November 2006 Archive
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RNW November comment - Broad or narrow? We argue against the current narrow formats of much radio.
RNW October comment - asks "Who is responsible for the state of radio?" today and comes up with no simple answers.
RNW September comment - following the announcement that Arbitron is to rate non-commercial stations wonders about its effect on US talk radio, indicates we'd like intelligent talk but asks if it would it "rate" with advertisers?
2006-11-30: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which in June last year launched a consultation on plans to streamline some of its radio licence form-filling (See RNW Jun 10. 2005) has now said it wants to go ahead with the plans.
It has adopted a Report and Order that as it puts it "sets rules to revise and improve the FM Table of Allotments and AM community of license modification procedures. "
In particular the proposal eases regulation of changes of a station's community of licence by removing one step of the process.
Republican Commissioners the FCC Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert M. McDowell issued statements welcoming the move with Tate referring to a "win-win scenario" that promised "to ease administrative burdens on Commission staff, substantially reduce regulatory delays experienced by licensees, and, most importantly, benefit the public by expediting improved radio service."
McDowell, whilst welcoming the changes, said they didn't go far enough, saying he was "disappointed that the Order is not more de-regulatory with respect to notice issues."
The FCC has also, in a round of licence renewals and linked enforcement actions, proposed penalties totalling USD 57,000 and ranging from USD 14,000 down to USD 1,500 to US radio stations for public file and other violations.
In Georgia, the FCC has issued a notice of apparent liability for a USD 14,000 forfeiture to WRBX/WTN, Inc., licensee of WRBX-FM and WTN-AM, Reidsville, for failure to file its renewal applications by the deadline required and for unauthorized operation after its licences expired.
The FCC, in renewing the licences, noted that the company did not deny the operation for more than two months but reduced the standard penalty - usually applied to pirate operators - of USD 10,000 for unauthorized operation to USD 4,000 for each station on top of which it proposed the standard forfeiture of USD 3,000 for failing to apply for renewal by the required deadline, making a total of USD 14,000.
The next highest penalties proposed are of USD 10,000 to WVRM, Inc., licensee of WDDM-FM, Hazlet, New Jersey, for failing to retain required documentation in the station's public inspection file and of the same amount to Radio One Licenses, LLC., licensee of WKAF-FM, Brockton, Massachusetts, also for public file offences. In each case it also renewed their licences.
In California, Regent Licensee of Chico, Inc. is facing a penalty of USD 7,000 along with its licence renewal for FM Translator Station K300AD, Chico, whose licence renewal it accepts was filed late.
Forfeiture notices for USD 4,000 along with their licence renewals were sent to Morgan County Industries, Inc., licensee of WMOR-AM, Morehead, Kentucky, for operation at unauthorized location and to New Northwest Broadcasters, LLC., licensee of KCRX-FM, Seaside, Oregon, for public file offences. In the latter case the penalty carries a base forfeiture of USD 10,000 but the FCC said it felt the lower amount was appropriate in the circumstances.
In the case of WMOR-AM, Morgan County purchased the station along with WMOR-FM from Morehead Broadcasting Co., under whose period of licence the WMOR-AM tower had been demolished after the land on which it was sited was sold. The station was off air fir five months after which Morehead was given special temporary authorization (STA) to operate the AM transmitter from its FM tower
The new owner continued to operate the AM station from the site but did not extend the STA and was thus operating without authorization from November 1999 until the end of August 2004, a breach for which the base forfeiture is USD 4,000: It is now operating from a site for which it was granted a construction permit in 2003.
Next lowest penalty proposed along with licence renewal was one of USD 2,000 on Detroit Public Schools licensee for Station WRCJ-FM, Detroit, Michigan, for public file offences.
In a further four cases licences were renewed but a penalty of USD 1,500 as opposed to the base forfeiture of USD 3,000 was proposed for failure to file renewal applications on time. Involved were Roberto Feliz, licensee of KRRP-AM, Coushatta, Louisiana; Fort Stanton, Inc., licensee of KEDU-LP, Ruidoso, New Mexico; Alan Towle , licensee of FM translator Station K232BE, Wausau, Wisconsin; and Mountain Mist Media, LLC , licensee of WTKI-AM, Huntsville, Alabama.
Previous FCC:
Previous McDowell:
Previous Tate:
2006-11-30: An Australian commercial radio think tank has concluded that there are major opportunities for radio to innovate and expand its sources of advertising revenue with the advent of digital developments that allow delivery of content on multiple platforms including digital radio and the internet.
Following a meeting of industry leaders convened by industry body Commercial Radio Australia, its chairman Michael Anderson, who is also Austereo chief executive, said that with advertisers taking more business to the Internet, radio has an enormous opportunity to develop its own online content, create online partnerships and demonstrate how it can be the front door for the online experience for both listeners and advertisers,
He added that radio of all mediums still commands the most personal and loyal relationship with its audiences and this is a great advantage when partnered with the Internet, which on its own is a very cluttered environment.
Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer Joan Warner said delivering radio content through new devices, podcasts and new features presented by digital radio, such as multimedia, data and electronic program guides, were natural extensions of the radio experience and would extend opportunities for advertisers.
Commercial Radio Australia is holding a seminar in Brisbane today looking at international trends, and the future of radio.
It is to be attended by more than 100 radio station executives, media agencies and advertisers and the guest speaker will be international creative expert and creator of the award-winning radio brand campaign, Ralph van Dijk of Eardrum Australia. He moved to Australia from the UK earlier this year
The seminar is part of the organization's national strategy to provide information for radio stations and agencies about the effectiveness of radio advertising and the importance of good radio creative and Warner commented that the industry was "beginning to increase revenue streams through new initiatives such as online activities and podcasting."
"Radio is keen to work more closely with online partners, particularly as we move towards digital broadcasting in 2009, to demonstrate to advertisers that radio and the Internet are a very powerful combination," she added.
Previous Anderson:
Previous Commercial Radio Australia:
Previous Warner:
2006-11-30: The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has published details of Phase 2 of its commercial radio licensing plan that will see four licences advertised next year.
The first, in April will be for a Classic Gold/easy listening/smooth service targeted at those 45 and above and covering Dublin City and County and commuter belt, Cork City and County, Limerick City and County, and Galway City and County
It will be followed in September by a Dublin and Commuter Belt Area Classic Rock service for a 25 plus target audience and then two Country and Irish music service licences for a 35 plus licence to be advertised in November, one for the North-East Region covering North Kildare, Co. Meath, Co. Louth and parts of Counties Cavan and Monaghan and the other for a Mid West Region covering Counties Limerick, Galway, Clare and parts of Co. Tipperary and Co. Kerry.
Previous BCI:
2006-11-30: Despite the growth of private FM stations in India, more listeners are still tuning into All India Radio (AIR) FM channels than those of private broadcasters in most cities according to information given to the lower house of the Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha, in a written reply by Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.
Citing figures from a none-city survey conducted by AIR's Audience Research Unit, Dasmunsi said that in the Indian capital of Delhi 52.5% of listeners went for AIR's FM "Gold" service and 47.4% to its "Rainbow" service compared to 48.8% for leading private FM, Entertainment Network (India) Limited (ENIL)-owned Radio Mirchi; 42% for its nearest private rival "Radio City" and 26% for "Red FM."
In Mumbai, Rainbow leads with 51.2% reach followed by Radio Mirchi with 45.8% and in Bangalore Rainbow takes 76%. AIR also had the lead in Lucknow
Private FMs did better than AIR in Chennai where "Suryan FM" led with 34% compared to 18.8% for Rainbow and also in Kolkata where Radio Mirchi was just ahead of Rainbow with 23.1% listening to it compared to 21.9% for Rainbow.
Previous AIR:
Previous Indian Radio:
Previous ENIL/Mirchi:
2006-11-29: Australian-born Alan Freeman, who became one of the UK's most popular broadcasters in a career spanning half a century has died at his London home aged 79.
Freeman was born in Melbourne and, after deciding that his voice was not good enough to successful as an opera singer, began his broadcasting career in the city in 1952 working for "teenagers' station" 7LA and later 3KZ, which he left in 1957 to take an agreed nine-months round-the-world trip but after arrival in London decided to stay, starting his career as a summer relief DJ on Radio Luxembourg and later presenting late-night programmes on the station until the early 1970's.
