Headlines

Tom Barnard may be remembered as the most successful host in the history of Minneapolis-St. Paul. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2017 and has a Marconi on his shelf. He’s also become one of the most successful podcasters in radio. We talked to him about his life, career, and what he's doing now.

(By Buzz Knight) Every year as I wing my way back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it is a tremendous challenge to answer the question “What was the ‘Eureka’ moment at the show and how will it impact our business and our lives?”

Red Wolf Broadcasting purchases the five stations from Jeff Warshaw's company. The stations changing hands are WDRC-AM, WDRCFM, Hartford, CT, WSNG, Torrington, WMMW, Meriden, and MOD 102 (W272DO) New Haven. Red Wolf will take over operations immediately under an LMA.

(By Paul Weyland) At this point, most broadcast stations I know are selling at least some semblance of a digital platform along with their conventional radio or television products. And while some stations have a surprising range of digital components to sell, others are just starting out, with just a product or two.

(By Wayne Ens) I applaud Radio Ink's editor Ed Ryan for his effort to publish testimonials about advertisers that use radio to "drive customers to their stores and dollars to their cash registers." I often pose this question to radio colleagues, "Who is the best radio salesperson?" We pause for a moment, then seed the thinking process with a simple "It's not you."

It's all Christmas music, all the time, for iHeart's WGSY-FM in Columbus. On Monday, the station flipped over to Santa 100 from its previous Adult Contemporary format. A station press release said this was "the most dramatic and exciting new musical direction ever undertaken by a U.S. terrestrial radio station."

The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation has extended the call for entries for the 43rd annual Gracie Awards to January 25, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Gracies recognize exemplary programming created by, for, and about women in radio, television, cable, and interactive media.

Radio Ink is pleased to announce that FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel will deliver the opening keynote at the ninth annual Hispanic Radio Conference March 13-14 in Miami at the Intercontinental at Doral. Referred to as a practical visionary, Rosenworcel has been called "unbelievably brilliant" by former U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller.

Late Friday Spanish Broadcasting System sent out a press release announcing the company had reached an agreement with Grupo Radio Centro. SBS accused Grupo of hiring Martin Romero Hernandez (El Ratón) who left KLAX Los Angeles in January 2016 to join GRC’s “Radio Centro 93.9” KXOS.

On Saturday, a false alert of an imminent missile attack was broadcast to the homes and cellphones of the residents of Hawaii using the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The FCC Chairman says this is absolutely unacceptable and a full investigation is already underway.