WTOP-FM, Washington Enters Partnership with WJLA-TV for Weather
A deal between Hubbard Broadcasting’s all-news WTOP-FM, Washington and Sinclair Broadcast Group’s WJLA-TV, Washington will see WJLA’s team of experienced meteorologists providing round-the-clock weather
reports every 10 minutes on WTOP News. WTOP director of news Julia Ziegler says, “WTOP listeners rely on our traffic and weather reports on the 8s. We are excited to begin this partnership with our colleagues at WJLA and bring unprecedented live weather coverage to the DC region, especially on those days when it matters most.” The collaboration with WJLA restarts a longtime partnership between the two news stations. WJLA previously provided weather coverage on WTOP for more than 10 years.
The third of four rounds of ratings information from Nielsen Audio’s February PPM survey has been released for 12 markets including Portland, Charlotte, San Antonio, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Columbus. Nielsen’s February 2023 sweep covered February 2 – March 1. Today, TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets. In Portland, Alpha Media’s news/talk KXL-FM rises four-tenths to finish with a 7.0 share (weekly, 6+ AHQ share) good for the #4 rank, while iHeartMedia’s crosstown news/talk KEX-AM also goes up four-tenths and finishes with a 3.4 share that lifts it to the #9 rank. Urban One’s news/talk WBT-AM/FM, Charlotte shoots up 1.2 shares to finish the survey with a 5.5 share that moves it from the #8 rank to #4. In San Antonio, Alpha Media’s news/talk KTSA-AM is up half a share, wrapping the survey with a 3.7 share good for the #10 rank, while iHeartMedia’s crosstown news/talk WOAI-AM falls two-tenths for a 3.3 share that sees it decline from the #9 rank to #14. 
Hofstra – the site of our very successful 2022, 2021 and 2016 events – and enjoy the remarkable resources that its Lawrence Herbert School of Communication brings to the table.” As was the case last year, this event will be held in a COVID-19 compliant environment based upon the circumstances at the time of the convention. TALKERS 2023 will boldly address key issues – some existential – facing the talk radio and talk media industries at this dramatically critical juncture of rapidly accelerating technological and societal change as well as identifying the remarkable opportunities inherent in these developments. It will also provide participants with unique and powerful networking opportunities.
Ripken Jr. Ripken joins Bob Haynie – host of the midday “Vinny & Haynie” show – Baltimore Hall of Famer Mike Bordick, and longtime voice of Baltimore baseball Jim Hunter. 105.7 The Fan brand manager Chuck Sapienza comments, “We are thrilled to be bringing ‘Baltimore Baseball Tonight’ back to Baltimore baseball fans. The show was received so well last season, and we look forward to building off that momentum again this season. Adding Ryan to the team brings a critical young voice to the show, and his perspective having been a part of the organization and his deep family ties to the team are invaluable.” When the Orioles are home, the show is broadcast on-site at Pickles Pub near Oriole Park at Camden Yards. 
entrepreneur Pat Costa. Halper is also receiving the Hall of Fame Pioneer Award, given “to individuals who have distinguished themselves over decades for lasting contributions made to the broadcast industry and through a leadership role in their particular craft.” Other inductees are WCVB-TV, Boston sports anchor Mike Lynch, the late and beloved WHDH-TV videographer Therman Toon, late WBZ-TV reporter Bill Shields, and WBZ Radio’s heralded news reporter and “poet laureate” Carl Stevens.
Communications Partners LP, a 39-station group which he later sold to Cumulus Broadcasting in 2000 for $258 million. At this time, he pioneered notable progress in integrating legacy media with emerging digital technology. In 2004, he formed Connoisseur Media which now operates 13 radio station brands and digital assets in five markets. Highly respected and celebrated industry-wide for his outspoken candor and bullish approach to radio station ownership, Jeff Warshaw serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters, the executive committee of the Radio Advertising Bureau, and is chairman of the Nielsen Audio advisory council. Harrison describes Warshaw as “one of the most knowledgeable, emerging forces to be reckoned with among radio industry leaders.”
