May 2002
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April 2002
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2002 
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 May comment looks at the future for Internet streaming.
RNW April comment looks at the the ways of ensuring diversity and choice in radio.
RNW March comment looks at the pros (few, if any, we believe) and cons (significant) of further media consolidation.
2002-05-31: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allowed the USD800 million takeover by Clear Channel of the Ackerley Group subject to disposal within a year of a number of stations to comply with radio-TV cross ownership limits.
New radio-TV combinations will be created in eleven markets by the merger and in five of them the combinations would exceed current holdings limits.
The stations involved are mainly in New York State, in the Binghamton, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica markets, and also in Santa Maria, California.
There was a dissenting statement from the sole Democrat Commissioner Michael J Copps who said of the markets where ownership limits would be exceeded that he could not "support the waiver of the Commission's local television- radio ownership rule in those markets... I do not see where a waiver of those limits served the public interest."
In another market, Monterey-Salinas in California, Buckley Broadcasting had complained that Ackerley had an "attributable" interest in a second TV station (the merger involved KION and KCBA) and was thus in breach of ownership limitations on TV station ownership in the market.
The Commission rejected the complaint on the basis that Ackerley complied with conditions imposed by its staff regarding a joint sales agreement and LMA of less than 15% of the station's daily programming.
Under the existing deal with Seal Rock Broadcasters' KCBA, said the commission, the fact that Ackerley could collect all revenues from non-network programmes meant that Seal Rock had no incentive to chase such revenues and thus effectively gave Ackerley control of 85% of the station's programming.
It said that the requirements should be tighter and required that the JSA should apply only to revenues derived from programming under the LMA.
Clear Channel was also in the news this week because it has asked employees to donate some of their salaries towards its lobbying efforts through a recently formed political action committee.
In a report in his Chicago Sun-Times column, Robert Feder said that chairman and CEO Lowry Mays sent letters to the homes of staff asking them to help "effectively communicate our political positions with timely access to elected officials."
Attached to the letter was a "membership application" including suggestions of contributions of up to 1% of employees' base salaries. The form said that contributions were voluntary and that there would be no reprisals for employees who refused to contribute.
RNW comment: We find this Clear Channel move significantly offensive in that many employees will fear that their careers will be affected should they not contribute, even though the lobbying may involve positions at variance with their political alliances.
In our view Clear Channel has abused its powers and we would welcome a regulatory system (not that such will ever be introduced) that simply stated that such actions rendered a company unfit to hold broadcasting licences. If introduced now, retroactive penalties would be unfair, so the logical thing to do would be to make such a penalty automatic should evidence ever emerge that employees careers suffered from now on following refusals to contribute. Somehow, in those circumstances, we feel the events wouldn't happen but if they did, a one off zapping of a major corporation would deter all others similarly inclined for decades to come.
Previous Ackerley:
Previous Copps:
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Feder:
Previous Lowry Mays:
Previous FCC:
FCC ruling:
Chicago Sun-Times - Feder column:
2002-05-31: UK TalkSport, which two years ago was involved in legal action brought by the BBC over its "commentary" on the Euro 2000 soccer tournament (See RNW June 22, 2000) is planning to "cover" the World Cup soccer with commentary from its London studios.
It's also making a virtue over the fact that it is doing so with full-page advertisements in UK newspapers that say of its planned cover, "It's unauthorised. It's unofficial. And it's brilliant".
In line with the agreement that was finally reached with the BBC after the Euro 2000 case, the adverts say openly that its breakfast show hosts, Mike Parry and Alan Brazil, will comment from TV monitors in the studios.
The adverts also say "Background sound and crowd noises will be artificially created in our London studios, by Off the Telly Productions, a division of The Wireless Group. All radio commentary is from our London studios, not the stadium."
Under the deal with the BBC listeners have to be told that the commentary is unofficial at the start and end of each broadcast, every quarter hour during it and also whenever a goal is scored.
Previous Wireless Group/TalkSport:
2002-05-31: Viacom's Infinity Radio has suspended two feuding radio duos, Don (Geronimo) and Mike (O'Meara) and Opie (Greg Hughes) and Anthony (Anthony Cumia) following on-air sniping at each other according to the Washington Post.
The paper carried a report on the feud earlier this week that said that the New York-based Opie and Anthony had been sniping at Washington-based Don and Mike for months with the main jibe that the former's midday show, which has lower ratings, was a poor lead-in to their own late afternoon show.
There was no response from Don and Mike until last week when the duo pointed out on-air that their rival's show wasn't doing that well either; Geronimo commented, "What I'm saying is that you're not being embraced in Washington, D.C."
In an interview Gregg Hughes commented, "I don't like those guys as people, and I don't like their radio show. They're back-stabbers who can't be trusted. They've told a lot of lies about us."
Geronimo riposted that the crossfire was "petty, ridiculous, egotistical and juvenile."
He added that he couldn't keep quiet any longer. and told the Post he blamed station management for not silencing everyone, saying, "I would love you to put this in the paper: What I would like management to do is manage."
"A strong manager would have said to Opie and Anthony: 'I don't care if you like it or not. We're going to get the four of you in a room and work this out.' The shows should be able to coexist."
In its latest report, the paper says that live editions of both shows were replaced on Tuesday and Wednesday with repeats of earlier programmes and an announcement preceding the Tuesday "Don and Mike" show said the hosts were extending their Memorial Day vacations. Geronimo told the Post that he and O'Meara were ordered off the air because of the feud and that he wouldn't be on air Thursday and didn't know how long he'd have to sit things out after then. "I'm [angry]," he told the paper, "but the people I feel bad for are our listeners, the people who support us day in and day out. . . We want to be at work. We want to be at the station. We don't want to be sitting around in some stupid girl fight."
In New York, the paper says one source told it the Anthony and Opie show was due to resume live broadcasts today. It adds that the Don and Mike show, which is getting low ratings in New York, is on the verge of being cancelled there.
Previous Don and Mike:
Previous Anthony and Opie:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Washington Post report on suspensions:
2002-05-31: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has appointed Russell Balding, currently its Deputy Managing Director, as its new Managing Director.
He has been acting Managing Director since November (See RNW Nov 14, 2001) after former Managing Director Jonathan Shier leftbefore the end of his contract.
The appointment, announced by ABC chairman Donald McDonald, was made after an extensive executive search.
Previous ABC (Australia):
Previous Balding:
Previous McDonald:
Previous Shier:
2002-05-30: Austereo has outlined plans for a share buyback following pressures because of a fall of around 15% in its share price over the past few weeks: It was at a 12-month low of AUD1.66 on Wednesday. In all it is to buy back some 6 million shares, around 1% of the total issued.
Austereo has come under pressure because of a slump in Australian advertising compounded by the competition from new rival DMG's Nova stations in key metropolitan markets.
Previous Austereo:
Previous DMG:
2002-05-30: In its latest Programming and Advertising Review, the UK Radio Authority headlines the "problems of questionable taste and decency for commercial radio" and in particular those posed by broadcasts of "alternative comedy."
Debbie Gentile, the Authority's Programming and Advertising Officer, says that this has "always pushed the boundaries of what is considered to be acceptable" and notes that it caused problems for Virgin Radio in the first quarter of this year, when three of the complaints against the station were upheld.
All concerned "a series of broadcasts on a late-night programme directed at an adult audience which featured an alternative comedian" and the complaints upheld involved two cases of jokes held to have "overstepped the mark" and the third a case in which a nine-years-old girl who "took part in a live phone-in competition to guess the letters of a sexually explicit phrase that used swear words."
Gentile notes that the presenter involved was "relatively inexperienced" and that later, at the Radio Academy's News and Speech Conference, wondered how TV shows managed "managed to feature risqué material when radio apparently could not."
Gentile says the differences are the existence of a "Watershed" on UK TV and its absence on radio plus the fact that most TV shows are pre-recorded and substantially vetted before transmission.
She also noted, without recommending the practice, that another presenter at the same conference had said that all callers to his show were pre-recorded some minutes before they were broadcast, thus allowing it to avoid overstepping the boundaries. There had been complaints about the show but none were upheld.
In the quarter itself two "Yellow" cards were issued concerning questions of format, once involving Star 107FM (the Fens) whose musical mix was held to have become out of balance with its format of "rock mixed with adult contemporary music" and another to Star 107.3 in Bristol whose format required a significant content of Soul music that had not been delivered.
