Industry News

Taylor Jukes Named SVP of Programming for iHeartMedia San Diego

iHeartMedia names Taylor Jukes SVP of programming for the San Diego station group that includesim news/talk KOGO-AM, talk KLSD-AM, sports talk KGB-AM, and five music brands. iHeartMedia San Diego market president Noreen Ippolito says, “We are so excited to welcome Taylor into our San Diego cluster. Her knowledge of the audio business and track record speak for themselves. We are eager for Taylor to bring her skill set and big ideas from Miami to an already incredible cluster of stations.”

Industry News

Yesterday’s (2/28) Top News/Talk Media Stories

The Supreme Court agrees to hear the case of former President Donald Trump’s immunity claim; Mitch McConnell to step down from Senate leadership in November; an Illinois judge rules Trump should not be on primary ballot; the misconduct allegations against Fulton County DA Fani Willis; the U.S. migrant crisis and the death of Georgian nursing student Laken Riley allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant; the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s testimony; the looming government shutdown; the Israel-Hamas war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza; the Russia-Ukraine war and Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats; and the Texas panhandle wildfires were some of the most-talked-about stories in news/talk media yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Industry News

Mike Church Show Begins AM/FM Syndication

Talk media personality Mike Church – longtime host of the morning drive program on SixiusXM’s The Patriot Channel – is bringing his Internet-based talk program to terrestrial radio. Church’s company, The Crusade Radio Network,” says, “We are delighted to announce that after seven years of singularim devotion to Internet radio broadcasting, we are launching ‘The Mike Church Show’ into terrestrial radio syndication! The launch date of ‘The Mike Church Show’ will be March 1 and the show will begin its repatriation of AM/FM radio in Atlanta, Georgia’s #7 U.S. radio market on WXKG “The King”! Church adds, “We’ve always known that terrestrial radio was going to play a part in our industry leading development of Internet radio, we just didn’t know in what way. Over the last two years, that role began to materialize with the dearth of quality talk shows and the opportunities to fill that gap left by the wrecking ball that was consolidation’s march through local radio properties.” The program airs live from 7:00 am to 10:00 am ET.

Industry News

Civic Media Unveils Permanent Lineup

Civic Media finalizes its new midday program lineup that airs across its 12 Wisconsin stations, including flagship WAUK-AM/W266DR, Waukesha. “Matenaer On Air,” starring Jane Matenaer, airs from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, “The Todd Allbaugh Show” airs from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm, and “The Maggie Daunim Show” airs from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Program director Kathryn Lake comments, “Wisconsinites will play a crucial role this year in determining who represents the state in Madison and in the nation’s capital. The experience Jane Matenaer, Todd Allbaugh and Maggie Daun bring to the midday microphones will provide listeners across the state compelling stories and important updates about what is happening in their communities and throughout Wisconsin.”

Industry News

Cumulus Bloomington Raises $100k-plus for St Jude

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Pictured above are members of the staff of Cumulus Media’s radio stations in Bloomington, Illinois – including news/talk WJBC-AM, CHR WBNQ-FM, and country WBWN-FM – as they helped raise $103,739 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital via its annual two-day Cumulus Cares for St. Jude Kids Radiothon that took place February 8 and 9.

Industry News

Yesterday’s (2/27) Top News/Talk Media Stories

The presidential race and the Michigan primary; the U.S. migrant crisis and the death of Georgian nursing student Laken Riley allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant; former President Donald Trump’s legal battles and the Fani Willis misconduct case; the Russia-Ukraine war; the Israel-Hamas war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza; the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s testimony scheduled for today; the Alabama embryo ruling and its effects on IVF treatment; the Supreme Court hears arguments over Texas’ and Florida’s restrictive social media laws; Apple cancels its electric car project; and the Texas panhandle wildfires were some of the most-talked-about stories in news/talk media yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Industry News

