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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014

Relevancy is watchword as radio adapts to Facebook’s latest tweak. Come January, radio brands and personalities will need to work harder to get their organic posts to surface in their friends’ Facebook feeds. In another move to reduce irrelevant and superfluous clutter in the newsfeeds of its 864 million daily active users, the social giant will tweak its algorithms to limit posts that it deems “too promotional.” With the average Facebook user being exposed to 1,500 news items at any moment, BIA/Kelsey managing director Rick Ducey says the message to radio is clear. “Organic posts have to be more contextually relevant,” he says. “It’s a great opportunity for radio to distinguish itself as a relevant local medium.” Whether the goal is to drive participation in contests or to create listening appointments, the latest change will force radio to get more creative. Engagement is in, a message is out. “We’ve adapted how we program our stations, now we have to change how we program our social platforms,” says Sam Stiers, VP of content strategy & operations for Interactive One Local. But there’s no need to be alarmed, social media experts say, as long as radio keeps its Facebook conversations relevant to its fans. “Facebook wants to show you things that matter to you and they track engagement by clicks, likes and shares,” says Emily Thousand, affiliate success manager at Second Street Marketing and a former social media strategist for Entercom. “It’s a space where people are building relationships and having conversations.”

Facebook change comes as radio works to weave social elements into client campaigns. Facebook’s new algorithm is being adopted just as a growing number of radio stations are responding to client requests that their media partners include social components in their campaigns. But that doesn’t mean stations should put a brake on those efforts. “Radio groups need the social channel to be part of the toolkit they offer advertisers,” BIA/Kelsey’s Rick Ducey says. “Advertisers want it as part of a more integrated solution and if radio doesn’t offer it, they’ll go elsewhere for it.” The concern is that even if just 10% to 20% of a station’s posts don’t meet Facebook’s new engagement criteria, they can reduce the chances of any of a station’s posts making it into user news feeds. “You can do 90% of the right posts but if the other 10% are bad, it impacts the rest,” Interactive One Local’s Sam Stiers says. In that sense, the new restrictions can be seen as giving sellers the ammo to push back against client requests for posts where the sole intention is to get people to buy a product, download an app or enter a contest. Facebook gets millions of dollars’ worth of free promotion from radio stations, a perk it almost certainly doesn’t want to lose, so it’s given radio and its other brand page partners advance notice on the change. “They want to work with us and I’m thrilled they made the announcement in advance,” Stiers says. “It won’t hinder what radio is doing but it will make us work harder to make our posts more engaging.”

Listener focus seen as key to navigating Facebook spam-cutting move. Facebook reached critical mass around the same time radio switched to metered audience measurement, making social media radio’s de facto marketing platform to drive appointment listening. Even with an algorithm update coming in January, Facebook can still be used to drive listening occasions, social experts say. The trick NEWS INSIDE >> is to combine value for the user and utility for the station. Looking to get people to tune in for a Beyoncé interview? Ask Facebook users what questions they’d ask her Bigger markets for CBS, or guess what she might wear. Or post 10 pictures of the singer and mention when greater Southeastern she’ll be on the air. “Focus on content that’s about the listener, not about the station,” footprint for Beasley

[email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 1 NEWS insideradio.com TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014 says Presslaff Interactive marketing assistant Nicole Watkins. That can involve a mix of videos, entertainment news, memes, cartoons, lists, quotes or pictures as a way to start or continue a conversation. The goal is to get people to comment on or share a post. “That will work better with the Facebook algorithm and better for your station,” Watkins says. For a movie campaign, posting a trailer is more likely to surface in news feeds than a simple text encouraging users to go see it or to enter a contest to win tickets to the film’s premiere. Posts about the last time one of the film’s actors was on the air is another option. For ticket giveaways, asking users who they would want to bring with them if they won is likely to get people tagging their friends in their comments, increasing the likelihood of the post going viral, experts say.

Long-term solution: Build your own database. Ensuring your station’s posts show up in Facebook user newsfeeds is only half the battle. Perhaps more important is using social media to grow database platforms the station owns and can monetize, such as loyal listener email clubs. “It’s becoming even more important to build databases where they can’t be taken away,” Second Street Marketing’s Emily Thousand says. The odds are in radio’s favor. According to data from eMarketer, 91% of American adults check their email every day. Email open rates are 20% while organic brand posts showing up in news feeds is closer to 6%. “The real answer is not to let Facebook rule your communication with your audience, but to build a database of your listeners,” Presslaff Interactive’s Nicole Watkins says. “Then you own the relationship and can target with relevant email messages based on the info you gather, analyze and apply wisely.”

