Headlines

This year at the Conclave attendees will get to ask a panel of high-level radio executives ‘almost’ anything. The panel will include: Kevin LeGrett, President/Southwest Division iHeart Radio; Peter Bowen, VP/Market Manager Cumulus Chicago; Bill Hendrich, EVP/Radio Cox Media and Greg Strassell, SVP/Programming Hubbard Radio. The Conclave is July 26 through 29.

Cumulus Media has been associated with Air Force Academy sports for 35 years and that partnership will continue. A new deal with IMG College – which represents the school’s multimedia rights – has been signed to keep the Falcons with the broadcast giants.

KYW Newsradio Philadelphia has named this year’s five Women’s Achievement Awards Rising Star honorees. The awards honor women in the Delaware Valley who have made a positive impact in the region through business leadership and community service. This year’s program honors women under the age of 40, who were voted on by the community via use of social media.

In his latest Media Unplugged, Mark Ramsey asks the question: “Should you buy followers and likes on social media?” Ramsey says, believe it or not, there’s actually an argument for doing so. He also turns to music artist The Weekend to show how to profit from the spoils of streaming. All this and more in this week’s edition of Media Unplugged.

(By Ronald Robinson) I was disappointed to hear that, after a presentation to a very senior, corporate radio sales executive of a series of 13x30-second spots for auto dealerships, that the commercials caused widespread confusion and some panic. The executive gathered some associates and colleagues together to review the pieces, and they decided that several had to go.

The 8th Annual ACM Lifting Lives® Music Camp is off and running in Nashville, offering campers from around the country a week of activities and excursions around Music City. The camp’s dual purpose is to study Williams syndrome (a developmental disorder) while providing music enrichment through performance and education.

Based on the most recent MIW Gender Analysis Report, women currently program only 10.7% of all stations in the U.S. That's not much better than ten years ago. The news is better in the top 100 markets where female program directors now represent 12.2%, flat from last year. To help address that issue, Nielsen and the MIW group are launching a new mentoring program for women.

The $2 Million deal between Red Zebra and Radio One for WWXT-FM and WXGI-AM in the Washington, DC market is now closed. Urban One has been simulcasting Urban AC “Majic 102.3” WMMJ on WWXT. The deal was announced back in April. Greg Guy of Patrick Communications was the exclusive broker for the deal.

Thanks to the folks at Neuhoff Media for sharing the details about their 21st annual summer program in Danville which just finished up. Sixteen kids, ranging from middle school to college students participated. They interacted with speakers from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Boston Red Sox, Duke's basketball and football radio announcer along with local newspaper and television executives.

(By Bob McCurdy) Last week I had a lengthy discussion with a planner at a medium-sized agency who continues to position radio as a frequency vehicle to his clients. We exchanged perspectives and I believe we made some progress.