worldsupercaster

Common Cause demands CPB to publicly disclose all evidence shared with its board
November 17, 2005: Common Cause has sent a letter to top officials of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, demanding the release of all evidence uncovered during a recently completed Inspector General's investigation -- including e-mail correspondence between ex-CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson and White House adviser Karl Rove. "This goes beyond the public's basic right-to-know," said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. "What's at stake is the public's confidence in the CPB to dramatically change course and regain our trust and confidence in this important American institution."

Statements given to reporters by Inspector General Kenneth Konz indicate that Tomlinson discussed programming and hiring decisions at the CPB with Rove and other White House officials from November 2003 to May 2005. According to Bloomberg News, Tomlinson wrote to Rove that he was "finding programs to balance the Moyers report" and working "to shake up" the organization and hire Republican staff. Konz described Rove's response as, "a cryptic encouragement, a congratulations." The White House refused to cooperate with Konz's investigation. Common Cause, joined by the Center for Digital Democracy and Free Press, said the CPB board and inspector general must immediately disclose all the information related to efforts to force programming changes onto PBS and NPR.
Common Cause calls for new leadership at CPB after report reveals ethical violations and 'political tests' in hiring
November 15, 2005: Common Cause on Tuesday called on Corporation for Public Broadcasting President Patricia Harrison to resign following the long-awaited release of a report that exposes extensive wrongdoing by CPB leadership. The report found that "political tests" were a "major criteria" in hiring Harrison to oversee the CPB.

Other findings of the report by Inspector General Kenneth Konz include:

Former CPB Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson "violated his fiduciary responsibilities and statutory prohibitions against Board member involvement in programming decisions" in creating the "Journal Editorial Report."
The report criticizes the secretive hiring of Republican operative Frederick Mann to monitor "Now with Bill Moyers" and other programs without authorization from the CPB Board.
While the report concludes the violations were primarily the result of Tomlinson's "personal actions to accomplish his various initiatives," it also identifies "serious weaknesses" in the CPB's governance system.
"The CPB must acknowledge its mistakes and act to restore public confidence, especially in the face of this critical report on Mr. Tomlinson's failures," said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. "We renew our call today for the CPB to be more transparent and accountable by making structural changes to better serve the public interest."

Click here to read the full response to the report by Common Cause and the Center for Digital Democracy and Free Press, coalition partners who also called for Harrison's resignation.

E-MAIL LETTER TO
WWW.COMMONCAUSE.ORG
Dear CC,
There is an impending radio broadcast digital disaster as thousands of high powered AM and FM radio stations switch to digital transmission and jam the community independent stations off the air.
This deception, and destruction of the AM and FM broadcast bands, and media diversity already in progress by the FCC, iBiquity HD digital radio, and media conglomerates and cartels.
Digital HD radio has been misrepresented as IBOC (In Band On Channel) when it is actually OFF CHANNEL, ALL OVER THE BAND digital transmission.
As thousands of these "HD Radio" stations sign on the air they cause loud, destructive, jamming digital hiss on two channels on either side of the assigned stations frequency, jamming nearby competing stations. EACH DIGITAL STATION OCCUPIES 5 FREQUENCIES INSTEAD OF THE PRESENT 1. Lower powered community stations and LPAM and LPFM stations signals are being destroyed as these giant broadcast conglomerates trespass on their neighbors broadcast frequencies.
Engineering studies by expert broadcast engineers show that as thousands of stations shift to this digital HD Radio transmission using the defective iBiquity digital system, the AM and FM broadcast bands will be turned into a hissing digital mass of interference, jamming smaller stations, and limiting wide area coverage to local area high powered stations only.
Other stations are expected to be jammed off the air. One proponent calls this "thinning the heard of cripples".
This pending catastrophe for diversity on radio is fully documented in entries on these blogs:
http://worldsupercaster.blogspot.com/
http://commonsensesolutions.blogspot.com/
I hope you will spread the word about this threat to free speech and media diversity, and petition the FCC and congress to stop this digital destruction of the public airwaves.
LPFM and LPAM and community radio stations are being jammed off the air.
Sincerely,
Richard Franklin

Over the last five years, Congress has provided nearly $190 million in funding to CPB to assist both public radio and public television stations to convert from analog to digital transmission.
THIS MONEY IS BEING SPENT FOR DIGITAL EQUIPMENT TO JAM YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS!
HD Radio, "IBOC will cause interference to analog signals and there is simply no way of avaiding it completely.""Radio Guide - Radio technology for engineers and managers", Nov. 2005 Pg. 18Barry McLarnon, B.Sc., M.Sc., formerly Project Leader-Radio Broadcast Systems, Communications Research Center, Canada

Friday, 11 November 2005
Digital radio still hard to hear
John Borland writes: "In most major cities in the United States, the future of radio is already on the air. But hardly anyone is listening. ¶ The problem is, hardly anyone can. More than 570 stations around the county are now broadcasting in the new digital radio format, but only a relative handful of actual digital radio receivers have been sold, or are even available to consumers who want to buy them. ¶ With competitive pressures growing from satellite radio and the iPod, radio companies had hoped that this year's shopping season would finally see a significant number of high-definition radios hitting the market. But several major manufacturers have pushed back releases until 2006, likely dooming these hopes. ..." Link: CNET News.com.
Friday, 11 November 2005 at 15:43 in Digital Radio Permalink Comments (0)
-Rich

BUTTS NOT BULLETS!-Mexico fires first illegal accross the border.
WE ARE UNDER ATTACK BY MEXICAN HUMAN CANNONBALLS! Click on links below.
inSite_05 - San Diego Tijuana
CUBA PLANS SIMILAR HAVANA TO MIAMI AERIAL EXPRESS SERVICE, AVOIDING "WET FOOT-DRY FOOT" CONTROVERSY!
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111700146.html

