Radio
Cumulus Media Rejects $1.2B Acquisition Bid by Jeff Warshaw-Led Consortium
Cumulus Media has rejected an unsolicited $1.2 billion bid to buy the company and instead is offering shareholders a $50 million stock repurchase program, according to a letter to shareholders the company filed with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission in conjunction with its first-quarter financial results. In that letter from Cumulus Media president/CEO Mary Berner, the company said that its board of directors, along with financial and legal advisors, have concluded that the $15-$17 a share bid “significantly undervalues the company and is not in the best interest of it shareholders.” While the letter doesn’t reveal the identity of the bidder, Reuters, which initially broke the news about the bid on April 14, identified the suitor as a consortium of investors led by veteran radio indu...
Pepe Garza to Lead Estrella Media’s New Music Division
Estrella Media has promoted longtime radio programmer and television personality Pepe Garza to head of content development and A&R for the company’s newly established music division Estrella Media Music Entertainment (EMME). Garza will also serve as the executive producer of digital audio for the multi-platform media company. According to an official description of his new role, Garza will help lead the new division where he’ll “seek out new talent” to sign to the label and publishing arm and “help develop the next generation of Latin music stars.” Garza will also be responsible for curating new original digital audio series for Estrella’s free streaming platforms and podcasts. “Pepe has been a leading figure in the growth and support of Regional Mexican music and transformed the way f...
White Rager Rudy Giuliani Is Big Mad At Nikole Hannah-Jones For “Destroying America”
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Miami Herald / Getty On Sunday, Rudy Giuliani celebrated Easter by resurrecting his whitey rage in attacking Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and The 1619 Project, which he appears to blame for a cultural shift in America that recognizes a nation built on blood, sweat and white supremacy. “All that stuff we’ve been going through with burning the flag and kneeling during the national anthem and taking down statues of George Washington is to get us to hate our country,” Giuliani Klan-splained during the Easter broadcast on his radio show. “It’s not just meaningless or silly conduct or annoying conduct. There’s a purpose to it!” [embedded content] Related Stories That’s right, good people, silent protests against brutality and the remova...
Cumulus Media Subject of $1.2B Acquisition Bid by Jeff Warshaw-Led Consortium
A consortium of investors led by veteran radio industry executive Jeff Warshaw has made an unsolicited $1.2 billion bid to buy Cumulus Media, the radio network that owns and operates 406 radio stations, the Westwood One syndication operation and a digital radio platform. According to press reports, Warshaw’s consortium is willing to pay $15-$17 a share for Cumulus and may go even higher if due diligence of the company’s financials justifies an increased valuation. Besides Warshaw, the other members of the investor consortium haven’t been disclosed. The news was first reported by Reuters. Warshaw is the founder and CEO of Connoisseur Media, which owns and operates 13 radio stations that broadcast in Connecticut, Maryland and Long Island, according to the company’s website. In 2020, he also ...
Audacy Plans Nashville Presence With Upcoming Studio Space
Audacy is increasing its commitment to Nashville by opening a content studio in Music City, marking the Philadelphia-based radio and podcasting company’s first physical presence in town. To be located at 100 Broadway, in the three-story brick building in front of the Hard Rock Cafe (which the Hard Rock also owns), the roughly 800 square-foot studio should open by November’s CMA Awards, and further cements Audacy’s partnership with Hard Rock International. The second-floor space, which also contains an area for performances, will serve as the home for Audacy’s nationally syndicated country music radio show Katie & Company, hosted by Katie Neal, as well as other Audacy events (though larger events will be held in the Cafe’s own performance space). “I’m thrilled that we have a space in th...
Trending Up: Ed Sheeran Has Hits for All Radio Formats — Plus YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Yeat & More
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. This week: As Ed Sheeran makes multiple radio plays, YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Yeat score viral hip-hop hits, and newcomer Maddy Zahm launches an emotional new trend. Ed Sheeran = Radio Ubiquity Although Equals (=), Ed Sheeran’s fourth solo album released last October, hasn’t risen to the level of chart-topping single success that 2017’s ÷ did (two No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Shape Of You” and “Perfect”), the project’s past six months have stil...
