RBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 22, Issue 47, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Tuesday Morning March 8th, 2005

Radio News®

8th Floor says Media Access access OK in OK case
So say three out of five commissioners at the FCC. The OK case involves the sale of five Oklahoma radio stations by Gene Stipe to various to various buyers. The deals were approved 1/18/05 and the approval made public 1/24/05, only to be overturned after Media Access Project's Andrew Schwartzman lobbied members of commission, complaining that the deals should not have been allowed given Stipe's conviction on non-FCC-related charges. | More... |

More cycling troubles for Clear Channel
After dressing down DJs in Cleveland, Raleigh and Houston who "joked" that motorists should throw bottles at bicyclists or hit them with open car doors two years ago (10/21/03 RBR #206), Clear Channel Radio executives must have hoped that the issue was behind them. But no - - a couple of air personalities at KSTE-AM Sacramento joked on the air February 24th about swerving into cyclists. Given the national uproar that bicycle enthusiasts had generated two years ago, Clear Channel Market Manager Jeff Holden and Sacramento Director of News and Talk Programming Ken Kohl quickly went to work to keep PR damage to a minimum. Morning news anchor Jamie Coffee was suspended for a while, along with Mark Williams from co-owned KFBK-AM, who had been visiting in the studio when the two made what are being called "inappropriate and insensitive remarks about bicyclists in the context of a news story." That quote comes from a letter sent to the League of American Bicyclists by CC Radio VP of Marketing & Communications Omar Thompson following the Sacramento incident. The letter assured the bike group that KSTE would immediately begin airing PSAs to promote bike safety and also put information on its website. Indeed, if you check out the station's website, "Click here for bike safety tips" is one of the most prominent items. KSTE has also offered to host bike safety seminars at its upcoming Family Expo/Yeah Baby event and to "provide programming to the League of American Bicyclists on KSTE." But a story in the Sacramento Bee notes that local bike enthusiasts want a bit more - - and are planning to ask Clear Channel to fill a cash shortfall for a campaign to post signs on roadways urging motorists to share the road with bikes.

Cable's Insight going private
Just as Cox Enterprises took Cox Communications private (10/20/04 RBR # 205), the controlling shareholders of Insight Communications have proposed to buy out public shareholders of the #9 cable MSO. Company co-founders Sidney Knafel and Michael Willner have The Carlyle Group backing their bid to buy out other shareholders for 10.70 per share - - an 11% premium over the pre-announcement closing price. The deal values Insight at about 650 million.

RBR observations: Will we see any move toward going private by broadcasters? The question came up during the quarterly conference call of Hearst-Argyle Television, which is viewed on Wall Street as one of the most likely targets for such a buyout of public shareholders. But CEO Dave Barrett said he wasn't privy to any such plans by the Hearst Family's Hearst Corp. The other broadcast company that's been the subject of speculation is Cox Radio, since Cox Enterprises had already taken its cable MSO private.

House panel back on the DTV trail
The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet has scheduled a session during which it will examine a critical aspect of the transition to digital television: consumers. The prospect of millions of TV screens going blank on 1/1/07 has most involved parties on edge. The subcommittee, under the gavel of chair Fred Upton (R-MI), will sit on 3/10/05 in the Raburn House Office Building at 1:00PM to consider the isue in a panel it is calling, "Preparing Consumers for the End of the Digital Television Transition." The witness list has not yet been finalized. Upton, in a recent interview on C-SPAN, took one small step in that preparation, telling the viewing audience, "Don't buy an analog set any more, buy a digital set." (2/17/05 RBR #34) According to DTV marching orders currently on the books, markets will be considered ripe for an immediate cut-off of analog service when 85% of all TV households can receive digital programming. How it is received - - in all its digital glory or downconverted back to analog - - is in dispute. Debate is hot and heavy on how to handle the 15% of TV households, predominantly made up of poor and minority households. Many favor subsidizing acquisition, one way or another, of digital-to-analog converter boxes, which it is believed will go for about 50 dollars a pop by the time the end of analog broadcast is imminent. This could possibly be funded with some of the cash generated by auction of the spectrum freed by the conversion. The White House, on the other hand, seems to advocate proceeding without any such efforts. Others, including the NAB, argue that if we are going through this process only to wind up with a new convoluted path to the same old analog TV, what's the point of the exercise in the first place? They want to make sure the full benefits of digital broadcast are available to all consumers. Stay tuned.

Bono to head World Bank?
Believe it or not, a high-ranking official in the Bush administration, none other than Treasury Secretary John Snow, has left open the possibility that U2 frontman Bono could become the head of the World Bank. Bono has long used his celebrity to focus attention on problems in the Third World. According to the Associated Press, he may well be on the "short list" of candidates to replace outgoing James Wolfensohn, although the gig usually goes to an American.

RBR observation: Bono is also on the short list of celebrity icons in the high-profile controversy over broadcast indecency. If a mere Golden Globe award was enough to cause him to unleash the dreaded f-bomb, members of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau must be cringing at the stream of exuberant expletives that might accompany his reception of this high-profile position.

Conference Calls Q4 2004

Salem finished 2004 with a strong quarter
Having pre-announced that Q4 would have revenue growth around 9% (2/28/05 #41), there wasn't a lot of suspense ahead of yesterday's quarterly report from Salem Communications. Same-station revenues were indeed up 9.2% to 43.3 million and station operating income rose 15% to 17.9 million. "Our fourth quarter 2004 same station net broadcasting revenue and station operating income growth of 9.2% and 15.0%, respectively, will once again, significantly exceed the performance of the overall radio industry. This strong performance is fueled by growth at our start-up and developing stations, particularly at our News Talk stations, which achieved a 16.8% increase in same station net broadcasting revenue," said CEO Ed Atsinger.

Publishers Perspective

4A Moving Forward with Solutions
Yep, I use the word solutions for the simple reason that if you attended this conference last year, which most of the radio and TV CEO's did not, in either year, you heard agency and ad clients screaming and pulling their hair about accountability with audience and listener measurement systems of Nielsen and Arbitron to justify spending billions of dollars on the up front season which is almost upon us. TA-DUM - Mr. & Ms. Media Person, this year it seems the buying side of the table is experiencing the same problem with accountability and facing the fact that they must be willing to share in finding the solution to the various problems facing total media. As one speaker state, "We are not going to rip a part Nielsen or TiVo at this conference but look at the total communications mix or our creative problems." In short - - not kicking a dead dog for another year by standing around with their thumbs jammed in the wrong hole.

In a nutshell, "Share part of the responsibility of participating in Paying for the necessary research to do the job for the ad clients they are accountable to." Yep, I heard it, willing to pay Nielsen for their research. Meaning, they too are tired of losing clients to competitors and all the intellectual property that goes when the account walks out the door. Prediction, not brain surgery, the rebirth of Outdoor or those old hunks of wood by the road side will quickly become the global digital game board and grab big chunks of advertising cash. Yep, Global and Flash can put a creative message where the mobile traveler will see in :10 seconds to reinforce a product brand message and become the front mind awareness medium. Don't think so? Look at Time Square or better, the Digital Boards in Las Vegas. Now perspective time: Push one button and have the same digital message across the USA at once. Down factor, the people or labor force that pasted those messages will be out of work. Technology 2005 - people are getting smarter how to use it. Don't think so? I quote Carat North America CEO David Verklin view - #5. Media planning will be transformed into communications planning. CEO's in radio, TV and others best get into research and communications sharing and planning. Those who do win are sometimes simply those who don't lose. Ps: For a winning presentation view www.rbr.com/cd for the right Media Mix.

Adbiz©

"Midas Touch" maintenance package
promotion launches
Midas has launched a month-long marketing campaign using high-profile television exposure in support of its first-ever national promotion of maintenance services at more than 1,600 Midas shops in the US. The "Midas Touch" package includes an oil change, tire rotation and a courtesy check of the vehicle's battery, tires, belts, hoses, fluid levels, coolant, air filter and a visual brake check. The new spot continues the "Trust the Midas Touch" campaign introduced in March 2004, and features humorous in-shop interactions between Midas customers and mechanics to support the 'trust' and 'maintenance' messages. The maintenance commercial, created by Midas' AOR DDB Chicago, will be seen on a wide range of network, cable and syndicated entertainment, sports and late night programming including the NCAA Basketball Tournament on CBS. Midas also has developed its first national spots targeted to the Latino community. These spots for the maintenance promotion were developed by the company's regional marketing agency Moroch of Dallas and will air on national Latino networks Univision, Telemundo, Galavision and Telefutura. The "Midas Touch" maintenance package also will be promoted in-shop by new POP materials in both English and Spanish.

Cingular splits buying between OMD, Mediaedge:cia
Cingular Wireless has decided to split its media buying account, which has grown significantly since its purchase of AT&T Wireless Services. WPP Group's Mediaedge:cia, the firm that handled AT&T Wireless's media-buying tasks, will get the bulk of the biz and pick up broadcast buying duties and planning duties for the combined concern, the Wall Street Journal reported. Omnicom Group's OMD, the incumbent on Cingular's account, will work on newspaper buying. Combined, Cingular and AT&T Wireless spent 1.37 billion on media in the U.S. during the first 11 months of 2004, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a New York ad-tracking firm.

ESPN airs ads and Indy races
on split screen
ESPN employed a split screen to show continuous auto-racing action during national spot breaks on their broadcasts of IndyCar races. The initiative, "Side-By-Side," premiered Sunday on ESPN's Toyota Indy 300 broadcast. During these breaks, which generally total about 20 minutes during a 2 1/2-hour race, viewers saw race action continue silently on the left of the screen while advertisers' commercials play with sound in a larger box on the right. Local ad breaks, totaling 21 1/2 minutes a race, continued in their current format. Among the advertisers on board for the effort was Toyota.

TVBR observation: This is yet another avenue to make advertising more effective, while reducing tune-out. If research shows this is at least AS effective as standard in-pod ads, look for this to spread like wildfire.

On The Radio.Net gives a leg up to radio advertisers
With a database including call letters, genre/format, and contact info for more than 13,000 radio stations throughout the US, On The Radio.net offers listeners and advertisers the ability to locate radio ad info on the fly. Created last year to help listeners find phone numbers and websites for commercials broadcast, On The Radio.net has now evolved to allow users access to its recently expanded database of station info. A listener who hears an interesting spot can search using date and time the commercial aired, or the state in which it was broadcast, and the site will generate a list of advertisers who are registered and the spot aired with criteria matching the search terms. The same applies to any advertiser, or listener, seeking info about a station that caters to a particular audience: a list of stations registered with On The Radio.net within a 65-mile radius will be displayed that matches the specified criteria. Advertiser and radio station registration with On The Radio.net is free.

April Radio & Television Business Report

Be sure to catch our blockbuster April NAB issue:

One on One: We interview outgoing NAB CEO Eddie Fritts.

Feature: What kind of individual would industry leaders like to see head the NAB?

AdBiz: But will they buy it?
We ask agencies and the industry about support for new, unproven formats.

Media, Markets and Money: We check the financing climate: Is financing still readily available for radio and TV deals?

Advertisers: Don't miss this opportunity to appear in Eddie Fritts' farewell interview!
Call Today, space is limited.

June Barnes at 803-731-5951 or
Jim Carnegie at 813-909-2916

Don't miss your copy!

Media Markets & MoneyTM

Flagstaff: It's what's for Dinetz
Greg Dinetz is expanding his radio holdings, adding a ready-made Arizona superduopoly to his standalone FM in unrated central Michigan. His consortium, Grenax Broadcasting, is getting an FM trio from Red Rock Communications for 5.025M dollars. The market is Flagstaff-Prescott, and the stations are KXMZ-FM Williams AZ, KFLX-FM Kachina Village AZ and KSED-FM Sedona AZ. Principal of the seller is Thomas S. Rockler.

Farid says howdy to Dowdy
Citadel Broadcasting has a deal to sell two of its five New Orleans market stations, WOPR-FM Lacombe, AL and WPRF-FM Reserve, LA, for 4.5 million bucks to Southeastern Broadcasting, headed by former Congressman Wayne Dowdy. It's the second time that broker Michael Bergner of Bergner & Co. has tried to sell WOPR for Citadel CEO Farid Suleman. It was supposed to be part of a 4.25 million, five-station sale to Pittman Broadcasting announced in December 2003 (12/3/03 RBR #235), but that never got to closing.

Pacific Star rises in the east
Charles Kim and his Pacific Star are spending 2.25M dollars for an AM station in the Atlanta market, according to broker John Pierce of John Pierce and Company. The station is Conyers GA-licensed WPBS-AM, owned by Franklin Walden's Christ In You Hope and Glory Church. Despite the call letters, the station is not believed to have any connection whatsoever to the Public Broadcasting System.

Washington Beat

FCC releases low power DTV guide
In the train of events leading to the transition to digital television, low power entities - - LPTVs, Class As and translators - - have largely been relegated to the caboose. But time is growing short, and the transition at most full-power stations is well under way. To help the low-powered station prepare efficiently, the FCC has released the "Small Entity Compliance Guide." The document is designed to assist "small businesses, small organizations (non-profits) and small government jurisdictions." It focuses the body of regulation and attempts to shine a spotlight on those areas which are most likely of importance to this class of broadcaster. However, it is not intended to replace the actual regulations. Key code phrases associated with the document are DA 05-605 and MB Docket No. 03-185. Further information is available from the FCC Consumer Center.

Engineering

Virgin Radio offers
3G cell streaming stations
BBC news reports UK broadcaster Virgin Radio says it will become the first station in the world to offer radio via 3G (3rd Generation) mobile phones. The radio station, in partnership with technology firm Sydus, will broadcast on selected 2G and high-speed 3G networks. Later this year listeners will be able to download software from the Virgin website which enables the service. James Cridland, head of new media at Virgin Radio, said: "It places radio at the heart of the 3G revolution." Virgin Radio will be the first station made available followed by two digital stations, Virgin Radio Classic Rock and Virgin Radio Groove. Cridland said: "This application will enable anyone, anywhere to listen to Virgin Radio simply with the phone in their pocket. "This allows us to tap into a huge new audience and keep radio relevant for a new generation of listeners." Saumil Nanavati, president of Sydus, added, "This radio player is what the 3G network was built for, giving consumers high-quality and high-data products through a handset in their pocket." Virgin says an hour's listening to the station via mobile would involve about 7.2MB of data, which could prove expensive for people using pay as you download GPRS or 3G services. Virgin says radio via 2G or 3G mobiles is therefore going to appeal to people with unlimited download deals. There are 30 compatible handsets available from major manufacturers including Nokia and Samsung while Virgin said more than 14.9 million consumers across the globe can use the service currently.

RBR observation: When this type of service becomes more affordable and stable, possibly via WiMax (which may bring mobile broadband Internet access across markets nationwide), terrestrial and satellite radio should be especially concerned. Why? Because when an OEM or aftermarket in-dash car receiver can stream thousands of Internet audio sites seamlessly as part of a monthly overall wireless package, many consumers will see the endless choices as too hard to pass up. Right now, in fact, adapters and simple RF transmitters plugged into the 3G cell phone could enable the Virgin Radio stations to be heard well over your car radio, but the number of consumers willing to jump through that many hoops to listen is limited. And yes, a traditional radio station in Los Angeles that streams audio may add thousands of listeners in assorted markets across the nation and world. So it may actually be a boon for some traditional radio stations when ad buys reflect that added audience.

Transactions

WTSK-AM/WJRD-AM/WTUG-FM, WANZ-FM, WBEI-FM, WFFN-FM & WDGM-FM Tuscaloosa AL (Tuscaloosa, Northport, Reform, Cordova, Greensboro AL) from Apex Broadcasting Inc. to Citadel Broadcasting Company.

WXTK-FM, WCOD-FM, WDVT-FM & WTWV-FM Cape Cod MA (West Yarmouth, Hyannis, Harwichport & Mashpee MA) from Boch Broadcasting LP to Qantum of Cape Cod

| More... |

Stock Talk

A mixed day
A scandal that led to the ouster of Boeing's CEO made investors cautious and stocks closed mixed on Monday. The Dow Industrials lost four points, to 10,937, but other major indices inched higher.

The Radio Index was slightly lower, dropping 0.046, or 0.02%, to 223.402. Clear Channel was the day's leader, although that was only a 1.4% gain. Spanish Broadcasting System was down 1.5% as the poorest performer of the day.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Monday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		40.51	-0.09	Jeff-Pilot	JP		49.10	-0.24
Beasley	BBGI		17.88	+0.16	Journal Comm.	JRN		16.60	-0.07
Citadel	CDL		14.63	+0.13	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		13.80	-0.04
Clear Channel	CCU		33.86	+0.47	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		13.81	-0.10
Cox Radio	CXR		16.82	+0.18	Regent	RGCI		5.22	-0.07
Cumulus	CMLS		14.18	-0.13	Saga Commun.	SGA		16.34	-0.06
Disney	DIS		28.96	+0.08	Salem Comm.	SALM		23.55	+0.14
Emmis	EMMS		19.22	+0.12	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		5.89	+0.23
Entercom	ETM		35.57	+0.11	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		10.79	-0.16
Entravision	EVC		8.85	-0.11	Univision	UVN		29.10	+0.11
Fisher	FSCI		51.29	-0.35	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		35.58	unch
Gaylord	GET		43.83	+0.10	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		35.20	+0.04
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		25.52	+0.25	Westwood One	WON		21.52	-0.08
Interep	IREP		0.56	unch	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		33.15	+0.04
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]

The debate continues
over :30s vs. :60s.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to respond to Alan Gray's comments in the March 7, 2005 Bounceback section (3/7/05 TVBR #46). Here's the problem...many local direct clients are rejecting the idea of converting to 30's because with only 30 seconds available to tell the listener every single detail about what they do, how many years that they have been in business etc..., they can't get all of the cliches and filler that they have been allowed to bore the public with for decades. In addition to this, many of the Account Executives on the street that sell radio airtime have not been properly trained on how to explain the difference between a "laundry list/this weekend only" spot and one that explains the features and benefits of doing business with a company. Even more of an issue is the fact that a majority of AE's that I meet in the US are required write their own spots, which is a problem in itself!

Whether or not a commercial is 60 seconds, 30 seconds or regardless of it's position in the pod, it should not be assumed that it's effectiveness is determined by it's length or order. If the client has too much to say in 30 seconds, make 2,3 or 4 different versions of the commercial and make sure that the client has also been advised to back it up with enough reach and frequency to get the job done. By the way...when are we going to start talking about that issue? My belief is that if a client is airing an effective commercial enough times to the appropriate audience that they are trying to reach, they will be satisfied with the result. You can only build the value of these commercials if they work and the only way that they will work is if we all slow down the process and take the time to develop campaigns that can keep a listeners attention for even 10 seconds!

D.J. Williams, President,
The Jetset Media Workshop

Editor's note: For comparison, Williams supplied us with what is essentially the same spot in each length.
Listen to the :30.
Listen to the :60.

Arbitrends

Upped & Tapped

Seemiller to Salem
Jim Seemiller, most recently Regional Market Manager for Keymarket in Pittsburgh, has returned to Phoenix as General Sales Manager of Salem's KKNT-AM and KPXQ-AM.

Murphy moves up
Dial Communications-Global media has promoted radio sales veteran John Murphy from Director of Talk/New Business to Vice President/Talk Programming Sales.

