Headlines

The NAB fight to make sure targeted local programming using FM boosters never happens made it to Capitol Hill this week. South Carolina Congressman Jeff Duncan is leading the charge.

Albany, Georgia's first-ever radio station, WGPC-AM, is gone for good. The station went dark on January 2 after a big storm came through town twisting its tower to pieces and depositing three trees in the studio. WALB-TV reports that Cumulus has surrendered the license back to the FCC. WGPC signed on in 1933, and was Albany's only radio station until 1941.

Not surprisingly, station transactions were also down during the year of the pandemic. BIA's latest data shows radio station sales fell to levels that hadn’t been seen in years. Only 534 stations sold in 2020 for an estimated value of $139 million. By comparison back in 2011 over 1,000 stations sold for $1.1 billion.

The lineup for the Team UMG at the Ryman event at Country Radio Seminar 2020 has been announced, and it is comprised of emerging and established artists from Universal Music Group Nashville’s roster.

Audacy Denver's Alice 105.9 (KALC) raised $1.1 million for Children’s Hospital Colorado during the station's 23rd annual Cares for Kids Radiothon. Since the event started in 2001, KALC has raised more than $25 million for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Thanks to WCBS Newsradio Director of News and Programming Tim Scheld for sharing this very cool video about the recent rebrand of one of radio's most legendary sets of call letters.

iHeartMedia West Palm Beach has signed a broadcast agreement with the Florida Panthers. The agreement puts the games on WBZT through the 2024-25 NHL season.

Things might be different today, according to a panel at the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference on Tuesday. The panel was entitled, "What We Learned From the Election & Where We Go From Here." The NAB's Dennis Wharton pointed out that Donald Trump won a higher percentage (29%) of the Hispanic vote in 2016 than Mitt Romney (27%) did when he ran for President.

Gil Gross hosts a 3-hour CBS Audio Network Memorial Day special for stations to air May 28-31. Topics include author Malcom Gladwell about the longest night of World War II, Max Boot looks at the forgotten wars of American History, the war in Afghanistan and the forgotten heroes of Vietnam.

On the WBSM New Bedford website Barry Richard writes that decades ago he got a call from Rush when he was first putting together his show. "He had nothing to offer and was willing to barter." As a result of what Rush started, Richard writes, " Talk radio as we now know it was born and AM radio was saved from obscurity." READ IT