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Airdate 09/1/10 2:15pm Scott Sands, Director of Operations & Programming has left the building at Entercom Indianapolis. He also programmed WZPL and WXNT-AM while OM. In the Fall of 2006 he became Operations Director for Entercom's 3-station group in Indy. He started back at ZPL in 1999. Matt Patrick is the new host of "Michiana's Morning News" on WTRC-FM. Patrick slides into the air chair replacing Gary Sieber on September 13. Patrick leaves weekends at WTAM-AM/Cleveland to make the move. The license to cover the CP for Channel 42 WCLJ, Bloomington, has been granted to Trinity Broadcasting Of Indiana Inc. Will Alden Global Capital nix the deal with Emmis
CEO Jeff Smulyan? Trying to take the company private has met roadblock
after roadblock. Emmis stock dropped Tuesday with the share price losing
nearly one-quarter its value over the two-day period. Airdate 08/27/10 2:15pm WNDA-AM, New Albany picks up Cincinnati Reds Baseball. Jeff Smulyan will try again today at 6:30 p.m. at Emmis' Monument Circle headquarters to take the company private. His 4th failed attempt was a week ago. His cause is being held up by a group of preferred stockholders. If the stalemate continues 120 days after the original meeting, other filings would be necessary. Radio Assist Ministy has made application to transfer the license to Edgewater Broadcasting Inc for the translator at 88.1 in Vincennes. A CP for 640 AM in Terre Haute has been filed by Birach Broadcasting. Don Martin Sr. of WSLM, Salem passed away this week at 90. He founded the WSLM 1953 and was still active in its operation. He was responsible for the installation and operation of Salem's original cable TV service and was the owner of the old Salem Cable TV and Salem Cable Channel 5. Interment was at Crown Hill Cemetery in Salem with full military honors last Wednesday. Martin was a member of the National, Indiana and Kentucky Association's of Broadcasters, the National Religious Broadcasters, the Indiana Broadcasters Pioneer Association. I spoke with Don within the last 6 months via phone and he was as full of vinegar as always. RIP Don. Airdate 08/18/10 4:19pm Inter Mirifica Inc has been granted the CP for 90.9 in Noblesville. Federated Media stations in Fort Wayne, South Bend and Elkhart, will now use Eastland Ratings. The books will take effect Fall 2010. Airdate 08/11/10 3:34pm Mary Schurz one time VicePresident of Schurz Communications Inc. of South Bend, has passed away at 71. In 1985, Schurz was one of 65 editors selected to be a nominating juror for the Pulitzer Prize. Schurz served as publisher of The Advocate-Messenger in Danville from 1978 until 2006. She died at her home following a long illness. Airdate 08/10/10 6:04pm The FCC has dismissed the application of MC Music Ministries Inc for 101.1 Bloomfield. Class A TV status has been granted for Channels 36 and 41 Evansville. The stations are licensed to Evansville Low Power Partnership. Buyout attempt number 3 looks to be on the table for friday for Emmis. The first two meetings with shareholders were adjourned because they were unable to reach a quorum. In a statement, the company says it will "continue to engage in discussions" with the preferred shareholder lock up group in an effort to gain their support for the proposed transactions. "The tenor of these talks has been encouraging, but obviously we cannot make any assurances that they will be successful," Emmis said . Here are the latest ARBS. Click on the market to view Lafayette, Evansville . Airdate 08/4/10 1:14pm From the "Saw This One Coming Dept"... The former WQKC FM, which was moved south and had it's flame thrower reduced to a single match, is now dark. The station was known as “Classic Hits 93.9” WLCL, dropped off the air this week. Don McLean sang, the famous words "the day the music died", and then static. Sister WQKC 1450 (ESPN The Ticket) is also silent. Websites and all are gone. The stations are being sold according to sources. Brandon Gaudin is the new play-by-play announcer for Butler University Men’s Basketball for WFNI-AM. He did PBP for The Evansville Aces for the past two years and was GM at WUEV. The CP for 91.3 -WTMW, North Judson is sold to Calvary Radio Network. Mountian Bible Fellowship Church was the seller. Not having enough votes from shareholders to reach a quorum, Emmis Communications postponed a decision Tuesday night on CEO Jeff Smulyan's offer to take the company private. Several preferred stockholders signed a lock-up agreement, banding together to block the deal unless they get a better arrangement. They almost 40% percent of Emmis' preferred shares, which is enough to block the two-thirds majority needed for Smulyan to succeed. And we also congratulate Bob & Tom on their nomination for a Marconi. The duo and their hard working crew call Indiana their HQ state. Missed the Indy ARB? Read it here Airdate 07/30/10 