Stations For Sale

Top 50 Market in the Carolinas LMA Opportunity
Solid 5,000 watt AM daytimer in one of the most attractive and fastest growing markets in the southeast. Strong Hispanic Demographics. Partial LMA or extended time brokerage also a possibility. Email serious inquiries to: [email protected]

3 station cluster
Well managed smaller market 3 station cluster in beautiful northern California. Positive cash flow. Includes newer equipment and real estate. $2.25 million. The Exline Team, Andy McClure, Dean LeGras,
415-479-3484, [email protected]

More News Headlines

Sir Howard moves up

NAB adds training weekend

Mitsubishi enters OEM deal
with Sirius

RBR Radar 2005

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

AAAAs session: Are the data valid?
Examining the state of research across all forms of media today and how the industry can and does audit those processes - Jon Mandel, Chairman/MediaCom US and Chief Global Buying Officer MediaCom Worldwide started off by commenting that it's not a question of "trusting the data," the problem is not with Nielsen, Arbitron, etc. If you look at the delays of LPM, for example, "I think what has happened is the sales sides have forgotten how to sell and they would rather lie. And so they're expanding the numbers...the networks would rather lie than sell. Go out and put local people meters in 200 markets tomorrow. Don't listen to those guys because they don't want us to know what's really happening.
RBR observation: If you were looking for a forecast both Mandel and Zack nailed it on the head - Participation and Honesty. This is the year all houses have to be put into working order and move forward.
03/07/05 RBR #46

Nexstar CEO Perry Sook hangs tough and advertisers hang on
Advertising declines have been only about a third of what was expected in the four markets where cable MSOs have pulled Nexstar's network affiliate TV signals rather than pay for retransmission consent. From where he stands, it appears that the cable companies are paying a higher toll in lost subscribers than any ad losses for his company, but the cable MSOs aren't yielding. In fact, Sook says, one of the cable companies is giving away HBO or another premium channel to keep customers from canceling their service - - something that's costing them far more than the 30 cents a month per subscriber that Nexstar wants for retransmission consent. TVBR observation: Sook had to defend his position when an angry shareholder accused him of endangering the company's financial future because of his fight with cable. Sook wasn't phased, because he is convinced that making cable pay for local TV retransmission, just like the satellite TV companies and other cable competitors do - - and indeed, the cable companies do for all other content sources - - is vital to the long-term survival of the local television business. Editor's Note: Keep the pressure up Perry and you will win. How do we know? Sook is programming against the MSO's and with their move to give Free HBO that is the first blink of over reacting. In PD talk - this is the first step of any competitor that is about to self implode. It would be wise if the rest of Sook's colleagues has the balls to join in his quest for balance of scale. - For more vital issues such as the one facing Sook, be sure to sign up for our April issue of Radio & Television Business Report -The Real Business Magazine as we go One-on-One with NAB's Eddie Fritts. Get it here. 03/07/05 RBR #46

Bounce Back on CCU's LIM
In reality, "Less Is More" of the same. The same lack of thinking-through radio's problems and how to solve them. CC launches LIM in an attempt to increase value for their product and releases research to show how being in "first position" in a pod is beneficial to the advertiser and worth paying a premium for. Didn't it occur to anyone at CC that what they were really doing was de-valuing the rest of their inventory? Are they to have a sliding scale? Will the price for spots go down for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, position? Do you want this traffic nightmare? Do we really want to go there? - Alan Gray New Generation Broadcasting
03/07/05 RBR #46

February Digital Print Magazine Now Available

"The Pros and Cons
of Nielsen's LPM and Arbitron's
proposed PPM service"
After a rocky start, it's roll-out time of LPM & PPM. Will there be cooperation or more talk?

GM talkback: "How has LPM ratings changed selling in your market?" TV GMs say what they think-the good, bad and the ugly.

Media, Markets, and Money: Only one place tells it like it is with a run-down and overview of the biggest quarterly Radio and TV deals and outlook to 2005.

November Zinio Solutions Magazine
Read RBR/TVBR in 2 simple steps:
1.Create a simple account with Zinio and download the Zinio Reader.
2. You can then download the February Issue of RBR/TVBR

Radio Sales
Memphis, TN
Flinn Broadcasting, with a variety of radio formats, is seeking Marketing Consultants. Requires 1 year radio sales experience. Offering the highest commissions in Memphis, 20% direct, 15% agency and a relocation allowance. Flinn Broadcasting - EOE

See Radio Careers for more info.

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