MAB to Co-Host DTV Technical Workgroup with NCTA
& MCTA
On April 30, the MAB, in conjunction with the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and the Michigan Cable Telecommunications Association (MCTA), will host a workgroup meeting for broadcast and cable engineers in East Lansing. The meeting is designed to bring together technical personnel from both cable and broadcasting to work together to explore the challenges of DTV and ensure a smooth transition.

The meeting will feature David Donovan from the Association for Maximum Television Service, William Check, NCTA Senior Vice President of Science & Technology and MAB’s Director of Technology, Larry Estlack. After the presentations, attendees will be able to meet in small roundtable discussions. All MAB member television station’s engineers and DTV transition contacts have been invited to attend.

If you have not received an invitation, but would like to attend, please contact Jennifer Preslar at Preslar@michmab.com for more information.

90 Days later...The Latest & Greatest from research and focus Groups...
By Gary Berkowitz, Berkowitz Broadcast Consulting
As a programming consultant, I travel well over 100,000 miles a year visiting radio stations from Bend to Boston! After being on the road non-stop since January, here is a summary of the most commonly discussed programming points that I have been hearing in focus groups, research presentations and just plain dinner conversations with broadcasters.
download pdf here


Motown Media Blitz Offers Help and Hope
By Suzan Hiltz, Ad Council-Central Region
An estimated one million families will face foreclosure this year. Foreclosures have a disastrous financial impact on families and harsh consquences for entire communities. According to local statistics, Detroit has the ninth highest foreclosure rate in the country and statewide Michigan's foreclosure rate is 1 out of every 420 households.

In an effort to offer help and hope, the Ad Council's Detroit Leadership Committee targeted a four-week media blitz dedicated to Foreclosure Prevention which began in mid-December.
download pdf here .


Staying Prosperous
By Joe D. Buys, Crystal Clear Concepts
It's funny that we know the things we have to do to stay healthy, like exercise, eat a proper balanced diet and get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. However, in spite of all our best intentions, many of us just seem to fall short.

Staying prosperous now, that's a different story, isn't it?
download pdf here


Protect Your Copper!
By Larry Estlack, MAB Director of Technology
A problem that once was confined primarily to a few large urban areas, is now on the move. The price of copper has nearly quadrupled in the last 12 months. With a world shortage, it’s now being targeted by thieves much more than ever before. In many cases, this is not casual theft, but well organized “hits”. Broadcasters, especially at unmanned transmitter sites, are among the easier targets.

Any exposed copper: ground cables, buss bars, copper strap used for bonding at AM tower bases, etc. are the first to go. Followed by air conditioning refrigerant lines and yes, the actual internal coils as shown in the photo above. Wall mounted or ground mounted units are easily attacked by battery operated “sawzalls", with the units quickly opened and the copper parts removed.

Here in Lansing, the Lansing police report that they are seeing many air conditioning units, even those on rooftops, being attacked in this way. In fact, the MAB office air conditioning units, as well as those in the office building next door, were hit. Thieves removed exterior refrigerant lines in both cases.

According to Larry Johnson, owner of Great Lakes Tower, he has never seen the problem this bad. As he points out, a thief (or one of his brethen) will likely return and steal the replaced items again--he knows they are essential parts of the installation. Mike Hutchens, of Regent Broadcasting in Flint has been hit twice at transmitter sites with copper bonding blocks and cable gone.

Orlando’s WNUE(FM) was hit by a thief Monday (4/14), who scaled the station’s tower and cut out a 35 foot section of their rigid type antenna feedline, taking the station off the air. Police eventually found the culprit, luckily noting a small paint chip on his clothing after he was seen and stopped while driving in the area. He had stashed the feedline in an orange grove for later recovery. He confessed and is facing several felony counts, as well as possibility of a federal count as well.

What should broadcasters do?

1. Assess your vulnerability. Rural sites are no longer less likely to be hit. In fact, thieves usually have much more time and can take more.

2. Provide barriers. What path would a thief take to steal copper and what can you do to provide a barrier to slow or discourage access? At all sites, do you have traffic stop gates right at the road? Remember, whatever they remove has to be hauled away, so making vehicle access limited will help. A second and third barrier is better.

3. Provide fences and a motion alarm on them. Alarm systems, especially if used together with a fence and other barriers are much more effective than fences alone. Consider a steel cage made to protect wall mounted AC units and ground mounted condensers.

4. Provide camouflage. Paint bright shiny copper strap with an epoxy paint. It might get missed by thieves in a rush. Some stations are covering copper strap and ground mats with asphalt or large rocks.

5. Visit your sites often and at different times. Watch for “visitors”. They often are casing the site ahead of the theft.

