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Volume 23, Issue 154, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Wednesday Morning August 9th, 2006

TV News ®

Commissioner #5 weighs in;
Kicks must-carry to The Hill
Robert McDowell held his first meeting with the press on the occasion of his 69th day in office...he called it a Q&D session (question and dodge). He introduced himself as a wireline person catching up on the many other areas of FCC oversight who believes in letting the free market do its work as much as possible. He thinks it's a good thing to clear out "unnecessary regulatory underbrush," let people make their own decisions, and free up entrepreneurs to give them things to decide on as rapidly and efficiently as possible. On specific issues, he said he did not believe the FCC has the power to mandate multicast must-carry, and opposed an attempt to regulate that in by Chairman Kevin Martin, and that it's the prerogative of Congress to codify such a mandate. He is approaching the ongoing rule-making on media ownership with an open mind. Asked where he stands on newspaper cross ownership, relaxed rules on in-market television combos and higher local radio caps, he said he wants to read the record and evidence that is currently being put together. He was, of course, a civilian in the wireline business back when the 6/2/03 rulemaking took place, and said he knew about it but had, and has, no strong opinion on its contents. He also noted that he has read the full Prometheus decision from the Third Circuit, and said what ever the FCC does this time will have to thread Third Circuit's needle. He thought it might be logical to break the proceeding into separate components rather than taking the omnibus approach, which he called "one big kidney stone to pass." He helped get the Comcast/MASN agreement done by providing a shot clock and a choice of venues. Asked if forcing a deal was odd fit with a free market philosophy, he noted that it gave consumers freedom to get the programming, putting the decision in their hands. He did say that the government should step in when there is a market failure of any kind, but that such intervention should be as narrow as possible and preferably come with sunset provisions.

Sook sees growth continuing for Nexstar
You can't tell it from the stock price, but Nexstar Broadcasting Group has been cashing in this year after taking hits last year from its battle over cable retransmission consent payments. After reporting Q2 results that beat Wall Street expectations and the company's guidance, CEO Perry Sook is staying the course. "With a very solid first half of 2006, continued gains in both local and national advertising revenue coupled with the acceleration of political spending in the balance of the year and the ongoing benefits of retransmission consent revenues, Nexstar will continue to generate significant FCF in the balance of 2006. Approximately 20 million of second half 2006 FCF is expected to be used to reduce our outstanding debt. We project the company's total leverage of outstanding debt to EBITDA at the operating company will approximate 6.0 times at year-end while at the holding company total leverage will decline to approximately 7.25 times at year-end," he said. With political spending picking up, auto firming and local sales initiatives driving revenues, Sook is forecasting that Q3 will be up 16-19%.

Changes at VNU
There are no direct implications for Nielsen Media Research, but some staff changes at VNU indicate just how seriously committed the new owners are to changing the way the company has been run and revitalizing some of its laggard businesses. Former Reed Elsevier executive Robert Krakoff, who most recently had been running his own consulting firm, has been brought in to head up VNU Business Media USA following VNU's buyout by a consortium of equity firms. The new job as President and CEO puts him in charge of such titles as The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Mediaweek, Brandweek, Billboard and recently acquired Radio & Records (R&R). Krakoff succeeds Michael Marchesano, who has been moved to the newly created position of Exec. VP and Chief Transformation Officer, responsible for leading VNU's Project Forward business transformation program. VNU also announced several other appointments to the Project Forward leadership team: Greg Anderson, executive vice president and chief human resources officer of VNU, has been named to lead the Human Resources transformation initiative; David Berger, senior vice president and corporate controller of VNU, has been named to lead the Finance transformation initiative; Mary Gendron, formerly senior vice president and chief technology officer of ACNielsen US, has been named to the new position of senior vice president - IT Infrastructure Shared Services for VNU, to lead the IT transformation initiative; Peter Gersky, formerly vice president and North American treasurer for VNU, has been named to the new position of senior vice president, Global Procurement for VNU, responsible for the global purchasing initiative; and Karen LaPak, vice president of Corporate Real Estate Services for VNU, has been named to lead the global real estate and facilities management initiative. Meanwhile, the pink slips went out Monday following the acquisition of R&R by VNU, which merged it with Billboard Radio Monitor. 17 people were let go from R&R and nine from the Monitor side as the operations were combined, with Publisher Erica Farber continuing to run the new R&R.

