Kurt Hanson: The RIAA and other label-friendly groups have been arguing that, in the name of platform "fairness," broadcast radio pay the same royalty for the use of sound recordings that Internet and satellite radio do. After all, aren't they all "equivalent" ? Not according to the RIAA's own arguments from the late '90s, industry observers have pointed out. Then, the organization argued to Congress that digital platforms like Internet radio are completely different from terrestrial radio, so much so that they should be charged royalties for the use of sound recordings. Therefore, "the only reason why this 'unfair' dichotomy exists in the first place is because the RIAA lobbied for it, " TechDirt notes. Read more in today's issue of RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter, at www.kurthanson.com.

TV Tech: DTV Transition Fallout Continues. There are reports of spotty or no reception of network and independent signals, especially in some of the major markets.

TV Tech: Fixing VHF DTV Reception Problems. Increased power helps. So does circular polarization.

TV Tech Forum: June 12: The Aftermath. How did your station handle the transition? What was the reaction? Share your thoughts on the TV Technology forum.

TV Tech: June 12, By the Numbers. Friday, June 12 was a day of changing numbers for broadcasters, the federal government, and more than 114 million U.S. TV households.

TV Tech: Mobile DTV Could Spike DTV PC Tuner Sales. Report says ATSC mobile video deployment in the United States could create a “significant upside” for digital-only tuners.

TV Tech: Channel Changes Vex DTV Transition. The analog shutdown went very well for stations that weren't changing channels.

RWOnline: HelpSaveRadio.org Is Launched by Greater Media. Smyth says royalty bill could be ‘potentially devastating to all of us who work in radio’

Inside Radio: Stern fans outraged. Howard Stern won't be available on the new iPhone application, and that news drew plenty of complaints. Outraged subscribers are expressing their anger online. Several blamed Stern, with some highly unflattering references to his $500 million contract.

ZDNet: Hawkscope is a productivity tool that allows you to access your hard drive contents quickly via system tray icon with dynamic pop-up menu. It allows you to configure your favorite locations for quick opening. License: Free. OS: Windows.

ZDNet: TweetDeck is your personal browser for staying in touch with what's happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter and Facebook. License: Free. OS: Windows.

Inside Music Media: Despite suing 30,000 people over the past five years, the RIAA has not stopped illegal file sharing. In fact, file sharing has increased and continues to proliferate at a rapid pace. That’s why the record labels and their legal arm, the RIAA, by and large lost in court yesterday. The labels are certainly not going to collect on Thomas-Rasset’s judgment. File sharing continues to elude the labels' ability to control it. And all those poor artists are still going to get screwed by a record label near them someday.

Active Rock KIOZ (ROCK 105.3)/SAN DIEGO will continue as flagship for SAN DIEGO CHARGERS football under a two-year extension added to the coming season, the last under the old contract. The deal keeps the CHARGERS on KIOZ through the 2011 season. Games will also air on sister Sports KLSD-A (XTRA SPORTS 1360).

Jay Posner: Hacksaw To Fill In At XX1090. LEE "HACKSAW" HAMILTON will return to SAN DIEGO's sports airwaves for a week as the market mainstay fills in for morning team SCOTT KAPLAN and BILLY RAY SMITH the week of JUNE 29th on BCA Sports XEPRS-A (XX 1090)/SAN DIEGO, reports the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE's JAY POSNER. HACKSAW most recently handled afternoons on crosstown CLEAR CHANNEL Sports KLSD-A (XTRA SPORTS 1360) and was a longtime fixture at the old XETRA-A (XTRA SPORTS 690). He hosts weekends at XM SATELLITE RADIO's MLB HOME PLATE channel and will call NFL games for COMPASS MEDIA NETWORKS this season.

K61GH Moves to Channel 69 (June 19, 2009)

No, it's not KSWB, but its transmitting from the same location its analog signal once did.

K61GH low power channel 61 has moved to channel 69 from San Miguel Mountain, apparently taking the transmitter once used by KSWB, but broadcasting at 150kW, a fraction of the power KSWB once did.

The odd part is that the signal is in analog, not digital. A digital signal on channel 50 is in the works for K61GH, and once its operational, channel 69 will be off the air once again.

