NJBA Weekly Newsletter Friday, March 12, 2010

Mayor Mike Honored by Broadcasters Foundation

The coveted Golden Mike Award was presented to Mayor Mike Bloomberg at a black tie gala in Manhattan this past Monday.  NJBA Board Chairman Robert McAllan and Treasurer Joe Bilotta joined President Paul Rotella in supporting this most worthwhile BFA fundraiser, which netted over two hundred thousand dollars for the Foundation, which uses these funds to help broadcasters and their families who are encountering severe financial hardship.  Mayor Mike was introduced by BFA Chairman Phil Lombardo of Citadel and WOR’s John Gambling, who served as the evening’s Master of Ceremonies. In accepting the award, Mayor Bloomberg regaled the crowd with his signature humor and had some fun at the expense of the award presenters.  He encouraged attendees to use their money, time, and talent to help those less fortunate, promising they will feel good if they do. BFA Chairman Phil Lombardo thanked everyone for their generous support of the Foundation and its important work and looks forward to continued BFA success as he plans his charity golf outing at the NAB Show in Las Vegas next month. Congratulations to BFA President Jim Thompson and his entire team for a terrific and meaningful event! For more information, visit www.broadcastersfoundation.org

Fight the Performance Tax: It’s Reckless and Unfair to NJ

While in Washington last week, NJBA Board Members expressed their appreciation to many of our Congressional delegation for their opposition to the Performance tax. "We're pleased that the bipartisan Congressional opposition to an RIAA tax on free radio continues to grow," said NJBA President Paul Rotella. "Local radio provides an unparalleled promotional platform for the record labels and performing artists. Equally disturbing is the disingenuous comparison of broadcast radio to internet providers and pay/subscription audio entertainment programming and fees paid by satellite radio. The proponents of this legislation want us all to be alike – just because Cable, Satellite and Internet services pay these royalties. As broadcasters, we find this intellectually disingenuous comparison reckless and offensive. We are not alike!  Free over-the-air radio & television are the only exclusively local media that exists! We are licensed separately and differently; we have a very different mission, mainly to operate in the public interest from the EAS for local emergency notification such as NJ Amber Alerts and community wide emergencies such as forest fires, hurricanes, blizzards, and other extreme weather hazards, and flash flooding, to local news of community events and happenings in entertainment from our great and diverse variety of formats.

NJBA Supports Public Option

No, we’re not talking about health care, but broadcasting, which NJBA Vice Chair Dick Taylor referred to last week as the “original public option” while talking with House members in Washington. Free over the air broadcasting remains the only free medium for information and entertainment left in America. The internet and satellite applications referred to in mislabeled “equitable royalty fee” arguments serve merely as signal reception sites or “web-based antennas” for content emanating from a great broadcast radio or television station. Compared to free radio’s more than 235 million listeners in the United States alone, satellite and   subscription services reach less than 10% of radio’s ever expanding and diverse listening base.  And it’s free! Think about how many people in today’s economy can afford to pay to hear radio in the first place. That’s why their subscriber base is contracting. By the way, if anyone wants to see the effects of wrongheaded Performance fees, just look at the recent 30%+ increase in satellite’s monthly subscription fees, and the “going dark” of some radio stations’ streaming audio on the net, due largely in part to the ever-increasing royalties charged to stream content. We're hopeful that Congress will ultimately reject RIAA's reckless campaign against New Jersey‘s hometown radio stations. Only Congressmen Payne, Holt and Rothman have failed to sign on to the Local Radio Freedom Act.

Digital TV Offers Cable Free Environment

More and more New Jerseyans are rethinking their TV viewing options and voting in favor of free over the air broadcasts since the Digital TV transition last year. The shift from analog to digital signals is creating a far better TV viewing experience than ever before for those who don't subscribe to cable, with an average of 30 channels coming in over the air. In this economy, you have to ask the question: Why pay for TV? Apparently, we are starting to hear the answer.

NJ Chamber Of Commerce Offers Consumers Great Deals

In its ongoing effort to assist and promote New Jersey businesses, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and Tomorrow Only, Inc. launched a new website called www.TomorrowOnly.com - a free service where you can find all the unadvertised and last minute specials from your favorite shops, restaurants, salons and more.  Since the site is free, the merchants will be able to pass the savings onto the consumers. Visit the site today and become a Preferred Customer.  You will receive special offers and automatically be eligible for free gift certificates from participating merchants.  This free site will host all the local unadvertised and last minute specials and provide consumers with great deals. Tomorrow Only is debuting in Central Jersey but will gradually expand into Northern and Southern New Jersey. 

The Trenton Report: From The Marcus Group

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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