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Friday June 15,
2007
Univision is
calling on viewers to get their U.S. citizenship.
The "Ya Es Hora" ("Now is the time")
campaign started in Los Angeles in January. It's in a
dozen cities with large Hispanic populations, such as
Houston and Miami, and will come soon to New York
(read
more - USA Today)
From Lee Abrams
-- The world of music is getting very sophisticated,
complicated and driven by dealmakers ... But what if
Microsoft had soul? Not the software or systems, but
their foray into music. Big monolithic highly
successful
 companies
who get into music talk about devices, systems,
distribution---but what would happen if they also had
soul. Pure non-corporate love-of-music as a component
that the public believed in beyond the "brand name". It
would be unstoppable. The thing is, soul isn't in the
DNA of the business tycoons and technocrats running
these companies. Apple comes close---there's a pulse of
"getting it" in there, and it's no wonder they are #1 in
music. Soul is an unbelievably powerful thing in any
aspect of music
(read
more - Lee Abrams)
The musicFIRST
Coalition, which counts recording artists Don Henley,
Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera and Wyclef Jean among
its members, intends to lobby Congress for new laws
requiring the payments by broadcasters to performers
whose music is played on the radio
(read
more - San Jose Mercury News)
"The Economics
of the Satellite Radio Merger," explores the financial
and strategic rationale behind the SIRIUS-XM merger and
concludes that the merger offers the potential to yield
substantial efficiencies, benefit consumers and enhance
the dynamics of competition within the audio
entertainment marketplace. The paper was
prepared for XM and SIRIUS and was filed today at the
Federal Communications Commission as part of the
companies' merger application
(read
more - Jon Ogg-24/7 Wall Street)
ARBitron
numbers for Nashville, Knoxville, Oklahoma City, Johnson
City-Kingsport-Bristol and Grand Rapids
(read 'em)
From Kent
Burkhart -- As I was about
to sit down and write a
 "local,
local, local in a small town",
column I was told to head to the airport to pick up some
very close relatives coming for Father's Day weekend!!!
(read
more - www.KentBurkhart.com)
On “Good
Morning America”, Michael Moore told ABC’s Chris Cuomo
that he was concerned that the health-care debate would
go the way of the war debate, where he also thinks the
media is to blame. He said that had
journalists confronted the government about its decision
to invade Iraq, they could have saved thousands of lives
(view the
video - Crooks and Liars)
Moore was interviewed by ABC
Nightline's Terry Moran last night
(view the
video of the piece)
Greater
Media Boston radio's WTKK-FM, WKLB-FM, WROR-FM, WMJX-FM
and WBOS-FM, join together for an on-air
Radiothon to raise funds to benefit the newly
constructed Camp Harbor View whose mission is to provide
a summer camp experience for Boston youth between the
ages of 11-14
High-Speed
Internet alternatives may be coming soon. No
later than January 2008, the FCC will begin auctioning
off the portion of the public airwaves that is being
returned by broadcasters as part of their mandatory
transition from analog to digital broadcasts
(read
more - Leslie Harris-ABC News)
Maybe
Joost
really does represent the future of television. But for
now the new, ad-supported Internet TV service feels
retro — and thin. Joost lets you watch a
variety of full-length TV shows for free on a computer.
But there's no live programming at the moment, and the
sparse lineup is underwhelming
(read
more - Edward C. Baig-USA Today)
Thursday June 14,
2007
And what do
black folks think about foul language on radio? And how
does decency on radio -- or lack of decency -- impact
young black listeners? Only time will tell if
urban radio stations -- and corporate radio executives
-- will get onboard with a campaign to clean up the
epithet-laced content and profanity from the airwaves
...
(read
more - Tiffany A. Bolden-Howard University News - Black
America Web)
WKY-AM 930
began a minute-by-minute automated countdown on
Wednesday to draw attention to a format change that will
go into effect Monday morning. Station
spokesman Dax Davis said he could not comment on the new
format
(read
more - Mel Bracht-The Oklahoman)
Madison's only
Fourth of July fireworks tradition will continue after
all. The Elver Park fireworks will go on as schedule,
but with a different sponsor, Midwest Family
Broadcasting and its local station
WWQM
Radio (Q106), after the main sponsor,
Clear Channel Radio-Madison, said it was pulling the
plug on this year's event
(read
more - WISC TV)
(read
more - Sandy Cullen-Wisconsin State Journal)
Nine television
stations in Chicago are off the hook with the FCC
despite complaints about inadequate election coverage
+ With corporate sponsorships topping
out at $10,000, Elroy Smith, who stepped down June 1
after 15 years as a top programmer at Clear Channel
Radio in Chicago, will be honored July 6 at a tribute to
benefit Les Brown's Greatness Foundation and the United
Negro College Fund
(read
more - Robert Feder-Chicago Sun Times)
From Bill
Virgin -- Few music formats
on the radio dial generate as loyal a core of listeners
to the stations that play it. So listeners of
Seattle's AAA station, KMTT-FM (103.7), may have been a
bit thrown by a series of changes The Mountain has gone
through in the past seven months, and left wondering
what's ahead for the format and the music
(read
more - Bill Virgin-Seattle PI)
From Randy
Dotinga -- Steve West might
well be the busiest man in San Diego radio. And he's
definitely one of the cheeriest. Each weekday
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., this redheaded Brit holds court
on alternative-rock station 91X. Every weekend he hosts
the station's "Resurrection Sunday" show, featuring the
best of 1980s music. On top of all that, he has his very
own Internet radio station
(read
more - Randy Dotinga - NC Times)
ARBitron
numbers for Albany-Schenectady Memphis
Raleigh-Durham Greenville-New
Bern-Jacksonville
(read 'em)
From Jacobs
Media -- It's tough out
there, as companies grapple with choosing the right
strategies to pursue, given all the choices.
