News

According to Nielsen, McDonald's was the biggest advertiser on Urban and Rhythmic Radio in both 2016 and 2017, although spending is off by about $1.5 million. That confirms what Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins has been saying on his quarterly earnings calls. McDonald's spent $12.3 million on Urban radio in 2016 and that dropped to $10.8 million in 2017.

Edison Research will unveil the results of a new study on podcasting in a keynote address July 24 at Podcast Movement in Philadelphia. Edison says the new information will "provide a research-based road map for the podcasting industry to grow audience and increase exposure to podcasts." Radio Ink will also be covering Podcast Movement, with reports posted to our Facebook and Twitter feeds, as well as our daily morning headlines.

In Sacramento, Stacey Kauffman gets the promotion from D.O.S. to Market Manager. And Michael Spacciapolli also moves up from his D.O.S. position, to run the Pittsburgh market. COO Weezie Kramer commented, “Nothing makes me happier than promoting from within. I am thrilled that we offer career paths and can elevate deserving people to new leadership roles.”

Jack Taddeo is leaving the Waterloo-Cedar Falls-Cedar Rapids market this month. Taddeo has been running NRG's four stations in that market since March of 2015. He's also worked in Chicago, Philadelphia, Palm Beach, and several major markets in California. Taddeo says he's accepted a job with another company and it will be announced next month.

Cumulus Media announced on Tuesday that former Detroit Lions offensive tackle Lomas Brown has joined the Lions’ game-day broadcast team on WJR as color analyst. Brown replaces Jim Brandstatter who held the second spot on the football broadcasts for 31 years.

David Cole has been promoted to Programming Assistant of Hot-AC WALK 97.5. Cole currently hosts nights on WALK and also serves as Continuity Director for the CMLI cluster. He has been with the Connoisseur Media for five years, beginning his career as an intern.

Sun Broadcast Group has announced Michelle Grubshtein has joined the company as National Account Manager. Grubshtein has over eight years of experience in the industry, working with Orion Worldwide as a Broadcast Negotiator, and most recently an Account Manager at Shareablee.

Six years ago, Kansas resident Mary Ann Sause was listening to Westwood One’s syndicated host Michael Savage when police showed up to field a complaint that her radio was too loud. She eventually opened the door and began to pray when, she says, police told her she might be taken to jail.

Envision Networks is getting the holiday spirit early and offering programming options to stations that want to beat the holiday rush and relax during the winter blitz. Here are some of the options available...

The Home Depot was radio's biggest advertiser for the 15th week in a row, according to Media Monitors, airing 56,559 commercials on radio stations across the country. GEICO (40,520) and Lowes (35,789) held their 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Pepsi was 4th with 29,493, followed by AutoZone, up from 22nd, rounding out the top five with 28,088 spots.