Tag: "Mary G. Berner"
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Cumulus Media Q2 2021 Net Revenue Rises 54%. Reporting its financial data for the second quarter of 2021, Cumulus Media says net revenue was $224.7 million, an increase of 53.9% from the same period in 2020. During the second quarter of 2020, Cumulus posted a net loss of $36.3 million. That loss shrank almost 84% to $5.8 million in the second quarter of 2021. Cumulus Media president and CEO Mary G. Berner
says, “This quarter’s results clearly reflect the success we are having in accelerating our positive revenue trajectory. In addition to the continued improvement in the core radio business, total digital revenue grew by 55% year-over-year, 
with each of our digital channels posting new all-time highs. Additionally, we enhanced our considerable stronghold in the news/talk ecosystem with ‘The Dan Bongino Show,’ now on over 300 radio stations – the largest launch ever for a new and original syndication. We also significantly deepened our position in the fast-growing sports betting space with an innovative and expansive multi-year, multi-platform marketing and content partnership with WynnBET, which is poised to become one of our largest clients through this new relationship.” Cumulus breaks down its revenue into Broadcast and Digital segments. The Broadcast segment is further divided into Spot and Network (Westwood One) divisions. For the second quarter of 2021, Spot revenue was $120.8 million – up 67% from Q2 of 2020 – and Networks revenue was $55.3 million – up 32.5% from Q2 of 2020. Digital segment revenue was $31.4 million, an increase of 54.5% compared to the same period in 2020.
CMG Promotes Kris Hackett to Director of Sales for Atlanta Cluster. Radio sales pro Kris Hackett is promoted from general sales manager to director of sales for Cox Media Group’s Atlanta station group that includes news/talk WSB-AM/WSBB-FM and three music-formatted outlets. In this new and expanded role, Hackett will be
responsible for the oversight of all multimedia sales efforts for CMG Atlanta’s radio cluster. Hackett joined CMG Atlanta in 2013 as GSM. Prior to that, she spent seven years as GSM for the company in Richmond. Cox Media Group VP and market manager Jaleigh Long says, “Kris is a proven leader with a keen ability to grow market share, deliver enhanced revenues and develop high caliber sales teams while building relationships with key partners that fit perfectly with our customer-centric sales culture. I’m thrilled to have such a visionary and talented leader inside CMG to promote into this critical role.”
TALKERS News Notes. Chicago media writer Robert Feder reports that WBBM-AM/WFCS-FM weekend news anchor Dave Marsett is retiring from the Audacy station after 20 years. Marsett is also an ordained minister and he’s retiring from that calling as well. The 74-year-old radio pro served with Satellite Music Network as news director for many years prior to joining WBBM…..Cumulus Media and Imperative Entertainment announce the new true-crime series “Fox Hunter” joins the Cumulus Podcast Network. Host Sean Kipe investigates the mystery surrounding the murder of 18-year-old Rhonda Sue Coleman in 1990 which has been a thorn in the side of the small community of Hazlehurst, Georgia, for over 30 years…..The content creators at New Hampshire Public Radio have voted to form a union and are being represented by SAG-AFTRA. NHPR is an NPR member station based in Concord, New Hampshire and covers nearly the entire state, as well as portions of Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine. The new 31-member bargaining unit of content creators includes producers, hosts, editors and reporters…..Pictured below are WBZ-FM, Boston “98.5 The Sports Hub” air personalities Hardy, a.k.a. Rob Poole, Scott Zolak, and Marc Bertrand broadcasting live from Gillette Stadium for the start of the New England Patriots’ training camp. WBZ-FM is the flagship station for broadcasts of Patriots football games and Bob Socci and Zolak will once again call all preseason and regular season games. The duo will also get back on the road this season, traveling to each away game broadcast.
Former KYW, Philadelphia Reporter Ed Kasuba Dies at 74. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that former KYW, Philadelphia reporter Ed Kasuba died on August 1 of heart failure at the age of 74. Kasuba was the longtime South Jersey bureau chief for the station. He retired from the all-news outlet in 2008 at a time when the Great Recession was forcing then-owner CBS Radio to make cuts. He served as a shop steward and president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and left the radio station voluntarily so others would not be laid off during company cutbacks.
