Industry News Bits 1-5-21

BOOST RADIO/St Louis has moved to it’s new home at 95.5 FM (new calls KXBS/Bethalto, Il.) with a bigger signal and new branding is “BOOST 95 FIVE.”

The change was synced up and simulcast on Facebook & Instagram live, yesterday at 9:55 AM. The video and & audio is HERE.

BOOST PD Mike Couchman told HisAir, “It’s such a rare, amazing thing to be part of. Our whole team is grateful and in awe of how God got us here.”

Prior to the flip, BOOST was heard in about half of the St. Louis metro on a translator and two rimshots. Owner Gateway Creative Broadcasting is in the process of closing on the purchase of 95.5 from Urban One. BOOST was launched by Gateway Creative Broadcasting (owners of 99.1 JOY FM) in March, 2014.

In November 2020 Gateway Creative Broadcasting announced it was acquiring the 95.5 signal (WFUN/St Louis) from Urban One.  KXBS is a 10.5kw C3 at 509 feet.

At WRBS/Baltimore (SHINE 95.1) Mike Alley returns to the Morning Show with longtime co-host Tracey Tiernan. Mike never left WRBS as he was still doing Sunday Night Rewind and Director of 48Live (the ministry’s live events division).

Mike told HisAir, “I’m thrilled to be back with Tracey every morning. Radio is my first love and SHINE-FM is home. Who doesn’t want to work with people that are at the top of their game, in a place where you get to bring encouragement and hope to hundreds of thousands of people each week.”

In July 2017 Mike announced he was leaving the morning show to devote full time to 48Live Productions. Last month morning host (and former PD) Dave Paul announced that December 23rd will mark his final broadcast as part of the show to relocate to South Carolina. He continue to direct on-air fundraising and research, as well as continue in his leadership role as Vice President of Peter & John Ministries, Brighter Media Group’s parent ministry.

Salem announces Christopher Gould, Senior Vice President of National Program Development/Ministry Relations, will be relocating to Colorado Springs where Chris will continue in his existing role, while also serving as General Manager for their Colorado Springs stations – 102.7 (KBIQ-FM), 100.7 (KGFT-FM), and 1460/101.1 (KZNT-AM/FM), as well as oversight of the Colorado Springs division of Salem Surround.

David Santrella, President of Broadcast Media for Salem said, “I am confident under Chris’ strong leadership we will see these stations grow in both influence and financial performance and that our service and support of our National Ministry partnerships will continue to thrive.” Chris Gould has been with Salem for nearly two decades, initially running Salem’s cluster of stations in Tampa, before being promoted to VP National Program Development in 2011. In 2018 Gould was promoted to SVP in recognition of his outstanding service to Salem and their ministry partners.

On his relocation Gould said, “I’ve always loved to serve my local community and the local church especially local pastors. This new opportunity allows me to do just that, while continuing to develop new and necessary national voices for our Christian Teaching and Talk platforms. Relocating to Colorado Springs, which is home to some of our longest running national ministry partnerships, makes a lot of sense. It will be a joy and an honor to take on this new challenge.”

Billboard and Mediabase announce its Top Gospel Airplay song of the year for 2020 is “Big” from Blacksmoke Music Worldwide Recording Artist Pastor Mike, Jr. Big was the lead single from his debut album Live Free, it also earned Pastor Mike, Jr. five Stellar Gospel Music Award nominations.

“WOW, God just continues to do great things, and I am glad about it”, states Pastor Mike, Jr. “While we experienced some tragedies and trauma that we wouldn’t want to go through last year, we also learned very valuable lessons, Big challenged us in the midst of the mess, to change our way of thinking and not only look for a miracle, but to declare it in spite of the present circumstances.  My right now is not my end, we have to live with expectation that the same God that brought us to it is the same God with the same power that can carry us through it. Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forevermore.  The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that will raise us out of dead situations and give us a NEW HOPE.”

Salem Media Group has launched the Salem Podcast Network, which will focus on conservative content through the Salem podcast platform. Salem’s first podcast partner in this new venture is Dinesh D’Souza, nationally known documentarian and author. D’Souza’s new podcast “Pardon Me!” will debut on January 11, 2020, across all podcast platforms, as well as SalemNow.com, YouTube, and Rumble. Salem will have more announcements in coming weeks about others joining this new platform.

“This is a natural extension of the Salem brand, which is already considered one of the strongest in conservative media. Salem will be producing more content with meaningful names on the conservative side, so look for more big announcements soon,” said Phil Boyce, Salem’s Senior Vice President of Spoken Word. “The future for podcasting is unlimited, and our efforts will tightly focus on hosts who will contribute to our brand and to the message,” Boyce said.

Milestones:
David Palmer celebrates 22 years at ChristianNetcast.com

Prayer List:
Troy West