Christopher Ruddy founded Newsmax in 1998 to publish online and offline content in the fields of news, politics, health and finance. Newsmax.com ranks consistently as one of the country’s most-trafficked news websites. Newsmax TV, a cable and over-the-top media service news channel started in 2014, has shown remarkable growth becoming one of the nation’s leading television news and political opinion sources. Newsmax recently entered the field of talk radio with a syndication arm and is reportedly exploring expansion into radio station ownership. As a journalist, Christopher Ruddy previously worked at the New York Post and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. He was also awarded a Media Fellowship at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. He holds a BA summa cum laude in history from St. John’s University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the London School of Economics. Harrison describes Ruddy as “a key player in emerging 21st century media.”
bottles commonly known as nips. When Cox asked about each host’s favorite nip and named several brands of liquor, Curtis replied, “I’d probably go Mina Kimes.” Nip is also a pejorative term for Japanese. Kimes is of Korean descent. When the Boston Globe reached out to Audacy for comment, the spokesperson declined to address it specifically but suggested Curtis meant to say Mila Kunis. Today, Curtis apologized on air and said he’s been suspended until next week. Curtis explained he didn’t intend to say Mina Kimes. “In a pathetic, failed attempt at a one-liner, I attempted to bring up Mila Kunis, which was not really that funny, sophomoric and sexist. But for reasons I don’t understand, I said Mina Kimes.”
in for legendary play-by-play voice John Sterling for approximately 30 games, alongside Suzyn Waldman, during the 2023 season. Audacy New York market president Chris Oliviero states, “Justin is no stranger to the Bronx and his passion for the pinstripes make him the ideal person to join the iconic duo of John and Suzyn in the booth. His contributions to the broadcast last season were terrific and well received, so we’re excited to see him return in this enhanced role.”
production companies and independent producers. For 2023, Podcasts dominated the Shortlist with the Grand Jury advancing 105 Podcast entries to the next round. Podcasts engaged listeners with entries in multiple categories including Drama, Comedy, Sports, Entertainment, Series, Technology, News Business, and Social Justice.” Also NYFestivals announces that new for 2023, the National Press Club Award will go to the highest scoring entry in the news program categories Best Coverage Of Breaking News Story, Best Coverage Of Ongoing News Story, Best Nonfiction Series and News Podcast. The winner will be announced during the New York Festivals 2023 Storytellers Gala virtual event on April 18. 
including physical and mental wellness, nutrition, positivity, and the motivation seniors and families need for leading healthy and active lifestyles. Chen says, “We hope to reach a wider audience and help shed more light on important topics regarding physical fitness, mental health, and wellness that matter most to seniors as we continue to roll out podcast episodes now and into the future. We’re proud to be a part of a great network of people who are like-minded and dedicated to providing the best content online for a demographic that we feel is underserved, and we are looking forward to helping that change.”
chairman Scott Herman says, “Jim made an impact on everyone who worked for or with him. He was always helping people in their careers and served as a mentor to many. His steadfast commitment to the mission of the Broadcasters Foundation was unwavering. It is fitting for us to honor his memory and contributions to our industry and the Broadcasters Foundation.” Thompson took the reins of the Broadcasters Foundation in 2008, following a distinguished career. He was president and CEO of Group W Radio, the second largest radio company in the country during his leadership, and along with Mike Craven was co-owner of Liberty Broadcasting, a nineteen-station radio group. He began his broadcasting career as an account executive at KYW-TV, Philadelphia in 1971, where he rose to VP and general manager.
