Mercurys booked for Cipriani
This year's Radio-Mercury Awards will be held on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 at the Cipriani on East 42nd Street in New York City. Presented annually by the Radio Creative Fund (RCF), the luncheon and awards ceremony honor the creators of radio's best commercials with cash prizes totaling over $160,000, including the $100,000 Grand Prize, and the retro-inspired Radio-Mercury Awards trophy.
XM strikes marketing deal with The Orioles
XM Satellite Radio announced a multi-year marketing partnership with the Baltimore Orioles. Under the agreement, XM will be the official satellite radio partner of the Orioles, including prominent signage in, and on-premise promotions at, Camden Yards throughout the season.
Sprint PCS and Mspot launch radio over cellphones
Sprint PCS Group launched a new Internet radio service, MSpot, that lets subscribers listen to 13 streaming and on-demand satellite-quality radio channels, from hip hop to Oldies, and news and talk from the AP and NPR, among other content providers. Sprint PCS began selling a service at 5.95/month to its Sprint PCS Vision Multimedia Services subscribers.
To get the service, Sprint customers must own one of five multimedia phones and must also subscribe to its monthly Vision plan -- ranging from $15 to $25 a month. A Vision plan is in addition to a standard voice plan.
Daren Tsui, MSpot's CEO, told CNN cell phone providers are eager to branch into Internet radio as part of their broader push into entertainment services. "Consumers have only so much discretionary money to buy entertainment," said Tsui, who co-founded the privately-held Palo Alto, CA startup a year ago. "We're obviously all competing for a piece of that pie."
RBR observation:
The limited choices in music channels may hold this service back a bit. It can't compete with most markets' radio choices, and certainly can't compete with satellite and the Internet's music choices.
Add another Jack!
Yesterday, Midwest Television flipped 11-year old Hot AC KFMB-FM/STAR 100.7 San Diego to eclectic Adult hits format "100.7 Jack-FM - Playing What We Want.
KFMB stations' VP/GM/PD Tracy Johnson, commented, "Launching Jack FM is a natural evolution for the station following the incredible success of Star 100.7. With a massive library of songs and an irreverent attitude, we're going to have a lot of fun. We are thrilled to launch the next great radio station in San Diego. Listeners have been telling us for years they want greater variety in their radio stations with less repetition. That's what Jack FM is all about."
Jeff and Jer will remain in Mornings at the new 100.7 Jack FM when they return from vacation on 4/18.
