|
|
|
|
|
Volume 24, Issue 165, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
|
Thursday Morning August 23rd, 2007
|
|
|
TV News ®
|
 Sex, drugs and smooth jazz
The Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have been examining various aspects of the advertising business, particularly the idea of whether ads for products deemed less than beneficial should be restricted of not. Now the Food and Drug Administration is joining the fun with an inquiry into pharmaceutical advertising. The question is one of presentation. Are people getting the message that certain drugs carry the risk of unpleasant or possibly harmful side effects, or are they lulled by relaxing imagery and music? The New England Journal of Medicine has published a report suggesting that the FDA is not adequately monitoring drug advertising, and in response the FDA has announced plans to conduct a study of its own to gauge the reaction of average citizens when exposed to the advertisements. According to the Associated Press, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America made its standard argument, that pharma ads are an important source of information for consumers, alerting them not only to the existence of the drugs, but to medical symptoms and conditions they may not otherwise be aware of and which they then take action to remedy. But Public Citizen's Dr. Sidney Wolf countered, "If advertisers were really interested in getting information about drug risks out, they'd show pictures of those problems, but you almost never see that." Instead, in ads for things like erectile dysfunction remedies, relaxing images of people in hot tubs or strolling along a beach to laid back music tend to accompany the spoken litany of potential adverse drug properties.
Mixed reaction to Tribune's cleared hurdle
The sale of Tribune Company to Sam Zell in the form of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) was blessed with an overwhelming 97% approval vote by shareholders. This was hailed in the executive suites, but warnings were sounded by at least one group more closely associated with the loading dock. Sam Zell was happy, saying, "I believe Tribune Company is reasserting itself as a national leader in news generation and distribution. Despite the recent upheaval in the credit markets, my view of the company as an investment has not changed." And triple-hatted Dennis FitzSimons, who serves as chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company, added, "We're pleased that Tribune shareholders recognize the value of this transaction and have voted overwhelmingly to approve it. With financing fully committed, we anticipate closing the transaction in the fourth quarter, following FCC approval and satisfaction of the other closing conditions." But the Teamsters Union had other concerns, particularly the lack of a seat for them on the board. Teamsters president James P. Hoffa said, "Without a voice for the employee owners the Tribune's new corporate structure leaves employees, who will bear the lion's share of risk in the company, without a means to address the challenges of paying off the massive multi-billion dollars of debt the company has taken on to finance this short-sighted transaction." He said that as owners Teamsters and other employees should be able to elect an ESOP trustee and to name Directors to the Board. He also said the union has filed with the FCC, urging it to assure that the goals of localism and diversity are served before granting any of the broadcast/newspaper cross-ownership waivers that Tribune is seeking to extend.
|
|
|
 Clear Channel group deal
spins into court
Warren Zevon wrote about lawyers, guns and money. We hope it doesn't get to the point that guns become part of the equation when it comes to a pending deal for 187 Clear Channel stations, but money has already been deposited and the lawyers are entering both stage left and stage right. Jeff Warshaw's Frequency License LLC is replacing Dean Goodman's GoodRadio.TV as the front man for ultimate buyer American Securities Capital Partner, which is no longer happy with the 452.1M price tag. Clear Channel, on the other hand, is taking steps to protect it. According to reports, Clear Channel has filed suit in a Texas court to see that the deal goes through as originally negotiated or that it gets a hefty break-up fee currently sitting in escrow, and American Securities literally followed suit in a New York court. According to the contract for the transaction filed with the FCC 5/15/07, the buyers have already forked over 20M into such an account. Clear Channel is said to have warned affected market managers to proceed with business as usual to assure that there are no grounds for charges that the businesses have been allowed to deteriorate in any way.
TVBR observation: The much bigger deal, the multibillion dollar transaction to take Clear Channel private via a stock purchase by Mays family, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, has the oft-postponed shareholder vote on the calender for 9/25/07. Rampant speculation is that the last thing the company wants to do ahead of that is show weakness of any kind. That vote is already half a year behind it's originally-scheduled date of 3/21/07. This should be interesting. Stay tuned.
