One-time WJR-AM (Detroit) General Sales Manager Dick Rakovan has passed away. For 20 years, Rakovan, known to many as “Rackets,” served 20 years with the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) where he was Senior VP of Membership. Rakovan began his broadcast career at the former WKBW-AM (Buffalo, NY) working as a salesman. His first role in…
By: Seth Resler Jacobs Media Strategies Email marketing is a crucial component of your digital strategy. When used effectively, an email newsletter can get people to return to your website, tune in to your radio station or show up to station events. You should use email to engage with your audience on a regular basis.…
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP In our summary of last week’s regulatory actions, I was struck by a common thread in comments made by several FCC Commissioners in different contexts – the thread being the FCC’s role in regulating Internet content companies. As we noted in our summary, both Republican commissioners issued statements last…
The Michigan Association of Broadcasters are mourning the loss of Stephen Marks, President and CEO of The Marks Media Group and former MAB Board and Foundation Chairman. Marks passed away on Wednesday, May 11 at the age of 72. “Stephen was an icon in the broadcasting industry and his passion was only outweighed by his…
Veteran WLUC-TV (Marquette) (TV6) broadcaster Scott Zerbel has announced his pending retirement after 38 years at the station. TV6 Vice President and General Manager Rick Rhoades says Zerbel will be hard to replace. “Scott brings a wealth knowledge and experience with him to work every day. His career in unique in broadcasting. Typically, broadcasters work…
Audacy Detroit has announced the promotion of Tom Millikan to Assistant Brand Manager of 97.1 The Ticket (WXYT-FM). Millikan will continue in his role as executive producer of the station’s “The Morning Show with Stoney and Jansen.” “Tom has done an outstanding job as an executive producer and has played a vital role in the…
The MAB is sad to pass word that Tony Bruscato, long-time Plymouth Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Director passed May 6 at age 68. Bruscato began his career in radio after graduating from Indiana University with a BA in Broadcasting. His career began in Iowa and later to Port Huron, Michigan. He then moved into journalism…
By: Seth Resler Jacobs Media Strategies The “Advertise With Us” page on a radio station’s website is arguably the most valuable page on the entire site. After all, people navigate to this page when they are interested in spending money. At this point, the sale is yours to lose. Yet I see many radio stations…
WDET-FM (Detroit) has partnered with StoryCorps — the national nonprofit dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs — as part of StoryCorps’ One Small Step Radio Station Hubs project. Citizens from across the political spectrum are invited to participate by signing up at wdet.org/onesmallstep. WDET is one…
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP The FCC (5/4/22) made public four letters to landowners warning them that there were unlicensed FM radio operations coming from their properties and warning that, if the transmissions continued past the 10-business day response period, the landowners could be held liable for penalties up to $2,000,000 for the unlicensed operations coming from their…