Tag: "TALKERS"
Monday Memo: Who Will Replace Rush?
By Holland Cooke
Consultant
BLOCK ISLAND, RI — It’s talk radio FAQ #1. GMs – excuse me, “market managers,” overseeing more-stations-than-they-have-time-to-hear – are anxious, now forced to pay attention to 15 hours a week they’ve had on autopilot for decades.
Short answer: Nobody can
Thousands of our talk radio brothers and sisters will always owe him for leading the format that extended AM radio’s useful life. On my TV show I reminded Michael Harrison of a prediction he made at the TALKERS New York conference 20 years ago, that talk will eventually save FM, where music formats are now largely robotic and under assault from streaming and satellite competitors that users love. Many pay to subscribe.
November 2020 PPM Analysis:
Sports Talk
By Mike Kinosian
Managing Editor
TALKERS
LOS ANGELES — A detailed analysis of sports talk concludes our three-part series of November 2020 PPM overviews.
The following scoreboards are comprised of sports talk facilities that rank in the top 20 (6+) in any of the 48 PPM-markets during the November 2020 ratings period, which covered October 8 through November 4.
Ratings information in this exclusive analysis is limited to sports talk properties that subscribe to Nielsen Audio’s audience estimates.
Four… Less… Years
By Mike Kinosian
Managing Editor
TALKERS
LOS ANGELES — Presidential elections happen every four years in the United States; however, owing to several extenuating circumstances – none more pronounced than a global pandemic – 2020’s just-concluded contest was indisputably unique.
Putting aside any apples to oranges assertions, we have nonetheless set back the calendar four years to gauge the state of news/talk in the most recent survey period (November 2020, which ended the day after Election Day) versus that of the comparable report in the last presidential year (November 2016).
In order for a news/talk station to be included in these contrasts, it needed to finish in the top twenty (6+) in the November 2020 sweep and be listed anywhere in that corresponding PPM-market in November 2016.
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
LA Times: Post White House Talk Show Career for Trump? The Los Angeles Times published an article today (11/11) by entertainment/arts/media writer Stephen Battaglio speculating on industry chatter about the possibility of President Trump launching a talk media career after leaving the White House that would involve either starting his own television network or joining an existing operation such as FOX News Channel or Newsmax TV as the host of his own program. The article also touches upon Trump’s option of doing a daily talk show on radio – perhaps even replacing Rush Limbaugh if and when the superstar is forced to leave the airwaves due to his battle with lung cancer. TALKERS founder Michael Harrison states in the article he does not think that would be a likely prospect. “With all due respect for the president, he cannot hold a candle to Rush when it comes to the demands and expectations of doing a high-profile, daily three-hour talk show, which requires hours of prep per day, an original take on the issues and the ability to connect the complex dots of presenting a thesis and then setting about supporting it in a cogent manner,” Harrison said. “Trump is a showman, but what Rush listeners expect is a much more sophisticated and nuanced approach to creating a meaningful listening experience than what it takes to hold court and mug over a campaign rally before thousands of adoring followers.” To read the entire article, please click here.
Beasley Media Group Enters into Distribution Deal with RADIO.COM. A deal between Entercom’s RADIO.COM platform and Beasley Media Group puts live-stream channels for each of Beasley’s 64 stations across 15 markets on RADIO.COM, along with all of its premium on-demand audio and podcasts. Entercom VP of business development Corey Podolsky says, “We’re delighted to bring Beasley Media Group aboard the RADIO.COM platform and its incredible stations across news, entertainment, music and sports. This partnership will give Beasley’s 20 million weekly listeners a new destination to consume their favorite audio content, while providing our existing consumers more options to satisfy their listening habits.” Beasley chief content officer Justin Chase says, “Beasley is proud to partner with our friends at Entercom and RADIO.COM. Listeners are consuming our content in more places than ever and we are excited to expand the distribution for our amazing brands on this first-class audio platform.”
WABC, New York ‘Ties a Yellow Ribbon’ in Honor of Veterans Day. Pictured above are singer Tony Orlando (left) and Red Apple Media owner John Catsimatidis (right) along with U.S. Marines tying a yellow ribbon on a tree outside the WABC, New York studios as a symbol of support for veterans and the military. Orlando, who recorded the 1973 hit “Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ole Oak Tree,” recently joined 77 WABC as part of its Saturday night music lineup, hosting a two-hour show that airs at 10:00 pm. All day today (11/11), TALKRADIO 77 WABC is saluting the brave men and women who served in the military with special Veterans Day programming that includes interviews with America’s heroes and their families. The station has been promoting its Veterans Day programming on the air and social media for several days, and distributed hundreds of TALKRADIO 77 WABC Yellow Ribbons to listeners who want to show their support.
