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Airdate 12/31/9 7:54am Some thoughts on the state of radio on this final day of 2009. While many will blame the economy, the real reason that radio is in the sorry shape it is in, is radio's own fault. So many stations have replaced quality radio broadcasters with low rate talent. For some of these "radio replacements" the closest they have been to broadcasting was taking orders at a fast food drive up window. Not only has radio replaced quality talent with zero talent, they have also replaced management with non-radio people. Many of these stations are on the edge of brankruptcy. It is time to weed ot some some suits and bring back the troops. For what many management types get paid, we could bring back 2 or 3 on the air pros each. It is time to quit finger pointing and trying to place the blame on others, when the stations have caused their own problems. Over the years radio has dropped the ball on many things. AM Stereo was the first of many. Now HD radio is worthless and PPM is not the answer either. Radio needs to re-learn how to market itself. We cannot depend on others to do it. For an industry that is built on communication, we have become very poor communicators. The "old boys" club just won't cut it anymore. The same old tired formats and contests are not the answer. Yet because we have replaced many radio pros with people who had never seen the inside of a radio station before, our future as a whole is very bleak. Management and programmers that have no idea what a P1 is or what focus their station should take are killing off listeners daily. Replacing pros with voice-tracking isn't the solution either. So let's make 2010 the year that radio wakes up and realizes what it can do, before it is too late. A.J. Maguire has landed at WBTU-Ft Wayne and will handle afternoons. He replaces Kenny Bosselman who had that slot. Airdate 12/30/9 7:53am The FCC has dismissed CP's for TV channels 6, 8, 39, 44 and 49 in Monticello and 14, 15 19 and 33 in Ft Wayne requested by Alma Corp. They also dismissed channels 20 and 34 in Ft Wayne filed by EICB-TV East, LLC. Mark Patrick grabs the 3-7pm shift at sports WNDE-AM starting Jan 4. This fills the slot left open by the departure of JMV. Patrick was once at WNDE for 17 years. “I’m ready to talk about all the things that make the Indiana sports scene unique,” said Patrick. Tomorrow we'll wrap up 2009. Airdate 12/28/9 5:48pm The holiday tunes have stopped on WNTR and The Track is now My107.9. Once again "playing everything" the station has be rebranded and has a new website. See it by clicking here . A sample hour includes... War- Low Rider, Ratt-Round And Round, Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex, Tom Petty-Free Fallin', Kelly Clarkson-Since U Been Gone, The Clash- Rock The Casbah, Prince-1999 and Matchbox 20- 3a.m. The station claims to play the widest variety in Indianapolis! From Prince to Abba, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, and Madonna to Fleetwood Mac and Nickelback! Let the discussion begin. Airdate 12/24/9 6:29pm Time to clear out the in-box before opening gifts... CEO Jeff Smulyan signs a new employment contract with Emmis. The 3 year contract (effective March 10), cuts his salary to $792,259 from $833,957 for the first year, with a $200,000 signing bonus. He'll get a raise to $825,000 in the second year and to $850,000 in year three. Before you feel bad that he had to take the cuts, he will retain an auto allowance, get reimbursed for up to $10,000 a year in life and disability insurance premiums and have the option to buy 150,000 shares of common stock. If that wasn't enough the deal also includes "performance units," that add up to about $700,000. Also at Emmis International, President Paul Fiddick has resigned, but he remains a director of Emmis International. K-105's Rick Hughes will call it a career with K105 at years end. Hughes has been there for more than 4 decades. Over at Citadel... Bankruptcy judge Burton Lifland will allow Citadel to continue its operation but must use its cash collateral to pay certain employee wages. Citadel has $36 million in cash on the books and projects it will have $63 million in cash in 7 weeks. 90.7 WPSR Evansville has been trying to get changes approved with the FCC. The changes had been twice challenged in 2006. The FCC now has dismissed those challenges. Sad to report that Dick Purlee passed away on December 19th. His career in radio was spent at various radio stations including WBIW and WSAL. Purlee was 67. Airdate 12/18/9 3:55pm The "Titanic" has one less passenger... Rebecca Godsey segues from sales at WBIW/WPHZ/WQRK, Bedford to sales at WVNI Spirit 95.1 in Nashville, In Airdate 12/17/9 7:17pm Some FCC news to report... the translator at 102.7 in Corydon will soon be licensed to Keith Reising. The former owner is Good Shepard Radio Inc. Mid-America Radio Group has filed for a change in their CP for a translator at 94.3 in Martinsville. EICB-TV East, LLC has filed for a CP for TV channel 19 in Evansville. The CP for WKJD 90.3 Columbus has been sold by Good Samaritan Educational Radio, Inc to the above mentioned Good Shepard Radio, Inc. As we hit 2010, the events of 2009 will have their own page and link to the left and we will start a new fresh page ready for your news and tips. Make sure to keep us in the loop in 2010. Airdate 12/15/9 11:04am After leaving RTV6 (WRTV) in October, weatherman Paul Poteet has been keeping busy. Poteet is doing a series of restaurant profiles titled "Paul Poteet's Gotta Eat". The show is on 3 Indiana stations so far. You can keep up with Paul by clicking here. Poteet left WRTV because of a disagreement in a schedule change of his shift. Airdate 12/10/9 9:37am After over two decades of servive, 7 of them in moring drive, PD Leland Franklin will exit WHBU-AM December 18th. Airdate 12/09/9 11:45am Rudy Kizer at X-103 in Indy "pays it forward". Read about it here Airdate 12/08/9 10:48am Out at B105.7 WYXB-Indy is Assistant PD/MD and afternoon talent Scott Wheeler. Wheeler has been a fixture in Indy radio for many years. Airdate 12/03/9 9:45am It was a black Monday at The Edge 820AM-WSWI in Evansville.. The University Of Southern Indiana station lost over 1,500 songs from its digital library after a glitch zapped them from the hard drive and flash drives. This past summer the station had a similar problem. Airdate 12/02/9 3:55pm A free holiday treat for you from Indiana Aiwaves. What do you get when you cross Tiger Woods and Santa Baby? Download it here, and feel free to share it or air it. We would love an email if your station uses it. Airdate 12/01/9 7:47am I94 (WRWM) flipped the on switch for "The Marco Show" yesterday. Joining him from WNOU is Melissa "Mel" McMahon. Will the Track(WNTR) go oldies? Scott "Records" Roddy joins as APD. Time will tell... Airdate 11/30/9 12:02pm Chris Nolte has left mornings at WKVB-Richmond and is inbound to Lakeshore Public Radio in Merrillville. Mornings will be filled with ESPN's Mike & Mike. Sports God (to many listeners),
JMV has left WNDE. JMV (John Michael) has stepped away
from the radio station to devote more time to his family and himself for
a indefinite Airdate 11/19/9 11:40am The transfer of the CP for 91.9 in Rushville has been held up. Miami University had applied to transfer the FM slot to Rush County Schools. A petition to deny has been filed with the FCC by Martin Hensley. Airdate 11/18/9 11:26am Nikki Roberts slides into the afternoon airchair at WMEE replacing Trina Neeley. Roberts was last with country KBQI in Albuquerque where she did wake ups. The CP for 88.1 in Lahaina is no more. Applicant, Electronic Applications Radio Service Inc. has had the application dismissed by the FCC. During a gala awards dinner at the Marriott Convention Center recognizing the Hoosier state’s best Radio and Television broadcasters, the Indiana Broadcasters Association awarded WMRS/Sunny 107.7 FM the organization’s top honor Radio Station of the Year Market 3. Kevin Page, General Manager of WMRS, accepted the award and paid tribute to his station’s passion and commitment to serving their listeners through community involvement and local programming. Page praised the station for 20 years of strong community involvement and for the friendships and partnerships developed within the community. The Indiana Broadcasters Association’s Spectrum Awards has been honoring outstanding achievements in radio and television broadcasting since 1987. Award recipients demonstrate the highest standards of reporting, community service, and production creativity. Airdate 11/16/9 11:40am Joe McConnell called his last Purdue game Saturday after 15 seasons. McConnell's resume includes working with the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers. The Radio Magic 8-Ball when asked "will the Track announce their format plans soon after Thanksgiving", said "Signs point to yes". Airdate 11/13/9 7:19am Christmas comes to Indy via 107.9/WNTR (The Track). The grapevine says what was left of the staff and programming will not return. The Track, at one time, was a great station that became cookie-cutter corporate radio crap with lame song title backsells via voice tracking. Many times the song titles were incorrect and sounded like high school radio. We'll see what Santa brings to 107.9 in about 6 weeks. In Ft Wayne, the TV(WPTA) Anchor who had a few too many has been handed her punishment. Mary Collins Frank, under a plea deal, with have charges of OWI and disregarding a signal dropped in exchange for one year of unsupervised probation. She also paid a $25.00 fine and had a loss of license of 90 days. In other words, hold out your hand so we can slap it. Airdate 11/10/9 8:22am The CP for a new NCE FM in Bloomfield has been dismissed. Good Samaritan Ed Radio had requested a license for 101.1 Airdate 11/06/9 11:27am WKVI AM/ FM, Knox has grabbed Jerry Curtis Voice Work for copywriting and production. Airdate 11/05/9 11:01am 950 AM/WXLW changes hands from Raven Broadcasting Inc to Creative Data Management Inc. XL-950 currently is sports talk. Airdate 10/29/9 4:45 pm A new report says Internet radio and podcasting will increase ad revenue by $106 million, or 137%, over the next two years reaching nearly $394 million by 2011. NASDAQ has placed Emmis back on the good guy list. Emmis closed 11 straight days trading over a dollar. Speaking of Emmis, The National Radio and