Headlines

Fresh out of bankruptcy and back on the phone with investors, CEO Mary Berner reported on Monday that Q2 revenue was down from $290.5 million to $285.2 million, a decline of 1.8%. For the first six months of the year, revenue was off 1%, declining from $554.6 million to $549 million.

Cumulus executives told investors Monday that the USTN financial situation cost the company about $5 million in revenue in the second quarter, and it already has a long-term deal with a new provider. That provider is iHeart’s Total Traffic & Weather Network. Reports from TTWN will begin on Cumulus' 441 stations in September.

Radio Ink has learned from several sources that United States Traffic Network is winding down its radio operations. The last several months have been brutal for the traffic network, as Entercom has publicly berated the company about its financial problems. And Cumulus executives jumped on the bandwagon Monday when they announced they had to write off $5 million they were expecting from USTN. Here are all the details on USTN wind-down.

Beasley Media Group is the first company we’ve seen putting people specifically in charge of podcasting. The company plans to unveil a company-wide podcasting strategy later in the year. And on Monday, four of Beasley’s current employees were given the added title of Podcast Captain.

It’s a brand new 43,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility for iHeartMedia Boston’s WRKO-AM, WKAF-FM, and the recently acquired WZLX-FM and WBZ-AM. The company says the innovative space is designed to invoke collaboration and to embody the iHeartMedia brand.

Our thanks to Pete Cloutier and the team at Regional Radio in upstate New York for introducing us to Bob Kellogg who runs 15 New York locations of Warren Tire Service, which was  was created in 1983. Kellogg took over running the business after serving in the Navy for 14 years. (Our weekly Advertiser Success Stories are sponsored by Sun & Fun Media).

The New York Times has a lengthy piece on how successful sports talk radio has become for local advertisers, despite the fact that the format might not be the top rated station in a market. The article begins with a success story from the Goldberg law firm which uses Portland station KFXX-AM to reach men. The station was ranked 21st in June.

(by Bob McCurdy) A friend in Sioux Falls forwarded an article from WARC (World Advertising Research Center) last week titled, Video Impact: The Value of Mass Marketing Compared to Targeting, which detailed an in-depth study conducted by SevenOne Media, one of Europe’s leading sales organizations for audiovisual media. The goal was to determine if dollar-for-dollar, “targeting” or “broadcasting” generated more revenue.

(by Randy Lane) Ten years ago, someone could call and ask me to help them find talent for their show. Immediately, I could think of several people or shows to recommend. This is not the case any longer.

VSiN, a network dedicated to delivering daily information about sports gambling, has signed an agreement with Beasley’s WBZ-FM 98.5 The Sports Hub. WBZ will run VSiN updates covering how the sports betting markets are reacting to Boston’s sports teams.