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Marci Wiser To DC - 8/28 - DCRTV hears Marci Wiser leaves NYC CBS alternative rocker WXRK, K-Rock, for the midday gig at sister classic rocker WTGB, the Globe, in DC.....

All NYC TVers, Including 7, To Carry 9/11 Names - 8/27 - Seven years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, local TV stations are again gearing up for live coverage of the reading of the victims' names. Though plans are still being firmed up, every station in town is preparing to carry the ceremony live and uninterrupted. A year ago, Channel 7/WABC was going to move its live coverage of the event to its digital channel and to the internet. But after victims' families found out and complained to the station, the decision was reversed. More from the NY Daily News.....

XPN To Celebrate "Power Of Song" - 8/27 - Adult alternative WXPN (88.5 FM) in Philadelphia will debut the "Power Of Song" in September, a radio and web based series highlighting songs and artists who have impacted society and culture. FMQB has more.....

Imus Sidekick Hospitalized - 8/27 - Rob Bartlett, who does character voices and sidekick duties on Don Imus's WABC (770 AM) morning show, has been hospitalized suffering from multiple blood clots. Docs give Bartlett a good chance for a full recovery.....

Slump Continues For NY Times - 8/26 - The New York Times Company said that its July revenue from continuing operations fell 10.1 percent this year as advertising revenue slipped 16.2 percent. Overall revenue dropped to $235.9 million in July from $262.3 million in July 2007, the publisher said. More from AP.....

More Cuts At Inquirer & Daily News - 8/26 - From phillymag.com: As the financial troubles of Philadelphia Media Holdings continue to mount, more layoffs are coming at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. Specific newsroom employees are being approached and asked to consider accepting voluntary layoffs, says administrative officer Bill Ross of the Newspaper Guild. ?The idea is that they’ll get the severance agreement negotiated under the contract," he says, "and they will save someone with less seniority from facing layoffs." Ross says there is no word yet on how many employees will be cut in the latest round of bloodletting or exactly when the blood will begin to flow.....

YSP: "Rock You Grew Up With" - 8/26 -

CBS Radio's active rock WYSP in Philadelphia is moving in more classic rock direction by adding more rock titles from the '70s, '80s, and '90s with the new positioning statement, "The Rock You Grew Up." VP/General Manager Jim Loftus said, "We asked our listeners what they wanted from 94 WYSP, they made it clear to us, and that is exactly what we are delivering." More from Radio Online.....

CC's Mitchem Heads To DC - 8/25 - Clear Channel names Thea Mitchem as operations manager for its DC-Baltimore radio cluster. She comes from Clear Channel's Philadelphia radio cluster, where she's been OM and program director of urban WUSL and adult urban WDAS.....

More Hard Classics For YSP - 8/25 - DCRTV hears that ratings-starved CBS alt rocker WYSP (94.1 FM) has tweaked its format to include more harder-edged classic rock. A la AC/DC, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, and Aerosmith. The rocker is up against three other rock/classic rock stations in the Philadelphia market.....

Mendte Admits To "Improper Relationship" With Lane - 8/25 - From philly.com: After pleading guilty to a felony charge of hacking into the e-mail accounts of his onetime colleague Alycia Lane, former CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte went before the cameras yesterday and said he'd had a "flirtatious, unprofessional, and improper relationship" with Lane. At a Friday news conference, Mendte, who is married to Fox 29 anchor Dawn Stensland, apologized to his wife, to viewers and to Lane, saying he had been wrong to access her e-mails and then pass along information from them to reporters. But Mendte said their once-close relationship had "turned into a personal feud" after Stensland confronted him about Lane on New Year's Day 2005 and he told her the truth. He said he stopped having long dinners with Lane, stopped staying out late with her, and stopped allowing her to come into his office to do her makeup every day.....

KHS's Steve Kramarck To VUD - 8/25 - After 13 years, station manager Steve Kramarck has exited Kent County High School's WKHS (90.5 FM) in Worton, on Maryland's northern Eastern Shore, to take over WVUD (91.3 FM) at the University Of Delaware in Newark. The search is on for a replacement to run day-to-day operations and teach at WKHS, one of the largest non-commercial high school stations in the country, we hear.....

Shister Inducted Into Gay Hall Of Fame - 8/23 - Gail Shister, the former TV reporter and columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and now a blogger for TVNewser, is being inducted into the LGBT Journalists Hall Of Fame today at the National Lesbian And Gay Journalists Association Convention in DC. She'll be just the ninth inductee into the Hall. "It means an enormous amount to me," says Shister. "I've been with the organization since the first year, I consider it my baby. I watched it grow, and I'm fiercely protective of it." That first year was 1982, a few years after Shister became the first woman sportswriter at the New Orleans States-Item and later at the Inquirer. She was also among the first "out" reporters, says TVNewser.....

Mendte Admits Hacking - 8/22 - Fired Channel 3/KYW newscaster Larry Mendte admitted Friday that he hacked into his co-anchor's e-mail accounts, pleading guilty to one count of illegally accessing a computer. Mendte admitted that he viewed hundreds of Alycia Lane's e-mails from March 2006 to May 2008, including ones from her agent, her then-husband and lawyers representing her after she was arrested in New York last year and fired from the station. From January to May of this year, Mendte read Lane's e-mail 537 times, the FBI said. AP has more.....

Heart Surgery For PEN's MacDonald - 8/22 - Jody MacDonald, afternoon host at Philadlephia sports talker WPEN (950 AM), is scheduled to undergo heart surgery on Monday, 8/25. More at philly.com.....

Mallette To Power 105 Afternoons - 8/21 - Malikha Mallette gets the afternoon slot at Clear Channel's urban WWPR, Power 105, in NYC....

Mendte Heads To Court - 8/20 - News Blues tells us that former Channel 3/KYW news anchor Larry Mendte is due in federal court Friday, where he is expected to plead guilty to one count of "intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization and thereby obtaining information in furtherance of a tortious act," a felony. He faces up to six months in jail, under advisory sentencing guidelines. The maximum penalty is five years in federal prison.....

Savidge To Do PBS News Program - 8/20 - Martin Savidge is leaving NBC News for public television, where he is to become the anchor of a new NYC-based weeknight broadcast that will focus on international news. Channel 21/WLIW is developing the program. Savidge's program "Worldfocus" is to start in October on a lineup of public television stations nationwide that is still being assembled but already includes stations in 8 of the top 10 markets. On WLIW and its sister station, Channel 13/WNET, the newscast will replace "BBC World News," with two airings on each station each night. The NY Times has more.....

Daily News Announces Buyout - 8/19 - We're hearing that the New York Daily News today announced a voluntary buyout program to employees. The cost-cutting paper is looking to trim 25 jobs from the newsroom. The NY Post has more.....

"Mad Dog" To Sirius XM - 8/19 - It's official. Former CBS sports talk WFANer Chris "Mad Dog" Russo heads to Sirius XM Satellite Radio. The former afternoon "Mike And The Mad Dog" co-host has done a five-year deal with the satradder and will headline a new sports channel to air on both Sirius and XM. "Mad Dog Radio" will launch on Sirius-123 and XM-144, with Russo's show airing from 2 PM to 7 PM starting 9/15.....

DeMentri Gone From 10 & 17 - 8/19 - Channel 10/WCAU has removed Vince DeMentri's bio from its website. The 4 PM news anchor, who also anchored Channel 17/WPHL newscasts, was last seen on the air in early July. The Philadelphia Inquirer has more.....

Homeless Man Causes Incident At 3 - 8/19 - A homeless man ran into the street and hurled himself in front of a moving car after attempting to gain entry into the offices of Philadelphia's CBS3 and CW Philly 57. A CBS3 camera rolled and station management watched in horror as the deliberately-injured man was put onto a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. More from the Philadelphia Daily News.....

"Mad Dog" To Satrad? - 8/18 - After announcing his departure from CBS Radio sports WFAN (660 AM), Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is rumored to be signing with Sirius XM Satellite Radio and scoring approximately $15 million over five years, reports Newsday.com's Neil Best. More soon.....