Television Board has voted to cancel Emmis’ license for the 16-station Slager Radio Network. Emmis has until November 18 to shut off the oldies-based-AC network. Company reps say Emmis will take all legal action needed to keep the 11-year old network on the air. Slager revenues were off 47% in the six months ending August 2009. What will happen to the air space? The NRTB is handing the frequencies to a group of politically-connected Hungarian investors. Airdate 10/27/9 3:18 pm WMDH Muncie welcomes back Chris Chase in the mid-day airchair. The chair was vacated by Nathan Baker. Chase is no stranger in Muncie, working at one time at WLBC. In Orland, the translator at 95.5 gets a new owner. Northeast Indiana Broadcasting picks it up from Family Stations Inc. Entercom/Indianapolis General Manager Jennifer Scott is now also watching over their Sales Department after DOS Steve Hartley left the building. Airdate 10/21/9 8:55am WNDY-TV23 adds 13 Butler Bulldogs basketball games to their line up. Anthony Calhoun will team with Butler radio analyst Ralph Reiff on the telecasts. John "Records" Landecker is no longer at WIMS. Landecker said "Working there was the most fun I have had in radio in years…I was not fired. I did not quit. No doors were closed no bridges were burned." Emmis is back above the dollar a share mark as you may have noticed to the left on our page. They have a 5 day trend of this under their belt and halfway to keeping their listing on NASDAQ. Rush County Schools have picked up the CP for 91.9 WMUI for $2000.00 Airdate 10/15/9 10:57am WHJE-Carmel gets some nice press via The Indy Star. Get the whole story here Trends are in for Indy via Arbitron. See how your favorite set of call letters did by clicking here. Airdate 10/12/9 11:34am Emmis Communications has reported a 26.5% drop in revenues for its fiscal second quarter to $67.8 million from 92.7 million a year earlier. Station operating income fell 50.1% from $27.1 million. Emmis posted a net loss of $135.6 million, compared to net earnings of $1.2 million in the previous year-ago period. A memo was sent to the staff and said the following... Dear Emmis employees, This morning, we're reporting financial results for the second fiscal quarter, covering June, July and August. The good news is that, although the problems with the economy, turmoil in our industries and our own bumps in the road have demanded a lot of attention, we do have improvements to report. Before I talk about our progress, though, I want to put to rest some concerns you might have. First, there's the issue of NASDAQ delisting. I understand that merely being put on notice is unsettling, but I am confident that we have the time and means to avoid delisting. Because the trigger for delisting is months away, we believe improvements in our business could drive our stock price up in time to prevent delisting. However, if the market does not respond to our progress as we expect, we can address the problem through other means over which we have more direct control. Emmis will remain a NASDAQ firm. Second, today we're filing SEC documents restating our earnings from our last fiscal year and from the first quarter of this fiscal year. Certainly, "restating our earnings" sounds ominous, but our restatement solely relates to a noncash technical tax issue that has no impact on our operations. While there might be big numbers involved and a lot of paperwork being filed, I don't see anything to worry about.So, that leaves the good news. For the last few months, we've seen sequential improvements in our domestic radio performance. While we're still behind year-to-year, we're making gains. In Q1, we were down 27 percent from the previous year; in Q2, we were down 22 percent - still negative, but an improvement. And we see continued improvements ahead. In fact, we think that, within a few months, we could see our first positive numbers since April of 2008. What's driving this trend? Improvements in all of our markets. Notably, our clusters in Chicago, St, Louis, Indianapolis and Austin outperformed their markets in Q2. New York is building steam, and with significant ratings improvements we expect both New York and LA to improve in the coming months. Specific bright spots include Indy's WIBC, which earned another Marconi Award, and Chicago's WLUP and New York's WRXP, which both are showing major ratings and revenue improvements. Publishing and International continue to face big challenges - with major advertisers particularly hard hit by the global economic slowdown - and they continue to work hard to meet and overcome those challenges. One hopeful note on the horizon is that, as GM and Chrysler emerge from bankruptcy, we expect them to rely on advertising to position and push their respective brands. Other automakers, including Toyota, have already announced major marketing campaigns for later this year. Automotive is still a major category for all our business units and we expect this category to rebound in the months to come. So, I guess my central message is this: Don't let the small challenges distract you from our big mission. As a company, we continue to manage our debt, maintain compliance with our banks and reduce expenses. What we need you to do is continue to work hard, manage your budgets and look for ways to win. The past year has been the most difficult I've experienced, but I do see better times ahead. Certainly, we can't relax. We've got to keep fighting, innovating and surviving. But we are making gains. Not long ago, I said that together we could emerge from these difficult times ready for new opportunities. Now, thanks to your good work, I can say, together, we're showing steady improvement toward that goal. Thank you. - Jeff Former WQLK-Richmond PD Phil O' Reilly now calls WNWN-FM Kalamazoo home.He is the new APD and will do mornings. The FCC is rejecting a petition filed to cancel Spryex Communications' license for WCIX, Versailles, after it offered to sell the construction permit to Sacred Heart Radio at a profit. LPFM's cannot be sold at a profit but it's still perfectly legal for owners of noncommercial full-powers to make money on their deals. Airdate 10/9/9 7:59am Jeanette Dillon, news director for Northeast Indiana Public Radio Inc., is leaving the air in mid-November to become chief external officer for the Fort Wayne Women’s Bureau. Dillon, who hosts NPR’s Morning Edition on Fort Wayne public radio station WBOI, 89.1 FM will become part of a three-person leadership team at the non-profit dedicated to empowering women. Her first day will be Nov. 16. Shares of Emmis Communications topped the $1.00 on Tuesday. The shares closed at 99 cents, up 32 cents, or about 48%, on heavy volume. Hoosier Broadcasting Corp has sold WCBN- 91.5, Lebanon to Indiana Community Radio Corp. Backyard Broadcasting has sold WURK 101.7, Elwood to Educational Media Foundation for $750,000. WTLC's Amos Brown has been named co-chair of a a local committee designed to help bring a complete count during the April 2010 national census. In 2007, the FCC issued a $7,000 fine against an Indiana high school for operating a station (WJHS) without a proper license. Columbia City High School decided to fight the fine. It’s been two years since Columbia City High School appealed the FCC fine. Last week the school district received word that the FCC has rejected their appeal of the fine. The school plans to appeal again. The appeal will be based upon two facts ...the district doesn’t have other FCC violations and that it has limited funds available. Airdate 9/30/9 11:47am It appears the application has been acepted for filing to move WZKF from Salem to Prospect, KY. The station will also go from a Class B 50kw station to a Class C2 42.5kw station. I don't think many were surprised to see that Bob Richards was named OM of Emmis Radio's 4-station group in Indianapolis. He is no stranger to Indy, Richards started his radio career in Indianapolis as parttime air talent with WFMS in 1994. Richards served as PD of WFMS-FM and OM of the Cumulus' cluster. Speaking of WFMS, Vicki Murphy grabs the PD chair there. She will continue doing mid-days. She replaces Bob Richards who left the post in the first quarter of 2009. Airdate 9/25/9 3:08pm Emmis' Talk WIBC-FM/Indianapolis has won the Large Market Station of the Year award, at the 2009 NAB Marconi Radio Awards, part of the NAB Radio Show Thursday night in Philadelphia. The awards are given to radio stations and outstanding on-air personalities to recognize excellence in radio. An independent task force selected finalists and ballots were sent to members of the NAB Marconi Radio Awards Selection Academy in August. The ballots were tabulated by an independent accounting firm. He was the CE at WASK-AM/FM for almost four decades. George Williamson died Tuesday at 76. He began working at WASK in 1960 and was later part-owner of Lafayette Broadcasting, Inc. He retired from radio in 1998. Airdate 9/24/9 11:51am The Art Of The Matter on WFYI-FM marks 10 years tomorrow. WFYI will offer a special anniversary broadcast at 8 p.m. Friday. In their 10 year span, they have featured studio interviews with more than 1,700 people connected to the arts. Airdate 9/23/9 11:07am The Equality Broadcasting Network has filed for a CP for TV Channel 2 in Ft. Wayne. 102.3 in Auburn (WGBJ) is now Power 102.3 with a CHR format in place. Airdate 9/21/9 11:45am Official notifcation has been given to Emmis Communications by NASDAQ that the Company's Class A Common Stock had closed below the minimum $1 per share bid requirement for 30 consecutive business days and therefore is not in compliance with NASDAQ Marketplace Rule the "Minimum Bid Rule". Emmis has until mid March of 2010 to comply with the rule. The stock must close at $1 per share or more for 10 consecutive business days before the March date to be back in the good graces of NASDAQ. Spirit Of Prayer Ministries Inc has applied for a construction permit for TV channel 5 in Terre Haute. Fans of Delores 'Sugar' Poindexter , a one time Sunday moring staple on WTLC, are greving her death at 77 from colon cancer. Poindexter, for 24 years played the soul touching tunes and took prayer requests. Although she had been off the air for years, WTLC listeners spent a full afternoon last week remembering her. Weasel is out at
WJFX, Ft. Wayne where he was doing afternoons. Email him if you