2:34pm Jimmy "Mad Dog" Matis is now member of the Sales Department at WIBC-AM and WFNI-AM. He most recently was with Clear Channel as an air personality in afternoon drive, as well as working with WFBQ's Bob & Tom Show. Matis also did fill-in and sports news updates on sister WNDE-AM. Shannon In The Morning And Deb started their 9th year doing mornings in Lawrence County yesterday. They are the currently area's longest running morning drive show. A judge ruled against the class-action law firms this week that wanted a temporary restraining order to block the buyout of Emmis Communications by JS Acquisition LLC. Indiana's Marion County Superior Court Judge Robyn Moberly denied the preliminary injunction. This will allow the transaction to move forward. Additionally, the judge said that there is no probative evidence that insolvency or bankruptcy was likely unless the proposed transaction is consummated, or otherwise. The Judge also ruled, there was no evidence that Emmis faces an imminent threat of bankruptcy whether or not the proposed transaction is completed. The South Bend ARB came out recently.... see it here. Airdate 07/27/10 2:54pm WTRE-AM in Greensburg grabs $550,000 for Reising Radio Partners. The buyer is WTRE Inc. WNDE has a new moring show. Zakk and
Jack airs 6-9am. The show features Dominic Tom Berg takes to the morning airchair in Knox at WKVI starting August 2nd. The Digital LPTV application for Channel 12 in Elberfeld has been dismissed. The application was filed by Hispanic Community Education Consortium. The NAB Marconi finalists have been announced with the usual players in the running. In Indiana "Country Station Of The Year"-WFMS-FM and "News/Talk Station of the Year" WIBC-FM. Airdate 07/19/10 4:14pm Former Indiana University basketball player Todd Leary, has pleaded guilty to fraud. He had been their radio reporter for the past nine seasons. Leary was arrested after being arrested before the IU-Purdue game on a warrant charging him with fraud with real estate funds. With a current plea deal, Leary can reduce his three years in prison in half if he pays some $295,000 in restitution before he is sentenced this Fall. The majority of the charges were class C felonies, with penalties of up to four years in prison for each count. Speaking of sports, former Boilermaker Kelly Kitchel will be the radio sideline reporter during the upcoming season. Kitchel replaces Rob Blackman, who now handles pregame, halftime, postgame and producer duties. Tim Newton will handle play-by-play duties and Pete Quinn is their color commentator. Kitchel worked for WASK Radio Group from 2007-2010. Airdate 07/8/10 4:09pm Marty Bender is out as executive producer of the Premiere-syndicated “Bob & Tom Show.” His position has been eliminated. He also had programmed WFBQ for over 20 years. MD/Night-timer Riggs from WNOU lands a gig as Imaging Director for WQBW-FM, Milwaukee starting July 19th. Butler men's basketball games will be heard on WFNI-1070 AM, beginning next season. Butler broadcasts had been on WXNT-1430 AM. Pacers broadcaster Mark Boyle plans to walk 500 miles around Indiana to raise money for the Indiana Children's Wish Fund. The walk will start Aug. 17 in Fort Wayne and conclude Sept. 21 in conjunction with the Pacers Foundation Golf Outing at Brickyard Crossing in Indy. Keep track of Boyle at www.theiwishwalk.com. The Oldies Channel.com's (Mike) Shannon In The Morning, celebrated career show number 8,500 on Tuesday. To mark the occasion, new studios were switched on in The Hillcrest Shops in Judah. The storefront studios and offices fill over 1100 square feet and have a walk up window to view the on air studio from the sidewalk. The studios are also home to All Hit Country.com. To top it off, The Oldies Channel.com broke all listening / streaming records that day with a 33% increase over the previous mark set in 2009. The stations signed on just under three years ago and hold the top ratings spot for oldies in Lawrence County. The station has listeners in 100+ countries around the globe. A few photos of the new digs can be seen by clicking here. Airdate 06/27/10 12:47pm Mark Allan joins WIBN-FM Lafayette, starting July 4th as PD/Morning Driver. That fills the spot left in May by Dan McKay. Allan has worked at WKOA and WBYT. Kingdom Of God Inc has had its apps for TV Channels 25, 34, 39,and 50 in Ft Wayne dismissed by the FCC. Edinburgh Radio has filed with the FCC to tranfer 100.3 WYGB to Reising Radio Partners. July 30 is the deadline for Emmis President/CEO
Jeff Smulyan and JS Acquisition to acquire all of Emmis'
outstanding class A common stock with the current offer. That offer stands
at $2.40 per share in cash for the shares, and with the extension comes
the ability to coordinate the timing of the planned deadlines of the offer
with those of an exchange offer by Emmis of 12% PIK Senior Subordinated
Notes due 2017. JS also has removed the condition to the tender offer
