June 2005 Archive
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RNW June comment - As attacks are made again on it considers why we need public broadcasting.
RNW May comment - Evaluates the likely impact of podcasting on radio and concludes it's an opportunity to increase listening, enhance relationships with audience and community, and gain income from sponsors and advertising.
RNW April comment - Looks at how the UK has introduced digital radio and considers how HD digital radio will fare in the US.
2005-06-30: The sixth edition of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)'s Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report just released shows that overall weekly listening in the country has gone down roughly an hour from 1999 to 2004, most notably among younger Canadians, although revenues in 2004 were up 3% on a year earlier.
In 2004 says the report the average listening for the 12 plus audience was 19.5 hours a week, down from 20.5 hours in 1999 but for 12-17 year-olds it dropped from 11.3 hours to 8.5 hours; for the 18-34 demographic from 11.3 hours to 15.7 hours, and for those 25-34 from 21.3 hours to 19.3 hours; for older groups the fall was much smaller - from 21.6 hours to 21.5 hours for those 35-49 and remaining at 21.6 hours for those 55-64 although it fell again among older groups.
Compared to 2003 overall listening was stable as was that for teens. There was then a fall from 16.3 hours for the 18-24 group, an unchanged 19.3 hours for those 25-34, an increase from 21.3 hours to 21.5 hours amongst those 35-49, a fall from 21.8 hours to 21.6 hours for those 50-54, an increase from 21.9 to 22.1 hours for those 55-64 and an unchanged 22.3 hours for those 65 and above.
FM stations accounted for 72% of listening in Fall 2004 split 53%-19% between English and French language stations and for AMs a 23% share went 21% to English stations and 2% to French ones. The remaining 5% is classified as "other" listening.
In terms of overall listening commercial stations took 81% in 2004, down from 82% a year earlier, with Corus maintaining its 16% share followed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) with an unchanged 12% then Rogers Communications, down from 10% to 8%, Astral with an unchanged 9% and CHUM with an unchanged 7%.
In the French language sector the biggest operator Astral Media, whose share of French-language radio revenues was 57%, had a 2004 share of 40%, down from 43% a year earlier, and Corus has 14%, up from 13%.
Among English language stations Corus retained an 18% share in 2004 followed by Standard Broadcasting with an unchanged 16%, Rogers Communications - down from 13% to 11%, CHUM with an unchanged 5% and Newcap with an unchanged 5%.
In overall revenue terms, with 544 stations reporting in 2004, up from 530 in 2003, Canadian stations increased revenues over a strong 2003 (in which revenues were up 8% on a year earlier) by 3% in 2004 to CAD 1.2 billion (USD 997,000).
AM revenues dipped slightly - from CAD 305,000 (USD 249,000) to CAD 302,000 (USD 246,000) whilst FM revenues were up from CAD 889,000 (USD 724,000) to CAD 922,000 (USD 751,000).
Ethnic stations had a 5.7% increase in revenues.
Divided in language terms, English-language revenues were up 4% with FM revenues up5.5% and AM ones down 0.1% whilst French language revenues were down 4.6% with FM revenues down 3.4 and AM revenues down 13.2%
Profits before interest and taxes dipped by 0.1% in the year with AM stations, which in 2003 turned a 2002 loss of CAD 19.8 million (USD 16.1 million) into a profit of CAD 2 million (USD 1.7 million) increasing their profit to CAD 3.4 million (USD 2.8 million) whist FM profits fell from CAD 225 million (USD 183 million) to CAD 221 million (USD 180 million).
Previous CRTC:
CRTC report (126 page 1.71 MB PDF):
2005-06-30: Infinity chairman and CEO Joel Hollander has told the Chicago Tribune he's betting on cell phones as the future for radio and indicated that WBBM-FM is likely to be one of the first stations that will be involved in the company's Visual Radio agreement with Hewlett Packard that was announced in April (See RNW Apr 19).
The paper says that the plan offers an idea of how Infinity thinks it can compete against i-Pods and satellite services and notes similar agreements with cell phone companies made between Sirius and Sprint and XM's Internet agreement with AOL.
Hollander, who was in Chicago for a meeting with Infinity executives, told the paper the delays by Infinity in making its programming available online was a "mistake" especially with news stations but also noted other advances including plans to resurrect Oldies station WJMK-FM through the capability to add multiple channels on stations that have converted to iBiquity's HD digital radio system.
Regarding the sudden switch of WJMK from oldies to the Jack format Hollander said the station had been "very successful but not making as much money as we need a top-five market FM radio station to make" and added, "Jack is oldies, but you're not using the word. Oldies is a turnoff to a lot of people is what I've found."
Previous Hollander:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Chicago Tribune report:
2005-06-30: UK commercial radio companies have said in testimony to a House of Lords select committee on the BBC's remit and funding that the British government's Green Paper on the Corporation does not do enough to limit its commercial activities and aspirations.
Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) chairman David Elstein said there was overwhelming evidence of the BBC being involved in quasi-commercial ventures and added that for his organisation "One of the key issues for us is the progressive abuse of its [the BBC's] dominant position in attracting quasi-commercial sponsorship and promotion."
Elstein said the BBC was negotiating sponsorship deals at or below market rates thereby undermining commercial radio's attempts to get the same deals.
CRCA chief executive Paul Brown told the panel that one of commercial radio's complaints was that whilst they were constrained in format changes by regulations the BBC could change the way it used its spectrum without reference to any other body.
He said commercial radio's main competitor was BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 and that it would be useful that there were an independent body they could go to if they had evidence that the Corporation was not meeting conditions of licence.
Brown also said they were concerned at the lack of recognition of the public service value of their stations, commenting, "We are worried that commercial radio is being seen as less valuable. We do want our contribution to public service broadcasting to be understood and recognised."
Also on the CRCA panel was Chrysalis Radio chief executive Phil Riley who wanted a close look taken at any BBC entry into new markets and cited the example of OneWord Radio - the commercial digital speech channel - that he said had been hit by the launch of the BBC 7 digital speech station.
Riley said the BBC had launched virtually the same service as OneWord without any reference to what was happening in the market.
Riley and other UK commercial radio executives have also been commenting on how commercial radio can take on the BBC to Media Week in which a report by Clare Goff outlines the ways in which commercial radio is planning to compete with the corporation.
They include the idea of co-operation such as the Tsunami Aid programming broadcast earlier this year followed by Leaders Live in which interviews with the three main party political leaders were broadcast on commercial stations round the country in the run up to the UK general election in May and to be repeated for the Live-8 broadcasts at the weekend.
Other ideas are the creation of three chart shows -- a top 40 chart, urban chart and adult contemporary chart that would be broadcast on the commercial network according to station formats but that could be sold to advertisers separately or as a package and pooling resources to attract big names that they perceive as helping the BBC to boost its audience share.
The commercial radio companies see some pluses for their output in that they beat the BBC in the younger audience demographic - the 15 to 34-year-olds that the advertising companies want most, using the local nature of their stations to its maximum effect when competing with a national BBC service, exploiting the spectrum advantage they have in digital as opposed to analogue where the BBC had more frequency, and also exploiting promotions and sponsorship.
Previous BBC:
Previous Brown:
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous CRCA:
Previous Elstein:
Previous Riley:
Media Week report:
2005-06-30: Democrat US Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein in an interview with Buzzflash has said the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal of media giants against the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia that a year ago overturned new media ownership regulations from the Commission (See RNW Jun 14) was "a great victory for the public over a handful of the biggest and most powerful media companies in this country."
He added that it was also an "opportunity for us to go back, start fresh, and get it right this time" and said the original decision, which was opposed by himself and fellow Democrat Commissioner Michael J. Copps was "was the most destructive rollback of our media ownership rules in the history of American broadcasting."
"The Powell supporters went beyond where they needed to go to respond to the mandate of the '96 Telecom Act," said Adelstein. "The '96 Telecom Act, even according to the courts, only required that we review the rules, not that we necessarily gut them. The decision to severely roll them back was not mandated by the courts... We would have been better served by working to promote the public interest more fully and being much more careful about our deregulating these media conglomerates.
Adelstein said he was not surprised at the backlash against the proposals and said he "got out and talked to people in communities across the country. I found a unanimous chorus of concern and opposition to letting these media giants get even bigger."
