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WCBS-FM is now Jack,
we hear from Joe

Jim,
It happened almost a year to the day (6/2/04) since I left WCBS-FM. Surprising? No. When the Sales Department continually complains to the GM that they are having a problem selling it because of low 25-54 ratings you expect a change is going to come. GM's and Upper Management do not come from Programming. They have no attachment to the audience or the format, just the bottom line. I guess the question is why change a station that makes millions of dollars when you can change one that has been treading water for 3 years? Namely WNEW-FM. It's hard to image N.Y.C. without an Oldies Station but, maybe it won't be for long. If some company has the foresight to talk to me and the CBS-FM jocks they would have a "plug-in" 3+ share (12+). What really bothered me was that there was no retro-montage of a Legendary Radio Station before it switched format. I think 33 years as "America's Most Listened To Oldies Station" deserved at least that.

Joe McCoy
Former WCBS-FM - PD
(I am retiring from Viacom/Infinity on July 12th but not Radio)

Market Results
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Santa Fe Market #237 FM
New market FM entrant ready to go! Santa Fe is a unique and rich market with a great opportunity for an aggressive, innovative operator!
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Nielsen says
LPM is better
After being caught unprepared by anti-LPM campaigns in New York and Los Angeles a few months ago, Nielsen Media Research is the PR offensive in Washington, DC and Philadelphia, even after agreeing to delay Local People Meter implementation for 28 days (6/2/05 TVBR #108). Using topline data from its ongoing preliminary LPM run in DC and Philly, Nielsen claims the new meters are more accurate, more representative and that the sample is larger than for the Metered Market meters that LPM is replacing. The company has sent out data showing an increase in total viewing across a broad range of demos and ethnic groups, as measured by LPM in the May sweeps. Fighting back against claims that LPMs undercount minorities, Nielsen says the LPM sample is bigger - - 609 households vs. 439 in DC for its existing set meters - - with the number of African-American households increasing from 113 to 146, Latino households from 23 to 51 and Asian American households from 15 to 35. "Because the LPM sample is much closer to the estimated universe of Africa-American, Latino and Asian households, it more accurately captures viewing within those communities," Nielsen said. In Philly, the ratings company says the number of households with LPM has increased to 809 from 508 with set meters, African-American households from 103 to 167, Latino from 20 to 45 and Asian from 12 to 22. wNielsen will distribute May sweeps data to its subscribers in both markets by mid-month, but preliminary number-crunching shows total viewing recorded by LPMs up for a broad range of age demos and ethnic groups. But, of course, there are winners and losers among individual broadcast and cable channels. Nielsen notes that some of the "smallest viewing sources" are seeing some of the biggest percentage gains in audience.
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Infinity says it's already
reduced inventory
Aren't taking kindly to a Wachovia Securities report that the Viacom radio arm has failed to cut inventory on its stations. Rather than promising to cut spot loads on a third of its stations, the company says it's already made the inventory cuts. Infinity CEO Joel Hollander said in December that the radio group had reduced spot loads at 56 stations but without any fanfare like the Less is More announcement by Clear Channel. In fact, he told RBR months earlier that Infinity was cutting spot loads, saying "We don't need to put out a press release for something we've been doing for the last year." 06/03/05 RBR #109

Buyers chime in on LPM letter
Broadcasters may be complaining about Local People Meters, but we're also hearing from major ad buyers who think the TV executives are off base. Jon Mandel, Chairman/MediaCom US and Chief Global Buying Officer MediaCom Worldwide -"The thing is, the LPM is so far superior to what they have now that it's better off. The problem is they (TV) haven't figured out how to adjust their business to it." - Pat McNew, PHD's EVP, LMN Director of Operations "PHD believes the people meter is a superior method for measuring television audiences and we support its use in local markets. We believe accreditation is important, and we expect that Nielsen will continue to work through any issues to meet MRC standards." Ray Warren, Managing Director, OMD, tells RBR/TVBR Nielsen is to blame for some of the problems and disagreements we're seeing with the LPM rollout, but we can't turn back now." 06/03/05 RBR #109

When will Infinity cut spot loads?
Announced plans to reduce spot loads on 60 of its more than 180 stations, but former Wachovia Securities analyst Jim Boyle says he hasn't seen any evidence of it yet in his monthly analysis of top 12 market data from Media Monitors. So when is the effort by many groups, led by Clear Channel's Less is More initiative, going to pay off? Boyle says it is already - - but not for all stations or all markets. To view the chart of who is doing what see 06/02/05 RBR #108

Nielsen blinked, LPM delayed
Faced with heavy criticism from broadcasters, Nielsen Media Research has agreed to put off today's scheduled launch of Local People Meters in Washington, DC and Philadelphia but only until June 30th. Nielsen says that extending the test period for another 28 days will give broadcasters time to understand LPMs. But the broadcasters say they already understand LPMs and that what's needed is for Nielsen to fix its problems. TVBR observation: TV is facing many problems at once and like radio can not be hit from all sides at once. Key factor TV execs are trying to do is to protect the flat upfront money as this is their last party come this fall. Numerous reasons why and TVBR will examine soon but in a nutshell - TV is just trying to - CYA. 06/02/05 RBR #108

Broadcasters welcome delay,
but want more
Tribune Broadcasting President Pat Mullen who had written to Nielsen President Susan Whiting on behalf of many major group owners (6/1/05 TVBR #107), is hopeful that the move to delay LPM in Washington, DC and Philadelphia creates an opportunity for further discussions with the ratings company. TVBR observation: From where we sit, it looks like Nielsen and its broadcaster clients aren't even on the same page in discussing LPMs. Nowhere in Nielsen's notice delaying the DC and Philly roll-outs does it even mention fault rates or Media Rating Council accreditation, but those are the issues we hear broadcasters complaining most about.
06/02/05 RBR #108

Analyst: Clear Channel
needs a Plan B
tried to wow Wall Street by announcing a major restructuring -spinning off CC Entertainment, selling 10% of CC Outdoor in an IPO, upping the company's regular dividend and paying a special three bucks per share dividend. But while the stock got a brief bump, it has since been hurt by Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst dumping its stake and is now back at its 52-week low. So, Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller says Clear Channel management needs a Plan B. RBR observation: Admittedly unlikely to happen, but an interesting proposition from one of Wall Street's more creative thinkers. One problem, though, is finding someone willing and able to pay 1.5 billion or more for CC Entertainment. Although competitors House of Blues and JAM Productions are reportedly interested bidders, it appears they only want the concert promotion business - - and as we noted previously, it would be very difficult to find buyers at decent prices for some of the other pieces of CC Entertainment. It would have to be all or nothing to make sense for the seller. Millers recommendation see 06/01/05 RBR #107

CBS and NBC want hold
on LPM rollout
Large number of station groups have now asked Nielsen Media Research to put LPMs on hold while the ratings company works on Media Ratings Council (MRC) accreditation in its existing LPM markets. For the first time, both CBS and NBC have joined in the growing chorus of broadcasters calling for a halt to the LPM roll out. As signatories to a letter written by Tribune Broadcasting President Pat Mullen, the list of objecting broadcasters includes long-time LPM opponent News Corp./Fox, along with other major groups. Ms Whiting also spoke with TVBR late last night and stated "LPM will roll forward in DC and Philly as scheduled." As for being perceived as not hearing or wanting to listen to broadcasters concerns Whiting said "Is further from the truth as we (Nielsen) don't want to be at odds with so many large clients and at the same time we are trying to balance reporting information and accomplish the best of all clients concerned." 06/01/05 RBR #107

Verklin on the TV upfront
I think it's much softer than anyone wants to talk about - - much softer. I've been saying it to you guys in the beginning, that I didn't see the upfront going higher than 3% CPM increases. I think I'm actually high - - I think we'll end up at one or two percent when all the smoke clears. Budgets, are probably down by 10% overall. 06/01/05 RBR #107

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