Headlines

(By Bob McCurdy) The following continues the education theme of the past several weeks. These snippets have been culled from various sources. All can help build on a “Why radio” story and are worth knowing and sharing with clients.

(By Randy Lane) When many of us started in radio, dead air was a cardinal sin. I still have the dreaded dream of being on air, the music runs out, I can’t speak, I can’t find a song or commercial, and I can’t find anything to fill the dead air. As it turns out, dead air is actually good!

Former CBS Radio Executive Dan Mason is eager for the new football season to start. The newly named Chairman of Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) is looking forward to an August launch of a radio network featuring all the talent, numbers, and analytics that VSiN is known for on other platforms.

Employees at KCRW in Santa Monica voted to recognize SAG-AFTRA as their labor union. The online vote was conducted according to an election agreement reached between SAG-AFTRA and KCRW.

(By Ronald Robinson) All the canaries, once ensconced in radio’s coal mines, are gone. Talent was inserted instead. Even before the Great Deregulation Apocalypse of the mid-‘90s, radio’s ownership and leadership had stopped paying any attention to the canaries that were passing out.

iHeartMedia Des Moines’ 1040 WHO has just had Van Harden and Bonnie Lucas inducted into the Iowa Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. The Van and Bonnie Show has played an important role in the community for 24 years.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital recognized the fundraising efforts of Country station WUSY-FM/Chattanooga with the 2019 Spotlight Award. The annual Heart Strings for Hope event has raised more than $1 million over the course of a decade.

That station is 101.5 WKXW-FM and the award comes from the New Jersey Broadcasters Association. The story that earned the award was coverage of a fatal bus accident in Paramus, NJ, on the morning of May 17, 2018, when a school bus collided with a dump truck on Interstate 80.

Washington DC stations, WMAL AM & FM, are now simulcasting talk. On July 1, the AM will flip to sports with a mix of ESPN's national voices and local talent. The station will be called ESPN 630.

The 27th annual Radio Ink Radio Wayne Awards will be presented at The Radio Show in Dallas on September 26. How cool would it be to hear the name of your Sales Manager, AE, D.O.S., Market Manager, NSM or Digital Sellers name called? Answer: very cool. The only way to make that happen is to make the nomination before midnight tonight. Do it HERE.