TALKERS magazine - "The Bible of Talk Radio &the New Talk Media" : TALKERS magazine – “The bible of talk media.”

Monday, September 13, 2021

| September 13, 2021

Monday Memo: Dissuading the Dug-In. “Argument seems to have displaced baseball as our national pastime. Polls tell us that many Republicans think Donald Trump was re-elected. Almost 60 years later, conspiracy theorists still mutter about who was lurking on the grassy knoll. And as we marked 20 years since 9/11, deniers still tell us the twin towers crashes were as fake as the moon landing,” consultant Holland Cooke writes in today’s column. As the unvaccinated remain undaunted and COVID numbers surge, he debriefs a sociologist who explains why facts fizzle, but stories can be more convincing. Read it here.

 

Pending Business: Asking Questions. Radio sales pro Steve Lapa, president of Lapcom Communications Corp, writes in today’s column, “One of the most important skills to master in your selling life is the art and science of asking questions. The thing about asking questions during your sales calls is the process is more complicated than advertised. Yet, when mastered, the right questions will dictate the next steps to closing your deals.” Read his column here.

WABC Unveils ‘Studio 77’ Video Platform. Pictured above at 77 WABC’s new “Studio 77” during the station’s two-day tribute to the 9/11 victims, first responders, and families are (from l-r): former NYC police commissioner Bernie Kerik, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Red Apple Media chairman and CEO John Catsimatidis, and former New York Governor George Pataki. “Studio 77” is WABC’s new state-of-the-art audio and video facility that offers high-quality video news and entertainment to 77 WABC listeners. “Studio 77” content is streamed at wabcradio.com and via the mobile app and is designed to accommodate live in-studio audience experiences. Catsimaditis says, “When we decided to get into radio, we decided to go big! We bought a 50,000 watt clear channel signal with WABC, and that is just the beginning. We have the big-name talent and the right management to lead our team forward. We’re giving our listeners what they want across all audio, video, and digital channels.”

Round Three of August 2021 PPM Ratings Released. The third of four rounds of ratings data from Nielsen Audio’s August 2021 PPM survey has been released for 12 markets including: Portland, Charlotte, San Antonio, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Columbus. Nielsen’s August 2021 sweep covered July 22 – August 18. Today, TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways for this group of markets. Alpha Media news/talk KXL-FM, Portland remains ranked #4 in the market after dropping three-tenths for a 5.2 share ( weekly, 6+ AQH share). Radio One’s Charlotte news/talk WBT-AM/FM sheds two-tenths to finish with a 3.8 share good for the #10 rank. iHeartMedia’s WOAI-AM, San Antonio gains seven-tenths for a 5.2 share finish and jumps from the #10 rank to #5. In Sacramento, iHeartMedia’s news/talk KFBK remains ranked #1 after posting another 8.7 share. Audacy’s KDKA-AM, Pittsburgh adds a half share to finish the survey with a 5.4 share and rises from #6 to #5. You can see Mike Kinosian’s complete Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets (as well as the two previous rounds) here.

Lynne Hayes-Freeland Leaving Daily Talk Show at KDKA-AM, Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that KDKA-AM, Pittsburgh talk host and radio journalist Lynne Hayes-Freeland is leaving her daily 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm talk show after her November 12, program. She’s been hosting the early afternoon daypart since January of 2019. Hayes-Freeland will remain with KDKA-AM in various other capacities, including a weekly, one-hour appearance with late morning host Marty Griffin, a weekly column on kdkaradio.com, becoming a bigger part of KDKA’s social media presence, and continuing her monthly hosting duties on “Minority Health Matters,” a program KDKA does in cooperation with Gateway Medical Society, a Pittsburgh-based organization dedicated to combatting racial disparities in health care. Audacy Pittsburgh SVP and market manager Michael Spacciapolli says, “Lynne’s career in the Pittsburgh media needs no comment from me. Simply said, she is an icon in the city and a pillar of the community. We have been fortunate to have her be such a large part of KDKA the past three years and are more than thrilled she will continue on the radio station as she transitions to this next phase of her life.”

