On September 17, the FCC released a Public Notice announcing that its CORES system, through which regulatory fees are submitted, has been updated and the incorrect regulatory fee amounts for radio stations have been corrected. As we wrote last week, the FCC asked that radio broadcasters suspend their fee filings when it became apparent that many radio fees had been miscomputed and CORES reported those fees to be much higher than they were supposed to be.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. announced that its television stations serving the state of Michigan will host an exclusive multi-market live telecast of a debate between U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R), the top two candidates for U.S. Senator from Michigan. The hour-long debate will take place October 8 at 7:00 p.m. ET, and will be telecast throughout Michigan.
RadioInsight reports that Cumulus Media’s WHTS-FM (Grand Rapids) has hired Jordan Lass as Assistant Program Director and afternoon host. Lass most recently was Brand Manager and afternoon host at WZOX-FM (Kalamazoo).
Midwest Communications has announced that it is expanding in the Kalamazoo market with the purchase of WQXC-FM (Allegan) and WZUU-FM (Mattawan) for a reported $625,000. The stations are currently owned by Forum Communications.
WCMU Public Media (Mt. Pleasant) has announced that AJ Jones has joined its news staff as a reporter. Jones is a Southfield native and joins the organization after working the last year as a reporter for Michigan Public in Ann Arbor.
WADL-TV/WFDF-AM owner Kevin Adell has announced his plans to retire with intention to sell his current business holdings, including both broadcast stations. According to The Desk, Adell told the publication that he is “moving forward with the sale of his independent television outlet WADL-TV (Channel 38) and will also part ways with his two other media assets: Radio station WFDF (910 AM) and religious broadcast network The Word.”
The Michigan Lottery has partnered with the Michigan State Police (MSP) to share AMBER Alerts with its network of retailers throughout the state. The partnership will help quickly reach Michiganders in nearly every corner of the state when an AMBER Alert is issued, expanding the reach of the alert and aiding law enforcement in their effort to reunite missing children with their family.
As we noted this past weekend in our weekly update of regulatory actions, the FCC last Friday released its Order setting the regulatory fees due from broadcasters and other FCC regulated entities – fees that the FCC is required to collect each year the start of the federal government’s new fiscal year which begins in October. This week, the FCC released a series of public notices detailing filing procedures. First was a Public Notice setting the deadline for payment of the fees as 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on September 26.
Nexstar’s WOOD-TV (Grand Rapids) has announced the hiring of George Smith to its News 8 Daybreak team. Smith joins Teresa Weakley on the anchor desk weekdays from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m.
On Monday September 2, Michigan Public’s Politics Director Zoe Clark, co-host of It’s Just Politics, joined C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to discuss the upcoming presidential election and where things stand in the battleground state of Michigan.