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Volume 24, Issue 137, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Monday Morning July 16th, 2007
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TV News ®
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 Bidding for Cubbies could hit 1B
The Chicago Tribune has been keeping a close eye on the bidding for the hometown baseball team, which its parent firm, Tribune Company, has put up for sale. Internet/media billionaire Mark Cuban, who already owns a basketball team, has submitted his bid, but several others are also likely to make a play, including another with a broadcasting history, Craig Duchossois. He's a local industrial mogul in Chicago, but Duchossois Industries got into radio ownership in several large and medium markets in the 1980s as Duchossois Communications, selling the last of them in the mid-90s. Other local candidates are said to include Chicago Wolves (American Hockey League) owner Don Levin; Tom Ricketts, whose father in Omaha founded the TD Ameritrade discount stock brokerage; a group headed by John Canning, head of the private equity group Madison Dearborn Partners; and a joint bid by attorney Thomas Mandler and businessman Jim Anixter. Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA also lives in Big D, so is obviously not local, which may weigh against him. The Tribune also cited rumblings that some MLB owners just don't want the outspoken Cuban in their club.
TVBR observation: With so many well-heeled bidders, the final price tag should be substantial. Forbes magazine a few months ago ranked the Cubs as the 5th most valuable team in baseball, with an estimated value of 448 million bucks. But that was before the team was actually on the auction block. The Chicago Tribune says there are now rumors the bidding, which includes Tribune Company's one-quarter stake in the regional Comcast SportsNet, could end up around a billion bucks. Not a bad return for Tribune Company, which bought the Cubbies in 1981 for 21 million.
Indecency/violence bill headed for markup
The attempt by Sam Brownback (R-KS) to attach measures to an FCC funding bill which would restore the FCC's right to punish fleeting expletives and open a new FCC line of attack against violent programming was defeated. But it was in large part a procedural matter, since Dan Inouye's (D-HI) Commerce Committee claims jurisdiction and has it on the schedule for next week. A bill on the subject is being introduced by Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and although it has a number and name now - S. 1780, Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act - it has not yet made it onto the official Senate website. It is on the docket for a mark-up session scheduled for Thursday, 7/19/07 at 2:30PM Eastern along with five other bills and consideration of various nominations. Rockefeller's bill has officially become bipartisan, with the Committee's Ranking Member Ted Stevens (R-AK) adding his name to it along with two from Rockefeller's side of the aisle, Inouye and Mark Pryor (D-AR). "It is my hope the Commerce Committee will swiftly approve this bill and that we can work with the House to do the same,'" said Stevens. "It is important for the FCC to be able to continue to protect the American public from indecency on the radio and broadcast television." In a bit of unrelated business, the Committee also announced a hearing on the progress made thus far on the DTV transition, echoing a similar hearing held in the House by Ed Markey (D-MA) back in March. It's pegged for Thursday, 7/26/07 at 10AM.
TVBR observation: Although we couldn't look at S. 1780, we dug up a copy of its abandoned big brother, S. 616, which also addressed the issue of violent programming. It directed the FCC to come up with rules of the road for curbing violence. Of course, a key to this would be defining the crime, something S. 616 makes no attempt to do. When the FCC turned in its less-than-landmark study this spring, it also ducked that particular issue and suggested that Congress come up with a definition. In recent testimony before Congress on this topic, legal scholar Laurence Tribe suggested that the job was impossible, but that an expert agency like the FCC had a much better chance of success than a collective body such as Congress. Our belief is that the task is impossible. We've seen bills come out of this committee before, never to be seen again, and maybe this will be one of them, meaning committee members get to cast their vote in favor of protecting children without the embarrassment of being shot down in court. But if it does make it to the floor of the Senate, it will be difficult to vote against, so we may as well start booking court time ASAP in that event.
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 Goodman bumped from CCU buy
Disagreements over TV station buys and other issues have ended the partnership between Dean Goodman and American Security Capital Partners (ASCP). TVBR has learned that veteran radio executive Jeff Warshaw, pictured, will replace Goodman as CEO of the new company backed by ASCP to buy 187 radio stations from Clear Channel for 452.1 million dollars - the single largest package of the Clear Channel Radio divestitures in medium and smaller markets. Relations between Goodman - former President of Ion Media Networks and its predecessor, Paxson Communications - and his equity backer had been deteriorating for a couple of months as ASCP delayed approving the management team that Goodman had chosen and resisted buying TV stations as well, although that had been specified in the original partnership deal. Our sources say ASCP brought Warshaw in to give it a second opinion on the Clear Channel deal and Goodman's plans, then decided to go with Warshaw instead of Goodman. When contacted by TVBR, Warshaw would confirm only that "I have been working as their advisor."
