November 2002 Archive
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October
2002 -December
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 November comment considers whether the US adoption of iBiquity's IBOC digital radio system will prove to be a step forward or one sideways to a technology inferior to that adopted by the rest of the world and offering insufficent benefits to other options including sticking with conventional analogue systems.
RNW October comment looks at the responsibilites of democratic societies and their broadcasters in ensuring adequate and fair news and information broadcasts.
RNW September comment looks at the Opie and Anthony "Sex for Sam" stunt row and concludes that it should stimulate discussion on what regulations the Federal Communications Commission should apply in future but that there should be no sudden severe penalty imposed in this case.
2002-11-30: Entravision has now moved its Las Vegas Super Estrella contemporary Spanish-language hits format from its old 105.1FM to its more powerful 92.7 FM frequency and says that, pending regulatory approval, the KRRN call letters will also eventually be moved to follow the format change.
In place of the former fare on 105.1, Entravision is currently airing Jose Feliciano's Christmas classic "Feliz Navidad" continuously, accompanied by announcements directing listeners to Super Estrella's new frequency; it says it is currently evaluating format options for the frequency and expects to make an announcement soon.
Previous Entravision:
2002-11-30: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has announced the creation of Peter Gzowski Internships, named after the formed CBS host who died in January this year (See RNW Jan 26).
The internships are directed towards final year students at four Canadian universities, Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario; Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Colombia; Memorial University in Corner Brook/St. John's, Newfoundland; and McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
Each intern will get a week of training in radio production at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto followed by attachments elsewhere and the CBC says applicants will have to demonstrate a high degree of creativity, be curious about the world, be engaged in their communities and able imagine themselves one day working in public radio.
Details are available at the universities or from the CBS and entries have to be submitted by January 15 next year; The internships offered to successful applicants will run from April 28 to August 29 next year and each intern will be paid around CAD800 (USD500) a week plus travel and accommodation expenses for the Toronto training week.
Previous CBC:
Previous Gzowski:
CBC information on internships:
2002-11-30: The disclosure by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder of a policy to screen out callers to Chicago station WLS-AM who sounded "old" (See RNW Nov 23) has predictably led to a swathe of letters condemning the station - and another column for Feder.
Amongst the issues taken up by a number of respondents are the comparison between the station's policy and the age of a number of the hosts it airs including Don and Roma (Don Wade (61), Roma (59)) and also other talk hosts.
Others comment on prejudice linked to age; one, who says she is aged 40, calls for a boycott of products advertised on the station; and yet another acidly commented, "It doesn't surprise me that WLS screens callers by assumed age. The last time I listened to that station, it seemed they were screening callers by their perceived IQ criteria--specifically, the callers' lack thereof."
Previous Feder:
Previous Don and Roma Wade:
Feder Sun-Times column:
2002-11-29: There were far fewer complaints against British broadcasters dealt with in the latest set of rulings just issued by British Broadcasting watchdog, the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) with only one complaints against radio upheld, and two resolved compared to two complaints against radio upheld and two resolved the previous bulletin.
In all the Authority dealt with only 93 complaints compared to 171 in the previous bulletin. 16 of these concerned radio and 77 concerned TV
Only three fairness complaints were received, all against TV; none were upheld. Of 90 complaints involving standards, 16 concerned radio and 74 TV with no statements required in 38 cases for TV and nine cases for radio.
The one complaint against radio that was upheld involved swearing on Lunchtime Tonight on BBC Scotland, aired at lunchtime. The BBC responded that with hindsight "the concentration of strong language within a relatively short period had been inappropriate for transmission at that time of day" and the commission agreed and upheld the complaint.
The resolved cases involve done complaint against the BBC and two against commercial stations. That against the BBC involved an Eminem track aired on the Sara Cox Radio 1 Breakfast Show in which a listener complained abut the sound of cocaine snorting. The BBC responded that the sound effect had not been picked up in advance but had been spotted upon broadcast and edited out of later plays and the Commission felt that the action rendered further consideration of the complaint inappropriate.
The other complaints were against the Ben and Rachel Morning Crew on Radio Gemini, where a listener complained that the presenters condoned theft when children might be listening, and against Vibe FM's Breakfast Show which elicited a complaint that a competition encouraged anti social behaviour.
In the first case the presenters had posed a question concerning the reaction to being given too much change in a ship and the programme controller had immediately expressed concern to the studio and asked the presenters to proceed with caution and in the second case the station apologised for the competition in which entrants had been required to remain motionless in their vehicles for as long as possible at red traffic lights, saying it had been ill thought through. In both cases the commission took the view that no further action was necessary.
Previous BSC:
Previous BSC Complaints Bulletin:
BSC web site (Note: This is a 'Flash' site: It links to the report in PDF format- 87.5 kb):
2002-11-29: Veteran journalist and political activist Don Rojas has been appointed general manager of New York Pacifica station WBAI-FM in succession to Valerie Van Isler, who is joining Pacifica's national operations staff after 11 years with WBAI.
Rojas career has included a spell as editor of the New York Amsterdam News, as an executive at the International Organization of Journalists in Prague, Czechoslovakia. director of communications of the NAACP, and founder/CEO of the Internet portal, The Black World Today, and its Internet radio network, BlackWorldRadio.com.
Pacifica Radio network executive director Dan Coughlin said that Rojas brought to WBAI and Pacifica "an expansive vision and a proven commitment to the cause of peace, democracy and justice for all."
Commenting on Pacifica itself, which is still under an interim board following years of internal strife, Coughlin said, "The entire Pacifica Radio network is back on track and moving forward with increased momentum. We're raising more money thanks to the tremendous support from our listeners and we're setting up structures of internal democracy and full transparency. I'm confident that under Don Rojas' leadership WBAI will grow from strength to strength."
Rojas said, "I'm honoured and excited to have been selected to lead WBAI into a new era. The station's historical role as an independent and uncompromising voice for peace and justice is even more critical today in the context of an imminent war in the Middle East, rampant corporate crime and corruption, rising poverty, assaults on our civil liberties and major media's capitulation to the right-wing's agenda."
Previous Coughlin:
Previous van Isler:
Previous Pacifica:
2002-11-29: UK Chrysalis Group has hired former BBC Breakfast TV presenter John Nicolson and Sun newspaper columnist Jane Moore to host the breakfast show on its recently acquired LBC station when it re-launches LBC on January 6.
LBC's Breakfast show is currently being hosted by former Big Breakfast newsreader Phil Gale and former drive time presenter Sandy Warr following the departure earlier this month of presenters Simon Bates and Petrie Hoskin (See RNW Nov 9).
Previous Bates:
Previous Chrysalis:
2002-11-29: Towson University station WTMD-FM is to change its format from jazz to adult acoustic alternative next Tuesday according to the Baltimore Sun.
The paper says the University considered that the station weekly reach of around 37,000 and 2,500 AQH did not justify sustaining the station, which costs around USD 200, 000 a year to run and raises around USD120, 000 a year towards this from its 3,500 members.
It says the university and consultants had studied the situation for around a year looking for niches that were left and found themselves impressed by the record of public stations such as WXPN in Philadelphia and KCRW in Santa Monica, California, which have each created an eclectic blend of music.
"We certainly didn't relish the idea of disenfranchising a group, even a small group," Charles Flippen, Towson's acting dean of fine arts, who helps to oversee the station, told the paper, adding that the change should allow "greater outreach in the community and better enable us to meet that part of our mission."
WTMD general manager Steve Yasko, a former national programming director for US Pacifica Network who joined the station in August, commented, "We're looking at music as an expression of people's art forms, not just a commercial product thrown out there by the record labels."
The new mix, according to the paper is likely to include blues, country, rock-and-roll, soul and zydeco, among other musical forms, with extended album excerpts being played, not just currently popular tracks.
It will take syndicated shows from Public Radio International such as World Cafe, with host David Dye, Sounds Eclectic, and American Routes, and will retain locally produced programs, such as Clear Reception, the media show with University of Maryland professor Sheri Parks as host, and the Sunday line-up of programs devoted to polka music, Irish songs and reggae will also be retained.
Baltimore has three other public stations, all of which attract higher audiences than WTMD -- WEAA-FM that airs a mix of jazz, gospel, African-influenced music, and current affairs talk shows; classical music WBJC-FM; and WYPR-Fm that airs mainly news and talk, with jazz in the evenings.
