NJBA Weekly Newsletter Friday, March 26, 2010 

Save the Date: NJBA Convention is June 7-8 in AC!

Planning for the 2010 Mid Atlantic Broadcasters Conference continues to move forward as the Convention Committee announced the return of the “Best of the Best” contest where broadcasters compete for honors in categories like “Best Feature”, Best Commercial and “Best News Story”. Make sure your station is in the running for these prestigious NJBA awards.  Look for your entry form in the mail!  Also announced were the following scholarship programs.  Millennium Radio will award the Erik Van Ness Scholarship, Greater Media will award the Anthony V. Marano Scholarship and a special NJBA Scholarship will be awarded to broadcast majors in New Jersey.  Criteria for the awards and scholarship form will be available on line at www.NJBA.com next month.

The Trenton Report: From The Marcus Group

It looks like Trenton is tuning in to NJ radio! In what a bold move applauded by the NJBA, State Senator James Whelan wants Trenton to make its voice heard in Halls of Congress on the performance tax issue. He indicated his intention to introduce SR 61, a resolution calling upon Congress to pass Senate Concurrent Resolution 14 and House Concurrent Resolution 49 supporting the "Local Radio Freedom Act." In essence, Senator Whelan is asking his colleagues in the State Senate to go on record in opposition to a performance tax or fee on local radio stations here in New Jersey and across the country. “We are hopeful all of our legislators and Governor will support this great initiative,” said NJBA President Paul Rotella, who has been one of the most vocal opponents of the Performance Tax in the state. “Our diverse and vibrant New Jersey Broadcaster community is grateful and delighted for this wonderful vote of confidence! The NJBA commends Senator Whelan for sponsoring this resolution and looks forward to its enactment.”

Former FCC Chairman Hundt to Broadcasters: Drop Dead!
Wow, what a surprise! But the cat is out of the bag and the long felt prejudice against out industry was plainly on display last week when former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt told all in a speech at Columbia University. The erstwhile commissioner explained his policy of favoring the Internet over established media including broadcasting, and said he believes the time has come for the U.S. government to endorse one common medium -- broadband -- over all others. Hundt said, "We also thought the Internet would fundamentally be pro-democracy and that broadcast had become a threat to democracy." Amazing. Mr. Hundt owes an apology to the NJBA and all broadcasters across America. Indeed, he should apologize to all Americans for his unfounded and dark and narrow narrow-minded prejudice of the industry he was sworn to regulate, fairly, impartially, and without bias. Many New Jersey broadcasters joined their pal TVNewscheck editor Harry A. Jessell, who expressed his alarm over Hundt's admission, and argues that there's still room for multiple forms of media to prosper. He writes, "The question was once put to me: what would you rather have, the best broadcasting system in the world or the best broadband system. Our answer: both! And note to Mr. Hundt: Broadcasters are one of the few remaining defenders of liberty and the first amendment left in America. Certainly, it will not be our industry who threatens democracy.

Chamber Brings Bagger to Breakfast

The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce kicked off its Spring Speaker Program this week with Governor Christie’s Chief of Staff, the Hon. Richard Bagger as their special guest. NJBA President Paul Rotella met with the new COS who gave a detailed description of the many challenges facing the Garden State and the actions the administration is proposing to meet them. Obviously, the biggest challenge is closing the enormous budget deficit the state is facing. “New Jersey has the largest deficit per person in the country when adjusted for population. (Even if it is not, it comes in number two!) And remember, we are the most density populated state in the nation. It works out to more than $40,000 per family. “Worse” Bagger said, “is the fact that we have the highest personal income tax and real estate taxes in the country.” In the last eight years, the two previous administrations and legislature passé and put into effect over 120 new taxes! To be sure, the new Administration will have its hands full, but the many in the Chamber are confident that the future of the state is in good hands. The NJ Chamber is hosting several more “power Breakfasts with state leaders all spring and you can learn more about these great Chamber events at www.NJChamber.com

