From the NAB Newsroom: The 2nd Circuit released its decision in the Department of Justice’s appeal of the Southern District of New York’s interpretation of the BMI consent decree related to “fractional licensing.” The case arose out of DOJ’s two-year long review of the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees which concluded in August 2016. DOJ… read more
The Local Radio Freedom Act (H. Con. Res. 13) has reached majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives, with 220 House co-sponsors. This means that the majority of our nation’s legislators in the House have taken a stand to protect local radio listeners and stations in their district from the threat of a performance… read more
During the FCC Open Meeting on December 14 , the Commissioners voted along the partisan lines to move the agency a step closer to raising or eliminating the 39-percent ownership cap. The rule adopted last week starts a process of review that many broadcast industry insiders view as a change to the cap, which currently… read more
In an order adopted on December 14, the FCC created a dedicated Blue Alert event code in the Emergency Alert System so that state and local agencies have the option to send these warnings to the public through broadcast, cable, satellite and wireline video providers. Blue Alerts warn the public when there is actionable information… read more
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions of this article do not necessarily reflect those of the MAB. Contact the MAB for information on the MAB’s official editorial policy. By: Gary Berkowitz Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting I spent many years working with Bob Morgan at CBS Radio in Rochester, N.Y. He had one belief that really impacted… read more
After 30 years as music director and on-air personality at WEMU-FM, the NPR/Jazz station at Eastern Michigan University, Linda Yohn has retired. Her last day on the air was December 18. Yohn announced her retirement plan early this year. Yohn began at WEMU in April of 1987, after stints at WKSU in Kent, Ohio, and… read more
Metro Detroiters came together over the Thanksgiving holiday to help those in need throughout Metro Detroit. The WXYZ-TV (Detroit) “Together We Can” effort collected more than 16,800 pounds of nonperishable food items to battle hunger in our community. WXYZ partnered with Art Van Furniture and the Detroit Lions to collect packaged and canned goods for… read more
WDIV-TV (Detroit) has announced that Jason Colthorp has been promoted to anchor of Local 4 News at 5:30 p.m. Colthorp will join Karen Drew, Ben Bailey and Bernie Smilovitz on the early evening newscast. He will still report for Local 4 News at 11 p.m. and other newscasts. Devin Scillian will continue to anchor Local… read more
The 2018 Required Monthly Test (RMT) schedules for various regions of the state are now posted to MichMAB.com as part of the website’s Emergency Alert System section. While there are still a few outstanding schedules still remaining to be collected, most of the areas are now available here. One change to note for 2018 is that… read more
Via NAB: A majority of the House of Representatives now supports the Local Radio Freedom Act after a bipartisan group of five House members signed a resolution opposing “any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge” on local broadcast radio stations. The Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA) now has 220 cosponsors in the House,… read more