Previous Yasko:
Baltimore Sun report:
2002-11-29: UK Media Group DMGT, which owns the UK Daily Mail, London Evening Standard and regional newspapers as well as radio stations in Australia, has reported turnover in the year to September 29 down 1% to GBP1.945 billion (USD 3.05 billion) but adjusted profits before tax, before amortisation and impairment of intangible assets and exceptional Items, was up 3% to GBP182.5 million (286 million);
It says its strongest performing divisions were dmg world media, its exhibition operator, and the business-to-business section of DMG Information. Both DMG Broadcasting and, particularly, Euromoney Institutional Investor, it says, responded rapidly to decreasing revenues by reducing their cost bases and thereby increasing their profits.
Within DMG Broadcasting, it says Teletext recorded only a small reduction in operating profit, despite enduring a most challenging year and DMG Radio Australia recorded a small and reduced loss.
The recently launched Nova station in Melbourne and 5AA in Adelaide are performing particularly well, it says, and the regional stations experienced some recovery in difficult trading conditions.
DMG now owns the whole of the business again having repurchased in September the 25% it did not already own from GWR Group plc. (See RNW Sept 20)
Previous DMG
2002-11-28: The BBC World Service is to celebrate its 70th anniversary next month with a number of special broadcasts including a special live concert in five countries and four continents on Sunday, December 15, and a World Service Birthday Lecture on Wednesday, December 11, by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.
It has also lined up interviews with Annan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo and Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The first interview will be with Blair and will involve his answering phone and live e-mail questions from World Service listeners around the world in a special edition of the international multimedia interview programme Talking Point on Tuesday (December 3) at 18:30gmt.
The "World Service Global Party" broadcast will include contributions from Dakar, Kabul, Mexico City and Mumbai (Bombay) and will be hosted in London by DJs John Peel and Emma B.
On the actual December 19 birthday, programmes will be presented live from Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa by Heather Payton of its Outlook programme and Ben Malor of its Africa Live programme.
They will introduce 14 hours of programmes and once every hour a segment will people connected to the BBC worldwide.
Table Mountain was the location from where of the World Service's first "rebroadcast" took place involving a broadcast from the mountain to London and thence to the rest of the world.
Previous BBC:
2002-11-28: Jazz FM retained top station ranking and Clear Channel network top spot in the latest Arbitron-MeasureCast Internet audio ratings report and Sports-talk ESPN came into the top five, pushing classical station WXQR-FM into sixth. Listening was down 2.2% compared to the previous week.
For the week to Nov 17, Arbitron-MeasureCast's top five stations ranked by Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) with (in brackets) TTSL and Cume persons (a measure of the cumulative audience -CP) for the previous week - were:
1: Jazz format Jazz FM - TTSL 316,078 (363,038); CP 73,462 (75,510): Same rank but lower listening and reach.
2: Internet only artist-match MUSICMATCH - TTSL 299,450 (310,686); CP 113,588 (112,359). Up from third despite lower listening but slightly higher reach.
3: Hot Adult Contemporary Virgin FM - TTSL 272,700 (312,073); CP 58,474 (65,568). Down from second with lower listening and reach.
4: Sport-talk ESPN - TTSL 264,855 (85,872): CP 47,369 (29,099). Up from 12th with a major leap in listening and reach.:
5: Adult alternative Radioio - TTSL 262,516 (302,002); CP 54,946 (56,828). Down from with lower listening and reach.
*Classical format WQXR-FM - dropped from fifth to sixth although TTSL was up to 227,831 from 211,161: CP was down from 47,584 to 43,410 .
The top five networks for the week to November 17 (Previous week's figures in brackets) were:
1: Clear Channel Worldwide TTSL 1,489,518 (1,516,061); CP 323,277 (332,972) - Same position with lower listening and reach.
2: MUSICMATCH Inc. TTSL 1,199,875 (1,201,343); CP 375,043 (364,468). Same position with lower listening but higher reach.
3: StreamAudio TTSL 969,780 (966,603) ; CP 144,007 (148,643). Same position with higher listening but lower reach.
4: Radio Free Virgin TTSL 969,627 (917,768): CP 187,201 (180,522 ) Same position with higher listening and reach.
5: WARP Radio TTSL 640,018 (677,466) hours: CP 106,229 (102,272) - Same position with lower listening and reach.
**RNW note: Arbitron now lists listening as TTSL (the MeasureCast term)/ATH (Arbitron's Actual Tuning Hours term): We are listing this as TTSL.
Previous Arbitron-MeasureCast ratings:
Arbitron web site:
2002-11-27: Economic and financial information company Global Insight Inc. has come up with some good news for US media, reckoning that there will be a 6% increase in US advertising expenditure next year, a reversal of the 6% fall of a year ago.
Global says that "radio, cable television, and, somewhat surprisingly, the Internet will be the major beneficiaries of this increased spending for advertising", adding that it sees these sectors having annual average increases of "10%, 7%, and 16%, respectively, between 2002 and 2006."
It also says that in the llonger term, " the media sector will benefit from proposed revisions to ownership rules."
"Should the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) remove most restrictions, rapid rationalization of media across markets will make national, cross-media ad campaigns simpler to mount and more cost effective."
In current US radio business, Entercom has again filed with the FCC to have assigned to it the license of KWOD-FM Sacramento, claiming it now has the right to the licence following failure by Ed Stolz's Royce International to post a USD10 million bond that had been ordered to pay should it want to extend a stay of the sale beyond November 18.
The move is the latest one in a saga that began six years ago when Royce signed a "letter of intent" to sell the station, a letter it has subsequently argued was not binding.
Earlier this month Entercom filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning monies it has available to complete the deal when court proceedings ended (See RNW Nov 22).
In other US radio business, Disney-owned ABC Radio has agreed a USD1,5 million purchase of KMUS-AM, Tulsa, Oklahoma, from Reunion Broadcasting LLC. ABC intends to convert the station to a Radio Disney outlet.
And in Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News reports that The Newspaper Radio Corporation has in train a USD3 million deal to buy KCUV-AM from Radio Unica, which acquired the station for USD2.8 million in 1999.
Following the deal, says the paper, The Newspaper Radio Corporation would switch its talk-format station KNRC-AM, Denver, to KCUV's more powerful frequency and sell off KNRC.
Previous Disney-ABC:
Previous Entercom:
Previous Entercom-Royce International:
Previous FCC:
Previous Unica:
Global Insight web site:
2002-11-27:The BBC's Director of Radio and Music Jenny Abramsky delivered an upbeat message about the state of British radio and BBC radio in particular as well as a warning about the perils in changing well established programmes when she gave the 2002 James Cameron Memorial Lecture, named after the British journalist and broadcaster.
She began by delivering a personal tribute to Cameron himself as representing the values of "integrity, honesty, and a hunger for truth" before moving on to the main theme of her speech," Public service radio: phoenix or albatross?"
Noting that BBC radio is now 80 years old, she asked, "Is it still healthy, or is Radio now in its dotage, sliding gracefully, but inexorably into oblivion?"
"Can radio be used to the same powerful effect today as James Cameron used it for 40 years?"
"…In this plethora of choice, new services and platforms, what role is there for those of us in Radio?"
Abramsky then reflected on past arguments for the diversion of BBC radio resources into other areas, first television and now interactive and online
She also dealt with the internecine strife in the BBC of the past, noting an example when the news of the end of a Post Office strike first came from a pre-recorded interview on "The World at One Programme"; the programme had not told the newsroom and, she added, that it gave editor Andrew Boyle "untold pleasure to make his news colleagues seem stupid."
"Indeed," added Abramsky, "when I look back over the 30 years I have spent in broadcasting we seem to have reeled from one battle to the next...most of them internal to the BBC."
But, she continued, "Those battles forged, shaped the Radio we know today. If they had not taken place Radio, would I believe have become a cosy, self satisfied irrelevant partner in public service broadcasting, and Radio in the UK would have become more like Radio in the States...where serious challenging speech radio scarcely exists."
Referring to speech Channel Radio 4, a mixed speech and music channel before the "Broadcasting in the Seventies " report, she commented that "The change, into a wholly speech station, created a radio station able to allow journalism to flourish, current affairs to have a central role, drama, comedy, science, the Arts all had space."
She also noted the changes in other channels, the separation of BBC Radios 1 and 2, but also that the document was pervaded with "the belief that we were in the television age. I quote: "There are still some fields in which it (radio) has a unique role" the report grudgingly admitted, but went on to say "for most people radio is now mainly for daytime"."
She then comments on later challenges, particularly the introduction of bi-media working in news and the formation of the bi-media production division and a situation where radio producers, she said, when she asked after becoming Director of Radio in 1999, "felt they were drowning in huge departments, where the managers, however good, were overwhelmed with the problems of television and knew little of radio."
She deals with some of the nonsenses from the era pithily in one paragraph: "One senior manager suggested that one team could edit simultaneously the Six O'Clock News on both Television and Radio! A view not shared by any in Radio production and fortunately by few in Television. "
Abramsky welcomed the reversion to the dismantling of much of the concept, noting "Put simply Radio is about painting pictures - television is about shooting them."
She also notes that "During the bi-media years much of the passion and controversy surrounding the BBC was inspired by Radio" and tells the story of Radio 4 Controller Michael Green's "bruising" after he had moved the broadcast slot of Woman's Hour and also the hostility encountered by James Boyle, when, as the new controller of Radio 4, he "imposed wholesale change to the network."
"Radio is your friend. It is the soundtrack to your life. When it changes, it affects your life," said Abramsky "Everything was changed at once. It was too much for the producers and too much for the audience. Many switched off. "
Now, four years later, she says, "Radio 4 is in tune with its listeners again" and of radio in general, "Ninety per cent of the UK population listen to radio every week - that's 44 million people… BBC Radio's share is 52.6%. That's up from 46% five years ago."
"The UK has one of the fastest uptakes of digital television in the world, but radio is thriving, with more listening than ever before, almost 25 hours a week per person."
"Radio has overtaken television as the most used medium in the UK. So much for the doom mongers of the '80s - Radio is in rude health."
Abramsky then took up the question of the need for public service radio, concluding "If public service radio is to rise ever upwards and not become the albatross many once feared, it must continue to produce programming not heard anywhere else."
And on radio as a medium? "Radio is still a wonderful, unique medium for exploring ideas. It still is driven by that remarkable objective set by Reith at its start to "bring the best of everything into the greatest number of homes".
"…In the realm of ideas, radio operates with uncluttered lucidly: in the realm of the imagination, it soars where others limp"
Previous Abramsky:
Previous BBC:
Previous Boyle:
RNW Note- The full text of the speech is on the UK Guardian web site here:
2002-11-27: UK Chrysalis Group has announced that its Corporate Affairs Director, Lisa Gordon, who was the youngest woman ever to have been appointed to the board of a London Stock Exchange-listed company is to leave the company at the end of the year and resign her directorship.
Gordon joined Chrysalis as its Corporate Development Director from investment bank County NatWest in 1994, when she was 28 and was also chief executive of Chrysalis New Media.
She has three young children, Finn, who is three, Pippa, five and Freddie, eight, and had already trimmed her hours last year to go part time, accepting a salary drop of just over GBP 200,000 (USD 314,000) a year to GBP 133, 000 (USD 209,000)
She said, "I've had a brilliant time at Chrysalis and being part of its growth over the last eight years has been fantastic. However I feel the time is now right to do what I've been promising myself for ages - to spend some time enjoying my children while they (and I) are still young. "
Her investor relations duties are to be taken by Harriet Finney, currently Investor Relations Manager for the Orange telecommunications company; Finney will join Chrysalis in the New Year in the newly-created role of Investor Relations Manager.
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous Gordon:
2002-11-27: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reduced from USD 10,000 to USD 1,000 a penalty issued in January on New York pirate the Rev. Dr. Philius Nicolas for operating a radio transmitter without a licence.
The Notice had been confirmed in June when there was no response to the original notice (See Licence News RNW June 9).
This was followed by an appeal in July in which Nicolas admitted the offence but asked for cancellation of the penalty on the grounds that it would cause severe financial hardship and backing this with tax returns.
The FCC took the point and reduced the penalty.
The Commission has also ordered Radio Moultrie, Inc., licensee of WMGA-AM, Moultrie, Georgia, to show cause why its licence should not be revoked for transferring control of the station to Dixie Broadcasting Inc., Aubrey Smith, and Sam and Gracie Zamarron without prior authorisation and also for wilful and repeated failure to respond to official Commission correspondence
The order follows receipt by the commission of information that Dixie Broadcasting and/or others might have improperly acquired control of the station through acquiring its assets following its last licence renewal in 1996. Letters sent to both Radio Moultrie and Dixie Broadcasting in April 2001 and April 2002 elicited no response until August this year when only the latter responded. The Commission also found during an on-site inspection in March various apparent violations of regulations concerning power output, failing to paint and light its antenna tower, failing to report the tower light's extinguishment and failing to register the station towers.
In its response, Dixie said it had planned to acquire the station from Radio Moultrie and entered into an oral Time Brokerage Agreement with it in November 1998 so it could operate the station until a purchase price could be agreed.
However it never agreed a price and subsequently it was approached by Radio Moultrie's mortgagor and former controlling principal and shareholder and offered by him the licensee's then-delinquent note, which it purchased through lien-satisfaction proceedings in April 2000. It says that Radio Moultrie then ended communications with it and refused to cooperate in filing consensual licence assignment applications. Dixie says it continues to pay Radio Moultrie its contract amount under the time brokerage agreement and now owns the station real estate and equipment but not the licences.
It then found it difficult to work with Radio Moultrie's principal and entered into a further time brokerage arrangement and sub-lease with Smith and the Zamarrons in December 2000. Dixie says that Smith and the Zamarrons have operated the station since then.
The Commission said that it found Radio Moultrie's continued failure to respond to the staff directives raised "the question whether it did so deliberately to avoid the Commission's ascertainment of the true facts surrounding its operation of the station and exacerbates the question whether unauthorized control has occurred at the station" and said the failure warranted designation for a hearing.
The commission also notes that the station was previously involved in an unauthorised transfer of control that led to a 1992 penalty of USD10,000, reduced in 1993 on financial hardship grounds to USD1,000 being imposed on Radio Moultrie
Previous FCC:
2002-11-26: Strong results from two groups, Chrysalis and UBC Media,have further boosted British radio.
Chrysalis Group has confounded the pessimists and massively outperformed the rest of the UK radio sector with turnover up a quarter to GBP241 million (USD 378 million), a profit turnaround from a pre-tax loss of GBP 18.6 million (USD 29 million) in 2001 to a profit of GBP 5.8 million (USD 9.1 million) and EBITDA up nearly eight times from GBP 2.2 million (USD 3.5 million) to GBP 17.2 million (USD 27 million).
Operating profits were well up for all divisions - by 41% in radio to GBP 9.4 million (USD 14.8 million); by 39% in TV to GBP 3.6 million (USD 5.7 million); by 47% in music to GBP 1.8 million (USD 2.8 million); and by 78% in books to GBP 3 million (USD 4.7 million).
In contrast to the advertising revenue falls at Capital where October and November revenues were reported down by 8%, Chrysalis reported a 17% rise in advertising revenue from September to November.
Chairman Chris Wright commented, "This year has been the most successful in the company's history. This performance puts us in the strongest possible position going into 2003, with all the opportunities and challenges presented by the forthcoming Communications Act."
This was echoed by chief executive Richard Huntingford who said, "Given the tough market conditions and the relative performance of our competitors, we are delighted with these results which reflect our increased focus, as well as the strong growth potential of our businesses and the excellent management throughout the Group."
Commenting on the radio division performance, Chrysalis said, "Chrysalis Radio has had another excellent year", adding that it was " continuing to significantly outperform the market."
Like-for-like total radio revenue for the year to the end of August was up 11.7% to GBP £49.1 million (USD77 million), which compares to an industry-wide decline of 2%.
Commenting on the performance, Chrysalis said, "Chrysalis Radio's strong revenue outperformance in the 2002 financial year was driven by two factors. Firstly, by further audience growth of 12%, compared to 3% audience growth for the commercial industry as a whole. Secondly, by real increases in our rate of conversion of listening hours into revenue. We expect to continue to improve our revenue yield and this will become an increasingly important growth driver as we move into the next phase of Chrysalis Radio's development."
Regarding its GBP2.35 million acquisition of the London News Radio stations in London (See RNW Sept 27), it said it was," a significant move for Chrysalis Radio because it immediately makes us the second largest commercial radio group in London."
"The Radio Authority has authorised a switching of the formats between AM and FM and the repositioning and re-launch of the talk format on FM represents a one-off opportunity for growth and a significant opportunity to re-establish LBC as a major London radio brand. We believe increased sales volume, coupled with the audience gains we expect to achieve through improved programming and marketing of the stations, will deliver strong profits within a three-year period. "
On digital radio, Chrysalis noted that the MXR consortium in which it is the lead shareholder with 39% of the stock had now been awarded the last regional digital multiplex (that for Yorkshire - See Licence News, Nov 10).
It continued, "With MXR already operating multiplexes in the North East, West Midlands, South Wales & Severn Estuary and North West regions, the consortium is the UK's major regional digital radio operator, and the only regional multiplex operator in England & Wales. When the Yorkshire multiplex launches next summer, MXR will cover a total of over 17 million adults (15+)."
"All of our analogue radio stations - whether Heart, Galaxy or LBC - are now carried on a digital multiplex, thereby guaranteeing them automatic renewal of their existing licences. In addition, digital versions of Heart and The Arrow are carried on every MXR multiplex where there is no analogue equivalent of them."
In all 30.2 million adults (almost 62% of the UK adult population) can now hear at least one Chrysalis station on digital radio.
During the year, Chrysalis completed its last step in pulling out of New Media when it merged Rivals with 365's Internet business in January 2002, to create Rivals Digital Media in which it holds a 40% share and that it says is on track to break even within 12 months.
Looking ahead, Chrysalis says, "Despite the continuing uncertainty surrounding the wider economy, we have enjoyed another good start to the current financial year. Chrysalis Radio has experienced a buoyant first quarter with revenues up 17%, again strongly outperforming the industry. Recent audience figures and increased revenue yield, gives us great confidence that this outperformance will continue for the foreseeable future."
"We have also made very good progress with integrating the recent purchase of LBC Radio, with a number of key appointments made ahead of the planned re-launch of the stations in January 2003. Our progress to date has convinced us even more of the considerable potential to deliver significant added value from this acquisition in future years."
Chrysalis shares rose by 5.3% to GBP218.5.
Also reporting strong results, this time for the six months to the end of September, was UBC Media Group whose turnover was up 21.3% to GBP4.96 million (USD 7.8 million) and gross profits were up 26.6% to GBP 1.62 million (USD 2.5 million); it cut its loss before amortisation and development costs from GBP234, 000 (USD 367000) to just over a tenth of that, ending with a loss of GBP24, 000 (USD 37,700).
UBC says that it is on target to operating break-even point before digital costs and amortisation by the end of its current financial year and had continued growth in all its areas of activity in the period.
Chief executive Simon Cole commented, "It has been a rewarding six months in which UBC has once again shown that its core business is performing well and has enabled us to move towards operating profitability sooner than had originally been expected."
On the production side, UBC has been awarded new long-term contracts for three flagship programmes for the BBC -- Pick of the Pops, Pause for Thought and the Richard Allison Late Night Show - and was also awarded a new three-year contract for a new commercial radio chart show.
Its commercial business, which sells airtime in its networked radio programming saw revenues up by 5%, due it says, "in large part reflects the continuing strength of the Company's networked programme products, Entertainment News, Bloomberg Business News and Billy Sparkle's Showbiz Circus, which offer advertisers national radio campaigns from a single source and with a weekly adult audience that is larger than the combined audiences of the national commercial radio stations, TalkSport and Virgin.
Its Classic Gold Digital revenues were up 57.2% compared to 2001 in the period to a total of GBP2.28 million (USD 5.58 million) and they recorded a profit before interest, goodwill amortisation and
digital licence costs of GBP 509,000 (USD 799 million), more than twice the GBP 203,000 (USD 319 million) of 2001. The figures reflect the contribution of an additional six AM licences acquired from GWR in October last year.
UBC comments that it believes that the Gold format "stand to benefit most from the migration of analogue radio to digital", adding that "In order to benefit from the take-up of digital radio" UBC has secured carriage for Classic Gold Digital in the past two years on digital platforms covering Southern England, the West and East Midlands and Northern England and in London, thus extending its reach to a potential 29 million listeners.
Looking ahead, UBC says it continues to expect strong growth from its production business and Classic Gold Digital network, adding that although the advertising outlook looks bleak it continues to note the resilience of its own barter network. It has also announced that it has signed a three-year deal with the AA to distribute its traffic and travel news service, AA Roadwatch, to radio stations throughout the UK and says this should enhance its revenues.
UBC has just signed GWR to the Roadwatch network, which is already taken by Capital Radio, Scottish Radio Holdings and the Guardian Media Group as well as independent stations and it says other deals are to be announced imminently and that the service will now be distributed to some130 stations with a potential weekly reach of 20 million.
In some cases the programming is to be supplied in exchange for advertising time on the stations, more than doubling the advertising inventory available for UBC's Commercial Division to sell to national advertisers.
UBC shares ended up 4% a GBP0.26.
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous Cole:
Previous Huntingford:
Previous UBC:
Previous Wright:
Chrysalis web site (Results are 370Kb word document):
UBC web site (News releases):
2002-11-26: SoundExchange, the recording industry body charged with collecting royalties for streamed music, and which had already announced last month that it would hold off collecting payments until congress had been given time to take action on the Small Webcaster Amendments Act of 2002 (H.R. 5469) (See RNW Oct 20) has now formally announced the suspension of the obligation of "small commercial webcasters to pay statutory royalties under the Librarian of Congress' final order of July 8, 2002, through December 15, 2002."
The announcement only applies to companies defined as small commercial webcasters under the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002 and the announcement by SoundExchange's executive director John L Simson specifically points out that it does not relieve such webcasters from the obligation to pay the fees set down.
It then adds that, "small commercial webcasters that avail themselves of this temporary suspension of royalty payments may be eligible to pay statutory royalties under the rates and terms that SoundExchange™ and certain small webcasters hope to submit shortly to the Copyright Office for publication in the Federal Register."
On the earliest of the dates those rates are published terms in the Federal Register or on December 15, 2002, says SoundExchange, "any small commercial webcaster that takes advantage of this temporary suspension will either have to pay statutory royalties under those published rates and terms, to the extent such rates and terms are in fact submitted to the Copyright Office for publication, or immediately make the payments required under the Librarian's order of July 8, 2002, including any payments that accrued during this suspension period or the one announced by SoundExchange™ on October 18, 2002."
Previous SoundExchange:
SoundExchange web site:
2002-11-26: An article in the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) has led to the ending of a partnership that funnelled state public relations money into environmental reporting on Philadelphia's WHYY-FM according to a report in Current Magazine.
The original report, "Grant-Distorted Journalism at WHYY" by Philadelphia-based freelance Gwen Shaffer is currently online at the CJR web site in its November-December issue; in it she writes that, "Like many reporters who pursue jobs in public radio, I wanted to work in a newsroom that wasn't driven by profit margins. But I recently learned the hard way that public broadcasters are not exempt from having to choose between journalistic integrity and the persistent need for cash."
She then goes on to write of a "partnership" entered into last year by Philadelphia's all-news public-radio station, WHYY, and non-profit media company. "GreenWorks" that says its mission is "spread one simple message: real people are making a difference to protect our environment-and you can, too! Through a combination of new and old media technologies, we share informative and entertaining stories that explain the many roles that individuals play in caring for our world. By doing so, GreenWorks inspires people every day to take part in the effort to make our planet a cleaner, healthier and happier place for everyone."
Schaffer applied for one of the two reporters' jobs that, together with a researcher post, were to be created under the partnership and says she was told at her interview with WHYY news director Bill Fantini that she would be employed by the station but was later asked to work out of the GreenWork's office.
However, when she was offered the post, it was as a GreenWorks employee although Fantini assured her, to use her words, that "all editorial decisions would 'live' at WHYY."
At GreenWorks, she says, its executive producer Tim Schlitzer, who had "no journalism experience" played "an influential role in determining editorial content " and then later she found there were links with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), who were being given "a monthly progress report" on her work.
Schaffer also found herself and her counterpart at WHYY, Brad Linder, criticised by Schlitzer for "focusing on the negative" combined with pressures to "cover many 'positive' stories of dubious merit."
Stories suggested included some on organisations that had received substantial DEP grants but Schlitzer insisted that the DEP was not the primary funder of the public radio contract.
Further research showed that the greenworks.tv domain was registered to the home address of DEP Secretary David Hess; that the DEP site is "plastered" with links to GreenWorks site; a promotion of the agency's "2001 Environmental Milestones" that included "links to the GreenWorks site are plastered all over DEP's own site; a note in the DEP's online newsletter that in its "2001 Environmental Milestones" included "Daily GreenWorks Radio stories on public stations around the state all showing the positive steps individuals, businesses, farmers and local governments can take to protect the environment".
Schaffer also found figures showing that, excluding the USD 510,000 for the radio project, the DEP and its sister agency, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had since 1997 awarded nearly USD5 million in grants and contracts to GreenWorks.
Subsequently she found her on air voice being criticised, her reports begin re-voiced by Linder and eventually she was fired.
The Current Magazine report notes that the station did not tie in the reports with the state agency, that underwriting credits did not mention and, although aired in various day parts, were not adjacent to the reports that it paid for.
Fantini, who developed the project, told Current he was misled about the full extent of DEP's role and unaware of the conflicts presented by it, though he signed an agreement stating that DEP would be named as an underwriter along with GreenWorks and its parent non-profit, the Environmental Fund for Pennsylvania but Schlitzer said all parties to the partnership were aware of DEP's funding role and the positive, human-interest angle of the reporting. Both denied that the DEP had influenced the reports that were produced through the partnership.
Shaffer denied that she went public with the story out of bitterness. "It was an outrageous infringement of journalistic integrity to allow a funder that they were not up front about to dictate editorial content," she told Current.
Station Manager Paul Gluck said, "We went into this looking to create a new role model. We have a number of good partners, but the lesson for us is to ask more questions at the beginning and understand the implications going in."
A harsher view came from former WHYY reporter Mhari Saito who presented research on GreenWorks' ties to DEP to Fantini in May and who commented, "The reality here is that this grant was questionable from day one, but the news department had a difficult time calling a duck a duck."
Following publication of the CJR report WHYY reporters met Fantini at the end of October and demanded full disclosure of all future grants to the newsroom, and the right to check out funders for potential conflicts of interest. Fantini took their demands to station manager Paul Gluck, who agreed to them.
RNW note: The arrangement with GreenWorks had already been ended a week before the publication, but its web site checked today still suggests that there is a deal.
It says, "GreenWorks also recently partnered with National Public Radio to bring daily environmental news stories to listeners of Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition on WHYY Philadelphia. These path-breaking news pieces are available for free to public radio stations throughout the country, and can also be heard on GreenWorks.tv.
Current Magazine web site:
GreenWorks web site ("About"page"):
CJR web site:
CJR - Schaffer article:
2002-11-26: UK Capital Radio has asked research group Leapfrog to try and find out why its flagship London station, Capital FM, is losing listeners so rapidly as part of an annual "health check" it carries out for the group: the latest RAJAR audience figures show Capital FM's share of the market has fallen to 8.8% from 10.3% (See RNW Oct 25).
Leapfrog will survey groups of listeners in the 15-44 demographic with an emphasis on why Capital's hold on the London market is falling and if any particular group within the demographic is switching off more.
Capital says the result of the research will help it to decide how much to spend on marketing the station and its breakfast show, to be re-vamped in January when host Chris Tarrant moves to a later start. The research, however, will not look into the suggestion that Capital may be losing audience in outer London because of a focus on serving central London.
Previous Capital:
Previous Tarrant:
2002-11-25: First this week, a kind of right of response for Rush Limbaugh concerning the suggestions by Senate minority leader Tom Daschle that attacks by Limbaugh and other right-wing talk hosts had led to increased threats to him and his family.
We felt that Limbaugh's response on his web page was typically disingenuous not to say dishonest (See RNW Nov 22) and still think the pattern of Limbaugh's comments tends that way (those of some other hosts go even further) but also feel it only fair to let Howard Kurtz give a rather less shrill view as voiced in the Washington Post.
In his first reaction, he wrote, "Has Tom Daschle lost a couple of screws?" ... What we can't understand is how the South Dakotan can suggest that a mainstream conservative with a huge radio following is somehow whipping up wackos to threaten Daschle and his family."
"Has the senator listened to Rush lately? Sure, he aggressively pokes fun at Democrats and lionizes Republicans, but mainly about policy. He's so mainstream that those right-wingers Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert had him on their Election Night coverage."
He took up the theme again two days later, starting, "Rush Limbaugh has fashioned a pretty fair career by skewering, slamming and otherwise ridiculing Democrats. But is he, as Tom Daschle all but suggested the other day, inciting violence among his listeners?
The conservative radio host has been all over the tube this week accusing Daschle of "whining," while casting himself as a champion of free speech and generally reviling in the attention that the senator has bestowed on him."
Later, after saying it is not hard to sympathise with Daschle (the word order is interesting - "not hard to " rather than "hard not to")
Kurtz continues, "But to try to link the actions of a few crazies to a prominent commentator -- one so "extreme" that he sat next to Tom Brokaw on election night -- only elevates Limbaugh in the eyes of his fans."
"Limbaugh can be hyperbolic, even merciless. "What more do you want to do to destroy this country than what you've already tried?" he scolded Daschle last week. "It is unconscionable what this man has done! This stuff gets broadcast around the world, Senator. What do you want your nickname to be? Hanoi Tom? Tokyo Tom? . . . You sit there and pontificate on the fact that we're not winning the war on terrorism when you and your party have done nothing but try to sabotage it."
"Tough stuff, but hardly unique in today's partisan 'Crossfire' culture. After all, the Democratic National Committee's Web site featured a cartoon of President Bush shoving a wheelchair-bound old woman down the plummeting edge of a Social Security trust fund graph."
Then, after saying that what may rankle Daschle and the Democrats is the success of the right-wing hosts and the failure to produce
"a left-wing Limbaugh ", Kurtz throws a bone Daschle's way, concluding, "Over the years talk radio has democratised the airwaves, but occasionally also served as a conduit for hate-mongering and unsubstantiated slurs."
"Daschle is right in saying that words have consequences. High-decibel talkers like Limbaugh ought to be held accountable in the political arena. But those who find him insufferable should get into the ring and slug it out rather than accuse him of urging the crowd to throw sharp objects."
(RNW comment: We're not quite sure how Kurtz thinks Daschle can get "in the ring" to have a slugfest with Limbaugh: Even more to the point, would not reasoned factually-based presentation of arguments be better for democracy than a slugfest, however much more entertaining the latter may be?)
North of the border, but a world away in terms of radio style, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's new 90-minute public affairs morning show, The Current, made its debut at the start of the week and Michael Posner's column in the Toronto Globe and Mail indicates the gulf in styles between it and Limbaugh's show.
Some of the topics may have been the same, but we doubt from Posner's list, if much else was: "There was a former Iraqi nuclear scientist, Dr. Hussein al-Shahristani, who addressed the $64,000 question: Does Saddam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction? (Yes, he claimed, but not the nuclear kind.)"
"There was an antiquities expert, American James Adovasio, expounding on the thriving, multimillion-dollar black market in archaeological relics."
"And there was CBC journalist Bernard St.-Laurent assessing the political implications of the rise of Quebec's Mario Dumont and his right-wing Action Démocratique party."
The show's mandate "to provide new perspectives on issues foreign and domestic" spells things out clearly and co-host Anna Maria Tremonti elaborated, saying the precise mix would vary, depending on the day. We're not afraid to deal with what's international and we'll tackle what's happening in Canada as well."
Asked whether CBC listeners are ready for trenchant political analysis and foreign-affairs commentary starting at 8:30 a.m., she also made comments that would be anathema at most commercially driven stations: "I think people want lots of hard-hitting information. People at the CBC tell me listeners want that stuff."
In a later comment, Posner reckoned that both "The Current" and "Sounds Like Canada", the show that follows it at 10 AM, need fine-tuning but added "the strategic thrust behind the grand redesign of the morning landscape that CBC programming mandarins have undertaken now seems clear."
"The Current, as its name implies, aspires to have more pulse and edge...Sounds Like Canada, hosted principally by Shelagh Rogers, adopts a lighter, more populist touch. The majority of items from this week's line-up had a feel-good sensibility -- a Chinese fortune-cookie business in Calgary, the 10-year anniversary of Irish-Canadian tenor John McDermott's performing career, and the explosion of Latino culture. This nicey-nice approach may be well suited to Rogers's persona, which is relentlessly upbeat. There are times when you wish she would be a little less nice."
Posner then hit harder saying the larger problem is the segments of the show not involving Rogers, terming them "decent enough" but then adding, "But the cumulative effect of these shows-within-the-show is to strip Rogers of her centrality and gravitational pull. Longer term, I suspect, this structure is not sustainable."
Still on talk, and in the UK, the change of editors for BBC Radio 4's flagship breakfast current affairs show, The Today Programme, prompted speculation by Matt Wells in the UK Guardian about the long-term prospects for its current format.
