Bubba the Love Sponge has reclaimed the top spot in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater radio ratings after making his return to the area's airwaves in January.

The most recent Arbitron radio ratings survey, which were released on Friday, shows that the Bubba the Love Sponge Show is the most-listened-to in the Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater market. Bubba is number one with adults 12+ (9.5 share), with adults 18-34 (18.4 share), with adults 25-54 (14 share), with men 18-34 (26.9 share), and with men 25-54 (20.8 share).

Bubba said he was "absolutely certain" that his show could reclaim the number-one spot, in a statement.

Pictured: The BTLS crew in Las Vegas for "Bubbapalooza" in March. From left to right: Brent Hatley, Manson, Bubba, Spice and Ned.

(Photo Credit: Scott Harrison)

There appears to be no end to the amount of meetings that are occurring at the Federal Communications Commission.

According to an FCC filing, NAB president and CEO David Rehr and Jane Mago of the NAB met with Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein and Rudy Brioche of Adelstein's office over he pending merger of XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc.

At the meeting, Rehr and Mago argued that a merged Sirius-XM would control "almost 20% more" total spectrum than that allocated to AM/FM radio combined. They also highlighted that the terrestrial radio spectrum is "shared among more than 14,000 licensees."

But perhaps the most scathing of the NAB's remarks comes at the end of the filing.

The National Association of Broadcasters said, at the April 30th meeting, that "the past behavior" of both Sirius and XM shows that any FCC conditions on the merger "would prove futile."

It's odd that the NAB sees "past behavior" as being such a big deal, especially considering the mountains of FCC violations - such as payola scandals, indecency violations, licensing issues, etc - that terrestrial radio broadcasters have made. Time and time again, the NAB adopts a "do as I say, not as I do" policy... something that I pray the FCC takes notice of.

[View FCC Filing (PDF)]

All the meeting rooms must be filled up at the Federal Communications Commission building (pictured), because the Texas Association of Broadcasters has resorted to gabbing with the agency at the local hotel airport.

According to a recent FCC filing, representatives from the Texas Association of Broadcasters (TAB) met with Commissioner Deborah Tate and her Special Advisor, Wayne Leighton, in the Hyatt Regency hotel at the Dallas, Texas airport.

The reps from the broadcast industry come from Clear Channel Radio, the TAB, KCLW Hamilton and KMOO Mineloa among others.

They discussed various topics that include localism and "general paperwork burdens" as well as - well, what else - the Sirius-XM merger.

Yes, surprisingly enough the broadcasters "raised concerns" about a merged satellite radio provider and talked about the prospects of such an entity should it be "allowed to retain all of its frequencies."

The burning question: was this meeting with Ms. Tate in a room? Or yucking it up over drinks at the hotel bar?

[View FCC Filings (PDF)]

"When the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem begins to look like a nail."

- Abraham Maslow

In the world of statistics and research, methodology is paramount. That's pretty basic. If you're going to draw a conclusion from the polling of a sample, the methods you use to extract those answers had damn well better be solid. Because in the end, the way this data is gathered defines the final outcome.

And this is exactly why I say that the Arbitron ratings for satellite radio listening are wrong. Indeed, they're bullshit.

Maybe that was a bit harsh, I'm sorry. Let's instead say that these ratings are for "information purposes only," because that's how Arbitron refers to them.

Mind you, the criticism that's about to ensue has absolutely nothing to do with terrestrial radio and how its listenership is measured. That's a whole different issue. This is meant to point out the flaws in how Arbitron measures satellite radio listenership and nothing more. So when I say that "Arbitron's ratings are wrong" I mean for Sirius and XM, and not regular radio.

So let's begin.



Reason #1
The Arbitron Diary.

Actually, it's the methodology for terrestrial radio ratings that's screwing it all up. Arbitron's diary is built from the ground up to measure AM/FM. Not Internet Radio. Not Satellite Radio. Not even HD Radio (that is, if anyone was listening to HD Radio). It's meant for good ol' regular radio and nothing else.

Here's a big problem: There is no checkbox for a listener to select "Satellite Radio." None. Nothing for Sirius. Nothing for XM. Nothing. Diarykeepers need to actually physically write in the service and the channel info, in addition to the time they started and stopped listening to the program as well as the location of where they did this. Do you think people will actually write in all that information? Right there, the data becomes tainted.

Follow the jump to keep reading...

Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, has recently setup a website polling subscribers about their opinion on their channel offerings on XM Satellite Radio.
Specifically, the company is inquiring about the commercials on the music channels.