He began his BBC career on the "Light Programme", predecessor to Radio 2, presenting the "records Around Five" show in 1960 and a year later took over as host of "Pick of the Pops" on BBC Radio 1 from David Jacobs as well as being one of the founding team of presenters of "Top of the Pops" on BBC TV.
After working on various Radio 1 shows over the years, Freeman left to join Capital Radio in 1979, remaining with them until 1988 and then returning to Radio 1 in 1979, remaining with the station until in October 1993 he and many other long-serving hosts were axed in a revamped by then controller Matthew Bannister.
After this Freeman had a brief spell presenting the Alternative Chart Show on a trial broadcast by Xfm in London before returning a spell, hosting "Pick of the Pops Take Three" on Capital Gold as well as spells on Virgin Radio and presenting one-off shows on Classic FM.
Freeman then returned to the BBC, this time to Radio 2 where he presented "Pick of the Pops" until 2000 and the opera programme "Their Greatest Bits" from 1997 until 2001.
Freeman who suffered from arthritis, moved in 200 to Brinsworth House, a retirement home for actors and performers run by the Entertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund until his death.
Paying tribute BBC Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas said, ""The words 'unique' and 'iconic' are overused but in Alan Freeman's case they are absolutely appropriate. He was a great broadcaster who was loved by listeners and colleagues alike."
His personal manager for the last 20 years, Tim Blackmore, said Freeman was "a naturally warm man who never quite understood the nature of his appeal."
"He cared passionately for music of all kinds, for his family and for his friends," added Blackmore, "yet through all his professional success, he still retained a total bewilderment that so much success and affection should have come his way. His was the creation of the chart countdown, his was the stunning combination of rock music and classical music, and his was the creation of minimalism in the art of the DJ.
Freeman gained the nickname "Fluff" from is fellow presenters, not because of any verbal faults, although the Corporation censured him for his brash style a number of times, but because of his habit of continuing to wear a woollen jumper, reputedly given to him by his mother, that was covered in balls of fluff.
The persona was one mocked by Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse in their fictional DJs "Smashey and Nicey" and in 1994 he appeared as himself in the TV special "Smashey and Nicey, the End of an Era", the last outing for the fictional duo.
Previous BBC:
Previous Douglas:
2006-11-29: US radio gets a message of decline from Bridge Ratings President Dave Van Dyke following a recent study it conducted on radio listening.
He says that the responses to the question of where people listened to the radio showed at home listening to be "Surprisingly strong - but not if compared with 15 years ago but that in-vehicle listening was falling.
Those who said they listened in a vehicle remained the largest group - 76% of respondents - but the figure was 89% only six years ago. In comparison, 46% said they listened in the living room, 45% in the kitchen, and 32% in the bedroom.
Van Dyke says radio should respond by improving its content and cutting through clutter but on the positive side he adds that listening will increase with convergence and as it begins to appear on cell phones although he also says it will need to become increasingly visual and interactive.
Previous Bridge Ratings:
Previous van Dyke:
2006-11-29: Shares in GCap Media, the UK's largest radio group, fell 4.4% on Tuesday to end at 212pence, valuing the group at just under GBP 250 million (USD 488 million) following release of its interim results that showed its underlying profits down 32.3% on a year ago to GBP 8.4 million (USD 16.4 million).
Underlying revenues were down 8.4% to GBP 102.2 million (USD 199.7 million) with basic earnings per share down 44.4% to 2.5 pence.
Statutory results showed revenues almost flat - up from GBP 102.1 million (USD 199.5 million) to GBP 102.2 million (USD 199.7 million) with a pre-tax loss reduced from GBP 10.1 million (USD 19.7 million) to GBP 7.8 million (USD 15.2 million) and a basic loss per share up from 3.5 pence to 5.7 pence.
GCap noted that the worst performance came from flagship Capital Radio where "as anticipated, we have seen the impact of our inventory reduction": Excluding Capital like-for-like revenues were down by only 4% and, warned: "The current advertising market remains very difficult and visibility poor. We anticipate tough trading conditions will persist over the next quarter."
It said it expected revenues for October and November to be won 8% on a like-for like basis but also noted that digital multiplex revenues increased 48% year-on-year to GBP 7.4 million (USD 14.5 million) and commented that it had "developed further our existing national brands Xfm and Core (targeting Radio 1 listeners) and Classic FM and Planet Rock (targeting Radio 2 listeners) to attract new audiences and to challenge the BBC, and we are extending these brands across other platforms to generate additional revenue."
Chief Executive Ralph Bernard commented, "During the first half, we have achieved a series of key operational goals. We have increased reach, share and hours across the One Network and entered the next phase of our recovery plan for Capital Radio with the launch of a new marketing campaign."
GCap sold two stations for GBP 60 million (now USD 117 million but at the time USD 112 million) in cash to Guardian Media Group in October (See RNW Oct 19) and is to launch a new digital jazz station, "'theJazz'", next month to be followed by the launch of a contemporary and classic hits station within the next six months following the merger of Capital Gold/Life and Bernard said the sale of the stations had " strengthened our balance sheet and given us greater financial flexibility to develop our portfolio of national brands, with two new stations set to go on air within the next six months."
"Despite a very difficult advertising market," he concluded, "we are confident that we are taking the right steps to align our business to a rapidly changing environment."
Previous Bernard:
Previous GCap:
2006-11-29: The US Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says callers reactions to a parody of anti-Muslim bigotry aired on WMAL-AM, Washington D.C. are a wake-up call about the problems.
In his show on Sunday, focussing on public reaction to the removal of six Imams, or Islamic religious leaders, from a US Airways flight in Minnesota last week, talk show host Jerry Klein seemed to advocate a government program to force all Muslims to wear "identifying markers" and he commented, "I'm thinking either it should be an arm band, a crescent moon arm band, or it should be a crescent moon tattoo."
Klein said: "If it means that we have to round them up and do a tattoo in a place where everybody knows where to find it, then that's what we'll have to do."
Some calls, says CAIR, rejected anti-Muslim prejudice - the first caller tells Klein he is "off his rocker" and "99% of Muslims are not terrorists" - but others suggested even more severe measures with one caller saying, "Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their foreheads; you round them up and then ship them out of this country, period" and another commenting, "I don't think you go far enough ... you have to set up encampments like they did during World War II like with the Japanese and Germans."
Klein himself later in the programme commented of the calls, "I can't believe any of you, any of you, are sick enough to have agreed for one second with anything that I have said in the last half hour."
CAIR notes that audio of the show is currently available online as a stream or MP3 (30 minutes 8.6 Mb).
WMAL audio stream - (Link at bottom of page):
WMAL MP3 download:
2006-11-29: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has given the go-ahead for Rogers Cable Communications Inc. to add either or both of the Canadian satellite radio services to its cable distribution undertakings in various locations in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, a move expected to lead to other cable companies considering addition of the satellite audio services to their content.
Rogers already distributes two licensed national pay audio services, Galaxie and Max Trax, on a digital basis, taking advantage of their Joint Marketing Agreement, under which approximately 20 channels from each of the Max Trax and Galaxie services are offered in a combined package to distributors. It said it could not assess the impact of adding the services on them until negotiations were concluded with Sirius Canada or Canadian Satellite Radio (CSR), licensee of XM Canada.
Its application was opposed, on the grounds of the potential effect on their services, by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which owns Galaxie, and Corus Entertainment Inc., which owns Max Trax and various Canadian cultural organizations, including the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada, the Canadian Conference of the Arts, the Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video, the Canadian Independent Record Producers Association, the Union des Artistes, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.
It was supported by various other cable companies including Shaw Communications' subsidiary Star Choice Television Network Incorporated and Bell Video Group plus Sirius Canada and CSR, which said it could not accurately assess the impact of the proposed carriage on its own business plan until it had concluded an agreement with Rogers or any other BDU.
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) did not oppose the application although it did raise some concerns.
Previous CRTC:
Previous CSR/XM Canada:
Previous Sirius Canada:
2006-11-29: Clear Channel Radio's Online Unit has announced agreement to add news and video content from Reuters to its News on Demand service, an addition that it says will give its audience of some 8 million visitors a month the "the most comprehensive news product on the Web."
Evan Harrison, Executive Vice President of Clear Channel Radio and head of the company's Online unit said of the arrangement: "Our listeners can now stay connected with their favourite stations to get the news they want online and on-demand. Reuters, a leader in newsgathering, will absolutely enable us to deepen our relationship with our listeners."