NAB focused on DTV transition
The National Association of Broadcasters' Jack Sander has fired off a letter the FCC Chairman Kevin Martin detailing the multipronged plans the NAB has to assure viewer awareness of the upcoming 2/17/09 conversion to digital television broadcasting. At risk are 19.6M over-air-only households, and another estimated 14.7M households with unconnected secondary over-air-only receivers. "The goal of our campaign is for no consumer to lose access to free local television programming after February 17, 2009, due to a lack of information about the DTV transition," Sander wrote. From the letter, he detailed the following elements of the NAB plan. * On-air announcements: Four to six fully produced and edited 30-second announcements on the transition, and at least one 60-second version, that will be distributed to stations later this year; * Story Ideas and Copy for stations to use in their newscasts; * Video package: NAB will produce and distribute a DTV video package with B-roll footage of transmission towers, converter boxes, interviews and other useful footage to help stations report on the DTV transition; * Graphic elements: Graphics, artwork and other production elements that local stations and state broadcasters groups can use to create their own spots; * "Donut" spots: One or two "donut" spots - 30-second advertisements produced on the front and back ends, with room in the middle for a sound bite from a local official or news anchor - where local stations can insert their local talent into the DTV public service announcements; * DTV educational TV program: A half-hour educational television program on the DTV transition that local commercial and public television stations can air when appropriate; * "Crawls": NAB will be working on and consulting with local stations and networks on how best to use "crawls" - or DTV-related messages that scroll across television screens during programming - to alert consumers to the transition and drive traffic to the Web site; and * Non-English language spots: NAB is working with a number of groups that will produce spots in a variety of different languages for use on stations with non-English language programming.
TVBR observation: Viewer retention is a matter of simple survival for NAB members. Of course, the transition will not be perfect - there is a Murphy's Law that states that while you can make something foolproof, you can't make it damfoolproof. But fortunately, the ideal venue to reach analog television users is television, so this is one media campaign that should be perfectly targeted, and therefore, wildly successful.
|
|
|
|
| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
 Pennies not from heaven
This has been the year of the penny stocks in broadcasting. No, not that radio and TV penny stocks have been great money makers. Rather, quite a number of companies whose stock price was previously above the five bucks cut off have slipped into penny stock hell. Lots of pension funds and other institutional investors have prohibitions against owning penny stocks. Also, they aren't marginable, so active investors who trade on margin don't want to own them. Thus, when a stock drops below that magic five bucks line, dumping often drives them even lower before they stabilize. Who all has dropped into penny stock hell this year - many of them just in the last month as stock prices in general were beaten down? Citadel, Radio One and Westwood One are recent radio additions to the club. In television, ACME recently fell into penny stock territory. What's worrisome is that several other broadcasting stocks are in single digits and could also be beaten down further if a real bear market takes hold: Emmis, Saga, Beasley, Gray Television, Salem and even Cumulus, should its pending going-private buyout not be completed. So far in 2007, only one broadcaster has managed to escape from penny stock hell. Nexstar began the year at 4.65 and pushed above 10 bucks based on its financial performance even before the company announced in May that its entire TV group was up for sale. That sale process was recently put on hold because of the well known difficulties in the credit markets, but Nexstar's stock price still remains a few bucks out of penny stock territory.
CBS schedules its dogs and ponies
Multimedia giant CBS Corporation has become one of the first to schedule its Q3 2007 revenue results conference call. They'll release the numbers and open the telephone lines up at 4:30 PM Eastern on 11/1/07. The company owns and operates large-market television and radio stations, along with program networks, cable channels, recorded music and more. As usual, we'll tune in to hear what they have to say so you don't have to.
