December 2007 Archive
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RNW December comment - Ends the year with a the main issues for radio in 2007 - ownership, technological change, and regulation.
RNW November comment - As Don Imus prepares to return to air, we look at issues of getting booted, coming back, and staying on air!
RNW October comment - Asks why there should be a problem with radio ratings using electronic metering and wonders whether it is just a matter of resources - and if broadcasters and advertisers are wise to rely on one ratings supplier.
2007-12-31: To end the year - this is the last look at print comment on radio for 2007 - we are going for a combination of looking backwards and forwards.
In the looking back comments, the best headline we noted came from the New York Daily News over David Hinckley's column - "Many happy returns in 2007 N.Y. radio."
"The big news in New York radio in 2007," wrote Hinckley, "was return engagements: 'The greatest hits of all time' on WCBS-FM [RNW note- The station undr previous leadership dropped its Oldies format but is backfrom "Jack" to an updated-Oldies output - See RNW July 10] and morning man Don Imus, fired from WFAN, resurfacing on WABC."
He then went on to comment on other moves, both returns - "WABC also welcomed back veteran talk host Bob Grant, giving the station what program director Phil Boyce calls a "murderer's row" of conservative talk hosts heading into an already heated presidential election year" - and departures -"Morning departures included Whoopi Goldberg from WKTU, Sam Greenfield and Armstrong Williams from WWRL and Curtis and Kuby from WABC. The twist for the Curtis and Kuby story is that they were successful. But they held the slot into which WABC's new owners, Citadel, wanted to move Imus."
In some cases the comment was on a combination of the departing and returning - "Besides dropping the "Jack" format to make room for the return of greatest hits on 101.1 FM, CBS also dropped its "Free-FM" experiment and brought K-Rock back to 92.3 FM."
Looking forward the news did not seem so good - Hinckley commented: "Traditional AM and FM still reach more than 90% of the city. But advertising revenue is down and audiences are listening for shorter stretches of time - particularly younger audiences."
That last comment is not good news for radio finances and tallies with prognostications that US local radio revenues, which account for some four-fifths of revenues will have fallen this year and will also fall in 2008 as consumers cut back on spending with a knock-on effect on advertising although station non-traditional revenues such as online adverts are expected to continue to increase.
Then there's the question of the Sirius-XM merger which most pundits now give a better than even chance of getting regulatory approval, odds that Mark Ramsey in comment on Hear 2.0 thinks have led iBiquity to signal "the end of NAB's satellite radio merger opposition."
iBiquity in a meeting with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has according to Ramsey raised concerns that a combined company would be in a stronger position to hamper take-up of HD and as a result is urging that any approval be made conditional amongst other things on a requirement that HD Radio technology be included in all satellite radio receivers and a requirement that a merged entity would have to end all existing exclusive deals and in the future be prohibited from entering into such agreements with suppliers, retailers and automobile manufacturers.
iBiquity's argument suggests Ramsey translates, as "We can't compete against two satellite radio companies, let alone one. And for no good reason we view satellite radio as our primary competitor, not all the other techno-stuff that brings audio into new vehicles. So we're happy to support this merger as long as we get a piece of the action in the bargain.
He then continues to comment that "if the FCC were to buy this argument, it would no longer be possible for the radio industry to fight the merger, and the NAB's opposition would collapse utterly... Thus, since accidents of this sort don't happen and there's no better reason that iBiquity would visit the FCC in the quiet news days of late December, iBiquity would never approach the FCC with this option unless the wind was perceived as blowing in the direction of merger approval.
Ramsey doesn't really think the idea will go far - Ramsey comments that he has "a huge amount of difficulty imagining that the FCC would ever go for it. After all, the success that satellite radio has had with the auto industry was hard-earned. And why would the FCC want to punish them for their successes and reward HD Radio for their lack of same?"
RNW comment: Ramsey doesn't comment on whatever licensing charges iBiquity would want but our view is that since iBiquity obviously doesn't fancy working in a marketplace environment it would only be just if HD-satellite capability were mandated that made licensing charges paid to iBiquity should be capped at a miniscule amount - say USD 1 maximum per receiver for all dual satellite-HD receivers boosting the likelihood of satellite consumers also listening to HD but not forcing them through the nose for the privilege. On the basis of ten million satellite subscribers it would be a handy sum for iBiquity but would also force it to keep charges down to all manufacturers and, if HD sales remained slow, then we don't really see any great loss for consumers in Chapter 11 for iBiquity.)
After comment on the big players we then move on to a New York Times report "Radio, With a Side of Bacon" by Corey Kilgannon about Riverhead, New York station WRIV-AM - he comments of it that the WRIV is "one of the oldest stations on Long Island, and its homespun blend of local news, community announcements and oldies has been a soundtrack for a generation of locals out here for a half-century."
The station - with a power of 1,000 watts and reach of around 20 miles - survives totally on local advertising and was bought by breakfast show host Bruce Tria and his father Vincent in 1987 although Tria junior has been on air for 27 years according to Kilgannon, delivering "time, the weather and a piece of his mind. All interspersed with his favourite music: 'non-rock hits'" and the great vocalists doing standards, which he calls 'the best music ever made.'"
As to the style of the station, John Galla, who takes over from Tria at 10:00 commented, "If you've ever seen 'It's a Wonderful Life' with Jimmy Stewart, this is Bedford Falls. Some people call it corny, but that's what people want."
And the listeners? Tria commented, "Most of our listeners are 40 and older, and many people keep the station on for company - you're their companion, their friend. We survive and thrive because we're community-minded. I like being able to communicate, and I couldn't really do that at a station where I'd have to play five lite-radio songs in a row."
On then to listening suggestions and to start off with a look BBC Radio 4 in "4 at Forty", a celebration of 30 years of the station hosted by Eddie Mair with highlights of its output over those decades together with discussion by studio guests and four controllers who have headed the station.
We also suggest from Radio 4 its "News Review of the Year" from Sunday the latest edition of "Beyond Belief" - Monday's programme on "Religion in the workplace" and a discussion on how far an individual's religious beliefs should affect their work and how far employers should pay attention to employee's beliefs - an interesting discussion where in the end logic compels us towards agreement with the hard-line contribution that people shouldn't take jobs if their beliefs affect their work and that employers should not make as a general rule make special workplace arrangements, albeit we can see a case for give-and-take in practical terms where there are no reasonable objections from other employees.
The MP3 of this has not yet been posted but listen-again is available - as via a drop down menu are previous 2007 programmes.
RNW note: Thanks to double and overnight shifts and our technical problems we are a little behind in our listening and preparations so may not be able to update. Should we not, we suggest that a work through some of the titles in the Beyond Belief list will provide ample listening for a week.
Previous Columnists:
Hear 2.0 - Ramsey:
New York Daily News - Hinckley:
New York Times - Kilgannon:
2007-12-31: In further consolidation of New Zealand radio, MediaWorks, which was sold by CanWest to Australian private equity fund Ironbridge Capital (See RNW Jul 21) has bought Marlborough Media, which owns South Island stations Sounds FM and Easy FM, for an undisclosed sum.
The purchase, reports the New Zealand Herald, leaves only two significant permanent stations - 1XXFM, Whakatane, and Port FM, Timaru - outside the MediaWorks-The Radio Network duopoly.
The paper quotes RadioWorks chief operating officer Susan Turner as saying the company was interested in further acquisitions if owners were interested and then adds that according to David Innes of the commercial radio body, the Radio Broadcasters Association, apart from the Christian Radio Rhema only 1XXFM - run by private radio veteran Glenn Smith - and Port Radio in Timaru - owned by magazine publisher Reg Birchfield - are the only two significant permanent commercial stations not owned by the two big players.
Innes added that The Radio Network - half owned by New Zealand Herald publisher APN News & Media with Clear Channel International owning the other half - - has been securing temporary licences to broadcast in places it did not have a licence with the expectation that it could bid for permanent licences if they brought I sufficient revenues.
Previous APN News and Media:
Previous Clear Channel:
New Zealand Herald report:
2007-12-31: Former BBC Radio 1 and Radio 5 Live presenter Kevin Greening has died in his sleep aged 44 his agent Chris North has told the corporation although he gave no details of the cause of death.
Greening was best known for co-hosting Radio 1's breakfast show with Zoë Ball on in the late 1990s and in a BBC report Trevor Dann, who as Head of BBC Music Entertainment from 1996-2000 was responsible for all the corporation's in-house pop music production including Radio 1, Radio 2, and Top of the Pops, remembered Greening as a creative talent, but someone who was shy and keen to stay out of the spotlight. He commented that the death was "extraordinary" as Greening "wasn't overweight - he was a fit guy and he was really healthy."
