XPost: alt.radio.broadcasting

RadioInsight

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FCC Report 4/24: Illegal Transfer Of Control Brings $4000 Fine

Posted: 24 Apr 2022 08:00 AM PDT https://radioinsight.com/headlines/224417/fcc-report-4-24-illegal-transfer-of-control-brings-4000-fine/


FCC Actions

OMI Oilfield Investments, LLC has entered into a consent decree with the
FCC and pay a $4000 fine for unauthorized transfer of control of the
company and the failure to file required biennial ownership reports for its Regional Mexican “El Patron 99.5” KBIJ Guymon OK.

Oralia Cowan gifted the company and the station to her son Mike Castanon
for no consideration in October 2017 but did not file the transfer with the
FCC until February 1, 2021. At the time of the file, Cowan stated the
transfer was inadvertently completed without FCC counsel as part of estate planning efforts.


The FCC issued a Notice of Violation to La Raza Media Group LLCs 1570 WTWB Auburndale FL after an agent of the Enforcement Bureau inspected the
station an observed the station was operating with 3.5kW around the clock
as opposed to its licensed 5kW day and 13 watts night.

The FCC is opening a comment period to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking released in December 2020 on whether to modify the rules governing the operation of FM booster stations in certain limited circumstances to allow
for geo-targeted content. GeoBroadcast Solutions has since been granted experimental authority to test it on KSJO San Jose CA and WRBJ-FM Jackson
MS. As part of the testing, GeoBroadcast Solutions has since filed
technical discussions about the operation of its booster technology, compatibility with Emergency Alert System, and impact on digital FM
broadcasts.

The following licensees have entered consent decrees over their failure to maintain their public files:

Centro Cristiano de Vida Eterna licensee of KVFM Beeville and KPMB
Plainview TX
RM Christian Broadcasting, LLC licensee of WABV Abbeville SC


The following licensees have entered consent decrees over their failure to maintain their political files:

Gorge Country Media, Inc. licensee of KLCK and KYYT Goldendale WA
Resort Radio, LLC licensee of KCSY Twisp WA
Summit Broadcasting Group, LLC licensee of KBNW Bend OR
Victoria Radioworks, LLC licensee of KVNN Victoria TX

Call Letter Changes

88.1 NEW Hodgenville KY -> WTRL

90.5 NEW Borrego Springs CA -> KOZA

90.9 NEW Cochran GA -> WWJL

91.1 NEW Kailua HI -> KLHY

91.1 NEW West Plains MO -> KCWP

91.5 NEW O’Neill NE -> KONL

91.7 NEW Safford AZ -> KUAE-FM

92.3 NEW Tusayan AZ -> KXQX

93.3 KUBE Seattle -> KJR-FM

95.7 KJR-FM Seattle -> KJEB

96.3 WKQW-FM Oil City PA -> WLOQ

106.5 NEW Salome AZ -> KZXO

1240 KNBI Monterey CA -> KMBY


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March 2022 (3/3 - 3/30) Nielsen Audio Ratings Top 50

Posted: 24 Apr 2022 07:00 AM PDT https://radioinsight.com/ratings/ratings-top-50/




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Thomson Broadcast Acquires GatesAir

Posted: 23 Apr 2022 03:33 PM PDT https://radioinsight.com/headlines/224419/thomson-broadcast-acquires-gatesair/



GatesAir (“GatesAir”), a global leader in wireless, over-the-air content delivery solutions for radio and TV, today announced that Thomson Broadcast
has signed a definitive agreement to acquire GatesAir from an affiliate of
The Gores Group (“Gores”). The transaction is subject to certain regulatory filings and is expected to close in the second half of 2022. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

GatesAir is a renowned company in the Broadcast industry with a history of powering over-the-air networks worldwide with unparalleled reliability over
the past 100 years. GatesAir has recently seen strong growth, coming off a
very successful participation in the North America Spectrum Repack program. GatesAir worked with Bowen Inc. on a robust process which involved interest from several strategic and financial parties, with Thomson Broadcast
prevailing due to its highly complementary fit. The combination of GatesAir with Thomson Broadcast will create a scaled, comprehensive platform with greater capabilities in innovation, design and product efficiency and an expanded portfolio of holistic, turnkey broadcast solutions.