Guy Lebow Dies - 8/18 - Guy Lebow, a veteran NYC radio and TV sportscaster and former owner of Newark NJ's WNWK (105.9 FM), died on 8/14 at age 92. Lebow did recreations of Giants baseball games for WMCA in 1958, after the team moved to San Francisco, and also anchored sports at WNBC-AM and Channel 7/WABC. His voice also appeared as a sportscaster in Woody Allen's 1987 "Radio Days" film.....

Jeff Miles To PLJ Middays - 8/18 - Hot adult contemporary WPLJ (95.5 FM) put Jeff Miles in the midday slot, replacing Race Taylor, who has moved to afternoons. Miles has been hosting the nationally-syndicated "Cruz In The 80s" newer oldies show for ABC Radio Networks.....

Shannon: Oldies With Variety - 8/18 - Radio And Records looks at the mass appeal of WPLJer Scott Shannon's "True Oldies" nationally-syndicated format. Not just the same well-worn tunes played over and over.....

XM's 24 Goes Pink - 8/18 - Premiere Radio Networks replaces its adult contemporary "Sunny" channel on XM-24 with "The Pink Channel," which will put health and personal wellness segments among tunes from the 1970s through the 1990s. It's a joint-venture with NYC cancer hospital and research institute City Of Hope.....

Money Big Factor In "Mad Dog's" Departure - 8/16 - From the NY Post: Fixated on the higher salary of bloviating co-host Mike Francesa, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo was bent on leaving WFAN and even shopped his services to the station's arch rival, ESPN Radio, sources told the Post. Russo's contract, which was set to expire next April, pays him $1.1 million a year, about $200,000 less than Francesa, who recently inked a new five-year deal. "It always fed his insecurity and resentment," said a source close to the hit "Mike And The Mad Dog" show.....

ABC To Sell 7 & 6? - 8/15 - News Blues tells us that the Walt Disney company may sell its 10 ABC owned-and-operated television stations - including NYC's Channel 7/WABC and Philadelphia's Channel 6/WPVI. The deal could fetch as much as $4.8 billion, according to David Miller, a Los Angeles-based analyst who has covered the company since 2000. "As long as the new owner keeps the ABC affiliations, that should be enough for Disney,'' Miller said. Disney spokesman Jonathan Friedland called the report "purely speculative".....

NYC Council Attacks Arbitron Over PPMs - 8/15 - From Radio Online: The New York City Council plans to introduce a resolution Friday calling on Arbitron to delay the launch of its new electronic ratings system, the Portable People Meter (PPM). It's asking that PPM be delayed until the "FCC has concluded an investigation of potential racial and ethnic biases in its methodology." In a statement, Arbitron Senior VP/Press And Investor Relations Thom Mocarsky said that the ratings company doesn't believe that the FCC has jurisdiction over it or its operations. "It is important to note that the FCC has not determined that it will undertake such an investigation," said Mocarsky. "However, we are committed to continue our voluntary discussions with the FCC as well as with the New York City Council and with vlack-owned and Spanish-language radio to explain fully the Portable People Meter system".....

Le Roy Akins Dies - 8/15 - We're told that Le Roy Akins, who once was an engineer for Philadelphia's WFIL, has died of cancer at age 66......

"Mad Dog" Leaves FAN Morning Show - 8/14 - Newsday reports: Two weeks shy of its 19th anniversary, the "Mike And The Mad Dog'' show is no more. CBS sports talk WFAN (660 AM) announced early Thursday evening that Chris Russo is leaving the company, making Mike Francesa the sole host of the popular afternoon drive time show. "Mike and Chris pioneered the genre more than 18 years ago and have shaped the sports talk format into what it is today," WFAN operations director Mark Chernoff said in a statement. "As we embark on this next step in WFAN's history, we wish Chris nothing but the best and look forward to all that Mike will do in a role in which he has excelled at for years.'' Chernoff said he did not know where Russo was headed, but he is expected to land at Sirius Satellite Radio.The announcement of Russo's departure coincided with the announcement of a new contract for Francesa, whose deal was believed to be expiring around the end of the year.For now, he will be the sole host of the show, including Friday. But over time new elements will be added. The NY Post has more.....

PD Vaughn To Leave Q102 - 8/14 - Rick Vaughn will leave the program director gig at Clear Channel's contemporary hit WIOQ, Q102, in Philadelphia to do the same thing at Chicago's contemporary hit WKSC. Vaughn has been at Q102 since February 2006, when he moved down from the PD post at Clear Channel sister WKSS in Hartford, where he spent four years.....

Karmazin Plans Satrad Cuts - 8/14 - As expected. Sirius XM Radio head Mel Karmazin has revealed in a TV interview that the newly-merged company plans to eliminate executive positions in order to cut costs. He said he had already identified jobs that could be cut to create "substantial" savings. Karmazin also indicated that the combined satellite radio company would introduce new products based on technology XM was in the process of developing before the takeover.....

Stern Renews Cable TV VOD Deal - 8/14 -

Howard TV On Demand, available via many local cable TV systems, will continue through the end of 2010, when Howard Stern's (left) deal with Sirius Satellite Radio expires, according to the terms of an agreement between the shock jock and In Demand Networks. The parties also announced that Howard TV will debut seven "uncensored" video-on-demand programs throughout 2008. Including "Beat The Booey," in which three Stern show fans compete in a trivia game for a chance to go up against longtime Stern show producer Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate. For a monthly fee, usually in the $20 range, cable subscribers get unlimited access to Stern's VOD programs. Broadcasting And Cable has more.....

29 To Launch 11 PM Political Newscast - 8/14 - Philadelphia's Channel 29/WTXF will launch its half-hour 11 PM campaign-season political newscast on 9/1. "The Last Word" will focus on politics leading up to the election, with feeds from Fox News Channel and Fox stations and Kerri-Lee Halkett in the anchor seat. There also will be a weather segment from John Bolaris. After the election, it'll be back to "Seinfeld" reruns on Fox29.....

New Local Music Show From K-Rock - 8/13 - CBS's NYC rocker WXRK (92.3 FM) unveils a new local music show, "B Local," Sundays at 9 PM, hosted by Mike Dubin, who also hosted K-Rock's previous local music show, "Domestic Disturbance," from 2004 to 2006.....

NJ: Media Wasteland? - 8/13 - From the Observer: "Is New Jersey really that uninteresting? Since the start of summer, the New York Times emptied out its two New Jersey bureaus in Trenton and Newark; in June, the Record Of Bergen County announced it would shut down its headquarters and its reporters would be homeless; in July, the Star Ledger announced that it was cutting about a third of its newsroom, and its owners said they would consider selling the paper. It’s becoming reasonable to wonder if, at this rate, there will be anyone left to cover the state soon".....

Liberty Eyeing AOL's Dial-Up - 8/13 - Just days after Time Warner said it had cleaved off DC-based AOL's dial-up web access division and was in a position to sell it, Liberty Media, an $8 billion NYC media giant, sees it as an "attractive" investment. More in the DC Post.....

WAXQ's Bob Buchman Bids Farewell - 8/12 - Three-decade NYC rock radio veteran Bob Buchman gets ready to sign-off from classic rock WAXQ. "From 2 to 4 this afternoon... he will host his final WAXQ (104.3 FM) shift - from the house of old friend Billy Joel, which is a nice touch." More from the NY Daily News.....

Zach Martin To DHA - 8/12 - Zach Martin joins NJ rocker WDHA for on-air shifts. He's been doing production work for NYC's sports talk WFAN.....

Sirius Offers Coupon To Solve Receiver Problem - 8/12 -

To meet the terms of the XM-Sirius merger agreement, Sirius XM Radio has sent a letter to Sirius subscribers explaining how to work around the too-high-powered FM transmitters in their receivers. The letter tells subscribers that the FM transmitter's power is over FCC limits, explains how to turn it off, and offers some options to work around it, including a wired connection through a car radio's line-in jack, a cassette adapter, an FM extender cable that requires a wired to be run inside the vehicle, and a professionally installed FM direct adapter. A coupon is available for those who choose the last option, reports Radio Ink.....

