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FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Pirate Radio Remains Hot, Angry Topic At FCC. A top concern voiced by broadcasters about FCC plans to reduce its number of area field offices was the impact it would have on efforts to crack down on pirate radio. During yesterday’s FCC Open Meeting, commissioner Michael O’Rielly called on the agency’s Enforcement Bureau to faster to bust illegal radio operators. With pirate radio “proliferating wildly, unchecked by the FCC,” O’Rielly said he lacked confidence that the commission will “actually do something anytime soon about the ongoing assault on the integrity of our airwaves.” As part of its field office modernization plan, the FCC pledged to develop a comprehensive policy and enforcement approach to pirate radio but O’Rielly said that already exists. “The policy is that it’s illegal and the only acceptable approach is we go after illegal broadcasting operations and shut them down— full stop,” he said. Putting Enforcement Bureau chief Travis LeBlanc on the spot, O’Rielly asked whether Michael O’Rielly the policy and approach could be developed by the end of August. LeBlanc said he was hopeful that could happen but offered no guarantee. “We have a lot of people that have to work together,” LeBlanc said. “There’s a lot that needs to be done but I think there is a commitment among the senior leadership within the commission as well as the commissioners to try to identify solutions to assist with pirate radio enforcement going forward.”

FCC To Close Up 11 Field Offices. The FCC voted unanimously yesterday to approve its controversial plan to close 11 field offices in its continued attempt to modernize the agency’s field operations. The closures are less severe than originally proposed by the commission, which scaled back plans to shutter most of the offices after broadcasters and members of Congress raised objections. Field offices will remain open in ; Boston; ; Columbia, MD; ; Denver; Honolulu; ; Miami; ; New York; Portland, OR; and . Offices slated to close include Anchorage, Buffalo, , Houston, Kansas City, Norfolk, , San Diego, San Juan, and Tampa. The FCC says the Enforcement Bureau will maintain a “field presence” in Alaska and Puerto Rico and that field agents will rotate periodically through Kansas City. It will also station rapid deployment teams in Columbia, MD and Denver to supplement the enforcement efforts of other field offices when needed and to support nationwide enforcement actions that are deemed high priority.

Busy Work For Entercom, Bonneville. Think you’re having a busy Friday? Try being Entercom. After finally closing its $105 million purchase of Lincoln Financial Media this week, the company begins operating the former LFM stations first thing today. That deal and a sidecar swap with Bonneville put Entercom into four new top 20 markets—Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego—while expanding its presence in Denver. Chances are they’ll work through lunch. Employees in three of the markets will meet their new bosses today. In Miami, that’s VP/GM Doug Abernethy, who Entercom recruited from Radio One. Former LFM staffers in Atlanta will shake hands with VP/GM Mike Fowler, most recently with ESPN in Chicago. Bob Bollinger, Entercom’s new VP/GM in San Diego, is no stranger to the market—he’s crossing the street from the CBS Radio cluster. Amy Griesheimer is staying put in Denver but presiding over a larger cluster. And Peter Burton continues to manage Los Angeles classic rocker “The Sound” KSWD, which Entercom began operating under a time brokerage agreement with Bonneville. Bonneville, in turn, got the keys to the Denver cluster that it took over via a time brokerage agreement with Entercom. They

[email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 1 NEWS insideradio.com FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015 include soft AC KOSI (101.1), country KYGO-FM (98.5), sports “The Fan” KKFN and sports “1600 The Zone” KEPN-AM. To win Department of Justice approval for the blockbuster LFM deal, Entercom agreed to divest the four stations in exchange for KSWD. Entercom still needs FCC approval to close on the Denver-for-L.A.-station swap with Bonneville, which is expected to close by the fourth quarter.

