» ESPN Radio Ups Three: The 24/7 Sports/Talk radio network has promoted current Senior Director/Programming Pete Gianesini to the newly created position of Senior Director/Radio Content and Operations. Gianesini, who joined ESPN Radio in August 1997, will now be involved in the planning for all operations and structure of the radio content division, while continuing to oversee ESPN Radio's Tirico & Van Pelt show and working with the network's radio production crew. Concurrently Mike & Mike In The Morning producer Scott Shapiro is named PD for the Bristol, CT-based radio network and Peter Ciccone rises from News Editor to Program Director/News Content.

» Food Fight! OK, so it's a little bit more serious than that, but keeping up with the barrage between Arbitron and those who either support, or don't support, the ratings company's PPM roll-out is getting more challenging by the day. After Arbitron pulled the trigger earlier than expected on commercialization of it's PPM numbers in eight markets yesterday, NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo shot back with a warning that stations and advertisers would be well advised to proceed with caution on using the numbers as they could be the subject of litigation. Meanwhile, a group of prominent broadcasters filed comments urging the FCC to "stay out" of the PPM dispute, even as the NAACP asked the agency to proceed with an investigation requested by minority broadcasters. Not to be left out, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters also weighed in, calling Arbitron's release of examples of PPM rating success stories for both Hispanic and Urban stations, "disingenuous." NABOB Executive Director Jim Winston characterized the fight over PPM "a battle for survival for stations serving the African-American and Hispanic communities."

» Sound Off! Geez, it seems like pretty much every interest group in the country has something to say either for or against PPM, but so far we've heard from only a very few broadcast programmers, managers and sellers on the front lines about the topic. So, what's your take on the ongoing war of words and the threats of dueling lawsuits? Got any advice for Arbitron or its PPM critics? Sound off by emailing us your comments HERE.

» Talk Media News Notes: Welcome back to WNYM (The Apple) and WMCA/New York PD Peter Thiele who returned to the j-o-b this week after proving that his job apparently actually is brain surgery. Thiele's back after recovering from recent surgery to repair a potentially deadly brain aneurysm ... All-Newers WINS and WCBS-AM/New York and Sports/Talk clusterbuddy WFAN can all now be heard on the Big Apple's FM band via HD channels provided by several FM sister outlets of the AM trio ... KURV/McAllen, TX welcomes 30-year military veteran Colonel Ray Coughenour as the BMP Radio News/Talker's new daily afternoon host. "Colonel Ray," a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, served in Germany, Korea, Central America, Bosnia and Iraq and is active in promoting issues for and about veterans ... Longtime Sports radio guru Rick Scott debuts his company's newly revamped website HERE.

» R.I.P. Herb Shaindlin: Look up the word "curmudgeon" in the dictionary and you are likely to find a picture of Shaindlin who died October 2 after battling cancer for the past year and a half. He was 78. Shaindlin spent the bulk of his radio career on 50kw flamethrower KFQD/Anchorage, but was also a familiar face to most Alaskans from his long-running series of commentaries on crosstown KTUU-TV. Shaindlin's fame spilled beyond the borders of the 49th state in the 1980's when he began hosting Dateless and Desperate, a much talked about radio show that became widely imitated by stations nationwide. Although he lived most of his life in the public eye Shaindlin's family told the Anchorage Daily News that no public funeral service is planned for the broadcast veteran.

» Veeps Spike Online Listening: The streaming of last week's (10/2) Vice Presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin by sixteen CBS Radio News/Talk stations nationwide resulted in a 189% increase in online listenership for those outlets between 9-10:30pm (ET) vs. the previous Thursday night. The company also reports that online listening in America's two largest markets saw CBS all-newsers WCBS/New York and KNX/Los Angeles gaining a 376% and 342% increase in online listening, respectively, during the debate time period.

» Watching Your Wallet Debuts: Hey, who isn't watching their wallet these days? The Wall Street Journal Radio Networks will debut a new daily one-minute feature with that timely title on October 13. Hosted by WSJ Radio's Patrice Sakora and Jennifer Kushinka, Watching Your Wallet will focus on helpful info for consumers and investors on topics such as planning for retirement and saving for college in these financially tumultuous times. The weekday 60-second report will air twice daily on the network, at 4:30am and 7:30am (ET).

» USRN Wants To Drive New Cars No, execs at United Stations Radio Networks aren't asking for any new four-wheeled perks, but they are hoping to drive some local radio dollars by offering affiliates use of USRN's production department to produce local station commercials for automotive and car dealership advertisers at no charge. The automotive sector of the ad market has been hard hit in recent months by the credit woes that began on Wall Street and have have trickled down to Main Street. "The cutbacks by automotive advertisers at the local level pose a very difficult challenge for operators in every market size," said USRN Chairman/CEO Nick Verbitsky. "Since our affiliates support our efforts week in and week out, it makes sense for us to pitch in for the good of our medium and support them in return."