Goodman confirmed to TVBR that he and ASCP have agreed to terminate their partnership, but not anything about his successor. He will continue to consult ASCP through closing of the Clear Channel purchase. Goodman will retain the GoodRadio.TV name and the non-Clear Channel stations, so ASCP will need a name change for the company as well when it files the FCC paperwork to change CEOs. Warshaw sold his first Connoisseur group, mostly to Cumulus Media, for 258 million. His second company, Connoisseur Media, currently owns 17 radio stations and four CPs, mostly in markets 100+. Note: TVBR's full station-by-station and market-by-market breakdown of the original Goodman/ASCP deal ran in May (5/16/07 TVBR #96).
TVBR observation: Don't shed too many tears for Dean Goodman. He got five million bucks when he left Ion and millions more when Citadel Capital took Ion private and bought out all of the public shareholders, including Dean. Now he gets a few million more from ASCP to walk away. With his own cash and that of the investors he had brought to the table (including Eddie Fritts, Larry Patrick and Carl Hirsch), Dean will be able to build a substantial radio and TV company without having to answer to a private equity partner. The six radio stations in Iowa that he already owns will be pulled out of the ASCP package, as will the 16-station Shepherd Group in Missouri that Dean is buying for 30 million. Other radio and TV buys are in the works and Dean's financing is not tied to the ASCP deal for the Clear Channel stations. Meanwhile, we also hear that ASCP is trying to get Clear Channel to reduce that 452 million price tag, complaining about some of the financial details of the station operations, including contracts with Premiere, Katz and other Clear Channel subsidiaries. But Clear Channel doesn't seem to be inclined to budge - and could go after the 20,344,500 escrow if ASCP tries to play hardball.
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 MIM's poll finding on fining
Meanwhile, the decency watchdogs are helping to pump up the volume in this area. Parents Television Council's Tim Winter condemned the vote turning down Sam Brownback's amendments on fleeting expletives and violence, though it appears at the time he was unaware that the Senate Commerce Committee was preparing to take up the topic in short order. On another front, according to a Harris Interactive poll commissioned by decency watchdog Morality in Media, a plurality of Americans think the FCC should be allowed to punish a major broadcast network for airing a single expletive, if you add those who somewhat agree to the 31% who strongly agree. Just over 1,000 adults aged 18 or older were asked the extent of agreement or disagreement with the statement, "The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, should have authority to fine any of the major broadcast TV networks, such as NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX, for airing a single expletive or 'four letter word.'" 31% strongly agreed, 21% somewhat agreed, for 52% on the agreeable side. 23% strongly disagreed and 19% somewhat disagreed, for 42%. 5% didn't know or were on the fence. MIM's Robert Peters said, "The truth also is that the First Amendment was never intended to endow the media with a right to curse whenever, wherever and however it wants, and as much as it wants."
TVBR observation: Peters, in discussing the recent fleeting expletive court decision, said "Furthermore, the two judges seemed to think the FCC no longer has authority to fine a broadcaster, even if the broadcaster airs curse words continuously." To that we say, Huh? We don't recall any challenge of the FCC's right, or absolving it of its duty to fine broadcasters for continuous cursing. And when is the last time anybody aired something like that anyway, besides "Saving Private Ryan?" We further find this to be a junk poll question, since it asks people for an opinion that is a matter of constitutional law and its juncture with FCC regulation, not exactly a breakfast table topic for most folks. We suggest a follow-up poll that asks how much agreement there is with this statement: "The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, should have authority to fine you up to 325K for accidentally uttering a single expletive or 'four letter word' near a live broadcast mic." Think 52% will agree with that one?
