Industry News

There’s a nice mix of returning advertisers and big brands that are revving up their back-to-school ad campaigns at spot television.

It’s good news for broadcast TV, as soccer attracts viewers to FOX, and the Olympics dominate the NBC and Telemundo schedules.

Among the brands making big moves this week: Walmart.

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The Lakeland-Winter Haven-Auburndale area of Central Florida continues to grow, and given its locale between Tampa and Orlando, there are few local media choices.

Among them are AM radio stations licensed to WALCO Enterprises, led by Ferris Waller.

Add another property to that kHz-band mix of properties in Waller’s stable.

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An Abilene, Tex., operator has agreed to acquire the assets of a Class C3 FM serving the Lubbock, Tex., market with a unique Texas-flavored “Red Dirt Country” presentation.

The deal, which awaits FCC approval, brings an end to ownership of a company that in April voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Rather than emerge, its lone asset — the FM — was auctioned off.

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She served as the General Sales Manager of pioneering Sports Talker WFAN in New York from January 2006 until August 2014 and, from October 2000 through the end of 2005, was VP/GM of Univision three radio stations serving the market.

Her resume also includes a role as GSM of WAXQ-FM “Q104.3” in New York.

Now, this radio industry veteran is spending the next 15 months in federal prison for using a credit card designated for business expenses for personal use exceeding $300,000 in payments.

Stephanie McNamara Bitis on Friday was sentenced to 15 months in a federal prison facility and has been ordered to pay $302,585.01 in restitution for using a credit card associated with her former role at Long Island Radio Broadcasting in order to pay for various personal expenses.

According to court documents, they include expenses tied to a boat used by her and her family, and for a trip to the Caribbean.

As reported by Newsday, Bitis tearfully apologized for her actions conducted while GM of Top 40 WBEA-FM 101.7, Adult Contemporary WBAZ-FM 102.5 and heritage Adult Alternative WEHM-FM at 92.9 and 96.9 MHz, which serve the Riverhead-Sag Harbor portion of the Nassau-Suffolk region of New York, or Long Island.

The sentencing of Bitis by United States District Judge Gary Brown, following her guilty plea to “felony access device fraud” in November 2020, includes one year of supervised release.

The sentencing hearing was originally scheduled for March 26 but was pushed back to work out restitution.

Bitis ran the Long Island Radio Broadcasting stations from 2015 to 2017.

As reported by Newsday, Bitis read a prepared apology to the court, tearfully reading, “Because of the tremendous mistake I made, 58 years of any good I’ve done has been totally erased and this defines me, your honor. I’m sorry we’re all here. I apologize for the time and expense of everyone involved.”

The daily newspaper also notes that $125,000 of the restitution has been paid, with $52,585.01 going to Long Island Radio Broadcasting; to do so, Newsday says, Bitis mortgaged her home.

As of November 2020, Bitis served as VP/Sales of Dan’s Papers, a Schneps Media local marketing company and newspaper publisher serving the Hamptons and East End communities in Suffolk County, N.Y.

Bitis’ unauthorized charges first came to public light after the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York were brought in after an attorney was hired to look into credit card fraud triggered by “a suspicious wire transfer” detected by the owner of Long Island Radio Broadcasting, Lauren Stone. This led Stone to review LIRB’s American Express statements for the preceding six months. The result? Stone noticed several charges that appeared fraudulent.

Outside legal help was brought on by Stone to take a closer look at LIRB’s books. The third-party agency determined that Bitis had placed “hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal charges on LIRB’s corporate American Express card.”

As reported in the Patch newspaper’s Southampton, N.Y., edition, these charges included a family vacation to Aruba, personal visits to the orthodontist, boat maintenance and boat fuel and tax services for delinquent personal income tax payments.

At the time, Stone concluded that McNamara Bitis concealed the fraud by submitting falsified documents to LIRB’s accountant. In fact, the radio industry veteran allegedly created fraudulent American Express statements by removing vendors such as her orthodontist to hide the personal charges, Stone added.

Bitis’ legal representative had acknowledged some level of fraud, but greatly disputed the extent of it.

Following the sentencing, Stone told Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink she’s pleased justice was served.

“Although LIRB is still picking up the pieces of the mess that was left as a result of the defendant’s fraud and embezzlement, we are hopeful that we can overcome these obstacles and continue to serve the needs of Long Island’s East End.”

— Additional reporting by Ed Ryan and Rob Dumke

The general manager of one of the nation’s best known news stations has denounced anonymous listener racism directed at one of the station’s employees.

And the Black national security correspondent who was the target of racist bullying is highlighting the station’s response on social media: “[It shows] how investing in a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment over time is a weapon against hate and bigotry.”

WTOP General Manager Joel Oxley penned an open letter to the WTOP community on July 21.

He acknowledged that the station, which is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, receives its share of constructive criticisms and said many of those are valid.

“And that’s all OK. We’re not perfect,” said Oxley, who has served as the station’s general manager since 1998. “We strive to be accurate all the time. We aim to be unbiased. At WTOP, we are glad to get the feedback. It makes us better — negative, positive and in-between.”

But he drew a strong line at feedback that is outright racist, focusing on a letter that the station had received from an anonymous author in Bowie, Md.