Dave Grohl Has Been Reading Lips for 20 Years: ‘I’m F–king Deaf’
If you see Dave Grohl at a dinner party and want to talk to him, he probably can’t hear you. During his appearance on a recent episode of The Howard Stern Show, Foo Fighters frontman opened up about his hearing loss and how that impacts him both in his daily life and as a musician. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I’m a rock musician, I’m f–king deaf,” he told the shock jock while discussing his tinnitus, a condition that causes hearing loss, ringing or other noises in your ear. “I can’t hear what you’re saying.” “If you were sitting next to me right here at dinner, I wouldn’t understand a f–king word you were saying to me the whole f–king time,” the rocker admitted. “There’s no way. In a crowded restaurant – that’s the worst.” Being in a loud ...
Rosalie Trombley, Canadian Broadcast Legend and Bob Seger Muse, Dies at 82
Canadian broadcast legend Rosalie Trombley, a trailblazer for women in the music industry who was immortalized by Bob Seger in his 1973 single “Rosalie” as “everybody’s favorite little record girl,” died on Nov. 23. She was 82. Seger sang, “she knows music…she’s got the power” in his 1973 song about Trombley, who for nearly two decades served as music director of the influential top 40 station CKLW-AM/The Big 8, situated in the Canadian border city of Windsor across from Detroit. Explore Explore Bob Seger See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Rosalie was an icon, a trailblazer, and our friend,” Seger posted on Facebook upon learning of her passing. “Through her hard work and incredible instincts, she achieved a rare level of influence and power in music. Wh...
Inside Liberty Media’s Investor Meeting, Where Comedy Bits Mingled With Hard Data
Liberty Media’s annual investor meeting represents an opportunity for Chairman of the Board and legendary investor John Malone to present a ‘State of the Union’ on a portfolio that now includes roughly one-third of Live Nation, 80% satellite radio giant SiriusXM and more e-commerce, communications and entertainment companies. And along with the requisite financial information and optimistic portrayals of its portfolio companies’ futures, this year’s edition, held Nov. 18, also showcased the company’s sense of humor. Held at the Times Center, a block away from Times Square, in Manhattan, this year’s event drew a few hundred investors and analysts – fewer than usual, according to one attendee, possibly because “a lot of investors moved to Miami.” Outside the theater, atte...
iHeartRadio Will Only Play the ‘Taylor’s Version’ of Taylor Swift’s Albums
Taylor Swift isn’t the only one leaning into the Taylor’s Version era. While the singer is busy promoting the 30-track re-recorded version of her beloved Red album, the nation’s largest chain of radio stations, iHeartRadio, announced on Tuesday (Nov. 16) that fans listening to their 850 stations will only be able to hear the revamped titles on their network. Explore See latest videos, charts and news “iHeartRadio is replacing all of Taylor’s previous albums with the Taylor’s Version of each of them as Taylor releases each project, and will play only Taylor’s Version of her songs on the air,” read a story from iHeartRadio. “Whenever Taylor re-records a new track, we immediately replace the old versions. Our stations will always deliver songs that artists are eager to share an...
Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble, Pentatonix & Train to Bring Holiday Hits to iHeartRadio Christmas Concert
The Nov. 24 iHeartRadio Holiday Special celebrates the annual switch to festive music on iHeart stations nationwide, which starts tonight. It’s beginning to look (and sound!) a lot like Christmas. To celebrate the annual flip to holiday music on iHeartRadio stations nationwide — starting Friday night (Nov. 5) at 5 p.m. local time — Kelly Clarkson, Pentatonix, Michael Bublé and Train will perform Christmas classics at the second annual iHeartRadio Holiday Special later this month. Going down Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. ET and hosted by Mario Lopez, the virtual concert will be broadcast across iHeart AC, Hot AC and Classic Hits stations and on the iHeartRadio app, with a video stream on the company’s YouTube and Facebook pages. Fans can also watch the concert in VR through the ...
Tim Sweeney’s ‘Beats In Space’ Radio Show Moves to Apple Music
Both Sweeney and the guest’s DJ mixes will then be available on the Beats In Space show page, along with on-demand guest interviews. Sweeney’s debut guest is English electronic artist Planningtorock, with their mix featuring music from their 2021 EP Gay Dreams Do Come True, along with edits they’ve done for Romy and Lady Gaga and favorite tracks by Jimmy Somerville, Arca and more. Influenced by the UK’s pirate radio culture, Sweeney began Beats in Space in 1999 while a student at NYU, with his program giving a platform to the then almost entirely underground world of techno, house, ambient and more. He’s done more than 1,000 episodes of Beats In Space since the show’s launch, with guests throughout the years including stars like Gerd Janson, Carl Cra...
