January 2007 Archive
- Front Page
- About this site
- Freelance bulletin board
- Site audio files
- Radio Stations
- Other links
- Story Archives Index
- Personalities Archive Index
- Organisations Archive Index
- Comment Index
- Your feedback
- Browsers and players
Prime
Radio Stations
Streams are
Real Audio in
most cases: Some have Windows Media as well.
Radiofeeds UK -for
comprehensive list of UK broadcast radio stations on the Internet
ABC,
Australia
Streams
list:
Radio
Australia
News
stream
ABC, Anerica
(Links to audio)
BBC:
World
Service:
(Links to audio services)
UK
-Radio 1:
UK -Radio 2 :
UK Radio 3:
UK--Radio 4:
UK Radio Five Live:
BBC Where
I Live (for local stations):
Radio
1 stream:
Radio
2 Stream:
Radio
3 stream:
Radio 4 stream (FM):
Radio
4 stream (AM):
Radio
5 stream:
CBC,Canada
Links
to audio streams:
Hourly
newscast:
US National Public Radio:
News
Voice of America:
Audio
News reports:
WORLD RADIO NETWORK
(listeners area has on-demand audio reports from various broadcasters
from round the world)
Music
Streams
(Classical):
King (US)
RTE
Lyric FM (Ireland):
E-Mail
us
Note- In view of the numbers of viruses, worms etc
now proliferating, we automatically delete messages with attachments
unless these have been sent by prior agreement.
We never send out replies with attachments except by prior agreement.
We also tend to automatically delete e-mails from unknown sources without
a title that specifically ties in to a subject we can recognize.
- December 2006
-
February 2007
- 
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 January comment - Considers, as the furore continues over the death of a contestant in a water drinking competition, whether there is a need for specific regulation of broadcasters and concludes that there are virtually no areas requiring broadcaster-specific laws.
RNW December comment - As the switch-off approaches for analogue TV we consider regulatory approaches for a digital age.
RNW November comment - Broad or narrow? We argue against the current narrow formats of much radio.
2007-01-31: Kingdom Radio Group has become the second UK broadcaster to hand back a licence media regulator Ofcom. after failing to find a buyer.
It had put up its River FM, based in Livingston, West Lothian, up for sale last month but failed to find a buyer and stopped broadcasts on Monday evening. The group now only has one station, Kingdom FM in Fife.
Kingdom Radio Group managing director, Kevin Brady told The Scotsman, "We very much regret having to take this decision, but we have exhausted every option open to us to save River FM. Having invested in the station for over three years it does not make economic sense for the group to continue supporting this loss-making station."
River FM was launched in September 2003 following an unopposed bid for the licence from a group whose backers included whose backers include Dominic Keane from Livingston Football Club, John Collins from Clan FM and Jimmy Young from Clan FM, and was sold to the Kingdom Group a year later.
The most recent ratings showed the station with 22,000 listeners in a market of some 135,000. It ran a news bulletin at 15:00 on Monday and then played music until it went off air at 18:00 with played Nelly Furtado's All Good Things (Come To An End) as its final song.
The paper says Ofcom may now give the West Lothian licence to a community radio station.
The first UK licence to be handed back was that of Star FM in Stroud which was owned by UKRD. It was handed back after the company had been had been refused permission to simulcast the majority of programme output from sister station Star FM in Cheltenham although it had allowed co-siting of the stations (See RNW Mar 22, 2006): UKRD later said it would hand back the licence in protest at the way smaller radio stations are regulated (See RNW Sep 23, 2006) and Ofcom has subsequently awarded a community licence in the area (See Licence News Jan 21).
Also in the UK, the Guardian newspaper, which is owned by the same parent, is reporting that GMG Radio is to re-brand the Saga stations it bought in December (See RNW Dec 19, 2006) as "Smooth Radio."
The move would increase the number of Smooth stations to six - existing stations in London and the North West (formerly Jazz stations) plus the Saga stations and a new north-east station, for which Saga had won the licence, due to be launched in Autumn (Fall) this year.
GMG Radio chief executive John Myers told the paper, "The Smooth name has worked well for us, especially in the north-west where it has gone from worst to first in two years. We are therefore rolling this out across the UK into the Saga stations while dropping the 'fm' part of the name, as it is clear that more listeners are tuning in across a number of platforms and not just on FM."
RNW comment: We assume that GMG has to gain the consent of Ofcom for its change and in view of the basis of the fairly recent bids that gained Saga its licences (for the reasons given for the award of the North East England regional licence see RNW Apr 26, 2006 2006-04.html#SagaUK2) it does seem to us that this should not be given automatically: Indeed on the basis that licences in the UK are won on the basis of a specific service offer rather than in an auction it seems to us that there may well be good reasons to refuse this particular change.
Previous GMG:
Previous Myers:
Previous Ofcom:
The Scotsman report:
UK Guardian report:
2007-01-31: In a case of biting the hand that pays you rather well, Chicago WGN-AM morning personality Spike O'Dell has told the Chicago Tribune, which is owned by the same parent, that he's tired of getting up at 2 a.m. each day and that he intends to leave as soon as his three-year deal is up according to Robert Feder in his column in the rival Chicago Sun Times.
Dell only signed the multimillion-dollar contract two months ago and WGN management are apparently prepared to accept the comment; Feder quotes WGN vice president and general manager Tom Langmyer as saying, "As we announced back in November, we are pleased that Spike will continue to wake up Chicago for several more years on WGN."
Previous Feder:
Previous Langmyer:
Previous O'Dell:
2007-01-31: UK media regulator Ofcom in its latest Broadcast Bulletin upheld a standards complaint against radio and two against TV; considered two TV standards cases resolved by the action already taken by the broadcaster and also gave details of one TV standards and one TV fairness and privacy not upheld.
This compares to no radio cases upheld and one resolved plus a TV standards complaint and a TV Fairness and Privacy complaint upheld in its previous bulletin in which it also considered two TV standards cases resolved and did not upheld two more of which it gave details.
The radio complaint upheld was against Anna Reaburn's phone-in programme on LBC-FM in London that included reading out live an advertisement that the complainant contended was not clearly separated from the programme as required. Ofcom had previously ruled that there had been a breach but LBC appealed the decision.
It argued that the advert, which aired after a travel bulletin and was followed by a clearly-branded LBC promotion of digital radio was clearly separated and referred to a previous case but acknowledged that this had followed a programme trail: It said its policy was to play a full station 'ident' as it returned to programming at the end of an advertising break but not when leaving editorial and entering a break.
In this case Ofcom after reviewing the original decision took the view that a short three-note sting that followed the travel bulletin would simply have indicated that the bulletin had ended and noted that leading into the bulletin the presenter had been expressing her own opinion and when she read the advert the style appeared to be very similar.
It therefore took the view that there was no clear separation and that there had been a breach, noting that normally it advised that presenter-read advertisements be placed in the middle of clear commercial breaks, to ensure their adequate separation from programming.
In addition Ofcom listed with no details a further 76 TV complaints involving 48 items and 11 radio complaints involving 11 items that it were out of its remit or not upheld. The totals compare with 295 TV complaints involving 229 items and 58 radio complaints involving 44 items that it said were out of its remit or not upheld in its previous bulletin.
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Ofcom Complaints Bulletin:
2007-01-30: Arbitron has now received Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for the Portable People Meter (PPM) radio ratings data in Houston and is to confer with its customers - broadcasters, advertisers and advertising agencies - on a schedule for rolling out the service commercially in the city. The company says it is continuing to seek accreditation for TV rating in the market.
Announcing the accreditation, Arbitron president and CEO Steve Morris said in a release, "This is the first completely new, electronic methodology for broadcast ratings since the set-top, push-button people meter was introduced in the late 1980s. It's the only personal, portable electronic meter system in the world that's ever been subjected to an MRC audit and has met the accreditation standards of the Media Rating Council for a radio ratings service."
Arbitron president, Operations, Technology and Research & Development Owen Charlebois described obtaining the accreditation in a two-year process as a "major accomplishment" and said that users of the new ratings could have confidence in its "methodology, sampling systems and survey processes."
For the MRC executive director George Ivie said it appreciated the commitment made by Arbitron to the accreditation process and added, "We broke a lot of new ground over the last two years, and Arbitron worked with us constructively during the audit and thereafter to ensure necessary audit committee learning took place. We know that supporting this large audit internally and externally has been a challenge for Arbitron."
Arbitron had agreed in March last year to a request from the MRC to wait until it received accreditation for the PPM service in Houston - originally scheduled to be the first market in its roll out of the PPM service to start in July 2006 - before discontinuing its diary system and using the PPM for radio ratings in the market. It has now rolled out the system in Philadelphia -where it is to go live on March 8 and the market where it conducted its first tests, although Clear Channel had held out from agreeing use of the system and will be excluded from the ratings unless it changes its mind. Arbitron is also to go live with PPM ratings in New York on November 15.
