Cumulus to apologize for "smoking hoax"
Cumulus Broadcasting, owner of WXZZ-FM Lexington, KY, will publicly apologize for falsely telling listeners the city had banned smoking in cars (11/15 RBR Daily Epaper #223), and the city dropped plans to file a complaint with federal regulators.
Cumulus will appear before the Urban County Council today to apologize, offer a written assurance that the report, which prompted a torrent of angry calls, was a hoax. It will also give $1,000 to charity.
Officials in the city approved a ban last year on smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places. The bogus report aired 11/10, and three morning show hosts were suspended the following day. "Twitch, Mary Jane and Kyle" were back on the air yesterday.
Reporter's contempt trial begins today
WJAR-TV Providence reporter Jim Taricani begins a contempt of court trial today after months of refusing to tell a special federal prosecutor just who it was who gave him an undercover FBI video of an aide to Providence's then-mayor Buddy Cianci accepting a bribe. Taricanci has already been fined a thousand bucks a day for refusing to reveal his source (3/17/04 TVBR Daily Epaper #53), with his employer, NBC Universal, thus far picking up the tab. "I consier this to be part of the job," Taricani told the AP as he prepared for the trial which could land him in prison for up to six months.
Nude news draws big ratings
Since the FCC's indecency safe harbor begins at 10 pm, WOIC-TV Cleveland was never in any danger of a fine for a stunt in Monday's 11 pm newscast which featured anchorwoman Sharon Reed in the nude along with other women posing for an artist's photography session. Nevertheless, the station has been portraying the episode in the local media as a statement against the FCC's indecency crackdown. In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of the November sweeps. The nudie newscast did indeed draw bigger-than-usual numbers for the Raycom station.
Media Monitors to aircheck content for Clear Channel
RCS’s Media Monitors has signed an agreement with CC Radio to provide its online broadcast monitoring services to 130 stations in 25 markets. Media Monitors uses its AirCheck service to deliver broadcast data online via its website, www.mediamonitors.com.
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