TVBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Share Ideas Working Now with TVBR, MBR and SMARTMEDIA, a partnership in tv today.
Ideas Working Now Membership

Volume 24, Issue 144, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Wednesday Morning July 25th, 2007

TV News ®

Eck named Peacock prez
John Eck has been promoted to President, NBC TV Network and Media Works, taking over part of the portfolio previously held by Jay Ireland, who is now heading GE Asset Management. John Wallace was previously named President of the O&O TV stations group (7/19/07 TVBR #140). Eck continues to oversee Media Works, the largest studio operations group in North America, where he has been President since July 2005, and adds responsibilities for the NBC Television Network's relationship with its more than 200 broadcast affiliate partners, and for the NBC Network Operations group. "John is a skilled and experienced television executive who has been a key part of our leadership team for more than a decade. He's been responsible for operational advancements that have been crucial to our success. I'm thrilled to be able to add these two key functions to his areas of executive responsibility," said Jeff Zucker, President and CEO, NBC Universal. In addition to overseeing the formation of Media Works in 2005 and serving as Chief Information Officer for NBC Universal, Eck created the Technology Growth Center, which supports Digital Media, the company's Content Protection and Policy efforts, and NBCU's research and development activities in conjunction with GE's Global Research Center. Prior to that, Eck was President of Television and Studio Operations. Even earlier he served for seven years as President of NBC Broadcast & Network Operations.

Martin shares public's interest
in public interest
The broadcast community received a little bit of attention in yesterday's House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet session with the five FCC commissioners. The DTV transition was mentioned several times and other topics also came up. But the lion's share of attention went to the auction of spectrum that broadcasters are leaving. There was one look-out moment, however, an exchange between Anna Eshoo (D-CA), FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (R) and Commissioner Michael Copps (D) over public interest and license renewals. Eshoo said that the license renewal process provides a "golden moment" to assure that broadcasters are fulfilling their public interest obligations. Martin noted that the public's interest in this topic is on the rise and said he has a pending FCC item which would give broadcasters a collection of categories to report on in order to provide a public interest record to evaluate. Copps agreed, but went further, saying that there is "precious little" out there to give broadcasters a sense of what's expected of them. He would spell out just what the FCC expects, and Eshoo agreed that yardsticks are what are needed. Eshoo telegraphed her support for the Copps wing of the FCC at the outset of the meeting, reading one of his many editorials on the topic into the record and recommending it be added to each subcommittee member's reading list. Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey briefly grilled Deborah Taylor Tate (R) on childhood obesity/advertising guidelines. She said she is optimistic that media outlets will join food manufacturers in supporting voluntary restrictions on preteen advertising but will wait for a task force release due in September before considering possible FCC remedies. Ranking Member Fred Upton (R-MI) inquired about the progress of the Tribune proceeding, which needs crossownership waivers, and was told it is on track for a 4th quarter decision. Mike Doyle (D-PA) spoke on behalf of himself and Lee Terry (R-NE) in urging a big push to get more LPFMs on the air.

TVBR observation: Public interest reporting requirements. Wow. Right now if a station is on air as licensed and has any kind of audience at all it is considered to be serving the public interest. The reason to take this seriously is this: Any time Martin and Copps agree on a topic, it is close to a mortal lock to get anywhere from three to five votes on the FCC's 8th Floor. This could get interesting real fast.

No quick decision from the Bancrofts
Not that anyone expected one. Reports of the family meeting on Monday indicate that the Bancrofts are deeply divided over whether or not to sell Dow Jones & Co. to Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation for five billion bucks - a large chunk of which would go to members of the family that has controlled the company for 100 years. As expected, the four family representatives on the Dow Jones board were split. Christopher Bancroft and cousin Leslie Hill reportedly spoke out against a sale. Another cousin, Elizabeth Steele, and Michael Elefante, a lawyer for some of the family trusts, each spoke in favor. Despite the split opinions, the New York Times quoted Christopher Bancroft as saying that the meeting was "not acrimonious at all." The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Dow Jones, reported that new opposition came from Jane MacElree, who had been seen as a swing vote, although some of her children are in the pro-sale camp. The WSJ says only one of the three main branches of the family appears to solidly support a sale. That branch, the Cooks, however, is the largest, with 23% of the voting power at Dow Jones. In all, the various Bancroft heirs hold 64% of the company's voting power.

