Ads return to the Masters golf tournament
After two years of running commercial-free on CBS due to protests of its host club's men-only membership rule, Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Hootie Johnson announced Friday that the 2005 telecast will again have paying sponsors - - and the broadcasts will be 90 minutes longer in all. ExxonMobil, IBM and SBC Communications have signed on as sponsors of the tournament to take place April 4-10. Martha Burk, whose National Council of Women's Organizations had led the protests for the past two years, immediately denounced the three companies, saying they were "underwriting an event for an organization that proudly discriminates against women." Johnson, however, showed no signs of budging. "We are pleased to provide fans of the Masters with additional television coverage. The additional 90 minutes will allow viewers to enjoy even more of the Tournament. We also are happy to have three outstanding companies as television sponsors of the 2005 Masters. ExxonMobil, IBM and SBC Communications are leaders in their respective fields and are companies that will make a positive contribution to this Tournament." The additional 90 minutes of coverage will come from adding 30 minutes to each of three day's broadcasts - - Thursday and Friday on the USA Network, plus the Saturday round on CBS, with the Sunday finale on CBS scheduled to run four and a half hours, as in the past.

Mercury launches new branding effort
Ford Motor Co's Mercury line has unveiled a fully integrated marketing campaign, "New Doors Opened," that features the vitality of the Mercury brand woven into the everyday discoveries of modern life. "New Doors Opened" is Mercury's most comprehensive marketing campaign in history and was created to support the launch of six new Mercury cars over four years, including the introduction next month of the Mercury Mariner, a compact SUV, and the Mercury Montego, a new mid-sized sedan.
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Tom's of Maine makes TV ad debut
Tom's of Maine (www.tomsofmaine.com), who has made personal care products using natural ingredients for 35 years, made its commercial television debut for its anti-cavity and tartar control toothpastes. The four spot (: 15s) campaign was created by branding consultancy Siegel & Gale (www.siegelgale.com), and directed by Steven Hendler of Omaha Pictures. Phase one of the campaign will run in targeted East and West Coast markets prior to a broader rollout. "The creative assignment evolved naturally from our strategic work for Tom's of Maine," said Saul Dennis, a creative director at Siegel & Gale. "We began with brand positioning, a kind a story-telling, and moved on to television commercials that brought this story to life." In a classic branding assignment of the kind Siegel & Gale has excelled at for 35 years, the firm was asked last year to help redefine the Tom's of Maine brand and refresh its packaging. "Our challenge was to articulate the combination of science, soul and values at the heart of this very special brand," added Dennis.

Morris the 9Lives cat is back
Morris the cat is back, promoting 9Lives cat food after a 12-year hiatus. Since first striding across our television sets 36 years ago, Morris has remained one of America's most enduring icons. Del Monte Foods announced Morris' return to TV would begin today. The 30-second spot entitled "Master" features Morris purrsuading his owner to get his favorite meal. When asked what Morris will do for all-new 9Lives cat food, the tabby replies, "Whatever it takes." The spot 9Lives wet and dry varieties, which feature new packaging, ingredients and flavors. As part of the 9Lives re-launch, loyal Morris and 9Lives fans will be directed to the 9Lives Web site where they will be able to view retro 9Lives commercials, download Morris screensavers, follow Morris on his national tour, and enter the Morris' "Most Outrageous Fan" Contest. Contestants will have the chance to win a "taste and excitement" trip for two to Hollywood. The prize package also includes first-class airfare, a stay at a luxury hotel, 5,000 in spending money and a 5,000 donation to the animal shelter of their choice.

Smith Television recapitalizes
Boston Ventures says it has invested 23 million dollars in Smith Media LLC as part of an overall recapitalization of the Smith Television Group. The other equity investors are the Smith family and company management. The recapitalization follows the death last October of founder Robert Smith after a five-year battle with cancer and estate executor Les Goldman hailed the deal with Boston Ventures as "the most promising path to preserve and expand Bob Smith's broadcast legacy." With the recapitalization, Smith Television will contribute six stations to the new entity, Smith Media LLC - - WFFF-TV (Ch. 44, Fox) Burlington, VT; KEYT-TV (Ch. 3, ABC) Santa Barbara, CA; WKTV-TV (Ch. 2, NBC) Utica, NY; KIMO-TV (Ch. 13, ABC) Anchorage, AK; KATN-TV, (Ch. 2, ABC) Fairbanks, AK; and KJUD-TV (Ch. 8, ABC) Juneau, AK. Smith Media will be headed by CEO Michael Granados, formerly a Sinclair VP/Regional Director, and CFO Ian Guthrie, who was a Regional Controller for Sinclair. Closing is expected this fall.