businesses of high-profile radio and podcast personalities as well as production companies. He also serves as a strategic advisor to Oxford Road, a media placement agency specializing in audio advertising, with a focus on podcasts and audio integrations. The nine-year-old agency is a leader in the audio space on behalf of more than 50 clients. Kitchin also serves as chairman of the National Radio Hall of Fame to which he was appointed in 2014. Since assuming the role, he has reinstituted national public voting for two of the six categories of induction and has doubled the voting participant panel. Under his leadership, more than 75 radio icons have been inducted. Prior to launching his own firm, Kitchin was one of the founders of Premiere Radio Networks, Inc., in 1987. The company grew to be the number one radio network in the country syndicating 90 radio programs and services to more than 4,600 radio affiliates, reaching 190 million listeners weekly. He started as executive vice president of sales and by 1998 at the age of 37, he assumed the role of president/COO, one of the youngest in the country to run a $300 multi-million-plus radio company. During his 10-year tenure at Premiere, Kitchin directed and oversaw all talk and music programming and services featuring the nation’s most popular personalities like Limbaugh, Delilah, Jim Rome, Glenn Beck, Casey Kasem, Bill Handel, Ryan Seacrest, Bob (Kevoian) and Tom (Griswold), Steve Harvey, Whoopi Goldberg, Blair Garner, George Noory, Maria Bartiromo, Jim Cramer, Matt Drudge, the late Art Bell, Donald Trump, Bob Costas and others. In addition, he supervised Premiere Radio’s other properties: Mediabase 24/7, the industry’s leading music monitoring service, MJI Programming, and FOX Sports Radio. Kitchin started his career in station management at WFMK-FM in Lansing, MI, and KTYD-FM in Santa Barbara, CA before serving as sales manager of the Katz Radio Group Network in Los Angeles. Kitchin will be one of 60 industry leaders speaking at TALKERS 2023. For more information, see story below.
DirecTV and its leadership for working with us to find a mutually beneficial business agreement to bring our programming back to its customers. While we raised the issue of censorship relating to our removal, we now believe in DirecTV’s commitment to distributing diverse viewpoints, including conservative ones. DirecTV has made clear during our negotiations that it has always been focused on protecting its customers from the rising programming costs across the pay TV industry and never intended to limit one perspective or to target conservative voices. We accept their position and believe that our new agreement with DirecTV will allow them to continue to be a go-to-source for one of the most diverse lineups of news programming, now with three conservative news networks including Newsmax.” Newsmax Media CEO Christopher Ruddy will be speaking at TALKERS 2023 on Friday, June 2 at Hofstra University.
It was a cruel trick. Hulu started streaming “For the People” from Shondaland Productions last month and I bit. It is a show about Manhattan, ambition and really well-tailored clothes. Then I looked at the more information tab and discovered that the show was cancelled… in 2018. Crushed. Two seasons on ABC. Cancelled.
notable exceptions. Thom Hartmann is one of the leading examples of a progressive talk radio host operating successfully within the commercial arena. Year after year, going back well over a decade-and-a-half, TALKERS has ranked this political thought leader among the top 10 in its annual list of the 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts In America – the Heavy Hundred. Hartmann is also the prolific author of more than 35 books on politics, the environment and social issues. He puts out a daily multi-distribution point program heard on commercial broadcast radio, non-commercial public radio, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, streaming services, mobile app, cable radio and subscription and ad-supported podcasts. The show is also seen on Free Speech TV, and YouTube. Harrison and Hartmann discuss a variety of modern media-related issues and phenomena including the host’s liberal perspective on the current blockbuster Donald Trump indictment drama. Not to be missed. 
show with Bob Reitman for nearly 25 years prior to his work at WTMJ. Also being honored in the 2023 class is La Crosse market meteorologist Dan Breeden, Shawano County music personality Doug Erdman, and Eau Claire market music personality John Murphy. This year’s honorees will be recognized during the keynote luncheon at the 2023 WBA Summer Conference on June 15 at the Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
my original idea for over two years now on my national radio and TV shows. Then Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene picked it up and ran with my idea.” Root says the idea is to build a “parallel conservative patriot economy” consisting of conservative-owned businesses and his book lays out the plan. Root adds, “My co-author Nicky Billou (an Iranian immigrant) and our team of researchers spent over a year researching and identifying the 123 most patriotic companies in America to buy from and to invest your savings and retirement accounts in (some are publicly traded).” 
