May 2021
Michigan Radio, WDET, WCMU, WMUK, WOOD and WXYZ Win Regional Murrow Awards
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) has announced the recipients of the 2021 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. Six Michigan broadcasters won a total of 11 awards in Region 7, which is shared with Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Award recipients demonstrate the spirit of excellence that Murrow set as a standard for the profession…
Read MoreBeasley Hosts Zoom Event to Get Detroit Vaccinated
On May 13, Beasley Media Group (Detroit) hosted a Zoom meeting with community leaders to discuss ways to encourage everybody in Metro Detroit to Get Vaccinated in the next installment of Beasley’s Solutions Not Slogans campaign. WDMK-FM (Detroit) on-air personalities Mason and Angie Starr, along with sister station WMGC-FM morning show host Zannie K and…
Read MoreNEXTGEN TV Launched on 6 Grand Rapids Stations
The future of television arrived May 6 in Grand Rapids. Six leading local television stations in Grand Rapids, including WOTV (ABC), WWMT (CBS), WOOD-TV (NBC), WXMI (FOX), WXSP-CD and WOLP-CD (MyNet), became the latest in the nation to begin broadcasting with NEXTGEN TV, a revolutionary new digital broadcast technology. Based on the same fundamental technology…
Read MoreCDC: Vaccinated Can Take Masks Off Indoors and Outdoors; MDHHS Updates Guidance
The Hill reported Thursday afternoon (5/13) that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released guidance that says if you are fully vaccinated — two weeks past the last required COVID-19 vaccine dose — you don’t need to wear masks indoors or outside, and you don’t need to maintain physical distance. “The science is…
Read MoreUpton, Walberg, Dingell Among 77 House Members to Support Bipartisan Local Radio Freedom Act in 117th Congress
Michigan’s U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (R-6), Tim Walberg (R-7) and Debbie Dingell (D-12) were among the 77 bipartisan cosponsors of House Resolution in support of the Local Radio Freedom Act introduced this week in the Senate. For more than a decade, broadcasters have rallied allies in Congress to proactively take a stand against a performance…
Read MoreMichigan Radio Announces The Moth Mainstage Drive-In Show ‘All These Wonders’
It’s been over a year since fans of The Moth in Michigan have been able to gather in person for a night of live storytelling. Now, The Moth returns to Michigan for a unique drive in theater event. Although we still can’t gather in large numbers indoors, you can join Michigan Radio for a great…
Read MoreFCC Proposes 8% Hike In Annual Radio Station Regulatory Fees
For a third consecutive year the annual regulatory fees that the Federal Communications Commission proposes to collect from radio stations is going up, and this year’s planned increase is twice that of a year ago, according to a report in InsideRadio. The FCC has proposed to hike annual fees by eight percent in 2021 as…
Read MoreHeritage Broadcasting Company Acquires Lake Effect Digital
With the acquisition of Lake Effect Digital, Heritage Broadcasting will now be able to offer a full suite of digital solutions for businesses and organizations throughout Michigan. Along with the Mane Content team, Lake Effect Digital will become one of the most comprehensive and progressive digital agencies in Northern Michigan, offering a full line of…
Read MoreTownsquare Promotes Jeff Luckoff, Eric Meier in Michigan
On May 4, Townsquare Media Inc. announced that Grand Rapids Market President Jeff Luckoff will increase his responsibilities to include statewide oversight of Townsquare’s Michigan local media clusters. He will report to Townsquare Senior Vice President Todd Lawley. “In a very short amount of time Jeff has reset the culture, made key hires, and built…
Read MoreGray Picks Up Saginaw’s WNEM in $2.7B Meredith Acquisition, Will Sell Flint’s WJRT
Gray will become the United States’ second largest television broadcast group when it acquires 17 Meredith stations, including WNEM-TV (Saginaw) in a $2.7 billion deal announced in a press release on Monday (5/3). Gray currently operates WJRT-TV (Flint), which shares in the DMA 73 market with Saginaw’s WNEM. To facilitate regulatory approvals for this transaction,…
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