Clear Channel Chief Executive Mark Mays, citing competition from satellite-delivered subscription radio, proposed that broadcast radio operators be able to own 10 stations instead of eight in markets where there are at least 60 stations and up to 12 stations in markets where at least 75 radio outlets operate.

“Free radio is struggling. The cost of competing with new technologies and increased listener choice is staggering and profits are down,” Mays said at a speech to the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Clear Channel, which owns about 1,200 radio stations, saw earnings decline 13 percent in the second quarter because of weak advertising revenues

“We are streaming the vast majority of our radio stations,” he said in response to a question. “From that perspective, we are cannibalizing ourselves and we feel like we have to be in that Internet space.” [Thanks to the Heater Man]

Bill Figenshu, former group head for Viacom’s radio group, more recently a SVP at Infinity and a Regional President for Citadel, and now a consultant, on a panel (“Future of Radio”) at the recent National Association of Broadcasters annual meeting:

“I’m concerned when I walk into Circuit City or Best Buy and I ask to see the HD radios — and I know they carry the Kenwood model — and the sales guy takes me to the Sirius display and tells me, “This is it! This is digital.”

More on the NAB at Kurt Hanson’s Radio and Internet Newsletter.

When I started working at KBOA (summer of 1972), Studio A (more commonly known as the “on-air studio” or “the control room”) was always manned. I believe Mr. Rudy was signing on in those days and later shifts were manned by Jeff Wheeler, Charlie Isabell, Charlie Austin, Ted Guffy and Keith Parker. And we were simulcasting the FM during the day with a part-timer running the Cardinal games at night. No automation. No computers. A real, live person cued up the records and played recorded commercials (or read them live). Not very cost effective but a lot of fun for those of us privileged to be “on the radio.”

Between 1984 (when I left KBOA) and around 2000, I traveled all over the midwest visiting radio stations affiliated with our networks. Most in small or very small towns. For many of those 16 years, there were still radio stations with live announcers throughout the day.

Are there any still doing this? I’m not talking about “breaking in” a couple of times an hour to do the weather… I’m looking for one station that still has live announers, sitting in a studio, running the show from sign-on to sign-off. Yes, I understand this makes no sense from a business standpoint. And I can’t give you any good reason why some station owner would be doing this. I’m just asking some of my radio pals to email me if they know of such a relic.

If I can find one, I’ll call them up and see if someone will talk with me about their station and what it’s like to work there (I’ll post the interview here). Better yet, I’ll take my camcorder and get in the car and go visit the station. I’ll record the entire day. We can make a project out of this, like tagging and monitoring Bengal Tigers or some other endangered species.

Radio broadcasters, preparing to descend on Philadelphia for the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention, may find the ratings from Arbitron’s portable people meter trial in Houston a tough pill to swallow.

Overall, average quarter hour ratings are down by 20 percent compared to diary measurement, with morning drive, radio’s biggest revenue-generating daypart, taking the biggest hit, down by more than 35 percent. Midday ratings were also lower under the PPM, down 21.9 percent. Other dayparts were down on average by 12 percent. [Media Week]