September 2005 Archive
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October 2005-
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RNW September comment - Looks at what was and - more importantly - didn't seem to be on the agenda at the 2005 NAB Radio Show.
RNW August comment - Could making choices too easy lead to narrower minds? We wonder what the effect of technology that makes it easy to listen to just what you "want" could have a wider effect in narowing minds and also affect broadcasters, who cannot narrow down to the same degree.
RNW July comment - Considers the issue of payola and why it should matter - and apply beyond music to giving information about payments for other air time.
2005-09-30: Emmis has reported net revenues for its second quarter to the end of August up 11% to USD 107.9 million excluding its TV stations, which have been classified as discontinued operations as it continues with its sale of them. If TV revenues are included the net revenue figure increases to UISD 168.1 million. Pro forma radio net revenues (including WLUP-FM and the Emmis radio network in Slovakia) increased 4%.
In the latest TV sale Emmis is raising USD 259 million from affiliates of the Blackstone Group and the SJL Broadcast Group who have agreed to buy four stations - KOIN-TV (Ch. 6, CBS affiliate) in Portland, Ore.; KHON-TV (Ch. 2, Fox affiliate) in Honolulu, KSNW-TV (Ch. 3, NBC affiliate) in Wichita, Kansas; and KSNT-TV (Ch. 27, NBC affiliate) in Topeka, Kansas.
Emmis's reported radio net revenues for the quarter were up 11% to USD 87.1 million and its publishing revenues were up 10% to USD 20.8 million.
Overall Emmis reported net income of USD 8.4 million for the quarter, only a little above half the USD 15.3 million a year earlier: Diluted net income per common share was USD 0.15, compared to USD 0.23 for the same quarter of the prior year, a decrease the company puts down to higher interest expense resulting from debt incurred to effectuate the company's Dutch Auction stock repurchase in June 2005.
Looking ahead it says it expects third quarter radio net revenues to be up 5-6% and its station operating expenses, excluding non-cash compensation, to be up 3-4%.
Commenting on the results Chairman and CEO Jeff Smulyan said, "We're encouraged with how strong the quarter finished for our radio stations, which outperformed their markets for the sixth straight quarter. As we continue to focus on operations, the disposition of our TV assets continues. The sale of 9 of our 16 stations will result in proceeds that exceed expectations."
At the company's conference call, the question of an Emmis return to baseball ownership was raised and Smulyan, describing a deal to acquire the Washington Nationals baseball team from Major League Baseball as "quite speculative" said that if it were successful Emmis would invest up to USD 100 million in the venture and form a new subsidiary for the team holdings.
In Canada Toronto-headquartered Corus in an update says it will exceed its consolidated free cash flow target of CAD 60 million (USD 51.2 million) and will achieve its EBITDA guidance for fiscal year ending August 31, 2005.
President and CEO John Cassaday said in a statement, "Corus has just completed a very successful year in which we achieved all of our financial guidance targets. For fiscal year 2006, we are targeting free cash flow of between CAD 70 to CAD 85 million (USD 59.8 to 68.1 million) and consolidated EBITDA of between CAD 210 and CAD 220 million (USD 179-188 million)."
Previous Cassaday:
Previous Corus:
Previous Emmis:
Previous Smulyan:
2005-09-30: Preparations for a marketing blitz by Sirius Satellite Radio to sell more subscriptions in the run up to Christmas based on the arrival of Howard Stern with the satellite radio provider in January, have created some 700 jobs in Canada according to the Nova Scotia Chronicle-Herald.
Stern's channels have just launched on Sirius. albeit silent and without the host himself - they began with silence and a scrolling message of saying,"We’re building towards Howard’s arrival in January."
It reports that the Stream call centre in Cape Breton, which signed a deal with Sirius earlier this year, is looking to fill 300 full time and 400 part-time jobs to handle its contract with Sirius.
Katherin Dockerill, senior vice-president of marketing and business strategy at Stream's head office in Texas, told The Chronicle Herald that the new contract with Sirius secures the future operation of Stream's Glace Bay call centre, which already employs 900.
"With this additional contract, we'll be at a steady state of 1,200 workers, so we're not going anywhere for a long period of time," she said.
"It wasn't that long ago that we lost a significant contract," Dockerill recalled of an American company's pullout last year that threatened Stream's entire Nova Scotia operation. "We were pretty concerned," she said. "But the more diverse the accounts, the better the site. We have several contracts in place now, so this site doesn't get jeopardized by one client."
Dockerill said workers would be trained to handle Sirius complaints or irate customers or to offer computer technical support. Workers will also help launch a Sirius promotional blitz encouraging the public to buy portable satellite receivers this Christmas to tap into commercial-free music and sports radio programming.
Previous Sirius:
Previous Stern:
Chronicle-Herald report:
2005-09-30: According to a report in law.com Florida prosecutors who have asked to be allowed to subpoena radio host Rush Limbaugh's personal physician, Dr. John Murray, and Murray's employees for testimony in connection with Limbaugh's alleged doctor shopping to obtain prescription painkiller drugs (See RNW Sep 28) are said to be looking for a signed statement from Limbaugh to Dr. Murray promising that if the doctor prescribed painkillers for him, including Oxycontin, in quantities sufficient to control his pain, Limbaugh would not try to obtain more prescription pills from other doctors.
The report cites an unnamed source close to the investigation and says many doctors insist on this type of signed letter from patients before prescribing powerful, addictive drugs such as OxyContin: In Limbaugh's case the prosecutors allege that Limbaugh also obtained drugs from other doctors as well.
Last month Circuit Judge Kenneth Stern, standing in for District Judge Thomas Barkdull quashed a subpoena for testimony from Limbaugh's doctors and ordered prosecutors not to communicate with Murray or any other of Limbaugh's doctors without proper notice and a hearing beforehand (See RNW Aug 18).
RNW comment: Should the prosecutors be able to produce evidence that Limbaugh signed a letter or letters that gained him prescriptions on the basis that he would not try to more prescriptions from other doctors and then did so, it would appear to a layman that this would be a pretty open-and-shut case. However Limbaugh has ample resources to keep fighting the points so we don't expect any speedy resolution of the matter even if Barkdull allows the subpoena.
Previous Limbaugh:
Law.com report:
2005-09-29: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has made a new offer to the Canadian Media Guild in an attempt to settle the lockout of staff that is now in its seventh week.
It says the offer "contains significant compromise on the key issues in an effort to end the current labour disruption and conclude a collective agreement."
"Our offer," it said, "includes considerable movement on the key issues - Contract Employees and Workforce Adjustment. It also includes further standardization of hours of work and improved overtime provisions for some employees, continuation of the long-service gratuity for current permanent employees, implementation of Job Evaluation and a generous monetary package for employees in addition to numerous positive developments that have been negotiated."
Amongst the prime details are a 3% pay increase on ratification followed by increases of 2% in April next year then 2.5% in April 2007 and 2008 and an offer to restrict the total number of contract positions to a maximum of 90 additional contract positions per year.
It is also to offer contract employees a full pension after two years of service on par with permanent full time employees and the ability for existing contract employees to retroactively buy back eligible service if they opt to join the pension plan.
So far no statement has been issued by the CMG but before the offer was made had said she remained unimpressed with the CBC position, saying it had "made no substantive movement on its positions on employment status or on layoff and recall provisions."
"Management," she then said, "has also refused to move away from its proposal that would allow it to engage more and more contract employees at the expense of permanent jobs. Management's position is virtually the same as it held before it imposed the lockout."
Previous CBC:
2005-09-29: Britain's largest radio company GCap Media has warned in a trading update that its revenues in the quarter to the end of this month will be down 8% on a year earlier; the company's revenues were down 11% year-on-year in the previous quarter and GCap says that for the six months its like-for-like revenues will be down 9%.
GCap said trading in the six months "continued to be affected by weak consumer confidence and low spends from key advertisers" but added, "October trading is currently looking slightly better."
Overall it said, "Before taking account of the additional costs and benefits outlined above in the current financial year, the Group continues to trade in line with the Board's previous expectations. However, visibility remains limited and we remain cautious about prospects for the October to December quarter."
GCap, which earlier this month had announced that former Capital Radio chief executive David Mansfield was to leave the company and be replaced as GCap chief executive by executive chairman Ralph Bernard, also announced the departure of two former Capital executives.
