July 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 comment note - We regret pressure of other work has led to us falling behind with our comments. We hope to start catching up on the backlog within the next week or so.
RNW May comment - Playing to strengths! We suggest radio has to accept the world as it now is and play to its strengths rather than waste effort in attempts to stifle competition.
RNW April comment - Imus's demise - what can be learned from it?
2008-07-31: CBS Corporation, which has reported second quarter revenues up 1% to USD 3.4 billion (Up from 55 to 61 cents per diluted share) with net earnings up by 1% to USD 408 million, has announced that it is to divest itself of a further 50 radio stations in mid-sized markets: It had already sold 39 stations in ten of its smaller markets.
Within the results its radio revenues had been down 10% - down 9% on a same station basis - reflecting both "weakness in the radio advertising market and the impact of radio station divestitures."
Commenting on the results President and CEO Leslie Moonves noted the acquisition of CNET Network and of IOA, the largest outdoor business in the South American market, describing these as exemplifying "our strategy to increase our presence in the areas of highest potential."
"At the same time, "he added, "we have taken this opportunity to change our portfolio by initiating a plan to divest 50 mid-size market radio stations. By selling selected stations in these markets we can focus on the larger market stations, many of which are showing growth."
Moonves also said that the company, facing "more difficult economic environment, with our local businesses affected by an advertising slowdown" had "taken aggressive cost reduction actions to manage expenses."
He noted that since the start of the year the company had "been working to rationalize the cost structure in our Television, Radio and Outdoor businesses" and continued, "When the marketplace comes back, we will be well prepared to capitalize on that upturn."
Executive chairman Sumner Redstone commented, "The media business is changing and CBS Corporation is changing along with it, to enable us to expand the reach of our world-class content to fast-growing areas such as the interactive marketplace. I am very confident that Leslie and his team are effectively operating our Company to prevail in the current market environment, while positioning CBS to thrive over the long term."
In divisional terms, CBS's strongest performance came from Outdoor whose revenues were up 8% on a year ago to USD 598.1 million followed by TV with revenues up 2% to USD 2.201 billion whilst Publishing was down 7% to USD 186 million and radio down 10%, as already noted, to USD 416.6 million.
Respective operating income figures were all negative with outdoor down 20% to USD 92.4 million; TV down 12% to USD 446.8 million; publishing down 19% to USD 14.6 million and radio down 16% to USD 150.7 million.
Of the radio performance, the company noted in its release that the reductions doe to lower advertising sales and divestitures were partially "offset by lower employee-related expenses and marketing and promotion costs as a result of restructuring and cost-saving initiatives."
During the company's conference call Moonves noted that its top stations had down well in the quarter and said the planned radio divestitures would allow CBS Radio to "focus on the larger markets that are showing some real growth, thanks to the successful reformatting and programming changes we've undertaken."
The proceeds of the sale he said would be used for a stock buyback.
Previous CBS:
Previous Moonves:
Previous Redstone:
2008-07-31: California lawyer and radio host James Walker - he hosts a Sunday show "Assets and Aging" - has agreed to pay a civil penalty of up to USD 275,000; change his business practices and clearly separate his legal and consulting services following a four-year investigation by state attorney general's office according to the Sacramento Bee.
The paper notes that Walker has made a living advising California senior citizens on how to shift the cost of their nursing home care to taxpayers and insisted that he was helping older people by showing them how to qualify for Medi-Cal, the state's insurance program for the poor: State officials however argued that Walker abused the system by, among other things, helping relatively wealthy seniors file false claims for Medi-Cal benefits.
The paper quoted a number of "elder advocates" on the issue of financial advisers who focus on seniors including Carole Herman, founder and director of Foundation for Aiding the Elderly in Sacramento. WHO said she has had five complaints related to Walker's business, Prescott Cole, an attorney for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said Walker's "celebrity" status as a syndicated talk show radio host in Northern California gives him undeserved credibility.
He charges up to USD 20,000 for "something that is available at a fraction of the cost" from other lawyers and agencies, Cole said.
Walker, says the paper, admitted to no wrongdoing but said he agreed to the settlement to prevent further legal action
Sacramento Bee report:
2008-07-30: Clear Channel Communications has announced the completion of its buyout by private equity groups led by Bain Capital Partners, LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P, in a transaction valued at a total USD 24 billion and its subsequent delisting from the New York Stock Exchange as of close of business today.
The deal was approved at a special shareholders meeting on July 24 and under it stockholders with either receive USD 36 in cash for each share they hold or a share of CC Media Class A common stock for each share of Clear Channel common stock held: CC Media Holdings, Inc., is the corporation formed by Bain and Lee for the deal.
In a release Clear Channel Communications, Inc. CEO Mark Mays said it was "great day for our loyal and patient shareholders and, importantly, puts our company in the financial and operational position to continue to lead beneficial change in both of our core businesses."
He added, "We are deeply grateful to our loyal employees who have remained focused and generated terrific results through their hard work and dedication."
Scott Sperling, Co-President of Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. said they were pleased to have closed the acquisition and added, "Clear Channel's strong leadership position in the radio and outdoor advertising business provides advertisers with an unparalleled platform from which to cost effectively reach their target audiences locally and nationwide. We look forward to working with our management partners to continue building this great company."
John Connaughton, a Managing Director at Bain Capital, added, "We are very happy to have completed the purchase of Clear Channel: We continue to be impressed with the company's strong management team and its leadership position across its markets and media formats."
In a separate announcement, Clear Channel has announced the expiration and final results of its previously announced tender offer for its subsidiary AMFM Operating Inc.'s outstanding 8% Senior Notes due 2008.
The tender offer and consent payment deadline expired at 8:00 a.m. New York City time today and the aggregate principal amount of the Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) was USD 639 million, representing approximately 99.12% of outstanding Notes.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Mark Mays:
2008-07-30: UK media regulator Ofcom has fined the BBC a total of GBP 400,000 (USD 792,000) - a record penalty on the Corporation - for breaches of its code concerning fair conduct of competitions: The Corporation was found to have faked winners and misled its audience in relation to four TV programmes and four radio shows.
Of the total GBP 175,000 (USD 347,000) was for the TV breaches and the remaining 225,000 for the radio breaches including the two largest penalties of GBP 115,000 (USD 228,000) for breaches on the Liz Kershaw Show on BBC 6 Music over the period from July 25, 2005 to Jan 6, 2006 and GBP 75,000 (USD 149,000) for breaches on the Jo Whiley Show on BBC Radio 1 between April 20 and May 12, 2006. The other two radio penalties, each of GBP 17,500 (USD 34,700) were for breaches on two BBC 6 Music shows - The Russell Brand Show on April 9, 2006, and on The Clare McDonnell Show from September 2006.
Ofcom said its investigations found that in some cases, the production team had taken pre-mediated decisions to broadcast competitions and encourage listeners to enter in the full knowledge that the audience stood no chance of winning. In other cases, programmes faced with technical problems, made up the names of winners.
It added that it "considered that these breaches of the Code were very serious… In each of these cases the BBC deceived its audience by faking winners of competitions and deliberately conducting competitions unfairly."
The BBC had already disciplined a number of staff members on the Jo Whiley Show (See RNW Oct 3, 2007) and earlier fired 6-Music producer Leona McCambridge, for gross misconduct following revelations that BBC staff regularly posed as winners on the Liz Kershaw show. McCambridge was the first person to be dismissed following the revelations about faking competition winners and the broadcast as if they were live of programmes that had been recorded and the station's head of programmes Ric Blaxill subsequently resigned (See RNW Sep 21, 2007).
The fines bring the total penalties levied on broadcasters by Ofcom and the UK's Premium-rate phone line watchdog Icstis (now PayphonePlus)f or various deceptions over the past year to more than GBP 11 million ( USD 22 million) with the largest being of GBP 5.675 million ( USD 11.24 million) in May on ITV for premium-rate phone line "abuse" on a number of shows and of GBP 1.11 million ( USD 2.2 million) - the highest penalty ever imposed on a UK commercial radio operator - on GCap Media in June this year for running a competition that listeners had no chance of winning (See RNW Jun 26).
In the BBC case, unlike that of the commercial companies, there was no issue of gain, a point noted by Ofcom, which also welcomed the action the BBC had taken. In its ruling on the Kershaw show it said it "welcomed the steps taken by the BBC to investigate, seek to address the breaches and prevent recurrence of the same or similar failures" and said "In setting the level of the financial penalty to be imposed in this case, Ofcom specifically took into account the fact that BBC 6 Music is a free-to-air digital radio service established relatively recently and that audience expectations in relation to its output are, perhaps, not as high as those for mainstream, long established BBC radio channels."
