News Flashes (April 6, 2002)

Oh my God! They really killed Kenny (April 6, 2002)

Kenny, whose death each episode in "South Park" (10 p.m. Wednesdays, Comedy Central) has been a running gag since the show began in 1997, is gone for good, says creator Matt Stone.

He died unceremoniously at the end of last season, the Dec. 5 episode.

"I think a lot of people probably haven't noticed," says Stone during a telephone interview. "I couldn't care less. I am so sick of that character."

After almost 80 episodes in which he has been crushed by rocks, eaten by rats and run over by a bulldozer, Kenny died of a terminal muscular disease in the episode, Comedy Central officials say.

"It was the one episode where (all the characters) cared (he was dying) for once," says Stone. "After that, we said, 'Why doesn't he just stay dead?' And it was like, 'OK, let's just do that.' It was that easy of a decision."

Another nail in his coffin: "We got sick of figuring out ways to kill him," Stone says. "It was funny the first 38 or 40 times we did it. Then it turned into 'OK, how can we kill him now?'" The fact his death has gone unnoticed is not unusual for "South Park," whose recent episodes are drawing some of its best ratings ever.

Kenny's death each week was often overlooked, and he would return in the next episode none the worse for wear.

The joke ran for so long that it spurred one of the show's catchphrases: "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" When a new season of episodes began airing a month ago, Kenny did not come back. He was written out of the opening credits and replaced by another character named Butters.

"We had so many other interesting characters," Stone says, "but we always had to service this Kenny guy."

In the 1999 feature film "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut," Kenny died and ended up in Hell. By the end of the movie, however, he was back in fine form.

Kenny, one of the original four boys of the "South Park" cast, was not one of Stone's favorites, though Stone provided the mumblings for the parka-wearing character.

"He was always kind of a prop anyway," Stone says. "He couldn't say anything, so it is really hard to develop a character who could never really talk."

Despite fans online saying the character will probably return, Stone says don't count on it. Fans' feelings are the decision are mixed, Comedy Central officials say.

At www.southparkstudios.com, there are three major opinions on the matter.

The largest faction is disappointed. A smaller group is angry over the death. The others don't care: They are ardent Butters fans.

Small Webcasters Campaign for Survival (April 6, 2002)

Goldsmith is the DJ and owner of RadioParadise, as well as a longtime staffer for KPIG, one of the first radio stations on the Internet. He's one of the earliest figures in an independent Web radio scene that's thriving despite the failure of many ambitious corporate Webcasting ventures.

But Goldsmith and others like him warn that they're about to be put out of business by a new government proposal that would finally force them to pay royalty fees to play music online. Big companies such as AOL Time Warner or Clear Channel might be able to afford the fees. Goldsmith says he can't.

"We'll be turning over the entire Internet radio space to the people who are doing such a wonderful job running (regular) radio," Goldsmith says. "We'll be left with a bunch of carefully crafted corporate sludge."

Goldsmith and his peers are objecting to a compromise proposal for royalty rates produced by a federal arbitration panel, under which Webcasters would have to pay record companies about a penny for every 14 songs they stream to a single person. Goldsmith says that would be about double his actual revenue. The rates would also be retroactive, putting Webcasters on the hook for payments covering the last three years of operations.

These royalty fees, slated to be split between artists and record companies, are new to the business of radio. Ordinary, over-the-airwaves stations pay small royalties to songwriters and music publishers, but they have successfully lobbied over the years to avoid the new fees. Then in 1998, after a fierce political struggle between record labels and Internet companies, Congress dictated that online radio would be subject to the fees.

Negotiations over the actual rates for the new royalties proved bitter, ultimately winding up in front of the U.S. Copyright Office's arbitration panel. Record labels proposed a per-song rate that was about 100 times what the big Webcasters' trade association--led by companies such as America Online, MTV and RealNetworks--said was feasible. The arbitration panels' proposed rates split that difference.

Both sides are now contesting the proposal released last month, seeking rates closer to their original suggestions. They each made final petitions last week, and the Copyright Office will rule by May 21.

