Industry News

Round Four of February PPMs Released

imThe fourth of four rounds of ratings data from Nielsen Audio’s February 2024 PPM survey has been released for 12 markets including Austin, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Providence, Norfolk, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Greensboro, Memphis, and Hartford. The survey covered February 1 – 28. Today, TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets. In Austin, Waterloo Media’s news/talk KLBJ-AM drops six-tenths to finish with a 5.1 share (6+, weekly AQH share) but remains ranked #5, while Audacy’s news/talk KJCE-AM rises two-tenths for a 0.3 share and stays ranked #28. In Raleigh, iHeartMedia’s news/talk WTKK-FM rises half a share to finish with an 8.0 share that lifts it to the #3 rank, while Curtis Media’s news/talk WPTF loses two-tenths for a 0.8 share finish good for the #19 rank. In Nashville, Cumulus Media’s news/talk WWTN-FM tacks on three-tenths to wrap the survey with a 5.7 share and inches up to the #5 rank, while iHeartMedia’s news/talk WLAC is steady with a 2.1 share but moves up one spot to the #17 rank. See Mike Kinosian’s complete Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets here.

Industry News

Talk Hosts Kilmeade and Katz Catch Up in Richmond

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Pictured above are FOX News Channel and FOX News Radio talk personality Brian Kilmeade (left) with WRVA, Richmond afternoon drive talk host Jeff Katz (right) at the historic McLean’s Restaurant in downtown Richmond. Kilmeade – whose show recently joined the lineup at WRVA – was in town broadcasting live and Katz joined Kilmeade to offer insight on the issues of the day.

Industry News

Fulscado Named SVP of Sales for iHeartMedia Philadelphia

Anthony Fuscaldo is named SVP of sales for iHeartMedia’s Philadelphia station group that includes sports betting outlet WDAS-AM “FOX Sports The Gambler” and five music brands. Fulscado, who wasim most recently serving as division sales manager for Carvertise, previously held SVP, GSM, and national sales director roles with the cluster. Philadelphia markets group president Jeff Moore says, “We are fortunate to welcome Anthony Fuscaldo back to iHeartMedia Philadelphia as senior vice president of sales. With his proven track record of driving revenue growth, attracting top talent and fostering strong client relationships, we are confident he will lead our sales team to new heights of success. Welcome home, Anthony!”

Industry News

Audacy Reorganizes Podcast Units

According to a piece in The Hollywood Reporter, Audacy is consolidating its podcast segment by doing away with the Cadence13 and 2400Sports brands for the production units and will rebrand them asim Audacy Podcasts. The story notes that there are no staff reductions as a result of this. The goal of the change is to “streamline the brands for advertisers and to put a further emphasis on the Audacy brand.” The story also says that “Pineapple Street Studios, which primarily works with third-party partners such as HBO, Netflix and Spotify, will retain its branding as it moves under the Audacy Podcasts umbrella.” See the Hollywood Reporter story here.

Industry News

Salem to Sell Stations in Nashville and Hawaii

Salem Media Group, operating in selective divestiture mode, announces it is selling contemporary Christian KAIM-FM, Honolulu and WFFI-FM, Kingston Springs/WFFH-FM, Smyrna/WBOZ-FM, Woodbury in the Nashville market to Educational Media Foundation for $7 million. Salem notes that itsim Nashville-based Today’s Christian Music network (TCM) is not affected by these transactions. Salem Media Group CEO David Santrella comments, “Salem remains steadfast in our commitment to paying down debt and reducing our overall leverage. The sale of these radio stations helps achieve those goals. At the same time, we are focused on the stations staying in mission format. We are happy to be working with our good friends at EMF to continue impacting lives through music. We are grateful for our staff at these stations that have worked tirelessly over the years. With this change, Mike Blakemore, Salem’s VP of CCM programming, will provide focus and leadership to programming TCM, which remains an important part of Salem’s content offerings.”

