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Volume 24, Issue 175, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Friday Morning September 7th, 2007
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TV News ®
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TVB predicts 2008 advertising windfall
Get ready for a big year in 2008. With heavy election spending on the horizon, the TVB predicts that TV station spot revenues (local and national combined) will jump 9-10% next year. But then, that windfall will be followed by a 2-4% decline in 2009, a non-election year. "Odd years will always face tough comparisons to even years, when spending on both the Olympics and political ads show up. Spot TV is a two-year business cycle," said TVB President Chris Rohrs in announcing the annual forecast. TVB has focused in recent years on new media opportunities for television broadcasters. With stations all across the country expanding into ad sales for new ventures on the Internet and via cell phones, those new revenues are growing at substantial double-digit rates. TVB expects those dramatic gains to continue in 2009, even as spot business goes into the non-election-year down cycle. Here are TVB's Forecasts for 2008 and 2009.
Note: TVB estimates - derived from a consensus of Wall Street and financial analysts, station representative firms, and independent TVB research - represent national averages. Individual firms and stations may produce varied results based on a number of factors, including market size, region of the country, and affiliation.
Hearst-Argyle sued over bid
The directors of Hearst-Argyle haven't yet accepted or rejected a buyout bid from Hearst Corporation (8/27/07 TVBR #167), but class action lawyers are already jumping on the case. One firm announced the filing of a lawsuit against certain officers and directors of Hearst-Argyle and is trolling for clients to join the lawsuit. Hearst-Argyle shares have traded above the 23.50 bid level since the offer was announced in anticipation by traders that Hearst Corporation will be forced to go higher to win approval of its effort to buy out the 27% of Hearst-Argyle that is in public hands. Now the Law Offices of Brian M. Felgoise has announced the filing of a class action lawsuit - and announcement that encouraged other Hearst-Argyle shareholders to give Felgoise a calls to "discuss your legal rights" at no cost or obligation. "The goal of the lawsuit is to seek the highest possible offer for the public shares," the announcement stated. Hearst-Argyle Television owns 26 television stations, manages three others, and also manages two Baltimore radio stations owned by Hearst Corporation
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 Analyst expect messy
but successful DTV transition
Anthony J. DiClemente and his team of analysts at Lehman Brothers suspect that the preparations for the transition to all-digital television are somewhat behind schedule. On the plus side, however, they say that the number of viewers likely to be affected is relatively small, and that the 2/17/99 target date should be hit. DiClemente cites the NAB's estimate that at present some 60% of the population is "completely unaware" of the coming transition. However, he believes that aware or not, by the end of 2008 only about 11% of all TV households will be at risk, somewhere between 12.5M-13M households, which is the number expected to be reliant on over-the-air broadcast only. The rest of the nation is expected to have a subscription to an MVPD service of one kind or another. DiClemente says that he expects MVPDs to pass on broadcast signals usable on both digital and analog receivers whether or not the FCC mandates dual coverage, a topic it is taking up next week. The remaining households will need digital-to-analog converter boxes, which will be government subsidized through a coupon program to the tune of 40 dollars per unit up to a potential total of about 1.5B dollars.
DiClemente and his team think there may be a problem reaching some hard-core air-only viewers. "The worst-case scenario is that the consumer awareness efforts do not reach the group most impacted by the transition and their televisions no longer work the morning after the February 17, 2009 deadline." He suspects that individuals caught unprepared will act quickly to get back up and running, with the biggest danger being cut off from broadcast during a catastrophic event. But it shouldn't make much bottom-line difference. "From a broadcasting standpoint, these viewers probably don't represent targeted demographics and additionally, it is not clear that Nielsen's measurement methodology would even miss them until they readjusted television households for the following year, by which time they would likely have gotten a converter and be back on the grid, so minimal financial impact. As such, we believe the biggest risk this transition poses is more political in nature than financial." He concludes, "While the execution on this transition will likely continue to be messy and the finger-pointing is probably far from over, we believe that the transition will ultimately get done. And we believe it will get done on time."
