Mel Karmazin, Chairman/CEO CBS Radio
Mel Karmazin receives the NAB National Radio Award.
According to NAB press releases, "The National Association of Broadcasters National Radio Award honors an individual who is an outstanding industry leader."
Mel Karmazin was presented with this award on Friday, September 19, 1997 during the NAB Radio luncheon at The NAB Radio Show in New Orleans.
In honoring Mr. Karmazin, the NAB said, "Mel has spent his career not only building his Radio business, but also building the business of Radio."
The FACT of the matter of Mr. Karmazin is that he built Infinity Broadcasting Company into a radio empire by violating federal indecency laws. He turned Infinity into the world's largest supplier, marketer and producer of radio porn and, like Larry Flynt, he did it under the guise of the First Amendment as his legions of attorneys fended off regulatory litigation from coast-to-coast.
Mel Karmazin gave the broadcasting industry such people as Howard Stern, Don Imus and 'The Greaseman'. He set the industry standards for broadcasting nigger jokes and Klu Klux Klan hate messages.
As the President of CBS, Mel Karmazin gives the broadcasting industry grown men having oral, anal and forced rape sex with a sex doll.
He gives the broadcasting industry information on the North American Men/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), an organization dedicated to the rape and violation of young boys by grown men.
He gives the broadcasting industry conversations between a forty-four year old man and a ten-year old boy about the boys sex organs.
And, the broadcasting industry praises him as a 'visionary'.
For the broadcasting industry to hail Mel Karmazin as a 'visionary' gives us a clear indication of what the industry thinks of itself. More importantly, it shows us what the broadcasting industry sees as the future of broadcasting.
While some may say he is a visionary, others might say that he is the Dr. Karmazinstein who created Howard Stern.
O.K., let's take a look at the real Mel Karmazin and his recent career. But first, a few FACTS about Mel Karmazin.
September 2, 1995 - Howard Stern producer pays $1.7 million in FCC indecency case
By Sandra Sobieraj, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The company that produces and broadcasts "shock jock" Howard Stern's radio show will pay $1.7 million to settle several indecency charges, the Federal Communications Commission announced Friday.
The settlement ends a string of litigation by the Infinity Broadcasting Corp. over FCC indecency rulings and fines dating back as far as 1989.
Under the negotiated agreement, Infinity admitted no wrongdoing or liability in the five separate opinions issued by federal regulators from 1989 to 1994, and the FCC agreed to dismiss another five pending complaints, the commission said in a statement.
The $1.7 million settlement is $9,000 more than the total of FCC fines pending against three Infinity stations that air Stern's show: WXRK in New York City, WYSP in Philadelphia and WJFK in Manassas, Va.
Mel Karmazin, president of the New York-based company said in a statement that Infinity still believes Stern's material would not be found legally indecent in court. But the settlement "will conserve the time, expenses and human resources of the parties" involved in litigation, Karmazin said.
Stern's agent and publicist were traveling Friday and could not be reached for comment, assistants said.
Dozens of pages of transcripts from Stern's daily radio show documented the "graphic" and "patently offensive" material on which the FCC based its rulings.
Robert Ratcliffe, the FCC's assistant chief for law, said the broadcasts at issue ranged from graphic discussions of masturbation and child molestation to a segment in which Stern talked about shaving his posterior.
"There are so many of them it's hard to segregate them," Ratcliffe said of the broadcasts that brought listener complaints.
He added that no actionable complaints on Stern's program have been filed since the commission's most recent ruling in January 1994 and it is satisfied that Infinity has cleaned up its programming.
"That Infinity has conformed its conduct or at least changed its ways was an important fact in us agreeing that this settlement is in our interests," said Ratcliffe.
He said Friday's settlement does not affect FCC rulings against at least two other radio stations that air Stern's program.
Friday, Jun. 21, 1996:
Westinghouse to buy Infinity Broadcasting Company
Infinity owns 44 stations and Howard Stern
CBS owner Westinghouse Electric agreed Thursday to buy Infinity Broadcasting for $3.9 billion, a deal
made possible by deregulation and one that brings together the two biggest players in radio.
Just seven months after its $5.4 billion purchase of CBS Inc., Westinghouse's acquisition of Infinity represents its next biggest step toward reinventing itself as a broadcasting power.
The Infinity deal will give CBS 83 radio stations with total revenue of about $1 billion a year. CBS will be present in 16 markets with 69 of its stations in the top 10 markets, which include Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.
Westinghouse is also a television power, with the CBS network and 15 TV stations.
Michael H. Jordan, Westinghouse's chairman and chief executive, said growth in radio advertising revenues and the recent telecommunications law, which led to new rules allowing companies to own more stations in the same market.
In fact, Infinity Broadcasting Corp. chief executive Mel Karmazin said the legislation directly influenced the decision to merge.
``When that bill passed, the first call I made was to Westinghouse/CBS,'' he said. ``There was no question, there was absolutely no question, that the transaction that made sense was a combination of the Infinity company with the Westinghouse/CBS company.''
Infinity owns and distributes ``The Howard Stern Show'."
The companies said the combination will allow them to assemble clusters of radio stations in large markets. That structure, they said, will let them become more efficient and profitable.
Karmazin, who founded Infinity now becomes the chairman and chief executive of CBS Radio.
He also will remain chief executive of Westwood One Inc., a big radio network operator whose operations include the Mutual Broadcasting System and NBC Radio Network.
The genesis of the merger, as Karmazin explained, was the deregulation of federal telecommunications law, which led the Federal Communications Commission to loosen radio-station ownership rules.
In March, the FCC removed all limits on the number of stations a company may own. The previous limit was 20 AM and 20 FM stations nationwide. The FCC also is letting companies own from five to eight radio stations in the same market. They had been limited to four stations in a large market or three in a small one.
With shock jocks aboard like Stern and Imus, Infinity is no stranger to FCC scrutiny. In fact, just prior to the Westinghouse acquisition, Infinity agreed to pay the federal government more than $1.7 million to settle five indecency charges brought by Al Westcott against Stern 1989 and 1994.
How will a more raucous Infinity get on with the traditional corporate executives of Westinghouse Electric Corp.?
``As long as Howard follows the rules, and he's been following the rules, that's fine,'' Jordan said. ``We believe in diversity.''
May 23, 1997 - MEL'S IN, PETER'S OUT - ACCORDING TO THE POST
CBS Television president Peter A. Lund has resigned, published reports said today (Friday). The New York Post claimed that Lund was forced out following a stormy meeting at which Mel Karmazin, the head of CBS Radio complained about the poor performance of the 14 CBS-owned TV stations.
According to the newspaper, Westinghouse chairman Michael Jordan subsequently decided to shift control of the TV stations from Lund to Karmazin. Today's New York Times, however, quotes Lund as saying, "This is not about Mel ... this is a serious difference of opinion on how the responsibilities should be divided." Noting that the resignation leaked out on the very day that CBS was announcing its fall lineup, one executive told the Times: "The timing couldn't have been worse."
May 23, 1997 - MEL'S IN, PETER'S OUT - ACCORDING TO MICHAEL
Today, Westinghouse/CBS Chairman, Michael Jordan announced that Mel Karmazin will become the new CEO and President of the CBS Television Network.
Mr. Karmazin is CBS's largest shareholder and is most infamously known as the man who gave America Howard Stern's racism, obscenity and indecency. Mr. Karmazin's Infinity Broadcasting Company recently settled a series of Federal fines totaling almost $2 million. The fines were for violations of Federal indecency statutes and, numerous violations of Federal broadcasting laws.
Karmazin's company produces and distributes Stern's program for Westinghouse/CBS.
In addition to condoning Stern's adult material being broadcast to children. Mel Karmazin appears to be a racist.
With Mel Karmazin's blessing, Stern broadcasts, "Niggers are like apples, they both look good handing from a tree".
Mr. Karmazin's Infinity Broadcasting Company recently made a settlement with the African-American Business Association because of Infinity's racist broadcasts.
Under Mel Karmazin's leadership, Stern tells his listeners about sodomizing his wife and says, "It should have felt like a 14 year old girl."
Under the graces of Mr. Karmazin, Stern tells his listeners to use illegal drugs and tells them that "All women are whores who will spread their legs for amy man with enough money."
And, just in case you don't think Mel Karmazin is a racist, here's a sample of the material Mr. Karmazin produces and broadcasts.
MAY 29, 1997 - HOWARD STERN ON CBS TV STATIONS?
Mel Karmazin, who as chairman of Infinity Broadcasting, often wrangled with the FCC over The Howard Stern Show, which Infinity carried, is likely to star Stern in a late-night show that would air on the CBS-owned TV stations, the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Thursday), citing "talk among network executives." Westinghouse chairman Michael Jordan last week placed Karmazin in charge of all of the CBS-owned stations -- radio and TV. When Karmazin sold Infinity to Westinghouse in a 1995 stock swap, he became the company's largest shareholder.
JUNE 26, 1997: Insight In Mel Karmazin's Business Tactics
Continuing to enthrall Wall Street observers, Westinghouse director Mel Karmazin, who took control of the company's TV stations group last month from Peter Lund, has forecast a "turnaround" for the stations by the third quarter. Speaking before a Montgomery Securities conference in New York Wednesday, Karmazin, vowed that there would be "no excuses" if the stations failed to perform. He said that part of the problem was that TV station sales staffers were receiving 75 percent of their pay from salary and 25 percent from commission.
Beginning July 1, he said, they will be paid straight commission. Conceding that some of the sales force were upset by the decision, Karmazin said, "If you want to earn a salary, that's why people go to work at the post office"
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