Does televised wrestling
lead to violent teens?
A study in American Pediatrics has found that frequent viewers of professional wrestling programs on television tended more towards violence, weapon possession and fighting on dates, and the trend held for both boys and girls. In fact, for girls, the results were almost off the chart. According to the Associated Press, 35% of girls in a 1999-2000 survey watched wrestling, 9% watched six or more times during a two-week stretch, and the heavy viewers were 170% more likely to start a date fight than non-wrestling watchers. More boys watch the programming. 63% watch, 25% meet the six-time/two week threshold, and they were 77% more likely to start a date fight. A World Wrestling Entertainment executive disputed the findings.

TVBR observation: We'll dispute them too. Does the programming create the thug, or do the thugs find the programming? For this study to convince us, it would have to take a group of peaceful teenagers who do not tend to violence, do not carry weapons and do not get into date fights. Then it would have to expose some of them to wrestling, and show that wrestling changed them into violent, weapon-toting date-warriors. Otherwise, all they've managed to do is identify a component of the pro-wrestling audience, most of whom realize it is meant to be entertainment, not a lifestyle lesson.

Wall Street Media Business Report TM

Q2 2006 Conference Calls
TV/Katz up strongly for Clear Channel
If it were not for the fact that they comprise such a tiny portion of Clear Channel Communications, you might have heard company officials raving on the quarterly conference call about how well the television group and the Katz Media Group rep firm performed in Q2. As it is, they are lumped under "other," so their 11% revenue gain to 150.2 million drew only a brief mention from CEO Mark Mays - although that far outpaced overall growth of 7%. "Other" was even stronger in OIBDAN (a metric preferred by Clear Channel management that is fairly close to BCF), posting growth of 31% to 36.7 million against the company-wide mark of 10%. Clear Channel stock was up most of the session yesterday after its largest unit, radio, posted better-than-expected revenue growth of 6% and outdoor was even stronger, up 9% - but the enthusiasm faded and the stock ended the day down 1.9%.

Double-digit quarter for Nexstar
Nexstar Broadcasting Group reported that Q2 revenues were up 10.1% to 64.6 million. Local/national ad sales were up 9.3%, including 2.2 million from political, and then retransmission consent agreements kicked in three million. Two million of that retrans money was direct, while one million was under linked ad buys. Broadcast cash flow rose 21.2% to 25.5 million. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook told analysts that 16 of the top 25 ad categories were up in Q2. auto was down 5.8%, but five foreign automakers increased spending.

Saga up, but down quarter ahead
Saga Communications hasn't been giving Wall Street specific forward guidance, but company executives did tell investors yesterday to expect Q3 to be down - they just declined to say how much. Q2 net revenues did inch up 0.5% to 37.8 million, although same station revenues declined 0.7%. "We do not see a sea change for either radio or TV," CEO Ed Christian told analysts, so he said Saga must find new ways to replace the shortfall through such things as interactive media, a/k/a the Internet. Noting ratings gains in Saga's largest radio markets, he also said he hoped to see an end to the revenue malaise plaguing Columbus, OH, Milwaukee and Norfolk. For Q2 on a same station basis, radio revenues were down 1.9% to 32.7 million, but operating income rose 0.8% to 10.3%, while TV revenues gained 9.6% to 4.3 million and operating income shot up 50.7% to 918K.

Fiscal Q4 Conference Call
TV helps drive record results
for News Corp.
Primetime ratings strength at Fox was on of the factors credited with boosting TV operating income up 8% to 1.03 billion in fiscal 2006 as News Corporation reported that total operating income rose 9% to3.87 billion. Looking ahead, COO Peter Chernin told analysts that Fox is in its best shape ever, so look for continued gains. For the entire company, News Corporation is projecting that fiscal 2007 operating income will shoot up 14-16%. In fiscal Q4 TV operating income rose 17% to 403 million, with the Fox network hailed for ratings momentum and higher pricing. For the TV O&O group, Q4 operating income was up slightly. In the conference call, CEO Rupert Murdoch was upbeat about the big ad deal for Fox Interactive announced the previous day. "Our deal with Google, by which we are guaranteed 900 million payments across the next four years is strong testament to our ability to monetize our large and growing Web presence. To have achieved this much progress in one year is remarkable, but the real story is how well we are positioned for the future," Murdoch said. In Q&A, News Corp. officials said the loss from MySpace, and indeed all of Fox Interactive, was negligible in the just completed fiscal year.

Ad Business Report TM

Tribune opens up content for mobile users
Tribune's newspapers, including Newsday and Hoy, now offer free content designed for cell phones and other mobile devices with Internet access. The mobile-based sites include the newspaper logo and links to top stories, local news, business, horoscopes and other sections. The stories are separated into several short pages, and some include small photos. The technology also can accommodate polls, photo galleries and video. Crisp Wireless created the technology platform for the Tribune sites. The company's other customers include USA Today, AOL, Cingular and NBC.

MMA: Mobile search awareness
and usage continue to grow
Search is gaining momentum as an ad vehicle on the third screen: The Mobile Marketing Association announced the results of its first-ever mobile search study, which says while mobile search is in its early stages of adoption, there is significant upside potential. 31% of respondents used mobile search for the first time in the past month. Current users conducted an average of nine searches in the past month. Approximately 41% of all respondents indicate that sponsored links would not have an impact on their use of mobile search. Current mobile search users represent several attractive market segments for advertisers. Respondents with an annual household income of 50,000-75,000 conduct an average of almost 16 searches per month, the most of any demo. Consumers age 45-54, college grads and people with children at home all reported using search more than 11 times per month. 69% of respondents prefer ads that are related to local products and services. Said Laura Marriott, executive director of the MMA: "Awareness of mobile search is growing among U.S. consumers, creating powerful new opportunities for brands and agencies. The fact that consumers who are unaware of mobile search immediately grasp its benefits after being introduced indicates that the positive trends in mobile search will continue."

Management Business Report TM

The Art of the Interview: "Hiring the Best"
By Julie Ballard-Lebe, a 19 year veteran of CBS Television Stations and former Senior Vice President/Director of Sales managing 7 of their 10 national sales offices. She's now running Ballard Executive Search in LA (www.BallardExecutiveSearch.com). Yesterday, Julie gave more tips in the process (08/07/06 TVBR #153).
| Read More Tips... |

Tomorrow: Group Owners "Another run for Yager"
Long-time TV veteran Jim Yager is back again, building another new company from scratch. What does he see in the business that the Wall Street guys don't? And where is he looking for acquisitions to keep filling out the station portfolio of Barrington Broadcasting?

Washington Media Business Report TM

FCC clears way for emergency broadcasts
Providers of video programming, including broadcast, cable and satellite, may be fined for broadcasting emergency information, but not close captioning it for the benefit of hearing-impaired viewers. Fearful that a station may choose to steer clear of providing such information when it cannot get close captioning resources in place quickly, the FCC has clarified its rules. "...during an emergency situation, we will not hold against a video programmer any de minimis or reasonable failure to caption emergency information so long as critical emergency information is provided by some other method of visual presentation." Good faith is the key. Programmers must assess their ability to get such resources on short notice and make good faith efforts to get the resources in place within a reasonable period of time. Fact sheets detailing closed captioning, and the access to emergency information rules, are available at the FCC website.

Entertainment Media Business Report TM

September 4th airing set
for child star expose
NBC is turning a critical eye on one of its own past successes as it airs a TV movie that looks at the lives of child stars after their stardom wanes. "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Diff'rent Strokes'" will air September 4th, revisiting the hit series that aired on NBC from 1978 to 1986 and providing a powerful cautionary tale about the tragedies and challenges facing the child stars of the sitcom. Original cast members Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges participated in the movie and will also appear in on-camera interviews, discussing how their lives and that of co-star Dana Plato spiraled downward after the series ceased production - leading eventually to Plato's untimely death. "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Diff'rent Strokes'" is executive-produced by Stanley M. Brooks and Scott W. Anderson, with Damian Ganczewski producing. Robert Iscove directs from a script written by Greg Pincus and Susan Rinehart.