Karmazin On A "Mission" - 8/11 - From the NY Post: "Mel Karmazin is on a mission. Now that the creation of Sirius XM is official, terrestrial radio's formerly brightest star is after nothing short of total domination of his old medium".....

More: Peter Rosenberg Lands AM Gig On NYC Hip-Hopper - 8/11 -

"In a first, NY's premier rap station, Hot 97, hires a Jewish DJ in prime-time." That's from a Jewish Week article about former DC radio personality Peter Rosenberg (right), who headed up to NYC urban outlet WQHT, Hot 97, last year. After doing a late-night Sunday show, he's now doing an early morning weekday gig on the top-rated Emmis outlet.....

Andy Bloom Upped At CBS - 8/11 - Andy Bloom has been named operations manager of CBS Radio's sports talk WIP, talker WPHT, and rocker WYSP in Philadelphia. He'd been program director of WIP since November 2007 and formerly programmed WYSP.....

Isaac Hayes Dies, Once Hosted WRKS Show - 8/11 - Before he started his vocal characterization as "Chef" on "South Park", Hayes was adding "radio personality" to a long list of accomplishments that included singer, songwriter, pianist and sax player, and creating a persona that anticipated rap and hip-hop style. He was a personality on "Kiss" WRKS, New York from 1996 to 2001 and he also worked on the radio in Memphis. Emmis Radio President Rick Cummings tells Radio-Info that "Isaac was a huge factor in the re-build of Kiss into a great brand. He was delightful to work with, and he did morning radio like he seemingly did everything: very well. The Emmis family will miss him." "Theme From Shaft" writer and performer Isaac Hayes died Sunday at age 65, after being found on the floor near a treadmill in his Memphis house.....

Chris Therien To WIP - 8/11 - Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Therien will replace fellow former Flyer Brian Propp as color analyst for the Flyers' radio broadcasts on CBS's WIP (610 AM).....

6 Announcer Paul Norton Dies - 8/8 - DCRTV hears that Paul Norton, a longtime announcer at Philadelphia's Channel 6/WPVI, died on 8/7 at Christiana Hospital in Newark DE. He was 79. More soon.....

Ragan Henry Dies - 8/8 - Ragan Henry, who owned Philadelphia's WWDB radio in the 1970s, died on 7/26 after a long illness. He was 74. Henry, who also owned radio stations in Baltimore, Washington DC, and Atlanta, was the first African American to own a TV network affiliate. He was named as one of the Library Of American Broadcasting's "First Fifty Giants Of Broadcasting" in 2003. More from philly.com.....

Giordano To Evenings On PHT - 8/8 - Dom Giordano moves from late nights to the 6 PM to 10 PM shift Mondays thru Thursdays, and 9 PM to midnights on Fridays, on CBS talker WPHT (1210 AM) in Philadelphia. He replaces Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, who moves to a director post with a Camden NJ hospital. Mazzarelli will still do a 10 PM to midnight Sunday show on WPHT.....

Guzman Returns To 2 After Heart Attack - 8/8 - Pablo Guzman gets choked up talking about his life, and how he nearly lost it late last month. The WCBS/Channel 2 correspondent, a former Daily News writer, had a heart attack July 22 while being treated for chest pains at White Plains Hospital. He returned to work this week, reports the NY Daily News.....

YSP Names Sottolano PD - 8/7 - DCRTV hears that CBS Radio is upping Jeff Sottolano from marketing director to program director for Philadelphia rocker WYSP (94.1 FM). He replaces John Cook, who exited earlier this year along with Kidd Chris, after the latter played a racist parody song on the morning show.....

NY Forbids Non-Compete Contracts - 8/7 - The trade pubs are reporting that New York Governor David Patterson has signed into law a ban on broadcast employee non-compete clauses. The Broadcast Employees Freedom To Work Act eliminates the contractural restrictions placed in many broadcast employees' contracts preventing them from working in a particular market for a specified period of time.....

Mendte Nabs 19 Emmy Noms - 8/7 - CBS3 exile Larry Mendte received 19 nominations tonight as the National Academy of Television Arts Amd Sciences' Mid-Atlantic chapter announced the field for this year's local Emmys. Perennial front-runner CBS3 led the pack with 60 nominations; also represented were CN8 (35 nominations), NBC10 (31), Fox29 (27), NJN Public Television (18), Eagles Television Network (15), Comcast SportsNet (9), WHYY (8), PBS Kids Sprout (5), and the CW Philly 57 (2). WPVI (Channel 6) did not enter again .Mendte, whose inclusion in the proceedings was the subject of debate that reached NATAS's upper echelon, submitted his entries before the April 19 deadline. Five weeks later, the FBI raided Mendte's house while investigating him for snooping on the e-mail of former colleague Alycia Lane. He was fired June 23. He has been charged with a single federal felony count of accessing e-mail without authorization. More from philly.com.....

Mel To Ax $400M From Sirius XM - 8/6 -

The NY Times chats with Mel Karmazin (right), the head of Sirius XM, as he ponders $400 million in cuts to the newly-merged satellite radio firm.....

Stern Sidekick Enters Rehab - 8/6 - Sirius shock jock Howard Stern's radio sidekick, Artie Lange, has checked into rehab to be treated for drug and alcohol abuse, so reports contractmusic.com.....

Salem Launches NYC Talker On 970 - 8/6 - Salem unveiled talker WNYM, "AM 970 The Apple," on Wednesday using Salem's syndicated Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, and Hugh Hewitt. And Westwood One's Jim Bohannon. It's being programmed by Peter Thiele. The station had been stunting with Frank Sinatra tunes. A number of 970's former brokered religious shows have moved to sister religious outlet WMCA (570 AM).....

WALK For Sale - 8/6 - WALK-FM, the top-rated Long Island radio station, is among the stations that Clear Channel is putting up for sale, the radio giant said Tuesday. San Antonio-based Clear Channel, which recently completed a deal to go private, agreed to divest certain radio stations to get approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The company placed more than 50 stations, including WALK (97.5 FM and 1370 AM) of Patchogue, into the Aloha Station Trust. The trust will oversee the operations and management until buyers are found, according to Ray Yeung, a spokesman for Clear Channel. The FCC stipulated that the company not operate the stations while they are for sale. Jim Condron, vice president and general manager for WALK, said Tuesday, "We are operating business as usual at WALK-AM and FM stations. There is no change in our day-to-day operations while we are in the Aloha Trust. We will continue to stay focused on the task at hand, which remains as always, to super serve our listeners, clients, and employees." More from Newsday.....

Talks Underway To Renew O&A's Deal With Satrad - 8/6 -

From FMQB: Talks are taking place between Sirius XM and Opie and Anthony (right) for a contract renewal, revealed super agent Bob Eatman on their morning show yesterday. The negotiations come less than a week after Sirius XM satellite radio CEO Mel Karmazin appeared on their program to reassure O&A that he wants them to be a part of the newly merged satellite radio companies. Eatman also revealed that CBS Radio is waiting to see if O&A's new Sirius XM deal will keep them on terrestrial radio. If it does, then he suggested that O&A will likely make a return to CBS rocker WYSP in Philadelphia. O&A are currently heard on CBS rocker WXRK in NYC, plus CBS rockers in Boston and Cleveland.....

Miss Jones Gone From WPHI - 8/4 - Philadelphia urban outlet WPHI (100.3 FM) has removed the "Miss Jones In The Morning" show. It's been replaced by "The Morning Beat," an all-music show. Before coming to PHI, Jones had been heard on NYC WQHT, Hot 97.....

