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Lenders Steering CC To Bankruptcy - 6/29 -

From mysanantonio.com: The signal from Clear Channel's radio empire may be fading out. When holding company CC Media Holdings announced this month it wanted to reposition debt between its radio and billboard units, lenders for last year's massive private equity acquisition of Clear Channel signaled their intention to block the move. The lenders evidently want to steer the company into bankruptcy so they can pick up the assets cheap and sell them. The lenders apparently believe that is the way to get the most amount of money back from the loans made when Boston-based firms Bain Capital Partners and THL Partners acquired the San Antonio company in one of the last big private equity deals as the credit crunch worsened.....

TV Pitchman Billy Mays Dies - 6/28 -

Billy Mays (right), the burly, bearded television pitchman whose boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean made him a pop-culture icon, has died. He was 50. According to AP, Tampa police said Mays was found unresponsive by his wife Sunday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 AM. It was not immediately clear how he died. He said he was hit on the head when an airplane he was on made a rough landing Saturday, and Mays' wife told investigators the TV personality didn't feel well before he went to bed that night.....

Zellner Jumps From Sirius XM To CC - 6/25 - DCRTV hears that Jon Zellner is leaving Sirius XM as the satrad firm's vice president of music programming to join Clear Channel as its senior vice president of programming. He'll work with 25 major and mid-sized markets.....

25 To Move 5 PM News To 6 PM - 6/23 - Come September, Channel 25/ WFXT will shift its 5 PM newscast to 6 PM, clearing the way at 5 PM for a new syndicated talk show hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, Oprah Winfrey’s regular health expert. The Boston Globe has more.....

25 Starts HD News - 6/21 - Fox owned-and-operated Channel 25/WFXT becomes the last Boston TVer to begin broadcasting local news in high-definition, as of 6/14. Now, all of Boston's TV news stations are broadcasting local news in 16:9 high-def. More from Boston TV News.....

Comcast Buys All Of NECN - 6/18 - B&C tells us that Comcast said Thursday that it has acquired the remaining 50 percent interest it didn't already own in New England Cable News from Hearst, for an undisclosed sum. NECN, the largest 24-hour regional news network with more than 3 million subscribers in all six New England states, was formed in 1992 as a joint venture between Hearst and Comcast's predecessor cable operator in the area, Continental Cablevision. Continental became MediaOne in 1996 and in 1999 MediaOne was purchased by AT&T. Comcast purchased AT&T Broadband in 2002.....

CBS Syndie Arm Sues 6 - 6/17 - CBS Television Distribution is suing Global Broadcasting, owner of Channel 6/WLNE Providence, for failing to pay nearly $2.2 million in license fees on such CTD-distributed shows as "Dr. Phil," "Inside Edition," "Rachael Ray," "The Insider," and "Entertainment Tonight." According to the complaint, filed Monday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Global and WLNE has only paid $682,023 of the $2,852,564 that the company owes on the five syndicated programs. More from B&C has more.....

New Chief Of Globe's DC Bureau - 6/16 - Christopher Rowland gets named head of the Boston Globe's Washington news bureau. He replaces Peter Canellos, who was named editor of the New York Times-owned Globe's editorial pages last week.....

Christensen Leaves TIC-TV - 6/16 - Susan Christensen, who has anchored the 10 PM news on Tribune's Channel 61/WTIC in Hartford for the past 13 years, is leaving the station Friday. She wants to spend more time with family. The Hartford Courant has more.....

NY Times Prepares To Sell Globe - 6/10 - The New York Times Company appears interested in getting rid of he Boston Globe, hiring investment bank Goldman Sachs to manage a potential sale of a newspaper that has plummeted in value since its purchase in 1993. The Globe, citing two potential buyers it did not name, said Goldman Sachs would request bids for the 137-year-old newspaper in the next couple of weeks. The Times Company previously announced it had hired the investment bank to sell its 17.5 percent stake in the Boston Red Sox and related sports properties. AP has more.....

Globe Union Rejects Concessions - 6/9 - The Boston Globe's largest union Monday night narrowly rejected $10 million in wage and benefit cuts, and about an hour later the paper's owner declared an impasse in negotiations and imposed a 23 percent pay cut on the union's members, effective next week. The Globe has more.....

