Katrina, Indecency Put Payola On Hold At FCC

Nearly two months after New York state attorney general Eliot Spitzer unveiled a landmark $10 million settlement with Sony BMG, the Federal Communications Commission has yet to examine a motherlode of evidence collected in Spitzer’s continuing payola investigation. The FCC has had its hands full with a host of post-Hurricane Katrina communications issues. And the Enforcement Bureau, which would take the lead in a federal payola investigation, has been dealing with a backlog of indecency complaints. “We’re keeping our powder dry before we try to blow the roof off,” said an FCC official who requested anonymity. “We’re waiting for that opening when we can push for payola to be the next item that we intend to dedicate a certain amount of resources toward.” After reviewing the evidence in New York (and perhaps taking some of it back to Washington), the Enforcement Bureau would make recommendations to the FCC. If it decided to proceed, the Commission would then send Letters of Inquiry to any licensees it determined had violated the federal payola statute, which prohibits stations from accepting money, gifts or other valuable consideration in exchange for airplay without disclosing the arrangement on the air. The licensee would then have the opportunity to respond to the Commission and provide additional documentation in its defense.
[SOURCE: Radio Monitor, AUTHOR: Paul Heine]