March 2008 Archive
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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 March comment - "The satellite radio Merger - What Now?" considers what conditions the FCC might impose to approve.
RNW February comment - Performance Royalties - Principle, Practice and Fairness - considers the call for performance royalties to apply to US terrestrial radio. In principle it must, in practice nobody gains from putting radio out of business and in fairness the currently proposed charges are too high.
RNW January comment - Digital - What's the point? We consider digital and conclude that the best approach would be for the US to provide DAB/DRM spectrum and let the market decide whether HD dies or -preferably in our view - ends up a licence-free system thus providing incentives for development of a true worldwide analogue/digital receiver and expanding consumer choice everywhere.
2008-03-31: GCap Media, currently the UK's largest radio group, has accepted a GBP 375 million (USD 744 million - 225 pence per share) takeover bid from Global Radio, the privately held company backed by tycoons JP McManus and John Magnier.
The agreement - the bid is formally from Global's subsidiary Global Radio Acquisitions Ltd - was announced at 18:05 BST, a little over an hour after the takeover panel had extended today's 1700 BST deadline for a bid by another 24 hours and represents an 86% premium on the value of GCap shares on January 4, the day before Global announced that it had approached the GCap board; of 18% on the 190 pence per share Global first offered; and of 12% on the average closing price of 201 pence for GCap in the year to January 4.
It later raised this to 202 pence and after both these bids were rejected increased the bid to a conditional 225 pence per share. The Takeover Panel, which had initially put a March 5 "put up or shut up" deadline on Global's approach later extended the dealing to 17:00 BST (16:00 GMT) today and then by another 24 hours.
In a statement Global Radio chairman Charles Allen said they were "delighted that the Board of GCap has unanimously agreed to recommend our acquisition of GCap" and continued, "We believe that this is a very strong business with brands and assets that are highly complementary to those of the Global Radio Group. We are excited by the opportunity to build on GCap's position as the leading commercial radio player and are committed to providing the best platform for both our advertisers and listeners."
Global says it believes the combination will "bring significant benefits to radio listeners and
Advertisers" and notes that it directors believe the assets and brands of the two groups to be "highly complementary."
"Through brands such as Classic FM, Heart, Galaxy, Capital and LBC, " it said, "the enlarged group will be able to offer an attractive national proposition to advertisers, providing significant reach in the most sought after demographics across both analogue and digital platforms."
It added that the "enlarged group will be able to compete more effectively with the BBC which today dominates the UK radio landscape. Moreover, the combination of the two groups will create a leading commercial radio operator in the UK, well positioned to capitalise on future growth opportunities in the radio sector. The combined group will have an increased ability to hire and retain the industry's best talent and obtain access to music industry content. This in turn should have a positive effect on listener numbers across both analogue and digital platforms."
GCap said in the regulatory news release that they considered the terms to be "fair and reasonable" and accordingly intended "unanimously to recommend that GCap Shareholders vote in favour." The directors have pledges themselves to accept the offer for all their shares - Chief Executive Fru Hazlitt owns 194,650, giving her a total of GBP 438,000 (USD 869,000) for her holding.
The takeover is to be implemented through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement with details to be send to GCap shareholders as soon as reasonably practicable.
Before the deal was announced GCap had posted a trading update in which it noted the (then continuing) talks with Global and said that on a like-for-like basis it expected total revenues for the year to the end of March to be up by 4% year-on-year and also up 4% for the final quarter.
Within this it said like-for-like radio advertising revenues were expected to be up 3% year-on-year and online revenues to be up 38% thanks to a rise of 48% in unique users.
It also confirmed, following recent media speculation, that it received a letter from UK media regulator Ofcom last Friday saying the regulator is continuing to pursue its investigation into alleged breaches of the Broadcasting Code in connection with the "Secret Sound" phone-in competition run on the One Network in January and February 2007.
Its shares had fallen 2.4 % to close at 196.50 pence - valuing the company at GBP 323.9 million (USD 642.6 million) before the announcement.
Global Radio, which had openly said it wanted to be one of the big players in UK radio, made its first move into the UK market with a purchase of Chrysalis radio in June last year for GBP 170 million (Then USD 340 million - See RNW Jun 26, 2007). It was later pipped to the post by Bauer in the bidding for Emap's radio holdings (See RNW Dec 8, 2007).
Previous Allen:
Previous GCap Media:
Previous Global Radio:
Previous Hazlitt:
2008-03-31: Interep has announced that it is to go private through a "consensual balance sheet restructuring to be implemented through a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization" agreed by its largest bondholders - funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and Silver Point Capital, L.P.
In the filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York Interep says the deal will allow it to eliminate all its cash-pay indebtedness - Oaktree and Silver Point held nearly all of the bonds that were to be paid at the end of June.
In all nearly USD 100 million of debt will be converted to USD 40 million of no cash interest debt and Oaktree and Silver Point have also agreed to provide Interep with a new USD 25 million credit facility.
Interep says its customers will not be affected by the move and commitments will be honoured and its CEO and vice-chairman David Kennedy added in a release, "The strategic decision Interep has chosen to take today establishes a solid financial footing for the company going forward. With the agreement of the key bondholders, the company now has a plan that will reduce debt, provide the financial resources to grow, and put any uncertainty about Interep's future behind us."
"Today's announcement," he said, "marks an exciting new chapter for Interep, one that I'm confident will demonstrate how a well-capitalized and truly independent rep firm will be able to achieve the best possible results for everyone it serves."
The announcement came as Interep lost more clients with an announcement by Citadel that it is to put all its rep work with Katz Media: As of today 22 stations in nine markets that it acquired from ABC and that were represented by Interep will move to Katz, where they will deal with Eastman Radio, Christal Radio and Katz Radio.
The move means that Katz now handles all of Citadel's 223 stations: Its CEO Stu Olds commented of the deal that Katz "couldn't be more excited to have this opportunity to strengthen our long-term relationship" and added, "We have made great strides together and we fully expect to have an even-more productive partnership in the years ahead."
Katz Radio Group President Mark Gray added, "Citadel owns a spectacular array of stations in many of the nation's top markets. We firmly believe that our talented sales force will be able to maximize the potential of Citadel's stations by providing the highest levels of customer service and developing innovative ways to increase revenue streams."
Citadel CEO Farid Suleman commented that they were pleased to expand the alliance with Katz and added, "The Company expects to benefit from increased revenue opportunities including new group deals resulting from the relationship."
Previous Citadel:
Previous Interep:
Previous Katz Media:
Previous Kennedy:
Previous Olds:
Previous Suleman:
2008-03-30: Last week was yet another one in which the main regulatory issue garnering coverage is one awaiting a decision, in this case from the Federal Communications Commission, which ahs yet to rule on the Sirius -XM Satellite radio merger, which has been given the go-ahead by the Department of Justice (See RNW Mar 25).: Elsewhere there was a steady flow of radio-related postings.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority has announced a number of variations to the licence area plan for radio in Innisfail in Queensland that adds capacity for two new transmitters - for commercial services 4ZKZ in Tully and 4KZ in Babinda - and also changes the transmitter site for United Christian Broadcasters' high power open narrowcasting service at Tully.
In addition, at the request of licensee, Coastal Broadcasters Pty Ltd., it removed capacity for three transmitters for commercial services at Bramston Beach, Hinchinbrook and Murray Falls, and allowed a minor variation was also made to the nominal transmitter site location for two national radio services, 4ABCRR and 4ABCRN, to improve quality and reach of reception.
The ACMA also announced that Australia's Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, is to deliver a keynote address at the agency's RadComms 08conference on the management of the radiofrequency spectrum that is to be held in Melbourne from Wednesday 30 April to Friday 2 May.
ACMA chairman Chris Chapman, who will also address the conference noted that government use of spectrum would be the "key focus" of the conference and said that to inform this discussion, ACMA plans to release in mid-April a review it has commissioned on government spectrum holdings and also proposes to release its draft Spectrum Management Principles and Five-year Spectrum Outlook before the conference.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has a steady week as regards radio-related work. Postings included
Ontario:
*Approval of application to add a 750 watts FM transmitter at Goderich to broadcast the output of CIYN-FM, Kincardine.
The CRTC noted that it had approved a similar application in 2005 but the licensee had said that because of a dispute with the owners of the tower it was unable to commence the operation of the transmitter before the deadline expired. It also noted opposition to the application from Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation, the licensee of CHWC-FM, Goderich, which pointed out that Blackburn Radio Inc., licensee of CIBU-FM Wingham, had been given authority to operate a transmitter in Bluewater to serve Southern Huron County, which includes Goderich.
