Merchandize Your Show!
Mark Kaye, host of the WOKV-FM, Jacksonville-based “The Mark Kaye Show,” writes today in a piece for TALKERS magazine about the value of selling merchandise to your P1s. He says, “We have a saying around ‘The Mark Kaye Show’ studio: ‘If the audience likes it on the air, they’re gonna LOVE it on a t-shirt!’” He gives examples of how they come up with creative ideas to sell merch to their listeners that strengthens the bond between them and his show. He says, “Merchandise isn’t just an additional stream of revenue, it’s a bond that can connect you and your audience eternally. They love you. They love your show. They love it for the three hours a day you offer it to them. Unless you offer them something tangible that doesn’t drift off into the ether after you turn off the microphone, they can’t show their fandom the other 21 hours of the day.” Read the full story here.
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. She 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. This informational talk show will leave listeners feeling inspired during Veterans Day weekend and through the holiday season, sharing stories of amazing service members, veterans, and their families. 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.” For more information on this radio special, available cash and barter free, contact Larry O’Connor at 562-665-9537 or loconnor@fisherhouse.org.
We have a saying around “The Mark Kaye Show” studio:
podcast), and Audio & Media Services Group. In the Multiplatform Group, broadcast radio revenue was $455 million, down 6.1% year-over-year, and networks revenue was $116 million, a decline of 8.6%. In the Digital Audio Group, digital excluding podcast revenue was $165 million, an increase of 1.1%, while podcast revenue was $103 million, an increase of 12.5%, year-over-year. iHeartMedia chairman and CEO Bob Pittman says, “We’re pleased to report that our third quarter results were at the high end of our Adjusted EBITDA and Revenue guidance ranges. Our Digital Audio Group’s performance reflects the strong flow-through characteristics of the business and Podcasting continues to be a strong growth engine for the Company; additionally, while the Multiplatform Group does continue to be impacted by advertising industry uncertainty, we’ve seen sequential gradual quarter to quarter improvement throughout the year and we remain confident that the Multiplatform Group will be an additional growth engine for the company as the advertising marketplace recovers.”
$145.7 million, down 7.1% year-over-year. Audacy president and CEO David J. Field states, “Audacy’s third quarter net revenues declined 5.6%, in-line with our quarterly guidance as ad market conditions have remained challenging, particularly on national business. Cash operating expenses were down 2%. We gained revenue share in the quarter, most significantly in radio in which we have achieved accelerating share growth since the start of the year. We also delivered solid gains in radio ratings share and digital audience metrics while making important progress on our tech roadmap and meaningful expense savings to improve our current and future business model. Fourth quarter is currently pacing down 9% on an as reported basis and down 4% on a same-station, ex-political basis. We expect Q4 total revenues to decline by high single digits and costs to decline by high single digits. As noted in our recent public filings, we remain in constructive conversations with our lenders to recapitalize the company’s balance sheet to establish a strong financial footing and position the company to capitalize effectively on our growth opportunities. Notwithstanding current challenges, Audacy has established a strong position as a scaled, leading multi-platform audio content and entertainment company distinguished by our exclusive premium content and top positions across the country’s largest markets. We salute our team for their strong work delivering solid growth against our key performance metrics and serving our listeners and customers with excellence.”
revenue of $54 million, a decline of 8.6% year-over-year. It’s Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions segment revenue was $20 million, down 12.6% from Q3 of 2022, and its Digital Advertising segment revenue was $39 million, up 5.5% year-over-year. Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson states, “The strong cash generation characteristics of our assets allowed us to produce $39 million of cash flow from operations in the first nine months of 2023, an increase of $7 million as compared to the prior year. We could not be more pleased to share that given our strong cash position, we were able to repurchase and retire approximately $14 million of our Unsecured Senior Notes at a discount during the third quarter, bringing our year-to-date total bond repurchases to $27 million. In addition, we repurchased approximately 94,000 Class A shares in the third quarter (in total, we’ve repurchased 1.7 million shares in 2023), and continue to pay a high-yielding dividend while also investing in our business. We also ended the quarter with a strong cash balance of $38 million and net leverage of 4.49x, retaining financial flexibility moving forward.”
