As anticipated, today Randy Michaels, CEO of Tribune Company, formerly of Clear Channel, one of the grand architects behind the current state of commercial radio, resigned from his post at Tribune. This is how his former company’s flagship paper put it: Having lost the support of many employees, his board and the creditors who will […]
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Randy Michaels to leave Tribune, crying all the way to the bank
It’s been quite the fortnight over at Tribune Tower. Almost two weeks ago NY Times media reporter David Carr dropped a bomb of a story detailing the sophomoric and sexist behavior of Tribune’s top management, led by Clear Channel’s former eternal frat-boy-in-chief, Randy Michaels. Then, almost as if on cue, Randy’s hand-picked “innovation officer” Lee […]
Ghosts of Clear Channel continue to haunt Tribune Company
New York Times media reporter David Carr dropped a bombshell on Tribune Company CEO Randy Michaels today, and paragraph number seven pretty much says it all: Based on interviews with more than 20 employees and former employees of Tribune, Mr. Michaels’s and his executives’ use of sexual innuendo, poisonous workplace banter and profane invective shocked […]
Could white space devices boost streaming community radio?
The Federal Communications Commission has put the finishing touches on its rules for “white space” broadband devices—that is, gadgets that can send and receive high speed Internet across unused TV channels. Rolling out the service will be very tricky, since it involves portable gizmos that link to mobile or fixed machines that link to a […]
Thar be pirates on AM, too!
Radio World recently posted a brief item about three notices of unlicensed operation to three different persons that the FCC issued in Portland, OR to what is apparently the same station operating on the AM dial. There are a good dozen notices issued every month, and not every one gets reported on by RW. Apparently […]
FCC reboot gives us improved license searches
Ever want to know how many licenses Clear Channel actually owns? How about AT&T or Verizon? For years the FCC has had searchable online databases for distinct services, like broadcast radio, but not all have been equally easy to use or find. At the same time many entities own many different types of licenses–for instance […]
WFMU on the “catch 22” of Internet streaming
John Bergmayer of Public Knowledge has a great interview with Ken Freedman, station manager of WFMU-FM in Jersey City, New Jersey. WFMU is a trailblazing radio station which was in the forefront of both the free form and dot.com eras. The dialogue is a terrific read, because it encapsulates all the dilemmas facing Internet radio […]
Radio One endorses Comcast/NBCU merger
Radio One, the nation’s biggest African American oriented radio network, has endorsed the proposed Comcast/NBC Universal merger, now being evaluated by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice. Its CEO Alfred Liggins III praised Comcast for helping Radio One develop its TV One cable channel. “The result is that today, as one of […]
Dr. Laura lived by the market, died by the market
As most radio enthusiasts have probably already heard, veteran talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger appeared on the Larry King Live program Tuesday night and announced that she would leave her show at the end of the contract. Schlessinger made the decision in response to growing flack over her repeated use of the so-called “n-word” […]
Clear Channel spent almost $1.4 million in lobbying in Q2
It’s always a treat to check in with the House Office of the Clerk’s lobbying disclosure database and see what broadcast radio’s big boys are spending on Congress these days. Needless to say, the top roller is usually Clear Channel Communications, which forked over $1,370,000 in the second quarter of this year. And what did […]