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Alpha CEO Larry Wilson has been named Radio Ink's Radio Executive of The Year and will appear on the cover of the upcoming issue of Radio Ink magazine. Wilson dominated the past year in terms of the number of stations purchased and has quickly grown his company to the fourth-largest in the industry in terms of stations, behind iHeart, Cumulus and Townsquare. Upon the successful completion of all pending transactions, Alpha Media will own 252 radio stations in 54 markets. The big question now is what's next for Wilson and Alpha? Does he try to go public or wait and operate for awhile until the industry stabilizes? Here's an excerpt from our upcoming cover story interview.

All eyes will be on innovation this week as CES opens in Las Vegas Wednesday. iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman will make an appearance. Pittman will be interviewed by popular iHeart host Ryan Seacrest on Thursday at 2:15. Check out the entire CES agenda HERE and watch for our updates from CES from Greater Media's Buzz Knight.

KROCK is owned by Galaxy Communications in Syracuse. Two suspects in a Christmas assault on host Joe Grosvent and his cousin have turned themselves in to police, according to cnycentral.com.

On New Year's Eve, Cumulus completed a discounted prepayment of a portion of its $1.9 billion senior secured-term loan facility due December 2020. Cumulus purchased $64.9 million of its senior secured-term loan for $50 million, a discount of 23%.

The format flip for Cumulus in Atlanta is to alternative rock. PD Greg Ausham says “99X will once again be Atlanta’s unique source for new music discovery. 99X will be a station rooted solidly in today’s artists and devoted to looking ahead toward what’s next musically.”

As you make a break for another 4-day holiday weekend, Broadcast Attorney David Oxenford wants you to remember several key dates coming up in January. The first is January 10, when your Quarterly Issues Programs lists must be placed in your public file. And then it's all about the election.

The full lineup of ESPN Radio programming will be heard on Bonneville's 1600 (KEPN-AM) and 104.3 (KKFN-FM) HD 2, starting Monday, January 4. The station has been carrying Steve Czaban, Dan Patrick, Jim Rome, and programming from NBC Sports Radio.

790 KBME in Houston announced a new lineup Tuesday. The station will now include live and local programming from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Haven’t you had it with sneaky little advertising agencies snapping up your local direct accounts? You know, those people who used to work for your station, but now they have their own “advertising agency”? The ones who go to your clients and tell them they can buy commercials on your station for less than the client would pay if they dealt with you directly?