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NAB, Future Of Music Coalition To Face Off At Senate Hearing?

Sources close to the situation tell R&R that NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts and FMC Exec. Director Jenny Toomey are both slated to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee's upcoming hearing on radio consolidation, joining a list that also includes Clear Channel Chairman/CEO Lowry Mays, singer Don Henley and former WRDS-FM/Syracuse owner Robert Short. an NAB representative contacted by R&R confirmed Fritts' scheduled appearance, but despite her group's constant criticism of NAB Toomey may miss the hearing since she's reportedly out of the country; An FMC spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on whether someone else would fill in if Toomey is unable to attend. The hearing, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 30, is slated to be the first in a series focused on the media industry. This one will be simply dubbed, "Media Ownership: Radio." Commenting on the hearing, Sen. Russ Feingold - long a critic of the radio and concert industries - said, "This hearing is an important first step in my effort to pass legislation, which I will be introducing in the coming days, that reduces concentration and cracks down on anticompetitive practices, such as the new pay-to-play system."