On July 22nd, Scripps’ Media’s WXYZ-TV (Detroit) held its “Day of Giving Back” on Tuesday in collaboration with Forgotten Harvest to help fight food insecurity across metro Detroit. During the Day of Giving, the community generously donated enough money to provide 408,000 meals to families in the metro.
Anishinaabe Radio News, a program co-produced by Northern Michigan University’s Center for Native American Studies and Public Radio 90 (WNMU-FM), will soon mark its 200th episode. Since the first broadcast in 2016, host April Lindala has explored Native American history and culture and shared updates on Indigenous events planned across the Great Lakes region.
Retired WKAR Public Media Education Coordinator Ilene “Beany” Tomber passed away July 16 at her Arizona home at the age of 97. During her time at the Michigan State University-based public broadcasting station, Tomber created and led the corporate development division and launched and led numerous education and community engagement programs that continue to impact Michigan’s capital region community today. She retired from WKAR in 2017.
“It is an honor and a privilege to welcome these bright and experienced professionals to our board at this unprecedented time,” said Rich Homberg, president and CEO of Detroit PBS. “With their leadership, deep experience and strong commitment to public media, they bring the passion, determination and energy we need to continue our meaningful work of engaging the community and delivering diverse programming and trusted information.”
This week as the FCC announced a suspension of its biennial ownership report filing requirement until 2027, ticking a box on the NAB’s deregulatory wish list. The Media Bureau’s July 29 Public Notice waives the odd-numbered-year requirement for both commercial and noncommercial AM and FM stations to file Form 323 or 323-E.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its decision last week on the appeals of the FCC’s December 2023 decision following its 2018 Quadrennial Review to leave the local radio and television ownership rules largely unchanged. The Court’s decision was a victory for television owners, declaring the restrictions on the ownership of two of the Top 4 TV stations in any market to be contrary to the record and ending that restriction unless, within 90 days, the FCC can show that there was in fact record evidence supporting the restriction.
Cumulus Media has announced that Lloyd Jackson, co-host of JR in the Morning on WJR-AM in Detroit, is named the official voice of the Detroit People Mover. Jackson becomes just the second voice ever used for the city’s elevated public transit system, replacing the original announcer after more than 30 years.
With the sale, the Aymen family exits the broadcasting business after 54 years. WLEW-AM/FM were acquired by Arthur and Nancy Aymen dba Thumb Broadcasting in 1971. They later transferred ownership to their sons, Richard and Matthew in 1993. Arthur passed away in 1999 and Nancy died in 2023. WHST, a new signal in the market, was added in 2023.
iHeart Media’s WLLZ-FM (Detroit) has announced the return of “The Josh Innes Show” to its morning lineup, beginning Monday, July 28. He previously held mornings at the station from April 2021 to February 2023 while broadcasting from “105.9 The Rock” WNRQ in Nashville.
The summit was inspired by the urgent need to educate the public about the rapid loss of local reporting capacity, a crisis playing out across the country but acutely felt in Michigan, where 41 of 83 counties have just one or no local news outlet, and the state has lost 40% of its newspapers since 2005.