NJBA Weekly Newsletter, Friday, June 25, 2010 

New Jersey to Get New EAS

The NJBA is very pleased to report that the New Jersey State Police and our governing authorities have agreed to proceed with the procurement of a new, modern, redundant Emergency Alert System (EAS) to replace the aging and archaic one currently in place in the Garden State. This new system will allow emergency alert messaging, including AMBER Alerts, to be transmitted to the state’s radio stations for broadcast to the public in times of national and state emergency, at the direction of the President or Governor and law enforcement. This is particularly gratifying to broadcasters around the state, epically given the fact that the last three AMBER Alerts actually failed in Jersey. “New Jersey Broadcasters take their role as first responders in times of crises very, very seriously, especially in our efforts to save the lives of abducted children in eminent threat of death or serious bodily harm by broadcasting AMBER and other EAS warnings to the local listening audiences we serve,” Said NJBA President Paul Rotella upon learning of this life saving decision to move forward with this major NJBA initiative. “We are particularly gratified by the very earnest work of our dedicated law enforcement community, including our State Police, Office of Emergency Management and the Governor’s office and legislature in recognizing this urgent public safety need in our state”.

The NJBA would like to thank all of the people on our EAS “ad-hoc” committee, comprised of members from each of these communities, for their hard work over the past eighteen months in achieving this crucial goal. “Every day that we wait to procure and deploy a fully functional, redundant EAS in New Jersey, our residents and visitors are in danger, and any further delay would simply be imprudent and frankly, dangerous to the public safely of our citizenry” said Rotella. The State will also be installing this new system at all 21 County Offices of Emergency Management as well as at the SEOC, which will bolster the state’s homeland security and emergency response preparedness capability.  In addition, this system will give our region full multi-jurisdictional interoperability, allowing cross communication between and across state lines with Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC, and it looks like New York will also be securing the same EAS system.

The NJBA has been a major proponent of alerting the public and public officials of this critical need in the Garden State, and the relentless hard work of our Board of Directors and our Board Officers like Immediate Past Chairman Bob McAllan and Current Chairman Bill Saurer, as well as our NJBA staff, makes this announcement very gratifying”, said Rotella. “But without the support of the New Jersey State Police and people like Colonel Jerome Hatfield and his great team at the NJSP Regional Operations Intelligence Center (ROIC), Bob Schroeder, (our NJOEM Communications and Warning Officer), our SECC Chairman Rich Archut, and of course, Governor Christie and our state’s Legislative Leadership, who are supported this ongoing project, we might still be dithering around wondering what to do the next time we need to reach the 9 million plus New Jerseyans we serve with a vital warning or  emergency alert.” The NJBA would like to say “thank you” to all of the people who are making this essential upgrade to our state’s defense posture and warning system a reality, and thank you to our valuable member’s for supporting this important NJBA initiative.    

Performance Tax Opposition Continues to Grow

The NAB, with the help of our state associations from around the country, continues to collect cosponsors on the pro-broadcaster radio resolution, the Local Radio Freedom Act. In the House, Rep. G.K. Butterfield (NC-01) was recently added as a cosponsor, which brings the House total to 261 bipartisan cosponsors. There are 27 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate. Additionally, Sen. Ben Nelson (NE), chairman of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, announced during a hearing on April 30, that he would not support the inclusion of the performance tax in the Legislative Branch appropriations bill or any other appropriations bill.  As our good friend David Oxenford pointed out in his blog posting this week: Some in the broadcast community have suggested that, given the major issues that are pending before Congress and the fact that the Congressional schedule will likely be tight in the fall in advance of the November elections, there was not time for this issue to come up this year.  But there are still many opportunities for the issue to be considered - either as part of some other legislation, or perhaps in the "lame duck" session of Congress after the elections but before the new Congress is convened in January.  During that lame duck session, Congressmen who are not returning to Washington, either through retirement or after an election defeat, can be unpredictable, Thus, broadcasters need to continue to be on alert for possible action in this area, and need to continue to talk to their local representatives to combat any "star power" that the recording industry can muster to visit the halls of Congress.

Congress On Recess Next Week

Now is the time to call and visit Congressmen Holt, Payne and Rothman and help them understand why the Performance Tax would hurt New Jersey and their constituents while they are home enjoying their first summer vacation. They leave Washington next weekend and will be in district until the 12th of July, so please try and stop by their offices and explain to them how damaging the P-Tax would be, especially given its $30 million dollar price tag in New Jersey. $30 million! Taken right off the top of a station’s operating budget. That’s a lot of jobs, and it is the last thing New Jersey needs! You can reach Congressman Rothman (D-9th) at his New Jersey office at 201-646-0808; and 201-798-1366; Congressman Payne (D-10th) at 908-629-0222; and 201-369-0392; and Congressman Holt (D-12th) at 609-750-9365. These Congressmen need to know that their failure to support local broadcasters will hurt all of us who enjoy NJ Radio and rely on it for local news, weather, traffic, EAS messages and AMBER Alerts.  Tell them that the greedy foreign owned record companies don’t care about New Jersey, but we do…and they should!

