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From All Access: SAMANTHA BRENNER, CHRIS MORADI, CHRISTINA PALMESE, PHIL BECKER, BRIAN PHILIPS, ALEX TEAR, DAVID JACOBS, WENDY ROLLINS, RON POORE, BUDDY DEAL, CHRISTINE CHIAPPETTA, MARISA DI FRISCO, … more

From Radio Insight: iHeartMedia has flipped Soft AC “Easy 99.1” K256AE Salt Lake City/KJMY-HD2 Bountiful UT to Business News “Business 99.1“. K256AE is running Bloomberg network programming around the clock. The former Soft AC brand debuted on the translator in January 2019. It registered a 0.6 share in the December 2020 Nielsen Audio ratings. more

From Radio Online: Consultant Ken Benson, co-founder of P1 Media Group, will speak at Radio Days Denmark in Copenhagen on Friday, January 29. With nearly 3,000 members from over 80 countries, Ken's session "How Radio Rose to the Coronavirus Challenge" will take participants on a journey around the world to share some More...

From Radio Online: NuVoodoo Media Services is offering a free upcoming webinar, "How to Get Your Ratings From Here to Vaccinated" on Thursday, February 11 at 1pm ET. The webinar will share the latest findings of its Ratings Prospects Study XVII and important insights for marketing More...

From Radio Online: Triton Digital has released the latest U.S Podcast Report for December, 2020 reporting period. NPR remained in the #1 spot with 37.5 million Average Weekly Downloads (AWD) and 10.4 million Average Weekly Users (AWU), followed by Stitcher with 23.6 million AWD and More...

From All Access: OFF BOOK: THE IMPROVISED MUSICAL PODCAST announced TODAY (1/27) ART19 will handle all Ad sales for the podcast. In addition, ART19 will also be the host and distributor for the long-running … more

From All Access: CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience has added YOUTUBE’s Head of Culture & Trends KEVIN ALLOCCA to its first-ever Streaming Summit agenda, taking place virtually on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY … more

From All Access: TRIPLE TIGERS RECORDS artist SCOTTY McCREERY played a limited capacity show at BILLY BOB'S TEXAS in FORT WORTH on SATURDAY, JANUARY 23rd, with $1 of every ticket sold donated to ACM … more

From All Access: Hit songwriters KELLY ARCHER, COREY CROWDER, JESSIE JO DILLON and SHARON VAUGHN have been elected as new members of the NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL's (NSAI) Board of … more

From All Access: Tickets are now available for the 30A SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL, scheduled for FRIDAY, JANUARY 29th at 6p (ET), SATURDAY, JANUARY 30th at 6p (ET) and SUNDAY, JANUARY 31st at 6p (ET). This years … more

From All Access: AMAZON PRIME and THE CODA COLLECTION announced TODAY (1/27) the launch of the brand new multi-media company designed to provide fans with exclusive storytelling that details the most iconic … more

From All Access: The FCC has granted the sale of Adult Standards WTZQ-A-W237EE/HENDERSONVILLE, NC by TIMELESS MEDIA, INC. to FLAT ROCK MULTIMEDIA, LLC for $675,000 ($32,766.13 owed by seller as down payment … more

From All Access: MCKIBBIN MEDIA GROUP announced TUESDAY (1/26) that DENNIS WORDEN is the new GM for the group, which owns radio stations in HILLSDALE and JACKSON, MI. GORDON was most recently Sr. … more

From All Access: iHEARTMEDIA will launch “iHEARTRADIO's LIVING BLACK!” --spotlighting the power of Black culture YESTERDAY, TODAY, and TOMORROW throughout BLACK HISTORY MONTH in FEBRUARY. The … more

From All Access: The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. engaged in a lively debate with our compatriots at XTRENDS. Which lasted longer – CHRISTMAS music or the election? To be sure, both cast … more

