Radio News

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.

just how far did some radio broadcasting companies sink in the three month period ending June 30? The answer to this question will fully unfold over the next three business days as iHeartMedia, Entercom and Cumulus Media each roll out their Q2 2020 results. For Saga Communications, which distributed its results Wednesday, a 47.6% slash in year-to-year net revenue is the first takeaway.

There was no formal press release but rather "A Message from David Field" distributed as an internal memo to all Entercom Communications employees. While the message from the President/CEO opens with a pep talk, the focal point of the memo from Field are the promotions of 10 Entercom staffers to executive-level roles. There's also a new News leader.

The technology company founded by Joe Harb in 2007 devoted to the monetization of RDS in-car radio station displays has just inked a multi-year deal with the publicly traded owner of radio stations offering a mix of spoken word and non-secular music formats.

If you have a Roku device, you may already be using the iHeartRadio app. Now, Entercom Communications is ensuring that its Radio.com app, acquired in the company's tax-free merger with CBS Radio, can be accessed from an array of smart televisions as a built-in app.

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.