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Volume 24, Issue 157, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Monday Morning August 13th, 2007
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TV News ®
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 Some TV in Univision asset sales
Univision's new private equity owners haven't announced any asset sales yet, but in the company's quarterly conference call CFO Andrew Hobson indicated that the process is well underway to sell the half-billion bucks in non-core assets that the company has indicated it plans to divest. For the first time, Univision indicated in its quarterly SEC filing that some TV assets will also be divested. Asked about that by an analyst, Hobson said the company had identified a couple of low-power and a couple of full-power stations which are non-core and are going to be sold off. He said the impact on TV division revenues will be de minimis. One analyst wanted to know how Univision can expect to get a half billion while shedding only 15 million or so in EBITDA. Hobson explained that the big reason is Univision Music, which the company expects to sell to a major record label which will be able to realize substantial cost efficiencies. The CFO didn't discuss a price, but the New York Post reported Friday that bids are expected to be in the range of 225-325 million. Also, some of the radio stations on the divestiture list are sticks, so worth more for their potential than any multiple of cash flow.
TVBR observation: A little housecleaning seems perfectly logical for a new owner. Getting out of the music business is clearly a smart move, since that has been a real drag on the company's profitability - and a lot more trouble than it could ever be worth. We had wondered whether big bidders would show up for the auction, but, despite their own difficulties with declining sales, the major record companies apparently all see Latin music as one growth area in a business that currently is lacking in such. Most of the rest of the 500 million in expected proceeds will be coming from radio, where Univision is expected to divest stations in markets where it has no TV O&Os. In most of those markets, the local Univision and TeleFutura affiliates are owned by Entravision, so it is first on everyone's list of likely buyers. It is harder to predict just which TV stations Univision management has decided are non-core. There are a few in markets, such as Washington, DC and Cleveland, which have growing Hispanic populations, but which will never be among the largest Hispanic markets. Perhaps Univision has decided that it would make more sense to have affiliates, rather than O&Os, in some of those type markets.
Food for thought to feed Congress
As a direct result of a 7/31/07 FTC action known as "Resolution Directing Use of Compulsory Process to Collect Information for Use in Preparing a Report to Congress Regarding the Marketing of Food and Beverages to Children and Adolescents," 44 manufacturers have been put on notice to return detailed information regarding the nutritional value and marketing tactics of their products. The food categories it's interested in include breakfast cereals, snack foods, candy, dairy products, baked goods, carbonated beverages, fruit juice and other non-carbonated beverages, prepared foods and meals, frozen and chilled desserts, fruits and vegetables and restaurant food. The list of marketing techniques is even more comprehensive, including money spent on television, radio, print, company and non-company internet locations, movie theaters, product placements, in-school, viral marketing, word of mouth marketing and several others. FTC is especially interested in how much of this marketing is aimed at children. The request gives the companies 90 days to respond. Add in time for the FTC to process all the returned info and put together its report, and it will likely be well into 2008 before Congress sees the results of this effort.
| List of companies here |
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 Former broadcaster leaving SEC
Roel Campos announced plans to step down from his seat on the US Securities and Exchange Commission in a month to return to the private sector. It's doubtful he'll go back to broadcasting, though. Bloomberg reports that he's likely to join Cooley Godward Kronish, a major law firm that specializes in high tech and venture capital clients. Before his appointment to the SEC by President George W. Bush in 2002, Campos had been Tom Castros' partner in launching, building and then selling El Dorado Communications, which owned a number of Spanish-language radio stations. "I have been quite fortunate and privileged to have served the American investor at a crucial period in the history of US markets. I am greatly honored to have worked closely with great public servants, Chairman Chris Cox and his predecessors, Bill Donaldson and Harvey Pitt, as well as my fellow Commissioners," said Campos in announcing his plans to depart the SEC.
TVBR observation: By all accounts, Campos has been an excellent commissioner, able to work both sides of the political fence and balance the desires of Wall Street firms against the interests of small investors. Although he is a Democrat, there was some talk in Washington after Chairman Donaldson left that President Bush might name fellow Texan Campos to the chair. That was not to be, but that it was even mentioned as a possibility shows how well respected he is in both parties.
