December 2005 Archive
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RNW December comment - - Our look back at 2005.
RNW November comment - -Concludes that radio should get the core audio right rather than worry too much about adding video.
RNW October comment - Wonders whether convergence is really here and what it means for radio if so.
2005-12-31: Stories today of three talk hosts dropped in Pittsburgh, a right-wing talk host back in work in San Francisco and a "progressive" one fired in Seattle.
In Pittsburgh, Infinity/CBS Radio's KDKA-AM has fired three local hosts in a major overhaul. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Mike Pintek, Paul Alexander and Mike Romigh have gone in the first phase of the overhaul along with news reporter Kyle Anthony: All three hosts are still listed on the station web site.
It adds that starting next week, KDKA-TV investigative reporter Marty Griffin will take over Pintek's 9 a.m. to noon shift and interim hosts will be used in Alexander's 1800-2100 and Romigh's 2100-midnight slots until the station unveils new nighttime and sports shows in the next few weeks.
It adds that Pintek in an e-mail to a listener said he had been "summarily and unceremoniously fired" terming the action "sudden, unexpected, shocking and deeply disappointing after nearly 24 years" at KDKA.
The paper notes that although KDKA remains No. 1 in overall ratings, with talk-rival WPGB-FM in sixth it has lost ground among the 25-to-54-year-old audience and quotes Keith Clark, vice president of programming for CBS Radio Pittsburgh, as saying the station needs to create programming that's compelling enough to keep listeners from switching frequencies.
The new brand of KDKA talk "is going to be something you can't find anywhere else on the radio dial," he said.
In San Francisco Larry Kreuger, who was fired by KNBR-FM in August (See RNW Aug 11) after making comments about the San Francisco Giants that were regarded as racially disparaging has now been hired by ABC Radio's KGO-AM to provide commentary during afternoon sports updates for the radio station.
In Seattle, Entercom has fired KIRO-AM "progressive" talk host Mike Webb after he was charged with making a fraudulent insurance claim after an accident. The insurance company say he claimed to have bought a policy with them a day before the accident but in fact purchased it a day after the accident on June 28 this year.
Webb, who is denying the charges, posted a note on his web site saying, "Thank You For Your Friendship during these past 35 years on the radio, especially the past 10, where we had a chance to really get to know one another and offer an alternative to the disgusting, corporate-driven nonsense masquerading as talk radio."
He then says he had been "fortunate" before going on to say "So Long" but makes no direct mention of the charges.
Entercom has confirmed that Webb has left the station and the KIRO web site makes no mention of him.
RNW comment: Blogs on the matter give sufficient detail to suggest Webb may well have problems when the case continues but we remain disturbed by a dismissal whilst a case is pending although we would not have found suspension unreasonable. Needless to say comments from those of Republic right tendencies betray little charity: For a prime example see the comments from Brian Maloney.
In Texas, Dan Patrick, KSEV-AM drivetime host and manager of the Lieberman Broadcasting station, has also left but in his case he stood down after filing as a candidate in the Republican primary for state Senate.
He had been pitching his candidacy on his show but after his filing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations would have required him to give equal time to his opponents.
Previous Disney-ABC:
Previous Entercom:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Blatherwatch blog re Webb:
Houston Chronicle report:
Maloney "Radio Equalizer" site:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report:
San Francisco Chronicle-AP report:
2005-12-31: BBC Radio 4's "The Archers", the longest-running radio drama, will celebrate its 55th anniversary tomorrow.
The programme was started to help the British government spread agricultural news and advice to farmers at a time when Britain was still facing food rationing - this did not end until July 4, 1954 - and the first network broadcast on January 1, 1951 had been preceded with a pilot series broadcast only to the Midlands Region the previous Easter and in which the farm was Wimberton not Brookfield.
The Archers has maintained its audience through moving into stronger dramatic storylines and away from the original brief - the current series attracted large audiences because of a story line involving adultery and a tug-of-love battle between the two Grundy brothers, Will and Ed, and Will's estranged wife who is now living with Ed and her and Will's son in a caravan.
Previous BBC:
2005-12-31: Following in the wake of BBC Radio 3's Beethoven Experience in June, Bach Christmas that has just ended and Webern Day in September, GCap Media's national classical music station Classic FM is to devote New Year's Day 2006 to Mozart.
In all it will run 16 hours of programming tomorrow to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth starting at 08:00 GMT with "The Mozart Top 40 with Mark Goodier", a programme based on listener's votes on their favourite Mozart and ending with a two-hour "Mozart Evening Concert with John Suchet" that runs to midnight.
It is also tying in the day to a two-CD "Mozart for Babies" set it markets on its site as "put together with one specific area in mind - the enjoyment and development of babies through Mozart's music", a book and CD "The Friendly Guide to Mozart" and "In Search of Mozart", a documentary to be premiered at the Barbican Centre in London on January 4 and the "Mostly Mozart" events being staged at the Centre in June.
Previous GCap Media:
Classic FM web site:
2005-12-30: US National Public Radio (NPR) says its 26th annual New Year's Music Special from New Orleans Tipitina's nightclub this year will be the first live music broadcast from the city since Hurricane Katrina.
The 12-hour jazz and blues special "Toast of the Nation" programme will be produced by NPR and WBGO Jazz 88 and will feature performances from a number of local artists including The Hot 8 Brass Band and funk band Galactic, performing at home for the first time since the hurricane.
It will also include performances Washington, DC (Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band); Boston, Massachusetts (New Orleans piano legend Henry Butler); New York, New York (the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra); Portland, Oregon (jazz orchestra Pink Martini); Sanibel Island, Florida (the Brubeck Brothers Quartet); and Columbia, Missouri (singer René Marie).
Toast of the Nation was launched in 1979 as a showcase for NPR's interconnected satellite system, the first in the nation and WBGO became co-producer in 1984. Last year's programme became the highest-fidelity live radio broadcast in history by transmitting in 5.1 discrete digital surround sound.
NPR says it and WBGO are working with the Tipitina's Foundation, established to help New Orleans artists recover and preserve the city's cultural traditions and quotes Bill Taylor, Director of Tipitina's Foundation, as saying, "We want to send the message that New Orleans is up and running and it's okay to come back. Having a street parade and this great show on New Year's Eve is what Tipitina's is really excited about."
Previous NPR:
2005-12-30: XM Satellite Radio has announced further technically-advanced services including equipment in an "XM Advanced Services vehicle" to be unveiled at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show and also an agreement with Neural Audio that will allow it to broadcast XM music channels in 5.1 Surround Sound.
The "Concept vehicle", a specially equipped Lexus LX 470 will showcase in-car video with XM's partner On2 Technologies and also a Voice Command system developed with VoiceBox Technologies that allows a driver to use conversational speech to control an XM radio receiver.
It will also feature a demonstration of XM WeatherLink, which delivers advanced warning of weather-related driving conditions in real time.
Previous XM:
2005-12-30: Indian Internet and radio were the fastest growing media for advertising in 2005 according to the Hindu Business Line, which says the former with an 0.8% share grew by 78.3% compared to 44.5% growth for radio, which had a 2.4% share.
By comparison it says newspapers increased their share of advertising revenue from 54% to 58%, within which display advertising's share went up from 78% to 80%, but TV advertising fell marginally.
Overall advertising revenues in India were up INR 13,200 crore (13.2 billion or USD 2.9 billion- 1 crore is 10 million )
Previous Indian Radio:
Hindu Business Line report:
2005-12-29: Total US radio revenues in November were flat compared to a year ago according to latest revenue figures from the US Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) that show local revenues up 1% on a year ago, a rise counterbalanced by a 5% fall in national revenues and 1% fall in non-spot revenues.
The year-to-date figures are also flat for total figures with local revenues showing a 1% rise, national figures a 2% fall, and non-spot revenues a 1% fall.
On RAB's sales index, that sets pre-dot com 1998 to 100, the sales indices for November are local, 127.9; national, 120.4 and total combined local and national, 126.2 whilst corresponding year-to-date figures are 140.1; 140.6; and 140.2.
Previous RAB & RAB figures (October):
2005-12-29: Howard Stern has been responsible for nearly three-fifths of Sirius Satellite Radio's new subscribers in mid December according to latest figures from Bridge Ratings, which interviewed satellite radio subscribers at retail outlets during the final quarter of this year.
