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800.275.2840 MORE NEWS» insideradio.com THE MOST TRUSTED NEWS IN RADIO FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2014 Get ready for the 12 days of recycling Christmas cume. For stations that go all-Christmas, the time immediately following the holiday is a singular event, a once-a-year opportunity to showcase the station’s regular format in the best possible light. The goal is to keep people listening — even after the sleigh bells stop ringing. The courtship of the station’s newfound cume typically swings into high gear when Christmas listening levels reach their high point. Hourly promos airing on CBS Radio AC “Today’s 101.9” WLIF, Baltimore reinforce the station’s Christmas position. But they also include a collage of hooks from songs the station will be pumping out after the stockings and ornaments are packed away. “The message is, ‘Come back after the holidays, and this is what you’ll hear,” WLIF VP of programming Dave Labrozzi says. The hope is the music montages will win over some new year-round converts. Through music promos, artist drops and its own air talent, iHeartMedia AC “93.9 My FM” WLIT-FM, Chicago is pounding the message that “more variety from the ‘90s till now returns after the holidays.” Artists are doing their part. “Hi, this is Kelly Clarkson,” says a promo voiced by the pop star. “My FM plays my Christmas music but after the holidays you can hear more of my favorite songs.” For stations that have updated or evolved their format, like WLIT-FM, such promotion is crucial. “Some people listen to our Christmas format and think we’re still Lite FM,” PD Mick Lee says. “If they hear that [messaging] consistently during the holidays, they might say, ‘Wait a second, they’re playing Meghan Trainor “All About The Bass”? That’s not the station I used to listen to.’” The post-Christmas format rebuild: Cue up the contests and promotions. Keeping listeners locked in after the Christmas music ends becomes the top priority for hundreds of stations next Friday. To entice them to stick around, many have already begun teasing big contests and promotions that kick in when the regular programming resumes. Steel City Media’s “Country 94.1” KFKF-FM, Kansas City began promoting a January contest that will award season tickets and a trip to the spring training camp for the Kansas City Royals — even before it flipped the Santa switch. The promotion also includes giving away a drawer-full of Kenny Chesney tickets. “It gets them excited about what we’re doing in 2015 and lets them know we’re coming back as a country station,” KFKF PD/morning man Dale Carter says. “You look for the most white-hot thing you can find.” Nothing is more revered in Kansas City right now than the Royals. From December 26 of last year through the end of January, Chicago’s WLIT-FM aired a Variety Pays music-based cash contest that sold the station’s core artists. The station is expected to launch another contest designed to recycle Christmas cume again this year. Ditto for CBS Radio AC “Today’s 101.9” WLIF, Baltimore. Paying close attention to the basics, like music sequencing and imaging, is even more important in the hours and days following the Christmas format, says Summit Media SVP of programming Bill Tanner. “In some markets we advertise, but as a rule we think fans of the format come home quickly, especially the AC fans who give you the most quarter-hours,” he says. FCC won’t block word ‘Redskins’ from radio and TV airwaves. The Federal Communications Commission is refusing to order radio and television stations to stop using the term “Redskins” as it rejects a petition seeking to block the license renewal for a station owned by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder. George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf had led the charge, urging the FCC to reject the application filed by Red Zebra Broadcasting’s WWXX, Buckland, VA (94.3) seeking a new license. They claimed the “ESPN 980” WTEM simulcast wasn’t fit to be a license holder since it used the word “Redskins” on-air, which they characterized as “a derogatory racial and ethnic slur” and a violation of government [email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 1 NEWS insideradio.com FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2014 limits on profanity and obscenity. But Audio Division chief Peter Doyle concluded in the seven- page decision that “Redskins” doesn’t fit the bill since it’s not sexual or excretory in nature. “The First Amendment and Section 326 [of the Communications Act] prohibit the Commission from censoring program material or interfering with broadcasters’ free speech rights,” Doyle concludes. He also points out there are no provisions in the law or FCC rulebooks that specifically bans hate speech. Communications attorneys had said it was doubtful the