June 2006 Archive
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2006 - 
Links- internally where there are follow-up stories we try, at the end of each story, to put a pertinent link to the top of the previous relevant story. Regarding external links see note at end of page.
RNW June comment - in "Advertisers, demographics and maybe damaging the future." says broadcasters must think digital and that neglecting young and older groups less attractive to advertisers may damage them.
RNW May comment - in "Real choice: Quality, the internet, and the need for public service broadcasters" argues that public broadcasters are if anything even more important as the internet allows wider listening horizons.
RNW April comment - in "Live or later: Implications of on-demand audio" looks at the implications for radio of the change from a mainly live-reception mode to a listen when you want one.
2006-06-30: Mercury Radio Research sister company hear2.0, which looks at strategy for audio entertainment, says a nationwide study of 1,000 people contacted by phone shows a marked preference amongst Americans to listening to streaming audio from specialist sites rather than their local radio station.
In all some 40% said they had tuned in to a specialist site such as Live 365, Launchcast, or Yahoo Music compared to only 26% listening to local radio stations online and 22% listening to distant stations.
The listening was more in favour of specialist sites amongst those 12-24, marginally higher for the 25-34 demographic and even for those above 34.
hear2.0 Executive Vice President Harve Alan commented, "These statistics indicate a usage for established online brands over brands that may not have fully committed to an online streaming presence."
"This was a national study, and many stations are still not taking seriously the opportunities for online radio," he added, commenting, "Broadcasters should be alarmed at the strong usage of non-terrestrial radio online options among persons under 35. This is both a threat and an opportunity for local radio, and now is the time to act."
hear2.0 web site:
2006-06-30: BBC online and download cum podcast figures jumped back up again in May after a fall in April following a record March. The April figures were affected by the Easter break.
In May the BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers attracted a record - for the BBC and the programme - of 756,730 listens, up 105,948 on the April figure of 650,782 (which had been down a little on March when it was 651,484).
The figures for the month were boosted by storylines that included one character admitting to his wife that he owed GBP 100,000 (USD 180,000) in gambling debts and an accident to baby George Grundy that led to the disappearance of Ed Grundy, the brother of his father and who was living with his mother.
Overall listening online was up 13.1% on the month before to 19,970,822 hours, with live listening up 17.4% to 13,294,451 hours and on-demand listening up 5.44% to 6,676,371 hours.
Listening was also up to MP3s cum podcasts where there were a total of 52 in May compared to 48 in April.
In terms of network listening in May this year, the rankings were - Total listening hours - live plus on-demand and percentage change compared to April 2006 then to May 2005:
Radio 1 - 6,184,126; +13.1%; + 68.9%
Radio 2 - 3,940,651; +12.8%; +55.6%
Radio 4 - 2,929,958; +7.6%; +31.9%
BBC 7 - 1,494,415; +3.1%; ++35.3%
Radio 5 Live - 1,435,152; +7.5%; +71.0%
Radio 3 - 870,501; -0.5%; +42.6%
6 Music - 705,144; +7.7%; +16.9%
1Xtra - 535,429; -1.8%; -2.5%
Asian Network - 213,428; -23.4%; +8.6%
5 Live Sports Xtra - 888,819; +551%; +1251%
The top five on-demand programmes were unchanged:
1 - "The Archers" on Radio 4 with 756,730 listens - up 105,948 on April;
2 - "Chris Moyles" on Radio 1 with 536,745 listens - up 84,926;
3 - "The Essential Selection" on Radio 1 with 229,304 listens - down 11,616;
4 - "The Afternoon Play" on Radio 4 with 216,162 listens - down 13,819;
5 - "Essential Mix" on Radio 1 with 177,866listens, down 31,573.
Amongst daily podcasts cum MP3s the top five were also unchanged:
1- BBC News "Radio Newspod" with 559,786 listens, up 91,818;
2 -Radio 4 "Today 8.10 Interview" with 367,231 listens, down 25,626;
3 - Radio 1 "Scott Mills Daily" with 236,908 listens, down -124,366;
4 - World Service "World News Bulletin" with 184,067 listens, up 55920;
5 - Radio 4 "Today lead interviews" with 106,473 listens, up 23,423;
Previous BBC:
Previous BBC Online figures:
2006-06-30: European broadcaster SBS Broadcasting Sarl, now controlled by funds advised by two leading private equity firms, Permira and KKR (See RNW Oct 19, 2005) has appointed former Capital Radio executive Graham Bryce as Senior Vice President of SBS Radio Group.
In the role he will be based in Amsterdam and will have overall responsibility for the SBS Radio Group, focusing on the development and execution of the business strategy, driving growth and increasing profitability.
Announcing the appointment SBS Broadcasting Group COO and acting CEO Patrick Tillieux described Bryce as "a highly successful and experienced radio operator with a proven track record of building radio stations across different music formats and markets" and said he would "play a major role in expanding SBS's existing stations and in enhancing SBS Radio's leading position in the high-growth markets in the Nordic region and Central and Eastern Europe."
Bryce was managing director of the Xfm, Choice FM and Classic Gold stations until October last year when he left in a restructure of GCap Media following the departure of former Capital Radio and GCap chief executive David Mansfield (See RNW Oct 4, 2005).
Tillieux added that Eric Hansen will continue to steer the radio operations in the Nordic countries and Nora Marcovici, head of the Kiss FM in Romania, will steer SBS's radio operations in Bulgaria and Romania.
SBS Radio has 14 radio networks and 10 stand-alone radio stations in eight countries and is the leading radio broadcaster in the Nordic region with more than 6.9 million weekly listeners in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Last month it completed its acquisition of its first Bulgarian operator - Vitosha FM, which controls the Radio Vitosha national network in Bulgaria, as well as Radio Atlantik in Sofia and Radio Ritmo in Plovdiv. Vitosha FM covers all major cities in Bulgaria, plays international hit music and is a leading station in the 15-30 year-old target group.
Previous Bryce:
Previous SBS Broadcasting Sarl:
2006-06-30: Sirius and Variety have announced a tie-up to launch Variety Radio News in the fall from a radio news bureau based in the magazine's Los Angeles offices.
The new service will provide regular reports of entertainment news on Sirius and will include contributions from Variety reporters and editors covering film, TV, publishing and online media as well as industry gossip.
Sirius President, Entertainment and Sports Scott Greenstein said of the deal, "Variety delivers an insider's view on film, TV, music, the internet, and publishing with concise and provocative insight. Variety Radio News will become as indispensable to the industry as the magazine itself, and also make it possible for anyone in the country to be as up-to-date as any movie insider.
Previous Greenstein:
Previous Sirius:
2006-06-29: Although Rush Limbaugh has been making light of the matter, it is still not clear if the host or his doctors will face further action over the discovery of Viagra with someone else's name on a vial in his luggage when he returned to Florida after a brief trip to the Dominican Republic: The syndicated right-wing host was detained for more than three hours Monday at Palm Beach International Airport.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's health writer writing third-party prescriptions - in this case Limbaugh's lawyer said in a statement the Viagra was "prescribed by Mr. Limbaugh's treating physician but labelled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes" - leaves doctors open to disciplinary action. Black said two layers had prescribed the Viagra for Limbaugh under their own names.
Bob LaMendola cited two attorneys and a Florida Medical Association spokeswoman as saying Florida rules governing doctors and pharmacists require that the true patient's name and address are on the label and Tallahassee attorney Allen R. Grossman, who defends physicians in disciplinary cases and is a former general counsel to the Florida Board of Medicine said doing otherwise "is technically a violation of dispensing and prescribing by the doctor."
So far authorities have refused other than the most general comments and federal agents referred the case to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for further investigation: Prosecutors, say reports, will among other things consider whether Limbaugh violated an agreement he struck in April with prosecutors that avoided charges against him over previous allegations of doctor-shopping in obtaining the painkiller oxycontin (See RNW Apr 29).
On his show Limbaugh joked about the matter saying commenting - and subsequently posting the comments on his web site, "'I've been racking my brain... I'm trying to figure out how Bob Dole's luggage got on my airplane. I told the doctor, 'Look, I'm worried about the next election'"; "The people at Customs were as nice as they could be; they just didn't believe me when I told them that I got those pills from the Clinton Library gift shop. They told me at the Clinton Library gift shop that they were just little blue M&Ms"; and "I know a lot of people in Washington don't even need Viagra; they just look at themselves in the mirror and the problem is solved."
RNW comment: Irrespective of anything else the spin is coming out all over this story with those for Limbaugh predictably claiming - yet again - political persecution. Fox host Bill O'Reilly said on his show "I believe powerful people in his home county are trying unjustly to harm him" and in response to a suggestion that the drug had turned up in a standard search responded, "Bull! That's bull! They wouldn't do it with anyone. ... It was a malicious, cheap, cheap, cheap tactic by the Palm Beach authorities, and they ought to be ashamed of themselves."
The facts unless reports are wrong clearly indicate behaviour that would not be the norm and there is no evidence that the check was other than routine. Without it 0'Reilly's argument taken to a logical conclusion would allow celebrities to avoid checks that are made on other people routinely and this is clearly no treating people as equal before the law..
The brouhaha if nothing is done is likely to intimidate checks on other celebrities and that would clearly be unjust and in our view it is now incumbent on the authorities as a matter of sound public policy to scotch such suggestions of celebrity privilege.
This could yet make Limbaugh to a degree a victim of his blowhard supporters as well as of his own actions but this would be less damaging than ignoring the matter. If nothing else it's a matter of arrogance and/or stupidity by Limbaugh.
Previous Limbaugh:
Limbaugh web site:
South Florida Sun-Sentinel report:
2006-06-29: US recording and radio industry representatives have clashed over the idea of a broadcast flag for digital audio during a meeting of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and in the Senate a sub-committee has endorsed the idea.
The measure, part of a wider-ranging communications bill, will still require approval by the Senate Commerce Committee and full Senate and has also to be aligned with the House of Representatives bill that does not so far include the flag.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has already endorsed the broadcast flag but the courts later ruled it did not have the authority to enact such a measure and overturned it.
In the Senate debate, according to ZDNet opposition was voiced to the measure is "is a technology mandate and because the technology mandate may actually discourage innovation and discourage different products from coming into the market,"
In the house Recording Industry of America (RIAA) chairman and chief executive Mitch Bainwol testified concerning negotiations with broadcasters and argued that HD and satellite digital broadcasters were becoming download services by delivering the signal to devices with storage and replay capabilities and said that people should not be allowed to use technology to easily "cherry pick" which songs they save although recording companies did not object to recording a block pf programming or manually recording songs.
The broadcasters argue that they should not have to make additional payments because a signal is digital and say recording and storing offered is covered by fair use to allow home recording and later listening.
Clear Channel chief legal officer Andrew Levin argued that the flag could hold up development of digital radio and commented according to Billboard Radio Monitor, "We need to take a hard look at what consumers are entitled to and what their expectations are before we agree on usage rules -- before they get memorialized in statute or regulations", adding that negotiations with the RIAA remained incomplete because of the long "laundry list" of rules proposed.
Previous Bainwol:
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Levin:
Previous RIAA:
Billboard Radio Monitor report:
ZDNet report:
2006-06-29: The UK Guardian reports that Guardian Media Group Radio, which is owned by the same parent, has bought Paisley station Q96 from UTV, which acquired the station with its purchase of the Wireless Group last year.
It adds that GMG is seeking permission from UK media regulator Ofcom to house the station within its Real Radio Scotland building in Glasgow and move it from its current base in the Kinning Park district of Glasgow, and also plans to change the station name but not its hits cum classic hits format.
Paisley Local Radio launched the station in September 1992 broadcasting from Paisley to Paisley and Renfrewshire.
It has struggled in the ratings and UTV Radio Chief executive Scott Taunton said of the sale that it would allow UTV to concentrate on its other stations, adding, "in a highly challenging time for the radio industry, the key to success comes from portfolio management."
Real Radio Scotland managing director Billy Anderson said, "Q96 is a great opportunity for us to deliver a different radio station for the area and it will benefit from a huge array of expertise including marketing, programming and news coverage which in turn will create new job opportunities that can only be good for the local community."
Also in Scotland, Ofcom has accepted that Emap Radio has transferred control of the Ayr digital multiplex to Arqiva Ltd: The licence was originally awarded to Score Digital in 2001 (See RNW Licence News Jul 8, 2001) and passed to Emap when it took over Score's parent Scottish Radio Holdings in a deal announced a year ago (See RNW Jun 22, 2005).
Ofcom subsequently ruled that its regulations prohibited Emap from controlling both the Glasgow and Ayr digital multiplexes (See RNW Aug 9, 2005) and that following completion of the takeover Emap had to take suitable measures to bring itself into compliance.
Previous Emap:
Previous GMG:
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Taunton:
UK Guardian report:
2006-06-29: Arbitron has added a further deal to use its portable people meter (PPM) in Texas, signing a multi-year commitment to use the PPM when deployed with Service Broadcasting Corporation, which owns KKDA-FM, (K104), KKDA-AM and KRNB-FM, in Dallas.
It has also claimed success for the PPM in Houston where it is currently carrying out trials and says that the system has shown up a ratings boost for Spanish language stations KEYH-AM and KXGJ-FM during world cup soccer games when it says the stations topped the ratings. According to PPM figures the audience for the stations during the games soared more up to six-fold - from a typical combined figure for their regular Spanish Oldies programming of around 24.500 to a total ranging from more than 80,000 to 153,200 on June 12 when games included the Czech Republic match against the United States (which the US lost 3-0) and 126,100 on the June 9 opening of the tournament.
Commenting on the ability to produce results for the games, John Snyder, vice president, Portable People Meter Sales, Arbitron Inc., said the PPM could "document extraordinary sales opportunities for radio that simply can't be tracked by the paper and pencil diary system…By embracing the PPM, radio will be better able to win the advertising dollars that it had been leaving on the table for other, electronically measured media to grab."
Previous Arbitron:
2006-06-29: Irish state broadcaster RTÉ, which has recently concluded a successful six-month DAB (Digital audio broadcasting trial) along the eats coast near Dublin had said it is to seek a licence for a regular DAB service.
It says that once the service if fully operational it will work with the Irish radio industry towards a national rollout of DAB in the country working with "policy makers, regulators, commercial broadcasters and retailers."
Previous RTÉ:
2006-06-28: Univision has announced that it has signed an agreement for a consortium of equity capital groups led by media entrepreneur Haim Saban to purchase it for USD 12.3 billion in cash - at a price of USD 36.25 per share - in a deal valued at around USD 13.7 billion in all including approximately USD 1.4 billion of debt.
Announcing the deal, Univision President and CEO A. Jerrold Perenchio said in a statement, "I am delighted to announce this blockbuster transaction, which provides a unique opportunity to deliver substantial current value to our shareholders, while establishing a partnership for Univision and its employees with five of the world's pre-eminent investment firms."
"This blue-chip group," he added, "brings to Univision in-depth knowledge of the rapidly changing media landscape and an exceptional track record of supporting growth and enhancing value. The outstanding cash flow multiple our shareholders will receive reflects the extraordinary growth of the Hispanic population, Univision's unique bond with its community and our ability to deliver tremendous audiences to our mainstream advertising partners. I am proud of all the Univision employees who have, along with our partners Televisa and Venevision, contributed to the success and growth of this great company. Univision has a very bright future."
When 75-years old Perenchio, who acquired Univision for USD 500 million in 1992, put the group up for sale in February he was reported to be hoping for offers of up to USD 40 per share
The Saban consortium includes Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Saban Capital Group and a statement from them said, "Univision is truly a one-of-a-kind property. It is an outstanding media brand with exceptional positions in the fastest-growing markets in the country, world-class assets, strong management, popular programming and unmatched ratings."
They added, "This transaction presents a unique opportunity to contribute to and participate in the continuing growth of the clear leader in Spanish-language media and to further the company's commitment to serving the Hispanic community. Univision has tremendous long-term growth opportunities in each of its businesses and we look forward to working together to build on its success and enhance its value in the years ahead."
The deal needs both regulatory approvals and that of Univision shareholders leaving a possible opportunity for a rival bid from a group headed by Mexican TV Group Televisa to increase its offer: Televisa had missed the initial deadline after the last-minute withdrawal of the Carlyle Group and subsequently a number of other backers of its bid also pulled out (See RNW Jun 27).It was reported to have then offered USD 35.75 a share, topping the opening bid from the Saban consortium of USD 35.50 that had been rejected.
In a statement following the Univision sale agreement it said it was "disappointed about the outcome of the Univision auction" and continued, "Notwithstanding our repeated offers to discuss all aspects of our proposal including price, Univision and its advisers refused to enter into any discussions with us after we submitted our initial bid. Given this action by Univision's board, Televisa has a number of alternatives it is considering."
Televisa has some leverage through Univision bylaws that give it and Venezuelan TV group Venevision a veto on the company's sale that can only be overridden by a 60% vote of the shareholders but it is likely to have more problems with regulatory approval because of US laws limiting foreign ownership of domestic broadcasters and thus would have to pay a premium if it were to counter-bid, something many analysts think it will baulk at, preferring to use its clout to get a deal that suits it from the Saban consortium.
According to Reuters many analysts still consider the Televisa group the most likely long-term buyer of Univision and it cites a Merrill Lynch report that commented, "The winning consortium will ultimately want to sell Univision and Televisa remains the logical buyer."
Televisa already owns 11.4% of Univision and has a long-term programming deal with it that runs until 2017 and Reuters quoted David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets as saying Televisa's best option is buying Univision's TV network from Saban but not going for its TV and radio stations where regulations limit foreign ownership.
Univision shares, which had fallen back by just under 2.8% on Monday to end at USD 32.30 picked up on the news and rose to touch USD 34.48 before falling back a little to end Tuesday at USD 34.00.
Previous Perenchio:
Previous Televisa:
Previous Univision:
Reuters Report:
2006-06-28: BBC Radio 4 has announced that TV news anchor Kirsty Young is to take over from Sue Lawley as the host of its "Desert Island Discs" programme that the corporation has been airing since 1942.
Lawley, who was only the third host of the programme, announced in April that she would step down after 18 years as presenter (See RNW Apr 13).
The programme was first presented by its creator Roy Plomley, whose sting ran from 1942 until his death in 1985. He was followed for two years by Michael Parkinson and Lawley took over in 1987.
Young, who began her broadcasting career in 1989 as a newsreader for BBC Radio Scotland, said in a statement, "I've loved Desert Island Discs for as long as I've been listening to radio" adding, "Its enduring success is testament both to the brilliant format and consistently fascinating guests."
BBC Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer said Young's "warmth and curiosity" would be "the perfect combination" for Desert Island Discs from this autumn.
Previous BBC:
Previous Damazer:
Previous Lawley:
2006-06-28: The US Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) in its 2005 Non-Traditional Revenue (NTR) Survey says that survey results show "a sustained effort in the Radio industry to grow revenue from non-traditional sources and activities" and adds that the numbers of stations involved in NTR activities continues to grow. In all 51% of stations responding said NTR had been part of their strategy for more than five years, 14% said they pursued NTR for the first time in 2005, and 90% said NTR efforts would increase this year.
The clear leader in NTR activity continued to be event marketing, participated in by 94% of stations that pursue NTR, and the greatest growth was in Internet-related activities, with a 12% increase in such activity compared to 2004.
For the first time RAB included sports marketing in the survey and reported that more than half the participating stations said they were involved in some form of sports marketing with nearly 40% of them planning to increase such activity this year.
NTR activity was highest in large and mid-market stations with 32% of stations with a million plus reporting NTR activity and 29% of those in markets with 50-200,000 but only 15% for those with 200-500,000 and 11% for those below 50,000.
In terms of sectors, event marketing led with 78% - up from 74% in 2004, followed by Internet with 58% - up from 49%; cause related marketing - down from 55% to 47%;In store (Vendor) Programs - up from 39% to 40%; Sports Marketing with 39% in the first year it has been reported; Recruitment - up from 32% to 36%; and Dealer Group - down from 36% to 32%.
In terms of challenges with NTR selling, Time management was listed at the top - 56%, down from 65% in 2004. It was followed by lack of resources - up from 40% to 49% and lack of leads - up from 26% to 44%.
In revenue terms, 3% of stations reported more than 30% of total revenues from NTR, an increase from 1%; 5% reported 21% to 30% - down from8%; 26% from 11% to 20% -up from 23%; and 66% from nil to 10%, down from 68%.
Previous RAB:
2006-06-28: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved the CAD 12.5 million ( USD 10.9 million) take over by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. of six FMs from Island Radio Ltd that was applied for in January (See Licence News Jan 22).
Pattison is proposing a tangible benefits package totalling CAD 750,000 (USD 670,000), 6% of the value of the transaction, in the takeover of CHWF-FM and CKWV-FM Nanaimo, CIBH-FM and CHPQ-FM Parksville, CKLR-FM Courtenay and CJAV-FM Port Alberni.
Previous CRTC:
Previous Pattison:
2006-06-28: Clear Channel has fired two staffers from its adult top 40 WMTX-FM, Tampa, Florida, after a recorded weather update including an "f-bomb" was aired in error according to Billboard Radio Monitor, which cites Tampa Bay Online as the source for its report.
It quotes news and weather reporter Dennis Roper, who was working for Clear Channel's WFLA-AM supplying news and weather updates during Hurricane Alberto as saying , "It was an accident, and I'm sorry that it happened. There's really no excuse for this because I know better, but I was frustrated with the equipment that night . Things were rushed, and I let the 'f word' go on one of the taped updates. It was never intended for air. I didn't even know it would be aired."
Roper said he thought the tape had been erased but it had been put into the station's automation system and was played out accidentally by host Amy Newman.
"I don't think she had any control over it," Roper said. "It was programmed in the system and it's unfortunate for her… I think the station only got two calls, and those listeners were laughing about it. But everyone in broadcasting is paranoid now, not just Clear Channel."
Tampa Bay Online said no complaints have been filed with the Federal Communications Commission, and Roper said he did not think the FCC would issue a fine.
RNW comment: In this case, it would seem that a host was fired for something that she could not realistically have been expected to check. Unless there are more facts to come the error was made by Roper, who seems to have behaved responsibly after the airing and who could have expected a penalty. However Newman would seem to be as innocent a party as Clear Channel unless company policy is that hosts have to play all reports in advance for a check.
We think any fine in such cases of a clear error would be an over reaction but have to admit that where a company has over-reacted as appears in this case the imposition of a penalty, even the maximum, would have a tinge of natural justice.
Previous Clear Channel:
Billboard Radio Monitor report:
2006-06-27: UBC Media is to begin testing a music downloading service using Digital Audio Broadcasting spectrum on Chrysalis's Heart FM in Birmingham next month and says it plans a full-scale rollout by December of the technology that allows instant purchase of songs as people listen to them.
UBC also says that it expects DAB-enabled mobile phones to be available later this year.
The technology, which will work by broadcasting encrypted music files along with the broadcast stream thus allowing them to be cached for a short period by the mobile device, is intended to make purchases a single-stop process as opposed to the music-buying services offered in the US by the satellite radio companies that enables recording of songs but requires synchronization with a computer to then make the purchase.
After purchase the material can be decrypted and the song can then be transferred to a user's web-accessed music library, allowing them to download the song to a PC and subsequently transfer to a portable player that supports Digital Rights Management.
Managing Director Simon Cole told Reuters that "very, very, conservative " estimates - based on 1.2 million users and only five digital radio stations, out of approximately 40 available now - were that digital music downloads (DMDs) would generate GBP 173 million (USD 316 million) in annual revenues by 2012 , producing a profit of around GBP 10 million ( USD 18 million), adding "Because we own most of the interactive digital spectrum in the UK, we're in position to create a barrier to entry," and saying that UBC was working with the other spectrum owners, BT Group and Carphone Warehouse founder and CEO Charles Dunstone.
The plan for the mobile downloads is to use pre-payment systems commonly used on mobile phones with each song costing GBP 1.25 (USD 2.27) compared to the GBP 0.79 ( USD 1.44 at current exchange rates compared to the 99 cents charged in the US) charged by Apple's iTunes but rather less than many ringtones cost.
Cole commented that UBC believed there "is a premium of some kind in the mobile environment" and said the forecasts assumed that in six years a quarter of mobile devices will be able to use digital radio services and that a tenth of those who own them will buy downloads with each purchasing six songs a month on average.