It added, "This is by far the most serious case in relation to the BBC that Ofcom has considered to date" and it imposed a GBP 115,00 penalty - the maximum it could have imposed is GBP 250,000 ( Just under USD 500,000).
BBC management in a statement said it accepted the ruling and continued, "We have taken these issues extremely seriously from the outset, apologising to our audiences and putting in place an unprecedented action plan to tackle the issues raised. This includes a comprehensive programme of training for over 19,000 staff, rigorous new technical protections, new guidance to programme-makers on the running of competitions and a strict new Code of Conduct. "
It then continued, "Ofcom has recognised that neither the BBC nor any member of staff made any money from these serious editorial lapses. Whilst we must never be complacent and must remain constantly vigilant, audience research suggests the comprehensive action we have taken is rebuilding the trust of viewers and listeners."
The BBC Trust in its statement said that it "regrets that these serious breaches by the BBC have led to a financial penalty being applied by Ofcom and the loss of licence fee payers' money as a result" and added, "Ofcom requires compliance with its Broadcasting Code and can impose sanctions when a broadcaster breaches that code. We recognise that the penalty in these cases reflects that the breaches were serious, deliberate and in some cases repeated."
Previous BBC:
Previous Ofcom:
Ofcom adjudications (Page leads to PDFs of each adjudication):
2008-07-30: Cox Radio has announced second quarter revenues down 8.3% on a year ago to USD 108.2 million with station operating income (SOI) down 13.6% to USD 41.3 million; operating income moving from a positive USD 38.2 million to an operating loss of USD 109.1 million and net income of USD 20.25 million going to a loss of USD 75.36 million ( From a positive 21 cents to a loss of 88 cents per diluted share.).
Within the figures Cos said its local revenues were down 6.1% and national ones down 17.5% on a year earlier and other revenues including Internet and other non-traditional revenues, were down 4%. Geographically it reported revenue growth in Long Island, Birmingham and Tulsa but this was more than offset by falls in Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Houston and Jacksonville.
For the first six months revenues are down 5.8% to USD 206 million ; SOI was down 9.5% to USD 77.45 million; an operating profit of USD 66.3 million went to a loss of USD 84 million and net income of USD 33.8 million went to a loss of USD 62.5 million ( from a positive 35 cents to a negative 72 cents per diluted share).
Commenting on the figures, President and CEO Robert F. Neil said, "During the second quarter we continued to execute our strategy in the face of a difficult advertising market and slowing economy. Our radio stations are performing well from an audience perspective, our sales teams are working aggressively to attract advertisers and we are making considerable progress in strengthening and expanding our digital media presence. Given the current environment, we are focused on more aggressively controlling our costs, but continue to make strategic investments in programming and marketing where appropriate. Further, our balance sheet remains exceptionally strong; and during the quarter, we continued to execute on our share repurchase program."
Cox noted that as of the end of June it had implemented three share repurchase programmes and had bought a total of approximately 16.2 million shares for a total of around USD 210 million of which 1.6 million shares were bought during the second quarter for around USD 18.6 million. Around USD 90 million remains authorized for repurchases.
Previous Cox Radio:
Previous Neil:
2008-07-30: Jonathan Arendt and Richard Johnson , the owners of Seven Broadcast, which owned 5% of CanWest's Original 106.5 in Bristol has bought the remaining 95% in a similar move to their purchase of Original 106 FM in Aberdeen earlier this month where they had also held 5%.
As in Aberdeen the station will continue to operate using the Original brand name under a licence agreement and will retain its format.
The takeover, which was completed on Tuesday, leaves CanWest with just one UK station, the Original Solent regional station whose licence was the first to be awarded to a foreign company.
Seven Broadcasting, had a launch consultancy contract for the Solent station for which Johnson was the managing director when it was launched. No comment has so far been made as to whether the duo is also to bid for the this station.
Previous CanWest:
2008-07-30: Both Sirius and XM's Canadian satellite partners say that they are evaluating the implications of the merger of their US counterparts but that for the moment they will continue operations as normal.
Sirius Canada says there will be no disruption to services or changes to subscription plans for now and its President and CEO Mark Redmond said there would be no immediate impact on its business.
Sirius Canada leads in the Canadian market with some 750,000 subscribers and claims to have taken an 82% retail market share in May and June.
Canadian Satellite Radio, the XM Canada operator, said it was reviewing all its options and XM Canada President and CEO Michael Moskowitz "said it was in "strong strategic position to maximize any opportunities that arise for the enhanced benefit of our shareholders and customers."
Both companies say they will provide further comment if and when there are any new developments.
In other Canadian radio news, Newfoundland Capital Corporation has announced that its Newcap subsidiary has agreed a CAD 18.95 million (USD 18.51 million) purchase of 12 FM stations in Ontario from Haliburton Broadcasting Group Inc...
President and Chief Executive Officer Rob Steele said in a news release, "This group of licences is the most significant geographical expansion for Newcap since 2002, and considerably expands our reach in Ontario. It meets all of our investment criteria and gives us a presence in growing markets. There is potential for growth and we expect the licences to be cash accretive in the short term."
Previous Canadian Satellite Radio/XM Canada:
Previous Newcap:
Previous Redmond:
Previous Sirius:
Previous Sirius Canada:
Previous XM:
2008-07-30: In another development of multi-purpose Internet audio and Digital Audio Broadcasting equipment, Revo Technologies has launched what it says is the world's first "first one-box DAB/DAB+ and internet radio to include full iPod docking functionality."
The iBLIK RadioStation is the firm's first receiver in the made for iPod market and combines the abilities to receive FM and DAB and DAB+ broadcast radio plus WI-Fi Internet radio, to take MP3 audio from PCs or Macs and an iPod docking facility.
The receiver uses Frontier Silicon's new multi-standard Venice 6 module and retails at around GBP 180 (USD 360) compared to GBP 130 for its iBLIK Wi-Fi sister than does not have the ability to received DAB or DAB+.
In another development, Roberts has launched solarDAB, which it says is the world's first solar-powered digital radio.
Previous Frontier Silicon:
2008-07-29: Sirius and XM Satellite Radio have announced completion of their merger and added that the new combined company is to be named SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. with the symbol SIRI - the current Sirius symbol and corporate headquarters in New York although the rump wholly-owned subsidiary XM Satellite Radio will remain headquartered in Washington, DC.
The new company currently has more than 18.5 million subscribers and by revenues is the second largest US radio company. Based on subscriber numbers it is the second largest US subscription service and it notes that with penetration of less than 10% "the opportunity for continued growth is significant."
Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin said in a release, "I am delighted to announce the completion of this exciting merger between Sirius and XM. We have worked diligently to close this transaction and we look forward to integrating our best-in-class management teams and operations so we can begin delivering on our promise of more choices and lower prices for subscribers."
He then went on to say that "Every one of our constituencies is a winner" and continued, "Combined, SIRIUS XM Radio will deliver superior value to our shareholders. By offering more compelling packages and the best content in audio entertainment, we are well positioned for increased subscriber growth. Our laser focus on subscribers will continue and listeners can be assured that there will be no disruption in service. We also believe that the completion of the merger will eliminate any confusion that has been lingering in the marketplace."
Regarding services to be offered by the new combined company, Karmazin stressed the ability to offer a "Best of Both" service, adding, "Given the respective popularity of exclusive programming on both SIRIUS and XM, we expect many subscribers will upgrade their current subscription. The upside potential for both consumers and shareholders is huge. Consumers have the ease of adding premier programming without purchasing a new device. For shareholders, this kind of organic growth is a key part of the company's future and the success we expect to see."
The combined company also re-iterated its financial guidance saying that in 2009 it expects to gain some USD 400 million in synergies, net of costs to achieve them; to post adjusted EBITDA exceeding $300 million in 2009; and to achieve positive free cash flow, before satellite capital expenditures, for the full year 2009. It adds that it expects synergies and adjusted EBITDA to continue to grow beyond 2009 and Karmazin commented, "In addition to realizing significant potential revenue growth, the management team will move quickly to capitalize on the synergies that many analysts have predicted for this combination. We expect to begin achieving those synergies without sacrificing any of the world-class programming and marketing we are known for.
We have all the tools necessary to begin executing as a combined company with high aspirations for subscriber growth and greater financial performance in part from the significant synergies that we begin realizing literally today -- on Day One."
