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Volume 23, Issue 174, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Thursday Morning September 7th, 2006
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TV News ®
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 Couric soars in debut
Katie Couric's debut easily doubled the normal ratings for the "CBS Evening News." The question now is whether she can hold onto a large portion of that audience. The eagerly-awaited broadcast garnered a 9.1 rating and 17 share in the metered Nielsen markets, thumping ABC and NBC, at least for one night. CBS claimed 13.59 million total viewers, against 7.76 million for "NBC Nightly News" and 7.58 million for ABC's "World News." The strong numbers made it the highest rated "CBS Evening News" since February 23, 1998, which occurred during CBS' coverage of the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Tuesday's broadcast more than doubled the recent metered-market average of 4.4/9 for the newscast, covering the past four weeks. "We're encouraged by last night's numbers, but what's more important is what the audience will be six months and a year from now. Our primary focus remains on producing the highest quality broadcast night in and night out," said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports.
 TV revenues up 6.8% in first half of 2006
The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) reports that Q2 revenues rose 3.4%, bringing the first half of the year in with a gain of 6.8%. Of course, the best is yet to come, with the peak of political spending still ahead. Susan Cuccinello, SVP of Research for TVB, reports that 15 of the top 25 advertisers in local broadcast spent more in the second quarter of 2006 than they had in the same quarter of 2005. The top five percentage increases were posted by AT&T (up 127.8%), Ford Motor (up 54.8%), Berkshire Hathaway (up 41.6%), Honda Motor Co. (up 33.7%), and Toyota Motor Corp. (up 27.1%). Fourteen of the top 25 advertising categories spent more than in the same quarter a year ago. The biggest percentage increases were posted by Government & Organizations (up 90.3%), Telecommunications (up 36.9%), Beer & Wine (up 21.1%), Household Supplies (up 20.6%) and Financial (up 9.5%). Here are the numbers for Q2 and the first half.
| View the Chart |
Allbritton launching newspaper in DC
It appears Joe Allbritton, who once owned the defunct Washington Star, still has ink in his veins. Allbritton Communications Company yesterday announced the launch of "The Capitol Leader," a Capitol Hill newspaper that will serve Congress, congressional staffers, and those interested in the goings on around Capitol Hill. The three-times-a-week newspaper will work with other Allbritton properties, including WJLA-TV (Ch. 7, ABC) and 24-hour cable news channel, NewsChannel 8, both in Washington, DC, to provide comprehensive coverage of Congress' behind-the- scenes activities and the political process. "Given our long history of reporting political news in Washington and our large, experienced team of journalists, we believe The Capitol Leader will in fact be the leading news source for public understanding of the Congress, as well as Congress' understanding of itself," said Robert L. Allbritton, Chairman and CEO of Allbritton Communications (and son of Joe). Martin Tolchin, who co-founded a similar newspaper, "The Hill," in 1994 and left three years ago to write a book, will be Sr. Editor and Sr. Publisher of "The Capitol Leader."
TVBR observation: This is a tough market to try to grab a piece of. According to the Washington Post, Allbritton looked into buying "The Hill" last year, but balked at the 40 million bucks price tag. "The Capitol Leader" will make this a three horse race, with 51-year-old "Roll Call" still dominant. Who are the advertisers? Anyone who wants to influence legislation. That is an ever-growing list of groups with very deep pockets.
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MyNetworkTV calls debut "solid start"
Starting from zero on day one, MyNetworkTV is calling the premier episodes of "Desire" and "Fashion House" a "solid start" for the new network, owned by News Corporation/Fox. Desire pulled a 1.1 rating and 2 share, while Fashion House expanded that a bit to 1.3/2. Desire posted its highest Top 10 market rating in San Francisco, 2.4, where Young Broadcasting's KRON-TV (Ch. 4) switched from being an independent to carry MyNetworkTV. The highest rating in any overnight metered market was in Miami, where CBS-owned WBFS-TV (Ch. 33) recorded a 2.9 for Desire and a 2.6 for Fashion House.