Connected Cars To Drive Digital—Report. With smart home technology already fast moving from the virtual to the virtually here, connected cars appear ready to swoop in as the “next major battleground,” according to a new report from Business Insider. And while entertainment is touted to be among the more popular features, it is expected to only generate $13 billion in revenue in 2020, making it pale in comparison to the $44 billion safety features is set to deliver. The total connected- services pie is supposed to hit $152 billion by that year. The entertainment integrations the BI Intelligence report expects include apps such as Pandora, Yelp and Facebook. Interestingly, a J.D. Power U.S. Tech Choice Study, released in April, says that Apple’s CarPlay and Android Auto only generated “lukewarm interest” among those surveyed, though it also suggested attitudes could shift. Five years isn’t a very long time, but with technology moving at the speed of sound, anything—including attitudes—can indeed change. And they’d have to—the Business Insider survey further suggests about 80% of consumers currently have either never heard of the “connected car” or aren’t sure what it’s about. Not surprisingly, millennials are ahead of the curve on the technology. According to the Power survey, that demo is ready to pay up to $3,700 more to get a full package of connected devices, far more than any other group. And as the Business Insider report adds, 25% of global consumers would freely accept in-car advertising if that meant they’d get extra tech for free. So another group will be happy with the tech’s advantages—marketers looking to break into connected-car-related sales.

Station Sales Continue, But No Big Deals. BIA/Kelsey reports that 58 radio stations changed hands in June, for a total value of all of $11 million. Last year in June, the 54 total station transactions brought in $177 million. So the only folks crying on the way to the bank station brokers. Radio fared better than , according to BIA/Kelsey—revenue from the sale of TV stations in June added up to exactly zero, compared to $199 million the year before. Year-to-date, radio sales totaled $217 million, just one-third of the $622 million in radio sales last year. BIA/Kelsey says 322 stations were sold, down from 522 year-over-year. This is keeping in line with the recent SNL Kagan conference in New York, where investors predicted a lean year for radio transactions. Last year, revenue from the sale of TV stations was robust. The $8 billion taken in was up 367% from the year prior; the nearly 300 stations sold were 205% more than the year before.

New Female Artists Still Looking For a Break On Country Radio. Female acts trying to get exposure on country radio can’t seem to catch a break of late. The latest indication: The number of new female artists with chart-topping hits and follow- ups has hit a particularly vexing low point. According to research by blogger and Stanford University PhD candidate Devarati Ghosh, reported by Billboard, over the last five years, major record labels introduced 31 new female artists to country radio, but only 32% of the women landed a top-20 single, and none scored a second top-20 song. In contrast, of the 51 new male artists introduced, 57% produced a top-20 song and 75% went on to notch a second hit. Ghosh, who on MJs Big as Deb G, analyzed the Billboard Country Airplay charts from three eight-year periods: 1992-99, 2000-07 and 2008-15. New female artists have previously stacked up better. From 1992-99, when now-legends such as Faith Hill, Shania Twain, Martina McBride and Sara Evans debuted, major record companies introduced 41 new solo female artists and 67 new male artists. Of the new female artists, 44% landed a top-20 song, and an impressive 89% of those notched a second, while 42% of the men recorded an initial top-20 hit and 86% of those scored a second. During the interim period, 2000-07, when 43 new women and 56 new men debuted, women faltered a bit. Of the new females, 40% hit the top 20 chart, compared to 55% of the men. Of those, just 53% of female artists delivered a second hit, while 71% of the men accomplished the feat. But, in a positive twist, despite the decline in chart-topping songs, record labels have been relatively consistent with the number of new female artists they have introduced to radio, so they’re not backing off trying.

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Over-Herd At ESPN—Host Departs For Fox. Veteran ESPN Radio midday host is leaving . Cowherd has hosted “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” which airs from 10am-1pm, since 2003 and the show has been simulcast on digital and satellite TV channel ESPNU since 2008. Media reports indicate that Cowherd is joining Fox Sports, but it is not known if he will have a role with Fox , which airs on 400 stations and on iHeartRadio. “We’ve enjoyed a mutually beneficial run with Colin for over a decade,” ESPN president John Skipper said in a statement. “He came to national prominence on ESPN with his unique perspective on sports and society. Endings also bring new beginnings, for ESPN and Colin, and we thank him and wish him the best.” “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” is carried on nearly 200 stations on-air and on TuneIn.com. A dozen years ago, Cowherd was picked by ESPN to replace former host Tony Kornheiser and anchor the midday slot after winning an “American Idol”-style competition. He is the third big name to leave ESPN in recent months, with popular host , who created the sports and pop culture blog, departing in May, and outspoken anchor also on his way out. Cowherd has been quiet on social media, not commenting about his departure or future plans. His only Tweet the day the news broke: “Tiger’s game is a mess and this is not the course or tournament to correct things on the fly #BritishOpen.”

