July 2004 Archive
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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.
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RNW July comment - looks in the light of a refusal to renew the licence of CHOI-FM because of hosts' comments and US "indecency" penalties at broadcasting content regulation in Canada and the US.
RNW June comment - argues for strong public broadcasters and suggests the BBC licence fee system is better than other options.
RNW May comment - Looks at how radio as an aural medium is progressing as technological change opens new ways to listen and new competition.
2004-07-31: US radio revenues that in May were only up 1% following 10% increases in March and 4% in April rebounded in June, increasing by 3%, led by local revenues that increased 5% according to figures from the US Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). National revenues for June were down 3%.
For the first six months of the year, combined revenues are now up 3% with local revenues up 4% and national revenues up 1%.
In RAB's Sales Index, which equated pre-dot com 1998 to a base of 100, the combined June figure was 137.8, the local sales index was 140.8 and the national sales index was 122.7: Year to date indices were 141.1, 140.3and 142.8 respectively.
RAB President and CEO Gary Fries commented, "Radio's strength as a local medium continues to provide a sound footing for the industry as we anticipate activity in national to revive as the year rolls out."
Previous Fries:
Previous RAB:
Previous RAB figures (for May):
2004-07-31: Regent Communications has announced record net revenue and operating income for the second quarter to the end of June 2004 with revenues up 3.6% to USD 22.2 million and net income up 21.1% to USD 2.3 million (from 4cents to 5 cents a share).
Same station revenues for the quarter were up 3.6% to USD 22.23 million, same station net broadcast revenues were up 5.4% to USD 19.35 million and same station operating income was up 3.9% to 4.72 million.
For the first six months of the year revenues were up 5.7% to USD 40.1 million and net income was up 42.1% to USD 2.7 million (6 cents a share up from 4 cents).
Chairman and CEO Terry Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of Regent Communications said Regent was "pleased with our ability to deliver 5.4% same station revenue growth. This growth highlights the attractive characteristics of our focused strategy and reflects our success in operating leading station clusters in the attractive middle and small-sized markets. In addition, we were able to convert this top-line performance into 13.4% growth in same station operating income, to date outperforming the industry as a whole."
Looking ahead, Regent says it expects third quarter consolidated net broadcast revenues and station operating income of approximately USD22.2 to USD22.5 million and USD7.8 to USD8.0 million, respectively with per share earnings of five cents with expects three to five percent same station net broadcast revenue growth.
It also announced that it has now completed a USD 10 million share buy-back programme and that the directors have authorized a further USD 20 million buy-back scheme.
In other US radio business Westwood One and the Associated Press have announced that Westwood is to exclusively represent all AP Radio Ten Second Sponsorship Inventory from the start of next year.
Westwood One President and CEO Shane Coppola said, "AP has a tremendous brand, product, and heritage. We are thrilled to be their marketing partner. Today's announcement is another example of Westwood One's commitment to expanding our marketing options available to our fast growing roster of advertisers."
"Under this new agreement, Westwood One will now offer advertisers more choice, more inventory and enhanced market coverage. This is a win-win for everyone involved."
Previous Coppola:
Previous Jacobs:
Previous Regent:
Previous Westwood One:
2004-07-31: BBC Radio 2, already top of the rankings, emerges as the biggest national winner in the latest official UK radio ratings from RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) which show it gaining another 530,000 listeners weekly since the last ratings and taking its share of listening up from 15.3% to 16.2% in a period when most stations lost listeners.
BBC Radio 4 was amongst other gainers with its weekly audience up 136,000 but the audience for its flagship Today breakfast show was down to its lowest level for almost three years as the boost to its figures following the 9-11 attacks has gradually worn away: The show had a weekly audience down 300,000 to 6.17 million a week.
Amongst the biggest losers were the BBC Radio Five Live and London Capital FM breakfast shows: The former, co-hosted by Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogarty, lost 270,000 listeners a week since the last survey and is down to 2.35 million and the latter is now hosted by Johnny Vaughan following the departure of long-time host Chris Tarrant.
Vaughan, who was on duty for nine of the 13 weeks, has lost 200,000 listeners since the last ratings, giving a boost to commercial rival Chrysalis-owned Heart FM's Jono and Harriet breakfast show co-hosted by Jonathan (Jono) Coleman and Harriett Scott who have added nearly 140,000 listeners this year and now have 971,000 listeners a week compared to 1.19 million for Vaughan.
The London breakfast show leader is BBC Radio 4's Today Show with 1.66 million - down 160,000 on the previous quarter, and BBC Radio 2 is in third place with Terry Wogan's show with 1.14 million pushing Heart into fourth slot.
In Scotland, Guardian Media Group (GMG) station Real Radio has overtaken Scottish Radio Holdings' Clyde 1 FM to become the top rated Scottish commercial station in term of listeners - 688,000 a week compared to 680,000 - but the GMG station is still behind SRH's flagship in terms of share - 15.1% to 17.1%
Overall radio reached 90% of the potential audience each week, down from 91% in the previous ratings, with the BBC reaching 66%, down from 67%, and taking a 53.1% share of listening, up from 52.6%, whilst commercial radio reached 64%, down from 65%, and took a 45% of listening, down from 45.5%.
BBC Local and Regional Radio stations reach was down from 10.648 million a week to 10.197 million.
Commenting on the figures, Jenny Abramsky, Director of BBC Radio & Music, said: "I'm delighted that BBC Radio is performing well across the board and attracting such a large and loyal following. I'd particularly like to congratulate Radio 2 on another record quarter; the station goes from strength to strength."
Despite the audience drop in London, Capital said they were pleased with Vaughan's progress on the breakfast show commenting that it usually took " at least 18 months" to bed in a new breakfast show.
Chrysalis also expressed satisfaction about the progress of Heart's breakfast show and Chief Executive Phil Riley commented, "The battle for London is as intense as ever and the gap between us and our rival for the top spot has never been closer. Those who said we didn't have 'a hope in hell' in winning the battle for listeners in London will have to think again. These outstanding figures, for not only our flagship station, but across the board, pay testament to our targeted marketing and well-focused programming strategy. "
Chrysalis also expressed satisfaction about the progress of its LBC stations, noting, "Year on year, LBC has seen an improvement in both reach and hours, with the flagship station, LBC 97.3 increasing total hours by 16.3% over the 12 month period. Excellent progress has been made at LBC 97.3 in refining the demographic profile of the station: 48% of the audience are now under 45s and 65% of listeners are ABC1, up from 28% and 57% respectively when we re-launched the station in January 2003."
GWR took most satisfaction from its overall share of UK commercial listening, 20.5% compared to 14.7% by its nearest rival, and also noted the success of Classic FM's breakfast show hosted by Simon Bates: This, it noted, now has 3.35 million listeners a week, up 324,000 on a year earlier, adding, "These figures mean that 1.3 million more people enjoy classic music on Simon Bates' programme than listen to the entire output of BBC Radio 3.
SMG-owned Virgin commented that it was performing well across the whole of its schedule but said the station still had issues with RAJAR concerning under-sampling of key demographics, particularly the 25-34 years-old group.
Emap chose to concentrate on its London performance noting that Kiss 100 has increased its reach and hours to become the number one station in London for 15 - 34 year olds. The station also recorded its highest market share, 4.7%, since December 2002 whilst Magic 105.4 recorded its biggest ever audience and maintained its 4.6% share
Within the figures, compared to the previous quarter:
*BBC Radio 1 lost 123000 listeners to end with a weekly audience of 9.725 million, an unchanged weekly reach of 20%, and a listening share of 8.3%, up from 7.6% as its listeners stayed tuned longer.
*BBC Radio 2 gained 530,000 listeners to end with a weekly audience of 13.432 million, an unchanged weekly reach of 27%, and a listening share of 16.2%, up from 15.3%.
*BBC Radio 3 lost 269,000 listeners to end with a weekly audience of 2.021 million, a weekly reach of 4%, down from 5%, and a listening share of 1.1%, down from 1.2%.
*BBC Radio 4 gained 136,000 listeners to end with a weekly audience of 9.508 million, an unchanged weekly reach of 19%, and unchanged listening share of 11%.
*BBC Radio 5 Live lost 390,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 6.086 million, an weekly reach of 12%, down from 13%, and a listening share of 4.5%%, down from 5.1%.
*BBC World Service gained 52,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 1.367 million, an unchanged weekly reach of 3%, and an unchanged listening share of 0.6%.
*BBC Asian Network gained 110,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 493,000, an unchanged weekly reach of 1% and an unchanged 0.3% share.
On the commercial side for national networks:
*GWR's Classic FM lost 57,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 6.487 million, an unchanged weekly reach of 13%, and an unchanged listening share of 4.5%.
*The Wireless Group's talkSPORT gained 14,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 2.155 million an unchanged weekly reach of 4% and a listening share of 1.8%, up from 1.4%.
*SMG-owned Virgin (total including all AM and FM) gained 146,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 2.632 million, an unchanged weekly reach of 5%, and a listening share of 1.6 %, up from 1.4%.
Digital national commercial networks:
*Core gained 3,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 132,000, too small for reach and share to be rated.
*Kerrang! lost 52,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 723,000, an unchanged reach of 1%and an unchanged listening share of 0.2%.
*Oneword gained 11,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 87,000, too small for reach and share to be listed.
*Planet Rock lost 21,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 221,00, a reach too small to be rated and an unchanged share of 0.1%
*Q lost 23,000 listeners to end with a weekly audience of 348,000, an unchanged reach of 1% and an unchanged share of 0.1%.
*Smash Hits gained 84,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 725,000, an unchanged reach of 1%, and an unchanged listening share of 0.2%.
*The Hits gained 53,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 880,000, an unchanged reach of 2% and a share up from 0.2% to 0.3%
*The Storm lost 23,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 78,000, to small for reach and share to be rated.
*Sunrise gained 12,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 581,000, a reach of 1%, and a share of 0.6%, down from 0.7%.
Also releasing its unofficial ratings has been GfK whose latest figures for London show Johnny Vaughan retaining the breakfast show audience for Capital at 2.6 million listeners a week in the six months from Jan 5 to June 20 compared to the previous period from October 27 to May 16 whilst Heart FM's breakfast audience is shown as falling from 2.6 million to 2.4 million.
GfK figures for commercial stations in the London area showed that for the period from January 5-June 20, 2004 in comparison to previous figures from October 27th 2003 - May 16th 2004) the five most popular commercial stations were:
Capital FM -2.600 million (2.638 million) - Reach up from 25% to 26%. Up from second.
Heart FM -2.441 million (2.639 million) - Reach down from 26% to 24%. Down from first.
Magic FM- 1.968 million (1.957million) - Unchanged 19%. Same rank
Kiss FM 1.549 million (1.381 million) - Reach up from 14% to 15%. Up from fifth
LBC FM 1.463 million (1.303 million) - Up from 13% to 14% and from eighth rank.
* Virgin Radio with 1.404 million (1.522 million), reach down from 15% to 14%, fell from fourth to sixth rank and talkSPORT with 1.202 million (1.381 million), and reach down from 14% to 12%, fell from sixth to eighth rank.
Previous Abramsky:
Previous Bates:
Previous BBC:
Previous Capital:
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous Emap:
Previous GfK & GfK ratings:
Previous GMG:
Previous GWR (Classic FM owners):
Previous RAJAR:
Previous RAJAR ratings:
Previous Riley:
Previous SMG (Owns Virgin):
Previous SRH:
Previous Wireless Group (TalkSport owner):
GfK web site:
RAJAR web site:
2004-07-31: Figures on radio listening from government body Statistics Canada show a significant decline amongst the 12-17 year old demographic over the past five years.
It was 11.3 hours a week in the fall of 1999 but had fallen to 8.5 hours a week by the fall of last year: In comparison listening totals for all Canadians fell from 20.5 hours a week to 19.5 hours a week.
The figures come from a survey of 86,639 Canadians aged 12 and older but the agency cautions that the return rate was only 42.8%.
RNW note: Statistics Canada does not speculate on the reasons for the decline but newspaper reports suggest that the Internet - especially as broadband availability grows - and other means of accessing material, music in particular, are affecting radio and fragmenting audiences in Canada in the same way as cable affected broadcast TV audiences.
In the US, according to a report from Interep, men are around a fifth more likely to be heavy radio listeners and a third less likely to be heavy TV watchers than the average adult.
Overall radio reaches 94% of adult males and 95% of the 18-34 male demographic each week. Top formats for men are Sports, Rock and Classic Rock.
Previous Interep:
2004-07-30: In more US radio results, Beasley Broadcast has reported revenues for the second quarter to the end of June up 8.7% to USD 31 million, Operating income from continuing operations up 11.6% to USD7.9 million, and station operating income up 8.9% to USD10.2 million. Net income, however fell by 13.6% to USD 3.8 million (15 cents a share from 18 cents) put down primarily to a gain in 2003 Q2 of USD 2.5 million from the sale of 150,000 shares of investment securities.
Six month figures were revenues up 7.6% to USD 57 million, operating income up 7.5% to USD 12.6 million, station operating income up 6.1% to USD 17.3 million and net income down from USD 6.4 million to USD 4.0 million (16cents a share down from 26 cents): It says the fall reflected 2003 gains of USD 3.3 million from the sale of investment securities shares and a USD 2.4 million loss in 2004 to write-off debt issuance costs related to the Company's old credit facility and certain fees to establish a new credit facility.
Chairman and CEO George G. Beasley commented, "Revenue increases at 7 of our 10 market clusters combined with positive developments in Philadelphia led to better than expected revenue growth during the second quarter. This performance helped contribute to a significant year-over-year revenue increase for the Company, underscoring the benefits of programming changes we've made to competitively position the Company in this operating environment. Station operating expenses also increased, but as with other investments we've made in our Company, these expenditures made sense from a competitive and opportunistic standpoint, and we believe they will ultimately enhance the value of our station portfolio."
"Given the Company's prospects, its ability to generate free cash flow and the attractive valuation of its common stock," he added, "Beasley's Board of Directors believes that, in addition to reducing debt, opportunistic share repurchases represent an excellent use of capital. Periodically buying our shares while we continue to enhance the performance of our radio station assets will further support our goal of increasing shareholder value."
For the third quarter Beasley says it anticipates reporting a net revenue increase of approximately 4%.
Radio One Inc has reported net broadcast revenues for the quarter up 7% to USD 86.2 million, operating income up 11% to USD 39.2 million, station operating income up 11% to USD 48 million, and net income up 11% to USD 17.5 million (12 cents a share up from 10 cents.)
For the six months revenues were up 8% to USD 155.9 million, operating income up 14.9% to USD 64.6 million, and net income up 16.2% to USD 26.3 million (Up from 12 cents to 15 cents per share).
Commenting on the results, CEO and President Alfred C. Liggins, III said, "Even in the face of difficult industry dynamics, Radio One posted an impressive quarter on virtually all metrics. We grew revenue in line with prior guidance, controlled costs, posted double digit operating income growth, expanded our margins and continued to reduce our leverage."
"While the radio industry continues to find its footing, we are optimistic that with our ratings gains and new stations coming on line, we will continue to outperform the industry for the foreseeable future and continue to increase the long-term value of Radio One through a variety of initiatives over the upcoming quarters and years."
Radio One has also announced agreement to acquire Gospel-format WABZ-FM, Charlotte, North Carolina, for approximately USD 11.5 million dollars from Susquehanna Radio Corp.
It already owns Urban AC WQNC-FM (the former CHR/Rhythmic WCHH-FM whose format it changed in January) in the market and says it expects to change the call sign and format of its new acquisition, currently a 3Kw station licensed to Albemarle but due to double its power and move to the Charlotte suburb of Indian Trail,
Liggins said of the purchase, "This station will go a long way toward enhancing our position in Charlotte, as it will be a nice complement to our existing single-station presence there,"
In new Zealand, CanWest Global Communications Corp. announced today that it has received NZD300.0 million (USD 190 million) in cash proceeds from the sale of its New Zealand media operations to CanWest MediaWorks (NZ) Limited, a plan announced in May (See RNW May 20)
CanWest has a 70% interest in CanWest MediaWorks (NZ) Limited: It is to use the cash proceeds from the sale to strengthen its balance sheet.
Previous Beasley:
Previous George Beasley:
Previous Canwest:
Previous Liggins:
Previous Radio One Inc.
2004-07-30: Former US National Public Radio (NPR) host Bob Edwards is joining XM Satellite Radio to host a new morning show 'The Bob Edwards Show', which is to be the signature programmes on a new XM Public Radio Channel.
