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Volume 23, Issue 173, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Wednesday Morning September 6th, 2006
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TV News ®
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 Freston gets the axe at Viacom
First he dumped Tom Cruise, now Sumner Redstone has given Tom Freston the heave-ho at Viacom. Make no mistake about it, Sumner is still running the show at Viacom and CBS Corp. CEO Tom Freston wasn't getting the job done at Viacom as far as Redstone is concerned, so he is now unemployed. Philippe Dauman is back full-time as Viacom President and CEO, with Thomas Dooley as Sr. Exec. VP and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). The surprising news was announced early yesterday, before the stock market opened. Freston had resigned after 26 years at Viacom, but only eight months as CEO. Although the official announcement had Redstone saying nice things about Freston and Freston wishing everyone at Viacom well, there was no doubt that his exit was anything but voluntary. In a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Redstone, who remains Chairman of the Board at both Viacom and CBS, made it clear that he was displeased with how Viacom's stock had performed with Freston at the helm and said his departure had been discussed for several weeks. Now it is up to Dauman and Dooley to do what Freston could not - make Wall Street put a higher value on Viacom's stock. Dauman, Redstone said, would "never, ever, let another competitor beat us to the trophy." Dauman and Dooley are already quite familiar with Viacom. Both worked in Viacom management for many years with Redstone and had been Deputy Chairmen from 1996 to 2000. That's when they left to form DND Capital Partners, a private equity firm specializing in media investments. But they remained on good terms with Redstone and were already on the Board of Directors at Viacom. Now they have come back with marching orders to win respect for the company on Wall Street.
TVBR observation: Back when the old Viacom was split into new Viacom and CBS Corp. at the beginning of this year, most people viewed Freston as Redstone's favorite. He got the "growth" company with the hot cable networks and movie studio, while Les Moonves got the old line, boring, mature media assets at CBS. But what has happened on Wall Street in the interim? Viacom's stock price is down over 10% - and fell again yesterday after the shakeup was announced. But CBS saw its shares rise over 13% despite a general malaise for media stocks. Moonves appears to have been doing something right.
 Sportscaster suspended;
Did the FCC get a complaint?
Folks at News Corporation/Fox are waiting to see if anyone files an indecency complaint with the FCC over Sunday's Minnesota Twins broadcast on WFTC-TV (Ch. 29) Minneapolis-St. Paul, a former UPN station which yesterday became a MyNetworkTV O&O. Former major leaguer Bert Blyleven, now on-air analysts for the Twins, believed he was taping an opening and used the F-word when he flubbed his lines. He was, in fact, live on the air. Blyleven has been suspended for two games by FSN North, also owned by News Corp./Fox, which produces the Twins play-by-play broadcast.
Broadcasters raise 61M for Jerry's kids
After two consecutive years of Labor Day weekend hurricane disruptions, the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon set a record this year, as TV stations across the nation helped raise over 61 million bucks for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Lewis, now 80, has been hosting the annual event for all of its 41 years, returning to the studio this year despite suffering a heart attack in June. It was an emotional ending Monday, with Lewis wiping away tears as the tote board showed 61,013,855 in cash and pledges, breaking the record set in 2003 by about a half million. The telethon raised 54.9 million last year, with some stations off the air from Hurricane Katrina and the nation focused on donations for hurricane relief. "I'm deeply gratified by the generosity of the American public. They never fail to come through for 'my kids' who have muscular dystrophy and other conditions that waste muscles and too often shorten lives," said Lewis after breaking the fund-raising record. Ed McMahon continued his long run as the telethon's anchor, while Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight"; Tom Bergeron, host of "America's Funniest Videos" and "Dancing With the Stars"; talk show host Larry King; "General Hospital" star Kelly Monaco; singer Billy Gilman; and comedians Norm Crosby and Bob Zany assisted Lewis as co-hosts.