WDAY, Fargo Unveils New ‘Bonnie and Friends’ Morning Show. Fargo news/talk outlet WDAY Radio announces its new morning drive show that debuts on Thursday (9/16) will be hosted by longtime market media personality Bonnie Amistadi and will be co-hosted by Flag Family Media president Steve Hallstrom. The “Bonnie & Friends” show will air from 5:00 am to 8:30 am. Amistadi says, “I love that feeling of being there early in the morning for my radio listeners. Many of them have become friends and whether they are starting their day, heading to bed, or somewhere in between, I enjoy being the one who delivers their news, weather, and sports. And plenty of laughs too!” Hallstrom comments, “We are thrilled to announce this new program. ‘Bonnie & Friends’ completes a re-engineering of the broadcast day on WDAY Radio, and we’re proud to now have a full lineup of live, local shows between 5:00 am and 6:30 pm each weekday. We’re thankful to the Marcil family and Forum Communications for their partnership in helping us shape a robust lineup that pours massive resources into local news and weather content.”

TALKERS News Notes. Tomorrow’s California recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom will be covered by Salem Radio Network News starting at 6:00 pm ET. SRN News is distributing non-stop coverage from Los Angeles, anchored by KRLA “The Answer” host Jennifer Horn and KRLA news anchor Larry Marino until 12:00 midnight ET. SRN News is also providing one-minute Special Reports each hour at :40-past the hour…..Media Staffing Network founder and CEO Laurie Kahn is delivering another IBA ‘members only’ webinar titled ‘Talent Acquisition Tips to Attract a Higher Quality of Job Seeker’ tomorrow (9/14) at 4:00 pm ET. In this webinar, Kahn will detail what it takes to compete to hire top talent. In addition, she’ll demonstrate how to create a job profile that attracts top talent, including updating of company websites and using social media to get the word out…..Newsweek announces the official launch of a new podcast called, “The Daily Break,” hosted by editor-at-large Naveed Jamali, former FBI double agent, Navy intelligence officer and author of How to Catch a Russian Spy. The show is inspired by Jamali’s work in national security and will bring his unique experience in intelligence-focused analysis to trending news stories across the political spectrum…..The GCN nationally syndicated “Dr. Daliah Wachs” program is being added to the program schedule at KGUM-AM, Guam.

9/11 Anniversary, Afghanistan, COVID-19, Newsom Recall Election, Biden Tax Hikes, January 6 Investigation/September Rally, and Western Wildfires Among Top News/Talk Stories Over the Weekend. The remembrance of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001; the criticism of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country; the rate of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and the controversy over mask & vaccine mandates; the recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsom and talk host Larry Elder’s chances of taking over; the battle over Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending plan that includes new taxes; the investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack & the looming Justice for J6 rally; and the ongoing western wildfires were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio over the weekend, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Thursday, September 9, 2021

| September 9, 2021

WOR-AM, New York Announces 9/11 Anniversary Broadcast. New York City news/talk WOR-AM will present a two-part, special broadcast to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001 that “will aim to honor the victims of 9/11 and the courageous first responders that risked their lives following the attacks, as well as the resilience of New Yorkers.” Tomorrow (9/10), from 6:00 am to 10:00 am, a special edition of “Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning” will reflect on the events of that day with special guests including David Lim, a retired Port Authority police officer who was one of 16 officers to survive the collapse of the North Tower of the World Trade Center; Jed Bernstein, head of the Broadway League and an instrumental force in getting Broadway back up and running after the attacks; and John Feal, founder of the Feal Good Foundation and 9/11 first responders advocate. On Saturday (9/11), from 8:30 am to 10:00 am, WOR-AM news director Joe Bartlett will anchor live coverage of the memorial ceremonies at the World Trade Center. The show will also feature the entire 710 WOR-AM morning team that was on the air on September 11, 2001, including host Ed Walsh, iconic 710 WOR-AM traffic reporter George Meade, news reporter Mara Rubin, and morning show executive producer Natalie Vacca. Tom Cuddy is program director for the iHeartMedia station, and he says, “These two special programs are being quarterbacked by Joe Bartlett and Natalie Vacca, two long term members of the WOR programming team who were both working on our morning show on 9/11/01. Preparing for these broadcasts has been emotional and heartbreaking for our entire staff.”

