Local Radio Freedom Act Gains Support

3-11-14

Four representatives and two senators have added their support to the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution saying Congress won't impose "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for or broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings." The resolution was introduced in the House by Reps. Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) and in the Senate by Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND).

The LRFA is a non-binding resolution that's been introduced in Congress several times before; this iteration has 202 house co-sponsors, including just-added Reps Bradley Byrne (AL), William Enyart (IL), Dana Rohrabacher (CA), and Kurt Schrader (OR). In the Senate, new supporters are Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Richard Burr (R-NC), bringing the number of Senate co-sponsors to 14.

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Local Radio Freedom Act Gains More Support

10/24/13

Six members of the House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors for the Local Radio Freedom Act. The bill, which opposes performance royalties or other new fees for broadcast radio, now has 177 co-sponsors in the House and 12 in the Senate.

Adding their support are Reps. Wm. Lacy Clay of Missouri, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Ralph Hall of Texas, David Scott of Georgia, Fred Upton of Michigan, and Randy Weber, also of Texas.

The bill was introduced in February by Reps. Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) with 71 additional co-sponsors. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced an identical bill in the Senate on March 6.

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Freedom of Speech Or Ratings Tampering?

Arbitron has sent out a notice to subscribers about a situation in Kansas City involving the website http://www.listenlonger.com/ that may have been set up to affect the ratings in May. The unidentified owners of the website are aggressively seeking PPM users so they can make an impact on ratings by contacting them. "If you know someone carrying a PPM, LET US KNOW using the form at the top-right of this page." The website tells listeners to sign up for "Get My Perks" because the station makes money off the program. Entercom stations use the Get My Perks program.

Arbitron says the website encouraged listeners to support a local station and "posted general information about ratings methodology and ratings data, and solicited information on PPM panelists." Arbitron says the website is not affiliated or endorsed by Arbitron and that Arbitron has taken substantial steps to ensure the integrity of the Kansas City PPM panel and all Arbitron audience estimates for the market.

Arbitron went on to say that, "PPM households that disclose their participation to the general public or to any unauthorized party become ineligible to participate. Such panelists? households are removed from the panel.  Arbitron monitors social media sites daily, interacts with panelists on a regular basis, and has confidential processes in place to help identify panelists who may have disclosed their participation. We have also taken special measures in light of the Kansas City website to protect the integrity of in-tab panelists included in the recently-released May 2013 Kansas City data."

Following a review of the information available, Arbitron released the May 2013 Kansas City audience estimates as scheduled.

(6/17/2013 8:16:28 PM)
Commenters still seem to think this site was in any way created by a media company or was ever designed to unethically sway ratings. Not the case. I created ListenLonger.com for educational purposes only, and asked for panelists to contact me simply to learn more about the process and teach others. There was never intent to use panelists to affect ratings.

Arbitron and a local media company completely overreacted and created a story out of nothing.

(6/17/2013 8:09:42 PM)
Commenters still seem to think this site was in any way created by a media company or was ever designed to unethically sway ratings. Not the case. I created ListenLonger.com for educational purposes only, and asked for panelists to contact me simply to learn more about the process and teach others. There was never intent to use panelists to affect ratings.

Arbitron and a local media company completely overreacted and created a story out of nothing.

(6/17/2013 1:39:45 PM)
If major markets hadn't decided to live and die by the Arbitron ratings and thus spending all their time trying to affect them in any way possible this wouldn't happen. Be careful what you wish for...you're now getting it and this will probably spread elsewhere.
(6/17/2013 10:41:25 AM)
Call me when Arbitron finds a way to really track listeners. From my point of view, the ratings system is nothing but a protection racket that's designed to give all agency business to a few large groups and to hell with the rest of us!
(6/17/2013 10:29:33 AM)
Sounds like Arbitron has better investigators than the FBI. Let's put them in charge of national security.

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KTTH/Seattle Adds 'Frontlines Of Freedom'

5-15-13

Bonneville's KTTH (770 The Truth) adds Frontlines of Freedom, a military news and talk show hosted by Col. Denny Gillem, who'll also analyze military news and issues for KTTH clustermate KIRO-FM. The show will debut Sunday, May 19, from 5-6 a.m. and will be available for download at KIRORadio.com.

"It's a privilege to present Frontlines of Freedom to our KTTH audience," KTTH PD Jason Antebi said. "With such a strong military presence in Western Washington, so many of our listeners have a connection to the Armed Forces, and it's an honor to offer them such a respected resource in Col. Gillem.

Gillem served 22 years in the Army, first as an Airborne Ranger with two tours in Vietnam. He was awarded two Purple Hearts and seven awards for valor. He also served as a Mideast war planner while stations at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

Gillem said, "It's an honor to join 770 KTTH in the great community of Seattle. I spent time at Fort Lewis years ago and have great affection and respect for the Seattle area and the military community at Joint Base Lewis-McChord."

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Nine More House Members Sign Freedom Act

5-9-13

A bipartisan group of nine Members of the House of Representatives have signed onto a resolution that opposes "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local broadcast radio stations. The Local Radio Freedom Act is now currently co-sponsored by 133 Members of the House and 10 Senators. The Bill says, "Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings."

Adding their support to the Local Radio Freedom Act are Reps. Sanford Bishop (GA-2), Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1), Trey Gowdy (SC-4), Tom Graves (GA-14), Joe Heck (NV-3), Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-1), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Ed Whitfield (KY-1), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).

Reps. Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) introduced the Local Radio Freedom Act (H. Con. Res. 16) in the House of Representatives on February 15 along with 71 additional co-sponsors. An identical resolution (S. Con. Res. 6) was introduced in the Senate on March 6 by Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND).