“GatesAir is already an undisputed leader in the broadcast industry, and
our combination with Thomson Broadcast will create a combined company of
larger scale even better suited to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers all over the globe,” said Bruce D. Swail, CEO of GatesAir. “I am very proud of the GatesAir team for its stewardship of and innovation in
this industry over the past century and look forward to entering the next
100 years as an even stronger business leveraging the strengths of two legendary broadcast brands. On behalf of everyone at GatesAir, I’d like to thank Gores for their strategic guidance which was invaluable in growing
our business and driving innovation.”

“Over the course of our successful partnership with Bruce and the
management team, GatesAir has driven tremendous growth and transformation through organic and inorganic initiatives, establishing itself as a
premier, independent broadcast company with market leading technology and service,” said Edward Johnson, Senior Managing Director at The Gores Group. “We have no doubt GatesAir will continue on its successful trajectory and strengthen its market leadership alongside Thomson Broadcast.”

For more than 100 years, Thomson Broadcast has forged extensive experience
in the fields of Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTV) and AM Radio,
including DRM. Thomson Broadcast is an international French company well
known in the broadcast sector. Over the past two years, Thomson Broadcast
has received awards for providing exceptional DTT turnkey solutions to large-scale digital migration projects in Africa.

“In 2018, we have set the goal to establish ourselves in the US Market.
With Thomson Broadcast and GatesAir now united, these two companies will
make us stronger in America and globally as well,” says Ylias Akbaraly, Chairman of Thomson Broadcast.

Thomson Broadcast and GatesAir together can bring innovative and
revolutionary products to the broadcast industry in the centuries to come,” says Aby Alexander, President of Thomson Broadcast USA.

“We are delighted to have reached this point,” says Amine Oubid, CEO of Thomson Broadcast. “From the start we were excited to work with the
GatesAir team and saw the obvious fit of the two companies. The transaction closing can’t come fast enough for us. We’re very proud to participate in the rallying of two century-old companies and excited to start working together.”



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Q108 Clarksville Adds Tommy Jordan & Katie Jay For Mornings

Posted: 22 Apr 2022 02:32 PM PDT https://radioinsight.com/headlines/224351/q108-clarksville-adds-tommy-jordan-katie-jay-for-mornings/



Saga Communications Hot AC Q108 107.9 WCVQ Fort Campbell KY/Clarksville TN
is launching the Q Morning Crew with Tommy Jordan and Katie Jay on Monday, April 25.

Tommy Jordan joins WCVQ from mornings at Ramar Communications Hot AC 107.7 Yes-FM KLZK Lubbock TX. He has previously served as PD/morning host at Key 103.1 WAFY Frederick MD, afternoons at K-Hits 106.9 KHTT Tulsa, and sixteen years in multiple dayparts at 94.5 WPST Trenton NJ among other places.

Katie Jay most recently worked for Bristol Broadcasting in Paducah KY.

The duo replace Sari Rose and Tom Dupree, who departed earlier this year.


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March 2022 (3/3 - 3/30) Nielsen Audio Ratings Day 4: Record High For WJJK

Posted: 22 Apr 2022 02:00 PM PDT https://radioinsight.com/headlines/224317/march-2022-3-3-3-30-nielsen-audio-ratings-day-3-record-high-for-wjjk/



The fourth and final day of Nielsen Audios PPM releases for the month bring Austin, Raleigh/Durham, Indianapolis, Nashville, Milwaukee, Providence, Norfolk, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Memphis,
and Hartford.

All the numbers can be found at RadioInsight.com/Ratings.


