NJBA Weekly Newsletter Friday, May 22, 2009

Nominating Committee Proposes 2009-2010 Slate

The Nominating Committee of the NJBA has nominated the following NJBA members to serve as Officers and Directors for the upcoming year: Chairman: Robert McAllan; First Vice Chairman: Dick Taylor; Second Vice President: Scott Taylor; Treasurer: Joseph Bilotta; Secretary: Bill Saurer; Board Members:  Dan Finn, Charles McCreery, Dick Irland, Dan Spears, Art Camiolo, Dick Swetits, Pat Delsi, Elizabeth Christopherson, Andrew Santoro, John Mozes. The election of officers and Board members will be held on June 23, 2009 at the Association’s Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for June 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM at Forte Restaurant, 2154 Bridge Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach Borough, NJ.  

NJBA Board of Directors Proposes By-Laws Amendments

At the Monday Board of Directors meeting, the By-laws committee of the NJBA recommended several “Housekeeping” amendments to the Association’s by-laws, which may be found in an attachment to Quick News and viewed on our website. The amendments were approved by the Board of Directors and were sent to the general membership for their review and approval. The recommended amendments codify many long standing policies and practices desired by the Board and Association. The amendments to the by-laws will be voted on at the Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for June 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM at Forte Restaurant, 2154 Bridge Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach Borough, NJ.

Scripts and Spots on the Performance Tax

H.Con.Res. 49, the Local Radio Freedom Act, introduced by Congressman Gene Green, currently stands at 209 bipartisan cosponsors (special Thanks to Chris Smith and Albio Sires for their support of our position).  Support for this resolution continues to increase on a weekly basis. The NJBA has produced a series of radio Ads highlighting the dangers that the Performance Tax poses to local NJ radio. They can be downloaded for your stations’ use at www.njba.com and Check out www.noperformance.org and log on to the Broadcaster Resource Center for sample scripts your station can use to fight the Performance Tax threat today.

Important reminder: any spots stations air that are considered "issue advocacy" must comply with all FCC and FEC requirements, including on-air sponsorship identification and public file disclosure. NAB recommends that stations fill out a Performance Tax Public File Form and place it in their public file. Please consult your station counsel with any questions.

NJBA and FCC help Bust North Jersey Pirate Station

The NJBA wants to thank the FCC and Justice Department for their aggressive investigation of this illegal broadcaster. This one, at 90.5 in the non-commercial band, was interfering with adult alternative WFUV, New York (90.7) and had persisted despite official warnings. On May 11, the FBI conducted a raid that shut down the station and confiscated its equipment. Tom Taylor (Taylor on Radio) and NORTHJERSEY.com reported this arrest Thursday quoting assistant U.S. Attorney Jafer Aftab saying they were impelled to act because “the equipment used in this type of operation is highly portable.” And indeed, they raided two different locations in Paterson, NJ. Two men were arrested and could be fined $10,000.00.

FCC Launches Inquiry into Arbitron and PPM Reliability

Questioning PPM deployment and the wisdom of mixing diary and People Meter data in the embedded markets, NJBA President and CEO Paul Rotella labels them “irreconcilable statistical methodologies.”Consider the disparity in PPM deployment in two adjacent New Jersey counties, Monmouth (population 588,000) and Middlesex (population 732,000). Arbitron deployed 347 PPMs in Middlesex. But only 96 in Monmouth.” Morris County (population 454,000) has only 87 PPMs. Its next-door neighbor Union County (population 480,000) has 260. And this – “Ocean County (population 564,000) has no PPMs at all” – since it’s still being surveyed by the pen-and-paper diary. But it’s part of the embedded Monmouth-Ocean County, metro #51, where one county is PPM and the other’s not. The NJBA’s not knocking the diary, mind you. Rotella says it’s “accredited and widely accepted.” So those are the charges from New Jersey that got Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps’ attention, as he unveiled the official Notice of Inquiry about the meter on Monday. Acting Chairman Copps commented: "Anything that affects media diversity and minority ownership -- and I am not drawing any conclusions here -- affects our ability to do our job. Moreover, the commission relies on Arbitron data to evaluate broadcast radio transactions, issue periodic industry trend reports, and conduct congressionally mandated reviews of our media ownership rules. Without confidence in the underlying data, those important functions could be undercut." Meanwhile, the Media Rating Council says PPM's accreditation proceedings are "ongoing" and they have no plans to put their process on hold while the FCC wades into the controversy.

FCC Commissioner Adelstein Suggests PPM Usage by Broadcasters Could be Barred

Proposed 2009 FCC Regulatory Fees

In spite of the current economic climate (and to the envy of broadcasters who wish they could raise their rates a comparable amount), Congress has ordered the FCC to collect 2009 regulatory fees totaling nearly $343 million, representing an increase of 10% compared to the amount assessed last year (which, in turn, represented a 7.6% increase over 2007).  As a result, the FCC has proposed corresponding increases in the regulatory fees to be paid late this summer by the holders of FCC authorizations.  NJBA members will receive fee tables and a chart comparing the 2008 regulatory fees with the proposed fees for 2009 in a special e-mail advisory.  Radio fees again re to be determined by service (AM or FM), class of station and estimated population served, and television fees by bank (VHF or UHF) and market size.  Payments will have to be received by an as-yet undetermined deadline toward the end of this fiscal year, probably in September 2009.  Late payments will trigger an automatic 25% penalty and will subject all related entities to “red light” status, precluding processing of all but emergency FCC applications and requests.

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

 Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps would like to have the commission "get serious about defining broadcasters' public interest obligations and reinvigorating our license renewal process." He said, "It is time to say goodbye to postcard renewal every eight years and hello to license renewals every three years with some public interest teeth." The NJBA would respectfully oppose attempts to shorten license renewal terms. Congress wisely reformed license renewal terms to allow broadcasters to better compete against our pay platform competitors. Reducing a broadcaster's term of license would actually harm localism by injecting greater uncertainty into a business model facing the worst advertising downturn in decades.

Comments Due July 13 on FCC Proposal to Restrict movement of FM Stations