From Radio Insight: Nielsen Audio has released Day 2 of its monthly four day sweep of ratings in PPM markets. Today’s releases include Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Detroit, Phoenix, Minneapolis, San Diego, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Denver, Baltimore, and St. Louis. All the numbers can be found at RadioInsight.com/Ratings. Nielsen divides its calendar year up into thirteen equal 28 day months for ratings measurement purposes, with its extra “holiday” month usually discarded, except by those stations that go all-Christmas for the purpose of selling the following year. This year’s holiday book contained an extra fifth “leap” week to help keep Nielsen’s calendar in step with the actual calendar. Since this five week Holiday month stretched into the first week of January, a number of stations including KOST and WBEB kept Christmas music running all the way through New Year’s Eve. Unlike the other monthlies we’re going to compare the holiday numbers to 2019, but due to the extra week the numbers were slightly diluted. Yet like Day 1, a few stations set records. iHeartMedia AC 97.1 WASH Washington DC has grown immensely each of the past four years in the Holiday book. The station has risen from a 9.7 in 2017 – 10.4 in 2018 – 12.9 in 2019 – to a 15.2 share this year. Ratings Expert Chris Huff notes that is the highest station share in the Washington DC market since 1964. WASH was not the only Christmas station in the market as Christian AC 91.9 WGTS added an additional 4.2 share. Also on a four year uptrend is Entercom AC “Magic 106.7” WMJX Boston. WMJX garnered a 15.8 share in 2020 after a 13.6 – 14.5 – 15.2 rise starting in 2017. iHeartMedia AC 100.3 WNIC Detroit rebounded from a 14.8 in 2019 to a 16.6 in 2020. However that comes with the loss of the market’s second Christmas station in 2019 following Entercom’s flip of “98.7 The Breeze” WDZH to Alternative in November. Prior to WDZH going all-Christmas in 2019, WNIC garnered a 15.8 in 2017 and 17.9 in 2018. WDZH had a 4.9 share in 2019. Four stations going to Christmas music diluted the market in Seattle. After leading the market with a 9.2 in 2019, Hubbard AC “Warm 106.9” KRWM only place third in the market with a 6.0 share this year. Entercom Soft AC “94.1 The Sound” KSWD placed sixth with a 4.9 share, Crista Media Christian AC “Spirit 105.3” KCMS-FM had a 4.0 share, and Sinclair Hot AC “Star 101.5” KPLZ which becomes “Santa-FM” every December added an additional 3.7 share. The three Christmas stations in Tampa combined for over a 22 share of the listening audience. Cox Media Group Soft AC 105.5 WDUV was down to a 9.0 this year after an 11.2 in 2019 and 13.7 in 2018. The downtrend was caused by iHeartMedia beginning to take AC “Mix 100.7” WMTX to holiday music last year. WMTX rose from a 6.0 in Holiday 2019 to 8.2 this year, while Radio Training Network Christian AC “The Joy FM” WCIE/WJIS was down year-to-year 6.0 to 4.9. Huff notes that WMTX’s 8.2 share is the highest on the frequency since 1981. Cox Media Group Soft AC “Easy 93.1” WFEZ Miami was up from a 7.5 in 2019 to 8.1 this year. That gives the station the highest share in the history of the frequency according to Huff. Entercom AC “101.5 Lite-FM” WLYF was right behind WFEZ with an 8.0 share. In 2019 iHeartMedia AC “99.9 KEZ” KESZ Phoenix shattered its previous station high with a 19.2 share. This year it garnered a mere 16.7 share. iHeartMedia Classic Hits “Kool 108” KQQL Minneapolis is down for the fourth straight year. KQQL has dropped 14.2 – 12.6 – 11.6 – 11.5 over the past four years amidst additional Christmas music competition in the market. Northwestern Media Christian AC 98.5 KTIS-FM was down year-to-year 8.2 to 4.9, while Cumulus Soft AC “Love 105” WGVX/WLUP/WWWM added an additional 2.2 share. Bonneville AC 101.1 KOSI Denver was down from a 14.4 in 2019 to 13.3 in 2020. Entercom AC 102.5 KEZK St. Louis rose from a 14.2 in 2019 to 16.9 in 2020. Co-owned 96.5 KYXY San Diego slid from 11.1 to 9.4. The biggest year-to-year slide went to Entercom AC “Today’s 101.9” WLIF Baltimore. The station had a 16.0 share in 2019, but just an 11.0 in 2020. Christian AC “95.1 Shine-FM” WRBS-FM went Christmas but does not appear in the public numbers, while iHeartMedia’s 97.1 WASH Washington added a 2.9 share in the Baltimore market for the second straight year. In non-Christmas station moves: In its first full monthly as “Alt 98.7“, Entercom’s WDZH Detroit registered a 2.0 share. Entercom Rhythmic CHR 95.5 WPGC Washington DC was up a full share from a 2.1 to 3.1. Entercom Variety Hits “Big 103.3” WBGB Boston continues to show growth as it rises 2.7 to 2.9. AAA 90.3 KEXP Seattle jumped up 2.4 to 3.6. Radio One’s pair in Baltimore gained as Adult R&B “Magic 95.9” WWIN-FM was up 8.1 to 9.1 and Hip Hop “92Q” WERQ 5.1 to 5.6. Two of the biggest month to month slides went to iHeartMedia AAA 97.3 KBCO Denver (4.5 to 2.9) and Variety Hits “102.7 Jack-FM” WQSR Baltimore (6.2 to 4.3). In their first months under full Entercom control, Adult R&B “96.3 The Lou” WFUN-FM St. Louis was down 4.8 to 3.8 on its new frequency, while Hip Hop “Hot 104.1” WHHL plummeted 3.5 to 2.1. more