Who's listening?
Meanwhile, a new, unified voice from smaller Webcasters such as Goldsmith is beginning to be heard for the first time. Most of them have known that they'd be on the hook for royalty payments eventually. Adding up actual dollar figures has galvanized them into action, with many afraid that they're about to be driven out of business en masse.

Most small Webcasters didn't participate in the original Copyright Office arbitration, which means they're locked out of the process now. Instead, the group is taking their "Save Internet Radio" campaign to Congress, hoping to bring pressure to bear from the outside. Most aren't looking for the royalty rates to be dropped altogether--they know Congress has already ruled on that, and isn't likely to change its mind overnight.

What they want are rules that let them survive, they say.

The Web radio universe is a fractured one, split between a few big corporations with scores of stations, a sprinkling of regular over-the-air stations that have put their music online, a mid-level strata of ambitious but struggling dot-com companies, and thousands of stations created by individual music lovers.

These individual stations have turned Internet radio into a free-for-all, giving the medium eclecticism far beyond what ordinary radio can provide. Some stations are familiar, playing the same classic rock or boy bands heard on the FM dial. Others specialize in Gregorian Chant or bluegrass. SomaFM, a popular underground station in San Francisco offers "Groove Salad" electronica and "Secret Agent," a wholly uncommercial mix of lounge, jazz and dance tunes.

Critics of ordinary radio have pointed to this inchoate mix of personal stations as a good balance to the FM airwaves, which are increasingly dominated by a few giant corporations with near-identical playlists.

These stations aren't going unheard. Many independents, such as RadioParadise, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Sound, or Radioio.com, have tens or even hundreds of thousands of listeners a month, even if they average only a few thousand people at a time. Many are considerably smaller, catching only a few simultaneous ears at peak hours.

These figures add up, however. The latest report from Arbitron, which tracks radio and Webcast audiences, found that the network of independent stations that runs through Live365, an aggregation point for small Webcasters, drew more than 6 million listening hours in February, or double the audience of giant Clear Channel's online network of stations.

Finding a political voice
Despite such strong numbers, small Webcasters have long presented a scattered voice. After Congress imposed radio royalties in 1998, a long process began of negotiation between Webcasters and record companies and of arbitration by a government-appointed panel.

The U.S. Copyright Office reached a compromise based largely on the input of big Webcasters, radio stations and major record labels. Webcasters should pay 0.14 cents per song per person, while over-the-air stations that simply put their broadcasts online should pay 0.07 cents per song per person, the panel of arbitrators ruled.

The level was determined largely by looking at what Yahoo agreed to pay the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) (RIAA) for its online broadcasts. The RIAA also struck 25 agreements with smaller companies at higher rates, and still says those represent the market rate. The arbitrators discounted these, however, suggesting that the RIAA deliberately set high rates to influence the panel's decision.

The fees, once passed, will add a large new expense to Webcasters' bottom line. To date, they've only had to pay the same songwriters' fees that regular radio stations pay--about 4 percent of their revenues.

Large Webcasters with deep corporate pockets may be able to swallow the additional fees. Small Webcasters aren't so sure. Live365, which participated in the original arbitration process, told the Copyright Office last week that the new rules would simply put most small Webcasters out of business.

The smaller stations also are approaching Congress. They're trying to convince lawmakers, and ultimately the Copyright Office, that Congress never meant to put a majority of Web broadcasters out of business. If that's the case, then lower rates are in order, they say.

A few big guns are jumping into the fight on their side. Arbitron sent an urgent letter to Congress, arguing that it would be impossible for the Webcasting business to thrive using the proposed fees.

The company did the math and told Congress that a Webcaster that reached as many people as a big radio station in New York would have to pay more than $30 million a year in royalties alone. That would make it almost impossible to survive, Arbitron said.

Tiny stations would also see their bills skyrocket beyond their means. Goldsmith takes in about $3,500 a month. Reaching his audience of about 70,000 people would put him on the hook for about $7,000 a month, he says.

"If the proposed fees are enacted, we foresee that very few companies if any would be able to pay the cost," wrote Arbitron Vice President Bill Rose. "The proposed fees are likely to create a business/regulatory environment that will limit competition, stifle innovation, reduce consumer choices and diminish diversity by concentrating the distribution of music to a handful of sources."