An easily resolved dispute
The Television Licensure Working Group filed an informal objection against the license renewal of Belo Corp.'s WHAS-TV in Louisville (as well as a non-commercial station). One body of complaint concerned the station's programming - the group claims that all Louisville television stations 'are seriously lacking in their coverage of crucial local issues." In their attempts to pursue these issues with the stations themselves, TLWG was apparently taken aback when it learned that "no copies of information contained in the public files could leave the studio." Not so, says Belo. No documents may leave the premises, it said, but "...it is not the station's policy to prohibit visitors from asking for and receiving copies." The rule on copies is that they must be provided on request, if the request is made in person. TLWG did not produce evidence that it was denied the opportunity to get copies, and Belo said it was policy to provide them. The matter was written off as a misunderstanding, and suggested to all licensees that they "clearly communicate their obligations under the public file rule to members of the public." As for the content challenge, the FCC said there was no evidence before it that suggested that WHAS was failing to serve the public interest, and even if their were, licensees have wide discretion in how they go about that task, and the FCC has little oversight authority.
TVBR observation: We don't know if this is a side effect of the public interest which was whipped up over the latest stalled FCC attempts at deregulation, but it does seem that we're seeing an increased flow of license challenges. We haven't seen one come close to succeeding, but it seems like license challenges may be edging toward trend status, on their way to fact of life status. An immediate effect may be throwing a roadblock in front of attempts to do away with the public file.
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| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
 NBC Uni revenues down, profits up
That's certainly better than the other way around, although it is still best to have both up. As he reported double digit earnings growth for all of General Electric in Q2, CEO Jeff Immelt said a strong upfront has given the media division "a solid foundation for future performance." NBC Universal got little attention in Friday's conference call with analysts, who mostly had questions about the termination of GE's 8.1 billion bucks deal to buy some health care businesses from Abbott Laboratories and its plans to exit the sub-prime mortgage business and sell off some parts from GE Capital, although Immelt refused to give any clue as to which parts of the finance business might be sold off. For the quarter, NBC Universal's revenues declined 6% to 3.63 billion bucks, while overall revenues for GE rose 12% to 42.3 billion. NBC Uni profits rose 2% to 904 million.
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Ad Business Report TM
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Applebee's selects AOR
Applebee's International has selected McCann Erickson of New York as its new creative agency of record, effective immediately. McCann Erickson is known for its work on iconic campaigns including MasterCard's "Priceless," Staples' "Easy Button" and Verizon's "The Network," among others. Applebee's first priority with McCann Erickson is to develop a new integrated communications campaign that will launch in the fourth quarter. "After an extensive agency review process, we are thrilled to have McCann Erickson on board to create fresh and compelling advertising that will take the Applebee's brand to a whole new level," said George Williams, Applebee's chief marketing officer. "We believe the concept McCann presented to us fits perfectly with our brand strategy. It will break through the category clutter, drive traffic to our restaurants and entertain everyone who sees it."
 TWC partners with DISH Network
for NASCAR Busch Series
The Weather Channel has partnered with DISH Network to sponsor Roush Fenway Racing's No. 26 car in Chicago and the No. 60 car in Indianapolis during this month's NASCAR Busch Series. The Weather Channel will serve as an in-market sponsor for the race car driven by Todd Kleuver in Chicago on 7/14 and by Carl Edwards in Indianapolis on 7/21. Viewers of TWC will get a look at the car in an interview with this Saturday's driver, Todd Kleuver, airing on Friday night and Saturday. In addition, the network will provide NASCAR fans with a race day forecast during Weekend View Saturday morning. As part of the partnership, TWC will also be a large component to DISH Network's at-track marketing program.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
Tribune looking to close in Q4
The acquisition of multimedia Tribune Company by Sam Zell and an employee ownership group is awaiting FCC approval, not just of the transaction, but of waivers under which the company hopes to keep alive grandfathering arrangements allowing broadcast and newspaper properties to be co-owned in the same market. Grandfather often is a casualty when such properties are sold, and the deal is said to be conditioned on a renewal of the waivers, which affect television/newspaper combinations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Hartford, and a television/radio/newspaper combination in Chicago, where Tribune's last radio station WGN-AM is located. According to Reuters, analysts have noted the FCC approval should be forthcoming as there "seems to be bipartisan political will" to allow the deal to go forward. In June, three key Democratic senators wrote the FCC on the matter, and while the trio stopped short of asking for renewing the waivers/grandfather clauses which allow the combinations to exist, they did call for swift FCC action to at least get all the cards on the table as soon as possible. Hometown legislator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was joined by Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in writing the letter.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
 More trouble for
Commerce elephants
It has been a very rough patch for Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee, and each situation has been a snowflake, completely unrelated to any other. In 2006, Conrad Burns (R-MT) lost his seat in a very close election that hinged in part on his dealings with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But the senator who really made headlines was George Allen (R-VA), who became the first politician to be victimized by YouTube. Since then, other members have had problems crop up. John Sununu (R-NH), who was narrowly elected in 2002, is suffering from very weak approval ratings in his home state, the prospect of a strong Democratic opponent and a bullseye painted on him by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Ranking Member Ted Stevens (R-AK) is under investigation for dealings with companies back in Alaska, and recent Chairman John McCain, while not facing loss of his Senate seat, is having all kinds of well-documented problems in his current run for the White House. Now add David Vitter (R-LA) to the list. While many readers may not realize Vitter is a member of Commerce, most readers are probably aware of the troubles he is now facing. If not, suffice it to say he has emerged as the most notable victim in the case of the DC Madame, which has set off a flurry of journalistic excavations back in his home state as well as in Washington. He has been keeping a low profile, but according to a colleague, he plans to reappear this week. His ability to ride this out is of course unknown. He is not up for re-election until 2010.
