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From Radio Online: In a significant corporate reshuffle, Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) appoints Frank Soricelli as the new interim Chief Financial Officer, effective April 25. At 66, Soricelli brings over three decades of expertise in finance and accounting to his new role, having been a part of More...

From Radio Insight: Nielsen continues its release of the March 2024 diary surveys today. Today’s markets include monthly ratings for Monthly ratings for Albany/Schenectady/Troy, Allentown/Bethlehem, Dayton, Fresno, Grand Rapids and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Coming later this week: On Tuesday, April 30: Monthly ratings for Bakersfield, Honolulu, Knoxville, Omaha/Council Bluffs, and Tulsa. On Wendesday, May 1: Monthly ratings for Albuquerque, El Paso, Harrisburg/Lebanon/Carlisle, and Metro Fairfield County. On Thursday, May 2: Monthly ratings for Akron, Charleston SC, Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz, and Syracuse. On Friday, May 3: Monthly ratings for Columbia SC, Greenville/New Bern/Jacksonville NC, Little Rock, Springfield MA, and Toledo. more

From Radio Online: According to Jacobs Media's TechSurvey 2024, broadcast radio has its challenges, including an aging audience, more choices (especially in the car) and too many workers not going into the office. Still, the medium is showing stability and resilience. 67% of those surveyed say that radio is easiest to listen More...

From Radio Online: Cumulus Media launches the latest installment of its multi-part audio series, "Your Music Plus," featuring insights and personal stories from Rock band, Motley Crue, on the making of their new single, "Dogs of War," out now. The campaign will air on Cumulus Media's Rock stations across the U.S. over the next More...

From Radio Online: SiriusXM and Hyundai Motor America have announced a new, multi-year extension and expansion of its longstanding agreement. As part of the new deal, the Hyundai and Genesis brands will introduce SiriusXM with 360L to their vehicle lineups beginning in 2025. SiriusXM with 360L combines More...

From Radio Online: NPR is launching "Wild Card," a new weekly podcast from longtime NPR host and journalist Rachel Martin. During the show, Martin rips up the typical interview script and invites guests to play a game about life's biggest questions. She takes actors, artists and thinkers on a choose-your-own-adventure More...

From Radio Insight: Cumulus Media Country “Cat Country 94.1” WNNF Cincinnati has completed its lineup revamp with the return of cluster Promotions Director Austin ?Tater? Ratcliff to the daily lineup from 12-3pm. Ratliff previously was heard in that timeslot from January 2021 until late 2022 and also hosted afternoons at “102.5 Nash-FM” WMDH New Market/Muncie IN. Westwood One’s Kincaid & Dallas remains in mornings from 5-9am. Midday host Karen Van Zant will now be heard 9am-12pm. Newly added afternoon host Amanda Valentine will host 3-7pm. Westwood One’s “Nights with Elaina” and “Pickle Jar Up All Night” with Patrick Thomas round out the weekday schedule. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Austin Ratcliff – DJ TATER (@djtaterradio) more