6. Check with your insurance agent. Will insurance cover all replacement expenses? What about repeated claims and incidental damage the thieves cause? To reduce insurance rates, many stations have raised their deductible. Theft costs may fall below the deductable amount and then the station operating budget gets hit for the whole amount.

7. Report all theft, no matter how small. Work with local police to put pressure on local metal recyclers to demand ID and visual records. In some locations, recyclers have been forced to require ID, take a photo or video and no longer pay in cash, but send a check instead.

8. Talk to other tower owners in the area to learn what they are seeing and doing about the problem.

I am still surprised at the number of broadcast sites that have no alarm system. Why? If only one connected to the station’s remote control, at the absolute minimum, might provide some alert. A commercial system, with audible alarm and police notification would obviously be a better choice. Web cams are now inexpensive and would surely be useful at sites since many have broadband access.

The MAB will continue to monitor this situation and work with industry groups and legislators to attempt to control this growing problem. Take action now. As long as the scrap market value for copper is high, this epidemic of copper theft will continue.


2008 ABIP Windows Announced
Sign-up and inspection windows for the 2008 Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP) have been announced. The program is a no-risk way to check your station's FCC compliance. The MAB's ABIP is an official program recognized by the FCC. Stations which pass the alternative inspection receive a 3-year exemption from routine FCC inspections.

During an alternative inspection, the MAB inspector comes to your station to review technical compliance with basic FCC technical operating regulations as well as the public file; however the ABIP does not cover EEO.

The most current FCC Self-Inspection checklist for AM, FM or TV stations is used for the inspection. It's a great way to get a technical review of your station's rules compliance and alert you to any potential problems.

We know that budgets will be tight this year, so we're not only holding the pricing the same, but offering two significant discounts! First, if you register and pay in full by May 15, we will waive the $100 administrative fee. Second, if you have used the ABIP program before and your inspection expires in 2008 or expired in 2006 or 2007, you can receive a discount of $50 per call letter if fees are paid by May 15th. For example, a cluster with four stations due for re-inspection can save $300 with an early registration. It's our way of thanking you for using this valuable program.

Please visit www.michmab.com for complete details.

MAB Welcomes Dan Kelley
The Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB) is pleased to welcome Dan Kelley as the new Web and IT Manager. Dan joined the MAB in December and is overseeing the web and IT functions of the organization. Prior to joining the MAB, Dan was Operations Director and Program Director for Citadel Broadcasting’s WJIM-FM and WMMQ-FM in Lansing.

Dan started in the radio business growing up in the north suburbs of Chicago and was a Program Director/Afternoon Drive Personality at age 17. Prior to moving to Michigan in 2005, he spent 13 years with Clear Channel Radio as Operations and Programming Director of its stations in Northwest New Mexico and Southwest Colorado.

Dan lives in nearby Okemos with his wife and two children. In addition to his work at the MAB, Dan also works with a company that provides online music testing and research for radio stations worldwide and also writes a radio programming blog that’s read by 100+ radio professionals daily.

Reminder: Localism Comment Deadline Fast Approaching. Broadcasters Need to Speak Up!
Monday, April 28 is the deadline for broadcasters and all interested parties to file comments on proposed FCC rulemaking that could have a devastating effect on radio and television broadcasters, both large and small.

The MAB urges its members to let their voices be heard, to get involved, and file comments now. The MAB's own filing can be downloaded here.

We've also noted that many stations have encouraged representatives of local civic and public service organizations to file comments with the FCC supporting existing programming and public service efforts.

Employees of your station may also comment, but remember that April 28th is the absolute deadline. Resources to assist you in your filing are available on the MAB website here.


Ross-Blackburn Localism Letter Delivered to FCC Chairman Martin
More than 120 Congressional signatures were collected and added to a letter sent to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on April 15, 2008. The letter, originally penned by Congressman Mike Ross (AR-4th) and Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (TN-7th) addressed several localism issues and strongly urged the FCC not to “turn back the clock” and revert to regulation that was abandoned 30 years ago.

Representatives Tim Walberg (MI-7th), Fred Upton (MI-6th), Thaddeus McCotter (MI-11th), Candice Miller (MI-10th), Mike Rogers (MI-8th), Vernon Ehlers (MI-3rd) and Peter Hoekstra (MI-2nd) represented Michigan Broadcasters on this important letter. The MAB would like to thank the members who reached out to their Congressmen and Congresswomen urging them to sign on. For a copy of the signed letter, click here.