For Reuters, Walker Jacobs, Vice President of Media Sales said Clear Channel listeners would have "fast access to Reuters news, keeping them smart and informed."
RNW comment: Jacobs' comment, as a glance at a dictionary would show, is drivel. Reuters might keep them informed but if they're not very bright to begin with that won't change. But it would be nice to have a salesman who doesn't abuse language.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Harrison:
2006-11-29: UK media regulator Ofcom in its latest Broadcast Bulletin again upheld no radio complaints but TV had a tougher time with one digital station being closed down and fined GBP 175,000 (USD 342,000) for a whole series of regulation breaches plus rulings of breaches in another two cases: In addition it considered a further four TV standards complaints resolved by action taken by and gave details of one standards TV complaint as well as upholding fairness and privacy complaints against two programmes.
In addition Ofcom listed with no details a further 360 TV complaints involving 145 items and 38 radio complaints involving 36 items that it were out of its remit or not upheld. The totals compare with 271 TV complaints involving 123 items and 13 radio complaints involving 13 items that it said were out of its remit or not upheld in its previous bulletin.
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Ofcom Complaints Bulletin:
2006-11-28: BBC chairman Michael Grade, who only took up the position two years ago after the resignation of Gavyn Davies in the wake of the row over a BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme report alleging that the British Government had "sexed -up " reports of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, is to join its main terrestrial rival ITV. The BBC says he has resigned from the Corporation and that a formal announcement is to be made in the morning that he will join ITV as Executive Chairman on January 1 with a three-year deal.
The story was broken in the UK Daily Telegraph by Editor at Large and former BBC Business Editor Jeff Randall and is considered a coup for ITV, which has been looking for a new head since current Chief Executive Charles Allen announced in August that he was to leave, although he said he would remain with ITV while head-hunters carried out the process of finding a replacement.
Randall told BBC radio that senior BBC executives were "incandescent" about the defection.
Grade, whose departure is seen as a significant blow to the BBC, He has been heavily involved in negotiations for an increase in the BBC licence fee but under changes to the Corporation's structure his current post has less of a hands-on role and more of a regulatory one.
Grade comes from a show business family - his father Leslie was successful as a talent agent and his uncle Lew (Lord) Grade was a pioneer in commercial TV in the UK where he was a co-founder with Val Parnell of ATV - but has not built up a large fortune and speculation is that he will have demanded a large remuneration package.
Previous BBC:
Previous Grade:
UK Telegraph report:
2006-11-28: UBC Media shares ended Monday up just above 1% following its announcement that it is to launch its Digital Music Download (DMD) Service - which it terms "the digital radio killer application" - in London early next year with a full UK launch in May and despite it reporting a half-year pre-tax loss of GBP 415,000 (USD 805,000) to the end of September.
The figure compares with a pre-tax profit of GBP 132,000 (USD 256,000) a year ago when the figures were boosted to the tune of GBP 629,000 (now USD 1.22 million) from the sale of 51% of Oneword Radio Limited to Channel 4 Television.
Excluding exceptional items UBC cut its operating losses from GBP 329,000 (USD 638,000) to GBP 250,00 (USD 485,000) and made an operating profit before goodwill amortisation of GBP 21,000 (USD 41,000) compared to a 2005 half-year loss of GBP 58,000 (USD 112,000).
Turnover fell slightly - from GBP 9.4 million (USD 18.2 million) to GBP 9.1 million (USD 17.6 million) but its digital division turnover was up 96% to GBP 659,000 (USD 1/28 million) and the company summarized the period as one in which it maintained "a strong trading position whilst developing ground breaking digital radio revenue models." Broadcast division turnover, however, was down 7.4% to GBP 8.39 million (USD16.26 million), partly the company said because of the negative impact on overall radio advertising of the soccer World Cup.
UBC said it had invested GBP 552,000 (USD 1.07 million) in the half-year in music downloading, and noted that the results of its West Midland trials (See RNW Sep 8) had exceeded its expectations. It also noted it had gained a major US contract worth GBP 387,000 (USD 750,000) for the full year, GBP 279,000 (USD 530,000) of which was taken in the half-year and that software trials are underway in Australia and New Zealand.
Chief executive Simon Cole said of the performance, "The UK radio industry is in a period of structural change. Radio listening remains strong and radio is being consumed more on new digital platforms. It is clear, however, that the future of the industry relies on the development of new revenue models. These are the models UBC have been developing - like the direct sale of music via digital radio stations - and they are now bearing fruit. I'm proud that our staff are managing a period of rapid and exciting development whilst maintaining strong cash-generative business models to fund it."
Regarding music downloads, UBC said Research by Universal Music shows that two-thirds of music is purchased by consumers as a result of hearing it played on the radio and the capability to download music tracks as you listen to them has the potential to become a substantial new revenue model for the radio industry, and builds on the radio industry's great strength of being the place where consumers discover music.
For its planned download service UBC says it has reached in principle agreements with key radio groups in all major UK radio markets, has deals with Universal Music Group, Warner Music and EMI, and is finalizing terms with Virgin Mobile as customer service and billing partner.
By May next year it says that it expects Chrysalis Radio's Heart and another music service; Emap's Smash Hits and The Hits; Guardian Media Group's Smooth; and the GCap-UBC -owned Classic Gold Digital to all be DMD (Digital Music Download) enabled.
UBC says its initial line-up is limited by the availability of digital multiplexes to carry the music files but it has also announced a software development that will enable the service the by available more widely than originally envisaged by allowing the same impulse buys but only delivering the audio files to a user's home internet equipment rather than also direct to the radio receiver, thus meaning much less digital radio capacity is required.
The initial station line-up is limited by the current availability of data capacity to carry the music files on digital radio multiplexes. However, today, UBC is also announcing a development to the software that will make the service available on more radio stations than was originally envisaged. This new version of the application will allow exactly the same impulse purchase of songs as they are played but with the music file only being delivered to the user's home internet account rather than also to the radio itself. This requires minimal digital radio data capacity and it is therefore possible for it to be enabled on a far wider number of stations. The technology also operates in tandem with 3G telecom networks to allow users to choose this method of delivery for the files to mobile devices.
Cole said of the developments that the "pieces of the DMD jigsaw are in place" and added, "We know there is a demand for DMD, our trial this summer demonstrated this, the logistics of delivery are almost finalized, and I am delighted that we have now got every key player in the radio and music industry on board to ensure the successful launch of the service next year. This is digital radio's killer application."
Previous Cole:
Previous UBC:
2006-11-28: Salem has announced that it has boosted the daytime power of its Los Angeles conservative news-talk station KRLA -AM 20,000 to 50,000 watts, potentially adding a further 1.3 million listeners.
The boost makes the station amongst the most powerful AMs in the market.
Previous Salem:
2006-11-28: BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music controller Lesley Douglas has delivered a fairly harsh put-down of US radio in the UK Independent.
The put down comes after comments on her decision to buy the Bob Dylan "Theme Time Radio Hour" that airs on XM Satellite Radio.
Of the Dylan show, she writes that when she "a buzz building around the shows in America that I went out and got hold of a couple and listened to them. What I heard blew me away. It was nothing short of public service broadcasting - Bob Dylan sharing his musical enthusiasms in a Bob Dylan way.
"The result," she continues, "was the first buy-in of a radio show I have ever done. And it begs a question: could there be a whole raft of other audio gems out there in the world of English-language broadcasting waiting to be snapped up by British radio stations?"
And the answer to that last question, a resounding NO! After praising US TV she comments, "…there is a difference between radio and television. The nature of radio is about that special one-to-one relationship between the listener and the presenter, who should be able to provide reference points that the audience can relate to. Bob Dylan manages that perfectly."
But of buy-ins - she says here that you are talking about America or Australia for English-language programmes [RNW comment: We do not know if Canada's absence was an oversight or deliberate qualitative judgment] - Douglas comments, "…I'm afraid that for quite a long time American radio has been in the doldrums… I do think that XM and the other satellite broadcaster, Sirius, are doing some quite interesting things in the States, and when I have been in America I have been listening to them. The problem is the things that they are doing are actually the sort of things we are already doing. They have got a Sixties service on XM and a lot of the music they play you wouldn't hear anywhere else. Except on Sounds of the Sixties on Radio 2."
