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Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 24, Issue 182, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Tuesday Morning September 18th, 2007

Radio News ®

Q3 looks like more of the same
After RAB's report of July radio revenues declining 1% (9/17/07 RBR #181), Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby is sticking with his estimate that Q3 will be flat. But he says he could be wrong - that it might not even be that good. "We are keeping our August revenue growth estimate at flat. Our September remains at positive 1%. Our checks indicate continued market softness, and we are beginning to hear of a soft start to the fourth quarter," Jacoby told clients in a research note. The analyst says he remains neutral on the radio sector. There is, however, one stock that he recommends, only because it appears to be oversold. That is Radio One. "Simply put, the leverage concerns don't justify the sell-off, in our view," Jacoby said. He notes that the company can sell more assets if it needs to and that any improvement in its Los Angeles ratings would boost his estimates for the group. "In addition, we do not believe the current price reflects any value for TV One," he added.

Battle over South Carolina FM slot
When Citadel acquired ABC's Radio Division, it had to meet the FCC's new market definitions under the ownership rules, so it placed some of its stations in the Last Bastion Station Trust, administered by broker Elliott Evers. Most of those stations are being sold off, but Citadel stands to get back WMGL-FM in the Charleston, SC market, once WNKT-FM completes a city of license change that will move it from the Charleston, SC market to the Columbia, SC market. So far, so good. But then someone noticed that this move-out left a big spectrum hole in Charleston. So Citadel then proposed that its rim-shot WMGL move from 101.7 down the dial to 107.3, plugging the hole with an upgrade that would give it another full market Charleston signal.

Meanwhile, WMCD-FM, Claxton, GA, belonging to Georgia Eagle Broadcasting, also filed to move into Charleston and fill the hole vacated by Citadel. WMCD filed its application the very day that Citadel's WNKT Charleston-to-Columbia application was granted. Georgia Eagle contends that because Citadel didn't file the WNKT and WMGL applications simultaneously, the WMCD application has to be considered by the FCC staff as mutually exclusive with the WMGL application - and that under the FCC rules the WMCD move-in wins on public interest merit. Citadel's attorneys, as you have probably guessed, don't agree, and insist that Georgia Eagle has no right to apply for the slot, since the WNKT move-out was contingent on the WMGL upgrade being granted, and visa versa, regardless of the filing dates. So now the ball is back in the hands of the FCC, with Georgia Eagle appealing and Citadel/Last Bastion defending the linked grants.
| Read on for more legal sparring |


Tribune/MLB may
experience culture clash

Major League Baseball is a relatively closed society, and 23 of the 30 owners must give thumbs up to anyone wishing to join. Tribune Company, on the other hand is, for now, a publicly-traded company with a duty to maximize value for its shareholders. These conflicting platforms may butt heads as Tribune shops the Chicago Cubs franchise and an associated cable network. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Tribune has said it will market the Cubs and a 25% stake in a Comcast regional network together, but now is said to be mulling the possibility of selling them separately, if that turns out to be a way to bring in more bucks. A problem may arise if NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban proves speculators who think he may be a serious bidder correct. He has been known to butt heads with NBA management, and LAT speculates there may be more than a little sentiment among MLB owners to steer the team to somebody else, regardless of how much money Cuban puts on the table. Uncertainty on numerous fronts puts in doubt the ability to put a deal for the team together by year's end.

RBR observation: First of all, forget the cable system. Well, we'd want that, but what we'd really want if we bought the Cubs would be WGN-AM. Anyway, this situation kinda makes you appreciate the FCC's fact-based system for approving transactions. It doesn't look at a prospective owner and determine if he works and plays well with others. In fact, in a way a competitive cuss is desirable: Competition, along with localism and diversity, is one of the nominal attributes the FCC looks to protect. If the stations counts work and the buyer has standing to be a licensee, it pretty much clears any hurdles the FCC has built into the approval process.

