Headlines

Cumulus has hired John Abbot as its new Chief Financial Officer effective July 1, 2016. Abbot most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Telx Holdings, a provider of connectivity, co-location, and cloud services in the data center industry. Abbot replaces J.P. Hannan, who resigned his position after six years in order to pursue other interests. Hannan will assist the company for several months during the transition.

(By Leslye Schumacher) For most radio clusters, automotive is a top ad category. But the past few years have seen auto dealers moving money out of radio and into digital advertising options. Here’s an overview of the top digital advertising products automotive dealers are using, so you can have a better understanding of how they work — and how to find ways to integrate them into your radio ad mix.

(By Deborah Parenti) Cheri Preston is a multiple Murrow and Gracie Award-winning ABC Radio News anchor and correspondent. She has been behind the microphone for some of the past decade’s biggest stories, including the Iraq invasion, Superstorm Sandy, the capture of the Boston Marathon bomber, and the Sandy Hook shootings.

A total of $3,489 was presented to the Alameda County Community Food Bank as part of the “Hoops for Hunger” program for the 2015-2016 NBA regular season. 95.7 The GAME (KGMZ-FM) and 1st United Credit Union teamed up to raise the funds. For every Golden State Warriors regular season basket scored, 1st United Credit Union donated $1 to the food bank.

Radio Ink's 2016 Most Influential Women in Radio issue is now making its way around the country via the U.S. Postal Service. In that issue, amongst all the other great women in our industry should have been a picture of Jana Cosgrove. Jana is President of CBS Radio Sales and Entercom Radio Sales at Katz and is a regular on this list every year. Jana made our 2016 list and through an editing error we accidentally omitted Jana's picture and answers from the issue. Jana Cosgrove is clearly one of radio's Most Influential and we want to apologize to her for making that mistake. We also want to apologize to our readers for not bringing you Jana's excellent answers to our questions in that issue. So to make it up to you and to Jana, we have an extended interview with Jana here.

In a letter submitted to the FCC, the NAB is asking the Commission to "act expeditiously to reform its outdated and inequitable broadcast ownership rules." With politics taking center stage in Washington, the future of the Chairman unknown, and all hands on deck for the TV spectrum auction, it's doubtful the Commission will get to this issue, one it has dragged its feet on for many years.

Jim Leven and Bruce Mittman are purchasing four more stations in Florida. Apex Broadcasting, which also owns clusters in Hilton Head and Charleston, is selling its four stations in the Destin/Ft. Walton Beach market to Community Broadcasters. The price was not announced.

On Tuesday, the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation handed out the 41st Annual Gracie Awards at Cipriani's in New York City. Lifetime Achievement Honoree (and 2016 Radio Ink MIW Legend) Joan Hamburg was presented her award by Alan Alda. Hamburg said, “To all the people in the radio industry, including my new WABC Family who stood by me, it’s about community.

The National Association of Broadcasters PILOT program is now accepting submissions for its first-ever Innovation Challenge. This year’s challenge question is, “How can local television and radio broadcasters engage their communities with next-generation content on any device, whether big, small, or moving?”

On Tuesday, ABC Radio VP/GM Steve Jones notified his team they have been recognized with Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence both in radio and television by the Radio Television Digital News Association. ABC News Radio also won Murrow awards in the Breaking News category for coverage of the San Bernardino terror attack and in the Hard News category for coverage of the Paris terror attacks.