Industry News

Hillsdale’s WRFH Named MAB’s College Audio Station of the Year

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Hillsdale College radio station WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM is honored with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters’ “2024 College Audio Station of Year.” This award, along with the 12 individual awards bestowed upon Hillsdale students, were presented at the 2024 Michigan Student Broadcast Awards on Monday (3/18). WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale general manager Scot Bertram comments, “I think the success of our students and station comes down to two things: effort and education. These students spend hours each week in the studio prepping, recording, and polishing their content. They understand audio content and journalism, but — more importantly — they spend countless hours studying literature, history, philosophy, the sciences, and mathematics. They have real knowledge and insight, and they know how to turn it into high-quality content.” Pictured above are Hillsdale students with their Station of the Year award.

Industry News

TALKERS News Notes

STC Media, LLC’s “Sports Talk Chicago” adds new affiliate WROK-AM, Rockford, Illinois, bringing the Jon Zaghloul-hosted show’s roster to nine stations. Zaghloul says, “I couldn’t be more excited to bring ‘Sports Talk Chicago’ to Rockford. I want to thank Townsquare Media, and, specifically, Chuck Armstrong and Johnny Vincent, for helping to make this new partnership happen. We are thrilled to bring our patented blend of opinionated, unfiltered sports talk to such a great city. And we continue to thank our affiliates and supporters for helping us to expand across the region!”

Multimedia sports platform OutKick announces that it finished February 2024 with 24 million total multiplatform views – up 4% versus February 2023 – and delivered 22 million total multiplatform minutes and 20.2 million total digital multiplatform unique visitors, according to data from Comscore. Outkick SVP and managing editor Gary Schreier says, “OutKick continues its great start to 2024 with growth across the platform and remains the destination for all the news where sports and culture intersect.”

The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation will present its third annual Insight Award to Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, author, and philanthropist Soledad O’Brien during the NAB Show Welcome on April 15. The Insight Award recognizes an individual or organization for an outstanding artistic or journalistic work or body of work that enhances the public’s understanding of the role, operation, history or impact of media in our society. Previous recipients include LeVar Burton and “60 Minutes.”

Industry News

Top News/Talk Media Stories for Week of March 18 – 22

The presidential race and this week’s primary election races combined as the most-talked-about story in news/talk media, landing atop the Talkers TenTM. At #2 this week was former President Donald Trump’s legal battles including his need to raise funds for a bond in the E. Jean Carroll case, followed by the Trump legal team’s efforts to disqualify Fulton County DA Fani Willis at #3. The Talkers TenTM is a weekly chart of the top stories and people discussed in news/talk media during the week and is the result of ongoing research from TALKERS magazine. It is published every Friday at Talkers.com. See this week’s complete chart here.

Industry News

Audacy Introduces AI to Assist in Dynamic Ad Insertion

Audacy announces that it is introducing dynamic AI and machine learning that “infuses contextual advertising solutions into its Ad Tech stack to help brands more precisely target podcast consumers.” The company says, “The solution unlocks Audacy’s ability to accurately transcribe podcast episodes and categorize millions of hours of content with contextual, targetable tags, including ‘business and finance,’im ‘entertainment,’ ‘sports,’ ‘travel’ etc., in accordance with Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standards. With this capability, Audacy will dynamically insert ads into podcasts more precisely than ever.” Audacy chief revenue officer Brian Benedik adds, “The promise of Audacy’s cross-platform audio campaigns to deliver unprecedented reach coupled with powerful precision targeting becomes even more pronounced with the integration of contextual podcast advertising into our Ad Tech stack. Our clients are realizing better returns on their advertising investments and better outcomes for their business when they leverage our holistic audio strategies, which is why Audacy boasts one of the highest renewal rates in audio and digital media.”

Industry News

BIA Advisory: ’24 Political Ad Spend to Hit $11.1 Billion

BIA Advisory Services reveals its forecast for the political ad spend in the U.S. for the 2024 election cycle and it expects the total to be just over $11 billion – that’s $1.5 billion more than was spent in the 2020 elections. BIA states, “While local ad spending on digital is growing, traditional advertising isim forecast to account for 70.2% of political ad spend in 2024, down from 77.9% in 2020. As with past presidential elections, in 2024 over-the-air TV (TV OTA) will get the largest share of political ad dollars in local with an estimated $4.6 billion in forecast spending. Add in TV Digital, and the number rises to $4.9 billion. PC/Laptop will be the second highest at $1.3 billion, followed by Cable TV at $1.1 billion. Cable TV is the only media channel forecast to be down from 2020 in this category, by nearly $183 million. Coming in fourth is relative newcomer Connected TV/Over-the-top TV (CTV/OTT), which is forecast to grow to $1.0 billion in 2024 from only $74 million in 2020. Over-the-air radio remains steady with $536 million in 2024, up 16% from 2020.”