Dann gave Greening his break at GLR, the BBC London station, nearly two decades ago - at the time Greening had been with BBC Radio Solent and was offered a presenting post with the station or a studio manager's job with BBC World Service.
He said of Greening, "I thought he was a terrific presenter. I think he was one of the most creative of his generation, without any doubt. He loved radio - it was his life. I think he would have been a lot more famous if he had been a lot more pushy."
BBC Radio 1 Controller Andy Parfitt paying tribute to Greening said in a statement that he was "very sad and shocked to hear the news of Kevin's death and my thoughts are with his family and friends."
"Kevin was a warm and lovely person, who was widely respected in the radio industry," added Parfitt. "He combined a sharp creative mind with a rare ability to understand the needs of an entire radio station - he was a selfless team member."
BBC Radio 5 Live host Simon Mayo, who knew Greening from his Radio 1 days, told listeners to his show, "He had a very, very dry sense of humour and he was quite shy really, sometimes embarrassed about having achieved the level of fame that he did have. "
"Anyone who listened to his programmes," he continued, "could tell he was extremely bright, extremely clever. If he had a 40-second voiceover for his first record he would probably put in eight, nine, 10 little funny bits just to get the whole thing going. He was a fantastic example as to how much work should go into a programme. He was naturally gifted, and I frankly find it rather hard to believe that he's not with us any more."
As wall as working for the BBC Greening was one of the start-up hosts on Virgin Radio in 1993 and had also worked on various London stations including Xfm, Jazz FM, and Heart. His last job was as afternoon host on Jazz FM's successor Smooth Radio, owned by Guardian Media Group.
GMG Radio chief executive John Myers told the Guardian newspaper, which has the same parent, "He was a talented broadcaster and we were privileged to have him as our afternoon presenter at Smooth Radio in London. He was passionate about radio and all kinds of music and will be sadly missed, not only by his colleagues at Smooth, but by millions of listeners."
Previous BBC:
Previous GMG:
Previous Mayo:
Previous Myers:
Previous Parfitt:
BBC report:
UK Guardian report:
2007-12-30: With holidays taking up most of the week for most of the regulators, last week produced very few decisions from the regulators and not radio ones in most cases - there were no radio decisions posted in Australia, Ireland, and the UK nor any significant radio postings from the US.
In Canada, however, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on the one day it did operate posted a few decisions.
Radio-related postings (in order of province) included:
Ontario:
*Short-term renewal from 1 January 2008 to 31 August 2011 of licence of CHIM-FM, Timmins, and its transmitters CHIM-FM-1, North Bay; CHIM-FM-2, Iroquois Falls; CHIM-FM-3, Kirkland Lake; CHIM-FM-4. New Liskeard; CHIM-FM-6, Sault Ste Marie; CHIM-FM-7, Elliot Lake; CHIM-FM-8, Chapleau; CHIM-FM-9, Wawa; and CHIM-FM-10, Kapuskasing, Ontario, and CHIM-FM-5. Red Deer, Alberta.
The short-term renewal, says the CRTC, will allow it to assess the licensee's compliance with regulations relating to filing of annual returns and financial contributions to the development of Canadian content. It noted possible failures to comply with regulations regarding annual reports for the years 2001 through 2004 and with Canadian Talent Development requirements for 2001 through 2006.
*Approval of applications by Rogers Broadcasting Limited on behalf of itself and Larche Communications (Kitchener) Inc. for authority to exchange the assets of CICX-FM, Orillia and CIKZ-FM, Kitchener.
The CRTC added that the two have 30 days to file a revised value of the transaction for their respective acquired assets and a revised tangible benefits package that reflects the revised value of the transaction.
The exchange had been opposed by Durham Radio Inc., the licensee of CJKX-FM Ajax, CKGE-FM and CKDO-AM,. Oshawa and the Roger's acquisition of the Kitchener station was also opposed by Ms. Bettina Weissenbrunner. Durgam argues that Larche was seeking to profit from the transfer of a broadcasting licence before it had completed the initial licence term and thus fulfil the original terms on which the licence was awarded.
Quebec:
*Approval in part of application by Corus to acquire CIGR-FM Sherbrooke from Groupe Génération Rock inc. The CRTC imposed conditions requiring Corus to submit an acceptable tangible benefits package and details of Canadian content development proposals and denied a request for the reduction of current Canadian musical selection requirements in the station's licence.
The CRTC also posted a public notice with a deadline for submission of interventions or comments of 30 January 2008. that included the following radio-related items.
The CRTC also posted a public notice with a deadline for submission of interventions or comments of 30 January 2008 relating to an application by TFG Communications Inc. to amend the licence of English-language commercial specialty station CJEF-FM, Saint John, New Brunswick, by deleting conditions of licence requiring more than half of each broadcast week to be spoken word programming and limiting to a maximum 40% of programming each week that is hit material.
CJEF-FM is now proposing to offer a blend of Alternative Rock, Hip Hop and R&B musical selections, targeting the 18-34 year old demographic and proposes that at least half of popular music played on weekdays should be "devoted to Canadian selections played in their entirety." It also said it would accept a licence condition requiring it to devote 15% of its musical selections to local (maritime) music.
In Ireland, although it posted no radio decisions, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has posted provisional dates for future rounds of its Sound & Vision Broadcasting awards scheme.
For radio Round Six opens on Jan 18 2008 and ends on February 20 with decisions expected on April 9 and Round Seven opens of June 20, 2008, and ends on July 18 with decisions expected on September 10.
Previous BCI:
Previous CRTC:
Previous Licence News:
BCI web site:
CRTC web site:
2007-12-30: Long-time Pittsburgh host Bob Kopler has retired after 19 years with KDKA-AM, now owned by CBS Radio. He joined the station from the former WTAE in 1988 and after freelancing with the station for two years went full-time.
He then became the station's senior morning news anchor.
His last day was marked with tributes from co-workers and greetings from former Pittsburgh radio personalities "O'Brien and Gary".
Previous CBS:
KDKA report:
2007-12-29: A Pennsylvania judge has dismissed a lawsuit against former Forever Broadcasting saleswoman Virginia Smith that claimed she had violated a non-compete contract: Smith had worked for the company in Altoona, where it has six stations, and told it she was taking time off to concentrate on the race to become mayor of Hollidaysburg but then took a job with locally-owned rival Altoona station WRTA-AM.
Forever had claimed that under a non-competition agreement Smith was prohibited from working for a competing station for a year and in the suit, filed against her and WRTA sought damages, claiming that after she had been taught her job she had left taking with her a list of customers and confidential company information.
Smith's attorney, Fred Gieg contended that the contract was not enforceable and said he was concerned that under the contract, Forever had all the rights and Smith was considered an at-will employee, meaning she could be let go at any time.
Blair County Judge Hiram A. Carpenter ruled that Forever could not show it had been harmed by Smith's move, commenting, according to the Altoona Mirror, "This is not a suit between CBS and NBC. It is a suit in a small local market. It should be easy for [Forever] to establish the fact of damage. ...Yet plaintiff [Forever] comes before us unable to name anyone who was approached or a single dollar that was lost."
Smith, who is in her seventies, said of the ruling, "I'm delighted. I really like where I am. It's a very good work situation."
Altoona Mirror report:
2007-12-28: Chicago WVON-AM program director Coz Carson has quit on air as he was signing off after filling in for midday host Santita Jackson on the Midway Broadcasting urban news/talk station: Robert Feder in the Chicago Sun-Times says Carson announced that he was moving to become morning co-host at Access.1 Communications Corp WWRL-AM in New York, a former black music outlet that is now an Air America Radio affiliate.
Feder quotes Carson, who had only been with the station a little over six months, as saying later, "I believe we accomplished a lot at WVON, but I was really only 30 percent into what I wanted to do here. I know WVON has a great deal of potential, and I wish them success. I am extremely excited about my new opportunity."
Midway president and CEO Melody Spann-Cooper spoke of "creative differences" and said she had not been in contact with Carson since he quit, adding, "Whether he pulled the plug or I did, it was clear that we were not going to go into '08 together, I wish him well."
Previous Feder:
Chicago Sun-Times - Feder:
2007-12-27: Fairfax Media's Sydney 2UE host Steve Price, who on January 14 takes over the morning slot formerly occupied by John Laws, has told the Sydney Daily Telegraph that he will be able to compete better with Macquarie Radio Network's 2GB rival Ray Hadley than Laws because he can concentrate on the Sydney audience whereas Laws had to take his national syndicated audience into account.