A Yellow Card issued to Premier Christian Radio in October 2001 (See RNW Oct 25, 2001) was resolved after the Authority was satisfied that the station was now complying with regulations.
During the period, the Authority considered a total of 67 programming complaints, eight of which were upheld.
Of the total ten concerned accuracy, two being upheld; six, including cases where there was more than one complaint against a programme, concerned balance, bias and fairness, none of which were upheld; 37 concerned taste or decency, three being upheld; two concerned promise of performance or format, none of which were upheld; and 12 involved other matters, three of which were upheld.
Advertising related complaints totaled 133, 19 of which were upheld: These broke down, including cases where there was more than one complaint against a particular item, into 16 considered in the harmful category, none of which were upheld; 23 misleading of which none were upheld; 90 offensive of which 17 were upheld; and four other of which two were upheld.
Looked at from a station perspective, TalkSport, as a year ago (See RNW May 22, 2001) and Virgin Radio figured as the leading offenders.
Programming Complaints upheld included:
Accuracy:
*TalkSport over its claiming "exclusive" cover of a soccer cup tie- the station said the term meant unique in the sense of the style of the station's commentary but that they no longer used the terminology.
*Jazz Fm over a promotion that gave a ticket price but did not mention an associated booking fee.
Taste and Decency:
*Gemini FM Torbay over a spoof broadcast, produced by an outside company and based on the "Who wants to be a millionaire?" TV show (that had just started airing in Ireland) and that began with a question," Where have you hidden the explosives?" The station had taken action and this case was considered to have been resolved by the action.
*GWR (Bristol and Bath) over a "Fax Your ASS" competition. The station had already taken action and the matter was considered resolved.
*Metro FM Tyne and Wear over a song that made fun of a TV Pop Idol contender's stammer. The station had already raised the matter with the presenter, who apologized, and the matter was considered resolved.
*TalkSport over a presenter's description of Turkish people as "barbaric". The station said the term was used in the context of badly behaved soccer supporters but the Authority upheld the complaint.
*Virgin AM over a remark in which a child caller, who had said that Mohammed was part of a lesson, was asked about Muhammad Ali. The station had already taken action and the matter was considered resolved.
*Virgin AM about a comedy sketch in which Jesus was mentioned in what a complainant felt was offensive. This complaint was upheld; the Authority said it felt the intention of the sketch was to mock the genre of observational comedy but that it had overstepped acceptable boundaries.
Other:
*Virgin FM, London, over a case in which a reporter had entered the hospital without appropriate identification and that the hospital said had involved a broadcast that was "was frivolous, inaccurate, an intrusion of privacy and had jeopardized the safety of patients." The complaint was upheld.
*Isle of Wight Radio concerning the promotion that a listener thought was promoting a get rich scheme. The station said the item was a spoof, but was unable to produce tapes and was given a warning over the matter. The complaint was upheld.
*Classic Gold, Northamptonshire, over promotion of the Classic Gold Travel Club without making it clear that this was an advertisement. The complaint was upheld and the station and network old it must not run the promos in programming time.
Advertising complaints upheld included those involving:
Offensive:
*A government Teenage Pregnancy Awareness advertisement that was aired, through confusion, at times when young children were likely to be listening.
*An advert on Heart stations involving a father's selfish treatment of a young girl because he wanted to watch a soccer game.
An advert for the Marie Curie Foundation that said it was "dumb to buy flowers for funeral cars." This was held to be insensitive.
*An advert which played on the tongue twister on plucking pheasants and that used lines about an Inn beating the" plucking lot" and spoke of giving it a "plucking try."
*A confectionary advert that included the word "bitch" in the strap line.
*A car advert in which the style of public service announcements for drink/drive campaigns was parodied to finally reveal that a child had not lost her mother but didn't want to travel in her car because her friend's mother had a new Toyota.
Previous UK Radio Authority:
Previous UK Radio Authority Quarterly report:
UK Radio Authority web site: (links to quarterly bulletin 900Kb PDF and Complaints Bulletin -290Kb PDF):
2002-05-30: Virgin Radio has regained the top spot in MeasureCast's weekly Internet ratings for the week to May 19, a week that saw another 1% rise in listening amongst the stations that the organisation measures.
For the week to May 19, MeasureCast's top five stations ranked by Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) with previous week's TTSL and Cume persons (CP), a measure of the cumulative audience, in brackets, were:
1: Hot Adult Contemporary Virgin FM - TTSL377, 891 (303,543); CP68, 835 (47,403): Up from second with higher listening and reach.
2: Jazz format Jazz FM - TTSL 232,522 (329,500); CP 64,398 (78,542): Down from first with lower listening and reach.
3: Classical format WQXR-FM, New York - TTSL 231,085 (187,986); CP 38,565 (24,600): Same position with higher listening and reach.
4: Classical format King FM - TTSL 131,108 (139,528); CP 23,271 (23,382): Same position with lower listening and reach.
5: Internet only Rock format KNAC.com - TTSL 92,150 (90,830): CP 15,733 (15,400): Same position with higher listening and reach.
The top five networks for the week (Previous week's figures in brackets) were:
1: Clear Channel Worldwide TTSL 1,725,281 (1,804,691) ; CP 272,291 (288,675). Same position with lower listening and reach.
2: Radio Free Virgin TTSL 842,193 (829,428): CP 171,874 (181,057) - Same position with higher listening and lower reach.
3: WARP Radio TTSL 742,504 (674,040) hours: CP 123,189 (115,576) - Same position with higher listening and reach.
4: StreamAudio network TTSL 587,679 (539,636) : CP 95,215 (93,123) - same position with higher listening and reach.
5: Virgin Radio TTSL 513,754 (427,539); CP 96,064 (74,859) - up from sixth despite lower listening and reach.
Previous MeasureCast ratings:
MeasureCast web site:
2002-05-29: More gloom for British radio has come from the results of EMAP, which says that profits excluding its digital TV channels in its EMAP Performance (EP)division, which also includes its 18 commercial radio stations, six music magazines and music events and products, fell by 11% to GBP 41 million in the year to the end of March.
Turnover for the division was down 1% to GBP139 million and underlying radio revenues were down 10% for the year, compared to an overall industry fall of 8%. Within that figures national revenues were down 14% and local ones 2%; EP, which is more exposed to the national advertising slowdown, did worse in the second half of the year when its revenues were down 14% compared to an overall industry revenue decline of 10%.
Looking ahead EMAP says that there is little evidence of radio advertising recovery and it expects revenues to fall again in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. In its case, it says, the downturn is exacerbated because it had a boost from government and telecoms spending in the same period of 2001.
Overall group turnover was down 11% to GBP1, 029 million but they were up 3% to GBP938 million if it excludes figures from its US operations that it disposed of (writing down around GBP550 million in the process - See RNW May 30, 2001); its overall operating profit was down 1% to GBP182 million but its pre-tax profit was up 6% to GBP151 million.
There may also be bad news in a proposal to introduce a tax for satellite spectrum that is reported in the UK Guardian.
As well as its TV channels, BSKYB currently broadcasts hundreds of radio stations and is currently the most listened to source for digital radio in the UK.
The paper reports that Mike Goddard, managing director of the UK Radiocommunications Agency, which allocates spectrum, told a UK government joint media select committee that there was a case for making satellite broadcasters pay a tax. At the moment terrestrial broadcasters pay fees to the UK Radio Authority but no charges are levied on satellite broadcasts.
The proposal is likely to be fought bitterly, not only by BSKYB but also by other British broadcasters including many small stations that have launched low budget satellite channels.
Previous EMAP:
Previous UK Radio Authority:
Previous UK Radiocommunications Agency:
EMAP web site:
Radiocommunications Agency web site:
UK Guardian report:
2002-05-29:The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has upheld a USD2, 000 indecency fine on Infinity's KROQ-FM, Pasadena, California, although there the complainant could provide neither a transcript nor a recording to back up the complaint, although it normally requires these.
It concerned a broadcast of the song "You Suck" in March 1997 and the listener had alleged that the station had broadcast an unedited version.
Infinity said it had two versions of the song, the unedited one and one that it had edited. It accepted that the original version, that includes the words "pubic," "dick," "pussy," and "clit," would be indecent but said that these had been deleted in its edit.
It does not keep recordings of its output and the announcer could not remember which version was aired but the station said that it would have expected a number of complaints had it aired the unedited version but had only received one complaint.
The FCC sent transcripts of the two versions to the complainant who said she remembered hearing the offending words.
