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March 17, 1999
FCC INVESTIGATES RADIO STATIONS
full story online at LA Times
FCC investigators are exploring whether some of the nation's largest radio chains
are skirting payola laws by cutting promotional deals with record labels and others,
sources said.
The inquiry follows a series of articles in The Times reporting that Chancellor Media,
Emmis Communications and Cumulus Broadcasting may have tried to use their leverage
to extract deals that could affect the airplay of songs at stations owned by the
chains.
FCC officials have already met with lawyers for Cumulus, a Milwaukee-based firm,
over their relationship with an independent consultant who paid the broadcaster $1
million for the exclusive right to pitch songs to senior executives who could influence
airplay at the chain's stations.
Federal law prohibits stations from accepting money for playing songs without disclosing
that to listeners. Representatives for Chancellor, Cumulus and Emmis deny their promotional
pacts cross the line into illegality.
Now that the FCC is getting involved in the issue, it could launch a formal investigation
that could lead to disciplinary action and fines against some of the stations. It
could also short-circuit the industry's new approach to deals, in which broadcasters
seek money from the recording industry.
The FCC is also looking into a deal under which Chancellor billed a record company
$237,000 for a marketing campaign that appears to have had a significant effect on
airplay of a specific song. In addition, officials are reviewing a program offered
by a Chicago station owned by Emmis that promised airplay to record firms as part
of a promotional package, sources said.
The new promotional arrangements were criticized in The Times two months ago by Sen.
Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), who called for an FCC
probe.
TROUBLE ON THE MOUNTAIN
full story online at Denver Business Journal
Let me tell you a story you likely have not heard much about on Denver's television
stations.
If you've driven west on Interstate 70 at night, you've seen the red blinking lights
atop Lookout Mountain. The Lookout Mountain "antenna farm" is the most
concentrated cluster of television and radio antennas in the nation -- approximately
450 transmission devices broadcasting signals from 13 high-power antennas. Last October,
the FCC surveyed the mountain and found several "hot spots" at which radiation
levels were more than twice those permitted under FCC regulations. In other words,
the existing towers already exude more radiation than permitted by law.
Denver TV Channels 4, 6, 7, 9 and 20 have formed a limited liability company in Delaware
("The Lake Cedar Group") to build a "Supertower," some 825 feet
in height, to broadcast high definition television (HDTV). Limited liability companies
are usually created to shield their investors from paying damages for the injuries
they may cause. The massive candelabra tower will accommodate five HDTV antennas,
three analog TV antennas, an FM radio antenna tower and two auxiliary digital TV
antennas and low-power telecommunications devices. To pull it off, Lake Cedar needs
the Jefferson County Commissioners to rezone about 80 acres on top of Lookout Mountain.
The Supertower will double the intensity of the signals emanating from existing antennas
to 20 million watts, and quadruple its geographic reach, spilling radiation across
I-70. A whole residential community is now within sight of the existing antenna farm,
and adding the 825 foot tower would increase the radius of the radiation belt to
include hundreds of additional homes, as well as the 600 children at Ralston Elementary
School. According to the opposition group Canyon Area Residents for the Environment,
radiation at Ralston would increase from about 0.5 to 7.48 microwatts per centimeter
squared, a 15-fold increase, to levels higher than would be allowed in nations as
environmentally unconscious as Russia.
CHANCELLOR CEO, CFO QUIT
full story online at ExpressNews
full story online at CBS MarketWatch
Chancellor Media Corp.'s chief executive officer Jeff Marcus resigned as the Dallas-based
radio and billboard company ended two months of shopping its operations to potential
buyers. Chief Financial Officer Thomas McMillin, who Marcus brought in earlier
this year to replace Matt Devine, has also resigned, the company said.
CHANCELLOR REJECTS SALE
full story online at Excite News
full story online at LA Times
Chancellor Media Corp. said Monday it had decided not to put itself up for sale
and instead would scrap a proposed $1.64 billion takeover of LIN Television Corp.
and would realign its business to focus on radio broadcasting and billboard advertising.
JACOR BUYS AZ STATIONS
full story online at AZCentral
full story online at OhioWire
KNIX, one of America's most respected country-music stations, was sold today in
a record-setting $84 million deal.
