RadioInsight

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Reach-FM Florida Signs-Off

Posted: 06 Apr 2016 11:32 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...ork-signs-off/

Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale ceased programming the Christian AC
Reach-FM network across the state of Florida on March 30 and announced it
is putting its broadcast properties up for sale. Through subsidiary Reach
Communications, the group owns 90.5 WREH Cypress Quarters FL and 24
translators across Florida. Reach also leases four HD subchannels in
Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and West Palm Beach to feed those
translators. In a statement on the stations website, Reach-FM states that
their remaining signals will air an automated music format until they are
all sold off. The Reach-FM network debuted in 2004, but Calvary Chapel of
Fort Lauderdale states that the church has made the decision to focus its
ministry efforts and resources on other ways to advance its mission of
connecting people to God, people to people, and people to outreach. With
other radio ministries reaching the same areas covered by ReachFM,
leadership determined it would be wise to invest in other creative ministry
opportunities, leaving more established radio ministries to do what they do
so well.

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iHeart Gains Restraining Order In Fight With Creditors

Posted: 06 Apr 2016 09:56 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...ith-creditors/

iHeartMedia has gained a bit more time in its fight with some of its
creditors trying to force it into default. A Temporary Restraining Order
has been issued until the sides go to trial in Texas on May 16 over whether
iHeartCommunications, Inc. improperly transferred $500 million worth of
shares of Clear Channel Outdoor to subsidiary Broader Media, LLC. A group
of 15 creditors argued that the stock transfer violated iHearts debt
covenants and were preparing to issue default notices which couldve forced
the company to immediately have to pay nearly $12 billion of its debt back
immediately. iHeart issued a statement regarding todays decision. We are
pleased with the outcome and look forward to an expedited trial. As we have
previously stated, we believe our contribution of Clear Channel Outdoor
Holdings Inc. stock to our subsidiary Broader Media LLC fully complied with
our financing agreements. The strong performance of our operating business
provides us with the flexibility to manage our capital structure in a
prudent manner, and we will continue to evaluate opportunities to
strengthen our balance sheet. More details at Bloomberg.com.

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Northern Kentucky University To Explore Selling WNKU Network

Posted: 06 Apr 2016 07:24 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...-wnku-network/

Facing significant cuts in funding from the state of Kentucky, Northern
Kentucky University President Geoffrey Mears told the staff of AAA 89.7
WNKU Highland Heights KY/Cincinnati on Tuesday that the school will explore
the possibility of a sale of WNKU-FM and its assets. Northern Kentucky
University also owns 105.9 WNKN Middletown OH, which serves Dayton and the
northern portions of the Cincinnati market and 104.1 WNKE New Boston OH
serving the Portsmouth OH and Huntington WV areas. The university purchased
those two stations in January 2011 to expand WNKUs coverage. The move to
potentially divest WNKU/WNKE/WNKN comes after Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin
issued a 4.5% cut in higher education funding across the state last week.
NKU spokeswoman Amanda Nageleisen told the Northern Kentucky Tribune that
this step is exploratory, and no decision has been made regarding the
future of WNKU. But in these difficult economic times and in the face of
significant budget cuts from the state, we have a responsibility to align
our efforts around our core mission: the education of our students.

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Entercom San Francisco Trio To Air Oakland Raiders Games

Posted: 06 Apr 2016 07:15 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...raiders-games/

