WFDF, Detroit Owner Kevin Adell Unapologetic About New Programming
According to a piece in the Detroit Metro News, WFDF, Detroit owner Kevin Adell is all-in on the new conservative talk format recently installed on the station after several years airing an urban talk format. The station flipped after Labor Day and has been airing Premiere Networks syndicated shows including
Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Jesse Kelly, and Clay Travis & Buck Sexton, as well as Key Networks’ Bill O’Reilly. The story indicates the station’s cume has skyrocketed from about 2,100 listeners per month to 29,000 in the first week after the change (Sept. 7-13). Adell tells the paper he has no regrets about the move, “The more divided we are, the better it is for radio. It comes down to one thing — show business. If we live in a utopia, we have nothing to talk about.” Adell also says he expects cume to jump to 200,000 per month as he continues to promote the new lineup. At the time of the change, the Black community was upset with the firing of the (unpaid) hosts and the format flip, but Adell said it was purely a business move. “[T]he 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.” Read the Metro News piece here.
AM, Worcester talk radio host Jordan Levy died yesterday (10/5) after a years-long illness at age 79. Current WTAG morning personality Jim Polito is quoted in the story saying, “There are so many people he did things for. He loved the city of Worcester.” Levy was first elected mayor in 1987. After leaving office in 1993, he hosted the afternoon drive show on WTAG. 
personalities, programmers and operators who contributed with greatness to the radio industry and have since passed away. The 2023 class includes: talk radio personality Bob Grant, Saga Communications chief Ed Christian, and talk personality Long John Nebel. Radio Hall of Fame co-chair Kraig T. Kitchin comments, “It’s heartfelt recognition to see these individuals and their career contributions to the radio industry recognized with this induction. They’ve made a forever impact on the audiences and businesses they interacted with and for that, we’re grateful.” 
laundering scheme. The Court recognized that an important part of this sentence was for the defendant to provide restitution to the victims. In financial crimes cases such as this, providing restitution to victims is one of the highest priorities of the U.S. Department of Justice and this Office.” Free Talk Live co-founder Mark Edge (right) tells TALKERS magazine, “It was a sad day for ‘Free Talk Live’ yesterday. Ian, our co-founder, received eight years in prison, followed by two on probation and a $40,000 fine. Restitution and forfeiture are as yet to be determined but will likely be six figures. Ian maintains his innocence but was taken into custody following sentencing. We were prepared for this possibility, as much as we could be. ‘Free Talk Live’ will go on seven nights a week from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm ET.” 
Macon, Georgia. The Macon Telegram reports that “Creekside Sports” is hosted by Steve Norris and Daniel Shirley. The piece notes that Norris has experience broadcasting area high school and junior college football and has served as a local sports and news reporter, having been a freelance sportswriter for The Telegraph from 2008 until 2012. 
sports radio, starting at 570 KLIF in 1994 and eventually joining host Norm Hitzges in moving to 1310 The Ticket [KTCK-AM] in 2000.” Friedman’s brother Joel posted the news of his passing on Facebook, says, “It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of my brother’s passing. Many of you knew about his health battle over the past several years, and he had been doing remarkably well considering everything he had gone through.” 
Radio talkers: What is this hour about? How will listeners benefit from listening? And how long do you expect them to wait to hear that?
first gig at age 22 in WCIN-AM. WLWT-TV reports that Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney will emcee the street-naming ceremony. She says, “Lincoln Ware is unbelievable. In my office in city hall, we keep the Lincoln Ware show on every day. Somebody’s assigned to listen, and they come back and say, ‘Here’s what they talked about today, listen to this.’ So, you know, we’re always well-informed.” The city says Ware is being honored due to his “lasting impact on the Cincinnati local media community and to health and wellness within the African American community with his Lincoln Ware Walking Club. His legacy, contributions, and dedication to the City of Cincinnati and its citizens will long be remembered.” 
radio and media company personnel focusing on where broadcasters are vulnerable and steps that should be taken to become more secure as well as comply with federal regulations. The 90-minute webinar will take place on Friday, October 20 at 2:00 pm ET.
The persistent liability of most talk stations is that they attract a high percentage of listeners over the age of 65. Consider that many of those older listeners are attracted to radio shows that are talking for companionship and comfort.
Radio plans to reduce its workforce by 12% due to a “free fall in the advertising market.” The source is a memo to staffers from NYPR CEO LaFontaine Oliver. The story goes on to note that the organization employs about 340 full- and part-time workers at WNYC, classical WQXR, and the Gothamist news site. 
Attention news/talk radio sellers! Get ready to meet your new best friend… and it is not who you think it is.
monthly, and 77% have ever listened to podcasts. “All of this podcast and AM/FM radio audience duplication means there are great cross-promotion opportunities.” Among the podcast audience, over half the ad-supported time spent goes to podcasts themselves at a 53% share. AM/FM radio follows with a 37% share. Distantly following are ad-supported SiriusXM (4%), ad-supported Spotify (3%), and ad-supported Pandora (3%). Additionally, MARU/Matchbox was commissioned to study Cumulus Media radio listeners who listened for at least an hour to stations in Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and Atlanta and were exposed to promos for eight Cumulus Podcast Network podcast titles. Overall, 54% of the Cumulus radio audience were aware of the eight Cumulus Podcast Network podcasts. A much larger promotion of heavy AM/FM radio listeners (67%) were aware of the podcast titles, and a whopping 75% of the heavy AM/FM radio streaming audience were aware of the podcast titles. 
publicly traded company controlled by the conglomerate. Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei says, “SiriusXM minority shareholders will also benefit from enhanced trading dynamics, including increased liquidity and likelihood of future index inclusion.” A merger between the two would result in SiriusXM minority investors owning about 16% of the new company, with Liberty Media controlling the rest. SiriusXM says it is evaluating the offer. 
