November 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 October comment -White spaces, white noise! Argues in favour of using the unused parts of broadcast spectrum for wireless Internet as being in the wider public interest albeit proceeding with caution and regulating to as to not to cause interference to broadcast signals.
2008-11-30: Last week was yet another fairly quiet one for the regulators as regards radio decisions with the most significant decision coming from Australia where the Australian Communications and Media Authority is seeking an AUD 130,000 penalty on Sydney 2UE for breaches of licence conditions requiring disclosure of financial interests when making announcements (See RNW Nov 26).
The ACMA has also proposed to make spectrum available to improve reception of the commercial radio service 4CC-AM, Gladstone, Queensland, which suffers from deficiencies in Livingstone Shire, specifically along the coast between Yeppoon and Keppel Stands.
To this end it proposes to allow make a low power in-fill FM frequency available and seeks comment on the proposal by Jan 9 next year.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has posted just one radio decision, the approval of a station swap between Newcap Inc. and Rogers Broadcasting Limited and conversion to FM of the stations involved - CFDR-AM, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and CIGM-AM, Sudbury, Ontario, (See RNW Nov 25).
The CRTC also posted a public notice with a deadline of January 5 for the submission of interventions or comments that included an application by Tiessen Media Inc. change the frequency of its transmitter CFIT-FM-1, Cochrane, Alberta and increase the effective height of antenna above average terrain from - 42 metres to 135 metres.
In Ireland the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has advertised six new community and community of interest services (See RNW Nov 25) but in the UK there were no radio licensing postings although Ofcom did post its most recent Broadcast Bulletin in which it upheld no radio complaints (See RNW Nov 27).
In the US, because of Thanksgiving, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had a shorter working week and it was also rather quiet as regards radio decision although Democrat Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein did post a letter commending FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin for seeking public comment for an inquiry by the agency into Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) ratings service.
In his letter Adelstein then requests that the FCC "immediately open a formal investigation to determine whether the PM ratings methodology undermines the goals of Congress and the Commission to enhance media diversity and expand opportunities for minority-owned businesses to own viable broadcasting outlets."
Adelstein then refers to comments heard "from numerous broadcasters and advocates for diversity that the continued deployment of the PPM in new markets without accreditation from Media Ratings Council (MRC) constitutes a clear and present danger to media diversity."
Adelstein argues that the Communications Act gives it "clear authority" to conduct an investigation and says that the commission has recognized the importance of advertising "in ensuring a diverse ownership of broadcast assets", citing a prohibition last year of "no urban/no Spanish" dictates.
The FCC also issued a USD 15,000 penalty on a Mississippi AM (See RNW Nov 26).
Previous ACMA:
Previous Adelstein:
Previous BCI:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Martin:
Previous Ofcom:
ACMA web site:
BCI web site:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
2008-11-29: In yet another move forward for DAB+, Switzerland's Federal Office of Communication (OFCOM) has started a consultation regarding the launch of a second DAB+ digital radio platform intended for French-speaking Switzerland - the first digital multiplex in the country, using DAB, is that of public broadcaster SSR-SRG. DAB+ uses more advanced coding to enable more efficient use of spectrum and is being adopted by a number of countries including Australia, where the service launches next year, and Malta, where a trial service is currently on air.
In all seven commercial broadcasters have expressed interest in a licence on the proposed Swiss multiplex and opinions on their proposals have to be submitted by December 23 with decisions to follow next spring.
The broadcasters involved are:
ROM Radio (projet lié à Rouge FM)
FriRadio (projet lié à Radio Fribourg)
Radio Jazz International (Monsieur Philippe Zumbrunn)
Radio Roc (projet lié à Radio Chablais)
Maxxima (projet lié à la webradio Maxxima et à Rouge FM)
Radio Verticale (projet lié à Radio Rhône)
Soprodi Sàrl (projet lié à Monsieur Pierre Steulet, en collaboration avec Romandie FM SA)
Swiss OFCOM news release (French - this release is also available in German and Italian but not English):
2008-11-29: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has received a fillip in the fall ratings just released by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) and showing that for the first time CBC Radio One has taken the top ranking in Toronto. CBC Radio also topped the rankings in Victoria, British Columbia, where it was launched a decade ago, although this success was tempered by a fall in listening to CBC Vancouver in the market.
In Vancouver and the region, Corus-owned news/talk CKNW-AM held on to its top ranking with a 12.4% share of listeners 12 or older, followed by CBC's CBU-AM with 9.9% (CBU-FM took 5.3% and was in ninth rank) then CTVglobemedia's CHQM-FM (QM-FM) with 7.6%.
In Toronto the CBC's success - it took its listening share up a point to 9.4% - pushed CTVglobemedia's CHUM-FM into second rank with 8.8% (down 0.1 over a year ago) and Rogers' CHFI-FM into third with 8.4%, having fallen 1.2% from a year ago when it headed the rankings.
CBC-AM also took top spot in Calgary with 10.8% followed by Corus's talk CHQR-AM with 10% and Corus's CKRY-FM (Country 105) in third with 8.8%.
Previous CBC:
Previous Corus:
Previous CTVGlobemedia:
Previous Rogers:
2008-11-28: Allegations of corrupt behaviour by St Vincent's Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves aired by Kingstown radio station Nice have cost it more than USD 160,000.
Host Elwardo Lynch had alleged that Gonsalves used government money to pay for a family trip to the Vatican to see Pope John Paul II six years ago and now the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has ordered the host and BDS Ltd., the station's parent company, to pay a total of XCD (Eastern Caribbean Dollars) 430,000 (USD 164,000) for defamation: The award is made up of XCD 160,00 (USD 61,000) each from Lynch and the company, XCD 33,000 (USD 12,600) for Dr Gonsalves' High Court costs and XCD22,000 (USD 8,400) for his Appeal Court case plus interest on the amounts.
The PM, who says he intends to give the money to charity, told reporters after the judgment was announced that the ruling should be a lesson to those who try to destroy his character, adding, "Don't run a campaign against me based on lies and falsehoods which damage my character. I will take action."
Caribbean360.com report:
2008-11-28: British radio and TV host Terry Christian has lost in his claim of unfair dismissal by BBC Radio Manchester, which did not renew his two-year GBP 180,000 (USD 277,000) when it ran out in April this year.
Christian had claimed unfair dismissal and also said he was under detailed control by BBC management including being given scripts on how to interview guests on his show.
He had signed the two year agreement in 2006, initially working on the breakfast show and being moved to drive time in May 2007.
The Manchester Evening News says Judge Murray Creed, who rejected the host's claims, noted that Christian also had a show on talkSPORT at the same time and ruled that he was hired by the station as a self-employed freelance and was not a permanent employee.
The BBC had denied that Christian was a full-time employee and said the "scripts" he complained of were simply aide memoirs.
Previous BBC:
Manchester Evening News report:
2008-11-28: Malta's rollout of DAB+ digital radio is now under way with coverage once the system is fully deployed planned to offer wider coverage than current FM stations. A trial commenced in September serving more than four fifths of the island's population on the DigiBNetwork with stations involved including Radio 101, RTK, Super 1 Radio, Capital Radio, 89.7 Bay, Smash Radio, Calypso 101.8 and Campus FM.
A range of DAB+ receivers is already in stores in Malta before the Christmas seas including four PURE models ranging in price from Euros 85 (USD 108) for a portable receiver to Euros 195 ( USD 248) for the EVOKE Flow which combines DAB digital radio with Wi-Fi technology and FM
Previous PURE:
2008-11-27: The bidding for the five stations that Global Radio has to dispose of as a condition of approval of its takeover of GCap Media (See RNW Aug 8) has now entered its second round with at least five parties said to be in the race with bids rumoured at between GBP 30 million and GBP 40 million (USD 45-60 million).
Four of the stations involved are in the West Midlands - BRMB, Mercia, Wyvern and Beacon - and the fifth is Heart 106 in the East Midlands.
Amongst those who have declared an interest are former BRMB programme controller and operations director Mike Owen who said in August he was putting together a consortium to buy the West Midlands stations and Bauer Radio, which took over the former Emap stations. Another former radio executive said to be involved in a bid is the former Chrysalis Radio chief executive Phil Riley.
