WIP Sports Talk Pioneer Howard Eskin is This Week’s Guest on Harrison Podcast
Philadelphia sports talk media founding father Howard Eskin is this week’s guest on the award-winning PodcastOne series, “The Michael Harrison Interview.” Eskin’s stellar career in radio and TV goes all the way back to 1972 and his impact on local media in the City of Brotherly Love is indelible. He still maintains an active presence as sports radio personality for WIP-FM 94.1 and anchor at FOX 29 News in addition to being a sideline reporter for the Eagles Radio Network. Eskin has hosted/anchored more than 8,000 sports radio programs in his career, which is likely the most by any sports radio personality in American broadcasting history. Harrison and Eskin discuss the state of sports, media, big money, the impact of gambling and the generational divide per the multi-award-winning host’s recent commencement speech at Goldey-Beacom College in Wilmington, Delaware where he received an honorary doctorate in acknowledgement of his contributions to media, culture and philanthropy. Don’t miss this! Listen to the podcast in its entirety here.
April 2024 PPM Data – Information for the April 2024 survey period (March 28 – April 24) has been released for Austin, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Providence, Norfolk, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Greensboro, Memphis, and Hartford.
NBA veteran and current Houston Rockets color commentator Ryan Hollins will join Mike Harmon hosting the Sunday 9:00 am to 12:00 noon ET program, and 8-year NFL veteran and All-Pro safety Kerry Rhodes parnters with Dan Beyer hosting the Sunday 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm program. iHeartMedia EVP of sports programming Don Martin and FOX Sports Radio SVP Scott Shapiro comment, “Sports fans know that they can come to us live 24/7 for strong opinions, predictions and instant reaction to all of the drama taking place in the world of sports. We are fired up that our lineup of personalities continues to get stronger and stronger. FOX Sports Radio is here to provide entertainment and companionships to sports fans all day, every day.”
podcasts) for April 2024 and NPR’s “NPR News Now” retains its #1 rank, followed by sister program “Up First” at #2 and audiochuck’s “Crime Junkie” at #3. Other radio related podcasts of note include Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” rising one place to #6, Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” sliding back one place to #17, and Cumulus Podcast Network’s “The Mark Levin Show” also moving back one spot to #28. 
The second of four rounds of ratings data from Nielsen Audio’s April 2024 PPM survey has been released for 12 markets including Washington, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Detroit, Phoenix, Minneapolis, San Diego, Tampa, Denver, Baltimore, and St. Louis. The survey covered March 28 through April 24. Today, TALKERS managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets. In Washington, Cumulus Media’s news/talk WMAL-FM dips two-tenths to finish with a 4.6 share (weekly, 6+ AQH share) and slides back to the #6 rank, while Hubbard Broadcasting’s all-news WTOP-FM loses one-tenth to finish with a 7.8 share good for the #2 rank. In Boston, iHeartMedia’s news/talk WRKO declines one-tenth for a 3.3 share finish and holds steady at the #12 rank, while sister all-news WBZ-AM rises three-tenths to a 4.9 share, yet it falls one spot to the #7 rank. In Seattle, Bonneville’s news/talk KIRO-FM dips one-tenth to a 3.8 share and slides down to the #10 rank, while Lotus Communications’ all-news KNWN-AM/FM loses one-tenth to finish with a 2.4 share and remains ranked #18. 
consumers ages 13 and older in the U.S.) and the top three remain unchanged with “The Joe Rogan Experience” at #1, “Crime Junkie” at #2, and “The Daily” at #3. The Taylor Swift effect helped propel “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” to the #4 position. Other podcasts of interest to the news/talk media industry include “The Ben Shapiro Show” at #13, “The Ramsey Show” at #16, “The Tucker Carlson Podcast” debuts at #24, and “The Dan Bongino Show” is at #27. 
will cover the latest on significant events from around the nation and the world.” Levanthal adds, “‘The Leventhal Report’ will bring the top stories to the growing Newsmax2 audience with an in-depth analysis of the ‘why’ and what it means to them and our nation. I am looking forward to bringing my global experience in covering the news that matters most to Newsmax2’s lineup of hard-hitting journalism.” Newsmax2 is the network’s free streaming channel available on the Newsmax App and FAST channel platforms found on most major OTT systems including Roku, Samsung, Amazon Fire, Pluto, Vizio, LG, Tivo, Plex and Xumo. Newsmax2 also airs on 20 television broadcast stations through digital channels.
Actor Hugh Grant’s Tweet called it “The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley.” He was reacting to Apple’s 
his radio career in 2010 in Battle Creek, for WBCK-FM and WBXX-FM, former Cumulus stations now owned by Townsquare Media. Cumulus president of operations Bob Walker comments, “Steve has proven himself to be an accomplished leader in the Dallas market the past 10 years and we are thrilled to have him moving back home to Michigan, an area of the country that is important to Steve and his family. We are excited for him to get started and eager to see the impact he will have.” Holm says, “I’m very thankful for the opportunity to come back home. The Grand Rapids and Muskegon teams are a tightly knit group and are determined and ready to win. I’m excited to be joining them and look forward to the challenges and growth ahead.”
revenue for its stations by general format and the company’s sports revenue was $56.6 million – an increase of 6.5% – while its news/talk revenue fell 5.5% to $40 million. Audacy chairman, president and CEO David J. Field comments, “Audacy delivered a solid start to 2024 with Q1 EBITDA increasing 173% vs the prior year. Second-quarter revenues are currently pacing up low-single 
digits, and we expect another quarter of substantial EBITDA growth, enhanced by our continuing work on expense reductions. Our improving results are predominantly attributable to a significant acceleration in digital revenue growth, continuing meaningful revenue share gains, and declining expenses as our transformational investments bear fruit. As previously announced, we received court approval of our consensual pre-packaged Plan of Reorganization, which will reduce our debt by 80%, and are now awaiting FCC approval to complete the process. I want to salute our team for their excellent work in driving financial and operating progress while simultaneously executing our reorganization plan, all without disruption to customers, listeners, partners, vendors or our staff.
Salem states, “Revenue growth from the sale of broadcast airtime is negatively impacted by audiences spending less time commuting, certain automobile manufacturers removing AM radio signals, increases in other forms of content distribution, and decreases in the length of time spent listening to broadcast radio as compared to audio streaming services, podcasts, and satellite radio. These factors may lead advertisers to conclude that the effectiveness of radio has diminished. We continue to enhance our digital assets to complement our broadcast content. The increased use of smart speakers and other voice activated platforms that provide audiences with the ability to access AM and FM radio stations offers potential sources for radio broadcasters to reach audiences. Our broadcast advertising revenue is particularly dependent on advertising from our Los Angeles and Dallas markets, which generated 15.3% and 18.4%, respectively, of our total net broadcast advertising revenue during the three-month period ended March 31, 2023, compared to 15.1% and 18.7%, respectively, of our total net broadcast advertising revenue during the three- month period ended March 31, 2024.” 
Moberly, Missouri – including news/talk KWIX – have been let go and all programming is now syndicated. The same is being reported about the company’s stations in the Farmington/Festus, Missouri market that includes news/talk KJFF. KOMU-TV reports that Moberly market manager Bob Dakin would not comment on how many employees were let go but confirmed that all local programming – including news and sports – is being replaced by national content.