April 2024 MLB Flagship Scoreboard
Historically, the beginning of the Major League Baseball season has been good to radio stations that serve as flagships for play-by-play, often bringing new cume to their ratings. Today, TALKERS managing editor Mike Kinosian looks at how flagship stations performed during Nielsen Audio’s April PPM survey. He notes, “Generally speaking, Major League Baseball radio flagships enjoyed a solid first at bat in Nielsen Audio’s 2024 rating season (March 28 – April 24). There was a (6+) March 2024 – April 2024 uptick in approximately four of every five applicable flagship cases (81%); 15%dipped; and 4% were flat.” iHeartMedia’s news/talk WLW, Cincinnati (Reds) saw the biggest leap in AQH share rising from an 11.3 share in March to a 13.3 share in April (retaining its #1 rank as well). See how the rest of the flagship stations performed in Mike Kinosian’s complete report here.
This week, I started a five-night show on Audacy’s WPHT, Philadelphia. Thank you, market president David Yadgaroff. Because of my tenure in the industry, I received a flattering, humbling number of emails from colleagues in radio. THANK YOU. The support and encouragement are appreciated and certainly needed!
When a new restaurant opens, smart owners put the phone on busy so would-be diners believe the joint is hot, packed and hard to get in to. At street fairs we are drawn to merchant booths with long lines. Crowds give us confidence.
to about 7% of its workforce. Reports of who has been let go are just trickling in but so far some of the people who’ve been let go include (
and podcasts are all a part of what we do, so show us what you’ve got. The successful candidate will be responsible for all aspects of programming including scheduling content, coaching on-air staff, station and AM/FM cluster strategy, development of on-air/online promotions and generating associated revenue, oversight and content creation for digital extensions (including streams, websites and podcasts), and have a strong customer service approach towards listeners, staff, & sales. Additionally, the candidate will act as the program director for Legendary News Radio KKOB and KNML The Sports Animal. 
To be an expert in marketing requires expertise in how memory works. Early in my consultant practice, I studied and read every book I could find on the processes of memory. The best book is Effective Frequency: The Relationship Between Frequency and Advertising Effectiveness. Put simply, how many times does a consumer have to hear a message before it has impact? The book, a collection of studies, is the foundation for every qualitative study in the field today.
approach. Audacy SVP of sports monetization Lee Davis states, “We’re thrilled to bring together our unrivaled sports portfolio under Audacy Sports. Consolidating our cross-platform sellable assets under one name creates a compelling opportunity for brands to connect with listeners at scale – through our digital and broadcast network platforms or locally, through our owned sports stations – wherever and whenever they tune into Audacy content.” Audacy Sports is powered by the company’s 40 owned-and-operated all-sports stations and affiliates, 160 sports streaming channels on the Audacy app, a sports podcast network featuring over 600 titles and live events, 150 professional and collegiate teams – including play-by-play broadcasts, the Infinity Sports Network (formerly CBS Sports Radio) and BetQL Network.
Don York and Gabe Navarro – won a Golden Mike for “Best Newscast” from RTNA Southern California; Gabriel also notched a “Best Sportscast” Golden Mike. Meanwhile, Musson won her second successive Alliance for Women in Media Foundation Gracie Award for “Best Co-Host, Talk/Personality – Small/Medium Market Radio.” Pictured above (top photo right to left): Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer; KMJ, Fresno’s Christina Musson; her husband Ralph Rendon; and Fresno City Councilman Garry Bredefeld. Also pictured above (bottom photo left to right) Fresno City Councilman Garry Bredefeld; KMJ, Fresno’s Christopher Gabriel; his daughter Cadence; his wife Wendy; and Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
president and market manager Marv Nyren says, “WLS is bigger than a destination on your radio dial – it’s a Chicago institution and treasure. 100 years ago, radio was simply sound communication via radio waves but there’s nothing simple about the impact of WLS on Chicago. WLS has been a neighbor, a friend, and a mentor for people in Chicagoland. It’s been a place where people can go for entertainment and information – and it’s been a companion to the biggest moments in history. We are excited to usher in WLS-AM’s next 100 years with Chicago’s best audio content on-air, online, on-demand, and onsite.”
originate content using FM boosters and is intended to do so without raising the potential for harmful co-channel interference to the reception of the primary station’s signal outside the coverage area of the booster station or to previously authorized secondary stations.” GBS filed a petition on March 13, 2020, proposing to give FM broadcasters the option to use boosters to originate programming to specific zones within their stations’ service area, proposing to allow program origination for a limited period totaling three minutes per hour… During that limited period, GBS proposes that the FCC allow the booster to originate geo-targeted advertisements, promotions for upcoming programs, and other hyper-localized content, suggesting it would benefit small and minority-owned broadcasters, because potential advertisers that currently find it prohibitively expensive to buy spots reaching a radio station’s whole service area might purchase lower-cost airtime reaching a more targeted area, thereby becoming a new source of station revenue.”
solidifying our confidence that a large number of AM/FM streaming listeners are willing to pay a subscription to avoid commercials while listening to their favorite stations. The challenge now becomes how to grow the free tier user base in the most cost-efficient manner possible to increase our pool of potential subscribers. The Radio FM acquisition allows us to acquire 4.6 million retained users at a customer acquisition cost (CAC) that is approximately 70% lower than the cost to acquire a free tier user through our direct marketing methods.”
