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Volume 23, Issue 178, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Wednesday Morning September 13th, 2006
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TV News ®
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 New York Times puts
TV group up for sale
In a surprise move, The New York Times Company announced late yesterday that it plans to sell its TV station group and has engaged Goldman Sachs to handle the sell-off. "The decision to explore the sale of our broadcast stations is a result of our ongoing analysis of our business portfolio," said NY Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson in a statement. "These are well-managed and profitable stations that generate substantial cash flows and are located in attractive markets. We believe a divestiture would allow us to sharpen our focus on developing our newspaper and rapidly growing digital businesses, and the synergies between them, thereby increasing the value of our company for our shareholders," she added. (The auction does not include the New York radio stations, which are part of the News Media Group, along with newspapers and related websites.) The NY Times Co. says the Broadcast Media Group (the official name for the TV group) accounted for 4% of total company revenues. In 2006 it is expected to have revenues of approximately 150 million and operating profit of about 33 million. Depreciation and amortization is put at 10 million for the year. Interested? Here is the shopping list. The stations that comprise the NY Times Co. Broadcast Media Group are: WHO-TV in Des Moines, IA (NBC); KFSM-TV in Ft. Smith, AR (CBS); WHNT-TV in Huntsville, AL (CBS); WREG-TV in Memphis, TN (CBS); WQAD-TV in Moline, IL (ABC); WTKR-TV in Norfolk, VA (CBS); KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City, OK (NBC); KAUT-TV in Oklahoma City, OK (MyNetworkTV); and WNEP-TV in Scranton, PA (ABC).
TVBR observation: With recent TV deals starting at 10 times and going up from there, it is easy to put a starting bid of 430 million on this group, if we assume from the announced figures that cash flow is around 43 million (operating profit plus D&A). No doubt the final tally will be more. Like so many old line media companies, the New York Times Co. has been focusing on building its online presence, with the acquisition of About.com a prime example. But it is surprising that the Times Co. would decide to part with the solid cash flow of its TV properties. Unlike Tribune, which is under pressure to sell its underperforming TV properties, these are solid market leaders.
 NBCU, affiliates launch "nbbc"
NBC Universal and its affiliates will launch an independent b2b marketplace designed to aggregate, monetize and distribute both NBC Universal and third party video to tens of millions worldwide. The nbbc (National Broadband Company) connects content owners, website owners and advertisers to create a robust viewing experience across the web. nbbc operations will be led by Mike Steib, GM of strategic ventures for NBC Universal, and Brian Buchwald, GM of nbbc, who co-founded the business in April. Says Randy Falco, President and COO of the NBC Universal Television Group: "nbbc allows both NBC Universal and our partners to create revenue by exposing their content to a larger audience than we each could achieve individually."
| Read More... |
TVBR observation: As with other joint ventures with affiliates like News Channel and Weather Plus, the NBC affiliates own equity in the business-they can monetize their content while maintaining control and ownership. They choose what and how much to offer of their content. The more they offer to the more partners, the more revenue they share. The bigger the network built by all affiliates, the more desirable for advertisers.
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Political driving double-digit gains
Two TV groups report that August revenues were up double digits, due primarily to heavy political spending. Gannett's TV station revenues rose 11.3% and revenues for the Scripps TV group were up 14%. At Gannett, total revenues for the TV division, including the Captivate in-elevator video service, were up 11.2% to 60.4 million. For the TV stations, revenues were up 11.3%, with local up 2.4% and national jumping 24.2%, including political. Gannett is no projecting that Q3 TV revenues will be up in the mid to high single digits. At Scripps, TV station revenues rose 14.1% to 26.8 million. Political, reported separately, jumped to 3.3 million from a mere 200K a year ago. Local slipped 0.2% to 14.9 million and national rose 1% to 7.6 million. Revenues for Scripps networks, the cable TV operation, rose 17% to 80.7 million. Meanwhile, newspaper ad revenues were up 1.3% in August at Scripps and declined 0.9% at Gannett.
 Moonves bullish on CW
After recounting how CBS is launching its new season from a position of strength, CBS Corporation CEO Les Moonves told a Merrill Lynch investor conference he is also expecting the new CW network to contribute to the bottom line, particularly for its impact on the 11 former UPN O&Os that are becoming CW affiliates. Moonves said Q4 pacings are already up 22% for those 11 stations. The CBS CEO also reiterated his insistence that the TV station group is going to be paid for retransmission consent. Some deals have already been done with small cable MSOs and Moonves said CBS will stand its ground with the big ones. In his view, if Disney collects 2.50 per subscriber from MSOs for ESPN, it is really getting two bucks for ESPN and 50 cents for ABC - "Bob Iger doesn't care, just so he gets the money." But now that CBS is no longer tied to the Viacom cable networks, Moonves says it is going to be paid by the cable systems who carry its O&O stations.
