December 2004 Archive
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- November 2004
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January 2005-
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 December comment - We look back at at Highlights, lowlights, high life, low life, and trends of 2004.
RNW November comment - Looks, as the "buying" season approaches at What we'd like from radio in the future.
RNW October comment - Rethinks our previous timetable for competing media to bite into profitability of US terrestrial radio in light of talent moves to satellite radio and faster than anticipated take-up of broadband.
2004-12-31: And as our last story before the New Year a few predictions:
*Satellite radio to continue to make inroads in the US with a combined five million or so subscribers by the end of 2005: We'd still be cautious about their stock prices though.
*Terrestrial radio in the US. More Spanish-language stations and less of formats such as Oldies and AC formats with country also continuing a slow decline. There'll probably be more formats featuring a wider range of songs and less DJ chat - an attempt to beat the challenge from downloaded MP3s but we can't really see that those who've already moved to getting their own music will really go for someone else's less tailored version albeit it may keep some listeners who were getting tired of some of the other formats.
*UK digital radio receiver sales to hit around 2 million. iBiquity's HD IBOC system to remain marginal in the US unless stations come up with new and better uses for it than merely increasing the technical quality of current formats and receiver prices drop dramatically.
*Internet listening to bound again but become more frustrating as broadband tests streaming capabilities of a number of major broadcasters to the limit: We're already notice problems with a number of sites that used to be comparatively stable.
*More of a backlash developing in the US against the anti-indecency campaigners as more people realise the degree to which a few campaigning organisations are skewing perceptions but to little effect although by the next mid-term elections the situation could change.
2004-12-31: According to details filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arbitron's new three-year deal with Clear Channel just announced (See RNW Dec 28) will cost the latter just above USD 63 million a year in all.
The main service for Clear Channel's radio stations comes in at USD 56.1 million a year with an extra USD 3.3 million a year for Scarborough Services and a further USD 3.7 million for services to Premiere Radio Networks.
Previous Arbitron:
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Premiere Networks:
2004-12-31: Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) and Viacom have now completed their strategic deal under which Viacom's KRZZ-FM, San Francisco, went to SBS in exchange for a Viacom 10% holding in SBS plus warrants that would allow it to take the holding up by around half as much again.
The deal also included a strategic alliance under which CBS Television, Viacom Outdoor and SBS will cross-promote each other.
SBS Chairman, President and CEO Raúl Alarcón said of the deal, "This strategic alliance creates a unique multimedia partnership focused on targeting the U.S. Hispanic population for years to come. Together with Viacom, one of the world's largest media companies, we are positioned to capture the future of this dynamic growth market through a comprehensive platform that includes some of the country's premier radio, television and outdoor properties."
Previous Alarcón:
Previous SBS:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
2004-12-31: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a consultation document - responses have to be made by the end of January 2005 - concerning satellite radio services for the country where at the moment around 40 radio channels can be received from the West beam of WorldSpace's Asiastar satellite: The other radio satellite systems - Sirius and XM in the US and that of MBCo, which covers Japan and Korea, cannot be seen in India.
TRAI notes that although the World Space service can be received, the country has no policy or regulatory framework for satellite radio and says this "gives rise to various issues, such as level playing field between Satellite Radio service and Private FM Radio, regulation of broadcast content, license fee, receiver interoperability requirement in case of a new Satellite Radio service provider etc."
It goes on to say that "there is a need for India to establish clear regulations for satellite radio, which it is hoped will satisfy the problems voiced by the FM Radio industry as well as provide additional impetus to promote the further development of satellite radio in India, in a planned and acceptable way."
World Space only has around 50,000 customers in India and TRAI says, "If the development of satellite radio in India could be expanded so that it reached a large proportion of the population, significant benefits to Indian society and industry could accrue "
In a prescient note in view of the current tsunami tragedy it notes, "India with its large geographical size is well placed to benefit from a satellite radio system unlike smaller countries. The large size of the country makes it very difficult to provide timely advance warning to people living in remote areas for dealing with natural disasters such as cyclones and floods. Its countrywide footprint enables the satellite radio system to provide instantaneous reach to all corners of the country including remote locations, especially the hilly areas. These remote areas may be impossible to cover through terrestrial means."
WorldSpace, it adds, is already in touch with the Government of India regarding a project for fishermen that would, inter alia, bring them reliable, timely, advance weather warnings.
In terms of technology TRAI notes that the Sirius and XM systems are incompatible and that the companies have still not developed equipment that can receive both services.
It notes that since World Space is already in operation there should be consideration for any future policy whether multi-standard receivers, which can be used with several different transmission standards (or are at least compatible with the WorldSpace transmission scheme), should be mandated for potential new satellite radio operators?
Previous Indian radio:
Previous TRAI:
2004-12-30: With a breakdown in normal systems hampering communications in many areas hit by the tsunami that followed Sunday's underwater earthquake off Indonesia, amateur radio operators have been assisting in many areas.
Among those involved was US Amateur Charly Harpole who when the quake struck was on Andaman Island visiting the National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR) VU4RBI/VU4NRO DXpedition in Port Blair. The DXpedition started transmissions from the island at the beginning of December and was scheduled to remain until the end of the month.
Other operations were suspended whilst the team rigged up their transmitter and aided in transmitting messages to ham operators on the Indian mainland to tell them that relatives on Andaman were unhurt.
Other operators on the island, where some normal communications have now been restored, also helped.
On Car Nicobar Island, which was badly hit with some reports saying that up to half the population are unaccounted for and where all buildings at the Indian Air Force Base was washed away according to IAF Chief Air Marshal S Krishnaswamy, one member of the VU4RBI/VU4NRO team established a station that for a while was one of the few means of communicating with the mainland.
Calcutta VHF Amateur Radio Society Assistant Secretary Horey Majumdar said, "The Amateur Radio station from Nicobar is perhaps playing the most vital part in what is turning out to be the world's largest disaster operation."
"Hams from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and even Israel are checking into the VU emergency nets and extending their fullest cooperation in the truest spirit of Amateur Radio."
Musa Suraatmadja, the secretary-general of the Indonesia Amateur Radio Organization (ORARI) responding to an International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) request to assist said, "So far we can still manage. Our ORARI members are amongst the first to go to the stricken areas doing emergency communication, rescue operations and other things."
In Thailand, Tony Waltham, vice president of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand (RAST) said communication needs were being met.
"The situation is now under control, with Thai hams helping to relay information between the affected areas along the west coast in the south to government agencies--mostly on VHF and 40 meters as well as by disseminating news and information over VHF frequencies in Bangkok," he said.
Victor Goonetilleke, president of the Radio Society of Sri Lanka (RSSL), said in an e-mail, "Ham radio played an important part and will continue to do so" adding that even the country's prime minister relied on amateur radio for contacting other countries following communications cuts including satellite phone failures.
"Our control centre was inside the prime minister's official house in his operational room," he said "[This] will show how they valued our services."
Ethnic radio stations have also been aiding people in making contact as in Toronto where the Canadian Tamil Broadcasting Corporation has set up a team of ten reporters in Sri Lanka, scouring temporary shelters for survivors with relatives in Canada.
When they make contact with someone who has relatives in Canada they take details and e-mail them to the station, which puts them on the air.
Station vice-president Thenpulolyoor Krishnalingam told the Toronto Globe and Mail, "Our radio station is the only means for contact. We have reporters all over the Tamil areas."
"Most people lost everything. They have just the clothes on their backs and their names. No list of phone numbers."
As time has passed, reports the Globe, the number of calls to the station about relatives has slowed and the emphasis has switched to relief with more than CAD 200,000 (USD 165,000) raised so far.
Krishnalingam said the Tamil community in Toronto is not wealthy but members were donating money anyway and Shantah Somaskawther, who runs a children's program at the radio station, said children had left the contents of more than 400 piggy banks.
"One child brought $211 in change from his piggy bank and I asked him, 'What purpose were you collecting money for?'", she said. "'My education,'" he answered.
Toronto Globe and Mail report:
US National Association for Amateur Radio report:
2004-12-30: Storms that hit San Diego County overnight on Tuesday knocking out power to more than 50,000 homes and taking down trees also took Jefferson-Pilot 's country format KSON-AM, gospel music and Christian talk KURS-1040-AM and Cable TV Channel 19 (KBNT-LP) off the air.
