Alabama Proposes Streaming Tax

3-19-2015

A regulation being proposed by the Alabama Department of Revenue could change the landscape of state and local rental taxes applied to digital streaming services in the state. The expanded rental tax would be imposed on certain "cable or satellite television providers, online movie and digital music providers, app stores, and other similar providers of digital transmissions." Jdsupra reports that the customer's service address will be used to determine if the digital transmission is "used in Alabama."

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Alabama Alien Stunt Gets National Attention

9-2-13

Some listeners to Shoals Radio's WMSR in Alabama believed aliens were taking over the station. The stunt even had some thinking schools would be attacked so they kept their kids home. Management was trying to bring attention to the station for an upcoming format switch and aired fake conversations between aliens. And attention it got. A ton of buzz resulted from the stunt, even garnering national coverage in the New York Daily News, The Huffington Post's Weird News section and blogs all over the Web. Was this a perfectly executed radio stunt or an over-the-top attempt to call attention to the station by frightening the community? Broadcast attorney John Garziglia tells Radio Ink, "Any stunt or hoax that causes the invocation of law enforcement is a promotion that the FCC severely frowns upon." We'll have more from Garziglia on this story in the headlines Wednesday morning.

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

PD Brian Rickman told AL.com, "We came up with what we thought was a really fun storyline and that would be that these aliens or star people were hacking into the radio station. The concept being that they heard our frequency several light years away, they didn't like Justin Bieber and the pop music we were playing and they were going to take over the radio station and adjust the format. It's a very innocuous promotion that got blown out of proportion. We thought it was clever."

Law enforcement in the area even added security at schools to down some parents. Rickman told AL.com once the concern began to spread he went into damage control. "My decision was, let's speed up making the aliens friendlier. That was scheduled to happen. The messages we aired were by no means cryptic but I supposed they were almost too well produced. It really did sound like somebody was hacking in. If we made any mistake, I suppose that was it."

The Times Daily in Florence reported that Tuscumbia police chief Tony Logan said chatter on social media is what led to the unfounded concern. Tuscumbia police posted on its Facebook page that the radio promotion was nothing to be concerned about.

Colbert County Schools Superintendent Tony Olivis was critical of the radio station stunt. "At this time in our society, everyone is highly sensitive about school safety. This has caused a knee-jerk reaction from some, and unfortunately that could cause some parents to keep their children at home (today) because of this hoax."

(9/3/2013 2:47:31 PM)
God I wish I could have been a part of this. This is genius.
(9/3/2013 9:37:47 AM)
Thom is, I believe, quite correct - it would have taken some production and performance skills to pull that one off. And yes, if the station can pull off their "real" format with the same aplomb, they should be just fine.
What are the chances, though, that they blew threough their arrows on the stunt and that there's little left in the quiver...?
(9/3/2013 9:23:25 AM)
I heard some of the most creative radio when the stations were "stunting" between formats. From what I'm reading here, this is absolute genius promotion.
I would like to think that the "gullible" spoken of in the prior comments are part of the station's intention: To get a reaction. Those people will never forget THAT station ever again...which means the new format had better be worth the hubbub.
(9/2/2013 11:56:12 PM)
Just more evidence of the numbers of gullible and credulous amongst us. Is it any wonder that corporations, media and other organizations just keep piling it on...?

What is more troubling is when the leadership of said organizations are among those who actually believe this crap.

"There is no accounting or cure for 'stupid'."

(9/2/2013 8:38:12 PM)
This is so sad. Anybody who fell for this must be an absolute moron. Or does it just lend support to the theory that gun-gobbling Americans really are consumed with fear?

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Alabama Radio Personality Kevin Whorton Passes

8-12-2013

Florence/Muscle Shoals, AL, radio fixture Kevin Whorton has passed away. He was 52. For most of his 20-plus years in the Florence/Muscle Shoals market, Kevin was the afternoon drive personality at WLAY-FM. "Throughout his years on the air, Kevin was often the first personality in the Shoals to lend aid to various charities and families that needed assistance," said Regional Director of Programming URBan Radio Broadcasting, LLC Brian Rickman. "His generosity and respect for those in their time of need will never be forgotten."

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Alabama Sports Talker Nabbed for DUI.

