The Wires (August 21, 2010)

Radio World: San Francisco to Get New Pirate.

Inside Radio: Shedding daylight on new music. It's not unusual for current music-driven stations to devote an hour to all new music but it typically happens outside primetime, like at midnight or on a Sunday night. Going against the grain, L.A.'s "Power 106" is bringing into broad daylight. And the ratings show it's a move that's worked.

Inside Radio: Sarah Palin backs Dr. Laura. "Don't retreat - reload," Sarah Palin advises Dr. Laura Schlessinger, on the talk personality's decision to leave radio. The former Alaska governor says on her Twitter page that Schlessinger will be "more powerful and effective without the shackles" of a daily show that could be monitored and scrutinized by opponents.

ZD Net: SpamSource 4.0.12.101 (Windows). SpamSource helps collect information from messages for use in reporting unsolicited junk email. Quickly and easily retrieves the e-mail message header and body information for use in Spam Reporting services, notifying e-mail administrators.

Broadcasting Cable: Melissa and Joey Premiere Scores Record Ratings for ABC Family. Melissa & Joey premiered on ABC Family Tuesday night to the network's best ever series debut among the key adults 18-49 demo with 1.3 million viewers. The series was also the most-watched comedy debut on record with 2.2 million total viewers tuning in.

fmqb.com: The FCC Media Bureau has granted another extension to Sirius XM Radio until November 21, for the satcaster to lease four percent of its audio channels to "qualified entities." The provision of leasing part of its bandwidth out was a qualification of the merger between Sirius and XM, but has been pushed back mulitple times.

fmqb.com: Former 91X/San Diego morning man Mat Diablo returns to Slacker Radio as Sr. Radio Program Manager.

Washington Post: A flawed political process resulted in a panel of judges setting punitively high rates that would have put many Webcasters out of business, and even the more reasonable rates negotiated last year are substantially higher than those that the XM Sirius satellite-radio firm owes, and infinitely higher than those that AM and FM stations pay. That's because in the United States--unlike in most other countries--radio stations don't pay "performance royalties" to musicians at all.

Gary Lycan: Radio broadcaster Stacey Cohen wrote an open letter to Schlessinger at LARadio.com. She said, in part, "I can't make you stay and maybe you are just tired of hearing people's problems and are ready for a new chapter in your life, but this is a bad exit-- not good timing for the rest of us girls. As a leader, do the right thing and sit through this storm, it will pass. They will all come back because you have a strong base and you are an excellent talent...Do you want this to be the last thing the radio industry says about you? Yeah she left because she said the n-word on the air. ... Buck up. Don't leave, leave when you are leaving with your head high and not being pushed. Now go on and do the right thing!"

Who Da Guy Hawaii: 93 KHJ: Inside Boss Radio - Excerpt # 17: Ron Jacobs: "The Real Don Steele was the master of what he did. No one in the history of Top 40 radio ever sounded like or will ever sound like Steele. He boogied on the airwaves while his enthusiastic, energetic style pulled you right into the radio like an electromagnet. - The Real Don Steele and Robert W. Morgan comprised the most talented radio tag team to ever entertain an audience. They performed with consistency, each in his unique style while never letting you forget that they played on the same championship team. I can't envision KHJ accomplishing much of anything without both these guys pumping their blood, tears and sweat into what they did three hours every day".

Radio Insights: Radio should be careful for what it wishes for. As excitement builds over the possibility that mobile phone makers will be required to add FM to their phones, it's a good time to reflect on what an FM chip means.

Chargers Game Not Blacked Out (Aug 14, 2010)

The Wires (Aug 20, 2010)

Los Angeles Times: Dr. Laura said she'd been considering ending her three-decade radio career for the last year, and the furor over racially insensitive remarks she made on-air last week was merely the tap on the shoulder she needed to leave.

Mel Phillips: Mobile Is Passing Internet In Popularity -- The newly formed alliance between the music industry and radio seeking FM radio chips in mobile devices is not only timely, it could save the medium.

Inside Music Media: Sooner rather than later, terrestrial radio stations will be paying what I call the NAB Tax - that special new fee for being allowed to help record labels expose their music for free while they make all the money. We can cry about it if we want, but a royalty tax is coming to a radio station near you thanks to NAB.

All Access: Dr. Laura: Decision Came Friday.

All Access: Mobile Industry Vows To Fight Inclusion Of FM Tuners In Devices As Part Of Royalty Agreement

Tom Taylor: radio-info.com: Bonneville's new South Asian-language HD-2 channel in L.A. is a lease deal. The Los Angeles Board of Radio-Info.com picks up the change on the HD-2 feed of Bonneville's adult alternative "Sound" KSWD (100.3), and Bonneville's Bruce Reese sheds some light on how it got there. He tells TRI "We've partnered with Entertainment Ecosystem, with product targeted at the South Asian Indian community." If it works out, expect to see similar deals on some other Bonneville stations. A different outfit, named Worldband, has leased out HD-2 channels from Emmis and Bonneville in some major markets. HD Radio developer iBiquity's been encouraging licensees to monetize their multicasting channels. We've seen sports teams get an entire channel, such as the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins. They've taken over the HD-2 signal of Clear Channel's modern rock WXDX (105.9). In the field of foreign-language programming, iBiquity thinks its system can fill the role long played by SCA channels - often used for subscription-only services to specific language groups such as Greeks or Chinese.