have a gig open at weaselshow@aol.com Airdate 9/15/9 7:41am DTV Ammerica 1, LLC has filed for CPs for TV Channels 14,15,24,25, 26,27,31, 32,33 and 43 in Evansville. It appears the oldies format on WKLU/101.9 is history today about 2pm. The grapevine says the staff will be allowed a proper sign off. Roll your favorite media and catch it! Any bets on what song will be the last? Airdate 9/14/9 11:17amSpirit Of Prayer Ministries has applied for a CP for TV Channel 50 in Ft. Wayne. Airdate 9/11/9 7:48pm Colleen Condron, Program Director, has departed Northeast Indiana Public Radio (WBOI-WBNI) in Fort Wayne to pursue other interests. NIPR is looking for a Program Director. Get your stuff ASAP to General Manager Joan Brown, 3204 Clairmont Ct. Fort Wayne, IN 46898 WWWY(Y106) in Columbus adds Envision Radio's "The Rockin' 80's" Mandy Fritz of LaOtto, representing WCDQ/Crawfordsville, won the 28th Annual Colgate Country Showdown Indiana State Final. She took home $1,000. Fritz will compete in the Northeast Regional at Marietta High School in October to determine if she will advance to the national final. The five regional winners from across the country will receive an all- expense-paid trip to Nashville to compete for $100,000 and the title of Best New Act in Country Music. The national final will air nationwide on syndicated television in 2010. Airdate 9/10/9 7:37am Radio Now/WNOU, adds Mel McMahon for weekends. McMahon had once worked for Radio Now when it was an Emmis property. She also was at Traffic.com Jennifer Skjodt is named VP/General Manager of Entercom's WZPL-FM, WNTR-FM and WXNT-AM in Indianapolis. She'll join them on the 14th. She was GM at WKLU and has also worked for Susquehanna Broadcasting and Cumulus Media Partners in the past. She fills the opening left by Phil Hoover who announced his retirement a few weeks ago Connersville Apostolic Lighthouse Inc has sold the CP for 89.7/WKWH to Hoosier Public Radio Corp. The CP is licensed to Liberty, Indiana. Airdate 9/4/9 7:50pm Drew Carey from the Bob & Tom Radio Network reminds I.A. that while The Bob & Tom Show isn't a broadcast station…they are a broadcast entity that's been based in Indianapolis at WFBQ-FM for the past 26 years... so we add them to our RAB finalists for Marconi Radio Awards list Bob & Tom - Network Syndicated Personality of the Year Thanks Drew for the reminder. Airdate 9/3/9 4:22pm Farid Suleman,Citadel Broadcasting CEO, says the company might not be able to meet terms and conditions with lenders that become effective in January. "All options are on the table," including prepackage bankruptcy, debt restructuring, and another amendment to the company's credit agreement. Citadel also skipped a $2 million interest payment on subordinated debt due August 15. A payment made before September 15 will keep them from default.Citadel has $27.8 million in cash, but more than $2 billion in debt. Mary Collins of Indiana’s NewsCenter’s morning newscast on WPTA-TV 21Alive, was released from the Allen County Jail on Monday in connection with a drunken-driving charge. She was was stopped for operating while intoxicated. The NAB announced the finalists for Marconi Radio Awards honoring radio stations and on-air personalities for excellence in broadcasting. The winners will be announced on Sept. 24 at the NAB Marconi Radio Awards Dinner and Show held during the NAB Radio Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Stations in Indiana include: Legendary Station WSBT-AM, South Bend Large Market Station of the Year -WIBC-FM, Indianapolis Large Market Personality of the Year -Jim Denny, Deborah Honeycutt and Kevin Freeman, WFMS-FM Indianapolis and Terri Stacy, WIBC-FM Indianapolis AC Station of the Year - WNSN-FM,South Bend Country Station of the Year- WKDQ-FM, Evansville Airdate 9/2/9 11:28am For Sale Classical WBNI-FM (94.1), WCKZ-FM (91.3) and FM translator station W204BF (88.7). WBNI, is a class A commercial outlet (3.4 kw), WCKZ is a class A non-commercial station (2kw). W204BF, Fort Wayne, IN, is a non-commercial FM translator operating with .01 kw and is currently simulcasting WBNI-FM. Got $2.5 million... they can be yours. Media Services Group broker Bob Heymann is the man to talk to. You can take all three or work a deal for the stations that work best for you.
Airdate 8/24/9 5:40pm It appears that WSBT TV will not buy WBND-TV (ABC 57), WCWW-TV (The CW 25) and WMYS-TV (My Network TV) from Weigel Broadcasting Co. The contract to buy the stations had a one year time limit on it. The FCC did not approve the sale within a year. It is unknown if WSBT TV will try the deal again. Indianapolis IT firm Apparatus has agreed to buy the former WFYI office and studios on N. Meridian St. WFYI moved out last year when it took over the former Indiana Gas location at Meridian and 16th. Dave Martin has some words worth reading for those in sales. Read his thoughts here WTRC's new website has changed from am1340.com to hippyradio1340.com Airdate 8/18/9 11:45am If you know anything about the history of WTRC-Elkhart, you know over the years music comes and goes. At some point Friday, music will be back again. Music of the 1960s and early '70s will replace talk show programs featuring Sean Hannity, Clark Howard and others. "News Radio 1340" has already become "Hippie Radio 1340: Radio for Baby Boomers" on business cards, and some advertisers have been given advance notice. Fox News updates, Michiana News Channel news and local weather will be part of the morning drive at the top and bottom of each hour. During afternoon and evening programming, in addition to syndicated political talk shows, 1340 will also forego coverage of regional sports. Elkhart County football and basketball games remain, but Cubs games, IU basketball games, Colts games and Indy Racing League events are out. Gary Sieber will remain as the voice of the morning show. Allen Strike and Bill Darwin are retiring. Airdate 8/14/9 11:55am The FCC will be paying an EEO audit visit to a few stations in Indiana. Wonder what they would catch if they didn't announce their visits? What ever happened to the real FCC? See the list here The CP for WCIX-FM in Versailles has ben sold by Spryex Communications Inc. to Sacred Heart Radio for $45,000. The Bear-WBRB in South Bend wants to make Rock Day a regular part of Michiana. Get the scoop here Airdate 8/13/9 5:46pm Richard M. "Dick" Hill, 84, died Wednesday at his home in Fountaintown. Throughout high school, he was employed as an engineer with WISH Radio and WIRE. There will be no services. Friends may sign the online guestbook at www.erleweinmortuary.com Airdate 8/12/9 11:32am Entercom-Indy VP/Market Manager Phil Hoover has announced his retirement after nine years with the company and 45 years in the radio industry. Entercom President/CEO David Field said, "Phil has done an extraordinary job for Entercom in several markets and while most recently responsible for leading our Indianapolis cluster, we will always remember Phil's leadership of Entercom New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Under Phil's leadership our Entercom team in New Orleans provided award-winning and life-saving coverage of the storm and its devastating aftermath on the Crescent City." Prior to joining Entercom, Hoover served as President/General Manager for Saga Communications in Iowa and Illinois. He began his broadcasting career in 1964 with WCOL-AM & FM/Columbus, OH. The Evansville ARB is in, see how your favorite station did by clicking here WANE-TV has announced the expansion of its mobile offerings to include a new application for BlackBerry smartphones. This mobile application is the latest addition to NewsChannel 15’s fully synchronized television and digital offerings that are available free of charge at www.WANE.com. “As more of our viewers are integrating their phones into their everyday lives, NewsChannel 15 is right there with them,” said Internet Content Manager Joe Carroll. “Now more of our viewers can have the power of Coverage You Can Count On wherever they go." Airdate 8/10/9 11:46am The Auburn Arts Commission Inc. recognized Jane Kempf for her work as a journalist and author, presenting her with its Medal of Arts award. Kempf who is 81, became the first news director at WIFF Radio in Auburn 44 years ago. Rain didn't keep people from flocking to the World Pulse Festival. About 40,000 attended the annual Christian concert. The event draws people from across the country and is broadcast live over the Internet, radio and television to millions worldwide. The LeSea Broadcasting Network has hosted the event in South Bend for 23 years. Get the scoop on the Ft. Wayne ARB by clicking here Airdate 8/4/9 12:12pm Over 2000 people toured the new WSBT TV-Radio facility in Mishawaka. Get the full story here Airdate 7/30/9 11:33am Just fresh into Lafayette, Mike Shamus, the new OM, fills Mark Allen's spot as PD/Morning Co-host at WKOA-FM. Airdate 7/28/9 6:00pmWe have updated our links page A man who climbed a couple of hundred feet in the air on a WSBT transmitter tower is back on the ground and in handcuffs. A WSBT engineer said that if the man had gone a couple of hundred feet higher, he would have reached the Sunny 101.5 FM antenna and several thousands volts* of power, which could obviously be deadly. (*one would think watts) The man also climbed the WSBT tower on Aug. 12, 1989. Get the story here. The new General Manager at Continental Broadcast Group/Indianapolis overseeing Regional Mexican outlets WEDJ-FM and WSYW-AM is Bart Johnson. Johnson was GM of crosstown Oldies WLKU-FM until its was acquired by Educational Media Foundation . Before KLU, Johnson spent a decade in sales at WTTS-FM. Johnson is also a past president of Radio Broadcasters of Indianapolis. Airdate 7/27/9 11:14am Mike Shamus joins Schurz Communications in Lafayette, as Operations Manager. Shamus was last at KXMZ in Rapid City, SD. Some have reasons to celebrate the Terre Haute ARB...view them here. Get ready for the next FCC FM auction on Sept 1. If you need help falling asleep you can view the list here (PDF) Airdate 7/23/9 11:30am Jon Quick is partners with legendary Chicago air personality John "Records" Landecker for The Q Consulting Guys, a new consulting service. Quick most recently programmed Emmis' News/Talk WIBC-AM. One of the new consultancy's offerings are a "State of the Station" report that includes a detailed inspection report and analysis. South Bend Arb's are in... some surprises and some not too surprising results.