Bayshore argued that the area was now more than adequately served by other broadcasters and that the need for the transmitter to provide local programming to Goderich, which had been a factor when approval was given for a transmitter in 2005, had been overtaken by events, and that the proposed transmitter would not make the best use of frequency spectrum in Southern Ontario.
The Commission also posted a public notice, with a deadline of April 30 for the submission of comments or interventions that included the following radio-related applications.
Manitoba:
*Application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to replace its existing CBDS-AM transmitter at Pukatawagan, which broadcasts its Radio One service, with a 200 watts FM transmitter. The CBC said the Mathias Colomb Cree National Chief and Council had advised the CBC that the CBDS site is contaminated and they will proceed to decontaminate it by June this year. The AM licence is to be deleted.
Ontario:
*Application to relocate the transmitter, increase the antenna height, and decrease from 43,000 watts to 10,600 watts the power of English-language commercial station CICX-FM, Orillia.
Quebec:
*Application to change the frequency of French-language commercial station CHLT-FM, Sherbrooke, from 102.1 MHz to 107.7 MHz, relocate the transmitter, increase the antenna height, and increase the power from 5,800 watts to 24,000 watts.
In Ireland, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has now advertised for applications for a classic rock FM licence to serve Dublin City and County and the commuter belt. Applications have to be submitted by May 23.
In the UK, Ofcom has awarded six new community radio licences. These went to:
Bolton:
Bolton FM - a station aiming to be an inclusive and accessible station, providing training and broadcasting opportunities for members of all communities and encouraging their active participation.
Grantham:
Gravity FM - a service of local news, information, discussion and debate, together with a wide ranging music policy.
Lincoln:
Lindum Radio - a service for the mature adult population of the City of Lincoln.
Manchester:
Peace FM - a station for the African Caribbean community of Manchester covering Moss Side and surrounding districts of central Manchester.
North Manchester FM - a station serving north Manchester that says it will be a catalyst for improving the quality of life in the area with new skills, boosted community pride and more effective relationships between residents and the agencies that serve them
Newark on Trent:
Boundary Sound - community radio service for Newark and the surrounding villages in North Nottinghamshire.
In the US as noted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will now be the arbiter of any conditions to be imposed on a merged US satellite radio industry following a go-ahead from the Department of Justice.
Apart from that it had a fairly quiet week as regards radio although in New York State it announced a consent decree involving payment of USD 20,000 with Bilbat Radio Inc., licensee of WHHO-AM and WKPQ-FM, Hornell, in relation to public file shortcomings.
In addition to the penalty of USD 10,000 per station, Bilbat also agreed to implement a compliance plan to ensure it met Public File Rules that would include audits of the stations' public files for three years. The licences were renewed.
In Kansas the FCC dismissed a complaint against Cowley County Broadcasting, Inc., licensee of KSOKAM, Arkansas City, and KSOK-FM, Winfield, which alleged numerous rule violations and urged a field inspection. Complainant Bill Westlund had said that the stations were possibly violating Equal Employment Opportunity rules but did not provide specific details and this complaint was dismissed. Other allegations relating to Emergency Alert System and tower lighting, said the commission, will be considered by its appropriate offices.
In Texas it admonished Entravision's stations KFRQ-FM, Harlingen; KNVO-FM, Port Isabel; KVLY-FM, Edinburg; and KKPS-FM, Brownsville, for violating the Commission's Equal Employment Opportunity Rules.
Also in Texas it similarly admonished Cumulus stations KGEE-FM, Pecos; KODM-FM and KRIL-AM, Odessa; KNFM-FM and KZBT-FM and KMND-AM, Midland; and KBAT-FM, Monahans; for violating EEO rules.
Previous ACMA:
Previous BCI:
Previous Chapman:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
ACMA web site:
BCI web site:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
2008-03-30: BBC Radio 4's Today breakfast programme has garnered coverage in almost every English national newspaper on Saturday following an incident on Friday when newsreader Charlotte Green, normally known for her composure and diction, broke down into giggles whilst reading an obituary.
She had just finished reading an item in the 08:00 GMT news bulletin (Online on the web site - just after 2 hours 9 minutes into the programme) about the discovery of what is claimed to be the first recording of a human voice - a rendition of the song "Au Clair de la Lune" said to have been made on April 9, 1860 as a "phonautograph" by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville: The technique produces a recording of sound waves on paper and was not intended to be played as sound but through scans and computer manipulation it has been turned into sound - and gone on to an item about the death of Oscar-winning screenwriter Abby Mann.
According to reports, an assistant editor whispered to her that it "sounded like a bee buzzing in a bottle", prompting the giggles that she was unable to suppress. It is the second time - the previous one was in 1997 during an item about Papua New Guinea's chief of staff, Jack Tuat - pronounced Twat- that Green has "corpsed" - an acting term for being unable to suppress laughter.
In this case presenter Edward Stourton apologised later in the programme (around 2 hrs 51 minutes into the programme as part of an introduction to an item concerning the recording itself), saying: "There were two bits of radio history being made there, and one of them I'm sure you will recognise was Charlotte Green" and going on to say no offence had been intended to Mann's family. Green herself after the programme offered a personal apology to the family.
She commented of the incident, "I was expecting it to sound at least a little like Au Clair de la Lune, just through a crackly gramophone. Instead it was just bizarre. Someone in the studio remarked it sounded like a bee trapped in a jar and I just lost it."
The incident prompted many comments on websites, some condemning the crack-up but most were sympathetic and the UK Times, which also added some other examples of "corpsing" as did many other papers, quoted her as saying, "I was completely ambushed by the giggles. People have been very sweet and everyone has been saying how much it has cheered up their Friday morning."
The comments posted with the Times article came from round the world and were overwhelmingly on Green's side.
Previous BBC:
UK Times report:
2008-03-29: Clear Channel has now publicly acknowledged that the buyout of the company by private equity investors led by Bain Capital Partners, LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. may collapse and has also deferred payment of its first quarter dividend because of the uncertainty.
The acknowledgement came in an 8K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in which Clear Channel notes that it had previously announces that it expected the buyout to close by the end of this month but that at a March 27 meeting the would-be-buyers had said they "would not be able to consummate the merger at that time due to the failure of the Banks to provide the required financing in accordance with the Banks' binding commitments."
Clear Channel said the banks failed to send representatives to the meeting and continued, "The Company continues to be ready, willing and able to consummate the Merger under the merger agreement, which remains in effect. The Company is unable, however, to estimate a closing date at this time and cautions the markets that a closing may not occur."
In relation to the dividend, the company said in a statement that it has determined to defer consideration of a first quarter dividend after receiving a request to do so from Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners.
Clear Channel and the private equity groups have gone to court to force the banks to continue to finance the deal and a Texas judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the banks from pulling out of the deal (See RNW Mar 28). The banks involved - Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia - in response filed a notice to have the case moved from the Bexar County District Court to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
They argue that the federal courts are the proper venue for a deal of this size and also argue that that the case should be tried under New York law since Bain and Lee Partners signed a binding agreement to have legal disputes related to the merger settled in New York courts.
The banks also note that the suit against them was filed by Clear Channel, which is headquartered in Texas, and CC Media Holdings, which is incorporated in Delaware but has New York as its principal place of business, and argue that the latter was improperly included as a plaintiff so as to "defeat the diversity of citizenship" of the parties that would push the case into federal court.
In addition that say that since CC Media is an affiliate of the buyers, who launched their legal action in the New York Courts (See RNW Mar 27), it should have been associated with the New York action and that its involvement in the Texas action was only set up so that Clear Channel could engage in "forum shopping" for its case.
Clear Channel has also announced that it is to defer consideration of its first quarter dividend at the request of Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, a request made in light of the delayed closure of the buyout.
In yet another deferment, the company has also announced that is has yet again extended the Offer Expiration Date and Consent Payment Deadline in Tender Offers and Consent Solicitations for Senior Notes. The notes -for Clear Channel's its outstanding 7.65% Senior Notes due 2010 and subsidiary AMFM Operating Inc.'s outstanding 8% Senior Notes due 2008 - have now been priced (See RNW Mar 27) but the deadlines, already extended have now been put back from 08:00 EDT on March 27 to the same time on April 4 and Clear Channel notes they could be extended further.
Previous Clear Channel:
2008-03-29: Mrs. Ruxandra Obreja, Controller Business Development, BBC World Service has been unanimously elected as new Chair of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium and DRM Association.
She succeeds Peter Senger, who has retired from both DRM and his position as Deutsche Welle's Director DRM after ten years as chairman.