|
|
|
|
|
Ad Business Report TM
|
 Subaru debuts new TV campaign
As the all-new 2008 Subaru vehicle lineup arrives in dealerships across the country, consumers are seeing new television ads via DDB for Subaru that celebrate the brand's values of fun, freedom, adventure, confidence and control. The four models-the Tribeca cross-over SUV, the new Impreza four and five-door, the Outback sport-utility wagon and the Legacy sport sedan--are introduced to consumers as "always ready" for them and their lifestyle. "These new television spots are a part of our integrated marketing communications campaign to introduce customers to the strongest Subaru product lineup in the brand's history," said Tim Mahoney, SVP/chief marketing officer, Subaru of America. "The spots are smart and clever and convey the unique combination of active driving and active safety that only Subaru delivers to our customers' varied, but active lifestyles." The TV spots are unlike anything Subaru has done before. For instance, the newest Impreza spot titled "Peel Out" actually features the print ad from the same campaign and demonstrates the capability of the Subaru Impreza to take the driver on to unlimited possibilities by showing the car actually peeling out of the magazine ad. It also features a young couple emerging out of a magazine ad and traveling to different publications with various backgrounds showing how the Impreza is "Ready to Move." The new spots can be viewed on subaru.com and are currently running on TNT, The History Channel, Discovery Channel, FX, TLC, CNN, CNBC, Fox News, The Weather Channel, ESPN, E!, Food Network, HGTV, National Geographic, ABC, NBC, and CBS among others.
|
|
|
|
| Washington Media Business Report TM |
Merger mania food for thought
A district court judge who shot down the FTC's denial of approval to merge organic food producer Wild Oats into rival Whole Foods did so despite the fact that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was on record as desiring the merger "to eliminate competition and avert price wars." The FTC has already appealed the ruling, and the transaction is now hung up in an appeals court. The judge, Paul L. Friedman, said that if Whole Foods decides to raise its prices, there are any number of supermarkets in most locations that also sell organic items. Safeway was mentioned as one chain which has already put its own store label on the market. In mounting its appeal, the FTC said that it the judge should not have disregarded Mackey's statements, and that the two chains are uniquely competitive and constrain each other prices in a way that competition from traditional grocery stores may not.
TVBR observation: This transaction has been frequently compared to the proposed XM/Sirius merger. XM/Sirius would have everybody believe that if their single-entity price goes up (once a conditional price-capping term expires) then there are ample options available to consumers, not the least of which is traditional AM and FM radio, just like dissatisfied Whole Foods customers may go to Safeway. (As an aside, let us note that we go to Safeway, and while we have no complaints, it's not exactly a cornucopia of organic product. We would be happy to have an option like Whole Foods or Wild Oats in our area, which sadly we don't.) Most antitrust testimony we've heard so far disagrees with this assessment, however. Each satellite service is able to provide far more format options than an entire market's worth of radio stations can in most cases, and it is irreplaceable in rural areas with little or no terrestrial service, or for subscribers who treasure its mobility. For many subscribers, there are no options. When you add in little things like they were chartered as two separate competitive entities by design, it becomes more and more difficult to believe that we're even entertaining serious discussion of this merger.
|
|
|
|
| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
 Traug Keller: Taking the ESPN brand ahead of the curve
Traug joined ESPN as SVP/ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes in December 2004. He's responsible for all aspects of ESPN Radio including talent, staffing, national programming content, scheduling, event production and coordination with ABC Radio Networks/Citadel for ad sales and affiliation needs. Keller is also responsible for ESPN Deportes, coordinating synergistic efforts with ESPN's domestic operations as well as enhancing and developing ESPN Deportes' relationships with affiliates. They recently added oversight of the Bass and Outdoor business of ESPN. Keller took on the role of Bristol, CT integration for Mobile ESPN in June 2006, responsible for developing new, potentially exclusive, video content for the phone, driving more integrated promotions of Mobile ESPN on-air, and serving as Mobile ESPN's rep in evaluating and executing on all other Mobile ESPN synergy ideas.
| Read More... |
TV for babies?
The controversy over whether babies and toddlers should be allowed to watch TV continues. At least one expert gives it a conditional OK. Dr. Robert Titzer says that if the programming is simply designed to entertain the youth while parents are off doing something else, than it should be avoided. However, if it is interactive rather than passive; if it encourages verbal or physical response; if it teaches something of lasting value; and if it helps develop language skills, than the programming can actually be beneficial. Titzer warns however that of although this type of programming is out there, it exists in a sea of inferior product, so parents should be very careful in what they put on for their very young children.