The RIAA discounts these arguments. If the companies can pay for bandwidth, computers and the other equipment needed to create a Web radio station, they shouldn't expect to get the music for free, the group notes.

"If they can pay fair market value for those things, then it seems they should pay fair market value for those sound recordings," said Steven Marks, senior vice president of business and legal affairs for the RIAA.

To counter such arguments, the "Save Internet Radio" campaign is trying to persuade small Webcasters and listeners to talk to their local representatives in Congress. They've already persuaded Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Chris Cannon, R-Utah, to send a letter to the Copyright Office expressing concern over the rates.

At this point, the chorus is growing every day, and more listeners and stations are sending the message to Washington.

"We consider ourselves the pioneers of this medium. We're growing it," said Mike Roe, who runs Radioio.com from Jacksonville, Fla. "If this goes down (as is), 99 percent of all Webcasting will be gone."

News Flashes (April 5, 2002)

Starting next month, financial expert Bill Holland moves his show to 5 a.m. at KFMB-AM. Wow! Bill O'Reilly's new radio program moves to 10 a.m. to noon.

News Flashes (April 5, 2002)

Entertainment Tonight is making its first, but probably not its last, foray into primetime network-TV production with an ABC sweeps special, Entertainment Tonight Presents: Laverne and Shirley Together Again.

The one-hour show, which airs May 7, will reunite the principal cast members and incorporate bloopers, outtakes and other footage plucked from the New Jersey vaults of parent Paramount Pictures, which produced the sitcom.

In the wake of CBS' surprising -- to some -- success with its Carol Burnett clip show, a number of retro specials are in the works at various networks, including a Honeymooners 50th-anniversary salute at CBS.

Paramount Domestic TV programming chief Greg Meidel said the company hopes the show will be the first of many such shows tapping ET's extensive TV library.

ET executive producer Linda Bell Blue is executive producer of the special. Supervising producers are Chris Thompson and Ronny Marshall Black, sister of star Penny Marshall and show creator Gary Marshall.

Fox Life:
GO>>
Celine Dion CD Tops Charts, Frustrates Europeans... (why bother? her music sucks anyway!)... After a five year "retirement" from the music business Celine Dion has returned with a chart-topping album.

Dion's A New Day Has Come debuted at number one and sold more than 527,000 copies during the week ending March 31, according to industry figures released Wednesday.

But not all of the disc's owners are singing its praises, though, and it has nothing to do with the Canadian diva's voice.

Sony Music Europe has copy-protected the disc, using Key2Audio technology that doesn't allow the disc to be played on a computer. Some claim it even makes their computers crash, won't allow the disc to be ejected, and causes internal problems.

Only discs put out under the Sony Music Europe label are copy-protected, said a Sony Music spokesperson, adding, "We have never put out a copy protected CD in the United States."

Sony Music Europe has put out about 70 copy-protected releases, meaning they will not play in a PC or a Mac.

"The discs are clearly marked on the back and front cover - the warning is on the actual art work, it's not just a sticker and it won't peel off," said the spokesperson. "It is also printed on the disc that it will not play on a PC or Mac."

Mac users are claiming on German discussion boards that the disc will not eject using standard methods and that "the intentional corruption of the disc's session data could unpredictably affect the drive's firmware - a combination of hardware and software instructions that are permanently embedded in the hardware's controlling chips, such as with a computer's CD-ROM, and altering it could cause permanent damage," reported The Hollywood Reporter.

While Sony denies the disc can cause internal problems, it is possible that the computer will crash if you put it in your computer after ignoring the warnings.

News Flashes (April 5, 2002)

Radio Horizon:
GO>>>
Saving Web Radio: The 5% Solution... Bill Goldsmith's lifelong dream was to have a radio station all his own. So in February, 2000, he started Radio Paradise, an Internet radio station named after his hometown of Paradise, Calif. He plays what Goldsmith calls ``eclectic, intelligent rock,'' including Genesis, Radiohead, and Boston folk rocker Ellis Paul. Unlike traditional FM, Radio Paradise listeners almost never hear the same song twice.

``Radio Paradise could never exist on FM radio because it's not predictable,'' says Goldsmith. ``We're for people with broad tastes who aren't interested in hearing the same thing over and over again.''

Goldsmith's dream could be short-lived, however. On Feb. 20, the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel [CARP], a body appointed by the U.S. Copyright Office, ruled that under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act [DMCA], Internet radio stations must pay the record labels a fee of $0.0014 per song, per listener. Traditional radio stations would pay $0.07 per song, per listener. Worst of all, the stations will owe back royalties from October, 1998.

SILENT STATIONS. For Goldsmith, that would mean $55,000 in back royalties, plus about $6,000 to $7,000 per month going forward -- about twice his current revenue. ``The only way this works is if you have no audience at all or if you sell lots of ads,'' Goldsmith says. On May 21, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington will issue a final ruling on whether the rates are fair. If he accepts them, Goldsmith says, Radio Paradise will go radio silent [see BW Online, 3/29/02, Royalties: A Royal Pain for Web Radio].

Two years after burst of the dot-com bubble, stories of Net entrepreneurs' shattered dreams don't elicit much surprise or sympathy anymore. But Internet radio operators aren't misguided twenty-something entrepreneurs with dollar signs in their eyes. Their downfall, if it comes, will be the direct result of a misguided government policy.

These new rates would stifle innovation and diversity, dooming the Net to become just another outlet for FM drivel. Worse, they could drive frustrated music lovers into the arms of shadowy file-sharing services such as KaZaA, Morpheus, and Grokster.

MARLEY AND MENDELSSOHN. This is wrong. And what's most frustrating is that the problem has an easy fix that the copyright panel rejected. Consumers want access to good music online, and Web radio provides it. On Radio Paradise, listeners can tune in to Tracy Chapman, Bob Marley, and trip-hop band Thievery Corporation one hour, and Queen, Nirvana, and David Bowie the next. Startup 3WK plays largely unknown bands such as Soul Coughing, Mighty Flashlight, and Superchunk. And where else but Beethoven.com can classical music lovers hear Mendelssohn and Hayden back-to-back on their PCs?

Certainly not at the major labels' music-subscription services. Both MusicNet, backed by Warner Music, BMG, and EMI, and pressplay, backed by Sony and Universal, have failed spectacularly to deliver what consumers want. Both offer a simple way to manage digital-music files and discover new artists and tracks for less than $10 per month. But that's hardly sufficient enticement to convince customers to pay [see BW Online, 12/28/01, ``Pay-to-Play Music: A Lot of Missed Notes'']. If Napster taught the music industry anything, it was that consumers want more choice, not less.

Killing Net radio would also damage the burgeoning broadband industry that Congress is working so hard to ignite. After all, without innovative offerings like Radio Paradise, consumers have little reason to fork over $49 a month for broadband.

SQUELCHING DIVERSITY. Finally, implementing the proposed royalty rates would undermine the spirit of the federal copyright law which, at least in theory, aimed to spur the growth of new technology. ``These rates will diminish the number of voices and the diversity of programming in the marketplace. That's the opposite of what copyright law is supposed to do,'' says Paul Maloney, editor of the Radio and Internet Newsletter.

So what's the solution? Billington should reject CARP's recommended royalty rates. Instead, he should require Webcasters to pay a percent of revenues, say 5%, to the record labels. That's what small Webcasters and huge radio conglomerates such as ClearChannel were clamoring for during the comment period, which ended Mar. 20.

Too bad only members of CARP were allowed to comment. The Recording Industry Association of America requested higher rates, extra surcharges for songs longer than five minutes and a minimum fee of $5,000 per station, according to a report filed with the Copyright Office on Mar 6. Small Webcasters were forced to lobby Congress and hope their representatives would then lobby on their behalf.

