Hartford Radio: FCC Gets 'Payola' Complaint On WTIC

With former Gov. and WTIC Radio Talk Gost John G. Rowland awaiting sentencing in January on campaign fraud charges, interest has shifted to his last employer, CBS Radio's N/T WTIC 1080 AM, where license renewal has been delayed following a "payola" complaint.

Hartford lawyer and political activist Ken Krayeske has made another complaint to the Federal Communications Commission — his second. (See original posting: Click Here) Based on testimony and evidence at Rowland's trial, Krayeske argues that Rowland and WTIC broke the law when Rowland used the radio show to promote a congressional candidate who was secretly paying him.

Ken Krayeske

Even before Krayeske mailed his Oct. 1 letter, the FCC had delayed, without explanation, renewal of WTIC's broadcast license. A station executive said that WTIC has not been given a reason and that delays are commonplace.

Another possibility, according to ctnow.com, those familiar with the workings of the FCC said, is that such delays are a signal that the FCC has begun taking steps that could lead to an inquiry into a broadcasting violation.

Representatives of the FCC, which polices U.S. broadcasters, have inquired locally about Rowland and about the evidence presented at his trial, sources familiar with the inquiry said.

The FCC, if it pushes ahead, will be running a low-stakes inquiry. Penalties, if any, could involve reprimands or fines, said veteran broadcasters and lawyers who practice before the FCC. In contrast, Rowland faces a significant prison sentence as a second offender when he returns to U.S. District Court in January.

John Rowland

If there is a violation, those familiar with FCC operations said, it almost certainly lies in the legal prohibition against what is known in the industry as "payola." Specifically, the law requires broadcasters to disclose to listeners when content is broadcast in exchange for money or other valuable consideration. Disclosure of sponsorship must be made at the time of the broadcast so listeners may judge whether endorsements are objective or simply pitches by shills.

Suzanne McDonald, senior executive at CBS radio's Connecticut properties, acknowledged that the FCC has delayed renewal of WTIC-AM's broadcast license but that she has been unable to obtain an explanation. She declined to discuss Rowland or his professional relationship with the station.

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Report: Nielsen Feels The Heat Of Competition

Nielsen is the 800-pound gorilla of audience measurement, and holds a virtual monoploy over the ratings game. Nielsen calculates the ratings from a “survey” it conducts every day. Several thousand homes across the U.S. volunteer to have their sets wired into Nielsen’s computer system. The data collected from those people — scientists call it “a sample” — is crunched. It’s all meant to represent the viewing habits of more than 100 million.

Industry insiders admit they don’t believe the ratings are always accurate, but note Nielsen’s data is “the currency of the realm.”

And, according to the NY Daily News' Don Kaplan it was — right up until last week. That’s when Nielsen officials admitted to a rare screw-up. They hadn’t noticed that a computer computer bug has fouled up the ratings... since last March.

Strangely, in a conference call with reporters to explain how badly things got fouled up, a red-faced Nielsen executive took the time to slam Rentrak. That’s a far smaller competitor that has been making serious inroads on Nielsen’s turf.

Rentrak never lets “the facts get in the way of a good press release,” Nielsen’s global president Steve Hasker says.

So much for contrition, writes Kaplan.

Rentrak officials note that their measurment service works differently than Nielsen. Over at Rentrak, they tabulate actual viewers, drawing information directly from about 30 million television sets. The data is delivered to Rentrak by various cable and satellite providers it’s partnered with.

“While there’s an element of competition here, we think there’s room for both of us,” says Bruce Goerlich, Rentrak’s chief research officer.

Through a series of complex deals with other companies that collect various forms of data — like vehicle registrations, for example — Rentrak can cook up more exotic ratings than Nielsen, he says.

“So instead of getting data for just ‘adults 18-49’ we can offer data on people who have bought a foreign luxury car within the last five years.”

That kind of information, Goerlich says, is far more relevant for advertisers.

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FCC Counts Fewer AM, More FM Stations

The FCC released its quarterly list of the total number of licensed broadcast stations this week and once again the number of radio stations has increased since last quarter.

As of September 30, there were 15,433 licensed full power radio stations in the United States. The only category that decreased was the number of AM stations (down 6 stations since the end of June).