Sirius and XM stock fell today - just after noon Sirius was down 8.5% to USD 1.52 whilst XM's last trade on Monday was at USD 8.71: it had opened the week at USD 9.74 whilst Sirius opened at USD 2.29. XM shareholders are to receive 4.6 shares of Sirius common stock for each XM share they hold, making the USD 1.52 equivalent to USD 6.99.
RNW comment: We can't see a compelling reason, apart from competition - now absent - prohibiting the predecessor separate companies from putting together a best of package had they wanted to albeit it would have cut the number of competing channels they had available (as will any plan to offer this now), nor could we see any legal reason why they could not have created a joint company to handle subscriptions as we rather doubt that many people made personal contact with either company to allow selling to individuals. Indeed, apart from advertising - and in our view the less of that the combined company carries the better it will be for subscribers.
The prime benefit seems to be that the companies will be able to cut programming, programming staff, and also offer lower rates to the staff they have.
Time will tell the degree to which the service is improved as claimed but we remain sceptical and our final regret is that the FCC couldn't impose a condition fining all Sirius XM board members half their salary for the year every time they are heard extolling the virtues of competition with two-thirds off for Karmazin and Gary Parsons (The XM chairman who is to chair the combined company and whose name was notably absent from the news release.)..
Previous Karmazin:
Previous Parsons:
Previous Sirius:
Previous XM:
2008-07-29: QSoft Consulting Ltd, owners of a world-leading portfolio of gay and lesbian brands including Gaydar and GaydarNation, has announced that it is to launch GaydarRadio.com in Australia in conjunction with Australian online and mobile media company GoConnect.
GoConnect already represents Gaydar in the online advertising market in Australia and the two companies are also in partnership developing a gay and lesbian online business directory called GaydarDirect.com and a partnership to launch GaydarNation for the Chinese market.
GaydarRadio is a UK based pop/dance based station that is available online and in the UK on the Sky digital platform and digital radio in London and on the Sussex Coast: It claims a monthly reach on all platforms of just fewer than 540,000 and the station won the Arqiva Commercial Radio Digital Station of the Year Award this year and last as well as taking the Sony Digital Radio Station of the Year award last year.
GaydarRadio.com will officially be launched in Australia on Sep 1 and QSoft says that based on UK experience where its mainstream advertisers include such companies as Motorola, Ford, Swissair, and Johnson & Johnson it expects to attract blue chip advertising there.
The UK radio station earlier this month launched a new schedule in which it expanded its live programming by seven hours a day including a new Sunday morning show and a new Sunday night show that will showcase new and breaking artists.
2008-07-29: This week unsurprisingly the Sirius-XM merger, which finally gained FCC approval, also aroused much print cover with a number of angles covered and we start this week's look at print comment on radio with a comment from Mark Ramsey, the president of hear2.0, who headed his post with "
"Sirius XM Radio, Inc." - What's in a name?
Or, more to the point, what's not in a name.
"Satellite."
Ramsey then went on to make some points in terms of audio generally, arguing that the form of distribution is irrelevant and continuing, "What matters is the breadth of distribution no matter what channel does the distributing. And what matters is the value of the content being distributed.
Good (and by that I mean unique and distinctive) content, widely distributed, will carry the day."
He concluded by asking a question that seems relevant to all in the radio business - "How much do you have?"
Which takes us on to another report, this time from Jeff Bercovici in Seekingalpha under the headline, "A Satellite Radio Giant's Surprising Small Audience."
Bercovici played down the impact of the merger noting that Sirius had reported slower growth in subscribers in the second quarter and adding, "Nearly 90 percent of those subscribers it did acquire got their subscriptions as part of a new car purchase. In other words, they're Sirius customers in the same sense that they're anti-lock brakes customers."
He then went on to comment about their listening, writing, "There's reason to think those subscribers aren't using their Sirius tuners as much as you might think -- not to listen to some of its putatively more high-profile programming, at any rate. The company doesn't release public ratings figures for its channels or shows, and I was somewhat shocked to learn, from a Sirius insider, that it didn't even have internal audience data until quite recently -- just a few months ago."
The data he continued showed some rather low audiences for some shows with some potential consequences for the personalities involved: he commented: "Sirius Stars -- the talk channel featuring Barbara Walters, Deepak Chopra, Candace Bushnell and other well-known hosts -- attracted fewer than 30,000 listeners in a week. Assuming that number wasn't an absolute fluke, it seems likely Sirius will see fit to re-evaluate its talent roster in the near future with an eye toward who is -- and isn't -- paying the bills."
Responses were generally hostile and pro-satellite with a number rather abusive and a number were to put it mildly rather sceptical about his unnamed source but one actually did some maths: "18 million subscribers divided by roughly 300 channels today equals 60,000 listeners per channel. That is assuming all the channels get equal listenership which of course they don't" and another some comparisons with one noting that "18 million subscribers places them 2nd in the World for media provider subscriptions.... The only company with more subscribers is Comcast."
RNW note - Others did take the point in terms of what talent is paid and the ratings it gains albeit none we saw made the point that to a degree the availability of many choices, even if some are only going to be listened to very occasionally if at all, may be an important factor in a decision to subscribe: A little we suggest like having an opera house in a city - even if the only times someone goes is when they have visitors from outside, there is a perceived value in having the option available.
In the Motley Fool, Rick Aristotle Munarriz - who subscribes to both services - looked at the merger in terms of the relative strengths of the two companies noting: "Lost in this morning's preliminary earnings report out of Sirius Satellite Radio and this weekend's regulatory approval to merge with XM Satellite Radio is that XM is no longer the slacker in this marriage."
Munarriz then adds that for the first time since Howard Stern arrived at Sirius, XM had gained more subscribers in a quarter - 322,000 new net subscribers compared to 279,820 for Sirius - and then went on, "One can argue that handicapping the race is pointless, now that the two companies are set to merge. I don't see it that way. These two companies will need to make sure that each company's strengths are emphasized, and for now, that means conceding that XM is on a roll."
He also suggested a strong reason for the difference - "XM's healthier automaker relationships explain the widening subscriber gap during the quarter that ended in June. XM suffered a dip on the retail side, whereas Sirius was fortunate enough to squeeze out a small gain."
Also affecting the figures, he suggested was the way the two companies had counted their numbers - XM only tallies them when car buyers activate a subscription whilst Sirius does so when a vehicle goes to a dealer.
Munarriz also suggests that in business turns the united company should focus attention on each company's premium services once interoperable receivers are on the market, suggesting as examples Sirius's "Backseat TV" service that provides - for USD 6.99 a month extra - the Cartoon Network, Viacom's Nickelodeon, and Disney's Disney Channel into the growing number of cars with backseat video entertainment monitors - and XM's NavTraffic service for which the charge is an extra USD 3.99 a month.
Munarriz ends by saying he thinks, despite many doubters, that things are starting to come together for satellite radio.
For the final comment on the merger we go to Jerry Del Colliano's insidemusicmedia blog and a blunt assessment of the process that was involved, saying "The entire process was a joke -- and a not very funny one at that. In a world where the Justice Department allows almost any two companies to merge, for some reason this merger was held to another standard. It was pure hypocrisy at best."
He then hit out at a wide range of those involved, commenting, "It's as if federal regulators, lawyers, lobby groups and traditional media executives fail to understand that it's over for all of them if they don't change. The next generation is calling the shots now -- like it or not. They have control of the delivery system -- the Internet -- so displays of public outrage like we saw in the extended ramp up to "D" day at the FCC were non-productive."
Amongst points del Colliano made were conditions requiring that 8% of the channels be made available for educational and minority-owned channels, something he saw as taking away from customers their choice of programming; the absence of any condition requiring HD receivers to be built into satellite receivers on which his take was summed up by the comment, "If the satellite industry wanted to commit suicide, HD would be the best way. Remember, consumers are paying for satellite radio -- not what iBiquity wants them to have"; and also the reaction of the National Association of Broadcasters on which he comments, "I don't know about you but I could rattle off (and often do, right here) ten or 12 real problems facing the radio business. Satellite radio is not one of them. Satellite radio has its own problems. It's a small business. The merger is only worth $3 billion and change -- a lot less than, say -- the Clear Channel buyout. The NAB continues to embarrass itself and the industry it represents by strategic decisions to waste time, money and goodwill on Capitol Hill when they ought to be focused on preventing repeal of radio's performance exemption and fighting for fair copyright rates for streaming broadcasters."
As for the FCC he comments that it has hit a new low and notes of the requirement that they provide interoperable receivers..." The FCC required this of the satellite industry when it gave the green light way back when, but they -- the FCC -- didn't see fit to enforce the provision that would provide consumers with radios that could hear the only two satellite radio services. Now, on the backs of the merger, this impotent body has decided to make one of the conditions of merger the exact thing it couldn't or wouldn't enforce in the first place."
As for the markets the new company will operate in he goes along with the arguments about competition from other audio providers that Sirius and XM made when pushing for the merger, commenting, "The DOJ recognized these two satellite companies had greater competition from other traditional and new media -- and boy, will they find out how true it is as the one remaining satellite entity must compete with new technology, a new generation and new marketing rules.
Just a decade ago satellite radio was hailed as new media. Today, satellite radio is in the same boat as terrestrial radio -- maybe worse."
On then to listening suggestions starting with BBC Radio 3 and a note that this year's Prom concerts continue all week with next Saturday being "Stockhausen Day".
Also from the station we note that regular "The Essay" slot) 22:00 GMT Monday through Thursday) this week has comments from four commentators on "Elgar and Religion."
As well as the Proms the station is also carrying programming from this year's WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festival being held at Charlton Park, near Malmesbury in Wiltshire from last Friday until next Sunday and has carried highlights from the BBC Jazz Awards 2008 (Last Saturday. The programme is available on the site until this coming Saturday).
As regards drama we note that the "Drama on 3" last Sunday was "Two Men from Delft" by Stephen Wakelam - the story of the discovery by Antony Van Leeuwenhoek of bacteria, tied in the drama to the 1675 death of painter Johannes Vermeer for whom Van Leeuwenhoek was an executor. It was followed by a "Words and Music" programme "Dancing on the Wind" on the theme of childhood.
Moving on to BBC Radio 2 we opt for Monday night's "Charles Hazlewood Show" that this week featured the conductor with British singer Adem, playing selections from his reinventions of songs from the 90s and including music from The Who, Moondog and Shostakovitch: Next Monday in the sixth and final programme in the current series Hazlewood is with jazz pianist Gwilym Simcock and musical selections include work from Bob Marley, Goldfrapp and Zoltan Kodaly.
The programme was followed by the first of a six-part "Suzi Quatro's Heroes of...Rock 'n' Roll" that on Monday profiled Bobby Vee and next week features Jackie DeShannon.
We'd also note the Friday evening "The Novel That Changed My Life" series that began last week with Cherie Blair, wife of the former British Prime Minister, choosing and discussing Khaled Hosseini's portrait of female suffering under the Taliban in "A Thousand Splendid Suns." This Friday the novel, chosen by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, is Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.
Finally from BBC Radio 2 we suggest next Saturday and "Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel" (18:00 GMT), a look back in the station's 60's season at the summer of 1967 when two members of the Rolling Stones - Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - were jailed following a drug bust at a party.
On then to a look at BBC Radio 4 starting with last Sunday's "Archive Hour" - an examination 50 years after the first "Carry on" film was made on what the series of films says about British society over the decades -the low-budget comedy films were made between 1958 and 1978 (albeit, an unsuccessful attempt was made to revive the series was made with Carry On Columbus in 1992). We also suggest next Saturday's edition of the programme (19:00 GMT) - "The Man Who Invented Stereo" in which Martin Shankleman profiles inventor Alan Blumlein who devised the world's first stereo recording system and many of the key features of television and went on to pioneer radar systems that played a major role in Allied victory in the Second World War.
Then from Sunday we opt for "Analysis" on "Bad elections" in which Zareer Masani considers the relationship between voting and other democratic rights and asks if we are too obsessed with elections as the key to democracy.
During the week we opt for the "Book of the Week" (08:45 GMT weekdays) - "Crap at the Environment" in which comedian Mark Watson reads from his account of his efforts to reduce his carbon footprint; "The Afternoon Reading" (14:30 GMT) - "Further Adventures of the First King of Mars" by Nick Walker and from Monday and Tuesday evening "The Pain of Laughter. The Last Days of Kenneth Williams" in which Rob Brydon explores the complex character of the comedian Kenneth Williams, who died in 1988.
We'd also suggest Monday and "Petrov's Dilemma", the story of lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov who in September 1983 was manning an installation where the Soviet Union monitored its early-warning satellites over the United States: He was confronted by an alarm from a satellite signalling an American nuclear missile attack but took the decision that the report was false and triggered by a malfunction, thus preventing a potential nuclear disaster.
From Tuesday we suggest "NHS at 60:The Cost of Health", a look at the future of Britain's health service against a backdrop of continually rising expectations of it and costs of providing services plus this week's "Music Feature" - "Page to Performance: Delius's Cuckoo" and in the evening "How Crime Took on the World" in which Misha Glenny investigates cigarette smuggling.
Finally an appropriate title to end suggestions form the station - Thursday evening's "Bowing out Gracefully- Down and Out"(19.45 GMT) in which Gyles Brandreth examines how political careers end and how to step down while maintaining one's dignity. The programme features former British Members of Parliament but some of the points made have a wider application.
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2008-07-28: Formally announcing its 3:2 vote, with the Democrat Commissioners dissenting, to approve the Sirius-XM merger, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says it finds the move to be "in the public interest" and adds that it will "benefit consumers by making available to them a wider array of programming choices at various price points and by affording them greater choice and control over the programming to which they subscribe." It has accordingly lifted the prohibition on merger in the companies' original licences and it also noted the separate approval of consent decrees under which it will terminate enquiries into the two companies.
In relation to this the commission said that XM would pay approximately USD 17.4 million and Sirius approximately USD 2.2 million (slightly less than the USD 17.5 million XM payment initially reported) and take remedial measures.
It added that as there was "insufficient evidence in the record to predict the likelihood of anti-competitive harms" it evaluated the companies' application on the basis that the marker was limited to them rather than taking into account arguments that they were in fact competing with other forms of audio distribution.
The approach it said allowed it to "protect consumers from potential adverse effects of the transaction while also allowing the Commission to balance potential harms against potential public interest benefits" and it added that without the voluntary commitments made by the companies - which must remain in effect for at least three years after the merger takes place- the transaction would "result in potential harms" but with them it was in the public interest.
The commitments made are a 36-month price cap after which the FCC will seek public comment on whether it remains necessary in the public interest and decide whether to extend, modify, or remove the cap; to offer new programming packages including a la carte packages within three months of merger completion, best-of packages that can be received on existing equipment at USD 16.99 a month, a "family-friendly" package at USD 11.95 a month, and "Mostly music" or "news, sport, and talk" programming for USD 9.99 a month; to make 4% of its capacity available for use by "Qualified Entities" - - and another 4% for non-commercial educational or informational programming; to offer interoperable receivers in the "retail after-market" within nine months of completion; to refrain from any agreements that would grant a manufacturer exclusive rights to manufacture, market, and sell satellite receivers, to refrain from barring any manufacturer including in any receiver it makes "non-interfering hybrid digital terrestrial radio functionality ( HD radio), iPod compatibility, or other audio technology; and to file within three months the applications needed to provide Sirius satellite service to Puerto Rico via terrestrial repeaters.
In relation to calls for a condition requiring HD radio capability to be built into satellite receivers, the FCC said it found this unnecessary but "recognized that important questions have been raised about hybrid digital radio that warrant further examination in a separate proceeding. The Commission therefore committed to initiating a notice of inquiry within 30 days after adoption of the merger order to gather additional information on the issues. "
It also re-iterated the prohibition on the companies using terrestrial repeaters to distribute local content - programming or advertising - and prohibited the merged entity from entering into agreements that would bar any terrestrial radio station from broadcasting live local sporting events.
Statements were issued by all the Commissioners with chairman Kevin J. Martin saying he thought the companies had with their voluntary commitments met the high hurdle needed to approve the merger and expressing pleasure at their offering consumers more choice, offering part of their spectrum for diverse programming, and committing themselves to open technical standards. He also supported the issuing of a Note of Inquiry (NOI) in relation to whether HD chips or any other audio technology should be included in all satellite radio receivers.
Republican Commissioner Robert M. McDowell in his supporting statement seemed to distance himself from the view that only satellite audio distribution was considered in the vote, commenting that "Competition in the audio market has grown substantially in the past few years. Barely one generation removed from AM and FM radio and vinyl albums, we now have a still vibrant AM/FM dial, full of music, news and talk radio of all stripes, HD radio with its multicast streams of content, mp3 players, Internet radio and much more. When discussing this merger, it is important to keep in mind that satellite radio - both XM and Sirius combined - comprises only five percent of that audio marketplace."
