Earlier this week, Mark Ramsey blogged about Clear Channel's "murky future," and in the process, expressed sadness for company’s employees, listeners in their markets, and for the company itself.  Mark is a passionate radio broadcaster, and one of our best industry observers, and so his comments made me pause and think about the implications of Clear Channel's problems.

As a Detroiter, I know what it's like to be held hostage by a mega-corporation like General Motors.  On the one hand, you can resent their short-sightedness about where the automotive industry was headed.  And you have to acknowledge their arrogance throughout the '60s and 70s, too.  Remember the saying, "When GM gets a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia?" As much as many people here in Motown hate to admit, you reluctantly rooted for GM to do well.  Your livelihood depended on it.

And so it goes with Clear Channel and its dominance of broadcast radio.  Most definitely, the Wall Streetization of our business has taken its toll.  Clear Channel's history as the biggest company in radio has been very checkered, and without a doubt, they have been tarred by a brush often of their own making.  While the famous "Minot Incident" was probably blown out of proportion, becoming an industry urban legend, the fact is that Clear Channel became known for its voicetracking, the canard called "Less Is More," collective contesting, and other "innovations" that have not enhanced our business.

I will never forget reading an interview with Lowry Mays in Fortune magazine back in 2003 when he was quoted as saying, "We're not in the business of providing news and information.  We're not in the business of providing well-researched music.  We're simply in the business of selling our customers’ products."

I remember thinking at the time that it would not have been that difficult for Mays to reverse that quote - and still make the financial gods happy.  Had he simply noted that Clear Channel stations are a great advertising tool for its clients, but the company was dedicated to providing great radio and serving its communities, much of the PR backlash might never have materialized.  Instead, the media seized on the "Evil Empire" moniker, and the bad ink continues to this day, all the way to Washington, D.C.

So, back to Mark's questions.  Do I feel sorry for the company?  Do I feel sorry for its employees? Do I feel sorry for what all of this means for the radio industry?

No.  Somewhat.  Yes.

Here we are, almost a full month into the new year, and a number of important dates for broadcasters are already upon us.  As we wrote here, for instance, the payment of a minimum fee to SoundExchange by radio stations streaming their signals on the Internet is due today.  Lowest unit rates are in effect in many states for upcoming Presidential and even some Congressional primaries (see our post announcing the beginning of the LUR period for Super Tuesday).  FCC filing deadlines for Annual Ownership Reports for a number of states are due on February 1, as are EEO Public File Reports for several states.  And, on February 18, full power television stations must file with the FCC a Form 387 Status Report detailing where they are in their transition to digital television in time for the February 2009 transition deadline.  How is a broadcaster to keep all these dates straight?  Check out our advisory on the Important Dates for Broadcasters in 2008, available here, which tracks many of the deadlines that will occur this year - including the dates of routine FCC filings, lowest unit rate windows for political broadcasting purposes, and digital television transition milestones.

And a reminder about February 1 deadlines.  Radio stations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and New York, and television stations in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma must prepare and file electronically an FCC Form 323 Biennial Ownership Report with the FCC.  Our Advisory on completing and filing the Ownership Report can be found, here.  And radio and television Station Employment Units in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma must place in their Public Inspection File and post on their website, if they have a website, their FCC Annual EEO Public File Report.   In addition, radio stations in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi with eleven or more full-time employees must also prepare and file electronically with the Commission an FCC Form 397 Mid-Term EEO Report.  Our Advisory on these filing requirements can be found here.  Stay on top of all these deadlines with our advisory on Important Dates for Broadcasters for 2008.

Here we are, almost a full month into the new year, and a number of important dates for broadcasters are already upon us.  As we wrote here, for instance, the payment of a minimum fee to SoundExchange by radio stations streaming their signals on the Internet is due today.  Lowest unit rates are in effect in many states for upcoming Presidential and even some Congressional primaries (see our post announcing the beginning of the LUR period for Super Tuesday).  FCC filing deadlines for Annual Ownership Reports for a number of states are due on February 1, as are EEO Public File Reports for several states.  And, on February 18, full power television stations must file with the FCC a Form 387 Status Report detailing where they are in their transition to digital television in time for the February 2009 transition deadline.  How is a broadcaster to keep all these dates straight?  Check out our advisory on the Important Dates for Broadcasters in 2008, available here, which tracks many of the deadlines that will occur this year - including the dates of routine FCC filings, lowest unit rate windows for political broadcasting purposes, and digital television transition milestones.

And a reminder about February 1 deadlines.  Radio stations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and New York, and television stations in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma must prepare and file electronically an FCC Form 323 Biennial Ownership Report with the FCC.  Our Advisory on completing and filing the Ownership Report can be found, here.  And radio and television Station Employment Units in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma must place in their Public Inspection File and post on their website, if they have a website, their FCC Annual EEO Public File Report.   In addition, radio stations in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi with eleven or more full-time employees must also prepare and file electronically with the Commission an FCC Form 397 Mid-Term EEO Report.  Our Advisory on these filing requirements can be found here.  Stay on top of all these deadlines with our advisory on Important Dates for Broadcasters for 2008.

The Commission's DTV Third Periodic Review adopting the rules and procedures for moving television stations through the end of the DTV transition was published in the Federal Register today, meaning that almost all of the new rules and forms adopted by the Order are now effective.   Now that the majority of the new rules are in effect, several related filing dates have been established.  As expected, this evening the FCC released its Public Notice notifying stations of several deadlines and summarizing some aspects of the Commission recent DTV Order. 

First, the FCC Form 387 DTV Status Report is now available and can be filed electronically through CDBS.  Consistent with the Third Periodic Review, all television stations, even those that have built and licensed their post-transition DTV facilities, must file a DTV Status Report on FCC Form 387 by February 19th (the FCC gave one extra day due to the federal holiday).

Second, as part of the final push to digital many television stations need to obtain a construction permit for their post-transition facilities.  In order to avail themselves of expedited processing, stations must file their Form 301 or Form 340 construction permit applications by March 17th (45 days from today).  If stations 1.) file their applications before March 17th, 2.) the application does not expand the station’s facilities beyond its final post-transition DTV Table Appendix B facilities, and 3.) the application specifies facilities that match or closely approximate the DTV Table Appendix B facilities, then the FCC has said that it will expedite processing of the application, generally acting on such applications within ten days. 

Third, the FCC has imposed deadlines by which stations that need to obtain a construction permit for their post-transition facilities must file their construction permit applications.  Stations with an August 18, 2008 construction deadline must file a CP application no later than March 17, 2008.  Stations with a February 17, 2009 deadline must file a CP application no later than June 19, 2008.

The particular steps necessary for a station to complete the DTV transition by the February 17, 2009 end of analog broadcasting will vary depending on the station, but now that the new rules and forms are in effect stations are urged to begin preparing their applications immediately.  See our earlier posting for more details about the Third Periodic Review and the specifics about how stations will complete the DTV transition. 

Each year, Internet radio stations must pay a minimum fee to SoundExchange, and that fee is due by January 31.  These minimum fees are applied against  the obligations of a Internet radio service to pay royalties for the use of sound recordings on their stations.  SoundExchange does not send bills, so webcasters must remember, on their own, to make the payments.  For commercial webcasters (including broadcasters who stream their signals on the Internet), under the Copyright Royalty Board decision released last March, a minimum fee of $500 per channel is due.  While SoundExchange and certain large webcasters agreed to cap this minimum fee liability at $50,000 no matter how many channels a webcaster transmits (see our post here), this agreement has yet to be submitted to the CRB for approval.  Minimum payments are also due from noncommercial and small webcasters.

Under the CRB decision, noncommercial webcasters also owe a minimum fee of $500.  Small webcasters, who earlier this year accepted the SoundExchange offer about which we wrote here, owe a minimum fee of $2000 if they had 2007 revenues of less than $50,000, and minimum fees of $5000 if their 2007 revenues exceeded $50,000.  Note that details about these minimums are difficult to locate on the SoundExchange website.  Nevertheless, the current rules require that these payments be made.  Future settlement negotiations may adjust some of these minimums but, as of this moment, the failure to pay the minimum fees could, at a minimum, subject an Internet radio service to penalty fees and interest payments. 

We recently wrote about the Notice of Apparent Liability for violation of the FCC's indecency rules that was issued last week by the Federal Communications Commission, proposing to fine 52 ABC network affiliates $27,500 each.  This $1.4 million fine was suggested by the FCC for alleged violations which occurred almost 5 years ago in a broadcast of the now canceled television program NYPD Blue.  For those interested in more details of the case, and about the cause of the trouble for these affiliates, our firm, Davis Wright Tremaine, has issued an Advisory to Clients, here providing more background.  Clearly, this notice is not the end of the story - watch for more developments in this case in the coming months, as ABC and the affected stations file their responses to the fines proposed by the FCC.