Radio Ink - Radio's Premier Management & Marketing Magazine

Legendary Programmer Paul Drew Dies

Drew, a Detroit native, started his radio career in Atlanta in 1961 at WAKE where he would cultivate his audience by visiting high schools gathering names to air on his show. He went on to become VP of Programming for RKO Radio in New York. Merlin Media CEO Randy Michaels said, "There has never been a finer technical program director, or one who paid more attention to detail. If there is a hotline in heaven Paul is on it with some advice on how to tighten up." Drew died of natural causes at the age of 78.

Geraldo Takes Aim at Talk Radio

Last night Cumulus Media syndicated talker Geraldo Rivera opened up the 2013 Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference by firing up attendees at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami. He criticized the government for taking aim at the Hispanic population following the terrorist attacks of September 11. He said it was the Hispanic population that was targeted when the government attempted to secure the borders and even told of a story of his son being randomly stopped by police and asked, "Where you heading son?" Rivera then took direct aim at Conservative radio. "Talk radio and cable crushed comprehensive immigration reform. They slandered an entire population of people." Follow the conference today on Twitter #HRC13

Techsurvey 9: Christian Radio Fans Love To Share

Listeners to Christian radio stations "continue to share and recommend at a record pace," according to Jacobs Media's Techsurvey 9. Jacobs president Fred Jacobs said the improved "net promoter" recommendation score is "a major advantage for stations in the format." Techsurvey 9 also showed that 56 percent of Christian radio listeners now own a smartphone, up 30 percent from Techsurvey 8, and 34 percent have acquired a tablet. That's up a full 56 percent from TS8.

Report: Stern To Become Limbaugh Neighbor

The Palm Beach Post is reporting that Howard Stern is the buyer of a $52 million mansion in Palm Beach. It was a private sale for an oceanfront home by textile and apparel executive Martin Trust and his wife. The paper says the couple bought the home in 1986 for less than $5 million. Two buildings sit on the lot with a total of 39,094 square feet of living space. Limbaugh also owns a home in Palm Beach

2013 Medallas de Cortez Award Winners

Last night Radio Ink announced the winners of the 2013 Medallas de Cortez awards for excellence in Hispanic radio. The awards were sponsored by McGavren Guild Media. They were presented by President of McGavren Guild Lisa Sirotka-Sonnenklar and Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads who are pictured here with Univision Radio's Jose Valle, the 2013 Broadcaster of the Year.

Liberman Brothers Win Lifetime Leadership Award

The Radio Ink Medallas de Cortez award for Lifetime Leadership was given to three Hispanic radio pioneers, the Liberman brothers: Elias, Jose and Julio. Accepting the award on their behalf last night at the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio conference was Entravision COO Jeff Liberman, pictured here with Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads and President of McGavren Guild Media, Lisa Sirotka-Sonnenklar.

FCC Hands Out Three Hefty Fines

A $15,000 forfeiture order against Bernard Veargis for repeatedly operating an unlicensed radio transmitter at 91.7-FM in Miami. Union Broadcasting in Nashua, Missouri, gets hit with a $15,000 Notice of Apparent Liability for failing to repair an antenna structure as soon as possible. And, a $25,000 forfeiture order to Gary Feldman for repeatedly operating an unlicensed station at 97.7 in Miami.

HD Translator in Fort Collins Rocks Out

Clear Channel Fort Collins will debut a new sound on KPAW-HD2 and translator 94.9, "Radio 94.9 Colorado's Finest Rock." Market Manager Stu Haskell says, "Radio 94.9 will be a perfect fit for the Fort Collins local music scene and lifestyle. We’re especially excited to spotlight local artists as part of our regular programming and offer the local community a unique radio station that has been missing from this area for a long time."

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How I Got Into Radio -- Mike McVay

(By Lisa Miller) I met Snr. VP/Programming Cumulus Media Mike McVay at my first NAB convention. He walked up to me at the cocktail party and said, “I’m Mike McVay, you need to know me.” Stunned I looked up at this very tall striking man and started laughing.

Meltdown Fills in Until Drew and Mike Replaced

Today was the final day at WRIF-FM in Detroit for morning personalities Drew Lane and Mike Clark, who said goodbye after 22 years on the city's airwaves. The morning duo, along with longtime news person Trudi Daniels, took calls from listeners and past on-air contributors from 6am-11:30am during their final show. Afternoon driver Meltdown (pictured) will assume morning show duties until Greater Media announces a permanent replacement.

Rayfield Inducted Into Philadelphia Jewish Sports HOF

Marc Rayfield, CBS Radio SVP/Market Manager and VP of WIP/Philadelphia, will be inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame on Monday. He's one of a list of honorees that also includes college and NBA basketball coach Larry Brown. Sports WIP broadcasts the Phillies, Eagles, and Philadelphia Union and college sports from Temple and Villanova.

