Nick Cannon and Skyview Parting Ways
By Radio Ink Nick Cannon took over mornings at Meruelo Media’s Power 106 in June of 2019. He then partnered with Skyview Networks to launch into syndication in early 2020. A report out Wednesday, confirmed by Skyview, states that the show has come to an end. Radio Insight was the first to report the confirmation from Skyview that they have ended their radio relationship with Cannon. Here’s the statement Skyview sent to Radio Ink Thursday morning: “As of December 30, 2022, Nick Cannon is no longer partnered with Skyview Networks for the syndication of Nick Cannon Radio and Cannon’s Countdown. We look forward to continuing our ongoing relationship with Nick on our influencer platform and wish him the best in his future radio endeavors.” Cannon took a leave from his radio shows in the Summer of 2020 following anti-Semitic comments he made on a podcast. The comments got him fired from a CBS TV show. He came back to radio a few months later. Cannon issued Radio Ink the following statement. “I will have a major announcement for you in the next few weeks. As a result, I am sad to say that I had to make the decision to wrap up Nick Cannon Radio and Cannon’s Countdown. I look forward to continuing my relationship with Skyview Networks in the influencer space. I am so grateful to all of our wonderful radio partners.” When Cannon was launched into syndication by Skyview three years ago, it included a cover story in Radio Ink Magazine. Cannon has also hosted the NAB’s Marconi awards.
Growing Consumer and Business Interest in the Metaverse Expected to Fuel Trillion Dollar Opportunity for Commerce, Accenture Finds
Consumers eager to become active users of the metaverse and show high interest in problem-solving experiences related to fitness, retail, healthcare, travel and media Growing consumer and business interest in the metaverse as a creator economy and tool to enhance day-to-day tasks is expected to fuel a $1 trillion commerce opportunity by the end of 2025, according to findings Accenture released at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. According to the research, more than half (55%) of the roughly 9,000 consumers surveyed see the metaverse as a business opportunity for creating and monetizing content. Most (89%) C-suite executives also believe the metaverse will have an important role in their organization’s future growth, according to a parallel survey of 3,200 C-suite executives. The findings estimate 4.2% of company revenues, or a total of $1 trillion, could come from metaverse experiences and commerce by the end of 2025. The findings indicate 55% of consumers want to be active users of the metaverse and nearly all of them (90%) want to do so in the next year. The top features consumers want are easy-to-use interfaces (cited by 70%) and access to a wide variety of applications (68%), which outperformed more “form” features, such as flashy headsets (55%) and the ability to personalize avatars (55%). While gaming is appealing for 59% of metaverse users, only 4% of consumers see the metaverse as just a gaming platform. In fact, 70% say they intend to use the metaverse to access products and services across media and entertainment, fitness, retail, travel and healthcare. These preferences vary by age, with younger consumers more interested in media and fitness and those older in accessing health services in new ways. Still, what all have in common is a desire to enhance the things they already do every day, such as the experience of working-out at home (cited by 60%) or improving interactions with health professionals (55%). To fully capture the opportunity, businesses should be strategic about business model changes being enabled by the metaverse while engaging with all stakeholders to inform the experiences they create:
Nutley Little Theatre Readers’ Theatre Presents ‘Our Lady of 121st Street’
This character-driven, dark comedy revolves around the death of Sister Rose, a nun who was much loved by an uptown neighborhood’s residents. As the play begins, we discover that Sister Rose’s body has disappeared; the funeral room where the empty casket sits is closed off as a crime scene and the mourners are forced to hang around waiting for news. Due to these extraordinary circumstances, emotions are running especially high. As the characters wait, they confront each other and themselves about their shared pasts and uncertain futures. OUR LADY OF 121st STREETWritten by Stephen Adly GuirgisDirected by Andre Ezeugwu Sunday, May 15 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The cast includes: George Seylaz – GailGina Sarno – Marcia/SoniaAndre Ezeugwu – RooftopNick Pascarella – BalthazarChimera Thompson – InezNatali Parra – NorcaPatrick Horan – Father LuxPeter Vaiknoras – FlipRichard Pearson – Victor/PinkyGabriel Drouet – Edwin While our Readers Theatre events are free, we do accept donations via Venmo, GoFundMe, PayPal, check, or cash. We thank you in advance! **This show is not suitable for children.****Please note all patrons of Nutley Little Theatre must show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test taken within 48 hours of the performance date. Masks are optional. All cast and crew members are vaccinated.* For more information, please visit NutleyLittleTheatre.com. Contact Information https://nutleylittletheatre.com/ https://www.facebook.com/nutleylittletheatre
Team Will Or Team Chris: Where Do You Stand?
