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Bus Radio Latest News 2009
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23 Colorado citizens made public comments to the FCC about BusRadio. 21 were opposed to it.
"We will abide by whatever the ruling is."
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DENVER AND THE WEST
Broadcasts on school buses run into static
BusRadio, used in some metro districts, is under fire for its ads and choice of music.
By Carlos Illescas
The Denver Post
POSTED: 07/03/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Congress has ordered a Federal Communications Commission review of BusRadio, a controversial radio-programming system that targets kids riding on school buses — including some in the metro Denver area — with advertising and what some say is inappropriate music.
BusRadio sends music and commercials over the Internet to school district servers that forward the programming to buses, using wireless transmitters.
Douglas County, Denver and the Aurora school districts are among a handful in Colorado that use BusRadio.
Supporters say the radio content calms the kids on what can at times be a hectic bus ride.
But some parents say forcing their children to listen to commercials on the bus is akin to having their kids held hostage by corporate America. They also say the music is sometimes age-inappropriate.
Congress ordered the BusRadio review in May. The company had until Monday to address more than a dozen questions from the FCC, including how it determines what music is age-appropriate and how it deals with listeners' requests to remove programming.
Aurora Public Schools spokeswoman Paula Hans said the district is entering the third year of a five-year contract with BusRadio. The district is taking a "wait and see" approach regarding the inquiry.
"We will abide by whatever the ruling is," Hans said.
Denver Public Schools spokesman Alex Sanchez said the district is taking the same approach. He noted that there have been no problems with BusRadio and that it has helped to improve safety on the buses, the district's main reason for receiving the service.
"For us, it has always been about safety, keeping kids in their seats and listening to age-appropriate music," Sanchez said.
In the first month of the process, more than 1,200 people commented on the issue on the FCC website.
FCC spokesman David Fiske said public comments and questions to the company are part of the process. The review will then be sent to Congress, which will decide what — if anything — to do about BusRadio.
BusRadio officials defended their product, saying AM and FM radio stations that are on many more school buses don't scrutinize their music and advertising near as much as BusRadio.
"We are working with the FCC to get all the information that they need," BusRadio president Steve Shulman said. "BusRadio is looking forward to a favorable outcome."
Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said her group requested that Congress initiate the review.
"CCFC believes that mandatory commercialized radio on school buses is not in the children's best interest," Linn said. "It bypasses parents to a captive audience of students."
BusRadio is free to the school districts and is heard each day on more than 9,000 school buses in 24 states. The districts receive a small amount of money for allowing the music on their buses. There is different programming for elementary, middle and high school students.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_12746439
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Note: What is Aurora Public Schools spokesperson Paula Hans really saying? What does "wait and see" mean?
Is this school district so lazy they can't read the public comments from Colorado citizens - themselves? Can't somebody in their administration read the comments Obligation has made and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and others have made? Can't they make their own decision?
Instead it sounds as if these Denver area school districts will sit and wait to hear from Washington.
What they should be doing the first work day after the 4th of July holiday is start removing the BusRadio radios from all their school buses. If Denver area schoolchildren are compelled to listen to more BusRadio, they will have some very vocal school board meetings when the school year begins.
BusRadio's contests AIMED AT DRIVERS has the potential to distracts drivers.
BusRadio's commercial assault on the youngest of schoolchildren is repugnant.
BusRadio's policy of playing cleaned up songs from dirty CDs performed by artists known for their explicit lyrics is not appreciated by parents. It's that simple.
BusRadio's refusal to list the songs they play,to list the CDs the songs came from, to list the artists that perform the songs, and to list the advertisers and their products and services pitched on their program should upset Denver area school officials. Instead, they appear to be sitting on their hands, just hoping the Federal Communications Commission doesn't say anything bad about BusRadio.
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School buses compete to promote new Nintendo video games. When parents find out about this, there may be job openings in the Transportation departments in the Crestwood and Upper Darby school districts.
