News

Paul Agase has been named Director of Music Sales, and John Cravens has been named Director of News and Sports Sales.

Eddie Fritts has been announced as the recipient of the 2016 Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award. The award will be presented at the Broadcasters Foundation of America annual breakfast at 7 a.m., Wednesday, April 20, in the Brahms Room of the Encore Hotel during the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) Show in Las Vegas.

This has to be considered good news for the industry, especially in light of the strong Q4 Entercom reported and with a very competitive political battle underway for President. As always, the critics will point to iHeart's $20 billion in debt, and that's obviously fair, but an up quarter is an up quarter. iHeartMedia CFO Richard Bressler said he is very excited about the progress the company made in 2015.

Not only did COO Richard Bressler and Senior VP and Treasurer Brian Coleman sound confident iHeart would be able to tackle its debt issue, CRT Capital Group analyst Lance Vitanza did as well. Vitanza, who covers the company, told the San Antonio Express-News that iHeart's numbers showed real strength. "They were much better than I expected. I was pleased with the progress from the operating and liquidity standpoint.” Vitanza said the company should not have trouble meeting its debt obligations.

It hasn't changed much in a year. At the end of 2014, the company had $20.3 billion in debt, and at the end of 2015 that number was $20.87 billion. iHeart did have over $770 million cash on hand at the end of 2015, which is more than the $457 million it had at the end of 2014. The company lost $93.2 million in Q4, compared to $68 million in Q4 of 2014. For the year, iHeart lost $754.6 million in 2015 compared to $793 million in 2014.

Northwestern Athletics and WGN Radio AM-720 announced Friday that they have agreed on a four-year broadcast rights-holder extension. The agreement will keep Wildcats football and men’s basketball on the station through the conclusion of the 2019-20 campaign.

Renee Castle is the new nighttime personality at Greater Media's Country station, WKLB-FM in Boston. Castle most recently worked at NASH-FM in Nashville and has been heard across America on the Westwood One Radio Network. Prior to that Castle worked at MIX 92.9 in Nashville.

iHeartMedia Louisville announced that two new local shows will join the lineup at Cards Radio 790 KRD. Howie Lindsey (pictured) will host a new morning sports talk show from 7-10 a.m. weekdays. Also joining the Cards Radio 790 KRD lineup is Nick Coffey. Coffey will host a new local sports talk show from noon to 3 p.m.

iHeartMedia Louisville announced Wednesday that Mary Walter will become a new weekday talk show host on NewsRadio 840 WHAS, effective February 29, 2016. The show will broadcast weekdays from 6-8 p.m.

Beasley Media Group, Inc. announced that Paige Grady has been named the company’s President’s Club Overall Winner for the calendar year 2015. This is the first time that Ms. Grady, Senior Account Manager for Beasley’s Tampa cluster, has earned this prestigious award.