[RNW comment: The sceptic in us would reduce this in making an investment decision to around a third based on other material such as videos that is likely by then to be available on DMB - Digital Multimedia Broadcasts - systems and that are likely to compete albeit UBC may well take much of this market in the UK. In addition were the world economy to weaken, we suspect song purchases using this method might well be curbed in favour of later downloads over the Internet of more songs for the same and subsequent transfer to mobile devices including DMB-enabled mobile devices. Of course, when it comes to spending, we may be completely wrong and it may well be there's no spendthrift like a young spendthrift].
Cole did get support from Jupiter analyst Mark Mulligan who told Reuters," "It's the right sort of model, and one of the key factors is that the mobile content-buying demographic has a much younger skew than on the PC" and added, "I don't think it's destined to be the mobile iTunes, though, because that dominance on the PC is unique…The mobile space has so many dynamics in the strategy chain and is balkanized by all the different operators, that the net result is there won't be a dominant model on the mobile."
UBC also released its annual report showing its pre-tax loss in the year to the end of March down to GBP 234,000 (USD 427,000) from GBP 1.16 million (USD 2.12million) a year ago on revenues up 21.8% to GBP 19.44 million (USD 35.5 million) and also revealing that its recent share placement raised GBP 3 million (USD 5.5 million) gross that is indeed for development of the downloading service.
UBC turned an operating loss before goodwill amortisation of GBP 427,000 (USD 780,000) into operating profit of GBP 349,000 (USD 637,000), the first time it had had profits at this kind of level and Cole said the results showed that investments made by the company were now delivering profits in a changing industry.
UBC described the year ahead as exciting and challenging and said it had shown nobody else was better placed to exploit digital radio with Cole saying the results show investments made by the company over the last four years as delivering profit in a changing radio industry.
"This is a company that understands the digital radio business. Our results show that the investments we have made in the last four years are now delivering profit as the face of the radio industry changes," he said.
'We believe that the pace of change will accelerate and particularly that the opportunities provided by our successful trials of music purchase from digital radio stations have the potential to create transforming business models."
Previous Cole:
Previous UBC:
Reuters report:
2006-06-27: GCap Media in its annual report published on Monday reveals that former chief executive David Mansfield was paid GBP 1.13 million (USD 2.06 million) in compensation for loss of office after he was ousted from the company in September last year (See RNW Sep 20, 2005).
The payment took his total remuneration for the year up to GBP 1.64 million (USD 3 million) including salary of GBP 212, 000 (USD 387,000 ) and a bonus of GBP 285,000 (USD 520,00 )
When Mansfield left he also had 146,374 shares and 307,170 conditional share awards, worth more than a million pounds (USD 1.8 million) and options on another 290,917 shares. He was also credited with an extra year's service on his pension.
Other pay-offs listed GBP 596,000 (USD 1.1 million) to former commercial director Linda Smith, whose total remuneration was GBP 774,000 (USD 1.41 million) and GBP 511,000 (USD 933,000) to former operations director Paul Davies, whose total remuneration was GBP 691,000 (USD 1.26 million).
These payoffs follow a GBP 285,000 (USD 505,000) pay-off to Nathalie Schwarz, who left her job as Capital's strategy and development director in January last year and is now Director of Radio for Channel 4, an amount that led a number of investors to vote against the company's remuneration report at its Annual General Meeting (See RNW Oct 21. 2005).
The report notes that current Executive Directors - Chief Executive Ralph Bernard, Operations Director Steve Orchard, and Finance Director Wendy Pallot have service contracts with unexpired rolling terms of one year and a notice period by either party of one year.
In the 2005-06 financial year Bernard's remuneration was GBP 718,000 (USD 1.35 million) including salary of GBP 403,000 (USD 778,000), bonuses of GBP 292,000 (USD 550,000), that for Orchard, who was appointed on November 24, 2005, was GBP 269,000 (USD 507,000) of which salary was GBP 93,000 (USD 175,000) and for Pallot, who was appointed on May 9, 2005, was GBP 416,000 (USD 784,000) of which salary was GBP 215,000 (USD 405,000).
Gap's total bill for directors, executive and non-executive was GBP 5.38 million (USD 11 million) for the year, a year in which its pro-forma results - taking out one-off costs and assuming that the merger had taken place a year earlier, recorded pre-tax profits down 40% to GBP 22.2 million (USD 41.8 million) and revenues down GBP 220.2 million (USD 414.7 million - See RNW May 25).
Part of the revenue shortfall has been put down to the company's policy of innovative 'no more than two ads in a row' policy that it introduced first at flagship station Capital Radio. It has claimed that this has increased the "efficiency" of advertising on the station by 38% and this week extended the policy to its classic rock format Planet Rock digital station, saying it is confident the policy's success "success will be replicated on Planet Rock."
National Sales Director Simon Dogfish said of the move, "We want to continue to drive the radio market with innovative programming and this gives us the platform to deliver this. We believe it provides a cleaner clutter free environment for both advertisers and listeners and further encapsulates GCap Media's pledge to drive radio's digital future."
Planet Rock has also announced that it has signed rocker Alice Cooper as its new breakfast DJ from the start of next month.
Previous Bernard:
Previous Davies:
Previous GCap:
Previous Mansfield:
Previous Orchard:
Previous Pallot:
Previous Schwartz:
GCap annual report (5.2 Mb 118 page PDF):
2006-06-27: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reduced from USD 10,000 to USD 3,000 penalties it imposed in 2004 on American Family Association (AFA), licensee of non-commercial educational KBMP-FM, Enterprise, Kansas (See RNW Nov 7, 2004).
AFA had argued that the statute of limitations barred the FCC from assessing a forfeiture for its (admitted) violation of the commission's main studio rule, saying that the violation ended on October 21, 2002, but the Notice of Apparent Liability was not issued until July 28, 2004, more than the maximum period of a year allowed to issue a penalty.
The commission agreed on the basis that at the time of the violation AFA did not hold a licence for the station and was thus a permittee rather than a licensee: It substituted an admonishment for the USD 7,000 penalty it had proposed but upheld the USD 3.000 penalty that it had additionally imposed for failing to comply with a bureau order.
Previous FCC:
2006-06-27: ABC's Daytime - ABC is currently in the process of being taken over by Citadel - retained top rank and its Prime Access moved back into second place pushing Jones MediaAmerica TWC Radio Network back to third spot in Arbitron's RADAR 89 (Radio's All Dimension Audience Research) Radio Network Audience Report just released covering the period from March 31, 2005- March 29, 2006 and covering 56 networks.
In the top three, ABC Daytime Direction Network lost 174,000 on the RADAR 88 numbers to end up with a weekly audience of 7.106 million and an unchanged AQH of 2.9; ABC's Prime Access network lost 198,000 to end up with 5.518 million and an AQH down from 2.3 to 2.2 whilst Jones MediaAmerica TWC Radio Network lost more - down 260,000 - to end up with 5.492 million and AQH also down from 2.3 to 2.2
Following them Dial-Global Complete FM Network gained 59,000 listeners to move up from fifth to fourth rank with 5.323 million listeners and AQH an unchanged 2.1 whilst Westwood CBS News Primetime Network dropped a rank to end up fifth with 4.995 million and an AQH down from 2.1 to 2.0.
ABC Morning News Radio Network was in sixth rank and Premiere Networks then took the next three slots, as in RADAR 88, with Premiere Morn Drive Network followed by Premiere Emerald Plus Network and Premiere Mediabase Network.
For RADAR 89 Arbitron increased the sample from 100,000 to 106,299 diaries as part of a planned increase to 125,000 diary keepers by the release of RADAR 92 in March next year.
Previous Arbitron:
Previous Disney/ABC America:
Previous Jones Media:
Previous RADAR:
Previous RADAR ratings (RADAR 88):
Previous Premiere Networks:
Previous Westwood One:
2006-06-27: In more US radio deals, Regent Communications has announced agreement on a USD 4.9 million cash purchase from Vox Radio Group of WNYQ-FM serving the Capital Region in Albany, New York
WNYQ moved its facilities from Queensbury, New York, last month so as to better serve the Albany market and is currently dark: With its acquisition Regent will own and operate five FM radio stations and one AM radio station in the Capital Region.
President and CEO Bill Stakelin said of the deal, "This transaction once again reflects our commitment to prudently pursue opportunities to expand our station footprint in our middle-and small-sized markets. Adding a fifth FM station in Albany will allow us to better serve both our listeners and advertisers, while expanding our audience and revenue shares."
