Tuesday's Radio and Media News - March 19, 2013

Dial Global Names Paul Caine CEO, Spencer Brown and Ken Williams Exit Dial Global announces today that Paul Caine will become its CEO and a member of the company's Board of Directors, effective April 5. The appointment coincides with the resignation of CEO Spencer Brown and President Ken Williams. According to a news releae, "Caine joins to create a new opportunity for Dial Global to expand the marketing and monetization of audio, starting with the Company’s lineup of premier sports, entertainment and news content that includes the NFL primetime games (including the Playoffs and Super Bowl), the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, CBS Radio News, NBC News Radio, the NBC Sports Radio Network, and the Grammys. As mobile platforms continue to multiply the occasions for listening, the demand for premium digital audio content is growing fast. This represents a substantial, undeveloped opportunity for content providers, distribution partners and marketers alike." Says Caine, "Dial Global will propel the growth of audio as the essential medium for the mobile experience. We have premium content, top-tier distribution, and prestigious live event assets. Our opportunity is to expand these experiences for consumers, broaden our repertoire of content partners, and integrate our on-air, digital and live event offerings to create compelling engagement for advertisers." According to Dial Global's news release: "Caine has the experience, relationships and credibility to expand Dial Global’s capabilities on both the content and marketing fronts. Over the past 23 years at Time Inc., he has led the development of digital formats for some of the world’s most storied media brands. He has also created and sold highly successful multi-platform programs for many blue-chip advertisers such as Procter & Gamble, Toyota and CBS." “The audio medium is ripe for expansion across the ever-increasing number of platforms that consumers use," says Dial Global Chairman Neal Schore. "Paul has the vision and experience to build audio assets into high engagement opportunities that connect marketers with consumers everywhere and on every listening platform." Part of Caine's focus will be on activating live event sponsorships in person as well as online. Within the audio medium, Dial Global maintains exclusive rights to distribute for broadcast such prominent live events as the Grammys, the NFL primetime games (including the Playoffs and Super Bowl), and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. "This is the perfect opportunity to build on the work I've done for the last 23 years with some of the most beloved media brands," says Caine, who ran Time Inc.'s Style & Entertainment Group before becoming Chief Revenue Officer and Group President of the company's Advertising Group. Caine's appointment coincides with the resignation of Dial Global’s existing CEO Spencer Brown and President Ken Williams, all of which will be effective April 5. Both executives intend to work with Caine to facilitate a smooth transition and will also remain shareholders of the Company. "Along with our former partner David Landau, Ken and I have taken Dial Global a long way," says Brown. "Now the Company needs a chief executive with a different skill set to steer it through its next phase of growth. We believe Paul is uniquely well-qualified to do just that." Says Schore, “On behalf of Dial Global's Board of Directors, I want to thank Spencer and Ken for their significant contributions to the business. They have built a powerful platform that has delivered meaningful value over the years to Dial Global's advertisers, radio stations and content partners." What Dial Global's news release doesn't mention is that this is the second shake up of the company's executive ranks in two months. Co-CEO Landau exited Dial Global earlier this year, with Brown becoming sole CEO and Williams as President. As we have also previously reported, DG has itself previously acknowledged it's "in big trouble," and, at one point, even raised questions about the company's ability to survive. Pew Research: 'Digital Drives Listener Experience' According to the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism's "The State of the News Media 2013", "digital drives the listener experience." In an extensive "Audio" section, Pew writes: "As far back as 2004, the first year of our State of the News Media Report, Pew Research Center wrote that local news on the radio 'appears to have seriously eroded in recent years' with a growing number of stations that 'are not local at all.' Then in 2006 we wrote, 'Technology is turning what we once thought of as radio into something broader – listening,' and raised