News

WEBL-FM in North Mississippi is being sold by Mighty Media Group to Tom Freeman. Freeman is the current G M of the station. Upon FCC approval, Freeman and his wife Allison will take over ownership of the station they call "The Rebel." Freeman's career includes management positions at 23 stations in Hattiesburg, Jackson, Tupelo, Oklahoma City, Topeka, and Memphis.

WBEB-FM will soon be under the ownership umbrella of CEO David Field's company after a three-way deal was announced Thursday involving Entercom, Beasley Media, and Jerry Lee Radio. The price-tag for the perennial number-one station in Philadelphia was $57.5 million.

Dan Franks is the co-founder of Podcast Movement, an annual conference -- or the ultimate gathering spot -- for anyone interested in or involved with podcasting and the podcast industry. The event is now in its fifth year and takes place next week in Philadelphia. Back in 2014, a few hundred people attended the show. Next week there will be thousands -- along with nearly 100 vendors that have something to do with podcasting. We spoke to Dan about the growth of his event, the popularity of podcasting and what attendees can expect next week.

Another WFAN headache for Entercom. Former CBS Radio Account Executive Lauren Lockwood has filed a $5 million sexual harassment lawsuit against WFAN host Joe Benigno and CBS Radio. According to The New York Post she claims the WFAN host pressured her into having a threesome with him and his wife and prostitutes on several occasions.

That's according to a new report released by Edison Research and NPR. Edison's Tom Webster presented the data in a webinar, Wednesday afternoon. Of those, 43 million, 54% of the smart-speaker owners are women and 46% are men. How does this latest home gadget impact radio? Let's find out.

In this latest Hispanic Radio Podcast, Adam R. Jacobson has a candid conversation with a Latina consumer of both English-language and Spanish-language radio from Miami. She's an immigrant and has her favorite stations, which she listens to both in the car and at home. What does she like? Listen now and learn!

The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio Group and Nielsen are now accepting applications for the 2nd Annual MIW-Nielsen Music Mentoring Program. The deadline for submitting completed applications is August 10,  2018. The winner will be announced at the 2018 Radio Show in Orlando on September 26, 2018.

Hartford’s 97.9 ESPN has announced the UConn IMG Radio Network Broadcast Team, effective August 1. The team will include Bob Joyce, Executive Producer and voice of UConn Women’s Basketball, and Mike Crispino, five-time Emmy-winning broadcaster, as the play-by-play voice of UConn Football and Men’s Basketball.

Netflix and SiriusXM are teaming up on an all-new, exclusive comedy radio channel. The new channel will include material from the Netflix stand-up catalog. SiriusXM will also broadcast comedy talk shows from Netflix plus additional original programming. This partnership marks the first time Netflix will bring its content to an audio service. The launch is planned for January.

NRG Media in Wausau/Stevens Point, WI has hired Rhonda Guenther as the new General Sales Manager for its four-station cluster in that market. Guenther was most recently with Midwest Family Broadcasting in the Eau Claire market.