Year: 2021

Kent Frandsen’s Canyon Media Group is expanding in St. George UT with the purchase of Oldies 1490 KZEZ/100.7 K264CT Santa Clara and 102.7 K274CQ St. George from B. Ray Carpenter’s Tri-Star Media for $325,000. An LMA will take effect shortly giving Canyon Media its eighth brand in the market.Christopher Jacky and Thomas Hodgins’ Xana Oregon purchases Classic Country “104.5 Hank-FM” KNHK-FM Newport and Regional Mexican “Ke Buena 95.7” 1330 KYOZ/95.7 K239CL Spokane from Legend Broadcasting for $350,000.Centro Christiano Amistad Church will acquire Regional Mexican 93.3 KNTO Chowchilla and 106.1 KCFA Arnold CA from La Favorita Radio Network for $1.8 million with KCFA valued at $1 million and KNTO at $800,000. The buyer owns Spanish Christian “El Buen Samaritino” 102.3 KBLO Corcoran/Visalia.Dockins Communications will purchase Oldies 900 WOZK/104.9 WOAB and the CP for 98.3 W252DV Ozark AL from Ozark Broadcasting Corporation for $125,000. Dockins owns seventeen stations in Florida and Missouri.Expression Production Group sells 92.3 WHKQ Louisa KY to Main Street Industries for $350,000. WHKQ currently airs programming from Educational Media Foundation’s Christian AC “K-Love” network.Educational Media Foundation sells “Air 1” 89.3 WSHA South Charleston WV to Positive Alternative Radio for $100,000. The EMF network will continue to be heard in the market on 88.9 W205CG Charleston. WSHA will likely join PAR’s “Walk-FM” Christian AC network based in Charleston and currently heard on 1110 WYMW Hurricane/99.3 W257EK Charleston.EMF also acquires 93.1 WSAA Benton/Cleveland TN from WSAA LLC for $550,000. WSAA has aired “Air 1” programming since 2011.Translator SalesRedwood Empire Stereocasters adds to its Santa Rosa CA cluster with the purchase of 102.5 K273CU Petaluma from California Broadcasting Company for $95,000. K273CU, which currently rebroadcasts Regional Mexican “La Z” 1490 KZNB Petaluma, will switch to rebroadcasting Classic Hits “102.7 The Wolf” KWVF Guerneville via 93.7 KBBL-HD3.Central Valley Broadcasting Company acquires 96.3 K242AT Salinas, 100.9 K265CY San Jose and 103.1 K276BR Santa Cruz CA from Susan Bushell for $240,000. The translators all rebroadcast the buyer’s Christian AC “Celebration Radio” 101.5 KAMB Merced.Prunedale Educational Association sells 97.3 K247BL Tularcitos & Carmel CA to Monterey County Broadcasters for $30,000. The translator will rebroadcast El Sembrador Ministries’ 880 KKMC Gonzales.Family Life Ministries sells 101.5 W268BB State College PA to Pat ‘DJ Grooves’ Cerullo’s Major Keystone LLC for $25,000. The translator will continue to rebroadcast Family Life’s recently acquired 88.3 WCOB (formerly WKDN-FM) State College for now. […]

The fourth and final day of Nielsen Audio’s PPM releases bring Austin, Raleigh/Durham, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Providence, Norfolk, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Greensboro, Memphis, and Hartford.All the numbers can be found at RadioInsight.com/Ratings.Waterloo Media Variety Hits “103.5 Bob-FM” KBPA stays on top in Austin as it trends back up 8.5 – 9.3 – 9.6. Public News/Talk 90.1 KUT moves up to second steady at an 8.9 share. Audacy AC “Majic 95.5” KKMJ plummets 10.6 – 9.0 – 6.6 to fall to third.AAA 98.9 KUTX rises 4.4 to 4.9 for what Ratings Expert Chris Huff notes is an all-time record for the station. Also trending up in Austin are iHeartMedia Rhythmic CHR “102.3 The Beat” KPEZ (3.0 – 3.8 – 4.2) and CHR “96.7 Kiss-FM” KHFI (2.7 – 2.4 – 3.2). Genuine Austin Radio Country 99.3 KOKE-FM rises 1.4 to 2.6. Waterloo Media Hot AC “Lucy 93.3” KGSR is up 1.7 to 2.4 for its highest share since January 2020 which was three brand/format shifts ago.Public News/Talk 91.5 WUNC-FM leads Raleigh up 9.1 to 9.6. Curtis Media Variety Hits “96.1 BBB” WBBB is right behind up 8.6 to 8.9. Radio One Adult R&B “Foxy 107.1/104.3” WFXC/WFXK is third up 6.9 to 7.5 and Capitol