Previous Adelstein:
Buzzflash interview:
2005-06-29: Emmis has reported first quarter net revenues up 6% on a year ago to USD 161.8 million with pro-forma net revenues up 3% to USD 162.7 million; overall it had net income of USD 10.38 million ( USD 0.14 per share) compared to a 2004 Q1 loss of USD 73.57 million ( USD 1.37 per share) including a loss on debt extinguishment of USD 97 million.
In divisional terms, radio revenues were up 13% to USD 75.1 million and pro forma radio net revenues (including WLUP-FM and the Emmis radio network in Slovakia) increased 7% whilst TV revenues were down 3% to USD 66.6 million and publishing revenues were up 12% to USD 18.9 million.
Emmis has put its TV holdings up for sale and chairman and CEO Jeff Smulyan told the company's conference call that he had been "pleasantly surprised" by the interest and was cautiously optimistic about getting more for the assets than the USD 1 billion analysts had predicted.
Emmis has engaged the Blackstone Group to facilitate the disposal and confidential information memorandums have been sent to interested parties: Smulyan said he thought the process would "move very quickly" but was less forthcoming about any possible interest in buying Disney's ABC radio stations should a rumoured sale of them go ahead.
Suggested buyers have been Citadel, Emmis and Entercom but Smulyan would only say he was not aware of any decision having been taken although it had he thought Disney would "talk to all of us" and if there were opportunities that made sense for both Emmis and Disney they would pursue them.
His statement released with Emmis's results indicated that the company would be interested in expanding in radio, saying, "Exploring strategic alternatives for our television group and buying back stock [Emmis has just completed a "Dutch Auction" tender offer that resulted in it buying 20,250,000 Class A shares at a purchase price of USD 19.50 per share, for a total cost of USD 394.9 million - See RNW Jun 19] are designed to give Emmis more flexibility to grow as opportunities become available in our core areas."
Looking ahead, Emmis is forecasting total radio revenue of USD 87.5 million including USD 8 million from its international radio operations and total revenue of USD 169.8 million.
Previous Emmis:
Previous Smulyan:
2005-06-29: Sirius Satellite Radio and MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. have announced an exclusive agreement to create Korean and Chinese channels on the satellite radio company's platform.
The Korean channel- Radio Korea USA - is expected to launch this fall, and will offer a variety of news, entertainment and music programming in Korean and the Chinese channel that is to launch later will offer popular music from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as short news and information updates of interest to these subscribers.
Multicultural CEO Arthur Liu said the Sirius "ability to broadcast anywhere and everywhere in the country" meant the agreement provided an effective way to reach a largely underserved audience that had been shown by recent Arbitron surveys in Los Angeles and New York to prefer ethnic media.
He added, "The Asian community represents a significant up-and-coming niche market for advertisers. Similar to the Hispanic market 20 years ago, the Asian population in this country is growing at an extraordinary rate with unparalleled education and income levels."
The two companies are also to investigate the possibility of launching other Asian language channels.
Previous Multicultural:
Previous Sirius:
2005-06-29: English entries took two of the four Grand Awards at this year's New York Festivals' International Radio Programming and Promotions Awards with Canada and the USA taking one each.
Last year the US had taken three of the four Grand Medals and Canada took one (See RNW Jun 28, 2004).
The 2005 Grand Awards went to Century FM for "The 2004 FA Cup Final" (Best News Program), Above the Title Productions for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Tertiary Phase: Life, the Universe and Everything" (Best Entertainment Program), Culture Works for "Leonard Bernstein: An American " Life (Best Information Program) and Standard Broadcasting of Canada for Retrosexual Weekend on Mix 99 (Best Promo Spot).
In the Gold Awards the US fared better with 13 of the 32 awards: Canada was next with seven and then the UK with 6, among them a gold as Best Humor Personality: Local for Tim Shaw, a controversial host on Emap's West Midlands Kerrang! rock station: Shaw's wife has just dumped him and sold his USD 45,000 dollar car for 90 cents on E-BAY after becoming upset as a flirtatious interview e conducted on the show (See below).
Four UNDPI (United Nations Department of Public Information) Awards were also made this year, going to World Vision ( the gold for a story about an elderly Kenyan who finally gets an education in elementary school) plus silvers to the Stanley Foundation for a news documentary on Americans and their ambivalence to international multilateral organizations such as the UN, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for its international affairs show on the aftermath of Sierra Leone's civil war; and a bronze to Battery Radio for Radio Netherlands for an environmental program on biodiversity.
Previous New York Festivals:
New York Festivals web site:
2005-06-29: Birmingham, England, DJ Tim Shaw has gained a consolation prize in the New York Radio Festivals, which awarded him the 2005 Gold Award as Best Humor Personality: Local (see below) for his show on the Emap Kerrang! station, only days after his wife, upset over comments on his show took her revenge by selling his GBP 25,000 (USD 45,000) sports car for 50 pence ( 90 cents) on E-Bay.
The Kerrang! DJ was presenting his "Asylum" show on the station when his wife Hayley, upset about a flirtatious interview earlier in the evening with glamour model Jodie Marsh during which he told March he would leave his wife and two daughters for her, put the Lotus Esprit Turbo up on the auction site on a Buy-Now basis.
Her advert read, "I need to get rid of this car immediately - ideally in the next two to three hours before my... husband gets home to find it gone and all his belongings in the street…I am the registered owner and I have the log book. Please only buy if you can pick up tonight."
The car sold within five minutes and Mrs Shaw told The Birmingham Post newspaper, "When he said he would leave me and the kids for Jodie Marsh, that was it for me… "The car is his pride and joy but the idiot put my name on the logbook so I just sold it."
"He is always talking about Jodie Marsh and how much he fancies her," said Mrs Shaw, "but he didn't tell me she was going to be on the show. He was all over her during the interview, it was pathetic. They were both being flirtatious and then he said what he said. I am sick of being disrespected."
Shaw has a reputation for pranks that misfire and in February this year was suspended after one in which he broke into the home of the station's programme director home and trashed it (See RNW Feb 15). He was reinstated a week later (See RNW Feb 22).
Birmingham Post report:
2005-06-28: The US Supreme Court has ruled for the entertainment industry and against file-sharing companies Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. in a case in which the former had argued that it should be able to sue the latter for breaches of copyright when their customers illegally downloaded copyrighted media.
The ruling reverses those of two lower courts that had, on the basis of the 1984 Sony Betamax case in which the Supreme Court in a narrow 5-4 ruling held that Sony was not responsible for illegal recording of movies on cassette because its equipment was not designed to break the law and had substantial lawful uses.
In the latest case the court ruled unanimously against the file sharing companies, saying they had not only intended that their product be used for illegal downloads but had also actively promoted such use.
The ruling commented, "We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties."
The court shied away, however, from revisiting the Sony case although in their concurring opinion, written by Justice Ginsburg who was joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Kennedy the suggestion is put forward that this might be necessary should the lower court not reverse its direction. In the other concurring opinion written by Justice Brayer joined by Justices Stevens and O' Connor, this idea is firmly rejected.
The decision does not prohibit peer-to-peer file sharing, just the business methods of Grokster and StreamCast and in tits reaction to the decision the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) specifically notes, "The Supreme Court has helped to power the digital future for legitimate online businesses - including legal file sharing networks - by holding accountable those who promote and profit from theft."
On the other side of the argument, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) senior intellectual property attorney Fred von Lohmann says the court has "unleashed a new era of legal uncertainty on America's innovators" and expresses particular concern that "the threat of legal costs may lead technology companies to modify their products to please Hollywood instead of consumers."
Previous RIAA:
EFF web site
RIAA web site:
Supreme Court ruling (55 page, 321 Kb PDF).
RNW note: Of the various blogs on this case the Scotus blog is the best we have seen so far.
2005-06-28: XM Satellite Radio chairman Gary Parsons has told Detroit's Automotive Press Association he expects the company to be in profit next year having already topped 4 million subscribers with 5.5 million expected by the end of this year.
On its potential expansion into Canada, however, no firm decision has yet been made: In approving the bids for subscription audio services from partnerships including XM and its US rival Sirius the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) required eight Canadian channels rather than the five that the two satellite companies had offered (See RNW Jun 17).
XM expects to make a decision on the matter within three months but in Canada an alliance of lobby groups has asked the federal cabinet to overturn a regulatory decision allowing satellite broadcast operators to bring pay-radio service to Canada.
In a letter to the cabinet, the group - which includes Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), the Canadian Independent Record Production Association, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, the Directors Guild of Canada, the Songwriters Association of Canada, the Writers Guild of Canada, and the National Campus and Community Radio Association - asks that the decisions of the CRTC be set aside or referred back to it.
It says it will provide evidence later that the decisions run counter to the objectives of Canada's broadcasting policy.
XM may also enter yet another area of business according to an Associated Press report carried by various North American papers that says the US military might use its service for homeland security purposes.
The idea follows on from a successful debut of a system developed by Raytheon as an inexpensive solution to the challenges of helping emergency responders and soldiers co-ordinate their actions after a natural disaster or terrorist strike.
In essence it uses satellite radio channels with standard receivers that have been modified to make them more rugged and was used in conjunction with the WorldSpace satellites in March to aid coordination of tsunami relief efforts.
The Mobile Enhanced Situational Awareness Network (MESA) would get a dedicated channel on XM's satellites that would be accessible only on devices given to emergency personnel.
MESA says the report was included in this month's Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration, an annual event at which technology vendors show off their wares to the military, and as a test run images, data and audio were sent to an "injection point" at Washington, D.C.-based XM, transmitted to the company's satellites and then transmitted back to the portable devices that would be carried by personnel in the field.
Previous CRTC:
Previous Parsons:
Previous WorldSpace:
Previous XM:
Toronto Globe and Mail/AP report:
2005-06-28: The top three networks held on to their rankings in the Arbitron RADAR 85 (Radio's All Dimension Audience Research) Radio Network Audience Report just released: The sample size for this survey has been increased from 80,000 to 85,000 as part of a programme of enhancements that will increase the sample size to 100,000 for the release of RADAR 88 in March next year and for the first time this survey will make the Top 25 DMA markets available to RADAR clients
In the top rank, ABC Daytime Direction Network added 86,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 7.51 million and increased its AQH from 3.0 to 3.1.
Second ranked Westwood CBS News Primetime Network added even more - up 567,000 listeners to end with a weekly audience of 6.55 million and AQH up from 2.4 to 2.7.
In third place Premiere Morn Drive Network lost 209,000 listeners to end up with a weekly audience of 5.228 million and AQH down from 2.2 to 2.1.
In fourth place and up from fifth despite losing 43,000 listeners was ABC Morning News Radio Network which ended up with a weekly audience of 5.225 million and an unchanged AQH of 2.1.
Down from fourth was Jones MediaAmerica TWC Radio Network, which had a fifth-place audience down 166,000 to a weekly total of 5.15 million, and AQH down from 2.3 to 2.1
Previous Arbitron:
Previous Disney/ABC, America:
Previous Jones MediaAmerica:
Previous RADAR:
Previous RADAR ratings (RADAR 84):
Previous Premiere Networks:
Previous Westwood One:
2005-06-28: The BBC has announced that it has agreed a GBP 166 million (USD 303 million) sale of BBC Broadcast to Creative Broadcast Services Limited, which is owned by Australian companies the Macquarie Capital Alliance Group and Macquarie Bank Limited. The deal is subject to approval from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport and completion is planned during the summer if this is given.
For Macquarie Bank, which was competing against 17 other bidders, the deal adds yet another facet to its global investment in infrastructure that includes toll roads, airports and transmission towers: BBC Broadcast's channel management business broadcasts 61 streams including public service and commercial channels and interactive streams and it also offers services such as promotions, subtitling and video-on-demand through broadband and mobile phones. It has a contract to service all of the BBC's units until 2015.
The deal means that Macquarie Capital Alliance Group has now invested all of the AUD 500 million (USD 385 million) it raised from investors in April. Macquarie Bank itself will have a 35% holding in BBC Broadcast and is planning to sell this on to clients over the next six to nine months.
The sale followed the Corporation's internal review of its commercial businesses that concluded that, whilst the services provided by BBC Broadcast are vital to the BBC, they did not necessarily need to remain owned by the BBC.
Previous BBC:
Previous Macquarie Bank:
2005-06-27: As pressures mount on public broadcasting in various countries, we devote most of this week's look at print cover of radio to issues of public and commercial or private spheres.
First though an editorial from the Palm Beach Post on the issue of conservative host Rush Limbaugh's medical records - an area where our view is that Limbaugh has abused his access to the airwaves but not much more than he abuses it anyway in terms of playing fair with facts that don't fit his interests or prejudices.
The Post editorial, however, deals as much with the tactics of Limbaugh's attorney Roy Black as those of his paymaster.
"Rush Limbaugh's attorney keeps saying that his client is innocent," starts the editorial and goes on, "So why does he keep acting as though his client is guilty?"
"Every court," it says, "has decided that Palm Beach County prosecutors acted legally in November 2003 when they obtained search warrants to seize the talk-show host's medical records as part of an investigation into illegal use of prescription painkillers… Yet last week, Roy Black was back before the judge who issued the search warrant, arguing that Mr. Limbaugh, who broadcasts much of the time from Palm Beach, should be able to decide which records the prosecutors will see."
"Inside the studio where he fulminates for 15 hours a week, " says the Post, "Mr. Limbaugh rules. Outside that studio, the rules of society apply to Mr. Limbaugh, whether he likes it or not. Since prosecutors had to persuade two judges before getting the records, there is no great privacy issue here. "
And of Blacks motion…" Think of what Mr. Black is asking. He wants Judge Barkdull to set a precedent that suspects, not law-enforcement authorities, get to decide which evidence might be used to prosecute them. Reading his motion, which impugns the agents who obtained the warrants and attempts to cast doubt on the idea that Mr. Limbaugh was 'doctor-shopping,' it seems that Mr. Black is arguing a criminal charge before one has been filed."
RNW comment: Indeed so and we rather suspect that Black has enough information to know that's what the records do show but that will become clear as Judge Barkdull, who has now said he will vet the records that can be seen by the prosecutors, makes his decisions and charges do or do not follow.
The Limbaugh case, as the paper states, relates to the public sphere in which Limbaugh operates not just the studio where he rules and the issue of public broadcasting, to which we now turn, also relates to different spheres.
In the UK, as in the US, there have been continuing attacks from various quarters on the very idea of public broadcasting, most frequently from those who stand to benefit by restrictions on it.
In both countries there would appear to be significant public support for public broadcasters and this has in turn shaped the nature of some of the attacks.
Starting with the UK, we first look at a UK Independent on Sunday report by Tim Webb that says three of the UK's most powerful radio groups have launched a stinging attack on BBC Radio. In particular says the report, they single out BBC Radio 1 "for harsh criticism" with GCap Media accusing the corporation of "seeking ratings by day and reputation by night."
GCap also queries the concept of the BBC buying exclusive rights to events such as the Glastonbury music festival and comments that the corporation cannot always use all the event and adding in its submission to the government, "We are at a loss to understand how negotiating exclusive rights is necessarily a public service."
Chrysalis says BBC Radio 1 and 2 are not "by any credible definition, public service broadcasting during peak daytime listening hours" and also argues that the launch of hundreds of new digital radio stations and television channels means there is less need for the BBC to provide alternative programmes.
SMG, which owns Virgin, points out that the BBC takes up 70 per cent of the FM analogue spectrum for 51 stations, which attract only 55 per cent of the audience. Rivals accuse BBC of hijacking airwaves
RNW comment: Looking at the comments of all three organisations, we see no strong suggestion that they would like to provide much of the public service broadcasting carried by the BBC but rather a negative nit-pick in an attempt to keep out of BBC hands as much as possible of areas like popular music programming.
Were there a cast-iron clause that voided all their licences if these organisations were to succeed in this objective and then try and further weaken the corporation by arguing against it in terms of its low audiences, we might have a little more sympathy with the comercial industry.
In fact the record of commercial broadcasters in the UK seems to be more one of maximising profit and attempting to minimise the costs they have to bear from carrying material, including local news, that is indubitably public service but that does not maximise their commercial returns. We don't see that changing and continue to think that the overall public interest is served best by a strong BBC whatever affect that has on the commercial sector.