Bigger markets for CBS, greater Southeastern footprint for Beasley. Two months after announcing one of radio’s biggest deals of the year, CBS Radio and formally exchanged nearly 20 stations in four markets yesterday. The swap advances strategic goals for both companies. By shedding a pair of mid-size market clusters, CBS Radio is able to bulk up in bigger markets. In it’s taken control of Beasley’s three-stations, adding radio for the first time in a market where it has a TV duopoly. In CBS picked up a pair of music FMs to add to a cluster that was heavy on spoken word formats, and where it owns two TV stations. All old, the company now has radio and TV combos in 11 of the top 15 radio markets. The new stations also help beef up content for the CBS Local Media web portals and the Radio.com streaming app. The deal makes Beasley a larger player in the Southeast, adding country WQYK-FM (99.5), classic hits “Q105” WRBQ-FM and four other Tampa stations; and seven in Charlotte, including powerhouses like country WSOC-FM (103.7) and urban “Power 98” WPEG. Growing from 44 stations to 53 gives Beasley a more diversified operation, less susceptible to the ebbs and flows of a handful of big market stations. The 53-year old company is expected to realize operating and financial synergies and expand its revenue base – without taking on any additional debt. By swapping rather than selling, both companies have avoided a hefty tax bill.

For staffers, a new manager in the corner office. It’s meet the new boss time for employees at numerous stations that changed owners yesterday. In Philadelphia, staffers at country WXTU (92.5) and rhythmic CHR “Wired 96.5” WRDW-FM are getting to know CBS Radio SVP/market manager Marc Rayfield, who adds the former Beasley stations to his oversight. Beasley market manager Natalie Connor announced her retirement back in June. In Miami, which CBS Radio is entering for the first time, Joe Bell remains as SVP/market manager of rhythmic CHR “Power 96” WPOW, “99.9 Kiss Country” WKIS and “ Radio 560” WQAM. Though Bell has been managing the trio for Beasley since January 2006, the stations now have a new programming chief. CBS has transferred Rob Morris from Tampa to Miami as VP of programming. That

[email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 2 NEWS insideradio.com TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014 also helps fill the hole at WPOW following program director Pio Ferro’s departure from Beasley last week after two years at the station. Back in Tampa, Beasley’s freshly acquired six stations are huddling with new market manager Kent Dunn and operations manager Tee Gentry. Beasley last week transferred the veteran managers from its Augusta, GA cluster to Tampa. Dunn is replacing longtime CBS Radio vet Steve Carver, who earlier served as SVP/market manager for CBS stations in , West Palm Beach and . A CBS spokesperson says Carver will work on special projects for the company for the next several months. In Charlotte, it’s not immediately known if market manager Bill Schoening will continue to manage the cluster under Beasley.

Forecast: 14.5 million NextRadio-enabled phones by mid-2015. Two metrics are crucial when calculating NextRadio’s consumer adoption: the estimated number of FM-enabled phones in the marketplace and the number of those devices where the app has been activated by consumers. According to , about 6.5 million NextRadio-enabled smartphones are currently in circulation. The vast majority are Sprint devices. Of those, the app that brings the built-in FM receiver to life has been activated about 1.25 million times. The number of FM-enabled phone sales is expected to more than double to 14.5 million by the middle of next year and hit 26 million by spring of2016, according to new predictions for FM- enabled phone sales released by Emmis. In addition to Sprint putting more FM-compatible phones in the market, another factor is behind the new projections: estimated sales of non-Sprint compatible devices. Helping hit those projections, according to Emmis, will be “millions” of new HTC smartphones that are FM-enabled and NextRadio compatible. Among them are Motorola’s Moto G and Moto E models, which are now available across a wide array of carriers. But educating consumers about the radio receiver tucked away in their new phones will require a massive marketing effort. Next Radio backers are hoping a new awareness campaign being orchestrated by marketing group Devito Verdi for the first quarter of next year will help boost the NextRadio “take rate” above the current level of 20%. In other words, one in five owners of FM-enabled phones have activated the receiver.