The Oakland Raiders have extended their agreement with Entercom San
Francisco to broadcast their games and ancillary programming. After three
years on Sports 95.7 The Game KGMZ San Francisco, this year the game
broadcasts will also be heard on Urban AC 102.9 KBLX San Francisco and
Classic Rock 98.5 K-Fox KUFX San Jose. All ancillary programming will
remain on KGMZ including a two hour pre-game show and one hour post-game.
Other programming features will include Raider Monday dedicated to the team
including a two hour Raider Nation Live show on Monday nights, Raider
Players Live and interviews with Head Coach Jack Del Rio on Mondays, and
breakdowns of the previous days game. The Raiders and 95.7 The GAME
(KGMZ-FM) announced today an agreement for 95.7 The GAME to continue as the
Silver and Black’s flagship radio station in the Bay Area. 95.7 The GAME,
which first partnered with the Raiders in 2013, will broadcast all of the
Raiders’ 16 regular season games, all postseason contests and preseason
games, while enhancing game coverage with exciting Raiders-oriented daily
programming. “The Raiders are excited to continue working with 95.7 The
GAME to bring team coverage to Raider Nation,� said Raiders President Marc
Badain. “We also look forward to working with Compass Media Networks to
transmit on-field action to a broad audience that includes the best fans in
the NFL.� In addition to being heard on 95.7 The GAME (KGMZ-FM), Entercom
San Francisco will simulcast Raiders football on affiliate stations 102.9
KBLX (KBLX-FM) and 98.5 KFOX (KUFX-FM), extending Raiders’ game-day reach
throughout the entire Bay Area. “There’s no more passionate fan than a
Raiders fan; we’re delighted to expand our Raiders coverage for the 1.7
million plus fans here in the Bay area�, commented Steve DiNardo, Vice
President/Market Manager Entercom/San Francisco. Raiders game day
broadcasts on 95.7 The GAME will include the popular Raiders Opening Drive
pregame show, beginning two hours prior to each game. Following the
postgame wrap-up, 95.7 The GAME will continue to feature its 60-minute
local postgame show, “Raiders Extra Point.� “The Raiders will be front and
center every Monday,� said 95.7 The GAME Program Director Don Kollins, “The
return of Raiders Monday and the addition of several new Programming
features will build on the best Raider coverage.� Raider Monday: Devotes
each regular-season Monday to coverage and analysis of the Silver and
Black. Raider Nation Live: A two hour Raiders exclusive show every Monday
night. Raiders Players Live: Every Monday during the regular season select
Raiders will hit the airwaves of 95.7 The GAME. Coaches Show: Coach Jack
Del Rio will join the station every Monday during the regular season.
Raiders on the 15: A dedicated breakdown of the previous day’s game on
Monday mornings. In addition, the 2016 season will feature live remote
broadcasts that bring fans inside the Raiders’ Alameda headquarters and
capture the excitement as the team prepares for the season at training camp
in Napa, Calif.

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Who's Hijacking Station Signals?

Posted: 06 Apr 2016 04:40 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/blog/headli...ation-signals/

Some listeners of Always Mountain Time Hot AC Lift FM 106.3 KIFT Kremmling
CO and other stations across the country got a surprise on Tuesday morning
when the stations began airing the audio of an explicit podcast about furry
sex. KIFT was not the only station to be affected. 104.3 KXAX-LP Livingston
TX, an AM in Denver and a national syndicator that wished to not be
identified were also affected by what seems like a directed botnet attack
seeking access to as many public facing Barix while then locking out the
stations. Engineers at the stations needed to do a hard reset of the
devices to regain control. Always Mountain Time released the following
statement about their hijacking: In regards to our station KIFT this
morning, what we know at this time is that a Studio Transmitter Link for
our station, which is Internet enabled, was hacked earlier today. For
approximately an hour and a half, programming from a podcast unrelated to
our normal programming was broadcast on a booster of KIFT. The main signal
of KIFT was not affected, but the booster station was broadcasting the
podcast programming, some of which was inappropriate for broadcast use. Our
station was unable to regain control over the STL until the station
engineer actually traveled to the remote transmitter site, and reprogrammed
the system from that location. We use industry standard closed systems for
our STL and are unsure how this was able to happen. We are working with
equipment manufacturers and auditing the security of our own systems to
avoid any repeats of this incident. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age
where hacking is becoming and increasingly bigger problem. We would urge
other broadcast outlets to be aware of the possibilities and to take
precautions. We sincerely apologize for to our listeners for the content of
the broadcast and are doing everything possible to ensure that is doesn’t
happen again. KXAX-LP also issued an apology to listeners. This morning,
our remote encoders that send audio to our transmitter site was hacked. We
want to apologize to anyone that was listening in this morning. At about
9am we were notified that a program was playing on the station that did not
originate from this studio. We found out that our equipment had been hacked
and was broadcasting a podcast or a stream from an unknown source. We were
able to eventually get the problem resolved. But still want to apologize to
anyone who may have heard the programming. The staff of Furcast, the show
that was broadcast over these stations, were quick to release a statement
that they had nothing to do with their audio being used by the hijackers
and they were cooperating with all law enforcement agencies investigating
the incidents. We have been made aware of a reported incident where
FurCast XBN content was syndicated without our knowledge on a terrestrial
FCC licensed FM radio station. We are deeply sorry to hear about this
inappropriate incident. FurCast and XBN content is made freely available on
iTunes, our website and our YouTube channel for anyone to download and
distribute. We are a group of friends who publish audio and video
entertainment, wherein it is marked for containing explicit and
inappropriate content. We are working with law enforcement to investigate
this incident. We have preserved all access log files. INSTANT INSIGHT:
Every station better be doing routine inspections of their setups to ensure
this doesnt happen to them. Change all your passwords and make them as
strong as possible. BREAKING: @TheLiftFM radio station confirms they are
#hacked, warning this audio of their air contains naughty words
pic.twitter.com/adIk091C7X Matt Kroschel (@Matt_Kroschel) April 5, 2016