The Saturday Aircheck

Randy Michaels on WLW 1987.

Michaels Resigns, Trib Names Four To Lead

Having lost the support of many employees, his board and the creditors who will soon take over the media company, Tribune Co. Chief Executive Randy Michaels resigned Friday, as the company's board sought to end one of the most tumultuous episodes in the history of the 163-year-old Chicago institution, which is now in bankruptcy.

The Chicago Tribune reports Michaels will be replaced by a four-member office called an Executive Council, which will be charged with stabilizing the company while it struggles to exit Bankruptcy Court after almost two years of fractious, stop-and-start negotiations with creditors.

The new caretakers are: Eddy Hartenstein, chief executive and publisher of the Los Angeles Times Media Group; Tony Hunter, president and publisher of the Chicago Tribune Media Group; Nils Larsen, Tribune Co. chief investment officer; and Don Liebentritt, who is in charge of the company's Chapter 11 restructuring.

Tribune owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, KTLA-TV Channel 5 and other media properties.

Michaels' departure followed weeks of escalating allegations that he and his "friends and family" — a cadre of former colleagues and associates from the radio industry — had tarnished the company with boorish, sexist behavior and a general atmosphere of juvenile unprofessionalism in the corporate suite.

Since he was installed in 2007 by Tribune Chairman Sam Zell, Michaels has maintained that his raucous, unconventional style was intended to foster creativity at a company desperate for new ideas.

But in the end, sources say, the former on-air radio personality was undone by a growing perception among once-supportive Tribune board members that his tactics were more irresponsible than effective. His behavior, they concluded, not only publicly embarrassed the company but exposed the board to potentially damaging charges that directors were standing by while management ran amok.

One question not immediately answered on Friday is what will happen to Michaels' recruits still at the company, many of whom are scattered throughout the broadcasting, Interactive and corporate divisions in important positions. When asked Friday whether he would stay at the company, Marc Chase, president of Tribune Interactive and a close ally of Michaels, said that he now reports to Hunter and that "I have no plans to leave." When asked whether Hunter had confirmed his status, he referred a reporter to Hunter, who was unavailable for comment.

Instead of being a tool of motivation, Michaels' "shock and awe" campaign was often perceived as being offensive and stifling by those who didn't get the joke. And when allegations of improper sexualized comments came to light, it appeared the loose employee handbook condoned bad behavior more than good judgment.

As Denise Brown, a former member of the company's corporate communications team told the Chicago Tribune this week, "if you spoke up you were portrayed as a sissy."

Michaels and his team, many of whom worked together at Jacor Communications and Clear Channel Communications, also stood as a group apart from the company they were attempting to transform.
Read more here.

Williams Joins 'Defund NPR' Chorus

Everyone on “The O’Reilly Factor” last night was calling for Congress to defund NPR, but Juan Williams, at that point, didn’t join that particular call.

Until Friday morning.

Via Politico.com, here’s the transcript from “Fox and Friends:”

Gretchen Carlson: Some members of Congress are calling for NPR to be defunded.

Juan Williams: You know what? I love NPR. I think that NPR is an important institution. I think oftentimes the quality of journalism is fantastic. I’m not about attacking NPR. But I do think this, Gretchen. If they want to compete in the marketplace, they should compete in the marketplace. They don’t need public funds. I think they should go out there, if they think the product is so great, go out and sell the product. And what happens is, too often, then, they want to make it out like, “You know what? We are a public jewel and we need the protection of the federal government. We need federal funds that come through the member stations and they pay for this product.” Nonsense. They are on a federal dole, is what it is And they better admit it and step up if they want to compete.

(Tom sez:  I would bet just about everyone in commercial radio would agree.)

Poll: Many Americans Say NPR Wrong

Only 19% Say NPR was Right to Fire Analyst

The vast majority of Americans with an opinion on the issue say National Public Radio was wrong to fire news analyst Juan Williams for his controversial comments about Muslims during an appearance this week on Fox News.

Ted Ilifff at pollposition.com writes a national Poll Position public opinion survey found significant criticism of the national radio network for ousting the veteran reporter and analyst.