Cumulus Media Q4 2023 Revenue Declines 11.9%

Reporting its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and for the full year of 2023, Cumulus Media Group reveals Q4 net revenue of $221 million, a decrease of 11.9% from the same period in 2022. The company posted a net loss of $54,000 in Q4 of 2022 compared to the net loss of $98 million it reports for Q4 of 2023. For the full year of 2023, net revenue was $844.5 million – a decrease of 11.4%im from the full year of 2022. Cumulus reported net income of $16.2 million for 2022, while posting a net loss of $117.9 million for the full year of 2023. Cumulus president and CEO Mary G. Berner says, “While 2023 was a tough year across the media landscape, we were able to offset some of the effects of the weak national advertising climate through strong execution in our key focus areas. Specifically, we grew our digital businesses, meaningfully reduced fixed costs, and improved our balance sheet. Looking ahead, though national advertisers are expressing interest in increasing their radio buys, as of yet, ad demand remains choppy, reducing our visibility into the rest of 2024. That said, our industry-leading performance during similarly weak macro environments gives us significant confidence in our ability to navigate through this one and rebound strongly when the advertising market improves.” Looking at Cumulus’ business segments, the digital segment to which Berner refers was up 5% in Q4 of 2023 to $39.6 million, but total broadcast revenue during the quarter was down 18.2%. Spot revenue declined 18.3% and network revenue was off 17.9% in Q4 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

Industry News

Shelby Cassesse Announces Exit from Audacy Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh media personality Shelby Cassesse is leaving her role with Audacy’s news/talk KDKA-AM and sports talk KDKA-FM “93.7 The Fan,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Cassesse had beenim serving as a full-time KDKA Radio reporter since February 2021 and hosted her own Sunday morning talk show on “93.7 The Fan.” She posted to social media, “While news has offered so many opportunities for growth, my heart has always been in sports journalism and it’s time to fully focus on that path.” Audacy Pittsburgh SVP and market manager Michael Spacciapolli says, “We are so grateful for all of Shelby’s work in the KDKA newsroom. Her time as a host at ‘The Fan’ will forever be a part of the history of that great radio station. We know the future will bring her great things. We are fortunate to be a part of her journey.” Read the Post-Gazette story here.

Industry News

Mike Gallagher Broadcasting from Israel

Salem Radio Network talk host Mike Gallagher is broadcasting his nationally syndicated program from Israel this week with the help of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ). After theim Hamas terror attack in Israel in October, Gallagher and his audience led a fundraising effort for the IFCJ that raised $342,000 in a few weeks. IFCJ is sponsoring Gallagher’s upcoming visit in order to spotlight the humanitarian effort that is underway during the war with Hamas. In addition to broadcasting his daily show from Jerusalem, Gallagher will tour parts of Israel – including the Gaza envelope in the Southern District of Israel – interviewing survivors of the October attack, Israeli military officials, and officials from the IFCJ.

Industry News

Matty “Ice” Hayes Inks Extension at The Fan in Columbus

Midday talk host Matty “Ice” Hayes signs a multi-year extension to remain with Tegna’s sports talk WBNS-FM, Columbus “97.1 The Fan” as co-host of the “Rothman and Ice” (alongside Anthonyim Rothman) program and as host of “The Fan” pregame show every gameday Saturday in the fall. Hayes says, “‘The Fan’ has been my home for 10 years and I’m very excited to continue working at a station that has been a part of my life for so long.” WBNS station manager Cody Welling comments, “Matt has been working extremely hard developing his broadcast talents. We value his point-of-view on topics, and is the perfect duo for our highly rated midday show, ‘Rothman and Ice.’ I’m happy that Columbus sports fans will be able to access Matt Hayes for years to come each weekday, and on college football gamedays.”

Industry News

The Black Effect Podcast Festival Set for April 27 in Atlanta

iHeartMedia and Charlamagne Tha God are bringing the Black Effect Podcast Festival back to Atlanta on April 27 at Pullman Yards. Charlamagne Tha God joins the festival alongside some of the Blackim Effect’s most popular personalities for a day full of live podcast tapings and informative discussions aimed at aspiring podcasters in the Black community. He says, “We are proud to return to Atlanta for the second year in a row to showcase the talent across our network, and some of the biggest shows in podcasting. Through culture-defining storytelling, unique brand partnerships, compelling panel discussions, special live podcast recordings and more, we are inviting everyone to experience the power of The Black Effect and the many ways Black creators are driving the culture forward.”

