January 2020
Governor Whitmer State of State Broadcast Information
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has announced that she will deliver her second State of the State address on Wednesday, January 29. As in the past, The MAB will offer feeds for both TV and radio of the address beginning at 7 p.m. TV: The MAB TV feed will be unhosted, allowing your anchors to introduce and…
Read MorePIRATE Act Passes Senate, and Now on to the President for Signature – Provides for Big Fines and Enforcement Sweeps in Big Markets
By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP The PIRATE Act, to crack down on pirate radio, passed the Senate last week after having passed in the House of Representatives last year. It now goes to the President for signature. We’ve written about this legislation several times before (see for instance, our articles here and here). In…
Read MoreMichigan ABIP Program Field Notes: 2019 Inspections
By: Mark Croom, Riverfront Communications, LLC It’s been a privilege to visit broadcast facilities around the state as the Alternate Broadcast Inspection Program representative for the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for the past two calendar years. It’s always interesting to see what kind of shape I’ll find stations in from the compliance standpoint. Here are…
Read MoreNAB Announces Executive Changes
NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith announced (1/16) that NAB Chief Operating Officer Chris Ornelas will be departing the organization February 1 to become general counsel for Beasley Media Group, where he will oversee all legal matters for the multiplatform media company, including its 64 radio stations. Ornelas will be replaced by Curtis LeGeyt, NAB’s…
Read MoreWNMU-TV Unveils New Sports Broadcasting Equipment
WNMU-TV (Marquette), in partnership with Northern Michigan University Athletics, is setting up new production equipment for producing NMU sports telecasts. Equipment highlights include Sony broadcast cameras with 72-power Canon zoom optics and Ross video switching with multi-view monitoring along with a host of other production enhancements. Not only will this new equipment enhance viewers’ experience with…
Read MoreiHeartMedia Promotes Detroit’s Tony Travatto
Tony Travatto, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Detroit and PD of WKQI-FM and WNIC-FM has been promoted to a Division Executive Vice President of Programming for the iHeartMedia National Programming Group. The announcement was made January 16. Travatto is one of three promoted to the position in the National Programming Group. Joining him…
Read MoreGnau Returns to Michigan
iHeartMedia announced on January 15, that nine of its senior executives will be Division Presidents of the new iHeartMedia Markets Group organization, effective immediately. These executives – Shosh Abromovich, Linda Byrd, Tony Coles, Julie Donohue, Nick Gnau, Scott Hopeck, Dan Lankford, Kevin LeGrett and Tom McConnell – will report into Greg Ashlock, President of the…
Read MoreWOOD-TV Announces Return of Michele DeSelms
WOOD-TV (Grand Rapids has announced the return of Michele DeSelms to West Michigan. DeSelms will become the Community Strategy Manager at the station. The role includes the Connecting with Community brand and partnerships, as well as non-profit alliances and community outreach projects. DeSelms will help shape the future of the community engagement opportunities with coverage…
Read MoreWKAR to Host PBS Kids Day
WKAR Public Media (East Lansing) will host another “PBS Kids Day” at their MSU Campus studios on Saturday, January 25. The day gives viewers a chance to look behind the scenes at the station and will feature fun activities and games for kids. The free event will feature lots of fun, hands-on activities from community…
Read MoreWDMK/Detroit Debuts The Rickey Smiley Show
Beasley Media Group has announced that the syndicated The Rickey Smiley Morning Show can now be heard on the air weekday mornings on the company’s WDMK-FM (Detroit-105.9 KISS FM). The show officially launched on January 6. The show is quick-paced and anchored by one of the nation’s most popular comedians. Entertaining a wide variety of…
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