TVBR observation: What happens next? Over the next few days the various Bancrofts will tell the family lawyers where they stand on the sale and the lawyers will tally up the yeas and nays. It seems unlikely that the entire family will agree to pledge the entire 64% stake in support of the deal, as Murdoch has requested. Then it comes down to counting the votes. If it appears that enough Bancrofts support the sale that they and a majority of the non-Bancroft votes would be enough to carry the day, the directors will likely call a special shareholders meeting to vote on the sale. Then it comes down to News Corporation beating the bushes for every possible vote to ensure approval. It could be a close vote.

Americans express their independence
Many citizens profess an antipathy toward politicians - all politicians - and express this sentiment by refusing to align themselves with either the Republicans or the Democrats. Not only would this group of disaffected consider supporting an independent candidate for president, a new Harris Poll says that many party affiliates would as well, combining for a total of two thirds of the electorate. 88% of self-described independents would give consideration to a third-party or independent candidate, as would 56% of self-described Republicans and 59% of self-described Democrats. Harris notes that older voters are less likely to support an independent. The percentage of "Matures" (aged 62 or older) is 59%, it increases to 64% for Baby Boomers" (aged 43-61), 69% for "Gen Xers" (aged 31-42) and 74% for "Echo Boomoers" (aged 18-30). This is not, however, particularly good news for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who exited the Democratic party to run for mayor and recently exited the Republican party, fueling speculation about his potential to run for the White House as an independent. Harris finds that at this point, only 22% say they'd vote for him, while 67% specifically would not vote for him.

TVBR observation: The speculation is that Bloomberg will spend his own money for the campaign, like Ross Perot before him, and the numbers being batted around run from 500M to 1B. A large percentage of that would go into broadcast advertising. Will he run or not? We certainly can't answer that question, but we do know that there are somewhere between 500M and 1B reasons for broadcasters to maintain a Bloomberg watch.

Wall Street Media Business Report TM

Scripps challenged by its own success
While old media companies, especially those with newspapers, have been out of favor with investors, Scripps has been a Wall Street darling in recent years because of its fast-growing Scripps Networks division, with its targeted lifestyle networks and related websites. But Scripps CEO Ken Lowe told analysts yesterday it is becoming difficult for Scripps Networks to maintain its double digit growth as the cable networks reach the point of having a billion bucks in annual revenues. He says the cable nets will still deliver double digit growth for 2007, but the company's Q3 guidance was below Street expectations and Scripps stock took a hit yesterday. Needless to say, Scripps newspapers are being hit by the same advertising softness as other print groups and its TV group has tough comps against last year's political advertising. Q2 ad revenues for Scripps Networks rose 4.8% to 245 million, while affiliate fees rose 19% to 58.7 million. Newspaper ad revenues were down 11% to 131 million and total print revenues fell 8.9% to 166 million. TV revenues declined to 84.5 million from 86.4 million, with local up 0.3% to 54.2 million and national down 4% to 25.8 million. Political revenues were 400K, vs. 2.7 million a year ago. Scripps expects revenues for the cable networks to be up 8-10% in Q3, TV to be down 13-16% and newspaper revenues to be down 5-8%.

Auto drags down McGraw-Hill TV
Q2 broadcasting revenues plunged 16% at McGraw-Hill to 26.8 million, with CEO Terry McGraw citing both the lack of political advertising and a sharp drown in auto advertising. Q3 is pacing down 4%. Meanwhile, revenues and earnings for the overall company were up double digits in Q2, led by the Financial Services division with a 21.2% increase to 821 million. Total company revenues rose 12.5% to 1.7 billion. Net income rose 25.4% to 277.1 million.

LBI sells bonds
LBI Media, the parent of Liberman Broadcast, sold 228.8 million of 8.5% senior subordinated notes due 2017. The issue was recently rated B2 by Moody's Investors Service (7/9/07 TVBR #132).

Gannett boosts dividend
Gannett Company shareholders will see something extra in their next dividend check. The company's board of directors has increased the quarterly dividend by 29% to 40 cents per share, up from the previous 31. "Our strong cash flow and financial position enable us to return more to shareholders while maintaining financial flexibility for investments and acquisitions consistent with our strategic initiatives," said CEO Craig Dubow. Gannett noted that the new annualized rate of 1.60 per share represents an average annual dividend growth rate of 11% since the company went public. The new quarterly dividend is payable October 1st to shareholders of record on September 14th.