Broadcasting AC “Mix 101.5” WRAL-FM is fourth up 7.0 to 7.4.Curtis Media Country 94.7 WQDR trends up 4.4 – 4.8 – 5.1, while Radio One Gospel “103.9 The Light” WNNL slides 5.0 – 4.2 – 3.2.Cumulus Classic Hits 104.5 WJJK rises up 9.8 – 10.0 – 10.8 to retain the Indianapolis lead by a sizable margin. Emmis AC “B105.7” WYXB rebounds 8.6 – 6.4 – 7.1 to move up to second. iHeartMedia Classic Rock “Q95” WFBQ is third down 7.2 – 6.6, while Emmis News/Talk 93.1 WIBC-FM trends down 8.2 – 7.2 – 6.6.Emmis Sports “93.5/107.5 The Fan” 1070 WFNI trends up 4.2 – 4.7 – 5.9 for what Huff notes is the highest share since its 2008 flip to Sports. also trending up in Indianapolis are Cumulus CHR 99.5 WZPL (3.7 – 4.3 – 4.9) and Sarkes Tarzian AAA 92.3 WTTS (3.7 – 4.3 – 4.8).The Milwaukee Brewers are yet another MLB team to help their flagship station surge this month. Good Karma News/Talk 620/103.3 WTMJ regains the market lead jumping up over four share points 5.6 to 9.7. iHeartMedia Classic Hits “95.7 Big-FM” WRIT rises to second 7.6 to 8.0. Saga Classic Rock “Hometown Rock 96.5” WKLH falls 8.8 to 7.8. iHeartMedia Conservative Talk 1130 WISN trends down 9.4 – 8.0 – 7.4, while Saga Rock “102.9 The Hog” WHQG drops 8.0 to 7.0.iHeartMedia Country 106.1 WMIL also takes a sizable jump moving 5.4 to 6.9. Saga’s “Pure Oldies 106.9” WRXS debuts down 1.2 to 0.7.Midwest Variety Hits “96.3 Jack-FM” WCJK (9.3 to 8.7) and AC “Mix 92.9” WJXA (7.9 to 8.1) take the top two spots in Nashville. Cumulus Conservative Talk “99.7 WTN” WWTN rises 6.9 to 7.1 for what Huff notes is a record high for the station.iHeartMedia Hip Hop “101.1 The Beat” WUBT jumps 4.8 to 6.2, while Cumulus Country “95.5 Nash Icon” WSM-FM is up 4.6 to 6.0.iHeartMedia Rock 94.1 WHJY leads Providence despite a 9.2 to 8.4 drop. Hall Communications’ “Cat Country 98.1” WCTK falls 9.0 – 8.1 – 7.5. Cumulus AC “Lite 105” WWLI is down 7.3 to 7.0.Audacy Adult R&B “95.7 R&B” WVKL holds a near seven share point lead in Norfolk with a 13.4 to 13.3 move. Sinclair Variety Hits “93.7 Bob-FM” WNOB trends down 7.9 – 7.0 – 6.6. iHeartMedia Hip Hop “103 Jams” WOWI is third down 5.9 to 5.5. Saga Classic Rock “106.9 The Fox” WAFX trends up to fourth 4.0 – 4.6 – 5.3.Cox Classic Rock “96.9 The Eagle” WJGL trends up 9.0 – 9.6 – 10.3 with Huff noting that is its highest share since 1982 as CHR WAIV. Renda AC 96.1 WEJZ holds in second up 9.0 to 9.9. Cox News/Talk 104.5 WOKV-FM is fourth down 7.9 to 7.8, while sister Soft AC “Easy 102.9” WEZI rises 6.1 to 7.2.Hubbard Hot AC 97.9 WRMF jumps up 8.4 to 10.4 to lead West Palm Beach. iHeartMedia AC “Kool 105.5” WOLL is second down 7.6 to 7.4, while sister Classic Rock “Gater 98.7” WKGR riues to third 5.3 to 5.9. Hubbard Classic Hits “107.9 Sunny-FM” WEAT falls 6.8 to 5.8, while their Adult R&B “X102.3” WMBX trends up 3.7 – 4.1 – 5.1.iHeartMedia Adult R&B “V101” KJMS remains on top in Memphis up 9.5 to 9.9. Co-owned Gospel “95.7 Hallelujah-FM” WHAL-FM rebounds 8.0 to 9.3 to tie for second with Cumulus Adult R&B 103.5 WRBO (steady at 9.3).iHeartMedia’s R&B Oldies 1070 WDIA trends up 3.1 – 3.5 – 4.6 and Classic Rock “Rock 103” WEGR moves up 3.3 – 3.5 – 4.4. Cumulus Country “Kix 106” WGKX jumps 2.7 to 3.7. […]

In recent years, North Americans following the Eurovision Song Contest have been like Americans conversant in Premier League soccer — there seem to be more of them with each year. Certainly there was enough of a following for Will Ferrell’s American-made Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga last year that I remember seeing social-media postings about the movie from friends I thought would have had no interest in it, even as goofy spectacle.Ferrell’s movie was all we had of Eurovision in 2020 because of COVID. Ironically, the 2021 competition, with finals to be held in Rotterdam on May 22, comes as the 2019 winning song, “Arcade” by Duncan Laurence, becomes the first Eurovision winner to become