Mixed bag for the press in Pew poll
The opinion of the average citizen on the quality of journalism these days is somewhat of a mixed bag, according to a study just out from Andrew Kohut and The Pew Research Center For The People & The Press. Each of five media studied are seen in a decidedly favorable light. Local TV rate and daily newspapers each rate a 78%/22% favorable to unfavorable split, followed by cable news (75%/25%), network TV news (71%/29%), and national newspapers, lagging at 60%/40%. Pew notes that the harshest criticism comes from individuals who get most of their news from the internet. But in general, when asked about specific criticisms, results have deteriorated significantly since 1985. Back then, 54% rated news organizations as moral, a number which has dwindled modestly to 46%; however, when asked if they are immoral, opinion has skyrocketed from 13% to 32%. Those that think the press protects democracy have shrunk from 54% to 44%, while those who believe it hurts democracy has grown from 23% to 36%. People who believe the press gets the facts straight have shrunk from 55% to 39%; while those who see inaccuracy have risen from 34% to 53%. There has been only slight shrinkage in those who believe the press strives to avoid bias, from 36% to 31%, compared to a 45%-to-55% increase in those who see political bias. A relatively low 22% now see journalists as unprofessional, but that number used to include only 11% of respondents.
TVBR observation: This sounds to us like the frequent dichotomy between the public's view of Congress and of their own representatives. It seems that approval levels for Congress are almost always appallingly low; however, incumbents usually leave of their own free will rather than being ousted by this overwhelmingly disapproving public. We hate Congress, but we love our rep. It must be those other legislators causing the problem. Similarly, we love our daily news show or newspaper, but have problems with all those other inferior practitioners of journalism out there messing it up for everybody else. The key is to make sure that your own constituents see your service as outstanding. As long as they come back to you every day, they can say whatever they want about the other guys.
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| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
 Strong quarter for Univision
It's not political revenues, but soccer that made for tough comps at Univision. Q2 net revenues were down 6.9% over all to 562.2 million, but if you exclude the 2006 FIFA World Cup, revenues were up 8.2%. Univision Radio was particularly strong, with revenues up 12.3% to 117.1 million. Excluding soccer revenues, TV was up 7.2% to 433.7 million. Internet revenues rose one million to 11.4 million. Univision continues to issue quarterly results because, while it no longer has public stock, it does have public bonds. New CEO Joe Uva missed the quarterly conference call, but was quoted in the company's news release. "Univision achieved strong operational and financial results in the second quarter compared to the broadcast industries, with continued momentum in our radio and online businesses. The Univision Network earned the #3 primetime ranking for the entire quarter, with a young adult audience larger than CBS, NBC and CW. Univision Radio achieved industry-leading revenue growth. Univision.com further solidified its place as the #1 Internet destination among Hispanics with the successful launches of its video portal and social networking platform. This quarter we began to demonstrate our focus on leveraging the connection Univision has with its audience in new and creative ways through the development of an innovative campaign with Unilever, which included a first of its kind mininovela on Univision.com that was launched in July. We intend to continue to find unique ways to leverage our connection to our audience and their loyalty to Univision for the benefit of our advertisers across all of our platforms," he said. In the call with analysts, President Ray Rodriguez raved about the audience gains by the flagship Univision network. He also praised the O&O TV group, noting that during the May sweeps Univision's local TV stations were #1 primetime in Adults 18-34 in Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Fresno and Bakersfield, not just among Spanish stations, but beating all English stations as well. They were also #1 in Adults 18-49 in LA, Houston, Fresno and Bakersfield.
