Tag: "Joe Bell"

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

KTRS, St. Louis Morning Host McGraw Milhaven Faults Google for Temporarily Terminating Show’s YouTube Account.  St. Louis morning personality McGraw Milhaven tells TALKERS magazine that, as far as he can tell since it’s hard to talk to an actual person at Google, complaints about his show’s video segments dealing with the Michael Brown slaying in Ferguson must have forced the hand of YouTube and it responded by closing the show’s account – at least temporarily since the videos in question have returned to the KTRS550TV account.  Milhaven says his show had some 1,700 videos on the site that he thought were gone forever.  He says, “We had a police officer on yesterday talking about this Ferguson story and they terminated our account.  Censored.  All of it.  Gone.  Taken down, and nothing from YouTube except an email saying we are not allowed to ever post again.”  Milhaven posted to his Facebook page a plea for help from fans since CH Holdings – owner of KTRS – is a family business without the resources to fight Google.  He wrote, in part, “We, at the McGraw Show on KTRS, admittedly have been sympathetic to the police officers’ story, but we have had all types of guests defending all sides to this very important story.  Our videos, which serve as a St. Louis archive over the last two years and have been used by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News as well as hundreds of other media outlets, are now lost forever.  YouTube has arbitrarily decided they don’t like our current and past content and has cut off our voice.”  Google did not respond directly to requests for further clarification of the termination but, as stated at the beginning of this story, the videos are back online.

WIND, Chicago Morning Co-Host Amy Jacobson Loses Suit Against CBS.  Former television reporter Amy Jacobson was let go by NBC-owned WMAQ-TV, Chicago in 2007 after she was videoed poolside at the home of Craig Stebic – a man who was deemed a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife Lisa.  Competing WBBM-TV “CBS 2” caught her on video and broadcast it.  Jacobson then sued CBS for libel for $1 million claiming that she was not a public person at the time the video was taken since she was off duty and not in public.  Last year, a judge ruled that Jacobson’s team failed to show CBS fabricated unfavorable content about her, but Jacobson and her lawyer appealed.  Now, an Illinois Appeals Court has ruled against Jacobson.  Jacobson has been co-hosting the morning show on Salem-owned WIND, Chicago “AM 560 The Answer” since 2010.  Lisa Stebic has never been found and although Craig Stebic is still considered a person of interest, no charges have ever been filed against him.

PodcastOne to Distribute and Rep theCHIVE Show.  In a deal between Norm Pattiz-founded PodcastOne and “the world’s largest photo entertainment website and app theCHIVE,” the former will exclusively distribute, market and sell advertising for the new weekly podcast produced by theCHIVE.  The show – which will focus on theCHIVE’s “fresh, hot, funny and viral male-interest news, lifestyle and social content” – will be produced and hosted by theCHIVE editors John Resig and Bob Phillipp.  It will debut on January 22.  Pattiz comments, “This is the first of several upcoming announcements about PodcastOne merging editorial and audio media through partnerships with major digital brands.  We can’t think of a better partner than theCHIVE to kick off this effort.”

Cumulus Names Dave Milner SVP of West Coast Markets.  Moving from iHeartMedia’s Sacramento cluster where he was market president to Cumulus Media is Dave Milner who will serve as senior vice president for West Coast markets.  In this role, Milner will report directly to president and CEO Lew Dickey.  Milner comments, “I am extremely honored to have been given the opportunity to join Cumulus at the senior vice president level.  The company has been assembling top assets in order to provide the best multi-platform solutions and results for its clients, making this a tremendous time to join Cumulus.”

CBS RADIO-Beasley Swap Closes.  As expected, the assets swap between CBS RADIO and Beasley Broadcast Group, announced earlier this fall, closed yesterday (12/1).  Beasley takes ownership of: sports talk WIP-AM, Philadelphia; in the Tampa market it gets sports talk duo WHFS-AM and WHFS-FM, hip hop WLLD, country WQYK, classic hits WRBQ, and Spanish WYUU-FM; in the Charlotte market it acquires urban contemporary WBAV, sports talk duo WBCN-AM and WFNZ-AM, AC WKQC, CHR WNKS, hip hop WPEG, and country WSOC-FM.  In exchange, CBS RADIO takes ownership of five major market outlets including: hip hop WPOW, country WKIS and sports talk WQAM in Miami and Philadelphia outlets country WXTU, and hip hop WRDW.  As CBS RADIO notes, this is the first time it will operate radio stations in Miami where it already owns two television stations.

