Headlines

According to News4 We Act Radio, a community station based in Southeast D.C., is off the air after being vandalized and burglarized. A GoFundMe page set up to raise money to get the station back on the air says: "Thousands of dollars’ worth of valuable equipment, including a live streaming laptop, were stolen. The robber also severely damaged the property, including smashing the radio studio window and taking the back door off its hinges."

Beasley Media Group's BEN FM in Philadelphia has figured out a way to have Amazon's Alexa take over the station this Friday from 2pm to 6pm. It's all part of the launch of the BEN FM skill on the Amazon Echo. During that shift the station will also be giving away Amazon Echo Dots.

That's over 60 million American homes according to the ratings firm. Nielsen Audio SVP Bruce Supovitz says, "Advertisers are eager to explore the world of podcasting but they don’t really know much about the podcast audience. That is all about to change.

It's the 4th year for the conference all about Podcasting and this year it looks like radio will be represented very well. Over three days in Anaheim, 150 speakers from the best podcasts and the most successful podcast networks and companies will take part in over 80 different sessions. Get more details on "The Movement" HERE

On Tuesday, the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs announced that the club has reached an agreement to extend their partnership with Union Broadcasting's Sports Radio 810 WHB-AM. Since 2010, Sports Radio 810 WHB has been the official sports radio home of the Chiefs. The length of the extension was not disclosed.

Chris Wegmann becomes the new VP/Market Manager for Entercom in New Orleans, overseeing WWL AM/FM, WLMG-FM, WKBU-FM, WEZB-FM, WWWL-AM, and The New Orleans Saints Radio Network. Prior to joining Entercom, Wegmann was President of the Radio Division of Radio One. He replaces Chris Claus who announced his retirement earlier this month. 

In an opinion piece posted to The Huffington Post, KCAA Riverside CEO Fred Lundgren says nothing other than progressive talk shows will close the abyss between liberals and conservatives as long as democrats remain in their online ecosystem. "We must speak calmly, reasonably, professionally and directly to red state voters in their language over their medium... radio."

Kevin and Allison Blume from Mishawaka, Indiana have ten days to respond to the Commission after they were cited for operating an unlicensed radio station at 93.9 in he Osceola, Indiana area. The FCC says its equipment detected the signal emanating from the Blume's home in Mishawaka, Indiana. Read the full FCC notice to the Blume's HERE.

A political non-profit group close to House Republicans is spending $1 million on radio praising Republican efforts to revamp the tax code. According to The Hill, American Action Network will run ads in 34 districts, "supporting Republican members of House leadership, members of key tax-related committees and vulnerable incumbents in swing districts."

Back in 1995 Kevin Otero took a class about radio that was offered by Albuquerque KANW-FM in New Mexico. Otero tells Radio Ink that class helped him get to where he is today. Otero is now the Program Director at the station. The class is an eight-week free course covering everything from FCC rules, to music formats, to speaking on the air. We reached out to Otero to get more details about why KANW continues to offer this class.