October 2, 2007

Collected and Edited by Rick Kaempfer






Redstone Family Rift May Not Be Healed
(LA Times) Claudia Eller writes: "Since the public blow-up in July between Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari over corporate governance and succession issues at their family-controlled entertainment empire, the 84-year-old chairman of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. has been on a campaign to convince the world that the feud has blown over. In August, he orchestrated a family dinner in New York that was described by the New York Post as a rapprochement. Last month, he was quoted in the Boston Herald praising his daughter, who runs the family's theater chain, National Amusements Inc., from a suburb outside Boston. And late last week, Redstone told The Times through a spokesman: 'We love each other; there's no rift.' But according to several people close to the two, relations between father and daughter are anything but lovey-dovey, and their conflict appears very much alive."


Philly Exec the Poster-Child for what's wrong with radio
(Philly Magazine) Steve Volk writes: "WHYY's Bill Marrazzo is America's best-paid public broadcasting exec. So why does his station give Philadelphians news from Delaware, produce almost no national or local programming, and have employees who are calling for his head?"



Oprah earns four times more than other TV stars
(Reuters) When it comes to what pays on U.S. television, talk doesn't come cheap -- nor apparently does a loud mouth. Financial magazine Forbes on Thursday published a list of the highest-paid TV celebrities, with daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey leading the way by earning an $260 million between June 2006 and June 2007. Nobody else came close. Second in the list was Jerry Seinfeld earning $60 million.


Commissioner Copps expresses doubts about XM-Sirius merger
(Radio Online) FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said Thursday that he isn't convinced the proposed merger of Sirius and XM Satellite Radio should be allowed to proceed. Even though, Copps is in the Democratic minority on the 5-member panel, it's likely that he would be able influence other Commissioners or secure further conditions from the satcasters. Since the merger was announced, both Sirius and XM have made several pledges regarding pricing and new a la carte packages the new entity would offer to subscribers following the merger. But Copps' comments suggest he remains unconvinced that these concessions go far enough.


Another report from the FCC hearing
(Editor & Publisher) Mark Fitzgerald writes: "'Yo, Mister FCC! MISTER FCC! MISTER FCC!' The man swinging his hands wildly stepped up to the microphone just after Mr. FCC, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, announced there would be a short break in the public hearing on media ownership rules Thursday night. The microphone was shut off. 'Well I'll just shout it then,' the man said, as if he hadn't been all along. From the back of the cavernous auditorium in Operation PUSH's national headquarters in the South Side of Chicago, it was hard to make out what he was saying, but it was easy to get his point: He didn't like or trust the media, and the FCC better not loosen whatever media regulations are still in force. The little incident encapsulated the long night of the FCC's fifth of six public hearings: People were passionate, even raucous -- and they were deeply skeptical of Big Media and the FCC itself."


Dan Patrick Show debuts in LA
The Content Factory's "Dan Patrick Show" is set to debuted yesterday (October 1), kicking off a week of broadcasts from Clear Channel's Sports KLAC Los Angeles. KLAC GM Don Martin said, "We are very excited to be the flagship station for 'The Dan Patrick Show.' With L.A. being one of the major hubs in the sports and entertainment world, this city expects to wake up to the talents of Dan Patrick to start the day." Patrick's show replaces local hosts Fred Roggin and Los Angeles Times columnist TJ Simers.


An interview with Big John Howell
(Chicago Radio Spotlight) Last weekend I talked to WIND morning host Big John Howell. We talked about his current gig as a talk show host and his previous 17-year-stint as a country music jock at US-99.





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