Globe Truckers Accept Concessions - 6/8 - The union representing more than 200 Boston Globe delivery truck drivers approved $2.5 million in wage and benefit cuts, leaving only one major union to ratify concessions that the Globe’s owner, the New York Times Company, says it needs to continue to operate the paper. More from the Globe.....

Severin Returns To WTKK - 6/3 - Jay Severin, the right-wing talk show host on Boston's WTKK radio who was suspended for a month after making derogatory statements about Mexicans, returned to the air yesterday and offered a "sincere apology" for his "hurtful, unkind, and wrong" commentary. "Most especially to the members of the Mexican community and Mexican-American community, I regret my remarks and apologize for them," he said, reading from a statement. But it didn't take long for Severin to return to familiar subjects - abortion, the Supreme Court, Muslims - and switch from contrition to more churlish language. The Boston Globe has more.....

Randy Price To 5 - 6/2 - NewsBlues tells us that Randy Price, who abruptly resigned in February as primary news anchor at Channel 7/WHDH in Boston after a series of clashes with management, has been hired across the street as the new morning news anchor at Channel 5/WCVB. He replaces Jim Boyd, who left in December.....

Mish Michaels Leaves 4 - 6/2 - NewsBlues tells us that Mish Michaels, a part-time meteorologist and full-time environmental reporter at Channel 4/WBZ in Boston, is leaving the station on 7/31. She joined the CBS-owned station in 2001 from the Weather Channel.....

Severin To Return To WTKK - 6/1 - Greater Media talk WTKK (96.9 FM) host Jay Severin will return to the airwaves on Tuesday, 6/2, after being suspended on 4/30 due to controversial remarks about illegal aliens and swine flu. A statement from Greater Media says, "We have had conversations with Jay Severin over the past several weeks about his hurtful, inappropriate remarks. He understands that we will not accept this type of commentary on our airwaves in the future." More from R&R.....

4 & 25 Share Plan Hits Snag - 6/1 - NewsBlues tells us that plans by CBS-owned Channel 4/WBZ and Fox-owned Channel 25/WFXT in Boston to strike a news content sharing agreement have hit a union snag. The two stations were scheduled to begin today sharing chopper video, and, in about a month, the arrangement was to have been expanded to news conference coverage.But IBEW Local 1228, which represents photographers and behind-the-scenes staff at both stations, has filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board over the proposal.....

4 & 25 To Pool News Video - 5/27 - Several months after Fox and NBC began modeling their content pooling sevice, known as LNS - Local News Service, Boston's CBS O&O Channel 4/WBZ and FOX O&O Channel 25/WFXT are planning to pool video content starting 6/1st. Many local TV stations are viewing the recently launched FOX-NBC model as a very inspired move. More from B&C.....

4 & 5 Top Boston TV Ratings - 5/22 - In the highly competitive May ratings period, Channel 5/WCVB captured the top ratings for most of the daytime newscasts, while Channel 4/WBZ maintained its perch as the top-rated station at 11 PM. More from the Boston Globe.....

Randy Price Talking To 5? - 5/21 - Longtime Boston TV newsman Randy Price may be returning to the local news scene - as a reporter/anchor for Channel 5/WCVB . Price, the face of Channel 7/WHDH for 12 years and the city’s first openly gay anchorman, was dumped by 7News in February after a series of clashes with management over the direction of the newscast. He's reportedly met with the big guns at WCVB and will try out with morning anchorgal Bianca de la Garza as the station seeks a replacement for Jim Boyd, who decamped to thebostonchannel.com back in December. The Boston Herald has more.....

Connecticut To Honor Tommy Edison - 5/20 - The nation's first blind traffic reporter, Tommy Edison, will honored by State Of Connecticut and local Officials on 5/21 in a special ceremony in Milford. The governor is the proclaiming the day for him and for his "remarkable dedication to helping others in traffic while being completely visually impaired since birth." Edison is a life-long Connecticut resident and has worked at Star 99.9 for the past 15 years.....

Liz Walker To Do Show For 5 - 5/20 - Liz Walker, who retired from Channel 4/WBZ in Boston in December after nearly three decades at the CBS station, has been hired across the street at Hearst-Argyle's Channel 5/WCVB to front a weekly series, “Better Living With Liz Walker.” The first show debuts on 6/4....

