Radio News

It's not often that Educational Media Foundation is a seller of radio stations. Thanks to rapid expansion seen under the leadership of soon-to-retire Mike Novak, EMF is now the second-largest licensee of radio stations in the U.S., behind only iHeartMedia. Yet, EMF is now selling a station — a Class A facility near the Huntington, W. Va. area.

Every investor in Emmis should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups, notes Blake Harford of Simply Wall St. Insiders, he notes, often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. "I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little," Harford notes. So, what's Emmis' story?

For many seasons, The New York Mets Baseball Network called trailblazing Sports Talker WFAN-AM in New York its flagship station. That relationship ended with the start of the 2014 Major League Baseball season, when WFAN -- then-owned by CBS Radio -- shifted to iHeartRadio's Talk WOR-AM.  That five-year relationship is now coming to an end, as the company led by David Field has just inked an Amazin' deal.

Some 30 years ago, Ken Smikle launched a trade journal focused squarely on business developments in advertising, marketing and media targeted to black consumers. Today, marketers, advertisers and media executives are pausing to remember Smikle, who passed away Sept. 12 after a brief illness.

On July 26, the owner of 229 AMs and FMs across the U.S. agreed to sell two FMs and an AM in the Midwest. Now, Alpha is selling another group of stations in a transaction brokered by Kalil & Co. -- a six-station, plus one FM translator, cluster acquired in late 2012 from a subsidiary of a company then-led by David Benjamin. Is this the start of a paring-down process for the Portland, Ore.-based company?

The popularity of the smart speaker has led the innovation initiative of the NAB to partner with the European Broadcasting Union to co-fund the development of a whole new hybrid radio. A prototype is on its way to the 2018 Radio Show in Orlando.

The CEO of the Aloha Station Trust and the recently formed Ocean Station Trust, a radio industry veteran who has worked at such companies as Harte-Hanks Communications and Entravision Communications, has passed away.

OK, sorry to tease you, but this story does not involve iHeartMedia. Rather, the buyer is Immaculate Heart Media, operator of the non-secular "Relevant Radio" network of noncommercial stations. The station IHM is picking up is "The Voice," and its signal reaches much of the nation's No. 1 market.

In a definitive statement that illustrates the profit-making and consumer-building potential of podcasts, the nation's No. 1 radio broadcasting company has agreed to acquire Stuff Media, a podcast content publisher known for the HowStuffWorks (HSW) brand and other on-demand digitally delivered offerings.

It's been nearly a year since Townsquare Media's stock price closed above $9 a share. Since August 22, that's been a regular occurrence. Now, Zacks has examined the stock to see if it is a better buy for value investors than Netflix. The answer it came up with was a no-brainer.

Educational Media Foundation in 2018 became the No. 2 licensee of radio stations in the U.S., now behind only iHeartMedia in total station count. EMF isn't done building its empire of Christian Contemporary Music noncomms. It's just landed a Class A near Kalispell, Montana and two FM translators in the Empire State.

When it comes to attracting the biggest possible audience for your radio station, syndicated programming could be a part of the mix. Spanish-language radio stations are no different, and that's where GLR Networks seeks to fill a void in communities across the U.S. where the Hispanic population has grown, but the in-language media choices remain thin. In this latest Hispanic Radio Podcast, four genres of programming offered by GLR are discussed by VP of Affiliates and Programming Jimmy Perez.

Local advertising spending in New York City will exceed $11.5 billion in 2018, spread across TV, cable TV, direct mail, radio, mobile and nine other media. But, where does over-the-air radio fall when compared to the four other commonly used media? According to research and consulting firm BIA Advisory Services, it is far from a $1 billion market.

In April, Cumulus Media was forced to silence an FM translator used for an Alternative station with a rich history in a big Southern market. Why did the signal go dark? The FCC acted on a complaint submitted by the owners of a Class A on the same signal, some 55 miles away. Now, the Commission's Associate General Counsel finds Cumulus was in violation of FCC ex parte rules.

A popular dance music DJ and Spanish Broadcasting System radio personality has just landed his first syndicated radio program, and a September launch is in the works. It will be distributed by SBS's AIRE Radio Networks, its national radio entity.