WLS Makes Two Big Chicago Sports Scores. talker WLS, Chicago (890) will become the new home for games next season, and also pick up the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, starting with the 2016-17 season, keeping both through 2021, the stations and teams formally announced yesterday. That makes looking for sports on the radio dial much easier for Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns both franchises. The deal is a big step for WLS, which is not a player in the Chicago pro sports arena, but broadcasts some Notre Dame basketball and football games. It’s a six-year deal with the Sox, and a five-year deal with the Bulls. ESPN-owned “ESPN Radio 1000” WMVP has carried Bulls games since 1996. The new arrangement with WLS will void the last year of the team’s contract at WMVP. The White Sox have been on CBS Radio’s “The Score” WSCR (670) since 2006, the year after they won their last World Series, and though the team has its faithful, it’s probably the least followed major sports team in town. If by some chance of schedule, Bulls and White Sox games collide, it’s likely Cumulus will spin White Sox games to classic rock “97.9 The Loop” WLUP-FM which it also operates. Legendary WLS, with a soft 1.1 share in the latest Nielsen Audio survey, will otherwise remain a news/talks station. Its line-up includes syndicated conservative staples Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Mark Levin, and longtime Chicago fixtures Big John Howell, Steve Dahl and Jonathon Brandmeier.

News Travels Fast On Facebook, . A new Pew Research Center study highlights what many a Facebook status seems to indicate—namely, the growing audience that turns to social media for relevant news. The study finds that 63% of Twitter users, and an equal number of Facebook users, now see both as good sources for updates about events. This is up from 2013, when the numbers were only about 50% for each. In terms of overall population, one in ten people in the U.S. get news on Twitter and a stunning 40% do so on Facebook. Use of both social networks for news is increasing substantially and at relatively the same percentage for each demographic. How people use it, however, differs a bit. While Pew doesn’t explicitly say so, data indicates Twitter feeds are more newsy, and thus may be better suitable as an opportunity for news/talk stations. Among the data: • Of Twitter users, 59% say they use it for breaking news, while only 31% of Facebook users do. • When it comes to government and politics, about 46% of Twitter users follow news organizations or individual journalists, with 28% of Facebook users doing so. • Twitter users prefer that site over Facebook for news on national government and politics, international affairs, business and sports. • Among Facebook users, 69% say they see more news about local people and events there, while 63% of Twitter users do. About half of each group see weather and traffic and news at each stop, while 53% at each notice local government and politics stories. — Get more news, people moves and insider extras @ www.insideradio.com. —

[email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 3 Q & A insideradio.com FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015 Six Questions With J. Pat Miller Director of marketing & innovation, E.W. Scripps Company-

J. Pat Miller does more than oversee traditional promotions for heritage “620 News Radio” WTMJ and country upstart WKTI-FM (94.5). He’s also a problem-solver and idea man for new products and projects for the Milwaukee stations. Inside Radio caught up with Miller at the Conclave Learning Conference in Minneapolis, where he spoke on a panel about digital brand extensions.

Digital is the entry point for a growing number of listeners. What are you doing to ensure they come back for more? Digital shortens the path between people who have something to say and people who want to hear it. When you have a great talk show host like Charlie Sykes at WTMJ, his Right conservative website allows us to give him an additional outlet to share and expand on what he talks about on the air and to create exclusive content that you can get with one click. It’s a subscription- based website with daily newsletters from a staff of political writers with Charlie as editor-in-chief. It truly is alternative media being operated by a heritage media company. It’s great to use digital to allow radio people to make more radio— online. Let’s give our talented people who have something to say more ways to say it and a direct line to the people that want to hear it.

