Nick “Z” Zambrano is out as morning show producer at Alpha Media’s KBAY/San Jose.
He spent six years with the cluster and then joined KBAY to produce the “Bobby Bones Show.” Prior to that, he was with sister, AC KEZR.
Reach out here.
Nielsen 12+ June Monthly And Spring 2024 Quarterly Ratings
Nielsen has released the next round of June Monthly and Spring 2024 quarterly ratings.
Monthly Markets:
Albany/Schenectady/Troy
Top 40 WFLY raises 4.5-5.9
AC WYJB rose 4.7-5.2
Country WGNA dropped 6.2-5.6
Hot AC WRVE fell 4.3-3.5
Syracuse
AC WYYY was up 5.7-6.4
Country WBBS dropped 7.7-7.2
Rhythmic AC WMVN fell 4.9-4.6
Spring Quarterly
Agusta
Country WEBB showed strong 7.8-8.6
Rock WTOS was up 4.9-6.7
Classic Hits WABK rose 3.9-5.7
Bangor
Country WQCB is up two whole shares 8.8-10.8
AC WKSQ up 4.7-5.4
Classic Rock WKIT holds on to first despite a 12.7-10.8 drop
Top 40 WBZN cratered 7.1-4.2
Burlington, VT.
Hot AC WEZF doubles its share 5.7-10.9
Country WOKO fell 12.9-9.6
Classic Hits WKOL is up 5.7-6.4
Concord
Classic Rock WLKZ is up 3.8-4.9
Rock WGIR gains 4.7-5.3
Country WNHW dropped 4.3-2.5
Hudson Valley
AC WHUD stays atop the market 5.5-5.4
Top 40 WHTZ up 3.3-3.7
Lebanon/Hanover
Country WXXX up 5.4-5.9
Hot AC WGXL gains 2.0-2.9
Classic Rock WHDQ fell 7.5-6.6
Manchester
AC WZID drops 13.4-11.7
Rock WGIR falls 8.1-7.3
Montpelier
Hot AC WEZF grows 8.0-8.9
Country WWFY up 5.4-5.9
AC WGMT up 2.7-3.0
Top 40 WMOO off 4.5-4.0
Portland ME
Country WTHT has a big gain at 2.9-5.0
Country WPOR up 4.5-6.3
Hot AC WHOM off 5.6-4.4
Classic Hits WFNK falls 7.2-6.6
Portsmouth
Country WOKQ up 5.7-7.8
Rock WHEB falls 7.9-6.1
Poughkeepsie
Top 40 WSPK grew 8.7-9.2
Classic Rock WPDH up 7.1-8.8
AC WHUD up 3.7-4.6
Utica
Country WFRG up 10.2-13.1
Classic Rock WOUR grows 6.1-6.8
Classic Hits WODZ drops 6.9-4.5
Jon ‘Stugotz’ Weiner Filling In For Boomer Esiason This Week on WFAN
If you are reading this, there’s a good chance you are already aware of the passion Jon ‘Stugotz’ Weiner has for WFAN in New York. You also are most likely aware the station and co-host of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz flirted with each other as WFAN was looking for a new Brand Manager to replace Spike Eskin who headed back to Philadelphia. That position went to Ryan Hurley, who had previously been with ESPN New York. With Boomer Esiason on vacation this week, Stugotz is scheduled to join morning co-host Gregg Giannotti on Boomer & Gio from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET.
On Monday, Stugotz was absent from The Dan Le Batard Show without Stugotz (as they call it when he is out), and he was not on WFAN either. His co-workers, including Le Batard, weren’t exactly sure when he was going to be on the radio station as they said his communication on the matter was subpar at best. BSM reached out to Hurley who confirmed Stugotz is scheduled to fill in for Esiason starting on Tuesday through the end of the week in morning drive.
“Stugotz, I think, was supposed to be here today,” Le Batard said on his show. “I am not totally sure. At some point last week, he told somebody that he was going to be doing WFAN this week. So, Meadowlark is paying him to work for someone else there, while not being here to do his job. He’s not on vacation, he’s just doing what he could be doing here, at WFAN. However, for some reason it’s not today, we could have used him today. We needed him today and he said he’s traveling today.”
What followed was Le Batard asking the team how they felt about Stugotz being absent, his lack of communication about being out and the responsibilities he had left behind. As one can imagine, the answers were not favorable for Weiner, including the audience learning he had promised co-worker, New York native and huge WFAN fan Taylor Vippolis, he could go with him the next time he filled in. Vippolis let the audience know he had asked Stugotz as recently as last week when it might be, and he was told no dates had been set.