Joe Pags Releases 9/11 Memorial Song, ‘Tuesday Morning.’ Nationally syndicated, San Antonio-based talk radio host Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo has released a song he wrote, sang, and played saxophone on that commemorates September 11, 2001. Titled, “Tuesday Morning,” the song describes the daily routines most Americans were beginning on that morning before the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked and before a group of brave Americans helped down a jet in Shanksville, Pennsylvania before it could hit its target. You can listen to the song and watch the video here.

Art Vuolo Presents Updated Edition of New York City Radio’s Coverage of 9/11. Radio’s Best Friend Art Vuolo has posted a new, updated version of the video he originally produced in February of 2002. That edition of the video was just under 13 minutes. This re-edit is just shy of 20 minutes in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. As Art notes, this is how the events of that morning were covered from a radio perspective. See the complete video here.

Newsmax to Present, “9/11: The Day That Shook the World.” This Friday evening (9/10), Newsmax will air its new documentary “9/11: The Day That Shook the World” at 9:00 pm ET. Newsmax commissioned the film with Fox Tail Productions. Award-winning filmmaker Jack Thomas Smith serves as one of the executive producers and the film was directed by Mandy Del Rio. It includes exclusive interviews with many of the key officials and players at Ground Zero that fateful day, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, former FDNY Commissioner Tom Von Essen, former New York Congressman Peter King, founder of the Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa, Chairman of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation Frank Siller, and other guests who share their personal stories of loss, grief, and heroism.

Round One of August PPM Ratings Released. The first of four rounds of ratings information from Nielsen Audio’s August 2021 PPM survey has been released for 12 markets including: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, San Jose, and Middlesex-Somerset-Union (New Jersey). Nielsen’s August 2021 sweep covered July 22 – August 18. TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways from this round of markets. Audacy New York’s all-news station WCBS-AM rises two-tenths to a 2.7 share (weekly, 6+ AQH share) and is now the #13 ranked station in the market while sister WINS-AM dips one-tenth to a 2.6 share and falls to the #14 rank. In Los Angeles, iHeartMedia’s news/talk KFI is up one-tenth to a 4.1 share but falls to the #7 rank while Salem Media Group’s crosstown news/talk KRLA is up four-tenths for a 2.4 share finish and the #16 rank. Nexstar Media’s news/talk WGN-AM, Chicago rises three-tenths for a 3.4 share and is ranked #9 in the market while Audacy’s crosstown all-news WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM loses a full share for a 5.7 finish and falls to the #2 rank. See Mike Kinosian’s complete Ratings Takeaways here.

Pittsburgh-Based Talk Host Wendy Bell Launches Show in Self-Syndication. Former KDKA-AM, Pittsburgh talk radio host Wendy Bell, who also served in the past as a television news anchor for KDKA-TV, has begun broadcasting a daily, three-hour talk radio program that’s available via streaming and on the radio. She’s developed an app to listen to her program online and her program has been added to the lineup at Lightner Communications’ WRTA-AM/W253CJ, Altoona, Pennsylvania “Talk Radio 98.5” in the 9:00 am to 12:00 noon daypart.