I asked my pal, longtime radio seller, now retired: “How often were you asked, ‘How much would you charge for ONE commercial?’”
journalists “ask tough, but respectful questions to get answers,” and 61% say it is very important they fact-check those candidates. RTDNA president and CEO Dan Shelley comments, “In our highly polarized society, Americans need to rely on their trusted local sources of news to get the facts about candidates, campaigns and other political issues. These findings offer a clear roadmap to ensure local reporters and news managers are providing voters with the information they crave to make critical decisions in the voting booth.” Other data from the study reflects news consumers’ attitudes about news organizations, finding that 47% of those surveyed said they were in strong agreement that the information they get from local news sources is accurate and correct. That number drops to 41% when local news outlets cover political issues. It also found that just 39% of people were in strong agreement that local news sources were balanced and represented all sides of an issue. 
Sexton died from an overdose of fentanyl and alcohol. Sexton was found unresponsive in a hotel room in Ohio while on tour doing standup as the Donnie Baker character he often played on the nationally syndicated radio show. Sexton leaves behind his wife Tracey and four children. 
Wagoner writes, “Why is KFI so successful – isn’t conservative talk dead? Yes, it is… and it’s been decades since KFI was considered ‘conservative talk’ (even when it wasn’t). There have always been a balance of viewpoints on the station; as it moved away from politically centered topics to more general topics, it matched the mood of listeners who wanted to be entertained more than they wanted to be angry.” 
for violation of his contract for working with the upstart platform that promoted Gargano as “coming soon” at its launch last week. PHLY is operated by the ALLCITY Network. The Inquirer reports, “Beasley said Gargano told ‘The Fanatic’ on Sept. 11, less than 24 hours before PHLY launched, that he intended to continue hosting his show while also accepting employment with the new sports outlet, where among other things he would write articles and appear on podcasts.” Beasley says that is in violation of his contract that runs through October of 2024, which states he is “prohibited from providing services to a competing business while he is employed by Beasley.” 
I’m occasionally asked this by attorneys, real estate agents, personal finance advisors, and other local retail service professionals who are disappointed with results they’re getting from hosting weekend ask-the-expert call-in shows.
PHLY and Gargano is promoted as part of it. 
me that they intend to be the most conservative radio station in America. I just didn’t fit the bill anymore.” Although Howell doesn’t profess to be conservative or liberal, he’s been a talk host for years (in addition to his work at country outlet WUSN-FM), not only with WLS-AM but with Salem Media Group’s crosstown conservative news/talk WIND-AM. However, he’s made no bones about his contempt for former President Donald Trump. He laments to Axios, “Nobody broadcasts anymore. Everybody narrowcasts.” WLS-AM has not revealed its permanent plans for the afternoon drive daypart other than to slide the syndicated Mark Levin program into the 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm slot. 
The message, “In an ordinary instant – cancer has taken LARadio.com,” is posted on the publication’s site – a reference to the writings of author Joan Didion. Barrett was profiled by the LA Daily News last month after he was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. 
Many news/talk stations broker weekend hours to professionals who host ask-the-expert shows to attract new clients.
Some of the key findings of the study include: 1) Heavy radio listeners engage in a staggering 4.7 billion weekly brand conversations, outpacing heavy users of other media channels, including TV, social media, magazines and newspapers; 2) The study underscores for advertisers’ radio’s dominance across 15 business categories, including sports, financial services, technology and more; 3) A staggering 51% of brand conversations among heavy radio listeners result in an intent to purchase, surpassing the national average of 49%. This remarkable impact is particularly pronounced in sectors like automotive, sports, telecom, technology, beverages and healthcare. RAB CEO Erica Farber states, “Radio is often referred to as the original social medium because of its ability to engage listeners through conversation, entertainment and information. This study underscores radio’s ability to drive word of mouth brand conversations for advertising partners, more so than any other media.” The webinar is free for RAB members. 
society alike to learn from the mistakes made before, during and after the tragedy so as to prevent such an atrocity from happening again. Carter tells TALKERS, “On the Sunday after 9/11, I listened to a sermon titled, ‘Making Sense of the Senseless.’ Its overriding message was: We cannot allow all these people to have died in vain. We need to do good in their name. And so to honor and remember all those who died, all those who survived, all those involved in the rescue and recovery efforts, as well as all those whose lives will never be the same, I have written and recorded a moving, memorable and thought-provoking piece, ‘Never Again Should There Be a 9/11,’ with the music, ‘Help is on the Way’ composed and performed by composer, David Friedman. It is all the more compelling when you watch the video on YouTube.” Carter adds, “We came together then. Can we come together again for the sake of the well-being of our nation and world. And what will it take to prevent such a horrific act from happening again? Thank you for caring and getting the vocals, the music and the video to as many people as possible around the world – including government officials who need to ensure our safety and security.”