They are Commercial Director Linda Smith and Operations Director Paul Davies who, like Mansfield, are leaving the company but will remain with it in the short term "to facilitate a full handover of responsibilities and further assist in the integration process."
Following their decision to leave, GCap says it has changed its senior management structure with Operations Director Steve Orchard now taking responsibility for all operational aspects of the business including content and commercial areas: Duncan George, Managing Director of National Sales, will report to Orchard, and will oversee the Group's commercial activities pending the announcement of the appointment of a Commercial Director.
Although revenues have lagged GCap said it would make more savings than anticipated from the merger of Capital Radio and GWR and has revised its previous estimate of GBP 7.5 million (USD 13.2 million) in annual savings to GBP 25 million (USD 44 million).
It said in a statement, "These synergies will be realised in full in the year to March 2007, and we expect that around GBP 8 million (USD 14 million) of gross cost savings will be achieved in the current financial year. In line with the initial announcement on merger synergies, the majority of savings relate to staff costs as the Board introduces a clearer management structure designed to speed up decision-making processes and eliminate duplication."
GCap also announced that it was to invest some of the savings back in the business - around GBP 2 million (USD 3.5 million) in the current financial year and around GBP 7 million (USD 12.3 million) in the 2007 financial year. It said that it estimated that "further one-off costs of approximately GBP 7 million, mainly in the current financial year, will be incurred to achieve these additional synergies. This brings the total cost of achieving all merger synergies to GBP 18 million (USD 31.7 million)."
Chief Executive Ralph Bernard said of the announcements that the company had carried out a "thorough review of the cost base of the company" since the merger took effect and were thus able to announce the "potential for significant further cost savings."
"In addition to enhancing the benefits for shareholders," he added, "we are also investing in our analogue assets to attract more listeners and create value for advertisers whilst prudently investing in our digital future. Although current trading conditions remain difficult, we are taking the right steps to counter this and to position the business in the best way for the future."
Asked at a presentation to analysts if GWR executives had staged a takeover of the company he denied this and said that the company had chosen the best team from those available from both previous companies and that the departure of Mansfield was linked to the decision by Davies and Smith to leave the company but it had been their own choice and entirely "amicable."
Finance director Wendy Pallot said half the savings to be made were coming from the company's stations and the rest from combining head offices and sales teams and other operations: She added that less then 100 jobs would be lost -GCap has already reduced its workforce by 200 since the merger and now employs just fewer than 1400 people.
In an interview with the UK Guardian before the release of the update, Bernard suggested that "95.8 Capital Radio" might revert to its original "Capital Radio" name and also sketched out some of his company's digital strategy, saying the first priority was to "get our product in shape to challenge the BBC" and noting, "We need more challenging digital products. We are always experimenting."
GCap is already launching new music stations - two of the latest are a jazz station "Ella" (after Ella Fitzgerald) that has been launched on the Essex and Reading local digital multiplexes and Chill, a youth station being tried out in London - and Bernard told the paper he also thought there was "scope for speech."
"It's been the preserve of the BBC, and they do it brilliantly," he said. "I would love to do it on commercial radio. Whether it could be comedy, I just don't know."
Bernard also re-iterated previous statements that GCap would sue were UK regulator Ofcom to decide to licence additional rival national radio multiplexes to the current sole multiplex - Digital One in which GCap has a 63% holding.
"We have no choice, there isn't an appeals process. I hope it won't come to it," he told the paper.
"We have put in a strong case. I think there is an acknowledgement within Ofcom of the moral position. The company was given firm encouragement to invest and an exclusive licence for 24 years. We've spent the best part of £27m, and it is costing GCap £10m a year."
Initial market reactions to the report of additional savings sent GCap shares up 18% to GBP 3.28 but they later fell back to end the day up a little under 14% at GBP3.1575
Previous Bernard:
Previous Davies:
Previous GCap:
Previous Orchard:
UK Guardian -Bernard interview:
2005-09-29: US Broadcasting complaints, which had fallen dramatically in the first quarter of this year to half the level of the final quarter of 2004 (See RNW Aug 16) fell even more dramatically in the second quarter according to the latest figures released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
These show Radio and Television Broadcasting complaints down from 157,650 in the 1st quarter to 6,429 in the 2nd quarter; Cable and Satellite Services complaints were also down, falling from 718 in the 1st quarter to 191 in the 2nd quarter with the biggest decrease occurred in the Programming category, where complaints fell from 502 to 37.
As in previous periods indecency-related complaints were the massive majority of broadcast complaints totalling 6,161, evenly spread month by month, whilst general criticism accounted for only 234 complaints over the quarter- down from 555, accessibility issues for 13- down from 16, and other matters for 21- down from 63.
Previous FCC:
Previous FCC complaints figures:
2005-09-29: Quebec radio host Dr. Pierre Mailloux, who has been previously found to have breached Canadian regulations, most recently with comments about Sikhs (See RNW Apr 1) and blacks (See RNW Jun 24), is in hot water again following comments on a TV show saying that blacks have lower IQs than other people.
Mailloux said he based the comments on US studies but was unable to name them when he made the comment.
Dan Philip, head of the Black Coalition of Quebec, and Jean Dorion, of the sovereignist Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste have said that they will complain to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC): They say the CRTC should threaten broadcasters with the loss of their licences if they air such comments.
They also want the Quebec College of Physicians to investigate in the hope Mailloux will be sanctioned or have his licence taken away.
Previous Mailloux:
Toronto Star/Canadian Press report:
2005-09-29: The BBC's international radio and online division has launched its biggest-ever online marketing campaign in an attempt to promote the bbcnews.com web site in Europe and the USA.
The campaign, which will run for six months, targets the "inquisitives" who are mainly grabbing short bursts of time from their bosses by going online at work.
The BBC says it deploys innovative approaches to creative and media, including relationships with messenger services - bbcnews.com headlines will be built into both MSN Messenger and ICQ instant messaging service infrastructure, including dynamic desktop alerts -and RSS feeds direct from the BBC's news site.
The MSN Messenger alert service will run in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and will be additionally promoted on the MSN network in these markets. The ICQ alerts will be available to the US audience, and will be promoted on ICQ inventory in this market as well.
Agency Republic, which is handling the campaign, says it has created a 'News Flash Module' which enables the BBC to instantly update rich media overlay and standard banner advertising creative with bespoke messaging and imagery by utilising integrated Atlas Rich Media and has brought together the leaders in ad-serving technology and web-metrics - Atlas and Neilsen - to deliver what it terms "the world's first definitive online campaign measurement solution."
Gavin Marshall, BBC Business Director at Agency Republic, said: "This is by far the most innovative campaign that we have ever run for the bbcnews.com site. The rich interactivity of the creative, the innovation in media and partnerships and the definitive measurement solution will make sure that this campaign sets a new global standard in effective online advertising."
Previous BBC:
2005-09-29: There is more bad news for radio in a study by Yahoo and OMD of the media usage of 13-24 year olds in 11 countries that shows a keen demand for personalization and that the Internet has now overtaken broadcast radio as "the preferred medium for music among youth in all countries."
The study - "From 'My Generation' to 'My Media Generation'" - says the preference for the Internet is greater outside the US - "among American youth, 47 percent prefer the Internet for music compared to 27 percent that prefer the radio. In many other countries, approximately 60 percent of youth prefer the Internet for music compared to 20 percent that prefer the radio."
It says, "Youth's use of interactive and wireless technologies has created a global generation highly accustomed to personalizing their experiences with interactive media. This so-called "My Media Generation," driven by a desire to personalize their media, has given rise to very different attitudes and responses toward advertising and marketing messages."
…" What really sets today's youth apart is the expectation that they can customize and personalize everything in their world and daily experiences in ways previous generations never could. From individual play lists on MP3 players to personalized avatar wardrobes on instant messaging programs, to wallpaper and ring tones on mobile phones, the My Media Generation demands products and services that suit their moods and desires. And, they will actively search for, modify, or create their own tailored products and services."
It comments, "My Media Generation's three core needs: community, self-expression, and personalization, are best met through music, the Internet, and mobile devices. Traditional media (television, radio, and print), are still heavily used by this generation, serving vital but increasingly niche functions."
The report is also potentially bad news for many advertisers as it says that "as advertising channels become more personal, receptivity to seeing or hearing advertising through that channel decreases" although it adds, "Advertising in traditional media is generally considered more acceptable to youth than advertising in new media channels."