FCC would step into the fight or try to limit stations’ use of the word. Red Zebra has also noted opinion surveys show a “small minority” of Americans object to its use. The company had been pushing the FCC to quickly rule on its license renewal to undercut Banzhaf’s threat to bring similar actions against radio and TV stations around the country. Law professor vows to appeal FCC ruling. The decision by the FCC to reject an attempt to block the license renewal for WWXX, Buckland, VA (94.3) and direct stations to avoid using the word “Redskins” was not unexpected. That’s according to George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf, who brought the challenge. Disappointed but undeterred, he now vows to appeal the staff-level decision to the full Commission and onto the U.S. Court of Appeals if necessary. “We have many more strings to our bow,” Banzhaf says. He points out a similar petition seeking to block the license renewal of Fox Television’s KTTV-TV, Los Angeles should get a “more serious consideration” by the agency since it was filed on time, unlike the one filed against WWXX. And Banzhaf says the L.A. petition includes several additional legal arguments, including that stations that use the term “Redskins” on-air are creating a “racially hostile environment. Radio One buys Russell Simmons-founded hip-hop site. Continuing to bulk up its online portfolio, Interactive One has purchased GlobalGrind, a website focused on hip-hop culture. The Russell Simmons-founded site will anchor a new Millennials channel for the online division of Radio One. The deal completes a sales, content, technology, product and marketing partnership with GlobalGrind which Interactive One began in April 2013. Since then, Interactive One says the site’s reach has increased 60%. Simmons and Global Grind co-president Michael Skolnik will remain involved, with Skolnik serving as editor in chief of the site, which covers entertainment, celebrity news, music, style, culture, news and politics from a hip-hop perspective. It will join the company’s flagship properties, including HelloBeautiful, TheUrbanDaily and NewsOne. During the last year, Interactive One says its reach has grown 145% to 33 million unique visitors per month. “This acquisition, which perfectly aligns with our existing multimedia brands, allows us to exponentially fast track our Millennial channel expansion strategy,” Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins said. Simmons said he’s happy with the care Interactive One has given “my baby” under the partnership and that he plans to continue to contribute his views to the site on important issues and trends. “GlobalGrind will continue to be a pop culture tastemaker and voice for the hip-hop generation,” he said. Internet ad revenue jumped 17% in record-setting quarter. Shrugging off a slower mid-year pace of sales, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reports a new record was set during the third quarter. Marketers spent $12.4 billion across all digital platforms, beating a previous record set late last year by $300 million. “Interactive advertising is clearly maintaining its strong momentum,” says David Silverman, a partner at PwC which compiles the data for the IAB. “These figures directly reflect how brands are increasingly embracing digital as a must-have in their marketing mix.” Not only did internet advertising revenue climb 17% during the third quarter compared to a year earlier, but the IAB says the figures also mark a 6.5% increase from second quarter, when an across-the-board slowdown in the ad market was a slight drag on the torrid pace of growth. IAB SVP of research Sherrill Mane says the latest numbers signal there’s a “new age in advertising” where digital will play a larger role. “Brands and agencies have clearly recognized that interactive advertising offers rich, immersive experiences,” she says. The Radio Advertising Bureau reported last month that the industry’s digital revenue increased 11% compared to a year ago and that $720 million of web sales have been booked through the first nine months of the year. Court gives SBS one victory, but other cases remain pending. In the latest setback for Lehman Brothers, a Delaware court has upheld the February decision to dismiss the firm’s lawsuit against Spanish Broadcasting System. The preferred shareholder had sought unspecified damages, alleging SBS violated the terms of its loan agreements when it bought the Houston television station KTBU-TV in 2011 for $16 million and took on new debt while missing quarterly dividends payments. [email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 2 NEWS insideradio.com FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2014 In a decision handed down December 11, the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed the lower court’s decision saying it could “find no error ..