In Houston, Cox Radio and Radio One Inc. had held out against encoding but the latter then in August last year agreed to encode its signals there but Arbitron still has to obtain agreement to use the PPM from some three quarters of the stations in the market. Clear Channel already encodes in Houston but has not agreed to use the system.
Previous Arbitron:
Previous Charlebois:
Previous Media Rating Council:
Previous Morris:
2007-01-30: GCap Media has announced that it has renewed Capital Radio breakfast host Johnny Vaughan's contract for three years but has given no details of the deal. Vaughan, rumoured to be paid around GBP 3 million ( USD 6 million) a year took over the show and an audience of around 1.37 million a week in April 2004 from Chris Tarrant but latest figures - for the third quarter of last year - showed it down to 782,000.
Final quarter 2006 ratings are to be released on Thursday and GCap is hoping that a re-vamp of Capital and changes to its music policy will have turned found figures for the station, once the perennial ratings leader that has fallen to third rank in terms of reach with a weekly audience of 1.46 million - behind 1.71 million for leader Chrysalis's Heart FM and 1.64 million for Emap's Magic FM : It also lost the "most listened to" breakfast show battle to Heart whose team of Jamie Theakston and Harriet Scott, took a 5.7% share compared to 5.6% for Vaughan (See RNW Oct 27, 2006).
Steve Orchard, Group Operations Director of GCap Media, said in a release, "Throughout last year we made great improvements to the sound of Capital Radio, making it more London-centric and playing more credible contemporary hit music. This year we are determined to bring those listeners who have gone to other stations back home. No-one can deliver the warmth and humour that
Londoners want from their breakfast show as well as Johnny can, and we are confident that the show will thrive in 2007 with Johnny at the helm. "
The announcement comes during an interregnum at GCap, which announced earlier this month that it had appointed former SMG Radio chief executive Fru Hazlitt to the newly created post of Managing Director, GCap London, from May 1 with responsibility for Capital Radio and Choice FM (See RNW Jan 18). The news did not significantly affect GCap's stock which moved up 0.33% on Monday to end at GBP 225.5
Also in the UK, the Guardian reports that Emap is to cut some 50 jobs from its Big City local radio network.
The papers says it is expected that around 20 jobs will go in England, where stations owned include Key 103 in Manchester and Rock FM in Preston, the same number in Scotland where Emap's stations include Radios Clyde and Forth; and the remaining ten in Northern Ireland where the company's stations include Downtown Radio and Cool FM.
It quoted an Emap spokeswoman as saying that following a 30-day consultation, staff would be offered voluntary redundancy, although she could not rule out compulsory cuts and adding, "Following a period of local review, Emap local radio stations have drawn up plans aimed at safeguarding audiences and revenue streams, whilst positioning for future growth. The likely result is some localised changes and unfortunately this means that a number of roles are at risk of redundancy."
The redundancies come a month after a strategic review was launched by Emap Group Managing Director of Radio Dee Ford and the spokeswoman said, "In an increasingly competitive marketplace, each station has to be in the best possible shape, and this move is in line with Emap Plc's stated goal of increasing operational efficiencies across all of its businesses."
Previous Emap:
Previous Ford:
Previous GCap Media:
Previous Orchard:
Previous Vaughan:
UK Guardian report:
2007-01-30: Air America Radio, currently owned by Piquant LLC, has now signed a letter of intent to sell its business in a deal expected to close in mid-February but has not released details of the deal, which is with SLG Radio LLC. that is controlled by Stephen L. Green, the founder and chairman of New York area real estate company SL Green Realty Corp.
Green has already provided funds to Democracy Allies LLC, which has been funding Air America during the bankruptcy proceeding and which will continue to fund the company as it prepares a definitive purchase agreement for submission to the Bankruptcy Court.
Air America had declared chapter 11 Bankruptcy in October last year (See RNW Oct 14 , 2006) and earlier this month the Wall Street Journal, citing as its source "people familiar with the situation" had said the it was close to agreeing a sale with a group led by the French family, owner of New York City-area WRNN-TV whose output is mainly infomercials and home shopping (See RNW Jan 23).
Air America also announced that Al Franken, its best-known host is to leave and his slot will be taken by Portland (Oregon)-based Thom Hartmann, host of "The Thom Hartmann Program" that currently airs at the same noon to 15:00 ET weekday time. Franklin's last show will air on February 14 and no reason was given for his departure but he has talked with Minnesota lawmakers of a possible run for the US Senate.
In a statement on the agreement Air America CEO Scott Elberg said they were "extremely pleased to have reached this agreement with Mr. Green, which will solidify Air America's future." He added, "When you combine Steve Green's business skills and successes -- with his brother Mark Green's history as a respected progressive policy voice, including as a frequent guest and host on our network-- Air America will be in the best hands to sustain our powerful radio voice, expand our reach and broaden the audience."
Stephen Green commented, "Because I'm a businessman who enjoys creating and growing companies, I'm purchasing a majority ownership in Air America with the intention of making it a successful business that returns a profit. To assure that AAR survives and thrives, we'll do three things. First, we'll stabilize its finances. Second, we'll build on its line-up to assure the best radio talent possible, since in the long run content is king. And third, we'll extend this special brand by partnering with other platforms beyond radio to make sure that Air America's content reaches the wide audience it deserves."
His brother Mark commented, "Having been involved on both sides of the microphone at Air America, I understand its huge potential as a voice for progressive patriotism. And with the Democratic take-over of the 110th Congress and prospects in the next presidential election, it's the perfect time for Air America 2.0. If progressive values were a stock, now is the time to buy."
Regarding Franken's departure Elberg said they were very sorry to see him leave and added, "Al's brilliance, humour, and passion put Air America on the map and we will always regard him as part of our family."
Franken responded, "I'll miss coming in and working with the best staff in radio, talking with my amazing coterie of guests, and, of course, my national audience, said Franken. "But they'll be in good hands with Thom Hartmann, a great progressive and a terrific host. And the network will be in good hands with the Green brothers: Mark, my friend for years and a committed liberal who understands the mission of Air America as well as anyone, and his brother Steve, who is very wealthy."
Previous Air America/Piquant:
Previous Franken:
2007-01-30: Clear Channel Communications has set March 21 for its shareholders to vote on its planned merger with a Private Equity Group -led by Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. and Bain Capital Partners, LLC but its largest shareholders is currently planning to vote against according to a report from the Associated Press carried in a number of publications.
The AP says a "person familiar with Fidelity's position" told it on Monday that mutual fund Fidelity Management & Research, which owns nearly 11% of Clear Channel, will vote against the USD 37.60 a share cash offer plus assumption of USD 8 billion of debt that values the company at USD 18.7 billion.
In its announcement, Clear Channel says the "competitive sale process was directed by the disinterested directors, each of whom possesses significant knowledge of the Company's markets, operations and prospects" and that it "maximized the competitive dynamics of a sale transaction and resulted in the highest price available" and notes that the offer represents a premium of approximately 28% over the average closing share price during the 60 trading days ended October 24, 2006, the day prior to the announcement of the Company's decision to consider strategic alternatives, and a premium of approximately 25% over the average closing share price during the one-year period prior to the announcement of the merger.
A two-thirds vote is needed for the deal to go through with a "no" being recorded in the case of shareholders who do not vote.
Previous Clear Channel:
Business week/AP report:
2007-01-30: The new Windows Vista operating system being launched today will offer XM Radio Online as part of its "digital music hub"and a free three-day trial is on offer after which the service will cost USD 7.99 per month for non-subscribers - it is free to those who already subscribe to XM.
XM senior vice president for marketing programs and operations My-Chau Nguyen said they were pleased to be extending its relationship with Microsoft, adding, "The integration of XM Radio Online further enhances the music and entertainment experience offered by Windows Vista."
Previous XM:
2007-01-29: With one story domining print cover of radio over the past week we had to start with the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest that on current information seems to have led to the death of a Sacramento mother of three although a final cause of death has not yet been released.
In the San Diego Union Tribune John Wilkens began his report by commenting that it was too soon to know whether the contest "will become radio's "Nipplegate" and quoted Radio & Records radio editor Keith Berman as saying, "It's just speculation, but there's been talk about whether this is some kind of flash point, whether it will lead to sweeping changes - kind of our Janet Jackson scenario" - a reference to the Super Bowl half-time show display of part of a Janet Jackson breast that spurred organized complaints and led to a heavy fine for CBS and a ten-fold increase in broadcast indecency penalties.
Berman said he wondered whether this latest stunt could lead to more regulation of contests or increased scrutiny by radio company lawyers, noting, "If nothing else, I'm sure people will be a lot more cautious about it."