Is it podcasting, streaming, blogs, HD Radio, or even
different commercial architectures, along the line of
models that Clear Channel is pursuing?
(read
more - Jacobs Media)
Chattanooga's
Top 40 music station, 98.1 KissFM, signed off at 10am
Wednesday. The 98.1 frequency is is now simulcasting
97.3/99.3 "The Legend", and is expected to move
exclusively over to the 98.1 frequency. The
moves comes as Clear Channel is selling off two of its
stations to 3 Daughters Media
(read
more - News 9 Chattanooga)
Radio station
WIOD likely will remain Broward County's official
channel for emergency information despite concerns it is
also home to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
On his show Thursday, Limbaugh called Broward
Commissioner Stacy Ritter ''a babe'' after seeing her
photo in The Miami Herald. ''Liberal babes are rare,''
he said. ``That's why they stand out. It's in The Miami
Herald. It's not Photoshopped''
(read
more - Scott Wyman-Sun Sentinel)
(read
more - Amy Sherman-Miami Herald)
From Sonny
Melendrez -- SonnyRadio.com,
with the help of visionary Dan Atkinson of Sacramento,
is building Radio Island: A virtual media center
complete with studios and
 performance
venues. When finished, Radio Island will invite
listeners to exclusive live online concerts, celebrity
interviews, and more. Our "signal" is
broadcast throughout the island as visitors explore the
"acres" of our virtual paradise. The possiblities are
limited only by our imagination. If your station already
has a major online presence (and even if it doesn't),
Second Life can give your product just that: a second
life
(read
more - Sonny Melendrez)
Amid growing
signs that Whoopi Goldberg will be offered the vacant
Rosie O'Donnell seat on the syndicated TV show "The
View", assurances are being issued that if that happens,
she will also keep the morning radio show heard locally
on WKTU (103.5 FM)
(read
more - NY Daily News)
News Corp. has
put nine of its Fox network-owned-and-operated stations
on the block, including Milwaukee's Channel 6.
Other markets where Fox stations are for sale are
Cleveland; Denver; St. Louis; Kansas City, Kansas; Salt
Lake City; Birmingham, Ala.; Memphis, Tenn.; and
Greensboro, N.C.
(read
more - Tim Cuprisin - Milwaukee JS)
From Mark
Ramsey -- Of the 80% of
viewers who had watched an online video ad, just over
half had taken some sort of action. Nearly a third had
checked out a Web site, while 22% had searched for more
information, 15% had gone into a store and 12% had
actually made a purchase. Those are some
astounding statistics. And you can bet that
effectiveness translates to the price paid for the
video. Is your station in this business? Because you
should be
(read
more - Mark Ramsey-Hear 2.0)
Immigration
matters will cause politicians to spend to court what
will be a key constituency in next year's elections,
analysts say. Spanish-language broadcasters
should expect a surge in advertising
(read
more - Jeremy Herron-AP-Houston Chronicle)
Last night on
ABC Nightline --
"Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran spent
the day with Michael Moore in Sacramento, Calif., where
he met with legislators to discuss health care in this
country, and with a group of nurses who went to a
screening of the film. Terry sat down with
Moore for a wide-ranging conversation about politics,
health care and why some people find him so odious. He
had some interesting and surprising answers
WMGC-FM
listeners are being invited to tee off at the Second
Annual "Girl's Day on the Green" to benefit the
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in Metro Detroit
Steve Powers,
who just retired after 45 years as a New York radio and
TV newsman, has seen a whole lot of changes in the news
game since he was a young reporter meeting President
John F. Kennedy in the White House Rose Garden.
Nor does he think they're finished
(read
more - David Hinckley-NY Daily News)
eBay has pulled
its advertising from search company Google Inc.'s
AdWords network in the United States
(read
more - Fox News)
Microsoft
released four critical fixes Tuesday to patch security
holes in many versions of its Windows operating system,
Internet Explorer browser and other programs
(read
more - download security updates from Microsoft)
From Murphy
Martin -- Eight days in a
hospital gives one time to think about a lot of things.
