Headlines

Last week we posted a story about the 1996 Telecom Act, that turns 20 years old in 2016. It generated quite a few comments from our readers and one very long response from former manager Dave Aamodt. Aamodt says deregulation didn't work out too well at the place he used to run.

In the weekly Media Monitors spot count, Macy's continued to use radio to push customers to their locations during the Christmas holiday. Holding on to the number one spot for the second week in a row, Macy's ran over 54,000 commercials on radio stations across the country.

These are both big radio spenders and we have seen them under attack by the government lately. First in New York State, now in Illinois.

As stations start to flip back to there regular formats - or use the holiday music format - to change to a completely new format, Nielsen has released a list of the most played Christmas songs by radio stations across America this year. (Picture of Brenda Lee courtesy R&R Hall of Fame)

Asked by a friend to help keep Albany, Georgia station WWQA on the air as it went through bankruptcy proceedings, long-time radio host Kurt Baker worked with judges, lawyers, bookkeepers, auctioneers and FCC officials to take the station through the most unlikely survival story.

Broadcast attorney David Oxenford writes that the press is treating the recent Beatles announcement as a breakthrough, omitting the fact that the Beatles have been available on many streaming services for as long as there have been streaming services.

The debate rages on to this day. There are those that believe deregulation and consolidation ruined radio, homogenized its sound and killed jobs. Others still argue that more deregulation is needed and national scale is important for radio to compete with more competition for the eyes and ears of the consumer than ever before. There is one important point that seems to get overlooked when debating 1996.

We are accepting nominations for the 2016 Best Country PD's in America. Make your nominations HERE. The deadline is this Thursday, December 31.

Salem Media Group has been recognized as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the country by the independent research firm, the National Association for Business Resources.