Industry News

Benztown Unveils AI Listener Voice Generator

Benztown launches the AI Listener Voice Generator, what it calls “a new audio production tool for radio stations of all formats and market sizes exclusively designed to simulate ‘listener’ audio for on-air use.”im The AI Listener Voice Generator enables library subscribers to simulate “listener” audio and addresses the challenges that stations increasingly face in collecting listener audio from the public. Benztown CEO Andreas Sannemann says, “The Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Speech capabilities of this new feature make an audio producer’s job easier and more efficient than ever – and it sounds incredible!”

Industry News

Auddia to Acquire Radio FM

Auddia Inc signs a definitive purchase agreement to acquire the AM/FM streaming app Radio FM, noting that closing the acquisition remains subject to financing the acquisition cost. Auddia CEO Michael Lawless says, “We are seeing strong subscription conversion numbers off the faidr free tier which isim solidifying our confidence that a large number of AM/FM streaming listeners are willing to pay a subscription to avoid commercials while listening to their favorite stations. The challenge now becomes how to grow the free tier user base in the most cost-efficient manner possible to increase our pool of potential subscribers. The Radio FM acquisition allows us to acquire 4.6 million retained users at a customer acquisition cost (CAC) that is approximately 70% lower than the cost to acquire a free tier user through our direct marketing methods.”

Industry News

Yesterday’s (2/26) Top News/Talk Media Stories

The U.S. migrant crisis and the death of Georgian nursing student Laken Riley allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant; the looming government shutdown; the Russia-Ukraine war; the Israel-Hamas war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza; the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s testimony scheduled for Wednesday; the presidential race; former President Donald Trump’s legal battles and the Fani Willis misconduct case; and the Supreme Court hears arguments over Texas’ and Florida’s restrictive social media laws were some of the most-talked-about stories in news/talk media yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: The Local Radio Advantage, Part 2

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imRadio programming is like any business. Our best prospects are existing customers (getting people already listening to listen more often). And – without spending a dime on outside promotion – we can if the station is known-for-knowing. Set the expectation that we have listeners’ backs and optimize the information we deliver.

Last week’s column was Part 1 of this three-part series, demonstrating a simple tweak for making source material more relevant and useful. This week, more addition-by-subtraction: “A-words” to avoid; and Magic Words to use every chance you get.

“Anyone,” and “asked,” and “announced” are red flags. These words scream press release.

Instead-of: “Anyone who has seen a car matching that description is asked to contact the police.”

Say: “If you see that car, call the police.”

Instead of: “Anyone who feels discriminated-against because…”

Say: “If you feel discriminated-against because…”

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“Anyone” (or “those,” both third-person) is someone else. Second-person Magic Words “you” and “your” talk to me, the listener. And instead of telling me THAT something-was-announced, explain WHAT, and what-it-means-to-me:

Example: “Jefferson County has joined Clearfield, Elk and 18 other Pennsylvania counties in the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative. The initiative is a law enforcement-led collaborative program which seeks to direct those who suffer from substance abuse disorders into helpful treatment services.”

Re-write: “If you live in Jefferson County and you or someone you know are struggling with substance abuse, you can now ask police to connect you with a treatment program without being arrested or prosecuted…”

Next week here: THE #1 way to keep listeners coming back for more…

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. He is the author of The Local Radio Advantage: Your 4-Week Tune-In Tune-Up,” and “Close Like Crazy: Local Direct Leads, Pitches & Specs That Earned the Benjamins” and “Confidential: Negotiation Checklist for Weekend Talk Radio.” Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn.

Industry Views

Pending Business: Curmudgeons

By Steve Lapa
Lapcom Communications Corp
President

imAre you a sales curmudgeon? You know, that old-school, out-of-touch terrestrial radio ad sales rep who is too lazy to learn the new digital/social media sales world?

A recent survey by Borrell and Associates says most radio station managers vote for “new blood” on the sales team to offset those old-school sellers who are oversaturated and have no more room to grow. It’s the evergreen water bottle analogy. Open that off-the-shelf bottled water and just try pouring more water into that fully filled bottle. There is no more room for even another ounce. Is that you? So full of sales knowledge that there is no room to learn? Your boss thinks it’s better to hire another seller than to wait until you decide to push yourself through the comfort zone and become more productive in the digital/social media column.