A dissenting view came from former DJ and programme director Jerry Del Colliano, who is currently music-industry professor at the University of Southern California and reckons nothing will come of this, commenting, "Just look who got fired. It was the DJs and the staff. It's the managers who always ask for the outrageous, and as soon as there's trouble, they fire the people who gave them what they asked for. If management was serious, they would fire themselves."
Of this contest he said it defied common sense adding that this and radio promotion are often strangers nowadays.
We're seeing more and more desperation on the part of radio stations as they chase a shrinking audience," he said. "The sad part of it is, contests stopped working a long time ago. I teach the next generation at USC, and they don't care about contests."
He was critical of the mentality behind contests, saying, "When you regularly demean yourself and your audience, putting people in harm's way is the logical extension" but opposed regulation suggesting it was better for stations, prodded by listeners, to police their own content although he seemed doubtful about the attitude of listeners.
When you look at American society, it's almost like we have no shame," he said. "The most popular show on TV, 'American Idol,' is full of insults. We live in a confrontational world. We have very little respect for each other, because that's not seen as cool. Donald Trump saying 'You're fired,' that's cool. We want what we want when we want it, and if that leads to more demeaning games and contests on the radio, we shouldn't be surprised."
In "Wired" Randy Dotinga under the headline "Deregulating Radio to Death" quoted radio consultant and Emerson College journalism instructor Donna Halper as saying that earlier more restrictive FCC regimes might well have prevented this particular death,
"There was a time when radio stations had to be more responsible ... and understood they had a public-interest obligation, that they're supposed to operate their stations in the public interest," she said. "I understand regulation is a dirty word, and a lot of people feel like having the FCC all over us was so oppressive. But it prevented stuff like this from happening."
She also noted current priorities saying that the "only time the FCC rouses itself is to enforce obscenity laws" whereas in the past with an FCC review of station licences every three years and licences really being in jeopardy "I'll bet (a listener's death) would have caused the FCC to get involved immediately. It might have caused the station to get fined or at least scrutinized. Let's face it, somebody died. You would have had a lot of 'splainin' to do."
Dotinga also raise the effect on stations of consolidation, quoting radio consultant Dave Van Dyke as saying, "Most general managers and staff have been put in positions when they're handling more than they're able to handle because of consolidation. If a station company owns several radio stations in a market like Sacramento, they'll have one general manager seeing the entire cluster. He gets distracted by what's going on at three, five, seven stations."
After US radio station problems, over to the UK and a BBC Radio 5 apology over an ill-judged "joke" by soccer commentator Alan Green that upset a number of people in Liverpool.
Green told listeners that Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone, a special guest at the Everton v Reading game, would probably find his limousine had no wheels when he returned to it.
This prompted a complaint from the leader of Liverpool council Warren Bradley who told the Liverpool Daily Post, "It is immensely disappointing that a respected football commentator should display such ignorance about a city which he visits regularly. Alan Green's cheap remark perpetuates outdated myths and damages the city's reputation nationally. Perhaps an apology would be in order and Five Live would consider doing something to give a more balanced account of how the city has changed for the better in the last few years?"
A Radio Five Live spokesman apologised, saying: "Alan's comments were off the cuff and meant to be humorous. They weren't funny and we're sorry if they caused offence" leading Everton FC to drop an official complaint it had planned to make.
The station will now have to be more careful about Liverpool as it has already provoked a protest by Liverpool FC fans earlier this month by hiring former Sun newspaper editor Kelvin MacKenzie, who was in charge of the paper when it ran cover of the Hillsborough stadium disaster during the April 1989 Liverpool FC v Nottingham Forest FA Cup semi-final at which 96 people died in a human crush. The official enquiry found the cause of the disaster was overcrowding and failures by the police but MacKenzie has stood by the newspaper's reports that Liverpool fans stole from and urinated on the dead, reports dismissed by Lord Justice Taylor's official report.
The decision to hire MacKenzie led to a protest petition with 11,000 signatures being handed to the BBC and one of the organisers of a protest at this month's Liverpool FC's FA Cup tie against Arsenal told the Liverpool Daily Post, "When we read that scumbag MacKenzie had not changed his opinion after all this time, it made us irate. The hurt and suffering he has caused in this city is incalculable, and for him to go around saying such things on the guest-dinner speaking circuit is beyond belief. We felt we could not just sit back and do nothing. The BBC hired him for Christmas Day using licence payers' money, which is an outrage. We wanted to show them what the fans thought and we won't stop until we keep that man off the airwaves."
After the negative on to a generally positive story concerning a small station, "All for Peace", which is based in East Jerusalem (the Arab-dominated part of the divided city) and according to Donald Macintyre's report in the UK Independent is "talk radio with a difference" for its part of the world.
It is staffed by a group of 22 Israelis and Palestinians and, reports Macintyre, aims in its own words to provide "an unrestricted opportunity for dialogue between the citizens... of both sides" and increase "public awareness in both the Palestinian and Israeli societies to the problems of the other."
The stations was conceived at the height of the intifada in 2002, and finally went on air at the beginning of 2005: It's biggest coup today was managing to bring to air at -the same time - Noam Shalit, father of 19-year-old Cpl Gilad Shalit whose seizure triggered increased Israeli military action in Gaza, and Abu Mujahad, the spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, one of the three groups, including Hamas's military wing, that abducted his son.
The two spoke through host Ziad Darwish - a cousin of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish - who translated between Hebrew and Arabic and the exchange included Noam Shalit offering to act as guarantor for any prisoner exchange deal involving his son's release and comments from Abu Mujahad saying, "In appreciation of human emotions we say to Noam Shalit that your son is alive and healthy, and we didn't abuse him as the Israeli government does to our prisoners."
It also led to an exchange in which Mujahad was pressed about the prisoner exchange issued over his being told by Israeli officials that no target list of prisoners had been released to them and became "defensive" but saying a list was given to the Egyptians.
Macintyre says it may not be clear for a long time whether there is any positive outcome of the exchange but the "fact a PRC spokesman was prepared to talk to a station partly run by Israelis is also a testament to its increasing importance."
The station broadcasts in Arabic and Hebrew and reaches some 20,000 to 25,000 a day on the Internet, some 39% in Israel and 31% in the West Bank and Gaza, but, writes Macintyre, its "willingness to talk to everyone from the Israeli far right to the most hard-line Palestinian militant groups as well as to many more moderate voices, Israeli and Palestinian, all too easily ignored by the mainstream media is a cherished part of its independence, one that has cost it dear."
Israeli co-director, Shimon Malka, said that, in 2005, the station, which already receives about 40 per cent of its USD 600,000 annual costs from the European Commission, was delighted to receive a year's grant of USD 700,000 from USaid but then, after Hamas won last year's elections, he and his Palestinian co-director Maysa Baransi-Siniora were told bluntly the grant would be halted unless they agreed to keep Hamas off the air.
"Maysa and I flew to Washington and tried to persuade them we couldn't be real independent media if we became the voice of Fatah, or Washington or whatever" he said but even though Hamas spokesmen appear on Israeli media they were unsuccessful and All for Peace lost a third of the US money, having to pay back some cash it used to buy equipment.
They are hoping to increase advertising income to help make up the deficit - thanks in part to an advertising contract with the sympathetic Israeli cleaning materials company, Sano, they hope advertising will account for 20 percent of the station's costs this year compared with 1 per cent last year and they are also planning deals that would allow NGOs to buy airtime on the station.
Finally before listening suggestions , comment from Antonia Zerbisias in the Toronto Star about Canadian media prompted by the appointment of Konrad von Finckenstein, former head of the federal competition watchdog, to chair the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Zerbisias notes that the announcement came as C. Edwin Baker, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the foremost authorities on how media concentration hurts democracy, was delivering the Grafstein Annual Lecture at the University of Toronto on the topic "Media Ownership and Media Markets: A Democratic and Economic Evaluation."
Zerbisias translates this as, "Don't be fooled by all those TV channels and all those Internet sites and all those blogs and all those so-called choices. There are not, as the ideologues who think the airwaves should be unregulated claim, thousands of flowers blooming out there."
He quotes Baker as saying in an interview, "You have to ask, who owns those flowers. If the audiences are concentrated, it doesn't matter" and emphasizing that online audiences are more concentrated than offline audiences, with the top few blogs commanding the major share of hits and the Top 10 news sites outpacing all others."
Zerbisias then goes on to speculate where Finckenstein might stand, noting the former Competition Bureau head's comments that the current regulatory environment is not sustainable "in the evolving communications environment" but also that the Bureau had blocked Astral Media's "bid to buy 17 radio stations from Telemedia - even though the CRTC approved it - because it would have allowed Astral to dominate Quebec's radio advertising market. "
"That said," continues Zerbisias,"much has changed since then. The way things are going, we could soon be looking at an English-Canadian media landscape made up of CTVglobemedia-CHUMCanwestGlobalAllianceAtlantisTorstar and the shell of CBC" and of this quotes Baker as saying, "The key value, which I think people recognize, is that democracy means that power should be distributed among the population broadly rather than concentrated. Concentrated media is just a form of concentrated power in the public sphere - and that should be objectionable."