Forty-six percent of those polled said NPR was wrong to fire Williams, 19 percent said NPR was right to fire him, and 35 percent said they had no opinion on the issue.

The criticism was even stronger when broken down by ethnic groups, drawing opposition from 62 percent of Hispanics, 58 percent of Williams’ fellow blacks and 55 percent from “other.” Whites registered less than a majority in opposing NPR’s decision, but the network’s critics in that group still outnumbered supporters 42 percent to 21 percent.

Read more here.

NPR CEO: Profoundly Sorry..

Williams' Firing Happened During Fundraising Week

WSJ Photo

In an internal memo to NPRers, CEO Vivian Schiller offered further clarification on the Juan Williams situation (for other stories, click here). It ended with Schiller stating 'we appreciate your support'.  (Tom sez:  In other words, toe the line or you could be out too.)

Dear AREPS,

Thank you for all of your varying feedback on the Juan Williams situation. Let me offer some further clarification about why we terminated his contract early. First, a critical distinction has been lost in this debate. NPR News analysts have a distinctive role and set of responsibilities. This is a very different role than that of a commentator or columnist. News analysts may not take personal public positions on controversial issues; doing so undermines their credibility as analysts, and that’s what’s happened in this situation. As you all well know, we offer views of all kinds on your air every day, but those views are expressed by those we interview – not our reporters and analysts.

Second, this isn’t the first time we have had serious concerns about some of Juan’s public comments.

Despite many conversations and warnings over the years, Juan has continued to violate this principal.

Third, these specific comments (and others made in the past), are inconsistent with NPR’s ethics code, which applies to all journalists (including contracted analysts):

“In appearing on TV or other media . . . NPR journalists should not express views they would not air in their role as an NPR journalist. They should not participate in shows . . . that encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis.”

More fundamentally, “In appearing on TV or other media including electronic Web-based forums, NPR journalists should not express views they would not air in their role as an NPR journalist.”

Unfortunately, Juan’s comments on Fox violated our standards as well as our values and offended many in doing so.  We’re profoundly sorry that this happened during fundraising week.   Juan’s comments were made Monday night and we did not feel it would be responsible to delay this action.

This was a tough decision and we appreciate your support.

Thanks,

Vivian

Bridge Ratings Takes Radio Through The "Digital Gauntlet"

Bridge Ratings has released an extensive look at the effect of new media on terrestrial radio over the past 12 years, going back to the rise of Napster in the late '90s. Bridge surveyed 3822 persons ages 12-21, who currently listen to the radio, use an MP3 player, listen to Internet radio, use social networking sites, all for at least 30 minutes a week, along with regular cell phone use.

FMQB.com notes Bridge measured "favoriteness" of listeners ages 12+, looking at how many had a favorite radio station. In the late '90s, approximately 85 percent of the demo had a favorite station, but by 2010, this measurement has fallen to just over 72 percent of listeners.

The study shows a "tipping point" in radio listening that first happened between 2002-2003, but the "collective momentum" of digital alternatives to terrestrial radio hit a new point by 2007. In 2007, 12-21 year olds' usage of MP3 players overtook what Bridge calls the Bridge Ratings Index (the relationship between weekly radio listening (cume) and favoriteness).

Internet radio began to really impact between 2003-2005 and usage surpassed preference for terrestrial radio in 2006 among 12-21 year olds. Bridge also found that social networking sites passed 12-21 year olds' preference for radio by 2007 and labels it as the "killer activity" that has hurt TSL among younger demographics.

Pulling together the data, Bridge found that "each digital technology contributes to carving off affinity to radio and consumers find it more and more difficult to concentrate on one medium for their entertainment. Short attention span syndrome has been shown to be a function of the increase in multi-tasking by all age groups in recent years."

Bridge notes that there has been less attrition among 18-34 year-olds, though the multiple digital options out there also have taken a toll on this demographic's preference for terrestrial radio as well.

Read more here.

40+% Of Teens Don't Have Favorite Radio Station

From country consultant Jaye Albright's Breakfast Blog:

Dave Van Dyke at Bridge Ratings has been tracking these things for many years and he's worried about our 12-to-21-year-olds, especially, as he reports today the percentage of all radio consumers that has a favorite radio station fell from 85% in 1998 to 72%.

