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Volume 22, Issue 96, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Monday Morning May 16th, 2005
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Radio News®
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 Interep investor denies hostile intent
Its proposals aren't being warmly welcomed by CEO Ralph Guild and the board of Interep (4/18/05 RBR #76), but officials of Oaktree Capital Management say their effort to press the company on a financial restructuring should not be regarded as "hostile." Rather, as Interep's largest bond holder and the owner of more than 2% of its stock, Oaktree says it is seeking an outcome which will be good for investors, clients and employees. Following a lengthy phone conversation on Friday, Oaktree officials sent RBR this statement summarizing their objectives: "Given the company's overleveraged balance sheet and constrained operating flexibility, we strongly believe that Interep's Board must act quickly to implement a permanent capital structure solution. In our view, the positive year-over-year pacing data that Interep reported in its recent earnings release does not change the need for or inevitability of such balance sheet restructuring. Oaktree is interested in helping the company to restructure its balance sheet, whether or not we are directly involved in providing the solution. We are convinced this is the right thing for Interep, its key constituencies (including its shareholders, creditors, clients and employees) and the industry in general.
RBR observation: The folks at Oaktree don't like the "vulture capital" description frequently applied to the 28 billion bucks investment firm, but they don't deny that they seek out distressed companies and try to profit by pressing them to put their financial house back in order. Regardless of whether or not he likes having Oaktree as an investor, Ralph Guild is going to have to recapitalize Interep - - which he is now working on with Allen & Co. - - so employees and clients can have confidence in the rep firm's future. And Oaktree isn't the only party calling for him to put a succession plan in place. As Ralph prepares to celebrate 50 years in the rep business in 2007, some clients and others now want to know who's going to be setting the agenda for the next era at Interep.
Response rates down again
Arbitron has been working since Spring 2003 to deal with the problem of declining response rates, but it continues to be vexed by the growing reluctance of Americans to participate in polls and surveys. The company says its efforts to boost response rates in 10 target low-response metros paid off in the Winter 2005 survey, with the extra effort resulting in a 3.7 percentage point improvement. However, response rates for all metros were down 0.7 points, with the top 10 markets down 0.5% points.
| View the Average Metro Survey Compliance Rates |
Missouri easing auto ad rules
 Broadcasters in Missouri should soon be able to pitch auto dealers to increase their radio and TV advertising - - without having to use a big chunk of their air time with legal disclosures. The state legislature has approved a wide-ranging bill dealing with regulation of auto dealers. Included is this language regarding ads: "If the advertisement is by means of a broadcast or print media, a dealer may provide the disclaimers and disclosures required [under another part of the bill] by reference to an Internet web page or toll-free telephone number containing the information required to be disclosed." All that's needed now is the governor's signature.
RBR observation: Kudos to Missouri Broadcasters Association President Don Hicks and his members for successfully lobbying to have the Internet/phone option added to Senate Bill No. 390. No more need for fast-talking announcers to try to fit 20 seconds of disclaimers into 10 seconds of air time so there'll be enough time left at the front to make a sales pitch to sell a car or truck.
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Next up: Product placement disclosure
A side issue to VNR IDing was brought up by Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein during last week's Senate Commerce Committee hearing which we thought was worth mentioning. "We are also seeing reports of a rising tide of product placement, and I'm concerned that there seems to be a lack of awareness of the need for disclosure under our rules in this area as well," said the commissioner. "This practice is likely to increase, given that embedding products within programming is partly a response to the fact that technology increasingly allows consumers to view television content how and when they choose."
RBR observation: No fake - - we all are aware that commercial zapping is motivating advertisers to seek out new and improved ways of getting their names, products and services out there. It may soon come to pass that disclosure in the form of text scrolling down on a third of the screen at the speed of light while a promo for a future show is occupying the other two thirds may be seen as inadequate. Watch for this issue to come up big in the next few years. Or maybe we can agree to agree that if a character eats a Lay's Potato Chip in the course of a show, we will all assume that Frito-Lays paid good money to make sure it was their chip, and not an Utz or a generic. (Neither Frito-Lay not Utz paid RBR any consideration for these mentions, which are strictly editorial devices). What'll prevent this from simply blowing over is when the politicos adopt the technique. Someone on "Star Trek" will say, "It's a good thing they confirmed Bolton back at the beginning of the 21st Century." Karl Rove will be testifying in the Senate the next day.
