Jeff Kelly
BENZTOWN has appointed JEFF KELLY as West Coast Commercial Production Director. He was previously Production Director for iHEARTMEDIA/ALBUQUERQUE, NM, where he won nine NEW MEXICO BROADCASTING AWARDS over four years. Prior to that, he was PD for stations in CHEYENNE, WY, and northern COLORADO. A U.S. AIR FORCE veteran, KELLY started his radio career at KHJ (K-MIX), in his hometown of LANCASTER, CA, followed by time at LANCASTER Country station KTPI (FM 103.1).
BENZTOWN President DAVE 'CHACHI" DENES said, “JEFF’s going to be an incredible addition to the BENZTOWN team. I’m excited to have his infectious attitude and creative ideas in the halls of our L.A. offices."
Added KELLY, “Joining the BENZTOWN team in LOS ANGELES feels like the fulfillment of a dream. The opportunity to return home to SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA and be part of this incredibly talented and visionary team feels like serendipity. It's a perfect fit and I'm thrilled to be here."
Free Webinar
TRACY JOHNSON will be answering questions live following his free webinar -- The Art Of The Tease 2: Tips & Techniques. The presentation covers how to grow ratings through prepromotion and teasing. The webinar goes live TOMORROW, (1/19) at 1p (ET).
IMPORTANT NOTE: Everyone must sign up to attend this webinar, even if you've previously auto-subscribed in the past!
RIDER adds CUMULUS Rocker KDVV (V100)/TOPEKA to his radio imaging clientele.
OM AMBER LEE said, "Quite simply, I love RIDER'S range. He has the big, ballsy delivery that I was looking for on V100. Plus from humor to heartfelt I really hear all of that emotion when I listen to him."
"I spent 15 plus years as a rock radio morning host so I have lived, eaten and breathed the culture of rock. Hell, name another imaging guy who played guitar with the FOO FIGHTERS? Bet ya can't! " RIDER said.
To see if RIDER is available in your market reach out to NATE ZEITZ at CESD. Listen to his reels here.
Partners With IBA
The THROWBACK BRANDS lineup of shows and services have entered into a new partnership with the INDEPENDENT BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION (IBA), to provide content, resources, and consulting to IBA member stations.
“Since launching in 2018, we’ve seen a growing need for an independent voice to represent broadcasters who are not owned by a major operator,” said TONY LORINO. “RON STONE and the IBA founders know that, and this organization is going to make such a difference for owners and operators to serve their listeners, serve their communities, and serve their clients. This is broadcasting at its best.” more »
Payne
GLASSNOTE RECORDS promotes RYAN PAYNE from Head of Marketing to Global Head of Marketing. Since 2015, PAYNE has led marketing campaigns for MUMFORD & SONS, CHILDISH GAMBINO, PHOENIX, CHVRCHES and JADE BIRD and developed the careers of AURORA and THE TESKEY BROTHERS. In 2019, he was named one of BILLBOARD's Branding Power Players in recognition of his facilitation of a full length film collaboration and partnership between NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and MUMFORD & SONS for their fourth straight US BILLBOARD #1 album, DELTA.
GLASSNOTE Founder/President DANIEL GLASS commented, “RYAN has successfully led the Platinum and Gold certified campaigns of several of our artists. He synergistically combines the worlds of media, digital, video, and social globally. We are proud to recognize him with this promotion.”
Rowdy Yates
COMPASS MEDIA's ROWDY YATES has produced an hour-long retrospective of the Country artists that we’ve lost in 2020. It features the music of CHARLEY PRIDE, JOE DIFFIE, KENNY ROGERS, K.T. OSLIN, CHARLIE DANIELS and HAL KETCHUM, all of whom passed away in 2020.
The program is inventory free, fully produced in five individual segments, and offers four minutes for local advertising avails. The show can run any time, at no charge, through the end of the year.
Contact YATES directly for download instructions at rowdy@rowdyyates.com.
JON COLEMAN suggests that radio stations and companies should be investigating new opportunities and that starts by shifting the industry’s paradigm. According to COLEMAN, “Radio needs offensive strategies. Just as you can’t win a football game without an offense, radio cannot reinvigorate the medium with defense alone.”
Standard elements like commercial-free sweeps and morning shows work for the majority of successful stations, COLEMAN sees music lanes tightening and a need for weaker stations to take strategic, yet bold chances. Radio must find new ways of attracting non-consumers and current listeners by creating new, never-before-heard concepts in uncontested market space. Base on the Blue Ocean Strategy, from the 2004 book by RENEE MAUBORGNE and W. CHAN KIM.
Regarding audience segmentation, COLEMAN said, “Can new stations be built successfully on a basis other than selling commercials to local advertisers? Is local spot business the only way of doing it? Would the revenue proposition be different if the product on our stations was entirely different?”
colemaninsights.com
AI Content Growth
In a year of unprecedented change in the ways broadcasters do business and audiences consume content, solutions like FUTURI's, TOPICPULSE, POST, and TOPLINE are being used. Content creators and broadcasters are more reliant than ever on technology across all aspects of their business.
TOPICPULSE, FUTURI’s AI-powered story discovery, show prep, and social content system, has seen 61% growth in user sessions. POST, a podcasting system, has now published podcasts with over ONE BILLION plays. TOPLINE, sales intelligence system that pairs AI with human analysis, has helped deliver $130 million in advertising/sponsorship revenue. more »
Lewis
ROTOR VIDEOS, a music video creation app company has promoted music and media consultant STEVE LEWIS to Senior Advisor to the board. Following the recent hiring of ALEX BRANDSON and PJ DULAY.