Waterloo Media Variety Hits 103.5 Bob-FM KBPA rises 8.7 to 10.0 to retain
its dominant lead in Austin. University of Texas combo of Public News/Talk
90.1 KUT-FM (6.3 to 6.8) and AAA 98.9 KUTX (5.8 to 6.1) follow. Audacy AC
Majic 95.5 KKMJ slips 7.0 to 5.8. iHeartMedia Country KASE 101 is fifth 5.6
to 5.7.

Trending down in Austin are Classical 89.5 KMFA (6.6 5.8 4.0) and
Waterloo Media Classic Rock 93.7 KLBJ-FM (4.0 2.9 2.5).

Capitol Broadcasting AC Mix 101.5 WRAL-FM takes the lead in Raleigh/Durham
with a 7.7 to 8.4 gain. Radio One Adult R&B Foxy 107.1/104.3 WFXC/WFXK
rises 7.5 to 8.0. Public News/Talk 91.5 WUNC-FM slides to third down 8.5 to 7.8. iHeartMedia Conservative Talk Talk 106.1 WTKK slips 7.6 to 6.7. Curtis Media Variety Hits 96.1 BBB WBBB holds steady at a 6.0.

iHeartMedia Classic Rock 100.7 WRDU trends up 4.1 4.7 6.0, while Curtis
Media Country 94.7 WQDR rises 4.3 to 5.0. Trending down are Curtis Media Classic Hits Kix 102.9 WKIX-FM (6.3 5.4 5.3.) and Conservative Talk 680
WPTF (3.3 2.0 1.9).

Cumulus Media Classic Hits 104.5 WJJK continues to lead Indianapolis as it rises 12.1 to 12.4 for what Ratings Expert Chris Huff notes is a station
record high. Emmis News/Talk 93.1 WIBC-FM dips 9.7 to 9.5, while sister AC B105.7 WYXB nudges up 8.5 to 8.7. Radio One Adult R&B 106.7 WTLC-FM rises
to fourth up 6.2 to 6.7. Cumulus Country 95.5 WFMS slides 6.4 to 5.7.

Midwest Communications Variety Hits 96.3 Jack-FM WCJK leads Nashville down
8.2 to 7.5. iHeartMedia Country The Big 98 WSIX is second 7.6 to 7.2.
Cumulus News/Talk 99.7 WTN WWTN dips 7.2 to 6.8, while sister Adult R&B 92Q WQQK is up 6.2 to 6.5. iHeartMedia Hip Hop 101.1 The Beat WUBT drops 6.9 to 6.2.

Trending up in Nashville are Cumulus Classic Country 95.5 Nash Icon WSM-FM
(4.3 5.3 5.5) and Cromwell Media Rock 102.9 The Buzz WBUZ (2.9 3.0 3.8).

Saga Classic Rock Hometown Rock 96.5 WKLH takes the Milwaukee lead with an
8.8 to 8.9 rise. iHeartMedia Conservative Talk 1130 WISN slips 9.5 to 8.3, while Classic Hits 95.7 Big-FM WRIT is off 10.2 to 8.2 which ties Good
Karma News/Talk 620/103.3 WTMJ (7.6 to 8.2). Public News/Talk 89.7 WUWM
trends up 4.8 5.6 5.9 for what Huff notes is a new station record high.

iHeartMedia Rock 94.1 WHJY Providence rises 11.1 to 11.3. Hall
Communications Cat Country 98.1 WCTK-FM is up 9.9 to 10.0. Cumulus trio of
AC Lite 105.1 WWLI (7.0 to 6.9), News/Talk 630 WPRO/99.7 WEAN (6.9 to 6.7),
and CHR 92 Pro-FM WPRO-FM (6.2 to 6.6) round out the top five.

Audacy Adult R&B 95.7 R&B WVKL continues its dominance of Norfolk/Virginia Beach dipping 10.6 to 10.4. Saga Rock FM 99 WNOR surges up 5.8 to 7.0 with their Classic Rock 106.9 The Fox WAFX jumping 5.5 to 6.6. Sinclair Variety
Hits 93.7 Bob-FM WNOB rises 5.7 to 5.8, while Country US 106.1 WUSH jumps
up 4.5 to 5.2 for fifth.