an American hit of any sort in the 45 years since Brotherhood of Man’s “Save Your Kisses for Me” in 1976. Abba’s career-launching “Waterloo” came two years earlier.AccuRadio has two Eurovision-themed channels, both curated by Ewan Spence, who has also helped syndicate the show to U.S. radio at Portuguese-language WJFD New Bedford, Mass., in recent years. Both are built around nominees, not just winners. Eurovision Song Contest Classics plays ‘70s through ‘90s titles. The Music of the Eurovision Song Contest plays contenders from the last 25 years.There is a thru-line between the two channels, the big-production international ballads that often sound as if they could come from 1978 or 2008. In general, the dividing line for the channels happens around the moment when Max Martin made Europop less exotic in the U.S. Both the old and newer station are based on Europop, but the older one conjures memories of when Abba was the sound’s chief representative in the U.S. Even if you didn’t experience 2000s Eurovision contestants, most would not have sounded out of place on the radio here.Here’s an hour of Eurovision Song Contest Classics, as monitored on May 12, 2021:Teach-In, “Ding-a-Dong” (1975, Netherlands contest winner by a male/female act that was more MORish than Abbaesque. But I hear its echoes in Gabrielle’s much hipper ‘90s U.K. hit “When a Woman”);France Gall, “Poupée de Cire, poupée de Son” (1965, Luxembourg contest winner; Bacharach-style ‘60s MOR written by Serge Gainsbourg);Bucks Fizz, “Making Your Mind Up” (1981, UK contest winner; male/female group that recalled early Abba as opposed to their more ambitious songs of the early ‘80s);Johnny Logan, “What’s Another Year” (1980, Irish contest winner. Logan is Eurovision’s only two-time winner as well as the author of a third winner. Even without knowing anything about this song, you’d guess it was from the yacht-rock era, and its sax solo anticipates Spandau Ballet’s “True”);Dana, “All Kinds of Everything” (1970, Irish contest winner; polarizing MOR ballad that is still talked about in Europe the way “You Light Up My Life” is in America;Udo Jurgens, “Merci Chérie” (1966, Austrian winner; lush piano ballad that recalls “Can’t Help Falling in Love”);Linda Martin, “Why Me” (1992, Irish winner, written by aforementioned winner Johnny Logan);Gina G, “Ooh Aah … Just a Little Bit” (1996, UK nominee. Only an eighth-place finisher, but probably better known to readers than most of the winners as the Eurodance hit heard frequently during the first year of Top 40’s American comeback);Swarbriggs, “That’s What Friends Are For” (1975, Irish nominee – midtempo pop with the feel of a ‘70s TV theme);Cliff Richard, “Congratulations” (1968, British nominee.  Uptempo MOR’ish pop that recalls Petula Clark’s two-years-older “My Love”);Toto Cutugno, “Insieme” (1992, Italian winner. You may know him for “L’Italiano,” particularly because a 2004 remake of that song by Angelo Venuto became a hit on WKTU New York);John Teigen, “Mil Etter Mil” (1978, Norway nominee with a George Harrisonesque feel);Sandra Kim, “J’aime La Vie” (1986, Belgian winner, synthpop reminiscent of “Flashdance … What a Feeling”).I enjoyed the ‘70s/’80s Eurovision contenders more than I did most of the more recent titles. The songs I heard in an hour of the newer station covered a lot of familiar styles of the last 20 years — dance/EDM (including two songs with the “Mr. Saxobeat”-style retro-‘20s feel), ukulele-driven acoustic pop, trap pop, Evanescence/Linkin Park-style rock. Surprisingly, I did not hear much of the Euro-flavored turbo-pop that was the highlight of CHR in the late ‘00s/early ‘10s. As Americans have become a little more familiar with Eurovision, I’ve found myself less enthusiastic about the music myself. Beyond “Waterloo,” many of the early Eurovision hits were songs that Americans just didn’t get. Some of the more recent nominees were songs of the