Radio News

It's official. From its May 1999 Initial Public Offering as Radio One until Wednesday, the multimedia company known today as Urban One had never seen its stock price so high. Then came Friday's Opening Bell, which saw yet another buying frenzy for a company that targets African Americans on what has become the biggest Juneteenth holiday ever observed.

For just shy of 27 years, Brett Harris was a fixture in morning drive on a Wichita Hot Adult Contemporary radio station as one-half of the "Brett & Tracy Mornings" program on a radio station that until early April 2017 was wholly owned by Envision Broadcast Network. Now, he is getting for opening a business focused on three letters that need no further identification: CBD.

Years ago, the April/May Arbitron book was essential for advertising across the rest of a year. Today, in the top markets, monthly ratings reports have erased that paradigm. And, as we welcome the first day of summer, veteran consultant Clark Smidt offers up an exclusive review of what Nielsen Audio is telling us about radio's sell-ability, by format.

Haven't heard our RBR+TVBR InFocus Podcasts yet? Here's your chance to hear what NABOB head Jim Winston has to say about the importance of African American media, and ownership diversity, as America observes Juneteenth. You'll also find great conversations with leaders from Qligent, Strategic Solutions Research and Nielsen.

Thanks to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, another media company has put the kibosh on its quarterly cash dividend for shareholders. That would be the company led by Ed Christian that operates in mid-sized and small markets across the U.S.

Entravision Communications, which acquired a historic AM radio station in April 2000 as part of a massive $475 million acquisition of Amador Bustos' Z-Spanish Radio, is parting ways with it. It will mark the end of decades of serving the northern San Joaquin Valley's Spanish-speaking audience for the facility.

Until now, the reason for Brigade Capital Management's sale of its entire stake in African American-focused media company Urban One, which also owns the MGM National Harbor Resort & Casino outside of Washington, D.C., was not publicly known. Urban One just changed that.

An AM/FM combo serving the Lake Tahoe region finds itself in a financial quandary. In order to keep the lights on, and employees paid, it has created a GoFundMe page in an appeal to listeners that's designed to prevent a full-fledged shutdown of the stations.

Many people still associate the National Football League franchise with its former longtime home of San Diego. From today, Estrella Media will be doing its part to get a big chunk of Angelinos to support the Los Angeles Chargers. On Tuesday, the company formerly known as LBI Media revealed that it has inked a multi-year partnership with the team for both audio and video coverage, en español.

A forthcoming show from United Stations, set to debut during the summer, is set to bring one of the most prolific recording artists of the 1970s and 1980s, who remains highly popular today, to affiliate stations as the host of a new radio program.

As RBR+TVBR exclusively reported June 15, Brigade Capital Management's Cayman Islands-based leveraged capital structures fund has sold off all of its shares in the nation's foremost media entity superserving African American consumers. The move by the fund controlled by Don Morgan III sent investors on a buying frenzy. It continued in stunning fashion on Tuesday.

A new slate of award categories, along with a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic's wrath on the Big Apple, are the big takeaways from the official announcement that submissions are now being welcomed for the 2020 Radio Mercury Awards.

Two weeks ago, the morning co-host of a Chicago News/Talk radio station owned by Salem Media Group teamed with her employer in filing a federal lawsuit against the governor of Illinois for effectively barring her from his press briefings. Each side had their compelling arguments as to why it happened. Now, the battle is over.

All of the Hispanic assets of Gen Media Partners, presently housed under the GLR and Sun Latino brands, are being congregated under a new banner designed to provide marketers what GMP is calling "an easy one-source solution for advertisers, agencies, and radio stations for all things Hispanic."

According to new Share of Ear data released Monday by Edison Research, the share of time spent listening to audio at home rose 44% during periods with COVID-19 restrictions. It's another example of how streaming audio boomed. But, did that involve radio stations, or Spotify, Pandora and other digital-focused audio selections?