BBC Unveils ‘Perceptive Radio’

The BBC has developed an experimental piece of hardware called the Perceptive Radio, that adjusts the content it plays based on a wide range of circumstances, such as location, time, a user’s proximity to the device and background noise in the environment in which it’s being used..

The nextweb.com reports the device was unveiled Wednesday at the Thinking Digital conference in Gateshead, UK and builds upon the Perceptive Media project that the BBC announced last year.

Perceptive Media adjusts content for each audience member based on their specific circumstances. The only demo content announced so far is a radio play that adjusts the location in which it’s set, the weather and other factors depending on where and when it’s listened to.

The radio shown off today includes a light sensor, proximity sensor and a microphone that can influence the content it plays. The proximity sensor is currently used to adjust the audio mix of the radio play, adding or removing background sound effects depending on how close a listener is to the device.

The BBC’s Ian Forrester has been working on the Perceptive Radio project at the Future Media & Technology department in Salford, UK. He said today that the radio set will soon be tested in homes to see how it can be applied in real-world scenarios.

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Arbitron Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend

Holds Annual Stockholders' Meeting

The board of directors of Arbitron Inc. has approved the payment of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 (ten cents) per common share. The dividend will be paid on or about July 1, 2013 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 17, 2013.

If the effective date of the pending merger with Nielsen Holdings N.V. is before June 17, 2013, the dividend will be pro-rated with stockholders receiving $0.001063829787234 per share per day for each day after March 15, 2013, the record date for the previously declared quarterly dividend. In accordance with the merger agreement, the pro rata dividend ensures that stockholders receive a dividend at the current rate until the closing of the pending merger with Nielsen. The pro rata dividend, which amounts to $0.10 per share for the full quarter, will be payable within 30 days after the merger closes to shareholders of record at the close of business on the day before the merger is completed.

As of May 17, 2013, there were approximately 26,863,200 shares outstanding.

Report: Media Swarm Into Moore, OK

NBC's Brian Williams

At least 200 journalists swarmed the two-square-block area, accompanied by two dozen satellite trucks. Japanese radio competed with British tabloids, German television and American networks. The families attempting to recover anything from their ruined homes found themselves hosting television satellite trucks in their driveways and replying to reporters’ questions as they dug through the remnants of their damaged homes.

And yet, according to a story at Time.com,  most were remarkably gracious about fielding questions while salvaging their lives.

This became a greater challenge when Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and the state’s entire congressional delegation arrived, further swelling the crowd. The politicians could hardly get to the victims for a photo op because of the mass of photographers, video cameras and gawkers.

Utility workers struggled to navigate around the throngs as they strung new power cables. Another work crew assessing the damage to the Warren IMAX Theater ignored the media stars like Scott Pelley and Wolf Blitzer talking live nearby, focusing instead on their work on the largest theater in the Oklahoma City area. The sun came out and a few journalists and passersby even stopped to enjoy the weather, leaning on bulldozers and satellite trucks.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Throughout it all, the families whose homes were reduced to rubble worked diligently to salvage what they could, all the while not particularly minding the carnival around them.

Why were these residents so patient with the crowds that descended on them after so many of them had lost so much? Partly, residents said, they are willing to tell their stories because they know that each time tragedy strikes, the power of the media spotlight also brings increased early-warning systems and an emphasis on the importance of preparedness.

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Tweets about "#oklahoma"

Nashville Radio: Country Stars Donate For OK Benefit Auction

Parmalee, Jake Owen and Phil Vassar

Jake Owen autographes guitar

Nationally syndicated radio DJ Bobby Bones wanted to do something to help relief efforts in Oklahoma. According to Nashville's newschanel5.com, he decided an auction would raise money, and country stars are helping out.

Bones spent much of Monday night watching television coverage of the tornado that devastated parts of Oklahoma.

"Like a lot of people, I couldn't sleep. I had a tough time sleeping," Bones said.

On his drive Tuesday into Nashville radio station, WSIX The Big 98, Bones knew he had to do something when he went on the air that morning.

"I'm just a DJ on the radio. So I got into work, I just got on the air at 5 o'clock and said, hey anybody want to help? I just threw it on the air," Bones explained.

It did not take long for some of country music's biggest stars to answers the call for help. Jake Owen was the first to call into the radio show.

"And he said I'm leaving he gym and I'll be right up. So Jake came up and he played a song," Bones said.

Owen was also the first performer to donate a signed guitar. By Wednesday afternoon, there was a room full of autographed guitars at The Big 98. But those will not be the only items up for auction for the American Red Cross.

Country superstar Tim McGraw contacted Bones and wanted to make a donation.

