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2001-05-20: Licence news this week ranges from the auction of a new FM licence for Brisbane in Australia that is expected to fetch around Aus$70-80 million to the issuing of more low power FM licences by the US Federal Communications Commission.
In Australia, as well as the Brisbane licence (RNW May 17), the Australian Broadcasting Authority has also awarded a new permanent community licence from July for Bacchus March in Victoria to the Bacchus March Community Radio.
It was the sole applicant and is already broadcasting under a temporary licence.
Canada has been fairly quiet, with licensing activity on the radio side including the approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) of a special events licence for a community FM in the Ottawa, Ontario - Hull, Quebec, region to broadcast "Radio Jeunesse 2001", from 24 June to 24 July 2001.
The CRTC has also approved additional transmitters for Silk Fm Broadcasting Ltd. to add a transmitter at Magna Bay to rebroadcast the output of CILK-FM Kelowna, British Colombia and for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to add a transmitter at Churchill to rebroadcast CBWK-FM Thompson, Manitoba.
In Ireland, the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) has launched an initiative in conjunction with Foras na Gaeilge (Bord na Gaeilge) to promote greater use of the Irish language in the country's independent radio sector.
In the UK, as well as licensing activities, the Radio Authority has published its annual report for 2000 (a 1.1Mb PDF file -see link to site below) and an election special version of its Quarterly Programming and Advertising review (612 kb PDF).
The annual report highlights the award during 2000 of 12 new digital multiplex licences to take the UK total issued up to 20 and of seven new local analogue licences to take the total in issue to 248.
The Authority also issued 464 short-term restricted services licences, its highest annual number yet.
During the year the Authority dealt with 537 complaints compared to 517 in 1999, upholding 148; in the first quarter of this year it has dealt with 118 complaints, upholding 20 of them.
Four concerning advertising and the remaining 17 concerning programming of which the greatest number upheld were 13 concerning taste and decency offences.
In March, the Authority issued ITN News Direct, the FM London news and information station, with a 'Yellow Card' warning the station that the Authority felt it was operating outside its remit with regard to technical quality, the use of picture-based scripts and a lack of emphasis on London-oriented stories.
This month it noted improvements in all three areas and withdrew the 'Yellow Card'.
On the licensing side, the Authority has received only one application for the Bournemouth digital multiplex licence; on the analogue side it has re-advertised one licence, renewed one and put two more on its fast track procedure.
The licence being re-advertised is that for the Northampton AM licence where a rival bid was made to that of present licence holder Classic Gold Digital Ltd.
Re-awarded was that for 1458 Big-AM in Manchester which got automatic renewal because it provides a service on the local digital multiplex.
Being fast-tracked are the Gloucester AM and FM licences where only one declaration of intent to apply was received in each case.
These were from existing licence holders, Classic Gold Digital broadcasting as Classic Gold on AM, and Cotswold Broadcasting Group Ltd, which is owned by GWR and broadcasts as Severn Sound on FM.
The digital licence application for the Bournemouth area is from GWR subsidiary Now Digital Ltd.
It is offering seven commercial services in addition to carrying BBC Radio Solent.
The planned commercial services are:
*Contemporary hit radio --2CR FM (provider: Two Counties Radio Ltd.)
*Gold-Classic Gold (provider: Classic Gold Digital Ltd.)
*Adult contemporary - Wave 105 (provider: Wave 105.2 Ltd.)
*Rhythmic dance - The Fire (provider: Fire Media Ltd.-subject to confirmation)
*Rock -Provider: to be advertised
*Soul - The Rhythm (provider: Digital Programme Services Ltd.)
*Easy listening -Saga (provider: Saga Radio Group Ltd.)
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission has posted a number of appointments on its web site; it has also seen new members proposed by President Bush (see RNW April 7) appear at Senate Commerce Committee nomination hearings.
All three sailed through and the nominations are expected to go to the full Senate next week.
FCC chairman William Powell got more of a grilling at the same hearings.
The FCC has also granted 10 more Low Power FM licences, to take the current total to 35, nearly half of which are to religious organisations.
The new stations are in California (1), Georgia (2), Indiana (1), Oklahoma (4), Rhode Island (1) and Utah (1).
The first 25 licences were granted last month (RNW April 26).
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2001-05-20: Los Angeles talk host Michael Jackson, described by the Los Angeles Times as an "L.A. radio institution" is now back on the city's airwaves following two re-formattings.
The first, of KRLA-AM in December last year to an all-sports format, put him off the air after some two years at the station.
Before that he'd been with KABC-AM for 32 years.
The second format change went his way as KLAC-AM last week moved into talk radio from a nostalgia pop format.
It's billing itself as a gentler alternative to sister talk station KFI-AM.
South African-born Jackson described his return as "almost overwhelming emotionally."
Jackson received offers from elsewhere in the US whilst he was off air but says there was no chance of his leaving.
"I invested my whole life in L.A., and there wasn't any chance of me leaving," he told the paper.
He also said that KABC made him an offer but it was an "insulting" one of a show at night.
"They wanted to bury me in the evening, and that didn't interest me in the least," he said.
The paper says Jackson's civility remains his trademark, contrasting with that of rivals, and Jackson said he thought that this would now be strength.
"I totally believe we're nearing the end of that combative trend," he said. "It's run its course, and I think people are once again searching for more civilized discourse."
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2001-05-20: The link with radio is a little tenuous but we couldn't help but notice a short report in the Chicago Tribune that gives a new angle on the business reaction to events.
The CBS news radio station in Michigan, reporting on the reaction to the delay in the execution of Timothy McVeigh said that motels and restaurants in Terre Haut, which had capacity reservations for the second week in May, would suffer severely from the delay.
The president of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce said he was very upset the attorney general had not consulted them when a new date for the execution had been set because the motels and restaurants were already committed during the second week in June.
Chicago Tribune report:

2001-05-19: Emmis' Chicago station WKQX-FM is giving out just the thing at its Jamboree concert today�thousands of pairs of earplugs bearing the station logo.
The station's morning shock-jock Erich "Mancow" Muller has reacted with disbelief according to Robert Feder in the Chicago Sun-Times who quotes him as saying," ''This, to me, is something our enemies would give out with our logo on it."
"Don't they get the irony?''
However programme chief Dave Richards defended the plan, saying, ''Most radio and music industry people use earplugs to protect their hearing. "
" We thought they would be a nice gift to our listeners." "They are designed so you can still hear the music, but you won't sustain potential damage.''
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2001-05-19: Vatican Radio is to move its medium-wave transmission centre out of Italy under a settlement of a dispute which at one time had Italy's then-Environment Minister Willer Bordon threatening to cut power to the complex at Santa Maria di Galeria near Rome (See RNW March 17).
Bordon has since resigned. (RNW May 5).
Under the agreement, the Italian government will finance the move and Vatican Radio said in a statement that it has contacted European centres to try and find a new site by the end of August.
Short-wave transmissions from the existing complex will continue but shorter antennas will be used to reduce emissions according to Italian state TV.
No statement was made as to whether a prosecution charging Vatican Radio's director and two other Vatican Officials with polluting the environment will be pressed or will now be dropped.
The Vatican says its emission levels are in accordance with international standards which are less strict than those of Italy and, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry, has asked Italy to ensure that no further housing is built in the area near the transmitter site, which was in a sparely populated area when first constructed.
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2001-05-19: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has named Adrian Mills, currently head of its TV and Youth programming and also managing director of the CBC web site, as the new executive director of CBC Radio.
Mills, aged 42, will take over his new role at the start of August.
With radio, he will be responsible for "the architecture, content and long-term development" of CBC Radio One and Radio Two, both nationally and regionally.
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2001-05-18: UK Capital Radio has reported an 18% drop in group profits before tax from �22.2 million to �18.2 million for the first six months of this year compared to 2000.
It says that the slowdown in the UK advertising market means it is now forecasting overall profits for the full year will be a quarter down on the �41.3 million for 2000.
For April and May radio revenues were down 15% on last year and the group could give no clear guidance for the rest of the year.
Despite this the shares, which had dropped steeply in anticipation of the warning (RNW May 17) recovered by some 7.5% to close the day at �7.40 on Thursday compared to �6.90 on Wednesday.
Revenues were up 22% to �72.6 million, radio revenues up 10% to �64.9 million, because of acquisitions but on a like-for-like basis the increase plunged to only 2%.
Radio profit, the core of the group, fell 8% from �23 million to �18.5 million, interactive losses increased from �1.3 million to �1.9 million, and interest cost the group �3.3 million compared to a �100000 profit in 2000.
Within the radio figures, the company's established brands suffered a �2 million fall in profits to �21.9 million, development brands Xfm, Century & Beat lost �1.5 million more to make a total of �2.1 million and digital radio lost �1 million more to reach a total loss of �1.3 million.
Earnings per share were down from 20.9 pence to 16.1 pence.
The group, which spent �1.5 million on marketing in the period, reported a recorded 8 million listeners per week, up from 6.3 million and its share of UK commercial hours was up to 17% from 14%.
For Century, Beat and XFm total revenues were up 28%.
Chief Executive David Mansfield said that although the period had been difficult commercial radio had outperformed other broadcast media and he believed national advertisers would turn increasingly to radio.
Other UK radio stocks which had fallen yesterday also recovered some ground; Scottish Media Group (SMG) were up 3.2% to �2.10 and Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) were up 2.3% to �11.00.
In the US, shares in both satellite radio companies rose in the wake of the news that Sirius is planning to increase its subscription charges (RNW May 17); both Sirius and XM were up around a further 8%on Thursday after jumps of nearly 20% and 10% respectively on Wednesday.
In its first quarter report, Sirius has just reported an increase in operating expenses from $26.8 million to $39.3 million as it gears up for its service launch.
Its net loss applicable to common shareholders went up from $43.8 million to $64.4 million; on a per share basis the loss fell from $1.35 to $1.34.
On the deals side in the US, Salem Communications has added yet another California station. It has agreed with Pacific Spanish Network to acquire KLNA-FM, Sacramento, for $8 million and has already signed a local marketing agreement to operate the station.
KLNA-FM will change from its current dance music format to Salem's contemporary Christian Music "The Fish" format which Salem already operates in, Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas and Los Angeles.
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2001-05-18: Radio Australia has now started to boost its transmissions to Asia with services going from its transmitters in Darwin.
The services in English and Indonesian are being transmitted from the transmitters of Christian Vision Australia at Cox Peninsular (See RNW Aug 8, 2000).
The transmissions complement programmes relayed on a number of local stations in Asia and its multilingual online service.
Donald McDonald, Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), said the new Darwin broadcasts would significantly boost the service that Radio Australia currently provides to Asian audiences.
"Since the beginning of this year, Radio Australia has been working to enhance its service to audiences in Asia," he said.
"We are now broadcasting to the region via transmission sites in Singapore, Taiwan and the northern Pacific, and the Darwin site completes this important jigsaw puzzle."
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2001-05-18: Irish state broadcaster RT� is to retain the maximum 28% shareholding it is permitted in its transmission and distribution division NETCO.
The division was set up after the Irish government decided to separate broadcasts and transmissions in the Republic.
NETCO will be obliged to provide services for new digital terrestrial stations as well as existing TV and radio customers including independent radio stations.
RT� thinks that as well as new radio and TV business it will be able to gain income by renting mast space and providing other services to telecommunications operators.
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2001-05-17: The new commercial licence for Brisbane in Australia is to be auctioned on May 30.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority says it had received five applications for the licence by its deadline.
Keen competition is expected with estimates being that the licence will fetch between Aus$70-80 million.
Leading contender is DMG Group which is trying to build up its Australian network and which has spent some Aus$225 million on the licences alone for its new Sydney and Melbourne stations.
The Sydney station, Nova FM, went on air in March.
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2001-05-17: More satellite radio developments in the US look like increasing the pressure on Sirius as competitor XM seemingly forges ahead.
XM's first satellite, "XM Rock" has now been formally handed over to XM by Boeing Satellite Systems and has begun broadcasting as part of preparations for XM's launch this summer.
Rock is now in its final geo-stationary orbit at 115 degrees West; sister satellite "Roll" is in orbit but still has to be moved to its geo-stationary position at 85 degrees West.
Meanwhile Sirius has noted in an SEC filing its plans to increase its monthly subscription of fee by $3 to $12.95.
If XM holds its price at the original $9.95 this will mean that it is likely to be both cheaper and also on air first, although XM has said it will have some commercials on its music channels whereas Sirius has said it will have none.
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2001-05-17: Share prices on the slide in the UK and more deals in the US head the radio business file.
In the UK, Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH)shares dropped 16% to �10 after the company announced the results of its strategic review conducted together with its advisers, Goldman Sachs.
The review concluded that recent weakness and volatility in the UK stock market meant they and potential purchasers felt it unwise to continue take-over talks for the moment.
The company in its statement also took a dig at rivals Scottish Media Group (SMG).
It said "As part of this process, the Board has also sought further discussions with SMG (Scottish Media Group), following its acquisition of a 29.45% stake in the market at a price of up to 1,595p per share, to seek clarification of its intentions towards SRH."
"However, SMG has been unwilling to meet. The Board of SRH will continue to keep under review the options open to it in the light of any change in stock-market conditions, or change in SMG's position."
SMG has built up its stake in SRH to the maximum permitted without launching a full bid but under current UK regulations would have to sell off its television licences to do this.
SMG shares also fell by some 6% to 203.5 pence.
Shares in UK Capital Radio also fell, this time by 8% to �6.80 amidst rumours that the company is to issue another profits warning and analysts downgrades in advance of the company's release today of its half-yearly results.
Capital has already issued a profits warning in March this year (RNW March 23) when it said full year profits could drop by a tenth.
Analysts now suggest the fall could be double this, particularly noting that Capital has been more vulnerable to the drop in dot.com advertising since it gained most from the boom last year.
In addition latest audience figures showed that listening hours fell by around 5% compared to last year.
For London flagship station Capital-FM the fall was even more pronounced at nearly 14% and the defection to Virgin radio of DJ Steve Penk (RNW May 15)is expected to hit them even more in the short term at least.
In the US, Regent Communications and Christian-oriented Salem Communications have been involved in deals.
Regent has announced agreement with The Cromwell Group, Inc. affiliates for subsidiary Regent Broadcasting Inc to purchase six Peoria, Illinois, stations for $20 million.
The stations involved are WVEL (AM) / WGLO (FM) Pekin; WPPY (FM) Glasford; WRVP (FM) Eureka; WIXO (FM) Bartonville and WFYR (FM) Elmwood.
$14 million of the purchase will be in cash, the remainder in Regent stock; Regent has already started providing sales, marketing and programming services to the stations pursuant to a time brokerage agreement.
Regent has also announced completion of its acquisition of StarCom Inc for $5 million in cash(See RNW June 24, 2000).
The deal adds KLZZ-FM, KKSR-FM and KXSS-AM serving the St. Cloud, Minnesota market to Regent's existing stations in the market -- KMXK-FM and WWJO-FM and WJON-AM.
Salem is to spend $9 million to purchase KBZS-AM in Palo Alto, California from In Radio License, LLC and $735,000 to purchase WVBB-AM in Richmond, Virginia, from Cox Radio Inc.
Both stations are expected to provide a talk format.
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2001-05-17: Infinity-owned WCKG-FM, Chicago, has apologised publicly for jokes about Mexicans that were aired on the Buzz Kilman/Wendy Snyder hosted midday comedy-talk show on May 4, just before the May 5 Mexican public holiday.
Callers to the show shared jokes based on ethnic stereotyping and Robert Feder in the Chicago Sun-Times reports that this led to formal complaints from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Latino Council on the Media.
The groups wrote to the station," "It seems inconceivable that in this day, when great strides have been made in race relations between blacks and whites, that Latinos continue to be fair game for bastions of racists that still exist here and were given voice by your station"
"The damage done to Mexican Americans and other Latinos by Buzz Kilman's and Wendy Snyder's gross misjudgment cannot be overstated."
Snyder subsequently opened the show with a statement apologising for "any poor judgment we may have used in airing that segment (of the show)."
Kilman was absent from the show involved as his wife has just given birth to their first child.
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2001-05-16: More news of US talk show hosts with Howard Stern and Dr Laura Schlessinger leading the pack, the former with his opening in Seattle and the latter because her show is to be moved to an 11PM start time by WABC-AM New York.
The show currently airs from 10 AM to noon but is not getting the desired ratings.
Dr Laura, whose show is syndicated by Premiere Networks, commented that her "traditional perspective on families and children is not as well-received in New York City as it is in other major markets."
In Seattle, Stern is being aired by Entercom's KISW-FM on weekdays from 3 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., live for the first three hours followed by a re-broadcast.
The Seattle Times says that "T-Man" Rob Tepper from KUBE 93-FM, considered to be Stern's main local competition, is to announce his own syndication deal with Premiere Networks.
The paper quoted him as saying they in a year he'd be in 25 cities.