Ratings & Research

CBS reruns beat football debut
NBC scored well with its Sunday return to broadcasting NFL football, but CBS still won the week overall with its series reruns continuing to draw summer viewers. The two nets tied for the 18-49 crown, but in Households CBS scored a rating of 5.1 and a 9 share, with NBC at 4.5/8, ABC and Fox tied at 3.6/6, Univision 1.8/3, WB and UPN tied at 1.2/2, Telemundo 0.5/1, i 0.4/1 and TeleFutura 0.3/1. Here is the list of top shows, with CBS' CSI:Miami #1 and the NFL football debut on NBC checking it at a tie for #3.
| Read More... |

Stock Talk

Even the Fed can't lift stocks
Wall Street yawned as the Fed finally delivered the news that had been anticipated anxiously for so long - an end to rate hikes. Fears remain that the Fed could still resume rate hikes, before going the other way. The Dow Industrials fell 46 points, or 0.4%, to 11,174.

Most TV stocks were also lower. Enthusiasm about Q2 results and Q3 guidance from Clear Channel faded and early gains turned to a closing bell loss of 1.9%. Nexstar, while it remains in penny stock territory, rose 4.2% after reporting Q2 results. The day's worst performer was LIN, down 4.5%.

Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Acme	ACME		5.18	-0.03	LIN TV	TVL		6.21	-0.29
Belo	BLC		16.26	+0.03	McGraw-Hill	MHP		56.78	+0.32
CBS CI. B	CBS		26.25	+0.10	Media General	MEG		37.30	-0.53
CBS CI. A	CBSa		26.26	+0.10	Meredith	MDP		46.21	-0.74
Clear Channel	CCU		28.00	-0.54	News Corp.	NWS		20.19	+0.43
Disney	DIS		28.98	-0.41	Nexstar	NXST		4.70	+0.19
Emmis	EMMS		11.34	-0.39	NY Times	NYT		22.03	-0.07
Entravision	EVC		7.08	-0.28	Ion Media	ION		0.95	+0.02
Fisher	FSCI		38.98	-0.95	Saga Commun.	SGA		7.36	+0.13
Gannett	GCI		54.07	+0.14	SBS	SBSA		4.34	-0.18
Gen. Electric	GE		32.34	-0.35	Scripps	SSP		40.98	-0.38
Granite	GBTVK		0.15	+0.01	Sinclair	SBGI		8.00	-0.08
Gray	GTN		6.01	-0.21	Time Warner	TWX		16.19	-0.19
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		6.85	+0.15	Tribune	TRB		29.71	-0.06
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		21.00	-0.01	Univision	UVN		33.44	unch
Journal Comm.	JRN		10.43	-0.06	Wash. Post	WPO		735.00	+2.57
Lincoln Natl.	LNC		56.64	-0.19	Young	YBTVA		2.59	-0.29

Bounceback

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a photo to tvnews@rbr.com

TV Media Moves

Looking for
laughs at CBS
Edy Mendoza has been promoted to Vice President, Comedy Development, CBS Entertainment. Mendoza, who had been Director, Comedy Development since September 2001, will continue to develop and oversee CBS's new comedy projects. Mendoza has been involved in the development of many of the Network's hit comedies, including Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother and The New Adventures of Old Christine, along with the new entry The Class, which debuts next month.

Peacock expands interactive
NBC Universal announced to key hires to expand its interactive television team. Dan Berkowitz has been named Manager, iTV Product Development, and Alexandra Morrison has been named Producer, iTV Product Development. Berkowitz joins NBC Uni from the Disney/ABC Enhanced TV Group, while Morrison had been an intern with the NBC Uni technology group.

Changing stations
and language
Veteran Nashville TV executive Bob Jay has been named Vice President and General Manager of WLLC-LP (Ch. 42), the TeleFutura affiliate in Nashville. He was previously at WZTV-TV (Ch. 17, Fox)

Below the Fold

Wall Street Media Business Report
TV/Katz up strongly for CC
Not for the fact that they comprise such a tiny portion might have heard raving...
Double-digit quarter for Nexstar
Perry Sook looking good with revenues up 10.1% Local/national were up 9.3%...
Saga up, but down quarter ahead
Hasn't been giving Wall Street specific forward guidance, but...

Ad Business Report
Tribune opens up content
For mobile users offering content designed for cell phones...

Entertainment Media
Business Report
Airing set for child star expose
NBC turning a critical eye September 4...

Ratings & Research
CBS reruns beat football debut
NBC scored well but not well enough...

