The Wires (May 17, 2008)

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- Good or bad, right or wrong – programs to deliver free music to the computers of a new generation are proliferating. These young folks want for nothing when it comes to music. Should the music industry even be trying to dissuade young people from stealing music since they cannot control the delivery systems? These are not like the Sam Goody days when if you walked out with a CD you didn’t pay for you likely got caught

MT. WILSON FM BROADCASTERS will start simulcasting Talk KGIL-A/LOS ANGELES on sister Country KKGO (GO COUNTRY 105)'s HD2 channel on MONDAY (5/19). The station is trumpeting the move as the "first L.A. talk station to be simulcast on both AM and FM frequencies," although the simulcast will only be available to those with HD radios. The current Adult Standards HD2 programming will move to KKGO's HD3 channel.

TV Tech: Mobile DTV Is Quickly Approaching. Wednesday, two of the participants in the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) agreed to cooperate on an ATSC mobile/hand-held (M-H) standard.

TV Tech: New Indoor Antenna Design Revealed. It is supposed to cover frequencies between 55 and 862 MHz.

Kurt Hanson: It's been over a year since the Internet Radio Equality Act was introduced in both houses of Congress, and since it's not yet a law, it's not yet a success. But webcasters' grassroots coalition, SaveNetRadio.org, is calling Sen. Sam Brownback's move to attach the IREA as an amendment to another bill "a comeback" and "a reminder to other Members (of Congress) that Internet radio... (is) not going away quietly." Get more on SaveNetRadio's reaction, plus the rest of today's news, in RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter, at http://www.kurthanson.com.

IRS Scam Warning (May 16, 2008)

DON'T DO IT.

The IRS does NOT use e-mail to contact any of us for any reason.

This is some sort of a scam and could corrupt your computer. DO NOT OPEN.

If you receive this e-mail the IRS requests that you forward it to phishing@irs.gov

The Wires (May 16, 2008)

Randy Dotinga: Clear Channel Profits of Doom Part 2. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming: the second in a two-part series about the Clear Channel company and how it changed radio in San Diego and across the country. A couple of years ago, I was on vacation in Europe and visited a well-preserved medieval town in Belgium called Bruges. After visiting some churches, I stopped at a map kiosk to figure out where to go next. Under the map were two words: Clear Channel.

It's true what they say: You can run but you can't hide. Besides running 1,200 U.S. radio stations, Clear Channel spent much of this decade spreading its tentacles into concerts, television and even

For a while, the public didn't pay much attention to the company. But several years ago, journalists began writing about its troublesome ways of doing things. And Clear Channel began to develop a major public relations problem. And why not? Clear Channel didn't create every bad trend in radio, but it certainly capitalized on them. It saved money by dumping live and local programming, pretaping disc jockeys. It saved money by cutting budgets for news. And it saved money by ruthlessly targeting competitors.

(Here in San Diego, the company managed to control a whopping 14 of the 30 highest-rated stations by acting as if its Mexico-based operations didn't count toward the federal eight-station-per-market limit. The feds, prompted by an annoyed competitor, eventually told Clear Channel to knock it off.)

Nowadays, Clear Channel still exists, but a sale is pending and the company may lose some of its famous aggressiveness. Many of the changes it brought were bad for listeners. On the other hand, it inspired rivals to do a better job. In San Diego, alternative-rocker FM 94/9 was created as a direct challenge to Clear Channel's weakened 91X. FM 94/9 has turned into one of the best stations in San Diego.

Call Letter Change (May 16, 2008)

The Wires (May 15, 2008)

TV Technology: LG, Samsung Agree to Develop, Promote US Mobile TV Standard. The agreement calls for the two companies to cooperate in order to assure rapid adoption by the ATSC.

Done deal: Agreement in Clear Channel buyout. A final agreement has been announced clearing the way for Clear Channel's buyout by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners to move forward. Under the terms of the revised $17.9 billion deal, the six-bank consortium agrees to put its money into an escrow account until the closing. The deal also retains a "stub" sweetener to keep shareholders onboard. CC shareholders still need to give their approval.