In market terms we'd suggest that the number of bids for commercial licences - and in most cases immediate boosts to company values when a franchise is won - indicate that the argument being made by the companies is not very strong.
Were there to be no competition for commercial franchises, we would of course, feel that the same market forces were indicating that some redress of imbalance would be reasonable although we'd prefer this to be in the form of support for the commercial sector by such means as lower licence fees than in weakening the BBC.
On the US then, where the House of Representatives has backed off most of its proposed cuts to public broadcast funding but there is still a perception by many of a beleaguered public broadcasting system.
So is the perception correct, particularly as far as we are concerned as it related to radio? The Los Angeles Times clearly thinks so and although an editorial "The GOP Inside PBC" concentrates as the heading suggests on TV, it also notes the perception by many Republicans that "that PBS and National Public Radio (NPR) have a liberal bias."
It also comments, "NPR [US National Public Radio] offers about the only serious, comprehensive news on radio.
For Frank Rich in the New York Times the current story in terms of public broadcasting is a change of tack in attacks on it from the right.
Whereas attacks in the past by Republicans led by Newt Gingrich were a head-on assault he says, "this time the game is far more insidious and ingenious. The intent is not to kill off PBS and NPR but to castrate them by quietly annexing their news and public affairs operations to the larger state propaganda machine that the Bush White House has been steadily constructing at taxpayers' expense. If you liked the fake government news videos that ended up on local stations - or thrilled to the "journalism" of Armstrong Williams and other columnists who were covertly paid to promote administration policies - you'll love the brave new world this crowd envisions for public TV and radio."
Rich also gives details of funds paid by Kenneth Tomlinson, the current chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), to a Fred Mann for monitoring PBS and says that Tomlinson at first maintained in a letter to North Dakota Democrat Sen. Byron Dorgan that another CPB executive had "approved and signed" the Mann contract when he had signed it himself?"[RNW comment: if this is indeed proven, our view is that Tomlinson is a liar in ways that make him unfit to hold any public office: If it is not, one would have expected him to have been fairly firm in demonstrating the falsity of this and other allegations of dishonest behaviour on his part - See this Media Matters for America comment).
More disturbing are the reports that were produced which, according to Sen. Dorgan, included monitoring of other programmes including the work of Tavis Smiley and Diane Rehm with guests being rated as "liberal", "Conservative" and "anti-administration" with a liberal rating being attached to "the conservative Republican Senator Chuck Hagel given the same L as Bill Clinton simply because he expressed doubts about Iraq in a discussion mainly devoted to praising Ronald Reagan."
In his column in the San Francisco Chronicle John Carroll also took up the question of the monitoring organised by Tomlinson and adds another line on material marked down as "liberal": "Also 'liberal' was a program on wasteful spending at the Pentagon. There was a time when the profligate spending by big government was a major conservative issue, but no more. In order to find real conservatives, you have to wander over to the libertarian party."
Carroll then goes on to suggest he too could be hired to produce material that is on-message, writing, "I've decided to cut out the middle man. The White House is always looking for liberal bias in the news media, and I can help them find it. I can monitor my own column, and write detailed reports about the bias therein. For an extra 20 grand, I would testify before a Senate committee against myself, revealing my long record of liberal opinions. Whatever the Bush administration is seeking to prove, it can prove it by me."
Most disappointing in this whole issue to us is the depth of the party-partisan divide in reactions to the issues as reported by Paul Farhi in the Washington Post before the House restored most of the cuts it had proposed.
"The battle lines over public broadcasting have been drawn in sharply partisan fashion," he writes. "Democrats in Congress and liberal organizations have emerged as public broadcasting's most visible and vocal supporters, while Republicans and conservatives have stayed mostly silent."
"… the inability to find many friends across the aisle has been a source of frustration to broadcasters," writes Farhi, "because they say it obscures the breadth of public backing and hardens the partisan lines" and he quotes PBS spokeswoman Lea Sloan as saying, "We know there's Republican support out there, and we, too, are surprised that it hasn't been more vocal."
NPR executive vice president Ken Stern noted that listeners to the network describe themselves as moderate, conservative and liberal in about equal measure in surveys.
Now on to suggested listening and to start with two BBC Radio 4 programmes: The first is Mad as Hell - a new series of "Sunday Supplements" in the Westminster Hour slot in which columnist Simon Jenkins fumes about the amount of state regulation and interference in the lives of today's Britons. The first two programmes are on the programme web site and the third and final part, with Jenkin's suggestion of a way forward, is to be broadcast next Sunday.
In the first programme Jenkins names as one of his heroes William Cobbet - "the moving spirit behind the great Reform Act of 1832" - and the subject of out second suggestion, which is the BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week starting today at 08:45 GMT. It's the biography of Cobbet by William Ingrams, abridged by Andrew Simpson.
Then across the oceans and we suggest two editions of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Ockham's Razor that a fortnight ago had the second of two programmes by Brisbane cardiologist Dr Geoffrey Chia, this one with his comments on energy problems - not a good news show for the US president or US automobile owners - and yesterday features former RAAF fighter pilot Bill Pearcy, who also studied physics and is now a Lay Canon talking about the nature of time and its relationship to God and the related issue for science and religion of the concept of infinite time.
He argues that science and religion are complementary -- not too convincingly to us as it happens in view of the vast parts of religion omitted and contradictions thereof ignored.
After this music and first to note that the BBC at 1300 GMT today and until Thursday will be broadcasting Beethoven's final four symphonies: Like the first five that it offered for download as MP3's these will be on the site for download from the day after the performance for a week.
We also note that the Performance on 3 slot at 18:30 GMT this week is strong with performances from the Aldeburgh Festival, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, of Handel's Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, and from Cheltenham International Festival of Music 2005 plus next Saturday at 17:00 GMT in the Jazz File slot the first of two programmes on Art Blakey that is followed by The Bartered Bride in the Opera on 3 slot.
Before that on Saturday at 14:00 GMT in the World Routes slot, the station broadcast's performances live from Live 8's Africa Calling concert at the Eden Project in Cornwall
Two hours earlier BBC Radio One starts its Live 8 broadcasts from Hyde Park (As does BBC Radio 2) and remains there until at 20:00 GMT it moves over the Atlantic to broadcast from the Philadelphia concert.
As a precursor, from Radio 2 tomorrow at 19:30 GMT we'd suggest the second of the two-part "The 20th Anniversary of Live Aid" hosted by Phil Collins: The first programme is still on the site until then.
Then from the US and National Public Radio, the stories of the effects of the US atom bombing of Nagasaki, filed 60 years ago to the Chicago Daily News by George Weller who was the first Allied journalist to reach Nagasaki: The stories, now being printed by the Mainichi Shimbun, were never published at the time but carbon copes were discovered by his son, novelist Anthony Weller, who released them in anticipation of the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing.
Back to the BBC and Radio 4 and at 14:45 GMT this week Dr Raj Persaud in The Real Frasiers talks to talk-show psychiatrists and psychologists from around the world to contrast their different styles and to take a snapshot of different country's mental issues and their approaches to therapy.
Today's first show looks at Doctor Joy Browne's syndicated show on WOR 710 and subsequent programmes look at Doctor Sanjay Chugh's programme on Radio Mirchi in India; Doctor Dorianne Weil's show on Johannesburg's Talk Radio 702; Doctor Enrique de Rosa Alabaster's show in Argentina and Doctor Frank Njenga's show on Christian talk radio in Nairobi, Kenya.
And finally for something completely different the radio adverts that won Lions awards in Cannes as noted in the story below.
Previous Columnists:
Previous Tomlinson:
Los Angeles Times editorial:
New York Times - Rich:
Palm Beach Post - Editorial on Limbaugh case:
San Francisco Chronicle - Carroll:
UK Independent - Webb:
Washington Post - Farhi:
2005-06-27: Advertisements from the USA and South Africa dominated in the inaugural Radio Lions advertising awards announced in Cannes, taking 16 of a total 31 awards including the Grand Prix Award, which went to the Men Of Real Genius campaign for the US brewer Anheuser-Busch by DDB Chicago.
The campaign started as Great American Heroes on radio and was re-titled Men Of Real Genius after the 9/11 attacks: Its TV spin-off won a Gold Award in Cannes last year.