Previous Global Radio:
2008-11-27: Patty Wente, the long-time general manager of the University of Missouri-St. Louis station KMWU-FM who was reported in June to have been fired (See RNW Jun 6) has now reached a settlement with the station that includes a statement that she resigned but was not fired.
The St Louis RiverFront Times (which has posted a PDF of the agreement) in its report refers to its June report saying she was fired after it published a cover story revealing fiscal improprieties and allegations of mismanagement during Wente's 19 -year tenure at the station and says its investigation also brought to light questionable fund-raising practices at the station and personal expenses charged to Wente's KWMU credit card.
It says the agreement reached pays Wente a lump sum of USD 50,000, with USD 15,000 of that sum going directly to her attorney and notes that this is less than half the USD 118,000 in salary and bonus she earned during her last full year at the station in 2007.
The essence of the agreement is that Wente drops a grievance she filed with the university following her dismissal and agrees not to file any lawsuits against it nor ever seek employment from KWMU or any school in the University of Missouri sys. She also agrees to forego any disparaging remarks against KWMU and the university and assist KWMU in any additional fact-finding or review of KWMU or its affiliates.
The University for its Part agrees not to disparage her in any way, to "deem her termination a resignation" and has included in the settlement agreement a letter of recommendation for Wente from UMSL Chancellor Thomas George.
The paper reports that the university is said to be close to hiring a permanent replacement for Wente whose post is currently filled by interim station manager Mike Dunn who is scheduled to return to his full-time job as general manager of KBIA-FM in Columbia, Missouri, in January.
RiverFront Times report (Includes link to 267 KB PDF of agreement).
2008-11-27: UK media regulator Ofcom in its latest bulletin upholds no radio complaints but did uphold two TV standards complaints, considered another resolved through action taken by the broadcaster, gave details of yet another not upheld, and also upheld five sets of TV Fairness and Privacy complaints, all relating to the collapse of a money transfer company that had affected the Bangladeshi community in the UK. A further fairness and privacy TV complaint related to this matter was not upheld.
In addition to the above Ofcom also listed without details 201 TV complaints against 99 items and 46 radio complaints against 21 items - 26 of these against one BBC 6 Music programme -that it did not uphold or were considered out of its remit: This compares with 226 TV complaints against 115 items and 13 radio complaints against 13 items that it did not uphold or were considered out of its remit in the previous bulletin.
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Ofcom Complaints Bulletin:
2008-11-26: In an echo of the country's cash-for-comment scandal of 1999 that involved various prominent radio hosts including John Laws and Alan Jones accepting funds from companies for favourable comment but not disclosing that they were being paid by the companies - the then regulator, the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) reacted by proposing tougher disclosure requirements (See RNW Feb 8, 2000), the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has filed a lawsuit seeking a civil penalty order against Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd over breaches last year of its licence conditions relating to disclosure.
2UE had continued to offend and in December 2003, the ABA found that 2UE had breached the Disclosure Standard on 19 occasions (in relation to sponsors Telstra and NRMA) and that the re had been found six breaches of the special licence conditions imposed on 2UE in March 2000, following the Commercial Radio Inquiry (See RNW Dec 5, 2003).
The ACMA says that Laws, 2UE's then morning host - he retired at the end of last year (See RNW Dec 2, 2007), failed to disclose his commercial relationships in on-air announcements on 13 occasions during broadcasts of the John Laws Morning Show: It and Fairfax Media, which now owns 2UE, which it acquired in a takeover of Southern Cross Broadcasting (See RNW Oct 22, 2007) , have agreed that a suitable penalty would be AUD 130,000 ( USD 85,000) - AUD 10,000 (USD 6,500) for each breach - and it is now up to Australia's Federal Court to determine the penalty to be imposed.
ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman commented in a news release, "ACMA has taken the step of applying for civil penalty orders against 2UE, having earlier tried to address 2UE's compliance failures through other means. These latest breaches occurred at a time when 2UE had given ACMA an enforceable undertaking to improve its performance, particularly in relation to the John Laws Morning Show."
The ACMA noted that an enforceable undertaking was offered by 2UE and accepted by ACMA in September 2007 in response to ACMA's findings that 2UE breached the Broadcasting Services (Commercial Radio Current Affairs Disclosure) Standard 2000 (the Disclosure Standard) 20 times during a broadcast in August 2006. The broadcast included extended discussion of the issue of Telstra's privatisation.
Chapman added, "ACMA notes that Fairfax Media only acquired control of 2UE late in the period during which the breaches occurred, and acknowledges the cooperation of Fairfax inherent in conceding these breaches and working to improve compliance at 2UE. However, ACMA -and the Australian Broadcasting Authority before it- has emphasised in previous findings against 2UE that the obligation to comply with program standards lies with the licensee itself; in fact it goes to the heart of a licensee's obligations."
He continued, "Broadcasting licences are not given out lightly by government and convey significant benefit to those to whom a licence is granted. It is a licensee's unrelenting responsibility to manage its business, including its presenters and production staff, so as to ensure satisfactory compliance with the regulatory requirements.
"Company management put at real risk the retention of these licences when they allow on-air personalities or other staff to breach the rules. One consideration informing the Authority's agreement to consenting to the civil penalty order was its assessment that Fairfax genuinely accepts that proposition."
Previous ACMA:
Previous Chapman:
Previous Fairfax Media:
2008-11-26:This week we start our look at print comment on radio with issues of British radio hosts - notably Jonathan Ross, who is currently suspended by the BBC following the row over rude comments made by him and Russell Brand, and former talkSPORT host Jon Gaunt, fired after calling a councillor a Nazi.
In Ross's case the knives still appear to be out for him in various quarters but in Gaunt's case he has attracted considerable support including that of Human Rights' group Liberty whose director Shami Chakrabarti he once branded the "most dangerous woman in Britain" in his newspaper column.
He also regularly disparaged the group on his radio show, lending a little extra spice to Chakrabarti's support.
In a letter she wrote to talkSPORT, Chakrabarti writes, ""We understand that the grounds given for summary termination are Mr Gaunt's on-air references to the 'health Nazis' he felt were responsible for banning smokers from fostering children in Redbridge. This strikes us as the most bizarre and disproportionate approach to someone who was no doubt contracted to excite political debate among a whole host of listeners who might not normally engage with news and current affairs programmes."
She continues on to remind the station that "any court must read Mr Gaunt's contract in the light of his right to free expression under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act. While this is far from an absolute right (particularly in the context of broadcasting), to be meaningful it must extend to contentious as well as consensual speech" and she goes on to distinguish his comments from those of Brand and Ross, writing, "While we appreciate that recent weeks have been a delicate time for all broadcasters, we see Mr Gaunt's case as materially different from the now notorious example of privacy intrusion and broadcast bullying that the BBC has done its best to grapple with."
She ends with a reference to her experiences with Gaunt, commenting, "From a personal point of view as someone who has been on the receiving end of Jon Gaunt's blunt polemic in print and on the radio, I believe that the airwaves of a great democracy would be the poorer for his absence. I urge you to reinstate Mr Gaunt's programme without delay and have offered him support in the unlikely and unfortunate event that recourse to the Human Rights Act proves necessary."
Her letter is quoted widely in various papers including the UK Independent in a report from its Media Editor Ian Burrell that noted support for Gaunt from Honorary Lieutenant Tul Bahadur Pun V.C., one of only nine surviving Victoria Cross winners, and one of the three last surviving Gurkha VCs who notes that Gaunt was the first radio presenter to champion his right to live in the UK and says, "His good deeds campaigning for the Gurkhas should be taken into the balance when you consider this honourable man."
Gaunt himself told the paper, "Adversity breeds strange bedfellows. I am delighted in Liberty's support and truly humbled by the support of a real British hero like Mr Pun. This isn't about Jon Gaunt or 'shock jockery' - it's about freedom of expression and freedom of speech."
In the UK Guardian, a paper that has been disparaged by Gaunt in the past, Henry Porter in his blog terms Gaunt's sacking as "typical of New Labour's age of censoriousness and control" and quotes the host as saying in a recent interview, "I think there's a general fear, a general worry which is not good for British broadcasting, it's not good for democracy that broadcasters are worried because you are not going to get that sparky caller that might lead to the massive story or change people's attitudes."