sort we already had.The good news is that I really like this year’s Eurovision nominees. Just as dance music has revitalized UK Top 40 in particular, there’s more energy here. There’s a wide range of styles, from the German pre-rock-flavored (but with a message for our times) “I Don’t Feel Hate” by Jendrik to Portugal’s retro-jazz-soul “Love Is on My Side” by Black Mambo. There’s a lot of dance pop, from Shum’s “Go A” (Ukraine) to Albina’s “Tick-Tock” (Croatia) to Benny Cirsto’s “Omaga”(Czech Republic). There’s also a Danish entry by Fyr & Flamme that wouldn’t sound out of place on the original Eurovision channel. You can hear a number of the contenders on my Summer Energy 2021 playlist.  […]

In recent years, North Americans following the Eurovision Song Contest have been like Americans conversant in Premier League soccer — there seem to be more of them with each year. Certainly there was enough of a following for Will Ferrell’s American-made Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga last year that I remember seeing social-media postings about the movie from friends I thought would have had no interest in it, even as goofy spectacle.Ferrell’s movie was all we had of Eurovision in 2020 because of COVID. Ironically, the 2021 competition, with finals to be held in Rotterdam on May 22, comes as the 2019 winning song, “Arcade” by Duncan Laurence, becomes the first Eurovision winner to become an American hit of any sort in the 45 years since Brotherhood of Man’s “Save Your Kisses for Me” in 1976. Abba’s career-launching “Waterloo” came two years earlier.AccuRadio has two Eurovision-themed channels, both curated by Ewan Spence, who has also helped syndicate the show to U.S. radio at Portuguese-language WJFD New Bedford, Mass., in recent years. Both are built around nominees, not just winners. Eurovision Song Contest Classics plays ‘70s through ‘90s titles. The Music of the Eurovision Song Contest plays contenders from the last 25 years.There is a thru-line between the two channels, the big-production international ballads that often sound as if they could come from 1978 or 2008. In general, the dividing line for the channels happens around the moment when Max Martin made Europop less exotic in the U.S. Both the old and newer station are based on Europop, but the older one conjures memories of when Abba was the sound’s chief representative in the U.S. Even if you didn’t experience 2000s Eurovision contestants, most would not have sounded out of place on the radio here.Here’s an hour of Eurovision Song Contest Classics, as monitored on May 12, 2021:Teach-In, “Ding-a-Dong” (1975, Netherlands contest winner by a male/female act that was more MORish than Abbaesque. But I hear its echoes in Gabrielle’s much hipper ‘90s U.K. hit “When a Woman”);France Gall, “Poupée de Cire, poupée de Son” (1965, Luxembourg contest winner; Bacharach-style ‘60s MOR written by Serge Gainsbourg);Bucks Fizz, “Making Your Mind Up” (1981, UK contest winner; male/female group that recalled early Abba as opposed to their more ambitious songs of the early ‘80s);Johnny Logan, “What’s Another Year” (1980, Irish contest winner. Logan is Eurovision’s only two-time winner as well as the author of a third winner. Even without knowing anything about this song, you’d guess it was from the yacht-rock era, and its sax solo anticipates Spandau Ballet’s “True”);Dana, “All Kinds of Everything” (1970, Irish contest winner; polarizing MOR ballad that is still talked about in Europe the way “You Light Up My Life” is in America;Udo Jurgens, “Merci Chérie” (1966, Austrian winner; lush piano ballad that recalls “Can’t Help Falling in Love”);Linda Martin, “Why Me” (1992, Irish winner, written by aforementioned winner Johnny Logan);Gina G, “Ooh Aah … Just a Little Bit” (1996, UK nominee. Only an eighth-place finisher, but probably better known to readers than most of the winners as the Eurodance hit heard frequently during the first year of Top 40’s American comeback);Swarbriggs, “That’s What Friends Are For” (1975, Irish nominee – midtempo pop with the feel of a ‘70s TV theme);Cliff Richard, “Congratulations” (1968, British nominee.  