The radio figures compare with TV awards this year of 28 Lions for the US this year, 19 for the UK and seven for Germany with the TV Grand Prix award going to London agency Wieden & Kennedy for an animated commercial for Honda diesel engines.
Commenting on the winning radio campaign jury President Malcolm Poynton said, "There were 11 spots in this campaign and the jury felt that every one of them was worth a Gold" adding that the campaign is "entertaining and strong radio."
In all 1,033 adverts were entered for the awards and the jury gave out two Gold awards, which went to Devito/Verdi of the US for adverts for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and King James South Africa for a Mini Cooper automobile advert, eight silver (to Y&R Chicago for a Miller Lite beer advert; DDB Canada for an advert for Energizer E2 Lithium Batteries; Lowe Bull South Africa for a Handy Andy Oven Cleaner advert for Unilever; Bates Red Cell Norway for a Bosch Turbo Sander advert; BBDO Campaign Dusseldorf for an aspirin advert for Bayer; FCB Johannesburg for an advert for Toyota Quantum Panel Vans; Goodby Silverstein & Partners, USA for an advert for Ebay Motors; and Shackleton Ad Spain for a Save The Children advert.) and 17 Bronze awards.
RNW comment: The winning adverts - from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Norway, Puerto Rico, Spain, the UK and the USA - are posted on the Lions web site with English and native language audio for where originals were not in English.
They make interesting and instructive listening and to our ears some of the lesser award winners, particularly in the bronze section that kept the kick for the end, had more impact than the winners of grander prizes: The Grand Prix Award winners would have led us to switch channels after hearing the first one and we found the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to have more impact.
Lions Radio Awards web site (Links to adverts including audio):
2005-06-27: The Scottish Radio Holdings' board recommendation to accept its takeover by Emap that we reported last week (See RNW Jun 22) was more orchestrated than appeared at the time according to a report in the UK Sunday Times.
The paper reports that not only was the GBP 155 million (USD 283 million) sale of SRH's Score Press arm to Johnston Press agreed in advance but a detailed contract had also been drawn up that gave Johnson effective control of Emap's voting of its 28% share of SRH should SRH attempt to sell off its newspapers directly in any sale requiring shareholder approval.
It adds that not only did Emap threaten to withdraw their initial offer but the Emap/Johnston Press deal also scuppered any attempts by SRH to find alternative buyers, thus giving it little option but to agree to be taken over.
The paper also adds that SRH chairman Lord Gordon of Strathblane, who remains a non-executive director at Johnston Press, attended no meetings and received no board papers on the Emap deal.
Previous Emap:
Previous Lord Gordon:
Previous SRH:
UK Sunday Times report:
2005-06-26: Last week was a fairly quiet one for the regulators with no major decisions anywhere and no radio decisions at all announced in Australia or Ireland: Elsewhere there was a steady flow of activity but nothing startling.
In Canada, radio-related decisions from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRCT) included issuing four new licences for the Ottawa-Gatineau market and a ruling that a Montreal station breached regulations relating to abusive comment (See RNW Jun 24).
It also approved a transmitter relocation and increase in antenna height plus power reduction from 100,000 watts to 70,000 watts for CKMM-FM, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and ruled against a Montreal station over broadcast of abusive comments (Also Jun 24).
The Commission also gave notice of a number of applications for which the deadline for comment is July 27: In order of province they included:
Alberta:
*Application to remove the transmitter CKBF-FM-1 Wainwright from the licence of CKBF-FM, Canadian Forces Base, Suffield: The licensee advises that the transmitter is no longer needed following the departure of the based British Armed Forces from the area.
British Columbia:
*Application to renew le licence of CHMJ-AM, Vancouver: The Commission noted a 2004 decision that a broadcast of an episode of the Tom Leykis Show breached the prohibition on abusive comment and that it had required Corus, as part of its licence renewal application, to provide a report on the measures and mechanisms it has in place to ensure that the content of the programming on CHMJ adheres at all times to the Act and the Radio Regulations.
It also noted that the station now had a sports format and that it had received the required report on the measures and mechanisms that Corus has in place to ensure full compliance.
New Brunswick:
*Application to renew the licence of the French-language radio network with programming originating from CKLE-FM, Bathurst/Caraquet.
Northwest Territories:
*Application to add a 40 watts AM transmitter at Tuktoyaktuk to broadcast the programming of CHAK-AM, Inuvik, in order to serve the population of Tuktoyaktuk.
In the UK, Ofcom upheld no radio complaints in its latest bulletin (See RNW Jun 22) and also announced the award of 15 new community licences (See RNW Jun 21).
It also issued its reports on the reasoning behind the awards of new commercial FM licences for Manchester, Norwich, and Ballymena to GCap Media's alternative music format Xfm, Crown FM and Severn Towers FM respectively (See RNW Jun 10)
In the Manchester case, where it had said it would place particular importance on broadening the range of programmes available it described the Xfm application to have offered a "clearly-defined and innovative proposition with a distinctive Manchester flavour which significantly would broaden the range of programmes available in the area by way of local commercial radio."
It added that the application "demonstrated convincingly that there was a clear demand among Xfm's target audience for its proposed 'alternative' music format and particularly noted the inclusion in the Format of commitments to broadcast specialist comedy shows and comedy elements within general programming, output which the research conducted by the group showed would cater for the tastes and interests of the audience.
In Norwich, where it has said that it would be likely to place "particular emphasis on the ability of each applicant to maintain its proposed service for the duration of the licence period" and also that it was likely to consider speech content to be more important than music, Ofcom said that on balance it considered Crown FM to have been the strongest of five good applications.
"Crown FM's Format offers a practical realization of its full service programming proposals," said Ofcom, adding, "While the RLC (Radio Licensing Committee) recognized that the non-news speech commitments were generally over-arching rather than specific in nature the committee was impressed by the group's extensive commitment to local news which it felt would enable Crown to cater to local tastes and broaden choice in terms of locally relevant speech programming.
And in Ballymena, where it had made similar comments on the importance of ability to maintain the service, it commented that it "considered that, although Seven Towers FM's revenue and cost projections are ambitious, the station's ownership by two well-established Northern Ireland media owners - including the Alpha Newspaper Group, publisher of the Ballymena Guardian - provides it with a particularly impressive level of funding together with direct experience of the local Ballymena advertising market."
In the US the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has again closed down radio free Brattleboro, the unlicensed Vermont station (See RNW Jun 24) and levied a number of penalties including a total of USD 44,000 in four cases - USD 20,000 for tower offences, USD 10,000 for tower offences and unlicensed operation, and USD 4,000 for a prize contest breach (See RNW Jun 23).
In other enforcement actions the FCC confirmed a USD 1,000 penalty on a West Virginia pirate station operator and of USD 3,000 on a Georgia AM owner for failing to register its tower.
The USD 1,000 penalty was confirmed on Mark A. Clay of Huntington, West Virginia, who had originally been served with a USD 10,000 penalty for operating an unlicensed FM but that was reduced to USD 1,000 on the basis of inability to pay. He had sought further reduction on the basis that his monthly income had fallen because of divorce but the FCC noted that he had failed to produce documentation to back up his claim and said it thus had no option but to confirm the penalty.
The USD 3,000 penalty was confirmed on Brown Broadcasting System, Inc., which had not denied that it failed to register the antenna structure for WBKZ-AM in Jefferson, Georgia.
Brown had sought cancellation primarily on a basis of financial hardship and submitted federal income tax returns for the years 2001, 2002 and 2003.
The commission noted that its policy was to base penalties on gross revenues and said that on this basis it found reduction or cancellation was not warranted.
In Missouri, the Commission denied a petition for reconsideration filed by Four Him Enterprises, LLC., which had sought a reclassification of Ozark Broadcasting, Inc.'s KJEL-FM, Lebanon, from Class C to class CO to allow a change of channel for its KHZR-FM, Potosi, that in turn depended on other channel substitutions at Rolla and Lin with a knock-on effect on KJEL.
The FCC said it appeared Ozark had not received a Show Cause letter from the Commission but Ozark had filed a Motion to Accept Late-Filed Opposition and an Opposition to Order to Show Cause on November 5, 2002. It had then filed an acceptable application specifying minimum Class C facilities.