TVBR observation: As we've said a number of times, the people who rely on over-the-air television WATCH over-the-air television, making them one of the easiest groups imaginable to target with a television campaign. Maybe a refined effort will place an emphasis on senior citizens, since they seem to be widely regarded as the biggest segment of the at-risk group. But all television stations can be expected to participate in this bread-and-butter issue and make sure the key element of their business model doesn't suddenly disappear on winter's day in 2009.
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 Credit markets
have CEOs worried
Confidence in the US economy continues to slide, according to the latest Vistage CEO Confidence Index. Chief executives of small- and mid-sized businesses are becoming increasingly concerned about the turmoil in financial markets and the effects it may have on their businesses. In the latest report, for Q3 2007, the Vistage CEO Confidence Index fell to 81.4, the lowest it has been since the survey began in 2003. A quarterly measure of economic, market and industry trends, the Index dropped nine points, down from 90.5 in the prior quarter and 89.3 a year ago. Comparatively, when the Index was first created, confidence was measured at 100.0 in Q2 2003 and 108.7 in Q3 2003.
"Of the 2,103 business leaders surveyed, the concern is not only about the economy, but also about the availability and cost of credit to their companies," said Richard Curtin, Ph.D., a consultant for the Vistage CEO Confidence Index and director of consumer surveys at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. "Because of this, executives plan to put some of their planned investments on hold for the remainder of the year," he said. Overall, the survey indicates business leaders expect a slowdown, but not a turndown in the economy. Companies still expect strong growth in their revenues, and have no plans to cut payroll. Just like the prior quarter, recruiting and retaining talent is the most important challenge executives face, although uncertainty about the economy may also slow hiring. Despite the sharp decline in confidence, the majority of business leaders (59%) did not think the economy would worsen any more this year.
PTC, TV Watch cross sabers over content
Watchdog Parents Television Council is accusing broadcast networks of hijacking Family Hour, the period from 8:00PM-9:00PM. It says instances of "violence, profanity or sexual content" have risen to one every three and a half minutes. But a watchdog of the watchdog, TV Watch, said the report is based on "faulty analysis, biased methodology and suspect omissions." PTC says the number of incidents it finds objectionable amounted to 11.9 per hour in 2000-2001, rising 4.9% to 12.48 in 2006-2007. Language citations dropped 25.4%, but sex references were up 22.1% and violence was way up by 52.4%. Of the six networks, Fox was by far the worst offender, with 20.78 incidents per hour, followed by CBS (11.75), MNT (11.5), NBC (10.36), ABC (10) & CW (9.44). "The Family Hour needs to be restored," said PTC's Tim Winter. "We are calling on the broadcast industry to return to the time-honored principle of airing mature-themed content only at later times of the evening; and to provide parents with a consistent, objective and meaningful content ratings system. We are calling on the advertising industry to underwrite only time-appropriate content with their media dollars." TV Watch's Jim Dyke wasn't buying it, however. "It's not the PTC viewing hour or the government viewing hour," he said. "It's about family viewing - and parents in the one-third of US households with children under 18 have all the information they need to make and enforce their viewing choices through ratings and blocking technology."
TVBR observation: For starters, we don't buy the premise that TV is the open sewer PTC likes to call it. But even if we proceed under that assumption for the sake of argument, we remember one network exec telling a congressional panel that the last time they tried to program family-oriented fare during this time period, they got stomped in the ratings. The simple fact is that the vast majority of households have many viewing options, and broadcast programmers need to compete on a level playing field. On the plus side, parents also have many options, including blocking technology and direct supervision of their own children. Until such time as the 28th Amendment is enacted delegating to PTC the duties and obligations of national nanny of the airwaves, we think we'll abide as closely as possible to that freedom of speech amendment that the founding fathers thought important enough to list First.