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Ad Business Report TM
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 Best Buy adjusts branding
for business customers
With business customers making up as much as 10% of its overall store traffic but usually unidentified as such, Best Buy announced new plans to identify and help the business customer shopping its 863 stores. Beginning this month, Best Buy will identify newly-added, business-grade products with the label "Professional Series," denoting a product designed with features tailored to business use. The labels will appear on business products on retail shelves, on in-store signage, on BestBuy.com and in Best Buy's weekly ad insert. Best Buy for Business also will train specially-selected store employees to help business customers navigate their purchasing experience in-store and provide an introduction to additional business resources available. The Professional Series label will initially feature notebook computers and networking equipment and extend to printing products, GPS and navigational equipment, digital cameras, storage products and mobile and landline phones. This expansion of Best Buy for Business into all U.S. stores is designed to bring customers shopping for both their businesses and their personal needs more access and clarity on business technology as well as assistance in navigating emerging technologies. Best Buy for Business has locations within more than 200 Best Buy stores throughout the U.S. Best Buy business customers will also have access to the Best Buy for Business Reward Zone program.
Seven secrets of great advertising
Most advertising professionals know what makes great advertising. But they work in a volatile business and are generally afraid to talk about it -- so they keep it a secret. Whether they are employed in corporate marketing departments or in advertising agencies, the risk is great. "They could get fired if they do something outrageous and it fails," according to John Howlett, President of advertising and marketing consultancy Aviza. "On the positive side, advertising professionals can also get promoted for exhibiting marketing genius! They could do this by developing brilliant ideas that help catapult their company's business."
| Here are his seven simple secrets to get to great advertising |
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| Media Business Report TM |
 Gannett launches
100+ local mobile sites
Breaking news, sports, weather and other must-have local information now can be accessed easily by mobile phone users in more than 100 local markets, Gannett announced. The local mobile sites are designed to appear on small screens and include content-updated 24/7-produced by local Gannett Information Centers that power real-time news and information to multiple platforms, including the Web, newspapers, television-and now mobile devices. The new mobile sites carry local, regional and national display advertising. They are free to consumers with mobile Internet browsing and data plans. Mobile versions of Gannett's 84 community daily newspapers, 19 broadcast market websites and USA Today can be directly by entering "m" before a Gannett site's URL (example: http://m.tennessean.com); by using a unique market SMS short code keyword which will be used in print, online and broadcast promotion (example: text NASH to 59523); and via links from the home pages of all Gannett newspaper and broadcast websites.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
Huntsville distress sale filed
James Lockwood is looking to build a television duopoly in the Huntsville-Decatur-Florence AL DMA, but he'll need an FCC waiver for starters, and then will need to restore WYLE-TV to the air to complete the project. Lockwood owns WHDF-TV in market, the local CW affiliate on Channel 15. According to Wikipedia, Channel 26 WYLE was a Jewelry TV affiliate, and previously was part of the Shop at Home Network, but according to paperwork filed with the transaction contract it's been silent since February due to financial distress. The price works out to 1.2M plus. Lockwood, filing as WYLE TV LLC, has already submitted a 100K deposit, will add 330.5K cash at closing, will pay legal fees amounting to 69.5K, will issue a promissory note to the tune of 700K, and will also pay an unreported amount to brokerage firm Media Services Group, which signed a station marketing agreement with ETC about two years ago. Lockwood owns two other full-power television stations in addition to his WHDF. He owns NBC KTEN-TV in Sherman TX-Ada OK and CW WQCW-TV in Charleston-Huntington WV.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
FCC: Cap noncom FM stick applications?
The FCC says a number of interested parties think there should be a limit to how many CPs one entity tries for in the upcoming window for proposed new NCE FM stations. The goal is to gum up the works wading through potential "speculative filings," which could cause "extraordinary procedural delays." It's thinking of placing the cap at ten and wants your comments. The cap would be keyed to individuals with an attributable interest in any licensee - the proposed rule reads, "A party to an application filed in the NCE FM filing window may hold attributable interests in no more than a total of ten applications filed in the window." If any more than ten are found, the FCC will accept the first ten, going by file date, and dismiss all others. The window for reserved band (88.1 MHz-91.9 MHz) CP proposals as well as major change applications is open from 10/12/07 through 10/19/07. In a related announcement, broadcasters in the adjacent non-reserved ban, from 92.1 MHz to 92.5 MHz, will be frozen out of major changes from 9/7/07 though close of the application window. The freeze, a standard operating procedure before any auction or CP filing window, affects all reserved band frequencies.