Tim McCarthy to Exit WEPN-FM, New York as ESPN New York Operations Evolve. According to a piece by Andrew Marchand in the New York Post, Tim McCarthy will exit his general manager role at ESPN’s WEPN-FM, New York “98.7 ESPN New York” at the end of this month. McCarthy has been with ABC/Disney more than 30 years and previously served as manager for news/talk WABC when the company still owned it. This comes as Good Karma Brands is expected to assume operations of WEPN-FM and KSPN-AM, Los Angeles as ESPN looks to completely get out of the radio station operation business. Good Karma recently entered into an LMA to control sports talk WMVP-AM, Chicago. Emmis Communications owns the WEPN-FM signal and leases it to ESPN. McCarthy tells the Post that Disney has been very good to him over the years. “While it is bittersweet to say goodbye, I am excited and ready to begin a new chapter. The adventure continues! I am certain that our paths will cross again.”

Doug Stephan is This Week’s Guest on Harrison Podcast. Long-time syndicated news/talk radio morning host, content producer and independent farmer Doug Stephan is this week’s guest on the award-winning PodcastOne series, “The Michael Harrison Interview.” Harrison and Stephan discuss the evolution of talk radio as well as the present-day factors that influence the way food is produced and distributed in America including climate change and the Chinese takeover of U.S. industrial assets. They also discuss the introduction of legal cannabis as an American agricultural product. To listen to the podcast in its entirety, please click here.

G Networks Names Brian Pollina Director of Network Sales. National radio network G Networks announces Brian Pollina joins the company’s Ad Sales Team under Rich Baum, as a director of network sales. Pollina began his career with Audacy’s sports talk WSCR, Chicago and served with Cumulus Media’s news/talk WLS-AM before joining United Stations Radio Networks in 2008 as VP of digital assets and Midwest sales.  Baum says, “We are thrilled to bring someone of Brian’s talent on board to the G Networks team as we find new ways to dynamically reach audiences through our full-service portfolio of networks and syndicated shows. We are aware of the importance of creating engaging and compelling stories for our clients across various platforms, and Brian will be an integral part of that expansion as we strengthen and grow.”

Media Bridge Advertising Names Shannon Knoepke SVP of Marketing. Radio sales pro Shannon Knoepke joins Media Bridge Advertising as senior vice president of marketing. During her career, Knoepke has served as senior vice president and market manager for Audacy, as well as senior managerial experience at Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and iHeartMedia. In this new role, Knoepke will serve on Media Bridge’s leadership team and her executive responsibilities will include helping Media Bridge’s clients plan the right strategies, achieve the most value and achieve the best results, as well as mentoring and developing talent within the agency. Media Bridge founder and CEO Tracy Call states, “I’ve always been blown away by Shannon’s intelligence, professionalism and integrity. She’s the perfect fit for Media Bridge on many levels. She’s also the latest proof that some of our best talent comes from other side of the media table. She knows what clients want. She knows what media companies can do. And she’s the best in the business as putting those two things together efficiently.”

Melissa Colon Named VP of Client Investments for Focus 360. Marketing pro Melissa Colon is joining Focus 360 as vice president of client investments. In her new role, she’ll represent Focus 360’s suite of products and national networks to agencies and clients across the country. She most recently served with Havas Media and has also worked for Westwood One. Focus 360 founder and CEO Phil Brown comments, “This is such an exciting moment for me and the entire Focus 360 team. We’ve worked with Melissa very closely for many years and have always been grateful for her unwavering support. To have her now join our team and help spread the word on Focus 360, speaks volumes to what we’ve been able to build for all companies who turn to radio for results.”