Uptempo MOR’ish pop that recalls Petula Clark’s two-years-older “My Love”);Toto Cutugno, “Insieme” (1992, Italian winner. You may know him for “L’Italiano,” particularly because a 2004 remake of that song by Angelo Venuto became a hit on WKTU New York);John Teigen, “Mil Etter Mil” (1978, Norway nominee with a George Harrisonesque feel);Sandra Kim, “J’aime La Vie” (1986, Belgian winner, synthpop reminiscent of “Flashdance … What a Feeling”).I enjoyed the ‘70s/’80s Eurovision contenders more than I did most of the more recent titles. The songs I heard in an hour of the newer station covered a lot of familiar styles of the last 20 years — dance/EDM (including two songs with the “Mr. Saxobeat”-style retro-‘20s feel), ukulele-driven acoustic pop, trap pop, Evanescence/Linkin Park-style rock. Surprisingly, I did not hear much of the Euro-flavored turbo-pop that was the highlight of CHR in the late ‘00s/early ‘10s. As Americans have become a little more familiar with Eurovision, I’ve found myself less enthusiastic about the music myself. Beyond “Waterloo,” many of the early Eurovision hits were songs that Americans just didn’t get. Some of the more recent nominees were songs of the sort we already had.The good news is that I really like this year’s Eurovision nominees. Just as dance music has revitalized UK Top 40 in particular, there’s more energy here. There’s a wide range of styles, from the German pre-rock-flavored (but with a message for our times) “I Don’t Feel Hate” by Jendrik to Portugal’s retro-jazz-soul “Love Is on My Side” by Black Mambo. There’s a lot of dance pop, from Shum’s “Go A” (Ukraine) to Albina’s “Tick-Tock” (Croatia) to Benny Cirsto’s “Omaga”(Czech Republic). There’s also a Danish entry by Fyr & Flamme that wouldn’t sound out of place on the original Eurovision channel. You can hear a number of the contenders on my Summer Energy 2021 playlist.  […]

After winning a “Big Break” on-air talent search, Shannon Bomia has joined Beasley Media Classic Hip Hop “105.1 The Bounce” WMGC Detroit as morning co-host.Bomia began alongside PD/morning host Zannie Glover on Monday, May 17. She most recently worked as Entertainment Manager at Motor City Casino, but does have radio industry experience as Promotions Director for ABC Radio/Citadel’s 93.1 WDRQ and 96.3 WDVD from 2006 to 2010 and Clear Channel Detroit from 2011 to 2013.Beasley Media Group announces Shannon Bomia has joined Program Director and Morning Host Zannie as the newest member of the BOUNCE Morning Show in Detroit. She officially began her new role on Monday, May 17th, 2021.Bomia was the winner of the recent “The Big Break” on-air talent search conducted by the station. Prior to joining The BOUNCE, she spent six years as the Entertainment Manager at Motor City Casino and served as the Promotions Director at iHeartRadio Detroit.“105.1 The BOUNCE is Detroit’s Party Station, so the energy and momentum fit perfectly with Shannon’s exuberance and positive attitude,” said Beasley Media Group Vice President of National Content and Director of Detroit Programming, Scott Jameson. We’re excited she’s joining our team here in Detroit.”“This opportunity all seems surreal,” said Bomia. “I am very grateful to have won “The Big Break” contest and am eager to join The New Morning BOUNCE. Many thanks to Scott Jameson, Mac Edwards, Justin Chase, Zannie K. and the the entire Beasley Media Group family. I’m excited to join Zannie as we get the Motor City bouncing every morning!” […]

PK & DK Enter Syndication On Hot 107.1 Denver – RadioInsight Former “Power 96.1” WWPW Atlanta morning hosts PK and Denise Kalentzis debuted in mornings today on Max Media CHR “Hot 107.1” KFCO Bennett/Denver CO. […]