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Radio was well represented Tuesday at the annual Gracie's Luncheon in New York City. At this all-star table were the NAB's John David, ABC Radio's Steve Jones, talk show host Joan Hamburg, Radio Ink Publisher Deborah Parenti, CBS Radio's Chris Oliviero, the recently retired Harvey Nagler from CBS News Radio, Heather Cohen from the Weiss Agency, and Broadcast Attorney Frank Montero.

WMJX-FM in Boston won a Gracie Tuesday for MAGIC 106.7’s Exceptional Women radio show. Show host Sue Tabb (pictured right) and producer Kendra Petrone received the Gracie in the “Soft News Feature” in honor of their “Then You Stand” submission. Exceptional Women has now earned 25 Gracies, in addition to 20 local and national awards.

The Southern California Broadcasters Association has published its Quarterly Market Guidance Report for the third quarter of 2017. The organization says Southern California’s estimated gross domestic product will exceed $1.5 trillion in 2017, making it the 16th largest economy in the world with Los Angeles County alone ranking 21st with a gross domestic product of $644 billion.

U.S. podcast advertising revenues are expected to come in at over $220 million in 2017, according to the first-ever IAB Podcast Advertising Revenue Study. That's an increase of 85 percent over the $119 million total from 2016. So what kind of ads are advertisers most likely to run? Here's your answer...

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.