It says that in October 22% of subscribers were joining to listen to Stern but this had increased to 58% in the week to December 19.
Previous Bridge Ratings:
Previous Sirius:
Previous Stern:
2005-12-29: A US District Judge has reduced from USD 10.6 million to USD 814,000 an award made to former WYCD -FM Detroit host Erin Weber in May following her claim that station owners Infinity - now CBS Radio - had fired her because she had an allergy to another host's perfume (See RNW May 25).
The Detroit News reports that U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh, in a 19-page opinion, not only cut back the award but also said he was tempted to throw the entire verdict out but notes that he agreed to award attorneys' fees to Weber - her lawyer Raymond Sterling is asking for USD 630,000 and the judge is to hold a hearing in January to fix the amount.
"The weight of the evidence does not clearly support a finding of a perfume allergy," Steeh wrote in a recent opinion. "There are many reasons to seriously consider setting aside the verdict in this case."
The six-member all-female jury had awarded Weber USD 7 million for punitive damages; USD 2 million for non-economic damages; USD 1.1 million for future economic damages; and USD 514,000 for past economic damages and Steeh commented, "It is unclear whether the jury's prejudice was a result of the peculiar composition of the all-female jury, the defendants' failure to pursue arguments which would have obliterated many of (Weber's) claims or the defendants' failure to focus sufficient attention to the damages issues."
Sterling said he and his client would appeal and seek re-instatement of the full amount, commenting, "We don't feel the reduction is justified. We've already filed papers to explain to the judge why he should uphold the original intent of the jury and we intend to also go to the court."
Weber said she has been unable to get another job in radio since she was fired in 2001 and claims CBS Radio/Infinity Broadcasting "blacklisted her" -- a claim the company, which owns WYCD, rejects.
RNW comment: When we reported the original we said on the surface this case seems tailor-made for Infinity to overturn most of the award on appeal and we rather suspect in the end that's what will happen.
In a totally unconnected Detroit lawsuit, some listeners to public radio station WDET-FM have filed suit over its programming changes that cut back on local music programming in favour of National Public Radio (NPR) news and talk shows (See Columnists Dec 26).
The Chicago Tribune reports that the listeners to the Wayne University-owned station are claiming that they were defrauded by being led to pledge money to the station in its former format while changes were already being planned.
"This is a public radio station, and their decision just completely disregarded the public and the community that is loyal to the station and financially supports it," said Kevin Ernst, the lawyer representing a group of listeners. "People contributed for those local programs, not national programs… This is outright fraud. "
Wayne University vice president and general counsel Louis Lessem told the paper he has "no interest in litigating this in the press," adding, "We're sorry the plaintiffs choose to do that. We understand the disappointment of the listenership, but we do not believe it [the lawsuit] has any merit and we will fully litigate it."
WDET's general manager Michael Coleman, says the paper, referred questions to the station's lawyers but he has explained the reasons behind the changes in an Open Letter to listeners posted on the station's web site.
In it he comments, "I've heard from people who were disappointed in the new programming and from people who are very supportive of it. Regardless of how you feel, know that these decisions were painstakingly difficult, made with tremendous consideration and focused on the mission WDET has to serve our entire metropolitan Detroit community. The rationale for the changes were very straightforward - to save and strengthen this important public radio service."
… "Other listeners have questioned the timing of the new programming. I'll share with you that following the close of the fiscal year on September 30, in which the station had a deficit of USD 300,000, the fall pledge drive that immediately followed fell more than USD 100,000 short of its goal. Those factors, in addition to the steady erosion of listeners (including listeners to mid-day music programs) demanded action to be taken quickly in order to save this valuable radio service."
…"Detroit is my hometown. I believe it deserves a premier public radio service that is sustainable financially and that's what we're planning to provide...If you are disappointed with the new programming, I hope that you will reconsider and give us the opportunity to present to you all the fine music and news programs we now offer."
RNW comment: Much as we understand the frustrations of WDET listeners we also have sympathy with the station's dilemma. In the end, it seems to us, the listeners had not "Put Up" enough - had they done so, the problem would presumably not have arisen - and would be best advised now to shut up.
We cannot see that diverting to litigation funds better devoted to improving the station can make any sense to anyone but the lawyers.
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Chicago Tribune report:
Detroit News report:
WDET - Coleman Open letter:
2005-12-29: After the Rolling Stones…Madonna! Along with punk rockers Good Charlotte, recording artist Madonna has joined the "Radio: You Hear It Here First" campaign that is being run by the US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to promote radio as a source of new music.
The Stones adverts were announced in October (See RNW Oct 26) as part of the campaign, launched in January that has seen adverts from the campaign, which aired by "nearly" all the major US radio companies
Commenting on the latest advert David J. Field, Entercom President and CEO of and Chairman of the NAB Radio Board said in a release, "Madonna is a superstar with an unparalleled following. It would be difficult to find a more effective spokesperson to communicate free, local radio's strengths."
Since the launch of this campaign the NAB has also launched a new campaign promoting advertising-funded - they term it free, over-the-air - radio's strengths under the slogan, "Radio: You Shouldn't Have to Pay for It" (See RNW Dec 1):
Previous Field:
Previous NAB:
2005-12-28: Sirius Satellite Radio has announced that it has passed the three-million subscriber mark and adds that it is expecting a strong end to the year.
In what as far as we can remember is an unprecedented move it adds no further comment.
Previous Sirius:
2005-12-28: The British Defence Secretary Dr John Reid turned DJ this year to record a one-hour long programme that was broadcast from mid-afternoon Tuesday on the British forces radio station BFBS as a thank-you to the 38,000 UK armed forces personnel currently serving overseas.
Songs that he featured were Amarillo by Tony Christie, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Wind Beneath Your Wings by Bette Midler, Country Roads by John Denver and Mull of Kintyre, by Paul McCartney.
A spoof video version of Amarillo was recorded by Royal Dragoon Guards at their Al Faw base in Iraq earlier this year and proved so popular that soldier's e-mailing of copies crashed the Ministry's internet system.
Reid talked about his life in politics and told his listeners, "Thank you for the risks you undertake; thank you for the service you give to your country; thank you for the dangers you're prepared to confront. And thank you especially for putting up with what is one of the worst deprivations: that is, being away from your families."
Previous BFBS:
2005-12-28: According to the San Antonio Express -News a complaint about a tongue-in-cheek programme segment on San Antonio's leading Spanish-language radio station, Univision's KROM-FM, is holding up the station's licence renewal by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The segment was started five years ago, when the station was owned by Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, and involved people calling in to report sightings of immigration agents in the city after which disc jockeys - who use the euphemism limones verdes, or "green limes" to refer to Border Patrol agents, who traditionally don olive-green uniforms and drive green-lined SUVs - alert listeners about the locations.
The paper says the Border Patrol, which has an eight-agent office in San Antonio, has not complained and there was no public outcry over the popular reports but then outsider Joe Ray Blalack read an article in the paper about KROM's agent-spotting segment and wrote the FCC, demanding it deny the license renewal. Blalack also wrote to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (Republican, San Antonio), who in turn asked federal agencies to investigate although a spokeswoman for the San Antonio office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement determined that the station did not engage in criminal wrongdoing.
Blalack, whose complaint has been followed by 38 more, all from people living outside Texas, said he was simply an educated citizen voicing concerns over the station's ill-suited practices, which he said pose a national security risk and said he doesn't expect the station, which has been operating without a licence since August 1, to lose its licence but he does expect a hefty fine.
"It should serve as a stern warning," he told the paper. "People can't engage in any activity against our national interest."
The FCC and the station have refused comment on the matter although the paper reports that a letter he sent to the FC in August
The station's lawyer, Scott Flick, who was not allowed to comment, has argued to the FCC that Blalack didn't follow appropriate complaint-filing procedure and that his charges are baseless and said, "KROM grows concerned that the Blalack letter is delaying the orderly processing of its license renewal application, despite the fact that the letter is completely irrelevant to that application."
Previous FCC:
Previous Univision:
San Antonio Express-News report:
2005-12-27: The US Roman Catholic Church is hoping to extend its presence in radio through applications for low-power FM (LPFM) licences in the next Federal Communications Commission (FCC) window for applications according to the Washington Post, which notes that although it is the largest denomination in the US the Catholic Church only has around 120 out of some 2,000 religious stations in the country.