The paper quotes Price as saying, "What Ray Hadley has been very good at doing is capturing that Sydney audience and up until now he's had it to himself, pretty much. I think we can take Ray Hadley on head-to-head much easier being a Sydney-based show and I think I've got much more journalistic standing and credentials than Ray does."
Price had previously gone up against Sydney's leading breakfast host Alan Jones when Jones moved from 2UE to 2GB in 2002 and took most of his audience with him - in March that year compared to the previous ratings in the breakfast slot 2UE had dropped from a top-ranked 16.2% to 11.5% whilst Jones had increased 2GB's share from 7.1 to 10.1: By the final survey of the year Jones had gone into the lead with 15.0, well ahead of talk rival Angela Catterns of ABC 702 who had a 10.1 share and completely clear of 2UE and Price with 8.5.
In the final 2007 ratings for Sydney of the talk shows 2GB had a 14.1 to 7.6 lead over 2UE in the 05:30-09:00 slot - ABC talk station 702 had 11,5; In the morning 09:00 to Noon period 2GB led with 14.9 compared to 7.3 for 2UE and 7.2 for ABC 702; and in drive-time ABC 702 led with 10.4 compared to 8.0 for 2GB and 6.8 for 2UE
Against this background, Hadley played down the idea of any serious threat from Price, telling the paper, "He failed at breakfast, he failed at drive and he's after the trifecta. He's not as good as John Laws, and I beat John Laws. If I'd have been picking it, he's probably the bloke I'd have picked."
In other Australian radio news, radio newsreader Jim Angel, whose career of more than four decades included 24 years with Sydney station 2SM and spells at 2UE on the Alan Jones and then John Laws shows, has died aged 67.
He was poached by 2UE from 2SM and, reports The Australian, became a staple of Alan Jones' breakfast show as it rose to dominate the ratings and then moved to Laws' show before a brief stint at 2GB and then semi-retirement based in the Southern Highlands, where he continued to work in community radio.
Laws featured him - in a segment in which the host interrupting Angel's news bulletin and asked him to sing Winchester Cathedral - in his final broadcast to which Angel was listening from home.
Previous Fairfax Media;
Previous Hadley:
Previous Macquarie Radio Network:
Previous Price:
Sydney Daily Telegraph report:
The Australian report:
2007-12-27: According to a post on Reclaimthemedia, Nicola Sawaya, who in November became Executive Director of the Pacifica radio network (See RNW Oct 4) has resigned because she "found the level of internecine dysfunction at Pacifica overwhelming."
The report says Sawaya made it clear during her interviews that she wanted to do radio, not spend her days putting out office politics fires and adds that Pacifica remains in a "perilous situation."
Pacifica has said nothing officially- the latest mention of Sawaya on its website is of her hiring at the end of September - so news of the departure is unconfirmed.
Previous Pacifica:
Previous Sawaya:
Reclaimthemedia posting:
2007-12-26: Sydney 2UE, now owned by Fairfax Media, has signed up Deborah Thomas, the editorial director of The Australian Women's Weekly, as the co-host its breakfast show with Mike Carlton next year.
The hiring follows the decision by Peter FitzSimons not to renew his contract (See RNW Nov 11) and completes the new line-up for the station which in the past year has also lost long-time morning host John Laws, who has just retired (See RNW Dec 2) and late-night host Stan Zemanek who died in July (See RNW Jul 17) after retiring from his radio post in December last year (See RNW Dec 27, 2006).
The morning slot will be taken by current drive-time host Steve Price whilst Laws fill-in Tim Webster becomes Afternoon host in place of John Stanley who takes over the Drive Time slot.
Previous Carlton:
Previous Fairfax Media:
Previous Price:
2007-12-25: Two gunmen riding motorcycles shot dead Filipino radio journalist Ferdinand Lintuan of DXGO Radio on Christmas Eve as his car slowed at an intersection in southern Davao city shortly after he had left the station.
Lintuan, who had criticized several officials and recently attacked the city government for alleged corruption in the development of a park according to colleagues, was the fifth journalist to be killed in the country this year.
Washington Post/AP report:
2007-12-24: This week, we could hardly not devote much of our look at print comment on radio to issues relating to US media ownership but to start with we felt a report by James Palmer in the San Francisco Chronicle on Radio Dijla would put the whole issue of ownership and reporting in perspective when it comes to broadcasters' woes.
It moved its base from Baghdad to Sulaymaniya in the more peaceful Kurdish region after gunmen, said by its owner to be linked to Al Qaeda, stormed its Baghdad offices in May and after being fought off the first night returned the following evening and burned the station to the ground (See RNW May 7, 2006).
Al Qaeda, reports Palmer, according to station manager Kareem Yousef hacked the station's Web site on Eid ul-Fitr marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and posted a letter promising "to kill everyone from Radio Dijla " to which the response was of defiance: Palmer quotes Yousef as saying of the news and talk station, "We have worked to open the minds of the people and let them freely express their thoughts. It's a humanitarian job because it allows people with different backgrounds and viewpoints to try to understand one another…No one will stop us. This is the price of our success." "
I know they're listening," Hadi Mehdi, 40, who hosts a series of arts and entertainment shows, said of al Qaeda in Iraq before he went on the air. "I wish I could deliver my reply to them face-to-face."
Palmer adds that most Radio Dijla employees said it wasn't any one incident that sparked the attack and the overall consensus is that al Qaeda in Iraq simply couldn't tolerate an independent station that practices balanced reporting and refuses to defy the Iraqi government and U.S. military
Its founder Ahmed Rikaby now lives in the United Kingdom after repeated death threats and said the station's perseverance has "severely damaged al Qaeda's pride. They thought they brought us to an end after the attack in Baghdad, but we've grown even bigger since."
Which, as we noted before, rather puts issues of US media commitment to fair reporting and ownership committed to anything other than the bottom line into a different perspective but does take us on to the issue that got most coverage last week and a New York Times Op-Ed by a group of Journalism school deans.
Under the heading "A License for Local Reporting" they comment on journalists being "instinctively libertarian, at least when it comes to journalism" and continue, "We like the conversation about journalism and the federal government to begin and end with a robust defence of the First Amendment. That's why journalists have not been leading participants in the debate over the Federal Communications Commission's regulation of broadcasting, even though the future of our profession and its public mission is at stake."
They then say note FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin's "journalistic justification" for easing the cross-ownership ban - that "broadcast profits would help pay for the substantial news-gathering staffs at newspapers."
They clearly do not think Martin has the full quota of annas to his rupee in his reasoning on this issue although they are not as blunt as some about the likelihood of corporations cutting into profits to cross-subsidize.
Even if it were so, however, they conclude the move is unsound, commenting, "But local television and radio stations should be doing their own news gathering, rather than merely serving as support systems for news gathering by newspapers. Besides, if Mr. Martin were really so passionate about news gathering, he wouldn't have restricted the FCC.'s action to media properties in big cities. Don't small-town news organizations need help, too?"
They also take up the issue of the change that has come through the Internet to provide more sources of information [a point particularly mentioned by Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate in her justification of the change but also made in general by those who favour deregulation], writing that "the Internet is great for opinion journalism and for broadening public access to information, though not very good yet as an economic support system for news gathering - but television and radio stations generally have smaller news staffs today than they did in the era before deregulation. That represents a real loss for American democracy."
The FCC they feel should take the matter of local reporting more seriously, writing that it "ought to treat a broadcast licensee's commitment of resources to original local reporting on public affairs as a key factor in its decisions about regulatory issues. Companies should be required to make a persuasive case that they will increase their commitment to local reporting if they get what they want - whether they aspire to own broadcast properties and newspapers in the same market; or, thanks to the onset of digital television, to turn every channel they control into several channels; or to expand their national market share in broadcasting or cable television."
Finally in regard to this they note that for "decades, holders of broadcast licenses had to make frequent, detailed arguments for their fitness to have their licenses renewed. They had to demonstrate a commitment to original reporting and to airtime for local public affairs" but that now "license renewal is so effortless it is known as 'postcard renewal'. Even the pretence that there is a connection between the grant of a broadcast license and a promise to report on one's community is all but gone."
Jerry Del Colliano in his insidemusicmedia blog was less polite about Martin and the FCC, writing under the heading "FCC Unscrewing the Pooch" - a phrase he notes means to "mess up, commit a grievous error. It's a euphemism from US military slang that uses much stronger language involving a dog" - that it is "apt" to "to apply this phrase -- which also appears in the Urban Dictionary -- to the current FCC which has begun the process of undoing some of the damage caused by consolidation."
