Radio News

In 1996, Dennis Wharton joined the NAB as VP of Media Relations. A year later, he added SVP stripes, followed by an ascension to EVP in 2006. It followed roles as a journalist in Ohio and as Washington Bureau Chief for Tinseltown trade Variety. Now, Wharton is retiring from the NAB. But, he will still be actively assisting its President/CEO.

Call it a "poison pill." Call it fortifying the moat against an invasion on the C-Suite and corporate castle. Short-term shareholder rights plans have emerged at three of the nation's biggest audio media companies, with the latest one to emerge coming from Cumulus Media. Here's an exclusive look at how the plan signed off by Mary Berner compares to those at Entercom and iHeartMedia.

All of the Hispanic assets of Gen Media Partners, presently housed under the GLR and Sun Latino brands, are being congregated under a new banner designed to provide marketers what GMP is calling "an easy one-source solution for advertisers, agencies, and radio stations for all things Hispanic."

On March 18, an earthquake shook the greater Salt Lake City area. This crippled the operations of an AM radio station that had been serving regional Mexican audiences as "La Raza" of late. Eight days later, the station was placed in involuntary receivership. Now, a court-administered auction of the station's license is set for July 17.

Until recently, a Boston audio operation branded as "The Urban Heat" could be heard on an AM radio station and FM translator it used via a time brokerage agreement. But then, things took an odd turn. It now has no radio home, but that's happened before. And, that hasn't stopped Station Manager Marv Neal from growing "The Urban Heat" even further. How? Learn in this fresh podcast! LISTEN HERE

From the suburbs of Philadelphia comes a newly launched peer-to-peer show prep service. It's led by an Entercom on-air talent that is today the morning host at "96.5 TDY," in the City of Brotherly Love.

Thursday, August 20, marks the 100th anniversary of that very first broadcast for what is today WWJ-AM 950, an Entercom all-News outlet that remains integral to Detroit's media landscape. To commemorate the event, dignitaries including FCC Chairman Ajit Pai were on the air.

Just like "real" radio stations, student-run broadcast facilities need to ensure proper maintenance of their required online public inspection files. To help maintain compliance, a Fairfax, Va.-based company has teamed up with College Inc. on a project designed to guide these baby radio operators.

In this InFOCUS Podcast presented by Dot.FM with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson, Gen Media Partners' Roger Rafson offers a preview as to what Hispanic Radio LIVE attendees can learn on how to attract political ads they may not be getting -- and more! LISTEN HERE

For 15 years, radio industry veteran Allen Shaw has overseen a Greensboro, N.C.-based media company comprised of six radio stations in Virginia. As of today, one of those properties -- a booming 22kw Class B with a tower atop a peak in the Shenandoah Mountains -- has just been sold. And, it's an eye-popping deal -- because of the small dollar amount.

Under Nielsen’s new "Subscriber First" audio ratings estimates initiative, non-subscribing stations will no longer be listed in summary data that the buyers see. While that's not a full blackout of non-subscriber data, the plan has irritated some radio broadcasters at a delicate time for the industry's ad revenue generation.

From October 2001 through October of this year, Jeff Luckoff was synonymous with a group of Motor City radio stations including Top 40 leader WKQI "Channel 95.5," WNIC-FM and Adult R&B WMXD "Mix 92.3." Now, he's surfaced in a different Michigan market, and has taken a role with Townsquare Media.