New Talker To Launch On 970 - 8/4 - Salem's 970 AM in the NYC area is stunting with Frank Sinatra tunes as the station prepares to move to a talk format, sources say. The Hackensack NJ-based station recently dropped the longtime WWDJ calls for WTTT, which had been on a Boston Salem outlet. However, 970 is expected to take on the WNYM calls come Wednesday.....

FAN Store At JFK - 8/4 - NYC sports talker WFAN (660 AM) will offer mugs and t-shirts featuring the station's logo in a new shop at JFK Airport. So reports the NY Times.....

WXTV Leads NYC TV News Race - 8/4 - On an evening its rivals were preoccupied with Christie Brinkley's divorce and the capture of a Brooklyn murder suspect, New York's WXTV led its local news with a story about graffiti saying "Get out of the USA" painted near a Peruvian restaurant on Long Island. The Spanish-speaking Univision affiliate figured it was a more meaningful story for its audience, and those kind of choices are paying off. Within the past few months, WXTV's 6 PM newscast has eclipsed its English-speaking competitors on ABC, CBS, and NBC stations in popularity among viewers younger than 49. More from AP.....

Cuts Hit Star-Ledger - 8/2 - From Joe Strupp at Editor And Publisher: "When word broke (Thursday) that the Star-Ledger of Newark NJ was looking to slash some 200 jobs through buyouts - and threatened to be sold if it did not get enough takers - the bombshell meant more than the usual newspaper facing a crisis. The Ledger, as it is known to any Jerseyan, was different. It was the big fat and happy daily that got most of the advertising, paid employees well enough that they didn't need a Newspaper Guild, and circulated statewide. The paper continues to boast the largest statehouse bureau of any daily paper, with just under a dozen staffers in Trenton, and in recent years finally won its coveted Pulitzer Prizes. For years, the Newhouse Family always maintained it would never lay off employees due to economics and pretty much left it and its sister papers in New Orleans and Cleveland alone".....

Verizon Masturbating Marketer Arrested - 8/1 - Verizon has temporarily suspended door-to-door marketing in Delaware, after an 18-year-old salesman working for an outsourced marketing firm was arrested in Wilmington for allegedly masturbating while watching a woman work in her garden. Mulltichannel News has more.....

4 Cuts Gov - 8/1 - From Richard Huff in the NY Daily News: "When Governor Paterson finish-ed his rare TV address Tuesday laying out the financial woes of New York State, he took a moment to thank the networks for carrying the speech. Clearly, he wasn't talking about WNBC/Channel 4. That's because, in a silly move, Channel 4 bailed early on Paterson's delivery of what was dire news for the state. It was a bad decision, lamebrained even, and sad for a station that is still trying to win back viewers lost by previous weak news moves".....

Comcast: Earning Up, Fewer Subscribers - 7/30 - Area media giant Comcast reported an 8 percent rise in second-quarter earnings and its cable TV subscriber count slid 0.6 percent, or 138,000 households, to 24.6 million. Stock analysts called the earnings and only modest subscriber count decline very good, given that the second quarter is usually weak and cable TV operators face increased competition from telco video. Broadcasting And Cable has more.....

Buchmann Out At WAXQ - 7/30 - Bob Buchmann leaves the program director post at Clear Channel's classic rock WAXQ, Q104.3. Tom Poleman, CC's senior VP of programming for the NYC radio cluster, will take over the programming duties at WAXQ. The station's assistant program director, Eric Wellman, remains on-board.....

Edie Huggins Dies - 7/30 -

From philly.com: Edie Huggins (right), a trailblazing reporter who became one of Philadelphia's most beloved broadcasters, died this morning after a lengthy illness. Huggins, 72, was the first African-America woman to report on television in Philadelphia. She began her career as a broadcaster in 1966 as a features reporter on "The Big News Team" with John Facenda on WCAU-TV. Her 42-year career at the station, now known as NBC10, included stints as anchor and presenter of numerous investigative series.....

Mr. Karmazin Comes To Washington, Then Does Stern - 7/30 - Tuesday morning at XM's DC headquarters, Sirius XM Radio CEO Mel Karmazin hosted a town hall-type meeting, which was broadcast companywide following the closing of the merger. Folks familiar with the meeting said Karmazin announced a new management team that will be revealed later this week. The team was described as a two-tier system, consisting of a six-person "executive management committee" that includes Karmazin, and the next tier, which will consist of as many as 26 executive VP- and senior VP-level managers. So reports Radio And Records. Also, guesting on Howard Stern's Sirius show on Wednesday, Karmazin revealed that Sirius XM will offer "best of" packages for $4 per month, enabling XM subscribers to get a package of selected Sirius channels, including Stern's, and Sirius subscribers to buy a package of XM channels. He also said that current receivers would not become obsolete, and that the present separate systems would exist for "a dozen years" until new satellites allow the technical operations to merge.....

Karmazin Won't Commit To O&A's XM Re-Sign - 7/30 - Regarding the above newsblurb, Sirius XM head Mel Karmazin also stopped by to talk with Opie and Anthony on Wednesday, but would not confirm whether he'll be renewing their XM contract, which is up in two months. Calling them "important," Karmazin said that if XM re-ups them, it would be with a "lower" dollar figure than if the duo was exclusive to satrad. O&A are heard on several broadcast radio stations, including CBS's WXRK (92.3 FM) in NYC. Karmazin would not say whether O&A would be offered in the "Best Of XM" package to Sirius subscribers. And he wouldn't say whether O&A would be able to keep their Virius channel on XM, rather than being placed on another channel. "Well, that didn't go too well," Opie remarked after the interview.....

Cablevision Finalizes Purchase Of Newsday - 7/30 - Cablevision, which finalized its $650 million purchase of 97 percent of Newsday Tuesday, will quickly embark on initiatives aimed at expanding the paper's circulation over the digital cable network while exploiting access to Newsday's subscribers and portfolio of advertisers. More from Newsday.....

Reporter Recounts Osama Meeting - 7/30 - At a Guantanamo trial, former ABC reporter John Miller recounts his 1998 interview with Osama bin Laden. In the DC Post.....

It'll Be "Sirius XM" - 7/29 - Four days after the news media reported the marriage, the new Sirius XM Satellite Radio is born. Check out Tuesday's press release at DCRTV's PR page.....

O&A Add Norfolk, Await Satrad Renewal - 7/28 - NYC-based morning radio duo Opie and Anthony get added by Norfolk's extreme rock WROX, which will run the show tape-delayed from 10 AM to 2 PM. In other O&A news, the WXRK morning duo is coming to the end of its contract with DC's XM Satellite Radio in two months. Still no word about whether they'll get renewed by the newly-merged SiriusXM entity. O&A are also heard on CBS Radio rockers in Boston and Cleveland. They just got bumped from Buffalo.....

Julie Slater To LA - 7/28 - Julie Slater, formerly at NYC's Sirius and WXRK, joins LA adult alternative KSWD.....

More Duties For Pirillo At WCHR - 7/28 - Classic rock WCHR in Manahawkin taps Gregg Pirillo for the 9 AM to noon slot and as assistant program director. He'll also produce the NJ station's morning show.....

Sirius Narrows Loss - 7/28 - NYC's Sirius Satellite Radio expects to post a 70 percent smaller adjusted loss from operations in the second quarter as revenue rises. The firm expects to post a 25 percent increase in revenue to $283 million when it reports full earnings by mid-August. The company's quarterly loss is expected to narrow to $24 million from $79 million a year earlier. Sirius added 279,820 net new subscribers for a total of 8.92 million. More from Business Week.....

Rant - 7/26 -

If the soon-to-be-merged SiriusXM wants to show that it's seriously going to "show the love" for its combined subscriber base, the first thing new CEO of the expanded firm, Mel Karmazin (right), should do is to take a batch of Sirius's most-popular channels - Howard Stern, NPR, NFL - and make them immediately available to XM subscribers on the XM platform at no extra charge. And ditto with XM's most-popular channels - Oprah, MLB, O&A - to Sirius subs on the Sirius platform. Do it from "day one" of the new married company. Since the two satrad systems are technically incompatible, it could be quite a while before XMers get Sirius stuff, and vice-versa, via new receivers. Mel, this would be a great way to get XM and Sirius subscribers "feeling good" before the receiver, programming, and billing hassles that will undoubtedly be coming with the new SiriusXM, or whatever it'll be called. More Rants.....