"Greedy radio consolidators," he writes, "have been asking for trouble -- almost from the start of consolidation which was enabled by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 -- and lobbied by your favourite trade organization -- the NAB. I have no sympathy for what is about to happen because consolidators -- to borrow Wolfe's phrase -- have screwed the pooch long enough. Messed up terrestrial radio so that it would be attractive to Wall Street at the expense of its listeners on Main Street."
He goes on to comment about cross-ownership that the approval in the top 20 markets will he thinks "also become de facto cross-ownership in the smaller markets as well" but then is harsh about both broadcasters and newspapers, commenting, "Frankly, I don't care about media cross ownership. Let newspapers own TV stations and TV stations own radio. They're all dying anyway. No clue as to what to do because they can't get a handle on where the next generation lives. Onto the future."
Colliano comments on another FCC proposal a "rulemaking that could bring major changes to the radio industry" o f which he says "Almost all the owners -- not just consolidators -- are fighting it already. When the NAB and 34 state associations plus several dozen radio groups oppose re-regulation, then you can rest assured that re-regulation is exactly what the radio industry needs."
Under the rulemaking he comments stations could be required to establish permanent community advisory boards to discuss programming and might have to staff stations round the clock.
To Colliano the owners - "the ones who have driven listeners and advertisers away with voice tracking, unremarkable national syndication and bare bones programming" - need regulation.
He says they are "like Britney Spears -- unhinged and unable to get their acts together. The FCC is radio's version of Promises, the Malibu rehab center to the stars. Now the FCC is threatening to drag the owners in screaming" and adds, "You can't be against re-regulation and for radio's survival at the same time. They go together."
Later in a "preview of 2008" he comments of the problems facing the industry and adds, "One might enjoy the arrogant radio owners' comeuppance a lot more if it weren't at the expense of so many talented general managers, programmers, sales managers and air talent who never for one moment forgot their roots."
As well as comment on cross-ownership in general, there was considerable comment on one instance in particular, the waivers given to Tribune Co. that allowed its takeover by a group led by Sam Zell to go ahead and gain tax advantages.
For blogger Jay Marvin - it was "Good News and Bad News" - Good: "Because it means WGN Radio and TV as well as the Tribune will stay in Chicago with local owner Sam Zell" and Bad: "Because I'm against any relaxation of the rules on ownership and I, along with a lot of other people in radio, want the big companies broken up."
Marvin says of perceptions that he is "Just another liberal raging against capitalism ": "Wrong! I'm all for capitalism, but not monopoly capitalism with all the control of a public asset in the hands of a very few."
"Just another liberal raging against capitalism you say? Wrong! I'm all for capitalism, but not monopoly capitalism with all the control of a public asset in the hands of a very few.
"Just another liberal raging against capitalism you say? Wrong! I'm all for capitalism, but not monopoly capitalism with all the control of a public asset in the hands of a very few.
And of radio: "Is radio dead? I'd say no. Music radio is in trouble and the days of great personalities seems to be coming to an end. Can you say hello voice tracking?"
He concludes, "Good or bad news? I guess it depends on how you look at it. For Chicago it's good news. For the rest of the country I'm not so sure."
One element of the takeover provoked hostile comment, the appointment of former Clear Channel CEO Randy Michaels to take charge of the new group's Internet and broadcasting operations.
In his blog John Rook spared little criticism, writing, "Anyone who knows anything about Chicago radio realizes WGN has been on top in the ratings since before the Sears Tower or even the John Hancock building came into being.
"Enter a new billionaire owner, Sam Zell, who has given the keys to the station to Randy Michaels, who has an industry reputation of being a 'genius' programmer, but in reality has only one claim to fame in that area - creating Tampa's "Power Pig," a den of indecent programming prior to the FCC finally taking steps to return some sanity to run-a-way smut on the airwaves."
"Chicagoans may recall the short term time when Michaels entered the city in 1991 to rename an FM station "Hell." Within days the residents of Chicago sent dandy Randy packing, his offensive brand of programming didn't sit well with the folks in mid-America. Now, Sam Zell has shoved his favourite radio 'genius' into one of America's great radio stations - WGN.
"Maybe, just maybe, Randy Michaels will have matured enough to understand the old adage if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' I doubt it. Keep an eye on the #1 ratings of WGN, if they slide from the top it will be due to the antics of Randy Michaels."
On then to listening suggestions, which in view of other priorities this week we have kept somewhat shorter than usual: Apart from our Monday evening suggestion for UK listeners only (we mistakenly left a "not" out as this will not be available as Listen Again) of the Bob Dylan Christmas Theme Hour Special, we have in general opted to avoid festal suggestions, most of which contain too much saccharine for our taste.
We would however suggest a look at one piece of music that is a regular on the Christmas period menu - Handel's "Messiah", which was the topic of last Saturday's "Music Feature" on BBC Radio 4. It featured conductors Simon Halsey and Harry Christophers discussing the work, which seems to have had influence far beyond just the music and its time.
We also make exceptions for one of the reports in last weeks "on the Media" from WNYC - a look by reporters Alex Goldmark and Rachel McCarthy at classic Christmas specials such as "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and also for Sunday's "Something Understood" - "Season of Gifts" in which Fergal Keane explored Christmas traditions of giving and receiving.
Also worthy of a listen from Radio 4 were Sunday's edition of "It's My Story" - "Living with Birdie", which told the story of Birdie McDonald, foster mother for more than 850 children and Monday's "Food Programme" in which Sheila Dillon looked at chocolate and chocolatiers.
Finally to end on a more jolly note we suggest comedy with BBC Radio 4's "The Now Show" - from Friday - which is available as an MP3 or stream (Last week's will be on the site until then) and from BBC Radio 2 the Saturday 13:00 to 14:00 Comedy Hour - "Vic Reeves' House Arrest" and "Tim Minchin's Loving and... ...Peaceful Yuletide Half Hour" are available from last weekend whilst this weekend has "The Green Guide to Life" followed by "Clive Anderson's End of Year......Chat Room."
Previous Columnists:
Insidemusicmedia - Colliano "Unscrewing the Pooch":
Marvin blog:
New York Times Op-Ed:
John Rook blog:
San Francisco Chronicle - Palmer:
2007-12-23: Last week the main regulatory news was the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) majority vote to end the newspaper-broadcaster cross-ownership ban (See RNW Dec 19), a vote that has aroused ire amongst opponents and may yet be stymied by Congress: Elsewhere it was fairly quiet with only a few decisions.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has imposed an additional licence condition on regional commercial radio broadcasters that requires them to broadcast specific levels of local content from 1 January 2008. For most licensees the requirement is for three hours a day between 5 am and 8 pm on business days, although it is lower for some: The times required include advertisements (capped at 25 per cent).
The ACMA also posted its report "Media and Communications in Australian Families 2007" that was mainly devoted to TV, computer and Internet use, in its look at listening to music and radio reported that portable MP3/4 players are now in 76% of Australian households - the average household has two players - and are used by 62% of children and young people.
Children and young people it says now spend an average 21 minutes a day listening to recorded music, up from 15 minutes in 1995 with levels of radio listening slightly down over the period from 15 minutes in 1995 to 13 minutes in 2007. Girls, it says listen more than boys to recorded music -26 minutes per day compared to 18 - with a similar but less marked gender distinction for radio listening.
The report notes a trend towards use of computers and the Internet with children's bedrooms now more likely to have TV with Internet Access and less likely to have TVs and game consoles than in 1995: 98% of households now have computers compared with 59% in 1995 and 91% now have Internet access, up from 7%.
In Canada the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued a call for comments on ways to streamline the determination of the allocation of the value of the transaction in changes in the effective control of a broadcasting undertaking. Comments have to be submitted by the end of January next year.
It also posted notices on various radio-related matters including (in order of province):
New Brunswick:
*Public notice, with a deadline for submission of interventions or comments of January 22, 2008, concerning Application by Astral Media Radio Atlantic Inc. to amend the licence of CIKX-FM, Grand Falls, New Brunswick, by changing the frequency of its transmitter CIKX-FM-1, Plaster Rock, from 91.7 MHz to 88.3 MHz. Astral says its unprotected frequency would create interference to CBC's transmitter CBAF-FM-21 Bon Accord, which has recently been approved to broadcast on 91.7 MHz.
