A tragic fire in the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 24 temporarily closed Associated Charities of Lenawee and closed down their back to school distribution of clothing, shoes, backpacks and school supplies to families in need.
In response, WLEN (Lenawee Broadcasting Company) and WQTE (Southeast Michigan Media) Radio stations immediately addressed this catastrophic event with a curbside collection of monetary donations and gift cards.
On August 18, MacDonald Broadcasting’s WQHH-FM (Lansing) held their 12th Annual Backpack Giveaway to help students and families prepare for the start of the new school year. Assisted by station sponsors as well as Communities in Schools of Michigan, the station handed out the backpacks drive-through style over a 2-hour period.
Nexstar Media’s WOOD-TV (Grand Rapids) has announced that the station will host a debate among candidates for Michigan’s newly redrawn 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday, September 13. The debate, bringing together Republican John Gibbs and Democrat Hillary Scholten will be anchored by WOOD-TV political anchor Rick Albin.
As summer begins to wind down, just like the rest of the world, the FCC and other government agencies seem to pick up speed on long delayed actions. Broadcasters can anticipate increased regulatory activity in the coming months. For September, there are a few dates to which all broadcasters should pay attention, and a few that will be of relevance to a more limited group.
The NAB announced that a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives are now cosponsoring the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution opposing “any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge” on local broadcast radio stations. The Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA), which signals members of Congress’s opposition to any potential legislation that imposes new performance royalties on broadcast radio stations for music airplay, now has 222 cosponsors in the House and 28 in the Senate.
On August 29, Gray Television announced a new minimum wage of $18 per hour across the company. The new policy will become effective on October 1, 2022, for essentially all full-time, non-commissioned and non-contracted employees of Gray and its wholly owned subsidiaries. Roughly 2,000 employees will receive a raise as a result of this new policy.
As radio continues to compete with a multitude of competitors, including Spotify and SiriusXM, the importance of air personalities remains a key to the industry’s success. For the fourth consecutive year, Michigan-base Jacobs Media Strategies, in partnership with Morning Show Boot Camp, is releasing the findings of its AQ4 study in a free webinar on Thursday, September 8 at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Podcast Movement returned last week. This time, the annual conference convened in Dallas. Thousands of podcasters, as well as representatives from podcast-adjacent industries, descended on the city for a week of learning and networking. I had the good fortune to attend. Here are my biggest takeaways
Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ed Christian, founder and chairman of Michigan-based Saga Communications passed away August 19 following a short illness. Christian bought WCER AM/FM (Charlotte) in 1970, but would sell the stations three years later to become VP/GM of 100.3 WNIC Detroit. He would then rise to President of Josephson Communications until purchasing the company for $38.5 million to form Saga.
Cadillac-based Heritage Broadcasting Company has announced an additional hour to its (already) 9 hours of news and content by launching Good Day Northern Michigan beginning September 6. Viewers can watch this show on WWTV/WWUP-TV starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. This move will make the one-hour show the only local content northern Michigan can watch in this timeframe.