The 133 House co-sponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act include (new co-sponsors in bold):

Rodney Alexander (LA-5)
Ron Barber (AZ-2)
John Barrow (GA-12)
Dan Benishek (MI-1)
Sanford Bishop (GA-2)
Jo Bonner (AL-1)
Charles Boustany (LA-3)
Jim Bridenstine (OK-1)
G.K. Butterfield (NC-1)
Ken Calvert (CA-42)
Shelley Moore Capito (WV-2)
Mike Capuano (MA-7)
John Carney (DE-AL)
Bill Cassidy (LA-6)
Mike Coffman (CO-6)
Tom Cole (OK-4)
Michael Conaway (TX-11)
Joseph Courtney (CT-2)
Ander Crenshaw (FL-4)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Rodney Davis (IL-13)
Charles Dent (PA-15)
Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
John Dingell (MI-12)
Jeff Duncan (SC-3)
John Duncan (TN-2)
Renee Ellmers (NC-2)
Blake Farenthold (TX-27)
Michael Fitzpatrick (PA-8)
John Fleming (LA-4)
Bill Flores (TX-17)
Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1)
Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11)
Cory Gardner (CO-4)
Christopher Gibson (NY-19)
Phil Gingrey (GA-11)
Paul Gosar (AZ-4)
Trey Gowdy (SC-4)
Kay Granger (TX-12)
Sam Graves (MO-6)
Tom Graves (GA-14)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Brett Guthrie (KY-2)
Gregg Harper (MS-3)
Vicky Hartzler (MO-4)
Alcee Hastings (FL-23)
Doc Hastings (WA-4)
Joe Heck (NV-3)
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)
Richard Hudson (NC-8)
Tim Huelskamp (KS-1)
Randy Hultgren (IL-14)
Bill Johnson (OH-6)
Jim Jordan (OH-11)
David Joyce (OH-14)
Ron Kind (WI-3)
Peter King (NY-2)
Adam Kinzinger (IL-16)
John Kline (MN-2)
Doug Lamborn (CO-5)
Leonard Lance (NJ-7)
Tom Latham (IA-3)
Robert Latta (OH-5)
Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2)
Dave Loebsack (IA-2)
Billy Long (MO-7)
Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-1)
Cynthia Lummis (WY-AL)
Kenny Marchant (TX-24)
Thomas Massie (KY-4)
Jim Matheson (UT-4)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-4)
Patrick McHenry (NC-10)
Mark Meadows (NC-11)
Patrick Meehan (PA-7)
Gregory Meeks (NY-5)
Michael Michaud (ME-2)
Jeff Miller (FL-1)
Markwayne Mullin (OK-2)
Mick Mulvaney (SC-5)
Randy Neugebauer (TX-19)
Kristi Noem (SD-AL)
Devin Nunes (CA-22)
Alan Nunnelee (MS-1)
Pete Olson (TX-22)
Bill Owens (NY-21)
Steven Palazzo (MS-4)
Steve Pearce (NM-2)
Tom Petri (WI-6)
Joe Pitts (PA-16)
Ted Poe (TX-2)
Mike Pompeo (KS-4)
Bill Posey (FL-8)
Charles Rangel (NY-13)
Tom Reed (NY-23)
Reid Ribble (WI-8)
Scott Rigell (VA-2)
Harold Rogers (KY-5)
Mike Rogers (AL-3)
Mike Rogers (MI-8)
Todd Rokita (IN-4)
Peter Roskam (IL-6)
Edward Royce (CA-39)
Jon Runyan (NJ-3)
Paul Ryan (WI-1)
Tim Ryan (OH-13)
John Sarbanes (MD-3)
Aaron Schock (IL-18)
Allyson Schwartz (PA-13)
David Schweikert (AZ-6)
Pete Sessions (TX-32)
John Shimkus (IL-15)
Mike Simpson (ID-2)
Adrian Smith (NE-3)
Christopher Smith (NJ-4)
Steve Stivers (OH-15)
Lee Terry (NE-2)
Glenn Thompson (PA-5)
Pat Tiberi (OH-12)
Mike Turner (OH-10)
Marc Veasey (TX-33)
Peter Visclosky (IN-1)
Ann Wagner (MO-2)
Tim Walberg (MI-7)
Greg Walden (OR-2)
Lynn Westmoreland (GA-3)
Ed Whitfield (KY-1)
Frederica Wilson (FL-24)
Joe Wilson (SC-2)
Rob Wittman (VA-1)
Steve Womack (AR-3)
Don Young (AK-AL)

The Local Radio Freedom Act's 10 Senate cosponsors are:
John Barrasso (R-WY)
Max Baucus (D-MT)
John Boozman (R-AR)
Michael Enzi (R-WY)
Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

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NABEF Announces Freedom of Speech PSA Winners

July 5, 2011

The NAB Education Foundation and the Broadcast Education Association announced today the winners of their annual Freedom of Speech public service announcement competition for college communications students. The first-place winners for radio will be recognized at the Society of Professional Journalists' annual conference on Monday, September 26, 2011 in New Orleans, LA. More than 100 communications students from across the country competed in the Freedom of Speech PSA contest calling for 30-second spots that creatively address "What freedom of speech means to me."

The winning entries are:

In the Radio Category
1st Place: Caitlin Johnson, Rowan University
2nd Place: Saraya Wintersmith, Howard University
3rd place: Mason Alexander, The Art Institute of Atlanta

The Freedom of Speech PSA contest was presented by NABEF and BEA, with major funding from the McCormick Foundation. Winning PSAs may be viewed at www.freedomofspeechpsa.org and will be available for download Friday, July 15, 2011 on the NAB Spot Center.

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