Edwards hosted NPR's "Morning Edition" for nearly 25 years, attracting more than 13 million listeners weekly, before being dropped earlier this year.
He said of his move, "XM is the most exciting thing happening in radio. I think XM is reviving and reinventing radio. It's something entirely new, and at the same time it brings radio back to its past glory. Thirty years is a long time to bond with a particular audience, an audience I love. I hope a great many of my listeners will be interested in this new show on XM. It's a chance to visit with interesting people for longer than a sound bite. I see an enormous respect for radio among people at XM, and I am excited about creating the same radio magic on XM that I have been part of throughout my career."
XM President and CEO Hugh Panero commented, " We are thrilled to announce the launch of XM Public Radio and it is an honour to carve out this completely new space in the broadcasting arena with such esteemed public radio programming partners as American Public Media, WBUR and Public Radio International. We look forward to working with these partners to ensure that the quality programming they produce reaches the broadest audience possible."
The new XM channel is to be launched on September 1 with programmes from Public Radio International (PRI) and its satellite radio subsidiary American Public Radio; American Public Media, the national production and distribution branch of Minnesota Public Radio; and Boston public radio station WBUR.
They will include This American Life, Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?, Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac, Speaking of Faith, On Point, and Only a Game, among others.
Previous Edwards:
Previous NPR:
Previous Panero:
Previous XM:
2004-07-30: The latest report of the BBC Complaints Unit, covering the period from 1 April to 30 June this year shows one radio programme attracting more than a quarter of the complaints made.
In all the BBC Programme Complaints Unit dealt with 402 complaints concerning 210 items, 104 of the complaints being made about comments that were highly offensive to the Sikh community made by a guest on the BBC Asian Network's Sonia Deol programme.
The unit notes that no further action had been required since Sonia Deol immediately pointed out the offensiveness of what had been said and apologised to listeners, the Head of the Asian Network had also gone on air with her own apology and the Director of BBC Radio had met leaders of the Sikh community to discuss the matter before the unit had completed its investigation.
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said in an introduction to the report that the Corporation was already demonstrating willingness to admit mistakes and take appropriate action when things went wrong.
During the period 154 complaints were upheld, 113 of them partly, relating to 27 items: The numbers compared with a total for the previous quarter of 363 complaints dealt with relating to 240 items, of which 77 complaints were upheld, 16 of them partly.
Of the total complaints 82 related to matters of fairness and accuracy, down from 120 in the previous bulletin: They related to 78 items, the same as previously.
The remaining 320 complaints concerned matters of taste and standards, up from 243; they related to 132 items, down from 162.
The fairness and accuracy complaints against radio that were upheld included three cases of party-political bias, two of other bias, and one of factual inaccuracy.
They were:
Party Political Bias:
*Complaint against the Radio 4 World at One programme that presenter James Cox had not maintained due impartiality in an interview with the Information Minister, Douglas Alexander, about the Phillis Report [on Government Communications]. The complainant said his question, "All I am saying to you, Mr Alexander, is that it would seem to an observer like me that the culture of mendacity is now so embedded in everything your Government does that it is very hard to believe that you would be converted to openness and honesty", was an expression of a contentious personal viewpoint."
The panel concluded that the "terms of Mr Cox's introduction to the item and of several of his questions appeared to reflect his own view on the matter at issue, and the tone of the item overall fell short of proper standards of impartiality."
*Complaint against the Radio 4 World Tonight programme by a listener who said coverage of a speech by Conservative leader Michael Howard on the programme and two other news programmes was biased against the British National Party (BNP).
The panel found that the focus in the report on the Howard speech was not on the BNP for two programmes but the World Tonight had widened its report, raising questions about the BNP's significance and character in ways, which called for a response from the party.
*A complaint that Sybil Ruscoe on BBC Radio 2, commenting on a trail for a programme about culture in the Thatcher years, had made her personal views on the Thatcher Government apparent, contrary to the BBC's guidelines on impartiality in such circumstances.
The panel found that her remark, "A lot of misery, that's what came out of the Thatcher years, didn't it - for a lot of people", unaccompanied as it was by any acknowledgment of more positive views, was not impartial.
Other Bias:
A complaint from the Advertising Association that that an interview with the Chairman of the Food Standards Agency on the BBC Radio 4 Today breakfast programme contained criticisms of the advertising industry (in relation to the promotion of food to children) without any opportunity for a representative of the industry to respond.
The panel found that including the criticisms was legitimate but the item should have included a balancing element.
*A complaint that on the BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine Show a description of Tim Llewellyn as an "impartial commentator" on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was both inaccurate and deliberately misleading.
The panel found that as" Mr Llewellyn is associated with the Palestinian side, the description was incorrect" but went on to conclude it was a mistake made in the heat of the moment, when a live programme was not going according to plan, and not a deliberate attempt to mislead listeners.
Factual inaccuracy:
A complaints against Sunday Sequence on BBC Radio Ulster by a listener, the husband of a former member of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, who claimed that the programme's presenter had misrepresented some of the circumstances surrounding the resignation of his wife and another Commissioner.
The panel found that in an interview with the Chairman of NIHRC, the presenter said that the two resigning Commissioners had declined the opportunity of "explaining" their reasons for resigning whereas in fact, they had set out their reasons, both to the Commission and in a press release, though they declined to enter into discussion of them at the relevant Commission meeting. This was a slip by the presenter that went uncorrected at the time.
Taste and standards complaints upheld related to:
Bad Language:
BBC Radio 1 Colin and Edith. The use of the F-word by Colin Murray in an encounter with a celebrity. Murray had apologised immediately.
*BBC Radio 4 Midweek. The use of the F-word by an interviewee, quoting a colourful comment by a character who appeared in his memoir of life as an inshore fisherman. The use was ruled inappropriate in the context and had been edited out of a repeat of the programme.
Racism:
BBC Radio Five Live: Complaint about a text message read out claiming that gypsies came to the UK because they knew they were above the law in the UK. The presenter distanced himself from the comments but it was ruled it would have been preferable not to have included it in the programme [RNW Comment: another Ostrich ruling! Hide the bigotry rather than tacking it!].
Offence to religious feeling:
BBC Asian Network, Sonia Deol: This complaint, referred to above as attracting 104 complaints, related to comments made by a guest in a discussion "Inter-religious family life - does it really work?" The guest was daughter of an inter-religious marriage and her comments were held to be "ill-informed rather than intentionally disparaging" but were "likely to be offensive to Sikhs, and the complaints were upheld to that extent."
Bad example:
BBC Radio1 Sara Cox - A listener complained about the result of a 'truth' competition, where the judge awarded the prize to a contestant who admitted to having urinated in a train compartment late at night. In effect, this rewarded antisocial behaviour. This was held to have been a mistake.
Standards of interviewing/presentation:
BBC London, Jon Gaunt: A listener complained that Jon Gaunt had expressed unacceptable personal views during discussion of the police handling of a recent protest in which the security of the Palace of Westminster had been breached. He had insulted the police and called for peaceful demonstrators to be shot. The comments were held to have exceeded acceptable bounds.
The BBC also notes that the Programme Complaints Unit is to change its name to the Editorial Complaints Unit and become the first level of appeal rather than the initial point of contact for serious complaints. Under the new system the Unit's decision will be binding whereas previously the Head of the Unit has had to get the agreement of the programme-making or output department before finalising any decision to uphold a complaint.
Previous BBC:
Previous BBC Complaints Bulletin (Governor's Appeals):
Previous BBC Complaints Bulletin (Complaints unit findings):
Previous Thompson:
2004-07-30: Rock veteran Dave Logan, most recently EVP Programming for Air America Radio (See RNW April 28) and before that with XM Satellite Radio as well as with Sony's SW Networks and PD of stations including WLUP-FM, Chicago, WNEW-FM, New York, and KFOG-Fm, San Francisco, is to succeed Joe McCoy (See RNW Columnists Jul 26) as PD of Infinities Oldies WCBS-FM, New York.
Logan, who takes over his duties on Monday next week, said he was "thrilled at the opportunity to work at one of the greatest heritage stations in the country."
Previous Logan:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
2004-07-30: UK Chrysalis Group's Manchester station Galaxy 102 has been fined GBP 2,500 (USD 4,500) by the Ofcom regulator for a broadcast in which a male caller said he slapped his wife and recommended a "regular slap" to keep women in line: The same broadcast also included what Ofcom found to be offensive comments from the presenters and a 12-years-old girl who used offensive language when she was put live on air to comment on what she had just heard.