State Broadcasters File Petition for Reconsideration of TV Online Public File Rule
By Richard Zaragosa, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
On Monday (4/14), 45 State Broadcasters Associations filed a Joint Petition for Reconsideration of the FCC's new TV Online Public File Rule. Just as the owner of a newspaper is a publisher, any person or entity, including a television station, that operates a website is a publisher. The Joint Petition demonstrates that the Commission’s action adopting the Online Public File Rule infringes the First Amendment rights of television broadcasters, and is arbitrary and capricious.

The State Associations emphasized, at the outset, that they have no quarrel with the principle that all broadcast stations must be accountable to the viewers and listeners that they are licensed to serve. Thus, their Petition does not contest, as an “end” goal, that principle. Rather, their Petition challenges, as violative of the First Amendment, the particular “means” chosen by the Commission to achieve that goal. The Petition also identifies a suitable alternative “means” that would not involve the First Amendment rights of television broadcasters.

The Online Public File Rule infringes the First Amendment rights of television broadcasters in at least two different, but materially adverse, ways. The rule in effect penalizes a television broadcaster for using the Internet to publish through its website. If a television station has a website, the rule also dictates what speech the Internet-based publisher must carry in order to avoid violating Federal law.

The State Associations, of course, acknowledge that broadcasters have not been afforded the degree of First Amendment protection that is afforded to others, such as newspaper publishers. However, the Online Public File Rule is not intended to control content that is to be published using a station’s licensed spectrum. Rather, the rule is intended to control the speech of a television broadcaster published over the Internet for which the broadcaster needs no license.

This distinction casts serious doubt on the applicability of the Less-First Amendment-Protection-For-Broadcasters holding embodied in Red Lion to unlicensed electronic publication undertakings carried on by broadcasters, and supports the legal conclusion that activity of a broadcaster publishing over the Internet through a website is deserving of full First Amendment protection.

This infringement is avoidable simply by the Commission using its own, very user-friendly website that is perfectly suited (and can be modified as necessary) to perform the role that the Commission wants thousands of television station websites to perform – namely, to provide members of the public inside and outside a television station’s service area Internet-based access to voluminous information about every television station in the United States.

Viewed over the expanse of the television broadcast industry, the burdens and risks associated with fully complying with the Online Public File Rule will be staggering. There are approximately 1,759 full-power and 556 Class A television stations that could become subject to the Online Public File Rule.

One very experienced and well-respected vendor, which was brought to the attention of the State Broadcasters Associations, has proposed to charge any television station that is required to establish an electronic public inspection file a set-up fee of $5,000 per station and $500 per month for maintaining the contents of the online public file on the vendor’s server. This represents a first-year charge of $10,500 per station and a recurring annual fee charge of $6,000. If every full-power and Class A television station were required to create and maintain an electronic public inspection file, the first-year cost to the television broadcast industry overall could be $24,307,500, with subsequent year annual costs of $13,890,000.

It is reasonable to assume that this price tag for outsourcing the set-up and maintenance of a television station’s online public inspection file system is a fair proxy for calculating the costs to a television station, which chooses to handle the matter in-house, of increased staffing and server capacity necessary to create and maintain a fully compliant Internet-based public inspection file system. Under either calculation, the burden on the television broadcast industry and on stations individually will be staggering.

To the extent that the Commission believes that additional information about television stations should be made available on the Commission’s website in order to advance its goal of enhancing “the ability of both those within and those beyond a station’s service area to participate in the licensing process” without violating any television licensee’s First Amendment rights, the Commission has the power to initiate appropriate rulemaking proceedings. Reliance upon the Commission’s own website is the preferred solution here. By following that path, the Commission will have avoided entangling the government in the content of these “electronic newspapers” operated by television stations without the need for any license.

The State Broadcasters Associations respectfully urged the Commission to rescind its action adopting the Online Public File Rule.

At a minimum, the FCC should allow stations the right to decide for themselves, through an election, whether they will spend the time and resources to develop and maintain their own online public inspection file system or have the FCC use its own existing website (with some enhancements) for that purpose.

Michigan Stations on Latest FCC EEO Audit List
The FCC has released its April 2008 list of EEO audits and on the list are 10 stations in the State of Michigan (2 TV/8 Radio). See the complete FCC list here.

The MAB has been assisting its members with EEO compliance through Broadcast Compliance Services. It is a free service for members in good standing and helps broadcasters dramatically expand their list of EEO resources; helps keep those resources up-to-date; provides the ability to advertise job openings on a local, regional or national basis; and improves the documentation and reporting of a licensee's EEO efforts.

More information on the BCS program is available on the MAB website here.

The MAB also has an EEO Compliance Guide available in its Members Only section of its website. The MAB Foundation also offers EEO-Friendly programs, including the Station Scholarship Program, Internship Program and Career Fairs. Visit the MAB Foundation website here.