 Handicapping Vermont race
An early poll from Research 2000 shows that the Republicans will have an uphill battle on their hands if they hope to capture the Vermont US Senate seat being vacated by Jim Jeffords (I-VT). Long a Republican, he switched his status to Independent in 2001 and has generally voted along with the body's Democratic minority. Fellow Independent Bernie Sanders, who is the state's lone Congressman, and could be considered even farther left of center than the average Democrat, has announced his candidacy for the seat. According to the Associated Press, he has commanding leads over two potential Republican opponents. He'd beat Lt. Gov. Bruan Dubie 59%-23%, and would trounce Richard Tarrant 62%-18%. Obviously as the one and only rep in the state, Sanders is no stranger to statewide campaigns.
Tribune revenues fell in April
Blaming Nielsen's Local People Meters for a drop in TV revenues in New York, LA, Chicago and Boston, along with a soft advertising market in general, Tribune Company reported that April TV revenues were down 7.1% to 99.7 million. Radio/Entertainment was also down, but only by 3.6% to 20.7 million. That was blamed on fewer shows being produced by Tribune Entertainment producing fewer syndicated TV shows. In all, the Broadcasting and Entertainment division saw April revenues fall 6.5% to 120.4 million. Newspaper ad revenues were up 1% to 249.7 million, due entirely to an 8.2% gain for classified. Retail was flat and national fell 7%.
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| Upfront 2005 |
 No buzz building as Upfront kicks off
No water cooler talk, no excitement, no predictions from people like Les Moonves at CBS on proclaiming a double-digit gain for his Upfront. What we are hearing is nothing from ad planners and buyers. That means nobody wants to stick their neck out - - or are they just hoping everything says status quo. Nobody wants to put a voodoo on this year's Upfront. The talk over the past four months at various media conferences has been - - Don't expect to see power of the 2003 season because 2004 was just ho hum. The big question is how bad will the traditional networks of NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, UPN, WB get hit at the expense of cable? At the network level who will get the most and who will lose? Lose because of lack of passion and commitment to programming content. Network programming heads in Hollywood are used to playing checkers instead of chess. Cable most likely will see a shift in ad dollars from broadcast, based mostly on what was received from last year. The networks Upfront was flat at 9 plus billion. Why? Advertisers ran to other media, with cable leading the way, which was up 20%, to 6.4 billion. This moving of money from network to cable will not stop but grow big time. Prepare yourselves for a so-so Upfront. Networks will rely on demand of their content, which is dropping pounds like a Big Fat Loser, really. Dollars will be flat this year with more of a shift of where past money was spent moving from one network to another based on who has the hottest program content now. Cable will be strong as syndication is smiling.
NBC is first (and worst)
There's no place to go but down as they are now the 4th network in 18-49 demo and little in new programming content to move it forward. "Friends" and "Frazier" are long gone, leaving the Peacock with all four "Law & Order" incarnations trying to cross-program episodes to keep the attention span flowing. But #4, "L&O: Trial by Jury," isn't scoring big ratings, so it may not return. As for their other drama, West Wing seems to be winging it. Some others will be unveiled today, but so far we haven't heard any excitement about them. The reality programming of "The Donald" - - "The Apprentice" should hold the line for NBC this season only. The saving grace for NBC is the cross-platforming RBR/TVBR has been talking about the past 1-1/2 years. And, product placement with the NBC Universal properties will be their key assets. The big question: Will NBC face the same problems as ABC did with Monday Night Football but on Sunday night - - getting half way into the season and left with non-contender games that nobody wants to watch. NBC may get a little flexibility on games, but all must remember that viewers are attached to their favorite team and if their team is not in the schedule they loses locally. Last, NBC owns no radio stations to help with its marketing. They sold them all years ago and now behind closed doors they probably kick themselves as they wish they could use the radio medium to drive viewers to their nightly programming.
 Also today: The WB
It looks like "Summerland" is going bye-bye. The Frog net has high hopes for "Supernatural" - - two brothers who go around the country tracking unexplained phenomena. Several new comedies are on tap for the Fall as the WB tries to get back to the strong numbers in young viewers that it once enjoyed.
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| Publishers Perspective |
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 Going by CEO example to win
Here's one for all CEO's to look into the mirror and follow by example. Your company is in trouble, losing cash by the tons, bleeding badly and your company needs cash to survive. Conclusion, CEO don't take your big bucks paychecks and perks. That's what Ford's Bill Ford is doing and will forgo all compensation until his family's company returns the profit page of the ledger books. Ford will not be taking his 1.5 million compensation package and also forgo other forms of compensation which last year totaled around 22 million, mostly in stock. So, CEOs of these troubled companies - - we have listened to your conference calls and your problems. Now do as Bill Ford is doing, stop taking the cash your company needs and put your bucks where your company needs it and not in your pocket.
TVBR observation: Yep I agree and like the saying, "Been there done that and sometimes still do," said RBR/TVBR Publisher Jim Carnegie. It works when you believe in your product and company.
DETROIT, United States:
Ford Motor Company's top executive said he will forgo all compensation until his family's company returns to profitability and will ask for future pay to be tied to the company's performance. Bill Ford traditionally turns down a 1.5 million dollar cash compensation package entitled to him as company leader. He will now also forgo other forms of compensation, which last year totaled 22 million dollars, mostly in the form of stock. Bill Ford said he will wait until he and the compensation committee "are satisfied that the company has achieved and is sustaining profitability" before accepting any pay. A spokesman told AFP that Ford will record a zero payout to its CEO in 2005 and may also do so in 2006. The automaker has been struggling with weak sales and saw its debt downgraded to junk status on May 5 by credit risk appraiser Standard and Poor's.
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Adbiz©
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 IPG ousts Sirvaitis
after GM dumps Mediaworks
Interpublic's GM Mediaworks CEO Rick Sirvaitis has been pushed out of the ad holding firm following the loss of the car maker's buying account, the company said Friday. Sirvaitis handled GM's 3.2 billion in annual spend. Earlier last week, GM consolidated the media account with Starcom MediaVest's GM Planworks, a unit of Publicis. Dennis Donlin, GM Planworks chief, talked to RBR/TVBR last week about the move (5/12/05 TVBR #94). The buying accounts are expected to fully transition to GM Planworks by 10/1.
Coca Cola phasing out Minute Maid soft drinks
Coca-Cola announced it is phasing out its declining Minute Maid fruit-flavored soft drinks, which has been eclipsed in the US by its Fanta brand. Minute Maid drinks were introduced in the mid-1980s. Coca-Cola said it would not support the line with marketing or advertising in the future, but would still sell concentrate to those bottlers who wanted to distribute the products. "Minute Maid soft drinks are still available in a few regions, but clearly our success with Fanta flavored CSDs and the growth they've demonstrated has essentially replaced Minute Maid CSDs in our portfolio," Coke spokesman Scott Williamson told Reuters. The phase-out will not affect availability of other Minute Maid products. Coca-Cola sold 38 million cases of Minute Maid soft drinks in the US last year, down from 145 million cases in 2000, according to Beverage Digest.
Account Action: A run-down of recent reviews and moves
* Northwestern Mutual has placed its 15 million advertising account in review. J. Walter Thompson is the incumbent.
* Subway has hired Alloy Marketing and Promotions to execute a promotional campaign targeting Teens. The program is scheduled for Q3.
* Macy's has chosen Latinvox NY to handle national advertising for the Hispanic market.
* H.J. Heinz has consolidated advertising for its entire U.S. Consumer Products brand portfolio - including Heinz Ketchup and Classico sauces - with Cramer-Krasselt Chicago. The accounts were previously handled by Leo Burnett and Campbell Mithun.
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| Radio & Television Business Report Magazine |
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June Magazine '05 Clock is Ticking-Heading for Closure
 National Sales:
EDI - Electronic Data Interchange, sometimes synonymous with Electronic Invoicing
Kathy Crawford, MindShare President, Local Broadcast, speaks her mind on EDI, specifically stating what solutions she needs from the software and keying entries to get stations faster payment in an exclusive column. States straight up, "Lest you should all think that our work is done in the world of EDI. Think again!" EDI- the focus of the future of national spot dollar. Who is and who isn't involved. From the rep firms to the software companies, we get answers. The Clock is ticking on EDI. Closure in '05?
Reserve your Ad Marketing Space today. Advertising space is limited, contact:
June Barnes [email protected] ----- or ----- Jim Carnegie [email protected]
"Make sure you receive this June EDI Report " | New Readers Sign Up Here |
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| Media Markets & MoneyTM |
Clear Channel spins one in Durham
The radio giant is seemingly content to operate from the FM side alone in the Raleigh-Durham market. It's spinning Oldies WDUR-AM to a local owner that already has a Sports AM in the market. The buyer, Triangle Sports Broadcasters, will pay 1.127M for the Durham-licensed station, putting it into a duopoly with WTSB-AM, licensed to Selma. Clear Channel retains CHR WDCG-FM, Rock WRDU-FM, AC WRSN-FM and Oldies WRVA-FM.
