Radio News ®

Broadcasters responded
to changing Charley
Broadcasters jumped into action and fulfilled their most important role - - informing the public - - as Hurricane Charley devastated Florida on Friday. But the storm showed just how unpredictable weather emergencies can be as it made an unexpected turn - - heading inland well before it got to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, where broadcasters had assisted local officials in carrying out a massive evacuation effort, and suddenly turned TV and radio stations in the Orlando market from interested observers into active participants. The Olympics took a back seat to storm coverage for NBC affiliates and just about every station - - AM, FM, TV and local cable - - pulled out all of the stops to deliver emergency information to viewers and listeners.

RBR observation: This was broadcasting at its best. From our vantage point in the Tampa area, broadcasters earned high marks for delivering information that was important, useful and, in some cases, life-saving. Watching TV stations from Tampa-St. Pete, Sarasota and even Ft. Myers (via the Internet), we were particularly impressed by the professionalism of the meteorologists. Apparently, you really have to study hurricanes if you want to be a TV meteorologist in this area. News staffers worked long hours and kept information coming about evacuation orders, shelter locations and other emergency notices, along with the obligatory shots of reporters in front of swaying palm trees on the beach. Radio coverage was less impressive, for the most part, given the limited scale of radio news operations in recent years, but at least they were providing useful information - - even if, in some cases, that meant carrying audio from a better-staffed TV partner. For NBC affiliates, general managers had to decide on Olympic coverage and they made the right decisions. Read the total report. | More... |

Emmis antagonist applauds FCC settlement
David Smith, whose 70 formal complaints to the FCC concerning the Mancow Muller radio show were a catalyst in the consent decree between the Commission and Emmis Communications, called the 300K cost of the settlement "...a tiny penalty..." However, he applauded the action, saying the goal wasn't to produce fines, it was to produce clean airwaves. Smith, who is now Senior Policy Analyst for the Illinois Family Institute, said, "Emmis' payment of 300K is an admission of guilt, and it is a tiny penalty for the violations of broadcast indecency aired by Mancow's Morning Madhouse. That being said, however, our goal was to seek improvement in broadcast decency, and not vengeance. In my mind we've achieved our goal. Emmis, like other broadcast corporations, has adopted zero tolerance policies, and is now willing to operate within the law." In victory, Smith even had some kind words for Mancow himself. "I have to give credit where credit is due; Mancow's program has improved noticeably." None of this means that Smith will be letting up. He served notice that the tapes are still running. "Our goal to clean up the airwaves is well underway. I will continue to monitor certain radio and televisions programs, including Mancow's, and will not hesitate to file complaints for broadcast indecency if warranted."

Chuck Leonard claimed by lung cancer
Legendary WABC-AM New York DJ Chuck Leonard died Thursday (8/12) of lung cancer at age 67. From 1965 to '79 Leonard was one of the "All Americans" who helped make WABC Musicradio 77 the top rated station in the country - - before FM eroded the audience of Top 40 AM stations. Leonard became the first black announcer at WABC when he was hired away from WWRL-AM. Following his 14 years at WABC, Leonard worked at a number of other stations in New York and most recently hosted programming on Sirius Satellite Radio. Funeral services will be next week (Thursday 8/26) at St. Paul the Apostle Church in NYC. Former WABC Program Director Glenn Morgan has posted comments on Leonard's passing on the Musicradio 77 WABC website. For his thoughts and archive audio of Chuck Leonard, follow this link. Photo provided by:WBBH-TV

I'm Elmer Fudd,
and I appwoved this message
Well, that might be something you'd hear over a broadcast outlet if the esteemed Mr. Fudd were ever to run for office. However, if Fudd restricts his promotional activities to the Internet, you wouldn't necessarily know that he knows anything about the ad. Two US senators, one from each party, are looking to change that. According to an article in the Alliance for Better Campaigns' Political Standard, Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are teaming up on legislation which would impose the same "stand by your ad" requirement on candidates that now exists on broadcast advertisements. Contemporary political campaign theory holds that candidates are far less likely to rely on attack ads in which their own face and/or voice is used for fear of a backlash.

