Jim McInness News (July 31, 2010)

Summer's Almost Over? (July 31, 2010)

The Summer semester began on May 1, with the start of the movie season, and the closing of the television season, as well as getting into the heart of the baseball season, and the playoffs of basketball and hockey.

Fast forward to August 1. We're in the middle of Summer semester (which ends on October 31st). The overlaying Spring Semester ends on July 31st, giving way to the overlaying Fall Semester, beginning August 1st and ending January 31st.

Keep track of the time the sun sets from August 1 to August 31. The sun sets at 7:45 at the beginning of the month, but 30 days later, the sun sets at 7:15. It may still be summer, the heat may get hotter, and the humidity may get wetter, but the daylight hours will be reduced to about 12 hours and 45 minutes at the end of the month as the sun rises later and later each day. August 31 may still be summer, but it doesn't have the fresh feeling of the season as June 21st did when it began with the longest day of the year.

The Wires (July 31, 2010)

John Maffei TV/Radio Sports: TUBE TALK: Filming finally set to begin on 'Moneyball'.

Multichannel News: Best Buy To Resell Clearwire's Wireless Broadband Service. WiMax provider Clearwire has signed a reseller deal with electronics retailer Best Buy -- the first wholesale distribution agreement for Clearwire outside of its strategic investors, which include Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

Multichannel News: Cincy Bell Debuts Multiroom DVR For Fiber Customers.

Multichannel News: Broadband Bill Meetings In Full Swing.

TV Technology: Retransmission Letters Fly on Capitol Hill. Cable/Sat carriage rules review urged.

Broadcasting Cable: Genachowski On Broadband: Mission Not Accomplished (Broadcasting & Cable).

CBS News: California Congressman Dan Lundgren was driving to his Washington office Friday morning when he called into California radio station KFBK to discuss the recently-passed International Megan's Law. Before the interview could get underway, however, he was pulled over. A police officer can be heard in the interview, saying, "Can you hang up the phone, sir?"

Gary Lycan: Madeleine Brand's back as the host of her own daily local magazine-style talk show, to debut at 9 a.m. weekdays in late August or early September on KPCC/89.3 FM + If you visited the KABC radio website last week – www.kabc.com - you would have seen new program director Jack Silver making his own assessment of the current line-up in a video blog.

PR Newswire: Grupo Radio Centro, one of Mexico's leading radio broadcasting companies, announced its results of operations for the second quarter and first half ended June 30.

Now and Then: More Evidence That Radio's Growth Is Slowing - Still another advertising forecast for radio's growth has been adjusted downward. Could we be seeing a trend developing? Barclays Captial is forecasting radio revenue will grow this year by 6.8% instead of the previously predicted 7.4%. It's just a fractional shift but it translates into tens of millions of fewer revenue dollars.

Inside Music Media: You would be surprised (or maybe not) to see the emails I get from people in the radio industry confirming management tactics that defy the imagination. At the same time, on occasion, a broadcaster or two connects with their local market to distinguish themselves in an era of poor management. It’s all available to us for learning purposes.

FMQB: Digital Music News reports that the RIAA will not be freezing the assets of file-sharing site LimeWire. A Judge's order denies an RIAA motion but does not reverse the original court decision against LimeWire.

RoyaltyFreeMusicLibrary.com Partners With Brainshark

The Dream Cable Lineup (July 30, 2010)

The Wires (July 30, 2010)

Inside Music Media: How about a salary cap for radio – in particular these three companies – one of whom voluntarily filed for bankruptcy, another facing $18 billion in debt it can’t repay in two years and the third singing “It’s a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood” while its debt piles up. Are you with me?

Radio In Sights: Listeners would no longer be hostages of big commercial radio groups playing the same few songs. They could now break those shackles and find online radio stations that play their favorite music regardless of how obscure their taste in music might be.

FMQB: Study: AC Listeners Change Tastes At Age 40

All Access: iPhone as an Audience Measuring Device?

Cathy Hughes: Dionne Warwick More A Lobbyist Than An Artist

TV Tech: Broadcast Stations Increase in Number. The only major category where the station count went down was with Class A TV operations.

Hey Gang, Let's Put on a Show! (July 29, 2010)

"Just so you know, we've been doing dress rehearsal all this week. The purpose is to learn our new gear, which has been an anxiety attack for me...plus the chance to work our atrophied muscles out. I gotta tell you, it's been fun. We've been doing some good radio that no one gets to hear this week.

"But here's the most, the severely critical part of our show:

"You.