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Ad Business Report TM
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 Chrysler taps Toyota's Jim Press
Jim Press, the former head of Toyota's North American operations, has been hired by Chrysler as co-vice chairman and co-president with former Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda. "Tom LaSorda and I are thrilled that one of the most successful executives in the history of the auto industry has joined our leadership team at the New Chrysler," said Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli said in statement. "Our top team now consists of a world-class 'supply' leader in Tom and an equally world-class 'demand' leader in Jim." Press will be responsible for global and North American marketing and product strategy as well as parts and service. LaSorda's responsibilities will be manufacturing, procurement and supply, employee relations and global business development and alliances. Toyota named Shigeru Hayakawa to replace Press as President of Toyota North America, according to Automotive News.
TVBR observation: Ironically, Toyota is currently running its "Toyota in America" campaign, touting how many Toyotas are made in Kentucky and how American vendors supply the plant.
Taco Bell "Avatarsment" to debut
during 2007 MTV Video Music Awards
This year's MTV Video Music Awards is all about firsts: first time to be held in Las Vegas, first time being produced by a noted musician, and Taco Bell's first ever "avatarsment." Taco Bell has chosen three fans to star as virtual actors in an ad for Fourthmeal - the late night meal between dinner and breakfast - set to debut worldwide during the 2007 MTV VMAs on 9/9. The winners were chosen as part of Taco Bell's TV Me! contest, in partnership with Gizmoz and MTV. In less than two weeks, consumers created more than 17,000 Gizmoz clips, which were viewed more than 920,000 times. Using Gizmoz.com's photorealistic avatars, consumers were asked to audition for the search by ploading a digital photograph. In less than a minute, their 3D lifelike head and personalized body was automatically created. Consumers could also use a microphone to record their own voice for their 15-second, lip-synched audition. Auditions were judged on personality, originality, overall appeal and ability to express oneself. The TV Me! Promotion, via Draftfcb in Orange County, marks Taco Bell's first entry into leveraging consumer-generated media ads. Draftfcb created the final TV spot and added the winning avatars into the "World Stops for Fourthmeal" environment. The 15-second "World Stops for Fourthmeal" spot will run first, followed by the debut of the new spot that includes the three winners.
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| Media Business Report TM |
Happy birthday People Meter!
Nielsen is marking the 20th anniversary of its introduction of the People Meter to measure television viewing - first the National People Meter panel and, more recently, to measure local viewing in Local People Meter markets.
 "It seems only yesterday that Nielsen introduced the People Meter into our national television audience measurement service, and with it the beginning of a whole new way of providing clients with cutting-edge information of continuous value. Well, as someone in Oldsmar pointed out to me just this morning, it has been exactly 20 years. Here we are at our 20-year anniversary. How far we have come! In a heart beat we have transitioned from analog to digital; from channel centric to the A/P; from measuring program sources to measuring the programs themselves; and on to commercial measurement, time-shifting, DVR, the Internet, mobile media, A2/M2 - all based on a foundation of innovation, excellence and a lot of really smart people who then, as now, make up this magnificent service of ours. I can only wonder and marvel at how much farther we have to go," said Sara Erichson, Executive Vice President, Client Services for Nielsen Media Research North America.
