The NAB has launched a radio ad campaign on some local DC-area radio stations against paying performance fees. The performance fees would require terrestrial radio stations to pay the same royalties that Internet and Satellite Radio pay.

The radio ad, which can be heard by clicking here, contains so many ironies that it truly borders on comedy. Please give it a listen so you can feel the same rage I feel right now.

Yes, welcome to the hypocrisy that is the NAB.

Notice how they position themselves as small "local" radio stations? That they're the ones fighting off the big-bad music giants? I hope that those in Washington see through this line, because it's the same one they're using against Sirius and XM. And it's complete bullshit.

Even the stations this ad is airing on are owned by big radio conglomerates: WMAL-AM (Citadel), WTNT-AM (Clear Channel), WWRC-AM (Clear Channel) and WTOP-FM (Bonneville). Wait, how's that "local" thing work again?

If anyone has a monopoly, it's terrestrial radio. They enjoy government protected localism, a free ride on performance royalties, and over the last 10 years the NAB has spent $55 million in lobbying expenditures to protect these "rights."

Yeah, poor radio.

[Listen to the audio via the NAB] 

Here's a fun bit. The FCC has given two local television stations some fairly, uhm, unique call letters.

KUNT was assigned to a low-power digital television station in Wailuku, Maui. Yes, KUNT (they're not on the air yet). In Arizona, KWTF was the designated call letters.

Both were assigned to KM Communications who apparently missed the offbeat references in the sea of selections. The company offered a sincere apology "to anyone that was offended," said Kevin Bae, vice president of KM Communications, who requested and received KUNT and KWTF. It is "extremely embarrassing for me and my company and we will file to change those call letters immediately."

Giggle-inducing call letters aren't new, or relegated to television. KCUF-FM near Aspen, Colorado got its call letters in August of 2005 and has been on the air since December. (If you're scratching your head, just spell KCUF backwards.)

Then there's KLIT, the former call letters of a FM radio station in Fountain Valley, California. Which I think would make for some killer sweepers.

Let's just hope that Sirius/XM give their new name a bit more thought than some broadcasters do.

[Star Bulletin via TV Squad]
Thanks realwx!

NAB President and CEO David Rehr wrote a letter to President Bush to "set the record straight" over performance fees that the music industry wants terrestrial to pay for.

The incident that Rehr is referring to occurred last week during Bush's visit to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Bush was asked about whether he would support changing the laws to let artists get paid royalties when their songs are played on over-the-air radio.

Bush's response? "I have, like, no earthly idea what you’re talking about."

Watch the video here:

It's a hilarious response. But one I think personifies how many Americans feel about performances rights. Most people don't understand how the system works. Most don't get it that performers don't get paid by radio stations when their songs are played. Nor should they, they just like to listen to the music.

I'm torn here, because it's like sleeping with the devil. On one side, SoundExchange is asking for ridiculous rates from Sirius and XM. But on the other side, I feel that artists should be compensated for their performances. If terrestrial was footing the bill, perhaps the burden of responsibility on satellite radio and internet radio would be less. Equal playing field. All broadcasters should be treated the same, digital or analog. There's no reason why terrestrial should be treated differently just because they dominate the market and are making a profit.

Rehr obviously doesn't see it that way. He sees it as a "symbiotic relationship" that has existed for the past 70 years. Even though these old laws put the United States up there with Iran, China, Rwanda, and North Korea (they don't pay performance fees either).

Isn't it time to rethink 70-year-old rules?

[Read full letter (PDF)] 

National Public Radio has filed a 25-page Petition to Deny the proposed Sirius-XM merger with the FCC. At the same time, Senator Sam Brownback (R-DS) voiced his opposition in a letter to the FCC and DOJ.

NPR said in the petition (PDF) that the merger "would substantially harm the diversity of voices" on satellite radio. It also noted that a merged entity "might reduce the amount and quality of public radio programming" available on satellite, adding that the company would "be able to demand less favorable licensing terms, thereby forcing NPR and others to decide between program quality and carriage."

NPR has two channels on Sirius, though this isn't the only time that NPR has held an opposing position to the satellite radio industry.

Separately, Senator Brownback (R-KS) sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and Assistant Attorney General Thomas Barnett, suggesting that the proposed merger be rejected.

In his letter, Brownback writes, "The proposed merger may result in higher subscription prices and fewer programming choices, and yield monopoly power to purveyors of highly offensive, sexually explicit programming (emphasis added) that is inappropriate and harmful to our nation's families, thereby encouraging the airing of increased amounts of such programming."

Wow. That's quite the leap there Senator. 

[FMQB] 

The NAB has fired a shot across the bow in strict defiance against the Sirius-XM proposed A La Carte pricing plan, by issuing the following statement:

"Policymakers should not be hoodwinked by today's announcement, since nothing is stopping either XM or Sirius from individually offering consumers a more affordable choice in limited program packages. Moreover, after reading the fine print, one discovers that XM and Sirius customers have to buy a new radio for an undisclosed fee to reap the alleged rewards from today's announcement.

"The history of antitrust law demonstrates that two hotly-competitive companies will promise anything to become a monopoly. That, coupled with the brazen lack of candor displayed by both XM and Sirius in breaking FCC interference and terrestrial repeater rules, illustrates convincingly that this anti-consumer merger ought to be summarily rejected."

It's funny to see comments like the above one coming from the NAB. Ah, the hypocrisy.

"Nothing is stopping them" from offering A La Carte pricing now? Yes, it's called a business case. ARPU may go down as a result of this offering, but that's presumably a direct result of the merger synergies. Mel Karmazin at the NPC Luncheon today said that nearly every line on the P&Ls show a cost savings. Combine that with some economies of scale characteristics, and ta-da! you have a business case.