Of Gaunt's offence he comments, "As to the remark, it is probably offensive to call someone a Nazi on live radio, but it is not an offence and besides Gaunt's apology was accepted by the local councillor. All this incident required was a reprimand but the pusillanimous nitwits at the station terminated his contract in a panic that is becoming all too familiar in New Labour's age of censoriousness and control."
The issue of free speech was also taken up by Gail Walker in the Belfast Telegraph in which she cited the firing of Gaunt and the illicit release of names and addresses of members of the British National Party, both stories that she says "illustrate that the spectrum of acceptable opinion is narrowing dramatically."
"Gaunt's sacking," she comments, "shows - after the entirely different Brand and Ross farce - just how nervous our media is of offending anyone. Gaunt is a populist commentator, who was employed by TalkSport precisely to speak his mind. Yes, he overstepped the mark, but he immediately attempted to apologise and explain that he meant to call the Tory councillor a 'health Nazi'. Of course, he had no real explanation for calling his guest an 'ignorant pig' except that, as a child who had been fostered himself, he felt passionate about his subject."
"No one," she continues, "could seriously accuse Gaunt of slandering the councillor. The Nazi allegation couldn't be taken seriously by anyone and the 'ignorant pig' comment was just abuse. That's not to say it should have been taken lightly. Gaunt deserved censure because, passionate or not, he can't go about abusing people. But sacking? Isn't that indicative of a knee-jerk fear of being seen outside the cosy confines of political correctness?"
Walker also notes that freelance presenter Rod Lucas has been dropped by talkSPORT for being on the list of BNP members and continues, "There's no evidence of Lucas ever having abused his position by broadcasting pro-BNP views. He says he joined as part of his investigative duties, and also signed up to 20 other organisations at the time including the Animal Liberation Front and Save the Panda."
Enough of Gaunt and on to Ross who, as we've already indicated is not getting the same support:
In the UK Daily Telegraph he in fact gets the reverse, albeit partially also an attack on the BBC, Charles Moore, a former editor of the paper, heads his comment, "The BBC was too scared to sack Jonathan Ross, so the obscenity goes on".
He starts off by citing the Latin inscription in the entrance hall of Broadcasting House, the BBC Headquarters, that says in part that the governors (in 1931) desired "that all things hostile to peace or purity may be banished from this house, and that the people, inclining their ear to whatsoever things are beautiful and honest and of good report may tread the path of wisdom and uprightness."
Moore then goes on to say the BBC Trust's report on the Ross/Brand case "fails to explain the pattern behind the events, even though it also attacks Brand's repetition of how he slept with Mr Sachs's grand-daughter on the Chris Moyles breakfast show on Radio 1, the videocast based on the original programme that went out afterwards (adding "a crude graphic") and the offensive non-apology apology on the next Brand show on October 25."
After giving more detail Moore comments, "The trust does not join up the dots. Surely what is so striking is that no one in the BBC thought the show was out of the ordinary or noticed that it was cruel. Even after people started to complain, the attitude was minimal, routine ("some Tory MP" was making a fuss, texted a press officer with an almost audible yawn). There was a certain amount of anxiety - though very sloppily acted on - about complying with procedures for use of the f-word, but not one single executive, producer or compliance-wallah raised any moral concern. And of course "Russ and Jonathan" thought it was great and Russ and Jonathan are big stars."
The Trust, says Moore, wants to portray the affair as out of the ordinary but it in fact was "part of the pathology."
The Mail on Sunday, which gave the affair prominent cover, also hasn't hung up the knives: It carries a report by Miles Goslett saying that Ross is to be "phased out" of presenting his Saturday morning BBC Radio 2 Show, to be replaces by (Sir) Terry Wogan. One of the reasons says Goslett is that Ross is unlikely to be allowed to broadcast live and will be so heavily policed that radio broadcasting will cease to be a 'pleasure' for him.
Goslett says the move is part of wider scheduling changes that will see Wogan give up his weekday breakfast show and take over the Saturday slot that Ross occupied and also be offered a Sunday show.
He quoted an unnamed "insider" as saying, "Jonathan Ross is going to be phased out. This has been discussed at high levels within the BBC. There is a lot of anger towards him at Radio 2. Presenter Jeremy Vine is on record as saying he cannot see how he'll ever come back. Others feel the same.
'Whoever the new station controller is, they will be under pressure to police him and Ross will not want to work with ten executives sitting on his head. Who will produce his programme? How many executives will have to listen to it before it can be cleared? He probably won't be allowed to broadcast live, so the pleasure goes out of it."
Of the changes the same "insider" says, "Wogan will take over from Ross on Saturdays, Ken Bruce will take on Wogan's weekday show and Simon Mayo will get Bruce's weekday show. It's a sort of musical chairs."
On then to listening suggestions and first of all issues of free speech in the week's "Moral Maze "on BBC Radio 4 (Wednesday) and also the Ross/Brand row that features briefly on this week's Media Show as part of a discussion on the BBC Trust (Also on Wednesday) - worth a listen if only for a report about the conversion of the Manchester Evening News into part of a multi-media outlet and also for comment in a report on the new media centre being developed at Salford Quays including comment from Michael Joroff, a senior lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, about his vision of the future ( The first brought the thought jacks-of-all-trades to mind and we just don't buy the argument that quality doesn't suffer from too much multitasking and the latter spurred thought if not agreement).
Also from BBC Radio 4 we suggest the regular weekday programming in the form of "Book of the Week" - Christopher Bigsby's biography of the American playwright Arthur Miller; the "Woman's Hour Drama" - "Aubrey's Brief Lives", a collection of anecdotes by John Aubrey; the "Afternoon Reading" - this week a series of readings that reflect the experience of immigrants to the UK over the past 60 years and following "A Load of Rubbish" in which Ian Marchant explores the hidden infrastructure of rubbish; and "Book at Bedtime" - "Black Orchids" with readings from Gillian Slovo's love story, set in 1950s Ceylon and London.
We'd also note that this week's Archive Hour (next Saturday 20:00 GMT) is "Studs Terkel - Back in the Wax Museum" in which Alan Dein looks back at the life of the American oral historian Studs Terkel.
We then suggest last Sunday's "QE2: Portrait of an Ocean Liner", telling the story of the liner that has just arrived in Dubai where it is to become a floating hotel ; Monday's "Born with Down's" in which Felicity Finch follows parents who decide to continue with their pregnancies knowing their babies will be born with Down's syndrome and "Crossing Continents" that looked at the human impact of the economic crisis in Iceland ; Tuesday's "Music Feature" -" Paying the Piper: the Coal-Man and the Hosier" that looks at the stories of hosiery manufacturer William Gardiner, who introduced the unknown Beethoven to England, and the coal merchant Thomas Britton, whose musical gatherings above his coal store in Clerkenwell attracted some of the greatest musicians of the late 17th and early 18th century; Wednesday's "In Living Memory" that looked at how Dutch Elm Disease wiped out England's elms in the mid-1960s (thanks it would appear to the navy importing elm from Canada); Thursday's "A Fine Defence of Enid Blyton" in which children's author Anne Fine examines the enduring appeal of the stories of Enid Blyton and "It's My Story" - "Earfull - From Silence into Sound" that follows deaf actor Tim Barlow as, over the space of a year, he has tests, consultations and finally a cochlear implant, a story interwoven with a performance of his one-man play Earfull, which chronicles his move from WWII soldier to actor and his loss of hearing some four decades ago; and Sunday's "Analysis" that has Frances Cairncross in "Paying the Piper" taking a look at lessons to be learned from the current credit crunch.
Changing stations we suggest the regular "Essay " series from BBC Radio 3 - this week featuring five writers considering their ideas of freedom; Monday's "Jazz on 3" featuring David Sanchez at The London Jazz Festival; Thursday's "Night Waves" - another "Free Thinking Special"; Saturday's "Between the Ears" - "Crossing the Same River Twice" in which dramatist Lou Stein explores the tensions between selective memory and identity; and Sunday's "Drama on 3" - a production of "Pericles" and the following "Sunday Feature" - "Yiddish: A Struggle for Survival", "Words and Music" on the theme of winter: and "Jazz Line-up" in which Julian Joseph presents the BBC Big Band and Roy Hargrove at the London Jazz Festival 2008.