There were exceptions, however, and the report says 63% of Indian youth agree that it is okay to see advertising on web sites, while only 51-52% found advertising acceptable on outdoor, movie theatres or radio.
The study also reports on multi-tasking and Joe Uva, president and CEO, OMD Worldwide says, "A key finding from this study is that members of the My Media Generation can fit up to 44 hours of activities in just one day. Their ability to perform up to three tasks simultaneously, using multiple technologies, allows them to potentially increase their media consumption during their average waking hours. Combine this with the demand for personalization, and there's a clear message for marketers on the need to personalize and possibly increase the frequency of their messages in order to reach today's youth."
RNW comment: From those we know, they may be doing three or four things at a time but much of the information, to use an old phrase, goes straight in one ear and out of the other.
In fact as we write this, we have one digital radio channel and one Internet audio channel on but wouldn't claim to be really listening to either so much as keeping an ear out for particular elements of interest.
This pattern seems to be borne out by another line in the report that says TV is "frequently on in the background" - not so much cramming 44 hours of "activity" as multi-level little attention?
2005-09-29: The Australian Commercial Radio industry has named eight finalists - chosen based on their commercial radio potential by a panel of radio network program and music directors - in its New Artists to Radio (NA2R) showcase, formerly the New Music to Radio (NM2R) showcase when it was launched in 2002.
It was initially a joint effort between the commercial radio industry and the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA), as part of the Australian Music Development Initiative (AMDI) but last year it was run solely by the Australian commercial radio industry through industry body Commercial Radio Australia, although with the same aim of supporting emerging talent and enabling it to connect with and be exposed to commercial radio decision makers.
This year's eight finalists will initially perform to commercial radio programmers and music directors at a closed session at the annual National Radio Conference in Sydney on October 14 at which four artists will be selected for the next stage.
Those chosen will perform to around 300 senior members of the commercial radio industry at a special event that evening at the Sydney Convention Centre on October 14 and a winning artists will then be invited to perform to over 800 members of the commercial radio and music industries the following night at the 2005 Australian Commercial Radio Awards.
The artists chosen are After The Fall; Clint Crighton; Dead Day Sun; Faker; FiggKidd; Jake Nickolai; and The White Room.
Previous Commercial Radio Australia:
2005-09-28: XM satellite radio says it has now topped five million subscribers and is on track to top six million by the end of the year.
XM Satellite Radio President and CEO Hugh Panero said the figures showed XM continuing to "to expand its position as the leader in the satellite radio industry and added, "Consumers are choosing XM because we offer the most choices, including the most commercial-free music and live sporting events, and the most advanced technology."
"With the winning combination of outstanding new channels and breakthrough products in advance of the holiday season," he said, "XM is poised for record growth during the fourth quarter."
Previous Panero:
Previous XM:
2005-09-28: UK Emap in a trading update says group revenues for the six months to the end of September up 5% on a year earlier with underlying group revenues up 1%: Radio it says will leave the way with total revenues, helped by its acquisition of SRH, up 9% underlying and 20% overall (up 2% excluding SRH).
Of its other divisions it expects UK Consumer Magazines revenues up 5% (3% underlying) but those in France to remain flat (down 4% underlying); Consumer Magazines - International down 6% (up 9% underlying); TV down 2% (down 2% underlying); and Business-to-Business up 13% (up 3% underlying)
Regarding radio it notes that revenues are expected to outperform the market in the first half of the year and says National airtime is up 6%, reflecting Emap's ability to reach wider audiences than its competitors, primarily through its digital offering, whilst local airtime experienced a 9% decline.
It adds that during the period it successfully completed the acquisition of SRH and comments, "The Emap Radio strategy is based on strong local brands, wide distribution, and outstanding, award winning, content. The addition of these stations strengthens Emap on all three of these criteria and creates an even stronger independent local radio business reaching all of the major conurbations in the UK. The new business has a 23% share of UK commercial listening hours and a strong position in the Republic of Ireland. The integration of the new stations into Emap is going well. Emap Advertising is now selling national advertising opportunities across all Emap owned radio stations."
Looking ahead, Emap says it remains on target for the full year and noted that Forward bookings for radio airtime are "reasonable"
Previous Emap
2005-09-28: Florida prosecutors who are investigating talk host Rush Limbaugh in connection with his use of prescription painkillers and suggestions of doctor shopping - he is alleged to have illegally deceived multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions for painkillers - have filed a motion to subpoena the host's doctors and their employees.
Assistant State Attorney James Martz said he would ask the witnesses only about matters relating to their investigation of Limbaugh's possible "doctor shopping.''
Prosecutors believe Limbaugh illegally deceived multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions for painkillers. He has not been charged with any crime.
Limbaugh's lawyers, who are opposing the move, have so far lost their argument in the courts that seizure of the host's records violated his privacy.
Previous Limbaugh:
South Florida Sun-Sentinel/Associated Press report:
2005-09-28: The Board of Directors of the US Corporation for Public Broadcasters (CPB) has elected Cheryl Halpern and Gay Hart Gaines to one-year terms as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the nine-member board.
Halpern takes over from Kenneth Y. Tomlinson who had been CPB chair for two years during which he had been at the centre of controversy over his accusations that public broadcasting in the US was biased to the left and needed to be more balanced and for spending money on studies of the political leanings of guests on some Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) programmes (See RNW Jul 29).
Before she was appointed to the CPB Halpern had been a member of the Board for International Broadcasting and as a director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, posts to which she was appointed in 1990, and from 1995 to 2002 she served on the Broadcasting Board of Governors overseeing Voice of America, Radio and TV Marti, RFE/RL, Worldnet, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Iraq.
Both Halpen and Haines are Republicans appointed to the board by President Bush and between them their families have contributed almost a million dollars to the Republican Party.
Previous CPB:
Previous Tomlinson:
2005-09-28: A judge has denied Clear Channel's request to dismiss claims against its WHJY-FM, Rhode Island, for damages relating to deaths and injuries in the February 2003 fire at the Station nightclub that killed 100 people: Clear Channel had denied responsibility saying it was not the promoter, sponsor or promoter of the event, did not hire the band, sell tickets, build the building, or look at the contract for the event. It simply accepted advertising for the event from the club owners. (See RNW Mar 12, 2003).
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 146 survivors and 80 victims' families names the radio station as one of 46 defendants, saying that WHJY advertised the concert, hung a banner outside the nightclub inviting people to "party with WHJY," gave out free tickets and took part in other promotional activities.
In his decision Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux wrote, "To the extent that plaintiffs can establish that WHJY had control over the planning and operation of the concert, then the court can find that WHJY . . . failed to take any steps to prevent the ignition of the fireworks inside the small and crowded nightclub," Lagueux said in a decision written Thursday.
He also noted that the lawsuit claimed that WHJY was familiar with Great White, the band performing that night, and knew or should have known that it used illegal fireworks in previous shows.
Previous Clear Channel:
Boston Globe/Associated Press report:
2005-09-27: Canada's Labour Minister Joe Fontana has said that both sides in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) dispute have shown "willingness" to resolve the differences that led to a lockout of CBC staff seven weeks ago but no details have come out of any movement in positions that is likely to lead to a speedy settlement.
In a statement the minister said he and other cabinet ministers had been "inundated" with complaints from people fed up about the lockout and added, "Canadians are starting to question the need for a public broadcaster."
Fontana said he expected the two sides to find "common ground" without delay and commented, "Fifty-five hundred people have now been on the street for 43 days and Canadians have been deprived of the service to which they are entitled, because your committees can't reach a compromise. This is simply unacceptable… You all need to keep in mind that the CBC is a public institution, not the private playground of the union and management."
After meeting both sides, he said in another statement, "Both parties have demonstrated a willingness to resolve this dispute. They have agreed, at my invitation, to remain in the building and resume negotiations on the remaining issues with the assistance of our mediator and the Director General of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Labour Program. I will be meeting jointly with the parties later today to get a status of their talks."
Fontana instructed Elizabeth MacPherson, head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, to join the talks and push the two sides into agreement.
Both the union and management sides issues statements welcoming the minister's involvement and hoping that it would lead to a speedy settlement.