Bench orders benched HS broadcaster
back in the game, for now

A radio station which had been barred from broadcasting local high school football by a local school district has been granted access to games by court injunction. The school board was upset about a series of negative news reports broadcast by the station. The radio station is Prosperitas Broadcasting Systems' WCBC-AM, a Cumberland MD news-talker. The issue with the Allegany County School Board began in 7/06 over a funding glitch, and heated up further in 10/06 when one of the station's reporters was able to simply walk into five schools unchallenged, leading to a story about lax security. The Virginia Tech shootings dredged that issue back to the forefront, and the upshot was the station being barred from the press box of a key high school football stadium. It was also excluded from the board's press release list. In the court hearing, according to reports, Judge Andre M. Davis told the school board that its request for prior knowledge of such reports was shakey. "I'm having a hard time believing that's really the way it's supposed to work," said the judge. "I'm not sure that we can slice the First Amendment that nicely." The case remains pending, but WCBC will be able to broadcast games and will be reinstated on the PR list for now.

RBR observation: Say what you want about this station, but it clearly earns an A+ in Localism on its next report card.


Albrecht lands
at Forstmann Little

Chris Albrecht, who resigned in May as Chairman and CEO of HBO (5/10/07 TVBR #92), has joined with Ted Forstmann to raise a new 250 million bucks fund and head the global media business of IMG, the famous sports, entertainment and media company. Albrecht will also become a Special Limited Partner of Forstmann Little & Company. "Chris Albrecht is a visionary - not only one of television's greatest creative minds, but also one of its most successful business executives - and we are thrilled to have him join IMG," said Forstmann. Although better known for its athlete representation, event management and IMG Academies, IMG already has a presence in media. Its media and entertainment operations include content production subsidiaries Darlow Smithson Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions and Tigress. Globally, IMG produces and distributes more than 11,000 hours of sports, documentary, drama, comedy, entertainment, popular factual and children's content annually. Although it is not part of IMG, Forstmann Little's other major media venture is its stake in Citadel Broadcasting, which has radio stations in more than 50 markets and also owns ABC Radio Networks.

AFA decries good-taste melt-down
A pair of racy ads from the same people who brought you much-maligned ads featuring heiress Paris Hilton have done it again, kicking off a protest campaign from Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association. Hardees and Carl's Jr. are owned by CKE Restaurants. AFA says one ad features a "sexualized female teacher in a high school classroom" discussing "flat buns," and in the other, a "scantily clad woman gyrates to a countdown of things she wants a man to do to her" while eating a "patty melt sandwich." AFA has an email ready to go for would-be protestors, who are asked to send the message to television stations in their area (and ignore radio and newspaper selection options). Wildmon writes, "Hardee's and Carl's Jr. have a solid history of completely ignoring consumer complaints." But he supplied corporate contact information and suggested contacting local restaurants as well.

RBR observation: We checked out one of the ads, and we note the wisdom of AFA's decision to go straight to the corporation and keep the FCC out of the loop. We didn't find the ad very appealing, and we're quite convinced we're not in the demographic Carl's Jr. was selling to. But hey, the sandwich really is served on a flat bun. Since the Founding Fathers failed to outlaw dancing and double entendres, there really are no grounds for demanding the commercial be taken off the air. The ideal method of protesting commercial messages you do not like is to refuse to buy the product. We don't buy Carl's Jr. products ourselves in part because there are no franchises in our area. There are only a handful of Hardee's restaurants in these parts, and we avoid them too. Because our doctor wants us to stay away from fast food.


Ad Business Report TM

NBC "takes over" CC Radio
stations to promote Fall sked

The NBC Agency and Clear Channel Radio announced national radio campaigns for NBC's fall programming line up. Beginning 9/17, on-air and online promotions begin on select stations in the top 10 markets to drive viewers to the new romantic mystery/drama series "Journeyman," which premieres 9/24. And next Monday, NBC and CC Radio will orchestrate the first ever "takeover" sponsorship in the radio medium with NBC as the exclusive, full-day advertiser on five of CC Radio's biggest reach stations. Elements of the "Journeyman" campaign include 15-second, pre-produced NBC spots that will seamlessly surround clever music programming that mixes contemporary hits and favorites from years ago to build upon the show's travel-through-time theme. In addition, on-air spots will drive listeners to station microsites. To kick off the week when NBC's debuts it series premieres, the network will sponsor radio programming for the entire day on September 24 on WHTZ-FM NYC, KIIS-FM LA, KYLD-FM San Francisco, WKSC-FM Chicago and WIOQ-FM Philadelphia. Instead of typical commercials, listeners will hear entertaining vignettes hosted by the new show talent. Unique content will be featured every hour.

RBR observation: They must have taken a page out of the Russo [Rich Russo, JL Media's SVP/Director of Broadcast Services] playbook, who had already done this twice--once in Dallas with "Jerry-FM" for Seinfeld, and once in Chicago with Jim-FM for "According to Jim." The Chicago campaign won an industry award in June.

Buyers comment on CC Radio stopset change in Houston
Kim Vasey, Senior Partner/Director of Radio, mediaedge:cia, and Matthew Warnecke, Partner, Network and Local Radio, MediaCom, commented on yesterday's story about CC Radio Houston FMs moving from three to two stopsets per hour (9/17/07 RBR #181):

Said Vasey: "I'm not so sure that's a wise thing to do-that seems like a pretty long pod and I'd be concerned that the listeners will start to tune out with such long breaks. CC was the one that started the push to shorter stop sets with their Less is More initiative so it's interesting they changing their position. But, who knows, we may find, through PPM measurement that consumers will stay tuned even through a 4 minute break. I'm sure CC will be monitoring it closely and one of the benefits of PPM is that one can see results on a more timely basis than through the old diary method...It's a new world!!"

Said Warnecke: "Who can say what the specific results of this stopset change (if it's real) will be? What's more gratifying (if true) is that this demonstrates the robust nature of the PPM electronic data, the recency of the data, and therefore the ability of advertisers, stations, and agencies to react quickly to changes. In the end, that should mean a more effective delivery of a well timed, consumer-focused message."


NAB Daytime Planner

The following will be attending the NAB.
Call or email to make your
appointment in advance.

BANKERS
Peter H. Ottmar; Dover Capital Partners, LLC; Westin Charlotte; 401/723-1063 x103; cell 401/639-4958; [email protected]

Jacob J. Barker; Barker Capital; Hilton Charlotte City Center; (212) 332-4312; [email protected]

Brian Eick/Dave Meier; The Gladstone Companies; Omni Charlotte Hotel; Brian cell 847-612-3002, Dave cell 847-650-1735; [email protected], [email protected]

BROKERS
Todd Fowler/David Reeder; American Media Services; Westin Charlotte; 843-972-2200; [email protected]; [email protected]

Cliff Gardiner; Clifton Gardiner & Co.; Hilton Charlotte City Center; 303-758-6900; [email protected]

Andy McClure/Erick Steinberg, The Exline Company, Westin Charlotte, office 415-479-3484, Andy cell 415-497-3855, Erick cell (415) 209-4890, [email protected]. [email protected]

Frank Boyle; Frank Boyle & Co.; Residence Inn Charlotte Uptown; 203-969-2020; cell 203-249-7818;
[email protected]

Gordon Rice; Gordon Rice Associates; 843-884-3590; Westin Charlotte; [email protected]

John L. Pierce/ Jamie Rasnick; John Pierce & Company LLC; office 859-647-0101, John cell 859-512-3015; Jamie cell 513-252-1186, Westin Charlotte; [email protected]; [email protected]

Dick Kozacko/George Kimble;
Kozacko Media Services; office 607-733-7138; cell 607-738-1219; Westin Charlotte; [email protected]; [email protected]

Media Services Group; Westin Charlotte; www.mediaservicesgroup.com

Elliot Evers/Greg Widroe/Brian Pryor/Patricia Carberry-Harris;
Media Venture Partners;
415-391-4877; Hilton Charlotte City Center;
[email protected]

Larry Patrick/Susan Patrick/Greg Guy/Todd Wirth; Patrick Communications; 410-740-0250; Westin Charlotte; [email protected]