 Colorado Senators going
to bat for EchoStar
Wayne Allard (R-CO) and Ken Salazar (D-CO) may be stepping into the middle of a brewing controversy between News Corp.'s DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish Network. News Corp.'s Fox O&O stations pointedly excluded themselves from a distant signal retransmission settlement with broadcasters last week, and the senators think the ultimate motive is to siphon viewers away from EchoStar. Under terms of the deal with broadcasters, EchoStar will pay 100M for broadcast rights and take its local-into-local market total from 165 to 175. However, News Corp. is seeking an injunction to enforce the previous court order and prevent retransmission of any of the big four network signals. Meanwhile, AP says it's running ads like one in Lafayette LA warning Dish subs that they're about to lose access to NBC programming and should "Switch to DirecTV today." EchoStar makes its headquarters in Colorado, and the senators are looking to protect the hometown team. News Corp., on the other hand, says they've had to compete with EchoStar and its "...egregious misbehaviour" for years and are not doing anything wrong now.
TVBR observation: How big a deal is this, really? Pretty soon people will be able to get network programming off the air, over cable lines, over phone lines, via wireless, and from the Internet. It'll be on the subway, on the bus, in the local convenience store, at a crosswalk. Maybe someone will figure out a way to distribute network programming via the good old can and string technology we remember from our childhood. Maybe someone will put it on the back of a cereal box. Maybe someone will wear it on their forehead like a tattoo. The question is not going to be where or how people will watch it, it'll be if they watch it at all, given the ever-increasing plethora of alternatives network TV has to compete with. The bottom line right now, though, is that EchoStar would not be in its current fix if it had followed the law to begin with. We are not aware of any legal requirement for a plaintiff in a lawsuit to accept anything other than the ruling of the court. In this case the judge's penalty, which was upheld on appeal, is so harsh that EchoStar is trying desperately to find another way out.
TNS: US ad spend grew 4.1% in first half of '06
Total advertising expenditures in the first six months of 2006 increased 4.1% to 73 billion as compared to the prior year period, according to TNS Media Intelligence, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing information. Spanish Language Media, paced by an enormous surge in June ad spending associated with the World Cup event, rose 20.5% to 2.40 billion. Internet display advertising, riding five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, rose 18.9% to 4.69 billion for the half-year. Expenditures on Network TV advanced 5.7% in the first half to 12.28 billion. Excluding February, when the Winter Olympics were telecast, the medium was up 1.2% for the remainder of the first half. Consumer Magazines encountered softening demand during the second quarter and finished the half year with a 4.4% increase in spending, to 10.90 billion. Local Newspapers, confronted with over 600 million in reduced automotive spending year-to-date, saw total expenditures erode by 3.9% to 11.65 billion. Radio media also lagged, down a combined 1.4% to an aggregate of 5.26 billion. The Internet continues to grow its share of total advertising expenditures. For the first half of 2006, the Internet accounted for 6.4% of total ad spending, up from 5.6% a year ago. Newspapers lost 1.3 share points over this period, slipping to 18.6% of expenditures and falling behind magazines.
| Read More... |
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| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
 Freston departure
worries Wall Street
Sumner Redstone may have blamed Tom Freston for Viacom's poor stock price performance, but Wall Street analysts aren't thrilled with Redstone's fix. After all, the new guys were the ones who were supposed to fix Blockbuster - and failed. Viacom's stock fell for the second straight day after Freston's surprise ouster. It's not that investors and analysts were enamored of Freston. The stock price performance is evidence that they weren't. But there are now worries that a major media company is being run by two financial guys with long-time ties to Redstone, but limited experience running a large media company. There are also fears that, given their private equity backgrounds, Philippe Dauman and Thomas Dooley may be inclined to go on an acquisition hunt, which could hold down the stock price in the short run. Meanwhile, Freston should be able to afford some pretty good beer to cry in. He was paid 22.7 million last year and, after only eight months in the CEO chair, it looks like his going away package will total in excess of 50 million.
TVBR observation: Redstone complained that Freston had not kept up with rival companies in digital media, so look for Dauman and Dooley to go shopping for Internet properties. Redstone was said to be livid that Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation beat out Viacom in bidding for MySpace - and he doesn't want to see that happen again.