Media Business Report TM

Harry Reid's insomnia fuels the news
An interim report on Iraq propelled to policy debate to the head of the newshole last week. This time, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-NV) pulled an all-nighter with 99 of his closest friends on the same topic, propelling it once again to the top of the Project for Excellence in Journalism coverage chart for the week of 7/15-20/07. Terror and Middle East topics maintained their usual stranglehold on the chart, but journalists found time to pay attention to three one-time events, including a plane crash in Brazil, a steam explosion in New York and an earthquake in Japan. Radio talkers have a particular interest in the Fairness Doctrine, which made its lone appearance on that medium's list.
| Top ten lists here |

Ad Business Report TM

Elevator network
targets ground floor
Gannett's Captivate Network is expanding its network of elevator-based news/entertainment/advertising video screens to target suburban office buildings, which are less likely to have elevators, but still have high-traffic areas. The traditional business is now being called the Office Tower Network, with enhanced multi-media screens in 12- and 15-inch sizes. The new offering is the Suburban Office Network, whose products will include a pedestal display available in a 40-inch size and wall mount screens available in 26- and 40-inch displays. "This expansion is a natural progression for Captivate, as the media fragmentation problem continues to worsen. This move keeps Captivate in the elevator and also provides opportunities in other areas, such as the suburban office buildings, that reach the mobile working consumer," said Mike DiFranza, founder and General Manager of Captivate Network. Captivate says some of its advertisers across North America include Lexus, Samsung, Mazda, American Airlines, Amtrak, Infiniti, AT&T, Avis, Lenovo, Blackberry, Toyota, BMW, Expedia, Travelocity, FedEx, Johnston & Johnston, Discovery Channel, Verizon, Audi, Amtrak and Canon. Captivate is currently seen in Atlanta, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Columbia, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Hartford, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco/San Jose, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, DC.

Unfettered ad campaign on public Pittsburgh air
When is an noncommercial broadcaster able to just go nuts and run advertisements to its heart content? WQED in Pittsburgh is demonstrating. And the answer is when it is advertising itself. The company has a full cross-ownership noncommercial empire which includes television, radio, magazine and on-line elements. The entire platform is undergoing a makeover, complete with new logos and theme music, and it is putting its entire platform to use to introduce its new look to the citizens of Pittsburgh. The campaign has no less than 15 distinct television spots with complementary radio elements, as well as a pair of special three-minute HD radio features and print advertising.

Media Markets & Money TM

NewVision gets stations once removed from Emmis
The Montecito Broadcast Group is the proud owner of Emmis Communications television stations in four markets, but won't be for much longer. It has struck an agreement to resell the group to Jason Elkin's New Vision Television LLC. The stations are in Portland OR, Honolulu HI, Wichita KS and Topeka KS. The list includes CBS KOIN-TV in Portland; Fox/CW KHON-TV and satellites KHAW-TV & KAII-TV in Honolulu; NBC KSNW-TV and satellites KSNC-TV, KSNG-TV & KSNK-TV in Wichita; and NBC KSNT-TV in Topeka KS. Elkin said the stations are all strong performers, and he's had his eye on them for some time. "We were interested in these stations when they were first offered by Emmis in 2005 and feel fortunate to have had the chance to now acquire them from Montecito." The price tag on the deal was not immediately disclosed. According to documents filed with the FCC, Montecito paid 259M for them in a deal filed 10/7/05.

Washington Media Business Report TM

Reporters attack former employer's license
Fox O&O WTVT Tampa FL has survived a license challenge brought by two of its former employees, reporters Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, who accused the station of distorting the news. The petition was filed 4/25/05 following a lawsuit on the same charges filed 4/2/98 under Florida whistle-blower statutes. The reporters claim their story on synthetic bovine growth hormone (BGH) was scuttled due to concerns it may have offended Monsanto, the maker of the BGH, and that a subsequent story on the topic contained falsehoods. The station vigorously defended its journalistic decisions. And the FCC noted that many of the facts surrounding BGH are a matter of opinion, and in fact the issue remains controversial to this day. In any case, the Commission said that it has "neither the expertise nor the desire to look over the shoulder of broadcast journalists and inquire why a particular piece of information was reported or not reported." Although the FCC admonished the station for a minor public file infraction, its license was renewed.

TVBR observation: The FCC simply is not a useful tool for disputing the program content of a broadcast station, and that is as it should be. We would be worried if the FCC had hired a stable of expert animal husbandry consultants and tried to get to the bottom of this nine year old case.

Internet Media Business Report TM

AOL targets behavior
Time Warner's AOL announced a deal to acquire Tacoda, an online behavioral targeting advertising network. AOL says the acquisition will enable it to extend its targeting capabilities to advertisers and publishers. Tacoda's technology enables advertisers to serve highly relevant ads based on consumers' online behaviors. "The acquisition of Tacoda will build on our advertising momentum, letting us better serve advertisers by enhancing our ability to precisely target advertisements across an even broader network," said Ron Grant, AOL President and COO. AOL noted that According to eMarketer (June 2007), the behavioral targeting market is set to increase to 3.8 billion bucks by 2011, from 350 million in 2006.