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| Cable Business Report TM |
EchoStar wins another
round in patent fight
While several MSOs and DirecTV agreed to pay Forgent 28 million bucks to avoid going to trial in a patent dispute, EchoStar is celebrating anew the fact that it didn't buckle and fought the claim in court. Back in May it won a ruling that the patent relating to simultaneous recording and playback with DVRs was invalid (5/23/07 TVBR #101). Now EchoStar has won another round, with a federal judge in Texas refusing to throw out the jury verdict and order a new trial. And he ordered Forgent to pay EchoStar 90K for its court costs.
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| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
The Secret is back
CBS will again air "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show." The 2007 edition of the provocative special is set for December 4th at 10 pm ET/PT. Top models appearing this year will include Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima, Karolina Kurkova and Selita Ebanks. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is being produced by done and dusted, inc. Edward G. Razek, Monica Mitro, Ian Stewart and Hamish Hamilton are the executive producers. Hamish Hamilton is the director.
 NBC offering sneak peak at fall shows
Greg Grunberg of the hit drama "Heroes" hosts "The NBC Primetime Preview Show" - a 30-minute program showcasing a look at the network's new and returning shows to be conveyed on a variety of media platforms from August 11th through September 23rd. The annual Fall program will be offered to NBC's 232 television stations as well as other channel entities such as USA, SCI FI, Bravo, UniHD, Chiller, mun2, MSNBC, CNBC, Sleuth, NBC2Go, on-demand and broadband. NBC stations can also run it on their websites while NBC.com will also run it as well. In addition, the program will be screened on selected United Airlines flights. It will be broadcast on the NBC Network on Saturday, September 8th (8:30-9:00 pm ET). In addition, cable, satellite and telco affiliates can offer consumers a two-week advance screening of "Bionic Woman," "Chuck," "Life" and "Journeyman" in standard definition, as well as in high definition. The on-demand and broadband offering will also include behind-the-scenes segments for "Bionic Woman" and "Life"; two-minute previews of four new NBC Fall shows; a two-minute preview of "Heroes"; one exclusive scene from "The Office" and "30 Rock," and five "Chuck" viral videos.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
NBC comedy site to offer ad-funded downloads
NBC's DotComedy.com has partnered with Hiro Media to launch a free, ad-supported download service for its content. DotComedy has launched the Hiro technology platform on its Comedy To Go section, a collection of original video clips, and will also use the service for all downloadable content. The service enables DotComedy to monetize its free downloadable content by including copyrighted advertising that plays in-show. NBC can dynamically change ads each time a viewer watches the program, whether they're online or offline. Users can choose to register demographic information with the service, enabling advertisers to create personalized and time-sensitive advertising.
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| Ratings & Research |
 What brands are
teens talking about?
New research is showing teens talk about brands than the rest of the American people--twice as many each week. In a word of mouth (WOM) survey of 2,046 teens (ages 13-17) conducted January through May 2007, the five brands with the largest number of "net positive" mentions were iPod, American Eagle, Dr Pepper, Chevrolet and Nintendo. In contrast, the top five WOM brand all-stars among the general public (15,287 respondents, ages 13-69) are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Wal-Mart, Sony and Toyota. This is the latest research from TalkTrack, the Keller Fay Group's measurement program for WOM marketing that monitors the word of mouth conversations of thousands of Americans weekly. Highlights from the study include: -- Teens have 145 WOM conversations per week-more than twice as many as the general public (71). -- Although most of these WOM conversations (63%) are face-to-face, and 13% by phone, they are three times more likely to occur online (e.g., through text message/IM, e-mail, or chats/blogs) than similar conversations among the adult population. 19% of teen conversations occur online, versus 7% of the total public. -- More than 50% of teen WOM cites marketing or media efforts that support the brand or specific products. -- American Eagle is the only fashion apparel brand to make the list of "All Star" word of mouth brands; interestingly, no apparel retailer appears on the top 10 list for adults. -- Teens are far more likely than the total public to have conversations on a typical day about technology products, sports/recreation/hobbies, and telecom. Large differences are also found for shopping and apparel and personal care/beauty.
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 6/25/07-6/29/07
The sale of KNOE-TV in Monroe-El Dorado not only broke a June television trading slump, it also propelled the week to the top of the June heap. In fact, more value was created in the final week of June than was created during the rest of the month, much like last week's top radio trade equalled the rest of the month's dealing up to that point. But the combined total for all of June was lower than the slowest single week in May. [Editor's note: We elected not to tally stations involved in the administrative cashless placement of numerous stations into the Aloha Station Trust by Clear Channel.]
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Total
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Total Deals
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11
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AMs
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4
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FMs
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6
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TVs
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2
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| Value |
67.235M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
Lotus helps Peak stay focused
| More... |
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TV Transactions of the Week
Whaddaya know about KNOE?
| More... |
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| Transactions |
750K TV CP Gainesville FL. 50% of Gainesville Channel 61 Associates LLC from Television Capital Corporation of Gainsville (Elvin Feltner) to Budd Broadcasting Company Inc. (Harvey Budd, Irene Budd). 10K deposit, balance in cash at closing. [File date 7/25/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Wild ride on Wall Street
Stock prices gyrated wildly on Friday as the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the globe injected money into the banking system to calm concerns about a credit crunch. The Dow Industrials were down 31 points to 13,240, but the S&P 500 finished slightly higher.
TV stocks were mixed. LIN Television shot up 25% in an apparent delayed reaction to its CEO saying Thursday that it had not taken down the for sale sign. Meredith rose 6%. The worst performer for the day was Gray Television's Class A, down 5.7%. Its common was down 2.8%.
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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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3.82
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-0.15
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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60.51
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+3.34
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Belo
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BLC
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17.64
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+0.42
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LIN TV
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TVL
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13.85
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+2.77
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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30.62
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-0.04
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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54.07
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-0.04
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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30.86
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+0.08
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Media General
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MEG
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30.19
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+0.29
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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34.93
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-0.41
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Meredith
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MDP
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53.54
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+3.05
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Disney
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DIS
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33.16
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+0.16
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News Corp.
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NWS
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22.01
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-0.40
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Emmis
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EMMS
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5.79
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-0.32
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Nexstar
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NXST
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7.96
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+0.12
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Entravision
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EVC
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8.30
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-0.07
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Ion Media
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ION
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1.39
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unch
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| Equity Media |
EMDA |
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3.09 |
-0.41 |
Saga Commun.
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SGA
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6.87
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+0.32
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Fisher
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FSCI
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48.42
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-0.07
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SBS
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SBSA
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2.82
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unch
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Gannett
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GCI
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47.37
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+0.03
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Scripps
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SSP
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39.88
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-0.12
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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38.23
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-0.71
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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12.31
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+0.12
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| Google |
GOOG |
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515.75
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+1.02
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SWMX
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SWMX
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0.09
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unch
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Gray
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GTN
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8.76
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-0.25
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Time Warner
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TWX
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18.62
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-0.04
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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8.63
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-0.52
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Tribune
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TRB
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26.50
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-0.46
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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21.22
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+1.11
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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792.75
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-22.15
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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11.10
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+0.22
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Young
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YBTVA
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2.40
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-0.21
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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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Cable Business Report
EchoStar
Wins another round in patent fight...
Ad Business Report
Seven secrets of great advertising
Most ad pros know what makes great advertising. But they work in a volatile biz and generally afraid to talk about it...
Media Markets & Money
Huntsville distress sale filed
James Lockwood is looking to build a television duopoly...
Ratings & Research
Brands teens are talking about
Teens have 145 WOM conversations per week-more than twice as many as...