KURS program director Larry "Preacherman" Thompson told the San Diego Union-Tribune he had no estimate of when the damage would be repaired and the station put back on the air.
The winds snapped off the top 200 feet ( 60 metres) of the tower, which was build in1947 and stands in a storage yard used by the San Diego Police Department to impound vehicles.
Thompson said at least 20 cars were hit by the falling piece of tower and part of the structure is still dangling.
San Diego Union-Tribune report:
2004-12-30: Chicago WLS-AM host Jay Marvin has been dropped by the Disney-ABC station where he was co-hosting the 09:00-11:00 morning show with Eileen Byrne.
Marvin, self -described on his web log as "America's favourite Commie Lib and Outsider Art Trouble Maker" - carries on his blog a brief announcement from WLS President and General Manager John F. Gallagher stating that Marvin is "no longer a member of the WLS on-air staff" and then wishing him the best and added that Byrne "will continue to host the time slot."
Marvin says he has been "getting some very nice e-mail" and then continues, "Thanks to all of you. It means a lot. So now that I don't have a gig what am I going to do? Take a vacation! That's the first thing. Then figure out where Mary and I will land. With her life is always an adventure. I'm just glad to be free."
He expanded on his reaction to Robert Feder in the Chicago Sun-Times, commenting, "They wanted to go one way, and I wanted to go another. There was no place to put me. It was a rough 2-1/2 years on that air shift. I'm glad it's over, and I'm happy to be out from under it. I wish them the best."
Gallagher denied to Feder that the decision had anything to do with politics and said the reason was that the show "hasn't produced what it was designed to achieve" but did not expand on this.
Less happy about his ousting is former ESPN Radio outlet WVMP-AM host Jay Mariotti, who told the Chicago Tribune he had been dropped because the station wants to remain in the good books of the Bulls and White Sox whose contracts with the station are being renegotiated at the moment.
The Sox deal expires after the 2005 season and the Bulls one after the 2005-06 campaign: They cost the station a combined USD 7 million plus per year and are its most important rights agreements.
Mariotti said the station had asked him to tone down criticism of the teams and added, "We agreed that if I wouldn't agree to their editorial conditions, then I should leave."
"I'm not going to compromise my integrity to do favours on the air for the White Sox and the Bulls. When they ask me to treat two teams differently than the others, that's a red flag for me, and it has been happening quite a bit over the last few months."
"I thought it was important that listeners get an even assessment of every team in town . . . I have to call it like I see it."
A spokesman for the teams said they had no prior knowledge of the decision but the paper quotes Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson with whom Mariotti has clashed publicly as saying, "I'm happy for the fans because he's a vicious guy. I said he wouldn't have that [radio] job long and I don't think he'll be a columnist [for the Chicago Sun-Times] much longer. He never lets the truth get in the way of a story. The city will be a lot better off without him."
Previous Disney-ABC:
Previous Feder:
Chicago Sun-Times - Feder:
Chicago Tribune report:
Marvin web site:
2004-12-30: Ireland's Communications Minister has approved a 2% increase to Euros 155 (USD 210) in the cost of the country's TV licence fee that funds state broadcaster RTÉ.
It will take effect on April 1 next year and the minister, Noel Dempsey, said he had approved the increase following an external review that showed the broadcaster had "performed strongly in the programming, financial management and commercial areas."
RTÉ's Director General, Cathal Goan, welcomed the increase, which he said would allow the broadcaster to continue to bring the best of Irish programming to its audience.
As well as its television services, RTÉ broadcasts radio services including national services Radio 1, a wide ranging full service station, pop music and talk Radio 2, and classical music Lyric FM plus Irish language Raidió na Gaeltachta.
RTÉ is financed by a mix of licence fee and advertising and other commercial income. Its 2003 annual report that divides financial information according to Integrated Business Divisions (IBDs) that include radio, TV and news, showed TV expenditure of some Euros 182 million (USD 247 million) compared to Euros 63.5 million (USD 86 million) for radio; of the radio total Euros 29.3 million (USD 40 million) came from the licence fee and the rest from advertising - Euros 32.9 million (USD 45 million) plus Euros 1.2 million (USD 1.6 million) from other commercial income.
Previous Goan:
Previous RTÉ:
2004-12-30: According to Radio and Records it is now official that G.Gordon Liddy's syndicated show will move from Westwood One to Radio America from February 7.
It says the show will remain in the same 10:00-13:00 ET time slot it has occupied for the past 13 years.
So far Liddy's site still lists Westwood One and Westwood One's site still lists Liddy although the host's site does have a notice "Be sure to tune in on January 3rd for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT" that could relate to a move.
Previous Liddy:
Previous Westwood One:
2004-12-29: Speculation is mounting in Scotland that Emap, which holds 27.8% of Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH), is likely to bid for the whole company early in the New Year.
The approval of the Capital-GWR merger (See RNW Dec 23) left the doors open for further consolidation and analysts suggest that Emap could find its position if it delays making a move whilst rivals forge ahead.
Until January 16 Emap would have to pay GBP 9.30 a share, the price at which it bought the stake in January this year from SMG (the former Scottish Media Group - See RNW Jan 17) but the shares are already just above this - GBP 9.315 when we last checked, thus valuing SRH at around GBP 335 million (USD 645 million) - and a significant premium would be expected above this, especially as SRH has indicated that it would fight a bid.
Previous Emap:
Previous SRH:
2004-12-29: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has again been in disciplinary mode over tower and studio offences.
In Georgia it confirmed a USD 10,000 penalty on Cumulus, owner of a towers in Savannah, used by WBMQ-AM, for failure to clean and repaint the antenna structures to maintain good visibility.
An inspection in August 2001 had shown the paint to be badly faded and peeling and a notice of apparent violation was issued and Cumulus then said it was looking for bids to repaint the towers and anticipated the work being completed by the end of the year.
After other correspondence, in February 2002 Cumulus changed its response and said it was to replace the towers by June or July that year but at the end of July 2002 then changed this to saying operations would be moved to another location and the tower then dismantled.
2003 inspections showed the towers still unpainted and a Notice of Apparent Liability was issued.
Cumulus sought a reduction on the basis that its towers could not be repainted because the lead paint on them would cause environmental damage and its attempts to move to another location had also been hampered by environmental concerns.
It said the towers were in a salt water marsh, which has eroded them during the last 50 years and that it had only become aware of the need for repainting after the FCC inspection brought this to its notice.
It also argued that the forfeiture will not provide additional motivation to enable Cumulus to take down the tower and that the Commission is in effect telling it that it should have shut down the station and taken down the towers although this would have caused it to lose its license for being silent for more than a year.
The FCC said in effect that Cumulus had no excuse for not checking the conditions of the towers when it bought them and the station in 1998 and also dismissed arguments that Cumulus has a good history of compliance saying its records shows numerous violations by Cumulus.
It noted that further enforcement action could be taken if there is continued non-compliance and confirmed the USD 10,000 penalty.
In Texas, however, it cut a proposed USD 7,000 penalty on SM Radio, Inc., licensee of KUOL-AM, San Marcos, to USD 5,600 on the basis of a history of compliance.
The penalty was issued for failure to maintain a main studio presence within the station's community of license: SM had not denied the offences but sought reduction on grounds of inability to pay and a history of compliance but the FCC found the documentation provided on the first grounds did not support a reduction, although the past history did.
Previous FCC:
2004-12-28: Arbitron has announced the signing of a new deal with Clear Channel, its largest subscriber, which amounts to more than a fifth of its income.
The deal runs until the Fall 008 survey and as well as radio ratings for Clear Channel's stations includes agreements covering Premiere Radio Networks, KMG Consolidated Radio Sales and Clear Channel Traffic and also contracts for Arbitron-owned Scarborough and other local market consumer information services.
Arbitron president and CEO Steve Morris said they were pleased at the renewal and added, "We look forward to continuing to provide our largest customer with the information services that will help it grow its revenue and manage its radio business."
Previous Arbitron:
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Morris:
2004-12-28: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued forfeitures totalling USD 33,000 in three cases, two of broadcasters and one of a CB licence holder.
The largest penalty went to JMK Communications, Inc., licensee of WPWC-AM, Dumfries, Virginia, for operation at unauthorized power levels and its failure to place in the station's public inspection file the most current ownership report and a list of programs that have provided WPWC's most significant treatment of community issues.
