By Rick Griffin

Salem Media Group, operator of two San Diego radio stations, KPRZ 1210-AM (“The Christian Station”) and KCBQ 1170-AM (“The Answer”), has named Steve Brodsky as its general manager for its San Diego cluster. Brodsky succeeds the retiring Dale Hendry, who was GM since 2014.

Previously, Brodsky was general sales manger of Salem’s KKLA-FM in Los Angeles since 2015. He joined Salem after 11 years with The Walt Disney Co., managing “Radio Disney” stations in Atlanta, Minneapolis and Dallas.

“I am very excited to be a part of Salem San Diego.,” said Brodsky. “My family and I are looking forward to becoming San Diegans.”

Meanwhile, KPRZ recently changed its weekday afternoon programming (2-to-4 p.m.). David Spoon, local talk show host of “The David Spoon Experience,” relocated to Dallas and has been replaced with “The Eric Metaxas Show,” a nationally syndicated talk show. Spoon, author of “Church Disappointment, His Appointment,” had been heard on KPRZ since 2012.

Metaxas’ show, heard on 143 stations, is described as “the show about everything.” Metaxas, keynote speaker at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast under President Obama, is the author of “Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World,” “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy,” “Amazing Grace” and “If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.”

Salem Media Group, part of Salem Communications, is the nation’s largest commercial radio broadcasting company providing Christian and conservative programming. Salem owns and operates 119 radio stations, with 73 stations in the top 25 media markets.

MJE Marketing Merges with Urban Park Planning Firm

MJE Marketing, a San Diego advertising and public relations agency founded by Marlee J. Ehrenfeld in 1994, announced it has merged with MIG, an urban and park planning firm based in Berkeley. The firm will now be called MJE|MIG. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The San Diego office will have 17 full-time employees, according to a press statement. MIG, founded in 1982, operates 15 offices in the U.S.

“I have long-admired MIG for its remarkable work in environmental and urban design,” said Ehrenfled. “We worked together for a year and it was clear there is synergy and chemistry in the way we worked. We share the same values, passion for doing good and a desire to work on legacy projects that inspire social change.”

“We are very pleased that Marlee will continue her work with MIG as principal in charge of our now greatly expanded communications and marketing services in San Diego,” said Daniel Iacofano, MIG founding principal and CEO. “In addition to Marlee, we are bolstered by an equally talented group of MJE creative, communications and media professionals who will continue their great work in an expanded role. The new MIG|MJE team will provide clients with higher value as we combine our collective resources in urban planning, landscape design, engineering and storytelling across all our offices.”

Carlsbad’s The PIA Agency Sells to New York’s CreativeDrive

Cheryl and Cliff Pia, owners of The PIA Agency, a Carlsbad-based advertising agency founded by the couple in 1997, have sold their company to CreativeDrive, a New York-based global media content creation company. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

According to a statement, Cheryl and Cliff will continue to manage their three PIA offices in Carlsbad, San Francisco and Portland, OR., while taking on broader responsibilities with CreativeDrive. Also, Cliff Pia has been named to the newly created position of chief creative officer of CreativeDrive.

A spokesperson said the 32 full-time PIA employees at the three offices are expected to keep their jobs. In 2017, PIA opened a 9,300-square-foot office in Portland’s Old Town-Chinatown historic district. At that time, PIA said it had 50 staff members in offices in San Diego and San Francisco, with plans to hire as many as 40 employees in Portland.

“Both Cliff and I look forward to being a part of CreativeDrive and supporting the growth of a creative and technology platform that is well positioned to meet the fast-growing global demand for high-quality video content,” said Cheryl Pia. “The way we consume and discover content is rapidly evolving. CreativeDrive expands our ability to meet this change and bridge the content gap for the clients we partner with.”

“PIA’s visually stunning storytelling combined with their creative and strategic oversight of our designated video freelancers will provide clients with a full range of highly relevant video content options, from short-form to long-form and streaming in real time, all created with cinematic quality, finish and culturally appropriate,” said Myles Peacock, CEO of CreativeDrive.

CreativeDrive, owned by Bertram Capital, operates more than 100 studios in the U.S., Latin America, Asia and Europe. The company said its crowdsourced freelance management system includes 20,000 content specialists in 180 countries. CreativeDrive’s team members, including creative directors, photographers, directors, motion graphic designers, artists and specialists, create a wide range of advertising, digital, mobile and web content for a variety of clients, such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, DreamWorks, PepsiCo, Petco and Sony.

KGTV/Channel 10 Raised $1 Million for Hunger Nonprofit

KGTV-TV/ABC10 announced that $1,055,634 was raised during its recent holiday “Month of the Million Meals” promotion, which ran from Nov. 28 to Dec. 31. Station officials said the dollar amount, which represented more than 4.2 million meals, was the most money raised since the holiday promotion began five years ago. Feeding San Diego, the campaign’s beneficiary, said it will provide four meals for every dollar donated.

“We are so grateful and inspired by the amazing support from generous San Diegans,” said Vince Hall, CEO of Feeding San Diego. “These meals will serve over 400,000 people who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.”

The promotion on Channel 10 featured an on-air donation drive with a phone bank manned by well-known San Diegans, including Chad Butler from Switchfoot, radio personalities LaDona Harvey and Ted Garcia, former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and sports personalities.

“Kicking off the event with our on-air celebrity donation drive, and continuing all of December, the team at ABC 10News really gets enthused about helping our community fund this drive,” said Joel Davis, KGTV VP and GM. “We are so impressed with the generosity of San Diegans. They gave so much that we more than quadrupled the original goal. A lot of our neighbors will benefit from their willingness to give.”

Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.

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