"Rather like the House of Lords, the royal family and the Tory party, " he writes, "the Today programme sometimes seems like one of those creaky institutions that speaks to us from a fusty, old-fashioned Britain we thought we had left behind. "
After detailing some criticisms and the manner in which editor Ron Liddle was forced to make a choice between staying as editor or continuing with his Guardian newspaper column, Wells writes, "If the Today programme sometimes seems baffled by modern Britain, it may be out of tune with the new BBC too. Somehow director-general Greg Dyke just doesn't seem like the kind of man who breaks from chomping through his cornflakes to catch John Humphrys grilling Gordon Brown over the finer points of the Private Finance Initiative; certainly when he appeared on the programme earlier this year he seemed to hate every second of the experience. The dichotomy was accentuated by the fact that he was interviewed by Stourton - bumped from BBC1 for apparently being "too posh", and the embodiment of the "white, middle-aged, middle-class" male apparently so despised at the new and inclusive Auntie. "
Today's biggest problem. Marsh concludes is that "its stock-in-trade, the big political interview, simply does not have the relevance that it once enjoyed."
He then says that the first problem new editor Kevin Marsh will face is the question of a replacement for presenter John Humphrys, now 60 ,with a young son and already cutting back the number of days he works on the show.
Despite the problems though, the programme had a weekly audience of more than six million a week and Paul Donovan, author of a "biography" of the show commented, "The interesting thing is, that despite the growth in competition and 5 Live's ascendancy, it (the Today Show) still matters and that's because it has never deviated from what it sees as its mission to make its pitch for the chattering classes, decision-makers and media folk who are all available to listen at that time of the morning."
" It is still the place, in the cliché of Brian Redhead, where people drop a word in the ear of the nation."
Wells also quotes others in praise of the value of the show ending with a tribute from Nick Clarke, presenter of the World at One on the same channel: "It's an extraordinary thing, the Today programme. We may carp and cavil at some of the things it does, but it's worth remembering that there is nothing like it anywhere in the world."
Finally still in the UK and The Guardian, an article by John Cassy on the likely effects of the UK communication bill that he says "could help kick-start a revival" in the UK radio sector that it " has been desperately searching for - and failing to find - during the past two years."
As a guide to the scale of the problems, Cassy notes that " Profits have fallen dramatically and hundreds of jobs have been cut. Since November 2000, Capital Radio shares have lost 69% of their value, Classic FM owner GWR's have fallen by 80% while Kelvin MacKenzie's Wireless Group has slipped by 70%. Of the Broader-based media groups is EMAP are down 10% and Chrysalis 30%. "
The revival spoken of, of course, is nothing to do with programmes that might increase audiences but rather that the "revised rules could open the way to a flurry of takeovers that could bring rises in share prices and profits - but also more job losses."
The rest of the article deals with lobbying for yet less restrictive ownership regulations and concludes, "allowing more takeovers could help drag the sector out of the doldrums. But agreeing on takeover prices may be difficult: the shares of most radio companies still remain relatively fully valued and it could be some time before executives can agree deals. But cutbacks across the sector have made many stations more efficient and any future revenue increase is likely to translate mostly into profit."
"The time when advertisers start dipping into their pockets again cannot come soon enough for staff and investors."
RNW comment: And we thought that audiences and the general economic environment are what might get advertisers to dip into their pockets again rather than staff cutbacks that affect programmes and fewer owners, even if the latter means that the remaining companies can cut costs and increase their profitability from the same income.
Previous Donovan:
Previous Kurtz:
Previous Columnists:
Previous Rogers:
Previous Tremonti:
Toronto Globe and Mail - Posner first comment on CBC:
Toronto Globe and Mail - Posner second comment on CBC:
UK Guardian -Cassy:
UK Guardian -Wells:
Washington Post - first Kurtz comment on Limbauch/Daschle:
Washington Post - second Kurtz comment on Limbauch/Daschle:
2002-11-25: The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has approved in principle a cost-saving move by Dublin's country music to the premises of East Coast Radio in Bray.
Dublin Country, which was awarded its licence last year( See RNW May 1, 2001), is having financial problems and a move to Bray, where it can share facilities with East Coast's easy-listening station will save it on both rent and rates (local property taxes) which are lower in the Wicklow area.
Dublin Country is estimated to be losing around USD150, 000 a month and its future was thrown into more doubt last month after Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) withdrew from a deal to purchase the station after the takeover had been approved by the BCI.
Previous BCI:
2002-11-25: UK retailers are finding themselves unable to meet demand for digital radio receivers as an advertising campaign under the aegis of the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB) combined with BBC promotion of its digital networks, particularly its new Asian network and its fifth digital radio network BBC7, to be launched on December 15, boosts demand in the run up to Christmas.
In demand is the GBP99 (USD150) receiver Evoke-1, which was launched in August (See RNW Aug 9). Its manufacturer, Pure, is expecting to sell tens of thousands of sets by Christmas, resulting in a significant increase in the overall number of DAB receivers in the UK.
Until the receiver was launched most digital tuners cost three or four times as much and so far only around 70,000 receivers have been sold although some digital services are also available to satellite TV subscribers. Competing manufacturers are scheduled to soon release receivers in roughly the same price range.
Previous DRDB:
2002-11-25: Direct to receiver digital satellite radio pioneer World Space today adds three new encrypted channels on its AsiaStar platform: They are 24-hour Indian classical music channel Gandharv; Farishta, which carries Hindi music from the 50s and 60s; and LeJhoom, which carries latest Bollywood music.
It is also to add US National Public Radio's "NPR Worldwide" to its subscription line-up, starting tomorrow, November 26.
Previous Worldspace:
WorldSpace web site:
2002-11-24: The week was notable for the publication of long documents in Canada, the US, and the UK, with the performance of the regulator's annual report in Canada, the Communications Bill in the UK, and proposed Equality of Opportunity Regulations in the US.
Australia was fairly quiet with the sole radio activity by the Australian Broadcasting Authority(ABA) being the allocation of a new community licence and of a new non-broadcasting services bands commercial radio licence.
The community licence, for the Wagga Wagga area of New South Wales, went to Riverina Christian Radio Incorporated whose Life-FM is already broadcasting on the frequency under a temporary licence.
The new non-broadcasting services bands licence, which means the licence holder has to make arrangements for delivery of the service, was for to Perfect Income Tax Pty Ltd to cover Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) handled only a few licences but was amongst those issuing long reports, in its case its third annual Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report (see below).
Licence decisions were an approval of a new 10 watt transmitter at Mount Baldy, Ontario, to enable CFQK-FM Kaministiquia to adequately serve the population of Shuniah Township and the conversion from AM to FM of CJPR, Blairmore, Alberta. The new FM will have a power of 760 watts.
Ireland was quiet but in the UK yet another long document was released, the draft Communications Bill that will ease ownership regulation and was generally welcomed by the Radio Authority (See RNW Nov 21).
Licence decisions were all analogue. They were:
*The automatic renewal of Pulse's Bradford/Huddersfield AM and FM licences because Pulse is providing two programmes on the Bradford & Huddersfield local multiplex.
*The re-award of the Guildford AM and FM licences to the existing holders County Sound 1566 AM and County Sound Radio Network Ltd., broadcasting as 96.4 The Eagle on FM. There were no competitive applications.
In addition the Authority has issued its assessment of the re-award of the North London licence to London Turkish Radio (See Licence News, RNW Nov 10).
It noted that the station proposed to continue its "wide-ranging and inclusive 'full service' station for the Turkish, Turkish Cypriot, Kurdish and Azeri communities" with few change apart from some reduction in daytime speech content (although obligations for specific speech content are increased) together with a possible increase in English language programming for the benefit of younger listeners.
The Authority has also announced that from now on all advertisements of new local licences and notices regarding re-advertisement of existing licences will be formally published only on the Authority's web site.
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued its own big document, its proposed new EEO (Equality of Opportunity) rules.
These relate to the situation concerning full time employment and were drafted after courts ruled previous rules unconstitutional (See RNW Nov 21). In its own words, "The new broadcast EEO Rule and modified EEO rules for MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors), adopted herein, emphasize outreach in recruitment to all qualified job candidates and ban discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, national origin or gender."
The FCC is also issuing a Third Notice of Proposed Rule Making requesting comment as to the applicability of our rules with respect to part-time employees (those working less than a regular 30-hours a week).
In the wake of this release, Democrat Commissioner Michael J Copps called for the Commission to re-examine its definition of indecency and analyse the link between media consolidation and the "race to the bottom" (See RNW Oct 22).
The Commission has also levied two an unprecedented two fines for failure to comply with radio frequency radiation maximum permissible exposure limits: One was of USD 28, 000 on New Mexico broadcaster, A-O Broadcasting Corporation, licensee of KTMN-FM, Cloudcroft (See RNW Nov 19).
The second was a penalty proposed of USD 10,000 relating to breaches of maximum levels by Americom, licensee of KWNZ-FM, Carson City, Nevada.
