Portland Radio Stations Take In Bigger Bucks

Dialing for dollars: The media consulting and research firm BIA Kelsey has released the first edition of its quarterly survey on radio revenues. For over-the-air stations, the report says revenues were essentially flat nationally in 2011, with what little growth there was – just .4 percent over 2010 – coming from online ad sales, which jumped more than 15 percent.

Exceptions to this anemic economic picture showed up in a few small and mid-size markets, with Portland being singled out as the top performer. A press release [1] sent out with the survey said Portland “had the largest increase in revenues over 2010, with $25.4 million, or 22.8 percent.” 

One Portland radio executive, who asked not to be identified, said the figures are somewhat misleading. “Last year’s increase looks big,” the executive said, “but it came after a horrible 2010, so it’s really just a start on getting us back to something like normal.”

Riskind removes himself: On April 12, MaineToday Media Washington correspondent Jonathan Riskind sent a tweet to Twitter support services on his company account asking, “Can I change my user name and email on my current twitter account (switching jobs), or do I need to end it and start a new one?”
 
Later that day, Riskind’s Twitter account ceased functioning. And his name vanished from the list of contributors to MaineToday’s political blog. An email sent to his MTM account received this auto-response: “My last day at MaineToday Media is Wednesday, April 11. As of Monday, April 16, I can be contacted at the American Council on Education.”
 
Inquiries to MTM sources about what happened and whether he’ll be replaced have so far produced claims of ignorance or no responses. As of Friday afternoon, Riskind was still listed as MTM's Washington DC bureau chief on the company's Web site's Contact Us [2] page.
 
Riskind came to MaineToday in January 2011 after serving as D.C. bureau chief for the Columbus Dispatch for over a decade.
 

Al Diamon can be emailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net [3].