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October 2001 Archive
Previous month -
Links- internally where there are follow-up stories we try, at the end of each story, to put a pertinent link to the top of the next relevant story. Regarding external links see note at end of page.

RNW October Comment looks at the fight for minds element of the "War against terrorism", a war we fear the US may be incapable of winning.

RNW September Comment looks at how US media reacted to the tragic events of the attack on the US and what we think is needed in the future.

RNW August Comment considers the advantages likely from digital and satellite radio.

2001-10-31: As third quarter results start to flow in, XM Satellite Radio has finally shown some income in its figures; the sum is USD1000 in the financial summary up to the end of September 2001.
XM says it had more than 500 subscribers by the end of September, five days after its commercial launch.
The launch had been scheduled for September 12 but was held back following the Sept 11 attacks.
Set against the income were a third quarter 2001 consolidated operating loss (EBIT) of USD62.1 million, a consolidated net loss of USD65.0 million, and a consolidated net loss available to common shareholders of USD70.8 million, or USD1.14per share.
This compares to a consolidated net loss available to common shareholders of USD160.1 million, or USD3.26 per share in the third quarter of 2000.
Looking on the upside, XM says it expects to have more than 100000 XM radios on retail shelves for the Christmas shopping period.
It adds that since the launch, reaction from retailers has been excellent and that from consumers has been "exceptional".
Although not of relevance to its results, XM's main shareholder make-up has changed considerably recently, first with the transfer by Motient of 5 million of its shares(see RNW Oct 16) and more latterly by the GM sale of Hughes Electronics.
The latter is because Hughes' DirecTV owns 11.6% stake of XM.
Largest shareholder is still Motient with 16.7%, many of them Class B shares with thrice the voting power of the Class A public shares.
It is followed by Clear Channel with 14.2%. General Motors holds 9.5%.
In other third quarter results, Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation has reported net revenues up 1.4% to USD65.8 million but a fall in broadcast cash flow (BCF) by 20.8% to USD24 million compared to 2000.
Same station net revenues were up 1.7% to USD61.7 million but BCF was down 14.5% to USD26.1 million and the company says it expects final quarter net revenues to be down by 3-5% on last year.
Within its radio business the FM stations did better than the AMs: FM same stations net revenue was up 4.7% and broadcast cash flow down 10.6% while AM same stations net revenues were down 14.4% and BCF was down 57.7%.
Hispanic owns 48 stations in 12 of the top 15 Hispanic markets in the US.
Saga Communications has revised its guidance for the year down again.
President and CEO Ed Christian had said in July he expected full year revenue of USD106.6 million, broadcast cash flow of USD41.1 million and after-tax cash flow of USD21.8 million.
Now he is suggesting net revenues of USD26.2 million, broadcast cash flow of USD9.5 million and after tax cash flow of USD5.0 million.
For the third quarter itself, net revenue was USD26.3 million, compared to a July forecast of USD26.8 million and 2000 figure of USD25.5 million but BCF was down on last year at USD9.9 million compared to a July forecast of USD11.4 million and July forecast of USD11.4 million.
On a same station basis for the quarter, net revenue was down 2.7% to USD24.3 million and broadcast cash flow was down 6.8% to USD9.7 million.
Saga, with 36 FRS and 21AMs, operates mainly in medium markets and had escaped the worst excesses of the dot com boom and bust.
Previous Christian:
Previous Hispanic:
Previous Saga:
Previous XM:
XM web site:

2001-10-31: Streaming radio measurement company Measurecast has announced that it has secured USD8.5 million in second-round financing and has also formed partnership agreements with Nielsen and NetRatings.
The announcement follows last week's announcement by NetRatings that it would acquire Jupiter Media Metrix and 80% of Nielsen's eRatings.com.
The latest deal, involves investments in MeasureCast by VNU, the Nielsen parent company that already owns the majority of NetRatings, NetRatings, international investment firm Trans Cosmos USA, Inc., and FBR CoMotion Venture Capital, which led MeasureCast's first round of financing.
The first three of these have appointed members to the MeasureCast board; FBR CoMotion already had a seat on the board.
In operational terms, Nielsen Media Research will market MeasureCast services to its US customers, ACNielsen Media International and Nielsen/NetRatings will market and distribute MeasureCast services outside the US and Trans Cosmos and Nielsen/NetRatings will partner with MeasureCast to launch MeasureCast products in Japan.
MeasureCast, which was launched in 1999, currently has contracts for some 1000 Internet radio stations in the US and Europe.
The companies hope that the new arrangement will enable them to establish MeasureCast's Streaming Audience Measurement Service as the standard for streaming media advertising spending worldwide.
Previous MeasureCast:
Previous MeasureCast Ratings:
MeasureCast web site:
Nielsen NetRatings web site:

2001-10-31: US broadcasts into Afghanistan now include a safety warning on how to tell the difference between cluster bombs and air drops of food parcels. The food parcels are square, the cluster bombs are can-shaped but both are yellow.
The broadcasts, in Persian (Farsi) and Pashto say, "As you may have heard, the Partnership of Nations is dropping yellow Humanitarian Daily Rations. The rations are square-shaped and are packaged in plastic. They are full of good nutritious, Halal food," prepared according to Islamic precepts."
The broadcasts also say that the cluster bombs are being dropped in "areas far from where we are dropping food."
They then add, "Although it is unlikely, it is possible that not every bomb will explode on impact."
"These bombs are a yellow colour and are can-shaped. . . . "Once again, we will not be using these bombs in areas near where we are dropping relief supplies. Please, please exercise caution when approaching unidentified yellow objects in areas that have been recently bombed."