Glenn Serafin; Serafin Bros., Inc.;
office 813-885-6060; cell 813-494-6875; Westin Charlotte; [email protected]

Bill Schutz; Schutz & Company; Westin Charlotte; office 757-258-8740, cell 757-880-9251; [email protected]

Zoph Potts; Snowden Associates; Omni Hotel; office 252-940-1680, cell 252-717-3772; [email protected]

CONSULTING ENGINEERS
Richard Mertz, Dan Ryson; Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.; Main Office 703-392-9090; [email protected]

TRAFFIC SYSTEMS
Shane Harris/Susie Hedrick; Marketron Broadcast Solutions; Booth #530; www.marketron.com; 208-788-6800; [email protected]; [email protected]


2008 Radio Upfront
2008 Network Radio Upfront examined
2008 Network Radio Upfront negotiating season takes shape as RBR/SmartMedia is providing an in-depth synopsis and discussion on the marketplace. What types and categories of advertisers are coming to, and leaving, network radio? Many are relying on specific days and dates rather than full rotations. Areas that are expected to be up and down:

Up -
Home Improvement
Retail and tune in categories is up
Entertainment moving some dollars from national to local

Down -
OTC and packaged goods
Automotive
Pharmaceuticals almost out due to:30 not long enough for messaging
Financial category down due to housing

Network & Syndicated programming Hot for '08? Which ad networks and syndicated products are likely to be hot for the upfront and why? : The Radar properties are always hot, but Agnes Lukasewych, VP, Account Director Radio Broadcast, MPG notes syndicated personalities/shows that can be integrated on cross-platform vehicles are typically better able to create a stronger brand association which might be viewed as more desirable.

RBR observation: Last chance to get your network, syndication show position In Front for the upfront with RBR's special report in SmartMedia. If you don't play don't expect to win. Contact June Barnes 803 731-5951, Carl Marcucci 703 492-8191 ex. 202 or Jim Carnegie 813 909-2916.


Media Business Report TM
WSJ to launch monthly magazine
It sounds like "Pursuits" will challenge the "Robb Report" in the luxury lifestyles genre, so we're disappointed it won't be called the "Rupert Report." The Wall Street Journal reports, though, that owner-to-be Rupert Murdoch has been consulted on the magazine, which will launch yet this month, and has given it a thumbs-up. "Pursuits will extend the Journal's highly successful business of life franchise that began with the Weekend Journal and Personal Journal sections of the newspaper by offering unique access and insight through lifestyle reporting that only the Journal can provide," said L. Gordon Crovitz, executive vice president, Dow Jones & Company and publisher, The Wall Street Journal. "Advertisers have asked for new opportunities to reach our unique audience through a glossy magazine, and we believe Pursuits magazine will engage this audience in a new and exciting format for the Journal," said Michael F. Rooney, chief revenue officer, Dow Jones & Company. In the new glossy publication, the life and luxury of today's wealthy world will be explored, drawing on the expertise of Wall Street Journal editors and reporters, including Robert Frank, the Journal's wealth reporter and author of best-seller "Richistan." The magazine's content will include regular features on fashion, homes and philanthropy.


Media Markets & Money TM
Middle Georgia doubles in the middle of Georgia
Media Services Group broker Eddie Esserman notes that WJFL-FM in Tennille GA is being sold. The buyer, Stan Carter's Middle Georgia Broadcasting Inc. is paying 305K for the station, which it has actually been in the process of buying for some time now. It gave Katherine Cummings' Fall Line Media a 40K down payment way back in 2004 and has paid 90K in LMA fees in the interim. The remainder will be paid in cash less any further LMA fees. The station has 40% contour overlap with WVKX-FM Irwinton GA, Carter's only other station. Tennille is located in unrated territory between Macon and Augusta.


Washington Media Business Report TM
KOA conspiracy theory shot down
Did Clear Channel's KOA-AM in Denver (still displaying the not-forgotten and not-quite-gone-yet Jacor brand in the licensee) conspire with itself to deny citizens of that market emergency information? John Ravetti thinks so and says its grounds to deny the company a license renewal for the AM blowtorch. In particular, Ravetti said KOA dropped the ball during the "2002 Hayman Fire" and that on other occasions it failed to broadcast EAS weather warnings. Clear Channel reacted with a head scratch, since the EAS system is triggered by "national, state or local authorities." It was further in the dark about the ignored weather emergencies, since Ravetti did not bother to provide any details. The FCC noted its limited ability to inject its own opinion into programming and news decisions. Finally, Ravetti complained that the station had failed to respond to his complaints. The FCC noted that KOA's only responsibility is to put Ravetti's complaints in its public file. "Licensees may, of course, take listener comments and complaints about station operations into account, but there is no requirement that they do so."

RBR observation: It's good to have it confirmed by the Commission that every wacky, off-the-wall or otherwise misguided consumer communication need not require a thoughtful response and plan of action. Just make sure you get it in the right file -- make sure it doesn't go into that circular one.


Entertainment Media Business Report TM
The Mike Tirico Show
to debut on ESPN Radio

Sportscaster Mike Tirico, the Monday Night Football commentator who has hosted or served as play-by-play voice for many of ABC and ESPN's marquee events, will host ESPN Radio's weekday 1-3 p.m. ET program slot beginning Thursday, Sept. 20. Additionally, Stephen Smith of 1050 ESPN Radio in New York, will host the network's 3-4 p.m. hour. Both shows can be heard live, daily on ESPNRadio.com. Tirico's ties to ESPN Radio date to its 1992 debut when he served as an original host. Tirico will be joined on a regular basis by other ESPN commentators to be announced at a later date.


TVBR TV News
LIN says aloha to big return on investment
Broadcast television group LIN acquired several chunks of the lower 700 MHz band back in 2002 and 2003 during FCC auctions #44 and #49. That's in the portion of the television band which is being reallocated away from television broadcast usage. Aloha Partners LP has agreed to buy 32 licenses. The price is 32.5 million, which is quite a profit for LIN from the original six million it paid the FCC. For LIN, it is the culmination of what it saw as an investment at the time. For Aloha, it's an addition to an already impressive collection of licenses, bringing its total up to 270, reaching 65% of the total US population and 85% of the top 100 market population. Aloha is working on offerings of both mobile television and wireless broadband.


Transactions
5.1M WABG-TV Greenwood-Greenville MS (Greenwood MS, ABC Ch. 6) from Mississippi Broadcasting Partners (Beverly B. Poston) to Commonwealth Broadcasting Group Inc. (Charles Harker). 250K escrow, balance in cash at closing. [File date 8/30/07.]

3.5M WCLZ-FM Portland ME (Brunswick ME) from The Last Bastion Station Trust LLC, Trustee (Elliot B. Evers) to Saga Communications of New England, a subsidiary of Saga Communications Inc. (Edward K. Christian). 35K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Superduopoly with WBAE-AM, WGAN-AM, WZAN-AM, WMGX-FM, WPOR-FM & WYNZ-FM. [File date 8/29/07.]

225K WYAL-AM Scotland Neck NC from Sky City Communications Inc. (Georgette Hall Powell) to Daybreak Broadcasting Company (Richard Petway). 25K prepayment, 45K cash at closing, 18K payment on 1/10/08, 1/10/09 & 1/10/10, 101K note for remainder. LMA 5/1/07. [File date 8/28/07.]


Stock Talk
Waiting on the Fed
Stock prices fell Monday as traders waited to see if the Fed would cut rates today. The Dow Industrials were down 39 points, or 0.3%, to 13,403.

Radio stocks had a bad day. The Radio Index was down 2.329, or 1.9%, to 120.361 - a new low for the year, in fact, back to October 18, 2000. Westwood One plunged 5.7%, Salem was down 3.7% and Cox Radio declined 3%.


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Monday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

45.35

-0.82

Google

GOOG

525.30

-3.45

Beasley

BBGI

7.03

-0.02

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

26.00

+0.14

CBS CI. B CBS

30.79

+0.14

Journal Comm.

