Activity Stream

From Radio Insight: Townsquare Media relaunched Classic Hits 98.7 WFGR Grand Rapids MI as “98.7 The Grand“. Now focusing on Rock leaning artists from the 1970s and 80s, the station is positioning as “Timeless Hits of the 70s, 80s and More.” Core artists are noted as including Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, The Eagles, John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, Steely Dan, REO Speedwagon, the Steve Miller Band and Tom Petty. Townsquare Media Michigan VP/Content Eric Meier will host middays on the station. Cluster Production Director and Rock 97.9 WGRD midday host Janna Hoke will follow in afternoons. The station’s morning show will be jockless outside of news and weather updates from WXMI-TV. WFGR ranked ninth in the Grand Rapids market with a 3.2 share in May 2024 Nielsen Audio ratings where it trailed iHeartMedia’s Oldies “101.3 Big-FM” WBFX’s 4.5 share. more

From Radio Insight: The on-air staff cuts across Alpha Media reached Anchorage AK today. While not a near-complete purge like we have seen in other markets. a number of staffers have exited the cluster including the entire staff of “Classic Country 100.9” KAYO Wasilla. The company will also close its offices in Wasilla that housed KAYO and consolidate all operations into its Anchorage facility. Among the staffers exiting are: Kathy Mitchell, morning host at KAYO and midday host at Country “K-Bear 104.1” KBRJ. Mitchell joined KAYO in 2009 after two long stints at sister Rock 106.5 KWHL where she was also Music Director. Steve ‘DJ Lefty’ Franklin, APD/afternoon host at KBRJ and cluster Production Director. He previously has worked in the market at “Movin 105.7” KMVN. Eric Price departs as afternoon host at Classic Hits “Kool 97.3” KEAG and midday host at KWHL where he used the on-air name ‘Generic Eric’. Norman Bouchard is out as midday host at KAYO after less than a year. Bouchard joined the station in August 2023 after retiring from his 29 year career as a high school teacher and coach. Roxi Lennox exits as Brand Manager and afternoon host at KAYO. She previously also hosted middays on KEAG during her most recent stint with the company. Lennox also spent four years in sales and co-hosting mornings at iHeartMedia Country 107.5 KASH-FM from 2010 to 2014 and served as PD/morning co-host at Morris Communications (now Alpha) Hot AC “Mix 103” KMXS from 1997 to 2008. more

From Radio Insight: As part of cutbacks last week, Paramount Global deleted the digital archives of MTV News, CMT, Comedy Central and many other cable networks. Gone are over two and half decades of news stories about artists, clips of historical significance from The Daily Show and Colbert Report, and even things like lists of the Greatest Country Albums of All Time. The archives include years or decades of work of writers and hosts that are now mostly gone (Archive.org has archived over 460,000 stories from MTV News at least). When a host or show are let go from a radio station, the first thing most do is delete their entire existence from their digital platforms. Blog posts, podcasts, anything that shows the content they created for the station. And the same goes for internal archives. When a format changes, there goes everything that existed on the frequency previously. How many stations still have any audio recorded on analog devices that have to be digitized or even have archives of any sort for their station’s legacy? And that doesn’t include how many assets of a station have been lost in studio moves and downsizing. Now what happens when the guy who hosted weekend shifts in college becomes the next Ryan Seacrest and you have nothing to show for it? Or when the local kid who sang on your morning show becomes a #1 artist a decade later? Who will have the archives? How many on-air talents are allowed to take their content archives with them when they get caught in a layoff? We can’t rely on just Art Vuolo or one of the few remaining vocal aircheck collectors out there to provide any content forever. A couple of years ago I was visiting a station and noticed a computer with a bumper sticker for a defunct brand in the engineering room. The engineer goes, “Oh this is all that remains of that. Last week we cleaned out our storage area and threw out all remaining materials for it”. Not even six weeks later that brand was resurrected. While it may be hard to consider at the time, I bet there were super-fans of the defunct brand who would’ve loved to have come by to get some mementos from their station, or if the leftovers were put up for sale on eBay to raise money for charity? There are stations that do consider how much their brand assets matter. And because of that their brand legacies are enhanced. Some like Ryman Hospitality’s WSM Nashville have decades of success behind it. As WSM prepares its move into their new studio location at the Acuff House later this month, Chief Engineer Jason Cooper recently spotlighted the almost completed construction with a station museum in the lobby. During a recent trip to St. Louis, we visited Gateway Creative Broadcasting’s “99.1 Joy-FM” KLJY and “Boost Radio“. Despite not existing until after the turn of the century, the organization has built such a loyal following that the lobby of their studios features a massive retail store and occasional pop-ups across the market. The brand equity in having archived content and materials is not something that will make a real impact to a station’s bottom-line, but fanaticism for a brand is the difference between a station that has a few core listeners and one that your audience will dedicate their dollars to support. “99X” Atlanta and “Live 105” San Francisco were able to return and become even bigger ratings successes because they were stations that had personality archives and legacy to build off of. more