Tomlinson Violated Statute, Ethics, Says Report
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/15/2005 12:50:00 PM
Abstract: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Inspector General, Kenneth Konz, has concluded that CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson "violated statutory provisions" and the board's code of ethics by dealing directly with programmers during negotiations over the creation of a public affairs program and by using "political tests" to recruit President and CEO Patricia Harrison.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/july-dec05/kenny_11-15.html

http://dorgan.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=248813

PREVIOUS ARTICLES:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/CA6281019.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110302235.html

-Rich

Exploding the momentum myth of HD radio
Reading the Inside Radio headlines - not to mention the full pages sponsored by iBiquity - one would think that we're on the verge of an explosion in popularity for HD radio, that all we need to do is "get the word out" or "get the radios in cars" and we're home free.
Well, that's the perspective from the folks selling the technology who are interested, first and foremost, in selling the technology.
For a sense of where the momentum is we need to refer to more neutral parties. Ideally, folks whose job it is to measure trends, not fudge them.
For that, you have to refer to the Forrester study released earlier this year which showed where HD radio is expected to track between now and 2010.
As the graphic clearly shows, even by 2010 podcasting will be more popular than HD radio. Satellite will be twice as popular, and mp3 players and online radio will be four times as popular.
HD is estimated to be in 10 million households by then. That's out of a projected total of 115 million households. In other words, less than 9% of households will possess an HD radio by 2010. Compare that to the 99% of households that have at least one conventional radio now (the average is five per household).
As an industry, we have to understand that, while our future is digital, it's not necessarily HD radio. "Digital" comes in many flavors and we must pick the right racehorse if we expect to win the race. "Digital" and "HD" are anything but synonymous.
How does it benefit radio to develop a technology which, by 2010, will be used by far less than one in every ten households when each of those same households now has five conventional radios? How does this suit the interests of our advertisers?
When twice as many consumers pay to subscribe to something as choose to get it for free, what does that teach us?
How does it benefit radio to develop a marginally appealing technology when the trends clearly indicate that consumer interest is elsewhere?
How does it benefit radio to ignore much more obvious methods of "being digital" and instead distract ourselves with HD radio in the vain hope we can once again "own the pipes"?
For the sake of our industry I urge you to print out this post and paste it where you can always be reminded of it. I urge you to forward this post to your friends and associates in power. I urge you to return to the truth whenever you're overwhlemed by the myth. I urge you to think - hard - about what your company has to do in the future in order to compete.
You will never see this news in a full-page sponsored ad.
Posted by Mark Ramsey on November 08, 2005 Permalink
http://www.radiomarketingnexus.com/2005/11/exploding_the_m.html

ANOTHER LINK TO THE TRUTH:

http://www.radiomarketingnexus.com/2005/11/exploding_the_m.html

-Rich

Many engineers agree HD Radio is a digital train wreck,
as more stations start transmitting with HD, the AM and FM bands will fill with jamming digital hiss, making voice communication unpleasant and difficult to understand. Music programming on HD stations have more hiss then an old 78 record. Favorite local stations will be unlistenable and disappear from the airwaves.
HD Radios are very expensive and virtually unavailable. Manufacturers are reluctant to produce large quantities of a product (HD Radios) for which there is no consumer demand.
This is an improvement?
Or just a sham to grab the money and run, leaving stations and listeners without their favorite form of communication?
The broadcast bands will be so full of jamming digital hiss they will be all but useless in a national or regional emergency.
Listener complaints about HD Radio WIP, WPEN, and WDAS resulting from the reduced fidelity and continuous hiss abound. As their listeners desert them, and revenues decrease, they are less likely to stay on the air, or spend any money on programming.
The result is that listeners are being driven away from listening to AM and FM broadcasting to other, better, new media.
Best Wishes,
-Rich

HD radios won't be manufactured in any quantity until next year (if then). HD radio has not gotten final approval from the FCC, indeed, the NRSC and iBiquity have not even submitted a complete, final specification to the FCC yet.

HD Radio promised and promotes itself as "in band, on channel" and instead is "all over the band, off channel." HD Radio jams listeners radios and other broadcasters.

Coverage area is half of what regular analog stations now transmit (very local to the transmitting station). Multicast fidelity is no better then low bitrate internet streaming, more like AM quality, NOT BETTER THEN FM AS PROMISED.
If no one can hear it, who cares?
I can yell and reach more listeners. Much cheaper, and with better fidelity too!

Streaming internet radio and podcasting covers the world, is available now, hundreds millions are listening daily, and can be downloaded for on demand replay at any time on computers, iPods, mobile phones and MP3 players. It is also available at WIFI wireless hot spots, new iPod type cell phones, and will soon be available on wireless WI-MAX with a 30 to 50 mile coverage area surrounding each hot spot worldwide. There is no need or popular demand for HD radio.

HD radio is a fraud and a hoax that jams broadcasting for little or no benefit to anyone except profit for iBiquity, their unscrupulous promoters and salesmen.
-Rich

HD RADIO STATONS DIGITALLY JAM COMPETION.
FCC shamefully neglects it's three primary functions, to keep stations from interfering with one another, operating in the public interest, convenience, and necessity, and provide public service.
-Rich

Head of Corp. Public Broadcasting (CPB) chopped before release of critical Inspector General's report.

Here is the link:

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051103213309990004

Popular artists featured this holiday season on streaming WNAR-AM.

Here is the link:
www.wnar-am.com

Holiday Train Pulls Out Of The Station - Without HD On Board

“HD is still one to one-and-a-half years from kicking in.”

Tech Setbacks Delay High-Definition Retail Rollout!!!
Oct. 28, 2005 By Paul Heine

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ARTICLE:

http://www.billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/digital/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001391048

-Rich