Radio

He was one the giants in radio, with a career spanning more than nine decades. Hal Jackson, the longtime WBLS air personality, will be laid to rest next week. The family, including his wife Debi, announced the wake and funeral are open to the public as a celebration of Jackson’s 97-year life.

The wake is Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. It will be held at the Frank Campbell Funeral Home, Madison Avenue and 81st Street.

Jackson’s funeral is Thursday, 11 a.m. at the Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive and 121st Street.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made to:

Hal Jackson’s Talented Teens International/Youth Development Foundation
1230 Park Avenue, PH-A
New York, NY

A pioneering radio host, Jackson died Wednesday after a short illness.

[Pic via The New York Post]

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Webster’s defines an icon as “any person or thing that is revered.”

That was Hal Jackson. The pioneering WBLS radio personality died yesterday at age 96. His cause of death was not released, but Jackson had a short illness.

Jackson maintained his Sunday Classics show, on the air as recently as a couple of weeks ago. He hosted the program with Clay Berry and Deborah Bolling Jackson, known to listeners as Debi B., or simply Jackson’s wife for 23 years.

“He was a big proponent of passing [information],” Skip Dillard, WBLS
program director, tells FishbowlNY. “I think that was one of his greatest assets.”

He co-founded WBLS original parent company, Inner City Broadcasting in 1971 with the late Percy Sutton, giving a new outlet to African-Americans. It was the first owned and operated African-American station in New York.

“He really is responsible for us being here today, because he encouraged Mr. Sutton to go through with the purchase of WLIB-FM at a time when AM was king,” Dillard says. “Hal really was a little ahead of his time and saw the potential for radio, and always believed that radio could grow and evolve.”

Last year, Inner City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

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She was the person, arguably, most associated with the Disco era. Donna Summer, known as the Queen of Disco, died today after battling cancer. She was 63.

A five-time Grammy Award winner, Summer had a string of hits including, Hot Stuff, Bad Girls, On the Radio, and No More Tears with Barbra Streisand. In the 1980s, Summer kept the music playing with She Works Hard for the Money and Unconditional Love, featuring Musical Youth.

WCBS-FM jock Joe Causi has been playing her tracks for years, dating back to his days at Disco 92/WKTU.

“[I'm] still in shock over the passing of Donna Summer,” Causi tells FishbowlNY. ”She was a ‘major’ part of my passion for dance music in the clubs and on the radio. Her music was magical, constantly reinventing herself with every album of music she has given us.”

Summer notched her first number one single in the U.S. with MacArthur Park in 1978. That same year, she got a starring role in the Disco flick Thank God It’s Friday, where she sang her signature, Last Dance.

“Artists like Madonna, Lady Gaga, and other pop superstars should pause for a moment and recollect on the originator,” Causi says.

Summer is survived by her husband, Brooklyn Dreams singer Bruce Sudano, three daughters, and four grandchildren.

As the adage goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That could have been written about WLTW/Lite FM and its ratings prowess.

Once again, the Clear Channel heavyweight was tops on the overall PPM Arbitron ratings for April by maintaining a 7.5 rating for the second straight month.

WCBS-FM, which last week announced programmer Brian Thomas is leaving to run the CBS Radio cluster in Tampa, kept its number two position by posting a slight gain to 6.4.

The number three and four stations are familiar dwellers as well. Clear Channel sister stations WHTZ/Z100 was third with a .4 boost to 5.6. WKTU marked time at fourth by again registering a 4.7.

It was a strong finish for KISS FM/WRKS, jumping to fifth place with a 4.0. Last month, ESPN/Disney took over the Emmis’ 98.7 FM frequency.

More from the monthly radio ratings after the jump.

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Here’s a look at what FishbowlNY stories made the most buzz this week.

1. Time Goes All in with Breastfeeding Cover, May 10
2. Viacom Yanks Never Before Seen Chappelle’s Show Beastie Boys Performance from YouTube, May 7
3. New York Post Columnist Phil Mushnick Draws Criticism for Using N-Word, May 7
4. The New York Times Company Makes Corporate Cuts, Including Veteran George Freeman, May 4
5. Hot 97′s Summer Jam 2012 Lineup Announced, May 4
6. The Atlantic Promotes Three Top Editors, May 7

Keep up-to-date with the latest FishbowlNY news. Click here to sign-up for the FishbowlNY daily newsletter, bringing you our articles each afternoon directly to your inbox.