 "It may seem hard to believe now, but for most of us involved in introducing the new measurement system, the formal launch of the service on August 31, 1987 was almost anti-climactic. For the two years leading up to the introduction, we had been installing the sample, testing and making important decisions to modify the system, and writing an entirely new data processing and delivery system. We were also producing reports, in parallel with our existing service, so our clients could understand the implications of our moving to the people meter. Similar to our processes today, we also engaged our clients in dialogue about the new service and kept them abreast of progress every step of the way. Not surprisingly, overall viewing levels were slightly lower with the people meter, which did not please our media clients, and more importantly, the network shares changed. These differences led to some fairly intense discussions with several of our key clients, all while a competitor was launching a national service to counter our introduction of people meters. As we all know, the launch went very well, and we dealt with our client and competitive issues. Most importantly, we succeeded then for the same reason we will continue to prosper - through the dedication and efforts of our incredible Nielsen team. As we continue to address the opportunities and challenges now before us, I see that it remains the ability of our people to fully understand our clients' needs and to do what is required to provide them valuable service and solutions to meet those needs. It's a recipe for success that we've made our own and we can all be proud to celebrate this milestone," said John Dimling, former Chairman and President of Nielsen Media Research about the 20-year milestone.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
CBS Corp. to buy SignStorey
CBS Corp. said it will acquire SignStorey, Inc., a distributor of video programming and ad content to retail stores. The purchase price is 71.5 million in cash. SignStorey will be renamed "CBS Outernet" upon closing of the deal and is expected in Q4, pending regulatory review. With digital video displays in more than 1,400 grocery stores in major markets across the United States, SignStorey offers advertisers the opportunity to reach consumers with targeted content that can be customized by region and by daypart. The company's satellite-delivery system enables immediate, customized programming and messaging to each individual system. SignStorey has long-term exclusive contracts with SuperValu (Acme, Albertsons, Jewel and Shaw's), Pathmark, ShopRite and Price Chopper, among others, and is currently installed in six of the top 10 markets in the U.S., with traffic of more than 72 million consumers every month. CBS has significant experience in programming for out-of-home audiences. In addition to SignStorey, current partners in this regard include American Airlines/CBS Eye on American, Royal Caribbean/CBS Eye on Royal Caribbean; AutoNet TV/Rev It Up; Salon Network Channel; Starwood Hotels/SPG TV; Indoor Direct; Mall of America; On Spot Digital/Simon Malls and Ripple TV/CBS Outdoor, among others.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
 Martin's public thoughts
on private equity
One of the ramifications of the Democratic takeover of Congress was renewed activity on the oversight front, a fact of life to which the commissioners at the FCC can attest personally, particularly Chairman Kevin Martin. He has recently responded to the Democratic leadership of the House Energy & Commerce Committee - John Dingell (D-MI) - and its key Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet - Ed Markey (D-MA), who expressed concerns about the sudden influx of private equity groups into broadcast ownership. Martin acknowledged the concerns, but said the trend is in fact too new to have a history. And as far as transactions recently completed or in the pipeline, the FCC has no choice but to treat them the same as any other transaction which they must approve or deny. He noted that despite concerns about private equity ownership in some quarters, there were others who argued that it may offer advantages beneficial to the public that may be realized by getting divorcing corporate decision making from Wall Street's quarterly treadmill. As for public obligations, he noted that private equity firms are subject to the same rules as every other type of ownership organization. "In the interim," he concluded, "we will carefully consider private equity transactions that come before us, including any alleged benefits or harms of private equity ownership and control, to make sure they are in the public interest."
TVBR observation: Martin is absolutely correct that all in all it is too early to draw any conclusions about the desirability of this type of ownership structure, which isn't new to broadcasting at all, but has recently become much more prominent. We know from experience, however, that such organizations will do well to make sure they have seasoned, competent and experienced broadcast executives running the show, not traders, investors and accountants. Many believe that the ultimate benefit may come when actual broadcasters are back at the helm of broadcasting companies. And we wouldn't be upset if such groups recoup their investments by breaking the groups up via sales to smaller, broadcaster-led companies once we get past this current credit crunch. Let's hope something like that happens before too many of broadcasting's best and brightest are playing shuffleboard near the beach in Florida.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
Lulu sues Hulu
Only days after NBCU and News Corp. announced that they were going to call their online video joint venture Hulu, website "Lulu" announced today it is filing a trademark infringement lawsuit against Hulu in the U.S. District Court in Raleigh, NC, which is where Lulu is based, reports CNNMoney. In a statement about the filing of the complaint, Lulu said that Hulu "as a result of their recent name and internet domain announcements, have intentionally attempted to create confusion in the marketplace. Hulu, in name, as a mark and in their business as a digital content distribution platform, represents a definitive encroachment. In addition to the conflict in business for digital video, Hulu's trademark filing, filed on August 22, 2007, identifies various products and services, many of which are related to, and even identical to, the services that Lulu provides under its Lulu marks." Said Lulu CEO Bob Young in the statement: "[We have] spent more than five years and tens of millions of dollars in investment successfully building the Lulu brand and website into a place for millions of creators and consumers to publish, buy, sell and manage digital content. It is clear we are required to move quickly to protect our intellectual property and defend ourselves against this infringement before it significantly damages our business."