the question of what that would mean for radio news. Now, heading into 2013, those two shifts have come together to create a very different audio landscape—one in which news is relegated to a smaller corner of the listening landscape," The new annual report tells us, "In general, listening to content seems to be as popular as ever and accessible in more formats than ever. But, aside from a scattering of stations around the country devoted to all-news programming, commercial radio news is mostly relegated to top-of-the-hour news headlines produced by an outside network. News/talk/information (and the recent addition of talk personality) is still a popular category for radio, behind only country music, but our research has found that this genre is filled with more talk than news, much of it nationally syndicated. In the newer forms of listening—satellite and online-only—news is a rare component. Only 26 of the more than 1,000 satellite radio channels are categorized as news. Financially, the picture does not bode well for traditional radio. AM/FM on-air election advertising brought in $124 million in 2012, but most other areas saw steep declines, resulting in a flat year over all. Online-only and satellite radio, on the other hand, had better years than in the past, with more positive long-term forecasts. And new legislation under consideration by Congress could be an added windfall to many online-only stations. Pandora alone could as much as double in value. National Public Radio may have positioned itself for the digital age better than other news radio, at least in terms of finding its audience. While its radio listenership declined somewhat in 2012, new audience to the network's mobile apps seems to be more than making up for that loss. Another public radio entity, American Public Media, gained momentum by securing a deal to distribute BBC World Service in the United States, ending a two-decade-old relationship between BBC and Public Radio International. PRI, on the other hand, was sold to Boston-based public radio station WGBH." Read more from the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism.. WTMJ-AM/Milwaukee Program Director Joe Scialfa Exits, Tom Langmyer Consulting as Station Seeks New PD Journal News Talk WTMJ-AM, Milwaukee, Program Director Joe Scialfa has exited, and the station has retained Tom Langmyer, the former VP and General Manager of Tribune's WGN-AM, Chicago, as a consultant while seeking a new PD. Journal Broadcast Group EVP Steve Wexler says, "I can confirm that we have made a change and are recruiting for a new program director. Tom Langmyer is working with us during the transition to help recruit a new program director and work with our staff.” Milwaukee Business Journal's Rich Kirchen writes, "Both WTMJ and WGN share positions in their respective markets as leaders in news, talk and sports programming. For example, WGN is the flagship station for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Blackhawks hockey while WTMJ is the flagship for the Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks and Green Bay Packers. WGN’s top on-air talk personalities Jonathan Brandmeier and Garry Meier take a more middle-of-the road approach than WTMJ’s conservative-talkers Charlie Sykes and Jeff Wagner." Langmyer left WGN-AM in October 2012 after eight years. Previously, he was VP and General Manager of KMOX-AM, St. Louis, and VP of Programming for CBS Radio’s News Talk stations. Jeff Dinetz Exits Lincoln Financial Media's Miami Cluster Jeff Dinetz has exited as SVP and General Manager of the Lincoln Financial Media Miami cluster which he joined in September 2011. The cluster includes including AC "101.5 Lite FM" WLYF-FM, Classic Hits "Majic 102.7" WMXJ-FM and Sports Talk "790 The Ticket" WAXY-AM. Lincoln CEO Don Benson says they are seeking a new manager for the three-station cluster, but offers no specific reason for Dinetz's ouster. Benson does say in a statement, "We are working from a very short list and hope to have the position filled soon. Rick Jackson, the SVP/General Manager for LFM's San Diego cluster, is in Miami to assist on a temporary basis." Before joining Lincoln Financial Media Miami, Dinetz had been President and COO of the radio and interactive divisions at NextMedia where he worked overall for more than 11 years. Prior to NextMedia, he was a regional VP for Jeff Warshaw's first Connoisseur group -- which was later sold, mostly to Cumulus Media. Dinetz had also held management positions with Emmis and Chancellor. Cincinnati's 'Fan' Goes Local in Afternoons with Richard Skinner Cincinnati Sports Talk veteran Richard Skinner has joined Radio One's "FM 100 The Fan" WCFN-FM for 3-6pm ET, replacing CBS Sports Radio's Doug Gottlieb. Skinner's