Tepper also launched a pre-emptive verbal strike against Stern, telling the paper, "He's an old man. He's past his prime."
"He's lost his wife, he's lost his ratings, and now he's in the process of losing his dignity."
"He should have retired when he had a chance a few months ago."
Stern is syndicated by Westwood One which has just signed a three-year deal with another host, Jim Bohannon, who has two shows, a nightly three-hour "The Jim Bohannon Show" and one hour daily news magazine, "America in the Morning."
In Boston, Tom Birdsey, former co-host at Entercom's WAAF-FM, has now been named afternoon drive co-host with Storm Zbel on WFNX-FM.
The hiring follows a positive response to a recent guest appearance on Zbel's show (see RNW May 6).
At another Entercom Boston station, talk format WRKO-AM, WAAF's music director and midday host, John "Ozone" Osterlind, has been teamed up to co-host a new morning show with Peter Blute. It's due to debut on May 29.
And in the UK, significant changes are on the way for Chris Evans' morning show on Virgin Radio.
Three sidekicks are moving on, two -- Holly Samos and Dan McGrath -- leaving the company and the third John Ravell to get his own show on the station.
Replacing them are two current Virgin employees, Matt Pritchard and Louise Pepper.
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2001-05-16: Three stations are in the final bidding for WJHU-FM, the John Hopkins University station according to the Baltimore Sun-Times.
They are a local group, Maryland Public Radio, headed by WJHU talk host Marc Steiner, WBUR-FM which is owned by Boston University, and American University's WAMU-FM, Washington, DC.
Maryland Public Television, which had shown interest in purchasing the station and had offered some $5 million, is not on the final list.
Its president Robert J. Shuman told the paper that the John Hopkins' evaluation "seems to feel that we lack the radio expertise we need to operate WJHU, irrespective of our 31 years as a broadcaster."
James T. McGill, Hopkins' senior vice president for finance and administration said that of the three final contenders, WAMU offered some possible synergies, WBUR was a "marvelously successful public radio station" and the local appeal of Steiner's Maryland Public Radio group had been combined with a serious financial proposal.
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2001-05-16: Internet radio listening dropped by nearly six per cent in the week to May 13 according to Measurecast, whose Internet Radio Index, based on a 100 point at the start of the year, now stands at 130 compared to 138 the previous week.
Putting gloss on the figures, Measurecast says that 14 of last week's top 25 stations showed an increase in Total Time Spent listening (TTTSL) over the previous week, while eight broadcasters enjoyed an increase in their estimated audience size, or CUME(CP).
At the top of the company's rankings by TTSL there was jockeying for rank but no changes in contenders.
UK Virgin Radio, which has just announced that 2 million people have downloaded its proprietary free player, Radio Free Virgin, jumped up two places; it says that since it launched its record function on the player last month (See RNW April 7) use has gone up 20% and streams delivered by nearly 40%.
For the week to May 13, Measurecast's top five stations in the period ranked by TTSL were (with previous week's Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) and Cume persons (CP), a measure of the cumulative audience, in brackets) were:
1): Listener Formatted MediaAmazing TTSL 170,345 (159,976); CP 52,106 (46,411) - Position unchanged
2): Adult Alternative Virgin Radio TTSL 61,671 (58,000 ); 9,371 CP (10, 303 ) - - previously 3rd.
3): Internet only Alternative Rock 3WKUndergroundradio TTSL 51669 (48,903) CP 15857 (13,548 ) - Previously 4th
4): Internet only Classic Rock Radio Margaritaville TTSL 48,991 (58,202 ); CP7,496 (8,472 )- Previously 2nd
5): Internet only Hot 100 TTSL 31135 (40,845); CP 13021 (6,136) -Position unchanged.
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2001-05-15: UK Virgin Radio has hired DJ Steve Penk from Capital Radio to host its 4-7pm drive time slot in place of Nick Abbott.
Penk has been with Capital more than four years and in January moved from its weekday morning slot to host its weekend 8am to 12am weekend breakfast show.
He is best known for a 1988 prank when collaborator Jon Culshaw (Now in BBC's Dead Ringers - see RNW April 9) got through to British Prime Minister Tony Blair when pretending to be opposition leader William Hague.
Virgin says it is looking for another show for Abbot, who stands in for Chris Evans when the latter is away on holiday.
And in the US veteran talk host Bruce Williams is to leave Infinity-managed Westwood One. Affiliates have been told his last show will be on June 15 and there is speculation that Williams will join Las Vegas-based Talk America Radio Networks.
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2001-05-15: The US Federal Communications Commission has levied another "indecency" fine, this time of $16,800 on WCOM-FM in Puerto Rico for airing on its morning show in October 1999 what the FCC termed "graphic, patently offensive references to sexual activities or sexual organs."
WCOM was owned at the time by Chancellor Media, which means that Clear Channel now has to pay the fine which was reduced from $21000 on the basis that this was a first offence.
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2001-05-15: XM Satellite radio has announced that Quincy Jones has officially joined the XM Satellite Radio Artists Family.
His activities for XM will include hosting several multi- part musical documentaries in which he will use real-life experiences to weave a history of contemporary music.
He will also act as a creative consultant.
On the share price front XM has been boosted considerably following the successful launch of its second satellite (RNW May 10).
It is now above $12 a share, more than three times its low of $3.87 earlier this year but only a quarter of its high last year of just under $47.
Sirius has also bounced back but by rather less; its shares are now around $13, up from a low of just over six dollars and a high last year of $60.
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2001-05-15: UK TalkSport has officially complained to Britain's Office of Fair Trading about what it says is BBC abuse of the Corporation's market position in its purchase of "bundled" radio and television rights to the England v Greece Soccer World Cup qualifying contest.
TalkSport Chief Executive Kelvin MacKenzie said the BBC had made it a condition that the European Broadcasting Union gave it exclusive rights and spoke of being "cut out of the bidding by the BBC's dirty tricks department."
Last year, the BBC took TalkSport to court last year over its broadcast from an Amsterdam hotel room of commentary based on watching a TV broadcast as if it were live on Euro 2000 soccer to which the BBC held radio rights. (See RNW June 14, 2000).
It says how they sell their rights it is a matter for rights' holders.
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2001-05-14: We couldn't resist the temptation today to start with a comment from UK Sunday Times stalwart Paul Donovan in his weekly radio column.
Commenting on a time when he stood in for two weeks on the BBC Radio 2 show The Arts Programme he says that it taught him two things, one about himself and the other about presenter Sheridan Morley who has hosted the show for 11 years.
"First, I could not broadcast to save my life. Second, Morley is worth every penny of whatever it is they pay him."
What more could a broadcaster want from a critic?
The Arts Show celebrates its 1000th edition on Friday at 21:30 GMT- (link to web site below).
As usual, however, there is a little more to Donovan's column.
In this case he raisesa point one applicable to broadcasters in general - the reaction of stars to hostile comment.
Morley, who is also a theatre critic, says his main fear was "that we would lose the guests I had insulted in print. I underestimated their need to sell shows, films and books."
"That," writes Donovan, " is a brutally honest assessment of the way these programmes can, and do, serve publicists."
"But they can, and do, serve listeners as well, by entertaining, informing, educating, reporting and assessing. "
He then notes that from three editions a week the show has now been cut back to one and doesn't get to cover as much and also that it has in effect been marginalized through its time slot late on a Friday evening.
Writing in the Irish Times, Harry Browne, also comments on programmes being pushed to the margins, in this case in a column on radio documentaries in Ireland.
"Radio documentaries here, " he writes, " haven't been so much trashy as personal; or arty; or historical; or atmospheric; or evocative; or all of the above."
"And while these tendencies suggest the radio documentary is seen as increasingly marginal in terms of reaching a large audience, much of the work has been memorable and some of it genuinely superb."
Browne then comments on a number of programmes he considers praiseworthy both from state broadcaster RT� and the commercial sector.
Particular attention is given to a programme from South East radio in Wexford, Forgotten People, in which "producer/presenter Margaret Hawkins follows Patricia Quinn in her quest to unearth the true story of a long-dead great-aunt, Rose.
"A combination of oral history, eventually-discovered documentation and some educated surmise reveals a miserable tale of Ireland in the early 20th century, " comments Browne. "It seems Rose, a woman in her 30s, perhaps with an out-of-wedlock birth already behind her in 1907, was forced to marry by her family, literally pushed to the altar in floods of tears."
"It would be fair to say the marriage didn't exactly click: Rose may have refused to live with her new 'husband'; she certainly was committed first to the workhouse, then to the asylum (diagnosis: "melancholia")."
"On the bright side, her ordeal didn't last long: she was dead within months, probably of TB. (Some 17 per cent of Irish deaths at this time were caused by tuberculosis, we heard.)"
Taking a step over the Atlantic, priorities, as outlined in the heading on a Cincinnati Enquirer column by John Kiesewetter, seem to be rather different.
The piece is called "Talk radio: Voice of the combative man" and has a sub heading, "Entertaining or inflammatory, what really counts are ratings."
Kiesewetter then looks at Bill Cunningham's afternoon talk show on WLW-AM and sums up priorities quite neatly as follows.
"The whole show, as far as talk radio is concerned, is to entertain listeners through the best mix of sharp points of view."
"But year after year, talk radio has been accused of fomenting divisiveness, promoting stereotypes and being a destructive voice in the community."
"In response, talk radio says it's just a business that gives the audience what it wants."
"(Talk radio) can also inform, but my No. 1 job every day is to make the show entertaining," says Mike McConnell, WLW's morning talk host.
Kiesewetter continues by saying that in the past two decades, "talk radio has shifted from subdued discussion of public affairs to a raucous exchange of opinions and feelings."
"Critics would say far worse, that talk radio has become an irresponsible barrage of exaggeration, veiled threats and half-truths shrewdly manipulated by hosts."
Later Kiesewetter writes that talk radio fans say "It's just entertainment.", entertainment which he says comes in various forms "from Mr. McConnell's good-natured banter with callers, to Mr. Cunningham's World Wrestling Federation-style verbal theatrics, to J.R. Gach calling Japanese "yellow monkeys" (which cost him his WLW job in February)."
"Talk radio's critics, however, worry about its corrosive effect. They say talk radio's extreme emotions and cavalier attitude toward facts can present a distorted view of public opinion and promote divisiveness."
One critic is Judge Nathaniel R. Jones of the Cincinnati-based U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals who says the "just entertainment" defence is "a disingenuous and dishonest rationalization."
Jones, a former NAACP(National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) lawyer, adds that his many years of civil rights struggles makes him particularly sensitive to the misinformation and slurs he says are the fabric of many talk radio shows.
"There are people who believe what they hear," he says, "and they form judgments and make decisions based upon what they hear."
Pat Barry, 3-6 p.m. weekday host on WKRC-AM comments, "Some people don't get it. They believe all this stuff, and that's really scary."
"The vast majority of people -who don't call in - know it's entertainment."
Barry's view is in part backed up by comments made by Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, in his 1996 book, Hot Talk: All Talk All The Time.
Kurtz says talk radio has no interest in reason or moderation.
"Outlandish opinion-mongers on the left and right tend to drown out everyone else. Extremism in the pursuit of ratings is no vice."
Kiesewetter also points out that targeting to specific demographics has also had its influence, noting that in Cincinnati which was recently riven by rioting, only 6% of WLW-AM's audience is African-American, and only 11 per cent of the WDBZ-AM audience is white according to Arbitron.
He also notes that the 1987 repeal of the "fairness doctrine" requiring equal time for both sides of an issue and technological chance have shifted show finances as well as audiences.
The WLW Midday show in 1985 had an audience primarily of housewives talking about health, medical and lifestyle issues.
Now, partly thanks to mobile phones, males between 25 and 54 have taken over and can call from their cars. Lincoln Ware, 51, talk host and program director at WDBZ, one of the United States' few African-American talk stations, says as more men tuned in, women tuned out because they don't enjoy conflict as much.
Previous Columnists:
Previous Donovan:
Previous Kurtz:
BBC Radio 2 web site:
Irish Times - Browne:
UK Sunday Times - Donovan:
Cincinnati Enquirer - Kiesewetter:

2001-05-14: Plans announced in February by Radio Liberty for broadcasts to the north Caucasus including a Chechen language service have led to threats from the Russian government to close down the station's Moscow office.
The Russians see the plans as US attempts to stir up dissent in Chechnya where Russia has been waging a bitter war against separatist guerrillas.
The plans were announced announced following a Congressional mandate which was backed by such senior figures as senior figures in Congress such as Senator Jesse Helms, Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee.
Radio Liberty insists the broadcasts will go ahead but if the Russians do take action they could stop broadcasts using Russian transmitters which would push Radio Liberty to use short-wave transmissions from elsewhere which would have a weaker signal and cost more.
During the Cold War, the then Soviet authorities, repeatedly jammed transmissions by US government funded Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.
Radio Liberty has already been in conflict with the Russian authorities over its cover of Chechnya.
Last year its reporter Andrei Babitsky disappeared for a while in Chechnya and there were fears that he was dead (See RNW Feb 5 2000) but eventually he turned up in neighbouring Dagestan (See RNW Feb 27, 2000)
Previous Babitsky:
Previous Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
RFE announcement of North Caucasus service:

2001-05-13: Former BBC radio and TV writer and broadcaster Douglas Adams has died of a heart attack in Santa Barbara, California, aged 49.
Adams was best known for writing " The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' which began life as a BBC radio series before spawning a TV version, and novel.
He began his career at the BBC after graduating from Cambridge University, England.
He said got the idea for the "Guide to the Galaxy" when hitchhiking around Europe in 1971 with a copy of A Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe, adding that he was lying in a field a little drunk when it occurred to him that somebody should write a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Adams has also been a regular broadcaster on science and technology.
Douglas Adams web site:

2001-05-13: Licence news this week is again mainly centred on smaller scale stations in Canada and the UK and in the US Commissioners Susan Ness and Harold Furchtgott-Roth, who are soon to leave the commission, used Thursday's Federal Communications Commission open meeting to say their goodbyes.
In Australia the Australian Broadcasting Authority has been inactive on the radio front but has published a paper on what it terms Cultural and Social Policy Objectives for Broadcasting in Converging Media Systems.
The paper is the result of a joint research project by the ABA and the Key Centre for Cultural and Media Policy; it looks at how the country may have to develop policies to achieve cultural and social ends as technology affects broadcasting, both radio and television.
In Quebec, Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved
*a new 0.6 watt developmental French-language FM campus radio service at Sainte-Foy;
*a conversion of CJAN-AM in Asbestos to a 6000-watt French-language FM station broadcasting the same middle-of-the-road music format
*and an FM transmitter at T�miscaming for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to distribute the service of CHLM-FM Rouyn-Noranda.
In Niagara Falls, Ontario, it has published notice of an application for a frequency switch under which services currently broadcast by commercial station CJRN-FM will be switched to the frequency used by non-commercial tourist information station CLZ-FM and vice-versa.
Finally the CRTC has published a circular to all stations regarding its practices in cases of non-compliance with regulations.
In Ireland all was quiet and in the UK, the Radio Authority has published details of applications for two local licences and the award of a new digital multiplex licence.
The former concern the re-advertised licences for the Thamesmead area of South-East London and the Haringey area of North London.
For Thamesmead it has received three applications.
They are:
*from existing licensee Millennium Fm Ltd., which is a full-service station;
*from Starmela.Co.Uk Ltd, which proposes a service, targeted at young Asian listeners,
*and from Unity Fm Ltd, which proposes a cross-cultural service, based on hits from the 7os onwards.
For Haringey, there were two applications.
They are from existing licensee London Greek Radio Ltd., which provides a service for Greek-speaking listeners, and Fusion Fm Ltd., which proposes an adult contemporary international music format.
On the digital front, the Authority has awarded the new multiplex licence for Southend & Chelmsford to GWR subsidiary Now Digital Ltd., the sole applicant. Proposed is a service of 8 channels plus the local BBC station Radio Essex.
The commercial services proposed are:
*Contemporary hit music - Essex FM (provider: Essex Radio Ltd.)
*Gold - Breeze (provider: Classic Gold Digital Ltd.)
*Classic and contemporary soul - The Rhythm (provider: Digital Programme Services Ltd.)
*Dance music- Provider: to be decided
*Easy listening - Provider: to be decided
*Country music - Ritz (provider: RMG plc)
*Music from the movies & shows - Flix (provider: Infinity Media Ltd.)
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission has been busier on the telephone side than broadcast.
On the radio side it has proposed to levy a fine of $15,000 on KMCA-AM/Burney, California, for operating on an unlicensed frequency and from unauthorised locations and for failing to maintain a local or toll-free phone in its licence community.
Station owners M.C. Allen Productions have 30 days to appeal.
Previous ABA:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous GWR:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ness:
Previous Furchtgott-Roth:
Previous UK Radio Authority:
ABA web site: (links to research paper - 850 kb rich text file)
CRTC Web site:
FCC web site:
UK Radio Authority web site:

2001-05-12: The Paul Harvey radio show The Rest of the Story has now passed 25 years on air.
It began on May 10, 1976, and has been a family affair throughout its existence with Harvey's son as writer and his wife as executive producer.
ABC networks now claim a weekly audience of some 15 million for the show and in November last year signed a ten-year deal with 82-years-old Harvey worth an estimated $100 million (See RNW Nov 4).
Harvey himself missed the anniversary show because he has laryngitis although he hopes to be back on air on Monday.
His son Paul presented the show in his father's place.
Previous ABC, US:
Previous Harvey:

2001-05-12: UK Chrysalis group has reported a pre-tax loss for the six months to the end of March as strong performances at its radio, music and television divisions was overwhelmed by dot.com losses.
The former made a before-tax profit of �4.3 million in the six months to the end of February but the latter lost �9.1 million to take Chrysalis to �5.6 million in the red.
EBITDA before new media losses was up 158% Chrysalis reported a 12% audience increase for its radio stations-- it operates stations under the Arrow, Heart and Galaxy names -- and its radio division had a 38% rise in revenue.
It also reported success for the MXR consortium in which it is the lead shareholder and which has been awarded each of the four UK digital multiplex licences for which it applied -- those in the North East, South Wales/Severn Estuary, West Midlands and North West.
Radio division operating profits before interest and tax were �3.69 million, some 85% of the group's total.
Chrysalis says it has suffered from the slowdown in general radio revenues over the past two months but is confident that its radio stations Commenting on the results Chief Executive Richard Huntingford said, "Our Radio Division has continued to significantly outperform the market as a whole and the organic growth potential of our relatively young stations gives us great confidence that we will be able to maintain above average revenue growth."
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous Huntingford:
Previous MXR:
Chrysalis results:

2001-05-11: Latest UK radio audience figures from RAJAR (Radio Joint Audio Research) show the lead that the BBC had in the quarter up to December 2000 has been maintained.
For the period to March 25th, its weekly reach was 65% (43372000) compared with 64% (43370000) in the previous period and its share of listeners was 52.2% compared with 51.7%.
For network radio the BBC weekly reach was the same at 55% with weekly reach up from 39.9% compared to 39.7%.
Commercial Radio's total reach was marginally up from 30871000 to 31031000 but its percentages remained the same at 64% reach and 46% share.
Comparing the latest figures with those up to December,
*BBC Radio 1 lost around 375000 listeners and had a weekly reach of 21% compared 22% and share of 9.1% compared to 10%;
*BBC Radio 2 increased its audience by some 182,000 to end with weekly reach of 23% compared to 22% and share of 14.1% compared to 13.6%;
*BBC Radio 3 lost some 60,000 listeners to end with a weekly reach of 4% (as before) and share of 1.1% compared to 1.2%;
*BBC Radio 4 gained some 255,000 listeners to end with a weekly reach of 19% compared to 18% and share of 11.3% compared to 10.8%;
*and BBC Radio 5 gained some 160000 listeners to end up with a weekly reach of 12% compared to 11%and share of 4.3% compared to 4.1%.
On the commercial side for national networks,
*New Atlantic (Atlantic 252) lost some 25000 listeners to end up with the same 2% reach but an 0.5% share compared to 0.6%;
*Classic FM gained some 14000 listeners to end up with the same 13% reach and a 4.7% share compared to 4.4%;
*TalkSport gained 86000 listeners to end up with a 5% reach compared to 4% and a 1.7% share compared to 1.3%;
*and Virgin gained 37000 listeners to end up with the same 5% reach and a 1.5% share compared to 1.4%.
The increase for TalkSport will be particularly welcomed by the Wireless Group which has already moved its audience demographic into the young male audience rather than older women with consequent improvement to its advertising pull (See RNW April 30 ) and below.
Previous Atlantic 252:
Previous BBC:
Previous Classic FM:
Previous RAJAR:
Previous TalkSport:
Previous UK audience figures:
Previous Virgin:
Previous UK Wireless Group:
RAJAR web site (links to quarterly reports):

