News

(By Matty Staudt) If you recently lost your job, you may be hoping you can create a podcast that will make you a decent living. That sounds great, but I want to caution you to really do your homework first.

(By Gary Berkowitz) Format changes are nothing new to radio. But when three stations all change format in one market, on one day, now that’s news!

Like every business and industry, radio took a hit to the gut that decimated advertising revenue, strained resources, shut down studios, and had staff scrambling to set up remote office locations in 2020. Everyone was impacted, but to leaders fell the greatest responsibility any had ever faced, making decisions they never before had to make.

Townsquare Media has hired Mason Benitez to run the company's Victoria Texas 4-station cluster. Benitez joins Townsquare from Cumulus where he oversaw sales in Beaumont, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana. He also worked for CBS Radio in Houston.

Streaming company ​TuneIn has hired Richard Stern as its new CEO. Stern replaces Juliette Morris who was promoted to CEO, from CMO, in July of 2019. Before joining TuneIn Stern led Audible’s global product and design organizations.

Before COVID-19 blanketed the United States, bringing most gatherings to an end, radio remotes were a vital tool in the arsenal of a radio sales rep. Today, as Cumulus Media's Pierre Bouvard points out in his latest blog, stations must get creative with virtual events to fill the remote void.

Westwood One will offer four distinct holiday specials designed for Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary formats. Stations can air one of the Christmas specials or all four on Saturdays or Sundays from November 28th through December 20th.

The Bud and Broadway Show is set to debut on KXXY 96.1 FM in Oklahoma City on December 1. SuiteRadio syndicates the show that is now heard in eight states.

Radioplayer is launching in three new countries. The new partnerships with broadcasters in France, Sweden and the Netherlands bring the total number of Radioplayer countries to 14.

106.9 The Fox (WAFX) and FM99 (WNOR) raised money and brought in food donations to create more than a million meals for those in need in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. The food drive this past weekend will benefit the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and Eastern Shore, and the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank.