Radio
In a year filled with economic uncertainty and instability, iHeartMedia is seeing “generally stable ad spend,” CEO Bob Pittman said during the company’s first quarter earnings call on Monday (May 12).
The radio and podcasting giant had first-quarter revenue of $807 million, up 1.0% from the prior-year period. Excluding political advertising, which was boosted by the 2024 elections, revenue increased 1.8%.
The multi-platform segment, which includes broadcast stations, had revenue of $473 million, down 4%. But Pittman expressed cautious optimism that radio advertisers are remaining with the format. Premiere Radio Networks, which represents national advertising, was up 2% in the quarter. “I think that’s sort of an indication that the bigger advertisers are hanging in there,” he said.
The 1% revenue uptick was a positive for a company that stood to bear the brunt of an advertising slowdown due to U.S. tariff policy. Analysts had expected revenue to decline 1.6% to $786 million.
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iHeartMedia is increasingly a podcast company, and the digital audio group continued to be a growth source. In digital, revenue rose 16% to $277 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) improved 28% to $87 million. The company had a unique podcast audience of 32.7 million and 177 million streams and downloads in March — both No. 1 in the U.S., according to Podtrack.
“We’re beginning to feel the flywheel effect of being the strong number one in podcast publishing. Our podcasting financial discipline and our focus on the high-margin podcast publishing sector continue to fuel what we believe is the most profitable podcasting business in the United States and to accelerate our growth,” said Pittman.
The audio and media division’s revenue fell 14% to $59.3 million due primarily to non-recurring contract termination fees earned by Katz Media last year. The segment’s adjusted EBITDA dropped 33% to $15.8 million.
The company expects its second quarter consolidated revenue to be down in the low single digits compared to the same period last year. April “pacing” was down 2% year over year, according to CFO Rich Bressler. For iHeartMedia to hit its full-year guidance and avoid a possible down advertising market, Bressler added, the company will need “some positive movement in the macro [environment] and improvement to the uncertainty in the back half of the year.”
Shares of iHeartMedia jumped 19.3% to $1.54 in early trading Tuesday (May 13) but had fallen to $1.22, down 5.4%, by midday.
iHeartRadio is facing a class-action lawsuit from subscribers after disclosing that several of its radio stations were hacked months ago, exposing Social Security numbers, financial information and other personal details.
The lawsuit came a week after the radio giant warned customers in regulatory filings last week that “an unauthorized actor viewed and obtained files” at a “small number of our local stations” in December, potentially stealing SSNs, dates of birth, and credit card info.
iHeart said it “immediately implemented our response protocols” to contain the hack, and is offering free credit monitoring to those affected. The company also said it had “strengthened its existing security measures” to “help prevent something like this from happening again.”
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Those assurances were not enough for Cheryl Shields, a subscriber who filed a proposed class action against iHeart on Wednesday in New York federal court, seeking to represent customers nationwide whose data was compromised. In doing so, her attorneys blasted iHeart for waiting four months to warn subscribers that their data was at risk.
“As a result of this delayed response, plaintiff and class members had no idea for four months that their private information had been compromised, and that they were, and continue to be, at significant risk of identity theft and various other forms of personal, social, and financial harm,” Shield’s lawyers write. “The risk will remain for their respective lifetimes.”
The data exposed in the iHeart breach “represents a gold mine for data thieves,” the lawyers write, and there has been “no assurance offered by iHeart that all personal data or copies of data have been recovered or destroyed.”
A spokesperson for iHeart did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.
Such lawsuits are common following data breaches. After the credit-reporting company Equifax suffered a 2017 data breach that exposed the personal data of nearly 150 million Americans, the company agreed to pay $425 million to resolve nationwide class-action litigation filed by consumers.
The scale of the iHeart data breach is undoubtedly far smaller. The company did not disclose in regulatory filings how many total victims were involved nationwide, though a notification filed in Maine said only three subscribers in that state had been impacted. Disclosure forms were also filed in California and Massachusetts, as first reported The Record.
In technical legal terms, Wednesday’s lawsuit accused iHeart of negligence, arguing that the company had a legal duty to safeguard consumer’s data.
“As a national media and audio provider in possession of millions of customers’ private information, iHeart knew, or should have known, the importance of safeguarding the
Private Information entrusted to it by Plaintiff and Class Members and of the foreseeable consequences they would suffer if iHeart’s data security systems were breached,” Shields’ lawyers write. “Nevertheless, iHeart failed to take adequate cybersecurity measures to prevent the data breach.”