Four Him argued that Ozark had "constructive notice" of the Order to Show Cause because it was included in the Commission's public notices released September 20, 2002, and that Ozark Broadcasting could have ascertained its existence through "the exercise of reasonable diligence" but the Commission dismissed the argument and refused to allow the Four Him motion.
In North Carolina, the FCC refused to allow Beasley Broadcasting to acquire WGQR-FM, and WBLA-AM, both of Elizabethtown, from Sound Business of Elizabethtown, Inc.,
Beasley had sought a waiver of the Commission's local radio ownership rule to allow it to immediately acquire WGQR, which is listed by BIA as in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, Metro in which it said Beasley has a "cognizable interest in 2 AM and 4 FM stations."
Beasley argued that the station's historical listing by both Arbitron and BIA as home to the Metro "has been an aberration," and that the station's recent "de-listing is entirely in keeping with longstanding marketplace realities" and that because of its "geographic separation" from the Metro, WGQR does not compete in the Metro.
It noted that an applicant for a waiver has to demonstrate that deviation from the general rule is warranted by special circumstances and will serve the public interest and said in this case Beasley had failed to do so. It refused the waiver and refused to allow Beasley to acquire either station.
The FCC also announced the opening of a filing window for its Auction 62 in which it will offer 172 FM construction permits (See RNW Jun 21). It also had to withdraw action to revoke some Peninsula Communications' licences in Alaska following a change in the law (Also Jun 21)
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
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FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
2005-06-26: Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull has opted to examine conservative host Rush Limbaugh's medical records and decide which are within the scope of the search warrants used to seize them from four doctors in 2003 and can be turned over to prosecutors investigating the host on suspicion of "doctor-shopping."
He will return other records to Limbaugh's attorney Roy Black but denied Blacks request to participate in the examination of the records and also forbade prosecutors to release information concerning the records to anyone not involved in the state's investigation.
Black in the statement claimed the result as a victory, saying, "We are pleased that Judge Barkdull has agreed with our position that the state was not entitled to the wholesale seizure of Mr. Limbaugh's medical records. We are finally getting the judicial review of the records for relevancy that we have sought from the start."
Black also referred to the decision as a "positive result for all medical patients in Florida" saying it affirmed "our argument that the police cannot go on a fishing expedition through anyone's most private medical matters."
Allowing himself an opportunity to push matters further if the issue doesn't go his way, Black added, "We continue to believe that the search warrants were issued based on faulty and misleading statements from investigators and that the search was improper under both state and federal law. Nothing in Judge Barkdull's order prevents us from renewing our motion to suppress all of the records at a later date."
RNW comment: Like many of Limbaugh's own statements, his attorney's comments in our view spin the facts close to the point of untruth if not beyond it (in Black's case: In Limbaugh's we'd never trust anything he says without a cross check). Looking at our records of this case, Black has not been arguing for a "judicial review for relevancy" but to keep the records out of the case completely and thus presumably bury it whether or not the records -which we of course seized under a search warrant issued by the judge and not just grabbed by the authorities - show evidence of illegal behaviour.
We doubt very much whether Limbaugh in the past or now would in general take the same view of others' actions; from an initial reaction, which presumably Limbaugh would term "liberal", that drug addiction is frequently a case for medical treatment not incarceration unless laws other than those relating to purchase and possession of the drugs have been broken, we are tending to the "conservative" view that jailing the bum would be poetic justice should he indeed be shown to have broken other laws to obtain supplies.
Previous Limbaugh:
2005-06-26: Veteran Texan broadcaster Ron Chapman has retired aged 69 after 45 years on air in the state where he began on KLIF-AM in 1959 after a spell on WHAV-AM in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
He spent seven years on the station - then 1190-AM -under the name Irving Harrigan as part of the Charlie and Harrigan morning team and then had a brief spell on TV before returning to radio full time in 1969 on KVIL-FM.
He stayed there for 31 years, much of it heading the ratings, and then moved to Infinity's oldies format KLUV-FM station, for the rest of his career.
His last song on the show was Turn, Turn, Turn by The Byrds but before that phone lines to the show had been jammed by well wishers: Colleague Jody Dean, who takes over the slot on Monday and hosted the show solo after Chapman left around 9 a.m. read a letter from President Bush and quipped, "Boy, I feel like Joshua coming after Moses."
During his time on air Chapman had determinedly promoted Dallas-Forth Worth, which when he began were two separate cities and radio markets, and ensured Forth Worth got a fair share of the billing.
In recognition of his work Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief declared Friday "Ron Chapman Day." Moncrief read a proclamation calling Chapman as much a part of Fort Worth as our museums, stockyards and Sundance Square.
"This visionary and marketing genius," Moncrief told KLUV listeners, "was the first Dallas-based broadcaster to recognize and promote the combined strength of Fort Worth and Dallas as a major national market."
Previous Chapman:
Star-Telegram report:
2005-06-25: BBC World Service, taking inspiration it says from the Sonic Memorial Project in the USA in which after the attacks on September 11, 2001, asked listeners to contribute their sounds and stories about the World Trade Center (See RNW Jun 2, 2002), is launching The Tsunami Audio Memorial, an ambitious project aimed at creating a historic audio tribute to the areas affected.
It is asking people who live in the Southern Asian region affected by the tsunami, visited it or have family there, to contact them via a dedicated use in a series of programmes to be broadcast on the networks at the end of the year.
The Corporation says it hopes that the audio recordings it obtains will be found a home from which it will be accessible to anyone as a living memorial and Maria Balinska, Editor, World Programmes, BBC World Service said they hoped to "create a fitting tribute to those affected by the tsunami tragedy."
Previous BBC:
Tsunami Audio Memorial e-mail address:
2005-06-25: Austereo has extended the contract of its chief executive Michael Anderson for four years to the end of June 2009 after which he will be on a rolling 12-month contract.
The move comes ahead of anticipated changes to media regulations in the country that are expected to ease current tight cross-media ownership restrictions and he will be paid AUD 950,000 (USD 730,000) a year to start off rising to AUD 1 million (USD 770,000) a year on July 1, 2008: In addition he will be entitled, should the company meet board-approved earnings targets, to an additional AUD 200,000 (USD 154,000) on achieving the target and the same amount on top if it is 10% above target for any full financial year during the contract. In the latest financial year he was paid AUD 780,000 (USD 600,000).
Chairman Peter Harvie said the company was "delighted that Michael Anderson has extended his term as Chief Executive Officer as he brings unique skills to the challenge".
Austereo is a potential target for an acquisition under any easing of restrictions and also possibly a potential predator.
Previous Anderson:
Previous Austereo:
Previous Harvie:
2005-06-25: Thai community radio host and producer Anchalee Paireerak has given up her fight against the Thai government, which had closed down her station and web site, and is to leave the country to study abroad according to The Nation.
Her station was one of 17 community stations that the government had ordered closed last month saying they interfered with other radio stations and air traffic controllers.
Anchalee, who was well known for being critical of the government, told the paper the government had "been harassing us in every way" and added, "We've been picked on from the beginning."
She also noted that no action had been taken against another station, the 4000 watts 102.5 FM, owned by Traffic Corner Co Ltd whose major shareholder is the prime minister's sister Yaowapa Wongsawat.
Anchalee added that she was frightened for her life and had received a phone call from a "senior person" telling her to stay away from home.
"Yes, I fear for my life, because I still have parents and younger siblings to take care of," she said.
Suthas Ngernmuen, an adviser to the Thai parliament's House committee on justice, which had hear testimony from Anchalee about the shut-down of the station's website, told the paper he worried that she could "be disappeared" in a similar fashion to Somchai Neelapaijit, the Muslim lawyer who criticised police handling of a suspected Muslim terrorist case.
The Nation report:
2005-06-25: Chicago WGN-AM morning host Spike O'Dell's home has been gutted in a fire while the host and his family were vacationing on a cruise ship off Alaska according to the Chicago Tribune, which also owns WGN.
WGN vice president and general manager Thomas E. Langmyer said O'Dell's producer reached him by cellular telephone to tell him the bad news and the host's family made arrangements to return to Chicago.
Aurora Fire Marshal Jack Smith told the paper both floors of the O'Dell home were totally destroyed although the garage had survived.
WGN's web site says that although there was no loss of human life or injuries Spike's dog Otis died in the fire and carries a photo album of the dog.