Of Howard Stern - "The one presenter who has always stood out in America" - she comments, "Nowadays I'm not so sure about him. I know he has got this considerable satellite deal with Sirius but in my view he is pushing it too far now. In his heyday he was a radio genius, the ultimate shock jock. But would I ever think of taking Howard Stern into Radio 2? No, I would not."
"I was listening to him when I went to Austin, Texas, for the South by Southwest Music Festival. I thought to myself 'This sounds old-fashioned. It's purely shock.' There was a time when Howard Stern was witty and shocking and pushing the boundaries. Now it feels like all he's doing is pushing the boundaries. And he's pushing them further and further and further."
Douglas is dismissive of Australian radio …" I've heard little bits but I don't think there's anything that would enhance what we already do" and concludes that there is little scope to buy radio programmes from overseas although she does concede the influence of America and also notes the use of "big American names to front documentaries and other shows" but concludes that she thinks as far as radio is concerned "we have, I think, the greatest craft skills here in the UK, both in terms of production and presenters."
RNW comment: From fairly regular dipping into other broadcasters via the Internet, our view is that Douglas is largely accurate when it comes to the output of her stations although we would certainly give Australia some high marks for much of ABC Radio National's factual output.
Previous BBC:
Previous Douglas:
UK Independent article:
2006-11-27: This week we start our look at print comment on the medium of radio with ruminations from Paul Donovan in his Radio Waves column in the UK Sunday Times, a column that in our view addressed well in a short space many of the issues facing the medium in the face of major technological change.
He began noting that when he bought a "portable radio" around 45 years ago "it did not change what was broadcast, but merely made it easier to listen to" and says the same was true of the Walkman but that more modern technology and gadgetry has now "revolutionised" availability of audio.
"All around us," wrote Donovan, "radio is no longer just on radio, but on devices, as a Radio Academy conference pointed out last week" and then went on to note details of listening to some stations on digital TV, digital radio and computers, a change he noted was behind the BBC's announcement last week that it has renamed its "Radio and Music Division" as "Audio and Music Group" to, as its head Jenny Abramsky put it in an e-mail to staff "reflect more accurately the multiplatform, multimedia world in which we operate."
Donovan comments somewhat wryly, "The BBC is quick to say that Radio 1 and Radio 2 (and so on) will not be changing their names to "Audio 1" and "Audio 2", but it is surely only a matter of time before subsections follow suit. It will gradually be considered illogical, for example, in a group called Audio & Music, to have BBC Radio Drama (as it still is), rather than BBC Audio Drama, with all that implies about how people now listen."
He then goes on to comment of Ofcom's recent consultation document on the future of radio (See RNW Nov 17) that "This is tentative, and long-term. But the thrust is clear: if more and more people choose to listen digitally, there will be less and less point in radio on either AM or FM."
And his conclusion: "Others may disagree, but, thankfully, I see no evidence that the 'multiplatform, multimedia world' has in itself affected the actual output. (And I don't think it matters if Radio 4's classic serial is called a radio or an audio drama: what matters is how good it is.) 'How people listen is less important than having well-researched products and famous brands available wherever consumers expect to find them,' says Steve Parkinson, Emap's national brand director. The jargon is hideous, but the sentiments are admirable."
After that more from the Radio Academy conference, in this case from the UK Guardian and John Plunkett who in a report on UK Channel 4's ambitions for radio - an ambition its chief executive Andy Duncan said was to "rethink and reshape the UK's commercial radio landscape".
Duncan, whose company is to bid for the second national commercial digital multiplex, which is to be awarded next year by Ofcom, is promising a "fresh creative approach" and a mixture of contemporary speech and news and current affairs programming, documentary, comedy, entertainment and music.
Not one to eschew the jargon, he was quoted as saying, "DAB - with its potential to provide new services, interactivity, EPGs [electronic programme guides], colour screens, instant music downloads and enhanced advertising - can transform the listening experience yet still retain radio's core values in an ever more confusing world…'Generation Lost' [the 16-34 audience], as we've christened them at Channel 4, are digital savvy, mobile driven, conditioned to on-demand environments, community focused [and] acquiring content by all means. One day, all consumers will be like this - 'traditional' broadcasting media will no longer be enough to engage them.'"
In another report on the conference on its blogs, the Guardian also noted that Pru Hazlitt, radio chief executive for SMG, the owner of Virgin Radio, reckons that within the next few years it will make sense to just switch off its national AM signal.
It quoted her as saying, "It just isn't worth it. I would like to switch it off tomorrow. At the current rate of decline [of AM listening] 2010 would be the outside number for us, but if we could speed it up in two years' time then we would."
"If lots of people are listening on AM that is a problem. The big strategic direction at Virgin is to get them off…I don't want them listening to the Killers on that dreadful frequency, and the Killers don't want them listening on that frequency either. You can't hear the intro. It's over, it's fucked… Young people coming to radio will not consume it on AM. They just won't want to. The comparison [with digital radio] is so huge it's just ridiculous. You didn't watch colour TV and decide you wanted to go back to black and white. AM radio is not the future. We have to more forward."
So after the above- and during the week we also noted various pessimistic comments about US radio and HD- where does the medium go? In our view Donovan has the best approach when he suggested that it didn't matter "if Radio 4's classic serial is called a radio or an audio drama: what matters is how good it is."
And on that note on to our first listening suggestion and what we found a real gem of a programme as we caught up this week on some of our listening to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's podcasts.
The programme was the latest "Street Story" from ABC Radio National - "Before the War it was the War", which is about Beirut blogger Mazen Kerbaj who on his website says his "main activities are comics, painting and music."
The programme was more about his blogs during Israel's recent attack on Beirut and as well as being excellent radio technically had a range of comment and wry humour that seemed to us in many ways far more informative about the nature of the conflict than most news reports. It really is worth a half-hour to listen to it and also spending a little time on Mazen's web site.
Then some more strong programmes from the ABC - Sunday's "Night Air" - "Adult R-Rated", which to quote its promotional blurb on the web site "conducts down-low interviews with the patrons of a down-town swingers club; we discover the tricks lonely housewives use to get their husbands home at lunchtime and later in the evening there's a visit to a B&D club - just to perk us up. It's a bit naughty and a bit nice" - and Saturday's "All in the Mind", "Moral Minds: The Evolution of Human Morality", which examined through comment from evolutionary biologist Marc Hauser and philosopher Richard Joyce the idea of whether we all born with a moral instinct - an innate ability to judge what is right and wrong? Quote a contrast in programmes but actually making quite a strong trilogy - for the traditional moralists we'd suggest Street Story, Night Air and All in the Mind in that order whilst for those with a rather less traditional view the same start, adding in Sunday's "Background Briefing " and Richard Dawkins on religion then "All in the Mind" and ending on "Night Air."
Sticking, loosely as one might say, with the topic of morals, our next two suggestions are from BBC Radio 4 on Saturday. First from the morning was "The Lying Game" in which comedian Sue Perkins attempts to beat the locals to win the World's Biggest Liar Competition in the annual festival of lying held in Wasdale in the Lake District in England.
In the afternoon the "Music Feature" in the "Real History of Opera" series featured Huw Edwards taking a look at "Semele", Handel's opera based on a libretto by William Congreve and such topics as lust, infidelity as Semele the Theban Princess abandons her betrothed, Athamas, to seduce Jupiter and ends, thanks to the upset this infidelity by her husband causes to Juno. in the death of Semele.
Tomorrow Radio 4 in "Taking a Stand" (09:00 GMT) Fergal Keane talks to leading British neurosurgeon Professor Tipu Aziz, a pioneer in the treatment of such diseases as Parkinson's and uses primates in his research, thus attracting condemnation and threats from animal rights activists, many of whom he describers - together in our view with a fair degree of evidence - as "misinformed and sometimes illiterate."
Then a little history that should probably be more widely disseminated in America: It comes from "Crossing Comments" (Radio 4 11:00 GMT on Thursday) and a programme on the forced deportation in the 1930s of up to two million Mexicans. They were forced to leave the US to try and preserve jobs for Americans and many of them as it happened had been born there. The expulsions had, of course, been preceded by others - after the US-Mexican War of 1846-48; during economic downturns in the earlier part of the 20th century - and were to be followed by more during the 1954 "Operation Wetback."
