Radio News

Hackman served as the SVP/COO of the Goetz Broadcasting Corporation until his retirement in 1999. He died Tuesday (7/10) at the age of 85 in Marshfield, Wisc. Hackman is a Wisconsin Broadcasting Association Hall of Fame inductee.

Has FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's championing of "AM revitalization" through the introduction of FM translators as a rebroadcast outlet truly revitalized the radio industry? Absolutamente ... says Hispanic radio veteran George Mier. Thanks to translators serving Tampa and Orlando, his family's Q Broadcasting is soaring in Central Florida. We learn all about Q's new heights in this Hispanic Radio Podcast hosted by RBR+TVBR's Adam Jacobson.

This year's Radio Show is tackling big data and how your station can make the most of it. That's the teaser the RAB and NAB are offering to broadcast companies that wish to learn how to leverage their data to drive ratings, boost revenue and gain insights into each of their stations' audiences.

For the first time since May 8, Entercom shares closed above the $8 mark. In after-hours trading, the company's shares continued to rise. But, ETM still has quite a ways to go to get to where many on Wall Street thought it would be at this time. It's also dealing with more transition, as KYW's ND/PD is to exit after 40 years at the Philadelphia all-News AM.

There are new SVP/Market Managers in place at Entercom's radio stations serving Pittsburgh and the state capital of California. In the Steel City, the role is being taken by the Director of Sales, who has been in the role for a decade. A similar promotion is being seen in Sacramento.

Four days ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that Univision is exploring the sale of Fusion Media Group. Just after Tuesday's Closing Bell on Wall Street, following a day where Univision declined to comment to RBR+TVBR on the report, Univision finally commented on the story. Gizmodo and The Onion are on the block.

"We make fine radio." That's the assertion made by an operator of 26 "hand-crafted" stations that in April invested in a Twin Tiers property branded as "Yes FM." Now, this company is investing in an AM station with an FM translator proudly serving Mexico.

With minutes go before the end of a holiday week, one of the biggest radio industry stories in recent years reached a surprising conclusion. At 4:42pm ET Friday, the lengthy legal spat over ratings tampering between Bubba The Love Sponge and Nielsen concluded, as the two parties reached an out-of-court settlement.

On Thursday RBR+TVBR exclusively reported on the rapid acceleration of Cumulus Media stock by Brigade Capital Management, a member of the "Ad-Hoc Cross-Holder Committee" — the group comprised of holders of $2.025 million in term loans and 7.75% senior notes due May 2019 that objected to Cumulus' restructuring plan. We now know a second lender has taken a beneficial ownership stake in Cumulus.

The operator of a 100-watt LPFM covering northwest Raleigh, N.C., wanted the full Commission to reconsider a Media Bureau decision that benefited the market's No. 1 operator. The ruling found that the big local operator wasn't required to submit a technical need showing to hold licenses for seven "fill-in" FM translators. The Commissioners are satisfied with the decision.

The San Francisco-based attorney representing Talk Radio Network Enterprises on Tuesday sent a brief three-sentence letter to the federal bankruptcy judge who signed off on Cumulus Media's Chapter 11 reorganization plan. What transpired? Scant details are available, but we have an answer.

Schultz, who found fame as one of the signature voices of "progressive talk" on the radio dial and as a MSNBC host, has died of natural causes. According to WDAY-6 in Fargo, N.D., which first reported on Schultz's death, he was 64 and had been in the Nation's Capital.

A New York-based global investment management firm specializing in credit investment strategies founded in 2006 by Don Morgan has just increased its stake in the No. 2 radio broadcasting company by number of stations.

Andrew Kuhn and Geoff Gannon have made a name for themselves as financial advisors via idea exchange, mental models and a mission to "build an investment community focused on the continual compounding of personal wealth without regard to the overall stock market." In a podcast distributed Thursday, Gannon and Kuhn examine Entercom. What's their prognosis?

On a Tuesday marked by tepid trading among media issues and general indices in sell mode ahead of the Independence Day holiday, one media company stood out in a highly positive way. Urban One shares soared in midday trading, and at the Closing Bell were at their highest point in nearly two years.