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The radio landscape is undergoing a big shuffle in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, as a longtime local owner exits the broadcast scene. On Friday, Urban One, the parent company of Radio One, announced it has agreed to acquire 104.5 KKDA(FM) and 105.7 KRNB(FM) from Hymen Childs’ Service Broadcasting Group. KKDA runs a hip-hop format as “K104,” while KRNB runs an adult R&B format as “Smooth R&B 105.7.” At the same time, Radio One is also spinning off its R&B 94.5 KZMJ(FM) signal to the Encouragement Media Group. EMG then announced that it will launch its Spanish Christian brand, Fuzión, on the KZMJ signal. Both transactions are pending Federal Communications Commission approval. Terms were not disclosed. The deals will give Radio One a total of three longtime signals in the DFW market that serve its target Black audience. It also owns the direct rival to KKDA, hip-hop 97.9 KBFB(FM). KKDA has run an urban format since 1976, while KRNB, on the air since 1996, has largely competed with KZMJ for the R&B audience. Both KKDA and KRNB were owned by Childs’ group, noted as one of the few local owners in a market the size of DFW. Childs, 88, bought 730 KKDA(AM) and 104.5 FM, then KEZT(FM), in 1976. According to several accounts, he is known for staying out of the spotlight. Childs resisted prior offers to sell his stations leading up until the sale of KKDA(AM) in 2013 to Scott Kim and Kimberly Roberts. Urban One cited the expansion of its reach in Dallas as a way to elevate urban voices across two of DFW’s most prominent frequencies. Radio One operates 74 stations across 13 U.S. markets, according to a release. Fuzión will broadcast on 18 radio signals across the southwest with the addition of KZMJ, according to an EMG release, with DFW as its flagship. It can also be heard in Las Vegas, southern California, Albuquerque and east Texas. Radio World welcomes letters to the editor on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com. The post Radio One to Acquire Two Heritage DFW Signals appeared first on Radio World. [TheTopNews] Read More.

From WABG’s website The FCC has changed its mind and is taking harsher enforcement steps against an AM station in Mississippi. The case involves WABG in Greenwood, Miss., owned by SPB LLC. The Media Bureau recently had reached a consent decree with SPB to resolve an investigation into potential violations of the online public inspection file rule in connection with the station’s pending license renewal. SPB had agreed to pay a $1,000 “voluntary contribution” to the government and adopt a compliance plan. But now, just a month later, the bureau says that less than ten days after that decree was signed, the station failed to upload a quarterly issues and programs list to its OPIF by the required date. The bureau said it is treating this as a new and serious violation. So it has decided to renew the license for only one year, after which it can revisit the situation. “It is clear to us that the licensee’s conduct has fallen far short of the standard of compliance … that would warrant routine license renewal,” it wrote. It believes “these are willful and repeated violations, and when considered together, they constitute a pattern of abuse over a number of years.” 960 WABG(AM), “The Awesome AM,” in Greenwood runs 1 kW during the day from one tower and 500 watts at night from three towers. Bennie Wells is the station owner, listed officially under SPB LLC. The FCC wrote that that quarterly issues and programs lists “are a significant and representative indication that a licensee is providing substantial service to meet the needs and interests of its community” and that the rule “safeguards the public’s ability to assess the station’s service and to meaningfully participate in the station’s renewal process, and ensures the station’s accessibility to and nexus with its community to serve and respond to community programming needs.” [Read more Radio World coverage of business and law issues.] The post FCC Limits an AM’s License Renewal to One Year appeared first on Radio World. [TheTopNews] Read More.

The 2025 NAB Marconi Radio Award winners. Credit: NAB The National Association of Broadcasters is now taking nominations for the 2026 Marconi Radio Awards. They recognize stations and individuals for their excellence and performance in radio. The deadline is May 31. The winners will be announced during a dinner program in October at the Edison Ballroom the evening before NAB Show New York. Stations and on-air personalities may nominate themselves in these categories: Legendary Station of the Year Legendary Manager of the Year Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year Small Market Radio Station of the Year Medium Market Radio Station of the Year Large Market Radio Station of the Year Major Market Radio Station of the Year Small Market Personality of the Year Medium Market Personality of the Year Large Market Personality of the Year Major Market Personality of the Year AC Radio Station of the Year Best Radio Podcast of the Year CHR Station of the Year Classic Hits Station of the Year College Station of the Year Country Station of the Year News/Talk Station of the Year Religious Station of the Year Rock Station of the Year Spanish Language Station of the Year Sports Station of the Year Urban Station of the Year Nominations can be submitted through the NAB member portal. The rules and qualifications are here. Last year, Beasley station WMMR(FM) in Philadelphia won both Legendary Station and Major Market Station of the Year Awards, and its morning hosts Preston and Steve won the Major Market Personality of the Year trophy, [See the list of 2925 recipients.] The post Does Your Station Deserve a Marconi? appeared first on Radio World. [TheTopNews] Read More.

