Thursday's Radio & Media News - August 1, 2013

Commerce Department Task Force Wants Radio Performance Royalties The U.S. Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force supports performance royalties for the airing of recorded music, releasing a report titled "Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy." Although the extensive report deals primarily with Internet streaming audio, the Commerce Department Task Force clearly indicates that it supports terrestrial radio performance royalties to establish parity with fees charged for digital audio streaming. In the report, the task force writes, "As the market for digital transmission of sound recordings continues to mature, and streaming becomes an increasingly important means of enjoying music, questions have been raised as to different obligations for different types of services using sound recordings, and disparities in rate-setting standards for those digital services that are subject to the statutory license. Of particular concern in the context of the growing digital audio market is the fact that there is still no public performance right when sound recordings are used by over-the-air FCC-licensed broadcasters. As a result, over-the-air broadcasters enjoy a competitive advantage over emerging digital services. For over thirty years, the Administration and Copyright Office have made repeated calls to create a public performance right for the broadcasting of sound recordings. Apart from the inability to obtain compensation in the United States, this omission has had a real impact on revenues received from abroad. While broad public performance rights are enjoyed by owners of sound recordings in most other countries, U.S. sound recording owners and performers have been unable to collect remuneration for the broadcasting of their works in those countries, due to the lack of reciprocal protection here." The report adds, "The Task Force believes that the overall framework of rights for the public performance of sound recordings should be revisited and better rationalized. In particular, the Administration continues to support a broadcasting right for sound recordings. With respect to the rate-setting standards for digital services, we urge that any reconsideration should focus broadly on the interests of all involved parties, taking into account the impact on creators and right holders as well as on different types of services. As Congress considers these issues, the Department of Commerce will provide ongoing input." Read the full report here (pdf). Los Angeles Times: 'Can Piolin Have A Radio Future?' "Popular Spanish-language radio personality Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo's departure from Univision Communications Inc. in the wake of sexual harassment allegations won't necessarily be a career-ending blow, but a comeback could be tricky, experts said," writes the Los Angeles Times. "I suspect he's a bit radioactive until this matter is resolved," says Howard Bragman, a crisis public relations consultant and founder of the firm Fifteen Minutes. "Allegations of sexual harassment are taken more seriously than ever, and the fact that he's gone might indicate that his employers gave these allegations credence." Until Univision last week severed ties with Sotelo, refusing to provide an explanation, Sotelo hosted the nationally syndicated "Piolín por la Manana" radio show, which aired on about 50 stations. The Times, of course, as we previously reported, broke the story about the sexual harassment allegations. According to documents obtained by the newspaper, Sotelo's show was canceled after a performer on his program, Alberto "Beto" Cortez, accused Sotelo of sexual harassment over a period of three years ending last winter. The claim was made in an April 16 letter from Cortez's attorney to executives of Univision, which broadcast and syndicated the show. The L.A. times reports now that "representatives of Sotelo, who has a loyal following among Mexican immigrants, have started conversations with other radio companies about finding a new home for his show, according to two people with knowledge of the talks. And competitors already are trying to take advantage of the situation. Univision has not decided how it plans to program the early morning drive-time period that Piolín ruled for a decade. For now, the company is playing Mexican regional music during that slot." The article goes on to detail other prominent radio comebacks after scandals or widely-publicized controversies -- including those of Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh, Bubba the Love Sponge, and Opie and Anthony. "Other radio personalities have bounced back from seemingly career-crushing controversies," writes the Times. Mick Lee Named '93.9 My FM'/Chicago Program Director Clear Channel Media and Entertainment names Mick Lee as Program Director and 3-7pm afternoon host for Hot AC "93.9 My FM" WLIT-FM, Chicago, effective August 19. Lee will join CCME Chicago from Baltimore, where he most recently has been Program Director for "Z104.3" WZFT-FM since 2010. Previously, he was Assistant PD both in Albany and Portland. "Hot 99.5" WIHT-FM, Washington DC, Program Director Mark Medina will replace Lee in Baltimore. Says CCME Chicago VP of Programming Tommy Austin, "Mick has spent the last three years with the elite team in the Washington/Baltimore corridor and we look forward to applying that knowledge to My FM. He will be a terrific addition to our team." Says Lee, "I am thrilled to join the already incredible programming team in Chicago and look forward to growing the new 93.9 My FM brand. Thank you to Tommy Austin, Earl Jones and Clay Hunnicutt for the amazing opportunity. It's been an absolute pleasure working with Meg Stevens, Dennis Lamme, and the entire DC/Baltimore cluster and I'm excited to take this next step in my career!" Dan Halyburton Joins Falls Media As Vice President Dan Halyburton is named VP of Falls Media, which currently owns Adult Hits KWFB-FM and CHR-Top40 KXXN-FM, Wichita Falls, Texas. He will share management duties for the stations with Falls Media President and co-founder Dan Balla. With Halyburton aboard, the company says it will seek additional capital, and focus on strategic acquisitions in mid- to large-sized markets. Halyburton has also made a financial investment in the company. Halyburton most recently has been with CBS Radio’s Texas State Networks. Halyburton is the former president of RadioTime (now TuneIn), market manager for Emmis Communications, New York, and senior vice president and group manager for Susquehanna Radio Corporation’s 22 radio stations. Says Halyburton, “I am excited about returning to day-to-day radio operations. Falls Media has had real success in its first market, and I plan to bring my station and digital experience to help grow our stations and position us for expansion." Balla adds, “Dan Halyburton’s extensive experience, knowledge, and industry contacts position us to begin making acquisitions in our target markets,” said Balla. From our first meeting, it was apparent that Dan shares our vision and passion for great radio, and a belief that investing in great people is as important as the properties we acquire.” Gigi South Joins L&L Broadcasting as Market Manager Larry Wilson's L&L Broadcasting names Gigi South Market Manager for its Savannah, Georgia, and Hilton Head, South Carolina, radio station clusters. She succeeds Mark Halverson, who recently left the company. South joins L&L from Clear Channel Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where she was VP and Market Manager. Says L&L Broadcasting CEO Bob Proffitt, “Gigi is ideally suited to lead our team in Georgia and South Carolina. She understands the passion, energy, and commitment necessary to win with our live-and-local approach to radio broadcasting.” South started her radio career in Tupelo, Mississippi. She came up through the sales ranks with Cumulus and Clear Channel working as Market Manager for Citadel in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. "I am honored to become part of the L&L team and to have the opportunity to work with radio legends Larry Wilson and Bob Proffitt. Savannah/Hilton Head has been my favorite vacation spot since I was a child. I'm beyond excited to lead the dynamic L&L Savannah/Hilton Head team to live and local service to our community, clients, and listeners,” says South. L&L Broadcasting -- based in Portland, Oregon -- owns and operates radio stations in Peoria, Illinois; Bluefield, West Virginia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi; and operates six stations in Jackson, Mississippi, under an LMA. Rush Limbaugh Celebrates 25th National Syndication Anniversary Today, August 1, marks the 25th anniversary of "The Rush Limbaugh Show" in national syndication. It was 25 years ago today that Rush Limbaugh began his national syndication based at WABC-AM, New York. "Heard on nearly 600 stations by nearly 20 million people each week, it is the highest-rated national radio talk show in America," says Premiere Networks. Celebrating 25 years of "Excellence in Broadcasting," Limbaugh has spent 788,918,000 seconds, 13,148,640 minutes, 219,144 hours, 9,131 days and 1,304 weeks talking to America, according to Premiere. "The relationship we've established here-between the audience and myself-is everything," says Limbaugh. "It's meant more to me than I'll ever be able to fully describe. It's the best three hours of the day! We're going to do this for a long time to come." According to a news release, "Known as the media pundit who reshaped the political landscape with his entertaining and informative brand of conservatism, Limbaugh is widely credited by many industry experts with resuscitating AM radio. In 1988, Mr. Limbaugh and his partners founded EIB, the Excellence In Broadcasting network, and he launched his phenomenally successful radio broadcast into national syndication on August 1 of that year with 56 radio stations. Adding 100 affiliates in just a few months, Limbaugh set a rapid pace for growth and paved the way for the expansion of the Talk radio format. 25 years ago there were approximately 150 traditional News Talk radio stations in America. Today, there are over 2,000." Fans Want Kidd Kraddick Morning Show to Continue More than 49,500 "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning” fans have signed an online petition to keep the nationally syndicated show on the air following Kraddick's sudden death. "Best of" shows have been airing since Tuesday, while cast members Kellie Rasberry, Big Al, Jay Si and Jenna take the week off to grieve. "We don’t know what the show holds for any of us," they told listeners Monday. Facebook groups memorializing David "Kidd" Kraddick, who passed away just short of his 54th birthday, and showing support for the radio show, have also sprung up since the weekend. No plans for the show have been announced by station management, or by any of the shows' staffers. The show, based at Clear Channel CHR-Top40 "Kiss" KHKS-FM, Dallas, was syndicated by Kraddick's YEA Networks. As we were preparing this report, we checked the online petition, set up on ipetitions.com, and it showed 49,560 signers, a