FAIR DEAL. In contrast, a percentage deal would permit Net broadcasters large and small to flourish and still reward music companies for their copyrights. Take Jim and Wanda Atkinson, who scraped together $300,000 in savings in 1997 to invest in startup station 3WK. It now has 500,000 unique listeners and was rated the Web's seventh most popular radio station in 2001, according to ratings firm MeasureCast. If the rates pass as is, the couple says it faces a $600,000 bankruptcy.

``A percent of revenues is something we can afford while we continue to grow our audience,'' says 3WK's Jim Atkinson. ``In the long run, the RIAA could get a good amount of money.'' At 5% of revenues, 3WK would owe the RIAA just more than $5,000 per year. That's far short of the $110,000 it would owe under the current proposal. But isn't something better than nothing?

The RIAA doesn't think so. ``We don't buy that Webcasters are going to go out of business by paying for the music they play,'' says Steven Marks, the RIAA's senior vice-president for business and legal affairs. Marks argues that the shakeout in the Webcasting business would be a natural step toward a more mature industry, not a result of onerous royalty rates.

ETERNAL PURGATORY. Marks has a point. Even with lower royalty rates, Web radio stations still face an uphill battle. Some 75% to 85% of radio advertisements come from local businesses that don't benefit from the scattershot exposure Internet broadcasting provides. Moreover, unlike traditional radio stations, which use a blanket signal to cover an area, online radio stations send an individual stream to each listener. The result: The more popular the station, the higher the costs to run it.

Still, those challenges don't negate the fact that the proposed royalty rates would single-handedly crush Internet radio. ``Without us, Net radio will be just like broadcast FM,'' says Radio Paradise's Goldsmith. ``The cost of entry will be so high that the only programming that makes sense is stuff that appeals to the lowest common denominator.'' And that would create eternal purgatory for Webcasters and listeners alike. Why let that happen when an easy fix is just waiting to be applied?

News Flashes (April 3, 2002)

Best Morning Host on a Music Station: "Uncle" Joe Benson, Arrow 93. Benson was in a tight race again this year, as Los Angeles morning radio has some fabulous personalities including Rick Dees (KIIS), Kevin and Bean (KROQ), and Charlie Tuna (KBIG) among others. What gave him the win was his thorough knowledge of music and the fact that he actually plays music .... a rarity nowadays.

Best Morning Host on a Talk Station: Bill Handel (KFI). I hate saying this, since Handel is so amazingly obnoxious, but his show actually does a thorough job of covering current news and events ... better than the so-called news stations. He really shined after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, providing detailed analysis with the help of his producers, directors and guests.

Best Tax Deduction: KLAC. Time was when KLAC was a popular station, whether they were playing country music or adult standards (common thread: music). The move to talk was ill-conceived and poorly designed, and led to the lowest ratings since the station began broadcasting, giving KLAC an edge in this category over perennial winner KXTA.

Best Evening Personality: Phil Hendrie (KFI). I know many who feel he is being wasted in the evening, and should be on in the morning. I'm not sure I agree: evening is when people are a little tired, and might just believe some of the stunts he pulls. His only downfall comes when he tried to be politically funny as himself.

Best Overnight Personality: Doug McIntyre, KABC. I get mail about him all the time, because he is the overnight guy who should be in prime time. I was supposed to interview him last April; maybe I'll finally do it this year.

Best Reason to Listen to the Radio: Talk. I hate to say it, because deep down I don't like talk radio, or more accurately, I get tired of it. But music in L.A. is generally weak, while some of our talk hosts are great entertainers: Hendrie, Handel, Mr. KABC, Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, Dr. Laura, McIntyre ... even some of the people on KLSX and KLAC.

Station of the Year: KLOS, KFI, Arrow 93 and Star 98.7 (tie). I almost removed this category from the list, because no one station deserves it any more. I can't tune in to one station and just leave it there all day without going nuts. It's kind of sad, actually, that you need four stations to do (almost) what one station used to do before deregulation and consolidation.

KLOS and Arrow do a good job of representing pop and rock oldies, KFI is about the only station that still has a news department, and Star is the one that plays some current music that I like. Combined, they still don't match the singular winners of the past. Hopefully, one day a great station will come back again.