He continued, "Despite these highly-competitive market realities, this merger order is one of the most heavily-conditioned in FCC history. With the obligations we have imposed, and those that the companies have voluntarily undertaken, the combined company, post-merger, will offer several new, attractively priced programming packages for consumers, will open up opportunities for non-commercial educational programmers and minority-owned programmers to gain carriage on the satellite radio platform, and will create opportunities for competition in the satellite radio equipment market, so that consumers can enjoy more choices."
The strongest comments came from Democrat Commissioner Michael J. Copps who in his dissent said the majority's "own findings provide a compelling case for rejecting this merger" and said they had to assume that it was "a merger to monopoly"; that "The merged company will possess the incentive and ability to impose monopoly price hikes on consumer"; and that "Consumers will need protection for the foreseeable future because (a) the merged company's incentive and ability to impose monopoly price hikes will only grow over time, and (b) the emergence of another satellite radio competitor is unlikely
He also noted that the price caps expire in three years and added, "The inescapable logic of the majority's findings is that by 2011 satellite radio subscribers will face monopoly price hikes by a company with the incentive and ability to impose them. No one has been able to explain to me how this could possibly serve the public interest. "
"In essence," said Copps, "the majority asserts that satellite radio consumers will be better served by a regulated monopoly than by marketplace competition" and he also tool up the issue of competition from other audio services, noting that this was not the position of the majority voting for the merger.
"The majority finds," said Copps, "that no one has proved that the relevant product market includes anything other than satellite radio and that competitive entry is unlikely for the foreseeable future. So the majority itself takes the argument away."
He concluded, "In the end, after cutting through all the heat and noise and lobbying this proceeding has generated, we are left with the unshakable reality of a merger-to-monopoly in a market that could sustain competition. I can find no precedent or public interest justification for that outcome. I dissent."
Democrat Jonathan S. Adelstein, who had been attempting to get additional commitments on issues such as spectrum reserved for other companies, highlighted in his comment the consent decrees and commented regarding the violations that their "brazen nature of these violations indeed warrants this substantial monetary contribution and rigorous oversight and reporting obligations" and added, "It is my hope that the Commission will vigorously enforce all elements of today's Order and Consent Decree, but history suggests otherwise."
He also expressed concern that the Commission had not resolved interference issues between the satellite radio companies and Wireless Communications Service ("WCS") in the 2.3 GHz band, saying that it was "completely unacceptable" that these issues had been before the commission for a decade and adding, "The longer we delay implementing rules governing the coexistence of SDARS and WCS, the longer we delay WCS rollout of critical wireless broadband services to rural, unserved and underserved areas."
Regarding the merger itself he said it was inconceivable to him that the commission would "even consider approving such a merger with such a large and serious number of outstanding violations unresolved" and commended Commissioner Tate "for insisting that we conclude enforcement action prior to concluding the merger transaction."
The FCC when we last checked had not posted Deborah Taylor Tate's statement but she had been reported as insisting as a precondition of approval that the companies settle issues relating to their breaches of commission rules on terrestrial repeaters and equipment, the one matter on which all the commissioners were agreed.
RNW comment: Copps logic seems to us unassailable and McDowell's comment shows him to be either rather stupid or at variance with the formally stated position that this judgment was made on the basis of the competition only being from other satellite radio providers.
Ironically it is Copps who is making the market and competition argument rather than the Republicans who have gone for a regulatory approach and appear to us to be putting considerable faith in future fair dealing without having adequate sanctions: After all a fine of USD 200 million never mind USD 20 million would have been a relatively modest price to pay for the benefits to shareholders of this merger.
We'll never see it but the ideal law in our view would mandate for personal responsibility for senior executives and directors where companies breach regulations or leads so that fines on companies also include a percentage of the remuneration of all senior executives and directors - had in additions to the company penalty had Mel Karmazin and Gary Parsons (who will become CEO and chair of the combined entity) personally to pay 10% of the boost to their stockholdings that the merger produced (set by the average price for the month before approval and the month after consummation) we suspect that the incentive to stick to agreements would be very much increased. Indeed we think it would be overwhelming if subsequent breaches could lead to penalties up to the whole of their remuneration for a year!
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2008-07-28: Sirius Satellite Radio in preliminary second quarter results says that its subscriber total was 8.924 million on June 30, up 27% on the 7.143 of a year earlier with retail subscriptions up 7% to 4.677 million and OEM subscriptions were up 53% to 4.247 million.
Total gross subscriber additions for the quarter it says were 1.029 million, compared to 1.002 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 and 1.003 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 with a total of 279,820 new net subscribers added during the quarter, 246,221 from the OEM channel and 33,599 from the retail channel.
The figures compare with a subscriber total of 9.653 million reported last week by XM (See RNW Jul 21) , which said it had added 322,000 new net subscribers in the second quarter and take the total for the two companies combined to just below 18.58 million.
Churn for Sirius self-paying customers was 1.6%, down from 2.1% in first quarter 2008 and the second quarter 2008 conversion rate is estimated to be approximately 48%, up from the first quarter 2008 conversion rate of approximately 47%.
Revenue for the quarter, says Sirius, is expected to be some USD 283 million, up 25% from the year-earlier total of USD 226 million with Operating expenses, excluding depreciation and stock based compensation, are expected to remain approximately flat. It adds that Second quarter 2008 adjusted loss from operations is expected to be approximately USD 24 million, an improvement of 70% from the adjusted loss from operations of USD 79 million in the second quarter 2007.
Both Sirius and XM have also been tidying up their financing with Sirius announcing an offering of shares of its common stock: The stock concerned is made up of Sirius shares that Sirius will be lending to affiliates of Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and UBS Investment Bank, the share borrowers, pursuant to share lending agreements between Sirius and each of the share borrowers. Sirius estimates that based on current market values, approximately USD 375 million of stock will be sold in a fixed-price public offering being conducted concurrently with a private offering by XM Satellite Radio Inc. of USD 550 million aggregate principal amount of Exchangeable Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014, which will be exchangeable into shares of Sirius common stock.
In addition up to some USD 65 million of Sirius stock will be sold below from time to time at prevailing market or negotiated prices.
Sirius says the offering mechanism will involve a share lending agreement with each of the share borrowers, who will sell a portion of the borrowed shares in a fixed-price offering to close concurrently with the notes offering and after this has closed the borrowers will sell the remaining borrowed shares in one or more registered public offerings at prevailing market or negotiated prices.
In addition over the same period the borrowers or their affiliates expect to buy an equal number of Sirius shares - or enter into derivative transactions providing a synthetic long position equal to such number of shares as the remaining borrowed shares sold: Sirius will not receive any proceeds from the sales apart from a nominal loan fee equal to USD USD 0.001 per share issued and the borrowers will be required to return the borrowed shares pursuant to the share lending agreements following the maturity date of the Notes or their earlier retirement.
The mechanism means that although the borrowed shares will be considered issued and outstanding for corporate law purposes but Sirius adds that it believes that under current US accounting rules they will not be considered for calculating per share earnings or losses since they are to be returned to the company
XM had already announced last week before the merger was approved that it had priced an offering of USD 778.5 million of new senior notes bearing 13% interest with a price to investors of 89.93% of the principal amount of the notes giving an effective yield of 16%. This offering it said would provide it with gross proceeds of USD 700,105,050 from the sale of the notes before deducting the initial purchasers' discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.
It also announced last week as part of a series of transactions to refinance certain debt of XM in connection with the pending merger that it had executed a previously disclosed amendment of the indenture for its USD 400 million aggregate principal amount of 1.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2009 under which, subject to the merger going ahead, the interest rate on the convertible notes will be increased to 10% per annum, retroactive to July 2, 2008 (Also RNW Jul 21).
On Monday it launched an offering of USD 550 million aggregate principal amount of exchangeable senior subordinated notes due 2014 that, as noted above, are exchangeable into Sirius common stock.
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2008-07-28: Clear Channel and its Katz Media Group subsidiary have launched the "Katz Online Network ", a new online radio network with what they say is "the broadest reach and most diverse content of any online audio network, as measured by Ando Media's Webcast Metrics."
The network they say "outpaces its nearest competitor by some 300%" [RNW comment: Whatever that means. Is it reach? Is it diversity? Is it both? Or just the usual PR guff that means it looks good and sounds good but is devoid of much meaning albeit indicating an inability or refusal to use clear language?]; will immediately deliver 79 million sessions per month and a unique audience of nearly five million listeners per week; and is also the first "to incorporate independent Internet radio stations with the online and mobile streams of leading AM, FM stations and popular syndicated content."