It relates to an inspection on November 6 last year at the McClellan Peak antenna site near Carson City. The site, on unfenced, publicly accessible property managed by the Bureau of Land Management, has antenna for 13 broadcast stations and inspectors found their personal radio frequency radiation monitors, which are set at half the Commissions occupational exposure limit and five times the public exposure limit, began to alarm when in the vicinity of the KWNZ transmitter.
Notices were then sent to all the stations concerning an inspection regarding RFR compliance to take place at the site in May this year; the inspection itself found that there were signals exceeding by 42% the prescribed limit for the general public in unfenced areas between the KWNZ transmitter building and the KWNZ antenna tower. When the KWNZ transmitter was temporarily powered down, it was found that the RFR field was less than 6% of the permitted limit. Subsequent powering down by other broadcasters showed KWNZ to be responsible for 94% of the radiation in the area. Americom responded that the site was remote and infrequently accessed by the public and argued that it should only be held to the less restrictive occupational limit.
The FCC, however, found that "ample evidence exists that the site was publicly accessible and was in fact used by the public, including agent observations of the public driving ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) at the site." It upheld the penalty.
On a different note, the commission lifted the red flags that were holding up Regent's USD62 million deal to buy the 12 stations of bankrupt Brill Media (See RNW Nov 21).
Previous ABA:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous UK Radio Authority:
ABA web site:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site :
UK Radio Authority web site:
2002-11-24: The third annual Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) shows that the growth rate in the number of commercial stations in the country over recent years has been more than double the growth in listening.
The number of commercial stations in Canada has grown by only about 7.5% since 1997, from 465 to 500 but Canadian listening hours in the six years from 1996 to 2001 went up only 3.3% from just over 516,000 hours in the average week to nearly 533 million hours.
This seems to reflect demographics rather than increased listening by individuals, whose average listening in a week have been around 22 hours since 1990. The percentage of Canadians 12 and over listening to at least a quarter of an hour in a week was 92.9% in fall l2001, compared to 93.3% in 1996 says the report.
In all Canada now has 894 radio stations, 597 of them English-language; 199 French and 18 other languages.
The report also reveals significant geographical differences; in Nova Scotia plus Newfoundland and Labrador, the number actually fell from 23 to 22 and from 16 to 15 respectively; in Quebec and Prince Edward Island, the numbers were static at 84 and 4 respectively; elsewhere there was an increase with the largest percentages being in New Brunswick, a third increase from 18 to 24 stations, Manitoba (up 13.6% from 22 to 25) and British Columbia and territories, up an eighth from 80 to 90. Ontario, which had most stations, increased its total by 7% from 139 to 149.
Within the totals, FM station numbers went up 45%, from 197 to 286 and AM numbers declined 20%, from 268 to 214 as a total of 59 stations converted from AM to FM and five new AM's came into being.
Canada has also been moving slowly into digital radio, with 56 licences for transitional digital radio undertakings issued by August this year: of these 12 were in Montreal; 24 in Toronto, 14 in Vancouver and six in Windsor, Ontario.
In terms of revenue share, Corus increased its lead over the past year: The top five Canadian radio networks in revenue terms for 2001 were (with 2000 figures in brackets: Corus 19 %(16%): Télémédia Inc. 13% (12%); Rogers 12% (12%); CHUM 10% (10%); Standard Broadcasting 9% (9%) and Astral Radio 3% (4%).
In terms of French language commercial radio, the top three networks in revenue share terms were Astral with 28% in 2001; Corus with 24%; and Corus with 17%: The top three English language commercial networks by revenue share for 2001 were Corus with 20%; Rogers with 15% and CHUM with 13%.
During 2001, the report notes, English-language FM revenues grew by 7.6% and English-language AM revenues were static; French-language FM revenues grew by 6.5% and French-language AM revenues were down 5.9% against a background of the number of French-language AMs falling from 36 in 1997 to 20 last year.
Total revenues for English-language FM radio grew by 7.6% in 2001, while total revenues for English-language AM radio have remained relatively constant since 1997.
Total revenues for French-language FM radio have grown at a relatively constant pace of 5% to 8% since 1997, and grew by 6.5% in 2001.
Profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) showed a healthy position for FM stations but a problematic one for AMs, although AM-FM combos generally remained profitable. In 2001, English-language AM station PBIT margins were a negative 5.2% whilst Fm margins were 26.52% and for French-language AMs the position was even worse with PBIT margins a negative 8.16% but French-language FMs showed a positive 17.63% PBIT margin.
French-language AM radio continues to see a steady decline in both total revenues and number of stations, with total revenues decreasing by 5.9% in 2001. The number of French-language AM stations has decreased from 36 in 1997 to 20 in 2001.
In terms of the ownership of radio undertakings from 1999 to 2001, Corus has moved from 11 stations to 49; Télémédia Inc. moved from 76 to 81 (*RNW Note - Télémédia Inc. has now sold its radio stations, 18 of them going to Astral - see RNW Oct 25); Rogers from 25 to 29; Standard has gone down from 13 to 12; and Astral, which subsequently purchased 18 of Télémédia's stations, went up from 12 to 15.
In terms of their share of all Canadian listening, the top five radio networks in 2001 (1999 figures in brackets) were Corus with 17% (4%); Télémédia 11% (7%); Rogers 8% (9%);CHUM 5%(7%); and Standard 7% (8%).
In terms of French language radio, the top three networks in 2001 were Télémédia with 21%; Astral with 17% and Corus with 11% of the French language audience; for the English language audience the top three were Corus with 20%; Rogers with 11% and Télémédia with 9%.
The report also notes that since the 1998 Commercial Radio Policy was introduces, of 35 new licenses awarded via competitive processes, only 6 were awarded to a licensee included in the 10 largest commercial radio operators.
In making the licence awards, the CRTC says that the applicants' business plan was a factor in 68.6% of cases; Canadian Talent Development(CTD) in 51.4%; diversity of voices in 48.6%; Canadian content in 28.6%; and Competitive Diversity in 25.7%.
The five most popular formats in Canada, with audience share in brackets), were adult contemporary (14%); Country (10%); chart (8%); News/Talk (7%) and CBC Radio 1 (7%).
Previous CRTC:
CRTC Report (1.42 Mb):
2002-11-23: The BBC is considering splitting the post currently held by Kevin Marsh into two when he moves over to become editor of Today, the flagship BBC Radio 4 breakfast show.
Currently Marsh is editor of the channel's lunchtime and early evening shows, the World at One and PM, and the weekend shows the Sunday morning Broadcasting House and lunchtime World This Weekend programmes.
The lunchtime and early evening shows had different editors until 1996 when Marsh, then editor of The World at One, became editor of both of them.
Previous BBC:
Previous Marsh:
2002-11-23: US Pacifica Radio is seeking grants and listener donations to help it put its archives of nearly 50,000 recordings onto compact discs.
The library goes back more than half a century - Pacifica first went on air in 1949 - and is in varying condition.
It includes the voices of historic figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Malcolm X as well as interviews with luminaries such architect Frank Lloyd Wright, musician John Coltrane and author Simone de Beauvoir.
It also includes poetry readings from names such as Allen Ginsburg, Dylan Thomas and Maya Angelou.
So far according to the San Francisco Chronicle a fund raiser has brought in some USD170, 000 of the USD200, 000 that Pacifica is trying to raise from listeners; in addition aid is being sought from various organisations so that preservation equipment and supplies can be purchased and the project set in train.
Pacifica's Berkeley station KPFA-FM includes the appeal for help on its web site.
Pacifica is still in a financial crisis following a period of internal strike and its interim board is meeting in Houston this weekend to continue consideration of new bylaws
Previous Pacifica:
KPFA web site
2002-11-23: City authorities say they intend to bill Stockholm station Radio City for the cost of removing a giant condom that it rolled over a 50 yard (50 metre) obelisk adjoining Sergels Torg square.
Station officials say the condom, which carried a message promoting its morning show, was part of a campaign for safe sex but authorities in the Swedish capital say the station can also pay for the safe removal of the condom.
The city says it cost around USD2,000 to hire a crane to lift the condom off the statue.
2002-11-23: Arbitron's board has announced a stockholder rights plan under which preferred stock purchase rights are to be granted as a dividend; stockholders will get one right for each share held on its record on the close of business on December 9 this year.
The rights will be valid until Nov 21, 2012 and each right will initially entitle a holder to purchase a thousandth of a share of preferred stock.
The plan is a measure to deter hostile takeovers and the rights become exercisable only if one person or group acquires more than 15% of Arbitron's stock and should the company be taken over in a merger, or more than half its assets sold in a number of related transactions, would entitle the holder to purchase shares in the acquiring company at half the market price of the acquiring company's stock at the time of the deal.