Confirmed: Satrad Merger Approved - 7/25 -

A bulletin at 8:30 Friday evening: AP reports that the long wait is finally over for satellite radio customers as the FCC approves the satellite radio merger of DC's XM and NYC's Sirius in 3-2 vote. The news comes after word spread Friday afternoon that a snag had developed, as some feared that FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate had not given Chairman Kevin Martin "absolute assurance" that she would vote in favor of the merger. The Washington Post has more. Also in the Post, how the change will affect listeners.....

Baderinwa Four Years Later - 7/25 - The NY Daily News talks to Channel 7/WABC anchor Sade Baderinwa, who suffered serious injuries four years ago when doing a news remote from Hackensack. Her hit-and-run driver has never been caught.....

970 Now WTTT - 7/25 - Salem swaps the longtime WWDJ calls from is NYC area religious station with its Spanish religious outlet WTTT in Boston. Old 970 AM is now "WTTT Hackensack".....

WBUD Sold - 7/25 - Millenium Radio sells Trenton sports talker WBUD (1260 AM) to Domestic Church Media Foundation for $2.3 million. The buyer, based in Fairless Hills PA, has also applied for a non-comm FMer in Roosevelt NJ.....

For Sorensen On CBS-FM - 7/25 - Look for more of NYC area radio vet "Big" Jay Sorensen on CBS Radio oldies outlet WCBS-FM, 101.1. He's hosting the Sunday evening "Radio Legends" show and will be doing more fill-in work for the station.....

WSTW Leads Wilmington - 7/25 - WSTW tops the Wilmington radio heap. More from Radio And Records.....

Stern Blasts Dems For Opposing Satrad Merger - 7/24 -

Sirius Satellite Radio host Howard Stern (left) supports the merger of his firm with XM Satellite Radio and is fuming at Democratic opposition at the Federal Communications Commission. "The fact that these Democrats on the FCC are communists," Stern said. "This is gangsterism... This is crazy," added the former CBS Radio morning man, who vowed that he'd never vote for a Democrat again. The FCC commissioners include three Republicans and two Democrats. Both Democrats - Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps - voted against the satrad merger. The three Republicans - FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Robert McDowell, and Deborah Tate - are reportedly in support of the Sirius takeover of DC's XM. More from businessandmedia.org.....

29 To Start 11 PM 'Cast - 7/24 - Channel 29/WTXF is rumored to ready to launch an 11 PM newscast as early as 8/ with Kerri-Lee Halkett and John Bolaris. More from philly.com.....

Protesters Hit Fox News - 7/24 - What brings out MTV News, AllHipHop.com, Access Hollywood, The Colbert Report and, well, us? A Nas-led protest outside the NYC headquarters of News Corporation, the home of Fox News Channel. The hip-hop star joined about 50 protesters from two organizations - ColorofChange.org and MoveOn.org - who called on the network to, "stop its racist smears against the Obamas and other Black Americans." Also in attendance - more than 620,000 signed petitions. Andre Banks, deputy director of Color of Change, told TVNewser the plan was to bring the boxes in one by one, but in the end, "They refused to accept the petitions. They just don't want to hear it".....

2's Guzman Suffers Heart Attack - 7/24 - Just a couple of months after WCBS/Channel 2 correspondent Pablo Guzman cheated death in a car crash, he's now recovering from a heart attack. Guzman, 57, suffered the coronary Tuesday at his home in Westchester County and underwent angioplasty. More in the NY Daily News.....

Networks Sue Redlasso Over Copyright - 7/24 - NBC Universal, Fox News, and the Fox Television Stations group are filing a joint copyright infringement suit against Redlasso, which provides a search engine targeting video and audio footage from stations and networks and allows users to embed clips of the resulting material. Back in May, lawyers representing CBS, NBC, News Corporation, and Allbritton sent a cease-and-desist letter to Redlasso, asking the company to stop distributing the networks' material. The NY Observer has more.....

WSJ: Satrad Merger A Done Deal - 7/23 -

A tentative deal has been reached by a majority of commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission to approve the satellite radio merger of NYC's Sirius and DC's XM, a FCC source close to the review said Wednesday. According to the Wall Street Journal, Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate is the only FCC member left to vote on the deal and she is expected to do so shortly, two FCC officials close to the negotiations said. She is expected to sign off on the deal in exchange for a consent decree that resolves several enforcement issues involving the satellite radio companies and a combined fine of about $20 million, an FCC source close to the deal said. Tate has also asked for a variety of other minor conditions, an FCC source said.....

Continued Slump At NY Times - 7/23 - The New York Times saw second-quarter profit drop 82 percent compared with a large gain in the year-ago quarter, and warned that a trend toward weak advertising sales shows no signs of abating. The paper also announced that it's raising its weekday cover price from $1.25 to $1.50. MarketWatch has more.....

Did FBI Waste Time On Mendte? - 7/23 - The Philadelphia Inquirer wonders whether CBS3 former anchor Larry Mendte's e-mail snooping on former colleage Alycia Lane was really worth a three-month FBI investigation.....

Michaels & Layne Return To WODE - 7/22 - Rick Michaels and Samantha Layne return to mornings on Nassau classic hits WODE (99.9 FM) in Allentown, replacing Ken and Kitty. Michaels and Layne had mornings at WODE from 2001 to 2007, when Layne left for Philadelphia's WBEB.....

New Producer For RXP's Pinfield - 7/22 - Emmis NYC rocker WRXP (101.9 FM) names Matthew Ianni as producer of the Matt Pinfield morning show. Ianni had been technical director and audio producer of CNNer Lou Dobbs' radio show.....

Jayna To WDAQ - 7/22 - The new midday host on Danbury CT's contemporary hit WDAQ (98.3 FM) is Jayna, who comes from WAZR in Harrisonburg VA.....

RKS Tops NYC Radio Ratings - 7/21 - The spring '08 Arbitron books started rolling on Monday, and Emmis urban AC WRKS took a giant leap to No. 1 12+, going 3.9-4.9. Pulling in second was Clear Channel CHR/top 40 WHTZ, which retreated 5.0-4.8, while longtime market leader Clear Channel AC WLTW sank 5.1-4.4. Rounding out the top five, Inner City urban AC WBLS improved 4.2-4.3, and SBS tropical WSKQ climbed 3.8-4.1. Elsewhere inside the top 10, CBS Radio news WINS was off 4.2-3.9, but Univision Latin rhythm WCAA showed growth (3.0-3.8), as did Emmis rhythmic WQHT (3.4-3.7). Citadel talk WABC was flat at 3.6, while both CBS Radio classic hits WCBS-FM and SBS Latin pop WPAT crossed the finish line in a tie (3.7-3.5). Also of note: Clear Channel urban WWPR (3.2-3.2) and classic rock WAXQ (3.2-2.8); CBS Radio news WCBS-AM (2.4-2.8), AC WWFS (2.1-2.6) and rock WXRK (1.3-1.7); Citadel hot AC WPLJ (2.0-2.4); and Emmis triple A WRXP (1.6-1.0). More NYC radio ratings from Radio And Records.....

More: Mendte Charged With Hacking - 7/21 - From the Philadelphia Inquirer: Former CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte was charged today with hacking into the personal e-mail of onetime colleague Alycia Lane 537 times from January to May of this year and sharing the information with a Philadelphia Daily News reporter. "This case... went well beyond just reading someone's e-mail," said a statement from acting US Attorney Laurie Magid, who charged Mendte, 51, in an information with one felony count. He is not expected to surrender today. Mendte poked into the accounts from his seat at the CBS3 anchor desk, from his vacation home and even once from a computer at the Union League, the august Center City club, according to the information. Mendte is a member of the Union League, a spokeswoman confirmed. Sources said Mendte was expected to plead guilty, and would face zero to six months in prison under sentencing guidelines.....