When reviewing our industry’s awards such as the Crystals or Marconis there are two categories missing. They are: “Best New” and “Best Innovation.” Imagine if winners were announced for these prizes:
Jacksonville. Both stations will air the full slate of FOX Sports Radio programs. These format flips spell the end of the “Accion Radio Network” airing Spanish-language news/talk and information. iHeartMedia North Florida area president Paul Rogers says, “We remain fully committed to providing the best quality entertainment and information to the Hispanic residents on the First Coast and will continue to explore ways we can increase our impact there. The opportunity to return the FOX Sports brand to its original home on AM 930 in Jacksonville was simply too good to pass up. Its appeal cuts across and unites every segment of our community.”
and politics (78%) shows. In addition, 89% of news-focused podcasts (across topics) brought on at least one guest in 2022; 2) Most podcasts aren’t bringing the same guests on over and over. More than 99% of all guests only appeared once on any top podcast in 2022. In addition, about half (49%) of top podcasts brought on at least one guest more than once, and 23% hosted more than five different people more than once. The most common guests represent a range of professional backgrounds, including entertainment figures, scientists, journalists and political commentators. Pew senior computational social scientist Galen Stocking comments, “Our research has shed light on the variety of topics and approaches within the podcasting landscape. Here, we found that most top-ranked podcasts are bringing on guests, and often from a wide range of professional backgrounds. This can add to the perspectives heard on each podcast.”
a number of on-air and off-air events. The station is presenting a sold-out listener event at the House of Blues on Friday (1/26). The sports talk format was launched when Cardinal Communications bought then KAAM-AM from Bonneville International and changed the calls to KTCK-AM and debuted the sports talk format. Cardinal would sell to Susquehanna Communications which would be acquired by Cumulus Media in 2006. All the while, The Ticket would garner ratings and revenue as one of the nation’s more successful sports talk outlets.
February 13. Comrex says, “Tens of thousands of Comrex customers go ‘live and local’ every day to bring radio to life for their listeners. Customers that already have a Comrex IP audio codec can use Gagl to connect to their existing hardware. Broadcasters in the US that don’t have a Comrex ACCESS or BRIC-Link IP audio codec can even request free demo hardware if they would like to participate. Restrictions apply.” Comrex adds that using Gagl is as simple as clicking a link from an email. It opens a web browser on a phone or computer and connects with up to five other users. As long as the broadcasters are using headphones, everyone hears each other and the host back in the studio. Audio quality is much better than most web conferencing applications, and there is no complicated setup. For more information, contact Comrex at 800-237-1776 or email 
The United Nations and its specialized agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have given the radio industry all around the globe an invaluable gift. It’s called “World Radio Day 2024.” Now in its 13th installment, WRD takes place annually on February 13 with the purpose of spotlighting the accomplishments, importance, and ongoing relevance of the radio medium as it evolves deeper into the 21st century. This year’s WRD theme is “Radio: A Century Informing, Educating and Entertaining.” By officially designating the platform as worthy of its own officially sanctioned UN International Day, the august world body has recognized, spotlighted, and endorsed radio’s continuing relevance and potential for being a vital force for the betterment of humanity.
The United Nations and its specialized agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have given the radio industry all around the globe an invaluable gift. It’s called “World Radio Day 2024.” Now in its 13th installment, WRD takes place annually on February 13 with the purpose of spotlighting the accomplishments, importance, and ongoing relevance of the radio medium as it evolves deeper into the 21st century. This year’s theme is “Radio: A Century Informing, Educating and Entertaining.” By officially designating the platform as worthy of its own officially sanctioned UN International Day, the august world body has recognized, spotlighted, and endorsed radio’s continuing relevance and potential for being a vital force for the betterment of humanity.
If you’ve been seeing CES coverage on network and cable newscasts this week, you’ve heard it called “the Consumer Electronics Show,” despite we-the-media being told not to. They want us to say “CES,” although, years ago, the Consumer Electronics Association changed its name to the Consumer Technology Association, not its first rebrand.