From Radio Insight: University of Northwestern – St. Paul’s Northwester Media has announced a number of promotions at its stations in Kansas City and Omaha. The moves start with “Life 88.5” KJNW Kansas City General Manager Dave Gordon and “Life 100.7” KGBI-FM Omaha Station Manager Suzanne Happs rising to Senior Directors of Media Markets for the company. Gordon has led KJNW since 2013 after previous stints as Executive Director for Bethesda Christian Broadcasting and APD/afternoon host of KXOJ Tulsa. Happs joined KGBI in 2018 after roles as Assistant Operations Director and afternoon co-host at WCIC Peoria IL, Operations Director at WPFF Sturgeon Bay WI, and Station Manager of WMSJ Freeport ME. Succeeding Gordon at KJNW is Adam Hannan in the role of Station Manager. Hannan joined KJNW last October as Operations Director after previously serving has Station Manager for “Life 101.9” KNWS Waterloo IA. In Omaha, Operations Director/Program Director Jeremy Tracey rises to Station Manager and APD Lindsay Martin rises to Program Director. Underwriting Director Nick Kalina has been named Assistant Program Director. more

From Radio Insight: iHeartMedia Hot AC “Mix 96.9” KMXP Phoenix has made a noticeable music shift over the past couple of weeks into a much more Pop/Alternative lean. The move give more musical separation between KMXP and co-owned AC “99.9 KEZ” KESZ and CHR “104.7 Kiss-FM” KZZP, while more directly targeting Hubbard Alternative “Alt AZ 93.3” KDKB. The move sees the station drop artists such as Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, and Justin Timberlake and add currents from Zach Bryan, Good Neighbors, Royel Otis, and Mark Ambor. The 5pm hour on Tuesday, July 2 featured: Luke Combs – Fast Car Green Day – Holiday Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – Fortnight Blues Traveler – Run Around Eddie Vedder – Save It For Later Jimmy Eat World – The Middle Zach Bryan ft. Kasey Musgraves – I Remember Fall Out Boy – Uma Thurman Benson Boone – Slow It Down Sublime – Santeria Post Malone ft. Morgan Wallen – I Had Some Help O.A.R. – Shattered (Turn The Car Around) Rosa Linn – Snap INSTANT INSIGHT: KMXP ranked fifteenth in the Phoenix market with a 2.6 share in the May 2024 Nielsen Audio ratings. It was the only iHeartMedia station not to place in the top five in Women 25-54 as it was sixth. The aforementioned KDKB was third. more

From Radio Insight: The first of two possible format changes in Asheville NC took place this morning as Saga Communications flipped ?Pure Oldies 97.3? W247BV/96.5 WOXL-HD3 Asheville to Spanish CHR “La Pantera 97.3“. The station is utilizing the branding and programming designed by Spanish language programming consultant Gerardo Lopez with a mix of Regional Mexican and Spanish pop music. Lopez also is President of Programming for Costa Media with the brand heard on stations in markets including Boston, San Antonio, and Washington DC as well as Dick Broadcasting stations in New Bern NC and Hilton Head SC. Lopez stated, “I’m very excited for La Pantera radio network to continue to grow now in Asheville. We are grateful for our partnership with Asheville Media Group to give us the opportunity to serve our growing Hispanic community.? Saga Asheville Market Manager Tom Davis commented, ?Our team felt it was time to launch Asheville?s first Spanish language radio station and mentioned the idea to friends at Hola Carolina. Hola Carolina builds bridges between cultures and embraces the diversity of our community. They were excited to hear our vision for this brand and offered valuable insight and advice. t?s been hard to keep this exciting news to ourselves, but we?ve had overwhelming support from clients who will have an opportunity to reach a portion of the population they have been unable to reach until now. We?re thrilled that La Pantera 97.3 is on the air in western North Carolina.? Local programming will be added in the near future. more