TVBR observation: We don't know what the good doctor would think about something like the Teletubbies, but despite the fact that they could be a strain on long-suffering parents, we know that they encouraged our very little girl to start dancing, something she now studies seriously as a tween. And the Teletubbies also encouraged the practice of giving big hugs, also a good thing. But our little girl is also an avid reader; we did a whole lot of that back then, too.
|
|
|
|
| Internet Media Business Report TM |
Google adds video ads to YouTube content
Google believes it finally has found the formula to cash in on YouTube's potential as a magnet for online video advertising and keep its audience loyal at the same time. The company announced that after months of testing various video ad models, it was ready to introduce a new type of video ad, which it said was unobtrusive and kept users in control of what they saw. The ads, which appear 15 seconds after a user begins watching a video clip, take the form of an overlay on the bottom fifth of the screen, not unlike the tickers that display headlines during television news programs. The ad disappears after about 10 seconds if the viewer does nothing; the featured clip automatically pauses if the viewer clicks on the overlay to launch the full pitch. If the user clicks on it, the video they were watching will stop and a video ad will begin playing. Once the ad is over, or if a user clicks on a box to close it, the original video will resume playing from the point where it was stopped. "For now, Google will place the ads only on video clips of its content partners - the more than 1,000 small and large media companies that have licensed their videos to YouTube. By doing so, YouTube will avoid the potential liability of having ads appear on copyrighted clips it is not authorized to display. And it will also prevent ads from playing on clips generated by users whose message may not be to the liking of advertisers," the Times story said. Eileen Naughton, Google's director for media platforms said Google would charge advertisers only 20 bucks for every 1,000 times the ads were displayed. The ads began appearing yesterday throughout the site. Advertisers would be able to take aim at specific channels and genres, as well as demographic profiles, geography and hour of the day.
 Sky debuts in Google Earth
Google announced the launch of Sky, a new feature that enables users of Google Earth to view the sky as seen from planet Earth. With Sky, users can now float through the skies via Google Earth. This easy-to-use tool enables all Earth users to view and navigate through 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies. High resolution imagery and informative overlays create a unique playground for visualizing and learning about space. To access Sky, users need only click "Switch to Sky" from the "view" drop-down menu in Google Earth, or click the Sky button on the Google Earth toolbar. The interface and navigation are similar to that of standard Google Earth steering, including dragging, zooming, search, "My Places," and layer selection.
|
|
|
|
| Ratings & Research |
Here come da judge
Judge Judy edged out Pat Sajak and his Wheel of Fortune for the week of 8/6-12/07, according to ratings from the Syndicated Network Television Association. And although they say Everybody Loves Raymond, that allegedly univeral group may not include Alex Trebek, whose Jeopardy wound up in a tie with it for 3rd place.
| View the Chart |
Phone companies grabbed most
new broadband subscribers
According to a new study by Leichtman Research Group, the 19 largest cable and telephone providers in the US, representing about 94% of the market acquired over 1.7 million net additional high-speed Internet subscribers in Q2. The top broadband providers now account for nearly 58 million subscribers, with cable companies having 31.5 million, and telephone companies over 26.4 million, according to The Center for Media Research. Additional key findings for the quarter include: Total broadband additions were the fewest since the second quarter of 2004, and about 400,000 less than in the second quarter of last year; Charter was the only major broadband provider to record significantly more net broadband additions in the second quarter than a year ago; The top telephone companies added about 925,000 subscribers, representing 54% of the net broadband additions for the quarter; The top cable broadband providers have a 54% share of the broadband market, with about a 5.1 million subscriber advantage over the telephone companies.
|
|
|
|
| RBR Radio News |
 Why radio has to pay
for streaming royalties?
