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Danny Parkins Emotionally Signs Off 670 The Score After Raising Over Half a Million Dollars for Cancer Research

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What a way to go out. As Danny Parkins wrapped up his seven and a half years on 670 The Score in Chicago, he did so in remarkable fashion. Parkins hosted the 24-hour ‘Cubs for a Cure Radiothon’ which has raised more than $560,000 and the total is still climbing.

After being on the air for an entire day, and it being the end of the week where he announced he is leaving the station and the city for a new position on television at FS1, it was understandably an emotional time for Parkins. After realizing how much money they had raised this year and getting ready to wrap up what has become an annual event all parties hope to continue, Parkins said, “That is The Score, that is the power of The Score and the best sports radio station in the country. God, I love this place. It was my dream job.

“I wasn’t looking to leave,” Parkins continued. “I left Chicago once to better my family, to get back here and now this crazy thing happened and I’m gonna leave again and I can’t believe I’m leaving again but I’m okay with leaving again because I know it’s right for my wife Stephanie and my sons Owen and Eli who matter more to me than anyone in the world. And it also makes it easier knowing that I have an open door to come back here both to get awesome Caleb Williams takes off and for the Super Bowl parade. Don’t be afraid of success Bears fans, because it’s coming and I’m gonna rep you so damn hard nationally.

“It’s gonna be amazing and I might be a little insufferable on it because Caleb’s gonna win more MVPs than Jordan Love. It’s gonna be awesome but it makes it easier knowing that I can come back and do this.”

Parkins said he received a text from his mom and sisters saying how proud his late brother and father would be of him. His brother passed away early last year after battling glioblastoma, which is the reason the radiothon and the charities it benefits are so close to Parkins’ heart.

An emotional Parkins finished up the radiothon and his time at 670 The Score saying, “I’m crying on camera and on the air and I just love my family so much and I miss my brother and my dad so much and I’ll be back because we are at $558,000 for cancer research and the Cubs said I could come back and do it and The Score said I could come back and do it so damn it, I’m gonna come back and do it. And we’re gonna beat that number next year, so it’s goodbye for now. Chicago will never leave me, this place will never leave me and you’ll hear from me soon so thank you all so very much.

“Back to the best sports radio station in the country one last time, I’m Danny Parkins on The Score.”

1040 WHO, 600 WMT Add 1110 KFAB Host Emery Songer to Daily Lineup

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After moving to 1110 KFAB last year after working as a producer at 1040 WHO, Emery Songer is returning to host late mornings on the Iowa news/talk station. He’ll also be heard on 600 WMT.

Songer will host Emery on Iowa from 9-11 AM on both 1040 WHO in Des Moines and 600 WMT in Cedar Rapids. Those two stations, along with 1110 KFAB, are owned by iHeartMedia.

The timeslot was previously hosted by Jeff Angelo, who moved to mornings on WHO Radio in June of this year.

Songer joined 1110 KFAB in Omaha in June of last year after spending the previous five years working as a producer at both 1040 and sister sports station 1460 KXNO in Des Moines.

“I’m incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to connect with Iowans all over the state and beyond,” said Songer. “I can’t wait to continue the rich heritage of these legendary radio stations and to celebrate the next chapter of WHO and WMT!”

Kathleen Finch to Retire from Warner Bros. Discovery at End of Year

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Kathleen Finch, the chairman and chief executive officer of U.S. Networks at Warner Bros. Discovery, is retiring at the end of the year. Finch, who has worked in the company for the last 25 years, will be succeeded by Channing Dungey, the current chairman and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Television Group. Finch first joined Scripps Networks in 1999 where she served as the chief programming, content and brand officer for its linear and digital media brands. Upon Discovery, Inc. acquiring Scripps Networks in 2018, she was the chief lifestyle brands officer for the company and assumed her current role following the merger of Discovery, Inc. and WarnerMedia four years later.

In the second quarter of 2024, U.S. Networks amassed more than 147 million total viewers on average per month, with five of the networks ranking among the top 10 in cable television. Some of the networks under her purview include HGTV, Discovery, Food Network, TNT and TBS, the latter of which broadcast games across the TNT Sports portfolio. TNT served as the broadcast home of NBA and Stanley Cup Playoff games last quarter, while TBS presented most of its first-half slate of Tuesday night MLB games.

