Headlines

(By Bob McCurdy) We all remember the three Rs from our grammar school days. Well, Brad Kelly, the Managing Director of Nielsen Audio wrote a terrific article titled "The Six R’s of Radio -- A Best Practices Guide on Radio’s Role for Advertisers." We wanted to expand on Brad’s six Rs a bit.

iHeartMedia's KOST 103.5 will officially launch holiday music this Wednesday. PD Michael La Crosse said, “This is the 15th consecutive year that KOST 103.5 has provided the soundtrack for the season to Southern California. Last year alone, KOST 103.5 averaged more than 5 million listeners weekly during the holidays, making KOST one of the most listened to radio stations in the country during that period."

MLB's Atlanta Braves and Dickey Broadcasting Company have announced a 10-year extension for Dickey Broadcasting Company to remain the exclusive radio rightsholder for Braves baseball through 2026.

It was a 13-hour radiothon on October 26, and it really paid off, to the tune of $17,180. Aurora and Joliet stations, 95.9 The River (WERV) and Q. Rock 100.7 (WRXQ) were the hosts, with proceeds going to Variety: The Children’s Charity.

If you listened to Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins on his earnings call, you might come to the conclusion that he believes the Classic Hip Hop format -- or BOOM, as Radio One calls it -- has run its course. Radio One created the Classic Hip Hop format, and yesterday Liggins said, "We invented the format and we're the first to exit the format. It is not a sustainable long-term ratings getter."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has written an editorial asking local residents to call FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and pressure him to get Bob Romanik off KZQZ-AM. Romanik hosts a show and is a candidate for the Illinois Statehouse. The paper says what he's saying about his opponent on the air is hate speech and has no place on the public airwaves.

As CBS Corporation gets ready to separate its radio division from the mothership, we are now able to see actual radio revenue numbers, as opposed to having them jumbled in with a line called "local broadcasting." And in Q3, CBS' 117 radio stations saw a small increase in revenue.

Radio One radio revenue slid from $55.5 million to $52.5 million in the third quarter. CEO Alfred Liggins blamed the decrease in the radio division on the markets the company operates in being down, format competitors, and sales underperformance.

And that's helping the company project a 3% gain so far for Q4, compared to 2015. Without the uptick in political revenue, Radio One would be pacing down in the single digits compared to last year.

The company saw a decrease of $1.7 million in its radio segment, blaming the drop on local ad revenue. Total net revenue for the company decreased to $65.3 million from $69.3 million in the third quarter. That drop was partially offset by an increase in political advertising revenue. Entravision owns and operates 49 primarily Spanish-language radio stations and also has 54 television stations.