The Associated Press was the big winner today of the 2012 New York Press Club Awards for Journalism. The AP walked away with six awards including top prize, the Gold Keyboard Investigative Journalism Award for the series, “NYPD Spies on NYC.”

Finalists for the Gold Keyboard were Ian Urbina at The New York Times and Daniel Golden and Oliver Staley at Bloomberg News.

NY1 won the coveted Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York trophy for One on 1 with Budd Mishkin: A Look Back at 2011.

Finalist for the Nellie Bly Cub Reporter was WCBS 880 reporter/anchor Alex Silverman.

The winner for Best Headline and Front Page in the magazine category went to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, while Newsday took home for newspaper.

For Best Business Reporting, Bloomberg TV with anchors Carole Massar, Matt Miller, and Carole Zimmer was victorious. Bloomberg also won in the magazine division.

Best Business Reporting among newspapers goes to The Wall Street Journal.

In the Consumer Reporting category, chalk another for the mayor’s media empire, as Bloomberg News wins in the NewsWire division.

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In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” we hear from radio personality, author, former Fox News host and GBTV founder Glenn Beck. While he has found tremendous success across many different forms of media, did you know that he almost left the business to go to cooking school? If it wasn’t for a heart-to-heart conversation with his father, he may never have found his professional voice.

For more videos, check out our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

Brian Thomas has been one of radio’s premiere programmers in the last decade. He didn’t just return WCBS-FM with DJs in 2007, he helped it return to Number 1.

So it was somewhat surprising, even for the industry with the ”nomad” aspect, that Thomas is leaving New York for a promotion. Starting June 4, Thomas will helm the CBS Radio cluster of stations in Tampa. He will keep his hands on CBS-FM from a distance, though, remaining VP of Classic Hits programming.

“I wasn’t even thinking of leaving New York City,” Thomas tells FishbowlNY. “But after six years, it is in the back of your head of what’s next.”

Always seeking the next challenge, and with his favorite markets, aside from New York, in California and Florida, Thomas was open to exploration.

“When Ben Hill [SVP/market manager, Tampa] reached out in an e-mail that said…here’s a crazy thought [in the subject line] ‘Do you have any interest in the Tampa programming gig?’ It took a week to make the decision.”

But that decision was wrought with emotion.

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Howie Rose has a complete 12-month schedule as lead radio play-by-play broadcaster for the New York Mets on WFAN and the New York Islanders on MSG.

But he recently took some time to step away for an honor. Rose joined elite company as a member of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Among the announcers enshrined with Rose are Marv Albert, Marty Glickman, and Len Berman.

Rose became a full-time radio voice in the Mets broadcast booth in 2004 after the legendary Bob Murphy died. By 2006, Rose was named the team’s number one play-by-play man.

He has been calling Isles games since 1995. But the year before, Rose was at the mic for the New York Rangers. Arguably, his most well-known moment occured in the Eastern Conference Finals. Rose told listeners that the Rangers were in the Stanley Cup Finals after a riveting Game 7 double overtime win against the Devils and an all-time great call: ”Matteau! Matteau! Matteau! Stephane Matteau! And the Rangers have one more hill to climb, baby, but it’s Mount Vancouver!” (Hear it below)

A native New Yorker, Rose went to Cardoza High School in Bayside, and graduated from Queens College.

Rose has racked up several accolades during his career, including Emmy Awards for his work with the Mets and Islanders.

The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame is located at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center in Commack.

Here’s a look at what FishbowlNY stories made the most buzz this week.

1. Fallout from ESPN-FM Deal: Syndicated Tom Joyner (left) and Michael Baisden Fight Back Without KISS, New York Outlet, May 1
2. New York Wins ASME ‘Best Cover’ of 2011 Award, May 3
3. Time Inc. Experiences a Rough First Quarter, May 2
4. Sports Illustrated Dedicates Issue to Title IX, May 2
5. Jacob Ward Promoted to EIC of Popular Science, May 1
6. New York Daily News Hires Web Editor, May 2

Keep up-to-date with the latest FishbowlNY news. Click here to sign-up for the FishbowlNY daily newsletter, bringing you our articles each afternoon directly to your inbox.