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More on the "Less is More" initiative...

"Less is More" - - what else? - - was the hot topic for Clear Channel CFO Randall Mays yesterday..." Mr. Mays states that an advertiser can take the same money spent on :60's and change them to :30's and increase R&F by 33%? Speaking as one who buys time...What planet does he live on? Maybe he has not checked the CC rate card. In my neck of the woods the only thing we're basically getting is a :30 at the :60 rate. This LIM if fine with me. Until the CC stations have undisputed dominance in a particular market, it makes an easier decision to use other radio stations and other media. I'm in a smaller market, controlled by three radio groups. And I use a lot of electronic. Fortunately I can buy around anyone. I don't understand the uproar regarding this. If you don't like it, or think this is not efficient for your client, then don't buy it. In any market there are other alternatives. Clear Channel thinks they can force the marketplace to accept it. We'll see."

Mike Pursel, President, Mike Pursel Advertising, Spokane, WA

"The point people seem to miss in this discussion is that Clear Channel plans on airing more commercials, not less. Any discussion about whether :30s can be as effective as :60s (they can - see Motel 6) is moot. Clear Channel is selling :30s so that they can sell more units and package it as "less" because it is less minutes. Every bit of research done on consumer attitudes toward commercial interruptions indicates that eight :30 second commercials is more disruptive to the listener than six :60 second commercials even though the latter is more minutes. I believe that Clear Channel is trying to make people think eight commercials is better for the listener than six. Look at it this way. Clear Channel is charging anywhere from 65% - 80% of its :60 second rate for these :30 second commercials. Are we to believe they are planning to do 20% - 35% less revenue in 2005? I don't think so. So logic tells me that if you charge less then you'll have to sell more in order to increase revenue. If done in good faith, reducing clutter is a noble idea and it will, in the long run, be good for radio. Unfortunately, it feels as though Clear Channel is deliberately misleading the advertising community and that, in the long run will hurt our industry."

Jay Schultz, Director of Sales
WCCC-FM/WTMI-AM, Hartford, CT

BE ups Richard Hinkle to VP/Engineering
Hinkle has served as Director of RF Engineering for the company since February of 2000. As VP, Hinkle will broaden his responsibilities as the company's lead engineer for developing and researching new products for the broadcast industry. "Richard's talent for innovation has advanced this company and the broadcast community. It goes without saying that he is well respected by broadcasters as an engineer's engineer," said BE President John Pedlow.

Cutting inventory and the effects--GM Talkback
Larry Wert,
Pres/Gm NBC's - WMAQ-TV,
Tom Bender,
GM Greater Media/Detroit,
Mike Mazursky,
GM 4M Communications
page 6

Laying the Hits down -
Boom Boom Boom
Listen to past great air checks of
George Michael
WFIL-AM
Fred Winston's classic
NewYears Day Hangover Club &
Bob DeCarlo with Tommy Turntable
page 12


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Arbitron claims PPM recruiting success in Houston
Over 52% of the households targeted for the first wave of PPM recruitment agreed to participate. The company says fault rates are also low. Response levels had been a big concern during the initial PPM test in Philadelphia, but Arbitron thinks it's got the problem licked. Look for the test to start churning out data come July. RBR observation: This is why you test. Another improvement in the Houston test will be a modification to the PPM device that will differentiate in-home and out-of-home media use, based on proximity to the docking/recharging unit. TV guys, who've never had out-of-home viewing measured by Nielsen, are salivating over that. But cost remains a big concern for many radio companies, along with how PPM affects morning drive ratings. You must read and print out these charts. We like this point - TV is salivating so Nielsen step-in with the Kleenex and wipe off the drool.
12/09/04 RBR #239

Belo, More warnings on 2005
TV groups are setting the bar low with no Olympics or political revenues to speak of next year. Belo will have no Olympics revenue in 2005 versus almost $10 million in 2004. The Super Bowl will be on Fox, rather than one of the three networks where Belo's television station affiliations are concentrated.
RBR observation: Look for Fox to improve next year with new upper chief in Jack Abernethy. TV must cross market with local Radio or lose. 12/09/04 RBR #239

RAEL releases second study:
"The Benefits of Synergy:
Moving Money Into Radio"
released its second study revealing the impact on various measurement criteria when radio is added to the Media Mix. Findings are geared to help advertisers and agencies develop multi-media campaigns that reflect the way consumers absorb media. Specifically, the study charts what happens to several effectiveness measures when radio is used to replace a balanced portion of the investment in television or newspapers. RBR observation: Matt Feinberg, SVP/Network Radio, Zenith Media sums it up the best, "The studies from RAEL reveal how to use Radio for consumer touch points. 12/09/04 RBR #239

Spending to fix Infinity stations and Thumbs up boosts Houston PPM test
Joel Hollander says that's just one of the problems that radio needs to address. A couple of others are spending on promotion and up-to-date equipment, where he says Infinity was negligent in recent years. While not blaming Mel Karmazin, Hollander says "That was then, this is now." Confirmed RBR's exclusive report at the UBS Securities Media Week conference the green light to encode in Houston leaving Radio One and Cox the only two hold outs. 12/08/04 RBR #238

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