News

KDEC Station Manager and Morning Show Host Jeni Grouws (left of Erica Farber) has been awarded the 2017 MIW Rising Star. Back in 2016, the Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio Group announced an alliance with Marketron to establish the “MIW Rising Star Award. KDEC is owned by Decorah Broadcasting in Decorah, IA.

Entercom Norfolk announced that WNVZ-FM PD Natalia Soniak will be taking on PD duties for 94.9 The Point (WPTE-FM). Soniak replaces Barry McKay who's job was eliminated. McKay continues to voicetrack 98.9 The Buzz in Rochester NY and Magic 98.9 in Greenville, SC. McKay is also still the voice for Entercom's news outlet KMBZ in KC.

The company has hired Lauren Boyle (left) to lead the Dallas office as VP/D.O.S. And Lauren Welch is promoted to AE, also in Dallas. Boyle has worked at Azteca America TV, ESPN Deportes, Cultura (Dieste), and McCann Erickson. Welch moves into her new role following two years as a Sales Support Coordinator. Prior to that, she was a Sales Assistant at Katz.

iHeartMedia Charlotte has hired Chuck “DZL” Thompson as PD and afternoon host at Alt. Rocker 106.5 The END. DZL most recently served as Program Director and Midday Host for XL102 in Richmond. It's a trip back to The END for Thompson. He previously served 8 years as APD and Music Director at the station.

That's over 60 million American homes according to the ratings firm. Nielsen Audio SVP Bruce Supovitz says, "Advertisers are eager to explore the world of podcasting but they don’t really know much about the podcast audience. That is all about to change.

Todd Stach has been named Network PD at WAY Media. Stach is a Christian music radio industry veteran, most recently serving as Chief Content Officer/Director of Programming at The River in Columbus, OH for the past 11 ½ years. WAY-FM and WAY Media Network are heard on FM signals in 26 states.

Our friends at Media Monitors tell us that Laurie Logan has been hired as its new West Coast Sales Executive. Logan, who had been Affiliate Sales Manager at United Stations Radio Networks, will be in charge of managing and increasing Media Monitors client presence on the West Coast. Prior to working at USRN Logan worked for KFI-AM, Rockline and Premiere.

It's the 4th year for the conference all about Podcasting and this year it looks like radio will be represented very well. Over three days in Anaheim, 150 speakers from the best podcasts and the most successful podcast networks and companies will take part in over 80 different sessions. Get more details on "The Movement" HERE

JVC's Orlando Rock station has signed veteran rocker Mick Dolan. The time of his air-shift has not been announced. Dolan spent years at Orlando’s WDIZ, then WJRR and Smooth Jazz outlet WLOQ. He joins Bud 94.1 from Salem Media Group where he was doing news and traffic reports.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has released the organization’s first-ever buyer’s guide for podcast advertising, which provides insights into audience demographics, listener behaviors, creative treatments, ad formats, delivery and targeting, and ad effectiveness measurement. Recent IAB research conducted by PwC forecasts that podcast advertising revenues will top $220 million in 2017, an 85 percent leap from $119 million in 2016.