by Erin Donnelly
Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company, which also includes the national advertising firms of Cox Reps. Cox Media Group owns and operates Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in the United States. The company includes 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 86 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. The company operates in more than 30 media markets and reaches about 52 million Americans weekly.
January was a busy month for Cox Media Group. CMG Hawaii named their new market manager, Patti Milburn, replacing Mike Kelly, who retired at the end of 2011. Chief Revenue Officer Marc Morgan announced his retirement form the company, effective on April 30. CMG Richmond unveiled a high-energy station makeover for WHTI, Hot 100.9, in Richmond. In Atlanta, MundoHispánico and WUVG Univision 34 Atlanta announced that they were partnering to expand news content offerings across platforms for the Atlanta Hispanic community. “Noticias Univision 34” will feature a two-minute news capsule highlighting MundoHispánico’s top stories of the week. Cox Digital Solutions announced an agreement with Yahoo! Inc. that would make it the exclusive national seller of political, issue, and advocacy advertising across Yahoo! properties in for the upcoming election year. This partnership positions Cox Digital Solutions as the political advertising frontrunner for the 2012 elections and makes the company a unique source of political advertising. CMG Atlanta appointed Marian Pittman to the post of Station Manager for WSB-TV. CMG Louisville announced its new “Friends & Neighbors” program, which is an in-kind initiative to support and publicize community organizations and agencies committed to the betterment of the community. CMG Ohio announced its appointments to lead two newly created organizations. James Cosby will be the Vice President of media sales for the Dayton region, while Andy Blizzard has been named CMG Ohio’s vice president of audience value. Finally, CMG Birmingham announced that Birmingham’s WBHK Kiss 98.7 FM has been ranked the number 1 Urban Adult Contemporary station in the nation, a huge honor for the station.
February was also a busy time for Cox Media Group. In Atlanta, CMG announced that Monica Pearson, veteran news anchor for Channel 2 Action News, is to retire at the end of July after 37 years with the station. CMG Greenville announced three staff changes: Stephanie Crunkleton was named Promotions Manager for CMG Greenville’s three radio stations; Tone Hollywood, a radio personality, is moving from the night show/MD to PM Drive at HOT 98-1; and Eric Sean is to join HOT 98-1 as the host of the 7PM to 12 Midnight show. WSB-TV Channel 2 in Atlanta and Beat the Traffic, a leading provider of real-time traffic information, announced that they have teamed up to launch the new wsbtv.com Traffic App, available for free in the iTunes App Store. Christopher Caneles has been named the new vice president for CMG Newspaper Shared Services, which supports CMG’s efforts to continually evaluate all aspects of its business to ensure that it is operating as efficiently as possible while providing the highest quality products and services to CMG customers. CMG Louisville announced that Kris Daniels, morning talent on CMG Louisville’s WQNU and music director for WHKO, was named “Medium Market Music Director of the Year” at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. Finally, CMG Ohio announced the appointment of Rob Rohr as its general manager.
March also saw a lot of activity. Cox Media Group announced several leadership changes: Neil Johnston, previously Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is now CMG’s Executive Vice President of Strategy and Digital Innovation; Mike Joseph, previously publisher at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and CMG Group Vice President, is joining CMG as executive vice president at the company’s headquarters in Atlanta; and finally, Vice President of Finance Charles Odom is being promoted to CMG’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. CMG Louisville’s major radio stations joined forces to aid the quickly constructed Southern Indiana Tornado Relief Concert that took place in Indiana on March 11th by heavily promoting the event with on-air coverage and mentions across social network platforms. The event raised over $50,000, which was donated to American Red Cross relief efforts in the area. CMG Birmingham welcomed Paul Orr to its programming staff at WZZK, 104.7. At its television stations in Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, and Seattle, CMG upgraded studio lighting by replacing incandescent lighting with modern fluorescent lighting, which reduces studio energy consumption and prevents more than 780 tons of carbon from entering the environment. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution debuted the results of an investigation into questionable test results in schools across America. The story is set to spark a national debate over the policy and integrity of standardized testing and identified suspect test scores in many cities. Cox Digital Solutions announced its partnership with The Weather Channel to become the exclusive seller of political advertising across www.weather.com. Along with its partnership with Yahoo! Inc., this will allow Cox Digital Solutions to reach 100% of the US online voting age population. Valpak, a subsidiary of CMG, announced its commitment to hire 100 veterans by the end of 2013 in accordance with the recent passing of the VOW to Hire Veterans Act, a national bill to encourage businesses to hire military veterans. Finally, CMG Louisville announced the first three organizations that have been selected to receive $30,000 each: Indian Summer Camp, Kids Center for Pediatric Therapies, and St. George’s Community Center. The organizations will receive the money through the newly launched Friends and Neighbors program, announced in January.
April also saw many changes for Cox Media Group. CMG Birmingham announced that Birmingham’s WBHJ JAMZ 95.7 FM has been awarded the National Association of Broadcaster’s Service to America Service to Children Award. The award recognizes the station’s outstanding programs, campaigns and public service announcements produced for the benefit of local children. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution named Mark Medici as its new Vice President of Audience, a position that oversees all aspects of print and digital audience development for the AJC. CMG Tampa announced that its radio station, 102-5 The Bone, has dropped music from its weekday programming and will become Tampa Bay’s first FM talk station. News Talk KRMG in Tulsa, Oklahoma announced that it would be collecting approved items to benefit tornado victims in Woodward, Oklahoma in the lobby of Tulsa’s Mabee Center. After the announcement that it would be dropping music from its programming, CMG Tampa announced its new line up as of April 23. Finally, Dick Ring, the morning radio host at WDUV in Tampa Bay, announced his retirement, effective April 27.
All in all, Cox Media Group has had a busy but successful year across the country.
For further information: http://www.coxmediagroup.com/