|
|
|
|
|
Volume 23, Issue 169, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
|
Wednesday Morning August 30th, 2006
|
|
|
TV News ®
|
 Couric gets her own Bush interview
This week Brian Williams has the Prez exclusive on the Hurricane Katrina anniversary for NBC. But next week, as she makes her CBS debut, Katie Couric has President George W. Bush for a 9/11 anniversary interview. You can expect to see and hear portions of the interview on every CBS platform on Tuesday, September 5th, including the debut of "The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric." Couric and Bush will also be featured on CBS Radio News and on CBSNews.com. The blitz will continue Wednesday, September 6th on "The Early Show" (up against Couric's former "Today" home on NBC). It all leads up to "Five Years Later - How Safe Are We," a primetime special airing 10-11 pm ET. The special marking the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will be anchored by Couric and feature the interview she taped with President Bush at the White House.
 "9/11" documentary targeted
by decency crusader
Has the American Family Association (AFA) picked the wrong battle this time? The organization is trying to get members to demand that their local CBS affiliates refuse to air "9/11" because the emotionally charged documentary contains swearing - and to file formal indecency complaints with the FCC if it airs in their market. CBS has warned affiliates that the documentary, based on footage of the actual rescue efforts, contains profanity, but the network has decided it would be inappropriate to bleep the rescue workers - some of them now honored as dead heroes. So far, no affiliate has said it will refuse to carry the program. "This is a test case for CBS to see how far they can go. If there is no out-pouring of complaints from the public, they will go further the next time," AFA declared on its website. "CBS could very easily bleep out the profanity, but they refuse. The goal of CBS is to be able to show whatever they want at anytime. The network wants no restraints on their programming. If they are allowed to get away with this, they will simply air even more profanity in the future," AFA said. It urged members to contact their local CBS affiliate and ask them not to air "9/11." It also wants members to email the FCC and ask it to "enforce the law." Finally, "if no changes are made and your CBS affiliate carries the program, AFA will provide you with information for filing a formal complaint with the FCC."
TVBR observation: As the line goes, you gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. We note that the Parents Television Council, which is normally even more active than AFA in getting members to file indecency complaints, is sitting this one out. It has assailed CBS for taking the FCC to court to challenge the Janet Jackson Super Bowl flash fine, but it is not taking a public stand that could be seen as insulting the heroes of 9/11.
NBC and Clear Channel
claim toilet contract hanky-panky
Two broadcast-related outdoor advertising companies are heading to court against the City of New York, claiming that they were cheated out of the contract to put ads on the city's bus shelters, newsstands and public toilets. When the contract was announced (5/17/06 TVBR #97) it appeared that Cemusa, a subsidiary of the Spain-based conglomerate Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, had simply outbid other contenders, including Clear Channel Outdoor, CBS Outdoor and a joint venture of NBC Universal and JC Decaux. But after further inspection, NBC/Decaux and CC Outdoor sued, claiming emails revealed that NYC officials gave Cemusa an opportunity to adjust its bid after the final deadline, so that it, not NBC/Decaux, came out on top. Why? According to the New York Times, the Clear Channel lawsuit claimed that Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff "hijacked the evaluation process" and steered the contract to Cemusa because he wanted to use free advertising credits to advance New York City's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games through ads in 10 South American countries where Cemusa has operations. The NYC bid for the Olympics was unsuccessful. What is at stake? Cemusa agreed to pay NYC a minimum of one billion in cash over 20 years, plus 400 million in free advertising. Revenues from the deal could total as much as 20 billion. In the first round in court last week, the City of New York denied any wrongdoing.
|
|
|
OMD backs away on liability language
After the Broadcast Cable Management Association (BCFM) sent out a bulletin to members about new contract language being used by OMD to shift potential liability away from the ad agency and solely to the station (8/24/06 TVBR #165), BCFM reports that it had a talk with the agency and OMD has reprogrammed its computers back to the language it was using prior to July. "While unable to confirm this reprogramming, it is the Association's understanding that this language refers to sequential liability. BCFM and BCCA continue to recommend that media companies protect their interests by adopting a position of joint and several liability," BCFM said in an update yesterday.