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Politicians PAC it in for mid-term
When it comes to spending on elections, records are made to be broken, and that seems to go for every type of spending. The Federal Election Commission says that money flowing through federal political action committees is joining in on the fun. Since the kick-off of the 2006 mid-term period, which the FEC places on 1/1/05, the combined receipts of various PACs through the end of June 2006 is 773.5M, a 23% increase over the same period in the 2004 election cycle. The increase is even more remarkable when factoring in the lack of a presidential campaign this time around. Money spent is up 27% to 656.3M, and direct contributions to candidates is up 21% to 248.2M. With less than two months to go until Election Day, PACs are still sitting on 355.1M. Candidates for the House of Representatives have benefitted from increased donations, with a Democrats enjoying a 23% increase and Republicans banking an extra 26%. Rates of increase are even higher in the Senate (where direct comparisons are more statistically problematical), with Democrats up 30% and Republicans up 55%.
| Charting the PACs by type here |
 ABC to promote Desperate Housewives
and Ugly Betty to Hispanics
With the Fall season premieres just around the corner, ABC Entertainment is targeting the Hispanic audience, promoting "Desperate Housewives" and "Ugly Betty" with the help of its U.S. Hispanic agency ARENAS and Transit Television Network (Transit TV). Transit TV will air promotional spots for the shows on Transit TV's mobile broadcast network. Transit TV screens are installed on thousands of transit vehicles across major markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Orlando. Both spots will run in Spanish. Desperate Housewives will premiere its 3rd season on Sunday, September 24 (9/8c), while "Ugly Betty" will have its series premiere on Thursday, September 28th (8/7c). "Ugly Betty" is based on a Colombian telenovela, "Yo Soy Betty La Fea," and adapted into an American setting by producer Salma Hayek.
Couric debut goes off without a hitch
In her debut appearance as anchor of the "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric," Couric stood in front of her desk to promo the stories to come, then moved back to sit behind the desk for most of the newscast. No doubt there was some nervousness, but Couric stumbled slightly only twice, and neither was an actual gaff. All in all, the first newscast for the new anchor went off without any errors. Although she has the opening down, Couric doesn't yet have an ending. So she closed with shots of famous sign-offs from other anchors (real and from movies), then asked viewers to suggest a closing for her to use. "Maybe one will actually stick," Couric said.
TVBR observation: Couric seemed to be trying hard to be very serious, so perhaps she'll lighten up when she gets more comfortable in the position. After all, the idea is to make the evening news more appealing to people who aren't big time news junkies. But even though it was not a heavy news day, we wonder how Couric & Co. managed to leave out the naming of Mary Peters as US Secretary of Transportation and Bill Ford stepping down as CEO of Ford Motor Company. Meanwhile, Couric wasted time early in the newscast interviewing New York Times columnist Bill Friedman about how the US used to have a good image abroad, but now has a bad one. The carefully choreographed and timed "interview" was apparently taped just before the newscast, since Couric was wearing the same frumpy (what happened to the perky wardrobe?) black dress and white jacket. Most annoying, though, was the indecipherable promo in the opening for the "freeSpeech" segment, which will apparently air daily. It was a brief clip of a blabbing talking head, who was not identified. In fact, he appeared a second time going into a commercial break. The idea, apparently, is to have both well-known people (Rush Limbaugh will be on Thursday) and unknowns have their say. The first "freeSpeech" talking head turned out to be filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who would only be recognized by people who saw his "Super Size Me" movie. What he had to say was that pundits try too hard to be extremists and come off looking and sounding like pro wrestlers - and, of course, clips of pro wrestlers were used to illustrate his point. Another new feature of the newscast is "Snapshots." Day one featured photos of Britain's Prince Charles as a 19-week-old baby in 1949, then segued to the hot new baby, the photos of Suri Cruise, daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, appearing for the first time in the new issue of Vanity Fair. Somehow, we can't imagine either Walter Cronkite or Dan Rather including that in a newscast - but the world is changing.