Mendte To Plead To One Felony, No Jail - 7/21 - Sources tell Fox29 that former CBS3 news anchor Larry Mendte will plead guilty to one felony count for his alleged snooping into the e-mail accounts of his former co-anchor, and that Mendte confessed to the FBI. Fox29 has also learned that Mendte was the sole source of leaks to the media about news anchor Alycia Lane. Sources also tell Fox 9 that Mendte is not expected to serve jail time and he will formally plead guilty in August. Mendte is accused of reading the e-mail accounts of former co-anchor Alycia Lane without her consent. Both Mendte and Lane were released from their contracts at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in recent months in a series of widely publicized incidents.....

Sarah Graham From 5 To 29 - 7/21 - NYC's Channel 5/WNYW is losing Sarah Graham, the executive producer for the Fox station's 10 PM news. She's leaving to be assistant news director at Fox's Channel 29/WTXF in Philadelphia.....

New Deal For Hannity - 7/21 - Righty talker Sean Hannity officially announces a new national syndication deal with Clear Channel-owned Premiere and ABC Radio. Effective in December, the new contract calls for ABC to continue to handle the show for Citadel stations, like NYC's WABC-AM, while Premiere handles Clear Channel and other stations and assumes advertising sales responsibilities. The five-year deal is worth about $100 million.....

Savage Savaged For Autism Rant - 7/21 - Talk Radio Network's Michael Savage, heard locally on WOR (710 AM), is being slammed by Autism United and the National Autism Group for comments he made on-air on 7/16 that autism is being used by parents to excuse bad behavior as "the illness du jour." He reportedly said: "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.'" The two autism groups staged a protest outside of WOR's studios.....

More: New Radio Deal For Hannity - 7/18 -

More rumblings about a new radio deal for afternoon righty talk titan Sean Hannity (right). Jumping from Citadel/ABC's syndication arm to Clear Channel's Premiere. The word is that Hannity would remain on Citadel's major talkers, a la WABC-AM. More as we hear it.....

NYC OKs Verizon To Wire TV - 7/17 - Verizon has cleared the final regulatory hurdle for providing TV in New York City, a major step in its transformation from a phone company to a fiber-optics-based TV and internet carrier. The New York State Public Service Commission has voted to approve Verizon's application for a video franchise.....

Satrad Merger Holdout Wants Tougher Conditions - 7/17 -

The potential deciding vote in the government's review of the $3.1 billion merger between satellite radio companies XM and Sirius told AP that he will vote in favor of the deal if the companies agree to tougher conditions. So far, two of the five members of the Federal Communications Commission have voted to approve NYC-based Sirius buyout of rival DC-based XM. That is one vote shy of a majority. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat, wants the companies to cap prices for six years and make one-quarter of their satellite capacity available for public interest and minority programming, among other conditions. If the executives agree, Adelstein told the AP that he will be in favor of the deal.....

New LSM At LTW - 7/17 - Ron Russo gets the local sales manager gig at Clear Channel's adult contemporary WLTW (106.7 FM) in NYC.....

Knight To WAWZ - 7/17 - Izzy Knight becomes production engineer and on-air personality at Pillar Of Fire's NYC area Christian adult contemporary WAWZ (99.1 FM).....

Philly PPMs Out - 7/17 - From Radio And Records: The June Portable People Meter Philadelphia data shows that the persons age 6+ cume for CBS Radio classic hits WOGL went from 1,358,400 in May to 1,365,300 in June. The station's persons 6+ share jumped 6.4-6.6 May-June. Meanwhile, Jerry Lee's market-leading adult contemporary WBEB (B101) went from a persons 6+ cume of 1,916100 in May down to 1,857,500 in June. B101's share also dipped 8.4-7.9. Here is how other stations in the market fared (6+ cume May '08-June '08, followed by 6+ share May '08-June '08):
WRDW - Beasley - rhythmic (1,153,700-1,156,700) - (4.0-4.1)
WMGK - Greater Media - classic rock (1,139,900-1,125,700) - (4.9-4.9)
KYW - CBS Radio - news - (1,123,400-1,113,900) - (6.3-6.3)
WIOQ - Clear Channel - CHR/top 40 (1,144,700-1,085,200) - (3.6-3.3)
WBEN - Greater Media - adult hits (986,400-1,035,300) - (3.0-3.6)
WISX - Clear Channel - rhythmic AC (1,013,300-986,100) - (3.2-3.4)
WMMR - Greater Media - active rock (940,500-948,100) - (5.0-5.3)
WRFF - Clear Channel - alternative (905,900-923,400) - (3.6-3.6)
WUSL - Clear Channel - urban (896,500-844,600) - (3.5-3.1)
WYSP - CBS Radio - rock (775,800-803,300) - (2.5-2.7)
WDAS - Clear Channel - urban AC (880,200-803,200) - (6.9-6.2)
WPHT - CBS Radio - talk (657,900-750,800) - (3.9-4.1)
WXTU - Beasley - country (839,400-708,000) - (4.0-3.7)
WPHI - Radio One - urban (760,100-645,300) - (2.3-2.1)
WRNB - Radio One - urban AC (513,900-512,100) - (3.0-3.0)
WPST - Nassau - hot AC (457,200-460,900) - (1.6-1.6)
WJJZ - Greater Media - smooth jazz (469,700-447,400) - (1.8-1.8)
WIP - CBS Radio - sports (477,500-362,500) - (2.8-2.4)

NJN's Kent Manahan To Retire - 7/17 - NJN News anchor Kent Manahan will retire after more than 30 years as an anchor and reporter, the New Jersey Network announced today. Manahan, who has won five Emmy Awards, has filed for the state’s retirement incentive, which has specific deadlines of August 1 or a later date, with the potential of an extension until July 2009. Manahan and NJN are seeking an extension to provide for an orderly transition. More from politickernj.com.....

Jail For AOL Spammer - 7/16 - A Brooklyn man was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Tuesday for sending spam e-mails to more than 1.2 million subscribers of America Online in a scheme that foiled the Internet company's spam-filtering system. Adam Vitale, 27, was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan after pleading guilty more than a year ago to breaking anti-spam laws. He was also ordered to pay $180,000 to AOL in restitution. More from Reuters.....

New GSM At BEN - 7/16 - Bill Burns has been named general sales manager of variety hits WBEN (95.7 FM) in Philadelphia. He comes from the sale manager post at Greater Media's sister smooth jazz WJJZ (97.5 FM).....

Gary Papa To Call NFL Net Games - 7/16 - NY Giants WFAN radio voice Bob Papa joins the NFL Network to call the channel's eight games this season with Cris Collingsworth. Papa replaces Bryant Gumbel, who exits after two seasons.....

Murdoch & Zuckerman Talk Print Co-op - 7/15 - Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns the New York Post, and Mort Zuckerman, the real estate developer and owner of the New York Daily News, who for years have been bitter tabloid enemies, are considering the unthinkable: cooperation. Surrogates for Zuckerman and Murdoch have been in discussions for several weeks to find ways to combine some business functions - including printing operations - of the News and the Post, according to people briefed on the matter who spoke anonymously because the talks are at a sensitive stage and both sides had hoped they would remain confidential. More from biz.yahoo.com.....

CBS-FM's Al Meredith To Retire - 7/15 - WCBS-FM newsman Al Meredith is retiring after a 44-year career in broadcasting. The morning of 7/16 will mark his final newscast during "The Dan Taylor Morning Show" on NYC's 101.1 FM. Meredith joined WCBS-FM as a newscaster in 1980 and has served as director of news and public affairs the now-CBS station for nearly 28 years.....

