Wednesday, March 23, 2011

There's More Than Stern's Lawsuit Brewing At Sirius XM & "WRKO...The Launch"...

The Wall Street Journal is all over the Howard Stern Sues Sirius story. Shira Ovide writes in her Deal Journal blog that Howard's "production company is suing, claiming the satellite radio company has refused to pay stock awards it owes to him based on subscriber targets in Stern's contract. The lawsuit also says Sirius owes money to Stern's agent under a consulting agreement." Sirius XM figures that Stern's option for a 3-day week and a reported salary of $80 million should satisfy Stern quite well, thank you. The controversy appears to stem from whether subscribers from XM, the rival satellite company at the time, should count toward the subscriber goals in Stern's contract. Sirius absorbed XM in 2008. Howard Stern is not the only subject on Sirius XM's mind...

Sirius XM has identified their satcom as "Now Playing Everywhere", playing up the access subscribers have on their "computer, iPad, compatible internet radios, and of course that smartphone in your pocket." Now they're looking for additional information from their subscribers. Inside Radio reports that Sirius XM is surveying subscribers about internet radio services in general and Pandora in particular. Sirius XM has hinted in the past that it may offer subscribers who listen to their service online the ability to personalize its content like the satcaster they don't consider competition. That would be Pandora...

Although Mel K downplays the success of Pandora, he's wisely looking into a way to beat them at their own game. He won't admit it though because he considers terrestrial radio his biggest competitor. This might offer proof that he just might be concerned about Pandora's success whether he admits it or not...

10 Timeline Memories:
1.1775] Liberty rules: Patrick Henry calls for America’s independence from Britain, telling the Virginia Provincial Convention: “Give me liberty of give me death.”…
2.1839] OK?: The first recorded use of “OK” is used in the Boston Morning Post…
3.1857] Going up?: Elisha Otis installs the first modern passenger elevator in a public building at the corner of Broome & Broadway in Manhattan…1858] Eleazer A. Gardner of Philadelphia patents the cable streetcar and then is escorted out of his neighborhood when neighbors find out that his name is Eleazer. The same kind of cable car is still in use in San Francisco...
4.1942] Evacuation day: With WWII being fought, the U.S. Government begins evacuating Japanese-Americans from West Coast homes to detention centers…
5.1950] You can't beat this: “Beat The Clock” premieres on CBS-TV, hosted by Bud Collyer. The original show will run through February, 1958 when the show switches to ABC-TV until January, 1961. The show goes into syndication and continues to run until September of 1979…
6.1983] Star Wars: President Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative aka “Star Wars.”…
7.1983] “Happy Trails“: 61-year old Dr. Barney Clark, a retired dentist dies after living 112 days with a permanent artificial heart…
8.1989] Guilty as charged: Joel Steinberg is sentenced to 25 years for killing his adopted daughter. After serving some time he is released and is now a construction worker in Harlem…
9.1998] Hold the ice: “Titanic” wins 11 Oscars tying “Ben-Hur” and “The Lord of The Rings (the Return of the King)” with the most Academy Awards in history…
10.2003] Saving Private Lynch: A U.S. Army maintenance convoy is ambushed in Iraq with 11 soldiers killed and 7, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch, captured. A daring U.S. raid will free her…

This Just In: Actress Elizabeth Taylor has died this morning from congestive heart failure. The screen legend was 79...

Music Memories:
(WRKO...The Launch (Part 17) (March marks the 44th anniversary of WRKO Boston. All month long, I will be serializing the story behind the actual launch of what would become one of the country's legendary Top 40 radio stations and today continues to be a mainstay in New England with a N/T format)...

The length of the IBEW strike at WRKO is in dispute, owing to the fact that AFTRA held a vote to honor picket lines set up by the technicians after the techs walked out. My best recollection is that the strike lasted 10 weeks. Being part of management I was allowed to cross the picket lines. Our GM Perry S. Ury remembers events leading to the strike: "For me it was a day of pride and vindication for the decision to change the format and put the "Boston Rocker" on the air. My most vivid memory was an extremely nasty call from Mr. McCurdy, the head of the engineer's union (IBEW). The threat to 'ruin WRKO and General Tire' for making the format move was very real at the time." ...

Chuck Knapp recalls the AFTRA vote which would recommend not crossing the picket lines already set up by IBEW: "I remember the first AFTRA vote was to cross the picket lines and then a second vote was taken after some impassioned pleas from TV booth announcers. Two people switched their votes and we stayed out for 6 weeks while they tried to work things out. What a mess that was. We were all new, most from out of town and had no money." ...

No one seems to remember the actual date the strike started but it was days after the new format was launched. I was standing behind Arnie Ginsburg who was preparing to start his show at 6pm. I and a few other people were in-studio in case AFTRA voted to honor the IBEW strike. Arnie got a phone call from the shop stewart shortly before the start of his show. Disappointed that he would not be doing his show and that his union had voted to not cross the picket lines, Arnie left for home. He did not know that he would never return to the air on WRKO because of a non-compete contract he had signed while at WMEX...

Using management people and some college students that would major in WRKO radio for the next few weeks, we segued music back-to-back. In the morning I would be doing morning drive. Perry, Bob Henabery and other management personnel would be doing the news. It had only been a few months since I did my last show in Tampa at WALT and I had done morning drive at WKDA Nashville before that. I knew the requirements of a good morning man - a positive energy with lots of time checks, weather conditions, sports, local town and city mentions. I was ready to resume my disc jockey career. All I needed now was sleep and an early wake-up...

(Tomorrow: "WRKO...The Launch" - part 18: The First Full Day Of The Strike)

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Perez Hilton (33), Keri Russell (35), Chaka Kahn (58), Ric Ocasek of The Cars (62), Sir Roger Bannister (82) and Marty ("Hello Dere") Allen (89)...

Timeline Countdown: 8 days until MLB Opening Day, 27 days until Passover & 33 days until Easter...

Posted by at