Stugotz filled in for Esiason around this time in 2023 for two days. Shortly after working with him, Giannotti told BSM about Weiner, “He’s just so funny and understands his role perfectly. When the Le Batard show is at its most entertaining everyone is feeding off of each other, the fuel he provides the crew is essential. He has that quality about him where even if you don’t know him personally you feel like you do. A guy you want to drink and laugh with.”
WGAR’s Carletta Blake Upstages George Birge At Cleveland Area Concert.
Carletta Blake, iHeartMedia’s WGAR/Cleveland PD/midday host, got engaged this past weekend in a very public way.
Blake was called onstage at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, by George Birge during his recent number-one song, “Mind On You.” She assumed that she was there to help Birge celebrate his chart-topper.
She was surprised when her fiancé, Moses Bigler, appeared on stage to propose. She said yes. The couple has yet to pick a date.
Send her congratulations here.
Dan Dakich: FM Signal for Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 ‘Coming Soon’
Earlier this year, Dan Dakich launched a sports talk show on Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 — the competitor to his former station 93.5/107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis.
While responding to a critical message he received on X, Dakich revealed that the debut of his show wasn’t the only big news the Cumulus Media-owned station has in store.
“Coming soon, the Ticket is an FM channel which will make it explode,” Dakich wrote. “Can’t wait.”
He added that his program — which airs from Noon to 3 PM — is the “most downloaded show in Indy.” In addition to The Dan Dakich Show, the station also features a local show hosted by Jonathan Smith from 10 AM-Noon.
Dan Dakich joined the station in January after previously hosting a popular program in the same timeslot on The Fan. He departed that Radio One-owned station in December 2022 after signing a contract extension with then-owner Emmis Communications in February of that year.
Currently, the station is heard on 99.5-HD3 in the Indiana capitol. In Indianapolis, the company owns 93.9 Indy’s Rock Station (rock), 95.5 WFMS (country), 99.5 ZPL (CHR), 104.5 WJJK (classic hits), and 107.9 The Mix (AC), in addition to Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430. It would seem unlikely that the station would flip the format of an already established brand. In the latest Nielsen radio ratings, WJJK finished second in the market, while WFMS was fifth, The Mix was seventh, and WZPL was ninth. The cluster’s rock station was the lowest-rated FM signal with a 16th place showing.
The 1430 AM signal that the station is currently heard on a Class B, 5,000-watt signal.
In addition to hosting a show on the Cumulus station, Dan Dakich also hosts Don’t @ Me for digital outlet OutKick from 9-11 AM ET.
Warner Bros. Discovery Matches NBA Media Rights Package
Warner Bros. Discovery has submitted paperwork to match a media rights package to broadcast National Basketball Association games, the company announced on Monday. The company was not part of the media rights deal with The Walt Disney Company (ABC/ESPN), NBCUniversal and Amazon’s Prime Video reportedly worth $75.9 billion over 11 years to present NBA game broadcasts. Since receiving the terms of the deal last week, the company had been reviewing the offers and came to the decision to match one of them.
“We’re proud of how we have delivered for basketball fans by providing best-in-class coverage throughout our four-decade partnership with the NBA,” TNT Sports said in a statement. “In an effort to continue our long-standing partnership, during both exclusive and non-exclusive negotiation periods, we acted in good faith to present strong bids that were fair to both parties. Regrettably, the league notified us of its intention to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, leaving us to proceed under the matching rights provision, which is an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under it.”
The breadth of the matching rights provision remains relatively ambiguous, with reports of the NBA preparing lawyers for several months if such a scenario were to arise. The NBA is expected to decline the matching rights provision exercised by Warner Bros. Discovery, according to sources cited in a report from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Warner Bros. Discovery currently owns entities that have been broadcasting NBA games since 1984. The NBA on TNT property first took the air in 1989 and is the home of the heralded studio show, Inside the NBA.
“We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them,” TNT Sports said in a statement. “This will allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio shows and talent, while building on our proven 40-year commitment for many more years. Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today. We look forward to the NBA executing our new contract.”
Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported that Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to match Amazon’s 11-year, $1.8 billion annual offer. That agreement reportedly includes six conference finals, NBA playoff games, including the Play-In Tournament, and a regular-season slate of games that consists of the In-Season Tournament and Thursday night broadcasts. TNT Sports will continue broadcasting NBA games through the conclusion of next season under the terms of its existing media rights contract.