Obreja said of the work of DRM, "DRM is on the threshold of a new era. Thanks to the brilliant work of our technical colleagues over the past ten years, the DRM standard is now mature. The challenge for all of us is to ensure that in the next few years the DRM standard is taken up on a mass scale. I see this as both the biggest challenge for the consortium and me personally."
Previous DRM
Previous Senger:
2008-03-29: It now seems certain that GCap Media's national digital jazz station theJazz will close at the end of this month although sister station Planet Rock, whose closure was announced at the same time under re-structuring plans by chief executive Fru Hazlitt last month (See RNW Feb 11) has been given another month's grace whilst takeover talks continue with Global Radio.
A notice on the station's website thanks listeners for their support and notes that sister station Classic FM is now broadcasting jazz between midnight and 2am, seven days a week in a show hosted on weekdays by Helen Mayhew and at the weekend by Tim Lihoreau.
It also notes that Margherita Taylor has also moved to Classic FM where she presents the new three-hour Smooth Classics At Six programme.
For those who want more jazz it says that it has added a rolling jazz music stream to myclassicfm.com.
Previous GCap Media:
Previous Hazlitt:
The Jazz web site announcement:
2008-03-28: Clear Channel has won the first round of its legal skirmish with the banks financing the private equity partners behind the US 19.5 billion deal to purchase the company with a Texas judge issuing a temporary restraining order preventing the banks from pulling out of the deal.
The markets reacted positively pushing Clear Channel shares up nearly 10% to USD 29.60 at closing on Thursday, still almost USD 10 below the USD 39.20 being offered by the group led by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, suggesting enough cool heads recognise that the order is temporary and that the deal may well still collapse.
Clear Channel unsurprisingly praised the order by Bexar County District Court Judge John D. Gabriel saying in a statement that he "carefully considered the claims made in our lawsuit, and clearly recognized the importance of the Banks' agreement and duty to provide debt financing to the Merger of the Company with CC Media Holdings, Inc. He found in favour of Clear Channel's claim that irreparable harm would result if the Banks were not immediately enjoined from tortuously interfering with the Merger Agreement."
In his order Gabriel ordered the banks not to interfere with or thwart consummation of the Merger Agreement" by refusing to fund it, insisting on terms inconsistent with their Commitment letter, or refusing to act in good faith in the drafting of definitive loan documents.
Clear Channel concluded by saying, "We are pleased that the Banks and the Purchasers will now be able to move quickly to complete the loan documents and fund the Merger."
The banks are expected to contest the ruling, particularly in view of commitments to other leveraged buyouts in a market that has fallen.
RNW comment: In view of the other market turmoil and backing to banks, a ruling like this could have major consequences and it seems to us the implications - should there be other similar - rulings compared to what is in the greater scale of things an unimportant company are such that the ruling may yet be a significant point in tipping the US into recession.
It is only a temporary restraining order but legal decisions of this kind can have major unintended consequences - an example from the UK was the effect on the pensions industry of a ruling on Equitable Life's guarantees that put the company out of business for the benefits of a comparatively few individuals with severe knock-on effects on all other Equitable Life pension investors and the whole industry.
Previous Clear Channel:
2008-03-28: Legendary Chicago WGN-AM host Wally Phillips has died aged 82 following a five-year battle against Alzheimer's disease.
Phillips was with WGN for 42 years and in 1997, his 50th year in radio, was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, He began his career in 1947 at WJEF-AM in Grand Rapids, Michigan and worked at three Cincinnati stations joining leaving WLW-AM to move to Chicago and WGN in 1956.
He was the station's morning host from January 1965 until July 1986 - and top rated in the slot from 1968 - before moving on to an afternoon slot. He retired from WGN in 1998 but in the following year came out of retirement to host a weekly two-hour program on WAIT-AM.
The Chicago Tribune - owned by the same parent - described him as "an individual with a personality as unique and unforgettable as his voice, though both were gentle and calming, in a way that made him, to many, feel like a member of the family."
It added, "He set a moderate but steady pace of news, interviews, commentary and regular applications of wit that seemed to come out of nowhere, that listeners sometimes didn't realize was funny until it was past."
It also recalls that in Cincinnati one station fired him for inserting a phoney item into a news broadcast and quoted from an interview published in the paper in 1976: In it he said, "I wrote, 'All members of infantry company so-and-so report immediately to your draft board,' and I described an insurrection in some phoney country... Hell, they even had the FBI all over the station,"
Chicago Tribune report:
WGN web site:
2008-03-27: Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, the two private equity firms who have offered USD 39.20 a share to buy Clear Channel, and the company have now sued the bank consortium backing the deal, accusing them of reneging on their commitment to finance.
The New York Times says the suits were launched in New York State by private equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners and in Bexar County, Texas, by Clear Channel.
The Texas suit accuses the banks of interfering with the closing of the takeover in what is known as a tortuous interference claim and the New York ones of breach of contract for reneging on their commitment to finance the deal.
Clear Channel and the buy out partners argue that the banks have sought to change the terms of their lending commitments and in particular proposed to change a six-year financing package into a three-year bridge financing loan, something they say "no responsible purchaser could ever accept."
The banks named are Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia and a Citigroup spokeswoman, speaking on behalf of the bank consortium said in a statement: "The bank group presented the sponsors with credit agreements fully consistent and compliant with the commitment letter.
In other Clear Channel news, the company has now priced the previously announced tender offer for its outstanding 7.65% Senior Notes due 2010 and Clear Channel's subsidiary AMFM Operating Inc.'s outstanding 8% Senior Notes due 2008.
The tender offer yield and total consideration, excluding accrued and unpaid interest but including the consent payment, per USD 1,000 principal amount of Clear Channel Notes are 5.277% and USD 1,054.13, respectively whilst for the AMFM notes the figures are 2.163% and USD 1, 034.10 respectively. The offer deadline was 08:00 New York time today but Clear Channel warned that this could be put back.
Previous Clear Channel:
New York Times report:
2008-03-27:The UK Takeover Panel on Wednesday afternoon announced that it had extended by five days until 17:00 BST on Monday the deadline for Global Radio to say whether it is to go ahead with its GBP 371 million ( USD 754 million) takeover offer for GCap Media, currently the UK's largest radio group..
The deadline had already been extended from March 5 to 17:00 GMT on Wednesday and was further extended at GCap's request. In an announcement the company said that negotiations "regarding a possible recommended offer on the terms described in Global's announcement dated 4th March 2008 are progressing and a further announcement will be made in due course (and in any event by not later than 5.00pm on 31st March 2008).
Previous GCap Media:
Previous Global Radio:
2008-03-27: US Internet advertising has now overtaken that of radio according to TNS Media Intelligence, which says that in 2007 total advertising was up only 0.2% over 2006 at USD 148.99 billion but Internet advertising was up by 15.9% to USD 11.31 billion whilst the total for radio was down 3.5% to USD 10.69 billion.
Within the radio total, TNS said local radio was down 2.7% to USD 7.19 billion; national spot radio was down 7.1% to USD 2.50 billion and network radio was down 0.2% to USD 1.00 billion.
Apart from the Internet, the gains were in cable TV - up 6.5% to USD 17.84 billion; Spanish language TV - up 1.3% to USD 4.39 billion; Magazine media - up 5.5% to USD 30.33 billion thanks to increases in Consumer magazines ( up 7%)l Sunday Magazines ( up 7.2%) and Spanish language magazines ( up 10.4%) whilst B-B-B Magazines were down 4.2% and local magazines were down 4%; Outdoor - up 4.9% to USD 4.02 billion; and Free Standing Inserts - up 1.8% to USD 1.86 billion.
Amongst other falls were network TV (Down 1.7% to USD 64.42 billion; Spot TV (Down 10.2% to USD 15.59 billion); and newspaper media (Overall down 5.6% to USD 26.36 billion).
In share terms the rankings were National TV (32.0%); Magazines (20.4%); Newspapers (17.7%); Local TV (13.3%); Internet (7.6%); Radio (7.2%); and all other 3.9%.
The TNS figures do not break down how much of the Internet advertising gain went to broadcaster and newspaper websites and thus ameliorates their fall in traditional revenues nor do they measure online video advertising.
Previous TNS:
2008-03-27: Ugandan radio station Radio Pacis has been able to launch services on a second FM frequency thanks to its win in the BBC Africa Radio Awards in 2007 according to the BBC World Service.
