Headlines

Everyone here at Radio Ink would like to wish all of our faithful readers a happy and safe 4th of July weekend. We'll be taking off the holiday off as well, enjoying the beach and the barbeque. Your headlines will return at 3:59 a.m. Wednesday morning, July 5. If breaking news happens, of course, we'll deliver it to you pronto.

KDKA midday talker Mike Pintek announced on his show Thursday that he has inoperable pancreatic cancer. Pintek said the cancer has spread to his liver and possibly to other areas of his body. While the cancer is not operable now, doctors hope chemotherapy will shrink the tumor enough to make it operable. You can listen to his statement HERE.

The name of the new Hip Hop, R&B, and Rhythmic iHeart station in Philadelphia is Real 106.1, which replaces the Hot AC format the station was carrying. Chio in the Morning, which has been airing on the station for 14 years, will continue with the new format. iHeart will now go head-to-head with Radio One’s Jenkintown, PA-licensed “Boom 103.9” WPHI-FM.

iHeartMedia has signed Alt 98.7 LA morning man Woody to a new 5-year deal that includes Premiere launching The Woody Show into national syndication. Woody is a 20-year radio vet who's worked in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Portland. He joined iHeart three years ago.

And they are Scott Herman, Chief Operating Officer of CBS Radio, and Jordan Wertlieb, President of Hearst Television. The elections took place during the Broadcasters Foundation’s Board of Directors meeting in New York City. Herman oversees CBS Radio's 117 stations.

The awards will return to the Los Angeles Forum on Sunday, March 11, 2018 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) it was announced Thursday. It will be the third year the show has played the LA venue. There will once again be broadcast live on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on iHeartRadio, the all-in-one digital music and live streaming radio service

TagStation, which owns the NextRadio app, is partnering with Westwood One to produce a new interactive audience measurement tool for over-the-air FM radio. The two companies say this new arrangement will allow Westwood to deliver consumer insights and prove ROI to national advertisers. Westwood started testing the technology back in May and reports the test was very successful.

Anybody looking for a cluster of stations in Vermont? Ken Squier says he's 82 and it's time to move on. The Vermont Radio Group has been in family hands for 86 years, started by Ken's dad Lloyd in 1931 with WDEV-AM. Squier told his staff he will attempt to find a buyer who will preserve the long-standing station values of serving the public good, need, and necessity. The group is made up of four FMs, one AM and three translators. Dick Foreman of RAFAMEDIA is brokering the sale.

(By Paul Weyland) Have you ever wondered why we’re back at 1980s spot rates? Well, you can thank our friends at the advertising agencies, as well as our own poor negotiating skills. Imagine being present at the scene of the worst negotiation ever … between an advertising agency principle and a television general manager.

(By Ronald Robinson) There’s nothing like a new piece of terminology to excite and confuse the locals. The latest is “UX” (User Experience). We must love our terminologies, especially when they describe or re-label something that has been there all along. Say, they wouldn’t be talking about what an audience goes through when they hear our stations, now, would they?