TVBR observation: The Commerce Committee is considered to be a plum assignment. We're not superstitious, but it is Friday the 13th as we write these words, and we have to wonder if some Republicans will think twice before accepting a regular seat in Russell Senate Office Building Room 253.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
Webcasters get a breather as CRB rates kick in
Wired News reports a coalition of webcasters worked out a deal 7/12 with the recording industry that could temporarily stave off a portion of crippling net radio royalties that took effect Sunday. The deal is not final but creates a window for webcasters to continue broadcasting until a compromise is reached. For now, the parties involved have agreed to waive at least temporarily the minimum charge of 6,000 dollars per channel required under the new Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) ruling. The deal was brokered late Thursday at the behest of The House Commerce Committee, via Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA). Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) and Steve Chabot (R-OH) also introduced H.R. 3015, which would postpone the deadline for at least 60 days while webcasters/broadcasters and SoundExchange continue negotiations. The deal affects only webcasters participating in CRB hearings convened in Congress this week aimed at winning a reprieve for the industry. Webcasters had appealed for an emergency stay of the rates to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but a panel of judges declined in a ruling made public Thursday morning. Still pending is the Internet Radio Equality Act, which proposes webcasters switch to a percentage-based royalty system similar to the 7.5% of revenue fee structure enjoyed by satellite and cable radio broadcasters.
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| Ratings & Research |
 Univision scores with soccer
Univision says its live telecast of Wednesday night's highly-anticipated semi-final Copa América soccer match between the national teams of Mexico and Argentina reached an estimated audience of 11 million people and averaged 6.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched sportscast in Spanish-language television history. In addition, the Copa América Mexico vs. Argentina semi-final was the #1 program of the entire night among all Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Men 18-49. That's not just #1 among Hispanics, mind you. Univision notes that the soccer telecast out-delivered all original programming on other networks, including ABC's "Next Best Thing," "American Inventor" and "Traveler," NBC's "Singing Bee," "America's Got Talent" and "Last Comic Standing-5," and Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" and the debut of "Don't Forget the Lyrics."
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 5/28/07-6/1/07
The trade-making brakes were applied as May blended into June. We've been measuring the activity in billions during two of the last four weeks and broke beyond 100M in the other two. This time, activity settled back into a quieter zone, coming in a bit shy of 35M. And it was even quieter than it looks. 13 of the stations moved went into a GoodRadio.TV post-trade parking lot and another was a cash-free internal move as Citadel moved one Little Rock FM out of a parking lot after earlier swapping one in.
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Total
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Total Deals
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9
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AMs
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12
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FMs
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11
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TVs
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1
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| Value |
34.754M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
Davidson goes big
| More... |
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TV Transactions of the Week
Liberman liberates SLC TV
| More... |
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| Transactions |
5M WVFX-TV Clarksburh-Weston WV (Clarksburg WV, Channel 46, Fox/CW on DT channel) from David Television Clarksburg LLC (Robert Raff, VP) to Withers Broadcasting Company of Clarksburg LLC (W. Russell Withers Jr.). 500K escrow, 500K non-compete, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with CBS WDTV-TV. JSA/SSA until closing. Buyer is seeking failing station waiver to acquire station. [File date 6/28/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Records fall again
Wall Street's rally continued on Friday, with traders upbeat about earnings reports and M&A activity. The Dow Industrials rose 46 points, or 0.3%, to a record close of 13,907. The S&P 500 also hit another record, but the Nasdaq Composite, while up, was still below its all-time high.
Most TV stocks were higher. McGraw-Hill led the way, up 2.4%. Tribune gained 2%.