Close encounter in Atlanta
Charles Kim and his Pacific Star have taken over the keys to the decidedly non-Pacific area WPBS-AM Atlanta. According to broker John Pierce, seller Christ in You the Hope and Glory Church Inc. and its Franklin Walden are now the proud owners of 2.25M in consideration for the station. It marks Kim's rapid return to the market - - he just sold WPBC-AM for 3M (1/27/05 RBR #19).
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| Washington Beat |
 House caucus preps
for Telecom rewrite
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) are hoping that their Future of American Media Caucus can help steer debate as media issues, including the DTV transition and a rewrite of Telecom 1996 hit the committees in the near future. To that end, they convened a meeting last Thursday 5/12/05 to discuss the issues with a panel consisting of FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, Gene Kimmelman of the Consumers Union and Peter Pitsch of Intel. Copps said there was good news and bad news on the media consolidation front. Good - - the court remanded the 2003 back to the FCC for reconsideration. Bad - - the FCC is the same organization that came up with those rules in the first place. He said he expects that putting into place the same deregulatory rules will be attempted, but perhaps one at a time, to get them under the radar screen. He said he and fellow Democrat Jonathan Adelstein will continue to try and keep the public on top of the situation. He noted he had surprisingly widespread support, saying it was "not a Republican or Democratic, liberal of conservative, red state of blue state issue." Kimmelman's biggest gripe was the failure to date to attach meaningful public interest obligations to multicasting TV broadcasters one the DTV transition does kick in. Pitsch wanted the transition sped up, saying the spectrum was valuable and would enable nearly universal wireless broadband access, and would enable cheaper access devices, to the benefit of everyone. He urged subsidies be put in place to the non-MVPD TV crowd, saying the auction of the spectrum would more than cover the tab.
Looks like another quiet Open Meeting
The FCC Open Meeting for May is scheduled for next week - - Thursday, 5/19/05, to be precise - - and if you're in the broadcasting business, it promises to be a real snoozer. There are only two items on the agenda, and both concern the Wireline Competition Bureau. Watch out - - this can't keep happening forever...
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 4/4/05-4/8/05
The beginning of Q2 wasn't all that hot, but at least it didn't stay in the lowly turf occupied by the end of Q1. Still, it was an unusual week - - 11 deals for 11 stations. Not so much as one combo was dealt. And still no word from the TV side.
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Total
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Total Deals
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11
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AMs
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3
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FMs
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8
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TVs
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0
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| Value |
16.89M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
Grand Island deal has energy to top them all
| More... |
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TV Transactions of the Week
Not yet... |
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| Transactions |
1,987,500. KSEC-FM Fayetteville AR (Bentonville AR) from Bentonville Broadcasting LLC (Norman McChristian, Kimberly Hope Duke) to Lazeta 957 Company (Leticia Vega, Edward J. Vega). 198,750 escrow, balance in cash at closing. [File date 4/15/05.]
400K WDLX-AM Greenville-New Bern-Washington (Washington NC) from NM Licensing LLC, a subsidiary of NextMedia Group LLC (Skip Weller et al) to Pirate Media Group LLC (Troy Dreyfuss, Jonathan Ellerbe, Don J. Edwards, Walter Williams). 20K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WGHB-AM Farmville NC. [File date 4/15/05.]
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| Stock Talk |
Consumer confidence drop unnerves Wall Street
Blue chips fell Friday as the stock market was surprised by an unexpectedly large drop in consumer confidence, as measured by the University of Michigan's monthly survey. The Dow Industrials fell 49 points, or 0.5%, to 10,140. But other measures were missed, with the Nasdaq Composite up, but the S&P 500 down.