Steve Borneman Out in New York

Six months after he came on board, Clear Channel Media + Entertainment confirms that Steve Borneman is no longer with the company. Borneman was brought in as part of the senior management team in New York City. Shortly before that he was the Market Manager for Cumulus, a cluster of three now being run by Kim Bryant. Including WOR-AM, Clear Channel has six stations in New York City.

Sinicropi Lands With Entercom

He wasn't a free agent for long. After recently parting ways with SummitMedia, Steve Sinicropi has been named VP/Market Manager for Entercom in Greenville, South Carolina. He will oversee Entercom's five stations: WFBC-FM, WORD AM/FM, WROQ-FM, WTPT-FM, and WSPA-FM. Prior to Sinicropi’s 10 years with Cox before it sold to Summit in Greenville he spent five years as VP/GM for CBS’s WKRK-FM in Detroit.

Schraf Programs WVRT/Williamsport

Adam Schraf is the newly named PD of Clear Channel Media + Entertainment's Top 40 WVRT (V97)/Williamsport, PA, coming over from a post as a traffic reporter for CCME's Total Traffic Network. He started out as an intern at Country WRBT (Bob 94.9)'s Nancy & Newman morning show.

Wolfman To Run Sales At WQAM

Beasley's 560 WQAM Sports Radio in Miami has hired David Wolfman as Local Sales Manager. Most recently, Wolfman served as GSM for Clear Channel (Miami). Prior to that, he spent several years with Interep National Radio Sales, ABC Radio Sales (Atlanta), and D&R Radio (New York City). Wolfman said, “It’s an honor and privilege to lead the sales team at 560 WQAM Sports Radio."

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Clear Channel Teams With The CW For Festival

The CW Network and Clear Channel have agreed to a multi-year partnership making The CW the exclusive television broadcaster of the iHeartRadio Music Festival. The CW will also be the exclusive broadcast home of iHeartRadio’s holiday Jingle Ball concert, the iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party, album release parties and other concert specials.

Clear Channel Signs Digital Deal With Zojak

Clear Channel and Zojak World Wide have announced a partnership that will enable Zojak’s artists to receive revenue from Clear Channel’s digital and broadcast radio revenue streams. Zojak distributes music of more than 750 reggae labels and their artists, and maintains the largest digital distribution catalog of Jamaican music in the world.

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(MANAGEMENT) An Industry Of Penguins

(By Marc Morgan) “I can only worry about the things I can control.” I have been a subscriber to this school of thought for a long time. It’s been especially effective in the last several years in the radio industry, where growth has been dismal at best and competitive threats abound. The essence of this concept is that old, trusted, and possibly overused word: focus.

(SOCIAL) Using Social If You Were Local Radio!

(By Loyd Ford) Radio, in some corners of our industry, seems to be confused about social media. However, radio is the original modern social media and you can prove this to yourself in only a few seconds. If you think it, radio has always connected local groups and brought communities together by helping local listeners and local advertisers. We haven’t just broadcast to local communities.

(DIGITAL) Double The Value Of Your Display Ads

(By Stephen Warley) Anyone who has ever attended one of my trainings knows I’m not a big fan of selling display ads. They deliver horrible results and advertisers don’t want to pay all that much for them. However, they are a common digital advertising opportunity sold by most radio stations, so they have their place in the local advertising landscape.

(SALES) Selling Annual Agreements -- All The Time

(By Sean Luce) It’s mind blowing and excruciatingly tough to sell short-term, one-hit-wonder schedules. It’s fatiguing and quickly burns out a sales rep. If you’re selling short term and you’re dealing with more than just agency business, then your lifespan in media sales is about the same as the average running back in the U.S. National Football League -- very short.

(SALES) I Ship My Pants

(By Wayne Ens) Virtually every radio account executive has had a business owner ask, “How can I make my advertising stand out?” The short answer is, “Quit playing it safe.” "Safe" advertising is what causes most ads to disappear into the never-ending landscape of competitors’ advertising, versus becoming a landmark in that landscape. CLICK HERE to view one of this Spring’s most popular "viral" ads.

Sports is an $800 Million Business

That number comes from Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey, speaking at the Radio Ink Sports Conference on Wednesday. That's a figure significantly higher than any number that has ever been publicly stated by a radio executive. Most have been calling sports a $150 million business for radio. Dickey says $200 million is going to the networks and $600 million is being brought in by local stations. Dickey says the number one reason advertisers are flocking to sports is engagement. "Advertisers can't find enough content like this. It's a safe harbor."

Expect to See 1,000 Sports Stations

Just over 25 years ago WFAN in New York was the only Sports Talk radio station in the United States. Today there over 700 carrying the format, five national sports networks and many other regional sports networks. How soon before that number is 1,000, with the majority displacing music formats on the FM dial?

SEND US YOUR CLASSIC RADIO PHOTO

Our "Blast From The Past" page in Radio Ink is our most popular page. We love your old photos like this one from Broadcast Matrix president Ron Erak. This is Ron from 1977 on the air at KGHO Hoquiam, Washington. E-mail a large photo of your studio to edryantheeditor@gmail.com

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