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| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Friday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Acme
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ACME
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4.39
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-0.02
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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69.77
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-0.48
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Belo
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BLC
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21.14
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+0.10
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LIN TV
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TVL
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18.98
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-0.37
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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34.55
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-0.01
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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63.57
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+1.47
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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34.56
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+0.01
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Media General
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MEG
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34.61
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+0.18
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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37.83
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-0.07
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Meredith
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MDP
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61.53
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-0.42
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Disney
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DIS
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34.37
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+0.12
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News Corp.
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NWS
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23.63
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-0.22
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Emmis
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EMMS
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8.83
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+0.04
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Nexstar
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NXST
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13.13
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-0.68
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Entravision
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EVC
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11.08
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+0.06
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Ion Media
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ION
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1.39
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-0.02
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| Equity Media |
EMDA |
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4.32 |
+0.04 |
Saga Commun.
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SGA
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8.90
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+0.05
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Fisher
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FSCI
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51.29
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+0.80
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SBS
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SBSA
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4.17
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-0.03
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Gannett
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GCI
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55.39
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+0.25
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Scripps
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SSP
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46.95
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+0.34
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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39.50
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+0.50
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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14.72
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-0.08
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| Google |
GOOG |
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552.16
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+6.83
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SWMX
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SWMX
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0.19
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-0.03
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Gray
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GTN
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9.30
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-0.03
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Time Warner
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TWX
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20.86
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+0.12
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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9.15
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unch
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Tribune
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TRB
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30.58
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+0.60
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.82
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+0.15
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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800.00
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+13.15
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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13.51
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-0.02
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Young
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YBTVA
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3.32
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-0.05
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Bounceback
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 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to tvnews@rbr.com
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Below the Fold
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Ad Business Report
Applebee's selects AOR
McCann Erickson of New York get the nod...
TWC partners with
DISH Network for NASCAR Busch Series andThe Weather Channel has partnered with...
Media Markets & Money
Tribune looking to close in Q4
Employee ownership group awaiting FCC approval, not just of the transaction, but...
Ratings & Research
Univision scores with soccer
Says its live telecast had estimated audience of 11M people & averaged 6.9M viewers...
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Stations for Sale
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 Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact
June Barnes
jbarnes@rbr.com
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TV Media Moves
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Jack Whitley, President STARadio Corporation
 Jack William Whitley, 54, of Kildeer, IL., passed away peacefully July 12, after a long battle with colon cancer. The founder and President of STARadio Corporation, it was Jack's idea to pursue ownership in radio. STARadio began in 1985 with the purchase of an AM/FM combo in Portsmouth, Ohio and owned 17 stations at the peak in Williston, ND; Great Falls and Helena, MT; Hannibal, MO; Quincy, IL and Kankakee, IL. It currently owns and operates stations in Kankakee and Hannibal/Quincy. Jack was also a founder of the Illinois Wesleyan University's campus Radio Station WESN - still on the air today. He was the husband of 22 years of Sydney (Parker) Whitley; father of Leila Ann, a sophomore at Jack's alma mater, and Allison, a senior at Stevenson High School. Both are accomplished instrumental and vocal musicians. Whitley's telecommunications career spanned the worlds of broadcasting, government, private law firms, and telecommunications companies. In Washington D.C., he worked for the Federal Communications Commission and several high-profile communications law firms. In Chicago, he worked for U.S. Cellular, Aerial Communications, Northpoint Communications, AT&T, and Motorola. He served as chair of the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Communications Bar Association. Our condolences to Jack's family and friends as we all will miss a great pro.
Election results
from Michigan
The Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB) elected officers for 2007-2008 at its Annual Meeting & Leadership Retreat in Grand Rapids. The newly elected officers are: Chairman, Bart Brandmiller, Director of Sales for Clear Channel-West Michigan in Grand Rapids; Vice Chairman/Chairman Elect, Diane Kniowski, President and General Manager of WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids; Secretary-Treasurer, Tom Mogush, Owner/General Manager, WMQT-FM/WZAM-AM in Marquette; Immediate Past Chairman, Mario Iacobelli, President & General Manager of WWTV/WWUP-TV in Cadillac-Traverse City; and At-Large Director, Michael King, Vice President & General Manager, WILX-TV in Lansing.
