»
While a number of radio groups - including CBS Radio, Clear Channel and Cox Radio - have received subpoenas in the course of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s payola probe, Entercom Communications is the first radio group that Spitzer has sued, Mediaweek writes.
The lawsuit charges Entercom - the fourth largest radio group with 105 stations - with “accepting secret payments in exchange for airtime,” violating state and federal laws and compromising its programming. Spitzer alleged that Entercom “solicited” payments from labels in the form of gifts, promotional items and personal trips for airtime, in order to manipulate music airplay charts.
Entercom said in a statement that it “is a company that believes in playing by the rules and does so. We have firm policies prohibiting payola and requiring compliance with the federal sponsor identification rules, and we enforce them. We have cooperated fully with the Attorney General’s office in this investigation.”
Spitzer has called the Federal Communications Commission to action regarding payola, stating, “The agency’s inaction is especially disappointing given the pervasive nature of this problem and its corrosive impact on the entertainment industry.”
Previous stories:
Payola Investigates Nation’s Top Radio Stations
All sectors of the media business will suffer from the weakened economy in 2008 and 2009, with a slump in local advertising particularly hurting newspapers and local TV, according to a new projection from Goldman Sachs.
Broadcast nets will experience…
The New York Times is shuttering its International Herald Tribune site; NYTimes.com will soon host the international news normally reserved for its sister website.
The move is not about cost savings, but rather about growth, NYTimes.com general manager Vivian Schiller…
Unilever’s Vaseline set forth on an unusual research project in a small town in Alaska. Setting up a storefront, the company began giving away free bottles of lotion and asking recipients to name the person who had recommended they come…
Meet the Press, the show hosted by Tim Russert for 17 years before his death last June, is beginning to slip in ratings.
Last month, CBS’s Face the Nation pulled ahead of Meet the Press for the first time in two…
Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years, according to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, MarketingCharts writes.…
Wal-Mart and Costco reported same-store gains in September, with sales rising 2.4% and 9% respectively. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 3%, writes Retailer Daily.
Below, fiscal results from the discount retail giants:
Sales of food and…
