Medialife ponders the imminent collapse of iHeartMedia, a product of Clear Channel’s famous leveraged buyout, which, apparently, has not rescued the new company from its $21bn mountain of debt. Bankruptcy is what the author of the piece hopes for, which will unleash 850 radio licenses onto the market. Ditto for Cumulus Media, drowning in red […]
Tag Archives | Cumulus
Podcast #42 – Hug Your Local Radio Journalist Today
Cumulus Media’s long-standing San Francisco radio news station KGO recently laid off its news staff, at the same time the company’s rock station KFOG also fired most of its on-air staff. We discuss what this means for Bay Area listeners and what it indicates for the future of radio journalism. Jennifer Waits joins to bring […]
Podcast #22 – We’re All Moving to the FM Dial Now
Why will we hear more Rush and Hannity on the FM Dial? Prof. John Anderson of Brooklyn College explains the FCC’s AM Revitalization Order, why it happened, and what will result. Then we discuss why Cumulus Media, the nation’s 2nd largest commercial radio owner, is in trouble, with its stock tanking big time.. Jennifer Waits […]
Digital Watch: The Inevitable Decline of Free Streaming Music; FM in More Smartphones; Mad Genius Bows Out
There has been quite a bit of action on the digital and internet radio front this past week, including more terrestrial radio in smartphones, the sign-off of a streaming radio service, and indications that free on-demand streaming music may have reached its peak, ready for an inevitable decline. T-Mobile to Activate FM in Smartphones FM […]
Anger follows Cumulus closure of KGO’s South Bay wing
Cumulus media has closed the South Bay bureau for KGO news-talk radio. Just like that, according to the San Jose Mercury News blog Internal Affairs: “Here at IA, we’re told it was done in a particularly sudden and ugly way: Two officials with Cumulus Media, which bought the station four years ago, showed up last […]
Why Rush Limbaugh Is Dragging Down AM Talk Radio
Talk radio veteran Darryl Parks is a harsh critic of how the format continues to lose touch with most of the radio audience who aren’t white male baby boomers. In a new post this week he takes aim at Rush Limbaugh, describing the leading conservative talk host’s “fall into oblivion.” Parks notes that Limbaugh’s program […]
Rdio Adds On-Demand Music to Chromecast’s Internet Radio Line-up
I’ve already told you about how my Chromecast is an internet radio. Now there is one more listening option with Rdio, which just added Chromecast playback this week. Rdio, founded by Skype co-creator Janus Friis, offers on-demand music listening a la Spotify, along with artist stations and playlists. The service was subscription-only until striking a […]
Rdio launches free service with ads from broadcast partner Cumulus
Yesterday streaming music service Rdio announced that radio station streaming would be free on Android and iOS mobile devices, effective immediately. Up to now the service has been subscription only, with a free trial period available for new users. Like Spotify, Rdio’s emphasis has been on demand listening. The service’s stations were only just launched […]
Internet and satellite audience numbers indicate that people still love radio
The Radio and Internet Newsletter covers Triton Digital’s online radio listening metrics for May, noting that growth is flat, in keeping with an expected “summer slow-down.” Pandora continues to lead the market by a wide margin, with more than 1.4 million average active listening sessions, and 1.5 billion session starts from 6 AM to midnight. […]
Should KGO 810’s coat-of-arms be a turnstile?
The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Andrew Ross is scratching his head at the latest changes at endlessly changing KGO AM 810 in that city. “If you’ve enjoyed listening to my Chronicle colleague C.W. Nevius on KGO Radio for the past 15 months, be sure to tune in Friday,” Ross bemusedly noted earlier this week. “It’s his […]