Moby is currently matching donations to Los Angeles NPR affiliate KCRW, up to $10,000. The donation match began Tuesday (May 6) and extends through midnight on Wednesday.
“As we all know, public radio is in grave danger right now,” the electronic artist says in an ad currently airing on the station about this donation match. “If you care about KCRW; if you care about public radio and about free access to music and information, this is a very important moment to act.”
This special effort happens amid KCRW’s annual spring pledge drive, which this year has been titled “Mission Critical” due to an executive order signed last week by President Trump that directed the board of directors at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to “cease federal funding for NPR and PBS,” the nation’s primary public broadcasters. The order was made on the claim of ideological bias by NPR and PBS.
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As reported by Billboard last week, this move follows a pattern of Trump leveraging executive powers to defund or dismantle institutions he deems oppositional, including cultural and educational organizations like the Kennedy Center and National Endowment for the Humanities. The legality of Trump’s order is in question, however, as CPB is a private nonprofit entity and not a federal agency.
In any case, KCRW’s chief development officer Jill Smayo tells Billboard that “the funding for public media, both NPR and PBS, is in flux right now… We’re not exactly sure what’s going to happen at this point. It’s evolving. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is investigating more what this truly means and what will come of this, but what is at stake for KCRW specifically is $1.3 million dollars annually that we receive from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”
Such “challenge grants” like Moby’s current $10,00 offer are a common element of KCRW pledge drives, with various public figures, often musicians, actors and other artists, making the offer in order to incentivize donations. As part of Moby’s offer, one person who donates will win tickets to performances he’s doing as part of the Cercle Odyssey tour in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, May 9. The musician also relaunched his MobyGratis sound library, which offers creators high-quality, royalty free music to use in projects.
“We’re very grateful for his belief that KCRW is a treasure for the curious and the artistic and worthy of supporting,” says Smayo. The Mission Critical spring pledge drive extends through May.
As the sex trafficking trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs kicks off with jury selection in New York this week, radio DJs have all but dropped the Bad Boy Records founder’s catalog from their airwaves, Luminate data reviewed by Billboard shows.
Songs by Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy accrued just 1,671 airplay spins year to date, an 86% decline from the same time frame last year when the artists’ catalog racked up 11,870 airplay spins, according to Luminate. For a comparison, Diddy collaborator and Bad Boy artist Notorious B.I.G.’s catalog accrued 63,390 spins since the start of the year, Luminate data shows.
The decline in commercial radio play doesn’t just reflect a public turn away from the artist who is accused of running a large-scale criminal operation for his own “sexual gratification.” It also means the artist’s catalog could generate less than the $3 million in revenue that Billboard estimates it generated annually from master recording and publishing revenue from streams, sales and radio airplay between 2021 and 2023.
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Representatives for Diddy did not respond to requests for comment.
Revenue from music streaming subscriptions is still the most significant source of income for music companies, artists and other owners’ music rights. However, commercial radio play remains a significant source of income for the publishing side, sources said.
“For a mature catalogue, such as Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs … that portion of income impacted by a sharp decline in radio airplay is limited to 6 percent to 9 percent of total publishing royalties,” says Barry Massarsky, a partner at Citrin Cooperman and head of the firm’s music and entertainment valuation practice. Massarsky cautioned that only the catalog’s publishing revenue can be analyzed because there is no entitled performance right for sound recordings played on U.S. commercial radio.
In the United States, the performance rights organizations ASCAP and BMI pay a base rate of roughly 50 cents to publishing companies per radio spin. As radio airplay can influence stream counts, there is a residual paid out on the master recording royalties that brings the total payment per airplay stream to roughly $1. Popular songs can earn additional bonus money.
While the Diddy catalog’s airplay spins did not put him within reach of any bonus money — bonuses are typically paid out for songs that top 135,000 spins in a quarter — Billboard estimates his catalog’s publishing revenue was $10,200 less for the first 16 weeks this year compared to last year. If Diddy’s songs continue to generate the same average per-week-radio airplay spins they did at the start of the year — an average of 117 per week — it would mean a year over year decline of $34,300 compared to last year.
As of June 2024, Diddy owned his master recording catalog and publishing, which Billboard estimated earned about $2.4 million in master recording revenue and $600,000 in publishing revenue annually for the years from 2021 to 2023. Diddy’s share was $2.625 million in each of those years, Billboard estimated. Those estimates do not include credits and royalties for music assets beyond his own artist catalog.