Biennial Ownership Reports Due by July 8^th

Don't forget!  All commercial broadcast stations in the US are required to file their biennial ownership reports on or before July 8, 2010.  The reports must be filed for all commercial licensees through the FCC’s™ electronic filing database, CDBS, and each attributable entity reported on the ownership report must have its own Federal Registration Number (FRN).  For this first biennial report on the new Form 323 (delayed many times now) the information reported must be accurate as of November 1, 2009.  Additional information regarding the new report form and how to file can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/industry_analysis/form323.html. (FYI: This matter is still in front of the Federal Courts and may be modified, however, as of this writing: all reports are due on July 8^th.)

QuickNews Needs Your Help

QuickNews and our NJBA website will be undergoing a much needed face lift after over 2,000 years in service. (OK, not really 2000 years, but close to it in computer years, which make doggie years look like centuries!)  So, please stay tuned for our new look, which will be coming out this summer.  In the meantime, you can help us make sure that all of your key station personnel are getting QuickNews by updating our mailing list.  Just send us your email address to Mary@NJBA.com to join our QN distribution list.

The Trenton Report: From THE MARCUS GROUP

 It is all over but the shouting.  A budget deal has been struck in Trenton between Governor Christie and the Legislative Leadership in the Senate and Assembly. The Governor gets most of what he proposed in March--significant cuts to the size of state government and the Democratic leaders get a restoration of some funding for a handful of their favored state programs. Over the next week, the annual Kabuki ritual of the adoption of the state budget will play out in daily legislative sessions in Trenton. Look for Democrats to continue to criticize the Christie cuts, call for enacting a millionaires' tax and then grudgingly provide the minimum number of necessary votes to send a state budget to the Governor before the July 1st deadline in order to avert a shutdown of state government.

Arbitron Replaces PPM With Cell-Phone Like Device
Arbitron announced new PPM 360 technology that extends the Portable People Meter onto a wireless platform. The company says the new device design resembles a simple cell phone and is sleeker and smaller than the current meter. The inclusion of cellular wireless technology in the meter eliminates the need for an in-home docking station and a communications hub, but Arbitron promises more advancement in their technology in the coming months.

Clear Channel Keeps WHCY

Clear Channel says that with a new religious non-com in northwestern New Jersey, it can bring WHCY, Blairstown back from the Aloha Trust. CC was right on the bubble of being able to keep WHCY when it went private in the Summer of 2008, but you're only allowed to own stations in one service (AM or FM) in the FCC-defined market of Sussex. Now circumstances have changed with the sign-on of Spanish contemporary Christian WDNJ, Hopatcong (88.1). That puts the market into the next tier by number of stations, and it’s filing to have control of WHCY “reconveyed” back to it from the Jeanette Tully-run Aloha Station Trust.

Save $100 on NAB Radio Show Registration

There is still time to save $100 on your Radio Show registration. Today through July 4, the registration rate which includes access to all Radio Show sessions, The Marketplace and both luncheons is just $395 for NAB/RAB members. Additionally, If your company is interested in the Group Promotion (register four individuals from one company, get one free, must register at same time) you can send an email to register@nab.org to get a group registration code for your company.  Included in the Radio Show sessions is Ask the Experts, a series of sessions specifically designed by NAB Science and Technology for radio engineers and others interested in the future for radio broadcasting from a technology perspective. It will put you in front of people who are changing the rules, crafting new ones and enforcing compliance. Whether you handle technical operations at a small station, are in charge of a station group, or a consultant in the radio industry, Ask the Experts will offer a unique opportunity to join your colleagues and peers grilling our speakers for accurate answers to your most pressing questions.

Conclave Set for July 15-17

NJBA Board member Dan Spears and Convention Committee Member Bob Taylor reminded us that the Conclave, an organization whose mission is to use education to improve the quality of broadcasting and related industries so they may better serve the public interest, will be holding their annual radio conference in Minneapolis, at the Doubletree Park Place from July 15-17.  Year after year the Conclave features an amazing agenda with top notch speakers.  Interested NJBA members should review the agenda at http://www.theconclave.com/upload/conclaveagenda61110.pdf and can register at http://www.theconclave.com/register/clc_register.php to receive hotel discounts and more.

Nobody Celebrates the 4th Like Jersey

The Garden State is full of amazing 4th of July fireworks displays, probably holding more fun filled patriotic exhibits per square mile than any other state in the union.  From Beach Haven to Bogota, Little Falls to Lake Hopatcong, Camden to Cape May, Paterson to Point Pleasant, (OK, you get it), local municipalities, chambers of commerce, and many civic organizations will be celebrating the fourth with a bang.  But the biggest fireworks display in Jersey will be in Atlantic City this year, so whether you enjoy the shore, the lake, or the mountains, all of us at the NJBA Broadcast House wish our loyal members and friends a happy and safe Independence Day. Happy Birthday America!

QuickNews will be on the road next week but will return on July 9th!

QuickNews is provided for general information purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal or tax advice pertaining to any specific factual situation. Legal and tax related decisions should be made only after proper consultation with a legal professional of your choosing.

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