The paper says the Catholic Radio Association, which has several dozen members, is hoping to add as many as 200 more if the FCC as expected opens a second "window of opportunity" for LPFM filings in 2005.
The first window prompted 3,300 applications with more than 1,200 licences granted and some 700 stations on air and the Catholic Radio Association is appealing to the faithful to raise USD150, 000 in the next two months so new stations could apply to the FCC.
Stephen Gajdosik, president of the Charleston, South Carolina-based Catholic radio trade group, thinks people are open to hearing the denomination's message, despite the clergy sex abuse crisis that has battered the church for almost four years, saying, "I think it's fair to say you have not seen the faith proclaimed and taught well in recent decades, and this is simply a means for the Holy Spirit through his church to bring the faith out to people."
Catholic bishops ignored radio and instead focused on how to get into television in the late 1970s and early 1980s according to William Thorn, director of the Institute for Catholic Media at Marquette University and said Doug Sherman, president and founder of Immaculate Heart Radio, which operates Catholic stations in California, Nevada and soon in New Mexico and who is one of the founders of the Catholic Radio Association commented, "We were asleep at the wheel."
Washington Post report:
2005-12-27: The first Australian radio advertisement to win a Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival this year has been named as the overall and single category winner of round three of Australia's 2006 Siren Awards for creative excellence in radio advertising.
"Killed by a Car", written for the United Nation's World Environment Day, by Luke Chess and Vince Lagana from Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, won a Bronze Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival.
Round three judge and a previous award winner Brendon Guthrie from Grey Worldwide, said the writers of the winning advertisement resisted the temptation to say too much and played to the medium's greatest strength - the ability of radio to involve and surprise.
"It's a simple truth, simply told. A couple of the ads in this round had great ideas at their heart, but were either under or over cooked during the writing and/or production stages. And that's one of the reasons why, for us, the World Environment Day ad stood out so strongly," he said.
The 45-second advert, which has been posted along with other winners on the Siren Awards web site features an introduction saying, "You are about to hear a ten year old girl being killed by a car. " then the sound of a of a car starting and being driven off and then stopping again followed by the end line "Last year, air pollution killed more people than car accidents. Be aware. United Nations World Environment Day. Sunday June 5."
Siren Awards web site:
2005-12-27: The Freeplay Foundation, whose activities include the development and distribution of the Lifeline radio - a wind-up or solar powered robust radio that can be operated easily - has been chosen by the Times of London as its charity of choice for this 2005 Christmas and is being featured in stories by the paper over the period.
The latest one centres on the use of radio as an educational tool in Africa where the radios are issued mainly to children, who use them to gain access to information and education.
The radio idea is a development of the wind-up radio produced by British inventor Trevor Baylis and one of the Foundation's backers, Gordon Roddick, co-founder of The Body Shop and of The Big Issue, said he had thought the original radio was a "brilliant idea" when he first came across, adding, "I had been working out in Brazil with a number of indigenous groups. One of their great problems was communication with the outside world."
"Radio is the perfect way of getting quality education to a wide area incredibly cheaply," he says. "As well as being taught to read and write, children are given useful advice about boiling drinking water, hygiene, nutrition, first aid, growing crops and taking care of animals. They are also taught about Aids, how it is transmitted and how to care for those with the disease."
The Freeplay Foundation - a registered charity in Britain, the United States and South Africa was launched in 1998 - and researched and tested the project in South Africa, Kenya and Rwanda.
The first production line radios were produced in February 2003 and so far 100,000 have been committed to humanitarian projects. Donors to the Foundation include Anglo American, the Body Shop and the Vodafone Group Foundation and Roddick put in an initial GBPO 500,000 (USD 870,000) and has since then invested several million more pounds.
Freeplay Foundation site:
UK Times report:
2005-12-27: Cincinnati radio veteran and talk radio pioneer Ted McKay has died aged 77 from complications due to an infection: His radio career began in 1947 at WTIP radio in Charleston, West Virginia after which he worked in TV in Charleston before he moved back to his home town of Cincinnati in 1954, joining the radio news staff at Taft Broadcasting's WKRC.
At the station he worked on Party Line - Cincinnati's first all-talk radio show that was launched in 1955 but one on which, in marked contrast to today, no politics or religion was featured - and on Moonlight Serenade, a late-night music program. He eventually became WKRC program director the mid-'60s and retired in 1979 after which he continued to do production work and had his own studio in his home until the '90s.
After he finished his production work, he donated his equipment to Forest Park High School.
Cincinnati Enquirer report:
2005-12-27: The New York Post, which reported earlier this month that former reality-TV chef Rocco DiSpirito's radio show was set to replace Bob Grant in the afternoon drive slot next month (See RNW Dec 15) says DiSpirito has left the station unexpectedly.
His last show was on Friday and the Post says DiSpirito said he wanted to do a "broad lifestyle and entertainment-style show," rather than just talk about food and recipes, which he had been doing at 11 a.m. since joining WOR and added, "It made sense to just part company."
The paper adds that a station source suggested the departure could have been linked to wisecracks he made about the wearing of fur while discussing a promotion involving a long-time WOR advertiser - New Jersey's Flemington Furs - but DiSpirito, who is a spokesman for the National Humane Society, played down the suggestion.
New York Daily Post report:
2005-12-26: For our last look at print comment on radio this year we start with a celebration of the medium from Gillian Reynolds in the UK Daily Telegraph.
Under the heading, "It was a triumphant year for radio" she begins by writing, "Radio has been sipping all year on a little bottle like the one Alice drank from in Wonderland. Big has therefore become this year's thing. BBC dominance in all formats, analogue and digital and on the web grew even greater. In commercial radio, companies went in for megabucks mergers and gigantic acquisitions."
She then details some of the highlights in the UK as she rated them - and it is noticeable that commercial radio got most mention for consolidation in the sector and just one for programming: "A brilliant one-day co-operation between all the commercial stations in aid of tsunami relief, hosted by Chris Evans, showed what they can do when they try. But such things are exceptional and, as even bigger predators prowl radio's borders, share prices remain a more productive study than programmes."
Reynolds had some brickbats as well as praise for the BBC, in particular a dig at the idea that big names and celebrities make for good radio, commenting of BBC Radio 2 that it "continued its triumphant reign of the airwaves but showed further signs of mistaking big names for honest talent."
"It's fine to bring in Chris Evans to buck up Saturday afternoons,"she writes but then continues, "It's dumb to book Hollywood names (Sean Penn reading Bob Dylan's autobiography, Robert Downey Jr, narrating Chaplin's life story) when their radio skills are zilch."
In the US, the big radio news to end the year has been concerned with Howard Stern - as we have noted in our last two comments - but in Canada, to use the heading of a Toronto Globe and Mail report by Grant Robertson, the issue is "A Sirius test: How to get subscribers on board without Stern."
Robertson focuses on potential competition between Sirius Canada and big brother Sirius, opining that the addition of Stern to the US Sirius line-up on January 9 "could put the Canadian company, which is not picking up the program, in a fight for listeners with its part-owner."
He notes estimates of up to 60,000 grey market listeners in Canada who subscribe to U.S. satellite radio and comments, Converting that audience to Canadian subscriptions is now a key job for Sirius Canada and Canadian Satellite Radio Inc., operator of the XM network."
Sirius Canada has not completely ruled out Stern says the report but it notes, "While satellite radio programs aren't regulated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the show could run into problems in Canada, where the CRTC has control over the licences."
In New York, Stern's departure has left a subsidiary hole in the city's formats notes David Hinckley in the New York Daily News, that of the absence of a contemporary rock station as Stern's former home K-Rock is turning to a talk format on weekdays.
Steve Blatter, senior vice president of programming at Sirius, commented of the situation, "It's mind-blowing that the largest radio market in the country no longer will have a station that showcases new rock," and Hinckley adds that Sirius, XM and a lot of terrestrial stations would love to scoop up the dispossessed rock fans, estimated at more than a million who tune in every week.
Among them is WAXQ-FM, the remaining all-rock station in New York, and its program director Bob Buchmann commented, "K-Rock's leaving is not a death knell for rock on the radio in New York. The music's future is not in trouble. People will still get what they want."
