Unintentional (DX, etc.) pick-ups on old cable systems (Oct 17, 2009)

In 1992, on Monday mornings from 3am-5am, cable 13's resident channel KCOP 13 from Los Angeles signed off for the time, but Cox picked up the audio for KSWT channel 13 in Yuma. There was somewhat of a weak picture on the channel, and at the time, it ran Telemundo programs overnight such as wrestling, which I saw in Spanish.

Totally weird.

The Wires (Oct 17, 2009)

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Kurthanson.com: The Copyright Royalty Board published their ruling today which requires most digital services to supply "full census" reporting of the music they play as part of their royalty requirement. In other words, non-subscription webcasters will have to report not only song title/performer/album/label for every song every hour of every day of the year, but the exact number of "performances" (that is, the number of listeners for each song). Certain broadcasters and webcasters struck deals with SoundExchange (NAB, educational and religious non-commercial broadcasters) that have specific reporting requirements that supercede these terms. Also, small broadcasters (that pay just the $500 annual minimum) and services that can't count listeners (e.g. satellite radio) aren't affected either.

Kurthanson.com: The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate today approved the bill that would require radio broadcasters in the U.S. to pay sound recording royalties to record labels and performers. The next step for the bill is a general vote on the chamber floor -- mirroring the situation in the House of Representatives (the House Judiciary approved the bill earlier this year). Relatedly, the NAB released the results of a survey it commissioned which they say shows the American public is strongly against a royalty for over-the-air radio.

Kurthanson.com: At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday which passed the Performance Rights Act, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) gave hope to webcasters seeking royalty parity. Industry attorney David Oxenford reports that Feinstein's comments indicated her support for setting a single royalty standard, 801(b), for all music services and extending small broadcasters' royalty protections to small webcasters. An important component of the 801(b) standard is missing from the Performance Rights Act, however.

Lee Hacksaw Hamilton: Good riddance Rush Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh has been ousted from his NFL ownership bid, and Hacksaw isn't sad to see his talk radio cohort go.

Tom Taylor of radio-info.com: Performance Royalty bill sweeps out of a Senate committee. Not a surprise, since it was strongly sponsored by Committee Chair Pat Leahy (D-VT) and committee chairs usually get what they want. The bill subtitled "Equitable treatment for terrestrial broadcasts" doesn't strike many broadcasters as very "equitable." They argue that comparing them to satellite radio or other radio-like services is unfair, since many of those charge their subscribers or users. The Senate has clearly listened to the complaints about where the burden of a copyright royalty would fall. It prescribes "special treatment for small, non-commercial educational, and religious stations." So any station with less than $1,250,000 in revenues pays $5,000 a year. Public radio stations would pay $1,000. A potentially cheaper "per-program license" would be an option for stations that don't play much music. And the typical airing of music from a church or "other religious assembly" wouldn't be a "use." S. 379 also protects songwriters (there's a section titled "no harmful effects on songwriters"). So stations couldn't reduce their payments to ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, which represent songwriters and copyright owners, to help pay the new performance royalty.

Tom Taylor of radio-info.com: Hundreds of new Low Power FMs are closer, with a House Commerce Committee vote. This time the "grassroots" are against the NAB position, not for it. There are lots of community radio activists out there, and now on the "inside" at the new Genachowski FCC and at some Congressional staff posts. Check the language of H.R. 1147, as reported out of committee yesterday - "As a result of consolidation of media ownership, there have been strong financial incentives for companies to reduce local programming and rely instead on syndicated programming produced for hundreds of stations." It says "a renewal of commitment to localism.would bolster radio's service to the public." It cites radio's community service record during 2005's Hurricane Katrina - not that of WWL and the Radio consortium, but of Low Power FMs. Many in Congress want to authorize the FCC to license hundreds and perhaps thousands of new LPFMs in even the largest markets, as a kind of antidote to consolidation. Also a recipe to improve diversity. So consolidators of the 1990s, if you're still watching - be careful what you wish for.

Read the text of the Senate bill here.