He then quotes Baker on some of the benefits of widely held media - More watchdogs meaning more wrongdoing is likely to be brought to light, more difficult to corrupt media or corral them to follow a particular line, fewer conflicts of interest and so on. "
With that we agree and therein lies the rub in that most people do not have the time, even if they have the inclination, to trawl through masses of information to sort out discrepancies in "facts" reported and, nowadays, neither do many media organizations with most relying tremendously on just two major international news agencies.
Even where they don't it would appear from comments by Defence analyst Bill Arkin, who was amongst those on this week's "On the Media" from WNYC, that they often miss the facts and fall for the propaganda. Fore more listen to his comments on the "surge" of US troops to Iraq. Also from the programme we'd suggest Jazz writer John McDonough report concerning the broadcast of jazz and where public stations should prioritise. His comments in terms of many jazz fans not needing radio because of the collections they have built up should provoke thought about whether music radio in other genres may have a major problem building.
After that we suggest Nursery Rhymes, or more particularly three reports on last week's "Life Matters" on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National.
Unfortunately we picked up on this late and the first - from Monday last week - will disappear from the site shortly as MP3s are only available for seven days- but there's a little more time to get the Tuesday and Wednesday items. All three are based on the book "Heavy Words, Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme" by Chris Roberts in which he looks at the origins of various well-known nursery rhymes and comes up with some very different meanings to those normally associated with some of the rhymes.
And while on different perspectives, we suggest BBC Radio 4 and the "Struggle for Saudi Arabia's Soul" from last Tuesday in which Edward Stourton looked at the stirrings of change in a deeply conservative country and how the knock-on effects from the war in Iraq and Shia-Sunni conflict has affected moves towards democracy.
Then a round-up from "Network Europe" of various taboos over the continent in last Friday's programme - it included reports from France, where talking about sex is fine but not about money and wealth; a new comedy movie "My Führer--The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler", that has sparked a national debate in Germany about breaking a taboo on laughing about Hitler; Sweden's taboos against lobbyists; Poland where the former taboo on talking about the privileges of former Communist regime bosses has been well and truly broken and from Holland about the trauma of abortions for medical defect reasons.
Sticking with the medical but returning to the ABC Radio National , we next suggest this week's Health Report, and an educational and self-help programme pioneered at Stanford University in California; it also had some fascinating detail of people managing their own health when it came to births - or rather managing elective forms of birth such as induction or caesarean operations when regulation changed - in one case to provide a financial bonus after a certain date and in another when the birth date affected inheritance taxes and more generally avoidance of dates such as February 29, April 1 and Fridays the 13th.
Also from the ABC we suggest last week's "Spirit of Things" programme "Free Yourself from Mind Control" in which Steven Hassan, who himself was once a member of the Moonies talked about the nature of cults and their behaviour.
Then back to BBC Radio 4 and "Book of the Week" that this week is Ben Macintyre's book "Agent Zigzag", the hero cum anti-hero of which is British double agent Eddie Chapman, a criminal recruited by the German Secret Service and who, as a highly prized and decorated Nazi agent is also working for Britain's MI5. Also worth a listen from the station is this week's Woman's Hour Drama, a series "Minimum Wages", a series of short plays exploring the consequences of life on the minimum wage
For longer drama we'd recommend an hour with the most recent BBC World Drama: " Sagila" by Sibusiso Mamba, based on a story by Eric Sibanda, is a murder mystery set in the African Kingdom of Swaziland
Then we suggest two programmes from BBC Radio 3 on Sunday - "Drama on 3", which was Professor Bernhardi, by Arthur Schnitzler, a new production of a play set in Vienna in 1900 in which a distinguished Jewish doctor prevents a Catholic priest from administering last rites to a dying patient thus provoking a political witch-hunt that leads to the professor's trial and imprisonment.
It was followed by the Sunday feature, "The Struggle for Language", the second of a three part series that looked at Turkish, a language that lost much of its vocabulary in a government reform that banned words of Arabic and Persian origin in favour of pure Turkish.
Moving on to music and we'd suggest from BBC Radio 2 last Saturday's "Norah Jones: Live and Exclusive" concert and from tomorrow "Get Up for James Brown" - the second and last of two programmes by Mark Lamarr on the Godfather of Soul (at 20:30 GMT). It's followed at 21:30 by the third and final programme in "Hey! Bo Diddley" in which Roger Daltrey celebrates the life and music of the rock 'n' roll legend.
And finally still with Rock but in a different context in "The Singer Not the Song" on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow at 09:30: The series looks at what defines an unforgettable voice and looks at the context in which we hear voices. This week it's The Rock voice, a much more inclusive category than in many other musical genres.
Previous Columnists:
Previous Dotinga:
Liverpool Daily Post - Demonstration over BBC Radio Five hiring MacKenzie:
Red Issue (Manchester United FC magazine) re BBC Radio Five apology:
San Diego Union Tribune - Wilkens:
Toronto Star- Zerbisias:
UK Independent - Macintyre:
Wired - Dotinga:
2007-01-29: The US ended 2006 with a total of 27,807 licensed broadcast stations, up 435 on the year and up 153 on the total to the end of September last year according to figures just published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Within the figures, the number of licensed radio stations at the end of the year was 13,837, up 177 on the year and up 44 in the third quarter with AM station numbers of 4,754, down three year on year and up three quarter-on-quarter. Commercial FM numbers were up 35 year-on-year and up 14 quarter on quarter to 6,266; educational FM numbers rose 55 year-on-year and up 27 quarter-on-quarter to 2,817 while the number of FM translators and boosters was up 136 year-on-year and up 44 quarter-on-quarter to 4,131 and licensed low power total was up 96 year-on-year and 25 quarter-on-quarter to 771.
Previous FCC:
Previous FCC station numbers:
2007-01-28: Last week the main stories for the regulators related to politics and personnel, the likelihood that in the US the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will face much closer scrutiny now that the Democrats control both Houses of Congress (See RNW Jan 27) and the appointment of a new chairperson for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) (See RNW Jan 27). Apart from that there was a steady flow of routine decisions.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has ruled that one community station breached the Community Radio Broadcasting Codes of Practice concerning the handling of complaints and asked another to develop a revised policy and procedure for internal conflict resolution.
The breach was committed by Great Lakes Area FM Community Radio Ltd, licensee 2GLA Forster, New South Wales, in its handling of a complaint about comments made in its "Easy Listening" programme broadcast on 29 May 2006.
The ACMA said it considered the complainant's letter "set out his concern that outlined mechanisms to facilitate internal conflict resolution in sufficient detail for the licensee to consider, investigate and make every reasonable effort to resolve the complaint", which concerned reporting of a council decision to ban the advertising of cars for sale on the side of busy road, without requiring that he supply information that the ACMA considered irrelevant to the substantive complaint: It also noted that 2GLA had failed to include the required copy of the Code in its response to the complaint.
It did not uphold the substantive complaints that it broadcast material which "may simulate news or events in such a way as to mislead or alarm listeners" or that it did not "clearly distinguish factual material from commentary and analysis".
The licensee has said it has changed the way it handles complaints to ensure that its board is aware of all complaints received and can review how they are addressed and the ACMA said this addressed the compliance issues raised.
The request to develop a policy for internal conflict resolution was made to 2HHH FM Ltd, licensee of 2HHH in Hornsby, Sydney; following an earlier finding that 2HHH had breached the Code by not having in place a written policy and procedure. 2HHH has been given a deadline of April 2 to provide a copy of its revised policy to the ACMA.
In Canada, as already noted the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) now has a new chairperson to replace Charles Dalfen who stepped down at the end of last year. It was also involved in a number of decisions relating to radio including, in order of province:
Alberta:
*Approval of use of 48,000 watts FM on frequency 101.5 MHz for new CHUM English-language Hot AC commercial FM in Calgary approved in August last year subject to CHUM finding a suitable alternative frequency to the one it originally applied for.
British Columbia:
*Approval of application by Vista Radio Ltd. for a licence to operate an English-language Adult Rock / Classic Hits commercial FM in Greenwood, British Columbia, with re-broadcasting facilities at Christina Lake and at Rock Creek. The CRTC notes that this approval regularizes an authority granted in 2004 to cease operation of CKFG-AM, Grand Forks, and originate programming from CKGF-2-FM, Greenwood for it, CKGF-1-FM, Christina Lake, and CKGF-3-FM, Rock Creek. The new service will replace the non-operational CKGF undertaking - with a 40 watts FM station - and add the re-broadcasting facilities at Rock Creek (130 watts) and Christina Lake (88 watts).