The website they registered is SatFans.com.

SatFans.com was registered in late February of this year. Quite the interesting bit of timing as Clear Channel's forward sales agreement, which includes the right to program 409.6 kbit/s of XM's bandwidth, is expected to expire in June of this year.

[via Orbitcast Forums]

Looks like everyone needs to weigh in on the Department of Justice approving the Sirius-XM merger. Next up to the plate: The RIAA.

Mitch Bainwol, Chairman & CEO of the fan-favorite organization, decided to spin the situation to include the performance royalty argument with terrestrial radio...

"The merger's approval serves as a powerful validation that competitors should play by the same set of rules. On the heels of this decision, the logic for a performance right for terrestrial radio has never been clearer. Terrestrial radio - unlike satellite, Internet and cable radio - continues to reap special interest subsidies in the form of free government spectrum and an outdated exemption from compensating artists and record companies. It's time for that to change and for Congress to provide an economic marketplace where there is parity amongst all delivery platforms."

And while I disagree my blogging colleague Mark Ramsey on the whole issue of performance royalties for all forms of radio, I do agree with his feelings that these two issues are completely unrelated.

Photo courtesy of icanhascheezburger.com

Ouch, that's got to hurt. Just as Sirius and XM edge closer to finalizing their own merger, the Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Clear Channel Communications Inc. is having trouble closing their own.

Indeed, they're saying it's nearing a complete "collapse."

According to WSJ sources, the private equity firms behind the deal (Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital Partners LLC) and the banks financing it have failed to resolve their differences over the terms of the credit agreement. Those banks are Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, RBS and Wachovia.

"The sponsors do not want to do this deal," said one person involved, referring to the private equity firms. "No one wants to do this deal except for the seller."

Aw shucks.

[Wall Street Journal]

Today, musicFirst launched the ad you see here, and issued a press release, to welcome NAB representatives to Washington, DC for the NAB's State Leadership Conference.

The ad ran in this morning's edition of Roll Call, and the release featured three questions that  the organization feels members of Congress should be asking NAB's lobbyists.

"There are many questions that the NAB and corporate radio lobbyists can not possibly answer with a clear conscious," said Doyle Bartlett, executive director of the musicFirst Coalition. "Here are just three:"

1. How can you justify taking someone's intellectual property and making $16 billion in annual advertising revenue off that property without compensating the creators and owners of the property?
2. Why do you deserve a competitive advantage in the music marketplace? Artists and musicians are paid when their music is broadcast on satellite radio, Internet radio and digital music services delivered through satellite and cable television.
3. Which of your leaders is right: David Rehr, president of NAB, or W. Russell Withers, chairman of the NAB Radio Board?
   
   Rehr calls paying artists for their work product a "performance tax" while Mr. Withers said before the Senate Commerce Committee, "I disagree with 'performance tax.' It's a performance fee." What is wrong with paying a fee for product that makes you money?

I'm glad to see, finally, someone is taking terrestrial radio to task. You reap what you sow I guess.

That's what the Department of Justice is warning the U.S. Supreme Court about as it weighs in on an FCC indecency decision.

See, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York remanded the FCC's indecency finding against expletives on Fox's Billboard Awards show. The court concluded that the FCC had "failed to provide a reasoned basis for reversing its longstanding indecency-enforcement policy with respect to isolated and fleeting expletives."

According to Broadcasting & Cable, Solicitor General Paul Clement, said the Second Circuit decision left the FCC little room to modify its policy other than two extremes, adding that the court's decision "attempts to coerce the commission to choose between allowing one free use of any expletive, no matter how offensive or gratuitous, or adopting a blanket prohibition on any use of expletives."

In other words, George Carlin's "seven dirty words" might not be found indecent anymore.

Clement said the lower-court decision "effectively prevents the commission from carrying out its charge, and yet it is the commission that will be held accountable for the coarsening of the airwaves."

The U.S. Supreme Court are scheduled to meet on February 29th to decide whether to take the case, though that date could easily be delayed.

[Broadcasting & Cable]

While Opie & Anthony today officially made the move from delayed afternoon broadcasts to live morning-drive airings in Cleveland, word has come in that the dynamic duo is about to sign a new deal.

According to FMQB, Opie & Anthony are on the verge of inking a new deal that will keep them on both XM Satellite Radio as well as on regular radio stations run by CBS Radio and Citadel Broadcasting.

This would, of course, quickly dispel the rumor that Booker is taking over the b-b-boys slot at K-Rock once their CBS contract expires.

[FMQB]
Thanks Spencer!