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Stations for Sale
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The Exline Company
LPTVs - Central and Coastal CA
Call Andy McClure or Erick Steinberg
(415) 479-3484
Exline@pacbell.net
 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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Upped at Fisher
Fisher Communications announced that John Tamerlano has added the title of Vice President of Pales to his existing title of VP/GM of KATU-TV (ABC) and KUNP-TV (Univision) in Portland. Tamerlano's new corporate responsibilities will include working with Fisher's president and CEO Colleen Brown and local management to increase top-line revenue growth throughout Fisher, including the recently launched Spanish-language initiatives.
Tribune director exits
Tribune Company announced that Miles D. White has resigned from its board of directors. White, Chairman and CEO of Abbott Laboratories, cited increasing business and civic commitments as reasons for stepping down.
Tankersley in WideOrbit
WideOrbit announced Danny Tankersley, formerly of Wicks Broadcast Solutions, has joined WideOrbit as Regional Sales Director. WideOrbit provides Sales, Traffic and Billing software solutions for the media industry. Tankersley will report directly to Mike Zinsmeister, VP/Sales.
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More News Headlines
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Merv Griffin dead at 82
Pioneering TV host Merv Griffin died yesterday at age 82. A statement from his family said he died from a recurrence of prostate cancer which had quickly spread to other organs. "The Merv Griffin Show" aired for 23 years, beginning in 1962, first on NBC and then in syndication. In addition to the long-running talk show, Griffin created "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" He sold Merv Griffin Enterprises in 1986 for the then-astronomical sum of a quarter billion dollars. Even then he didn't retire, investing in hotels, race horses and other ventures. He also recently returned to TV syndication to develop "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" with Program Partners. "My father was a visionary. He loved business and continued his many projects and holdings even while hospitalized," said his son, Tony.
A matter of
primary concern
The Republican Party has moved its presidential primary up to 1/19/08, a move which puts it at odds with New Hampshire state law and may likely have a ripple effect felt in Iowa as well. The already-truncated 2008 primary schedule was to kick off with caucuses in Iowa 1/14/08, followed by Nevada on 1/19/08. Then the tradition first primary in New Hampshire would be held on 1/22/08. New Hampshire state law dictates that it maintain its lead-off status, and it's 1/22/08 slot is only tentative at this point. It is expected that it will move up to get ahead of SC, which in turn may force Iowa to move to an earlier date. The schedule, which used to take place over a period of months, has been compressed in large part by a convergence of states all holding their events on 2/5/08, a date which has come to be known as Super Duper Tuesday.
TVBR observation: So your end-of-year specialty advertisers may have unexpected company. Along with the post-holiday clearance bonanza and champagne is for lovers ads there may well be quite a few pointing out how one's slimy opponent is in the pocket of special interests. Just the thing to keep the public in the holiday mood. But hey, anything that keeps broadcast cash registers ringing into the traditional January doldrums is a good thing, right?
| Tentative primary dates here |
Nielsen completes Telephia buy
The Nielsen Company has completed the acquisition of San Francisco-based Telephia, a leading provider of syndicated consumer research to the telecom and mobile media markets. This transaction puts Nielsen at the forefront of independent measurement and analysis of media and data content on mobile devices worldwide. Said Susan Whiting, EVP/The Nielsen Company: "Telephia's cutting-edge mobile content research and measurement complement our existing activities and expand our capabilities in the rapidly evolving telecom and mobile media markets. This is a strategic, high-growth opportunity that will enable us to expand the reach of Telephia's core measurement services and provide more comprehensive consumer insights to clients around the world." Sid Gorham will continue to serve as Telephia's President and CEO, reporting to Whiting. Nielsen Wireless, the company's recently launched service to measure consumer usage of mobile Internet, mobile video and other related content services, will be integrated into Telephia. Telephia's headquarters will remain in San Francisco. Telephia currently serves more than 100 clients in the United States, Canada and Europe from all sectors of the telecom and mobile media markets.