Why might that be? Van Dyke has some recommendations on that too.

Read more here.

Christian Talker Ready for Secular Radio

The topics are vintage Jerry Springer:

• "I Need to Forgive My Lesbian Bipolar Mom."
• "My Son Just Found Out He Has a Baby; Should I Meet This Child?"

• "How Can I Get Past the Hurt of My Husband Looking at Dirty Magazines?"

But instead of squabbling over such things on the famously lurid TV talk show, they were discussed on a Christian radio program.

"We could do an entire show called 'Porn Talk,''' host Steve Arterburn tells Greg Hardesty of the Orange County Register about the type of calls he gets on "New Life Live," a syndicated radio program produced in Laguna Beach that airs on nearly 200 radio stations.

The hour-long call-in show, on the air since 1990, provides a Christian take on inner demons of all kinds, notably sex, drug and addiction. Two-million listeners tune in five days a week.

Now, with the recent debut of "New Life Live" on TV and iconic radio personality Dr. Laura set to go off the air in January, Arterburn sees a huge opportunity for his program.

"If you like her, you'll love us," says Arterburn, author and founder of New Life Ministries.

Like the callers to his show, the 57-year-old Arterburn shatters the stereotype that Christians somehow are more immune from others when it comes to fetishes, addictions and downright deplorable behavior.
Is this radio host the Christian Jerry Springer?

Although his program is anchored in faith, Arterburn takes a more secular, everyman approach -- which may explain the appeal of "New Life Live," whose audience, he says, has doubled over the last five years.

In June, the Christian call-in show started airing on the daily TV lineup of Dallas-based FamilyNet Television, which reaches more than 15 million homes. In October, "New Life Live" began airing weekdays at noon (eastern time) on the Christian-based National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Network.

Arterburn says he's in talks -- but not serious negotiations -- with radio producers to try to step into the shoes of Dr. Laura, whose audience is 9 million per week.

He has hired a Hollywood agent to pitch his program, which features a rotating panel of experts joining him in a tag-team approach to offering advice.



Read more here.

Goal: A Pandora In Every Car

Tim Westergren hasn't always been the digital music prophet. When he founded Pandora Media in 2000, it was more of a curious academic experiment called the Music Genome Project to analyze the attributes of all types of music, from early Renaissance classical to trip hop and funk.

That was followed in 2005 by Pandora's Internet radio, which serves up music deemed by the Music Genome to be similar to favorite songs or bands of individual listeners.

The LA Times reports though wildly popular, the company limped along financially until 2008, when Westergren announced that it was on the brink of collapse, thanks to a dramatic, retroactive increase in what Internet radio stations such as Pandora were ordered by federal courts to pay in performance royalties.

The announcement came as a shock to its 6 million listeners, who bombarded their elected officials with demands for reducing the fees. The campaign, called SaveNetRadio, worked. The fees were ratcheted down last year, sparing Pandora from what seemed like certain extinction.

The Oakland company still forks over 60% of its revenue in royalties, but now it can focus on growing, rather than just staying alive. Pandora today has more than 40 million listeners on mobile devices.

What's next? Westergren, the company's boyish and lanky chief executive who favors striped T-shirts that make him look much more youthful than his 44 years, answers that in a recent interview with The LA Times.

Read more here.

Also Read:  Pandora Calls Car Listening "The Holy Grail"... (Mel Phillips)

Fox Hands Williams $2 Million Contract

As National Public Radio weathered a storm of criticism Thursday for its decision to fire news analyst Juan Williams for his comments about Muslims, Fox News moved aggressively to turn the controversy to its advantage by signing Williams to an expanded role at the cable news network.

According Matea Gold of the Tribune's Washington bureau, Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million, a
considerable bump up from his previous salary, the Tribune Washington Bureau has learned. The Fox News contributor will now appear exclusively and more frequently on the cable news network and have a regular column on FoxNews.com.

"Juan has been a staunch defender of liberal viewpoints since his tenure began at Fox News in 1997," Ailes said in a statement, adding a jab at NPR: “He’s an honest man whose freedom of speech is protected by Fox News on a daily basis.

Read more here.

