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(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."

Philips New Chief Revenue Officer for CBS Radio Bob Philips assumes this newly created leadership position, effective immediately. Philips will be responsible for leading all aspects of revenue generation for the company at the corporate, regional, and local levels. He will be based in New York and report to CBS RADIO’s President, Andre Fernandez.

Rob Johnson is the new midday host on WOCQ (OC104). Johnson makes the move to Delmarva, MD, after spending seven years doing afternoon drive on WJKS/KISS 101.7 in Philadelphia. He began his career in radio in WQBT in Savannah, GA.

The Denver Post reports that Paul MacGregor, who spent 30 years on Denver radio as "Mr Fix-It" on KOA and other stations, died on November 4 at age 75. His show, giving advice to listeners on home repair and maintenance, was at one time heard on more than 75 stations nationwide.

Nielsen says the problem took place between November 3 and November 9 and it's being blamed on the company moving to a new audio data collection site. Eight percent of the installed PPMs across the 48 PPM markets lost connectivity and became inactive and this will affect the December PPM monthly survey. Nielsen says it has contacted the homes affected and panelists have been sent new PPMs. Only 49% of the replacement meters are back online so far. Nielsen expects the balance to come online in the next several days. Here is the statement Nielsen sent out to customers...

You may recognize the man in the picture, holding the issue of Radio Ink magazine that he is also featured in. The President-elect attended one of Radio Ink's 40 Most Powerful People in Radio receptions at a previous Forecast in New York City.

The Commission slaps Vasco Oburoni with the hefty fine after repeated warnings about operating the pirate station at 102.3 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The complaint to the FCC started when Beasley's Country station WKLB-FM at 102.5 was being interfered with back in June 2015. Agents found an FM antenna mounted on the roof of Christian Praise International’s church building in Worcester.