JRN

9.85

-0.08

CBS CI. A CBSa

30.78

+0.09

Lincoln Natl.

LNC

62.55

-0.55

Citadel CDL
4.10 +0.01

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

3.92

-0.04

Clear Channel

CCU

37.25

-0.31

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

3.94

-0.02

Cox Radio

CXR

13.00

-0.41

Regent

RGCI

2.63

+0.14

Cumulus

CMLS

10.43

+0.01

Saga Commun.

SGA

7.52

-0.18

Debut Bcg.

DBTB

1.01

unch

Salem Comm.

SALM

8.57

-0.33

Disney

DIS

33.38

-0.18

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

3.46

-0.06

Emmis

EMMS

6.01

-0.15

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

2.64

-0.03

Entercom

ETM

19.51

-0.44

SWMX

SMWX

0.05

+0.01

Entravision

EVC

8.98

-0.19

Westwood One

WON

2.32

-0.14

Fisher

FSCI

46.27

-1.20

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

14.71

-0.13


Bounceback

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hear from you.

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a photo to [email protected]


Below the Fold
Ad Business Report
NBC- TV network takes over
CC Radio stations to promote Fall sked this is national radio campaigns...

Buyers comment on
CC Radio stopset change in Houston...

Media Business Report
WSJ to launch monthly mag
Sounds like Pursuits will challenge the Robb Report in the luxury lifestyles genre...

Media Markets & Money
Middle Georgia doubles
In the middle of Georgia WJFL-FM in Tennille being sold...




Stations for Sale

NewEng Collegetown FM
Highly profitable AC station w. Red Sox rights, owned tower, only signal in market. Asking 8.5x trailing BCF: 950K. Inquiries 781-848-4201 or
e-mail: [email protected]
WEB: radiostationsforsale.net

Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.

Contact
June Barnes
[email protected]


Arbitrends

Arbitron
Market Results
| Chicago |
| Los Angeles |
| Middlesex |
| Nassau |
| New York |




Radio Media Moves

Devine retiring,
two promoted

Cox Radio CEO Bob Neil had praise for the "tremendous contributions" that Regional VP and Houston Market Manager Caroline Devine has made to the company as he announced that she has decided to retire at the end of this year. Mark Krieschen, already VP/GM of two of the four Cox FMs in Houston, will become Market Manager. San Antonio-based Regional VP Ben Reed will assume Devine's oversight of the Cox Radio stations in Honolulu.

Knight buzzes
to The Bee

B101, WBEB-FM Philadelphia announced that Chuck Knight was selected as the new Program Director, replacing Chris Conley who resigned in late August. Chuck starts on 9/24. Chuck Knight has a successful history in the Adult Contemporary format, spending the last eleven years working for the top rated WSNY in Columbus, Ohio. Knight also programmed stations in Philadelphia (WYXR), Indianapolis, IN (WENS), Des Moines, IA (KRNQ) and La Crosse, WI (WLXR).

One upped, two hired
Patrick Communications announced the promotion of Greg Guy (pictured) from Vice-President to Managing Partner of the company, joining the company owners, Larry and Susan Patrick, as a Managing Partner. Patrick Communications also announced the hiring of Todd Wirth, a veteran sales and station manager in Kansas City, Tucson and Las Vegas, as a broker and Vice-President. In addition, Jason James, a recent graduate of Michigan State University, has joined the firm as a Research Analyst.

Cross-town move
Beasley Broadcast Group announced the addition of Jill Quale as morning co-host, beginning September 20th, on WJBR-FM Wilmington, DE. Quale joins Beasley from cross-town WSTW-FM, where she served as morning co-host from 1995 to 2007.

Wilberding joins
D&R Radio

Interep's D&R Radio Sales announced Jason Wilberding has joined the company as VP/Director of Sales, based in Los Angeles. In his new position, Wilberding will manage D&R's Los Angeles office. His experience also includes positions at Interep's Infinity Radio Sales (now CBS Radio Sales), Katz Radio, WHTZ in New York and KTWV in Los Angeles.