Also read

•  JUAN WILLIAMS: I Was Fired for Telling the Truth (Fox News Channel)
• Juan Williams, President Obama and the Nanny State’s Radio (Yorktown Patriot)
• NPR CEO Apologizes For 'Psychiatrist' Remark (NPR)
• NPR Ombudsman: Williams' Firing Poorly Handled (NPR)
• Public Radio vs. the Public The comment that got Juan Williams fired--and the one that didn't. (WSJ.com)
• Williams Firing Sparks Calls to Defund National Public Radio (Fox News Channel)
• Chris Wallace: NPR "Had Been After Juan For Some Time" (Broadcasting&Cable)

There was no question the first thing Bill O’Reilly addressed on his program would be the firing of Juan Williams from NPR over comments he made about Muslims on Monday’s edition of the Factor. Sure enough, O’Reilly almost immediately called the firing a “disgraceful decision,” and later brought Williams himself on to talk about it.



During a contentious interview on Fox News’ America Live, anchor Megyn Kelly interviewed Ibrahim Hooper, the communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), about NPR’s recent firing of political analyst Juan Williams for comments he made regarding Muslims.

Radio Bill Can't Get Play in Senate

A bill that would allow the Federal Communications Commission to give licenses to more noncommercial, localized radio stations is caught in static.

Jennifer Martinerz at politico.com reports, despite support from both sides of the aisle, including strong backing from Arizona Sen. John McCain, a group of Republican senators have successfully blocked the bill.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso currently has a hold on the measure, which would create a new crop of radio stations — known as low-power FM stations — dedicated to hyperlocal community news, such as information about school boards, city councils and church groups, or spreading music by local artists.

Congress has considered for nearly a decade allowing more low-power FM stations to enter the market. In 2000, Congress revoked the FCC’s authority to give licenses to low-power radio stations that are three clicks away from other stations on the radio dial — so-called third adjacent channels — and therefore limited low-power stations mostly to rural areas, where the airwaves aren’t as crowded.

There are already about 800 low-power FM stations in the U.S., according to the Media Access Project, a Washington-based advocacy group. Low-power FM stations operate at 100 watts or less and reach only a few miles. By comparison, the FM station WMMR in Philadelphia runs at 16,500 watts. Still, larger broadcasters worry the small stations could interfere with their signals.

Read more here.

NPR Fires Williams Over Comments on Muslims

NPR has terminated its contract with Juan Williams, one of its senior news analysts, after he made comments about Muslims on the Fox News Channel.

NPR said in a statement that it gave Williams notice of his termination on Wednesday night.

According to Brian Stelter at nytimes.com, the move came after Mr. Williams, who is also a Fox News political analyst, appeared on the “The O’Reilly Factor” on Monday. On the show, the host, Bill O’Reilly, asked him to respond to the notion that the United States was facing a “Muslim dilemma.” Mr. O’Reilly said, “The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet.”

Mr. Williams said he concurred with Mr. O’Reilly.

He continued: “I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”

Williams also made reference to the Pakistani immigrant who pleaded guilty this month to trying to plant a car bomb in Times Square. “He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts,” Williams said.

Read more here.

Schiller: NPR No ‘Particular Political Persuasion’

Don’t bother telling Vivian Schiller, the president and chief executive of NPR, that the media entity has a liberal bias — or any kind political beliefs. She has heard the argument before.

“No, we don’t have a particular political persuasion,” Schiller said during a recent episode of “Media Matters with Jon Friedman” on The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.

Jon Friedman at wsj.com's Speakeasy Media blog suggested that a lot of people would disagree with her assertion.

“That’s absolutely true, and I get many, many letters and I get many emails a week from the left and the right accusing us of bias in the opposite direction,” Schiller said. “It speaks to the popularity of media that takes a particular point of view…and we don’t do that, and that upsets some people and that’s fine. They don’t have to listen if they don’t want to.”

Schiller has more pressing issues at hand. She is pleased with NPR’s growth rate and intends to keep the pressure on. “Just under 34-million people tune into their local NPR member station every week,” she said. “In the last 10 years, public-radio listening has grown 60% while, unfortunately, many other news media have declined (by) double digits. We have incredible engagement.”