Industry News

Sports Talk “105.7 The Fan” in Baltimore Celebrates 15 Years

Audacy sports talk outlet WJZ-FM, Baltimore “105.7 The Fan” is celebrating 15 years as a sports talker with its “Fanniversary.” Through May 31, the station will launch special “FAN 15” content to honor the past 15 years by highlighting key interviews, contributors’ top moments, vignettes that capture the mostim important sports moments and “105.7 The Fan” personalities’ favorite memories. Celebratory programming includes two live broadcasts of the “Big Bad Morning Show” hosted by Ed Norris, Rob Long and Jeremy Conn. The celebration begins tonight (3/21) with a 15th Anniversary Kick-Off Party at Ryleigh’s Oyster House. Audacy Baltimore SVP and market manager Tracy Brandys comments, “105.7 The Fan’s beloved personalities have consistently delivered high-quality sports coverage fueled by passion. We’re ready to replay 105.7 The Fan’s history on and off the air and recognize the programming, personalities and listeners that have helped serve up the best in sports talk to Baltimore.”

Industry News

Phil Hendrie Documentary Now Streaming

A new video documentary of radio maverick Phil Hendrie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime andim other platforms. Titled, Hendrie, and produced by Freestyle Digital Media and directed by Patrick Reynolds, the film features people like Hendrie’s one-time program director David Hall as well as comedians and Hollywood figures talking about the unique radio program Hendrie launched in 1990 in which he held kooky conversations with offbeat characters – all played by Hendrie himself – in real time. Hendrie tells KCAL-TV, “It was completely original… and it satirized something that I thought needed satirizing – talk radio.” See the trailer here.

Industry News

Round Three of February PPMs Released

imThe third of four rounds of ratings data from Nielsen Audio’s February 2024 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. The survey period covered February 1 – 28. Today, TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets. In Portland, Alpha Media’s news/talk KXL-FM slips one-tenth to finish with a 6.9 share (6+, weekly AHQ share) but remains ranked #2 in the market, while iHeartMedia’s news/talk KEX-AM adds three-tenths for a 1.5 share finish good for the #21 rank. In San Antonio, iHeartMedia’s news/talk WOAI sheds three-tenths to finish with a 2.7 share and falls one spot to the #14 rank, while Alpha Media’s news/talk KTSA is steady at a 2.3 share but rises two spots to the #16 rank. In Salt Lake City, Bonneville’s news/talk KSL-AM/FM rises nine-tenths for a 6.4 share finish but remains ranked #2, while iHeartMedia’s KNRS-AM/FM dips four-tenths to a 3.1 share but stays put at the #13 rank. See Mike Kinosian’s complete Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets here.

Industry News

Edison Research: Which Podcasts Women Listen To

Based on data from Edison Research’s Q4 2023 Share of Ear study, the podcast most listened to by women (13+) is audiochuck’s “Crime Junkie,” hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. Edison notes, “Podcasts with women hosts take five of the top 10 spots, including “Crime Junkie,” “The Daily”im with Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise (#4), “Call Her Daddy” with Alex Cooper (#5), “Morbid” with Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley (#7), and “My Favorite Murder” with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark (#8). And Dateline NBC’s (#3) 20-year veteran Andrea Canning is part of the team of correspondents on the true crime pod.” However, women to listen to male-hosted shows as the study reveals “The Joe Rogan Experience” was #2 on the most recent chart. “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” was #6 on the chart and was lifted to this “new height” by the obvious Taylor Swift connection.

Industry News

NAB Names Sibori Senior Director of Communications

The National Association of Broadcasters announces that Gabriela Sibori joins the organization as senior director of communications on the NAB Public Affairs team. Sibori, who most recently served as aim senior adviser at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will serve as a spokesperson for the association and will help develop and execute messaging strategies to advance broadcasters’ policy agenda before Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. NAB EVP, public affairs and chief of staff Michelle Lehman says, “Gaby is a seasoned policy communicator whose years of government service have equipped her with a profound understanding of effective and strategic communications. Broadcasters will benefit from Gaby’s deep expertise in shaping messaging on the most important issues facing our industry, and we are thrilled to have her on the team.”