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| Ratings & Research |
 Big ratings week for Univision
As reported yesterday, CBS was celebrating the ratings results for last week, where it was #1 in Households, total viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. But there is one other big demo reported weekly by Nielsen, Adults 18-34. The winner there was Univision, with its victory coinciding with the termination of Nielsen's previous Hispanic panel and all network rankings based solely on the single National People Meter (NPM) panel. Univision also had nine of the top 20 programs for the 18-34 demo. Univision put the word out that it "ranked as the #1 network with an +11% advantage over its nearest competitor, Fox, and beating ABC by +43%, CBS by +42%, NBC by +57%, and fully +125% ahead of CW for all Adults 18-34, not just Hispanics. Univision was also the #1 ranked network all night every night Monday through Friday last week among the same coveted young adult demographic." Since it was delayed, here is the weekly list of the top 20 TV shows by Household ratings from Nielsen.
| View the Chart |
Wheel back on top
"Judge Judy" remains strong, but "Wheel of Fortune" pushed her out of the top spot in the latest week's syndicated TV ratings, supplied by the Syndicated Network Television Association (SNTA) and based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
| View the Chart |
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| Transactions |
700K WGBC-TV Meridian MS (Ch. 30/31 DT, NBC) from Robert M. Ledbetter Enterprises LLC (Robert M. Ledbetter) to WGBC-TV LLC (Michael Reed). 35K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Will continue program services agreement of 8/1/95 with WMDN-TV. [File date 8/16/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Retail sales boost stocks
There are still worries about the housing sector, but strong sales reports from major retailers were welcomed Thursday on Wall Street. The Dow Industrials rose 58 points, or 0.4%, to 13,363.
TV stocks posted gains. Nexstar gained 4.6% and News Corporation rose 3.7%. Fisher was up 2.8%.
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| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Thursday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Acme
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ACME
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4.04
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-0.03
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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60.82
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+0.28
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Belo
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BLC
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17.49
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+0.15
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LIN TV
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TVL
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12.51
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+0.15
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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31.36
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+0.55
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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49.77
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-0.38
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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31.37
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+0.54
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Media General
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MEG
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27.99
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+0.24
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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37.70
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+0.28
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Meredith
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MDP
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55.85
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-0.06
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Disney
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DIS
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34.41
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+0.37
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News Corp.
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NWS
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22.57
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+0.80
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Emmis
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EMMS
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6.48
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+0.05
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Nexstar
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NXST
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9.94
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+0.44
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Entravision
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EVC
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9.20
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-0.12
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Ion Media
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ION
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1.32
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+0.02
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| Equity Media |
EMDA |
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3.07 |
-0.08 |
Saga Commun.
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SGA
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7.50
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+0.04
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Fisher
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FSCI
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49.58
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+1.36
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SBS
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SBSA
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2.71
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+0.03
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Gannett
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GCI
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47.86
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+0.18
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Scripps
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SSP
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42.05
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+0.46
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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39.40
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+0.65
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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12.06
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+0.21
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| Google |
GOOG |
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523.52
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-4.28
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SWMX
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SWMX
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0.05
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-0.01
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Gray
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GTN
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8.71
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+0.10
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Time Warner
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TWX
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18.88
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-0.12
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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8.49
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-0.11
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Tribune
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TRB
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27.34
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-0.17
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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25.65
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+0.34
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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789.91
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+10.04
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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10.21
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+0.12
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Young
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YBTVA
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1.99
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-0.01
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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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Below the Fold
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Media Business Report
Happy birthday People Meter!
Nielsen marking the 20th anniversary of its intro of the People Meter...