The Broadcasters Foundation of America announces that Jordan Wertlieb, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Hearst is the 2024 recipient of the Broadcasters Foundation of America Golden Mike Award. The award will be presented during a black-tie fundraiser on March 4, 2024, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Wertlieb says, “I am honored by this recognition from the Board of the Broadcasters Foundation. The Broadcasters Foundation’s mission is to provide financial aid to our colleagues whose lives have been impacted by illness, accident, or natural disaster. I am committed to helping those in need and grateful to all who support this important organization.”
on Gospel WPZZ-FM, Richmond to discuss the project and the referendum and lamented the amount of money they’d spent on the process, saying, “God has blessed me with enough to build the Richmond Grand. But $10 million is what the final [campaign] bill looks like. Such a waste. I am so mad at this opposition. Do you know how much good I could have done with $10 million? I had to pay the lawyers, the accountants, and the lobbyists… just to get the opportunity for you all to vote.” Casinos have already been approved in four Virginia cities, but the project was extremely controversial in Richmond.
video saying it violates its community guidelines that “prohibit linking to content containing manifestos from individuals who have committed violent attacks.” Crowder issued a notice on X regarding the removal of the content, saying, “YOU determine what matters. YOU determine the content. Not YouTube, not the rest of BigTech, not their lackies, and not a gaggle of sponsors who don’t have the b***s to stand behind the kind of content you actually want to see.” According to a report by Newsweek, “The Metro Nashville Police Department has not confirmed that the screenshots shared by Crowder are Hale’s manifesto. A department spokesperson told Newsweek Monday that police were ‘unable to confirm the authenticity of what has been released, although we are looking into that at this very moment.’” 
didn’t have a stroke or a heart attack and I don’t have a brain tumor or anything like it. Turns out it’s just one of those unexplained things that happen and very likely will never happen again. I’ve been cleared to return to work but have decided to call it a career. I’m 72, I’ve been in radio for 54 years, and for the past 42 years, I’ve been getting out of bed in the middle of the night to go to work. I just discovered I like sleeping in a bit. I will miss the daily enjoyment of the job and especially the people with whom I worked. And, thanks most of all to those of you who listened each morning and found some informational and entertainment value mornings on KLIF. Nothing lasts forever but I’m going to try. Stay well, y’all. Love your life. This is the month for giving thanks.” 
Midwest Communications’ news/talk KFGO, Fargo The Mighty 790 on November 2. He tells The Forum that he left the station due to a difference in programming philosophy with management. “We differed on the operation of the ‘Morning Crew,’ and so I decided to step away.” Michaels serves as the public address announcer for North Dakota State football and basketball games, a position he will continue to hold. 
Downs for a $562 million casino project that faces opposition from a group called No Means No Casino, led by Paul Goldman. While hosting a shot on The Box 99.9, Brown referred to Goldman as “a Jew who’s got the same trait as Judas,” and a “white Jew with the background of Judas.” WRIC-TV reports that Urban One regional VP Marsha Landess called Brown’s comments “horrible and offensive” and that Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins apologized directly to Goldman. 
Fredericks says, “As our stations in Philadelphia have thrived and shown stunning growth, we thought it was critical to bookend the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with Pittsburgh, giving us robust reach in both dense population centers. We offer listeners in Pittsburgh’s Westmoreland County and now Nashville, Tennessee an exciting news/talk alternative that breaths oxygen into a stale and boring ring of warmed-over RINO syndicated hosts on the conservative news/talk syndication circuit. Our Nashville acquisition gives us a base of operations in the Mid-South as we expand along the spine of the Atlantic Coast. Nashville is a high-growth city and an important cultural center of our movement. We will be competing there with the biggest talk station conglomerates in the nation, including Cumulus and iHeart. We will offer Nashville listeners a dynamic alternative choice.
“If you think radio has problems,” consultant Holland Cooke says, “Netflix et al are to television stations what Pandora et al are to music stations. So local news is TV stations’ silver bullet. And – like radio – their need to promote off-air exceeds their promotion budget.” In this week’s column, he outlines tactics for “partnering with a fellow broadcaster who’s also challenged.” 
I am always impressed when I see-and-hear radio and TV stations swapping product.
announce that I will be back on the air with my new show called ‘What’s On Tap?’ This hourlong show is set to air on most weeknights at 6: 00 pm barring conflicts with Bucks & Brewers games, featuring culture and creativity in Wisconsin and around the world.” The show launched last night and featured content from Maxx’s recent trip to England in which she interviewed Sue Harvey of The Beatles landmark Strawberry Field in Liverpool as well as an audio tour of the Beatles-themed Airbnb in Green Bay. Maxx most recently co-hosted the station’s late morning show with host Steve Scaffidi.