DDid radio miss a great opportunity to get a sweetheart deal on streaming audio royalties and DMCA fixes from the RIAA? Based on conversations with several radio groups he works with [we saw the internal emails from one of the groups on this], consultant Randy Kabrich was told, "They had the RIAA willing to settle on sweetheart streaming rates and DMCA fixes for a trade off of industry support on DRM [Digital Rights Management] in HD Radios. The powers that be, including CBS, Clear Channel and iBiquity Digital (which was desperate to get some revenue flowing), were so determined to get HD rolled out they didn't want to wait 18 months to give the Consumer Electronics Industry time to rethink HD and slow down (or bail out of) the rollout. So the RIAA offer fell by the wayside and because of that, that's the only reason we're facing this dramatic increase in streaming rights right now." DRM technology would make it impossible to make a digital recording off of an HD Radio. Who would have wanted to record it anyway-it's not CD quality. iBiquity CEO Bob Struble, however, says he doesn't recall any such deal on the table [and the company wasn't mentioned in the internal email we saw]: "We've had discussions on and off with the RIAA-productive discussions-but we are completely unaware of any such offer." Another broadcaster told us broadcasters only had proffered a settlement on the rates they would pay as one point of a larger negotiation to be undertaken when RIAA approached them. They indicated a willingness to discuss this and all issues as part of their HD concerns. There were many good faith discussions among RIAA and NAB around the technical issues involving DRM on HD. When the parties couldn't figure that out, things broke off and we are where things are now. The broadcaster wondered if broadcasters had been more willing as an industry to use the leverage RIAA had presented in their interest in DRM for HD to a) negotiate a settlement on streaming rates (not eliminate them), b) minor DMCA fixes broadcasters have long sought (the restriction on number of plays by the same artist, album, etc. over specific time periods for example), c) get relief from onerous recordkeeping requirements and d) get a pledge to leave the terrestrial exemption alone, the industry may have been further ahead than it is now.
RBR observation: Would DRM on HD be a minor price to pay? Talk about being between a rock and a hard place-broadcasters were under so much pressure to launch HD-and had to because they may have lost receiver manufacturer interest-that they may have had to give up a sweetheart deal that now looks like 20 cent a gallon gas . Now we've also got SoundExchange chiseling for all airplay.
|
|
|
|
| Stock Talk |
Television stocks up
With the Dow up 150 points yesterday, the tide rose television stocks as well. Gannett saw a 1.30 increase; Fisher 0.99 and Lincoln National 2.20.
|
|
|
|
| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
|
Acme
|
ACME
|
|
3.96
|
-0.02
|
Lincoln Natl.
|
LNC
|
 |
61.04
|
+2.20
|
|
Belo
|
BLC
|
|
17.55
|
+0.35
|
LIN TV
|
TVL
|
|
14.27
|
+0.78
|
| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
|
31.39
|
+0.57
|
McGraw-Hill
|
MHP
|
|
50.17
|
+1.98
|
| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
|
31.32
|
+0.50
|
Media General
|
MEG
|
|
27.46
|
+0.53
|
|
Clear Channel
|
CCU
|
|
37.00
|
+0.30
|
Meredith
|
MDP
|
|
55.33
|
+0.58
|
|
Disney
|
DIS
|
|
33.57
|
+0.28
|
News Corp.
|
NWS
|
|
21.89
|
+0.12
|
|
Emmis
|
EMMS
|
|
6.07
|
-0.02
|
Nexstar
|
NXST
|
|
8.71
|
+0.48
|
|
Entravision
|
EVC
|
|
9.09
|
+0.24
|
Ion Media
|
ION
|
|
1.32
|
unch
|
| Equity Media |
EMDA |
|
3.15 |
unch |
Saga Commun.
|
SGA
|
|
7.36
|
-0.06
|
|
Fisher
|
FSCI
|
|
49.80
|
+0.99
|
SBS
|
SBSA
|
|
2.89
|
+0.01
|
|
Gannett
|
GCI
|
|
48.12
|
+1.30
|
Scripps
|
SSP
|
|
38.92
|
+0.67
|
|
Gen. Electric
|
GE
|
|
39.14
|
+0.79
|
Sinclair
|
SBGI
|
|
12.51
|
+0.57
|
| Google |
GOOG |
|
512.75
|
+6.14
|
SWMX
|
SWMX
|
|
0.09
|
+0.01
|
|
Gray
|
GTN
|
|
8.91
|
+0.42
|
Time Warner
|
TWX
|
|
18.93
|
+0.29
|
|
Gray, C1. A
|
GTNa
|
|
8.60
|
+0.20
|
Tribune
|
TRB
|
|
28.94
|
+0.96
|
|
Hearst-Argyle
|
HTV
|
|
20.40
|
+0.39
|
Wash. Post
|
WPO
|
|
779.59
|
-21.72
|
|
Journal Comm.