"When we hit it, and hit it nuclear hard on Monday, I want to make sure we all know our s--t. So where would I be without you? You are, and always have been, the most important, funniest, most valuable part of our show. So, here's the proposition. We are still fine tuning our studios, and let me tell you, they kick ass. And the only reason they kick ass is because Mike, and Mike and Joe and a lot of other people who are committed to us taking back #1 are busting their asses to get it done.

"Phones. Such a huge part of our show. Wanna play tomorrow? We are thinking around 3PM of doing another dress rehearsal. Now, of course, you would not know what we are discussing, since we're not on the air. But we can talk about just getting back together. So, we will give a green light tomorrow afternoon when we are getting ready to rehearse, and then, if you are so inclined, here's a new number to memorize:

"888.570.1007

"You won't be "on the air", but you will be part of a deeply important exercise for us, as we get familiar with how to bring back the show you miss.

"Talk to you tomorrow...can't wait."

Dave

Jim McInnes on the DSC (July 29, 2010)

"We first worked together in 1990 when their show debuted as the "Dawn Patrol" on KGB.

"Over the years, Dave Rickards and crew gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to needy people during the holidays. Hopefully they'll continue that tradition on 100.7.

"That generosity was demonstrated to me personally when I was fired in 2002 after 28 years on KGB. DSC presented me with a "black beauty" American-made Fender Stratocaster guitar adorned with a commemorative plaque thanking me for my years of service to the station.

"By way of contrast, the brass at KGB never even said "thank you" to me as they made me clean out my locker and escorted me to the parking lot.

"DSC is a class act."

It's safe to say that KGB-FM is nothing but an ass act!

New! San Diego Cable Page

Here's a recent article:

Cox Cable Planning To Dump Analog and Other Pricing Woes (July 28, 2010)

Please send me anything related to cable, including old cable channel lineups, upgrade news from the past, gripes about service, and more.

The Wires (July 29, 2010)

Radio World: Comments Fly on Radio Station Limits: Tony Gray, president of Gray Communications, wrote that the commission should not lift local radio ownership limits and the agency would “better serve the American people if it set ownership limits at pre-1996 Telecommunications Act levels. Consolidation has proven to reduce diversity in ownership as well as reduce localism and nearly kill[ed] any real competition in radio, not to mention the loss of countless jobs in the broadcast sector.” Matt Ganssle of Kemp, Texas, told the FCC it should either keep the current limits or raise them, noting that since the consolidation of the 1990s, “I have watched the quality of local radio and television programming degrade to an embarrassing level. Further consolidation will result in more voice-tracking, more automation, more network programming and fewer local jobs. Read more at the link.

Radio World: 3 Million HD Radio Receivers Sold to Date, iBiquity Says

Television Broadcast: DTV Transitions Yet to Go. The digital TV transition continues to play out across the globe more than a year after the United States hit its deadline. The story elsewhere is much the same as it was here leading up to June 12, 2009. Millions are not yet prepared and various government officials are trying to get the word out.

Multichannel News: Dangling Digital Carrots

Multichannel: Cable Dominates Download Speeds, Telcos Top Uploads: Study

Radio Info: Horizon Christian Fellowship continues its selloff of stations away from its San Diego base, and that’s what makes possible the Cumulus Media Partners deal for the K.C. translator. Horizon’s selling that translator (K274BR Bonner Springs) to Calvary Chapel of Kansas City, along with another translator (K227AU, Lees Summit, MO at 93.3) and the construction permit for a new full-power Class C2 at 88.9. The full-power station’s known as KYLF, licensed to Freeman, MO. Calvary Chapel is paying $150,000 for the two translators plus the CP – and assigning its rights to acquire the Bonner Springs translator to Cumulus Media Partners, for $135,000.

Randy Dotinga: Behind rock's most mysterious lyrics

Forbes Magazine: The Internal Revenue Service is demanding $45 million in back 2002 and 2003 taxes from San Antonio billionaire Billy Joe “Red” McCombs, who is contesting the IRS' assertion that he should have reported $213.4 million in long-term capital gains in 2002 from the sale of 11.3 million shares of Clear Channel Communications Inc. He's also disputing an additional $3.3 million in 2003 capital gains in connection with the same purported sale.

Hear 2.0: Howard Stern will stay at Sirius XM - Here's why.

