Industry News

TALKERS News Notes

Salem Acquires Jim Fink Investing. Salem Media Group is acquiring Jim Fink’s suite of investment advisory products, including “Seasonal Stock Alert,” “Options for Income,” “Velocity Trader,” and “Inner Circle.” Salem is launching a dedicated online platform for Fink’s services at JimFinkInvesting.com. Roger Michalski is VP and publisher of Salem’s Eagle Financial Publications and he says, “Jim brings a unique depth of expertise in option spreads and seasonal trading strategies that perfectly complements Eagle’s existing offerings. We are excited to welcome Jim and his colleague Derek Myers to our growing team and to offer their proven insights to our subscribers.”

New Adds for “Amazing Americans.” Kate Delaney’s Talk Media Network syndicated weekend show “Amazing Americans” adds new affiliates as KLIS, St. Louis; WORD-FM, Daytona, and KBNP Portland add the show to their program schedules.

Rob Carson Back in DC. Newsmax talk host Rob Carson reveals that he has relocated to the Washington, DC area after 10 years in Kansas City. Carson says that he has built a studio in Alexandria, Virginia with the assistance and generosity of WGMD owner, Mark Guiliani. He adds that he decided to make the move to be “closer to the action” in DC.

Industry News

TALKERS News Notes

WCBM Adds Ted Cruz Podcast. The Baltimore news/talk station adds Premiere Networks’ podcast starring Ted Cruzand Ben Ferguson. Station PD Sean Casey says, “Talk Radio 680 WCBM is thrilled to add Senator Cruz and Verdict to our weekend lineup. We feel it’s important to feature strong conservative voices like Senator Cruz and Ben Ferguson during this crucial time. I’m confident our listeners will look forward to hearing ‘Verdict with Ted Cruz’ every Sunday night.”

America Tonight Adds Affiliate. The nationally syndicated “America Tonight” program starring Kate Delaney adds new affiliate WVLK, Lexington, Kentucky “Newstalk 590 and 97.3 FM.”

Juju Chang to Host Gracies Luncheon. The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation announce that ABC News “Nightline” co-anchor Juju Chang is hosting the 50th Annual Gracie Awards Luncheon in New York City on Wednesday, June 18 at Cipriani 42nd Street. The Luncheon will also feature presenters including Arielle Chambers (ESPN), Boomer Esiason (WFAN), Medha Gandhi (iHeartMedia), Erica Hill (CNN), and Vicky Nguyen (NBC News).

WWO Presents College World Series. Cumulus Media’s Westwood One is the official network audio broadcast partner of the NCAA, and in conjunction with the NCAA Radio Network, will be home to the NCAA Division I Men’s College World Series Championship Finals, live from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska beginning June 21. Kevin Kugler will call all the action and will be joined in the booth by Scott Graham and field reporter Connor Happer.

Industry News

TALKERS News Notes

New Affiliates for “America Tonight.” The nationally syndicated show “America Tonight” starring Kate Delaney adds two new affiliate stations as WORD, Daytona Beach and KLIS, St. Louis both add the program to their lineups. Delaney tells TALKERS magazine that she is celebrating 16 years of hosting “America Tonight.”

Townsquare Officers to Present at Investor Conferences. Townsquare Media’s CEO Bill Wilson, CFO Stuart Rosenstein, and EVP investor relations Claire Yenicay are participating in two upcoming investor conferences – the Barrington Research Virtual Spring Investment Conference on May 29 and the Noble Capital Markets’ Virtual Investor Conference on June 4.

Saga Declares Dividend. Saga Communications’ board of directors is declaring a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share to be paid on June 27, 2025, to shareholders of record on June 6, 2025. The aggregate amount of the payment to be made in connection with the quarterly dividend will be approximately $1.6 million. The quarterly dividend will be funded by cash on the company’s balance sheet. Including this dividend, the company will have paid over $138 million in dividends to shareholders since the first special dividend was paid in 2012.

