From insideradio.com:

Listeners say they're more likely to turn to a radio station for news or traffic. And, the study concludes that listeners are 146% more likely to pay attention to an advertisement that is live-read by the traffic announcer, compared to pre-recorded spots. The full story in today's Inside Radio.

The FCC decides that Howard Stern qualifies as a "bona fide news interview show." That means Infinity lawyers convinced the Commission that Stern deserves an exemption from the rules so he can have Arnold Schwarzenegger on without triggering equal time requests.

Cable and TV Almost To Converge on a Standard 9-11-03!

Regulators adopted rules Wednesday to make cable television and new television sets more compatible, with the goal of promoting the rollout of digital and high-definition televisions.

To watch pay television, consumers would insert into the set a security card provided by their cable service. This all but makes the Brady Bunch-era set-top boxes finally obsolete.

The Federal Communications Commission voted 5-0 to approve the new technical and labeling standards, which seek to allow digital cable signals to flow seamlessly into TV sets without the need for a set-top box. Companies want high-definition sets with this "plug-and-play" technology available next year Read AP. Also see FCC.

To watch cable on a plug-and-play TV, consumers would insert into the set a security card provided by their cable service.

"This is a great result for consumers," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said at the commission's monthly meeting.

Digital TV signals use the on-and-off language of computers, which allows for sharper pictures and potential features including Internet access, video games and multiple programs on one channel. Digital signals can be sent with satellites, by cable or as over-the-air broadcasts.

High-definition television, or HDTV, is another feature made possible by digital TV. Sets designed for HDTV signals offer more lifelike pictures and sound. HDTV sets now can cost thousands of dollars, but prices are dropping.

Uncertainty over whether various digital devices would be compatible has made it confusing for consumers considering buying an HDTV set.

Problem with the definitions is that people confuse HDTV with DTV and vice versa. Many people think you can get wider pictures with DTV, and for HDTV-ready sets, people still need to buy a HDTV tuner to get them on the monitors. This is plain stupid.

Under the rules approved Wednesday, consumers would still need set-top boxes to use two-way services such as video on demand, some pay-per-view programming and customized electronic programming guides. Cable and electronics companies are working to simplify two-way services. That is still the glaring problem with pay services. The two-way services feature that allow people to pay for channels they want to get need to be integrated into the TVs and VCRs in order for more people to be potentially ready to get PPV and ala-carte cable service offerings.

Also note that the new rule, the encoding rules outlined are compliant with the DMCA, which should be rewritten to exclude the Internet from being regulated, which is unconstitutional. PPV and video-on-demand will not be copied, so VCRs can't tape them. Basic and extended basic service will be copied once on VCRs. For broadcast television, there are no restrictions on copying.

Furthermore, the two-way service feature should allow cable operators to allow subscribers to cherry-pick among the cable offerings and customize their own channel lineups, paying only for channels they like and not what they don't watch, reducing their cable bill. Problem is that the cable programming providers, which have gotten too big, will not allow cable operators to put any of their serices on a ala carte basis. So the overpaid fat corrupted cable progamming companies, such as Disney, Fox, AOL Time Warner, Viacom, General Electric, and others, are forcing cable companies to take in bundled packages that include lesser-popular cable channels few people care to watch or pay for.

Therefore, legislation in Congress should be put into motion to prohibit cable channel service companies from forcing cable operators to take in channels they don't want to pay for and there is no measureable demand to add. Bundling will be prohibited. Even further than that, the TV versions of the Clear Channel empire, Viacom, Fox, Disney, AOLTW, and GE, should be limited to programming three channels each instead of unlimited in order to boost cable diversity, which is now homogenized today due to too many channels by too few programming services all over the cable dial.

Just imagine Disney trying to break up ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, Disney, Soapnet, Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, ABC Family, and what else I can't name. If it was limited to three channels, they could either fold the similar channels together, allowing some channel space to be freed up for other programmers with better ideas to program. The Disney clusterf--k is taking up too much space, repeating the same ABC shows on four networks over and over again, more than anyone cares to watch, costing the consumers money for channels they don't bother to watch, except for occasional big stuff like weekly NFL and MLB games.

By putting the addressable two-way serice into all TVs and VCRs, consumers can send a loud message to Disney that they won't pay for their cookie-cutter progamming, saving them up to $5 a month on carriage fees, and force the cable service programmers to come up with better ideas for them to pay for. If I had such a device in my house, all of the Disney channels except for ESPN and ESPN2 would be off my system immediately.

Digital tuners, either inside a TV or a set-top box, will be needed to receive broadcasts over the airwaves after the nation switches from analog to digital signals. Congress has set a goal of December 2006 for the switch over. By that time, the last of the great TV series, The Simpsons, will probably be off the air by then. If not, I'll buy the future seasons on DVD since I won't be making it to the HDTV era due to lack of anything to watch in the cookie-cutter 1,000 channel universe I no longer have any use for.

Cable providers now offer high-definition service to 60 million U.S. households, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association said.

On the Net:

Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov.

San Diego Radio Wires 9-11-03!

Randy Dotinga
A way with ---- being an odd father.

Reader Blurt
"Mike [Halloran] has always stood for new music. Now he's at a radio station [FM-94/9] that isn't taking a lot of chances. I find it ironic that his station is crying about how we're [91X] the big cookie-cutter station, but Halloran is the one who actually sold out." Bryan Schock is the program director at Clear Channel¡owned 91X, which is facing its first major competitor in its 20-year history. The last Arbitron survey, covering March through June, showed FM-94/9 topped 91X in the 18¡34 age group. Read more about it in Blurt!