Ross on Radio: Early 70s on Radio Gone? (July 28, 2010)

One of the interesting (and not necessarily gratifying) aspects of the newly resurgent Greatest Hits format has been watching the pure pop of the early ‘70s—once thought to be the new center lane of the format—fall away with each new test. A handful of titles still dominate, particularly those songs that still endure at Classic Rock and Classic Hits (“All Right Now,” “Spirit In The Sky,” “Maggie May”) or AC (“Dancing In The Moonlight,” “It’s Too Late,” “Lean On Me”). But the early ‘70s records that give the format tempo and energy are increasingly marginalized—Shocking Blue’s “Venus,” Lee Michaels’ “Do You Know What I Mean,” Three Dog Night’s “Mama Told Me Not To Come,” Tommy James’ “Draggin’ The Line,” etc. Johnny Rivers’ “Rockin’ Pneumonia & Boogie Woogie Flu,” by being a remake, was one of the first ‘70s songs to get played at Oldies when it was still a ‘50s/’60s format. It’s now long gone from many stations.

So what happened to early ‘70s pop? Some of it is just the passage of time as many of those songs hit the 40-year-mark without anything that gives them new currency with younger listeners. Edgar Winter Band’s “Free Ride” and Stealer’s Wheel’s “Stuck In The Middle With You” are from five months apart in 1973. Both still sound great on the radio, but the latter has a movie attached to it (even if “Reservoir Dogs” isn’t a film that you’re looking to relive five times a week) and is the one that endures.

As with music from the late ‘60s, there’s also an inherent advantage to those songs that were heard on both Top 40 and Rock radio at the time (including Bill Withers and Carole King), and have double constituencies. It’s not a fair characterization, of course, but for many the early ‘70s are remembered as the doldrums for Top 40—a time when Rock radio had Led Zeppelin and Top 40 had Bread and bubblegum.

Finally, there was that period not so long ago – five or six years ago in most cases – when the pre-PPM Oldies stations that had previously been built around 15-or-so years of music narrowed down. Many of the stations whose music had spanned from 1956 to the early ‘70s suddenly halved the number of years they played, meaning that it was possible in the mid-‘00s to hear one song after another from 1968-72 or thereabouts. Today’s PPM-era Greatest Hits stations are smarter about era. They don’t throw out certain timeless early ‘60s records on principle, and most now delve into the early ‘80s. But those early ‘70s songs that were pounded for five years certainly suffered collateral damage in between.

I’m expecting a lot of different takes on this one. Your feedback welcome here. (rossonradio@inemedia.com).

Univision Agrees to Go Forth and Sin No More… (July 28, 2010)

Everybody concludes that it would save all three sides (FCC, DOJ, Univision) time and money to settle now. Univision says it already had an anti-payola program in place, but agrees to beef it up and to appoint a Compliance Officer, among other things. In fact, the FCC doesn’t really get a lot out of this settlement. Even the $1 million voluntary payment (not a fine) goes to the U.S. Treasury, not the Commission. Univision Services will pay $500,000 and Univision Radio the other $500,000.

Read the consent decree here.

The Wires (July 28, 2010)

All Access: Details Of Univision Payola Settlement Released

Harker Research Claims PPM Costs Radio Big Bucks. Following the most recent NIELSEN release of data from 51 markets across the country, HARKER RESEARCH has come up with an estimate that should send shivers throughout sales departments throughout radio. "Seven billion more dollars. That’s what we estimate radio stations in the top-50 markets could add to their billing if radio used NIELSEN numbers rather than ARBITRON PPM (read more at the link).

Live365 Launches Redesigned Website. LIVE365 has launched its redesigned website at www.live365.com. The new design includes an embedded audio player accessible from every page of the website featuring album artwork, recommendations, and sharing features; new preset options; an updated station directory with multiple station views and sorting options; and station pages with the ability to share content through FACEBOOK, TWITTER and other distribution choices.

Los Angeles Times: Univision Radio will pay $1 million to settle claims that it secretly accepted payment from a record label for playing songs on the air - In one instance, a Los Angeles-based Univision executive in February 2006 sent a Federal Express package that contained $157,800 to a New York radio station programmer.

Who Da Guy Hawaii: 93 KHJ: Inside Boss Radio - Excerpt # 12: Chuck Blore: KFWB’s original jocks had a collective name that was born when we wrote a jingle calling them “The Seven Swinging Gentlemen.” That never really stuck, but a couple of years into it I did some traffic-safety bits, where a little girl (Don MacKinnon’s daughter) questioned the jocks about traffic safety and, of course, they always gave the right answers. So she proclaimed, “By the power invested in me, I declare you to be — one of them KFWB Good Guys.” That one stuck! Ron Jacobs: The term “Boss Jocks” came up in the first meeting about call letters with Drake and Chenault. I said, “Well, if we do go with Boss we can call the guys Boss Jocks — or B.J.s.”