CSB To Survive Bankruptcy - 5/19 - Dick Robinson,who founded the Connecticut School Of Broadcasting in 1964, has won approval to buy back the bankrupt business and campuses in seven states for about $1 million. More from the Hartford Courant.....

Boston TV Ad Rev Down - 5/14 - Advertising revenue in the Boston TV market fell more than double the national average last year, according to a new report, as politicians spent less on commercials in Massachusetts than in other states and the recession caused auto dealerships and other companies to cut back on TV ads. In all, ad revenue for Boston TV stations fell $66 million, or 13 percent, with WFXT-TV (Channel 25) having the biggest drop, losing more than a quarter of its revenue in 2008, according to a survey of 210 TV markets by BIA Financial Network. Nationally, stations on average had a 6 percent revenue decline in 2008. There's more from the Boston Globe.....

Hartford's 104.1 Back To WMRQ - 5/14 - From Radio-Info.com: The $7.9 million sale of WURH-FM, Waterbury, CT (104.1) to Red Wolf Broadcasting was approved by the FCC in April, and as it closes, the station will re-claim the call letters it used until October 2003 - WMRQ. The modern rock music format is being adjusted to play an "alternative/eclectic" mix, including groups like Coldplay and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fuller moved the studios to Glastonbury, and says the station could double or even triple its current staff in 12 to 18 months. John Fuller's Red Wolf Broadcasting owns WBMW-FM (106.5) and WWRX-FM (107.7), both in New London, Connecticut.....

6's Paul Mueller Resigns - 5/13 - NewsBlues tells us that Paul Mueller, the 5 PM anchor at Channel 6/WLNE abruptly resigned yesterday, telling friends he'd had enough of the TV news business and wanted out. Mueller says he plans to become an online day trader.....

Times Postpones Globe Closing Threat - 5/5 - After wringing concessions from all but one of the Boston Globe's labor unions, the New York Times Company on Monday postponed its threat to start the process of closing the Globe, leaving the newspaper's immediate future resting on talks with the largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild. More from the Times.....

Suspended Severin Meets With WTKK Management - 5/4 - From Radio-Info.com: WTKK-FM (96.9) and Jay Severin, along with his agent, will meet sometime today to discuss his future with the talk station. Severin was yanked off the Greater Media-owned station, following on-air remarks discussing the swine flu outbreak: In these on air remarks, Severin called Mexicans "criminaliens," said Mexico's leading export was "women with mustaches and VD," and that their children "retard" US schools, among other comments. Recently, Severin's ratings have plummeted to 14th place in afternoon drive in Boston, according to Arbitron PPM data. Sources tell the Boston Herald that management "has been dissatisfied with the 'hateful' tone his show has taken." Severin is in the early part of a 7-year contract with WTKK, running through 2013 and which pays the conservative talker $1 million-per-year, plus bonuses.....

NY Times Could Shutter Globe - 5/4 - The New York Times Company said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England's most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks. The Boston Herald and the Washington Post have more.....

NESN's Jerry Remy Out Sick - 5/4 - The Boston Globe reports that beloved NESN announcer Jerry Remy will miss at least the remainder of this road trip with an illness, the symptoms of which are the same as those that kept him sidelined for the outset of spring training. Remy will fly home to Boston from Tampa tomorrow and might return for Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Buck Martinez will fill in for Remy tonight, as he did for last night's 13-0 Red Sox loss to the Rays. Martinez usually works for TBS and MASN, the local broadcasting channel for the Baltimore Orioles.....

Dave Roberts To NESN - 5/4 - From the Boston Globe: Dave Roberts's legs are already a part of Red Sox lore. Now fans will get to know his voice as well. NESN announced today that Roberts, the former Red Sox outfielder and postseason hero, has joined the network to serve as a studio analyst. Roberts will join Hall Of Famers Dennis Eckersley and Jim Rice on NESN's pre- and post-game shows.....

WTKK Suspends Severin For Swine Flu Comments - 5/1 - The Boston Herald reports that conservative WTKK radio host Jay Severin won't be on the air again today as his indefinite suspension for making offensive on-air remarks about illegal Mexican immigrants and the swine flu remained in effect. Sources within Greater Media, owner of WTKK-FM (96.9), said yesterday's suspension was the culmination of dissatisfaction with the "hateful" tone Severin's show has taken. WTKK received complaints about Severin’s immigarnt remarks all week, the sources said. During Monday's show, when talking about the swine flu, Severin called Mexicans crossing the Arizona border "criminaliens," said hospital emergency rooms had become "condos for Mexicans," and called the virus a "swine-aka-Janet Napolitano flu," according to WTKK's online recording......