Here’s a run-down of the count, as of September 30, 2014:

• AM Stations:                     4,715    (down from 4,721 in 6/14 )
• FM Commercial Stations:    6,633    (up from 6,622 in 6/14)
• FM Educational Stations:     4,085   (up from 4,082 in 6/14)
• Total Radio Stations:         15,433   (up from 15,425 in 6/14) 

Not included in Total Radio Stations:

• FM Translators and Boosters: 6186  (up from 6,141 in 6/14).
• Low power FM (LPFM):           873  (up from 814 in 6/14)

Radio Personality Shadoe Stevens On Staying Sober

Shadoe Stevens

Radio host Shadoe Stevens is currently a voiceover actor, and television personality. He was the host of American Top 40 from 1988 to 1995. He currently hosts the internationally syndicated radio show, Top of the World, and co-hosts Mental Radio, an entertaining approach to UFOs and paranormal topics, and he is the co-founder and creator of Sammy Hagar's new rock station "Cabo Wabo Radio" broadcasting worldwide from the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

In television, he is the announcer for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS.

Stevens put himself through college working in radio at KILO in Grand Forks, North Dakota; KQWB in Fargo, North Dakota; and KIKX in Tucson, Arizona, where he quickly became the most popular DJ in town, under the on-air persona of "Jefferson K."

Following college, he joined the Bill Drake-formatted station WRKO 680 AM in Boston, during the winter of 1968-69. At WRKO, he worked the early evening (6-9 p.m.) shift during the station's peak in popularity. In the spring of 1970, he moved to Southern California to another Drake outlet, 93KHJ, as one of the last true "Boss Jocks", where his big baritone and energetic enthusiasm soon gained a following. Before long, he gained significant popularity on radio and became the announcer and sidekick on the nationally syndicated television series The Steve Allen Show.

He went on to become a radio personality and program director in Los Angeles at KRLA. As a programmer, he was hired to make a success of KMET-FM and then to create the programming for a new radio format on a new Los Angeles station, KROQ-FM ("K-Rock"), where he remained for five years.

Stevens talks to HuffPost Live about how he's been able to stay sober for 30 years.

SF Radio: KFOG Drops "Royals' From Playlist

There is no room for anything Royals-related in San Francisco, and that includes "Royals."

The 2013 pop hit from Lorde has been removed from the playlist at KFOG 104.5 FM. That means a "Royals"-free local airwaves for at least 10 days or so...  fewer, if the Giants can wrap up the World Series against that certain team from Kansas City in quick fashion.

"Why send any positive vibes to Kansas City?" asked Jim Richards, KFOG's program director. "Why not give the song a rest? No one is going to get hurt over it."

Richards told NBC Bay Area that the powers that be decided to remove the song from KFOG's rotation "as the [Giants] players were chugging beers" Thursday night.

I hope Lorde understands - I mean, we're talking World Series-bound San Francisco Giants here! - Webster http://t.co/kddOQpNs6V
— KFOGRadio (@KFOGRadio) October 17, 2014

New Zealand-born Lorde, who at 17 still has plenty of time to pick a different team, has confirmed that the song was in fact at least partially inspired by a National Geographic photo  of Royals legend George Brett signing autographs.

TN Radio: WGNS Continues As 'The Good Neighbor Station'

Newsradio WGNS 1450 AM /100.5 T-FM / 101.9 T-FM  in Murfreesboro, TN has announced it is officially re-affiliating with CBS Radio News, ending a longtime association with ABC Network, accoridng to The Mufreesboro Post.

"When we looked at our options, it was the obvious right decision," confirmed WGNS Radio Station owner/president Bart Walker. "WGNS will continue its tradition of strong local news programming, such as the popular Truman Jones morning show, and CBS will ensure our listeners with staying current on national and world news too. We had been with CBS Radio News until the 1980s."

"CBS Radio News is a larger network than ABC," added WGNS Vice President/broadcasting newsman Scott Walker, son of owners Bart and Lee Ann Walker. "That benefits our talk radio listeners with more information.

"News reporting is what I love best about live radio," Scott added. "We prefer positive news, when possible, but sometimes we have to deal with tragedies too."

WGNS 100.5 T-FM (250 watts) 60dBu Coverage

WGNS 101-9 T-FM (55 watts) 60dBu Coverage

In addition to affiliating with CBS, the station also broadened its regional news coverage this week by announcing cooperative news-sharing agreements with Murfreesboro's Post newspaper.

"With these new affiliations, WGNS listeners can be assured of knowing what's going on in our home county, the region, state, nation and world," Barrett added. "This makes us a more complete information station, whether it's prep, college and professional sports coverage, to local government and important social events, such as informing the community that the family of a 5-year-old leukemia victim needs help with medical costs."