 WWL-TV remembers Katrina,
one year later
Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting, and soon thereafter, flooding New Orleans. We spoke to Belo's WWL-TV GM Bud Brown afterwards, who explained how they kept the station on-air throughout the ordeal and the heroes there that made it happen
(RBR/TVBR Solutions Magazine Nov. 2005).
Yesterday Bud was quite busy with meetings, corporate in town and special programming running 5AM-11PM covering all of the events taking place in the city. He tells TVBR: "I would say that the Katrina experience has become a marathon. Living in New Orleans is a daily challenge for our viewers, customers and employees. Many of our friends and family have decided to leave because of grief, fear or opportunity, but for those of us who do stay, we see improvement in our live everyday. It will take many years for us to return to normal lives and for our city to recover but we are committed to the recovery and our belief that we will remain a unique part of America." He added, "I overheard an out-of-towner telling one of our people that she was a true martyr' for staying and covering the story. The reporter responded, 'thanks for the kind words, but I am a reluctant Martyr on a good day'."
 We also asked Mark Swinney, WWL-TV Special Projects Director, about the day of remembrance. "The only break we've got is network news at 5:30. What we're bringing people is maybe a lot of material they hadn't seen because they weren't here when we first did it. We're using archival footage to chronologically go through the day in what happened during and right after Katrina. And we're interspersing that with memorial services and interfaith services that are happening all day. The president is here, we're also taking live cut-ins with him. So it's a full day of looking back at Katrina and we've built a special set in our production studio to anchor the whole thing all day." Last night WWL also set up a special bell-ringing memorial ceremony, a carry-over from what they did for 9/11. The bells were sold through the fire department to benefit first responders raise money for charity. The bells were run at five different locations. Same this year, but for Katrina. Swinney said they ordered 30,000 Katrina bells from a Connecticut company. The special includes an essay contest for students aged 10-16. Five winners were picked, from each of the five areas the station broadcasted from. "We're including music through the day to just kind of help lift spirits on a day when....everybody might be a little stressed out. It's a strange thing-people want to look back and remember, even though doing so is painful." We asked Swinney: Why, after a whole year, is there still so little progress in rebuilding? "They're slow getting their plan together. It's like you've got to spend the money to get the money. And they're not spending the money, so they can't go to the state and say, OK, give me the money now. It's a Catch 22. A lot of times we say, 'Why can't this recovery move faster?' And then you look at it and say, 'My God, how damaged are we?' You can still drive block after block and see how many houses are wasted. So how long does it take to rebuild from that? People have to have some assurances that the area can recover before they can come back here and invest their lives again."
 Fox Sports selling NFL,
college bowls like gangbusters
Fox Sports VP/Communications Dan Bell tells us the network has sold a good deal more inventory for the Sunday afternoon National Football League games vs. last year. Sellout is also high in the three college Bowl Championship Series games it will air for the first time and the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game it scored rights to earlier this year. Fox reportedly sold about 85% of its Sunday afternoon National Football League telecasts, getting price hikes in the high single-digit range. Says Bell: "The NFL marketplace is always strong for us. Largely because we usually have a very solid schedule. Advertisers know that we consistently provide one of the highest-rated programs in all of television almost every time we have a double header broadcast-that national late afternoon game. It all starts with our NFL pre-game show Fox NFL Sunday; into our early games and then the big anchor double header games." Fox also reportedly sold about 80% of the three college Bowl Championship Series games it will air in January for the first time-the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on 1/1, the Allstate Sugar Bowl on 1/2, and the FedEx Orange Bowl on 1/3-along with the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on 1/8. Fox won the TV rights to the BCS games in a new multi-year deal earlier this year. The three bowl games were previously televised on ABC. The BCS Championship Game is new.
|
|
|
|
|
Ad Business Report TM
|
GM offers cash incentives
As part of its labor Day sales drive and promotions, General Motors announced it is offering bonus cash on many of its 2006 and 2007 models--500 dollars on many of its cars; 1,000 on many of its pickups and car-based SUVs, and 1,500 on some of its truck-based SUVs. The offer is good until 9/5, and in most cases, comes in addition to previously announced low-interest loan and customer cash offers. Some models included in the offers are the Chevy Cobalt and Impala, Pontiac G6, Hummer H3, HHR, Silverado, Tahoe, Uplander, Avalanche, Suburban, Chevy Trailblazer, Hummer H2 and Buick Rendezvous. The cash offer does not apply to GM's-hotter selling models, including the Pontiac Solstice; Saturn Sky, Aura and VUE Green Line; Chevrolet Corvette; the 2007 GMC Yukon/Yukon XL Denali; Hummer H1; and 2007 Cadillac Escalade.
 Cars.com tackles the airwaves
with ESPN College Football
Cars.com announced its starting lineup of fall TV commercials that will air Saturday afternoons from 9/2 through 12/ 2 on ESPN College Football. The sponsorship extends Cars.com's campaign that currently includes spots on TBS, The Learning Channel, TNT and USA Network. Cars.com launched its 2006 national TV effort in March. Combined with the local promotional efforts of Cars.com's 200 local media partners, the integrated broadcast, print and online campaign is valued at more than 100 million and will reach more than 200 million consumers. Since the launch of the campaign this spring, Cars.com has set new records for monthly unique visitors, reaching more than 8 million unique visitors in subsequent months. The three television spots use humor to illustrate Cars.com's ease of use and extensive inventory. The newest spot, "Hydraulics," features a man trying to impress a woman at a stoplight with his car's athletic abilities. Meanwhile, her car does his trick one better by changing from one model to another as her husband, at home, clicks through the options on Cars.com. When the woman pulls away in a sporty yellow convertible, the man's car sags - dejected - on its suspension.
|
|
|
|
| Media Markets & Money TM |
Pegasus deal topped in bankruptcy auction
When you agree to buy assets from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, the deal isn't final until the bankruptcy court opens the gates to see if any higher bidder comes forward. That is what has happened with the TV group of Pegasus Satellite Communications. The previous deal to sell its seven TV stations to MM Broadcasting for 42,456,094 has been pushed aside by New Age Media, a subsidiary of CP Media LLC, which has agreed to pay 48,456,094. CP is primarily owned by the Charles and Mary Parente family, along with Frank Henry and Michael Vanuzzi. Brian Parente, a part-owner of his parents' investment group, owns radio stations as a part-owner of Bicoastal Media. Henry and the Parentes also own a non-attributable interest in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. So New Age is now on track to acquire WOLF-TV Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA (56 Fox); WILF-TV Williamsport, PA (53 WB/UPN headed to MyNetworkTV); WPXT-TV Portland, ME (51 WB headed to CW); WPME-TV Lewiston-Portland, ME (35 UPN headed for MyNetworkTV); WDSI-TV Chattanooga, TN (61 Fox, plus MyNetworkTV multicast); WTLH-TV Tallahassee, FL (49 Fox, plus CW multicast); and WGLF-TV Gainesville, FL (53 CBS, plus MyNetworkTV multicast), along with their associated translators and LPTVs. In a related move, a new buyer, MPS Media, owned by Eugene Brown, is buying WSWB-TV Scranton, PA (54 UPN/WB headed for CW) and WTLF-TV Tallahassee, FL (24 WB) from Mystic Television for 3,043,906. Both will be put into shared services agreements with New Age Media.
CW affiliate to be brings 47 million
Southeastern Media Holdings, headed by President Donna Barrett, is getting its 4th station with a deal to buy WUPV-TV Richmond, VA, market #60. It is a nice payoff for Bell Broadcasting, headed by CEO Jim Lockwood Jr., which bought the station for 10 million in 1997 and has built it up from there with its current UPN affiliation - due to change next week to the new CW. "It certainly shows that people are paying up for the right stations," said broker Susan Patrick of Patrick Communications, which put the parties together. WUVP, licensed to Ashland, VA, is on Channel 65. After this deal closes, Lockwood's company will still have stations in two markets.