WTMJ is positioned as ‘Wisconsin’s Radio Station.’ How do you use digital to live up to that motto? We have a WTMJ brand extension called Preps Live that carries high school football and basket-ball play-by-play. It’s two channels within our Radio League app, which includes all of Scripps’ FM channels, a bunch of digital pureplays and local-only extensions. WTMJ is fortunate to have the broadcast rights for the Brewers, Packers and Bucks, which means it can’t cover high school sports on the air. But they’re really important to our listeners. Digital allows us to send our broadcasters, street teams and talent right on the football field in a 100% digital envi-ronment. When we’re on the air with a Bucks game, we promote that the high school game is on WTMJ.com. That goes a long way to serving the community and extending the brand of the sta-tion to live up to its mission.

What technology do you use for the digital play-by-play? We use Radionomy’s go-live technology along with a Pelican Case that includes a MacBook Pro, microphone, Sennheiser headphones, a mixer and a 4G LTE card. The whole kit costs about $3,500. The automation system and all the commercials, bumps and live reads are on the Mac-Book. We modeled it after our broadcast format. When they call a time-out, we go to commercials from our paid advertisers. It’s self-contained; we don’t need anybody at the studio. If we have a power plug, we can go live.

How does the company monetize the digital extensions? Right Wisconsin has a subscription model. We also offer advertising opportunities in the daily newsletter and on the site for folks that want to reach that audience. Preps Live is hand-in-glove with our Packers, Brewers or Bucks sales where we sell three different sponsorship levels. There are live reads and commercials inside the online broadcast. There’s excitement when WTMJ, which has such brand equity from calling pro sports, shows up for a high school game. Advertis- ers get to be part of that and support high school sports.

What opportunities do you see for radio to create unique digital experiences? We have the luxury of a business model that allows us to employ people who have something to say. We just have more ways for them to say it than ever before. It doesn’t matter if it’s stream-ing, or a Periscope feed done regularly, or Snapchat. Find people who have something to say and give them ways to say it.

What’s radio’s future look like on mobile devices? With all the stats about people consuming audio on mobile devices, we don’t have to guess about the future. In the average house or office, it’s a lot faster to pull out the digital device in every-one’s pocket than go find a radio. Consumers want curated, custom, entertaining audio and that’s what we’re good at. If we can encourage radio people to make more radio that just hap-pens to be distributed on a mobile device, that’s great.

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MARKET MANAGER - WINCHESTER VA Centennial Broadcasting is searching for an experienced Market Manager to lead our cluster of radio stations in Winchester, Virginia. Our radio products in Winchester are WINC-AM (News Talk), B-105 (Country) and WINC-FM (Hot AC serving Winchester, Leesburg and Northern Virginia).

We are seeking a smart and aggressive leader of people who can focus on generating healthy revenue growth by developing new local direct, local agency, digital and non-traditional business. Familiarity with all aspects of station operations, proven sales management techniques and knowledge of all aspects of team development and motivation, sales systems and accountability will be essential.

Candidates must have at least 3-5 years of sales management experience and preferably 5 years of market management experience. A college degree is preferable.

To apply, please forward your resume, cover letter & professional references to: [email protected]. EOE

qual GM/SM - MINNESOTA GM/SM opening for Hubbard radio in northern Minnesota! , Inc. is looking for an energetic, motivated and creative manager to lead our three radio stations in Wadena, MN. As General Manager/Sales Manager you will oversee sales, marketing and operations of the K-106 KKWS-FM, KWAD-AM and KNSP-AM.

Hubbard Broadcasting recently acquired 16 radio stations in four northern Minnesota markets. The opportunity provides the best of both worlds—small market localism with major market resources.

We can’t wait to hear from you! Send a letter and resume to: Dan Seeman at [email protected] Equal Opportunity Employer.

RADIO ADVERTISING SALES - PORTLAND OR Oregon’s 2014 Radio Station of the Year, News Talk 860 KPAM, and sister station Sunny 1550, are seeking Portland’s next great radio Account Executive. If you know how to build long-term relationships with small to mid-size business owners, care about bringing results to those businesses, and can do it without ratings, then KPAM and Sunny could be your next home. Experience in broadcast media sales is necessary. KPAM and Sunny are two locally-owned radio stations offering excellent benefits and above average compensation plans in an employee focused environment. Please send resume to our GSM: [email protected] No calls please. E.O.E.

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