Richard Wagoner
Cohen Passes: Longtime radio programmer Sherman Cohen passed away on September 8th due to multiple-myeloma cancer. He was 53. In his book, Los Angeles Radio People, Volume 2, Don Barrett wrote, "Sherman's career has been about taking over broken radio stations and fixing them." Locally, he worked at KGBS (now KTNQ, 1020 AM) and KIIS (1150 AM, 102.7 FM) as well as the legendary Mexican flame-thrower, XPRS (1090 AM) back in the Wolfman Jack days. He programmed KRLA (now KDIS, 1110 AM) twice: 1976-77 and 1980-82, in addition to stations in Arizona, Nevada and San Diego such as 92.5 The Flash, a pop-alternative station that unfortunately never reached its potential. Most recently, he programmed some of the channels for cable and satellite's Music Choice digital music service, and he had his own mobile music service, Best Event Mobile Deejays. He was a music guy through and through, according to those who knew him, with a love of music he inherited from his father. He is survived by his wife, Stacey, four sons -- all of whom are musically inclined -- and two sisters.

This was also reported in sdradio.net. The U-T, as usual, ignored this story. I don't get the North County Times, so I can't vouch for or against them.

Los Angeles Radio Wires 9-11-03!

Also:

Cohen Passes: Longtime radio programmer Sherman Cohen passed away on September 8th due to multiple-myeloma cancer. He was 53. In his book, Los Angeles Radio People, Volume 2, Don Barrett wrote, "Sherman's career has been about taking over broken radio stations and fixing them." Locally, he worked at KGBS (now KTNQ, 1020 AM) and KIIS (1150 AM, 102.7 FM) as well as the legendary Mexican flame-thrower, XPRS (1090 AM) back in the Wolfman Jack days. He programmed KRLA (now KDIS, 1110 AM) twice: 1976-77 and 1980-82, in addition to stations in Arizona, Nevada and San Diego such as 92.5 The Flash, a pop-alternative station that unfortunately never reached its potential. Most recently, he programmed some of the channels for cable and satellite's Music Choice digital music service, and he had his own mobile music service, Best Event Mobile Deejays. He was a music guy through and through, according to those who knew him, with a love of music he inherited from his father. He is survived by his wife, Stacey, four sons -- all of whom are musically inclined -- and two sisters.

This was also reported in sdradio.net. The U-T, as usual, ignored this story. I don't get the North County Times, so I can't vouch for or against them.

Letters: 92.1 Plays Star Spangled Banner 9-11-03!

I was running late, my hair was wet, some jerk cut me off -twice, I was thinking about all the issues I had to somehow rectify when I got to the office, not to mention today is September 11th, and I could have easily turn around and gone straight back to bed. Then the Star Spangled Banner came on, as it does every morning. I realized, at that moment, that we are all so lucky and spoiled in this country. What I consider to be a bad morning is cake compared to women in third world countries. My days are not filled with powerless fear. In America, I am not treated like cattle, My father doesn't decide whether I get married to an old man or I stay in the family home as a slave, I am not beaten, I can say what I please(even if it pisses you off), I can work and make a living without having to be depend on anyone, There are no laws that demean my person, No man can cut off my clitoris for whatever reason, I am free and I live in America.

Thank you for playing The Star Spangled Banner every morning. It helped me to remember where and who I am.

From sdradio.net:

...and this is where sites like yours and mine continue to shine (referring to the local newspaper). I got lucky with the photos from Bill Lipis. RadioWorld will use his photos in print next week. My Google ad bar is starting to pay off; I believe you have it as well.

From the editor: Google ad bar? Anyone got a special browser that can see it? It don't show up in Netscape 7.1

San Diego Radio Wires 9-10-2003!

While Raider Nation was getting into full swing Sunday night, Tazy's radio show was expanding by 50 percent.

Tazy Phillipz, host of "Go Loco" on 92.1 KFSD-FM lets us know that there's a "shiny" new program director at the radio station, so some big changes started this week, including the expansion of the "Go Loco" show from four to six hours, just two hours shy of Mike Cook's long running "Hooked on Trivia"(tm) show on KCBQ.

The new Supersized playlists are six hours long (beating my own "I Still Get Demented" show by two).

Here's a short except from the supersized playlist...

GO LOCO / SP RADIO ONE with Tazy Phyllipz
92.1fm KFSD San Diego, CA
Sunday nights 6pm-12am Pacific

GO LOCO:  SAN DIEGO LOCAL!!!
SP RADIO ONE:   NEW & INDY MUSIC * LIVE BANDS * 24+ GENRES!!!

Show #GL030; Sunday, September 7, 2003 6pm-12am Pacific

guests:     FM REVOLVER interview!
THE DRAGONS interview!
THE HILLSTREET STRANGLERS interview!
and GREG GINN (BLACK FLAG) live!

airdate:    September 14, 2003
guests:     THE WEAKERTHANS live!

airdate:    September 21, 2003
guests:     OFF TRACK interview!
THE BRIEFS live!

KCBQ TOWERS GONE! All six KCBQ towers are now on the ground early this Monday afternoon.... end of an era. The towers came down along with the old building on Mission Gorge. In its place are two stores.

It is So Hot in San Diego 9-7-2003!

(rimshot!)

It's so hot that Arnold Schwarzenegger is being pelted with fried eggs.

(rimshot!)

It's so hot that people are gathering aroung Gary Coleman's cold gubernatorial campaign for governor.

(rimshot!)

And it's so hot that people are visiting the Clear Channel San Diego lobby just for the cold receptionist.

(rimshot!)

Hey, what a crowd!