From Radio Insight: Following his exit from Alpha Media in May, Bob Fisher is joining Coloff Media’s “98.7 Kiss Country” KSMA-FM Osage and Classic Rock “Fox 103.7” KLKK Clear Lake IA as News and Sports Director. Fisher served as News Director for Alpha’s Mason City cluster until being part of the company’s on-going talent purge. He will begin his duties with Coloff Media’s Mason City duo in August interviewing local newsmakers for on-air and online reports and serving as play-by-play voice for Clear Lake High School sports on KLKK. Jim Coloff stated, “For years I have admired Bob and the work he did covering news and sports in North Iowa. With Bob on our team, we are going to fill the void of local news in Mason City and the surrounding area. With our other local news stations in Forest City, Charles City and New Hampton, we plan to be the trusted source of local news and information for years to come.? Fisher added, “I?m thrilled with the opportunity to work with Coloff Media on a new venture of providing local news and sports for their Mason City stations. Coloff Media?s stations here and in other communities throughout Iowa are known for a strong commitment to providing quality local programming to their listeners.? more

From Radio Online: Two of the nation's radio associations have announced a partnership to assist small and medium size market radio station owners. The Independent Broadcasters Association (IBA) and the Radio Vendor Alliance (RVA) are introducing a series of initiatives using their combined resources to help broadcasters More...

From Radio Insight: After just six months as Director of Spoken Word Programming overseeing iHeartMedia News/Talk 1040 WHO Des Moines and Sports 1460 KXNO Des Moines/106.3 KXNO-FM Ankeny IA, Peter Thiele has exited the stations. Thiele’s brief tenure at the stations was eventful with the exits of Maxwell Schaeffer and Amy Sweet from mornings at WHO in March followed by the move of midday host Jeff Angelo to the morning spot. At KXNO, Keith Murphy and Andy Fales departed last month after fifteen years at the station. Thiele has previously programmed WVNN/WUMP Huntsville AL, WORD Greenville SC, KFAX/KNTS San Francisco, WMCA/WNYM New York, KARN Little Rock, and KZRG Joplin MO prior to joining WHO and KXNO/KXNO-FM in January. He has also served as a host and account executive for Salem’s KLUP San Antonio. more

From Radio Insight: RadioInsight Exclusive: After just one year at helm of Latino Media Network, Sylvia Banderas Coffinet has exited the company. Banderas Coffinet was appointed Latino Media Network’s first CEO in May 2023. She had previously held roles as Vox Media General Manager of Marketing Equity & Inclusion Partnerships, General Manager of Multicultural Brand Partnerships and Marketing for Group Nine Media, Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer for ?HOLA! Magazine, National Advertising Director at PEOPLE en Espa?ol, and Beauty Director at Glamour and Latina Magazine. In a statement, a company spokesperson stated, “Sylvia transitioned from her role as CEO of Latino Media Network (LMN) on May 31, 2024. Sylvia?s leadership was critical for our company at one of the most important moments in our history. As our first CEO, she stepped up to steward the organization through our first full year in business. Marc Manahan, who has served as our president and CFO since the beginning of the company, will serve as interim CEO until we determine the longer term trajectory of leadership.” The spokesperson continued, “To date, LMN has built a tremendous team that, since our founding, has led us through the acquisition of 17 radio stations in 9 markets, built a top-notch station service team, has begun the content strategy rollout at LMN and constructed a best-in-class sales organization. Collectively, the team has been foundational in driving our growth and advancing our mission of representing and uplifting the Latino community. Our co-founders, Stephanie Valencia and Jessica Morales Rocketto, have no doubt this team will continue to thrive and excel as LMN moves into its next phase of growth.” more

From Radio Insight: Nielsen completes its release of the May 2024 diary surveys today. Today’s markets include Jackson MS. The June PPM ratings release will commence on Tuesday, July 9. more

From Radio Insight: Is Townsquare prepping a change in Lake Charles LA? Are two companies looking to make a move in Asheville NC? Plus upcoming changes in Astoria OR and Brownwood TX. This content is for Premium Annual and Premium Monthly members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read. more

From Radio Online: PodcastOne will debut its latest podcast, "Wholeheartedly with Kendall and Galey." Hosted by top fitness instructor and wellness influencer Kendall Toole and DIY home renovation expert and HBO MAX host Galey Alix, "Wholeheartedly" is set to debut July 17 with weekly episodes dropping on each Wednesday. More...

