RadioInsight

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KQED and PRI Launch 'Truth Be Told' Podcast

Posted: 09 Jun 2016 11:40 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...-told-podcast/



Northern California Public Broadcastings 88.5 KQED-FM San Francisco and
Public Radio International are bringing the stations Truth Be Told series
to podcasting via a ten episode series hosted by KQEDs Joshua Johnson.

The press release from KQED:

KQED and Public Radio International announced the launch of the Truth Be
Told podcast, drawn from the popular radio program about everyday social
interactions in America — viewed through the lens of race, culture and
ethnicity.

Hosted by KQED’s Joshua Johnson, Truth Be Told delves deeply into culture,
identity and connection with audience members and guests who share personal
stories of when interactions involving race or culture went wrong.

Truth Be Told doesn’t sanitize the issues or use euphemisms. Instead, the
show embraces (with empathy) the difficulty and awkwardness that often
arises in candid conversations. Notes Johnson, “Truth Be Told lets people
of diverse backgrounds speak in their own voices rather than being spoken
for. We drive the conversation toward solutions instead of fixating on
problems. And we look for more than just controversy. There’s more to race
than racism, and some of our stories are beautiful, fascinating,
awkward . . . even funny!�

Creating a space for civil discourse around race, racism and negotiating
differences has never been more important, adds Melinda Ward, chief content
officer at PRI. As an organization committed to featuring diverse
perspectives that help us better understand the world, PRI is thrilled to
work with Truth Be Told as it convenes critical conversations about our
shared humanity.

The ten-episode podcast series includes discussions about race in the
workplace, white privilege, blended families and the challenges of living
in a multicultural community.

Truth Be Told episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and
NPR One.



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iHeartRadio & WeWork Partner On Streaming & Podcasts

Posted: 09 Jun 2016 11:32 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...ming-podcasts/



iHeartMedia and co-working office space WeWork are partnering on multiple
digital initiatives.

The companies will launch Work Radio featuring music and talk content to be
played at WeWorks 90+ locations and a radio studio at the companys New York
headquarters to allow the companies to add live content. They will also
launch 3 channels on iHeartRadio and a podcast series.

Today iHeartMedia and WeWork announced a groundbreaking partnership to help
entrepreneurs nationwide to create their life’s work. The innovative audio
programming collaboration will provide WeWork members with access to
leading audio tools and resources to grow their companies, including:

Work Radio: A live station featuring music and exclusive talk content.
This will be broadcast into all of WeWork’s 90+ locations for its 60K+
members and iHeartRadio’s 85M+ registered users.

Work Radio Studio: Built into WeWork’s Chelsea HQ, this digital studio has
the ability to livestream interviews, concerts, events and performances
directly to Work Radio, making it the first-ever digital station able to
interchange programmed content with live-streaming content.

Original Podcast Series: Co-produced by iHeartMedia and WeWork, the series
will feature the biggest names in business sharing their unique stories and
moments of truth to help inspire the WeWork audience and their
entrepreneurial pursuits.

iHeartRadio Original Stations: Three new iHeartRadio Original stations
custom curated for WeWork members, featuring music 24/7, will be available
under a special “Perfect For Work� category through the iHeartRadio
platform.




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Ross On RadioInsight: From Kelly To Justin, And Gwen

Posted: 09 Jun 2016 10:30 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/blogs/...stin-and-gwen/


Are The Acts Who Saved Top 40 Getting A Fair Shot?

In the early ‘00s, when Mainstream Top 40 was waiting out its last format
doldrums, upstaged by Hip-Hop and Linkin Park, any act with a legitimate
uptempo pop hit could grab the format spotlight pretty quickly. It was a
big deal if more than one of these artists had hits simultaneouslyCHR lived
from hit to hit, the indigent friend trying to figure out whose couch or
cash they hadn’t tapped out yet.

There was Kelly Clarkson, reluctantly acknowledged for “A Moment Like
This,� but embraced for “Miss Independent.� And when Clarkson returned on
the next project with “Since U Been Gone,� she supplied not just a steady
flow of hits, but a format turning point.

There was Justin Timberlake, defying expectations with one surprisingly
strong single after another, until there was “Rock Your Body.�

There was Pink, emerging from an early ‘00s field of Destiny’s Child
sound-alikes with multiple legitimate hits—“Get The Party Started,� “Don’t
Let Me Get Me,� “Just Like A Pill�—but quickly running into “Trouble� on
her follow-up project.

There was Gwen Stefani, who also opened her first solo album with an
off-putting single, “What You Waiting For.� But next came “Rich Girl� and
“Hollaback Girl.� And at a time when Clarkson’s hits were also exploding in
2005, CHR finally seemed to have enough anchor stores for a mall. For
better or worse, those were also the songs where CHR became an exporter,
not an importer, of hits—creating its own poppified R&B and hip-hop.

All of those breakthrough moments are more than a decade ago now, but all
those artists are still releasing product to mainstream top 40 today. And
the very different receptions they get are telling.

Clarkson’s “Heartbeat Song� prompted noticeably more enthusiasm from Adult
Top 40 than Mainstream CHR. At the time, I commented that it was odd to see
an artist who’d played such a key role in CHR’s resurgence not getting even
the initial benefit of the doubt.

