Headlines

The St. Louis region flooding continues and New Country 92.3 (WIL) in St. Louis has been non-stop on air and online Tuesday spreading the word. Led by its live and local New Country morning show, Bud and Broadway, the entire on-air home team is broadcasting from flood zones and posting Facebook live videos while simultaneously shoveling and bagging sand.

According to the NAB, nine Members of the House and one Senator have joined as cosponsors of a bipartisan resolution that opposes "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local broadcast radio stations. The Local Radio Freedom Act now has 177 cosponsors in the House and 22 in the Senate.

Crain's Detroit Business is reporting that 5 CBS Radio stations will broadcast from Hockeytown Cafe in downtown Detroit several times every week starting this summer. The facility called "MusicTown," also includes a performance space. Hockeytown Cafe is owned by the Ilitch family, which is working on The District Detroit, a redevelopment project in downtown Detroit.

The Home Depot (56,111) and GEICO (39,996) remain radio's top advertisers, according to Media Monitors. Last week, the two big radio advertisers were followed by Lowe's (32,173), Mattress Firm (31,090), and Boost Mobile (26,487). There were no big movers on the Media Monitors chart last week.

The National Association of Broadcasters is now accepting nominations for the 2017 NAB Marconi Radio Awards. The awards recognize overall excellence and performance in radio. The deadline to nominate is May 31 and all nominations must be submitted online HERE. Finalists will be announced in July.

The popular annual seminar, presented by the Radio Advertising Bureau, Broadcast Music, and the Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio Group, will be held August 16-17 at BMI’s Nashville office. Once again, BMI will offer 20 scholarships to cover the cost of the professional development course.

The Commission says Sergio Plasencia has been operating illegal radio stations in Miami on 101.9 MHz and 107.3 MHz. The Commission has warned Plasencia before which is why it is suggesting the hefty fine. Miami is a hotbed for Pirate radio operators and Plasencia has been running a Pirate station, and being warned by the Commission, since early 2016.

(By Bob McCurdy) Common sense dictates that high-income houses buy “luxury” brands and lower-income households buy the “value” brands. Intuitively, it makes sense, but is it true? Is it possible that when it comes to advertising and marketing it is best to exercise some “uncommon” sense?

(By Jeff McHugh) You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Many shows ultimately succeed or fail based on their first 60-90 days. For a brand new show, benchmarks are a clear, simple way to introduce the players and what the show is about. The best benchmarks are based on relevant, common-ground subjects that the audience is already interested in.  

(By John Garziglia) The NAB Show in Las Vegas has morphed into a media extravaganza in which radio plays just a part. Nonetheless, radio broadcasters continue to be exceedingly catered to by the NAB, in sessions and on the exhibit floor. Here are top 10 observations on legal, regulatory and operational issues having been one of the 100,000+ attendees: