RBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 22, Issue 32, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Tuesday Morning February 15th, 2005

Radio News®

Indecency foes get behind Martin
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is urging the White House to fill the seat of departing Chairman Michael Powell with a known commodity. His group wants a warrior - - someone who will carry on with a strong crackdown on indecent content on radio and television. And he's asking his constituents to urge the White House to make that issue the primary consideration when filling that seat and any others which may come open in the near future. According to an article in (BP) news (Baptist Press), the man most anti-indecency warriors are leaning toward is current Republican Commissioner Kevin Martin. Along with Democrat Michael Copps, Martin has been one of the sternest enforcers of broadcast decency on the current Commission. This echoes a recent communication to the White House from House Republicans, who also asked that the president emphasize the indecency issue when deciding on a new chairman and naming new commissioners to the FCC.

McCain unveils campaign coverage report
John McCain (R-AZ) today will host the unveiling of the latest study on broadcast campaign coverage from the Norman Lear Center at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He will be joined by Annenberg Associate Dean Martin Kaplan. The study in recent years has shown slippage in both raw coverage and in the quality of coverage by broadcasters, even while they continue to rake in an ever-growing pile of campaign advertising revenue. "Last summer, Senator McCain and FCC Chairman Michael Powell specifically challenged broadcasters to provide coverage of the political issues facing communities, candidates' campaign platforms and candidate debates," said McCain's staff in a release. "The study will reveal, as a whole, how broadcasters responded to that challenge."

RBR observation: McCain will be working to refine his McCain-Feingold election reform bill, specifically to shut down the 527 organizations that were such a big factor in 2004. Do not be surprised to see him resume his attempts to get special advertising consideration for politicians. This means RBR has got a noon date with Johnny McCain along with the rest of the real press and if anything breaks we will file a report immediately. If not watch for an update in today's 4:30pm afternoon RBR-Media Mix.

Perception vs. reality, Part I
The Advertiser Perception Study released last week at RAB2005 found a disconnect between what advertisers and agencies think about the accountability of radio and what radio managers think about how well their industry does on the accountability front. The problem is that when it comes to accountability, radio is not perceived as being one of the top media. "Radio people think we are," said RAB President Gary Fries, but he noted that the survey of advertisers and agencies found a very different perception. Particularly in the area of credibility for audience measurement, people at radio stations who responded to the survey thought that local radio was right up near the top, placing radio's Arbitron diaries just behind network TV Nielsen ratings for credibility - - and ahead of local spot TV. Compare that to the advertisers and agencies who ranked local spot radio near the bottom - - even behind cable TV, which the radio people had ranked dead last!

Jefferson-Pilot boosts dividend
To be sure, Jefferson-Pilot Corp. makes most of its profits from the insurance business, but its broadcast unit, Jefferson Pilot Communications, also had a good year in 2004 (2/9/05 RBR #28). The company is now rewarding its shareholders with the fruits of that strong performance. Jefferson-Pilot has boosted its quarterly dividend by 10% to 41.75 cents per share. The new dividend will be paid June 5th to shareholders of record on May 20th.

Obscenity, DTV hard date
get Hill consideration
The congressional oversight season is finally getting underway, as members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives get set to resume their scrutiny of the broadcasting business. Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights will consider obscenity issues; and on Thursday, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet takes on the DTV transition. The Senate panel may touch on broadcasting. However, generally the word "indecency" is used when discussing vulgarity in the electronic media. When the work "obscenity" is invoked, it is generally in reference to print and artistic material. The title of the session is "Obscenity Prosecution and the First Amendment," and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) will be wielding the gavel. The House panel hearing is entitled "The Role of Technology in Achieving a Hard Deadline for the DTV Transition." It is expected that Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) will chair the session. Witness lists are not yet available for either session.

Conference Calls Q4 2004

Big turnaround at Fisher
With a big boost from political advertising, Fisher Communications reports that it had net income of 4.5 million in Q4, compared to a loss from continuing operations of six million a year earlier. In his first conference call as acting CEO, Ben Tucker called the quarter "a very positive finish to 2004" and said he and the staff will be working to enhance shareholder value in 2005, but there was no indication when a permanent CEO will be announced for the company - - following the ouster of William Krippaehne last month (1/7/05 RBR #5). One analyst joked that Michael Eisner might be available for the job. Q4 revenues were up 22.6% to 42.3 million. That was attributed to political advertising, but also to improved local ad sales, while national TV advertising was "somewhat weaker." Fisher didn't break out radio and TV revenues separately in its press release and conference call, but company officials said more details will be provided when its annual report is filed with the SEC. CFO David Hillard did note that about three-quarters of the company's revenues come from its two big markets - - its TV and radio stations in Seattle, WA and TV station in Portland, OR.

Adbiz©

Ask Jeeves launches national TV effort
Ask Jeeves, a leading provider of information retrieval technologies, brands and Internet advertising services, announced it will debut six TV spots to promote its flagship search site, Ask Jeeves (http://www.ask.com). This campaign marks Ask Jeeves' return to television after a hiatus of more than four years, and the ads represent the next step in the company's marketing efforts for the popular consumer search engine, which also include online, out-of-home, and print advertising. The ads were created by TBWA\Chiat\Day San Francisco, Ask Jeeves' AOR since 2003. The 15-second spots will appear in rotation on national cable, primetime, and syndicated TV, and feature the tag, "Ask Jeeves. And get what you're searching for." In each commercial someone is seeking information from an "expert", but on a topic s/he is not an authority on and therefore cannot answer. The spots conclude with the suggestion to search Ask Jeeves, as it is a more authoritative source than these so-called experts. Ask Jeeves began a strategic and targeted marketing campaign to build brand awareness in 2003, with online, out-of home and print advertising. These effective campaigns laid the foundation for the current television advertising, which is expected to reach a broader audience.

Home builders pitch housing ad campaign
The 220,000-member National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced it is launching a campaign aimed at drawing congressional attention to housing's contributions to the nation's economic recovery and the robust demand for housing being projected for the next 10 years. Bill Killmer, head of NAHB's advocacy efforts, said that NAHB would be asking lawmakers to "step up to the plate" and take a pro-housing stance on legislation that could expand homeownership opportunities for working Americans and increase the supply of affordable rental housing. Full-page advertisements will appear in Roll Call, the National Journal, The Hill and Congressional Quarterly. Radio spots will be played on NPR and DC stations WTOP, WMAL and WBIG.

AAAAs to update eBiz for media
The AAAAs will hold a press conference 2/15, to update attendees about the AAAA's eBiz for Media initiative. Greg Smith, CIO of McCann Worldgroup, will present a brief history of the project, including an update about the e-business hubs schema, database, and registry, as well as outline the trading partners that have endorsed the move to electronic media transactions. eBiz for Media is a service that allows the media industry to conduct e-business transactions with its trading partners. It is comprised the Advertising Industry Registry and the XML Schema Repository. The Registry will allow trading partners to locate other compatible trading partners, and then use the information in the registry to initiate pure electronic-to-electronic or machine-to-machine communication via Web services. XML schemas provide a context for all facets of the media lifecycle, from avail to invoice. These components will allow industry transactions to take place seamlessly and instantly. Instead of faxing an avail request and receive an e-mail back a day or so later, then placing the order over the phone, all transactions will be able to be fully automated through a common network of communication protocols. Further updates about eBiz for Media will be presented at the 12th annual AAAA Media Conference & TradeShow in New Orleans. RBR/TVBR will be there to report.

Macy's puts out RFP for Hispanic agency
Macy's has reportedly sent out an RFP seeking a new Hispanic agency for national efforts, expecting to name a new Hispanic agency by April.

Old Style Beer awards
Maddock Douglas AOR
Old Style Beer, celebrating its 55th year as a sponsor of the Chicago Cubs, has named Maddock Douglas its AOR. "Old Style Beer belongs to Chicago, so it was important to partner with an agency that knows this town," said Brian Kovalchuk, CEO, Pabst Brewing, which owns Old Style. "Maddock Douglas' insightful approach toward identifying market opportunities and their integration of ideas and evocative creative is exactly what we need to meet our growth goals." The agreement will incorporate on-air and print for Old Style and Old Style Light, substantial brand integration with packaging, point-of-purchase and logo wear, website development, and on premise advertising at Wrigley Field. The new advertising will break in March 2005.