2001-05-11: In the UK Independent, Martin Kelner, looking ahead to the release of the UK radio audience figures has a column headed, "Are we to deduce that TalkSport listeners are constipated homosexuals with an unhealthy interest in astrology?"
In it he comments of the figures that, "They will be a triumph for everyone."
"They always are; once the station bosses have spun them to show that, yes, while it is true that fewer people may be listening, and while those people may listen for only a short time before switching off, the station can still boast more self-employed Volvo-driving cheese-lovers than all its leading rivals."
" Hurrah. As Mark Twain almost said, there are lies, damned lies, and radio audience figures."
He then picks up on the point of audience demographics to look at how TalkSport, which may have failed to increase the audience significantly has changed its demographic so that it is "now dominated by young, up market males Mondeo men, if you like who should be rather attractive to advertisers, a theory voiced in regular on-air promotions."
He follows up by looking at some of the advertisements he had picked up in "admittedly sporadic" listening to the station.
They included those for "Sunraisia prune juice (and apologies if that is spelt incorrectly, as I have yet to see the drink actually on sale anywhere)."
"If you have heard those ads, you will remember them: excruciating poems extolling the health-giving properties of the mighty Australian prune, recited in a monotone by what sounds like a dangerously catatonic Dame Edna Everage."
Kelner also comments on adverts for "TalkSport Singles, a dating service, which I find confusing, given that the station now seems to be aimed at an almost exclusively male audience."
On a more serious point, he refers to TalkSport head Kelvin MacKenzie's objections to the RAJAR diary system.
MacKenzie thinks this system skews the figures to the benefit of the BBC and produces less accurate figures than would a system such as the Arbitron portable people meter which measures what people are actually listening to with no reliance on them having to note things down (See RNW September 5).
Previous Arbitron:
Previous MacKenzie:
Previous RAJAR:
Previous TalkSport:
UK Independent article:

2001-05-11: An Internet study by Scarborough Research finds that Americans' use of the Internet is increasing whilst that of other media is declining amongst Internet users although many people have a TV or radio on when online.
The decline in use of other media was not great and of traditional media, radio fared best.
Compared to nearly a quarter of respondents who said they had watched TV less, only nine per cent reported listening to radio less after they became Internet users; In addition , 11% reported an increase in total radio listening with 17% listening frequently or occasionally to Internet radio when online.
Internet radio listeners had in general been online longer than average; some two thirds of them had been online for three years or more compared to 55 per cent of the total of Americans online.
Scarborough Research report:

2001-05-11: Journalists who own a third of the shares in the Moscow Echo radio station have put in a $4 million bid to take control of the station according to the Financial Times.
The station is still controlled by exiled Russian tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky but his quarter of the shares is due to go to state-backed gas giant Gazprom under a court ruling that will give it control of Gusinsky's Russian media assets.
Gusinski's Media Most is appealing against this decision.
Gazprom already owns 25% of theMoscow Echo plus one share and would gain control of the station if it gets the extra shares.
Gazprom has already taken over Gusinsky's NTV television channel despite opposition from journalists who saw the action as a way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to effectively control Russia's broadcast media.
Alexei Vendediktov, chief editor of the station, told the paper his proposal was for the journalists to gain bank financing for the share purchase of the station, which he said was profitable.
"If Gazprom refuses our offer, it will show that this fight is about politics and not economics," he said.
Financial Times report:

2001-05-10:More US radio third quarter results this week so far show revenues still down but optimism from executives as cost cutting measures start flowing through to the accounts.
First Christian-oriented Salem Communications, which seems to have avoided the slow down and reported record first quarter results.
At a conference call it put this down largely to the fact that its advertisement market differs from general stations with particular emphasis on such segments as health/medical, financial, and charitable organizations.
Salem's net broadcasting revenue was up a third on a year ago to $30.1 million, and broadcast cash flow was up 3$ to $10.2 million; same station net revenue was up 12.2% and BCF was up 11.4% for the quarter.
Broadcast cash flow as a percentage of revenues fell to 33.9% for the quarter compared to 43.8% in Q1, 2001, due to the impact of start-up costs for new "Fish" contemporary Christian music-formatted stations WYGY-FM Cincinnati, WFSH-FM Atlanta, KFSH-FM Los Angeles, and WZFS-FM Chicago.
Salem says that the stations are expected to produce favourable results for both revenues and BCF from the second half of this year onwards.
EBITDA was up by 13.7% to $5.8 million for the quarter and overall Salem reported a net loss of $4.7 million for the quarter (20 cents a share), compared to a net loss of $1.7 million, (7cents a share) for Q1, 2000.
Salem is forecasting a healthy continuation in the second quarter and for the full year it projects net broadcasting revenue of $139.6 million, a 26.8% over 2000; broadcast cash flow of $56.1 million, a 13.6% increase. Same station net broadcasting revenue is forecast to be 10% up and BCF 12% up for the year.
In the Spanish language market, there was also a positive feel.
Radio Unica was upbeat over revenues it said were up 14% if the figures for the 2000 Gold Cup soccer tournament were excluded; actual revenues were 10% down to $5.6 million but EBITDA, which had no soccer costs to include, wasn't as far in the red -- it improved from $4.6 million in the red in Q1 to $4 million for this year's first quarter.
The net loss applicable to common shareholders for Q1, 2001, was $10.3 million (49 cents per basic and diluted share) compared to a net loss of $8.9 million (43 cents per basic and diluted share) for Q1, 2000. UNICA is forecasting radio income to grow by 12-15% for full 2001.
For Entravision, TV was the strong performer but its other division, radio, outdoor and print, fared much worse.
Pro forma radio revenues were down 8% to $13 million and cash flow was down 11$ to $3.2 million.
Part of this was attributed to the decision to re-format 25 stations at the end of last year which led to a 13% fall in revenues but Entravision says the new formats are already showing rating gains.
In the general market, there was also an upbeat message from Cumulus with CEO Lewis W. Dickey Jr. speaking of "continued improvement in operating performance" and "meaningful expense reductions."
The figures themselves showed net revenues down and broadcast cash flow up in all the three sets provided;
on a historical basis they were revenues down 6.6% to $44.6 million with BCF up nearly 70% to $3.8 million;
on a same station basis (which covers 167 stations) revenues were down 2% to $29.1 million but BCF was up nearly 112% to $5 million;
and on a pro-forma basis revenues were down 2.3% to $29.1 million but BCF was up 37.5% to $9.3 million.
On a historical basis after tax cash flow was $7.2 million in the red (20 cents a share) compared to $9.5 million in the red (27 cents a share) in Q1, 2000.
The market reacted favourably to the results with Cumulus shares rising by around 14%.
Previous Cumulus:
Previous Entravision:
Previous Dickey:
Previous Salem:
Previous Unica:

2001-05-10: XM has now successfully launched its second satellite, "Roll" from a Sea Launch platform.
An hour after its flight, XM said contact has been made with a tracking station in Australia and all systems were operating normally.
Barring problems, the satellite, which will be positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 85 degrees West longitude, will operate in conjunction with sister satellite "Rock", already at 115 degrees West, to provide cover of the whole US.
"Rock" was launched on May 18 after last minute problems led XM to abort the January launch of "Roll", which had been due to go into space first.
The launch potentially gives XM an edge over its rival, Sirius Satellite Radio. Although the latter's satellites were launched successfully earlier, XM may be able to start its service first as it seems to be ahead in progress with its chip delivery programme following Sirius problems, now said to be overcome, which had caused signals to fade. (See RNW April 13).
Previous Sirius:
Previous XM:
Sirius web site:
XM web site:

2001-05-10: The US Federal Communications Commission on Thursday dropped from the agenda of its open commission meeting an item concerning media cross-ownership.
It was to have considered a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to change current rules, which prohibit cross ownership of newspapers and broadcasters in the same market.
No clue was given as to re-scheduling of the discussion but there was speculation that the delay was because of irrenconcileable differences between Commissioners Harold Furchtgott-Roth, a Republican who wants minimal regulation, and Gloria Tristani, a Democrat who wants to keep restrictions.
There was further speculation that the matter would now be put on hold until after new commissioners are appointed to the FCC to replace Commissioners Susan Ness and Furchtgott-Roth, who are leaving, and to fill a vacant post.
Previous FCC:
Previous Ness:
Previous Furchtgott-Roth :
Previous Tristani:

2001-05-10: A look today courtesy of the Boston Globe at what it calls a "tiny, non-commercial, ultra-low-power community radio station."
The station has just moved to the site of a former travel agency and doesn't know how many listeners it has although it does know it has listeners from as far away as Europe tuning to its web site.
The station involved is 100-milliwatt Allston-Brighton Free Radio -ABFR-AM.
Its founder and general manager Stephen Provizer says that in a car with a good radio its signal travels for maybe a couple of miles but for those in a house maybe only half a mile.
It was closed down for three days last week while it moved to its new studios but was back on air on Thursday, well in time for its Saturday night public affairs show which gets w wider audience through a re-broadcast on WJIB-AM.
The station has been going just over a year and the Globe describes it as a "broadcasting nonentity, a quirky combination of community theatre, neighbourhood bulletin board, amateur radio hour, and antiestablishment politics, all produced on good intentions and a shoestring budget."
The station has only basic equipment and its broadcasters pay the station to go on air, not the other way round.
Hosts pay $2 a show, guests $1 and the range of output from pet shows though a wide range of music to personal finances and progressive politics with a variety of languages thrown in for good measure.
It is legal although Provizer previously ran a pirate station, 15-watt Radio Free Allston, until the Federal Communications Commission shut it down after a complaint from WROR-FM about interference.
Provizer then found out about Part 15 broadcasting, a low-power radio niche "too small for the FCC to bother with" and the owners of a building let him put up a 10-foot whip antenna and he was back on air at a cost of about $12,000.
Broadcasting via the Internet is a key part of his strategy, Provizer says. The signal is strong, and the audience it reaches is younger and more politically progressive.
And if even a few online listeners use home transmitters to rebroadcast the station's signal, the station can extend its range significantly beyond current limitations.
Previous FCC:
Boston Globe article.
ABFR web site:

2001-05-09: Emmis Communications is fighting a $14000 fine on Chicago-based host Erich "Mancow" Muller on the basis that that there are no tapes or exact transcripts of the shows involved according to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder.
Feder says that Doyle Rose, president of the company's radio division has submitted a five page response to the FCC.
In it, Rose that if the word of a complainant is taken without a transcript or tape, "broadcasters will be at the mercy of complainants who lace their complaints with buzzwords and affect a sufficient degree of outrage."
"The commission in this case effectively shifted the burden of proof to Emmis to establish the absence of a violation."
Previous Emmis:
Previous Feder:
Previous Muller:
Sun -Times column:
RNW note:This writer recalls when in a past existence he had to plough through some five years of TV programme recordings in connection with a UK legal case.
Rembering this and noting the requirements for recordings and loggings of broadcasts in the UK, we would suggest two logical outcomes in this case if regulation is to be kept at all in terms of content and amount to anything in practical terms.
Most logical would be a legal requirement for all US stations to keep recordings of all its output (not that difficult with modern technology) for say three years, thus neatly ending responses such as those of Emmis.
Broadcasters would then have the proof of what was aired.
The other would be not to apply a general rule hitting everybody but in such cases as this to have an automatic rule that such responses immediately bring upon the station concerned such a requirement.
We do not consider it unreasonable for broadcasters nowadays to be required to keep archives as print media have for ages.
Any comments? E-mail us.

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