TV stocks were mixed, with most not moving much. Nexstar fell 4.3% and Granite was off 2.2%. On the up side, LIN gained 2.2% and Gray's Class A stock rose 1.6%.

08/30 - Get the feel of what you are scrolling down and reading... Listen to this morning's AudioCast and
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Mexican Soccer League games are even bigger in the US than we knew...

TVBR's report that Fox Sports Espanol was adding Mexican Soccer League matches was a welcome read (8/27/04 TVBR Daily Epaper #168). We here at KMCE Television are always excited to hear that MSL games are reaching more and more of the soccer fans in the US, growing the popularity of this dynamic league.

What your report failed to mention was that the Azteca America Network, through its affiliate stations, airs over 180 live MSL games each year, clearly making us the leader in Live Mexican Soccer over Univision, Telefutura and Galavision combined.

Thank you for your time,
Brad Jackson - Operations Manager
KMCE Television - Azteca 43, Monterey-Salinas,CA

Amy Scott back at VH1
Amy Scott, who was one of the early interviewers for VH1, is back at the cable network, but now as a host for VH1 Classic, introducing the oldies of the video music world. She's also continuing to work as a DJ for Sirius Satellite Radio.

Barron's digs at radio
The cover story in today's Barron's magazine is a scathing attack on radio stocks as a place to invest. After noting the skyrocketing values that followed the 1996 deregulation of radio, the article notes that "the stocks came back to earth with a thud." And it notes growing concern on Wall Street that the industry is heading into a long-term decline, rather than rebounding to historic growth rates. Warning that portable digital music devices, Internet streaming and other technologies are keeping young listeners away from radio, Barron's says radio investors and the people who run radio companies "may not be facing up to the full extent of the industry's challenges." While the demise of radio has been forecast many times before, "things could really be different this time," the article said.

TVBR observation: Sound familiar? Then you've probably read Jim Carnegie's "Naples is Calling" Publisher's Perspective in May RBR Solutions Magazine, if not, here's your chance to read the infamous article that set the ball rolling.
Check it out here.
Clear Channel's "More is Less" campaign is a step in the right direction, but there are some deeper problems that the big groups aren't addressing. Unless local managers are given the tools and time to refocus on making their stations relate to their local listeners and creative people are encouraged to get into radio and experiment with new ideas, radio is going to continue to fade away into the dull, lifeless medium that critics accuse it of already having become.

Publisher note: If you open Naples is Calling it is suggested you print it out.

Complimentary Report
No more Forward Pacing Reports.
We have the economic, political, and close up look at your 4th quarter of business and what must be done to hit budget by year's end.

GM of Cadillac, Mark LaNeve
tells it like it is on where he
spends ad dollars.

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TV revenues grew 7.1% in Q2
Based on reports from the public companies, it was clear that Q2 was going to be good for broadcasters and the TVB has numbers to prove it - total TV revenues were up 7.1%, with revenues at the station level (local and national spot) up 8.3%, network up 4.7% and syndicated TV up a whopping 18.4%. One big factor, of course, was political ad spending. TVBR has the 2nd quarter summary local broadcast: top 100 market Chart. We have the chart to print out. 08/27/08 TVBR #168

TV Warning Clear Channel's "Less is More" gets feedback
Since our write-up over the last two days about CC Radio's "Less is More" strategy and its impact on syndicators, networks we've been hearing a bit more from folks in the industry - - again off the record, of course: "Quick observation on 'Less is More.' The sales managers and AEs aren't so worried about the spot count. What's scaring everyone is the limitation on 'promos.' Promos have become a euphemism for the 21st century version of the old Bonus Spot. They're a big part of schedules. 08/27/08 TVBR #168