Other terrestrial stations who hope to pick up fans from K-Rock are WBAB-FM in Long Island and WDHA-FM in New Jersey with the latter being more upbeat about its prospects with Dan Finn, vice president of Greater Media, which owns WDHA, commenting, "K-Rock switching weekday formats leaves us in a fantastic position. You can't assume listeners will fall into your lap, but they will be sampling elsewhere, and we're moving aggressively to be one of those places. There's always been a great market for rock here, especially in the suburbs."
In contrast WBAB program director John Olsen commented, "It's tough to say if we'll pick up listeners when K-Rock leaves. It probably depends on what they put on when Howard is gone. On Long Island, rock radio is an important part of people's lives. K-Rock, to a lot of people, was Howard. He was such an indelible part of it. We're entirely different. Here you know you'll get music."
The satellite companies however offer much more choice - XM has 13 rock channels, from classic rock to unsigned bands and Sirius has 16- and XM executive vice president of programming Eric Logan commented, "The demise of K-Rock is an enormous opportunity for us. We offer so many more choices."
Further comments to indicate problems for terrestrial music channels against competition from other music sources came in an article by Detroit Metro Times news editor Curt Guyette in a report on changes earlier this month at public radio station WDET-FM which according to its general manager Michael Coleman ended up with a USD 300,000 deficit for the fiscal year to the end of December and then fell USD 100,000 short of the goal set for its fall pledge drive.
Coleman, who took up his post in August, said, "We couldn't afford another year like last year. Our survival was in jeopardy."
Coleman eliminated locally produced weekday music programming and replaced it with national news-talk shows, a change that reflects broader trends in public radio, many of which have been switching to news-talk and Guyette says part of the motivation for the switch has to do with technological change.
He quotes John Sutton, founder of a company that provides consulting advice to public stations, as saying,"Stations are finding that playing CDs is not a very good competitive situation no matter how good the local host is. What's happening is that people are going online and getting their music there. They're using the shuffle mode on their iPod or MP3 player, and they're learning about new artists from the Internet. They're going to announcer-free channels on satellite radio."
"Unfortunately, the age of the well-versed announcer introducing people to new music and sharing insights is coming to an end," he added.
Coleman says the station hasn't killed off music - it's still there in evenings, overnight and on the weekends - and Tom Thomas, co-CEO of Station Resource Group, which provides consulting services to 48 public radio stations commented, "It's an absolutely rational change. It's a move toward programming that seems to be enjoying the widest interest by the public at this juncture. If all goes as trends suggest, it should result in more people tuning in, with those who are tuning in staying longer, and being more generous in their financial support."
And finally, it being Christmas, some comment on Christmas programming on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the Washington Post, Marc Fisher under the headline, "On All-Christmas-Song Stations, Little Is Sacred" looked at the range of songs considered appropriate by such stations: "And what we're listening for in the way of holiday music is happy, sweet numbers that shy away from the religious. An analysis of the most-heard Christmas songs played on 50 all-Christmas stations across the country, compiled by the research firm Media Monitors, shows that the most popular tunes were Nat King Cole's 'The Christmas Song,' Ives's 'Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,' Brenda Lee's 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree,' and Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas.'"
…"Not a single carol or traditional religious song appeared in the Christmas Top 10. Instead, the tunes that really get us in the holiday mood (or out to the stores) are classic pop and rock numbers by the Carpenters (Merry Christmas, Darling), Johnny Mathis (It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas) and John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Happy Xmas [War Is Over])."
Fisher also mentions the Christmas CD of "odd" Christmas recordings produced by Lou Brutus, now producing the XM Fungus channel and a former rock deejay at the late WHFS-FM (now Free FM).
He has been collecting Christmas novelty records since he was 10 and now has a large selection of them in a collection of more than 10,000 CDs noting inclusions as some of the raunchiest and most foul-mouthed holiday recordings, such as a 45-second masterpiece from the band Fear (the title cannot be printed in a family publication but consists of an imperative to do to Christmas what Vice President Cheney once told a senator to do to himself).
"People like to hear the good favourites like John Lennon's 'Happy Christmas,' but they are also a little tired of hearing a lot of bad Christmas music,' says Brutus. 'They need to hear the nasty stuff.' We're talking 'Father Christmas' by the Kinks; a bracingly bizarre piece of proto-rap by the actor/comedian Art Carney, doing a jazz-inspired recitation of ' 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' accompanied only by a drum; a dance remix of Crosby's 'Happy Holidays'; and the always strange Leon Redbone vamping through 'Baby It's Cold Outside.'"
And from Chris Campling in the UK Times, comment about Christmas programming in the UK and the variety on offer…" When you say Christmas on the radio, what are you talking about? Midnight Mass (Radio 4, Christmas Eve), or the Christmas Morning Service (Radio 4)? Or perhaps Santa's chief elf, Terry Wogan, giving it some festive twinkle during prezzie opening time (Christmas Wogan, Christmas Day, Radio 2). Or, for those who like their carols hardcore, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (Radio 4, Christmas Eve). Oh, yes, and the Queen. But everyone watches her on television to see how the past year has taken it out of her."
He continues, "Chuck in a bit of background carolling and that's enough Christmas, isn't it? Well, no - this year there are at least 41 programmes on major terrestrial radio with a Yuletide label, if not technically a Yuletide theme." (For the aricle and full list follow the link below)
So on to suggested listening and for those who want it the online BBC schedules provide a fairly good selection of masses and carol services but for a Christmas programme with a difference we'd suggest the most recent BBC Archive Hour- Lomax at Christmas in which British folk musician Martin Carthy introduces a 1957 programme made by folk song collector Alan Lomax featuring a variety of Christmas and traditional music and artists including Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Seamus Ennis. Or even, from BBC Radio 2, Christmas Rockin' with Suzi Q.
And before leaving Christmas as a theme, Adventures in Poetry on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day featured The Oxen, by Thomas Hardy, a nostalgic poem describing the traditional nativity scene.
To music and tomorrow at 20:00 GMT BBC Radio 2 has The Black Dyke Band: 150 Glorious Years telling the story of the band founded in 1855 by John Foster and now world-renowned.
Next art and still with BBC Radio 4 on Thursday at 11:30 GMT "The Fighting Temeraire - the Battle and the Breeze" tells the story of Turner's painting and the ship it portrays and for drama BBC Radio 3's latest Drama on 3, "Mr Fielding's Scandal Shop" - the story of how Henry Fielding, best known as the author of Tom Jones and other less than "respectable" novels as perceived at the time, changed his ways became a magistrate and turned to outlawing plays. One for Federal Communications Commissioners to listen to maybe?
For the review of the year maybe a dip into the last edition of World in Your Ear and finally to end with a laugh we would suggest either The Now Show or Ed Reardon's Week- all from BBC Radio 4 - and maybe even from the same station the Christmas cracker jokes in the latest edition of Word of Mouth (Santa's helpers? Subordinate Clauses etc).
Previous Campling:
Previous Columnists:
Previous Fisher:
Detroit Metro Times - Guyette:
New York Daily News - Hinckley:
Toronto Globe and Mail -Robertson:
UK Telegraph - Reynolds:
UK Times - Campling:
Washington Post - Fisher:
2005-12-26: In yet another sign of the decreasing value placed on some sporting rights, the Washington Post reports that CBS Radio's WJMK-FM, which currently has a five-year USD 50 million deal with the Redskins, may not renew the deal unless the team drops its price significantly.
WJFK may suffer a double-whammy since it was Howard Stern's station in the American capital.
When the deal was signed by Infinity (now CBS radio) it was a record for an NFL (National Football League) team but the paper says the station lost money on the deal and it has indicated it will not match it now.
It adds that the Redskins may have trouble finding another taker since none of the other large players who could afford to make such a deal - Clear Channel, Radio One, Bonneville Broadcasting and ABC/Disney - has a history of paying large sums for sporting rights and the Redskins are competing for fans and ad dollars with a new competitor: the Washington Nationals.
The post says the team says that "a number of parties" have indicated interest in bidding for the rights but a spokesman added, "While the season's underway, we're not making any decisions. But we think the Redskins are a property with great interest to broadcasters."
Clear Channel has indicated interest - its regional vice president Bennett Zier told the paper, "We have a great relationship with the Skins. We love doing business with them. We are always interested in working with them" - but balked at the cost of a deal last time round.
The paper says sources have told it another option being considered by the team is the purchase of a station to carry its games but it adds that it is unclear whether there is a local station for sale with a signal strong enough to reach most of the Washington area.
