Live blogging the FCC hearings

12:30am It's finally over. Thanks for hanging in with us.

12:05 am A Korean television station (WOCH) is now being talked about.

12:01 am (now 9/21) Just a thought: Where was Mancow? Too busy filing another lawsuit?

11:46pm Did the author of that book just swear? The FCC will fine him personally. That $8 million for you.

11:43pm The corporate shills and charity cases are gone and the real people are back. This hearing is supposed to be for the people, not the corporate hacks. What they do for charity has nothing to do with what we're talking about here. Totally shameful.

10:50pm The complaints are back. We're back on track!

10:44 pm Welcome home, Eric Monte. And what he's telling is the truth.

10:40 pm I like to hear somebody rip Mariotti at this hearing. Where is Ozzie, anyway?

10:32 pm Broadcasting & Cable has a story up right now on Patric Verrone's comments. Plus, B&C's John Eggerton on his blog is writing about how media ownership is getting knocked "for a loop".

10:25pm WGN-AM's John Williams is now speaking (and former "Good Times" writer Eric Monte coming up.)

10:19 Now it's Clear Channel's turn.

10:07 Third speaker in a row for WFLD. What's going on here?

10:04pm Finally! a station other than WGN-TV/AM getting praised (It's WFLD-TV. )

9:58 pm The Rev. Jeanette Wilson gets it... More African-American shows (and not of the clown kind) are needed.

9:55 pm Enough with the praise of WGN! I smell a rat...

9:40 pm Just a thought: Where's Nine FM? They are Mr. local, aren't they? They could've been here flaunting their "localism". Another wasted opportunity by Harv and the boys.

9:35pm Don Jackson of Central City Productions is now speaking, and he's talking about his educational game show, Know Your Heritage getting bounced off ABC-owned WLS-TV and had to pay to get on another station, Fox-owned WPWR-TV (and WPWR just bounced his show out the door.)

9:27pm Don't know the speaker's name, but RIGHT ON BROTHER!!!! And all the FCC cares about is shielding children from bad language, not bullets.

9:21pm Jesse Jackson did make it after all. He was in Louisiana earlier today for a rally for the Jena 6 - the six black students who unjustly went to jail in small-town Jena, La. And Rev. Jackson points out that it was black radio - not the mainstream media (too obsessed with O.J.) that alerted the nation about this travesty.

Among the radio hosts that were down there included Tom Joyner and Michael Baisden.

9:06pm Patric Verrone of WGA west is now speaking, and as a writer myself, he's damn right about writers being forced to integrate products into their scripts (like when employees from the sitcom The Office have to work at Staples for a day) and he's asking the FCC to require the networks to disclose product placement in shows. I hate it when commercialism creeps into the creative process.

9:03 pm Radio and Records has a story up on their website on today's hearing here in Chicago. Commissioner Martin was late?

8:54 pm Nothing to do with the hearings - well, maybe it does - According to All Access, a station in Peoria (WXMP-FM) flipped from Adult Contemporary to a lame syndicated oldies format called "Hippie Radio" today. Three jocks and a few staffers are out of work as a result.

8:43 pm Great speech by Ciff Kelley. He is dead on. Here is the Sun-Times article (the home of "Can you handle more Mariotti?") he was referring to.

8:22pm The second panel is about to be seated. One of the panelists scheduled to participate is WVON host Clifford Kelley.

8:06 pm What is with all these WGN employees taking the mic? Isn't the comments forum supposed to be open to the public? You know, the part of the public who doesn't work for a media outlet?

7:55 pm WGN-AM's Orion Samuelson has spoke, and he's talked about agriculture and the media. Another WGN-AM personality, Kathy O'Malley is now speaking.

7:42pm Just a thought: By the way, where's Mayor Daley? Where's his representative? Is he somewhere playing the race card? (har, har.)

7:40pm The public is now commenting to the FCC, and boy, they are pissed. From police brutality to the Iraq War, they are giving them the FCC an earful. That is, if they can stay awake long enough to listen.

6:44pm Siliva Rivera of WRTE-FM talks about negatively about a mega company targeting the Hispanic community that owns the TV station, the radio station, and the record company. I wonder what company **cough** Univision **cough**, excuse me, what company she's talking about?

6:34pm The owner of one of Chicago's black newspapers - Dorothy Leavell of The Chicago Crusader - What a speech! She rocks!

6:18pm Marv Dyson is speaking. And the crowd gasped when he mentioned that is people with the "me too" attitude is to blame for radio's problems, not consolidation.

6:08pm WREX-TV/Rockford General Manager John Chadwick just spoke. Rockford has a symphony orchestra?

5:45pm: Among the panelists being introduced are (old school) hip-hop artist KRS-One, former WGCI boss Marv Dyson and WVON-AM president Melody Spann Cooper. The panelists will be speaking for five minutes at a time (and KRS-One just called out WGCI! Holy crap!)

5:37 pm: Commissioner Deborah Tate spoke about young people are changing the way media is consumed through the Internet and blogs.

5:32 pm: Jonathan Adelstein, another Democratic commissioner, is speaking. And he is talking about racial stereotypes in the media precipitated by big media corporations, among other things.

5:23 pm: One of the Democratic commissioners of the FCC, Michael Copps, is now speaking, and he's stressing the need for more diversity.

4:38 pm: The FCC hearings being held today will air on public-access channel CAN TV on October 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check your local listings to find the channel number for CAN TV in your area.