that its parent, JS Acquisition, an Indiana limited liability company
that is wholly-owned by Smulyan, receive the financing to be provided
by an affiliate of Alden Global Capital Limited, a private asset
management company. The tender offer will be conditioned on the Alden
Purchase Agreement which remains in full force. Airdate 06/23/10 5:26pm Former Purdue radio play-by-play announcer Joe McConnell was presented The Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football award. McConnell broadcast Boilermakers games for 15 years as part of his four-decade broadcasting career. The Pacers move to FM in Indy. Emmis again signs the Pacers, but they will be on WIBC-FM, moving from WFNI-AM(The Fan). WFNI will carry Indiana Fever games however. This is year #15 that Emmis has had the rights to the Pacers. Mark Boyle will return for his 23rd season. He will be joined again by Indiana legend Bob "Slick" Leonard, who will offer game analysis in his 26th year. WIBQ-FM/Terre Haute adds Virtual News Center for their local news content, on the news-talk station. A CP has been granted for TV Channel 2 in FT Wayne to Equality Broadcasting Network. WIBC's Ed Wenck gets some nice press from The Star. Read it by clicking here. Airdate 06/17/10 2:49pm The Radio Television Digital News Association has announced the 2010 National Edward R. Murrow Award winners. The awards honor excellence in electronic journalism. In all, 59 news organizations are being honored with 89 awards. In Large Market TV, WTHR won an award for Use Of Video. (Steve Rhodes Composite) Watch the winning entry by clicking HERE Airdate 06/14/10 4:42pm WFMS midday jock and PD Vicki Murphy exits the station after many years in the midday slot and 1 year to the date as PD. Murphy is leaving radio at this time. APD/MD J.D. Cannon will fill her shoes for the current time in the programming department. Senior VP/Programming Jan Jeffries said, "We wish Vicki the best in her new endeavors and know she will excel in every area as she lives her dream. We appreciate the great job Vicki has done over the past 12 months." Airdate 06/13/10 5:18pm TV CP's have been granted for TV Channels 16, 29 and 41 in Ft Wayne to Luckland Corp. In Evansville the CP for Channel 19 goes to EICB-TV East, LLC. TV CP's that have been dismissed include Channel 50- Ft. Wayne and Channel 5- Terre Haute. Both CP's were submitted by Spirit Of Prayer Ministries Inc. There are two less contenders for the new CP for 101.1-Bloomfield. Sarkes-Tarzian Inc and William S. Poorman have been cut from the list. WZKC in Orland sells for $225K to Star Educational Media Network Inc. The station at 91.3 was sold by Northeast Indiana Public Radio Inc. The CP at 91.1 in Rushville has been sold to Rush County Schools by Miami University for $2000.00 Pat White joins WGL-AM for mornings starting Monday. White last was at WOWO, and replaces Rod Tanner, after WGL's brief stint of satellite in AM drive. Ft. Wayne TV reporters Brien McElhatten and Laura Donaldson got married Saturday. We wish them the best. King Ro's "Blues With a Feeling" returns to the Central Indiana airwaves each week on WITT-FM. King Ro's widely acclaimed blues show has aired over the years on WPZZ-FM, WTLC-AM. and WKLU-FM. Janice Furtner, long time music director and classical music host on WBNI, left the station on Friday, June 11. Airdate 06/7/10 4:14pm Landover 2 LLC has applied for a CP for TV channel 51 in Brazil. Justin Cohn and Ben Smith, longtime sports-writing personalities with the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, bring you their show, "We've got Game." The show is recorded live Tuesdays, 6-7 p.m., and can be replayed afterward. Justin and Ben discuss sports, pop culture and everything in between, in their unique and fun style. Find out more by clicking here. Sports Director Greg Bell exits WIOU-AM, WZWZ-FM and WMYK-FM, Kokomo, after 27 years. Chris Lowry is the new Sports Director. John "Records" Landecker is back at WIMS, this time doing mornings. Lori Mae Tevault as the new morning co-host,
effective tomorrow at K105-WQHK. Dan WBCL's Char Binkley,will be the
keynote speaker at the Auburn United Methodist Women’s annual Garden
Party IV Saturday, June 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Airdate 05/26/10 8:28pm Landover 2 LLC has applied for CPs for TV Channels 18 & 38 in Delphi. In Elkhart, Trinity Christian Centrer of Santa Ana Inc transfers TV channel 18 to Word Of God Fellowship, Inc. John "JMV" Michael returned to sports talk radio this week on WFNI-1070 AM. His 3-7p program called "The Ride" replaces "Kravitz and Eddie". Bob Kravitz left that program in March, while co-host Eddie White moved to part-time duties at the station earlier this month. JMV goes head to head with Mark Patrcik on WNDE. Emmis Communications inks a definitive
merger agreement which should take Emmis private by JS Acquisition.