The station, at 102.5 FM, arguably the most successful in Phoenix history, was sold
by its longtime owners, country singer Buck Owens and the Owens family, to Jacor
Communications, one of the country's largest radio-station operators. The price was
close to twice the price for any other radio station ever sold in Phoenix.
Owens Broadcasting was one of the Valley's last independent operators of radio stations
and definitely the last to own two full-powered outlets.
Jacor Communications will buy Phoenix radio stations KNIX-FM and KESZ-FM for $142
million.
USA DIGITAL RADIO ANNOUNCES BOARD
full story online at Excite News
USA Digital Radio Inc., a privately-held technology company headquartered in Columbia,
Md., announced the election of senior radio broadcast executives to the company's
board of directors.
USA Digital Radio is developing and marketing In-Band, On Channel Digital Audio Broadcast
(IBOC DAB) technology to provide virtual-CD audio signal quality to radio receivers.
The newly-elected board of directors will provide strategic direction in the development,
field testing and implementation of the IBOC DAB technology which will enable stations
to use current radio spectrum to transmit existing AM and FM analog signals simultaneously
with new high-quality digital transmissions.
Elected to USA Digital Radio Board of Directors are:
- James E. de Castro, President, Chancellor Media Radio Group
- Daniel S. Ehrman, Jr. Vice President, Gannett Co., Inc.
- Mel Karmazin, President and CEO, CBS Corporation and Infinity Broadcasting Corp.
- Al Kenyon, Vice President, Engineering, Jacor Corporation
- Alfred C. Liggins, III President and CEO, Radio One, Inc.
- Robert J. Struble, President, CEO and Chairman, USA Digital Radio, Inc.
- Farid Suleman, Executive VP and CFO, Infinity Broadcasting Corporation.
"We believe that radio broadcasters, who have been effectively serving their
diverse listener base for decades, should help guide the transition to digital",
said Robert Struble. "Our board, comprised of some of the industry's most prominent
executives, will ensure USA Digital Radio implements a smooth transition to digital
broadcasting."
[ editor's note: well, isn't that great. all
the nice corporate broadcasters are on the same team. where are the representatives
from public radio or non-profit broadcasting?! ]
FCC MAKES WAVES WITH LPFM
full story online at Milwaukee Business Journal
The Milwaukee area could get as many as six new 1,000-watt FM radio stations and
as many as 18 new 100-watt stations under a proposal championed by FCC chairman William
Kennard.
Kennard wants more minorities to operate radio stations and has proposed granting
new, low-power radio licenses to accomplish that.
The low-power stations would be inserted in frequencies between existing stations.
The low-power radio proposal has the support of some minority leaders, free speech
advocates and operators of illegal "pirate" radio stations. However, owners
of existing radio stations abhor the idea, contending the new stations would cut
into their frequencies and, possibly, their revenue.
RADIO ONE BUYS MORE
full story online at Baltimore Business Journal
Radio One Inc., which announced that it is going public, is continuing its buying
spree. The Lanham-based chain of radio stations said it has entered into a letter
of intent with Sinclair Telecable Inc. and Commonwealth Broadcasting LLC to acquire
their radio stations in Richmond, Va., for $34 million.
HEFTEL BUYS VEGAS STATION
full story online at Dallas Business Journal
Dallas-based Heftel Broadcasting Corp. announced it has entered into an agreement
with Radio Vision Inc. to acquire KISF-FM, a Las Vegas radio station, for about $20.3
million in cash. Heftel plans to operate the station in a Spanish-language format,
the first such station in Las Vegas. Heftel is the largest Spanish-language radio
broadcaster in the United States and owns or operates 39 radio stations.
CAPSTAR SETTLEMENT REACHED
full story online at Wichita Business Journal
The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with Capstar Broadcasting
Partners Inc. that will allow the company to go forward with its acquisition of Triathlon
Broadcasting Co. as long as Capstar sells five radio stations in Wichita. Without
the divestiture, Capstar could have controlled more than 45 percent of the radio
revenues in the Wichita market.
March 10, 1999
SFLR GETS WARNING!
