Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, May 1, 2015
CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin apologized Wednesday for a comment she made in Baltimore that some felt was insensitive toward veterans.
The original comment: “A lot of these young people, and I love our nation’s veterans, but some of them are coming back from war, they don’t know the communities, and they’re ready to do battle,” Baldwin said, noting this is what some people in the community had told her.
Critics on Twitter hit her hard.
On air, she said she "misspoke" and "wholeheartedly retract what I said... I have the utmost respect for our men and women in uniform."
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Atlanta producer Will Packer will executive produce a re-make of the classic 1977 "Roots" miniseries with "Roots" actor Levar Burton on A&E, Lifetime and History in a simulcast.
"Roots" is the most popular miniseries of all time. About 80 million watched the series and 100 million caught the finale. Those are numbers nowadays that only the Super Bowl could exceed. Of course, that was back in the day of three broadcast networks and before cable TV.
“My career began with "Roots" and I am proud to be a part of this new adaptation,” said Burton in a press release. “There is a huge audience of contemporary young Americans who do not know the story of "Roots" or its importance. I believe now is the right time to tell this story so that we can all be reminded of its impact on our culture and identity.”
The new version of Alex Haley's American family origin story based around the life of Kunta Kinte — played in the mini by Burton — is described as an original, contemporary production, incorporating more material from Haley's novel, Roots: The Saga Of An American Family, as well as carefully researched new scholarship of the time.
Packer is best known for producing successful films such as "Think Like a Man," "Ride Along," "Stomp the Yard," "Wedding Ringers" and "About Last Night." As you can see by those film titles, he has helped Kevin Hart (who is performing three shows at Philips Arena next month) fuel his career into A-list status.
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Radio has become a rough-and-tumble business.
Atlanta-based Cumulus Media Thursday reported a 7.2 percent decline in revenue to $271.1 million during the first quarter, compared to the same period in 2014 when the company brought in $292 million. The largest percentage decrease occurred in the company’s network division, which dropped 13%, with low single-digit declines reported in local and national business.
Cumulus operates 460 radio stations in 90 markets. In Atlanta, it runs Rock 100.5, Q100, Kicks 101.5, NewsRadio 106.7, Nash Icon 98.9 and OG 97.9.
Cumulus also extended CEO and President Lew Dickey's contract through 2018. He drops the chairman title.
In comparison, rival IHeartRadio (formerly Clear Channel) saw revenues grow 4 percent during that same period, up $28 million, up to $698 million. IHeartMedia operates several stations in Atlanta, including Power 96.1, 94.9/The Bull, 640/WGST-AM, 105.3/El Patron and Radio 105.7. Its stations collectively are doing better locally than those of Cumulus.
Its efforts in the digital field with IHeartMedia has been impressive. Its IHeartRadio app now has 63 million registered users and the name now has 80 percent recognition. The company changed its name last fall.
UPDATE: Radio One, which operates Majic 107.5/97.5, Boom 102.9, Hot 107.9 and Praise 102.5 in Atlanta, suffered another tough quarter, with radio revenues falling an alarming 9.4 percent. It cited markets such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston and D.C. as hurting them. Dallas and St. Louise were markets that showed growth. Even worse, digital revenue fell 10.9 percent year over year.
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