No Picture
AU & NZ

Smallzy’s Surgery broadcasts live from the EMAs in Germany

Nova’s Smallzy’s Surgery will broadcast live from the European Music Awards in Dusseldorf, Germany today and tomorrow, bringing listeners the latest news from the event.The MTV EMAs, hosted by Rita Ora and Taika Waititi, will take place in Düsseldorf at PSD Bank Dome, marking the annual global music celebration’s sixth time in Germany. Featuring performances from some of the biggest artists in the world,… Read More
The post Smallzy’s Surgery broadcasts live from the EMAs in Germany by Bray Boland appeared first on Radio Today. […]

US

FCC Report 11/13: FCC Seeks To Collect From Pair Of 2006 Defaulted Auction Bids

Two bidders who defaulted on their winning frequency allocations won in the FCC’s Auction 62 back in 2006 have been assessed their final amount due after the allocations were re-auctioned in the FCC’s Auction 109 last year.

Wilber Johnson won 107.9 Boonville CA in 2006 for a winning bid of $267,150. After subtracting the amount from his original deposit and the $7500 bid that won the allocation in 2021, Johnson owes $208,991 for the defaulted bid.

Zev Brenner’s Talkline Communications defaulted on the net bid for 102.9 Narrowsburg NY. After subtracting their original deposit and the $56,000 that Bold Gold Media Group paid for the allocation, Talkline’s final default payment is $147,960.

Both have 30 days to pay their owed debt without accrued interest added. If not paid within 90 days, a penalty of 6 percent will be added to debt unpaid and it will be refered to the United States Treasury or Department of Justice for further collection action and administrative charges.

The FCC has opened a comment period on a proposed adjustment to the FM Table of Allotments. Edward Gallegos applied in July to move Classic Rock “Rocket 105.5” KRIX Port Isabel TX to 95.3 increasing power to 2.9kW from its current 110m antenna. To make the move, the allocation vacated by the deletion of 95.3 KZSP South Padre Island in December 2021 would need to be moved to 105.5. Gallegos claims that Mexican concurrence has already been obtained by his use of the frequency and the proposed reference coordinates are further away from the coordinates previously approved for Channel 288A so no further International coordination with Mexican authorities is required.

The FCC has granted Radio Sharon Foundation informal objection to Rhode Island Public Radio’s application for a new class A signal on 91.5 in Bradford RI. RIPR sought to invoke an involuntary time share with Coventry Public Schools’ 91.5 WCVY Coventry RI, which it formerly leased time to air their programming on outside of the hours operated by the school. The FCC concurred with the objections argument that the application was an attempt to bypass filing windows for a new signal and rejects RIPR’s “strained argument” that it proposes a facility improvement. It also rejects RIPR’s Raliegh waiver request as not being available to applicants for new non-commercial stations and dismissed the application for failing to satisfy the contour overlap limitations as it would have had prohibited second adjacent overlap with Horizon Christian Fellowship’s 91.1 WXEV Bradford.

Pirate Actions
The FCC has issued Notices of Illegal Pirate Broadcasting to the following property owners:

Pers Realty LLC for 97.5 Brooklyn NY
Marie G. Jean for 90.9 in the Cambria Heights section of Queens NY
Randal Rogalski for 99.9 in Johnstown PA

Deletions
The following stations had their licenses deleted for failing to file a license renewal application prior to their license term expiring on August 1.

Patrick Sickafus’ 1510 WWSM Annville-Cleona PA
Juniata College’s 92.3 WKVR-FM Huntingdon PA
Good Christian Radio Broadcasting’s 107.1 WLIH Whitneyville PA

Silent Notifications

Caribbean Media Group’s 1400 WIRA Fort Pierce FL (loss of programming source)

Grinnell College’s 88.5 KDIC Grinnell IA (station repairs)
Desert Mountain Broadcasting’s 103.9 KMSM-FM Butte MT (build out of new application)

AM Changes
Radio Punjab’s South Asian “Radio Mirchi 1310” KMKY Oakland CA […]

ASIA

Australia’s SBS adds more Indian language news bulletins

Australian public broadcaster SBS has expanded its international news offering, adding news bulletins in the major South Asian languages Malayalam and Gujarati.The news bulletins from India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati are being shown on its SBS WorldWatch channel.SBS WorldWatch launched in May 2022 as a free-to-air channel, expanding the broadcaster’s international and multilingual news offering. The channel provides Australians with access to news bulletins from around the world in languages other than English.

The two bulletins have been added to better serve Australia’s evolving news audiences, as speakers of Gujarati have increased by 54 percent since the 2016 Australian census and speakers of Malayalam by 48 percent.Central to the channel’s offering are SBS’s flagship half-hour nightly news bulletins in Mandarin and Arabic, produced in-house, serving the two largest non-English language audiences in the country.Director of News and Current Affairs, Mandi Wicks, said: “With the launch of SBS WorldWatch, the SBS network has undergone broader rescheduling of our multilingual TV news across the network, now offering 66 news bulletins from 49 different broadcasters in 36 languages other than English, and 20 in English.”SBS WorldWatch builds on SBS’s commitment to provide comprehensive news and information across its network – in English through SBS World News and in more than 60 languages across SBS Radio services, podcasting and digital platforms.(Photo: SBS) […]

ASIA

India’s private FM players urge TRAI to Keep not-for-profit firms out of community radio space

India’s private radio players, through industry body Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI), have urged the country’s telecom regulator -Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), not to recommend allowing not-for-profit companies to run community radios.According to them, granting permission to not-for-profit companies falling under Section 8 of Companies Act, 2013, would come at a financial loss to the exchequer as such companies would become eligible for benefits like reduced license fee, access to spectrum without auction, lower spectrum usage charges, among others, thereby reducing revenue for the government and giving strong competition to small community radios.Presently there are 356 community radio stations operational in the country, broadcasting content that is of specific interest to communities in a particular geography. Current rules permit only civil society and voluntary organisations, educational institutes, state agriculture universities, registered societies and autonomous bodies, and public charitable trusts are to operate community radio stations.

In July, following a suggestion from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, TRAI had sought comments from stakeholders on whether not-for-profit companies under Section 8 should be allowed to set up community radio stations.Section 8 of the Companies Act includes companies formed to promote commerce, art, science, sports, education, research, social welfare, religion, charity, protection of environment or any such other object. Such companies also intend to apply their profits or other income to promote their objectives.“Section 8 companies are set up by large organisations, and through community radio stations they will get a back door entry to commercial radio broadcasts at negligible costs,” said Uday Chawla, Secretary General, AROI, during an open-house discussion conducted by Trai on the subject.“If I am running a larger organisation, I will be able to create an NGO and take a community radio licence … then why is there a need for auction of spectrum by the government,” he said.“Basic purpose for community radios is to cater to people in a particular geography. However, Section 8 companies are thematic and incorporated for special purposes, therefore, they may not be able to serve specific interest of a community and should not be allowed,” said Prashant Ramdas, legal head at Entertainment Network (India), operator of Mirchi FM.While certain levies for community radios are kept at a bare minimum, the industry has been struggling for a sustainable business model due to fewer advertisements and limited access.“Community radio as an industry is struggling. We want the government to provide us financial support,” said B S Panwar, president, Community Radio Association of India. The association, along with community radio station operators, has urged the Centre to provide them annual grants and ask state governments to use community radios as a preferred medium to advertise their policies. […]

US

Hall Of Fame Talker Jim Bohannon Dies At 78

Just weeks after retiring from his Westwood One syndicated show, longtime Talk personality Jim Bohannon has passed away at the age of 78. Bohannon stepped down from his show in October after being off the air for most of the summer for unnamed health reasons. He began his radio career in 1960 at KLWT in […] […]

US

Santa-FM Arrives In Sarasota

As iHeartMedia flipped dozens of its stations across the country today to Christmas music, one newcomer joined the ranks dropping its regular brand in the process. Hot AC “103.9 Kiss-FM” 1450 WSDV/103.9 W280EV Sarasota FL went all-Christmas at 5pm today as “103.9 Santa-FM“. The station had its first foray playing holiday music in 2021 where […] […]