I wondered if that day was coming for Pink, earlier this year when “Today’s
The Day� surfaced and was acknowledged, only fleetingly and only by Hot AC.
But that song wasn’t a true referendum. “Just Like Fire� was, and at this
writing, it is about to crack the top 15 and is just inside the top 10
fastest-growing songs. Its true potential is unknown thus far, but CHR is
still giving Pink the chance to have a hit.

Then there was Stefani’s solo project. It began with a single that didn’t
make the album (“Baby Don’t Lie�) followed by another song (“Spark the
Fire�) that was never fully worked. When “This Is What The Truth Feels
Like� finally surfaced, “Used to Love You� and “Make Me Like You� clawed
their way to No. 20 and 23 respectively at Mainstream CHR. The third
single, “Misery,� is going to Hot AC only for now.

What was interesting about Stefani’s project is the animosity it seemed to
engender from some PDs and rival label people. It sometimes seemed as if
the industry was annoyed at Stefani for even expecting to have hits at this
point in her career. Stefani is more than a decade younger, but it wasn’t
unlike the derision Madonna generates for even releasing new product these
days.

Any artist with a decade of hits faces two challenges at CHR. One is losing
the groove—no longer being able to make contemporary sounding records.
That’s easier to avoid in today’s producer-driven world, but producers can
lose the groove too. The other is when radio’s resistance has solidified to
the point where it wouldn’t matter if you walked in to radio with “Uptown
Funk� or “Happy�or “Can’t Stop the Feeling.� Madonna, famous for years for
not losing the groove, has long reached that point.

I thought Justin Timberlake might be losing the groove. After redefining
what hit music sounded like with “SexyBack,� he came back from a long
hiatus more concerned with showing his maturity, or so it seemed. His one
true recent hit, “Mirrors,� was a ballad. And while “Can’t Stop the
Feeling� is more immediate, more calculated, and far more crowd-pleasing
than “Take Back The Night,� it is still retro-flavored R&B, not a change in
musical direction.

In his excellent analysis of “Can’t Stop the Feeling,� Chris Molanphy
suggests that Timberlake knew the clock was running on his hitmaking
career. But “Can’t Stop the Feeling� was a confirmed hit upon impact.
Timberlake was never anywhere near the place where he wasn’t one hit away
from renewed prominence, or where anybody would have begrudged him even
trying.

So if Kelly, Gwen and Madonna face resistance, and Justin can strut back in
with the leading Song of Summer 2016 candidate, is there gender bias? The
answer is confounded because he did have “Can’t Stop the Feeling� and they
didn’t. I will only say that the only male artist who I’ve ever heard
generate the same “give it up already� type comments is Mick Jagger, and he
was well into his 60s by that point.

Top 40 is in an unusual place now, not generating the enthusiasm it did a
few years ago, but still at the top of the format heap, challenged only by
country (which has its own issues). Top 40 needs hits these days, but it
won’t always put in the work to find or nurture them. Both Clarkson (“Piece
by Piece�) and Timberlake (“Drink You Away�) had potential TV-driven event
records, but neither was fully accepted by CHR.

“Make Me Like You� was uptempo pop of the sort that No Doubt and Stefani
reliably supplied in the decade or so between “Just A Girl� and “The Sweet
Escape.� It could have filled the need for tempo and pop balance in today’s
format. Clearly, it wasn’t the record that could blow a hole in top 40’s
resistance. That will have to be the 2017 equivalent of “Hollaback Girl.�
(If you’re interested, the cut on “Truth� that best captures that song’s
audacity is “Red Flag.�)

Top 40 needs hits again. I still believe that its Class of ’03 artists are
capable of supplying hits, and one hopes the format won’t be resistant for
the wrong reasons. This is a format whose comeback has been built on the
surprise acceptance of 35-to-44-year-old women, and they would probably be
displeased to see an artist viewed with indifference or derision for being
the same age as they are. No act is entitled to a hit song if they don’t
have one, but genuine consideration is something else, if only in gratitude
for all those nights spent crashing on their sofa.



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WWHP Flips To Classic Rock

Posted: 09 Jun 2016 08:33 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...-classic-rock/



After just six months as Conservative Talk, Smash Hit Medias 98.3 WWHP
Farmer City/Bloomington IL has flipped to Classic Rock 98.3.

WWHP had dropped its previous Classic Hits programming for a Talk lineup
led by former Cities 92.9 WRPW morning host Ian Bayne in mornings and
Breitbart editor Mike Flynn in afternoons in November 2015. Bayne released
a vague statement to his InsideBloomington.com stating:

We currently have staff writers handling news as it develops and we will be
welcoming and encouraging members of the community to participate in the
process of developing news stories should that need present itself.�

“I am not prepared to discuss my departure from Newstalk 98.3 except to say
that it is not due to what is being generally speculated. I hope that my
listeners will stay in touch by visiting InsideBloomington.com.�

WWHP had also been carrying the syndicated Dana Loesch, Joe Pags, and Lars
Larson as part of their programming.



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May 2016 (4/21-5/18) Nielsen Audio PPM Ratings Day 2

Posted: 08 Jun 2016 02:02 PM PDT
http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=...e=75862 030d3