Broadcasters lambaste FCC PRA play
A group of radio professionals says its one thing for the FCC to have an opinion about the Performance Royalties Act. It's quite another to investigate those with an opposing view over which it has power, an act they say "reeks of FCC hooliganism." They further argue that to all appearances, based on the way the FCC stated the issue, that it has improperly prejudged the prior to receiving any of the solicited comments.

RBR observation: These petitioners charge the FCC with advocacy for one side on a controversial and hotly debated issue over which both NAB and MMTC suggest it has no authority in the first place. We agree. Click the headline for more.

Ex-Congressman debuting on radio
Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned from the House of Representatives in September 2006 amid a scandal over sexually explicit emails. Later this month, he starts a new career as a radio talk host on WSVU-AM West Palm Beach.

RBR observation: Politicians who've suffered public disgrace seem to do well in radio rehabilitation. There are certainly examples on the air right now.

SCOTUS hears about Hillary
Actually, "Hillary Clinton: The Movie" was a starting point, but yesterday's arguments at the Supreme Court had much more to do with how corporations may speak and spend their money and how elections in the United States are conducted.

RBR observation: There are fears that the Supremes could unleash a torrent of corporate-funded advertising that could change the face of politics and make it almost impossible for candidates who stand up to corporations to ever get elected.

New satellite in service
Sirius XM reports that its recently launched Sirius FM-5 satellite has arrived at its orbit location and completed all testing. It is now delivering programming to Sirius subscribers.

Sales and Marketing
Study: Advertisers Get What They Pay For With Online Ads
By Jennifer Lane, President, Audio4Cast.com
A recently published study of the effectiveness of online display advertising showed that branded content sites consistently outperform portals on key metrics. The study, done by Dynamic Logic for the Online Publishers Association, measured purchase intent - in other words, it looked beyond the clicks to understand the value of the click to the advertiser. That's where ad networks and portals fall short compared to ads placed on branded content sites where purchase intent scores were nine times better.

77 WABC Knows That Real Estate
Brings New Ad Buyers
Advertisement - September 10th: 25% of 25-54's plan on buying or selling real estate in the next 12 months. Real Estate Today is the national two-hour show, now on WABC New York, that will help you build weekend revenue. Read more>>

Media Commerce Systems, Marketron pact for DR
Media Commerce Systems and Marketron Broadcast Solutions announced a pact to provide the radio industry complete electronic buying, ordering, invoicing and payment for the growing direct response (DR) ad business.

WQXR-FM sale gets FCC green light
The FCC has given its blessings for The New York Times Company to make its final curtain call and bow out entirely from the broadcasting business. The sale of its last station, Classical WQXR-FM New York, is going through despite citizen objections.

TRANSACTIONS
$1M WDRE-FM & WBON-FM Hamptons-Riverhead NY (Calverton-Roanoke, Westhampton NY) from Jarad Broadcasting Company (Ronald J. Morey, Jed R. Morey, John Rose, John Caracciolo) to JVC Broadcasting Corp. (Peter G. Schiff, John Caracciolo, Victor Canales, Paul Homer, Henry T. Wilson). $650K cash, $350K note. Seller retains WLIR-FM Hampton Bays, and Caracciolo retains a small interest in seller, so stations remain related. [FCC file date 8/18/09]

$150K WILA-AM Danville VA from Tol-Tol Communications Inc. (Lawrence A. Toller) to Lakes Media LLC, a subsidiary of Birch Broadcasting Corporation (Thomas C. Birch, Aurora D.P. Birch). $50K escrow released at closing, $100K note. Arbitron is doing special survey report for Birch in the market. Superduopoly with WSHV-AM/WKSK-FM South Hill, WLUS-FM Clarksville & WHLF-FM South Boston, all VA. [FCC file date 8/19/09]

"Re-Meet the Beatles" with AccuRadio
AccuRadio is celebrating the release of the Beatles' remastered music collection with an innovative and unprecedented line-up of streaming radio channels. These channels feature expertly-crafted collections of original material, solo works, covers and a healthy helping of the Beatles' influences, contemporaries, and music descendants. In all, AccuRadio listeners will have several different ways to "Re-Meet the Beatles."

Hedgecock gets afternoons at KFWB
Roger Hedgecock, former mayor of San Diego and an activist at the forefront of several pivotal issues for Southern Californians, has joined the new KFWB 980 AM LA lineup of high-profile personalities. Hedgecock's program will air weekdays on-air and online (www.kfwb.com) from 3:00 - 6:00 PM, PT.

WFUV throwing The Big Broadcast "Rent Party"
The Big Broadcast "Rent Party", an evening of music with Jazz Age roots, benefiting the program's public radio home, WFUV-FM NYC (90.7 FM, wfuv.org) will take place on Tuesday 9/22 at 7:00 PM at 320 Park Avenue. The event will include performances by Nancy Anderson, Peter Mintun, Robert White and Vince Giordano's Nighthawks.

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Only on RBR.com
Advertisers get what they pay for
...with online ads, according to a recently published study.

Ad Business Report
Media Commerce Systems, Marketron pact
...to provide buying, ordering, invoicing and payment for DR ad business.

Internet Business Report
Apple announces iPod nano
Users can record video, listen to FM HD radio and track the number of steps taken by exercisers.

Indy move
Jennifer Skjodt has been named Vice President and General Manager of Entercom's Indianapolis cluster (WZPL-FM, WNTR-FM, WXNT-AM) effective September 14th, succeeding Phil Hoover, who announced his retirement a few weeks ago. Skjodt was most recently General Manager of WKLU-FM Indianapolis.

Ellis is the new enforcer
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has named P. Michelle Ellison as the new Chief of the Enforcement Bureau. She moves up from Deputy General Council, a position she's held for 12 years.

CMA Announces 2009 Broadcast Awards finalists
Final nominees for the nation's top Country radio stations and broadcast personalities were delivered to Country Radio on Wednesday, when Chuck Wicks revealed the 2009 CMA Broadcast Personality and Radio Station of the Year finalists. The winners will be notified in mid-October and will be acknowledged at "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," to be held Wednesday, November 11th (8-11 pm ET) and broadcast live by the ABC Television Network from Nashville.

NY Times reporter freed in Afghanistan
The New York Times and other news outlets in the know had kept quiet about the capture of Stephen Farrell four days ago by Taliban militants. British commandoes freed him in a raid Wednesday morning, but his Afghan interpreter was killed in the fight.

September opens with scattered coverage
Health care was the #1 story during the week of 8/31/09-9/6/09 because radio and CATV said it was, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. But newspapers said it was the economic crisis, online thought Afghanistan and net TV said California wildfires. Click the headline for detailed charts.

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Recession-savvy branding & marketing strategy to create competitive advantage
Hey, it's time to "go back to school". Well, that we know, but what about making this fall season about igniting ourselves and our businesses by adding lots of power to our marketing punch?
09/09/09 RBR #175

Towers tumbling everywhere
Friday was a bad day for radio towers. Not only were two towers knocked down by vandals at KRKO-AM Everett, WA, but another deliberate attack took down a tower at WAEB-AM Allentown, PA. Also on Friday, an accident toppled the tower of WTJV-AM Deland, FL.
09/09/09 RBR #175

SCOTUS embarking on campaign finance case
A narrow dispute over advertising a documentary about Hillary Clinton has mushroomed into a broad attack on restrictions on corporate and union campaign advertising that have been on the books for decades.
09/09/09 RBR #175