The Weekend’s Hottest News/Talk Media Stories
Still more government documents are found in the possession of President Joe Biden as special counsel Robert Hur investigates the matter; the federal debt limit will be reached on Thursday and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen cautions “extraordinary measures” will be needed to pay the nation’s bills; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is the subject of protests in Israel; the intensifying Russian missile offensive in Ukraine; the investigation into Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger; Brazil’s Supreme Court announces it will investigate former President Jair Bolsonaro for a possible connection to the recent riots; Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday; the intense rain storms soaking California; and the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend games were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio over the January 14-15 weekend, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.
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.”
“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.”
CrossLock VPN technology, its proprietary suite of reliability tools which offers an expanded array of techniques including improved congestion detection, redundant transmission, forward error correction, and deadline-sensitive retransmission. Plus, with the ability to use multiple IP networks for increased bandwidth in addition to the intelligent monitoring and dynamic adjustment of data packets, CrossLock optimizes audio for transmission over the public Internet and provides peace of mind to broadcast engineers. BRIC-Link IP audio codecs are commonly used in home studios, as STLs, for voice-over delivery, for sportscasting, and for many other situations that require point-to-point connections. With additional operation modes like HTTP and IP Multicast, BRIC-Link III can also function as a streaming server or send audio to multiple locations (depending on network bandwidth), making it an incredibly versatile hardware codec with an entry-level price point. BRIC-Link III is compatible with all other Comrex IP audio codecs, including the ACCESS codec line as well as older BRIC-Link models. It also includes EBU 3326/SIP mode for interoperability with third-party manufacturer codecs. BRIC-Link III works with Comrex Gagl, a new service now available for remote contribution. Gagl turns any Comrex IP audio codec into a hub for up to five participants. Learn more by visiting Comrex.com.
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. 
New York City television personality Ernie Anastos is joining Red Apple Media’s WABC-AM, New York to host the two-minute daily feature “Positively Ernie with Ernie Anastos” that will air in morning and afternoon drive, beginning today (1/9). The station says, “Focusing on a different topic every day, Anastos takes a look at the positive outcome of the stories that shape our world, including current events, social changes, new trends, life challenges, work, home, and lifestyle.” Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis comments, “Everybody knows Ernie’s smiling face, friendly voice, and reputation as a top journalist in this great city. Now, Ernie is taking another look at our world and bringing us an opportunity to see the positive side of things.
I’m delighted to welcome Ernie to
Founding member of rock group The Black Crows, Steve Gorman, is joining Cumulus Media to take over the heavily talk-driven morning show hosting duties from retiring Twin Cities legend Tom Barnard on classic rock KQRS-FM, Minneapolis. Gorman started his radio career in 2011 as host of “Steve Gorman SPORTS!” on Cromwell Media Group’s WPRT-FM, Nashville “102.5 The Game” in 2011. That show was eventually syndicated by FOX Sports Radio. He currently hosts the Westwood One-syndicated rock evening show “Steve Gorman Rocks!” and will continue in that role. Gorman began his KQRS-FM duties this morning (1/9) and will relocate to the Twin Cities. Cumulus Minneapolis VP and market manager Shelly Malecha Wilkes tells TALKERS, “We are very excited that Steve has decided to join the ‘KQ Morning Show.’ Steve is intelligent, authentic, funny – everything we were looking for and more. I am very much looking forward to our next chapter.” KQRS program director and Cumulus VP of classic rock James Kurdziel adds, “When looking for someone to drive ‘The KQ Morning Show,’ we needed a big personality with quick wits, brilliant storytelling, strong work ethic, will to win and most importantly, someone who wants to be a part of our community. We found all those things in Steve Gorman. Adding him to our established team of [Brian] Zepp, Tony [Lee] and Candice [Wheeler] makes our show energetic, dynamic, topical, and all about Minnesota. We’re fortunate to have landed our big fish.”
Seattle talk radio personality Todd Herman joins Lotus Communications’ conservative news/talk KVI, Seattle as host of the Sunday 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm program. He’ll also provide a commentary feature that will air three-times daily – at 7:15 am, 12:30 pm and 5:15 pm. KVI program director Rick Van Cise tells TALKERS, “Todd is a Northwest favorite and brings a unique take on current events and daily life. We are pleased to have him part of our team.” Previously, Herman hosted his eponymous show on Bonneville’s news/talk KTTH-AM for six years and was part of the “Candy, Mike & Todd” show that aired on Bonneville’s KIRO-FM. Radio America is the syndicator for Todd Herman’s daily show and short form feature.
Greenlite Ventures, Inc. announces that sports talk radio personality Jeff “Defo” DeForrest joins the company as director of podcast operations. In this role, DeForrest will work exclusively for the company as it is set to launch GRNL’s Sports and Gaming Network (SGN) in the coming weeks. The company says, “SGN’s first weekly podcast will feature Defo and Las Vegas sports betting legend Brandon Lang, who was the subject of the hit movie Two for the Money starring Matthew McConaughey as the real-life Brandon Lang and Al Pacino playing his mentor. As legal sports wagering continues to surge across America, SGN will soon be airing daily podcasts featuring some of the most knowledgeable, entertaining and successful handicappers in all areas of sports betting. Defo is currently developing and negotiating a wide range of podcast and licensing deals with a number of well-known names in broadcasting, horse racing, and sports wagering.”
The sharply satirical song “Idiots” from the forthcoming fifth album by heritage rock band Gunhill Road continues to gather an international following on the internet. Released in August 2022, the music video of the catchy song passed the 70,000 unique views mark this weekend on YouTube – making it the most-listened-to song in the 53 year old band’s colorful history since its 1973 hit single “Back When My Hair Was Short” (also a provocative social commentary). TALKERS founder Michael Harrison, who along with Steve Goldrich, Paul Reich and Brian Koonin, is a member of Gunhill Road and co-writer/lead vocalist for “Idiots,” says, “We are so grateful to talk radio for embracing this song and giving it an amazing amount of airplay – either in snippets or the entire piece – that has driven interest in the song, downloads on the internet and views of the video. Fortunately, the words and theme of ‘Idiots’ ties into talk radio’s topic menu, psyche and environment in a non-partisan, ‘equal opportunity offender’ way. I mean, who can stand the negative impact that widespread idiocy is having on our society, culture and democracy?” 
Dick Chapin died at age 99 on January 5 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Nebraska Broadcasters Association says Chapin got his start in broadcasting in March 1953 when he joined KFOR, Lincoln as an account executive. He soon rose to general manager for KFOR-AM and KFOR-TV. In 1958 he was named VP of the stations’ owner, Stuart Investment Company. In 1989, he formed his own media brokerage firm, Chapin Enterprises. He also went into station ownership purchasing radio station KSYZ, Grand Island which he helped manage and later sold in 1999. Chapin served as chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters, a position that capped 11 years of NAB service. In 1974, he received the NAB Distinguished Service Award. He also was elected chairman of the Radio Advertising Bureau in 1983.
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.