Under the deal, JS Acquisition will begin a cash tender BUT WAIT... Kendall Law Group, is investigating Emmis Communications for shareholders in connection with the proposed sale of the company to JS Acquisition They seek to determine whether Emmis and its board breached their fiduciary duties by not shopping for a deal that would provide better value for shareholders. They are looking at the process the board of Emmis undertook in entering into the merger agreement and to determine if the agreement properly values the stock for shareholders. Starting June 1, Angie May Cook grabs the newly-created role of VP/Emmis Digital, overseeing digital growth in revenue and innovation throughout the company's station portfolio. "My return to Emmis Communications comes with great enthusiasm", said Cook. she went on to say Emmis is an amazing company to work for and continues to lead the radio industry with new technologies in the digital space. I am honored to take on this role and excited to help take Emmis Digital to new levels." QMix 107.3, Columbus -WRZQ, joins the Tom Kent Radio Network. And last week our 4th anniversary of Indiana Airwaves was marked. On that day we hit our 100000th tracked visitor. We thank those of you who take time to click on a banner ad and even make a purchase at times. That funding keeps this site free for you. We don't clog your inbox with spam and we're proud to say many industry leaders read our info filled pages. Airdate 05/17/10 8:59pm WSLM, Salem adds The Tim And Gage Show, Friday nights to the AM and FM. Tim is Tim Norman former WBIW/WQRK/WPHZ staffer and Gage is Gage Lutes of WBIW/WQRK/WPHZ. One wonders how Lutes, who is told who he can have as a Facebook friend by his current employer, got this past them. If you have listened to the Tim & Gage Show, you understand why it is a perfect fit for WSLM. Eddie White is exiting afternoons on Sports WFNI-AM for a cluster-wide parttime position at Emmis in Indianapolis. This allows him to pursue his sports public relations and marketing endeavors in Central Indiana while still working for Emmis. Airdate 05/14/10 7:28pm Time to catch up on some news... Lawsuits have been filed seeking class-action status in Marion Superior Court. The suits allege that Emmis board members breached their fiduciary duties by making no recommendation on the deal that, they say, will enrich Jeff Smulyan at the expense of minority shareholders. Two shareholders of Emmis Communications are suing the broadcaster's board of directors in an attempt to stop Chairman Smulyan from taking the company private. Smulyan, who owns only 20% of the company's common shares, owns 70% of the voting stock. Joining him is New York-based Alden Global Capital in an effort to buy out other shareholders. The lawsuits stem from Smulyan's and Emmis' claim that the deal qualifies for a "special circumstances" exception under the Indiana Business Corporation Law. Normally it requires board approval for a company to be acquired, but allows for an exception in cases of conflict of interest. An application for transfer of 107.7/ WMRS 24091
MONTICELLO COMMUNITY The grapevine has been full of chatter about Artistic's "Rocket" Manager Fred Stewart leaving to become Sales Manager at International Sports. WRBR has a new morning show. Jason
Lee & Kluck. They both were at WIRX, Benton WSBT has added Denis Prior from 3-5 PM. Denis has worked in Kansas City,Omaha, Nashville and Grand Rapids. Rod Tanner is out at WGL, and Otto Mation will take his place. Ron Gregory is on the loose after leaving WMYQ a few months back. Looking for a quailty broadcaster? Let me know and I'll pass the info on to Ron. Ernie Mills, of HANK FM/WLHK, will be master of ceremonies for Noblesville's CF/Great Strides walk Saturday. He will also emcee a Great Strides walk on Sunday at White River State Park in Indianapolis. Airdate 05/4/10 6:27pm Townsquare Media is the new name of Regent Communications. Steven Price, co-founder of media investment firm FiveWire Ventures, is named Chairman/CEO. Former CEO Bill Stakelin resigns, as does CFO Tony Vasconcellos. Another Five Wire alum joins the new venture as FiveWire co-founder Stuart Rosenstein is appointed Executive VP/CFO of the company. The company emerged from bankruptcy protection on April 27. "Stuart and I are pleased to join Townsquare Media and look forward to building, through internal growth and acquisitions, a leading provider of local media, entertainment and commerce in small and mid-sized markets," said Price. "The radio business is undergoing massive change and we are excited to invest in and build upon Townsquare Media's leadership positions in its markets to develop a new media business for the 21st century, focused on local media across multiple platforms." Airdate 05/3/10 7:29pm Schurz Communications will relaunch the websites of all its media properties by the end of this year using Tribune Interactive technology. This change will impact all newspaper, TV and radio sites under Schurz ownership. Tribune Interactive will provide a toolset known as "Power to the Producers" or "P2P" to blend power and performance with flexibility and freedom, accoring to a company spokesperson. Airdate 05/2/10 4:19pm
Indy comedian and radio dude Will Pfaffenberger becomes the producer
of The Smiley Morning Show on WZPL. Pfaffenberger had spent time
