For Immediate Release:

Thursday, December 8, 2022

WCBS-FM Morning Co-Host Patty Steele Is This Week’s Guest on Harrison Podcast. The longtime on-air partner to legendary WCBS-FM, New York morning personality Scott Shannon – the abundantly talented Patty Steele – is this week’s guest on the award-winning PodcastOne series “The Michael Harrison Interview.” For almost nine years, she has served with Shannon on his successful WCBS-FM, New York morning show. Before that she worked with Shannon on ground-breaking stints at WPLJ and Z-100 in the Big Apple. Shannon recently announced his retirement from the show, thus ending its dynamic run. Their last show together will be December 16 live from the Blythedale Children’s Hospital, after which Steele will devote more time to her award-winning podcast, “The Deep 6,” which she co-hosts with Steve Cochran of WLS, Chicago. Steele has co-hosted shows with such icons as Elvis Duran and John Lander on dominant stations in addition to having anchored news for WCBS Newsradio 880, 1010WINS and WOR in New York City. This year, she was honored with a Gracie Award for her “Deep 6” podcast and was named one of Radio Ink’s “Most Influential Women” in radio. She also received the Airblazer Award from Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio. An eight-year breast cancer survivor, this deeply caring wife and mother regularly speaks at fundraisers in the fight against the disease for Susan G. Komen and the TJ Martell Foundation, which honored her in 2018. In 2017, she was the keynote speaker for the Breast Cancer Alliance in Westchester, NY and Greenwich, CT which raised a record $1.7 million and was the featured speaker in 2019 for National Cancer Survivors Day at the Danbury Medical Center. Additionally, she has spoken publicly for children’s causes as well as the fight against addiction. Harrison and Steele discuss her extraordinary radio career, health challenges, the industry in general, and her son’s successful struggle with heroin. Michael Harrison states, “Patty Steele is an extraordinary radio broadcaster and human being. I am gratified that we were able to scratch the surface of her deep well of magic in this conversation.” To listen to the podcast in its entirety, please click here.

Saga Communications Reveals It Has Rejected Unsolicited Bid for Acquisition. The board of directors of Saga Communications announces that it “received and ultimately rejected a confidential, unsolicited, and non-binding conditional indication of interest to acquire the company under two potential transaction structures.” Saga does not name the company making the offer but it’s being widely reported that Connoisseur Media‘s Jeffrey Warshaw was the party involved. Saga goes on to say, “The first structure was a cash buyout offer in the range of $30 to $33 per share for all outstanding shares of Saga common stock on a fully diluted basis. The second structure was a

merger with the offeror providing the indication of interest in which Saga shareholders would receive $12.47 per share in cash at closing and would own 83.1% of the new combined entity, which would then assume the offeror’s existing debt. In the board’s judgment, the offeror did not provide sufficient evidence of ability to obtain the required financing under either structure. In either case, based on the structure and highly conditional nature of the offer, the result would have been a takeover of the company by a smaller broadcaster, to be soon followed by a significant leveraging of the company’s (or its successor’s) cash and other assets to finance the transaction through borrowing and issuing preferred equity.” The Saga board of directors says it “did not believe this indication of interest was acceptable given the board’s view of the fundamental value of the company and its assets, the assumptions and significant financial contingencies underlying the offer, the longstanding mission of the company to develop and operate broadcast properties, and the board’s confidence that the company can ultimately create more value for shareholders in comparison to the highly conditional offer. In conjunction with the company’s consultants and legal and financial advisors, the board will continue to formally review and evaluate all opportunities to enhance shareholder value, including through the new variable dividend policy as well as future acquisitions of additional broadcast properties.”

Saga Declares Cash Dividends. At the same time as it revealed the acquisition offers noted in the story above, Saga Communications says it is declaring a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share and a special cash dividend of $2.00 per share on its Class A common stock. The dividend will be paid on January 13, 2023, to shareholders of record on December 21, 2022. The aggregate amount of the payment to be made in connection with the combined quarterly and special dividends will be approximately $13.6 million. The quarterly and special cash dividends will be funded by cash on the company’s balance sheet. Including this dividend, the company will have paid over $106.6 million in dividends to shareholders since the first special dividend was paid in 2012. In addition, the board of directors adopted a new variable dividend policy

