News

(By John Garziglia) In the Radio Ink 20th-anniversary issue, the article “10 Legal Issues to Watch for in the Next 10 Years” speculated on the challenges radio might face through 2022. This article, five years later for Radio Ink’s 25th anniversary, tries to own up to the failures and misplaced clairvoyance of previous predictions, and naively attempts to again forecast the next 10 years.

The first big shoe has fallen. Cumulus has taken a serious step to try to restructure its $2 billion in debt by seeking protection in bankruptcy court. Since former CEO Lew Dickey was pushed out over two years ago, company executives have made it clear the debt was a major issue and they needed to get it under control. It's the first step to what may be a long process, because it appears not all lenders are on board. Here's what they've done.

(By Laurie Kahn) With the many changes radio has seen over the last 25 years, one thing has remained constant: To be successful, you need to have the right people in place. While it may be getting more challenging to find, hire, engage, and retain the superstars you need, it is still doable with the right tools.

As has been widely reported for the past few weeks, ESPN has let go 150 employees. The sports network has been making cuts to try to keep up with declining revenue due to lost subscribers. It doesn't appear any cuts were made on the radio side. ESPN President John Skipper said the cuts were made in studio production, digital content, and technology.

ASCAP has revealed its top holiday songs for 2017. According to an ASCAP analysis of streaming and terrestrial radio data from Aug. 7, 2017 to Nov. 19, 2017, 1994’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” written by Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey, is the number one song of this holiday season. Here's a list of ASCAP's top 25 holiday songs from 2017.

That's what Standard Media Index is reporting. We'll certainly see how that month plays out when companies report earnings in early 2018. At the end of Q3 most companies in radio reported limited visibility, certainly nothing like this type of increase.

The world of digital continues to edge in on radio's space. iHeartMedia has really taken advantage of the company's scale in recent years by teaming with artists, launching their new songs, and playing the daylights out of them, sometimes for an entire day at the top of every hour. Now, it's Jeff Bezos' team taking advantage of Amazon's scale, using Alexa to do the same for U2.

Cameron Maxwell adds Regional VP duties for Jeff Warshaw's company. The CEO said, “Cam has been a key part of our success in Billings, handling the day-to-day operations. We're thrilled to promote him into this new role."

David Oxenford breaks down exactly who will be paying more, and how much, perfectly in his latest blog. When the CRB set the rates for 2016 through 2020, it included increases based on increases in the Consumer Price Index. There was no increase in 2016, however the CRB has determined there was enough of an increase in the CPI in 2017 to warrant raising the rates in 2018.

Mary Lea Wagner is the new General Sales Manager for Bonneville’s KOIT and KMVQ in San Francisco. Wagner will oversee all sales for the two stations. Most recently, she was GSMfor KSWD-FM in Los Angeles.