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The new supporters of the act are Representatives Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), Andy Harris (MD-1), Mac Thornberry (TX-13), and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-5), chair of the House Republican Conference. The Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA) now has 191 cosponsors in the House and 22 in the Senate.

At the annual awards banquet of the Missouri Broadcasters Association, June 9-10, the Park Hills station received three first-place finishes and a certificate of merit. One of the awards was for Best Local Website for kfmosports.com.

We all know the troubles the Windy City has been going through in recent times, with shootings seemingly a daily occurrence. Well 107.5 WGCI isn’t taking it sitting down in the studio. Instead, the good folks at WGCI are organizing Peace in the Streets Summer Block Parties at various times and locations (see the listings in story).

According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, the first quarter of 2017 was the highest Q1 ever for digital advertising in the U.S., reaching $19.6 billion. That's an increase of 23%, or $3.7 billion, over Q1 2016. It's also the second-highest quarter of all time, following the 4th quarter of 2016, which was $21.6 billion.

We'll see if this prediction from Magna actually materializes at the end of the year, however, Magna is predicting that due to decreased demand from a variety of ad categories, radio ad revenue will decline 4.4% this year. So what were those categories?

More from the Magna report which says U.S advertising revenue will grow 1.6% ($3 billion) to $185 billion this year. Ad sales growth of 1.6% would be the lowest increase since the recession of 2008-2009, and it's a significant slowdown from 2016’s record growth of 7.7%.

And this factoid from the Magna report will come as no surprise to our readers. Despite the fact that we've heard recent complaints about advertisers not getting results or that their ads aren't being heard or seen, digital ad spending continues to explode. In the U.S., digital media ad sales will increase 14%, by more than $10 billion in 2017, to $83 billion.

The Southern California Broadcasters Association and Nielsen have released a study of vehicle buyers in L.A. and San Diego. The two companies are promoting the study hoping to arm radio sellers with more data and help them close more sales. It includes those in the market to purchase a vehicle and those undecided, and details how radio reaches those consumers better than TV.

The deal between the two companies was announced Wednesday. Westwood One will use Nielsen's advanced data management platform to help advertisers make better buying decisions, aimed more at the customers they're looking for. Here's how this works...

This time the Enforcement Bureau sends a notice to Winston Tulloch in Paterson, New Jersey, for operating an illegal station at 90.9 from his home. Tulloch has 10 days to respond to the Commission with proof that he is authorized to operate the station, which, of course, he is not.