Louisiana Network
Encyclopedia
Louisiana Radio Network is a state radio network
based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
, that produces news, sports, business and agricultural news programming distributed via satellite to 80 affiliates throughout Louisiana
and parts of Mississippi
. Louisiana Radio Network also publishes Tiger Rag magazine, which focuses on Louisiana State University
sports.
Launched in 1974, the network was acquired in 2010 by Jim Engster, an employee of the network since the early 1980s.
and in the Louisiana State Senate
and specializes in legislative coverage. The network obtains additional audio from interviews and from affiliates throughout the state.
LRN offers various news features, a daily stock-market recap and weather coverage. During major events like hurricanes, the network airs live, hourly newscasts around the clock.
Interview clips and other audio used in newscasts are sent several times a day as a "newsfeed" to affiliates who may incorporate them into their own newscasts. LRN news scripts are also transmitted to affiliates similarly to wire services.
The LRN sports director and Tiger Rag editor host the Tiger Rag Radio Show, a live call-in show focused on LSU sports, from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. The show airs statewide on affiliates in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Houma, Slidell and Sulphur, La. as well as in Liberty and Natchez, Miss.
In 2008, LRN launched a high school football scoreboard and recap on Fridays from 10 p.m. - 11 p.m.
The investors spent several years planning the network based in large part on Brewer’s experience with the Intermountain Network, a loose organization of Rocky Mountain area stations that shared the cost of leased broadcast circuits.
Ann McMahon drew on her experience working for the Georgia Network, or GN. The McMahons also formed a relationship with GN management that would lead to an expansion of both networks in the Gulf Coast region.
LRN was still in the planning stages when the Associated Press
announced plans in 1973 to launch its own audio networks in several states, including Louisiana. The announcement prompted LRN investors to move up their launch to the following year.
The McMahons left GN and traveled throughout Louisiana to sign up affiliates for their proposed network. Stations in Ferriday, Oak Grove and Farmerville were among the first, several of which remain with the network. Meanwhile, Keogh formed the corporation, leased office space and secured audio-booth space at the Louisiana State Capitol
. Brewer stepped down from the radio station he worked for in Omaha, Nebraska
to join his fellow investors in Baton Rouge in mid-1974.
After assembling the broadcast and electronic equipment, the McMahons and Brewer constructed a studio and small office. Once the studio was linked to the broadcast circuits leased from South Central Bell
, the first LRN newscast aired in October 1974.
Brewer and Ann McMahon wrote and announced 13 daily newscasts Monday-Friday for the first year. Though the newscasts originally were timed by hand, the network used a control clock synchronized with Greenwich Mean Time
to maintain accurate broadcast schedules.
The LRN staff began expanding in 1975 with the hiring of a full-time sales manager. In 1976, a farm director was hired. Later that year, the network added daily sportscasts and more newsroom personnel, who took over writing and announcing duties from Ann McMahon and Brewer.
, to a new downtown office and studio space closer to the Mississippi State Capitol
, where MN reporters conducted a majority of newsgathering.
In 2000, LRN acquired Tiger Rag magazine, which bills itself as “the Bible of LSU sports,” bolstering its presence with daily e-mail newsletters, an expanded web site and the Tiger Rag Radio show, a weekly call-in radio show co-hosted by the magazine editor and the LRN sports director. In 2005, the magazine's operations were moved into LRN's offices.
listener surveys. Arbitron surveys are conducted mostly in larger metropolitan areas, though state radio networks typically include numerous rural stations. Rhett McMahon developed NSS to extrapolate Arbitron data so that audience sizes could be more accurately gauged for both rural and metro areas. In 1988, the National Association of State Radio Networks, which includes LRN, began using NSS to generate audience data for its 31 member networks.
. The new method lowered costs and allowed LRN to sublease its satellite equipment to other companies that still use it for their own communications. Uplink facilities were built in Jackson, Miss., and in Baton Rouge, La., to transmit programming from both networks. By 1985, LRN installed more than 150 downlinks to affiliates in both states.