Nova Scotia:
*Approval of application from International Harvesters for Christ Evangelistic Association Inc. to relocate the transmitter of English-language commercial Specialty station CJLU-FM, Halifax, and increase its antenna height. The licensee said that when it set up it two years ago it found that the building it was leasing would not allow it to vent out its 5,000 watt transmitter and consequently it was forced to use a 1,000 watt transmitter and that additionally the new site would allow it to improve its coverage to parts of Bedford and Lower Sackville where it is currently not hear well.
Ontario:
*Public notice, with a deadline for submission of interventions or comments of January 21, 2008, concerning application to add a 750 watts FM transmitter at Goderich, Ontario, broadcast the programming of CIYN-FM, Kincardine.
*Public notice, with a deadline for submission of interventions or comments of January 25, 2008, concerning application by Trust Communications Ministries to delete from licence of CJLF-FM, Barrie, a condition limiting commercial messages to six minutes per hour from 06:00 to 09:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00 and four minutes per hour for the rest of the broadcast day with one allowing up to eight minutes of commercial messages per hour.
The CRTC notes that monitoring has shown the station to have broadcast commercial messages exceeding those currently allowed and the applicant says it wants the amendment to enable it to satisfy unmet demand for advertising time on CJLF-FM during peak periods and to avoid any further non-compliance.
[RNW comment: In other words we broke the rules so can you change them to our benefit!]
Quebec:
*Approval of application by Amie du Quartier for 3.2 watts low-power, French-language talk-based format specialty FM in Saint-Jérôme that will target primarily the students of École Notre-Dame.
*Change to current licence conditions of community station Radio Boréale, Amos, that would make its offerings "varied music programming consisting of selections drawn from content category 2 (Popular music) and category 3 (Special interest music). Spoken word programming, all of which would be local, would include news and current affairs bulletins and theme programs on the environment and culture. The applicant committed to devote, in each broadcast week, not less than 50% of its news bulletins to local news, 25% thereof to regional news and 25% thereof to international news."
The CRTC also noted that the applicant proposed to offer religious programming and adds a condition of licence relation to adherence to Canada's Religious Broadcasting Policy guidelines.
*Public notice, with a deadline for submission of interventions or comments of January 25, 2008, concerning application to use frequency 105.5 MHz and a power of 30,600 watts for a new French-language commercial FM in Saguenay (zone La Baie), approved in March on the basis of a suitable alternative frequency to that then applied for being found. The commission notes that the new proposed technical parameters would increase significantly the originally proposed contours.
There were no radio decisions from Ireland although the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) held an oral hearing concerning the two applications - from Choice Broadcasting Limited with a "4FM" bid and TV3 Television Network Limited with a "More FM" bid - for a new Classic Gold/Easy Listening/Smooth multi-city FM licence.
In the UK, Ofcom has advertised a new local digital radio multiplex licence for Surrey and northern Sussex covering an area with a 15 plus population of around 1.4 million: Applications have to be submitted by March 26, 2008, with a non refundable fee of GBP 15,000 (USD 30,000)
It has also "pre-advertised" the Kingston-Upon-Thames FM licence currently held by Radio Jackie Limited that is due to expire on 28 February 2009.
Declarations of intent to apply have to be submitted, along with a GBP 5,000 (USD 10,00) non-refundable fee by January 16, 2008: Should the only declaration submitted be from the incumbent Radio Jackie will be invited to re-apply and should there be no declarations of intent the licence will not be re-advertised.
In the US as already noted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted in on a party-line, changes that would remove the complete ban on a newspaper-broadcaster cross-ownership in a market.
The FCC was involved in a number of enforcement decisions including (in descending order of proposed or imposed penalty):
*USD 10,000 Notice of Apparent Liability for forfeiture (NAL) to Drexel University, licensee of WKDU-FM, Philadelphia, for failing to retain required documentation in the station's public inspection file. The licence was renewed.
*USD 10,000 NAL to Rockland Public Schools, licensee of WRPS-FM, Rockland, Massachusetts, for failing to retain required documentation in the station's public inspection file. The licence was renewed.
*USD 10,000 NAL to Colby Sawyer College, licensee of WSCS-FM, New London, New Hampshire, for failing to retain required documentation in the station's public inspection file. The licence was renewed.
*USD 7,000 NAL to Applegate Media, Inc., licensee of KAPL-AM, Phoenix, Oregon for late filing of renewal application and operation after licence had expired. The licence was renewed.
*USD 4,000 NAL to 3 Point Media-Salt Lake City, LLC., licensee of KHTB-FM, for broadcasting a telephone conversation without first informing a party to the conversation of its intention to do so. The ruling follows an announcement by a personality at the station that he would play a prank by calling the Utah Poison Control Center to ask what would happen if pepper spray were to be swallowed and a complaint of a subsequent call to the Center in which he spoke to a specialist without identifying himself and broadcast the conversation without identifying himself or asking permission to air it.
3 Point Media had admitted an "error" in failing to inform the Poison Center of his intention to record and broadcast the call, which was made in anticipation of a station promotion in which one of the items to be given away was a can of pepper spray.
*USD 1,500 NAL to Masconomet Regional School System, licensee of WBMT-FM, Boxford, Massachusetts, for late filing of renewal application. The licence was renewed.
*USD 500 NAL to Anchor Network, licensee of low power FM Station KSEP-LP, Brookings, Oregon, for late filing of renewal application and operation after licence had expired. The licence was renewed.
*USD 500 NAL to Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, licensee of low power FM Station KWPA-LP, Coupeville, Washington, for late filing of renewal application and operation after licence had expired. The licence was renewed.
*USD 500 NAL to Susan J. Smith, licensee of FM Translator Station K265BD, Wenatchee, Washington, for late filing of renewal application and operation after licence had expired. The licence was renewed.
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:
2007-12-23: In more UK radio host changes in the New Year, GCap Media's Xfm has hired former Capital DJ Dave Berry, who has recently been fronting various Channel 4 TV programmes, to host a new Saturday afternoon show, taking over from Graeme Smith on January 5.
The Friday night rock show on the station is to be hosted by Martin Bate, whilst Ian Camfield, who is leaving to join K-Rock in New York, will remain on air with Xfm, hosting to host a show live from New York.
At digital station GaydarRadio, comedian and TV presenter Stuart Miles will take over the "Your Choice Requests" weekday 11:00-14:00 show from January 2, taking over from Sam Vangeen, who is leaving the network.
Previous GCap Media:
2007-12-22: Emap, which earlier this month sold its Consumer Media and Emap Radio divisions to German media group Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG leaving only a Business-to-business unit (See RNW Dec 8) has now announced the sale of the remaining business to a consortium set up by the Guardian Media Group and private equity firm Apax for around GBP 1 billion ( USD 2 billion) with the buyers taking on undisclosed debts and liabilities.
The sale - to Eden Bidco, the company set up by GMG and Apax to make the bid - is conditional on a number of things including completion of the other disposals; the sale of Emap's Irish radio stations and Emap having sufficient distributable reserves to pay the Special Dividend; Overall it will mean that Emap's shareholders, who have to approve the sale, would receive around GBP 2 billion (USD 4 billion) for the company.
Alun Cathcart, executive chairman of Emap, said of the sale, "We have already achieved highly attractive valuations for our magazine and radio businesses and are delighted to announce today a further compelling opportunity for shareholders to crystallise the value of Emap's B2B business at a 57.5% premium to its current underlying market valuation. This reflects the exceptional quality of these assets."
GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall said the buyers were "delighted" to have secured a unanimous recommendation of the offer from the Emap board and added, "Emap Communications is a very strong business with a range of highly successful brands. The acquisition meets our requirements in terms of diversifying GMG's media interests, in line with our commitment to guarantee the long-term financial security of the Guardian. We look forward to working in partnership with Apax as we develop the business."
Previous Cathcart:
Previous Emap:
Previous GMG:
2007-12-22: CBS Radio has renewed Adam Carolla' s contract for the morning "Adam Carolla Show" that airs on KLSX-FM , Los Angeles, and other West Coast stations and also announced that his featured contributor Danny Bonaduce will leave the show to host his own afternoon show on KLSX.
Chris Oliviero, Vice President of Programming, CBS Radio, said in a CBS news release that Carolla's show "has far exceeded our expectations and proven to be a listener favourite. We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Adam, and anticipate even more success for the program in the years to come" and Carolla added, "Launching a new show is never an easy task, but I feel like the past two years have laid the cement foundation and I'm now ready to throw the house warming party. I'm looking forward to returning to work on January 2, just not at 5:30 in the morning."
Regarding Bonaduce's show, KLSX Vice President of Programming Jack Silver said Bonaduce had "brought much excitement and entertainment to The Adam Carolla Show and we expect him to bring the same enthusiasm to the afternoon time slot."
