The Wires (May 31, 2008)

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- The radio business used to be a conglomeration of mom and pop stores run by some of the most colorful people you could wish to work for. Some of them were incapable of making a profit – no doubt some of my readers would like to comment on these characters who loved radio nonetheless. To many, just owning radio stations was worth – well, losing money. Contrast that with Citadel and Radio One shareholders who are losing money today without the love

Allaccess.com reports that Hilary Chambers Exits Star 94.1. KMYI (STAR 94.1)/SAN DIEGO has bid adieu to middayer HILARY CHAMBERS. Reach out to HILARY at hilarycha@gmail.com

The Wires (May 30, 2008)

Randy Dotinga: For the first time in his career, Chris Cantore can say whatever he wants, play whatever he wants and never shill for an advertiser unless he actually likes the product. "It's given me the ability to come into my own," said Cantore at the snazzy X1FM.com studios in National City. "I just come into the studio and have fun every day"

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- My view is that terrestrial radio is now a destination entertainment medium for available listeners - older members of Gen X and the baby boomers. Radio is still a good business for these demographics - and, for that matter, could be an even better business for the available audience if radio owners could get back to the basics of radio programming, unleash the PDs who still have the ability to program what these available listeners want and invest in ways to increase income knowing that they cannot increase the audience size

Wall Street Journal: In the quest to increase AMERICANS' access to broadband Internet, federal regulators are considering a new plan: get someone to give it away free, writes THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. The FCC is considering a plan that would require the winner of a planned airwaves auction to offer free wireless-Internet service to most AMERICANS within the next few years. Details of the plan still have to be worked out, and it isn't entirely clear who might bid for the airwaves. Most of the major carriers have already bulked up their spectrum holdings through recent FCC auctions or acquisitions, and start-ups may have difficulty raising enough capital to not only win the auction but build out a network. If it works, however, the FCC's plan could represent a major step forward in U.S. broadband policy since it would provide at least bare-bones wireless-Internet service to millions of AMERICANS who either don't have access to high-speed Internet services or aren't willing to pay for them.

Have You Seen Melissa Lately? (May 29, 2008)

The show's website says "Why not celebrate National Potty Training Month with Sabrina/Clarissa (your choice) herself, Melissa Joan Hart."

The Wires (May 29, 2008)

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- There isn’t a better soap opera developing than the fight that’s a comin’ between Clear Channel (the spurned lover) and Sam & Randy (Zell’s) Tribune Company (the new love interest). Clear Channel did what it does best last week - it sued Tribune Company. Back to Federal Court – Clear Channel’s home away from home – to accuse the Chicago-based Tribune Company of stealing trade secrets

Huffington Post: From John McQuaid -- Newspapers do need to blow things up. The current model, with its layers of editors, copy editors, classified ad reps and pillar-of-the-community caution, has to go. Papers need to experiment, try new formats, new models. There's the open-source idea advanced by newassignment.net, or by local startups such as Paul Bass's New Haven Independent. That's one way to inject both new perspectives and some buzz into the business at the same time. But papers also have to protect and nourish two things they already have - reporting and the newspaper "brand." Original voices and journalistic credibility are pretty much all papers have left - and they're good both for making money and for the healthy functioning of society

FMQB: Podcast Listenership Continues To Grow: Arbitron & Edison Media Research have released their third annual study on podcasting, and finds that listenership has made another impressive, year-to-year jump. According to their data, 18 percent of Americans listened to a podcast, up from 13 percent in 2007 and 11 percent in 2006. Video podcast consumption was up from 11 percent to 16 percent. Also, nine percent of Americans downloaded and listened to an audio podcast in the past month alone, which adds up to about 23 million people.

Sony plans to integrate service into its TV sets (May 28, 2008)

Excerpts:

The set-top box, a necessary appendage for millions of cable television customers for decades, is moving toward extinction.

A leading television manufacturer, Sony Electronics, and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association said yesterday they signed an agreement that will allow viewers to rid themselves of set-top boxes yet still receive advanced “two-way” cable services, such as pay-per-view movies.

The agreement marks a significant meeting of the minds between cable companies and one of the world's dominant makers of consumer electronics. The two industries have been feuding for a decade about how best to deliver cable service to customers while allowing them to buy equipment of their own choosing.

Sony agreed to use the cable industry's technology in its sets as soon as possible but could not say when the first such televisions might appear in stores.

The agreement is between Sony and the nation's six largest cable companies: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision Systems and Bright House Networks. The six companies serve more than 82 percent of cable subscribers.

Read the rest at the link above:

The Wires (May 28, 2008)

The Register U.K. The FCC is mulling a plan that would blanket America with free wireless broadband, not to mention online ads and content filters.

New Jersey Star Ledger: Federal legislation is needed to ensure Internet providers, primarily phone and cable companies, don't undermine that equality. There is a danger that Internet providers will charge extra for faster transmission of websites or services, leaving those unwilling or unable to pay to lag behind. There also is a danger that providers might block sites or services because of content. Internet providers say they would never do such things. They say that even if one company did, competition would ensure "net neutrality," as the wonkish call it. These assurances are nowhere near enough of a firewall against net discrimination

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- I don’t know what it is with the radio industry and the future, but I have never seen so many smart people hold onto the past for so many awful excuses. That’s one of the many reasons why radio companies - in spite of their talented and dedicated employees - are working full time to remain a horse and buggy industry when the rest of the world has entered the digital age. Take the Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPM) – please!

Top 5 Headlines Of The Week (May 19-25, 2008)

4. Fox wins the season.

3. Indy 500 takes place.

2. Whimsical Will's latest summer movie adventure is "Hey, Indy!"

1. New Indy Jones Smashes Into Theaters...except in areas where movie theaters have been obsolete since the early 1990s.

The Wires (May 27, 2008)

Happy Hare: Mike Glickenhaus asked me to help a staggering pop standard KPOP a few years ago. I took mid day weekends, not the M-F drive time he asked me to take. I trashed the classic Clear Channel music “sweep” clock and broke the vanilla pop standard music format by inserting more energetic music and isolating the times I had to pitch a cruise with our listeners. An average 90 travelers went with me on my trips, compared to the 25 or 30 travelers scored by the M-F drive time jocks. The reason for my success is simple. The full time guys were excellent talents, who were forced to bury their 60 second live trip pitches smothered among the four minute cluster of commercials mandated by Clear Channel. I ignored the rules, isolating the pitches in a single slot, and lengthening them to at least 90 seconds. giving me time to romance the trip before entering seamlessly into the hard information

The Wires (May 25, 2008)

Over-The-Air Radio Listeners Becoming Online Listeners Twenty percent of Americans who are employed full-time or part-time and listen to the radio at work now listen online, up from just 12 percent a year ago. Among college graduates who listen to radio at work, the figure for listening online is 30 percent, compared to 12 percent among non-college graduates.