The caller who identified himself as Irish Frank was aired live on the station's breakfast show on October 15, 2003,when the discussion was about the responsibility for housework, recorded and used the following day on the same show in a discussion called "treat them mean to keep them keen." The show's female presenter then suggested that "Irish wank" was a better term for the caller and when a 12-year-old was asked her views she described Frank as a "fucking Irish Wanker" before being taken off air.
Ofcom said the broadcast, which because it was repeated had clearly been the subject of an editorial decision to broadcast it at a time when significant numbers of children could be listening, breached rules designed to protect younger listeners and also on seeking to elicit views on air from a child on matters likely to be beyond her judgement.
Chrysalis, which described Galaxy as an "edgy" station with an established local target audience of 15 to 34 year olds had admitted it breached the code and apologised for the incident concerned but also "vigorously defended its distinctive position within its (local) market dealing with a wide range of hard and soft issues" that "sought to explore emotive human themes which would arouse responses from its audience."
It has subsequently taken a number of steps to improve compliance with Ofcom's codes including a policy of excluding any young callers when adult topics are being discussed.
In setting the penalty, Ofcom said it had took account of the fact that a considerable amount of money had been spent on improving Galaxy's procedures which had already had a significant financial impact on it and noted that the broadcaster had admitted its error and had apologised for it.
Chrysalis says it will not appeal the penalty and will pay it although it was "disappointed" to be fined. It added that Galaxy has just achieved its highest ever audience share suggesting its audience were not "troubled" by the content and also that the ruling raised serious questions concerning how serious issues were to be handled when children were listening.
The penalty was in contrast to the latest Complaints Bulletin from Ofcom in which radio escaped censure: The medium was involved in only one case in which detail was listed - a case where not all swearing -use of the word fuck- had been beeped out of a Steve Penk show on Manchester Key 103: The item had been intended as a parody and the case was considered resolved as the station had given assurances that any future material of a similar kind would be fully beeped.
In addition, Ofcom upheld two standards cases against TV and considered a further five resolved and upheld another case of fairness and privacy upholding TV.
A total of 136 further cases were not upheld, 119 of them involving TV with details being listed only in two cases: The items involved had produced 162 complaints. 15 other radio cases were not upheld, no details being listed for any of these.
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Ofcom Complaints Bulletin:
Ofcom ruling (57kb PDF)
2004-07-29: In more US results Michigan-based Saga Communications has reported net operating revenues for the quarter to the end of June up 10.5% at USD35.1 million, operating income up 19.8% to USD 9.1 million, station operating income up 16.2% to USD 13.1 million and net income up 16.7% to USD 4.9 million (Up from 20 cents a share to 23 cents a share).
Same station revenues were up 5% to USD 33.4 million and same station operating income was up 13.2% to USD 12.8 million.
For the six months, Saga's net income was up 25.4% to USD 7.4 million (Up from 28 cents per diluted share to 35 cents) on revenues up 11% to USD 64.3 million and operating income up 21% to USD 14.4 million and station operating income was up 16.9% to USD 21.8 million.
Looking ahead Saga says it expects third quarter revenues to between USD34 and USD 34.5 million with station operating expenses between USD 21.2 and USD 21.5 million.
Westwood One has reported net revenues in the second quarter to the end of June up 5% at USD 139.6 million led by an 8% increase in national advertisements; operating income for the quarter was up 3% to USD 43.1 million and net income was also up 3% - to USD 25.1 million.
In addition Westwood noted that the number of its shares outstanding decreased around 6% in the quarter as the result of a repurchase of more than 2.2 million shares of its Common Stock at a cost of approximately USD 60 million.
President and CEO Shane Coppola said the results were "indicative of our commitment to enhance our products and services for both our affiliate stations and advertisers."
"We will continue to make the necessary investments in our business which will translate to consistent long term growth," he added.
CFO Andrew Zaref commented that the recent performance of Westwood's stock had provided an opportunity to accelerate its stock repurchase programme noting that in the first half it had spent approximately USD 123 million on buying back more than 4.3 million shares and at the end of June had USD 255 million available for future purchases.
Looking ahead, Westwood left its guidance for 2004 unchanged: It expects revenue to grow in mid-single digits, resulting in double-digit growth in operating income before depreciation and amortization.
In Europe, SBS Broadcasting SA has reported second quarter revenues up 21% to Euros 187 million (USD 226 million), station operating cash flow up 39% to Euros 45 million (USD 55million) and adjusted EBITDA up 44% to Euros 42 million (USD 51 million) producing net income up 12% to Euros 18 million (USD 22 million- from Euros 0.57 to Euros 0.58 per share).
For the six months revenues were up 21% to Euros 328 million (USD 395 million), station operating cash flow was up 52% to Euros 53 million (USD 64 million), and adjusted EBITDA was up 62% to Euros 47 million (USD 56 million) producing net income up 88% to Euros 14 million (USD 17 million).
In divisional terms in the quarter, radio net revenues were up 42%, mainly because of acquisitions during 2003, and TV was up 8%. Radio had operating losses of Euros 500,000 (USD 600,000) compared to operating income of Euros 2.3 million (USD 2.8 million) a year earlier, mainly due to operating losses at the 2003 Acquired Operations and the decrease in net revenue at SBS's Danish Radio operations whilst TV operating income was up 45% to Euros 35.8 million (USD 42.2 million).
For the six months TV net revenues were up 7% with operating income up 79& and radio revenues were up 40% with operating losses of Euros 3.7 million (USD 4.5 million) compared to operating income of Euros 2.5 million (USD 3 million) a year earlier, again put down mainly to losses at acquisitions.
During May and June SBS acquired and extinguished euro 14.5 million of its 12% Senior Notes due 2008, recording a loss of euro 2.5 million on this extinguishment of debt. In July 2004 it has acquired and extinguished an additional euro 5.0 million of our Senior Notes.
CEO Markus Tellenbach said of the results, " In the second quarter we once again achieved double digit increases in our net revenue and operating income as we continue to execute on our business plan. Our Television stations continued to outperform their markets, increasing organic revenues by 8% while operating costs increased by less than 1%."
"As we continue to focus on improving the performance of our assets and enhancing our cash flow generation, we will also be considering prudent opportunities to grow our business. We are effectively utilizing our operating infrastructure, established brands and popular content to develop new channels on a cost-efficient basis."
Previous Coppola:
Previous Saga:
Previous SBS SA:
Previous Tellenbach:
Previous Westwood One;
2004-07-29: The current US clamp-down on "indecent" broadcasting is having a "chilling effect" on at least two of Chicago's most free-wheeling radio personalities, Steve Dahl and Mike North, according to Robert Feder in his Chicago Sun-Times column.
Feder reports that Dahl - afternoon host on Infinity's WCKG-FM - and North - in the same slot on the company's WSCR-AM - told a meeting of the Illinois Broadcasters Association that the threat of tougher action had taken a toll on them.
"When I say anything [on the air] now, I think of it showing up in a transcript in a courtroom -- where I'm trying to defend myself -- or in a board room, for that matter," Dahl said. "So it has had a chilling effect."
"It does make you double- and triple-think everything you say, which, for me, is painful," he said. "It makes a five-hour show a five-hour show."
North added that with no clear guidelines about what constitutes indecency, every broadcaster is potentially vulnerable to a "witch hunt" or a vendetta.
"Our bosses don't know what can be said and can't be said," North commented...
"There's no guidelines. There's no set of rules. So it can turn into a witch-hunt or vendetta. If there's a boss that has a vendetta against one of his own people he can enforce this unknown rule, these unknown guidelines."
He was backed up by Dahl who commented, "The most frightening thing about the whole concept is the fact that one person's complaint can trigger an investigation -- and now a half-million-dollar fine. Nobody wants to address that because nobody wants to draw attention to themselves. So you just get this system that keeps perpetuating itself. And it's patently unfair, I think."
"The other troubling part is the fact [the FCC] is considering fining the actual performers too. It wouldn't just be the station."
Feder also reports that although his contract expired on Sunday, Erich Mancow Muller is continuing on the air as morning personality at Emmis Communications' WKQX-FM having agreed to a one-month extension of the previous agreement. Talks between Muller and Q-101 are described by both sides as progressing amicably writes Feder.
