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The online sports industry will be explored in a new conference titled “eSports: Get in on the Action” on Wednesday, April 11, as part of the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The conference, which is produced in partnership with the eSports Ad Bureau, comprises six sessions.

It's been years in the making. The Bubba The Love Sponge ratings tampering case in Tampa was scheduled to begin today. However, we were told Monday morning the trial has been delayed and there is no start date scheduled.

(By Andrew Curran) Much has been written about the disruption created by new technology platforms such as Airbnb, Uber, and Pandora. Digital headlines create a black-and-white world of winners and losers. However, the world is rarely so cut and dry.

(Bob McCurdy) The headlines this past week regarding the state of digital metrics were as positive for that industry as the Stormy Daniels headlines have been for Trump. I've included several here and added my comments to each.

Klein was scheduled to start hosting mornings on Entercom's 97.3 The Game in San Diego Thursday morning. That didn't happened and Entercom is not saying why, or if, that will ever happen.

And all were caught operating illegal radio stations from their homes. These latest pirates are Angel Rigoberto Pinzon in Ossining, New York, on 90.5; Jean Claude Michel in Brooklyn, at 90.9; Jerome Moultrie in Miami, at 90.1; and Freddie Rodriguez in Fayetteville, North Carolina, operating on 87.9. All were given 10 days to respond to the FCC.

(Special Guest Column by Rod Schwartz) You prize good word-of-mouth, don’t you? We all do. While favorable word-of-mouth doesn’t exactly create business, it increases the likelihood of establishing a preference for your business or brand in the mind of the hearer. Good radio advertising does the very same thing, only multiplied and amplified. Radio is word-of-mouth on steroids.

Thursday was Don Imus' last radio show, ending a career that started in 1968. It wasn't hours of Imus guests calling in and wishing him well, or telling him how much he was going to be missed. It was actually one live segment, played twice, where Imus tearfully thanked a lot of people -- mostly the listeners.

The Country Radio Seminar has announced its 2018 Country Hall of Fame inductees. Lisa McKay, the long-time PD at WQDR in Raleigh, who died earlier this year, will be inducted along with Mike O'Malley from Albright, O'Malley & Brenner. Three on-air teams will also be inducted.

Some say podcasters are the new minor leagues for radio. That's certainly true in the case of conservative talker Ben Shapiro, who will now be syndicated by Westwood One and The Daily Wire (Shapiro is the editor of The Daily Wire). Shapiro's podcast is downloaded 15 million times every month. The radio version launches Tuesday.