TALKERS News Notes. After the cancellation of the “America’s Trucking Network” program hosted by Steve Sommers, iHeartMedia’s news/talk WLW, Cincinnati has filled the overnight slot with a talk program hosted by Dan Carroll. The ouster of Sommers is part of an ongoing reduction in force of employees at iHeartMedia that, according to a tally by radio trade AllAccess, has put almost 80 on-air and programming staffers in the unemployment line. It’s unclear how many behind-the-scenes employees have been affected…..Former ESPN Radio morning drive personality Mike Golic is the host of a newly created college sports trivia program produced by Learfield IMG
College and Sidearm Sports called “The Fan Exam.” As reported by NJ.com, the free online program will air Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:00 pm ET on some 150 college athletics websites. Golic is quoted saying, “This sounds like fun. I’ve enjoyed calling the college [football] games. This opportunity came up and it reminded me of the ‘HQ Trivia’ game that was out for a while that I played all the time. So, this will be a lot of fun… Who doesn’t love to try to answer trivia questions? The beauty about this is you’re never eliminated through all the shows that we’re going to have. You can win for that week, there’s a cumulative score for the entire year. So even if you miss questions, it doesn’t matter. You still get to answer all twelve [questions]. Your score is logged — and you can win a bunch of different ways. It’s cool. You’re never out of it.”
Trump Refuses to Accept Election Results, COVID-19 Stats & Projections, Vaccine Quest, Trump Purges Pentagon, Georgia Runoff Elections, SCOTUS Hears Obamacare Arguments, and Tropical Storm Eta to Hit Florida Again Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (11/10). The challenges to the election results being put up by Donald Trump; the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and abroad and projections for winter cases; the race to produce an effective COVID vaccine and Pfizer’s statement its vaccine is 90% effective; President Trump fires numerous civilian Pentagon officials and installs loyalists in the posts; the January runoff elections in Georgia that will determine control of the U.S. Senate; the Supreme Court’s hearing of arguments in the Obamacare case; and Tropical Storm Eta on course to hit Florida again were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.
Music Radio News and Career Moves. In honor of Veterans Day, Cumulus Media’s classic rock KCFX-FM, Kansas “101 The Fox,” along with Price Chopper and Cars4Heroes, are giving 11 cars to 11 veterans. A special ceremony takes place at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City and legendary Chiefs player Deron Cherry will present the car keys to these 11 local heroes. Cherry will be accompanied by many other Chiefs legends to personally thank the veterans for their service and for protecting our freedom. For 26 years, Cars4Heroes has been helping people in the Kansas City area. Terry Franz, who is affectionately referred to as “Car Santa,” is the founder and president of Cars4Heroes. He says, “If somebody is down and out you can go hand them some cash and fix everything for today, but the money goes away. When we give someone a car, it is a tool that changes their life! We are proud to salute and honor these veterans here today.”…..iHeartMedia Boston’s country WBWL “101.7 The Bull,” in partnership with WBTS-TV “NBC10” presents “One Night Only,” a night of live music to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on Saturday, November 21 at 7:00 pm ET on NBC10 Boston and live on “101.7 The Bull.” Artists performing will include: Kane Brown, Old Dominion, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, Jon Pardi, Brett Eldredge, Jimmie Allen, Lauren Alaina, and special guest host Chrissy Metz of NBC’s “This Is Us.”…..Beasley Media Group’s classic rock WMGK-FM, in conjunction with City Team Philadelphia, is presenting the 19th Annual John DeBella Turkey Drop on Tuesday, November 24 at The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Morning personality John DeBella will broadcast live from 6:00 am to 9:00 am and will accept monetary as well as turkey donations onsite. The John DeBella Turkey Drop is the largest, single day food gathering event in the City of Philadelphia. Last year’s collection raised over 11,000 turkeys.
October 2020 PPM Analysis: Sports Talk
By Mike Kinosian
Managing Editor
TALKERS
LOS ANGELES — Our three-part series of detailed October 2020 PPM overviews places sports talk in the spotlight.
The following scoreboards are comprised of sports talk facilities that rank in the top 20 (6+) in any of the 48 PPM-markets during the October 2020 ratings period, which covered September 10 – October 7.
To recap professional sports’ post-season in terms of PPM-ratings perspective:
- Back on September 28, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup four games to two.
- The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the NBA title (10/11) by besting the Miami Heat in a series that went six games as well.
- Six games was also the duration for this year’s World Series, as the Los Angeles Dodgers captured its first WS title since 1988 by edging the Tampa Bay Rays 3 – 1 in last Tuesday’s (10/27) game six.
As far as the NFL is concerned, the first regular season game was (Thursday) September 10, the very day the October 2020 sweep commenced.
Fourteen (14) more contests were played (Sunday) September 13, followed by two Monday night affairs (9/14).
Ratings information in this exclusive analysis is limited to sports talk properties that subscribe to Nielsen Audio’s audience estimates.
KSCO Launches Weekly Show Critical of the Chinese Communist Party
By Mike Kinosian, Managing Editor
and Kevin Casey, VP/Executive Editor
SANTA CRUZ, Cal. — KSCO, Santa Cruz, a longtime news/talk powerhouse serving California’s Central Coast, has launched a unique and compelling weekly two-hour radio show designed to keep Americans apprised of the dangers being presented to US interests domestically and worldwide by China and the Chinese Communist Party.
Provocatively titled China Über Alles (China Above All) – a name sarcastically referencing the infamous slogan “Deutschland Über Alles” utilized by the Nazis to convey their dark message of German worldwide superiority in the 1930s and 1940s – the show discusses the ongoing war of subversion being waged against the US by the communist regime in Beijing and its shocking human rights abuses of Chinese citizens, including political dissidents, investigative journalists, ethnic minorities and seekers of religious freedom.