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Ad Business Report TM
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MTV Networks, Mediaedge:cia
launch dynamic VOD advertising
Cable television operator Sunflower Broadband and MTV Networks are launching a campaign to dynamically insert national ads into on-demand cable television. Sunflower will begin dynamically placing ads into MTV Networks on-demand programming this week. The first campaign, created and managed by Mediaedge:cia, promotes the theatrical release of Paramount Pictures' and MTV Films' major motion picture "jackass number two", in theaters nationwide on September 22. Ads for the movie will be inserted into Comedy Central On Demand programs at the moment that viewers request the free on-demand shows. Using integrated on-demand and advertising technologies from SeaChange International and Atlas On Demand, Sunflower's VOD system can splice fresh ads into on-demand content on the fly. An Atlas Media Console at Mediaedge:cia enables media planning, creative management, campaign tracking, as well as remote monitoring of ad performance. For the Paramount movie campaign, ad copy will be changed out at various times before and after the film's premiere, ensuring that it remains fresh and delivers maximum impact. Today most VOD advertising is tied to a specific piece of content for its entire run, which requires advertisers to submit generic copy that can run for several weeks. The SeaChange AdPulse VOD ad platform, however, handles ads independently of the shows in which they will run, enabling each to be trafficked separately, which significantly reduces lead times for VOD ad copy from weeks down to days or even potentially hours. It also enables ad rotation, targeting and message refresh during a campaign. "This is a real watershed moment for VOD advertising and what MTV Networks can offer its clients," said Carolyn Everson, SVP/Ad Sales Strategy and Business Development, MTV Networks. "Sunflower's test allows for almost real-time ad insertion, and allows us to give our clients something they've wanted since the beginning - timely, highly targeted VOD advertising opportunities." Sunflower serves approximately 30,000 subscribers in and around Lawrence/Kansas City, KS. Its on-demand service-live since early 2005-includes ad-supported network programs as well as local sports, news, lifestyle shows and college games.
 Russo crafts a "Jerry-FM" takeover for MyNetworkTV
After reading our story this week on CC Radio selling one advertiser a station while they changed formats (9/5/06 RBR #172), here's something Rich Russo, JL Media's SVP/Director of Broadcast Services, mentioned he just did on an existing Jack format in Dallas (KJKK-FM). "We changed it to a commercial-free JERRY-FM for Jerry Seinfeld's debut on MyNetworkTV's KDFI-TV there. I bought the entire day at the station for the launch. We used a bunch of canned clips from the show. Obviously I couldn't let this out ahead of time-we wanted to surprise the competition. I also have something similar (not for Seinfeld) in a few weeks in another Top-10 market." We'll have that one for you as well. Russo adds, "It is instances like this, where a client, an agency and a station can take an idea and run with it. It is how radio shines and the flexibility and creativity separates radio from other mediums. I think we will to continue to see ideas and execution like this." Russo practices what he preaches-or is he a soothsayer? You decide. Here's something we ran in March of 2005 from his Kagan Panel speech: "How about we cut exclusive category deals, that's right-only one beer on a rock station, no ambush marketing by the competitor after a schedule is placed, cut a deal and freeze out everybody else. Pick a side and live with it. I would relish the opportunity to cut deals like that, the actual revenue would increase as you create a bidding war to have or get an exclusive. The losers on station X would trickle down to station Y and so on, it would be a gamble and the stations and or networks would have to program themselves better to stay at top of food chain. Higher ratings equal more interest equal more bidding and larger revenue. How's that to shake up and clean up our world? Play to win, not to tread water."