A sign that CBS Radio/Infinity was not necessarily prepared to pay any sum demanded for sports fights came earlier this year when its KMOX -AM in St. Louis lost the rights to Cardinals' games (See RNW Aug 6): In that case the Cardinals games moved to move their broadcasts to, Dorsey Media Group's KTRS-AM, from the end of this season in a deal that gave the team a half interest in the station and it would appear from subsequent events effectively changed the control of the station which is dropping almost all of its in-air staff and changing its style (See RNW Dec 20):
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Previous Zier:
Washington Post report:
2005-12-25: Last week was a matter mainly of routines for the regulators although in the US, the Senate has now approved the nomination of Deborah T. Tate and re-nomination of Michael J, Copps as Federal Communications Commissioners (See RNW Dec 23): Elsewhere the main radio decision came from the UK where Ofcom is to release additional spectrum for digital radio (See RNW Dec 22).
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Agency (ACMA) had a quiet week regarding radio decisions although it also released the Financial Trends in Commercial Radio 1978-79 to 2003-04 report that showed Australian radio revenues rising but profits falling over the period (See RNW Dec 24 ).
The one radio decision from the ACMA came in New South Wales in response to a request from Mudgee Broadcasting Company Pty Ltd, licensee of 2GEE, Mudgee, to move its Kandos translator to the Mt Bocoble site and extend its area to cover the recently formed Mid Western Regional Council boundary.
The ACMA is instead proposing to extend the 2GEE licence area to the south to cover the areas of Pyramul and Illford and along the Castlereagh highway, a change it says would ensure there is no signal overspill into the Bathurst and Lithgow commercial radio licence areas and would reduce the overlap with the Remote Commercial Radio North Eastern licence area. Neither Pyramul nor Illford currently receive a licensed commercial radio service.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), was as usual involved in a number of routine decisions including (In order of province):
Alberta- various applications for licences including:
Applications in the Calgary market:
*Application by Touch Canada Broadcasting Inc. for a 50,000 watts daytime and 20,000 watts nighttime English-language Gospel music AM in Calgary.
*Application by CHUM Limited for a 45,000 watts Hot AC English-language commercial FM in Alberta.
*Application by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner), for a 100,000 watts soft vocal music English-language commercial FM in Calgary.
* Application by Rawlco Radio Ltd. for a 19,000 watts folk and folk-oriented commercial specialty English-language FM in Calgary.
* Newcap Inc. for a 3,600 watts Hot AC English-language commercial FM in Airdrie.
*Mutually exclusive applications proposing to use 92.9Mhz from
*1182743 Alberta Ltd., equally owned by Mr. Paul Larsen and Norscot Holdings Ltd. for a 100,000 watts Adult standards/modern nostalgia music commercial FM in Calgary.
*Evanov Radio Group Inc. for a 100,000 watts Adult Contemporary/Easy listening English-language FM in Calgary.
*Calgary Independent Radio Broadcasters Inc. for a 100,000 watts English-language soft rock commercial FM in Calgary.
*Yadwinder S. Sivia, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated as a cooperative, for a 50,000 watts commercial specialty ethnic FM in Calgary.
*Harvard Broadcasting Inc. for a 45,000 watts Alternative Rock English-language commercial FM.
*Newcap Inc. for 48,000 watts Adult Album Alternative English-language commercial FM in Calgary.
*Mutually exclusive applications proposing the use of 106.1 MHz and respectively from:
*Tiessen Media Inc. for a 3,600 watts Eclectic Adult Contemporary English language commercial FM in Airdrie with a transmitter in 15 watts Cochrane
* Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. for a 1,200 watts adult contemporary English-language commercial FM in Airdrie.
Mutually exclusive applications proposing the use of the frequency 100.3 MHz from:
*Touch Canada Broadcasting Inc. for a 50,000 watts daytime and 20,000 watts nighttime English-language commercial religious AM offering a Gospel music service in Calgary.
*Application by CHUM Limited for a 45,000 watts Hot AC English-language commercial FM in Calgary.
*Applications in the Lethbridge market are:
*Application by Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. to acquire the assets of English-language specialty CJTS-FM from Spirit Broadcasting Ltd. and amend the licence by relocating the transmitter, increasing the antenna height, changing the frequency from 97.1 MHz to 98.1 MHz and increasing the power from 50 watts to 20,000 watts
*Application by Touch Canada Broadcasting Inc. for a 20,000 watts Christian music commercial specialty FM in Lethbridge.
Mutually exclusive applications from:
Vista Broadcast Group Inc. for a 42,900 watts Classic Hits English-language commercial FM in Lethbridge.
Newcap Inc. for a 100,000 watts Contemporary Hit English-language commercial FM in Lethbridge.
1182743 Alberta Ltd. for a 100,000 watts adult standards/modern nostalgia English-language commercial FM in Lethbridge.
Other Alberta applications to be considered are:
*Application by Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. for a 7,400 watts contemporary rock English-language commercial FM at High River/Okotoks.
*Application from Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. for a 100,000 watts rock and rock oriented English-language commercial FM in Weyburn.
*Application by Stillwater Broadcasting Ltd. for a 210 watts mixed music English-language commercial FM in Swan River.
*Approval of application Newcap Inc. (originally filed by Sask-Alta Broadcasters Limited1) for an extension until 18 December, 2006, of the time limit to commence the operation of the transmitter CKSA-FM-1 Bonnyville authorized in CKSA Lloydminster - Conversion to FM band, in 2002.
*Approval of transmitter relocation and power increase from 64,000 watts to 100,000 watts for CFBR-FM Edmonton.
New Brunswick:
*Approval of transmitter relocation and increase in antenna height for CFHA-FM Saint John.
Nova Scotia:
*Approval of transmitter relocation by CFRQ-FM, Dartmouth.
Ontario:
*Approval of use of frequency 92.9 MHz by Bel-Roc Communications Inc.'s new English-language FM radio station in Haldimand County combined with transmitter relocation and power decrease from 13,300 watts to 3,300 watts: A mutually exclusive application from CHCD-FM Simcoe, to operate a 1,352 watts transmitter in Haldimand County at 93.1 MHz was denied.
*Approval of use of frequency 104.7 MHz by the low-power tourist information service in Ottawa approved in June.
Quebec:
*Approval of application by CIBM-FM Mont-Bleu ltée for an extension until 5 December 2006 of the time limit to commence the operation of the transmitter CIBM-FM-4 Saint-Juste-du-Lac authorized in 2002.
*Approval of acquisition by Radio Nord Communications inc. of the assets of CKNU-FM, Donnacona, and its transmitter CKNU-FM-1 Sainte-Croix-de-Lotbinière, Quebec.
The CRTC has also issued a public notice for which the deadline for submission of comments is January 25 including the one radio application- by CHJX-FM London for frequency change and power increase from 10 to 500 watts that would change the service status from a low power unprotected service to a regular Class A1 service.
In Ireland there were no radio decisions but the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has announced the receipt of 157 applications for funding in the first round of its Sound & Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme, more than half from radio (See RNW Dec 22).
The BCI also released a statement of outcomes from the first phase of its consultation of its Code of Programme Standards that will apply to all radio and television broadcasters in terms of concepts of taste, decency, harm and offence.
It has accepted the five objectives proposed in its consultation document including the promotion of responsible broadcasting where offence and harm is reduced, the provision of guidelines for broadcasters, the acknowledgement of the diversity of tastes and interests which exist within viewing and listening audiences and the facilitation of broadcasting that caters for this diversity.
The Commission will now proceed to Phase Two where a public consultation on the principles and rules will begin.
In the UK, Ofcom's main announcement concerned the release of further spectrum for digital radio as already noted but it also released its latest Broadcast Bulletin (See RNW Dec 20) that highlighted its record fine in November (See RNW Nov 25) and announced its reasoning behind the recent awards of the new Ipswich licence and of seven new community licences announced earlier this month (See Licence News Dec 18).
In the case of the Ipswich licence, for which it had received seven applications it noted that it had said it would be likely to place particular emphasis on the ability of each applicant to maintain its proposed service.
The award went to Tindle Radio's Town FM and Ofcom said its Radio Licensing Committee "felt that Town FM was an ambitious but very well-funded proposition from a company (Tindle Radio) that knows the region well and has, in general, a good track-record in attracting audiences to its stations elsewhere in East Anglia which have similar competition to that which the new Ipswich service will face."