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2006-11-27: Southern Cross Broadcasting is embarking on a cost-cutting programme at its Sydney talk flagship 2UE even though that may mean it risking losing some key presenters according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The paper notes that chief executive Tony Bell was as it puts it "horrified at the salary levels when 2UE joined the media stable five years ago. He was used to far more moderate pay scales for the stars of Melbourne's top-rating 3AW." It then continues, "But the only impact he had on the salary bill back then was the unintended consequence of losing Alan Jones."
This time it says confronted with "the harsh reality that mega-salaries are no longer sustainable" - it notes that 2UE has a salary bill of AUD 8 million (USD 6.2 million) a year for its four man presenters - Breakfast host Mike Carlton; morning host John Laws; drivetime host Steve Price; and Late-night host Stan Zemanek - and says that as each of the station's presenter's contract comes up for renewal it is preparing for tough bargaining, in some cases proposing to halve payments.
Laws, who takes the lions share - some AUD 4 million (USD 3.1 million) a year - is safe for now as his current ten-year contract has another three -and-a- half years to go and Carlton, on around AUD 1.5 million (USD 1.2 million) a year and Price on around AUD 1.2 million (USD 940,000) another year each thus leaving the station with limited options in the short term.
It already took action in summer when it made 16 posts redundant to save around AUD 1 million (USD 780,000) a year and the paper says that when the first contract due comes up - that of breakfast co-host Peter FitzSimons who took the post on a 12-month trial - 2UE will want to keep him but not at any cost. It adds that 2UE has offered FitzSimons a small increase on his current deal - of around AUD 500,000, which his a third that of his co-host Mike Carlton who's on nearly three-times as much - but that the host has hired Laws' manager John Fordham in the hope of getting a significant boost.
The next contract up after that is that of Zemanek who, the paper says is on around AUD 600,000 (USD 470,000) a year but in his case he is fighting cancer ( a malignant brain tumour) and 2UE management fears a public relations disaster if it appears unsympathetic to his plight.
Cuts have also been reported by Austereo, which is dropping Sam Newman and Steve Quatermain from its Triple-M football team for the next season, citing budget reasons for not renewing their contracts. Newman, who was suspended from the commentary team in June and later rapped on the knuckles by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for describing a caller who had criticized his comments on a match in the Saturday Football programme as a "fuckwit" (See RNW Licence News Oct 1), is said to be paid around AUD 350,000 (USD 273,000) a year but Austereo said the reason his contract was not being renewed was not related to his suspensions but because after signing a new three-year deal with the Australian Football League (AFL) it couldn't keep them within its salary cap.
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2006-11-26: Last week was another in which more of the regulator's work involving radio was in general about consultations, reports and guidance than licence decisions.
In Australia , the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) highlighted convergence in its first major report on the communications industry (See RNW Nov 22): it also issued one radio licensing decision, the renewal of the licence of Otway FM Community Radio Group Inc. in Colac, Victoria, following various concerns raised about the station.
Commenting on them ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said, "In the course of the Otway FM licence renewal process ACMA raised several issues with the licensee over what can only be described as severe management failure. Of most concern is that the station was off air for almost 18 months and has not provided a service to significant parts of the licence area. Membership, sponsorship and volunteer levels are all low for these reasons."
"Fortunately," he added, "over the course of the licence renewal period a new management team at Otway FM has begun to address ACMA's concerns, either directly, or through specific undertakings. ACMA has taken this into account and has decided to renew the licence of the only community broadcaster in the Colac region. Instead ACMA will work with Otway FM to revive the service. However, Otway FM will have little room for error. ACMA will continue to monitor the operations of the station and is expecting to see significant improvement over the coming months."
The ACMA has informed the station that it reserves the right to take further action if it does not meet its undertakings, including imposing additional licence conditions or ultimately cancelling the licence.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) was involved in a number of licensing decisions including the approval of conversion of four Quebec AM's to FM (See RNW Nov 25). Other decisions relating to radio included (In order of province):
Alberta:
* Approval of application by 912038 Alberta Ltd., which currently operates CKLM-FM-1, Bonnyville, as a transmitter of its CKLM-FM Lloydminster service, for conversion of the Bonnyville transmitter to a new 50,000 watts English-language commercial FM
Ontario:
*Approval of application by My Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) for a 5,000 watts Adult Contemporary English-language, commercial FM in Napanee.
There had been interventions by CHUM, which wanted a prohibition on the station soliciting local adverts in Kingston and by Starboard Communications Ltd., licensee of CJOJ-FM and CHCQ-FM, Belleville; K-ROCK 1057 Inc., licensee of CIKR-FM, Kingston; and Quinte Broadcasting Company Limited, licensee of CJTN-FM, Quinte West (Lite 107.1)., all of whom were concerned about the possible effect on the Belleville and Kingston markets. In addition Mohawk Nation Radio opposed the application on the basis that it intended to apply for a Type B Native Radio undertaking on the frequency involved to serve Mohawks in the Bay of Quinte area
MBC said it had no interest in the Kingston or Belleville markets, and that it would be willing to accept a condition of licence not to solicit advertising in those markets and in relation to the Mohawk Native Radio concerns said it had selected 88.7 MHZ as the most appropriate of three possible frequencies for its purpose but that if Mohawk were to gain a licence it would allow it to use at no charge, the MBC broadband antenna and would provide technical assistance if required.
The CRTC said there was no need to imposing licence conditions relating to prohibit soliciting local adverts and agreed that other frequencies were available that Mohawk could utilise.
Quebec:
*Approval of application by Radio Drummond for a 710 watts French-language Type B community FM in Drummondville.
*Approval of application by Club de solidarité du Bois-Joli inc. for a 5 watts French-language, low-power, specialty FM Trois-Rivières. The station will serve primarily the students of a primary school and programming will consist of sports and cultural reports, poetry and recorded or live interviews. The applicant does not anticipate broadcasting during school breaks.
The commission has also approved the acquisition by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner), carrying on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership, to acquire for around CAD 15.75 million (USD 13.88 million) from O.K. Radio Group Ltd. the assets of CKKQ-FM, Victoria, its transmitter CKKQ-FM-1, Sooke and its transitional digital radio undertaking CKKR-DR-1, Victoria, and of CJZN-FM, Victoria, its transmitter CKXM-FM-1, Sooke and its transitional digital radio undertaking CJZN-DR-1, Victoria,
The CRTC also posted a public notice concerning to Alberta radio applications - one by CHUM Limited for the use of frequency 101.5 MHz for a new 48,000 English-language Hot Adult Contemporary FM in Calgary that it had approved in August on the basis of a suitable frequency being found (See RNW Licence News Aug 6),
The second came from CKUA Radio Foundation which asked to change the frequency of its transmitter CKUA-FM-6, Red Deer, from 101.3 MHz to 107.7 MHz. This application was filed to allow CHUM to use 101.5MHz for its new Calgary station (above).
In Ireland, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has announced the receipt of five applications for a new youth licence for the midlands/north-east region (See RNW Nov 25). It also announced details of the third round of its "Sound & Vision" Broadcasting Funding Scheme.
Adverts were placed inviting applications from programme makers for funding for new radio and/or TV programmes dealing with the themes of Irish culture, heritage and experience and also for new programmes aimed at improving adult literacy. Radio applications have to be in by December 15 and those for TV by 12th January next year.
In the UK, Ofcom published the reasons behind its award of earlier this month the new Liverpool FM licence, for which there were ten applications, to Radio City, Emap's speech-based bid, and the award of a new Perth FM, for which there was only one applicant, to Perth FM (See RNW Nov 21) and it has also announced a change in regulation that from December 8 will allow the use of micro FM devices to transfer signals from devices such as MP3 players to an FM radio: it had advised its intention to do this last month (See RNW Oct 8).
Ofcom has also been involved in publishing a number of consultations and updates including a Summary Report and Statistics on Broadcasters' Returns on Equal Opportunities 2005; Guidance on arrangements for the promotion of equal opportunities in the broadcasting industry; and Higher power limits for licence-exempt devices - Relating to such matters as whether to promote such services as wireless broadband it should raise current power limits in rural areas where it opted against allowing higher powers at 2.4GHz in rural areas nut is to go ahead with the proposal to adopt the higher power limit of four watts EIRP (in all geographical areas), from the draft ECC Recommendation (06) 04 in 5.8GHz.;
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it is to conduct ten economic studies as part of its review of its media ownership rules and was criticised by the two Democratic Commissioners on the basis of openness and transparency (See RNW Nov 24) and has also become involved yet again with the issue of indecency regulation following court action by CBS, Fox and NBC (See RNW Nov 22).
