Radio Wires (Dec 25, 2010)

Los Angeles Times: FCC likely to approve Comcast-NBC Universal deal with conditions. If approved, the merged company would be prevented from favoring its own content versus its rivals and withholding its content from rivals.

Jay Posner: TV/Radio Sports: With Chargers game flexed, fans in flux. Blame the Bengals. Before you wake up Sunday morning and get upset with the NFL and CBS and KFMB Channel 8 and the Union-Tribune (don't we get blamed for everything?) for not televising the Tennessee-Kansas City game in San Diego, realize this....[NBC-TV, owner of the Sunday Night Football telecasts] "flexed" Chargers-Bengals back to Sunday afternoon, which means it became a CBS game. Read the full article for the explanation.

All Access: CC Media Holdings To Reorganize Debt. Includes Clear Channel Comm; Clear Channel Outdoor. 2-1/2 years after its costly going-private deal led by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, CC Media Holdings quietly issues a Christmas Eve note about four ways it might "optimize the overall capital structure." For one thing, interest rates are lower now and a debt-exchange might lower its interest costs.

All Access: Miami Radio Icon Neil Rogers Passes At 68. He'd taken a buyout of his million-dollar contract in mid-2009, ending a 33-year radio career in south Florida, and this morning the sometimes-controversial Rogers died of congestive heart failure. As he lay in hospice, his fans had begun an online vigil.

Radio World Online: New LPFMs to Have Interference Remediation Procedures.

TV Broadcast: How Do You Receive TV? (Television Broadcast).

Tom Taylor: Where's Bubba the Love Sponge? Not on Sirius. Bubba's "best-of" has been wiped from the Howard 101 channel so Sirius can run the updated "History of Howard Stern" - which is also airing next door on Howard 100. That, plus the fact that Bubba (Todd Clem) says his agent hasn't heard from Sirius, is making Bubba nervous. He's re-tweeting posts from fans who say they'd cancel their subscriptions if he doesn't return in 2011. Bubba's contract runs out at year-end, just as Howard Stern's current deal does. But Stern got renewed last week. Bubba's agent Tom Bean hasn't gotten a similar call. Also missing from Howard 101 during the Stern-athon is Scott Ferrall, another of the regulars. Check Bubba's Twitter page (language alert) here. There's at least one tweet from a fan who says he called Sirius and was told that Bubba resigned. Meanwhile, Bubba's still doing his daily syndicated morning show for terrestrial radio, based at Cox Radio's rock "Bone" WHPT (102.5) in the Tampa market.

Other Wires (Dec 25, 2010)

Kim Kommando: How to Track and Text Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

PC Magazine: FCC Posts Net Neutrality Rules.

Mel Phillips: Eventually there will be some kind of compromise hammered out between the radio and music industries regarding performance royalties, but it won't come in 2010. Radio can have a Merry Christmas royalty-free. Congress has adjourned without a vote on the controversial bill.

All Access: 'Abbey Road' Crosswalk Designated Heritage Site,

Radio World Online: No Performance Rights Passage This Year. The lame duck Congress was a busy one. But when it comes to PRA, what didn't happen is news too. Yet NAB says talks continue and the issue looms in the next Congress.

Multichannel News: Discovery: Dish Does Not Have Right To 'Sling' Its Content To Web. Tells FCC DBS Providers Lacks Permission To Distribute Its channels Over The Internet

Tom Taylor: Performance Royalty battle is already teed up for 2011. TRI recently called it "The Vampire Bill" and it's not going away. Gordon Smith's NAB troops get just a small respite, after stalling the Performance Rights Act in the Congress that adjourned for the last time this week. You can imagine a Schwarzenegger-like "Ah'll be back" coming from the music industry. They will indeed be back, even though control of the House passes over to the supposedly more business-friendly GOP. But the performance royalty was never particularly a partisan issue. And the labels, through the MusicFirst Coalition, have deep pockets and a fair amount of desperation. They've made more progress in the last three years than they have in decades. They're emboldened. And as Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro told the recent Jacobs Media Summit - in his opinion, the NAB's strategy to go to Congress to require FM chips in phones "makes the radio industry look like it's weak, desperate, and needs the government to step in." So the NAB needs to prove once again that it's still got big biceps. When Eddie Fritts took over as CEO in the early 1980s he was told the NAB "couldn't lobby its way out of a paper bag." Eddie changed that perception, bigtime, and now the NAB is going to have to show it's still got moxie. Behind the scenes, there's negotiating going on, and that may be the best answer the NAB can produce in 2011. Because the labels aren't going away. Speaking of holiday breaks -