It also said members "felt that Town's decision to focus on an older 35+ audience "with a particular emphasis on 46-64 year olds" would help to address a clear market gap, given that local commercial radio's share of listening in the Ipswich area is particularly weak (in comparison to the national average) among adults aged over 45."
In the community licence cases, Ofcom highlighted criteria such as broadcasting experience, proposals for training, evidence of demand for the services proposed and funding arrangements well as elements of "social gain" in the stations' proposed programming and activities.
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has published details of the 212 bidders it has approved for the 171 FM licences to be up for grabs in its Auction 62 next month: It also listed 117 non-qualified bidders.
The list includes bids by Cumulus, Entravision, RadioActive LLC - the company of former Clear Channel executive Randy Michaels, and Charles River Broadcasting, which announced earlier this month that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Greater Media about the sale of its classical station WCRB-FM (See RNW Dec 16).
It has also been involved in a number of sanctions including a proposed USD 20,000 fine on Spanish Broadcasting System for breaches of Equality of Employment Opportunity regulations (See RNW Dec 21) and the confirmation of a USD 7,000 penalty on the former licensee of a Washington State AM (See RNW Dec 24).
Previous ACMA:
Previous BCI:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
ACMA web site:
BCI web site:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
*RNW Dec 27 correction- The FCC has subsequently announced that two of those it had listed as non qualified bidders for Auction 62 had in fact sent payments on time. This increases the number of qualified bidders to 214 and decreases that of those not qualified to 115.
2005-12-25: The fight between unlicensed community station radio free brattleboro in Vermont and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over community radio in Brattleboro appears to be in its final stages because a new licensed community is likely to be on air by spring according to the Brattleboro Reformer.
radio free brattleboro was closed down in June this year in an FCC raid (See RNW Jun 24) following previous court battles between it and the FCC and a previous closedown by the Commission in June: It had been broadcasting since 1998 without a licence and it and the Commission had sued each other in a lawsuit launched in March 2004.
The Reformer says Larry Bloch, one of the station's founders, said lawyers are negotiating for a settlement agreement and added that continuing with the lawsuit would be pointless since the station had previously agreed to step aside once another station was launched.
The replacement is Brattleboro Community Radio, to be run by Vermont Earth Works, a non-profit organization that applied for a low power FM licence four years ago and received authorization in March.
It is now renovating space for a studio, ordering equipment and recruiting volunteers with the aim of a launch by March 21 on 107.7 FM.
One of its founders Ken Brace said that when the window for filing opened in 2001 their feeling in applying was "what if one day there is no community radio in Brattleboro?"
He added that the station's fundraising goal for 2006 was USD 10,770 and the station was using the frequency theme is asking for tax-deductible donations of USD 107.70 from residents and businesses that will be known as the station's founding supporters.
Previous FCC:
Previous rfb:
Brattleboro Reformer report:
2005-12-24: Commercial radio revenues in Australia in the five years from 1999-2000 to 2003-04 grew 15.6% to AUD 853 million (USD 623 million) according to the "Financial Trends in Commercial Radio" report just released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
Within the figures FM did much better than AM with a 21.9% increase over the period compared to 3% for AM.
The revenue increases however were not match in terms of profitability: Profit before interest and tax (PBIT) fell by 17.6 per cent to AUD 149 million (USD 109 million) although in 2003-04 it was up 18.4% on a year earlier, driven by metropolitan services whose PBIT was up 63% to AUD 115 million (USD 84 million) whereas PBIT for regional services was down 38.3% to AUD 34 million (USD 25 million) despite revenues increasing by 7.3% to AUD 265 million (USD 194 million).
For 2003-04 split between AM and FM for the year was in marked contrast to that over the longer period with AM PBIT up 19.9% and that for FM up 18.2%.
Previous ACMA:
2005-12-24: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has confirmed a penalty of USD 7,000 on Butterfield Broadcasting Corporation, former licensee of KULE-AM, Ephrata, Washington, for failing to effectively enclose its AM broadcast tower.
Butterfield had appealed against the penalty on the basis that details in the Notice of Apparent Liability issued in December last year were "not entirely accurate; that the fence surrounding the KULE-AM tower was effective; that the size of the gap in the fence is overstated in the NAL; and that, given Butterfield's recent compliance history with KULE-AM, a USD 7,000 forfeiture is not warranted."
Butterfield has specifically argued that it personnel accessed the site via an unbroken gate in the perimeter fence and thus it should have no liability for maintenance of the perimeter fence but the FCC pointed out that the penalty was applied because both the perimeter fence and the fence at the base of the tower were not effective, Regarding arguments that the tower fence was effective it said its agent easily slid under the fence.
It also dismissed an appeal on the basis of recent complaints because in October last year it had levied a USDS 2,000 penalty for failure to maintain a copy of the station's authorization in its public inspection file (See RNW Oct 5, 2004) and confirmed the full penalty.
Previous FCC:
2005-12-24: A prank call from Radio Cope, a Spanish radio station owned by the Spanish Episcopal Conference, the Roman Catholic Church's ruling body has led to a diplomatic row between the Vatican, Spain and Bolivia.
The call by Federico Jiménez Losantos, a presenter on the right-wing Radio Cope station, who was masquerading as Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero led Bolivian President Evo Morales to tell his supporters that he had received a call from Zapatero expressing satisfaction at electoral victory by a fellow Socialist.
After this the station aired a tape of the call in which "Zapatero" congratulates Morales on his victory and inviting him to Madrid.
Morales, who is taken in by the call, reminds the Spanish leader of his apparent pledge to double Madrid's economic aid to Bolivia.
The Prime Minister called the President and condemned the call as "unacceptable" and the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos summoned the Papal Nuncio in Spain yesterday to explain the "joke" while the Bolivian Embassy lodged a formal complaint, saying the call it had "exceeded the limits of humour" and "offended" the Bolivian people.
Zapatero's spokesman, said, "This is an unacceptable so-called joke that involves impersonating the Prime Minister and attempting to ridicule the president-elect of a friendly Latin American country" but the station initially refused to apologise, terming the call "just another joke".
It later backed down and apologised.
UK Times report:
2005-12-24: Radio broadcasts by the BBC and German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle have gone off the air in Moscow because of two different disputes involving licences.
In the case of the BBC a dispute involving the Oktod operating company, which provides it with transmission facilities, took BBC services in English and Russian off the air.
Russian news agencies reported that Oktod did not have a licence from Rosokhrankultura, the Russian federal agency that regulates programming, and the Oktod's head Grigory Kliger told Ekho Moskvy radio the licence for the frequency had run out and the documents needed to renew it had not been ready in time.
A Rosokhrankultura spokesman told the Interfax news agency the BBC "only had a technical licence from the Communications Ministry, but it did not have a licence from (our agency)."
The BBC Russian service Moscow bureau editor Konstantin Eggert added, "We officially have a right to broadcast. We were not the ones who lost the right to broadcast, it was the service provider."
Deutsche Welle went off the air because it lost its frequencies after negotiations for months about a new licence and DW Radio editor in chief Miodrag Soric said he was "very concerned" but hoped "the interruption in transmissions will not last for more than a few days."
The German Foreign Office said in Berlin that it was in intensive talks with the Russian authorities and sought "a solution so that Deutsche Welle can go back on air as soon as possible".
Both broadcasters aired programming in Russian as well as in English by the BBC and German by DW.
Previous BBC:
2005-12-24: Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), which earlier this month was hit with a proposed penalty of USD 20,000 for violating equal opportunity of employment (EEO) regulations at four of its Californian stations but was allowed to renew their licences (See RNW Dec 21) has aid it is on track to complete the sale of two of them by the end of January next year.
KZAB-FM and KZBA-FM - currently operating as KDAY-FM and KDAI-FM - are being sold under a staged deal in which Styles has just paid a further USD 20 million that with an earlier payment makes USD 55 million towards the total USAD 120 million purchase price.
Previous SBS:
2005-12-23: Clear Channel has now completed the spin-off of its wholly owned subsidiary CCE Spinco Inc., to which it had transferred the business of its Entertainment Group, as an independent, publicly traded company and trading has started in the stocks of the two companies.
