Radio News

Emmis made "decisions that give us additional flexibility to address market challenges and opportunities," Chairman and CEO Jeff Smulyan said this morning as the radio company that owns TagStation and NextRadio reported its fiscal 2018 Q1 results. How did Emmis do? The title of a Marian Hill record comes to mind.

Just 24 hours after the nation's No. 2 radio broadcasting company by total number of stations made a bold move by luring Larry Linietsky for the newly created role of VP/Digital Operations and Business Development, we now know what a focal point of his new duties will be.

BIA/Kelsey this morning released its mid-year 2017 update to its U.S. Local Advertising Forecast. How’s local TV faring? It’s No. 2. What about radio? There’s some not-so-great news for the C-Suite, but it mirrors other prognostications we’ve seen as of late.

It seems Entercom wasn't done in revealing what the company's executive ranks will now look like as it prepares to integrate the CBS Radio stations into its roster of AMs and FMs. The broadcast radio pure-play on Tuesday named a Regional VP, and selected its candidate by looking to the Sunshine State.

The FCC on Tuesday released its Broadcast Station Totals for the first half of 2017. Much like the totals seen at the end of Q1 2017, there are little changes in the number of broadcast TV stations licensed for broadcast in the U.S. Meanwhile, there's one more FM to add to the tally of commercial stations, while the number of AMs has taken a big dip.

Following Monday's news that the No. 2 radio broadcasting company by number of stations selected a new SVP for revenue strategy and operations, Cumulus Media on Tuesday made a big move with its digital team.

A content delivery network and streaming media provider has added itself to the list of entities that wish to help broadcast stations bring radio back into the homes of today's connected audiences. The first station to work with the company: A fabled New Orleans noncomm that's the official station of the annual Jazz Fest.

Looking for a pending business and forecast management system for your radio stations? Here's something that may be of interest to you, as media ad sales platform creator Matrix Solutions has partnered with Katz Media Group on a new reporting system for its broadcast partners.

Turner, who is president of Advertising Sales & Marketing for the company, will retire at the end of the year. Univision will announce leadership transition plans in the coming weeks. Turner has spent 40 years in the media industry and been with UCI since 2012, where he has developed the advertising sales team, activated more than 600 brands across all platforms, and built on the company’s strong service for the Hispanic community across America. Prior to joining UCI, Turner served as the senior vice president of Media Sales and Sponsorship at the NFL.

A new “Radio Industry Refresher” report put out by Wells Fargo senior analyst Marci Ryvicker takes a sharp look at 2016 revenue totals and sources. Written in response to investor queries about the Entercom-CBS Radio merger, Ryvicker ranks the top dozen publicly traded radio companies for revenue in 2016, showing iHeartMedia ($3.40 billion) at No. 1, and CBS Radio ($1.22 billion) in second place. Ryvicker also listed the biggest ad-spend categories for radio.

In last week’s Media Monitors Radio Spot Ten report, The Home Depot was in first place, yet again, airing 82,167 spots, while iHeartRadio held on to No. 2 again with 48,355 ads.

Not exactly the type to let the grass grow under his feet, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is hitting the road again, and he’ll really be clocking up the miles on a Mid-Atlantic swing. He’ll start in Wardensville, West Virginia, on Monday and end in Crownsville, Maryland, on Wednesday. His primary goal? Working towards closing the country’s digital divide.

Yesterday we reported on the effect that the TV repack will have on potentially hundreds of radio stations. Now, it seems, Microsoft has stuck its foot in the repack door, not endearing itself to the folks at the NAB in the process. Microsoft wants the FCC to reserve a vacant UHF white space channel in every market nationwide.

As it works with creditors to manage its burdensome debt, iHeartMedia has extended its deadline for holders of five sets of notes due in 2021 so they may consider its offer to exchange the existing notes for new securities. This is the eighth such extension and so far the strategy is not going well.

Townsquare Media, Inc. has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire six radio stations and two FM translators, in and around the Pittsfield, MA market, from Gamma Broadcasting LLC and Berkshire Broadcasting Co., Inc. Pro forma for the acquisition, Townsquare will own 318 radio stations in 67 markets. The company expects to close in the third quarter of this year.