The Arua-based Catholic radio station won the New Station of the Year category and was awarded USD 5000 to buy equipment
Radio Pacis Director Father Tonino Pasolini said of the win, "We would like to thank BBC World Service for honouring Radio Pacis and making possible the launch of our new frequency. Winning the BBC New Station of the Year trophy and the prize money has changed all our lives. Also helped with other donations, we have been able to build a studio and buy the necessary equipment to support the launch of our new 94.5 FM frequency, which means we can reach even more people than before." and
Station manager Sherry Meyer added that the new frequency would enable them to offer programming in another local language taking the total up to four.
Previous BBC:
2008-03-27: Cleveland host Shane "Rover" French, who last month left CBS Radio amidst speculation that he had another deal in the works, is to return on April 1 on Clear Channel's WMMS-FM with a four-year deal.
The station web site is running a "countdown" to his return and has posted an MP3 (18 MB) of the announcement of his return.
This notes that there has been a lot of speculation but the return is true now that he is out of his contract with CBS.
Cleveland Scene Weekly says that the host told it he was offered a better deal by WMMS when his CBS contract expired.
"[WMMS has] a better signal that reaches further," said French. "They really have a lot of resources available at Clear Channel - a lot of billboards, ties with a concert-promoting division - that help the show. I think [old boss] CBS had become a little complacent. And I was able to secure more money for everyone on the show."
French had been on air for CBS Radio's WKRK-FM from 2003 until last month and in 2006 was re-located to Chicago as a potential replacement for Howard Stern. He failed to get the ratings and returned to Cleveland six months later.
WMMS program director Bo Matthews told the paper, "He's the biggest radio show in town. I think Rover's show is distinctly Cleveland, because he is real. [Morning Glory] is like reality TV on the radio."
Previous CBS:
Previous Clear Channel:
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2008-03-26: In the latest Australian radio ratings the leaders retained their rankings with talk stations 2GB, 3AW and FiveAA holding on to top rank in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide whilst DMG's NOVA held on to top spot in Brisbane and ARN's MIX 94.5 did the same in Perth.
In the second ratings since Fairfax Media's 2UE in Sydney introduced its new line-up following the retirement of its veteran morning host John Laws, there was no good news for the company: In the breakfast slot there was bad news for its team of Mike Carlton and former ABC NewsRadio presenter Sandy Aloisi whose "Mike and Sandy" show dropped share from 6.8 to 5.9 and fell from fifth to seventh rank whereas leader Alan Jones at Macquarie Radio Networks 2GB -even though losing a greater share - down from 19.1 to 16.5 - retained first rank.
It was a similar tale in the morning slot where Steve Price at 2UE went down from 5.2 to 5.1 in ninth rank. He is up against Jones - for the first part of the period - and Ray Hadley whose top-ranking share was down 17.8 to 15.3.
For the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) new 702 morning host Deborah Cameron in fourth place took her share up from 7.9 to 8.0.
In Sydney, Austereo highlighted the success of its 2-DAY breakfast team of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O who, aided by publicity stunts - Sandlilands now divides his time between Sydney and Los Angeles and one stunt involved in fooling Los Angeles paparazzi into thinking the 2-DAY team were Britney Spears - took their second-ranked share up from 10.9 to 12.3 to maintain their FM lead whilst Nova rivals Merrick and Rosso together with newcomer Kate Riche retained fourth rank but went down from 8.2 to 7.5. For ARN the the new MIX breakfast show, boosted by Sonia Kruger's exclusives (she co-hosts with Todd McKenney)- with Madonna and Kylie Minogue, went from 4.4 to 4.7 although they remained ninth.
Austereo chief executive Michael Anderson said of the company's performance, "We've put the time, effort and patience into our shows, allowing them to build a very strong base which will allow them to leverage their success."
At drive time ABC 702's Richard Glover fell back from 15.6 to 13.6 and second rank with 2-DAY's Hamish and Andy moving up to top rank from second as they took their share up from 11.2 to 13.6.
City by city, the top stations were (previous % share in brackets):
*Adelaide: 5AA with 15.4 (13.6 OR WAS IT 5) - same rank; Nova with 13.1 (11.8) - up from fourth; Mix with 12.7 (12.7) down from second;
*SAFM with 12.0 (11.2) was up from fifth to fourth and ABC 891 with 11.2 (12.5) was down from third to fifth.
*Brisbane - Nova with 14.1 (14.6) - same rank; Triple M with 12.0 (11.8) - same rank; B105 with 11.3 (10.9) - same rank.
*ABC 612 with 8.3 (10.7) fell from fourth to sixth.
*Melbourne - 3AW with 15.3 (15.0) - same rank; Fox FM with 12.9 (12.5) - up from second; ABC 774 with 11.6 (12.8) - down from second;
*Nova with 9.9 (10.3) remained fourth; Gold FM remained fifth with 8.6 (8.2), and Triple M with 6.0 (6.6) remained in sixth rank.
*Perth - MIX 94.5FM with 17.6 (17.3) - same rank; ABC 720 with 13.2 (13.0) - same rank; 92.9 with 11.9 (12.9) - same rank;
*6PR with 100 - should have been 10.0 last time - 10.4 (10.0) held on to fourth, remaining ahead of Nova in fifth rank with 9.6 (9.8) and 96FM with 9.0 (8.9) in sixth.
*Sydney: 2GB 12.7 (14.3) - same rank; 2-DAY with 11.0 (9.8) - Up from third; ABC 702 with 9.8 (10.5) - down from second;
*Nova with 7.9 (8.5) remained fourth ahead of Triple M, which was up to fifth from eighth with 6.9 (6.2) and WSM which fell from fifth to sixth with 6.8 (7.0), and Mix 106.5 -down a rank to seventh with 6.4 (6.4), and 2UE -down a rank to eighth with 6.2 (6.3).
Previous Australian Ratings:
RNW note: We will update links later
2008-03-26: Following a Wall Street Journal report that said the USD 19 billion private equity deal to purchase Clear Channel had effectively been dumped by the banks that had agreed to finance the deal, the company's shares plunged in after-hours trading on Tuesday.
They had ended the trading day down 5.49% at USD 35.26, itself well below the USD 39.20 price that the consortium led by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee and Partners had agreed to pay but then started dropping precipitously: When we last checked at 17:30 ET they had dropped nearly 22% to USD 25.60.
The Journal had said that the banks behind the deal - Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, RBS and Wachovia - had cold feet and had failed to resolve differences with the private equity firms.
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2008-03-26: Jones MediaAmerica yet again retained top rank ranking in the RADAR 96 (Radio's All Dimension Audience Research) Radio Network Audience rankings just released by Arbitron and covering the period from January 11, 2007 - December 12, 2007: The ratings included Portable People Meter (PPM) and diary respondents and the total sample size was 225,000 respondents- up from 200,083 respondents for RADAR 95. By December this year Arbitron plans to increase the sample size to 300,000 respondents
In the rankings Jones' MAI Adult Power was followed by the ABC Daytime Direction Network and the Dial Global Contemporary Network.
The top five networks in the survey were:
1 - Jones MAI Adult Power, which gained 127,000 listeners to end with an average audience of 6.681 million and an average rating unchanged at 2.6%
2 - ABC Daytime Direction Network, which gained 109,000 listeners to end with an average audience of 6.459 million and an average rating unchanged at 2.5%
3 Dial-Global Contemporary Network, which gained 47,000 listeners and moved up from sixth to end with an average audience of 5,809 million and an AQH up from 2.0% to 2.3%
4 - Dial Global Complete FM Network, which gained 255,000 listeners and rose from fifth to fourth to end with an average audience of 5.578 million and an average rating up from 2.1% to 2.2%
5- Westwood WON I Network, which lost 60,000 listeners and a fell a rank to end with an average audience of 5.495 million and an average rating unchanged at 2.2%.
*Premiere Networks highest ranked offering is the Premiere Morning Drive Network in eighth rank with an average audience of 4.292 million and an average rating of 1.7%.
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Previous RADAR ratings (RADAR 95):
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2008-03-25: The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has given the go-ahead for the Sirius - XM Satellite radio merger, saying that it has concluded that the evidence "does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and that the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers."
It adds that its Antitrust Division "reached this conclusion because the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers for several reasons, including: a lack of competition between the parties in important segments even without the merger; the competitive alternative services available to consumers; technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time; and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers."
Regarding competition the two companies had argued that they competed in the wider audio market and the DOJ has accepted this as well as noting that already because of their exclusive deals with auto manufacturers and incompatible equipment there was unlikely to be significant competition in this part of the market- it notes that subscribers rarely switch between the two services - and that in the retail channel, where there was competition for subscribers they faced competition from other sources of audio entertainment.
The ruling leaves the two companies waiting on the word of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which also has to give a go-ahead and which would have to void original terms of the companies' licences that prohibited a merger.
