2024
Erb Foundation Provides $7.5M Challenge to Fund New Detroit PBS Media Campus
Detroit PBS, the community-owned, nonprofit media organization that has served Southeast Michigan since 1955, announced last week (5/30), the lead philanthropic gift of its campaign to support a move of its headquarters to the City of Detroit. The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation has reflected the passion its founders had for the organization and its mission during their lifetimes by granting a $7.5 million challenge to the organization as a 1:1 philanthropic match.
Read MoreWMXD’s Gerald McBride Writes and Directs New Sports Movie
The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press both report that a new movie about a team of Black hockey players in Detroit has its premiere at area theaters last Friday (5/31). The movie is written, directed and produced by longtime Detroit radio host Gerald McBride, who has been on the air on WMXD-FM (Detroit) for 25 years.
Read MoreTrump Verdict Raises Concerns About A Nasty Election Campaign Getting Nastier – Looking at a Broadcaster’s Potential Liability for Attack Ads
Given the potential for a nasty election season getting even nastier, we thought that we would revisit our warning about broadcasters needing to assess the content of attack ads – particularly those from non-candidate groups.
Read MoreWDIV-TV Teams with the Michigan Chronicle for Historic 24-hour Streaming Event
Graham Media Group’s WDIV-TV (Detroit) (Local 4) in an unprecedented collaboration with the Michigan Chronicle, has announced a historic 24-hour streaming event on June 3, beginning at 6 a.m. and ending on June 4 at 6 a.m. Anchor/Reporter Karen Drew will spend 24 nonstop hours in the community of Highland Park celebrating the extraordinary achievements of Mama Shu and addressing the victories and ongoing needs of the city.
Read MoreTownsquare’s WKFR-FM Raises 83k+ with Roof Sit 2024!
On May 16-18, Townsquare Media’s WKFR-FM (Kalamazoo) hosted their annual Roof Sit event, that raises awareness and funding to treat and prevent child abuse and neglect in Southwest Michigan. This year the event raised more than $83,000 for the Community Healing Center’s Children’s Programs.
Read MoreMichigan Radio Vet Ernie Fox Joins Midwestern Broadcasting/Alpena
The MAB has learned that longtime Michigan radio broadcaster Ernie Fox has joined the staff of Midwestern Broadcasting’s WZTK-FM (Alpena) (105.7 The Bird) as morning show host. Fox began his new position this past Monday (5/27).
Read MoreJune Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters – EEO Public File Reports, Rulemaking Comments, Political Deadlines and More
Though school is out for many, the FCC does not take a summer recess. Instead, regulation continues. In addition to the regular EEO Annual Public Inspection File Report deadline for broadcasters in a number of states, there are several comment deadlines in June on issues that directly impact broadcasters
Read More2024 Regional Murrow Award Winners Announced
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) has announced the recipients of the 2023 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. 11 Michigan broadcasters won a total of 17 awards in Region 7, which is shared with Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Read MoreWBCT Announces Addition of Mike Aguilar to Mornings
Radio Insight reports that iHeartMedia’s WBCT-FM (Grand Rapids) has announced the addition of Mike Aguilar to its morning show alongside Ally Mac. Aguilar has been with iHeartMedia Grand Rapids since 2006, primarily at sister station WSNX-FM.
Read MoreWADL Sale Terminated
Various press reports over the last few days indicate that Mission Broadcasting has terminated their agreement to purchase WADL-TV (Detroit) from Adell Broadcasting. This comes weeks after the FCC approved the sale of the station to Mission, but imposed a number of conditions that made the deal complicated for both seller and buyer.
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