News

Michael Garcia, VP/Programming and Production for Dos Costas Communications in Barstow, CA, has a group of radio stations that includes a Top 40 FM, an "all news" AM, and a regional Mexican station branded as "El Portal."

Word on when the Bubba The Love Sponge ratings tampering trial would start has been a mystery over the past week. It was originally scheduled to begin April 2 but was postponed. The new start date is June 18.

Houston will program and host the midday shift for iHeart's BIG 95.5 in Chicago. Prior to joining BIG 95.5, Houston, a 25-year radio vet, was PD for iHeart's WBWL/Boston and WTBU/Portsmouth. He was also Country Format Captain for the Boston region and has worked in Atlanta and Baltimore. Houston replaces Steve Stewart.

Jayde Donovan is the co-host of Todd & Jayde in the Morning on New York’s 95.5 WPLJ and also serves as a syndicated red carpet host for Westwood One’s entertainment events. Jayde launches April 14 on more than 50 radio stations, including WPLJ-FM/NY, KLIF-FM/Dallas, KRBE-FM/Houston, and WWWQ-FM/Atlanta. The 3-hour show will air every Saturday.

John Richards has been named Country Program Director for WQIK/Jacksonville, with additional programming responsibilities in Tallahassee, FL, at WTNT, and WPAP/Panama City Beach, FL. Richards joins the North Florida markets from Corpus Christi, TX, and Harlingen-Brownsville-McAllen, TX.

FOX News Radio will debut Benson and Harf on Monday, May 7, announced President of News Jay Wallace. Co-hosted by FOX News Channel contributor Guy Benson and analyst Marie Harf, the program will air weekdays, 6 - 8 p.m. ET.

At the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Tuesday, Chairman Ajit Pai updated broadcasters on the FCC's continued crackdown on unlicensed radio stations. Pai promised he would keep the pressure on pirate operators and his FCC certainly has. 

The National Association of Broadcasters announced the winners of the 2018 Crystal Radio Awards, Tuesday in Las Vegas. The NAB Crystal Radio Awards recognize stations for their outstanding year-round commitment to community service. These 10 winners were chosen from 50 finalists.

After a review of U.S. copyright law, the House Judiciary Committee has introduced the Music Modernization Act. The Act will combine previously introduced legislation and reform music licensing laws. The goal is to reward creativity and encourage innovation in the digital age. This new legislation should have very little impact on radio. Here are its key provisions...

Once upon a time there was a music metadata company known for providing song names and album titles to a wide variety of streaming audio and on-demand listening platforms, including iTunes. The keeper of this giant database is Gracenote, a company recently acquired by Nielsen.