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| Media Business Report TM |
Players Inc launches campaign
to kick off 2006 NFL Season
Players Inc, the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association, will unveil a new brand identity, utilizing the word-mark NFLPlayers below the player icon, in their new campaign beginning with the start of the 2006 NFL season. The branding and ad campaigns were created and produced by Players Inc and Forty Forty, a Berkeley, CA branding agency. The new brand identity incorporating the player icon with the word-mark NFLPlayers, which will be used as the identifier of Players Inc licensees, sponsors and properties, was created to more efficiently illustrate the authenticity of the players' own company. Players Inc will remain the corporate name while NFLPlayers and the player icon will be used as the primary consumer brand identity. The campaign, "Real Passion. Real Personality. Real Players." focuses on personal attributes of NFL players such as Character, Passion, Dedication, and Heart. With themes such as "We're More Than a Uniform ... We're more than 4 quarters ... We are NFLPlayers," the campaign illustrates that each player has a unique personality and individual story to tell. Eight players took part in the Players Inc photo shoot held in Miami Beach at the Raleigh Hotel in June. The images captured at the two-day shoot are being used to promote Players Inc in TV spots, print ads, website promotions, corporate videos and collateral material, as well as Players Inc properties including: Helmets Off TV Series on FSN, NFLPlayers Rookie Premiere, NFLPlayers Gridiron Gala featuring the JB Awards, NFLPlayers Live!, NFLPlayers Party at the Super Bowl, etc.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
 Claim, disclaim
and counterclaim
Jim Talent (R-MO) and Claire McCaskill (would-be D-MO) are battling it out for one of Missouri's two seats in the US Senate. They have also been involved in a skirmish over proper disclaimers in broadcast advertisements, with Talent claiming that McCaskill failed to properly append disclaimers and is thus not entitled to pay LUC for the ads. The Missouri Broadcasters Association did something RBR/TVBR often does, which is consult attorney Gregg Skall of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. The verdict: For starters, a McCaskill radio ad met two of three prongs to qualify for LUC: It identified the candidate and it indicated that the candidate approved the message. It failed, however, to identify the office being sought. Nevertheless, the ad's radio flight occurred for the most part outside the LUC window, and was under no particular restriction. The window for primary elections in Missouri was 6/24/06 through 8/8/06, while the general election will run from 9/8/06 through 11/7/06. One of the ads in question ran 8/8/06. However, it still was not a problem, because although the ad mentioned Talent, the candidates were not running against each other in the primaries, so McCaskill was still not obliged to follow the same rules she will be bound by starting Friday. And even if she was in violation it might not matter, according to MBA. "As a practical matter, the Federal Election Commission, in prior rulings, has indicated that the loss of LUC entitlement is not binding upon broadcast stations, and the FCC has not spoken to this issue. In other words, the candidate that violates the disclaimer provisions of the Act loses the entitlement to the lowest unit charge. However, any station that continues to provide advertising to the candidate at lowest unit charge does not violate of the Act, provided they do not discriminate among all candidates.
McDowell staffs up
The junior FCC commissioner has put together his staff. John Hunter will serve as Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor, bringing a background in telecommunications spanning both the phone and media sides. Angela E. Giancarlo will be Legal Advisor, Wireless & International; Cristina Chou Pauze takes on the role of Legal Advisor, Media Issues; Brigid Calamis will bring NAB and CompTel experience to the role of Deputy Chief of Staff; and Rafael Fernandez will serve as Staff Assistant.
TVBR observation: McDowell's background is mainly in the wireline side of the Commission's areas of oversight. It's the sign of a good manager to beef up his staff in areas where he may not be as well versed in the issued.
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| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
 AmericanLife TV premieres
"Til Debt Do U$ Part"
Here's something that may resonate with many viewers these days: AmericanLife TV (www.americanlifetv.com), an independent network devoted to America's Baby Boomers, has acquired exclusive U.S. rights to "Til Debt Do U$ Part," a reality series in which married couples learn how to get their lives back on track. Produced by Canada's Frantic Films, and also airing on Life Network of Canada, the 39-episode series will premiere on AmericanLife TV Network Sunday, 9/17 at 8 p.m. (ET) and then move to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. (ET). In each episode, personal finance wizard Gail Vaz-Oxlade saves families from the doldrums of debt, meeting with different couples and evaluating their money and relationship issues. Then, with the sensitivity of a therapist and toughness of a CFO, she helps them take control of their lives - giving them financial makeovers by getting to the root of their destructive spending habits.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
MySpace and SNOCAP to sell music
directly through MySpace pages
MySpace announced a partnership with SNOCAP, an end-to-end provider of digital licensing and copyright management services for the digital music marketplace, that will provide artists and labels with tools that enable them to sell their music from their profile pages and distribute a digital storefront across the community. Through the partnership, SNOCAP will become the provider of digital music retail tools for MySpace, marking the first music e-commerce deal for both companies. The SNOCAP services will enable artists and labels with registered content to set pricing, create stores, and sell their music in MP3 format. MySpace artists will be empowered to sell their music directly on their profiles and provide fans with the HTML code to create their own digital storefront in support of their favorite bands. The service is expected to be available by the end of the year.