Airdate 7/20/9 3:55pm Please keep Marty "Party Marty" Combs and his family in your prayers. Marty lost his son Josh last week. Josh was just 10. From 6pm-7pm, The Crock 92.7, WBOW 102.7, WAXI 104.9, ESPN 1130 and ESPN 1300 will simulcast, taking donations to help the family and cover expenses. First Financial Bank in the Terre Haute area is also handling an account set up for same. You can see Josh's obit here . Airdate 7/14/9 11:34am It appears the former home of WFYI has been sold. The sale of the building in the 1400 block of North Meridian Street is contingent on the buyer ensuring the building fits its space and budgetary needs. The buyer won't be divulged until the sale is final. Airdate 7/12/9 8:12pm At WEDJ-FM and WYSE-AM, GM Russ Dodge and WEDJ OM/Marketing Manager Stephanie Tatay-Myers have left the building. Another voice from the radio scene has left us.
Earl Finckle has passed away. He worked out of suburban Chicago, but for listeners who received their daily weather reports from WOWO-AM 1190, he was as important a part of their day. With radio stations in Chicago and as far away as Orlando and Maryland depending on his forecasts, Mr. Finckle would wake up at 3 a.m. to prepare his predictions and begin calling in forecasts peppered with colorful "Earlisms. The 81-year-old Finckle died of heart and kidney failure at a suburban Chicago hospital.
SOLD! WKLU to Educational Media Foundadtion for about $6 million dollars. About 5 million for the license and the rest for the building/studio assets. Airdate 7/08/9 1:50am For fans of WOWO check out a great website historyofwowo.com People in and out of the biz are remembering one
of the nice guys. Tom Severino passed away Sunday at a young 57. In just 5 short months, lung cancer took him. He was a VP/GM at Emmis in charge of WIBC-FM , WLHK-FM, WFNI-AM , WYXB-FM and Network Indiana. CEO Jeff Smulyan said in an announcement to staffers "Tom fought a courageous battle with cancer, and his passing is hard for all of us to comprehend. His family was with him at the end, and his last hours were free of the pain that he courageously endured for these last months". He had been with Emmis 15 years. Those wishing to remember Tom will gather from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Emmis HQ, in Indy. Airdate 7/06/9 11:03am The Colts 10 home games will also be broadcast in Spanish this season. The broadcasts will be aired on WEDJ-FM and WSYW-AM, with Armando Quintera as the play-by-play announcer. Airdate 7/03/9 9:47am UPDATE:Warm 93.9 is now a hit music station. 940 songs in a row welcomes I-94. After a (way too long and poorly edited) church bell SFX, and a NASA like countdown, followed by a montage of pop artists saying hello, the station launched this morning. The new website is I94hits.com A change is coming to Warm in Indy today at 9:40. Many believe the time points to the use of 94, moving away from their digital slogan. It's been 18 months since the last format change. Two staffers have hit the street and one has been hired due to the change. One wonders how hard it really could be to move the station from #21 in the market(?)... maybe hire real radio pros and let them make radio fun again. More details later this morning... Even though the event happened in Michigan, this is good reading... check it out by clicking here Airdate 6/26/9 11:33am WZRP, Richmond has been sold for $200,000 to Educational Media Foundation by Christian Voice of Central Ohio, Inc. The station is at 89.3, a B1 at 4200 watts. The station was picked up in 2007 by CVOCO, and was part of The Promise Radio Network.
Airdate 6/23/9 11:22am A pastor with a connection to a Ft. Wayne radio station has been arrested on three charges of dealing cocaine. Rev. Curtis White III was served a warrant at his hotel room on Bluffton Road. Police found 6.6 grams of crack cocaine in the room and 6.5 grams of crack cocaine secreted in a body cavity of Mr. White. White has been Sunday morning host of the Gospel Train Unity Inspirational Hour on 102.9 The River. He paid for the time on WGL. Airdate 6/22/9 11:41am Jerry Curtis Voice Work, based in Indianapolis, is now providing voice, copy and production service to WSVX Shelbyville. Reising Radio Partners are picking up WXCH (Eagle 99.3), Hope from Wagon Wheel Broadcasting LLC for $200,000. WZKF-Salem is asking the FCC to to specify use of a directional antenna at a new location and a “one step” change of class. This application will also effectuate a change of community, modifying the community of license to Prospect, Kentucky. Read more by clicking here Kevin Freeman, of WFMS, gets some nice ink in the Star. Read it here In Shoals, the on again, off again CP for 90.7, is under reconsideration by the FCC after a petition has been filed by The Cedar Ridge Fellowship, the applicant. Airdate 6/18/9 11:18am The News Director at WISH-TV, Kevin Finch is leaving the position after 2 1/2 years (6 total years at WISH). Finch is joining Calamari Productions in about 2 weeks. Airdate 6/15/9 11:55am WIMS has added John "Records" Landecker from 3p-6p weekdays. WITT-Zionsville, has been granted their license for 91.9 from the FCC. Congats to Richard Bassett, celebrating 50 years of marriage to his wife Janet this month. Bassett was employed for several years as chief engineer for WAWK radio station and retired from Triax Cablevision where he was plant manager. Is Clear Channel finished??? Check out one view by clicking here Airdate 6/10/9 2:46pm Peter Noble-Kuchera, the movie critic for WFIU and The Herald-Times has passed away at 38. He began reviewing movies for WFIU in 2003. James M. “Jim” Schurz, died today in Williamsport, Md. Schurz, 76, was part of the family that started Schurz Communications Inc., which includes newspapers and radio and TV stations across the country. He was a a senior vice president and member of the board of directors. Jim Schurz had been ill for some time. He died with his wife, Mary Ann, at his side, his family said. Todd Schurz, president and CEO of the company, is the son of Jim Schurz. Starting June 22nd Emmis stations WFNI-AM, WIBC-FM, WLHK-FM and WYXB-FM will be streaming under a new platform with StreamTheWorld. Emmis has formed a strategic alliance with StreamTheWorld, a streaming technology and services company, and Internet ratings company Ando Media for real-time audience measurement and ad management software. In case you missed the Indy ARB (trend), you can check it out by clicking here Airdate 6/8/9 10:00am BLS Entertainment has purchased WEOA-AM Evansville from South Central Communications Corp for $175,000. The station at 1400 is Urban AC at 1000 watts fulltime. Airdate 6/5/9 8:33am
This one is quite a story. A CP (a very old CP) application has
been dismissed for 105.5 in LaGrange. The original CP was issued to Dawn
Marie Price and expired in 1987. It appears she sold/transfered
the CP but never filed the paperwork. After all this time someone was
trying to build it and not in LaGrange. The current "owner"
was denied the CP. The FCC responded... License to modify was dismissed
6/2/2009 via public notice only (no letter sent). The only station construction
permit expired 5/25/1987 and this Airdate 6/4/9 11:44am It's a sad day as R&R closes their doors. I remember back before the Internet, trying to get a turn to read R&R as it made they way to the jock lounge. After almost 40 years, it is no more. Maybe giving up the printed version and keeping the web version might have been a better idea. Sorry to see you go old friend, you will be missed. Broadcaster Bob Nagle will be honored next spring by the St. Joe Valley Chapter of the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. Nagle was nominated and received approval for induction by the Past President’s Committee of the Indiana Football Coaches Association and by the Hall of Fame Committee in Richmond. They will be honored at a banquet to be held in May 2010. Nagle is being recognized for his contributions to football. He has spent over 30 years in radio and television coverage of high school sports, including football. He joins Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz and player and assistant coach Mark Ward in the honor in May. Airdate 6/1/9 11:36am After 20 years with Emmis, Dave Newcomer has left to explore other opportunities. Dave was SVP/CFO of the radio division. And also heading out the door after 6 years is WKOA-FM PD Mark Allen. Mark points his GPS unit towards ND country and lands as the PD of WBYT-FM-South Bend as of July 1. Clint Marsh, who Allen replaces grabbed the GM desk late last year at Fed-Med. Calvery Chapel of Terre Haute has been granted a CP for 90.1 in Hymera. A translator in Princeton at 97.7 has been sold to DLC Media Inc, by Horizon Christian Fellowship. Shannon In The Morning And Deb of The Oldies Channel.com/Comcast TV14 were part of the winning team that took the championship