Chris Krok Exits WBAP, Dallas
Talk radio host Chris Krok has exited Cumulus Media’s WBAP, Dallas-Fort Worth where he’s been the evening host for the past 13 years. Prior to that, Krok hosted the afternoon show at sister KLIF-AM. He also
did editorials on WFAA-TV, Dallas for six years. Krok shared the following message via his social media: “It’s been an amazing 15-year run at the biggest news/talk station in America’s 4th largest market. We’ve gotten to know each other so well, and I can’t wait to share the airwaves again, doing what God made me to do – tell stories, react to life, and have fun together.” Krok tells TALKERS that he has a nice home studio where he fills in on network and local shows. He says he’s available for fill-in work and is ready to talk about his next opportunity. Reach him at: kroktalk@protonmail.com.
cause of death is not revealed in the story. Gallo’s program, “The Gallo Radio Show,” aired on the SuperTalk network of talk stations across the state. The network issued a statement saying, “For over five decades, Paul didn’t just talk about Mississippi — he helped shape its story. Paul dedicated his life to his listeners, his state, and the pursuit of the truth. From DJ to program director, from sales and management to ownership, Paul mastered every facet of the industry.”
At my very first “Consumer Electronics Show” they were showing-off VCRs. Back to the future. What we have witnessed this week is less about things than experiences.
Las Vegas-based, nationally syndicated (TMN) talk radio star, Daliah Wachs, M.D. continues her philanthropic ways. Each year, Opportunity Village holds its Magical Forest event in Southern Nevada that runs from Thanksgiving through the New Year. Opportunity Village helps those with intellectual disabilities and their families through enrichment, empowerment, and employment programs and services. Sponsors decorate a tree that comprises a huge beautiful magical forest, one of their largest fundraisers to fund their programs and employment placement. Wachs (pictured above with her “medical tree”) tells TALKERS, “It’s super cool and our show has helped support their mission for years. We create a medical tree with an EKG sign and it’s one of our favorite local charities we support.” Wachs is a member of the TALKERS Heavy Hundred and a past recipient of the TALKERS Humanitarian of the Year award.
A grim day. They fired the whole band. You know who “they” are! Bloated management. The future of radio… ruined!
In the opinion of TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison, we are entering an era in which it is possible – even likely – for robot voices generated by artificial intelligence to replace at least some human talk show hosts, especially in the wake of relentless corporate cost-cutting by radio’s largest companies. On the music radio side, the process of “voice tracking,” although initially controversial, has become a widely employed budget-tightening process. However, voice tracking still employs organic talent to generate the verbal content.
AI, on the other hand, bypasses the human element completely. In a guest appearance yesterday (8/22) on the Manny Munoz mid-morning show on WIOD, Miami, in which the subject of AI was being discussed, Harrison said, “AI is upping the bar. If talk show hosts don’t stay on their game and avoid relying too heavily on the talking points – if they are not creative thinkers and leaders – they can easily be replaced by computer operators.” Harrison continued, “It won’t be too long from now – actually, it is already possible – that two robots could be having a plausible conversation if both have been fed all the talking points.” Harrison explained, “Each robot will have instant access to all the existent talking points at the speed of light. Robots are already beating human experts at Jeopardy or chess. The only thing a robot can’t do – at least for now – is to be creative outside the realm of what already exists in cyberspace. That’s the challenge facing anyone who wants to be a live traditional radio talk show host in this coming brave new world.” Harrison’s appearance on WIOD was part of his ongoing talk radio “Obsolete Slobs” tour in which he’s been promoting the Gunhill Road music video “Artificial Intelligence (No Robots Were Injured in the Production of this Song” (www.
treat an aneurysm, according to his family. Farley began his career in New York at 1010 WINS and would hold numerous positions in New York and network news over the years, including as managing editor at ABC Radio Networks. He is best remembered for serving as vice president of news & programming at all-news WTOP-FM, Washington from 1996 through his retirement in 2013. He worked as a news consultant after leaving WTOP and lived in Florida with his wife Jo. 
