Note to 91X, KFMB-TV and KNSD... (November 3, 2007)

And...no Christmas themed movies either until November 23rd. Leftover Halloween stuff is okay, in fact, The Simpsons Annual Treehouse of Horror episode airs this Sunday night on Fox. After that, no more Halloween stuff until October 1st (not on Labor Day!) Time to donate your Hannah Montana costume to Goodwill as she probably will be yesterday's news come next year.

The Wires (November 3, 2007)

TV Technology: Best Buy: No Coupons for Converter Boxes Till ‘Closer to April’. Michael Vitelli, a Best Buy senior vice president, told Congress Wednesday his company would not have its systems ready to process the $40 federal coupons for digital-to-analog converter boxes until “closer to April 1 than January 1.

Gary Lycan: LARadio.com's Don Barrett put the (personnel) changes in perspective. Consolidation and the resultant changes can be a very subtle change for the listener. On a music station they may eliminate a late-night DJ and extend all the shifts by an hour so it seems seamless - unless you were a huge fan of the missing personality, it would probably go undetected. News people may begin to appear on sister stations. Unless you listen to both stations you might notice, but the company saves on personnel.

Imus Deal Officially Done. The controversial broadcaster will be back on WABC/New York on December 3

Update: Fry's Electronics VCR Units (November 2, 2007)

Many of them were either DVD players, which cannot record, and tuner-free video recorders, which require a separate cable converter box or satellite service to record the TV shows.

I jotted down every model of the DVR and VCR units that didn't have a Consumer Alert label to create a list of models that Fry's is selling so I can check on the features on the Internet.

I got home, and surfed on to Amazon.com, and searched for every VCR and DVR model on my list. Sure enough, Amazon carried every one of the units Fry's sells. Amazon told me more of the features of the video recorders than what was on display at Fry's.

I checked every model to see if any of the models with a tuner that Fry's is selling as of Thursday are equpped with only an NTSC tuner. I am pleased to tell you that Fry's is no longer selling any video recording units that have a tuner that is only NTSC compliant. All of them have ATSC and NTSC tuners built-in, some of them even have QAM tuners that receive unscrambled digital cable signals.

I also can't find any of the TV sets that have only an NTSC tuner either.

So folks, it looks like after eight months, Fry's is no longer in the business of selling TV and VCRs that are equipped with an NTSC-only tuner. The reason there were no Consumer Alert labels warning the shopper that it's an NTSC-only tuning model is simple: there are no NTSC-only tuning models in the store. So now they have no reason to use a Consumer Alert label anymore.

Now as for their selection of HD Radios, that's another story. Nobody knows how to sell an HD Radio there. If you want a better selection of HD Radios, check out my HD Radio page here:

http://hdradio.davesfunstuff.com/

The Wires (November 2, 2007)

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- Jeff Zucker, the 42 year-old president and chief executive of NBC Universal finally determined that "Apple has destroyed the music business". So if you are one of those poor unfortunates who actually thought record labels unwilling to embrace the digital future and their partners in crime -- radio stations with their ultra-short playlists -- did it to themselves, then you would be wrong. Lots of media types are gulping down Zucker's Kool-Aid (read more - Inside Music Media)

FMQB: Don Imus Returns: As was widely rumored, Don Imus will make his return to radio with Citadel, hosting a morning talk show on the company's flagship station, WABC/New York. Imus will begin broadcasting on December 3 with his longtime newsman, Charles McCord, and other members of his morning team. While there had been talks about doing the show from a special remote location, that idea has apparently been shelved, according to the New York Post. The Post also says that Imus signed a five-year deal with Citadel that pays him between $5 million and $8 million annually, and that "more likely than not" he will eventually be syndicated across 22 ABC Radio stations and syndicated by the ABC Radio Networks.

Radio Ink: House Resolution Opposes Radio Performance Fee. Fifty-three members of the House have signed a resolution declaring that there should be no "performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" for sound recordings played on broadcast radio.

Inside Radio: Islamic group targets Savage. Talk Radio Networks host Michael Savage is under fire from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for heated comments on Monday's show that they say were anti-Islamic - including his telling Muslims "Take your religion and [CENSORED] - I'm sick of you." Now CAIR is targeting Savage's advertisers. This is not the first time CAIR has gone after Savage. Last year it targeted him for promoting a ban on Muslim immigration and mosque construction.

RadioWorld: Anti-IBOC Site Created WYSL owner Bob Savage feels so strongly that AM IBOC in the hybrid mode is bad for AMs that remain analog, that he and a couple of friends have begun a Web site, www.stopiboc.com.

Britney Blazing The Charts (November 1, 2007)

StreetPulse reports that Britney Spears latest album "Blackout" debuts in the number one position based on first day sales from yesterday.

"Blackout" was number one in the Top 5 Overall Sales Debuts, as well as the Hot AC, Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic, and Urban charts compiled by StreetPulse.

Also, a remix of her hit "Gimme More" is being played to death in ipartyradio.com, a real dance station that puts the HD channels in San Diego to shame.

Pride Radio has the right idea in terms of entertainment news and features, but it relies on a stale Channel 933 playlist from years past for music instead of music heard on ipartyradio.com.