TALKERS News Notes. The NFL’s 2021 season begins tonight and Cumulus Media’s Westwood One begins its 35th consecutive year as the exclusive network radio partner of the league. Westwood One Sports will provide play-by-play coverage of the NFL’s 2021 national regular season primetime games including Monday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, and Sunday Night Football plus Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, the entire postseason, including the Wild Card and Divisional Playoffs, the AFC and NFC Conference Championship Games, the Pro Bowl, and Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Kevin Harlan and NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner return as the lead broadcast crew…..iHeartMedia New York and media mogul Charlamagne Tha God partners with Mental Wealth Alliance to recognize World Mental Health Day by hosting the Mental Wealth Expo, a free and open to the public event taking place on October 10, 2021, at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York City. Attendees will hear from experts on everything mental health, with curated panels on racial trauma and mental health, Black men’s mental health, Black women’s mental health and the role religion and spiritualty play in our mental wellness…..CNN Audio presents the first episode of season one of “Total Recall: California’s Political Circus with Dana Bash.” The first episode is titled, “Welcome to the Circus.” CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash takes listeners back to the origins of the 2003 California recall and talks with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the man he beat, Gray Davis, to learn why this election became such a circus.

COVID-19/Biden Speech, Afghanistan, Democrats’ $3.5 Trillion Reconciliation Plan, Texas Abortion Law, Justice for J6 Rally, Newsom Recall, and Jamie Spears Files to End Conservatorship Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (9/8). The high rate of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., the battle over mask & vaccine mandates, and President Joe Biden’s planned speech to address the situation; the announced release of Americans in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to iron-fisted rule; the debate over the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation plan that expands the social safety net; the blowback from the passage of Texas’ restrictive abortion law; public safety concerns about the planned September 18 “Justice for J6” rally in Washington, DC; the recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsom; and Britney Spears’ father Jamie files to end his conservatorship were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

| September 8, 2021

SuperTalk Mississippi Network Announces ‘MidDays with Gerard Gibert.’ The “SuperTalk Mississippi Network” operated by TeleSouth Communications that airs on 12 news/talk outlets across the state announces the launch of a new show to air in the 10:00 am to 1:00 pm daypart. “MidDays with Gerard Gibert” takes over the slot previously held by J.T. Williamson, who recently died after a battle with lymphoma. SuperTalk Mississippi Media says Gerard is “an entrepreneur, capitalist, and Journey junkie. After founding Venture Technologies in 1986, Gerard worked diligently to provide jobs for Mississippians and ultimately sold the well-established company in 2019. Wanting to have a larger impact in Mississippi, Gibert joined the SuperTalk family in March of 2020, filling in as guest host of ‘The JT Show’ and being overwhelmingly welcomed by the SuperTalk audience.” Gibert comments, “It’s been an honor over the past 19 months to guest host for J.T. as he focused on fighting cancer. While in the chair, I’ve gotten acquainted with The JT Show’s vast audience – truly the best of Mississippi. Without a doubt, they loved and respected J.T. and I greatly appreciate the welcome they extended to me. I am ‘Super’ excited about launching my new show and look forward to achieving the standard of broadcasting excellence delivered daily by J.T. and consistent with the SuperTalk tradition.” SuperTalk Mississippi Media owner Steve Davenport adds, “Gerard is passionate and relatable, with a natural ability to connect with his audience. He understands the immense power that radio has to connect with listeners for three hours every day. I am confident that he will take this opportunity and create a lasting legacy just as his predecessor J.T. did before him. The company will always remember J.T. and the impact he had on his wonderful and loyal fanbase, and the state of Mississippi as a whole.”

