Elvis Duran’s over 20 year run in mornings at iHeartMedia CHR “Z100” WHTZ Newark/New York and since 2009 in national syndication will continue.
Duran has signed a five year extension with iHeartMedia to remain in place until 2022. As part of his new deal, Duran will partner on joint ventures and events with the company.
iHeartMedia, the leading media company in America with a greater reach in the U.S. than any other radio or television outlet, today announced an exclusive long-term agreement with nationally syndicated radio and digital personality Elvis Duran to renew his relationship with the company.
Under the new five-year agreement, Duran will continue his current role as host of the top rated “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show” on WHTZ, New York’s Z100, which is also syndicated nationally by Premiere Networks on nearly 80 radio stations across the country and available digitally on iHeartRadio, reaching more than ten million monthly listeners. Elvis Duran and his on-air crew connect listeners with up-to-the-minute entertainment and pop culture news, hit songs, entertainment features and celebrity interviews with the biggest names in music and entertainment. Duran’s programming and content is also available across various platforms including The Elvis Duran Channel on http://www.ElvisDuran.com and his podcast on iHeartRadio.com and on the iHeartRadio mobile app, making it the most-listened-to Top 40 morning show in the U.S.
In addition, under the agreement Duran will leverage his unique perspective as one of the country’s most well-known radio personalities to collaborate with iHeartMedia on a variety of joint ventures and events which includes hosting the company’s marque events such as the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in New York City, as well as continue to work with iHeartMedia’s talent and programming divisions, serve as a spokesperson for the company and also consult on new creative ideas and projects.
In an additional indication of Duran’s national popularity and profile, he recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 2, 2017. Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Chairman/CEO of Epic Records, L.A. Reid, presented Duran with the honor. The star is located across from the iconic Capitol Records building, where a reception was held with his colleagues, close friends, and family.
“There’s a reason Elvis Duran is considered one of the most important media personalities in the U.S. He uses radio’s unparalleled ability to create one-of-a-kind connections with listeners and advertisers over a vast array of platforms from broadcast radio and iHeartRadio to social media and events,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. “We are thrilled to extend our more than two decade partnership with such an extraordinary talent and a good friend.”
“Even after 30 years, I still see myself as someone who loves radio and connecting with listeners every day,” said Duran. “Back when I began in radio, I could have never imagined how it would continue to expand its national presence while still retaining its core as America’s go-to destination for music, community, news and entertainment. I’m excited by iHeartMedia’s continued evolution and I can’t wait to continue my relationship with iHeartMedia, our partners and our listeners.”
Duran’s radio career has spanned more than 30 years, including over two decades as the star of the wildly successful “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show.” In 1996, he began hosting the morning show on New York’s Z100 where its overwhelming success with listeners paved the way for a national syndication deal in 2009.
In 2015, Duran was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame, and the National Association of Broadcasters nominated him in 2015 and 2012 for a Marconi Award in the “Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year” category. The radio industry has also honored Duran and his program with a number of awards and nominations such as “Best Morning Show” by New York’s Achievement in Radio Awards, “Personality of the Year” by the Radio Music Awards, “Best Personality” by Radio & Records, “Best Top 40 Disc Jockey” nomination by Billboard Magazine Radio, and “Best Major Market Top 40 Air Personality” by Billboard/Airplay Monitor. Additionally, Duran served as an event chair for the GLAAD Manhattan Awards in 2012, where he was also honored for his contributions to the community.
The moment that iHeartMedia declares bankruptcy, I fear that iHeartMedia will soon be forced to auction off every single radio station they’ve ever owned and I’ll no longer be able to enjoy listening to music on their iHeartRadio app. Even many of iHeart’s high-profile programs and personalities will very likely get laid off, including the aforementioned Elvis Duran, Ryan Seacrest, Romeo, Kane, Hollywood Hamilton, Enrique Santos, Rush Limbaugh, Delilah, Bobby Bones, DJ Envy, Angela Lee, Charlemagne tha God and others. iHeartMedia already killed off Pete Tong’s Evolution Beatport Show at the end of last year, and I was disheartened when they did so. I managed to fill in that void by looking for other Friday and Saturday night mixshows on their iHeartRadio app. iHeartMedia pretty much caters to me, since I use their iHeartRadio app every day.