Previous Dahl:
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Previous FCC:
Previous Feder:
Previous "Mancow" Muller:
Previous North:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Chicago Sun-Times - Feder column:
2004-07-29: Chrysalis's LBC London talk station director of programmes Steve Kyte has given in his notice and is expected to move to Australia, where his partner lives, according to the UK Guardian.
The paper adds that the station has had mixed fortunes since its re-launch by Chrysalis including a mix-up by ratings organization RAJAR that gave the AM station the much higher figures that were for its FM sister, an error that the paper says put back Chrysalis's initial marketing campaign by six months according to the company.
It adds that although the station has grown audiences it has not progressed as fast as Chrysalis radio chief executive Chris Riley had hoped: he wants to double its figures within three years but is behind target.
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous Riley:
UK Guardian report:
2004-07-29: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a notice of apparent liability for USD 10,000 to the owner of a Kansas FM and also confirmed a USD 3,000 penalty on a Puerto Rico FM owner for failure to register its antenna structure.
The confirmed penalty was levied on Clamor Broadcasting Network, licensee of WKVN-FM and owner of an unregistered antenna structure located atop of the Atlantico Condominium on Naranjal Street, Levittown.
Agents had visited the building to find a 120 foot (36.6 metre) tower on top of the building, taking the total height to more than 200 feed (60 metres): It had a small notice on it that read "FCC Temporary Tower Registration 1011531" but the FCC had no records of the antenna.
Clamor said it had filed a registration application in 1999 but this was returned saying that a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) clearance was required in order to register the tower and also said it had taken the FAA two years to conduct a new study and that it had been awaiting a response to its 1999 filing with the commission. The FCC rejected the arguments and confirmed the full penalty.
In the Kansas case, American Family Association, licensee of non-commercial KBMP-FM, Enterprise, is said to have failed to meet FCC location requirements, to have failed to maintain a meaningful management and staff presence at its main studio, and also apparently failed to comply with a Bureau order by failing to respond fully to a Bureau inquiry that directed AFA to produce certain information concerning the main studio of KBMP.
AFA acquired the construction permit for the unbuilt station from Solid Rock Broadcasting, Inc. in August 1999 and in June 2001 requested a waiver of the Commission's main studio rule so as to co-locate the main studio of KBMP with that of its co-owned Station KCFN-FM, Wichita, Kansas.
It sent further letters in August 2001, and May 2002, having by then started operations of KBMP on March 6, 2002.
The waiver was granted in October 2002 but without prejudice to any enforcement action concerning the rules already breached. It was subsequently asked for various information relating to its actions but this had not been forthcoming.
The Commission, in deciding on a full base level penalty of USD 7,000 for operating in breach of its rules, noted that AFA had jumped the gun before in Missouri, where it had been issued with a USD 5,000 forfeiture order for operating KBKC-FM, Moberly, Missouri, without a main studio, again after applying for a waiver but before this had been granted.
Regarding the failure to provide information requested it issued a USD 3,000 penalty, reduced from a base penalty of USD 4,000, because it had provided information in two of the nine categories for which this had been requested.
Previous FCC:
2004-07-28: Denver news/talk station KNRC-AM has been closed down by NRC Broadcasting following failure to "attract enough of a listener base over the past two years to continue operating" according to a statement on its web site from CEO Tim Brown.
The station was the group's first, going on air on June 24, 2002, but has struggled from the very start.
NRC has since then acquired other outlets including "Americana" format KCUV-AM and KJAC-FM - JACK FM in Denver, its latest station, which was acquired in April this year.
It also has nine FM stations serving the Colorado mountain resort communities of Aspen, Glenwood Springs, Vail, Eagle, Breckenridge, Silverthorne, Steamboat Springs and Craig that it says are "healthy and demonstrating growth."
It says it plans to acquire more stations in Colorado and in several mountain resort communities later this year.
KNRC web site:
2004-07-28: In further signs of health in UK digital radio, Pure Digital is launching an updated version of its Evoke-1, currently the world's best-selling digital receiver, and Intempo has announced two new models.
The latter, nicknamed Kitty are the models KT-01 and the KTB-01 - mains or battery models that receive FM or digital and have eight presets: They are priced around GBP 80 (USD 145).
The new Evoke model, the Evoke-1XT, is a mains kitchen model featuring a six presets, a countdown timer, radio and tone alarm and display with adjustable brightness plus a USB connector for product updates.
It should be with retailers next moth priced just under GBP 100 (USD 180).
In the US, iBiquity has licensed two more manufacturers for its HD digital technology.
The deal done with D&M Holdings, parent company of Denon Ltd., Marantz Japan, Inc., McIntosh Laboratory, Inc., and Digital Networks North America, Inc. (DNNA), is for use of the iBiquity technology in premium home audio systems by Denon and Marantz.
Previous iBiquity:
2004-07-28: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has confirmed a fine of USD 3,000 on the Pacifica Foundation for failure to conduct required monthly and weekly tests of the Emergency Alert System at WPFW-FM, Washington, DC, and failure to verify the log in writing by the chief operator.
Pacifica had not denied the offences but sought a reduction on the basis of corrective measures taken and status as a small business entity but the commission upheld the full penalty.
Previous FCC:
Previous Pacifica:
2004-07-28: Former Infinity Radio President Dan Mason has added another consultancy with the announcement that he is to join All Comedy Radio as a consultant and advisor.
Mason, who retired from Infinity in 2002 (See RNW Aug 21, 2002), will work directly with All Comedy Radio co-founder and CEO Michael O'Shea to help build the company.
Mason, who began his radio career in Kentucky in the early 70s working overnights moved through a series of station roles before becoming President of Cook Inlet Radio Partners in 1998, President of Group W Radio in 1993 and President of CBS Radio in 1995: Later when it had been renamed Infinity, he oversaw the integration of the original CBS, Group W and American Radio Systems stations.
Since he left Infinity he had has been working as a consultant for a number of radio organisations including iBiquity and last year joined the board of Spanish Broadcasting System (See RNW June 11, 2003).
Previous Mason:
2004-07-27: The former New York WNEW duo Opie and Anthony (Gregg Hughes and Anthony Cumia) in an interview with John Mainelli in the New York Post say they would apologize to their listeners because the Sex in St Patrick's Cathedral two years ago that led to the termination of a "very good show" but otherwise are unapologetic.
The two said they had been well paid but "miserable" since they were taken off the air by Infinity, which is still contesting the USD 357,000 fine levied for the incident - the first penalty the pair had attracted.
"Infinity enjoyed what we were doing for them, and we got the [ratings] that they could sell," said Anthony Cumia, adding, "When the heat got too hot, they kicked us out the door."
The pair also attacked Infinity star Howard Stern and Hughes commented," "He's such a hypocrite and full of s-t because when we were at Viacom, he went to the bosses and made us shut up [so] we couldn't even mention his name."
"He might whine and cry like he always does about the FCC being on him and the President trying to get his show off," said Cumia "but he's making way too much money for Viacom to even consider letting him go."
Mainelli notes that Opie and Anthony have talked of a move to satellite radio when their WNEW contract ends - their web site currently says, "Negotiations are going real well. Anthony and I are surprised that it's taking so long, but we should finally have something to report real soon." - and then takes up the possibility of a return to terrestrial radio, something the duo say they would like but don't see happening.
"We know if we went back on commercial radio, there would be such a bull's-eye on our foreheads because of all the indecency crap that's going on," said Hughes.
Cumia added, "The climate in radio is the worst it's ever been. The lack of FCC restrictions on satellite radio doesn't mean we'd use the f-word every day, but it would be nice to talk about things and not worry about getting an FCC violation," he says.
…"Everyone's so scared that they're just pulling everything back…No one wants to take even the slightest chance of saying not only sexually offensive stuff that might get an FCC violation, but it's 'don't badmouth the country, don't badmouth the president, don't say anything racial' - not even in the context of comedy."
Previous Mainelli:
Previous Opie and Anthony:
Opie and Anthony web site:
New York Post report:
2004-07-27: XM is to add five more 24-hour traffic and weather channels to its service from August 2, taking the total to 21. The areas being added are Atlanta, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Diego, and Seattle.
Commenting on the service, XM President and CEO Hugh Panero said, "XM provides the most comprehensive traffic information you can find on the radio. We're using advanced technology to give drivers the information they need, whenever they need it. With 24- hour traffic and weather reports, you can plan your route, avoid delays, and save time."