Bill Frady.” Audacy Greenville-Spartanburg SVP and market manager Steve Sinicropi states, “Bill Frady has provided great content doing swing shifts on ‘106.3 WORD’ for years. Bill is a native Greenvillian, a recognized firearms expert, and a tremendous conservative voice that will complement WYRD-FM’s incredible news and talk talent lineup. Adding Bill Frady to our full-time, on-air team will provide great content for listeners and new opportunities for advertisers. I look forward to hearing Bill on the air and on the station’s expanded 100,000-watt signal.” Previously, Audacy announced the plan to move WORD’s talk programming to the 98.9 frequency in which the station will be branded “News/Talk 98.9 WORD.”
and KGFJ Radio among others, joins such former recipient of the award as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’ Reilly, Mark Levin, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Bob Grant, Thom Hartmann, Alan Colmes, Joe Madison, Karen Hunter, Al Franken, Brian Lamb, Norm Pattiz, Ian Freeman and others dating back to the origins of TALKERS in the late 1980s. Some 21 months ago, Smiley’s media company acquired an AM radio station in Los Angeles, the former hip hop legend KDAY, and transformed it into a new station and format – KBLA Talk 1580 – where he’s assembled an outstanding on-air staff, including himself, with the passionate mission of, as he puts it, “unapologetically serving people of color and who are politically progressive.” In making the announcement of this year’s recipient, TALKERS founder Michael Harrison states, “This is our longest-running and most-important award. Mr. Smiley has risen to the enormous talk radio challenge of providing underserved African Americans and progressives with a major commercial platform in the nation’s second largest market with a worldwide reach. In today’s political environment and struggling AM radio industry, it doesn’t get any more ‘First Amendment’ than that.” Tavis Smiley will be presented the award at the forthcoming TALKERS 2023 convention on Friday, June 2 at Hofstra University on Long Island where he will be one of 60 talk media luminaries scheduled to speak. For more information about TALKERS 2023, see the story below. 
Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? YES.
It is an unpredictable thing, this news cycle that drives the headlines.
Hains had to step away from his hosting duties after being hospitalized by a life-threatening case of West Nile Virus. Ladd – the longtime voice of the Missouri State Lady Bears – has been hosting the show in his absence and is now joined by Weber. Zimmer operations manager Don Louzader says, “I can’t think of a better team to carry the torch for Art Hains than Tom and Logan. Tom has a tremendous amount of knowledge of the local, regional and national sports scene and has broadcast just about every sport in the Ozarks. Logan has shown a tremendous passion for sports here in southwest Missouri and will be a great complement to Tom on the show.” At the same time, the station announces that “The Sports Reporters” host Ned Reynolds is being joined by co-host Scott Puryear as the show moves to the new time 7:00 am to 9:00 am weekdays. Reynolds and Puryear worked together on the show from 2000-2011. Louzader says, “The boys are back in town and our listeners are in for a real treat when Ned and Scott get behind the microphone together.”
president for Diamond Oil. Chance says, “I am profoundly humbled that iHeart would allow me this opportunity. I look forward to reuniting with my past colleagues and meeting new colleagues in the immediate future. This gives me a sense of peace and I’m extremely flattered and grateful. I look forward to diving back into all of these brands and vetting all the new ones. To say that I am excited to return, would be an understatement.”
Bloomberg Radio is distributed and repped by Key Networks. The “Bloomberg Black Business Beat” is hosted by journalist Justin Milliner and topics addressed range from the latest trends in Black-owned businesses and profiles of Black entrepreneurs, to a continuing look at diversity in the workplace and an inside look at the business of entertainment. Bloomberg Radio Syndication head Michael Lysak says, “‘The Block’ is such an important part of the soundtrack of New York City. We are proud to be a part of it. Justin Milliner does a masterful job of sharing stories of vital importance to Black Americans, without The Block’s music missing a beat. Here’s to Audacy for recognizing that reports like this don’t interrupt the programming – they enhance it.”
considering retirement. Kay announced the deal on his program yesterday (3/16) saying, “When the story in The Post came out, I was pretty certain that was going to be it and I would leave the show after 21 years in September. It had been a great run, a long run. I just said, ‘That’s it. I’m probably too old to do it.’” Kay is supported on the show by co-host Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg. The show is simulcast on the YES TV network. Kay also serves as the television play-by-play announcer for New York Yankees baseball games.