2001-10-30: US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Michael Powell on Monday announced at the Commission's media ownership policy roundtable the formation of a Media Ownership Working Group to develop a foundation for US media ownership regulation.
Commenting on the move, Powell said, "Rebuilding the factual foundation of the Commission's media ownership regulations is one of my top priorities."
"For too long, the Commission has made sweeping media policy decisions without a contemporaneous picture of the media market."
"We need to rigorously examine whether current forms of media regulation are achieving the Commission's policy objectives, and how changes in regulations would affect the policy goals of competition, diversity, and localism."
"�The first step toward a more contemporary regulatory regime is to strengthen our understanding of the media market."
"What media choices do consumers have? What are the business realities of different delivery systems? How is innovation in media technology affected by FCC regulation?"
"Conducting an empirical examination of these types of questions will give us a solid foundation to re-evaluate the way we regulate media companies."
Powell named seven members of the group and added that it would work with other FCC staff members to consider current and future media ownership proceedings.
Previous FCC:
Previous Powell:
Powell news release:

2001-10-30: London pirate station Freek FM is featured in a UK Guardian article on pirate radio that brands the station as one hoping to "lead the UK's top brands into the underground."
The hope is somewhat limited by the fact that not only can pirates themselves be subject to unlimited fines and jailed for up to two years but so can others such as advertisers and those who allow the pirates to use their premises
Action against the stations is the responsibility of the Radio Communications Agency, which has reported that the number of pirate stations has almost doubled over the past decade.
It has also significantly increased the number of operations against such stations from a total of 820 nationwide in 1997 to 1494 last year, and so far this year just over 1000 operations to the end of August.
Freek FM, which has been broadcasting for eight years according to the report, operates from a number of studios so as to make action against it more difficult. It also, says the report, operates from behind thick security doors with an escape route should enforcement officials pay them a visit.
Despite the legal problems, says the paper, Steve Gordon, who runs UK garage club nights "Twice as Nice", is setting up an "underground urban marketing consultancy."
"I can get brands onto pirate radio and I can protect them from the DTI," he told the paper, which says his operation is not the only one.
The other operation it details, Don't Panic, however does not openly consort with pirates but makes money through distributing flyers and posters.
Freek, says the paper, has collected money from record companies. It adds," For the right fee, it can play and even enthuse about main stream record label tracks and remixes which would otherwise barely make it onto the dance floor as the marketing department lack the street contacts that independent labels boast."
The report includes other comments relating to the "street credibility" of the pirate operations and the need to "target" their audiences by some of the big names.
"We try and build brands by understanding what's happening at the leading edges of culture," explains Amy Smith, managing director of Nike's ad agency Weiden and Kennedy.
"And cultural change tends not to come from the mainstream, it tends to come the edges. From youth, from ethnically diverse populations, from the gay community, from artists. That's why we pay attention to non-white, non-middle-class audiences."
Smith adds that she hopes that in the future mainstream advertisers will recognise the needs of ethnic communities, rendering organisations such as Don't Panic unnecessary.
RNW comment: In the meantime we can't see any big companies making any open contacts with the pirates and we'll be interested to see if Mr Gordon steps over the boundaries of the law in his consulting activities.
Previous Radio Communications Agency;
Radio Communications Agency web site:
UK Guardian report:

2001-10-30: In a further sign of the times, Fisher Communications has admitted that it is now breaching some of its lender covenants because of a lowered financial performance.
For the third quarter Fisher's broadcast revenues were down from USD46.4 million last year to USD33.4 million and overall group revenues, including the Group's real estate business, were down to USD37.8 million from USD49.9 million.
The group made a net loss of USD3.6 million. It says it is negotiating new lines of credit and is asking current lenders to waive the default.
And some more stations deals: first in South Carolina where Tin Man Broadcasting is selling alternative format WAVF-FM, Charleston, for USD6million to Apex Broadcasting. Apex will run the station under a Local Marketing Agreement until the deal closes.
In California, Hispanic Broadcasting is paying San Joaquin Radio Company LLC USD5 million for KAJZ-FM, North Fork, in the Fresno market.
Previous Fisher:
Previous Hispanic:

2001-10-30: The small Liberal Democrats opposition party has brought up the fate of longtime BBC Radio 2 DJ Jimmy Young (see RNW Oct 23) in the British Parliament.
Its media spokesman Nick Harvey has tabled a motion asking the BBC to end speculation about Young's future, saying that to fail to renew his contract would be an act of "ageism" and do disservice to listeners.
Harvey commented that Young was a "model political interviewer" who "maintains courtesy, while asking well-informed and penetrating questions."
Previous BBC:
Previous Young:

2001-10-29: We range from music to the free market in our look at print comment on media this week.
The music deserves a mention because of a report by Tara Wohlberg in the Toronto Globe and Mail on the CBC Radio Orchestra.
It's the last surviving radio orchestra in North America, a reminder of golden days and a remnant of the days when, as the article says citing the example of the NBC radio orchestra under Arturo Toscanini, "radio orchestras helped define a broadcaster."
Like the now-defunct, once great, US orchestras the Vancouver-based CBC Radio Orchestra, a chamber orchestra which was founded in 1938, had its heyday up to the forties and fifties.
There were once five such orchestras in Canada as well as many in the US but now for orchestras almost everywhere the world is much harsher.
Even such giants as the Chicago Symphony are losing money: it lost not only its nationally syndicated radio broadcasts earlier this month but also its recording contract.
One of the reasons the orchestra survives, as well as its funding from the CBC, which protects it from some commercial pressures, is probably its bottom line: it costs only around CAD500000 a year to keep going.
Which takes us to the "free market", which gets a look in via comment in the Irish Times concerning moves to ease ownership regulation of media companies.
Commenting on this Fintan O'Toole, writes that in these days of globalisation the "very idea of a national resource has become profoundly unfashionable." "Yet, there are still some things that an independent nation needs."
"Without its own physical and cultural infrastructure, its political sovereignty becomes largely theoretical."
He then goes on to comment in terms of the country's media that the "BCI (Broadcasting Commission of Ireland)is also giving up any credible claim to being a serious regulatory body which will enforce the terms under which such radio licences were issued in the first place."
"The language of its statement last week," writes O'Toole , "would be familiar to anyone who has ever studied, for example, George Bush's approach to regulating the oil industry."
O'Toole then says of its comments about a lighter regulatory touch that "Angels stroking your skin with fluff from day-old ducklings could not have a lighter touch than the BCI has shown. "
"This is the body that allowed Radio Ireland to dump most of its current affairs content when, under the direction of that great source of contemporary cultural creativity, Chris Evans's Ginger Productions, it transformed itself into Today FM� Radio Ireland, it should be recalled, was going to be "a national broadcaster, not a song-and-dance emporium", placing equal emphasis on "information, education and entertainment."
"It would have a 'stream of political, cultural and community figures entering Radio Ireland's studios early in the morning.'"
The situation of which O'Toole complains already applies, of course, in the US and has certainly contributed to the way commercial demands for profits from US radio have in many ways narrowed choice.
Events, as they say, however have led to some changes in the US, one of which is the perception of an increased demand for news and indeed, it would appear some changes in musical taste.
Reporting on the former, Allan Johnson in the Chicago Tribune remarks on the return of news in Chicago, even if it's limited and more in snippets than in-depth coverage.
Chicago only has one news radio station, WBBM-AM, and a number of stations had eliminated news entirely.
Now it's coming back and being extended with music-format stations adding scheduled newscasts.
The paper quotes Kathy Voltmer, morning news anchor for rocker WDRV-FM and a former journalist at WMAQ which was switched to sports format rather than news, as saying, "With deregulation in the '80s, stations did not have to provide news and information, and so they didn't provide news and information."
For the moment, though, demand for news has increased around the US to the benefit of organisations such as AP News Network, which says in the last two weeks it has signed up 35 music stations for its newscasts.
First Union Capital Markets analyst Bishop Cheen says listeners want to be informed, so it is to many stations' best interest to provide news, according to.
"And if listeners don't get that information from a music station, for instance, they'll get it elsewhere,"he adds.
RNW comment: The problem it would appear to us is that, at best, a US radio audience is, in general if it tunes to any station and certainly if it tunes to a pop station, likely to be under informed at best on most topics at a time when there is a need to be properly informed.
As we noted earlier (RNW Oct 27), WBUR in Boston is losing sponsorship finance and National Public Radio, which does try and do a reasonable reporting job, has come under attack from a pro-Israeli group.
To make any sound judgements concerning terrorism -and current actions that could go terribly and maybe unnecessarily wrong - a US audience needs accurate and balanced information.
This, we rather fearmany of its media are probably nowadays likely to be incapable of providing and that may yet cost it very dearly.
News, after all, is only informative if it comprises accurate information people need to hear concerning situations they may have to face rather than gossip and chit chat they want to hear but is of no use a all in separating spin and dross from the nuggets of fact.
As they say, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Democracy has costs!
Previous BCI:
Previous Columnists:
Chicago Tribune - Johnson:
Globe and Mail - Wohlberg:
Irish Times - O'Toole:

2001-10-28: Main licence news this week comes from Australia where the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) has changed the frequency on which the new Melbourne FM licence, which DMG won with a bid of $70 million (See RNW Dec. 15 2000), from 91.5MHz to 100.3MHz at DMG's request.
The ABA says the change will make the new service available to as much of the licence area as possible and represents an "efficient and effective use of the spectrum."
The change is associated with a move by Geeelong community service 3YYR off the 100.3 MHz in July this year.
Originally the ABA had planned to allocate a second commercial FM on the frequency in July 2004 and had allocated DMG the 91.5MHz frequency subject to power restrictions because of potential interference with a TV service in Tasmania.
It expects this issue to be resolved before the second commercial licence is auctioned.
The ABA has also now invited applications for new community stations in Adelaide, South Australia, and Queensland
In the Adelaide area: they comprise two Adelaide-wide licences and one each for the Adelaide Foothills, Barossa Valley and Port Adelaide areas.
The ABA is encouraging applicants to consider combining since it anticipates heavy competition for the licences.
In Queensland they are for the regional areas of Beaudesert, Gympie and Noosa/ Tewantin. Canada was quiet with nothing of significance in radio terms as was Ireland, where the main action by the BCI was the latest release of radio ratings. (See RNW Oct 24).
In the UK, the Radio Authority has advertised the new East Midlands regional licence (see RNW Oct 24), renewed four more licences on the basis that the current holders are entitled to automatic renewal because they are providing services on the local digital multiplex.
They are those for the Cardiff/Newport area of Wales where the AM licence is held by Capital Gold and the FM licence by Red Dragon FM and the London FM licences held by Kiss FM and Magic FM.
It has also issued a "yellow card" to London station Premier Christian Radio, which attracted most complaints during the period of its latest quarterly bulletin (See RNW Oct 26).
The US has also seen the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) release the first of its planned quarterly Consumer Information Bureau reports on complaints received.
Unsurprisingly the suggestion on the Howard Stern show that New York City prostitutes should provide oral sex for free to the city's fire-fighters following the September 11 attacks (See RNW Sept 21). led to an increase in complaints.
The bureau only received one complaint about "indecency" in radio and TV broadcasts in July, and six in August but there were 25 in September.
The US also looks set for conflict over the general question of regulation with differences already apparent between the attitudes of Republican members led by chairman William Powell and the sole remaining Democrat member Michael Copps - another Democrat is yet to be appointed ( See RNW Oct 25).
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Previous Licence News:
Previous Powell:
Previous UK Radio Authority:
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FCC Consumer Bureau Report:
UK Radio Authority web site:

2001-10-28: Bessie Walsh, executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, the non-profit parent of the five radio stations in the Pacifica Radio Network, has left, although there is still dispute over whether she resigned or was fired.
Wash was originally named executive director by a board then controlled by former chair Mary Frances Berry.
She is being replaced on an interim basis by Pacifica's National Development Director Joanne Meredith.
The San Francisco Examiner reports that board chair Robert Farrell said she resigned but activist group SavePacifica suggests that she was fired.
It says dissident board member Pete Bramson said Farrell told him on the telephone he "asked her to leave."
This was denied on the stations New York station WBAI-FM, by vice-chair, Ken Ford, who said Walsh had planned to resign for some time.
Following the September 11 attacks she had written a memo throwing down a gauntlet to her opponents Pacifica posted on its site by Pacifica.
In part it said," Now, more than ever, a strong and independent Pacifica is needed to fulfil its historic mission."
"...In order to respond appropriately, Pacifica management must be free to make the changes that will keep the nation's oldest and largest public service radio forum vibrant and responsive."
Wash, former station manager of Pacifica's Washington, DC, station WPFW, has been at the centre of controversy during her reign over the direction of the organisation and the departures and dismissals of dissident staff.
Ford, who has also said that he and other national board members will soon be in New York to try and resolve the situation at WBAI, where dozens of staff and volunteers have been fired and banned since the "Christmas Coup" last year (see RNW Dec 30, 2000) is also mired in controversy.
Ford has posted a statement on the Pacifica site saying that, contrary to the impression that some may have gained from a San Francisco Examiner report, he had not advocated the sale of Pacifica's New York WBAI and Berkeley KPFA stations.
They would have a large price-tag as commercial FM licences.
"I articulated to the reporter the argument in favour of selling a station as it was put forth by a former Board member several years ago," he wrote.
"Then, as now, the idea found no support."
The article had quoted him as saying, "KPFA in Berkeley and WBAI in New York are in the broadcast band reserved for commercial stations."
"I've been told non-commercial licenses sell for $30 to $40 million and commercial licenses sell for $150 to $250 million each. Think of what we could do with the difference!"
"Let's parley these commercial licenses into more stations around the country. To me that's just common sense."
Pacifica, founded in 1946 by conscientor objectors as a pacifist station with a single Berkeley outlet, has been mired in controversy since the 1999 firing of popular KPFA station manager Nicole Sawaya and long-time Pacifica national affairs correspondent Larry Bensky.
Farrell, a former Los Angeles city councilman who became board chairman last month, has now agreed to a court-supervised mediation of the dispute as part of four pending lawsuits on behalf of listeners, national, and local advisory board members.
A hearing has been scheduled for November 1 in San Francisco.
As well as the disputes over staff and the future of its programming, Pacifica is also divided over suggestions that its board, which is dominated by African-American men, wants to turn the five radio stations into the nucleus of a national black radio network.
There are also disputes over the expenditure of some USD2million on legal fees, public relations firms, and security services over the last three years.
This say the activists has taken the organisation close to bankruptcy and it suggests that the foundation misappropriated funds raised by the stations for their broadcasting activities in order to pay these bills.
Previous Pacifica:
Previous Wash:
Pacifica site:
SavePacifica site:
San Francisco Examiner (search site for Pacifica):

2001-10-27: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver requested by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for a 60-day waiver of its rules on retention of all public comments in view of the current anthrax scare (See RNW Oct 23).
In its ruling the FCC says, "The circumstances now prevailing are extraordinary, involving as they do, a biological attack of as yet uncertain dimensions but certainly directed, in part, against United States media outlets."
"We are granting the waiver in order to minimize any public health threat to station personnel."
"This concern outweighs the public interest factors embodied in the rule. "
"We expect that broadcasters will use their best judgment to screen letters pursuant to the policies recommended by the FBI and police� We recognize that these procedures may evolve as the nature and scope of the threat is better understood and we commit to broadcasters' good faith belief the actual criteria used in selecting mail that will not be opened."
"We expect broadcasters to return to complete compliance with the public inspection file rule as soon as they believe the danger has passed."
It adds that any extension request should be made later depending upon circumstances.
The Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), however, is having less luck with its push for the removal of restrictions on news planes and helicopters (See RNW Oct 2).
Following letters commencing last month (See RNW Sept 25) to the Federal Aviation Authority, and an October 5th meeting with FAA officials, RTNDA President Barbara Cochran testified before the House Aviation Subcommittee on October 17.
She said the restrictions were in the face of any real evidence of risk in many cases.
Many news executives, she said, were "deeply disturbed by this unprecedented action which limits their ability to serve their communities because they are not able to use news helicopters or other aircraft."
"Moreover, because the restrictions single out flights for the specific purpose of news reporting, we believe the restrictions may violate the principles of the First Amendment� Our members are puzzled by the fact that this is a nationwide ban, rather than one that is geographically limited to a few sensitive areas."
"They don't understand why 'news reporting operations' are prohibited while crop dusters and pipeline inspection aircraft are allowed in the nation's skies."
Cochran pointed out the effects on news and traffic cover and gave examples of absurdities such as allowing a helicopter, usually used for but currently banned from news flights, to do a job for a brewing company following the same flying path and of a student pilot, who is allowed to fly, being escorted away from a power station by fighter jets whilst experiences news pilots were grounded in the same area.
Cochran was backed up by National Air Transportation Assn. President James Coyne at the hearings and subsequently again earlier this week when aviation attorney Edward P. Faberman wrote to FAA Commissioner Jane Garvey on the matter, suggesting that the ban was now becoming a First Amendment issue.
He noted an instance where "last week, an NBC pilot in one of the twenty-seven communities, where general aviation flights were allowed to resume, was advised by local FAA officials that he could fly his helicopter - but he could not report the news." "Therefore,he wrote,"we cannot help but draw the inference that this is not a security issue but the primary focus of this flight restriction appears to be suppression of news - which raises significant First Amendment issues."
Now Cochran has written to Gov. Tom Ridge, Director of the Office of Homeland Security, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and Counsellor to the President Karen Hughes, concerning the ban.
Saying," News and traffic helicopters are among the most valuable tools used by television and radio stations to inform their audiences," she says that they remain grounded because of "because of national security concerns, which have not been further defined."
Cochran then appeals to the recipients of the letters to "to help get the restrictions on news helicopters lifted."
She adds,"Such a step would bring another level of security to the people living in our 30 largest cities, because they would have access to timely, accurate information about incidents in their communities."
Previous Cochran:
Previous FCC:
Previous NAB:
Previous RTNDA:
FCC waiver (Word document):
RTNDA web site (links to letters and testimony releases):

2001-10-27: UK radio group Capital Radio has taken a 19% stake in Tainside Ltd. and its group companies, which include Choice, the operator of the two urban format Choice FM licences in North and South London.
It is paying GBP3.3 million for the stake and the option to buy the remaining 81% of Tainside, valuing the whole company at GBP16million on a debt free/cash free basis.
Choice has a combined audience of around 280000 and London share of around 0.8% compared to Capital's London audience of around 3.6 million and 16.2% share.
It was founded in 1990 with the south London station as the UK's first 24-hour black oriented station.
Capital describes the investment as a strategic move "made in anticipation of changes in the regulations governing media ownership in the UK."
The initial GBP 3.3 million will be a mix of Capital shares and GBP1.65 million in cash, the latter to be used for working capital.
Subject to regulatory approval, Choice shareholders then have a put option to sell their remaining shares to Capital from September 2004 to September 2006 and Capital has a call option to purchase the remaining shares from March 2005 to September 2006. Both would be payable entirely in Capital shares in accordance with an agreed formula.
Previous Capital:
Capital news release:

2001-10-27: Two major corporate donors have ended their support of Boston public station WBUR-FM because of what they see as persistent anti-Israeli bias in US National Public Radio (NPR).
This is a persistent theme of the Boston-based CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), which both donors are connected to and which, despite its grandiose title, is a pro-Israeli lobby group to judge by the contents of its web site.
The Boston Globe says that Hillel Stavis, president of WordsWorth Books in Cambridge and a board member of CAMERA, suspended his contributions, totalling, by his estimate, ''tens of thousands of dollars'' over the years - after listening to a WBUR report on Jerusalem in April that he believes was filled with inaccuracies.
RNW Note: Coincidentally CAMERA's site contains an April release of a " major report documenting NPR's extreme anti-Israel partisanship which it called " A Record of Bias: National Public Radio's Coverage of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, September 26 - November 26, 2000
Another sponsor to withdraw support is Cognex Corporation.
Its CEO Robert Shillman, a member of CAMERA, said he has ended support for the station because of what he calls ''a profoundly pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli bias'' on NPR and WBUR.
He added that his corporation had donated more than $120,000 to the station over the past five years and told the paper he hopes to extend the boycott and had written to around 40 business executives round the country urging them to drop support for NPR.
He also said," ''Lots of things in the world are biased, and I don't give a damn. But this one I care about. ... I'm not going to get mad, I'm going to get even.'
WBUR general manager Jane Christo said in a statement, "'WBUR has always listened to and addressed every concern, every complaint and every criticism about our coverage of this issue."
''We take matters of journalistic integrity very seriously. With all due respect to the organizations and underwriters involved, I firmly believe that both NPR and WBUR have been fair and balanced in their reporting of Middle Eastern issues.''
The NPR ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, who has fielded complaints from CAMERA supporters, said: ''I think as a lobbying group, they've been pretty effective." !They've certainly got our attention. But I think they're not as accurate as they think they are ... Our commitment is to report both sides of the story. CAMERA would only like us to report one side.'' Corporate sponsorship accounts for more than a third of WBUR's budget of USD20 million a year and its loss would be extremely serious for WBUR as it would for other NPR stations.
Previous Christo:
Previous Dvorkin:
Previous NPR:
Previous WBUR:
Boston Globe report:
CAMERA web site (includes links to April report).