Social media and real-life conversations have been on fire debating “who was to blame” for what occurred at the 94th Academy Awards. No matter where I was on Monday, the doctor’s office, or my first Monday morning call, Will Smith striking Chris Rock on stage was all anyone could talk about. However, I invite us all to take a step back before initially taking sides and teams. What instead is needed is for us to bring light to the lack of transparency and oversight that was on display last Sunday night. How could a major worldwide televised venue like the Academy Awards not vet the script of Chris Rock prior to airing? If the committee did vet his script, the question then is how could they allow him to still try to make a comedic joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s medical condition called alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss on the scalp and elsewhere? Is making fun of someone’s medical condition a “free game” in the comedy roasting world? Is it too much work for a committee to review scripts before they’re heard before the world? Is it too hard for an actor to be transparent with another actor, and let them know their “joke” prior to saying it, especially when it is directed at their family member? Actors and actresses are taught to take everything that comes their way- that even amidst the worst criticism and jokes about them, they have to display the ability to transcend and just ‘shrug it off like a hitter who was intentionally beaned by the pitcher. What happened on Sunday night at the Academy Awards demonstrated that actors and actresses are in fact human- that they too can be vulnerable and break down just like the rest of us. Even within the world of sports, world-class athletes such as tennis star Naomi Osaka and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles have been portrayed by some in the media as “weak” for succumbing to their emotions and mental state – for not rising above. This type of expectation for the world’s most famous people won’t ever end, but we as a society need to take a step back to assess why we’re so sometimes quick to cast negative shadows on stars, and not ourselves. The points surely have been heard. Many on Team Chris said he should’ve filed charges, or that he was ‘not in the wrong’ for his saying to Jada Pinkett Smith, “Jada, can’t wait for G.I. Jane 2. ”In the 1997 G.I. Jane film, Demi Moore starred as a woman named Jordan O’Neil who enters a newly-created, physically rigorous Navy SEAL program. Moore shaved her head for the part. Some Team Chris supporters even try to go as far to say that G.I. Jane was an admirable character and that Jada and Will shouldn’t have taken it as an insult. I’m honestly lost for words at how some can try to defend Rock’s “joke.” Team Chris supporters also claim Will Smith thought the joke was actually funny until Jada showed disgust on her face. But, this claim can’t really be proven. Sometimes people deal with their anger by trying to initially laugh it off. I can tell you more than one time when I was so angry that my first reaction was not to yell or move, but rather to oddly laugh. If you’re wondering if I think Will Smith’s slapping of Chris Rock was justifiable in the heat of the moment, my answer would be no. If you ask me, could Will have handled the situation better, my answer would be yes. In a world plagued by unnecessary aggression and violence, we as a society have more than ever become further sensitized against the use of violence to handle a situation. What’s happening in the world does make an impact. Will could have asked Chris for the microphone, and given a powerful off-the-cuff speech on how you have to draw a line in what type of jokes and targeted people can be used for comedy. I don’t know personally if I would have handled the situation any differently than Will Smith did. I too would have been boiled with anger and the need to put an ill-humored and offensive “joke” in its place. The true stars that rose from the chaos at the Academy Awards in my mind were Denzel Washington and Bradley Cooper. Denzel told Will after the incident, At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.” Denzel was there to support Will, as was Bradley Cooper who was seen embracing Will and giving him love when he needed it the most. And, at the end of the day, we should not be people broken down by political parties, religions, or “teams”. We should be humans united by love.