It upheld the penalty on this basis, saying that Infinity had not refuted the complainant's recollections of what she heard.
Separate statements on the decision were made by Democrat Commissioner Michael J. Copps and Republican Commissioners Kevin J. Martin and Kathleen Abernathy who commented that the unedited version was certainly indecent.
She added,"We at the Commission cannot allow a licensee to avoid liability by claiming ignorance of what it broadcasts. "
Abernathy concluded," Our indecency rules strike a fair balance between First Amendment rights and protection of our children, and I believe that our enforcement mechanisms strike an appropriate balance between the burdens placed on consumers and the industry."
"Furthermore, I would have been inclined to impose a forfeiture even if we found the station aired the edited version. Since the parties in this proceeding were not put on notice of this issue, the order does not speak to the edited version."
"If it had, I would have been hard pressed to find that the edited version does not also contain indecent material that describes sexual activities in patently offensive terms."
Copps said the case corrected the erroneous assumption some stations had that they could not be penalised in the absence of a tape or transcript and said it strengthened his call for stations to keep recordings.
"The Order adopted by the Commission today," he said, "takes a significant and welcome step toward clarifying a policy that has disturbed me during my first year on the Commission: the general practice that a complainant must provide a tape or a transcript of the programming at issue in support of an indecency complaint."
"I have often expressed the view that this policy places an inordinate responsibility on the complaining citizen and that it is the Commission's responsibility to investigate complaints that the law has been violated, not the citizen's responsibility to prove the violations."
Another Republican Commissioner, Kevin J. Martin, said in his statement that the decision did not change the Commission's policy concerning indecency but did provide guidance on its implementation and increased the effectiveness of the Commission rules by clarifying them.
" Many consumers," he said, " have expressed frustration with how we have applied our indecency rule. They have argued that the Commission has placed too high a burden on viewers and listeners by requiring that they include with any complaint a tape or transcript of the program in question. The result, they say, is an indecency rule that is too rarely enforced. "
"While the Commission's indecency policy has no strict tape or transcript requirement, whether it was Commission practice to require a tape or transcript is unclear."
" I am glad that today we put this controversy to rest - and in a way that decreases the burden on consumers. As we explain in the Order, the Commission will not dismiss a complaint for failure to include a tape or transcript. As long we have sufficient detail and context to determine whether an identified program is indecent, we will process the complaint."
Previous Abernathy:
Previous Copps:
Previous FCC:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Previous Martin:
FCC Order (includes song transcript):
2002-05-29: Cumulus Media has announced that it is buying US Broadcasting's eight-station cluster in Macon, Georgia, for USD35.5 million, USD34 million of it in cash and the remaining USD1.5 million in Cumulus shares.
The cash will come from the USD 199 million that Cumulus raised from its stock sale earlier this month (See RNW May 24).
Some more of that cash may be at risk from a rather odd lawsuit according to Radio Ink.
It reports that two of its Iowa listeners are suing the company claiming that they were each promised USD30, 000 a year if they would have the logo of Cumulus station KQRB 93 Rock on their foreheads.
Ink says that the DJ Ben Stone (Benjamin Stomberg) had first announced on air that the station would give backstage passes and concert tickets to anyone who put a temporary tattoo on their forehead and later offered USD30, 000 a year for five years to anyone who had the logo permanently tattoos on their foreheads.
The two say they called the station to ensure the offer was legitimate and later a station employee paid for the tattoos and the station put photographs of the work n progress on its web site.
They say nothing was paid to them and are suing for breach of contract, fraud and negligence, saying the station had no intention to pay the money and "had a duty to monitor the activities of their disk jockeys and to stop such practical jokes before others took action to its own detriment."
Cumulus is contesting the action.
Previous Cumulus:
Radio Ink web site:
2002-05-29: UK music festival and venue promotions organisation the Mean Fiddler group, founded by its chairman Vince Power in 1982, is buying troubled London country music station Ritz 1035AM for an undisclosed amount, around 90% of it in Mean Fiddler shares.
Power commented that he came into the music business because of his love of country music, making the acquisition special for him. Mean idler says the purchase is another step in its efforts to build a media division to complement its promotional activities.
Last month the UK Radio Magazine reported that Ritz had fired all its presenters and was running in automated mode (See RNW April 23).
2002-05-28: UK GWR Group has reported a 63% fall in pre-tax profits for the year to the end of March; they were GBP7.7 million, which compares to GBP20.7 million a year earlier/ Turnover was up 0.9% to GBP128.4 million in what the company termed a "brutal year" with national advertising revenue down 10% and local revenues down 3.1%.
National revenues for its Classic FM station were down 16.3% despite the station's ratings success.
Broken down turnover fell 7.9% to GBP 102.4 million for existing stations, was up 60^% to GBP19.9 million from acquisitions and was up 73% to GBP6.12 million for new media, principally comprised of digital radio interests.
Operating profits for stations it has held for the two years were down 41% to GBP32.3 million but acquisitions produced an operating profit of GBP2.6 million, up from GBP1 million in the 2000 to 2001 year. New media operations lost GBP5.3 million compared to GBP7 million a year earlier.
Chairman Ralph Bernard said that the company will focus on the UK market and is to pull out of overseas markets following a review of its operations in Europe and Australia.
GWR holds 25% of DMG Radio Australia and had an option to purchase the balance up to July 2003; it lists a "carrying value" of GBP45 million for the Australian interests and says it will use the funds to reduce its debts.
It also says that the sale of London News Radio (LNR) , of which it holds a fifth share and where losses rose from GBP600, 000 a year earlier to GBP1.3 million is now close.
Despite the gloom in the figures, GWR says UK radio has prospects for high growth with opportunities for higher margins and real growth from digital radio.
Within the sector it says its portfolio is strong with Classic FM providing a growing national brand, local radio giving it a large, quality, holding and its digital radio holdings positioning it uniquely to benefit.
Concerning its pullout from overseas operations, GWR has set aside in its accounts GBP 10 million for impairment in connection with selling its European stations and says the sale process is under way but depends upon acceptable terms. It describes the decision to withdraw from Australia as "difficult" as the business had been developing well.
GWR has denied newspaper reports that it was involved in merger talks with Capital Radio (See RNW May 27) and says it wants to be at the forefront of merger and acquisition activity.
It is to continue lobbying against the three media owners plus the BBC rule proposed for local markets in the communications bill.
Capital has said that is has held informal talks about consolidation and said that it expected such talks with various interested parties concerning a wide range of opportunities in UK radio would be expected to continue as the UK Communications Bill progresses.
Previous Bernard:
Previous Capital:
Previous DMG:
Previous GWR:
Previous LNR:
GWR web site (Results shown in 1.09Mb PowerPoint presentation)
2002-05-28: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) will not be ready for the radical overhaul of its weekday Radio One morning schedules at the start of September according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.
The paper says a small group of staffers on the flagship "This Morning " show were told that they could expect to continue working on the three-hour show during the fall, possibly until the end of December, although executives remain committed to eventual changes at the station.
The paper quotes Adrian Mills, executive director of programming at CBC English Radio, as saying, "We know Sept. 2 is not looking realistic for us right now, given the amount of time it takes to develop a high-quality program." However he added that the changes would go ahead when the programmes were ready.
Previous CBC:
Previous Mills:
Toronto Globe and Mail report:
2002-05-27: We felt that this week, we couldn't neglect the issue of "payola" in US radio as the US music industry fires more rounds in its battle with radio but we start or look at the week's print comment on radio with some items relating to unintended consequences of actions.
The first relates to ratings meters and comes from Dean Johnson's Boston Radio column in the Boston Herald.
Noting that Philadelphia stations have been cooperating with Arbitron in developing its People Meter ratings, Johnson continues, "Arbitron began sharing its People Meter totals with Philly radio executives Monday, and though results weren't publicly disclosed, industry sources indicate totals so unsettling that oxygen tanks and CPR were almost required to bring the staggered radio folks back around."
"The difference between the old diary-driven system and Arbitron's People Meter totals were bigger than expected for some players. They also were all over the place. Suburban stations pulled in more listeners than anticipated; audience totals for stations focused on the 25-54 age group were high; and some niche formats got downright croaked by the new system."
In Boston, where Nielsen used their version of the meter for television ratings, no major stations agreed to take part and Johnson says TV executives told the paper they "were worried about the very discrepancies that popped up in Philadelphia, so they opted for life without ratings rather than what they expected would be new, suspicious and even capricious totals."