Previous Panero:
Previous XM:
2004-07-27: Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) has announced that it has agreed to sell its suburban Chicago radio stations WDEK-FM, WKIE-FM and WKIF-FM to Newsweb Corporation for USD 28 million in cash. The sale, subject to FCC approval, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
SBS chairman, president and CEO Raúl Alarcón said the sale was part of its strategic plan of disposing of "certain non-core stations to de-leverage the Company and significantly strengthen our balance sheet."
Previous Alarcón:
Previous Newsweb:
Previous SBS:
2004-07-27: The UK Wireless Group has jumped onto the bandwagon of Canada's adoption of Arbitron's Portable People Meter for TV ratings in Quebec (See RNW July 22) to accuse British ratings organisation RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) of getting "left behind" in its methods according to a report in the UK Guardian.
Mike Franklin, the managing director of TalkSport, which is owned by the group, told the paper, "The move towards passive electronic measurement of audiences is gathering pace around the world... and RAJAR is being left behind,"
The Wireless Group says electronic ratings show its audience to be three times as large as those produced by RAJAR's diary methods and is currently suing RAJAR for damages it alleges have been caused too its business by under-measurement of its audience.
RNW comment: The Guardian, which often seems to us on this issue to be a house magazine for Wireless Group chief executive Kelvin MacKenzie, notes in its report that BBM Canada is scrapping its push-button set-top boxes, used for TV ratings, does not highlight the fact that this is currently only being done in Quebec and Montreal, and does not mention that BBM has not so far adopted the PPM for radio ratings- although it is examining the possibility of doing so.
The Wireless Group has a vested interest in plugging a system that measures much shorter listening periods and boosts its figures but we think a well-respected national newspaper should be a little more cautious about the way in which it plugs his line.
Previous Arbitron:
Previous RAJAR:
Previous Wireless Group:
UK Guardian report:
2004-07-27: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cut from USD 10,000 to USD 8,000 a penalty on Barnacle Broadcasting Company, Ltd for offences relating to its failure to exhibit ll red obstruction lighting from sunset to sunrise on its 382-metre (1253 feet) tall antenna structure in Port Royal, South Carolina.
Barnacle had argued against the penalty on various grounds, saying that it did not know of the outage that was observed by the FCC, was not nor was applying to be a licensee, had no prior offences, had not received notice of its obligations from the Commission, had no prior offences, was operating an area prone to lightning strikes, had made repairs promptly, and couldn't afford to pay.
The Commission accepted that a reduction of USD 2,000 was due on the basis of a good prior record but dismissed all the other arguments, noting that financial details provide were not sufficient for a reduction on hardship grounds.
The FCC has also announced the appointment of George R. Dillon as Assistant Bureau Chief of the Enforcement Bureau. Dillon most recently served as the Bureau's Engineering Advisor, assisting the Bureau Chief on a wide range of public safety, technical and management projects.
Previous FCC:
2004-07-26: This week we start our look at print comment on radio with a somewhat gloomy outlook on the medium's future from Tim Cuprisin in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in which he adds the I-pod to satellite radio as a threat to terrestrial radio in the US.
The New York Post's influential radio writer, John Mainelli, writes Cuprisin has dubbed the revolutionary little digital music player "radio's latest rival" but Cuprisin then goes on to report some skepticism about the scale of that threat a voiced by Edison Media Research radio analyst Sean Ross who noted that US radio listening had started before the I-pod came along.
Ross, who's a consultant for Chicago's innovative new "9 FM," WRZA-FM launched last month with the slogan: "We Play Anything" commented, "There's been a larger set of issues piling up," Ross says. "Radio is responding to the broader picture and finding out that there's a tangible demand for variety."
Cuprisin follows the thought by writing," Of course it's far too early to measure the success of 9 FM, or commercial radio's new competitors for our attention. But anything that offers more variety - whether it's 100 channels of mostly commercial free programming on satellite, a playlist of up to 10,000 of our favorite songs on iPod, or a radio station that promises to play "anything" - is good news for listeners bored with the present state of commercial music radio.
On to another potential problem for listeners and Rob Pegoraro's column in the Washington Post that took up comments from readers about the effect of introducing digital transmissions that caused interference in their listening to distant AM signals at nighttime.
One reader noted that where he was a Toronto station he normally listened to on 1540 AM disappeared totally when Cincinnati WSAI-AM conducted digital tests on 1530.
The issue is one that is known about and was noted in tests that iBiquity carried out under the oversight of the US National Radio Systems Committee but the US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) concluded that the trade-off was well worth while, writing "the dramatically improved audio quality from [HD Radio] service is well worth the predicted and limited reductions in analog coverage."
Pegoraro comments on this, "I suspect that the FCC will come down on the side of HD Radio, and I can't say that this is necessarily wrong. Distant AM reception has always been a bonus feature, not a right… Plus, in the long run the Internet solves this distance-reception problem quite nicely."
RNW: Since a station isn't generally going to get significant additional income through attracting [uncounted] distant listeners there won't be any pressures to keep distant nighttime AM listening going, which will end yet another feature that was once attractive about radio - being able to hear output from half a continent - or in the UK - a continent away.
From north of the border, there was some concern about the future of radio in a Toronto Star report by Greg Quill centred on the latest ratings, which showed CBC Radio One's Toronto morning flagship, Metro Morning heading the ranks.
The most recent survey for the period between mid-February and mid-April notes Quill gave the CBC show a 10.1 share in the 0600-10:00 weekday slot: he adds, For the first time in most observers' memories, the non-commercial public broadcaster has beaten out commercial-driven, gimmick-laden, prize-happy, chatterbox private radio stations CHUM-FM (9.8 per cent share), CFRB (7.8 per cent), EZ Rock (7.5 per cent) and Q107 (6.9 per cent) in the most important and certainly most lucrative time slot, Morning Drive Time."
The figures produced what could be seen as a slight element of sour grapes from Gary Slaight, president and CEO of Standard Radio, which operates three of Toronto's 18 commercial stations: He noted, "The CBC is not supposed to be about competing for an audience - it's a tax dollar-supported public broadcaster that doesn't have to air commercials to survive…I'm not surprised they're on top, given the CBC's huge marketing budget and its free access to TV ad time. The show has been percolating in the top three or four spots for a long time. But I am surprised they're making such a big deal out of being on top of a game they're not supposed to be playing."
He insisted, however, that the figures wouldn't have a significant commercial effect and insisted that Toronto's highly competitive commercial radio market has never looked so healthy.
He was backed to a degree by Dave McDonald, manager of ad agency McLaren McCann Canada's radio group who said the figures wouldn't "directly affect advertising buys in the morning" but then sounded a note of warning about the effects of other media such as satellite radio and Internet audio services, saying, "There's much more crossover from radio to other media in the 18-34 demographic, the `money group.' People are expecting more and more from radio because of competition from other sources."
Toronto radio veteran Bob Mackowycz, now involved in a group trying to introduce satellite radio into Canada, said he thought commercial radio's best days are over and noted that American radio stocks have fallen around 20 per cent in the last few years.
"The high-tech communications bubble caused by deregulation in the 1990s went hand-in-hand with the wholesale dumping of radio properties," he said. "Commercial stations have had to increase their ad load to maintain income, and as a result listeners have had it with commercial radio, airing between 18 and 22 minutes of ads every hour."
Julie Adams, program director at Rogers-owned CHFI-FM also said she had seen changes since 9-11, producing a "greater interest in the state of the world, a need for more local information, and less interest in gimmickry."
"The shift I'm feeling these days is away from unbelievable personalities, the shock jocks and zoo characters that used to populate morning radio," she said. "Even at Top 40 radio it's evident that listeners want real people on the radio."
And on to some reminiscences of the past from Joe McCoy, the "real McCoy" at CBS as David Hinckley writes in the New York Daily News.
McCoy was at WCBS-FM for 23 years, leaving his PD post a month ago, and he backed up the Ross comments above in terms of variety. McCoy said he missed radio the way it used to be, adding, "Radio's changing. Most stations now sound like Anytown, USA. A lot of the excitement is missing."
WCBS, he said, avoided that for many years, saying, "I was fortunate. I started programming 'CBS in 1981 and for 20 years I was pretty much left alone. We didn't get calls from a general manager saying, 'Why are you playing that record?' That's a freedom you don't get very often in radio. We could take chances, and I think the result was that we created a great radio station."
