Round One of January PPMs Released
The first of four rounds of ratings data from Nielsen Audio’s January 2024 PPM survey has been released for 12 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, San Jose, and Middlesex-Somerset-Union (New Jersey). The survey period covered January 4 – 31. Today, TALKERS magazine managing editor Mike Kinosian presents his Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets. In New York, Red Apple Media’s news/talk WABC-AM adds half a share to finish with a 3.5 share (weekly, 6+ AQH share) and remains ranked #11, while iHeartMedia’s news/talk WOR-AM rises half a share to a 1.7 share that lifts it to the #17 rank. In Los Angeles, iHeartMedia’s news/talk KFI adds nine-tenths for a 4.5 share finish good for the #3 rank in the market. In Chicago, Nexstar Media Group’s news/talk WGN-AM is up a half share, finishing with a 3.1 share and the #10 rank, while Cumulus Media Group’s news/talk WLS-AM rises two-tenths to a 1.9 share and moves up one spot to the #18 rank. And in Atlanta, Cox Media Group’s WSB-AM/WSBB-FM claims the #1 rank after rising 1.2 shares to an 8.6 share. See Mike Kinosian’s complete Ratings Takeaways from this group of markets here.
the Bucks,” presented by Gallagher; “Hear District,” hosted by Marques and Kris Johnson, “Bucks in Six,” hosted by Greg Matzek, “Thanalysis,” hosted by Thanasis Antetokounmpo and “Courtside with Gale Klappa.” GKB Milwaukee market manager Greg Scalzo says, “Bucks+ Audio connects Bucks fans to the team in an innovative audio format. The first podcasts provide a deeper look into the Bucks and share untold stories of the team and organization.”
podcast advertising. Some of the key takeaways include: 1) Attention quality was highest for the audio ad that had the highest voiceover volume (36%) as opposed to the ad that had the lowest voiceover volume (27%) and the ad that had too many competing elements within the creative (25%); 2) 75% of participants reported a good quality audio ad positively influences their consideration to purchase a product; and 3) The inclusion of multiple competing audio components elements within an audio ad caused the ad to score lower in terms of overall quality than the ads without multiple competing elements. 
news/talk outlet and has been admitted to the hospital at UPMC dealing with what he called “crazy, insane” pain in his throat. Griffin, who battled throat cancer several years ago and has been in remission, says that late last week he couldn’t swallow anything and that the pain was something he never felt in his life. At this time, Griffin has been diagnosed with pneumonia, but doctors are also trying to determine if he has an infection of if the cancer has returned.
Court TV correspondent since 2019, Painter has covered the high-profile trials of Bryan Kohberger, Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard, Alex Murdaugh, Harvey Weinstein, and the death of George Floyd. In 2021 she was awarded the Scripps Give Light award for leadership, dedication, and hard work in legal journalism. She got her start in the industry in 2016, as a legal analyst for Nexstar Media Group, where she went on to become a multimedia journalist. Painter earned a Juris Doctor degree with high honors from the University of Arkansas Little Rock Bowen School of Law.
Yellowhammer News Network later this month, putting the wraps on a broadcast career of 50 years. Most recently, Holland has been the afternoon news anchor on the network. During his career, he’s served with more than 25 radio stations. In the early 1990s, he moved into the news/talk format, serving with WAAX, Gadsden before moving on to WVNN, Huntsville and then WERC, Birmingham. He’s been with the Yellowhammer News Network since 2015. 
non-partisan media company, RealClearPolitics. The “RealClearPolitics” show premieres on February 26, airing nightly from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm ET on SiriusXM’s P.O.T.U.S. channel 124. RealClear Media Group chief content officer Andrew Walworth hosts the show along with co-hosts Carl Cannon and Tom Bevan. 
Have we passed the disappointment of 2023?
If you’re a news/talk station, don’t assume that you own “news radio” in your market. Imaging is important, but it merely talks-the-talk. You walk-the-walk with local news copy that delivers what solid commercial copy does: benefits. Just doing local news makes you special. But do listeners simply hear a station voice… reading something? Are you merely… accurate? Or do you deliver “take-home pay,” unwrapping the story to tell the listener something useful?
“He arrived in the area in 1986, and in 1994, he helped launch WDFN ‘The Fan.’ In the late 1990s, he teamed with Bob Wojnowski for the ‘Stoney and Wojo Show,’ that made Stone a household name for decades to come.” Stone told his listeners, “I am somewhat sad that I will not be on the air every day. But I know that sadness ends when there’s no fricking alarm at 4:30 in the morning.” 
reach 17% more voters.” The study references Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman’s 2022 campaign, noting that it deployed radio to reach voters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In doing so, it allocated 20% of media dollars to radio and generated a 10% lift from radio above the local TV campaign, amounting to 676,000 additional voters at no extra cost. Audacy SVP of strategy, partnerships and analytics Jon Blum says, “When campaigns activate a TV plan, they should activate a corresponding radio plan and incorporate it into the mix with TV. The portion of the population that isn’t reachable via TV could be the swing vote and what throws it over the top for a candidate.” Nielsen’s study noted that if a campaign moved 20% of ad spending to radio, the optimized media plan would connect with 15% more Democratic and Republican voters and 23% more unaffiliated voters. 
the month reaching 3.27 billion total multiplatform minutes, compared to CNN.com’s 1.85 billion, and NYTimes.com’s 1.59 billion. FOX News Media attracted 1.66 billion total multiplatform views, compared to NYTimes.com’s 1.49 billion, and CNN.com’s 1.17 billion. When it comes to total digital unique visitors – similar to radio’s cume – CNN.com still holds the lead with 112.7 million. But FOX News Digital (109.7 million) has gradually been gaining ground on CNN. 
