* Seattle stations KOMO AM, FM and TV were broadcasting from remote locations today (July 3) after a Thursday night fire at Fisher Plaza resulted in the building being evacuated. The small fire broke out around 11pm Thursday night in the basement of Fisher Plaza, disrupting television and radio stations that broadcast from the building near Seattle Center and affecting a server farm that provides service to multiple Websites. Seattle City Light spokesman Scott Thomsen says the fire started at an electrical vault in the section of the building where city power lines meet the building's transformers. The fire forced the evacuation of the building and disrupted the late-night newscast, said Rob Dunlop, vice president of operations for Fisher Communications. Crews were working to get the building back on line, reports The Seattle Times .

Connie McDougall, spokeswoman for Seattle City Light, said power was restored to everyone on the same electrical feeder grid by 3am Friday, but City Light had cut power to Fisher Plaza so repairs could be made. "City Light's work has been completed, but it's up to them and their engineers to fix the system," McDougall said this morning. Dunlop says he hopes stations can resume operations in the building later today. The stations affected, which remain on the air, include KOMO-TV and KUNS-TV, and KOMO, KPLX and KVI radio. Dunlop said he has no official word on what caused the fire.

The small fire also affected a data center in the building, disrupting service to multiple Websites and other Web services. How many Web sites experienced problems because of the fire is not clear yet. Verizon Communications spokesman Jon Davies said the company's DSL service in the Seattle area was temporarily disrupted. Another company affected was Authorize.net Holdings, based in Marlborough, MA, which provides credit card services for merchants.

* Indianapolis has a new "Hit Music Station" as WRWM, which dumped its AC music and its "Warm 93.9" identity Wednesday night (July 1), has launched its new format and brand as "i94," debuting with "940 songs in a row." The Cumulus station unveiled its new format Friday (July 3) at 9:40am. Pending an official announcement, we are hard-pressed to describe the new format as CHR-Top40. After listening to their live online stream, we would describe it as Adult Top 40. Heard during our sampling were Britney Spears' "Womanizer," Shinedown's "Second Chance," Lady GaGa's "Just Dance," and Rob Thomas' "Her Diamonds" — all Mainstream CHR hits, but all ones that have also appeared on the Hot Adult (HotAC) chart. Actually, if we were consulting the Indy station, we'd say they are playing our own Total Popular Music Mass Appeal Hit Music format. Prior to the introduction of the new format, WRWM stunted, airing "the sound of a new station being constructed" (with actual construction sounds) from Wednesday night through Friday morning — during which time Market Manager Chris Wheat told The Indianapolis Star's David Lindquist that two staff members lost jobs in the transition, and one hire was made for the new format. Lindquist noted than as an AC station, in Arbitron ratings, WRWM ranked 21st among listeners 25 to 54. AC competitor "B 105.7" (WYXB) ranked ninth.

* Iowa Public Radio will cut nine positions this fiscal year in a reorganization aimed at saving money. Four of the nine positions are vacant and will remain unfilled. Of the remaining five, two people qualify for early retirement and one employee will be shifted to a different position. The other two will be laid off. The reduction of nine jobs is 14% of the work force and will drop Iowa Public Radio's statewide staff to 55 full- and part-time employees. according to The Gazette, in Cedar Rapids.

The fiscal 2010 operating budget is $6.1 million, a 10 percent reduction from the previous fiscal year. Funding for Iowa Public Radio dropped this year by 6% from the state and 17% percent the three regent universities. Those entities provide about one-third of the budget, CEO Mary Grace Herrington said. "No programming changes will result from this realignment. We remain a philanthropic organization that delivers what we believe is a fabulous public service in public media." The three separate radio groups at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa merged into Iowa Public Radio in 2005. One goal was to make Iowa Public Radio self-sustaining and reduce funding from the three universities. Iowa Public Radio operates KSUI-FM and WSUI-AM at the UI, WOI-AM and FM at ISU and KUNI-FM and KHKE-FM at UNI.