Audacys duo of AC 101.3 2WD WWDE (6.2 5.8 4.9) and Hot AC 94.9 The Point
WPTE (5.1 4.4 4.1) trend down as does Max Media AC 92.9 The Wave WVBW
(5.7 4.5 3.0). Sinclair Alternative 96X WROX-FM slides 3.4 to 2.5.

Cox News/Talk 104.5 WOKV-FM trends up 9.6 10.2 10.5 atop Jacksonville.
Cox Classic Rock 96.9 The Eagle WJGL dips 9.0 to 8.8. Renda AC 96.1 WEJZ is
off 8.3 to 8.2 to tie iHeartMedia Country 99.1 WQIK which surges up 6.6 to
8.2. Renda Country 99.9 Gator Country WGNE follows down 6.6 to 6.3.

Hubbard Hot AC 97.9 WRMF holds at a 9.6 share atop West Palm Beach followed
by sister Classic Hits Sunny 107.9 WEAT, which nosedives 8.9 to 6.4. iHeartMedia AC Kool 105.5 WOLL rises 4.7 to 5.3. Hubbard Country 103.1 WIRK trends up 3.4 4.2 5.1. iHeartMedia Classic Rock Gater 98.7 WKGR is up 4.3
to 4.5.

Audacy takes three of the top four spots in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point. Adult R&B 97.1 WQMG holds steady at a 13.4 share. Dick Broadcasting Classic Rock Rock 92 WKRR is second up 9.0 to 9.4. Audacys Variety Hits
98.7 Simon WSMW is up 8.9 to 9.2, while Hip Hop 102 Jamz WJMH dips 8.9 to
8.3. Tying for fifth are iHeartMedias AC Mix 99.5 WMAG (5.6 to 5.1) and Conservative Talk 94.5 WPTI (5.7 to 5.1).

Cumulus Adult R&B 103.5 WRBO leads Memphis up 12.4 to 13.6. iHeartMedia
takes the next four spots with Gospel Hallelujah 95.7 WHAL down 10.6 to
9.5, Adult R&B V101 KJMS down 10.3 to 9.2, Hip Hop K97 WHRK up 6.7 to 7.0,
and R&B Oldies 1070 WDIA up 6.2 to 6.9.

Trending up in Memphis are Flinn Hip Hop Hot 107.1 KXHT (3.1 4.2 4.8),
Audacy Country 94.1 The Wolf WLFP (2.4 to 3.1), and iHeartMedia CHR 101.9 Kiss-FM KWNW (1.2 1.5 2.1). Audacy AC 104.5 The River WRVR falls 7.7 to
6.1.

Audacy AC Lite 100.5 WRCH remains in the Hartford lead steady at a 10.9
share. Public News/Talk 90.5 WNPR-FM is up 8.6 9.6 10.1 for what is a new station record high. Audacy Hot AC 96.5 WTIC-FM slips 9.2 to 7.7.
iHeartMedia Country 92.5 WWYZ trends down 8.6 8.1 7.5. iHeartMedia
Classic Hits 105.9 The River WHCN rises 6.6 to 7.1.

Full Power Radio Classic Rock 102.9 The Whale WDRC-FM trends up 5.8 6.4
6.7, while iHeartMedia CHR Kiss 95.7 WKSS is up 4.9 5.1 5.5.


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MaxxKonnect Launches Thimeo's STXtreme Audio Processor

Posted: 22 Apr 2022 11:00 AM PDT https://radioinsight.com/headlines/224321/maxxkonnect-launches-thimeos-stxtreme-audio-processor/





The MaxxKonnect Group is pleased to announce it will serve as exclusive
North American distributor for Thimeos new STXtreme Advanced Audio
Processor.

