Industry Mourns the Passing of WRHU GM Bruce Avery
The vast Hofstra University community, its Lawrence Herbert School of Communication and the greater national radio broadcasting industry mourn the passing of longtime WRHU Radio general manager Bruce Avery. Avery passed away peacefully at home Saturday evening (1/14) after losing a five-year battle against an aggressive form of prostate cancer. He had held the position at the Long Island, NY facility – until his recent retirement in 2022 – since 1994. During that 28-year period, he successfully mentored countless students of radio broadcasting and played a major role in building the multi-Marconi Award-winning WRHU-FM/WRHU.org into a powerhouse among America’s campus radio stations. In 2021, WRHU was the recipient of the
prestigious “World Radio Day Award” from the Academy of Radio Arts and Sciences of America in conjunction with the United Nations‘ UNESCO General Conference. Recent recipients of this high honor include WTOP, Washington, DC; 1010 WINS, New York; and KDKA-FM, Pittsburgh. WRHU is the only campus radio station to receive this award. Hofstra University president Susan Posner states, “Bruce was an incredible friend and mentor who had a major hand in turning WRHU into the multi-Marconi award winning station that it is today. We will truly miss Bruce and cherish everything he gave to WRHU. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.” Lawrence Herbert School of Communication dean Mark Lukasiewicz adds, “Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Bruce’s widow Veronica, his children, and his extended family. We were fortunate to be able to celebrate Bruce’s career with him only a few months ago at his retirement luncheon, where former students and colleagues shared stories and fond memories of his decades of service at WRHU. At that event, we announced the establishment of an endowed scholarship in Bruce’s name, recognition of the deep impact he made on generations of students.” For the past two decades, Avery also served as an extremely popular meteorologist on News12 Long Island which posted a heartfelt video tribute to his legacy that you can see here. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
for Adam and I working together. He’s talented, opinionated, informed and funny. Miss a day and miss a lot. Afternoons on WEEI will be can’t-miss entertainment.” At the same time, Thomas announces that Ken Laird is being promoted from operations manager for the station to brand manager. He says, “Ken has stepped up and really proven himself as a leader this past year, and I’m very happy to elevate him in this new role. I know the best is yet to come.” Laird comments, “Working at WEEI, an iconic and influential brand, has been an honor dating back to my start here in 2002. To take on a brand manager role some 20 years later is both incredibly humbling and exciting. I can’t thank Mark Hannon and Mike Thomas enough for the guidance and opportunity they’ve given me. The sports radio ratings share in Boston is proof that the nation’s most passionate fans live here, and I’m ready for the challenge to work with this great staff to deliver the daily entertainment those fans crave.”
He’s retiring from Lotus Communications’ “Northwest Newsradio” after five decades on the air in Seattle. Hersholt says, “Thank you to those who have listened along the way and the many great people I have worked for. I feel truly blessed.” KNWN program director Rick Van Cise says, “Gregg gave every story he covered the importance it 
deserved. While his are big shoes to fill, we are pleased to announce the appointment of ‘Northwest Newsradio’ reporter Brian Calvert to the morning co-anchor post with Manda Factor. Brian’s engaging personality, news credibility and unique storytelling make him a great fit.” Calvert comments, “It’s been a thrill to be a part of one of the best morning teams ever in radio as a reporter, and now an honor to co-host the broadcast.”
and host weekend programs. The 69-year-old Morganti is a long-time co-host of Angelo Cataldi’s morning drive show and with Cataldi retiring from the station after the Philadelphia Eagles’ season ends, it was unclear what role Morganti would play with the station. In his piece, Blumenthal notes that when Audacy revealed that Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie would be the new morning drive show, it stated Morganti would continue to work for the station in some capacity. Morganti will host the hockey podcast twice per week during the season and once per week during the off-season. As for hosting weekend shows, there’s no indication he’ll have a regularly scheduled show, but will fill in when needed. Morganti also works for NBC Sports Philadelphia as a pre-and post-game analyst.