at Hank FM as Executive Get the latest Indy ratings by clicking here Airdate 04/28/10 4:02pm WNDY (MyINDY-TV) has grabbed Butler basketball games for the third successive season. WISH-TV's Sports Director, Anthony Calhoun, again will handle the PBP with help from Ralph Reiff. "The Butler basketball program had a phenomenal run this season. We took great pride in showing Central Indiana the Butler way from the season tipoff on MyINDY-TV to end of the season on WISH-TV," said Jeff White, president and general manager of WINDY and WISH-TV. Had a chance to catch up with Dain Henry yesterday. Henry was once an AE for the Bedford radio stations. Always fun to talk radio and get the scoop. Airdate 04/27/10 11:40am Pat White is out at WOWO. White had been a fixture at WOWO for about 14 years. “I'm in shock. I had no idea,” White said. “I came in around noon. They told me they wanted to go in a different direction, and that was it.” Was it a ratings decline? Was it a remark made on air that caused WOWO to say good-bye? White has been very outspoken in the past. Replacing White is Pat Miller. According to FedMed “The Pat Miller Program” will focus on topics of local and national importance while allowing listeners to interact with the host. Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan's JS Acquisition and major Emmis stockholder Alden Global Capital have signed a letter of intent that will take the company private. If the deal happens JSA will acquire all of the company's class A shares -- not counting Alden's shares -- at $2.40 per share, or a 74% premium over the 30-day average closing price and 118% above the 180-day trading average. The deal, subject to "shareholder approval". Smulyan has tried to take the company private back in May, 2006. But wait... there is more... Finkelstein Thompson LLP said it would investigating potential claims on behalf of Emmis shareholders. Finkelstein Thompson said investigation is focused on the "potential unfairness of the price to Emmis' shareholder" and the actions and interests of Emmis' CEO Jeff Smulyan. They will also examine whether the Emmis board "took all reasonable steps to maximize shareholder value in agreeing to the sale." Rod Douglas hangs up his cans and retires
from radio. He most recently was a part-time news anchor at WCOE-FM,
LaPorte. He was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame in
1997. He has worked in Las Vegas, Toledo, Jacksonville, Fresno and Airdate 04/19/10 11:32am Most all of us have been there... the on air monitor speakers go quiet or go to white noise. Most expect transmitter failure, few expect to find their tower on the ground! WIBN found the latter this weekend after a farm mishap. About 8am Saturday, farm equipment took down the tower. The tower then fell on to the transmitter shack. The station will be off the air for a few days but the station continues to stream at 981WIBN.com Airdate 04/15/10 7:59am With May bringing some changes to South Bend radio, here is how it all shakes out. Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh along with Fox News move to what is now WAOR. Dubbed FM News Talk 95.3/Michiana’s News Channel, the channel takes the trio from WSBT-AM. Gary Sieber will host a local morning show on 95.3 FM featuring news, sports and weather. The station will also simulcast on WTRC displacing Hippie Radio. WSBT did not want to lose Beck and Rush, but with talk moving to FM more and more Premiere Radio Network is picking signal and youth in this move. WAOR will move it's classic rock format to 95.7 and Bob and Tom will end up there in the end too. WSBT says it will fill with more local programming and will expand some of their current network shows. Indiana Community Radio Corp has applied for a CP for Channel 7 in Liberty . Congrats to WIKY in Evansville for picking up a NAB 2010 Crystal Radio Award. Award winners were selected from among 50 finalists, and 10 won the award. A one-year bonus plan has been put in place at Emmis.
Under the plan, bonuses would be paid to executives "based entirely
on the attainment of specified EBITDA goals." The company will determine
quarterly whether the EBITDA goals were met for its radio, interactive
and total company. The bonus plan is based on quarterly goals. If a quarterly
bonus is due, it will be 20% of that person's target bonus. At year's
end, Emmis' board will revisit quarterly goals, and if an annual bonus
is due, it will be the individual's annual target amount less any previous
quarterly bonuses. Airdate 04/12/10 3:44pm The Steam/WSMM, New Carlisle, dried up over the weekend as in it's place listeners found Classic Hits. The station will now join the classic hits format which is served in South Bend by WGTO and WZOC. Their website www.stream1023.com doesn't refect the changes as of yet, nor did the Artistic corporate wesbite. Airdate 04/8/10 4:20pm An informal objection has been filed by Harvest Christian Fellowship Inc against the CP of a new NCE station at 91.3 in Woodburn. Reed Road Corp. is the applicant. WCKZ-FM, Orland and translator W204BF have been sold. The Ft Wayne area duo is picked up by Star Educational Media Network for $225K. Northeast Indiana Public Radio was the seller of the pair. Airdate 04/5/10 8:32pm Channel 18 in Elkhart changes hands. The new owner is Word Of God Fellowship Inc. The seller was Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana Inc. WLDE Ft Wayne is now part of the Tom Kent Radio Network. WGL 102.9 in Ft Wayne is now V 102.9. The programming has been reworked to grab women 25-54 years old. (P1 females 35-44.) Delilah is part of the new programming. “V is for