The STXtreme is the first hardware solution based on Thimeos very popular StereoTool processing suite. Included features such as Thimeos Delossifier, Declipper, Advanced Composite Clipper, and the Integrated MicroMPX Encoder. STXtreme firmware and hardware are meticulously tuned to each other to
achieve maximum audio quality and minimal latency and can output composite
MPX through analog and digital connectors or stream it over an IP link
using MicroMPX on low bandwidth connections without loss of quality.

Led by Hans Van Zutphen, Thimeo Audio was founded in 2011 with a focus on producing great sounding audio. Whether it’s restoring clipped sound, processing radio like it’s the finest Hi-Fi, massively improving phone
audio quality, or sending FM MPX to transmitters at low bit rates: Thimeo builds stuff that sounds great.



With offices in Alabama, Texas and Pittsburgh, The MaxxKonnect Group
provides Broadcast Technical Solutions, Equipment Sales, Engineering and Integration, and Connectivity including their MaxxKonnect Wireless prioritized, high speed LTE internet service specially designed
for broadcast applications.

MaxxKonnect Group president Josh Bohn states, “I’ve known Hans and the Thimeo team for many years and have always been a fan of StereoTool.  When
we were given the opportunity to be the distributor for STXtreme, I jumped
on it immediately!  This is a cutting edge processor that will give all the competitors a run for their money.  With features like Declipper and Delossifier in a hardware-based appliance, the STXtreme changes the game.”

For more information or to purchase Thimeo STXtreme in the US or Canada,
please contact Joe Myers at MaxxKonnect at sales@maxxkonnect.com or call 205-598-1200.

To see the StereoTool STXtreme Advanced Audio Processor, visit The
MaxxKonnect Group at the 2022 NAB Show at booth W8525 in the new West Hall. MaxxKonnect will also be spotlighting their MaxxKonnect Wireless LTE
product, as well as the new Nautel VX series of transmitters.


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Marquee Broadcasting Acquires WHIZ Media Group

Posted: 22 Apr 2022 09:15 AM PDT https://radioinsight.com/headlines/224106/marquee-broadcasting-acquires-whiz-media-group/



Marquee Broadcasting will pay $10.7 million for Southeastern Ohio
Broadcastings WHIZ Media Group in Zanesville.

The deal includes CHR Z92.7 WHIZ-FM South Zanesville, Country Highway 103.7 WZVL Philo, Full Service 1240 WHIZ Zanesville and NBC affiliate WHIZ-TV.
The seller will retain the license of Regional Mexican La Grande 102.5 WWLG Baltimore/Columbus OH, which is operated by Radio One via LMA.

Current WHIZ Media Group President Hank Littick will enter into a two year consulting agreement with Marquee at $100,000 per year.

Original Report 4/20: The WHIZ Media Group of four radio stations and one television station serving Zanesville OH has been sold Salisbury MD based Marquee Broadcasting.

The sale will end four generations of Littick family ownership of the
group, which operates CHR Z92.7 WHIZ-FM South Zanesville, Country Highway
103.7 WZVL Philo, Full Service 1240 WHIZ Zanesville and NBC affiliate
WHIZ-TV. The company also owns the license of Regional Mexican La Grande
102.5 WWLG Baltimore/Columbus OH, which is operated by Radio One via LMA.

Marquee, which currently owns television stations in Albany, Macon, and
Toccoa GA, Bowling Green KY, and their home base of Salisbury, also owns Brokered 1190 WCRW Leesburg VA under the name Potomac Radio Group.

Wednesday morning the WHIZ Media Group announced it has sold its media properties in Zanesville to Marquee Broadcasting.

This includes NBC affiliated TV station WHIZ, which dates back to 1953 and
four radio stations (WHIZ-AM and its FM transmitter, WHIZ-FM, and WZVL-FM).

WHIZ Media President, Hank Littick stated, “In four generations our family has built a wonderful group of stations during our ownership starting in
the print industry and migrating to electronic media. We have been blessed with a wonderful group of employees over the years, they are the heartbeat
of everything we do. We were looking for a buyer that was committed to the family atmosphere we have fostered and serving the local communities.
Marquee is committed to both, and we know we can trust them to carry on our legacy to the next chapter.”