|
JRN
|
|
10.09
|
-0.24
|
Young
|
YBTVA
|
|
2.01
|
-0.04
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bounceback
|
 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to tvnews@rbr.com
Another broadcaster weighs in on the performance tax
 Fees for "performing" copyrighted music on radio, are a historic travesty. The radio industry once stood up for its rights and told ASCAP where to get off, forming BMI and enticing many artists away from ASCAP because radio wouldn't play any ASCAP music. Now we have RIAA in the act, and true to form they are looking at the very narrow view of instant profits rather then helping to prop up a newly developing industry. Radio streaming will, in all likelihood replace over the air radio in the future. It will grow much faster than satellite, and will provide listeners with a tremendous variety of programming, including in some cases, music. Music, however, isn't the only thing being provided on web streams. Schools are streaming their sports activities. Churches are streaming their Sunday services, and special interest audiences that aren't big enough to justify a broadcast are now able to get their message out worldwide. We don't want to let anybody mess that up.
But exorbitant fees threaten to set back by many years an industry that already has established a firm technological base. We need to tell the music people what we told the buggy whip people when horses gave way to cars, "start providing something useful if you want to survive." The future is not in CDs or mini-disks or Vinyl, the future will lie in digital files that do not require a conventional distribution system. My advice is stop suing everybody, then sit down and determine where RIAA fits into this new world order, and create a useful service that people are willing to pay for, not an archaic one that must be crammed down their throats.
Our legislators need to heed this message and let the marketplace decide where this industry is going, not provide legislation designed to keep an unneeded, unwanted, and outmoded organization in business for a few more years.
John F. Schad, President
Smarts Broadcast Systems
|
|
|
Below the Fold
|
Ad Business Report
Subaru debuts new
TV campaign as the all-new 08 Subaru lineup arrives in dealerships...
Washington Media Business Report
Merger mania food for thought
A district court judge who shot down the FTC's denial of approval to merge...
Entertainment Media
Business Report
Traug Keller on
Taking the ESPN brand ahead of the curve...
Internet Media Business Report
Google adds
Video ads to YouTube content...
|
|
|
Stations for Sale
|
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
|
|
|
TV Media Moves
|
WQAD welcomes
Larry Rosmilso
Broadcast veteran Larry Rosmilso today steps out of a short lived retirement to take the corner office at WQAD-TV, Channel 8 in the Quad Cities. Rosmilso ruled the Quad Cities radio market during his 25 year tenure as GM of a 7 station cluster in Davenport-Rock Island-Moline. Said Rosmilso: "I've been watching Bobby (Local TV COO Lawrence) and Randy (Local TV CEO Michaels) re-establish WQAD's presence in this market and its been classic. Selling television locally, which is Local TV's mantra, is a natural extension of my background. I am thrilled to be on the ground floor of this company and to re-unite with one of the strongest management teams in broadcasting. He's the second General Manager at WQAD in three months.
Peter Smyth/Greater Media new honorary AWRT trustee
American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) is pleased to announce its newest Honorary Trustee of the Foundation, Peter H. Smyth, President and Chief Executive Officer, Greater Media. Smyth joined Greater Media in 1986 and has held numerous positions upon being promoted in March 2002 to Greater Media's President and Chief Executive Officer.