Then from BBC Radio 2 we opt for Monday and the final episode of "For the Good Times - The Kris Kristofferson Story"; Tuesday and "Bob Dylan's Big Freeze" in which Bob Harris tells the story of Bob Dylan's first visit to London during the winter of 1962 plus the second part of "Long Players", David Quantick's story of the LP; and Friday's final episode of "The Judy Garland Trail."
RNW note: We continue to hope that other pressures will allow us time to supplement the above with various suggested listening from podcasts/MP3s.
Previous Columnists:
Belfast Telegraph - Walker:
Mail on Sunday - Goslett:
UK Guardian - Porter blog:
UK Independent - Burrell:
UK Telegraph - Moore:
2008-11-26: Clear Channel-owned Katz Media is now the only major radio rep company in the US following a decision by Judge Robert Drain in the US Bankruptcy Court in New York to approve an agreement under which for a USD 3.64 million payment it can negotiate with Interep's customers and employees.
No white knight appeared to save Interep and Katz has already announced that it has reached agreements to represent CBS Radio - with some 140 stations - and Entercom - with 110 stations, Interep's two largest clients. So far there's no word on the situation regarding other Interep customers including Spanish Broadcasting System, which had filed a "Limited Objection" asking the court to rule that Interep's national rep contracts were being "terminated", thus allowing it to negotiate with whomever it chose for national representation.
Katz Media Group CEO Stu Olds said they were "delighted" to represent its two newest customers, adding, "Radio is undergoing transformational changes with aggressive expansions into online, on-demand, mobile text, real-time data, and digital broadcasts, resulting in a significant expansion of the medium's audience and more engaged listeners. We're thrilled to create new partnerships with broadcasters on the leading edge of these advancements, and we look forward to building long-term relationships that will create exceptional value."
CBS and Entercom will be represented by a new New York-bases sales organization to be led by Jana Cosgrove, former President of Interep's CBS Radio Sales. Cosgrove will report to Katz Radio Group President Mark Gray who commented that they were confident that its "talented sales force, under Jana's strong leadership, will be able to maximize the potential of both the CBS and Entercom stations. We will provide the highest levels of customer service and create even more effective sales solutions by working with national advertisers to further their unique cross-platform integration opportunities."
CBS Radio President and CEO Dan Mason said his company had already "positively benefited from Katz representation at a number of our stations and believe this enhanced partnership has significant advantages for our radio stations and the way in which we work with our clients… Including all of our stations and diverse assets in their messaging will help strengthen radio's overall place in an advertiser's media mix."
For Entercom President and CEO David Field added, "We are very excited to enter into this new relationship and bring the rest of our station group into the Katz family. No other medium offers a greater value proposition or is better positioned for success in the current economic climate than radio. And with the continued development of innovative content, new digital technologies, and integrated marketing capabilities, radio is fundamentally reinventing itself for tomorrow. We are excited to be part of this evolution."
Previous CBS:
Previous Entercom:
Previous Field:
Previous Gray:
Previous Interep:
Previous Katz:
Previous Mason:
Previous Olds:
2008-11-26: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined Perihelion Global, Inc., licensee of WTKN-AM, Corinth, Mississippi, USD 15,000 for failure to enclose its antenna structure within an effective locked fence or other enclosure, failure to maintain a main studio, and failure to transmit the station identification.
It had tried to schedule an inspection in February after receiving complaints but its calls were not returned and it then monitored the station for two hours on February 25, noting that it did not air any of the required identification s in this time. The following day an agent inspected its transmitter site, finding a large hole in the locked gate for its protective fence. The agent also attempted to find and inspect the main studio but without success - calls were not returned and the only known local address for the station was that of the transmitter site.
On the same day an attorney for the station sought permission to modify a previously submitted Special Temporary Authorization (STA) and allow it to operate without a main studio, saying the main studio was located at the transmitter site and weather had rendered the access path to the main studio impassable a majority of the time.
The FCC subsequently issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture for USD 15,000 to which the company responded asking to be allowed to pay in six instalments.
The FCC noted that the offences were not denied and also that the company had failed to provide the requested documentation and good faith payment for the instalment payment plan and accordingly said it could not grant the requested instalment payment request for the moment.
Previous FCC:
2008-11-25: The former BBC Radio 2 Controller Lesley Douglas, who resigned in the wake of the row about crude comments left by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross on the answer phone of actor Andrew Sachs, has been hired by Universal Music as its director of programming and business development with a remit to run Universal's television and radio production business, and also be responsible for business development.
Universal has a limited TV operation, mainly producing documentaries about artists, and it hopes Douglas will be able to expand on this by recruiting artists to take part in other TV programming.
She will report to David Joseph, the chairman of Universal Music UK, who said of the appointment, "Our company and our artists have worked with Lesley for many years. She has an exceptional rapport with artists and is simply one of the best media executives and leaders in the business."
In a message to Universal staff he added, "As director of programming, Lesley will drive the development of Globe Productions, our fast-growing TV division… Under Lesley's guidance, Globe's remit will extend beyond music properties to dramas and comedies across all media.
"In addition Lesley will oversee Universal Music's UK business development strategy, also reporting to me. This will include non-traditional artist rights, sponsorships and strategic marketing partnerships such as the hugely successful pairing of Take That with Marks & Spencer."
"As we continue to diversify our business, I am excited about what Lesley's immense experience, constantly innovative approach and fresh perspective can bring to our biggest growth areas."
Douglas, who had been with the BBC for 23 years, will take up her new role on December 8: She said of her new role, "Over the past few years I have loved working closely with the music industry and the musicians within it. Being given the opportunity to work closely with the breadth of artists across Universal Music is a brilliant opportunity. It is an exciting, dynamic company and I am delighted to have been asked to join them."
Previous Douglas:
2008-11-25: Tribune-owned WGN-AM, Chicago, has named its afternoon host John Williams as the successor to morning host Spike O'Dell, who is retiring next month. In an announcement on the station's web site it says Williams will take up his new role on Monday, December 15 but it has not so far named a replacement for Williams in the afternoon shift.
WGN Radio Vice President and General Manager Tom Langmyer commented of the appointment, "It's an exciting time for WGN Radio and I'm proud to announce John Williams as the new voice in morning drive. In John's 12 years with the station, he has shown passion, dedication, community involvement, creativity and commitment to building WGN's brand across multiple platforms. He is a well-known, popular host on WGN, known throughout Chicagoland and beyond. A great broadcaster deserving of this promotion."
Williams, a onetime WGN-AM 720 intern, began his broadcasting career at WSPY, in Plano, Illinois; then hosted middays at WCCO Radio in Minneapolis for four years and spent ten years at WMBD in Peoria. He became WGN midday host in 1997 and moved to his current afternoon shift in February 2000.
He commented of his new role, ""I'm thrilled to be the new host of morning drive, but let's face it, there's no replacing Spike O'Dell. One thing that won't change is reliable news and fun, friendly, smart conversation that Chicago can count on."
Previous Langmyer:
Previous O'Dell:
Previous Tribune Co.:
Previous Williams:
2008-11-25: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has given the go ahead for a station swap between Newcap, a subsidiary of Newfoundland Capital Corporation, and Rogers Broadcasting.
Under the deal, Rogers gains CFDR-AM, Dartmouth. Nova Scotia, together with permission to convert it to FM and Newcap gets CAD 5 million ( USD 4.06 million) in cash plus CIGM-AM, Sudbury, Ontario, also with permission to convert it to FM.
Under a Letter of Intent between the companies, CFDR was valued at CAD 7 million ( USD 5.69 million ) and CIGM at CAD 2 million ( USD 1.63 million ) but the CRTC commissioned its own valuation from DMCT Transaction Services Inc. as a basis for determining the fair market value of the stations using the discounted cash flow (DCF) method and this produced a value of CAD 5.48 million ( USD 4.46 million ) for CIGM that was then increased to CAD 6.532 million ( USD 5.31 million ) on the basis that a the 5.25% risk premium proposed by Newcap should not be included in the discount rate for purposes of valuing the transaction. On the same basis CFDR was valued at CAD 9.58 million (USD 7.79 million).