Your youth. Your family. Your friends. Peaks and valleys
of your life. And, even recall what
 we
referred to as common sense! Lo and behold---
when I arrived back at my computer at home following
that hospital stay, among the more than three-hundred
e-mails was one from my friend John Koonsman about
common sense! It makes for good conversation even if it
does not explain the absence lately of it's use. We
remember common sense helping us cultivate such valuable
lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why
the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair,
and maybe it was my fault
(read
more - www.MurphyMartin.com)
"I got tired of
hearing my friends bitch about FM radio, so I started
doing some demographics about what's missing in the
Charleston market," says Bunky Odom. One
Sunday, sitting at Bert's Bar, Odom asked to borrow
their music collection, spreading out the albums on a
booth table. Surveying the piles of Southern roots and
rock music, not the sounds typically heard on the Clear
Channel airwaves, RadioFree was born in Odom's mind. "WNCW
(the public radio station in Western N.C.) is why
Asheville is so hip," he says. "Our market is really
starving, and this station is going to provide."
(read
more - Stratton Lawrence-Charleston City Paper)
Jon Brooks, a
morning host with WKOL-FM, was set to apologize on air
Thursday for comments he made this morning concerning
Winooski girls when he was talking about having donated
blood recently
(read
more - Burlington Free Press)
Donald Trump
has made his name negotiating gold-plated real estate
deals, but when it comes to selling other goods, the
tycoon doesn't always have the Midas touch
(read
more - Suzanne Kapner-NY Post)
Former
Saturday Night Live star Jimmy Fallon will be
meeting fans and performing his new song “Car Wash for
Peace” at the Mr. Squeaky Car Wash in Pompano
Beach this Saturday, June 16th along with
WFTL 850
AM's Steven J. Gray and Joyce Kaufman
From Gary Allyn
-- I’ve
done a lot of thinking and research on this idea for
more than forty years, and I’ve come to the conclusion
that they have. At the very least, Ratings companies
have caused the fractionalization of radio programming
to the detriment of the industry as a whole.
Ratings changed the focus from being Mass Appeal, to
narrow casting. The appeal of all demographics, to the
appeal of just one. To being a "Big Fish" in a large
pond, to being a "Small Fish" in a smaller pond. Let me
try to explain it. Many years ago, a respected colleague
and a National P.D. told me to go to ...
(read
more - Gary Allyn)
Andrew Anthony
Bonillas "Andy B" 42, who worked for several local
stations during his career, most recently
Radio
Tejano 1600 AM, has passed away and will
be missed by his friends at Clear Channel Radio
(read
more - Tucson Online)
(read
more - Kimberly Matas-Arizona Daily Star)
Wednesday June 13,
2007
The Walt Disney
Company and Citadel Broadcasting Corporation have
completed Disney’s spin-off of its wholly-owned
subsidiary ABC Radio Holdings, Inc. and its subsequent
merger with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Citadel
(read
more - Business Wire)
(read
more - RTT News)
(read
more - Houston Chronicle)
It wasn't quite
as momentous as the Day the Music Died, but Tuesday
marked a historic turning point for Chicago radio.
After more than 47 years as one of the crown
jewels of ABC Radio, WLS-AM (890) is under brand new
ownership
(read
more - Robert Feder-Chicago Sun-Times)
First, Dan
Rather said on MSNBC Monday that successor Katie Couric
had brought a " 'Today' show ethos" to "CBS Evening
News," and the result was "to dumb it down, tart it up
in hopes of attracting a younger audience."
CBS boss Les Moonves responded Tuesday, calling the
former CBS anchor's comments "sexist". Dan Rather
then escalated a feud with the network Tuesday, saying
CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves "doesn't know
about news"
(read
more - Tim Cuprisin-Milwaukee JS)
(read
more - USA Today)
(read
more - Adam Buckman-NY Post)
Baby, if you
ever wondered why the classic sitcom “WKRP in
Cincinnati” wasn’t released on DVD before now, let
local actor/director Tim Reid (who played DJ Venus
Flytrap on the show) explain: “Greed.” “It
was a whole different world back then,” Reid says. “Back
in the day … people would pay you to play their music. …
Nowadays the greed of the industry is such that it would
cost us just to clear [the rights for] one song what the
entire show cost us to produce for one week”
(read
more - Richard Foster-Style
Weekly)
If Rupert
Murdoch can assure the family owners of Dow Jones that
he will not meddle in the news coverage of the Wall
Street Journal, the family will tell the company's board
of directors it can start negotiating a sale price with
the media mogul, a source said yesterday
(read
more - Frank Ahrens-Washington Post)
As the Sirius
and XM merger moves forward, Sirius has retained former
FCC chairman Richard Wiley and Mel Karmazin has been in
informal meetings with FCC members
(read
more - Michael Learmonth-Variety)
Don Herbert,
89, television's
"Mr.
Wizard" who introduced generations of
young viewers to the joys of science, died Tuesday
(read
more - Charlotte Observer)
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