WBGO Sweeps Black Journalist Awards

NJBA Member WBGO’s News Department was awarded four honors in the 2010 New York Association of Black Journalists Annual Scholarship and Awards Dinner this month, which was held at Columbia University. The NYABJ recognizes the best in Print, New Media, Radio, Magazine and Television reporting of issues that affect the Black Diaspora.  WBGO News Director Doug Doyle led the way for the station’s talented department, which received more first-place awards than any other radio station. Other winners include Andrew Meyer, Allan Wolper and Joanna Doyle for their work. The WBGO News Department has won more than 45 NYABJ Awards since Doug Doyle took over the news department in 1998.  “WBGO News is extremely proud of its commitment to telling the stories that affect all of our listeners including those impacting the African-American community.  We’re so grateful NYABJ has honored our work,” Doyle stated.  Commenting on the great success of a jazz radio station’s news department, Doyle continued, “WBGO is thrilled NYAJB has again recognized so many of our programs including the WBGO Journal and Conversations with Allan Wolper as well as specials such as The Dollars and Sense of Blackness.” WBGO/Jazz88.3FM serves the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area with mainstream jazz, blues, and award-winning news and public affairs programming.  Non-commercial WBGO is supported by nearly 17,000 annual members and has over 300,000 weekly listeners via Jazz88.3FM and worldwide over the internet on www.wbgo.org.  Jazz88 was named the “Jazz Station of the Year” by the Gavin Report, is the recipient of the Blues Foundation’s “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” for Achievement in Non-Commercial Radio, and also recently won the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s My Source Award for Community Outreach.  WBGO is a publicly-supported, cultural institution that champions jazz, an American art form, and presents news to a worldwide audience through radio, other technologies and events. The NJBA congratulates the entire WBGO team on their fine accomplishment!

Five More NJ Area FM Pirates Receive Shutdown Notices

The FCC announced that “Notices of Unlicensed Operation” have gone out to the alleged operator of an unlicensed 91.3 in Queens Village NY, a 105.5 in Brooklyn, a 90.9 in Elmont, a 107.9 in Brooklyn, and a 107.9 in South Orange, NJ. The letters all say “unlicensed operation of this radio station must be discontinued immediately”, with a 10-day window to respond with “evidence that you have authority to operate granted by the FCC.” In the Boston area, the FCC has gone further issuing a $10,000 fine against three people in Hyde Park, MA and Dorchester for operating illegally at 97.5. That was sparked by last summer’s complaint of interference by a licensed FM operator. The NJBA continues to work with the FCC’s Enforcement Division on several other ongoing pirate radio violations.

Radio (Not Broadband) Saves Lives

Haiti’s “Signal FM” rendered life-saving service after the calamitous earthquake and it will be honored at the June 14 NAB Education Foundation National Service to America awards day in Washington, D.C. Signal FM, owned by Mario Viau, was the only island station to stay on immediately after the earthquake. The U.S. Army handed out 50,000 portable radios in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake so Haitians could tune in to Signal FM. “Time and time again we learn of examples where broadcast radio is responsible for saving lives in times of emergency” said NJBA President Paul Rotella, “This proves the incomparable value of radio in times of emergency.” Rotella posits “I wonder how many of the people in Haiti suffering in this terrible catastrophe were on line….”

Atlantic City Gambling on Four New Casinos

Four new, smaller casinos could be built in Atlantic City under a law to be introduced Monday that would mark the biggest expansion of legalized gambling since it began here 32 years ago. Former Mayor James Whelan, who is now a state senator, will introduce legislation to permit four new casinos of at least 200 rooms. The current minimum is 500, and the newest casinos have 1,000 or more. Supporters see the move as a potential cure to the malaise gripping the nation's second-largest gambling market, which is struggling with competition from neighboring states. Yet many casino groups fear that these new casinos will undercut their rates because of cheaper capitol and building costs. In Atlantic City, 500 rooms cost you $800 million, minimum, and nobody's writing checks for $800 million or $1 billion nowadays." The smaller casinos can be built for $10-20 million.