Industry News

Yesterday’s (3/20) Top News/Talk Media Stories

The presidential race; former President Donald Trump’s legal battles and his bond problem; the economy, including the record high financial markets and the Fed keeps interest rates on hold; the Israel-Hamas war and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Egypt for ceasefire talks; the $1.2 trillion funding package to keep the federal government operating; the U.S. migrant crisis; California passes Proposition 1 to tackle homelessness; the U.S. conducts tests on hypersonic missiles; the clashes between violent gangs and civilians in Haiti were some of the most-talked-about stories in news/talk media yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Industry News

Marc Ryan Joins “97.1 The Ticket” in Detroit

Sports media personality Marc Ryan moves from Audacy’s Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina sports talker WYRD-AM/W249DL/W246CV “The Fan Upstate” where he hosted “Offsides with Marcim Ryan,” to the company’s sports talk WXYT-FM, Detroit “97.1 The Ticket.” In Detroit, Ryan will serve as network pregame, postgame and weekday fill-in host, beginning April 1. Ryan comments, “I’ve carried around a post-it note for 14 years with three sports stations written on it, including ‘97.1 The Ticket.’ My longterm goal was to get a full-time job at one of them. I am so excited to join one of the best media teams in the country as I unlock this long-awaited achievement.”

Industry News

Audacy Names Hartman to Lead Memphis Stations

Sales and management pro Nichole Hartman is named market manager for Audacy’s Memphis station group that includes sports talk WMFS-AM/FM, sports betting WMC-AM “The Bet 790,” and two musicim outlets. Hartman currently serves in the same role for the company’s Chattanooga stations, a position she will continue to hold. In Memphis, Hartman succeeds Dan Barron, who was recently named SVP and market manager in New Orleans. Audacy regional president Claudia Menegus comments, “Memphis and Chattanooga are lucky to have Nichole’s leadership as a vital building block to local market success. She continues on a path of consistent career growth and will elevate our Memphis market by delivering exceptional performance for our team, partners, and audiences.”

Industry News

Round Two of February PPMs Released

imThe second of four rounds of ratings data from Nielsen Audio’s February 2024 PPM survey has been released for 12 markets including Washington, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Detroit, Phoenix, Minneapolis, San Diego, Tampa, Denver, Baltimore, and St. Louis. The survey covered February 1 – 28. Today, TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways for this group of markets. In Washington, Cumulus Media’s news/talk WMAL-FM is steady at a 4.5 share (6+, weekly AQH share) and remains ranked #7, while Hubbard Broadcasting’s all-news WTOP-FM, sheds seven-tenths for a 7.6 share but stays ranked #2 in the market. In Boston, iHeartMedia’s news/talk WRKO adds four-tenths to finish with a 3.2 share that lifts it to the #13 rank, while sister all-news WBZ-FM rises three-tenths for a 4.9 share but remains ranked #6. In Detroit, Cumulus Media’s news/talk WJR tacks on four-tenths to finish the survey with a 2.5 share and moves up to the #14 rank, while Audacy’s all-news WWJ loses three-tenths, wrapping the survey with a 5.3 share and falling one spot to the #9 rank. See Mike Kinosian’s complete Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets here.

Industry News

WLS-AM, Chicago’s Steve Cochran Lands Sosa Interview

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WLS-AM, Chicago morning drive host Steve Cochran (left) interviewed former Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa (center) on March 15 as the controversial former ballplayer returned to the Windy City. Sosa left Chicago and the Cubs after the 2004 season and, in 2009, it was revealed that Sosa was among MLB players found to have tested positive for PEDs in 2003 in baseball’s steroids scandal. Last Friday, fans were treated to Sosa’s first interview with Chicago media in many years. WLS allowed local TV cameras into Cumulus Chicago studios to capture Sosa’s return to Chicago media. Also pictured here is Cochran’s co-host Andrea Darlas (right). See the interview here.