The amount had already been reduced from an initial notice of a USD 22,000 penalty after JMK had queried a penalty relating to Emergency Alert System (EAS) equipment and argued that its set-up was consistent with rules that permit automatic operation of the EAS system by broadcast stations that use remote control.
JMK had also argued for a reduction on the basis that it exceeded its power - its licence specifies daytime 1080-watt levels at night and 540 watts at night - only for a few quarter-hour periods between 18:15 and 18:30 and that this lapse did not justify the level of penalty applied. It also said that although it admitted the latest ownership report was not in the station's public file, the file did contain the previous report, which was identical in substance to the latest report.
The FCC dismissed the arguments and confirmed the USD 14,000 penalty.
Next highest penalty was one of USD 10,000 on Citizen's Band operator Tommie Salter of Jacksonville, Florida, for using his CB radio without authorization. Following complaints of interference, FCC agents had restricted the hours during which his equipment could be used and had then advised him that he could resume normal operation as long as he complied fully with FCC rules. Subsequently after further interference complaints an inspection found that his radio was not certificated by the FFC and he was told that its use was in breach of the Commission's rules
Salter had argued that he did not intend to breach the rules and that he had not read an official notice sent to his residence and signed for by a family member. The FCC rejected the arguments and confirmed the full penalty.
The Commission also confirmed a full penalty of USD 9,000 on Citadel for failure to maintain the required staff and management presence at the main studio of KSYY-FM, Kingfisher, Oklahoma and failure to maintain all of the required material in the station's public inspection file.
Citadel had sought cancellation on the basis that the inspection relating to its public file was carried out in the morning prior to its normal business hours of noon to 9p.m., which it has now changed to 09:00 to 17:00, and also that following the inspection of its file it reviewed the file and found it did then contain the most recent ownership report. The arguments were rejected and a full penalty confirmed.
Previous FCC:
2004-12-28: Both US satellite radio companies say they have exceeded their year-end targets already: XM said it now has more then 3.1 million subscribers and Sirius has passed the million mark.
Both companies had been promoting sales in the holiday period and Sirius particularly noted success for its Sirius Sportster range that offers various sports-related enhancements.
XM highlighted its products for the holiday season that included the Delphi XM2Go MyFi, portable, hand-held receiver and the Delphi XM SKYFi2, which has pause and replay features.
XM President and CEO Hugh Panero said they were very pleased and added, "Holiday shoppers bought XM radios in record numbers, reinforcing XM's significant market leadership position in satellite radio."
For Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin said, "We predicted that we would reach one million subscribers by year-end and we did it. It's now clear that consumers are increasingly recognizing the appeal of our programming, including commercial-free music, plus news, weather, traffic, entertainment and the best sports offering in satellite radio."
The market reacted more positively to Sirius than XM: Its stock, against the background of a slight overall fall, was up 1.89% although it lost around half the gain in after-hours trading, whilst XM dropped by 0.48% during the day but recovered all the loss in after-hours trading to end with no change.
Previous Karmazin:
Previous Panero:
Previous Sirius:
Previous XM:
2004-12-28: US shock jock Howard Stern will be in a new uncharted situation when he returns to the airwaves next year following a break until January 3.
His broadcasts will now be covered by the consent decree Viacom agreed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month (See RNW Nov 27) to settle all ongoing indecency complaints against it with the exception of the Super Bowl half time show breast baring by Janet Jackson.
That decree came into effect last week and included agreement that should a Notice of Apparent Violation (NAV) be issued against any Viacom on-air personality that person would be taken off the air and given remedial training and if a forfeiture order were subsequently issued there would be further disciplinary action that may include dismissal.
The situation has led Stern to threaten to play only music on his show (See RNW Dec 11) and to speculation that it will further spur Sirius to buy out his contract early. Should Stern be dismissed his contract with Viacom would allow them to avoid paying him until his contract ends in January 2006.
RNW comment: The cynic in us would estimate that were Stern to break the rules just enough to get an NAV but not enough to attract a massive fine, he would be in a position to move early to Sirius in a blaze of publicity. Should a deal between Viacom and Sirius have been agreed, even if not announced, at this stage then all parties would benefit. The FCC would of course find its action ineffective - and if the offence were calculated to be a mild one would not be in a position to hand out fines that would make the deal financially unattractive without looking vindictive. We look forward to January to see what actually happens.
Previous Sirius:
Previous Stern:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
2004-12-27: In a week curtailed by holidays, print comment on radio has been somewhat limited beyond comment on particular local programming that in most cases has already faded in the ether so we have limited ourselves to two articles commenting on the regulators. However to make up for this, thanks to on-demand services, there is some extremely worthwhile listening now around for a while (See our recommendations below).
First, however, Stephen Labaton in the New York Times on the major US broadcast-related story of the year but with a slightly different angle: In "Indecency on the Air, Evolution Atop the F.C.C., Labaton starts off by noting that before he became FCC chairman, Michael Powell said "it was time to eliminate the double standard that allowed the government to subject broadcasters, unlike their competitors in cable and satellite television, to indecency and other speech regulations."
Powell he notes…" received a Freedom of Speech Award for advancing what broadcasters and civil liberties groups viewed as a courageously principled position. Now, he is being harshly criticized for significantly expanding the indecency rules."
The Media Institute, which gave Powell that award, now says that under him the commission has chilled speech in violation of the First Amendment.
Labaton quotes Bruce W. Sanford, a First Amendment expert and media lawyer at Baker & Hostetler in Washington as saying, "Chairman Powell has travelled from an enlightened position of First Amendment values for a regulatory agency that dances around the edges of content regulation quite commonly. During the course of his tenure, he's done this swing in line with popular and political sentiments to a different place, which is more restrictive."
Labaton also notes that Powell and his aides say he has been consistent and has an obligation to enforce indecency rules that enjoy broad bipartisan support, adding that if anything has it is that radio and television broadcasters have pushed the boundaries of the law in what Powell has called "the relentless race for ratings," and in the process offended large segments of the country.
Labaton himself posits an analysis that suggests an evolution of Powell's views from "unbridled libertarian who championed the abolition of restrictions and expressed little confidence in the government's ability to oversee the media" to "an aggressive enforcer who has expanded restrictions on broadcasters."
Powell's shift, writes Labaton, became apparent nearly a year ago, after the House and Senate adopted resolutions critical of an F.C.C. staff conclusion that Bono, the lead singer of U2, did not violate any indecency regulations by uttering an expletive after winning a Golden Globe Award [RNW note: Under the guidelines as then issued by the FCC, Bono clearly did not breach the rules unless the meanings of words are rewritten and we have already commented adversely on the FCC's decision to over-rule staff and hold that there was a breach.]
The article suggests the change was more political than principled and says Commission officials and friends of the chairman, along with industry lawyers, say Powell concluded that he could not carry on his fight against the indecency rules and also survive politically to carry out the rest of his agenda.
Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, that has opposed Powell in both indecency proceedings and the commission's efforts to relax media ownership rules, said, "Michael Powell was forced to have to make a political compromise against his will and his own better judgment. He made political judgments that they would have to come down tougher to save other issues on his agenda." [RNW comment: or could it be said, when it's a matter or morality or business, it's business that generally wins in the US?].
Broadcasters, writes Labaton, are hoping the courts will eventually rule against the FCC and he quotes, Kurt A. Wimmer, a lawyer at Covington & Burling in Washington, which represents a number of broadcasters in disputes with the commission, as saying, "We'll eventually have a court correct all this. But the amount of damage between now and when a court rules is significant."
In the UK, media regulator Ofcom completes its first year of operations, in which it has been involved in 130 consultation, 22 of which are still in progress, on Wednesday and in the UK Guardian received a measured positive appraisal from Owen Gibson.
In his first paragraph he comments, "…to say it has hit the ground running would be an understatement. Broadcasters have been buried under an avalanche of paperwork as consultation after consultation has hit their desks."
"The contrast with the five disparate regulators it replaced - the Independent Television Commission, Oftel, the Radio Authority, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Broadcasting Standards Commission - could not be clearer. As it is not shy to point out, it is culturally a million miles from the modus operandi of the former broadcasting regulators. The cut-glass crystal and bone china have long been packed away, replaced by plastic cups and shrink-wrapped sandwiches. Opaque resolutions passed by the great and the good in smoke-filled rooms are out. The new regulator has instead worked hard to convey an image of swift, transparent decision-making."