TVBR observation: We're sure it is just coincidence, but Southeastern always seems to buy in markets where Raycom already has a station. We look for WUVP to be put into a shared services agreement with Raycom's WTVR-TV (Ch. 6, CBS).
|
|
|
|
| Washington Media Business Report TM |
 Bernal burned for 25K
Paulino Bernal Evangelism, a Hispanic religious noncom operating in various Texas communities, has had a triple-play fine reaffirmed by the FCC, which refused to reduce or cancel. It started with failure to maintain a local studio for KBRN-AM Boerne TX, included lack of EAS equipment, and as so often happens, picked up a public file citation to go along with the other two infractions. An FCC agent, trying to inspect the station, could not find a phone number for it in Boerne. Eventually, a locked, unstaffed and inaccessible transmitter shack was located. Bernal was contacted, and a local employee was provided to give the agent access to the shack. There was no EAS equipment and no public file. Bernal said the English-challenged and nervous employee misunderstood the request, but the FCC countered that it didn't matter, since the material had to be available at all times during normal business hours, which clearly was not the case in this instance even if they cut the employee slack for whatever reason. It also rejected Bernal's unsupported plea of poverty. The 25K fine stands.
TVBR observation: We give Bernal credit for originality. It tried the argument that paying a fine to the FCC would undercut its "ability to generate programming in the public interest." Indeed. But it goes into the overstuffed nice try file of excuses submitted to the FCC that failed.
|
|
|
|
| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
 NBC takes reality
to the wedding chapel
In a move inspired by the hit movie "Wedding Crashers (pictured)," NBC has signed on for a six-episode, hidden camera reality show, "The Real Wedding Crashers." The series produced by New Line Television and Katalyst Films will use hidden cameras to record improvisational actors who go undercover at real weddings to bring an added element of surprise to the traditional proceedings. Katalyst's Ashton Kutcher, Jason Goldberg and Karey Burke will be executive producers of the series, along with New Line's Jon Kroll and Jim Rosenthal.
|
|
|
|
| Ratings & Research |
Emmys tops, but CBS wins the week
Even with viewership down from last year, the Emmy Awards on NBC was still the highest rated show in the past week, as measured by Nielsen Media Research. CBS, though, celebrated an across the board win for the full week, winning in Households, 18-49 and 25-54. For HH, CBS had a rating of 4.9 and an 8 share, with NBC at 4.5/8, ABC 4.1/7, Fox 3.9/7, Univision 1.9/3, WB and UPN 1.2/2, Telemundo 0.5/1, i 0.4/1 and TeleFutura 0.3/1. Here are the top 20 shows for the week.
| View the Chart |
|
|
|
|
| Stock Talk |
Stocks end the day up
Stock prices recovered from early losses after the monthly report from the Conference Board showed a drop in consumer confidence. Traders found nothing alarming in minutes released from the last Fed meeting, so they decided it was OK to buy stocks. The Dow Industrials rose 18 points, or 0.2%, to 11,370.
TV stocks also gained. Gray Television (common) shot up 5.6% and its Class A rose 4.9%. Media General was also a big gainer, up 4.6%.
|
|
|
|
| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
|
Acme
|
ACME
|
|
5.19
|
-0.01
|
LIN TV
|
TVL
|
 |
6.92
|
+0.17
|
|
Belo
|
BLC
|
|
16.09
|
+0.31
|
McGraw-Hill
|
MHP
|
|
55.81
|
-0.32
|
| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
|
28.93
|
+0.19
|
Media General
|
MEG
|
|
39.45
|
+1.72
|
| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
|
28.94
|
+0.20
|
Meredith
|
MDP
|
|
46.99
|
+0.29
|
|
Clear Channel
|
CCU
|
|
28.76
|
+0.29
|
News Corp.