News Flashes (April 3, 2002)

News Flashes (April 3, 2002)

ZEN QUICK HITS:
- David Bowie's next CD will be released on 6/11
- PHISH appear on Sunday's SIMPSONS


More Chances to Watch ELLIE
-
Ratings have picked up on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' new 
NBC sitcom WATCHING ELLIE, and the network has 
decided to keep the show around through April 16th.
Two episodes of ELLIE air tonight, at 8:30 & 9:30.
http://www.nbc.com


CBS Orders More SURVIVOR
-
CBS has ordered a fifth season of SURVIVOR, and has revealed 
the location will likely be in South America or Asia.
SURVIVOR V will premiere this fall.
http://www.cbs.com


JUSTICE LEAGUE All-New in April
-
The CARTOON Network will be airing all-new 2-part 
episodes of JUSTICE LEAGUE every Sunday this month.
In the "Fury" two-parter starting this week, Wonder 
Woman and Hawkgirl must team up to stop a renegade 
Amazon who has taken over Lex Luthor's old gang 
and unleashed a plague that only affects men.
The two-part "Legends," episode begins on April 21st, 
in which Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Flash, and J'Onn 
J'Onzz are blasted into an alternate reality where 
they meet their doppelgangers, a group of old-fashioned 
comic book heroes called the Justice Guild of America.
JUSTICE LEAGUE airs Sunday nights at 7, as well as at 
other times during the week.
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com


Phyllis Diller to Guest on DREW
-
The ASSOCIATED PRESS reports a Mother's Day episode of 
ABC's THE DREW CAREY SHOW will feature Phyllis Diller 
as Mimi's grandmother.
The episode is set to include on-screen parents and 
grandparents for most of the show's main characters.
http://www.ap.org


ZEN QUICK HITS:
- ABC has stopped airing James Bond films (now they tell me!)
- AMAZING RACE 2 will no longer air on UPN (why the repurposing?)

News Flashes (April 2, 2002)

TV Insite:
GO>>
Daytime Emmys get Spanish SAP feed... For the first time in the 29-year history of the Daytime Emmy Awards broadcast, CBS will offer a Spanish-language audio feed through SAP.

Let's pay ball!... Some baseball teams think they can make more money with their own cable networks; games continue to migrate from broadcast to cable

News Flashes (April 2, 2002)

TV Insite:
GO>>
Radio: How big is too big?... FCC takes big step toward deciding how much radio concentration is too much... READ

Washington media attorneys might have a sense of déjà vu. Last week, the FCC said an administrative law judge will determine whether to allow the country's largest radio group to add a station in Charlottesville, Va., where it already owns five outlets and captures 31% of local advertising revenue.

Raising his ire is a March 20 decision designating Clear Channel's plan to buy WUMX(FM) from Air Virginia Inc. for a review. The deal is one of hundreds slowed by regulators under a controversial practice aimed at preventing undue concentration.

Clear Channel's hearing process is expected to provide the first clear example of how the FCC will resolve the toughest deals snagged by the agency's controversial "flagging" policy established in 1998.

Deals are flagged and subjected to an extra layer of review when they result in one company's controlling 50% of a market's ad revenue or two companies' controlling 70%.

The policy was established during the tenure of Democrat FCC Chairman William Kennard to stem a tidal wave of radio consolidation launched when Congress removed the national cap on radio ownership and allowed companies to own as many as eight stations in the largest markets. Since 1996, the average number of radio owners in each market has dropped from 13.5 to 10.3. The number nationally has plunged 25%, from 5,100 to 3,800.

Broadcasters have been frustrated by the policy because the targeted mergers otherwise met government ownership limits and the FCC never established policies for resolving the reviews. More than 200 mergers have been flagged for added FCC scrutiny in the past four years. None have been denied, although several were canceled after the parties grew frustrated by delay.

But foes of the consolidation trend say broadcasters have no reason to complain about the scrutiny. In fact, several dozen protesters picketed the FCC last month complaining about what they consider the Powell FCC's indifference to media- concentration issues. The FCC gave Clear Channel and Air Virginia until Wednesday to decide whether to make their case before the judge or simply cast the merger's fate to an ongoing FCC rulemaking that would establish permanent rules for radio mergers.