2001-10-25: The latest complaints report from the UK Radio Authority shows London Station Premier Christian Radio knocking TalkSport off its perch as the most complained about station.
It's been given a "yellow flag" for a number of complaints, all from the Mysticism and Occult Federation, which were upheld or partially upheld.
In its Quarterly Radio and Advertising Review shows that in the quarter from July to September, the Authority dealt with 64 complaints, upholding 13 compared with 51 of which 17 were held in the previous quarter.
It also dealt with 41 complaints concerning adverts, upholding seven compared to 45 complaints of which two were upheld in the previous quarter (See RNW July 27) .
These broke down by category (2000 Q3 figures are in brackets) into:
*Accuracy 5(9) of which 3 (0) were upheld.
*3(10) concerning balance/bias/ fairness of which 0(3) were upheld;
*38 (20) concerning promise of performance or format of which 9(5) were upheld and;
*10(13) concerning other matters of which 1 (3) was upheld.
There were 41 (52) advertising related complaints of which 7 (7) were upheld.
These broke down by category into:
*1(5) said to be harmful of which none (none) was upheld;
*32 (29) said to be misleading of which 6 (6) were upheld;
*6 (15)) said to be offensive of which 1 (1) was upheld and;
*2 (3) concerning other matters of which none (none) was upheld. In all of the programming categories, there were occasions when there was more than one complaint about a particular matter. Programming complaints upheld included:
Accuracy
*Two complaints against Asian Sound Radio, East Lancashire, concerning exaggerated coverage area claims.
*A complaint about Classic FM failing to make it clear that certain phone numbers used when listeners were invited to take part in a vote were premium rate numbers. Balance and fairness: So many of the complaints here were against Premier Christian Radio in London that we give them a separate section below.
All came from the Mysticism and Occult Federation and the station was issued with "yellow" card.
*A complaint over a broadcast during which the speaker held that there was "no healing outside Christ" and also spoke of the "crazy idea that you can be a good Christian and a practicing homosexual."
The broadcast was held to have contained elements denigrating the beliefs of other people.
*Another complaint over a warning about "burning and destroying" books and things connected with the occult. *Yet another complaint over a broadcast, which among other things said, "Catholicism is a doctrine of devils". This was partially upheld.
*Yet another over a comment was made about going "overseas where people use incense and practice idolatry" which was taken as an attack on eastern religions such as Hinduism or Buddhism.
*Another partially upheld complaint that the complainants felt denigrated other faiths. A sentence "Buddhism, Hinduism, rheumatism" was found to be unacceptable.
*Yet another broadcast that attacked Freemasonry "and its sister Witchcraft." *Another broadcast which described Holy Books of other religions as "full of superstitions and absurdities."
Complaints upheld against other stations:
* A complaint against Key 103 in which a presenter had made comments, which had been taken to give the impression that the parents of a murdered girl had been done a financial favour.
The exact words did not substantiate this, but did make comments about parents not receiving compensation over the death of a child that the authority felt was expressed in a way that breached its codes.
*A complaint about an XFM Breakfast show in which a spoof report spoke of a fight between bands in which an ear was bitten off and someone else " was glassed."
This was upheld on the basis that children might be listening and the item appeared to condone violence.
There were 41(52) advertising related complaints of which 7 (7) were upheld.(In brackets are 2000 Q3 figures ).
By categories these broke down into:
*Harmful - 1(5) of which none (none) were upheld.
*Misleading 32 (29) of which 6 (6) were upheld; a number of the complaints upheld concerned the same matter. * Offensive 6 (15) of which 1 (1) was upheld.
*Other matters 2 (3) of which none (none) was upheld.
Advertising related complaints upheld included: "Other" categories -
*Upheld a complaint against Heart (Greater London) over a competition that featured a competition that involved a seven-year-old girl in "advertising" Smirnoff vodka.
"Misleading"-
*Partially upheld a BUPA care homes advert carried on Classic FM that sounded like a news bulletin.
*Upheld - a Pepsi Chart advert on Capital FM concerning the downloading of chart ring tones.
*Upheld -a windscreen company advertisement on Ocean FM, South Hampshire, that claimed the service was free when in fact an "excess" was payable.
*Upheld - a complaint over a Power Company advert on Virgin FM that spoke of one bill for a number of services when more than one would in fact continue.
Offensive"
*Upheld - a complaint over a liberty Church International advert on Premier Christian Radio that offered to "deliver" listeners from occultism.
A number of other complaints were resolved.
In addition there was a revised adjudication concerning a February broadcast on Radio XL, Birmingham which involved a presenter describing an individual incorrectly as a "dacoit" (robber).
The presenter apologised but then apparently reneged about the apology during phone calls made two days after the original broadcast.
The station and presenter were held not to have exercised "due responsibility" in the way the second broadcast was handled.
The Radio Authority also notes that the Broadcasting Standards Commission had announced 12 findings concerning radio in the reporting quarter.
(For details of these see RNW Sept 28).
In Ireland, the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland's (ASAI) latest bulletin shows it upholding half of the recent complaints about advertisements.
In all it dealt with ten complaints, five of which were in breach of codes in some way.
Only two complaints made concerning radio advertisements, both involving airline adverts by Go Fly.
Of a number of complaints from rival Ryanair only one was upheld, concerning a claimed saving in timing and money by taking Go Fly's route.
Previous BSC:
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2001-10-25: A question of the show or the host from the latest ratings in the UK and US: and in both cases the answer has been to discount the host.
In the US it's Christopher Lydon, whose departure from WBUR-FM's The Connection hasn't harmed its ratings.
The summer Arbitrons give the show a 3.8% share compared to shares of 3.2% in summer last year and 3.3% in the fall, the last complete ratings period for Lydon.
In the UK, Virgin's Breakfast show has likewise not suffered from the ejection of Chris Evans (See RNW June 29).
Under successor Steve Penk, who took over five days into the July-September Q3 ratings period, the show now has 2 million listeners a week, an increase of 300,000.
Evans had peaked at 2million listeners a week in the first quarter of 2000.
The latest UK radio audience figures from RAJAR (Radio Joint Audio Research) also show the BBC increasing its listening share to 51.6% compared to 51.3% in the previous quarter and 52.1% in the first quarter of 2001.
The overall weekly audience reached reported by RAJAR was down from 44.5 million to just under 44.1 million.
For the BBC it was up 85000 to 32.4 million and for all commercial radio it was down 104000 to 32.1 million.
The greatest success was for Radio 2, which significantly increased its audience again.
Within the commercial sector Virgin Radio increased its weekly audience by some 122000 to 3.7 million, Classic FM took its audience up by 111000 to 6.44 million, but TalkSport's audience remained static at 2.2 million.
Compared to the previous quarter:
*BBC Radio 1 lost around 54000 listeners for the same weekly reach of 23% and share of 9.4% compared to 9.6%;
*BBC Radio 2 increased its audience by 469000 to end with weekly reach of 25% compared to 24% and share of 14.7% compared to 14.3%;
*BBC Radio 3 gained 70000 listeners to end with a weekly reach of 4% (as before) and share of 1.2% compared to 1.1%;
*BBC Radio 4 gained 13000 listeners to end with the same weekly reach of 19% and share of 10.7% ;
* BBC Radio 5 gained 47000 listeners to end up with the same weekly reach of 12% and share of 4.2%.
On the commercial side for national networks:
*New Atlantic (Atlantic 252), now changing format to sports, lost some 17000 listeners to end up with the same 4% reach although share was up to 0. 9% from 0.8%;
*Classic FM gained some 111000 listeners to end up with the same 13% reach and 4.3% share;
*TalkSport stayed static listeners to end up with the same 5% reach but a 1.6% share compared to 1.5%;
*Virgin gained 122000 listeners to end up with an 8% reach compared to 7% and 2.4% share compared to 2.3%.
Previous Atlantic 252:
Previous BBC:
Previous Classic FM:
Previous Evans:
Previous Lydon:
Previous Penk:
Previous RAJAR ratings:
Previous TalkSport:
Previous UK audience figures: Previous Virgin:
Previous WBUR:
RAJAR web site (links to quarterly reports):

2001-10-25: Scottish Media Group, which owns Virgin Radio, is to axe 95 jobs in response to the UK advertising downturn.
Of these 52 will be voluntary following a recent redundancy offer to its staff last month (See RNW Oct 11).
The rest will be compulsory, 17 from senior management. More than half the jobs are going from SMG's publishing division, which includes the Glasgow Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times.
Previous SMG:

2001-10-25: US radio business this week so far is yet again dominated by Clear Channel, which is involved in a USD750 million bond issue.
It is also asking for time to dispose of some of the stations involved in its USD800 million purchase of Ackerley.
The bond issue is of 5-year Senior Notes, proceeds of which will be used to reduce the amount outstanding under Clear Channel's credit facilities.
It is being handled by Banc of America Securities LLC and J. P. Morgan Securities Inc.
Clear Channel's shares rose following the announcement; they ended Tuesday at USD43.27, having opened the week at USD40.81.
The offering has been rated BBB- by Standard & Poor's and a similar Baa3 from Moody's.
The Ackerley acquisition involves stations that would take Clear Channel above current regulatory limitsfor TV or radio station holdings in Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica, New York and Santa Barbara, California.
R&R says spokesman Randy Palmer told it that Clear Channel would be requesting an extra 12-18 months to dispose of them once the deal is completed.
In other US deals the largest is a Cumulus conversion of its LMA of WDUZ-AM & WQLH-FM, Green Bay, Wisconsin, into ownership.
Green Bay Broadcasting has exercised a put option to sell the station for USD7million; Cumulus had a call option to purchase for USD7.25 million but did not have to exercise it for around three years.
In Arizona, Arizona Radio Partners is paying USD3.875M for KVNA AM & FM, Flagstaff, from Yavapai Broadcasting Corp.
Also in Arizona, Chicago-based Lakeside Media is buying KHIL-AM and KWCX-FM in Willcox for USD1.1million fromCathy Ann Broadcasting.
Cathy Ann is now left with three Arizona stations - KTHQ-FM,Eagar and KRVZ-AM plus KQAZ-FM ,Springerville.
In Kentucky, Key Broadcasting is selling news/talk WULF-FM Hardinsburg- Elizabethtown, for USD1.15million to local broadcasters Bill and Marilyn Evans.
They already own WQXE-FM Elizabethtown
In Illinois, Withers Broadcasting Co. has now closed its USD2million acquisition of WKIB-FM Anna, in the Marion-Carbondale market from Union Broadcasting.
Withers owns KAPE-AM/KGMP-FM in nearby Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
On the Internet front, Arbitron seems to be the kiss of death. Live 365, top rated in its most recent ratings (RNW Oct 24), is now hunkering down and getting rid of 16 of its 57 staff, including Senior VP of Communications Alan Wallace.
Live says the staff reductions are to reduce its "burn rate" and keep the core business going.
RadioWave, the second ranked company in the Arbitron rankings has given its staff notice and needs new funding to avoid closing down.
Also Internet, if not radio, the ABC.com website has cut around 85% of its staff in a restructuring move that will see it become a promotional site for the ABC-TV network instead of providing entertainment, news and information.
And in the UK, the Wireless Group (TWG) has also been cutting back; although the company refuses to give numbers, it says they not as high as the 50 that had been reported.
Those out include Paul Chantler, Group Programme Director for the Wireless Group, who is now a "consultant" to the group, TalkSport Managing Editor Peter Black and head of development Alix Pryde.
There have also been job cuts at TWG's national sales operation and in its local stations.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Cumulus:
Previous Wireless Group:

2001-10-25: Chrysalis Radio's Galaxy Network is again the official UK radio partner for the MTV Europe Music Awards this year.
The event takes place in Frankfurt on November 8 with a total of 22 awards; it is expected to be watched by around a billion MTV viewers round the world.
Associated with the deal is a Galaxy promotion with the five stations of its network each holding a listener competition with a prize of two tickets for the event plus travel and accommodation.
And in London, Chrysalis station Heart 106.2 has announced that presenter Toby Anstiss is to join its weekend line-up.
Anstiss, who has been working on Heart's overnight show, will now host a show from noon to 3 pm local on Saturdays and Sundays.
Previous Chrysalis:

2001-10-25: A battle seems to be on the horizon in the US over federal regulation of broadcasting.
Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell on Tuesday told a news conference that the commission was planning a "full and comprehensive" review of the mass media marketplace.
He added that the " current rules, standards and principles do not take any account of very dramatic changes in the media landscape."
He also said diversity remained a "vital objective, but the instruments for preserving it have to be reconsidered."
His comments followed a speech earlier this monthmore in favour of regulation by the one Democrat currently a member of the Commission.
Michael Copps was talking to the Federal Communications Bar Association in a speech that he entitled, "In Defence of the Public Interest."
In this, he referred to the need after September 11 to re-think the way US government agencies conducted themselves.
He complimented the media, saying, "Radio, television and cable - locally, nationally and internationally - worked around the clock and shared scarce resources and precious information."
"Revenue consequences - which turned out to be tremendous - were swept aside in favour of informing the citizenry."
"Newspapers and newsmagazines produced special editions and began providing information and perspective from the outset." Copps then he brought up the use of the term "Public Interest" in the US Communications legislation, saying that this was of importance.
"Some question the relevance of the public interest standard, " he continued, "'It can't be quantified,' they say. Or 'It's never really defined.' Or 'It's just abstract theory devoid of real-world application.' "
"Some people may even be saying, right here, right now - 'Oh God, spare us another Democratic Commissioner's public interest musings.'"
"Well, many of life's good things aren't quantifiable," he continued.
"Most are not defined for all time; and many of them, like "public interest," can be abused, no question about that. But they are no less real for all of that."
He said that the Commission had a duty to "take only actions that are in the public interest."
Among other comments Copps defined this in terms of open, transparent and predictable regulation that allowed business to "do its business with a minimum of confusion and delay and question marks from government."
But, he said regulation must also be "thoroughly considered and vetted"in terms of the needs and concerns of business.
Subsequent remarks will be considered more contentious by many lobbyists.
"When consumers have more options, they reap the benefits -- better services, greater innovation, higher technology, and more robust discourse," he said.
"As examples, I would point to two areas in which this goal of consumer choice plays itself out."
"In the area of media ownership, the statutes focus on diversity and localism to ensure competition and choice among sources of content."
"In a market-based democratic society, Americans are entitled to a variety of sources of ideas."
"I like the concept of the 'marketplace of ideas.' "
"It is in this marketplace where the values of a democratic society can best be exchanged."
"For each American to benefit from the marketplace of ideas, there must be a diversity of sources of programming available in each community."
"Not just a variety of stations and formats, because variety and diversity are not the same thing, but diversity of ownership and diversity of programming reflecting the increasing diversity of our society."
"An informed citizenry, cognizant of the complexity and diversity of opinions on the issues of the day, is part and parcel of the public interest."
"And part and parcel of that informed citizenry are localism and the avoidance of excessive market power."
Copps is outnumbered on the Commission, which has two current Republican members as well as its chairman (a further Democrat seat is vacant) but as counter to their de-regulatory approach he is a prot�g� of Senator Ernest Hollings.
Hollings was his boss when he was a Senate aide, and iscurrent Commerce Committee chairman.
If nothing else Hollings has the power to order hearings in the Democrat-controlled Senate, which may strengthen Copps when he argues his "public interest" case, which Powell has said is bedevilled by being so loose in definition as to make it impossible to set standards.RNW note: The FCC is holding a roundtable discussion on ownership policies, chaired by Powell, on October 29 (See Licence News Oct 20)
Previous Copps:
Previous FCC:
Previous Powell:
Copps speech:

2001-10-24: Latest listening figures for Ireland from the JNLR/MRBI survey for the six months up to September show Today FM continuing its growth with a 1% increase in weekly reach to 16%.
Overall independent radio has an audience of more than 1.6 million a week, a reach of 55%.
In Dublin, FM104 increased its reach by 1% to 24% and 98FM increased its reach by 2% to 23% but Lite FM lost 1% to end with a 12% reach.
State broadcaster RTE increased the reach of its Radio 1 channel by 1% to 30%, maintained the 2FM audience at 27% and increased the Lyric FM audience by 1% to 4%.
Previous Irish ratings:

2001-10-24: The UK Radio Authority is to advertise later this week a new regional FM licence for the East Midlands, covering around 1.6 million adults in an area which includes the cities of Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.
A deposit of GBP 12000 is required with applications for the 8-year licence, which is expected to be awarded in the summer of next year.
Previous UK Radio Authority:
UK Radio Authority announcement:

2001-10-24: Latest Internet ratings from MeasureCast show another jump in listening in the week to October 14, taking the organisation's Internet Radio Index to 298.
It's now only a whisker from triple the base 100 at the start of this year.
Of the top 25 stations ranked by Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL), 14 saw an increase in the week whilst 17 saw an increase in their cumulative audience.
Heading the rankings again was London-based Jazz FM, which streamed 16% more hours than in the previous week.
At the very top, there was again only some position switching.
The top five were, ranked by Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) and with, where applicable, previous week's TTSL and Cume persons (CP), a measure of the cumulative audience, in brackets:
1): Jazz station Jazz FM TTSL 227715 (196114); CP 67841 (70402) Position unchanged but listening way up.
2): Listener Formatted MediaAmazing TTSL 137159 (141869); CP 49672 (52247) Position unchanged but listening down.
3): Adult Alternative Virgin Radio TTSL 115248 (112822); CP 21799 (20237)- Previously fourth. 4): Classical music King FM TTSL 104430 (116641); CP 18958 (19431) - Previously third.
5): Sports-talk ESPN Radio TTSL 99051 (101393); CP 17877 (17766) - Position unchanged, listening down.
In contrast to the MeasureCast figures, Arbitron's September webcast ratings just released show a very different picture of Internet listening; part of this may be due to the exclusion of a number of stations, which, says Arbitron, did not "data in a timely and consistent manner."
Arbitron ranks by its version of listening time, ATH or aggregate tuning hours. Its top five were headed by Live 365 with an ATH of almost five million ( approximating to a weekly audience of 215000.) Live365 is listener-formatted and portal station that allows people to either create their own mix or listen to existing stations.
Second-placed in Arbitron's rankings was RadioWave, which only last week was reported to have given notice to most of its employees and may go under unless its gets new funding (See RNW Oct 20). It had an ATH of 902000 hours.
Third in the Arbitron rankings was Public Interactive ranked third with an ATH of 759200 hours.
Arbitron also notes that five college stations were in its top 25. They were
*Pacific Lutheran University (www.kplu.org) ranked seventh with 212,500 ATH;
*Boston University (www.wbur.org) ranked eighth with 187,400 ATH;
*Santa Monica College (www.kcrw.org) ranked 14th with 60,500 ATH;
*University of South Florida (www.wusf.usf.edu/wusf-fm) ranked 24th with 17,200 ATH;
*Oklahoma State University (www.kosu.org) ranked 25th with 16,900 ATH.
Previous Arbitron:
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2001-10-24: BBC Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox has now hired prominent media lawyer Keith Schilling in connection with the publication by a British Sunday newspaper ten days ago of nude pictures of her and her husband, club DJ Jon Cater.
The photographs were taken when the couple were on a private island during their honeymoon in the Seychelles and the newspaper, the Sunday People, has already apologised for publishing them. In a statement on October 21, it said, "The honeymoon pictures we published last week of Sara Cox and her husband Jon Carter understandably deeply upset them. "
"The photographs were taken of them while they were in a private area of the hotel, we now discover, and therefore should not have been published."
The UK has seen a number of cases recently concerning the publication of photographs of celebrities who were on private property when they were taken.
Previous Cox:

2001-10-23: Because of the current anthrax scare in the US, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a two-month waiver, subject to possible extension, of its requirements that broadcasters keep a complete public inspection file.
It says this is because, "strict compliance with the Commission's rules and instructions governing the content of public inspection files could place station personnel and visitors to station locations in danger of exposure to anthrax or other threats."
"NAB believes, " it continues, " that nothing is more vital to the public interest than the protection of station employees and visitors to the fullest extent possible."
NAB is also asking for a waiver of the requirement for TV stations to provide a summary of public written comments concerning violent material when applying for license renewals.
Previous FCC:
Previous NAB:
NAB web site:

2001-10-23: Veteran British broadcaster Alistair Cooke's future is assured at the BBC but that of another veteran Jimmy Young is less certain, according to the London Times.
A week ago the paper reported that that Sir Christopher Bland, the chairman of the BBC, had admitted in light-hearted comments his farewell speech that he had been unable to resolve the issue of when to tell Cooke and Young to go.
Now the paper says it has received a letter of assurance about 92-year-old Cooke's future from BBC Radio 4 controller Helen Boaden.
"May I reassure your readers," she writes, " that I have absolutely no intention of retiring Alistair Cooke."
"Alistair Cooke is part of the fabric of Radio 4 and a much-loved presenter."
Cooke has been broadcasting his weekly "Letter from America" since 1946.
The paper adds that no assurances have come from BBC Radio 2 concerning DJ Jimmy Young, who is around 80 years old and has been broadcasting for the channel since 1973.
His current contract expires in March of next year but he is not intending to retire and issued a statement last month saying: "My ratings are higher than ever. I have no plans to leave . . . unless, of course, in the ageist pursuit of youth, someone decides to fire me."
He also referred to the 10-year deal signed by veteran US presenter Paul Harvey in November 2000 (See RNW Nov 4, 2000) as encouraging him because of "the common sense shown by the ABC radio network in America.".
A Radio 2 spokesman told the paper, "We never comment on individual presenters or their contracts."
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UK Times report:

2001-10-23: Former Sirius Satellite Radio CEO David Margolese is to get USD5 million in severance pay,
Margolese, who remains with the company as non executive chairman, is also entitled, at the board's discretion, to a "fee" of USD200000 a year according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing also says that Margolese has received a salary of USD450000 in 1999, and a salary of USD500000 and bonus of the same in 2000.
The latter was in connection with Sirius partnerships with Daimler Chrysler and BMW.
Sirius has also extended Magolese's options on 3.2 million shares until April 2007.
In September Sirius lowered the target price of all executive stock options to USD7.50; nearly 2 million of Manganese's stock options had until then been priced at USD31.25.
In addition to the options, Margolese owns 4.45 million shares in Sirius.
Under the terms of his buy out, he cannot work for the next two years with any company involved in transmitting "radio entertainment programming" in North America.
Previous Margolese:
Previous Sirius:
Sirius Web site:

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