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Entercom settles with Spitzer

Well look at that...from the folks that weren't going to settle..they settle...hmmm....

Discussion and snide comments, anyone?
 
Sez Who?

Reference, please? I can't find anything about a settlement between Entercom & NYAG, even on the AG's website.
 
Rox..

It was announced via email thru Entercom yesterday..get with a Buff/Roch contact and they'll confirm..
 
Nice Timing

So, Entercom waiting until the time of the year when most of the radio reporting sites are virtually closed for the holidays, then e-mailed news of the settlement to employees. There's nothing on their website, nothing on the Attorney General's website, and nothing on R&R, All Access, FMQB, Radio Daily News, or anywhere else that I can find.

It seems that Entercom wasted a bunch of legal fees fighting the suit in the first place. They should have followed CBS, Sony, and everybody else and just negotiated a settlement. They were guilty as Hell. Perhaps the need to clear up the matter so they could complete several purchases in Rochester helped them decide that it was time to settle.

It would be nice to know the terms of the settlement. Does it get Dave Universal off the hook as well?
 
From Inside Radio:

Entercom settles with New York State A-G Spitzer.

David Field's company waged the most public battle of all the groups against Spitzer's allegations of pay-for-play - but now reaches a late-December settlement. The terms? Entercom will make a $3.5 million payment to a non-profit that benefits music education. It pays $750,000 in costs to New York State. And it agrees to implement a number of reforms, such as "hiring a compliance officer to monitor promotion practices" and "halting the practice of accepting payments and other inducements from record labels in exchange for airplay." Payments from indies "employed as a pass-through from record labels" are prohibited. Entercom will "inform monitoring services when songs are played through the 'CD Preview' and 'CD Challenge'" overnight shows.
 
Tallying Up

Read all about it here.

The NYAG was originally looking for $20-million from Entercom, so $4.25 looks like a bargain. Entercom also doesn't have to admit any wrongdoing, which may help when the FCC finally gets around to investigating.

Let's see what Spitzer's office has settled for so far:

SONY BMG - $10-million for NY music education

Warner - $ 5-million for NY music education

UMG - $12-million for NY music education

EMI - $ 3.75-million for NY music education

CBS Radio - $ 2-million for NY charities

Entercom - $4.25-million - $3.5-million for music ed, $750K in court costs

Yet to settle - Citadel, Clear Channel, Cox, Emmis, Cumulus, ABC, and Pamal.

I wonder if Dave Universal's moved to Canada yet...
 
Re: Tallying Up

SirRoxalot said:
Read all about it here.

The NYAG was originally looking for $20-million from Entercom, so $4.25 looks like a bargain. Entercom also doesn't have to admit any wrongdoing, which may help when the FCC finally gets around to investigating. Yet to settle - Citadel, Clear Channel, Cox, Emmis, Cumulus, ABC, and Pamal. I wonder if Dave Universal's moved to Canada yet...

Thank you for the link SR. The story cleared on Inside Radio today and perhaps some posters didn't get a chance to read about it there. The A-G's website as the source is always more specific as to the nuances of the case and the laws.

This purging is good for radio because it helps restore trust in radio's music delivery system. Please note that I used the words "helps restore," not the absolute form, "restores trust." The music and radio industries remain a tawdry lot, but no more than banking, Wall street and finance.

I was one of Dave Universal's critics and continue to view him with some measure of circumspection, but it may be that he gets some measure of vindication on this issue. True, he was a cog in the wheel of corruption at WKSE and Entercom and it's not likely he'll work for a major broadcast group in the U.S. for quite some time, but he (stridently and almost contemptuously) stuck to his guns and insisted that Entercom brass in Philly knew and approved of his actions. The A-G's report seems to verify Universal's claims, even though Entercom admits to no wrongdoing. Yet, is Entercom's stance any surprise?

Spitzer and the NY attorney general's office have racked up an impressive list of violators and corresponding payment schedule to the State of New York. It's worth noting that Spitzer also put direct pressure on Alan Hevessi to resign from the office of state comptroller.

It seems some thinsg are actually going well in Albany... not much mind you, but some things.

-9-
 
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