win at the Bedford Braingames 8 last week. The team defeated a two time champion team and won $300.00. The money was given back to the Lawrence County Museum, who hosts this annual event. Airdate 5/27/9 11:01am You can't keep a good guy down... Dave Michaels is back full time at WQHK/WMEE in Ft. Wayne. Dave was on the mend after being hospitalized following a hit-and-run accident in March, where he was critically injured. Former WWCA-Gary staffer Neenah Ellis has been named General Manager of WYSO, the Yellow Springs, OH public radio outlet. Side note... Her husband - Noah Adams - hosts NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Emmis has axed the Labor Day weekend fireworks show it has sponsored for 26 years, after it was unable to attract co-sponsors. This came just a week after Emmis reported a fourth-quarter loss of $158 million. Airdate 5/26/9 8:00am Fort Wayne’s WBOI, Northeast Indiana Public Radio, adds Bill Forsythe as jazz host every other Friday night sharing with host Bruce Riedenbach. Former Friday night host Dennis Grigar moves to Monday nights 7 – 11 p.m. Forsythe formerly worked at WEZV. He is been called WOWO's last link to the station's illustrious past. Legendary Fort Wayne radio announcer Bob Chase is retiring after 56 years June 1st. But don't worry, he will be back in October to begin his 57th season calling Fort Wayne Komets minor league hockey games. While at WOWO Chase has been a real team player. He has worked as a disc jockey, as well as in sport news, programming and promotions. Airdate 5/22/9 11:30am Indiana now joins 15 other states in adopting "Sliver Alerts". These are designed to find missing elderly people. make sure to check with your CE for an update to your EAS box. Sunday from 7-10pm WSND will air a special tribute to Brother Pedro Haering. Pedro was a major part of the station for about 20 years. Pedro had originally selected the music to be aired upon his return to the show following an illness, but he never became well enough to finish the program and died in October of 2008, at age 85. That selected music will be featured in this show. Airdate 5/21/9 11:47am Bob Vizza is getting back to work at WKOA. The MD/Afternoon driver will slowly ease back into the airchair after open heart surgery. For now he'll do one day a week and Gary Michaels the Production Director at KOA will voicetrack the other days. Airdate 5/19/9 5:40pm Inbound to WNOU is Riggs. He will be APD and will handle imaging and nights starting May 26. He fills the spot left by Austin who went to WFJX. Starting June 1, Tom Berg returns to the
airwaves as host of "All Request Summer Nights-The Greatest Hits
of All Time by Request" on WKLU-FM, Oldies 101.9. The show
will run from 7p-Midnight and Tom is ready to take YOUR requests. Airdate 5/13/9 11:34am WKOA's Farm Director Skip Davis hangs up the cans after 27 years at the station. We wish Skip a relaxing retirement. According to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers media usage study, most radio listeners’ time spent on radio news averages under 10 minutes. Compare that to about 43 minutes for TV and 15 minutes online. Newspaper readers share 33 minutes a day with the paper. Google is kicking radio to the curb. Google has struck out with radio. A Google spokeswoman said it had “devoted substantial resources” into developing radio and print ads but the resulting products “didn’t have the impact we had hoped for.” Mel Phillips shares his take (click here) It appears Darren Tandy will land at HANK-FM in Indy by fall. Tandy is ready to go as soon as his non-compete expires. Sunday will mark the start of our 4th year of Indiana
Airwaves©. With about 70,000 visits under our belt, we thank
those who make us part of their day. Thank you and also to those who Twitter
with us. While there isn't a breaking story every single day, we've tried
to share information on a regular timely basis. Thanks again for your
visits and look for more things to happen here soon. Airdate 5/7/9 11:11am WLDE-Ft. Wayne adds Tom Kent's “The Ultimate Party” and “My 70s Show” for Saturday and Sunday night from 7p to 12a. Kent has added 162 affiliates in 13 months. The IBA has announced their 2009 Hall Of Fame. They include Richard "Dick" Baldwin, Tom Cochrun, David Goodnow, Jimmy Mack (Jimmy McDowell), Morrie Mannies, and Anne Ryder. Read more by clicking here. Northeast Indiana Public Radio will host the 21st annual World Wine Tasting at the Grand Wayne Center in downtown Fort Wayne tomorrow from 6 to 9 p.m. And from the Can you tell me what happened to... department. Many remember him from the days when U93 (WNDU-FM then) ruled the ratings book, J.K. Dearing. Joel has recently left Sovereign City Communications and joined VirtualNewsCenter as Vice President/Affiliate Relations. Congrats to Joel! Airdate 5/5/9 11:22am Cumulus Media Inc. will host a conference call on Monday, May 11 at 4:30PM ET to review the Company’s first quarter 2009 financial results. The call will be open to the general public on a listen only basis. The conference call dial-in number is 888-747-4681. Airdate 5/4/9 11:33am Getting back to work, on a part time basis is Dave Michaels at WMEE and WQHK in Ft Wayne. Dave is on the mend after that recent car accident. The Indianapolis Business Journal reports Emmis Communications Corp. has reduced its debt by more than $69 million by repurchasing some of its term loans for a little more than half of face value. IBJ also says that Emmis amended the terms of its credit agreements last March, so it could spend up to $50 million to buy back debt. Emmis also borrowed $71 million last month, "primarily for liquidity," said COO Patrick Walsh. While Yellow pages and newspaper companies fell into bankruptcy and radio and television station revenues grinded to a halt, web growth for radio grew 16.4% to $220 million in 2008. This versus $189 million in 2007. Borrell Associates expects local web revenue to grow 26% in 2009 to $277 million in local online advertising. Airdate 4/30/9 11:46am The Emmis’ Corporate Family rating has been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service to Caa2 from Caa1 and changing its Probability of Default rating to Caa3/LD from Caa2. About $590 million in Emmis' rated debt is affected. The company's credit rating is still considered "negative."
Copyright © 2009 Arbitron Inc. May not be quoted or reproduced without the prior written permission of Arbitron. What will be the fate of WDND 1490 in South Bend. This poor, little listened to station, has been made silent by AMP. Listeners (a very few) of 1620 AM, have had to go through several format and call letter changes and now the loss of their CNN audio. (1620 has been at the bottom of the pile since dropping the Radio Hollywood format) The sports format(once again)and South Bend Silver Hawks games will now air on 1620. The timetable for the return of 1490 is very open. Three months to a year, according to AMP. My guess is never, but we'll see. The first question that comes to mind, is why wasn't this done before it was too late? It is not like ND came to them and said, oh by the way, tomorrow we'll be building on your site. My money is on the return of the 1490 license to the FCC, and I am hoping they prove me wrong. Airdate 4/29/9 7:59am
Chevy Smith is no longer with WOWO. Airdate 4/28/9 2:54pm The Supreme Court ruled today in favor of a government policy that threatens broadcasters with fines over the use of even a single curse word on live television, yet stopped short of deciding whether the policy violates the Constitution. In 6 separate opinions totalling 69 pages, the justices had serious concerns about the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's "fleeting expletives" policy, but called on a federal appeals court to weigh whether it violates First Amendment guarantees. Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps called the decision "a big win for America's families." Copps said the "decision should reassure parents that their children can still be protected from indecent material on the nation's airwaves." The FCC changed its long-standing policy after it concluded that a one-free-expletive rule did not make sense in the context of keeping the air waves free of indecency when children are likely to be watching television. An application has been made to transfer 3 translators from Horizon Christian Fellowship to The Original Company Inc. The translators involved include 94.1 Washington, 100.3 Sullivan and 96.5 Huntingburg. Airdate 4/27/9 7:14pm Congratulations to the winners of the Society of Professional Journalists chapter's annual Best in Indiana Journalism contest. BEST TELEVISION SPOT NEWS Indianapolis market only First place: Kimberly King, Adam Bartels, Bayette George, WXIN Second place: Russ McQuaid and Shaun Murphy, WXIN Third place: Jack Rinehart, Brad Forestal, Eldon Wheeler and the 6News Team, WRTV Outside Indianapolis market First place: WANE-TV Staff BEST RADIO SPOT NEWS First place: WFIU News Team BEST TELEVISION FEATURE Indianapolis market only First place: Angela Ganote and James Suiter, WXIN Second place: Vincent Manganello and Andy Young, WFYI Third place: Aric Hartwig and Brian Paul, WFYI Outside Indianapolis market First place: Alana Greenfogel and John Duong, WNDU Second place: Alana Greenfogel and John Duong, WNDU Third place: Mark Peterson and Eric Walton, WNDU BEST RADIO FEATURE First place: Daniel Robison, WFIU Second place: Adam Schwartz, WFIU BEST TELEVISION GENERAL NEWS Indianapolis market only First place: Kristina Kirschner and Greg Wilkerson, WTHR Second place: Rachel Hardy and Richard Essex, WTHR Third place: Julie Loncich and Aaron Strader, WXIN Outside Indianapolis market First place: Jane Santucci and Trevor Keller, WTHI BEST TELEVISION CONTINUING COVERAGE Indianapolis market only First place: 24 Hour News 8 Staff, WISH Second place: Kara Brooks and Mickey Edwards, WXIN Third place: Rafael Sanchez, Tom Sisler, Susan Batt, Jason Scheuer, WRTV Outside Indianapolis market First place: Terra Brantley, Pat Hoffmann, Ron Harmeyer, Kyle Graf and April McCampbell, WANE Second place: WTHI Staff Third place: WANE Staff BEST RADIO CONTINUING COVERAGE First place: Brian Beaver, Indiana Public Radio Second place: Stan Jastrzebski and Daniel Robison, WFIU Third place: WFIU Newsteam BEST TELEVISION INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING Indianapolis market only First place: Jeremy Brilliant and Steve Starnes, WTHR Second place: Karen Hensel, Loni Smith McKown and David Hodge, WISH Third place: Bob Segall, Bill Ditton, Holly Stephen, Toby Capion, WTHR Outside Indianapolis market First place: Joe Stoll, WTHI Second place: Lindsay DeWitte and Kyle Graf, WANE Third place: Drew Blair and Trae Hester, WANE BEST TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY OR SPECIAL Indianapolis market only First place: Samuel Orr, WFYI Second place: Judy O'Bannon, Gary Harrison, Mike Jenson, WFYI Third place: Deshong Perry-Smitherman, Andrea Morehead, and Scott Allen, WTHR Outside Indianapolis market First place: Lakeshore Public Television Second place: Patrice Dayton and John Limm, WTHI Third place: Mark Mellinger, Megan Stembol, and Brian Greenwalt, WANE BEST RADIO DOCUMENTARY First place: Steve Walsh, vocalo.org Second place: Daniel Robison, WFIU BEST RADIO PUBLIC AFFAIRS First place: Steve Walsh and Navraaz Basati, vocalo.org Second place: Robin Amer, Dan Weissmann, Luis Perez, and Chuck Williams, vocalo.org Third place: Tony Krabill, Jeanette Dillon, Adam Ragusea, Marianne Holland, Mary Hartnett, Mike Loizzo, Stephanie Wiechmann and Andrew Yeager, Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations BEST RADIO USE OF SOUND First place: Stan Jastrzebski, Adam Ragusea, and Daniel Robison, WFIU BEST RADIO WRITING First place: Daniel Robison, WFIU Second place: Stan Jastrzebski, WFIU Third place: Daniel Robison, WFIU BEST TELEVISION SPORTS REPORTING Indianapolis market only First place: Jeremiah Johnson and Sam Kobliska, WXIN Third place: Karen Hensel and David Hodge, WISH Outside Indianapolis market First place: Jamison Coyle, WTHI Second place: Ann Shea and Jason Pear, WTIU BEST TELEVISION ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE Indianapolis market only First place: 24-Hour News 8 Staff, WISH Outside Indianapolis market First place: None Second place: Susan Dinkel / WTHI-TV 10 Staff Third place: WANE-TV Staff BEST RADIO ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE First place: WFIU News Team Second place: Volunteers and staff of Vocalo.org BEST COVERAGE OF CHILDREN'S ISSUES Any radio station First place: Stan Jastrzebski, WFIU Any television station First place: Rafael Sanchez, Tom Sisler, Susan Batt, WRTV Second place: Derrick Wilkerson, WXIN Third place: Rich Van Wyk, WTHR BEST COVERAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT Any radio station First place: Marianne Holland, Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations Any television station First place: Bob Segall, Bill Ditton, Steve Rhodes, WTHR Second place: Steve Bray, WISH Third place: Jennifer Carmack, Paul Chiodo, WRTV BEST MEDICAL/SCIENCE REPORTING Any radio station First place: Mary Hartnett, Colleen Iudice, Marianne Holland, and Sandy Roob, WFYI Any television station First place: Samuel Orr, WFYI Second place: Alyssa Ivanson, WANE Third place: Bob Segall and Bill Ditton, WTHR Justin Metzger, News Director at WBIW/WQRK/WPHZ-Bedford/Orleans is leaving his post effective May 5 and heading over to the Indiana University School of Journalism Master's Program. Metzer joined the 3 station group about a 20 months ago. I.A. had been tipped to this, and awaited Metzgers public announcement before publishing it.
Looks like WLAB-Star 88.3/Ft. Wayne is on the block. The station has been owned for the last 23 years by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and it's not clear why the board of directors has decided to look into the possibility of selling the license now. What we can confirm is that the station is for sale and a decision will be made at an upcoming board meeting in May. Who will be Indy's #1 DJ? Your vote will be made by clicking here WITT's transmitter delivery/move in is
complete. Some great volunteers got the job done.
NW Indiana radio listeners are loosing WCGO at 1600AM. After 50 years, it will sign off the air for good in the next few days. The station will relocate to Evanston, Ill., where it will become a ethnic music brokered station. The station is owned by Kovas Communications, of Fort Wayne. Kovas is moving WCGO to boost the power of WONX 1590 AM station in Evanston from 3,500 watts to 7,000 watts.
Airdate 4/9/9 11:42am Airdate 4/9/9 11:42am
Inbound to Ft. Wayne is Zack Skyler. He'll join Shelly K in the morning airchairs on WMEE. Skyler leaves KSTP we he was a morning show producer. Back in the '90s he was at MEE doing nights. The Bank of America has notified Regent Communications that its audited financial statement includes language that constitutes a default of its credit agreement. That language involves commentary from auditors regarding “uncertainty in the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” according to a Regent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This could lead to a default notice against the company as early as May 1. Sad news, John “Jack” Jenkins is one of the three Bloomington, IL men that created what is know known as a cart machine 50 years ago, has died. Jenkins went on to become chief engineer of cart machine manufacturer ITC. He was 77 and passed away Sunday. Scanning the dial yesterday found some items worth a mention. On WHAS-AM, the spot about 7pm started as "With winter weather now upon us....", a body shop ad that should be freshened to be sure. On WCLS-FM nothing but 5 mintes of static and more as the ABC bird was not working, about 8pm. Also at 8pm, WSLM-FM throwing a silent carrier, as it does for hours and hours each night. You would think the FCC just might catch it one of these days. Airdate 4/7/9 11:51am Your editor is featured in Radio World (Click here) WFYI grabbed two top awards and two honorable mentions at the Indiana Associated Press Broadcasters Association 2008 News Contest for Radio. WXNT-AM also took home an award an honorable mention in the best newscast category, short form, metro radio division. Winners also include: Category: Outstanding News
Operation - Local Radio Category: Outstanding News Operation - Metro Radio Category: Best Community Impact - Metro Radio Category: Best Reporter - Local Radio Category: Best Reporter - Metro Radio Category: Best Newscast - Short Form - Local Radio Category: Best Newscast - Short Form - Metro Radio Category: Best Newscast - Long Form - Local Radio Category: Best Newscast - Long Form - Metro Radio Category: Best Spot News Reporting - Local Radio Category: Best Spot News Reporting - Metro Radio Category: Best Continuous Coverage of a Single Event
- Local Radio Category: Best Continuous Coverage of a Single Event
- Metro Radio Category: Best News Series - Local Radio Category: Best News Series - Metro Radio Second: Michael Puente, Cate Cahan, WBEZ, Chicago. Category: Best General News - Metro Radio Category: Best Enterprise Story - Metro Radio Category: Best Public Affairs Program - Local Radio Category: Best Public Affairs Program - Metro Radio Category: Best feature - Local Radio Category: Best Feature - Metro Radio Category: Best use of radio sound - Local Radio Category: Best Use of Radio Sound - Metro Radio Category: Best Sports Play-by-Play - Local Radio Category: Best Web Site - Local Radio Regent Communications has been assessed
by independent auditing firm. Their results show there is “uncertainty”
in the company’s ability to continue as a “going concern.”