The Post President and Publisher Ron Fryar added: "It is really exciting to be able to be included in this new partnership. To bring a truly independent and local voice with local news coverage from an independently owned local newspaper as well as an independently owned local radio station, in addition to the broadcast power of CBS and Channel 5, bodes well for the area we serve."

Bart Walker

WGNS (1Kw AM) has a track record of supporting community causes such as the Tennessee Fisher House, Read to Succeed, United Way of Rutherford and Cannon County, Special Kids and Smyrna Lions Bean Dinner.

"The call letters WGNS stand for the "Good Neighbor Station ... a tradition that goes back to when the station signed on the air for the first time," added Bart Walker in explaining the origin of the WGNS call letters. "Station founder Cecil Elrod purposefully asked the FCC for the WGNS, establishing the 'Good Neighbor Station' tradition that we carry on today."

Making the move back to CBS Radio News this December is no accident, for it was officially Dec. 31, 1946, late at night, that the "Good Neighbor Station" signed on the air for the first time.

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Sydney Radio: Kyle Sandilands 'Poor Health Caused Ratings Slide'

Kyle Sandilands

He's one of the highest paid voices on Australian radio, but his lack of air time this year due to poor health has had a detrimental affect on the ratings.

And now, Kyle Sandilands has admitted that he and co-host Jackie O's fall from top spot can be blamed on his growing number of sick days.

Talking to the Sunday Telegraph, the shock jock said listeners were tuning out of the Kyle and Jackie O Show when he was off ill.

Sandilands has taken “100 per cent” blame for KIIS 106-5 losing the no. 1 spot in the FM radio breakfast ratings, saying he was off sick too often and “relying heavily” on a mixture of medication.

In the latest survey Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson were beaten by Australian Radio Network (ARN) stable mates, WSFM’s Brendan “Jonesy” Jones and Amanda Keller.

The margin was just by 0.1 per cent, but was the result of Kyle & Jackie O Show shedding 0.7 percentage points to 9.8 per cent.

Sandilands told The Sunday Telegraph: “I had high blood pressure and sleep apnoea — some days I would wake up and I’d been starving myself of oxygen by not breathing throughout my sleep.”

He said he has a sleep apnoea mask to help. But he refuses to wear it because he thinks his partner Imogen Anthony will find it off-putting.

Sandilands said he had put on weight due to his illness, which made matters worse. He said his absence from the show had caused the slide in share.

“If I’m not there, people do flick around. So it’s all about me.

“If I’m not there then it’s sh*t. Jackie does half a good job on there,” he said, laughing.

“She is great though. I do admire her and enjoy working with her very much.”

Sandilands with Jackie-O

Sandilands said he has since returned to good health.

“I’m back now. I’m not dying of sleep deprivation,” he said, adding: “There’s no excuse” for not being no. 1.

Sandilands also revealed he had risked the duo’s entire move from 2DAY by telling ARN management the deal was off unless the MIX name was dumped and replaced by KIIS.

“I was the one who said ‘I want the station’s name changed and this is what I want it called’,” Sandilands said.

“They’d given us everything that we wanted. And they said ‘is it a deal breaker if we don’t change the name?’ I thought, ‘they’ve given me everything that I want’. I closed my eyes and cross my fingers and said ‘yes’. I was risking everything on the name.

Sign Of the Times: Philly Sound Home Coming Down

Workers remove Sign

The iconic Philadelphia International Records sign outside of the Sound Of Philadelphia building was removed last week, marking the end of an era.  The label’s building, owned by legendary songwriters Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell, has been sold and will make way for a hotel and condominium project.

HipHop Wired reports Gamble, Huff and Bell bought the property in 1970, leading to some prosperous years for the label. The recording studios within the building have been used by a variety of R&B legends over the years, including the late Michael Jackson, Patti LaBelle and Chubby Checker among others.

The building was the corporate offices for both Philadelphia International Records and Gamble-Huff Music. In 2010, an arson fire severely damaged the building and the group was never able to revive the structure.

Chuck Gamble, executive vice president for Philadelphia International Records and Gamble-Huff Music, says that artifacts within the building will be kept in storage for later consideration to be placed in museums.

“It’s bittersweet,” Gamble told CBS Local.  “Here’s an entity that my uncle and his partner created some fifty years ago.”

And he notes that the building had a rich music history.

