News

It’s a piece of proposed legislation that all of radio is keeping an eye on. And now three more members of the House have joined as cosponsors. Adding their support for the Local Radio Freedom Act in the House are Reps. Ted Budd (NC-13), Liz Cheney (WY-AL), and Austin Scott (GA-8). The Act now has 168 cosponsors in the House and 21 in the Senate.

The morning personalities for Lonestar 92.5, Dallas/Fort Worth’s Classic Rock station, have shown their compassion for a Cowboy in need – even if only with their tongues in their cheeks. The guys have offered Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo a job with their show, seeing as how his current position under Jerry Jones is more than a little shaky.

According to Interpublic Group's Magna, while advertising growth around the globe is expected to grow at a pace just under 4% to $511 Billion, digital will continue to boom, as advertisers move money from other budgets, online. Digital is expected to grow double-digits and become the top advertising category this year, passing Television.

This goes back to our March 27 story (Reporter Gets Fired After Lawmaker Complains). 32 year old Jacqui Helbert says she was fired from her job as a reporter at WUTC after a lawmaker complained she did not properly idenitify herself as a reporter. Now she's fighting back.

Two items that will be favorable to non-commercial radio stations will come up at the FCC's next Commission meeting on April 20 and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has written about them in his latest blog. Here are the specifics...

Kaloustian will be General Sales Manager of SportsRadio 94WIP, Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Phillies Radio, and the Eagles Radio Network, it was announced by VP, Director of Sales Dave Scopinich, CBS RADIO Philadelphia. The appointment is effective as of Wednesday, April 5.

This announcement out of the Entercom corporate office. "The Larry and Kathie J show will no longer be airing on KS 107.5 FM in Denver as of Monday, April 3rd. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we could not come to an agreement on terms. Larry and Kathie have been an important part of the station for many years. We wish them both well." A nationwide search is underway to replace them.

Lon Helton, who will be receiving his fourth ACM “National On-Air Personality” award at the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas this weekend, will also be celebrating his silver anniversary with Country Countdown USA. The show launched over the weekend of April 4-5, 1992.

You may recall our story with Galaxy CEO Ed Levine ("An Argument For More Deregulation") where he detailed how his company is no longer fighting for advertising dollars just with the newspaper, other radio stations, and a TV station. He detailed how the unregulated world of digital is gobbling up ad dollars while radio continues to find itself handcuffed by ancient FCC rules. We found another example for you thanks to BIA/Kelsey's Mark Fratrik...

They say they are leveling the playing field. Congressman Jerrold Nadler and Congressman Marsha Blackburn have reintroduced the Fair Play Fair Pay Act, which is a bill, they say, " to create a modern and uniform system of rules governing music licensing for digital and terrestrial radio broadcasts." Translation: you will pay a tax to play music. Here's what the bill says...