From Radio Insight: We want radio listeners to download our station app. Then what? One of the ongoing themes so far of What Workers Want, a survey by Strategic Solutions Research in conjunction with Point-to-Point Marketing has been the ?critical? need for radio to boost app activation. One of the key findings of the second in the series of What Workers Want webinars, first presented April 24, is that 38% of listening at an office/worksite is through a phone. And those are the users with whom ?local radio? is already strongest. Only 27% of respondents have a local radio station app on their phone. 25% report having the iHeart Radio app. By comparison, 64% have You Tube, 59% Spotify, 36% Apple Music, and 34% Pandora. When asked what might compel them to download an app, the motivators for all respondents were: Free/No Subscription Fees (32%) Win Concert Tickets (24%) Win Cash and Prizes (21%) Interact with the Personalities at Your Favorite Station (21%) To hear radio station messaging now is to hear how many stations have already made a priority of spreading the ?free? message and encouraging downloads. In November, I asked ?How to Make Free Worth Something,? since subscription fatigue has hardly taken down most of our competitors so far. Promoting the station app has been a challenge for a while, particularly when it alternates with promoting smart speaker usage and other station priorities. Country KRTY San Jose, Calif., did a particularly good job making its device promos stand out. That was three years ago. When KRTY left the FM dial, it had directed enough listening to the app for the station to remain viable, judging from listening figures that leaked out in its first month. If it is simultaneously true that ?we need to promote our app,? ?we need to remind people that radio is free,? and ?we have been saying both things for years, to the point where it threatens to become white noise,? we need to look at how we share those messages with listeners. KRTY?s strategy, letting real-sounding listeners (identified by name) share stories, sounded great and proved effective. Beyond that, being able to find hundreds of different ways to sell the app a little differently each time should become as much a part of an on-air host?s skill set as finding different ways to sell ?As It Was? or ?Calm Down? each time. (By the way, I don?t hear that happening enough either.) With the ?promoting station apps? discussion also comes the question of whether to promote individual station apps or station aggregators, especially when individual station apps had only 2% more reach than iHeart Radio in the at-work listening study. Station apps are easily understood and, as Strategic?s Hal Rood and Point-to-Point?s Tim Bronsil have noted, they make at-work listening a game of eight potential hours a day (as opposed to the eight-minutes-at-a-time that many broadcasters have resigned themselves to). But they also solve the problem only for one station at a time. It?s no station?s responsibility to remind listeners that they have other options during a spot break (or ?As It Was? or ?Calm Down? for the thousandth time). At the same time, a combination of just-enough-choice and ease-of-use has been one of radio?s rapidly diluted strengths. It?s hard to imagine one brand being able to repatriate (or even hold on to) enough listening to keep broadcasting robust enough as a whole. Asked how a single station app could compete with Spotify?s endless playlist choices, Bronsil and Rood point to the European stations that offer numerous side channels. (I?m looking forward to trying out Fun Radio?s Running channel later today.) But most of that listening wouldn?t count for a North American radio station until they have the capacity to offer an HD-23 channel and encode it for ratings measurement.* It is nice to imagine a new station that creates enough of its own currency through an app that the FM frequency is merely a placeholder. (Or the thing available for free that gets the crossplugs.) Our most recent successful radio launch, Spanish-language Classic Hits WMIA (Magic 93.9) Miami proves that a new station can still become phenomenal. But that station had years of cume waiting to be activated by the right formula. At the least, it seems like single-station apps should offer access to at least a series of over-the-air sister station. Personally, I?m spending more time than ever with both iHeart Radio and TuneIn in a new car where Android Auto, free for the length of the lease, makes both apps better looking and easier to use than ever. This is iHeart in my car. This is TuneIn. Infinite choice isn?t a likely need for the average listener who doesn?t write about radio for a living. In my car, it hasn?t turned out to be that either. I still find myself gravitating to 2-3 stations?often the top row of choices?unless I make a concerted effort to do otherwise. But the availability of choice is still an attraction for listeners of, say, SiriusXM, who still gravitate to a few different channels. Ultimately, radio?s challenge is reinvigorating both brands and the band. The final installment of What Workers Want is May 2, 2 p.m. ET. Register here. See full results from the first two webinars here. more

From Radio Insight: Salem Media Group has announced that “104.7 The Fish” WFSH-FM Athens/Atlanta GA afternoon host Beth Bacall will relocate to Nashville to join their national “Today’s Christian Music” network. Bacall, who has been with WFSH-FM since 2011, will continue to be heard on that station. Her program will be available as part of the 24/7 network programming as well as via FTP for any daypart. Bacall has also worked at stations including 610 KFRC and “Young Country 93.3” KYCY San Francisco, “Jammin 105” WTJM and 103.5 WKTU New York, and “Star 99.1” WAWZ Zarepath NJ. She stated, “I’m honored and privileged for the opportunity to be a part of this great team that extends God’s love through the stories we tell and the music we play.” Salem Media Networks’ VP/Programming Mike Blakemore said, “We’re thrilled to add CCM Industry legend Beth Bacall to the TCM lineup in afternoon drive. Beth is the first woman in history to win the prestigious CMB Industry Achievement award and has been doing afternoon drive at the Fish Atlanta 15 years. Now we get to share Beth’s talents with the TCM network!” With Bacall joining the network, “Heart & Humor” hosted by Doug Griffin and Jayme Summers depart. The duo were anchored at Salem’s “94 The Fish” WFFH/WFFI Nashville, which were sold to Educational Media Foundation and will be joining their “Air 1” network on May 1. Griffin previously hosted mornings on TCM from 2001-16 with Jaci Velasquez before moving to middays and then afternoons. He also has hosted morning for “Way-FM” and 95.3 KRTY San Jose. Summers joined WFFH/WFFI in 2017 and rose to Program Director in January 2023 when she also joined Griffin in afternoons. For more information on adding Beth Bacall to your station, contact Greg Roberson, Affiliate Relations at 615-312-4229. Salem Music Network?s FTP talent includes: The Kevin and Taylor Show, Keep the Faith with Penny, The Scott and Sam Show, and The Beth Bacall Show. more

From Radio Online: Beth Bacall joins the Salem Music Network (SMN) based in Nashville. She'll host afternoons on the Today's Christian Music (TCM) Network. SMN will also produce Bacall's four-hour show for daily syndication (Monday through Friday) beginning May 6. "The Beth Bacall Show" content is available for stations to air More...