|
|
|
TVBR Radar 2007
|
|
Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
|
Data glitch? Houston PPM
Carry rates drop 1/3 in 1 week
RBR 1st reported 8/21/07, Houston, we may have a big problem when it comes to PPM carry rates. There is a sudden sharp drop in Houston August Week 1 weekly PPM intab. The daily intab is in range but the weekly has suddenly dropped by around one-third in most demos. Is this possible? Arbitron quickly took a second look and Arbitron spokesperson Thom Mocarsky gave the official company explanation of what happened to cause the sudden sharp drop in Houston August Week 1 weekly PPM intab (see story). He says there was actually "no precipitous decline in panelist cooperation in Houston for the week of July 26 through August 1, 2007." The file used to process the weekly cume estimates (the unified weekly sample) was incompletely loaded from the data warehouse to the production system. But the fall out from this RBR was flooded with email from broadcasters POed about the PPM issue: Bob Neil, Cox Radio CEO: "Why didn't we hear about this in last week's big conference call?"... Consultant Randy Kabrich: "Less than one week ago on their subscriber conference call, in response to a question on panel management, Pierre [Bouvard, Arbitron President/Sales & Marketing] told me to "handle programming and let them (Arbitron) deal with panel management". 48 hours later, Arbitron told the NABOB "PPM ratings are not flawed" and said they "remain confident in the validity" of the data. Less than 1 business day later, Arbitron put out flawed PPM data with no validity - passing through all their quality controls without raising a single red flag. If I had followed Pierre's advice, we would have never learned of this error..." See the data and the charts in RBR
RBR observation: Suggestion if you did not read the three part report is to revisit RBR. Yep broadcasters are POed and have a right to be. In this stage of development of moving forward with PPM Arbitron must pull double duty and checking and re-checking data. Arbitron can not afford many PR errors of taking 1 step forward and then falling back 2. Broadcasters voice your concerns but Arbitron is workable as they too are in business to serve their clients.
08/22/07 RBR #164
Tribune's down arrow
puts deal in question
This is a transaction that is designed to go to Zell. When it was first proposed to take the company private under Sam Zell's leadership, the stock was about four dollars below the share advertised as the privatization price. But in the interim, the arrow on the stock price has been heading in the other direction.
TVBR observation: NYT noted that part of the purchase price will come from the sale of MLB's Chicago Cubs, and that further cash could be realized by liquidating the company's television assets. The problem with that scenario is that the company will be left pinning all of its future hopes on the newspaper part of the business, precisely the portion that is under the most stress.
08/21/07 TVBR #163
Is GM benefiting from
underground promotion?
An article in Automotive News published earlier this month noted how General Motors has been providing motor vehicles to various radio/television personalities, and schedules tours of GM facilities and sit-downs with GM execs. One-air mentions have followed, and watchdog icon Ralph Nader thinks this is something the FCC should be investigating. The Detroit Free Press list of personalities in on the arrangement included Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Schessinger, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Hannity, Ryan Seacrest, Glenn Beck, Delilah, Laura Ingraham, John Tesh and others.
TVBR observation: Pay-for-say, the quiet little brother of full-blown payola, has reared its ugly head in a number of different ways recently. There have been columnists and commentators hired by the Bush administration to surreptitiously promote policy; there have been flaps when so-called product experts have favorably reviewed items over the air, items they were paid to positively review. If somebody gives you a candy bar to try for free, and you praise it over the air, we think you're OK as long as you acknowledge the prior transaction. But if you suddenly launch into a prose poem about the virtues of the candy bar without mentioning that you received it as a gift, you have found the thin ice. This is one of Adelstein's pet peeves, and whether or not the GM flap has any legs in its own right, it will probably at the very least allow him to continue further inquiry into the whole payola/pay-for-say issue.
08/20/07 TVBR #162
|
|
|
|
 |
New Listing
Sales Associate
A fast growing network radio company seeks a Sales Assistant for its Chicago office. The ability to multi-task and prioritize are paramount in this position, as is the willingness and desire to learn in a fast paced environment. Please send resumes with cover letter to: tfleming233@gmail.com
See Radio Careers
Hard finding that key person
to fill the important position at your organization? Media HeadHunters is the place that key media firms use to get results. See Media HeadHunters and get results with service.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Help Desk
|
__EMAIL__ :
Having problems with our epapers?
Please send Questions/Concerns to:
Memberships@rbr.com
If you wish to remove your name completely from our database use this link __UNSUB__
TVBR Epaper -- 108 annual
or just 9 a month
|
|
|
|
©2007 Radio Business Report, Inc. All rights reserved.
Television Business Report -- 2050 Old Bridge Road, Suite B-01, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 -- Phone: 703-492-8191
|
|
