Radio to the Rescue: Maui KAOI Radio Stations Air 24/7 Disaster Coverage
As Southern California radio is currently diving into the process of serving its communities with supportive coverage of Hurricane Hilary’s devastating floods and wind damage, Hawaiian radio stations have stepped up the plate and offering vital support to its listeners. Once again, the medium of radio provides reliable and accurate information to populations under the threat of natural disasters.
The KAOI Radio Group on Maui consists of six legacy Maui County stations, four FMs – KAOI-FM, KDLX-FM, KNUQ-FM, KHEI-FM, and two AM stations, Maui’s only news/talk station KAOI-AM, and Hawaiian music KEWE-AM. The group has translators further solidifying its coverage all of Maui County. The group is locally owned by Visionary Related Entertainment, based on Maui since 1988.
Coverage of the fires began when the first alert was issued for the Lahaina fire and later confirmed as “contained” only to have it restart later. Local coverage of the “up country” fire in the Kula area continued non-stop with intensive service to Lahaina as soon as the fire was confirmed as having restarted. The stations relied on coverage by AM station morning newsman Jack Gist, afternoon and evening host Garry Forsberg, and group president/GM/owner John Detz. Live reports around the Island were supplied by local talk show hosts including head of the Maui Chamber of Commerce, Maui Humane Society, local attorney David Cain, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen, and many others. All stations have remained on the air 24/7 reporting breaking news and community resource information.
TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison obtained an exclusive interview with group owner John Detz conducted yesterday (Sunday 8/20). Listen to their conversation here.
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show will come soon), Mike Greenberg’s “Greeny” show remains in the 10:00 am to 12:00 noon ET slot. Chris Carlin and Joe Fortenbaugh host the 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm ET show (again, the name will come later), Freddie Coleman and Harry Douglas host the 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm ET “Freddie & Harry” show, followed by Amber Wilson and Ian Fitzsimmons hosting the “Amber & Ian” show from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm ET. 
“Shock Jocks Part 2: The Fall.” Through interviews with major players in the radio and entertainment industries, including TALKERS magazine publisher Michael Harrison, the story of the growth of male-targeted “FM talk” along with the vicious battles that took place between the major players is told. ViceTV is on a number of on-demand services. 
2022, according to data from Comscore. The platform also saw 24 million total multiplatform views and 27 million total multiplatform minutes. OutKick founder Clay Travis – co-host of the Premiere Networks syndicated talk show “Clay Travis and Buck Sexton” – says, “It’s always great to see OutKick’s strong growth every month. We continue to distribute engaging content on topics that reach beyond sports and add talent to our roster that embrace common sense reporting.”
marketing and community engagement for Chattanooga’s Erlanger Health System, TVFCU, and the Skyuka Hall School. A beloved media personality, Mescon’s signature style, boundless energy, and passion for the community have made him a household name throughout the Chattanooga region.” Cumulus Chattanooga VP and market manager John Lewis states, “We are thrilled to welcome Jed to WGOW and our Cumulus Chattanooga team. Jed has amassed an impressive career in media and his unique perspective, connection to the community, and skillset will undoubtedly take WGOW to the next level.” Mescon comments, “I spent 28 years waking up at 2:45 am to bring the news to Chattanooga. This brings me back to my roots, doing both news and co-hosting mornings from 6-10am on WGOW Talk Radio 102.3.”
related podcasts in the top 25 include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” at #7, Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” at #21, and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Mark Levin Show” at #22. Triton notes that Cumulus experienced data collection issues with the Daily Wire shows (such as “The Ben Shapiro Show” which ranked #3 in the June report) during this period. 
earlier this year. RTDNA says the awards honor “outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism… the Murrow Awards recognize local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community.” Some of this year’s winners in the radio category include: Audacy’s WBBM-AM/WCFS-FM, Chicago (Breaking News); KDKA-AM, Pittsburgh (Feature Reporting); KMOX, St. Louis (Newscast); and iHeartMedia’s WBZ-AM, Boston (Excellence in Innovation). 
lead-in to the weekend in college football and is hosted by FSR weekend personality Brian Noe who’s joined by former All-American Penn State left guard Rich Ohrnberger and betting analyst Jared Smith. The Sunday show airs from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET, also hosted by Noe and features feature NFL veteran Geoff Schwartz, along with professional sports bettor and KrackWins.com founder Bill “Krack” Krackomberger.
listing on Nasdaq. “PODC” has been reserved as the trading symbol for PodcastOne’s common stock. LiveOne senior management will host a live conference call and audio webcast to provide business developments and details of the planned spinout of PodcastOne at 1:30 pm ET tomorrow (8/17).
their podcast “The Dumb Zone,” arguing that it violates the terms of their contracts, specifically the non-compete clause. McDowell and Kemp left “The Ticket” in July after being unable to come to terms on a renewal due to the two sides’ disagreement over digital initiatives. Since then, the two have been producing the aforementioned podcast. In response to the suit filed by Cumulus, McDowell and Kemp argue, “Plaintiff’s business is the operation of terrestrial radio stations – old media – and it was only in that business that Plaintiff employed Defendants. Plaintiff has realized only too late that it should have been moving into new media platforms for years now. Defendants’ new venture does not compete with Plaintiff, and their words and actions have complied with the restrictive covenants of their employment contracts despite, as will be shown below, almost all of those covenants are illegal restrictions on Defendants’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act.” Mediation has been set for August 22.