COVID-19 Delta Variant and Masks, Biden’s Eviction Moratorium, Cuomo Allegations, Pentagon Officer Slain, January 6 Investigation, Infrastructure Bill, and Olympics Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (8/3). The fast-rising rate of COVID-19 Delta variant cases in some parts of the U.S. and the battle over vaccination mandates and mask policies; President Joe Biden extends the eviction moratorium and critics question its legality; the numerous allegations of sexual improprieties against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and calls for his resignation; a Pentagon officer is slain by an attacker; the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol; the bi-partisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill; and Simone Biles wins bronze in the balance beam at the Tokyo Olympics were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.
Friday, July 9, 2021
NOW POSTED: This Weekend’s Installment of “The Michael Harrison Wrap: An Overview of the National Conversation.” The latest installment of the one-hour weekend special, “The Michael Harrison Wrap,” that looks back each week at the hottest topics discussed in American talk media per the research of TALKERS magazine, is now posted. This new episode titled, “Heating Up,” looks back at this past week of July 5-9, 2021. The program features guests (in order of appearance): Kevin Casey, executive editor, TALKERS magazine; Dr. Daliah Wachs, talk show host, Genesis Communications Network/Physician; Steve Weisman, professor of law, Bentley University, Boston/founder, scamicide.com; Joyce Kaufman, talk show host, WFTL, Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beaches; Joe Madison, talk show host, SiriusXM Satellite Radio “Urban View” channel; Mark Simone, talk show host, WOR, New York; and Victoria Jones, executive director, DC Radio Company. The show airs each week on its flagship, WONK-FM, Washington, DC, Friday evenings at 6:00 pm ET. It also airs throughout the weekend on WTIC, Hartford; KSCO, Santa Cruz, CA; KDFD, Denver; KFNX, Phoenix; WPG, Atlantic City, NJ; WVLY, Wheeling, WV; WTRW-FM, Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA; WVOX, Westchester, NY; KBDT, Dallas; KQSP, Minneapolis; KBKW, Aberdeen, WA; WGDJ, Albany, NY; WJFN-FM, Richmond, VA; WZFG, Fargo; KTGO, Tioga, ND; KWAM, Memphis; K-NEWS, San Luis Obispo; WGMD, Rehoboth Beach, DE; WCHM, Clarkesville, GA; WPHM, Port Huron, MI; KSYL, Alexandria, LA; KTOE, Mankato, MN; WCED, DuBois, PA; K-NEWS 101.3, Owensboro, KY; WWTK, Sebring, FL; WSAR-AM/FM, Fall River, MA; WIZM-AM/FM, La Crosse, WI; WMVA, Martinsville, VA; the Virginia Talk Radio Network; CRN Digital Talk Radio Network; the iHeart Podcast Network; Pioneer Valley Radio, Springfield, MA; Podcast Radio, UK and many more. To listen to this week’s episode, please click here. To view the latest TALKERS magazine topic research, please click here. “The Michael Harrison Wrap” is now available in syndication via Talk Media Network to stations across America on a market exclusive basis. For affiliation information, please click here or call 616-884-8616.
Cumulus Media Promotes Dave Milner and Bob Walker to President of Operations. Executives Dave Milner and Bob Walker have both been promoted to the newly
created positions president, Cumulus operations. Both Milner and Walker 
report directly to Cumulus Media president and chief executive officer Mary G. Berner. Both previously served the company as EVP, operations. Mary Berner says in a statement, “This elevation is a well-deserved recognition of their respective contributions to the company’s success. Over the past several years, not only has the scope of both Bob’s and Dave’s direct responsibilities grown beyond their market portfolios, they also play a significant and vital role in the operations of the company overall. Moreover, in addition to being terrific executives, they are terrific colleagues as well.”