|
NWS
|
|
19.86
|
+0.30
|
|
Disney
|
DIS
|
|
29.11
|
-0.26
|
Nexstar
|
NXST
|
|
4.35
|
-0.12
|
|
Emmis
|
EMMS
|
|
12.36
|
+0.04
|
NY Times
|
NYT
|
|
22.46
|
+0.39
|
|
Entravision
|
EVC
|
|
7.17
|
+0.14
|
Ion Media
|
ION
|
|
0.93
|
unch
|
|
Fisher
|
FSCI
|
|
40.70
|
+0.21
|
Saga Commun.
|
SGA
|
|
7.74
|
+0.14
|
|
Gannett
|
GCI
|
|
56.22
|
+0.61
|
SBS
|
SBSA
|
|
4.29
|
-0.01
|
|
Gen. Electric
|
GE
|
|
34.19
|
+0.26
|
Scripps
|
SSP
|
|
45.02
|
+0.16
|
|
Granite
|
GBTVK
|
|
0.12
|
-0.03
|
Sinclair
|
SBGI
|
|
7.56
|
unch
|
|
Gray
|
GTN
|
|
6.39
|
+0.34
|
Time Warner
|
TWX
|
|
16.53
|
+0.09
|
|
Gray, C1. A
|
GTNa
|
|
7.06
|
+0.33
|
Tribune
|
TRB
|
|
31.31
|
+0.13
|
|
Hearst-Argyle
|
HTV
|
|
22.77
|
+0.55
|
Univision
|
UVN
|
|
34.38
|
-0.03
|
|
Journal Comm.
|
JRN
|
|
10.99
|
+0.14
|
Wash. Post
|
WPO
|
|
760.50
|
+6.54
|
|
Lincoln Natl.
|
LNC
|
|
60.41
|
+0.43
|
Young
|
YBTVA
|
|
2.81
|
unch
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bounceback
|
 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to tvnews@rbr.com
|
|
|
TV Media Moves
|
McCarley needs
new biz cards
 Mike McCarley, formerly Vice President, Communications & Marketing, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics since October of 2004, has been promoted to Vice President, Strategic Marketing, Promotion and Communications and given the additional responsibilities of overseeing NBC Sports advertising, promotion and brand strategy. McCarley now serves as the NBC Sports liaison to the NBC Agency, NBC Universal's in-house advertising agency.
Raydyne sets
CEO succession
Equipment maker Radyne Corp. announced that Bob Fitting will retire as CEO on August 31st, but remain on the board of directors. Carl Myron Wagner (who goes by his middle name), formerly a VP at General Dynamics, has been elected by the board to be Radyne's new President and CEO.
|
|
|
Below the Fold
|
Ad Business Report
GM offers cash incentives
Part its labor Day sales drive...
Media Markets & Money
CW affiliate
Brings it 47 million with Southeastern Media Holdings...
Entertainment Media
Business Report
NBC takes reality
To the wedding chapel in a move inspired by the hit movie 'Wedding Crashers'...
Ratings & Research
CBS wins the week
But Emmys tops...
|
|
|
TVBR Radar 2006
|
|
Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
|
Google and eBay pact for
"click to call" functionality
Internet giants Google and eBay announced a multi-year deal involving text-based advertising and "click-to-call" advertising functionality. Google will become the exclusive text-based ad provider for eBay outside the US. Yahoo struck a parallel deal in May to handle all of eBay's U.S. ads. The click-to-call functionality will leverage both Skype and Google Talk globally in each company's respective shopping and search platforms.
TVBR observation: Hard to over come perception being reality and when you say Google it is automatic to think search. eBay similar one thinks selling others people, well, junk. RBR continues to remind executives to research before you commit to a internet service.
08/29/06 TVBR #168
EchoStar settles with
affiliates for 100M
Facing a federal court order that would require it to end delivery of distant network service to all subscribers, EchoStar has struck a 100 million bucks settlement with the ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox Affiliate Associations. Having previously settled with the ABC, NBC and CBS networks and O&O groups, along with many other station groups, EchoStar is just one step away from settling all litigation over distant signal delivery, with the Fox network and its O&O stations as the last holdouts.
