News

Total Traffic & Weather Network has hired broadcasting and traffic veteran Jim Battagliese as Regional Director of Operations for the New York market. Battagliese joins TTWN from Hubbard Radio’s WTOP in Washington, DC where he served as Director of Traffic and Weather Operations since 2010.

CBS Radio Las Vegas and The Chet Buchanan Show have a new multi-year deal that will keep the morning show waking up Vegas on 98.5 KLUC. The show has been heard on 98.5 KLUC since its debut in 1999. In conjunction with the new deal, the show will also be rebranded from Chet Buchanan & the Morning Zoo to The Chet Buchanan Show.

Those are words we haven't heard up until now, from Cumulus CEO Mary Berner and CFO John Abbot, but they are hardly unexpected, as the company negotiates with lenders to try pull the company out from under $2 Billion of debt.

The decline in Q3 revenue is being blamed on a soft advertising environment and political comps. Over 70% of Cumulus' revenue comes from its radio stations which saw revenue drop from $206.1 million in Q3 2016 to $202.9 million in Q3 this year. Excluding political, radio was down 1.2%. Cumulus took in $9 million of political advertising in 2016.

CMA Major Market “Station of the Year” 2017 Award Winners New Country 92.3 (WIL, St. Louis), welcomes Stacey and Jonah to the Afternoon Drive timeslot, beginning January 2018. The pair have been hosting mornings on KHTH “Hot 101.7” in Santa Rosa, CA for the past six years.

As expected, The FCC has issued its order approving Entercom's deal to merge with CBS Radio. It has done so with conditions that Entercom divest stations, which the company is already in the process of doing. Entercom has a special shareholder meeting planned for Wednesday to seal this deal.

In a press release following the Entercom/CBS merger approval by The FCC, Entercom CEO David Field says the company is energized and excited by the announcement. "The Commission’s approval marks a significant milestone on our path toward completing the transformational combination of Entercom and CBS Radio."

Rich Berra, nationally syndicated host of The Johnjay & Rich Show, is releasing The Tale of Christmas Steve, a holiday children’s book. The 32-page hardcover book is available for purchase at www.ChristmasSteve.org and on Amazon. Proceeds benefit the Johnjay and Rich Christmas Wish program.

As part of our big event Wednesday, Shark Tank star Daymond John will be sitting down for an exclusive interview with his mentor and marketing expert, Jay Abraham. In addition to being a Shark, John is a branding superstar. John will speak about his successes in small business, entrepreneurship, branding, and more.

After a mountain of criticism about what he said about the death of former pitching great Roy Halladay, WBZ-FM Boston host Mike Felger has quickly apologized. One of the things that got Felger in hot water was saying Halladay got what he deserved. Halladay was killed in a plane crash off the coast of Florida this week leaving behind a wife and two kids. Check out the Felger apology.