Journal Broadcast under attack
Two employees of Journal Broadcast Group's Milwaukee radio and TV operation were attacked last week by a pack of stray pit bulls outside the studios. One of them, a custodial worker, was bitten so severely on her legs that she may require plastic surgery. A police officer was also bitten while rounding up the animals. Since the vicious dogs were right outside the WTMJ-AM & TV and WKTI-FM studios, there were plenty of cameras around and video is posted on the Channel 4 website. Police are now trying to identify the owner of the four dogs, who appeared to be healthy and well fed.
No Gannett
buyout on tap
Internet bloggers jumped to conclusions last week by reading a lot more into a routine SEC filing by Gannett than was really there. The filing dealt with revisions to management compensation in the event of a change of control of the company. That had the Internet buzzing with speculation that a leveraged buyout was in the works. But CEO Craig Dubow sent employees a memo Friday declaring that the bloggers were off base and the company is not preparing for a sale.
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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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Watchdog names its
best and worst advertisers
Parents Television Council awards green lights to television shows it likes, and red lights to those it doesn't. Parents are urged to direct their children to the green side of the equation.
TVBR observation: This is a completely appropriate use of the First Amendment by PTC.
08/10/07 TVBR #156
LIN TV continues strategic review
Contrary to market rumors, LIN Television CEO Vince Sadusky says the company is continuing its review of strategic options, including a possible sale of the entire company. He notes, though, that the process has been impacted by the recent weakness of the credit markets. Nexstar recently pulled itself off the auction block because of the credit tightening and LIN's stock price had fallen on speculation that it would do the same. (More details in TVBR)
08/10/07 TVBR #156
Radio's National and Local Business
Saga Communications Q2 conference call, CEO Ed Christian mentioned that in speaking with Katz Media CEO Stu Olds recently on national business, Christian noted Olds said the number of spots sold this year is higher than last year. However, each month Katz goes in about 5% below last year on pre-booking. "So not only do they start with a -5, we also have the introduction of the :30s, which have hurt the average rate in the marketplace. So that's part of the issue." He added that local radio has to re-invent itself and quit only going for the low-hanging fruit. "We have made this commitment to go out and do the developmental calls that are necessary to restore the growth in this industry." He says it can be done, radio just got lazy. The number of cold calls and spec spots required for each AE each week to develop new revenue need to go up.
RBR observation: Just got lazy lets add greedy, lack on innovation, being cheap to this long list. We are sure many in our radio business can add to the list so go ahead and send RBR your thoughts to this list radionews@rbr.com but also add what You are doing to improve your station.
08/10/07 RBR #156
21 broadcast groups, rep firms
"Buy In" to TVB's ePort
The TVB announced 21 television broadcast groups and two Rep firms have committed to date to TVB ePort, an eBusiness platform that will enable a new wave of open-standard electronic transactions between advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and station reps. Chicago-based Spot Buy Spot will build the platform and that the first phase would launch in November, enabling Spot TV buyers to send Q1 2008 orders electronically. The entire suite of open standard transactions--from avail through invoice for stations' airtime, websites, digital subchannels and other multiplatform offerings--is expected to be available through TVB ePort by March 2008."The station groups have stepped up to the plate and underlined the broadcasting industry's commitment to TVB ePort," said TVB President Chris Rohrs.
TVBR observation: Now this is the way a medium and their trade representative should work and grow together. Called Commitment and putting their money where their ideas and beliefs are. This is good for local TV.
08/09/07 TVBR #155
Retrans translating into
big bucks for Nexstar
You've heard a lot in recent years about developing new revenue streams for television companies. Well, those streams are real - and growing. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook reported that retransmission consent revenues in Q2 were up 31% from a year ago and new media revenues shot up 244%. Combined, they accounted for over five million bucks, or 7.4% of Nexstar's net revenues for the quarter. Plus: Nexstar struts its stuff as if dealing with potential buyers of his company distracted Perry Sook in any way from operations, it certainly didn't show in the Q2 results that Nexstar Broadcasting Group posted. Revenues were up 6.5% to 68.7 million, or 1.8% on a same station basis.
08/09/07 TVBR #155
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