Emmis CEO/Chairman Jeff Smulyan dropped the bombshell last week while reporting its Q2 earnings results when he said, “For the past several months, Emmis and other companies in the radio industry have been working diligently to form a consortium that…
Now that the president has signed the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, its provisions are now a matter of law: it streamlines the music-licensing process to facilitate payments to rights-holders for streaming; it makes sure that the original…
The Commission has released a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, part of its AM Revitalization initiative, that would protect Class A AM stations’ coverage—one proposal for the daytime hours, and two alternative proposals for sundown to sunup. Comments will…
That’s what Borrell Research had to say about its new study of ad spending in that sector. Total advertising spending for automotive is down 7.3% (to $34.4 billion)—and radio is projected to be down in spending by dealers (-10%), by…
The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame has released the names of the artists in consideration for spots in the class of 2019: Def Leppard, Devo, Janet Jackson, John Prine, Kraftwerk, LL Cool J, MC5, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine,…
Google parent company Alphabet is shutting down its social network Google+ in the light of the revelation that at least half a million users’ data may have been exposed to hundreds of external developers—a breach that was discovered in March…
It looks like the “fake news” campaign is working, because according to the latest study from Simmons Research, the public’s confidence in news sources has plummeted to 40%—”a clear sign the news media is in crisis,” according to Simmons. Actually,…
The Enforcement Bureau has reached a Consent Decree against one Sergio Placentia, who was fined $2,680 for operating unlicensed stations at two spots on the FM dial in Miami; the fine was reduced from $20,000 because of Placentia’s alleged inability…
Federal agencies FEMA and the FCC conducted their first-ever nationwide test of both the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the Wireless Emergency Alert system (WEA) on Wednesday (10/3). Pretty much all of us should have received the WEA portion via…
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence/Kagan, mergers and acquisitions among United States radio and television companies totaled $657.8 million, driven by the activity around the Entercom-CBS Radio and the Gray Television-Raycom Media mergers.
The FCC will hold its monthly open meeting on October 23, featuring a proposal to eliminate the requirement that broadcast station licensees and permittees submit paper copies of certain contracts and documents relating to ownership and control of stations to…
The new service, “CBS Connect,” is designed for FM music stations, and includes a one-minute hourly update (“The Connected Minute”), a bunch of short-form features (“CBS Eye-Opener,” “CBS Rewind,” “Entertainment Tonight Minute,” etc.), and a morning-show prep service.