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This consultant says accountability concerns aren't just an issue for broadcasters.

You may be surprised to know that as 'antiquated' as radio billing systems seem to be, print is just as bad and in some ways worse. Much. And they gross much more money. I wouldn't buy in to all this whining about accountability from agencies, it's the same with print and it sounds like a good negotiating tactic on the part of the agencies.

Walter Sabo
Sabo Media

Gerberding
goes Outdoor
Broadcast veteran Joan Gerberding has been promoted to Vice President of Arbitron Outdoor, where she will lead efforts to sell Scarborough data to outdoor and out-of-home clients.

Former cable exec indicted

A salute to Howard University

Perception vs. reality, Part I
The Advertiser Perception Study released last week at RAB2005 found a disconnect between what advertisers and agencies think about the accountability of radio and what radio managers think about how well their industry does on the accountability front. The problem is that when it comes to accountability, radio is not perceived as being one of the top media. "Radio people think we are," said RAB President Gary Fries, but he noted that the survey of advertisers and agencies found a very different perception. Particularly in the area of credibility for audience measurement, people at radio stations who responded to the survey thought that local radio was right up near the top, placing radio's Arbitron diaries just behind network TV Nielsen ratings for credibility - - and ahead of local spot TV. Compare that to the advertisers and agencies who ranked local spot radio near the bottom - - even behind cable TV, which the radio people had ranked dead last!

RAB 2005 Atlanta presents
must issues to tackle
RAB CEO Gary Fries discussed the Advertiser Perception Study, noting that radio is still not perceived as the most accountable medium by advertisers. "Radio people think we are," he said, but went on to clarify that in today's environment, advertisers are obligated to show their stockholders or owners that they are getting what they purchased. "But the needle is moving." But we haven't had the ratings systems to tell the advertiser what is going on." Indicating that a three-book average consisting of data that could be as much as a year old is no longer acceptable. "We have to become more relevant. We have to deliver more information, real-time information, and accurate information. We are moving in that direction, but we're not there yet. We need to be the most accountable medium out there."
02/14/05 TVBR #31

32M satellite radios by
the end of this decade
Despite concerns that consumer demand appears to have softened in the past year, JP Morgan analyst Barton Crockett is still projecting strong subscriber growth for both XM and Sirius, with Sirius gradually improving its market share after launching second in the two-company race. The analyst is projecting that the two satcasters combined will have 8.5 million subscribers by the end of this year, 32.4 million by 2010 and 56 million by 2020. 02/14/05 RBR #31

Single stream carriage:
The constitutional argument
The FCC vote against imposing a multicast carriage requirement on cable operators was 4-1. However, a more accurate way to describe the vote would be 2-2-1, and if the timing were different, it could easily have gone 2-3 in favor of broadcasters. It is therefore instructive to take a closer look at the reasons behind the votes. Republicans Michael Powell and Kathleen Abernathy voted against the rule for what are basically technical reasons. They determined that a close reading of statutory documentation and prior court cases showed that there was not enough evidence in favor of broadcasters to sustain the imposition of further requirements on cable operators. 02/14/05 TVBR #31

Single stream carriage:
The public interest argument
On the other hand, Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein made it abundantly clear that they would have happily imposed multicast must carry on cable operators if they has first gotten assurances from broadcasters, and preferable to that, statutory requirements for those same broadcasters to use the added programming capacity in the public interest. The issue is under consideration at the FCC, but both said that it should have been completed before advancing to the must carry issue. 02/14/05 TVBR #31

FCC nixes multicast must carry
The FCC took a big stand with the cable industry over broadcasters, reaffirming an earlier finding that CATV operators do not have to provide dual analog/digital carriage during the remainder of the DTV transition phase by a 5-0 vote, and reaffirming cable's responsibility to carry only one and only one broadcast programming stream, regardless of whether or not the broadcaster is multicasting.
02/11/05 TVBR #30

NAB responds
NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts wasted no time reacting to the FCC's decision on multicast must carry. "In Washington, there are no final victories and no final defeats,"
TVBR observation: There is no way on this earth to call this a victory for broadcasters. However, Fritts does have a valid point. Members of both parties on Capitol Hill asked the FCC to support multicast must carry, or at a minimum, delay a vote on it. In their remarks, several of the Commissioners noted that ultimately, the FCC's job is to interpret and carry out the mandates of Congress. If the NAB can get legislators to put something in writing and vote affirmatively on it, broadcasters might yet get their way. 02/11/05 TVBR #30

Another broadcaster claims it was fouled by Citadel
Ed Levine's Galaxy Communications says Citadel Broadcasting Company went out of bounds in its effort to stop Galaxy from building an FM translator in Fulton NY, which Galaxy was seeking to bolster its coverage of the Syracuse market. Similar charges have come from Red Wolf Broadcasting in the New London CT market. 02/11/05 RBR #30

Congressional indecency
effort clears first hurdle
There was twice as much opposition to the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act in 2005 as there was in 2004. That brought the opposition all the way to two votes, as an essentially clean bill sailed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee as predicted. The vote was 46-2, compared to last year's 49-1 tally. The bill, if enacted into law, will raise the FCC's maximum indecency fine from 32.5K to 500K and put in a 3rd strike rule ordering the FCC to consider license revocations for thrice-cited owners.
TVBR observation: The bill sailed through the full House last year with only token opposition, but was done in by the Senate, which included amendments dealing with broadcast ownership consolidation and violent content, among other things. That will no doubt happen again, putting the ball squarely in Sen. Ted Steven's (R-AK) court. Will he be able to get an equally clean bill through his Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation? Stay tuned. 02/10/05 TVBR #29

Revise and shine?
The goal of keeping government activities transparent requires that when ever more than two commissioners meet, it must be in an open forum observable by the public, a provision of the Sunshine Act. Commissioners from both parties serving at the FCC want the rules revised, saying it hampers their ability to deal with the complex issues which are regularly brought before them. The Commissioners say they still communicate, via memos, staff members, round-robin one-on-one meetings etcetera.
TVBR observation: Neither Powell nor Copps has been at all shy about explaining themselves to the public. Where Powell has run into icebergs is his distaste for letting the public tell him what they think.
02/10/05 TVBR #29

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