March 2022
WXMI-TV Celebrates 40th Birthday!
Scripps Media’s WXMI-TV (Grand Rapids) celebrated its 40th Anniversary this month! The station signing on as an independent station on March 18, 1982 under the call letters WWMA-TV. It became WXMI-TV in 1983 and four years later joined the FOX television network. WXMI-TV General Manager Kim Krause said in a statement, “It’s incredible to think…
Read MoreMorning Drive: How to Quickly Improve Your Morning Show Today
By: Gary Berkowitz Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting With the spring book not far away, please consider these actionable points for a stronger morning show: 1. If they are still doing “This Day in History” (or any almanac type bit) consider dropping. It is boring and most important listeners do not care. 2. Review all bits. Drop…
Read MoreAudacy Announces New Co-Anchor in Morning Drive on WWJ-AM
Audacy has announced that television news veteran Jonathan Carlson has joined WWJ-AM (Detroit) as the new morning drive co-anchor. Carlson joins Roberta Jasina weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET, beginning April 18. “We are thrilled to have Jonathan, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, join our team as a morning anchor,” said Debbie Kenyon, Senior…
Read MoreWHMI Names New News Director
Krol Communications has announced that veteran Detroit newsman Ken Rogulski will be joining its WHMI-FM (Howell) as News Director and morning drive anchorman. Rogulski held down a number of assignments at WJR-AM (Detroit) for almost two decades including newscaster, street reporter, fill-in talk show host for the late Frank Beckmann and performing his live annual…
Read MoreNPR Story Says That You are Allowed to Lie in Broadcast Political Ads – Half the Story?
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Last week, NPR ran a story with the provocative headline – “The Truth In Political Advertising – You’re Allowed to Lie.” The story talked about how the FCC does not regulate candidate advertising to decide the truth of political ads, and then quoted a former FCC Chair to say that candidates…
Read MoreWGVU’s Shelly Irwin Named in 2022 Class of the 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan
WGVU Public Media’s Shelly Irwin has been named in the 2022 class of the 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan by The Grand Rapids Business Journal. The honorees were announced in February and were celebrated at a special luncheon on March 10. The honorees represent a wide cross section of industries and organizations and…
Read MoreWOTV 4 Women Rebrands to ABC 4 West Michigan
Nexstar’s WOTV-TV (Battle Creek/Grand Rapids) has announced the next chapter of its brand evolution. On March 23, viewers began experiencing their favorite WOTV content as “ABC 4 West Michigan.” ABC 4 West Michigan focuses on several brand pillars including special features on entertainment content, local guides and contests. The station’s entertainment-centric rebrand happens just in…
Read MoreWest Central Michigan Media Ministries to Acquire WMPA-FM
On April 16, an application was filed with the FCC to assign the license of WMPA-FM (Ferrysburg/Grand Haven) from Will Tieman and Wendy Hart’s WGHN Inc. to non-commercial operator West Central Michigan Media Ministries. WGHN Inc. will retain AC 92.1 WGHN-FM and “Oldies 94.9” 1370 WGHN/94.9 W235CM Grand Haven. WMPA will join the buyer’s Christian…
Read MoreThe Most Important Question You Can Ask People Who Come to Your Website
By: Seth Resler Jacobs Media Strategies One of my favorite tests to run on radio station websites is a usability test. The goal of this test is to see how real people use the website, and to figure out if there are any aspects of the site that present difficulties. Usability tests are fairly simple…
Read MoreNew Rules on the Identification of Foreign Government-Provided Programs Affects All Broadcasters – Now in Effect
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP The FCC this week announced that broadcasters must now comply with new rules designed to identify when programming is run on U.S. stations that was provided by a foreign governmental entity pursuant to a lease of airtime. While this seems like a narrow purpose, the new rules will impose a burden…
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