“There is no one better at developing captivating content, compelling talent, and meaningful lifestyle brands than Kathleen, who has been my partner as we built our premier entertainment networks at Discovery and created Warner Bros. Discovery as an unscripted powerhouse,” David Zaslav, president and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. “While I understand her long-standing decision to retire, I will certainly miss her, as will the entire company, which has benefitted from her unmatched collaboration and unique understanding of what our audiences crave.”

Finch was on hand for the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront event this past May where she revealed new programming premiering across the company’s U.S. Networks and Max. In the second fiscal quarter, the company reported that 35% of adults watched networks under her oversight in prime time television hours. Warner Bros. Discovery divulged a decline in total revenue in Q2, dropping 6% year-over-year to $9.71 billion with an adjusted EBITDA of $1.8 billion. Furthermore, the media conglomerate has $37.8 billion in debt with a market capitalization of approximately $18 billion.

“The greatest joy, and the part I will miss the most, is the incredible people with whom I get to work every day. Starting with David and throughout the organization and of course all the amazing on-air talent, this is one of the smartest and most creative groups imaginable,” Finch said in a statement. “I am so proud of what the US Networks group has accomplished together, and I know under Channing’s leadership there are many successes to come.”

Finch retires from the company after it recently took a $9.1 billion write down of its network segments within its second quarter earnings. This impairment charge was enacted due to growing disparity between the market capitalization of Warner Bros. Discovery and the book value of the networks segment, the latter of which has decreased because of a diminished U.S. linear advertising market and uncertainty pertaining to affiliate and sports rights renewals. Warner Bros. Discovery is not slated to broadcast National Basketball Association games after next season upon the league announcing new 11-year media rights deals with The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC), NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock) and Amazon (Prime Video) reportedly worth a collective $77 billion.

The company has sued the league for breach of contract after it rejected the exercise of its matching rights provision to attempt and garner media rights that were awarded to Amazon. Answering papers must be filed by the NBA by Aug. 23 pertaining to the case, in which Warner Bros. Discovery is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief. On top of that, Warner Bros. Discovery is involved in litigation as a defendant pertaining to the FuboTV antitrust lawsuit of Venu Sports. Plaintiffs in the case argue that the forthcoming joint streaming venture is representative of anti-competitive practice and are seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent its launch.

‘Super 70’s Sports’ Comes to Life on OutKick’s ‘The Ricky Cobb Show’

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It was Christmas Eve in 2013 when Ricky Cobb first started the ‘Super 70’s Sports’ twitter handle. Life got in the way of him doing much with it at first, but on the first day of the new year in 2015, he decided it was time to at least see if he had anything.

“I just remember waking up and thinking, am I ever going to do anything with that Twitter account? And so, I started tweeting that day and I never have stopped,” Cobb told Barrett Media. “I haven’t taken a day off since January the 1st of 2015.”

What started out as literally an account about sports teams and players from the 1970’s has grown into somewhat of a sports and pop culture phenomenon, looking back on several eras of sports, and also movies, television and anything else that was popular when that group of people, including Cobb were growing up.

Cobb, a 52-year-old father of five daughters, had very little expectations when he started.

“If you would have told me when I created the account that I would ever have a thousand followers, I would have been like, ‘wow, that’d be really awesome’ and wouldn’t have had any aspirations to have anything more than that,” Cobb said. “You know, I think I was just looking for an outlet to be creative and maybe have an outlet for my natural tendency to want to joke around and try to find the things that are funny. So, I thought if I could create an account where I just sort of celebrated the athletes of my youth.”

Now, Super 70s Sports has over 770,000 followers on X, just launched a new daily show on OutKick called The Ricky Cobb Show and, after 21 years as a community college sociology professor, Cobb is now creating content full time.

As for the new show, which launched Monday August 12 and airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET, Cobb said, “I’m so happy that I get the chance to do this and that people are interested and want to talk to me or want to put me on television because that in and of itself is a pretty insane thing to me for somebody that was a community college professor until, you know, about a week ago.”

In describing the show, Cobb says it is very similar to what you see every day when he posts on hist Super 70’s Sports account on X, “it’s sports, it’s culture, it’s comedy,” he said. “I want my audience to feel like they’ve pulled up a chair to the table at the bar where the best, the smartest, most clever conversation has taken place. That’s what I want it to feel like. I want it to feel like we’re talking about the things that you would be talking about with your buddies, that you would be texting about with your buddies.”