A statement from the CBC said, "The Corporation hopes the Minister's initiative provides the impetus needed to move toward reaching an agreement that not only reflects the business realities and requirements of the broadcasting world, but at the same time respects the career aspirations of its employees."
Previous CBC:
2005-09-27: Emmis has announced the USD 20 million cash sale of its new standards format WRDA-FM (Red FM) in St Louis to Radio One Inc. in a disposal that it says is in line with its policy of disposing of non-core assets.
Emmis says it will retain its four other stations in the market -- talk format KFTK-FM, classic hits KIHT-FM, alternative rock KPNT-FM and album-oriented rock and will also continue to air Red's programming via the Internet and is also planning to air Red's programming on KFTK-FM at weekends.
Its radio president Rick Cummings commented of the sale, "Red was a novel format that our staff in St. Louis executed well. But after 18 months, the results have not been robust. The station is not a core asset in St. Louis where Emmis has a three-station rock wall as well as a News/Talk FM. Radio One has been looking for some time for another property in St. Louis, and this was the ideal time for Emmis and Radio One to put the deal together."
For Radio One president and CEO Alfred C. Liggins, III said they expected to begin operating the station under a local management agreement from the start of October but following completion, expected in the fourth quarter of this year, it intended to change the station format and call sign.
"This acquisition," he added, "is yet another example of our prudent approach to acquiring radio stations in an uncertain environment for the industry. Through this acquisition we will complement our current single station in St. Louis, thus greatly strengthening our competitive position in this large urban market."
In other US radio news, Disney-owned ABC Radio has flipped its Active Rock WZZN-FM (The Zone) in Chicago to oldies, taking advantage of the gap left when Infinity switched WJMK-FM to the Adult Hits Jack format in June although it continued to broadcast WJMK on the Internet and later brought it back on an HD side-frequency (See RNW Aug 18) .
The Zone had not fared well in recent ratings and was competing with four other rock stations and would gain audience substantially if it manages to approach the ratings that WJMK had in its previous oldies format - a 2.9% overall share compared to 2.0 for WZZN.
The new station is being promoted as "94.7 Chicago's True Oldies Channel", a format that could be considered as taking a leaf from Jack's book - president and general manager Jim Pastor says will involve a deeper play list than the typical oldies station, which has a play list of around 200 songs but will also have personality and energy missing from the Jack-style play anything formats.
The change began with a feed of ABC Radio Network's "Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel" that is to be aired non-stop until a local morning and afternoon show are in place.
The station's web site (RNW comment- in yet another typical example of US radio inefficiency) remained in its old format for some hours before switching to a message "WZZN-FM is now Chicago's True Oldies Channel - check back soon for an all-new website" and it posted no word of what was to happen to its former programming and air staff although rumours are that they are all out.
Previous Cummings:
Previous Disney-ABC:
Previous Emmis:
Previous Liggins:
Previous Radio One Inc.:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Red FM web site:
2005-09-27: More than a month after Virginia Trioli left Melbourne to move to Sydney to host the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's morning show on ABC 702 (See RNW Aug 13), her former station ABC 774 has yet to name a replacement for her afternoon drive show.
The ABC has been trying out potential replacements - Tracey Curro and then Lindy Burns have each had a fortnight in the slot and Jill Singer, thought to be a favourite for the job, was given a chance to display her talents as fill-in host of the station's Sunday morning arts show.
Also still under consideration according to the Melbourne Age is ABC TV state politics reporter Josephine Cafagna, who has previously worked on air at Southern Cross Broadcasting's Melbourne commercial talk station 3AW.
The paper says ABC 774 general manager Ian Mannix would not comment on the search for a replacement host but adds that some of his rivals proffered sympathy for his dilemma.
It quoted Dan Bradley, program development director with DMG's Nova and Vega networks, as saying, "While it would be good to do it fast, it's more important to get the right person than to do it quickly."
Bradley's view was backed up by 3AW general manager Shane Healy who said, "I'm a bit surprised that they haven't moved more quickly but I suppose, in their defence, good people don't grow on trees either, and sometimes you are best to take a bit of pain in the short time to get greater gain in the longer term …Normally, the way they're playing it now means there's just no one really obvious bobbing up or because there's someone they can get their hands on but not until down the track."
Previous ABC, Australia:
Previous Trioli:
Melbourne Age report:
2005-09-27: The arrival of ABC's Prime Access network and strong performances by top-ranked ABC Daytime Direction Network and ABC Morning News Radio Network gave the company the top three spots in Arbitron's RADAR 86 (Radio's All Dimension Audience Research) Radio Network Audience Report, figures from which have been published by Premiere Networks - for some reason they beat Arbitron to the punch as the latter has still not posted the figures.
There are now 51 networks in the survery- two more ABC Hispanic Advantage and Premiere Fox News were added since RADAR 85.
In the top three ABC Daytime Direction Network added 673,000 listeners on the RAJAR 85 numbers to end up with a weekly audience of 7.51 million and increased its AQH from 3.1 to 3.3; ABC's Prime Access network jumped in to second rank with 6.735 million and an AQH of 2.7 and in third spot ABC Morning News Radio Network added 380,000 listeners to take its AQH from 2.1 to 2.3.
In contrast a poor performance by Westwood CBS News Primetime Network, which lost 961,000 listeners and whose AQH declined from 2.7 to 2.3, meant that it dropped from second place to fourth followed by Jones MediaAmerica TWC Radio Network, which held on to the spot as it added 418,000 listeners and took its AQH up from 2.1 to 2.3: Premiere's Morning Drive Network, which had been third, dropped to sixth despite adding 134,000 listeners and increasing its AQH from 2.1 to 2.2.
Previous Arbitron:
Previous Disney/ABC, America:
Previous Jones MediaAmerica:
Previous RADAR:
Previous RADAR ratings (RADAR 85):
Previous Premiere Networks:
Previous Westwood One:
2005-09-27: The Word Network, the Michigan-based national satellite and cable TV network that broadcasts ministries, gospel music, religious conventions and special events and that was dropped by Sirius Satellite Radio earlier this month, says it is suing the satellite radio service alleging racial discrimination and breach of contract in its decision to cancel their contract.
Sirius has been carrying the service for three years (See RNW Sep 18, 2002) and when it began the broadcasts the Word Network complained loudly about XM 's decision not to carry the programming.
In a news release Lewis Gibbs, The Word Network's vice president of operations, said, "We did not want to file suit, but Sirius gave us no choice. We were dropped without warning and when pressed as to why, Sirius said ratings were poor. However, Sirius refused to say what the ratings were or if others with supposedly similar ratings were also unceremoniously dropped. We feel that was a pretext for racial and religious discrimination, and neither we nor our supporters will stand for it."
The Word Network, which says that 15,000 Americans wrote letters of protest, nearly 3,000 Americans sent e-mails and thousands who phoned "made it clear to Sirius that they had a duty to find room on their dial for wholesome broadcasting that serves the public interest."
RNW comment: The numbers of protest listed are miniscule when it is considered how many Americans there area and at the time of the original decision by XM not to carry this programming, we commented in terms of World Network's reaction that "words like shakedown come to mind."
We would have liked to have seen some figures from Sirius on the actual audience figures but noting other programming they carry - they list three spiritual channels - our inclinations are to believe that the audience size was the determining factor in the decision - maybe allied with not having to deal with the people of World Network who strike us as not particularly amenable to rational argument.
Without seeing contract details we have no idea whether there was any breach of contract but resisting temptations to speculate about an baser motives we reckon the rest of the argument would be more suited to the rear end of a quadruped than the mouth of most ministers of religion.
Previous Sirius:
2005-09-27: UK media regulator Ofcom upheld just one complaint against radio in its latest Broadcast Bulletin, the same as in the previous bulletin. It also upheld in part on TV fairness and privacy complaint and considered complaints resolved in three more TV cases, one of which involved complaints against the BBC and two commercial broadcasters over pictures broadcast on July 7 showing a man, injured in the London bombings who was receiving heart massage on a stretcher.
The commercial broadcasters, who transmitted the pictures later within edited items were held not to have breached codes, and the complaint against the BBC, which had transmitted them "generically" whilst the events were still unfolding was held to have been resolved: The Corporation had apologised and said the tape had been transmitted in error and without first viewing it in its entirety and admitted that a more thorough check should have been made [RNW comment: In other words, because a total of 26 people in the UK complained of being upset, no live broadcasts should be made of tragedies! Shame on Ofcom and the UK!].
