Headlines

The Telos Alliance - parent company of 25-Seven, makers of the Voltair Watermark Monitor and Processor - has announced the release of Voltair Data Export Licenses. The company says this new feature will help broadcasters get a comprehensive minute-by-minute understanding of exactly which programming is not encoding well in PPM.

Media Services Group tells Radio Ink that High Plains Radio Network in Plainview, Texas, is buying three stations in Altus, Oklahoma -- KEYB-FM, KJOK-FM, and KKRE-FM -- from Altus FM, owned by Paul and Scott Wilmes, for $750,000.

The religion-focused broadcaster picks up Bob Carlson's Retirement Watch newsletter and accompanying website retirementWatch.com. Written by Bob Carlson, Retirement Watch offers independent research and advice about retirement planning. Carlson is also the author of Invest Like a Fox…Not Like a Hedgehog and The New Rules of Retirement.

(by Bob McCurdy) Simon and Garfunkel were on to something when they wrote The Sound of Silence. Maybe we can learn something from them and their #1 hit. A couple of seconds of “silence” strategically placed within a Radio commercial could greatly enhance the effectiveness of the remaining 27 seconds.

Consultant Richard Harker was not impressed with Nielsen's last press barrage touting the new and improved enhanced CBET. Harker has been very critical of PPM, especially since Telos' Voltair hit the market. And, in his latest blog, he continues to apply the pressure on the ratings firm. He called Nielsen’s press release "pure Orwellian doublespeak essentially bragging about improvements to a technology that Nielsen and before that Arbitron claimed was virtually perfect. Then Voltair showed that it wasn’t true." Read the new Harker blog HERE...

Radio host Todd Schnitt may want to consider staying out of court. After losing his defamation lawsuit to Bubba The Love Sponge, Schnitt has lost his case against his own attorneys.

And they are certainly far less contentious than the current presidential election. Here are the radio board members that will begin their time serving in June and continue for two years.

CBS Radio's WBBM in Chicago reports that 60-year old Dave Mitchell died after a crash Sunday morning in Merrillville, Indiana. Mitchell has been a member of the WBBM team since 1992, working as a traffic reporter at the Sears Skydeck during both drivetimes, as a reporter/anchor, and even a stint as weekend sports reporter. He also contributed to Newsradio’s coverage of the Chicago Air and Water Show every year. Mitchell leaves behind a wife and four children.

(Loyd Ford) My 15-year-old complains all the time if a movie or TV show comes on and doesn’t immediately begin. In other words, he doesn’t want to see the credits, hear a theme song, or see some visuals. He wants the baby. Right away.