It also published its latest figures on licensed station numbers in the country, showing a fall of six in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter (See RNW Nov 21).
On the enforcement front the FCC announced a consent decree - involving payment of USD 40,000 and a promise to abide by regulations in future - terminating an investigation into whether control of whether control of KHMB-FM, Hamburg, Arkansas, was delivered to R&M Broadcasting, Inc. by Kenneth Diebel without authorization.
The investigation began after a complaint made in 2004 that R&M had been operating the station for five years including payment of employees and running day-to-day operations although Diebel had failed to notify the commission: The commission said it and the other parties acknowledged that "any proceeding that might result from the Investigation will require the significant expenditure of public and private resources" and that it was not in the public interest to proceed further but Diebel and R&M confirmed that they understood that their conduct was "inconsistent with the requirements of the Communications Act and assert that they will not engage in such conduct or similar conduct in connection with any licensed station that they now or may hereafter control or be associated with in any manner, including station KMYY(FM). "
Diebel and R&M will each pay the US Treasury USD 20,000 and each will be jointly severally liable for the full USD 40,000.
It also issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) to Communications Specialists, Inc. for marketing radio frequency devices - its PT-1 "Petlocator" transmitter - that do not comply with the radiated emission limits.
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2006-11-26: Memphis black radio pioneer John R. Pepper II, who in 1947 with Bert Ferguson (both white) co-founded WDIA-AM, which became the first US station for black listeners in 1947, has died aged 91 after a long illness.
The station- the sixth in Memphis- began as a service for city and farm listeners with a mix of country and western music, classical, and light pop but when the format foundered switched it to target a black audience.
It hired local African-American high school teacher and nationally syndicated columnist Nat D. Williams, to host a show and his "Tan Town Jamboree", first aired on October 25, 1948, proved a success and Williams brought in Rufus Thomas, who with Williams co-hosted the "Palace Theater Amateur Night" and soon had a 2-hour night-time show called "Hoot and Holler."
By 1949 the station with partial black programming was second in the ranking and in the fall of that year it started to programme entirely for an African-American audience: That year it also took on B.B. King, who recorded his first single in the station's studio during off hours, and other artists who appeared at the studio included Rufus's daughter Carla, the "Queen of Memphis Soul" and Isaac Hayes, a regular on the station's "Big Star Talent Show".
The combination took it to the top of the ratings in Memphis for many years and, now an Urban Adult Contemporary owned by Clear Channel - it was sold by the original owners in 1957 - it is still amongst the top stations in the market: In the summer Arbitrons it was behind Country WGKX-FM and Urban Contemporary WHRK-FM.
It also had a significant effect on stations elsewhere in the US leading it to term itself the "Mother Station of Negroes."
Memphis Commercial Appeal report:
WDIA-AM web site:
2006-11-26: The owner of a new ethnic commercial AM in Vancouver, licensed in July last year (See Licence News Jul 24, 2005) says she is concerned that a robbery at its premises was aimed at keeping it off the air.
Sushma Datt, the owner of I.T. Productions Ltd., which is readying to start CJRJ-AM 1200, told the Toronto Globe and Mail, "Someone doesn't want us to launch. They knew what they were looking for."
The thieves took the station's main server, back-up system and specialized production equipment that contained music collections, taped station identification spots and other software and the police, who say a van that turned out to be stolen and was later recovered was seen leaving the premises, say it was a routine break-in.
Ms Datt, however, said the thieves had bypassed seven computers at work stations near the front of the office, and only removed equipment from the office's two production studios and on-air suite and said of the equipment taken, "This equipment would be useless to most people, even to other radio broadcasters. All our programs are designed in-house."
The paper notes that Datt has received death threats and her car tires were slashed on numerous occasions, after speaking out on talk-show programs about violence against women, infanticide and religious differences but that she said she had not recently said anything that would upset people or provoke the theft at her new station.
Kenyan-born Datt began her broadcasting career in England with the BBC, and moved to Vancouver in 1972, becoming the first Hindi and Punjabi announcer at CJVB Radio in Vancouver until 1978 when she started Radio Rim Jhim, which broadcasts an ethnic service via an SCMO (subsidiary communications multiplex operation) signal of local country station CJJR-FM.
Her I.T. Productions Ltd., a privately owned company, was one of eight competitors for two licences, an AM and FM, put up for bidding by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
I.T. Productions won the AM bid with a submission that committed it to provide programming directed to a minimum of 11 different ethnic groups in 17 different languages in each broadcast week and the FM went to South Asian Broadcasting Corporation Inc. for a service in at least 15 languages to at least 15 ethnic communities, none of which will be Chinese with at least three-quarters of programming to be Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu.
CJRJ in its subsequent approval was required to broadcast not less than 73% of the programming in each broadcast week in Hindustani and Punjabi languages and none in a Chinese language.
Vancouver at the time the licences were granted already had two ethnic AMs and an ethnic FM and the l Fairchild Radio Group Ltd., the licensee of one of them - CJVB-AM that is required to provide programming directed to a minimum of 23 cultural groups in a minimum of 23 different languages - and indirect owner of CHKG-FM, which is required to provide programming directed to a minimum of 20 cultural groups in a minimum of 15 different languages and is not authorized broadcast any programming directed to the Chinese community during weekdays between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. had intervened with concerns about broadcasts to ethnic Chinese.
Toronto Globe and Mail report:
2006-11-25: Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin in an interview with Smart Money has again pushed the idea of a merger with rival XM and said that he did not believe regulators would be a problem: He also hinted that a subscription increase could be on the cards some time in the future.
Commenting on the idea of a merger, which he'd previous raised at a trade conference, Karmazin said, "Mergers often lead to creating shareholder value. I've always been open to that," and then added as to how far the idea had progressed, "I'm really not allowed to say. I have focused my entire career on shareholder value and wealth creation. Often mergers allow for that. I combined my radio company with CBS, and I combined CBS with Viacom. "
He then said of possible regulatory intervention, "I personally believe regulatory agencies are not a problem. If there's an iPod with terrestrial radio, it's hard to believe government is worried about two satellite radio companies combining."
Regarding Sirius itself he said, "I am having a blast. I love taking over a company that's not making money and having it make money. That's why I came here: Everyone says, 'Gee, it's a great service and I love the content, but what's the business model?' I'm going to show them exactly what it is."
Karmazin noted the steep start-up and fixed costs - "Before we got a single subscriber, we had to launch three satellites and program more than 100 channels. We have high fixed costs" but then noted that as subscription numbers increased "a significant amount of money falls to the bottom line. It's similar to a cable company… Subscribers pay USD 12.95 a month, the same price they paid before we offered Howard Stern and the National Football League. We have NASCAR starting January. We have a great opportunity to increase our pricing, but I can't say when."
And of the financials and the fact that the stock price is lower now than when he joined Sirius? - "This year we will have over USD 600 million in revenue; next year we will have USD 1 billion. By 2010 we will have USD 3 billion in revenue and USD 1 billion in free cash flow. Using the 15 to 20 times cash flow valuation Wall Street gives growth companies, that's a market value of USD 15 billion to USD 20 billion. Today it's USD 6 billion. The stock will take care of itself."
RNW comment: Karmazin, like many who argue for the market to rule, tempers that when it comes to self interest and in our view that's exactly what a merger to one satellite company is an example of. It would make more money for shareholders but restrict choice to listeners. Our view is that far from allowing a merger, the FCC should be making it clear that licences in some time in the near future will not be renewed for either company until they are each offering a reasonable range - without any significant cost above that of receivers for one service - of receivers that can handle both services and thus increase choice for the listener. Sure it might hit Karmazin's pocket but on his projections the companies will be able to afford it and in the end he and the shareholders who'll make a smaller profit are far fewer in number than the potential listeners to their services.
We are supportive of satellite radio as a competitor to terrestrial broadcasts and an extra choice for listeners: We see no reason that regulators should allow that extra choice to be diminished.
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Smart Money report:
2006-11-25: The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has received five applications for a new youth licence for the midlands/north-east region that will cover the Counties of Louth, Meath, Cavan, Monaghan, Kildare, North-East Laois, Offaly and Westmeath.