The radio case upheld was a standards complaint made by two listeners about Zane Lowe's 'Most Punk' that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and included a warning about strong language that was immediately followed by what appeared to be an elderly lady saying: "Hello ladies, boys and girls, I thought that you might like to know - in the spirit of punk rock - the following show includes, what we often refer to as language. So if, like me, you are offended by such words and phrases as: arse; bollocks; tit, wank; tit-wank; rotter; mother licker; mother sucker; mother fucker; twat; minge juice; bottler and of course bastard - then you might wish to turn over, or fuck off - thank you".
The BBC said it had considered the issues involved carefully before the broadcast - only 1% of the audience, it said, were under 15 at the 7p.m. broadcast time.
Ofcom said in its decision that any programme about punk culture was inevitably likely to include some material that contained strong language and the figure provided of younger listeners was not relevant.
It said the use of the "elderly lady" was clearly intended to be ironic and provide a humorous introduction to the programme but then said, "…the right to deal with such subject matter comes with the responsibility of ensuring material is appropriately scheduled with the potential child audience in mind. While this was a legitimate approach, its application here was seriously misguided."
…" Given the potential child audience for Radio 1 [some 14% of the total audience] at this time, we believe that the use of such strong language, with such intensity, at the start of the programme was inappropriate. The item was in contravention of the Code."
Ofcom also gave details of two further TV complaints that were not upheld: The figures compare to one radio complaint and two TV complaints upheld, a further TV complaint partially upheld and six more TV complaints considered resolved in its previous bulletin.
In addition Ofcom listed with no details a further 121 complaints against 85 items that were rejected or held to be out of remit compared to corresponding totals of 106 complaints against 116 items in the previous bulletin.
These included 19 radio complaints relating to 19 items compared to eight radio complaints relating to eight items in the previous bulletin - and 102 TV complaints relating to 66 items compared to 108 TV complaints relating to 98 items in the previous bulletin:
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Ofcom broadcast bulletin:
2005-09-26: It's not a new message but w nevertheless feel its worth starting this week's look at print comment on the medium of radio with an Associated Press report by Jennifer C. Kerr carried under the headline "Radio to the Rescue for Gulf Coast Updates" in the Washington Post.
It began with a statement of what should be obvious - buy may not have been to FEMA - "Their homes under water and without electricity, many Hurricane Katrina survivors could not turn to television or the Internet for news and information. So they turned to battery-powered radios, just as people caught in natural disasters have done for decades."
The report gives praise where it is due, particularly for Entercom's WWL-AM -" In New Orleans, WWL-AM had a local news staff and managed to stay on the air with backup generators. News director Dave Cohen said the news-talk station took dozens of calls each day from stranded people who asked how to find missing loved ones and where to go for shelter and food."
It also dropped the odd brickbat and takes up the issue of the effects of deregulation and consolidation, saying, "In many cases, local updates broadcast in the battered Gulf Coast came from reporters quickly sent in from outside the area and from disc jockeys pressed into service as news anchors. Many stations today do not employ reporters, so the scramble was on once the hurricane hit… At one time, most stations employed at least a single newsperson. But deregulation of the industry in the 1980s and 1990s cleared the way for mega-companies to gain control of large numbers of stations and move away from programming aimed at a local audience."
The report notes that before its repeal in 1981 as part of deregulation, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required radio broadcasters to devote at least 6 percent of their average weekly air time to news, public affairs and informational programming, a regulation that advocates say meant most radio stations had to employ some kind of news staff.
It quotes Rick Wright, Syracuse University professor of radio and television at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, as saying many stations now rely on computers to run the programming instead of DJs or news people and adding, "As long as the sky is blue and the weather's great, everything is all right" but when disaster strikes they cannot always provide the needed local coverage.
Andrew Jay Schwartzman, chief executive of the Media Access Project, said the lack of local reporters is felt most during a disaster: "The failure to have people in place in each community means that strangers will be attempting to do on-the-job training" in the middle of a disaster, he said. "Radio's critical advantage is that it is the most local of all the media."
RNW comment: Regulation in the UK and other areas does regulate formats and insist to a degree on local news cover but there is continual pressure to ease this regulation, often in terms of arguments in terms of the other sources of information that technology has made available.
In our view, should it be decided that it is in the public interest to have a suitable news information infrastructure available for then disaster does strike, there is no logical reason why those who benefit from providing services to an area - such as cable and ISP companies - should not be required as a condition of doing business to contribute to a system to ensure that local news is covered and available.
Perhaps it would be worth a levy of a percentage of revenues to subsidize a system of pool reporters - maybe under the aegis of an agency like the Associated Press or Reuters who would have to tender for contracts in an area - who would permanently report from an area and make their reports available to all the outlets involved without charge - as well as normally posting it on the Internet - and could also speedily be redeployed - maybe even moved into emergency areas when necessary, something news organizations already do - in the case of an emergency.
This suggestion, apart from effects on bottom lines, could hardly be seriously opposed by anyone serious about providing information to an area in such cases - the same article, for example, quotes Clear Channel spokeswoman Michele Clarke as saying that, like other national media companies, it sends reporters to trouble spots as needed and does not believe local coverage is compromised by having outsiders deliver news and information.
Another possible route could be to use funding to set up and aid low-power community stations, providing them with sufficiently robust transmission and emergency back-up facilities to keep going in all but the worst conditions and a remit that makes their licences conditional on having people to provide and broadcast in normal times an appropriate level of local news and information.
Still with Katrina - and now Rita - Tim Rutten in his media column in the Los Angeles Times, wrote of the lessons they had delivered in relation to news media. He gave particular praise to the New Orleans newspaper, the Times-Picayune, which for a while became an Internet-only publication.
He also noted the boost to TV news audiences from cover of the damage wrought instead of the more normal gossip and celebrity related material and then at the end of the article commented, "Speaking of numbers, here's a trend that has gone all but unnoticed in the recent agonizing over the news media's future. During the last decade, only one serious news operation has increased its audience dramatically and consistently. It's National Public Radio, which has doubled its number of weekly listeners to 26 million. Since 1999, its audience has grown by nearly 9 million, which is an increase of 60%…Radio news … now that was old media before there was an Internet."
And after the benefits of radio in an emergency, a note courtesy of Paul Donovan's Radio Waves column in the UK Sunday Times about its technological future.
"Ten years ago this week," he writes, "a button was pushed at Broadcasting House and radio, inside and outside the BBC, set off on a new and uncertain journey. Liz Forgan, then head of BBC network radio, switched on Britain's first digital radio transmissions. Nobody knew what would happen, and for years nothing did. No stations, no sets."
Even now, he notes digital radio receivers are only in 5% of UK homes whereas nearly two-thirds have digital TV and there's still no decision as to whether there should be a switch-off of analogue radio unlike analogue TV, which is to be ousted within the decade.
But for those who have made the move, Donovan suggests that it is a very positive one: "For millions, however, the birth of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is the greatest development in British radio for a generation," he writes. "It has spawned dozens of extra stations and, on DAB sets, ushered in blessedly hiss-free reception and ease of use. Many choose to listen not on DAB sets, but via Sky, Freeview, cable or the Internet."
Crucial to the success of DAB, says Donovan, was the price of receivers as much as the benefits in programme terms…"For years, there were no DAB sets in the shops; digital took off only when prices dropped below GBP100 (USD 180). That is what I paid for my Pure Evoke-1, a design classic and my second favourite of the nine sets where I live (beaten only by a red retro Roberts, which is stylish, portable and loud). There are now 185 models available, with prices starting at GBP50 (USD 90). More go on sale all the time, including, this month, one that is said to be weatherproof (Oasis) and, next month, a hand-cranked model made by Free-play, a company established by the inventor of the wind-up radio, Trevor Bayliss."
Donovan then goes on to detail a little scepticism (RNW comment: And maybe the comments should also be borne in mind by those pushing HD in the US): "There are still boffins and technical commentators who think DAB quality is worse than FM; that quality (except Radio 3, which has by far the highest bit-rate) has been sacrificed to squeeze in extra stations; that those who sing its praises merely play into the hands of companies who want to boost interactive and multimedia services."