From All Access: SIRIUSXM and KEVIN HART's LAUGH OUT LOUD launched three new programs including INSIDE JOKE WITH KEVIN HART. The original podcast will feature HART in conversation with comics including … more

From All Access: Hit songwriters KELLY ARCHER, COREY CROWDER, JESSIE JO DILLION and SHARON VAUGHN have been elected as new members of the NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL's (NSAI) Board of … more

From All Access: BUILD-A-BEAR RADIO, a family-focused radio station on the iHEARTRADIO platform, premieres two new shows in its weekly lineup – NOW PLAYING WITH THE SHARPE FAMILY SINGERS, a countdown … more

From All Access: JOHN REILLY has picked up new client stations including STEPHENS MEDIA AC KTSO/TULSA, CHERRY CREEK MEDIA's Triple A KMON/GREAT FALLS, MT, Country KHKM/MISSOULA, MT, News/Talk KDXU-A/ST. … more

From All Access: PODCASTONE, a podcast platform and subsidiary of LIVEXLIVE MEDIA has bought the exclusive sales and distribution rights to the OUR FAKE HISTORY podcast. OUR FAKE HISTORY was created and is … more

From All Access: MIDWEST COMMUNICATIONS Classic Rock KMJO/FARGO, ND has flipped again. Last week the station segued from Classic Country (104.7 THE DUKE) to Classic Rock (104.7 THE BEAR) (NET NEWS 1/19). The … more

From All Access: BMLG RECORDS' BRETT YOUNG and his wife, TAYLOR, are expecting their second child, due this Summer. The couple welcomed their first daughter, PRESLEY ELIZABETH YOUNG, in OCTOBER 2019 (NET … more

From All Access: iHEARTMEDIA will launch “iHEARTRADIO’S LIVING BLACK!” --spotlighting the power of Black culture YESTERDAY, TODAY, and TOMORROW throughout BLACK HISTORY MONTH in FEBRUARY. … more

From Radio Online: WALR-FM (Kiss 104.1) Atlanta has announced that Nina Brown will co-host "The Frank Ski Show" joining host Frank Ski, weekdays from 6-10am, when the show premieres on February 1. Her career includes both radio and television, where she was an air talent at NBC's WXIA-TV, 11Alive News in Atlanta. She More...