former longtime on-air partner Tom Gamble is now hosting mornings on "The Fan." Together they were known as "The Angry Guys" on crosstown WFTK-FM and other stations in the market. Skinner, also a former Cincinnati Post sportswriter, will also report on Northern Kentucky sports at NKY.com. He also will continue to appear on WKRC-TV, Cincinnati. "We got the 'Angry Guys' back, but we got them separated again so they don't get too angry. We've got Tom Gamble in the morning, and Jim Rome at noon, followed by Richard Skinner," says WCFN-FM Program Director Steve Harris. "Any time you can add a local host, you're speaking directly to your listeners. This will help us make a major step forward covering Cincinnati sports. We're really excited,” Harris tells the Cincinnati Enquirer''s John Kiesewettwe. Skinner recently exited as Admissions Director at Villa Madonna Academy in advance of his return to radio. More Than 100 Congress Members Oppose Radio 'Performance Tax' Two more U.S. Senators and a bipartisan group of over two dozen additional House Members now oppose "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local broadcast radio stations. The Local Radio Freedom Act is now currently co-sponsored by 105 Members of the House and four Senators. Since the introduction of the Local Radio Freedom Act, 32 Democratic and Republican House Members have joined the bipartisan coalition of the resolution's 73 original cosponsors in opposing any new fees on local radio stations for music airplay. Sens. James Inhofe (R-OK) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) are the latest lawmakers to sign onto its companion resolution in the Senate. "Local radio stations continue to provide record labels and artists an unparalleled platform to promote music," says NAB EVP of Communications Dennis Wharton. "NAB is pleased so many lawmakers appreciate this partnership and stand opposed to any onerous new fees that would threaten the economic future of America's hometown radio stations." Reps. Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) introduced the Local Radio Freedom Act (H. Con. Res. 16) in the House of Representatives on February 15 along with 71 additional co-sponsors. An identical resolution (S. Con. Res. 6) was introduced in the Senate on March 6 by Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). According to the Local Radio Freedom Act, "Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings." Since the introduction of the resolutions, Clear Channel and independent record label Entertainment One have entered into an agreement to permit radio stations to pay sound-recording performance royalties in exchange for lowered digital performance fees. The deal is similar to other private-market deals struck in recent months between broadcasters and record labels without the need for government intervention. Examples of such agreements are those between Clear Channel and RPM Entertainment, Entercom and Glassnote Entertainment Group, and Beasley Broadcasting and Big Machine Label Group. Top Creatives to Discuss Enhanced Content at NAB Show Session Leading content creators known for using cutting edge technology and new media platforms will participate on a keynote panel during NAB Show’s Post|Production World conference. The session entitled "From Concept to Delivery: The Fusion of New Media and Storytelling," produced in partnership with Adobe, will take place on Sunday, April 7 at 10:30am in Las Vegas. Moderated by Mark Randall, Chief Strategist, Creative & Media Solution, Adobe, the panel will feature Bayan Joonam, editor, Soul Pancake; Patrick Murphy, VFX supervisor, Kappa Studios, Inc and Adam Pertofsky, editor and partner, Rock Paper Scissors. The panelists will discuss how the latest trends in technology facilitate the production of exceptional content under tight timelines. The session will focus on the use of digital technology to enhance content, simplify workflows, streamline editing and bring content online and to multiple devices. Post|Production World is sponsored by Adobe (platinum), Blackmagic Design (gold), AJA Video (silver) and Sorenson Media (silver). The NAB Show will be held April 6-11 in Las Vegas. Pubcaster WSHU Launches 'Fairfield County Public Radio' Sacred Heart University's Public Radio Group has launched "Fairfield County Public Radio" splitting its NPR News Talk and Classical music programming service to feature local inserts dedicated to Fairfield County, Connecticut, on stations serving that area.. Lance Venta reports that the "new service will be heard on 1260 WSHU Westport, 1350 WNLK Norwalk, 1400 WSTC Stamford, 106.5 W293AU Derby, and 91.1 WSHU-HD2 and branded as 'WSHU Fairfield County Public Radio'." Station General Manager George