We just received notice from San Francisco Liberation Radio that the FCC is on their
case again for their continued broadcasting.
We received by certified mail today from the FCC, a letter threatening us with
a $100,000 fine and/or 1 year in prison if we remain on the air. We have been given
ten days from the date on the letter -- March 5th -- to respond. I have a meeting
scheduled with my lawyer in the morning, and a staff meeting this Saturday with all
station programmers. The station remains on the air tonight. We will keep you posted
as to any new developments.
Richard Edmondson
SFLR
Visit the SFLR website and you can contact
the FCC at http://www.fcc.gov or via email at their
website.
March 3, 1999
ELECTED OFFICIALS URGED TO ACT
There is a letter of support from congresspeople that other elected officials can
sign on to if they support the LPFM movement and the FCC's proposal. If you want
your elected officials to get involved, send them this
letter and urge them to sign!
We salute Rep. David Bonior for starting this letter.
Find your elected officials at Project Vote Smart:
http://www.vote-smart.org
BEAT RADIO WINS ONE!
full story online at BeatWorld
full story PDF available at 8th District Court
Beat Radio wins appeal of '97 jurisdiction decision.
Case remanded to Minnesota District, Federal District Court .
Our current status is this: we are contesting, in Federal Court, the FCC's policy
(i.e. ban) on licensed low power FM stations and the agency's action against us on
November 1, 1996 which silenced Beat Radio 97.7 by impounding our broadcasting equipment;
no fines, no action against a human being (after all, gear can't claim constitutional
defenses!). The seized equipment remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshal's Service
as the case makes its way through the court.
Since the FCC's November 1, 1996 silencing of Beat Radio 97.7, the two parties have
been clashing in U.S. Federal District Court over the issues of citizen access to
the airwaves and the regulation of low-power FM broadcasting to achieve access.
At a June 27, 1997 hearing in Minneapolis, the FCC argued that the Washington, DC
Court of Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction in this case. Beat Radio operator Alan
Freed and his attorneys countered that the Federal District Court in Minnesota is
the proper venue. Over two months later, on September 5, Judge Michael J. Davis ruled
that the DC court has jurisdiction.
The judge's ruling on the procedural motion by the government addressed only the
jurisdiction of the case; it did not address the merits of the case. [Note: in a
similar case, Judge Claudia Wilken ruled otherwise in her November 12, 1997 denial
of the FCC's motion for summary judgment in US v Dunifer, more commonly known as
the Free Radio Berkeley case. Judge Wilken ruled that the Northern California District
of the U.S. District Court didhave jurisdiction to hear Stephen Dunifer's constitutional
challenge to the FCC's regulation of low-power broadcasting.]
Beat Radio appealed Judge Davis's decision with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
in May, 1998 and on February 26, 1999, the three-judge panel agreed with Beat Radio's
position, reversing that decision and remanding the case to the district court in
Minnesota.
Beat Radio will continue to fight the FCC's ban of licensed low-power FM broadcasting
(LPFM) to prevent what is a deprivation of first amendment rights of both listeners
and broadcasters.
FIGHT THE POWER
full story online at CityPages
Since the Federal Communications Commission's 1978 decision to stop licensing
stations below 100 watts, small independent broadcasters have faced a tough choice:
Use listener-free cable-radio (and, lately, the Web) or go pirate and risk a legal
confrontation with the FCC. That situation may change in the wake of the Commission's
January 28 proposal to open the commercial bandwidth to FM stations unable to broadcast
at 6,000 watts. It's a groundbreaking policy shift for the FCC, which busts an average
of two pirates a week, judging from reports on its Web site. And it comes at a time
when the climate of broadcast radio couldn't be more hostile to the democratic ideals
touted by its founders.
Mar 1, 1999
FCC PROPOSES NEW STATIONS
full story online at Progressive Populist
Community radio advocates scored a major victory on January 28 when the Federal
Communications Commission, in a 4-1 vote, approved proposals to create thousands
of new, licensed low-power radio stations from 1 watt to 1,000 watts that would help
community groups, churches, students and ordinary people get on the air.
The proposals "could create a whole new class of voices using the airwaves ...
opportunities for churches and community groups ... so many of whom feel that they
are being frozen out of opportunities to become broadcasters," said FCC Chairman
Bill Kennard.