"Tim said ok, I've got your guitar, but what I'm going to do is I'm going to make the winner of the auction my guitar tech for a show," according to Bones.

Kellie Pickler recently won a dancing reality show and also wanted to donate a one-of-a-kind item.

"Kellie Picker called and donated the shoes that she wore last night whenever she won the reality show," Bones said.

Clear Channel Radio runs several radio stations in Nashville and employees from those stations will take part in a local effort to collect items for tornado victims.

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Tweets about "#bobbybones"

Howard Stern to Katie Couric: "Take Your Pants Off"!

Katie Couric, Howard Stern

That’s all Howard Stern wanted of host Katie Couric when he was a guest on her talk show “Katie” Wednesday.

“You’re not the CBS anchorwoman anymore. In this format you take your pants off,” the shock jock told the former host of the “CBS Evening News.”

According to the NY Daily News, he then demanded to know how she keeps those legs looking so good. He’d raised that topic earlier on his Sirius XM radio show, saying he wanted to know why they looked so greasy and good.

“Basically I just put lotion on them,” Couric told Stern. “That’s my secret.”

But Howard wasn’t finished with the inquiry. He wanted to know why she was wearing leather pants, when her usual talk-show outfit is a skin-baring skirt.

Couric explained that she just did it to match Stern’s leather jacket and to be edgy.

“Taking those pants off would be edgy,” he quipped. Couric replied, “Maybe during the commercial break.”

The segment is expected to air next Tuesday.

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Atlanta Radio: Twang-y Country Song Hits Top 40

Over the  years, country artists have had had success crossing over to pop: think Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift. But those were female singers with pop-sounding hits.

So, Rodney Ho at ajc.com writes, what the heck is the country duo Florida-Georgia Line doing on the top 40 charts with the very twang-y, very catchy feel-good song "Cruise"?

WWWQ Q100 began playing it May 1 and has done so 107 times so far, including 39 times the past week. Power 96-1, which spun it first March 18, did so 122 times two weeks ago (the No. 1 song on the station) and 87 times last week. Power has played it 734 times so far, as of May 21.

The song nationwide is currently No. 12 on the pop chart, just ahead of Swift and behind Fall Out Boy, according to Mediabase 24/7, which tracks radio airplay. Nearly all top 40 stations are spinning it now.

"It's filling a novelty void in Top 40 right now," explained Rob Roberts, who runs Q100.  "It's not a record we'll be playing in a six months or an artist Top 40 will embrace in the long term.  But in the meantime, lots of people are texting requests for it.  And as a side note, lots of people are texting to stop playing it."

Terry Vaughn, the program director for WWPW Power 96.1 FM, kept it simple: “People like to have fun!  Twang or no twang.  That’s just a big, fun song and that’s what we do at Power 96-1.”

"Cruise," the duo's first single, peaked on country radio in December at No. 1.

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MJ Death Trial: AEG Exec Used “Freak” Reference

Michael Jackson

A top AEG executive referred to Michael Jackson as "a freak" and another called him "creepy" just hours before their company signed the pop icon to a huge concert deal.

CNN reports the revelation brought an audible gasp in the Los Angeles courtroom at the wrongful death trial Wednesday and left fans crying.

Jackson's mother and children are suing AEG Live for the negligent hiring, retention or supervision of Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death.

Katherine Jackson watched from the front row as her lawyer questioned AEG Live Senior Vice President and General Counsel Shawn Trell about an e-mail exchange with his boss at parent company AEG.

"Is it the policy of AEG to talk in derogatory terms about the artist you're going to do business with?" Jackson lawyer Brian Panish asked.

"No," Trell answered.

Panish then showed jurors an e-mail Trell sent on January 28, 2009, to Ted Fikre, AEG's chief legal officer, letting him know he was about to go to Jackson's home for the signing of the contract for his "This Is It" concert tour.

"Does that mean you get to meet the freak?" Fikre replied.

Trell responded: "Apparently. Not sure how I feel about that. Interesting for sure, but kind of creepy."

The e-mail exchange happened less than four hours before Trell and other AEG excutives visited Jackson's Los Angeles home.

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Pittsburgh Radio: The Fan Stages ‘Fan Host” Auditions

KDKA-FM The Fan in Pittsburgh, PA has launched open auditions for its Next Fan Host contest beginning Saturday and running through June 19. Participants will be judged by Sports Radio 93.7 The Fan and will get to "rant" on a random sports topic.

The eventual winner from the live on-air June 27 final gets a chance to host his or her own show.

"We're looking for the next great Pittsburgh talk show host, someone who can grow into a superstar," said Ryan Maguire, KDKA-FM program director.

