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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
By: Jim Carlyle, co-owner/manager, WION Despite the restrictions that the State of Michigan has imposed in the apparent effort to arrest the pandemic, a team of dedicated people still orchestrated WION’s yearly “Treasures for Troops!” WION Radio (Ionia) is proud to announce that with it’s partners, WGLM in Greenville/Lakeview MI, WRWW-LP at Lowell High School,…