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TV News ®
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 Media General TV up double digits
Media General reports that revenues for its TV group were up 12.3% in July to 51.1 million dollars. Except of January, which included the Super Bowl, Media General said July was the strongest month this year for its TV group. Political revenues jumped nearly 1.3 million to 1.6 million, with higher spending by the presidential campaigns in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, along with senate races in Georgia and Florida and other contests in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. Local ad sales were up 7.5% and national gained 7.8%. But broadcast wasn't even the company's top performer. Interactive Media Division revenues shot up 39.5%, with classified advertising for the Internet operation up nearly 52%. Even so, revenues for Interactive Media still account for only a small portion of Media General's total revenues, at only 1.3 million dollars. Publishing revenues were up 5.7% to 78.5 million dollars, with classified up 8.5% and retail up 1.6%, but national down 2.7%. "Total revenue growth in July was our strongest monthly gain this year compared to the same 2003 period," said J. Stewart Bryan III, Chairman and CEO. "Our growth was fueled primarily by higher political revenues at our television stations and growth in classified employment advertising revenues at our newspapers. We also were pleased to see a return to growth in newspaper retail advertising and television national time sales," he added.
July up double digits for Gannett TV
Gannett reports that pro forma broadcasting division revenues grew by 11.9% in July to 65.7 million dollars. That includes Captivate Networks, the elevator video advertising service that Gannett bought earlier this year (4/6/04 TVBR Daily Epaper #67). For actual TV stations, revenues were up 11.1%, with local up 3.6% and national 24.3%. Gannett doesn't break out political revenues separately. Based on current pacings, Gannett says q3 TV revenues should be up in the mid to high teens. Newspaper revenues - - and Gannett is the nation's largest newspaper group - - rose 9.5% in July to 406.2 million dollars. On a pro forma basis, local was up 6.7%, national 8.1% and classified 12.6%.
2004 debates coming into focus
Three debates are on the schedule between President George W. Bush and challenger John Kerry, with another featuring a face-off between VP Dick Cheney and his challenger John Edwards. If there was a prize for most moderators, PBS would be the clear winner. In fact, the first two encounters will have a PBS news person in the moderator's chair. The first Bush-Kerry encounter will be held at the University of Miami, under the guidance of Jim Lehrer, on 9/30/04. That will be followed 10/5/04 by the sole VP contest, moderated by Gwen Ifill. It'll convene at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. ABC's Charles Gibson will preside over the second presidential debate 10/8/04, at Washington University in St. Louis. Finally, on 10/13/04, CBS's Bob Schieffer will be at the mic for a debate being held at Arizona State University in Tempe. All four debates kick off at 9:00 PM Eastern. If the debates were to be held today, they'd be extremely one-sided. Kerry and Edwards are the only eligible participants who have agreed on the schedule. According to the New York Times, Bush and Cheney intend to participate, but have not yet formally agreed to this slate of debates. Ralph Nader and others may wish to participate, but will be shut out unless they can produce a showing of 15% public support over five national polls determined by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
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Dueling 527s
The crafters of the McCain Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act can only stand back and watch as organization after organization wriggles through its many loopholes. One result is that even as Bush and Kerry duel each other, rival 527s are alsow going toe-to-toe without any participation whatsoever from the candidate they are ultimately serving. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been buying time, predominately in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin, attacking the military service record of Kerry. Now MoveOn.org is countering with a 200K dollar campaign of its own, attacking the attack. The MoveOn campaign provides a snapshot of the precision sniping taking place this year during a campaign where citizens are either being inundated with political advertising or being ignored entirely. To whit, the ads aren't being placed statewide, but are rather walking directly in the Swift Boat footprints, in Toledo and Youngstown OH, Charleston WV and Green Bay WI.