In April 2010, Jim Engster, a long-time Baton Rouge journalist and radio talk-show host, bought a controlling interest in the network after getting final approval from the Federal Communications Commission
. Engster, who serves as president, renamed the company Louisiana Radio Network to reflect the medium.
Engster served as LRN news and sports director from 1983 to 1998, when he launched “Louisiana Live,” a call-in talk show that aired on more than 20 stations statewide. He left LRN in 2003 to serve as general manager of Baton Rouge NPR
affiliate WRKF and moved his talk show to that station. He returned to LRN in 2006 as general manager. Now produced from LRN studios, “The Jim Engster Show” remains on WRKF-FM.
State radio network
There are currently 30 state radio networks in the National Association of State Radio Networks. Each network operates on a similar premise but ownership of each network varies. In principle, each individual network provides live satellite fed radio programs to radio stations in their respective...
based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, that produces news, sports, business and agricultural news programming distributed via satellite to 80 affiliates throughout Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and parts of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. Louisiana Radio Network also publishes Tiger Rag magazine, which focuses on Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
sports.
Launched in 1974, the network was acquired in 2010 by Jim Engster, an employee of the network since the early 1980s.
Programming
LRN's daily broadcast schedule is a mix of live and prerecorded programs that air throughout the day.News
LRN airs a live, 3½-minute newscast at 30 minutes past the hour that is rebroadcast at 55 minutes past the hour from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The newsroom has access to microphones in the Louisiana House of RepresentativesLouisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
and in the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Senate
The Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All Senators serve four year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The Republicans control the State Senate following a Special Election Victory in District 26 by Jonathan W. Perry...
and specializes in legislative coverage. The network obtains additional audio from interviews and from affiliates throughout the state.
LRN offers various news features, a daily stock-market recap and weather coverage. During major events like hurricanes, the network airs live, hourly newscasts around the clock.
Interview clips and other audio used in newscasts are sent several times a day as a "newsfeed" to affiliates who may incorporate them into their own newscasts. LRN news scripts are also transmitted to affiliates similarly to wire services.
Agrinews
With many affiliates in rural areas, LRN is one of the few sources of agricultural news for Louisiana farmers and ranchers — a major industry in the state. LRN agrinews offers updates several times throughout each weekday on prices for cattle, grains and various crops. The agrinews programming is generated in cooperation with the Louisiana Farm Bureau's media department.Sports
LRN offers three original sportscasts throughout the day Monday-Saturday.The LRN sports director and Tiger Rag editor host the Tiger Rag Radio Show, a live call-in show focused on LSU sports, from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. The show airs statewide on affiliates in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Houma, Slidell and Sulphur, La. as well as in Liberty and Natchez, Miss.
In 2008, LRN launched a high school football scoreboard and recap on Fridays from 10 p.m. - 11 p.m.
History
One of the country's earliest state radio networks, LRN was launched in 1974 as the Louisiana Network by four investors — Rhett and Ann McMahon, John Brewer and John Keogh. The network offered live, hourly newscasts via leased broadcast circuits, or dedicated long-distance telephone lines, to 12 charter affiliates. Ann McMahon and Brewer handled newsroom functions, while Rhett McMahon oversaw engineering and Keogh handled legal matters.The investors spent several years planning the network based in large part on Brewer’s experience with the Intermountain Network, a loose organization of Rocky Mountain area stations that shared the cost of leased broadcast circuits.
Ann McMahon drew on her experience working for the Georgia Network, or GN. The McMahons also formed a relationship with GN management that would lead to an expansion of both networks in the Gulf Coast region.
LRN was still in the planning stages when the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
announced plans in 1973 to launch its own audio networks in several states, including Louisiana. The announcement prompted LRN investors to move up their launch to the following year.
