Headlines

Ever get tired of hearing people bash radio and its migration of listeners to digital. Here's something that might cheer you up a bit. MediaPost has the details from Moffett Nathanson Research, using Nielsen analysis, which said the networks experienced a 5% decline in the 2015-2016 TV season. (Picture courtesy MediaPost.)

Four members of the House have signed on to the NAB's Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution that opposes "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on radio stations. With the addition of Rep. Elijah Cummings from Maryland, Jaime Herrera Beutler from Washington, Virginia's Stacey Plaskett, and Indiana's Todd Young, the resolution now has 232 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and 26 in the Senate.

Texas A&M University has a new Houston affiliate. KFNC-FM 97.5 ESPN Houston and KGOW-AM 1560 Yahoo! Sports Radio becomes the new home for the Aggies beginning this fall. The new five-year agreement kicks off with football this fall. The deal, between Gow Media and Learfield, the Aggies’ exclusive multimedia rights holder, includes football, men’s basketball, and seasonal coaches’ shows.

On June 21, 2012, US Army pilot David Ortiz of Denver was involved in a life-threatening helicopter crash serving in Afghanistan. Ortiz was rushed into surgery, where he flat-lined twice. Ortiz survived the crash, but he's living as a paraplegic due to the injuries. The incident inspired Ortiz to face a fear of his each year on the anniversary of his crash and KYGO Denver is involved

WPLJ in New York hosted its 2nd Annual Apple-A-Day iPad Party at the WPLJ studios last Saturday. Twenty children with cancer were presented with new iPads. 95.5 WPLJ morning show co-host Jayde Donovan launched the Apple-A-Day non-profit organization and laptop giveaway in 2001, in memory of her friend Brittany, who passed away from bone cancer.

The Washington Examiner has the details from the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who said the reason Republican base voters have unrealistic expectations is because of talk radio. And when politicians say talk radio, that usually means Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and other Conservative talkers.

Media Monitors reports Hillary Clinton’s campaign ran a paltry 445 spots as her campaign to win the primary crossed the finish line. Even more alarming for radio was that Bernie Sanders For President aired only 170 spots, while Donald Trump’s campaign bought a measly two radio ads. No Super PAC or campaign ran negative or “against” ads on radio in the last 10 days. The Media Monitors data is from 82 major markets from May 27 to June 5, 2016.

How much should your clients trust their advertising agencies. Well, according to a new report, not much. On Tuesday, The Association of National Advertisers released a very damaging 58-page report that hits advertising agencies hard in how they conduct business and look upon their clients.

Pandora says its new visual ad experience is a series of native, mobile ad formats that make rich media, video, and display ads more impactful and effective for marketers. It will give listeners more control over the ads they see. The ads launch in beta this summer with Express and the Lexus Dealer Association, and will be available to all advertisers later this year.

Nielsen will once again rate the Newburgh-Middletown, NY, market, twice each year, starting with the Spring survey next month. The Newburgh metro includes Orange County, NY, and the TSA will also include Sullivan County. With a population of about 315,300 people, Newburgh, which has been measured before, comes in as market 154 among the 275+ markets measured by Nielsen. Townsquare will be a subscriber.