And Breeanna Malik rises from region SVP of sales for the Greater Texas Region to executive vice president of unified partnerships. Division president Scott Hopeck says, “It’s rewarding when you can promote from within your organization. The strong track records of these leaders combined with their response to ongoing coaching and development have made these promotions easy decisions. I’m excited to see how Amy and Steve transform our organization with their creativity and their commitment to client success.” President of unified partnerships Michael Preacher says, “We’re extremely excited to welcome Breeanna to executive leadership on our team. Given her history of high performance, Breeanna’s creativity, attention to detail and collaborative skills are a perfect fit in our partnerships division.”
has led his team to unprecedented revenue heights. His leadership across the Western Region played a significant factor in Salem’s overall revenue growth. In addition to Andy’s leadership for the Western Region, Andy will work closely with Chris Gould, SVP national programming and ministry relations and all our national ministry partners to better leverage our digital assets, generating more time with our quality audience while delivering outstanding results.” Massingill comments, “The last three years have been an incredible journey with Salem and the Western Region. I’m proud of our work, the work we will continue to do, and the relationships established across the board. I am very excited to work with Chris and our national ministry partners who are at the core fabric of what Salem stands for.” 
“exemplifies the best attributes of the radio industry.” Recipients may be large or small, commercial or non-commercial, located in any market, and broadcasting in any language. The jury looks for stations that demonstrate “ideals of localism, audience reach, community service, effective use of new digital platforms, diversity in program content and staffing, as well as financial and ratings success.” Previous U.S. winners were Audacy’s WINS-AM, New York; Hofstra University’s WRHU-FM, Hempstead, NY; and Hubbard Broadcasting’s WTOP-FM, Washington. Audacy Pittsburgh SVP and market manager Michael Spacciapolli says, “This distinguished honor underscores not only KDKA’s unwavering commitment to delivering premier news coverage to the Pittsburgh communities, but the individuals who work tirelessly each and every day to make it happen. We’re proud to join the list of iconic heritage brands that represent the very best the radio industry has to offer.” Jurors included representatives of Fletcher Heald & Hildreth, Radio Ink, The Weiss Agency, TALKERS magazine, McVay Media Consulting, Audacy and Radio World.
took over broadcasting during the daypart after Bohannon died in November. Cumulus says conservative commentator Rich Valdés assumed the radio time period from broadcasting legend Jim Bohannon last year and now launches his own distinct programming. “Rich Valdés America at Night” airs each weeknight from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am ET. “The Best of Rich Valdés America at Night,” a compilation of the week’s finest moments, airs each Saturday from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am ET. The Cumulus Podcast Network introduces the new podcast “Rich Valdés America at Night,” which provides on-demand access to Valdés daily content following the live over-the-air show. Valdés’ current podcast, “This is America with Rich Valdés,” moves to the Cumulus Podcast Network and will publish each Friday. Cumulus says, “In this podcast, Valdés breaks down American politics, taking his listeners on a journey through poverty, prosperity, and politics with humor, analysis, and a dash of sofrito.”
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indicates that #2 genre was Society & Culture (up from #3 in Q2 2022); #3 was News (down from #2 in Q2 2022), followed by True Crime at #4, Sports at #5, Business at #6, Arts at #7, History at #8 (up from #11 in Q2 2022), Religion & Spirituality at #9 (up from #10 in Q2 2022) and Education at #10 (down from #9 in Q2 2022). Podcasts are classified according to the self-identified genre submitted by the podcast to Apple Podcast API. Nineteen genres are identified as having at least one percent reach among those in the U.S. age 18+ for Q3 2022.
sportsbook branded radio station in the country.” Hubbard Seattle market manager Trip Reeb says, “We’re thrilled to bring this first-of-its-kind partnership to this market and radio industry. Building on our long and successful partnership with Tulalip Resort Casino allows for countless cross promotional opportunities as well as the ability to capitalize on the rapid expansion we’ve seen in the sports betting space, as well as the specialized sports betting content VSiN delivers.”
metrics, including person-level demographic, sociographic, media behavior, and purchase intent data to further inform podcast audience development and advertising decisions. Salem CEO David Santrella says, “We are thrilled to extend our partnership with Triton Digital, which has helped drive a significant increase in digital revenue while delivering our engaging content to our growing audience. We’re looking forward to this next chapter together, gaining increased visibility and a more comprehensive understanding of the behaviors and demographics of our audiences.”