However, as any recent candidate for vice-president can tell you, the theory holds that it's not nearly as bad for surrogates to go negative - - and it's been a job for campaigning veeps at least as far back as Richard Nixon's Spiro Agnew back in 1968. Internet advertising, which is more often than not seen by a candidate's faithful supporters, are said to be used as a tool to keep them energized, rather than as a wedge to move undecided voters. However, they are also often very hard-edged, since the candidate himself does not need to indicate any involvement whatsoever. The article quotes Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop, who said, "the 'stand by your ad' provision has made people more responsible. The more sunshine we can put into the process, the better off we'll all be."

Liberman under fire for Green Card show
Latino activist groups are demanding that Liberman Broadcasting cancel "Gana la Verde" (Win the Green), which is produced by Liberman's KRCA-TV Los Angeles and also airs on its TV stations in San Diego, Houston and Dallas. The reality show is a bit like NBC's "Fear Factor," with contestants engaging in on-camera stunts such as eating live tequila worms or lying in a coffin with rats. The Latino groups don't object to the stunts, but rather to the prize - - a year's worth of free legal assistance from experienced immigration lawyers. The activists charge that the broadcaster is exploiting illegal immigrants and makes them potential targets for immigration agents. But Liberman Broadcasting COO Lenard Liberman isn't yielding to the complaints. He told the Los Angeles Times that he wanted to create a Spanish reality show that offered viewers something they couldn't afford on their own as a prize. Thus, the heavy-duty help in obtaining legal status. Even so, contestants have to sign an extensive release which specifies that there is no guarantee that the lawyers will be able to get them a green card. Liberman said he's willing to listen to the objectors, but said there had been no complaints from viewers or anyone who has participated in the show.

Hearst-Argyle ready to go private?
Anyone who follows broadcasting stocks knows that Hearst Corporation has been a voracious buyer of Hearst-Argyle stock on the open market. Since April that buying has amounted to over a million shares, which has BusinessWeek speculating that Hearst could be poised to take the TV group (and two radio stations) private. The magazine says some hedge funds have already been buying up Hearst-Argyle shares in anticipation of a tender offer from Hearst to buy out other shareholders. Such speculation got a boost a few weeks ago when Cox Enterprises announced a bid to buy out other shareholders of its cable company, Cox Communications, at a 16% premium to what had then been the market price. Hearst-Argyle was created in 1997 when Hearst merged its privately-held TV group with publicly traded Argyle Television. Hearst has continued to be the company's largest shareholder throughout those seven years.

RBR observation: They have the right idea and if they go private Hearst just may be the leader some public companies, especially in radio, need to get the heck out of that Wall Street rat race. We've heard the saying - 'If Wall Street doesn't Love us then we will buy back our stock' - can't continue saying it forever.

Conference Calls, Q2 2004

Revenues up, income down for Susquehanna
Susquehanna Media reports that its Q2 revenues rose 12% to 111.3 million dollars, but that operating income decreased 10% to 24.3 million. The reason for the drop was that the quarter included a 1.7 million dollar operating loss for a cable TV system that the company acquired in March in Carmel, NY. Radio revenues for Q2 were up 3% to 64.2 million and operating income rose 5% to 19.3 million. The company credited the improvement to its San Francisco and Kansas City clusters, plus the acquisition of WSOX-FM York, PA last August. On a same station basis (excluding WSOX), revenues were up 1% and operating income 5%.

TV hot, radio soft for Liberman
Liberman Broadcasting, whose IPO is still pending, reported that Q2 was an up quarter. The company already has public bonds under the name LBI Media. Net revenues were up 10% to 24.8 million dollars. However, expenses were up 12%, so adjusted EBITDA was up only 7% to 13.4 million. Net income increased 16% to 7.2 million. Radio net revenues dropped 7% to 11.8 million dollars. Liberman said the decline was primarily due to a decline in national business. The company apparently succeeded in cutting costs, since radio operating income fell only 3% to 6.2 million. Television net revenues jumped 31% to 13 million dollars. The company said that was due to growth at its stations, plus the acquisition of KMPX-TV Dallas-Ft. Worth in January. TV operating income rose 25% to 6.0 million. Liberman owns four TV stations and 16 radio stations in California and Texas, all programmed for Hispanic audiences.

Adbiz ©

False ads cost 2.2 million
A jury in Wilmington, DE has awarded Callaway Golf Company 2.2 million dollars after finding that competing golf ball maker Dunlop Slazenger Group Americas ran false ads in 2001 and '02 claiming that Dunlop's Maxfli A10 golf ball was the "Longest Ball on Tour." The jury also rejected a counter-claim by Dunlop that Callaway had used Dunlop trade secrets. Dunlop could still appeal the verdict, but for now Callaway is claiming vindication. "We are very pleased that this hard-fought, three-year battle has resulted in a jury verdict finding that Callaway Golf did not use any of Dunlop's trade secrets in the creation of our golf balls," said William Baker, Chairman and CEO of Callaway Golf. "We also are grateful that the jury found that Dunlop falsely advertised the performance of the Maxfli A10 golf balls. This verdict demonstrates that false statements in advertising simply will not be tolerated. Callaway manufactures golf balls that sell under the Callaway Golf HX Tour Balls, HX Blue and HX Red Balls, Big Bertha Blue and Big Bertha Red Balls, Warbird Balls and Top-Flite names.

NYC ads to target Republicans
The City Council in New York may be overwhelmingly composed of Democrats, but members aren't missing a chance to take advantage of the Republican National Convention coming to town. The New York times reports that the City Council is set to run newspaper ads just before the convention appealing to the Republicans (who control Congress, after all) to provide more federal money for local antiterrorism and education programs. The 13,000 dollar tab for the ad campaign will be paid by a union group - - the New York City Central Labor Council. The Times says the ads will tread carefully, not criticizing President Bush, the GOP convention or New York's Republican mayor, Mike Bloomberg, but calling attention to claims by city officials, including Bloomberg, that NYC has been shortchanged when it comes to federal financing formulas for antiterrorism programs.

Sprint just a Riney-stone cowboy
Sprint Local Consumer Solutions has taken the final step to consolidating all of its advertising with one company, and the lucky winner is Publicis & Hal Riney of San Francisco. It will handle creative and account planning for all mass media efforts. Sprint is active as a local exchange carrier in parts of 18 states, including Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Ppennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

Programming

Cody goes cross-platform
Jones Media Networks is putting together two of its units in a cross-platform promotional effort. The plan is to strengthen ties between Bill Cody's weekly syndicated radio show, which is distributed by Jones Radio Networks, with Jones Media's country cable channel, Great American Country (GAC). Cody's show has been renamed from "Classic Country Weekend" to "GAC's Classic Country Weekend with Bill Cody. "Working more closely with GAC on the radio show is a real win for our Classic Country Weekend affiliates. It opens the door to a ton of cross-promotion opportunities on both a national and a local level, plus allows us to utilize the content resources of GAC television to enhance the show's programming," said Ken Moultrie, Director of Programming, Jones Radio Networks-Seattle. Cody, the morning man for WSM-AM Nashville and hosts "GAC Classic" for the cable net.

Talkers flipping in Pittsburgh
Infinity's KDKA-AM Pittsburgh has announced that it is dropping "The Rush Limbaugh Show" and replacing it with "The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly" effective November 15th. To no one's surprise, Limbaugh will be relocating to Clear Channel's News/Talk WPGB-FM. O'Reilly, of course, is syndicated by Westwood One, which is managed by Infinity and Limbaugh by Premiere Radio Networks, which is owned by Clear Channel.

RBR observation: Although both companies deny it, it's well known in the industry that Infinity frowns on its stations running Rush just as Clear Channel dislikes having its stations carry O'Reilly.

Monday Morning Shakers & Makers

Deals: 7/5/04-7/9/04
You have to go back six weeks to find a higher trading volume than this week's TV-fueled total, which approached but did not reach the 80M dollar mark. If not for the value of the TV stations, which was there despite their small-market status, this would've been another totally humdrum week. All but one of the filings was for a lone station (although one included an LMA), and the only multiple-station sale was an threesome in an unrated market for only 100K cash.

7/5/04-7/9/04 Total Total Deals 9 AMs 4 FMs 4 TVs 3 Value 78,653,750 | Complete Charts |	Radio Deal of the Week Douglas doubles down in Sin City | More... |
	TV Deal of the Week Driving 55 in the Houston fringe | More... |

Transactions

WDOH-FM Lima OH (Delphos OH) from Vogel Roach Corp. to Maverck Media of Lima License LLC.

KDLS AM & FM Des Moines IA (Perry IA). 100% of Perry Broadcasting Company.

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