February 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. There are no planned celebrations. No parades. No planned parties. You’d think someone, somewhere would have popped open a bottle of Dom Perignon by now. But, nothing. Not even from those who lined their pockets and are clearly to blame for tearing the…
You know what they say, “If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Generally speaking this phrase, from America’s south, means a “family” looks to Momma to keep it organized and functioning. If someone gets out of line, Momma will not be pleased. For iHeart Media, two of their “Momma’s” are investment bank Goldman Sachs and a…
It’s been almost 20 years ago since the Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.), the National Association of Broadcasters (N.A.B.), Congress and then President Bill Clinton all teamed up to reinvent broadcasting with the historic Telecommunications Act of 1996, the first major rewrite of regulations since the 1930’s. With this combined brain power and political and business…
You can imagine my surprise last Friday night when the Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.) announced it was moving forward with its plan to help AM radio survive. “Ratchet Rule?” Marconi must have come up with that. Change it. Transmitters that decrease carrier levels when low or no audio is present to save electricity? Sign us…
A lot can be learned from data and tracking it. For example, in radio and television, there are Nielsen ratings. You analyze ratings by the week, month or over a year to develop and see a trend. Is the station or program going up or down? Trending up is good. Trending down is bad. One…
AM radio, the senior broadcast band, no longer has the luxury of time to correct its problems, if those problems can be corrected at all. This week there’s an assembly of “radio people” in Atlanta. The annual NAB/RAB Fall Radio Show, where station owners get to have free drinks on the vendors gathered trying to…
I’m sure you’ve read the media trades where consultants and experts say listeners, viewers and readers want authenticity, they want “real.” The unbelievable claims of being “the best” or “the most” doesn’t cut it with media savvy consumers anymore. But, radio? It just keeps on keeping on, ignoring consumer needs, wants and demands and continues…
A number of people seem to be “excited” about Rush Limbaugh’s new radio homes in Indianapolis and Boston. I just don’t believe Rush is. In Indianapolis, the heritage news/talk radio station is WIBC. Most radio geeks, me included, remember the bigger than life top-of-the-hour ID voiced by Chuck Riley. “Radio Indiana. (sfx) W-I-B-C Indianapolis.” …
After news broke about the Rush Limbaugh Show getting kicked to the curb by WRKO-AM in Boston, Nielsen radio market #10, I received about a dozen emails asking when I was going to comment. So, here goes. First, understand the “business of business is business” and the “business of money is money.” And it’s money…
I’ve been reading a lot about the Telos/25-7 Systems’ Voltair “black box” that some claim gives an unfair advantage to radio stations trying to game Nielsen’s PPM methodology. The box allegedly increases the chances the embedded PPM “watermark” on a station’s signal will be detected on a panelist’s meter. Is the Voltair unfair? I guess…
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