Friday's Radio & Media News - June 7, 2013

Sony Reportedly Signs Up for Apple's 'iRadio' Sony Music has reportedly signed on to Apple's forthcoming "iRadio" streaming music service. That would give Apple agreements with all three major labels. All Things Digital reports the deal, citing "person familiar with negotiations between the two companies." Still, says the report, Apple may have hurdles to clear, including a deal with Sony/ATV, Sony’s music publishing arm. "Apple had been pushing music executives to come aboard in advance of its annual developer conference next week, so you should expect to hear an official announcement Monday," says AllThingsD.com. They note that the "gaps between Sony/ATV and Apple were supposedly smaller than the ones Sony Music and Apple were looking at a few days ago." As we've previously reported, Apple recently signed agreements with Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, the two other major labels. All Things Digital also notes in its new report, as we have previously, that Apple isn’t expected to actually launch "iRadio" at its developers conference, only announce officially that it's coming later this year. Expectations continue to focus on "iRadio" being similar to, and direct competition for, Pandora. AllThingsD suggests it will be "an enhanced version of Pandora — that is, it will be a free streaming music service that gives users more control of their songs than standard Web radio, but less than full on-demand services like Spotify." Pandora Claims May 2013 Listening Increase Pandora has released its self-reported metrics for the month of May claiming listener hours increased 22% from May 2012 -- from 1.10 billion to 1.35 billion hours. Pandora claims its share of total U.S. radio listening was up by 5.8 percent year-to-year, to a 7.29 percent share this May. According to Pandora, active listeners were 70.8 million at the end of the month, a 33 percent increase from 53.3 million during May of 2012. Pandora continues releasing key audience metrics on a monthly basis to -- as they put it -- "provide the most current information regarding Pandora's users and usage across platforms." With the May report from the streaming music service, there's no repeat of the advisory that it added to its April 2013 report about its mobile listening cap. In April -- reporting a 24% year-to-year listener hours increase, they noted, "Pandora launched a 40-hour mobile listening limit in March as a strategic move to balance monetization and rising royalty costs. The impact of this strategy – maintaining audience growth while slowing listener hour growth – has been in-line with company expectations." Cousin Ed Named Brand Manager at Milwaukee's 'Energy 106.9' Saga Communications Rhythmic CHR "Energy 106.9" WNRG-FM, Milwaukee, promotes afternoon host Jeremy "Cousin Ed" Schulz to Brand Manager, replacing Bran Rowe who exited last month. "Jeremy stepped in as acting Brand Manager and impressed all of us with drive, dedication and 'Energy'," says Saga EVP Steve Goldstein. "He will be a great asset in his new expanded role." Schulz, a Wisconsin native, joined "Energy 106.9" last January from CHR-Top40 "Hot 101.5" WPOI-FM, Tampa, where he was part of the morning show. Before WPOI-FM, he was Assistant PD and afternoon host at CHR-Top40 "Channel 96.1" WHQC-FM, Charlotte. You might remember that Saga redesignated all of their Program Directors to Brand Managers last year. Unofficial word to us is that Jeremy Schulz will be the "Energy" Brand Manager, while his alter ego "Cousin Ed" will be the afternoon host. But "they" shouldn't expect two separate paychecks! Cumulus Appoints John Gallagher Toledo Market Manager Cumulus Media announces the appointment of John Gallagher as VP and Market Manager for the Toledo Ohio station cluster. Matt Spaulding, the current VP and Market Manager in Toledo, will move to the same role at the Cumulus cluster in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Gallagher will oversee operations and ad sales for all Cumulus stations in the market -- Toledo-based stations WKKO-FM, WMMM-FM, WRQN-FM, WLQR-FM, WXKR-FM, WXKR-HD2 as well as WMIM-FM in Monroe, Michigan. Most recently, Gallagher was VP of Sales for Cumulus stations in Kansas City. "A recognized radio industry veteran, Gallagher was previously the Director of Sales for ABC Radio's WJR-AM in Detroit and also a Market Manager for radio station clusters in Chicago," says the Cumulus announcement. "John's operating experience and background in this area of the Midwest as well as his strong skill sets in generating revenue growth make him a perfect choice to manage our Toledo/Monroe radio stations," said Dave Crowl, Cumulus Regional Vice President. "He has led our Kansas City radio stations to outstanding sales results. We expect his leadership to provide continued growth momentum for