Previous Carolla:
Previous CBS:
2007-12-22: The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is calling on the U.S. Congress to reverse this week's decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow corporate ownership of both print and broadcast media in the same city, saying the decision will further hit minority ownership of media.
Its President Barbara Ciara said in a news release that with "increasing media consolidation the number of minority owners will steadily decrease" adding that the FCC "has a responsibility to maintain its public interest obligations and in order to do so, there must be safeguards to ensure station leadership and programming is as diverse as the communities they represent."
Ernie Suggs, NABJ Vice President of Print, said of consolidation, "It becomes a major problem when you see that in a nation where 34% of the population are people of colour, minorities own less than 10 percent of media outlets. NABJ will reach beyond the press gallery to congressional members and ensure this vote is reversed and our freedom of speech is not sacrificed by higher profits."
Previous FCC:
2007-12-22: XM Satellite Radio has announced that it has reached a settlement with Warner Music Group concerning a lawsuit brought by Warner over XM's Pioneer Inno portable satellite radio that has advanced recording features.
As with a similar settlement with Universal Music Group in the week (See RNW Dec 8), the deal covers current and future receivers with recording capability but no further details were disclosed.
Previous XM:
2007-12-21: The Tribune Co. has now gone private under a takeover by billionaire Sam Zell: He has taken over as chairman and Chief Executive of the company and installed long-time associates -- Randy Michaels and Gerry Spector in key roles according to the Chicago Tribune.
Spector, who helped build Zell's Equity Residential Properties as chief operating officer, according to the paper will have the role of head of administration with his first task being to "zero-budget" the company
Zell, it says, "made it clear that the top priority was figuring how to create a more logical structure to free up decision-making and encourage more innovation."
Michaels is to lead Tribune's online and broadcast operations. He was associated with Zell in the 1990s when Michael's was at Jacor and Zell invested USD 83 million in the company, which was then struggling.
Michaels became Jacor CEO in 1996 and spearheaded an aggressive acquisition strategy until three years later Clear Channel bought Jacor for USD 2.8 billion.
Zell then moved out of radio but Michaels stayed on, becoming head of Clear Channel's radio division and leading further expansion that took Clear Channel's holdings to more than 1,200 radio stations.
At Clear Channel Michaels introduced widespread voice-tracking and many local personalities were forced out, a fate that befell Michaels himself in 2002 (See RNW Jul 24, 2002) after he was demoted to the role of CEO of Clear Channel's New Technologies Division.
Reporting on before the formal announcement the then-expected hiring of Michaels, the Los Angeles Times which is also owned by Tribune, quoted Jeff Smulyan, chairman and chief executive of Emmis Communications, who knows both men, as saying, "I think Sam and Randy are kindred spirits. They're two very, very creative thinkers who can look at a problem differently from other men. And it's impossible to be in any form of traditional media today without thinking differently."
Elliot Evers, managing director of San Francisco broadcast property broker Media Venture Partners added of Michaels, "He'll stumble on some things and succeed on others. He's willing to take risks and do things that other people haven't."
Less friendly comment about Michaels came from the Chicago Sun-Times where Robert Feder in his column headed his column, "The man from 'Hell'" and said he "evokes memories of radio's lamest stunt ever."
The reference was to his re-naming then Capital Cities/ABC-owned contemporary-hit WYTZ-FM, which he had been hired to turn round, as "Hell".
Listeners, writes Feder, woke up one day to hear taped promos between songs that included such lines as "Go to Hell," "Oh, Hell" and "You've Gone to Hell" and a contest on the station offering prizes to listeners who could repeat the phrase "B96 sucks" [B96 was CBS-owned Top 40 competitor WBBM-FM that Michaels had denigrated in a series of announcements in Spanish] as many times as possible in less than 10 seconds.
Protests and a failure of the stunt to achieve anything, writes Feder, led to Michael's plan being ended prematurely and a "A short time later, the station wound up dropping its format and abandoning its call letters, leaving nothing behind but the foul odour of Michaels' legacy."
Previous Feder:
Previous Michaels:
Chicago Tribune report:
Chicago Sun-Times - Feder:
Los Angeles Times report:
2007-12-21: GCap Media, the UK's largest radio company with almost a third share of UK commercial radio, has appointed Fru Hazlitt Managing Director GCap London as its chief executive: She has already taken up her duties and her predecessor Ralph Bernard has left the company and also stepped down from its board.
Hazlitt, who was previously with Yahoo! UK and Ireland and subsequently Virgin Radio Chief Executive, joined the board of GCap in May this year.
She said of her appointment, "I feel privileged to have been given this opportunity. I joined GCap with a strong conviction that it has a great future and the 6 months I have spent here have only reinforced this view. We have great people and both locally and nationally we have historic brand equity and a status that will enable us to win within the multiplatform environment. I look forward to presenting our plans in early 2008."
GCap Chairman Richard Eyre said of her appointment, "I am delighted to appoint Fru as GCap's new Chief Executive. She has a wealth of experience and is absolutely the right person to lead the company at such an important time for the radio industry. Her breadth of experience in radio and digital media is unparalleled as is her track record in building brands and managing content across analogue and digital media. I am very much looking forward to working with her."
Asked by the UK Guardian about her priorities, Hazlitt spoke of growing the GCap Brands across a range of media outlets including broadband, saying, "It's not so much about size, it's about brands and brand behaviour."
She also said the UK commercial radio industry should not be distracted by potential consolidation and obsessed with the BBC, saying, "We need to demonstrate more than we have to date the quality of our brands. We don't need the distraction [of consolidation]. I think we will be serving our investors better if we are building growth within our own stable… The industry needs to stop distracting itself by worrying about the BBC to actually use what it has got - because there's a lot of good stuff in it - to build growth and to demonstrate leadership."
"I think the distraction has come from all this acquisition and thinking who we can acquire next," she added. "And we've missed some tricks - we've missed the fact that our audience are trying to interact with us online. The best thing about that model is that we are growing our revenues online as we are growing audiences. We have a business model that looks very exciting… We have beaten the BBC for years in the past - we know how to beat the BBC and there are masses of stations that beat the BBC in their areas. We should focus on our core objectives and let the BBC focus on theirs."
Previous Bernard:
Previous Eyre:
Previous GCap Media:
Previous Hazlitt:
UK Guardian report:
2007-12-21: Rogers Broadcasting, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications, has appointed Paul Ski, former President of CHUM's radio division as the Chief Executive Officer of its radio division.
He will take over from Gary Miles who is retiring after two decades with Rogers during which its radio division grew from two stations to an industry leading group of 51 stations.
Rogers Broadcasting President Rael Merson said of the appointment, "We are thrilled that Paul will be joining Rogers. Paul has a unique combination of talent and experience that has made him such a success in the past and which equip him so wonderfully well for the challenges that lie ahead. As the radio industry continues to evolve from a single medium into multimedia, leaders of Paul's calibre will help to assure that Rogers continues to lead the industry."
Previous Rogers:
Previous Ski:
2007-12-21: In a move to enable it to tap both the DAB and DAB+ markets as well as Internet radio, Frontier Silicon has teamed up with Revo to deliver the world's first radio to combine DAB/DAB+ and Wi-Fi.
The Blik Radiostation uses Frontier Silicon's Venice 6 multi-standard module and Steve Evans, the company's VP, Sales and Marketing said, "The combination of Wi-Fi radio, DAB, DAB+, FM and network music streaming capability will be a very powerful proposition for end users. Revo has done a fantastic job in designing and releasing this highly desirable radio so quickly. We expect Blik Radiostation to have particular appeal in all countries that are rolling out DAB+ services in the near future."
Currently some 6.5 million DAB units have been sold worldwide, around four-fifths of them in the UK, which uses the first version of DAB with MP2 encoding.
The more advanced AAC coding is being used for DAB+, which is being adopted in Australia for a launch in 2009 and is also expected to be rolled out in Canada, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kuwait Italy, Israel, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand and. Switzerland.
Previous Frontier Silicon:
2007-12-20: Following the passage by a majority Republican vote of new US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) media ownership regulations that remove the 32-years-old absolute ban on owning a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market, Michigan Democrat Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Commerce Committee, has accused the of acting "arrogantly and brazenly to weaken the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership ban" against specific opposition from members of both parties and in both houses of the US Congress.
Dingell said in a statement that he was "greatly displeased that the chairman chose to vote on this important issue a mere week after hundreds of pages of comment were submitted on his proposed rule" and added, " I question whether the Commission gave adequate, or any, consideration to the public's input."