10-21-2012

Charged with driving under the influence, former Auburn football player Cole Cubelic, is scheduled to appear in court today. The 35-year old Cubelic is heard on Huntsville's 97.7-FM "The Zone," an ESPN affiliate. Police charged him with DUI, open container and speeding. Cubelic is the co-host of The Cole Cubelic Show, and an SEC analyst for ESPN.

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Dothan Alabama Morning Man Dies of Cancer

7-5-2012

According to http://www.dothaneagle.com/ 65 year old Ken ?K.C.? Carlile, one half of the popular Pollard and K.C. radio team that hosted morning shows in Dothan for 10 years, passed away Tuesday after a long battle with brain cancer. A radio veteran for 40 years, Carlile began working with Pollard before they became a duo more than a decade ago. Carlile is survived by two sons. Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern at McMullen Funeral Home in Columbus, Ga.

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Alabama Broadcasters Start Engineering Academy

12-16-2011

The Alabama Broadcasters Association has established a Broadcast Engineering Academy in Hoover, AL. The association says the new academy is in response to the growing need for engineers across Alabama and the entire country. The ABA Broadcast Engineering Academy will create apprenticeship and internship programs to place students at Alabama stations to gain more practical experience. The training facility will be completed and curriculum established in time to conduct the first classes in late May, 2012.

Alabama Broadcasters Association President Sharon Tinsley said, ?this exciting opportunity is a perfect example of the ABA listening to the needs of its members and the industry as a whole and then creating solutions for those needs.?  The Association is working with the Society of Broadcast Engineers to ensure that the ABA?s Academy will be an eligible SBE certified training institute.  In addition, the ABA is partnering with a local career college to establish a pilot program with their Network and Electrical Engineering students.  Alabama member radio and TV stations will be encouraged to send employees to the Academy for additional training.  Other state broadcast associations will also be invited to send students to the Academy.

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Alabama Sports Talker Sues Citadel, The Company He's Working For.

This is a strange one folks. And it's a big enough issue for Citadel that COO Judy Ellis made a trip to Alabama to address the matter so you can bet Lew Dickey and company keeping at least one eye on this one. Popular sports talker Paul Finebaum has filed a lawsuit against Citadel, the company he is currently working for. The Paul Finebaum Show airs from 2-9 p.m. weekdays on WJOX-FM. People in the market tell Radio Ink Finebaum is claiming Citadel is not paying him according to the contract both sides signed. The Birmingham Business Journal is reporting the dollar amount in question is $75,000. Finebaum's contract takes him through 2013, however, there's also word he does not have a non-compete. It makes you wonder if there's a possibility he may want to jump to another station and if he can proved he's not getting paid he can declare the contract invalid.

But what makes this issue even more wacky is that the details of the case were sealed by a judge and that move is highly unusual. Atlanta employment law litigator for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice Bill Long told Radio Ink "I know the federal judges here are loathe to have cases filed under seal, have set up Draconian procedures that have to be met to allow sealing, and usually, in civil cases, only allow it when trade secret type information is involved." Thursday afternoon, a federal judge ordered the case be made public, but the contents of the court filing remain under seal. Attorneys have until noon Friday to redact portions of the filing before the public can get a look. We contacted Finebaum's attorney Russ Campbell who said "Although the Judge has lifted the seal, we are not likely to have a comment in the near future. We will do our talking in the context of the litigation."

Another weird element in this story is that Finebaum and the WJOX-FM General Manager Bill Thomas are fiends, which may explain the lack of  non-compete. Thomas sent us a statement last night. ?Citadel has a positive and productive relationship with Paul. Our relationship will not change because of his legal filings. I personally have considered him a friend since the 1980?s, bringing him to WERC in the 1990?s, advising him during his negotiations with Citadel in 2007, and then joining him at Citadel in 2010 on his recommendation. I feel very confident that the actions of Citadel and its employees with respect to Paul have been appropriate, and I expect that to be demonstrated if his lawsuit continues. Paul is an important part of the best sports talk line-up in the South and we look forward to him fulfilling his contract with Citadel through January 2013. ?We are very mindful of the fact that radio is a locally focused business, and we remain committed to serving our local listeners and advertisers by bringing them the most popular radio personalities in the area, including Paul. The last two football seasons in Alabama have brought WJOX-FM a lot of national attention, and the season that starts next week should  be no exception. We look forward to continuing our long and mutually beneficial relationship with Paul and expanding the Paul Finebaum Radio  Network.?

Citadel Corporate directed us to their attorney James Mitchell who did not return an e-mail last night.

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