Ad Business Report
Chrysler taps Toyota's
Jim Press, now the US auto biz is getting serious. Press the brains that made Toyota...
Media Markets & Money
CBS Corp.
To buy SignStorey a distributor of video programming & ad content...
Ratings & Research
Big ratings week for Univision
There is one big demo, Adults 18-34. The winner there was Univision...
Wheel back on top
"Judge Judy" remains strong...
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Stations for Sale
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 Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact
June Barnes
jbarnes@rbr.com
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TV Media Moves
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 Kiernan heading east
Jeff Kiernan has been named News Director for the CBS-owned duopoly in Boston, WBZ-TV (Ch. 4, CBS) and WSBK-TV (Ch. 38, ind.), effective September 24th. Kiernan is currently ND at CBS O&O WCCO-TV (Ch. 4), where he has been in the post for four years.
Freifeld to NBC
Adam Friefeld has been named Director, communications, for NBC Sports. He has been a media publicity consultant with AMF Communications, which he founded in 2005. Prior to that he was Sr. Publicist for ABC Sports.
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More News Headlines
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FEC shrinks
Club for Growth
The shrinkage will amount to 350K out of the Club for Growth bank account pursuant to a consent decree between it and the Federal Election Commission which will bring to a court battle to an end. At issue was CfG's status as a 527 organization. Under rules which seemed to be in operation during the 2004 election and before, such groups were allowed to use soft money to promote their agenda during campaign season. However, FEC determined that much of the time purchased by this group and others advocated for the election and/or defeat of specific federal candidates, making it in fact a political action committee. A political action committee is subject to fundraising restrictions limiting individual contributions to 5K. FEC said it pulled in 10.78M in donations in excess of this amount.
TVBR observation: Along with other aspects of this we've pointed out recently, if CfG limits its message to issues, it can even mention specific politicians. In the recent Wisconsin Right to Life case which opened up the gates for such ads, which the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act attempted to silence in the days leading up to an election. The plaintiff in that case had asked Wisconsin voters to contact both Democratic senators to discuss an issue which wasn't on the congressional agenda at that time, and despite the fact that one of the senators was engaged in a re-election campaign. So we believe CfG and other would-be 527s can still spend all kinds of soft money as long as they are careful with their content.
Pedophile booked
for Wilkos debut
NBC Television Distribution says the first week of "The Steve Wilkos Show," debuting in syndication on September 10th, will establish his trademark of "sticking up for people who need help and doling out his own version of justice." In the premiere week, Wilkos has a one-on-one interview with Jack McClellan, the self-admitted pedophile, who has been making headlines across the country. In an exclusive interview with McClellan, Wilkos confronts him about his aberrant behavior and lifestyle. Also during the show's first week, Wilkos visits a Michigan prison for an exclusive interview with a woman convicted of offering her seven year-old daughter for sex and pornography. A native of Chicago, Wilkos was formerly the head of security on "The Jerry Springer Show" for the past 14 years. Prior to his work on television, Wilkos served in the US Marine Corps before joining the Chicago Police Department, from which he retired in 2001. "The Steve Wilkos Show" is taped in front of a live studio audience at WMAQ-TV Chicago. Richard Dominick, who is the executive producer of "The Jerry Springer Show" and "The Springer Hustle" on VH1, will also serve as executive producer on "The Steve Wilkos Show." The show is distributed in national syndication by NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution.
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TVBR Radar 2007
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Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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Moody's assesses potential
recession impact on media
Moody's Investors Service says many major US media companies, such as Viacom, Time Warner, Comcast and Cox Communications, should hold up pretty well if the US economy slips into recession in the next couple of years. Who looks more risky? Moody's names New York Times Co., Clear Channel Communications, Gannett and Belo. Will there be a recession? Begley said the rating agency was not predicting a recession or even stating that one is likely, which is why current conditions have not prompted changes in rating outlooks.
TVBR observation: Nothing like being negative or as the street says being on the side of caution. Come on the word recession is in our vocabulary and in some respects the medium has never shaken off the word recession. Good broadcasters are working around that word and remembering Content is King and making it happen. The street, ah taken it with a grain of salt we do.
