Audacy and Creditors Agree on Extension of Grace Period
As Audacy continues to engage in discussions with its creditors with respect to potential alternatives regarding a restructuring of its outstanding indebtedness, the company gains an extension on the grace periods before defaulting. Regarding its latest Credit Facility Amendment, it “extends the grace period before which a default in the payment of interest matures into an Event of Default to 68 calendar days. However, if lenders holding a majority of the outstanding obligations under the Credit Facility have not
received a substantially final form of agreement with respect to a consensual transaction relating to the Issuer’s funded indebtedness satisfactory to such lenders on or before December 15, 2023, the grace period extension expires after 45 calendar days. This is relevant to the following Credit Facility interest payments: approximately $17,000,000 originally due on October 31, 2023; approximately $785,592 originally due on November 8, 2023; and approximately $1,125,000 originally due on December 28, 2023. Regarding the Receivables Facility Amendment, it amends the cross-default that would otherwise occur under the Receivables Facility in respect of certain defaults in the payment of interest under the Credit Facility, with the effect that such interest payment defaults will not result in an event of default under the Receivables Facility until the expiration of the 68 or 45 calendar day grace periods… and extends certain related covenant accommodations with respect to the Company’s liquidity position through January 7, 2024.”
women in radio with female professionals recognized as leaders in all aspects of the industry. The 2023 class is comprised of broadcast professionals Rosanna Cole, regional traffic manager, Townsquare Media; Caleigh Fisher, director of teammate experience, Good Karma Brands; Kristi Nguyen, director, digital sales & campaign management, Audacy; and Jade Springart, WRIF-FM program director, Beasley Media Group. 
events in the Garden State drawing 250 guests including government officials, media representatives and community-minded business leaders. The gala will be held on Friday, October 4, 2024 at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. Harrison says, “This is a huge honor and I’m looking forward to addressing this distinguished event with observations about the media’s position at the crossroads between politics, journalism and changing social norms.” Hurley tells TALKERS, “Our special event will be taking place four weeks before one of the most consequential national elections in American history… arguably, the most important election since the Civil War era. It deserves to have a keynote speaker as eloquent as Michael Harrison.”
advanced their field and made a lasting impression on the industry. It will be celebrated at the Storytellers Gala honoring TV & Film Awards and Radio Awards trophy winners on April 16. Donna de Varona – a U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer – is currently a member of the board of directors of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. She is renowned for covering 18 Olympic Games from multiple networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, and Turner. As a pioneer for women in sports, she played a key role in establishing the Women’s Sports Foundation, serving as its first president and chairman. She chaired the groundbreaking 1999 FIFA Women’s Soccer World Cup and contributed to the formation of the very first IOC athletes commission in 1981 during the IOC Congress in Baden-Baden, Germany.
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.
implementation and management of all market events, promotions and contesting initiatives and support similar initiatives within the region that includes Dallas, Houston and New Orleans. Audacy Austin SVP and market manager Bob Mackay says, “Momo has all the mojo going as far as being connected promotionally in Austin. She loves live music and being out with the brands, which made her the perfect choice to work alongside our vice president of programming Nikki Nite, to help elevate the Audacy Austin marketing efforts.” Audacy operates news/talk KJCE-AM and three music brands in the Austin market.
the top sports morning shows in America and has won numerous national industry awards including a Marconi Award. Toucher was a foundational member of the launch of the station in August 2009. Prior to joining the ‘98.5 Sports Hub’ team, he worked at the former legendary rock station, WBCN.” Toucher comments, “I am thrilled to be able to work with my Beasley family over the coming years. I will continue my record of immense competence and brilliance.” Station PD Rick Radzik adds, “Fred has been entertaining ‘Sports Hub’ listeners each morning since 2009 with his compelling viewpoints and opinions on a wide range of topics. We are very pleased that he will continue on with us for years to come.” There’s no mention of morning drive co-host and Toucher’s longtime partner Rich Shertenlieb in the press release and the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn writes about the possibility Shertenlieb will exit the station soon. 
the Philadelphia Phillies to make the World Series – which they did – SiriusXM sports talk personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo said on Wednesday’s “Howard Stern Show” that the retirement statement was a “throwaway line” and he would not retire. Stern then urged him to accept “punishment” in the form of a stunt: Russo would wear a Diamondbacks-themed bikini and walk down the street in Manhattan carrying a sign saying, “I am a liar and a dope.” 