FCC CONSIDERS OWNERSHIP
full story online at Detroit News
full story online at Nando.net
Singer Stevie Wonder, who owns an FM radio station, urged federal regulators not
to ease restrictions on media ownership, saying it would hurt minority-owned radio
and TV stations.
Minority station owners are "an endangered species pursued by large corporate
predators who consume the single and small owner," Wonder told a FCC hearing.
"Public interest demands and public interest requires the protection of stations
who stand alone like the dots in a Pac Man game destined to be gobbled up by"
media conglomerates, said Wonder, who owns Los Angeles area FM station KJLH.
The FCC is considering easing existing rules that limit the number of local TV and
radio stations that a single company can control.
WHERE'S AMERICA ON THE RADIO?
full story online at Memphis Business Journal
Whenever I travel, I try to dig out the little bits of local culture that still
exist in a greater society that offers the same TV programs, the same music, the
same gas stations and, on the highway, the same Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes
at every truck stop.
One way of doing this is scanning the AM radio dial, seeking out local news, local
commercials and anything else I might hear only once in one corner of the globe.
Last month I spent a week in Columbia, Mo., and as I prepared to go, I anticipated
a radio adventure as the miles rolled away.
I couldn't find anything. At least not on AM.
All the FM stations have been cloned into a Top 40 hits from the '70s format. I think
they must even subscribe to the same programming service. At one point I could listen
to "Sister Golden Hair" on three stations simultaneously.
AM stations seem to all have signed off.
GOV'T ASKS RADIO FOR EQUALITY
full story online at Nando.net
full story online at StarTelegram
The government is urging advertisers and broadcasters to adopt a voluntary system
to prevent advertisers from discriminating against radio stations targeting or owned
by minorities.
Vice President Al Gore and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard
are making the pitch Monday at an advertising conference in New York.
Their challenge responds to a report, issued by the FCC last month, that said advertisers
often bypass or pay less money to minority-owned radio stations or stations targeting
black or Hispanic listeners.
BIG CITY GETS MORE
full story online at Excite News
Big City Radio, Inc. announced it has completed the acquisition of WDEK-FM and
WLBK-AM, both licensed to DeKalb, IL. Both stations were purchased for an undisclosed
sum from DeKalb Radio Studios, Inc.
WDEK-FM, which is a Class B station that broadcasts at 92.5 FM, will join WKIE-FM
and WKIF-FM, as a part of Big City Radio's Chicago Metro area Contemporary Hit Radio
Trimulcast "92 KISS-FM". Sister station WLBK-AM (1360) will continue airing
its current brokered block programming.
BRS MEDIA and .FM WEB
full story online at Excite News
BRS Media's dot.FM, the Newest Top Level Domain (TLD) on the Net, announced today
that Sinclair Broadcast Group's (NASDAQ:SBGI)
97.FM is the "Newest dotFM Station on the Planet!"
During a recent interview, George T. Bundy, President of BRS Media, was quoted, "FM
Stations now have a golden opportunity to take full advantage of their presence on
the net by jumping up to a premium .FM domain name." adding, "..what's
easier to remember then an Internet address with radio's name on it, like WRVO.FM
(http://wrvo.fm), and Z95.FM (http://z95.fm)."
dot.FM, the Newest Domain on the Net, offers the broadcasting industry, as well as,
the Internet community a compelling alternative to a .COMmon address. FM Stations
and others can register a premium .FM domain online @ http://dot.fm
In 1998, BRS Media and FSM Telecom Corp., the Internet Service Provider for the Federated
States of Micronesia, announced an exclusive partnership to register and market the
premium top-level domain .FM to the broadcasting industry.
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is a developing island nation in the Western
Pacific Ocean. With a population of slightly over 100,000, the FSM emerged as a nation
in 1984 from the former United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI).
CHANCELLOR RADIO WEB
full story online at AdAge
Despite the thousands of independent stations online, Chancellor Media Corp. is
banking on its considerable muscle as a radio consolidator to take Internet radio
to the next level.