for the allocation of cash flows aligned with the company’s goals of maintaining a strong balance sheet, increasing cash returns to shareholders, and continuing to grow the Company through strategic acquisitions. Under the new policy, in addition to any quarterly and special dividends paid, the company will declare an additional dividend in the second quarter of each year of 70% of the preceding year’s annual free cash flow, as reported in the company’s fourth quarter earnings release, net of acquisitions, special and quarterly dividends, debt paydowns and debt issuance costs, and stock buybacks. Saga president and CEO Christopher Forgy comments, “We are very pleased that our strong capital position and operating performance allowed us to declare another regular quarterly cash dividend and a special cash dividend. We are excited to continue our commitment to provide a meaningful cash return to our shareholders through the declarations of these dividends. In addition, we have made tremendous progress during what has been a period of transition for our board of directors and executive management team. Our sustained financial strength has put us in a position to meet operational goals and to support efforts to return value to our shareholders. The cash dividends announced today, along with the new variable dividend policy, express the confidence of our board of directors and executive management team in Saga’s future.”

Texas Talk Radio Host Lynn Woolley Publishes New Fiction Book. Texas talk host Lynn Woolley – co-host of the “Cardle & Woolley” show on Audacy’s news/talk KJCE, Austin “Talk 1370” and host of the “Planet

Logic” podcast – announces the publication of Darker Secrets (Planet Logic Press, 2022). Woolley says, “The book is the second in a series of three books that will contain all the stories in my own personal canon. Some date back to 1967 when I was a mere 17 years old, to several tales written specifically for Darker Secrets. The book is available as a paperback and as an eBook for Kindle or Nook. If you read the prior book, The Clock Tower and Other Stories, you’ll notice some familiar characters returning in Darker Secrets.  But even so, this collection has its own eerie identity. While The Clock Tower was mostly fantasy and science fiction, this book adds the element of mystery with eight stories that focus on detection. The fantasy element is back as well with a century-spanning vampire story leading off the book, followed by a pair of supernatural themed tales.  Two stories have an element of science fiction, and one crosses over into the superhero genre.” You can reach out to Lynn Woolley at: lwoolley9189@gmail.com.

TALKERS News Notes — On New Year’s Eve, the program “100 Years of WGN Radio: A Retrospective” will air on

WGN-TV, Chicago at 4:00 pm. This encore presentation of the special that first aired on the Nexstar Media Group station’s 100^th anniversary on May 19 caps WGN-AM’s year-long celebration. The 45-minute documentary produced by WGN Radio presents an overview of highlights from a century of broadcasting, from its founding in 1922 by two Chicagoans to present-day. Viewers will see the faces of familiar voices including Bob Sirott, John Williams, Lou Manfredini, Dave Eanet, Mary Van De Velde, Dave Plier, Steve King and Johnnie Putman, and others reflect upon their own experiences and share memorable moments…..Audio analytics and research platform Veritonic announces that it has been approved as an attribution partner by independent podcast company Acast. Veritonic says that with this, the more than 2,400 advertisers and 88,000 podcasters that use the Acast platform to distribute their podcast content can elect to use Veritonic’s robust attribution capabilities to optimize and further increase the ROI of their audio campaigns. Veritonic CEO Scott Simonelli states, “We are pleased to partner with Acast to support brands, agencies, and publishers with the holistic data and analytics they need to increase their reach and ROI with audio. The powerful combination of our attribution and brand lift technology provides unparalleled and comprehensive measurement of audio campaigns from top to bottom in one unified and intuitive platform.”…..SiriusXM announces new programming initiatives focused on mental health, including the launch of a full-time streaming channel, Mental Health Radio, in conjunction with NYU Langone Health. In addition, SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio channel is more than doubling its mental health programming, with the channel now airing live daily shows. On Mental Health Radio, listeners will hear the week’s top mental health programming from Doctor Radio, which will include calls and questions from listeners, as well as searchable highlights from the channel’s vast archives. Along with the new streaming channel, Doctor Radio is expanding “The Psychiatry Show” to now air Mondays through Wednesdays, and “About Our Kids” to air Thursdays and Fridays. SiriusXM president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein says, “Since its launch in 2008, Doctor Radio, with advice from NYU Langone’s top doctors and experts has been a tremendous asset for those needing medical advice.”

