Headlines

iHeart San Antonio's Q 101.9 has caught the Christmas bug and begun broadcasting around-the-clock festive music from artists including Wham!, Nat King Cole, and Mariah Carey, leading into the holiday season.

ABC Radio is kicking off the holiday season with a three-hour country music special, My Kind of Christmas Countdown, hosted by Grammy Award-winning country superstar Reba McEntire, and a three-hour special titled America Gives Thanks. Both specials will be available over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Make no mistake about it, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker has been a big supporter of the Entercom/CBS merger. She's always been a big fan of Entercom CEO David Field and how he's run the company, and his consistently positive attitude about the radio industry. At Radio Ink's Forecast 2018 event Wednesday, her opinion hadn't changed. However, Ryvicker did disagree with one aspect of what Field predicts.

Last week at the Harvard Club in New York City, Radio Ink celebrated The 40 Most Powerful People in Radio with a special cocktail reception. Each member of Radio Ink's power list received a special plaque from Publisher Deborah Parenti and Chairman Eric Rhoads.

Some time this morning, a press release will be distributed across the country announcing the Entercom/CBS merger, that was first announced in February, has finally closed. CEO David Field will address the troops, and although we have not seen his speech, he will most likley tell his new employees how excited he is to now have them, and some of the radio industry's most recognizeable brands, under the Entercom ownership umbrella.

The going consensus among those in attendance at Forecast is that the debt iHeartMedia and Cumulus are dealing with is hurting the industry. Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said investors are nervous because the radio industry hasn't done well — and that's because iHeartMedia and Cumulus may be looking at bankruptcy.

As expected, Entercom shareholders have approved the company's merger with CBS Radio. Philly.com reports that only four shareholders attended the special meeting to vote on the deal which is expected to close Friday, putting all CBS Radio stations under the management and leadership of Entercom.

97.1 Charlie FM (KYCH-FM), "Portland’s Fun Christmas Music Station" launched its annual Christmas music playlist Wednesday -- the first Portland radio station to make the switch. The holiday cheer will run through December 25, when all of Christmas Day will be advertisement-free.

Seattle’s Warm 106.9 made the flip to 24/7 Christmas music Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. PST. Lucky Warm 106.9 listener Alyssa Batacan of Lakewood, WA, and her daughter, helped make the switch along with Allan & Ashley in the morning.

The long-awaited closing draws nearer as CBS Corp. announces that for each share of CBS Class B Common Stock accepted in its exchange offer, announced earlier, shareholders will receive up to 5.6796 shares of "Radio Common Stock" created just for the purpose of the CBS Radio/Entercom merger. When the deal closes, those shares will be converted to Entercom stock.