Each company had proposed tangible benefits packages of 6% of their valuations in line with usual practice to be allocated over the next seven broadcast years in the proportions 3% to the Radio Starmaker Fund and 2% to FACTOR in each case with the remaining 1% to go to the Sudbury School Board in relation to CIGM and to Music Nova Scotia for CFDR.
The CRTC noted that its valuation increased the benefits package for CIGM from Cad 120,000 to CAD 391,920 (from USD 98,000 to USD 319,000) and that for CFDR from CAD 420,000 (USD to CAD 574,920 (from USD 341,000 to USD 467,000) but proposed allocation in the same proportions.
Previous CRTC:
Previous Newcap:
Previous Rogers:
2008-11-25: The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) is seeking applications for six new community and community of interest radio services during the course of next year.
It had asked for expressions of interest in such services in September (See RNW Sep 18) and received a total of 16 applications. The new services to be advertised are two community services for Donegal (Inishowen and south-west Donegal), two in the Mid -West (East Limerick and Shannon), and one in Athlone plus community of interest service for the student community of University College Dublin.
In addition, the Commission approved the re-licensing of four existing community radio services, whose licences are due to expire in the next eighteen months: These are West Dublin, West Limerick, Roscommon town and environs and Dundalk town and environs.
Michael O'Keeffe, Chief Executive of the BCI said of the decision, ""The Commission is pleased to see the significant level of interest in the provision of community and community of interest services. This is particularly welcome in the context of the current Broadcasting Bill and the proposed legislative recognition of community broadcasting as a viable and sustainable sector. We look forward to facilitating its continued growth and to ensuring the services' continued adherence to the principles of community radio in the years ahead."
Previous BCI:
Previous O'Keeffe:
2008-11-25: Two small UK radio station are reported to be potentially facing closure unless a buyer can be found. CN Group subsidiary Touch Broadcasting Ltd has put its Touch FM stations in Manor Park, Banbury, and Coventry up for sale and CN Group managing director Julie Fair said that she hoped buyers would be found but if not the stations would be closed.
Touch owns another station in Stratford that is not affected.
Previous CN Group:
Banbury Guardian report:
2008-11-24: US radio revenues in October were down 10% on a year ago with local revenues hardest hit - down by 15% compared to a 1% decline for national markets and an 11% decline for local and national combined according to the US Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). Off Air revenues increased but by only 2%.
The results are a little worse than those for September when total revenues were down 8% but a little better than August when the fall was 11%.
For the first nine months of the year, revenues are now down 8% to USD 10.435 billion and for the third quarter they are down 9% to USD 4.967 billion within which off-air is up 9% to USD 1.347 billion for the first nine months and up 5% to USD 458 million whilst local revenues are down 8% to 10.435 billion for the first nine months and down 10% to USD 3.457 billion for the quarter; national revenues are down 11% to USD 2.195 billion and 12% to USD 767 million respectively and local and national combined are down 9% to USD 12.63 million and 11% to USD 4.224 million respectively. Net work revenues were down 1% to USD 8.552 billion and 3% to USD 285 million respectively.
The RAB highlighted the off air success but also quoted David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, as saying that, "a weakening economy will continue to be a challenge for all forms of advertising-supported media."
RAB President and CEO Jeff Haley added, "Although Radio companies are not immune to the current economic downturn, radio's flexibility across traditional and emerging platforms provides advertisers multiple channels for consumer engagement. By leveraging the strength of Radio's on-air brands, advertisers can communicate with their customers in relevant environments."
RAB notes that most companies have curtailed advertising spend across media but says radio experienced some growth in key categories, notably insurance and restaurants.
Insurance was up 16% to USD 242.1 million in the third quarter and up 18% in the first nine months to USD 734.6 million but professional services advertising has slumped - it is up 11% to USD 407.9 million for the first nine months but down 3% to USD 70.1 million in the third quarter.
Beverage advertising was up 6% to USD 799.3 million and up 3% to USD 301.6 million respectively whilst restaurants advertising was up 4% to USD 1.172 billion and up 3% to USD 353.3 million respectively.
Retail was also up - by 2.5% for the first nine months - with particular increases from KMart - up 215%; Target (Up 63.2%) and Wal-Mart (up 41.6%).
Another area of increases was political advertising where the 2008 presidential race boosted revenues: In the 35 markets that report advertiser detail to Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co., campaigns on Local and National Radio spent around USD 20.6 million in the third quarter taking the first nine-months total to USD 54.9 million. Network radio also benefited according to TNS Media Intelligence which has recorded USD 6.2 million in revenues in the third quarter and USD 13.8 million for the first nine months.
Previous Haley:
Previous RAB (September figures):
RAB first half of year & Q2 report:
2008-11-24: BBC Radio 5 Live has announced that from January 12 neat year it is to extend its breakfast show, which will start at 06:00 with an extra hour hosted by current co-host Shelagh Fogarty who will be joined by her co-host Nicky Campbell at 07:00. Campbell will take calls on the days top news from 09:00 to 10:00 before handing over to Victoria Derbyshire whose morning (10:00 to 13:00) show will according to a news release "focus on original journalism - much of it coming direct from 5 Live listeners" of which Derbyshire commented, "At last there is a prime time programme on 5 Live devoted to original journalism where the listeners are truly in charge... I'm hoping it will redefine the sound of morning radio."[RNW comment: Draw your own conclusions when it airs about how much of this is both original and worthwhile as opposed to listeners pushing pet topics of limited interest to the population at large and of little real importance.]."
The current Midday News on Five Live is to be dropped from the schedule but its host Aasmah Mir will remain with the station and is to host a range of programmes.
Station controller Adrian Van Klaveren said the changes "will build on 5 Live's key strengths of talking about the issues which really matter to people and letting everyone have their say in a way which is intelligent, lively and engaging."
Previous BBC:
Previous Campbell:
Previous Derbyshire:
Previous Fogarty:
2008-11-24: Bubba the Love Sponge (formerly Todd Clem) has added four more markets for his morning terrestrial show that originates on Cox Radio's WHPT-FM in Tampa, Florida.
It was already simulcast on Cox's WFVY-FM in Jacksonville and will now be heard from January 5 next year on three more Cox FMs - WHDR-FM, Miami; WHTZ-FM in Orlando and WDYL-FM in Richmond, Virginia plus Beasley Broadcast Group's WRXK-FM, in Fort Myers.
Bubba had been aired by Clear Channel on WXTB-FM in Tampa but was fired after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed USD 715,000 in fines for material broadcast on his show in 2001 (See RNW Feb 25, 2004).
Following his dismissal, Clem was off air until 2006 when Howard Stern gave him a slot on his channels on Sirius Satellite Radio (See RNW Jan 10, 2006) and then at the end of 2007 was hired by Cox (See RNW Dec 11, 2007).
Previous Beasley:
Previous Bubba the Love Sponge:
Previous Cox Radio:
2008-11-24: Cumulus Media CEO Lew Dickey has told the Atlanta Business Chronicle that US radio is facing "a pretty big shakeout and I think that half the companies in business today will be gone within 36 months" but adds that his company - the second largest in the US in station numbers with 344 stations - can outlast the storm.
Dickey said broadcasters are facing the most challenging time for 20 years but did not name groups that he thinks are most at risk: A number of groups are facing financing problems and may have to sell assets to stay in operation.
Cumulus itself reported revenues down but an improved bottom line in its third quarter to the end of September (See RNW Nov 6): it has approaching USD 720 million in long-term debt but has not defaulted on any payments and has agreements with lenders that should allow it to borrow up to a further USD 75 million if needed although Dickey told the Chronicle that the "largest impediment to consolidation right now is the brutally difficult financing markets."Cumulus," he added, continues to be a buyer.
Previous Cumulus:
Previous Dickey:
Atlanta Business Chronicle report (Subscription required):
2008-11-24: Adelaide radio breakfast announcer Jodie Blewett has raised controversy with comments on Australian Radio Network (ARN) station Mix 102.3 about running around the studio naked that went on air in error and have revealed that less than half of those who responded to an Adelaide Now online poll now consider use of the F-word on air to be offensive.
Blewett, who had not noticed that the "tiny orange light" was showing that her microphone was live commented in the lead up to the station's AUD 1,000 Minute Quiz, "And if any fucker gets question Number 9 I will run around the studio naked. I will do it. I will hobble on my crutches naked around the studio."
