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FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai spoke at the Free State Foundation's 10th Anniversary Luncheon this week and did not hold back. Pai has not been a big fan of the current Chairman, Thomas Wheeler, and is being talked about as a possible replacement for Wheeler when he departs the agency, when the Trump administration takes over.

Following the $150,000 purchase of WETN-FM in Wheaton, Illinois, this week, broker George Reed of Media Services Group tells us that Educational Media Foundation is picking up WLFV-FM in Midlothian, VA, and WARV-FM in Petersburg, VA, from Larry Wilson's Alpha Media. EMF will send a check for $2 million to Alpha for the two Virginia FMs. Both stations will flip to the K-Love format.

The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio Group is now taking applications for the 2017 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program. The deadline to apply is Friday, January 6, 2017.

That’s what the Knoxville Country station helped raise, December 5, to benefit victims of the recent Gatlinburg wildfires. An 18-hour on-air/online (#SmokyMtnStrong Radiothon) radiothon raised $315,000 through call-in pledges, and $500,000 over the Net to the My People Fund, in partnership with the Dollywood Foundation.

The two syndicated jocks have kept up their holiday tradition of “Breaking and Entering” people’s homes – but these “home invasions” are about giving, not snatching. Along with their Hoodlum Elves, the pair have delighted folks in markets such as Charlotte, Birmingham, Columbia, NC for more than a decade. But this year it was Albermarle, NC.

Last month, the Radio Music Licensing Committee filed an antitrust complaint against Irving Azoff's Global Music Rights organization for what it called anticompetitive behavior. Wednesday GMR filed its own lawsuit against the radio industry calling it a "cartel" and alleging that more than 10,000 U.S. radio stations wrongfully colluded to underpay songwriters to play songs on the radio.

In 2015, four of the ten highest billing radio stations in America were on the AM band totaling approximately $167 million. For sure there are many others across the country not doing well. AM broadcasters have been asking the FCC for technical help, for what seems like a decade, as the digital world of crisp clean listening picks listeners off year after year. This with the MMTC sent a letter to the Trump administration asking the new government to decommission the AM band. We turned to broadcast attorney John Garziglia to get his opinion on that plan. Here's what he had to say.

The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2016 Holiday Giving Campaign. Over the past year, the Broadcasters Foundation has distributed more than $800,000 in aid, including nearly $100,000 in one-time emergency grants to broadcasters who were affected by the Louisiana floods.

Today Marketron announced it has entered into a partnership with location intelligence company Cuebiq to use its real-time foot traffic attribution offering VisitQ Real Time.

Radio station managers who receive letters from attorneys alleging they've used pictures on their website they have no right to, might want to tune in to the NAB's latest podcast. It's called "Navigating Photo Copyright Law: Protecting Your Station from a Lawsuit." NAB Senior VP Corporate Counsel Bart Stringham discusses the issue with Crowell and Moring Partner David Ervin. Listen HERE.