News

It was this week in 1996 that a new weekend program debuted for Rock Stations. hardDrive is celebrating its 20th anniversary on the air. The show’s original host and executive producer, Lou Brutus (pictured) and Roxy Myzal are still intact on the production team.

iHeartRadio has teamed up with podcast hosting network Liberated Syndication, also known as Libsyn, which is home to more than 28,000 podcasts, including The Tim Ferriss Show, Welcome to Night Vale, LORE, the Joe Rogan Experience and others.

ESPN Radio 1230 The Fan 2 (WFOM-AM) has signed a multi-year partnership with Kennesaw State Football beginning with the 2016 season. The play-by-play will also stream at atlantasssportsstation.com.

The satellite broadcasters announced Thursday that country superstar Garth Brooks will launch his own SiriusXM channel on September 8. Simply called The Garth Channel, it will be Brooks’ music – along with the artists who influenced him – 24/7, and curated by the man himself.

The hosts from ESPN Radio are ready to rumble, it seems. Beginning July 11, they will be taking over ESPN2’s weekday morning studio debate show First Take. A different duo or trio from ESPN Radio will face off each day and thrash out the day’s top stories. Molly Qerim will be the host as the fireworks go off every morning from 10 til noon. Here’s the schedule for the week...

The Detroit News has the details about a Michigan man who lost his case claming Pandora violated his privacy by publicly sharing his preferences. The state Supreme Court ruled Peter Deacon isn’t legally considered a customer, and Pandora listeners can opt to pay to use a version without commercials but “there is nothing to suggest” that Deacon did.

(By Andy Bloom) Garrison Keillor retired last week, ending a 42 year run of his Prairie Home Companion. A few weeks earlier Consultant and Strategist, Fred Jacobs wrote a blog about Keillor's impending retirement and we traded thoughts about the implications for the industry in the aftermath.

(By Ryan Wrecker) All the way from Melbourne, Australia, Sophie Kneebone (which is a great on-air name) shared some insights into getting noticed on iTunes at the Podcast Movement Conference in Chicago. We have all wondered what it would take to get into the upper echelon of podcasting rankings, but for many reasons radio podcasts have had a very hard time achieving that.

(By Ryan Wrecker) Some speakers at the Podcast Movement in Chicago are focusing on content creation. Others are focused on monetization. Then there’s some that are just podcast enthusiasts learning how to get into the business. Regardless of what stage you’re at, it’s important to engage your listeners, no matter how few or plentiful they are.

(By Ryan Wrecker) Podcasters have a lot of questions. What’s the best way to get a podcast noticed? How do you monetize a podcast? How do you best market a podcast? At this year’s Podcast Movement in Chicago, my main focus is to connect the talented content craters in radio with successful digital audio practices.