Ontario:
*Approval of transmitter relocation for San Lorenzo Latin American Community Centre's Type B community station CHHA, Toronto (*RNW note: This has been corrected. The CRTC originally posted the call signs as CHAA but issued an erratum in June): The station had been asked to cease broadcasts from its current site by the end of November last year because of interference problems.
*Approval of application by Pineridge Broadcasting Inc. to extend to 11 November 2007 the period of time during which the licensee is permitted to simulcast the programming of CHUC-FM on CHUC-AM, Cobourg.
When the conversion from AM to FM was approved a three month simulcast period was specified and the FM station has been operating since August 11 last year but has generated intermodulation products that fall within the NAV/COM band. Attempts to remedy this have failed to correct the problem and Pineridge has also submitted a separate application for a technical amendment proposing a change to the authorized contours of the station that would serve to correct the reception difficulties but requests the extension to enable it to resolve the problems.
Quebec:
*Approval of application by the Association d'Églises baptistes reformées du Québec for a 13 watts low power French-language religious specialty FM radio station in Québec.
The CRTC also gave details of a public hearing to be held on March 26 in Gatineau to consider various applications for which the deadline for submission of interventions or comments is March 1.
They include the following radio applications:
Across Canada:
*Application by Rogers Broadcasting Limited for a licence to operate a national pay audio programming undertaking - Rogers Pay Audio - that will consist of a minimum of 30 audio channels, in a wide variety of music formats.
This application was first scheduled to be heard at a public hearing on 30 October 2006 but was withdrawn by the Commission upon receipt of interventions. At this hearing the CRTC will consider the interventions already received, accepted and as well as other interventions received in the context of this hearing.
Alberta:
*Application by CAB-K Broadcasting Limited for a licence to operate a 12,000 watts pop/rock English-language commercial FM in Olds.
British Columbia:
*Application by Chase and District Community Radio Society to acquire the assets of English-language developmental community station CFCH-FM, Chase, from Chase and District Lions Community Club.
Ontario:
Applications for a licence to serve Sudbury a number of which are technically mutually exclusive.
*Application by Joco Communications Inc. for a 1,350 watts oldies format English-language commercial FM
*Application by William Wrightsell, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated, to be known as Nickelstar Broadcasting, for a licence to operate a1,500 watts Adult Contemporary and Older Adult Contemporary Standards English-language commercial FM.
The two above applications are mutually exclusive as they each propose to use frequency 94.5 MHz.
*Application by Newcap Inc. for a licence to operate a 50,000 watts Contemporary Hit English-language commercial FM.
*Application by Connelly Communications Corporation for a licence to operate a 66,000 watts Hot AC English-language commercial FM.
The two above applications are mutually exclusive as they each propose to use frequency 101.1 MHz
*Application by Larche Communications Inc. for a licence to operate a 50,000 watts country music English-language commercial FM on frequency 91.7 MHz.
*Application by The Haliburton Broadcasting Group Inc., on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated, for a licence to operate a 50,000 watts easy listening English-language commercial FM on frequency 88.5 MHz.
*Application by CJRN 710 Inc. to renew the licence of CKEY-FM, Fort Erie, and its transmitter CKEY-FM-1, St. Catharines: The applicant was issued a one-year short term renewal in 2005 because of concerns related to compliance with a licence condition and dissatisfaction with the level of local service provided by CJRN to the Fort Erie market it is licensed to serve.
The commission says that following further monitoring of the station, most recently in February to March 2006, it "remains concerned that CKEY-FM may be operating in a continued breach of condition of licence number 9 due to the level of local Fort Erie oriented programming broadcast on CKEY-FM during the weeks monitored and intends to inquire into this matter at the hearing and expects the licensee to show cause at this hearing why a mandatory order should not be issued requiring the licensee to provide a sufficient level of local Fort Erie oriented programming.
It also issued a public notice, with a deadline submission of interventions/comments of March 2 that included an Ontario application to increase the antenna height and raise the power of CKCB-FM, Collingwood, from 350 watts to 4,000 watts.
The CRTC also corrected details it published earlier of approval of a new transmitter at St Edward on Prince Edward Island to rebroadcast the programming of CBCT-FM Charlottetown: it had said this was the CBC's national English-language network service, Radio Two instead of its Radio One (See Licence News Jan 14) .
In Ireland, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has renewed in principle the licence of Limerick's Live 95FM and has also narrowed down the shortlist for a new quasi-national Christian and Religious AM licence, for which there had been five applicants, to Spirit Radio Ltd. and Yes Radio Limited (See RNW Jan 23).
In the UK, Ofcom has been busy with further consultations, its Market Impact Assessment (MIA) of the BBC executive's new on-demand proposals, including the BBC iPlayer, and has also posted reasons for a number of recent licence awards.
These include the award of the Aberdeen FM licence to Aberdeen FM Limited, which is 95%-owned by CanWest Media Works (See RNW Jan 12). It said that this demonstrated the ability of the applicant company to maintain its proposed service even though its financial forecasts were slightly ambitious when compared with the performance of existing services of a similar size.
The Radio Licensing Committee also noted the high level of initial funding for the station and also said the application demonstrated an understanding of the Aberdeen market, in particular identified a gap in the current local commercial radio provision for ABC1 listeners which its proposed service is intended to fill and also noted that the proposed target audience of the service is likely to increase its appeal to potential advertisers.
It also commented of the award of two new community licences, the first in Ofcom's second round of community radio licensing, to Stroud FM in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and to 10Radio, whose service will cover Wiveliscombe and surrounding area in Somerset, each of which will be allowed to seek up to half its income from advertising or sponsorship.
In the case of Stroud FM the committee said the applicant brought a considerable amount of external broadcasting experience to its proposals for a service which would have a clearly defined local focus, supported by a motivated management team whilst it described 10Radio's application as a coherent and realistic set of proposals from a group that has honed its plans through the operation of two temporary restricted service licences.
Ofcom also issued a clarification of its advertisement of a second national digital commercial multiplex in December last year, noting that despite reference to the "development of digital sound broadcasting in the United Kingdom other than by satellite" these related to representations from third parties concerning the applications rather than requiring the applicants to make proposals on the general promotion of digital audio broadcasting (DAB). It also noted that it would expect that calculation of weighting based on "indoor coverage" in an applicant's proposal would only come into effect it applicants were ranked differently by the indoor then the outdoor criteria.
A number of other points were also clarified, in particular the basis of weighting of the two technical plans required, one to incorporate the requirement to protect from interference analogue television transmissions in some neighbouring countries, while the second should reflect the position in which such protection is no longer required.
Regarding the BBC's proposed on-demand services, related to which it posted a 168 page 2.2 MB PDF, the main reservations expressed related to TV, in particular the proposed catch-up TV over cable service that would include series stacking - the ability to store and view an entire series of programmes within seven days of the broadcast of the last programme in that series. This would it said make the service a more direct substitute for commercial services and it recommended that unless the PVA (Public Value Assessment) or PVT (Public Value Test ) identify compelling reasons for doing otherwise, the scope of series stacking should be substantially reduced.
Ofcom said it believed the "BBC should take a proactive and forward-looking approach to reflect likely changes in audience behaviour and expectations" but that it was important "that the BBC's involvement in the market for on-demand services should contribute positively to the development of the market as a whole" and said it was "appropriate to acknowledge that, unchecked, the BBC's power in nascent markets could harm the stimulus of competition necessary to ensure quality content for the long-term."
In terms of audio Ofcom commented that the BBC's "proposed non-DRM audio download service has the potential to make a strong positive contribution to the growth of the UK market for audio downloads, by enabling consumers to store and access a wide range of non-music content on portable devices…" It added however that for some content "the proposed service could have a significant negative effect on investment in competing on-demand services, and related markets" and recommended that "unless the PVA or PVT provide strong reasons for doing otherwise, recordings of book readings should be excluded from the proposed BBC service."
Regarding classical music, the regulator said that "BBC recordings of popular and established classical works could have a negative impact on commercial sales, whereas recordings of new or less mainstream material could help to stimulate consumer interest and expand the market" and added that it believed "BBC management should be requested to specify much more tightly the range of classical content they propose to make available, taking account of the prospective impact on commercial services."
It also comments, "If the BBC wishes to extend the scope of the proposed services to include non-BBC content, specially commissioned content or full-track commercial music, Ofcom should carry out a further MIA as such extensions could have important implications for the way in which the services would impact on the market."
In a related move, Ofcom also posted a 57 page 2.4 MB PDF discussion paper, "A new approach to Public Service Content in the digital media age", responses to which have to be submitted by March 23.
