Radio news items from here and there: The Local Radio Freedom Act continues to pick up steam, Salem announced a dividend, Univision and Entravision announced programming deals, Westwood One is in for women’s basketball action, and a new novel looks at radio’s early days.
* The Local Radio Freedom Act continues to pick up support. There are now 120 House members and five senators who have signed up as co-sponsors to the resolution which opposes imposition of a performance royalty on AM and FM radio.
* Salem will divide and prosper: $0.065 per share will be going to shareholders of record as of 3/17/15, and will be payable 3/31/15.
* Univision has inked a deal with AL&CM Broadcasting to bring the Alex “El Genio” Lucas Show in for AM drive at the company’s AC stations in Chicago, Houston, San Franciaso, Dallas and Austin. Meanwhile, on different stations in the same five markets, Univison is picking up Entravision’s “El Show de Erazno y La Chokolata”.
* Westwood One Sports will be carrying action up to and including the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament, including regional championship games, the NCAA Final Four and concluding with the National Championship game 4/7/15.
* “Glennfiddich Inn” is a historical novel by Alan Geik that is grounded firmly in the origins of commercial radio in the US, and its role in changing the way citizens were connected to the rest of the world forever. Geik is himself a radio personality. The book is available on Kindle, Amazon and in paperback.
