Radio News

As many radio industry observers know, having an FM translator from a tower on Red Mountain can bring an operator considerable coverage of the Birmingham metropolitan area. As such, even a low-power facility with a tower here has considerable value. That seems to be the case for Maria Rivera, who is finally moving forward on a deal struck in mid-2019.

In a major move that impacts one of Canada's biggest media companies, Colette Watson -- a thirty-year company veteran -- is stepping down as SVP of Television and Broadcast Operations at Rogers Media. Her last day at Rogers is set for Monday, June 15. From then, Julie Adam (pictured) will take on an expanded role.

Cox Media Group has promoted its Director of Branding and Programming for its Tampa-St. Petersburg radio stations by giving him additional duties as Operations Director. The move comes 24 hours after the individual who held that title for CMG's top-rated AC serving the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market exited after 20 years thanks to a downsizing move.

Don Curtis has made a name for himself as a radio and digital media owner dedicated to North Carolina. After 50-plus years in broadcasting, he's still as committed as ever. His Curtis Media Group is expanding by acquiring an AM and two FMs in a coastal city.

On May 22, three central Pennsylvania properties were transferred from Michael Stapleford's Magnum Broadcasting. This came one week after the court-ordered approval of his company's purchase of a FM located in Monroe County, Fla. Now, this Magnum -- not to be confused with Dave Magnum's Magnum Media -- is forming a three-station cluster in the Florida Keys.

Don't look now, but Entercom Communications may very well be on Wall Street's express lane to stock value restoration, as the audio media company's stock on Thursday surpassed the $2 mark for the first time since St. Patrick's Day. It's a highly positive feat for ETM, which was at 95 cents on May 13.

Until October, an AM serving Roanoke, Va., offered listeners a mix of Urban Adult Contemporary and gospel music as "Power Sound 1480." At that time, the station's call letters were deleted, as the licensee failed to file a timely license renewal application. Yet, the station continued to operate. While a proposed fine has been handed to the station's owner, the Media Bureau is allowing it to come back from the dead.

In February 1984, Tom and Susan Thornburg purchased an AM station serving Polk County, Fla., with country music. They changed the station's format to Full Service, and began calling it "WBF," chopping off the first W in its call letters. Today, WBF is still on the air. Only, it is now primarily reaching listeners by way of an FM translator the Thornburgs just purchased.

Call it an "update." Call it a scrub. What's clear is that the 2020 Radio Show, scheduled for Sept. 13-16 in Nashville, has become the latest large gathering to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Entercom Communications President/CEO David Field took a moment to reflect on the previous seven days of events impacting the nation -- and many of the markets in which his company owns and operates radio stations -- by way of an internal memo distributed Monday by the audio media company. These locales includes Minneapolis, where Entercom has a trio of stations.

The Entercom Communications-owned app that enables consumers to listen to audio streams of its radio stations and of its partner broadcasters will now be accessible via the independent voice AI platform offered by SoundHound.

With Monday's Closing Bell on Wall Street came the release of first quarter 2020 financial results from Salem Media Group. How did the company best-known for its Christian-themed and conservative Talk radio programming and a publishing arm perform in the quarter? A gigantic net loss was seen, thanks to COVID-19 pandemic-related income challenges.

Nielsen Audio and Westwood One Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard are singing a happy song. It seems a Thursday afternoon client webinar to present an April 2020 analysis of Continuous Diary Measurement markets was held, and in markets ranked No. 50 to No. 100, what was the key finding? "There was no audience impact from COVID-19." It's a reminder that PPM markets are vastly different.

Chicago morning host Amy Jacobson recently gained national attention for being barred from press briefings conducted by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Now, Jacobson and her employer, Salem Media Group, have filed a federal lawsuit against Pritzker for his decision — allegedly prompted by Jacobson's reporting of his family's travel out-of-state during a shelter-in-place order.

In May 2019, a reconstituted post-bankruptcy Cumulus Media sought the FCC’s approval to allow non-U.S. persons or entities to hold up to 100% of its voting stock and capital stock generally in the future. On Friday, the Commission said yes.