A collaboration among iHeartPodcasts, Universal Television, and Wolf Entertainment, unscripted “Law & Order: Criminal Justice System” is scheduled to premiere next Thursday (8/22). It marks the first venture into investigative journalism for the “Law & Order” franchise. iHeartPodcasts president Will Pearson tells TALKERS, “Listener interest in true crime continues to flourish with new stories constantly being sought out across platforms. ‘Law & Order’ is a legendary series. It’s an honor to team up with UTV, Wolf Entertainment, and executive producer Elliot Wolf to develop this original slate of podcasts.” Wolf Entertainment’s EVP/digital Elliot Wolf is co-creator of the upcoming Amazon Prime series “On Call.” He comments, “We’re thrilled to join forces with iHeartPodcasts and UTV to bring the real stories that have shaped our criminal justice system, the bedrock of the ‘Law & Order’ brand, to life. The goal coming in was always to push the boundaries of audio storytelling. This series delivers on that while still being deeply informative and entertaining.” The series will consist of four seasons, each with 12 episodes. The first season will be hosted by former Brooklyn homicide prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi and will focus on the American mafia in New York City during the late-1970s.
reveal that AM/FM ads far outperform most social media ads. For example, the firm Adelaide found that for revery $1,000 spent on AM/FM ads it would require spending $2,635 on Facebook ads for the same amount of attentiveness. However, it also found that just $698 of YouTube ads would yield the same degree of attentiveness as $1,000 of AM/FM advertising. The blog post also addresses the myth that video ads are necessarily more effective than audio ads. 
Wall Street investors do not put up money for traditional radio and television stations.
Sports talk KNBR “680 & 104.5 The Sports Leader”; sports betting talk KGO “810 The Spread”; and sports talk KTCT “KNBR 1050 The Sports Leader” assistant program director Mike Hohler is elevated to program director for the three Cumulus Media San Francisco properties. According to Cumulus San Francisco-Los Angeles regional VP/market manager Larry Blumhagen, “I am excited to see Mike Hohler take the reins as program director of these dynamic, listener-driven stations. Mike has been a dedicated member of this terrific team for over two decades and knows every working part of our programming operations. He has meaningful relationships with our broadcast partners, which he will continue to build upon and grow in his new leadership role.” Hohler joined Cumulus San Francisco in 2002 as KNBR’s midday producer. Succeeding him as APD for the three stations is KNBR “Murph & Markus” morning show producer John Kerley. 
Regarding Kerley, Blumhagen notes, “He brings a strategic approach to the assistant program director role for our sports talk stations. We are fortunate to have such a talented and collaborative sports programming team and are in very capable hands with Mike and John at the helm. Our all-star lineup – including all the great talent in our bullpen – makes for a winning team and positions these stations for continued success.” The Hohler and Kerley promotions are effective next Monday (7/29).
This past Saturday (7/20), Boston Red Sox radio play-by-play announcer Joe Castiglione, whose signature catchphrase is, “Can you believe it,?” was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. “Joe Castig” received the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence. During his acceptance speech, the 77-year-old Hamden, Connecticut native remarked, “Broadcasting baseball is my vocation. It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do, at least since I realized I wasn’t good enough to be a player. At my 50th college reunion, a classmate said to me, ‘You’re the one guy who did exactly what he said he wanted to do,’ and I’m still doing it. What a blessing.” Castiglione’s more than four decades doing Red Sox radio play-by-play marks the longest tenure of any Boston broadcaster on radio or television. In 2004, Castiglione published Broadcast Rites and Sites: I Saw It on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining the Red Sox broadcasting team in 1983, Castiglione called Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) games (1979) and did some Milwaukee Brewers games two years later. 
Ford Frick was a driving force behind the creation of the Baseball Hall of Fame and helped foster the relationship between radio and baseball. The Hall of Fame has presented the award every year since 1978. To be considered for the award, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network or a combination of the two.
Produced by “The Moth,” Tampa Bay public radio broadcaster WUSF will bring a live storytelling event to the Tampa Theater on October 10. The show will feature a diverse lineup of guests telling personal stories of adventure, struggle, redemption, and creativity. Guests tell their stories without notes in the long tradition of a community gathering around the fire to share their experiences and their culture. University of South Florida-owned WUSF general manager JoAnn Urofsky tells TALKERS, “Events such as this are a key part of our mission to connect residents of Florida with news, information and entertainment that’s meaningful to their lives. These events are also wonderfully fun and a great place for our community to gather and enjoy a great show.” Each show starts with a theme, and the storytellers explore it, often in unexpected ways. Novelist George Dawes Green founded “The Moth” in 1997. The native Georgian wanted to recreate in New York City the feeling of sultry summer evenings when moths were attracted to the light on the porch where he and his friends would gather to tell spellbinding tales. Each story is true and every voice is authentic. “The Moth” has hosted these events in other cities including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, and Denver.