It is unclear to what extent the accusations and lawsuits against Diddy may have contributed to the decline in airplay because airplay spins for his catalog rose for roughly the first four months of both 2023 and 2024, when several allegations that would later lead to lawsuits were already public.
Last year, Diddy’s catalog had the best start of the year in terms of airplay spins that it has had for any similar 16-week period since 2020, when the catalog accrued about 7,700 airplay spins. The second best 16-week period for Diddy’s catalog in terms of airplay spins was the start of 2023, when the catalog racked up nearly 11,000 spins.
Despite the decline in airplay, Diddy’s catalog remains popular on streaming platforms, though streaming activity during this period was almost half of what it was last year and was the lowest for this period than during any of the past five years.
In the first 16 weeks of this year through April 24, Diddy’s catalog accumulated roughly 29 million U.S. on-demand streams compared to nearly 52.7 million U.S. on-demand streams for the same period in 2024. The only other start-of-the-year stretch over the last five years when Diddy’s catalog had such a low stream count was in 2020, when it racked up 29.7 million on-demand streams from Jan. 1, 2020, to April 23, 2020.
Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM reported declines in first quarter revenue and net income on Thursday.
Revenue declined 4% to $2.07 billion and net income declined 15% to $204 million for the quarter ending March 31 compared to the year-ago period. Lower operating expenses from staff cuts and the reversal of Sirius’s streaming strategy partly offset the declines, and SiriusXM’s share price was trending downward, by about -3.4%, as of noon in New York.
It was the first full quarter of company earnings since SiriusXM moved away from its effort to develop a streaming audience and doubled down on its core listener base in vehicles, and it comes amid increased economic uncertainty.
Executives attempted to fend off investor concerns saying that macroeconomic jitters are not likely to negatively impact Sirius’s subscribers, its consumption in cars or marketing revenue.
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“Our strong, recurring revenue-driven business positions us well in this period of heightened volatility,” Tom Barry, SiriusXM chief financial officer, said in a statement. “We do not anticipate that tariff-related pressure on new car sales will have a material impact on our subscriber or financial performance this year. That said, like every business, we’ll continue to closely monitor ongoing developments and broader consumer health.”
The company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) declined 3% in the quarter to $629 million from $650 million a year ago. SiriusXM’s adjusted EBITDA margin held flat at 30%.
SiriusXM reported a 303,000 decline in subscribers to bring its total number of subscribers to roughly 33 million, which drove a 5% reduction in the business division’s subscriber revenue. Average revenue per user of $14.86, a 3% decline from the prior year.
The SiriusXM division reported gross profit declined 6% to $937 million resulting in a gross margin of 59%.
SiriusXM’s podcast business, which launched two new Alex Cooper channels in the quarter, reported 70 million monthly listeners and a 33%- year over year increase in podcast revenue for the quarter.
The division also said it signed a new agreement that will put SiriusXM’s super premium 360L in all new Mitsubishi vehicles from 2025 through 2030.
SiriusXM’s Pandora and off-platform business reported a 2% decline in total revenue of $487 million largely driven by weaker advertising performance. Ad revenue declined 2% to $355 million as softer digital ad revenue was partly offset by greater podcast revenue. Subscriber revenue for the division held flat at $132 million.
Subscriber acquisition costs for SiriusXM rose 11%, or $10 million, from the year ago period as a result of contractual changes with certain carmakers, the company said. This was partly offset by a nearly 20% decrease in sales and marketing expenses, in addition to significant decreases in product and technology costs and administrative expenses.
Radio broadcaster Cumulus Media was notified by the Nasdaq Composite on Wednesday (April 23) that its shares will be de-listed from the exchange on May 2, according to a Cumulus regulatory filing. The stock will transition the same day to trading on the over-the-counter (OTC) market and will retain the CMLS ticker. Shares of Cumulus […]
Earlier this year, Univision Networks Group president Ignacio Meyer‘s role was expanded to include oversight of the Hispanic media giant’s portfolio of 35 owned-and-operated radio stations, nearly 300 affiliates, its Uforia streaming app, live-events business and networks group. The promotion empowered Meyer to fully execute his longheld vision for a streaming-era business strategy. In the wake of Univision’s $4.8 billion 2022 merger with Televisa, his division would operate as part of a global, vertically integrated multimedia company where content created by different units can move freely between countries and platforms, including VIX, the company’s growing streaming enterprise.
That content includes music, and Meyer says he’s focused on fortifying its strength as one of the “pillars”— in addition to drama and sports — of the TelevisaUnivision brand.