Amongst radio groups providing streams to the network are Air America Radio, Bonneville, Clear Channel, Cox Radio, Cumulus, Emmis, Entercom, Greater Media, Journal Broadcast Group, Nassau Broadcasting, Salem and Saga with additional streams from internet audio groups such as Accuradio and Radioio.
Jordan Mendell, founder and Chief Technology Officer of Ando Media, said that the network "represents the largest and most diverse group of rich media properties in existence today" and added, " This, combined with the ability for advertisers and agencies to 'cherry pick' their target demo and deliver their message directly to those people, is a truly unique and exceptional formula for success."
Sales for the network will be handled by a dedicated group within Katz's Katz 360 Sales unit, Clear Channel Online Music & Radio and Premiere Radio Networks and Katz 360 Sales president Brian Benedik commented, "Major advertisers and agencies now have a simple way to plan, purchase and optimize the best of the growing online digital audio audience - spanning AM, FM, syndicated and independent Internet radio. Whether it's a national platform, a regional plan or a specific geo-targeted campaign, the Katz Online Network can be customized to any advertiser's audio needs."
Evan Harrison, executive vice president of Clear Channel Radio and head of the company's Online Music & Radio unit, added, "For the last four years, we have enabled local and national advertisers across recruitment, retail, education, beverages, travel, auto and other categories to reach the highly sought-after at-work audience. The need for an efficient national solution to reach a wider audience has been clear. With the Katz Online Network, combined with the diagnostics Ando offers, we will deliver just that."
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2008-07-27: Last week the main regulator news was the approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the Sirius- XM merger by a 3-2 Republican-Democrat vote (See RNW Jul 26): Elsewhere there were no major decisions and only a few radio-related postings.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) posted only one radio-related notice and that was more in the nature of a correction of media reports that it had decided not to renew the temporary community broadcasting licence of Cobar Community Radio Inc (CCR), because it "does not meet the minimum requirements for local programming" than a licensing decision as such.
The ACMA noted that CCR- 2HOT FM- held a temporary community broadcasting licence to provide a service to Cobar, New South Wales, for the period 22 January 2008 to 21 July 2008 and that when in June it called for applications for temporary use of the 102.9 MHz frequency in the Cobar RA2 licence area from 22 July 2008 onwards it had written to CCR to invite it to apply for a further temporary licence.
CCR had told the ACMA it did not intend to do so and no other applications were received, so the ACMA announced that use of the frequency would lapse after the 2HOT temporary community broadcasting licence expired.
CCR had previously operated under a long-term licence that expired on Jan 21 this year but this was not renewed after the ACMA found that the licensee had not adequately identified the needs of the community and that its service did not adequately meet the needs of the Cobar licence area.
The ACMA also noted the current status of community broadcasting in the country where at the end of June there were 353 long-term community radio broadcasting licences, of which 78 were remote Indigenous broadcasting services (RIBS) and 52 temporary community broadcasting licences. It noted that 18 community radio licences had been renewed with remedial actions, 1 where additional conditions were imposed and 17 with agreed measures and that 11 licences not renewed, of which 6 were RIBS services that had not provided licence renewal applications and whose licences had therefore lapsed.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as well as licensing decisions posted its latest report on the state of the country's commercial radio industry, noting a 6.2% revenue growth in 2007 compared to 2006 (See RNW Jul 24).
The main licensing decision from the commission was the revocation of the licence of Harmony Broadcasting Corporation's CJWV-FM, Winnipeg, following a history of rule breaches that led it to impose six mandatory orders last year: Even after this the licensee failed to provide logger tapes that were requested from it on two occasions, breaching one mandatory order and hindering the ability to verify if it was complying with others.
Harmony Broadcasting Corporation was dissolved in May last year and the station closed down in October but the Corporation was subsequently revived and an agreement struck between. Franc Capozzolo and the Corporation that would result in him being replaced as the sole member of the Corporation by David Asper, who would appoint a new Board of Directors.
Harmony was then was called to a public hearing on June 4 to show cause why additional mandatory orders requiring the licensee to comply with the Regulations and its conditions of licence should not be issued, why the Commission should not suspend or revoke Harmony's licence under sections 9 and 24 of the Broadcasting Act, and why prior Commission approval for what would appear to be a change in effective control of the licensee is not required.
At this hearing another group argued that they were the true directors of Harmony and should properly be the respondents at the Public Hearing but the commission ruled that they should be treated as interveners and the group including Capozzolo, Asper, and the new board as the respondents since Capozzolo appeared to be the sole member of Harmony from the time that the licence for CJWV-FM was last renewed and was responsible for operating the station at the September 2006 Winnipeg public hearing that resulted in the mandatory orders.
The CRTC noted breach of the mandatory order concerning logger tapes on two occasions music lists and a self-assessment report in response to one request; failure to file annual returns on time or to provide ; inability to provide logger tapes to allow assessment of compliance with more; breach of Campus Radio Policy because it did had operated after cancellation by Robertson College following the September 2006 Winnipeg public hearing of an agreement with Harmony but the station had continued broadcasting but not operating as a campus/instructional station and that, although Harmony had presented new agreement with Robertson College, the Commission took the view that the result would be quite different from the model for campus/instructional stations envisaged in the Campus Radio Policy.
Capozzolo, it additionally noted would remain morning announcer under the plan and had stated that a course he had helped to develop was "designed to appease or satiate the requirements of a campus radio licence." This statement, it said, plus those made at the hearing regarding Harmony's plans for operating the station in the future as well as the business plan filed after the hearing, suggest efforts to adapt a station with a commercial orientation to the regulatory framework for a campus/instructional station and it concluded that "Given the long and wilful history of non-compliance by this licensee, its misunderstanding of the Campus Radio Policy and the nature of its licence and the fact that the station has been off the air for a considerable time, the Commission is of the view that revocation is the only appropriate measure in this case."
The CRTC also posted a public notice with an August 11 deadline for interventions or comments concerning an application by Melvin Augustine, to renew the licence of Native Community Type-B CFTI-FM, Big Cove, New Brunswick, noting that the licensee may have failed to comply with regulations on annual returns and had not responded to its requests for additional information or returned telephone calls from Commission staff. In view of this it says it may consider a one-year short term renewal of the licence, which expires on August 31.
Another public notice with an August 12 deadline for interventions or comments involved an application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to add a temporary 50 watts low power FM mono transmitter at Lac-Mégantic to broadcast the Radio One programming of CBVE-FM, Quebec, because the low power AM transmitter, CBMO, had to be turned off due to renovations to the site made by the municipality of Lac-Mégantic.
There were no radio announcements from Ireland but in the UK, Ofcom has now re-awarded - to Radio Plymouth Ltd. - the Plymouth FM licence that was originally won by a Macquarie Bank backed bid but not taken up (See RNW Jul 23) and also posted its latest Broadcast Bulletin in which it upheld no radio complaints (Also Jul 23).
Ofcom has also announced an extension of the coverage area for Star Radio (Cambridge) to include Ely, which will be served by a relay transmitter.
On the community licence front it awarded four new community radio licences in the English Midlands. They went to:
Hermitage FM (Coalville, Ibstock and Ashby-de-la-Zouch), which is offering to "use radio to engage, inform, entertain and unite" the communities it will serve.
Cross Rhythms Coventry, which is offering a service to the Christian population of the city.
The Hillz Radio (Coventry), which is offering a service to the culturally diverse population within the Hillfields district of the city and will broadcast in English and various minority languages.
Inspiration FM (Northampton), which says it will be a community led and managed radio service that will "encourage and promote a voice for those who are under-represented or socially excluded to provide an outlet for creativity, shared vision and expression."
Ofcom also noted that it had opted not to award a licence to Ashby Radio (Ashby-de-la-Zouch).
The agency also invited applications for short-term restricted service licences (S-RSLs) for Ramadan and Eid in 2009. This year it plans to accept applications over a four week period from Friday 22 August and Thursday 18 September rather than on a first-come first-served basis and will draw lots to decide between competing applications as it has done on previous years. Applications made after the window will only be considered if it is for an area where no application has already been received. All applications have to be accompanied by a GBP 400 (USD 800) fee and will be considered alongside any other S-RSL applications made with overlapping dates for other purposes and the agency also notes that because of a shortage of FMm frequencies applications in the same region may be in competition with others whose areas do not overlap, in which case they will be put into a draw to decide the winning applications.