total that has been constantly and steadily growing. August 2 Proclaimed 'Kidd Kraddick Kidd's Kids Day' Clear Channel's "106.1 Kiss FM" KHKS-FM, Dallas, YEA Networks, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, Southwest Airlines and the Dallas Fort Worth area are teaming up to honor the late Kidd Kraddick by proclaiming Friday August 2, as "Kidd Kraddick Kidd's Kids Day." The special proclamation culminates a weeklong on-air celebration of Kidd's life following his passing last weekend. Longtime listeners will be able to honor Kraddick's legacy Friday by contributing to his Kidd's Kids charity, estblished to help chronically ill and physically challenged children experience unforgettable adventure by sending them to Walt Disney World. Says Clear Channel SVP of Operations Kelly Kibler, "Kidd devoted his life to making people smile every morning, and for 21 years his foundation has been dedicated to bringing joy to thousands of chronically and terminally ill children. "Kidd died doing what he loved, and his final day was spent selflessly focused on those special children that meant the world to him." We're also told that a slew of cities have made official proclamations to designate August 2, 2013 as "Kidd Kraddick Kidd's Kids Day" -- including Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Allen, Flower Mound, Euless, Bedford, Grapevine, North Richland Hills, Addison, Coppell, Denton, Mansfield, Southlake, Plano, Frisco, Grand Prairie, McKinney, Carrollton, Weatherford, Richardson, Irving, Garland, and Mesquite. A public memorial service for David "Kidd" Kraddick is being planned by his family with details to be announced soon. NBC Sports Radio Passes 300 Affililates The Dial Global nationally syndicated NBC Sports Radio Network announces it has passed 300 affiliates. Dial Global Sports EVP and General Manager Chris Corcoran says, “Signing more than 300 affiliates so quickly is a true testament to the mass appeal of our talent and programming, creativity of our producers, and hard work of our exceptional sales and affiliate teams. We are especially honored to partner with such great radio stations across the country as we work together to connect avid sports fans, consumers, and advertisers. We continue to be motivated to reach more audiences by the amazing feedback we regularly receive from our local station owners, program directors and listeners." As of August 1, programming from the network is now heard on 303 stations. Helping the network get over the 300 mark were Tyler Media's KRXO-FM, Oklahoma City; Entercom's WDMT-FM, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; and Townsquare's KROD-AM, El Paso. The network also recently announced the addition of WCAR-AM, Detroit. Corcoran adds, "We are especially honored to partner with such great radio stations across the country as we work together to connect avid sports fans, consumers, and advertisers. We continue to be motivated to reach more audiences by the amazing feedback we regularly receive from our local station owners, program directors, and listeners." Spotify Reports Strong Revenue Gains, But Also Larger Losses Spotify more than doubled revenues in 2012 to $577 million (435 million euros), up from $246.7 million (162 million euros) in 2011, as it expanded to new markets and almost doubled its users. However, its net loss also increased to $77.4 million (51 million euros) from $58.8 million (39 million euros). Spotify has more than 20 million "active" users and over 5 million paying subscribers. Spotify tells us, "During 2012 Spotify saw dramatically increased revenues while maintaining a free to paid conversion rate of well over 20 per cent – unheard of for a freemium business, and a clear demonstration of the success of the business model. In 2012 the business focused on driving user growth, international expansion and product development, resulting in soaring user numbers and increased market penetration. Our key priority throughout 2013 and beyond remains bringing our unrivalled music experience to even more people while continuing to build for long-term growth - both for our company and for the music industry as a whole." According to Spotify's filings, it may consider another round of outside funding for capital, as it "cannot exclude the need or desire to raise more funds in the future to fund future growth initiatives." Spotify's financial backers include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Accel Partners and DST. Spotify, founded in 2006 by Swedes Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, strikes royalty deals with record labels and pays about 70 percent of its revenue back to rights holders. Ivan Shulman Named Radiate Media President Eight months after joining traffic information service Radiate Media as Chief Revenue Officer and EVP of Sales, Ivan Shulman is named President. "Ivan has a deep background in sales, marketing and media, and his leadership experience makes him a great fit for us," says CEO Chris Rothey. "Since joining us in November of 2012, we have experienced quarter over quarter revenue growth, including the launch of our Radiate360, our integrated marketing platform to drive hyper-local business. Ivan will continue to lead that initiative as well as overseeing the day-to-day activities of our broadcast radio, TV and digital lines of business." Shulman started in radio working at Westwood One in the Metro Networks division where he worked for 15 years. He began as a Director of Operations and an on-air personality, and by the time he left the company, he was the Senior Vice President of Marketing. He helped