News

The Portland station (KWEE) is bringing in Promotion Director StarChile, On-Air Talent Sara G., and Producer/Mixer DJ Heat. StarChile is a prominent figure on the Portland Hip Hop scene and joins KWEE after a stint with KXJM. Sarah Gilmore is a master socialite of the Portland scene and was Miss Black Oregon 2015. DJ Heat has spent the last six years with WBLK.

Back in September, a judge ruled that fractional licensing is permitted under BMI's anti-trust consent decree. The Department of Justice, which has taken the position that the consent decrees for both BMI and ASCAP require 100 percent licensing, has appealed that Second Circuit decision.

(By Radio Ink Chairman Eric Rhoads) Today, and over the following days, you, the sellers of radio, will be faced with some difficult conditions. No matter who won the election, 50 percent of your customers were going to be depressed and upset, and 50 percent were going to be elated.

BMI President and CEO Mike O'Neill said in a statement he's "not surprised" that the Department of Justice has filed a notice of appeal against a judge's ruling that BMI has the right to engage in fractional licensing of works. He said, "It is unfortunate that the DOJ continues to fight for an interpretation of BMI's consent decree that is at odds with hundreds of thousands of songwriters and composers, the country's two largest performing rights organizations," and more.

Entravision has announced that it will host its third annual "Noche de Locura con Erazno y La Chokolata" on Tuesday, November 15, 2016. The event will take place at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will honor Las Vegas declaring November 23 as the official Erazno y La Chokolata Day, and celebrate the show's 13th anniversary.

If, as the leaks suggest, radio’s own Laura Ingraham is appointed to the role of press secretary once Donald Trump assumes the presidency, it will be noteworthy for radio. The conservative talk show host would be only the third woman to hold the position – which dates back to 1929 – and the first since Dana Perino (2007-2009).

(By Ron Robinson) Pierre Berton, a Canadian historian, author, and national broadcasting icon, wrote a book in the mid-60s, The Comfortable Pew. It began as a report commissioned by the Anglican Church of Canada. As a book, however, it was a blistering critique of the Anglican Church that rent the fabric off the status quo while accusing the organization of a corrupting form of relativism.

The latest to join the holiday hit parade: iHeartRadio's KLOU/St. Louis has debuted its lineup of "around-the-clock festive music" featuring both standards and contemporary holiday tunes.

In a blog post, Pandora Chief Revenue Officer John Trimble announced a new network strategy in partnership with popular streaming outlets TuneIn and AccuRadio. Trimble writes, "Harmonic Audio Network will provide advertisers with the scale and simplicity they're used to, plus the quality they need to plan more effective network buys. We are excited to take this important first step to revolutionize network audio, and look forward to partnering with more premium publishers in the future."

The new "home of Hip Hop N' R&B" will be heard on 92.3 and on 96.7, starting off with 10,000 commercial-free songs in a row from artists like Drake, Usher, Jay-Z, and Beyonce. Starting next month, The Breakfast Club and Big Boy's Neighborhood will join the lineup. Brian Michel, iHeartMedia SVP of programming for the Atlanta region, said, "We are the A's new home for hip hop and R&B. To have the station bookended by hip hop's crown jewels, The Breakfast Club in the morning and Big Boy's Neighborhood in the evening, makes for an amazing lineup for our listeners."