The McMahons left GN and traveled throughout Louisiana to sign up affiliates for their proposed network. Stations in Ferriday, Oak Grove and Farmerville were among the first, several of which remain with the network. Meanwhile, Keogh formed the corporation, leased office space and secured audio-booth space at the Louisiana State Capitol
Louisiana State Capitol
The Louisiana State Capitol building is the capitol building of the state of Louisiana, located in Baton Rouge. The capitol houses the Louisiana State Legislature, the governor's office, and parts of the executive branch...
. Brewer stepped down from the radio station he worked for in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
to join his fellow investors in Baton Rouge in mid-1974.
After assembling the broadcast and electronic equipment, the McMahons and Brewer constructed a studio and small office. Once the studio was linked to the broadcast circuits leased from South Central Bell
South Central Bell
South Central Bell Telephone Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was the name of the Bell System's operations in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee...
, the first LRN newscast aired in October 1974.
Brewer and Ann McMahon wrote and announced 13 daily newscasts Monday-Friday for the first year. Though the newscasts originally were timed by hand, the network used a control clock synchronized with Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...
to maintain accurate broadcast schedules.
The LRN staff began expanding in 1975 with the hiring of a full-time sales manager. In 1976, a farm director was hired. Later that year, the network added daily sportscasts and more newsroom personnel, who took over writing and announcing duties from Ann McMahon and Brewer.
Gulf Coast expansion
In 1978, LRN and the Georgia Network formed Interstate Communications Inc. and launched the Florida Network. Separately, LRN bought the fledgling Mississippi Network (MN) in 1980 and moved its operations from the outskirts of Jackson, MississippiJackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, to a new downtown office and studio space closer to the Mississippi State Capitol
Mississippi State Capitol
The Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi, is the state capitol building of the U.S. state of Mississippi, housing the Mississippi Legislature...
, where MN reporters conducted a majority of newsgathering.
College sports
Beginning in the mid-1980s, LRN has at various times offered radio play-by-play broadcasts rights for several Louisiana universities, though the network does not currently. With the Mississippi Network, LRN was among the country’s first regional radio networks to acquire university sports broadcasting rights. LRN also pioneered the combination of game-day broadcasts with advertising and stadium sales of game-day programs, now common for the industry.In 2000, LRN acquired Tiger Rag magazine, which bills itself as “the Bible of LSU sports,” bolstering its presence with daily e-mail newsletters, an expanded web site and the Tiger Rag Radio show, a weekly call-in radio show co-hosted by the magazine editor and the LRN sports director. In 2005, the magazine's operations were moved into LRN's offices.
Software division
In 1984 LRN launched Network Software Systems to improve state radio networks’ ability to track audience sizes with ArbitronArbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
listener surveys. Arbitron surveys are conducted mostly in larger metropolitan areas, though state radio networks typically include numerous rural stations. Rhett McMahon developed NSS to extrapolate Arbitron data so that audience sizes could be more accurately gauged for both rural and metro areas. In 1988, the National Association of State Radio Networks, which includes LRN, began using NSS to generate audience data for its 31 member networks.
Technology upgrades
In 1983 LRN became one of the first regional radio networks to move from leased broadcast circuits to satellite transmission. The network refined a system that used a much smaller portion of a single satellite transponderTransponder
In telecommunication, the term transponder has the following meanings:...
. The new method lowered costs and allowed LRN to sublease its satellite equipment to other companies that still use it for their own communications. Uplink facilities were built in Jackson, Miss., and in Baton Rouge, La., to transmit programming from both networks. By 1985, LRN installed more than 150 downlinks to affiliates in both states.
Consolidation, ownership change
LRN began consolidating operations in the mid-1980s, selling its stake in the Florida Network to the Georgia Network. It also sold the Mississippi Network and the associated college-sports contracts. The company name was returned to Louisiana Network Inc.In April 2010, Jim Engster, a long-time Baton Rouge journalist and radio talk-show host, bought a controlling interest in the network after getting final approval from the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
. Engster, who serves as president, renamed the company Louisiana Radio Network to reflect the medium.