First, iHeart won’t necessarily go bankrupt. The creditors will just restructure it even more to prevent it. Second, so Pandora or Spotify somehow don’t? Gotta ask, Mike, how old are you? If you’re older, iheart may cater to you, but if you’re younger, I’d bet that you’d swing more towards the other apps I mentioned.
Also, the reason why Pete Tong got the push is because of the downtrend in overall TSL of dance music and the lack of an extension. He didn’t get *that* much of attention except for being plugged in to some late, late Saturday or Sunday night slot. If you’re looking for dance shows, try checking Radioplayer UK. You’d be impressed and amazed by how much better they do with the dance genre as a whole.
I think that iHeart has pretty much given up on Evolution altogether–in favor of Pride Radio and maybe even the new EDC Radio (which, though, might just be short-term). Beyond that, for essentially full-time Dance formats originating on terrestrial outlets, I always think of New Zealand’s George FM and Mexico City’s Beat 100.9 (XHSON).
The Evolution radio channel is still on the iHeartRadio app, so it’s not likely that iHeartMedia decided to dump the Evolution radio network. I think it’s just the fact that Pete Tong’s contract with Premiere Networks has expired and that’s the reason why Evolution Beatport is no longer in syndication on iHeartMedia’s radio stations.
I’m not completely certain, but it looks like the translator-focused Evolution in Honolulu (K256AS) flipped sometime last year. And, I’m not sure how many HD subchannels still carry it. (The last time I saw a carriage list on the official Evolution site [at http://www.iheartevolution.com], there were only a few. However, the dedicated sites for Boston and Tampa are still up.)
To confirm what I just mentioned about Honolulu…
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/108269/jamz-quickly-returns-to-honolulu
Apart from Boston’s WXKS-107/.9 (a/k/a “Kiss-108”), are there any other iHeart Media Top-40 stations that don’t run Elvis Duran??
If there are, I wouldn’t be surprised if iHeart Corporate orders these stations to dump their local morning shows and run Duran.
As an example, Bostonians one morning soon may turn-on their radios, expecting to hear Matt Siegal, and instead hearing Elvis Duran.
Many–or maybe even most–of iHeart’s large-market CHRs either still are local in mornings or carry a non-Elvis syndicated show. In fact, Elvis doesn’t even have a monopoly among Premiere-syndicated CHR morning shows originating at iHeart stations; at the very least, both KZZP-based Johnjay and Rich and WIHT-based Kane are offered alongside Elvis.
Other morning shows that are syndicated on iHeartMedia’s stations include Brooke and Jubal, Ace and TJ, and Kidd Kraddick.
Yes. Quite a few, actually. He’s already been tried out on a few of their major markets like Atlanta and St. Louis, and he didn’t make it. As for Matty, he’ll keep getting his contract renewed. Both him and Elvis aren’t getting any younger, and if Kiss wanted to take their mornings in a different direction, they would hire some younger people for the spot.
Forgot to add, Matty won’t get pushed out because Kiss also does well with adults, and he brings in money for that cluster.
I agree with the fact that Elvis Duran cannot monopolize the morning drive slot on all of iHeartMedia’s Top 40’s. Likewise, I don’t think Ryan Seacrest has a monopoly over the Mon-Fri midday slot, since l listen to iHeartMedia’s stations that run commercial free blocks following Elvis Duran’s show, including 107.1 Tallahassee, 103.7 Chattanooga, and 92.1 Tulsa.
Except iHeartMedia doesn’t dictate to its stations what shows to carry.
Centralized programming is more commonplace in England, Australia, etc. Not so in the U.S.A.