The initial market reaction was positive for Clear Channel, which ended the day up 2.55% at USD 31.72 but negative for Spinco, which ended the day down 2.2% at 10.60 Clear Channel common stock holders received one share in Spinco for every eight shares of Clear Channel that they held on December 14 and trading in the current post-spin-off Clear Channel began yesterday under the CCU symbol and of the new company under the symbol LYV.
Previous Clear Channel:
2005-12-23: The US Senate has confirmed the nomination of Republican Tennessee regulator Deborah T. Tate and of Democrat Michael J. Copps for another term as Federal Communications Commissioners.
Tate, who succeeds Kathleen Abernathy, will fill the remaining part of a five-year term running to the end of June 2007 whilst Copps takes on a new five-year term to the end of June 2010 on the Commission, which is still one member short of its five-member quota.
Congratulations on their confirmation has come from a number of organizations including the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) whose President and CEO David K. Rehr said in a statement, "It is with great pleasure that I congratulate Commissioner Copps on his continued tenure and Deborah Tate on her confirmation as Commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission. These are challenging times for the communications industry and both Commissioner Copps and Ms. Tate have proven themselves to be exceptional leaders and committed public servants."
Previous Copps:
Previous FCC:
Previous NAB:
Previous Rehr:
Previous Tate:
2005-12-23: Amongst broadcasters evaluating bids for a new UK national digital licence that Ofcom has said it is to award (See RNW Dec 22) are a number of non-radio organizations as well as Emap, Chrysalis, and UTV according to the London Times.
The paper reports that BT (British Telecom), radio investor and consultancy group Absolute Radio, and Macquarie are thought to be considering bids.
Amongst radio groups it says UTV has confirmed it is considering making an offer and adds that Channel 4 TV has held informal talks with Emap about a joint offer but has not yet made any final decision whether to team up with Emap and is to speak to other radio groups.
BT said it is considering bidding for the new digital radio spectrum as it wants extra digital capacity for new services such as its Livetime joint venture pilot project with Vodafone, which broadcasts live television and radio on mobile phones and a spokesman told the paper, "BT Livetime is evaluating a number of options which could enable it to expand its range of mobile broadcast services in the future. These options include bidding for future digital spectrum.
Previous Ofcom:
UK Times report:
2005-12-23: Arbitron has announced a re-organization of its Portable People Meter (PPM) activities under which President, U.S. Media Service Owen Charlebois has been appointed president, Operations, Technology, Research and Development and is to head a unit to deploy Arbitron's Portable People Meter-based audience measurement services as well as operate Arbitron's existing radio audience measurement services.
In addition, the president of Arbitron's PPM division, Pierre Bouvard, has been appointed president, Sales and Marketing with responsibility for all of Arbitron's sales and marketing efforts, both for the Portable People Meter and for Arbitron's core services.
Linda Dupree, senior vice president, Portable People Meter New Product Development, will continue to oversee the development of market research services based on the Portable People Meter technology.
Steve Morris, president and chief executive officer, Arbitron Inc. commented of the changes: "In 2006, we will be taking our Portable People Meter system from a stand-alone development effort to an integral component of our core media services", adding, "To bring PPM to the U.S. media marketplace as quickly as possible, we must make changes to our organization while delivering the best of new and traditional services to our customers. The solutions require closely integrating operations, technology and research and development into a tightly knit team capable of accelerating our speed to market with next generation versions of our traditional tools."
Previous Arbitron::
Previous Charlebois:
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2005-12-23: BBC online listening in November showed overall listening online up 2% on October and up 62% on a year ago at 16,703,104 hours: The month-on-month rise was fuelled by live listening, which was up 2.7% to 10,387,256 hours (up 68.5% year-on-year) whilst on-demand listening rose only 0.85% to 6,315,848 hours (Up 52.5% year on year).
There was little change in ranking although BBC 7 overtook Radio 5 Live in November and in the rankings for on-demand programmes the Empire series dropped from fifth to 23rd.
In terms of network listening in November this year, the rankings were - Total listening hours - live plus on-demand and percentage change compared to October then to November 2004:
Radio 1 - 4,828,263 + 3.9%; + 63.4%
Radio 2 - 3,480,101 + 4.2%; +67.3%.
Radio 4 - 2,870,490 +0.6%; +69.2%.
BBC 7 - 1,431,687 + 0.6%; +72.5% (Up from fifth)
Radio 5 Live - 1,129,274 -3.3%% +37.4% (Down from fourth).
Radio 3 - 767,514 + 0.3%; + 44.1%
6 Music - 695,528 + 1.2%; 30.6%
1Xtra - 592,623 +2.7%; +9.4%
Asian Network - 214,998 +1.3%; + 24.3%
5 Live Sports Xtra - 41,315 -35.8%; + 40.6%.
The top five on-demand programmes in November were:
1- The BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers with 683,939 listens, down 3.2% on October.
2 - Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1 with 458,707 listens, up 8.2 % on October.
3 - Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1 with 217,427 listens, up 0.2% on October.
4 - I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue on BBC Radio 4 with 199,597 listens, up 36.4% on October.
5 - The Essential Selection on BBC Radio 1 with 192,888 listens in November, down 4.9 % on October when it was fourth.
*Empire, which was fifth when it began its run in October a new series on BBC Radio 4 with 189,236 listens, was down to 23rd with 80,266 listens in November.
Previous BBC:
Previous BBC Online figures:
2005-12-23: Clear Channel in Washington DC has dropped long-time local host Jerry Phillips in a shutdown of its public affairs department as it takes what regional vice president Bennett Zier called a "new direction.
Zier, whose company's eight stations in the US capital currently have no news staff, told the Washington Post it would add "personality-based news for our morning shows," including some public affairs content and said of Phillips departure, "Jerry is moving on."
Phillips, who was morning host on WHUR-FM in the 1970s and '80s, was described by the Post as a "beloved, if sometimes corny, daily reflection of the black Washington of green-and-white awnings and people who regarded anyone whose family had been here less than a century as out-of-towners" who has been the "voice of the community" on D.C. radio for 35 years.
The paper says the shutdown has closed what some local charities termed their main link to the public and it quoted said Diane Charles, director of Stop Child Abuse Now in Alexandria and host of "Raising Children Today," a program Phillips produced on DC101 (WWDC) as saying, "For small nonprofits like us, this is how we got our message out.".
Phillips commented, "Radio's changing. Local concerns get left out. I studied to be a priest, so I guess this has been my priesthood, trying to help" and added that his last show, a Christmas special he was producing to raise money for the Capital Area Food Bank, will not air.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Zier:
Washington Post report:
2005-12-22: UK media regulator Ofcom has announced that it is to make new spectrum available to ensure that all parts of the UK can receive digital radio broadcasts.
In all, as outlined in a consultation it published in October (See RNW Oct 20), Ofcom is planning to release four blocks of spectrum, three of which are to be used for local multiplexes and a further block for a new national multiplex.
Regarding the latter, over which GCap Media has said it may take legal action, Ofcom says it does not agree with GCap's submission that the terms under which the original Digital One Multiplex was awarded prohibited the issuing of another national commercial digital multiplex until 2011.
It said in October that any new national multiplex must "appeal to tastes and interests " that are "distinct" from those of Digital One but this has not appeased GCap which said the decision was "disappointing" and added that it would consider its position carefully before deciding what to do next although its "only option may still be a judicial review."
Ofcom also notes concern from some independent and smaller stations concerning migration to digital of all stations and says that various possible developments such as use of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) platform require further work over the next year but that it would not be in the best interests of citizens and consumers to move to solve some problems by allocating the fourth block of spectrum for further local multiplexes rather than a national one.
There were also some submissions that the current coding system being uses was out of date and that Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), could deliver benefits in terms of capacity but Ofcom said it considers that any change in technical standards now would raise significant issues in relation to consumer and citizen protection, and the further development of the market for digital radio.
[RNW comment: We agree and as we have commented before feel that the best way forward is to stick with an adequate system that can be used universally rather than slow development and create multiple standards throughout the world for small benefits, and those mainly to broadcasters rather than listeners].
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Previous Ofcom:
Ofcom DAB policy statement -52 page, 229 kb PDF
2005-12-22: The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) says it has received 157 applications for funding in the first round of its Sound & Vision, the Broadcasting Funding Scheme that offers grants for new television and radio programmes on themes of Irish culture, heritage and experience and is funded by 5% of the television licence fee.