‘Free Talk Live’ Co-Founder Ian Freeman’s Legal Situation is Featured in New York Magazine Piece. Regular readers of TALKERS magazine are probably aware of the legal situation the “Free Talk Live” co-founder Ian Freeman finds himself in: He’s out on $200,000 bond (with an ankle monitor) awaiting trial for various charges stemming from his (and five of his associates’) bitcoin activities. Though there are some 20 charges against him after the FBI’s five-year investigation, the thrust of the government’s case is that Freeman was not licensed to handle the bitcoin-for-cash transactions. The piece is written for New York by Simon van Zuylen-Wood and he writes about the case, “The government alleged that Freeman had been running a sophisticated multimillion-dollar racket that enabled ‘hordes of cyber criminals’ to scam victims and launder money. To do this, prosecutors said, Freeman and his crew used both online accounts and crypto vending machines to execute thousands of unlicensed transactions, trading the Shire’s [referring to the Freeman-founded Shire Free Church] bitcoin for cash without asking too many questions about its origins. Freeman was also charged with enlisting friends to stash his operation’s proceeds into newly created bank accounts under false pretenses. (Freeman and his codefendants have pleaded not guilty.)” The piece goes into detail about Freeman’s and co-founder Mark Edge’s settling in Keene, New Hampshire to join the libertarian Free State Project, a bit about the history of the nationally syndicated radio program and a lot about the bitcoin scene in Keene. Edge has not been arrested or indicted because, as he tells New York, “I wasn’t buying and selling cryptocurrency, because I think it’s stupid.” Meanwhile, Freeman recently told a caller to the radio show if he has any regrets about his actions, he says, “Is there something I regret? I mean, of course not. This is my mission. I’ve been given this mission from God to get this alternative form of value into people’s hands.”

WPHT, Philadelphia to Present Nine-Hour 9/11 Anniversary Program Remote Broadcast. Philadelphia news/talk outlet WPHT “Talk Radio 1210” is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11 with a live, remote broadcast on Friday (9/10) from the Doylestown Firehouse. The program is titled, “9/11 Through The Eyes Of…” and begins at 6:00 am and runs through 3:00 pm. WPHT personalities Dom Giordano, Dawn Stensland and Rich Zeoli will honor first responders, then and now. Listeners will hear stories highlighting local firefighters and police officers who showed heroism on 9/11, as well as family members who were touched by this life-changing event. Through the station’s partnership with the Travis Manion Foundation, WPHT is raising donations to support local first responders and to show gratitude for their ongoing dedication to the community. This is another example of the Audacy station’s practice of producing documentary specials addressing news events and historic milestones for which it has been getting positive industry attention.

Mancow Returns to Live Broadcasting with New Show. Radio personality Erich “Mancow” Muller is launching what he calls a live podcast and says it will be “everything Mancow’s ‘Militia of Love’ members have come to expect.” “Monday Night Live with Mancow” is a weekly, full-length live episode covering current events. He’s also debuting, “Microaggressions,” a series of short webisodes featuring random thoughts and “throwback” content throughout the week. “Monday Night Live with Mancow” airs Mondays at 8:00 pm ET via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter (via Periscope), Twitch and Rumble. Episodes are available to re-watch immediately following the live stream and are additionally uploaded to Bitchute and syndicated as an audio podcast through Spotifiy’s syndication platform Anchor.fm and is available on Spotify, Apple and other popular podcast platforms. Mancow says, “We wanted to create the least amount of friction possible between our listeners and our content and ensure that if we get censored or deplatformed by the tech monopolies, there are plenty of additional options to access our show. The new Mancow 2.0 is pure Mancow minus the well-paid, annoying sidekick chuckleheads. Everything we hear now is pre-chewed corporate pablum puked into America’s psyche. This is something else.”

Joe Mathieu’s ‘Sound On’ to Air on ‘Bloomberg Radio’ in Boston. The “Sound On” program hosted by longtime Boston news radio personality Joe Mathieu is joining the programming lineup at Beasley Media Group’s WRCA-AM/WBOS-HD2/W291CZ “Bloomberg Radio” from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The station says, “Anchored by Bloomberg Washington correspondent Joe Mathieu, the one-hour news program delivers insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy.” The program currently airs in Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, and nationally on SiriusXM. During his career, Mathieu has anchored morning drive programs at all-news WBZ-AM and public radio news/talk WGBH-FM in Boston.

