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This one comes to us from our good friend Chris Lytle, standing next to his first new car in 1974 (Lytle was 25). He says the Gremlin was paid for with commissions from his sales job at WISM AM-FM in Madison. The station is across the field and in the swamp. Gremlins were only made from 1974-1978. Many of us grew up learning sales from Chris Lytle. His latest book is called 23 Shockingly Simple Sales Ideas and is climbing the charts on Amazon. Reach out to Chris at [email protected].

United Stations want affiliates to know that Bloomberg Radio will once again be providing an original series of Tax Tips as we inch closer to tax filing season. The Tax Tips are 30-seconds, written and anchored by Bloomberg correspondent Peggy Collins (pictured here).

Beasley Media Group’s 99.5 QYK/Tampa hosted the Country Cares for St. Jude Kids Radio-thon in the station’s studio on Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8. The annual event raised a total of $300,620.

Entercom Philadelphia’s 16th annual 98.1 WOGL Loves Our Kids Radiothon raised over $300,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The radiothon was broadcast live on Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 from the Ryan Seacrest Foundation’s Seacrest Studios.

Magic 94.9 (WWRM/Tampa) held their 18th Annual Magic Toy Drive with the Marines, collecting donations for Toys for Tots, Friday, December 8, 5 a.m.–7 p.m. at the Wal Mart Super Center in Oldsmar. Danielle, from Magic Mornings, did a live broadcast for 14 hours as four U-Haul trucks were filled with new, unwrapped toys for local kids.

It's obvious a deal was made between Cumulus and Nielsen to pay the millions of dollars the company owes the ratings firm in order for this new deal to be struck. It was not unexpected due to the importance of ratings in the markets Cumulus operates. When Cumulus filed for Chapter 11 it was announced the company owed Nielsen over $6 million.

WBUR in Boston has placed its most popular host, Tom Ashbrook, on leave after receiving allegations against him. His syndicated program “On Point,” airs on 300 public radio stations across the country. Here's the short statement the station released.

(By Bob McCurdy) Last week I had the opportunity to address an agency at their annual gathering. The theme of their meeting was the “pursuit of excellence.” What follows are some of the talking points that I jotted down to discuss during my session, many of which resulted in some good discussion.

(By Laurie Kahn) Change is hard to handle. No one likes to think they need to change or think about what business practices are needed to change for higher success. But, let’s face it, change is an ever-evolving issue and sometimes it’s inevitable.

(By Ronald Robinson) Yes, radio needs to continue telling the story. But, radio also needs to add to that. Radio needs to be/must be/is required to do something else: Radio must create a new reality for itself, its audiences, and its advertisers.