Life returning to normal in Southwest Florida
Radio and TV stations are slowly returning to near-normal programming in the Ft. Myers-Naples market, where Hurricane Charley's worst devastation hit Sanibel and Captiva Islands and the mainland communities of Charlotte County, including picturesque Punta Gorda. But since the main business areas of Ft. Myers and Naples were largely unscathed, local managers tell us they don't expect any prolonged business impact from the storm. | More... |
 A legal eagle eye view of EAS
The FCC has determined that the emergency alert system, as currently configured, leaves much to be desired. It appears that most people, broadcasters and ordinary citizens alike, would agree with that statement. The question is, does it need to be strengthened, and if so, how? That is the thrust of the FCC's notice of proposed rulemaking on the topic. Peter Guttmann of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice has put together an analysis of the proposal, which he and his law firm have kindly shared with us, and which we will in turn share with you. So without further ado, | More... |
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 GM ups LaNeve to head of
marketing & advertising
On Friday, GM named a new head of marketing and advertising for North America and a new marketing chief at its Hummer brand, which has seen a double-digit decline in sales this year. Mark LaNeve, GM of Marketing for Cadillac since 2001, will take over as VP/Marketing and Advertising for North America effective 9/1. LaNeve, who has overseen a recent rebound in Cadillac sales, is replacing John Middlebrook, who becomes VP/Global Sales, Service and Marketing Operations. LaNeve is featured in our RBR print issues for August and September. GM also said Susan Doherty, a former head of marketing for Cadillac's hot-selling Escalade SUVs, had been named Divisional Marketing GM for Hummer. We talk with LaNeve about his promotion in this Friday's RBR and TVBR daily Epapers.
Arbitron and eMediaTRADE sign tech deal
Arbitron has signed an agreement with eMediaTRADE for access to its Media eXchange Desk technology and services. Arbitron will use eMediaTRADE technology to assist in making future versions of Arbitron's media planning and buying software and Arbitron radio sales software compatible with the AAAA standards for the exchange of transaction data between buyers and sellers.
Sears merges multicultural unit
Sears announced it is merging its standalone multicultural marketing unit and merging its staff into the general marketing and merchandising departments. The move follows the retirement of Billye Alexander, VP/Multicultural Management. Joan Chow, VP/Marketing, has been given additional duties overseeing multicultural efforts.
 Subway chooses Goodby Silverstein
Subway has named Omnicom Group's Goodby Silverstein & Partners San Francisco to handle its $300M creative account, canceling a formal review. Subway parted with Fallon in May after just eight months. "We looked at all the agencies who approached us in the past, and asked for a number of new submissions," Chris Carroll, SVP/Marketing for the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust, said in a statement. "In the end, we were most impressed with GS&P. There didn't seem to be any reason to drag the process out any further."
Blockbuster Online names Avenue A/Razorfish
digital marketing agency
Blockbuster Online has named Avenue A/Razorfish as its digital marketing agency. On the heels of the recent launch of "Blockbuster Online, The Movie Store At Your Door," Internet movie rental service, Avenue A/Razorfish will later this week launch a comprehensive digital marketing campaign, including media across leading websites such as Excite, iVillage, American Greetings Network and AtomShockwave, to introduce the company's new service offering online. Sponsored search campaigns utilizing the two leading providers have already launched.
1-800CheapSeats launches street team effort
1-800CheapSeats recently launched its new brand with a marketing push that includes 30 new Scion xB's wrapped with the new 1800CheapSeats logo (designed by the Romann Group) driven by street teams in 16 markets throughout August, including: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Virginia Beach. The company is currently holding a sweepstakes drawing that will give each of three winners one of the new cars. The Company also recently announced an integrated marketing partnership with LidRock that provides consumers with travel deals via CDs embedded on fountain drink lids. Consumers who purchase the LidRock discs will have access to travel specials contextually integrated within the multimedia experience on the disc.
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Media, Markets & Money tm
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 Telemundo seeks rulemaking
to move into Phoenix
Holbrook AZ is over 200 miles away from downtown Phoenix, a location NBC Telemundo Phoenix finds to be an ineffective staging area in its effort to compete with Univision for the eyes and ears of the Arizona capital's Hispanic population. It has a proposal before the FCC to remedy that situation. The deal would be swap with Community Television Educators Inc., a noncom with the license to Channel 39 in Phoenix. Telemundo wants to exchange its Channel 11 property in Holbrook, currently using calls KPHZ, as well as its low-power sister KDRX-CA Phoenix, for CTE's Channel 39 KDTP-TV Phoenix. Telemundo argues that there are only two Hispanic-oriented full-power TV stations in the market, despite the fact that it occupies the #9 slot in terms of Hispanic population, and that both of the outlets are owned by Univision. It ways that on top of this, Univision will soon add five radio stations to its in-market portfolio.