John Maffei TV/Radio Sports: ESPN Radio Done in San Diego at the End of the Month. It's going away at the end of the month, and judging from the numbers, the vast majority of you won't mourn the loss of ESPN Radio (98.9-FM) in San Diego. The Mexican-owned station has been operating in some form for the past eight years and has failed to make an impact.

10th Anniversary of Note (Aug 19, 2010)

The Wires (Aug 19, 2010)

Randy Dotinga: Dept. of oh-no-she-didn't, radio division

CNN Video, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times: Dr. Laura said on the Larry King Show Tuesday that she will end her radio career at the end of the year - "The reason is, I want to regain my First Amendment rights. I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special-interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors. I'm sort of done with that" - Ed Krampf, CBS vice-president and market manager for CBS radio stations in Los Angeles, including KFWB, said, "Laura's people gave me a heads up earlier in the day" -- She emphasized that she is not retiring - "I will be stronger and freer to say my mind

New York Daily News: Glenn Beck has a message for the chronically unemployed: You're a bunch of un-American losers. The Fox News host thinks some 99ers -- those who have used up their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits -- should be embarrassed to call themselves Americans - "Go out and get a job," said Beck. "You may not want the job. Work at McDonald's. Work two jobs. There has been plenty of times in my life I've done jobs I hated, but I had no choice. Two years is plenty of time to have lived off your neighbor's wallet"

Inside Music Media: It strikes me as somewhat ironic that the radio industry fought Arbitron's portable People Meter unmercifully for many years dragging out its implementation. After all, PPM delivers more radio listeners even if they really aren't listening. That is, PPM delivers more radio listeners to some formats which is why many radio groups are racing to dump what's left of format variety for same-old-same-old formats that could play well with an increasingly defective ratings methodology. And now, guess what -- radio groups really like PPM.

Radio Ink: Dr. Laura To End Radio Career.

KCBQ Remembered Update (Aug 18, 2010)

Video for `Dream Starts Becoming A Reality',

Construction of the monument began on Tuesday, August 17. You can see the activity in front of Kohl's on Mission Gorge Road. Pictures on the site should be up as of now.

From their website: "PLEASE RSVP for the event. Everyone is cordially invited! To help us out with the logistics part, we need prospective head count. There will be plenty of room to park as well. Kohl's has graciously allowed us used of the south end of the parking lot mid-day on Saturday, August 28. Please send your RSVP to Chris@SDRadio.net or; ShotGunT@AOL.com.

"Updates will be nearly everyday until August 29, so please check back!!"

The Wires (Aug 18, 2010)

Dr. Laura To End Career. In the wake of a controversy over her use of the "n-word" during her radio show, Dr. Laura Schlessinger says she intends not to seek a new contract when her current Talk Radio Network deal expires at year's end. Schlessinger tells CNN's "Larry King Live" that she believes her right to do a show where she can speak freely has been "usurped" by "hateful groups" who've refused to accept her apology. She notes TRN added five new affiliates this week.

Are They Freakin' Crazy? Radio Broadcasters and RIAA Want To Make FM Chips in Cell Phones Required By Law.

Who Da Guy Hawaii: 93 KHJ: Inside Boss Radio - Excerpt # 16: Ken Levine: I asked Bill Mouzis if he knew the origin of `Tina Delgado is alive.' He reacted like I was asking for the secret formula of Coca-Cola, which if he did know, he would have to kill me if he told me. What cracked me up was his saying something like, "Actually, I don't think too many people asked Steele, out of respect, you know?" The actual story I heard - and it may be bullshit - was that there was a tiny mention in a newspaper personal column that someone was trying to find a Tina Delgado. A few days later someone else wrote that Tina Delgado is dead. And a few days after that someone else wrote in that Tina Delgado is alive. At least that's one of the legends".

Inside Music Media: You can understand the angst on the part of radio broadcasters who have driven the sales of music through free radio airplay for many decades. And it is not as if you can expect owners to go down easily because whatever fees they agree to are likely to go up. This can be done by future legislation.

The Wires (Aug 17, 2010)

Kurt Hanson: RAIN 8/16: Carmaker Smart releases Internet radio system, Mini's in-dash system arrives in September. Carmaker Mini's in-dash web-connected system, capable of streaming Internet radio stations, will be arriving in new cars this September. Meanwhile, Smart's own in-car Net radio system is available now for current owners. Both rely on iPhones to connect to the Internet and feature driver-friendly interfaces. CNet has a video walk-through of both systems.

Multichannel News: Cable-ization of the Internet That Might Not Be The Metaphor You're Looking For

Inside Radio: Royalty deal may solve web ad issues. Can stations actually get concessions from AFTRA as part of a royalty settlement? Changes might allow stations to run all on-air commercials over their web stream, and stop covering them with repetitive promo's and in-house spots, while paying a lower rate. But it's far from a done deal.