When applications are to be put into a draw, the applicants will be advised and can withdraw with a full fee refund before the draw but there will be no refund for applications entered into a draw and are unsuccessful.
In other activities it announced the appointment of Maurice Mulvenna, a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science in the School of Computing and Mathematics at the University of Ulster, to its Advisory Committee on Older and Disabled People and the re-appointment for a second and final term of Simon Cramp, a freelance consultant in advocacy and social justice issues for people with learning disabilities.
In addition it posted research on "People with visual impairments and communications services" (A 46 page 395 KB PDF). This highlighted amongst other things the degree to which people were reliant on memory and found changes such as the order of channels on a digital platform an irritation. They had low expectations of service providers, found specialist services and devices to be too expensive and used word of mouth as a key source of information.
Welcomed were such features as audio description on TV services and easy navigation to radio services through digital TV platforms and channel name announcements on digital radio although there was annoyance at inconsistency in this regard as some channels were not announced.
In the US, the main regulatory news as already noted was the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 3-2 vote - with the Republican commissioners for and Democrat ones against - to allow the Sirius-XM merger.
The FCC was also involved in a number of enforcement actions, levying or proposing penalties including the following (in descending order of amount):
*Agreed USD 19.7 million consent decree with Sirius (which pays USD 2.2 million) and XM (USD 17.5 million) over various breaches of rules relating to radio receivers and terrestrial repeater stations.
*Issued USD 9,000 penalty to Sudbury Services, Inc., licensee of KLCN-AM, Blytheville, Arkansas, for failing to properly maintain a public file for the Station. The FCC has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) for this amount after the station admitted that a total of eleven issues/programs lists were missing from the Stations' public inspection files between 1999 and 2003. The station argued for cancellation on the basis that it made an "honest mistake" and also on the basis of its voluntary disclosure of the violations. The FCC noted that it had already cut the penalty by USD 1, 00 on this basis and rejected the arguments, confirming the penalty.
*Issued USD 5,000 NAL to Cox Radio, Inc., licensee of WKHK-FM, Colonial Heights, Virginia, failure to protect the switch used to initiate the generation of the Emergency Alert System ("EAS") two-tone Attention Signal ("tone"), resulting in the activation and broadcast of the EAS tone.
The FCC had received a complaint concerning an alleged interruption to a regular programme on the station with an EAS tone that was followed by regular programming rather than an EAS message or test and that this was a recurring problem. Cox responded saying that an employee was listening to an EAS weekly test on studio backup equipment and was unaware that "a data connection links the backup machine to certain live studio equipment, including EAS equipment." It said that when the employee heard the EAS tone being broadcast the station engineering department was immediately notified and the event logged: It said this was an "isolated" occurrence not "part of a larger pattern" and that it is retrained studio operators to prevent recurrence. The FCC noted that there was no base amount established for such breaches but said it considered the offence less serious than failure to have EAS equipment installed or operational for which the base penalty is USD 8,000 and it proposed a USD 5,000 penalty.
*Issued USD 4,800 penalty to Tol-Tol Communications, Inc., licensee of WILA-AM, Danville, Virginia, for late filing of licence renewal and operation after the station's licence had expired.
It had originally issued an NAL for USD 6,000 to which Tol-Tol responded requesting cancellation or reduction on the basis of its record of compliance and inability to pay. The FCC rejected the last argument but reduced the penalty on the basis of a history of compliance.
*Issued USD 4,000 forfeiture to Friendship Communications, Inc., licensee of non-commercial station KWOF-FM, Hiawatha, Iowa, for failure to maintain and make available a complete public inspection file. The FCC had inspected the station following a complaint and it was unable to locate or make available any Issues-Programs lists leading the commission to issue an NAL for this amount.
Friendship had requested cancellation on the basis that the texts of public service announcements in the public inspection file complied with Commission rules: The FCC rejected the argument and confirmed the penalty.
* Issued USD 250 forfeiture to Muskegon Training & Educational Center, licensee of Low Power FM WMMT-LP, Muskegon, Michigan, for late filing of licence renewal. The Center had requested reduction of an NAL for USD 1,500 on the basis that it thought it had completed the application but found when it visited the FCC web site that the status was still pending a month later and was told when it called the commission that it had failed to "click to file." The FCC followed precedent for LPFMs and reduced the penalty for USD 250.
In addition to the above, in a ruling related to modifications to a Construction Permit for a new AM in Bend, Oregon, the FCC granted the application by Hill & Glover Broadcasting, LLC, which had originally been refused permission to construct three 199-foot (60 metre) towers on the basis that this would cause night-time interference. H& G amended the application to comply with the rules but the new proposal was opposed by Ms. Julia A. Follansbee, who argued that the proposed towers would pose significant safety hazards to pilots using Juniper Airpark, a nearby, private-use airport. H&G had obtained a "Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation" obtained by H & G from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) but the FCC noted that in this case H&G had fully complied with FAA requirements and dismissed the objections, granting the application.
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2008-07-27: In more signs of financing problems, International satellite operator WorldSpace in an 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed details of a Third Forbearance Agreement and Amendment under which four holders of bridge loans and convertible notes - it terms them "investors" - are to be paid a total of USD 18.5 million in interest and an additional amount of approximately USD 15.2 million of the principal outstanding.
The "investors" on their part, as well as insisting on security for their action, agreed to extend the maturity date of the remaining amounts due to them until September 15 and also to move maturity date for Convertible Notes held from the current September 30 to December 31 provided that WorldSpace has paid by September 15 all the amounts due on the bridge loan notes.
In all just before the filing WorldSpace owed the bridge notes holders some USD 35 million as well as a further USD 53.6 million of Convertible Notes and it has agreed to pledge to them by August 5 at least two-thirds and up to all of the equity interests of WorldSpace Europe Holdings ApS ("WorldSpace Europe") and to cause WorldSpace Europe to become a Guarantor of the loans and notes and also to pledge to the extent legally permissible its 65% equity interest in WorldSpace Italia SpA.
WorldSpace last week paid USD 250,000 in the investors' legal and other fees and has agreed to pay up to another USD 100,000 for similar costs.
WorldSpace, warned in March that it needed additional capital to keep operating (See RNW Mar 31) and also noted that 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 and that about half of this had already been drawn by the Company, leaving around USD 20 million available. On July 24 it said it had entered an agreement with Yenura under which the latter would make available up to USD 20 million for which it would issue subordinated convertible notes to Yenura. It also noted that the notes, which would mature on the fifth anniversary of the issue of the first note, would carry 8% annual interest with the first payment due on Aug 1 next year with the rate increasing to 10%.
The current filing seems to indicate that this facility has now been exhausted - it indicates that the company may use up to USD 1.5 million of the USD 20 million Yenura facility to make payments owed.
WorldSpace is to call a stockholders' meeting not later than September 12 to approve various board recommendations relating to the exercise of various warrants and conversion of the convertible notes held by the Investors. It is not clear what the moves imply for WorldSpace's European plans or for its Italian partner but the company's stock, which had opened at USD 2.61 plummeted by 29.3% on Friday to end at USD 1.74 and at one time was as low as USD 1.69 - over the past year it has varied between 88 cents and USD 5.47.
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2008-07-27: Following the shareholders' vote in favour of private equity buyout of the company, Clear Channel's chief executive Mark Mays has specifically ruled out a sale of its international assets and dismissed speculation that the new owners might opt to focus on US operations.
The company had already sold or pulled out of a number of its overseas operations including radio operations in China, Europe (See RNW Jul 18, 2003), and Singapore but retains holdings in Australia and New Zealand, where it is partnered with APN News and Media and Mexico, where its partner is the Ibarra family's Grupo Acir.
APN News and Media had said earlier this year that it would be interested in buying Clear Channels half-stake in their joint-venture Australian Radio Network (See RNW Feb 20).
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2008-07-26: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now approved the Sirius-XM merger by a party-line 3-2 vote with the two Democrats opposing. The FCC is expected to post details of the approval on Monday but currently the time-clock it has on its site regarding the deal, for which approval was sought 17 months ago, is still running.
Word that Republican Deborah Taylor Tate had opted to support the decision came around 21:00 ET ( 01:00 GMT), prompting a speedy statement from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which had been lobbying strenuously against the approval: Its Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton said in this, "Today's vote certainly comes as a disappointment to NAB. We continue to believe that consumers are best served by competition rather than monopolies."
