9-30-14
Zac Davis is leaving G105 in Raleigh, N.C. to become the new operations manager for iHeartmedia in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Davis will also program and host mornings on WGTR 107.9 The Gator. As ops manager, Davis will oversee all five iHeartMedia Myrtle Beach stations. Davis was PD and afternoon host at G105 in Raleigh, which is also owned by iHeartMedia.
7-25-13
This closes the loop at WILD 95.5 where Kevin Rolston, Virginia Sinicki, and Jason Pennington are leaving mornings to join Cox in Miami. The Elvis Duran Morning Show adds Clear Channel's WLDI-FM in West Palm Beach to its 70 plus affiliates. He also picks up WOW 92.7 in Key West.
4-25-13
When Cumulus' WSEA-FM ?Sports Radio ? The Team? dumped ESPN Radio to take on the new CBS Sports Radio network, that left ESPN without an affiliate in Myrtle Beach. Until yesterday. NextMedia's WRNN-AM has become the new affiliate. Mike and Mike -- who are on the cover of the next issue of Radio Ink -- make an annual trip to Myrtle Beach to play in a celebrity golf tournament. They also broadcast their show from the market.
12-21-12
After a 45 year broadcast career, 31 of which were spent with the Associated press, Ed Tobias is retiring. Tobias says he's moving to his beach condo where he plans to become a full-time beach bum. Tobias covered more than fifteen space shuttle launches, the 1984, 1988 and 1992, 1996 and 2000 political conventions and Soviet-American summits in Reykjavik, Iceland; Valletta, Malta; Moscow, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. Before joining AP, Tobias was News Director at WTOP in Washington, D.C. We turned the table on Tobias and asked him a few questions.
What are your thoughts on the state of news coverage today compared to when you started?
When I got my first full-time radio job, at WFAS in White Plains in 1970, radio was local. At 99% of the stations the programming and, especially, the news was community-based. It was a win-win for the stations and the community. The best of today's stations are still that way, but the vast majority are homogenized. You can drive from town to town and not hear a lot of difference in the programming.
The news, if there is any, is usually no more than headlines. When I was at WASH our combination of music, news and community involvement (on what was, in 1973, supposed to be the "music band"), brought in great numbers. I think that formula can still work today.
What are your thoughts about the place you once worked, WTOP?
It's a great station, with the combination of news and community involvement that I just talked about. And, it's more than a station....it's a true multimedia information source. I mean...radio reporters out shooting video and stills (for the web site)??? TOP and Jim Farley have been on the cutting edge of this. I'm glad that I spent a short time there, and while there hired Jamie Gangel, (who quickly went to NBC), Bob Marbourg, among others.
What story did you enjoy covering the most?
I covered, or produced coverage of, about a dozen space shuttle launches, plus a handful of landings. From an enjoyment standpoint, that was tops. I've also been fortunate to have met a lot of interesting people and traveled to a lot of interesting places over the years.
Worst story you ever covered?
I was running the desk at AP's Broadcast News Center, watched the Challenger explode (on a video feed) and ordered the FLASH on the Broadcast Wire that reported: "NASA says the shuttle has exploded." Watching the faces, and hearing the gasps and moans, from Christa McAuliffe parents and students hit me right in the gut.
Congratulate Tobias on a great broadcast career at edtobias@comcast.net
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4-10-2012
Nothing makes an employee feel more relaxed about the stability of ownership more than when the company doles out millions of dollars to build a new facility, right? Well, maybe not. Just weeks ago, the CBS management in West Palm Beach held a party to show off its newly constructed facilities (see pictures below). Yesterday, CBS announced the entire cluster will be sold to Dean Goodman, the owner of WRMF-FM in West Palm, for $50 million. Goodman also owns 27 stations in Iowa and Missouri under the name GoodRadioTV.
CBS says selling off the West Palm Beach cluster solidifies its game plan to stay focused on major markets. West Palm Beach is the number 48 market, according to Arbitron. CBS has previously sold off radio stations in Portland, Ore. (market No. 23) and Denver (market No. 20). CBS has owned the West Palm Beach market for over a decade. WEAT and WIRK were acquired in 1998. WPBZ and WMBX in 2000 and WHFS in 2001.
Senior Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker was quick to salute the deal. "We believe the sale price
represents a low double-digit multiple. Per our estimates using BIA data, we believe that the multiple on this deal was in the low double digits, which is higher than recent transactions to date (which have been between 8-9x). We believe that this was a sale of opportunity and is consistent with CBS' strategy of paring its smaller market stations in order to focus on large markets. We believe this is a tax-efficient move. Recall that CBS recently bought WLNY, a TV station in Long Island, for $55 million. We believe that, should the closing of today's radio station divestiture happen relatively quickly, these two transactions could offset, resulting in favorable tax efficiencies. Bottom line: We view this sale as a smart strategic and financial move - and shows CBS Radio's ability to monetize its valuable assets. We do not expect significant M&A going forward but would not count out other opportunistic divestitures. We reiterate our Outperform rating."
Here are a few shots of the recently built 
CBS facilities in West Palm Beach.
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CBS Unveils New Facilities in West Palm Beach
CBS Radio in West Palm Beach unveiled brand new facilities last night to the West Palm community in a ribbon cutting ceremony. CBS Executive Vice President of operations Scott Herman is seen here with the Mayor of West Palm Beach Florida Jeri Muoio to his left. The event included a tour of the facility, live entertainment and a tour of the brand new broadcast facility in West Palm.
(2/10/2012 2:05:20 PM)
Also pictured is Brian Lang, the newly promoted CBS West Palm market manager- congratulations to Brian, formerly VP/ Director of Sales for the WPB stations. It was a great party and thanks for inviting Radio INK.
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