We're Here All Week (Dec 24, 2010)

We may or may not publish on Saturday depending on whatever wires we can use from Friday. We'll publish whatever we can get of Friday's wires on Saturday. Next publication after that is Tuesday morning with a press release on two more Los Angeles radio personalities who are embracing podcasting.

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Santa Barbara's 94.5 Flips (Dec 24, 2010)

Santa Barbara hasn't had a mainstream CHR station and KFYZ will look to carve a position between Cumulus' rhythmic CHR "103.3 The Vibe" KVYB and hot AC sister KRUZ (97.5).

Radio Wires (Dec 24, 2010)

John Maffei TV/Radio Sports: ESPN anxious to keep NBA in Christmas limelight. Christmas Day TV used to be a time for "Frosty the Snowman" reruns, the classic "Miracle on 34th Street" and a stray college football bowl game. ESPN and ABC have five games Saturday, and four of those -- Bulls-Knicks (9 a.m., ESPN), Celtics-Magic (11:30 a.m., ABC), Heat-Lakers (2 p.m., ABC) and Nuggets-Thunder (5 p.m., ESPN) -- are elite matchups. Only the late game -- Trail Blazers-Warriors (7:30 p.m., ESPN) -- is a ho-hummer. Are there too many college football bowl games? Does anyone plan to watch Florida International play Toledo in the Little Caesars Bowl at 5:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN?

Randy Dotinga: I wish you a tolerable Christmas song. A few weeks ago, an older gentleman named Ebenezer Scrooge dropped by this space to make rude remarks about Christmas songs. He has company: Other folks are less than thrilled about many of the songs that fill the radio airwaves at this time of year.

Gary Lycan: The top 10 radio stories of 2010.

On January 3 Max Kellerman will join 710 ESPN - KSPN-AM Los Angeles as mid-day host

STL Media: This business of programming radio stations isn't exactly rocket science, but the crap that's on the air today gives listeners the distinct impression that very few people are intelligent enough to do it right. I maintain there are a lot of people who could do it well with their eyes closed. In fact, quite a few of them are, with wide open eyes, ears and minds. They're the people who, in spite of the frequent thanklessness of the job, the low pay and the long hours, are operating our nation's successful small market operations.

All Access: SoundExchange To Collect Over $250 Million In Royalties In 2010.

All Access: Howard Stern A Regis & Kelly 'Men Of Radio Co-Host Search' Finalist.

All Access: Bubba the Love Sponge Not Renewed at Sirius/XM. Tampa-based Bubba has taken to re-tweeting posts by satellite subscribers who threaten to cancel unless Bubba's back on "Howard 101." Bubba continues his terrestrial radio syndication based at Tampa's "Bone" WHPT.

Multichannel News: Comcast/NBCU Deal Won't Close in 2010. Comcast's faint hopes that its $30 billion NBC Universal joint venture would close by the end of 2010 were dashed Wednesday, after the company conceded that the federal approval process will likely drag on until early next year

Multichannel News: Mediacom, Sinclair in Two-Year Retrans Deal. Sinclair Broadcast Group said Wednesday it has reached a two-year retransmission-consent agreement with Mediacom Communications for 22 stations in 16 markets.

Inside Radio: Fewer all-Christmas stations in 2010. Exclusive: Whether it was the improving economy or a sense that listeners had maxed-out on the programming strategy, there were fewer stations with "White Christmas" in regular rotation this year. The number of stations that went all-Yuletide in 2010 totaled 428. That's a decline of 12% compared to the record 484 Christmas stations logged one year ago.