In McHenry County, Ill., Nunda Twp., workers and community members filling sandbags for local residents and businesses. Credit: Nunda Twp. Connoisseur Media is highlighting its northwest suburban Chicago station as an example of local radio providing immediate assistance during a crisis. In response to recent Fox River flooding, 105.5 WZSR(FM), licensed to Woodstock, Ill., in McHenry County, worked with local township officials to coordinate a volunteer relief effort, according to a Connoisseur release. Following four to six inches of rain across northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin between April 13–17 — part of the Chicagoland’s wettest start to spring on record according to the National Weather Service — the Fox River overflowed from a combination of heavy rainfall and upstream runoff. Joe Cicero and Tina Bree While seasonal flooding is common along the river, local reports indicated this was the worst flooding neighboring Lake County has seen since 2017. As water levels rose, “Star 105.5’s” morning duo, Joe Cicero and Tina Bree, used their live platform to ask listeners to help fill sandbags for affected neighborhoods, Connoisseur said. The team, who have been on the air together for 16 years, felt that the immediacy of live radio was effective in mobilizing volunteers. “Using our radio station as a megaphone to find people of all ages to step up and fill sandbags to save homes is an amazing thing,” Cicero said. Nunda Township Road Commissioner Rob Parrish thanked the morning crew in a letter and said that with the help of those volunteers, nearly 80,000 sandbags were delivered across the township’s road district in less than a week. WZSR was among the stations Connoisseur Media acquired from Alpha Media last year. [Do you receive the Radio World SmartBrief newsletter each weekday morning? We invite you to sign up here.] The post Chicagoland Station Rallies Volunteers for Fox River Flood Relief appeared first on Radio World. [TheTopNews] Read More.

This article is a special report and part of a Radio World ebook on major trends in remote control and monitoring. Here, we gather input from a range of experts about those changes. Major trends Jim DeChant, director of operations for Transmission Services Group, says: “In 2026, the most significant trend in how radio broadcasters control and monitor transmission facilities is the shift from ‘reactive polling’ to ‘agentic, IP-native observability.’ “While traditional remote control relied on simple status checks (SNMP polling) to tell an engineer if a transmitter was off, modern systems are moving toward intelligent, software-defined environments where the monitoring system acts as an autonomous ‘copilot.’” Barry McLellan of Bonneville lives on Farnsworth Peak in Utah. He remembers having to explain over the phone to a part-time overnight staffer how to get readings out of a Moseley MRC-1600 and talking him through a complex process for turning on the auxiliary transmitter. He also recalls later days of using a POTS connection to enter a password, go through an alarm list, run the appropriate macro to get a station back on the air and fall back to sleep. (“I was a DTMF master,” McLellan said.) “The biggest improvement I’ve experienced with modern remote controls is the installation of solid IP connectivity at our sites,” he continued. “If a local IP provider is not available, sometimes this means a 5.8 GHz ISM link, a 900 MHz modem diplexed on your STL link or possibly working with a WISP provider.” He said newer IP-based remote controls have so much information available on-screen at once, configured just the way you want these readings to appear. “The connection can be left open all day on your work desktop or phone showing all your sites at once for easy, quick access. Plus there are a whole host of new, inexpensive devices to monitor many other situations at your site to make sure there aren’t problems at the site you wouldn’t normally see.” Ben Nason works in product development, tech support and engineering for Broadcast Tools. “For us as a hardware manufacturer, the continued adoption of SNMP in broadcasting has been very important in guiding our product development decisions,” he said. “SNMP integration goes hand in hand with the trends we see in broadcasting of increased adoption of audio-over-IP and software-based solutions. When in the past you might have been looking for a single device… [TheTopNews] Read More.