Every year, the pattern is the same. You flip the switch to Christmas music and the reaction is off the charts. Ratings spike. Social media lights up. Sales is thrilled. Then, a few days in, the familiar comment pops up, usually from someone inside the building. “Why are we playing the same songs over and over.”
This past Sunday (11/16), IHeartMedia’s WJLB-FM (Detroit) held its annual “Coats for Kids” event. The event, held this year at Eastern Market in Detroit, is dedicated to keeping children across Metro Detroit warm throughout the cold winter. Coats for Kids was hosted by WJLB on-air personalities Bigg Dawg Blast and Chris Carsyn.
MediaBrew Communications in Marquette (WFXD-FM/WKQS-FM/WRUP-FM) is reaching out across Marquette County to help spread holiday cheer to local veterans. The company’s 23rd Annual “Christmas is for Veterans” gift drive is underway, helping the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans.
Gray Media’s WILX-TV (Lansing) has announced the release of Baking News: Recipes & Stories from David Andrews, a 152-page collectible cookbook that brings the longtime anchor’s warmth and storytelling from the newsroom to the kitchen. The book features a delicious mix of recipes, personal stories, and favorite dishes from David, as well as contributions from familiar faces across WILX News 10.
During the Government shutdown, Michigan Civic Media Alliance closed on its its deal to buy WUPY-FM (Ontonagon), WMPL-AM/WKMJ-FM (Hancock) and WJMS-AM/WIMI-FM (Ironwood) from Jerry Hackman’s J&J Broadcasting. The deal also included the Hancock-licensed translator W297CD that simulcasts WMPL as well as the Ironwood-licensed translator W221EH that simulcasts WJMS.
Past surveys have enabled Jacobs Media and participating stations to identify key digital trends, including awareness and usage of AI, smart speakers and the rise of voice technologies, on-demand audio and video entertainment options like podcasts and short-form video, in-dash entertainment, as well as the surge in YouTube usage.
Wasting no time following the reopening of the government, the FCC has published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the 2022 Quadrennial Review in the Federal Register, setting December 17 as the deadline for initial comments on the questions asked by the FCC.
After 50 years in the industry, WLLZ-FM (Detroit) afternoon host Doug Podell has announced that he will hang up his headphones and retire following his show on December 5. He made the announcement on the station’s Josh Innes morning show this past Monday (11/10).
WDBM-FM, (Impact 89FM), Michigan State University’s student-run radio station and media organization, is excited to announce the entire organization as well as individual staff members were recognized for their work with national awards in the College Broadcasters, Inc. National Student Production Awards as well as the College Media Association Pinnacle Awards.
Warren Pierce, a legendary voice on Detroit radio whose career spanned nearly four decades at WJR-AM, passed away on October 31, 2025. He was 82. Pierce began his tenure at WJR in the 1970s, quickly becoming a fixture of weekend mornings with “The Warren Pierce Show.”