Chancellor Media Corp. rolls out six branded Web sites March 15. The initial test
market for the new division, dubbed AM/FM Interactive, is Philadelphia, where Chancellor
owns six stations.
The media company's new-media division spent the past three years trying to figure
out how to leverage its broadcast assets in an increasingly online world. Along with
the decision to extend its reach online comes the benefit of getting closer to the
consumer.
Through online dialogue, the radio station can compile a database of listeners.
...The long-term financial benefit for Chancellor will likely be e-commerce, such
as offering the ability to customize a compact disc in real time or take advantage
of merchandise linked with specific artists' fan clubs.
Feb 11, 1999
TAUZIN SLAMS FCC
full story online at Excite News
full story online at Nando.net
The top Republican in the House of Representatives overseeing communications policy
Thursday blasted a plan to allow thousands of new low-powered radio stations.
Rep. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana said the Federal Communications Commission plan for
so-called microradio would reduce the audience and advertising revenue of current
stations and possibly create severe interference.
The FCC "is an agency out of control that demands congressional action to straighten
it out," Tauzin said at a luncheon meeting of the National Association of Broadcaster's
group of top radio executives.
Tauzin chairs the House Commerce Committee's communications subcommittee.
The luncheon meeting, in a private dining room of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Arlington,
Va., included billionaire Lowry Mays, co-founder of Clear Channel Communications
Inc.
After also accusing the FCC of "coercion and extortion" when it reviewed
industry merger deals, Tauzin said he planned to introduce legislation to revamp
the agency's structure and powers.
"I will need your help, I will need your guidance and I will need your counsel,"
the lawmaker told the radio station owners.
Tauzin also said he would introduce a bill to repeal a provision of the 1996 Telecommunications
Act that subsidizes Internet connections for schools and libraries.
The education rate, or e-rate, discount is funded from fees added to long distance
telephone calls. The program came under fire from some Republicans last year who
dubbed it the "Al Gore tax."
Supporters of the plan said they were somewhat surprised by Tauzin's opposition.
"I would have thought that the FCC's use of the Communications Act to end protectionism
and permit the entry of hundreds or thousands of new businesses into the most dynamic
and growing part of our economy is something Billy Tauzin would be pushing not stopping,"
said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a nonprofit law firm
backing the microradio supporters.
"The NAB is just like a schoolyard bully: first time someone stands up to them
they go running for their older brother."
DUNIFER / FRB POSTS RESPONSE TO FCC
Stephen Dunifer, the man behind the well-known Free Radio Berkeley, has
posted a "response" to the FCC regarding their adoption of the NPRM
on low power radio. FRB was shut down by the FCC last year after serving it's community
for 3+ years.
STEAL THIS RADIO WINS ONE
Folks in the Steal This Radio collective are celebrating. In an 8-page decision issued
February 1st by U.S. Federal District Judge Mukasey, the FCC's motion against plaintiffs
proceeding anonynously was *denied*. Plaintiffs DJ. Thomas Paine, DJ Carlos Rising,
DJ Sharin, DJ E.S.E., etc, on behalf of Steal This Radio, are thus protected to pursue
"their onstitutional challenge" of the current FCC licensing scheme using
their *civil disobedience* names.
The Center For Constitutional Rights' Barbara Olshansky, who represents the case
with independent free speech attorney Robert Perry, immediately received many press
calls today in reference to the decision, which is considered a significant development
in the case. Articles will be appearing in the New York Times Metro section on Tuesday,
as well as in various law journals. Steal This Radio was visited by the FCC in March
1998. In April, the station launched a major lawsuit called Free Specch vs the FCC
which challenges the FCC's licensing scheme as an unconstitional free speech restraint.
Today's decision by Judge Mukasey was his first in the case. Perry & Olshansky
have been called to meet the Judge on February 19. Steal This Radio continues to
deliver free form community radio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan seven nights
a week.
NEW RADIO VOICES
full story online at LA Times
FCC Chairman William E. Kennard has come up with an ingenious plan to, as he puts
it, "create a whole new class of voices who can use the airwaves for their communities."
Kennard proposes to hand out the agency's first low-power broadcasting licenses to
several hundred new FM stations that will broadcast to areas no larger than 18 miles
in diameter. While today's FM dial is dominated by the often predictable and numbing
programming of Lite FMs and Power whatevers, Kennard's plan would promote variety...