Adelaide Now, which has posted audio a 37 second 600Kb 128kbps MP3 at this URL) of the incident, reported that Blewett said afterwards, "You know how it goes. I'm really sorry if I caused any offence. Obviously it's not something I would have said if I knew the mic was on, of course."
The paper ran an online poll on whether people still considered use of the F-word offensive which when we last checked, had attracted 1,280 responses of which 312 (24%) said it was still very offensive; 325 (25%) that it was offensive but not so much these days; 427 (33%) that it wasn't offensive but was impolite: and 216 (16%) that it wasn't offensive at all.
Question 9 was "What does IQ stand for?" The answer: "Intelligence quotient."
Previous ARN:
Adelaide Now report:
2008-11-23: Last week was another fairly quiet one for the regulators with no radio postings from Australia or Ireland and the main news concerning the Federal Communications Commission's involvement in indecency cases - an appeal by Fox TV against a ruling that it breached FCC rules that is currently being heard by the US Supreme Court and the FCC's attempt to get the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling against it by a Federal Court in relation to fines imposed on CBS for the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show (See RNW Nov 21).
As already noted there were no radio postings from Australia but in Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission was involved in a number of routine radio decisions and postings.
These included (In order of province):
Alberta:
Approval of acquisition by Vista Radio Ltd. of CFNA-FM, Bonnyville, and CKLM-FM, Lloydminster, from 912038 Alberta Ltd.
British Columbia:
Denial of application by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner), carrying on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership (collectively the Pattison Group) to acquire CIGV-FM, Penticton, and its transmitters CIGV-FM-1, Keremeos, and CIGV-FM-2, Princeton, from Great Valleys Radio Ltd.
Nova Scotia:
*Approval of application by Maritime Broadcasting System Limited to extend to 27 November 2009, the deadline to bring into operation its new FM station in Windsor that was approved in 2006. The approval required submission of another frequency to that applied for in order to convert CFAB-AM to FM.
Saskatchewan:
*Approval of application by Rawlco Radio Ltd. to add a 1,200 watts FM transmitter at Big River to carry the programming of CHQX-FM, Prince Albert.
*Approval of application by Rawlco Radio Ltd. to add a 1,200 watts FM transmitter at Big River to carry the programming of CKBI-AM, Prince Albert.
The CRTC also posted a public notice with a December 23deadline for the submission of interventions/comments in which Evanov Communications Inc. applies on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated to use 106.1 MHz for the new English-language commercial FM at Winnipeg, Manitoba, approved in June. It also seeks to increase the effective radiated power from 6,500 watts to 40,000 watts and decrease the effective height of antenna above average terrain from 206.1 metres to 175 metres. The original frequency applied for was not available.
There were again no radio postings from Ireland but in the UK Ofcom posted its International Communications Market 2008 (See RNW Nov 22) and also the reasons for its award of community licences to Gaydio and Unity Radio for services in Manchester (See RNW Licence News Nov 9).
In the case of Gaydio, which will provide a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities of central Manchester it noted evidence of support provided, the fact that its target group is under-served by local radio services, and its success in attracting volunteers in the past, and plans to offer appropriate volunteer training.
As regards Unity Radio, a youth-focused social enterprise, it noted experience with an Internet service and local services using Restricted Service Licences. Unity already has two fully equipped broadcast studios some secured funding as well as experience in fundraising and financial management.
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as already noted has added to its indecency count before the Supreme Court by filing a petition petitions to overturn the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal ruling against its USD 550,000 fine against CBS for the Super Bowl Show baring of Janet Jackson breast (See RNW Nov 21).
It was also involved in a number of more mundane enforcement actions including issuing a USD 6,400 forfeiture to Black Crow Radio, LLC, ("Black Crow"), licensee of WNDB-AM, Daytona Beach, Florida, for failure to ensure that emissions removed by 60 kHz to 75 kHz from the WNDB fundamental frequency of 1150 kHz are attenuated 65 dB below the unmodulated carrier level and failure to maintain effective locked fences around the bases of two antenna towers.
The FCC had investigated claims of interference at 1070 KHz and 1230 KHz and general interference up and down the AM band in February and on February 26 told the station it would have to correct problems within three hours or close down and also noted whilst at the transmitter site that the station's two AM antenna series fed towers were not enclosed within effective locked fences.
Two days later they monitored the station on a standard car radio and observed that the station could be heard up and down the AM band, but to a lesser degree than before and measurements showed the signal to be in breach of FCC rules and also observed that the AM towers were in the same condition as before. As a result they issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) for USD 23,000 in response to which Black Crow admitted violation of two rules, submitting a payment of USD 12,000 for the violations but requested cancellation or reduction of the remaining USD 11,000 proposed forfeiture.
In relation to this it said it does not have the necessary equipment to detect spurious emissions and relies on annual measurements and inspections by its consulting engineering firm to ensure compliance with Section 73.44(a) of the Rules and that when it had been inspected in September last year there were no spurious emissions It claimed that the problems could have been caused by vandals damaging transmission equipment. It said that the day after the first inspection it had reduced power and was unaware that the reduction in power had not solved the spurious emissions problem and said that it had contacted the manufacturer of its transmitter on February 26, 2008, ordered new parts on February 27, 2008, and repaired the transmitter late on February 28, 2008, after the agents' second observation.
The FCC took the view that Black Crow should not have remaining on air when it did not know if it was emitting spurious emissions and noted that had it monitored the AM band with a normal receiver it would have found the station still could be heard up and down the band. It also noted in relation to the fencing breaches that the company was able to repair the fence within two days of the inspection but had known about the problem for some two weeks prior to the inspection.
It dismissed Black Crow's arguments but did accept that a reduction was justified on the basis of a history of compliance and reduced the penalty from USD 11,000 to USD 6,400.
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
CRTC web site:
FCC web site:
Ofcom web site:
2008-11-22: UK Media Regulator Ofcom in its International Communications Market 2008 report just posted notes a significant variation in the popularity of the medium in different countries - only 38% of Japanese adults say they listen to radio at least once a week compared to 83% in Germany and almost 80% in the US and Canada - and also that online listening is most popular in the UK, France and Germany - 37% of those questioned in France said they used their home internet to listen to radio, 34% in Germany and 33% in the UK - Japan again had the lowest level at 17%.
In terms of satellite radio, the US is still well in the lead with almost 20 million subscribers although the report notes WorldSpace's plans [RNW note: This report would have been prepared before the current credit crisis and economic problems that may well put WorldSpace out of business] for a service to Italy in addition to its current services, predominantly to India where it has around 200,000 subscribers.
In terms of listening via cell phones some one in four mobile users in the larger Western European countries said they had used their mobile phone to listen to MP3 tracks and around one n five in Japan but in the US and Canada it was 14% and 12% respectively. Listening to radio on a mobile device was most popular in Italy - one in five of mobile users followed by 16% in the UK and 13% in France and Germany but down to 4% in Canada and 3% in the US.
There was also a considerable variation in the declared effect of the internet on listening to traditional broadcast radio o in Japan and France around a third said they were listening less since acquiring Internet access but in the UK, Germany, Italy, the US and Canada, the proportion was about one in five. On the other hand some 18% of Italians said listening had risen since they got the Internet with rather less elsewhere - some 13% on average in the seven large comparator countries surveyed said they listened more and 23% that they listened less. In Japan 33% said they listened less and only 6% that they listened more.
Regarding digital radio the report notes work on developing the Eureka 147 DAB system by improving compression technologies with DAB+ and DMB now available and that countries that have not yet launched DAB services may launch with new variants : it also notes the use of HD radio in the US and trials of DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) using AM spectrum.
In business terms, the report says total world radio revenues reached GBP 23.6 billion (currently USD 35.3 billion) in 2007, up by GBP 300 million (currently USD 449 million)/ 1.47% on the previous year: The seven countries considered in this part of the report (the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the US, Canada and Japan) accounted for around GBP 19 billion (currently USD 28.4 billion) - 79% of the total with the US accounting for GBP 10.6 billion (currently USD 15.9 billion), some 45% of the world total.