The ruling was immediately assailed by the US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which has been lobbying heavily against the merger, and which issued a statement from Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton saying, "We are astonished that the Justice Department would propose granting a monopoly to two companies that systematically broke FCC rules for more than a decade" and adding, "To hinge approval of this monopoly on XM and Sirius's refusal to deliver on a promise of interoperable radios is nothing short of breathtaking."
A number of politicians also criticized the go-ahead with North Dakota Democrat Senator Byron Dorgan describing it as "another disappointing example of this administration's blatant disregard for the public interest with regard to media ownership" and adding, "There seems to be no limit to the mergers this administration will approve. These two companies were issued licenses a decade ago to provide competing national satellite radio service. Their license approval included a clause that prohibits them from merging into one company. Now the Justice Department has decided the contract they signed can't stand in the way of consolidation. That doesn't make any sense to me."
Another Democrat, Massachusetts Rep Edward J. Markey, who is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, commenting in a statement that contradicted the NAB's faux astonishment, "The Bush administration has apparently never seen a telecommunications merger it doesn't like. Its decision to approve the XM-Sirius merger without conditions is therefore unsurprising."
Markey went on to urge the FCC, if it opts to approve the merger to make if conditional on appropriate actions "to ensure consumer welfare with respect to long-term service plans and pricing as well as equipment compatibility and pricing. "
There was also a call for the imposition of conditions from the Washington D.C.-based advocacy group Public Knowledge whose president and co-founder Gigi B. Sohn said in a statement, "Public Knowledge has maintained that the merger, if it passed antitrust scrutiny, should be approved with a number of conditions. With the Justice Department decision sanctioning them merger, the next move is up to the Federal Communications Commission. We hope the Commission will act accordingly to impose conditions that serve the interests of consumers."
Conditions suggested by Public Knowledge are that the merged company should offer some pricing choice, such as a la carte or tiered programming; should make 5% of its channel capacity available to non-commercial educational and informational programming over which it has no editorial control; should agree not to raise prices for its combined programming package for three years; and should make the technical specifications of its equipment open to allow manufacturers to develop devices.
Sohn added that it has also specifically asked the FCC to refrain from imposing conditions prohibiting local programming and content protection such as the audio broadcast flag."
The satellite companies had claimed a wide range of supporters in their lobbying efforts and following the DOJ announcement, XM put out another release detailing various organizations and individuals that had come out in favour of the merger together with quotations from some of them.
North of the border, XM Canada, which has just announced that it has exceeded 400,000 subscribers, put out a release saying the merger would have no impact on XM Canada's offerings.
Its President and CEO Michael Moskowitz commented, "We have a strong business model in Canada and are committed to an aggressive growth strategy aimed at increasing our subscriber base and delivering outstanding programming right across the country" and added, "We are excited about XM Canada's prospects as 60 per cent of all new vehicles made by Canada's automotive manufacturers are equipped with XM satellite radios, we now have exclusive NHL satellite radio broadcast rights and we now have 400,000 subscribers. We will diligently review any opportunity that arises from this decision and evaluate the impact on our economic positioning and the benefit derived for our customers and shareholders."
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2008-03-25: Irish state broadcaster RTÉ on Monday bade farewell to its medium wave Radio 1 service with a special 90-minute "Medium Wave Goodbye" programme hosted by Brendan Balfe and comprised of his a personal choice of moments from the Irish airwaves.
The broadcaster was launched on medium wave as 2RN, later known as Radio Athlone and Radió Éireann and finally as RTÉ Radio 1.
RTÉ says the service is being replaced by FM transmissions, which were launched in 1966, and is also on the internet and the LW 252 long-wave service and cable and satellite TV platforms as well as on DAB digital audio in some pilot area but is has been criticized for the switch-off with complaints about poor reception of the FM service in some areas, particularly in Northern Ireland.
Earlier this month it said that Radio 1 was to swap frequencies with its music service Lyric FM, which plays mainly classical music and jazz, on the Clermont Cairn transmitter near Dundalk, Co Louth, and advised people in Belfast, Armagh and Down, and in parts of the Republic of Ireland, particularly Louth and Monaghan, to retune to RTÉ Radio 1 on FM 87.8.
It added that RTÉ will shortly apply for a new frequency for RTÉ Lyric FM in this part of the north-east but that as an interim measure the service would be available on FM 95.2.
Despite these assurances, the broadcaster came under heavy criticism over the end of the medium wave service and the Emigrant Online reported that poor reception was a problem in some parts of Belfast and also in the Glens of Antrim, according to Sinn Féin councillor Oliver McMullan
The Emigrant Advice Network had been leading a campaign to delay the phasing out of the Medium Wave, arguing that an alternative should be in place before removing the last remaining link with home for many elderly Irish in Britain.
Previous RTÉ:
Emigrant Online report:
2008-03-25: Radio One, Inc. has agreed a USD137.5 million sale of its sole Los Angeles station -urban AC KRBV-FM - to Bonneville International for around USD 137.5 million.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter but the companies expect to begin a Time Brokerage Agreement in the near future
Bonneville left the Los Angeles market in 2000 when it swapped country format KZLA -AM (now Rhythmic AC KVMN) for four stations in St. Louis in a deal with Emmis Communications, which traded WKKX-FM, which it already owned plus three stations being acquired from Sinclair - WIL-FM, WVRV-FM and WRTH-AM - for KZLA-FM (See RNW Jun 24, 2000) and its President and CEO Bruce Reese said in a statement, "We are very pleased to get back into Los Angeles again, and we look forward to bringing the Bonneville brand to that vibrant market, with our commitment to quality, values-oriented programming and a long history of community service."
For Radio One, its President and CEO Alfred C. Liggins, III, said the transaction was attractive as it "frees-up capital and management resources which can be re-deployed to execute our long-term strategy," adding, "We expect to use the proceeds from this transaction to reduce our leverage, accelerate our internet strategy and re-commence a limited buy-back of our securities."
Radio One also announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program, running until the end of 2009, for up to USD 150 million of Radio One's Class A and Class D common stock
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2008-03-24: This week indecency again as the US Supreme Court agrees to consider the issue of "fleeting" comments; the future of radio; and from the UK, pronunciation.
Regarding the last we appreciated Roland White's introductory paragraph in the UK Sunday Times Radio Waves column: "If you are about 150, you will be familiar with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This couple were once very big in films. They danced a little, but perhaps most famously could not decide how to pronounce the word "neither". Was it nee-ther or ny-ther? It's a good job they made it in Hollywood, because the BBC won't stand for that sort of dithering."
He goes on to note that Radio Five's Drive recently tackled the issue of radio pronunciation, inspired by letters to The Times and many text messages to the programme and went on to give a number of examples .." a "decayed" rather than a "deck aid". There was even some debate about the correct way to pronounce proNUNciation. Or proNOUNcia-tion. Mischievous is another difficult one. Is it misCHIEVous or MISchie-vous? Or it is mis-C H E E V Y - o u s , which John Wells, professor of phonetics at University College, London, says is getting such a grip that nearly a third of young people say it this way."
He then goes on to give advice: "On this evidence, I have some advice for texters and letter writers. You are wasting your time. If you doubt me, just look at the way all sentences have now turned into questions? That was an Australian thing, right? And no matter how irritating you find it? It's, like, never going to go away? Well, the same is true of pronunciation."
And on the way the BBC Pronunciation Unit decides such matters - "They first consult the latest editions of specialist pronouncing dictionaries (published by Longman, Oxford and Cambridge)" and according to the unit's coordinator, Catherine Sangster, "Where more than one acceptable pronunciation exists - words like controversy or schedule - we advise broadcasters and programme-makers that both pronunciations are permissible. But we will also advise which is more traditional, or might be perceived as an Americanism, to allow them to consider their audience."
RNW comment: To us the main issue is clarity of meaning and in some cases sloppy pronunciation together with distractions can cause significant misunderstanding. That to us is not a good thing - but then when asked about how we are, the old fashion "Well" ( an adverb) remains correct to us, not the modern abomination "good" ( an adjective) that carries connotations that certainly don't fit in with the users' knowledge of English grammar!
On then to other speech that causes problems and the issue of indecency - not to go before the US Supreme Court after the New York-based United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit slapped down the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its decision to change its rules over fleeting expletives after Bono's "fucking brilliant"comment at the 2003 Golden Globe awards.
In that case the Commission's enforcement bureau initially ruled, to the chagrin of the Parents' Television Council, which had spearheaded a campaign to complain, that the comments did not violate its commenting that the word "may be crude and offensive, but, in the context presented here, did not describe sexual or excretory organs or activities."