Media Markets & MoneyTM

Close encounter in Lubbock
Entravision Communications has completed its acquisition of KAIQ-FM from Littlefield Broadcasting. Entravision spent 1.5M bucks to get a platform for its own Super Estrella format aimed at 18-34 year olds. The station teams up with Regional Mexican KBZO-AM, and on the television side, with Univision KBZP-LP.

Salem ups its web presence
Leading Religious radio group Salem Communications announced that it will pay 3.4M to acquire website Christianity.com. The website contains Christian content and ministry resources, and will be packaged with Salem's other web-based concerns, OnePlace.com and Crosswalk.com. Salem's Edward G. Atsinger III said the new Internet address will "...enable us to better deliver our ministries' and advertiser's messages to our growing faith-based audience."

McCombs sells NFL team for 625M
The rumors (2/14/04 RBR #31) became reality yesterday as Clear Channel Communications co-founder Red McCombs announced a deal to sell the Minnesota Vikings for 625 million to a group headed by Arizona businessman Reggie Fowler, who will become the first minority owner in the NFL. The deal still needs approval by other NFL owners. McCombs bought the Vikings for about 250 million in 1997.

Washington Beat

LA TV/DT forced to continue side-by-side operation
KJLA-TV, a Spanish language station serving the Los Angeles DMA from the northern outpost of Ventura CA has been denied permission to shut down its Channel 57 analog operation and continue on as digital only Channel 49. The FCC explained that there were three criteria to be considered to grant such a request. One, that new wireless services will be available on the returned spectrum, was not sustained because there has been no auction as yet for the spectrum in question. The second, the loss of service, was turned down. Although the station's audience is tiny as a percentage of Los Angeles - - it was pegged at a quarter of a percent - - the FCC said that was significant in a market the size of LA. Third, granting the request would not speed up the pace of the DTV transition. The FCC noted that precedents cited by KJLA involved noncommercial stations which would have had to sacrifice unique programming to continue operating two stations, while in this case, no demonstration of financial hardship was made.

Engineering

Reader responds to HD Radio interference story
Regarding our story yesterday on Bonneville GM Joel Oxley's concerns on HD Radio interference potential (2/14 RBR #22), attorney Peter Tannenwald brings to light interference issues with grandfathered high-power stations and the HD Radio interference to other stations they will cause. Be sure to see the attached charts here.

"You might want to do some follow-up with other stations that will have trouble with interference from adjacent-channel IBOC digital signals. Quite a few of them will have trouble with interference from super-powered IBOC stations (those operating above the FCC power limit for their class because they are grandfathered from before the present limits were adopted). The problem is similar to the impact on short-spaced stations; but the super-powered problem will usually be worse, because the FCC does not require super-powered stations to adjust their power or antenna pattern to protect other stations the way they do for short-spaced stations. A few months ago, I filed a list of victim stations with the FCC, including call signs and the percentage of service area that will be adversely affected. A copy is attached. The manager of WTOP-FM is at least aware of the problem, although his ability to complain is constrained by the fact that Bonneville has stations in different postures and may have divergent viewpoints within the same company. There are other situations where managers may not even be aware of what is in store for them."

Peter Tannenwald
Irwin, Campbell & Tannenwald, P.C.
202-777-3977
[email protected]

Motorola iRadio demo'd
3G cellular technology now allows wireless Internet streaming over laptops, some smartphones, pocket PCs and PDAs. Like with the iPod (and some of the satellite radio products), a simple RF transmitter provides the fidelity of your car stereo for mobile enjoyment. Motorola unveiled its new "iRadio" at the DEMO@15! conference in Scottsdale, AZ yesterday. Available later this year, iRadio allows users to stream online radio stations or their favorite music through a cellphone and onto their car radio or home audio system. The iRadio team added new software to cellphones and a wireless audio adapter to car radios, paving the way for music to get onto cellphones and then for cellphones to talk to car radios. The service uses a high-speed Internet connection, Bluetooth technology, and a mobile phone. Planned for launch later this year, iRadio will provide Internet broadcasters with the ability to extend their services to the places where people listen to and enjoy music the most, such as in the car or while jogging.