From Radio Online: Audacy inks a multiyear extension with morning host Boomer Esiason to remain at WFAN-FM andamp; AM in New York. He'll continue to be heard on "Boomer andamp; Gio" alongside co-host Gregg "Gio" Giannotti, weekdays from 6-10am ET. This new extension will bring Esiason past 20 years as morning host at WFAN, making him the More...

From Radio Online: "Profit Ability 2: The New Business Case for Advertising," a new study on marketing effectiveness from measurement firms Gain Theory and Ebiquity, along with media agencies EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker UK, was released last week. The study reveals how advertising drives profit over time. This More...

From Radio Insight: Audacy Sports 660 WFAN/101.9 WFAN-FM New York has announced it has agreed to a multi-year contract extension with morning host Boomer Esiason. Esiason joined WFAN in 2007 and has been teamed with Craig Carton and Gregg ‘Gio’ Giannotti during his tenure with the station. During his new contract term, Esiason will surpass predecessor Don Imus as the longest-tenured morning host at WFAN. Esiason also anchors the “Audacy Sports Minute” on the company’s Sports stations across the country and Infinity Sports Network along with the weekly syndicated NFL preview show ?Kick-Off with Boomer & Valenti? with WXYT-FM Detroit’s Mike Valenti. “Boomer & Gio” also airs nationally on the CBS Sports Network. Concurrently with the announcement of his contract extension, Esiason announced he will depart CBS’ “The NFL Today” after 22 years as co-host of the NFL pregame show. He began his broadcasting career with two years on ABC’s Monday Night Football in 1998 and called every Monday Night Football game and Super Bowl on radio for Westwood One from 2000 through September 2018 following a fourteen year NFL career as a quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets. ?Boomer has become a true cornerstone in the long, storied history of WFAN,? said Chris Oliviero, New York Market President, Audacy. ?He was already the highest-rated morning show in the FAN record books, and now, with this new extension, he will add longest-running to his accolades. And most excitedly, we are certain the best is still yet to come as Boomer begins this new chapter in his career by making a long-term commitment to the FAN, along with a creative vision for elevating the brand together to new heights.? ?For the last 17 years, it has been an honor to be the voice that New York sports fans wake up to,? said Esiason. ?I could not be more excited to continue delivering four hours of entertaining conversation at the most vibrant and storied sports radio station in the country, working alongside the morning crew. I would like to thank Audacy, Chris Oliviero, and, most importantly, our passionate listeners for the opportunity to continue on this incredible ride.? more

From Radio Insight: The nearly 34 year run of the “CD” Alternative brand in Columbus concluded on Sunday evening when owner Randy Malloy shut down the last vestige of the station. Operating online as “WWCD Radio” since the station lost its lease to operate on 1580 WWCD/92.9 W225BS Columbus and 1550 WQCD/92.9 W225CM on February 1, Malloy shut down the stream with zero fanfare ahead of time on Sunday, April 28. Malloy shared the following note: Radio Friends, It has been a great adventure serving our beloved community, but the time has come that we must announce with heavy hearts that WWCD Radio has played its last song. It has been an incredible journey, one that legend can be told of with memories and cherished moments shared with you that will never be forgotten. Thank you to each and every one of you. The end of operations is not due to any one factor, but a number of reasons that others wil undoubtedly speculate on forever, and we wish you the best in doing so. It si not a decision that we wanted to make, but, as with life, sometimes you have ot make difficult choices. So with that said, we reflect on the joy and happiness that (as many have aptly named it) the soundtrack of our lives has given all of us and place ti back in your control. It has been said before, but we can never express our deepest gratitude enough to the fans, musicians, staff,f advertisers, collaborators, and families tor letting us be part of your lives these past 34 years. RIP WWCD 8-21-1990 /4-28-2024 With heartfelt gratitude, Randy Malloy The “CD” brand operated on 101.1 Grove City OH from 1990 until 2010 when its then owners sold its frequency to Ohio State University and began leasing Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting?s 102.5 Baltimore OH. Malloy, who was previously General Manager, acquired the intellectual property in 2017 after a dispute between the former owners and 102.5 licensee Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting. When that lease came to an end in 2020, the station would move to the two AMs and 92.9 translators through January of this year. Delmar Communications briefly then operated those signals as a competing Alternative brand “93X“, but flipped to Oldies just five weeks later. While attempts were made to bring the WWCD IP to iHeartMedia’s “Columbus Alternative 105.7” WXZX, a deal was never completed. Weird not being with you this morning. The station had a great run thanks to you. What's next? I'll let you know. — WWCDRadio.com Mornings/Former Blues Explosion (@CD929Morning) April 29, 2024 more