News

In the back-and-forth battle between Bubba The Love Sponge and Nielsen, Bubba has filed a new counter-claim against the ratings firm over allegations he tampered with ratings. Bubba claims Cox demanded Nielsen pressure Beasley to fire in Tampa. And if Nielsen did not implement the "death penalty" sanction, Cox threatened to file a lawsuit against Nielsen, seek an MRC audit and Congressional inquiry into Nielsen’s PPM data collection adequacy.

Yesterday we reported that Entercom has hired Richard Schmaeling to replace CFO Steve Fisher on April 18. Today we know what the company will pay Schmaeling. His base salary will be $525,000 through April 30, 2018. Schmaeling will receive a monthly car allowance, reimbursement for moving expenses, and lodging of up to six months.

At a meeting of the Cumulus Board on Monday Cumulus founder Lew Dickey, who was Vice Chairman of the Board, resigned. The reason given was "to pursue other professional interests." In their 2011 agreement the Dickey family is entitled to designate one member of the Cumulus Board. Lew informed the Board that he was designating his brother John Dickey to replace him.

This week, J. Anthony Brown announced that as of April 17 he'll be a permanent member of the Steve Harvey Morning Show. Harvey is syndicated by Premiere, which did not confirm what Brown announced. Brown was part of the Tom Joyner Morning Show for 20 years until November 2016 when it was announced he would no longer be part of the show. In January of 2016, Brown walked off the Joyner show and said he was quitting.

Mark Wildman has been promoted to EVP for Strategic Partnerships at Westwood One. Wildman will now lead the company’s new business development initiatives for both the network and spot sales. Wildman joined Westwood last October from William Morris where he was responsible for selling media, sponsorship, and content programs.

It didn't take long to find out where Doug Gottlieb was headed after leaving the CBS Radio Sports Network. On Wednesday, Fox Sports Radio announced Gottlieb would be taking over the afternoon drive slot as of April 24. He replaces the Jay Mohr Show which ended back in January.

J.J. Ryan is headed to Oklahoma City from his current base of Sacramento to take up the role of PD for Hits station KJ103, and 96.1 KXY Country. Prior to Sacramento, Ryan also had stops in Tulsa and Fayettville.

Richard Schmaeling will become the new CFO for Entercom on April 18. Schmaeling will succeed Steve Fisher, who is stepping down on April 30, after 18 years with the company.

Next Wednesday, at the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Entravision's Angie Balderas will host a panel called "Old School/New School: Bridging the Gap between Gen X Managers and Millennial Sellers." These two groups have different ways of doing things, they are motivated differently, and they have very different ideas about marketing and selling radio. Next Wednesday, it will all be on the table for managers to hear and learn.

Albany, Georgia's first-ever radio station, WGPC-AM, is gone for good. The station went dark on January 2 after a big storm came through town twisting its tower to pieces and depositing three trees in the studio. WALB-TV reports that Cumulus has surrendered the license back to the FCC. WGPC signed on in 1933, and was Albany's only radio station until 1941.