Transactions

WKZX-FM Knoxville (Lenoir City TN) from BP Broadcasters LP to Cherokee Media Inc.

KPGM-AM Tulsa (Pawhuska OK) from Pearl Communications Group to Potter Radio

KLHS-FM Lewiston ID from Independent School District No. 1 to Lewis-Clark State College.

| More... |

Stock Talk

A mixed day on Wall Street
Traders didn't get too excited about the deal announced by Verizon to buy MCI for 6.7 billion. Besides, oil prices were back up, which is always a negative for stocks. So, stock prices didn't move much. The Dow Industrials ended the day with a loss of five points, to 10,791, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up slightly.

Radio stocks also didn't move much. The Radio Index slipped 0.133, or 0.06%, to 221.067. Entravision was up 2.2% and Entercom 2.1% as the best performers. On the down side, Viacom's Class B stock fell 2.4% and its Class A 2.1%.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Monday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		40.75	-0.05	Jeff-Pilot	JP		49.87	+0.07
Beasley	BBGI		16.80	-0.07	Journal Comm.	JRN		16.64	+0.16
Citadel	CDL		14.09	-0.27	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		14.56	-0.20
Clear Channel	CCU		34.40	-0.20	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		14.59	-0.11
Cox Radio	CXR		16.28	+0.27	Regent	RGCI		5.13	-0.01
Cumulus	CMLS		14.41	-0.07	Saga Commun.	SGA		16.78	+0.03
Disney	DIS		29.39	+0.05	Salem Comm.	SALM		24.07	+0.03
Emmis	EMMS		18.42	-0.08	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		5.95	-0.03
Entercom	ETM		32.75	+0.66	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		10.22	-0.09
Entravision	EVC		7.99	+0.17	Univision	UVN		27.42	+0.51
Fisher	FSCI		50.63	+0.60	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		36.86	-0.80
Gaylord	GET		40.75	+0.65	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		36.53	-0.91
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		26.07	+0.01	Westwood One	WON		25.19	-0.20
Interep	IREP		0.65	-0.04	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		33.26	-0.30
International Bcg.	IBCS		0.01	unch	-	-	-	-	-

__UNSUB__ to this email service.

Bounceback

Send Us Your Opinions We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]

This consultant says accountability concerns aren't just an issue for broadcasters.

You may be surprised to know that as 'antiquated' as radio billing systems seem to be, print is just as bad and in some ways worse. Much. And they gross much more money. I wouldn't buy in to all this whining about accountability from agencies, it's the same with print and it sounds like a good negotiating tactic on the part of the agencies.

Walter Sabo
Sabo Media

This reader has a beef with NAB's stance on LPFM: "Why doth the NAB protest so much? | More... |

Kate Coyer
Independent Radio Producer
Department of Media & Comm.
Goldsmiths College
University of London

Upped & Tapped

Steve Rivers resigns at Infinity; Barnett upped
Infinity President/Programming Steve Rivers has resigned to return to consulting and SVP/Original Programming Rob Barnett has been moved up to Rivers' post. The appointment is effective immediately. Barnett will report to Infinity CEO Joel Hollander. Barnett joined Infinity 5/04. Rivers will remain with Infinity serving as a consultant and special advisor to the company on a wide range of projects. He will report to Hollander.

Gerberding
goes Outdoor
Broadcast veteran Joan Gerberding has been promoted to Vice President of Arbitron Outdoor, where she will lead efforts to sell Scarborough data to outdoor and out-of-home clients.

Three join Bayliss board
Ginny Morris, President of Hubbard Radio, Lew Dickey, President & CEO of Cumulus Media and George Pine, President and COO of Interep have all been elected to the board of directors of the Bayliss Foundation. Dickey was the dis-honoree at the foundation's annual Bayliss Radio Roast just last year. Now he and the others will help prepare for next month's roast of Jefferson-Pilot Radio President Clarke Brown.