"No doubt," he concludes, "there are now some Philly radio folks who wished they'd made a few phone calls to the Hub before they agreed to jump onto Arbitron's new ratings bandwagon."
RNW comment: In the UK, we note that a major proponent of metering as opposed to diaries, Kelvin Mackenzie, ran a trial and then released results that favoured his TalkSport station. We wonder if he'd have rushed out the same results if they'd shown a different picture but in the end have to conclude that for some measurements, a well-designed meter will almost certainly be more accurate than a diary system but probably miss out many subtleties.
Another example was given in Vanora Bennett's Saturday radio column in the London Times.
She contrasted the Eurovision Song Contest with the BBC Young Musician 2002 competition and then took a look at the related website.
Her conclusion? "Any pretence that the Young Musician competition aims to foster classical high-mindedness is exploded by an all too candid website."
"The blurb," she writes, "reads as breathlessly as a racing commentator's adrenalin-crazed and-they're-going-down-to-the-line-now patter: 'We started with 500, and at this final stage we are down to just five . . . See if you can spot who will be top of their class.'"
"…Da-da-da-DUM. Now listen on . . . And I will, of course, and so will you, with all the joy of a Roman audience voting with its thumbs to get some anxious Christian eaten."
"What could be more exciting for any audience than to gloat over a talented young thing with a racing heart shutting his or her mind to the probability of rejection because just the tiny possibility of winning is out there?"
"These brutal competitions help the sport-free days before the World Cup and the next Test pass very enjoyably. As a way of appreciating music, though, they get nul points."
On to another unintended consequence, in this case of technology at a particular time being later superseded. In this case it's the question of webcasting royalties, raised by Rob Pegoraro in the Washington Post in an item headed, "They're Not Treating Webcasters Like Royalty."
Pegoraro looks at the history of copyright and notes "Records didn't exist when many copyright laws were enacted. So radio stations in the United States, unlike those in some other countries, don't have to pay for their use of musicians' recordings. (Broadcasters say their airplay helps sell records in the first place.) "
The recording industry, he says has "long bemoaned this situation, to no effect." Until, that is, it passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a consequence of which was the compiling by the US Copyright Arbitration Panel (CARP) of its recommendations for payments.
CARP, says Pegoraro, "tried to base a royalty system on 26 deals the Recording Industry Association of America had signed with individual webcasters. But it found that the RIAA had tried to rig the system by choosing weak bargaining partners it could arm-wrestle into paying steep royalties."
The Copyright Office, he notes, "also proposed that Web broadcasters log not just songs and audience totals, but such irrelevant data as each listener's time zone and country. "
Pegararo goes on to say that the rates would have led to the closure of many small stations leaving a few big corporations to rule the roost and quotes Andrew Leyden, chief executive of a D.C.-based Web radio site called PenguinRadio.com. on the likely effects.
"Some of our most common search terms are techno, jazz, electronica, folk," wrote Leyden. "How many of those genres can you hear 'over the air'? These are the stations we'll lose with the CARP fees."
Pegararo also comments on the illogical vein running through he proposals in that digital satellite radio is not being asked to pay per-listener fees, although it is still haggling over terms, and terrestrial satellite radio will escape charges altogether, (RNW comment: Even though the music industry's argument about the ease of making digital copies applies in spades here compared to current "streaming quality" webcasts!)
On to the issue of payola, which came to the fore in the week with the sending of a "Joint Statement on Current Issue in Radio" to Congress and the Federal Communications Commission by a consortium of groups associated with the music business (See RNW May 25).
In the Los Angeles Times, staff writer Chuck Philips reports on the issue, noting that the current payola laws were enacted four decades ago after "a scandal that exposed rock deejays taking money from record labels to play certain songs. "
He also notes that the record labels began the practice of hiring independent promoters to pitch their songs to radio so as to distance themselves from the transactions but that the costs have been soaring.
On this he quotes California Democrat Rep. Howard L. Berman as saying, "What's happening here is a process that the record labels once thought helped facilitate getting radio airplay has now become so coercive and expensive ... that they've finally decided to ... come forward publicly to expose a practice they participated in for a long time."
(RNW note: Berman is no friend of Clear Channel and in January he attacked the company, amongst other things, for allegedly taking action against artists who did not sign up with its promotions arm - See RNW January 24)
Set against the comments by the politicians who are largely backing the music industry's moves are those from radio executives. "Clearly, the [record] labels are in trouble these days, but it's not our fault," said Randy Michaels, chief executive of the radio division of Clear Channel.
"We didn't create the independent promotion system. They did. We're just dealing with the animal that exists.
"For us to be cast as the bad guy here is ridiculous," Michaels added. "The fact is we've done more than anyone else in this business to try to clean up what everyone knows was an ugly and corrupt system."
(RNW comment: We'd have a bit more sympathy with the recording industry if it hadn't started the practices that led to payola and in many ways subsequently continued it in different forms. Equally the radio case would be rather stronger were it not for the fact that some radio groups have signed exclusive deals with particular promoters and other stations have deals under which they are paid "promotional fees" by the promoters, fees that are in many cases shown on the station bottom line.
Of course the contracts specifically say there are no obligations to play records that are being pitched but to us the words probably have as much value as an Enron audit by Arthur Andersen).
And finally a brief on how to get on radio without paying, courtesy of Colorado-based radio personality Kimberly Henrie in "Small Business Canada".
Her series of tips includes the obvious, but often neglected, actions to take such as becoming familiar with particular programmes and avoiding annoying producers or hosts by unwise unsolicited calls (suggesting a pithy e-mail with a suitable heading as a better way to get attention) to the characterisation.
" Remember that radio is entertainment," she writes.
" If you land an interview be prepared to entertain the audience in addition to informing them. Be over-friendly, over-excited, wildly outrageous, flirtatious, funny, morbid, SOMETHING that the audience won't expect."
"And do it in a big way. You have to overdo in radio for the emotion to get across the airwaves."
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Washington Post - Pegoraro:
2002-05-27: Jeremy Vine, who currently works on BBC TV's Newsnight programme, is to take over veteran DJ Jimmy Young's weekday two-hour lunchtime slot on BBC Radio 2 next year according to Paul Donovan in his UK Sunday Times RadioWaves column.
Reports in February that Vine had reached agreement to take the post were dismissedby the BBC (See RNW February 24).
Donovan, who praises Young and says the BBC should be providing a more detailed explanation for its decision to drop his show, says that the announcement has been delayed until Young collects his knighthood on June 27.
On Vine, he praises his journalistic talents but says they do not necessarily qualify him for the post. "Quite apart from his assertive style," writes Donovan, " he does not have an obvious interest in music, a light touch or much sense of fun - to take just three qualities that JY displays in abundance."
"So the BBC is pushing Young aside to make way for someone who, although very bright, will not possess the all-round skills that will make him as effective on air. Or, at least, not unless he adapts a great deal... JV will be hard pressed to be as good as JY."
Previous Donovan:
Previous Vine:
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UK Sunday Times report (requires registration):
2002-05-27: As the US Authorities step up warnings about possible future attacks on US soil, a recently issued Arbitron report, "Radio's Role During a National Crisis ", provides some guidance on what it says is necessary "to help radio stations maintain and increase listening during a national crisis" should there be such an attack.
It starts by praising the response to the September 11 attacks but then, from surveys conducted up to the end of 2001 it gives will be welcome news to the accountants, namely that many listeners welcomed the return of advertisements as part of a return to normal.
More than 60 percent of respondents who were surveyed for the study,says Scott Musgrave Senior Vice President & General Manager, Arbitron Radio, "indicated advertisers should have returned to running commercials just one or two days after September 11. "
"We've long known that radio provides a unique and essential service to our communities. We now have information, which suggests commercials are an integral part of American life as well."
"Should the radio industry ever be thrown into another national crisis, it's worth noting that many listeners consider radio ads to be a welcome sign of normalcy."
The report also says that, " In the aftermath of the tragedy, radio seems to have rediscovered that its strength is serving as a connection between listeners. It has a bond with audiences that no other medium can claim. As one listener put it in an e-mail to his station, 'If it's got to be bad news, I'd rather have my friends deliver it.'"
Less welcome will be another point, that many people heard of the events on radio first but then turned to television although it adds that, after the immediate events, "in interview after interview, it was stated that the healing process and promotion-of-community were clearly radio's roles and strengths" and that around a third of Americans said they were now listening to more radio than before September 11.