In terms of growth - or otherwise - Canada and Italy have the fastest growing radio revenues - up 24% in Canada and 21% in Italy over the past four years whilst US revenues were down 5.1% on a year earlier, those in Japan down 3.8% and those in France down 2.1%.
In terms of public funding, the majority of revenues in five of the seven countries - UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - was from a public funding source, ranging from 79% in Germany down to 54% in Italy whereas in the US only 0.7% of total radio revenues came from public funding - some GBP 50 million (USD 74.8 million) of Federal Funding though the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for public radio services whilst National Public Radio (NPR) spent around GBP 76million (USD 113.7 million) on public programming and distribution.
The highest percentage of listening to public radio was n Sweden, where Swedish Radio (SR) took a 62% share of all listening, and the UK, where the BBC attracted a 55% share, in 2007: In comparison, Spain's national public network, RNE (Radio Nacional de Espana) accounted for 7% of all listener hours in 2007 and in the US public programming took an estimated 5% share.
As a percentage of total advertising revenues, the highest figure came from Canada where radio spend was 12.2% of total advertising expenditures in 2007 compared to 9.4% in the US - down from 9.9% a year earlier.
In terms of the number of stations per head of population the highest figure is in the US - an average of 47 stations per million people- and Canada - almost 38 stations per million in Canada. The figures compare with around three stations per million people in Italy, Germany and Japan and eight in the UK.
When it comes to listening, however, the highest figures came from Poland and Ireland with 4.8 hours and 4.2 hours per day.
Previous Ofcom:
Ofcom International Communications Market 2008 (323 pages1.47 MB):
Ofcom report- Radio section only ( 22 Page PDF):
2008-11-22: An Illinois radio station that set up a date between two of its listeners is being sued after the male pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the female listeners and was sentenced to two years probation and 12 months periodic imprisonment.
NextMedia's WXLC-FM, Waukegan, had run a promotion in which it encouraged female listeners to go on a date with Travis Harvey, who it turned out had been convicted in March 2006 of misdemeanour and felony charges for violating a domestic battery order of protection. He was described as being "kind" and a "great guy " and his attorney said the station's morning show was attempting to find a date for Harvey because he was a single father and too busy for the dating scene.
He was introduced to his victim at a station sponsored event and the couple went on a date the following Saturday at which, according to the lawsuit, Harvey drugged the victim before raping her.
Attorney Robert Baizer commented that the station should have done more research before the promotion, telling the Lake County News-Sun, "What we don't know, and certainly we'll find out is how they came upon (Harvey) as the prize. Obviously they did not do a criminal background check."
He added that NextMedia representatives were made aware of the incident, but they never offered apologies or condolences to the victim who in her lawsuits is seeking more than USD 50,000 from Harvey and NextMedia.
Previous NextMedia:
Lake County News-Sun report:
2008-11-21: The BBC Trust has opted to stick with BBC management's decision to suspend Jonathan Ross for 12-weeks over the crude remarks he and Russell Brand left on actor Andrew Sachs' answer phone but says the calls should never have been made or broadcast by the Corporation and puts most of the blame on the Corporation and two Radio 2 executives - Controller Lesley Douglas and Head of Compliance Dave Barber, both of whom have resigned as has Brand.
The Trust has posted a 58 page report (955 KB PDF) by the BBC Editorial Standards Committee detailing what happened including emails to and between BBC executives that reveal that no senior executive had listened to the whole exchange before the programme was aired and that BBC compliance rules had not been followed. It has also been revealed that both Brand and Ross had recently attended a BBC "safeguarding trust" course - set up and designed to ensure no repeat of the breaches of viewers' trust and editorial standards - including various competition-related issues, some of them on Brand's 6-Music show, that have dogged the corporation recently.
The exchanges show that Russell Brand Show producer Nick Philps, who worked for the BBC but was seconded to Brand's independent production company, Vanity Projects, had brought the comments by Ross and Brand about the latter "fucking" the actor's grand-daughter to the attention of Barber. The Trust said that Philps "joined the BBC in 2004 and had completed relevant training but was relatively inexperienced to take sole charge of a talented but challenging performer. Moreover, the arrangements put in place between the BBC and Vanity Projects meant the Producer was being paid to act in accordance with the instructions of Vanity Projects while remaining an employee of the BBC. This was unsatisfactory and likely to lead to conflicts of interest."
It said there was a "lack of direct control by Radio 2" over Vanity productions.
In his e-mail, Philps, who had not, as required completed a compliance form before the show was broadcast on November 18, said, "Scroll through to the phone call at 52 mins in. Russell and Jonathan call Manuel's answer phone… (Andrew Sachs AKA Manuel is aware of it and happy - I spoke to him afterwards). The problem comes when Jonathan says that Russell 'f*cked' Sachs' granddaughter…. I would say take it out, but it forms the crux of the call and is VERY funny. In the second hour of the show, they go on to call the answer phone back about three times to apologise and it makes for some brilliantly funny radio…Let me know what you think! Russ and Jonathan both VERY keen for it to go out."
Philps says the report did not mention that Andrew Sachs had asked for the content to be toned down and Barber said he listened to the identified section of the programme twice and then rang the Producer who confirmed that he believed that Andrew Sachs was content for the calls to be broadcast. T
He subsequently emailed Douglas saying, "Russell is pre recorded this week with Jonathan Ross as his co-host.
"Jonathan uses the f-word 52 mins into the first hour in a sequence about Russell f******' Andrew Sachs granddaughter. They are speaking into Sachs's answer machine at the time, and it's very funny - there then follow more calls to the answer phone in the 2nd hour, again v funny.
"Having discussed it with [the Producer] and listened to the sequence, I think we should keep in and put a 'strong language' warning at the top of the hour. I think it's editorially justified in this context and certainly within audience expectations for Russell's show and the slot. Certainly preferable to bleeping, which would make it obvious anyway (and we don't bleep now for this reason). Jonathan also apologises and Russell's shocked reaction is hilarious.
"Andrew Sachs is aware and is happy with the results which were recorded his end for him to hear). Are you happy with this as a plan of action?"
Douglas was away that day but later sent a ne-word "Yes" reply from her Blackberry. She said her reasoning for the authorisation was that she had been informed that Andrew Sachs was happy for Jonathan Ross's remark about his grand-daughter to be included and it was also on the basis of the judgement of the Head of Compliance, whom she assumed had listened to the programme. She also said that she had assumed that Mr Sachs had participated in the programme.
She also said she trusted the judgement of her Head of Compliance who in her experience had 'never got it wrong before'. If he had heard the material and judged it acceptable and funny, then she was prepared to trust that judgement provided Andrew Sachs was also happy which she had been told he was. The issue then became one of language and she was prepared to sanction the use of the word 'f*****' provided there was a strong language warning at the beginning of the programme."
The Trust, which noted that ultimately the BBC received 42,851 complaints regarding the Russell Brand Show, also found a breach of BBC privacy guidelines in a subsequent interview with Brand on the Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 although in this case the programme team were unaware that Brand was going to raise matters relating to the calls and Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie and that when he did Moyles moved the subject on. It noted here that the audience would have included children under 15, possibly 300,000 of them, and that, although the allusions had been veiled so that young children might would not have understood what was being said (Brand referred to having "met" Baillie's "brains out", the "material should not have been broadcast when children were likely to have been listening."
In connection with the Brand show it said "The recording and broadcast of these remarks was humiliating to Mr Sachs, Ms Baillie and their families and represented an unacceptable and deplorable intrusion into their private lives" and concluded there had been three failings by the BBC - to assert editorial control by Radio 2, a failure to follow the compliance systems in place and a failure of editorial judgement.
"Had satisfactory editorial control been in place," it concluded, "it may have prevented the recording of the material in the first place" and it added, "Had the compliance processes in place been followed and had the correct editorial judgements been applied this material would not have been broadcast."
Previous BBC:
Previous Brand:
Previous Douglas:
Previous Ross:
BBC Editorial Standards Committee report (58 Page, 955 KB PDF):
2008-11-21: Three Chicago radio veterans have left their posts - John Gehron who has stepped down as general manager of Harpo Radio and Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon (Eddie and JoBo) who have been taken off air by CBS Radio's WBBM-FM (B96).
