Randi P’Pool Joins MIW Board of Directors
Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, Inc. (MIW), announces that it is elevating Randi P’Pool to its board of directors. P’Pool previously served three years as a volunteer on the MIW PR committee. She takes
over for longtime board member and former national spokeswoman, Denyse Mesnik, who rises to the MIW advisory council. MIW board president Ruth Presslaff says, “We are so lucky to have someone of Randi’s caliber join our board. Randi has worked diligently on the PR committee and has earned this board seat. Knowing Randi, I suspect we’ll get a lot done and have a whole lot of fun doing it! That said, I will miss working side-by-side with my dear friend and now advisory council member Denyse Mesnik. She has given immeasurably to this organization and can’t be thanked enough.”
Answer” and hosts the 10:00 am to 12:00 noon talk program on Cumulus Media’s KCMO-AM, Kansas City. He says, “I want to thank the Salem Podcast Network for bringing our podcast into their family of great shows. As a radio guy my entire career, I wasn’t sure how the podcast version would be received when we launched. Our advertising partners who invested in the show early as well as the smartest audience in the digital space have helped our young podcast crest four million downloads, and we’re just getting started!” Salem SVP of spoken word Phil Boyce adds, “Chris Stigall is a special host who has developed a unique relationship with a very loyal audience. We saw this when we brought him over to ‘AM 990 The Answer’ a few years ago, and we know he will have the same reaction from audiences nationwide with his podcast.”
“AM 970 The Answer” and is available via Salem Radio Network, Salem News Channel, GCN, BizTV, BizTalkRadio, CRN Digital, and USA Radio. McCullough says, “Through much of the fall of 2022, we did a significant deep dive into not just how much content we were making every week but how it could be more impactful, and after lots of creative brainstorming, hard work and a significant investment in resources and time, the Saturday night program will show just the beginning of the efforts and results… I am also intensely grateful for Jerry Crowley, Phil Boyce, and Cary Pahigian, for challenging me consistently to continue to improve, grow, and reach!”
team. Of her new position, Carroll says, “I am so excited to be joining the incredible Beasley Media Charlotte sales team. The individual account execs are knowledgeable and have the drive to WIN! Along with Rob [Whitehead], Tom [Neeley], and Mac [ Edwards], I am confident together, we will all accomplish some very exciting sales goals in 2023 and beyond!” Whitehead comments, “We are so excited to have Suzanne join our team in Charlotte. Suzanne brings an amazing amount of experience and knowledge from the media industry. She has had an extensive career including roles as account executive, national sales manager, general sales manager, and director of new business and digital development. Suzanne’s career path has taken her to major markets including Baltimore and Chicago. We look forward to her continued success!”
Why? Done right, it makes you special. Because new-tech audio competitors don’t do local news, and with most broadcast radio hours now robotic.
Is it just me, or has packaging become a lost art?
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.”
has led his team to unprecedented revenue heights. His leadership across the Western Region played a significant factor in Salem’s overall revenue growth. In addition to Andy’s leadership for the Western Region, Andy will work closely with Chris Gould, SVP national programming and ministry relations and all our national ministry partners to better leverage our digital assets, generating more time with our quality audience while delivering outstanding results.” Massingill comments, “The last three years have been an incredible journey with Salem and the Western Region. I’m proud of our work, the work we will continue to do, and the relationships established across the board. I am very excited to work with Chris and our national ministry partners who are at the core fabric of what Salem stands for.” 
“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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.”
Salem Media Group announces that the program “Mike Crispi Unafraid” officially joins the Salem Podcast Network. The daily show is hosted by television reporter, talk show host, and political operative Mike Crispi. Salem says, “During the 2020 election, he provided live coverage of political rallies and grassroots conservative events on Right Side Broadcasting. In the last year, he has hosted one of the most popular live shows on Rumble. He has worked on multiple campaigns at both the state and federal levels, including his own congressional campaign in New Jersey. Crispi comments, “It is a great honor to join forces with Salem Media. I have long admired their hosts, programming, and vision for the future of conservative media. This podcast has been a success since we started it last year, and I couldn’t think of a more genuine and authentic partner to help take it to the next level.”
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.