Griffin Communications’ KTSB-AM, Tulsa Adds FOX Sports Programming. The new Tulsa sports talk outlet KTSB-AM “The Blitz 1170 AM” (formerly news/talk KFAQ-AM) is adding FOX Sports Radio programming for its evening hours. Griffin Broadcasting says FOX Sports will air from 7:00 pm to 6:00 am daily and 24/7 on weekends. Shows heard on weeknights will include: “Outkick The Coverage,” “The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard & Rob Parker,” “The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon” and “The Ben Maller Show.” KTSB-AM program director Jeremie Poplin says, “We’re excited to launch a station with great local personalities combined with the excellent resources of FOX Sports Radio. We could not have asked for a better partnership.”

Triton Digital Releases Streaming Ranker for July. This data from Triton Digital is based on Triton’s listing of the top performing digital audio publishers as measured by its Streaming Metrics and Webcast Metrics measurement services. The following ranks U.S. publishers’ U.S. streaming based on Average Active Sessions for Monday-Sunday, 6:00 am to 12:00 midnight for July of 2021. iHeartMedia leads the top 20 with more than 280,000 AAS. Other U.S. broadcasters include: Audacy at #3 with 57,466 AAS; Cumulus Streaming Network at #4 with 38,856 AAS; Beasley Broadcasting Corporate at #7 with 16,276 AAS; Hubbard Broadcasting at #8 with 13,845 AAS; Salem Communications at #11 with 8,346 AAS; Urban One at #12 with 6,677 AAS; Bonneville International at #13 with 6,432 AAS; and Midwest Communications at #18 with 4,464 AAS. See the complete report here.

TALKERS News Notes. New WABC, New York talk show host James Golden, of “The Bo Snerdley Show,” announces the formation of the Golden-TIPP Poll. Golden is partnering with TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics to present “issue-specific surveys of public opinion involving emerging political policies.” Golden says, “Objectivity and accuracy are paramount in providing information, so people can make informed decisions about their lives. I can think of no better partner for providing radio listeners with the political, historical and socio-economic information they need than TIPP.”…..SportsMap Radio is adding “Pushing the Odds Sunday” to its weekend program schedule. This edition is an offshoot of the network’s midday sports gambling show “Pushing The Odds with Matt Perrault.” Perrault’s new Sunday show airs from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm ET and will use sports betting information to further the discussion about what is going on every Sunday in the NFL. Perrault is being joined on the show by former Western Michigan linebacker and current market analyst for Betfred Sports, Jason Sylva. They will update the audience on the games plus preview the SNF matchup from a betting perspective…..The National Football League and iHeartMedia announce the NFL’s Podcast Network programming lineup for this season. Earlier this year, the NFL and iHeartMedia announced an exclusive partnership to launch the NFL’s Podcast Network that includes the distribution of NFL Media’s existing podcasts, certain Member Club podcasts, and the co-production and distribution of two dozen new original shows with the iHeartPodcast Network. Available to listeners will be the six existing podcasts plus six podcasts new for this season…..Shining City Audio, a recently launched history-focused podcast studio joint-venture between C13Originals and Jon Meacham, announce details for “It Was Said: Sports.” This new documentary podcast franchise is being narrated by NBA legend Doc Rivers and features some of the most important and inspirational sports speeches throughout history. Drawing from powerful figures like Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King, and Hank Aaron, season one takes listeners through six speeches whose impact, legacy, and significance goes far beyond the world of sports.

COVID-19/Coronavirus Research Revelation, Afghanistan, Texas Abortion Law, Biden Social Safety Net Bill, Hurricane Ida Aftermath/California Wildfires, and Newsom Recall Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (9/7). The rate of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., concerns about new variants, and mask & vaccine mandates plus The Intercept’s report that the NIH did fund coronavirus research in Wuhan; the aftermath of the U.S.’s exit from Afghanistan; the battle over the restrictive Texas abortion law; Democrats ramp up efforts to pass trillions in funding for improved social services; slow recovery in the areas of the country impacted by Hurricane Ida and the ongoing California wildfires; and the recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsom were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

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