News

Rock radio show In the Studio with Redbeard: The Stories Behind History’s Greatest Rock Bands is celebrating its 30th year of national radio syndication. The show launched the broadcast week of June 27, 1988 with rock legends Crosby, Stills & Nash as inaugural guests.

(By Deborah Parenti) Over the past several months, broadcasters have debated and discussed, some on our pages, what form a proposal to the FCC regarding license caps should take and the suggested relief for broadcasters it should strive to provide. The result of some of their discussions is a proposal that the NAB has sent to the FCC for consideration. Some believe this proposal could open a window of fresh, added opportunity and relief from radio owners.

The Mark Levin Show has joined the lineup on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT (WPHT-AM) in Philadelphia. The show will air weeknights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. It has been one of the top-rated shows on talk radio.

The National Sports Media Association has named Kevin Harlan Sportscaster of the Year. Harlan, who is the play-by-play announcer for Westwood One’s Monday Night Football, received the award at the 59th NSMA Awards Banquet in Winston-Salem, NC, on June 25.

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