Gibson says Ofcom chief executive Stephen Carter puts part of Ofcom's first year rush down to getting a new body up and running and part to playing catch-up with the lack of forward-looking plans from predecessor bodies who knew they were to be closed down.
The report quotes Labour MP Chris Bryant, a member of the Commons media select committee, as saying, "They've made some enemies and that must mean they're doing some of the right things. The industries they're overseeing - telecoms, broadcasting - are prone to monopoly for a wide variety of reasons. Consequently, some of the problem historically is that people have found it very difficult to tackle those monopolies. So far, they seem to be on their mettle."
Gibson gives Ofcom high marks for its work on the transition to digital broadcasting, lower ones in its work concerning public service broadcasting and, largely in relation to the latter, quotes another Labour MP, chairman Sir Gerald Kaufman, as saying, "It [Ofcom] has a job and a remit and it seems to be looking around for other things to do that it isn't required to do. I think it should do better the job it was appointed to do and not get its fingers into all sorts of other pies."
Carter commented of the first year that it is too early to judge definitively, saying, "I'll make my judgment at the end of next year."
Gibson sums up by noting that by then the organization it will have delivered its public-service broadcasting recommendations, had a significant influence on BBC charter renewal and decided whether to break up BT, says it so far has not to make any really controversial decisions, and concludes, "And others wonder if, having tackled the BBC and BT, it will dare turn its attention to the industry's other 800lb gorilla - BskyB. With all that, and much more, in Ofcom's in tray, there'll barely be time to pause for breath after blowing out the candles."
And now for suggested listening, starting with various suggestions that look back: First for those who didn't catch it earlier in the year is BBC Radio 4 and Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, the 2004 version that combined the Richard Burton First Voice broadcast from 1963 with a modern all-Welsh cast [RNW note: In an action that has its echoes in the US today, the name Llareggub was changed to Llaregyb by censors when the poem was first published in 1954 and we wonder how a community including bigamists, paedophiles, necrophiles and nymphomaniacs would fare with the FCC today].
Under Milk Wood aired on Christmas Eve so is around until Friday as also is Dylan and John, a charting of the relationship between the poet and John Arlott, best known as a cricket commentator but also a one time poetry producer for the BBC World Service's Eastern Service (A post he obtained with the aid of John Betjeman who had seen Arlott's poetic works whilst the latter was with the Hampshire police). Both are worth listening to if only for the voices of Arlott and Burton - we'd suggest for much more as well.
Also available from Radio 4 is Remembering Alistair Cooke, a tribute to the late broadcaster that was aired on Christmas Day (The Radio 4 web site still has a Cooke page linking to a number of broadcasts and transcripts of his Letters from America, although not all the audio links in them were functioning when we last checked).
Then from BBC Radio 1 is the Keeping It Peel mini site with tributes to the late John Peel including the live tribute paid to him by the station (Broken up into three segments).
Looking even further back, the final in the Unearthing Mysteries on BBC Radio 4 at 11:00 tomorrow Aubrey Manning goes to Cahokia in Illinois, the site of the biggest earthen structure in North America.
Looking ahead this week's book of the week on BBC Radio 4 features Martin Jarvis reading five seasonal stories from the Just William books by Richmal Crompton and the Afternoon Reading features Alan Bennett reading Peter And Wendy, the prose version of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (09:45GMT and 15:30 GMT respectively today until Friday).
Also on Radio 4 daily at 15:45 GMT is Orwell's Babies in which people born in 1984 share their experience of life so far and talk about their hopes for themselves and their world.
Moving to material of North American interest BBC Radio 4 on Thursday at 10:15 has an edition of Front Row about anti George Bush movies, documentaries, novels, plays and jokes and at 20:00 GMT in It's My Story Commander Luc Pellerier and his fellow submariners tell of events on the fire damaged Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi that was bought by Canada from the Royal Navy but didn't exactly last well.
We end with a few seasonal and round-up recommendations starting with the Christmas Day US National Public Radio show, Waitwait, a look back at highlights of the show since 1999 that is well worth 45 mins or alternatively dipping and out of thanks to the benefits of digital technology that means you can go back to it part way through.
Then also from NPR and the Christmas Day Weekend Edition try the report on An English Dictionary, in Limerick Form, an attempt in the form of the Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form, to re-formulate the Oxford English Dictionary.
From BBC Radio 4 there is the Now Show Christmas Special from Christmas Eve, Simon Fanshawe Gets to the Bottom of Christmas from Christmas Day and from today (09:00 GMT) Start the Week Christmas Special looking forward to 2005, also on Radio 4, as is the Best of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue at 18:30 GMT tonight.
From BBC Radio 2 at 17:00 GMT 17:00 A Beatles' Christmas that looks at part of the Beatles legacy and focuses on the traditional Christmas records which were sent out exclusively to Beatles fan club members from 1963-1969.
Finally, until next year (in the Gregorian Calendar) don't overdo Druidic customs under the mistletoe, have happy Hanukah, a Joyeux Noël (apart from the Copts and Orthodox who can wait a while), a merry Mithra, a super Saturnalia, or worship the oak as you choose.
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Previous Schwartzman:
New York Times - Labaton:
UK Guardian - Gibson:
2004-12-27: BBC Radio Devon, which managed to rope in a number of star names for an interactive radio drama broadcast in connection with a station charity appeal to raise money to build a state-of-the-art unit for the detection and treatment of prostate cancer. (See RNW Nov 20) has now passed its GBP 1 million (USD 1.9 million target).
The Chestnut appeal reached the target, originally set with a time-scale of five years, just before Christmas, two years after its launch. It is still open for further donations and morning show host Judi Spiers commented of the success, "The money has been flooding in constantly over the two years with people sending in pound coins as well as cheques of up to GBP 3,000 (USD 5750) ... I almost burst into tears last week when I received cheques and donations of over GBP 7,000 (USD 13,450) just in one day."
"The lovely thing about this campaign is that men are finally talking about their bits and getting them tested. Wives are thanking me as men are now communicating and lives are being saved as a result."
Previous BBC:
BBC Radio Devon web site:
2004-12-26: The main regulatory headline last week was another proposed large indecency fine in the US, of USD 220,000 against Entercom: Elsewhere matters were fairly routine.
In Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) made only two radio announcements: one was a revision of FM plans in Launceston, Tasmania, where it now plans to convert from AM to FM both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation local service and commercial services 7LA and 7EX.
It also decided not to add a new community licence for Launceston, rejecting a request from aspirant community radio broadcaster, World Music Radio (WMR), but will review the situation in two years: In addition to the services to be converted to FM, Launceston also has two wide coverage community radio services (General and ethnic service 7LTN-FM and Launceston Christian Broadcasters' 7WAY-FM plus a community radio service for print handicapped emanating from Hobart and local coverage community services in Northern Midlands and George Town.
The second announcement was of proposed options regarding the variation of the technical operating conditions of the existing 4RBL-FM and 4BRZ FM commercial radio services at Mount Tamborine, relating to which comment has to be submitted by January 28 next year.
Rebel FM says it needs improved coverage from Mount Tamborine to give it parity with other services operating from the site: The ABA is also proposing to make FM capacity available for it at Barrington and Coomba Park/Stroud, areas identified as radio black spots for the purpose of the Commercial Radio Blackspots Program, and also in the Coomba Park/Stroud area for Rebel FM's second commercial radio service, 4BRZ-FM
In Canada the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) was involved in rather more decisions, including (in order of province):
Alberta:
*Approval of application to change contours of new Urban FM approved for Edmonton by decreasing the antenna height and relocating the transmitter.
*Approval of Newcap's CAD 12.55 million (USD 10.23 million) acquisition of CILR-FM, CKSA-FM, CITL-TV, and CKSA-TV, Lloydminster, from Sask-Alta Broadcasters Limited.
Alberta and British Columbia:
*Approval of corporate re-organization involving Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. and various radio and TV undertakings currently licensed to corporate entities owned by James A. Pattison
Ultimate control will not be affected by the changes that will result in Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. having a 99.99% interest and Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. an 0.01% interest in a limited partnership, which will carry on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jim Pattison Industries Ltd., which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jim Pattison Ltd.
British Columbia:
*Approval of new 410 watts FM transmitter to broadcast the signal of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's national English-language network service, Radio Two, to Moberly and Blaeberry.