In New York itself the figures were skewed because eight TV stations were taken off air as their transmitters were on the North Tower.
The report notes that Infinity news stations WINS-AM had a 23.9% share during the 1000-1100 morning period, including the times of the attack on the Pentagon and the collapse of the first tower.
Its AQH rating, says Arbitron showed that one in sixteen of the 12 plus population of the New York Metro areas was listening to WNS during that hour.
Previous Arbitron:
Arbitron web site - links to report (1.8Mb PDF):
2002-05-27: According to the UK Sunday Times, Capital Radio and GWR, whose holdings include Classic FM, have been holding informal talks about a possible merger whilst simultaneously DMGT, which owns 26% of GWR, has been drawing up plans to bid for the whole company.
DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail and London Evening Standard newspaper, as well as other radio holdings, would not be allowed to take over GWR under current regulations and even under the draft UK Communications Bill could have problems because of overlap between local newspapers it owns and GWR's local radio stations.
A combined company would be valued at around GBP 1 billion, a third of it from the GWR holding and the remainder from Capital.
According to the paper, a GWR takeover would not prohibit a merger with Capital and current talks are aimed towards striking conditional deals before UK legislation lifting many ownership regulations becomes law.
GWR is due to issue its full year results today with forecasts of full year pre-tax profits around GBP7 million compared to GBP20.1 million a year ago.
Previous Capital:
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UK Sunday Times report (requires registration):
2002-05-26: Last week was fairly quiet on the radio licensing front with the main activity in the US concerning Low Power FM licences and other areas mainly dealing with routine matters.
In Australia, the only radio related activity by Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) was to invite applications for a new community station in the Murwillumbah area of northern New South Wales.
In Canada, the main radio activity by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has involved licence and deadline extensions.
Licences extended were those of Telemedia Radio Altantic Inc. and Télémédia Radio (Québec) Inc., New Brunswick (CFXY-FM, Fredericton) and Quebec (CITF-FM
CHLT, CITE-FM-1 and its transmitter CITE-FM-2, in Québec and Sherbrooke) which were granted one year administrative renewals to the end of August 2003 to allow time for renewals following the recent approval of transfer of control of the stations which were disposed of by Telemedia.
Deadline extensions included those for a new native radio station at Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec and for Celestial Sound to commence operations for new transmitters at for CHIM-FM Timmins at Chapleau, Elliot Lake, Wawa, and Red Deer, all in Ontario.
Ireland was quiet on the radio front but in the UK, the Radio Authority has announced its plans for the next phase of local licensing, which covers the period up to its expected replacement by the new super-regulator OFCOM when the Communications Bill is passed into law.
It aims to advertise licences at up to one a month with schedule adjustments in cases where existing local licences have to be competitively re-advertised.
The schedule issued is:
Licences remaining from the Authority's previous working list:
Yeovil
Gairloch & Loch Ewe
Maidstone
West Lothian
North Norfolk
Buxton
Helensburgh
New licences:
West Midlands (third regional licence)
Carmarthenshire
Glasgow (large-scale)
Ballymena
Kidderminster
Cornwall (second countywide licence)
Blackburn
Norwich
Banbury
Durham
Ashford, Kent
Torbay
The Authority has also announced that at the end of the month it is to advertise the local digital multiplex licence for Swansea that covers an area with a 15-plus population of just over half a million and has published its assessment of the award of the South Hampshire digital multiplex.
This went to Capital Radio Digital (CRD) against competition from Solent Digital Radio Limited((For details of offerings see licence news February 17)..
It says that both applicants had made impressive efforts to promote the establishment of local digital radio services in the area and noted that CRD had been "particularly successful in gaining evidence of support from the local business community and from elected representatives of the public."
It also said that members noted that CRD "had succeeded in keeping the carriage costs for programme providers to a more readily affordable level, which made their involvement on the multiplex a financially more viable opportunity for them and enhanced the likelihood that they would be able to maintain their participation in the long term."
" In Members' view," it added, "the fact that all of the digital capacity had been allocated to identified service providers gave the project additional security."
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has given a go-ahead to 196 Low Power FM applications that it says have no conflicts with other pending applications. They're mainly for stations in Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands and are from the Commission's fourth LPFM filing window in June last year. Any petitions to deny the applications have to be filed by June 24.
The FCC has also red-flagged the Clear Channel acquisition of classic rock WRNO-FM in New Orleans, part of a USD12.5 million cash and station swap deal with Wilks Broadcasting whose other half was the transfer of Alternative KKND-FM from Clear Channel to Wilks. The deal does not affect to total stations of either organisation in the market - two Ames and fiver FMs for Clear Channel and four FMs for Wilks. Currently WRNO is lower rated than KKND but its city of licence is New Orleans whereas KKND is licensed to Port Sulphur
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2002-05-25: A coalition of artists, recording companies and retailers is urging the US government to revise payola laws and launch an investigation into the power that a small number of US corporations, notably Clear Channel, hold over the US radio and concert industries. It also wants a ban on what is termed "legal payola", the system by which record labels funnel some USD300 million a year to radio stations through independent promoters to influence airplay.
In a "Joint Statement on Current Issue in Radio" to lawmakers and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the group also calls for restrictions on independently owned low power radio stations and Internet webcasters to be lifted to increase diversity.(Details of specific requests are listed below):
The group, which includes the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists(AFTRA) and a number of artists groups such as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, say that radio deregulation has been a factor in raising the cost of promoting records to radio stations and has also made it more difficult for new artists to get on the air.
They say the radio conglomerates have gained control of the system and have made exclusive deals with independent consultants that made it difficult to get airplay without paying high rates to the consultants and claim that what has evolved is payola in a new form. The promoters say payments are not made for playing particular songs but the group alleges that the songs played are mostly those suggested by the promoters.
RIAA president Cary Sherman said that it an artist or label chose not to use an independent promoter they were now choosing not to seek airplay on a radio station.
He said the relationship was fundamentally different to earlier times when laws were passed that banned "payola" payments to broadcasters or their staff without an accompanying on-air announcement that payment had been made. He said that it was now 40 years since Congress addressed the issues and the law needed clarification.
The campaign is being backed by Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Russell Feingold who says he is to introduce a bill to abolish or trim many of the practices that he says have led to higher concert prices and homogenized radio programming.
He commented, "I'm pleased to hear about this joint statement. The fact that so many diverse groups could agree on this shows just how widely these problems affect everyone."
In an interview published in the Chicago Tribune on Thursday he said, "It is striking the range of people that radio deregulation has affected negatively in different parts of the music industry and the economy." "It's a sign of how offensive this system has become. The reason I have put it high on my agenda is the range of people it has affected: artists, consumers, labour groups, concertgoers and every person who listens to radio."
"This is an anti-democratic trend, because a free society is made up of a variety of voices. So to have music homogenized and controlled by a few big companies is a significant issue in a democracy and a culture."
Howie Klein, who retired as president of Reprise Records last year, told the paper, "It's a crooked system and it has to end."
"Payola corrupts the industry, so we wind up with worse and worse music on the radio, which means worse and worse artists are being signed and developed. This [reform] is long overdue."
Tom Lee, international president of the American Federation of Musicians, one of the groups that signed the statement said, "For too long the radio stations have been able to set what it is going to cost to get a record played. They have determined that the highest bidder will win. And it's not going to change until Congress steps in and does something about it."
Clear Channel says the answer lies in the hands of the recording companies, who can stop payments.
Its spokeswoman Pam Taylor told R&R Online, "The entire independent promotion business is fed by the record industry. If they want this to end, they should just stop paying the indies."
"We don't control or set the dollars [provided by independent promoters]," she added, continuing, "Do we take them? Absolutely. But we do it in a corporate, positive environment. There is no relation between dollars expended by the indies and what gets played on Clear Channel stations."
Previous AFTRA:
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Chicago Tribune report:
R&R Online web site:
*Specific requests made in the statement are:
1. We request that payments made to radio stations which are designed to influence playlists (other than legitimate and reasonable promotional expenses) be prohibited, unless such payments are announced over the air, even when such intent is subtle and disguised. This includes payments made through independent radio promoters.
2. We request an investigation of the impact of recent unprecedented increases in radio ownership consolidation on citizens and the music community.
3. We request an examination of the way vertical integration of ownership in broadcasting, concert promotion companies and venues decreases fair market competition for artists, clubs and promotion companies.
4. We request that policies that protect non-commercial space in the radio bandwidth and in the emerging Webcasting models be enacted, securing the benefits of programming diversity for the music community and citizens.