If the companies wait on the rulemaking, the deal would be denied if it doesn't comply with new concentration limits.

But even if the companies choose not to pursue the case, the commission's directions cast a light on the route the agency will take on future flagged deals that are difficult to resolve.

Radio & Records (includes Arbitrons)
GO>>>
NBG To Launch No Depression Alt-Country Radio Show... NBG Radio Network is partnering with No Depression, an alternative country magazine, to syndicate the weekly two-hour program, set to debut April 29. The show is produced and hosted by Rob Reinhart, who has produced and hosted the songwriter-friendly Acoustic Café since 1994.

New Radio Star:
GO>>>
RECORD BUSINESS SAYS IT WILL REPORT BIGGEST DROP IN HISTORY... (April 1, 2002 8:31am) The world wide record business is about to issue its annual report on April 16th. Analysts say that report will show a 10% drop in value..to 33 billion dollars. It's the worst drop for one year since they've been keeping records. The world wide trade group, The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) will blame the drop on music downloading. That organization has been lobbying for tough laws in every country that could possibly make millions of citizens criminals for sharing music. While the IFPI blames downloading and cd burning for its troubles many long time industry outsiders and many consumers say it's because the quality of music is down. And long time pros will tell you it's because the industry is being run by non music professionals ..lawyers and Wall Street types. And while the world is rapidly moving to the internet as their number one source of entertainment the industry has instead been extremely resistant to the change and instead has put its efforts into keeping music off the new medium.

Radio Horizon:
GO>>>
Editorial: Royalties: A Royal Pain for Net Radio By Stephen H. Wildstrom, Business Week http://www.radiohorizon.com/index.php3?fcn=displayarticle&id=2496

News Flashes (April 2, 2002)

News Flashes (April 2, 2002)

"We're doubling up on the music so from now on we'll be playing twice as much music as the other guys," says afternoon deejay Cha Cha of "Channel 933" as the handle of the station.

For about 20 minutes, the station played a different set of songs aimed at each speaker, even the bumper spots were heard at different times. One bumper spot proudly said "Play one song at a time? Pansies! We're giving you twice the amount of songs in the same amount of time."

After the sets on each speaker ended, Cha Cha took phone calls from listeners who said they couldn't understand any of the songs that were played (were they using mono radios?) One thought it as OK in a low key mood.

After the commercial break, Cha Cha finally exposed the stunt as an April Fool's joke.

Has a radio station in your area (or yours) stunted an April Fool's joke Monday?

News Flashes (April 1, 2002)

It is official. The Late Show will be permanently moving to Los Angeles in 2003. A studio will be constructed at CBS Television City and the Ed Sullivan Theatre will be leased by CBS for Broadway productions. Apparantly the plans were set to move to California in August of this year, but 9/11 sympathy has convinced Dave to stay in New York for an extra season. However, in the long run, Los Angeles will provide the Late Show with more top line guests, who are based there.

The prospect of moving to Los Angeles was last an issue back in 1993, when CBS was courting Letterman to be the host of their late night talk show. CBS was, and still is short on studio space in New York, with most of its operations at CBS Television City. The Late Show had set up residence in California for two separate weeks in its first few seasons. CBS Television City is the home for Worldwide Pants' companion show, 'The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn' as well as a number of top CBS shows. It has also been the home to non-CBS shows throughout the years, including 'Roseanne' and 'Seinfeld'

April Fools.

--Ian

Check out my tapelist at http://www.ian-ian.com/tapes

Melissa Joan Hart Explains It All

Melissa Joan Hart, star of ``Clarissa Explains It All'' and ``Sabrina The Teenage Witch,'' will emcee the launch of The N's primetime Monday night block, Fresh-Four-Monday, Monday, April 1, at 8:00 PM. The N, Noggin's new tween programming block focuses on tweens, ages 9-14-years old.

In addition to hosting the kickoff and introducing each new series on The N's new primetime schedule, Melissa will discuss significant firsts in her own life. Speaking from her home in the Hollywood Hills, a casual and intimate setting, Melissa recalls her first on-screen kiss that took place with the then unknown James Van der Beek. In addition, she shares memories of her first real life kiss; first day in Junior High; first concert attended (The Violent Femmes); and the first time she was sent to the principal's office.