The Wires (November 1, 2007)

Insideradio reports that Lincoln Financial: A sale nears. CFO Fred Crawford says the company is "very deep into the process" of selling its media group and may have announcements "in the coming weeks, maybe sooner depending on how things develop." Insiders say bids have been less than what was expected on its 18 radio and three TV stations

XM Satellite Radio reports that the all-new 2009 Toyota Corolla and Matrix will be the first Toyota brand vehicles to offer XM Radio as a factory-equipped feature. The popular models will also offer XM NavTraffic as an option with the available GPS navigation systems, the first Toyota brand vehicles to offer XM NavTraffic. XM also reports that in the 2008 model year, Hyundai will continue its XM rollout with the addition of the Tiburon, Accent and Tucson vehicles. Additionally, XM will also be a factory-installed standard feature on the 2009 Elantra Touring, a concept revealed today at the 2007 SEMA Show. Hyundai's rollout of XM Radio as a standard feature in all audio systems of its U.S. vehicles began in the 2007 model year. XM Radio is already a standard, factory-installed feature on the Azera, Elantra, Santa Fe, Sonata and Veracruz

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- Let's put on our Larry Craig or Michael Vick costumes and play this year's version of Music Media Trick or Treat. Trick Buy an HD radio and you get many new channels of music and radio programming. No. Buy an HD radio and get taken for a fool. Treat Roku. This is the Internet radio that allows you to program thousands of Internet radio stations into it and listen (depending on the model) through your stereo system or speakers

FMQB: Senate Committee Votes To Expand LPFM. Bill designed to allow for more low power FM stations will now move on to the full Senat

Radio and Records reports: Copps: ‘Consolidation Choking Localism’. Blames 'outsourced news, homogenized playlists, distant ownership'. Michael Copps feels about media consolidation the way most Americans feel about Osama bin Laden -- he hates it with great vigor. But Copps is in a position to do something about it and that’s exactly what he intends. “Consolidation continues to choke the lifeblood out of localism, with its outsourced news, homogenized playlists and distant ownership,” said the FCC commissioner at the start of the commission’s sixth and final hearing on localism

Randy Dotinga: 2003 lessons informed fire coverage.

The Wires (October 31, 2007)

Radio Ink: The NAB's objections are on record, but the Local Community Radio Act passed Tuesday in the Senate Commerce Committee, and the bill is on its way to a vote in the full Senate.

Sirius adds 524,938 subscribers - and more red ink. Sirius counts 7.67 million subscribers and is on its way to reaching its annual target of 8 million. But Sirius sold just 64,101 subscriptions at retail outlets in the third quarter - the balance came from auto sales.

KSDX-LP 29 burned down, which means that you can catch XHTIT-TD digital channel from Mexico.

The Wires (October 30, 2007)

Kurt Hanson: The decline in CD sales the music industry uses as rationale in aggressively pursuing other revenue streams (like high performance royalties from webcasters) seems to be the only dim spot across the industry. In fact, music companies are experiencing growth in every major category aside from physical CDs, according to comments from "The Long Tail" author Chris Anderson. In a recent post to his blog, Anderson lists the areas of the music business that are actually prospering despite reports that portray the entire music business world to be in precipitous decline. Read more from Anderson's blog in today's issue of RAIN, available now at http://www.kurthanson.com.

Happy Hare: Wednesday, the 31st, I begin a series of internet radio shows, hosting a two hour talk/music – Newsic - radio show from 1p-3p. PDT on SignOnRadio.com. The station has been launched by the San Diego Union-Tribune. I will be playing the broadest swath of music in radio history. They have granted me full sway, including the right to make sweeping claims. I am generally known among radio cognoscenti for a style wherein I play music and dash out every three minutes or so, say something snappy, and then scamper back into the shelter of the music. This time, I will stay publicly exposed with no hiding place, tasked with covering a number of topics in a compelling manner. That’s the plan (read more - www.HappyHareOnline.com)

W Radio in Bakersfield. All Access reports that Clear Channel Business/Talk KHTY-A has flipped to Spanish-language News/Talk, airing the same W Radio programming that has been broadcasting in XETRA 690.

Mexico Time Falls Back (On October 28, 2007)

Well, looks like Tijuana and the rest of Mexico will be one hour slow for all of this week beginning Sunday and lasting until 2am early November 4th.

Earlier this year, when the U.S. set their clocks ahead one hour ahead on March 11, the first time we set our clocks ahead on the second Sunday in March, this put all of Mexico an hour behind USA time (except Arizona which doesn't observe Daylight Saving Time.) For three weeks until April 2nd, San Diego and the rest of the USA (except Arizona) was an hour ahead of each of the corresponding time zones in Mexico. If it was 7am in Tijuana, it was 8am in San Diego.

Border travelers will have to once again live on a two time-zone world as they have to plan on their workdays around where they work in another time zone across the border. If you live in Tijuana, have a clock or watch dedicated to work time, or San Diego time, so that you won't be late for your job. If you live in San Diego county and work in Tijuana, sleep in an extra hour because Tijuana is an hour behind San Diego, and have a watch dedicated to Tijuana time.

Until last year, the two countries shared the daylight saving time schedule. Beginning in the year 2007, the U.S. changed the start and end dates for Daylight time, but Mexico remained stuck to the start and end dates that go back to 1987. Before 1987, Daylight Saving Time began on the last Sunday in April, and until 2006, DST began on the first Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October.

During the week from Sunday through November 3rd, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection organizations will modify their hours to accomodate the one-hour time difference between the two countries. Using California time, SENTRI fast track lanes will be open from 4am until 1am at San Ysidro, and from 5am until 9pm at Otay Mesa.

If you live in Tijuana and watch TV across the border, plus some TV stations such as XETV and XDTV, you have to use California time or you will be an hour late for viewing your TV shows.