TVBR observation: Gee, do you suppose Fox being the final holdout has anything to do with its parent company, News Corporation, being the controlling shareholder of EchoStar's only satellite TV competitor, DirecTV? Why not let Charlie Ergen squirm a little longer...
08/29/06 TVBR #168
Watchdog to FCC:
Start the remand over
The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council (MMTC) sees fatal flaws in the diversity portions of the FCC's look at the remanded media ownership rules. They would create "reversible error" which MMTC warns could lead to a second remand. "No one wants a second remand."
TVBR observation: What's going on at the FCC on this topic? The clock on comment submission is ticking toward the deadline, but none of the promised public forums have been scheduled, nor has the promised special ownership section of the FCC website made an appearance. In a meeting with reporters last month, Commissioner Robert McDowell said it was the hot topic at the FCC right now, but even to those of us who make a living watching for any crumb of information about the ownership FNPRM, you'd never know it. What news there has been is that there's no news. How much longer can that go on?
08/28/06 TVBR #167
Whew, lots of New
Clear Channel Chiefs
When the official announcement finally came out it confirmed much of what RBR reporting for many days. The managers of CC Radio's most important big markets are no longer overseeing smaller markets in their region, they have been given the new title of President & Market Manager.
RBR observation: Clearly Hogan is reconfiguring Clear Channel Radio to focus on the big bucks - trying to drive ratings and revenues in the largest markets. The 10 big market Pres./MMs are being told to focus exclusively on building ratings and revenues in the big bucks markets, while no longer having to worry about overseeing other markets - and, in most cases, fewer layers of management between them and Hogan. Will LESS layers of management produce MORE cash? One wag sent RBR an email questioning whether any layers of management had been eliminated. He or she noted that the old structure was Pres./CEO, SVP, RVP, me, while the new one is Pres./CEO, EVP, SVP, RVP, me. "Must be the new math," that CC manager concluded. Regardless, the real issue is the payoff. Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays has been telling Wall Street that his company is not like other radio companies and will ! continue to outgrow its peers. 2007 will be the test of that. Less is More will have completely lapped itself, the easy comps will be history and investors will be looking for the Mays boys and Hogan to deliver on their claim that Clear Channel can outperform the rest of the industry on a consistent basis. Last note as RBR continues to only hear that Clear Channel has a list of stations ready for sale, but this is unconfirmed. But if Clear Channel takes step as ABC and CBS in selling unwanted stations no matter the size it makes sense as it takes money to run any operation. RBR can not wait to see how Wall Street spins the happenings from last week and if May's words are true that Clear Channel is not like other radio companies.
08/28/06 RBR #167
TVB finds correlation between
spot spend and vehicle sales
A Television Bureau of Advertising analysis of 2Q '06 automotive ad spending data compiled by TNS Media Intelligence points to a strong correlation between spot TV ad spending and vehicle sales. TVB's analysis includes all three tiers of automotive spending: factory, dealer associations and individual dealers. Total details and stats in TVBR
08/24/06 TVBR #165
|
|
|
|
 |
State Broadcast Association
President for one of the nation's top broadcast associations seeks a replacement for its retiring executive.
See TV Careers
Regional Account Executive
LIN Television West Michigan is looking for a Regional Sales professional for WOODTV8, WOTV 4 and WXSP TV. No Phone calls
See TV Careers
Editorial & Sales Reps
Working for a print trade with no growth? Working for B&C, MediaWeek, TVWeek, or any other TV/Cable Trade publication? TVBR is looking for that one or two key experience pro's. Capitalize on your experience, contacts, relationships, and secure your future growth. NO Relocation necessary. Contact TVBR publisher Jim Carnegie in confidence at publisher@rbr.com
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--Period.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Help Desk
|
__FIRST__ __SECOND__ :
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
|
|
|
|
©2006 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
|
|