Rob Morris Named VP of Programming for CBS Miami.  With yesterday’s closing on the CBS RADIO–Beasley Broadcast Group station swap, CBS announces Rob Morris is named vice president, programming for the Miami stations – hip hop WPOW, country WKIS and sports talker WQAM.  Company SVP and market manager Joe Bell comments, “Today marks a new beginning for our cluster of stations in Miami and I’m thrilled to be working with Rob and the great management team at CBS RADIO.  We have built a solid foundation in the market with a history of community service and programming excellence.  We look forward to the extensive array of assets and expertise that CBS RADIO brings to our operations which will ultimately benefit the listener and our advertisers.”  Morris moves southeast from his most recent post as VP of programming for CBS in Tampa where he’s been since July after moving south from CBS’ Minneapolis station group.

KXL, Portland to Use Drones for News Coverage.  When news breaks in the Pacific Northwest, consumers of Alpha Media’s news/talk KXL-FM, Portland “FM NEWS 101” may get their coverage thanks to drone technology.  Alpha Media has entered into an exclusive partnership with Aerial Technology International to use drones for breaking news coverage.  Alpha Media EVP of programming Scott Mahalick says, “KXL continues to innovate by launching the world’s first radio news drone.  I’m proud to be working with such a visionary team of people leading the news/talk industry in America.”

Round Four of November PPM Data Released.  The fourth of four rounds of November 2014 PPM data from Nielsen Audio has been released for 12 markets including: Austin, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Providence, Raleigh, Norfolk, Nashville, Greensboro, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Memphis, and Hartford.  The survey period was October 9 through November 5.  TALKERS magazine’s sister publication RadioInfo has all of the numbers from subscribing stations here.  In addition, managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his “Ten Takeaways” from this batch of ratings on the main page at RadioInfo.com here.

AdLarge Media Recruits Sherman to Head Up Affiliate Marketing.  Network radio pro Jessica Sherman is joining AdLarge Media to serve as senior director, affiliate marketing, signaling the company’s expansion into affiliate sales.  Sherman has worked at such network radio organizations as Westwood One, Dial Global, Bloomberg, Jones MediaAmerica, SW Networks, and MediaAmerica.  AdLarge Media co-founder and president Cathy Csukas says, “Doing a great job for our national advertisers, their agencies, and for our partners was our first priority when we launched AdLarge Media in 2010.  We have solidified that core competency, allowing us to extend our services to include affiliate marketing.  It’s a natural progression in our growth and our goal of providing our partners a full-service experience.”

Shuffle at KDKA-FM, Pittsburgh Predicted for January.  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that former Post-Gazette sports writer Colin Dunlap – currently hosting the 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm show on CBS RADIO’s sports talker “93.7 The Fan” – will move to morning drive host in January when Gregg Giannotti moves from the station to the CBS Sports Radio Network where he’ll host the morning show.

Odds & Sods.  A partnership between Yahoo News and SiriusXM will include the launch of “Yahoo News on POTUS,” – a live, weekly show on the POTUS channel dedicated to the Politics of the United States.  Yahoo News chief White House correspondent Olivier Knox will host the show that features “live interviews with national leaders in politics and public life as well as special guests tackling current events and more.”  The program will debut tomorrow (12/3) at 2:00 pm ET…..Radio sales pro David Bailin joins Sun Broadcast Group as vice president of sales.  Bailin most recently was VP of sales in the New York offices of Westwood One.  He’s also served with CBS RADIO, Emmis Communications, and Citadel Broadcasting/Impact Marketing Group…..Salem Radio Network president Greg Anderson and his wife Linda were honored by SRN/Dallas staff and management Monday night (12/1) at a surprise dinner at the LaCima Club in Las Colinas.  The evening was to recognize Anderson’s work over the years at SRN as his retirement from the company on December 31 approaches.