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| Ratings & Research |
Another summer win for CBS
 ABC had a strong week, tying Fox for the 18-49 crown, but CBS was once again the overall winner for the most recent ratings week. According to Nielsen Media Research, CBS had an average Household rating of 4.7 and an 8 share, followed by ABC at 4.2/7, NBC and Fox tied at 3.9/7, Univision 2.0/3, WB 1.3/2, UPN 1.2/2, i and Telemundo tied at 0.5/1 and TeleFutura 0.3/1. Reruns led the way, with CBS' "CSI:Miami" on top.
| View the Chart |
"Prison Break" scores big with TiVoers
With the first scripted new shows beginning to trickle in for the fall, TiVo owners are finding something to watch besides reality shows. "Prison Break" from Fox was the #2 show in the most recent week, bested only by the Emmy Awards on NBC.
| Tivo Top 25 |
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| TVBR Stats |
Auto spending up in Q2
TVB's advertiser category report for Q2 shows a gain in the biggest category, albeit a small one. Automotive spending at TV stations (local and national spot combined) was up 1.9% to 899 million. As you would expect, the big gainer was Government & Organizations, which includes political advertising, up 90.3% to 183.1 million. Here is the top 25 chart for Q2.
| View the Chart |
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| GM Talkback |
Hispanic media managers:
Tell us about your ratings and audience trends.
 Randy Nonberg, Una Vez Mas COO:
Spanish-language summer ratings are in flux due largely to Univision's coverage of the World Cup Soccer games and, to a lesser extent, summer reruns airing on all television networks. Typically HUT [Households Using television] levels drop and then will rebound after Labor Day. We are looking forward to the fall. Our stations are gearing up for the November book with heavy market promotions scheduled for our novellas, Mexican First Division soccer and La Academia, the number one Spanish-language reality show. Our promotions will include outdoor, radio and print. Azteca America is still a relative newcomer to the U.S. As a network, we are adding markets and improving distribution every month. We see continued branding as one of the keys to our ratings growth. It's important to remember that the U.S. Spanish-language television market is no longer a monopoly and that we expect that both the size of the pie and our share of it will grow markedly.
Luis Diaz-Albertini, Vice President/GM/DOS CBS Radio Tampa:
WYUU 92.5 FM in Tampa switched format on August 7, 2005 from Young Country to Spanish Hot AC. Ever since the change, the station has experienced dramatic growth in ratings as reported by Arbitron and in advertising sales. With only two Spanish AM stations in the market to serve the nearly 300,000 Bay Area Hispanics we saw a clear opportunity to launch Tampa's only Spanish FM station. Tampa is the 18th largest Hispanic market in the country and WYUU super serves the Puerto Rican, Cuban and Central and South American population with a musical format of Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and limited Reggaeton. The station does play a mix of Mexican Regional music, but only in the Romantic genre and only by proven Mexican superstars. WYUU is a high energy, promotionally active, personality driven radio station whose main focus is on the music and servicing the community as the leading source for news and information. The station is already achieving Top 8 status in the two key selling demographics of Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-34. Ratings and revenues have grown every month since WYUU's inception and currently realizes a Cume audience of some 90,000 listeners and a market leading TSL of 14:30 hours. Revenue has also increased along with the ratings making this one of the best moves for the overall health and future success of the station.
Tomorrow:
Juan Gonzalez, VP of Programming & Promotions, Bustos Media, LLC and Michael Hughes, Senior Vice-President/General Manager, "El Zol" WLZL-FM Washington, D.C.
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| Stock Talk |
Wage news weighs on stocks
A government report that wages were up in Q2 and productivity down reignited fears on Wall Street of another Fed rate hike later this month. The Dow Industrials fell 63 points, or 0.6%, to 11,406.
TV stocks joined the retreat. Media General fell 4.2%. Gray Television (common) was down 3.3%.
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| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Acme
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ACME
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5.11
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-0.12
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LIN TV
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TVL
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7.51
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+0.15
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Belo
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BLC
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15.96
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-0.26
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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56.03
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-0.87
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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28.30
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-0.30
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Media General
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MEG
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38.06
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-1.67
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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28.32
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-0.25
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Meredith
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MDP
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47.03
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-0.62
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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29.15
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-0.12
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News Corp.