Even then though, the freedom wasn't absolute. McCoy, who started as a DJ, recalled that on his first day he stack of R&B records and headed for the studio but en route his program director stopped him, shook his head and said, 'No, that's not what you're playing. We have a playlist.' "
McCoy adds that he was right, commenting, "Jocks tend to be into music. If it's time for a Temptations record, they might pick 'Girl, Why You Want to Make Me Blue,' because it's a good song you don't hear so often. But most listeners want 'My Girl.' You have to think like a programmer."
What all the above neglected of course was one element of radio that other mediums can't effectively match - traffic news - and in the Washington Post Jennifer Frey notes "Bad Traffic Means Good Ratings for News Radio."
In this case the evidence comes from the latest Arbitrons that show WTOP-AM increasing its share, something that vice president of news and programming Jim Farley attributes not to big stories but rather to big gridlock.
"Our competitors have always said that when we get a great book, that was because of this story or that story, but there's always something," he says. "We took a big spike toward the end of this book for the Reagan funeral. Not because of the news . . . but because everyone in town wanted to know about the traffic."
Now for some recommended listening and again, because of the variety on offer on the listen again portion of its web site to the BBC and to begin with a documentary, Face the Facts, from BBC Radio 4, which investigates safety standards in Athens as the Greeks rush to finish constructing facilities for this year's Olympics.
So far at least 14 men are admitted to have been killed and 180 injured in the construction - the programme estimates the death toll could be as high as 40 - compared to just one death for the Sydney Olympics and two for those in Barcelona
Also well worth a listen from Radio 4 is the latest of the Test Tubes and Tantrums series: The whole series is on the site but this one, looking at the political success of Trofim Denisovitch Lysenko, who had it largely wrong but said what his political master wanted to hear, and Nikolai Ivanovitch Vavilov whose science was better but not his politics - he died in prison - should maybe have some contemporary resonance.
Also on Radio 4 this week in the 08:45 GMT Book of the Week slot are the Diary of King George V, constructed using the late monarch's own diaries, and this evening's Sound of Life at 20:00 GMT, the first of eight in a series that sets out to discover why the natural world sounds the way it does and begins with an attempt to work out when animals began to communicate using sound.
For those of a more musical bent, the Mark Radcliffe Show on BBC Radio 2 at 21:30 GMT on Thursday looks at the Cambridge Folk Festival while BBC Radio 3 continues with the Proms this week .
Back to science cum politics, and we go down under to Australia where the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Ockham's Razor programme last week featured a report on public views on gene technology that's worth a listen as is the previous week's dissertation on the effects of the light bulb by Daniel Grafton who got an MA on the topic at the University of New South Wales.
And for comedy? BBC Radio 4's 1730 GMT slot will again have the Now Show on Friday and has last week's show on the site and then there's Right Said Ted and Myles in which Myles Rudge and Ted Dicks, joined by Beatles' producer George Martin, recall the great era of the British comic song when they co-wrote songs such as Hole in the Ground, Windmill in Old Amsterdam and Right, Said Fred.
Previous Columnists:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation -Ockham's Razor site (Links to audio of shows mentioned):
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - Cuprisin:
New York Daily News - Hinckley:
Toronto Star - Quill:
Washington Post - Frey:
Washington Post - Pegoraro:
2004-07-26: Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan has told the San Antonio Express-News that the company is "poised for greatness" but added, "But the greatness will have to be engineered. It will have to be created. It's not just going to happen.''
He said the company has changed since he took the helm two years ago and comment of the way Clear Channel was built up through acquisitions of more than 20 companies, "The cultures came together and they came together as a collision''
[RNW note -Hogan took over after former Clear Channel Radio CEO Randy Michaels was forced aside - See RNW Jul 24, 2002 - an event that led radio veteran Ron Jacobs to proclaim on on his site that July 26, 2003 was GOOD RIDDANCE RANDY MICHAELS DAY)
Nevertheless said Hogan "We did a lot of things right'' and he claimed that much of the criticism of the company comes from myths and confusion.
Referring to critics who say Clear Channel Radio supports pro-war rallies, homogenizes radio content, axes news staff at stations, uses voice tracking technology, broadcasts indecent material and centrally controls content on its stations, he noted that it only controls a tenth of US stations in the least consolidated US mass medium and said control of stations was in the hands of local managers.
"The culture of Clear Channel in San Antonio is different than Denver or New York,'' said Hogan. "We want our local teams to reflect what's going on in their radio markets.''
Regarding indecency issues - Clear Channel in June agreed to pay a record USD 1.75 million to settle all outstanding complaints against it (See RNW Jun 10)- he said, "We think the whole indecency thing for Clear Channel is behind us. One of the things we've been challenged with is, all of the focus has been on Clear Channel.''
Hogan also distanced himself from Howard Stern's Show, saying many people did not know he was employed by Infinity and had only appeared on six Clear Channel stations, "Howard hasn't changed, but we have. We are not going to put ourselves in the position to defend the indefensible.''
He also said many more changes were planned or in train, referring to its cutting down on advertising load just announced (See RNW Jul 20), plans for large-scale conversion to digital (See RNW Jul 23) and a research and development department in Houston developing new radio formats and Clear Channel University, a training centre with 15 employees.
On one thing he was clear: Even though Clear Channel has a stake in XM, he doesn't see satellite radio as the future although he added that it was never good to take a competitor for granted.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Hogan:
Previous Michaels:
San Antonio Express-News report:
2004-07-26: Veteran British DJ Tony Blackburn today celebrates 40 years in the business on his Breakfast Show on UBC's Classic Gold Digital: Blackburn, who was born in Surrey in 1943, began his career on 28th July 1964 on the offshore pirate station Radio Caroline.
In 1966, he joined another offshore station, Radio London with whom he introduced the first ever soul programme in the UK.
He went "legit" in 1967 when he moved to the then BBC Light Programme in August 1967 and shortly after that was the launch (and breakfast) DJ for BBC Radio 1 on 30th September 1967 - the first song played was The Move's Flowers in the Rain.
He hosted the station's "Breakfast Show" until 1974 when he took over the morning show for several years, followed by work on other shows.
After leaving Radio One in 1984, Blackburn was at BBC Radio London before joining Capital Radio in July 1988 to launch their new Capital Gold station where he presented his soul shows until December 2002.
He moved into his current slot, co-hosting the show with Laura Pitson, in March last year (See RNW Mar 31, 2003).
Previous Blackburn:
Previous UBC:
2004-07-26: Reports earlier this month in the UK Sunday Times that three Irish radio stations were up for sale (See RNW Jul 12) have now been denied by all three stations according to Radiowaves.
It says that following earlier denials by Highland Radio, Shannonside's Chief Executive Paul Devlin has denied that there is any truth in the story, and LMFM's Chief Executive Michael Crawley says that the reports are 'greatly exaggerated'.
Radiowaves also reports that Paul Claffey, Chief Executive of Mid West Radio, has also ruled out any sale of the Mayo-based station and that Scottish Radio Holdings have pulled out of a possible purchase of Galway Bay FM because of the asking price of around Euros 18 million (USD 22 million).
Radiowaves site:
2004-07-25: The most important regulatory news of last week was probably more the passage of a Senate Committee vote that would remove third-adjacent channel restrictions that would potentially mean many more low-power FMs in the US: In terms of actual regulatory decisions, things were fairly quiet.
There was nothing at all on radio from Australia or Ireland but in Canada the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) was involved in a number of actions.
In order of province they included:
Alberta:
Approval of application for change to the authorized contours of CKKX-FM, Peace River's transmitter CJHP-FM High Prairie, by increasing the effective radiated power from 2,000 watts to 2,700 watts and by increasing the antenna height.
The Commission notes that this change reflects the "as-built" technical parameters and that there will be no significant change in the coverage area.
British Columbia:
Call by the CRTC, following receipt of an application for a broadcasting licence to provide a commercial ethnic radio service to serve Vancouver, for applications from other parties who wish to offer such a service.
Call by the CRTC, following receipt of an application for a broadcasting licence to provide a commercial radio service to serve Kamloops, for applications from other parties who wish to offer such a service.
Approval of new transmitter in Kootenay Bay for CJLY-FM, Nelson.
Approval of deadline until December 1 for Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc. to commence operation of new FM in Vancouver.
Manitoba:
Approval of new transmitter in Flin Flon for CINC-FM, Thompson.
