The Wires (June 28, 2008)

Radio World: ‘The Father of FM Stereo’ Is Remembered. Carl Eilers, long-time Zenith employee, was inspired to his career by a glass wireless set; he also innovated in MTS stereo TV.

Radio World: Internet Continues Gains at Expense of Other Media Including Radio. Radio now represents 23.5% of the media day for U.S. adults.

TV Tech: Better Business Bureau Warns of Converter Box Scam. “The bottom line is that these ads confuse and mislead consumers,” said Steve Cox, BBB spokesman.

Kurt Hanson: The ASCAP has proposed to the Radio Music License Committee that HD2 radio pay a music license royalty. Broadcasters maintain that since they're generating no revenue from their HD2 channels, a royalty isn't justified. In making their case, the ASCAP cited research, long ago debunked, that predicted 30 million HD receivers in the market by 2012. Read more on the story in today's issue of RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter, online at http://www.kurthanson.com.

Bob & Tom release new CD. "Donnie Baker.My Job Sucks" is the title of the syndicated morning hosts' new three-disc comedy CD project. The album also features cast members Kristi Lee, Chick McGee and Donnie Baker - a frequent caller to the show. Bob & Tom's message: "We apologize in advance."

TV Tech: American Airlines Tests In-Flight Internet. American Airlines has begun testing Wi-Fi Internet access on a limited number of flights on San Francisco/New York, Los Angeles/New York and New York/Miami routes.

RSS Bandit: An RSS and Atom reader that includes the ability to view news items in customizable newspaper views, synchronize the read and unread states across multiple computers, support for password protected feeds and more. License: Free. OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server, Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1

Ron Jacobs: KHJ's new format hit the air and we managed to get it right. We had hit the vein of young folks fed up with "old style" radio, and just about everything else. It was hard not to be "with it," since we were playing new Beatles' tunes every few months and presenting concerts by the Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel, Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas & The Papas, etc. through the summer of '65. Then, one day a white-label promo copy ABC-Dunhill Record arrived. It was different from anything we, or anyone, were playing. Sure, Bob Dylan and others filled the traditional role of minstrel and folk singer, capturing the zeitgesit. But they got little airplay: their messages were cloaked in poetry and new musical sounds. We put "Eve Of Destruction" on the air, tentatively, ready to pull it if it bombed or caused a stink. It did neither

Featured Blog: Lithium Radio. Lithium Radio is an indie rock music blog that is daily updated with CD Reviews. You can check this blog out for the latest review from Cyber PR Artist Ionia.

Featured Podcast: Indie 500 Show. Indie500show.com is the companion site to the Indie 500 Show podcast. Indie 500 show is counting up to the top 500 songs in independent and unsigned music. Each week they feature a “Lucky 13”, this weeks show feature Cyber PR artists Donna Lewis, and Blood Red Sun.

Featured Internet Radio Station: L'eixordador.com. Internet radio show showcasing the new releases of pop, rock, indie and electronica music.

Police on the Scene: E-Mail Scams (June 28, 2008)

Download it here

The Wires (June 27, 2008)

The price of localism: $2.7 million. The FCC's proposed rulebook changes requiring 24-hour staffing, community ascertainment meetings and main studios within a city of license come at a price. Simmons Media says for them it would be about $2.7 million. If the rules are implemented as proposed, the company would have to build and maintain 13 additional studio locations and hire additional staff. Read the full story in today's Inside Radio.

House panel approves royalty bill. In a move that was expected, a House subcommittee cleared a bill abolishing radio's royalty exemption today. The NAB calls the vote "a complete non-surprise" since the House members on the subcommittee have a history of supporting the royalty push. The music industry says it puts them a "step closer" to a royalty, but the NAB says there's "broad bipartisan resistance" to the measure in Congress.

Royalty bill expected to clear committee. Opponents of abolishing radio's decades-old exemption have the backing of a majority of House members making it unlikely the issue will go far this year. That's not expected to stop a House subcommittee from easily approving the proposed Performance Rights Act during today's scheduled mark-up hearing. The NAB is running ads in Capitol Hill newspapers saying a royalty would "hurt local radio stations just to put money in the hands of big international companies."

Kurt Hanson: Chrysler will be including wireless Internet access as an option on all of the company's 2009 car models with "no limitations in content." Streaming webcasts will be available for in-car listening through Chrysler's UConnect Web network, challenging terrestrial radio's firm hold on auto listenership. Read more about and link to commentary in today's issue of RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter, online at http://www.kurthanson.com. Also: A universal broadband initiative has been launched by a member of the FCC, technology executives, and industry advocates...

Boston Globe: According to Arbitron Inc., 33 million Americans listen to Internet audio every week. Most hear the audio streams through computer speakers, but that's a lousy deal when the PC is in one room and you're working or relaxing in another. Luckily, a solution is at hand - These early Wi-Fi radios are too pricey for the mass market, but that's bound to change, given the growing demand for online audio. Cheap Internet radios will quite likely be commonplace in a few years. They will probably pick up AM and FM stations as well, not that anybody will care (read more - Hiawatha Bray - Boston Globe)

PR Newswire: Chrysler announced today that it's making wireless Internet an option on all its 2009 models. The mobile hotspot, called UConnect Web, would be the first such technology from any automaker...