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NWS
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19.53
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-0.22
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Disney
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DIS
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29.61
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-0.24
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Nexstar
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NXST
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4.40
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+0.06
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Emmis
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EMMS
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11.88
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-0.23
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NY Times
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NYT
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22.39
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-0.21
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.44
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-0.09
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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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43.30
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-0.55
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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8.09
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-0.07
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Gannett
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GCI
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56.40
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-0.09
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SBS
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SBSA
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4.17
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-0.12
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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33.95
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-0.02
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Scripps
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SSP
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46.24
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-0.42
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Granite
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GBTVK
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0.14
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+0.01
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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7.63
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-0.21
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Gray
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GTN
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6.50
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-0.22
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Time Warner
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TWX
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16.76
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-0.04
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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7.22
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-0.08
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Tribune
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TRB
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31.22
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+0.30
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.30
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-0.04
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Univision
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UVN
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34.70
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-0.05
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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11.08
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-0.13
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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759.00
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-1.40
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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60.37
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-0.16
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Young
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YBTVA
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2.80
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-0.16
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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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Spathas sets
the Standards
Chrysse Spathas, Director of Commercial Clearance, ABC Broadcast Standards and Practices, since 2003, has been promoted to Vice President, East Coast, Clearance and Standards. In her new post, Spathas now expands her management role overseeing the Broadcast Standards and Practices' New York staff and operations. The New York unit handles commercial clearances and program standards issues emanating from the East Coast operations.
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Below the Fold
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Wall Street Media Business Report
Freston departure worries
Wall Street
Sumner Redstone may have blamed Tom Freston for Viacom's poor stock price performance, but Wall Street analysts aren't thrilled with Redstone's fix...
Ad Business Report
Dynamic VOD advertising
Cable television operator Sunflower Broadband and MTV Networks are launching a campaign to dynamically insert national ads into on-demand cable television...
Ratings & Research
Another summer win for CBS
ABC had a strong week, tying Fox for the 18-49 crown, but CBS was once again the overall winner...
TVBR Stats
Auto spending up in Q2
TVB's advertiser category report for Q2 shows a gain in the biggest category, albeit a small one...
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More News Headlines
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Chrysler offers zero percent financing on 2006 models
Chrysler Group is bringing back zero percent financing for 72 months on most 2006 models. The new round started last Friday and lasts until 10/2. It applies to all models except the LX platform including the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Charger and Magnum. The incentive announcement comes a day after Chrysler temporarily pulled its "Ask Dr. Z" spots to focus more on incentives and new models. The television and radio spots, featuring the DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche, started 7/1 and ended in August. The campaign featuring Zetsche will be reportedly brought back at a future date but will remain on the Internet. Chrysler is reviewing plans for the next phase of ads featuring Zetsche, but the branding will remain that its vehicles are equipped with German engineering. Since the Zetsche ads premiered, the company's sales have dropped dramatically, down 37.4% in July. However, a Chrysler spokesperson said the company has answered nearly 6 million questions filed on the campaign's website.
TVBR observation: We mentioned yesterday that Ford's Bold Moves campaign didn't seem to be moving cars off the lot either (9/6/06 TVBR #173). Nonetheless, there comes a point where advertising just can't be blamed for down sales. One just can't make the assumption that recent/ongoing Ford, Chrysler and GM campaigns all were ineffective and the reason for the Big Three's sales woes. Fact is, mortgage defaults are at an all-time high, we've got an extremely unstable Mideast, gas prices have scared folks away from committing to new vehicles (even though they're down a bit), the housing market bubble is slowly bursting and the economy in general isn't all that robust. No matter how creative a campaign is, if the money-and the confidence-isn't there, people will put off major expenditures.
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RBR - Radio News
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Clear Channel
buying more stock
If Wall Street keeps radio stocks beaten down, radio companies will just keep buying back more of their own stock - eventually paying off for the shareholders who remain. Clear Channel has announced a new buyback authorization of one billion bucks over the next 12 months. That comes as the company has bought back 582 million under its previously 600 million authorization. "We have now substantially completed our plan of returning approximately 1.6 billion to our shareholders that was announced last year. Today's announcement is a reflection of our Board's confidence in the Company's financial strength and our overall commitment to our shareholders. We continue to believe that the purchase of our common stock at the current stock price represents an attractive opportunity to benefit the long-term interests of the company and its shareholders," said CEO Mark Mays.
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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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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
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.
9/6/06 TVBR #173
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.
9/6/06 TVBR #173
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
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