few weeks. Dobbs was part of the debut of CNN in 1980, serving as vice president and host of the “Moneyline” program. He joined FOX Business in 2011 and served there until exiting in 2021 after being named in the Smartmatic defamation suit. During his career, Dobbs also hosted a talk radio show syndicated by United Stations Radio Networks from 2008 through 2012. He also hosted the “Lou Dobbs Financial Report” syndicated by Salem Radio Network. The program “Lou Dobbs Tonight” won an Emmy in 2004, and Dobbs won a George Foster Peabody Award for his coverage of the 1987 stock market crash.
and WHQT in Miami; WCBS-AM, New York; WINS, New York; and WBLI, WALK, and WKJY on Long Island. She was a two-time Gracie Award winner and was a recipient of other honors and awards. Her greatest joy was her son Ethan, who she shared with her former husband Andrew Kalb. Garcia loved her animals and fostered many kittens through the years as well. 
FP&A since 2020 and has been interim CFO for the past six months. CMG president and CEO Dan York states, “Brad brings a unique skillset and perspective to the role of CFO. He’s committed to maximizing company performance and efficiency and has been invaluable in helping CMG win in our local markets today while positioning us to continue to do so in the future. This is a well-earned promotion for Brad that also reflects the strength and depth of CMG’s talented team.”
-CBS Radio’s talk KLXS-FM before the company dropped the talk format, which led to Leykis forming his The New Normal Network in 2012 and distributing his show online to subscribers. The Daily News story indicates that Leykis – who turns 68 in August – decided it was time to call it quits, saying, “A long time ago, I realized I did not want to be like some of the hosts I heard in the past — begging for callers, stretching for topics. I wanted to go out on my terms when I wanted. So, I did.” Leykis produced the final edition of his show in mid-May. 
he will report directly to president Bruce Beasley and will be responsible for overseeing WMMR-FM, WMGK-FM, WXTU-FM, BEN FM, 97.5 The Fanatic, WWDB 860 and Camden’s WTMR 800. He states, “I am deeply honored and thrilled to take on the role of cluster manager for Beasley Media Philadelphia. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Beasley family for their unwavering trust and confidence in me. It is an incredible privilege to lead one of America’s premier groups of radio stations and digital content creators, and I look forward to continuing our tradition of excellence and innovation in the media industry.”
When recently starting nightly on WPHT, Philadelphia, I asked program director Greg Stocker if there was anything else management needed from me. Greg said, “Do your show.”
Saturdays at 10:00 am ET on SiriusXM’s bipartisan P.O.T.U.S. channel. This show will contain major interviews and showcase conversations and debates with Mediaite writers and editors, along with top reporters from various outlets. These roundtable discussions will cover the intersection of media and politics, the inner workings of the media world, and the biggest industry stories of the week. The inaugural episode features an in-depth interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.
and the book, we relied on representations made to us by [producer] Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote, Inc that the individuals depicted in the videos provided to us by TTV, including Mr. Andrews, illegally deposited ballots. We have learned that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has cleared Mr. Andrews of illegal voting activity in connection with the event depicted in 2000 Mules. It was never our intent that the publication of the 2000 Mules film and book would harm Mr. Andrews. We apologize for the hurt the inclusion of Mr. Andrews’ image in the movie, book, and promotional materials have caused Mr. Andrews and his family. We have removed the film from Salem’s platforms, and there will be no future distribution of the film or the book by Salem.” The statement refers to Georgia resident Mark Andrews, who is suing D’Souza, Salem, and two people involved with True the Vote for defamation. 
“Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.” Outkick SVP and managing editor Gary Schreier says, “OutKick continues to be authentic, unfiltered, and driven by common sense. We continue to feature topics that most sports sites refuse to cover. Our ability to stand out amongst the rest of the industry is reflected positively by the strength of our numbers every month.” The platform also recently expanded the “Tomi Lahren is Fearless” program from evenings three days per week to a daily show running live at 1:00 pm ET. 
around the world. The 3-hour, 1-hour, 25-minute, and 30-minute radio specials are hosted by longtime Washington, DC radio personality Larry O’Connor and feature stories of our nation’s heroes, the families who serve by their side, and how Fisher House plays a role in their journey. The inspiring and patriotic radio show features an exclusive interview with Jessica Lynch who recounts her harrowing experience as a prisoner of war during the early days of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom. Ms. Lynch reveals details of her treatment during her captivity, her rescue, the ensuing years of medical treatment and the special role Fisher House played (and continues to play) in her recovery. Fisher House Foundation provides a home away from home for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers. Fisher Houses provide temporary free lodging so families can be close to their loved ones during medical care because “A Family’s LOVE is Good Medicine.” IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to a production delay, some stations may have inadvertently downloaded last year’s holiday edition.