Credit likely to remain tight for rest of 2008
Jeff Kilrea Co-President, Corporate Finance at CapitalSource Finance LLC is the latest lending expert to check in as RBR/TVBR assesses the credit markets for radio and television deals. He too says credit remains tight. Noting that Magna's Bob Coen, the dean of ad forecasters, lowered his estimates just this week, Kilrea expects that trend of lower ad spend estimates to continue, which in turn will keep a tight rein on broadcast lending terms.

Full-strength FEC ready to go to work
A deal between Senate Majority Leader Harry Read (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has finally resulted in a full six-member contingent at the Federal Election Commission. The new panel consists of no less than five new members, who will hold their first public meeting today. The lone survivor from the previous incarnation of the FEC is Ellen L. Weintraub (D), who has been serving as Vice Chair of the three-Republican, three-Democrat board.

TVBR observation: The FEC has been hamstrung during the early stages of the 2008 campaign by lack of a quorum. But the FEC tends to be hamstrung anyway, by design. It should come as no surprise that a large number of the more controversial issues before the FEC result in a 3-3 party-line tie vote. So the rules of the road from now through November likely will be pretty much the same as they have been since the primaries began.

Another issue group announces media plans
Vets for Freedom says the money has to spend can be measured in the multi-millions of dollars, and it plans to spread that around in all 50 states in an effort to promote victory in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, the campaign intends to put a special spotlight in a dozen target states. It has selected patriotic bookends for its campaign, kicking off on Independence Day 7/4/08 and running through Veterans Day 11/11/08 - a term which is noticeably coincident with the remainder of the 2008 election cycle. It says it is bipartisan, and is known to have supported Republicans, Democrats and the 2006 candidacy of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). Although television is prominently mentioned as a part of the group's plan (creative fore several TV spots is said to be "in the queue"), it also mentions its intention to focus on grassroots efforts utilizing print and broadcast. The 12 states singled out for special attention include MN, IA, WI, MI, PA, NV, NM, MO, CO, OH, FL & VA.

TVBR observation: Although it has supported specific candidates in the past, this group will likely have to focus strictly on the issues and leave the individual politicians out of their messages.

CBS "unleashes" campaign for Greatest American Dog
In a new campaign to promote the new summer reality series Greatest American Dog, the CBS Marketing Group unveiled pack of promotions designed to fetch the attention of dog lovers and enthusiasts through targeted media outlets and outreach in the environments where they hang out - both online and out-of-home. The show, premiering today (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS, is supported by an integrated marketing campaign spanning online promotions on Dogster.com, a pet destination on the Internet; video displays in selected supermarkets; branded hot dog stands and dog walker street teams in New York; and advertising on cable and radio, and in print and movie theaters. Dogster.com has created pet profiles for the contestants, allowing users to find out more about the dog stars. Visitors to Dogster.com can also participate in fan club groups featuring chat, forums and weekly show highlights and teasers. In addition, the show will be promoted on Dogster.com's "Dog Blog" and newsletter. The primetime show will also be supported by cable, radio and cinema advertising targeted to families and dog enthusiasts, as well as a full-page ad in the July issue of The Bark, an upscale monthly dog culture magazine sold in Barnes & Noble, Whole Foods, PetCo, and other national and local specialty retail chains.

Coors Brewing launches responsible drinking campaign
Just as America celebrated its birthday, Coors Brewing Company launched a drunk driving prevention campaign, "You Hold the Key. Never Drive Drunk."
The campaign, which targets males 21-34, broke over the July 4th weekend. It will run in over 60 locations including Chicago's top sports bars and T.G.I. Friday's restaurants across Chicagoland. The campaign will be featured on OnSite Network's Chicago network through December. This timeline will enable Coors to cover several major sporting events and seasons when sports bars have the most viewers. These include the MLB season and World Series, the NFL season, NASCAR Racing to the Finish and the 2008 Summer Olympics, among other opportunities. Creative is based on a campaign developed by DraftFCB. Creative production for OnSite Network was completed by OSN's internal staff.

FOX rocks out with new Osbournes variety show
Move over, Donny and Marie. Ozzy and Sharon are coming to FOX. The network has teamed up with the "Prince of Darkness," ordering six episodes of The Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous (working title), a new hour-long variety show hosted by Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon and their kids Jack and Kelly. The series will mix musical performances, comedy sketches and game-show competitions with the Osbournes' unique blend of humor and outrageous sensibility. The eccentric clan pioneered the modern-day family-centric reality series with their hit show, "The Osbournes." The show is produced by FremantleMedia North America. James Sutherland serves as executive producer.

Dan Patrick joins NBC's "Football Night in America"
Dan Patrick has been named a co-host of NBC's "Football Night in America" studio show, reuniting him with Keith Olbermann who worked together on ESPN's SportsCenter from 1992-97. Patrick, who will handle highlight duties with Olbermann, joins host Bob Costas and co-hosts Cris Collinsworth and Olbermann, along with analysts Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber and reporter Peter King. Patrick is currently a columnist at Sports Illustrated and contributes to SI.com. In October of 2007, Patrick began hosting a new version of The Dan Patrick Show, distributed nationally through The Content Factory and Premiere Radio Networks. The show airs from 9 a.m. to Noon ET and on XM-144 from 10 a.m. to Noon ET.

Syndi ratings stable
Not much change to report in the top 10 for the past week, according to the weekly ratings from the Syndicated Network Television Association (SNTA), based on data from Nielsen Media Research. As usual, "Judge Judy" is in command.

Source: Nielsen Galaxy Explorer. Excludes sports and children programming. Live+SD AA/GAA.

