The FCC proposed a $453,015 fine against Gerlens Cesar, the operator of an enterprise identifying itself as "Radio TeleBoston," for apparent unlicensed broadcasting. The action marks the largest fine ever proposed by the FCC against a pirate radio operation. The agency says Cesar More

Liberty Affiliate Seeks DOJ Permission for Larger iHM Stake

Liberty Media

An affiliate of John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. wants permission from the Department of Justice to acquire a larger stake of iHeartMedia, reports the Wall Street Journal. Liberty currently owns 4.8% of iHeartMedia through its Liberty SiriusXM Group. WSJ says the deal now under consideration could More

Fusion Radio to Acquire FM Translator W277AE Madison WI

Kozacko Media Services

Fusion Radio has agreed to acquire FM translator W277AE (103.3)/Madison, WI, from Faith Center of Rockford IL for $100,000. W277AE operates with 38 watts and has been rebroadcasting Christian WFEN/Rockford, IL on 88.3 mHz. Plans are to upgrade the signal and change to a commercial More

Jacobs Hosts Webinar on Radio Listeners Changing Tech Habits

Jacobs Media Strategies

Jacobs Media Strategies will host a free webinar on the insights gained through Techsurvey over the past fifteen years. Techsurvey is conducted by the firm every winter to gain insights into how radio listeners use technologies, gadgets, and platforms to consume media. The webinar, hosted by company More

Salem Media Group Announces Quarterly Cash Distribution

Salem Media Group

Salem Media Group has announced that its board of directors has declared a cash distribution for the fourth quarter of 2019 in the amount of $0.025 per share. The cash distribution will be paid on December 30, 2019 to all Class A and Class B common stockholders of record as of More

Report: AM/FM Radio Continues to Lead Ad-Supported Pack

Westwood One

AM/FM radio leads ad-supported audio among major buying demos accounting for 59% of ad-supported time spent among persons 18-34. In a blog post, this is one of the key findings that Westwood One is spotlighting from the recently-released Q3 2019 "Share of Ear" report from Edison Research which found that More

Beasley Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.05 Per Share

Beasley Media Group

Beasley Broadcast Group has announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share of its class A and class B common stock. The dividend is payable on January 10, 2020, to shareholders of record on December 31. Beasley noted that while the company More

Entercom, Kansas City Chiefs Ink Multi-Year Agreement

Kansas City Chiefs

Entercom and the Kansas City Chiefs have announced a multi-year agreement. WDAF-FM (106.5 The Wolf) has been named as the new flagship station of the 70 station Chiefs Radio Network and home of the Chiefs beginning on February 16, 2020. As part of the agreement, 106.5 The Wolf will More

GMP Spotlights the Power of Independent Local Radio

Gen Media Partners

Gen Media Partners (GMP) has initiated an advocacy campaign to shine a light on the power of independent radio to connect national brands with local listeners. The campaign was inspired by AMEX's Small Business Saturday, a program that encourages consumers to "shop local" after Black Friday. GMP sent an More

BFA Launches Year-End Giving Campaign on Giving Tuesday

The Broadcasters Foundation of America

The Broadcasters Foundation of America launches its annual year-end appeal on December 3 in conjunction with Giving Tuesday, a nationwide movement of charitable giving. The Foundation's drive asks for tax-deductible personal donations to the Guardian Fund and corporate contributions to the Angel Initiative. More

Study: 25% of Americans Have a Smart Speaker in the Home

Smart Speakers

According to findings from Pew Research Center, 25% of Americans have a smart speaker at home. Ownership of these devices, such as Amazon Echo or Google Home, have gained popularity over the last several years especially by age and annual household income. Adults younger than 50 are more likely than those 50 More

Emmis, Standard General Close WBLS-WQHT/N.Y. Transfer

Emmis Communications

Emmis Communications and Standard General have closed on the transfer of the licenses of Emmis' 4.2kW Urban AC WBLS-FM and 6.7kW Rhythmic CHR WQHT-FM (Hot 97) in New York for $91.5 million cash to their new public company Mediaco Holdings. Also part of the consideration is a $5 million note receivable and More

Mainstay Station Trust Closes on Sale of WNUQ-FM/Albany GA

Cumulus Media

The Mainstay Station Trust LLC has closed on the sale of Country WNUQ-FM (102.1 Nash Icon)/Albany, GA to Joe Harris Morgan III's Pretoria Fields Collective Media for $90,000. The station will change call letters to WPFQ as "Q102, The Queen Bee" on January 2 under a new undisclosed format. The Mainstay More

NLRB Orders SBS to Comply with Settlement Agreement

SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA has announced that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 31 office has ordered Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) to comply in part by November 29 with a settlement agreement in connection with a series of labor practices. In a release, SAG-AFTRA says that over the past three years, the More

Study: AM/FM Radio Generates Lift in Website Traffic

Westwood One

Westwood One, in conjunction with data from LeadsRx, looked at online behavior for a major jewelry retailer during a recent national AM/FM radio campaign. They found that broadcast radio drove an +11% lift in online behavior. As a result of the campaign, the jewelry retailer saw an +11% increase in their More

FCC Adopts NPRM Allowing AMs to Air All-Digital Signals

FCC

The FCC has adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), allowing AM broadcasters to air an all-digital signal using HD Radio in-band on-channel (IBOC) mode known as MA3. The agency concluded that a voluntary transition to all-digital broadcasting has the potential to benefit AM More