Radio stocks were mostly lower. The Radio Index fell 0.338, or 0.2%, to 197.954. Falling the furthest was Fisher, down 2.6%. The day's best performer was Salem, up 2.6%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Friday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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39.32
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-0.25
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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49.06
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-0.40
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Beasley
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BBGI
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17.49
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-0.09
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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16.13
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+0.05
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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11.56 |
-0.03 |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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12.86
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-0.14
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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29.93
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-0.10
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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12.90
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-0.15
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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15.29
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-0.26
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Regent
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RGCI
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5.75
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+0.03
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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11.61
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-0.22
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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14.01
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-0.18
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Disney
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DIS
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27.00
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+0.25
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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16.91
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+0.42
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Emmis
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EMMS
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17.99
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-0.02
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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5.35
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+0.10
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| Entercom |
ETM
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31.79
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+0.17
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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8.07
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-0.01
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.37
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+0.02
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Univision
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UVN
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26.06
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+0.14
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Fisher
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FSCI
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48.26
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-1.28
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
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34.57
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-0.17
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Gaylord
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GET
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39.55
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-0.45
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
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34.50
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-0.09
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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24.70
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-0.10
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Westwood One
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WON
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19.43
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+0.27
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Interep
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IREP
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0.48
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-0.04
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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28.26
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+0.02
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International Bcg.
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IBCS
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0.01
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unch
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-
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-
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- |
-
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-
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Bounceback
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 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]
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Upped & Tapped
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Left Coast sales boss
Gerryann Agovino, most recently Director of National Sales for Clear Channel's LA cluster, has joined Entercom as Vice President of National Sales West Coast.
TKO Radio Network taps Hilber
Thompson Kent Organization, Inc./TKO Radio Network, with offices and studios in Dallas and Cleveland announced Michael Hilber as the Director of Affiliate Relations. Hilber was employed for the past two years with the Cleveland-based Envision Radio Networks. TKO produces and syndicates Hall of Fame Coast to Coast and Into the 70s with Tom Kent.
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Stations for Sale
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Nevada "C" Class FM:
Positive C.F., Market Favorite. Upgrade Pending. Asking $1M. Residential Property
Available for $300K.
Brett Miller - MCH Enterprises, Inc.
Full Presentation Available.
[email protected]
805.237.0952
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TVBR - TV News
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NBC claims
breech by Paxson
 You had to see this coming. Although Paxson Communications President Dean Goodman has told TVBR that the company has no intention of going all-infomercial (4/25/05 TVBR #81), NBC Universal has now filed an arbitration claim accusing Paxson of breeching its contracts with NBC Uni, which owns about a third of Paxson. "Paxson's intention to terminate its network, national and local sales agreements with NBC Universal, and its desire to abandon its sales operations and advertiser-supported television network, violates the clear terms of those agreements. We have expressed repeatedly to Paxson's Board of Directors and its management that their course of action is not in the best interest of the company or its stakeholders," NBC Uni said in announcing its latest legal action.
TVBR observation: We won't try to predict how the arbitrator will rule, but it's clear that both companies would be much happier if they could find a way to get out of their long-troubled relationship. The problem, though, is finding someone with two billion plus to cash out both NBC Uni and Bud Paxson so this valuable collection of FCC licenses and cable carriage agreements can be put to a better use than scoring a 0.4 average Nielsen rating. But until that buyer shows up, Goodman is going to have to focus on cutting costs and stemming the flow of red ink - - whether NBC Uni likes it or not.
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RBR Radar 2005
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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Sirius problem:
Stern may backfire with carmakers
Decision by Hyundai to make XM Satellite Receivers standard equipment in all of its '07 cars rather than rival Sirius, came down to one issue: Howard Stern. Surveying 300-400 Hyundai owners execs were stunned by how many people wrote-in, unprompted, that they were, in his words, "uncomfortable with programming from Stern." Also preferred the way the XM logo looked on the receiver faceplate, saying that AM/FM/XM is "neat and clean." RBR observation: Guess those Hyundai owners haven't ever heard Opie & Anthony on XM's "High Voltage" channel and don't realize that XM also offers the Playboy Channel. Those are already up and running on XM, while Stern won't debut on Sirius until next year. 05/13/05 RBR #95
Pine rallies the troops at Interep
Distributed a memo to his staffers assuring them that the company is building business, despite reports to the contrary. Pine didn't specifically mention critical comments last week in the Cumulus and Radio One calls, he noted that both SBS CEO Raul Alarcon and Entercom CEO David Field made a point of praising Interep's staffers in their conference calls. The Ta-Dum - working with Allen & Co. on refinancing Interep's public bonds. RBR observation: Preaching to the choir is fine, but Interep clearly needs to do a better job of getting its message out to Wall Street. Since the company no longer conducts quarterly conference calls and no analysts actively cover its stock, bad PR just kept building last week after Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey lashed out at Interep in his quarterly conference call. 05/13/05 RBR #95
Who's hot? Who's not?