In the US the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as already notes is likely to come under closer scrutiny now the Democrats have majorities in both houses and the first such scrutiny is expected on Thursday at a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing (See RNW Jan 27).
The FCC is also to investigate the Entercom KDND-FM "Hold your wee for a Wii" water drinking contest, a woman participant in which subsequently died with the reason thought to be water intoxication (See RNW Jan 25)
The FCC also issued a number of penalties (See below) and posted confirmation of the winning bidders for its Auction 68 of nine FM permits (See RNW Jan 19) Down payments are now required by February 8, and final payments by February 26.
Previous ACMA:
Previous BCI:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
ACMA web site:
BCI web site:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
Ofcom Market Impact Assessment - BBC on-demand proposals- 168 Page 2.2 MB PDF:
Ofcom - A new approach to Public Service Content in the digital media age - 57 Page 2.4 MB PDF:
2007-01-28: France's Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal has been embarrassed by radio comedian Gérald Dahan who says he fooled her into believing he was Quebec premiere Jean Charest.
Royal arrived late for a public debate last week, announcing that she had just been speaking with the prime minister of Quebec, and that he sent his greetings to the assembly but later the 33-years-old comedian revealed that he had impersonated Charest and had, after convincing at least five of her advisers about his fake identity, spokne to her for 11 minutes during which he got her to make unguarded comments about independence for Corsica.
The comments came after a diplomatic row over comments by Royal backing independence from Canada for Quebec and Dahan in his conversation as Charest said "It's as though we over here said Corsica must be independent" to which she replied "The French people wouldn't be opposed to the idea, by the way."
The mock Charest responded "Perhaps" to which Royal said, "Don't repeat that, though - it would cause another incident in France. It's a secret."
Dahan, who is well-known for fooling French celebrities - most famously in 2003 for a conversation with then Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin when he pretended to be then Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and said he had be caught by police in the Bois de Boulogne with a prostitute, said he had never hear Charest's voice but adopted a Québecois accent, commenting, "I don't know Quebec's prime minister at all, and neither does she, apparently."
In this case, a spokesman for Charest said the premier had not spoken with Royal and confirmed she had fallen victim to a hoax.
The UK Times notes that under French law Ms Royal could start criminal proceedings against Mr Dahan for breach of privacy, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of Euros 45,000 (USD 58,100) but says her supporters appear to want to treat the incident as a joke.
UK Times report:
2007-01-28: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued or proposed penalties totalling more than USD 70,000 for various breaches of regulations including one where cancellation had been sought because the offence followed on from the loss of facilities on the World Trade Center when the building was destroyed on 9/11.
In this case it upheld a USD 12,000 penalty issued to Statcom Communications Corporation of Staten Island, New York for operation of two trunked radio systems at an unauthorized location and operation on an unauthorized frequency. Statcom had explained that it had modified its licence several times after losing its World Trade Center location but overlooked modifying its license for one site and also argued that it could not afford the penalty because its lost investment that was not entirely reimbursed through recovery grants, and also now had greatly reduced revenues.
The FCC in confirming the penalty noted that the unauthorized operation had taken place more than a year after 9/11 and that Statcom had filed its appeal 13 days after the 30-day period allowed: Statcom said this was because it could not retrieve its Federal income tax records from storage in sufficient time to meet the 30-day deadline - and that it was prevented by law from waiving or extending this period except where the delay had resulted from a Commission failure to give a party timely notice of the action for which reconsideration is sought.
Other penalties (in descending amount order) included:
USD 10,000 on Elroy Simpson of Brooklyn, New York, relating to operation of an unlicensed FM station. Simpson had not filed a response to a Notice of Apparent Violation (NAL) in this amount.
USD 10,000 on Kacy R. Rankine of West Orange, New Jersey, relating to operation of an unlicensed FM station. Rankine had not filed a response to a Notice of Apparent Violation (NAL) in this amount.
NAL for USD 10,000 to Citicasters Licenses, L.P., licensee of KPLV-FM, Las Vegas, Nevada, for failing to retain all required documentation in the KPLV-FM public inspection file. The failure came to light in connection with a licence renewal application that has now been granted.
NAL for USD 10,000 to CC Licenses, L.L.C., licensee of WUMX-FM, Rome, New York, for failing to retain all required documentation in the WUMX-FM public inspection file. The failure came to light in connection with a licence renewal application that has now been granted. The penalty was reduced from a base amount of USD 10,000 on the basis of the station's overall record.
USD 8,000 on A Radio Company, Inc., licensee of WEGA-AM, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, for failure to make available a complete public inspection file. A Radio had not filed a response to an NAL in this amount.
USD 4,000 on Unique Broadcasting, L.L.C., Licensee of Expired Station KKJW-FM, Stanton, Texas, for engaging in unauthorized operations of its station after its license expired. Unique had not filed a response to an NAL in this amount.
NAL for USD 4,000 to CC Licenses, L.L.C., licensee of WRNY-AM, Rome, New York, for failing to retain all required documentation in the WRNY-AM public inspection file. The failure came to light in connection with a licence renewal application that has now been granted. The penalty was reduced from a base amount of USD 10,000 on the basis of the station's overall record.
NAL for USD 4,000 to CC Licenses, L.L.C., licensee of WUTQ-AM, Utica, New York, for failing to retain all required documentation in the WUTQ-AM public inspection file. The failure came to light in connection with a licence renewal application that has now been granted. The penalty was reduced from a base amount of USD 10,000 on the basis of the station's overall record.
NAL for USD 4,000 to CC Licenses, L.L.C., licensee of WADR-AM, Remsen, New York, for failing to retain all required documentation in the WADR-AM public inspection file. The failure came to light in connection with a licence renewal application that has now been granted. The penalty was reduced from a base amount of USD 10,000 on the basis of the station's overall record.
NAL for USD 4,000 to CC Licenses, L.L.C., licensee of WSUS-FM, Franklin New Jersey, for failing to retain all required documentation in the WSUS-FM public inspection file. The failure came to light in connection with a licence renewal application that has now been granted. The penalty was reduced from a base amount of USD 10,000 on the basis of the station's overall record.
NAL for USD 4,000 to CC Licenses, L.L.C., licensee of WHCY-FM, Blairstown, New York, for failing to retain all required documentation in the WHCY-FM public inspection file. The failure came to light in connection with a licence renewal application that has now been granted. The penalty was reduced from a base amount of USD 10,000 on the basis of the station's overall record.
USD 1,500 on Robert A. Spiry of Tacoma, Washington, relating to operation of CB transmitters that were not certified by the FCC and produced interference from excessively high powered transmissions. The penalty was reduced from USD 10,000 on the basis of inability to pay.
USD 600 on Everald Oliver Brown of Orlando, Florida, relating to operation of an unlicensed FM station. The penalty was reduced from USD 10,000 on the basis of inability to pay.
USD 500 on Oreste Abreu of Gurabo, Puerto Rico, relating to operation of an unlicensed FM station. The penalty was reduced from USD 10,000 on the basis of inability to pay.
Previous FCC:
2007-01-28: According to Bridge Ratings nearly a fifth of all new mobile phones purchased in the third quarter of last year were music-enabled but, although many of these subscribers report loading music on to their phones via their PC, only a small number have downloaded music over the air from a wireless carrier music store.
Bridge says that the number of subscribers with music enabled phones in the period was up five-fold on a year earlier but during this period only 8.5% of the 23.5 million subscribers in the US with music-enabled phones reported music purchases over the air.
The report notes that not all major US carriers offer such downloads and that Sprint and Verizon Wireless, who introduced their services in October 2005 and January 2006 respectively, accounted for the majority of downloaders. It adds that of more than USD 3.5 billion of carrier advertising dollars that was spent in 2006, USD 234.3 million or 6.7 percent, promoted music phones and music download services.
Previous Bridge Ratings:
2007-01-27: Examining the effect the change of control in the US Congress is likely to have on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the Washington Post says that as Democrats "prepare to give the Federal Communications Commission its toughest scrutiny in years, a rivalry between the powerful agency's two most prominent Republicans is raising questions about its readiness to handle barbed questions and stiff challenges."
The reference is to differences between chairman Kevin J. Martin and fellow Republican Commissioner Robert M. McDowell who, says the paper, "have clashed on at least three significant issues in the past several months, creating what some see as a rift that could be ripe for exploitation."
The first opportunity for the newly-empowered Democrats to take up issues with the Republican-controlled FCC comes on Thursday with a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Post says senators are vowing to press the commissioners on "matters such as media-ownership diversity, Internet access, broadcast decency standards and delays in resolving various issues."
It quotes North Dakota Democrat Sen. Byron Dorgan as saying, "They've effectively emasculated any public-interest standards that existed [for broadcasters] "and adding that the new Democratic majority will force the FCC to "beat a path to Capitol Hill to respond."