"The various laws and hearings from the 1960s-1970s muted the prominence of payola for a while," the statement continued. "However, payola-like practices eventually resurfaced, but in a more direct form. Often, in an effort to stay within the law, the payment is characterized as, for example, payment to receive first notice of the station's playlist adds."
2002-05-25: In UK radio business, Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) has reported pre-tax profits for the six months to the end of March down 27% from GBP7.8 million for the same period of 2001 to GBP5.7 million; its turnover was also down by 1% to GBP39.4 million and the company says that it does not expect national radio advertising to recover this year.
In brighter spots, radio local advertising was up 5% and its newspaper revenues were up 3% but its outdoor business, which is has now agreed to sell to Clear Channel for GBP33.5 million plus possible extra performance related payments of GBP24 million (See RNW May 22), performed badly.
SRH is regarded as a takeover target and rival Scottish Media Group (SMG) has built up a stake of just under 30%, the maximum that current regulations permit before it has to launch a full bid but SRH finance director Alan Wilson said he still expected any attempt to launch a full bid to be blocked by competition watchdogs and added that they had not had discussions with SMG.
SMG itself is in the news after former Virgin Radio breakfast host Chris Evans, who sold his company including Virgin Radio to SMG for GBP225 million (See RNW Jan 13, 2000), has said that he wants to buy back the franchise.
Evans was fired by SMG last year after he repeatedly failed to turn up to host his show (See RNW June 29, 2001).
Subsequently he launched a legal action against SMG (See RNW Dec 15, 2001) concerning shares that he said he is owed under share options included in the original sale. Evans is claiming GBP8.6 million and says he will drop the action if SMG will sell Virgin Radio back to him.
In an interview in the UK Daily Mirror on Friday, Evans attacks Virgin chief executive John Pearson who was made a millionaire by his deal with SMG.
"I was sacked by a man who I made a millionaire and whose job I not once but twice saved and I hope you understand why I have now taken legal action to attain what, in my opinion, is rightfully mine," he told the paper.
"My outstanding shares were not for payment for work, they were part of the original payment for the purchase of the station. This was a delayed payment if you like."
"I will drop my legal action if they give me what is rightfully mine, meaning they can sell Virgin Radio to at least two parties that I know of. I will also run the station for free for the new owners and present the breakfast show."
SMG, says it has no intention of selling Virgin Radio.
On the business side, in a move similar to that of Clear Channel with its cross media "Advantage" (See RNW May 23) SMG has formalised its cross media advertising into a new service "SMG Access" following a review of its operations.
The new service is to be promoted by a targeted mailshot next month and will provide a single point of entry to all SMG's media including radio, television, newspapers, magazines, cinema, outdoor and online.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Evans:
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2002-05-25: Employees of Radio-Canada, the French language service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Quebec and Moncton have started to return to work after voting to accept an agreement with the broadcaster.
The agreement ends a nine-week lockout.
Previous CBC:
2002-05-24: A few more station deals took place in the US this week, but the rate has slowed dramatically according to BIA Financial Network (BIAFn).
It says that 222 stations were sold or traded between January and April, less than half the 468 for the period in 2001. The fall is of a similar magnitude to the 46% drop in station sales during 2001 compared to 2000 that was reported by BIAFn (See RNW April 26).
In value terms the latest fall was much more steep, from a year to date figure of USD2.4 billion in 2001 to USD459 million this year.
The figures were more evenly marched for April of the two years with 85 station deals this year, up on 57 in April 2001 but with a lower value of USD101 million compared to USD147 million.
In the deals this week, the most expensive was a USD 1 million purchase by Puerto Rican company Pan Caribbean Broadcasting de P.R. Inc. of WVPI-FM Charlotte Amalie, the US Virgin Islands capital, from Benjamin Broadcasting Corp.
Also on an island, Salem Communications has announced a USD650, 000 agreement to acquire KJPN-AM in Honolulu, Hawaii, from International Communications Corp. Salem already owns an FM and three AMs in Honolulu and when all currently announced transactions are completed will own or operate 83 stations.
On the finance front, Cumulus has announced that it raised USD199.2 million net from its offering of 11.5 million shares of its class A common stock. Just fewer than 10.5 million of the shares were offered by Cumulus and the remaining 950, 000 by various shareholders. Cumulus says it intends to use USD55.6 million of the funds for its previously announced acquisition of Wilks Broadcasting's five Michigan stations (See RNW May 8).
The rest is to be used for general corporate purposes which could include reducing debt or funding further acquisitions.
Previous Cumulus:
Previous Salem:
2002-05-24: Radio Canada, the French language CBC service, has reached a tentative agreement with its 1400 staff, who have been locked out since March.
The staff, who rejected a previous offer by the narrow margin of 502 to 500 votes (See RNW May 17), were due to hold a vote Thursday, after our deadline, on the latest deal.
Previous CBC:
2002-05-24: Arizona governor Jane Hull has now signed the non-compete bill that passed the Arizona House earlier this month (See RNW May 12).
Broadcasting staff who are fired or whose contracts are not renewed will not now be restricted in their search for work at other stations.
2002-05-23: US giant Clear Channel may not be able to do much more consolidating in terms of station purchases in the US but it has done so internally with a re-organisation of its sales force. It has announced the creation of the "Clear Channel Advantage", a cross-platform advertising service that enables advertisers to access packages that cove Clear Channel's radio, TV, outdoor and entertainment divisions and is also merge its local and regional sales teams in its radio division and Music Group.
Clear Channel President and COO Mark Mays said the Clear Channel Advantage "leverages the power of Clear Channel's unique national footprint with our unparalleled multi-platform advertising opportunities."
Of the sales merger he said, "The combined sales team will provide unprecedented access for our advertisers to the unique opportunities of our radio and live music advertising platforms."
The new merged sales force will report to Clear Channel Radio President and COO John Hogan, who will also be in charge of the Clear Channel Advantage.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Mark Mays:
Clear Channel web site:
2002-05-23: UK Guardian Media Group (GMG) has moved closer to taking over Jazz FM; it effectively already has a controlling interest after no rival bids had been made for the 30.9% stake held by Clear Channel by the deadline.
Clear Channel had said that it would accept GMG's offer of GBP18 a share unless a rival bid GBP22 or more. GMG already held 18% of Jazz FM and another shareholder, Roger Parry, chief executive of Clear Channel's international arm, has said he will sell his 1.1% stake.
Jazz FM has not recommended the deal, thus making the GMG bid a hostile one, and is due to meet this week to consider the offer. Remaining shareholders have until June 12 to accept the offer.
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Previous Jazz FM:
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2002-05-23: Latest figures from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) show that 108 new commercial radio stations were added to the US total in the last six months of 2001.
AM stations went up by 45 to 4,772 and commercial FMs by 38 to 6,089. Another 25 FM Educational stations were also added to make their total 2,259. The total number of US radio and television broadcasting stations is now 25,890, an increase of 0.8%.
Previous FCC:
2002-05-23: A further rise in Internet listening means that it now total 6.28 times that in January 2001 and has more than doubled since January this year according to the latest ratings from MeasureCast. Within the rankings the top station was again Jazz FM and top network was Clear Channel but lower down Virgin Radio came back into the top five network spot from which it was ousted a week earlier by newcomer Internet Radio Inc, which dropped back to sixth. We did note that apart from Clear Channel all the top networks had lower listening.
For the week to May 12, MeasureCast's top five stations ranked by Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) with previous week's TTSL and Cume persons (CP), a measure of the cumulative audience, in brackets, were:
1: Jazz format Jazz FM - TTSL 329,5000 (316,644); CP 78,542 (77,884): Same position with higher listening and reach.
2: Hot Adult Contemporary Virgin FM - TTSL 303,543 (315,954); CP 47,403 (49,534): Same position but with lower listening and reach.
3: Classical format WQXR-FM, New York - TTSL 187,986 (183,539); CP 24,600 (25,623): Same position with higher listening but lower reach.
4: Classical format King FM - TTSL 139,528 (136,848); CP 23,382 (23,551): Same position with higher listening and reach.
5: Internet only Rock format KNAC.com - TTSL 90,830 (93,783): CP 15,400 (16,104): Same position with lower listening and reach.
The top five networks for the week (Previous week's figures in brackets) were:
1: Clear Channel Worldwide TTSL 1,804,691 (1,775,010) ; CP 288,675 (289,249). Same position with higher listening and reach.
