Infinite Dial 2017

Friday, March 10, 2017 Mar 10th 2017, 13:39, by TALKERS Infinite Dial 2017.  For the 19th consecutive year, Edison Research, in conjunction with Triton Digital, has been researching the use of media and technology by consumers and presenting it as the Infinite Dial study.  The data for 2017 has just been released and media consultant Holland Cooke offers his quick summary of this year's study.  Obviously, the growth of the use of the smartphone – which didn't exist when the annual study began in 1998 – has greatly changed the way consumers use media.  The development of the smart speaker/home assistant – think Google Home or Amazon Echo – offers another technological avenue by which consumers can access media.  Ownership of these devices (among those 12+) is at just 7%, but awareness of the product is 63%.  See Cooke's entire summary here. TALKERS News Notes. This year's March Madness is being aired on SiriusXM – with the help of Westwood One, the exclusive radio rights holder for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.  In addition to the play-by-play content from the First Four on March 14 and 15 through the Final Four and national championship game in Phoenix on April 1 and 3, analysis and coverage will happen on the SiriusXM College Sports Nation channel…..It's been a while since Bonneville International aired sports talk on KMVP-AM, Phoenix – it programs sports content on KMVP-FM "Arizona Sports 98.7" – but now the station that's been brokered for the last several years is being sold to Spanish-language operator Farmworker Educational Radio Network, Inc.  Kalil & Co. is the exclusive broker…..Cumulus Nashville is presenting cluster-wide promotion called Sports Fest Saturday, April 15 at Nissan Stadium (home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans).  Cumulus says listeners and their families can take part in numerous activities, including visiting with representatives from sports teams around Middle Tennessee, playing catch on the field, listening to interesting speakers and joining the Easter Egg Hunt. 2017 TALKERS Heavy Hundred of Sports Talk to Be Published on Monday. The fifth annual ranking of the 100 Most Important Sports Talk Radio Hosts in America will be published by TALKERS magazine on Monday (3/13). This annual list is compiled and ranked by the editors of TALKERS magazine – with input from industry leaders. As with our publication's "sister list," the 100 Most Important Talk Radio Hosts in America, the criteria are a number of hard factors – including ratings and revenue – as well as such soft factors as talent, recognition, impact, service and more. Executive editor Kevin Casey states, "This annual ranking of the most important sports talk radio hosts is one of the most difficult – but enjoyable – projects we undertake at TALKERS. The reason for that is the partially subjective nature of the criteria combined with the enormous number of talented and successful sports talk hosts working in America. Paring that pool of talent down to 100 is no easy task!" Casey also notes that TALKERS will be publishing the 2017 Heavy Hundred of News/Talk Radio in April. If You Missed Wednesday's TALKERS-PerfectYourPodcast.com Master Class Podcasting Webinar, View/Listen in for Free. On Wednesday, TALKERS magazine and PerfectYourPodcast presented a free master class webinar for radio professionals. It's titled, "How to Launch and Grow a Successful Podcast." PerfectYourPodcast.com was founded by well-known broadcaster Mike Carruthers, host and creator of the long-running, successful syndicated radio series, "Something You Should Know" (now also a top iTunes-charted podcast), who conducted the webinar. It was designed for the professional radio broadcaster who is serious about profiting from podcasting. If you missed it, you can view/listen in on a recording of the webinar through 3:00 pm ET today by clicking here. The Overhaul of ObamaCare Top News/Talk Story for Week of March 6-10.  The Trump Administration's and the GOP's move to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act was the most-talked-about story on news/talk radio this week, landing atop the Talkers TenTM.  At #2 this week was President Trump's accusation that President Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower during the campaign.  Coming in at #3 was WikiLeaks' recent document dump that contained hacking techniques used by the CIA, followed by the Trump Administration's immigration-deportation policies and the related reports that illegal border crossings are down 40% at #4.  The Talkers TenTM is a weekly chart of the top stories and people discussed on news/talk radio during the week and is the result of ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.  It is published every Friday at Talkers.com.  View this week's entire chart here.

Townsquare Media Announces Q4 2016 Net Revenue Up 5.8%

Monday, March 13, 2017 Mar 13th 2017, 12:38, by TALKERS Townsquare Media Announces Q4 2016 Net Revenue Up 5.8%; Up 3% for 2016 on Pro Forma Basis.  Those numbers are for the company as a whole.  Townsquare Media breaks its quarterly financial reports into two segments: Local Marketing Solutions (including broadcast and digital products) and Entertainment (live event experiences and music and lifestyle content directly to consumers, and promotion, advertising and product activations).  For the fourth quarter of 2016, Townsquare Media reports the Local Marketing Solutions segment's net revenue was $119.5 million – an increase of 5.1% on an actual basis.  For all of 2016 on a pro forma basis (pro forma for the acquisition of NAME and the divestiture of 43 of its towers on September 1, 201), the segment's net revenue was $342.2 million – also up 5.1%.  For the company as a whole, 2016 pro forma net revenue was $516.9 million, an increase of 3% over all of 2015.  Townsquare chairman and CEO Steven Price adds, "In 2016, we delivered net revenue, net income and Adjusted EBITDA growth of 17%, 127% and 9%, respectively.  On a pro forma basis, net revenue growth of 3.0% was driven by the strong performance of our local products and offerings within our Local Marketing Solutions segment, where pro forma net revenue increased 5.1% over the prior year.  This year we focused on strengthening our balance sheet; through EBITDA growth and debt repayment we reduced net leverage from 5.5x at the start of the year, to 4.9x at year end." 2017 TALKERS Heavy Hundred of Sports Talk to Be Published Today at 2:00 pm ET.. The fifth annual ranking of the 100 Most Important Sports Talk Radio Hosts in America will be published by TALKERS magazine today (3/13) at 2:00 pm ET. This annual list is compiled and ranked by the editors of TALKERS magazine – with input from industry leaders. As with our publication's "sister list," the 100 Most Important Talk Radio Hosts in America, the criteria are a number of hard factors – including ratings and revenue – as well as such soft factors as talent, recognition, impact, service and more. Executive editor Kevin Casey states, "This annual ranking of the most important sports talk radio hosts is one of the most difficult – but enjoyable – projects we undertake at TALKERS. The reason for that is the partially subjective nature of the criteria combined with the enormous number of talented and successful sports talk hosts working in America. Paring that pool of talent down to 100 is no easy task!" Casey also notes that TALKERS will be publishing the 2017 Heavy Hundred of News/Talk Radio in April. Trump's Obama Wiretapping Accusations, Trumps Fires Preet Bharara, GOP Health Care Plan, the "Deep State" concept, Trump-Russia Connection, North Korea Threats, NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Among Top News/Talk Stories Over the Weekend.  President Donald Trump's accusation the Obama Administration order the wiretapping of Trump Tower; President Trump fires U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara after Bharara refused to resign in accordance with the administration's request that he and 45 other U.S. Attorneys do so; questions about what the GOP-engineered replacement of the Affordable Care Act will entail; talk about the existence of a "Deep State" that operates the government behind the scenes; Democrats' wishes to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the possible connection between Russian agents and the Trump campaign; the growing nuclear missile capabilities of North Korea; and the Sunday afternoon revelation of the teams making the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio over the weekend, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.