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- The airline business blames high fuel prices for not being able to make a profit. The radio stations of America blame just about anything that can be called entertainment. Those damn iPods are killing us. The Internet is siphoning off radio listeners. Just about everything but newspapers gets the blame. What’s killing aviation and radio is mismanagement and lack of leadership (read more - Inside Music Media)

Call Letter Change (May 15, 2008)

Sue Simmons Wants To Know What The F--k Are You Doing! (May 15, 2008)

Sue Simmons, the 64-year-old lead female anchor at WNBC-TV in New York City, shocked thousands of viewers Monday night by shouting the F-word during a promo for the 11 o'clock news that was broadcast at 10:26pm.

Simmons was teasing a story about the high cost of groceries when tape of a cereal box suddenly switched to the cruise ship from which a woman fell and disappeared Sunday night. The goof prompted Simmons to shout off-camera, "What the f--k are you doing?" The screen then went black.

This clip was shown twice on David Letterman's CBS show on Tuesday.

Blog, Podcast, and Station (May 15, 2008)

Featured Blog: Wildy's World Wildy's World is a blog dedicated to identifying INDIE/Unsigned/up-and-coming musical talent through album reviews and discussion. Starting in January 2008 we have already grown to more than 250 distinct hits a week coming primarily from the US and Canada, but have traffic from more than 25 different countries besides.

Featured Podcast: Rock and Roll Report The Rock and Roll Report specializes in writing about and playing indie and unsigned bands that would have no problem fitting into a commercial rock radio playlist. It is a website, radio show and podcast that is a welcome destination for those tired of commercial rock radio repetition.

Featured Station: New Consciousness Radio NC Radio plays music for a positive world. NC Radio features positive artists playing positive music including genres like new age, family oriented music, success music, self help music, new thought music, positive contemporary music from all beliefs and cultures and eventually positive speakers

Dave's Gone By (May 15, 2008)

Hear the show Sunday 11pm(ET) on WGBB AM-1240 and live audio streaming on any computer at http://www.davesgoneby.org

Says Dave about this week’s show, “A mature songwriter with a little-girl voice, a guitar babe who shied away from the spotlight, a melancholy idealist – Juliana Hatfield has embodied all these contradictions and more. As a happy-go-lucky rageaholic, I completely understand.”

At last, new Dave’s Gone By episodes are being archived on the web! They’re at http://www.am1240wgbb.com Listen anytime, for free, and never miss a Dave again!

Catch recent guests now in the archive: Eleanor Reissa, Tovah Feldshuh, Issa, Uncle Floyd & Sheldon Harnick! http://www.am1240wgbb.com/archives.htm

“Shalom, Dammit! now on NYC cable! “Shalom, Dammit! Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Peace, Love & Acid-Reflux Hour” airs Sundays, 1:30pm on Manhattan cable television channel 67. Episodes simulcast on MNN.org. “Shalom, Dammit” also airs every Wednesday & Friday morning, 7:30am(ET), on L.I. Cablevision channel 115. For everybody else - watch all episodes on Youtube.com anytime!

Internet Breaking News (May 14, 2008)

On Thursday May 15, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas will introduce the Internet Radio Equality Act (IREA) as an amendment to the Orphan Works Bill (S. 2913) while it is being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee. As you know, the IREA would level the playing field for Internet radio webcasters and promote greater parity within the radio industry, while doing away with the discrimination that now forces webcasters to pay fees more than twice as high as their closest competition, cable and satellite radio.

You can help. At least one of your Senators is a Member of the Judiciary Committee and we need their support.

Call them today and ask them to support independent artists, small businesses, and the future of Internet radio.

You can find their phone number and talking points here: http://www.capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/alert_9738601.html Ask your Senator to support the Brownback Amendment to S. 2913.

We need your help to remind Congress that though Internet radio is still on the air and artists are still being paid for their work by webcasters, nothing has been resolved and we need them to act.

On behalf of webcasters, artists and fellow Internet radio listeners everywhere, thank you. Let's finish what we started a year ago.

Bill O'Reilly Flips Out (May 14, 2008)

The Wires (May 13, 2008)

Report: Clear Channel deal at $36. The Wall Street Journal says a settlement "appears imminent" in the Clear Channel buyout by Bain Capital and THL Partners. The paper says the banks have agreed to fund the deal at $36 a share - below the current $39.20 offer. Earlier today a one-day delay was called in the equity firms' lawsuit against the six banks.

Top 5 Stories of the Week (May 5-11, 2008)

4. Chris Cantore back on mornings at x1fm.com

3. David Tanny launches ISGD Podcast Edition

2. Alyssa Milano still looks hot on My Name is Earl

1. Talking Goat Clip Lands on Tonight Show