BLS Nabs "Legendary" Nom - 7/15 - NYC's adult urban WBLS (107.5 FM) gets nominated for a Marconi Radio Award as "Legendary Station" by the National Association Of Broadcasters. More from Radio Online.....

Dave & Jerry Return To WTKU - 7/15 - Radio And Records tells us: After a two-year hiatus, David Allen Pratt and Jerry Beebe have returned to classic hits WTKU, Kool 98.3, in Atlantic City for "The Dave And Jerry Show" in mornings under the new ownership of Atlantic Broadcasting. Beebe has come out of retirement, while Pratt was across town with Millennium Radio pulling shifts on adult contemporary WFPG, Lite Rock 96.9, and WPRU, Cat Country 107.3.....

Coming Soon: Couric In HD - 7/15 - DCRTV already tipped you off. Now, trade pub Broadcasting And Cable confirms that 7/28 will be the first hi-def edition of the "CBS Evening News" with Katie Couric. CBS flagship magazine show "60 Minutes" will go HD in September, while "48 Hours" and "CBS Sunday Morning" will make the switch in 2009. But "The Early Show" maybe have to wait until 2010.....

Strauss Opens NYC Office - 7/15 - DC-based Strauss Radio Strategies, a public relations firm specializing in booking guests on radio talk shows, is opening an office in NYC to be staffed by Eneuri Acosta and Raul Martinez.....

Newsdayer To Politico - 7/14 - Newsday political reporter Glenn Thrush joins the DC-based Politico political rag and website.....

FCC Approval Of Satrad Merger Awaits One Vote - 7/14 - The Federal Communications Commission needs one more vote to approve the proposed satellite radio merger between DC-based XM and NYC-based Sirius. Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate is reportedly the deciding vote. Chairman Kevin Martin and Robert McDowell have reportedly agreed to approve the merger, with conditions including a price freeze and leasing spectrum to minority and public broadcasters. And it seems unlikely that Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein will vote in favor of the merger. More from FMQB.....

FCC Asked To Investigate Sirius TV - 7/14 - The Federal Communications Commission has been asked by Georgetown Partners to issue an order stopping NYC-based Sirius Satellite Radio's unauthorized satellite live television broadcasting using spectrum that the Commission licensed exclusively for satellite radio broadcasting, and to conduct an investigation into Sirius's misuse of spectrum. More at foxbusiness.com.....

Noel Wax To CBS LA - 7/14 - Noel Wax leaves his sales director gig for CBS Radio sports in NYC to become CBS Radio's LA-based director of sports ad sales.....

Smerconish Does MSNBC Deal - 7/14 - WPHT (1210 AM) morning host Michael Smerconish has inked a one-year deal to provide commentary to MSNBC. Smerconish, whose Philadelphia WPHT contract expires at the end of the year, has frequently appeared on MSNBC, including subbing for Chris "Hardball" Matthews.....

Changes At RXP - 7/14 - Program Director Leslie Fram hires Steve Craig, her longtime pal from Atlanta alternative rocker WNNX, to do middays on new NYC rocker WRXP (101.9 FM). Also, Fram will join Matt Pinfield on the Emmis station's morning show.....

NPR To Cancel "Bryant Park" - 7/14 -

National Public Radio officials are expected on Monday to tell the staff members of "Bryant Park Project" that their experimental weekday morning program, designed to draw a younger audience to public radio and capture listeners who had moved online, is being canceled. The last broadcast of this NYC-based program, which many listeners tuned into at npr.org rather than over the air, is expected to be on 7/25. According to the NY Times, it's an expensive failure - the first-year budget was more than $2 million - and comes at a time when NPR is facing the same financial constraints as other news media thanks to higher costs and a downturn in underwriting.....

Sikahema Wins AC Fight - 7/14 - Channel 10/WCAU sports anchor Vai Sikahema defeated former major league baseballer Jose Canseco by technical knockout in their celebrity boxing match Saturday in Atlantic City. More from the Philadelphia Daily News.....

More On Mendte - 7/14 - Much much more on the Larry Mendte scandal at Channel 3/KYW in the Philadelphia Inquirer.....

Yankee Vet & Broadcaster Bobby Murcur Dies - 7/13 - Bobby Murcer succeeded Mickey Mantle, played in pinstripes with Don Mattingly and watched proudly from the broadcast booth when the New York Yankees returned to power. A cherished link from former Yankees greats to the club's current stars, Murcer died Saturday due to complications from a malignant brain tumor, the team said. He was 62. Always a fan favorite in New York and known for his folksy manner as a broadcaster, Murcer won three Emmy Awards for live sports coverage. More from AP......

More: O&A Back To YSP? - 7/11 - More rumblings that NYC radio duo Opie and Anthony may return to their Philadelphia perch, via CBS alt rocker WYSP. O&A got ditched for Kidd Chris who got ditched for doing a racist bit on the air. Stay tuned.....

FCC Fines WIP For Not Disclosing Contest Rules - 7/11 - The Federal Communications Commission has hit CBS Radio's Philadelphia sports talk WIP (610 AM) with a $4,000 fine for failing "to announce the material terms of a contest and neglected to conduct the contest in accordance with its material terms." Regarding March 2007's WIP "Wing Bowl," after the station disqualified a contestant who had won a chance to compete in the contest. The FCC said the station admitted that it had disqualifed the contestant because of his membership in a rival group, and that the contest rules didn't state that members of eating associations other than the one sponsoring the event were ineligible.....

Emmis: Hot & Kiss Up, RXP Down - 7/11 - Emmis Communications said that it reduced its fiscal first quarter loss to $1.1 million. But revenue was off slightly, by .04 percent. According to Radio And Records, Emmis CFO Patrick Walsh said that two of the operation's Big Apple stations - Hot 97 and Kiss - "helped off-set, to some degree" the losses from WRXP, the longtime smooth jazz outlet reformatted in February as "101.9, the Rock Experience" that is currently draining revenues. Overall, New York market revenues were down 2 percent, acknowledged Walsh, but despite great revenue gains at two stations, together, all three Emmis Gotham stations were down 8 percent.....

FCC To Slap Comcast For Internet Blocking - 7/11 -

The head of the Federal Communications Commission said he will recommend that the nation's largest cable company be punished for violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to the internet. The potentially precedent-setting move stems from a complaint against Comcast that the Philadelphia-based cable giant had blocked internet traffic among users of "file sharing" software that allows them to exchange large amounts of data. "The commission has adopted a set of principles that protects consumers access to the internet," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told AP. "We found that Comcast's actions in this instance violated our principles".....

Radio Stocks Sink With Slumping Economy - 7/10 - A Citi Investment Research analyst said Thursday that radio stocks will fall as advertising revenue continues to decline and lending and credit pressures increase. Tony Wible said industry revenue will fall about 5 percent in 2008 as advertisers spend less, meanwhile companies face larger amounts of debt as interest rates rise and credit conditions remain difficult. Stock of Citadel, which owns WABC-AM and WPLJ-FM, saw its price plunge almost 21 percent Thursday, to $0.87, down from a yearly high of $6.54. AP has more.....

Greg Kelly: From F&F To Fox5 - 7/10 - Fox News Channel "Fox And Friends" weekend anchor Greg Kelly is going to be moving to Fox's NYC TV station, Fox5 WNYW, to work on the "Good Day New York" show. He'll co-anchor with Jodi Applegate. There's much more in the NY Daily News.....

MMR Says No To YSP Sales Guy - 7/10 - From the Philadelphia Inquirer: Former 94 WYSP ad sales rep Blake Ammons says rocker WMMR rescinded a job offer the day before he was to start working at the station because of his affiliation with the Kidd Chris show on rival rocker WYSP. Kidd Chris was fired in May over a guest's racist parody song, but his show routinely mocked WMMR's franchise talent Preston and Steve's morning show. Ammons quit WYSP in late May to protest the firing of Kidd Chris. The 27-year-old Yardley native and graduate of Pennsbury High was known as "Blake from sales" on the Kidd Chris show and also plays drums in Chris' band, the Beatoffs.....

