Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Urban One to Pay $4.2 Million for WTEM-AM, Washington. The price tag of deal that will transfer ownership of sports talk WTEM-AM, Washington from Dan Snyder-controlled Red Zebra to Urban One is $4.2 million. In its filing with the SEC, Urban One reports that it “expects to generate approximately $1.7 million of pro-forma EBITDA from the assets, which represents a buyer’s multiple of approximately 2.5x.." The presser from Urban One confirms that the station will continue to serve as the flagship station for Washington Redskins football. (Games and related programming will also continue to air on Cumulus Media’s WMAL-AM/FM, Washington.) Urban One president and CEO Alfred Liggins says, “This is a tremendous opportunity for Urban One and we are especially pleased that through our acquisition, ‘The Team 980’ will continue to be locally owned. The acquisition of ‘The Team 980’ is very much in line with our strategy of super-serving our community of listeners. We have deep roots in the greater Washington, DC area and are well aware that ‘The Team 980’ has always been a fan favorite. Red Zebra has a track record of producing great programming that engages our hometown sports fans. We look forward to working with the Washington Redskins organization to continue this tradition.."
PPM Analysis: All-News. Managing editor Mike Kinosian presents and analysis of the performances of stations based on data from Nielsen Audio’s April PPM survey, today focusing on the all-news format. As Kinosian notes, the April PPM survey was not kind to the all-news format with just one station – Entercom’s KCBS-AM, San Francisco – notching at gain. The station went up a 0.5 share in the adjacent San Jose market. However, comparing year-over-year numbers, about half the all-news stations in PPM markets saw their 6+ numbers increase, with iHeartMedia’s KFBK, Sacramento rising by 0.8 share. Although it went down by 0.8 share, Hubbard Radio’s WTOP-FM, Washington still ranked #1 in its market, while KCBS-AM ranked #2 in both the San Francisco and San Jose markets and KFBK ranked #2 in Sacramento. See the entire report here.
WBEN-AM, Buffalo’s ‘12 Voices in 12 Hours’ Initiative Addresses Opioid Addition. The “12 Voices in 12 Hours." initiative continues at Entercom’s news/talk WBEN-AM, Buffalo “NewsRadio 930." with the station this time addressing the opioid addiction epidemic. The station is presenting 14 hours of programming on the issue today (5/23) from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm. Each hour of programming will feature a different voice on the issue, including medical experts, addiction experts, pain management experts, recovering opioid addicts, and family members of some of the victims of the epidemic. The day’s special programming will conclude with a two-hour, live “Opioid Conversation." at the City of Tonawanda High School auditorium from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
iHeartMedia First Quarter 2018 Revenue Down 1.7%. Revenue for the first quarter of 2018 for iHeartMedia’s radio division was $744.5 million – a decrease of 1.7% compared to the same period in 2017. The company, currently in Chapter 11 reorganization, did not make any statements accompanying the financial data in the 8-K report, nor is it holding an investor’s conference call. The company as a whole – including its Outdoor segments – was up 3.1% on consolidated revenue of $1.36 billion.
Dave Schrader Assumes Host Role for ‘Midnight in the Desert.’ The Dark Matter Digital Network announces that Dave Schrader is officially named the host of the “Midnight in the Desert." program that had been hosted by the late Art Bell. Schrader has hosted “Darkness Radio,." “Beyond the Darkness,." “True-Crime Tuesday." and was a frequent weekend host for “Coast to Coast AM.." Keith Rowland, manager/operator of Rowland Network Communications, LLC for the Dark Matter Digital Network, says they are actively seeking terrestrial radio affiliates for the program. “Dave Schrader brings a wealth of experience, professionalism, and credibility to the search of the paranormal, the weird, and the anomalous that will continue to keep ‘Midnight in the Desert’ as the leading Internet-based LIVE paranormal program.."
U.S.-North Korea Summit, Trump-Russia Investigation, Iran Nuclear Deal, Primary Races, Prison Reform Bill, MLB Action, and NBA Playoffs Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (5/22). The uncertain status of the planned summit between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un; special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible connections between Trump campaign operatives and Russian agents; the state of the Iran nuclear deal after the U.S.’s exit from the pact; the primary elections in Georgia, Texas, and Kentucky; the Trump Administration’s prison reform bill passes the House; Major League Baseball action; and the NBA playoffs were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.
Radio Historian and Videographer Art Vuolo Is This Week’s Guest on Harrison Podcast. Noted radio historian and videographer Art Vuolo is this week’s guest on the award-winning PodcastOne series “The Michael Harrison Interview.." Vuolo has been chronicling radio conferences for nearly 30 years and archiving the very best radio personalities on video since 1979. He has recorded video of some of the greatest on-air legends in studio doing their shows. In many cases, these are the only recorded documents of these figures in existence. His entire library will be featured in a permanent exhibit soon to be unveiled at the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago. Harrison describes Vuolo as “the biggest devotee of American radio that I have ever met.." He was aptly dubbed “Radio’s Best Friend." by legendary DJ (and current WCBS-FM, New York morning host) Scott Shannon in the early 1980’s… a moniker that has stuck over the years. On June 8, Vuolo will be the recipient of the prestigious 2018 Lifetime Achievement award at the annual TALKERS convention in New York City, TALKERS 2018: Full Speed Ahead! Harrison and Vuolo take a deep-dive conversation into the golden era of radio’s top 40/personality stations and then some. This interview is a radio freak’s delight. To listen to the entire podcast, please click here or click on the player box marked “The Michael Harrison Interview." located in the right-hand column on every page of Talkers.com.
TALKERS Magazine Posts the 2018 Heavy Hundred. The 2018 edition of TALKERS magazine’s “100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America." has been posted. This annual list – compiled by the editors of TALKERS and known informally as the Heavy Hundred – ranks American radio talk show hosts in importance from one to 100. Today, TALKERS presents the 24thedition of this prestigious list in which the editors use a number of hard and soft factors in creating the ranking, including: ratings, revenue, courage, effort, impact, longevity, potential, recognition, service, talent, and uniqueness. TALKERS magazine executive editor Kevin Casey says, “Our editorial staff works very hard to consider all of the numerous personalities who qualify, and then whittle it down to just 100… a difficult task. This list is admittedly subjective to one degree or another but we at TALKERS take the task very seriously. Congratulations to all of the radio talk show hosts who made this year’s Heavy Hundred!." See the list here.
Tags: Alfred Liggins, Art Bell, Buffalo, Dark Matter Digital Network, Dave Schrader, Entercom, Hubbard Radio, KCBS-AM, Keith Rowland, KFBK, Midnight in the Desert, Mike Kinosian, Nielsen Audio, PPM, Redskins, Sacramento, San Francisco, Sports Talk, Urban One, Washington, wBEN-AM, WTEM-AM, WTOP-FM
Category: Front Page News, Industry News