In his post Oxley called out the writer in no uncertain terms, posting an image of the letter and saying that this kind of missive cannot go unaddressed. “[This] is the communication that really bothers me,” he said. “The kind that is racist. The kind that gets my back up. Makes me angry.”

In the letter the author criticizes reporter J.J. Green and WTOP for their ongoing discussion of race, racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. Green is WTOP’s national security correspondent and co-creator of the podcast Colors: A Dialogue on Race in America.

The unnamed author logged a litany of what he called “tired” messages about “Black excuses,” “Black crime,” “thugs” and the BLM movement that he retitled “Burn, Loot, Murder.”

“I can assure you and all of WTOP that we are all sick and tired of hearing about racism,” wrote the letter writer. “No one believes in systemic racism. Just an excuse Blacks use for not improving themselves.”

“Stop the BS,” the author wrote. “We don’t want your podcast.”

Oxley wanted his audience to understand that J.J. Green is an award-winning journalist highly respected in the halls of the Pentagon and at the CIA. “We are very fortunate to have him working with us. He makes us better and helps our area be more informed,” Oxley said.

Beyond Green’s work as a reporter, he added, “he is my friend. I’ve known him for over 30 years. We met playing basketball in the ’80s. We started working together at WTOP in the ’90s. We’ve been through a lot together, and I have nothing but respect for one of the smartest and most caring people I know.”

The real reason that this listener wrote, he continued, is because Green and podcast co-host Chris Core have done a “tremendous job” taking a hard look at race relations. “They’ve done it in a balanced, thoughtful and insightful way.”

This anonymous writer — like others before — attack and discredit what they do not understand instead of stopping to listen and learn.

“J.J. is Black. And I’m white,” Oxley wrote. “Shouldn’t matter, right? But obviously it does to the person who wrote this letter. My goal with my response to this is to expose this kind of racial intolerance and ignorance in the hopes of putting more and more of it behind us for good.”

Green responded in turn, saying that such attacks are not new and are not limited to Black journalists. “During more than 30 years in radio and TV, I’ve gotten thousands of angry letters, phone calls and emails,” he said. But this one — with its unbridled, uncivilized and racist rants — led to a a different outcome: His boss, who happens to be white, stood up and demanded it stop.

“Joel Oxley … took the extraordinary step of writing an open letter … rejecting the hater, standing by my work and sending the message that we are living in a new day,” Green said.

“Let me be clear, no boss, regardless of race or gender, has ever gone this far for me,” he said. While there have often been mangers willing to express their disdain for racist communications, no one else knew about it. “Some may wonder why the big deal,” he said. “The big deal is that by Joel Oxley standing up against hate, he willingly made himself a target and established himself as a true leader in the fight against racism.”

He called that a model for industry about how to send a clear message disavowing racist acts.

Oxley said the incident will only make WTOP and its staff redouble their efforts.

The post WTOP GM: Racism Has No Place Here appeared first on Radio World.

It may have just 80 watts of power, but this FM translator emits a signal that covers nearly all of central Atlanta, thanks to its presence on a tower structure located in the industrial Reynoldstown neighborhood east of downtown.

Since the start of 2021, it has emulated a now-defunct Classic Hits station by using its former branding, “The Fox.”

Now, to borrow the title of a 1970s hit, is this Fox on the Run?

A change in ownership has been consummated.

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In late March, Keith Stover — also known to a generation of Pittsburgh radio listeners as Keith Clark — moved forward in filing paperwork with the FCC that would make him a majority owner of a pair of FM radio stations serving the Columbia, S.C., market.

Late last week, that transaction formally closed.

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In February 1993, another of the FCC’s Docket 80/90 Class A additions to the FM radio dial began serving a portion of the Mid-Hudson Valley. Seven months later, it would come under the ownership of Will Stanley.

Together with his wife, the Stanleys created a heralded and unique offering replete with Adult Alternative, Americana and folk music — most of it produced at the station’s Northern Dutchess County offices and studios.

On June 22, Stanley passed away at the age of 73.

But, WKZE-FM 98.1, licensed to Salisbury, Conn., and based in Red Hook, N.Y., will live on.

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Author and AV professional Jay B. Myers will keynote the 2021 AV/IT Summit, held virtually on Thursday, Aug. 5.

The keynote, based on Myers’ book “Rounding Third and Heading for Home: The Emotional Journey of Selling My Business and the Lessons Learned Along the Way,” will review the components that go into the sale of a business, including building a business designed to sell.

He will also explore how mergers and acquisitions affect everyone in a company and how to manage culture through change.

The 2021 AV/IT Summit is produced by Radio World’s parent company Future. It is free to attend for qualified integrators, consultants, content creators, technology managers and the like. Non-sponsoring manufacturers and distributors can register for $495, or inquire about sponsorship opportunities.

The post Myers to Keynote 2021 AV/IT Summit appeared first on Radio World.

In September 2018, a forlorn AM radio station that had been serving Brazilians with Portuguese-language fare became the latest station to capitalize on the massive growth of the Spanish-speaking population in Central Florida. Only, it didn’t adopt another music format.

Instead, iHeartMedia gave birth to a spoken word format, today an anomaly in the Latin media world.

It now appears the decision was a savvy one.

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