A little more than half came from radio with 82 applications that came from a mix of local and community broadcasters plus a small number r from public broadcasters and independent producers.
The BCI says the genres of programming were also wide ranging and varied covering such as children's programmes, animation, features, documentaries, drama series and entertainment and it has set up a total of 13 panels to assess the applications.
BCI Chief Executive Michael O' Keeffe said, 'We are delighted with the huge response to the first round of the Sound and Vision scheme. Apart from the number of applications received, there is a good mix across both the radio and television sectors and within the themes and the different genres of the proposed programmes'.
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Previous O'Keeffe:
2005-12-22: In its annual report for 2004-5 just released Canadian Broadcast Watchdog, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has reported a record number of complaints and decisions in the year - of around 2,000 complaints it recorded decisions in 125 cases where the complainant had not been satisfied with the broadcaster's response.
Of the complaints around three-quarters concerned TV and a quarter radio in 2004-5 with Ontario with 39% leading in regional number terms followed by Quebec (33%), British Columbia (15%), the Prairies (12%) and the Atlantic provinces (2%).
In terms of subject news and public affairs complaints were the largest category for TV, accounting for a quarter of the total, whilst for radio various phone-in and similar "informal discourse" programming was the largest category with 69% of the total.
CBSC National chair Ronald I. Cohen commented, "It's been an extremely active year, one that indicates that Canadians who have concerns about anything they have seen or heard on television or radio know that private broadcasters provide them with an avenue for resolution of those concerns."
The CBSC also highlights the wide variety of communities served and notes that it explains the most frequently applied Code provisions in 40 languages - Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Cree, Croatian, Czech, Dari, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Mohawk, Ojibwa, Pashtu, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Previous CBSC:
CBSC Annual report - 38 Page 367 KB PDF:
2005-12-22: GCap Media has retained breakfast host Johnny Vaughan and drivetime presenter Richard Bacon in the lineup at its flagship Capital Radio when it is re-launched next month although Bacon's show will be extended to three hours but run an hour later at 17:00 to 20:00.
The move makes way for a new afternoon show hosted by Chris Brooks that takes the place of Neil Bentley's current afternoon show: Bentley is moved to a weekend show.
The main casualty is Jeremy Kyle's Capital Confessions that has been axed: The last show is tonight and Kyle said he intends to concentrate on his daytime TV show, commenting ,"I want to spend more time with my family. With the television show I work 20 hours a day, something has to give. My bosses at Capital have been terrific and I want to stay in touch with this great radio station."
Kyle will remain at Capital with a new Sunday evening show and in late evenings the station will air a new show from Paul Gillies running from 20:00 to 23:00
BBC "Holiday" programme host Craig Doyle, who this week is standing in for Vaughan in the breakfast slot, is to join Capital with a Saturday Morning 09:00 to noon show that will compete with BBC Radio 2's Jonathan Ross Show
Under the plans Capital will also change its music policy to concentrate on R&B; melodic singer-songwriters; feel-good black music and pop/funk and is also to introduce a new no more than two adverts in a row policy.
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Previous GCap:
Previous Vaughan:
Capital Radio site:
2005-12-21: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a penalty of USD 20,000 on four Spanish Broadcasting System's California stations for breaches of Equal Opportunity of Employment (EEO) rules.
The Commission came across the breaches when considering applications for the renewals of the licences of KDAY-FM, Redondo Beach; KDAI -FM, Ontario - both of which are being sold to Styles Media; and KXOL-FM and KLAX-FM, Los Angeles.
In its notice the FCC notes that its consideration of the renewal applications including attached EEO public file reports showed that the stations had did not recruit for every full-time vacancy as required and failed to self-assess adequately its EEO program in violation.
In all, it said, the stations filled 54 full-time positions but failed to recruit for 21 and of 29 remaining positions failed to recruit adequately for 27 positions.
"The licensees," it says, "failed to recruit for 39% of their openings and failed to recruit adequately for another 50% of their openings, resulting in a record of nonexistent or inadequate recruitment for 87% of their openings over a 24-month period, which was never corrected during the license term."
It rules however that the breaches did not constitute "serious violations" of the Commission's rules of such gravity that they warrant designation for evidentiary hearing and opted to renew the licences.
*RNW note: The FCC originally published incorrect figures. These are the corrected ones.
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Previous SBS:
2005-12-21: Irish state broadcaster RTÉ (Radio Telefís Éireann) is to launch Eureka DAB trials from the start of 2006 in an area covering Greater Dublin and the North East that it selected for its high population and building density.
The initial trials, which mark the 80th anniversary of Irish radio - station 2RN was launched on behalf of Radio Éireann on January 1, 1926 - will run for around three months after which, if they are successful, RTÉ Radio will look to apply for a full broadcast licence in this area later in 2006.
RTÉ says that for now it is committed to FM. which it notes is "cheap, mobile, easy to use and universally available" and regards DAB as the "best fit" for the next generation of radio...
Commenting on the digital plans RTÉ Radio Managing Director Adrian Moynes said, "There is an opportunity for the radio industry as a whole to bring the benefits of digital radio to listeners. Radio has a unique place in the lives of the nation and must adapt to retain that engagement as other platforms and services develop."
The Irish move forward with DAB caps a year in which the standard has considerable success: It is estimated that by the end of this year some four million people will be listening to DAB receivers, some three quarters of them in the UK where the market is now worth some GBP 120 million ( USD 210 million). Other countries moving forward with Dab include Norway, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Korea and China - where DAB trials began in Beijing this year and DMB Multi Media trials are running in Guangdong province - although the system had a setback in Sweden earlier this month when the government denied a call from broadcasters for an expansion of DAB.
Minister of culture and education Leif Pagrotsky announced that he will not take any decision to close down the analogue FM network in Sweden and rejected a call from the national public broadcaster Sveriges Radio to start nationwide digital radio DAB broadcasting.
Pagrotsky says that it will not be worth the money as it will be too expensive to replace 25-30 million analogue FM receivers in Sweden: Sveriges Radio (SR) had already spent around Euros 40 million (USD 47.5 million) on DAB mostly for broadcasts on a temporary basis in four cities - it launched a service in September 1995 - and a transmission network for the whole country has been established but it is now on ice.
The government says that it is not ruling out DAB but does not think moves should be made now and is hoping that people will turn to the Internet and digital TV platforms for new audio services, a position already adopted by the Finnish government, which decided against DAB a year ago.
The decision leaves open the issues of future development of digital radio services using the existing FM band and iBiquity's HD or the DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) systems.
Mikael Nilson, Director of Communication at Swedish Radio SR said the entire radio industry "regrets this government's decision not to expand DAB digital radio in Sweden."
"We are in favour of digital broadcasting on a variety of platforms including the Internet, Podcasting (MP3), radio and digital TV," he said, "but DAB is terrestrial, free to air, and has the advantage that consumers don't have to pay to receive the content as they do on the Internet. We believe that DAB is the best technology for digital radio broadcasting in Sweden."
Christer Jungeryd of Sweden's Radio Advertising Bureau insisted commercial radio needs national broadcasting licences, saying, "We cannot get them on FM, so we have to wait for DAB.
We don't see any alternative to DAB."
Previous RTÉ:
2005-12-21: Westwood One has reached agreement with CBS Radio (the re-named Infinity) to become the exclusive national advertising representative of two new morning drive programs hosted by David Lee Roth and Adam Carolla that will take replace the Howard Stern Show on a number of stations: It will also exclusively distribute the two programs to all non-CBS Radio stations nationwide.
Westwood One is also to have the same deal for the new national Jay Severin Show that makes its debut on January 3 with takes including his former home, WTKK-FM in Boston- plus CBS Radio stations KRLD-AM, Dallas; WPHT-AM, Philadelphia, WJFK-AM, Washington D.C. and KMOX-AM, St Louis.
Although Stern has escaped from terrestrial radio to the editorially unregulated satellite airwaves, terrestrial groups who objected to his broadcasts on indecency grounds are still trying to curb his activities.
Some, like the Parents Television Council are taking the view that Stern's show should be an "extra", a policy they have also been pushing for fable TV with the promotion of a la carte menus rather than bundled services but are not asking for him to be censored.
Others, like Morality in Media president Robert Peters, are continuing to argue that the show is still broadcast on the public airwaves and so should be subject to broadcast indecency laws.
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