Included in The N's new primetime block is the debut of Melissa Joan Hart's ground-breaking television series, ``Clarissa Explains It All'' (8:30 p.m.), that originally aired on Nickelodeon. Other programs include the award-winning reality series, ``A Walk In Your Shoes'' (8:00 p.m.), ``Degrassi: The Next Generation'' (9:00 p.m.) ``24Seven'' (9:30 p.m.) and ``Being Eve'' (10:00 p.m.).

Noggin, the commercial free, educational network from Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop, announced that it will reposition the network starting April 1, 2002, unveiling two new programming blocks and two new websites as part of a new programming strategy.

The daytime programming block entitled, ``Noggin'' will air from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM (ET) and will feature award-winning programming for preschoolers. The evening block entitled ``The N,'' will air from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM (ET) and will feature original and acquired series for tweens ages 9-14 year old.

Noggin, a joint venture between Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop, currently reaches over 22 million households via cable, digital cable and satellite. With two distinct program blocks, ``Noggin'' for preschoolers and ``The N'' for tweens -- the network helps kids to figure out their lives with educational media on-air and online (www.noggin.com and www.the-n.com).

News Flashes (April 1, 2002)

Today at 5pm...Channel 933 has a special announcement. Will it change radio?

On April 1, 1996 on April Fool's Day, just after midnight, two station brands swapped places. Sets FM, which was on San Diego's 105.3 FM since November 1995, switched its programming to a lower powered Oceanside (now Encinitas) 102.1 FM, while Rock moved from 102.1 to 105.3? Why? A complex radio deal. between Compass and Par Broadcasting that involved Compass selling KCBQ-AM 1170 to Par while Par and Compas swapped ownership of the 102.1 and 105.3 frequencies, resulting in Sets and Rock switching places. Par already owned KOGO(AM) 600 and KKLQ-FM 106.5, which it kept, and the 250 watt KKLQ-AM 1320 out of Oceanside, which it couldn't keep because at the time, a company could own only 2 AM and 2 FM stations in the same area. So Par donated 1320 to Palomar College, which renamed it KKSM Comet Radio.

Since then, Jacor Broadcasting bought Par and got its four San Diego stations among other properties nationwide. Jacor sold KCBQ before Clear Channel bought Jacor. In 1998, Clear Channel sold KKLQ(FM) 106.5 to Heftel (now HBC) in August 1998 and it went Spanish.

Well, that's our history lesson for today, boys and girls.

News Flashes (April 1, 2002)

Veteran radio personality Frazer Smith has joined KRTH/101.1 FM weekdays, joining Joni Caryl and Jim Carson 6-8 a.m.

Wink Martindale , ex-KMPC and still active as one of the "Music Of Your Life" adult standards format on stations everywhere but here, will be on NBC-TV's "Today" show Friday as part of a weeklong salute to classic game-show hosts. He'll be on at 8:30 a.m., catching up with Al Roker, then going outside to play "Tic Tac Dough" with people in The Plaza area. Other hosts to be saluted are Bob Barker, Tom Kennedy, Monty Hall, and another L.A. radio veteran, Bob Eubanks. He'll be on Tuesday.

Nicole update: Nicole Sandler read the state of country radio recently in The New York Times. "There is now a home for this type of music. It certainly isn't country radio. Though this music isn't at the core of the format, Triple A radio has, for years, supported artists like Alison Krauss. In fact, when the 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' soundtrack was released, Triple A was the one format that did play 'I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.' Our phones rang off the hook whenever we played it. I started doing the morning shift (6 a.m.-noon, Eastern time) on Sirius Radio's Alt Country channel. This is where you do hear this music. If anyone's interested, Sirius streams all of its channels online at siriusradio.com," she said. She also says that "It's a bit of a stretch for me. I'd say I'm familiar with about 50% of the music, so I'm getting an education as I go along..."

Former "Mega" middayer Christina Kelley joins KRTH for weekends.