* Arbitron files its formal response — available here — to the FCC's Notice of Inquiry of a Commission probe of the ratings company's PPM system, saying, "In these Comments, Arbitron demonstrates that the Commission has absolutely no authority to impose regulations upon Arbitron's exciting new technology for more reliably measuring radio-station listeners' exposure to stations' signals — known as the Portable People Meter or PPM — than is achievable using the older paper-and-pencil method for consumers to self-report their listening experiences in a journal-type diary. Congress has considered on multiple occasions whether to put media audience measurement services under federal government regulation, and just as often has rejected doing so. The Commission itself has concluded that it lacks jurisdiction over services such as Arbitron's."

The ratings company adds, "There is no provision in the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the "Act"), that grants such authority to the Commission, and the courts have repeatedly rebuffed attempts by the Commission to assert jurisdiction over specific kinds of communications-related activities that are not themselves addressed in the Act, simply based upon generalized statements of policy or intent that can be found in the Commission's enabling statute. These Comments review relevant legislative history, the Commission's own precedents, and pertinent rulings by the courts that have placed limits upon the Commission's attempts in the past to expand its authority in the absence of a specific delegation of power in the Act."

Arbitron also deals with the suggestion that the FCC gains authority because it regulates radio stations that use Arbitron's services, with PPM utilizing embedded signals. "To the extent that the Commission may have jurisdiction over the transmission of radio broadcasting signals into which station-identifying PPM codes are inserted on a non-interfering basis by cooperating stations in the exercise of their business judgment, these Comments demonstrate that the Commission may not restrain the transmission of that lawful information consistent with the protection of those stations' and Arbitron's freedom of speech and expression established in the First Amendment and jealously guarded by the courts."

Arbitron also points out "that the radio industry is in danger of falling behind other media platforms — television, the Internet, personalized mobile audio delivery services such as MP3 players and iPods, and even some forms of outdoor media — that are moving towards measuring their audiences using the same kind of near-passive, electronics-based methods that the PPM service uses. In order to stay competitive with these other media in attracting advertising dollars, radio must adapt to the 21st century, even if there will be temporary dislocations for some stations in making the transition from the diary to the PPM service."

Arbitron denies allegations that PPM generally hurts stations that are minority-targeted. "In a close examination of the experiences of identified radio stations that target minority audiences in a variety of markets where the PPM service has been commercialized or is in precommercialization, Arbitron shows that there is no consistent pattern of such stations experiencing only losses in their diary-based market rankings or audience ratings. To the contrary, these Comments point out minority-targeted stations that have seen their market ranking, and/or their audience rating, fluctuate from the last diary-based report to more recent PPM-based reports, with some stations showing improvements, others staying about the same, and some showing drop-offs, but with variations from one PPM-report to the next. Some stations that feature formats appealing to Hispanic and Black listeners have shown longer-term upward trends in their market rank and/or their audience ratings, and some have not. The facts do not support the proposition that PPM-based reports uniformly and categorically result in reductions in the reported listenership of stations that cater to minorities."

* In its own filing with the FCC, the PPM Coalition says that the eletronic audience measurement system has problems resulting in "flawed and unreliable sampling of minority and other audiences." According to the Coalition's filing, PPM ratings for minority broadcasters in New York have fallen 40-60% since October. The PPM Coalition filed an emergency petition for a full FCC investigation into the PPM last year, which is considered responsible for the currently pending Notice of Inquiry from the Commission on the new ratings system and its effect on minority radio. The Coalition includes Spanish Broadcasting System, Univision, Entravision, ICBC Broadcast Holdings, and the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.

Its filing also claims that Arbitron's telephone-based sample includes only households with listed landline numbers. "Those with unlisted numbers, no telephones, and cellphone-only users are excluded from the main sample. Arbitron has deemed that address-based methodology too expensive" and "rolled out the cheaper service that has repeatedly flunked accreditation." The Coalition also alleges Arbitron's separate cellphone-only sample is too small and that the ratings company "drastically under-samples cellphone-only households, which are disproportionately young and minority." The PPM Coalition filing further says "Arbitron has proved unable to meet its own internal metrics for minority participation in its sample panels."

* The Media Rating Council (MRC) tells the FCC that the Commission is not qualified to handle a review of Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) ratings system. In a 73-page document filed with the FCC, the MRC says PPM reviews should be left to the Council. MRC CEO George Ivie says it would be "difficult if not impossible" for any other agency to complete a probe or review. He notes that the Federal Trade Commission was confident in MRC's processes in 2005, and the Department of Justice approved MRC's code of conduct in April by reaffirming the Council's mission and role when it comes to overseeing ratings measurement services.

* ICBC Broadcast Holdings, in its comments filed in the FCC's Notice of Inquiry on PPM says it supports electronic measurement, but "The PPM reality, due to Arbitron's insistence to rush an unproven technology to market, has been disastrous in many respects, especially for minority-owned and programmed radio stations." ICBC says its New York and San Francisco stations declined 25 to 60 percent with PPM measurement. The filing says, "To be sure, audience ratings fluctuate over time, but ICBC did not make any significant changes in its formats or programming choices. It has never before experienced such enormous and rapid ratings declines. Either the audiences in New York and San Francisco dramatically changed their listening tastes, by the tens of thousands at exactly the time that Arbitron deployed PPM or the PPM ratings mechanism misfired substantially as compared to the Arbitron diary system." Supplying a sampling of news reports on PPM problems, ICBC asserts, "PPM's performance has been dismal and riddled with documented problems." The ICBC filing adds, "The FCC should apply its expertise by helping to supervise Arbitron's promises to reform PPM nationwide. The FCC is the only expert agency available with national reach. It should ensure that Arbitron corrects PPM so that it accurately and fairly rates radio listening. Delay by Arbitron should not be tolerated by the commission."

* Emmis Communications also has filed comments with the FCC on the PPM Notice of Inquiry saying that while the PPM system "can and should be improved," its use for audience measurement should not be delayed. "Implementation of the system without delay is vital to the radio industry as it competes in the age of digital media." The filing adds, "Further, Emmis respectfully submits that the Commission lacks authority to regulate PPM, and that in any case it would be unwise for the agency to interpose itself in an area where it lacks special expertise, particularly since an experienced body is already overseeing rollout of the system." Emmis owns Urban AC WRKS and Rhythmic WQHT in New York and Rhythmic KPWR, Los Angeles, which is noted in the comments filed with the FCC. The company, differing from other minority-audience targeted station owners says, "Emmis' urban-formatted stations contribute more than half of the group's operating income, and are vital to the success of the entire chain."

Emmis even acknowledges that its Urban stations have "fared less well" under the PPM than under the diary, with ratings off as much as 50 percent. But the filing continues, "Notwithstanding these results, Emmis does not view them as representing any inherent 'bias' in the PPM system against stations with African-American or Hispanic audiences. Although we believe that sampling of minority listeners can and should be improved, we also believe that in general the PPM ratings are a reasonably accurate reflection of radio listening behavior, and that the 'paper diary' system has often overstated actual listening."

* Entercom President & CEO David Field expresses support for Arbitron's PPM service in comments filed in the FCC's notice of inquiry on the ratings system. Field urges the FCC not to pursue its inquiry into PPM. "In today's highly competitive advertising environment, many of our important customers are demanding electronic audience measurement systems that provide them with richer, more timely and more detailed listener information. The PPM system is the best electronic radio audience measurement system currently on the market and is a product that we must adopt in order to satisfy our customers and remain competitive with other media," Field wrote. He says Entercom is "confident that Arbitron is working to improve the service."