Engster served as LRN news and sports director from 1983 to 1998, when he launched “Louisiana Live,” a call-in talk show that aired on more than 20 stations statewide. He left LRN in 2003 to serve as general manager of Baton Rouge NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
affiliate WRKF and moved his talk show to that station. He returned to LRN in 2006 as general manager. Now produced from LRN studios, “The Jim Engster Show” remains on WRKF-FM.
Louisiana Radio Network Executive Staff
The executive staff of the Louisiana Radio Network are:- Jim Engster, President
- Michael Hudson, Vice President of Sales
- Jeff Palermo, News and Sports Director
- Don Molino, Agrinews Director
- Ben Love, Editor, Tiger Rag magazine
- Dena Manino, Louisiana Radio Network Operations Manager
- Dawn Dicharry, Tiger Rag Operations Manager
- LaTrice Knightshead, Finance Director
- Kevin Gallagher, Affiliate Relations Director
Louisiana Radio Network Alumni
Over the years, many prominent local and regional reporters have worked in the LRN newsroom, including:- Amy David, former communications director for the Louisiana Department of Insurance
- Amy Primeaux-Delaney
- Barry Green
- Beverly Lauren-Joachim
- Bill Barnes
- Chris Gautreau, senior PR writer for Zehnder Communications and former business writer for The Advocate (Louisiana)
- Chris Macaluso
- Darin Mann
- David Austin
- Debra Holden
- Gina Logue
- Greg LaRose, editor of New Orleans CityBusinessNew Orleans CityBusinessNew Orleans CityBusiness is a weekly business newspaper headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana, USA.Launched in 1980, CityBusiness covers the metropolitan New Orleans area , including the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The paper also has a Web site to report breaking news...
- J.C. Politz
- John Brooks
- John Filostrat, Commander, United States NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
- Josh Lee
- Jules d’Hemecourt, journalist, LSU professor
- Julie Baxter, attorney, former reporter and anchor for WAFBWAFBWAFB is the CBS-affiliated television station for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter southwest of Arlington. Owned by Raycom Media, WAFB is sister to Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WBXH-CA. The two share studios on Government...
- Karen Henderson
- Kevin Gallagher
- Kym CarterKym CarterLelia Kym Carter Begel is a former heptathlete from the United States, who represented her native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain...
, executive director of the Carl Lewis Foundation - Larry Davis, manager of WBRH, former news anchor for WVLA-TV
- Lisa Dimond, PR professional, former radio and TV reporter
- Kip HoldenKip HoldenMelvin L. "Kip" Holden is the Democratic Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The parish includes the state capitol of Baton Rouge and smaller suburban cities like Baker, Central City and Zachary. He was elected the city's mayor on November 3, 2004. He unseated the Republican...
, Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish - Mike Doyle
- Pat Simon, news anchor for KSLA-TV
- Patrick Wilmot
- Richard Hunter
- Robyn Eckings, news anchor for Louisiana Public BroadcastingLouisiana Public BroadcastingLouisiana Public Broadcasting is a state-run, viewer-supported state network of Public Broadcasting Service non-commercial educational Public television member stations serving the state of Louisiana outside Greater New Orleans. The stations are operated by the Louisiana Educational Television...
- Rod Starns
- Scott Charton
- Sue Lincoln
- Susan Brown
- Sylvia Weatherspoon, anchor for WBRZ-TVWBRZ-TVWBRZ, virtual channel 2 , is an ABC affiliate television station serving Baton Rouge, Louisiana, south-central and southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. It is owned by the Manship family, who also publishes the Baton Rouge daily newspaper, The Advocate. Its transmitter is located in...
- Teisha Van de Kop – senior vice president of Weber ShandwickWeber ShandwickWeber Shandwick is a public relations firm.-History:Weber Shandwick is a formation of three previous companies:*The Weber Group - Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1987, leveraging emerging technologies such as the mobile phone and the internet into the world of communications, which made the company a...
- Terry Hickman
- Todd Delaney
- Todd Dunne
- Michelle Southern
- Amy Whittington