Radio News

In July 2010, Curtis Media Group acquired a heritage AM station that for much of the 1960s and 1970s offered a high-energy Top 40 presentation.  The station had been a Radio Disney O&O, taken silent in January 2010. In recent years, an FM translator was added, and Sports Talk was installed. Now, the company led by Don Curtis is parting ways with the Triad duo.

Subscription-free sports betting audio content is poised to reach more listeners on more devices. That's the promise VSiN and iHeartMedia are sharing, as the nation's No. 1 audio media company has expanded its partnership with the Las Vegas-based sports information network dedicated to bettors and wagering statistics. The result is a loss for SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

With Monday's news that Emmis founder and CEO Jeff Smulyan has formed a $200 million "blank check" company that could very well merge with a media company focused on sports bettor content, RBR+TVBR revisits a recent InFOCUS Podcast interview with Bill Adee, of VSiN.LISTEN HERE

The $200 million "blank check" company with a forthcoming stock to be traded on the Nasdaq market will see two key figures at Emmis Communications in lead roles. Its board includes three others — an ex-Indianapolis mayor, an individual tied with Shamrock Communications in the early 1990s, and a "retired" ESPN Audio chief.

Gene Loving has owned radio stations under the Max Media banner for some 30 years, and since 2001 has been in partnership with two Norfolk-area veteran television executives. Most recently, a big venture capital firm held a majority stake of Max Media. That's just changed, to the benefit of Loving.

Bell Media has adopted its third national radio brand, ditching local branding known for years in such markets as Vancouver for a name that's clearly designed to attract advertisers across the nation of Canada. It's something seen in Australia and Great Britain, to some extent, too. Our editor wonders when U.S. radio groups will follow suit in this commentary.

A Class B AM licensed to Salt Lake City, and an unbuilt FM translator at 94.5 MHz in Draper, Utah, are among the assets that have been licensed to Vic Michael. He's been trading translators across the Southwestern U.S. over the last several months, and Michael is at it again. This time, it sees his Utah LMA partner converting its operation to a purchase.

In the border city of El Paso, an FM translator at 88.1 MHz and its sibling at 101.7 MHz have offered Christian talk and teaching programs tied to KELP-FM 89.3, a facility located to the north in Mesquite, N.M. That's changing. The nation's No. 2 licensee by station count is buying them.

Keeping it would have placed a reconstituted iHeartMedia over FCC local ownership limits. As such, a Class C1 FM that serves Grand Forks, N. Dakota, was placed in one of three trusts overseen by Barry Drake, the retired President/CEO of former Jacksonville-based radio station owner Backyard Broadcasting. Now, just over two years later, iHeart is reclaiming this FM.

In June 2016, the radio broadcasting company led by Bruce Mittman and Jim Leven agreed to purchase four radio stations on the Florida Panhandle from Apex Broadcasting. Now, Mittman and Leven are saying farewell to the quartet of radio properties. The buyer? It's an entity with a presence in Central Florida and in Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.

What prompted veteran Boston talk host Jordan Rich to write a book about his time behind the mic? How does he describe the demons and personal tragedies that nearly derailed his career? Rich provides the answers as he discusses his new book “ON AIR: My 50-year Love Affair with Radio,” in this InFOCUS Podcast. LISTEN HERE

Maui is known for many things, including its own variation of the cowboy -- the upcountry Paniolo. This explains why one local operator provides Country programming via a 69kw Class C FM. As of today, its majority owner — well-known in Indianapolis — will no longer hold attributable interest in the station, transferring his shares to the operator's President.

A new tower site on the New Hampshire side of the Maine state line is ready to be fired up by a noncommercial radio station devoted to "The Word" of G-d. And, it is using a new Dielectric DCR-H FM antenna that's just been installed and ready to radiate to bring new vigor to its broadcasts.

In late April, RBR+TVBR first reported on the sale of a group of radio stations serving the Albany, Ga., market. As 2020 comes to a close, this $450,000 deal -- which involves one of the nation's biggest broadcasting companies -- has closed.

A roughly $900 billion COVID-19 federal relief package was approved by the U.S. Senate, paving the way for $600 stimulus checks for adults earning up to $75,000 and additional $600 one-time checks for each dependent. The coronavirus relief legislation includes expanded eligibility to local media outlets for the Paycheck Protection Program -- a victory for radio and TV.