Without the move, it feels it may be forced to abandon the Holbrook station, creating a so-called white area with no over-the-air broadcast service. It says noncommercial CTE would have alternate sources of funding which could help keep the station on the air. Both parties require a multi-pronged FCC rulemaking to allow the switch, particularly when it comes to redesignating each station to switch from commercial to noncommercial and vice versa. They want to accomplish this without exposing the licenses to competing applications. The FCC is seeking comment on the proposal.
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Washington Beat
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 Kerry puts his money
where he hopes his future is
Now that he is the official presidential nominee of his Democratic party, John Kerry is bound to spend only the 75M dollars provided to his campaign by the federal government. He's been biding his time since then to avoid being in the hole financially when George W. Bush officially becomes his party's nominee early next month. This, for Kerry, is despite the fact that he enjoyed record-breaking fund-raising success during the primaries, money - - at least what's left of it - - he is now forced to sit on. He has found a way to funnel it to his own advantage, however. He is making a pair of unprecedented donations of 3M dollars each to his party's general congressional campaign funds. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are the recipients. The committees will be able to direct the money to races where they think it may help tilt the balance. Kerry in turn hopes to tilt the balance in Congress his way in the event he is successful in his bid to capture the White House this winter.
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Legal Ease
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Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
By Greg P. Skall and Peter Gutmann, communications attorneys with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC. They can be reached at 202-857-4441.
With the 2004 campaign season upon us, it has become critically important for broadcasters to have a clear understanding of the impact of the "Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA)." It is already clear that new spending limits imposed on the Presidential candidates following the nominating conventions will divert substantial campaign funds to the political parties and other special interests for advertising that supports the candidate's positions but is not bought or paid for by the official candidate committee. Further, many states have a variety of issue initiatives on the November ballot and there is some confusion whether the BCRA applies to advertisements addressing these issues. While the new Act applies to campaigns for Federal office and focuses primarily upon political fundraising and expenditures, several provisions do have a direct impact upon broadcasting and cable: | More... |
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Programming
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NBC going strong with Athens Olympics
Viewership for the first two days of the 2004 Summer Olympics from Athens is running ahead of the 2000 games in Sydney, so folks at NBC are proud as peacocks. Friday's opening ceremonies drew 56 million viewers and Saturday's coverage, with the first actual competition, drew 78 million viewers across NBC and its various cable outlets. Through the first two days, NBC said the audience count from Nielsen was running eight million ahead of the Sydney games, putting it on track to be the most-watched Olympics staged outside the United States. For Friday and Saturday primetime, NBC averaged a 13.2 rating and 25 share during primetime.
 Fox orders more 'sodes of "North Shore"
Fox has ordered an additional nine episodes of 20th Century Fox Television's hit drama North Shore, it was announced by Gail Berman, President, Entertainment, Fox: "North Shore is a fun, entertaining soap with a wonderful cast. The series continues to grow creatively, and we are looking forward to seeing what Chris, Bert and company have in store for the staff and guests at The Grand Waimea. This pickup gives us yet another asset to schedule strategically as we move into the fall." Since its premiere, the show ranks as the #1 new drama of the season among Adults 18-34. Most recently, North Shore ranked No. 1 in its time period with Women 18-34 and continues to show gains in Adults 18-49, Men 18-34 and Teens. The series revolves around Hawaii's posh Grand Waimea Hotel, chronicling the intertwining lives of the wealthy guests and the hotel staff who cater to their every need. Chris Brancato and Bert Salke are executive producers. Peter Elkoff and Ken Biller are co-executive producers.
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Stock Talk
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Stocks rise as oil eases
Upbeat reports from some major retailers helped put Wall Street in a good mood, but the biggest factor pushing stocks up on Monday was a decline in oil prices - - not that oil is anywhere near cheap, mind you. The Dow Industrials moved up 129 points, or 1.3%, to 9,555.