Variety, and Summit City Radio is excited to bring this new variety station to Fort Wayne. We're particularly excited about having Delilah, the nation's No. 1 radio host for women, on air every single night,” said JJ Fabini, co-general manager for Summit City Radio, in a statement. Expect to hear John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, Rob Thomas, Michael Buble, along with Madonna, The Eagles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Chicago, James Taylor and Michael Jackson, and more. Airdate 03/30/10 11:26am The FCC has canceled some new station CP's through out Indiana. Canceled were 91.3 applicants Friends Of Radio Maria Inc, in Grabill, The Helpline in New Haven, Music Ministries Inc, Tell City, Good Samaritan Educational Radio Inc, Tell City and Harvest Christian Fellowship in Leo. At 89.9 the clip also went to Harvest Christian Fellowship in Butler. The Oldies Channel.com/Classic Hits247.com adds Charlie Tuna to afternoons starting at 3pm Monday. All Hit Country.com adds a classic country gospel hour on Sundays at 9am. It seems like a month can't go by without another staffer taking a ride on the "got smart bus" and leaving Ad-Venture Media's WBIW/WPHZ/WQRK. This time it's Teresa McCameron who has been in sales at the station for many years. She kicks radio to the curb and will be going into Rx Sales. More and more truths are coming out as the former staff members communicate with some interesting stories. Airdate 03/26/10 8:03pm Summit City License Sub LLC and Northwest Capital Partners LLC sells WGL AM/FM, WXKE and WNHT for $100.00 plus some debt assumption to Summit City Licenses LLC. The buyer has strong connections to Media Venture Partners which will re-sell the stations. The transaction, under an option exercised by lenders represented by Fortress Value Recovery Fund I LLC gives them the right to market the stations to a third party under a brokerage agreement with MVP. The stations have been under and LMA since the beginning of the year with Stardust Media. WNRL Ligonier, gives some students a chance to learn and have fun at the same time. Read more by clicking here. Pulse FM DJ Corey Mann is spending a week at The Hope Ministries' Family Life Center in South Bend. Read more here. The Oldies Channel.com/Classic Hits247.com is getting ready to announce a major name that will be coming to the stations in afternoon drive on April 5. Airdate 03/22/10 3:56pm Time to catch up on a very full in basket... At the recent statewide broadcasting competition
at the University of Indianapolis, Franklin Central High School's radio
station took top honors. At the Indiana Jenny Burgess, senior, third place for news anchor. Katy Burgess, senior, second place for interview; third place for in-depth. Lauren Haley, senior, third place for air personality. Seniors Scott Kennedy and Tommy Rockey, first place for drama. Kayla McCarthy, junior, second place for in-depth. Kayla Sullivan, junior, second place for spot production. Kyle Yoder, junior, first place for copywriting. Also 2 local students won honors for their television work. Whiteland High School senior Haley Stansell, third place for entertainment video. Franklin Central junior Kayla Sullivan, second place for news anchor. Director of Sales for Federated Media's six-station group in Fort Wayne, Mark Osborn has left the building. Speaking of Fed Med, it appears their South Bend cluster of stations are making some major changes in PDs and Morning Drive shows. And also a sad note that Sandy Zehr is out at Artistic Media Partners in Bloomington. Zehr was VP/GM with Artistic for "many years" and one of the last of the real radio people in their company. It is another nail in their coffin. You don't often hear the word "Artistic" and "many years" of employment in the same story. Sandy, drop me a line if you get time. (Sandy is still listed on the AMP corporate website.) WBIW in Bedford had signal problems eariler in the month. Transmitter problems put a damper in their already weak signal for a few days. WSEZ 1560 AM in Paoli is now Destination Radio. The small 250 watt daytime signal is not an easy listen outside their local area. My guess is if you are near your destination, and it happens to be in Paoli their slogan will work for you. The station is on the bird with an lite/oldies based format. They also have a page on Facebook. Click here to see it. Airdate 03/15/10 9:46am The Fan-1070 WFNI tackles former NFL player "Big Joe" Staysniak for the 10a-Noon slot. Big Joe was at WIBC as morning co-host. Steve Simpson slides from afternoons at WIBC to co host mornings with Terri Stacy. Simpson's afternoon gig on WIBC will be filled by Ed Wenck, moving to the airchair from co-owned HANK-FM, WLHK. Airdate 03/11/10 7:54am They say "they come in 3's". Jim Tellus died suddenly while on a business trip in Columbus, Ohio at age 47. Tellus, Channel 13's President and General Manager, was found dead in his hotel room Tuesday. It's believed he died of a heart attack. He was found after failing to appear at a corporate board meeting. Tellus joined WTHR as news director in 2006. In 2007 he was promoted to Vice President and General Manager and in 2009 named president. Tellus lived with his family in Carmel. He is survived by his wife, Kathy, and four children. Airdate 03/9/10 11:04am Donald Cripe has passed away at 80. Cripe served as Vice President and General Manager of WFBM-TV and WFBM-FM and served as Manager of Sales Operations at Delco Radio Division of