Click on the banner to learn more...

Emmis is suing CC Radio over a former WQHT-FM (Hot 97)/New York morning co-host Star (Troi Torain), who Emmis claims is working with CC Radio NY to return to the market on rival WWPR-FM (Power 105) before his non-compete is over. Star left WQHT 5/03 and is currently airing on WPHH-FM in Hartford.

He was fired early last year for, among other things, allegedly threatening to "cut" the general manager.

Emmis claims Star's contract contains a still-valid non-compete clause - the length of which is now in dispute. The noncompete runs until 3/5/03, but Emmis says Star's attorney and CC Radio have sent letters calling the noncompete "questionable" and are indicating a pre-1/31/01 return.

"The non-compete was for a year, and I've been off the air [in New York] for well over a year," Star, 40, told The NY Post. Star says Emmis tried to do a new deal with him earlier this year "for millions," but said he and Hot 97 couldn't come to terms.

In the suit, Emmis also claims Star bashed advertisers, "disparaged" artists at Hot 97 concerts, "appeared intoxicated" at one concert, gave illegal free plugs to a vodka he endorses, "physically assaulted" GM Barry Mayo - and then went right on the air to trash his bosses. Emmis claims Hot 97 suffered "irreparable harm" with advertisers when Star mocked singer Aaliyah's death in a 2001 plane crash by playing crashing sounds and a woman's screams.

In a prepared statement, CC officials said they found it "strange that Emmis believes it will now be irreparably injured" because Hot 97 fired Star 16 months ago.

WFTL remained live and local during Hurricane Frances

WFTL, "Live 85," Fort Lauderdale, says it the only South Florida station to remain live and locally produced during all of Hurricane Frances, the clean up and while people needed food, water and ice in the aftermath. Live 85 began round the clock coverage Thursday morning with information on how to prepare for the storm. By 12 noon, 7 Florida stations in the James Crystal Radio group began a simulcast of the "Live 85 Hurricane Network" with updates on evacuations, shelters and twice per hour updates on the location of the hurricane from the National Hurricane Center, Miami and Accuweather.

The network aired live briefings from the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Emergency Operations Centers and from the state's Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee. The same is expected from WFTL should Hurricane Ivan hit.

The stations in the network include:

640am, WJNA, Royal Palm Beach, FL

1000am, WJBW, Jupiter, FL

1040am, WLVJ, Boynton Beach, FL

1400am, WFLL, Fort Lauderdale, FL

1420am, WDJA, Delray Beach, FL

Portsmouth, NH LPFM takes to the airwaves 9/12

During the weekend of 9/10-9/12, hundreds of community radio organizers will gather to bring a new legal Portsmouth, NH LPFM the air, as the Prometheus Radio Project partners with Portsmouth Community Radio for its sixth "Radio Barnraising."

As volunteer technicians build everything from the studio to the tower, producers, engineers, and organizers from the US Canada will teach dozens of workshops on everything from how to record and edit a news show, to how to navigate the intricacies of FCC regulations.

''We wanted to help build a station right in the state of the man in the Senate, Senator Judd Gregg, who has done the most to oppose community radio. '' said Prometheus Radio Project Technical Director Pete Tridish...We hope that upon seeing the great work of this station, Senator Gregg will drop his opposition to community radio.

Nielsen BDS signs with Philips for new technology

Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (Nielsen BDS), a supplier of airplay recognition technology, has entered into a license agreement with Philips to integrate its Audio Identification Technology into the BDS proprietary airplay recognition system. The agreement will offer clients a newly enhanced audio identification and delivery services including:

-- Greater ability to monitor millions of unique works;

-- Rapid airplay identification, monitored to the second;

-- Capability to immediately monitor newly released works;

-- Significant expansion of monitored station and market information;

-- Increased monitoring of niche markets and audio streams;

-- Highly accurate and expedient data delivery

The integration of Nielsen BDS with Philips' Audio Identification Technology includes Philips Audio Fingerprinting and Audio Classification technologies, a proprietary development of Philips Research, the Netherlands. Audio Fingerprinting is a technology to extract unique musical features of audio content.

The audio ID marketplace is getting highly competitive, now with the ability to measure commercial plays as well. MediaGuide, MediaMonitors, AudioAudit, Verance, Mediabase and others are now in the biz, monitoring airplay, spots or both.