In another deal, Journal Communications Inc., which recently purchased several TV stations including KMTV-TV, Omaha, has announced the sale - required to comply with FCC ownership regulations - of KBBX-FM ("Radio Lobo 97.7FM") to Connoisseur Media but has not announced financial or other details.
On closure of the deal, Journal will own and operate six stations in the Omaha market.
A rather larger US deal, the sale of Univision has now stalled following the withdrawal of a number of partners in a bid for the company from a consortium led by Mexican broadcaster Televisa: As already reported Televisa missed the deadline for a bid after the Carlyle Group pulled out from the consortium (See RNW Jun 22)
The Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Venezuelan media investor Gustavos Cisneros, also dropped out of the consortium, although Cascade Investment, the investment firm controlled by Bill Gates, and equity firm Bain Capital are still backing the Televisa bid and have increased their share, making them the lead partners.
Another group - consisting of Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Haim Saban - submitted an offer by the deadline but was subsequently reported to have offered USD 35.50 a share and have seen its bid rejected.
Televisa is now reported to have countered with a bid of USD 35.75 a share, significantly less than the USD 40 Univision had indicated when it put itself up for sale in February, leading to speculation that Univision may cancel the sale.
Previous Journal:
Previous Regent:
Previous Stakelin:
Previous Televisa:
Previous Univision:
2006-06-27: British media Regulator Ofcom in its latest Broadcast Bulletin highlights its imposition earlier this month of a record fine of GBP 175,000 (USD 323,000) on Emap for a number of breaches of regulations at its KISS FM in London (See RNW Jun 21) and also the issue of broadcasts failing to keep recordings of programmes as required by their licences.
Relating to the latter it found breaches in three TV and one radio standards cases, the radio one involving Asian Gold and a complaint that its Christian-focussed programme "Evening Blessing" in April criticised members of the Christian community, who were phoning in to criticise the conduct of the presenters and also criticised a former presenter of the programme.
In addition Ofcom considered a further TV complaint and two radio complaints resolved by action taken by the broadcaster: One radio case involved a phone-in on BBC Radio Sheffield when a caller, said to have been reasonable when spoken to in advance, had called the hone side's goalkeeper a "fucking cunt" when on air.
The BBC said the presenter had made it clear the language was unacceptable and immediately closed the call and made an unreserved apology to the audience.
In the second case, a fairness and privacy complaint against Isle of Wight Radio's "The mid morning boogie with Alex Dyke" was considered resolved in view of a broadcast by the station of an apology combined with a written apology and undertaking not to rebroadcast the material.
The totals compare with two radio and three TV standards complaints upheld in the previous bulletin in which a further six TV complaints and one radio complaint were considered resolved and gave details of a fairness and privacy complaint that was not upheld
In addition Ofcom listed with no details a further 78 TV complaints involving 69 items and 16 radio complaints involving 16 items that it were out of its remit or not upheld. The totals compare with 99 TV complaints involving 83 items and 20 radio complaints involving 17 items that were out of its remit or not upheld in its previous bulletin.
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Ofcom broadcast bulletin:
2006-06-26: We couldn't resist temptation this week and so start our look at print comment on radio with a more general comment on "Dropping the F-Bomb" as Joel Achenbach refers to it in the Washington Post.
Achenbach starts "The most versatile word in our language can do almost anything, other than be printed in a family newspaper. It can be a noun, a verb, a gerund, an adjective or just an expletive. It can be literal or figurative. Although it has an explicit sexual meaning, it's usually used figuratively these days, as an all-purpose intensifier."
He then notes that it remains "taboo. But just barely… We may be entering an era in which this fabled vulgarity is on its way to becoming just another word -- its transgressive energy steadily sapped by overuse."
Achenbach then goes on to note widespread use of the term..."From hip-hop artists to bloggers to the vice president of the United States, everyone's dropping the F-bomb", says many young people may not "grasp how special this word has been in the past" and continues, "For the good of human communication we must come together, as a people, to protect this word, and ensure that, years from now, it remains obscene."
Unfortunately in his view too may people aren't helping, from the President, who before he was elected used the word repeatedly in an interview, the vice-President, who used it on the Senate Floor, John Kerry who used it of President Bush's competence in conducting the war, and many more.
Achenbach says he doesn't "want to make a federal case out of all of this -- but that's what the government is doing", comments on the Bono "fucking brilliant "comment that was at first ruled out as not indecent followed by a reversal of the decision, and later details routine use by real people but a taboo on use in print and on air.
"We must not overharvest the swear words that are part of the commons of our language," argues Achenbach. "It is an adults-only commons, of course. Kids need to be told that they still can't use it. How can a 13-year-old be transgressively vulgar with the word if his 5-year-old sister already uses it? This word is supposed to be a reward of adulthood. We have to conserve it, so that our children and our children's children can use it when we're gone."
After the (potentially expensive) word that must not be said, on to the other issue topping the US regulatory list at the moment, that of media ownership, and a report in Media Life by Diego Vasquez.
Its heading "On the evils of consolidation in media" indicates the point of view from which it is written and the article is primarily comments by Bob McChesney, president of Free Press, "a watchdog group that encourages competition in media and has crusaded against radio payola and for net neutrality."
As might be expected it concentrates on TV but many of the points made apply generally and in terms of net neutrality McChesney makes a telling point about the finances at issue commenting that those who want to be able to charge extra to prioritize certain data on the Internet are "probably spending a million dollars for every USD10 we spend to privatize the internet."
McChesney says his organization is "driven by a conviction that we need to have multiple voices in every community. There's been a pattern toward fewer and fewer owners, fewer and fewer newsrooms, less coverage, etc. It's only good for a handful of owners. I think we'd like to see there be a serious debate about local media, I think it's a debate the FCC needs to encourage."
"Our biggest concern," he continues, "is there's so much political pressure to ram through a change in the media rules without public participation. We want the public to be allowed to participate in the process that the FCC takes part in, meaning numerous public hearings around the country that are taken seriously, unlike 2003 when the FCC boycotted public hearings and ignored what was said."
McChesney promotes the Stop Big Media group that has been launched to lead opposition to further US media consolidation and comments, somewhat acidly it might be thought, "We've got to make clear in our comments that the FCC is no longer a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street. It needs to represent the public."
The main issue he says is cross ownership and monopoly of information in an area and of radio he comments, "Radio became much more profitable when it became more consolidated. It became a cash register for Clear Channel. The situation that is heaven for these companies is our hell. If you understand it that way, you understand it's not really a left versus right issue. We've got all the numbers on our side; they've got all the money on their side. It's organized money versus organized people. But we've got to organize enough people to match the millions of dollars these companies are willing to spend for monopoly ownership."
McChesney says this time round, as opposed to 2003 when what stopped the introduction of eased regulation was a court decision, he thinks the chances of stopping major consolidation "are vastly superior" but warns, "But I also don't want to act like we can take it easy and coast. The profit potential for media companies is off the charts, and they'll stop at nothing. They're battling like their lives are on the line. "
He then comments, "In fairness, they aren't the bad guys here. Clear Channel, Rupert Murdoch, Tribune Company, they're not the bad guys. They're doing what they should be doing, making as much money as they can for their shareholders. So they're not the bad guys per se…The bad guys are the politicians who let them own all the media. They're supposed to be representing our interests, not the interests of these companies."
RNW comment: McChesney makes a very sound point up above - corporate law puts duties on company boards relating to financial conduct and general law limits the activities of companies, as for instance regulating medicines where it is impossible for the individual to check on their safety and efficacy.
In that context our view is that there is not enough debate about the overall balance of costs and benefits of measures but within that debate our view is fairly simple in that it should allow companies to argue their points - but force them where they deliberately pervert factual evidence to correct this immediately with very severe consequences when they do not do so - so as to ensure that debate is informed.
That balance can never be a fair one when politicians are bought for whatever reason, even if it is simply when the nature of a political system makes massive financial demands in terms of getting elected. But to expect the turkeys to vote for Christmas? Not on unless the public in general is concerned enough to vote a lot of them out regularly, irrespective of party affiliation, whenever there is evidence of corruption.
Enough however of the problem areas an on to some praise for radio in the context of sports coverage: It came from Chris Campling in Saturday's UK Times where in his Radiohead column he notes that Wimbledon tennis starts this week whilst World Cup soccer continues and then continues, "Luckily, tennis is a game well suited to radio. I'm not sure of the exact statistics, but apparently the average best-of-five-set match consists of about 70 seconds of blurred action and about four hours of sitting around. Into this vacuum BBC radio has traditionally poured its greatest wits. Any sport can be interesting if the people describing it have entertaining things to say, and tennis is stuffed with them."
