Bubba the Love Sponge Lands at WWBA, Tampa-St. Pete. The
Genesis Communications-owned station WWBA-AM, Tampa-St. Petersburg "NewsTalk Florida" announces the
Bubba the Love Sponge morning show
will debut there on Monday (2/13). Bubba's show most recently aired in the market on
Beasley Media Group's former rock station WBRN (now AC "B98.7"). The station says it will be the new flagship for
the regionally syndicated program. WWBA program manager
Tom Paleveda says, "We are extremely excited to enter into a partnership with the Bubba the Love Sponge show. The show has an incredibly engaged audience across West Central Florida and we felt we could serve that audience exceptionally well with our distribution platform. We have assurances that Bubba will do his best to be a good boy while providing his unique brand of content." Bubba Clem is currently in a legal battle with Nielsen Audio. The ratings giant is suing him claiming it suffered damages as the result of Clem's attempts at manipulating the market's PPM survey. Clem has filed countersuits.
Nielsen Reports 2016 Revenue Up 2.2%; Net Income Down 12.5%. Ratings giant
Nielsen Holdings N.V. is releasing its financial numbers for the fourth quarter of 2016, and for the year as a whole. Nielsen reports 2016 Q4 revenue of $1.6 billion – an increase of 2% over the same period in 2015 – and revenue for all of 2016 topped $6.3 billion, up 2.2% over the year 2015. Net income for Q4 of 2016 was $160 million, down 45% from the same period in
2015. For all of 2016, net income was $507 million, down 12.5% compared to 2015. Nielsen CEO
Mitch Barns states, "While 2016 was a challenging year, our results reflect the resiliency of our business. We remain focused on our key strategic initiatives and we continue to drive productivity and efficiency in our operations. In our Watch segment, our Total Audience Measurement initiative continued to excel, and we saw significant growth in adoption of its many components by both media buyers and sellers. With the approach of the 2017 Upfronts, our Total Audience system is ready to play a key role for our clients. In our Buy segment, emerging markets continued to deliver solid growth. In developed markets, especially the U.S., trends in the fast-moving consumer goods industry put pressure on our business. In response, we've accelerated investment in our Connected System initiative, designed to drive speed and efficiency for our clients. We expect this to lead to a stronger, higher-margin business for Nielsen over time."
Jeff Sessions AG Confirmation/Sen. Warren Silenced, Trump Travel Ban Battle, Gorsuch on Trump Judge Comments, Yemen Raid Criticism, U.S.-Iran Tensions, Trump Nordstrom Criticism, and Christie Brinkley SI Cover Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (2/8). The confirmation hearings for attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions and the related rebuking of Senator Elizabeth Warren for violating senate rules against impugning a fellow senator; the court and public opinion battle over President Donald Trump's order restricting travel from seen predominantly Muslim nations; Supreme Court justice nominee Neil Gorsuch's comments about Trump's attack on Judge James Robart; the political and military fallout from the recent U.S. raid on Islamic State targets in Yemen; Iran's latest missile test, the U.S.' putting Iran "on notice," and the possibility of designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization; Trump's public criticism of Nordstrom for severing its ties with Ivanka Trump's lines; and chatter about 63-year-old Christy Brinkley's posing with her daughters in the new SI swimsuit edition, were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.
Houston Talk Host Matt Patrick In Remission and Winning His Fight Against Cancer. "News Radio 740" KTRH, Houston-based talk show host
Matt Patrick continues to show his determination to beat cancer, with 2017 off to a strong start. Patrick recently shared with his "Houston's Morning News" audience and his syndicated
afternoon program audience (KPRC, Houston and KFXR, Dallas/Ft. Worth) that the latest test results have shown that he is now in remission with no detectable cancer. In September 2015, Patrick announced that he was receiving treatment for metastatic melanoma at the world-renowned M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The 37-year radio pro underwent brain surgery in late 2015, followed by multiple rounds of chemo, immunotherapy, and radiation in 2016. Patrick has continued to work while undergoing additional treatments, including making his regular television appearances on Houston's "FOX 26 News," covering the 2016 GOP National Convention from Cleveland for
iHeartMedia, and making public appearances delivering his "Overcoming Obstacles in Life" presentation.
Does the Trump Era Present Fresh Opportunity for a New Chapter in Progressive Talk Media? The leading progressive talk radio host in America,
Thom Hartmann, is this week's guest on the award-winning
PodcastOne series "Up Close and Far Out with
Michael Harrison." They discuss how the passionate galvanization of a large segment of the American public described as the "resistance" movement (to the
Donald Trump administration) is
sparking new opportunity for the expansion of progressive talk media. Hartmann describes the "explosion" of growth being enjoyed by his multi-platform syndicated radio and television talk shows in terms of affiliates, viewers, callers and social media traffic since the election of the 45
th president. Harrison and Hartmann explore the social dynamics involved in tapping into under-served American passions erupting on all ends of the political spectrum – basically agreeing that these are extremely fertile times for news/talk radio of
all political persuasions. To listen to this not-to-be-missed conversation in its entirety, please click
here or click on the "Up Close and Far Out" player box located in the right-hand column on every page of Talkers.com.