Newfoundland and Labrador:
*Approval of a 50 watts English-language FM Type B community radio programming undertaking in Burnt Islands.
Ontario:
Approval of extension until August 31, 2005, of deadline for start of operations of transitional digital radio undertakings associated with CFGO-AM Ottawa; and CJMJ-FM, Ottawa; CKQB-FM Ottawa; CKKL-FM Ottawa;
*Administrative renewal until March 31 2005 of licence for the English-language radio network for the purpose of broadcasting the baseball games of the Toronto Blue Jays originating from CJCL Toronto: The commission says it cannot rule on the renewal of the licence before the current licence expires.
Quebec:
*Approval of second extension, this time until August 31. 2005, of time limit to start operations of transitional digital radio undertaking associated with CFGL-FM.
The CRTC also announced a public hearing to be held in Vancouver on February 28 next year to consider various applications including:
Alberta:
Application to change contours of CJRY-FM, Edmonton, related to transmitter relocation and antenna height increase.
Across Canada:
*Application for licence to operate a French-language radio network to broadcast the program "Programme de star" that would air from 10:00 to noon on Sundays on the Astral radio network Radio Rock Détente.
British Columbia:
*Application for licence for 600 watts English-language "pop adult" music format FM commercial FM in Gibsons.
*Application for 5,000 watts 5,000 watts country music format English-language commercial FM in Kamloops.
*Application for licence for 5,000 watts predominantly newer country music English-language commercial FM in Kamloops.
*Application for a licence for a 5,000 watts new country music format English-language commercial FM in Kamloops.
*Application for licence for 1,860 watts English-language broad range music format commercial FM in Kamloops
*Application for licence for new 1.6 watts English-language community developmental FM in Nakusp.
*Application to convert CJAV-AM, Port Alberni, to a 6,000 watts broad-based music format FM.
*Two applications for licences to operate a 25,000 watts commercial ethnic AM in Vancouver
*Four applications for licences for commercial ethnic FM station in Vancouver with powers ranging from an average 1,780 watts to 4,100 watts
*Two applications for a licence for a new "Modern Global" youth-oriented music format 1,780 watts commercial FM in Vancouver.
*Application for licence for 50-watts commercial low power specialty ethnic FM in Vancouver.
Ontario:
*Application for licence for 700 watts soft adult contemporary/easy listening format English-language commercial FM radio programming undertaking at Perth.
Quebec:
*Approval of application by Cogeco Diffusion inc. to acquire assets of CFGE-FM Sherbrooke and its transmitter CFGE-FM-1 Magog, and CJEB-FM Trois-Rivières from Cogeco Radio-Télévision inc., as part of a corporate restructuring.
Saskatchewan:
*Application for licence for English-language low power tourist radio FM in Perdue.
In relation to a previously announced public hearing in Gatineau, Quebec, on January 10, the CRTC announced that because issues raised require a market analysis it is removing from the agenda an application to convert CHUC-AM, Cobourg, to FM, and will reschedule this for a later hearing.
In Ireland, there were no radio licence decisions but the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has issued details of its sixth New Adventures in Broadcasting scheme to promote the development of new, programming in Ireland's independent sector (See below).
In the UK, Ofcom, which has now been in operation for a year, had a fairly quiet week although in approving the Capital-GWR merger it added conditions to some licences held by the group (See RNW Dec 23).
Ofcom also published guidance on its spectrum trading plans: it is to implement its spectrum liberalization under which licence holders can request a variation to certain licence conditions at the beginning of 2005.
In the US the main decision from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was to impose another large indecency fine, this time of USD 220,00 on Entercom (See RNW Dec 23).
It also confirmed penalties of USD 18,000 and USD 5,000 penalty on an Iowa FM (See RNW Dec 24) and proposed a USD 8,000 fine, twice the standard amount for the offence, on Clear Channel's chart/pop WKQI-FM, Detroit, for airing a phone conversation without giving notice of its intention to do so to the other party involved (See RNW Dec 22).
On other matters it has asked the US Supreme Court for yet another extension of its deadline to mount a challenge to the Third Circuit Court's ruling that it has to re-examine its ownership regulations proposed in its proposed new rules issued in June 2003 (See RNW Dec 21).
Previous ABA:
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2004-12-26: Indian state broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) has increased its revenues in 2003-04 whilst those of its TV counterpart Doordarshan (DD) fell.
AIR revenues were up 14.7% to INR 117 crore (USD 26.8 million - 1 crore is 10 million) whilst those of DD were down 4.2% to INR 530 crore (USD 121.3 million).
Much of the comparative change has been put down to a response by AIR to a changing market that led it to cut sponsorship rates for its main channel by 40% whilst increasing spot rates on all channels by 10% whilst DD held its rates unchanged.
Previous AIR:
Previous Indian Radio:
2004-12-26: The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has announced details of its sixth New Adventures in Broadcasting scheme to promote the development of new, innovative and sustainable programming within the independent sector
In all Euros 120,000 (USD 162,000) will be made available for programme production under the scheme, which is divided into three strands - one for one-off programming, two for programming in a station's regular schedule and a third for the development of Irish language programming.
The first focuses on once-off programming which is innovative in the context of the station or which uses the funding creatively to improve the programme making capacity of the station; the second specifically targets a station's regular programme schedule with an emphasis is on sustainability and production of material that will have a long term place within the schedule; and the third strand aims to promote Irish language programming which is creative and innovative or may be used creatively to improve the Irish language programme-making capacity of the station.
This year the New Adventures scheme will be divided into two operational phases, the first of which will concentrate on grant application and awarding of funding with a maximum grant of Euros 7,500 (USD 10,000) per programme. Participating stations are expected to commit additional resources towards the programme, and have to apply for funding by the end of January 2005.
Stations that receive funding have to broadcast the resulting programme before August 19 next year.
The second phase of the scheme involves a competition and award process, open to all programmes that have received funding, although submission is not mandatory. To participate stations have to submit a thirty minute piece which is representative of the programme made by the end of August next year.
Previous BCI:
2004-12-25: Ulster TV (UTV) has agreed an anticipated (See RNW Sep 27) Euros 9.5 million (USD 12.9 million) deal to buy LMFM Radio, which broadcasts from Drogheda to the Louth/Meath area of the Irish Republic.
The deal already has approval in principle from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), which last year renewed the station's licence for a further ten years but still has to gain approval by the Irish Republic's Competition Authority.
UTV already owns stations in Cork, Dublin and Limerick and the addition of LMFM will give it an edge in offering country-wide advertising: UTV chief executive said of the purchase in a news release, "We are absolutely delighted to announce our acquisition of LMFM. This is an important strategic move for UTV, which together with our acquisitions of 96&103FM in Cork, Live95FM in Limerick and Q102 in Dublin, further strengthens our multi-media offering throughout Ireland. We look forward to working with the management team of LMFM to build upon the successful radio service they have established in the Meath/Louth region."
LMFM is the top-rated station in its area with a 27% share in the year to the end of June: Its signal covers an immediately to the north of Dublin with a population of 250,000 and in the year to August 31 had revenues of Euros 2.1 million (USD 2.8 million) and made an operating profit of Euros 500,000 (USD 677,000).
Previous UTV:
2004-12-25: Cumulus's switch this week of hip-hop WNPL-FM (Blazin 106.7), Nashville, to sports format Sports Radio 106.7 The Fan could be overloading the market with sport according to the Tennessean which heads a report on the change, "Can 2 1/2 sports talk radio stations survive in Nashville?"
The change could also mean problems for ESPN-AM 560, also a 24-hour sports station and currently an ESPN affiliate, since the paper quotes Cumulus General Manager Michael Dickey as saying his station, which is also is an affiliate of the Sporting News Radio Network, would become Nashville's only affiliate for ESPN by March 27.
ESPN-AM 560 Station Manager Jeff Kolb said he has not been told that ESPN plans to end its affiliation with his station and told the paper, ''I can't comment on hearsay… As far as we understand, we have a contract in good standing with ESPN and that's it.''
Regarding extra competition, Kolb said, "Obviously, there are those out there who have seen what we're doing is successful and now they're doing it. We're fine, we'll keep moving on with what we're doing."
The paper notes that Blazin 106.7 had high ratings when it launched but had slipped to 18th in the market in the most recent ratings and quotes Dickey, whose company already owns sports and-talk WTN-FM as saying they were "big believers in sports."