… "They have some ammunition: Guardian Media Group, which owns Smooth FM and four other local stations, had to apologise last year for claiming that DAB offered "CD-quality" sound. It does not. Exaggeration helps nobody…yet I do not think it is hype to champion a marvel of technology that, in the space of less than a decade, has done so much to transform the pleasures of radio listening.
Which of course has to be a cue for some suggested listening - and also to note the benefits of Internet audio - the ability to listen when one wants not at a pre-set broadcast time.
And first of all this week, we'd suggest the BBC World Service and the two-week "Who Runs Your World" series of programmes that it is now half-way through. The Service says the aim is to "create a global forum for debate among the 190 million people who tune into the BBC's news services every week" and the website when we last checked had a list of 18 programmes under the WRYW heading covering topics from "Does the US run the world?" and a profile of US President George W. Bush to comments from women in matriarchal societies, and segments on topics such as ho runs the giant corporations, the role of religious media in people's lives to discussion on the likely effects of technology
Staying with the BBC but moving to the domestic stations, we'd also suggest BBC Radio 2 on Tuesday when at 19:30 GMT the latest of its celebrity hosts - Johnny Depp in this case - presents "Rebel Without A Cause - The James Dean Legacy", an hour=long tribute to the actor who died 50 years ago. Its followed at 20:30 GMT by The Beale Street Blues Boy, the second of the four-part BB King at 80 series presented by blues musician Robert Cray - last week's first episode is on the station web site until then.
Staying with music but mixing in words of expertise, we'd also suggest from BBC Radio 4 last week's Interpretations - the title of a series in which two performers compare their own interpretation of the same work: This programme had tenors Robert Tear and John Graham Hall in a fascinating discussion of their approach to the role of Herod in Richard Strauss' opera Salome with such glorious lines as classic example of "dirty old man fancies young girl" - which brings the opera down to an essential but basic level and wide-ranging discussions of the nature of the relationships, class differences and so on. It'll be on the web site until Thursday this week when John Caird, Max Stafford Clarke and Simon Russell Beale talk about Macbeth.
On to science and the latest Ockham's Razor from ABC Radio National in Australia, which looked at infidelity from a historical and evolutionary perspective rather than a moral one (Available as an MP3 or a stream). We'd also suggest its sister programme, The Science Show, whose items on Saturday included on "Hate Radio in the Rwandan Genocide" that might even provoke thought from Rush Limbaugh (the introductory description of a show that eventually broadcast lists of people to be killed makes it seem like a benign version of his own shows - and Limbaugh gets his own mention -described as "foaming at the mouth" at one stage and "exercising prejudice on a realy heroic scale.").
Guest Elizabeth (Betsy) Levy Paluck from Yale University Department of Psychology makes some interesting points about the power of the media and particularly of power of the negative as opposed to the positive.
And still with psychology but back to BBC Radio 4 and "Losing it" at 10:00 GMT on Friday: In it Martin Plimmer examines the psychology of baldness - apparently 40% of men above 35 lose their hair - and examples cited include a man who lost his wife, others who mortgage their homes to finance expensive but ineffective treatment and a drug that might offer relief - but also turns out to reduce sex-drive.
Then BBC Radio 3 but not for classical or other music but the Sunday Feature that last week was "The Mouse That Roared": It looked at the interface between machines and humans with a whole swathe of contributors from Doug Engelbart, the inventor of the computer mouse, to various designers and developers.
The same station on Wednesday at 18:00 GMT has Radio Africa in which Zeinab Badawi hosts an evening celebrating the spoken word in all its guises across Africa - it covers oral traditions from those of village story tellers to urban talk show hosts and how change- the radio or mobile phone - has affected these.
It runs for three-and-a-half hours before Late Junction whose mix that evening includes music from Hamburg-based ensemble Elbtonal Percussion, plus Sudanese vocalist and oud player Abdel Karim El Kabli.
Previous Columnists:
Previous Donovan:
BBC World Service - "Who Runs Your World?" page:
Los Angeles Times - Rutten:
UK Sunday Times - Donovan:
Washington Post/AP - Kerr:
2005-09-26: As the lock out of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) staff enters its seventh week, hopes are growing that a meeting called today by federal Labour Minister Joe Fontana with CBC management and the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) may lead to a breakthrough.
The two sides in the dispute held no meetings on Sunday because they were travelling to Ottawa for today's meeting that comes after a week in which no obvious progress was made in negotiations and both sides issued statements attacking each other.
The CBC, whose board had backed its management, saying that it wanted to negotiate a settlement but that given the funding constraints it faces thought the management proposals were reasonable, had said it was "disappointed" with the latest settlement offer tabled by the CMG. "After some positive momentum over the past weeks, the CMG's offer fails to move us closer to an agreement," it said, commenting that the offer "didn't propose any compromise on the two key issues - Employment Status/Contract Employees and Staff Reduction" and also "moves us apart in five or six key areas by including additional issues never previously tabled."
CMG president Lise Lareau had expressed their "disappointment" at the board's backing, saying it had "a choice to set a new direction to bring a speedy end to the lockout… Instead, they chose to endorse [CBC President] Robert Rabinovitch and his aggressive strategy, which has led to the biggest crisis in the CBC's history. The board statement does not provide any light at the end of the tunnel."
She said the board appeared to misunderstand one of the key issues when it said that contract employees would continue to be "a small fraction of the Corporation's workforce" and commented, that in fact already 30% of the CBC workforce was non-permanent.
Today's meeting, which follows pressure for government involvement from various groups including watchdog Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, was called by the Minister after he adjudged that neither side was prepared to make compromises to reach a settlement and "to develop a plan to bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion without further delay."
*Last week saw the end of the Toronto Unlocked broadcasts mounted by CBC Metro Morning host Andy Barrie and other locked-out staff on University of Toronto station CIUT-FM.
The two-hour morning show had been airing on CIUT for three weeks.
Previous CBC:
2005-09-26: The departure of GCap Media chief executive David Mansfield and his replacement with executive chairman Ralph Bernard (See RNW Sep 20) far from relieving the pressure on the company may increase it according to the UK Independent on Sunday.
The paper says analysts and shareholders it contacted said it should have been Bernard leaving not Mansfield and expressed concern over Bernard's plans for investment in loss-making digital radio, which could threaten the company's dividend, and anger over lack of communication with the city by the group.
The paper quoted an un-named institutional investor as saying, "I would question whether the right man went. Bernard has made some questionable decisions in the past. He is married to digital. I would not say he is delusional, but he has been banging away on it for years."
It also quoted an analyst, who it said did not want to be named, as saying of prospects for GCap and Bernard, "It's an accident waiting to happen. If he disappoints on the trading update - if he thinks he can get away with blowing the dividend and not focusing on cutting costs - then his days are numbered."
RNW comment: GCap's problems stem partly from a slow advertising market but it could also be hit hard if UK media regulator Ofcom opts to release new spectrum for additional national digital radio stations as it has suggested (See RNW Jul 5): GCap has a controlling stake in Digital One, the only national commercial digital multiplex in the UK, and GCap says it may sue if there is any such spectrum release since when the licence for the current Digital One national commercial franchise was granted it was as a "sole" licence to operate national digital services (See RNW July 6).
As we have already commented we think Bernard has a case over this issue and we also think the city attitude of demanding dividends rather than investment in the future could quite reasonably be seen as akin to that of shortsighted pigs with noses in the trough.
We have no doubt that commercial radio cannot opt-out of digital and, although Bernard may well end up in a dilemma of the regulator's making, we would see his early commitment to digital as far-sighted although it may be some investors can make a sound case about how far GCap has a strong strategy for benefiting from the change to digital.
Previous Bernard:
Previous GCap:
UK Independent on Sunday report:
2005-09-26: Veteran Los Angeles jazz DJ Sam Fields has died aged 55 after more than 30 years on air in the city: Fields, who had an afternoon show on KKJZ-FM, got his first break in 1972 at KBCA-FM and his career included appearances there and at KKGO, KROQ, KLAC and KMET.
Police found his body at his home last week after he failed to show up for his Thursday afternoon shift at KKJZ.
Saul Levine, the president and general manager of KMZT-FM who gave Fields his first job, told the Los Angeles Times, "It's a terrible shock and loss. He contributed so much to the field of jazz."
"He was one of the nicest persons we ever had working with us," he added.
Fields joined KKJZ, then KLON-AM, in 1990 along with another Jazz notable Chuck Niles - who died in March last year (See RNW Mar 17, 2004); he was described on the station web site as a "respected announcer at KKJZ/KLON since 1990, and before that at KKGO since 1972."