C. Crane Publishes New Catalogue for 2015.  One of the nation’s leading companies in the manufacturing and distribution of radios and radio-related devices, C. Crane Company, Inc., has published the latest in its annual series of catalogues detailing the firm’s brand-new offerings as well as the tried-and-true products for which it has achieved a stellar reputation.  The Fortuna, California-based company that has maintained a close working relationship with the radio industry for almost three decades, is also planning a physical move in 2015 to a larger location that will combine its warehouse and office storefront as a single facility.  C. Crane president Bob Crane tells TALKERS, “Our company has always been about the best reception and accurate, legible audio tailored for the human voice.  By focusing on what we do best we have established a brand and product line that continues to allow us to service the radio listening community.”  Set to arrive before Christmas is the new CC Skywave ($89.95) travel radio with AM, FM, shortwave, weather and aviation bands.  According to Crane, “Seldom, if ever, has a small, high-performance travel radio been combined with an intuitive layout.  You can listen to pilots while they land and perhaps find out why your plane is late.”  Another groundbreaking new device offered this year is the CC WiFi-2 internet radio that uses the TuneIn service which has extensive searchable listings and thousands of stored podcasts in a convenient desktop WiFi receiver that also comes with an FM radio built in and can be used as a Bluetooth® receiver.  Crane also states, “We feel our top of the line CC Radio-2E ($169.95) has the best reception and audio of any radio made today.  It comes with the standard AM and FM bands along with weather and 2-meter ham band for emergency situations.  The audio circuit is accurately tuned for the human voice and can now be adjusted for warm musical performance with enhanced bass.”  Pictured above is KFI, Los Angeles personality Tim Conway, Jr. trying out the CC Solar Observer ($54.95) specifically designed for emergency use.  It can be powered in four different ways including a crank and can charge many different USB type devices including cell phones. TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison remarks, “I am a longtime admirer of the C. Crane folks for both their ongoing support of the radio industry and their championing the cause of the radio medium as well.  I love their products but believe it or not, my favorite is the simple CC Pocket.  It is an elegant little device that picks up where the old Walkman product left off.  In an age of complicated gizmos that stand between the listener and instant audio gratification, it features ease of use, great reception, and sharp, well-defined audio.”  The CC Pocket (pictured at right) is a little jewel of an AM/FM/weather radio that can be listened-to on a built in speaker or the CC Buds that are tuned to the spoken word.  The $64.95 device has five easy-to-use, one-touch memory buttons for each band and stands upright for best audio.  Rubber coated sides help with the grip and it has a belt clip, display light, sleep timer, clock and alarm as well as battery and signal strength meters, FM stereo or mono switch.  It runs on two AA batteries.  Harrison says, “It would be a blessing for the radio industry if somehow 50 million or so of these things suddenly fell out of the sky and into the hands of consumers – after all, one of the primary problems facing AM and FM radio today is the increasing lack of plain ol’ radios out there in the world.”  Harrison jokingly adds, “Perhaps they would sell more if they contained an internet/cell phone chip.”  C. Crane can be reached via www.ccrane.com.

Ferguson Grand Jury Aftermath, Obama Amnesty Executive Order, Battle Against ISIS, ObamaCare Controversies, 2016 Presidential Prospects, Ray Rice Suspension Overturned, Bill Cosby Rape Allegations, and NFL Action Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (12/1).  The issues of racism, crime and police action in minority communities in the wake of the Ferguson grand jury decision; President Obama’s executive order providing a plan for amnesty for illegal aliens; the ongoing battle against ISIS and the reported capture of the ISIS chief’s wife in Lebanon; simmering controversies over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act; the overturning of Ray Rice’s suspension from the NFL; the fallout from the renewed allegations of rape against Bill Cosby; and the weekend’s NFL action were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS.