News

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  Scholarship Fund Set Up in Honor of Jamie McKibbin

  A message from MAB Board of Directors Honorary Member Bruce Goldsen: November 20, 2020 To our industry friends… Many of you are aware that the radio stations that Sue and I owned for 23 years and sold less than a year ago to our longtime General Manager and dear friend Jamie McKibbin suffered an unspeakable… read more

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  Jeff Luckoff Joins Townsquare as Grand Rapids Market President

  On November 16, Townsquare Media Inc. announced that former iHeartMedia Regional Vice President Jeff Luckoff will take over the role and responsibilities of Market President and Chief Revenue Officer for its Grand Rapids local media cluster. The cluster includes WGRD-FM, WLHT-FM, WFGR-FM, WNWZ-AM/FM and WTRV-FM. Luckoff will report to Townsquare Senior Vice President Todd Lawley…. read more

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  Latino Public Broadcasting and WKAR Present New Digital Short Film Series ‘Latinos Are Essential’

  WKAR Public Media (East Lansing) is pleased to partner with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) on Latinos Are Essential, a campaign created to honor the work of the dedicated “essential workers” — health care providers, teachers, food service workers, retail clerks and others — who have kept our country going while caring for their own families…. read more

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  Goldsen: ‘We Must Ensure NAB Continues to be an Effective Advocate in Washington’

  By Bruce Goldsen, Member, NAB Radio Board Honorary Member, MAB Board of Directors It’s been an extraordinarily difficult year for our industry and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is not immune to the challenges of the pandemic. As you know, NAB had to cancel our annual convention – the 2020 NAB Show – due… read more

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  Entercom’s WDZH Flips to Alternative

  November 19 brought three format flips in the Detroit/Windsor market.  Following the switch of Windsor-licensed CIMX-FM’s from alternative rock to country, Entercom has flipped WDZH-FM (Detroit) from soft adult contemporary to alternative as ALT 98.7, Detroit’s new alternative. In a press released, the station, previously known as 98.7 The Breeze, will boast a vast music… read more

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  FCC Asks SOCTUS to Restore Local Broadcast Ownership Deregulation

  The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday (11/17) weighed in with the Supreme Court in defense of its order deregulating local broadcast ownership and in opposition to a lower court’s invalidation of that order, according to a report in Broadcastiing+Cable.  The FCC contends that the lower court repeatedly prevented the commission from repealing or modifying rules… read more

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  Two Trump Defamation Claims Dismissed Including Claim Against TV Station for Political Attack Ad – What is the Relevance for Broadcasters?

  By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP In the last few days, two defamation cases filed against media companies by the Trump campaign have been dismissed – one on the merits and one by agreement of the parties.  This includes the suit filed by the campaign against Northland Television, the licensee of a rural Wisconsin television station.  That station… read more

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  Kaleidoscope’s Mike Whorf Passes at 88

  Michael Whorf, longtime radio host of the Peabody Award-winning WJR program Kaleidoscope, died in Detroit on Tuesday, November 10. He was 88. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Whorf spent his childhood and teen years in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Whorf attended Provincetown High School and upon graduation in 1950, enlisted in the United States Air Force where he… read more

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  5 Keys to Creating a Killer Podcast Opening: Lessons from Podcast Movement 2020

  By: Seth Resler Jacobs Media Strategies For the past several years, I have hosted the Podcast Makeover session at Podcast Movement, the world’s largest podcasting conference. In this session, a panel of professional broadcasters and podcasters critique up-and-coming podcasters in a live “aircheck” session. This year, with the conference moving to a virtual format due… read more

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  All Things Christmas Pandemic Edition 2020

  By: Gary Berkowitz Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting The crisp feel of fall is here and that can only mean one thing; the holidays are just around the corner. Many retail locations are already decorated for the season and soon, hundreds of radio stations across the US will switch to all Christmas programming. With that in mind,… read more

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  Congress Advances Bill Requiring Radio To Put Some EAS Alerts On Repeat

  The lame duck session of Congress has delivered its first move that could directly impact radio. On a voice vote this week, the House passed the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement Act or “READI Act” (H.R. 6096). It would, among other things, require radio and television stations to repeat alerts issued by the president, rather… read more

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  Jaime McKibbin Passes Away Suddenly

  Updated 11/20/20 Scholarship Fund Set Up in Honor of Jamie McKibbin – read more here. Updated 11/19/20 Jamie McKibbin, co-owner and operator of McKibbin Media Group, Inc., licensee of WKHM-AM/FM and WIBM-AM (Jackson) and WCSR-AM/FM (Hillsdale), passed away suddenly November 16, 2020 as a result of a boating accident. McKibbin and a close friend were… read more

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  WLEN’s ‘Thank a Vet’ 2020 Breaks Record Fundraising for Lenawee County Veterans in Need

  On November 11, Lenawee Broadcasting’s WLEN-FM (Adrian) hosted their 15th Annual Thank a Vet day. This day is in celebration of Veterans Day and is an event to raise funds and awareness for homeless and other veterans in need in Lenawee County. $32,859.82 was raised in 12 hours for the “Veterans Dire Need Fund” distributed… read more

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  FCC Announces Effective Date of Changes in LPFM and Noncommercial Application Processing

  By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP The FCC announced that changes in its processing of LPFM and Noncommercial (NCE) full-power station applications became effective on October 30.  We wrote about some of those changes here and here.  Of immediate importance is the need to include a certification of reasonable transmitter site assurance in any application for any technical change to an LPFM or an… read more

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