8 tips to follow if you’re trapped in a crushing crowd
Provided By: NPR & BILL CHAPPELL When does a crowd become dangerous? Should you push back in a crush of people? Those are some of the questions you might be asking yourself after eight people died and more were hurt during a Travis Scott performance at the Astroworld Festival in Houston. The tragedy put a spotlight on how organizers and emergency staff handled the event. But it also raises direct and personal questions about what we should do to avoid an unsafe crowd — and how you can help yourself and others. “Most of the time what we do is we give advice to organizers” about managing crowds, says Mehdi Moussaïd, a research scientist in Berlin who studies crowd behavior. “But actually, we don’t give so often advice to the people that are in there.” Looking to help the average person, Moussaïd, who works at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, came up with “tips to survive” a dangerous crowd situation. We should note that while Moussaïd has studied a number of cases where crowds became deadly, he’s not afraid to be in a crowded environment, like at a concert. “I actually like it,” he says. “I used to be afraid of crowds, before I was a scientist in this domain. But I think that was mostly because I didn’t know how the crowd works and what the behavioral mechanisms are. Now that I know how it functions, I feel kind of comfortable. So yeah, I’m not afraid anymore.” Moussaïd, who wrote a book called Fouloscopie: Ce que la foule dit de nous, or Crowd study: What crowds say about us, compiled his tips for a widely cited article in The Conversation. In an interview with NPR, he expands on his advice. Interview highlights 1. Keep your eyes open for danger signs Once you’re in a crowd and you start feeling the pressure, I’m afraid it’s almost already too late to act. The best thing you can do is to try not to put yourself in this critical situation. The thing is, most people don’t realize that it’s dangerous. We don’t have this culture of being aware of the dangers of the crowd. And yes, indeed, it’s dangerous. The most important advice is to be aware there could be a danger if the crowd is too dense around you. 2. Leave as soon as you sense the crowd getting too dense If you start feeling uncomfortable, but you still have time and some freedom of movement — then just go away. It’s something that people don’t have in mind. They’re like, “Oh, I don’t feel good, but the concert is nice, so I’m going to just keep pushing and go toward the concert.” No, don’t do that. If you feel bad, it means that really it’s dangerous. Just move away and keep yourself safe. 3. Stay standing, and don’t put a backpack on the ground Staying on your feet is important because if you fall, it’s going to be really difficult to stand up again, precisely because there are too many people. It also helps others because if you fall, you’re going to be an obstacle for your neighbors who are most likely going to fall in turn — possibly on your body — and this will create a chain reaction, a snowball effect. You don’t want to be under this big pack of people. That’s absolutely dangerous. Obstacles are terrible. It could be a body in this worst-case scenario, but even just a backpack left on the ground would be an obstacle that increases the risk that somebody would fall on it. 4. Lack of oxygen is the killer in crowds, so preserve space around your chest People often ask me, “Why do we die in a crowd? What’s the cause of death?” Well, the cause is not enough oxygen. You’re so densely packed that your lungs don’t have enough space to do their job, and to keep you breathing. That’s one thing that is superuseful that people should be aware of: The problem is going to be breathing. If you can maintain sufficient space for you to breathe, you’re going to be OK. Put your arms out just in front of your chest and hold them there. In this position, you would have some space, just a little bit, to push for half a centimeter or just 1 centimeter — enough for you to keep breathing. It’s not going to be comfortable. You’re going to be feeling really bad, but at least you’ll survive. 5. Don’t push. Move with the crowd In a crowd, everything is about chain reactions. When you push your neighbors, they’re going to push their own neighbors and it eventually hits an obstacle. Then the pushing is amplified — and it’s going to come back to you. If you feel a push, don’t push back. Don’t amplify this wave. Just go with the flow. It’s not going to be comfortable, you’re not going to like it, but it’s the best way to behave in this situation. Don’t add pressure in the system. In the worst moments, you have multiple pushing waves at once. This is what we call crowd turbulence. You don’t want to be where two waves cross, because the pressures come from opposite directions, and that’s really dangerous. When we observe crowd turbulence, we see death, a tragedy. 6. Avoid walls and solid objects When we look at where the injuries and fatalities happen in a tragedy, most of the time they happen along solid obstacles. That makes sense, because if you go with the flow of pushing waves, you’re fine. But if you’re next to a wall, you cannot just go along, because the wall is preventing you. So the wave is going to crush you against the wall. That’s where you don’t want to be — so avoid obstacles. 7. Learn to detect crowd density Density is really the critical variable, that’s the first thing we measure. It’s expressed as the number of people per square meter,