Earlier this month it awarded the north-west region youth licence covering Counties of Galway, Mayo, Longford, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal, for which it had also received five applications (See Licence News Jul 16) to I Radio Limited, which trades as i 105FM (See Licence News Nov 19).
The applicants in the latest case are: Midlands North East Limited,( FM107); ICE FM Limited (ICE FM); I Radio North East & Midlands Limited, (i 107 FM) ; and Carrarush Limited (Red FM).
Previous BCI:
2006-11-25: Tests to verify whether there is a link between emissions from Vatican Radio and an Italian Navy Centre are to go ahead over the next two years at a cost of around Euros 200,000 (USD 262,000) after the Milan European Institute for tumours said it would proceed on the basis that it would be paid for them after they had been conducted.
The tests had been at risk because the Italian justice ministry will only pay for tests that have been carried out and the court hearing allegations that individuals had been made ill by the emissions did not have the Euros 75,000 (USD 98,000) to start work on them.
Last year an Italian court imposed suspended prison sentences on a Roman Catholic cardinal and a director of Vatican Radio and ordered them to pay damages to be set by a civil arbitration body after finding them guilty of polluting the atmosphere through electromagnetic emissions from Vatican Radio's transmission complex at Santa Maria di Galeria near Rome.
The case arose after complaints from residents of nearby Cesana resulted in investigations that showed a higher incidence of tumours and leukaemia than average and electromagnetic energy three times the Italian legal limit (See RNW May 10, 2005).
Previous Vatican Radio:
2006-11-25: Quebec is to gain four French language commercial FMs following approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to approve conversion of existing Corus AM stations that were included in the Quebec station exchange announced by Montreal-based Astral Media and Toronto-based Corus Entertainment that the Commission approved in January last year (See RNW Jan 22, 2005).
They are in:
Gatineau - a 2,900 watts talk-based FM to replace CJRC-AM.
Saguenay - a 51,000 watts talk-based FM to replace CKRS-AM.
Sherbrooke - a 58,000 watts talk-based FM to replace CHLT -AM.
and Trois-Rivières - a 60,000 watts talk-based FM to replace CHLN-AM;
Previous Corus:
Previous CRTC:
2006-11-24: BBC Radio 4 "World at One" presenter for the past 12 years Nick Clarke has died of cancer aged 58: He had returned to air in June following an announcement in December last year that he was to have treatment that included amputation of his left leg (See RNW Dec 9, 2005), an experience that he turned into a radio programme "Fighting to Be Normal" made from a taped diary kept by him and his second wife Barbara (See RNW Columnists Jun 26).
Tributes have been paid by many senior BBC figures and colleagues including one by BBC chairman Michael Grade who said in a statement, "Nick Clarke was one of the outstanding broadcast journalists of his generation, and held in great respect by his Radio 4 audience. His series of audio diaries, in which he chronicled events both emotional and physical during the course of his illness, provided one of the most moving and courageous broadcasts in memory."
Simon Elmes, who produced the programme, said, "Until making the documentary about his illness, 'Fighting to be Normal', earlier this year, I had only ever known Nick as a wonderful voice on the radio and a BBC party-acquaintance. But working closely with him I felt the searing incisiveness of his journalistic intelligence, his fearsome honesty, not least about himself and his condition and - just as pervasive - his wry, often dark, sense of humour."
Commenting on Clarke's wider range, BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said Clarke was "one of the BBC's finest broadcasters and a brilliant political interviewer, who was also a great listener. Nick's interviewing style was penetrating but unfailingly courteous."
Colin Hancock, Editor of The World at One (WATO), which Clarke presented from March 1994 after five years on The World This Weekend on Radio 4, said, "Nick was the most brilliant interviewer I've ever known. He had an instinct for exactly the right approach, every time: never hectoring or offending, always probing in precisely the right areas. "
"More than that," added Hancock, "he absolutely believed that everything we did on The World At One mattered, inspiring all of us to think more rigorously and chase harder. Our listeners rightly saw WATO as Nick's programme. They, his colleagues and public service broadcasting have suffered a great loss."
Jenny Abramsky, Director, BBC Radio & Music, said, "Nick was the consummate radio broadcaster - rigorous, fair, polite and tough. He had a warmth that made listeners feel he was their champion and their friend. He had breadth and a curiosity to appreciate the wider world beyond politics. Listeners loved him and Radio 4 is the poorer for his loss."
Clarke's fellow presenter James Naughtie said: "The reason listeners adored Nick was that his integrity and decency as a journalist was also the truth about the man. It's awful that his voice has gone, but he inspired such love and respect among his colleagues that we will never forget it."
Clarke was born in Godalming, Surrey and educated at Bradfield College, Berkshire and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge where he studied modern languages. He began his journalistic career on the Yorkshire Evening Post as a trainee and joined the BBC in 1973 as a reporter in Manchester.
He became the BBC's industrial correspondent in 1976 and in 1979 moved to BBC2 TV's Money Programme, where he remained for five years before joining BBC2 TV's late night news and current affairs programme Newsnight as political correspondent and occasional presenter.
He started presenting work on The World This Weekend on Radio 4 in 1989 and then moved after five years to the World at One.
He also worked on various BBC TV documentaries and appeared on various quiz shows and chaired Round Britain Quiz and Any Questions on Radio 4 : Outside broadcasting wrote a biography of the veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke, which was published in 1999, and "Shadow of a Nation: The Changing Face of Britain", which was published in 2003.
Clarke leaves a widow and five children, three from his first marriage and twin sons from his second.
Radio 4 said it had received more than 2000 e-mail tributes from listeners about Clarke on Thursday, a number of which were read out on The World Tonight programme.
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2006-11-24: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in an announcement late on Wednesday said that it is to conduct ten economic studies as part of its review of its media ownership rules and was immediately criticised by the two Democratic Commissioners on the basis of openness and transparency.
Commissioner Michael J Copps said in a statement, "Any FCC decision that could fundamentally reshape the nation's media environment must be reached through a process that is open and transparent to the American people. Today's announcement of the Commission's new media ownership studies, unfortunately, raises more questions in the public's mind than it answers. How were the contractors selected for the outside projects? How much money is being spent on each project-and on the projects collectively? What kind of peer review process is envisioned? Why are the topics so generalized rather than being targeted to more specific questions?"
He added, "When the majority of the previous FCC voted to loosen the ownership rules in 2003, a federal court took them to task for inadequate justification of their handiwork. My hope has been that the Commission would not head off on the same tangent again-especially at a time when many people already doubt the credibility of the research we do. "
He was backed up by similar comments from Jonathan S. Adelstein who said the "unilateral release of this Public Notice on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday ultimately undermines the public's confidence by raising more questions than it answers."
"The legitimacy of the studies," added Adelstein, "is directly correlated to the transparency of the process undertaken to develop the studies and select the authors… The descriptions of the studies are scant, lacking any sense of the Commission's expectations for scope, proposed methodology and data sources. In certain instances, the truncated period of time to complete the studies is an ingredient for a study that doesn't engender public faith and confidence. The release of this deficient Public Notice is unfortunate given the importance of these studies in evaluating the impact of media ownership on the American public."
In its announcement the commission said the studies would be as follows:
Study 1: How People Get News and Information. To be authored by Nielsen.
Study 2: Ownership Structure and Robustness of Media. To be authored by C. Anthony Bush, Kiran Duwadi, Scott Roberts, and Andrew Wise, FCC.
Study 3: Effect of Ownership Structure and Robustness on the Quantity and Quality of TV Programming. To be authored by Gregory Crawford, University of Arizona.
Study 4: News Operations. To be authored by Kenneth Lynch, Daniel Shiman, and Craig Stroup, FCC.
Study 5: Station Ownership and Programming in Radio. To be authored by Tasneem Chipty, CRAI.
Study 6: News Coverage of Cross-Owned Newspapers and Television Stations. To be authored by Jeffrey Milyo, University of Missouri.
Studies 7 & 8: Minority Ownership. To be authored by Arie Bersteanu and Paul Ellickson, Duke University and by Allen Hammond, Santa Clara University and Barbara O'Connor, California State University, Sacramento.
Study 9: Vertical Integration. To be authored by Austan Goolsbee, University of Chicago.
Study 10: Radio Industry Review: Trends in Ownership, Format, and Finance. To be authored by George Williams, FCC.
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2006-11-24: CHUM Ltd, which is currently being taken over by Bell Globemedia, has promoted its Executive Vice President Radio, Paul Ski, to the new post of President, CHUM Radio.