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Ad Business Report TM
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 Bill Ford steps down as Ford CEO
...and it could mean new directions for the company's advertising and marketing. Ford Motor Company announced it has elected Boeing EVP/Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Alan Mulally as President and CEO. Mulally led turnaround of the commercial airplane division of Boeing and has a record of success in customer satisfaction, manufacturing, product development, labor relations and supplier management. He's also been elected to the Board of Directors. Bill Ford, who steps down as CEO since 2001, will continue his duties as Executive Chairman. "One of the three strategic priorities that I've focused on this year is company leadership. While I knew that we were fortunate to have outstanding leaders driving our operations around the world, I also determined that our turnaround effort required the additional skills of an executive who has led a major manufacturing enterprise through such challenges before," Bill Ford wrote in an email to Ford employees yesterday. Ford, who said he would remain "extremely active" in the business, praised Mulally as "an outstanding leader and a man of great character." He noted that Mulally had applied many of the lessons from Ford's success in developing the Taurus to Boeing's creation of the revolutionary Boeing 777 airliner. That experience, chronicled in the book, "Working Together," by James P. Lewis, tells how the leadership principles Mulally learned from Ford and developed at Boeing may be applied to other businesses. "Clearly, the challenges Boeing faced in recent years have many parallels to our own," Ford said.
TVBR observation: While impressive, Ford's Bold Moves campaign (via JWT Detroit and on air since May) has not moved many cars off the showroom floors. Vehicle sales were down 10% this year through 7/31, compared with the same period last year and Q4 production has already been cut 21% compared with '05. The ads are part of the companywide turnaround effort announced in January, "The Way Forward." According to TNS Media Intelligence, Ford's ad spend was down 4.3%, from 429.20 million to 410.50 million in the Q1 '06, compared to Q1 '05. Much of the reasoning there was the company's plummeting revenues - advertising, as they say, is often the first to get cut. Mulally may be one who ramps up advertising when revenues are down - a move many companies have employed with great success. So bottom line, marketing, creative and media strategy may be in store for a big overhaul.
Sprint launches new advertising
Sprint is launching a new campaign that includes a humorous ad created by Publicis & Hal Riney that uses actual footage from a spaghetti western film and that outlines the differences in Sprint's mobile broadband network when directly compared to Cingular's EDGE network. "At Sprint, we are giving our customers the power to get work done faster and in more places," said Mike Goff, vice president of national advertising for Sprint. "The ad using actual spaghetti western footage comparing Sprint's mobile broadband network to Cingular's EDGE network very clearly depicts how Sprint is empowering customers to do more, at five times the speed of Cingular's EDGE network." The new campaign will involve both television and print and is a part of a larger strategic move by the company to bring together a positioning that empowers customers to do more. The campaign also reveals the new company tag: "Sprint. Power Up."
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| Media Business Report TM |
 Sporting News sold, radio group next
Nearly two years after putting The Sporting News up for sale (10/14/04 TVBR #201), Paul Allen's Vulcan Sports Media has announced a deal to sell the print publication, online operations and Sporting News Radio network to the American City Business Journals division of Advance Publications. Not included are the three O&O radio stations in New York, LA and Boston, which are also going to be sold soon, but to a different buyer. "Sporting News is a strong brand that we believe has considerable upside in print, online and on-air platforms," said Ray Shaw, American City's Chairman and CEO.
TVBR observation: The price is a well-guarded secret. No doubt the print publication is worth less than the 100 million that Allen paid for it in 2000. It still trails badly behind Sports Illustrated and ESPN magazine in circulation. But radio provides at least a quarter of the revenues now, and what are the online operations bringing in? American City says it sees upside in all three businesses, so we'll see how the company, which specializes in local business weeklies, does with a national magazine and its first radio venture. Now we wait to see what happens to the three O&O stations. Sporting News Radio paid 100 million in 2000 for WSNR-AM New York, KMPC-AM Los Angeles and WWZN-AM Boston.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
ITN Networks gets investment from Veronis Suhler, ZelnickMedia and Sony Pictures
ITN Networks, a national television ad platform, announced Veronis Suhler Stevenson, ZelnickMedia and Sony Pictures Television have made a major investment in the company that will allow it to expand its current offering of media networks into additional television and broadband formats. ITN will partner with the three to invest both in new acquisitions and in the development of new services that meet the evolving needs of major national advertisers. ITN will continue to be managed by its current management team, led by CEO Tim Connors and President & COO Todd Watson. ITN builds custom national nets that deliver the advertiser's key consumers more efficiently by aggregating local TV station ad inventory and employing new technologies, custom research and comprehensive analytics. ITN creates networks that target specific types of consumers and lifestyles by identifying environments and times when those consumers are most receptive to each brand's advertising. "We are delighted to lead this investment in ITN at such an exciting time in the company's history," said Kevin Waldman, Managing Director at Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a private equity and mezzanine capital fund management company that is making the investment through its VSS Communications Partners IV and VSS Mezzanine Partners funds. "We have followed the success of ITN over the last ten years and believe its business model is uniquely relevant to today's changing media landscape where multiple media outlets and targeted relationships between advertisers and consumers are essential to realize a return on advertising expenditures."