together a panel of educators, behavioral specialists and policymakers to examine how best to deal with pandemic learning loss won first place and will be received by the leading team members behind the town halls: anchor Eric Scott, director of content Anne Gress, news director Annette Petriccione, managing editor Sergio Bichao, and operations specialist Dan Alexander. The station also won in the Broadcast – Best Breaking News Coverage category for its coverage of the mayhem that erupted in Long Branch at the start of the summer season at the Jersey Shore. Managing editor Sergio Bichao, reporter Dan Alexander and then-producer and weekend host Jordan Jansson worked late into the night to chronicle a developing story that had far-reaching impacts on public opinion and policy relating to law and order. Finally, the station won in the Best Use of Sound for Radio News Story for reporter Dino Flammia’s series of on-air and online reports marking the 10th anniversary of Superstorm Sandy.
leaders, mentors, and game changers within all aspects of radio broadcasting. Four candidates from the radio broadcasting industry – within all of the disciplines of radio including sales, marketing, programming, and digital – will be selected for the 2023- 2024 program. MIW board president Ruth Presslaff comments, “We are so pleased to launch the Mildred Carter mentorship program with the very generous and consistent support of Beasley Media Group and Entravision. Based on our application pool, it’s clear there’s a great need for mentoring and we are here for it.” 
daily, previewing the upcoming market open and the afternoon report as a market wrap-up. It currently airs on 77WABC in New York. Red Apple chief John Catsimatidis says, “Lou has a remarkable understanding of market trends and fluctuations. He has the rare ability to be able to cut through the data and present insightful analysis in a concise manner. He’s a terrific addition to our lineup of big-name personalities.”
during the third year, with each price subject to adjustment as specified in the Third A/R Articles.” The redemption of the Class A Common Stock will allow founder and chairman Jeff Smulyan to ultimately take Emmis Corporation private. He comments, “I am grateful to the Emmis shareholders for their tremendous support of our proposal to amend our articles of incorporation, which will give us the opportunity to return significant capital, invest in our current businesses and seek new ventures.” Emmis’ sole radio properties are WEPN-FM, New York “ESPN New York” – currently leased to Good Karma Brands – and Gospel WLIB-AM, New York. The sale of those signals would help fund the stock redemption. 
in 1979 from the University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism from the prestigious Grady School of Journalism, she worked in the corporate world and met a payroll. She is a wife, mother and a grandmother. She’s stayed at home and juggled children and working priorities. She says there is no glass ceiling and women can have it all, just not at the same time. A life-long learner, she completed her MA in Political Science in 2021 at the University of Georgia’s School of Politics and International Affairs. Her thesis was on women’s electoral success in the GOP. During her formidable broadcasting career in the Peach State, she has pivoted between holding positions on key talk stations and performing stints in politics and the public sector. These include being state director of field offices for Governor Brian Kemp. She’s also worked for Senator David Perdue in senior staff positions. In addition to her daily duties at WDUN, Zoller serves on the Georgia State Board of Education. TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison says, “Martha Zoller is a perfect ‘go-to’ guest to discuss the Georgia Trump indictment. She’s an independent Republican and moderate conservative without an ax to grind. I have always found her to be an extremely credible source for political discussion of the hot issues – now with the Trump Georgia story boiling on the front burner, she is a talk show treasure for her industry colleagues.” To arrange an interview or set up a connection with Martha Zoller, contact Victoria Jones at DC Radio Company at 917-865-3991 or 
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.
the Council Award of Special Recognition from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History(ASALH). ASALH was founded in 1915 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson to document the contributions of African Americans to American history. The award will be presented at the 108th Annual Conference in Jacksonville on September 23.
In order to measure interest in podcast content pre-launch, Coleman Insights is having 1,000 United States and Canadian podcast listeners (in the 18 – 64 demo) rate podcast show titles and elevator pitches on a one to five scale. Regarding this “Pod Predictor” concept, Coleman Insights vice president/consultant Jay Nachlis comments, “So much money and time is invested in the launch of new podcasts without any intel as to how that content will be received. With ‘Pod Predictor,’ podcasters can determine how appealing their concept is at an affordable price point, allowing them to refine their marketing message before launching it to the public.” Possessing the ability to test one or multiple concepts, “Pod Predictor” is available to individual publishers and networks. Results will be delivered with total results, as well as breakdowns by age, gender, ethnicity, geography, and category interest.
talk hosts he might be able to beat in a cage match, used the recently published 2023 TALKERS Heavy Hundred to muse over potential opponents. Kaye – ranked #81 on this year’s Heavy Hundred – says he’s pretty sure Sean Hannity (#1 on the Heavy Hundred) would kill him. 
from the 2023 TASTE AWARDS. “What’s Cookin’” won its award for Best Food or Drink Radio Broadcast in a ceremony that took place in Beverly Hills. Horn says, “We are thrilled to have been selected as the TASTE AWARD winner in the all-important Best Food or Drink Radio Broadcast. It’s quite an honor to be recognized by those who voted for “What’s Cookin’ Today” and it’s quite an honor to bring the show daily to our incredible national listening audience.”