ESPN Radio, Audacy, Cumulus, and his own company Green Roll Media. In his new role at Blue Wire, Crowe will play an integral role in the company’s in-person studio partnership with Wynn Resorts. Crowe will manage production, sales, promotions, events & marketing related to the Blue Wire Studios. This move reunites Crowe and Blue Wire founder Kevin Jones, who worked with Crowe at sports talk outlet KNBR, San Francisco. Jones says, “Jeremiah is a problem solver, a connector and an experienced executive playing a big role growing Blue Wire. Throughout his career he’s worked well with talent and can be a major contributor on the business side for us. We’re thrilled to add Jeremiah to our team.”
daily morning program streaming on audio and video from 7:00 am to 10:00 am CT and available as a podcast that the company will produce, distribute and sell. Bring Me The News says, “Barnard will be joined by a co-host, producer, and a number of other guests and contributors. Barnard left KQRS on Dec. 23 after 37 years hosting 92 KQ’s Morning Show, which for a period in the ‘90s was the highest rated morning radio show in the entire country. As he prepared to leave the station, Barnard claimed in an interview with the Star Tribune he had been forced out the door at KQ by parent company Cumulus Media, which had described Barnard’s departure as a ‘retirement.’” Barnard’s new show is expected to debut sometime next month. On Monday of this week, KQRS launched its new morning show hosted by radio personality and former Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman.
the station’s carriage of the sports talk format branded as “CBS Sports 1360.”According to a 
content leadership team that includes current news director LaToya Dennis and three staffers in newly created positions. The new director of community collaboration is Rebecca Fernandez; the director of audio content is Brad Waldo; and the digital director is Ryan Ellison. WMFE president and general manager Judith Smelser says, “These four leaders are experts in their distinct but overlapping fields, and I’m eager to see what they can accomplish for WMFE’s current and future audiences by working collaboratively as a team of co-equals. Our community expects and deserves high-quality, independent journalism that reflects and serves our diverse population, and WMFE is committed to providing that public service.”
Audacy announces that all-news and news/talk radio pro Craig Schwalb will take over as brand manager and news director for WBBM Newsradio on January 23, succeeding the retiring Ron Gleason. In this role, Schwalb will oversee content strategy, talent, operations and branding for the station. Audacy Chicago VP of programming and operations Greg Solk tells TALKERS, “When Ron Gleason announced his retirement last summer, we knew we had a major challenge in replacing him, since Ron has been the driving force behind WBBM for nearly two decades. We believe we have struck gold in tapping Craig Schwalb as WBBM’s new brand manager. Craig’s vast experience in news and spoken word formats, most recently running content and operations at WTOP in Washington, gives him the ideal skill set to lead this brand and drive innovation and growth for Chicago’s most trusted news voice.” Schwalb comments, “The chance to lead WBBM is an incredible opportunity that doesn’t come around often. It brings me back to my home state and to a city that I adore, while working with the team behind one of the nation’s elite news radio brands. Thank you to Jeff Sottolano, Rachel Williamson, Greg Solk and Bill Smee for their support in allowing me the honor of leading this great station.”
iHeartMedia welcomes Jay C. Lowe to the company as area president – Oklahoma, effective immediately. 
Salem Media Group announces that the program “Mike Crispi Unafraid” officially joins the Salem Podcast Network. The daily show is hosted by television reporter, talk show host, and political operative Mike Crispi. Salem says, “During the 2020 election, he provided live coverage of political rallies and grassroots conservative events on Right Side Broadcasting. In the last year, he has hosted one of the most popular live shows on Rumble. He has worked on multiple campaigns at both the state and federal levels, including his own congressional campaign in New Jersey. Crispi comments, “It is a great honor to join forces with Salem Media. I have long admired their hosts, programming, and vision for the future of conservative media. This podcast has been a success since we started it last year, and I couldn’t think of a more genuine and authentic partner to help take it to the next level.”