Radio News

A name that's very familiar to Chicagoland media veterans and longtime radio industry professionals has resurfaced on the commercial side of the Windy City's radio dial. Marv Nyren is returning to his old stomping grounds. Only, the stations once owned by Emmis are now owned by Cumulus Media.

Envision Networks has expanded its partnership with Sun Broadcast Group to include additional affiliate sales support for the nationally syndicated shows of Little Steven’s Underground Garage and Slacker and Steve. In addition, Envision Networks will continue handle all affiliations for Sun’s Shazam for Radio platform. 

Beasley Broadcast Group is saying goodbye to a heritage AC in Boston, and in doing so just landed "The Sports Hub." It took a little cash along to get the deal with Entercom done, and CEO Caroline Beasley tells RBR+TVBR why the transaction was consummated.

In a major asset exchange that clears a big hurdle for Entercom in its effort to complete its merger with CBS Radio, the Philadelphia-based pure play broadcaster has agreed to trade stations in Seattle and Boston to iHeartMedia. In exchange, Entercom is getting properties in Richmond and in Chattanooga, Tenn. Seconds later, Beasley Broadcast Group revealed its making an FM-for-FM plus cash exchange in Boston. And, as expected, Bonneville International is getting control of some Golden State stations.

Entercom is moving closer to its Reverse Morris Trust-fueled merger with CBS Radio, and on Tuesday President/CEO David Field revealed in a staff memo that several individuals are adding SVP stripes. Six other staffers were singled out, and are being promoted "for their performance and leadership."

Don't think for a minute that the potential growth in in-home listening from Smart Speakers from makers such as Amazon Echo and Google Home are only for big-city broadcasters? There's gold in them thar hills, valleys and villages for radio broadcasters, and Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker is about to let the nation know all about it.

Emmis subsidiary TagStation LLC on Tuesday revealed that its NextRadio app is now available in the nation of South Korea. And, it's not a streaming audio version that's being touted. Rather, this app -- like that available to Android-powered smartphones in the U.S. -- allows listeners to tune in live-and-local FM radio stations over their phones.

U.S. programmatic digital display ad spending will reach $32.56 billion by the end of 2017. If that wasn't eye-opening enough for broadcast media executives, here's another big projection from eMarketer: By 2019, more than four in five US digital display ad dollars, or $45.72 billion, will flow via automated means.

Half of higher spending small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) plan to maintain their current ad spend in 2018. And now, the disappointing reality facing radio and TV station owners: The SMBs surveyed report they intend to allocate 62.2% of their budget to digital media to promote their businesses, an increase of 6% from 2015. Broadcast and cable allocations are projected to dip.

Could everyday household Smart Speakers be the new home AM/FM radio? Why not? More listeners are making user-friendly personal smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home their first choice for audio. Can the industry capitalize on this to expand radio's reach? The answers will come at Forecast 2018 on Nov. 15 in New York.

Are radio broadcasting companies primed for a strong Q3? With encouraging preliminary results from Cumulus Media released last Thursday, coupled with the Q3 results reported today from Beasley Broadcast Group, there's a strong sense the answer will be yes. For Beasley, the all-important pro-forma net revenue managed a small gain. Expenses were down by more than $2.3 million.

Here's something that's cool, and definitely establishes Radio as the one media that can truly connect with local listeners in ways Spotify, Pandora, and even TV stations and newspapers can't do. It's all about going live -- and that includes all on-air elements, including commercials. Entercom is the company behind this "more than just a stunt" opportunity — and it's something that could get your stations get noticed, and more listener love, too.

The Supreme Court for the State of Florida has unanimously sided with a decision rendered by the state's Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming that common law in the Sunshine State does not recognize an exclusive right of public performance in pre-1972 sound recordings. Translation: Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, otherwise known as "Flo & Eddie," co-founders of 1960s pop act Turtles, have lost their copyright battle waged in Tallahassee.

Could iHeartMedia lenders who have steadfastly refused to participate in an exchange of debt securities notes and signal approval to amendments to a pair of outstanding term loans be ready to work with the nation's No. 1 radio broadcasting company on resolving an impasse that has stretched for some seven months? That's what iHeart's hoping for. On Tuesday, it provided its lenders with a counter proposal.

Set your alarm and perk the office coffee pot early on Thursday, Nov. 9. That's because Cumulus Media has set an 8am Eastern conference call with Wall Street investors to discuss its official Q3 2017 earnings results. The No. 2 radio broadcasting company on Thursday morning released "selected preliminary operating results" for Q3, however, and it sends the message to all that President/CEO Mary Berner and her team are working hard to make progress at a company that's excessively overleveraged. By 9:58am Eastern, Cumulus shares were up more by 100%, to 64 cents.