Post says it confirmed the report with Audacy and the company added, “The decision by our existing and new debtholders to become equity holders in Audacy represents a significant vote of confidence in our company and the future of the radio and audio business.” The story cites an insider close to the situation who is a Republican saying he believes its “possible Soros was buying the stake to exert influence on public opinion in the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election.” 
says, “Back in Spring of 2009, during the chaos and sleepless nights involved in launching this national media company, the media gods sent me an angel in the form of Michelle Salvatore. Michelle faced down every challenge, worked tirelessly and with good cheer, and set a gold standard of excellence for not only Compass Media Networks, but our industry. We love and will miss Michelle dearly. Our goal is to build upon the greatness she created as we move ahead into the next chapter of our evolution.” Salvatore comments, “Working at Compass Media Networks literally changed my life for the better. I was able to travel the globe, producing games throughout the United States, Latin America and Europe, and had the chance to work with incredibly talented, passionate, and kind people. I am forever grateful to my dear friends at Compass Media Networks.”
spot. But the big story is the rise of WSE Originals’ “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” shooting from #67 in the Q3 2023 report to #6 in the Q4 chart. (The show was not in the top 100 in the Q2 2023 survey.) Edison says the show starring Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce “gained four and a half times the number of listeners and saw a change in composition to 50% female listeners.” Other noteworthy moves from radio-related podcasts include The DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” rising from #17 in Q3 to #9 in Q4 and Cumulus Podcasts Network’s “The Dan Bongino Show” climbing from #29 in Q3 to #26 in Q4. Edison’s Q4 2023 ranker was conducted from October 9, 2023 to December 23, 2023, and is based on surveys of 5,356 weekly podcast listeners age 13+.
Moshos. Moshos died on January 11 and today (2/14) would have been his 67th birthday. General manager Joel Oxley says, “George helped me so much when I first started at WTOP 30 some odd years ago. I knew little about production and he let me know it. His gruff demeanor and direct style took a minute to get used to. But it didn’t take long for me to realize this guy with the glint in his eyes was a person who cared. Really cared. About his job and doing it right and more importantly about people. He touched so, so many people and made things better for them. Seems only right to name where he spent so much of his time ‘The George Moshos Production Studio.’”
previously announced acquisition of Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”) to a shareholder group led by New Mountain Capital, LLC has closed, and the company has received $101.4 million of proceeds related to its equity interest in BMI. iHeartMedia says it plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of debt.
. Saga Communications president and CEO Chris Forgy comments, “We regretted missing the opportunity to acquire these stations a number of years ago when the Neuhoff family acquired them. These stations are a great fit for Saga. We see a lot of opportunity with these stations and this market and are pleased that the family has decided to entrust Saga with continuing these station’s long-standing heritage of serving the Greater Lafayette region. Saga intends to continue building its business in radio by identifying and acquiring middle market stations in dynamic communities.” KALIL & CO., INC was the exclusive broker.
to connect with their favorite hosts and shows on social media. Half of weekly podcasts consumers follow their favorite podcast hosts on one of the social platforms; 2) Younger 18-34 podcast consumers are more likely to follow their favorite hosts on social media. Compared to 35-49 and 50+ podcast consumers, 18-45 podcast consumers are more engaged socially with podcast hosts. 68% of podcast consumers 18-34 follow their favorite hosts on social media. 55% of 35-49s follow favorite hosts on social. 40% of those 50+ follow favorite podcast hosts on social; and 3) YouTube towers as a podcast discovery platform: 19% of weekly podcast consumers use YouTube to find podcasts. When asked which social platform they’ve used to find podcasts, 19% of podcast consumers are turning to YouTube, more than all other social media platforms combined. 
while traditional podcast metrics and rankers have focused on the RSS distribution of podcasts, Podtrac’s new Global ranking also includes the viewership of podcasts on YouTube – another industry first.” The company adds, “By encompassing YouTube viewership alongside traditional metrics, the industry gains an improved framework for capturing podcast engagement across platforms and borders. It provides advertisers, agencies, and industry stakeholders with the reach and influence of the key podcast players.”
the automobile industry has intelligently responded. The issue however is much larger. As UNESCO’s chief of section for media development and society, Mirta Lourenco puts it, ‘The free flow and easily accessible information provided by terrestrial radio supports the spirit of the First Amendment via the concept of media pluralism and more. This expands to a valid concern about privacy rights – which is equally important to freedom and democracy. With GPS and internet platforms simultaneously in our cars, we are turning the enormous power to invade the privacy of individuals over to a mere handful of Big Tech giants. They know what and who we listen to, including where, when and how we travel.’” Harrison adds, “Finally, I am compelled as a lifelong radio broadcaster and publisher of a major trade journal to protect the viability of radio stations as a going concern and the well-being of their owners, employees, and listeners.”