FCC Scorecard
New Commissioners added: 1
Old Commissioners returning for another 4 years of wiping cartoon butts from the airwaves: 1
Indecency fines levied in 2005: 0
Probability that the proposed family-oriented cable programming tier will actually succeed: negative infinity
Lots of swearing going on in DC... uh, yeah, swearing in. Deborah Tate is the newest republican member of the FCC, revealing no hints about her position on key issues. Commissioner Michael Copps, the democrat with an unhealthy vendetta against the nipple, will be gracing the federal ranks for another 4 years, and we're praying to our dark overlords that the next Republican appointee to the commission will be pro-first amendment. If we're lucky, 2006 will be another year of inactivity on the indecency front.
There were 314 total indecency complaints (spurred by programs on broadcast TV, radio, and cable) following Janet's wardrobe malfunction in 2004, leading to a grand total of $7.9 million in fines. The fine-less year of 2005, on the other hand, racked up 720 total indecency complaints, mainly due to a number of organized campaigns led by the PTC. They whine about the non-fineage here, and you can bet they aren't happy about the new so-called "family tier" of cable programming that's gonna cost them $12.99 more each month than regular old smutty American cable.
Non-Commercial Spectrum Openings
It is rumored that the FCC will soon announce a five-day filing window for non-profit groups (including schools and community organizations) to apply for non-commercial, educational radio station licenses (88.1 - 91.9 FM) within the next six months. This is the first time this opportunity has arisen in over a decade, mainly due to argument over the "comparative standard" rules which decide who receives non-commercial licenses. Few frequencies are left for licensing (forget licensing that big city station), but opportunities for stations to crop up on the outskirts of moderately-sized towns are still available in some parts of the country. Non-profit organizations and educational groups are free to apply. However, figuring out how to engineer, build, and finance a full-power radio station are a challenge to most smaller community groups and schools. The majority of non-commercial licenses nowadays are granted to religious organizations due to their preparedness in the field, and we all know that the last thing this country needs is more christian radio stations clogging up the lower end of the FM band.
There are a few organizations out there that offer aid to groups interested in non-commercial broadcasting: NFCB, Prometheus Radio Project, and Recnet are excellent resources. A new organization called Common Frequency was also formed to work synergistically with the others to aid community groups regarding information on starting stations. CF is interested in helping organizations start radio stations that 1) are open to the public for volunteering, 2) promote free speech and community affairs programming, and 3) program underground/non-commercial music, like WFMU. There is a shortage of decent community radio nationally, and the situation only seems to be getting worse. If you want to get involved, or get some ideas about how to bring good radio to your town, e-mail Todd.
No Eagles For You
The president of Iran has banned Western music from being played on the nation's radio stations. (Thanks, Monica!)
Mobile Phone Music Downloads
Similar to the concept of
podcasting, which allows your computer to automatically download a
radio program as an MP3, mobile phone services are now going to offer
subscription music services that will allow people to download radio shows to their cell phones
(via their computers). In addition to this new functionality rendering
your cell phone 30% more likely to take over your brain, it isn't going
to make the RIAA very happy. If all the major mobile phone companies
are enabling the downloading of copyright-stamped music on such a large
scale, perhaps the RIAA will just give up on their
technophobically-rooted attack on MP3s... or perhaps they'll hire more
lawyers to sue the pants off of each of us evil-doers one by one.
Speaking of Double A's...
The MPAA is yet again desperately trying to get the Betamax decision reversed. Their latest ploy requires new consumer electronic devices to read copy-protection signals on digital and analog videos. Here's a great article that sums up the controversy.
Other radio-related headlines from the past month that you may have missed:
- NY/NJ radio legend Danny Stiles (aka Kat Man) celebrates 58 years on the air. Debbie Daughtry has kindly posted a few of his airchecks to download on this post.
- Read about commercial radio's latest smear campaign to steer listeners away from evil satellite radio.
- To commemorate the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death, we present links to a previously unreleased radio interview with the walrus, along with a radio dial scan from New York's FM band the night of his murder.
- And the award for most annoying use of an LPFM station goes to... this guy!
- Shudder with amazement as The Professor schools your ass on the finer points of surfing the AM band and picking up shortwave signals. Read about his DX-ing adventures in three parts: 1 | 2 | 3
- William Berger removes the wool from our weary special effects-numbed eyes, and presents a review of The King of Marvin Gardens, a film that FM-philes will surely enjoy.
- Just added to the WFMU archives: lost episodes of the Stork Club, featuring live performances by the Frogs, Quintron, and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.
- Talk radio giants Bob Lassiter and Neil Rogers have kissed and made up.
- Conservative talk radio war-mongering airchecks from 2003, as our nation was on the brink of invading Iraq.
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