Industry News

Report: Curtis Sliwa Angrily Quits WABC

According to the New York Post, WABC talk radio host Curtis Sliwa – currently a Republican candidate for mayor of New York City – fumed on the station’s morning show with Sid Rosenberg that he will never be seen in the studios of WABC again after station owner Johnimg Catsimatidis and others urged him to exit the mayoral race to give former Governor Andrew Cuomo a better chance of beating Democrat Zohran Mamdani. During his on-air conversation with Rosenberg, Sliwa “accused colleagues of betraying him” and he told Rosenberg WABC is “giving preferable treatment” to Cuomo. Catsimatidis later told the Post, “Regardless of all the news going around, I’ve always said great things about Curtis Sliwa, about how well he knows the city. But in a places like New York City where 70% of New York City are Democrats, the real Democrat is Andrew Cuomo, not Zohran Mamdani and Democrats should vote for Cuomo. Catsimatidis added, “I’ve never asked that he leave the race but recommended that a lot of other people have said he should.” Sliwa said on the air that he’s had to hire private security due to threats against him and his wife. “If anything happens to me or anything happens to my wife, because of this frenzy that I hear constantly coming from some of your colleagues there at WABC, it’s on you guys and you gals. My life is on the line here.” Sliwa’s radio show is currently off the air due to his active political campaign.  Read the Post story here.

Industry News

Report: Red Apple Chief Catsimatidis Supports Family Friend Over Frank Morano for Staten Island Council Seat

According to a story at SILive, Red Apple Media Group owner John Catsimatidis is throwing his support behind Republican Staten Island City Council seat candidate Griffin Fossella over fellow Republican and WABC overnight host Frank Morano. Catsimatidis says he’s a longtime family friend of the Fossellas andimg that Griffin Fossella worked for him on his 2013 NYC mayoral campaign. Responding to the issue, Morano tells SILive, “We all have personal relationships in this race. I’m proud to have the support of the Staten Island Republican Party… and I look forward to debating my opponent on the issues impacting South Shore residents. John [Catsimatidis] is a good friend and has given me the opportunity of a lifetime to do a nationally syndicated radio show. I’ll always be grateful to him for every opportunity he’s given me.” Catsimatidis says of Morano, “He’s a good broadcaster and he always has a job at WABC.”

Industry News

Nielsen: Radio Can Grow Reach of Political Campaigns

Audacy SVP and head of research & insights Idil Cakim dives into a new political study by Nielsen (commissioned by iHeartMedia, Audacy and Cumulus) that suggests advertising on radio can provide political campaigns with an edge and help “connect with key voter groups and amplify other political advertising.” The Nielsen study – Optimizing Political Campaigns in November – concludes that “if a campaign reallocated 20% of existing ad dollars to radio, it couldim 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. See more about the study here.