iHeart fined by FCC.

[frankberry]

iHeart fined $1 million for fake EAS tones on the Bobby Bones show.
https://www.fcc.gov/document/iheart-pay-1m-misusing-eas-tones-during-bobby-bones-show-0

 

[thelegacy]

9/11 EMS Tone

Oh boy I could see where that would really set off a whole chain reaction. Especially if they played a recording of the tones generated back then. What were they think? Well as said in the Forrest Gump movie "Stupid is as stupid does" so the only thing left for iHart Radio to do now is Run and put their tail between their legs and hope in the meantime it don't kill their finances when they pay the huge fine. By the time they recover Internet Radio will have taken over broadcast radio and they may be sunk.

 

[crainbebo]

A million dollars to iFartRadio is like a $5 bill to them. Those people at iHeart/Cheap Channel make so much money off of their iFartRadio Music Festivals, and their 300-song playlists on their 800+ FM stations, that paying $1 million will be no problem.
If I had my way, there wouldn't have been no Telecommunications Act of 96. Without it, there would still be ENJOYABLE, LOCAL radio...instead of voicetracking from Whoknowswhere, U.S.A.
Bobby Bones also needs to apologize, in my opinion, for misusing EAS. There could have been severe weather (warnings), an Amber Alert or another emergency at the same time...and misusing the EAS just makes people mad, just like with cable systems doing way more than 1x/week EAS TESTS! I have heard stories of cable systems doing EAS tests daily or 2x or 3x/week...making customers mad.

Thank god for small town local radio... I have at least 4 "presets" on my computer with local small town, friendly radio stations. Most of them are adult contemporary.

-crainbebo

 

[TheBigA]

If I had my way, there wouldn't have been no Telecommunications Act of 96. Without it, there would still be ENJOYABLE, LOCAL radio...instead of voicetracking from Whoknowswhere, U.S.A.

Sorry, but that's wrong. First of all, IHeart has lots of live local radio hosts in lots of places, including where you live.

The 96TCA had nothing to do with voicetracking or syndication. It was being done before 1996, and would have continued and expanded without it.

Ownership has nothing to do with formatting or programming. The fact that boomers have aged has a lot more to do with it. So once again, radio programming was going to change regardless of the 96 TCA.

As BossBill will tell you, there are lots of small local owners who run syndicated national formats. They don't do it because of corporate owners in New York or because of an act of Congress, but because it's the most practical way to run a business.

 

[davideduardo]

A million dollars to iFartRadio is like a $5 bill to them. Those people at iHeart/Cheap Channel make so much money off of their iFartRadio Music Festivals, and their 300-song playlists on their 800+ FM stations, that paying $1 million will be no problem.

That is just not true. iHeart is moderately profitable on an EBITDA basis, but when depreciation, amortization, taxes and interest are deducted, they lose money. Some would say "house of cards" while others might say that they just got caught between the recession and new media and have a difficult business model to deal with now... one that may never be profitable.

iHeart does not own over 800 FM stations. It has about 602 if I counted correctly. That is out of 6,600 commercial FM stations in the US.

If I had my way, there wouldn't have been no(sic) Telecommunications Act of 96. Without it, there would still be ENJOYABLE, LOCAL radio...instead of voicetracking from Whoknowswhere, U.S.A.

Actually, I think as high a percentage of total US music stations was voice tracked in the 70's as today. What has changed is that things we wish we could have done 40 years ago are doable today because of better technology and lower costs for connectivity.

What brought on consolidation was the FCC's desire to give "adequate" local service to every community. So they changed certain AM rules to break down the clear channels and put more AMs on the air, and then they pushed through Docket 80-90 which overpopulated the FM dial, particularly in smaller markets, without increasing the revenue pool in the now over-radioed markets. So a significant portion of US radio stations did not make money, and the only solution was to allow multiple stations under one owner in each market.

Bobby Bones also needs to apologize, in my opinion, for misusing EAS.

I suspect that the lawyers (and even the FCC in writing the decision on this matter) said that there should be no further comment so that the clear message of "don't do this or you will pay" gets through. Whether Bones makes a statement about something the average listener does not even remember or perhaps even found amusing won't help in any way.

Thank god for small town local radio... I have at least 4 "presets" on my computer with local small town, friendly radio stations. Most of them are adult contemporary.

And there are still some markets where local radio can be done. But there are many fewer of those due to Docket 80-90, the economy, new media, changing listener habits and the virtual rejection of AM by anyone under 50 or so.

 

[davideduardo]

...so the only thing left for iHart Radio to do now is Run and put their tail between their legs and hope in the meantime it don't kill their finances when they pay the huge fine. By the time they recover Internet Radio will have taken over broadcast radio and they may be sunk.

The fine is not going to change iHeart's financial position much. It's about the the same amount as 6 to 8 hours interest on thier $20 billion dollar debt.

Yes, it is one more item stacked on a business model that was viable but risky prior to the recession and the surge of new media. But alone the fine, which is being paid over several years, is not a company killer. It is about a quarter of what iHeart is paying each year to newly hired Los Angleles morning host Big Boy. And it is about 0.4% of the gross billing of just iHeart's Los Angeles cluster.

 

[TheBigA]

The main thing this says to me is that the FCC is very motivated to impose stiff fines on broadcasters who break the rules. Couple this with the fine levied on the TV station that aired what was characterized as obscene material, and you start to see a pattern. Congress has changed the way the FCC is funded. It gets an appropriation, but that appropriation is expected to be paid back with money collected from fines, fees, and spectrum sales. That's the business side of the FCC. So if you own a radio station, and you break any rule, expect the FCC to milk you for as much as they can. The amount of this fine was probably measured by the number of stations affected. The fact that the Bones show mainly airs on stations owned by IHeart made it a very efficient way to collect a large sum of money, rather than fining all of the affiliates individually, as was done in some obscenity cases.

 

[Ravens]

The fine is enough. I'm not sure what an apology would do.