Entrants must be 18 or older and reside in the Pittsburgh metro area, and the chance to try out is not guaranteed.

Survey: Teens Getting Tired With Facebook

Though Facebook is still the most popular social network among teens, their enthusiasm for Mark Zuckerberg's network is decreasing, according to new findings from the Pew Research Center.

Teens share a wide range of information about themselves on social media sites; indeed the sites themselves are designed to encourage the sharing of information and the expansion of networks.

However, few teens embrace a fully public approach to social media. Instead, they take an array of steps to restrict and prune their profiles, and their patterns of reputation management on social media vary greatly according to their gender and network size.

Almost 2 out of 10 Kids Use Smartphones

Kids are learning earlier than ever to swipe and scroll on smartphones.

eMarketer.com says Harris Interactive surveyed online US students in February 2013 on behalf of Pearson and found that 19% of elementary school students used smartphones and 42% of middle school students did so as well. Elementary school consisted of grades 4 and 5, while middle school represented grades 6 through 8.

The home is where many kids encounter their first smartphone. A Learning First Alliance and Grunwald Associates study in November 2012 found that in 77% of surveyed US households with school-age children, someone in the family owned a smartphone, nearly equal to the penetration rate of PCs in such households.

And kids are highly likely to pick up those phones and begin navigating their capabilities. The study found that 43% of children ages 3 to 18 used the smartphone, with 65% of that group doing so on a daily basis. The broader age range of children surveyed explains the different penetration rates between the Pearson study and LFA’s research.

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Suspended St. Louis Anchor Says He’s Been Fired

Larry Conners

Longtime St. Louis anchorman Larry Conners was fired from KMOV Wednesday after comments he made on Facebook about the Internal Revenue Service.

Conners called the KMOX1120 AM  newsroom around 3:20 pm Wednesday and said he had been terminated but refused to give an official interview.

Conners has hired an attorney.

KMOV TV President & GM, Mark Pimentel, issued this statement. 

“We regret to announce that Larry Conners is no longer a KMOV news reporter. Larry was a valued member of KMOV for a long time, and we will miss him. 

For KMOV, there is no higher cause than unbiased, objective news reporting. It is what our viewers expect and it is what we work very hard to deliver. We can accept no less. Larry is certainly entitled to his opinion, but taking a personal political position on one of the Station’s Facebook pages creates an appearance of bias that is inconsistent with important journalistic standards. Larry’s departure has nothing to do with the particular position he took, but it does have to do with our belief that his actions made it impossible for him to report for KMOV on certain political matters going forward without at least an appearance of bias. Bringing you accurate and unbiased reporting is the reason we exist.”

 Conners wrote last week that shortly after he interviewed President Obama and his wife in April of 2012, the IRS “started hammering” him. Conners did not explain how the IRS targeted him. See original posting, Click Here.

The Facebook comments drew a rebuke from KMOV’s parent company Belo Corp.

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Despite Record Profits, Disney Forces ESPN Layoffs

Deadline.com graphic

• ESPN Cuts Jobs Amid Rising Fees for Games

ESPN is axing a single-digit percentage of its global workforce, a move that could pink-slip 300-plus employees around the world.

With revenue streams from advertisers and subscribers, the self-proclaimed "Worldwide Leader in Sports" rarely lays off staffers. But ESPN spokeswoman Katina Arnold confirmed staff cuts in a statement Tuesday, reports AdAge.

"We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs. While difficult, we are confident that it will make us more competitive, innovative and productive."

The impact on ESPN Radio is unknown.

The Walt Disney unit employs about 4,000 people in the U.S. and 7,000 worldwide. She declined to disclose the number of employees affected.

Deadspin's John Koblin, who first reported the layoffs, wrote earlier Tuesday that the cuts appeared to number in the hundreds. But James Andrew Miller, author of the best-selling ESPN book, "Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN," tweeted the number is more like 300 to 400 -- and includes open jobs that won't be filled.

A person familiar with the situation said the move is a companywide restructuring. But since some open jobs won't be filled, the number of actual layoffs will end up lower than some reports, the person said.

The pain caused by layoffs at the insular, self-enclosed bubble at ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Conn., is not taken lightly, Mr. Miller said. The last layoffs were in 2009. But with cable competitors such as News Corp.s Fox Sports 1 looming, ESPN has been spending big money lately to stockpile sports rights.

ESPN President John Skipper recently announced a $825 million, 11-year deal to put the U.S. Open tennis tournament, a longtime staple of broadcast TV, entirely on cable. Starting in 2015, ESPN will pay $825 million over 11 years to take over the TV rights has held by CBS Sports for 46 years.

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