News

Brad Polston is the new Market President for iHeartMedia's four station cluster in Indianapolis. Polston most recently served as General Manager for Comcast Spotlight in Indianapolis. He's also held a number of sales management positions in Colorado, Utah and the Baltimore region. Polston replaces Rick Greene.

Shortly after the Azoff lawsuit was filed, the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC), which represents about 10,00 radio stations in music licensing matters, fired off a statement in response. RMLC Executive Director Bill Velez said, "The RMLC will not roll over in the face of the baseless, bullying lawsuit filed yesterday by Global Music Rights." Here's the full statement...

David Honig is the President Emeritus at the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC). Following Wednesday's column written by Broadcast Attorney John Garziglia, Honing sent Radio Ink a rebuttal piece. His point: The MMTC is not asking the FCC to decommission the AM band.

Thom Callahan is the President of the Southern California Broadcasters Association. He's been following the discussion about the AM band, specifically the MMTC's letter to the Trump transition team to create a “Glide Path” for the short-term survival and long-term humane decommissioning of the AM band in a manner that preserves minority ownership.

Back in early November, Cumulus CFO John Abbot said, "We have too much debt." He's been on the job for six months and has said Cumulus' debt problem is what he was spending the majority of his time on. Since she took over as CEO, Mary Berner has also stressed the importance of reducing debt. She's repeatedly pointed out that Cumulus' over-levered capital structure was "real and will continue to limit our turnaround potential.” So here's what Cumulus announced on Wednesday to reduce debt and extend debt maturity...

CNBC has a follow-up to its report that SiriusXM was interested in purchasing the company. CNBC's David Faber reported on Wednesday that Pandora is looking at potential acquirers beyond SiriusXM to give it leverage if SiriusXM does pursues a deal. Faber reported last week that the music streaming service was open to selling itself and was willing to engage with SiriusXM. MORE HERE

Republican Congressman Greg Walden and Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth introduced the bill Wednesday. If approved, it would eliminate the FCC's ban on owning a broadcast radio or television station and a newspaper in the same market. NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith was quick to approve the move...

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai spoke at the Free State Foundation's 10th Anniversary Luncheon this week and did not hold back. Pai has not been a big fan of the current Chairman, Thomas Wheeler, and is being talked about as a possible replacement for Wheeler when he departs the agency, when the Trump administration takes over.

Following the $150,000 purchase of WETN-FM in Wheaton, Illinois, this week, broker George Reed of Media Services Group tells us that Educational Media Foundation is picking up WLFV-FM in Midlothian, VA, and WARV-FM in Petersburg, VA, from Larry Wilson's Alpha Media. EMF will send a check for $2 million to Alpha for the two Virginia FMs. Both stations will flip to the K-Love format.

The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio Group is now taking applications for the 2017 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program. The deadline to apply is Friday, January 6, 2017.