The station added, " His voice, insight and excellent musical taste will be deeply missed by all who knew him both on and off the air."
KKJZ broadcast director Payal Kumar said his taste in music was "never wavering and instantly recognizable" and added, "There was nobody better. People always commented on Sam's choice in music, and how it elevated the station as a whole."
KKJZ web site:
Los Angeles Times report:
2005-09-25: Last week was generally very quiet for the regulators with no major deveopoor issues anywhere.
In Australia the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has rapped Sunshine Coast commercial service 4MCY, Nambour, for breaching codes by not informing a complainant that she had the right to go to the ACMA if not satisfied with its response.
The ruling related to a complaint about an advert that the complainant felt did not "meet contemporary standards of decency" and the authority. Although not upholding the substantive complaint, ruled against licensee Hot 91 FM Pty Ltd. in relation to its handling of the complaint.
The advert involved promoted the services of a body-waxing business called Dare to Be Bare and featured a woman's voice that said the following over tinkling background music: "Here's a bedtime story that'll get you feeling warm and fuzzy. Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy. Was he? Next time you want a warm and fuzzy bedtime story, try it without the fuzzy. Dare to be bare. Brazilian waxing for men and women. You'll feel the difference."
The ACMA also imposed additional conditions on the licence of community service Mt Helen FM, which broadcasts in the Muswellbrook area of New South Wales.
The licensee had been advised when its licence as renewed in October last year that additional conditions might be imposed to address concerns - relating to access and participation by members of the community in the operations and programming of the service, and the capacity of the licensee to continue to provide the service, including matters of corporate governance - that had been raised. The station was given the opportunity to respond to the proposed conditions before they were imposed.
In a statement, ACMA acting chair Lyn Maddock said the authority "hopes that the imposition of the conditions will provide the community living in the Muswellbrook licence area with an accessible service that meets their needs and is also accountable to the community
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has a quiet week with just one radio decision being announced- an approval of a power increase from 5 watts to 45 watts and reduction in antenna height for CFRM-FM, Little Current, Ontario.
The commission also published a public notice concerning various applications, the deadline for comments to which is October 28.
They included on radio application- by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to add an FM transmitter at Urbainville, Prince Edward Island, to rebroadcast the programming of CBAF-FM-15 Charlottetown
There were no new radio decisions in Ireland and in the UK, the main radio-related activity by Ofcom was to release the reasons behind its grant of ten community licence at a meeting earlier in the month at which is also opted not to grant a further four community licences (See RNW Sep 10).
In most cases the stations awarded licences had previous experience through restricted service licences and had also forged community links.
The US was also quiet with attention still centred on Hurricane Katrina concerning which Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Kevin J Martin gave testimony and suggestions for improvements in future preparedness was to a Senate sub committee (See RNW Sep 23)
Previous ACMA:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Maddock:
Previous Martin:
Previous Ofcom:
ACMA web site:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
2005-09-25: UK national commercial digital multiplex Digital One is to add another ten transmitters over the next 18 months, improving its coverage in Wales, East Anglia and Cumbria.
In all an extra 1.2 million people will be in range of the new receivers -- Presceli, Blaen-Plwyf, Arfon and Llanddona in Wales; Great Massingham, Sewards End, Great Yarmouth and Oulton in East Anglia; and Kendal and Penrith in Cumbria.
In addition further digital receiver announcements continue to be made.
In another DAB-related development, RadioScape and Texas Instruments say who earlier made announcements about the availability of chips and modules to enable companies to easily develop radios that can receive both DAB and DRM signals, say that a number of companies who attended demonstrations at IFA in Berlin expect to launch products within a year.
Amongst those who have unveiled designs are Morphy Richards, Roberts Radio and Sangean.
Meanwhile new DAB receivers continue to be introduced in Europe including new models from Pure Digital and Roberts: Pure expects its Evoke 3, which includes analogue and Dab capability, SD-card support, MP-3 playback, and USB upgradeability, to be in stores by November is and its DMX-50 microsystem, which includes similar capabilities, to be in stores by Christmas.
Roberts is following its earlier launch of the special edition Revival/Classic FM is introducing the Revival DAB including Pause Plus that allows a programme to be put on hold for up to 40 minutes.
There has also been a minor expansion of DAB broadcasting in Australia where DMG's new Vega station in Sydney has become the latest station to joint DAB trials.
There are now 14 stations taking part in the trial, which is said by Commercial Radio Australia to have received a "very positive reaction" from listeners.
Previous DMG, Australia:
Previous RadioScape:
2005-09-25: The 2005 National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Awards for Legendary Station and Network Syndicated Personality of the Year have gone to WIBC-AM Indianapolis, and Rush Limbaugh respectively, the fourth time Limbaugh has received the award.
Other awards this year were:
Major Market Personality of the Year - Bill Handel, KFI-AM, Los Angeles, California.
Large Market Personality of the Year - Lanigan & Malone, WMJI-FM, Cleveland, Ohio.
Medium Market Personality of the Year - Don Weeks, WGY-AM, Albany, New York.
Small Market Personality of the Year - Ward Jacobson & Cathy Blythe, KFOR-AM, Lincoln, Nebraska.
AC Station of the Year - WBEB-FM, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Adult Standards Station of the Year - KJUL-FM, Las Vegas, Nevada.
CHR Station of the Year - WSTR-FM, Atlanta, Georgia.
Classical Station of the Year - KDFC-FM, San Francisco, California
Country Station of the Year - WIVK-FM, Knoxville, Tennessee.
NAC/Jazz Station of the Year - KIFM-FM, San Diego, California.
News/Talk/Sports Station of the Year - WIBC-AM, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Oldies Station of the Year - KCMO-FM, Kansas City, Missouri.
Religious Station of the Year - KLTY-FM, Dallas, Texas.
Rock Station of the Year - WFBQ-FM, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Spanish Station of the Year - KLVE-FM, Los Angeles, California.
Urban Station of the Year - WBLS-FM, New York, New York.
Major Market Station of the Year - WTOP-AM, Washington, DC.
Large Market Station of the Year WSB-AM, Atlanta, Georgia.
Medium Market Station of the Year - WDBO-AM, Orlando, Florida.
Small Market Station of the Year - WJBC-AM, Bloomington, Illinois.
Previous Limbaugh:
2005-09-25: Two recordings, one a single and another an album compilation, are to be released to mark the first anniversary of the death of BBC DJ John Peel.
The single, a cover version of one of his favourite records, Ever Fallen In Love by the Buzzcocks, is being recorded by a line-up including guitarist Jeff Beck, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Peter Hook of New Order, and Peter Shelley of the Buzzcocks and writer of the song: Proceeds will go to the political campaign group Amnesty International, which Peel supported.
The artists were chosen by Peel's son Tom Ravenscroft who had the idea while working on a TV documentary, John Peel's Record Box, based on the small wooden box in which his father kept his 140 favourite singles collection. It is to be released on November 21 to coincide with Peel's induction into the UK Radio Hall of Fame.
The tribute CD, containing tracks that span the whole of Peel's career is to be released earlier - on October 17, four days after BBC Radio 1's John Peel Day - and in its case a portion of the profits will go to a number of charities including the Salvation Army, East Anglia's Children's Hospices and the Kariandusi School Trust.
Tracks will range from material by Lonnie Donegan, The Doors, Pink Floyd and Tyrannosaurus Rex, with punk and post-punk material including New Order, The Clash, The Ramones, Joy Division, and The Undertones and more recent artists donating tracks including Belle & Sebastian, PJ Harvey, Pulp, Super Furry Animals and Orbital.
Previous Peel:
2005-09-24: A report "Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting - Opportunity or threat to mobile operators?" by Eureca Research says that mobile phones that are combined with digital radio (DAB) receivers will boom and account for nearly a fifth of the total global market for mobiles in the next five years.
It estimates that this will amount to 29.5 million unites representing what it terms a "cumulative market opportunity of Euros 10.1 billion (USD 12.2 billion) for device manufacturers in the period 2005-2010."
Noting the development of technology that allows reliable delivery of TV and multimedia content to such devices as mobile phones it says this will give rise to a new mobile multimedia broadcast services (MMBS) business and will also being about convergence of mobile and broadcast industries.