Heading into holidays, Macy’s is radio’s top spending department store. Black Friday may be diminishing in importance to shoppers but that didn’t stop retailers from hitting the airwaves in droves last week. Ten of the top 25 biggest radio advertisers for the week of November 24-30 were brick-and-mortar establishments, such as home centers and hardware stores, department stores, pharmacies, and apparel and toy stores. Retailers used radio to woo shoppers into their stores for deep holiday discounts. No department store ran more radio last week than Macy’s with 21,191 spots, putting it in the MediaMonitors top 10 for a second consecutive week. JC Penney was No. 2 with 15,850 ads, while Kohl’s came in third among department stores with 15,493 spots, up 40% from one week earlier. The Homegoods-Marshalls-TJ Maxx group was fourth with 5,487 spots and Sears was fifth with 3,572 spots. Other retailers airing a sizable number of radio commercials were Forman Mills (2,905 spots), Lord & Taylor (2,439) and Bloomingdales (1,425). While retailers were out in force on radio, they didn’t occupy the overall top positions like they did on TV, where the top three advertisers for the week were Walmart, JC Penney and Target. At radio, Lowe’s and Home Depot battled it out for the top spot, both increasing their radio campaigns. Home Depot aired 55,262 spots to Lowe’s 31,081. After iHeartRadio in third place, came insurer Geico (27,846) and McDonald’s (25,401). Radio’s biggest spot gainer was Walgreens. The pharmacy chain increased its spot volume by nearly 50% from the prior week to 23,203 units.

A programming shakeup at ’s WGCI. Faced with declining ratings, Chicago’s heritage urban contemporary station is making changes. Out in the shakeup at iHeartMedia’s WGCI-FM (107.5) are program director Kenard Karter and The Morning Riot’s Tony Sculfield and Nina Chantele. A third show member, Leon Rogers, will co-host mornings with weekend personality Rob Nice until a permanent replacement is found. The changes were first reported by media blogger Robert Feder. Despite record ratings for the urban format nationally, listening to WGCI is down 19% during the past year among total listeners (6+) and in the core 18-34 demo. Despite the loss, WGCI remained No. 1 in 18-34 in Nielsen’s November

[email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 3 NEWS insideradio.com TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014 survey. However the decline has been more severe in mornings, with a year-over-year decrease of 35% to seventh place among 18-34 year-olds. “The Morning Riot” team of Sculfield, Chantele and Rogers were put together in 2009 to replace the syndicated Steve Harvey, who relocated to urban AC sister “V-103” WVAZ. Chantele also hosted middays at CHR sister “Kiss 103.5” WKSC, which has adjusted its lineup. Karter’s responsibilities will be assumed by iHeart-Chicago director of urban programming Derrick Brown.

Jacobs: Local dealerships hold key to radio’s place in the connected car. By the end of the year, 16.4 million Americans are forecast to have replaced their old vehicle with a brand new one, many of which include high tech infotainment systems that open up new worlds of audio entertainment. Making sure broadcast radio remains a top in-car media choice is an important goal for broadcasters. Consultant Fred Jacobs says a critical determining factor in “where our radio stations end up in the center stack” occurs when the sales person is showing the customer how the dashboard controls work. “Most people set their presets or in this case, their connected car screens, and they leave them alone,” Jacobs told this year’s Public Radio Program Directors Association conference in Portland, OR. “As local broadcasters, this is an opportunity to connect with local car dealers in a very poignant way about issues that are very important to us.” While the days of station interns pre-setting new car radios to their station may be long gone, there are still opportunities for stations to work with dealers to ensure that salespeople show customers how to access broadcast radio in the new systems and how to ensure it’s not relegated to a secondary screen, Jacobs suggested. Jacobs said it’s an important step toward opening up a larger dialogue between the two industries. It’s not too late. Only about 8% of vehicles currently on the road have any sort of internet capability, according to McKinsey & Company, and just one in 10 people stream music in the car, according to the 2014 Infinite Dial study from Edison Research.

Machine-driven sports app makes radio debut. A new app that tracks social media in real-time for sports news and distributes it through push notifications to consumers on mobile devices will power a new daily “Trending Now” feature on . The partnership between the network and mobile search and messaging provider Sprylogics centers around the Breaking Sports app, which doesn’t require human intervention to detect and generate alerts. That allows it to analyze statistical and play-by-play information and auto-generate sports news updates faster for users, who specify what teams and players they’re interested in and the type of events they care about, such as injuries, roster moves, line-up changes, statistics, etc. The “Trending Now” sports updates powered by the app will be delivered during “The Show,” “The Show,” “Jay Mohr Sports,” “Steve Gorman Sports” and “J.T. The Brick.”

