Industry News

WCHV, Charlottesville to Debut Show Starring Former Virginia Tech Coordinator Bud Foster

Monticello Media’s WCHV-AM/FM, Charlottesville is partnering with former Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster aboard to host a one-hour, regional program that will air Saturday mornings at 11:00. Foster is currently special assistant to athletic director Whit Babcock at Virginia Tech. He served on the football staff for 33 years. Former Virginia radio play-by-play man Mac McDonald will serve as Foster’s co-host and show producer.

Industry News

KMET Legend “Paraquat” Kelley Reaches Out from Hospital Bed for Ukraine

For a decade and a half back in the 70s and 80s, now-defunct Metromedia album rocker KMET was a dominant musical and cultural force in Southern California. Memories of the historic station still reverberate today among its former staff and thousands of listeners. One of the stand-out personalities in the station’s amazing stable of talent was the dynamic and quirky newsman/morning co-host, Patrick “Paraquat” Kelley.  Tragically, 22 years ago, Kelley, a once-dynamic figure, was diagnosed with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis leaving him today a total quadriplegic in residence at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA.  Kelley sent the following text and accompanying photo to TALKERS:

T-Shirt - Outerwear
For my friends. The Mighty Met LIVES!!!  Paraquat Kelley reporting from my hospital bed at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. As many of you know, Progressive Multiple Sclerosis has left me a total quadriplegic… but my brain still functions.  There’s no way we can witness the mass murder of the residents of Ukraine and not want to help. I have a caregiver here who’s from Ukraine and the pictures are of her nephew who’s a doctor at a hospital in Kiev that’s been the target of Russian missile strikes.  I gave her the T-shirt and cap so that it would authenticate my request.  We can all help.  They may have pulled the plug on the station but they can’t touch our hearts.  Click on the link to donate and pass it on. Whoo-ya!!!

Industry News

The Weekend’s Hottest News/Talk Media Stories

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy is named House Speaker after 15 rounds of voting; the issue of border security at the U.S.-Mexico border and President Joe Biden’s weekend visit to El Paso; the weekend attacks by Russia’s and Ukraine’s militaries; supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro storm the country’s National Congress and other government buildings; Prince Harry’s 60 Minutes interview; and the California floods were some of the most-talked-about stories in news/talk media over the weekend.

Industry Views

How Hot Is Podcasting?

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

How hot is podcasting? The topic dominated a CES session billed in broader terms: “The Disruption: Media, Platforms & Advertising.” Panelists – executives from social media, major content brands, and radio mega-groups – also discussed “linear” (live) programming and streaming video. But all kept coming back to podcasting, which iHeartMedia CMO Gayle Troberman characterized as “exploding, driving massive growth in audio.”

Not unexpected, since her company is a major player. But, from the other side of the equation, World Wrestling Entertainment SVP Craig Stimmel acknowledges that, post-pandemic, “habits have changed as to where to go” for media; so “we want to make sure our content is everywhere.” His stars are among celebrities whom podcasting connects with fans in what Troberman describes as “live, human, unscripted conversation with people you come to know;” particularly welcome post-pandemic-shutdown. “The more isolated and alone people feel, the more audio delivers intimacy.”

It’s not a radio show

Every panelist spoke of “authenticity,” rather than the slick, polished texture of traditional AM/FM programming. SXM Media SVP Lizzie Widhelm challenges broadcasters: “How can we let go of our playbook, and walk away from norms that have been comfy-cozy?”

“More creators coming into audio than ever before” from politics, sports, and other walks of life, “to engage more deeply.” Audacy CMO Paul Suchman says that delivers advertisers “super-relevant, contextually relevant” places to tell their stories. So “this is a medium that deserves GREAT creative,” not just audio of a TV spot. “Advertising that gets ‘inserted’” doesn’t work as well as “the deep human connection” of podcaster’s very personal delivery. Thus “the lowest ad-skipping rates of any media.”

Podcasting plusses

Just as music streams offer lots more variety than safe-list FMs, spoken-word podcasting is a topical cornucopia compared to talk radio’s largely political fare.

And panelists ticked-off other advantages podcasts offer advertisers:

  • “Quicker and much less-expensive production than video.”
  • “Lower CPM” ad rates, increasingly attractive as recession likely looms.
  • “Really young, and diverse audiences coming into audio in a big way.”
  • “The audiences you’re not getting on TV anymore.”

“Voice has always been how humans communicate”

Troberman describes the iHeart app Talkback feature, which listeners use to send messages stations play, a tool some of my client stations have built-into their apps.