 Upped at Quincy
Tim Weaver has been named to the newly created position of Director of Broadcast Sales for Quincy Newspapers Inc., which owns 12 TV stations and operates another. Weaver is currently the General Sales Manager of Quincy's KWWL-TV (Ch. 7, NBC) Waterloo/Cedar Rapids, IA. He will assume his new position at corporate headquarters in mid-August.
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RBR - Radio News
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MMTC looks to tweak intact cluster rule
The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council says that the new rules on transferring grandfathered clusters have not had the desired effect of increasing ownership among small businesses, and by extension, females and minorities. The rule, which prohibits the sale of an oversized intact cluster, has resulted in a number of stations going into temporary trusts to allow the bulk of a cluster to be sold. These clusters could have been sold to small businesses on an intact basis. "Unfortunately, this 'transfer-intact' exception has not resulted in any closings of radio cluster sales to small businesses. New entrants, particularly minorities and women, typically cannot obtain the financing necessary to buy a cluster within the rapid time schedule at which most large broadcast transactions proceed." It argues that a relatively minor rule tweak could change that, "...with no downside to the seller, by allowing the buyer to resell either the entire cluster, or enough stations to come into rule compliance, without time pressure, as long as the subsequent sale is to a small business." MMTC explains that "[t]his approach would create increased opportunities for small businesses by providing extra time for a small business entrant to raise the capital necessary to make a competitive bid on a radio station. This modest change to the current rule would help foster the goals of diversity, competition and localism." The MMTC document was submitted by its own David Honig and attorneys from Covington & Burling LLP.
RBR observation: Increasing the percentage of minority and female ownership has been an intractable problem, and there does not seem to be any conceivable way that it will reflect census levels in the foreseeable future. We'd say that every little bit that helps move toward improving those numbers is a good thing and that this proposal, along with the return a tax credit for selling to a small business, should be strongly considered. And in fact, NAB is calling for just that. President/CEO David Rehr just fired off a letter to House Ways and Means Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) asking for a hearing. He wrote, "NAB strongly supports the reinstatement of a tax incentive program that would provide companies tax credits or other benefits if they sell broadcast properties to minorities or women."
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SmartMedia Magazine
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Coming in September
FALL NAB ISSUE
SPECIAL DISTRIBUTION:
NAB RADIO SHOW
Radio Roundtable:
Radio execs find solutions.
Media Markets and Money:
What's attractive to equity capital these days?
Ad Biz:
Gennele Niblack, Katz Political President
Sales:
Dial Global's Eileen Decker on radio ad sales
News/Talk:
Valerie Geller: "Video streaming on your station's website"
Political Advertising:
Gregg Skall: "The FCC rules on political ads-Network exception issue"; Greg Pinello, GMMB.
Engineering & Technology:
Conditional Access for HD Radio
New Media:
Money-making opportunities for on-demand web video
For advertising
information, contact:
June Barnes
jbarnes@rbr.com 803-731-5951;
Jim Carnegie
jcarnegie@rbr.com 813-909-2916 or
Carl Marcucci
cmarcucci@rbr.com 703-492-8191.
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TVBR Radar 2007
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Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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Frustration sets in for Murdoch
Dow Jones & Co. stock fell last Thursday after AP reported that Rupert Murdoch was frustrated with Bancroft family negotiators changing their minds during negotiations over a sale of the company.
TVBR observation: Some members of the Bancroft family have been pressing for all possible options other than a sale to News Corporation to be explored, as has the union representing some Dow Jones employees. So far the only names that have surfaced publicly as being interested are Burkle, a supermarket billionaire, and Greenspan, an Internet multi-millionaire. That they met together with Dow Jones representatives on Tuesday indicates that they are interested in working together. Even so, there's no indication that they plan a full buyout to match the Murdoch offer - but, rather, a partial buyout at 60 bucks a share and a financial restructuring. That is not likely to satisfy Dow Jones shareholders who want to sell all of their shares at the premium price of 60 bucks.
07/13/07 TVBR #136
Keep the Fairness Doctrine
chilled, not speech
The House of Representatives has put attempts to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine on ice for at least a year, and the Senate is about to try and do the same thing. A quarter, Norm Coleman (R-MN), Jim DeMint (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD) and James Inhofe (R-OK), with support of over a dozen others, are going to try to attach similar language to a defense appropriation bill, which may have problems on the way to passage completely unrelated to Fairness. Nevertheless, NAB President/CEO David Rehr has asked all members of the Senate to help beat back what he sees as an assault on the freedom of speech.
07/13/07 TVBR #136
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