braga is 70. 
• Actress Kathy Baker (“Picket Fences”) is 70. 
• Country guitarist Tony Rice is 69. 
• Singer Bonnie Tyler is 69. 
• Actor Griffin Dunne is 65. 
• “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams is 63. 
• Actor-director Keenan Ivory Wayans is 62. 
• Singer Mick Hucknall of Simply Red is 60. 
• Keyboardist Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran is 58. 
• Singer Doris Pearson of Five Star is 54. 
• Actress Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife,” ″ER”) is 53. 
• Actor Dan Futterman (“Judging Amy”) is 53. Actor David Sutcliffe (“Private Practice,” “Gilmore Girls”) is 51. 
• Actor Kent Faulcon (“Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse”) is 50. 
• Singer Nicci Gilbert of Brownstone is 50. 
• Actress Kelli Williams (“The Practice”) is 50. 
• Actor Mark Feuerstein (“West Wing,” ″Good Morning, Miami”) is 49. 
• Guitarist Mike Scheuchzer of MercyMe is 45. 
• Actor Eion Bailey (“Once Upon A Time”) is 44. 
• Rapper Kanye West is 43. 
• Singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson is 42. 
• Guitarist Derek Trucks (Allman Brother Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band) is 41. 
• Singer Alex Band of The Calling is 39. 
• Fiddler Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek is 39. 
• Actress Torrey DeVitto (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 36.