Nielsen: African Americans Consume More Media
By Radio Ink -October 27, 2021 New data shows African Americans spend more time consuming media than any other group, yet there continues to be a lack of representation of the collective Black community. Nielsen’s 2021 African American Consumer Report explores the influence of Black Culture on content and media trends. “As the media industry looks to be more inclusive of Black storytellers and brands look to grow their bottom lines and brand awareness with Black audiences, understanding who we are, where we’re connected, and how we’re changing is as important as ever,” according to Charlene Polite Coreley, VP, Diverse Insights & Partnerships.” Key findings from the report include: The preference to connect with meaningful content extends to audio with traditional radio reaching 92% of the U.S. Black population each week, and this same group of listeners averaging over an hour and a half a week of streaming audio. Traditional radio continues to prove the power of its reach providing the gossip, pandemic guidance, and breaking news that’s kept Black listeners connected this year, for over 21 million minutes a week. Black listeners aren’t just streaming audio more than other audiences, they’re listening closely when brands reach out—averaging a 73% brand recall for podcast ads. According to Nielsen, “As Black Americans continue to video stream, listen to radio and podcasts, as well as buy Black, they continue to lead the conversation and stay connected through social media — having an unprecedented impact on brands and what consumers watch, purchase, and listen to.” The reports authors make the point that Black Buying Power is significant – $1.57 Trillion in 2020. Nielsen’s 10th-Year African American Consumer Report Explores The Power Of The Black Community From Moment To Movement
Who “Can” Be the Next 007?
Daniel Craig recently has both stirred and shaken headlines when he offered this response to whether a woman should next sit behind the Aston Martin’s steering wheel: “There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?” It hurts me to say this as I’ve always admired Craig’s role for a long time as Bond, but he’s wrong. First of all, there is no part as good as James Bond. 007 is the #1 secret agent and has achieved worldwide status throughout the franchise’s cinematic history. Judi Dench played a stellar role as M, the Head of Secret Service Intelligence, starting with GoldenEye in 1995 and finishing with SkyFall in 2012. In Skyfall, it is M who revives Bond’s career after he fails at a series of physical, medical, and psychological evaluations. It’s almost as if Craig and those advocating for 007 to be only a white male have forgotten all about the original Charlie’s Angels who led American crime drama on ABC from 1976 to 1981, producing 5 seasons and 115 episodes (and more recent Charlie’s Angel’s films). What did Charlie’s Angels do? It showed in 1976 that women can have all those “Bondish” characteristics (sexy, cunning, brave, adventurous). 1976 and now we’re in 2021 hearing an argument on how 007 shouldn’t be female? Am I missing something? Have those preached against 007 being female hide in a cave when Brie Larson showed the true kick-ass power a female character can have when she played Captain Marvel? Did they hide in their cave again when Scarlett Johannson revealed her grit and determination to be a top-class spy? And, even worse is the hate and racist comments actor Idris Elba has received about whether or not he could follow Daniel Craig as 007. Elba, like the class-act he is, responded with honesty and humility when speaking to Vanity Fair about it: “You just get disheartened, when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be.’ And it really turns out to be the color of my skin. And then if I get it and it didn’t work, or it did work, would it be because of the color of my skin? That’s a difficult position to put myself into when I don’t need to.” A survey of 2,201 adults by The Hollywood Reporter found that 63% of Americans supported the idea of Elba playing Bond. Lashana Lynch who just played Nomi (cryptonym “007”) in the recent No Time to Die film, also received hate comments when tabloids billed as Craig’s successor to Bond in the franchise. In an interview with The Guardian, Lynch gave her thoughts on this: “The response was generally positive, but there were some very personal messages to me, like Insta DMs and Twitter and just conversations that my friends had heard or overheard on the tube that were really mean, dark and reminiscent of an age I wasn’t even born in, where women and black people weren’t allowed to move in certain spaces. So it also reminded me about the work that I still have to do to try to change the world in a little way that I know how.” How Idris Elba and Lashana Lynch responded to hate should remind us all that we have to continue working to break racial and gender stereotypes – in every facet of life from entertainment to the everyday workplace. So, really the question that should be asked is: how much longer can the Bond franchise survive with a 007 that can only ever be allowed to be a white male?