Crestwood Beats Upper Darby
Below: This article is from the Crestwood School District web site. Notice the driver "faithfully" kept BusRadio's programming on during her route. This has nothing to do with safety. The last part of the article is from BusRadio's sales literature. This transportation department has made no attempt to inform parents and the public about the national controversy about BusRadio. Ms. Stoneberg, the driver, was a big help in promoting Nintendo and BusRadio, but is that part of her job?
The noise levels on a bus don't drop like this article says. There is no proof that a bus ride is safer with BusRadio and there is real, documented evidence to suggest that BusRadio is inappropriately engaging bus drivers by aiming content directly at drivers to get their attention.
So Crestwood's bus # 30 beat out Upper Darby's bus 59. That's nothing either school district should be bragging about. Parents in both these districts should be contacting their transportation directors to tell them to cut out these marketing stunts. A school bus is no place for these type of distracting and inappropriate contests. Obligation will make sure parents in these districts know more about BusRadio.
PS On June 27, Obligation wrote BusRadio at the email address they posted above - contests@busradio.com - to get a list of all the buses that entered this contest. We haven't heard back from them. Surely BusRadio won't keep this information from the public.
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Nice Little Songs
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Reading these comments will be a great encouragement to parents, educators and bus safety officials who want BusRadio off school buses.
How To Read The Public Comments
The FCC asked for comments and they got 'em.
Thanks to the hundreds of people across the country that expressed their thoughts about companies like BusRadio.
If you would like to view the comments, the FCC has made it easy to do.
1. Click on this link: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi
2. Go to the first box "Proceeding" and type: 09-68
3. Go to the bottom and click the button: Retrieve Document List
4. You'll see there are over 1,170 comments! The list goes from the most recent to the earliest comments.
5. To read a comment, click on the blue highlighted "Brief Comment" or "Comment" at the bottom of each record.
6. Go to the bottom of the page and you'll see links to the first hundred comments, second hundred and so on.
7. You can see all the comments from your city, state, or ZIP code by specifying on the comment page.
Below: What the FCC page will look like.
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Print and distribute widely. Email this page to friends in your community. Send to your school board members and superintendent.
Obligation's Comments To The FCC
The Federal Communications Commission Building
Washington, DC
Obligation submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission concerning BusRadio's business model.
There were over 1160 comments concerning Docket # 09-68. The comments were overwhelmingly in favor of school buses free from commercials.
CLICK HERE to read Obligation's remarks. This document is a great resource for parents and educators who want to remove BusRadio from their district.
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Time for a Sheriff in BusRadio Town.
Looks Like A Duck, Sounds Like A Duck, Quacks Like A You-Know-What
Mathew Blades works hard to create the impression that BusRadio's taped program is in real time.
If elementary school students believe BusRadio is real radio, why shouldn't the Federal Communications Commission?
From Jim Metrock:
The audio clip below doesn't sound like anything special. You'll hear a very young girl call in and request "Superlove" by Bryant James. This request is no surprise. We now know that BusRadio owns a piece of Bryant James and the more airplay he gets the more money BusRadio may earn in the future if James' career takes off. (Betting on Bryant James to become a star is what the music industry likes to call a "long, long, long shot.") We know the BusRadio DJ will always be letting the Bryant James "request" come through. Hey, you got to look after your own.
The girl requests the song and the DJ Mathew Blades says we'll get it right on and then the song is heard on BusRadio. Keep with me.
After "Superlove" plays (we have cut out most of the song to save listeners some time), another caller requests a Miley Cyrus song. Mat the ever agreeable DJ honors the request and plays the song.
Everyone of us experiences media in our own unique way. What we know or don't know affects how we consume any particular dose of media.
Children listening to this elementary school show on BusRadio hear what appears to be a regular radio station. There is a DJ. The DJ is asking listeners to call in to the station and request a favorite song or to make a "shout out" to friends. Listeners are calling in and requesting songs that are played immediately. BusRadio is giving the impression that this is a radio station just like other radio stations.
But it isn't.
BusRadio is a taped show.
BusRadio is going to great effort to create an illusion of being real radio.
This audio clip is taken from the June 3, 2009 show. It was recorded THE DAY BEFORE - June 2. Every word the DJ utters on this clip was uttered the previous day. The callers requesting "Superlove" and the awful Miley Cyrus song are taped. Yet BusRadio's DJs often lead children to believe the show is live.
Why is any of this important? It may be important because BusRadio is doing everything they can to make the consumers of their service believe and understand their programming to be regular radio programming. They are trying to fool 2nd and 1st graders and Kindergarten students. They are doing a good job of fooling them and other students.
Right now BusRadio is free to do whatever they want to do on their radio show because of a "loophole." Under the Communications Act of 1934, a company like BusRadio isn't considered "radio." Since it doesn't go over the airwaves like AM and FM and TV signals, BusRadio gets a pass. BusRadio uses the Internet to deliver its programming, therefore no oversight, no license requirements. It looks like its all fun and games for the kiddie marketers at BusRadio. There is no sheriff in BusRadio Town and it shows.
Does it even matter that they try to sound like a regular station? We don't know. We post this clip only to show that kids may see BusRadio as a real time, real radio station just like any AM/FM station in their community.
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BusRadio gets so busted by Meagan and Skyler.
Cobb County Students Tell On BusRadio
Published: 04/26/2009
By Laura Armstrong
Columnist
Has your second-grader come home begging for a Cingular cell phone? Are the kids asking you to "check out" a racy new sitcom or Web site? Do they know the lyrics to rap songs, even when your family doesn't condone that music?
Well then, Cobb must have Bus Radio.
Surpriiiiise!
"Everybody knows about it," offered Skyler Hanson, my highly observant, eighth-grade niece. Everybody, that is, except the parents. Bus Radio, a controversial Massachusetts-based service that contracted with Cobb schools at some point after it debuted in 2006, targets children on school busses up to ninety minutes each day.
I found out about it for the first time last week from a children's advocate in Birmingham, Jim Metrock. His organization, Obligation, Inc., was founded in the 90s to remind area businesses they have a responsibility to children. Jim's memo, sounding the alarm on commercialism forced upon our children, reached me via a PTA member and immediately set off my mom-radar.
At the bus stop, I confirmed with our elementary driver that she has Bus Radio. She rolled her eyes and motioned, but despite my giving her a business card, a note and Metrock's memo, she didn't call me with input. My guess is she doesn't want to get in trouble, and I don't blame her, though wouldn't it be great to hear what Cobb's wonderful, caring drivers (many are moms) think about it?
I queried my first-grade neighbor, Meagan.
"What's playing on the bus, sweetie?"
She scrunched up her face, looked sheepishly at her mom and replied, "It's gangster music, Mommy. But it's inappropriate, I know."
"What else, Megan?" her mom asked.
"Commercials for Nintendo and stuff," she answered innocently, still worried about the gangster music.
This is not good.
Skyler, who's 13 going on 23, told me her bus doesn't play it, but most do, and she's heard it many times. The rap music, she says, has profanity bleeped, "but all the kids just sing the words anyway." And if the sixth-graders don't understand it, the older kids are happy to explain.
"Everyone talks about it. They prank call the DJs during school and on the bus," she added, astutely observing they have to get permission slips signed to watch a PG movie at school but the "suggestive" music plays on Bus Radio everyday, regardless.
Former school board member Lindsey Tippins told me he remembers Bus Radio being approved because it was "revenue-positive" but opined, "If questionable music is played, it should be gone." He doesn't recall any parent complaints.
Current board Chairman John Abraham, the only elected official to my knowledge who's taken time to ride a bus in mid-August heat, e-mailed that he plans to review the initial decision on Bus Radio and whether parents have complained about content. He also plans to ride again and hear for himself.
There is so much more to this issue. You must see www.obligation.org as well as www.busradio.com. Talk to your children. Are your family standards being undermined by Bus Radio?
The school board needs to hear from you.
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Let's give it up for the superstar of superstars... Bryant James!
When You Have BusRadio As Your Record Label, You Need A New Manager
Children compelled to listen to BusRadio's programming probably think Bryant James is one of the biggest music stars in the country. His music is always being requested by some caller to the show. Children have heard "Superlove" and "Cruisin' With My Lady" and "Shakedown" by Bryant James so many times they probably could recite the lyrics in their sleep.
Children also know he is a big star because BusRadio's DJs have said he is.
Mr. James has recently made the Big Time by actually having his music available on Amazon.com. That's where we learned something interesting about this celebrity.
Label: BusRadio
Copyright: 2009 BusRadio
It seems BusRadio owns this young man. They own his songs.
Let's get this straight. BusRadio owns the Bryant James songs that they, BusRadio, make sure are played relentlessly on BusRadio's show on school buses. It's a little creepy and disturbing to think BusRadio has a financial interest in the success of certain artists featured on their radio shows.
Shouldn't the consumers of BusRadio music be told about the relationship between BusRadio and Bryant James?
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BusRadio better be preparing for yet another major setback.
Cobb County, GA
From Jim Metrock:
Parents in Cobb County, GA have been surprised by BusRadio sneaking onto their children's school buses.
Cobb County parents I have talked to were never given an opportunity to express their views on BusRadio. Most didn't know ANYTHING about BusRadio - and these are parents active in their child's school.
This battle will pit parents and other members of the county against the handful of school officials that quickly and rather quietly approved a contract with BusRadio. The school administrators don't stand a chance. Every day BusRadio becomes more radioactive. Every day more and more Cobb County parents are finding out why BusRadio is so controversial. This battle will be over before school starts on August 10. Removing BusRadio will be an extraordinary victory for all Cobb County students.
With BusRadio being kicked out of the Montgomery County School District in Maryland, Cobb County is now the largest school district under contract to BusRadio.
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Will money to drivers undermine BusRadio's PR effort?
Crisis Time At BusRadio
It is Crisis Time at BusRadio.
Citizens from across the country are letting the Federal Communications Commission know what they think about BusRadio's business model on school buses.
BusRadio as expected is contacting transportation directors and bus drivers urging them to write favorable comments about their company. Comments from those in favor of BusRadio and those opposed are all viewable by the public and can be read at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgiSimply type in "09-68" in the "Proceeding" box and then go to the bottom and click on "Retrieve Document List."
It's a great county that allows both sides of an issue to post their thoughts in the public forum. You can disagree with someone's position, but you have to respect anyone who stands up for their convictions. The FCC staff will greatly benefit from reading the views of those on both sides of this matter. We of course hope the FCC will be more moved by the statements of those who favor commercial-free school buses.
Obligation has no idea how many bus drivers have received a financial benefit from BusRadio but we have reported on several contests (2) aimed at drivers. BusRadio employees have been photographed handing bus drivers American Express gift cards (below). BusRadio has been pressing $100 and $500 gift cards into the palms of bus drivers for a couple of reasons. They needed the drivers to be loyal to their company. They needed drivers to be playing their programming in order for BusRadio to maintain their ad revenue. They also needed drivers to be ready to help the company if called upon.
BusRadio's David Briere and Clint Frost have no shame as they hand a $500 gift card to a Minnesota bus driver. How many drivers have received financial benefits from this Massachusetts company? We don't know, but one thing we do know is no one who is commenting in favor of commercial-free school buses has been paid a penny. We hope the FCC takes that into consideration when reading what people say.
The spotlight of public scrutiny is about to light up this company. These photographs may come back to haunt the Kiddie Marketers at BusRadio.
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