Radio News ®

Anderson and Brooks ready to grow again
As they sell off the majority of Amigo Broadcasting to Border Media (9/2/04 RBR Daily Epaper #172), Jim Anderson and Chuck Brooks are ready to start over again and build from the base that they're calling Tejas Broadcasting. And by the way, they'll have nine stations to start with, not seven. The first additional station not mentioned in yesterday's story is KGRW-FM, which is licensed to Friona, TX. It's a Class C2 whose signal covers the unrated markets of Clovis and Portales, NM. Anderson tells us it is programmed out of the Amarillo cluster, with sales operations in Clovis and Portales. Tejas is also taking over Amigo's LMA with option to buy of KZIP-AM Amarillo, so it will be operating nine stations in all. Anderson tells RBR that he and Brooks will be looking to grow the new company in places similar to Corpus Christi (Arbitron market #135) and Amarillo (#193). "We like markets of that size, so we'll probably try to expand in some more of them," he said. Although Amigo, and now Tejas, has been primarily a Spanish radio specialist, Anderson notes that two of the Corpus Christi stations have English formats. Although the deal with Border Media is cashing out the State of Wisconsin Investment Board as Amigo's equity backer, Anderson says he and Brooks won't be looking for a new equity partner for their new company. Tejas will be starting out debt free, plus he and Brooks will be getting some cash in the deal, so they intend to grow the new company on their own.

Radio revenues fell 3% in July
The latest monthly figures are in from the RAB - - and they aren't pretty. Radio revenues were down 3% in July, with local up 1%, but national spot plunging 15%. It had been well known that the month wouldn't be a strong one, but now the figures are in and the word on the street is that things have improved since them. But, through the first seven months of 2004, total radio revenues were up only a modest 2%, with local up 4% and national off 2%.

Another broadcaster fires back at Forbes
Another angry broadcaster has checked in, telling us he's canceling his subscription to Forbes magazine after reading its latest cover story. Rick Cavagnaro, Vice President of Sales at Columbia Gorge Broadcasters in The Dalles/Hood River, OR, tell us he's not concerned about the article's critical view of radio, but rather the "ambush approach" of the article, which portrayed terrestrial broadcasters as bullies using their political clout to unfairly hold back competition from satellite radio. Here's what he had to say.

Publisher observation: It doesn't take the winds of Naples for me to agree with Cavagnaro in saying "Broadcasters who aren't serving their local communities are only inviting satellite to challenge their markets..." The ones that broke it better fix it fast because here comes da satellite with the likes of the cult following of Opie & Anthony. Certain people will pay just as certain people plug in their Ipods instead of listening to local. Keep scrolling down this issue to Ad Biz. - Next! | More... |

Republicans try to squelch 527s
The campaign of George W. Bush has gone to court to try to put so-called 527 organizations out of business, at least in terms of advertising during the remainder of the 2004 election cycle. The groups are considered by many to be exploiting a loophole in the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act restricting the flow of soft money into the election process. Long story short, they are allowed to advertise using soft funds, but are not allowed to coordinate in any way with the campaign organization of an actual candidate. The Federal Election Commission declined to take action against 527s earlier in the spring, saying that the situation was too complex to be considered adequately before the campaigns went into full swing. Although they have primarily been used by Democrat-leaning groups, notably MoveOn.org, Republican-leaning groups were already in the act of setting up shop in anticipation of the FEC's failure to act. Perhaps the biggest 527 success story of the campaign has been the modestly-funded campaign of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which rode a small three-state buy into news-cycle dominance.

Kerry buy comes into sharper focus
The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has upped its spending plans by 5M dollars, saying it will invest 50M into advertising in the run-up to Election Day. It still plans to focus that on certain battleground states, but according to the Associated Press, certain states will be getting placements in the early post-convention innings. The blitz will hit first in Ohio, and move into places like Florida, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Mexico. Campaigns in 13 other states will begin at a later date.

Batten down the hatches!
As Hurricane Frances heads toward a Labor Day Weekend landing, broadcasters throughout most of Florida are preparing for emergency coverage as hundreds of thousands of people are urged to evacuate low-lying coastal areas and barrier islands from the Palm Beach area north. And with such a large storm, severe damage is likely far inland. This photo is a reminder of what happened just a few weeks ago - - when Hurricane Charley decapitated two towers of Genesis Communications' WHOO-AM Orlando.

Adbiz ©

XM, Sirius place banners
on Howard Stern's website
While Howard Stern has a counter on his website (www.howardstern.com) that goes from 16 months down to the seconds left in his current contract with Infinity, XM and Sirius Satellite Radio have decided to take advantage of his recent rants against the FCC's indecency crackdown on traditional radio. Both have banner ad campaigns on the website. The Sirius ad hypes that it is uncensored and invites listeners receive a free trial offer. Stern has been touting the benefits of the satellite radio, threatening to move over as soon as his contract with Infinity expires.

ERA and NARC pact against deceptive ads
The Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) and the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) have joined forces to offer consumers a program to help put an end to the dissemination of unsubstantiated and false advertising claims. The new program, "Protecting America's Consumers -- the ERA Self-Regulatory Program," is supported by the Federal Trade Commission and offers consumers a process for filing a complaint about misleading or false information in infomercials or other direct response ads. "We established this program to offer protection to consumers and help the industry remove fraudulent advertisers from the airwaves," said Barbara Tulipane, ERA CEO. "We asked the National Advertising Review Council, an investigative arm aligned with the Better Business Bureau, to run the program because we needed it to be independent of the industry, as well as effective. We're pleased to offer America's consumers a way to help us keep to our high standards and remove false advertisers from this business." Consumers with a complaint about a false or unsubstantiated ad can simply log onto www.savvyshopper.org, fill out the form and ask for a review of the questionable ad.

GLAAD unveils "I Do" TV spot
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has unveiled the winner of its "I Do" contest, a national advertising competition designed to promote equal marriage rights and protections for gay and lesbian families. GLAAD also announced a partnership with Rock the Vote to take the ad and its message of marriage equality to young voters in key states. "I Believe in Love" was created by Kyle Grote of West Jefferson, OH, with the help of his siblings Katie Stephenson and Tom Grote and producing partner Frank Koch. GLAAD will place the 30-second ad in select markets this fall. Nearly 100 "I Do" contest entries were submitted by filmmakers from more than 20 states. The winner was selected by a panel of celebrity judges, among them comedian Margaret Cho, writer/director Kevin Williamson ("Scream") and producer Craig Zadan ("Chicago").

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

Programming

Mancow re-ups with Emmis
for two more years
Eric "Mancow" Muller has signed a two-year contract renewal to continue as morning personality on Emmis' WKQX-FM Chicago. The Chicago Sun-Times estimates Muller is expected to make more than 2 million a year. While that's less than the reported 3 million a year he previously earned, it still makes him the highest-paid radio host in the market. Muller said he was relieved to have secured his future for the next two years and moved past his indecency battles with the FCC, which heated up in the wake of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl. "This wasn't a nail-biter," Muller told the paper. "This was a knuckle-biter. I was down to my knuckles. My life has been on hold since Janet Jackson. I feel like the 'pause' button has been lifted and I can finally move on. "I'm expecting big things in syndication and some other things that I'm working on. I think now is finally the time for me and this show."

Transactions

KSQR-AM Sacramento CA from Moon Broadcasting Sacramento LLC to Diamond Broadcasting.

WACR-FM Tupelo MS (Columbus MS lic, Okolona MS CP) from T&W Communications Corporation Clear Channel Communications.

| More Details |

Stock Talk

Radio Stocks