2: Radio Free Virgin TTSL 829,428 (834,690): CP 181,057 (185,885) - Same position with lower listening and reach.
3: WARP Radio TTSL 674,040 (705,212) hours: CP 115,576 (119,189) - Same position with lower listening and reach.
4: StreamAudio network TTSL 539,636 (546,287) : CP 93,123 (96,941) - same position with lower listening and reach.
5: Virgin Radio TTSL 427,539(441,204 ); CP 74,859 (78,951 ) - up from sixth despite lower listening and reach.
Previous MeasureCast ratings:
MeasureCast web site:
2002-05-22: The US Librarian of Congress James Billington has rejected the streaming royalty rates proposals by the Copyright Arbitration Pane (CARP)l; this leaves another 30 days until June 20 for a final decision to be made.
The relevant part of the statement, which was welcomed by many webcasters, reads," The Register of Copyrights recommends, and the Librarian agrees, that the CARP's determination must be rejected. A final decision will be issued no later than June 20, 2002."
Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association (DIMA), said the move offered "hope that the final royalty will be more in line with marketplace economics.''
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was cautious about the rejection. In a statement its president Cary Sherman said, "Since both sides appealed the panel's determination anything is possible."
The CARP panel had proposed a royalty rate of 0.14 cents per song per listener streamed for webcasters and half that for radio stations streaming their terrestrial signals. Currently US radio broadcasters pay around 3% of their revenues to publishers and composers but nothing to artists and recording companies on the basis that their airplay is free promotion.
Webcasters had wanted a similar deal, which was rejected by the RIAA, which counter-proposed a plan for royalties of around 15% of gross revenues. No agreement was reached on this and the CARP panel opted for the pay-per-listen plan.
There is now speculation that a percentage of revenues plan, which some webcasters had started to favour following announcement of the rates proposed by the CARP.
There were also issues of record keeping, with many webcasters saying that, even if the royalty rate had not put them out of business, the records that they had been asked to provide were far too detailed and onerous.
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Previous Potter:
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RIAA web site:
US Copyright Office web site:
US Copyright Office statement rejecting CARP proposals:
US Copyright Office on proposed rates:
2002-05-22: Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) has announced agreement to sell its outdoor advertising division, Score Outdoor, to Clear Channel UK Limited, for a cash sum of GBP33.5 million and possible deferred payments that could amount to GBP24 million over four years.
The deal, which is dependant upon approval by competition authorities, involves the sale of the entire share capital of Score Outdoor, which has billboards in Scotland, and the North West, South West and Midlands regions of England.
There are only a few overlaps with Clear Channel's More O'Ferrall billboard business and the combined group would be competing against two large players, Maiden and JC Decaux.
The extra payments would depend upon the combined Score and More O'Ferrall business achieving gross sales targets that are part of the deal.
SRH says the deal will allow it to concentrate on developing its radio stations and newspapers.
It valued its outdoor business at GBP45.9 million at the end of March and will show the resulting GBP21.8 million loss, which does not take into account the potential deferred payments, as an exceptional item in its accounts for the 2002 financial year.
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2002-05-22: Almost a quarter of American adults listen to News/Talk radio but older people are more likely to tune to the format according to Scarborough Research's latest radio format study. Scarborough says that St Louis News/Talk stations attract 40% of listeners but in Honolulu the figure is only 9%; for New York it is 17%, in Los Angeles 15% and in Chicago 28%
Although News/Talk listeners tend to be older, with a median age of 52, says the study, they also tend to be better educated and more affluent. People with postgraduate degrees are 92% more likely to be News/Talk listeners, it says and 37% of people whose household income is USD 250, 000 a year or more listen to the format. It also notes that more than half News/Talk listeners had used a Gold or Platinum card in the past three months.
Looking further into the habits of listeners to the format, the report says that they are likely to be investors, are half as likely again as the average to use a broker, tend to stay active, and engage n pastimes such as walking for exercise, swimming, gardening, photography and cycling.
Commenting on the study, Howard Goldberg, senior vice president, Radio, Scarborough Research, said, "Based on the world's current volatility, Americans' need to stay abreast of local and national news has increased, and many find themselves tuning in to News/Talk radio. Non-News/Talk format stations are now considering their options to provide their listeners with news and information that they had once not offered in the past. This will place an additional emphasis on the News/Talk format stations to meet the programming needs of their core listeners."
Scarborough Research news release:
2002-05-22: Financially stressed UK sports radio station and web site operator TEAMtalk says it is considering a takeover bid, not long after it rejected a GBP10.2 million offer from gambling operator UKBetting (See RNW May 14).
TEAMtalk turned the former Atlantic 252 dance music station into sports outlet TEAMtalk 252, which has fared disastrously in the latest UK ratings (See RNW May 10).
In a statement, the company, which employs some 370 people in all, said, "Measures have already been put in place to reduce cash burn of the group and the legal process of consultation for a major redundancy programme is commencing."
TEAMtalk wrote off around GBP10 million in assets last month and its then Managing Director Bill Wilson resigned (See RNW April 29).
It appointed the former chief executive of Regional Independent Media, Chris Oakley, as chairman and he is conducting a strategic review of the business, which still has nearly GBP20 million in the bank.
Previous TEAMtalk:
2002-05-22: Helen Shaw, head of radio at Irish State Broadcaster RTÉ, is stepping down to take up a one-year international fellowship in the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. She will undertake research into US and European international relations following the September 11 attacks.
In a statement on the departure, RTÉ director-general Bob Collins commented, "During her period as director of radio she has shown remarkable commitment and has never failed to 'put the audience first'. A particular highlight of this part of her career was the launch of Lyric FM and we all share her sense of pride in the achievements of this newest of RTÉ's radio channels."
Shaw was appointed to her post in 1997 and attracted controversy because of her management style that led to protests by staff.
She had worked at the Irish Times as a reporter and for RTÉ as a radio producer then worked for the BBC for nearly two years before her appointment, aged 35, from a field including 22 other candidates.
RTÉ is currently facing a financial crisis and has asked for a Euro45 increase in its licence fee.
The broadcaster has already reduced its staff by some 450, around a quarter( See RNW Nov 11, 2001).
It recorded a deficit of Euro71 million last year, including an operating deficit of Euro 46 million and a one-off charge of Euro 21.5 million relating to some 150 redundancies.
Collins has said that any further cuts in staff would be counter-productive and the broadcaster says it may have to discontinue its services unless it gets the increase. An independent assessor's report on its options is due to be published later this week.
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2002-05-21: The UK radio advertising market has turned the corner according to latest figures from the country's Radio Advertising Bureau.
It says that, after three successive quarters of declining revenues, advertisers spent GBP135.7 million in the three months from January to March this year, 0/5% more than in the first quarter of 2002.
The bureau notes increases in the automobile sector, with considerable extra spending by Ford and Toyota, a significant increase in spend by the Sainsbury's supermarket group and other increases by national advertisers.
Sainsbury's increased its spend more than ten times to GBP1.2 million in the quarter, and its brand marketing director commented that Sainsbury's had "been able to demonstrate to ourselves that radio is the most profitable advertising channel available to Sainsburys after TV activity starts to hit levels of decreasing returns."
"It is certainly far more profitable than national press, local press and leaflets," he added. "As we've realised how effective it is we've done more and more of it."
Radio Advertising Bureau managing director Justin Sampson said that the figures the increase was particularly significant because in the first quarter of 2001, the British governemnt through the Central Office of Information (COI) had increased its spending in the run up to the General Election.
He also commented that the performance was strong "when you consider that other mainstream media are reporting continued declines in advertising levels."
The COI remained the largest single advertiser in the quarter, spending some GBP8.7 million, but this was more than a fifth down on the 2001 figures. Toyota was the next largest spender, putting in a total of GBP2.2 million.
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UK Radio Advertising Bureau web site (Flash 6 site):
2002-05-21: Forstmann Little is preparing to take Citadel Communications public less than a year after it bought the company for US 2 billion (See RNW June 26, 2001) according to the New York Post.
The paper says Forstmann is hoping to cash in on current high valuations for radio companies and an expected improvement in advertising revenues.
It tips Goldman Sachs Group and Credit Suisse First Boston, which advised Citadel on its sale to Forstmann, plus Merrill Lynch & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG, to lead the underwriting.
In other US radio business, Cumulus is to move its state of incorporation from Illinois to Delaware through a merger with a subsidiary in the latter state.