From All Access: The NASHVILLE chapter of the ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSIC PUBLISHERS (AIMP)'s podcast series, "AIMP NASHVILLE PUBCAST," will join the AMERICAN SONGWRITER PODCAST NETWORK for … more

From All Access: The RADIO ADVERTISING BUREAU (RAB) will launch a new initiative in FEBRUARY that will include a dedicated section on RAB.COM called BUSINESS ACCELERATED, as well as live presentations and … more

From Radio Insight: “Come and Get Your Love” by Real McCoy should have been a hit. It followed “Another Night” and “Run Away,” two songs eagerly seized on by a Mainstream Top 40 format looking to play any uptempo available pop. It had that often-successful formula for a remake — an artist with portfolio remaking a hit (Redbone’s great moment from 1974) that was big enough to be remembered, but not played much as an oldie, a travesty of justice that not even Guardians of the Galaxy was able to rectify. Then there was “Scream” by Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson. The brother half of the duo had lost some momentum at radio with his previous album, Dangerous. He still obviously had the attention of a CHR format that was only starting to recover slowly from its 1993-94 depths. His sister, however, was coming off an album that had gone deep at radio; she was one of the era’s clear superstars. Like “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” by Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer 15 years earlier, it was an event that CHR radio was anxious to play, until everybody heard it. Those are two of the top 15 1995 hits with the highest “Lost Factor,” our calculation of the difference between a song’s popularity at the time and the airplay it receives now on broadcast radio. Both of those songs fit the profile of a lost “hit” today — a song that scaled the charts based on an artist’s momentum, but never received enough sustained power rotation to endure as a recurrent or oldie. But the highest Lost Factor of the year ticks some other familiar boxes — an MOR-flavored ballad by a teen artist, Jamie Waters’ “Hold On.” (Waters’ previous hit, “How Do You Talk to an Angel” by the Heights, still receives some airplay.) We last took the “Lost Factor” into the ‘90s late last June. We haven’t delved into the late ‘90s or early ‘00s yet in part because the Billboard charts, whose year-end rankings we use to calculate Lost Factor, were affected by a number of issues in those years — the numerous big hits that were never released as commercial singles and thus never charted; the practice of holding singles back to manipulate a high chart debut.* I did look at a second year-end calculation when I delved into 1995. Former radio syndicator and veteran chart watcher Josh Hosler has maintained a “Pop 100” chart that has different rules for weighting of airplay vs. sales and removal of recurrent titles, but, most important for our purposes, includes songs that weren’t commercial singles. Hosler uses the charts for, among other things, his Pop Music Anthology, an extensive series of Spotify playlists going back to the very beginnings of recorded music, and covering every era since, if you’re looking for lost hits of 1995, or any other time. In the end, I found the Billboard year-end rankings, and my Lost Factor calculations from them, to be of a piece with what we’ve seen so far. The impact of sales usually makes for the presence of some R&B hits that never fully crossed to pop radio, such as the Immature title seen here. The hits of the year that weren’t singles — “Lightning Crashes,” “When I Come Around,” “You Oughta Know” — are an issue when we look at those songs that endure today disproportionately to their 1995 acceptance, but there aren’t any such titles in the Lost Factor top 15. In 1995, there were six songs that made the year’s top 100 but had no airplay now, vs. three such songs in 1994. The highest lost factor for the year was a 49 vs. a 53 from the year before. I had wondered if the launch of all-‘90s WMIA (Totally 93.9) Miami, two weeks after we published our 1990-94 calculations, would lower the Lost Factor of ‘90s hits, but that station plays about 225 songs, including some local hits that never made the year-end countdown. The growth of an all-‘90s format, should it take root, is more likely to help songs that were already relatively enduring. Here are the 15 “most lost” hits of 1995, based on points for their