Radio News

The Labor Day holiday weekend started in celebration for "the vast majority" of affected music professionals in California thanks to the signing of a bill championed by RIAA and The Recording Academy by Gov. Gavin Newsom. What impact it could have on radio stations operating in the Golden State may be the next question for many in the industry.

Entercom's digital audio app, a hub for broadcast station streams and featured podcasts, will now take a more front and center role among travelers who opt for a virtual travel assistant when renting vehicles from Avis or Budget.

With Friday's Closing Bell on Wall Street, BBGI was priced at $1.30. It puts Beasley Broadcast Group shares at their lowest level of the year -- and creates a new COVID-19 low, surpassing the March 23 dip many media companies have experienced.

First, it was WWJ-AM in Detroit. Now, another AM radio station that has a rich history alongside that of KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh and KCBS-AM in San Francisco is being saluted by the owner of all of these spoken word giants — Entercom.

Brands continue to eye podcasts. Two new pieces of data released this week indicate the medium is healthy, advertisers are interested and the money will continue to flow for the next several years. Here's a full report, courtesy of Podcast Business Journal.

With Sunday's shutdown of Westwood One News by Cumulus Media's Westwood One arm, many radio stations were left to decide what to do with a replacement service. It's now known that nearly 150 stations went with CBS News Radio, while more than 50 have selected FOX News Radio as a new audio news provider.

Co-produced by the National Association of Broadcasters and Radio Advertising Bureau, the 2020 Radio Show is being presented as a week-long online digital experience scheduled for October 5-9. Two big confirmed speakers have been revealed, joining a previously announced Town Hall with the heads of Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia and Entercom.

With iHeartMedia's rollout of BIN: Black Information Network, several critically important markets were absent from the mix. On August 31, Philadelphia; Baltimore; and Montgomery, Ala.; were added to the mix via LMA agreements. At the same time, iHeartMedia agreed to buy a Washington, D.C., AM in a deal brokered by Kalil & Co. Details are now known.

Bonneville International's four FM radio stations have a new leader. And, the person selected to succeed the now-retired Carl Gardner as VP/Market Manager is widely known across the industry — largely for her time associated with one of the nation's foremost hip-hop stations.

A Class D AM in Niagara Falls, N.Y., with a signal covering the Ontario side of the U.S./Canada border and most of Buffalo is at the center of a beneficial interest fight between its licensee and an individual who claims he was a 25% interest holder in the part that sold the station, once known as WJJL-AM.

RBR+TVBR Publisher Deborah Parenti this morning led a conversation with the two key leaders of the media industry's non-profit organization devoted to helping those in need. And, with more in need than ever at a time when donations have been crippled by COVID-19, assisting the Broadcasters Foundation of America is more necessary than ever before.

For years, Radio has bemoaned that it is not getting proper credit for consumption via headphones tied to streaming audio. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic battering radio ad revenue and Cume levels collapsing at the height of the pandemic's shelter-at-home restriction period, Nielsen Audio is making a change. It's also addressing "Outliers."

Entercom Communications  President/CEO David Field has taken time out to take pride in the company's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force. As he noted in an internal memo, the audio media company "has been hard at work this summer" developing action plans — and with "a big assist" from employees who provided input.

The Ocean Station Trust II, created as a result of a swap of stations between Entercom and iHeartMedia consummated in November 2017, is parting ways with a radio station that enjoys a city-grade signal over Tacoma, Wash., that two decades ago was known as "The Funky Monkey" and aired a Active Rock format. Now, this facility is being spun -- a move that ends the trust.

Time-alignment issues continue to plague some FM radio stations with respect to their HD Radio air chain into the transmitter. Now, these concerns may be greatly alleviated thanks to a new product release from Nautel and Telos Alliance.