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
 FCC grants open-ended waiver
on cross-owned JSA
Morris Communications' MCC Radio will be allowed to continue an Amarillo radio JSA despite its ownership of the Amarillo Globe-News, according to an FCC decision. MCC owns and operates KGNC AM & FM and the newspaper per a long-standing waiver, and began to offer sales services to JMJ Broadcasting's KXGL-FM back in 2002 as the station emerged from receivership and prior to the 6/2/03 rule change on the attribution of JSAs. The radio station cluster would be perfectly legal, but the newspaper combination may or may not be depending on the results of the court-ordered remand of the 6/2/03 ruling. The FCC said that competition is not threatened by the JSA combo with large radio clusters owned by Clear Channel and Cumulus ahead of MCC's in the market. The waiver is in effect until either it becomes legal, or within six months of final determination that is not legal, based on results of the remand.
TVBR observation: This is entirely sensible. Any business arrangement which has been caught up in the seemingly-never-ending saga of the FCC ownership proceeding, through no fault of the affected broadcasters, should be allowed to continue pending an actual resolution of the issue. Regardless of your personal view of what the rules should be, fair is fair, and it would be patently unfair to force a fire sale of a property which may well be legally owned if and when powers that be in Washington (and wherever there are courts) get around to establishing the rules once and for all.
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| Cable Business Report TM |
 TWC names CABLEready
international distributor for
"It Could Happen Tomorrow"
CABLEready, an international program distributor, has signed a deal with The Weather Channel to handle international sales for its speculative natural disaster series "It Could Happen Tomorrow." Each half-hour episode scientifically examines the risks and damaging results of major disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes that could possibly hit major cities, including New York, Dallas, Memphis and San Francisco. CABLEready will handle worldwide sales for 22 episodes of the series, as well as a one-hour special, "Katrina Lost," which compares New Orleans-area hurricane predictions made prior to 2005 to the real destruction of that year's Hurricane Katrina disaster.
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| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
"Guiding Light" hits 15,000 episode milestone
The cast has had more than a few changes, but "Guiding Light" has been on the air since 1937 and tomorrow, Thursday, marks its 15,000th episode. The daily soap opera began its run on radio and moved to television in 1952. The show will mark its 70th anniversary in January 2007. In the 15,000th episode, Reva (Emmy Award winner Kim Zimmer) goes to the Springfield lighthouse in the hopes of gaining some perspective on the life that is rapidly slipping away from her. She wishes she could change everything - no cancer, no broken marriage, no pain or regret. But when she suffers a dangerous fall, she awakens to a changed world - a world totally unlike the one she came from. "Guiding Light" is broadcast weekdays on the CBS Television Network and is a Procter & Gamble Production. Ellen Wheeler is Executive Producer. David Kriezman is Headwriter.