From Radio Online: Northwestern Media ups Adam Hannan to Station Manager for KJNW-FM (Life 88.5) in Kansas City. He previously served as the Contemporary Christian outlet's Operations Director and as Station Manager for co-owned KNWS (Life 101.9) in Waterloo, IA. Hannan replaces Dave Gordon, who has been named a Senior More...

From Radio Online: Westwood One Senior VP and Executive Editor John Wordock exits after five years with the group. Before joining Cumulus and Westwood One in February, 2019, Wordock served as the Executive Producer of Podcasts for the Wall Street Journal and guided the multi-department team that launched the podcast More...

From Radio Insight: John Low’s 1TV.com is selling “Oldies 96.5” KIKO-FM Claypool AZ in a package deal with George Kimble’s Media Sales LLC’s 96.5 K243BN Laveen/Phoenix for $2.4 million. Buyers Arturo Murguia and Yasmin Orozco’s Orozco Broadcasting will operate the two signals synchronously with the translator fed by an HD subchannel of the parent. The deal is part of a settlement agreement between the two sellers to eliminate interference caused by the translator to the parent signal. The buyers have no other radio properties. Low will retain Classic Country “The Bull” 1340 KIKO Apache Junction/99.1 K256DK Phoenix/105.1 K286BS Miami AZ. Kimble served as broker of the deal through his RadioTV4Sale.com. more

From Radio Insight: Cumulus Media has announced it has signed Mark Levin to a contract extension to continue his daily 6-9pm Eastern syndicated talk show on Westwood One and Cumulus’ Podcast Network. Levin will also develop an original podcast for the company. The new deal replaces the “Lifetime extension” that Levin signed with the company in 2016 that ran through the end of 2025. Levin has been syndicated since 2006 after beginning his radio career hosting a weekend show at WABC New York in 2002. The attorney had previously been a regular guest on Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity?s programs. Levin stated, “This has been my radio home for 23 years, and I am more excited than ever ? especially during these tumultuous and historic times ? to continue my relationship with my first-rate broadcast partners for many years to come. I understand my obligation is to serve the millions of patriotic Americans in the audience. I am blessed to do what I do, and I am committed every day to providing detailed analyses of current events along with historic context, commentary, and my in-depth perspectives to deliver the very best broadcasting I am able to share with our many listeners.? Westwood One President and Cumulus Media EVP/Corporate Strategy & Development Collin Jones added, “Mark is a powerful and influential voice with an incredible ability to establish strong relationships with his listeners while driving tremendous results for his advertising partners. Mark has been dubbed ?The Great One? for his ability to concisely break down the day?s most significant topics, and we are thrilled to grow our partnership with him for years to come.? more

From Radio Online: Urban One's WPPZ-FM (Classix 107.9) in Philadelphia names Shaila Scott as its new midday personality. She has a career in radio spanning over 30 years. Scott was the first hostess of "Kissing After Dark," co-host of the "The Kiss Wake Up Club," and aired in middays for decades until she departed from WBLS in More...

From Radio Online: Edison Research has announced that the Sports Audio Report: Female Fans with SiriusXM Media and Group M will be presented in a webinar Tuesday, July 16 at 2pm ET. This webinar will explore the unique audio listening habits of U.S. female sports fans a show how they interact with sports beyond the field. The More...

From Radio Online: Salem Media Group closed on its sale of the company's Christian Music Stations in Nashville, TN and Honolulu, HI to Educational Media Foundation for $7 million on Wednesday, June 26. Included in the deal were WFFH-FM and WFFI-FM (The Fish) in Nashville and KAIM-FM (The Fish) in More...

From Radio Online: Veteran talk host Mark Levin has extended his contract to host both his syndicated radio program, "The Mark Levin Show," on Westwood One and his podcast, "Mark Levin Audio Rewind," on the Cumulus Podcast Network for multiple years. Levin will also develop and host an all-new show for the network, his first More...