Cumulus Toledo/Monroe as well." Says Gallagher, "I am excited about this new opportunity as part of the Cumulus family and look forward to working with our employees, advertisers and listeners in Toledo and Monroe." WNTA-AM Rockford Illinois to Launch 'La Movida 1330' Rockford, Illinois, gets its first Spanish-language station Monday (June 10), as Mid-West Family Broadcasting flips Comedy "Funny 1330" WNTA-AM to "La Movida 1330" -- offering popular Spanish-language music along with news and information that impacts the local Latino community. This is the latest station to abandon the Comedy format, which not too long ago was thought to be set to become a major format for AM stations. The new format in Rockford is a duplication of one currently offered in Madison by Mid-West Family Broadcasting, and has been successfully operated for the past decade. The Program Director for "La Movida" is Luis Montoto. He tells us, "La Movida is more than just a radio station, it is a way of life for the Latino community in Madison. We are now honored to provide the same service to Rockford and the surrounding communities in the region." Mid-West Family Broadcasting just recently acquired WNTA-FM, along with other former Maverick Media stations in Rockford and Eau Claire for $15.5 million. In addition to WNTA-AM, its Rockford cluster consists of Adult Variety Hits "95.3 Bob FM" WRTB-FM, News Talk "100.5 NTA-FM" W263BJ, AC "B103.1" WGFB-FM, and Rock "X104.9" WXRX-FM. It's not yet known if any of those other stations in Rockford will receive new formats. CCME: 'Clear Channel Music and Entertainment'? SEC Filing Reveals Irving Azoff's Ties to CC and iHeartRadio Music Festival Clear Channel Communications reveals, in an SEC filing, how important music industry giant and veteran talent manager Irving Azoff has been to Clear Channel's iHeartRadio Music Festival. The former Live Nation Entertainment Chairman is a member of CCU's Board of Directors -- but the extent of his assistance in attracting star musical acts to the music festival is just revealed. We've chuckled at general media reports that misidentify CCME -- Clear Channel Media and Entertainment -- as "Clear Channel Music and Entertainment" -- as CCME continues signing private revenue sharing deals with recorded music labels, including two more just this week. But with Azoff's role (and the label deals), we wonder if the "M" really might be as much for "music" as for "media." Clear Channel, because of Azoff's connections with both Clear Channel and Live Nation, reveals that CC received about $12 million last year in advertising from Live Nation, while CC paid Live Nation about $207,000 for entertainment-related services. In the SEC filing -- a prospectus dealing with its debt delay deals -- Clear Channel explains that Azoff "has been a director of CCMH and Clear Channel since September 27, 2010. Until his retirement on December 31, 2012, Mr. Azoff served as Executive Chairman and a member of the board of directors of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. ('Live Nation') since January 2010 and as Chairman of the Board of Live Nation since February 2011. Until his retirement on December 31, 2012, Mr. Azoff also served as Chairman and CEO of Front Line Management Group Inc ('Front Line') since January 2005. Before joining Live Nation in 2010, Mr. Azoff was CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. since October 2008. Mr. Azoff is the personal manager of The Eagles, who he has managed since 1974, Christina Aguilera, Van Halen and Steely Dan. Mr. Azoff was selected to serve as a director because of his extensive experience in the entertainment industry." CCU goes on to explain the financial connection in the filing. "During 2012, Live Nation paid us approximately $12.0 million for arms-length, ordinary course of business advertising services, and we paid Live Nation and its subsidiaries approximately $207,000 for entertainment-related services." The filing notes that the connection was largely through the iHeartRadio Music Festival. "In addition, Mr. Azoff or his affiliates represent certain of the musical artists who performed at our iHeartRadio Music Festival during 2012, and Mr. Azoff participated in attracting musical artists to perform at our iHeartRadio Music Festival." Clear Channel, however, stresses, "We are not a party to any of Mr. Azoff’s contractual arrangements with these musical artists." Premiere: Rush's Radio Advertising Now Doing 'Very, Very Well' Rush Limbaugh's radio revenue is reportedly recovering well after last year's hit resulting from the Fluke Comments Controversy. Premiere Networks SVP and Director of Talk Radio Sales Dan Metter says that while there was "certainly a dramatic impact on the advertising sales in the wake of Limbaugh’s comments" that "just drove the company to find new sources of ad