For the company’s consumers, “Calling music a passion point is an understatement,” the dapper, Madrid-born executive says. As a result, “The entire company is behind it.”
Meyer, who is known for booking music artists himself on Univision shows and sending personal thank-you notes afterward, is well-loved by the industry, and his office is decked out with signed gold records, awards and other memorabilia. His walls will inevitably become more crowded, given his plans to return Univision to the music business. In the early 2000s, Univision Music Group operated as a label, which was sold to Universal in 2008 (before Meyer joined the company). And in 2016, Univision’s Fusion Media Group division signed a multiyear, multiplatform deal with former Calle 13 member Residente, which is no longer active.
Meyer spoke to Billboard about those plans, as well as his strategy for harnessing the power of music to Univision’s advantage.
How has your job changed since your promotion?
The big difference is we’ve become a platform-agnostic, content- and audience-first company. We’re fortunate enough that, over the years, our ownership has invested in all the platforms. We have TV stations, local and national networks, radio stations, top digital destinations — whether it’s web- or social media-based — and now we have a dedicated streaming platform, VIX. This year, for the first time, we deployed a global content investment strategy and looked at every content investment for profitability and distribution purposes, regardless of platform or country. That’s new and different because we realize that the strategy of having the consumer at the forefront is not about pulling them to a particular platform. It’s about making sure we are everywhere they are and that they can flow freely.
How does music play into that?
Music is a passion point for U.S. Hispanics. We feel strongly that Latin music is mainstream today, and we need to follow that mainstream consumer everywhere they are. So we’ve made structural changes to allow music to travel more seamlessly throughout our ecosystem.
If you look at the history of Univision, there are isolated pockets of success with music. What was missing is the connective tissue. We’re eliminating the barriers between calling something a “radio product” or an “audio product” or a “national” product or a “local” product. It’s intellectual property. It’s music, it’s a song, it’s a brand, it’s an artist.
Can you give me an example?
This year, we treated Premio Lo Nuestro [an annual awards ceremony that recognizes achievements in Latin music] as a platform-agnostic event. It was simulcast on streaming and we had events [tied to] fashion and social with some brands. We decided to light up YouTube and social media before we aired the show, so we did our version of off-air awards and the pretelecast on digital networks. And it was all supported by audio-first talent that represented different genres. For example, we featured talent from our [Mexican musicfocused] radio show, El Bueno, la Mala y el Feo. Just as we lean into our [TV] consumer brands, we’re going to lean into our radio show brands and elevate those shows. And we’re crosspollinating. TV host Alejandra Espinoza, for example, is now also part of our Los Angeles morning radio show.
Awards show viewership in general has declined. How do you make yours profitable?
We found a way to make money because we studied the ecosystem. It’s not just a TV show. We’re communicating, we’re editorializing, we’re telling a story, and we’re using music to do so — across all of our platforms. It creates more inventory for brands to get more deeply involved. Ratings define and validate the commercial side of ad sales, but it’s not the only measure of success. Total impressions, total reach, influence — that is success.
How else are you expanding Univision’s music presence?
We are looking at entering the music business again through strategic alliances. That is new. I don’t have the format a hundred percent. I don’t know if it’s a record label, but by virtue of this vertical, content-first approach, I am going to be getting back in touch with the industry. We want to be a more regular part of the music ecosystem. It could be a strategic alliance with a particular artist, a distribution deal with an artist, a management company, a publishing company or the distribution and promotion of music. I will generate content with you. I will generate social currency. We will make money by participating in a revenue share or license fee of the actual revenue streams we generate.
Some companies are not as convinced about the viability of music as a revenue driver.
We are. We demonstrate it day in and day out with our properties, and we know we could do more with it. So that’s where the investment comes in. Could we have done it as a company 10 years ago? I think the answer is no. Structurally, we probably weren’t set up for it. The power of music is it travels with no borders. Now we have the platforms. You can consume via audio, video, streaming.
Does Univision have any music-driven shows in the pipeline?
There will be announcements made, likely at the upfronts [in May]. But our approach is holistic. For example, you’re going to see a lot more radio shows like El Flow and El Bueno, la Mala y el Feo — which are also podcasts — on TV or on VIX. We are no longer taking a TV-centric approach to business. We will have music properties, but it’s not going be a one-show-fixes-all. Scripted is still a huge vehicle for music, for example. And we have a publishing business with over 100,000 copyrights here that I’m also managing.
What really drives fans to tune in to music-adjacent programming?
