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Merlin Media Sells WWIQ-FM/Philadelphia to EMF 
Update: We now have confirmation of the sale of "IQ 106.9" with the announcement from EMF that it is purchasing WWIQ-FM, Camden-Philadelphia, from Merlin Media. No price is immediately disclosed, but we'll get that when the deal is filed with the FCC. Upon completion of the sale, EMF will flip the station to its Christian AC "K-Love" programming. There will be no LMA prior to closing. Merlin sold WRXP-FM, New York, to CBS Radio in 2012. Merlin continues to own two stations, and operate a third outlet in Chicago (for now) -- Hot AC WIQI-FM, Classic Rock WLUP-FM, and Alternative WKQX-LP (LPTV Ch. 6 audio). Our earlier "exclusive report" follows.
Cumulus to LMA 'ESPN 103.3'/Dallas 
Cumulus Media will take over operations of "ESPN 103.3" KESN-FM, Dallas, under a long-term LMA.
KESN-FM will retain its ESPN affiliation, and will be programmed separately from Cumulus Media’s "1310 The Ticket" KTCK-AM. KESN-FM is also the flagship radio station forthe Texas Rangers and Dallas Mavericks, while KTCK-AM is home of the NHL Dallas Stars. The LMA will take effect after Cumulus closes on the spin-off of KTDK-FM to Whitley Media. Officially we're told, in a news release, "ESPN Audio has reached a long-term Local Marketing Agreement (LMA) with Cumulus Media, Inc. which calls for Cumulus to program ESPN Radio Dallas KESN 103.3 FM. The station will retain the ESPN name and ESPN’s national programming, highlighted by Mike & Mike and The Herd with Colin Cowherd as part of a long-term affiliation agreement. In addition, ESPN Deportes Radio Dallas 1540 AM, through an affiliation agreement, will now be programmed by Deportes Media and will retain the ESPN Deportes Radio moniker. ESPN will continue to own KESN. The Cumulus Media LMA will take effect upon the closing of the pending sale of radio station KTDK FM, while the Deportes Media affiliation agreement will take effect on September 1, 2013."
Julie Pilat Exits Clear Channel to Join Beats Music 
Veteran radio programmer Julie Pilat exits Clear Channel to join Jimmy Iovine's Beats Music, and head up music curation for the company's upcoming streaming service. Pilat spent 20 years at Clear Channel stations, much of that in Los Angeles. She's also been Alternative Rock Brand Coordinator for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment. But she's now just starting at Beats Music. Says Pilat, "To change the path for the future of music is the opportunity of a lifetime." She adds, I couldn't say no." Beats' executive lineup includes Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Dr. Dre and former Yahoo!/Topspin executive Ian Rogers. A handful of radio programmers have joined the company in recent months as well. Pilat tells The Hollywood Reporter that a "team of music experts" is already on the job at Beats. "I know there will be a lot of geeking out over music," she tells THR.
Cox Media Group Partners with LDR Interactive 
Cox Media Group partners with LDR Interactive to launch new interactive mobile music apps. CMG tells us, "The radio broadcasting industry's most innovative interactive mobile app hits the airwaves at 33 music stations in 11 Cox Media Group (CMG) radio markets this summer thanks to a partnership with broadcast technology company LDR Interactive." The iPhone, iPad and Android apps, created by LDR Interactive for Cox Media Group, we're told, "provide listeners with a real-time interactive experience featuring live audio streams from their favorite music stations, voting for the songs they'd like to hear next, an 'open mic' feature allowing them to create a high quality dedication in their own voice, and extensive integration with Facebook and Twitter." Initially, CMG stations in Athens and Atlanta, Georgia.; Dayton, Ohio; Houston; Jacksonville, Florida.; Long Island, NY; Miami; Orlando; San Antonio; Tampa; and Tulsa started introducing the apps to their listeners beginning in June. All 33 radio CMG stations will have the new apps by mid-August. "These best-in-class new apps extend our brands to listeners no matter where they are or what they are doing," says CMG EVP of Radio Kim Guthrie. "Listeners can make decisions regarding our programming and have on-the-go access to their favorite radio personalities. In addition, our apps have some pretty cool features that expand our brands beyond what we can do on the air, building a better relationship with our listeners."
Cumulus Media Networks and Dick Clark Productions 
Cumulus Media Networks and Dick Clark Productions will join forces to create radio, digital and social content opportunities around the American Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. "Our partnership with Dick Clark Productions enables Cumulus to provide listeners and advertisers with unprecedented access to two top awards shows of the year with the American Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards," says Cumulus Media Networks EVP and Co-Chief Operating Officer John Dickey. "We strive to find new and exclusive opportunities to deliver relevant and cutting edge content to engage fans through all of our affiliates platforms and programming."
Sony Music Partners with Quu Interactive for Radio Connection 
Sony Music Nashville partners with Seattle-based tech company Quu Interactive to deliver content and ads related to its artists when they play on the radio. Opening up a new revenue stream for radio and a promotional vehicle for music, Quu's "Liner Notes" network of radio stations is utilized to complement station airplay with timely artists information in real time. Says Sony Music Nashville CEO Gary Overton, "Quu’s service provides an enormous promotional opportunity for our artists and the label to customize and geo-target an artist's message with a 360-degree approach, bringing together the full fan experience of albums, tours, artist offerings, and information in a new and innovative way utilizing the outstanding reach of radio. Now, as consumers listen to Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood on their car radios, one of the main points of radio airplay, we have the ability to inform them about where to see or hear from their favorite Sony Music Nashville artists next."
Clear Channel Introduces Mentoring Programs to 
Clear Channel Media and Entertainment has rolled out its inaugural Market Engineering Manager Development Program (MEM-Dev) and the third year of the company's Electrical Engineering Co-op Program -- both designed to provide participants with hands-on industry experience in specialist areas within electrical engineering. "Clear Channel is making a strategic investment in the future of broadcasting engineering and we hope to attract and expose new talent to the ever-changing world of radio while also fostering the expedited growth and development of our existing employees," says CCME EVP of Engineering and Systems Integration Jeff Littlejohn. CCME Chairman/CEO John Hogan adds, "We are always thinking ahead, looking for new ways in which to deliver growth and solidify our position at the forefront of innovation in broadcasting, and creating these programs speaks to our dedication to not only Clear Channel but the entire broadcasting community." The Clear Channel Electrical Engineering Co-op Program was introduced as a pilot program in 2011, and has offered 12 high-potential engineering college students the opportunity to expand upon their technical abilities and education while being exposed to innovative technologies and operational processes at Clear Channel stations across the country. Students alternate semesters working in the co-op program, then returning to school to pursue their academic studies. The students are tasked with projects and assignments geared towards design, troubleshooting and modification of electronic systems and exposed to the development of new technologies. Two participating students will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship for their contributions to the program. In addition to mentoring young aspiring engineers, Clear Channel also announced the graduation of its first Market Engineering Manager Development Program. MEM-Dev is an elite internal engineering development program designed to support Clear Channel's existing talent and accelerate professional growth. The two-year program incorporates a personalized curriculum that includes one-on-one coaching, education and testing, coupled with hands-on experience. As the first class graduates, Clear Channel welcomes its third MEM-Dev group into the program. Clear Channel will relocate its current class of six to Cincinnati, to assist in building a radio studio at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in partnership with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation as part of the hands-on portion of the program. FCC Again Extends Ownership Report Due Date 
The FCC extends the filing deadline for 2013 commercial station ownership reports to December 2. Stations are given more time to file their biennial Form 323 ownership reports with the advisory that all information submitted should still be current as of October 1, 2013. The Commission's extension, we're told, is intended to provide filers with 30 more days to allow adequate time to prepare the form, especially in light of how some licensees and parent companies may have to file numerous forms. The deadline was previously extended from October 1 to November 1. In announcing the extension, the FCC tell us, "On April 8, 2009, the Commission adopted the 323 Order in the proceeding. In the 323 Order, the Commission enlarged the class of broadcast licensees required to file FCC Form 323 biennially, and replaced the previous system of rolling filing deadlines tied to a station's renewal anniversary with a uniform filing date. Pursuant to that order, all commercial full-power AM, FM, TV, and LPTV stations, including Class A stations, as well as entities with attributable interests in those stations, were first required to file a revised FCC Form 323 on or before November 1, 2009, with information current as of October 1, 2009, and to file biennially thereafter. The Bureau extended the 2009 filing deadline until July 8, 2010 due to delays in the availability of the revised Form.3 For the 2011 biennial filing period, the Bureau extended the filing deadline by 30 days to ensure adequate time to file the form. Pursuant to the Commission's rules, all full-power AM, FM, TV, LPTV, and Class A stations, and entities with attributable interests currently are required to file the next biennial ownership report on FCC Form 323, no later than November 1, 2013, using information current as of October 1, 2013. On its own motion, the Media Bureau hereby extends the November 1, 2013 filing deadline until December 2, 2013." The FCC adds, "We stress that filers are encouraged to submit ownership reports as early as possible and to complete their Form 323 filings well in advance of the extended deadline whenever possible. This extension applies only to the 2013 biennial filing requirement."
Clear Channel Seeks Summary Judgment to 
Clear Channel has moved for summary judgment to dismiss the lawsuit filed by three former account execs who worked at its New Orleans cluster, with the suit led by Prixie Montgomery. The company says the three have failed to prove their accounts were redistributed based on discriminatory reasons. The three women, who are African-American, claimed they were discriminated against by the company, in both compensation and assignment of accounts. Clear Channel now says the plaintiffs have failed to prove that the reallocation of accounts by the company was based on race or otherwise discriminatory. The company claims the changes were made in February 2009 as a result of the economic downturn. The plaintiffs filed EEOC complaints in 2010 claiming that the compensation structure and client account assignments instituted in 2009 violated Title VII. They were subsequently terminated, but CC claims the three were fired for performance reasons and points to white males fired or who resigned for the same reason, and notes that five other Account Executives who also filed EEOC complaints over a $20,000 per month goal were not fired because they met their goals. Behind the Microphone: The Ins and Outs of Radio 
Jason "Roach" Hines joins "Party 99.5" WBXY-FM, Gainesville, as night host. Hines formerly hosted afternoons at Alternative Rock "104.9 The X" KXNA-FM, Fayetteville ... CHR/Top 40 "Kelly 95.3" KLLY-FM, Bakersfield, Production Director Erik Fox is promoted to Assistant PD and will temporarily be doing middays as the station parts ways with the syndicated Ryan Seacrest on August 16. The station is in search of a new permanent midday host. Also, the station adds the syndicated Doug Kramer "Big Dumb Fun Show" for nights, replacing Mario Lopez ... CHR/Top 40 "103.7 Kiss FM" WXSS-FM, Milwaukee, picks market veteran Riggs for mornings, beginning August 19, joining Wes McKane and Alley Faith, and replacing Rahny Taylor on the morning show. Riggs is joining from crosstown "97.3 Radio Now" WRNW-FM ... Country "Q100.3" WCYQ-FM, Knoxville, names former KBWF-FM/San Francisco morning host Ken Anderson for mornings at WCYQ-FM, replacing Opie Joe, who moves to afternoons filling the shift left vacant by Brad Allen's move to Director of Production ... AC WSRS-FM, Worcester, Massachusetts, morning co-host Heidi West resigns, effective immediately, after 16 months with the station.
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From Mark Harris Broadcast Consulting
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Wednesday's Radio & Media News - August 7, 2013
"We are proud to have partnered with Cox Media Group in this first mobile app development project working closely with Kim Guthrie, Steve Smith, Rich Reis and the CMG management team," says LDR Interactive President and CEO Daniel Anstandig. "CMG previously adopted our LDR.1 and LDR.Takeover platform technology at the majority of its radio stations. Last year, we set up a joint task force to conceive of a next generation mobile app that would help provide radio stations with a turnkey strategy to fully engage with their audiences in a very personal way. Today, we are formally launching that app which rivals and surpasses other popular streaming music apps with the added advantage of integration into consumers' favorite local broadcast brands. We are proud that CMG is the first in the world to introduce it to their loyal radio listeners." The new apps feature complete social integration with Facebook and Twitter, allowing users to share songs with their friends and notify them of a song they have dedicated to them. It also allows listeners to win badges for using the app – local stations can design new badges anytime to reward listeners for voting on a particular song or artist, for making an open mic recording or using the app during a certain time of day. A novel "alarm clock" function awakens listeners with a custom greeting including their local weather forecast, names of Facebook friends having birthdays and station contest reminders – before automatically starting the station's audio stream. "This is the hottest interactive radio mobile app on the planet, and our listeners get it first and exclusively," says CMG VP of Radio Programming Steve Smith. "Additionally, this app actually brings the audience inside our brands where they can steer the ship with us!" LDR Interactive has agreed to license the apps exclusively to Cox Media Group in their radio markets. The app will be available to other radio station group operators outside of CMG markets under the Gruvr brand name, which was announced separately today. Pioneering radio crowdcasting technology in 2009, LDR Interactive's patent-pending technology and interactive programming is on the air at over 260 radio stations, networks, and broadcast groups in the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia. Since 2012, the company's clients have generated nearly $3 million dollars in new digital revenues and sponsorships as a result of the LDR Interactive systems.
Says DC Media President Mike Mahan, "By partnering with Cumulus, we hope to increase awareness and fan engagement of the upcoming American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards through an incredible slate of content and unique affiliate opportunities." Radio coverage of the 2013 American Music Awards will feature six hours of original programming, including a two-hour red carpet radio show in advance of the awards that will be customized to all major radio formats. Cumulus will have prime positioning and unprecedented access to talent, offering an unparalleled and unique experience for millions and millions of listeners. Additional coverage of the event will be available across the stations' websites and their owned-and-operated social media profiles. The American Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 24 from 8-11pm ET on ABC. A similar radio and multi-platform content partnership is in development for the Billboard Music Awards in 2014. Details will be announced in the coming months.
Quu will use its existing "Liner Notes" network of nationwide radio stations, radio station websites and mobile applications. In addition to the vehicle interior radio display, Quu's customization offering enables Sony to pre-program and geo-target information on local tour dates, media appearances, breaking news, album releases, point-of-sale information and more, tied to an artist's song as it is playing on the radio. The service also uses Quu’s synchronization technology, which gives it the capability to feed messages directly from the artist's existing social platforms, including Twitter, giving fans a new way to hear from or about their favorite artists as they are listening to them, in their cars and through participating radio station websites and mobile applications. Says Quu CEO Joel Harb, "Quu's technology provides a solution for artists and broadcasters to communicate more directly with the consumer by effectively using radio's nationwide reach to target consumers at the right moment with the right customized message. Radio is already a vital part of the music industry, and providing labels with the technology to message on this additional platform tied to radio enables them to super-serve their artists and their artists' fan bases."
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