FCC Launches Payola Probes of 4 Radio Giants

FCC LAUNCHES PAYOLA PROBES OF 4 RADIO GIANTS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Charles Duhigg]
The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday launched formal investigations into pay-for-play practices at four of the nation's largest radio corporations -- Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio, Entercom Communications and Citadel Broadcasting. The biggest federal inquiry into radio bribery since the congressional payola hearings of 1960 is focused on allegations that radio programmers had received cash, checks, clothing and other gifts in exchange for playing certain songs without revealing the deals to listeners, a violation of federal rules. The four broadcasters have been negotiating with the FCC for weeks to forestall a federal inquiry by offering to discontinue certain practices and pay limited fines. But those talks stalled last month over the issue of how much the broadcasters should pay.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-fcc20apr20,1,2083645.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
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