LEWIS brings more than 40 years of experience running music companies to Rotor. He will guide the execution of strategies as part of being more deeply involved in company activities, having previously been a non-executive director since January 2018. Based in LONDON, he will work alongside CEO DIARMUID MOLONEY and COO SIMON HAMILTONS.
ROTOR VIDEOS, CEO/founder DIARMUID MOLONEY, said, “It’s great to have STEVE as part of the Rotor business, further strengthening our music industry expertise with his abundance of experience. This will help ensure we are serving our users and partners in the best and most innovative ways as ROTOR grows and continues to power more creatives in showcasing their work to the world, despite the restrictions of 2020.”
LEWIS commented, “Video has become increasingly important to the music industry, and ROTOR is a harmonious mix of music and technology. It’s a pleasure to work with DIARMUID and the team, assisting rights owners and independent artists to bring to market more music, in more formats, to generate more revenue.”
ADLARGE MEDIA and WARNER CHAPPELL PRODUCTION MUSIC (WCPM) have expanded their relationship to include affiliate representation for WCPM and its production music catalog. ADLARGE, an exclusive network radio ad sales partner for WCPM, is now taking over the production music company’s exclusive radio station affiliate sales. The announcement comes as WCPM opens two new studios in NASHVILLE and LOS ANGELES and welcomes a new leadership team.
ADLARGE VP/Affiliate Marketing JESSICA SHERMAN commented, "WARNER CHAPPELL PRODUCTION MUSIC is well-known for the breadth and diversity of its catalog. In today’s competitive media landscape, radio stations need quick access to a wide range of music choices for their production needs. And WCPM’s expansive catalog and music supervision team make it easy to source sound swiftly to keep up with production demands." more »
Each year VOICETRACKER HUB scours the globe to find a broadcaster who can demonstrate the power and versatility that voice tracking can offer to both stations and audiences. This year it was STEVE HARMON of WESTWOOD ONE and THE COUNTRY RADIO HALL OF FAME who claimed the top prize.
Radio consultant/author DAVID LLOYD was one of the judges for this year’s contest, and he described HARMON as, “A relatable and likeable, engaging pro with enviable voice use.”
On receiving his award, HARMON described it as "wonderful" and “quite a surprise delivery when we opened the box.”
Co-Location For 2021
Another convention is co-locating with the NAB SHOW in 2021 with the announcement that the AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY (AES) will join the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS' annual convention in its delayed FALL edition OCTOBER 11-13, 2021. The AES show, which has co-located with the NAB SHOW NEW YORK for the last two years, will be held at the WESTGATE HOTEL adjacent to the NAB SHOW's home, the LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER, where the 2021 NAB SHOW will be held OCTOBER 9-13. Previously, the NAB and RAB's RADIO SHOW and the NAB's SALES AND MANAGEMENT TELEVISION EXCHANGE were co-located to coincide with the NAB SHOW, which is usually held in APRIL but was held virtually this year and moved to OCTOBER for next year. more »
New Recording Platform
RIVERSIDE.FM, which describes itself as a "video podcasting platform" allowing for local recording of lossless audio and 4K video for interviews regardless of internet connection speed, has launched from "stealth mode" with an opening round of funding totalling $2.5 million, led by investor OREN ZEEV.
“In the last decade, podcasting has gone from a niche hobby to a billion dollar industry, and the pandemic is pushing this growth to new heights,” said CEO NADAV KEYSON. “People at home are hungrier than ever for content, and creators and enterprises are rushing to deliver.”
“Video has been increasing in the demand for podcasting since we began working remotely, yet there isn’t a solution that can produce high-quality content independent of a strong internet connection,” said co-founder GIDEON KEYSON. “Many have turned to ZOOM as a quick fix, but professional podcasters need a lot more than just basic audio and video capabilities to produce compelling content. That’s where RIVERSIDE.FM comes in.”
“NADAV and GIDEON have created a product that is poised to revolutionize the way podcasters and media companies record video interviews,” said ZEEV. “The fact that, in under a year, they have created an entirely new paradigm for recording lossless audio and video, and landed customers like HILLARY CLINTON, VERIZON MEDIA and SPOTIFY, is nothing short of impressive. I am thrilled to be an early investor and look forward to their explosive growth in the coming years.”
Sold
WESTWOOD ONE has sold jingle and production music company TM STUDIOS to MAJOR TRIAD MEDIA, a company formed by TM Creative Dir.-Dir./Business Development DAVE BETHELL, TM GM/VP Creative GREG CLANCY, and former TM VP/Creative CHRIS "UK" STEVENS. Terms of the sale were undisclosed, and the deal was finalized on the 30th anniversary of the merger of TM PRODUCTIONS and CENTURY 21 PRODUCTIONS to form TM STUDIOS' predecessor TM CENTURY.
The company, based in DALLAS, will become a multinational operation with studios in DALLAS, LOS ANGELES, and the U.K., and a multi-year deal with WESTWOOD ONE for the latter to serve as exclusive barter representative. more »
MOVEMBER has arrived, and BENZTOWN is once again spearheading a radio initiative for the annual mustache-growing event to raise awareness of men's health issues. The 10th annual campaign by THE BENZTOWN BRIGADE and the MOVEMBER FOUNDATION is encouraging radio professionals to participate by growing a mustache, kicking a bad habit for a day, several weeks, or a year ("Mo Your Own Way"), or -- new for 2020 -- rallying a crew for an event ("Host a Mo-Ment").
This year, BENZTOWN will donate $50 to the MOVEMBER FOUNDATION for each new member sign-up from the radio industry, up to $1,000. The donation will help fund over 1,250 programs on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity.
Individuals, shows and companies can sign up by clicking here.