Wall Street assesses the Upfront
Starts now, fall schedules and start booking ad purchases it's not just Madison Avenue that will be watching. How the nets do in the upfront affects the bottom line and stock performance of their parent companies, so Wall Street is keeping a close watch on the goings on. In advance of the annual hoopla, Goldman Sachs is predicting that the total take from this year's upfront will be down 5% from last year, the first decline in five years, although CBS and ABC should do well because of their improved positions in the ratings. CIBC World Markets isn't so pessimistic, it projects a 2% rise in upfront bookings and also sees CBS and ABC as the big gainers. .
RBR observation: Pay close attention as this spills over into your national spot and local business. Make sure your staff and colleague are also be reading Television Business Report, not then tell them to go to www.tvbr.tv and get it.
05/13/05 RBR #95
Journal has its sights on Emmis TV
Hours after the group went on the auction block, Journal CEO Steve Smith was telling a Robert W. Baird investor conference in Chicago that his company was interested in buying the Emmis TV. In fact, Smith called Jeff Smulyan before last month's NAB'05 and told him that if Emmis were ever to consider selling Journal would be interested. But there's still a question of where values are in the market today, although he said that's less of an issue in TV than in radio.
05/12/05 RBR #94
Latest rumor: Disney may sell radio
Lot up for sale, the latest rumor to make the rounds is that Disney CEO-to-be Bob Iger may be interested in selling the ABC Radio group.
RBR observation: This rumor seems to pop up about once each year. The only thing that might give it more credence this time is the changing of the guard at Disney. With Bob Iger taking over as CEO, he's looking at what sort of company he wants to be running going forward. But Disney has always been much more of a buyer than a seller, so don't be surprised if the radio operation stays right where it is. Also, there's the question of whether this is a great time to sell. With stock prices so low for the public companies, they can't pay a premium price for even beachfront properties at least nothing this big. That would greatly limit the pool of potential bidders.
05/12/05 RBR #94
Battle for the UpFront bucks:
The Scorecard
Big bucks are on the line as the TV networks pitch advertisers and agencies for upfront commitments for next season. More than 8.5 billion is expected to be at stake. This horse race is a little easier to handicap: CBS is hoping to surpass NBC for the first time in total dollars booked - ABC is likely to be the most improved over last year, based on its improved ratings. is expected to book less upfront money than last year due to its ratings decline. We've put the Nielsen numbers together for you in a Scorecard. View the Network Primetime numbers
05/12/05 RBR #94
GM picks Starcom
MediaVest for 3.2B
Awarded Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Chicago with its 3.2 billion US buying account. The account had been with Interpublic's (Universal McCann's) GM-dedicated agency, GM Mediaworks Detroit for national and LCI New York, for regional buying. The move covers Dealer Association advertising as well (600 million in advertising). buying functions will move to the Planworks umbrella officially 10/1 (then, all a part of Starcom), with no name change expected. Dennis Donlin at GM Planworks is now in charge and tells RBR/TVBR what's ahead.
RBR observation: As Donlin said, the moves will be "aggressive." This is Lazar's and LaNeve's plans being put into motion. 05/12/05 RBR #94
Emmis bombshell:
TV group for sale, buying stock
After talking for five years about possibly splitting its radio and TV units into separate companies, has instead decided to exit the TV business with their 16 TV stations. One option is a management buyout, headed by TV Pres. Randy Bongarten. Jeff Smulyan said it had become necessary to sell the group to focus on the company's radio business. Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller asked whether the TV sale might just be phase one, leading to an eventual total sell-off, he didn't get no for an answer. 05/11/05 RBR #93
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General Manager
On the NJ Shore with at least five years suburban market and cluster exp. Strong sales but programming and engineering knowledge a plus. Excellent benefits including 401(k).
Broker Opportunity
Established in 1979, conducted over 1 billion in transactions seeking just one exec that desires to learn and become a player in the investment media station brokerage business. First quality in our firm is integrity.
Sales Position
We're expanding our sales force to spread the word about MusicMaster for Windows music scheduling software. Self-starters that can build relationships apply and grow. Must be able to travel but no relocation required.
See Radio Careers
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Radio Business Report -- 2050 Old Bridge Road, Suite B-01, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 -- Phone: 703-492-8191
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