TALKERS News Notes
Red Apple Audio Networks says it’s now affiliated with 214 stations since its launch 18 months ago and its programming is heard in 15 of the top 25 DMAs, including its flagship 77 WABC, New York.
Dick Broadcasting transitions WRNS-AM, Greenville, North Carolina to a sports betting format using content from VSiN, The Sports Betting Network. The station is being rebranded “Bet on the Bull 960 AM.”
OutKick will host a one-hour special titled, “OutKick on Fox,” that will air Sunday (8/27) at 10:00 pm ET on FOX News Channel. OutKick founder Clay Travis and hosts Tomi Lahren and Charly Arnolt will “provide their unfiltered opinions on sports, culture, and the topics Americans are talking about right now.” Special guests will include Riley Gaines, host of the “Gaines for Girls” podcast on OutKick, OutKick.com columnist Mary Katherine Ham, and former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom.
Zimmer Midwest Communications announces listeners to its Springfield, Missouri stations – including news/talk KWTO, raised a record $38,770 during the 12-hour Honor Flight of the Ozarks Radiothon on August 18. Money raised from the radiothon goes directly to send local veterans to Washington, DC on honor flight missions to visit the World War II, Korean and Vietnam War Memorials, the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps Memorials, and many others.
The Premiere Networks syndicated “Dan Patrick Show” is broadcasting live from Ireland for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic featuring the University of Notre Dame vs. the United States Naval Academy game at Aviva Stadium on Saturday (8/26). “The Dan Patrick Show” will originate from 9 College Green in the Temple Bar district of Dublin tomorrow through Friday. The Dan Patrick crew will also be joined by actor Will Ferrell.
Consider the following song titles:
As this week’s first Republican presidential debate looms, my FOX News Radio-affiliated client stations are irked. Thanks to their network, they’re carrying it live, and locally sponsored, and promo-ing it aplenty. A couple of my clients will travel to Milwaukee to wrap pre- and post-game color around the play-by-play. So, yuh, they’re irked.
Bulletin: “Linear TV” is no longer the winner.
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. 
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.”
Baltimore, Birmingham, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem. The show airs on SiriusXM’s College Sports channel in addition to radio stations in 12 of the top 50 markets across the country including Washington, Tampa, Portland, Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Austin, Kansas City, Raleigh, Nashville, Norfolk, Jacksonville, and New Orleans. Guests on the program over the years have included Serena Williams, Kevin Durant, Simone Biles, Jerry Rice, Snoop Dogg, Michael B. Jordan, and more.
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.
by more than 2 million people nationwide on a weekly basis. “The World” executive producer Dan Lothian says, “We’re delighted to welcome people from Florida, Wisconsin, Nevada, Ohio, Iowa, New York, Michigan, Illinois, and Kansas to the hundreds of communities listening to The World’s global coverage. As we reach this exciting audience milestone, we remain committed to bringing all our listeners nuanced coverage of the most critical global issues of the day, fueling informed conversations about international affairs.”
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.’” 
Radio station personnel could be facing the worst environment – ever!
Those are the two consultant buzzwords that hosts I coach are hearing in their sleep. And a couple more “E” words: Empathy and Empower.
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. 
2023. Consequently, it dismissed the accounting firm BDO USA, LLP and hired Ernst & Young LLP to serve as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023 effective as of July 12, 2023. In the filing, Urban One says, “Given the change of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm and the work required for E&Y to re-familiarize itself with the Company, the Company’s continued assessment of its internal controls, the Company is not able to finalize the financial statements and related information for inclusion in its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. The company is working to complete quarter reports for the first two quarter of 2023.
astronauts to newscasters to ultramarathoners prioritize sleep to perform and live at their best. The podcast incorporated key brand messaging throughout, complemented with ad placements across the iHeartPodcasts network. The study concludes that Mattress Firm’s investments on iHeartPodcasts lead to a 45% lift in incremental sales and achieved a 4X incremental return on ad spend. iHeartMedia chief data officer Brian Kaminsky states, “Over 100 million Americans listen to podcasts a month with 80 million Americans listening weekly, which is clear evidence this ‘emerging medium’ has now become a permanent, new part of all of our media consumption – giving brands access to new and engaging audiences. By partnering with Affinity to measure the impact of Mattress Firm’s digital audio advertising, particularly on their bottom line, we were able to demonstrate the power of the brand’s partnership with iHeart to drive sales and strong ROI. We also gained insights to optimize campaign performance that we are already applying.”
Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams and Max Kellerman. Their program was cancelled last month. The Post also reports that Chris Carlin and Joe Fortenbaugh will host the 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm program and Harry Douglas and Freddie Coleman are the new 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm co-hosts. Amber Wilson and Ian Fitzsimmons will host the 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm show. 
million reported in Q2 of 2022, primarily due to a $16.8 million increase in non-cash impairment charges to the company’s FCC licenses and investments, partially offset by an increase in other income, net due to a $5.2 million gain on the sale of one of the company’s investments and an increase in the effective tax rate for the current period. Townsquare CEO Bill Wilson says, “I am pleased to share that Townsquare’s digital growth engine continued to drive results in the second quarter, demonstrating its strength and resiliency, as we delivered second quarter net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA that met our previously issued guidance… With its differentiated and sophisticated products and solutions, our Digital Advertising segment was once again our largest driver of growth, increasing second quarter net revenue by 11% year-over-year… The strong cash generation characteristics of our assets allowed us to produce $31 million of cash flow from operations in the first six months of 2023, an increase of $8 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 nearly 9% of our total shares outstanding, repurchase and retire approximately $13 million of our Unsecured Senior Notes at a discount, and pay a high-yielding dividend to our shareholders during the first six months of the year. We also ended the quarter with a strong cash balance of $50 million and net leverage of 4.36x, retaining financial flexibility moving forward.”
Broadcast revenue decreased 5.3% to $49.7 million from $52.5 million; Station Operating Income decreased 43.5% to $6.2 million from $10.9 million; Same Station net broadcast revenue decreased 5.8% to $49.4 million from $52.4 million; and Same Station operating income decreased 37.7% to $6.8 million from $10.9 million. Digital Media revenue increased 0.5% to $10.9 million from $10.8 million, and Publishing revenue decreased 3.5% to $5.2 million from $5.4 million. Salem reports that as of June 30, 2023, the company was not in compliance with its fixed charge coverage ratio. On August 7, 2023 it signed a forbearance whereby the bank agreed not to exercise remedies on the default during the month of August. Additionally, the notional amount of the revolver was reduced from $30 million to $25 million with a minimum availability of $1 million. The interest rate associated with the revolver increased by two percentage points effective July 1, 2023 through the date of the forbearance amendment.
37-year career in journalism, during which he broke barriers and uplifted young sports writers. Parker says, “There’s nothing better than being honored by your own people, your peers, so this is very special to me. I want to thank my family, my friends, all the people who have supported me throughout the years, all my mentees – they fuel me, they inspire me every day. How I got here is that plenty of people helped me along the way, and that’s what it’s all about.” Premiere Networks president Julie Talbott says, “We couldn’t be more proud of Rob. He truly deserves this recognition for his trailblazing career in sports journalism, and for his continuing efforts to elevate and mentor the next generation.”