Inside Music Media: The radio consultant Alan Burns came out with a study recently that concluded “radio is in danger of losing its future adult audience”. Note Burns said “future adult audience” not young audience which radio has arguably already lost. This notion is not new to those of you who meet here at this space every day. We’ve been warning of these dire consequences for years as radio companies ignored their product for foolish cutbacks.

Radio Insights: Did Radio Leave $7 Billion on the Table?

Kurt Hanson: RAIN 7/27: Internet radio "most popular" app being brought into cars by automakers, say analysts.

Multichannel News: NFL Network Debuts Subscription Preseason Streaming Package.

The Wires (July 27, 2010)

iPhone jailbreaking (and all cell phone unlocking) made legal. Owners of iPhones and other smartphones are one step closer towards taking complete control of their gadgets, thanks to a new government ruling Monday on the practice of "jailbreaking."

Inside Music Media: Recently there has been speculation that Clear Channel is petitioning the FCC to allow letting groups own 10-12 stations per market and other remedies designed to further deregulate radio. Clear Channel is owned by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital - two investment banks. They overpaid for Clear Channel at $24 billion. Later tried to get out of doing the deal and then, faced with the legal consequences, decided to go through with the purchase of radio's largest consolidator. Investment banks do not really own anything just to operate them. They buy companies. Leverage the debt. Then turn around and sell what they bought for a profit. When they can't sell for a profit, these investment banks usually make fees - lots of them - so the process of selling off the individual parts can also be profitable. That is, they win even when they lose. I believe Lee and Bain's Clear Channel is no more ready to sell the company than, say, than Lew Dickey's Cumulus Broadcasting is ready to start acquiring stations. Read the rest at the link above.

Univision agrees to $1 million payola settlement. The FCC announces that it and the Department of Justice have been investigating Univision for alleged pay-for-play, and that the company will make a $1 million payment to the U.S. Treasury. Under terms of the consent decree, Univision will appoint a Compliance Officer and follow the existing rules on "exchanging airplay for cash or other items of value." FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says "Payola - the idea of pay-for-play - misleads the listening public" by not adhering to the sponsorship ID rule. More about this surprise million-dollar settlement online at Radio-Info.com.

TV Tech: FCC Encouraging Mobile DTV Deployment. FCC granted the request for a waiver of the analog tuner requirement for devices that have A/153 mobile DTV reception capability.

Tom Taylor of radio-info: Bill Gardner suddenly is breaking up with Southern California's "Jill FM", as Amaturo's classic hits Jill FM trimulcast does the "sorry, Bill" part of the breakup. The regional 92.7-cast that includes Anaheim-market KJLL, Fountain Valley, Simi Valley-area KHJL, Thousand Oaks and Victor Valley's KAJL Adelanto is going to a voicetracked morning show, and that leaves personality and PD "Captain Bill" Gardner at liberty. Bill's website has the explanation - GM Tom Hoyt saying "You've done everything we've asked of you, and we fully accept the blame for a plan that pulled in too many different directions." Owner Joe Amaturo apologizes for "placing [Bill] in an un-winnable situation." Consultant George Johns says "Bill and I have done many projects together and hopefully we still have one or two more to go." For now, Bill's re-locating from SoCal to Las Vegas. His bio includes a nine-year run at oldies KOOL-FM, Phoenix. He's done mornings in Greenville SC, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago, San Francisco and San Diego. He's also been an airline transport pilot and flight instructor.

Yahoo News: Pandora has topped 60 million users and most new members are joining the service using mobile devices.

Bill Gardner: Two radio legends, Shotgun Tom Kelly and Bill Gardner, took time out during dinner in Laguna Beach to pose for a digital photo memory. Bill Gardner is leaving Jill FM as PD and morning show host, and heading back home to Las Vegas after Jill FM decided to go with "Automation in the Morning" in Southern California from Orange County.

Now and Then: It's More Than Just Music That Matters To Listeners -- So what does it take to have a winning radio station? First of all, it's not entirely about the music. Just playing listeners favorite music is not enough.

Postings and Comments (July 26, 2010)

From Scholarm1111: Vintage Power 106 aircheck from 1987

Didja Hear? (July 26, 2010)

On Sunday afternoon, I heard Oz on 102.1. I guess he's doing fill-in duties for both stations.