Tom Taylor of radio-info.com: FM translators don't cause undue interference, so why not LPFMs? That's the thrust of paragraph 9 of the Local Community Radio Act - that if 250-watt translators, which full-power broadcasters are eagerly embracing - are okay on third-adjacent and even second-adjacent channels.then why not drop in a lot more community stations? Translators are "using the very same transmitters that LPFM stations will use." The FCC has repeatedly said it wouldn't authorize stations that would create unacceptable interference to licensed full-power stations, so the bill says, what's the problem? It's listening to the many community activists who want a greatly expanded LPFM service for "schools, churches and other community-based organizations." Strategically, the NAB has the same lobbying strategy on LPFM as for the performance royalty. They knew it would probably be passed by a favorably-inclined committee. Now the challenge is to keep the bill from being taken up by the full House. To do that, you persuade the House leadership that it would fail and be a waste of time on the legislative calendar.

Read the text of The Local Community Radio Act

ComputorEdge: Free Public Wi-Fi

Inside Radio: Legal play-for-play returns. Five years after former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's crusade led to millions in pay-to-play fines, the radio industry is again looking at legal ways to tap into record label bank accounts. Spanish Broadcasting System is finalizing plans to roll out a network-style, legal pay-for-play program in the coming weeks. And label support is positive. Read the details only in today's Inside Radio

LEAKED NETWORK MEMO REVEALS: Obama Controls Your Television Set. On September 10th of this year the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) posted a press releaseinforming the world that "from October 19-25, more than 60 network TV shows [will] spotlight the power and personal benefits of service," and that this "unprecedented block of TV programming is the first wave of a multi-year 'I Participate' campaign."

CNN Money: Bank of America Suffers $2.2 Billion Loss.

TV Tech: California Prepares to Limit TV Energy Use. Vote could come in early November

WSJ: The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would require radio stations to pay a new royalty when they play songs on the radio - Under the bill, large radio companies such as Clear Channel and Cox Radio would be required to pay negotiated royalties to performers for playing their music on the air

Fox News: Rush Limbaugh could have grounds for a libel suit, legal experts told Foxnews.com - Lee Armstrong, a New York-based attorney for the law firm Jones Day, said Limbaugh would have a "very high burden" to meet as a public figure to sue for libel or defamation

Gary Lycan: News-talk KFI/640 AM and classic rock KLOS/95.5 FM took home the top awards in two key categories in the Arbitron ratings for Orange County listening in August and September. O.C. audiences don't always share the same listening habits of radio listeners in L.A. And, aside from KFI, music stations dominate the charts

Mel Phillips: Raise your hand if you were surprised by the passage of the Performance Rights Act by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Can you see mine? Some of us may have been surprised but not those representing radio. A National Association of Broadcasters spokesman says the Senate committee vote was "fully expected" because that's where the RIAA enjoys its greatest support

Inside Music Media: This is getting out of hand now between the record labels and the radio groups. The labels have SoundExchange to ably lead their fight and radio has the NAB. It's getting nasty

N-Joi - "Anthem" (Oct 17, 2009)

The Wires (Oct 16, 2009)

Gary Lycan: OC Register: News-talk KFI/640 AM and classic rock KLOS/95.5 FM took home the top awards in two key categories in the Arbitron ratings for Orange County listening in August and September. O.C. audiences don't always share the same listening habits of radio listeners in L.A. And, aside from KFI, music stations dominate the charts

The Hill: The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would require radio stations to pay a new royalty when they play songs on the radio. The royalty would be split between the singer and the record label.

NY Times: Rush Limbaugh has been cut from a group seeking to buy the St. Louis Rams - Dave Checketts, the chairman of SCP Worldwide, announced that Limbaugh had been dumped toward the end of a news release - Checketts said in a statement that Limbaugh's involvement had become a "complication and a distraction" - A league source said Limbaugh was "very unhappy" when informed he was being dropped

NY Daily News: A month into NBC's 10 p.m. Jay Leno experiment, the show has a problem: It's not working. It's not failing. Jay hasn't suddenly stopped being funny

Mel Phillips: There are two key radio meetings scheduled today in Washington, D.C. First up: The Committee on Energy and Commerce should pass the Local Community Radio Act of 2009 which was forwarded and amended by the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet last week. This is the approved bill that would require the FCC to change its rules to eliminate third-adjacent minimum separation requirements for most FMs