Cobb has done a podcast and was part of a 10-episode show produced by ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, but this new show will allow Cobb to dive into various topics and also talk with special guests while having the OutKick platform behind him. He said he and OutKick SVP and Managing Editor Gary Schreier have been having conversations about collaborating since the spring of 2023.

After an initial discussion, Cobb said about Schreier, “He got back in touch with me and we had some really good exchanges about it and what he was envisioning and kind of my thoughts on the kind of show that I would want to do, and everything lined up. And so, I made the decision that this was where I wanted to be.”

Photo Courtesy: OutKick
Photo Courtesy: OutKick

Cobb said he received good feedback on the first few shows, which included an interview with one of Cobb’s favorite players to post about, former Atlanta Braves star Dale Murphy. Cobb is not alone on the show, he has his buddy, ‘Ronnie T-Shirts’ along for the ride.

In describing Ronnie, Cobb says, “I would say that Ronnie is the closest thing I have to an older brother. You have certain friends that you never have any little word between you. And then you have other friends where you could have friction sometimes with whatever. That’s why I say he’s like a brother because I love the guy, but man, we’ve had arguments. We’ve been through s*** together. You know, we laugh together.”

I never thought that Super 70s sports would take off like it did. That’s been the biggest, unexpected adventure of my life by far. And for it to have put me in a position where I could have been taken notice of to create this opportunity is just that much further beyond already feeling like I’m playing with house money. I feel like it’s so unlikely that any of this happens. I was a community college professor, dad of five girls, going into work and doing my job. I figured that I would put in my 30 or 35 years as a college professor, and I would retire, and I would draw my teachers’ pension. And, you know, that, that would be it.

“I never thought that I would change careers or that I would have the opportunity to work in this medium that I’m in here at OutKick. So, you know, I don’t want to put any limits on it.”

CNN Taking Entire Lineup to Chicago for 2024 Democratic National Convention

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The 2024 Democratic National Convention is scheduled for next week in Chicago, and CNN is taking its entire lineup to the Windy City for the event.

The network’s coverage will begin on Sunday as Jake Tapper will host State of the Union at 9 AM ET from the United Center, followed by special editions of CNN Newsroom with Jessica Dean, Erin Burnett OutFront, Anderson Cooper 360, The Source with Kaitlan Collins, NewsNight with Abby Phillip and Laura Coates Live.

Beginning on Monday, August 19th, CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt, CNN News Central with Sara Sidner and John Berman in Chicago and Kate Bolduan in studio, CNN Newsroom, Inside Politics with Dana Bash, CNN News Central, The Lead with Jake Tapper, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, and Erin Burnett OutFront will all be live in some capacity from Chicago. Those shows will continue to be hosted from the Illinois city through the end of the convention on Thursday, August 22nd.

In primetime, the network will feature special live coverage anchored by Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper. Meanwhile, Abby Phillip and a panel of experts will join Anderson Cooper’s panel, while Dana Bash, John King, another network contributors will join Jake Tapper’s panel inside the United Center.

Laura Coates will anchor coverage from Midnight to 2 AM ET.

Kaitlan Collins, John Berman, and Sara Sidner will provide coverage and reports from the convention floor in Chicago. The network will also have dedicated reporters to both the Donald Trump campaign during the convention and also to demonstrators and protests happening around Chicago during the duration of the convention.

Radio Reacts To Great White Singer Jack Russell’s Death

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Jack Russell, former lead singer of the rock band Great White, has died. Russell, 63, was battling dementia. Radio reacted on social media.

The news was announced on his Instagram.

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Russell had been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia and Multiple System Atrophy, which causes loss of coordination and balance and changes in speech. He had recently announced his retirement from touring.

Great White is known for its songs “Once Bitten Twice Shy,” “The Angel Song,” and “Rock Me.”

The band’s history includes one of the deadliest nightclub fires in history in 2003 at a show in Rhode Island. A pyrotechnic malfunction caused a fire that killed 100 people, including the band’s guitar player, and injured many others.

Audacy Programmer Tim Roberts:

‘MLB Central’ Team of Robert Flores, Mark DeRosa, Lauren Shehadi to Call ‘MLB Network Showcase’ Game

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MLB Network will present a new commentary team for the upcoming MLB Network Showcase game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. EST. The MLB Central morning team will be on the call for the out-of-market national telecast, including Robert Flores as the play-by-play announcer, Mark DeRosa providing analysis and Lauren Shehadi serving as the reporter. This will mark the first time in the nine-year history of the signature morning program that the trio will call a Major League Baseball game together.