. . . this is the kind of diversity that's been lacking in radio since Congress relaxed
limits on station ownership in 1996, allowing a handful of networks to dominate the
publicly owned airwaves.
Not surprisingly, the networks, represented by the National Assn. of Broadcasters,
are not keen on Kennard's proposal. NAB President Eddie Fritts says the FCC is being
irresponsible. "This proposal," he said, "will likely cause devastating
interference to existing broadcasters and will challenge the FCC as guardian of the
spectrum."
In fact, Congress created the FCC to safeguard the public interest, not to stand
guard so non-network voices never get on the air. Kennard's proposal, moreover,
protects against interference by requiring low-power stations to follow long-standing
channel separation rules.
JACOR/CLEAR CHANNEL DIVEST STATIONS
full story online at CBS MarketWatch
full story online at Akron Beacon Journal
full story online at Cincinatti Business Journal
Clear Channel Communications and Jacor Communications outlined their plans to
divest 20 radio stations to gain regulatory approval for Clear Channel's $4.4 billion
acquisition of Jacor.
The radio giants said they've arranged to divest or swap 18 stations in five markets
for a total of $340 million, including $285 million in cash. Two Clear Channel stations
in Jacksonville, Fla., will be put into a Federal Communications Commission trust,
as no buyer has yet been found.
Buyers include Blue Chip Broadcasting, Cox Radio Inc., ABC Radio and CBS Radio Inc.
The stations being sold or swapped are in Louisville, Dayton, Cleveland, and Jacksonville
and Tampa, Fla.
COX ACQUIRES MORE STATIONS
full story online at Atlanta Business Journal
Atlanta-based Cox Radio Inc. has entered a letter of intent with Covington, Ky.-based
Jacor Communications Co. and San Antonio, Texas-based Clear Channel Communications.
Cox will swap 5 radio stations in the Syracuse, N.Y., market plus cash in exchange
for two other stations and the option to purchase a Louisville station and three
Tampa, Fla., stations. Financial terms were not disclosed. Cox expects the deal to
close in the second half of 1999. Pending the close of the agreement, Cox will own,
operate or provide sales and marketing services for 57 stations clustered in 12 markets.
CUMULUS GETS TWO IN FLORIDA
full story online at Excite News
Cumulus Media Inc. announced that it is entering the Pensacola, Florida radio
market through an option to purchase WWRO-FM and WCOA-AM from Coast Radio.
Including the stations in this announcement, as well as acquisitions pending FCC
approval, Cumulus will own and operate a total of 214 stations in 40 cities across
the U.S.
CHANCELLOR ADS AD UNIT
full story online at CBS MarketWatch
Chancellor Media said that it's created a new division to focus on "creative
advertising solutions." . . . Tulsa, Okla.-based Creative Resources, which had
worked for Chancellor on a consulting basis during the last five months, will be
absorbed into a division called Chancellor Creative Resources Group. Creative
Resources works with radio station sales, on-air and marketing staffs to "generate
new promotional concepts and even new product ideas" for advertisers, Chancellor
said.
MORE ON DIGITAL RADIO
full story online at Washington Post
USA Digital Radio would like to teach an old medium some new tricks.
Sometime in the next few years, radio stations across the country are likely to begin
a late entry to the digital age, joining virtually every other consumer technology
that has made the transition from "analog" electronic waves to the universal
computer language of ones and zeros.
That's where USA Digital is hoping to come in. The privately held company, based
in a Columbia office park, is in a race with two others to invent the basic technology
that will enable broadcasters and radio manufacturers to enter this territory. And
at the moment, it appears to be leading by a few body lengths.
What's digital radio? It's a new method of broadcasting that could mean a revolution
in the oldest and most widely available electronic medium. Proponents say it would
make FM broadcasts sound as crisp as compact discs. And AM stations could sound as
clear as FM does now -- with no signal fade or static. You could know at a glance
the name of the song being played, the artist, and the station's call letters. You'd
need a new digital receiver for all this, which industry executives say would probably
cost about 25 percent more than today's units.
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