Partly Cloudy

North Texas Weather

53°F

Partly Cloudy

Humidity: 69%

Wind: NW at 3 mph

News

Dingell Calls Proposed Airplay Royalties Ridiculous

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 19:49
Print PDF

In a speech delivered Tuesday night at the NAB State Leadership Dinner in Washington, DC, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Emeritus John Dingell (D-MI) said he opposed legislation which aims to levy royalties for local music airplay. "Recording artists and record labels have profited handsomely for years from the free publicity they get from broadcasters," said Dingell, "a mutually beneficial relationship that a performance tax will destroy.

He continued, "I am concerned that such a tax would be of less benefit to recording artists than to record labels, many of which are based abroad... It seems ridiculous to me to impose a new punitive fee on broadcasters during this time of recession, especially as broadcasters have seen their revenues decrease by up to 40% over the past several years."

Dingell had served as Commerce chairman, or ranking Democrat, for nearly 30 years before becoming Chairman Emeritus in 2007.

Man Arrested On Suspicion Of Stalking Dr. Drew

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 19:49
Print PDF

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies arrested Charles Pearson Wednesday on suspicion of stalking syndicated radio personality Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of the nightly program "Loveline." Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies arrested Pearson after he used text messages to harass Pinsky and his family.

Pinsky allegedly threatened to kill Dr. Drew's family and had begun contacting Pearson's co-workers at KROQ. TMZ.com says Pearson believes KROQ implanted a microchip in his body in order to speak with him.

"He literally was making explicit plans to kill my children. And then making threats to my wife that she would have to eat them. Very bizarre. I feel like we're safe now," Pinsky told KNBC-TV. "I hope this guy gets treatment because clearly he needs it. He's probably suffered terribly and we got a dose of it directed our way.

Pasadena police took custody of Pearson and are now handling the investigation, Pasadena Police Lt. Tracey Ibarra told Pasadena Star-News. "He was stalking the family and one of the avenues he used was the electronic media," Ibarra said.

Pearson remains in Pasadena city jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.

Mancow Out At WLS

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 19:49
Print PDF

Mancow Muller and Pat Cassidy are out at Citadel's WLS-AM/Chicago. GM Michael Damsky told Vocalo's Robert Feder that the 9-11am show "just wasn't the bridge" the Talker needed between Don and Roma Wade and Rush Limbaugh. "Mancow has been an outstanding talent and an ideal employee in every respect," he added. But he "doesn't fit the needs of the radio station."

Mancow will continue to originate his TRN-syndicated daily show from the WLS studios. His WLS co-host Pat Cassidy is expected to return to CBS Radio's crosstown all News WBBM-AM (780) to co-anchor mornings with Felicia Middlebrooks.

Cisco Cotto will fill the 9-11am slot. In 2009, Cotto joined WLS to partner with afternoon host Roe Conn. Previously, Cotto worked for Salem's crosstown Talk outlet WIND-AM.

Study: Satellite Radio Listening Strong at Home, Work

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 19:49
Print PDF

A new study shows that satellite radio customers frequently listen to satellite content at home, as well as at work and not just in the car. The Council for Research Excellence (CRE) found that subscribers listened to satellite radio 29.5% of the time at home, 23.1% of the time at work and 21.4% of the time in the car.

For the study, released late last year, CRE used financing from the Nielsen Company to observe audio listening habits of consumers in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and Seattle. The study captured listening to broadcast radio, satellite radio, Internet radio, portable audio devices, CDs and cassettes and PC-stored audio.

Despite the dominance of OEM subscriptions, listening at home or at work could have been high in the study in part because "those who have satellite radio at home and work leave it on, and thus are [more] exposed to this source," said Nielsen's chief methodologist Dr. Michael W. Link.

He continued, "In a car we're more focused on the fact that we're listening to this source. In the home or at work, our attention likely goes in and out over the course of the day. So if you were to compare these observational results to self-reported data, folks might self-report that they listen more in the car than at work or home, when in reality they may simply have had greater focus on satellite radio in the car."

Brooks to Host New Weekday Country Music Feature

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 19:49
Print PDF

Beginning March 1, Country music fans looking for answers to their questions about the industry and its stars will have a new resource for behind-the-scenes knowledge. Country artist Kix Brooks, host of Citadel Media's "American Country Countdown," is launching a new weekday 60-second feature, "Just for Kix," that will take questions submitted by listeners and answer them on air.

"Each weekend on the countdown we try to give our fans the latest news on the artists topping the charts as well as a fun, behind-the-scenes look at the world of Country music," said Brooks. "With our new weekday feature, I'll be answering questions taken directly from acctop40.com or the individual station sites. This will be a great way to provide our audience with even more background on what makes the business of Country music tick."

Initial features of "Just for Kix" will cover topics ranging from how opening acts are chosen for concert tours; how artists choose set lists for their shows; how musicians are paid for music downloads; and how Nashville became the capital for Country music.

Meanwhile, Brooks-hosted "American Country Countdown" has reached more than 350 affiliates.

More Articles...