New Brunswick:
Approval of new transmitter in Baie-Sainte-Anne for CJSE-FM, Shediac.
Nova Scotia:
Approval of transmitter relocation and increase in antenna height for CFNS-FM, Amherst.
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licences of CFDR-AM and CFRQ-FM, Dartmouth.
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licences of CIOO-FM and CJCH Halifax.
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licence of CIEZ-FM, Halifax.
Ontario:
Approval of application to change the authorized contours of its transmitter CJLF-FM-2 Peterborough by relocating the transmitter and by increasing the antenna height.
Revocation of licence of CFJR-AM, Brockville, which has been replaced by a new FM now in operation.
Approval of increase in antenna height from 22.6 metres to 47.6 metres of CKUN-FM, Christian Island.
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1
September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licences of CKEY-FM Fort Erie and CKEY-FM-1 St. Catharines.
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licences of CJMX-FM, CJRQ-FM and CIGM-AM, Sudbury.
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licence of CHNO-FM, Sudbury.
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licences of CKPR and CJSD-FM Thunder Bay.
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licence of CJLB-FM, Thunder Bay.
Prince Edward Island:
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licences of CFCY-AM and CHLQ-FM, Charlottetown
Administrative renewal, which does not dispose of any substantive issue that may exist, from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2004, of the licence of CHTN-AM, Charlottetown.
Quebec:
Approval of applications to amend the broadcasting licences for CHRD-FM Drummondville and CFEI-FM Saint-Hyacinthe in order to be allowed to broadcast a lower level of Canadian popular music on these "oldies" radio stations.
Approval of power increase from 430 watts to 1,496 watts and increase of the antenna height from 46.5 metres to 61.3 metres of CILE-FM, Havre-St-Pierre.
Approval of power increase from 900 watts to 1,900 watts and decrease of the antenna height from 199.1 metres to 193 metres of CKLX-FM. Montréal.
The UK was fairly quiet but Ofcom has now advertised a new local commercial FM licence for Ashford, in Kent, and the immediately surrounding area.
In the US, as already noted the issue of low-power FMs has come up again. In addition to that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has held a further localism meeting in Monterey, California (See RNW Jul 23) and has also confirmed a number of penalties for technical offences (See RNW Jul 24):
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
2004-07-25: Details published by the Smoking Gun web site of US shock-jock Howard Stern's deal with Clear Channel indicate that if he has similar deals with other affiliates his recent ratings success that many think ahs been spurred by attacks on him could lead to a hefty pay off.
Stern's deal with San Diego station KIOZ-FM paid a basic annual fee for five years starting at USD 850,000 and increasing in USD 25,000 increments to USD 950,000 in the final year. In addition it included bonuses related to ratings that would have given him an additional fees whenever his 12 plus share exceeded 6.0 calculated on the basis of the share minus 6.0 multiplied by the annual fee and divided by six.
Other Clear Channel contracts details published on the site were for USD 2.2 million in Louisville, USD3.35 million in Miami, USD 3.87 million in Orlando, 3.91 million in Pittsburgh and USD1.68 million in Rochester.
The Smoking Gun says that when Clear Channel cancelled Stern in late February, the unexpired terms of the radio deals called for the shock jock to receive future payouts of at least USD 12 million.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Stern:
Smoking Gun story:
2004-07-25: In Britain, UBC Media has reported turnover for its 2004 financial year to the end of March up 29.1% to GBP 13.30 million (USD 24.4 million) producing gross profit up 9.6% to GBP 3.55 million (USD 6.50 million), and an operating profit before goodwill and development expenditure of GBP 405,000 (USD 742,000) more than seven times the GBP 73,000 (USD 134,000) for 2003: After amortization and development expenditure it had an operating loss of GBP 1.02 million (USD 1.87 million), down from GBP 1.53 million (USD 2.80 million) a year earlier.
In divisional terms, UBC's radio production revenues were up 10.7% to GBP 2.18 million (USD 3.99 million); Classic Gold Digital revenues were up 4.2% to 4.69 million (USD 8.59 million); its Facilities and Radio Services revenues were down 7% to GBP 1.18 million (USD 2.16 million) but it noted that its profit margin were higher as it focused on higher margin business; and its commercial division more than doubled revenues from GBP 2.59 million (USD 4.75 million) to GBP 5.24 million (USD 9.60 million), put down to the contribution of the "Traffic & Travel News"
Service that it launched in the final months of the previous financial year in anticipation of a recovery in the advertising market."
Chairman Michael Peacock said he was "am delighted to be able to report another strong performance" during a year in which UBC "maintained the momentum behind its strategy of building a business that delivers organic growth, while positioning it to benefit from the ongoing transition of analogue to digital radio."
Regarding digital radio, he added, "UBC is now firmly established as a strongly positioned player in the digital radio market. I believe this is a particularly exciting stage in the development of the Company. The way in which UBC has responded to the challenges and opportunities of the past year gives me confidence that the next twelve months will see continuing progress. The board is optimistic that prospects for the Company are good."
Chief Executive Simon Cole took up the theme, commenting, "2004 is the year in which digital radio came of age. Our vision for the future of radio, which we spelt out in previous annual reports, has continued to take shape.
He also noted that UBC had announced its intention to take full control of its Oneword Radio national commercial radio station with the purchase at the end of June 2004 of the 50% interest in the station held by its Hong Kong-based partner.
"Securing full control of Oneword Radio is an important step in ensuring the long-term viability of this exclusive, spoken word licence on the national digital multiplex, Digital One," said Cole. "We believe this licence is a key asset in UBC's digital portfolio and will benefit from the management focus which will result from our taking full control."
UBC also said it has started the current year well with results so far meeting expectations and a 78% rise in first-quarter sales at its commercial division thanks to sales of its traffic bulletin service to more stations; it added that the outlook for the remainder of the year is positive.
Previous Cole:
Previous Peacock:
Previous UBC:
2004-07-25: Although the clampdown on "indecency" in English-language broadcasts in the US may be in full spate, Spanish-language radio is still slipping through the net according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel.
It notes examples in which the popular Spanish-language morning radio show, Otro Día, on Casselberry-based Salsa WONQ-AM aired callers imitating sexual acts and ethnic slurs aimed at Mexicans and blacks and a 2002 interview with Puerto Rican salsa singer Michael Stuart on La Buya in which he was pressed to reveal his favourite sexual position: La Buya broadcasts out of Altamonte-Springs on La Nueva Mega (WNUE- FM), airs sexually explicit crank calls and gets its guests to reveal intimate experiences.
The paper says that Hispanic leaders are concerned that their communities are damaged because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fails to regulate such programmes.
Alex Nogales, the president and chief executive of the Los Angeles based National Hispanic Media Coalition told the paper he couldn't understand why the FCC "doesn't have more bilingual investigators to handle the growth of Spanish-language programming."
"These programs do not provide an accurate representation of Hispanics," said Nogales. "These shock jocks are disgusting and they hide behind the language because few of the FCC's investigators speak Spanish."
The paper says the FCC told it that only one of 20 investigators in the agency's obscenity enforcement bureau speaks Spanish and that it sends Spanish-language program complaints to outside firms, which translate the transcripts.
As with English-language broadcasts, fans and station personnel take a softer line: The paper quotes Miguel Restrepo, one fan of La Buya, as saying, "You can always change the station if you don't like what you're hearing. Whatever they say, no matter how obscene or ridiculous, shouldn't be taken seriously."
Josiván Padilla, the host of Otro Día, commented, "Are we profane? Well yes, but this is for people who want to laugh a little about nothing in particular."
La Nueva Mega's programming director, Super Martínez, said he's softened some of La Buya's content because of listeners' complaints.
"I wouldn't consider our program vulgar, but it does contain adult language and topics that we closely monitor," Martínez said.
Previous FCC:
Orlando Sentinel report:
2004-07-25: Montreal-based Astral Media has reported profits for its financial third quarter to the end of March up 21.3 % to CAD 24.5 million (USD 18.5 million- CAD 0.46 per share), including a CAD 1.05 million (USD 794,000) loss from discontinued operations, on revenues up 11% to CAD 139.9 million (USD 105.8 million).
For the first nine months profits were up 22.4% to CAD 61.3-million (USD 46.3 million), on revenues up 10% to CAD 386.4-million (USD 292.1 million).
For the third quarter, advertising revenues were up 19% at Astral's TV station, 10% for radio- that had rec