revenues." Speaking at a New York conference, Metter said, "This year, Limbaugh is drawing new advertisers and recovering well after the major boycott he faced in response to his broadcasts on Sandra Fluke." According to Politico, Metter -- who repeatedly referred to the advertising boycott of Limbaugh as simply "the challenge" -- said Premiere, a subsidiary of Clear Channel, focused its efforts on getting ads on air from entrepreneurial-based companies not handled by major ad agencies, such as LifeLock and LegalZoom. “They’re not buying an ideology, they’re buying an audience," Metter said. "And many of whom are advertising with our progressive radio hosts and our conservative radio hosts and everything in the middle. They’re not buying Rush's ideology or Randi Rhodes’ ideology. They're buying them because their audience buys tractors, their audience drinks soda, and their audience needs data backup. And that’s the place to get those types of customers. So we're doing very, very well." They're pacing ahead of this time last year, Metter said -- and while January was a bit slow, the second quarter is picking up for the company that distributes Limbaugh and other talkers such as Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. CBS Radio Execs Say 'Live and Local' Is Lucrative A CBS Radio New York ad campaign for London Jewelers was highly successful because the station on which it aired -- Sports Talk WFAN-AM-FM -- is "live and local" and "connected with listeners." So said CBS Radio EVP of Operations Scott Herman and Sales President Michael Weiss during a panel moderated by RAB President and CEO Erica Farber at the SNL Kagan Financial Summit in New York City. After London Jewelers ad exec Sherry Mesh detailed how successful the campaign was, Herman and Weiss offered the "live and local" assessment. Mesh said using WFAN's Boomer Esiason to promote a new bridal engagement store for live reads, "worked so well. It was off the charts. We never expected the success we had." Mesh added, nearly every single person said, "We heard you on the FAN. We heard you on The Fan." Weiss said the live reads are very successful. "We do it with a lot of clients. There is a connection between the listener and our personalities." Herman says CBS Radio will take success stories like the one cited to other stations across the country as a sales tool to persuade potential advertisers, noting that CBS Radio has more than 100 local morning shows across the country paying off for the company. "We make that investment because of success stories like London Jewelers. We want our talent in the market place kissing babies, hugging people, shaking hands and being involved in the marketplace. We think that gives us an advantage when we're going out there trying to sell our inventory." The "live and local" approach, says Herman, offers known market personalities providing the on-air sales stimulus for market advertisers. "The great radio stations have a soul and their DJ's act as a concierge for the local markets they’re in. They tell you what’s happening locally, how to dress, what to wear, what time it is, which concert is coming to town, how you get tickets, if your favorite team won the night before. A lot of useful information you need and want to help get you through the day." WTOP-FM's Dave McConnell Wins Career Achievement Award WTOP-FM, Washington DC Capitol Hill correspondent Dave McConnell has been named by the Radio and Television Correspondents Association as the first-ever recipient of the "Career Achievement Award for Distinguished Reporting on Congress." The new award was recently established by the RTCA to honor those journalists who represent career achievement and dedication to Congressional coverage. McConnell, a veteran journalist with more than 50-years of reporting in Washington has covered decades of Presidential Elections, White House Administrations, Watergate and more. He joined WTOP Radio in 1965 and became the station's fulltime Capitol Hill correspondent in 1981, a position which he still holds. McConnell is a Maryland native and has received numerous awards over the years, including an A.I.R. "Lifetime Achievement Award" and a Society of Professional Journalists "Hall of Fame Award." WTOP-FM VP of News and Programming Jim Farley tells us, "As a kid, Dave and his classmates used to cut class to go see the Senators. His buddies went to Griffith Stadium to see the Washington Senators play but Dave actually went to The Hill to watch U.S. Senators debate. Dave is admired by members of Congress from both parties because of his fairness. Now his colleagues on 'The Hill' have chosen him as the first-ever recipient of their new lifetime achievement award. Dave is the EverReady Bunny of Congressional Correspondents and the hardest working Septuagenarian covering Congress and trying to keep them honest."