The top line “hire new sellers” concept here is true. Some living history:

1. AM vs. FM. Are you old enough to remember separate AM and FM sales teams? AM radio stations were the first big income generators. When FM music stations became popular, we first sold AM/FM combo plans. Realizing FM formats were geared to a younger audience, we hired sellers who got it. Sales teams were formed to sell just the FM stations. The internal conflict was a management nightmare, yet somehow, we managed to create two separate teams. The rest is terrestrial radio sales history.

2. Cluster Sales. When the FCC allowed owners to control more than two radio stations in a market, we went through another seismic change. Sellers who sold for one, or in some cases AM/FM combo sales, were soon allowed to pitch multiple stations owned by one owner in a market. Managers were faced with a new round of consolidation conflict. If you worked with an advertiser that needed additional markets, you were able to bring outside markets with commonly owned radio stations to the mix. Somehow, we managed.

3. Digital/Social. What took so long? Today’s terrestrial radio ad seller is an important foundational component in every radio station ad sales department. Yet the ad sales and audience growth aren’t on the AM/FM or satellite band. It hasn’t been for a while. The ad demand and growth in audience and revenue is on your computer, smartphone, apps, and earbuds. Are you ready to adapt to the digital/social media demand curve? Or are you sitting in your comfortable rocking chair.

There is no doubt new sellers plugged into new media platforms will fuel the next level of audio sales growth. But before we give up on those curmudgeons on your sales team, let’s learn how they preserve the buyer-seller relationship long enough to earn the privilege of becoming “curmudgeons.”

Steve Lapa is the president of Lapcom Communications Corp. based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Lapcom is a media sales, marketing, and development consultancy. Contact Steve Lapa via email at: Steve@Lapcomventures.com.

Industry News

Scott McCarthy Named Workhouse Media President of Sports

Talent and content management firm Workhouse Media brings Scott McCarthy aboard as president, Workhouse Sports. McCarthy most recently served as vice president, ESPN Audio. Workhouse CEOim  Paul Anderson says, “We are beyond fortunate to have Scott as part of the Workhouse family. Scott is a smart, disruptive thinker whose background and entrepreneurial drive make him the perfect person to lead our new sports vertical.” Workhouse EVP John McConnell adds, “I’ve worked alongside and across the table from Scott for 30 years. He is a best-in-class executive and is perfectly positioned in this role.” McCarthy says, “I could not be more excited or honored to be joining the Workhouse Media team and getting the opportunity to work alongside Paul, John, and Keith [Kauffman]. Over the years, Workhouse has clearly established itself as the preeminent management company for talent and content developers to expand their brands and businesses across multiple entertainment platforms, and I look forward to helping Workhouse further develop their presence in the sports category.”

Industry News

iHeartMedia Expands Government Affairs Team

iHeartMedia adds two executives to its government affairs team and promotes two existing execs. David Pigue is named senior director/policy counsel and Sophia Gonzalez is named manager of government affairs. At the same time, the company promotes Jessica Marventano to executive viceim president and Sara Morris is elevated to vice president of government affairs. Pigue joins iHeartMedia following seven years advising U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) on technology, telecommunications, consumer protection, finance, banking, budget, tax, health care and judiciary policy issues. Gonzalez most recently served as deputy director of scheduling and assistant to the chief of staff for Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia). iHeartMedia chairman and CEO Bob Pittman states, “Our company is deeply appreciative of iHeartMedia’s Government Affairs team and their hard work on behalf of our company as well as on issues of critical importance to the broadcast radio industry. I congratulate Jessica and Sara on their promotions, and welcome David and Sophia to the iHeart team.”

Industry News

Rob Parker to Build Detroit Sports Talker with Black Talent

This story was first reported by the Detroit News last week. Awful Announcing summarizes the piece as sports media personality Rob Parker and retired NBA player and current agent B.J. Armstrong areim building “Sports Rap Radio” to air on Audacy’s WXYT-AM, Detroit with a target launch of mid-May. In what will likely be a first in sports talk radio, the lineup of air talent will be all-Black. WXYT-AM currently airs Audacy’s BetQL Network programming. Parker is quoted by the Detroit News saying, “It will be young people getting opportunities and former athletes, from Detroit or with ties to Detroit.” The lineup will be local from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm and will segue into FOX Sports Radio’s “The Odd Couple” featuring Parker and Chris Broussard at 7:00 pm. Parker plans to fill the overnight hours with podcasts featuring Black hosts. Read the Awful Announcing story here.