what else? The PRA...

….while still recovering from the Phillies loss in the NLCS and the ass whuppin’ the Rangers took last night….



Soooooo, the NAB made the first move and presented a term sheet to musicFirst…and by doing so also made a term sheet offer to congress, CTIA, AFTRA, CRB, CEA and a couple of acronyms I might have missed…..


…plenty has been written this week and in case you missed some of the better opinions and takes you can read Eric Rhoads here….or Mark Ramsey here..


..here’s how I see it in a stream of consciousness…by presenting the term sheet first quite a bit of leverage was given up by NAB…we can’t now say we don’t agree with the labels that we owe them money…BUT, if the labels were smart they’d take this deal and run…run around the world finally collecting their blood money from radio to the tune of $100,000,000 held until they get a deal with US radio…how in the heck can we present a united front when it is reported that the biggest of all Clear Channel voted no to support the deal…I liken that to the fact at my golf club the dining chair has the same vote as the golf chair….if CC isn’t in how is that a united radio front?...what I found the most preposterous was that it has been reported that there were two abstentions?...seriously…if those Board Members represented my district I’d bounce them for not taking a stand based on their member stations one way or the other…


…so now the CEA is calling us a “horse and buggy” business and technology….happy to have us sell listening devices for their members but….the carriers are fighting hard because they have other things they REALLY need from congress and until they get that done they’ll continue to fight the radio chip…..


…I’ve advised a client of mine that EAS and the chip go hand-in-hand and from a government standpoint it’s really the only reason to mandate that cells and other devices carry the chip….sadly, the musicFirst and CTIA and CEA are making hay by only focusing on their members wants, desires, needs, etc…..


..I’m on record as saying the hell with AFTRA…stop simulcasting and make your stream soo good that you sell it as incremental revenue with less inventory…


…at the end of the day when you hear the drums beating from a friend (Gordon Smith hearing from close friend and musician Orrin Hatch) you have to take it seriously…as always in Washington, if you hear the drums beating from your opponents you stand up and fight and may the best person win…seems there’s definitely something afoot to get some sort of PRA done if even in a lame duck congress (soooo sad!)….but we need to hear that from our organization!....not as speculation and rumor….


…it would be interesting to see a straight up and down vote of all members so we know who, what, where and when everyone voted…too many unscientific polls and quotes from “many of our readers” creates fear and uncertainty and shows a lack of unity….-



..to musicFirst..you wanted a deal and now you know what we want to do…to the CTIA..get what you need from Congress on the table and trade the chip to get it done….to the CEA…I agree that more radio folks should attend and stay ahead of the curve on consumer technology but in turn, you should support enhancing public safety and the benefits of national alerting thru RBDS and EAS on all consumer devices!


….last but not least….make sure you all get out and vote next week and support the candidates that most support radio and its issues!


…follow me on Twitter @teejgolfer and I’ll follow you back and keep in touch at tj@tjlambert.net...


..until next week….----teej

The NAB/RAB Show and other stuff.....

…Live from NM World HQ…(one of the "special shapes balloons during mass ascension at ABQ Balloon Fiesta)



I swear…the political ads are approaching pure craziness….if you believe the 4 back-to-back pods on radio (and radio with pictures!)…there isn’t an honest person running for anything anymore…..very, VERY cool spot from KOB-TV though….showing a peaceful waterfall in full HD and stereo…tag line?....”Enjoy this break from political ads from KOB-TV4…nice…


..what a crazy busy three weeks…first the NAB in DC…then friends and family annual visit week for Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta….a must event for any “bucket list”….and then a busy week working on projects and landing the next adventure….


NAB was pretty darn cool this year…bankers attended but aren’t lending…brokers are attending but can’t do deals because no one is lending….and broadcasters all walked around with curious smiles….


..the more you ask the more you learn….do yourself a favor and call your NAB rep…or call the NAB office in DC and get the real lowdown on the plans for the PRA and FM Chips and why they are tied together…they go hand-in-hand…one sets the rate and the other sets the percentage of that rate that will be paid….seems to me that just once we need a 100% agreeable group….there are a million opinions on the benefits of the FM chips (sorry, “radio chips”) in phones and the wisdom of making a deal that’s hard to swallow….but a united front from radio is needed now more than ever….