Campaign still unshakable
from coverage spotlight
However, the Project for Excellence in Journalism coverage charts show that the media realizes that there are in fact other stories out their worthy of note. The 2008 campaign remained the top story for the week of 6/30-08-7/6/08 nonetheless, but with only 26% of the total newshole. It even dipped under 50% -- barely - on cable, where it's not uncommon for 70%+ saturation coverage. A number of domestic issues and foreign events duked it out for coverage, with Colombia hostages, Iraq and Afghanistan combining for 13%, edging gas/oil and the US economy with 12%. Wildfires, the 4th of July and the passing of former broadcaster Jesse Helms rounded out the top 10. Click on the headline for media-by-media charts.

Back to a down day
Wall Street turned gloomy again with worries about the health of the financial sector. The Dow Industrials fell 237 points, or 2.1%, to 11,147.

TV stocks dropped as well. The TVBR Television Index fell 1.311, or 2.5%, to 52.081. LIN fell 5.8% and Gray Television 5.2%.

Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday

Company	Symbol	Close		Chng	Company	Symbol	Close		Chng
Acme*	ACME		1.31	+0.01	Journal Comm.	JRN		4.60	-0.09
Belo*	BLC		6.86	-0.15	Lincoln Natl.	LNC		45.52	-1.46
CBS CI. B*	CBS		17.63	-0.18	LIN TV*	TVL		5.24	-0.32
CBS CI. A	CBSa		17.62	-0.19	McGraw-Hill	MHP		36.92	-1.61
Clear Channel	CCU		35.40	+0.01	Media General	MEG		11.50	-0.27
Disney	DIS		29.54	-0.41	Meredith	MDP		25.19	-0.84
Emmis	EMMS		2.00	-0.11	News Corp.	NWS		14.63	-0.34
Entravision*	EVC		3.37	-0.10	Nexstar*	NXST		2.89	-0.09
Equity Media	EMDA		0.51	-0.01	Saga Commun.	SGA		5.32	-0.12
Fisher*	FSCI		32.04	-1.10	SBS	SBSA		0.95	-0.09
Gannett	GCI		18.99	-0.49	Scripps	SSP		3.25	-0.07
Gen. Electric	GE		27.19	-0.87	Sinclair*	SBGI		7.58	-0.22
Google	GOOG		541.55	-12.98	Time Warner	TWX		13.89	-0.46
Gray*	GTN		2.74	-0.15	Wash. Post	WPO		589.70	+3.50
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		4.63	0.00	Young	YBTVA		0.26	+0.04
Hearst-Argyle*	HTV		19.65	+0.16	-	-	-	-	-

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Ad Business Report
CBS "unleashes"
Campaign for Greatest
American Dog, primetime show
will be supported by cable,
radio and cinema advertising

Programming Business Report
NBC plans for broadcasts
Of Olympic proportions

FOX rocks out
With new Osbournes variety show

Dan Patrick joins NBC's
"Football Night in America"

Tribune grabs another
This time the new hire at Tribune Company isn't coming directly from radio. Tim Dukes, now VP/Promotions for Tribune's broadcasting and interactive divisions, was most recently a stock broker for Wachovia. Before that, though, he had a long radio career with Jacor and Emmis.

IA Net addition
Patrick Peters has been named Sr. VP of Business Development and Marketing for the Italian American network. Peters comes to the cable/broadband media company from the packaged goods business, where he had a long career in executive positions at Unilever.

Noble to Peach Arch
Peace Arch Entertainment Group, an integrated global entertainment company, announced that Gerry Noble has been named Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective July 21, 2008. Noble replaces interim CEO Jeff Sagansky, who remains with Peace Arch as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors together with Drew Craig. Noble was most recently President and CEO of Transit TV Network.

Plogstedt moves up
As Gerry Noble exits for Peach Arch, Marc Plogstedt has been named President of Transit TV Network. He was one of the original founders of the company.

New CBS affiliate
KBNZ had been a translator in Bend, OR for New Vision Television's KOIN-TV (CBS) Portland, but now the LPTV on analog Channel 7 is going to be a full-fledged CBS affiliate in its own right. New Vision Exec. VP Steve Spendlove told TVBR he hopes to launch in mid-September, with KBNZ originating some local news and gradually simulcasting less and less of KOIN as it builds local programming.

Jim Thompson new Prez of Broadcasters Foundation
Veteran television and radio executive Jim Thompson will take over as President of the Broadcasters Foundation of America, effective August 4th. The foundation had been seeking a new president to continue the work of Gordon Hastings since last October. Hastings will reestablish Gordon Hastings & Associates and continue marketing activities for foundation events. Thompson was VP/GM of Westinghouse's KYW-TV Philadelphia when he was tapped to become President of the company's Group W Radio division in 1989. He was later a partner in Liberty Broadcasting, CEO of Hibernia Communications and CEO of Craven-Thompson Communications. "Jim's leadership abilities and his knowledge of the broadcasting industry makes him the ideal candidate for this position," said Phil Lombardo of Citadel Communications, Chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation of America and head of the search committee.

TVBR observation: What can we say? Jim is a great guy and we've missed having reasons to talk to him much in the last few years when he was doing things like buying The Village Voice. It will be great to have him back where he belongs - in broadcasting.

IPG creates "Mediabrands"; adds Seiler, Hudes
The Interpublic Group unveiled a new structure and a number of senior level personnel moves after the introduction of the holding company's "aligned" media strategy 18 months ago and its subsequent decision to assign oversight across its media units to a task force led by Nick Brien. Said Michael Roth, IPG Chairman and CEO: "The creation of 'Mediabrands' will allow our media companies to share and leverage resources, as required to meet the needs of our clients in a highly complex and rapidly-changing media landscape that's being transformed by digital and the proliferation of content and media platforms."