Ratings & Research

Peacock struts in summer
When's the last time you read this? The top three shows in network television last week were on NBC. Even so, Fox was the overall ratings winner in 18-49 and CBS in Households. For 18-49 the rundown was Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, Univision, CW, Telemundo, MyNetwork TV, TeleFutura, Ion and Azteca America. For HH it was CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, Univision, CW, MyNetworkTV, Telemundo, Ion, TeleFutura and Azteca America. Here are the top 20 shows, led off by the "Singing Bee."
| View the Chart |

Stock Talk

It's a roller coaster ride!
Stocks went up Monday on good earnings news from Merck. Stocks went down Tuesday on bad earnings news from DuPont. Strap yourself in - the earnings report cycle has just begun. The Dow Industrials tumbled 226 points, or 1.6%, to end at 13,717.

TV stocks slid as well. Scripps was down 6.1% after issuing disappointing Q3 guidance. Nexstar fell 6% and Journal was down 5.8%.

Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on** **Tuesday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Acme	ACME		4.18	-0.01	Lincoln Natl.	LNC		64.52	-1.94
Belo	BLC		20.14	-0.24	LIN TV	TVL		16.69	-0.90
CBS CI. B	CBS		34.33	-0.67	McGraw-Hill	MHP		59.79	-3.58
CBS CI. A	CBSa		34.35	-0.62	Media General	MEG		29.57	-0.59
Clear Channel	CCU		37.18	-0.50	Meredith	MDP		60.10	-1.01
Disney	DIS		34.75	-0.28	News Corp.	NWS		24.02	-0.35
Emmis	EMMS		8.73	-0.42	Nexstar	NXST		11.70	-0.75
Entravision	EVC		10.02	-0.49	Ion Media	ION		1.40	unch
Equity Media	EMDA		4.00	-0.21	Saga Commun.	SGA		9.03	+0.03
Fisher	FSCI		49.29	-0.70	SBS	SBSA		3.67	-0.16
Gannett	GCI		50.21	-1.54	Scripps	SSP		44.04	-2.85
Gen. Electric	GE		40.22	-0.60	Sinclair	SBGI		14.37	-0.35
Google	GOOG		514.00	+1.49	SWMX	SWMX		0.16	unch
Gray	GTN		9.12	-0.13	Time Warner	TWX		20.37	-0.10
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		9.03	-0.10	Tribune	TRB		27.17	-1.00
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		22.58	-0.85	Wash. Post	WPO		790.14	+0.64
Journal Comm.	JRN		11.19	-0.69	Young	YBTVA		3.20	-0.06

Bounceback

Send Us Your Opinions We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to tvnews@rbr.com

Below the Fold

Ad Business Report
Elevator network
Targets ground floor as Gannett's Captivate Network is expanding...

Media Markets & Money
NewVision gets stations
Once removed from Emmis now proud owner in 4 markets, but won't be for much longer...

Media Business Report
Harry Reid's insomnia
Fuels the news propelling it once again to the top of the talk list...

Entertainment Media
Business Report
"Pirate Master" tossed overboard
CBS summer reality series were no doubt shocked...

Stations for Sale

Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.

Contact
June Barnes
jbarnes@rbr.com

TV Media Moves

Lougee heading
Gannett Broadcasting
Belo VP/Media Operations Dave Lougee has jumped to Gannett as President of its Broadcasting Division, effective July 30th. Lougee succeeds Roger Ogden, who retired on July 1st (5/14/07 TVBR #94). "Dave's background in award-winning journalism, his experience running a strong affiliate operation and his knowledge of Gannett make him a perfect person to head up our Broadcasting Division. We are thrilled he will be joining us," said Gannett Co. CEO Craig Dubow. Lougee was News Director of Gannett's KUSA-TV Denver from 1990 to 1996. He joined Belo in Seattle in 1998 after two years with NBC's WRC-TV Washington, DC.

Sent across the pond
Angela Bromstad has been named President, International Television Production, NBC Universal International, based in London, effective September 1st. Heading the newly created division, Bromstad will lead television production and strategic TV content partnerships across all territories and will be responsible for driving NBC Universal's international growth through increased local production, geographical expansion, and new business creation. Bromstad had served since March 2005 as President of the LA-based NBC Universal Television Studios (now known as Universal Media Studios).