Stations for Sale

For Sale 100+ Market
Spanish TV
Network Affiliate $1,500,000
100,000 watt FM $1,200,000
$2,500,000 combo price
or sold separately
barbaraboff@bellsouth.net

New York City
2 LPTVs reaching 12 million people.
$8mil & $4 mil. or $10 mil for BOTH
Kozacko Media Services
georgewkimble@aol.com
520-465-4302

RBR - Radio News

Hogan insists that listeners don't hear spots as units
Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan isn't buying the argument from Cox Radio CEO Bob Neil (8/3/06 RBR #150) and others that radio needs to hold down units per hour to attract listeners. Hogan told Wall Street analysts that listeners don't perceive each spot, regardless of length, as a unit - defending his company's move to running shorter length spots within limits on the number of minutes of commercials per hour. "I think that some of our competitors clearly understand that we need to be consumer-centric, that we need to be programming our radio stations so that we give people more of what they come to radio for - and that is content. That we need to be more creative and innovative in how we put commercials into the mix. And I think some of them are doing that. I think some others are less likely to have acknowledged that the environment has changed. We don't think that the old idea of a unit is a unit is a unit necessarily applies today. It certainly doesn't apply for listeners. It is hard to engage someone for 60 seconds. We think by offering a variety of spot lengths and spot positions that we're providing a better product," Hogan said in Clear Channel's quarterly conference call.

RBR observation: The jury is still out on whether Less is More accomplished all it was supposed to. Is clutter coming back by packing more, but shorter spots into each pod? Wall Street analysts are trying to get a handle on whether Clear Channel is succeeding in putting upward pressure on pricing now that Less is More has been fully implemented for over two quarters. Hogan insisted yesterday that rates were better in Q2 on :60s, :30s and :15s and that :30s now account for around 35% of all of the spots being sold by Clear Channel Radio stations, "which is very encouraging," he said. We noticed, though, that whenever an analyst asked a question about just how many units are airing vs. a year ago, Hogan and Clear Channel Communications CEO Mark Mays managed to talk a lot about other questions, without ever getting around to answering that one.

July RBR/TVBR
Digital Magazine

Take a look at what's in the July RBR/TVBR Solutions Magazine:
July is our annual sports media and marketing issue. This year, Basketball News Services' lead NBA analyst and Five-Star Basketball Report host Steve Kyler provides opinions on what works and what doesn't work in sports radio; AND1 Brand Marketing Manager Taylor Duffy talks about marketing and branding his company's basketball shoes; Emmis Sports Marketing's David Barnett talks about making money off of sports programming; and Entercom's WEEI Boston Director of Programming and Operations Jason Wolfe writes about how he's helped build WEEI into such a powerhouse.

We interview Magna Global
CEO Bill Cella.

In Media, Markets and Money, the logjam has finally broken and station trading is picking up, in both radio and television. Some prominent brokers tell RBR/TVBR what has changed - and why.

Read RBR/TVBR in 2 simple steps:
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2. You can then download the
July Issue of RBR/TVBR

TVBR Radar 2006

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

eBay system is worth a try
Of course, some networks in the industry are pretty standoff-ish on the new pilot program to test online buying and selling of advertising (admarketpilot.com), which is working with eBay to develop and manage the framework. However, Andy Donchin, Carat Americas Director of Broadcast Buying, had a few good points. He agrees it's not going to work for everyone, but it's worth exploring. He said the agency side is just looking for alternative systems, and while there are indeed many out there now-from SWMX to DMarc to Spotbuy.tv-the strong will survive.

TVBR observation: It's apparent that multiple systems will be in the space from here on out. Yes, the strongest will survive in the end, but as far as auctions for media inventory go, it should be interesting to see who ends up surrendering their inventory-beyond remnant and last-minute scatter-to such a system.
08/08/06 TVBR #153

Earnings rolling fast but
Not keeping pace
LIN sees pacing picking up; Puerto Rico sale next month. SBS pleased with TV investment. Emmis' stock takes a nosedive trading volume shot up to about seven times normal as traders bailed out of Emmis stock and remember they still have two TV to sell. Fisher turns to profit. Complete details
08/08/06 TVBR #153

Regional Account Executive
LIN Television West Michigan is looking for a Regional Sales professional for WOODTV8, WOTV 4 and WXSP TV. Candidate must have proven success in retaining solid client relationships and ability to target accounts and strategize rate and share increases. Time management and organizational skills a must. Knowledge of VCI, One Domain, Marshall Marketing a plus. No Phone calls but Send resume.
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