News

(By Bob McCurdy) Pierre Chandon, a L'Oréal Professor of Marketing, Innovation and Creativity at INSEAD, a respected global business school, recently wrote an article titled, “The First Bite is the Sweetest.” In it he summarized the results from several cuisine-focused studies he’d undertaken in the U.S. and France.

Bubba John Stevens (John Laboranti) who was on the air in Philadelphia for over 45 years has died. Stevens worked for WMGK and WMMR, retiring from WMGK in November of 2013. He was 66 when he passed and battling cancer.

97.1 The Ticket PD Jimmy Powers says Terry Foster, co-host of “Valenti and Foster,” is returning to the show today. Jeff Riger has been filling in for Foster on the Detroit sports station after it was reported a few months back Foster had a stroke.

The Palm Beaches have a new radio station: True Oldies 93.5. The JVC Broadcasting station hit the air Monday and is serving up a healthy diet of hits from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. And the launch has those hits churning out in one, big, commercial-free block.

Top 40 is out and "The Spot" is in for CBS Radio in Houston, as the station is relaunched as an Adult Hits format. The format will include a variety of hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, and the station says it's "designed for listeners who need a break from the everyday stresses of life, and features artists including Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Madonna, U2, Prince, and others."

Kathy Voltmer has worked in radio in Chicago since 1986, and at Hubbard's WDRV-FM The Drive for the last 15 years. She posted on Facebook that Friday was her last day at the station. Amidst the well over 200 comments on her Facebook page, Hubbard President and COO Drew Horowitz wrote...

Redrock Broadcasting’s MIX 103.1, KOOL 98.9, and COYOTE 102.3 held a 12-hour radiothon on December 19, and their listeners stepped up big time. The St. George, Utah, stations broadcast to benefit the Learning Center for Children and Families, which specializes in providing therapies and skill development for children with developmental challenges. 

The Satelite company will pay tribute to George Michael with a limited-run channel called "Faith" which will feature music from the artist's earliest recordings with Wham!, his collaborations with Elton John, Aretha Franklin and Queen, plus his solo career starting with his 1987 album, Faith. The channel launches January 4 and will air through January 10 on channel 13.

Paducah, Kentucky personality Ed Taylor was hit and killed by a car this week. He was 76 and had been on the air in the area for over 60 years.

The City of Leominster, MA, is firing up its own community radio station in a few weeks. And a big reason for that, according to Mayor Dean Mazzarella, “When we lost cable and we lost everything in the big storms that we had, the two big ones, radio was oftentimes the only thing that’s left."