Talkers Books Releases New Title by Dr. Murray Sabrin. The boutique book publishing arm of TALKERS magazine, Talkers Books, announces the release of From Immigrant to Public Intellectual: An American Story by prolific writer and popular news/talk radio guest, Dr. Murray Sabrin (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMZ9WP1F). The new autobiographical book with a foreword by Michael Harrison is described as a truly American story about an immigrant child’s rise from humble beginnings in a family of Jewish Holocaust survivors from post-WWII Germany to forge a stellar career as an educator,

author, political candidate, and influential “public intellectual.” Murray Sabrin explains libertarianism in plain language using his own life story set against a half-century backdrop of changing times. In 1997, Dr. Sabrin made New Jersey political history as the nominee of the Libertarian Party in the state’s gubernatorial election by being the first third-party candidate to gather enough support to meet the requirements for receiving matching funds and a place on the stage at all three debates with the two major party standard bearers. Murray Sabrin, Ph.D. is emeritus professor of finance, Ramapo College of New Jersey. He is considered a “public intellectual” for writing essays about the economy in scholarly and popular publications in addition to his numerous appearances during the past three decades as a talk media guest commenting on political and social issues. He is the author of Tax Free 2000, Why the Federal Reserve Sucks; Universal Medical Care: From Conception to End-of-Life; Navigating the Boom/Bust Cycle; and most recently, The Finance of Health Care: Wellness and Innovative Approaches to Employee Medical Insurance. His commentaries can be followed at murraysabrin.substack.com. To arrange an interview with Dr. Murray Sabrin to discuss anything from his days as a student growing up in the Bronx during the JFK/LBJ era to his groundbreaking gubernatorial campaign to his present-day status as one of the leading libertarian thinkers and spokespersons in America with insights into inflation, crime, health care and U.S. involvement in foreign affairs – contact Victoria Jones at DC Radio Company. 917-865-3991 or victoria@dcradiocompany.com.

Trump in ‘24/Legal Battles, Arizona Governor’s Race, Georgia Senate Race/New Congress, The Economy/Crypto Woes, SCOTUS Voting Case, Hunter Biden-Twitter Case, Respect for Marriage Act, Russia-Ukraine War, China-Saudi Arabia Meeting, and Iran Execution Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (12/7). Former President Donald Trump’s bid for the White House in 2024, his place as leader of the Republican Party, and his numerous legal battles; the challenge to Arizona’s election results led by gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake; Raphael Warnock’s victory in the Georgia runoff election and U.S. House leadership in the new congress; inflation, predictions for a recession, and the state of crypto currency; the Supreme Court hears arguments in the North Carolina redistricting case; Republicans’ plans to investigate Twitters suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop files; the Respect for Marriage Act that would protect gay and interracial marriages; Vladimir Putin admits Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is taking longer than planned; China and Saudi Arabia meet for new petroleum deal; and Iran executes protestor were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

The Radio Sales Arena is Changing and We Are On the Leading Edge. The key to sales growth in radio going forward is multi-platform digital marketing. In the coming decade, “radio” will simply be the engine driving an increasingly complex and sophisticated array of digitally powered platforms creating endless packages and options for the

advertiser. The keys to success will be in branding that cuts through the noise and surgical targeting that delivers optimum efficiency for agencies that know exactly what they want. The Salem Media Group is leading the way and the opportunities for our sales team are endless. But, right now, we need that special individual who has the tools, the vision and the ambition to get it done. That one special person who truly “gets it.” Jerry Crowley, the longest-running GM in the nation’s largest market, says, “We want one outstanding seller who can take it to the moon! Compensation will reflect potential and performance – salary will range from 50k- 85k plus substantial bonuses and generous commissions.” Candidates should send cover letter and resume to Jerry Crowley, VP/GM, Salem Media Group, NY (WMCA 570am The Mission/WNYM 970am The Answer) at Jcrowley@nycradio.com.

Salem Media New York Seeks Production Director. News/talk “AM 970 The Answer” WNYM and Christian Teach & Talk “AM 570 & 102.3 FM The Mission” WMCA is seeking its next full-time production director. Candidates must be experienced and willing to work in our studios in Lower Manhattan, NYC. Interested candidates can apply directly on our corporate website here.

Tags: Acast, analytics and research platform, Audacy, Austin, broadcaster, cash buyout offer, cash dividends, Christopher Forgy, Darker Secrets, fiction book, kjce-am, Lynn Woolley, Medical Health Radio, news/talk radio, Planet Logic Press, Saga Communications, Scott Simonelli, shareholders, siriusXM, takeover, talk radio host, Talkers Magazine, unsolicited bid for acquisition, Veritonic

Category: Front Page News, Industry News