"Clear Channel Spent

$940,000

on 1Q Lobbying"

"Clear Channel Communications Inc. spent $940,000 in the first quarter lobbying the federal government on local radio ownership rules and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

That's more than the $819,000 the radio station owner and outdoor advertising company spent in the fourth quarter, and more than the $760,000 it spent in the first quarter of 2009.

Clear Channel also lobbied on congressional oversight of digital billboards, enforcement of broadcast decency rules and diversity of ownership of telecom businesses, according to a report filed April 20 with the House clerk's office that covered January through March..."

-- Bloomberg Businessweek, The Associated Press, June 25, 2010

Photo:LA Times

California Considering

Digital Advertising on

License Plates!

"Lawmakers are being asked to launch a feasibility study to determine if the advertising revenue from millions of electronic license plates would help close the state's $19-billion deficit. In addition to being a moneymaker, the high-tech plates also could be used to streamline automobile registration procedures and to quickly tell motorists about hazardous road conditions and Amber Alerts, officials suggest.

Critics warn, however, that the ads would distract drivers and add to a growing clutter of roadside digital billboards, freeway message boards and other intrusive signage. Some also fear that the computerized equipment that would control the advertising could be hacked and hijacked by vandals intent on posting rogue messages.

Backers of the advertising idea say the digital plates could be programmed to display the ads only after an auto has been stopped for four seconds. The car's license plate number would be visible in small type at the corner of the plate when ads are being displayed, they say. The ads would disappear and the plate numbers would be shown when the car was moving..."

-- Los Angeles Times

How were digital signs uprooted in Va. Beach?

Gardeners

"Sure, these women throw the occasional tea party. Yes, their floral arrangements are always impeccable. And there’s no denying that they are of a certain age – mostly older than 50.

But as Virginia Beach’s politicians and business leaders know, it is a mistake to dismiss them as little old ladies in tennis shoes. The gardeners stuck a green thumb in the eye of opponents Tuesday when the City Council voted to ban new electronic signs. They cheered from their chairs after six of the 11 on the council voted for the ban.

When it comes to the issue of signs and billboards in Virginia Beach, few groups carry as much political clout as the garden clubs. They are passionate, well-connected and unafraid to flex their pruning shears.

The clubs and members of the city’s beautification commission have also been out in force in recent months battling billboard company Adams Outdoor Advertising. They have targeted council members who want to change the Beach’s strict billboard ordinance to allow them to go digital. With their e-mail and letter-writing campaigns they recently got the council to defer a vote on digital billboards.

'When they speak, the council listens,' said Councilman Harry Diezel, who sponsored the change in the billboard law, but who sided with the clubs on the LEDs. 'They have some interesting voice power there.'..."

-- by Deirdre Fernandes, The Virginian-Pilot