Courtney Cox Named Co-Host of WEEI, Boston’s ‘Greg Hill Show.’ WEEI’s Alex Reimer writes a piece on the station’s website in which he talks with Courtney Cox, the new co-host of the “Greg Hill Show” heard in mornings on Audacy’s sports talk WEEI-FM, Boston. She comes to the station after spending the past five years with regional
sports cable outlet NESN in which she hosted programs across the network’s platforms and covered three Super Bowls, one World Series and one Stanley Cup Final. Cox sat in for a couple of audition shows and Remier 
asks her about the move from TV to radio and why she felt good about her auditions. “I felt like I was able to be more myself and show my personality. I’m still getting used to that – not being so buttoned up. It’s hard to train your brain to kind of relax a little bit when you’re told to hold your personality back a bunch for seven years, and then it’s a free-for-all in a two-hour live slot. But that feeling of, ‘I can be myself; I can talk sports; I can also talk about other things that really interest me.’ I can talk about things going on in the community; I can talk about Bravo and the ‘Real Housewives,’ and these guys will find it funny and not, ‘Ugh, here’s a female who likes sports, but reality TV.’ I think there’s so much more overlap with pop culture and sports than people notice.”
Triton Digital Releases May 2021 Streaming Rankings. The monthly Webcast Metrics Global Ranker and the regional U.S., LATAM, and EMEA Streaming Rankers from Triton Digital have been released for May 2021. Triton says its rankers “provide insight
into the top-performing streaming audio stations and networks around the world for the month of May.” Triton’s Global ranker is inclusive of publishers that subscribe to Triton’s enhanced measurement service, Webcast Metrics, which requires publishers to meet a broader set of technical and operational requirements which are subject to a third-party audit. The results of the U.S. streaming ranker (6:00 am to 8:00 pm M-F) puts the top 20 services in order based on Average Active Sessions (Total Listening Hours divided by the hours in the period). At the #1 rank is iHeartRadio with almost 393,000 Average Active Sessions. Rounding out the top five are: NPR Member Stations (100,560), Audacy (86,904), Cumulus Streaming Network (60,220), and EMF (35,696). See the complete report here.
Posting of Video Content from TALKERS 2021 Conference to Resume Next Week. TALKERS magazine has been posting videos, under the direction of Art Vuolo, from the recent TALKERS 2021 Conference that took place at Hofstra University on Long Island on June 11. So far, we’ve posted on-demand video of the first seven sessions. We’ll continue making new sessions available next week. Have an enjoyable weekend!
TALKERS News Notes. The Tampa operations of Beasley Media Group are launching the first episode of their new podcast, “Experience Tampa Bay in 10 Minutes or Less.”
The podcast, is hosted by “MJ Morning Show and Geno Knight” personality Roxanne Wilder and is designed to help locals and visitors discover Tampa Bay in 10 minutes or less. Beasley says, “Each episode is a journey across Tampa Bay, describing all that this city has to offer led by the biggest tastemakers in Tampa Bay. From the biggest to the smallest community events, hottest places to eat and local hidden gems, the podcast will make sure listeners know what is going on in the area in one easy-to-digest weekly podcast episode.”…..iHeartMedia launches a new true-crime podcast, “Murder in Illinois,” hosted by writer and producer Lauren Bright, best known for co-hosting, narrating, and producing true-crime podcast hits like “Happy Face,” “Murder in Oregon,” and “The Murders at White House Farm: The Podcast.” This true-crime podcast investigates Christopher Vaughn, a man convicted in 2007 for the murder of his wife and three children and shares never heard before details about his conviction/trial and case. In addition, “Murder in Illinois” features exclusive interviews with the family of Christopher Vaughn, including his parents, siblings, and extended family members…..SiriusXM is covering Major League Baseball’s 2021 All-Star Week, delivering comprehensive coverage to listeners around the country and featuring live broadcasts of the 91st All-Star Game Presented by Mastercard, the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, the MLB Draft, plus other special programming live from Denver, Colorado.
COVID-19 Delta Variant, Vaccines and Politics Top News/Talk Story for Week of July 5-9. The highly contagious and now dominant COVID-19 Delta variant, the slowing rate of vaccinations, and the politics surrounding the pandemic combined as the most-talked-about story on news/talk radio this week, landing atop the Talkers TenTM. At #2 this week was the GOP and Trumpism tied with the formation of the House January 6 Committee. Following at #3 was Donald Trump’s announcement he’s suing Facebook, Twitter, and Google’s YouTube for violating his First Amendment rights tied with the issue of Internet security. The Talkers TenTM is a weekly chart of the top stories and people discussed on news/talk radio 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.