Metro Networks grow from seven cities to 81 cities during his tenure, exceeded sales and marketing goals and supervised revenue growth from $72 million to $290 million. He was integral in the transition of Metro Networks from being a privately held entity to a public company which was later sold to the largest radio network in the United States, Westwood One. From there, Shulman went on to join Global Traffic Network as Senior Vice President and President of the company's Canadian Traffic Network Division. "I joined Radiate because I was excited about future opportunities," says Shulman. "Our growth on both the broadcast and digital side has been phenomenal and I look forward to working with broadcasters to help bridge the gap between digital and traditional media." Dial Global Signs Exclusive Deal with UK's talkSPORT Dial Global has signed an exclusive terrestrial, three-season partnership with talkSPORT in London, UK, to broadcast live coverage of Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup. The partnership includes play-by-play commentary of nearly 400 soccer matches per year, in both English and Spanish languages, on a soon-to-be-announced digital platform as well as weekend morning Barclays Premier League games of the week throughout the season for domestic radio stations serving a rapidly growing U.S. soccer fan base. "On the heels of reaching a major milestone with our 300th NBC Sports Radio affiliate, we couldn't be more excited to be the resource delivering top-rate soccer coverage to a rabid fan base across the country," says Dial Global CEO Paul Caine. "This partnership is another major step forward for Dial Global as we continue to bolster the strength of our sports offering through powerful programming, content and cross-platform promotions in audio, digital and mobile." Listeners, we're told, will have access to talkSPORT's official play-by-play commentary which will be broadcast live from the UK, an exclusive weekly Barclays Premier League preview show, a weekly highlights show, live interviews and English-language documentary programming featuring profiles of sporting figures and Barclays Premier League clubs. "In just the past year, since becoming the Global Audio Partner for the Premier League, we have witnessed a groundswell of demand for live soccer commentary around the world," says talkSPORT CEO Scott Taunton. "We are thrilled to be working with Dial Global who is just as passionate and committed as we are about delivering the best and most exciting soccer coverage to the ever increasing number of fans in the U.S. market." Triton Digital Partners with Semcasting to Expand a2x Targeting Triton Digital announces a partnership with multi-channel targeting company Semcasting to expand its audience targeting capabilities within a2x, the "programmatic exchange for streaming audio advertisements." The partnership will enable Triton to target every listener on any device without the need for cookies. Semcasting uses big data analytics and an automated genetic modeling platform to weigh the impact of hundreds of demographic, firmographic, socio-economic, life stage, and transaction data variables to score every local or national campaign. Semcasting's Smart Zones Audience Targeting platform effectively links the mailbox with the modem, providing a2x advertisers with reach to all IP-connected devices, advanced levels of data accuracy and comprehensive, compliant privacy. "Our Smart Zone targeting will enable a2x advertisers to extend their targetable audience reach while providing specific and documented profiles of each listener,” says Semcasting CEO Ray Kingman. "Because we don't use cookies, Semcasting supports targeting on all platforms and to all users, including mobile, further extending advertising reach without compromising privacy." Traditional audience targeting techniques require the use of cookies, or stored data, on the user's machine or browser. Cookie-based targeting is limited due to the number of devices that do not allow cookies or that enable users to delete or disable them. When used in conjunction with cookie-based targeting, Semcasting's IP-based system delivers the ability to target nearly every user on any device including Microsoft's Xbox, Apple's iTunes and the Windows Media Player. "As we continue to add new publishers and trading desks to our a2x network, providing the best consumer data and targeting is an important focus for us," says Triton Digital President of Market Development John Rosso. "Our trading desk partners and brand advertisers will benefit greatly from the combination of Triton Digital's online audio exchange and Semcasting's targeting capabilities." Behind the Microphone: The Ins and Outs of Radio Wall Street Journal Radio Network Executive Director Nancy Abramson is exiting. She'd been with the network since 1996, and previously worked for the former ABC Radio Networks. She'll remain with WSJR through mid-September to assist in the transition ... Journal Sports Talk KXSP-AM, Omaha, hires a new local afternoon team for the ESPN affiliate. Joe Quinn and Nick Handley will co-host the 2-6pm shift starting August 5 ... Market veteran Rick Moore is named morning co-host at Journal Broadcast Group Country KTTS-FM, Springfield, Missouri, joining current morning host Summer Stevens, and replacing Bobby Baldwin, who recently exited. Moore joined the Journal Springfield cluster as Director of Production two years ago ... Sara Perry debuts a new afternoon show on Adult Variety Hits "100.7 Jack FM" KFMB-FM, San Diego -- the 3-7pm "No-Request Ride Home" -- as Perry returns to the station.