The FCC, he said, had "squandered an opportunity to reach agreement on even more meaningful ways to provide concrete benefits to consumers in the form of more minority media ownership and attention to localism" and he promised "rigorous oversight" of the issues by the Committee.
Dingell's opposition to the vote was shared in the Senate by North Dakota Democrat Sen. Byron Dorgan, one of the leaders against consolidation and easing the cross ownership ban. Dorgan says he will follow through with his earlier promise of legislation to overturn the new roles and is examining various options including a resolution of disapproval.
Previous Dorgan:
Previous FCC:
2007-12-20: Guardian Media Group Radio, whose advertising account for its Smooth, Real, Century and Rock Radio stations was put up for grabs in August (See RNW Aug 29) , has agreed a two-year contract for the amount with MediaCom, which was on a shortlist that included incumbent agency Brilliant, phd and MediaEdge: CIA.
Stuart Taylor, GMG Radio commercial director said the standard of pitches "was incredibly high but we were particularly impressed by MediaCom's knowledge of our marketplaces and some of the creative ways in which they will help us build our brands."
Previous GMG Radio:
2007-12-20: The Indian Government has again deferred the bidding for 97 FM licences in the country that were not in last year's bidding for 337 licences in the second phase of Indian FM expansion and that were earlier to have been put up for bids in November.
After the November bidding was cancelled the licences were to have gone on offer on Monday this week and January 7: 27 private FM companies have been short-listed including major players such as Entertainment Network India Ltd (Radio Mirchi), South Asia FM (Sun TV), and Reliance Unicom (Big 92.7 FM) and a number of regional players.
Bids are now scheduled for Dec 29 and Jan 10 and the Indian Information and Broadcasting Ministry said the delay was "to sort out some more matters, but it is nothing very significant.''
Of the licences put on offer last year, 266 were won by 30 companies, generating some INR 15.4 billion (currently USD 391 million) in licence fees: The licences currently on offer are expected to attract bids of around INR 3.5 billion (USD 89 million):
Previous Indian Radio:
2007-12-20: Sydney 2GB host Alan Jones did not break unlawfully broadcast the name of a juvenile at a murder trial, an offence for which he was fined AUD 1,000 ( USD 860) and placed on a nine-month good behaviour bond in April, his lawyer has told a New South Wales district court judge at an appeal by Jones
The host had named the witness on his show in July 2005 when he read out an article, which named the teenager, from The Daily Telegraph and a magistrate found the reading breached the Children's Criminal Proceedings Act.
Jones, 2GB licensee, Harbour Radio (A Macquarie Radio Network subsidiary), and The Daily Telegraph's publisher, Nationwide News (A News Corporation subsidiary) - which were fined AUD 3,000 (USD 2,575) and AUD 4,000 (USD 3430) respectively - all appealed against their convictions and a report in The Telegraph says arguments were put forward on Jones' behalf relating to the meaning of "publish" and to a constitutional point relating to freedom of expression.
Judge Michael Finance, who heard the main appeal submissions in September, said he expected to hand down his decision in February.
RNW comment; This case seems on the surface one of lawyers trying to get round the law and one where, should the appeals be denied, an order for costs should be made against the appellants. There seem to be no good reasons why this witness should have been named and for a multiplicity of parties to escape blame because a name had already been published would seem to us to render the law almost worthless since it would then be potentially possible for a logger's mention of a name to justify its widespread publication.
Previous Jones:
Sydney Daily Telegraph/AAP report:
2007-12-20: The Fitch credit rating agency has said that it is to downgrade Clear Channel's debt rating to B with its bank facility equal to or one notch above the rating following announcement by Clear Channel of details of its pro forma capital structure after it goes private that amongst other things say
Earlier Clear Channel had announced the start of a cash tender offer and consent solicitation for its outstanding USD 750,000,000 principal amount of 7.65% Senior Notes due 2010 and also that its AMFM subsidiary has started a cash tender offer and consent solicitation for the outstanding USD 644,860,000 principal amount of its 8% Senior Notes due 2008.
Both offers are made in connection with its merger, which is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2008.
Previous Clear Channel:
2007-12-19: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at its meeting on Tuesday adopted by a Republican majority vote new rules that would end the 32-year-old absolute ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership and allow a newspaper to own a broadcast station in the 20 largest markets subject to certain criteria; adopted, again by a majority vote, localism proposals with Republican Commissioner Robert M. McDowell expressing some reservations but not going as far as to dissent; and adopted, yet again by a majority vote, rules to "Promote Diversification of Broadcast Ownership" and expand "Opportunities for New Entrants and Small Businesses to Own Broadcast Outlets."
The cross-ownership vote as the most contentious and before the meeting a bipartisan group of 25 Senators including North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan; Mississippi Republican Trent Lott; Hawaii Democrat Daniel Inouye and Alaska Republican Ted Stevens had written to FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin to say that if the commission went ahead with its planned vote the group would "immediately move legislation that will revoke and nullify the proposed rule."
In the dissenting comments Democrat Commissioner Michael J. Copps, was again more blunt than his colleague Jonathan S. Adelstein, referring to the decision as one that "would make George Orwell proud" and continuing, "We claim to be giving the news industry a shot in the arm-but the real effect is to reduce total newsgathering. We shed crocodile tears for the financial plight of newspapers-yet the truth is that newspaper profits are about double the S&P 500 average. We pat ourselves on the back for holding six field hearings across the United States-yet today's decision turns a deaf ear to the thousands of Americans who waited in long lines for an open mike to testify before us. We say we have closed loopholes-yet we have introduced new ones. We say we are guided by public comment-yet the majority's decision is overwhelmingly opposed by the public as demonstrated in our record and in public opinion surveys. We claim the mantle of scientific research-even as the experts say we've asked the wrong questions, used the wrong data, and reached the wrong conclusions."
Copps specifically attacked notice given of revisions, writing, "At 1:57 this morning, we received a new version of the proposed test for allowing more newspaper-broadcast combinations. I can't say that I fully appreciate the test's finer points given the lateness of the hour and the fact that there was no time afforded to parse the finer points of the new rule. But this much is clear: the new version keeps the old loopholes and includes two new one pathways to cross ownership approval. So please don't buy the line that the rule we adopt today involves fewer loopholes-it adds new ones. Finally, this morning at 11:12 a.m. as I was walking out my office door to come to this meeting, we received an e-mail containing additional changes."
Copps continued on to deride the cross-ownership ruling in business terms, commenting in terms of a merger that if the entities remained truly "independent" as required there wouldn't be the savings that were used to justify the merger and asking, "Also, since when do unprofitable businesses support themselves by merging with profitable ones-and then sink more resources into the money-losing division simply as a public service?"
He continued of this - in a sentence that many Clear Channel departing employees or departed ex-employees would agree, "If any of us were employed by a struggling company, and we suddenly learned that a Wall Street financier had obtained control, would we (1) clap our hands with joy because we expect the new owner is going to throw a bunch of cash our way and tell us to keep on doing what we'd been doing, except more lavishly or (2) start to fear for our jobs and brace for a steady diet of cost cutting? "
And of the likely result Copps potentially made himself a hostage to fortune - unless lawmakers void the changes, which are backed by the White House - by predicting that "Mergers will be approved in both the top 20 and non-top-20 markets-towns big and small-because the set of exceptions we announce today have all the firmness of a bowl of Jell-O. Regardless of our supposed commitment to "independent news judgment" the two entities' newsrooms will be almost completely combined, with round after round of job cuts in order to cut costs."
Copps also commented of the Internet that many newspapers were moving to turn its perceived threat into opportunity and add, "Far from newspapers being gobbled up by the Internet, we ought to be far more concerned with the threat of big media joining forces with big broadband providers to take the wonderful Internet we know down the same road of consolidation and control by the few that has already inflicted such heavy damage on our traditional media."
Adelstein in his dissent said of the decision, "There are no final rules - nothing concrete to foster a better relationship between broadcast licensees and the public they are licensed to serve.
Today's item literally does nothing meaningful to promote localism. It is as if we promised to deliver a book but produced only the cover."
And of the "studies" much vaunted by Martin in his comment, Adelstein said, "When the Localism Task Force was launched, we were promised "rigorous studies" and legislative recommendations. We have seen neither studies nor any recommendations to Congress. After the expenditure of over $350,000 of taxpayer funds and valuable staff resources, the Task Force - if it still exists - owes the American people and Congress completed studies and solid recommendations on which to base immediate action by the Commission and Congress."
