The last thing the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) wants is government intervention in the royalty debate but their actions may be forcing the issue, according to POLITICO.com. After setting their own terms for a settlement in the dispute, the board of the NAB voted this week in favor of paying musicians a royalty fee for playing their music over the radio, but with provisions. The key provision is this: If Congress doesn't vote to force mobile phones to come equipped with radio tuners - a measure that the wireless and consumer electronic industries vehemently oppose - the size of the royalty fee would ultimately depend on the percentage of U.S. mobile phones with built-in radio tuners...
Last year, both the Senate and House Judiciary committees approved legislation that would force broadcasters to pay royalty fees. Lawmakers had asked broadcasters and the music industry to work out their own agreement and present it. So, did the NAB do their due dilligence before sending out their terms for an agreement? Apparently not. "With the NAB's action, Congress is the best venue right now to decide how the royalty rate will be decided," Tom Matzzie says on behalf of MusicFirst, although he didn't rule out continuing negotiations. Although congressional action isn't likely yet, it could happen. "At this point, unless there's some big breakthrough between the NAB and MusicFirst, I don't see Congress hammering this out in the lame-duck session," says David Kraut, Stifel Nicolaus analyst. "It's looking to me that it'll spill over to the next Congress and it could play out in a couple more Congresses." ...
In addition to the NAB, others favoring the association's plan is, to be honest - no one. MusicFirst is not, neither is the Consumer Electronics Association or wireless industry. Not only that, according to Kraut "I think there are probably some broadcasters that are not quite ready to sign on to this and the NAB needs some sweeteners to get over the hump." Of course, all of this could have been avoided by the NAB by discussing their plan with their opponents and compromising...
10 Timeline Memories:
1.1636] Crimson & clover: Harvard College is founded in the Bay State. The first school of higher education was originally called "Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony"...
2.1886] Lady Liberty: The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. The original name of the statue: "Liberty Enlightening The World." On the same date in 1936 the statue was rededicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on its 50th anniversary and in 1986 the centennial was celebrated...
3.1950] Debuted on this date: "The Jack Benny Show" on CBS-TV. The show will run until August of 1977...
4.1953] Musical chairs: The "Old Redhead", Red Barber, takes his "catbird seat" from Brooklyn to the Bronx to do play-by-play of Yankees games...1979] Dick Howser replaces Billy Martin as Yankees manager. This clip is a rare profile of mild-manered Howser...
5.1961] Ground breaking: For Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows. Shea will open in 1964 when the World's Fair opens...
6.1962] Joining the 7 TD club: Giants QB Y.A.Tittle becomes the 3rd QB in the NFL (Sid Luckman and Adrian Burk were 1st & 2nd) to pass for 7 touchdowns in one game. It led the Giants to a 49-34 victory over the Washington Redskins..
7.1973] Sayonara: Secretariat wins his final race in Canada, then goes to stud after 16 wins in 21 races. "Big Red" will live to the age of 19...
8.1976] Up the river: Former Nixon presidential aide John Erlichman begins his sentence for Watergate related wrong-doings..
9.1981] Comeback kids: The Dodgers come back from a 2-0 game deficit to beat the Yankees in 4 straight games to win the World Series. Yankee reliever George Frasier loses 3 games in the series...
10.2007] Twice as nice: The Boston Red Sox win their 2nd World Series in 4 years as they sweep the Colorado Rockies in 4 games...
Music Memories:
- 1956] Number One on this date: "Love Me Tender" - Elvis Presley (replaces "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" after 11 weeks at the top of the charts as Elvis becomes the first artist to replace himself at #1)...1975] "Island Girl" - Elton John...
- 1971] Recorded on this date: "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" - John Lennon and Yoko Ono...
Commentary:
Ron Jacobs has written the ultimate chronicle of what it feels like to program a radio station. Ron takes you from the first day he walked into KHJ, to the glory days of one of America's most famous radio stations. You'll especially love the staff memos Jacobs includes in the book. For additional information on KHJ: Inside Boss Radio and accompanying CDs, click here...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Joaquin Phoenix (36), Brad Paisley (38), Julia Roberts (43), Lauren Holly (47), Bill Gates (55), Annie Potts (58), Bruce Jenner (61), Telma Hopkins (62), Wayne Fontana (65), Dennis Franz (66), Jane Alexander (71), Lennie Wilkins (73) and Charlie Daniels (74)...
Timeline Countdown: Game 2 of the World Series is tonight, 3 nights until Halloween, 10 days until standard time and 28 days until Thanksgiving...