7's Owner Sues Nielsen - 5/1 - In a lawsuit that could fundamentally remake the television industry, Ed Ansin's Sunbeam Television yesterday accused Nielsen Media Research of "recklessly, arbitrarily, capriciously" understating the audience of its shows. Ansin, who owns Boston's Channel 7/WHDH and Channel 56/WLVI, asked a federal court to declare the ratings company an illegal monopoly. The Miami Herald has more.....

6 Launches 10 AM 'Cast - 5/1 - Providence's Channel 6/WLNE launch a local newscast at 10 AM, which the station said will be the only one in this time slot in southern New England. The Providence Biz Journal has more.....

WZID's Bronson To NYC - 4/29 - Bob Bronson takes over mornings at Clear Channel's adult contemporary WLTW (106.7 FM) in NYC. He'll be partnered with Christine Nagy, who had been working alongside Karen Carson since late 2006, when the two women replaced 17-year WLTW morning host Bill Buchner. Bronson comes from Manchester NH's adult contemporary WZID (95.7 FM).....

Jeannine Jersey Leaves TIC-FM - 4/27 - Radio Online tells us that Jeannine Jersey resigns as program director/music director and afternoon co-host of CBS Radio's WTIC-FM (96.5) in Hartford. She's been there eight years.....

New ND At WMUR - 4/27 - Alisha McDevitt, assistant news director since 2003, has been chosen to head the news department of Manchester's Channel 9/WMUR, a Hearst station.....

Sasha Issenberg Leaves Globe - 4/27 - Sasha Issenberg leaves the Boston Globe's DC bureau for a magazine called Monocle, where he will be DC correspondent. He has already been writing a monthly column there.....

Courant Publisher Had Role In Employee's DUI Case - 4/27 - The publisher of the Hartford Courant was involved in an incident last Saturday in which a woman was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol twice within three hours. Richard Graziano, who is also general manager of WTIC-TV, Fox 61, was in a car with Elsa Veisor, a Fox 61 employee, when she was first arrested about 1 AM in a parking lot on Route 4 in Farmington, according to police reports released Friday. She was arrested and charged with operating under the influence. Police confiscated her license and suspended her driving privileges for 24 hours. Police say they released Veisor to Graziano, who drove her back to her car at the Tunxis Fore Driving Range. She was then arrested again, elsewhere on Route 4, about 3:40 AM. The second time the charges were drunken driving, speeding, and driving while her license was under suspension. She was alone in her car the second time. Earlier in the evening, Veisor and other Fox 61 employees, including Graziano, had been at a fundraiser and then a restaurant in South Windsor. Veisor then headed to a West Hartford restaurant but ended up on Route 4 in Farmington. More from the Courant.....

Macklin To BZ Radio - 4/23 - Mike Macklin joins Boston's WBZ radio as an anchor and reporter. He comes from gigs at WBZ-TV and WHDH-TV.....

NY Times Company Continues To Slump - 4/21 - The New York Times Company fell into a deeper financial hole during the first quarter as the newspaper publisher's advertising revenue plunged 27 percent in an industrywide slump that is reshaping the print media. Its shares dived Tuesday. The owner of the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune, and 15 other daily newspapers said Tuesday that it lost $74.5 million, or 52 cents per share, in the opening three months of the year. That compared with a loss of $335,000 at the same time last year, which was break-even on a per-share basis. AP has more.....

Pam Landry Leaves PLR - 4/20 - After 19 years at Cox rocker, Pam Landry leaves New Haven's WPLR. The music director and midday host and exits over budget cuts. The Wigmaster takes over the slot.....

NBC's Les Kretman To Retire - 4/15 -

DCRTV hears that Les Kretman (right), a producer for NBC's DC news bureau, is leaving after 30 years. He'll be retiring at the end of April. Kretman has been producing NBC's White House news reports for the past eight years. Before that, he was NBC newsman Bob Hager's producer. Also, Kretman was deputy bureau chief in the 1980s. Before joining NBC, Kretman worked in Boston as assistant news director for WBZ-TV, and was executive producer at WHDH-TV and WCVB-TV.....