Campling says of the commentators involved - "They tend to be a pretty amiable bunch…" and concludes," All this, and not having to watch the mob on Henman Hill (aka Murray Mount) clapping themselves for appearing on the big screen. Radio really is miles better, isn't it?"
Finally before moving on to suggested listening, a column that puts our first suggestion into context: It was Paul Donovan's Radio Waves column in the UK Sunday Times - devoted to Nick Clarke, the BBC broadcaster who "announced last December, that he had cancer and his left leg was about to be amputated" but is now back on the airwaves and over the next few months will have spells on BBC Radio 4's "World at One" - a programme he has hosted since 1994 and for which he will initially work two days a week; "Any Questions" - he stands in for Jonathan Dimbleby this Friday; this week introducing excepts from an unpublished book by the late Alistair Cooke, whose biography he wrote; and "Round Britain Quiz."
Clarke told Donovan of his voice - "firm, calm, measured" - that "It did lose its oomph while I was ill, but that came back after the operation. We aren't sure why. Maybe it was a release of tension, who knows?"
Clarke ended chemotherapy on his 58th birthday on June 9 and his return to the airwaves came with "Fighting to Be Normal", a programme aired on BBC Radio 4 last Friday and made from a taped diary kept by Clarke and his wife Barbara.
It includes comments from them and their three-years-old twin sons, about their lives from shortly after he was told that to save his life his left leg would have to be amputated.
Next we suggest "On the Media" from WNYC and two items on the programme last week - available either from an MP3 of the whole programme or as individual item streams: One was "Watching You Watching Me ", which featured outgoing US National Public Radio ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin talking to Mike Pesca, and the second "All About Dan" - comment on and a sound portrait of Dan Rather who last week left CBS.
After items centred on individuals, a programme by an individual but centred on an event: It is "Live at Leeds Again", aired by Radio 4 last Saturday and a programme in which Andy Kershaw in the third and final part of his "School of Rock" series, goes behind the scenes for a return concert at Leeds University by The Who and tells the tale of how the return concert came about
Then drama and three very different offerings from different eras, first in BBC Radio 4's "Friday Play" last week: That was "Consideration" by Robert Messik in which Peter Balam's wife Eleanor donates a kidney to him but when he walks out on her and their children for another woman she wants it back. An interesting divorce settlement negotiation!
And then in Sunday's "World Drama" from BBC World Service - a radio version of Thea von Harbou's novel "Metropolis" that her husband Fritz Lang turned into the 1927 silent movie classic: This was preceded in "Close-up" with a picture of science fantasy writer Philip K. Dick.
Finally, also from Sunday, BBC Radio 3's "Drama on 3" slot featured "The Orchid Grower" by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, the story of the 1964 defection to the USA of KGB officer Yuri Nosenko and his subsequent sufferings as a victim of internal conflict within the CIA .
Following drama issues and current affairs and first a suggestion of items from three days of "Late Night Live" on ABC Radio National last week: Tuesday included a report, timely in a sense in view of the current crisis of North Korea's missile programme, about the kidnapping in November 1977 by North Korean agents of 13 year old Japanese girl, Megumi Yokata who was seized on her way home from school and is one of at least 13 Japanese nationals kidnapped by the North Koreans between that year and 1983. Maybe the regime has changed somewhat or maybe it hasn't!
On Wednesday it featured a report on the new US embassy in Baghdad - some 104 acres in size and costing around YSD 600 million: It's one of the few building projects in the country that has proceeded ahead without much disruption.
And on Thursday the programme included a report "Brisbane Ideas Festival 2006 - Nanny State" - a discussion about state regulation and whether too much regulation is being accepted too easily.
This made an interesting companion to Sunday's "Background Briefing" on "Water in India", a look at the surge in demand for water as India booms and the best way to handle the competing demands.
And to end with tales of two small recording labels, one from next Saturday's "Jazz File" on BBC Radio 3 (17:00GMT): In "Let Freedom Ring", a title taken from the landmark LP title, Jez Nelson starts a series about the albums recorded by the late jazz saxophonist Jackie McLean for the Blue Note label in the 1960s.
And BBC Radio 2, last Saturday saw the first of a two-part series "Tighten Up: Story of Trojan Records" telling the story of the small label, known as reggae's Motown, that was hugely influential in introducing Jamaican music to Britain. In 1970 it released 500 singles and sold 1.5 million records. The first half is on the Radio 2 web site and the second programme airs on July 1 at 19:00 GMT.
Previous Campling:
Previous Columnists:
Previous Donovan:
Media Life -Vasquez:
Stopbigmedia site:
UK Sunday Times - Donovan:
UK Times - Campling:
Washington Post - Achenbach:
2006-06-26: This year's Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) are to be presented by actor and comedian John Cleese, who will also be the keynote speaker at this year's Australian Radio Conference.
Both events are to be held in Sydney in October - the Radio Conference at the Crystal Palace Conference Centre at Luna Park on October 13 and the Awards the following day in the Big Top at Luna Park.
2006-06-25: The main regulatory news last week was the imposition by UK media regulator Ofcom of a record GBP 175,000 (USD 323,000) fine on Emap, which in November last year had been fined the previous record amount for a UK radio operator of GBP 125,000 (USD 175,000) and the start by the US Federal Communications Commission of its review of media ownership regulations: Elsewhere there was a steady flow of radio-related decisions except for Australia where no radio-related decisions were announced.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has again been involved in a steady flow of radio-related work including the following (in order of province):
British Columbia:
*Administrative renewal from 1 September 2006 to 31 March 2007 of the licence of CKGF-FM-2, Greenwood and its transmitters CKGF-1-FM, Christina Lake and CKGF-3-FM, Rock Creek.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CFWB-AM, Campbell River and its transmitter CJGR-FM, Gold River.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CHQB-AM, Powell River.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CKKS-FM, Sechelt (formerly CISE-FM) and its transmitters CIPN-FM, Pender Harbour, CISC-FM, Gibsons, and CIEG-FM, Egmont.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CISQ-FM, Squamish.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CISW-FM, Whistler, and its transmitter CISP-FM, Pemberton.
*Approval of application by Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc. to use frequency 106.3 MHz for its Vancouver FM, which was approved in 2001. There seven interventions supporting the application and 7,000 opposing it, primarily on the basis that it will result in interference to reception in the Vancouver area with the signal of U.S.-based single-faith Christian station KLYN-FM Lynden, Washington.
The CRTC in granting the application noted that the interference would be within Canada to a signal originating from outside the country, the variety of services available to most Canadians in the area but absence of programming for its urban Aboriginal population, and the existence of other options for those who wanted religious programming including cable, and Internet audio.
Ontario:
*Denial of application to increase the power of CJDV-FM, Cambridge, 2,500 watts to 6,800 watts, an increase that would increase the status from a Class A to Class B1 and significantly increase its contours. Licensee Corus had already been allowed in December 2003 to change the frequency of the station - then CIZN-FM- and increase its power from 560 watts to 2,500 watts to correct severe technical limitations but said the changes, although making an improvement, still had deficiencies and experiences recurring co-channel interference from CKMB-FM Barrie, Ontario: It said that it thought the problem was due to "thermal ducting", an interference-causing phenomenon due to atmospheric conditions causing variations in the propagation of signals through layers of warm and cold air that can conduct the signals over long distances causing high signal levels at distances well beyond the normal range of reception.
The additional power increase was opposed by CanWest MediaWorks Inc., which operates CKBT-FM, Kitchener-Waterloo, on the same frequency as CJDV-FM and said while Corus uses a new competitive environment - because of the entry of two new commercial stations in the region - as a rationale for these amendments, the licensee is projecting an increase in financial health in the same environment, as well as an increase in the potential listener base in nearby regions that are already well-served by radio stations licensed to serve those areas.
The CRTC said no evidence had been given to support a claim of thermal ducting and its existing realistic contour was well beyond its theoretical one and denied the power increase.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CING-FM, Hamilton.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CHML-AM, Hamilton.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CFMJ-AM, Toronto.
*Renewal until 31 August 2013 of licence of English-language commercial station CKRU-AM Peterborough.