“Chubby Checker recorded ‘The Twist’ here. My uncle’s first wife, Dee Dee Sharp, did the ‘Mashed Potato.’  The Jacksons recorded here, Elton John, many others.”

WB/Scranton Radio: Return For WARM 590 AM Is Doubtful

A storied AM Powerhouse is off the air and it may not return.  Troubles with an old transmitter silenced WARM 590 AM in September and current owner Cumulus Media tells the FCC that “the transmitter failed [and] unfortunately, the engineers have not been able to determine precisely why.”

This past June was the 56th anniversary of The Mighty 5-90 WARM. And last year, Joe Middleton writing in the Pittston, PA Dispatch, went down memory lane recalling June of 1958 and the “New WARM Radio.”

Until May 1 of that year, WARM was operated by Northeastern Pennsylvania Broadcasting Inc.  The principals of that corporation were William W. Scranton and Martin F. “Bud” Memolo. They sold WARM to York, Pennsylvania-based Susquehanna Broadcasting for $195,000. The Federal Communications Commission approved the sale on June 11.

Shortly thereafter, “The New WARM” rose phoenix-like out of old ABC network programming into Top-40 radio with its live mix of music, news, public service and sports.   Rapid fire changes came to WARM under general manager Art Carlson, program director George Gilbert and chief engineer Charlie Morgan.

In June 1968, for the 10th anniversary of WARM, announcer Jack Murphy proclaimed, “The Susquehanna idea was to create a sound that could start like a rumble in a coal shaft and skyrocket to the heavens — it would be in the air everywhere — but more than that it would be a harbinger of things to come.”

WARM was the first media outlet, electronic or print, in the market to use the concept of regional selling. Before Susquehanna, people in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre only listened to the radio stations, read the newspapers and watch the television stations in their hometowns. And merchants only advertised in such. But the new WARM strip-marketed those two cities and consolidated the areas around Binghampton, Elmira, New York, Carbondale, down to Hazleton and the Poconos into “Warmland.”

The rating service at the time, Hooper-Pulse, crowned WARM the highest-rated radio station in the country at its peak. One reason would be the Susquehanna commitment to news and public service. The new WARM was the first ratio station to develop a separate news department so the on-air personalities wouldn’t have to do re-writes from the papers or rip and read wire copy. “First News First” is where people found out what was happening in WARMland.

CHECKOUT: 590 Forever WARM Radio website: Click Here.

Longtime Morning Host
Harry West

Operation Contact, Operation Snowflake, Flashback, P.S.B.B., Look Up To Learning, Sound Off and Viewpoint, the editorial voice of Warmland, served the community for following WARM’s civic duty.

In 1971, WARM became the charter radio outlet for the State College private service “AccuWeather.” WARM, though, never copyrighted or trademarked “AccuWeather” and founder Joel Myers did.

As a standalone news operation, WARM proved its worth doing the coverage of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. In a business where the average employment is three years, it is a tribute to WARM that personalities Ron Allen, Bobby Day, George Gilbert, Jerry Heller, Ray MaGwyre, Terry McNulty, Joey Shaver, Harry West and Tommy Woods are remembered to this day because of their long tenure there.

D/FW Radio: R.I.P... KAAM Radio Personality Jaan McCoy

Jaan McCoy

Nostalgia KAAM 770 AM reports weekend host Jaan McCoy (Kalmes) has died.

According to a FB posting, owner Don Crawford Jr. reports McCoy died Saturday while on the air. Death was apparently a heart attack.

“We are in major shock and immensely grieving the loss of Jaan McCoy (Kalmes) today. He was found in the broadcast chair this afternoon, where he suffered a fatal heart attack. We loved him so very, very much and he was a true friend and warrior for God and Legends. Be praying for his wife, Becca, and his many children. A horrible day and loss for us all.”

A longtime Dallas/FW personality, Jaan McCoy grew up in Pennsylvania and Syracuse, where he started radio at age 16 with a Saturday Morning stint on WFBL 1400 AM . His radio adventures took him to gigs in the Hamilton/Toronto and Ottawa markets in Canada, then to Dallas for some FM Classic Rock, Rock Hits on the ABC Radio Network and 20 years as Morning Host of  The Breakfast Club with ten of those years at WLGZ's sister station KAAM.