7 Does About Face, Will Air Leno At 10 PM - 4/13 - NBC affiliate Channel 7/WHDH in Boston says it will air Jay Leno's 10 PM weekday show when it launches this Fall. "Upon further consideration, we have decided to telecast Jay Leno at 10 PM starting in September," said Sunbeam owner Ed Astin in a statement. "Jay is from Andover where I went to school. I enjoy his humor. We hope the new show is a big success." "We are very pleased that WHDH will carry Jay Leno's new primetime comedy show at 10 pm this fall on NBC," said John Eck, president of NBC TV Network in a statement. "We look forward to working closely with the station on a successful launch in Boston of this show, featuring one of the most bankable stars in the business." B&C has more.....

Former WBZ VP/GM Dies - 4/13 - Lamont "Tommy" Thompson, former vice president general manager of WBZ-TV and radio, died on 3/26 of bone cancer. He was 92. Thompson joined WBZ in 1964 and was upped to VP in 1968. He retired in 1979.....

WMAS Drops Oldies For Sports - 4/9 - Citadel flips Springfield MA's WMAS (1450 AM) from "True Oldies" to sports talk as WHLL, "The Hall," using ESPN Radio.....

FCC Fines WMJX For Contest - 4/9 - From Radio-Info.com: Boston's Magic 106.7, WMJX, advertised a “Cool, Hot or Green” car promotion featuring a Mercedes, an Audi and a Prius. But the FCC says it failed to disclose on the air just how the contest would work – and what the prize really was. Owner Greater Media now owes the FCC a contest-violation fine of $4,000. The winner thought she was getting her choice of a new car. But it turned out she'd won a two-year lease, and she’d need to qualify for it, credit-wise. She was one of the qualifiers who got a gas card for $106 and then won the chance to choose either a “cool” car (a Mercedes-Benz C-series sedan), a “hot” car (Audi TT convertible) or a “green” car (Toyota Prius). WMJX acknowledges that the complete rules were spelled out only on the station website and that the on-air promos didn’t refer listeners to the site. Greater Media says it’s undertaken “remedial measures” to prevent future problems with contests.....

3 Boston TVers Offer To Run Leno - 4/6 - Three Boston TV stations called NBC yesterday and expressed interest in joining the peacock network and taking homeboy's Jay Leno's new primetime show if Channel 7 rolls out a 10 PM newscast, a source told the Boston Herald. "Jay Leno fans will not be disappointed. Make no mistake, the new Leno show will air at 10 PM weeknights in the Boston market on NBC," John Eck, head of the NBC TV Network, said in a statement. Last Thursday, WHDH-TV announced plans to launch an hourlong, 10 p.m. newscast in September, ditching Leno's new talk show. NBC quickly threatened to strip Channel 7 of its NBC affiliation if it bumped Leno.....

NY Times Theatens To Shutter Boston's Globe - 4/4 - In a striking example of corporate hardball, the New York Times Company has threatened to shut down one of its journalistic jewels, the Boston Globe, unless the New England paper's unions agree to sweeping concessions. The Globe quoted union officials last night as saying that Times and Globe executives made the demands in a 90-minute meeting with union officials. The unions were asked to quickly agree to $20 million in cost-cutting moves to avoid the potential shutdown. The executives told the union leaders that the Boston paper will lose $85 million this year without serious cutbacks, the Globe report said. An employee briefed on the discussions was quoted as saying the Globe lost $50 million last year. The Washington Post has more.....

WPRV To Go Talk - 4/3 - Citadel plans to drop "True Oldies" from Providence AMer WPRV (790 AM) for talk, come 4/13. Don Imus will continue in mornings, with Joe Scarborough, Bloomberg Radio's business news, and CNNer Lou Dobbs joining the line-up.....

7 Refuses Leno At 10 PM - 4/3 - WHDH Channel 7, Boston's NBC affiliate, is refusing to air host Jay Leno's new talk show in the lucrative 10 PM hour in favor of its own hour-long local news show, and NBC doesn't like it one bit. "WHDH's move is a flagrant violation of the terms of their contract with NBC," said John Eck, president of NBC TV Network. "If they persist, we will strip WHDH of its NBC affiliation. We have a number of other strong options in the Boston market, including using our existing broadcast license to launch an NBC owned and operated station." The Boston Globe has more.....

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