Making the announcement CHUM president and CEO Jay Switzer said the appointment acknowledged Paul's tremendous contribution to CHUM Radio's outstanding performance and commented, "Paul Ski is an exceptional media executive who has played a significant role in our company's success. This appointment recognizes Paul's leadership, and the achievements of the CHUM Radio team.
Ski will be responsible for all CHUM Radio including in addition to the CHUM Radio Network and CHUM Radio Sales. He has been with the company for more than 30 years, having joined it in 1972 at CFRA-AM, Ottawa.
He then worked for the company in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1981 where he became President/General Manager of CHUM Radio's Western Operations, a role he held until his promotion to EVP. Ski is also a member of CHUM Limited's Senior Management Group.
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2006-11-24: Citadel Broadcasting Corporation has announced that it and The Walt Disney Company have renegotiated details of their February agreement for a merger of Citadel and ABC Radio (See RNW Feb 7).
Under the new agreement, Disney gets USD 300 million less in cash, USD 100 million of which is a straightforward reduction and a further USD 200 million of which is counterbalanced by an increase in Disney shareholders share of the combined company from around 52% to 57%.
This will be calculated on the basis of USD 100 million of Citadel common stock at a price expected to be between USD 10.89 and USD 14.51, and determined during a pre-closing measurement period based on a formula in the merger agreement and a further USD 100 million of common stock priced at USD 10.40. Both will be subject to adjustment for the special distribution expected to be paid by Citadel to its pre-merger shareholders.
Citadel also announced that the merger is not now expected to close before the end of May next year.
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2006-11-23: The BBC has announced that it has agreed a deal to air Bob Dylan's radio show "Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour" that began airing on XM Satellite Radio in May this year (See RNW May 1): It will launch a year-long run with a preview of six shows over the Christmas period.
The shows will air on BBC Radio 2 starting on December 23 running through to Thursday 28 December 2006 - all at 19:00GMT except for Christmas Eve when the show airs at 17:00 GMT: Sister digital station 6 Music will air them from December 31 a 21:00 GMT and then from January 12 the shows will become a regular Friday night feature.
Lesley Douglas, controller of Radio 2 and 6 Music commented in a news release, "Bob Dylan is a legendary figure and I'm sure these shows will be of great interest to our audience. It'll be fascinating to hear who his favourite artists are and who has influenced him throughout his career."
RNW note: This show iwll be available for the usual seven days on the station wbesite but for UK isteners only: Others will be barred.
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2006-11-23: Sirius Canada, which went on air on December 1 last year (See RNW Dec 2, 2005) says it ended its first year of business with more than 200,000 subscribers and was well ahead of rival XM Canada with more than 70% of the retail market in the country: XM Canada said in September that it had 120,000 subscribers at the end of its first fiscal year and nine months of operations (See RNW Sep 8).
Its President and CEO Mark Redmond said of the performance, "Sirius Canada's first year anniversary, and the significant success we have experienced during this time, is a celebration to be shared with our 200,000 subscribers and our retail and automotive partners. We are proud to be the number one choice for satellite radio in Canada. It has been an incredible first year, and we look forward to continuing a tradition of delivering the very best satellite radio products and programming available in Canada."
Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin added, "Sirius Canada's incredible progress in less than 12-months of operating is testament to the quality of SIRIUS' programming, and reinforces the country's interest and excitement in satellite radio as an entertainment medium. As we grow our business and extend programming options across North America, we are confident Sirius Canada will continue to connect with Canadians as the country's preferred satellite radio service, and build off the tremendous success it has achieved during its first year."
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2006-11-23: Chicago classical station WFMT-FM boosted its support this year with an innovative offer according to Robert Feder, who reported in the Chicago Sun-Times that it raised USD 552.000 from some 3,400 listeners in its must successful pledge drive ever.
It ended the pledge drive an hour early and contributions up 10% on a year ago and Feder says the success was boosted by a premium offer of an iPod loaded with a basic library of classical music in the form of 100 CDs to all those who offered a pledge of USD 10 per day (USD 3,650 a year).
WFMT's senior vice president and general manager Steve Robinson, who conceived the idea with the Naxos classical label, said that there were 25 calls for the offer (which would mean a total of USD 91,250) and added, "At a time when there seems to be gloom and doom in the world of classical music radio, WFMT is still a shining light."
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2006-11-23: Listening to podcasts is growing rapidly in the US according to figures just released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project following surveys conducted in August: This showed that the percentage of internet users who said they had downloaded a podcast shad increased from 7% in a February to April survey to 12% with increases for men from 9% to 15% and for women from 5% to 8%.
In demographic terms those 18-29 were most likely to have downloaded a podcast - up from 10% to 12% followed by those 30-49 and 50-64 where the figures were 8% and 5% respectively in February-April and 12% for both in August.
The percentage increased with education - from 6% to 9% for a high school graduate; from 6% to 13% for those with some college education; add from 9% to 13% for college graduates. When it came to income there was a smaller difference: Listening by the poorest group, with household income less than USD 30,000 a year, went up from 8% to 12%; for those with household incomes from USD 30,000 to USD 49,999 it was up from 8% to 14%; for those with household incomes from USD 50,000 to USD 74,999 it was up from 7% to 12% and for those with more than USD 75,000 a year household income it went up from 7% to 13%.
In technological terms the percentage with a dial-up connection was up from 6% to 10% and with broadband up from 9% to 14%.
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2006-11-22: CBS Radio has agreed to sell its three Greensboro, North Carolina, news-talk AM stations -- WSJS, WMFR, and WSML - to Curtis Media Group for USD 8,375,000: The stations were the last to be sold in the ten markets - the others are Austin; Buffalo; Cincinnati; Columbus, Ohio; Fresno; Kansas City; Memphis; Rochester, N.Y.; and San Antonio - in which CBS had said it was to sell up and the sales have added up to just under USD 670 million.
Curtis says it expects to retain the same management at the stations and its President Donald Curtis commented, "We are delighted to have this family of great News/Talks Stations join our group of North Carolina Stations. We feel that along with our existing operation at WZTK, News/Talk 101, and our presence in the State Capitol with WPTF, we will be able to offer the listeners in the Triad an even better list of choices in the News/Talk arena."
As well as the five-station News-talk cluster Curtis will have after the acquisition it also owns a dozen stations in the Raleigh-Durham market as well as having ownership interests in other North Carolina radio stations.
The other part of CBS, its TV operation, has meanwhile filed a formal appeal against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling that it breached indecency standards in the broadcast of the 2004 Superbowl half-time show in which a shot of a Janet Jackson breast was briefly shown.
The FCC had levied a USD 550,000 penalty - based on the then maximum amount of USD 27,500 that has now been increased to USD 325,000 - against 20 CBS affiliate stations and in its appeal CBS denies that it did anything wrong in its broadcast of "an unscripted, unauthorized, and unintended long-distance shot of Ms. Jackson's breast for nine-sixteenths of one second."
CBS says it wants the FCC to return to its "previous time-honoured practice of more measured indecency enforcement" and says, "CBS will continue to pursue all of our legal remedies to that end, and this week's filings are another step in that pursuit."
Together with News Corporation's Fox, Walt Disney Co's ABC, and General Electric's NBC, CBS is expected to jointly file another appeal on a different incident involved Fox. The broadcasters want the Third Circuit Appeals Court to spell out the FCC's powers relating to indecent broadcasts.
The FCC has responded by defending its ruling, accusing CBS of continuing to ignore the "the voices of millions of Americans, Congress and the Commission" in saying the broadcast was not indecent and its spokesman added, CBS believes there should be no limits on what can be shown on television even during family viewing events like the Super Bowl; we continue to believe they are wrong."
[RNW comment: What matters, surely, are the rules the FCC had published at the time and our view is that even if every single American had felt the broadcast was indecent any ruling should be on the basis of the law as laid down not what the population might have felt, albeit strong feelings could legitimately lead to a change in the law.
As for CBS believing there should be "no limits" that seems to us a ludicrous statement that in a society with respect for the meaning of words would see the individual concerned looking for work. Mind you, he would probably be joined by most, if not all, US politicians and the executive and PR ranks would also be rather more than decimated if there were such respect.]
Interestingly as a side-bar, the New Zealand Broadcasting Standards Authority earlier this month updated its