The CRTC also renewed until 31 August 2007 the licences for the transitional digital radio programming undertakings below:
British Columbia:
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:
CBUX-DR-1, Vancouver
CBU-DR-1, Vancouver
CBU-DR-2, Vancouver
CBUF-DR-1, Vancouver
CHUM Limited
CFUN-DR-2, Vancouver
CHQM-DR-1, Vancouver
Corus Premium Television Ltd:
CKNW-DR-2, New Westminster
CFMI-DR-1, New Westminster
Corus Radio Company:
CFOX-DR-1, Vancouver
CHMJ-DR2, Vancouver
O.K. Radio Group Ltd:
CJZN-DR-1, Victoria
CKKQ-DR-1, Victoria
CKKS-DR-1, Sechelt
Rogers Broadcasting Limited:
CKCL-DR-1, Vancouver
CKWX-DR-2, Vancouver
Ontario
AM 740 Primetime Radio Limited Partnership:
CHWO-DR-2, Toronto
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:
CBO-DR-1, Ottawa
CBOF-DR-1, Ottawa
CBOQ-DR-1, Ottawa
CBOX-DR-1, Ottawa
CBL-DR-1, Toronto
CBLA-DR-1, Toronto
CJBC-DR-1, Toronto
CJBC-DR-2, Toronto
CBE-DR-1, Windsor
CBE-DR-2, Windsor
CHUM Limited:
CFRA-DR-2, Ottawa
CKKL-DR-1, Ottawa
CHUM-DR-1, Toronto
CHUM-DR-2, Toronto
CIDR-DR-1, Windsor
CIMX-DR-1, Windsor
CKLW-DR-2, Windsor
CKWW-DR-2. Windsor
CHUM (Ottawa) Inc. :
CFGO-DR-2, Ottawa
CJMJ-DR-1, Ottawa
CIRC Radio Inc.:
CIRV-DR-1, Toronto
CJRT-FM Inc. :
CJRT-DR-1, Toronto
CKMW Radio Ltd:.
CIAO-DR-2, Brampton
Corus Premium Television Ltd:.
CILQ-DR-1, North York
CFMJ-DR-2, Toronto
Corus Radio Company
CFNY-DR-1, Brampton
Fairchild Radio Group Ltd.
CHKT-DR-2, Toronto
Milestone Radio Inc.
CFXJ-DR-1, Toronto
Rogers Broadcasting Limited
CHEZ-DR-1, Ottawa
CISS-DR-1, Ottawa
CIWW-DR-2, Ottawa
CFTR-DR-2, Toronto
CHFI-DR-1, Toronto
CJAQ-DR-1, Toronto
CJCL-DR-2, Toronto
Radio 1540 Limited CHIN-DR-1, Toronto
CHIN-DR-2, Toronto
Standard Radio Inc.
CKQB-DR-1, Ottawa
CJEZ-DR-1, Toronto
CKFM-DR-1, Toronto
CFRB-DR-2, Toronto
Sur Sagar Radio Inc.
(No call sign)* Toronto
Trafalgar Broadcasting Limited
CJMR-DR-2, Mississauga
CJYE-DR-2, Oakville
Trumar Communications Inc.
CFMX-DR-1, Toronto
Quebec
Astral Media Radio inc.
CIMF-DR-1, Gatineau
CKTF-DR-1, Gatineau
CITE-DR-1, Montréal
CKMF-DR-1, Montréal
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
CBF-DR-1, Montréal
CBFX-DR-1, Montréal
CBM-DR-1, Montréal
CBME-DR-1, Montréal
CHUM Limited:
CKGM-DR-2 Montréal
Cogeco Diffusion inc.
CFGL-DR-1, Laval
Standard Radio Inc.
CHOM-DR-1, Montréal
CJAD-DR-2, Montréal
CJFM-DR-1,, Montréal
The CRTC also posted a public notice concerning various applications. On with a deadline for comments or interventions of July 25 included a request from CJVR-FM, Melfort, Saskatchewan, to add a 45 watts FM transmitter at Carrot River and the other with a July 27 deadline an application to increase the power of CKPC-FM, Brantford, Ontario, from 50,000 watts to 80,000 watts.
In Ireland, The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), has sent forward for further consideration two of the three applications for a new youth-based South West Regional Licence (See RNW Jun 21).
In the UK, Ofcom as already noted has imposed a record fine of GBP 175,000 ( USD 323,000) on Emap (See RNW Jun 21). It has also agreed format changes for Emap's Vibe stations and posted for comment an application by Sunrise Radio to move part of the programming on its London AM station Sunrise Radio to its other London AM, Kismat Asian Talk Radio (See below).
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as noted has now started to move ahead with its review of media ownership regulations, amid early signs of a partisan split (See RNW Jun 22).
It has also proposed a USD 6,000 penalty on Clear Channel for what the company termed a "prank" in which hosts on its Orlando station WRUM-FM repeatedly mentioned a prize competition they said was running on a rival station, causing many calls to the station about the non-existent competition (See RNW Jun 23).
On other matters the FCC is being lobbied by the US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to clamp down on devices used to transfer a signal from a portable player or satellite receiver to a standard car radio (See RNW Jun 24 ).
The FCC also issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning satellite spectrum that could be used to provide a "new generation of broadband services to the public, providing a mix of local and domestic video, audio, data, video-on-demand and multimedia services to residential and business subscribers in the United States."
Allocation of the spectrum involved, for the 17/24 GHz Broadcasting Satellite Service, will become effective on April 1 next year and the FCC says its goal is to "promote prompt commencement of services in this newly allocated band."
As well as domestic uses the NPRM also considers proposals for use of the 17.7-17.8 GHz BSS spectrum for provision of international services outside the United States.
Previous BCI:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
BCI web site:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
2006-06-25: UK Media Regulator Ofcom has given the go-ahead to Emap for a format change for its East of England station Vibe FM and Severn Estuary station Vibe 101 that was requested last month.
In its request Emap said that since acquiring the Vibe stations it had been reviewing its dance format and wanted to make the format changes that would allow it to "make some small, but significant, cost savings whilst enhancing the current programming on both Vibe stations."
Emap asked to be allowed to network programming during non-peak daytime hours and said that in return it would guarantee localised informational windows to ensure local content is provided at least 3 times each daytime hour and an increase in the minimum number of hours of specialist programming on both Vibes from 16 to 36 hours per week.
Emap said that in comparison to its Kiss 100 dance format, "has always had a very clear sense of purpose", the Vibe stations "have failed to establish such a strong identity and lack real credibility with, or attachment to, their audiences."
Ofcom agreed to the change, commenting that it "welcomed the increase in specialist music and felt the character of service would not be substantially altered."
Ofcom has also published a format change request from Sunrise Radio, whose Greater London AM station - the only full-time Asian service in London when it was launched 15 years ago - broadcasts mainly in English and Hindustani to a target audience of the Asian community and also has obligations to broadcast 18-hours a week in Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil and Sinhalese.
Sunrise wants to move this latter element of its service onto its Kismat Asian Talk Radio, which also serves Greater London on AM and it targeted at an "older, speech-oriented Asian listener."
Sunrise says this demographic is now more likely to appreciate these languages.
Previous Emap:
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Sunrise:
2006-06-25: Cumulus Media says its modified "Dutch auction" tender offer earlier this month ended with it agreeing to buy 11,500,000 shares of its Class A Common Stock at USD 11.15 per share, making a total of USD 132.3 million: The offer had been to purchase up to that number of shares at a price between USD 11:00 and USD 12.50 and in the event it was offered 15,345,112 shares at or below the purchase price. Which means it will purchase just less than three quarters of the shares tendered.
The shares purchases represent just above 24% of the company's 47,697,508 shares of Class A Common Stock issued and outstanding as of May 9
Cumulus also notes that on June 29 it expects to repurchase 5,000,000 shares of its Class B Common Stock from BA Capital Company, L.P. ("BA Capital") and Banc of America Capital Investors SBIC, L.P. at the per share purchase price established in the tender offer of USD 11.50 per share.
Previous Cumulus:
2006-06-24: Former Michigan Public Media deputy director Michael Coleman, now general manager at Detroit public radio station WDET-FM, has been sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay USD 3,500 in restitution by Washtenaw County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to embezzling under USD 200. He will also have to do 50 hours of community service.
