Democratic FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein Friday praised the FCC's letters of inquiry sent to Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio, Entercom, and Citadel in its ongoing investigation of the payola issue.
Adelstein, who has pushed cracking down on deceptive progarmming as an FCC priority, said in a statement: “I am pleased that we have launched this formal phase of the payola investigation.
"This should put to rest any question about the FCC's commitment to enforce the law. Our investigation will be a thorough and complete review of the industry's alleged payola practices.”
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, for one, has criticized what he said was FCC inaction on the issue. The FCC is using information from Spitzer's consent decrees with two major record labels in its investigation. That evidence cited several radio company employees as having accepted cash and other considerations for spinning songs.