The approval was preceded by agreement by the satellite companies to pay USD 19.7 million in a consent decree to settle various breaches of FCC regulations related to terrestrial repeater stations and radio receivers (See RNW Jul 24) - the figures were a little higher than previously touted with XM to pay USD 17.5 million and Sirius USD 2.2 million: Tate had insisted the charges had to be settled before she would vote in favour.
The Associated Press quoted FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin, who with fellow Republican Robert McDowell, had already voted in favour, as saying, "I think it's going to be, in the end, a good thing for consumers and be in the public interest. Consumers will enjoy a variety of programming at reduced prices and more diversified programming choices."
The agreement does not include a condition that the NAB, iBiquity and a number of other organizations had called for that would have required satellite receivers to be made capable of also receiving iBiquity's HD radio signals, a condition that had been opposed by a number of equipment makers.
Tate said regarding this that she "could not in good conscience support a government-mandated requirement on the backs of American consumers at this time."
Other conditions that the companies had voluntarily agreed include a three-year price cap; adopting an open technical standard that will allow any manufacturer to make satellite receivers; to make available receivers that allow subscribers to choose la carte channel selections and also receivers that can handle both XM and Sirius channels and setting aside 8% of its spectrum or 24 audio channels to carry public interest and minority programming.
They will also
The last condition sparked protest from the conservative public-interest law firm the Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) that said the setting aside of the channels violated the US Constitution's equal protection guarantee: it cited in support of this view a 1995 ruling on a case that it had brought.
On the other hand, Public Knowledge, the D.C.-based public interest group, indicated that it would have preferred tighter conditions. Its president and co-founder Gigi B. Sohn said in a statement, "It appears as if the Commission has adopted in some form all four of the conditions we have been seeking for the XM-Sirius merger. We had originally said that there should be some form of a la carte choice in programming, a three-year price freeze, a set-aside for non-commercial and minority programming and an open-device requirement so that any manufacturer could build a device to receive programming from the combined company" and then added, Consumers will be better off than had the merger been granted without any conditions. At the same time, we eagerly await the details of the Commission's order to see more closely the degree to which the conditions will serve the public interest."
So far neither Sirius nor XM have posted any reactions to the approval.
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2008-07-25: Clear Channel says that a preliminary count shows that its shareholders have approved the buyout of the company by private equity partners led by Bain Capital Partners, LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. with more than 74% of the total shares outstanding and entitled to vote at the meeting called to approve the deal being cast in favour: Around 97% of the votes cast, it said, were in favour.
Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays said they were "pleased" with the outcome of the vote. The parties intend to close the deal, under which shareholders get USD 36 per share, or can exchange shares for an equal number of Class A Common shares in CC Media Holdings, Inc., the new corporation formed by the private equity group to acquire Clear Channel, on July 30.
The share option is subject to individual and aggregate caps and the cash amount paid was reduced from the price of USD 39.20 agreed in September last year when shareholders voted to accept the original deal (See RNW Sep 26, 2007) following lawsuits launched by the parties against the banks involved in financing the deals (See RNW May 29).
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2008-07-25: Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Peter Lloyd is now facing three extra charges after he appeared in a Singapore court, which added charges of consuming methamphetamine ("ice",) and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia to the original charges of charges of use and trafficking of the drug (See RNW Jul 20).
The original trafficking charge carried a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in jail and 15 lashes of the cane and a minimum of five years and five strokes of the cane under Singapore's tough anti-drug laws but the court lowered the amount that he was alleged to have possessed to 0.41 gram and the amount that he is alleged to have supplied to a Singapore man to 0.15 gram,
On top of this the consumption charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail and a fine of SGD 20,000 (USD 14,700) and the paraphernalia charges each carry a sentence of up to three years and a fine of SGD 10,00 (USD 7,400).
Lloyd is free on SGD 60,000 (USD 43,600 bail) posted by a Singaporean friend and is now scheduled to appear in court again on August 1.
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2008-07-24: The Sirius-XM merger seems to be moving closer with the Wall Street Journal reporting that according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Kevin J. Martin agreement has been reached in principle on a vote in favour - so far there has been no formal announcement from Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate that she has opted to vote in favour as expected, a vote that would confirm approval on a partisan 3:2 vote as the two Democrats have voted against.
In addition the two satellite companies have said they are in negotiations with the FCC about a consent decree to settle outstanding enforcement issues.
The agreement would involve a payment of around USD 17 million from XM and USD 2 million from Sirius and in addition as part of a decree the companies say they would among other things agree to:
* -adopt comprehensive compliance plans, and take steps to address any potentially non-compliant radios remaining in the hands of consumers;
*- in the case of XM, within 60 days of the order adopting the Consent Decree, shut down 50 variant terrestrial repeaters, and shut down or bring into compliance an additional 50 variant terrestrial repeaters;
-- in the case of Sirius, bring into compliance or shut down up to 11 variant terrestrial repeaters within 60 days of the order adopting the Consent Decree. These terrestrial repeaters were shut off by Sirius in October 2006.
The US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which has been lobbying strenuously against the deal, has again issued a strong statement of opposition from its Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton.
Wharton commented, "This sweetheart deal for Wall Street speculators is premised on a promise that a monopoly will provide consumers with lower prices, better service and more programming formats. Only members of the Flat Earth Society would buy into such specious nonsense."
He then went on to criticise the FCC commissioners involved, commenting, "Just six years ago, the FCC denied a monopoly to the nation's only two satellite TV companies in a 5-0 vote. Yet today, the Commission is apparently preparing to grant a monopoly to the nation's only two satellite radio companies that in their 11 years of existence have had more luck flaunting the FCC's own rules than creating a successful business model" and concluded, "Historians will view this satellite radio giveaway as an irrational departure from 118 years of antitrust law wisely founded on the unassailable reality that competition serves consumers better than monopolies. NAB thanks Commissioners Copps and Adelstein -- along with consumer groups, 80 bipartisan members of Congress, and scores of labour, minority and antitrust organizations -- who stood against this wrongheaded monopoly. Given such overwhelming opposition, we're not convinced the final chapter of this book has been written."
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2008-07-24: Latest UK radio ratings from RAJAR (Radio Joint Audio Research) show commercial stations retaking a little lost ground from the BBC as the corporation fell back from a record first quarter and its listening share fell from 56.8% to 55.5% whilst that for its commercial rivals went up from 41.1% to 42.4%. In terms of reach the BBC slipped back from 45.397 million listeners a week to 45.117 million whilst commercial companies saw their figures rise from 30.984 million to 31.019 million.
The BBC figures were affected by falls in the breakfast audience for Chris Moyles of BBC Radio 1 - his weekly audience was down by 515,000 - and Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2, whose figures were down by 357,000 but there was good news for BBC Radio 3 as it took its listening numbers up 6.4% over the first quarter to 1.91 million from 1.795 million5.47 million: In contrast rival commercial classical service, GCap's Classic FM saw a drop of 2.7% on the previous quarter to
Overall radio listening was down slightly - to 45.1 million a week from 45.4 million in the first quarter with within which listening through a digital platform was steady quarter-on-quarter but up year-on-year - from 12.8% of all listening in the second quarter of last year to 17.9% this year.
Industry body The RadioCentre highlighted the performance of local stations, noting that whilst national stations took their listening share up half a point to 11.2%, local stations took their share up from 30.3% to 31.2% and added 145,000 listeners a week to reach a total of nearly 25 million ( 24.992 million to be precise).
It also noted that nearly a fifth of listening is on digital platforms, broken up into 10% on DAB, 6.8% through a digital TV platform and 2.7% via the Internet of which only DTV increased it share from the record figures for the pervious quarter.
In demographic terms, commercial radio saw increases across all age groups in the quarter and the RadioCentre highlighted success amongst the "heartland audience of 15-44's" where almost 70% listened to a commercial radio service each week and in the 15-24 group where it was 73%.
In London commercial radio continued to outperform the BBC, reaching 67% of the potential audience weekly compared to 57% for the BBC.
RadioCentre chief executive Andrew Harrison commented of the figures that they were "very encouraging for our sector" and added, "…it is good to see that we have pulled back some of our market share. Our local stations have had a particularly good quarter with increases in reach and share, reaping the benefits of relaxed regulation - our share of local listening is now 77%, up from 75% last quarter."
For the BBC, outgoing Director of Radio and Music Jenny Abramsky, who is to retire in September before the next ratings come out in October, highlighted the success of BBC Radio 3, saying in a statement, "I'm delighted to see Radio 3 recovering both reach and share - it plays a unique role in shaping the national cultural agenda and is at the intellectual heart of the BBC. Radio 4