In his comments Martin re-iterated points he had made on a number of occasions about the effort and money devoted by the FCC to considering the decision and marketplace changes since the rules were introduced and saying that the Commission had agreed to the requests made by the Democratic Commissioners but then kept moving the goal posts; "Unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues have been quick to say no to whatever was proposed but never getting to yes or even putting forward their own ideas on the substance of the issues before us," he commented.
Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, as previously, stressed changes that had occurred in her comment, saying in part, "With the explosion of online news and information, diversity of voices no longer depends solely on the number of broadcasting companies or media outlets in a certain DMA. The Internet allows residents of even the smallest towns, with perhaps only one daily newspaper, to have access to hundreds of news outlets, twenty-four hours a day. In terms of purely local news and information, the opportunities for resource-sharing and capital investment that occur when a broadcaster purchases a newspaper, in fact often lead to more local news-not less."
He colleague Robert M. McDowell said he supported, "today's report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the issues raised by commenters, and the public at our field hearings regarding how broadcasters address the needs of their local communities" but raised concerns about instituting locally-oriented programming requirements on broadcasters, saying that the commission was heading in the wrong direction and adding, "Vigorous competition motivates broadcasters to serve their local communities. I do not believe that government needs to, or should, foist upon local stations its preferences regarding categories of programming. We risk treading on the First Amendment rights of broadcasters with unnecessary regulation. An order reflecting these conclusions will be overturned in court."
In early reactions the US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) welcomed the easing of cross-ownership rules but expressed reservations about possible requirements for local programming.
It referred to a "modest" revision of the ownership rules - the term Martin has used - and Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton in a statement said, "We are pleased the FCC has adopted a revised newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule, recognizing that a 30-year-old complete ban is no longer justified. While we think the adopted changes are modest, we believe they are an important step forward in aligning broadcasting regulations with the realities of today's communications marketplace."
Regarding localism he added that the NAB would be closely reviewing the FCC proposals, terming it "a proceeding that carries grave First Amendment implications and which stems from a false notion that radio and television stations have abandoned our commitment to serving communities or have stopped offering distinctive local programming."
"From coast to coast," he said, "local broadcasters are saving lives every day with Amber Alerts, emergency weather warnings, and coverage of natural disasters. The record shows that broadcasters have an unmatched tradition of serving the public interest, and as the FCC found in the 1980s, onerous regulations can have the unintended consequence of reducing programming quality. We are confident that any truly objective localism analysis will vindicate the performance of radio and TV broadcasters, and overshadow the shrill voices of those who would regulate broadcasters back to the 1960s."
Opposing the moves, Illinois Democrat Senator Barack Obama said in a statement, "Today the FCC failed to further the important goal of promoting diversity in the media and instead chose to put big corporate interests ahead of the people's interests. Minority owned and operated newspapers and radio stations play a critical role in African American and Latino communities and help bring minority issues to the forefront of our national dialogue… I am disappointed that the FCC failed to meet its obligations to diverse communities and ensure that broadcasters are doing right by the communities in which they operate. Congress will not stand by and allow the FCC to move forward with these regulatory changes, and I will urge my colleagues to push forward legislation that ensures any changes will be evaluated and modified in a transparent and inclusive process, and fully takes into account the interests of our women and minority-owned outlets, and communities."
The Media Access Project accused the FCC of caving in to the media giants and its President and CEO Andrew Jay Schwartzman said the action was "far more radical, and much more outrageous, than what Chairman Martin proposed just a few weeks ago. He has caved in to lobbying from the media giants, giving a pass to them so they can retain TV and radio stations that they were supposed to have divested months and years ago. And he is even giving Rupert Murdoch a new crack at keeping two huge TV stations in New York, despite his acquisition of the Wall Street Journal."
The decision was also criticized by the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA) which in a joint statement with the Communications Workers of America expressed "disappointment" at the decision and in particular "strong concern that the FCC did not require that any merged newspaper-broadcast operation maintain separate newsroom and editorial staff, an addition that would have helped to ensure an independent editorial voice in communities. They also stressed that ensuring a diverse media is more critical than ever in today's environment and raised concerns about the impact of consolidation on competition, diversity of opinion and quality jobs."
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said more, not fewer safeguards are needed to promote media diversity and that the "The FCC's action means that fewer distinct, local media voices will be available as news sources for citizens", adding, " Particularly in markets that already are highly concentrated and these changes fail to protect the public interest."
John Clark, president of NABET-CWA, commented "Our members know what happens when one company owns more than one TV station or a major TV station and the monopoly newspaper in the same market. The owner merges operations, slashes jobs, and reduces the quantity and quality of the news," whilst Tom Carpenter, AFTRA General Counsel and Director of Legislative Affairs, said "As the ownership rules are relaxed, we will see even further consolidation and editorial control by just a few corporations…This rule change is contrary to the FCC's mandate to safeguard diversity of local voices and the public interest."
RNW comment: We have given more space to the opposition to the decision than to its proponents largely because the latter repeated much ore of their earlier statements whilst those opposed came up with new or different comments.
We are still considering the implications of the changes once smart corporate lawyers aided by large budgets to bend politicians in an election period get to work but our initial reaction would be that ideally lawmakers should accept broadcasters at the word of NAB in terms of media companies already providing adequate local coverage then create sensible guidelines as what public interest requires of those using leased public airwaves, particularly in terms of local coverage and of election campaigns. Whilst we do not think these should be prescriptive in advance of what is needed we do think it would be quite reasonable to make assessment of local coverage a mandatory part of licence renewal processes with automatic revocation of licences in cases where there is a significant failure (NAB presumably would not object since they claim broadcasters are not failing in their obligations and we assume would not want to protect the odd rogue company). Since there appear to be plenty of applicants for licences we cannot see that this would do other than provide a spur for the broadcasters to fulfil their obligations and we suspect the net result would be very few licences revoked but a significant gain in terms of local coverage and commitment.
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2007-12-19: BBC Radio 1 has backed down in the face of criticism from listeners and the mother of singer the late Kirsty MacColl and will air the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" uncut following an earlier decision to censor it by removing the words "slut" and "faggot" from the festive hit.
Radio One controller Andy Parfitt said the earlier decision to use only an edited version because "some members of the audience might find it offensive" was "wrong."
The track concerned includes MacColl, who was killed by a speedboat off the coast of Mexico in 2000, brandings Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan "you scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot" and the latter terming MacColl "an old slut on junk": It had been edited on Radio 1 but BBC Radio 2 had said it would continue to air the full track.
MacColl's mother Jean, reacting to the cuts, had told BBC Radio 5 Live's Breakfast show they were "too ridiculous" and added, "These are a couple of characters - not in the first flush of youth, I would have thought. This is the way they spoke. Today we have a lot of a gratuitous vulgarity and whatever from people all over which I think is quite unnecessary. They are what they are. These are characters and they speak like that."
A spokesman for the Pogues had characterized the original decision, which the station at first said it would stick with, as "complete over-reaction" and the station received considerable criticism from listeners.
Parfitt announcing the U-turn said the original decision to edit had been made "some months ago" as part of a review of older records played on the station.
"Radio 1 does not play homophobic lyrics or condone bullying of any kind," he said and added, "It is not always easy to get this right, mindful of our responsibility to our young audience. The unedited version will be played from now on.
"While we would never condone prejudice of any kind, we know our audiences are smart enough to distinguish between maliciousness and creative freedom. In the context of this song, I do not feel that there is any negative intent behind the use of the words, hence the reversal of the decision."
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2007-12-19: UTV Media has agreed to purchase Dublin station FM104 from Communicorp for Euros 52 million (USD 75 million) in a deal to be financed through a combination of new bank debt and the issue of new ordinary shares. The acquisition is conditional upon the approval of the UTV shareholders in a general meeting.
Communicorp had to sell the station to go ahead with its purchase of Emap's Irish radio stations Today FM and Donegal station Highland Radio and had been in negotiations with a number of potential buyers before UTV stepped into the bidding at the last moment (See RNW Dec 15).
UTV in its news release concerning the purchase noted that FM104 has a 26% share in Dublin listening in its key 15-34 year old age group and a 12.5% share of all adults with a weekly market reach of 31%, second only to RTÉ Radio 1.
UTV also announced arrangements for the placing of 2.74 million new five pence ordinary shares through Goodbody Stockbrokers and Numis Securities Limited. Funds raised would be used for the acquisition or, if it does not go through, for further investment opportunities or for general corporate purposes.
In terms of its business it says its directors remain positive about its UK radio business "which has experienced significant growth since the acquisition of the