However it warns that companies, stung by the problems they have had with 3G licences for which they made massive bids, will be cautious about the new business and its Research Director Gareth Owen commented, "Given the billions of euros that operators have invested in 3G and the limited response to 3G services to date, I believe that companies will be unwilling to invest vast sums of money until some of the key business risk aspects of MMBS are better understood."
Digital radio networks he suggested offered an interesting lower risk alternative, commenting, "I expect to see a significant acceleration in the take-up of digital radio via DAB during the next 12-18 months as more spectrum becomes available in the all-important VHF band"
…"With mobile TV being such a hot topic nowadays, I believe that many countries will use a lot of this new capacity for mobile TV-type services. I also think that the present 20% data limit on DAB multiplexes will be relaxed in most countries, which would lead to more capacity."
Commercial mobile TV services based on the Eureka-147 DAB standard will commence in the UK and South Korea in early 2006 and the report says " increasing interest in other parts of Asia, particularly China, and in other European countries, means that Eureka-147-based technology could become a second global standard rivalling DVB-H, providing it can attract wider support amongst handset vendors… Clearly, a lot will depend on progress in the UK and South Korea during 2006."
It also suggests that satellite-delivered mobile broadcast services will also be developed and says installed base of broadcast-enabled mobile phones will increase from approximately 450,000 at the end of 2005 to 155.5 million units at the end of 2010 representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 104.8%
The market value of these phones, says the report, will increase at a CAGR of 40.2% in the period 2005-2010 and will represent a Euros 13.5 billion (USD 16.3 billion) market opportunity for manufacturers in 2010.
2005-09-24: The 2005 US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) radio show in Philadelphia has generally sounded an upbeat note about the future of US terrestrial radio and has head from two national US radio chiefs who are due to step down.
One, NAB President and CEO Edward O Fritts, in his welcoming remarks poked some fun at himself saying that as this would be his last show in the post he had "planned to give an hour-long speech outlining some of Radio's accomplishments during my 23 years at NAB, but my buddy John David has only allotted me seven minutes."
"I guess that's what happens when you're a lame duck," he continued, " We all know that 'Less is More!' [RNW note: A reference to Clear Channel's policy of reducing advertising clutter]."
Commenting on what he had learned in the previous 23 years, he said, "You've probably heard me say that localism is what sets broadcasters apart from all of our competitors. Forty-two years ago, I bought my first radio station in Indianola, Mississippi. I quickly learned that the most successful stations are those that are deeply invested in the fabric of the community. "
"That hasn't changed," he said, " even in a world of iPods, satellite radio, BlackBerries and cell phones. There is simply no substitute for the immediacy of local radio. Localism is our franchise and ours alone."
Then referring to hurricane Katrina - and before Rita, Fritts commented, "Unfortunately, it sometimes takes an act of God to remind our critics of the importance of broadcasting. And nowhere has the power of Radio been more apparent than in the response of our stations to Hurricane Katrina… Along the Gulf Coast, station personnel served as a lifeline to tens of thousands of citizens who were desperate for information. Against all odds, most radio stations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama stayed on the air and kept listeners informed."
He then paid tribute to stations in the affected area, saying, "I want to thank all of the Gulf Coast broadcasters who stayed on air during Katrina and its aftermath. Some of you lost your homes, and yet continued to broadcast. You have set a standard for excellence that can never be surpassed" and also noted that US broadcasters had already handsomely exceeded their target of raising USD 100 million for relief and "are on our way to USD 200 million."
The other outgoing executive, US Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) President and CEO Gary Fries also urged broadcasters to be proud of their efforts during Katrina and urged his listeners to "Make sure everyone you talk to understands how important Radio was to the people of the Gulf States."
Fries also commended the work of the Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab (RAEL) and said its research was a key element in the success of RAB's National Marketing efforts to secure appointments with advertisers and agencies, adding, "Next month, the RAB National Marketing Department, along with a coalition from the Radio representative companies, is meeting with a major, national retailer to present the RAEL research studies. This is one in a series of meetings with the advertiser -- who had traditionally been a non-Radio user -- and its agencies... "You can't just walk in and say give me the money. You sow the seeds first. We've had several victories, but this is real-time, happening next month."
Fries also brought up topics of modernisation in back-room activities such as electronic invoicing and the need to move off diaries to electronic audience measurement and also of the need to move to digital broadcasting.
"It must be done rapidly and in every size market," he said of changing the ratings system. "You cannot have electronic measurement without saying the diary method is flawed, and you cannot sell a flawed device."
On digital he commented, "We need HD Radio in a lot better fashion. It's a digital world and we don't want to be left out."
" Advertisers will give us more money if we do these things," he predicted. "Advertisers are moving money to new media and we need to be in the mix… Our advertisers need metrics that shows their advertising works. We need to move product for them. We need to change the way we work with them. Advertisers want accountability. They want confidence in the system and in the numbers. Most importantly, they want a partner -- a marketing partner!"
Fries also noted radio overall audience success, commenting, "Last year, according to RADAR, Radio gained 3 million new listeners. That's more than both satellite companies combined. But, we're being repositioned. We need to be part of that repositioning or we will become a secondary medium. Let's start beating our drums. Radio salespeople aren't excited and that's because management is not teaching them to be excited," he said.
"We're pretty darn good, but we need to get better," he concluded. " We need to understand who and what we are, and do what we can to improve on it."
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Previous Fritts:
Previous NAB:
Previous RAB:
2005-09-24: Canadian broadcasters are warning that the ruling that confirmed the grant of satellite radio licences is likely to lead to significant changes in the country's terrestrial broadcasting.
Toronto-based CHUM, which had said that its terrestrial subscription bid in conjunction with Astral Media would not be viable if both satellite applicants were granted licences, says the impact will start to be felt as the terrestrial broadcasters re-apply for their licences.
Its CEO Jay Switzer told an investor conference in Quebec City, "It will become a factor. It will send a shock through the system next time licences are renewed . . . and that may change the rules that conventional radio play by."
The satellite companies, around a tenth of whose channels will be Canadian content, are competing with terrestrial broadcasters who generally have to provide 35% of Canadian content.
CHUM and other terrestrial broadcasters had lobbied the government to send the decision back to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for reconsideration but lost the battle and Switzer told the Toronto Globe and Mail his company was considering several options when its licences came up for renewal but would not give specifics.
"I'll just leave it at that," he said in an interview. "It's literally just happened in the past two weeks. So we're having meetings this month to explore all our options and look at different scenarios as to how to best create a business around this new reality."
Robert Steele, CEO of Newfoundland Capital Corp. (NewCap), which owns 69 radio stations across Canada, commented, "The problem with 35 per cent is it obviously affects programming quality because it's pretty high," adding, "There are some terrific Canadian artists, no question. But, for example, at our smooth jazz [station] in Calgary, we're pretty challenged to come up with 35-per-cent [Canadian content]."
Steele said regulatory review was needed and he expected the issue to come to a head during the coming review of radio policy, which has been initiated by the CRTC.
"It's time to look at it and maybe perhaps modify it. I'm not sure what exactly [needs to be done], but I think it needs to be brainstormed a bit," he said.
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Toronto Globe and Mail report:
2005-09-24: Briefings to fund managers and investors by Australia's Macquarie Bank over the past few days indicate that its media plans are much more ambitious than "at first flagged" according to the Sydney Morning Herald, which says the company's its media fund, which will be called Macquarie Media Group, "plans to own a lot more than just regional radio stations."
The fund is to list on the stock exchange in November and to lodge its prospectus on Wednesday next week and the paper says plans are to raise around AUD 1 billion (USD 760 million) with the first AUD 600 million (USD 456 million) to be raised this year and the remainder some time in 2006
The paper says the fund is saying it plans to buy newspapers, TV stations and outdoor advertising companies around the world as well as radio with which it began - it has spent AUD 366.5 million (USD 279 million) on acquiring RG Capital Radio for AUD 173 million, then USD 122 million, in June last year (See RNW Jun 2, 2004) and DMG Regional Radio for AUD 193.5 million, then USD 138 million in September last year (See RNW Sep 23, 2004) in Australia, giving it nearly 100 stations and a 65% share of Australia's regional radio market.
Previous Macquarie Bank:
Sydney Morning Herald report:
2005-09-23: According to testimony given by US Federal Communications Commission (F