Flores, DeRosa and Shehadi first started working together on the program in 2018 and recorded their 750th episode last season. The morning show cast will step in for the regular MLB Network Showcase broadcast crew that consists of Bob Costas, Matt Vasgersian, Tom Verducci and Jon Morosi for the interleague matchup.

Flores has performed play-by-play announcing on two BBC broadcasts of the Division Series last year that were co-produced with MLB Network, along with college basketball and boxing matches for ESPN. DeRosa has worked as a color commentator across game broadcasts and studio programs on MLB Network over the years, while Shehadi has been an on-field reporter for both MLB Network Showcase telecasts and within the MLB on TBS broadcast property.

Over the years, the MLB Central morning program has been on-site for several momentous occasions, including receiving their own bobblehead from the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2018, broadcasting live from the MLB London Series for the last two seasons and throwing out ceremonial first pitches at Citi Field and Citizens Bank Park.

MLB Network recently launched a direct-to-consumer broadcast offering through which fans can purchase either a standalone or bundled subscription to watch programming across the league-owned broadcast entity. MLB Central takes the air on weekday mornings from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST and features highlights, analysis, breakdowns and special guests. Fans with a participating pay television subscription can access the network through an authenticated stream for the 10th consecutive year. MLB Network recently registered its most-watched MLB Network Showcase game since August 2022, according to a social media post on X from analyst Dan Plesac, who was on the call for the Milwaukee Brewers’ matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Google Expanding AI Overviews in Search Function

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Google is expanding its AI Overviews in Search, which will provide more detailed information without the need to click through to a website. 

This may affect SEO and traffic, but Google is addressing this with new link displays and testing saved overviews. The expansion of AI Overviews to more countries may also impact referral traffic. 

However, AI Overviews have been driving traffic to a wider range of sites, suggesting better-quality visits. This addition could potentially affect Google’s revenue from search ads, but they may find other commercial opportunities within AI results. 

It’s important for digital marketers to take note of these developments and evaluate their strategies accordingly. More data will become available as the expansion continues.

Cumulus Media Promotes Jerold Jackson To OM In Baton Rouge

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Cumulus Media Baton Rouge has promoted Jerold Jackson to Operations Manager.

With over 20 years of experience programming stations for Cumulus Media in different markets, Jackson will also take on the role of Program Director for Urban AC KMEZ and Gospel KKND-FM (Heaven 106.7 FM)/New Orleans.

Jackson will continue to serve as Program Director for Urban KNEK-FM (Magic 104.7) and Urban KRRQ-FM (Q95.5)/Lafayette, LA, a position he has held since 2015.

Cumulus Media has also announced the appointment of a new support team in Baton Rouge, including the promotion of LaTangela Sherman to Assistant Program Director for the Baton Rouge Cluster.

Glen Roberson is now the Music Director for Urban AC KQXL-FM (Q106.5)/Baton Rouge and Urban AC KMEZ-FM/New Orleans.

In addition, Vincent Thomas has been promoted to Assistant Program Director for Urban KNEK-FM and Urban KRRQ-FM (Q95.5)/Lafayette.

Pat Galloway, Regional VP/Market Manager, Cumulus New Orleans/Baton Rouge/Lafayette/Columbus-Starkville, said: “These appointments reflect our company values of promoting from within. Jerold Jackson has deep experience and a track record of success with Cumulus. I am confident that Jerold will be very effective in this new leadership role.” 

Galloway added: “Likewise, the promotions of LaTangela Sherman, Glen Roberson, and Vincent Thomas within the Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lafayette radio clusters further strengthens our programming efforts in these key markets. We have a tremendous team in place to continue creating Louisiana’s best radio programming for our listeners and advertising partners.”

CBS News Tabs Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan to Moderate October Vice Presidential Debate

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Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) have agreed to debate each other on October 1st. CBS News says Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan will serve as moderators.

O’Donnell is the anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News, but will depart the position after the 2024 Election. Brennan is the moderator of Face the Nation and is the Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for CBS News. It will be the first time either has moderated a Vice Presidential debate.

The debate between Vand and Walz will take place on Tuesday, October 1st in New York City. It was one of four Tuesday dates proposed by the network, with the others being September 17th, September 24th, and October 8th.

After publicly declaring his intention to debate Walz on October 1st, Vance also said he would like to debate on Wednesday, September 18th on CNN. However, the communications director for the Democratic presidential ticket said Walz would only be participating in the October 1st event with CBS News.