FCC defends right to fine for indecency. It has been nearly six years since the Justin Timberlake-Janet Jackson Super Bowl show took to the stage and later brought a $550,000 fine against CBS. The court asked the FCC and CBS whether regulators are using the same standard for "recklessness" as the one commonly used in civil and criminal courtrooms. In an 18-page filing, the FCC says it does.

Tom Taylor: At Sporting News Radio, a new PD and two new daytime shows. The shows are in the 3-6pm Central and 6-9pm slots, with SNR casting Travis Rodgers in the lead role for PM drive. Travis was formerly lead producer for Premiere's Jim Rome show and works for "1560 The Game" KGOW, Houston - the new homefield of Sporting News Radio. Following Rodgers from 6-9pm Central time is "Gamecast", deigned to work either as a standalone or as a show to complement affiliate stations' play-by-play. (Apparently you can easily hop in and out.) Current weekend hosts Bob Berger and Craig Shemon will be starring, with anchors David Nuno and Robert Neagli. Last week Mission Media President Clancy Woods left Sporting News Radio as a day-to-day player, and KGOW owner and SRN partner David Gow added the president's role.

Other Wires (Dec 24, 2010)

Seeking Alpha: Sirius XM Radio shares are on the rise again, following the FCC's ruling on net neutrality. The reasons for this are simple. The idea of Free Unlimited Mobile Internet Radio is dead. Usage charges that will now be imposed by wireless carriers for bandwidth hogging applications such as the popular Pandora Radio, will guarantee Sirius XM's dominance in the audio entertainment space for years to come.

Mel Phillips: There's good and bad news for Pandora. First the good news - the internet music service monolith gained 35 million registered users in 2010. Pandora closes the year with 75 million registered users. Phenomenal comes to mind when describing Pandora, but now for the bad news - net neutrality.

All Access: Net Neutrality Fallout: Is Anyone Happy? Loopholes Could Threaten Pandora, Net Radio.

RAIN 12/23: FCC's net neutrality ruling casts shadow on future of Internet radio

Tom Taylor: Another way to slice broadband access - income levels. New research from the Pew Center finds significant differences by household income in the availability of things like broadband, use of the Internet, and cell phone ownership. 40% of households with less than $30,000 annual income have at-home broadband. That figure steadily rises to 87% for those at $75,000 and above. For Internet usage, 57% of those in the lowest bracket are online, versus 95% of those at the top. While cell phone usage - not surprisingly - is more universal than the other two. 75% of households under $30K in income have cell phones. Those are all ways that people in the future will be getting their radio, so access to the technology is important to broadcasters. One result of the technology divide is that in the future, lower-income households may be more likely to have and use terrestrial radios.

Radio Wires (Dec 23, 2010)

Other Wires (Dec 23, 2010)

TV Technology: FCC Sides With Class A Licensee in 'Must-Carry' Dispute. Analysis showed inadequate use of inferior antennas.

RAIN 12/22: SoundExchange publishes 2009 financials. The amount of royalties collected by SoundExchange in 2009 increased 20% over 2008 while royalties paid out to artists and copyright holders increased 55%. That's according to a just-released financial report from the royalty collection group. Though SoundExchange paid out $155 million to copyright holders in 2009, the group reports $111 million in "unpayable funds."

Pandora users nearly double in 2010. It was a stellar year for growth at Pandora, which began 2010 with slightly more than 40 million registered users and now closes the year with 75 million. "Pandora has reached critical mass," founder Tim Westergren tells Inside Radio.

Multichannel News: AT&T To Buy Qualcomm's FLO TV Spectrum For $1.9 Billion. AT&T Plans to Use 700-MHz Licenses to Supplement 4G Services. AT&T plans to buy spectrum licenses in the 700-MHz band from Qualcomm -- which is shutting down its failed FLO TV mobile TV venture -- in a deal worth $1.925 billion.

FCC Adopts First Open Internet Regulations. The Federal Communications Commission voted along strict party lines Tuesday to adopt regulations on Internet access.

Multichannel News: Favre's 'MNF' Farewell Draws 17.1 Million Viewers. In what figures to be his Monday Night Football swan song (maybe), Brett Favre helped lift ESPN to its fourth-biggest audience of the year and the ninth-largest in cable history

The Los Angeles Times: Fred Foy, announcer for 'The Lone Ranger,' has died at 89.

