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Volume 9, Issue 2
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Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act Tougher on Broadcast Companies
by Martha Sharan
On June 15, President Bush signed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2006, a bipartisan bill, sponsored by Congressman Fred Upton from Michigan.
The Act doesn’t change the broadcast decency standards currently on the books. However, according to the Federal Communications Commission, it gives it the means to enforce the standards more effectively by levying stiffer and more meaningful fines on broadcasters who violate decency standards.
The law increases broadcaster liability for airing offensive material by a factor of ten, raising fines to $325,000 per individual infraction, not to exceed $3 million per violation. A violation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as sexual or excretory content of a “patently offensive nature” between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. The expectation is that hefty fines will encourage multibillion-dollar broadcast companies to keep the public airwaves free of obscene, profane and indecent material.
Stiffer fines come two and a half years after the most memorable example of inappropriate material on the public airwaves, the Janet Jackson stunt broadcast during the live 2004 Super Bowl half-time show. This law also seems to reflect the sentiment of the American people. Several recent surveys and polls make it clear that viewers and listeners want offensive material taken off the public airwaves. A recent Time Magazine poll finds that 68% of those polled believe the entertainment industry has lost touch with the American audiences’ moral standards. In a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 75% of the 1,505 adults polled want to see tighter enforcement of government rules on broadcast content, particularly when children are most likely to be watching or listening; 69% approve of higher fines for media companies; and 60% agree broadcast indecency standards should be extended to cable and satellite TV and radio.
Cable and satellite TV and radio are not subject to the Decency Enforcement Act of 2006, that’s where controversial broadcasters like Howard Stern have found a home. But stay tuned, the next Congressional bill could change Stern’s future and the future of those on cable and satellite TV and radio.
Live Versus Taped Interviews
by Curtis H. Gill
We are often asked why some interviews air live, while others are taped for later use. Our recent conversations with reporters from stations in the top-25 markets that produce news, feature, entertainment segments, and live morning shows, revealed some interesting information. When asked if they prefer to tape or air an interview live, virtually all reporters responded they would choose to tape interviews. Taping interviews allows reporters the ability to air the interview in numerous segments throughout the course of the day and tailor the interview to a segment that might be produced at a later time. It also allows reporters to hold the interview, in case a related story breaks.
Producers share a different side of the story, however. A nearly unanimous consensus of producers revealed that they all prefer to air interviews live. The morning shows rely on content to drive their programs and to generate conversation among their listeners. This is best achieved by having the newsmaker live on the air with their talent. Some shows prefer to take call-ins and this can only be facilitated by having a guest, live, on the air. With that being said, it is important to have spokespeople available during the peak morning drive time between 7:00 a.m. and noon Eastern Time regardless of whether they plan to go live or taped. This timeframe is when stations are most fully staffed, and listenership is at its peak.
Whether a station chooses to go live or taped is not something that has changed drastically in the last two to three years, but the downsizing of newsrooms has limited most reporters’ time, and the 24-hour news cycle has demanded that the live slots go to guests providing feedback on the most newsworthy stories. But, whether an interview is live or taped, the most important factor is to provide content that is timely and/or entertaining enough to get on the radio.
Jumping on the Podcasting Bandwagon
In the last year, radio networks and stations have jumped on the podcasting bandwagon to keep their listener base tuned in throughout the day. With the addition of podcasts, radio networks and stations not only have 24-hours of content to fill on the airwaves, now they have to find interesting content for their stations’ podcast as well.
While reporters and producers report limited use of podcasts for their on-air news gathering and talk show content, a station’s and network’s expanded broadcast via a podcast does provide PR professionals an opportunity to achieve more exposure for their clients. In most cases, stations are simply repurposing material from on-air programming for their podcasts, but the most interesting podcasts are providing new, original content that has not been used somewhere else.
National Public Radio, an early adopter of podcasting, has found its most popular podcasts have been offerings by topic, rather than just offering podcasts of entire radio shows. For instance, podcasts like NPR Movies, NPR Technology and NPR Music take content from various shows on those topics and make it available via podcast. CNN Radio is now podcasting a variety of programs covering news and business, along with special programming featuring in-depth coverage on a variety of topics and current events.
Another phenomenon occurring in the industry includes a podcast-to-radio trend, instead of strictly radio-to-podcast productions. In May of 2005, podcasts became a source of content for radio broadcasts. KYOU Radio (KYCY 1550) in San Francisco, began broadcasting podcasts made by listeners. And another music veteran, Adam Curry, started a program on Sirius Satellite Radio discussing and airing podcasts.
Christopher Lydon, who began audio blogging after losing his syndicated NPR program, returned to public radio with a phone-in interview program called "Open Source,” promising to involve bloggers and podcasters. The show relies on listeners and podcasters to help produce the show. It went on the air May 30, 2005 on WUML and WGBH in Massachusetts and three Public Radio International affiliates.
What does this mean for PR pros? Podcasting is going both ways, from radio-to-podcast and podcast-to-radio. Either way, podcasts are a way to make your client’s message fresh, compelling and easily accessible to consumers.