It subsequently reversed the decision and later ruled against the broadcasters in the case of comments made by Cher and Nicole Richie during two Billboard Music Awards programmes.
The Supreme Court decision to hear an FCC appeal attracted fairly wide coverage and editorial comment including an editorial in the Los Angeles Times that said the "rules to shield kids from bad language are senseless when circumventing them is child's play" commented that the "court's decision could determine how much live programming remains on free over-the-air radio and TV."
It noted that the first penalties for indecent broadcasting issued by the FCC came in 1975 - over George Carlin's famous "Seven Words" monologue (Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits) but there was an "an exemption when the offending words weren't used deliberately or repeatedly."
The current rules remove the exemption and have forced broadcasters to institute delay systems to bleep out utterances that could lead to heavy fines and the paper comments that "The added cost and risk imposed by the rule may be enough to push all live events past 10 p.m. or into the realm of paid TV and subscription radio."
It also points out that technology has made the rules somewhat ineffective - they do not apply between 22:00 and 06:00 and time-shifting and online on-demand services mean circumvention of the rules is easy and that the rules do not apply to subscription services.
On the East Coast, the New York Times in its editorial said the "federal appeals court wisely struck down the F.C.C.'s harsh rules, which have done serious damage to free speech" and added, "We hope the Supreme Court does not authorize the F.C.C. to return to its censorial policies."
Commenting on the appeals court ruling if said this "carefully dissected the F.C.C.'s analysis, which it rightly found to be "divorced from reality." The court also noted that the commission's rules most likely violated the First Amendment."
"The F.C.C.'s rationale for its fleeting expletives policy is indeed thin," continued the paper. "It claimed it was only trying to reflect community standards. But there is scant evidence that the public is up in arms about an occasional coarse word. The words the commission finds so offensive, and so in need of punishment, are the sort commonly heard in PG-rated movies and walking down the street."
The editorial also noted that the "stakes in this case are much higher than whether awards shows can air a few bad words" and continued, "The F.C.C. has used its new policy to turn itself into a roving censorship board. Among other outrageous decisions, it hit KCSM, a small public-television station in San Mateo, California, with a USD 15,000 fine for broadcasting "The Blues," a PBS documentary about the musical form that, given the subject matter, understandably contains fleeting expletives."
It then noted other examples - a Second World War documentary "The War" that was distributed by PBS in two versions, one scrubbed of expletives, something the Times terms "a troubling whitewashing of the nature of war" and the cancellation by another station of an historical documentary "Marie Antoinette" because it reared it would be punished for broadcasting the show's sexually suggestive pencil drawings.
It concludes by saying that it is "worrisome" that the Supreme Court agreed to review the Second Circuit's decision and concludes, "The best thing they could do for freedom of speech and artistic expression is to affirm the appeals court's thoughtful ruling."
RNW comment: We agree with the paper in its concern because we cannot see the current court hearing such a case with the intent of a public condemnation of some of the absurdities of small-minded would-be censors, albeit it would be gratifying if they did roast some of those concerned bodies publicly.
We would hope, however, that the court would not make moves towards censoring of subscription services - we note that there have been suggestions that the satellite radio services should be subject to the same restrictions as terrestrial broadcasters which means that any ruling it may come up with is likely to have little effect other than to favour the business of subscription services. Then there's the internet… are on-demand services to be subject to the same rules? If so, how can they be enforced, particularly when it comes to programming from other countries? If not, yet again, there is again effectively bias against domestic broadcasters.
Which takes us on to a final report that in part relates to the issue: the part relates to comments from a UK Observer report by James Robinson on BBC Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt about perceptions and realities when it comes to the "myth of the teched-up teenager".
"There's an idea," commented Parfitt, "that every 17-year-old has got a wireless laptop in their bedroom and a very fancy phone, they're always on the web and they have Sky Plus on a flat screen TV. Actually, a lot of 15- to 17-year-olds are on pay-as-you-go phones with 80 tunes on them, iPods they got at Christmas but are now broken, and a second-hand TV from downstairs."
In other words, it would seem, the well-off may be able to choose different options and in the US context circumvent censors but the hard-up will have to take what they can get.
On to listening suggestions and this week, appropriately for the time of year, we begin with religion, starting off with a BBC Radio 4 "Analysis" programme "Revealing Religion" in which Andrew Brown explored how believers and sceptics see the role of religion in thought and action: To our ears and brain the sceptics have the best of the argument
Then to BBC Radio 2, which on Tuesday in "Blood and Fire: Roots, Reggae and Rastafari" airs Don Letts' look at the facts behind the religious movement that helped Jamaica to recover a lost identity after years of British colonial rule and enforced slavery
And for yet another look at religious topics we suggest the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Religion Report" from last week - its topics were the attacks on Iraqi Christians; the part played by Buddhist monks in the politics of Burma and Tibet; and the importance and effect of the Christian vote in Australian Federal politics where it appears that this played a decisive role in Kevin Rudd's defeat of John Howard.
Also from the ABC we suggest the last two weeks of "Spirit of Things" - the first "Islam: From Heretics to Believers" in which Riaz Hassan, who has surveyed seven Moslem-majority countries argues that intellectual commitment and activism is a pre-requisite for major change in the Moslem world, and Edip Yuksel, founder of the Islamic Reform Organization talks about the organization's promotion of a modern and feminist reading of the Koran and the rejection of much that Moslems regard as sacred.
In a change of emphasis last Sunday's programme, "An Orthodox Easter Pilgrimage" looked at a coming together of the Greek, Antiochian and Coptic Orthodox churches and Anglican, Catholic and Uniting Church representatives in an event "The Pilgrimage of Resurrection."
Back to BBC Radio 2 and on Saturday the station in "Classic Albums Replayed" featured "Stars", by Simply Red and on Monday it has a live broadcast of "REM at the Royal Albert Hall" (20:30 GMT) -earlier in the evening (18:00 GMT) "The Record Producers" features a profile of one of the most successful British production and song-writing teams of the late Eighties and early Nineties - Stock, Aitken & Waterman.
Then Jazz - from BBC Radio 2 on Wednesday (23:00 GMT) when Clare Teal presents the first part of a two-programme a retrospective on the life and work of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson; BBC Radio 3 on Friday when "Jazz Library" features the work of Dizzy Gillespie plus "Jazz on 3" (23:30 GMT) which features a gig by the Ingebrigt Haker Flaten Quintet from the Seven Arts Club in Leeds; and BBC Radio 4 and "Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats". In his most recent programme the former Chancellor looked at the life of West Coast alto saxophonist Art Pepper and in his next (Wednesday 13:30 GMT) he profiles bebop pianist Bud Powell.
Still with Radio 4 but changing the music we suggest from Saturday "The Archive Hour" -"Wunderkind!" in which Mark Lawson celebrates the centenary of conductor Herbert von Karajan plus the current "Border Blaster" series presented by Nick Barraclough: Last Saturday the first programme "In Search of the Wolf" focussed on Wolfman Jack a focus continued next Saturday when he takes the story up to the point when the Wolfman appeared in the cult movie American Graffiti
Previous Columnists:
Previous White:
Los Angeles Times - Editorial:
New York Times -Editorial:
UK Observer - Robinson:
UK Sunday Times - White:
2008-03-24: According to the UK Sunday Times, GCap Media now expects to be taken over on Wednesday by Global Radio in an agreed GBP 371 million (USD 742 million) deal - GCap extended its deadline for Global to put up and shut up until then following Global's latest offer and said it would "work together with Global to determine whether it will be able to make a recommendable offer" (See RNW Mar 6).
The deal will make Global the dominant UK commercial radio group but the paper says it is expected to sell off stations in London and the Midlands because of competition concerns: It adds that a combination of the two companies would have a 47% share of UK radio advertising that is likely to attract the attention of the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission.
The paper also says that chief executive Fru Hazlitt is expected to leave when the takeover is complete together with a pay-off amounting to around GBP 1 million (USD 2 million) after only three months in the role: The amount is says is made up of a year's salary and bonus in lieu of notice as well as gains on her GCap shares, which have risen some 60% since she was appointed in December last year (See RNW Dec 21, 2007).
