Posts Tagged ‘Issue 290’
Frank Beckmann: 1949-2022
This past weekend, the MAB was saddened to learn the passing of longtime WJR personality Frank Beckmann at age 72. According to his wife Karen, Beckmann died Saturday night (2/12) of vascular dementia. He reportedly had been in hospice care for several days. He began his career at WJR as a reporter in 1973, launched…
Read MoreWKAR’s Julie Sochay, Brant Wells in the News
This past week brought national news with two of WKAR Public Media’s staff. WKAR’s Senior Director of Content and Communication Julie Sochay has been selected to participate in Public Media Diversity Leaders Initiative (PMDLI), a program of the Riley Institute at Furman University offered in partnership with South Carolina ETV and modeled after the Institute’s…
Read MoreErin Vermeulen New PM News Anchor at WWJ
Erin Vermeulen has been upped to evening news anchor for Audacy’s WWJ-AM (Detroit). She’ll be heard weeknights from 7-12 midnight. Vermeulen is a 23-year broadcast professional, most recently serving as a writer and editor for WWJ. Her career has taken her to Cairo, Dubai, Oman and South Africa before returning to the U.S. and working…
Read MoreWCSX-FM Announces the Return of the Stone Soup Project in the Motor City
Beasley Media Group is pleased to announce the return of the WCSX Stone Soup Project in the Motor City. Seventeen years ago, the station ran a radio promotion challenging listeners to transform a junkyard car into a classic automobile. Metro Detroiters opened their garages and wallets to rebuild the first car. In addition, mechanics and…
Read MoreHope FM Listeners Donate $34k to Mission Effort
During their Annual Fundraiser for Crossover Cups Mission, WNFR-FM (Sandusky/Port Huron) (90.7 Hope FM) listeners generously gave $34,446 to rescue 415 children from human trafficking in the Dominican Republic. The station has partnered with Crossover Cups Mission for the last 8 years and has been able to see the impact of the mission firsthand with…
Read MorePlymouth-Canton’s 88.1 The Park Celebrates 50 Years!
Plymouth-Canton’s WSDP-FM (88.1 The Park) celebrated a milestone this past Monday. The student-run station signed on the air February 14, 1972 with just ten watts of power in mono on 89.3 mHz. Over the years, the station changed frequencies, increased power, went stereo and increased their broadcast schedule from 6 hours a day to 24/7.…
Read MoreControversial Super Bowl Political Ads on Local Stations – Why They Can’t Be Pulled
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Ads planned to run in (last Sunday’s) Super Bowl by Republican candidates in primaries to select candidates for 2022 senate elections drew comments and controversy even before the game, with some calls to block the ads from the air. Ads for a candidate in Pennsylvania used the “Let’s…
Read MoreDoug Montgomery Upped to VP at Townsquare
Former Grand Rapids programmer Doug Montgomery, who joined Townsquare Media in 2016, has been promoted. He will continue to oversee Content and Programming for 70 Country stations, now as Vice President of Country Content and Programming. Since joining the company in 2017 he has led the Country format for Townsquare, and is the showrunner for…
Read MoreFormer Marquette Broadcaster Lou Chappell Dies at 85
Former WLUC-TV (Marquette) General Manager and radio station owner Lou Chappell passed away Monday, February 14th at his home in Marquette. Chappell worked at WDMJ-TV and WLUC-TV from 1956 through 1973. He was first hired when the station was launched. He eventually became general manager. The Dollar Bay native’s obituary says he spent some of…
Read MoreCommunity Building: Understanding the Metrics, Tools and Opportunities
By: Seth Resler Jacobs Media Strategies Over the past several weeks, I have written about how radio stations can turn their Audiences into Communities. As I noted in January, the key distinction between the two is that members of a Community care about and communicate with each other; members of an Audience do not. Two weeks ago,…
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