Regent is under a 2006 credit agreement with it's lenders and this classification
puts the company into default. It has until May 1, 2009 to rework its
agreement with lenders. Airdate 4/6/9 6:29pm Horizon Christian Fellowship has been granted a license for a translator at 95.5 in Wheatland. At Regent Communications five station cluster in Evansville, their local news staff has been shown the door during a budget cut move. The ax fell on Friday. You can now Twitter Indiana Airwaves at www.twitter.com/indianaairwaves Airdate 4/5/9 3:55pm Word is that Dave Michaels is healing in good fashion. Dave will need 4 to 6 weeks of physical rehab, and will be doing some work from his home. You can contact Dave at dmichaels@federatedmedia.com While we are in the Ft. Wayne area... WPTA has expanded their Noon Newscast to 60 minutes. The station says the second 30 minutes will focus on a single topic and include experts in that field. Topics for “Noon Extra” include women’s health, senior issues, diet and nutrition and pet care. Viewers will be able to ask questions of the experts before and during the show. Federated Media is sponsoring the concourse displays at Parkview Field. The Federated Media Concourse includes signs identifying each section in the main seating area. The 10 signs also highlight historical teams and organizations important to baseball in Fort Wayne. Those include the Kekiongas, the first professional baseball team to play in Fort Wayne and the Fort Wayne Daisies, a local member of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Airdate 3/31/9 7:46am WIBC-FM has been named on of the NAB's 50 nationwide finalists in the Crystal Awards. The awards recognize outstanding year-round commitment to community service. Airdate 3/30/9 11:35am Gone from 98.9/The Bear in Ft Wayne is Mary Jane. You can get her take at her MySpace page by clicking the link. (MaryJane) A new CP has been granted in Seymour for 88.5. The station will pump out 6000 watts and is owned by Covenant Network out of St. Louis, Mo. They also three stations in IL. (1-FM/2AM) and two in MO. (1FM/1AM) and one in Indiana, WHOJ-FM Terre Haute. Carmel High School's CHTV, is now streaming live to the world via the Internet. Check them out at http://video.ccs.k12.in.us Airdate 3/27/9 8:01am Dave Michaels, Asst. OM & MD of Federated Media WQHK and WMEE/Ft. Wayne, was injured in a car accident Wednesday. Dave's car was t-boned by a hit and run driver. The auto hit his car in the driver door, spinning Michaels' car into a city bus. The driver and passenger in the car that smacked Dave, fled the scene, and cops are looking for them. The car could not be driven after the accident. Dave is still drawing a blank on the whole thing and is at Parkview Hospital. He has a fractured shoulder blade, fractured ribs, and cracks in the ball of his hip socket. You can email Dave with get well wishes at dmichaels@federatedmedia.com. WANE-TV also has the story here (WANE-TV) Airdate 3/25/9 8:14am Changes are happening at WJFX Ft Wayne, and with them the Austin question is answered. Austin grabs the morning drive air chair at Hot 107.9. Weasel moves from mornings to afternoons while keeping his Asst PD/MD title. Weasel's morning co-host Angie Rivas exits the station. With Weasel handling afternoon, Chris Cruise grabs the night gig. Easter morning NBC will be live for Mass at Notre Dame. The telecast is a production of NewGroup Media in association with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The FCC has randomly selected 5% of all
radio and TV stations for an EEO audit. In Indiana the only station making
the list was WJLR-FM, Seymour. See the whole list in PDF form
by clicking here Airdate 3/24/9 8:12am Northeast Indiana Public Radio has replaced the canceled program “Day to Day” with “Midday Matters,” a locally produced program hosted by Phil Shaull. The hourlong show, will have a theme each day with guests and calls from listeners. You can hear it on WBOI. If shareholders approve a special options exchange program proposed by the Entercom's board of directors about 200 employees would get to cash out their company stock options for $11.80 per share . That's ten times what the stock currently trades at. It could be as high as $52.00 a share. Nexstar Broadcasting Group, has reached retransmission agreements with 179 cable operators, satellite providers and other companies that are expected to produce $75 million in revenue. Nexstar is the owner of WFFT-TV. And while we are on TV, Lin TV Corp., owner of WANE, reported an $830.3-million net loss in 2008, including a $625.9-million loss in the fourth quarter. Nexstar Broadcasting Group reported $5.4 million in net income during the 2008 fourth quarter and a $51.4-million net loss for the entire year. Airdate 3/23/9 7:43am Jam Communications Inc.(Pathfinder-FedMed), changes their city of license for WQHK-FM from Decatur to Huntertown. In Evansville, Deb Turner grabs the 10a-3p spot
for Regent's WJLT. There is only one thing worse than a monotone, robotic jock... one that doesn't understand the basic rule that some words should NEVER be used in a studio even if you think the mic is off. Case in point, KXNO Des Moines. In 75 seconds, this station may have set an F-bomb record. Listen here Airdate 3/21/9 12:54pm Indiana Community Radio Corps 88.1 WJCF-Morristown gets a thumbs down from the FCC. Because of contour overlap with WKRY their latest application was denied. In about 60 days WITT FM will inaugurate
programming with a week-long "WEE Airdate 3/19/9 11:47am
Over at Radio Now/WNOU, Austin says bye. After 14 months, the evening driver and image director is heading off to a CHR gig TBA. And more great news for WHJE (Carmel High School). They have been named Indiana High School Radio Station of the Year by the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters for the second consecutive year. Airdate 3/17/9 7:54pm Jennifer Skjodt has been named GM at WKLU. If the names rings a bell, it could be because she was at one time the Station Manager at Gold 104.5 WGLD. More fallout at WFMS include Steve Stewart, who handled promtions and did a swing airshift, and Jasmina Mijailovic who also helped in promtions. Others to see the door were Lynette Irwin and Chris Watts/Production, Annie Steele, and Director of New Media Lindsey Allard. Gary in Plainfield reports the RDS read out for WBOW says "Terre Hautek". Maybe thats the name of their new format? Tip of the hat to WBYT-B100. They raised $161,699.00 for St Jude during their annual Radiothon. Airdate 3/16/9 7:49am 200 lucky people in South Bend got a $15 fill up Sunday thanks to WYPW. Power 95.7 announced the location just minutes before the event. The line was long for those who waited, but it is a great way to show the "power" of radio! Airdate 3/14/9 4:36pm You're getting it here first, out at WFMS
is Darren Tandy after 16 years. He was holding down 7p-midnight. It appears he is being replaced by a syndicated show. Rumor also has it Bob Richards was told to ax Tandy and another staffer and would not, and that was also a factor in his leaving FMS. Airdate 3/13/9 7:55am WQXK's loss is WBTU's
gain. Dave Steele is the new on air PD there. QKX cut Steele loose after 8 years due to belt tightening at their station in Youngstown, Oh. What's new at WBOW... doesn't seem like much. After a week (5 days too long) of stunting, it appears the station hasn't changed that much from our first listen. The website is "coming soon" and says 102.7 WBOW-FM Your music| your station. Website coming soon. With all the hype, one would think a website would be near the top of the list to have ready by format flip. But then again, it sound more like an adjustment than a flip. Maybe they now have a second "crock" on their hands. (only this one is a different type) Airdate 3/11/9 7:29am The IBA has names WHJE-Carmel, Indiana High School Radio Station of the Year for the second consecutive year. 23 high school stations were in the running. The state's top radio station is determined by points scored at the competition. Many school submitted recordings of broadcasts from this school year. In other categories, judging took place at Monday's conference. Carmel High students won first place in eight of the 11 events and earned 31 points to state runner-up Franklin Central's 14. In Danville, Horizon Christian Fellowship has transfered the CP for 88.1 to Calvery Chapel of Crawfordsville. The call letters, WDVL. Anyone else get "devil" out of that? My guess is that it stands for Danville, but you have to admit... We've added some radio stock quotes on the left side of this page. Missing one you want to follow, let us know. Airdate 3/10/9 5:01pm Over at WFMS OM/PD Bob Richards is calling
it a day on March 20th. For the last 15 months Richards has been developing
a video production company. Pinehurst Productions focuses on
shooting video for small to medium businesses to provide imaging ads and
Web content. Richards got his start as a part-timer in 94. No new PD or
OM has been named yet.
Airdate 3/9/9 11:40am We've leaned that Richard
Pegue has died at 64. He had worked at several NW Indiana and Chicagoland area stations. He was one of the WVON "Good Guys". He also did stints at WOPA, WGCI and WJPC. Pegue coined the line " The best music of your life".
