Radio News

"In my work, I come across new podcast ideas in need of nurturing and other podcasts up and running in need on-going guidance," says Steven Goldstein, CEO of Amplifi Media. He says there are five things that will derail your success —including not having a plan, not respecting the listener, and not having a fresh take.

Podcast Business Journal wants to hear all about your plan to launch your new podcast. Stories are being collected for a new series from the Streamline Publishing daily: “Why I’m Launching A Podcast.” The goal: to help you grow your show.

The novel coronavirus' financial fallout continues to worry many, and the cancellation on Tuesday of the 2020 Pac-12 NCAA College Football season -- with a goal to play in spring 2021 -- is yet another harbinger of what could be a difficult back half of 2020. As such, BIA Advisory Services has lowered its full-year total local advertising market for 2020 by $3.9 billion.

Cochise Media Licenses has been a seller in recent years -- following the approval of a pair of FCC Consent Decrees in May 2017 that resolved "issues related to a chronic failure to serve the public interest.” Now, Tucker is selling a pair of FM with a transmitter atop Porter Mountain, roughly 125 miles to the northeast of the greater Phoenix area.

With the desire to offer "a unified and integrated system of radio talent institutes across the United States," the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) has purchased the Dan Vallie- created and led National Radio Talent System.

RBR+TVBR spoke with Chesley Maddox-Dorsey, CEO of American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) and Superadio Networks, to offer an advanced look at what she will bring to the discussion as a roundtable participant in the Black Media Symposium. The Facebook Live and YouTube event is scheduled for 11:30am Eastern on August 19.

Magnum.Media has uniquely focused on markets within the state of Wisconsin. And, it's growing -- even through the COVID-19 pandemic. Were there any concerns with moving forward with the family-owned company's latest station acquisitions? Reid Magnum agreed to discuss the topic and more in this fresh RBR+TVBR InFOCUS podcast. LISTEN HERE

While CNBC is rumoring that a veteran conservative talk host is taking a slot on WABC-AM in New York, the station now owned by John Catsimatidis' Red Apple Media has confirmed the return to the station and simulcast partner WLIR-FM in Riverhead-Sag Harbor, N.Y. of perhaps the most famous air personality of its "Go-Go Radio" era.

The event, along with the Philip J. Lombardo Golf Tournament and smaller events, traditionally generate more than $450,000 a year for the broadcasters-in-need charitable organization. To counter the losses, the Broadcasters Foundation has launched a plea for donations. Please click here for further details.

In a preview of what attendees can expect to learn from the August 19 Black Media Symposium, RBR+TVBR spoke with event participant Karen Slade, the Vice President and General Manager of KJLH-FM 102.3 in Los Angeles. She shares some of the challenges of running a R&B station serving the Black community since 1965 today. 

Add Townsquare Media to the list of publicly traded media companies that suffered a particularly brutal Q2, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, there are some bright spots that continue to distinguish Townsquare from its peers. This includes Townsquare Interactive, which enjoyed double-digit year-over-year revenue gains. Further, there was positive Q2 EBITDA.

Sequential improvements. Double-digit digital revenue gains. That's where the silver linings in the deep storm clouds hovering over Entercom fade to grey. As President/CEO David Field noted in the company's Friday morning earnings call, the audio media company was "enormously impacted" by the economic devastation the COVID-19 pandemic brought.

Salem Media Group is the latest media company to report a COVID-19 impacted downbeat second quarter earnings report. But, a closer look at the results shows that the media company's digital division has some particular resilience -- even though this arm, too, was down year-over-year.

For one hour last night, air personalities participated in a fun conversation focused on music, and what LP shaped their teenage years -- and that of listeners who connected via Zoom. Some 300 individuals, all fans of KCRW in Santa Monica, Calif., engaged with station staff. It was a perfect online gathering commercial radio stations should steal, our editor-in-chief argues.

“The challenges that we have faced due to COVID-19 were unprecedented and had a severe, negative impact on our revenue in the second quarter.” Those are the words of iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman, and he wasn't mincing them. The nation's largest audio media company saw a nearly 50% revenue decline in Q2. But, the podcast business is booming.