Arbitron's Board generally may redeem the rights at a price of $0.005 per right at any time until ten days following the public announcement that a person or group has acquired beneficial ownership of 15% or more of the company's outstanding Common Stock.
Previous Arbitron:
Arbitron web site:
2002-11-23: A snippet courtesy of Robert Feder in his Chicago Tribune column suggests that the Disney organisation is is permitting discrimination against older residents of the city: He reports that the new programme head of Disney ABC-owned news/talk station just doesn't want any "oldies" who call in to get on the station's airwaves.
Feder reports that in a confidential memo WLS operations director Michael Packer told staff to screen out any "old sounding callers" no matter what they had to say.
Feder comments that the memo offers "a rare glimpse into how far one radio station will go to zero in on its target demographic--in this case, those advertiser-coveted listeners between the ages of 25 and 54."
He then gives more extracts from Packer's memos:
"We do not want to air any callers who sound over 54. We NEVER air anything (content or callers) that sounds older than our very broad target, which is 25 [to] 54. On occasion, when it makes sense, we will air content or callers aimed at younger demos, but not older demos."
He also says in another memo that hosts and producers should "make sure the content of your promo, the content of your show and every caller screened for airing is laser focused on the WLS target--the 40-year-old."
Packer acknowledged writing the memos, saying they were intended as internal guidelines and adding to Feder, "I can tell you that we do put on some callers who are older than 54 years old," he said. "It is whether they are 'old sounding' that is the key--not their chronological age."
"You can have a person that is 80 years old that doesn't sound old. I would say that Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters don't sound old to me. Then again, you can have a depressed 35-year-old that does sound old. In any talk station, there is a screening process that takes place."
He then commented that all stations had a screening process and that the idea was to "for good communicators--people that are articulate and have something to say and can get right to the point."
RNW comment: Feder notes that talk stations tend to have a high proportion of older listeners and notes that in the latest Arbitron ratings WLS was eighth overall but 14th in the 25-to-54 category. Unlike BBC Radio 2, which successfully managed the transition to a broader audience, keeping older listeners and attracting news ones, WLS well alienate both. We just wonder if rival talk stations have the wit to use them against WLS rather than fear mentioning a rival.
Previous Disney-ABC:
Previous Feder::
Feder Sun-Times column:
2002-11-22: Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) lifted some of the gloom in British radio with a strong set of interim results: although like-for-like radio division results were flat, SRH radio, which benefited from less exposure to national advertising revenue, outperformed the industry as a whole.
Overall turnover for the year to the end of September was up 5% of GBP 83.5 million (USD 131 million) helped by income from nearly GBP 80 million (USD 125 million) spent in acquisitions; turnover from continuing operations was also up - by 4.4% to GBP 63.7 million (USD 99.95 million); and profits held steady at GBP 15.5 million (USD 93 million). EBITDA from continuing operations was up 5% to GBP17.2 million (USD 27 million).
Overall SRH reported a pre-tax loss of GBP13.5 million (USD 21.2 million) compared to a profit of GBP 11.1 million (USD 17.4 million) because of a GBP 21.2 million (USD 33.3 million) loss on the sale of its loss-making outdoor advertising division, which suffered because 90% of its revenues were from national advertisers, to Clear Channel (See RNW May 22).
Overall analogue radio revenues, including acquisitions were up a fifth up from GBP 34.2 million (USD 53.7 million) to GBP 41.3 million (USD 64.8 million) but these included the effects of the acquisitions of Southampton based regional radio licence holder Wave 105 and the three-quarters of Irish national station Today FM that SRH did not own (See RNW Nov 15, 2001)
On a same station basis, SRH commented that "revenues were at the same level as last year, reflecting a decline in national advertising of 6% compared with the previous year, whereas our local revenues increased by 3% with 8% growth in sponsorship and promotions income. The profit margin for the year was 27%."
SRH also managed to control development of its digital radio and Internet businesses; it says its digital radio development programme continues on course with five digital multiplexes (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ayr, Dundee and Northern Ireland) and that its radio station websites have developed well.
Net expenditure on digital and Internet activities was GBP1.1 million (USD 1.7 million) during the year.
SRH was bullish about the immediate prospects, having reported turnover up 4% in October and this month and chief executive.
Richard Findlay commented, "In October national advertising was fairly dull, but in November it has come alive and we are looking at the traditional radio advertisers coming back, including mobile phones, supermarkets, retail and motor cars" but he refused to speculate further ahead.
SRH also welcomed the UK communications bill, which proposes eased ownership restrictions (See RNW Nov 21 ) and Findlay said SRH expected to remain independent and be a "major player" in 18- months time.
In particular he played down the likelihood of a takeover by SMG (the former Scottish Media Group), which already owns the maximum 30% share it can of SRH without launching a full bid, saying that even under the proposed new regulations SMG could face problems of disposals in some markets.
SRH shares ended the day up 2.2% at GBP 5.775 whilst SMG was unchanged at GBP0.995.
Previous Findlay:
Previous SMG:
Previous SRH:
SRH web site (Results are 73kb PDF):
2002-11-22: Just a day after the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued its proposed new Equality of Opportunity regulations(See RNW Nov 21), Democrat Commission Michael J Copps has called for it to re-examine its definition of indecency and analyse the link between media consolidation and the "race to the bottom"
In a statement, he said, "It's time for the Commission to change its definition of indecency. Too many indecency complaints from consumers and too many truly indecent broadcasts are falling through the cracks."
He added that "of the nearly 500 indecency complaints received by the Enforcement Bureau in the last year, only a tiny number have resulted in any action. If our definition leads to that result, then our current definition of indecency just isn't getting the job done."
Copps said that it was also time to tackle wanton violence in broadcasts, saying his calls were "about the public interest, responsible broadcasting, and providing programming that appeals to something other than the lowest common denominator that some advertiser can find to exploit."
"It's shameful.," he said. "You can't tell me this is what the pioneers of the great broadcast industry had in mind when they brought radio and TV to us."
Previous Copps:
Previous FCC:
FCC - Copps statement:
2002-11-22: Jazz FM has gone back to the top of the station rankings with Clear Channel retaining network top spot in the latest Arbitron-MeasureCast Internet audio ratings report.
For the week to Nov 10, Arbitron-MeasureCast's top five stations ranked by Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) with (in brackets) TTSL and Cume persons (a measure of the cumulative audience -CP) for the previous report - were:
1: Jazz format Jazz FM - TTSL 363,038 (248,366 ); CP 75,510(70,054 ): Up from fourth with much higher listening and reach.
2: Hot Adult Contemporary Virgin FM - TTSL 312,073 (338,826); CP 65,568 (69,211). Down from first with lower listening and reach.
3: Internet only artist-match MUSICMATCH - TTSL 310,686 (317,074 ); CP112,359 (112,374 ). Down from second with lower listening but slightly higher reach.
4: Adult alternative Radioio - TTSL 302,002 (254,361); CP 56,828 (53,613). Down from third despite higher listening and reach.
5: Classical format WQXR-FM - TTSL 211,161 (206,483 ); CP 47,584 (33,251 ). Same position with higher listening and reach.
The top five networks for the week to November 10 (Final MeasureCast standalone figures in brackets) were:
1: Clear Channel Worldwide TTSL 1,516,061 (1,566,183 ); CP 332,972 (331,071) - Same position with lower listening but higher reach.
2: MUSICMATCH Inc. TTSL 1,201,343(1,205,175 ); CP 364,468 (360,590 ). Same position with lower listening but higher reach.
3: StreamAudio TTSL 966,603 (1,006,579 ); CP 148,643 (146,569). Same position with lower listening but higher reach.
4: Radio Free Virgin TTSL 917,768 (880,659 ): CP 180,522 (178,191 ) Same position with higher listening and reach.
5: WARP Radio TTSL 677,466 (634,185) hours: CP 102,272 (97,582) - Same position with higher listening and reach.
**RNW note: Arbitron now lists listening as TTSL (the MeasureCast term)/ATH (Arbitron's Actual Tuning Hours term): We are listing this as TTSL.
Previous Arbitron-MeasureCast ratings:
Arbitron web site:
2002-11-22: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has extended for three years a waiver to allow Entercom to continue to operate eight stations in Kansas City.
The waiver relates to the issue in 1998 of a Construction Permit for Expanded Band AM Broadcast Station KXTR- AM linked with Entercom's KKHK- AM under regulations that allowed operation of an expanded band station for a five-year test period over and above