Word is the US media regulator, the FCC, will get involved in investigations into allegations of payola in the American radio sector.
As previously reported, US radio station WKSE-FM fired its programme director Dave Universal over allegations he accepted perks and free travel from record labels in return for prioritising their music. With Universal hitting back and saying he didn't do anything his bosses weren't aware of, the FCC will now look into the payola allegations - which, if Universal's allegations are true, means his firing could well backfire on WKSE-FM and their parent company Entercom.
The
FCC will also look into allegations of political payola. That investigation relates to allegations conservative commentator
Armstrong Williams received money to promote the Bush Administration education agenda.
While everyone agrees there is nothing like the levels of payola in the US radio industry there once was, with New York Attorney
General Eliot Spitzer investigating the relationship between radio stations and record labels, and these new FCC investigations, it will be interesting to see what kind and level of payola does exist in the modern American radio sector.