standing for the year divided by the number of plays they receive now. In parenthesis is the Lost Factor, followed by the number of spins the songs received last week in the on those stations monitored by BDSRadio. Jamie Waters, “Hold On”*(lost factor: 49, spins last week: zero) Bon Jovi, “This Ain’t a Love Song”*(31, 0) Elton John, “Believe” (42, 2) Immature, “Constantly” (21, 0) U2, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (20, 1) Real McCoy, “Come and Get Your Love” (16, 2) 4 P.M., “Sukiyaki” (13, 4) Martin Page, “In the House of Stone and Light” (13, 5) 20 Fingers f/Gillette, “Short Short Man” (13, 2) Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson, “Scream” (11, 4) FireHouse, “I Live My Life for You” (10, 0) Stevie B, “Dream About You” (9, 0) Vanessa Williams, “The Sweetest Days” (9, 3) Annie Lennox, “No More ‘I Love You’s” (8, 3) Diana King, “Shy Guy” (6, 9) When you look at the comparable top 15 songs among Hosler’s calculations, which weight up pop titles to look more like what CHR radio was playing in 1995, a few songs would make the top 15 that don’t otherwise — Van Halen’s “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You”; Meat Loaf’s “I’d Lie for You (And That’s the Truth)”; Soul Asylum’s “Misery.” Those are the differences that we’d expect to see if we used, say, the Radio & Records CHR chart from that same period. Mainstream Top 40 radio was gradually beginning a comeback in 1995, buoyed by the rise of KHKS (Kiss 106.1) Dallas and the availability of songs like “When I Come Around” and “You Oughta Know” that were just poppy enough to cross over from Alternative. There’s still a strong presence of AC and what came to be known as Modern AC. The Martin Page hit is the sort of pop ballad that Top 40 wanted to play instead of “This Is How We Do It” or other R&B crossovers of the time, but it’s also the MOR-ish type of song that we’ve seen not endure. The Elton John and Vanessa Williams singles are both “never-quite-hits” that were riding the momentum of previous hits (“Lion King” and “Save the Best for Last”). It’s fun to note what’s not on here. While “Short Short Man,” a novelty hit that prompted many nervous parent/kid conversations in the car, does make the list, “Cotton Eyed Joe” by Rednex does not, mostly because it never got quite enough airplay at the time. I didn’t hear “Keep Their Heads Ringin’” by Dr. Dre much on the radio in 1995, perhaps because I was on the East Coast, but its Lost Factor is actually under a 1.0, a sign of an enduring song, perhaps because the movie Friday endures.* Then there’s “I’ll Be There for You” by the Rembrandts, one of the year’s most polarizing hits. It was available on vinyl, not cassette, and was never that big a Hot 100 hit as a result. It doesn’t make Billboard’s year-end chart either, but on Hosler’s listing, it’s only the No. 40 least-enduring song of the year.* I did use Hosler’s calculations to determine our “Lucky Stiffs,” those songs that now receive airplay disproportionate to their year-end rankings at the time, since he was able to include some major airplay hits that didn’t chart owing to the lack of a commercial single. Of songs now receiving more than 100 spins a week, the top 10 show the influence not only of those songs kept alive now by Alternative radio, but also of the R&B and Hip-Hop titles that Top 40 resisted at the time: Selena, “Dreaming of You” Smashing Pumpkins, “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” Weezer, “Buddy Holly” Total f/Notorious B.I.G., “Can’t You See” Pearl Jam, “Better Man” Green Day, “When I Come Around” TLC, “Waterfalls” Notorious B.I.G., “Big Poppa” Live, “Lightning Crashes” Luniz, “I Got 5 on It” Hosler’s playlists for 1995 (or any other year of the 1990s) are available here. More information on Lost Factor, with calculations stretching back to 1960, can be found here.* more

From Radio Online: Lawandamp;Crime, a live trial and true crime network, announces the launch of a new podcast "Objections: by Adam Klasfeld." Hosted by Investigative Reporter Adam Klasfeld, "Objections" adds to Lawandamp;Crime's podcast lineup with the first episode available now. Klasfeld will lead listeners through More...

From All Access: REELWORLD, producer of radio jingles and imaging productions has partnered with SOUTHERN ALBERTA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (SAIT) in CALGARY to train future CANADIAN radio talent. As part of … more