09/06/07 TVBR #174
Arbitron to guarantee
PPM sample sizes
Exact details are yet to be worked out, but Arbitron has told clients it will reduce their bills if it fails to hit targets for Portable People Meter (PPM) sample sizes. Arbitron is also working on a new campaign to explain the math of PPM to media buyers, many of whom haven't been buying into the claim that 70 GRPs under PPM are equal to 100 GRPs under diary measurement.
RBR observation: Broadcasters would rather have Arbitron hit the sample targets than rebate their ratings bills, but this guarantee at least gives Arbitron an additional incentive to hit those targets. As for the problem with buyers not adjusting GRP targets for PPM, we doubt that a few magazine ads are going to suddenly get everyone to change their numbers. This is going to be a tough education process and it has to go up the chain to planners and ad agency executives who are now planning budgets for 2008. We doubt that many buyers have the authority on their own to revise the GRP target numbers for a planned buy because the market has switched from diaries to PPM. Note: Review the letter Steve Morris sent in RBR.
09/06/07 RBR #174
FCC set to tee up TV/cable issues
The commissioners will consider items on mandatory carriage of digital broadcast television signals after the DTV transition, as well as items on cable programming issues and local franchising authority treatment of potential cable competitors. The key broadcast component of the meeting is described as "...a Third Report and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning issues related to mandatory cable carriage of digital broadcast television signals after the conclusion of the digital television transition." On the cable programming front, the FCC will examine program access issues and program tying arrangements. The competition plank will examine the FCC's "directive that local franchising authorities not unreasonably refuse to award competitive franchises."
TVBR observation: The cable industry is fighting dual carriage after the DTV transition, but the failure of a cable system to carry a station's digital stream (or downgrading it to analog) is seen by many as contrary to the whole point of switching to digital in the first place. Chairman Kevin Martin has been the driving force thus far behind mandatory digital carriage, and we wish him great success when this matter comes up for a vote next Tuesday.
09/06/07 TVBR #174
Wall Street not surprised by CBS
Wall Street traders and analysts greeted the increased dividend and stock buyback announcement by CBS with a big yawn. It had little effect on the company's stock price. Bear Stearns quips that the CBS letters stand for Cash Back to Shareholders. Lehman Brothers downgraded the stock from "1-Overweight" to "2-Equal Weight." Bank of America remains neutral on the stock. Note: CBS Corporation has only been an independent public company for a little over 20 months, but it has announced the 5th increase in its dividend. With the latest increase by 14%, three cents per share, shareholders will receive 25 cents per share when the next quarterly payout is made October 1st to shareholders of record on September 14th. More details in RBR
09/05/07 TVBR #173
Radio picks up political purchases
That's the good news. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau and Nielsen Monitor-Plus, 26.3K political spots have been bought on radio stations in the first half of 2007, a 17% gain over 2005's 22.5K total. But here's the ugliness: Local, national and network were down 2% apiece in Q2. But a 16% surge in non-spot was able to reduce the damage to only minus 1% overall for the quarter.
09/05/07 RBR #173
NBC won't renew with iTunes
Unable to come to an agreement with Apple on pricing, has decided not to renew its contract to sell digital downloads of television shows on iTunes. NBCU, the #1 supplier of digital video to Apple's online store, notified Apple of its decision last week. The decision by NBCU highlights the escalating tension between Apple and media companies, which are unhappy that Apple will not give them more control over the pricing of songs and videos that are sold on iTunes, said the New York Times, which first reported the split between NBCU and iTunes. The action by NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker will not have an immediate impact on iTunes. The current two-year deal extends through December, s! o a vast video catalog - some 1,500 hours of NBC Universal's news, sports and entertainment programming - will remain available on iTunes at least until then. Among the most popular NBC Universal shows available for sale on iTunes are "Battlestar Galactica," "The Office" and "Heroes."
09/04/07 TVBR #172
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