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October 2011 Archive

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2011-10-31: Latest Australian radio ratings just released show the leaders holding on to their top spots everywhere except Brisbane where DMG Radio Australia's Nova moved into the top rank with an 11.8% share, up from 11.2, whilst previous leader Australian Radio Networks' 97.3FM - whose share was down from 11.9% to 11.4% - dropped from top rank to fourth behind Southern Cross Austereo's B105 and 4MMM, which each had an 11.7 % share - up from 11.4% and 11.2% respectively.
In Sydney, Macquarie Radio Networks' 2GB recorded the largest fall - 1.2 points as it dropped from 15.6 to 14.4 but it remained well ahead of second-ranked ABC702, which was down from 10.4 to 9.9 and FM leader Southern Cross Austereo's 2DAY, which was in third rank with 9.5 (9.3). WSFM then remained fourth but 2GB's commercial rival Fairfax Media's 2UE was up a rank to fifth with 6.1(6.0).
In the Sydney breakfast race, Alan Jones yet again took the top rank for 2GB although his share was down from 19.2% to 17.5%, allowing Ray Hadley in mornings to overtake him - Hadley's share was down from 18.8% to 17.7%. Afternoon top rank was retained by Chris Smith for 2GB with 13.6%, down from 14.1% but in drive 2-DAY moved up from second with 11.3 (11.1), pushing ABC702 into second with 10.6 (11.9).
The breakfast FM rankings in Sydney saw Kyle and Jackie O (Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O'Neil Henderson) retain their top rank and take their share up from 10.1 to 10.6: Overall they remained third with ABC 702 holding on to second spot with 13.5%, down from 14.2%: They were the only three with a share above 10%- fourth ranked Triple M, owned by Southern Cross Austereo, had a 6.2% share in the slot.
Southern Cross Austereo in its comments highlighted breakfast show success, noting that it "claims No 1 FM breakfast shows in four out of five markets" in the survey -- Kyle and Jackie O in Sydney; Matt and Jo (Matt Tilley & Jo Stanley) in Melbourne for Fox FM; The Grill Team in Brisbane for Triple M; and The Bunch in Perth for Mix 94.5. Austereo also noted that The Grill Team with Matty Johns, Mark Geyer and Gus Worland was the number two FM breakfast show in Sydney
Commenting on the survey, Director of Southern Cross Austereo Metro Radio, Guy Dobson said, "Our breakfast shows are easily the best in the country and their star studded line ups, on and off air, deliver results. We know we engage more 25 - 54s than any other radio business which is a great achievement."
City by city, the top stations were (previous ratings % share in brackets):
*Adelaide: Mix 102.3 with 16.2 (16.8) -Same rank; 5AA with 13.5 (14.8) - Same rank; ABC 891 with 10.5 (11.6) - same rank.
SAFM then remained fourth with 10.3 (10.6) followed by Nova, which remained fifth with 9.8 (8.3) ahead of Cruise 1323, which remained sixth with 9.0 (7.7).
*Brisbane - Nova 106.9 with 11.8 (11.2) - Up from third; B105 with 11.7 (11.4) - Same rank; 4MMM with 11.7 (10.6) - up from fifth.
*97.3 FM - with 11.4 (11.9) was then fourth, down from top rank, followed by ABC612, which remained fifth with 10.5 (10.3) and 4BC, which remained sixth with 7.6(7.9).
*Melbourne - 3AW with 16.4 (16.9) - same rank; Fox FM with 10.5 (10.3) - up from third; ABC 774 with 10.3 (10.6) - down from second;
*Nova 100 was then up from fifth to fourth with 8.0 (7.2) swapping places with 3MMM which was down a rank with 7.4(7.2) after which Gold remained sixth with 6.9 (6.7) but then Magic was up a rank to seventh with 6.3(5.7), swapping places with MIX 101.1, which was down to eighth with 6.0 (6.1).
DMG's Melbourne's 91.5, formerly Classic Rock and Vega before remained 11th with 3.2 (3.0) and t Melbourne Talk Radio was up a rank to 13th with an unchanged 1.9 swapping places with 3RN, which was down from 2.3 to 1.8 whilst NewsRadio remained bottom with 1.3 (1.5)
*Perth: Mix 94.5 with 16.6 (15.4) -same rank; 92.9 with 11.2 (11.0) - up from fifth; ABC 720 with 10.5 (11.6) - down from second;
*Nova 93.7 then remained fourth with 9.8(11.1) after which 6PR was fifth with 9.7(11.5) - down from third. 96FM then remained sixth with 9.6 (10.0).
*Sydney - 2GB 14.4 (15.6) - same rank; ABC 702 with 9.9 (10.4) - same rank; 2-DAY with 9.5 (9.3) - same rank;
*After this WSFM remained fourth with 6.7 (6.8), followed by 2UE which switched places with Nova to move into fifth rank with 6.1 (6.0) whilst Nova was down a rank with 6.0 (6.7).
2MM was then up two ranks to seventh with 5.6(5.4), overtaking Mix, which remained eighth with 5.3 (5.4) and 2CH, which was down to ninth with 5.0 (5.4).
DMG's Sydney's 95.3, the former Classic Rock and previously Vega, remained 11th with 3.5 (3.4).
RNW note:This report has been updated but we may update this report
Previous ABC, Australia:
Previous Australian Radio Network (ARN):
Previous Australian Ratings.
Previous DMG:
Previous Dobson:
Previous Fairfax Media:
Previous Hadley:
Previous Jones:
Previous Kyle and Jackie O:
Previous Macquarie Radio Network:
Previous Southern Cross Austereo:
Previous Smith:

2011-10-31: Clear Channel has reported third quarter revenues up 7% on a year earlier to USD 1.58 billion within which radio revenues were also up 7% - to USD 794.5 million albeit it put the rise down mainly to the acquisition of Westwood One's traffic business in April 2011 as well as an increase in national advertising revenues (traffic contributed USD 41 million out of a USD 55 million increase in revenues and national revenues another USD 14 million leaving local advertising flat or even down).
Americas Outdoor revenues were up 3% to USD 347.3 million and International Outdoor was up 11% to USD 401.1 million although the company noted that but for foreign exchange movements the rise would have been 5%.
OIBDAN was up 8% to USD 479.0 million within which radio was almost flat - up from USD 301.3 million to USD 302.7 million; Americas Outdoor was up 1% to USD 138.8 million and International Outdoor was up 16% to USD 72.3 million.
Operating income was up 21.56% to USD 268.8 million and net loss was halved - from USD 154.7 million to USD 74.1 million.
CEO Bob Pittman said of the results, "This quarter's solid performance and innovation across our businesses underscore my excitement about taking a leadership role at Clear Channel. Not only did we leverage the power of our national radio platform to launch the New iHeartRadio with the biggest music festival in radio history, but our outdoor businesses keep generating impressive revenue growth in multiple markets and display types, both in the Americas and Internationally. Across all of our platforms, we are creating unique media experiences that translate into even stronger connections with consumers around the world."
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tom Casey added, "During this quarter, we continued to benefit from the global diversification of our portfolio and the industry leadership of our assets. In addition to delivering our seventh consecutive quarter of revenue growth, we continued to make progress in managing our liquidity and debt maturity profile while investing in the Company. Looking ahead, we are confident about our ability to keep driving future growth thanks to the leadership of our businesses, innovations across our company and a continued focus on managing our expenses."
At the company's conference call Pittman was asked about the latest round of firings and re-iterated the company line that they were not about money, commenting of reporting on the dismissals, "I'm not sure anyone in the press got it right."
The "driving force" behind the firings said Pittman was using Clear Channel's assets to improve its product, adding, "The horrible thing is that some people lost their jobs. By the way, at the same time, we are adding jobs at the national level and in digital. This is a reallocation of resources and a different way of doing business, realizing that the world is different in 2011. After this reorganization, the businesses will be in great shape to operate better and improve the quality of performance and generate more revenue."
He continued, "Any company that started before the Internet is outmoded in terms of operational structures. We took a very hard look at the smaller markets. I know what you are up against in those small markets. And I'm very excited about what John (Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan) and his team have put together here."
Previous Casey:
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Pittman:

2011-10-31: Irish radio host and soccer commentator Eamon Dunphy has not only quit his job on Communicorp's Newstalk 106 but also burned his boats with an on-air attack on owner Denis O'Brien on his last show. He will however continue as a panellist for RTE television's soccer coverage and writing a weekly column for the Irish Daily Star.
Dunphy had said he was going to quit and reports had suggested that this was related to his salary of Euros 100,000 a year (USD 136,000) for the Sunday Show being cut in half but the host denied this on his final show.
Saying his departure was because life had become "impossible" at the station, 66-years-old Dunphy went on to say, "That's why I'm leaving because ... not just for me but for my producer, who's a young journalist, and other young journalists on this station. They're being intimidated and blackguarded."
He then went on in an apparent reference to O'Brien, "Now if those kind of people acquire powers -and they do have powers - then it's very, very dangerous because they buy politicians like they buy dinners in fancy restaurants...and they buy journalists like they buy dinners in fancy restaurants…well it's not going to happen here. Do you want them to have the power to have people paraded before an Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) committee?"
Dunphy then turned on O'Brien saying, "Denis O'Brien hates journalism. He despises it. He's on the record all over the place" and when a colleague suggested that O'Brien wasn't a member of the Oireachtas retorted, "No. But he owns the members of the Oireachtas."
Before the show, the UK Sunday Times quoted Dunphy as saying he was leaving the station in protest at what he called "dumbing-down journalism" and "yellow-pack" broadcasting.
Regarding his pay he said that he got the offer of a 50% cut - - an "offer I could resist, actually" - two months ago despite recording a 10% increase in listenership over the past year.
Dunphy also attacked a campaign by O'Brien and TV3 to double from the current 7.5% o 15% the percentage of the licence-payers' money that goes to the commercial sector, and said the station had objected to some of his guests.
"They want dissenting voices off the station. You're constantly being told what line to take. That just isn't on," said Dunphy. "Last year, they sent a memo around saying they wanted a new form of journalism to get away from the accepted forms; not always harping on the negative, that people needed more positivity. I was brought in for a pep talk on positivity by Frank Cronin [the station's chief executive] and Garrett Harte [the station editor]."
Cronin has denied interference in the host's selection of guests saying, "Nobody has ever been told who they can or can't have on their shows," he said. "One time I said to Eamon or his producer that he had Constantin [Constantin Gurdgiev, an economist at Trinity College] on a lot and his views would be similar to Eamon's."
"I said from time to time it would be good to have opposing views on to have a better debate," added Cronin. "That is normal programming management and couldn't be construed as interference."
As regards the tone of programming he commented, "We did think the mood of the country needs lifting," he said. "But we are not seeking to do false happy-clappy stuff and pretend all the financial problems aren't there. All our presenters call it as it is. We don't shirk from the truth. There are a lot of people unemployed and despondent and they need to hear there is hope and there is an argument that we can get out of this mess. We don't want to have only negative comment."
The host also said he was quitting in solidarity with journalist Sam Smyth, who was sacked two weeks ago as host of the rival Sunday morning show on Today, another O'Brien-owned station.
"I felt it was wrong to stay there as a fig leaf after what happened to Sam," Dunphy told the paper. "[O'Brien] is a guy who's at war with journalists. You can't stand around and say nothing."
O'Brien is suing Smyth over comments he made on the TV3 show Tonight With Vincent Browne and in a newspaper article about the Moriarty Tribunal - the public inquiry set up in 1997 to look into the financial affairs of politicians the late Charles Haughey (a former Irish Taioseach or Prime Minister ) and Michael Lowry (currently still a member of parliament of TD - Teachta Dála and a former Communications Minister: The Moriarty Tribunal found that he had assisted O'Brien's Esat Digiphone consortium in acquiring a lucrative mobile phone licence in the mid-90s and said one of Lowry's interventions, which reduced the selection process to Esat's advantage, was "disgraceful" and "insidious.").
Smyth was replaced with PR consultant Anton Savage but Today denied that the action was linked to the court action, saying it made the decision because of a fall in the audience for the show: The latest ratings just posted show its reach down from 106,000 to 92,00 over the past year.
Today is also losing its chief executive Willie O'Reilly, who is to join state broadcaster RTÉ's Executive Board as Group Commercial Director with a remit to lead all of the divisional and cross-divisional Commercial staff and operations at RTÉ.
O'Reilly, who takes up his new post on Jan 1 next year, has been Chief Executive of Today FM since 1999 prior to which he worked in broadcasting both in the private sector and in RTÉ, where he was Executive producer of The Gerry Ryan Show for a ten-year period. During his time in Today FM he has managed changes of ownership from private individuals to Scottish Radio Holdings to Emap PLC and current owners Communicorp Ltd.
The Sunday Business Post quoted Today FM chairman John McColgan as saying O'Reilly's decision to quit the station for was not linked to the increasing role played by owners Communicorp: He added that whilst the new owners had been more hands-on than previous ones he did not think O'Reilly's position had been undermined or affected, saying, "Absolutely not. If somebody pushed him, he would resign. There certainly may have been robust and challenging conversations - about the bottom line, mainly, and about personnel, occasionally - but I don't think that anyone could have pushed Willie."
Previous Communicorp:
Previous Dunphy:
Previous O'Brien:
Previous RTÉ:
Sunday Business Post report:
UK Sunday Times report:
The Herald, Ireland, report [O'Brien is a shareholder in Independent News & Media, which publishes the Herald]:
You Tube- audio of part of Dunphy comments:

2011-10-30: The US saw by far the most regulatory activity as regards radio last week with a very low level elsewhere with only one radio announcement each from Australia, Ireland, and the UK.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said an audit found that Southern Cross Media's Queensland regional station 4MIC (Hot FM), Mt Isa, failed to broadcast the minimum duration of material of local significance (30 minutes per business day) required to comply with its local content obligations but two other stations audited were in compliance (See RNW Oct 26).
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) was a little busier as regards radio with postings including the following:
Alberta:
*Approval of application by the CIAM-FM Media & Radio Broadcasting Association to relocate the transmitter and decrease the antenna height of its transmitter CIAM-FM-12, Cleardale. The applicant said that the change was necessary because of lack of space on the tower originally proposed for the transmitter.
British Columbia:
*Approval of application from not-for-profit corporation Stoke FM Radio Society, Revelstoke, for a licence to operate a 4 watts English-language, very low-power developmental community FM radio programming undertaking in Revelstoke
*Approval of application from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to add a 90 watts FM transmitter in Lillooet to rebroadcast the programming of CBTK-FM, Kelowna, and replace an existing low-power transmitter in Lillooet.
Manitoba:
*Approval of application by Dufferin Communications Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Evanov Communications Inc., for authority to acquire for CAD 5.5 million (approx USD 5.5 million) from Newcap Inc. the assets of the English-language commercial radio stations CHNK-FM and CKJS-AM, Winnipeg, and for new broadcasting licences to continue the operation of these stations.
It also approved also approves Dufferin's request to amend CHNK-FM's condition of licence relating to the broadcast of musical selections from content category 2 (Popular Music). Currently no more than 60% of all music can be from these selections and this has been increased to 70%.
The commission noted that the stations have been unprofitable and therefore did not require a tangible benefits payment for this transaction although Dufferin has committed to assume the unfulfilled tangible benefits resulting from those previous transactions involving the stations.
*Short-term renewal from 1 November 2011 to 30 November 2011 of the licence of Corus Premium Television Ltd.'s CJGV-FM, Winnipeg.
In Ireland the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) made no radio licence postings but it is involved in posting radio ratings (See RNW Oct 28) and in the UK, the only radio-posting from Ofcom was that of its latest Broadcast Bulletin in which it upheld to radio complaints (See RNW Oct 24).
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moved ahead on its plans for a November 9nationwide Emergency Alert System test, posting a handbook and details of requirements from participants (See RNW Oct 26).
On a side issue Commissioners Michael J. Copps (Democrat) and Robert M. McDowell (Republican) both welcomed the release by the American Association of Advertising Agencies of an advertising non-discrimination policy framework: Both commissioners had been active at the FCC in its development of such a policy for broadcasters.(See RNW Oct 27)
On the enforcement front the FCC was also fairly busy, issuing, or proposing penalties totalling more than USD 55,000.
They included:
*USD 22,000 NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture) to R. J.'s Late Night Entertainment Corporation, licensee of non-commercial educational station WHPR-FM, Highland Park, Michigan, for ailing to maintain operational EAS (Emergency Alert System) equipment, moving the main transmitter without authorizations and not making available a local public inspection file (See RNW Oct 24):
*USD 21,000 Forfeiture to Consolidated Radio, Inc., licensee of KVOZ-AM in Del Mar Hills, Texas, for R failure to maintain a main studio in the c ommunity of license; operate consistent with the terms of its station authorization; and maintain and make available a complete public inspection file.
The agency had issued a NAL for this amount in May this year to which Consolidated responded by certifying that it has corrected all of the violations set forth in the NAL and requesting cancellation or reduction of the proposed forfeiture due to its limited station funding which "relies entirely on donations from the listener community.
The FCC noted that the breaches of its rules were not disputed and that it had not provided documentation regarding ability to pay: Accordingly it confirmed the penalty.
*USD 10,000 NAL to Willis Cernogg, Jr of Miami for operating an unlicensed FM transmitter. In January, March and April this year agents responding to a complaint had traced the source of transmissions to a residence in Miami and in April entered the residence with members of the Miami Police Department (MPD) under a search warrant. A person who rented a room there said Cernogg put the radio equipment in the locked area where MPD found it and a subsequent internet search found information concerning the station and details of a user "LadyLuckRadio907FMMiami" and a domain ladyluckradio.net that was registered to Cernogg. In addition an address associated with Cernogg is listed on the Twitter account for "LADYLUCKRADIO."
*USD 4,000 NAL to Aleluya Christian Broadcasting, Inc. (ACB), licensee of KBRZ-AM, Missouri City, Texas, for failing to operate within authorized power limitations. The station is authorized to operate under a Special Temporary Authorization with 3200 watts during the day and with 100 watts at night but monitoring on two days in July indicated no noticeable change in field strength during daytime and post-sunset hours. A subsequent measurement showed the station was operating at its daytime power at night. As well as the penalty the licensee has been directed to submit a statement signed under penalty of perjury by an officer or director of ACB stating that Station KBRZ is decreasing power after sunset as specified in its station authorization.
*USD 500 NAL to Calvary Chapel of the Redwoods, licensee of Low Power FM station KRDW-LP, Smith River, California, for late filing of licence renewal application and subsequent unauthorized operation. The licence application should have been filed by August 1, 2005, but was not on in May this year the licensee was informed that the licence had expired, its authority to operate had been terminated and the call letters deleted from the FCC database.
The licensee then submitted a renewal application and request for Special Temporary Authorization (STA) to continue Station operations pending consideration of the renewal application. The STA was granted and the FCC has now renewed the licence.
In licensing actions the agency has had also announced an immediate freeze in relation to its FM Auction 93 (See RNW Oct 24) and also granted in part a petition for reconsideration filed by in relation to the grant to the Nevada-Utah Conference of Seventh Day Adventists of a new non-commercial educational ("NCE") FM station at Bishop, California.
Nevada-Utah was awarded a preference and made tentative selectee for the licence in June 2008 but in May last year Benett Kessler filed a Petition seeking reconsideration of the dismissal of an earlier Petition for Reconsideration that she had filed on September 12, 2008.
Kessler argued in her 2008 petition that Nevada-Utah did not have reasonable assurance of site availability when it filed its application but her petition was dismissed as procedurally defective and also said it would not have overturned its decision because of Kessler's failure to provide a timely affidavit from the tower owner or its representative made under penalty of perjury, and her reliance instead on her uncorroborated hearsay account of her conversation with [the tower owner's representative].
Kessler challenged the dismissal and provided a declaration from Daniel McClenaghan, President of Living Proof, Inc. the owner of the tower specified in the application, as further support for her allegation.
The FCC re-iterated its view that the original petition was procedurally defective but found that consideration of new evidence provided as in the public interest and based on the details before it rescinded its grant of the Nevada-Utah application.
The FCC also dismissed two Applications for Review (AFRs) jointly filed by Fireside Media and Jet Fuel Broadcasting arising from their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records concerning FM Auction 37 in 2004.
One AFR sought review of the decision of the Office of General Counsel (OGC) denying Fireside's request for a waiver or reduction of fees for processing its FOIA request and producing the documents sought and the second review of a fee estimate prepared by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) for processing the FOIA request.
The FCC said that Fireside had failed to demonstrate that a that a FOIA fee waiver was warranted and also upheld the WTB fee estimate of USD 1,380
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Ofcom website:

2011-10-29: Radio One Inc. has announced that it is to move the current Praise gospel music programming of its KROI-FM, Houston, to the HD channel of its KMJQ-FM (Magic FM) and flip the station to full service news starting from November 14.
The station will augment its local cover with services from ABC News Radio and Associated Press Platinum and to host its morning show is bringing back veterans J.P. Pritchard and Lana Hughes, who served the Houston market as a broadcast duo for more than 27 years.
Pritchard and Hughes were with Clear Channel's news-talk KTRH-AM (Its home page when we checked today carried both 740 KTRH NEWSRADIO and 740 KTRH News TALK logos) until the end of June this year when the station, which had aired news in the morning and syndicated shows for the rest of the time, dropped them in favour of moving almost all the way to conservative talk - syndicated hosts include Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh with Matt Patrick, who says his duties are "to engage, entertain, and discuss local and national events from a conservative viewpoint" hosting the morning news show.
Announcing the decision in a news release, Radio One Regional Vice-President Doug Abernethy said, "Our review of Houston's broadcast landscape told us that those listeners interested in local news as well as national news were being poorly served so we decided to make a commitment to delivering the news in a dependable fashion. People want to hear about news as it happens, and they shouldn't have to wait until their radio station 'catches up'. We'll deliver the news as it unfolds."
Project manager for the format change will be Ed Shane, founder and president of the Houston-based Shane Media Services, who said, "We're going to give people the facts without the biased opinions that dominate so-called news stations. We've assembled an A-list of broadcast journalists whose mission is to report the news and let people make up their own minds."
He added that the programming team, to be led by veteran news director Denise Bishop, will deliver an appealing blend of local, regional and national news along with topical information and the traffic and weather updates that are essential to Houston listeners.
Radio One radio division President Barry Mayo said, "The change that we announced today is a ground-breaking and necessary addition to the choices available to the residents of the Houston metro area. The ability to realize a need and then take the appropriate action to satisfy it is what has sustained the popularity of our Houston radio stations."
As well as Pritchard and Hughes, staff will include Mike Barajas, Scott Braddock, Carolyn Campbell, Kevin Charles, Brent Clanton, Lanny Griffith, Laurie Kendrick, Martha Martinez, Bonnie Petrie, Matt Sampsell, Pattie Shieh, Meteorologist Dr. Joe Sobel, Craig Roberts, and Jorge Vargas.
RNW Comment: Any station that opts to carry reasonably straight news cover as opposed to partial blathering of any kind deserves support in our view: We wish the move well and can only hope that it dent's KTRH's figures enough for others to make similar moves elsewhere.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Mayo:
Previous Radio One Inc.:

2011-10-29: CBS veteran Don Mozley, who was the first US reporter to break the news of Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945 - based on an intercepted Japanese domestic radio broadcast - has died aged 90 following a heart attack at London Heathrow Airport on has way home from a trip to Europe.
Mozley, who broadcast for CBS Radio and KCBS in San Francisco for 62 years, including ten years as a network correspondent, was CBS News's youngest correspondent when he was hired in 1942, at age of 21. After covering World War II for the network, he was assigned to the atomic bomb tests at Bikini in the Marshall Islands, and later reported on the presidential campaigns of Sen. Robert A. Taft, Richard M. Nixon and General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Born in Santa Ana and a University of Missouri graduate Mozley was News Director at KCBS for 15 years, also serving as a news anchor and reporter and covering the auto industry in his "California Driver" and "Auto Test" features aired on KCBS: He was still reviewing continued to review new cars on the CBSSF.com web site until shortly before his death - the last review we noted was of the VW Jetta SE in June this year.
Previous CBS:
Broadcast legends - Mozley entry:
CBS - Mozley auto review:
CBS -Mozley death report:
San Francisco Chronicle report:

2011-10-28: The BBC has announced the appointment of 41-years-old Ben Cooper to the post of Controller of BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra.
Cooper had had been Acting Controller since July when Andy Parfitt stood down: Parfitt's other roles as Controller Popular Music and the Asian Network were taken over by Bob Shennan, Controller BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music as (See RNW Jul 21).
Making the announcement, BBC Director BBC Audio & Music Tim Davie, said in a release, "It is excellent to have someone of Ben's calibre and experience to lead Radio 1 and keep the station as relevant, popular and distinctive as ever. Ben has an outstanding track record at Radio 1 and 1Xtra, where he has played an integral role in developing the quality and reach of both networks, and I look forward to working with him in building Radio 1's digital future."
Cooper commented, "This is a dream come true. I'm honoured to be leading the BBC's youth music radio stations and care deeply that Radio 1 & 1Xtra lead the way in shaping media consumption for young audiences in the UK.''
Cooper began his career in BBC local radio, presenting and producing on BBC Hereford & Worcester and as a journalist at Three Counties Radio before becoming a producer at Radio 1.
He then left the corporation to become an Executive Producer at Capital Radio from 2001 to 2003 and then returned to the corporation as Head of Mainstream at Radio 1 before becoming Head of Programmes from 2006 to 2008 during which period he hired a number of the station's current hosts including Vernon Kay, Greg James, Nick Grimshaw, Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates.
In February 2009 he became Deputy Controller of Radio 1 and Radio 1 Xtra.
Previous BBC:
Previous Cooper:
Previous Davie
Previous Shennan:

2011-10-28: Beasley Broadcast Group has reported third quarter revenues were down 1% on a year ago at USD 24 million with first nine months revenues up 2.2% at USD 72.5 million, putting the third quarter decline down primarily to the reduction of political advertising in the period this year compared to a year ago.
Station operating income was down 2.3% for the quarter at USD 8.2 million and up 8.6% for the first nine months at USD 24.9 million and operating income fell 4.9% for the quarter to USD 5.6 million but rose by 13% for the first nine months to USD 17.0 million.
Net income was boosted by a 30.4% -- USD 800,000 - reduction in interest expenses as a result of lower outstanding credit facility balances and the expiration of a swap agreement at the end of the 2011 first quarter and ended up 12.6% for the quarter to USD 3.2 million (from nine to ten cents per diluted share) and up 42.9% for the first nine months at USD 6.7 million (From 31 cents to 30 cents per diluted share).
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer George G Beasley said of the results, "While concerns about the U.S. and global economies, as well as weakness in the capital markets, persisted throughout the quarter, Beasley Broadcast Group's 1% revenue decline during the period was primarily attributable to a reduction in political spending in a non-election year. Excluding the impact of political, revenue was flat for the quarter."
"While we continue to experience revenue volatility in our markets, our clusters saw monthly sequential revenue improvements throughout the quarter with September ending on a positive note despite year-ago comps, which included political spending."
Beasley added that station operating expenses were essentially flat during the quarter and continued, "Looking forward, we remain focused on our station clusters matching or exceeding their market's revenue performance, and further addressing the balance sheet through continued reductions in borrowings. We have strong station clusters and ratings in key markets and we are highly focused on generating profitable station and digital revenue growth. Our streamlined cost and operating structure delivers significant operating leverage, which supports cash flow growth. With a half century of broadcasting success, Beasley Broadcast is continuously developing strategies to benefit from changes in the media and advertising environments. We are confident we can further develop our platform as a high value media buy for advertisers and a primary source of on-air, online and mobile entertainment for consumers, which in turn will generate new value for shareholders."
Previous Beasley:
Previous George Beasley:

2011-10-28: Latest Irish radio ratings from the JNLR/Ipsos MRBI survey just released covering the period from October 2010 to September 2011 show 84% of the Irish adult population listen to radio daily, down from 85% in the previous survey and a year earlier.
Listening to listening to any multi-city/regional/local radio service, was unchanged at 58%
Of the main national stations, compared to the previous quarter RTÉ Radio 1 held on to its weekday reach of 25% (24% a year earlier); RTÉ 2FM held on to 11% (14% a year earlier); and figures were unchanged for Today FM at 13% (13% a year earlier); Newstalk with 8% (Also 8% a year earlier) and RTÉ Lyric FM 3% (as a year earlier)
In terms of overall market share for weekdays 07:00 to 19:00 national stations recorded an 0.6% increase to 46.7% (53.8% a year earlier) within which RTÉ Radio 1 was down0.2 to 23.3% (22.1% a year earlier), Today FM was up 0.2% to 9.1% (9.3 % a year earlier); and Newstalk was up 0.3% to 4.4% (4.1% a year earlier); RTÉ Lyric FM was up 0.2% to 1.8% (1.6% a year earlier) and RTÉ 2FM was up 0.1% to 7.4% (8.7% a year earlier).
As regards weekday reach of the multi-city and regional stations Beat 102-103FM held on to 20% (Also 20% a year earlier) with share down from 12.2% to 12.1% (12.3% a year earlier); regional youth service Spin South West was down from 20% to 19% (21% a year earlier) with share down from 11.1% to 10.4% (10.9% a year earlier); North-West regional service i102-104FM was down from 20% to 19%(20% a year earlier) with share down from 12.9% to 11.7% (14.7% a year earlier) and North-East regional service i105-107FM, was up from to 10% (7% a year earlier) with share steady at 7.6% (5.1% a year earlier).
Multi-City Service 4FM, which went on air in February 2009, was up from 5% to 7% (3% a year earlier) with share in Dublin up from 0.8% to 1.1% and in Cork up from 2.7% to 3.7% (A year earlier it had 1.7% in Dublin and 2.9% in Cork).
Amongst local stations, excluding Dublin and Cork, the top five ranks (weekday reach compared to the previous ratings) were taken by Donegal North station Highland Radio with 65% - down from 67% (and down from 69% a year earlier); Mayo station Midwest Radio -with 58% - up from 55% (50% a year earlier); Roscommon/Longford/Sth Leitrim station Shannonside -with 55% - up from 54% (- only the combined Shannonside/Northern Sound was listed a year earlier when it had 46% - the two stations have their own schedules for most of the weekday 0700-1900 period); then with 50% Donegal South/Sligo/Nth Leitrim station Shannonside/Northern Sound (up from 49% and from 46% a year earlier - see Shannonside) and Kerry station Radio Kerry, also with 50% - down from 51% (51% a year earlier).
In weekday share terms the top five ranks were taken by Donegal North station Highland Radio with 62.7% (down from 63.5% and from 63.4% a year earlier);Kerry station Radio Kerry with 54.2% (Down from 56.5% and from 56.3% a year earlier);Tipperary station Tipp FM with 52.1% (Down from 52.3% and 54.3% a year earlier); Roscommon/Longford/Sth Leitrim station Shannonside with an unchanged 51.5% (only the combined Shannonside/Northern Sound was listed a year earlier when it had 46.2%); Mayo station Midwest Radio with 51.0% (Up from 50.8% and from 49.6% a year earlier) and Clare radio station Clare FM with 48.7% - up from 47.3% and 42.6% a year earlier: Waterford station WLR-FM with 46.5% (Down from 48.,5% and 45.6% a year earlier)was pushed into sixth place..
In Dublin the leaders in terms of weekday reach were RTÉ Radio 1 with an unchanged 31.0 (It had 30% in the Dublin Commuter ratings - only introduced in these ratings - and 30.9 % year earlier: Its share was 31.4% for each, down from 31.6%, down from 32.6% but up from 30.9% a year earlier); FM 104 with 20% - down from 21% (11.5% a year earlier: Its share was 11.4%, down from 12.4% and 11.5% a year earlier); Spin 1038 with an 14% ( Down from 15% and 6.5% a year earlier: Its share was an unchanged 5.9% (down from 6.5% a year earlier)); then each with an unchanged 13% Q102 (11.2% a year earlier: Its share was 10.3%, down from 10.7% and from 11.2% a year earlier) and 98FM, (11.3% a year earlier: Its share was 9.5%, up from 9.0% bit down from 11.3% a year earlier).
In Cork the leaders in weekday reach were Cork 96FM/County Sound 103FM with 48% (Down from 49% but 48% a year earlier: Its share was 44.4%, down from 45.9% and 43.5% a year earlier); Cork's 96FM with 35%% (Down from 36% -also 36% a year earlier: Its share was 30.6%, down from 31.8% and 32.4% a year earlier) RTÉ Radio 1 with an unchanged 31% (Up from 30% and 25% a year earlier: Its share was 21%, up from 20.8% and 20.6% a year earlier); Cork's Red FM with an unchanged 18% (21% a year earlier: Its share was 10.3%m down from 10.7% and 11.3% a year earlier); C103 with an unchanged 17%, up from 16% (14% a year earlier: Its share was 13.8%, down from 14.1% and up from 11.1% a year earlier); and Today FM with and unchanged 13% (15% a year earlier: Its share was 7.9%, down from 8.3% and 10.1% a year earlier).
JNLR also now notes that listening is almost four-hours -a day during the prime weekday 0700-1900 period and that amongst the 15-34 demographic the split between national and other listening is higher for other listening than overall - 64% and 36% compared to 53% and 47% [RNW comment: Which is what we'd expect as the younger demographic is more likely to listen to the music from commercial stations than the more varied offerings from the national services.].
In its comments on the results RTÉ headlines the success of RTÉ Radio 1 as the only station with a seven day weekly reach of more than a million with year-on-year gains for Morning Ireland, Today with Pat Kenny, News at One, The Ronan Collins Show, Mooney and Drivetime.
Jim Jennings, Head of RTÉ Radio 1, said in a release, "Radio 1 has swept the boards yet again with strong year-on-year gains for the weekday schedule… this book shows that, book-on-book, the latest figures are not as strong for weekend listening, on any national station. Naturally we look forward to a resurgence in weekend figures as the autumn schedule kicks in. It's great to see RTÉ Radio 1 with 18 of the top 20 programmes, retaining such a conclusive lead on its rivals."
RTÉ 2fm singled out a weekday share up to 7.4% and John McMahon, Head of 2fmcommented, "There are ups and downs in this book. It's encouraging to see gains and stabilisation across some daytime shows after a difficult period for 2fm. Equally there are some changes that have yet to bed down fully. I'm confident that the ongoing work we're doing to improve both Hector and Ryan's [ Hector Ó hEochagáin whose breakfast show on the station launched on Oct 4 last year and Ryan Tubridy, who hosts 0900-1100) shows, and indeed every show on 2fm, will pay dividends over time."
The broadcaster also noted book-on-book increased for RTÉ lyric fm with Significant gains for many lyric programmes on weekdays" but did not comment on year-on-year comparisons.
Previous Irish Ratings:
Previous Jennings:
Previous McMahon:
Previous RTÉ:

2011-10-27: Fairfax Media, which in May this year announced that it was putting up its radio stations for sale (See RNW May 5) and earlier this month announced the sale of its regional radio assets to Grant Broadcasters (See RNW Oct 18) has now withdrawn its metropolitan stations from sale.
The company said in a statement that "Despite strong interest from multiple entities, no party in the process has ultimately been able to put forward a proposal that is acceptable to Fairfax Media" - a long-winded way of saying it couldn't get the price it wanted- and that it has ended consideration of the sale.
Fairfax added that former Austereo CEO and Fairfax non executive director Michael Anderson "has agreed to oversee the development of a new strategic plan to drive the performance of the business."
Previous Anderson:
Previous Fairfax Media:

2011-10-27: Latest UK radio ratings from RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) show the number of people listening to radio in the UK falling back slightly from the second quarter's all-time high of 47.62 million adults - 91.7% of the 15+ population - each week with listening hours totalling 1.076 million: For the third quarter the total was 47.14 million (90.7%) with listening hours unchanged at 1,076 million hours but up 2% from the 1,055 million hours a year earlier.
Listening via a digitally enabled receiver of some kind (DAB, Digital TV and internet) reached 304 million hours a week - 28.2 2% of all listening compared to 24.8% a year earlier and 26.9% in the previous quarter - and is up 12% year-on-year to 22.8 million people a week with DAB accounting for 63.9% of this - 194 million hours, up 20% on a year earlier compared to listening via digital TV of 50 million hours, up 8% on a year earlier and internet listening of 30 million hours, up 33%.
In terms of listening share the BBC gained on commercial TV, moving up from 54% in the previous quarter and 54.3% a year earlier to take 54.5% whilst commercial radio's share was down to 43.3% from the second quarter and 43.3% a year earlier.
Of the BBC national networks, the biggest gainer was Radio 5 Live, which took its reach up by 77.5% year-on-year and 44.3% quarter-on-quarter to 1.15 million whilst the largest percentage fall was at BBC Radio 3, which was down 4.3% year-on-year and 5.6% quarter-on-quarter to 2.052 million.
BBC Radio 2 remained by far the most popular station with 14.309 listeners a week - up 4.6% year-on-year and 2.5% quarter-on quarter.
Amongst commercial stations, the greatest gain was recorded by digital station Absolute 80s which reached 1.018 million listeners a week - up 80.5% year-on-year and 13.9% quarter-on quarter - making it the most popular commercial digital-only station in terms of reach and the most popular digital only station in terms of share - it took a 1% share of listening compared to 0.9% for BBC 6 music although the BBC station had a slightly greater reach at 1.229 million - down 3.2% quarter-on-quarter but up 2.8% year-on-year.
Amongst commercial analogue stations the best big station performance came from UTV's talkSPORT which lost less of its listeners - down 2.5% quarter-on-quarter but up 5.8% year-on-year at 3.132 million although in percentage terms Guardian Media Group's Smooth Radio did better, taking its weekly reach up 9% quarter-on-quarter and 3.7% year-on-year to 3.328 million, it best ever figures.
Of the national breakfast hosts, Chris Evans at BBC Radio 2 remained ahead of his competitors as he increased his weekly reach to 8.864 million from 8.665 million in the previous quarter and 8.413 million a year earlier whilst arch rival Chris Moyles at BBC Radio 1 saw his reach drop from 7.439 million in the second quarter to 7.162 million, up from 7.101 million a year earlier: Radio 1 overall increased its reach by 1.4% quarter-on quarter and 1.7% year-on-year to 11.850 million.
The change took Evans to his largest-ever lead over Moyles - 1.7 million compared to 1.66 million in the first quarter of this year.
In London, Global Radio's Capital FM took the lead amongst commercial stations in terms of reach with a weekly audience of 2.179 million, up 2.5% year-on-year and 4.9% quarter-on-quarter. It took its share up from 4.8% in the previous quarter to 5.6%, equalling Bauer's Magic FM. although behind Bauer's Heart FM in terms of listening share.
Magic had led in the second quarter with a 6.1% share and a reach of 2.286 million - down in the third quarter to 1.993 million putting it behind Heart which was up from 1.993 million to 2.027 million and was top ranked in share with 6.1%, up from 5.1% in the previous quarter.
In the London commercial breafast ratings Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon held onto their lead with a weekly reach of 1.134 million- down from 1.145 million in the second quarter and 1.150 million a year ago: They were followed by Heart's Jamie Theakston and Harriet Scott with 843,000, up from a third-ranked 792,000 in the previous quarter and 834,000 a year ago. Neil Fox at Magic was pushed down into third rank with 717,000, down from 845,000 in the second quarter and 790,000 a year earlier.
Commenting on the figures, the BBC noted its best listening hours for three years and Radio 1's largest audience since new research methodology was introduced in January 1999.
Tim Davie, Director BBC Audio - Music, said: "It is excellent to see people listening to so many hours of BBC Radio. In particular, the record Radio 1 figures reflect both the distinctiveness of its programmes and the strength of an outstanding team.
"I'm also very pleased to see that the combined efforts of the radio industry are resulting in a clear transition of listeners into digital radio. The rise in internet listening is noteworthy and represents encouraging growth in the sector."
Unsurprisingly in its comments, Absolute Radio notes the success of Absolute 80s heading its comment, "Absolute Radio & Absolute 80s Now Both In Commercial Radio Top Ten."
As well as Absolute 80s lead amongst digital stations it noted that the "Absolute Radio Network holds its nine year audience high in reach - with over 2.8 million weekly listeners, steady quarter-on-quarter and posting an increase of 18% year-on-year " - it added (in a fit of honesty!) "Absolute Radio's reach remains steady at 1.6m after substantial audience gains last quarter."
RNW note: We hope to get time within the next few days to add our fuller list of station figures for both this quarter and the second quarter.
Previous Bauer:
Previous BBC:
Previous Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (Ultimate parent of Absolute):
Previous Davie:
Previous Evans:
Previous Global Radio:
Previous GMG:
Previous Moyles:
Previous RAJAR & RAJAR Ratings:
Previous Snowdon:
Previous UTV:
Previous Vaughan:

2011-10-27: Clear Channel has now announced details of a re-organization under which it has set up, to use its words from a news release, a " New National Programming Platforms Team: New Division To Deliver Unparalleled On-Air, Digital and Live Event Content Across Clear Channel's Multiple Platforms."
Tom Poleman, who was recently appointed President of National Programming Platforms, will head the division and commented, "Clear Channel already has unmatched scale and promotional power. Our competitive advantage is strengthened by our mission to be everywhere our listeners are with the products and services they want and expect."
"Now, I'm proud to say that we've assembled an equally unmatched group of talent to lead our new National Programming Platforms division. This division will enable us to be even more relevant and effective for our audiences, partners and advertisers, and build our national scale and reach by putting together products, events and relationships that nobody else can."
Clear Channel says the division's focus will be on "developing on-air and digital programming content as well as live events for Clear Channel's 850 stations."
It adds, "The division also includes Clear Channel's Programming Operations Center and the company's highly effective Premium Choice network, which imports and exports programming innovation and excellence from region to region, market to market and station to station. These efforts are led by Darren Davis, Senior Vice President and General Manager of National Programming Platforms."
Appointments to the new division include Dennis Clark, Vice President, Talent Development; Guy Zapoleon, Vice President, Digital Music Programming; Zena Burns, Vice President, Digital Programming Platforms; Darren Pfeffer, Vice President, Music & Entertainment Marketing and Alissa Pollack, Executive Vice President, Integrated Music Marketing.
Clark started his radio career at Clear Channel's KIIS-FM Los Angeles in 1986 as a Staff Producer for "Rick Dees in the Morning" and "Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40." He left in 1995 to join The Research Group where he became a Strategic Research Consultant based in Europe and four years later he launched Dennis Clark Consulting, specializing in talent development and personality training within the U.S., as well as broadcast groups in Europe, Asia and Australia.
He returned to KIIS in 2005 as Executive Producer for the "On Air With Ryan Seacrest," morning show.
Guy Zapoleon is another industry veteran- his radio career began at KRTH-AM, in Los Angeles and after various moves he founded Zapoleon Media Strategies in 1992. He will be based in Boston and will says the company "contribute to the programming of the New iHeartRadio with a major focus on the product's more than 80 digital-only stations and will collaborate with the Clear Channel Digital team to combine the company's custom radio algorithm with the expertise of its radio programmers. [RNW note: We'd welcome an explanation in plain English of exactly what that means.]
Zena Burns will oversee national digital programming content and social content integration, including editorial, artist interviews, syndicated features, artist integration programs and exclusive iHeartRadio Music Festival content. She has worked for Clear Channel Radio New York since 2006 as Online Program Director, where she was responsible for content, social and digital development for Z100, Q104.3, 103.5 KTU, 106.7 Lite fm and Power 105.1. She will remain based in New York.
Darren Pfeffer is another Clear Channel veteran: He has been with the company since 1995 when he was an intern n the promotions department at WHTZ/ Z100 New York. As Vice President of Music & Entertainment Marketing, where he will be responsible for company-wide promotions and events, such as the iHeartRadio Music Festival, and will create best practices and synergies around local station concerts, such as Z100's Jingle Ball in New York. He will also remain New York-based.
Alison Pollack, who is currently Executive Vice President of Integrated Music Marketing at Mediabase, will expand her role to include National Programming Platforms. . She was also an intern at Z100 and will retain her current responsibility of overseeing label business for Mediabase, Rate the Music and M-score as well as expanding her role to include National Programming Platforms and will "work more closely with the executive Programming team on linking Clear Channel's unique capabilities with artist and advertiser relationships." She will also remain New York-based.
Previous Clear Channel:

2011-10-27: The release by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) of an advertising non-discrimination policy framework has been welcomed by Federal Communications Commissioners Michael J. Copps (Democrat) and Robert M. McDowell (Republican).
The 4A's Media Policy Committee, chaired by Bill Koenigsberg, President/Chief Executive Officer, Horizon Media, has developed standardized best practices for non-discrimination vendor policies and procedures and posted a sample "Best Practice for Non-Discrimination in the Vendor Selection Process" on its website: Its action followed a decision in March this year, as noted by Copps, "to require certification of the advertising contracts of broadcasters in our license renewal process."
He welcomed the 4A's move, commenting in a statement that its action "will aid dramatically in this endeavour" and continuing "This is an excellent example of a public-private partnership that will have a positive impact in communities across the country. These best practices from the advertising agencies will pave the way for more equal treatment. I thank the many minority media, consumer, and public interest groups and also the Media Policy Committee of 4A's for enlightened leadership in making this initiative a reality."
McDowell in his statement noted, "I have been working on this issue since arriving at the Commission in 2006. Shortly thereafter, I was deeply troubled to learn that discriminatory advertising practices - namely 'no urban' and 'no Hispanic' dictates - existed. Such conduct unjustly harms not only minority-owned broadcasting outlets, but minority consumers as well. Furthermore, discriminatory dictates have been estimated to cost minority broadcasters approximately USD 200 million every year in revenue."
He continued, "I applaud the advertising industry for working to eradicate this despicable practice. Advertisers deserve credit for their thoughtful efforts in implementing policies to eliminate unjustified bias in advertising and provide complaint mechanisms for victimized vendors. Although the Commission has implemented advertising non-discrimination rules for radio and television broadcast licensees, we do not have the authority to regulate advertisers or media buyers. I am, therefore, particularly pleased that this is yet another example of the private sector resolving an industry-wide concern without a government mandate to do so."
Previous Copps:
Previous McDowell:
4A's Best Practice example (PDF):

2011-10-26: Clear Channel, which is due to launch a "new strategy" for its regional markets, has started another round of cutbacks with what seem likely to be some hundreds of job losses at both its radio division and traffic services division which now combine Clear Channel's operations with those of the former Westwood One Metro Traffic, which it bought this year (See RNW Apr 29 -at the time we noted that the deal would presumably allow for more job cuts but Clear Channel Radio President John Hogan laid all the emphasis on the benefits of the purchase).
The company has not said how many people it is putting out of work - it says that as a policy it doesn't discuss internal staffing matters - but does say that the new strategy will the leverage the company's unmatched resources in the markets concerned to improve local programming.
Clear Channel says the changes will reflect "new approaches to programming, talent, technology, and other valuable resources - based on Clear Channel's most effective and efficient stations" and that "there will be more localization, not less." "At the same time, "said a spokeswoman, "it offers new opportunities for our best on-air and programming talent to be heard in more places and grow their careers… This new strategy is about doing things differently to help our company grow faster."
Even before the axe fell, at least one Clear Channel staffer opted out: John Laton, the former Clear Channel Communications vice president and market manager for the Quad Cities; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Iowa City, Iowa, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he quit before a company meeting in Atlanta because he "had a sense" that the company's pending reorganization plan would result in "more people being released from employment, and I just said 'Enough already.'?"
Laton, who has been in radio for four decades, the last 11 at Clear Channel, said his own job was not at risk, adding "I was going to be promoted": He has now become Milwaukee market manager for Adelante Media Group, which operates Spanish language WDDW-FM and WBWT-TV.
The cutbacks come in a job market already being hit by cuts at Cumulus following its takeover of Citadel with job losses there including the departures in Los Angeles of KLOS-FM afternoon drive host Bob Buchmann; veteran Jim Ladd who was hosting late nights at the station and also two production directors and two sales managers.
In Chicago, WLS-FM PD Michael LaCross and eight other staffers have been dropped by oldies WLS-FM and news-talk WLS-AM.
RNW comment: The word "liars" might be harsh but close to the truth when it comes to statements from many a US corporation: A consideration with a dictionary in hand and even slightly sceptical approach to the honesty required by Clear Channel for its public pronouncements does suggest a frequent crossing beyond the line of just putting a positive spin on changes.
Clear Channel has approaching USD 20 billion in debt and the idea that any changes made are not linked to money - albeit they may not be just about money - strike us like believing in the tooth fairy.
The same goes for the company's comments about increasing localism - by dropping local staff and going for more voice-tracking?
We would assume they are telling the truth in terms of increasing ratings when similar changes have been made in the past and that the programming will include -even if coming from remote locations - content that gives the impression of being local together with such information as traffic and weather whose locations can't be fudged. Maybe Clear Channel is proof either that Americans don't really care about localism nowadays or that they are gullible enough to be fooled by hucksters?
Unsurprisingly the comments we have seen from those dropped has not generally been condemnatory - after all those involved may still be hoping for another job in radio - but we wonder how many of those people will in fact have a job a year in the business a year from now.
Looking at various trade publications so far FMQB seems to have garnered the most names of people dropped - we have noted in all more than 50 names but it will be very difficult to put together an accurate total -the company's web site currently on its Investor FAQ page just says "more than 20,00" for the total number of employees whilst the latest 10K filing we could find reported the total as of March 10 last year as approximately 14,980 in the US (of whom some 398 were subject to collective bargaining). This was down from around 23,600 in February 2008 when some 850 were subject to collective bargaining agreements.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Cumulus:
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel report re Laton:

2011-10-26: Canadian broadcasters Astral Media and Corus Entertainment have warned of harsher times ahead but recorded fairly strong figures for the final quarter and full fiscal 2011 years to the end of August.
Final quarter revenues were up 3.9% to CAD 247.6 million and up 6.4% to CAD 299.2 million respectively with full year revenues up 6% to CAD 1.015 billion at Astral - which has now had 15 years of growth - and up 7.5% to CAD 825,000 at Corus. [RNW note the CAD is almost at par with the USD - a dollar is 1.00037 CAD - so we are not converting the figures).
Overall Astral's consolidated revenues for the full year totalled CAD 1.015 billion with the broadcasting revenue rises (as with Corus) driven by TV: Astral's radio revenues were up 1% in the final quarter and 2% for the full year compared to TV growth of 6% for the year and 3% for the quarter: Its Out-of-Home revenues outperformed both with revenues up 21% for the year and 18% for the final quarter.
Astral's EBITDA for the final quarter was up 6% to CAD 247.6 million with full-year EBITDA up 5% to CAD 319 million: Net earnings for the quarter were up 8% to CAD 47.8 million (from CAD 0.77 to CAD 0.85 per diluted share) with full-year net earnings up 7% to CAD 185.2 million (From CAD 3.02 to CAD 3.25 per diluted share) although the company notes that the 2010 earnings and earnings per share figures included the non-cash impact of a future income tax recovery, the non-cash impact of the Part II licence fees accrual reversal, and retroactive Copyright Board tariff increases. The 2011 full year figures include CAD
5 million in restructuring charges in Astral's radio segment that were recorded in the third quarter - Astral says its plan to cut costs will save CAD 8.5-million per year.
Commenting on the performance President and Chief Executive Officer Ian Greenberg said in a release, "I am very pleased with the strong performance displayed by our three business segments in the fourth quarter and by their balanced contribution to a strong finish to the year. Fiscal 2011 marks the Company's 15th consecutive year of profitable growth and the first time in Astral's history that we surpass the billion dollar revenue mark."
He then added a cautionary note, saying, "We are now entering into a challenging economic and advertising environment and remain fully committed to apply the same discipline and focus on cost optimization that have underpinned our past successes".
Later on the company's conference call Greenberg expanded on concerns for the future, commenting, "I think the news machines of most media outlets don't talk about anything that's positive… and so frankly, there's not much enthusiasm for advertisers to feel encouraged to spend the money and I think we've created that kind of atmosphere."
As regards the current economic climate, Greenberg noted that there had not been the levels of cutbacks that had been faced in advertising in 2008 and 2009 but added that after a very strong fiscal 2011 first quarter "there's no question it's a tougher environment we're dealing with as we go into fiscal 2012, particularly for the first quarter" and on a more positive note commented "…as long as we evolve our platforms for consumers, make it consumer friendly - that both on the radio side and particularly on the TV side, that there's a long road ahead to grow."
Greenberg says radio is likely to be hardest hit by a fall in advertising but Astral is hoping it can compensate for this in part through the customizable music service it is to launch and for which it has reached agreements with Universal Music Group, EMI Music Canada, Sony Music Entertainment Canada, and Warner Music Canada-as well as with SOPROQ, a collective representing the vast majority of independent producers in Québec and francophone producers in Canada, and Independent Digital Licensing Agency (IDLA), a digital distributor owned by Canadian independent labels and distributors.
The service will give precedence to emerging artists and will allow listeners will be able to stream music and video content online and on mobile devices: The service launches this fall across all Virgin Radio stations (Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver) and the NRJ network across the province of Quebec, and various Astral Top 40 formatted stations.
Astral Radio Executive Vice President Charles Benoit said of the service, "Astral Radio continues its long history of innovation in the digital space and we are excited to be the first radio broadcaster in North America to bring this on-demand offering to Canadian music fans in both English and French" and Rob Farina, Executive Vice President, Content added that it "will give music fans new platforms to discover and consume new music and new artists."
Astral has also announced the signing of a new credit agreement under which the company will have access to a CAD 700 million five-year unsecured revolving facility and an additional CAD 300 million accordion feature. This new revolving financing will replace an existing CAD 100 million revolving facility, and the proceeds will be used to reimburse the company's current CAD525 million Term Loan at maturity in October 2012 and for general corporate purposes.
At Corus, final quarter revenues were up 6.8% to CAD 200.2 million with radio marginally up (0.09%) at CAD 47.6 million whilst TV was up 9.1% to CAD 152.6 million despite a 6% fall in advertising revenues at its specialty TV stations.
For the full year, revenues were up 7.5% to CAD 852.2 million within which radio was up 1.7% to CAD 195.6 million and TV was up 9.5% to CAD 629.6 million.
In profit terms radio was up 12.9% to CAD 14.9 million and TV was up 12.6% to CAD 52.9 million for the quarter taking the profit from continuing operations after corporate expenses up 13.6% to CAD 58.5 million: Net income from continuing operations from CAD 4.2 million to CAD 29.2 million (From CAD 0.05 to CAD 0.35 per basic and diluted share).
For the full year, Corus radio profit was up 2.9% to CAD 59.09 million and TV profit was up 14.1% to CAD 258.5 million with profit from continuing operations after corporate expenses up 11.5% to CAD 258.4 million.
Net income from continuing operations rose by 18.1% to CAD 141.3 million (From CAD 1.57 to CAD 1.79 per basic share) with Corus noting that the 2010 figures include a reversal of the disputed regulatory fee accrual, a reduction in the income tax rate and debt refinancing cost without which the per share earnings would have been CAD 1.31 per basis and CAD 1.320 per diluted share. It also noted the sale of its Quebec radio operations to Cogeco in a CAD 80 million (then USD 78.7 million) that was completed in February (See RNW Feb 1, 2010 Cogeco1).
Corus President and CEO John Cassaday commented of the performance, "Corus had an excellent year highlighted by double digit segment profit growth and a 45% dividend increase," adding that the company "achieved its segment profit guidance and exceeded free cash flow guidance as a result of tight cost controls in Radio coupled with exceptional revenue and segment profit growth in Television."
"Our annual segment profit guidance" he continued, "included the Quebec Radio business for a full year, so if not for the divestiture of Quebec, we would have been at the high end of our guidance range or exceeded it."
Previous Astral Media:
Previous Cassaday:
Previous Corus:
Previous Greenberg:

2011-10-26: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now posted online its Nationwide EAS Test Handbook in advance of its 1400EST November 9 nationwide EAS test that is intended to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the EAS as a way to alert the public of national emergencies.
All EAS participants are required to take part in the test and provide results to the FCC by December 27 either in paper form (an original and a copy) or electronically through the agency's web-based Nationwide EAS Test Reporting System. This requires completion of three forms, one that is already available and asks each EAS Participant for identifying and background information, including EAS designation, EAS monitoring assignments, facility location, equipment type, and contact information.
The second form asks if the participant received the nationwide EAS Test alert code and, if required to do so, whether the EAS Participant propagated the alert code downstream and will be available from November 9, the day of the test.
The third form will ask for detailed information regarding its receipt and propagation, if applicable, of the alert code, including an explanation of any complications in receiving or propagating the code and will also be available from November 9: It can only be accessed by those who have filled in the first form.
Previous FCC:

2011-10-26: The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) says that an audit has found that Southern Cross Media's Queensland regional station 4MIC (Hot FM), Mt Isa, failed to broadcast the minimum duration of material of local significance (30 minutes per business day) required to comply with its local content obligations.
It carried out the audit of programming aired by 4MIC plus WA Newspapers' 6RED (WAFM) Karratha, Western Australia, and Southern Cross's 7SEA (SEA FM), Burnie, Tasmania, during a sample week of 15 to 19 March 2010.
The two other stations med or exceeded the requirements.
Previous ACMA:

2011-10-25: Cox Media in San Antonio has dropped John Lisle and Steve Hahn of The Lisle & Hahn Show on 99.5 KISS-FM, announcing their departure in an Open Letter posted on the website.
The duo had been with the station for nearly two decades but, notes the San Antonio Express, their ratings had fallen after PPM (Portable People Meter) ratings were introduced.
In the Open Letter San Antonio Cox Media Group VP of Programming Virgil Thompson gives no reasons for the departure: He starts by writing, "I want to let our loyal listeners know that John Lisle and Steve Hahn will no longer be heard on KISS. The other key member of The Lisle & Hahn Show, Kelley Kendall will remain with Cox Radio in a position to be announced at a later date" and then continues, First, I want to thank John and Steve for their years of service to 99.5 KISS and the San Antonio community. Lisle & Hahn's current stint with 99.5 KISS started in January 1992 and enjoyed many great moments in the last 19 plus years. Lisle & Hahn were also key members of the KISS air staff with various stints in the 1980s and have been one of the longest running morning shows in San Antonio and in the radio industry; that accomplishment is truly rare in the hyper-competitive radio business."
The San Antonio Express quotes Thompson as saying, "Their contracts weren't renewed" adding that Hahn "had been contemplating retiring already" but adding that Lisle, who is six years younger and still has younger children wasn't of that mindset.
It also notes a hostile reaction to the decision from many listeners to which Thompson responded, "People are really venomous. They're upset this comes out of nowhere. I completely understand that."
Previous Cox:
99.5 KISS-FM website:
San Antonio Express report:

2011-10-25: Arbitron has announced third quarter revenues up 6.1% on a year earlier to USD 105.6 million and costs down 1.68% to USD 77.2 million with Earnings Before Interest, Income Tax Expense, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) up 32.4% to USD 33.6 million.
Overall the company had net income up 36.3% to USD 15.4 million (From 42 cents to 55 cents per diluted share).
For the first nine months of the year Arbitron's revenue is up 6.5% to USD 302.2 million with costs and expenses up 0.3% to USD 237.7 million; EBITDA up 29.2% to USD 87.2 million and net income up 35.6% to USD 39.2 million (From USD 1.07 to USD 1.42 per diluted share).
The company puts the revenue increases down mainly to commercialization of its PPM (Portable Meter Service) and has re-iterated its full year 2011 guidance of a revenue increase between 6% and 8% with earnings per diluted share to be between USD 1.90 and USD 2.05. It adds that it expects the acquisition in July of Finland-based mobile audience measurement and analytics firm Zokem Oy and related operating losses to reduce earnings by between seven cents and nine cents per diluted share, figures included in the guidance.
President and CEO William T. Kerr noted of the Zokem purchase, "This acquisition further enhances our mobile measurement capabilities, which will be valuable for our future cross-platform initiatives" and continued, "We continue to make promising steps in establishing ourselves in the market for cross-platform services. A proof-of-concept project awarded to Arbitron by the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) to use a single-source panel to measure television, Internet and mobile usage is now up and running. We expect to deliver the first three-screen media insights to the members of CIMM in the fourth quarter."
"As we identify, and as appropriate, invest in these growth initiatives," added Kerr "we also continue to maintain and improve the quality of our radio ratings services. These efforts include the expansion of targeted in-person recruitment in our PPM markets, initiatives to improve the representation of cell phone households in our diary and PPM samples and research into a web-based alternative to the paper and pencil diary."
Previous Arbitron:
Previous Kerr:

2011-10-24: UK media regulator Ofcom in its latest Broadcast Bulletin revokes the licence of three TV channels, lists two standards -offensive language - rulings against radio plus eight standards complaints upheld against TV as well as giving details of a TV standards complaint not upheld - and lists a TV advertising schedule breach plus details of six TV Fairness and Privacy Complaints not upheld.
The figures compare with one radio standards complaint upheld in the previous Bulletin in which Ofcom also considered another radio complaint resolved through action taken by the broadcaster. In that bulletin it also upheld Standards Complaints against four TV broadcasters and a TV Fairness and Privacy complaint; listed details of a further Fairness and Privacy complaint not upheld ; noted a GBP 75,000 (USD 117,000) sanction being issued to another TV broadcaster in connection with an appeal for donations allied with a promise of prayers to improve the donor's health, wealth, success or good fortune; and listed without details one further radio complaint and three TV complaints not upheld.
The radio complaints upheld were against West London Community Station OnFM and Inner London community station Rinse FM.
In OnFM's case during routing monitoring Ofcom noted the use of the word fuck" several times and also the broadcast of the song "Star 69" by Fatboy Slim which contained 41 instances of the phrase "what the fuck" in around six minutes.
It asked OnFM for comments to which the licensee responded by saying that the incident "flies in the face of OnFM?s strict policy of family broadcasting" and offered its "deepest and most sincere apologies": It added that after an internal investigation it concluded that the song in question had been inserted in the playlist intentionally and said that "even before the offence was made known to us, an individual had had his pass and key removed and had been shut out of the building".
OnFM said it had subsequently deleted all music tracks and other audio from its play out system and loaded a new playlist that had been betted by management and that it was training more duty managers - who are to intervene during a live show if the station's policies are not followed - to support its team.
Ofcom noted the circumstances but said it was still seriously concerned that the song was allowed to be broadcast in its entirety and ruled that there had been a breach of its rules. It put OnFM on notice that it would consider further action were there to be a recurrence.
In the Rinse FM case a complainant said the station had aired a song by an unidentified performer lasting around four minutes that contained 30 uses of the word "motherfucker" or a derivative, as well as other examples of offensive language and explicit sexual phrases. It cited as an example the phrases "a freaky motherfucker would take saliva and put the fuck on the tip of his dick, stick it in your ass, girl" and "a freaky motherfucker would take whipped cream, squeeze that shit all on your pussy clit."
Rinse Fm in response to an Ofcom inquiry said "the circumstances surrounding the entire incident were both remarkable and extremely rare". It explained that as a result of the riots taking place in London at that time it was "compelled to evacuate [its] studio (with 10 minutes notice) on the particular day requested, by our landlord and the police." Rinse FM added that it was "physically unable to gain access into the studio from 4pm on the Monday until 8am on the Wednesday" and that the presenter who was on duty could not have known how long they would be locked out and "correctly arranged for daytime podcasts to be played" (while the building was to be unoccupied) but "did not have the programming skills to set up over 40 hours of appropriate programming in the 10 minutes that he had to secure and evacuate the studio and office."
It offered unreserved apologies but Ofcom nevertheless considered that the material had not been appropriately scheduled and rules that there had been breaches of a four rules.
Ofcom noted a previous ruling against Rinse FM in July (See RNW Jul 3), and its concern that "Rinse FM management had not detected these incidents before Ofcom brought them to their attention" and said that should there be similar breaches in future it may consider further action.
In addition to the above Ofcom listed a further 405 TV complaints against 187 items and 16 radio complaints against 16 items that were assessed but not further investigated - this compares with 188 TV complaints against 168 items and 16 radio complaints against 16 items that were assessed but not further investigated in the previous bulletin.
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Ofcom Complaints Bulletin:

2011-10-24: Clear Channel Radio has announced the appointment of John Ivey as Senior Vice President of Programming and a contract extension for Robin Bertolucci, Program Director for KFI AM 640 and KTLK-AM 1150 in Los Angeles.
The company says Ivey, who was Vice President of Programming for Los Angeles, will expand his responsibilities to include assistance with Contemporary Hit Radio programming and talent development across all of Clear Channel Radio and will also retain his role as Program Director of KIIS-FM and KHHT-FM.
Born in Owensboro, Kentucky, Ivey started in radio as a disc jockey at WOMI-AM in Owensboro, and joined Clear Channel in 1990.
Clear Channel Radio President and CEO John Hogan said of the moves in a news release, "For the past two decades, John has made innumerable contributions to our company's success, especially over the last 10 years in Los Angeles at KIIS-FM, and Robin has led the iconic KFI brand to unprecedented audience growth and engagement," adding "As a company, we put a priority on recognizing our high performers with advancement opportunities to grow and develop their careers and we are pleased to have great programming management talent like John and Robin renew their commitment to the Clear Channel team."
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Hogan:

2011-10-24: The BBC today launched its Audio Drama Awards that it says in a release "aim to celebrate and recognise the cultural importance of audio drama, on air and online, and to give recognition to the actors, writers, producers, sound designers, and others who work in the genre."
There are nine categories and entries made - the deadline is Nov 14 - will be short-listed with announcements of those shortlisted to be made on January 9 next year followed by the announcement of the winners at a ceremony to be held on Sunday 29 January 2012 in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House, London. The Imison (Named after the late Richard Imison, who was BBC Radio Drama script editor from 1863 to 1991)) and Tinniswood (Named after the late Peter Tinniswood, who was a well known UK comedy scriptwriter and novelist) Awards, in conjunction with the Society of Authors and The Writers' Guild of Great Britain, will also be announced at the winners' ceremony.
The Awards will cover audio dramas first broadcast in English in the UK between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011 - or first uploaded/published for free listening online in the UK during the same period and are open to all makers of audio drama with each programme producer being allowed up to three entries -restricted to one per category. The drama has to be submitted exactly as broadcast or uploaded and there are no entry fees. Details are on the BBC radio blog.
The categories are:
Best Audio Drama
Best Actor in an Audio Drama
Best Actress in an Audio Drama
Best Supporting Actor/Actress in an Audio Drama
Best Adaptation from Another Source (script award)
Best Use of Sound in an Audio Drama
Best Scripted Comedy Drama
Best Online Only Audio Drama
Innovation Award
Commenting on the awards playwright David Hare says in the release, "Great radio plays are still produced in such abundance and to such high standards that we either miss them or take them for granted. The BBC's new Audio Awards will draw welcome attention to some of the many which might have got away "and actor David Tennant adds, "The quality of our radio drama is one of the things that makes me proud to be British. Acting on the radio is challenging, inspiring, delicate and always a privilege. Radio drama is often overlooked and undervalued next to its showier younger siblings on the television and in the cinema, and yet it is on the wireless that so many important and brilliant talents have been discovered and nurtured. I am delighted radio drama is being celebrated in this way, it's about time."
Tim Davie, Director of BBC Audio & Music, comments, "As a devotee, I know that radio drama builds a uniquely deep connection with its audience, as well as being hugely important to the nation's cultural and creative life. It deserves to be formally recognised, and the BBC, which invests in so many outstanding productions, is very proud to launch these awards."
In other comments on the BBC radio blog, Davie comments under the heading, "Digital radio: Signs of a tipping point?" on the UK's current progress regarding adoption of DAB.
Noting that the completion of a full switch to digital TV is imminent, Davie says attention will switch to radio and continues, "The story of digital radio in the UK is one of slow, steady progress, and lively debate, rather then breakthrough."
He notes the requirement that the majority of listening has to be on digital platforms before an analogue switch off can be considers [RNW comment- we suspect a keen eye needs to be kept on how far listening via all platforms rather than just DAB becomes the figure proponents used as propaganda to buttress the case for switching off analogue] and adds that there is a lot to be done before this happens "and a switchover would be accepted, and welcomed, by listeners." [RNW comments: As regards welcomed as opposed to possible grudging acceptance we suspect this will only be the case when Davie can really be beamed to another planet.].
Davie then goes on to note "significant barriers to change", writing, "Firstly, many listeners remain very content with their current analogue radios and see no real need to change. Indeed, radio listening has held up rather brilliantly in recent years despite the explosion of choice in a digital world."
Other barriers he notes are the patchy coverage; the lack of "unified, knockout communication which has made a compelling case for the benefits of digital radio"; and the absence of a "broad scale industry, political and industry consensus about the way forward."
Many people notes Davie "still believe that DAB is a technology that is unnecessary because internet enabled devices will make broadcast technology redundant. It is a question that I asked hard on taking this job but it is clear that radio, like television, will need a broadcast "backbone" for many years to come if it is to deliver robust free reception to a morning traffic jam on the M6. There is much comment on the BBC's obsession with DAB but our objectives are simple: ensure cost effective, universal access to our services (including the digital stations) while stimulating competition and innovation which helps grows radio as a whole."
He then notes details of a meeting of car manufacturers held at the BBC last week at which Ed Vaizey, Minister of Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, confirmed the government's commitment to move radio to digital; the BBC's announcement that it is to extend DAB coverage for its national stations from just over 90% to 97% of the UK population between now and 2015; and the auto industry's indications to make DAB part of the standard specification for equipment in new vehicles by the end of 2013 at the latest -he figure was 5% last year and is now up to 18% [RNW comment: It seems to us that the UK may yet, to save the face of those involved, exacerbate the problems it already has with the inefficient MP2 encoding of the original DAB system. Our view is that at the very minimum, automobile receivers should have to include DAB+ not DAB and DRM and also be built on a modular basis with a simple plug-in chip that can be exchanged to upgrade to allow reception of any signal incorporating future advancements.]
Davie ends on a positive note says of listeners that "evidence shows that when they switch to digital they like it and don't want to go back… my sense is that what seemed unlikely to most people two years ago is now looking possible and may well become inevitable."
Previous BBC:
Previous Davie:
BBC Radio Blog:

2011-10-24: In further enforcement action the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a USD 22,000 NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture) to a Michigan non-commercial educational station for failing to maintain operational EAS (Emergency Alert System) equipment, moving the main transmitter without authorizations and not making available a local public inspection file.
The agency had begun an investigation in March last year in response to a complaint and found that WHPR-FM, Highland Park, owned by R. J.'s Late Night Entertainment Corporation, was being operated from a transmission just under a half-mile (1km) away from its authorized location. At a subsequent inspection at its main studio agents found out that the station did not have a public inspection file and that it had not installed EAS equipment although a decoded was found in a closet by station staff.
The FCC then wrote to the licensee and was told that they had mistakenly believed that a short move of their transmitter made in July 2009 did not require authorization and that they had not been maintaining a public inspection file since the public library, where they previously maintained their public file, closed "several years ago" and that they had not installed an EAS decoder.
The FCC has proposed the base penalties of USD 10,000 for the public inspection file breach; of USD 8,000 in relation to the EAS breach; and of USD 4,000 for operating from an unauthorized location to take the total to USD 22,000.
The FCC had also announced an immediate freeze in relation to its FM Auction 93 that affects Applications proposing to modify any of the vacant non-reserved band FM allotments scheduled for Auction 93; Petitions and counterproposals that propose a change in channel, class, community, or reference coordinates for any of the Auction 93 Allotments; and Applications, petitions and counterproposals that fail to fully protect any of the Auction 93 Allotments.
It says the freeze is designed to promote a more certain and speedy auction process and will automatically terminate the day after the filing deadline for post-Auction 93 long form applications.
Previous FCC:

2011-10-23: Last week saw the US Federal Communications Commission back in business on the enforcement front for radio in the US but a fairly quiet week elsewhere with no radio-related postings in Australia or Ireland and no radio specific postings from the UK.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) did post a few radio decisions including the following (In order of province):
Alberta:
*Approved application by Peace River Broadcasting Corporation Ltd. to add an 880 watts FM transmitter in Manning to carry the programming of its country music CKYL-AM, Peace River. Peace River said its existing signal is experiencing significant deterioration due to low ground conductivity and an increase in electrical transmission lines.
British Columbia:
*Approved an application from the Cortes Community Radio Society to operate an 80 watts English-language community FM radio station in Cortes Island.
New Brunswick:
*Denied an application from Jean-Noël Allain, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated, to operate a 10,423 watts predominantly English-language community FM at Bouctouche. The application was opposed by the Association des radios communautaires acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick, the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada (ARC du Canada), the Fédération des femmes acadiennes et francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick inc., La coopérative de théatre l'Escaouette Ltée, Radio Beauséjour Inc. (Radio Beauséjour) and the Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick: They said the market was already well served by the two French-language community stations owned by Radio Beauséjour - CFBO-FM, Moncton and CJSE-FM, Shediac.
In addition ARC du Canada added that if the application were approved, it might adversely affect neighbouring community stations, namely CKMA-FM, Miramichi, CKRO-FM, Pokemouche and CKUM-FM, Moncton and also questioned the validity of the financial projections contained within the application.
Radio Beauséjour submitted that CJSE-FM and CFBO-FM already provided the programming proposed by the applicant and that the introduction of a new community station into the marketplace would serve to fragment the market.
Also entering a comment were Hervé and Rhéal LeBlanc who surprised to learn that their names had been associated with the application, as they had not been retained by Mr. Allain and asked that their named be removed from the application.
The applicant did not responds and the CRTC denied the application, which it said failed to demonstrate the range of programming diversity, spoken word and community reflection required by the campus and community radio policy. It also said it was concerned by the apparent commercial programming orientation of the service proposed by the applicant.
Quebec:
*Approved various power increases relating to the Coopérative des travailleurs CHNC's CHNC-FM, New Carlisle, and its transmitters comprising an increase in power of CHNC from 3,400 to 4,100 watts together with an increase in the effective height of antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) from 180 to 200 metres; an increase in the EHAAT of CHNC-FM-1, Carleton, from 395 to 418.5 metres; and an increase in the power of CHNC-FM-2, Chandler, from 550 to 810 watts and a change in frequency from 98.3 MHz to 98.1 MHz;
*Denied application from La radio campus communautaire francophone de Shawinigan inc. to move the transmitter and change the frequency of French-language community station CFUT-FM, Shawinigan, from 91.1 MHz to 88.1 MHz and increase the power from 199 to 8,235 watts.
In its refusal the commission noted apparent non-compliance by the licensee with regulations concerning annual returns - annual returns for the 2005-2006 to 2009-2010 broadcast years were submitted late and also opposing interventions from Groupe des médias étudiants de l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, licensee of CFOU-FM Trois-Rivières and one from la Coop de solidarité radio communautaire RCM Maskinongé, licensee of CHHO-FM Louiseville.
As already noted there were no radio releases from Ireland or the UK although in the UK Ofcom has posted details of its new Single Equality Scheme to promote equality in its roles as an employer and as the regulator of the UK's communications industries plus draft regulations concerning various new licence-exempt devices including personal locator beacons on land and wireless road safety systems.
In addition following comments on media plurality made by the Jeremy Hunt, the UK's Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Ofcom is asking for comment on issues of measuring media plurality, responses to which have to be submitted by November 18.
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered a low-power-FM translator off the air in one of a number of enforcement decisions that also including proposing or imposing fines totalling more than USD 70,000 on radio stations.
The translator involved aired the smooth jazz programming of The Oasis, one of two translators that are used by Marz Communications' Radio Power Inc. to carry the signals of stations that are aired using the HD sub-channels of WGPR FM, Detroit.
The penalties included one of USD 15,000 issued to a Florida pirate FM operator; another of USD 10,000 to a San Francisco pirate; and a proposed USD 10,000 penalty to another Florida pirate plus other penalties ranging up to USD 13,000 for unauthorized operation for stations involved in unauthorized operation after late filing of renewal operations (See RNW Oct 18 and Oct 21).
The lowest penalty was a USD 250 forfeiture issued to another Florida pirate operator: Thomas L. Morey of St. Petersburg had been issued with a USD 10,000 NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability to Forfeiture) in May this year (See RNW May 5) but had responded saying he was "in no position to be able to pay" this amount.
The FCC after examining documentation Morey provided decided that he could afford to pay USD 250 and reduced the penalty accordingly.
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
CRTC website:
FCC website:
Ofcom website:

2011-10-22: Mexican Radio operator Grupo Radio Centro has reported third quarter revenues up 12.9% on a year earlier at MXN 255.2 million (USD 19.0 million ) with broadcasting expenses 1.6% to MXN 175.3 million (USD 13.1 million) and broadcasting income up 49% to MXN 70.75 million (USD 5.27 million). Income before income taxes was up 77.4% to MXN 52.88 million (USD 3.94 million) and net income more than doubled - up from MXN 11.99 million (Now USD 895,000 then USD 942,000) to MXN 31.11 million (USD 2.32 million)
For the first nine months of the year broadcasting revenues were up 12.2% to MXN 674.4 million (USD 50.25 million); (excluding depreciation, amortization and corporate, general and administrative expenses) were up 2.6% up MXN 513.35 million (USD 38.26 million); broadcasting income was up 60.1% to MXN 160.9 million (USD 11.99 million); Income before income taxes more than tripled from MXN 17.51 million to MXN 73.55 million (USD 5.48 million); and net income went from a loss of MXN 12.49 million a year ago (Then USD 981,000) to a positive MXN 30.20 million (USD 2.25 million).
Grupo Radio put the increases down mainly to improved advertising revenues.
Previous Grupo Radio:

2011-10-22: Radio One Inc in Detroit has announced that it has agreed a Local Marketing Agreement (LMA) to operate 50,000 watts WGPR FM 107.5, Detroit, and will move the programming of its WTHD-FM (HOT 102.7 Hip Hop and R&B station) to the frequency on Monday.
Retained in the move is HOT's current programming of The Rickey Smiley Morning Show (06:00-1000); Paigion in midday's (10:00-1400); Big Greg (1400-1900); and Shorty da Prince (1900-midnight).
The move takes place just after midnight tomorrow night and the company will then use the 102.7 frequency for a new station. Praise 102.7, with an inspirational music format. Radio One also owns urban AC WDMK-FM (105.9 Kiss FM) in Detroit.
The Praise website is to be launched tomorrow (Sunday) and its programming will include Yolanda Adams hostign morning drive from 0600-1000
WGPR - the signs are said to have come from Grosse Pointe where the station was originally based - which is owned by the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons, had been the lowest-rated (20th with a 2.1 share in the September PPM ratings) of Detroit's Urban AC-formatted stations It mixed contemporary hits and oldies).
Commenting on the moves, Radio One Detroit Vice President and General Manager Kathy Stinehour said in a news release, "Adding WGPR to our existing portfolio of stations and introducing a brand new inspirational station means Radio One will become the dominant urban provider in the marketplace. We are looking forward to better serving the community and are thrilled Cathy Hughes [Radio One founder and chairwoman] and Alfred Liggins [her son, who is President and CEO]are choosing to make this type of major investment in Detroit."
WGPR's President and General Manager James Dogan added, "While this was a very tough decision for us, it is the right thing to do for urban radio in our city. WGPR will perform better as part of the critical mass Radio One delivers."
No mention was made in the release of the future of the two HD channels on the 107.5 frequency that ate currently leased to Tim Martz's Martz Communications Group/ Radio Power, Inc. for smooth jazz The Oasis on the HD2 channel and modern rock - The Bone- on the HD3 channel: Both these signals were also carried for those without HD on low-power translators but the translator that carried The Oasis was ordered off air earlier this month because of interference problems (See RNW Oct 18).
The WGPR web site when we last checked was still listing "The New 107.5 WGPR" with the line-up of Mason Radio In The Morning; Sylvia Simone; Mike Alan; Tony Rankin; and Kirby Hairston on weekdays.
Previous Radio One Inc.:
Previous Stinehour:
The Praise website:
WGPR website:

2011-10-21: In a run of enforcement actions the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued or proposed penalties totalling more than USD 60,000 to radio operators over the past two days: They were (In descending amount order):
*USD 15,000 NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture) to John E. Criteser, Jr. of Lake Park, Florida, for operating an unauthorized FM: Following a complaint, the FCC had traced a signal to his residence, first in December last year then in July this year.
On the second occasion, said the FCC, the individual who answered the door called for "john" and some 15 minutes later operations ceased. The man who identified himself as John Criteser admitted operating the station.
It adds that its records showed that it had hand delivered an NOUO (Notice of Unlicensed Operation) in 2007 for operation of a station at the same location and on this basis has increased the proposed penalty from the base level of USD 10,000 to USD 15,000
*USD 13,000 NAL to Salmon River Communication, Inc. for late filing of renewal application and subsequent unauthorized application of KSRA-AM, Salmon, Idaho.
The application had been due in June 2005 but was not made: The licence expired in October that year and in October 2010 the Licensee filed a request for special temporary authorization (STA) to continue Station operations pending consideration of an upcoming renewal application. The STA was granted and the FCC said Salmon River indicated that it had inadvertently failed to file a timely license renewal application.
The FCC accordingly proposed base level forfeitures of USD 3,000 for the late filing of the renewal application and USD 10,000 for the unauthorized operation.
*USD 13,000 NAL Salmon River Communication, Inc. for late filing of renewal application and subsequent unauthorized application of KSRA-FM, Salmon, Idaho: As with its sister station renewal had been due in 2005 but the renewal application was not filed. In this case the FCC had advised the station in September 2010 that authorization had ceased, the call letters had been removed from its database. Salmon River then applied for STA for both stations.
*USD 10,000 forfeiture to Daniel K. Roberts a/k/a "Monkey Man" or "Monkey" of San Francisco for operating unlicensed FM Pirate Cat Radio.
Roberts, who is also the executive of the Pirate Cat Café and Studio in San Francisco began operating the station from that location in 2008 and was, says the commission, issued numerous warnings and Notices of Unlicensed Operation. In April 2009 signals were traced to the location and in August that year a USD 10,000 NAL was issued to Roberts. He asked for time to respond and in October that year acknowledged his connection with the café and studio but not the radio operations and also argued that he is "financially unable" to pay the penalty (The station was taken off air later that year but kept going as an Internet stream - See RNW Nov 4, 2009).
The FCC noted that the penalty was the base amount; commented that and said that using its definition of "operate" Roberts was the station operator. It added that in response to the NAL Roberts had issued a news release saying that Pirate Cat Radio, which he described as a "a volunteer-run, community broadcasting organization" operating out of the Café had ceased ins terrestrial broadcasts.
The FCC also noted that Roberts had failed to provide evidence of inability to pay and accordingly confirmed the full penalty.
*Issued USD 7,000 NAL to Hartford Board of Education, licensee of WQTQ-FM, Hartford, Connecticut, for late filing of licence renewal application and subsequent unauthorized operation:
The renewal application should have been filed in 2005 but was not and the station was advised in September last year that the licence had expired, authority to operate had been terminated and the Call letters deleted from the FCC database.
The licensee then submitted a renewal application, a Special Temporary Application (TA) to continue operations and said it had been under the mistaken impression that it had filed the renewal application.
The FCC opted to reduce from USD 10,000 - the base penalty - to USD 4,000 the penalty for unauthorized operation thus making the NAL total including the base USD 3,000 penalty for late renewal filing, USD 7,000.
*Reduced to USD 4,700 a USD 8,500 forfeiture it had imposed on LSM Radio Partners, L.L.C., licensee of WWWK-FM, Islamorada, Florida, for failure to maintain Operational Emergency Alert System (EAS) equipment when WWWK was in operation and a full-time managerial and staff presence at the station's main studio consistent with the Rules.
The agency had originally proposed a USD 15,000 forfeiture but reduced this to USD 8,500 on the basis of inability to pay and P&Y had subsequently asked for reconsideration because it simply "does not have the money to pay the forfeiture amount."
Based on financial information provided the FCC said it could not cancel the forfeiture but it reduced it to USD 4,700.
*Issued USD 3,000 NAL to P&Y Broadcasting Corporation, owner of antenna structure number 1246297, in Los Angeles, for failing to inform the Commission of a change in ownership of the antenna: The FCC in an inspection in December last year had noted that the tower was registered to Rose City Radio Corporation but when Rose City was contacted it said the antenna and KMPC-AM had been sold to P&Y some years earlier. P&Y in response to a letter of enquiry said it had purchased the antenna along with KMPC in 2008 and the FCC is proposing the base forfeiture of USD 3,000.
*Issued USD 500 NAL to Vermont Agency of Transportation, the licensee Low Power FM Station WRAN-LP, Randolph, Vermont, for late filing of licence renewal application and subsequent unauthorized operation.
In this case the agency issued a USD 500 NAL in line with similar penalties issued to other LPFM station s that had breached the rules.
Previous FCC:

2011-10-20: Canadian radio host Jason Barr and some prize show contestants ended up arrested and held for a short period by police following a stunt in which he and the contestants trying for a chance to win a Ford 150 pick-up truck put on ski masks and tried to get people to enter the truck in St Catherines, Ontario..
The idea was to get as many people as possible to sit in the truck for 97 seconds and the masked contestants were only allowed to say, "Excuse me, get in the truck" to the people they approached but after around two hours the truck, which was covered in station decals, was pulled over.
The Toronto Sun quotes Barr, who with Chris Higgs hosts the morning show on Astral Media's CHTZ-FM (Hitz FM), St Catherine's, as saying, "We weren't aware we were doing anything wrong"
Asked about a 59-years old woman who had complained to the police after she was approached and been panic -stricken, Barr responded, "I'm sorry she feels that way. It was certainly not our intention to scare anyone."
The paper adds that the Niagara Regional Police Service did not see the joke and that Barr and those with him were handcuffed for a short while.
Constable Sal Basilone said the police had received reports about masked people in a truck making "ill advised" attempts to get people into the vehicle.
"They were probably scaring people," he said. "I don't think it's funny and the police service doesn't think it's funny."
Previous Astral Media:
Toronto Sun report:

2011-10-19: US broadcast veteran, author, dramatist, screenwriter, and even libretto writer, Norman Corwin, whose entry in the Radio Hall of Fame commences by saying he was "often called "Radio's poet laureate " has died aged 101.
Born in Boston on May 3, 1910, Corwin began his career on radio there aged 17 as a local commentator before moving to New York in 1938 and joining CBS for whom he produced Norman Corwin's Words Without Music and later his own 26-week series in the CBS' Columbia Workshop in 1941 and a further Columbia Presents Corwin series in 1944.
In 1941 he also wrote and produced the "We Hold These Truths" all-star celebration of the Bill of Rights' 150th anniversary that aired over all four networks simultaneously and the Hall of Fame entry also notes that he "created the special V-E Day broadcast "On a Note of Triumph" (May 8, 1945), which Carl Sandburg called "one of the all-time great American poems." Three months later, he wrote 14 August, a V-J Day documentary narrated by Orson Welles."
On a Note of Triumph celebrated the Allied victory in Europe and had an audience estimated at 60 million and originated from the Los Angeles studios of CBS Radio's KNX-AM: it featured Martin Gabel as host and narrator allied with reporter and author William L. Shirer in New York re-creating his role as reporter in the Compeigne forest covering the French surrender to Germany.
Corwin left CBS in 1948 and produced a series of programs for United Nations Radio after which he moved into working for TV (where his shows included Norman Corwin Presents) and film as well as writing for the stage even the libretto of an award-winning one-act opera that was produced by the Metropolitan Opera. He later moved into academia and was a writer in residence at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, which he had joined in 1979, until his death.
A posting on the school's website describes him as "one of USC Annenberg's most beloved professors - and one of the country's greatest radio dramatists."
USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III called Corwin "a true legend" and added, "His insightful, inspiring body of work has been absorbed into the American consciousness. He gave us the benefit of his knowledge, wit and keen observations through many decades, and he was a literary treasure."
Professor Joe Saltzman, who had created a broadcast programme and needed to add radio to the curriculum, commented, "When it came to radio, there was only one man in America I wanted to bring to USC and that was Norman Corwin… [He] was the most articulate person I have ever met. He used language in a way so unique, so eloquent, so funny, so precise that it was just a pleasure to sit with him and listen to him talk about anything and everything, especially the people he knew from the famous to the infamous to the people he met on a daily basis."
Corwin's work included screenplays for a number of movies including The Blue Veil in 1951 and the Oscar-nominated screenplay for "Lust for Life" (1956 on Paul Gauguin who was portrayed by Anthony Quinn in an Oscar-winning role) and two plays produced on Broadway (The Rivalry in 1959 and The World of Carl Sandberg (1960)
He returned to radio in the 1990s producing a series of radio dramas for National Public Radio and was inducted into the Radio Hall of fame in 1993: In 2001, when he was 91, National Public Radio aired six new Corwin plays under the title More By Corwin.
The Annenberg in memoriam ends by quoting Corwin himself as saying, "My approach is distinct from that of searching only for what's wrong. I lay heavy emphasis on what is right because that too often escapes the awareness of a writer….I also place emphasis on rewriting, on the theory that all first drafts are trash. And that applies to my own first drafts. I think it's terribly important to read, to watch television and movies, and listen to radio, to read books, magazines, newspapers, even when the material is poor. A student should learn what makes it poor.
"In sum, I urge my students to read widely. I believe in the benefits of intellectual osmosis."
Radio Hall of Fame - Corwin entry:
USC Annenberg - Corwin in Memoriam:

2011-10-19: The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has ruled that a broadcast by Ottawa station CKQB-FM (106.9 The Bear) of the song "Crazy Bitch" by Buckcherry did not breach the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) Code of Ethics although the CBSC Ontario panel agreed that the song was distasteful.
A listener had complained that the song was offensive to women and that it contained derogatory language towards females and suggested that the meaning of the song was that women only have value if they are good in bed whilst the station The station argued that the song contained subject matter which was distasteful but not discriminatory.
The language concerned includes the chorus "You're a crazy bitch/But you fuck so good, I'm on top of it/When I dream, I'm doing you all night/Scratches down my back to keep me right on" although the Ontario Regional Panel noted that other uses of the f-word, present elsewhere in the original song, were edited out in the version broadcast, which was aired just after 05:00 on March 14.
The complainant had contacted the CBSC on March 1 about the airing of the song but was told by the CBSC that to review a complaint it needed a time and date of the broadcast, a requirement that in this case the complainant objected to in a response on March 13 in a reply saying in part, "…if this complaint cannot be taken seriously due to the lack of dates/times - it is bureaucracy in its finest form. The song plays. I myself (plus most of Ottawa and likely the country) have heard this song on the radio. That is an absolute truth which can be proved without exact dates and times."
Two days later she supplied a time and date - "You need at least one example - date, time and station. "Crazy Bitch" by Buckcherry. March 14, 2011. 5:06 am. The Bear 106.9."
The station in response to the complaint noted that children were not part of the station's target audience, said it had not in its opinion breached any broadcasting code and commented, Social values with respect to sensitive subjects vary immensely from one individual to the next and, as such, it not realistic [sic] to expect radio content to correspond to everyone's values, nor is it the role of radio broadcasters to practice moral censorship."
It concluded, "Furthermore, we believe that it is important not to restrict artistic expression and that it would be discriminatory to refuse to air a song simply because it deals with subject matter that is considered by some to be distasteful."
The complainant took exception to the response, saying in a letter to the CBSC about the last sentence, "I'm being discriminatory??? That is infuriating. I am not a strong advocate for censorship, and as a women's studies and human rights university student I know what discrimination is; I am against it, and I am NOT being discriminatory by suggesting that 'crazy bitch' on the radio is the equivalent of 'stupid nigger' or 'dumb faggot'. The latter terms are understood as unacceptable, but 'crazy bitch' is not hateful? It's not discriminatory?
May I make a suggestion? An experiment to test this apparent 'theory' of mine. Have [The Bear's Brand Director] approach a woman on the street. Have him tell her: "you're a crazy bitch but if you're a good f*ck you still have some value". Then ask that woman if she feels offended and discriminated against."
The CBSC panel in its decision noted the point about requiring an airtime and broadcaster in connection with which it noted that this was needed to identify which version of a song was broadcast and exactly what was included and removed:
It said in regard to the comparisons made by the complainant that the use of the word "bitch" had not been found by any has not yet been found by any of the CBSC Panels to be a word that is equivalent to the words "nigger" and "faggot". It agreed with the "the complainant's energetic assertion that the word "bitch" is distasteful but noted various meanings for the word in different contexts and concluded that no codes had been breached.
Previous CBSC:

2011-10-19: The US non-profit Friends of Old Time Radio (FOTR) is holding its 36th and final convention in New Jersey this weekend with a four-day event that David Hinckley in the New York Daily News says will see the organization depart "on the same note with which it began: a celebration of the shows and performers from the golden age of radio."
Amongst those due to take part in radio panels on topics ranging from drama to "Radio Goes to War" and radio's music heritage writes Hinckley will include Arthur Anderson, Peg Lynch, Will Hutchins, Joe Franklin, Bob Gibson and dozens of other artists and personalities who will also be involved in re-creations of drama classics like "Gunsmoke," "Ethel and Albert" or "My Favorite Husband."
Although FOTR is folding, one panel participant - Rich Conaty, Sunday host of "The Big Broadcast" on WFUV-FM, said interest in old time radio remains strong but "There's less need to come to our convention now" adding that sadly, there are also fewer old-time radio performers available each year.
Dealers will start setting up for the convention tonight and programs begin on Thursday with buffet dinners and re-creations the next three nights and an informal farewell Sunday morning
FOTR Convention information:
FOTR Facebook page:
New York Daily News report:

2011-10-18: Chicago radio legend Steve Dahl, who was taken off air by CBS Radio's WJMK-FM in December 2008 (See RNW Dec 5, 2008) and after his contract ended this year turned his show podcast into a paid service costing USD 9.99 a month (See RNW Jul 7), is coming back on air regularly in Chicago - sort-off.
As the Chicago Sun-Times puts it in its headline "Dahl gets 3 minutes hourly on WJJG", the return is to three-minute chunks to be aired hourly on 760 watts Elmhust-based WJJG-AM (The call signs are taken from the initials of the station's owner Joseph L. Gentile, who made his fortune as a car salesman, and who bought the station, then WKDC-AM, in 1994. He bought it to help his dealership but found he liked beign on air and his wife told the Chicago Tribune after his death on October 10 aged 87, "He had it as a hobby but it soom became a venue to do charitable things).
No details were given of the arrangement but the paper quoted Dahl as saying, "It's free advertising for the podcast, and I'll take that any way I can get it."
It adds that the segments are initially to air seven days a week between 07:00 and 18:00 but could become weekdays only: They were due to start on Tuesday last week but were postponed after Gentile died.
The station is now managed by Chicago radio veteran Matt DuBiel and has a line-up that includes syndicated shows from Michael Savage and Erich "Mancow" Muller.
Previous Dahl:
Chicago Sun-Times report:
Dahl website:

2011-10-18: Back in enforcement mode, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a USD 10,000 penalty on the operator of an unlicensed FM and also ordered an FM Translator station off the air.
The translator station involved is Detroit, Michigan, station W284BQ licensed to Radio Power Inc (RPI): It aired for those without HD the smooth jazz format The Oasis programming that is carried on the HD2 signal of WGPR-FM, Detroit, through a leasing deal by Martz Communications/Radio Power Inc and station owners the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons.
Following a complaint by Citicasters Licences (Clear Channel) about interference to its album-oriented rock station WIOT-FM, Toledo, the FCC sent RPI a letter advising that listeners had complained of interference to WIOT and giving it 30 days to resolve all 28 complaints of interference or suspend operation immediately
RPI took various actions including a modification to the antenna to suppress the radiation to the south and advised that interference complaints of five complainants had been resolved, four complainants declined to meet with RPI, five complainants had stopped responding to correspondence, one is no longer a WIOT listener, one did not give sufficient contact information, three did not respond to any inquiries, eight have accepted smart phones offered by RPI and one complainant has declined the smart phone: The smart phones offered by RPI included the "iHeartradio" application thus enabling the listeners to receive WIOT via the internet and it argued that this action had eliminated the problem.
Citicasters in response argued that this was not so and the action was insufficient, raising amongst other things issues such as the consequence of the station of use of iHeart Radio and loss of wireless coverage plus the loss of information such as Emergency Alert Broadcasts that were aired on the broadcast signal but not the Internet.
The FCC said that the use of a non-broadcast solution was "wholly unavailing" and added that it is "no accident that the rule explicitly protects the ability of the public to receive broadcast signals off-the-air." It also expressed concern that RPI had opted to publicize the names of complainants, an action that it said will "necessarily serve to discourage the filing of future bona fide complaints" and has ordered the station to cease transmissions immediately.
The FCC also issued a USD 10,000 a NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture) to Neal Davis of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for operating an unlicensed FM. Following complaints the FCC three times traced signals to as commercial property in Fort Lauderdale and on the last occasion monitoring the station on March 10, 2011, agents from the Miami Office heard a male voice identify himself as "Shawty Pimp" and on the same date, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department executed a search warrant at the commercial property and found Davis operating the Disc Jockey equipment.
Information on the internet advertising the station included information broadcast on the station and a photograph of the DJ on Facebook was identified by agents as Davis by comparing it to his drivers' licence.
Previous FCC:

2011-10-17: Sirius XM Radio has announced the launch of new programming, including the SiriusXM Latino, a suite of new Latin channels, as the first phase of its SiriusXM 2.0, that it terms in a news release "a major upgrade and evolution of Sirius XM's satellite and Internet delivered service."
The SiriusXM Latino service will, it says feature "a deep variety of commercial-free music, plus programming from leading providers of Spanish-language sports, news, talk and entertainment" and in addition there are other music, comedy, sports and sports-talk channels.
The company says it is able to offer the services without affecting the quality of existing channels by "employing highly efficient modulation and compression techniques introduced as part of 2.0 technology that effectively delivers 25% more bandwidth capacity."
CEO Mel Karmazin commented, "SiriusXM 2.0 is an exciting new chapter for our company and subscribers, and today is the first important upgrade: going live with new programming that reinforces our commitment to offer the best in audio entertainment. The new suite of channels, including the most comprehensive Latin programming line-up available in radio today, makes our combined offering of English and Spanish audio entertainment second to none. We eventually expect the exciting new features and capabilities being added to our service to offer the opportunity for lower subscriber churn and higher sales of internet radio packages. We also look forward to extending 2.0 content and features soon to our OEM car partners, bringing them and their customers the next generation of satellite radio technology."
President and Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein added, "The expansion of our commercial-free music offerings, the launch of SiriusXM Latino, the near-doubling of our comedy channels, and additions to our live sports talk, deepens the channel offerings available to SiriusXM subscribers and adds to our unparalleled audio entertainment line-up."
The company then goes on to suggest that subscribers can access al its programming through its All Access Annual subscription plan that offers all satellite radio programming, including premium channels, access to all online channels, and the ability to listen to all programming available through smart phones and mobile devices, for USD 199 a year.
Previous Greenstein:
Previous Karmazin:
Previous Sirius XM:

2011-10-17: Global Radio, the UK's largest radio operator, lost GBP 32.7 million (USD 51.6 million) before tax in the year up to the end of March - up from GBP 31.0 million (currently USD 48.9 million) on revenues down 1.3% on a year earlier according to figures filed at Companies House today.
The fall was primarily due to cutback advertising by the British government, previously its largest advertiser: Central Office of Information spend was down 85%. If this is taken our underlying revenues were up 6% including increased of 90% for cosmetics, 50% from utilities; 40% from automobile; and 36% from telecommunications.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) were up 9.3% to GBP 50.3 million (USD 79.4 million) and operating profit was up 6.6% to GBP 21.2 million (USD 33.5 million: It reduced its bank debt by GBP 12 million (USD 18.9 million) to GBP 92 million (USD 145.2 million)
Executive president and founder Ashley Tabor, the company's highest paid executive, received GBP 3.3 million (USD 5.2 million), up from GBP 2.5 million (USD 3.9 million) a year earlier including a bonus of GBP 1.4 million (USD 2.2 million).
Previous Global Radio:
Previous Tabor:

2011-10-17: Baltimore news-talk host Ron Smith, the "Voice of Reason" in various time slots on Hearst Corporation's WBAL-AM since 1984 and currently on air from 09:00 to noon, told his listeners this morning that he has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.
Smith, who is 69, began feeling unwell a few weeks ago and was told on Friday that a scan had shown a rumour on his pancreas.
Making his announcement, Smith told his listeners, "I said we are going to be talking about the future of the Ron Smith Show. There are going to be some changes here in that I'm still going to be doing the show, but not all the time. . It's going to be…. It's undetermined yet, we don't have a schedule.
He went on to say how he had found out about the cancer which he was told had "metastasized to your liver, your parenteral cavity, abdominal cavity, lungs and so on."
Smith then said, "That's some kind of news to get. It really is. I mean it's like, hmmm, this is probably not good" but added that he was told it was worth fighting …"So, I'm committed to fight this thing, but it's going to take some time off to do it. In other words I'm going to have chemotherapy on a regular basis. I don't have a schedule yet, because I won't see the oncologist until Friday. Once I have a schedule, then with the help of management here which has been so supportive, the Ron Smith Show will continue with Ron Smith except on days when I can't be here."
He added of his reaction, "Well, let's put it this way, I think my wife put it best. We're not happy, but we're at peace, we're at peace. And I'm surrounded by loving family and friends who have already demonstrated that so much over this strange weekend that we just lived that I can't express enough my gratitude for their love and their support."
Of the show he commented, "We're going to do a Ron Smith Radio Show every day that I'm here. And not only that, not only that folks, it's going to be terrific… It's just, there's no reason to, I mean obviously people are going to be upset about this, but just understand that I'm okay, I'm okay alright?. I'm alive. I'm doing this. Nobody knows their future although I have a clearer idea of mine than most of you. You always wonder how it's going to end; well I pretty much know how it's going to end, just not when."
Smith concluded, "God bless you all and thank you for listening and when we come back it's going to be a Ron Smith show. We're not going to be talking about illnesses or misfortunes or disappointments or mourning anything. Is that a deal? It better be."
Audio of Smith's comments (as a 2:36 stream or 3 MB downloadable MP3) has been posted by WBAL on its website together with a transcript of his comments.
WBAL - Smith announcement:

Next column:

2011-10-16: Last week was even quieter than usual as regards radio postings by the regulators with none from Ireland and only one each from Australia, Canada, and the UK with the US, on holiday on Monday (Columbus Day) also very quiet.
In Australia, the radio posting from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) was of a decision to extend radio services in Hobart and Devonport, Tasmania.
They were to allow the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News Radio service 7PB Hobart to change its radiation pattern and up its maximum power level to 3.5 kilowatts (kW); making the FM frequency 94.9 MHz, with a maximum power level of 1.5 kW, available for allocation at Hobart for a new open narrowcasting service; and making the FM frequency 96.1 MHz, with a maximum power level of 3.2 kW, available at Devonport so that the Hobart community radio service 7RPH may extend its coverage to that community.
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) posted a consultation notice with a November 15 deadline for the submission of interventions or comments regarding an application from Eternacom Inc. to add a 50-watts low-power FM transmitter in Mattawa to carry the signal of its specialty English-language commercial station CJTK-FM-1, North Bay, Ontario.
In the UK Ofcom posted its latest Broadcast Bulletin in which it upheld one complaint against radio and considered another one resolved by action already taken by the broadcaster (See RNW Oct 10).
Things were also quiet regarding radio in the US where the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made only a few non-routine postings. In Maryland, the agency denied an application from Radio One to change the community of licence of WWIN-FM from Glen Burnie to Arbutus: The application had been opposed by CBS Radio, licensee of WPGC-FM, Morningside; Howard University, licensee of WHUR-FM, Washington, DC; and Prettyman Broadcasting Company, licensee of WICL-FM, Williamsport.
WWIN-FM is a pre-1964 grandfathered short-spaced station licensed at Glen Burnie, Maryland, currently operating with 3 kilowatts effective radiated power (ERP) with an antenna at 91 meters height above average terrain. Radio One proposed to double the power from 3 kilowatts to 6 kilowatts ERP and provide Arbutus with a first local transmission service from the current WWIN-FM transmitter site, saying that no other fully spaced allotment coordinates exist for an FM allotment at Arbutus, and that the current WWIN-FM transmitter site is the only possible site from which to serve Arbutus.
The request requires a waiver to rules that require that amongst other things require that changes to a pre-1964 short-spaced station should not increase the area and population of interference to any other co-channel or first-adjacent channel station.
It contended that no existing short spacing's will be exacerbated, as no change in the antenna, antenna height, or transmitter location is proposed, and that the only impermissible increase in interference will be to first-adjacent channel WSOX-FM, Red Lion, Pennsylvania, whose licensee, Susquehanna License Co., LLC, has consented to the increased interference.
Those objecting contended that because there was an increase in interference to WSOX the application had to be refused and also in the case of CBS and Howard University that there would be increased interference to second-adjacent channel WPGC-FM and WHUR-FM and in the case of Prettyman that there would be increase interference to co-channel WICL-FM.
The FCC took the view that under current rules Radio One had to show a public interest benefit by demonstrating from which of the two communities the station would provide service to a greater area and population within the urbanized area.
Radio One it noted had not made such a showing and also that the only special circumstances shown were Radio One's inability to change its transmitter site, based on the grandfathered short spacing, and the claimed public interest benefit of providing a first local transmission service at Arbutus.
The arguments put forward it concluded were not sufficient to justify the requested waivers and it denied the application.
In Oregon, the FCC has asked for comment by December 5 (with a Dec 20 deadline for reply comment) on a channel change requested by Threshold Communications, the winning bidder in its Auction No. 91 for a new construction permit on FM Channel 290A at Butte Falls, Oregon.
Threshold has requested a change to substitute FM Channel 235C1 for vacant FM Channel 249C1 at Altamont, Oregon, in order to facilitate a minor modification to the Butte Falls allotment, which Petitioner proposes to move to Channel 249A.
It notes that whilst the change is technically possible it would result in a potential net loss of coverage of 57,827 persons but that the change could serve the public interest by preserving a potential Class C1 FM service at Altamont, while allowing the channel substitution proposed for the Butte Falls allotment.
Accordingly it has asked Threshold to "address the impact of a net loss in service on the overall public interest benefits of its hybrid application-rulemaking proposal."
In Texas the agency is asking for comment with the same deadlines on a proposal from Bryan King, licensee of KAJZ-FM, Llano, Texas, and permittee of FM Channel 292A, Junction, Texas. King proposes the substitution of Channel 242C3 for vacant Channel 293C3, Llano, Texas and to allow KAJZ to operate on FM Channel 293A rather than FM Channel 242A
This would allow to move to Channel 293A, thereby alleviating the concerns raised by KAJZ listeners regarding potential interference to their reception of KAJZ on its current channel and to facilitate it Katherine Pyeatt, the auction selectee for FM Channel 242A, Menard, Texas, has amended her application to specify operation on Channel 292A. In addition King proposes a minor modification to modify the facilities specified in his construction permit at Junction, Texas, from Channel 292A to Channel 290A that would facilitate this Menard change.
Previous ACMA:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
ACMA website:
CRTC website:
FCC website:
Ofcom website:

2011-10-16: The Kyle and Jackie O Show (Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O-Neil Henderson) has regained the Best On-Air Team crown, which they won in 2006 and 2007, at this year's Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) announced on Saturday evening at Jupiters on the Gold Coast .
The award has now been split into AM and FM sections with the Melbourne 3AW breakfast team of Ross Stevenson and John Burns taking the AM award in a good year for 3AW, which took a further top awards with Neil Mitchell getting the Best Talk Presenter Award and Derryn Hinch - currently recuperating from a liver transplant off-air following a home detention sentence (See RNW Jul 22) the Best Current Affairs Presenter Award, which was accepted for him by his wife Chanel.
The On-Air team award had been taken for the past three years by The Hamish and Andy Show ((Hamish Blake and Andy Lee) but they have now cut back to one day a week - and gained the Best Station Promotion Award for their The Thank You Tour.
Individual winners of other major awards included Dan Ginnane from Triple M in Sydney, who won the Brian White Memorial Award which recognises sustained achievement and effort across news, current affairs, entertainment and sports reporting. For the first time, this award has an international fellowship attached. As part of the award, Dan will undertake a two week fellowship at one of Asia's premier media companies Singapore's MediaCorp:
Other major awards went to:
o Best Newcomer - Jules Lund, Today Network, Melbourne
o Best Music Presenter - Tim Lee, Fox FM, Melbourne
o Best Syndicated Australian Program - My Generation, MCM Media
o Best News Presenter FM - Kristy Warner, Nova 969, Sydney
o Best News Presenter AM - Steve Blanda, 2UE, Sydney
o Best Digital Radio Format - Koffee, Brett Nossiter and Sarah Fletcher, DMG Radio Australia
The full list of awards was (C indicates country; P provincial; N -Non Metropolitan; and M Metropolitan where applicable):
MOST POPULAR STATION MANAGER
Cheryl Lardner; Magic 93.1 & Classic Hits 5RM, Riverland SA, Fairfax Radio Network C
Paul Moltzen; Star 104.5, Gosford NSW, DMG Radio Australia P
Tim McDermott; 2UE, Sydney NSW, Fairfax Radio Network M
ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE
Brett Kelly; Disaster Recovery Transmission System, Perth WA, Southern Cross Austereo
BRIAN WHITE MEMORIAL
Dan Ginnane; Triple M, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST NEWCOMER OFF-AIR
Kate Reilly; Star FM, Mt Gambier SA, Southern Cross Austereo C
Selina Pedersen; Hot 91.1, Maroochydore QLD, Prime Radio P
Bianca Stinson; 2Day FM & Triple M, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST NEWCOMER ON-AIR
Stephen Cenatiempo; 2HC, Coffs Harbour NSW, Super Radio Network C
Normy Dorrell; Star FM, Albury NSW, Southern Cross Austereo P
Jules Lund; Today Network, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST MUSIC PRESENTER
Alo Baker; Star FM, Dubbo NSW, Southern Cross Austereo C
Jack Laurence; Sea FM, Gold Coast QLD, Southern Cross Austereo P
Tim Lee; Fox FM, Melbourne VIC, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST TALK PRESENTER
Jennifer Menchin; 2LT, Lithgow NSW, Midwest Radio Network C
Mike Welsh; 2CC, Canberra ACT, Capital Radio P
Neil Mitchell; 3AW, Melbourne VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST ON-AIR TEAM - COUNTRY AND PROVINCIAL
Kewy & Karis Breakfast Show; Richard Kew & Karis Britton, Coast FM, Warrnambool VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
Al & A.D for Breakfast; Al Shield & Alex Dearaugo, Star FM, Bendigo VIC, Southern Cross Austereo P
BEST ON-AIR TEAM - METRO AM
3AW Breakfast; Ross Stevenson & John Burns, 3AW, Melbourne VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST ON-AIR TEAM - METRO FM
The Kyle & Jackie O Show; Kyle Sandilands & Jackie O, 2Day FM, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS PRESENTER
Mike Welsh; 2CC, Canberra ACT, Capital Radio NM
Derryn Hinch; 3AW, Melbourne VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST SPORTS PRESENTER
Glenn Wilson; RadioWest; Kalgoorlie WA, Southern Cross Austereo C
Edwin Cowlishaw; Mix 1049, Darwin NT, Grant Broadcasters P
Mark Levy; 2GB, Sydney NSW, Macquarie Radio Network M
BEST SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE
AFL Grand Final Draw; K-Rock Football, K-Rock, Geelong VIC, Grant Broadcasters NM
2010 AFL Drawn Grand Final; Triple M Football, Triple M, Melbourne VIC, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST NEWS PRESENTER - COUNTRY & PROVINCIAL
Jennifer Menchin; 2LT & Move FM, Lithgow NSW, Midwest Radio Network C
Kate Taylor; 104.7, Canberra ACT, Australian Radio Network/Southern Cross Austereo P
BEST NEWS PRESENTER - METRO FM
Kristy Warner; Nova 969, Sydney NSW, DMG Radio Australia M
BEST NEWS PRESENTER - METRO AM
Steve Blanda; 2UE, Sydney NSW, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST SHOW PRODUCER - ENTERTAINMENT / MUSIC
PJ Rawson; David & Tanya Breakfast, KOFM, Newcastle NSW, Southern Cross Austereo NM
Gemma O'Neill; The Kyle & Jackie O Show, 2Day FM, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST SHOW PRODUCER - TALK CURRENT AFFAIRS
Monica Masters; Mike Welsh Drive Show, 2CC, Canberra ACT, Capital Radio NM
Justin Smith; 3AW Mornings, 3AW, Melbourne VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR
Damien Haffenden; Hitz FM, Bundaberg QLD, Fairfax Radio Network C
Trent Towson; Sea FM, Gold Coast QLD, Southern Cross Austereo P
Alex Abela; 2Day FM, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Jacqui Pfeffer; 2NM & Power FM, Muswellbrook NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Mark Hyland; Bay FM, Geelong VIC, Grant Broadcasters P
Derek Bargwanna; 2Day FM, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST DIGITAL RADIO FORMAT
Koffee; Brett Nossiter & Sarah Fletcher, DMG Radio Australia
BEST STATION PRODUCED COMEDY SEGMENT
Man Vs City; John Sutherland, 2NZ, Inverell NSW, Super Radio Network C
Cutting Out; Luke Bradnam; 1029 Hot Tomato, Gold Coast QLD, Hot Tomato P
Rabbit's Gotcha Calls; Dave Rabbetts, SAFM, Adelaide SA, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST NETWORKED PROGRAM
Jon Vertigan for Breakfast; Jon Vertigan, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
Truck Radio; Sarah Maree Cameron, Southern Cross Austereo P
The Ray Hadley Morning Show; Ray Hadley, Macquarie Radio Network M
BEST SYNDICATED AUSTRALIAN PROGRAM
My Generation; MCM Media
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Doin' Something About It - Homelessness; Leroy Brown, K-Rock, Geelong VIC, Grant Broadcasters NM
Russell Street Bombing 25th Anniversary; Ross Stevenson & John Burns with John Silvester, 3AW, Melbourne VIC, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST MUSIC SPECIAL
Around the World in 80 Songs; Jacqui Pfeffer, Power FM, Muswellbrook NSW, Grant Broadcasters C
Goodbye Powderfinger; Kyal Rose & Gina Ankerson, Hot FM, Bunbury WA, Southern Cross Austereo P
World Famous Rooftop Series; David Konsky, 2Day FM, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
John Spelling; Mixx FM, Swan Hill VIC, ACE Radio Broadcasters C
Mark Brewer, NXFM, Newcastle NSW, Southern Cross Austereo P
Sideshow Mike Andersen; Triple M, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST STATION SALES ACHIEVEMENT
Star 104.5 Sales Team; Star 104.5, Gosford NSW, DMG Radio Australia NM
4BC Sales Team; 4BC, Brisbane QLD, Fairfax Radio Network M
BEST AGENCY SALESPERSON
Carlan Heffernan; Mix 106.5 & WSFM, Sydney NSW, Australian Radio Network
BEST DIRECT SALESPERSON
Justin Baxter; RadioWest, Northam WA, Southern Cross Austereo NM
Shane Peak; 2GO & Sea FM, Gosford NSW, Southern Cross Austereo NM
Kate Foulis, Triple M & 2DAY FM, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST STATION PRODUCED COMMERCIAL
Little White Cross; Josh Langley, RadioWest, Northam WA, Southern Cross Austereo C
ACT Policing; Geoff Bickerton & Martin Kubitzky, 104.7 & Mix 106.3, Canberra ACT, Australian Radio Network/Southern Cross Austereo P
Allpest - Does Not Negotiate; Alida Henson, Garry Dean, Ingrid Paxton & Matt Dickson, Mix 94.5, Perth WA, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST MULTIMEDIA EXECUTION - STATION
Bundaberg Floods Coverage; Bundaberg Broadcasters, 4BU & Hitz FM, Bundaberg QLD, Fairfax Radio Network NM
Legends of Origin; Angus Stevens, Christina Rowatt, Kate Lloyd & David Olivetti, Triple M, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST MULTIMEDIA EXECUTION - SALES
80's August - 80 from the 80's; Integration & Activation Team, Sea FM, Gold Coast QLD, Southern Cross Austereo NM
Cotton On - Talk About It (Band in Your Hand); Fox FM Team, Fox FM, Melbourne VIC, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST SALES PROMOTION
The Grand Pudding; Kellsey Melhuish, Star FM, Dubbo NSW, Southern Cross Austereo C
The Ultimate Burger; Paul Moyra & Baggs, Sea FM, Gold Coast QLD, Southern Cross Austereo P
Jonesy & Amanda's Underwater Broadcast; WSFM & ProdDive, WSFM, Sydney NSW, Australian Radio Network M
BEST STATION PROMOTION
Sea FM's Hottest Tradie; Sea FM Widebay, Sea FM, Maryborough QLD, Southern Cross Austereo C
Bring Ellen Down Under; Paul Moyra & Baggs, Sea FM, Gold Coast QLD, Southern Cross Austereo P
The Thank You Tour; Hamish Blake & Andy Lee, Fox FM, Melbourne VIC, Southern Cross Austereo M
BEST PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR
Zak Davies; 104.7 & Mix 106.3, Canberra ACT, Australian Radio Network/Southern Cross Austereo NM
Dee Curtis; Nova 106.9, Brisbane QLD, DMG Radio Australia M
BEST COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
Kim's Tribute to Melissa; Kim Bunney, Sea FM, Maryborough QLD, Southern Cross Austereo C
The i98FM Camp Quality Convoy; Tia Robins, Marty Haynes, Bianca Dye & Josh Webster, i98FM, Wollongong NSW, WIN P
Triple M's Legends of Origin; Triple M Team, Triple M, Sydney NSW, Southern Cross Austereo M
Previous ACRA Awards (2010)

2011-10-16: More reports of departures from former Citadel stations now owned by Cumulus include the resignation of KGO-AM Program Director Jack Swanson and four departures from San Francisco sister station KSFO-AM.
At the latter the departures included Program Director Ken Berry, who had been KGO News Director until his appointment to the KSFO post in December last year.
Berry had been with KGO for more then two decades from 1980-2001 after which he moved to Seattle for spells on KIRO-AM and KTTH-AM before returning to KSFO in 2006.
For Swanson it was a second family departure as his wife Melanie Morgan had been a host on the KSFO morning show until she was axed in March 2008 as part of a round of cost-cutting. She subsequently co-hosted Talk Radio Network's syndicated America's Morning News show from its launch in June 2009 until she left in January 2010 giving health as her reason.
In an email to staff Lawson said of his career with KGO, "For a good part of the last three decades you have been my daytime family, and this has been my professional home. We have shared the joys and sorrows of a family. The deaths, and the births. Earthquakes and wars. And in our spare time we helped some people survive Leukaemia, eased the suffering of the homeless and most recently helped our neighbours feed their families. I know the various companies who owned our stations over the years thought this was all about making money. You and I know it really wasn't. It was about the chance to do so many special things at this very special place. Like you, I was like you, I was always proud to say I worked for KGO and KSFO. I still am. And will always be."
He added that his plans were to head with his wife for "some small island very far away to rest, and think and reinvent" and added "We have not faded into retirement. Just taking a break along the way. We'll be popping back up somewhere."
Previous Cumulus:

2011-10-15 London-based Asian service Sunrise Radio is criticized by the UK Charities Commission for holding for years in the bank funds raised for tsuanmi and earthquake relied and kept in the name of the "Sunrise Radio South East Asia Disaster Appeal" following the tsunami that devastated many coastal areas of South Asia on Boxing Day (Dec 26), 2004.
A "Sunrise Radio South East Asia Disaster Appeal" bank account was opened in January 2005 for funds donated for this and also used for a total of more than GBP 160,000 (USD 253,000) sent to help victims as a result of the appeal made by Sunrise Radio in relation to the tsunami and a later on-air appeal made in October 2005 by Sunrise Radio and its sister radio station Kismat Radio 2 in response to the earthquake in Pakistan that severely hit Kashmir.
The Commission says that by November 2005 more than GBP 160,000 had been received but it was not distributed to those for whom it was given and by November last year the funds held totalled more than GBP 181,000 (then just below USD 290,000) after interest was added.
The funds were held as charitable trusts giving the Commission jurisdiction and it investigated following a 2007 complaint that funds raised for the tsunami victims had been sent to Pakistan but it was assured that this was not so and told that should it not be possible to distribute the funds for the purpose for which they were raised there were appropriate contingency mechanisms to allow them to be used for other charitable purposes.
The Commission therefore closed the case but a further complaint was made in November last year and the Commission then opened a regulatory compliance case, which has closed with the issue of the report that finds amongst other things that:
*It is unclear from the information provided by the trustees whether proper consideration was given, at the time the on-air appeal was made, as to how these funds were to be used and whether this was made clear to donors.
*That that records of the content of the appeals and the specific terms on which the funds were raised had not been retained since the stations were not required to retain them under the terms of the stations' licences.
The Commission also noted the intention to award funds to other charitable organizations and that they had advised the trustees that any such organization had to be willing and able to apply the funds for the purpose for which they were donated and would be able to confirm to the trustees when and how the funds have been used.
It adds that given the nature of disaster appeals, those donating funds to the Appeal would have expected them to have been applied quickly and not six and five years respectively after they were raised and that the trustees failed to provide a sufficient satisfactory explanation or provide evidence to give reason for their delay in applying funds raised by the Appeal for the charitable purposes for which they were raised.
It concludes that the trustees acted inappropriately and says the funds have now been awarded to two registered charities working to relieve need in areas of Sri Lanka affected by the 2004 tsunami and areas in Pakistan affected by the 2005 earthquake.
Previous Sunrise Radio:
Charities Commission report:

2011-10-15:Australia's Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy has confirmed that the government is to ease regulations concerning regional radio local content and trigger events that were brought in by the previous government under pressure from National Party members in the then coalition.
The party had its strength in rural areas and the changes it forced through into the Broadcasting Services Act required commercial licensees to provide minimum levels of local content and after "trigger events such as changes in ownership to broadcast minimum levels of local news and information and also maintain a local presence allied with additional requirements in terms of record keeping and reporting changes.
The plans were announced by Conroy to Australian commercial broadcasters at industry body Commercial Radio Australia's National Radio Conference on the Gold Coast. Conroy said he would plan to introduce amendments to the current laws "the next few months before Parliament rises". He expected the changes to be backed by the Opposition and passed into law by the end of this year or in the first Parliamentary session of next year.
Welcoming the changes Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner said in a news release, "The industry has been waiting on these legislative changes to the 2006 Media Ownership Act for some time. The amendments will help reduce red tape in relation to 220 regional stations throughout Australia in regards to compliance issues around trigger events."
She added, "It is good news to hear from the Minister today at the radio conference on the Gold Coast that amendments will be passed in the foreseeable future. There has been much hard work by the industry to make this happen."
Previous Commercial Radio Australia:
Previous Warner:

2011-10-15: BBC World Service reporter Urunboy Usmonov has been convicted by a Tajik court of complicity in the activities of a banned Islamist organisation, Hizb ut-Tahrir and sentenced to three years in jail but a judge granted him an amnesty and ordered his release.
Usmonov's arrest in June had led to international condemnation of the Tajikistan authorities (See RNW Jun 20 and Jun 16) : He had originally been charged with being a member of the banned group but the charge was later reduced to a charge of complicity in its activities.
Usmonov had said that he had only met members of the organization whilst working on reports about its activities and after his release told the BBC Uzbek Service that he would appeal against the conviction, saying, "During the court hearings they could not provide any evidence against me. I am innocent."
The World Service strongly condemned the verdict noting that he and it had "consistently maintained that all allegations of association with Islamic extremists are completely unfounded and that Mr Usmonov is innocent of all charges."
In a news release the World Service added, "The BBC believes that no evidence of wrong doing whatsoever emerged during the trial, and that only a complete exoneration of our correspondent is acceptable" and Peter Horrocks, Director BBC Global News, added, "We will continue to support Urunboy and hope that the appeal process will lead to his reputation as a highly respected writer and journalist being restored. We also intend to press for answers over the torture and mistreatment Urunboy suffered while in custody and to raise real concerns about shortcomings in the legal process."
Concern was also expressed by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).which also raised the cases of another Tajik journalist: Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov - was convicted on insult charges, but was released from prison although he is banned from all journalistic work for three years. He had published a story earlier in the now-defunct Dushanbe weekly Nuri Zindagi about widespread abuses by local authorities in the Asht district of northern Tajikistan. The court additionally ordered him to pay 35,000 somoni (about USD 7,200) in damages to the government officials he allegedly insulted.
TCPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova commented, "We are pleased by the release of Urunboy Usmonov and Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, but are still concerned by their guilty verdicts and call for their convictions to be quashed. Both journalists must be allowed to report freely, and Ismoilov's ban on journalism must be overturned."
The British Foreign Office also welcomed Usmonov's release but expressed concern about his trial with Minister for Europe David Lidington commenting that "We have strong reservations about the ruling against Mr Usmonov and his sentencing. We also have reservations about the conduct of the trial."
Previous BBC:
Previous Horrocks:

2011-10-14 Birmingham sports host Paul Finebaum's lawsuit against Citadel - now owned by Cumulus, is moving back to an Alabama state court from the Federal Court to which it had been moved after an initial filing in the Jefferson state court.
It was moved to the federal Alabama Northern District Court after Citadel argued on the basis of a "complete diversity of citizenship between the Plaintiff and Defendant and the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of USD 75,000, exclusive of interest and costs" and Finebaum's attorneys had asked for the move, seen to favour the host (See RNW Sep 2).
The Birmingham Business Journal reports that Federal Judge L. Scott Coogler, who in October had given the go ahead to move the suit last month but refused to dismiss a similar suit that was said to have been filed in the State Court before the prime suit was moved into his court (See RNW Oct 6).
He has now ordered Friday that the final elements of Finebaum's case be remanded back to Jefferson County Circuit Court.
The Birmingham Business Journal reports that an apparent error at the Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk's Office led to the filing of two separate, nearly identical lawsuits in the dispute and that in his ruling Coogler said Citadel had failed to prove Finebaum fraudulently named as a defendant Bill Thomas, general manager of local Citadel station WJOX-FM.
It adds that an The in-state resident named as a defendant allows Finebaum to keep the case - in which he alleges that the company violated its contract employment with him, and also coercion and fraud - in state court, where it was initially filed before Citadel had it removed to federal court.
Previous Cumulus:
Previous Finebaum:
Birmingham Business Journal report:

2011-10-14: The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) says two large advertisers - Verizon and AT&T Wireless - have pulled their advertising off Clear Channel's KFI-AM's "John and Ken" (John Chester Kobylt and Kenneth Robertson Chiampou) show in response to a campaign it and other groups launched to get the hosts taken off the air after they broadcast the cell phone number of an immigrants activist who then received hostile and threatening calls.
On its website the organization says "The 'Take John and Ken Off the Air' Campaign is going strong. Four major sponsors have already committed to cease sponsorship of KFI AM 640's 'John and Ken Show'" and lists the two plus Vons and Ralphs, which have advertised on the show in the past but according to the Burbank Leader have agreed not to advertise in the future. It has also posed audio of one of the calls on the site.
The Los Angeles Times notes that the organization also made an announcement to this effect during a demonstration outside KFI's offices in Burbank and that its spokeswoman Rosalia Tenorio said it had written confirmation of their action from the companies concerned.
In response it quotes KFI as saying in a written statement, "Expressing your opinion is not a firing offense. KFI stands behind John and Ken and their right to speak their minds - opinions shared, incidentally, by over a million California listeners each week and protected by the 1st Amendment."
David Rodriguez, spokesman for the League of United Latin American Citizens, responded by saying that the pair had abused their rights, commenting, "It's one thing to run out and express your free speech, but it's quite another to turn around and demonize a community and victimize a community of hard-working immigrant folks, who all they want to do is make a living and be part of this society."
The paper also quoted Clear Channel Radio Los Angeles market manager Greg Ashlock, who had earlier cancelled a meeting with the coalition because they would not settle for anything other than dismissal of the hosts as saying KFYI officials have met with other Latino groups to have an open, fruitful discussion about any concerns they may have."
RNW comment: We see no reason to change our original assessment that Clear Channel will make a business decision and that they are not going to dump a top-rated show unless there are very strong financial reasons. That in our opinion would have to be a boycott that encompassed the company nationally and cost it a massive amount and we just can't see this happening.
Overall we think Clear Channel is handling this in a fairly cack-hand manner - it was not wise to cancel the meeting and in our view it could easily have regretted the airing of the phone number whilst not getting into issues of other comments.
On the other side, those who want free speech have to accept that this means that things will be said that they find offensive and that on balance it is better not to fight for censorship of opinion but where possible tackle head-on issues of misinformation - if opinions are being based on information that is factually incorrect it may be harder work to monitor this and make specific requests for corrections but it is also much more difficult to justify the right to opinion based on incorrect information - and in this case the issue of airing the phone number: In a previous comments we dismissed the hosts response concerning this as being somewhat disingenuous.
Previous Clear Channel:
Los Angeles Times report:

2011-10-14: The UK National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has accused BBC Director-General Mark Thompson of showing "complete and utter contempt" for his staff following remarks he made to a meeting of BBC Staff in Belfast today in which he commented, "If you're really that unhappy, if you think that you can't do your best work here then leave - no-one is forcing you to stay."
Thompson's comments were made during questions about the BBC's "Delivering Quality First" under which some 2,000 jobs will go as the Corporation intends to cut costs by around GBP 770 million (USD 1.025 billion) a year and the NUJ says staff were outraged.
NUK General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet commented on the organization's website, "Mark Thompson showed his complete and utter contempt for his staff today. It shows just how little he values all the hardworking loyal and talented staff who are the lifeblood of the BBC's work. It's BBC staff who are standing up for quality journalism and for the future of the Corporation they are passionate about serving. For Mark Thompson to turn his ire on our members, at a time when the BBC is under unprecedented attack and needs strong leadership, calls into question his own position. Perhaps it's about time he moved on - after all, no-one's forcing him to stay."
The UK Guardian quoted a BBC spokesman as saying of the Belfast meeting that it was a robust but constructive exchange, adding, "Mark Thompson is never one to dodge difficult conversations and today was no exception."
The cuts will hit BBC News hard and in radio protects BBC Radio 4 but cuts back other networks, local radio, and the Asian network.
Previous BBC:
Previous Thompson:
UK Guardian report:

2011-10-14: Merlin Media chairman and CEO Randy Michaels has been arrested for driving while intoxicated by Cincinnati police who booked him under his real name of Benjamin Homel.
Cincinnati .com reports that police arrested Michaels after seeing his car stuck in mud on a construction site in Middleton Interstate 75 and Ohio 122 under an overpass.
It goes on to say that the police office who arrested Michaels wrote in his report, "Due to the location of the vehicle and the mud and water that the vehicle was sitting in up to the frame, I felt it was safer for the driver to stay in the vehicle until the wrecker/driver was able to get the vehicle unstuck and out of harm's way."
The Chicago Tribune - Michaels is a former Tribune Co CEO but resigned a year ago (See RNW Oct 22 2010) following a row over a New York Times report concerning a crude corporate culture at the company that was hostile and sexist amongst other things (See RNW Oct 6, 2010) - reports that the officer said he smelled alcohol on Michaels' breath, noticed his eyes were bloodshot and described him as being "unsteady" on his feet.
He asked Michaels to perform three sobriety tests including walking in a straight line and standing on one leg but Michaels could not touch his heel to toe while walking and could not stand on one leg for more than three or four seconds and was arrested for driving whilst intoxicated and also issued with a citation for driving in a construction zone.
Michaels was then taken to the Middletown city jail, where he refused to take a Breathalyzer test after consulting with an attorney. Bail was posted and Michaels according to Cincinnatti.com is now due in Middletown Municipal Court on Oct. 21.
It noted that Michaels spent most of his career in radio in Cincinnati, starting at old Taft Broadcasting (WKRC-AM and WKRQ-FM), then left in 1983 to start a rival radio company adding that when he became a Clear Channel executive following its purchase of Jacor Communications in 1999, Michaels ran the Clear Channel radio division from the Covington River Center until 2002.
Michaels so far seems to have made himself unavailable for comment.
Previous Michaels:
Chicago Tribune report:
Cincinnatti.com report:

2011-10-13: Emmis, which earlier this month revealed that it had paid bonuses totalling USD 1.25 million to executives on connection with the sale of three of its stations to Merlin Media (See RNW Oct 6), made a loss attributable to common shareholders of USD 8.577 million in its second fiscal quarter, up from a loss of USD 2.338 million a year earlier (From a loss of six cents to 22 cents per share).
Revenues were down 3.13% to USD 64,621 with radio down 3.99% to USD 50.028 million and publishing was down 3.59% to USD 14.593 million.
For the first six months revenues are 0.91% to USD 125.767 million with radio down -.42% to USD 95.398 and publishing down 2.39%to USD 30.269 million with the net loss applicable to common shareholders more than doubles - up from USD 6.247 million to USD 13.145 million (From 17cents to 34 cents per share).
Within the figures there were notable increases in interest expenses - up 57.61% to USD 8.21 million for the quarter and up 14.65% to USD 15.424 million for the half year whilst radio station operating expenses were up 1.02 in the half year to USD 70.767 million and 1.99% to USD 37.779 million for the quarter.
Despite the losses Chairman, President and CEO Jeffrey Smulyan was upbeat about the future - in an email to employees he said the deal to sell the controlling interest in three stations to Merlin Media had helped reduce its debt by 40% and put the company in the best financial condition it has been in in three years, a line he also took during the company's conference call.
The Indiana Business Journal notes that during the call Emmis said the stations - WLUP-FM and WKQX-FM in Chicago and WRXP-FM in New York - had been making losses and that the USD 120 million from their sale would be used to pay down 38 percent of the company's debt and eliminate USD 10 million in annual interest payments. Smulyan also said the 21% common equity interest in Merlin that Emmis held has "significant value" [RNW Comment - perhaps less than thought noting Merlin's woes in Chicago - see below].
"We have really taken this company and solved its major structural problems," Smulyan said. "We're not totally done yet … but I couldn't be more pleased
The Journal also notes that excluding the three stations whose sale closed at the start of September, radio advertising revenues for the first six months of the year are up 4% and quoted Smulyan as saying, "Our stations are beating their in-market competitors for advertising dollars. Our stations have outperformed their markets in nine of the last 12 months."
It added that the strongest performer was Emmis's Indianapolis cluster where half year revenues were up 21% year-on-year compared to a market figure of 4% according to Emmis, which also noted a strong performance in Los Angeles.
Chief Financial Officer Patrick Walsh noted a 4% revenue fall for Emmis's publishing operations but projected a rebound in the third quarter: He also noted that within radio advertising beverage, wireless, health care and movie sectors had shown increases of at least 10% whilst automotive, it single largest revenue generator, was up 7%.
Previous Emmis:
Previous Smulyan:
Previous Walsh:
Indiana Business Journal report:

2011-10-13: Merlin Media Chairman and CEO Randy Michaels has briefed news and sales staff of its Chicago news station WWWN-FM (FM News 101.1) on mistakes made and changes to be made but also attempted to re-assure news staff about the future according to Robert Feder in his Time Out Chicago blog.
His introduction makes clear that Feder is not a Michaels fan - he starts off, "Stop the presses. Randy Michaels and I finally agree on something: The radio station he put on the air at the end of July wasn't very good."
Feder then notes the firing of "at least two anchor/reporters - Dave Williams and Jill Urchak - since the launch July 31" and goes on to quote a "source who was at the meeting" as saying, "Randy made it clear that the basic premise [of the a female-targeted lifestyle news format] isn't wrong, but that a number of things had to be corrected based on what we've been hearing, and the feedback we've been getting from the audience… "One of the biggest mistakes at the outset was tailoring the format too narrowly to women - or at least the assumption of what women wanted to hear on an FM news station, as conceived by Merlin Media's chief operating officer, Walter Sabo."
The source added, "There was a feeling that we'd gone too far in focusing on women. You could hear it in the selection of stories, the way they were presented, and the overall attitude that was coming across. What Randy's done is swing it back a little more toward the mainstream. We want to make it appeal to men, too."
Feder reports that towards this end the station has added sports and financial news [RNW comment: Its absence, particularly of financial news, seems to us to say quite a lot about the concept of Chicago women held in conceiving the station], changed presentation of news by multiple anchor teams reading stories back-and-forth into five-hour air shifts, and that a number of other changes.
The source says that Michaels still feels there is a market for a news station "with different attributes to appeal to younger people already on FM" rather than competing with CBS Radio's all- news WBBM-AM, which is now simulcast on WCFS-FM.
Feder goes on to report that Merlin will wait until it thinks its "product is ready" before promoting it on other media and says that in regard to ratings that the most closely watched figure at the station is not the overall share (around 0.2% to 0.3%_ but that amongst the 25-64 demographic where Arbitron's September Portable People Meter figures showed it with a weekly cumulative audience of 162,234.
Comments in response to the blog are mixed, some pointing about the time needed to establish something new and inevitability of mistakes on the way and others expressed scepticism about the very idea of a news and features service targeting women or that Michaels would have much idea of what women want.
RNW comment: It did surprise us that there was no speculation about Sabo's future in view of the source attributing the basic error in the format to him.
Not much change, we'd estimate, of Michael's going traditional Japanese and trying seppuku even if he was of the right rank, which seems to leave others in the firing line. And we would certainly think that WBBM is will continue to be knocking spots off News 101.1 unless 'BBM makes some very large errors.
Previous Merlin:
Previous Michaels:
Previous Sabo:
Time Out Chicago - Feder blog:

2011-10-12: Indian research organisation, Radio Audience Measurement (RAM), a division of TAM Media Research has announced plans to expand its coverage of listening habits by nine cities, bringing the total to thirteen.
It will add Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Nagpur and Pune to the four cities currently surveyed - Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta) and Mumbai (Bombay).
MRWeb quoted TAM CEO L V Krishnan as saying, "These nine cities will throw light on advertisers about the interaction radio is bringing to their consumers and also help Broadcasters fine tune their basket of programming to these Audiences. This will help propel higher commercial viability for the Industry at large. Like in four RAM metros earlier, we believe that in these nine metros too, RAM's entry will boost the radio advertising investments."
Also in India, radioandmusic.com reports that changes in the Prasar Bharati Act that governs the country's public broadcasters, are to be pushed into law speedily as the government wants to make senior appointments under new rules and wants to make it easier to remove senior executives and specifically add inefficiency, indiscipline and misbehaviour as grounds for removal of the body's CEO and Director Generals of All India Radio or TV broadcaster Doordarshan as well as permanent members of its board.
The Prasar Bharati CEO post will become vacant in December and RadioandMusic notes the problems that had been faced in taking action against then CEO B.S. Lalli who was suspended n December last year following allegations of corruption in connection with a contract for the Commonwealth Games. Under the current law the chairman or a Prasar Bharati member can only be removed on an order by India's President following a Supreme Court Inquiry. Lalli was replaced in January this year by acting CEO Rajiv Takru (See RNW Jan 3).
Recommendations for the changes have come from India's Information and Broadcasting Ministry following a comprehensive review of the Act and have also been approved by India's Law Ministry.
RNW comment: Although on the surface it may seem a sensible change to make such removals easier, any change to facilitate this may also reduce the independence of the broadcasters from political influence.
It would seem sensible therefore to reserve full approval until the actual wording is available.
Previous Indian Radio:
Previous Prasar Bharati:
MRweb report:
Radioandmusic report:

2011-10-11: The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) has fined Indiana-based Electronics Research Inc. (ERI)a total of USD 91,500 in connection with the deaths of two Texas men who were killed in April this year when they fell around 340 feet (100 metres) while working on a 500-foot (160 metre) -tall radio tower being erected for the WASK radio group near Colburn, Indiana.
The agency says workers Ernesto Garcia of Laredo, and Paul Aliff III of Mesquite, had inadequate fall protection, that a basket used to hoist personnel wasn't designed by a qualified person and that load limits were not properly marked on some of the crew's equipment.
The Lafayette Journal-Courier reports that the total was made up of four knowing violations with fines of USD 21,000 each and five serious violations with fines of USD 1,500 each but adds that ERI President Tom Silliman said that some of IOSHA's initial findings in a report issued in September were incorrect and the report is in the process of being revised -- with a new one due out in the next week: He added that he could not comment on the findings until the final report was issued.
The radio tower was rebuilt at the site, near County Roads 600 North and 900 East, to accommodate the path of the incoming Hoosier Heartland highway -- a road replacing the existing Indiana 25 between Lafayette and Logansport.
Journal-Courier report:

2011-10-11: Australian industry body Commercial Radio Australia, in advance of this year's Australian Radio Conference to be held on the Gold Coast on Friday, is hosting a visit by a number of Indonesian radio broadcasters from both public and commercial stations who will attend the conference and also look at the current DAB+ trial being held in Darwin.
Indonesian radio delegation which includes senior representatives from the PT Radionet Cipta Karya, PT Ramako Radio Group, Radio Republik of Indonesia and PT Siprama Komunindo will meet with commercial and the public service broadcasters, the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA), and the Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), to discuss the successful switch on of digital radio in Australia.
DAB+ is being considered as a potential digital platform in Indonesia whose population of approaching 240 million is some ten times that of Australia and which, if it adopts the platform, would be by far the largest DAB+ market barring a Chinese upgrade from DAB to DAB+.
DAB+ has been adopted as the standard for Switzerland, Malta, Hungary, Germany, Italy and Hong Kong, and is being considered as a platform by a number of other countries and Malaysia whilst China and Korea currently use the original DAB standard.
In 2009 Commercial Radio Australia in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Technical Department organised a visit by a delegation from eight countries -- including representatives of MRTBN (Mongolia); RTHK (Hong Kong); RTB (Brunei); VOV (Vietnam); TBS (Japan); LRN (Laos); RTM and IPPTAR (Malaysia); and Mediacorp (Singapore) to study DAB+ (See RNW Nov 17, 2009).
Commenting on the current visit, Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer Joan Warner said, "Like Australia, Indonesia's radio industry is made up of public and commercial radio stations and the delegation is very interested to talk about the policy settings and technical planning associated with the roll out of digital radio in the five metropolitan markets and to review the initial results of the DAB+ trial in Darwin to understand how digital radio responds in humid and wet weather conditions."
The Australian Radio Conference on Friday will hear from special guest actor Kelsey Grammer, best known as Dr Frasier Crane in the TV series Cheers and Frasier, on the power of speech and what makes a good TV and radio program; from Australia's Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy, on future directions for the radio industry; and former Oz magazine editor, social commentator and international futurist, Richard Neville on where Australian society is headed and how the media will fit it.
It will also hold a debate AM vs FM featuring 2UE presenter Paul Murray, who will moderate between the AM Team - Jason Morrison (2UE), Gary Hardgrave (4BC) and Steve Price (MTR) and the FM Team - Claire Hooper (Mix 106.5), Spoonman (Triple M) and Bianca Dye (i98FM).
The conference will be followed on Saturday by the 23rd annual Australian Commercial Radio Awards where Grammer will be amongst the presenters. Amongst the groups to be one of the winners of this year's New Artist 2 Radio (NA2R) showcase, the commercial radio industry's competition to discover unsigned, independent music artists for commercial radio. The performance will be decided between Gold Coast band, Nine Sons of Dan and Sydney-based pop singer, Danielle Blakey.
Previous Commercial Radio Australia:
Previous Warner:

2011-10-11: Chicago is now down to only one radio personality with a USD one million a year salary according to Robert Feder in his timeout Chicago Media Blog, who names eight from 2006 -excluding Erich "Mancow" Muller who was dropped by Emmis from its then WKQX-FM (Q101 -now owned by Merlin Media with frequency being used for WWWN-FM, FM News 101.1- the previous year.
Today's sole survivor from the group says Feder is Eric Ferguson, morning host on Hubbard Broadcasting's WTMX-FM (The Mix).
Feder adds that Ferguson is said by "knowledgeable industry sources" to be on less than on his previous contract and adds that Cumulus-owned WLS-AM afternoon host Roe Conn, who was in the group, is close behind him but also took a salary cut and is now below the million figure.
Feder then goes on to note what happened to the others - Spike O'Dell (retired); Conn (still on air but at a lower salary); Joe Bohannon and Ed Volkman (now back but at greatly reduced salary with CBS's WJMK-FM, K-Hits ); Jonathon Brandmeier (dropped from former Emmis station WLUP-FM, The Loop at the end of 2009 and now hosting a low-budget weekly TV talk show); Steve Cochran (Quit Tribune Co.'s WGN-AM last year and now back hosting afternoon show on Salem's WIND-AM ); Steve Dahl (Taken off air by CBS after a spell on WCKG-FM when it became Jack-FM but kept on the CBS books until his contract ended and now running a podcast); and Mike North (Now involved in various media ventures after leaving CBS Radio's WSCR-AM (The Score) when his contract ended in June 2008).
Also in Chicago, Merlin Media has dropped its first big name with the axing of Dave Williams. Chicago Radio and Media.com says the departure took his co-workers by surprise and that a station insider hinted that the change was not to do with his performance but more to do with a change of style from a news/lifestyle/personality to more of a straight-forward, mainstream news station with management wanting more of a basic news reader than a personality.
Previous Merlin Media:
Chicago Radio and Media.com on Williams ousting:
TimeoutChicago -Feder blog:

2011-10-10: Australian metropolitan commercial radio revenues rose by 0.51% on a year ago in September to a total of AUD 60.963 million (USD 60.570 million) with a wide variation between an 8.96% rise in Adelaide and 1.32% fall in Perth.
The figures issued by industry body, Commercial Radio Australia and from the 2011 Metropolitan Commercial Radio Advertising Revenue figures, sourced by Deloitte, show revenue changes of (in descending percentage order): Adelaide - up 8.96% to AUD 5.795 million (USD 5.758 million); Brisbane - up 0.96% to AUD 9.602 million (USD 9.540 million)l Sydney - down 0.3% to AUD 18.976 million ( USD 18.854 million; Melbourne - down 0.47% to AUD 18.173 million (USD 18.592 million) and Perth - down 1.32% to AUD 7.875 million (USD 7.824 million).
The figures show a recovery from an 0.22% year-on-year fall in August to a total of AUD 59.02 million (then USD 61.11 million), itself an improvement on the July fall of 1.65%.
Commercial Radio Australia Chief executive officer, Joan Warner said the patchy market reflected more challenging economic conditions and a flatter overall advertising market, adding, "The radio industry annual conference will be held at the Gold Coast later this week and issues affecting the industry, including the state of the advertising market, will be discussed in detail by experts. I look forward to hearing some of the analysis and discussion about these important issues later this week."
Previous Australian Radio Revenues (August):
Previous Commercial Radio Australia:
Previous Warner:

2011-10-10: UK media regulator Ofcom in its latest Broadcast Bulletin upholds only one complaint against radio and considers one resolved compared to Standards Complaints upheld against four TV broadcasters; a Fairness and Privacy complaint upheld in another TV case and a further Fairness and Privacy complaint not upheld with a GBP 75,000 (USD 117,000) sanction being issued to another TV broadcaster in connection with an appeal for donations allied with a promise of prayers to improve the donor's health, wealth, success or good fortune.
It also listed without details one further radio complaint and three TV complaints not upheld.
The radio complaint upheld was against the Howard Taylor at Breakfast show that aired on Total Star, Wiltshire, on May 20 this year when it aired a version of Outhere Brothers' single, "Boom Boom Boom" that a listener complained she found "disgusting."
The track aired included the lines
"Slip my peter inside the folder
Make you sweat-er
Get you wetter
Pump it faster to make it better
Dim the lights then lock the room
Now it's time for me to hit that boom"; and
"Girl your booty is so round
I just wanna lay you down
Let me take you from behind
I won't cum until it's time
But if I cannot sleep with you
Maybe I could have a taste
Put your "nani" on my tongue
And your booty on my face" and also the chorus line - repeated 11 times - "I say boom boom boom, now what the fuck I say 'way-oh".
Licensee More FM Ltd. was asked to comment and responded by saying that the wrong version of the track was broadcast. It also noted that it "believed this was the only listener complaint concerning the broadcast…"
Ofcom noted and welcomed the admission of error but also noted that "neither the presenter or production staff acknowledged during the broadcast that the version of the song contained eleven instances of the word "fuck" and inappropriate sexual references or took any action in response - for example, by cutting out of the song early and making an immediate apology.
It rules that there had been a breach of generally accepted standards.
The radio complaint considered resolved involved Celador Radio's Solent station Jack FM and a promotion containing the words, "Never buy a dwarf with learning difficulties. It?s not big and it's not clever. 106 Jack FM."
A listener complained that this was offensive and Celador responded to an Ofcom inquiry by saying that "the pieces of production between the songs on Jack FM between 9am and 6am the following day are comedy "one liners? - a mixture of classic and more topical jokes" which "reflect the irreverent style of the station and rock music that we play".
It added that "people who listen can always expect a mixture of jokes and rock music" and in connection with this specific comment it said it had also received a direct complaint about the material and had apologized, saying the joke was not "specifically intended to target anybody with disabilities".
It also said it had recognised that this joke had offended people and had therefore decided to withdraw this material from its playout schedule before it was contacted by Ofcom.
In view of the action taken Ofcom, although noting the potential to offend, opted to consider the matter resolved.
The figures compare with the upholding of no complaints against radio in the previous bulletin in which Ofcom upheld four TV standards complaints; considered another two resolved; upheld one TV fairness and privacy TV complaint in part and did not uphold another.
In addition to the above Ofcom listed a further 188 TV complaints against 168 items and 16 radio complaints against 16 items that were assessed but not further investigated - this compares with 438 TV complaints against 240 items and 12 radio complaints against 12 items that were assessed but not further investigated in the previous bulletin.
Previous Ofcom:
Previous Ofcom Complaints Bulletin:

2011-10-09: Last week again saw a fairly routine run of radio announcements from the regulators with no major issues coming up and no announcements at from Ireland.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) made only one radio posting, the announced that it has closed down a pirate AM station operating in Melbourne (See RNW Oct 5) and things were only a little busier in Canada where were two radio related posting by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
In Manitoba, it approved an application by Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. to increase the power of its English-language specialty station CFEQ-FM, Winnipeg, from 920 to 100,000 watts (thus changing it from A to C1); relocate the transmitter to the site from which it operates specialty station CHVN-FM, Winnipeg, and increase the antenna height.
There were interventions both for and against the change, which the CRTC noted would help CFEQ-FM overcome the financial challenges that it has faced as a result of its inadequate signal coverage and the highly specialized nature of its specialty format, which requires it to devote 95% of all musical selections during the broadcast week to non-classic religious music as well as allowing significant cost saving.
In New Brunswick the CRTC denied an application by Pritchard Broadcasting Inc to change the frequency of its low-power, English-language specialty station CJRP-FM, Saint John, and increase its power from 50 watts to 3,950 watts and increase the antenna height.
The application was opposed by Acadia Broadcasting Limited, Mr. Geoffrey Rivett and CINB-FM, Saint John, and the commission took the view that Pritchard had not provided sufficient proof related to its signal's coverage of Saint John to justify the change, which it regarded as similar to a new application to serve the Saint John market and would allow the applicant to transform its low-power radio station into a protected class A commercial station.
In the UK, Ofcom posted its September Radio Broadcast Update that noted the end of one commercial service and also a number of licence renewals, re-advertisements and change of control reviews as well as community radio updates (See RNW Oct 5).
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was again involved in various enforcement actions and it also extended yet again on its own volition - this time by 100 days to January 13, 2012 - the deadline for Cox Enterprises, Inc.; Calvary, Inc.; Bonneville International Corp.; Scranton Times LP; and Morris Communications to make various filings in relation to waivers of the agency's cross-ownership rule.
The deadline has already been extended 16 times - the first time until Nov 2008 - following the Commission's decision in its 2006 Quadrennial Review Order to modify the newspaper-broadcast cross ownership rule. The extensions have all been granted to allow time for the agency to consider the parties' request that the deadline be delayed until 90 days after a final court decision relating to various challenges to its modified rules.
Amongst the enforcement actions the FCC:
*Confirmed a USD 7,000 Forfeiture Order to Nievezquez Productions, Inc., licensee of WPRX-AM, Bristol, Connecticut for late filing of license renewal applications and subsequent unauthorized operation.
The licence expires on April 1, 2006, but no renewal application was filed and in October last year, the FCC told the licensee that authority to operate was terminated and that the call letters had been deleted. The licensee then filed for renewal and Special Temporary Authority to continue operations. This was granted and in August this year the FCC issued a USD 7,000 NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture) to which Nievezquez responded by arguing that the breach was unintentional and that it could not afford to pay.
The FCC dismissed the first argument and on the basis of Federal Income Tax returns submitted by the company -- showing gross revenues of USD 179,263, USD 130,741, and USD 223,384 for 2008 thru 2010 but losses of USD 6,113 and USD 54,635 in 2008 and 2009 and a profit of USD 2,000 in 2010 - and also operating reports relating to its bankruptcy filing found that a reduction of the penalty was not warranted. If confirmed the full penalty.
*Issued USD 3,000 NAL to Tallie Colville in relation to failure to submit on time a long-form application after winning in its FM Auction 91 a construction permit for an FM at Diamond Lake, Oregon. The form should have been filed by the end of June this year but was not and in August Colville filed the form together with a request for a waiver concerning the late filing. She said she had not been ready to submit the application by the filing deadline" and added that "acceptance of this application will not disrupt the auction process or undermine the FCC's policy of facilitating rapid implementation of service," and that in fact, acceptance of the Application "will eliminate the need for another time consuming auction of this allotment."
The FCC noted "Colville's record of prior compliance with auction-related requirements"; said she had "demonstrated circumstances that, minimally, meet the standard for waiver of the application filing deadline" and accordingly granted the waiver; and accepted the application but also issued the base-level NAL for USD 3,000.
*Issued USD 1,200 NAL to Reier Broadcasting Company, Inc., licensee of translator K265AS, Livingston, Montana, for late filing of licence application and subsequent unauthorized operation. Reier's application for licence renewal was granted and a petition from Capstar TX Limited Partnership's (Clear Channel) to deny two applications made by Reier for renewal - one in December 2001, nearly four years after it was due, and another in December 2004 - was rejected.
In licensing decisions the FCC dismissed a petition for reconsideration from Fireside Media relating to a new AMs at Larga Vista, Texas, and Pass Christian, Mississippi, and Jet Fuel Broadcasting (JFB) relating to a new AM at Winooski, Vermont.
Both companies are owned by Dave Garey and the agency had previously dismissed applications for review seeking extensions of time to file Form 301 applications for the stations for which they had submitted short-form applications in its January 2004 window for its Auction 84.
At the time the three applications were mutually exclusive with other applications for the auction but subsequently they became "singletons" and as the conflict was resolved the FCC sent letters to the companies directing them to file long-form applications within 60 days. The forms were not submitted in time and in the Winooski case filed a request for a deadline extension "until 60 days after 'the date when the Commission implements a final order eliminating the crippling debtor status currently in force against [it]'"
As regards the other two applications Fireside asked for immediate review. All three claims were based on claims that Fireside and JFB should not be required to file long-form applications until the Commission eliminated what Garey contends were fatal encumbrances to his status as an applicant and potential Commission licensee, specifically that payment obligations imposed on him for withdrawing high bids in FM Broadcast Auction 37 caused him to suffer "irreparable federal debtor status" which made it impossible for him to obtain financing for the Larga Vista, Pass Christian, and Winooski stations.
The FCC said it had dismissed the Applications for Review because they were procedurally improper and even if they had not been the arguments did not "constitute special circumstances sufficient to waive the deadlines for filing his complete Form 301 applications".
It has rejected the petition for reconsideration of the earlier decisions.
In another case the agency rejected a petition from Network of Glory, Inc., the licensee of five NCE (non commercial educational) stations, for a waiver of the Commission's "underwriting rules" to permit the broadcast commercial of advertisements.
The stations are WAKP-FM, Smithboro, Georgia; WGBQ-FM, Lynchburg, Tennessee; KEJA-FM, Kale, Arkansas; KJOG-FM, Cleveland, Oklahoma; and KEIS-FM, York, Nebraska.
Network argued that its stations serve rural, low socioeconomic populations that cannot financially support the operational expenses of its stations; the Commission has previously acknowledged the need to extend broadcasting to rural and underserved populations; and contended that its stations attempt to accomplish those goals, but that it cannot maintain ongoing operations without commercial advertising support.
The FCC noted that to grant a waiver in such a case it must be supported by a compelling argument of special circumstances and only if this would not undermine the policy objective of the rule in question.
In this case it said a waiver would clearly breach the Communications Act's specific prohibition of advertising so that it could not grant a waiver even if inclined to do so and then added that it would not have granted the waiver even if allowed to as difficulty in an NCE raising funding was not unique and unusual and that the grant the request would "eviscerate the underwriting rules."
In Ohio, it rejected a request from Lakota Local School District, licensee of NCE station WLHS-FM, West Chester, Ohio for a waiver of the Commission's requirements regarding the staffing required at a broadcast station's designated main studio.
Lakota had said that for financial reasons it could no longer retain a faculty advisor on staff to supervise the Lakota High School Radio Club, members of which program the station and maintain its day-to-day operations. It also indicated that it has executed an Operating Agreement with Maple
Knoll Communities, Inc., licensee of NCE Station WMKV-FM, Reading, Ohio, which would help alleviate many of the Station's recent difficulties and under which its studio would be co-located with WMKV's main studio. Maple Knoll would also provide programming, staff the station and monitor its EAS equipment, and create internship opportunities for Lakota High School students and provide guest speakers for the Lakota High School Radio Club and also pay the school district USD 3,000 at the beginning of the second year of term the Operating Agreement and USD 12,000 at the beginning of the third year of the term of the Operating Agreement.
The commission in rejecting the request accepted that there was an economic cause but considered that the flexibility it gave licensees in relation to main studio staffing meant that the "unquantified cost savings of eliminating one faculty advisor position are insufficient to justify the elimination of the Station's main studio and the requested relief from staffing obligations."
In relation to FM allotment tables the FCC allowed Qantum of Ft. Walton Beach License Company, LLC to withdraw a petition of reconsideration of its opposition to a change of community proposed by Gulf Coast Broadcasting Company, Inc., under which the community of license for its WPGG-FM would be changed from Evergreen, Alabama, to Shalimar, Florida. WPGG is now Cumulus-owned WNCV-FM and Quantum has reached a confidential agreement with Cumulus under which it will withdraw its petition.
The FCC also posted an update of its FM allotment table that will re-instate a number of vacant FM allotments: its table had formerly listed all vacant FM allotments as well as FM channels and communities occupied by authorized facilities but in 2006 the Commission removed the allotments of authorized and awarded FM facilities from the FM Table in order to accommodate the new application procedures for radio stations to change their communities of license but when an authorization is cancelled has to reinstate the allotment.
In all the updated channel adds a total of 30 allotments covering communities in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
Previous ACMA:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
ACMA website:
BAI website:
CRTC website:
FCC website:
Ofcom website:

2011-10-08: The US National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and a large number of immigrant and minority rights organizations have now gone ahead with a call for sponsors to boycott the John and Ken (John Chester Kobylt and Kenneth Robertson Chiampou) afternoon drive show on Clear Channel's KFI-AM, Los Angeles, following an incident in which the hosts have out the cell phone number of an immigrant rights activist (See RNW Oct 1)
In an online petition calling for supporters to sign a petition and also contact Clear Channel directly, they include a sample letter addressed to the hosts, new Clear Channel CEO Robert Pittman and its chairman Mark May plus its Radio President and CEO John Hogan; Los Angeles President and Market Manager Greg Ashlock; and KFI Program Director Robin Bertolucci.
The "draft letter" says that for years the hosts "have terrorized Los Angeles' Latino, Asian American and African American communities, creating an atmosphere of hate and intolerance and legitimizing violence and discrimination against members of these groups" and then comments of the incident involving Jorge-Mario Cabrera of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) that "Instead of taking issue with Jorge-Mario's politics, the duo provided Mr. Cabrera's office and personal cell phone numbers and encouraged their listeners to call and harass him."
"Many of the callers," they continue, "repeated John and Ken's exact words, and then wished death upon Mr. Cabrera and/or threatened his life and his physical safety. And indeed, many callers directly referenced John and Ken in their nasty messages."
They then say that "NHMC and a number of partners have decided that enough is enough and we are launching a campaign to remove John & Ken from the radio and TV so that they will no longer harm our community" and list 20 organizations that support them.
The move to take action followed cancellation of a meeting to discuss the matter with Latino Leaders about which they had earlier commented, "Clear Channel's refusal to face Latino leaders for a civil conversation about the ramifications of John and Ken's actions has left NHMC and its allies with no choice but to ask the show's advertisers to cease their support."
The cancellation, they said came in a "surprise phone call" from Ashlock "cancelling the meeting he himself had scheduled and widely publicized on KFI's website."
"This cancellation," they continued, "is only one incident in Clear Channel and KFI's disappointing pattern of disregard for the Latino community. Clear Channel and KFI have proven that they are hate profiteers. Their refusal to face the music regarding John and Ken's egregious behaviour shows us that they are not concerned with the people they harm but only their bottom line. This is not the kind of response we would expect from responsible broadcasters."
Amongst the advertisers they have listed are AT&T Wireless; Verizon FIOS ; BMW; Cadillac; Hyundai; Chevron; and Quicken.
The group's postings do not give a reason for the cancellation of the meeting but the Los Angeles Times says that he cancelled because their request had become an ultimatum demanding that the "John and Ken" show be removed from the air.
It quoted him as saying, "I'm more than happy to sit down with anybody who has a concern and talk it out but we're not going to be held hostage to demands that are outlandish."
RNW comment: As we said when this row started brewing, we don't expect any significant action from Clear Channel unless the groups involved can hit its bottom line nationwide to the extent that it is a sound business decision - why should the NHMC even imagine that Clear Channel's decision wouldn't be primarily based on its "bottom line"?
They could of course try for a boycott of the Los Angeles Dodgers who have just moved their games to KFI ???
We are however surprised that the meeting was cancelled as it seems to us bad public relations to publicize such a meeting then cancel and we wonder at what level the decisions to agree to a meeting and then to cancel it were made.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous John and Ken:
Los Angeles Times report:
NHMC website:

2011-10-08: Australia's Fairfax Media, which in May this year announced that it was considering selling off its radio interests (See RNW May 18) has now announced the sale of its regional stations - 5CC, 5AU, 5CS, 5RM and Magic FM in South Australia and 4BU, Hitz FM and Kix FM in Queensland, to family-owned Grant Broadcasters, whose 60 or so radio stations are mainly regional stations.
No price was announced although rumours suggest a figure of around AUD 15 million (USD 15 million).
Fairfax in its announcement said the stations were "prime assets that have performed consistently"and added that KPMG Corporate Finance, which advised Fairfax Media on the sale of the regional radio assets, "continues to assist with the sale process for the metropolitan radio assets. Any decision to sell the metropolitan radio assets will be subject to achieving an acceptable price and consideration of all options to maximise value."
Previous Fairfax Media:

2011-10-07: Clear Channel's new CEO Robert Pittman whose appointment was announced earlier this month (See RNW Oct 3) is to be paid a base salary of a minimum USD 1 million a year - it may be increased at Clear Channel's discretion - on top of which he will be entitled to an annual performance bonus that if all targets are met will be not less than USD 1.65 million.
The details, revealed in an 8K filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission say that the agreement will be for an initial period to the end of 2016 and then provides for automatic 12 month extensions; Regarding the bonus it says this will be "for the achievement of reasonable performance goals established annually by the CCMH Board or its Compensation Committee after consultation with Mr. Pittman."
Other benefits include pension, health and other benefits and the provision of a private plane - a company Dassault-Breguet Mystere Falcon 900 if available and if it is not a charter plane is to be provided - and car plus driver, both for business and personal use.
In addition the agreement amends a November 2010 stock purchase agreement that gave Clear Channel Media Holdings (CCMH) repurchase rights relating to 706,215 shares of CCMH Class A Common Stock purchased by Pittman CC LLC, an entity controlled by Mr. Pittman: Under the amendment CCMH will not be allowed to exercise the repurchase rights unless Pittman's employment is terminated for any reason before the third anniversary of the purchase (2013) November and the conditions of a repurchase if this happens are then set out relating to the price to be paid and Pittman's rights to insist on a repurchase.
Pittman also gets an option to purchase 830,000 shares of CCMH's Class A common stock with an exercise price of USD 36 per share: This is subject to clauses that amongst other things say the shares will vest totally should there be a change of control of the company in which CCMH's equity sponsors receive cash for three-quarters or more of their interest or Pittman's employment is terminated for any reason within 12 months of any change of control.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Pittman:

2011-10-06: The BBC has now made public its "Delivering Quality First" document in which it lays down plans to save some GBP 670 million (USD 1.025 billion) a year through a combination of some 2,000 job losses over the next three years including around 300 senior managers' posts and moving jobs out of London.
The main TV cutbacks will be at BBC 2 TV with digital channels BBC3 and BBC4 refocussed" to supports BBC's 1 and 2 whilst in radio only speech station BBC Radio 4 escapes largely unscathed. Some 300 jobs will go in local radio and around 550 in news.
In an introduction to the report BBC Trust chairman (Lord) Chris Patten says that the "BBC must live within our collective means" and later adds, "It's not easy to decide how to allocate those savings across the BBC. Every service is currently performing well. Every service has a loyal following. Every individual will have their own view of the right or fair way of making savings. If we were to make our decisions by focus group, we would probably end up with no savings at all, or squeezing every budget by the same amount on the erroneous grounds that this would produce a solution that would be defensible because it was manifestly more equal."
To protect the "five editorial priorities that the Director-General has identified: news; children's programming; UK drama and comedy; knowledge programming; and the coverage of events of national importance" says Patten, will mean a cut in other areas such as sport and entertainment.
He concludes by saying that before the BBC Trust "agrees any changes, however, we want to test them with the public and the industry" : In relation to this the Trust has launched a consultation to run to December 21 and has also last two service reviews in its current round - for English local radio and the Asian Network.
BBC Director General Mark Thompson commented, "This is a plan which puts quality and creativity first. It's a plan for a smaller BBC, but a BBC which uses its resources more effectively and collaboratively to deliver a full range of services to the public. The plan meets the savings target we agreed in last year's licence-fee settlement, but also identifies nearly £150m per year to invest in new high quality output and in the platforms and services of the future.
"But it is a plan which also means stretching efficiencies and significant job losses. It's my judgement that this is the last time the BBC will be able to make this level of savings without a substantial loss of services or quality or both."
In a news release the Trust notes that the following proposals for changes to radio:
*Protecting Radio 4 by keeping its underlying budget stable, excluding the impact of productivity savings;
*Greater sharing of news bulletins between Radio 2 and 6 Music, Radio 1 and 1Xtra, and Radio 3 and 4;
*Reducing the amount of original drama, live music and specially recorded concerts at lunchtime on Radio 3, and reviewing the BBC's orchestras and singers;
*Reinvestment in the Proms to maintain quality;
*Focusing Radio 5 Live on core output of news and sport;
*A new more focused Asian Network with a 34 per cent reduction in its content spend; and
*Making savings in radio distribution costs through long term changes to Medium Wave and Long Wave.
The document proposals include "forging much closer links between digital radio stations and their parent networks,"; "Reducing the originated hours of some programming across the BBC's radio networks, such as some comedy on Radio 2 and Radio 5 Live as well as fewer lunchtime concerts on Radio 3"; "A new, more focused Asian Network with a service licence budget reduction of 34% (excluding productivity)"; and "Sharing some local radio content regionally in the afternoons and across England in the evening."
Also buries in the report is what looks like a much less tailored news service for various outputs with the plan proposing "Uniting BBC News and the World Service (when funded by the licence fee) to create a single, integrated newsgathering operation with 95 locations across the world."
[RNW comment: Many years ago when we worked for the BBC considerable effort was put into training staff about the different techniques that made strong radio and TV: Nowadays the emphasis is much on one-size-fits-all if its cheaper to produce and many staff seems as ignorant as many accountants of the differences in the way humans (are the BBC accountants full members of the human race, we sometimes wonder) react differently to audio and visual stimuli. If nothing else this seems one explanation of why in TV less attention is usually paid to audio despite the fact that the audience is always listening even when it may not really be watching and that audio defects are thus almost always picked up as some level].
RNW note: We will go through the proposals in more detail and may update this report if we note omissions that on second thoughts seem more significant than on first reading.
Previous BBC:
Previous Patten:
Previous Thompson:
BBC Quality First (336 KB 57 page PDF):

2011-10-06: Indian private radio operators polled by Bestmediainfo.com are sceptical about any significant effect on values from an increase by the government in the limit for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to 25%.
They were not, however, negative about the impact of the changes with Radio One CEO Vineet Singh commenting, "It is a welcome change but we will be able to gauge its real value closer to bidding date of Phase 3 of FM licensing when the migration policy is clear" and Prashant Pandey, CEO & Executive Director, Radio Mirchi, the largest private operator in the country, added, "A higher FDI limit will help FIIs to trade more in radio stocks that are listed. Till now, the limit was 20 per cent and when FIIs approached that number, they had to take special permission from RBI to buy more. Now that limit has been raised to 26 per cent and this will help increase volumes in listed radio stocks. The radio sector in India offers tremendous growth opportunities."
He then went on, "… on the other hand, the sector's profitability has been in question for much of the last five years. Even going forward, if bidding in Phase 3 becomes unreasonable, profitability could be in serious jeopardy. Also, given the condition of the money market in India right now, it is unlikely that fund raising will be very easy. Given all of this, I think FDI investments into the radio sector in India will be limited."
Reliance Broadcast Network CEO Tarun Katial was a little more positive, saying, "This increase in the FDI limit to 26 per cent will allow the industry to make use of foreign capital as well as strategic know-how, improving the ability of the sector greatly… We will be looking at strengthening our network and would be exploring strategic partners to come in and that could largely mean there will be utilisation of that 26 per cent " and Red FM COO Rana Barua added, "It is a forward thinking move indeed. But one will have to wait and watch if it will attract investment of any higher order or encourage investors/companies to look at radio as an investment space. I am sure if the limit was raised higher, we would have seen some more movement."
Previous Indian Radio:
Previous Panday:
Previous Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (ultimate owners of Mirchi):
Previous Reliance Broadcast Network::
BestMediaInfo.com report:

2011-10-06: Emmis has revealed in an 8K filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it has paid bonuses amounting to some USD 1.25 million to three executives - whom it terms "key participants - in connection with the sale of three of its stations to Merlin Media in a deal that closed five weeks ago (See RNW Sep 1)
Amounts of 125%, 45% and 12%, respectively, of their current base salaries go to its Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Smulyan -who gets around USD 990,000; Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Patrick Walsh - who gets around USD 250,000; and President of Emmis Radio Programming, Richard E. Cummings, who gets USD 55,000 in connection with the sale of three of its stations to Merlin Media. [RNW comment: We can't make these stations pay but deserve a great bonus for selling them?]
It has also extended the contract of Walsh to September 2013: Under the new deal, which began on Sep 4 this year, Walsh will receive USD 600,000 a year base salary with incentive targets of the same amount and should his employment be ended when the deal expires will receive pro-rata incentive payments for that year.
Walsh also gets various automobile, insurance and legal benefits and an option for 250,000 shares of Emmis Class A common stock and is scheduled to receive a completion bonus of USD 500,000 on expiry of the agreement with additional targets including the minimum completion bonus of USD 800,000 and USD 1.2 million depending on share price set down in the agreement.
Previous Cummings:
Previous Emmis:
Previous Smulyan:
Previous Walsh:

2011-10-06: The lawsuit brought by Birmingham, Alabama, sports host Paul Finebaum, against Citadel - now owned by Cumulus - is now on its way back to state court according to the Birmingham Business Journal.
The move favours the host and the suit was initially filed in the state court but moved to the federal court (See RNW Aug 26).
Federal Judge L. Scott Coogler says the paper granted Finebaum's motion to move the case back to state courts, ruling that Citadel had not shown that the amount at issue exceeded USD 75,000 but he also refused to dismiss a similar suit that Finebaum's attorneys had attempted to end in the state court before the removal of the prime suit to the federal court.
The Journal says that this means that Finebaum currently has suits against Citadel - which the host says violated his employment contract by agreeing to federal bankruptcy reorganization without his prior consent; also coerced him into signing an unfavourable employment act by threatening to take the show off air; and tried to suppress his pay fraudulently - in both the state and federal courts.
However Judge Coogler has said that in his opinion the second case could also be moved back to state court if the claims made in the prime suit are added to it.
Previous Cumulus (Citadel):
Previous Finebaum:
Birmingham Business Journal report:

2011-10-05: The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has announced that it has closed down a pirate AM radio station that was operating from Chadstone, Melbourne
The station, which could be heard for up to 10 kms, was operating on 1485 kHz and had on air during the past week, mainly in the evenings, re-broadcasting music from the MyMP digital station.
MyMP DAB+ digital station, which went on air in April last year after 1377 MP's frequency was slipped to broadcast Melbourne Talk Radio: The Music output was moved to DAB+ and broadcasts automated music programming with no announcers or DJs and shares a digital transmitter with MTR 1377.
Inspectors from the ACMA's Field Operations Section had traced the signal following a complaint.
Previous ACMA:

2011-10-05: Radlo Markovic whose September 8 resignation from Spanish Broadcasting System was disclosed this week (See RNW Oct 4) has been hired by Cumulus.
He is to be market manager for the company in Los Angeles here it has dumped Bob Moore who left yesterday and who had been in charge of talk KABC-AM and classic rock KLOS-FM..
Markovic had worked for Cumulus in 2001 as its Southern California market manager before he joined SBS
Previous Cumulus:

2011-10-05: UK media regulator Ofcom in its September Radio Broadcast Update just posted notes the end of one commercial service -- Global Traffic Network Ltd's Traffic Radio that ran on a number of local digital multiplexes; the re-award of one local commercial licence - that of Ludlow-based adult contemporary Sunshine 855 serving South Shropshire Herefordshire and Monmouthshire; and seven-year renewals of two more - those of London Asian station Sunrise Radio and of Global Radio's Gold, Manchester.
In addition it has re-advertised the local commercial FM licence for the Ceredigion service whose operator Radio Ceredigion Ltd, had requested a format change that was rejected (See RNW Licence News Aug 7) and which subsequently said it was not prepared to commit itself to the existing format (See RNW Sep 7)
Also in relation to commercial stations it included three change of control reviews - for Andover Sound; Newbury Sound; and Total Star, Somerset. All three are now owned by Celador.
In the case of the first two stations Ofcom is proposing to change the Character of Service of the stations - from "A broad music-led station, with regular news, information and chat and a strong local theme for the Andover area" to "broad music-led local service, with a strong commitment to local news, information and chat for the Andover area" and from "A locally-oriented, broad music and information station for Newbury, Hungerford, Thatcham and surrounding villages" to "A locally-oriented, broad music and information station for Newbury, Hungerford, Thatcham and surrounding villages, with a particular focus on local news and sport" respectively. No changes are proposed for Total Star.
On the community radio front Ofcom notes that the second for funding applications to the Community Radio Fund in 2011/12 will open on 19 October 2011 and will close at 5pm on 16 November 2011and that the awarding Panel will meet on 30 January 2012 to consider the applications.
In North Devon Ofcom notes that by the deadline for the third round of community station licenses for the area it received only one application and will post details in due course. It also updated its timetable for the third round to set out dates fro applications for licences in Scotland
Community licences issued during the period went to Voice FM Limited's Voice FM, Southampton; South East Regional College's Lisburn City Radio, Lisburn; the British Gurkha Welfare Society's Radio BGWS to serve Farnborough, Aldershot, Camberley and Fleet; WCR serving Warminster, Wiltshire; Frome FM serving Frome, Somerset; and Fantasy Radio serving Devizes, Wiltshire .
In addition one services has ended following the dissolution of Burngreave Community Radio Limited that operated Burngreave Community Radio, Sheffield; and five-year licence extensions were granted to 106.8 Garrison FM (Salisbury Plain); 102.5 Garrison FM (Aldershot); Asian Star 101.6 FM serving Slough, Berkshire; Bristol Community FM (BCfm); and Leith FM, Scotland.
Changes to key commitments were allowed agreed for Oldham Community Radio 99.7fm (reducing live broadcasting hours from a typical 12 to a typical ten hours per day); Stockport community station Pure FM (primarily reducing speech content from 0% to 25% and increasing music from 25% to 30%); Bute FM (primarily reducing speech output from 30% to 20% and increasing music from 70% to 80%; Bristol Community fm (Primarily reducing live hours from 12 to en hours per day); and Radio Teesdale (Primarily reducing live hours from 11 to nine a day).
Previous Ofcom:

2011-10-04: Spanish Broadcasting System has revealed in an 8K filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Marko Radlovic has resigned as Chief Revenue Office of its radio division and General Manager and Senior Vice President of the Los Angeles radio market.
It gives no further details beyond the date of the resignation - Sep 28: Radlovic, was previously in the role in 2003 when he was promoted from his previous role as President / General Manager of SBS's Los Angeles' cluster and then further promoted to EVP/Chief Operating Officer and later COO (2005-2007).
He moved to California in 2009 and had returned to the CRO role in July last year (See RNW Jul 20, 2010) following the departure of Frank Flores (See RNW Jun 16, 2010).
Before joining SBS he was Vice President/General Manager for AM/FM Inc. in Los Angeles (October 1998 to October 2000) and then Market Manager for Cumulus Media in Southern California (January 2001 until August 2001).
In 2008 his total compensation was reported as just below USD 580,000 but last year this was reportedly down to around USD 363,000.
Previous SBS:

2011-10-04: Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, which airs on Pacifica Radio's WBAI-FM in New York and is syndicated to some 960 radio and TV stations, has announced that she has reached a settlement with Twin Cities police and the US Secret Service following her arrest along with two of her producers during the 2008 Republican National Convention.
The producers, Nicole Salazar and Sharif Kouddous, were arrested whilst filming street demonstrations, some of which had become violent, and Goodman went to their aid and was also arrested.
The settlement includes USD 100,000 in compensation and a promise of police training regarding the First Amendment [Free Speech] rights of the media and public and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York, which represented Goodman, quoted the host as saying, "When journalists are arrested, it is not only a violation of the freedom the press, but of the public's right to know. When journalists are handcuffed and abused, so is democracy. We should not have to get a record when we put things on the record."
The suit was filed in May last year against St. Paul, Minneapolis, the police there and the Secret Service on behalf of Democracy Now! and CCR Legal Director Baher Azmy added, "CCR is proud to stand with the courageous journalists from Democracy Now! and dozens of other media organizations in their fight to ensure that the right of the press to document political events is preserved. This lawsuit sends an important message to police departments all over the country, especially ones responding to lawful demonstrations and political protests, that failure to respect the constitutional rights of citizens and journalists may expose municipalities to serious liability."
Previous Pacifica:
CCR News release re settlement:

2011-10-03: The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team have announced that they are switching their radio station tie-up away from KABC-AM, now owned by Cumulus following its takeover of Citadel, to Clear Channel's sports KLAC-AM.
News-talk KABC had the rights for the past four seasons, and in a posting on its website the Dodgers commented of the move - a multi-year deal that runs to 2014 initially - "In addition to broadcasting all 162 regular-season games, at least seven Spring Training games and all potential postseason games, the AM station will partner with the Dodgers on a fully integrated marketing campaign to promote the team on Clear Channel Radio stations."
Dodgers Chief Revenue Officer Michael Young commented, "We are extremely pleased that this partnership takes Dodger broadcasts to one of the best sports radio stations in the country, AM 570 FOX Sports L.A.,"Clear Channel's all-sports format will elevate the Dodgers in terms of coverage, and will significantly enhance our fans' engagement with the club. Through this strategic partnership, the Dodgers will now have the opportunity to connect with the millions of listeners that tune into Clear Channel's wide-reaching AM and FM stations."
Previous Clear Channel:

2011-10-03: Digital station BBC Radio 6 Music has announced that it is to launch The John Peel Lecture, a keynote speech named after the late British DJ who died of a heart attack in October 2004 while on holiday in Peru (See RNW Oct 27, 2004).
The lecture is to be given annually by a leading figure in music and/or broadcasting, and will launch at this year's Radio Festival in October with Pete Townshend of The Who to deliver the inaugural lecture.
In the lecture Townshend will look at the current stated of music media and ask, "Can John Peelism survive the Internet? In an age of free downloads and a disposable attitude to music, can creative people earn a living, and without radio how can the "unpolished" music that John Peel championed find an audience?"
The lecture will be introduced by Peel's son Tom Ravenscroft, who hosts "Global Soundtracks" on 6 Music together with fellow 6 Music hosts Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie and will be broadcast live from the festival on October 31 together with a following question and answer session.
Townshend commented in a BBC news release, "I am honoured to be invited to deliver Radio 6 Music's John Peel Lecture. Through John's shows I first heard artists like The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Undertones and The Proclaimers before they had record contracts. John didn't just listen to music, he played it on air and let his audience decide. He was a listener first, and an activist second, and I am happy to have a chance to honour him and examine how his legacy might extend into the future."
Ravenscroft added, "We have in the past few years had trains, housing estates and a restaurant named after dad and so I think he'd have been both bemused and delighted to see he now has a lecture and that Pete Townshend will be delivering the first of them. I'm really happy that 6 Music are honouring him in this way and that the people who kindly agree to participate will help ensure that his legacy will continue into the future."
BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music Controller Bob Shennan said, "John Peel was one of the radio industry's original free thinkers, breaking down the barriers of music to present his take on the musical world. His eclectic ear for a good tune made him a favourite with his millions of listeners, musicians, and the industry alike, and I'm delighted that BBC Radio 6 Music is building on John's legacy to inspire further free thinking about music and the music-related media."
Previous BBC:
Previous Shennan:

2011-10-03: US NPR (National Public Radio) whose former CEO Vivian Schiller resigned from in March following a row over comments made about the Republicans and Tea Party by NPR's former SVP of Development and former President of the NPR Foundation Ron Schiller - no relation (See RNW Mar 9) - has announced that her successor is to be Gary E. Knell, the long-time President and CEO of Sesame Workshop.
Making the announcement, NPR President and CEO Dave Edwards commented in a release, "Gary is an extraordinary leader with extensive experience in public media, programming and education… He has the skills, experience, talent and vision to lead NPR into an even more dynamic future, while maintaining its commitment to serve Member stations and the public. That's why, after an in-depth and collaborative search, the Board unanimously chose Gary."
Knell, who takes up his new post on December 1, added, "I'm thrilled to join NPR. Over the past 40 years, it's grown from an inspired idea to one of the world's most respected and leading providers of news, music and cultural programming - both on the air and across ever-expanding digital platforms. This is media with a deeply held mission, compelling history and boundless future. Simply put: it's journalism at its best. What an opportunity to work with the incredibly talented staff here, and to partner with stations, as we continue to innovate, expand civil dialogue and set the standard for media."
Previous NPR:

2011-10-03: Clear Channel has appointed Bob Pittman, who joined it in November last year as an investor and the company's Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms (See RNW Nov 18, 2010), as CEO of CC Media Holdings. He will also join board of CC Media Holdings, Clear Channel Communications and - as its Executive Chairman - Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. .
The company says in a release that the move "Underscores Clear Channel's Evolution to a Fully Realized, Integrated Media, Digital and Entertainment Enterprise".
Pittman's predecessor as CEO Mark Mays, son of company founder Lowry Mays, announced in June last year that he was to stand down as CEO at the end of 2010 but would remain chairman (See RNW Jun 25, 2010).
Pittman will oversee Clear Channel Radio; Clear Channel Digital, which develops and operates iHeartRadio; its Media Services operation that includes Total Traffic Radio, Katz Media Group, and software and research operation RCS; and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings.
He will also remain a member of the New York-based private investment firm Pilot Group, LLC, which he helped found.
Mark Mays in a company news release said Pittman has "been an invaluable contributor to Clear Channel Radio since last November, and he is the perfect person to take Clear Channel to the next level. I look forward to his leadership of our company."
Scott Sperling, Co-President of THL Partners, one of the private equity companiesinvolving in taking Clear Channel private, added, "Bob Pittman brings a long history as a brilliant innovator and brand builder - from his days as a very successful radio programmer, creator of MTV and CEO of MTV Networks to his work helping to drive the phenomenal growth of AOL and his successful investments in other digital, media and technology companies. He has already generated a renewed sense of confidence and direction not only at Clear Channel, but across the entire radio and media landscape" and the appointment was also welcomed by Bain Capital, the other major player in taking the company private.
Bain Managing Director John Connaughton commented, "I'm thrilled we were able recruit Bob into the CEO role at Clear Channel. He is the perfect fit to lead this incredibly powerful media platform. He embraces creativity, and has given employees the motivation and freedom to innovate, take risks and succeed. He thinks big, is not afraid of change and is intensely focused on driving new businesses, expanding our creative talent and maximizing the full value of Clear Channel's extraordinary assets, ideas and people."
Pittman commented, "Over the past year, I've had the unique opportunity to look at the Clear Channel people and assets up close and have found myself increasingly drawn to the company, to the point where the chance to get even more deeply involved has just become irresistible. I know first-hand that we have great people and the assets that allow them to do great things. We are so much more than just transmitters and broadcast towers - we leverage our local brands, personalities, strategic relationships and programming expertise to create unique experiences that forge real connections with consumers across our multiple platforms."
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Mark Mays:
Previous Pittman:

2011-10-02: Last week saw a steady flow of postings from the regulators but with no major issues involved.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is seeking public comment - with an October 28 deadline - on proposals to make new permanent FM frequencies available or amend existing specifications for the commercial radio broadcasting services 4RBL, 4BRZ and 8SAT in areas of remote New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.
Areas involved are Alpha, Aurukun, Bamaga, Banana, Barrington/Stratford, Clermont, Chinchilla, Collinsville, Dirranbandi, Goondiwindi, Gununa, Hawker, Hope Vale, Julia Creek, Karumba, Kowanyama, Lake Cargelligo, Minnipa, Miles, Monto, Normanton, Pormpuraaw, Taroom, Tenterfield, Theodore, Wandoan, Wilcannia and Yungaburra.
Canada was fairly quiet but the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) did post a number of radio decisions including:
Alberta:
*Approval of application by Newcap Inc. to increase the power of its English-language commercial station CIXF-FM, Brooks, by increasing the effective radiated power from 2,200 to 8,600 watts (non-directional to a directional antenna) and change its class from A to B1.
Newfoundland and Labrador:
*Approval of application by Newcap Inc. to relocate the transmitter of its English-language commercial station CKXG-FM, Grand Falls, reduce the antenna's effective height above average terrain from 236.7 to 96.6 metres ; and reduce its average power from 24,000 to 17,000 watts (whilst increasing the maximum ERP from 24,000 to 36,000 watts).
Ontario:
*Denial of application from Dufferin Communications Inc. to operate a 40,000 watts new Adult Contemporary English-language commercial FM radio station in the Township of Muskoka Lakes.
The application was opposed by various interveners including - Twin Lakes Broadcasting; Larche Communications Inc.; Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation; Rock 95 Broadcasting Ltd.; Haliburton Broadcasting Group Inc.; and MZ Media Inc.
Most of them contended that the proposed service would not provide a first service in the market as Dufferin said in its application as it was already served by CFBG-FM, Bracebridge, CFBK-FM, Huntsville, CKLP-FM, Parry Sound and CISO-FM, Orillia. Twin Lakes and Rock 95 added that the coverage contours suggested that the proposed station would serve not only the Township of Muskoka Lakes but also the entire district of Muskoka and the Parry Sound region.
The CRTC agreed a significant portion within the primary coverage area of the station are in the area already served by CRBG-FM and that the station would not therefore provide a first service; added that a new station "could have a considerable negative financial impact on CFBG-FM " and denied the application.
Quebec:
*Approval of application by Brian Moon, in his capacity as General Manager of Kahnawake Keeps It Country Station, for a licence to operate a 360 watts English- and Mohawk-language Type B Native FM radio programming undertaking in Kahnawake.
In Ireland the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) made no specific radio-related postings but did extend by six working days - up to noon on October 14 - the deadline for responses to its public consultation on how food and drink should be commercially promoted to children in the broadcast media.
BAI's Chief Executive Michael O'Keeffe commented "There has been a strong interest - from across a range of stakeholders - in this consultation since it was launched in late-August. Our objective in publicising this particular consultation was to cast the net as widely as possible so that everyone had their say about how food and drink should be promoted to children in the broadcast media. We hope that the extension will provide some extra time for interested parties to prepare their submissions."
In the UK, Ofcom posted its latest Broadcast Bulletin in which it upheld no complaints against radio (See RNW Sep 27) and also opened a consultation on a request by Original FM Aberdeen Ltd to change its format by removing the current Character of Service which requires the station to be "album [track]-led", and instead proposes the introduction of a requirement to play specific types or genres of music ("adult-oriented album tracks, classic rock and predominantly non-contemporary pop-rock hits").
Ofcom commented that it felt this would substantially alter the character of service and thus launched the consultation with an October 21 deadline for responses.
In the US the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued more penalties for late filing of renewal applications and subsequent unauthorized operation (See RNW Sep 26).
On other matters it has awarded a licence for a new non-commercial educational (NCE) FM Chehalis, Washington, to the KBOO Foundation rejecting as petition to deny the application from filed by Chehalis Valley Educational Foundation (CVEF), which had filed a mutually exclusive bid for the licence in the agency's October 2007 NCE filing window.
KBOO in November 2008 filed an amendment reflecting a change of more than half of its governing board and asked that the FCC grant a waiver to its normal rule that prohibits such a "major change."
The agency in September last year dismissed both applications and KBOO responded in December by filing a petition for reconsideration and amended its application pursuant to a settlement agreement that would allow its application to be grantable as a singleton.
This was granted and the KBOO application was re-instated to which CVEF with its petition to deny. The FCC has now rejected CVEF's arguments on the ground that it does not present enough specific factual allegations to meet the requirements laid down in the US Communications Act. It has granted the KBOO application.
In administrative actions the FCC has announced that its filing window for 2011 Biennial Ownership Reports will run from October 1 to December 1 this year and has also posted details of those appointed to its re-chartered Diversity Committee.
On a personal note, Democrat Commissioner Michael J. Copps has received the Newton Minow Award 50 years after the former FCC Chairman made his "Vast Wasteland" speech about US TV. The award was presented at the 29th Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture and Awards Breakfast: The lectures were created in 1983 to mark Parker's pioneering work as an advocate for the public's rights in broadcasting.
Previous ACMA:
Previous BAI:
Previous Copps:
Previous CRTC:
Previous FCC:
Previous Licence News:
Previous Ofcom:
Previous O'Keeffe:
ACMA website:
BAI website:
CRTC website:
FCC website:
Ofcom website:

2011-10-02: BBC Radio 4 will be "ring-fenced" from deep financial cuts to be made at the BBC according to the UK Sunday Telegraph, which says that executives have decided the station should be one of the few areas left largely untouched by measures to reduce the corporation's budget by 20 per cent.
The paper notes that there will be a particular focus on reducing the number of senior managers earning more than GBP 100,000 (USD 150,000) a year but there will be losses across the corporation.
It quoted an unnamed source as saying, "Radio 4 is going to be ring-fenced because Mark Thompson [the director general] sees it as central to the BBC's commitment to quality, informative programming. Listeners to the station won't notice any differences at all."
The source also said that no TV channels or radio stations would be closed with BBC2 TV bearing the brunt of the cuts. BBC staff are being asked to consider voluntary redundancies ahead of the recommendations that are to be made public this week.
Previous BBC:
Previous Thompson:
UK Sunday Telegraph report:

2011-10-01: A call is being made by a number of immigrant and civil rights group for Clear Channel to remove its afternoon drive hosts John and Ken (John Chester Kobylt and Kenneth Robertson Chiampou) following hate-filled phone calls made to an immigrant rights activist whose personal cell phone number they had read out on air.
The hosts had given out the cell phone and office numbers of Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, on September 1 as part of their campaign against the California Dream Act [RNW Note: This allows children brought into the US without proper documentation and who have graduated from high school after attending for at least three years in California, to apply for tuition aid under the Cal Grant program. Previous versions of a the act were vetoed by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - A Republican who vetoed the third version at the end of September last year - after it had passed both houses of the state legislature. The current version was in part signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in June this year but the second half, which gives access to the publicly funded help that would allot around USD 13 million from a UD 700 million programme to undocumented students, is now awaiting Brown's signature, which is required by October 9.].
The hosts urged listeners to call Cabrera, saying he was planning a celebration "on the theft of tax money for illegal aliens."
The Los Angeles Times reports that Cabrera received more than 400 calls to his cell phone number and quotes one that termed him a "pile of garbage" and concluded "I hope you choke in your own vomit."
Cabrera said others included, "I hope somebody shoots you"; "fat pig…"; "We don't want your people here. You are dirty, you don't have any social skills…I hope you fall off the earth"; "I hope you're hit by a car walking across the street"; "Listen you pile of garbage, I hope you get … cancer tomorrow and start to die."
The two hosts are no strangers to controversy over their views - they had been forced to undertake diversity training after their show was taken up by KABC-AM (then owned by Disney) which took it over at the start of July 1999 after they had been dropped by then-Cox Owned KFI in a row over syndication. KABC dropped the show, which only had poor ratings, in October 2000 and in May 2001 the hosts returned to KFI, which had been traded in 1999 to Chancellor Media (which that year merged with Capstar to become AMFM Inc, which was taken over by Clear Channel in 2000).
The two were also active in the campaign for the recall of former Democrat governor Gray Davis and in the run-up to the election that put Schwarzenegger into office in 2004 campaigned against illegal immigration, creating a "Political Human Sacrifice" competition in which Republican representatives were grilled on their stance on the issue: Comments they made about Representative David Dreier, who was the "victim" selected (But who was re-elected as was a Democrat they had also chosen for "sacrifice", led to a Republican complaint against the hosts that was rejected by the Federal Elections Commission
Other incidents included one in 2001 when they gave cheese to Mexican immigrants waiting in line to turn in INS.
Alex Nogales, president and chief executive of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, told the paper the latest incident was "the last straw. These guys have been at it day in and day out. It's the same ugly rhetoric."
The coalition was involved in the campaign to remove CNN host Lou Dobbs from the air for similar reasons and has now joined with a number of other organizations to call for the station to remove the hosts or face a boycott of its advertisers.
A letter sent to the station said in part, "For years John and Ken have terrorized Los Angeles' Latino, Asian American and African American communities, creating an atmosphere of hate and intolerance and legitimizing violence and discrimination. There is every reason to believe it is John and Ken's intent to incite these verbal assaults and threats."
Cabrera said he was prepared to meet station management to discuss the issue but that there would be no change to the call to take the hosts off air.
"We are not against anyone being against our philosophy," he said. "But when they get to the level of acting like thugs with a microphone, then that's the problem."
The Times adds that KFI PD Robin Bertolucci declined to discuss the incident but would be meeting the group's representatives, adding, I think that's the best place for us to discuss it."
In a response posted by the paper, the hosts say that the cell phone number is listed regularly by his organization in official communications to the media [RNW comment: A spurious diversion in our view. Media organizations are regularly given numbers that are not intended for general release, if only to stop them being clogged up and preventing media calls about an issue getting through. If the hosts don't know this they are ignorant; if they couldn't work it out they're stupid; and our view is that they are skilful at propaganda but would have been best to leave the line out] and then go on, "We have a right to oppose the California Dream Act, just as Cabrera has a right to advocate for it.
"While we encouraged our listeners to exercise their 1st Amendment rights by calling Cabrera, we did not -- and would never -- encourage anyone to make threats or intimidating remarks. We disavow them and have said so repeatedly on the air. As the targets of threats ourselves, we are extremely sensitive to language that could be viewed as inciting threats or violence."
They then go on to attack the Times report itself, commenting, "The Times writes: "While illegal immigration has long been a particular focus of the show, it's only one of several favorite targets -- the hosts have railed against taxes, labor unions and other pet causes for years with equally incendiary rhetoric."
"What incendiary rhetoric? Not a single example is cited -- because there aren't any to cite."
RNW note: Regarding the last point we suggest a quick online check and making up your own minds about the nature of the hosts and their show.
As regards any action being taken, in view of the ratings - they are by far the most popular local show in LA with more than a million listeners - we doubt very much that Clear Channel will do anything significant.
The issue obviously touches nerves in California - there were more than 2,000 comments posted in response to the Times report - and quite a few are themselves fairly abusive of those with opposing views.
The deciding factor in our view will be the degree to which the groups involved can organize a successful boycott - if it's just of the show, there will be no action: If it's against all Clear Channel stations in the state and is successful, longer-term demographic change in the state suggest that a business decision would be to take action.
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Dobbs:
Previous John and Ken:
Los Angeles Times report:
Los Angelies Times - hosts' response:

2011-10-01: Programming changes on BBC radio starting this month will include a special 30th edition of Desmond Carrington's weekly show The Music Goes Round that currently airs on Friday evenings on Radio 2 ; a season of plays on the theme of conviction on BBC Radio 3 and new short story strand on digital station BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Carrington, who is now 85, will host his special show this Friday this week by revisiting the playlist from his debut hosting the show, under the name "All Time Greats", on October 4, 1981: It began, with a three month contract for the then film stage and TV actor, as an hour-long Sunday lunchtime pre-recorded show but was so successful it was extended to 90 minutes then two hours and eventually three hours a week and became a live show.
The title changed in 2004 to "The Music Goes Round", which first aired on Tuesday evenings and currently airs on Fridays and is broadcast from Carrington's home and studio in Perthshire, Scotland where he has a personal library of some has over 250,000 tracks built up since the 1940s and spanning rap and trance to pre-electric jazz and Enrico Caruso.
The anniversary show will include recordings that were in his first show from artists including Duke Ellington's Satin Doll, the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations, Peter Sarstedt's Frozen Orange Juice and the Clooney/Sinatra classic, Some Enchanted Evening.
Radio 2 and Radio 6 Music Controller Bob Shennan said of Carrington, "Desmond is a fine broadcaster and I am so proud of his incredible heritage on Radio 2. Listening to his show is a highlight for his legions of fans. And at a sprightly 85 years of age, Desmond is one of very few elder statesmen in the radio world today whose experience cannot be surpassed."
On BBC Radio 3, the "The Conviction Season" of plays to be broadcast in The
Wire and Drama On 3 strands will feature plays by George Bernard Shaw, Henry Ibsen, Kwame Kwei Armah, Kate Clancy, DC Moore, Nicola Baldwin, Peter-Jakob Kelting and Christopher Reason, and casts that include Lyndsey Marshal, Anton Lesser, Lorraine Ashbourne, Roger Allam and Reece Dinsdale.
The Wire is dedicated to showcasing new plays and innovative new writing talent and it will start the season next Saturday with Nicola Baldwin's Seven Scenes, featuring mother Emma (Lorraine Ashbourne), seven seconds, seven minutes, seven hours, seven days, seven weeks, seven months, seven years after her daughter goes missing.
Next Sunday the Drama on 3 slots will feature a new production of George Bernard Shaw's classic Saint Joan with Lyndsey Marshall in the title role and it will also air a production of Ibsen's "Brand" on Oct 16
On the Wire productions will be The Last Executioner by Peter-Jakob Kelting (Oct 15); Iced by Kate Clanchy (Oct 22); The Empire by DC Moore (Oct 29); The Thank You Present by Christopher Reason (Nov 12); and Jesus Hustler by Kwame Kwei Armah (Nov 19).
Digital station BBC Radio 4 Extra will launch its new strand, The Short Story Zone, a week on Monday. It will consist of a weekday 11:00 slot of a selection of and classic short story readings from the BBC Sound Archive - as well as 25 new productions of published work over the year. The show will be repeated at 21:00 in the evening and 04:00 the next morning (local time).
The first stories will be from Evelyn Waugh and other authors to be represented will include William Trevor, MR James, EM Forster, Margaret Drabble, Fay Weldon, Rose Tremain and Dorothy Whipple.
The station will also launch a Spy Season on October 16 that over three weeks will include Black Butterfly written and read by Mark Gatiss; Open Secret, Stella Rimmington's M15 memoirs; Casino Royale read by Alex Jennings; You Only Live Twice read by Michael Jayston; Agent Zig-Zag read by Damian Lewis; The Spying Game, a Baroness Orczy thriller; The Ipcress File; The Thirty-Nine Steps; and dramatisations of The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People, to coincide with the 80th birthday of John le Carre on 19 October.
Other features will include the return of Ambridge Extra, the return of What's So Funny? next Friday with new host - Irish stand-up comedian, Ed Byrne and a Gothic Weekend on 28-31 October.
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Prime Radio Stations
Streams are
Real Audio in
most cases: Some have Windows Media as well.

Radiofeeds UK -for comprehensive list of UK broadcast radio stations on the Internet