Cumulus is to broadcast an extra hour of its WTN Sports Night show on the new station, starting it at 15:00 on 106.7 and then simulcasting it on both stations from 16:00 to 19:00: WTN opts in after the Dave Ramsey show.
The paper quotes Sports Night host Blake Fulton as saying the move will help the show compete with the current 1500-19:00 Sports Zone show on Citadel's talk and sport WGFX-FM (The Zone). It notes that Fulton's show has slipped in the ratings against the Citadel show, which features former SportsNight host George Plaster.
Dickey told the paper Cumulus is likely to add other local programming to the new format, commenting, ''We're looking at all local personalities - Rudy[WSMV-4 sportscaster Rudy Kalis], [former WTN Sports Insiders co-host] Bill King, you name it, we're looking at them… We wanted to launch the new station and get it on before Christmas. Then we're going to build it up. We're not just throwing shows on for the sake of throwing shows on. We'll build it up and have the right people for the right shows as time goes on.''
Previous Cumulus:
Tennessean report:
2004-12-25: Scottish broadcaster Lesley Riddoch's two-hour lunchtime show on BBC Radio Scotland has now ended its run after an acrimonious period over a bid by the host to have it produced by her own production company (See RNW Nov 12).
She will return with a new show, whose title has yet to be announced, in April but this will only run for half the time. It will be produced by Feisty, a new company she is setting up as a joint venture with Turan Ali, the former BBC producer who set up Dundee-based production company Bona Broadcasting four years ago.
The new show will form the core of production that Feisty hopes will be a "whole raft" of radio and TV production and the company has already received its first commission, documentary about heckling in Scottish comedy clubs for Radio Scotland.
Riddoch's new show will be broadcast from a custom-built studio in Dundee, reducing her commuting time to around 20-minutes from her Fife farmhouse home instead of around three hours to and from Glasgow.
Riddoch told the Scotsman her new show will come from "a Village People" of new talent and she says it will experiment with a novel style of presentation in which all the staff, producers and researchers will be on air.
"We will be recruiting people that want to broadcast. I will not be the only person who will be on air," she said. "This company will find the next generation of broadcasters for Scotland or I will eat my hat. The people we will hire will be a type of 'Village People'. We are not looking for a whole bunch of Glasgow University graduates ... we are looking for a bunch of people that will keep us on our toes."
Previous BBC:
Previous Riddoch:
Scotsman report:
2004-12-24: In contrast to large rises for most of UK Capital Radio top executives announced earlier this week (See RNW Dec 22) most of Chrysalis Group's directors took home considerably less in the 2004 financial year according to the company's annual report which has just been published but the head of its radio division saw payment of a long-term incentive take his overall pay was up more than fourfold.
Chairman Chris Wright's total, which included no bonus compared to a GBP 50,000 (USD 90,000) bonus a year earlier, saw his pay fall 8.7% to GBP 316,000 (USD 583,000). Wright holds a 26% stake in Chrysalis.
Chief executive Richard Huntingford who also had no bonus this year compared to one of GBP 163,000 (USD 202,000) a year ago, ended up with GBP 395,000 (USD 708,000), down 22.2% on a year earlier.
Radio division chief executive Phil Riley saw his pay drop 19.5% to GBP 342,00 (USD 603,000) from GBP 425,000 (USD 762,000) as his bonus fell 59.5% to GBP 68,000 (USD 122,000) but had the consolation of payment of a long-term incentive of GBP 1.162 million (USD 2.08 million) that had accrued over the past eight-and-a-half years.
Chrysalis says he has put some of this into shares in the company, more than tripling stake from 154,000 shares to 520,000 shares, currently worth GBP 950,000 (USD 1.7 million).
Peter Lassman, who runs the music and books distribution business Lasgo Chrysalis, saw his total boosted by a bonus of GBP 122,000 (USD 218,000) - up 24.5% taking the grand total u- 8.7% to GBP 386,000 (USD 689,000).
The remaining executive director, finance director Nigel Butterfield received no bonus this year, compared to GBP 100.000 (USD 178,000) a year ago, leading to an overall fall of 24.6% to GBP 300,000 (USD 535,000).
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous Huntingford:
Previous Riley:
Previous Wright:
2004-12-24: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has confirmed a USD 18,000 penalty on a Florida AM for failure to maintain operational Emergency Alert System ("EAS") equipment, and failure to make available the required public file documents during regular business hours and has also confirmed a USD 5,000 penalty on an Iowa FM licensee for failure to make available a complete public inspection file during normal business hours.
The USD 18,000 penalty goes to Rama Communications, licensee of WLAA-AM, Winter Garden. Rama had not denied the offences but had argued for a reduction or cancellation on the basis that the violations were technical in nature and did not warrant such a large penalty. Regarding the EAS equipment, it said that a move had caused problems with EAS equipment on WLAA nut not on collocated and co-owned WOKB-AM that shares the equipment. The FCC was not impressed and confirmed the full penalty.
The USD 5,000 penalty goes to Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, licensee of KMDY-FM, Keokuk, Iowa. Moody had not denied the offences for which the penalty is half the base amount of USD 10,000 but sought further reduction on the basis that the problem concerning the documents was not that they weren't in the file but that the station manager for some unaccountable reason was unable to find them, that the public inspection file has now been re-organized and is complete and that it has a history of compliance.
The FCC dismissed the arguments and noted the previous issue of five Notices of Apparent Violation to Moody that were ultimately resolved in its favour but only after Moody took corrective actions. As such, it said there was not a history of compliance.
Previous FCC:
2004-12-24: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has named Paul Bevan to replace Clive Robertson as its Classic FM breakfast host.
Robertson hosted his last show on December 10 (See RNW Dec 13) and Bevan takes over on January 24.
He moves from hosting mornings on 1233 ABC Newcastle where his place will be taken by Scott Levi. Bevan is a classically trained singer who has for two decades had combined working for the ABC with singing on a semi-professional basis and he said he was "thrilled to be waking up the nation with Australia's biggest classical music breakfast show."
The change is one of a number of moves at the corporation that next year will include Mark Thompson's replacement as the breakfast host on Radio National with current Europe correspondent Fran Kelly.
Thompson has worked on and off for ABC radio for nearly two decades including a six year spell hosting its current affairs programme AM until 1994 when he joined Radio National as host of both its breakfast and AM shows. He has hosted the Radio National Breakfast show for eight of the last eleven years but opted to resign when the Corporation would not meet his requests for more flexible working.
ABC's Triple J is also changing its breakfast team next month when Jay and The Doctor move from their Saturday Afternoon show to take over from Adam Spencer and Wil Anderson on January 17.
The Corporation has already changed its NewsRadio breakfast host: There John Barron took over from Russell Powell, who moved to Drive Time after ten years in the breakfast slot. He is also responsible for NewsRadio's website.
Previous ABC Australia:
2004-12-24: Houston sports host Charlie Pallilo has won his latest court battle against Infinity to stay on air at Clear Channel's newly launched Houston sports station KBME-AM (See RNW Dec 18).
State District Judge Randy Wilson refused for a third time to grant a temporary injunction requiring Pallilo to abide by a six-month "non-compete" clause in his Infinity contract.
Martin Wickliff, representing Infinity, had argued that a non-compete clause remained in place even after Pallilo's two-year contract with Infinity's KILT-AM expired in September.
Pallilo told the Houston Chronicle, "It's a fair ruling, and I'm happy with the outcome" but Infinity's Houston general manager Laura Morris said they had lost "on a technicality and not on the validity of a non-compete."
Wickliff added that Infinity would consider an appeal to the 1st or 14th Court of Appeals in Houston.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Houston Chronicle report:
2004-12-23: After Clear Channel and Infinity, Entercom is now facing maximum indecency penalties from the Federal Communications Commission, which is proposing a penalty of USD 220,000 on two of its Kansas stations.
The penalty is made up of the maximums USD 27,500 for each of four broadcasts on the "Dare and Murphy Show" transmitted by KQRC-FM, Leavenworth and KFH-AM, Wichita.
The broadcasts were aired in April and May 2002 and resulted in an anonymous complaint supplied with audio tapes: Entercom in response to FCC enquiries said it did not have its own recordings but argued that even if the material was broadcast as alleged it was not indecent under FCC rules since the first broadcast complained about does not depict or describe sexual or excretory activities or organs; the second and third are not patently offensive since both segments are either open to harmless, non-sexual interpretations or are presented in a non-explicit, non-indecent manner; and the fourth is presented in an oblique manner that lacks an unmistakable sexual meaning.