McCoy was also a producer for Westwood One’s 24-hour Classic Hits format.  David Felker, Westwood One’s Classic Hits Program Director, said “Jaan loved radio and anything to do with music and programming.  We’d talk for hours about it.  He was dedicated, hard-working, always willing to be there to help out, and he always did it with a smile.  Jaan was a true professional, an inspiration and a friend to us all.  He’ll be missed.”

October 20 In Radio History

In 1906...Dr. Lee DeForest demonstrated the electrical vaccuum radio tube.

DeForest disliked the term "wireless" and chose a new moniker, "radio."

In 1902 he and his financial backers founded the De Forest Wireless Telegraph Company. In order to dramatize the potential of this new medium of communication, he began, as early as 1902, to give public demonstrations of wireless telegraphy for businessmen, the press, and the military.



A poor businessman and a poorer judge of men, de Forest was defrauded twice by his own business partners. By 1906 his first company was insolvent, and he had been squeezed out of its operation. But in 1907 he patented a much more promising detector (developed in 1906), which he called the Audion; it was capable of more sensitive reception of wireless signals than were the electrolytic and Carborundum types then in use. It was a thermionic grid-triode vacuum tube—a three-element electronic “valve” similar to a two-element device patented by the Englishman Sir John Ambrose Fleming in 1905. In 1907 de Forest was able to broadcast experimentally both speech and music to the general public in the New York City area.

De Forest is credited with the birth of public radio broadcasting when on January 12, 1910, he conducted experimental broadcast of part of the live performance of Tosca and, the next day, a performance with the participation of Italian tenor Enrico Caruso from the stage of Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.


In 1908...Arlene Francis was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She appeared on radio and TV in most notabley the show called "What's My Line?".


In 1930...the "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" premiered on the NBC Radio Network.



In 1947...the radio rights to the World Series were sold for three years for $475,000.


In 1969...WCBS 101.1 FM switched to live deejays when it launched a freeform rock format, which was becoming increasingly popular, and all other CBS-owned FM stations followed suit.

For the first time, WCBS-FM would have an airstaff. Bill Brown began his long tenure with the station, and Don K. Reed began his late in 1971; both remained there until 2005. Radio personalities such as Bobby "Wizzard" Wayne, Tom Tyler, Ed Williams, Steve Clark, Roby Yonge, K.O. Bayley (Bob Elliott from WOR-FM), Les Turpin, Bob "Bob-A-Lew" Lewis also briefly joined the WCBS-FM "freeform" format. Besides Bill Brown and Don K. Reed, Wizzard Wayne and Ed Williams also stayed into the early part of the oldies format.

Here's a pre-Oldies aircheck of PD Gus Gossert on WCBS-FM (courtesy of nyradioarchive.com)


In 1973...the Family Station Inc. purchased shortwave station WNYW, changed the call letters to WYFR & moved it from New York City to Scituate, Massachusetts.

Assocated Press photo

In 1977...Guitarist Steve Gaines, lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt, and backup singer Cassie Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd are all killed when the band's small Convair plane runs out of fuel and does down en route from Greenville, SC, to their next gig in Baton Rouge, LA. Crash landing in a forest near Gillsburg, MS, the accident also takes the lives of the band's assistant road manager as well as the two pilots, not to mention severely injuring the rest of the band and most of the other two dozen passengers. The remaining members would not reunite for another decade.

At the time of the 1977 plane crash, Lynyrd Skynyrd was at the height of its fame, having just released its sixth album, “Street Survivors,” only three days earlier. The original album cover featured a picture of the band surrounded by flames; it was changed shortly after the accident.

In 1984...The Hot 100...Stevie Wonder remained at the top with his eighth #1 song--"I Just Called To Say I Love You".  Billy Ocean closed with "Caribbean Queen" and Chicago was up to #3 with "Hard Habit To Break".

The rest of the Top 10:  Madonna edged up with "Lucky Star", the Cars slipped into reverse with "Drive", the new one from Bruce Springsteen ("Cover Me") was up to #7, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band got their first taste of the Top 10 with "On The Dark Side", Prince shot up from 18 to 9 with "Purple Rain" and the Pointer Sisters were feeling good about their new hit "I'm So Excited".


In 1984...Prince reigned for the 12th week on the Album chart with Purple Rain.  Born in the U.S.A. from Bruce Springsteen was second, followed by Private Dancer from Tina Turner, Sports from Huey Lewis & the News and Heartbeat City by the Cars.  It was the ninth consecutive week that those five releases held down the Top 5 albums, believed to be the only time in the Rock Era that the feat has occurred.