"Monk" sold in 80% of US
NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution says it has sold Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning series "Monk" to local broadcast stations covering more than 80% of the US for weekend runs starting in fall 2008. "Monk," the highest-rated original scripted series in basic cable history, has been sold to stations from NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, Hearst-Argyle, Tribune, Fisher, Scripps, Raycom, Belo, Post-Newsweek and more. "Monk" finished its fifth season averaging a 4.1 HH rating, up 26% from its first season on USA. The critically acclaimed original series stars Tony Shalhoub, who has now won three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two SAG Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Adrian Monk, a brilliant detective who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Traylor Howard, Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford also star. "Monk" is executive produced by David Hoberman, Andy Breckman, Tony Shalhoub and Randy Zisk. Fern Field and Tom Scharpling serve as co-executive producers. Anthony Santa Croce and David Breckman are producers. "Monk" is from NBC Universal Television Studio in association with Mandeville Films and Touchstone Television.
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| Digital Media |
 Beth Comstock, President,
Digital Media and Market Development, NBC Universal
Beth was named president of Digital Media and Market Development in December 2005. She's accountable for driving NBC Universal's digital strategy and leading the company's content and distribution efforts to capitalize on new and emerging digital platforms. Her responsibilities also include strategic marketing, research, communications, and advertising and promotion. She reports directly to Bob Wright, vice chairman of GE and chairman and CEO of NBC Universal. Yesterday (9/5/06 TVBR #172), Beth spoke about her partners in the digital space.
| Read More... |
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
 CBS, TiVo debut new fall show
on TiVo before its premiere
CBS announced plans to make TV history by partnering with TiVo to launch a new Fall show on the TiVo service. TiVo subscribers will be the first in the nation to see the new comedy "The Class" as early as a full week before its premiere on live TV. As part of the partnership, TiVo subscribers will have an opportunity to experience CBS fall line-up exclusives, including sneak preview clips and receive exclusive footage and info on CBS's Jericho, Smith and Shark. "CBS's partnership with TiVo is a creative new way to use DVR technology to help drive television network viewing," said George Schweitzer, President of CBS Marketing Group. "Our goal is to introduce our fresh new comedy The Class about a group of 20-somethings who met in the 3rd grade and whose lives become bound together to a broad, diversified, receptive audience that has the ability to start trends and generate buzz, which is exactly what TiVo offers." The deal was developed in conjunction with Initiative Media as part of a broad agency-wide relationship with the InterPublic Group of Companies launched in April.
EA signs with IGA for in-game advertising
Electronic Arts announced an agreement with IGA Worldwide, a leading independent in-game advertising network, to offer marketers new dynamic advertising possibilities in select EA franchises on a global basis. Through the agreement, a portfolio of EA games will be incorporated into IGA's network. The initial EA title to incorporate dynamic in-game advertising via IGA is Battlefield 2142. At least two additional EA titles will offer dynamic ad serving capabilities through the course of the agreement with IGA.
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| Stock Talk |
Modest post-holiday gains
Friday's jump on favorable job news carried over a bit to Tuesday's trading, but traders are already beginning to nervously focus on the Fed meeting later this month. The Dow Industrials crept up five points on Tuesday to 11,469.
TV stocks were mixed. Gray had the best day, with its common stock up 5% and Class A up 2.8%. News Corporation was down 1.6%.
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| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Acme
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ACME
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5.23
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-0.05
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LIN TV
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TVL
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7.36
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+0.11
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Belo
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BLC
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16.22
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-0.11
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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56.90
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+0.18
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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28.60
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-0.26
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Media General
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MEG
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39.73
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-0.25
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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28.57
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-0.30
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Meredith
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MDP
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47.65
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-0.31
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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29.27
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+0.03
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News Corp.
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NWS
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19.75
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-0.31
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Disney
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DIS
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29.85
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-0.04
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Nexstar
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NXST
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4.34
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-0.16
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Emmis
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EMMS
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12.11
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-0.03
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NY Times
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NYT
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22.60
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-0.09
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.53
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+0.04
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Ion Media
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ION
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0.90
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unch
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Fisher
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FSCI
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43.85
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+0.76
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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8.16
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+0.17
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Gannett
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GCI
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56.49
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-0.66
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SBS
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SBSA
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4.29
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-0.06
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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33.97
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-0.17
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Scripps
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SSP
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46.66
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-0.35
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Granite
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GBTVK
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0.13
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+0.02
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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7.84
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+0.04
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Gray
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GTN
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6.72
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+0.32
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Time Warner
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TWX
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16.80
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+0.04
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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7.30
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+0.20
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Tribune
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TRB
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30.92
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-0.33
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.34
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+0.14
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Univision
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UVN
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34.75
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-0.07
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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11.21
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+0.20
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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760.40
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-9.60
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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60.53
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-0.39
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Young
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YBTVA
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2.96
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+0.21
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Bounceback
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 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to tvnews@rbr.com
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TV Media Moves
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Collier to AMC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC announced that Charlie Collier has been named General Manager of its flagship network, AMC. He will oversee the day-to-day operations of the network enhancing the AMC brand through inventive marketing, advertising and programming strategies across multiple platforms. Collier was previously Exec. VP and General Manager of Advertising Sales for Court TV.
Sundance Channel names VP
Kimberly Gabelmann has joined Sundance Channel as VP/Branded Entertainment and Sponsorship. Gabelmann comes to Sundance Channel from Comedy Central. She'll be based in New York.
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Below the Fold
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Ad Business Report
Bill Ford steps down as Ford CEO
Does it mean new directions for the company's advertising and marketing?
Entertainment Business Report
"Guiding Light" hits 15,000 episode milestone
The cast has had more than a few changes, but "Guiding Light" has been on the air since 1937...
Internet Media Business Report
CBS, TiVo debut new fall show
CBS announced plans to make TV history by partnering with TiVo to launch a new Fall show on the TiVo service before its broadcast premiere...
Digital Media
Beth Comstock, President, Digital Media and Market Development, NBC Universal,
says it is going to be more difficult to tell traditional media and new media apart...
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More News Headlines
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VCI's new platform,
Xe, now available
Video Communications, Inc. (VCI), supplier of media solutions for the broadcast and cable industry, has unveiled Xe (pronounced "Zee"), a new technology from VCI's recent acquisition of Digital Transaction Group (DTG), now called VCI Automation. It is an extensive multi-layered platform, with architecture designed to drive an entire content delivery system. Xe's framework offers expansive control of content lifecycle. It is based on an n-tier distributed architecture, designed to provide high scalability, reliability, modularity and extensibility. Each tier separates system functionality into a collection of logical layers, consisting of services, processes, and user interfaces, all operating together and contributing to the total content delivery system. Xe's service oriented architecture allows modules to work with the underlying components to provide full functionality within one system.
Food Network
searches for Next
Food Network Star
Aspiring TV chefs can now apply to showcase their cooking skills on the upcoming third season of The Next Food Network Star. Food Network will once again undergo a nation-wide search to find outstanding chefs and home cooks, each of whom will compete for the opportunity to win his or her own Food Network series. The network will conduct a nationwide talent search. Applicants have until 10/27 to send in a three minute audition tape explaining why he/she should be Food Network's newest star. Marc Summers, host of Food Network's Unwrapped, will return as host for the third season of The Next Food Network Star. The Network also announced that Guy's Big Bite, hosted by Season Two winner Guy Fieri, has received a 13-episode pick-up. Fieri will also host two new primetime specials.
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RBR - Radio News
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Early holiday
shopping alert
CBS has just sold off its radio stations in Buffalo NY, sending them to Regent Communications for 125M. The deal follows the 262M sale of stations in Memphis, Rochester, Cincinnati and Austin to Entercom and the 45M sale of San Antonio properties to Border Media, and brings the total CBS take to 432M. However, if you run a television & radio group, or would like to add radio to your TV-only group, or if somebody on your holiday gift shopping list fits this description, do not dispair. There are still four more markets still on the shelf. Here are the markets and stations still on the block:
* Kansas City: KBEQ-FM, KMXV-FM, KCKC-FM, KFKF-FM
* Columbus OH: WAZU-FM, WHOK-FM, WLVQ-FM
* Greensboro-Winston Salem: WSJS-AM, WMFR-AM, WSML-AM
* Fresno: KFPT-AM, KMJ-AM, KSKS-FM, KOQO-FM, KWYE-FM, KMGV-FM, KFJK-FM
Happy shopping.
