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