…at our last lunch Jim Kerr and I discussed how the AFTRA deal found its way into the PRA, etc negotiation…it’s the old “step into my sandbox and you’ll play in my sandbox”…during a November meeting with the Copyright Royalty Board it seems the meeting was conducted by the head of AFTRA….welcome to the party!


…Kurt Hanson’s RAIN Summit was the best attended I’ve ever seen…lots of terrific ideas presented and of course the “hallway office” was in full force! Some random thoughts from RAIN…Ford and OnStar innovating to take over radios place in the car and no real innovation from terrestrial radio (don’t get me started with HD…sheesh)…Safety issues will become more and more important as the screen becomes more prevalent in cars…texting is the biggest cause of distracted driving accidents…radio needs to be in the forefront with this issue….the Coleman Insights presentation was fascinating to me….seems instead of satellite radio the new love affair is with Pandora….seems it is not a dominant brand…heck, I’m one of their 60 million registered users and haven’t used it in years….according to CI…”terrestrial radio needs to take dominant branding (local) and match it up with key product attributes”….see the study here….and my final quick hit from RAIN?....”target digital/online efforts on listeners needs not the stations needs!”…AMEN! (Thanks for another great conference Kurt!)…


…kudos to Mary Quass for championing reducing inventory to sell yield and ultimately improve programming….many a campfire talk when I was on the network side on the downside of selling share…a fool’s game that selling for share…sell yield, create value, improve programming….Mary said it to a packed house….nice!






…pretty darn big news this week…The wireless industry's eyes turned to Microsoft on Monday as CEO Steve Ballmer introduced the nine Smartphone’s that will run on its new Windows Phone 7 operating system -- models from HTC, Dell, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. T-Mobile USA will join AT&T as the carriers offering the handsets when the phones start to ship next month. Analysts offered favorable reviews. "We believe this is a key step toward rebuilding confidence in their ability to innovate in mobile," said Wells Fargo analyst Jason Maynard in a research note…..more from the CEA here…


..the Great Jill-Bear Bruce Gilbert passed along a terrific study from Esquire presenting facts about men 2010…if you are in sports radio, as Bruce points out …”VERY interesting data and representative of how we always talk about how different a 25 year old guy is vs. a 54 year old guy”….view the stats here….(as a side note…thanks to Amy/Bruce for the Rangers ducats this week!)


..Russ Hill recently wrote an open letter to news talk radio…what a terrific read here..!


…Seth Godin recently blogged about the difference between “generous gifts and free samples”…read it here….pretty insightful as always …


…make certain that you get a copy of the study commissioned by FEMA through Northrop-Grumman regarding the use of RDBS messaging in concert with EAS….email Matt Straeb from AlertFM for the lowdown here….


..so the end of an era has finally happened with Mickey Luckoff’s departure from KGO in SFO…Mick was the best (still is by the way!)…he ran the place with passion and class…too bad he was shown the door with a lack of both!


..random musings from the high desert….too dang many people to shout out from the NAB…always great to get a few minutes or a few hours with friends and colleagues….special thanks to the Triton/Dial-Global squad for the invite to their dinner…great time and great idea sharing….great to join Carl Rohling from RadioTime and Dan Halyburton from McVay New Media for dinner with my pal Patrick Pohlking from ESPN Radio…to my friend Milt McConnell…thanks for everything..you are the best….the team at Ando soooo gets it…..keep an eye on Abacast…Mike LoConte’s Advantage Sales Systems can make you money today….new direct ca$h..what are you waiting for….can a guy, my friend and mentor Jim Thompson, ask for two better guys as sons-in-law?...Tony Cima and Tommy McElwee are great guys…pretty good golfers and can deliver an all around fun day….thanks for the game guys!....go ahead…look up class and a great friend and the smiling mug of Peter Doyle is front and center….Dennis Green getting his pistol loaded with two launches in January..good luck Den….


…and finally….Go Phightin’ Phils Go…..what a cool WS it will be if it ends up Philly and Texas….??!!!!!


..from the high desert of NM World HQ…have a great weekend….-----teej