Marquee CEO Patricia Lane noted “We are excited and privileged to build
upon the great foundation that the Littick family built in southeast Ohio.
The WHIZ family will be a perfect addition to the Marquee family of stations.”

The sale is being submitted for FCC approval and closing is anticipated to occur later this year.


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What We Learned About Bruno

Posted: 22 Apr 2022 09:00 AM PDT https://radioinsight.com/blogs/223696/what-we-learned-about-bruno/



In January, as program directors grappled with Encanto’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” Matt Kelly, PD/afternoon host of WVAQ Morgantown, W. Va., opened the phone and text lines to let listeners decide if they wanted to
hear it on the radio. Kelly had a plan if they voted no. He was going to
say, “I guess people are already sick of it from their kids.” Then he was going to play “Baby Shark.”

Instead, “Bruno” was easily voted onto the WVAQ airwaves; then the issue became how to play it. Last week, “Bruno” peaked at No. 24 in Mainstream Top 40 airplay, according to BDSradio. In between, it became emblematic of programmers struggling to translate a streaming story into a “radio record.” “Bruno” will be a key topic in consultant Guy Zapoleon’s upcoming
session at the virtual All Access Audio Summit 2022, taking place April
21-22. “I don’t know any song that is as egregious a miss now,” he says. 

Even as “Bruno” peaks, some stations are still having success with it. KDHT (Hits 95.7) Denver played it 82x last week. WBZZ (Star 100.7) Pittsburgh
had it at 68x while Hot AC rival WLTJ (Q92.9) had it at 44x. In Buffalo,
Top 40 WKSE (Kiss 98.5) played “Bruno” 44x a week, while WTSS (Star 102.5) was at 37x. KFTZ Idaho Falls, one of the CHRs most responsive on streaming stories, had it in power and has passed 1,000 spins. Zapoleon also notes “Bruno” is now the No. 2 current song in RateTheMusic’s Top 40 research. 

What have we learned from “Bruno” about how to handle the next phenomenal outlier?

It’s not a hit until it’s a hit on radio. When a song is No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for five weeks, it’s fair to wonder if we have reached the point where radio can be completely circumvented. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” was clearly phenomenal, but had it reached the point where it had already become, say, “Uptown Funk” without airplay? For all its issues over the years, callout has been pretty good at confirming the consensus hits — the songs that everybody knows and likes. Was “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” already that?

Based on the station callout I’m aware of, “Bruno” did not arrive atop radio research as an already fully formed hit, ready for power rotation,
but hiding in plain sight from radio. It is a continued vote of confidence
for radio that Walt Disney chose to pursue airplay for “Bruno,” just as it was when Interscope took not just “Driver’s License” to radio but three more Olivia Rodrigo singles. But radio can’t make a fully formed hit
without streaming either. Based on the slow turnover of songs in CHR’s
power rotation, even the combination of streaming and airplay isn’t
yielding enough “Uptown Funk”-level hits.

Radio moved faster, but not fast enough. When Disney’s Frozen was
phenomenal, radio finally acknowledged “Let It Go” after listeners’ kids had made it “the song I turn on the radio to escape.” Researcher Matt Bailey has written about this, and at Edison Research, I certainly
experienced something comparable. “Bruno” was not yet at that point when airplay finally began, but Zapoleon says that listeners who already knew
the song still showed burn before others could discover it.  

In general, radio has become more responsive to reaction records, in part because of its willingness to acknowledge streaming stories. I’ve said in
the past that radio makes the mistake of expecting streaming outliers to research and “radio records” to stream — leaving it with nothing to play. Blackbear’s “Hot Girl Bummer,” essentially a comedy routine set to music, incredibly needed six months to reach No. 2 at CHR radio. Two years later, radio quickly committed to Gayle’s similar “abcdefu.” That song reached No.
1 and has now run its course in less time than Blackbear needed to peak.
The Gayle song is not showing the callout durability of “Stay” or “Heat Waves,” but why should it?

