Fight for Performance Royalities or Media Ownership?

Radio One Gets Heat For No-Show At Panel

Congress Daily PM, Judiciary

Thursday, July 9, 2009
by Andrew Noyes

Radio One, the largest U.S. minority-owned media company, came under fire from the House Judiciary Committee today for refusing to testify at a hearing billed as a forum to examine plummeting advertising revenues, increased media consolidation and pending legislation that would end a long-standing copyright royalty exemption for over-the-air radio, which broadcasters oppose.

Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and others scolded Radio One founder Cathy Hughes and her son, CEO Alfred Liggins, for being no-shows.

Other critics of the bill who Conyers said snubbed him include National Action Network President Rev. Al Sharpton; Rainbow Push Coalition President Rev. Jesse Jackson; syndicated radio host Tom Joyner; and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council's David Honig.

Judiciary Courts and Competition Policy Subcommittee Chairman Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said broadcasters were invited to weigh in on the bill before it passed the committee in May, but their unwillingness to offer performers any compensation is unreasonable since Internet, cable and satellite services all pay.

Conyers and Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith had amended the legislation to appease critics by delaying its enactment date and reducing the amount of fees radio stations would have to pay.

Their changes also directed the Copyright Royalty Board to consider the impact of their rate-setting on religious, noncommercial, minority-owned, and female-owned broadcasters.

They asked GAO to complete by November a study that would examine the bill's effects, particularly on minority, female and religious stations.

Liggins called today's hearing "misguided and disingenuous." He said he backed out as a witness after learning Conyers would focus on the royalty bill and had invited a supporter of the measure, R&B Foundation Chairman Kendall Minter, to testify.

"I'm not going to sit there and get beat up," Liggins said in a phone interview. Broadcasters urged the committee to hold a minority-specific hearing before marking up the bill but they were rebuffed, he added. That is when Radio One instructed its on-air talent at several stations in Conyers' congressional district to take to the airwaves in opposition.

Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, and Melvin Watt, D-N.C., tried to temper the royalty bill rhetoric by appealing to broadcasters who were not present. "We still love you, you are still our constituents, and we still believe in what you do for our communities," Jackson Lee said.

Watt added he was "not inclined to box with shadows" and wanted to concentrate on the stated purpose of the hearing, which faced a lengthy delay due to floor votes.

Minter was joined at the witness table by Media Access Project President Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Arbitron CEO Michael Skarzynski and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters Executive Director James Winston.

The Prime Minister says,
While I am not a fan of the business practices(syndication) of Radio One, I do think that calling a hearing: "Trends Affecting Minority Broadcast Ownership" and then making a focus on the Performance Rights Act is a bit disingenuous and an outright ambush. The politicians on the hill need to focus on the issues affecting media ownership.

Media Access Project President Andrew Jay Schwartzman testified,

Here are several of the most important things:

Reimpose limits on national radio ownership and strengthen existing caps on local and national broadcast ownership.

Reduce the license term to three years and enforce meaningful rules. This will create opportunities for minorities to obtain the licenses that will be forfeited.

Restore the tax certificate policy which was repealed in 1994.

Grant the pending application of Robert Johnson’s innovative Urban Television proposal, which would allow vastly increased minority ownership of digital TV multicast streams.

Enact HR 1147, which will expand the low power FM radio service and serve as a platform for training for a new generation of minority radio broadcasters.

I could not agree more.

As much as I want to help the artists/musicians I can't because what the performers and musicians want will only benefit the artists/musicians and not the community as a whole. The issue for me is more minorities being able to own a radio station. Musicians and performers are being just as self centered as radio. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. The argument by the performers and musicians is "The internet, cable and satellite radio stations already pay performance fees to artists." Therefore AM/FM radio should do so to. However, it seems to me that the argument overlooks the fact that these services(cable, satellite, and Internet) have a subscription fee. It doesn't cost these broadcaster anything because the consumer pays upfront. The Temptations sang "Don't let the Jones Get You Down."

Media ownership is the real issue where the focus should be and fight waged. The folks in Washington, DC messed up with the passage of The Telecommunications Act of 1996. Incidentally, the Telecommunication Acts was the most lobbied bill in history. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is real culprit. Too few own too many. This act allowed unlimited media ownerships which is the real enemy to democracy and diversity.

Radio One and other Black media corporations are caught in the middle of a game they simply can't win. In order for their companies to stay alive during the economic down turn and lack of advertiser revenue, they must syndicate programming. It's terrible but because of the lending and banking systems Black owners must turn profits daily or lose their stations. Losing more minority owners is not acceptable. Did you know that there was a move for an increase in local ownership limits to 10 and 12 in a market?

And on the other hand, I have not heard or seen from one of the supporters of HR 848 anything about the state of media ownership being an important issue. More diversity in the media ownership landscape including females will be more beneficial to everyone including the musicians and performers. With more diverse owners more people can have an opportunity for employment and more opportunities for new music to be played.

At one time an announcer could lose his job on one station and be hired on another station in the same city. Today an announcer loses his job and 9 out of 10 time the company that fired him owns the station where he is seeking employment.

©1997 Bobby Ocean®, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Conyers should continue the fight he waged in 1996 as he voted against the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The FCC needs to be held accountable for the mess it created. The dismal state of minority and female ownerships need be addressed and solutions provided. The fight for equal access to media ownership is far more important to democracy and diversity. As Media Access Project Andrew Schartzman testified "A more diverse marketplace of ideas creates a more democratic society. Frankly, minorities know a lot more about the lifestyle, customs and traditions of the majority white culture than white people know about minority cultures. In short, I need widespread minority ownership at least as much as minorities do.


The Prime Minister.