Radio Wires (Dec 22, 2010)

NTS Media Online: Michael Savage has filed suit against his longtime syndicator, Talk Radio Network, in a contract renewal dispute.

New York Daily News: Internet radio shock jock Hal Turner has been sentenced to prison for threatening judges.

Other Wires (Dec 22, 2010)

Mercury News: FCC adopts net neutrality rules - The network neutrality rules are meant to prevent broadband operators like Comcast and AT&T from favoring their own content over rival online video sites like Netflix, or wireless companies from blocking Internet phone applications like Skype.

Radio Ink: FCC Approves Net Neutrality Order. After a long open meeting that included some unusually pointed remarks from the dissenting commissioners, the FCC has, as expected, approved Chairman Julius Genachowski's "net neutrality" order on a party-line 3-2 vote. While Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps, who voted in favor, called the order an " important turning point in the struggle to ensure the continued openness of the Internet," Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell said the FCC has "provocatively charted a collision course" with legislators.

Major League Programs: The majority of sports fans associate holidays with whatever sport is prominent at the time. The one exception was Christmas Day, until the past few years. It wasn't that long ago that the NFL would be careful to schedule regular season and early playoff games on days other than Christmas Day itself.

Chicago Tribune: Rabbit ears on a mobile phone? Well, not exactly, but broadcasters and gadget manufacturers are working to beam live television to portable devices.

Mel Phillips: As bad as things got at one point, at least radio will not suffer the same fate the newspaper industry is suffering. 2010 will mark the first time marketers put more money into online advertising than newspapers, according to eMarketer.

Tom Taylor: What's the FCC vision of net neutrality? Verizon would be regulated, Verizon Wireless wouldn't. Wireless broadband providers are apparently exempt from FCC Chairman Genachowski's scheme. He's using so-called Title 1 powers to focus on cable and other wired carriers. So literally, Verizon's various broadband services (DSL, FIOS) would be required to treat all customers equally. But Verizon Wireless, in which Verizon is a partner with Germany's Vodafone, wouldn't face the same restrictions. That's one of the grounds upon which the big carriers may challenge today's vote. They'll claim unfairness, and they'll question the FCC's authority to regulate.

Radio Wires (Dec 21, 2010)

RAIN 12/20: Consumers to experience new in-car Net radio devices at CES 2011. In-car Internet radio, perhaps the "ultimate playing-field leveller" in the medium's ascent to mainstream adoption, will be on exhibit at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, from various manufacturers. Interestingly, Twice reports in-dash gadgets will go for prices well below last year's entries from Pioneer and Alpine. Look for in-dash Internet radios to start at $179.

Sinclair, Time Warner Cable Retrans Battle Continues. Time Warner Cable and Sinclair Broadcast Group, after flirting briefly with the possibility of entering into arbitration, appear to be as far apart as ever in their ongoing retransmission-consent dispute.

CNN's King Bids Farewell To 2.25 Million Viewers. Edges FNC's 'Hannity' In Finale Among Watchers, But Trails In The News Demo

Other Wires (Dec 21, 2010)

Wall Street Journal: The Federal Communications Commission is set to approve on Tuesday Chairman Julius Genachowski's proposed rules governing net neutrality -- a concept aimed at preventing Internet providers from interfering with web traffic.

Internet Radio News and Reviews: The FCC is considering and will release rules on Tuesday, December 21, about net neutrality, which will protect all Internet users, including those who provide and use Internet radio, from being blocked by Internet service providers, or web radio operators from being charged fees on the recipient's end, they already pay for the bandwidth on the website host end.

Senate Passes Low Power FM bill (Dec 19, 2010)

More analysis in Monday's TRI Newsletter, and online now at Radio-Info.com.

San Diego Community News (Dec 18, 2010)

The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl will kickoff at 5pm on Thursday, December 23 at Qualcomm Stadium. The game will match a top team from the Mountain West Conference (San Diego State is a front-runner) against Navy or an at-large selection.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit http://www.poinsettiabowl.com/. $1 from every ticket sold will benefit The Make-A-Wish Foundation of San Diego. This is one game you don't want to miss!