Headlines

(By Bob McCurdy) Last week’s blog focused on the massive concentration of commercials in early and late news that were political, and the enormous number of political ads per commercial break in 2016. If the relationship between Trump and Pelosi on display at the SOTU address is any indication of what’s in store, buckle your seat belts.

The 19th annual Alice Cares for Kids Radiothon, held February 5 and 6, raised a whopping $1.4 million for the Children's Hospital Colorado. The radiothon was broadcast from the Children’s Colorado Boettcher Atrium in Denver and hosted by Entercom's KALC-FM. 

NRG's KQKQ-FM in Omaha teamed up with Omaha’s Open Door Mission to collect toilet paper for local shelters. The newly launched morning show Nikki & Laura sat on a porcelain throne outside the studios in snow and 20 degree temperatures, until 98.5 miles of toilet paper was collected. That's 1,709 rolls.

(By Jeff McHugh) Most successful radio, podcast and television shows keep audiences tuned in longer by teasing what is coming next. However, we sometimes encounter arguments usually from management against teasing. 

We've seen how the radio industry has steadily increased its digital revenue, crossing the $1 billion mark in 2019, according to the RAB. As radio stations look to generate new business, to battle digital monsters Facebook and Google who are coming for their local ad dollars, could podcasting be radio's next revenue star?

Radio pretty much gave up the battle to cover local news long ago, opting for more music and highly researched programming to please the PPM. Public radio stations across California are taking a different approach in attempt to get radio back in the local news game.

Rush Limbaugh was expected to return to his show Thursday, after announcing Monday he had advanced lung cancer. He told listeners he'd be taking Tuesday and Wednesday off to focus on treatment. He was not on Thursday and now Fox News is reporting that Rush will return today.

Days after announcing he had advanced lung cancer, CNN's Sara Sidner put a 3-minute piece together entitled "Rush Limbaugh's Controversial History."

The XFL season is about to begin and the league, iHeartRadio, and VSiN are teaming up to bring sports betting content to XFL fans. The three companies will create audio BetCasts for two games each week during the regular season.

The Radio Advertising Bureau will present five revenue and professional development-oriented sales and marketing sessions at this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 18-22.