Radio, and KGFJ Radio among others, joins such former recipients of the award as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’ Reilly, Mark Levin, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Bob Grant, Thom Hartmann, Alan Colmes, Joe Madison, Karen Hunter, Al Franken, Brian Lamb, Norm Pattiz, Ian Freeman and others dating back to the origins of TALKERS in the late 1980s. Some two years ago, Smiley’s media company acquired an AM radio station in Los Angeles, the former hip hop legend KDAY, and transformed it into a new station and format – KBLA Talk 1580 – where he’s assembled an outstanding on-air staff, including himself, with the 
passionate mission of, as he puts it, “unapologetically serving people of color and who are politically progressive.” In making the announcement of this year’s recipient, TALKERS founder Michael Harrison states, “This is our longest-running and most-important award. Mr. Smiley has risen to the enormous talk radio challenge of providing underserved African Americans and progressives with a major commercial platform in the nation’s second largest market with a worldwide reach. In today’s political environment and struggling AM radio industry, it doesn’t get any more ‘First Amendment’ than that.” Tavis Smiley was presented the award by Harrison at TALKERS 2023 on Friday, June 2 at Hofstra University on Long Island. 
cable channel while speaking on WABC’s “Sid & Friends in the Morning” program. When asked by the Post about details of a bid for CNN, including how much he’d pay, he said, “It’s up to the investment bankers to come up with the numbers… We could always bring partners in, but I want to run the place. We are capable of putting down a substantial amount of money.” Catsimatidis added, “I’d go run the place tomorrow morning, and all I’d want is $1 per year and a piece of the upside,” saying he could “double the profits” in a brief period of time. 
locking myself up so I wouldn’t drink anymore, so I knew I wouldn’t drink. That’s how I felt like, I was like, all right, I’ve lost control, I’ve lost control of alcohol, I’ve lost control, I’m not thinking like me, I need to make sure that I’m in a position where I do not have the opportunity to drink. Was it fun? It was the worst five days of my entire life.” Toucher says he intends to continue the outpatient therapy treatments. “The setup I have right now is by far the most gnarly setup I’ve had. I’m talking about like four hours a day of intense therapy for alcohol and intense therapy for anxiety… Got out yesterday morning and immediately went to an outpatient facility, then went to a therapist. Right after the show today, I’m going back to that outpatient facility. So, I’m taking this recovery very, very seriously.” 
states, “
from industry leaders, and is based on a combination of hard and soft factors including courage, effort, impact, longevity, potential, ratings, recognition, revenue, service, talent, and uniqueness. Candidates for the Heavy Hundred must be working a regularly scheduled professional show on the air at a minimum of one terrestrial or satellite radio station at the time of publication. TALKERS magazine executive editor Kevin Casey says, “This feature remains one of the most challenging undertakings for the editors. There are so many quality talk radio hosts working at stations in major markets all the way down to the smallest outlets serving intimate communities. Winnowing that field to the ‘100 most important’ is very difficult, but it is a challenge we take very seriously. We’re excited to publish this year’s Heavy Hundred and to congratulate those fine hosts who’ve made the list.”
hands are tied as anything he could say has to be approved by management. The Boston Globe reports that Shertenlieb said, “The last time he was out for an extended period, I gave an update and was gently asked for a lot of different reasons that any statement regarding him has to be approved by management. There have been statements that have been submitted, some have been approved, some haven’t been. It just turns into asking, ‘What can I say? What can I say?’ Listen, no one wants to be in this position. Fred doesn’t want to be in this position, the station doesn’t want to be in this position, I certainly don’t want to be in this position, but as of now, all I’ve been approved to tell you, because you’re such great listeners and we love you, is that he’s not here today, I’m not sure exactly when he’ll be back, but I’ve been a friend of Fred’s for years and I hope the best for him.” 