More News Headlines

A salute to Howard University

Ando Media released January audience data for the top 20 Internet radio stations

TVBR - TV News

Fox in ratings
stretch run
Boosted by "American Idol" and the good fortune of having the Super Bowl this year, Fox has moved from well back in the ratings race to become a real contender as the 2004-'05 season has moved into its second phase. CBS is still well out in front in overall Households (at the end of week 20), with a rating of 8.4 and 14 share, while ABC and NBC are tied at 6.7/11 and Fox is at 6.0/11. But in the lucrative 18-49 demo, Fox is now tied with ABC for second place at 3.9/10, barely behind CBS at 4.0/11. In a dramatic reversal, NBC, which was leading the 18-49 demo at this point a year ago, is now 4th at 3.7/10. As News Corp./Fox President and COO Peter Chernin noted earlier this month (2/3/05 TVBR #24), "I think if we could have anything with even decent performance in the fall, we could be the dominant number one network." And then he added, "We won't be satisfied with anything less than that."

RBR Radar 2005

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

RAB 2005 Atlanta presents
must issues to tackle
RAB CEO Gary Fries discussed the Advertiser Perception Study, noting that radio is still not perceived as the most accountable medium by advertisers. "Radio people think we are," he said, but went on to clarify that in today's environment, advertisers are obligated to show their stockholders or owners that they are getting what they purchased. "But the needle is moving." But we haven't had the ratings systems to tell the advertiser what is going on." Indicating that a three-book average consisting of data that could be as much as a year old is no longer acceptable. "We have to become more relevant. We have to deliver more information, real-time information, and accurate information. We are moving in that direction, but we're not there yet. We need to be the most accountable medium out there."
02/14/05 RBR #31

32M satellite radios by
the end of this decade
Despite concerns that consumer demand appears to have softened in the past year, JP Morgan analyst Barton Crockett is still projecting strong subscriber growth for both XM and Sirius, with Sirius gradually improving its market share after launching second in the two-company race. The analyst is projecting that the two satcasters combined will have 8.5 million subscribers by the end of this year, 32.4 million by 2010 and 56 million by 2020. 02/14/05 RBR #31

Single stream carriage:
The constitutional argument
The FCC vote against imposing a multicast carriage requirement on cable operators was 4-1. However, a more accurate way to describe the vote would be 2-2-1, and if the timing were different, it could easily have gone 2-3 in favor of broadcasters. It is therefore instructive to take a closer look at the reasons behind the votes. Republicans Michael Powell and Kathleen Abernathy voted against the rule for what are basically technical reasons. They determined that a close reading of statutory documentation and prior court cases showed that there was not enough evidence in favor of broadcasters to sustain the imposition of further requirements on cable operators. 02/14/05 RBR #31

Single stream carriage:
The public interest argument
On the other hand, Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein made it abundantly clear that they would have happily imposed multicast must carry on cable operators if they has first gotten assurances from broadcasters, and preferable to that, statutory requirements for those same broadcasters to use the added programming capacity in the public interest. The issue is under consideration at the FCC, but both said that it should have been completed before advancing to the must carry issue. 02/14/05 RBR #31

FCC nixes multicast must carry
The FCC took a big stand with the cable industry over broadcasters, reaffirming an earlier finding that CATV operators do not have to provide dual analog/digital carriage during the remainder of the DTV transition phase by a 5-0 vote, and reaffirming cable's responsibility to carry only one and only one broadcast programming stream, regardless of whether or not the broadcaster is multicasting.
02/11/05 RBR #30

NAB responds
NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts wasted no time reacting to the FCC's decision on multicast must carry. "In Washington, there are no final victories and no final defeats,"
RBR observation: There is no way on this earth to call this a victory for broadcasters. However, Fritts does have a valid point. Members of both parties on Capitol Hill asked the FCC to support multicast must carry, or at a minimum, delay a vote on it. In their remarks, several of the Commissioners noted that ultimately, the FCC's job is to interpret and carry out the mandates of Congress. If the NAB can get legislators to put something in writing and vote affirmatively on it, broadcasters might yet get their way. 02/11/05 RBR #30

News Director
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