WRHU-FM, Hempstead, New York chief engineer Andy Gladding played a role in organizing the November 8 event when eight university and high school owned-and-operated stations broadcasting in the 88.1-88.9 segment of the FM band in the number one media market in the country join together to celebrate their love of college radio. Starting at 12:00 noon ET, “The Big 88” will become New York and New Jersey’s largest college radio station, covering an FM broadcast footprint of over 120 miles. In a story written for TALKERS magazine, Gladding says that despite the rash of American colleges selling their radio properties, the New York market has a vibrant college radio community. He says college radio stations have a special value. “I have spent 20 years working as a student volunteer and administrator at WRHU, ‘Radio Hofstra University,’ and have seen first-hand how college radio contributes to the growth and success of students looking to pursue a career in radio, television and digital media. Students and community volunteers who participate at college radio stations find themselves engaged in a diverse community of voices, opinions and music. While their approach and interests may be different, their practice at the college radio station unites them with one unified goal: to serve the listening audience by creating imaginative and alternative audio programming using the university’s FM transmission facility as their channel to the world. 
award-winning and barrier-breaking broadcast professional who has built her brand and ‘America Tonight’ show to be trusted and respected. Kate’s been a dependable weeknight talk host for 15 years. Her affiliates know her as a super-serving talent who goes the extra mile for them. Listeners know ‘America Tonight with Kate Delaney’ as an entertaining show to stay ‘in the know.’” Delaney adds, “I look forward to expanding and growing the show with the talented professionals at TMN. I’m passionate about talk radio and its ability to bring people together to inform, entertain and surprise listeners.” Stations interested in the program can reach out to 
Detroit’s News/Talk Radio Station.” The station features local host Justin Barclay in morning drive with Premiere Networks syndicated shows including “The Glenn Beck Program,” “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” “The Sean Hannity Show,” “The Jesse Kelly Show,” Key Networks’ “The Bill O’Reilly Show” and Red Apple Media’s “The Other Side of Midnight with Frank Morano.” The station is promoting itself with a heavy media schedule on iHeartMedia’s adult contemporary WNIC-FM, Detroit voiced by Sean Hannity. Adell Media CEO Kevin Adell says, “910 AM Superstation is living up to its name. The audience growth we’ve seen since launching our conservative news/talk lineup in September has been exponential, and we’re looking forward to reaching even more listeners on 104.3 HD2.” 
College radio is a special place on the FM dial. Listeners know it as the channel at the low end of the band where student and volunteer DJs have free reign to play music not usually heard from commercial operators. College students recognize it as a place where they can hone their broadcasting skills and put their passion and talents to work to prepare for a career in the industry. Hiring managers recognize it as a proving ground that provides quality pre-professional development and a destination to seek out qualified candidates to fill entry level media industry roles.
anchored by Newsweek senior editor-at-large Josh Hammer. Newsweek says the program’s goal is to “navigate the converging realms of politics, law, and culture while deliberating on the evolution of American conservatism. Hammer, with his background as a constitutional lawyer, intends to present commentary accompanied by interactions with contemporary conservative thought leaders.” Newsweek director of radio and podcasting Jesse Edwards adds, “Josh Hammer is going to be the next big voice in conservative talk radio, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring his powerful message to the airwaves of Seattle, and beyond.”
ECHO box technology. He says, “GCN’s Adam Miller explains that their ECHO Files can easily be synced with most radio automation systems for easy delay broadcast with no new hardware needed and about fifteen minutes setup time! There is no need to have staff do daily chores like pulling files manually from an FTP or website. Those days are done! For live affiliates GCN has their ECHO Box that comes pre-programmed for the shows the affiliate carries. The ECHO Box can also do delay broadcast. They are sending these out with priority to stations that take the largest number of live hours, but eventually all live affiliates will receive them as dozens more of the very small ECHO Boxes will be coming in early November.” Affiliates with questions can call Adam Miller at 612-695-5982. 
noted that it lost about 96,000 self-pay subscribers during the quarter and states that its current total subscribers stands at 34 million. SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz says, “We are very excited to unveil SiriusXM’s next-generation platform on November 8th, a key component of our long-term vision for the company’s consumer offerings. Our content portfolio continues to differentiate us in the audio marketplace with exclusive access to live sports, talk, music and one-of-a-kind content.”
stories of our nation’s heroes, the families who serve by their side, and how Fisher House plays a role in their journey. 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. 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. She 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. 
“AUDA.” Audacy says, “The NYSE’s determination has no impact on Audacy’s business strategy or operations. Audacy continues to focus on growing and enhancing its capabilities as a leading, multi-platform audio content and entertainment company, and continues to engage in discussions with its lenders to deleverage its balance sheet and improve its capital structure to position Audacy for long-term growth.”
to 8:00 am show will be simulcast on the company’s KTOK-AM, Oklahoma City and KAKC-AM, Tulsa. iHeartMedia Nashville market president Dan Endom says, “We are thrilled to welcome Michael, a true broadcasting legend, to iHeartMedia Nashville. Michael’s extensive knowledge of the airwaves coupled with his innate ability to connect with audiences will elevate our programming to new heights.” DelGiorno served with Cumulus Media’s crosstown WWTN-FM, Nashville from 2007 through March of this year. He also previously hosted shows on KFAQ and KRMG in Tulsa.