inked in 2021 and included Cadence13 and APM developing and producing new shows and made Audacy the exclusive podcast sales rep for APM. The piece further notes that Audacy CEO David Field referenced the deal during his Q2 2023 earnings commentary saying, “In June, we successfully negotiated an early exit to an onerous Podcast ad representation contract, which resulted in a restructuring charge of $5.9 million in the quarter and the accelerated recognition of $4.5 million of prepaid content expense. We believe exiting this agreement will have a positive impact on our podcast margins, without materially impacting our future podcast revenue growth opportunity.” 
were not paid but given the ability to get their message out. Adell promoted the station as “Detroit’s Only Urban Tall Station” via billboards throughout the metro area. The Metro Times piece says hosts learned of the change in an email delivered last Friday night that said, “Your show will no longer air on WFDF 910AM Superstation. All access passes have been revoked and you are no longer allowed on the premises. The guard has been notified not to give you entry.” The piece goes on to say, “The terse email and sudden change infuriated some of the hosts and prompted others to accuse the owner, millionaire Kevin Adell, of exploiting Black people by turning racial anxiety into entertainment and failing to pay the hosts for their shows.” But Adell tells the paper “the format was no longer profitable and only attracted about 2,100 listeners a month, an abysmally small audience for a radio station. ‘When you look at it, no one supported it. I couldn’t get the community to support it.’” 
worked at Saga Communications’ Bellingham, Washington stations for decades hosting his program “The Zone” on both news/talk KGMI-AM and sports talk KPUG-AM. Saga says, “He was a skilled broadcaster of sports at all levels, but was especially known for his knowledge of and dedication to Whatcom County high school teams, their athletes and coaches. His family thanks the community for their outpouring of support, and says they’ll announce plans for a memorial in coming days.”
December and now hosts a show on the Outkick platform. With Query’s move to middays, the Kevin & Query Show that’s been airing in morning drive becomes “The Wake Up Call With KB and Andy,” as Kevin Bowen is joined by new co-host Andy Sweeney. Urban One Indianapolis operations manager David Wood tells the Indianapolis Business Journal, “While Jake loves working with Kevin, the show is a complete antithesis to his body clock. He’s a huge night owl. It dawned on me, ‘Why don’t I put a known quantity in this noon to 3 p.m. show?’ Everybody knows Jake. He’s well-respected and he’s an entertaining person.” 
Tuesday (8/8), Cumulus filed suit against the duo on August 4 claiming they are in violation of several clauses in their contracts with the company. McDowell and Kemp left Cumulus last month after they were unable to come to terms on a renewal to remain with “The Ticket.” The sticking point was their desire to explore digital initiatives outside of their work with Cumulus. They have since launched a podcast via Patreon that Cumulus says violates their six-month non-compete. The company also alleges the two have violated the non-solicitation and non-disparagement clauses of their contract and additionally alleges they have “commandeered” company-owned social media accounts, threatened to release “conversations Defendants illicitly recorded” with company executives. Cumulus is seeking “emergency injunctive relief” plus attorneys’ fees and costs. McDowell told listeners to the podcast released on Sunday (8/6), “We’re working with certain advisors. We’ve been advised that we are doing nothing wrong, so don’t stop, for now. So right now, we are putting this out there, and what’s in store for tomorrow? I don’t know.” 
program. The story notes that Slaten last worked at KFNS seven years ago and this will be his sixth stint with the station. Slaten has a reputation in the market for being controversial. He also hosts a conservative political podcast called “The King’s Court” and previously worked for the late Bob Romanik, a political raconteur whose talk station KQQZ-AM was shut down by the FCC after it was discovered that Romanik, a convicted felon, was illegally operating the station. In his new position with KFNS-AM, Slaten is agreeing to stick to sports talk. 
The fourth and final round of ratings data from Nielsen Audio’s July 2023 PPM survey has been released for 12 markets including Austin, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Providence, Norfolk, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Greensboro, Memphis, and Hartford. Nielsen’s July 2023 sweep covered June 22 – July 19. Today, TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets. In Milwaukee, iHeartMedia news/talk WISN dips one-tenth to finish with a 9.7 share but remains locked in the #1 rank, while Good Karma Brands crosstown news/talk WTMJ falls 1.6 shares to finish the survey with a 7.9 share that takes the station from #2 to #4. In Providence, Cumulus Media news/talk WPRO-AM/WEAN-FM rises three-tenths for a 6.2 share finish and rises to the #6 rank, while iHeartMedia crosstown news/talk WHJJ loses three-tenths to finish with an 0.2 share good for the #18 rank. In West Palm Beach, iHeartMedia talk outlet WZZR-FM adds a half share for a 1.9 share finish that lifts it to the #12 rank, while Hubbard Broadcasting news/talk WFTL dips three-tenths for a 1.3 share finish that leaves it ranked #13. 
audiences and deepen NHPR’s relationship with existing users. She will supervise NHPR’s digital team, programming team, and marketing efforts. Lin comments, “I’m thrilled to join this ambitious team to lead audience strategy at NHPR. I deeply believe in the mission of public media and am passionate about journalism as a means to inform communities, spark civic engagement and enrich our quality of life.” She most recently served with Solutions Journalism Network in which she worked with newsrooms across the US managing editorial and audience engagement initiatives as collaborations manager.