General Motors. Don was a life-long radio announcer. He began his career in radio in West Lafayette after graduating from Purdue University in 1946 at the age of 16. He worked as a staff announcer, program director, and sport's director and as a free lance sports announcer, throughout the 50's and 60's he was known as the voice of Kokomo Wildcats Basketball. He continued as a free lance announcer for several stations throughout his career. Airdate 03/8/10 11:38am The translator at 102.7 in Corydon gets picked up by Keith Reising. The seller was Good Shepard Radio Inc. Let the fight for the channels begin... a mass of CPs have been filed for a few channels in Indiana. Let's hope we caught all of them. 107.5 -Terre Haute - Indiana State University Board of Trustees, Community Broadcasting, Inc, Terre Haute 7th Day Adventist Church, The Light House Mission Ministries, Inc, Terre Haute Bible Baptist Church, Inc, Prairie Air, Inc, Illinois Bible Institute, Inc, Hispanic Family Christian Network, Inc, Grace Public Radio, Indiana Educational Broadcast Corp, Word Power, Inc, 96.3 - Farmersburg - Hope Broadcasting, Inc, Hispanic Family Christian Network, Inc, Serendipity Educational Broadcasting, Inc 106.1 - Fowler - Harvest Chapel Attica, Inc, Educational Broadband Corp 100.9 - Madison - Good Samaritan Educational Radio, Inc, Cornerstone Community Fellowship At Madison, Inc, Triangle Foundation, Inc 95.3 - Columbus - The Moody Bible Institute Of Chicago, Christian Radio Family, Inc, Triangle Foundadtion, Inc, Good Shepard Radio, Inc, The Trustees of Indiana University, Hispanic Family Christian Network, Inc, The Gabriel Project, Inc Former WOWO jock James Ellenwood has died at 67. He passed away Saturday. Ellenwood was known as "Diamond Jim Brady" and an announcer for 21 Alive. Service is 10:00 a.m. March 10, 2010 at D.O. McComb and Sons Pine Valley Park Funeral Home. MY 107.9 gets some ink in the Star. Read more by clicking here Airdate 03/4/10 2:25pm Rick Cummings gets a one-year contract extension with Emmis. He'll remain President of Radio Programming. His base salary is $446,500, as well as including incentive-based bonuses. He has held this position since n December, 2008. before that he served as President of the company's radio division since 2002. You may remember RSE Broadcasting sold what is now adult hits WSVX, Indianapolis (1520) nearly three years ago. The FCC says they still owe the FCC money. The FCC slapped the station for filing its license renewal application 6 months late and a fine of $7000. RSE says it tried to pay the fee, but it was rejected by the electronic filing system and when it discovered it didn’t work, the company hired a legal rep to sort things out. The FCC forgives the fine but says the $187.50 late-fee stands. RSE sold WSVX to Three Towers Broadcasting about three years ago. An Allen Superior Court judge denied a request for a special prosecutor to handle charges against former Indiana University basketball player Todd Leary in connection with an ex-business partner’s multimillion-dollar fraud scheme. The judge ruled that there is no need to disqualify Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards’ entire office because her chief deputy was found to be a victim of Todd’s business partner. They say Leary once worked for a title insurance broker who pleaded guilty to several charges in a $2.7 million real estate fraud scheme. The Prosecutor testified that her deputy had not been involved in the investigation of Leary or his business partner. Leary played for Indiana in the late 80's and early 90's and had been an analyst for IU’s radio broadcasts for several years. Airdate 03/3/10 5:30pm A couple of TV CPs have been granted. Channel 33 Evansville to D TV America 1, LLC and Channel 24 Terre Haute to Indiana Broadcasting, LLC. The CP application for 101.1 Bloomfield has been dismissed. Robert Mc Daniel had withdrawn his application about 75 days ago. The channel will go to auction with most of the usual groups in the auction. Will another channel go to waste with canned programming? U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross approved a budget that allows Regent temporary permission to continue paying its staff and vendors until a March 22 hearing. It appears at one point in the pre-bankruptcy, Regent had looked at a possible sale. Dr. Michael Clark of Franklin passed away last week at 63. Dr. Clark's expertise in forensic pathology was highlighted when he appeared on the television show "Forensic Files." He was also an avid antique radio collector and very involved in the Indiana Historical Radio Society. A memorial for Dr. Clark will be held Thursday, March 4 at G. H. Herrmann Madison Avenue Funeral Home, 5141 Madison Avenue in Indianapolis. Indiana has a new online country channel. ALL HIT COUNTRY.com hit the net on 3/2/10 at Noon and is currently playing 14,000 songs in a row. Advertisers have already booked 6 month spot contracts in advance on the channel that has been in the planning stage since the first of the year. Airdate 02/23/10 9:49am Christopher Larko has passed away at 51. Chris was founder and President of Larko Communications, Inc., which owns WMYQ-FM 101.1 and WBZQ-AM 1300. He began his radio career at age 15. Calling hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday with a brief prayer at 2 p.m. at D.O. McComb and Sons Lakeside Park Funeral Home. Get more details by clicking here. Airdate 02/18/10 11:27am DTV America II, LLC has filed for