Radio News

The Copyright Royalty Judges on Tuesday confirmed the receipt of a notice of intent to audit the 2015, 2016, and 2017 statements of account submitted by two of the nation's largest radio broadcasting companies; the No. 2 licensee of radio stations in the U.S.; and a small webcaster. The news comes as the CRB unveiled their final determination of the rates and terms for making and distributing phonorecords from Jan. 1, 2018 through the end of 2022.

On Monday TRANSACTIONS TODAY reported that a Class D AM serving a small Tennessee town in the northwestern part of the Volunteer State, along with an FM translator and an unbuilt second translator, are being handed to a new owner. We now know that a second AM, and two FMs, and a total of four translators are being acquired.

Add Peoria, Ill., to the list of locales Alpha Media is vacating some six years after it gained entry into the market by way of a company once led by David Benjamin. Kalil & Co. served as the broker of this transaction, which involves none other than Duke Wright.

Can a U.S.-based company continue to deliver programs to foreign broadcast stations? That's a question the FCC will receive with respect to the use of stations based in Mexico that target listeners north of the border. Comments and petitions to deny are now being sought with respect to a San Diego-based operator.

Since October 2017, Smooth Jazz has had a home in Atlanta on a Class D AM with a translator serving much of the metropolitan area. The signal, however, was problematic -- at least for radio station owner Randy Gravley. The FCC has now spoken: This translator must immediately sign off the air.

Here's some food for thought for Radio's C-Suite: the share of “owned music” has fallen significantly, but the number of people who listen at all to this category in a given day is down by the same percentage. That's according to Edison Research. What does this mean for podcasts, and for streaming audio?

In May 2017, Entercom raised eyebrows by luring a highly respected sports executive as its very first President of what will be called “Entercom Sports.” It was part of a plan to become the No. 1 sports talk and play-by-play company across many of its markets. In the Gateway City, the company and the team made a mutual decision to end a relationship dating to 1974.

The VP of Digital Sales for Entercom's AMs and FMs in Portland, Ore., has been chosen to lead the entire cluster, as SVP/Market Manager. It comes 1 1/2 years after Bill Ashenden replaced Tim McNamara at the top of one of Entercom's more important station groups.

In its 18th year, the program pairs up-and-coming women who currently work in the radio industry with female professionals recognized as leaders in all aspects of radio broadcasting and media. Beasley Media Group is serving as the lead sponsor for 2019.

In this fresh Hispanic Radio Podcast, iHeartLatino head Enrique Santos serves up a plateful of insight and a peek inside how iHeart has taken on the Latin music lover and Spanish-language audio content consumer. It's all here in this audio report with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson.

Along I-81 in Southwest Virginia is the broadcast tower for a Class A FM that's presently dark, and in distress. The entity that acquired this station can't fulfill the terms set forth in that agreement. As such, it's going back to the company that thought it had a sale.

Sanford, N.C., is a small city nestled to the southwest of the Raleigh area and to the northwest of Fort Bragg. Here, an AM/FM combo offering Country music and Classic Hits, respectively, are trading hands.

From the city of Union Grove, Ala., a Class A FM with 950 watts serves the Rocket City as its ESPN Radio affiliate. On New Year's Eve, the station's owner agreed to sell it to some Neighbors ... literally. That's the name of the buyer.

A pair of FM radio stations serving the northwest corner of Mississippi are being sold. One has a moniker that conjures images of climbing, coiling, and trailing perennial vines native to much of eastern Asia, or perhaps a comic strip in the daily newspaper that appeared until 2017. The other station's nickname involves a large marine king that's found nowhere in local waters.

Three weeks ago, a broker announcement from Bergner & Co. revealed that the company led by Bruce Mittman and Jim Leven would be selling their Twin Tiers stations to a growing radio station owner led by CEO Kristin Cantrell and COO Jim Loftus. We now know the price.