The FCC, which released transcripts of the segments, disagreed in all four cases: It said the first broadcast termed "Naked Twister" that featured local strippers as contestants dwelt on descriptions of female genitalia and breasts in an explicit and graphic manner and included references to sexual activities and sexual arousal.
The second segment, which featured an interview with "pornographic film actor Dave Cummings," said the FCC, "dwells on descriptions of sexual activities, including anal intercourse, in an extremely explicit and graphic manner" including one female having intercourse with one actor whilst performing fellatio on another. It commented that the sexual references were "not made as part of a clinical discussion, but rather as a promotion for Dave Cummings' movies."
The third segment involved another porn" actor", Ron Jeremy, talking about "sexual activities and organs in an explicit and graphic manner" including his ability to "self-fellate" and also about the films of another porn actor Rocko Vincente.
On this the FCC said Entercom's "argument that the segment does not have an inescapable sexual meaning, or is not indecent based on precedent, is patently unpersuasive… much of the discussion graphically describes sexual activities, such as the interviewer's comment that the porn star's sexual organ was so large that he could "self-fellate." "Given the explicitness of the conversation, Entercom's argument that the segment did not have an inescapable sexual meaning is disingenuous, to say the least. Finally, the discussion is in no way clinical, but is lewd, and we conclude that the stations aired the material to titillate, shock, and pander to the audience."
Regarding the fourth segment, it said the material, "a broadcast of a pornographic film actress being masturbated to orgasm on-air with a vibrator, dwells on descriptions of sexual activities in an extremely explicit and graphic manner… While the broadcast does not use specific terms for the sexual organs involved, the specific activity depicted is obvious, and the surrounding commentary leaves little to the listener's imagination."
The FCC also gave short shrift to Entercom's argument that the popularity of the station meant it did not breach 2contemporary standards, pointing out that the primary purpose of the regulation was to protect children and noting that the criterion related to the "average broadcast listener" not that of listeners to a particular station or in a particular market.
Separate statements concurring with the decision but saying that the station could have found multiple violations and assessed a larger fine were issued by Democrat Commissioner Michael J. Copps and Republican Commissioner Kevin J. Martin.
Previous Entercom:
Previous Copps:
Previous FCC:
Previous Martin:
FCC News release re proposed fine: (MS Word document).
2004-12-23: UK Authorities have waved through the Capital-GWR merger, opting to accept undertakings, primarily the sale of a Capital station in Nottingham, to allay competition concerns rather than refer the matter to the Competition Commission.
In a statement, Vincent Smith, the Director of Competition Enforcement at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), said, 'Except in the East Midlands, the radio stations of Capital and GWR do not strongly overlap at a local level. So for national advertisers putting together a radio advertising package they are largely complementary rather than competing alternatives."
"However, the merger would result in a substantial lessening of competition in the East Midlands. The parties have offered to divest Century 106 FM to address the identified adverse competition effects."
In the East Midlands, Century's coverage area overlaps that of with GWR stations Ram in Derby, Trent in Nottingham, and Leicester Sound.
Media regulator Ofcom is also adding conditions to a number of licences held by the new company.
In Bristol and Bath, where GWR FM in Bristol and Bath FM currently provides separate weekday breakfast services for each area, a condition will be added to the licences saying these must continue.
A similar condition will be written into the licences of MFM/Buzz Wrexham and Chester FM, which also currently have separate breakfast services.
The decision was welcomed by both companies in a joint statement and GWR Executive Chairman Ralph Bernard said, "When we announced our merger we set out the benefits for listeners, advertisers and shareholders. This is a merger of two complementary businesses that will strengthen the UK radio industry and we are very pleased that OFT and Ofcom are satisfied that it can proceed."
Backing him up Capital Radio Chief Executive David Mansfield said, "We are delighted with this decision, which follows a constructive dialogue with the OFT and Ofcom. This is good for listeners and for the radio industry. We look forward to working with our new colleagues at GWR to effectively integrate our businesses and create a commercial radio champion for the digital age."
The deal surprised many analysts who had been expecting a referral to the Competition Commission with consequent delays of up to a year: They now expect the pace of radio consolidation in the UK to speed up.
The approval of the deal means that anticipated savings of some GBP 7.5 million a year for the merged group will start coming into effect earlier than had been expected.
On the stock market Capital shares ended the day up 5.88% at GBP 4.32 and GWR ended up 4.96% at GBP2.54 but overall radio stocks remained static and those of Emap, seen as the group most likely to move first in further consolidation fell 1.28% to GBP8.07 and those its anticipated target Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) remained static at GBP 9.15 against the background of a FTSE 100 rise of just under 1%.
Emap holds 27.8% of SRH, just under the maximum allowed before it has to make a full bid, but until January 16 would have to pay GBP 9.30 a share, the price at which it bought the stake in January this year. Thereafter its bid would not be restricted although analysts assume it would have to pay a sizeable premium.
Previous Bernard:
Previous Capital:
Previous Emap:
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Previous Mansfield:
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Previous SRH:
2004-12-23: Australia's commercial radio industry has welcomed the Federal Government's announcement that it is to begin the process for the introduction of digital radio.
The Minister for Communications, Senator Helen Coonan, said the Government would undertake a consultation process for the development of a policy and regulatory framework for the introduction of digital radio and Joan Warner, chief executive officer of industry body Commercial Radio Australia commented, "We are very pleased to see a focus at Ministerial level on this important issue for radio. It is heartening to see the Minister taking digital radio seriously and moving forward on the matter."
She added, "The industry has made its position clear. We are 100 per cent behind the introduction of digital technology because it will allow radio to compete more effectively in a changing and more demanding media environment, and to provide the innovation that consumers expect… there are still issues to be resolved to the industry's satisfaction on spectrum access and an adequate and sensible no new entrants' period."
Commercial Radio Australia has also announced that a competition it organized to design a digital radio receiver of the future has been won by a 22-year-old University of Western Sydney (UWS) student.
Bobby Lowe's Personal Digital Sound Communicator is designed to allow it to clip onto a belt or put into a pocket for listening with headphones and it can also be attached to a docking bay to connect to home audio systems and also to the internet where it can be programmed to automatically download defined daily updates. The cocking bay also acts as a charger.
Lowe received a prize of AUD 1000 (USD 760) plus a digital radio receiver.
Previous Commercial Radio Australia:
Previous Warner:
2004-12-23: Twin Cities' public station KBEM-FM, Jazz 88, is facing the worst fiscal crisis in its 34-year history following Minnesota Department of Transportation's decision to cancel its annual USD 400,000 contract with the station to provide traffic reports according to the Minneapolis-St Paul Star Tribune.
The paper quotes KBEM's director of marketing and business development Kevin Barnes as saying the amount is half the station's operating budget and added that it would respond by looking at measures ranging from staff cuts to increasing the number of pledge drives. KBEM currently raises around USD 300,000 from two pledge drives a year.
The station is licensed to the Minneapolis school board and operates out of North High School. It provides a service of hourly news updates from area schools as well as its jazz broadcasts and also serves as a training ground for 150 students who go through North's broadcast communications program each year.
Star Tribune report:
2004-12-23: South Africa's commercial radio industry is expected to perform strongly next year according to the Country's Sunday Times, which says consumer spending is expected to remain strong and that easing of ownership restrictions, expected to be passed in Parliament's first session next year, could stimulate consolidation.
Proposals made to the government in May this year by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) included raising the limit on foreign ownership of commercial radio stations from 20% to 25%, and limiting a single entity to owning no more than 35% of all licensed commercial radio stations and controlling no more than two stations in overlapping licence areas.
The paper notes that consolidation of the industry took place this year following the break-up of the Nail (New Africa Investments Ltd) media empire.
Nail, one of one of South Africa's first dedicated empowerment companies, owned both newspapers and commercial radio stations Jacaranda 94.2fm, Kfm and Kaya FM.
Primedia bought an effective 92.2% interest in KFM from Nail and an additional 30.5% stake in Highveld radio, at the same time helping its empowerment partner, the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) to finance an increased stake, taking Primedia's stake in Highveld to 85,8%. Earlier this month it announced it would acquire Nail's direct and indirect stakes in Kaya FM and loans to P4 Radio in Cape Town and Durban.