More News Headlines

Paula Zahn hits the exit
Just a day after CNN hired Campbell Brown for a primetime gig (7/24/07 TVBR #143), Paula Zahn resigned, telling her staff she had "mixed emotions." CNN/US President Jon Klein issued a statement saying Brown's new program will debut in November. Until then, a number of substitute hosts will fill in at the 8:00 pm slot vacated by Zahn.

NBC sued over suicide
The sister of a former Texas state prosecutor who killed himself after being targeted by NBC's "Dateline" as a suspected pedophile is suing NBC for 105 million. The lawsuit charges that the production team pressured police to arrest the man after he contacted a decoy posing on the Internet as a 13-year-old boy, but did not come to a "sting house" as some other suspected online predators did. The man shot himself when police and a camera crew showed up at his home.

"Pirate Master"
tossed overboard
Fans of the CBS summer reality series "Pirate Master" were no doubt shocked to tune in last night and see "48 Hours Mystery" occupying the time slot. But then, not too many people were likely to be in that disappointed group, since CBS dumped the series for its low ratings. Since the series is already in the can, people will be able to view the developments online to the conclusion. "The remaining five episodes of Pirate Master will be streamed on CBS.com every Tuesday [effective yesterday] beginning at 3:00 am ET/12:00 am PT. Pirate Master will also be made available to partners of the CBS Audience Network," the network announced. CBS initially had high hopes for the reality series, which came from Mark Burnett, who created the Eye network's successful "Survivor" franchise. Burnett also had a reality TV dud in "On the Lot," which has performed poorly for Fox.

SmartMedia Magazine

Coming in September
FALL NAB ISSUE
SPECIAL DISTRIBUTION:
NAB RADIO SHOW

Radio Roundtable:
Radio execs find solutions.

Political Advertising:
Greg Pinello, GMMB: Political dollars for radio: The need for there to be more ideological diversity in the news-talk format; Tom Edmonds, a Republican strategist with Edmonds and Associates

New Media:
Gary Arlen: YouTube, Joost and the emerging Fox-NBC website are just the start of big bandwidth video via the Internet.

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.

TVBR Radar 2007

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

Bancrofts hold their family reunion
The far-flung Bancroft family met yesterday to review the five billion bucks offer from News Corporation and, within a week, decide whether to back a sale of Dow Jones & Co., which the family has controlled for 100 years. With the family fortune split so many ways, it is hard to predict whether the family will unite on a single position. Brad Greenspan has sent Dow Jones shareholders his own proposal to keep the company independent and drive the stock price to 100 bucks, well above the 60 being offered by Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation.

TVBR observation: It would be premature to call the Greenspan plan half-baked. It doesn't look like he has even fired up the oven. Just saying we'll do a cable network and some online sites is easy. We doubt that he has any idea how difficult and expensive it would be to get cable carriage for a new freestanding financial network. Certainly his claim that a Dow Jones News Channel would have a lower initial operating loss than the soon-to-launch Fox Business Channel, which has the benefit of being joined at the hip to other cable channels, just shows his lack of experience in the cable arena. The WSJ already has an extremely successful website, so why do they need Greenspan to help them move into online video?
07/24/07 TVBR #143

Cumulus Media agrees to buyout
Shareholders stand to get a 40.4% premium over Friday's closing price in the 1.3 billion bucks buyout announced before the market opened yesterday, with Cumulus Media CEO Lew Dickey, his family and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity teaming up to take the radio company private. Mean while back at the ranch, Who else will go private? Calling this the "Year of the buyout," Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller sees Radio One and Cox Radio as likely candidates to join Clear Channel and Cumulus Media. Jonathan Jacoby at Bank of America is quite different. Among the companies he covers, he sees only Emmis as likely to go private, with Cox Radio unlikely to do so.

RBR observation: Lew and his brothers are radio guys through and through. Their father was a station owner and his sons all grew up in the business. They clearly believe in the business and have convinced their new private equity backers that there is money to be made in radio. The stakes will be high, since a company that already has pretty high leverage is being re-leveraged with a structure to boost returns for new private equity investors. Cumulus shareholders will be paid a total of 508 million for their stock, although that includes the Dickey family stake that will be rolled back into the deal, with the rest of the 1.3 billion price tag in debt assumption.
07/24/07 RBR #143

Hard finding that key person
to fill the important position at your organization? Media HeadHunters is the place that key media firms use to get results. See Media HeadHunters and get results with service.

Other Links

State Associations
Contact Us
Advertising Opportunities
Submit a news story

Help Desk

__EMAIL__ :
Having problems with our epapers?
Please send Questions/Concerns to:
Memberships@rbr.com

If you wish to remove your name completely from our database use this link __UNSUB__

TVBR Epaper -- 108 annual
or just 9 a month