* Hal Turner, the bombastic online commentator from New Jersey, has again been ordered held without bail on charges of threatening to murder federal judges who upheld handgun bans in Illinois. The 47-year-old blogger and internet radio host sat uncharacteristically silent as a federal judge in Newark ruled for the second time in six days that he should remain incarcerated and shipped to Chicago to face prosecution, reports the Star-Ledger. "I think he is a danger to the community," Magistrate Judge Michael A. Shipp said. Turner has long been accused of being anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and anti-government and often pushes the bounds of free speech. But authorities say he crossed a line earlier this month by writing that three appellate court judges should be killed for ruling against lawsuits challenging handgun bans in Chicago and suburban Oak Park.

"These judges deserve to be killed," Turner wrote on his blog, according to a complaint filed by federal prosecutors in Chicago. He also published photographs of the judges and a map showing the courthouse where they work, authorities said. Three weeks later, on June 24, FBI agents arrested him at his home in North Bergen, where they found several firearms, authorities said. He is charged with threatening to assault or murder federal judges and faces up to 10 years in prison. Earlier last month, Turner was charged with an unrelated crime in Connecticut. Authorities say he urged his blog readers to "take up arms" against two state lawmakers who supported a bill to give lay members of Roman Catholic churches more control over parish finances. That charge carries a maximum 10-year penalty.

* In the Philippines, a policeman is charged with murder for the killing of radio commentator and former Mindoro Occidental governor Crispin Perez Jr. A National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) task force headed by Arnel Dalumpines filed the complaint against Police Officer Darwin Quimoyog before the Department of Justice. Quimoyog, assigned at the Magsaysay police station in Mindoro Occidental, was positively identified by the victim's wife, Irene Sungao-Perez, as the one who shot her husband twice June 9 in San Jose town, reports GMA News in Manila. The suspect was placed under police in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. According to the NBI, the former governor had just gone home from his daily morning program Sa Totoo Lang over dwDO station, when he was shot to death by a lone gunman using a .45-caliber revolver.

Mrs. Reyes told investigators that she was taking her routine morning cardio-thread mill exercise at the sala of their house when she saw her husband talking to an unidentified man. She thought that the man was just a client seeking legal advice from her husband. But after about 30 minutes, when her husband was standing up after the meeting, the man suddenly shot the former governor, according to GMA. Authorities were able to trace Quimoyog's whereabouts through the motorcycle that he allegedly used to escape from the crime scene.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Perez was the fourth journalist in the Philippines killed this year. Unesco recently denounced the murder of a newspaper reporter near Manila and two incidents involving other journalists who were injured but survived the attacks. The Philippines is considered as one of the deadliest nations for journalists. The CPJ says the country's impunity rate of over 90 percent is related to the killings of Filipino media practitioners.

* Washington Examiner Sports Columnist Jim Williams writes, "It looks like WJFK 106.7 FM will become Washington's newest all-sports radio station, joining ESPN 980AM in the battle to keep sports fans entertained and informed. Local Web site DCRTV has been reporting that there have been rumors that the station would be coming on the air July 20 with the Junkies returning to their former name, The Sports Junkies, and serving as the station's morning drive show." Williams says he commented a few months ago that "WJFK making a move to sports would make sense. Also that their sister station in Baltimore — 105.7 FM The Fan — was doing well and could serve as the model for a move to sports talk by WJFK." Williams says he's confirmed that a number of Washington sports personalities have had conversations with management at WJFK about doing shows. The station has also spoken to a number of local sports producers and on air update people about the possible format change. The Examiner sports columnist adds, "Management at WJFK is silent about any format changes at the moment, but it does seem that they are seriously considering the idea of going to an all-sports format."

* News-Talk WWBA, Tampa, is now available over any mobile phone — or any landline telephone — through a partnership between station owner Genesis Communications and AudioNow. No data plan or smartphone is necessary; listeners need only call a telephone number. Gensis CEO Bruce Maduri says, "News-Talk 820 is always looking for ways to reach our listeners in a mobile world by making it easier to tune into their favorite shows, at any time. Audionow lets all our listeners stay connected with us on any phone."