And this interactivity isn’t just a media thing. Audacy’s Suchman mentioned how drivers now converse with Cadillac’s state-of-the-art dashboard: “The next phase of computing will be voice-driven.” Yet – accustomed as we have become to dealing with supermarket self-checkout and other robots almost everywhere – the “intimacy,” “authenticity,” and “diversity” panelists speak of suggest that, as iHeart’s Troberman reckons, “the future of voice is the future of two-way communication via audio.”

Help yourself!

I’ve been reporting from CES all this week for TALKERS…and for you. You can download five 60-second radio reports at HollandCooke.com.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is the author of “Multiply Your Podcast Subscribers, Without Buying Clicks,” available from Talkers books; and “Spot-On: Commercial Copy Points That Earned The Benjamins,” a FREE download; and the E-book and FREE on-air radio features “Inflation Hacks: Save Those Benjamins.” HC is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow him on Twitter @HollandCooke

Industry News

LiveOne Slashes $5 Million in Costs; Plans to Spin Out PodcastOne

Digital content platform LiveOne announces that “as part of its focus on generating cash from operations on a consolidated basis, (it) is implementing additional cost and expense reductions from both operations and corporate overhead, which is anticipated to increase the previously implemented annual cost savings to a total of over $30 million in its fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.  On December 29, 2022, the company revealed that Courtside Group, Inc. (dba PodcastOne) has filed an S-1 with the SEC for its planned spin-out and special dividend to LiveOne’s stockholders of record on January 16, 2023. The company says that PodcastOne is expected to record revenue of $25 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2023 ending December 31, 2022.

LiveOne adds, “PodcastOne’s proprietary internal Content Management System allows creators and producers to track metrics about shows on an episode-by-episode basis.  CMS is the platform where podcast episodes are uploaded, RSS feeds are created and distributed to listening platforms, and the listening data is analyzed and displayed in a dashboard for the creators/producers to see. This fully owned and operated enterprise CMS rivals other paid platforms such as Megaphone (Spotify-owned), Art19 (Amazon-owned) and SimpleCast (SiriusXM/Pandora-owned). The CMS’ day-to-day operation and maintenance is managed by a vendor we contract with and is constantly being updated to be a best-in-class system. LiveOne remains committed to spinning-out PodcastOne as a separate public company to be listed on a national exchange. In connection with such spin-out, LiveOne has moved the record date to Jan. 16, 2023 for PodcastOne’s special dividend to LiveOne’s stockholders of record. In addition, LiveOne intends to explore spinning-out SlackerOne as a separate public company during its 2024 fiscal year.”

Industry News

Triton Digital Releases November Streaming Rankers

The latest Streaming Metrics from Triton Digital for streaming publishers in the U.S. has been released for November 2022. The chart ranks the top 25 streaming publishers from participating clients based on Average Active Sessions (AAS). In the #1 spot is iHeartRadio with 411,604 AAS. At #2 is NPR Member Stations with 93,726 AAS, followed by Audacy at #3 with 76,657 AAS. Some of the other companies making the top 25 include: #4 Cumulus Streaming Network (58,103 AAS); #6 Beasley Broadcasting Corporate (26,329 AAS); #8 Hubbard Broadcasting (20,668 AAS); #11 Salem Communications (12,110 AAS) and #12 Urban One (11,467 AAS). You can see the complete chart here.

Industry News

KTRH, Houston “The Garden Line” Host Randy Lemmon Dies at 61

Longtime KTRH, Houston garden show host Randy Lemmon died on Wednesday (1/4) at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City from complications after suffering a stroke. This is a photo of the late Randy Lemmon. The iHeartMedia station says that Lemmon hosted “The Garden Line” program on the station for more than 25 years. “In what he called the ‘most-listened-to garden show in the country,’ he was faithfully followed by serious landscapers as well as the weekend gardener as he shared his enthusiasm and advice about lawns, gardens and outdoor living. He was a go-to expert when climate issues became serious or dangerous to the public such as during hurricanes and deep freezes.” Prior to hosting his radio show, Lemmon served as a television and radio producer for the Texas Farm Bureau. He then spent nearly a decade at his alma mater – Texas A&M University – producing news and commentary for an agricultural network he created with the College of Agriculture. iHeartMedia Houston director of AM programming Bryan Erickson tells TALKERS, “Randy had an unbridled passion for being on the radio and for helping people with their gardening issues. We should all be so fortunate to do something in life that brings us such joy. He will be missed.”