In its SEC filing, Cumulus says that Delaware has "comprehensive, modern and flexible corporate laws that are updated and revised periodically to meet changing business needs."
Cumulus hopes for shareholder approval of the deal on June 14.
On the deals front, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has finally allowed Millennium's USD 90 million purchase of Nassau Broadcasting's New Jersey cluster in the Monmouth-Ocean market, comprising WADB-AM, WOBM-AM & FM, WJLK-FM & WBBO-FM.
The deal will give Millennium nearly two thirds of the advertising revenue in the market and the sole Democrat on the FCC, Michael Copps, dissented from the decision. The three other members, however, held that market concentration worries were less significant in the area because it has a high percentage of listening to stations from outside the market. Copps argues that these stations did not provide local coverage.
In another deal in New York state, James Broadcasting has sold Jamestown stations WJTN-AM, which airs a mixture of news, talk, sport and soft Adult Contemporary music, and hot AC WWSE-FM to Media One Group for USD5.9 million.
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2002-05-21: Luxembourg-based European satellite digital radio developer Global Radio has announced agreement with Delphi Corporation to design and develop receivers for manufacturers in its European market.
Delphi currently manufactures satellite radios for both American satellite radio broadcasters, Sirius and XM.
Global radio intends to transmit from three satellites a service of 24 trans-European channels and seven regional beams with from 60 to 70 channels; it expects to fund the service from a mix of subscriptions, sponsorship, advertising and data services.
Last month it announced that it had selected S.G. Cowen Securities Corporation, the technology investment-banking unit of the Société Générale Group, as its investment banker for its second round of financing.
It expects its service, with a potential for some 250 million automobile receivers and a similar number of home receivers, to launch in 2005.
Global Radio web site:
2002-05-20: For our look at last week's print media on radio, we have concentrated on a selection of character and characters, starting with a tribute from one former head of the BBC World Service to another.
It came from John Tusa in the UK Guardian writing about Austen Kark, who was killed in a UK train crash (RNW May 13).
Tusa writes, "Perhaps two things are worth emphasising about the character and philosophy of Austen Kark: his moral courage, and his political skills in the service of principle."
On the former, Tusa writes, "The first was shown at its best during the Real Lives row of the mid-l980s."(RNW note - a TV documentary concerning the private lives of men allegedly involved in terrorism in Northern Ireland: Its transmission was banned by the BBC governors and this writer remembers it well through being involved in transmitting a news excerpt - from a tape that strictly speaking was "pirated" - to the rest of the world and then being subject of a complaint to the British journalist's union for working during a day of protest about the matter.)
"There were huge protests from journalists across the BBC at this act of censorship that threatened editorial freedom. While BBC management ran for cover, Austen appeared live on the Today programme making clear the danger posed to the BBC World Service's standing abroad by the governors' decision."
"Within Bush House, he did not run away from the huge anger felt by staff who knew that their credibility turned on their audience's absolute belief in the BBC's trustworthiness."
"He and his deputy, Chris Bell, held a meeting in the basement rooms of the BBC Club - where else? - and faced 200 very concerned broadcasters. Austen made it clear that he shared the concerns of his staff, to whom he was passionately devoted, but he also explained in fair minded detail why the BBC governors had acted as they did."
"In both cases, Austen faced the music with openness, dignity and authority… I think Austen was, to use a very old fashioned term, a decent man. Better still, he was a good man."
After that it's a significant jump, geographically across the Atlantic, to two more contrasting examples of character.
One involved Chicago broadcaster Art Hellyer , in tribute to whom an "Art Hellyer Day" has been organised for May 25 in Joliet.
But as, Robert Feder writes in his Chicago Sun-Times column, "Hellyer, 78, suddenly announced that he would not be present. The news came as a real disappointment to those who had hoped to recognize Hellyer for his splendid run, including top-rated stints on WCFL in the 1950s, WBBM-AM in the '60s, WLS-FM in the '70s and WJJD in the '80s."
Feder continues that "Hellyer spent the last 14 years on WJOL-AM, which dropped his weekend show at the end of 2001" and quotes Hellyer's statement, "Now that we are nearing May 25, I realize I cannot go through with it."
"Word has reached me this very week there was a good possibility some WJOL people--possibly even the man who fired me--will be there. This would be hypocrisy which I cannot be a party to."
"In addition, I have always believed tributes are given for people who have been successful or who are dignitaries. I am neither. The truth is, I was fired. I am unemployed. I am a failure. Therefore, I cannot attend."
In contrast comes the story from Boston, which reflects a very different perception of character and motivation.
It involves a caller named "Eddie" who described Tuesday(May 14) on the Opie and Anthony nationally syndicated show how he allegedly murdered two Colombian drug dealers in 1977 and then dismembered and disposed of the bodies.
As Dean Johnson in the Boston Herald wrote, the issue was initially was the caller genuine or did the duo "stage an elaborate prank in the middle of radio's most important ratings season?"
On Thursday, the Herald reported that the New York police investigated and said the call was " a complete hoax" but the pair, who were fired in 1998 after an April Fool's announcement that Boston's then mayor had been killed in a car crash, said they had learned the "lesson about faking deaths on radio?(Anthony Cumia)'' and "I think we've done enough radio by now to know when some guy is pulling our leg (Opie - Gregg Hughes).
In a follow up article the next day, Johnson commented, "You expect riveting programming on Opie and Anthony's syndicated radio show about as often as an ``In Praise of Bill Clinton'' program from Rush Limbaugh" and then went on to say the call was "terrific radio" and described Eddie as "good. Neither too smooth nor too crude, he laid out a ``Sopranos''-style tale with matter-of-fact, vivid and unflinching detail. "
He then goes on to note that, were it a hoax the stations that broadcast the show could be fined by the Federal Communications Commission for broadcasting material that was false information and caused public harm but concludes, "None of that changes the fact that Tuesday's show was great radio even if it was not honest radio. It also generated a ton of publicity - including this column - and listeners during the radio year's biggest ratings sweep. "
RNW comment: We cannot know Hellyer's motives and pressures will be on him to reconsider but the only gain he can make from his action is to keep his integrity. It says quite a lot about Opie and Anthony that the New York police considered the case to be a stunt, whatever the facts actually are.
And finally a different kind of radio abuse: This comes courtesy of the Toronto Globe and Mail, which reports that a Thai disc jockey has threatened to sue Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra if his long-winded weekly broadcasts continue to intrude on her popular show.
Thaksin, it turns out has been over-running by up to thirty minutes his Saturday morning radio broadcasts about his policies.
Every radio station in Thailand has to carry the Prime Ministerial comments and his extra time is cutting into the show of Natthakarn Panniam whose sponsors are threatening to withdraw support for the show.
Previous Columnists:
Previous Feder:
Previous Johnson:
Previous Tusa:
Boston Herald - Johnson first report:
Boston Herald - Johnson second report:
Chicago Sun-Times - Feder
Toronto Globe and Mail on Thai DJ:
UK Guardian - Tusa:
2002-05-19: Last week was one of mainly routine work for the radio regulators with the UK fairly busy.
In Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) has invited applications for two new community radio licences for Warragul and the Latrobe Valley areas of Victoria. Applications have to be submitted by June 18 and June 13 respectively.
Canada was quiet with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announcing various radio applications and deciding on only one, that for a new low power (50 watts) transmitter in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to carry the output of CHET-FM, Chetwynd, some 100Km (60 miles) away.
CHET is owned by the not-for-profit Chetwynd Communications Society (CCS) and of fourteen interventions, all but one supported the application. It was opposed by the Peace Division of Telemedia Radio (West) Inc., which at the time it filed its operated a number of radio stations in the area including CJDC, which offers a similar music mix to that of CHET.
It contended that the application represented "a blatant attempt to enlarge the revenue market of CHET-FM with only a minimal investment and no additional responsibilities or local service offering."
The Commission in approving the application noted that the Peace Division had revenues more than 50 times that of CHET and that there would be no significant negative effect on existing commercial stations in the area.
The CRTC did note, however, that since CHET-FM will now operate in a market served by other commercial stations, it would consider at licence renewal time if it should retain its Class A status or be reclassified as Type B.
The Commission has also announced receipt of applications from:
* Radio Campus Des Étudiants De L'université Du Québec À Trois-Rivières to renew the licence of radio station CFOU-FM Trois-Rivières, Quebec;
*Corus Radio Company to amend the licence of radio station CFNY-FM, Brampton, Ontario, to allow broadcast to listeners of South Asian origin in the