D-TV CPs. In Lafayette, channels 16, 22,23, 31 and 35. In Marion 15 and 22 and in Terre Haute 16, 23, 28 and 49. Airdate 02/10/10 7:22am Getting his OM stripes at Cumulus in Indy is Joe Kelly. Kelly is also the PD and afternoon driver on WRWM (I94). Airdate 01/29/10 7:46am Here are the latest numbers for the Ft. Wayne market. Read them by clicking here Airdate 01/27/10 11:18am Starting February 8th, 21Alive TV will expand it's live newscast to one hour starting at 5pm. Melissa Long will anchor and Curtis Smith will handle weather duties. E.T. moves to 7pm. “Expanding our strong 5:00 p.m. news programming to deliver live news for a full hour is natural for our viewers and advertisers,” explains President and General Manager Jerry Giesler. “We’ve led the market for years in live programming and this provides yet another opportunity for viewers to receive the live local news they value.” Airdate 01/21/10 7:55am See how the Indy market did in the ARB by clicking here Airdate 01/20/10 11:33am The Alma Corporation has filed CPs for TV channels 30, 33, 39 and 49 in Wolcott. Calvery Radio Network Inc. has picked up WCJL-FM Morgantown, WLHP-FM, Hanna, WJCO-FM, Montpelier,WJCY-FM, Cicero, WOJC-FM, Crothersville, WQKO-FM, Howe and WTMK-FM, Lowell. Yesterday a Hungarian court ruled in favor of Emmis-owned Slager Radio and that the National Radio and Television Board illegally awarded a national radio broadcast contract to FM 1. The ruling means that Slager was one of only two qualifying bids in the recent tender for Hungary's two national radio licenses. Emmis won the broadcasting license in 1997 and has operated the facilities for 12 years and investing almost 30 billion forints. Speaking of Emmis, a couple of programming vets join their ranks. Alan Furst will be the Director of Talk Programming for the Emmis Indianapolis cluster and the Program Director for WIBC. Alan programmed WIRE in Indianapolis back in the 80’s where he worked with one Tom Severino. David Wood will be the Program Director for B-105.7 and The Fan. Wood was with Susquehanna in Indianapolis where he served as Program Director of WFMS and ultimately the Director of Programming for Susquehanna Indianapolis. He launched GOLD 104.5 and 93.9 The SONG in Indy. Furts and Wood will report directly to Bob Richards who will continues as Director of Programming for Emmis Indianapolis while also serving as PD for WLHK. Airdate 01/18/10 11:24am Another sales person has left WBIW/WPHZ/WQRK, the second in 30 days. Amanda Wecht has moved on after a short stint there. Lack of listener response has made selling time on the stations very hard. Make sure to turn off those office lights so you don't get written up. Airdate 01/14/10 7:54am Sycom Media Group Inc has filed CPs for TV channels 14, 19, 21 and 51 in Ft. Wayne Airdate 01/13/10 11:40am Jimmy Matis a.k.a. Mad Dog is the latest shake up in Indiana radio. Mad Dog, a fixture at WFBQ-Q95 was bounced last week when his contract wasn't renewed. "They just said, 'We're going to go in a different direction'... my direction was out the door", Matis said. Hitting the 3-7 airchair for Q95 is Dave Gunner. The face of Indy radio is starting to change a bit. Why are people losing faith in radio? Here are two examples I caught Friday that may show why. One FM was making a big deal, as usual, with their top of the hour ID and played a tone to mark the top of the hour. Stating it was 4pm, I looked at my watch, car radio clock and cell phone... they all said 4:08pm. Scanning to another FM, they were giving basketball game cancelations due to the weather. Making a BIG deal that the game they were broadcasting "tonight" would be moved to Saturday night, they hit the spot set. First spot, a full promo with sponsors telling people to tune in "tonight" for the big game. He was the voice of US-30 Dragstrip ads and others, (Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!), Jan Gabriel has passed at age 69. He worked a stint at the Indianapolis 500 Speedway. He passed away, ironically, on a Sunday.
Airdate 01/12/10 11:32am WFLI-TV18 has surprised many with some staff cuts. News Anchor Sue Scott, and 3 other station employees were given their walking papers last week. Two of the staffers were department heads. The reason for the cuts was "industrywide downturn". Joining Scott in the bad "news" was News Director Chris Morisse, Sales Manager Jenny Olszewski and Video Journalist Gary Higgins. WLFI is owned by LIN TV Corp., which owns 27 network affiliate broadcast stations in 17 markets nationwide. An 18.5% drop in consolidated revenue for its fiscal third quarter was reported by Emmis Communications. Emmis did post earnings of $1.7 million compared to a $125.7 million loss in the year-ago period. CEO Jeff Smulyan said "we're seeing improvements.We are projecting that our first positive numbers since April 2008 are just a month or two away -- and could possibly hit our books this month." WITT gets some nice ink via The Indy Star. Read it here
Airdate 01/7/10 11:33am Kent Sterling is out as PD at WIBC/1070 The Fan. You can keep up with him at his blog by clicking here Other changes to ring in the new year include changes at WBTU. Dave Steele is out as PD/Middays. Phil Becker grabs the title of OM/PD. Becker is already OM/PD at sister properties WJOE and WJFX. The midday airchair at BTU is filled by Ashley Figueroa. Ashley was working swing at WJFX. She'll also take care of the WBTU website.
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