TV stocks were up with the market. Belo gained 3.8% after spelling out how much it would cost the company to deal with overcharging advertisers at its largest newspaper. Time Warner gained 3.8%, Entravision 3.3%, Viacom Class B and Disney 3.2%, and Entercom 3% as some of the strongest advancers.
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TV Stocks
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Here's how stocks fared on Monday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Acme
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ACME
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6.13
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-0.09
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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74.45
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+0.92
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Belo
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BLC
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22.02
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+0.80
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Media General
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MEG
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58.07
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+1.11
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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35.39
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+0.95
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Meredith
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MDP
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49.75
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+0.44
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Disney
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DIS
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21.55
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+0.66
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News Corp.
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NWS
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32.55 |
+0.35
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Emmis
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EMMS
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19.94
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+0.34
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Nexstar
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NXST
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8.10
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+0.12
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Entravision
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EVC
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8.25
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+0.26
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NY Times
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NYT
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41.80
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+0.49
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Fisher
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FSCI
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47.32
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+0.40
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Paxson
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PAX
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2.47
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+0.22
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Fox
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FOX
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27.00
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+0.64
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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17.99
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+0.33
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Gannett
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GCI
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82.75
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+1.07
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Scripps
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SSP
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99.65
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+1.62
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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32.30
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+0.41
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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8.03
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-0.02
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Granite
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GBTVK
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0.50
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-0.03
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Time Warner
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TWX
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16.21
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+0.59
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Gray
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GTN
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11.60
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-0.07
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Tribune
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TRB
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41.82
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+0.92
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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11.25
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+0.24
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Univision
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UVN
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34.67
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+0.63
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.79
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+0.23
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
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34.13
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+0.97
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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48.49
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+0.23
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
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33.75
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+1.05
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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16.18
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-0.12
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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871.50
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+8.49
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Liberty Corp
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LC
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40.00
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+0.29
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Young
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YBTVA
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9.99
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+0.20 |
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LIN TV
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TVL
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19.67
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+0.40
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Have a news story you'd like to share? tvnews@rbr.com
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TVBR Audiocast
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08/17 - Get the feel of what you are scrolling down and reading... Listen to this morning's AudioCast and
Hold On To Your Hair!
 Listen Now
with Bob DeCarlo'
"In Da Morning"
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Bounceback
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We want to hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to tvnews@rbr.com
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Broadcasters Helping Broadcasters
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Now that Hurricane Charley has cut a swath through Florida, it's likely that several broadcasters are among the local businesses who suffered damage from the storm's high winds and flooding. We were informed, for example, that Genesis' WHOO-AM Orlando lost two towers in the midst of its broadcasting emergency information. If your station suffered hurricane damage and is in need of equipment to get back on the air, please notify us by email, tvnews@rbr.com, so we can post the need and see if another broadcaster is able to come to your assistance. Be sure to include contact information.
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July Digital Magazine
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Complimentary Report
Sports - Summer NFL training camp, Baseball, NBA draft just hit and what you need to succeed:
Programming - Sells with NTR - What works and what doesn't
Read RBR in 2 simple steps:
1.Create a simple account with Zinio and download the free Zinio Reader.