Online addition
Univision Online, the interactive subsidiary of Univision Communications, announced Derek Zabbia has been named Vice President of Advertising Sales for the Southwest & Southeast Regions. He was previously the National Accounts Director of Media for AOL.


More News Headlines

CBS Records returns
Music industry veteran Larry Jenkins, who consulted CBS during the development and launch of the newly formed CBS Records, was named Executive Vice President and General Manager of the label. He will be based in LA and report to Nancy Tellem, President, CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group, to whom Jenkins will report. As head of the new music label, Jenkins will oversee its strategic direction as well as its day-to-day creative and business operations. He will lead the A&R process of signing and developing artists, and interact with CBS Television Network and CBS Paramount Television executives on company-wide, integrated marketing plans in support of the artists and their music.

Harris lines up financing
Harris Corporation has teamed with National City Media Finance to establish Harris Finance, which will help Harris Broadcast Communications customers and Channel Partners with financing. Harris Finance features a number of flexible financing program options backed by National City Media Finance, a division of National City Commercial Capital Company.

Is the Caveman your favorite ad icon for 07?
GEICO is campaigning for the Caveman to be the Favorite Icon for 2007 in the annual Advertising Week online voting poll. (To vote, go to www.geico.com.) Despite the Caveman's apparent disdain for the auto insurer's TV spots, GEICO's Caveman series of ads grabbed the attention and affection of thousands of Caveman fans around the country who created hundreds of Caveman blog sites. Online voting ends 9/24.




RBR Radar 2007
Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

CC Radio Houston; Moving from
3 to 2 stopsets per hour?

It's all part of upping the numbers with PPM. We're getting information, but couldn't confirm with CCU, that CC Radio Houston sent out an email to agencies and clients last week indicating reasons for moving all five of its FM stations there from 3 to 2 stopsets per hour. Here's one of them, from one of our sources: "Effective Immediately Clear Channel Houston Radio is moving from 3 stop sets per hour to 2 stop sets per hour. In order to increase our PPM numbers even more. Below are more specifics, the great thing about PPM is we will see the benefits of this much more quickly than we were able with the old diary method.

RBR observation: RBR left messages with both Joe McGee and Joe Brower in CC Radio Houston Sales, along with GM Eddie Martiny to discusss, but had not heard back at deadline. Other companies have been moving their stopsets around trying to figure out the way to counter-program. Now it seems this is the only way-to get rid of a stopset. 8-12 units per stopset will be interesting at best-and let's see how the advertisers react. Listeners may react by just turning the dial. Remember that Cox there had been running two stopsets and a max of 10 minutes per hour. It's going to be a learning experience, programming for a PPM world. Let's see who gets it right and go with that. Note: See the Chart Rotation in RBR.
09/17/07 RBR #181

Dissident pressures
Emmis directors
Martin Capital Management Senior Partner Frank Martin discloses in an SEC filing that he has gone to the independent directors of Emmis Communications to try to put pressure on CEO Jeff Smulyan. In short, he wants them to demand that Smulyan agree to sell off the company's assets or quit their board seats. Smulyan is still working to sell off Emmis' last TV station, but he has indicated no interest in putting the radio and magazine portfolios up for sale.
09/17/07 RBR #181


Visit MediaHeadHunters.com

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General Manager
Midwest & Life is good with this Small-Medium cluster in rated market. Top Aggressive, community minded GM needed. We're reentering ownership so don't be concerned that you're already working for us. Have a track record of performance, strong on sales and ideas. Ability to get the most out of a talented staff. Tired of the corporate jungle and want to work in real radio. This GM post for the person with Radio Passion. Details where to apply see Radio Careers

General Sales Manager
America's Legendary CHR station, KDWB, looking for a world class GSM to lead a talented sales team! We have 5 questions for our next GSM to answer. If you can say Yes to some or all then lets talk. A college degree is preferred with two years related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education/experience. Clear Channel's KDWB, EEO--Hey, it doesn't get any better than this. Complete requirements, where to apply see Radio Careers

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