Previous Langmyer:
Previous O'Dell:
Chicago Tribune report:
WGN Web site:
2005-06-25: Storms at Glastonbury took BBC Radio 1's live coverage of this year's Glastonbury Festival off air for more than an hour on Friday as the production tents was flooded and generators put out of action.
DJ Jo Whiley, who was to have been on the air called breakfast host Chris Moyles, who was broadcasting from the station's London studios, on her mobile phone and told him, "You can't see the ground. It's just like a river with a proper current and everything. As I'm looking out I can see the water rising."
Later she said that engineers had managed to get a generator going but had to balance it on a trestle table to keep it out of the water.
Pictures aired by BBC TV showed muddy streams flowing past tents on the site and lightning - one of the beer tents was hit but nobody was hurt.
Previous BBC:
Previous Moyles:
Previous Whiley:
2005-06-24: A Lexington, Kentucky, woman is suing Cumulus Media over a competition on WLTO-FM that she says breached a contract to pay her a radio contest prize of USD 100,000 by instead giving her a caramel-filled candy bar, Nestle's 100 Grand.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that in May night host DJ Slick said he wanted to thank people who listened throughout the American Idol finale by sponsoring a contest to "win 100 grand" and has said on his web log this was "no joke"
Norreasha Gill won by listening to the radio show throughout the night and being the 10th caller just before the Idol winner was announced.
She said she screamed over the airwaves and began describing what she would do with USD100,000 and added, "I just freaked out. I couldn't move, I was so afraid that the phone would click off. I was shaking. They congratulated me and told me I could pick it up the next morning."
She made promises of what she would buy to her children but when she arrived at Hot 102's studio the next morning, she was asked to return that night, when DJ Slick would be in the office. She later received a message from the station manager who explained that she had won a 100 Grand candy bar, not money but later, she said, offered her USD 5,000.
"I said I wanted $95,000 more," she said. "Nobody would watch and listen for two hours for a candy bar.
Her attorney Lee Van Horn told the paper she was treated "maliciously" and added, "The DJ knew this wasn't $100,000 and he led her to believe it was. "This was an incredibly cruel joke to play on her, especially on the air in front of so many people."
The paper says the DJ, who was not named in the lawsuit did not replay to an e-mail but said on his web site that he had left his job at the station and the station and Cumulus declined comment.
Previous Cumulus:
Herald-Leader report:
2005-06-24: The US Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the body that was set up in 1967 to shield public broadcasting from political influence and funnels federal subsidies to National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting System and public radio and TV stations, has named former Republican Party co-chairman and former Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Patricia S. Harrison as its new president and chief executive.
The appointment is controversial because recently appointed chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, another Republican, has been publicly critical of US public broadcasting for being too "liberal" and a number of Democrats had said that any appointee to the post of president should be seen as non-partisan.
Last week 20 House Democrats had urged delay in the appointment and said Harrison should not be under consideration, writing, "Under no circumstance should the president of the CPB be a former chair of a political party, be it Republican or Democrat. Our public media are not ideological pawns for political parties, and the CPB president must not be a partisan activist."
Also writing to Tomlinson in advance of the appointment a number of Democrat Senators including Byron Dorgan (North Dakota) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York) had commented, "We find it astonishing that Ms. Harrison, given her former prominence as a partisan political figure, would even be considered as a candidate for a job that demands that the occupant be non-political.''
Making the announcement Tomlinson paid tribute to executive search firm Spencer Stuart for conducting a comprehensive review of potential candidates for the position, saying, "They reached out to over 200 people and had extensive discussions with more than 80 contacts. Over 50 diversity profiles were developed and eleven diversity candidates were reviewed by the committee."
A CPB three-member search committee, comprising current and former Chairs, Katherine Anderson, Frank Cruz, and Ken Tomlinson, reviewed 23 prospective candidates over the course of four committee meetings and the entire CPB board conducted interviews with four finalists.
Harrison herself said in a statement, "I am pleased to join with the Board and all stakeholders in the future success of public broadcasting" and also vowed to join with public broadcast leaders to restore USD 100 million congressional cuts made to the CPB's budget (RNW note: The House later on Thursday voted by 284-140 to restore the funding).
RNW comment: Time will tell whether Democrat criticism of this appointment prove to be justified in practice although the record of the current US administration to foreign eyes seems to have little time for even handedness and fair play and as a matter of general principle it does seem wise to us that a post in an organisation that is supposed to be non-partisan should only go to a party-political figure after very careful scrutiny.
Should there be overt pressures we are tending towards the view that the larger public broadcasters, who in percentage terms rely least on public funding, should tell the CPB and its executive very clearly where to stick themselves and forgo the funds: For public broadcasters in rural areas however this could be much more problematical and there is no obvious short-term answer for them.
Previous CPB:
2005-06-24: The BBC has introduced new guidelines for its editorial staff that include changes made in the wake of criticism of its journalism in the run-up to the war in Iraq.
For the first time it is openly putting accuracy above speed and it is also to introduce use of a delay system for live broadcasts of what it terms "sensitive and challenging events, such as the school siege at Beslan."
Commenting in a news release BBC Controller of Editorial Policy Stephen Whittle said, "The Guidelines are part of our contract with our audiences. These are our editorial ethics and values and the standards we set for ourselves. We intend to live and be judged by them."
The standards are to be distributed internally and to independent programme supplies in book form and have also been posted on the Internet. They replace the BBC's former Producer Guidelines and include advice on standards including accuracy, impartiality, politics, elections, fairness, harm and offence and the welfare of children."
In a foreword BBC Director General Mark Thompson comments, "In a perfect world, the BBC Editorial Guidelines would consist of one sentence: use your own best judgement."
"No set of rules or guidelines," he continues, "can ever replace the need for producers, editors and managers to use the wisdom that comes form experience, commonsense and a clear set of editorial and ethical values when confronted with difficult editorial challenges…What makes these guidelines so valuable is that they are a distillation of exactly that - the experience, commonsense and values of BBC practitioners built up over many years. Not abstract or theoretical, but based on real cases and the lessons learned from real successes and real failures."
Previous BBC:
Previous Thompson:
Previous Whittle:
BBC Guidelines web site:
2005-06-24: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has announced a run of approvals of new stations including three new commercial FMs for the Ottawa, Ontario/Gatineau, Quebec market,
These were a 5,200 watts English-language Alternative Rock format FM and a 2960 watts English-language adult standards/easy listening FM in Ottawa; A French-language pop/rock and urban FM radio station in Gatineau with a main 1750 watts transmitter and also a 250 watts transmitter in Gatineau (Buckingham sector);
It also approved a new Low-power English-language tourist information service in Ottawa subject to a suitable frequency being found.
The CRTC has also ruled that two broadcasts of the programme Bonjour Montréal on CKAC-AM, Montréal, in 2003 and 2004 infringed Canada's Radio Regulations, 1986, which prohibits the broadcasting of abusive comments. It also found they contravened the objectives of the Broadcasting Policy for Canada articulated in the Broadcasting Act, including stipulations that the programming should be of high standard.
The station was owned at the time by Astral and is now owned by a Corus subsidiary.
The CRTC first received a complaint in October 2003 from the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) alleging that a guest of the show, psychiatrist Pierre Mailloux (better known as "Doc Mailloux"), had made racist comments about Black people in a broadcast the previous month.
It forwarded the complaint to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC), of which CKAC is a member but CRARR asked to have the Commission rather than the CBSC deal with the complaint and subsequently in February 2004 filed a second complaint about further remarks made by Mailloux that the CRARR said were "discriminatory, racist comments about Black people."
In the case of the first broadcast CRARR referred to comments allegedly uttered by Doc Mailloux saying, "Blacks were born less intelligent than Whites, and that accounts for their poverty and high unemployment rate."
The station had responded by saying that the comments were not unbiased but submitted that taken in context they did not contravene regulations and were not racist. It provided a transcript of the conversation with host Paul Arcand, who had expressed scepticism.
Mailloux refers to an "artificial selection" of blacks in the US and added, "…the strongest have been chosen to work on plantations and the brightest did not procreate or were killed. Therefore, what was the result? Well it resulted in a physical superiority that we can easily notice in sports in America. Blacks have almost everything … regarding performance in many sports, and a slight intellectual disadvantage that adversely affects employment. It's not me that is saying this, and I'm not saying this in contempt either. Studies have been conducted on large groups. That doesn't mean that there are no bright people amongst Blacks. But as a group, they are disadvantaged in that regard."