Another Democrat, Massachusetts representative Edward J. Markey, a senior House Commerce Committee member, said he plans "comprehensive hearings on net neutrality" later this year.
Regarding the Martin-McDowell differences, the paper says the two have played down their differences in public and quotes McDowell as saying, "The chairman and I have been friends for more than a decade. We have a strong and durable relationship. . . . We will still have some differences, but we work together."
Previous FCC:
Previous Martin:
Previous McDowell:
Washington Post report:
2007-01-27: BBC Radio 3 and 4 are to team up over a 60=part series on BBC Radio 4 about western classical music with 15-minute broadcasts on Radio 4 to be followed by an hour-long "Discovering Music" show on Radio 3 that will feature music associated with the Radio 4 programme according to the UK Guardian.
The paper says Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer has commissioned Today presenter James Naughtie to front his station's series that will air in the 15:45 local time weekday slot from June to September running in six-week blocks before and after the 2007 Proms season that Radio 3 will air.
The paper says the commission is part of Damazer's plans for large-scale projects and notes that the cited the history of Britain series, This Sceptred Isle, as a model.
"I see these shows as being on a similar scale as the big factual television series such as those fronted by Simon Schama and Niall Ferguson," Said Damazer.
Radio 3 controller Roger Wright said he was excited by the joint venture, commenting, "We have cleared the 4pm afternoon slot with our new schedule and this allows us flexibility for this kind of thing. Jim will tell the story and we will provide the context for the music. It will also be the first time we have devoted 60 hours to western classical music on Radio 3."
Previous BBC:
Previous Damazer:
Previous Naughtie:
Previous Wright:
UK Guardian report:
2007-01-27: The Canadian Government has appointed German-born former judge and former head of the country's Competition Commission Konrad von Finckenstein as Chairperson of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
He takes over from acting chairperson Michel Arpin who stood in after Charles Dalfen decided to step down at the end of last year (See RNW Jan 10).
Announcing the appointment, Beverley J. Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women, said von Finckenstein's "credentials will bring strong leadership to the CRTC… I am confident that his experience will greatly benefit the Commission."
Von Finckenstein, who has holds political science and law degrees from Carleton and Queen's universities, was called to the bar in 1971; joined Canada's Justice Department in 1973 as a legal adviser in its Toronto regional office; was Commissioner of Competition at the Competition Bureau from 1997 to 2003; and was appointed a Judge of the Canadian Federal Court in 2003.
61-years-old von Finckenstein takes up his post at a time when Canada's government has been pushing the agency to, in the words of Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, be guided more by "market forces."
The Toronto Globe and Mail reporting on the appointment said von Finckenstein developed a reputation of being outspoken and tough while at the competition bureau, and has spoken against media consolidation. It notes that he once urged the CRTC to protect the diversity of voices in print when dealing with media ownership, saying "you can't have a functioning democratic system which works at its optimum unless you have diversity of voices" and in 2002, because of concerns about control of advertising markets he forced Astral Media to sell off several Quebec radio stations acquired in a deal with Telemedia that the CRTC had approved (See RNW Sept 4, 2002).
Previous CRTC:
Toronto Globe and Mail report:
2007-01-26: Sacramento attorney Roger Dreyer has now filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit on behalf of her widower, William, and three children over the death of Sacramento woman Jennifer Strange after she took part in a "Hold your Wee for a Wii" water drinking contest staged by Entercom's KDND-FM (The End).
The suit, filed in the California Superior Court, names Entercom; Entercom Sacramento, which owns the station; Entercom Sacramento general manager John Geary; Station manager Steve Weed; promotion director Robin Pechota; morning show producer Liz Diaz; and morning show on-air personalities Adam Cox, Steve Maney, Patricia Sweet and Matt Carter.
The suit says the DJs admitted during the broadcast that they should have done more research once participants, including Strange, "began to report medical symptoms," and adds, "Such conduct was despicable and so vile, base or contemptible that it would be looked down upon and despised by reasonable people."
It also says Strange had not signed any "release of liability contractually relieving any Defendants of their duty of care in organizing and running the contest" and that, "At all times, it was foreseeable to Defendants and each of them that the contestants were at risk for serious illness and/or death as the result of consuming extensive amounts of water in a relatively short period of time. At all relevant times preceding the contest, Defendants were aware that consumption of water to such an extent could result in physical injury or death."
It also notes that on-air staff made joking and sarcastic comments about the dangers of "water poisoning" when the contestants were in a break room and could not hear the broadcast and also notes that they rebuffed warnings from a caller who warned of the possibility of illness or death.
Noting that the defendants had failed to consult health authorities or to secure "any medical professional or para-professional services during the contest, even after the contestants begin feeling ill" the lawsuit says the defendants' negligence "caused the death of Jennifer Strange."
The family are suing for lost wages, the loss of Strange's comfort and car, funeral and other expenses plus punitive damages and Dreyer told the Sacramento Bee, "Ultimately her children [Keegan, 10, Ryland, 3 and Jorie, 11 months] are going to find out how she died, and its important they have a clear understanding that it was corporate malfeasance trying to take advantage of individuals, not as a result of being stupid, not as a result of poor judgment. Because that's what some people are going to claim."
This is a corporate mentality of exploiting human beings to make money," Dreyer said. "I think their conduct is reprehensible."
Entercom says it will not comment on the lawsuit but Entercom Sacramento spokesman Charles Sipkins said it reiterated "deepest sympathies and condolences to the Strange family."
Previous Entercom:
Sacramento Bee report:
2007-01-26: Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media backed by private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and the Carlyle Group has, as expected (See RNW Jan 2), made a further bid for Australian regional newspaper and radio company APN News & Media but its offer in the words of the Sydney Morning Herald is a "low-ball bid" that "faces an uphill battle."
The bid of AUD 6.05 per share - valuing APN at AUD 2.8 billion (USD 2.17 billion) - is below the pre-bid closing price of AUD 6.15 and no much higher than INM's AUD 6.02 bid that was on the table in November last year but was never tendered formally.
The Herald quotes a note to clients from Deutsche Bank media analyst Andrew Anagnostellis who says that "The revised bid for APN at $6.05 per share is unusual in that it is pitched at a discount to the prevailing share price and is essentially unchanged from a previously rejected offer" and says ABN Amro media analyst Fraser McLeish took the view that an offer of AUD 6.30 to AUD 6.40 could be necessary for the bid to succeed.
INM already holds 41% of APN, thus virtually ruling out rival offers and if independent directors, who are to consider the offer, recommend it will need a 75% vote in favour from minority shareholders.
The UK Independent, which is owned by INM, says the original offer was reportedly dropped "because Providence balked at the demand for a higher price from some large minority APN shareholders" but adds that Providence is reported to be back on board. It notes that the offer represents a multiple of 12.9 times APN's expected 2006 earnings, a figure higher than offered in other recent Australian media deals that have been prompted by the relaxation of media ownership rules that has been approved by the Australian government.
Previous APN:
Sydney Morning Herald report:
UK Independent report:
2007-01-26: The European Space Agency (ESA) has demonstrated at the Noordwijk Space Expo in the Netherlands a prototype satellite receiver for automobiles that can receive signals in the KU frequency band widely used by communications satellites through a specially-designed mobile antenna.
The agency says the system works in a similar manner to a dish receiver for TV channels but rather than a "dish" on the car roof uses a specially designed mobile antenna, flattened so that it can be built almost invisibly into the bodywork.
ESA says the system can deliver not only radio services but multimedia to drivers over a large area using existing satellite infrastructure and thus not requiring new satellite launches or widespread deployment of terrestrial repeaters: It uses a technique of caching to eliminate the effects of interruption to the satellite signal in which audio content is transmitted as files that are stored in a local cache in the vehicle and then assembled to create the programming, thus eliminating interruptions as long as material is in the cache.
The system also allows users to customise the service to they can stop, rewind and restart programmes from the cached content, which can contain, audio, video or data information.
Amongst the organizations taking part in the development, which is led by SES Astra, are automaker BMW, broadcaster Deutsche Welle and the Fraunhofer Institute and antenna are being developed in separate projects are two groups - one led by IMST that is developing the flat, fully-electronic, steerable antenna and includes Adelsy, EPFL, Eurospace and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and another group, led by JAST, which is developing a hybrid antenna and includes RUAG, Micro Beam, LEMA-EPFL and SES Global.
The receiver includes a small monitor for multimedia data services in the form of web-like pages of news, stock reports, weather and travel information, as well as short video clips and further development is being carried out to allow addition of updated maps and advanced traffic information.
Europe currently has no satellite radio services equivalent to those of US companies Sirius and XM although international satellite radio company WorldSpace earlier this month took a step towards the launch of a service in Italy through an agreement between is subsidiary WorldSpace Italia, S.p.A., and Telecom Italia for the latter to design and deploy a terrestrial repeater network throughout Italy for use with the service.
