I was saddened to hear that one of the industry’s few gatherings for programmers and air talent will be no more after this year. After nearly 50 years, The Conclave will be closing up shop after this year’s event. The…
The Last Word
The Spectrum Crunch, Revisited
Following our commentary last week on the reasons to plan for a broadcast-free radio industry—one of which was that the spectrum assigned to AM and FM radio is being eyed greedily by other telecommunications players—I left out one very important…
Banned from the Band?
In looking at what is happening to radio in general and AM radio in specific, I think every operator of a licensed commercial radio station needs to plan for the day when they will pick up their sticks and fully…
Winning Strategy?
In what has become a regular ritual, iHeart has announced another round of layoffs, which leads me to think that very shortly the entire company will consist of Bob Pittman and a Piper Cub. In fiscal year 2024, the company…
Just Like Starting Over
In this week’s news we feature a summary of an article by Dr. Eric Fruits that deals with rewriting completely the rules that govern broadcast media. It is a compelling read, and I urge you to follow the link in…
The Naked Truth About Ratings
I’ve been saying this forever—to the dominant ratings company directly when I was on their advisory council (they didn’t like me very much)—but Tracy Johnson backs it up with proof: Here’s the dirty little secret of the ratings game: it…
Giving Up on Radio?
James Cridland is an Australian author, speaker, and blogger who had this to say in his latest Radioland blog: The [UK] Radio Academy will, from next year, be known as The Audio Academy. As a former trustee, I was asked…
Curtis Nailed It
At the risk of beating a horse that is barely breathing, I want to commend NAB President Curtis LeGeyt for his forthright and clear defense of freedom of the press. Every week I speak with good broadcasters, well-meaning members of…
Community Conservativism and Press Freedom
I have discussed in past “Lasts” the growing peril to press freedom in our country today. I’m not going to invest too much space recapping the signs, but touching on the high points, we have the lawsuits, the license threats,…
A Busy Week in Washington
For the most part this has been a positive Washington week for radio broadcasters: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the FCC’s “top‑four” television station ownership prohibition. The FCC’s Media Bureau implemented rule changes permitting FM…