News

The City of Royal Oak, Michigan and the Royal Oak School Board have approved the renaming of a section of Willis Ave in Royal Oak to Glenn Frey Drive to honor Frey, who grew up in that city. Greater Media's WCSX-FM found a stretch of Willis Ave that can be renamed Glenn Frey Drive. On Thursday, the vote was passed.

Red Zebra Broadcasting announced Thursday that it has hired Chris Johnson as Program Director for ESPN 980. Johnson will start his position on Monday, Feb. 15. Johnson brings nearly three decades of broadcast experience to ESPN 980.

Those are the words of Entercom CEO David Field as he looks out at the lay of the land for 2016 and states "our business is off to a great start." And, perhaps it's the start of the revenue tide turning for radio as Field was as optimistic as a public radio company CEO has sounded in quite some time. Field ticked off the reasons why things are going well at Entercom

Mark Levin will continue his talk show with Westwood One through 2025. Levin said, “I could not be more pleased to extend my radio partnership with Cumulus/Westwood One -- for the next nine years -- an unprecedented long-term relationship in the broadcasting industry."

Sean Baligian, Tom Mazawey, and Marc Fellhauer will move from their noon to 3 p.m. slot to mornings on the Greater Media Detroit sports station, replacing ESPN's Mike & Mike. The new lineup on the station following mornings is: 10 a.m.-2p.m. Ryan & Rico and 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Matt Dery & Drew Sharp.

PowerTalk 96.7 and AM 1400 (KALZ-FM and KRZR-AM) has named Trevor Carey new afternoon drive host. Carey will host an expanded fourth hour that will also air on iHeartMedia's PowerTalk stations in Modesto and Stockton from 6-7 p.m. PT. Carey had previously been hosting a one-hour evening program on PowerTalk since December 2015.

When was the last time you took that simple step of walking into the studio to tell your on-air talent he or she was doing an excellent job serving the local community? It's all about building trust between management and talent that makes that relationship thrive in radio.

In case you were unaware, FOMO stands for the Fear Of Missing Out? And it was part of the Edison Research presentation at CRS this week. FOMO is radio's big advantage over the competition according to Edison, and with smartphone use increasing and more competition in the automobile for ear time, making sure your radio station creates that Fear of Missing Out with listeners is key. Edison's Larry Rosin says, "FOMO protects you from the competition."

Sonos announced on Wednesday that Apple Music is now available on Sonos systems worldwide. Users now have access to Apple Music features like For You, New, Radio, and My Music, and will also be able to stream the entire Apple Music catalog through Sonos smart speakers.

Robert Wallace has been named the new GSM for Curtis Media Group's WKIX 102.9 FM, KIX 1029, and WPTK 850 AM/104.7 FM in Raleigh. Wallace brings more than 20 years of Raleigh radio experience to the post, most recently serving as GSM for WRAL-FM in Raleigh. He starts in his new roles on February 15.