More: 10 For Sale? - 7/9 - DCRTV has been reporting rumors that NBC Universal may be selling some of its media properties, including some of its local TV stations like Philly's Channel 10/WCAU. And now, there are more rumblings from the LA Biz Journal.....

Public Radioers Oppose Satrad Merger - 7/9 -

A batch of public radio organizations, including American Public Media, Public Radio International, WNYC/New York, and WGBH/Boston, have informed the Federal Communications Commissions that they oppose the satellite radio marriage of NYC's Sirius and DC's XM. "We believe that consolidating these two competing broadcasting operations will reduce the diversity of programming and choices available to consumers," they jointly commented. More from FMQB.....

Michael Chew Joins B101 Mornings - 7/9 - Philadelphia's B101, WBEB, hires Michael Chew as morning co-host. He joins Tiffany Hill on the adult contemporary station's morning show, replacing Samantha Layne, who is leaving later this month for a job closer to her family in Allentown. Chew comes from a station in Milwaukee.....

Canned Oldies For MTR - 7/8 - WMTR (1250 AM), a Greater Media oldies outlet in Morristown NJ, installs the Good Time Oldies satellite feed and cans most of its airstaff. Gone are Mark Dombrowski, Robert Gasciogne, Mark Mitchell, and Pete Torriello. General Manager Nancy McKinley and Operations Manager/Program Director Chris Edwards will continue to do morning drive live.....

4 Offers Mobile Traffic Ap - 7/8 - NYC's Channel 4/WNBC is offering a mobile application that allows users to watch live video from any of the more than 400 roadside cameras in the tri-state area. The service is powered by 3rd Dimension at FreeTrafficCams.com.....

Comcast & NFL Agree To Mediation - 7/8 - Area cable TV giant Comcast and the National Football League have agreed to try to settle their legal dispute over carriage terms of the NFL Network out of court by turning to a mediator. The NFL is upset that Comcast continues to carry the channel on a pay-extra digital sports tier and not on basic cable. More from Multichannel News.....

Management Change At Comcast - 7/8 - Speaking of Comcast, the firm moves William Connors from the Midwest to head its Eastern division. He replaces CN8 founder Michael Doyle, who'll leave the Philadelphia-based company. More from Multichannel News.....

Smerconish: Cable News Fill-In Guy - 7/7 - TVNewser talks to WPHT (1210 AM) host Michael Smerconish, who has been busy filling-in for cable news blowhards Bill O'Reilly and Chris Matthews of late.....

NBC In Weather Channel's Forecast - 7/6 - NBC Universal today confirmed that it will take over Norfolk-based Landmark's Weather Channel TV network and weather.com website. More from Bloomberg.....

KYW Radio Rejects Dem Ad - 7/6 -

From Radio Online: CBS Radio's all-news KYW (1060 AM) in Philadelphia refused to air a Democratic Party ad that features an impersonator of President Bush thanking GOP congressional candidates for supporting the "Big Oil" agenda. KYW head David Yadgaroff said the outlet decided not to run the ad because it felt listeners would be misled. "As an all-news station, we were concerned that our listeners would have been misled by usage of an impersonator in the creative delivery," Yadgaroff told The Hill. During the ad, a Bush impersonator calls the local GOP congressman, thanking him for "continuing to support the Big Oil agenda" as a member of the "Grand Oil Party." KYW-AM is the only station know to have rejected the ad.....

7 Veteran Murphy Martin Dies - 7/6 - The NY Radio Message Board tells us that Murphy Martin, who anchored Channel 7/WABC's local news during the pre-"Eyewitness" era of the mid-1960s, passed away last week, only hours before what would have been his 83rd birthday. Musicradio WABC fans would also recall him anchoring radio network newscasts at 0:55 past the hour. Martin later moved to Dallas, where he enjoyed a long and successful career anchoring for ABC affiliate WFAA-TV.....

"Cool" Oldies For Scranton Duo - 7/6 - Shamrock's adult contemporary WQFM (92.1 FM) and WQFN (100.1 FM) in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area flip to "Cool" oldies from the 1960s and 1970s.....

ABC DC Techie To NYC - 7/6 - Jeff Corwin, ABC News's top technical executive in DC is heading to New York. Corwin, director of broadcast operations and engineering Washington is moving to NYC to work on HDTV production, which is being ramped up but won't be done out of DC. Doug White, manager of electronic-newsgathering services for BO&E in Washington, will assume Corwin's duties until a permanent replacement is found. Corwin was the go-to executive for all things technical in the DC bureau, including for "World News Tonight," "This Week," and "Nightline." Broadcasting And Cable has more.....

Verizon Allowed To Carry MSNBC's Olympics - 7/4 - Verizon Communications is prevented from carrying MSNBC in markets where Cablevision Systems is the incumbent provider, but before that restriction is lifted the telco plans to offer the network during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to FIOS TV customers in the NYC area. Multichannel News has more.....

Bozo Is Dead - 7/4 - Larry Harmon, who turned the character "Bozo The Clown" into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83. Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos. More from AP.....

Bowe To Do Mornings At WHAT - 7/3 - Mike Bowe will do mornings on Philadelphia's adult standards WHAT (1340 AM). He'll continue to host the station's weekday "Happy Hour" at 5 PM, while adding "The Morning Martini" come 7/7. Bowe is a veteran of WRDR, WMGK, and WPEN.....

Rush Re-Signs - 7/2 - Righty talk radio titan Rush Limbaugh inks a new eight-year deal with Clear Channel-owned syndicator Premiere Radio Networks. The contract includes his three-hour daily show, the 90-second "Rush Limbaugh Morning Update," as well as promotions for "The Limbaugh Letter" and rushlimbaugh.com. Terms were not disclosed, but it's rumored to be worth $400 million in total, or about $38 million a year. Oh, Limbaugh gets a big write-up in this Sunday's NY Times.....

WCTC Goes Oldies - 7/2 - New Brunswick NJ's WCTC (1450 AM) drops talk for oldies. Morning man Jack Ellery will stay at the Greater Media station, as well as Rutgers sports coverage.....

Have Feds Concluded Investigation Of 3's Mendte? - 7/2 - From News Blues: We're hearing rumblings from Philly that the feds have concluded their investigation of the computer activities of former KYW-3-CBS anchor Larry Mendte and an official "announcement" could be issued within the next 48 hours.....

NY Mag Founder Dies - 7/2 - Clay Felker, the pioneering editor who founded New York magazine and helped launch the new journalism of the 1960s, with its novelistic techniques and strong point of view, died on 7/1 at his Manhattan home at 82. He had battled throat cancer in recent years. More in the Washington Post.....

Duran Forms Company - 7/1 - Z100 morning personality Elvis Duran, talent agent David Katz, and senior VP of programming and marketing for WHTZ and Clear Channel/New York Tom Poleman have launched a new corporation, "The Elvis Duran Group," a multi-platform company producing content for radio, television, and other entertainment mediums, including TV, internet, and emerging technologies. FMQB has more.....

Conditions Continue To Delay Satrad Merger - 7/1 - From Radio And Records: Three influential members of the Senate, including John Kerry of Massachusetts, have told FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that they think the "wisest course of action" regarding the proposed merger between NYC's Sirius and DC's XM is to disapprove the plan. But since that isn't likely, since Martin has said he'd back the deal with conditions, they have proposed a handful of their own conditions, including increasing the amount of channels made available to a minority-oriented programmer. The senators characterized the 12 channels Martin proposed setting aside for underheard voices as a "token offering" and said it "does not guarantee more diverse voices and informational programming." In a letter dated 6/27, Kerry, along with Maryland's Ben Cardin and Missouri's Claire McCaskill, said Martin's 6/16 proposal for the new satcasting entity to sliver off only a dozen stations for lease "squanders the great opportunity for truly enhanced minority ownership or control created by the proposed merger".....

Older news goes to DCRTV's News Archive. Copyright Dave Hughes/DCRTV.....