The format is MTV's Tr3s channel.

The Wires (June 19, 2009)

Inside Music Media: Even in a car, radio is a mere part of the automobile's entertainment system with growing competition from new media. No young person these days (or many older for that matter) buys a car without an iPhone jack. The HD concept of adding more channels than the federal government would let consolidators have was fatally flawed when it turned out radio groups couldn't operate all the stations they bought. And now we've seen that they can't pay the debt on these acquisitions, either. It would have been so much better to check with the consumer first - not iBiquity, the NAB, auto manufacturers (oops) or radio makers.

Kurt Hanson: The Senate unanimously passed the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 yesterday. The bill now awaits Presidential approval before becoming law. The legislation would grant SoundExchange and webcasters an additional 30 days from the date it becomes law to agree upon a new royalty rate. SoundExchange failed to reach royalty agreements with some groups of webcasters before the original deadline of February 15. Read more in today's issue of RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter, at www.kurthanson.com.

DTV Updates (June 18, 2009)

Digital TV sets will need to be recscanned to get KDTF and KUSI once again.

Co-channel interference is all over San Diego county depending on where you live. KCBS channel 43 (virtual 2) can come in too strong for people living in its good signal path to the point where viewers can't get either of the two low-power analog channel 43s broadcasting from Mount Woodson in Poway and San Miguel Mountain.

KUSI 18 (virtual 51) and KSCI 18 (virtual 18) from Los Angeles co-channel, so you will need a directional antenna only if you live where you can get both stations clearly.

KOCE 48 (virtual 50) can interfere with KUAN 48, a low power station from Poway, if viewers are where they can get KOCE clearly.

Low power KZSD channel 41 can be obliterated by KLCS (virtual 58) in areas that can get KLCS. KZSD is carried on KGTV 10.15, but even that signal may be out of range for many viewrs since KGTV is broadcasting at too low power to overcome the hilly terrain in San Diego.

The Wires (June 18, 2009)

Randy Dotinga: Turn over a New (radio) Leaf.

TV Tech: June 12 By The Numbers...

TV Tech: LG Ships Netflix-enabled HDTV Sets

Jelli Launches: Jelli, the first web service to enable 100% user-controlled radio, today unveiled a social music offering that allows users to take over a radio station with their browsers. Jelli is community-powered, 100% user-controlled radio and the first service to bring crowdsourcing to radio. Reinventing traditional broadcasting by empowering listeners to interact in a dynamic web experience, the Jelli community chooses in real-time what should play next – not just over an Internet stream, but also on the actual airwaves - LIVE 105, a CBS RADIO-owned alternative rock station based in San Francisco (105.3 FM KITS), will debut Jelli on Sunday, June 28 during the station’s 10:00PM-12:00 Midnight programming block. Jelli is live today with an online streaming version at www.jelli.net

Jim Gibbons: Radio tower causing families to leave their homes: Strange sounds from a TV that isn't even on. "The radio station playing over like the computer and other devices, like through the speakers of the computer, it will start playing the radio station," said Douglas Helfert, a resident of Floyd. Helfert lives just a few hundred yards from the tower and says the radio waves haven't just had an effect on his electronics, they've also affected his health.

The Wires (June 17a, 2009)

Huffington Post: The TV Business Is Toast. The traditional TV industry -- cable companies, networks, and broadcasters -- is where the newspaper industry was about five years ago: In denial. There are murmurings on the edges about how longstanding business models will come under pressure as Internet distribution takes over. But, so far, the revenue and profits are hanging in there, so the big TV companies don't really care. Specifically, the TV industry's attitude is the same as the newspaper industry's attitude was circa 2002-2003: Stop calling us dinosaurs: We get digital; We're growing our digital businesses; We're investing in digital platforms; People still recall ads even when they fast-forward through them on DVRs; There's no substitute for TV ads. Traditional TV isn't going away: Just look at our revenue and profits! After saying all this same stuff for years, the newspaper industry figured out the hard way that you can't stuff the genie back in the bottle. And over the next 5-10 years, the TV industry will figure this out, too. Read the rest at the link.

