Radio News

A Danville, Illinois-based radio broadcasting company is moving forward with an initiative designed to connect Central Illinois students, teachers and parents for the balance of the school year. The Louise Neuhoff Educational Access Project, named in honor of the company co-founder, will provide educators daily access to stations in communities served by Neuhoff Media.

A Class A FM serving the city that's home to legendary American rock artist John Mellencamp, bearing the slogan "Total Rock Radio," is changing hands. A social butterfly -- seriously -- is taking on ownership of this station.

Tuesday, April 7, was also a day full of temporary downsizing for the nation's premier media company superserving African American consumers. Urban One has enacted furloughs and layoffs for "many employees" at its radio stations, and at its national radio arm, Reach Media.

Thanks to a new pact announced Wednesday, non-commercial stations that are members of the Radio Research Consortium (RRC) now have access to Nielsen  Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) tools. 

Joy Broadcasting has carved a niche in the Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) world with a hard rock format steeped in Christ-themed songs from acts such as Big Daddy Weave. Now, the Class A noncomm serving as the main home for what is branded as "Truth That Rocks" is being sold.

The NAB on Monday filed Reply Comments with the FCC in support of a rulemaking that would allow AM radio stations to voluntarily broadcast an all-digital signal. The concept has been pioneered by a Hubbard Broadcasting property serving Frederick, Md., and much of the western half of the National Capital Region.

These are challenging times for many broadcast media companies, due to the novel coronavirus crisis. As such, Sun Broadcast Group (SBG) says it has "restructured" all of its 24/7 formats and long-form shows "to make them more accessible to stations."

Sinclair owns and operates the ABC and Univision affiliates serving the Pacific Northwest's biggest market, in addition to three radio brands the company inherited from Fisher Communications. The radio and TV stations have a new GM, and is relocating from the Mitten State.

The criteria for emergency grant qualifications from the Broadcasters Foundation of America has now been revised to provide aid to broadcasters who meet the non-profit organization's requirements and have been infected by COVID-19.

Small business owners, in particular those owned by Hispanics, have been greatly impacted by COVID-19-fueled "stay in place" policies. Now, a Univision radio station in L.A. has responded with the launch of a program designed to offer current and aspiring small business owners the tools and information to start, grow and keep the lights on at a mom-and-pop operation.

Nevada Public Radio has served listeners via a Class C2 FM signal based in the city of St. George, Utah. That said, two in-state pubcasters can be tuned to, offering much of the same programming. As such, Nevada Public Radio is exiting the popular retirement and outdoor enthusiast hub. The buyer? The No. 2 licensee of radio stations in the U.S.

"I am deeply saddened that we need to make these painful moves at this time." Those are the words of Entercom head David J. Field, who in an internal memo to all employees Thursday morning revealed that the coronavirus pandemic -- which led the audio media company to exhaust all available dollars under the revolver portion of its credit agreement -- is claiming jobs.

The FCC's April Open Meeting agenda was discussed Wednesday by Chairman Ajit Pai in a blog post. While the docket is full of 5G-related items, one final item is of high interest to any radio broadcasting company with an FM signal in a market where low-power FMs have a presence, such as New Orleans.

Furloughs and permanent job cuts have been made at some of the biggest radio broadcasting companies, including HeartMedia and Townsquare Media, respectively. It is now known that Beasley, which has suffered a significant decline in its stock price that even pre-dates the coronavirus pandemic-fueled Wall Street downturn, has also said goodbye to more than five dozen employees.

An esteemed Wall Street analyst has reviewed just where the satellite radio company and home to Howard Stern stands today and perhaps in the near future. His call? Things will be down, but not so bad. The report comes as Stern announced Tuesday morning on his show that six weeks of free access — via streaming.