Bill Simmons of The Ringer divulged that Amazon’s bid involves paying the league $5.85 billion that would be placed in escrow and paid right away. Sources cited in the report, however, stated that Warner Bros. Discovery is covered by the letter of credit and “good for it,” which could lead to a potential lawsuit or settlement. A potential outcome could also be a fourth media rights package that allows the company to continue broadcasting NBA games. The new NBA media rights contracts will not have matching rights provisions, according to a report last week from Mike Vorkunov and Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
“We’ve received WBD’s proposal and are in the process of reviewing it,” an NBA spokesperson told Barrett Media.
Luis Silberwasser, the chief executive officer of TNT Sports, said at the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront event earlier in the year that the company looked forward to “reaching an agreement that makes sense for all the parties.” In recent months, the company has acquired broadcast rights for several sports entities, including the French Open, Big East Conference and Mountain West Conference, along with sublicensing select College Football Playoff games from ESPN. The company currently carries a $39 billion debt load and is said to have lost two-thirds of its value since the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery in April 2022. Data from Nielsen Media Research conveys that both TNT and TBS reach 66 million homes amid a diminishing pay-TV penetration rate.
“Bob & Sheri” Honor Teachers With A Trip To Florida
Now! Media’s nationally syndicated “Bob & Sheri” show recently conducted a multi-platform contest, “Teachers Trip To Florida,” sending eight grand prize-winning teachers and a guest to Margaritaville Resort in Ft. Meyers Beach, FL.
Sheri Lynch of the show said, “This was our way of recognizing and thanking teachers for the incredible work they do. Great teachers are passionate, creative, patient, and inspire students to achieve their best.”
Teachers were invited to tell their craziest teaching stories for the original content podcast, “The Oddcast,” in an upcoming special episode, “Teachers Tell All.”
Winners were from markets across the country, including California, Minnesota, Tennessee, Ohio, and North and South Carolina.
Musburger Media Buys VSiN From DraftKings
Musburger Media today announced it has purchased VSiN, The Sports Betting Network, from DraftKings. Original VSiN founders Brian Musburger and Bill Adee will lead the company moving forward.
“While a lot has changed in the sports betting industry over the past three-and-a-half years, our original vision for VSiN still holds and we are committed to delivering the most credible, independent information and analysis sports bettors can find anywhere,” said Brian Musburger in a release. “We truly appreciate the work we’ve done with DraftKings and look forward to continuing to collaborate on future projects. Bill and I couldn’t be more excited about leading VSiN into the future and cementing our position as a trusted authority in sports betting.”
With the strategy and team already in place, the network said it will “focus immediately on expanding partnerships and distribution to educate and entertain even more of the growing number of Americans betting on sports.”
“DraftKings continues to optimize its investments in content and media to align with the most critical areas and needs of our business strategy, objectives, and goals,” said Stephanie Sherman, Chief Marketing Officer, DraftKings. “We want to thank Brian, Bill, and the entire team at VSiN for a great relationship, and we look forward to continuing to advertise on the network.”
The network said its customers should expect no interruptions to programming or news coverage. In addition to its 24/7 stream, VSiN’s content is available through multiple video and audio channels including YouTube TV, a dedicated channel on iHeartRadio and TuneIn, as well as more than 300 terrestrial radio stations throughout the country.
VSiN’s current talent roster includes legendary sports broadcaster, Brent Musburger and other sports betting experts.
Ryan Hoppe’s “Hoppe Hour” Joins Podcast Radio Network
“Hoppe Hour,” Ryan Hoppe’s podcast, is joining the nationally syndicated Podcast Radio network.
Located in Tampa at Beasley Media, Hoppe has worked in the market on air, as a producer, and in production. The show was born at Chicago College Stations WHCM and WNUR.
Speaking to “RadioInsight,” Hoppe said, “I am thrilled to be featured on Podcast Radio US! We can’t wait to connect with new audiences and continue to deliver the entertainment and information that my listeners have come to love since 2012.”
Continuing, ”I believe that this expansion is just the beginning. “Hoppe Hour’s” goal is to continue growing and evolving, reaching even more listeners with my unique brand of radio. I am committed to providing high-quality content, and I’m excited about the future of Hoppe Hour on Podcast Radio US. I can’t thank Gerard Edwards, Lorra Smedley, Gary Krantz, and Mike McVay enough for this opportunity.”
The show features a mixture of Hot Talk and throwback hits.