The Wires (June 17, 2009)

Inside Music Media: Radio is still a good free cash flow business with little overhead except for – debt. Many stations throw off positive cash flow but radio companies don’t generate the super huge numbers they need to clean up their debt obligations. Many radio companies have previously refinanced their debt at terms favorable to lenders in order to avoid judgment day --- the day that is coming for sure at a radio consolidator near you.

FMQB: It's Official: Sirius XM Passing Royalty Fees On To Subscribers. As expected, satellite radio subscribers will pay an additional fee each month, for copyright royalties.

SIRIUS XM Chief Service Officer JOE ZARELLA sent the following letter:

... we have an important update regarding your XM subscription. Music royalty rights were established by the U.S. Congress as part of the Copyright Act. ... These royalties have recently increased dramatically, principally as a result of a decision made by the Copyright Royalty Board ... Beginning on JULY 29th, 2009, a 'U.S. Music Royalty Fee' of $1.98/month for primary subscriptions and $.97/month for multi-receiver subscriptions will be effective upon your next renewal. This fee will be used directly to offset increased payments from XM to the recording industry.

Unfortunately, we cannot control the Copyright Royalty Board's rate increase, but we can offer you ways to save on your subscription. ... As a reaction to the additional fees, SIRIUS XM is offering a free month for subscribers who sign up for one year, with five free months for a two year deal and nine free months for a three-year subscription.

Digital TV Update (June 16, 2009)

The Wires (June 16, 2009)

Kurt Hanson.com: Last week saw IAC chief and former Fox and Paramount exec Barry Diller proclaiming the end of free content online , but Wired's editor-in-chief Chris Anderson doesn't agree. He reasons that because it is possible to make content available online for free -- due to low, if not zero marginal costs -- someone will make it free . And if someone is offering content for free, everyone will have to . "If it's not zero today, it will be zero tomorrow ," he said.

Bill Green sent a message to the members of BRING BACK THE MIGHTY MET: 94.7 KMET!
Subject: KMET IS BACK FOR A DAY... JULY 10th!
"I'm hearing that 100.3 The Sound in Los Angeles is doing a "FINALLY A KMET FRIDAY" on July 10th!!! Check it out, and please send in any news you might be hearing on this! Whoo-ya!"

WSJ: In Radio These Days, Small Is Better: One solution is an industry restructuring involving the closure of stations. That could happen if there are some bankruptcy filings (read more - Martin Peers - Wall Street Journal).

WA Today: Australian technology is powering the world's first internet car radio, which will soon provide drivers worldwide with access to 30,000 stations including online broadcasts and AM and FM stations from around the globe.

Free Press: Local radio advocates have been cranking up the volume, and it’s paying off. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld a Federal Communications Commission ruling that protects existing Low Power FM stations from being knocked off the air by full power stations.

Inside Music Media: Any new formats for radio? Nah. Just the ninth generation hybrid of music formats that sounded similar to the eight others that preceded them. Of course, there was new technology that made voice tracking possible, but didn’t this hurt the consolidators more than help? How about a new generation of radio personalities. No again - Howard Stern changed addresses. Don Imus got more decrepit and talk radio pumped itself full of hot air pandering to the same aging audience that advertisers don’t seem to want.

Mel Phillips: Acting FCC Chairman Michael J. Copps, who’s become the hardest working man in show business - the James Brown of the FCC, has put the use of FM translators by AM radio on the agenda for the next FCC pow-wow, July 2. Supported by the National Association of Broadcasters, the use of FM translators would effectively boost AM radio’s service areas. The NAB likes the idea because use of translators would “further the Commission’s policy goals of promoting competition, diversity and localism.” More importantly, a happy FCC means a happy NAB.

Roger Hedgecock Show Wires (June 19, 2009)

NY Times: Obama Viewed as Ineffective on Economy. A substantial majority of Americans say President Obama has not developed a strategy to deal with the budget deficit, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, which also found that support for his plans to overhaul health care, rescue the auto industry and close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, falls well below his job approval ratings.

My Way: Dems Rushing Financial Overhaul Democratic leaders have committed to enacting by the end of the year the biggest regulatory revision to the U.S. financial system since the 1930s - an undertaking so ambitious it has some lawmakers worried about missteps."We have to evaluate it, weigh it, slow it down and make sure we do it right," said Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. "Because if we don't, we will pay dearly."