What public relations professionals should realize is that consumers are listening to podcasts. Although podcast listenership has a long way to go before catching up to the U.S. radio audience, according to Feedburner.com, an RSS feed promoter, podcast circulation is consistently growing nearly 20 percent per month. In July of 2006, Nielsen Media Research reported that about nine million consumers downloaded podcasts in the month of June.
The biggest question PR professionals are asking now about podcasting is how do I measure podcasts? Audience size of podcasts runs the gamut. Some podcasts have a very large audience, like NPR's On the Media from WNYC, New York Public Radio, with more than 16,000 loyal subscribers and 40,000 downloads from its website. WTOP’s Daily Podcast News Update averages about 11,000 downloads each week from of its website.
The challenge right now is developing an accurate way of measuring who podcasts are reaching, when and how often? The good news is that Nielson Media Research is launching several projects in 2007 that will explore how to best collect and measure podcasting data. Stay tuned to see how well it can provide the detailed measuring information PR pros must have in order to prove a return on investment.
Air America Radio Fills “Progressive” Talk Niche
by Lynn Harris Medcalf
For years, those on the left of the political spectrum bemoaned the lack of representation on talk radio, with the conservative-leaning political pundits such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly dominating the talk airwaves across the country on both the AM and FM dial. But on March 31, 2004, Air America Radio (AAR) signed on the air with a simple mission: to give a progressive voice to talk radio.
AAR is broadcast in top U.S. markets on 89 stations nationwide, and since its launch, listeners have had access to Air America Radio’s programming via live Internet streaming on www.airamericaradio.com and via XM satellite radio. Today, the network’s on-air personalities include some of the top political and popular satirists, commentators and activists, including Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder, and Rachel Maddow.
Last August, the network announced that it increased its cumulative listening audience from 1.3 million of those ages 12 and older (Arbitron Nationwide, Fall 2004) to 3.1 million (Arbitron Nationwide, Spring 2005). And in October of 2005, “The Al Franken Show” beat “The Rush Limbaugh Show” for the first time in San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon, two of the top-25 markets, in the target demographics of those ages 25 to 54 (Arbitron’s Summer 2005 Metro). The two shows air simultaneously from 9:00 a.m. to noon in both markets.
Despite rumors of financial troubles, the network continues to grow. In fact, progressive radio is so strong, radio giant Clear Channel is reportedly announcing this week that it will partner with the Center for American Progress and MSS Inc. for a nationwide search for the next Progressive Talk Radio Star.
In the meantime, Air America continues taking on new affiliates in key markets across the country, including a new flagship station in New York. The network began broadcasting on WWRL 1600 AM, on September 1, 2006 in New York. And on September 18, 2006, the network announced a new lineup for it’s morning show. “The Young Turks” is touted as a funny, smart, irreverent, and entertaining look at politics, sex, news, pop culture, current affairs, and personal stories.
Recent guests on the network’s lineup include Former Vice President Al Gore, Social Critic Noam Chomsky, Veteran White House Correspondent Helen Thomas and Bernie Sanders, Independent Congressman from Vermont. If you have a political topic or commentator tuned into a hot button issue of the day, Air America may be just the outlet for your spokesperson.
Guaranteed Placement: An Integrated Marketing Communications Tool
Is a guaranteed placement really PR? Many PR professionals believe that it is, while others feel that it is advertising in disguise. A guaranteed placement can be better categorized as an integrated marketing communications tool: the synergy between advertising, marketing and public relations working together.
First, let’s review the definition of public relations. Barron’s Dictionary of Business Terms defines public relation as, “publicity that does not necessitate payment in a wide variety of media and is often placed as news or items of public interest.” Therefore, by definition, a guaranteed placement is not a form of PR. True broadcast public relations is earned by providing a reporter strong, rich content, which they in turn find newsworthy enough to place in their news, talk show or public affairs programs.
Then what is a guaranteed placement? In broadcasting, it is a 30 to 60 second spot that sounds vaguely like news, but is more like an infomercial that is typically aired just after a newscast. Since it is usually placed in close proximity to legitimate newscasts, it tends to sound like an extension of the news. It is understandable why some PR professionals would classify this as advertising in disguise, because it is a purchased spot that is camouflaged as a news story. Although guaranteed placements are not PR, they are still a communications tool that some professionals may choose to use, with the understanding that they do not compare with earned media placements.
Earned placements have greater value than guaranteed placements. When public relations professionals pitch a story to reporters or editors, they evaluate the content for newsworthiness and relevance to their listening or reading audience. This filtering process eliminates the weak pitches and adds value to the stories that air. An industry view is that earned public relations placements’ value is between two and a half and three times that of advertising.
The lines between public relations, marketing and advertising are blurring at a rapid pace. With these rapid shifts, it is important though to understand the difference between earned and guaranteed placements. Earned placements are the results of a craft, while guaranteed placements are the results of a commodity. Public relations is a profession that takes skills, finesse and a lot of dedication. To call a guaranteed placement a PR tool belittles and discredits anyone who has ever researched, written or pitched a credible story.
Tuning In newsletter is produced and distributed bi-annually. The goal of the newsletter is to educate clients on radio trends and industry tips, as well as highlight case studies and release survey information.
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