TVB: Broadcast takes
99 out of 100 top July shows
in the month of July, 99 of the top 100 primetime programs, based on HH rating, aired on the broadcast networks. "CSI" on CBS took the top spot, with a 9.7 HH rating; this was followed by Fox's telecast of the MLB All-Star Game, and a special episode of CBS's "CSI: Miami" which each delivered an 8.8 HH rating to tie for second. TVBR observation: Remember July is rerun month - nothing real big unless you missed a favorite program. But we have the chart to print out.
08/27/08 TVBR #168

Clear Channel's "Less is More" may affect news nets as well
We've been hearing a bit more from folks in the industry - - off the record, of course. "Less is More" is going to also have an impact on ABC News and Westwood One's CBS News, CNN News, NBC News and CNBC Business Radio. In addition, we hear CC Radio is serving 90-day cancellations across the board with networks and syndicators-especially with inventory-only-for-comp deals. RBR observation: Network radio has tripled over the past few years with a lot of the boutique syndicators that have cropped up - - much of which are based on inventory. A lot of that inventory comes from Clear Channel stations. What you're going to see is a contraction in the network radio marketplace that's going to weed out a lot of these people who have not been doing it with product, but with comp. Because when they're doing it just with comp, those are ten-cent dollars. That's the easiest low-hanging fruit for a station to cut. The days of people doing straight comp deals for spots may be numbered. So the net of this is going into the upfront, there will be less inventory to buy for next year.
08/26/04 RBR #167

General Motors pulls Corvette ad
Showing a young boy driving wildly through city streets after safety advocates complained. We had just discussed the ad, ironically this week with Mark LaNeve, GM's new VP/Marketing and Advertising. 08/26/04 TVBR #167

Belo sued over circulation inflation
Now that it has determined that refunds to advertisers for inflating circulation numbers at the Dallas Morning News is going to cost the company 26 million dollars, a trio of class action lawsuits have been filed claiming that shareholders were defrauded as well.
TVBR observation: Time may be on Belo's side. 08/25/04 TVBR #166

NBC and Paxson head back to court
The strained partnership between Paxson Communications and disgruntled shareholder NBC Universal is back for another round of battling in court. It looked like the conflict between the two companies was cooling down when NBC handled the upfront presentation for Pax this year in New York. But now NBC Universal has sued Paxson. TVBR observation: NBC Universal is having to tread a thin line. Much as it would like to get back its 581 million dollar investment in Paxson - - the original 415 million that it paid, plus the 166 million in unpaid dividends - - there's no way that Paxson can pay more than a tiny portion of that today. So it's in NBC Universal's interest to keep Paxson healthy. 08/24/04 TVBR #165

TVBR Observation: Solving a problem that doesn't exist
It's hardly surprising that the FCC is moving next month to mandate much more children's programming under DTV multicasting. After all, every politician inside the beltway wants to be seen as doing something for the kids. But is this move needed? 08/24/04 TVBR #165

CP for TV Marti
Which fires off programming to Cuba on Channel 13, has received an FCC go-ahead to modify its facilities, based on a request from President George W. Bush and the State Department. TVBR observation: The message is clear - - it doesn't matter who you are, don't mess with the FCC. The purveyors of Channel 13 - - particularly the good folks at Media General's WMBB in Panama City, which appears to be closest to Cuba - - can rest assured that the watchdog is on the job. 08/23/04 TVBR #164

TV a lesson here...
RAEL releases first study:
How Radio Ads Affect Consumers
How radio and radio advertising works with listeners, how to maximize ROI and how radio ads can improved upon for effectiveness.
RBR observation: We're still not sure if the radio groups are kicking in enough dollars to fund all of this (RAB doesn't supply the funding details for RAEL), but the big showed up and that's a good sign. Bottom line: Any study can say people have a more personal feeling with radio spots, but too many spots and annoying spots from any medium will turn them away. Next step: Let's fix the programming and invest in the creative production of radio's content. 08/19/04 RBR #162

Analysts' conclusion:
Infinity blinked
You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in radio or on Wall Street who believed that Infinity's refusal to renew its ratings contract with Arbitron in June was the final word on the matter. But many had expected a longer hold-out by Infinity.
TVBR observation: If you bought Arbitron's stock back in June, figuring this is exactly what would happen, it looks like you made about 3.4% over less than two months. But if you were lucky enough to buy in at the recent low just last week, your profit was over 18% if you sold yesterday. Not a bad return either way. Analysts Kit Spring and Alissa Goldwasser tell it like it is.
08/19/04 TVBR #162