Then they talk about a "brazen lack of candor"? Oh lord. Here's six letters for you... P-A-Y-O-L-A.

[NAB] 

Under fire from various groups, Clear Channel has revised its online contract for Indie artists and labels who want to submit their music to be considered for broadcast and digital downloading.

The Future of Music Coalition (FMC) has been relentlessly fighting a public war against Clear Channel condemning the license. FMC even filed a petition with the FCC on the issue earlier this week.

FMC claimed that Clear Channel was in violation of a settlement agreement reached after an investigation of alleged payola, and that the agreement itself was a form of payola.

If a radio station plays a song because it has accepted some type of payment (whether it be money, a gift or "valuable consideration"), then it needs to announced who has sponsored the song. Otherwise, it's considered payola. 

To give a quick bit of background:
Earlier this year, the FCC and the four major radio broadcasters settled the payola investigation by agreeing to pay $12.5 million in fines. As part of a side deal, the broadcasters also agreed to air 4,200 hours of local and indie music. Now the contract in question asked Indie artists to waive their digital performance rights, effectively "replacing one form of a payola with another" as the FMC claimed on its blog.

The Future of Music Coalition isn't the only one fighting the good fight. Clear Channel had been contacted directly by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) and the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC), sources told Billboard.biz. Both A2IM and RAC have been working with Clear Channel on acceptable, revised contract language, according to a letter being sent by the three parties to the FCC and obtained by Billboard.biz.

The hooplah prompted Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), to send a letter to Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Citadel and Entercom, questioning their commitment to ending payola in radio.

And now Clear Channel has revised the agreement, stating very clearly that "Clear Channel shall be subject to and pay for all applicable current and future statutory royalties as well as public performance royalties."

[Billboard.biz & FMQB] 

The Reverend Al Sharpton, who arguably played a significant role in the eventual firing of Don Imus, told RADAR that he would not oppose Imus's return this fall.

That is, if he returns this fall. It's just all rumors and speculation right now. But if the September date is an accurate one, that would be a whoppin' 5-months of unemployment.

"My position is that we never called for him to be permanently barred from being on the air," Sharpton told Radar. "We'll see when he comes back, and if he comes back, what are the boundaries and what is the understanding."

Now, not to mince words or anything (though, that's exactly what was done to Imus) but what exactly is this "understanding" that Sharpton is referring to? It's fascinating to see that since the Imus incident, Al Sharpton has become the head decency-cop for all talk radio. Even to the point where he had to weigh-in on the Opie & Anthony suspension (and had an on-air debate over it).

"We'll be monitoring the situation, but we wanted him to pay for being a repeat abuser, and he paid. We never said we didn't want him to make a living," Sharpton added.

Kind and forgiving words from Al, but all the more reason why Imus should seriously consider any sort of satellite radio offering. The level of scrutiny that he would endure after being re-hired would no doubt be ridiculous. I actually don't think XM or Sirius would need to pay a significant premium over his CBS Radio contract (though, it's always nice) considering the benefits of broadcasting on unrestricted airwaves. And I also don't buy the argument that hiring Imus would add unnecessary scrutiny to the pending Sirius-XM merger. Imus' reputation is no worse than Howard Stern's or O&A's.

The fact is, the majority of people didn't find the Imus firing to be justified. So hiring Imus doesn't make satellite radio out as a wretched hive of scum and villany, but instead a haven for listeners to hear the content of their choosing.

Oh and as for the claim that Imus is seeking a black comedian to help along any racial humor, Sharpton says, "A sidekick is not cover. What he needs to give him cover is his own conscience and whether he'll live up to the apology he gave those Rutgers girls."

[Radar Online]
Thanks Jeff!

Don Imus may be returning to the airwaves in September, according to to private eye Bo Dietl, who was a regular on the "Imus in the Morning" show.

Page Six is reporting that Dietl said on Post State Editor Fred Dicker's Albany radio show, "I'm not supposed to say, but... if he was to be coming back, I would look to September."

When Dicker asked if he meant satellite radio, Dietl replied, "Broadcast."

Another source says Imus has been scouting comedy clubs looking for a black sidekick who will take the sting out of any future racial cracks like the one that got him booted off the air.

Personally, I think Imus on satellite radio would be a great move. But neither XM or Sirius, or their investors, are looking to sign any big-name contracts anytime soon.

[New York Post] 

mSpot, the mobile music/radio/video entertainment service, has signed a partnership agreement with ABC Radio Networks to add another 14 new channels to its mSpot Radio lineup.

Thanks to the deal, 14 ABC Radio stations in the nation’s largest markets in New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit, will be available to mSpot's one million subscribers in both the U.S. and Canada. mSpot provides its services in the U.S. for Sprint and U.S. Cellular, and in Canada for TELUS and Bell Mobility.

mSpot inked a similar deal with Clear Channel back in March.

"By offering our content on mSpot, we are rapidly expanding both the range and reach of our customer base," said John Rosso, senior vp, affiliate relations and digital media for ABC Radio Networks (a subsidiary of Citadel).

Launched about two years ago, mSpot Radio offers 200 channels - including more than 100 live radio stations. On top of ABC Radio Networks, mSpot has signed content deals with several radio corporations including Clear Channel, CBS Radio, National Public Radio, Radio Disney, FOX Sports and Marketwatch.

Content providers get a share of revenue on a per-subscriber basis and will eventually share in the revenue from inserted audio ads.

[MediaWeek]