Lombardi tells the Weston Forum, "With this new service, listeners now have the best of both worlds: fantastic programming from organizations like NPR and the BBC, along with the added value of regional news, events, weather, and traffic. We have truly customized our programming to give Fairfield County residents all the quality content they are looking for." Sacred Heart, says Venta, "will continue its pre-existing NPR News Talk feed serving other parts of Southern Connecticut and Long Island, NY, on 89.9 WSUF Noyack, NY, 93.3 W227AJ Northford/New Haven, and 105.7 W289AD Selden, NY. It also runs a Classical Music programming service on 91.1 WSHU-FM Fairfield, 90.1 W211AI Stamford, 91.1 W217AF Huntington Station, NY, 91.7 W219BA Ridge, NY, and 103.3 W277AB Noyack, NY." WSHU has published the program schedule for the new Fairfield County Public Radio on the WSHU.org website. Delaware Radio Executive Mitch Scott Dies at 56 Georgetown, Delaware-based Great Scott Broadcasting President Mitch Scott has died, losing a battle with leukemia. He was 56. "He sure was a bigger-than-life kind of guy," says Great Scott Broadcasting General Manager Jim McHugh. "He truly was the great Scott of Great Scott Broadcasting." The company, founded by Scott’s parents in the 1960s, has five radio stations in the Delmarva area. According to DelmarvaNow.com, McHugh said Scott wasn’t just a true salesman, but was a terrific person to work for, evidenced by the many long-tenured employees still at the company. “If you ever had a problem, you pick up the phone, you talk to Mitch. Decisions were made on a local level," he said. "That's why it's such a refreshing place to be. They didn't think of him as their boss, they just thought of him as Mitch." Great Scott Broadcasting started with two radio stations in the 1960s. McHugh credited Scott for growing the company’s presence on Delmarva by adding more stations through the years. USRN Adds 'Little Known Legends of Sports' USRN will distribute a new daily short-form feature, "Little Known Legends of Sports," anchored by Sportscaster Matt Vasgersian. This, says USRN, "marks an expansion for the network in the field of original sports programming." The new feature will be available to affiliates for daily airings starting on the opening day of the 2013 MLB season, April 1, providing "a short, daily, quirky tidbit from sports history," and "intended to create 'water cooler chatter' covering trivia and oddities from all major sports as well as secondary sports and the Olympics." Affiliates will be provided with a daily feature five times per week that is recorded by Matt Vasgersian as well as the script for each program which can be used to localize the broadcast or as web content. Vasgersian is an MLB Network play-by-play announcer and studio host. Prior to joining MLB Network, he was the San Diego Padres' lead play-by-play announcer for seven years and in the Milwaukee Brewers' broadcast booth for five seasons. Behind the Microphone: The Ins and Outs of Radio "ESPN Chicago 1000" WMVP-AM will move its midday show into afternoons and the afternoon show to middays, April 1. Current midday show "Waddle and Silvy" with Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman will air 2-6pm, while "Carmen and Jurko" with Carmen Defalco and John Jurkovic moves to 10am-2pm. WMVP-AM will also add an hour of Colin Cowherd's ESPN Radio show, 9-10am ... AC "Today's Soft Rock 104.1" KAFE-FM, Bellingham, Washington, names Adult Variety Hits WNTR-FM and News Talk WXNT-AM, Indianapolis, Program Director Scott Roddy as KAFE-AM Brand Manager, starting in early April, replacing PD Ken Richards who recently moved to Spokane ... Former Country recording artist Julie Reeves is going radio -- as morning host at "93.7 The Dawg" WDGG-FM, Huntington, West Virginia. She's taking a time out from recording to dedicate her life to her family, but says she's excited to return to world of entertainment via Country radio at "a locally owned broadcaster in my hometown" -- allowing her son and daughter to "be able to enjoy their mom" as she works ... "Cat Country 95.1" KATC-FM, Colorado Springs, hires Alisha Scott to partner with Cutter in mornings -- again! This is a second time around for the morning duo at KATC-FM. Inbetween, Scott was at Country KYGO-FM, Dallas, while Cutter was solo in Colorado ... "93.9 The Country Moose" KIAI-FM, Mason City, Iowa, Program Director and Music Director Wolf Bowers exits for mornings at Country KWCK-FM, Searcy, Arkansas ... Univision Radio EVP and Director of Corporate Sales Jack Hobbs has resigned to join Spanish Broadcasting System where he will be SBS EVP of Corporate Sales, handling cross-platform sales for TV, Radio, the Entertainment Division, and Internet.