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Regarding the recent op-ed piece Recording Academy President Neil Portnow wrote for Radio Ink that alleged artists no longer thank radio for playing their music, NAB Executive VP Dennis Wharton has responded with the following statement and examples of several artists that did thank radio, during last week's Radio Show in Austin.

According to the National Association of Broadcasters, attendance for the 2017 Radio Show in Austin was right around 2,000. The attendance for the 2016 show in Nashville was 2,272, which was 102 people more than the 2015 Radio Show in Atlanta. 2017 had its challenges for sure. The show began one day after Labor Day and was bookended by two major hurricanes, Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida. The 2018 Radio Show is set for Sept. 25-28 in Orlando.

Boomer Esiason appeared on the Toucher & Rich morning show on The Sports Hub in Boston, Monday, and said he had a very somber call with Carton who's accused of being involved in a ticket scam that bilked investors out of $5.6 million.

(By Paul Weyland) Like many of you, I almost fainted when I saw the newspaper classified section and the Yellow Books literally collapse before my eyes. Honestly, I never thought that would ever happen in my lifetime. But it did.

The L.A. Times is reporting that between 300,000 and 500,000 vehicles were destroyed or damaged in Houston, according to Cox Automotive economist Jonathan Smoke and he said that translates into $2.7 billion and $4.9 billion. Between 60% and 70% of those vehicles being replaced will be used.

The Radio One Classic Hip Hop station is now known as "Majic 94.5" and is adding some contemporary artists like Bruno Mars and Beyonce to its playlist. And with the changes comes the return of a big name to Dallas, as Tom Joyner will be heard in mornings on the station formerly known as Boom 94.5.

On September 7, 2017, Cumulus Board Member David Tolley told the company he was leaving the board to become the CFO of a privately held global broadband communications company. Related to the resignation, the board then appointed board member Jill Bright to the Audit Committee.

The Johnjay and Rich #LoveUp Foundation presented the American Red Cross with a check for $50,000 to benefit the hurricane relief effort. Last week, Johnjay and Rich -- hosts of the Premiere Networks-syndicated Johnjay & Rich Show -- invited listeners nationally to “love up” and purchase #LoveUp t-shirts, with all proceeds benefitting hurricane victims.

The radio titan partnered with 911 Day to air PSAs on all stations, encouraging acts of kindness and unity, Monday. On-air personality Greg T from the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show volunteered this morning, encouraging people to come together and do good deeds.

For years, radio executives have been saying "we need to tell a better story" in order to drive more revenue to the industry from more big-brand advertisers. Kudos to RAB CEO Erica Farber and her team for bringing representatives from Comcast Cable to the 2017 Radio Show. They told a pretty darn good story about the power of radio and the success they are seeing from the medium. And as every sales manager in the industry says, there's nothing better than a testimonial. This was a testimonial on an epic scale.