Headlines

Reuters is reporting that CBS Radio, which the CBS mothership is planning to shed, is preparing to take on $1.5 billion in debt ahead of its IPO and use the proceeds to pay CBS Corp. Reuters reports that CBS's debt offering will be split between bonds and loans, and could happen this year.

He's had about a year of downtime since he was replaced at Cumulus and the former Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey spent eight months of that year writing a book about the media business.

(By Wayne Ens) In the days when consumers had to drive all over town to search for businesses and product information, it was often said the three keys to success were “Location, location, location.” Today, businesses and competitive product information can be found from the comfort of your home in seconds, with the click of a mouse.

(By Ronald Robinson) I have only occasionally thought of myself as sporting anything even slightly close to a sadistic personality, especially when I’m not appropriately dressed for the part. Very few in the audience saw me on the radio. I wasn’t brandishing a riding crop and I wasn’t ordering anybody around. I wasn’t contagious, either. But, as partial full disclosure, I might yet be an assertive carrier.

In one of the final sessions at the Radio Show last week in Nashville, Gordon Borrell hosted a presentation called "Radio – the Local Media Company of the Future." Borrell said whether or not your salespeople understand digital will be a big driver of your success, especially understanding Facebook, which he says a lot of advertisers are turning to. And, Borrell said, "In a lot of cases, your salespeople are not very bright."

(By Bob McCurdy) The RealityMine 2016.1 USA TouchPoint data has just come out and it again confirms AM/FM’s audio dominance. The data is a combination of fieldwork conducted March-November 2015 and January-April 2016.

(By Roy Williams) The reason most radio people write poorly is because they read too many blogs, tweets, news stories, and Facebook posts. As you read, so will you write.

There was a lot of debate about the millennial generation at the Radio Show in Nashville last week, and it really did stretch from one end of the spectrum to the other. In some panels, speakers were saying millennials were with radio and listenership was strong. In others, speakers were saying they were not listening to radio, their lives were all about streaming and their smartphones. In his latest episode of Media Unplugged, Mark Ramsey addresses the millennial issue and what he, and Tom Asacker, think they are up to these days. Give a listen HERE.

Jodesha Broadcasting's KNCQ-FM launched a new FM signal Friday and the format is non-stop Christmas and holiday favorites. The All-Christmas format is programmed by Seattle-based Broadcast Partners Ken Moultrie. Is it a stunt or is this the first of many early flips to holiday music as we head into the final quarter of the year and the run-up to Christmas?

It seems radio stations can’t help breaking records when it comes to charity events. Fresno’s NewsTalk 580/105.9 KMJ – in conjunction with agriculture company Gar Tootelian Inc. and Fresno-Madera Farm Credit – just raised over $154K for Fresno’s Community Food Bank. A 50 cents-on-the-dollar matching donation brought the grand total to an amazing $231,000.