Storytelling and pop culture. Music has become a synonym for lifestyle. And it has a lot to do with social media and the way artists interact with their fans. Permanence in any kind of show all year is the most important. Also, there is a lot more being done in scripted than we are getting credit for as a music industry. There are so many storylines, documentaries, entertainment shows that are in and around music. How do we get people to engage? The most successful reality shows on television today have more hours of digital content than they do of [regularly scheduled] linear content. Because there are multiple platforms, they are “always on.” The Latin market is diverse, and we are more than a media company. We are a cultural representation of the Latins who live in the U.S. and of the way we live in the U.S.
This story appears in the April 19, 2025, issue of Billboard.
The Academy of Country Music revealed the winners of the ACM Radio Awards bright and early on Thursday (April 17). Ella Langley, this year’s top nominee at the upcoming 60th ACM Awards with eight nominations, called the radio on-air personalities and radio stations to surprise them with the news of their ACM Awards.
Winners announced include multiple first-time honorees. In the On-Air categories, first-time winners include: Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase of Crook & Chase Countdown for National Weekly On-Air Personality of the Year; Josh Holleman, Rachael Hunter, and Steve Grunwald of Josh, Rachael and Grunwald in the Morning for Major Market On-Air Personality of the Year; Joey Tack and Nancy Barger of Joey & Nancy for Medium Market On-Air Personality of the Year; and Mel McCrae of The Cat Pak Morning Show for Small Market On-Air Personality of the Year.
Among radio stations, WIVK in Knoxville, Tenn. won Radio Station of the Year, Medium Market for the ninth time, a longer winning streak than any of this year’s other winners.
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The 60th ACM Awards are set to take place on Thursday, May 8 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas and streaming exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video. Reba McEntire is set to host the show, which will feature performances by Blake Shelton, Eric Church, and Lainey Wilson, with more to be named. A limited number of tickets to the 60th ACM Awards are available now at SeatGeek.
The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions (DCP). Raj Kapoor is executive producer and showrunner, with Patrick Menton as co-executive producer. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music, and Jay Penske and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers for DCP. John Saade will also continue to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
Here’s a complete list of the 2025 ACM Radio Award winners, with a notation indicating how many times each has won in this category.
On-Air Personality of the Year Winners
National Daily: Big D, Bubba | Big D & Bubba (fourth wins)
National Weekly: Lorianne Crook, Charlie Chase | Crook & Chase Countdown (first wins)
Major Market: Josh Holleman, Rachael Hunter, Steve Grunwald | Josh, Rachael and Grunwald in the Morning – WYCD – Detroit, Mich. (first wins)
Large Market: Big Dave, Stattman | The Big Dave Show – WUBE – Cincinnati, Ohio (fourth win, third win, respectively)
Medium Market: Joey Tack, Nancy Barger | Joey & Nancy – WIVK – Knoxville, Tenn. (first wins)
Small Market: Brent Lane, Mel McCrae | The Cat Pak Morning Show – WYCT – Pensacola, Fla. (third win, first win, respectively).
Radio Station of the Year Winners
Major Market: KYGO – Denver, Colo. (second win)
Large Market: WQDR – Raleigh, N.C. (fourth win)
Medium Market: WIVK – Knoxville, Tenn. (ninth win)
Small Market: WXBQ – Bristol, Va. (second win)
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
SoundExchange and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have reached a broad rate settlement that includes per performance rates rising from $0.0025 this year to $0.0032 in 2030 for non-subscription digital audio transmissions.
The expansive settlement, which covers the period of 2026-2030, allows SoundExchange and the NAB to forego the usually expensive Copyright Royalty Board rate trials, but the settlement still needs formal approval by the CRB.
Other aspects of the settlement involve gradually raising the current annual minimum fee of $1,000 per station by $50 each year, reaching $1,250 for 2029 and 2030. Additionally, the annual minimum fees will be capped at 100 stations, which means that the large radio networks will have annual minimum fees grow from $100,000 currently to $125,000 in the last two years of the settlement.
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“This settlement with broadcasters provides needed increases for the creative community we represent, and allows us to forego the costs, uncertainties, and distraction connected with any litigation,” SoundExchange president and CEO Michael Huppe said in a statement. “Striking a business solution that both parties can accept has many benefits over battling it out in court and allows us to focus resources on other efforts and services benefiting our creator community.”
Additionally, the settlement mandates shorter reporting and payment deadlines, requiring radio stations to submit data and payments within 30 days after the end of the month, down from the current 45-day timeframe. Furthermore, radio stations also must provide contractual access to performance data held by third-party vendors, which should enhance SoundExchange’s auditing capabilities.
