Headlines

Broker Michael Bergner tells Radio Ink that the Wilks stations being sold to Radio One and Saga in Columbus have closed. Radio One closed on its $2 million purchase of the former WHOK-FM and WZOH-FM. And Saga closed on its $13 million acquisition of WLVQ-FM. The sales were originally announced back in November.

Two days full of exciting sessions and artist performances are days away from kicking off at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. It's also the venue Radio Ink will once again present the Top Country Radio Program Directors with their awards for programming outstanding country radio stations across the U.S. Big Machine Label Group has announced the musical lineup for its Wednesday luncheon, which will be headlined by Jennifer Nettles.

It's called The Grammy Fund for Music Creators and it's a Political Action Committee just put together by the Recording Academy and announced yesterday. In a blog post about the new PAC Daryl Friedman, chief industry, government and members relations officer for the Recording Academy, said "Broadcasters, tech companies and other large corporations are pocketing the profits from music, while music creators don’t always receive fair compensation for their work."

The plan to save the AM radio band has been years in the making and FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who will keynote Radio Ink's Hispanic Radio Conference next month, has been a loud voice hoping to bring the dying band back to life.

Both for the fourth quarter of 2015 and for the full year of 2015. Revenue in Q4 was $1.2 billion (up 10%), and for the year $4.6 billion (up 9%). Net income was $135 million and $510 million in the fourth quarter and full-year 2015, respectively, compared to $143 million and $493 million in the fourth quarter and full-year 2014.

SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer told investors and analysts on Tuesday that early in 2015 the company projected 1.2 million net new subscribers and delivered 2.3 million, bringing paid subs to an all-time high of 29.6 million. The company also projected revenue of $4.4 billion and it delivered nearly $4.6 billion.

The assault on radio's home base continues as SiriusXM is now connected to about 1/3 of all vehicles on the road today. The SiriusXM penetration rate into new vehicles in 2015 was 74.5%. In Q4 that penetration rate was even higher at 78%.

In what's become an annual highlight of the annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, Edison Research will present new listener data at CRS, which begins next week. This year, Edison's presentation is called "Fear of Missing Out."

Finally, your client is ready to target the Latino market! How do you help them develop a winning game plan that unlocks the power of Latino consumers? Jose Gónzalez, GM and strategic director at Pólvora Advertising, has helped brands including Ace Hardware, Century 21, Disney Baby, and many others to increase Latino cash-register rings and he'll be at Radio Ink's Hispanic Radio Conference, March 22-23 in Fort Lauderdale.

In 2015 Cumulus' Dallas cluster of radio stations raised a total of $1,212,089 for local and national charities. The stations raised funds, supplies, and awareness for many charitable organizations through events and on-air and online promotions.