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2008-03-23: Last week the main regulatory news came from the US in terms of a spectrum auction, albeit not of radio but mobile communications spectrum that fetched a US record 19.5 billion (Some GBP 9.7 billion - which compares to around GBP 22.5 billion - then USD 36 billion raised for 3G spectrum in the UK and around GBP 30 billion -then USD 45.9 billion -for 3G spectrum in Germany in 2000): In radio terms things were much quieter - and there is still no announcement from the US concerning the Sirius-XM merger.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) posted only two radio-related decisions - a ruling that Perth community service 6NR breached licence conditions by broadcasting advertisements and aired more than 5 minutes per hour of sponsorship announcements and the other a proposal to expand radio services in the Maryborough and Kyneton areas of Victoria.
In the first case Curtin University of Technology, the licensee, has now ended its practice of broadcasting sponsors live to air and now pre-records all interviews with sponsors, thus allowing it to accurately time-limit sponsorship announcements and also to ensure that the appropriate 'tag' is placed at the end of each sponsorship announcement. The ACMA considered the action taken was sufficient and took no further action itself.
In Victoria, the ACMA is proposing to make a new community radio service available for the Maryborough area of Victoria and to extend the licence area of community station 3CH Kyneton.
It notes that in Maryborough Strengthening Goldfields Community Radio (SGCR) has been operating on a temporary community broadcasting licence and has now has expressed interest in obtaining a permanent community licence.
The ACMA is also proposing, following a request from the station, to move the transmitter of community radio service 3CH Kyneton to a new site at Mt Macedon and extend the licence area to encompass the entire Macedon Ranges Shire, to include the townships of Woodend, Macedon, Romsey and Gisborne.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) again posted only a few radio-related notices, one the approval of an application to use 99.7 MHz instead of the 106.1 MHz originally proposed by Vista Radio Ltd. to operate its new English-language commercial FM radio programming undertaking in Campbell River, British Columbia. The station will also have increased power - 6,000 watts instead of the 663 watts originally proposed.
The other was a denial of an application by Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. for a new 27,000 watts country music English-language commercial FM in Winkler/Morden, Manitoba.
Golden West is the sole commercial radio operator in the market where it currently owns and operates CKMW-AM and CJEL-FM in Winkler/Morden as well as CFAM-AM in nearby Altona, thus meaning that approval of a new station would take it above allowable market limits.
There were again no radio announcements from Ireland but in the UK Ofcom awarded the new Mid Wales multiplex to Muxco Wales (See RNW Mar 19) and also announced two senior appointments - of Jonathan Thompson, currently Channel Four's Director of Strategy and Research, as its new Director of Strategy and of Campbell Cowie, at present Time Warner (Europe) Executive Director of Public Policy, to be a Policy Director in the Strategy and Market Developments team.
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as already noted still has to post its decision regarding the Sirius-XM merger and has also been involved in a spectrum auction that raised USD 19.5 billion.
It also released latest licensed broadcasting station numbers, covering 2007 (See RNW Mar 19).
In addition it was involved in a few enforcement actions and contested licence decisions relating to radio. They included the following:
Alabama and Mississippi:
Rejected petition for reconsideration filed by Blakeney Communications, Inc. relating to licence of CCBL Broadcasting Licenses, Inc.'s WRKH-FM, Mobile, Alabama. Blakeney had filed an application for modification of license to upgrade its WBBN-FM, Taylorsville, Mississippi, and a petition for dismissal of the WRKH-FM application
Georgia:
Denied application by Cumulus Licensing Corp. for review of USD 10,000 forfeiture order imposed for failure to paint two antenna structures near Savannah. Cumulus had admitted I knew the towers needed painting but claims that it did not know at that time that the towers could not be brought into compliance with the tower painting rules: Three tower painting companies determined that the towers were unsafe to climb and me of them reported that the towers should be condemned. The FCC dismissed this argument and also, on the basis of previous tower violations by Cumulus, an argument for reduction on the basis of a history of compliance.
Mississippi:
Denied petition for reconsideration filed by Rivers, L.P. and for a waiver relating to proposed amendment of its AM Auction 84 application for a new AM broadcast station at Jackson, Mississippi.
North Dakota:
Terminated waiver permitting Triad Broadcasting Company, LLC and Monterey Licenses, LLC to continue a Joint Sales Agreement involving KEGK-FM, Wahpeton, North Dakota, licensed to Guderian Broadcasting, Inc. but denied request by Radio Fargo-Moorhead, Inc. to conduct an investigation to determine whether Triad's JSA of WEGK was a de facto time brokerage agreement.
Rhode Island:
*Awarded construction permit for new low power FM in the Providence, Rhode Island, area to Casa de Oracion Getsemani, Zion Bible Institute and Ephese French SDA Church, who had agreed a time-share. It rejected applications from Brown Student Radio and Providence Community Radio and also rejected various objections to the licence award.
*Issued USD 1,500 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) to Southern Rhode Island Public Radio Broadcasting, Inc., licensee of WKIV-FM, Westerly, for failure to file renewal application on time. It renewed the licence.
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2008-03-22: Members of the SaveWCAL campaign group, which opposed the sale of the public radio station by St. Olaf College, are claiming an important victory not just for themselves but also for other donors to public radio in a Special Master report submitted on March 7, 2008 to the Rice County (Minnesota) District Court that it says recognizes that donors to the station created a charitable trust throughout more than 80 years of support to it.
SaveWCAL has argued that this is the case since October 2004 when it unsuccessfully asked the Minnesota Attorney General to intervene in the sale of the trust's assets: It notes that in his report Special Master Judge Gary J. Meyer (ret.), comments of the Attorney General's view: "The Attorney General notes that St. Olaf has not formally petitioned the court regarding the proceeds of the sale of WCAL assets to MPR. But St. Olaf takes the position that none of the proceeds of the sale are subject to any restriction and that St. Olaf is entitled to use the proceeds for any purpose it desires. Thus, it is unlikely that St. Olaf would ever bring a petition asking for direction from the court regarding these funds. Although the Attorney General clearly could have, and perhaps should have, brought a petition to the court, they have not done so. Instead, the court is left with the current petition, which, in the interests of justice, must be expanded to include additional funds not specified in the petition."
The report also finds that the assets involved are far greater than put forward by the college to the court: It had claimed that it held USD 1.36 million in the WCAL endowment and that it should have unrestricted access to approximately USD 860,000 of that amount with approximately USD500,000 restricted to "Core WCAL Activities " whereas the Special Master has found that the WCAL charitable trust has assets in excess of USD 5 million, the use of all of which should be restricted to "Core WCAL Activities."
This figure does not include the value of the licence itself but SaveWCAL President Ruth Sylte says the licence itself would have been lost long ago but for the support of WCAL donor, specifically noting that in 1924 the station was only saved by donors after the college announced that it did not have the funds to operate the station.
It also does not include the trust status of the building in which WCAL was housed that was built, not with funds from St. Olaf College, but solely from the donations of WCAL listeners.
The parties involved are now awaiting instructions from Rice County District Court Judge Gerald Wolf regarding how the hearing on the St. Olaf Petition and Amended Petition will proceed but Sylte said the Special Master report itself was an important victory for supporters of and donors to WCAL and added, "It is a very good day for supporters of public radio and thousands of SaveWCAL supporters! The report confirms that listener donations and support do matter."
WCAL, which was the first listener-supported radio station in the U.S. and a founding member of National Public Radio, ceased broadcasting in November 2004 following its sale to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)for a reported US D10.5 million (See RNW Nov 21, 2004)
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2008-03-22: Jonathan Spence, the Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, is to deliver this year's BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures, now in their 60th year: They were launched in 1948 by the philosopher Bertrand Russell and are named after the BBC's first Director-General John Reith.
Prof. Spence, who was born in England, teaches Chinese history at Yale and says he is terming his lectures "Chinese Vistas in order to suggest the long view that we need to have when we think about China today."
"China's current options," he adds, "for both good and ill, are intricately enmeshed with her past experiences," saying that in the first lecture "we will reflect on China's most enduring thinker, Confucius, and see how his message has survived countless negative assaults, and why he is being recycled by the Chinese Communist leadership today."
The second lecture will deal with China's relations with Great Britain; the third with "the two centuries in which the United States gradually moved from being a dominant beacon of freedom and democracy for China, to a more demanding global rival during World War II and after." And the final lecture with "how China has slowly shaped its sense of Chinese bodies to answer different needs, from languorous courtship and formalised martial arts down to the demanding arenas of team sports and the ultimate Olympic challenges which she will host this August."
The four lectures will be broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 4 commencing June 3 and also on the World Service as well as being available on the Radio 4 web site.
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2008-03-21: International satellite radio operator WorldSpace has warned that it needs additional capital to keep operating as it reported a fall in subscribers in the final quarter of the year, reflecting it says the cessation of current marketing efforts in Europe ahead of the company's efforts to commence mobile service there beginning with Italy in 2009 and also the continued reduced marketing in India while the Company awaits regulatory approval for its mobile system.