2. You can then download the free July Issue of RBR
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TVBR Radar 2004
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Click on these issues for TV News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
Broadcasters responded to
changing Charley
Broadcasters jumped into action and fulfilled their most important role - - informing the public - - as Hurricane Charley devastated Florida. The Olympics took a back seat to storm coverage for NBC affiliates and just about every station - - AM, FM, TV and local cable - - pulled out all of the stops to deliver emergency information to viewers and listeners. TVBR observation: This was broadcasting at its best. Radio coverage was less impressive, for the most part, given the limited scale of radio news operations in recent years, but at least they were providing useful information - - even if, in some cases! That meant carrying audio from a better-staffed TV partner. For NBC affiliates, general managers had to decide on Olympic coverage and they made the right decisions. Read the total report. 08/16/04 TVBR #159
Hearst-Argyle ready to go private
Anyone who follows broadcasting stocks knows that Hearst Corporation has been a voracious buyer of Hearst-Argyle stock on the open market. Hearst has continued to be the company's largest shareholder throughout those seven years. TVBR observation: They have the right idea and if they go private Hearst just may be the leader some public companies, especially in radio, need to get the heck out of that Wall Street rat race. We've heard the saying - 'If Wall Street doesn't Love us then we will buy back our stock' - can't continue saying it forever. 08/16/04 TVBR #159
Emmis assents to consent,
agrees to pay
Enriching the US Treasury by 300K dollars following in the footsteps of Clear Channel, but not leaving anywhere near as large a footprint in payment. It will also scrub clean the radio group's file. As part of the deal, Emmis admitted that is broadcast at least some actionably indecent material. TVBR observation: There must've been something at least mildly juicy in the hopper.
08/13/04 TVBR #158
Infinity nailed
Everyone's been waiting for the other shoe to drop on Viacom/Infinity. Infinity's been fined, but we're STILL waiting for the other shoe to drop. The fine is for airing a phone call on Urban WBLK-FM Buffalo NY without first informing the caller. It's a 4K dollar forfeiture order. Infinity tried to wriggle out of it, to no avail. RBR observation: We're all wondering when the real fine will come - - the Howard Stern doozy. The FCC already hit up Clear Channel to the tune of 495K dollars for a Howard show aired on only six stations. How hard can it be to figure out how much Infinity owes for all of its Howard stations? And what about the Super Bowl incident? Is anything going to come of that? Can Viacom/Infinity's vow to fight have anything to do with the delay? 08/13/04 RBR #158
Scripps lowers TV guidance
Is backing off on its bullish Q3 projections for revenues at its TV stations. Rather than the 20% increase it told investors to expect last month, Scripps has now trimmed that to "about 15%".
TVBR observation: With political spending so narrowly focused this year on key states, and even key markets within those states, it's very hard to forecast just who is going to get political ad buys - - and when. Projecting just how much that windfall will be, though, is more art than science. Don't count the eggs too soon. Lesson here people. 08/12/04 TVBR #157
News Corporation board
ready to immigrate
Outside directors has given its go-ahead to Rupert Murdoch's proposal to reincorporate the company in the United States. TVBR observation: As we noted back in April, some days it is always about the money. 08/12/04 TVBR #157
Disney CEO Michael Eisner
declared himself "satisfied"
As earnings per share rose 21% to 0.29 cents - - beating the Thompson One Analytics consensus by two cents. TVBR observation: Things are still far from jolly in the Disney Kingdom, but everyw quarter that Eisner can show some improvement is a quarter that he is under less pressure to hit the road. The key, though, is fixing ABC. Nobody is yet promising when that will occur - - only that things may not be so dismal next season as they have been. 08/11/04 TVBR #156
Interep still looking for
national to rebound
CEO Ralph Guild says he remains optimistic that an upturn in national spot spending is coming - - but he isn't saying just when.
RBR observation: It is hard being and independent rep firm with many masters to serve and little assets to do it with. Ralph - time to bring someone to the party.
08/11/04 RBR #156
Kellner sees radio and
non-pol TV in same boat
According to ACME Comm. CEO Jamie Kellner, there are haves and have-nots in this year's advertising environment. The haves are the big four TV network affiliate groups, who are cashing in big on political spending with their news-intensive stations. TVBR observation: Finally someone has said it for TV; they are in the same boat going up stream with only one paddle.
08/10/04 TVBR #155
Chrysler launches "Discover Your Ride" on Infinity stations
Infinity Broadcasting says more than 125 of itwand online cross-promotion for the Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep brands called "Discover Your Ride." The idea that leverages the popularity of Infinity DJs by encouraging their loyal listeners to check out an innovative way to shop for a new car using the stations website. TVBR observation: If you didn't get it then take a look see at that rich media and internet action is all about. "Discover Your Ride," also means discover the marketing, sales, programming and local interaction. 08/10/04 TVBR #155
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Sales Executive
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