In August Nail sold 42.5% of its shares in Jacaranda FM, held through New Africa Broadcasting (NAB), giving Kagiso Media (through Naledi Jacaranda Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, which holds the licence) a 60% interest in the station.
Kagiso chairman Eric Molobi said in the group's annual report that Icasa's recommendations if made law would "undoubtedly foster investment in the media industry, specifically broadcasting" and added that the Icasa paper represented, "opportunities for growth in our core area of business radio broadcasting."
Figures from Pricewaterhouse Coopers have shown that radio advertising in the country has grown strongly over the past five years, up 16.4% in 1999 and up 32.4% in 2000 followed by a 2.1% decline in 2001 before rising 19.6% in 2002 and 10.9% last year. It is projected to rise 13.9% in 2004 and by a further 28% by 2008.
South Africa Sunday Times report:
2004-12-22: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a USD 8,000 fine, twice the standard amount for the offence, on Clear Channel's chart/pop WKQI-FM, Detroit, for airing a phone conversation without giving notice of its intention to do so to the other party involved.
The penalty related to a call to the prayer hotline for the Word of Faith International Christian Center in which a personality from the station, allegedly pretending to be a female caller, asked the volunteer who answered for a prayer.
The volunteer was suspicious that the call was a prank but complied with the request with her supervisor monitoring the call: The organisation was subsequently informed by one of its members that the personality involved personality had broadcast his expressed intention to call the prayer hotline, and subsequently aired over the station his conversation with the volunteer.
When contacted about the matter Clear Channel said the person involved no longer worked for the station and nobody had any recollection of the call. It does not keep recordings and said it had no records relating to the matter but tried to argue that, since the complaint had come from someone other than the volunteer, that person could not say whether consent had been given.
The FCC notes that Word of Faith subsequently filed an additional statement of its volunteer who received the call and said no consent was given and that the caller never identified the call as from a radio station or advised that or that the conversation was being broadcast or recorded for a future broadcast.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous FCC:
2004-12-22: The top executives at UK Capital Radio each got pay rises of around a fifth in the year to September according to figures in the company's annual report just published.
Chief Executive David Mansfield's pay will increase by 23% to GBP 601,000 (USD 1.1 million) including a GBP 168,000 (USD 301,000) bonus - it is still below the GBP 700,000 (Now USD 1.25 million but then around USD 1.06 million) he was paid four years ago.
Operations director Paul Davies gets a 22% increase to GBP 357,000 (USD 640,000) including a bonus of GBP 93,000 (USD 166,000).
Below him in the remuneration stakes, finance director Peter Harris gets a 24% increase to GBP 321,000 (USD 575,000) this year, including a GBP 87,000 (USD 156,000) bonus; and commercial director Linda Smith gets a 19% increase to GBP 318,000 (USD 570,000) with a GBP 85,000 (USD 152,000) bonus.
The increases were set under group and personal targets and performance criteria that have not been made public. The group's shareholders will vote on the remuneration policy at the company's Annual General Meeting on January 25.
Capital is still awaiting regulatory approval of its merger with GWR and the company says the merger was one of the factors in calculating pay.
Previous Capital:
Previous Davies:
Previous Mansfield:
2004-12-22: Adelaide station 5DN, the oldest commercial station in South Australia, is to be replaced by a sports talk format under a deal the owners of the station, Australian Radio Network (ARN), has made to lease its licence to Melbourne-based Sports Entertainment Network (SEN).
5DN was established by the Hume family and began broadcasts from their then home on August 11, 1924. Around a third its staff including breakfast show hosts Anne Wills and Jeff "Sundo" Sunderland will be out of work after the change to SEN 1323, which is due next month.
5DN now has a classic hits cum talk and sport format and ARN says it reluctantly concluded that the station did not fit its network strategy.
Previous ARN:
Previous SEN:
2004-12-22: The 760-foot (293 Metres) high tower for Clear Channel's KFI-AM that was destroyed at the weekend when a couple in a rented Cessna crashed into it was an "infamous landmark" that could be difficult to see in some conditions and was a menace to flights approaching Fullerton Municipal Airport according to the Los Angeles Times.
The couple died in the crash but nobody else was hurt in the accident that took the station off the air for around an hour and KFI general manager Greg Ashlock told the paper that he was unaware of specific complaints from local pilots. Clear Channel has not yet decided whether to rebuild the tower, which dates from the 1940s.
Fullerton Airport manager Rod Propst told the paper of the tower, "It's in the charts, but it doesn't look as big of a deal as it is. You see it when you're about to hit it" and added local pilots have long wished the owners would add strobe lights to the tower, in addition to the flashing red bulb on the structure.
Ashlock said the tower, which it bought from Cox Enterprises four years ago, had all the lighting required by the FAA and Federal Communications Commission.
Previous Clear Channel:
Los Angeles Times report:
2004-12-21: US radio revenues in November were up 4% on a year ago according to figures just released by the US Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) which notes national advertising up 7% on a year earlier and local sales up 2%: Overall spot figures were up by 3% and non-spot Radio revenue grew 7%. .
RAB's Sales Index, which equates pre-dot com base year 1998 to 100, was a combined 126.6 for November whilst the local sales index was 126.4 and the national ad sales index was 126.7.
Year to date combined spot and non-spot revenues are now up 3% on a year ago made up of flat national figures and a 2% increase in local advertising.
RAB President and CEO Gary Fries said, "We are seeing the predicted year-end stabilization of Radio revenue, as well as indicators for increased activity as we move forward into 2005."
"As the industry embraces new technologies and initiatives, and continues its forward growth momentum in the local marketplace and on the national platform, we expect the Radio business will remain solid and holds significant potential for growth."
Previous Fries:
Previous RAB & RAB monthly figures (Oct 2004):
2004-12-21: ABC Daytime network held on to its top rank in the Arbitron RADAR 83 (Radio's All Dimension Audience Research) Radio Network Audience Report just released covering the period September 18, 2003 - September 22, 2004 but it again lost audience whilst second and third placed Westwood CBS News Primetime Network and Jones MediaAmerica TWC Radio Network each increased theirs.
Other ratings lower down have been affected by Premiere's reconfiguration of its networks and subsequent inclusion of new networks - Diamond, Diamond Plus, Emerald, Emerald Plus, Morning Drive, Pearl, Pearl Plus, Sapphire, Sapphire Plus and Urban One in the survey. American Urban Networks has also added its STRZ Weekend Entertainment network.
In the top five places, ABC Daytime Network, still in the top slot, lost a further 213,000 listeners a week to end up with a weekly audience of 7.108 million, down from 7.321 million in the RADAR 82 survey and 9.45 million in the RADAR 79 survey; its AQH rating fell from 4.0 to 3.7 to 3.3 to 3.0 to 2.9 over the five ratings.
Second-ranked Westwood CBS News Primetime Network, added 7,000 listeners and ended up with the same 2.5 AQH.
In third place Jones MediaAmerica TWC Radio Network continued a winning streak and added 87,000 listeners and took its AQH up from 2.2 to 2.3.
In fourth rank was Premiere Morn Drive Network with 5.237 million listeners and an AQH of 2.2: This was 287000 more than the former Premier Morning Drive AM network which had an AQH of 2.0 and was ranked sixth.
ABC Morning News Radio Network xb was pushed from fourth into fifth spot as it lost 95,000 listeners and its AQH fell from 2.2 to 2.1.
ABC however had a success story a little further down the ranks as its ABC News/Talk Radio Network jumped from 31st to 7th rank with AQH more than doubling from 0.8 to 1.9 as it added 2,656,000 listeners to reach a total of 4.7 million.
Again as in the past, radio did better among upper-income adults with 79% (unchanged) of adults living in households earning USD 75,000 a year or more are in the network audience each week.
Overall it reached 77% of the 12-34 demographic, 79% of the 35-49 one and 74% of the 50 plus.
Previous Arbitron:
Previous Disney/ABC, America:
Previous Jones MediaAmerica:
Previous RADAR & RADAR ratings (RADAR 82):
Previous Premiere Networks:
Previous Westwood One:
2004-12-21: Irish state broadcaster RTÉ may soon be looking for delay equipment after a caller to its Liveline show managed to broadcast the suggestion that Monica Leech, PR advisor to and former election manager for