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TVBR Radar 2006
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Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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September 5, 2006:
A big day for television
It is not yet the official start of the fall season, but an amazing number of events have come together to make this an extraordinary day in the history of television. Two brand new networks are launching today - The CW, owned by CBS and Time Warner, and MyNetworkTV, owned by News Corp./Fox. This is also the day that Katie Couric makes her debut as anchor of "The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." And it is also the day that Rosie O'Donnell returns to daytime television as moderator of "The View" on ABC, a spot that opened up in a chain reaction as Meredith Vieira took the "Today" show slot on NBC (she starts Sept. 13th) that Couric vacated.
TVBR observation: All eyes will be on Couric today as she makes her debut in the anchor chair once occupied by Walter Cronkite. Maybe Brian Williams should wear a red clown nose on the "NBC Nightly News" just to see if anyone is watching. But come tomorrow the race is on to see if either Couric or Charlie Gibson at ABC can push NBC News out of its long-held #1 place in the evening newscast ratings race.
TVBR 9/5/06 #172
Sinclair, others to
delay "9/11" broadcast
Sinclair Broadcast Group says it will delay the broadcast of the documentary "9/11" on its two CBS affiliates to avoid any risk of indecency fines by the FCC. No other company has announced a group-wide decision to delay or not air the documentary, but at least another dozen stations nationwide have made local decisions against taking the risk of an FCC fine.
TVBR 9/5/06 #172
GOP passes on Tomlinson hot potato
Senate Republicans are wary of a political hot potato in this election year, so it looks like Ken Tomlinson won't even get a hearing on his nomination to a second term as Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. But that doesn't mean he won't keep the job. President Bush still has options - like a recess appointment.
TVBR observation: Not that anyone at the White House is asking for our advice, but President Bush could pile up some political chits with Democrats and put a real broadcaster in the helm at BBG by bringing back Norm Pattiz to run the show. Even many Republicans agree that he is the best member ever to serve on the BBG.
09/01/06 TVBR #171
Closing leaves Emmis
with two to sell
Emmis Communications has just two TV stations left to sell, after selling off 14. Closing was Thursday on the 217.5 million sale of WKCF-TV (Ch. 18) Orlando to Hearst-Argyle for a duopoly. The closing is just in time for Hearst-Argyle to oversee the conversion from the WB to the new CW network, launching on Tuesday. Still no word on a buyer for "The Daily Buzz," which will continue to originate out of the old WKCF studio, which Emmis has retained.
09/01/06 TVBR #171
TVBR has the real story behind
General Motors drops "Survivor"
General Motors, after 14 cycles of CBS's reality hit "Survivor," is pulling advertising for the show's upcoming season, filmed in the Cook Islands. While many assume the decision is based on CBS's controversial decision to divide the next Survivor tribes by race, Dennis Donlin, President/GM Planworks, tells TVBR the real reasons. As well as Ryndee Carnee, top GM spokesperson, points to the key Marketing Strategy of GM with Brand Entertainment. All in TVBR as we give you the details others do not.
TVBR observation: Nonetheless, the timing is interesting: NYC City Council members 8/28 held a protest in front of CBS HQ and reportedly were planning to write letters to the show's sponsors. If more sponsors pull out, we will assume those letters may have been sent. No advertiser wants to get on a boycott list. However, in this case, it may just be coincidence. Donlin and Carnee made perfect sense in their explanations for the pullout. In this entire GM and Survivor issue the key word every broadcaster better become familiar with is called Branding. Ryndee Carnee's statement sums up how the business will take shape in marketing of products and advertising today. All in TVBR as we give you the details others do not. Branding is the key. See this report
08/31/06 TVBR #170
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, details in TVBR.
08/30/06 TVBR #169
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, 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.
08/30/06 TVBR #169
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State Broadcast Association
President for one of the nation's top broadcast associations seeks a replacement for its retiring executive.
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Regional Account Executive
LIN Television West Michigan is looking for a Regional Sales professional for WOODTV8, WOTV 4 and WXSP TV. No Phone calls
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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.
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