News

A new company has joined the ranks of radio ownership. JAM Media Solutions, lead by Jonathan Mason, is purchasing six radio stations in Outer Banks, North Carolina, and Muscatine, Iowa. JAM Media Solutions initially began as a media planning and buying agency and has now ventured outside of its media-buying roots into radio broadcast ownership. Here are the details.

Audrey Lee has joined 98.5 KLUC (KLUC-FM) in Las Vegas as midday host, effective July 2. Music Director and on-air host Yung Jon Que will host 98.5 KLUC’s afternoon drive from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. PT, effective immediately.

(By Ryan Wrecker) I’m not sold on the idea that we should only be held accountable to our own standards. I think if we could see the number of podcast downloads for the guys across the street, it would bring out the competitive nature in programmers and personalities — and drive us to do better. It would even help us gauge where we stand as an industry.

Radio imaging and voiceover company Benztown is lending a helping hand to the students of Dan Vallie's National Radio Talent Institute. In addition to providing financial support as a national sponsor, Benztown will provide every student with a USB drive loaded with Benztown audio production components to give them tools to help launch their careers.

Jazz public radio station WBGO/Newark, NJ, has received two national awards from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated. PRNDI recognizes the best of local public radio news in a wide array of categories, and has recognized WBGO every year for the past 20 years, awarding the station 86 times since 1998.

Bay Area stations KOIT-FM (96.5 KOIT) and KUFX-FM (98.5 KFOX) have welcomed Karina Farias to the fold as Music Director. Farias joins the Bonneville cluster from Bryan Broadcasting in College Station, Texas

Pittman and Bressler say the companies that disagree with the NAB position have argued for more strategic and targeted reform. "Leave the FM subcaps intact and eliminate only the AM subcaps, allowing for more ownership of AM stations." Pittman and Bressler told their team they support that position.

The Pittman/Bressler memo ends with a note to iHeartMedia presidents about the need to be on the lookout for stations the company might buy if more deregulation passes. Even though the company opposes deregulation, Pittman and Bressler believe that when the company fixes its balance sheet, which it's in the process of doing, it will be "the biggest buyer of additional stations."

The radio industry is divided when it comes to more deregulation. That's the opinion of iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman and CFO Richard Bressler who sent out a company note Monday detailing why the company opposes the NAB's plan to push the FCC for more deregulation. That opinion is not shared by the NAB.

Veteran sports radio executive Eric Spitz is leaving CBS Sports Radio and joining SiriusXM as VP of Sports Programming. Spitz will be involved in the daily operation of SiriusXM’s sports channels, including the hiring of talent, programming development and live sports scheduling.