Inside Radio News Ticker…Columbus adds 2nd modern rocker… Yesterday was bottoms up for Columbus, OH classic rocker “The Brew” WBWR. The iHeartMedia station is now “105.7 The X, Columbus’ Rock Alternative.” It competes with Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting System’s modern rock “CD 102.5” WWCD. Yesterday’s included two hours of the Ohio State Marching Band. The gold and recurrent based station launched with the Black Keys “Gold On The Ceiling,” Lit “My Own Worst Enemy” and Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out.”... Curtis buys back Raleigh’s WKIX-FM... Classic hits “Kix 102.9” WKIX-FM, Raleigh-Durham is back in the hands of Curtis Media Group. The company has bought the station back from McClatchey Broadcasting, whose principal Billy McClatchey is exiting broadcasting to focus on his his Chaucer Creek Capital company. To meet ownership limits, Curtis has spun off bluegrass WFNL-FM to Triangle Marketing Associates.

What’s next in radio news technology: remote-controlled drones. When it comes to news coverage, “eye in the sky” is taking a new twist. ’s Portland, OR news/talker “FM News 101” KXL-FM has formed a partnership with a local company to use drones for breaking news coverage in the Pacific Northwest. Aerial Technology International launched in 2007 offering aerial images for real estate companies, farmers and city planners. Now it plans to use remote-control propeller drones for what Alpha EVP VP of programming Scott Mahalick says will be the “the world’s first radio news drone.” Aerial Technology co-owner Stephen Burtt says the partnership will “bring a whole new perspective to breaking news and live events.”

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DOS - RIVERSIDE, CA SALES MANAGER - CLASSIC HITS MEMPHIS iHeartMedia is looking for a Immediate opportunity for experienced Sales leader to work with an broadcast sales pro to head up local experienced sales staff. direct sales for the new Memphis Classic Hits station Guess FM 99.3. The Director of Sales is If you are an experienced broadcast responsible for development sales professional with a good work ethic and quality references, this and implementation of a is an opportunity to prosper and grow with well-funded local broadcast strategic plan to guide the sales group. Strong work ethic required for this lead-by-example position. department to successfully attain Ideal candidate will have business and/or personal ties to the Mid- revenue goals. Local direct, South, will work well independently, be ahead of the curve on new digital and events are all growth media, and will be able to sell creatively without smothering corporate opportunities for this heritage procedures and paperwork. If you have been excelling at personal cluster. Qualified candidates, broadcast sales and want to prove yourself in management, or if send cover letter & resume to: you are a selling manager stuck in the political corporate broadcast JodiMoran@.com world, this opportunity could be for you. You will have an open field of prospects and all the support and tools you need to be successful Equal Opportunity Employer. creating new business, including Nielsen, Media Monitor, and market- leading station advertising. This selling manager position will include base, industry-leading commission rates, override on your future sales hires, and full benefits including matching 401K. Immediate opening! Please send (in confidence) detailed resume, with earnings history and detail how you can contribute to launching and growing sales for Classic Hits Guess FM 99.3. Email: [email protected]. E.O.E.

VICE PRESIDENT, SALES - CHICAGO, IL GENERAL MANAGER iHeartMedia Chicago is seeking an experienced leader A mid-market radio and TV to work with our sales team. group is seeking a high- energy General Manager The Vice President of Sales position is a sales and management with experience in sales and role with responsibility for leading and managing all functions of a community issues. successful sales department for a cluster of seven (7) radio stations The person will be responsible in the Chicago market. The Vice President of Sales must have for overall management of one demonstrated success in driving large-scale, best-in-class businesses of its mid-west radio clusters, to even higher levels of achievement and financial success. Candidates developing innovative initiatives must have a deep knowledge of relevant market to serve clients, and setting intelligence and trends, including but not limited to and achieving revenue goals. evolving technologies, consumer behaviors, client A proven track record in sales expectations, shifting competitive landscape, and management is required. operational efficiencies. Please send a cover letter Please send cover letters & resumes to: and resume in confidence to: [email protected] [email protected] Equal Opportunity Employer Equal Opportunity Employer.

LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT RADIO MANAGEMENT OR SALES PRO? PLACE YOUR JOB OPENING HERE! EMAIL: [email protected] FOR A QUICK QUOTE.

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