He also referred to laziness problem " among black men but not black women.
In relation to the second broadcast CRARR referred to comments made by Mailloux about the Super Bowl show brief exposure of one of Janet Jackson's breasts and said the conduct was "typical of African or Black people, who do not know how to behave even though they left Africa many years ago" and also that "these people should be sent back to Africa for carrying on that way."
The licensee responded by saying the comments referred to members of the Jackson family but recognized that the comments were decidedly racist, apologized and said it had decided to drop Doc Mailloux's discussions from the programme.
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Previous Mailloux:
2005-06-24: DMG Australia, which earlier this month announced that it was hiring ABC breakfast presenter Angela Catterns to host the breakfast show on its new Sydney station (See RNW Jun 11) has now hired another ABC breakfast show member.
Tony Squires, who has a regular guest spot on the ABC 702 breakfast show, is to get his own show on the new DMG station where he will be joined by his former ABC TV colleague Rebecca Wilson.
Previous DMG:
2005-06-24: For the second time in two years the authorities have closed down Vermont community station radio free brattleboro and seized its broadcasting equipment.
The 10-watt station has been broadcasting without a licence and after the first Federal Communications Commission (FCC) shut-down in June 2003 resumed broadcasts after collecting signatures of support - and funds - from some 2000 local residents (See RNW Aug 24, 2003).
The FCC again ordered a closedown but the station obtained a stay of execution from US District Court Judge J. Garvan Murtha who asked for further information from both sides - the station was seeking an injunction to stop the FCC seizing its equipment and the FCC was calling for an immediate shutdown (See RNW Jun 10, 2004).
In a news release on its web site the station claims that the latest action by the FCC, made using a warrant issued in Burlington, took place while an action was still pending before Judge Murtha.
It says that in April this year it received a letter from the U.S. Attorney's office in Burlington stating that the FCC was "prepared to pursue other law enforcement remedies" in this case and had responded that it has continued operating because the FCC's complaint to the court has yet to receive a ruling either on the preliminary or permanent injunctions.
rfb attorney James Maxwell is quoted as saying, "Radio free brattleboro has a case with substantial and legitimate legal issues pending in the federal court here in Brattleboro, and the station has also applied to the FCC for a waiver to broadcast, and it has repeatedly stated that when the newly licensed 100-watt station is up and running it would step aside. rfb does not operate in defiance of government but rather from the belief of its members and listeners that community radio is essential to good government and democratic process."
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2005-06-23: XM Satellite radio says it is to offer the most comprehensive cover of the "Live 8" concerts round the world on July 8 with cover of the concerts in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and Philadelphia.
Its Executive Vice President of Programming Eric Logan commented, "Live 8 is that rare, global event that unites under a common cause an extraordinary line-up of talented musical artists from diverse genres and we are honoured to be the exclusive satellite radio broadcaster for this event…The millions of XM listeners who won't be able to attend this historic musical event will still have the opportunity to experience all of the excitement and, of course, hear all that great music."
Cover of the concerts will come courtesy of America Online, which is the primary North American media partner and exclusive online broadcaster for Live 8: As well as XM it has also licensed cover of the event to Clear Channel's syndication arm Premiere Networks, which will prove at least two formatted feeds - rock and pop - plus live backstage coverage and performer interviews from Philadelphia and London and to Viacom-owned MTV Networks.
As well as the main concerts extra concerts have also been added in Barrie, Ontario, in Canada, Johannesburg, Tokyo and the Eden Project in Cornwall, with a further concert on July 6 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh in Scotland for which Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) has the commercial radio rights.
The concert in Cornwall - Africa Calling - was set up after criticism that original plans had ignored artists from Africa apart from Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour.
N'Dour and British artist Peter Gabriel - who has championed world music for the past 25 years, and is the co-founder of the word music body Womad - were the driving force behind the Cornish concert that will be broadcast by BBC Radio 3. BBC Radio 1 will carry the London Concert.
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Previous Premiere:
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2005-06-23: In a total of four cases the US Federal Communications Commission ( FCC) has levied penalties of USD 44,000 for various offences.
The highest penalty went to Vector Communications, which had failed to respond to a notice of apparent liability (NAL) for USD 20,000 for repeated failure to exhibit red obstruction lighting on three antenna structures used for WCFI-AM, Ocala, Florida.
Two USD 10,000 penalties were also imposed, one on Mega Communications of Tampa, Florida, for failing to comply with prescribed antenna structure painting and lighting specifications and the other on Arkansas man, Scottie E. Kennedy of Greenbriar, for operating a transmitter on a marine radio channel without a licence. Neither had responded to NALs.
In Connecticut, a penalty of USD 4,000 was imposed on Clear Channel's WKSS-FM, Hartford-Meriden, for failing to broadcast full and accurate details of a contest it had run.
In promoting the "I Do Island" competition patterned after the "Survivor" TV Series, the station had, according to the winner, said the prize would be a USD 35,000 "Wedding Package."
She said that after winning she had been told that the station staff told her that within a fortnight she would receive all the information needed to collect the prizes.
She said she had still not received the information after three months and the station ultimately informed her the prizes awarded were worth only USD 20,330.
In response to the complaint Clear Channel had said that promotions "described the ["I Do Island"] contest prize as an 'ultimate wedding package' worth approximately USD 30,000" but admitted the value of the prized had only been USD 20,330.
In a response to a further enquiry it later responded and said that the promotion "did not mention the approximate value of the prize package."
In both responses, said the FCC, it was argued that the Station complied with the contest rules and that it took several corrective actions to ensure that the complainant was treated fairly and specifically noted that it offered to host a wedding rehearsal dinner and to supply a photographer for the complainant's wedding as additional prizes in order to increase the value of the prize package. It said the complainant allegedly refused to accept those additional prizes but had accepted a payment of USD 5,000 in full settlement of her complaints.
In assessing the forfeiture amount, the FCC said that although Clear Channel's substantial revenues and previous rule violations ordinarily would warrant a penalty above the USD 4,000 base amount in this case it believed "that a USD 4,000 forfeiture is appropriate because of the "licensee's good-faith efforts to remedy the situation prior to our initiation of this investigation."
RNW comment: So let's do a little maths and accept the USD 30,000 figure not the higher one and not factor in anything for the delays.
If the prizes were worth USD 20,330 and it ended up paying an additional USD 5,000, the USD 4,000 only takes the total cost up to USD 29,330. That to us is no penalty - the logic is similar to ruling that were any Clear Channel employee to be found stealing from the company there would be no question of a criminal case if repayment of 98% of the amount taken were to be refunded.
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2005-06-23: Indian broadcasters attending Radio Mirchi's second annual Radio Works seminar in Mumbai (Bombay) have been told that radio in the country is where it was in the UK 12 years ago and can increase its share of the advertising pie five-fold.
The latter comment came in the seminar's opening address by Madison Media Group CEO Punita Arumugam who noted that in India radio only had 2-3% of total advert expenditures compared to 10-15% globally.
She also noted much lower listening in India citing a recent survey by NOP World that showed while Indians spend approximately four hours listening to the radio in a week, countries like Argentina and Brazil have people listening to the radio for almost 17 - 20 hours in a week. "It is time we bring radio in our country to the world standards," she commented.
Jo McCrostie and Chris Taylor from UK GCap Media - also addressed the seminar on "Creativity & Effectiveness in Radio Advertising."
McCrostie, who is G-CAP's group head of commercial production, said an effective radio advert depended on "A great idea, well crafted, that engages the audience and works" adding that the "idea is absolutely everything in radio."
She listed the essential elements of an effective radio advert, not just the techniques such as storytelling and engaging a listener but also selling the benefit of the product and emphasised the importance of making it relevant to the listener.
McCrostie also noted research on the "multiplier" effect of radio conducted by the UK Radio Advertising Bureau that showed redeployment of 10% of a TV campaign budget to radio increased awareness on average by 15%.
Taylor emphasised the need to prepare properly for an advert, commenting that most of the hard work should be done before getting to the studio stage.
Previous Indian Radio:
Previous Entertainment Network (India) Limited (