From Radio Insight: Michael ?Froggy? Cusmano has exited the MJ Morning Show at Beasley Media Classic Hits “Q105” 104.7 WRBQ Tampa in a budget cut. Cusmano shared on Instagram, “Crappy Monday report* I was let go today from the Morning show due to budget cuts. I want to thank beasley for 4 amazing years. I’ll miss it. Cusmano originally worked on Todd ‘MJ Kelli’ Schnitt’s morning show at iHeartMedia CHR 93.3 WFLZ Tampa in the 2000s where he was the second cast member of the show to be billed as ‘Froggy’. He would reunite with MJ and Dom ?Fester? Siciliano in 2019 for a podcast, which then led to them joining WRBQ for mornings in October 2020. He also used the on-air name ‘Kooz’ as night host at “XL 106.7” WXXL Orlando and “98 Rock” WXTB Tampa. Beasley signed Schnitt to a contract extension in April. He, Roxanne Wilder, and Siciliano remain in mornings. more

From Radio Insight: After dropping YEA Networks’ Greg Beharrell Show, Cumulus Media Alternative “Q101” WKQX Chicago has added Lyndsey Marie to its lineup for nights. Known in the market for her four years in middays at the former “97.9 The Loop” WLUP from 2014 until the station’s demise in 2018, Lyndsey had been tracking nights at sister Classic Hits 94.7 WLS-FM. Before and after her time at WLUP, she was based in Atlanta at “Rock 100.5” WNNX and currently tracks remotely for multiple Cumulus stations including “96 Rock” WFTK Cincinnati, Classic Rock “101 The Fox” KCFX Kansas City, and Rock “93X” KXXR Minneapolis. more

From Radio Online: Bolognious Francine Marconi will be upgrading his role with idobi Network. He's been the creative imaging voice and audio alchemist for idobi Network since 2015. In his new upgraded role he will be even more involved in the day to day creative aspects of the sound of all idobi brands and assist where needed More...

From Radio Online: WOKV-FM/Jacksonville, FL Director of Branding and Programming Jim Graci is retiring after more than five decades in radio. Prior to joining the Jacksonville News/Talk outlet two years ago, Graci previously spent nearly a decade as the Brand Manager of both News/Talk KDKA-AM and Sports KDKA-FM (93.7 The Fan) More...

From Radio Insight: Townsquare Media has promoted Russell Lawson to Market President for its Bozeman MT cluster. Lawson has served as Director of Sales for the cluster since March 2022 after fifteen years with Cox Media Group. During his time with Cox, Lawson served as an account executive in Jacksonville, General Sales Manager and then Station Director/Director of Sales in Athens GA, and Integrated Sales Manager in San Antonio. Lawson succeeds Scott Souhrada, who has retired after leading the cluster for the past decade. Souhrada moved over to management after a long tenure in programming Rock and Adult Alternative at stations including KBZU and KTZO Albuquerque, KKGL Boise, KYYS Kansas City, KGA and KAEP Spokane, and KATS Yakima. more

From Radio Online: Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) names Jessica Williams, a national AC host, and Community Outreach Director for Townsquare Media in Rochester, MN as 'Speak Up's' 2024 mentee. Created in partnership with Media Staffing Network and Laurie Kahn before her death, Speak Up! is a one-year program More...

From Radio Insight: Nielsen continues its releases of the May 2024 diary surveys today. Today’s markets include monthly ratings for Chattanooga and Huntsville Coming tomorrow: Monthly ratings for Jackson MS. more

From Radio Online: Neuhoff Family LP, the parent company of Neuhoff Media-Springfield LLC and Neuhoff Media-Bloomington LLC has entered into an agreement to sell the assets of WFMB-AM andamp; FM, WCVS-FM, WXAJ-FM and Channel1450.com in Springfield, IL and WBBE-FM, WWHX-FM and WIHN-FM in Bloomington, IL to Woodward Communications. More...

From Radio Online: After launching on Rhythmic AC KEZE-FM/Spokane in January, 2023, the Joey andamp; Lauren show is moving to mornings on sister Hot AC KZZU-FM, effective July 8. "Joey andamp; Lauren in The Morning" features segments like "Make Up Or Break Up," "That Awkward Moment," "Phone Jenks" and more. "We are honored to have More...