Radio News ®

Emmis assents to consent, agrees to decree
Following in the footsteps of Clear Channel, but not leaving anywhere near as large a footprint, Emmis Communications has agreed to a consent decree which will enrich the US Treasury by 300K dollars. It will also scrub clean the radio group's file. As part of the deal, Emmis admitted that is broadcast at least some actionably indecent material. Emmis' indecency troubles, so far as we know, are mainly attributable to Chicago morning man Mancow Muller. However, the as-yet-undisclosed indecency pipeline must be full-to-bursting. According the FCC, in terms of announced forfeiture orders, Emmis is liable only for three incidents: a 14K dollar fine issued 1/8/02, a 21K dollar fine issued 11/1/02 and a 7K dollar fine issued 2/8/04. That's a total of only 42K dollars.

RBR observation: There must've been something at least mildly juicy in the hopper. Emmis is not in Clear Channel's or Infinity's liability league but, in addition to paying its current bill without protest or complaint, it is essentially kicking in 258K dollars for its record scrubbing. | More... |

Infinity nailed as well
Everyone's been waiting for the other shoe to drop on Viacom/Infinity. The stakes in the indecency wars were raised when former Viacom/Infinity employees Opie & Anthony broadcast their infamous St. Patrick's Cathedral stunt. The stakes went into hyperspace during the Viacom/CBS/MTV Super Bowl half-time show. Clear Channel has paid fines because it aired Viacom/Westwood One personality Howard Stern. Now Infinity's been fined, but we're STILL waiting for the other shoe to drop. The fine is for airing a phone call on Urban WBLK-FM Buffalo NY without first informing the caller. It's a 4K dollar forfeiture order. Infinity tried to wriggle out of it, to no avail.

RBR observation: We're all wondering when the real fine will come - - the Howard Stern doozy. The FCC already hit up Clear Channel to the tune of 495K dollars for a Howard show aired on only six stations. How hard can it be to figure out how much Infinity owes for all of its Howard stations? And what about the Super Bowl incident? Is anything going to come of that? Can Viacom/Infinity's vow to fight have anything to do with the delay?

Broadcasters in hurricane mode
Radio and TV stations throughout Florida have been interrupting normal programming for emergency information as the state was hit by one hurricane, Bonnie, with another, Charley, close behind. Bonnie made landfall yesterday in the panhandle and lost strength, but headed northward along the eastern seaboard with heavy rains expected through the Mid-Atlantic States. Charley was expected to churn up the west coast of Florida today, with its most likely landfall in the St. Petersburg area. Stations in the Tampa-St. Pete area were running nearly continuous storm preparation programming yesterday afternoon as the Pinellas County Commissioners ordered the largest evacuation ever - - telling more than 380,000 people in the St. Petersburg and Clearwater area that they should leave their homes and head inland.

RBR observation: We'll have a close-up view of this one, with our Florida offices north and south of Tampa! Meanwhile, the remnants of Bonnie should be pelting our Virginia office with torrential rains. Mother Nature really has it in for us!

Bloomberg jumps into Wallace arrest
You have to wonder whether two New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) officers are having second thoughts about arresting CBS' newsman Mike Wallace Tuesday evening (8/12/04 RBR Daily Epaper #157). From the beginning witnesses had been telling local news outfits that the TLC cops overreacted in handcuffing the 86-year-old Wallace for disorderly conduct when he questioned why they were checking the papers of his limo driver. Now Mayor Mike Bloomberg has jumped into the case, vowing to investigate why the arrest took place. "Why a man in his 80s was so threatening that they had to arrest him when they normally don't arrest anybody certainly gives you cause to ask the question," Bloomberg said in his regular press briefing.

RBR observation: We were surprised to learn that TLC officers had arrest powers. If they really are sworn law officers, why do they drive around in beat-up old Chevys with only yellow flashers instead of real squad cars with emergency lights and sirens? Are they armed as well? God help us.

17 giants to be honored
The Library of American Broadcasting has set its second annual luncheon to honor "Giants of Broadcasting" for September 15th at New York's Grand Hyatt. This year 17 giants will be honored at the fund-raising gala for the library, with CBS' Charles Osgood as host. | More... |

Adbiz ©

NBC wraps up ad sales
as the Athens games begin
By the time you read this, NBC expects to be sold out of ad inventory of its coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games from Athens - - having sold the last 2% of its ad time over the past two days. That will mean a gross of just over one billion dollars - - an all-time record for the games. Of course, the lion's share of that cash goes to pay for the rights - - 793 million - - plus the costs of actually producing the two weeks of broadcasts. In the end, the Peacock may not make much more than 50 million bucks - - but in the world of high-priced sports today, any profit is a good thing, right? General Motors will be the biggest advertiser for this Olympics, but there are plenty of other big advertisers dropping big buck with NBC. Look for ads from Visa USA, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Eastman Kodak, McDonald's and John Hancock Insurance, just to name a few. By using all of its broadcast and cable outlets, NBC is able to broadcast about 70 hours a day of competition. Coverage will air on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, USA and Telemundo, not to mention NBC's high-definition channel.

SanDisk debuts first TV spots
A new advertiser is making its national TV debut in a big way - - buying spots to begin airing on the opening day of the 2004 Olympic Games. SanDisk is launching the new global ad campaign to increase awareness of its flash memory cards for use in digital cameras, mobile phones with cameras, PDAs and other devices. "Store Your World in Ours" is the theme of the ad campaign designed by Euro RSCG. Although SanDisk has been in business for 16 years, this is its first global ad campaign. The campaign will feature print ads and spot television in the US, print ads in Western Europe and print, outdoor and online advertising in Asia. The SanDisk campaign was developed by copywriter Lori Bredel and art director Ernie Lageson, under the direction of Doug Penman, creative director in the San Francisco office of Euro RSCG.

Online advertising continuing surge
Internet stat compiler eMarketer says that the online advertising market is going to reap a cool 9.1B dollars in total sales this year, setting a new record. However, as is typical of new business categories, it will not be a record for long, as more and more companies take advantage of the unique capabilities offered by the new medium. Expanding availability of broadband, the desirability of the computer-literate population segment, and the rapid pace of ad quality enhancement are all converging to produce big gains in ad revenue. Next year (200), eMarketing expects the take to top 11B dollars.

Pioneer hitches its HD wagon to sports
The NFL will be a primary component of Pioneer Electronic's campaign to sell high definition PureVision plasma-screen television sets this fall. Print and online will support the four-spot TV campaign keyed on the phrase, "Where does reality end and PureVision begin?" The Sunday and Monday NFL football lineup will be a prime buy for the ads, along with other sporting events.

Steve Grubbs: Challenges and opportunities
Some readers had trouble accessing this 3 part series. Here they are again.
| Part I | Part II | Part III |

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

Transactions

WJES-FM Columbia SC (Saluda SC) from Breckenridge Cmmunications LLC to Double O Radio Corporation.

KBVV-FM Enid OK from Enid Educational Broadcasting Foundation to Educational Media Foundation.

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