News

Magic 94.9 (WWRM/Tampa) held their 18th Annual Magic Toy Drive with the Marines, collecting donations for Toys for Tots, Friday, December 8, 5 a.m.–7 p.m. at the Wal Mart Super Center in Oldsmar. Danielle, from Magic Mornings, did a live broadcast for 14 hours as four U-Haul trucks were filled with new, unwrapped toys for local kids.

iHeartMedia’s ALT 107.3, “Wichita’s Alternative Rock,” announced today the debut of The Woody Show, effective immediately. The top-rated morning show will broadcast Monday through Saturday from 6-10 a.m. CT.

It will come as no surprise that Radio Ink has chosen Entercom CEO David Field as the 2017 Radio Executive of The Year. Field orchestrated one of the most successful radio mergers of all time in 2017, which helped create one of the industry's largest companies and may also have put the entire radio industry in a position to change how it's perceived by big advertisers.

TechCrunch is reporting that Apple may announce as early as today that it is acquiring Shazam, the app that identifies songs by listening to an audio clip. TechCrunch reports it has a source that says the price tag for Shazam could be as high as $400 million. Shazam launched way back in 1999.

WABC New York host Rita Cosby was in attendance at The White House Media Christmas Party last week. Following his remarks President Trump spotted Cosby and shared a few private words. The two have known each other for quite some time.

Beasley Media Group took over the Park Central Hotel in midtown Manhattan near Times Square Thursday, December 7th to host the company’s big client Holiday Soiree! The evening included special performances by SEAL and Brothers Osborne. (L- R Bruce Beasley, SEAL, Caroline Beasley and Brian Beasley)

It's obvious a deal was made between Cumulus and Nielsen to pay the millions of dollars the company owes the ratings firm in order for this new deal to be struck. It was not unexpected due to the importance of ratings in the markets Cumulus operates. When Cumulus filed for Chapter 11 it was announced the company owed Nielsen over $6 million.

WBUR in Boston has placed its most popular host, Tom Ashbrook, on leave after receiving allegations against him. His syndicated program “On Point,” airs on 300 public radio stations across the country. Here's the short statement the station released.

(By Bob McCurdy) Last week I had the opportunity to address an agency at their annual gathering. The theme of their meeting was the “pursuit of excellence.” What follows are some of the talking points that I jotted down to discuss during my session, many of which resulted in some good discussion.

(By Laurie Kahn) Change is hard to handle. No one likes to think they need to change or think about what business practices are needed to change for higher success. But, let’s face it, change is an ever-evolving issue and sometimes it’s inevitable.