In May last year WorldSpace Italia gained approval from the Italian Ministry of Communications to launch a subscription-based satellite radio service in Italy (See RNW May 9, 2006) and its CEO Luca Panerai said of the latest agreement that it was a "critical step toward commencement of our satellite radio service in Italy."
"When completed," he added, "the complementary repeater network will enable us to provide subscribers with country-wide access to a wide variety of unique content. We are pleased that Italy will be the first country in Europe to receive satellite radio services and we are honoured to work with a strong partner such as Telecom Italia for deploying the critical terrestrial backbone of our network."
Previous WorldSpace:
ESA web site - has links to information on satellite plans:
2007-01-25: Bridge Ratings in its latest update of its "Digital Media Growth Projections" provides cold comfort for terrestrial radio and is only a little warmer as regards satellite radio.
It says that while initial estimates showed solid growth for satellite radio for 2006, the reality proved less impressive than prognosticators originally thought with total actual subscribers reaching 13.5 million through 2006 compared to original estimates from Sirius and XM of nearly 15 million: Looking further ahead it is now projecting nearly 18 million subscribers for XM by 2020 with Sirius fairly close behind.
In audience terms it is predicting a weekly audience for XM in 2020 of 17.94 million, up from 4.3 million in 2005 whilst Sirius is predicted to reach 17.26 million from a 2005 figure of two million.
In contrast to this increase, Bridge has terrestrial analogue radio as losing audience albeit slightly - down from 283.1 million in 2005 to 258.6 million in 2020 with HD failing to have a large impact - Bridge predicts its weekly audience as increasing to only 35.7 million.
Growing most according to Bridge will be Internet radio with a weekly audience going up from 45 million in 2005 to 197 million in 2020 as wireless internet penetration goes up from 5.7 million to 120 million. Bridge comments, "As Internet radio use accelerates both in and out of home, how will satellite radio's profitability model survive?"
Mobile phone audio streaming is seen as rising from a blank start in 2005 to 109 million a week.
Bridge cautions that its polls cannot foresee technological and sociological changes but says traditional analogue radio may sustain its popularity amongst older listeners and also noted that the increase in the US population will mask some of its losses - penetration will, says Bridge, be down from 94% to 77% but set against this will be a rise in the population to an estimated 336 million.
Previous Bridge Ratings:
2007-01-25: Royce International Broadcasting, which in 1995 finally lost a nine-year battle to get the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to overturn the sale of its KWOD-FM, Sacramento to Entercom (See RNW Aug 24, 2005) has taken advantage of Entercom's woes in the city following the death of a woman after she took part in a Entercom's KDND "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" water-drinking contest to file a petition with the Commission to halt the sale of 16 CBS stations to Entercom for USD 262 million that was announced last year (See RNW Aug 22, 2006).
The petition - filed by Washington lawyer attorney Arthur Belendiuk - terms Entercom "a highly-leveraged criminal enterprise that cannot be relied on to serve the public interest" and says it is "responsible for the tragic death of Jennifer Strange" which happened as the result of a "a stupid radio stunt designed to raise the ratings and revenues of Entercom's KDND-FM in Sacramento, California until it went horribly wrong."
The petition then says, "The Commission has a policy that requires licensees to conduct contests with due regard for the public interest... There is no evidence in the record to show that Entercom cares about anything other than generating revenues, by whatever means. It certainly did not care about the public it was licensed to serve when it solicited and accepted illegal bribes from record companies [referring to the recent payola investigation]. Nor did it care about the public interest or the Commission's rules when it repeatedly broadcast indecent material at a time when children were likely to be in the audience... As this last tragedy demonstrates, it is willing to do anything for money, including recklessly endangering the lives of the public it has been licensed to serve."
The FCC is to investigate the incident following a letter sent to chairman Kevin J. Martin by Sacramento attorney Roger Dreyer, who is representing Strange's family in a civil lawsuit against KDND and who called in the letter for the revocation of KDND's licence: The Sacramento Bee quotes from the letter which said in part, "We believe action of this nature is required by the FCC to send a very clear and unambiguous message to radio station ownership across this country that this type of irresponsible conduct that degrades, humiliates and endangers citizens will not be tolerated."
The Bee adds that Martin has instructed the FCC's enforcement bureau to investigate the matter and quotes FCC spokeswoman Tamara Lipper as saying Martin "was troubled by the information presented in the letter and wants to commission to ascertain the facts."
The paper notes that the DJs were aware of the danger of drinking too much water and that it was only five days after the incident that it fired ten staff responsible for its "Morning Rave" broadcast. It says Entercom Sacramento spokesman Charles Sipkins said only that the station would cooperate with the FCC.
Previous Entercom:
Previous FCC:
Previous Martin:
Sacramento Bee report:
2007-01-25: UK commercial radio is likely to benefit from a decision by media regulator Ofcom to restrict advertising on TV directed at children but not apply a TV ban on junk food advertising to radio according to Andrew Harrison, chief executive of the commercial radio industry body the RadioCentre.
The UK Guardian reporting on the RadioActive conference in London quoted Harrison as saying, "We understand that Ofcom will not be applying to radio the same rules it has applied to TV as regards the advertising of HFSS [high in fat, sugar and salt] foods… Radio will need to comply with new content rules but, reflecting the differences between TV and radio, we won't be restricted as to when we can advertise certain types of food."
Harrison also commented on UK radio revenues - down 5% on a year earlier in 2006 - but said his three-year plan would deliver "growing revenues and audience year-on-year" and also confirmed that UK commercial radio had now signed a deal on download rights with the artist royalties collection body PPL that would allow limited use of music in podcasts (See RNW Jan 5).
Regarding the BBC's ratings lead Harrison said that this was only because of a large lead amongst over 65s and said, "Despite the press stories, commercial radio in the UK is in good shape - we dominate listening all the way up to pensionable age."
He was also upbeat about the medium's future, commenting, "Radio is uniquely relevant in the digital age. It's at the heart of convergence: the only medium with the potential for consumption at home and on the move from all devices - TVs, online, MP3 players, phone, in-car ... and it's the only medium that can be enjoyed while also looking at other media."
Regarding portable players he said these were not a threat, commenting, "Radio and the iPod work together. Radio is all about where you discover new songs, new artists; the iPod is where you recover those favourite tunes to listen again. And, in a more emotional sense, radio is what you listen to when you want to engage, to be part of a live programme. The iPod is what you listen to when you want to escape, to zone out with your headphones on."
Harrison's comments came as commercial radio operators in London launched a two-month "Picture Slideshow Trial" on digital radio. Those taking part include London's DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) multiplex operators, GCap Media, Emap Digital, and Switch Digital (UTV) plus Virgin Radio and Chrysalis Radio and the trial has been developed in partnership with iRiver, which is set to introduce a DAB-based portable radio with a high-quality screen later this year.
iRiver users tuning into Capital Radio, Heart, Magic or Virgin Xtreme will be able to receive displays of station logos, artist pictures and information and single and album art - as well as advertising from several leading brands and a demonstration of the visual "enhancements" to the radio signal is also available online.
James Cridland, Digital Media Director at Virgin Radio, commented, "Commercial radio is already broadcasting more than 50 radio stations to London on DAB and adding this exciting functionality makes digital radio even more appealing for listeners. It also opens fresh, potentially lucrative, channels to the consumer for radio advertisers."
Harrison said, "We are very excited about the innovative opportunities for radio that new technology presents. As well as enhancing the experience of our listeners with images to support the programmes they already love, Slideshow means new dynamics for advertisers by adding logos and pictures and more detailed information to radio commercials, and that's a very powerful proposition."
RNW comment: So the reaction of commercial radio when there is a regulatory move to limit advertising to children on health grounds is to see it as an opportunity for profit - and to hell with the public good - because the regulator has not made the same rules for radio as it has for TV.
In such circumstances we can only hope that Ofcom will keep a keen ear on what radio does and should it abuse the freedom it has set some tough restrictions in place very speedily and if they're tougher than those for TV so be it.
We note, incidentally, that in the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set up a talk force on "Media and Childhood Obesity" that will meet throughout this year to consider what steps can be taken to combat increasing childhood obesity in the US. The task force, which has a large list of participants, will hold its first meeting on February 14 and it will be interesting to note the difference that will presumably arise between the medical bodies represented and the food manufacturers and media representatives.
Previous Harrison:
Previous RadioCentre:
Online DAB "Slideshow" demonstration:
UK Guardian report:
2007-01-25: BBC Radio 4 listeners have complained in droves about the station's priorities in relation to the row over allegedly racist comments made on the TV Big Brother show with particular reference to a World Tonight programme that led on the story.
The comments have stu