Schiller noted that its devotees tend to listen to NPR an average of six hours a week.

NPR has ambitious growth objectives. Schiller expects to have at least 50 million listeners a week by 2020.



Read more here.

Public Radio Is Enjoying Boom Times

Larry Mantle, right, host of KPCC's
popular "AirTalk" program/LA Times

While its TV counterpart struggles, National Public Radio listenership is up and there are plans to greatly expand its reporting.
James Rainey at latimes.com writes more listeners continue to find public radio and, as evidenced by a couple of developments in recent days, the network and some of its executives want to make the footprint even larger.

The expansive news came from NPR Chief Executive Vivian Schiller and public radio's most aggressive entrepreneur, Bill Kling of American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio. Both discussed plans to improve public radio's local coverage by putting more reporting boots on the ground.

With NPR already well established as a national and international news source, its biggest gaps are on the local front. And that happens to be where newspapers and other media have cut back.

Public radio executives join the growing push by new media to fill the local news void. AOL's Patch.com has websites in nearly 300 communities and is growing steadily. EveryBlock, owned by MSNBC.com, aggregates property, crime, education and other public records to help people better understand their neighborhoods.

Don't count on any clarity in the local news space any time soon as newspapers tenaciously cling to their incumbent advantages — including staffs still larger than most of the upstarts — and upstarts continue to crowd the space.

Read more here.

Cape Cod Stations Drop Political Ad



Candidates Perry and Keating/AP Photo

Under pressure from listeners, three Cape radio stations have pulled a political advertisement that graphically describes what a Wareham (Massachusetts) police officer did to a 14-year-old girl.
Capecodonline.com reports WXTK, WCOD and WCIB, three stations owned by Qantum Communications, have removed the ad, purchased by the American Family First Action Fund, after receiving complaints about its content, said Allison Makkay, the radio group's general manager.

"Because there were some questions about the content and the  accuracy, we have the discretion," said Makkay, who consulted the company's attorney before pulling the ads. "We received a slew of complaint calls."

Makkay said because the ad was not sponsored by a candidate, the station faced increased liability if the content was wrong. "So we decided it was better for us to take a step back," she said.

The advertisement targets 10th Congressional District candidate Jeffrey Perry's role in a strip search scandal that rocked the Wareham Police Department in the early 1990s. Scott Flanagan, an officer under Perry's command, pleaded guilty to the illegal strip searches of two teen girls, including a 14-year-old girl who was also sexually assaulted by the officer. In that 1991 incident, Perry was at the scene but has said he did not hear the girl's screams for help.

Read more here.

Sexualization of Children Breaches Canadian Code

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council  today released its decision concerning comments made about Justin Bieber fans on the CFNY-FM (102.1, The Edge, Toronto) morning show.

According to broadcastermagazine.com, on October 20, 2009, the hosts of the Dean Blundell Show were discussing Twitter exchanges that Blundell had had with fans of the teen pop singer when the host made sexual references in relation to some of those young fans.  The CBSC concluded that the remarks violated Clause 8 (Exploitation) of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’  Equitable Portrayal Code which prohibits the sexualization of children in broadcasting.

Justin Bieber is a 16-year-old pop singer whose style appeals primarily to pre-teen and adolescent females, a style quite different from the alternative and hard rock music that are played on The Edge.  Apparently, Dean Blundell had posted comments on his Twitter page expressing his dislike for Bieber and implying, in vulgar terms, that Bieber was likely gay.

In response, over the following days, Blundell received numerous tweets from Bieber fans who defended the singer and insulted Blundell.  Blundell posted additional comments in response, some of which referred to incest.  In their on-air discussion of this matter on October 20, the co-hosts noted that the fans with whom Blundell had communicated were likely about 12 years old and they repeated a couple of the comments that Blundell had tweeted.

To a female fan, Blundell said he had tweeted, “Save your energy for puberty or to fend off your dad tonight while you’re sleepin’” and about the one male fan who had contacted him, Blundell said, “He’ll be chuggin’ before he’s 18  if he likes that music.”

A listener complained that the suggestions that the female fan would be a victim of incestual rape and that the male fan would become a male prostitute were totally inappropriate because they were directed at minors.

Read more here.