Chicago Sun Times: When Energy 92.7 FM left the airwaves in early 2003, things looked grim for fans of high-energy dance music. But corporate-dominated FM radio can’t stop the beat, though. Or, it seems, keep the dance divas and DJs down (read more - Misha Davenport - Chicago Sun-Times)

John Gorman: First, the good news. The radio industry recognizes that its stations need a presence on the Internet. Now, the bad news. It doesn’t understand the presence its radio stations need

Dave Kohl: KSWD "The Sound" radio in Los Angeles made technology news earlier this week with the unveiling of outdoor electronic billboards with digital display capabilities. This station is believed to be the first radio station to use this technology to display the title and artist of each song currently playing on the station, while the billboard itself is made to look like an MP3 player

KBZT Hires Hilary Chambers. Alternative KBZT (FM 94/9)/SAN DIEGO announces market vet HILARY CHAMBERS will be joining the FM 94/9 on-air staff. HILARY most recently hosted middays on crosstown Hot AC KMYI (STAR 94.1). She previously spent nearly 10 years at Alternative XTRA-F (91X).

The Wires (June 26, 2008)

Is Hillary going to Sophie?

Radio's royalty battle reaches a milestone. There are now 219 signatures on a House resolution opposing a record industry effort to abolish radio's royalty exemption. The addition of four representatives in the past week has given opponents a majority. The record industry's musicFIRST coalition is still hoping to find some middle ground to keep the issue alive. The NAB says the fight's far from over and is urging stations to keep lobbying local congressmen.

Inside Music Media: No one seriously can argue -- let alone Nancy Sinatra -- that radio should have to pay one cent more to a recording industry that profited from every penny of the music it has sold from free radio airplay. Her boots wouldn't have been made for walkin' if radio wasn't made for playin' music for free. The ingrates argue that radio got free programming material (read more - Jerry Del Colliano - Inside Music Media)

FMQB: Majority Of U.S. House Opposes Performance Fee. Four more House members have signed on to the Local Radio Freedom Act, giving it 219 signatures in all.

Randy Dotinga: Reggae Makosa has been cancelled by 91X after 25 years. The San Diego Reader (hint hint, Randy, name this source) broke out the story about the hostess's conflicts with 91X's program director Phil Manning. Quoting Randy, "The storm over "Reggae Makosa" apparently began on Mother's Day. Her co-host was late getting to the station to put the show on the air, Dread said, and "Reggae Makosa" was suspended for several weeks. She came back on June 8, but then the article came out and her gig on 91X was over."

The Wires (June 25, 2008)

Happy Hare: Last Thursday, The L.A. Times devoted their usually restricted Editorial column to her memory. The editor wrote, “It was Cyd Charisse’s remarkable gift to move though the hall of mirrors that is the American musical and never be caught glancing at herself.” I vividly recall that “dance” with her years ago, when time stopped - Next week: My “take” on how Tim Russert maintained his robust spirit in the Washington pressure cooker. It wasn’t entirely from Big Russ. And, the never before told story of how Hillary escaped the clutches of Ken Starr, freeing her to run for the U.S. Senate. This all ties together when I describe how I performed in a national television pilot in New York. Hint: My Production Assistant was named Maura (read more - www.HappyHareOnline.com)

Ron Jacobs: In the 50s and 60s some deejays broke out of the radio circus and hit it big. The biggest of all was Johnny Carson. Dave Garroway, who worked here at KGU during the Korean War, was the original TODAY Show host. Rufus Thomas, Dick Clark, Johnny Otis, Wink Martindale, to name a few, began in the solitary confines of a radio booth. So did my buddy Michael C. Gwynne. I emailed Mike to send me an anecdote about the amazing Mr. (George) Carlin. This came back from Mt. Kisco, New York: "Met him once at lunch in the 80s as he walked by a movie set I was working on in his Beverly Glen Canyon neighborhood" (read more - Ron Jacobs)

The Wires (June 24, 2008)

(read more - Bud Walters - Op/Ed - Nashville Tennessean) Nashville artists and writers know too well the power of big music companies - and what mergers have done to or for them. How does it follow that an XM-Sirius merger would be good for them? Historically, the FCC has been concerned and has acted when a network seemed to get too much negotiating power over programming suppliers. That is exactly the power an XM-Sirius could have. Having two competing satellite radio companies is good for the country. Local radio stations are not the enemy

(read more - Ron Jacobs). From Ron Jacobs -- When I arrived in LA in 1965, the job was to get KHJ of the gutter. And we indeed actually went from worst to first. In a field of over 40 stations in May, KHJ came out of the toilet to become the #1 station in "Boss Angeles" by October. When I was assigned a cubicle called an office at 5515 Melrose Avenue, the small size meant nothing. I was there. It was my opportunity, the shot, that mattered. I was finally in the Big Game: time to put up or shut up. First thing I did was hang some stuff on the wall. I knew it was going to be a battle. Good to have some motivational material displayed in the bunker. I posted a copy of the L.A. radio ratings. In those days ratings were compiled by a company called C. E. Hooper. How unsophisticated they, compared with today's methods and resulting displays. Hooper hired people to call anyone listed in the phone book. "What radio station are you listening to?," they asked. The time of day and name of the station were noted and written down. That was it. There were no "demographics." No one knew what the word meant, back then.

(read more - Mel Phillips). Since people under 35 need more than what radio offers they find the social networks they crave online. Turn the clock back 10 years or more and new music, concert tickets and a good jock lineup gives you solid teen and 18-34 numbers but those days are gone forever along with a $3 gallon of gas.

Top 5 Headlines Of The Week (Jun 16-22, 2008)

4. No Number 4. Editor Busy Getting Transmission Replaced.

3. Lakers Get Dunked By The Celtics

2. Padres Get Swept By The Yankees

1. Tiger Woods on a Monday Afternoon. Need I Say More?