Gehron, a former SVP/Programming for Infinity Broadcasting, now CBS Radio, and then RVP/Market Manager in Chicago for Clear Channel joined Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions in 2006 to launch Harpo Radio was dropped as part of a "restructuring" according to the Chicago Tribune, which quoted Harpo Inc. spokeswoman Lisa Halliday as saying, "We owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to him for helping us to establish a new division of the company and for creating a foundation that we will build upon in the future." .
Harpo Radio is now being overseen by former XM EVP/Programming & Broadcast Operations Eric Logan who joined Harpo in July as EVP with responsibility for Harpo Radio, Harpo Print and Harpo Retail.
Volkman and Bohannon had been at WBBM since 1988 with a two-year hiatus - they were dropped in late 1994 after former WMAQ-TV news anchor Joan Esposito sued for comments about the death of Esposito's husband - and are coming to the end of a seven-year contract that was said to have been paying them each around USD 1.5 million. The contract runs to July next year but their show ended on Friday and CBS2, Chicago, said that according to Volkman the station wanted to go in a different direction and maintain its hold on a younger crowd.
"We're paid for the next eight months, which is like the longest paid vacation I've ever had," commented Volkman "and our keycards still work to go in the station, unlike when we were fired before in '94 and had to be escorted out by security guards. And I never did get my headphones back."
After that firing they got their jobs back and a multi-million dollar deal with CBS but this time the future seems more uncertain: Volkman cracked, "There's an old saying by radio people: There's a lot of stations I can work at right now -- Mobil, Shell, BP Amoco."
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Chicago Tribune report:
2008-11-21: Communicorp's Irish national stations Today FM and Newstalk, which are now located in the same building, are to pool their reporters but insist they will retain separate newsrooms according to the Irish Times.
The paper quotes Today FM chief executive Willie O'Reilly as saying the two stations will "continue to have separate newsrooms with separate newsreaders, political correspondents and management, but there will be pooling of reporters" and adds that it understands that the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) is opposed to a newsroom merger.
The paper adds that it understood two freelancer working in the Newstalk newsroom had been dropped but says O'Reilly said nobody was being made redundant at Today FM and Newstalk chief executive Elaine Geraghty said the same applied to it although she went on to say that the pooling arrangement "allows us to reduce dependence on freelance services. The ability to pool resources is a pragmatic and sensible approach given the climate we are facing. It's an efficient way of using the resources both stations have."
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2008-11-21: Not content with one case before the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing an appeal by Fox TV against a ruling that Bono's "fucking brilliant" comments at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards breached Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules concerning indecent utterances, the agency is now attempting to take a second indecency ruling to the court.
This time it concerns the USD 550,000 penalty it levied on CBS stations for the wardrobe malfunction" that led to it showing a brief glimpse of Janet Jackson's breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show (See RNW Licence News Sep 26, 2004).
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal ruled in July that the commission and chair Kevin Martin "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in fining the CBS stations for the nine-sixteenths of a second exposure (See RNW Jul 21 )and the agency has now filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court asking it to overturn the ruling.
CBS commented in response to the FCC petition that it hopes the Supreme Court will recognize there are rare instances, particularly during live programming, when it may not be possible to block unfortunate fleeting material, despite best efforts" and added, " Doing so would help to restore the policy of restrained indecency enforcement the FCC followed for decades."
The US government has asked the Court to postpone its decision on whether to take up the case until after it has ruled on the Fox petition.
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2008-11-20: BBC Radio 3 has announced that it is to launch a John Milton season from December 2 to January 7 to mark the 400th anniversary of the poet's birth: It will feature a rang of programmes covering his life and works including an edition of "The Early Music Show" (Dec 13) that focuses on Milton's masque in honour of chastity, "Comus", recorded at Ludlow Castle, where Milton's masque was first performed in 1634.
There will also be a new production directed by John Tydeman of "Samson Agonistes" in the "Drama on 3" slot (Dec 14) that will feature Iain Glen in the title role, with Samantha Bond as Dalila, Philip Madoc as Harapha and Michael Maloney as The Messenger; and a reading of the complete 12-book "Paradise Lost" by Anton Lesser (Dec 22- Jan 2).
Other readings by Robert Glenister will be broadcast from Dec 7 to 14 and during the same week the station's regular "The Essay" slot will be taken up by editions on Milton as an essayist.
Radio 3 has also announced details of the next season of its "Between The Ears" strand. This will start on Saturday with "When Silence Sings", an audio walk through Venice conducted by Tonie, a Norwegian psychologist and author now in her mid-fifties who has been deaf from birth.
The following week Brooklyn-born dramatist and theatre director Lou Stein looks back on experiences in his life that he's recorded on mini-disc in the "Crossing The Same River Twice."
Other editions include "In Mole Jazz" (December 6), in which, Leni, widow of Ed Dipple, who was the force and life behind specialist vinyl record shop, Mole Jazz, remembers her late husband; "Woven In Time" (Dec 27), an evocative and poetic story about black female identity as told through the words of poets, Zena Edwards, Khadijah Ibrahim and Jean Binta Breeze. The series concludes with "Weather Reports You" (Jan 3) in which American artist Roni Horn explores the power of the weather to tell us who we really are.
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2008-11-20: Following severe damage from Hurricane Ike, Arbitron has closed its southwest calling centre in Houston with the loss of 298 jobs, 269 of them part-time. It had kept them on the payroll since the storm on September 13 but has since told the Texas Workforce Commission it has decided not to re-open the centre.
The part time staff will be paid up to October 24 and the 39 full-time staff to the end of the year and the work will be moved to its Southwest and Columbia, Maryland, centres. It will retain its field operations in Houston, using door-to-door recruiters for the Houston Portable People Meter (PPM) panel.
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2008-11-20: The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has ruled that comments about homosexuals made on the Harjinder Thind Show broadcast on CKYE-FM (Red FM), Vancouver, on January 31 this year, breached the Human Rights Clause of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) Code of Ethics.
The show in question featured a discussion on a Settlement Agreement to deal with possible changes to the British Columbia school curriculum to ensure the proper representation of homosexuality in the curriculum and included a representative from Parents for Democracy in Education, an organization opposed to the curriculum changes being proposed.
The host took a number of calls from listeners, most of whom supported the guest's view and some of which were translated into English from Punjabi by Thind: One caller said, in Punjabi, that young people who feel an attraction to members of the same sex are "sick" and that homosexuals are "a little sick group", while another alleged that homosexuality "is a sickness" that also contributes to the spread of AIDS and HIV.
A complaint was made that the comments that the complainant said were "negative and false views" which were being communicated to a "new immigrant population that needs to be better educated about [the] Canadian Charter of Rights and our community."
Red FM responded that it had intended to provide "a fair and balanced representation" and encourage "healthy dialogue".
The CBSC Panel, apart from a reservation concerning an allegation that the Settlement Agreement had been made "in secret", when in fact it had received news coverage ruled that "no aspect of the school curriculum discussion" was close to breaching Codes regarding balance but said that a couple of callers had crossed the line in their comments.
It said it understood that a number of new Canadian communities were "quite conservative on issues of homosexuality", something that posed no problem until comments became excessive and said that in this case the comments describing gays and lesbians as sick, assimilating homosexuality to a sickness, and attributing the causing of AIDS to homosexuals do exceed the tolerable threshold.
It noted that should a caller make such a comment, the host is in a position to mitigate its effect by his or her observations and that this opportunity was doubly available in the present matter, since the host played a translating role for callers and the audience and adds that he ought to have known his responsibilities pursuant to the CAB Code of Ethics and says that to the extent that he did not, it was the responsibility of the broadcaster to ensure that such comments not air.
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2008-11-19: This week for our weekly look at print comment on radio, we focus on things that are to disappear or have already gone starting in the US with the effects of the Sirius-XM merger and a report in arstechnica by Matthew Lasar.
Laser cites negative reaction from a number of customers of the merged company -long-time Sirius subscriber Stan Petrov who has lost access to NBA games (the company says the reason was that the contract moved to XM), felt he had been sold short by what he termed "'manipulating the market/consumer" and Rick Aristotle Munarriz of The Motley Fool who commented of the day the merged service began, "A feeling of pleasant surprise turned to horror this morning after I started up my X