Overall WorldSpace said it ended the quarter with 174,166 subscribers worldwide, 3,478 down on the previous quarter with subscriber numbers in India down 1,827 to 163,075 although they were up 1,065 year-on-year.
Revenues were down from approximately USD 5 million a year earlier to approximately USD 3.8 million in the quarter of which some USD 2.0 million came from subscriptions in each quarter: Net loss for the quarter was USD 46.0 million compared to USD 33.8 million a year earlier (From 89 cents to USD 1.10 per share).
For the year net revenues were some USD 13.8 million, down from USD 15.6 million in 2006 with net loss for the year of USD up from USD 128.6 million to USD 169.5 million (From USD 3.44 to USD 4.22 per share).
WorldSpace said it expects to file its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007, with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or before March 31, 2008 adding that it anticipates that its independent registered public accounting firm, Grant Thornton LLP, will include an explanatory paragraph in their audit opinion that expresses doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern based on its current financial resources.
There was some good news for the company from Europe where it has received approval from Switzerland s Office Federal de la Communication (OFCOM) to operate terrestrial repeaters that will work in conjunction with its existing satellite network to provide Swiss consumers with a subscription-based satellite radio service.
WorldSpace noted that after the quarter closed it had secured a facility for up to USD 40 million of subordinated financing, from Yenura Pte. Ltd., a company controlled by its chairman and CEO Noah Samara (See RNW Jan 3) and that about half of this has been drawn by the Company to date.
The facility supports WorldSpace's preparations for the launch of its European mobile service in the Italian market and business development activities in selected markets and Samara commented. "We continue to make progress in Italy towards the first European launch of mobile satellite radio service contemplated for the end of this year or early next year. We appreciate the support of our partners who are working closely with us to make this launch successful. We believe the Italian market, and indeed the broader European market, represents a remarkable business opportunity for a robust mobile service. We remain confident that WorldSpace, along with our partners -- Class Editori, Fiat, Telecom Italia, Delphi, Fraunhofer ISS and others -- can effectively implement our strategy, once we secure the financial resources required to support it."
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2008-03-21: Clear Channel, which had already extended until 14:00 EDT on Thursday the deadline for pricing of its outstanding 7.65% senior notes due 2010 as well as its AMFM Operating Inc. unit's outstanding senior notes due 2008 but warned that it might extend this deadline and the offer expiration and consent payment deadlines, announced late on Thursday that it was indeed extending them all.
The new pricing deadline is now 14:00 EDT on March 25th and the other two deadlines are extended from 08:00 EDT on Math 24 to 08:00 EDT on March 27, again with the caveat that they could be further extended.
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2008-03-21: BBC Radio Devon has chosen an unusual way of marking its 25th year on air - it is inviting listeners to reveal their favourite walks in the county as past of a "25 Walks For 25 Years anniversary project."
Reporter Jo Bishop, who walked 460 miles around the entire Devon border in 2003 for the Chestnut Appeal and raised GBP 17,000 (USD 34,000) for prostate cancer, is coordinating the project and c9mmented, Devon has a wealth of possibilities and I'm sure our listeners know where some of the gems are. All we need them to do is send us the details and then we'll feature the top 25 on air."
She and her dog Bella will walk some of the suggested routes with the nominees themselves and highlights of the walks will be featured on Pippa Quelch's Saturday Breakfast Show from 22 March to 6 September: Guides to all the 25 best walks will be posted on the station website.
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2008-03-20: After two days of fluctuations that had seen its price fall as low as USD 31.22 and touch USD 36.00, Clear Channel stock ended Wednesday at USD 32.60, again suggesting that the market is not confidents its takeover by a private equity group led by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners will go to completion at the agreed USD 39.20 price or even at all because of recent credit market problems..
In another move linked to the deal, Clear Channel has extended by two days until 14:00 EDT today the date on which the pricing for its outstanding 7.65% senior notes due 2010 as well as its AMFM Operating Inc. unit's outstanding senior notes due 2008 will be set. It also extended by two days - to 08:00 EDT on March 24, the consent payment deadline to 08:00 EDT and says both deadlines could be extended further.
Clear Channel noted that as of March 18 when it announced the extension approximately 87 percent of the AMFM Notes have been validly tendered and not withdrawn and approximately 98 percent of the CCU Notes have been validly tendered and not withdrawn.
In other US radio business, Westwood One has announced the closing of the sale of 7.14 million shares for USD 12.5 million ( USD 1.75 per share) to Gores Radio Holdings Ltd., the second part of an investment announced last month (See RNW Feb 25): It closed on a similar purchase of shares earlier this month when it announced the completion of its agreement with CBS Radio (See RNW Mar 4). Gores now holds 14.3 million shares in Westwood One. Gores is to invest up to USD 100 million in Westwood.
The price compares to a range of USD 1.82 to USD 2.00 reported by Westwood One Chairman Norman J. Pattiz in a filing related to his purchase of 84,000 shares in the company (The shares have traded between USD 1.80 and USD 2.00 so far this week).
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2008-03-20: Xfm has announced that MTV presenter and former Key 103 and Galaxy 102 DJ Jo Good is to host its afternoon show from next Tuesday following a decision by parent GCap Media to re-introduce daytime DJs to the station.
The return of DJs was announced earlier this month and the station has already said Alex Zane will host breakfast, current drive time host Rick Shaw will move to an 09:00 to 13:00 morning slot and Dave Berry will take over the weekday drive time show (See RNW Mar 7).
DJs were dropped in May last year in a switch to an Xu format featuring music chosen by listeners (See RNW May 18, 2007).
In other UK radio news Andrea Vidler, managing director of Magic FM in London, has been made chief marketing officers for its parent Bauer Consumer Media. She will take up the new role alter this month and will oversee all its magazine, radio, online, mobile and TV marketing. Bauer is to make an announcement regarding management of Magic shortly.
Vidler already handles digital radio activities for its magazine brands Heat, Q (both already on air) and Closer (to be launched later this year on the new Channel 4 digital multiplex.
She told the UK Guardian that Bauer was in the "exceptional position of having some of the world's strongest specialist media and entertainment brands" and added, "This is an extraordinary opportunity to unleash the creative energy within the business by putting marketing truly at the heart of everything we do - integral to the profit and loss of a brand and not a parallel service."
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2008-03-20: Entries can now be made for this year's Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs), which will be presented on October 11 at the Conrad Jupiters resort on Broadbeach Island on the Gold Coast of Queensland. Entries for the year's Awards close on Friday May 2.
In all awards will be made in 32 categories including one new category this year - Best Multimedia Execution, which has been introduced to recognise innovative multimedia campaigns which involve listeners, using a website and podcasts, mobile phones or other multimedia applications.
The awards are organized by Commercial Radio Australia whose CEO Joan Warner commented of them, "The diversity of winners over the past few years highlights the depth of radio in Australia - and this year will be no exception with a myriad of talent on commercial radio throughout the country."
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2008-03-19: US radio reaches more than 235 million listeners per week according to preliminary figures from its RADAR 96 network report just released by Arbitron, a figure more than seven times the 33 million a week who listen online according to another study just released by Arbitron and Edison Media.
Arbitron adds that 95% of adults age 18-49 with a college degree and an annual household income of USD 50,000 or above, tune into radio over the course of a week and that RADAR Network affiliates -more than half all US radio stations - reach 84 percent of this coveted demo and also 84% of adults 25-54 in households with a college degree and an annual household income of USD 75,000 or above.
It also stresses success for network radio in reaching younger listeners, saying this reaches 84% of listeners aged 18-34, 2% above the figure for the 12 plus audience.
In terms of ethnic listening, Arbitron says the medium reaches 95 percent of Black Non-Hispanics and 96 percent of Hispanics age 25-54 over the course of a week.
Regarding online listening the Arbitron-Edison Media "Infinite Dial 2008: Radio's Digital Platforms" report showed this up four million from a year ago and also that there was a strong connection between online radio listening and social networking sites.
It notes that whilst 14% of all Americans 12 or above have a profile on a social networking site, this rises to 63% of online radio listeners and that a third of online radio listeners with a social network profile visit their social networking site nearly every day or several times per day
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2008-03-19: UK media regulator Ofcom has awarded the new Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) radio multiplex licence for Mid and West Wales to Muxco Wales, the only bidder.
Muxco Wales is 70% owned by Town & Country Broadcasting Ltd and 30% by Muxco Limited and is proposing three local digital sound programme services, in addition to BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru (See RNW Feb 22).
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2008-03-19: The