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Chris Kroeger (pictured) hosts PrimeTime with Chris Kroeger weekday afternoons on Entercom’s WFNZ in Charlotte. OrthoCarolina, a physician-owned private company, is one of the nation’s leading independent academic orthopedics practices, serving North Carolina and the Southeast. And it’s one of WFNZ’s best clients. (Our weekly Advertiser Success Stories are sponsored by Sun & Fun Media)

(By Bob McCurdy) There are a lot of parallels between sales and sports and while last week’s national championship football game was one for the ages, the manner in which Alabama won might have even transcended the game itself. And I am not referring the final touchdown pass.

(By Randy Lane) One of the biggest complaints we get from morning shows is that the phones are not ringing. We hear that the culprits are hands-free driving laws, poor cell phone quality, and younger people preferring to text, Snapchat, or instant message. Boo, hoo, hoo! We believe listeners will call...

(By Ronald Robinson) People in general, and radio’s leadership in particular, have no idea whatsoever of how audiences are accessing every electronic medium. A simplified explanation of this circumstance would be that while content is a factor, the power lies in the process!

We learned on Friday that Curtis Media Group's WQDR PD Lisa McKay would be taking an indefinite leave of absence to battle cancer. Sunday morning she passed away. McKay was only 54.

“Nashville’s #1 Sports Station” 104.5 The Zone/WGFX-FM will expand its local sports coverage to an all-local, all-day format, kicking off Monday, January 15. The station also announced that it has re-signed on-air personalities Chad Withrow, Jonathon Hutton, and Paul Kuharsky.

During his Q3 earnings call on Thursday, Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan said advertising took a "pretty significant downturn" in the last six months of 2017. And, as digital and social continue to make significant advertising revenue gains, Smulyan predicted 2018 would be up only 1% for radio. He also said radio "could be flat or it could be down slightly. He was also asked about the CBS/Entercom merger.

Same-station revenue was down 4% for Emmis' 3rd quarter which includes September, October, and November of 2017. The markets in which Emmis operates were down 2%. CEO Jeff Smulyan said, "There was nothing great about our performance." He added these are challenging times in the broadcasting industry and pointed out what other companies were facing. No doubt he was referring to Cumulus in bankruptcy and iHeartMedia's $20 billion in debt.

(By Stuart Rosen) There has been some confusion in the industry following last month’s decision by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which affirmed Judge Stanton’s ruling that the BMI Consent Decree does not prohibit fractional licensing. BMI views the decision as a welcome, stabilizing event, and we genuinely believe the rest of the industry should as well. Allow us to explain why and hopefully alleviate any concerns.

Apple's CarPlay dashboard system was not friendly to radio. While the technology shows navigation, apps and even podcasts on the dashboard automobile, it does not integrate AM/FM radio. Drivers would need to switch out of the CarPlay interface over to the regular radio if they wanted to listen to their local station. Thanks to Gracenote, there's now an app for that.