In an effort to trim company expenses, Emmis employees will find their paychecks shinking by 5% today. This also includes executives. Those under contract have the choice to also give up the 5%, but for them it is not manditory. Airdate 3/8/9 12:15pm Welcome to the new INDIANA AIRWAVES website. Make sure to bookmark us and make sure to send us your stuff via the email link. As the website gets back to business these new few days, we'll be tweaking and adding more stuff... stay tuned! Dave Stout has passed away at 63. Dave was the News Director at Backyard Broadcastings’ 7-radio station cluster based in East Central Indiana. For nearly 24 years, Dave served as Director of Conferences and Special Events for Ball State University. He spent much of his early career as an announcer and newsman at various media outlets throughout the area including News Talk stations WHBU in Anderson and WXNT in Indianapolis. According to Steve Lindell, VP/Operations Director at Backyard, “Dave was a wonderful guy and a real pro. He always had a positive outlook on his job and life, we will miss him”. Airdate 3/6/9 7:55pm
Remember Marco, Shanon and Mikey? They went to Star in Atlanta a year ago... They have left the station, still under contract, but free to take a new gig. Fomer Indinapolis V/O guy (WNAP/WIBC)with the pipes you cannot forget, Brian James has died. He was just 48. Emmis continues cutbacks and that means more quality people are out of work. Another 7+% of their staff got their walking papers this week. At WIBC, Dave "The King" Wilson has left the building. 91 full time and 14 part time positions make up the cuts. This is the third round of pink slips of late. Shares of Emmis, down nearly 23 percent this year, fell 6.9 percent, or 2 cents, on Thursday to close at 27 cents. The price of the stock slipped to under a dollar last September. It isn't much better for Radio One. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its corporate credit rating on Radio One to ‘B-’ from ‘B.’ Standard & Poor’s rating outlook for Radio One is negative. Standard & Poor’s said the downgrade reflected its concerned over Radio One's ability to maintain compliance with financial covenants due to weak radio ad demand amid the deepening recession which the ratings agency expects to continue for all of 2009. Airdate 3/5/9 7:16am Radio has a responsibility to it's listeners and to it's community of license, but sometimes they just don't get it. Case in point, WBIW/WQRK/WPHZ in Bedford. In December a tragic car cash killed 2 of the 4 teens involved. Tests have revealed that drugs and alcohol were in the blood stream of the teen driver. The local Sheriff after reviewing the results asked media to hold off on reporting it, so they could pursue the source of the illegal substances found in the driver. The radio station did not comply, and now potentially they are just as guilty as the person who provided the intoxicants to the driver. There is a time to be first, and there is a time to hold off and let law enforcement do their job. This lack of a good faith effort by the Bedford stations continues to show the lack of radio experience and professionalism that haunts these three stations. When everyone from the GM down to the part timers have no previous radio experience, these kindergarten mistakes happen. The only solace the community can take from this is the three stations license renewal will come up sooner than later. There is already a drive in the community to strip current ownership of their FCC license to broadcast. Maybe this will be another nail in their coffin. Read more about this story at (tmnews.com) Airdate 3/4/9 7:29pm Thursday afternoon WBOW-FM 102.7 will start stunting. Every 15 minutes they will change formats. One will stick by Friday morning (the 13th). Will this drive away listeners or keep them guessing? Let's hope the Friday the 13th is a lucky one at BOW. Airdate 3/3/9 7:59pm FedMed has axed Scott Woodman from the moring show at WMEE. If you think would make a great addition to WMEE contact their OM Rob Kelley at talent@federatedmedia.com Airdate 3/2/9 7:09am Airdate 2/26/9 7:20am Airdate 2/25/9 7:25am Airdate 2/24/9 7:07am Airdate 2/23/9 7:15am The RAB says radio ended 2008 with a 10% decline to 16.5 billion dollars. Radio advertising hit its lowest point in fourth quarter. Local tumbled 13% to $3.2 billion, while national plummeted 14% to $735 million. Internet advertising/Internet Radio grew by 7% in 2008. Radio One reported a fourth quarter net loss of $7.6 million. CBS Radio said its Q4 revenues were $3.53 billion, down from $3.76 billion for the same prior-year period due. Congrats to J.D. Cannon, who has marked 30 years at WFMS. Speaking of WFMS, Business Manager Nancy Ochoa has left the station after 28 years. Airdate 2/19/9 7:19am Airdate 2/17/9 7:12am One time jock at WZPL, Mark Vanness is out at WIII, Ithica, NY. He was there 3 years and budget cuts did him in. Jim Tellus moves from VP/GM at WTHR-TV/ WALV to President/GM. Airdate 2/15/09 7:40am Got 25 cents in your pocket? If so you can pick up about 5 shares of Sirius/XM stock. Airdate 2/13/9 7:00am Google is getting out of the radio biz by May 31. Google said in a statement "we have decided to exit the broadcast radio business and focus our efforts in online streaming audio. We will phase out the existing Google Audio Ads and AdSense for Audio products and plan to sell the Google Radio Automation business, the software that automates broadcast radio programming." Tom Kent adds WASK 98.7 to his growing list of stations. Airdate 2/11/9 6:57am Airdate 2/9/9 7:34am Airdate 2/6/9 7:29am WFYI holds it's annual Indy Wine Fest tonight at 6pm at the Indiana Roof ballroom. Congrats go out to Amos Brown who hit the 5 year mark at WTLC-AM this week. WKJG will keep on broadcasting the Ft Wayne TinCaps. The team , once called the Wizzards, have signed with 1380 AM with a 3 year agreement. A quick wrap up of the Ft Wayne book shows WOWO, 1190 AM, finished far ahead in the ages 12 and older demographic, followed by WQHK. WLDE was third.Stations owned by Federated Media — WOWO, WQHK and WMEE, finished first, second and fourth, respectively. WOWO posted a 34-percent increase in its overall rating from the fall 2007 period, where it also finished first in the demographic. WBTU, finished fifth in the demographic. WBYR, improved its rating slightly from the previous year in the 12 and older demographic. Airdate 2/3/9 6:50pm Airdate 2/1/9 11:03am ARB's in! Click on they city to view (Evansville) An open mic can get you in deep.. uh.. stuff. Get the rest of the story at(indystar.com) Airdate 01/30/9 7:41am ARBs in! Click on the city to view (Ft Wayne) Ted Cramer is back at WIFE and get well wishes going out to K105's Bob Vissa. There is an alum page for WQRK on Facebook. Some very interesting
stories and yes the horse head is in it too. Just search for WQRK Alumni.
WZPL adds American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest Sundays at 10am. Over at FedMed Matt Denczyk is WOWO's new Morning News Co-anchor. Matt was last at KTRH Houston. Airdate 1/22/9 8:01 pm At WJFX-Ft Wayne Randy Alomar is out. Alomar had paid his dues at Hot 107.9 and leaves afternoon drive. Chris Cruise grabs the afternoon airchair. Nights will be handled by WNOU's Austin via voice tracking. How many of the 55 Indy Clear Channel staffers go their walking papers this week? It seems to be one of the best kept secrets in the biz. If you got cut, let us know. We'll be glad to post your info so your contacts will be seen by those looking for good people. Airdate 1/18/9 9:06am Airdate 1/13/9 7:27am Over at WNIT-TV, their short-term goal is to find a temporary place for 20 to 25 displaced employees who worked in either the station’s programming, business and development and administrative records offices that were ruined.The long-term goal still is to move into the old WSBT-TV building in downtown South Bend in a year after it is renovated. Firefighters were still were trying to determine what caused the building to catch fire Sunday morning. The building, worth about $200,000, is likely a total loss. Airdate 1/12/9 7:32am Many ratings books are showing that the stations that went all Christmas this past holiday season didn't do well. Many slipped a bit or lost major shares. Airdate 1/11/9 5:45pm Airdate 1/9/9 3:30pm A new show, Film Soceyology, will air at 5 p.m. on Fridays on WFYI HD-2. The show is hosted by Matthew Socey. You can also catch it at wfyi.org. During the visit to Ft Wayne by FCC Chief Kevin Martin, Martin was grilled by many. Several residents at the meeting complained about problems obtaining coupons. Martin said if they have been denied a coupon, they should try to find a relative who doesn’t need the coupon and have them apply. Martin said that would be easier than trying to appeal a decision denying the coupon. Martin told the group in Fort Wayne he was concerned the program would run out of money, and said Congress could consider increasing the funding level. While some won't get DTV in Ft Wayne, investors didn't get good
news either. The recession is hurting most companies, including the owners
of television stations in Fort Wayne. WANE owner Lin TV Corp. saw its
stock price decline 91 percent, ending the year at $1.09 per share after
its adjusted close was $11.89 at the beginning of 2008. The company’s
market capitalization was $58 million, based on the year end closing price. A revised forecast from an analyst at Wachovia predicts radio revenues will decline by 13%--or more--in 2009. Wachovia analyst Marci Ryvicker, who downgrades her earlier forecast of revenues down 8% to now drop to 13%, and could go even higher. Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey says "Radio is up against it, no question. Stations are pushing hard to try to monetize their digital platforms and still hold out hope that HD radio will bring in additional revenues. If her prediction comes true--it will be a disasterous year for radio, and we will see fewer companies by the end of the year"
©2006-2009 GTORN
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Airdate 8/27/9 11:14am Leaving his position
of President and Chief Operating Officer of IMS Productions is
Charlie Morgan. Morgan heads to Emmis to become their
VP/GM. The position was last held by Tom Severino, who died of
lung cancer in July. Morgan also spent 22 years with crosstown Susquehanna.
Emmis
Communications posted fiscal first quarter net revenues of $62.4
million down 27% from $85.4 million. The company's radio unit fell to
$46.1 million from $63.5 million in 2008. Operating income swung to a
loss of $5.99 million to $13.8 million and station operating income delcined
to 8 million from $71.2 million. Emmis posted net earnings of $7.5 million
(20 cents per share) as compared to a loss of $1.05 million. "While
I believe we have seen the bottom of this downturn, what no one can say
is how long it will take to climb out of the trough. Therefore, we continue
to do what's necessary to survive and prepare for better times,"
said President/CEO Jeff Smulyan. "While I can't point to
any big shifts in the outlook, I do see encouraging, incremental improvements
in pacings and ratings in radio. One point I would like to make emphatically:
While some of you have voiced concern over Emmis' being downgraded by
rating agencies, or by talk of bankruptcies in our sectors, I can tell
you this: We are putting ourselves in a position to survive," Smulyan
said. 
Airdate
6/24/9 11:23am Bringing us all the action from the booth for the
2009-10 season of Notre Dame Hockey will be Darin Pritchett.
Pritchett took over the PBP role last February after the passing of Mike
Lockert, who had handled the duties for 7 seasons. Pritchett has
been with WSBT Radio for 10 years.
The popular morning news anchor has left the FedMed talker. She has been
in market for over a decade.
Airdate
4/22/9 8:07amCongrats to WIBC-Indianapolis
for winning a 2009 NAB Crystal Award 
WMDH
has a new morning show. The Morning Show with Shane, Michelle and Sluby
will air on 102.5 FM. Shane is PD-Shane Goad, Michelle is Michelle
Belle-Cook, the female half of local country music duo Cook and Belle
and Sluby is Jason Sloan, who moves from PT Weekends.
Airdate
4/13/9 6:19pm Doug Edge is resigning as General Manager
of WBOW effective 4/20/09 He will remain on
the Crossroads Board of Directors and continue to consult for the stations.
Edge is leaving to devote more time to his company, "Edge Marketing".
Former
The Rick and Bubba Show adds WYGB in Indy (Columbus 100.3 KORN
Country) as a new affiliate along with 5 other stations.