Industry News

Ongoing Coverage of TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond

The 27th annual installment of the talk media industry’s longest running, and most important national event took place on Friday, June 7 at Hofstra University on Long Island. TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond was an advance sellout. The power-packed, one-day agenda featured a roster of more than 60 speakers from all ends of the talk radio and related talk media industries including talent, station owners, CEOs, programmers, technical experts, journalists, syndicators, and a wide variety of visionaries. The annual talk media industry tradition was presented by TALKERS in association with the prestigious university’s multi-award-winning station WRHU Radio and Hofstra’s Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. Key discussions included “Gaining Traction in a Noisy World,” “The Case for AM Radio,” “Generating News/Talk Revenue in the Digital Era,” “The State of Sports Talk Radio,” “The Brave New World of Technological and Generational Change,” “Programming News/Talk Radio,” “Perspectives on Hosting Television Talk,” “Philanthropy and Community Service,” “The Art of Story Telling,” “Talk Radio Programming Opportunities Beyond Politics,” “Meeting the Challenges of Being a Talk Talent,” “The Big Picture of Radio’s Role in a Rapidly Changing World,” and “The State of the First Amendment” among others. As the volumes of data generated by this gathering are sorted out, TALKERS will provide in-depth, detailed coverage of the conference in the days and weeks ahead including posting videos of its key segments.  See a selection of photos from TALKERS 2024 Radio and Beyond below.

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Salem Radio Networks star Mike Gallagher gives the TALKERS camera a big thumbs up from the halls of Hofstra University’s Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. In addition to broadcasting his show that day from the state-of-the-art studios of the university’s acclaimed WRHU, Gallagher participated in the TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond “Great Debate” representing the conservative viewpoint in a refreshingly civil exchange with progressive host Thom Hartmann.

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WABC, New York/Red Apple Audio Network star Frank Morano (standing); WDUN, Gainesville, GA midday force Martha Zoller (seated r); and WBT, Charlotte afternoon drive personality Brett Winterble (seated l) are pictured during an informal moment at TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond.

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Noelle Huizenga, VP public policy/communications, National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) was among the attendees at TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond.

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Nationally syndicated Talk Media Network (TMN) radio personality Kate Delaney (l) captured a cozy selfie with (l-r) Ryan McCormickMichael Harrison, and Mark Goldman at TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond. Goldman and McCormick are the managing partners of Goldman McCormick Public Relations.

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John Sardelis (l) is pictured at TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond with Westwood One affiliate sales manager, Laura Martinez.  

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Broadcasters General Store (BGS) marketing executive Buck Waters attended TALKERS 2024: Radio and Beyond dispensing sage advice about the latest equipment and technology available to conference registrants. Waters, along with BGS tech wizard David Antoine, provided oversight to the process of video recording the sessions at the event which will soon be posted here and on YouTube.

Industry News

“America Tonight” Now Syndicated by Talk Media Network

The long-running nightly news and interview-driven program “America Tonight with Kate Delaney” is now being syndicated by Talk Media Network and the Wegener show feed continues to be delivered 12:00 midnight to 2:00 am ET. Talk Media Network founder and CEO Josh Leng says, “Kate is anim award-winning and barrier-breaking broadcast professional who has built her brand and ‘America Tonight’ show to be trusted and respected. Kate’s been a dependable weeknight talk host for 15 years. Her affiliates know her as a super-serving talent who goes the extra mile for them. Listeners know ‘America Tonight with Kate Delaney’ as an entertaining show to stay ‘in the know.’” Delaney adds, “I look forward to expanding and growing the show with the talented professionals at TMN. I’m passionate about talk radio and its ability to bring people together to inform, entertain and surprise listeners.” Stations interested in the program can reach out to Willis Damalt.

Industry News

TALKERS News Notes

Cumulus Media Inc. will report its fourth quarter 2022 and full-year operating results at 8:00 am ET on February 23. It will host a conference call at 8:30 am ET that day.

The nationally syndicated “America Tonight with Kate Delaney” adds Alpha Media’s WJNT-AM/W245AH, Jackson, Mississippi to its program schedule in the 1:00 pm to 12:00 midnight slot; and Ingstad Brothers Broadcasting’s KNUJ-AM/K247CU, New Ulm, Minnesota delayed to the 5:00 – 5:30 am slot.

SiriusXM adds “The Business Briefing” program hosted by Janet Alvarez to the program schedule on the Business Radio channel airing weekdays live at 9:00 am ET. Alvarez is the executive editor at WiseBread, and is a CNBC and Telemundo contributor.