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5-Hour Energy mogul Manoj Bhargava is causing more problems for Cumulus Media outside of his hostile takeover push. Cumulus is asking for FCC approval around foreign investor stakes as the broadcaster restructures its ownership of radio station licenses.

iHeart executives have not said much publicly since announcing a "technology transformation and new organizational structure" last month that also included hundreds of programming layoffs. On the iHeartMedia Q4 earnings call Thursday night, CEO Bob Pittman and CFO Rich Bressler detailed exactly how the company plans to implement its strategy.

Two months into 2024, BIA Advisory Services has revised its US Local Advertising Forecast for the year - and it's not good news for radio. In October, BIA predicted a tidal wave of local ad spending fueled by political revenue, but that flood may be diverting elsewhere.

The Washington Post’s Research, Experimentation and Development team has developed a technology called Rhapsocord, which inserts ads automatically into podcasts. According to the website Ad Exchanger, Rhapsocord automatically identifies pre-roll, midroll and post-roll spots, inserts ads and updates the files.

Joseph Armstrong, owner of Knoxville, TN's sole Black-owned radio station, WJBE-AM, has won his extended battle with the FCC to keep his broadcasting license. The FCC's qualms with Armstrong were twofold: his past felony conviction and missed filing deadlines.

Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan said Los Angeles continues to be the Emmis weak spot, as the company is still dealing with the defection of Big Boy to iHeartMedia a year ago. Net revenue for March, April, and May came in at $42.7 million compared to $42.6 million in 2015. Excluding Power 106 in Los Angeles, Emmis would have been up 5%. Smulyan said he's encouraged by the pacings in Los Angeles and the company expects to overcome iHeart's Hip Hop challenger around September of this year.

We've been reporting on it for the last two weeks. A government mandated shut-down of so called non-essential businesses due to the pandemic put the brakes on advertising and totally eliminated all events. The days of radio being a $17 billion industry seem so far away.

Those are the words of iHeart CEO Bob Pittman in a very positive report on the car radio from CBS TV. Radio Historian Donna Halper is also in the story and says, "When I was sitting in the car listening to those songs, it was the DJ that really spoke to me." The report also checks in with Cousin Brucie, now 83 years old, who's been on radio for over 50 years.

Urban One has disclosed another letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market sent August 16, notifying the company of its non-compliance with market rules relating to its Quarterly Reports ending March 31, 2023 and June 30, 2023.

The two biggest problems with radio advertising have always been too many ads and too many bad ads. Now, one of radio's biggest cheerleaders -- on the agency side -- is trying to solve problem number two. Horizon CEO Bill Koenigsberg has always been a fan of radio and now he's forming a new audio creative and production division called Wordsworth & Booth.