Google:North Korea May Fire Missile Toward Hawaii The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), would be launched from North Korea's Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan's top-selling newspaper. It cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites. The missile launch could come between July 4 and 8, the paper said.

NY Times: Natural Gas Reserves 35% Higher than Previously Expected. Thanks to new drilling technologies that are unlocking substantial amounts of natural gas from shale rocks, the nation's estimated gas reserves have surged by 35 percent, according to a study due for release on Thursday.

News Max: Schwarzenegger Vows to Veto Dems Higher Tax Budget. His declaration comes a day after a Democratic-controlled legislative committee wrapped up its work on a proposed budget bill. The committee proposed a $15 increase in the vehicle license fee _ which would be the second such increase this year _ and a tax on oil production. It also wants to close some corporate tax loopholes.

Opposing Views: Schwarzenegger, Senate Agree Offshore Oil Will Help Gas Prices. Right now, U.S. states are facing record budget deficits -- totaling, in aggregate, at least $230 billion from fiscal year 2009 through 2011. Families in these states are getting whipsawed by the housing collapse, the weakening financial sector and, just recently, an increasing pinch at the gas pump. Needless to say, more jobs, new revenues and additional economic activity are desperately needed by these states' treasuries.

Roger Hedgecock Show Wires (June 18, 2009)

Washington Post: Obama Looks to Take More Authority Over Private Markets. The Obama administration last night detailed a series of proposals to involve the government more deeply in private markets, from helping to steer borrowers into affordable mortgage loans to imposing new limits on the largest financial companies, in a sweeping effort to curb the kinds of reckless risk-taking that sparked the economic crisis.

The Hill: Dems Reeling on Healthcare. ObamacareCongressional Democrats and the White House are scrambling to regain their footing after a series of setbacks has stalled political momentum to reform the nation's healthcare system. Despite having a popular president in the White House and comfortable majorities in Congress, the Democratic rollout on healthcare reform has encountered significant bumps in the road.

The Hill: Centrist Dems and Republicans Meet in Secret to Discuss Healthcare Reform. CALL TO ACTIONCentrist House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are working together privately on healthcare reform. The talks have been so secretive and politically sensitive that some members interviewed by The Hill refused to name other legislators involved in the bipartisan effort.

LA Times: Health Insurers Refuse to Limit Rescission of Coverage for Sick Policyholders. Executives of three of the nation's largest health insurers told federal lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that they would continue canceling medical coverage for some sick policyholders, despite withering criticism from Republican and Democratic members of Congress who decried the practice as unfair and abusive

Politico: Rural Dems have Beef with Barack Obama... "They don't get rural America." ObamaAngered by White House decisions on everything from greenhouse gases to car dealerships, congressional Democrats from rural districts are threatening to revolt against parts of President Barack Obama's ambitious first-year agenda. "They don't get rural America," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat who represents California's agriculture-rich Central Valley. "They form their views of the world in large cities."

Washington Post: Obama Risks Perception He is Siding with Iranian Regime. IranObama's strategy toward Iran places him objectively on the side of the government's efforts to return to normalcy as quickly as possible, not in league with the opposition's efforts to prolong the crisis.

San Francisco Chronicle: Obama Looks to Cover Same Sex Partners of Federal Employees. ObamaPresident Barack Obama, whose gay and lesbian supporters have grown frustrated with his slow movement on their priorities, is extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, a White House official said.

Sacramento Bee: California State Senate offers 5% pay cut for Senate to help close budget gap. Moving to match the level of budget cuts its Assembly counterparts have made, the state Senate is aiming to cut pay for staff and senators by 5 percent, but is unlikely to eliminate the highest-profile symbol of legislative pampering - state-paid cars.

Washington Post: White House Explains IG Walpin Firing. The inspector general fired last week by President Obama appeared confused, disoriented and unable to answer questions at a late May board meeting of the Corporation for National and Community Service, according to a White House letter delivered to lawmakers last night. The letter came in response to several inquiries by lawmakers concerned about the president's dismissal of Gerald Walpin, who was appointed in 2007 by President George W. Bush to serve as watchdog at the agency that operates the AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs.

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