On the positive side for radio stations, late fees for underpayments are reduced from 1.5% to 1% per month. This change, along with the predictability of incremental costs and the capping of minimum payments, offers additional financial relief.
In noting that the NAB is “extremely pleased” to reach the settlement with SoundExchange for the CRB Web VI rate setting period of 2026-2030, NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGety said in a statement that “this settlement provides critical certainty around streaming rates in a way that is sustainable for broadcasters large and small, ensuring that local stations can continue to deliver the experiences and connection that millions of listeners depend on every day.”
Furthermore, he said, “It also includes meaningful improvements in areas like audit late fees and minimum payments, helping broadcasters focus their resources on serving fans and supporting the artists who make broadcast radio so impactful, all while avoiding the high costs of litigation.”
The specifics of the incremental rate increases show that after rising from $0.0025 in 2025 to $0.0028 in 2026, the per performance rate will increase by 1/100th of a penny each subsequent year, culminating in $0.0032 in 2030.
The settlement will be published in the Federal Register so it’s available for public comment, although that doesn’t appear to have happened as of yet, at least according to a Billboard search of the Federal Register and the Copyright Royalty Board websites.
Wink Martindale, who had success as a DJ, radio personality, game show host and TV producer, died in Rancho Mirage, California, on Tuesday (April 15). He was 91.
Martindale was best-known for hosting Gambit from 1972 to 1976 (and again from 1980 to 1981), Tic-Tac-Dough from 1978 to 1985, High Rollers from 1987 to 1988 and Debt from 1996 to 1998.
He also had a short-lived career as a recording artist. His spoken-word hit “Deck of Cards” reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. The song had been a No. 2 hit for “T” Texas Tyler in 1948 on Billboard’s Best-Selling Retail Folk Records chart, a forerunner to Hot Country Songs.
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Martindale landed just one other Hot 100 hit, “Black Land Farmer,” which reached No. 85 in 1961.
The future broadcaster was born Winston Conrad Martindale in Jackson, Tennessee. He began his career as a DJ at age 17 at WPLI in Jackson, earning $25 a week. After moving to WTJS, he was hired away for double the salary by Jackson’s only other station, WDXI. He next hosted mornings at WHBQ in Memphis while attending college at Memphis State University.
In 1959, he became morning man at KHJ in Los Angeles, moving a year later to the morning show at KRLA and finally to KFWB in 1962. He was a regular presence on Los Angeles radio into the 1990s. He had lengthy stays at KGIL (AM) from 1968 to 1971, KKGO-FM/KJQI and Gene Autry‘s KMPC (now KSPN-AM) from 1971 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1987, a brief stint on KABC during 1989, and KJQI from 1993 to 1994.
Martindale’s first break into television was at WHBQ-TV in Memphis, as the host of Mars Patrol, a children’s series. While at that station, Martindale became the host of the TV show Teenage Dance Party, where Elvis Presley (who would become a friend) made an appearance in June 1956.
Martindale’s first game-show hosting job was What’s This Song?, which he hosted for NBC (credited as “Win Martindale”) in 1964-65. In 1970-71, he hosted a similar song-recognition game show, Words and Music, again on NBC.
While Martindale’s greatest claim to fame is as a game-show host, he periodically returned to music programming. Martin filled in as guest host for Casey Kasem on American Top 40 in October 1975.
In the 2000s, Martindale had a daily three-hour show on the syndicated Music of Your Life format. In 2012, Martindale hosted the nationally-syndicated The 100 Greatest Christmas Hits of All Time.
On June 6, 2021, Martindale began hosting the syndicated The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll, a two-hour weekend review of music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The production was created by Martindale, producer/engineer Peter Jay Gould of The Intervale Group, and writer/producer Gary Theroux.
Martindale was one of the hosts featured in the 2002 NBC special Most Outrageous Game Show Moments, alongside four other game show mainstays – Bob Eubanks, Jim Lange, Ben Stein, and Peter Marshall.
Martindale’s last program was the GSN original series Instant Recall, which premiered on March 4, 2010.
On June 2, 2006, Martindale received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is located at 7018 Hollywood Boulevard, adjacent to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel – site of the first Academy Awards ceremony. On Oct. 13, 2007, Martindale was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.
Martindale married Madelyn Leech in 1954, with whom he had four children; the couple divorced in 1972. He married his second wife, Sandy (née Ferra), on Aug. 2, 1975.