Speaking of the Performance Tax

In spite of continuing intellectually dishonest pressure from RAII to move the P-Tax bill forward, several more House Members recently agreed to co-sponsor the broadcasters’ anti-performance tax bill. In fact, most of NJ’s Congressmen sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter this week asking her to NOT bring this bill to the House floor for a vote because it would cripple the free-over-the-air radio broadcast industry and harm consumers and citizens across the country. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL) and Tim Murphy (R-PA) are the latest House co-sponsors of a non-binding resolution opposing enactment of a performance royalty for terrestrial radio. This dangerous and wrong headlined legislation is the misguided folly of a few greedy, foreign owned record companies who couldn’t care less about the American people or many of the artists they have under contract. If you want to see a glimpse of the result of such a tax, just call any satellite radio service and ask how much it costs for a subscription quote and they actually break out the “Performers Royalty Fee” of x% on their billing, just like sales tax. If you ask how much does an annual contract cost, you get something like $165 per year, plus 7% tax and an additional  Performers Royalty Fee of $xx dollars !!! While the fee appears less than the proposed 30% on broadcasters it is explained by the company that “they give 2 months free, and they do not charge “tax and fees” on giveaway months.” Well, neither do we! ) And guess what? It is the consumer who is actually paying the tax; not the satellite companies. (There’s a shock!) Remember, they don’t collect if they don’t charge…and they are predominantly a non-music service. And since Free-over-the-air-radio is FREE….we have no mechanism of collecting this tax on listeners. Unlike Internet and Satellite radio, we do not have a way to track every “user” and charge them accordingly. Rest assured Radio is merely the first stop on the tax train. History proves that they always cast a wider net. But it gets worse: The natural progression of something like this could lead to a situation like Australia, where nightclubs/bars pay $0.84USD to the recording industry for every patron who enters.  Multiply $.84 by the number some of these clubs do on a good night and you're looking at $4,000 three or four nights a week.  Since all the huge nightclubs here are inside hotels/casinos, our friends in the resort and gaming industries will hopefully soon join our fight against yet another unfair tax. And if anyone doesn’t “cotton” to the word “tax” just call any nightclub owner in Australia or us!

Third Circuit Court of Appeals Rules on Cross-ownership

NJBA pal Tom Taylor tells us that back in 2008, then-Chairman Kevin Martin produced a compromise relaxation of the newspaper-broadcast ownership rules in local markets that pleased almost nobody. It helped out only the newspapers in the top 20 markets, and some media owners claimed it didn’t go nearly far enough toward providing relief. (And the Book of Job-like woes of newspapers are far more painful now than in 2008.) While public interest advocates feared that permitting case-by-case exceptions to the 1975 cross-ownership ban would mean "anything goes." The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals had stayed the implementation of the 2008 rules – but yesterday it lifted its own stay, to the dismay of the current Democratic-controlled FCC. It wanted the court to hold off while it pursued its Quadrennial Review of all media ownership rules, or to at least remand the case back to the agency. But the 3rd Circuit has a mind of its own (as we saw in an indecency case) and it clears the way for the 2008 rules to go into effect, even if for a short period of time. CBS was among the owners which asked the court to lift the stay. Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell says the ruling is “particularly appropriate given the economic upheaval affecting the ongoing viability of many daily newspapers and broadcast stations.” The NAB and NJBA are pleased the court has taken an initial step that could lead to modest reform of outdated ownership rules.

Tell the FCC About Your Retransmission Concerns by May 4^th

The FCC’s Media Bureau is asking for public comment on the Petition recently filed by a number of multichannel video providers - including seven large cable companies, both DBS companies, and Verizon – along with the American Cable Association and several public interest and trade organizations. The Petition seeks changes in the rules governing the retransmission consent process, including potentially requiring arbitration of disputes and limiting the ability of television stations to withhold their signals while the retransmission consent negotiation process is proceeding. Comments in this proceeding are due on April 19 and replies on May 4^th. This is the first step in the consideration of this Petition. If the FCC decides to pursue the matter, it would start a rulemaking proceeding to more specifically explore options for reform of the retransmission consent process. Even at this early stage, this is bound to be a controversial proceeding, which companies on both sides of the issue will vigorously debate. The FCC has designated it as a permit-but-disclose proceeding, meaning that parties can make oral presentations to the Commissioners and FCC staff, if they file the appropriate ex parte disclosures There are sure to be many such notices filed.

Seems the Broadband Plan Could be a Plan for Failure

The FCC plan to create a national high-speed broadband network is running into objections from those concerned that it neglects public safety and those worried that it will be too expensive for the end user.  Citing low broadband costs in Korea and Sweden, Sascha Meinrath of the New America Foundation said, “What I want is big bandwidth for cheap prices….but the plan punts on competition.”  Charles Dowd, deputy chief of the New York City Police Department, raised safety concerns: “Commercial broadband networks simply aren’t built to the standards we need.”

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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