KFTZ and hot AC KIOI (Star 101.3) San Francisco began playing “Bruno” on Jan. 13, according to BDSradio. If other stations had moved with the same dispatch they showed for “abcdefu,” “Bruno” would have been more of an event for radio. Like “abcdefu,” callout would have been a better tool for deciding when to take “Bruno” off the radio, rather than when to put it on. 

At Country Radio Seminar, it was repeatedly suggested that radio’s job now was not to break music, but to be “the finisher” — the final runner in the
relay, as consultant John Shomby put it. I want more than that for radio.
But it is possible to say now that callout’s job is to be “the finisher” perhaps a better arbiter of “power recurrent” than power rotation.

There are a lot of streaming stories to triage. As non-radio stories have proliferated over the years, radio has a long history of not seizing the moment. Radio is far more willing to consider outliers now, but many more left-field songs are having a moment. Even as the person who encouraged
radio to play the “Ted Lasso Theme,” it isn’t hard to see why it was hard to commit to “Bruno” at the right moment.

When I first heard “Bruno” on the radio, it was in SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio’s Trending Top 10 for Jan. 7. So was Encanto’s “The Family Madrigal,”
even more of a plot song than “Bruno.” In his analysis, Chris Molanphy speculates on whether streaming would have allowed Beauty and the Beast’s “Be Our Guest” to become a hit, not just the radio-friendly Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson title track. This was like having “Belle” in contention as well.

In the same week that “Bruno” surfaced, the Trending Top 10 also included “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes),” “Thank You for Being a Friend” (because of the recent death of Betty White), a 25-year-old Miami bass
record, Three 6 Mafia, and Caroline Polachek’s “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings,” a quirky pop song that I would have liked to have more of a
radio breakthrough. So where to start? 

Radio is triaging a lot of streaming stories. The No. 1 song on the
Trending 10 for the last three weeks is Pharrell Williams’ nine-year-old “Just a Cloud Away,” which Top 40 radio quickly acknowledged, perhaps as a makegood for “Bruno.” The most-played songs on SXM TikTok Radio include a lot of radio records: “As It Was,” “Numb Little Bug,” “Boyfriend,” “Sweetest Pie,” and Charlie Puth’s “Light Switch” (which, interestingly,
has moved into power at TikTok Radio just as it loses altitude at
Mainstream Top 40). For his part, Zapoleon does not think that there’s a “Bruno”-level oversight at the moment.

That said, I wonder why Nicky Youre & Daizy’s “Sunroof” — an uptempo pop
song that does sound like a radio record has not made it to Top 40 radio
yet. Or the next Disney tie-in, the much-less-plot-specific “Nobody Like You” by 4*Town. (For that matter, there was Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Running Out of Time” from Vivo, which made the Trending 10 in November and sounded like ’90s freestyle.) I might have also given “My Name Is” by D Billions to
the morning show to play by now.

More Stories, But Not More Problems. On one hand, SiriusXM TikTok Radio
exists because Top 40 cannot and should not know what to do with a random
Keith Whitley or Nico record being propelled briefly back into pop culture
for a week or two. I’ve seen iHeart’s Bob Pittman compare TikTok to MTV under his watch, creating mass exposure for a lot of songs, some of which
will be ratified by radio. Even in spring ’83, when MTV was powering Top 40 radio’s resurgence, you can look at a playlist and realize how many of its hits did not become radio hits for cause.

Radio, in most of its current-based formats, has many issues, but in
particular it has an inventory problem. If radio were a record store, it
would ideally have an upfront display of hits and a well-maintained
new-release bin. TikTok has no inventory problem, but we cannot count on it
to fill radio’s new-release bin; that should still depend on programmer enterprise. TikTok’s job is not to find radio records. But we should add an “as seen on TikTok” endcap, and that one needs to be updated constantly to be credible.

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