Coleman was one of three former Michigan Public Media employees charged with embezzlement for illegally accepting gifts for on-air considerations whilst working for WUOM-FM, the University of Michigan public radio station (See RNW Mar 19).
A felony embezzlement charge of under USD 10,000 was dismissed in the no-contest plea sentencing agreement according to his attorney, Tom O'Brien, who told the Detroit Free Press, "I think he's relieved. He wanted to accept responsibility."
The paper reports that Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor Blake Hatlem charged in March that Coleman took food and alcohol in exchange for on-air announcements while he worked at WUOM - including an allegation that he took about USD 3,500 in meals from the Aut Bar in Ann Arbor in 2000-03 as part of a trade agreement that he did not disclose -and adds that earlier reports indicate Donovan Reynolds, the former director of Michigan Public Media, discovered a trade agreement between Coleman and a company for a lawn irrigation system that didn't appear valid last fall. Coleman initially denied the charges.
Previous Coleman/WUOM:
Detroit Free Press report:
2006-06-24: Air America Radio president Gary Krantz is to leave his post at the end of this month to pursue "other opportunities" after just over a year in the post: He joined the network after a variety of network radio posts including that of Premiere Radio Networks' EVP/Music Operations (See RNW Mar 27, 2005).
Krantz told Billboard Radio Monitor he is considering several opportunities and added, "I am very proud of my accomplishments over the last year in terms of increased revenue, affiliation, audience, and our Web presence. Air America is -- and will continue to be -- a great force in talk radio."
Previous Air America/Piquant (its parent):
Billboard Radio Monitor report:
2006-06-24: The US National Association of Broadcasters is lobbying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and politicians concerning interference from devices used to transmit signals from portable audio devices or satellite radio receivers by creating an FM signal for reception by a standard car radio: It says tests it carried out on 17 such wireless devices and four wires ones currently on sale in the US showed that 13 exceeded field strength limits set by the commission.
Six devices, it says, exceeded the limits twenty-fold and one was two-thousand times the permitted limit and adds that many of the devices also exceeded their permitted bandwidth, resulting in potential interference to 1st and 2nd adjacent channels as well.
The NAB tests follow recent comments about interference to terrestrial transmissions from satellite radio signals, including break-through of the Howard Stern show into public and Christian radio signals (See RNW Apr 30), and it has written to FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens and Co-Chairman Daniel Inouye about the matter calling on Martin to ensure that the commission "vigorously enforce" its rules for such devices.
NAB has also posted the report - a 688kb 31-page PDF - that shows the devices tested and notes some details of the tests: The figure of 13 devices in non-compliance came from the list published when tests were done in the open and went down to three wireless devices and two wired ones on tests of some devices installed in a vehicle and checked at a distance of three metres from the vehicle antenna. Of these the wireless devices - the Hobbytron FM25B, Lenmar AI-MODAM, and Sirius S50 - failed tests at three sample frequencies.
The report notes that under a quarter of devices tested met FCC field strength requirements and a number of others did meet the Commission to vigorously enforce its Part 15 rules with regard to these devices and says, "Based on these tests it is reasonable to conclude that significant interference to licensed FM broadcast stations exists from these devices."
RNW comment: It does seem that NAB has a point with these figures but as normal with NAB we are sceptical about the scale of the problem. No mention is made of how many such devices are on the market in the US so it could be that NAB chose to test 17 devices out of many more available that it felt were likely to have problems: This would make the figures then published accurate but misleading.
The report then refers to tests in a vehicle of a sub-sat carried out at NAB's request and only lists five models. Are we therefore to conclude that when used in a vehicle only five had any problems?
Or that NAB is a cheapskate in only carrying out additional tests on some models but did so at random. NAB in our view, makes a case that there have been and are problems with some of the devices on sale in the US and that some are not labelled as compliant as required but does not necessarily make any sound case as to the scale of the problem and is almost certainly exaggerating it.
Previous FCC:
Previous NAB:
NAB tests report (688 KB PDF):
2006-06-23: A Canadian senate report has recommended that the federal government should automatically review significant media mergers that could give one company too much market share and also that the state-owned broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), should end commercials on its TV networks and also stop broadcasting sports programming.
The Senate standing committee on transport and communications in its report says that the country's major media companies should also regularly state who their major shareholders are, either during broadcasts or in print, as a public service.
Regarding the CBC it said the corporation should be given sufficient public funding to operate without commercials - currently of its annual budget of around CAD 1.4 billion (USD 1.25 billion ), CAD 1 billion ( USD 895 million) is from federal funds with the balance from advertising .The report said that in general Canadians remain well served by news organizations but there are
"areas where the concentration of ownership has reached levels that few other countries would consider acceptable."
Senator Joan Fraser, the committee's chairwoman, said the committee didn't call for a particular threshold for how much media one company can own in a given market, but that 35 per cent is a number that is "not far off" and seems to work well in other countries.
Responses to the report included scepticism from industry sources with Gary Slaight, chief executive officer of Toronto-based Standard Radio Inc., telling the Toronto Globe and Mail that evaluating a media company is difficult and saying, "There's a whole bunch of pieces in the pie, so I'm no really sure what they're getting at. And with audiences being so fragmented now, I think we're headed toward less media consolidation anyway."
Arnold Amber, president of the CBC branch of the Canadian Media Guild, said the report should have been more forceful in setting the threshold to review media deals, rather than suggesting a rough 35-per-cent figure.
Previous CBC:
Previous Slaight:
Toronto Globe and Mail report:
2006-06-23: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a USD 6,000 penalty on Clear Channel after a complaint about a broadcast on WRUM-FM, Orlando, Florida, concerning a competition that was said to be being conducted by Mega Communications' WNUE-FM, Orlando.
Mega said the WRUM hosts announced over several hours from around 7:40 a.m. on February 24 last year that the 100th listeners to call and state the name of the show "John Musa Y Los Anormales De La Mañana" (translated as "John Musa And The Abnormals Of The Morning"), would win a cash prize of USD 1,000. They gave two numbers that belonged to WNUE, which was inundated with calls and Mega says many callers became angry when informed by WNUE-FM personnel that no such contest was being conducted and that no money would be awarded.
When Mega found the cause of the calls it contacted WRUM, which by then had stopped making announcements about the contest.
Clear Channel confirmed that the hosts had aired information about a false contest and urged listeners to call Station WNUE-FM's toll-free and local telephone numbers but had said near the end of their show that there was no such contest.
It said the hosts had been told by station management that the broadcast was unacceptable but contended that because there was no real contest this was a matter of a "prank" and this did not breach FCC rules.
The FCC ruled that Clear Channel had breached its regulations "not fully and accurately disclosing the material terms of its contest and by not conducting the contest substantially as announced and said that in this case a penalty of USD 6,000 rather than the normal base penalty of USD 4,000.
It commented that "the licensee's actions were intentional and maliciously harmed the listener goodwill of its competitor, WNUE-FM" and added, "WRUM-FM made no on-air apology and took no disciplinary action against its employees, instead sending an email apology to WNUE-FM and informing the Program Director and station hosts that such behaviour was 'unacceptable.'… we note that Clear Channel has a history of violations of the Commission's rules, including this rule."
RNW comment: In this case it seems to us that penalty is derisible for the offence. The ideal penalty would be for the FCC to have the powers, set against licence revocation if not promptly complied with, to in any such future cases say that any names and all names noted by a station receiving calls in such a case had to be contacted promptly by the offending station and each and every paid the prize and we would be delighted to see a rule instituted for all malicious pranks that harm a competitor that would allow the FCC to immediately instruct the offender to agree suitable remedial actions with the injured party with licence revocation as a remedy if reasonable remedial action were refused.
As no such rule exists it would seem reasonable to use that were Mega to object to licence renewal for WRUM the latter should have its licence revoked…that would give Clear Channel some time from now to broadcast suitably grovelling apologies to WNUE - we'd suggest every 15 minutes every show for three months would be about right - so as to mitigate against or avoid any such objection. It would also ensure that Clear Channel would not treat such matters lightly in future.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous FCC:
Previous Mega Communications:
2006-06-23: The Prometheus Radio Project in response to opposition from the US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to plans put forward by Arizona Republican Senator John McCain Washington Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell that would remove third-adjacent channel protection requirements that prohibit many low-power FMs from being launched has accused the NAB of deliberately misleading the Senate Commerce Committee.