Martin gets another day on Capitol Hill
For Kevin Martin it must have been a Charles Dickens moment. It wasn't the best of times or the worst of times, but he found out on the one hand that he was regulating too much and, on the other, not enough. It all depended on whether he was being questioned by Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) or Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND). All in all, Martin's nomination for a second term as FCC Chairman appears to have clear sailing in the Senate. Sununu, who is completely against any form of mandated Internet neutrality provision, wanted to make sure that Martin had no intentions of imposing such a regime, nor to add taxes for access nor impose any kind of regulation of Internet video or audio content. Martin gave an answer to a Jim DeMint (R-SC) question which clarified, in DeMint's mind anyway, that he would not restrict an ISP provider's ability to set carriage prices as it sees fit. This put net neutrality proponent Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on the warpath, saying that Martin was essentially saying that toll lanes and other fees were OK, robbing the Internet of the freedom and service equality that has made it what it is. The other big issue was media ownership, closely examined by Dorgan. He got Martin to admit that the 6/2/03 rulemaking led by Michael Powell and affirmed by Martin's vote may have gone too far. Asked by Dorgan if it gave him pause that one company might own eight radio stations, three television stations a dominant cable system and a dominant newspaper in one market, Martin said yes, it did. He promised that a study of localism started by Powell will be a prominent part of the new ownership proceeding.
RBR observation: Dorgan indicated he looked forward to working with Martin on this and other issues, a sign that he will have the vote of at least one senator who figures to remain a sharp critic of the FCC. We think Martin will easily make it through for a second term, and expect that NTIA nominee John Kneuer, who was almost an afterthought in the questioning, will also be confirmed.
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| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
 Televisa facing tight deadline
to make new Univision bid
If Televisa CEO Emilio Azcarraga Jean hopes to yet snatch Univision from Haim Saban and his backers, the Mexican billionaire is going to have to move quickly. The New York Times reports that Televisa is still working on a bid of at least 38 bucks per share to top the winning bid of 36.25 submitted by the Saban group. Shareholders are set to vote September 27th on accepting the Saban offer. Unless Azcarraga and his investor group, which includes Bain Capital and Bill Gates' personal investment firm, Cascade Investments, has a higher bid fully funded and ready to go, acceptance of the Saban offer is pretty much a slam dunk, even if Televisa and ally Venevision vote their shares "no." The math hasn't changed since we worked it out for you last month (8/23/06 TVBR #164). According to the Times, the Televisa consortium has been working feverishly to put together a topper bid, with numerous meetings and conference calls between the consortium members to decide whether to go ahead with a higher bid. There is still no word on how the buyout offer would be structured to keep from running afoul of the foreign ownership limits for Univision's FCC licenses.
TVBR observation: We'll believe it when we see it. Emilio Azcarraga Jean wants Univision so bad he can taste it, but Bill Gates and Bain Capital aren't going to be driven by passion - they want a deal that makes financial sense. That is going to be difficult to put together with the added obstacle of having to pay a 300 million bucks breakup fee to the Saban group.
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Ad Business Report TM
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Fox, Tribune to auction ad space
No, not regular airtime, but online inventory in this case. Fox Interactive Media (including MySpace), Tribune (newspaper sites) and LookSmart will auction non-premium ad inventory to generate more revenue from existing webpages. The sites will use Publisher Media Exchange (PMX) from Right Media that they can adapt to their own websites, according to Reuters. The system will help the publishers consolidate ads on pages, such as older archive news, on their own auction-based platform, enabling advertisers and online ad networks to compete for each consumer viewing an ad in real-time. Other companies using the PMX system include search network LookSmart, blogging service Six Apart and Tickle.
 Reliant Energy launches
Hispanic effort in Texas
Reliant Energy has debuted a Spanish-language ad campaign featuring Texas' No. 1 morning radio talk show celebrity and Reliant Energy customer Raul Brindis. The campaign highlights Brindis' endorsement of Reliant Energy and its products and services in a Hispanic-relevant television show format -- a departure from the brand-focused advertising typical of Reliant's past Hispanic advertising campaigns. The spots replicate a television variety show similar to Sabado Gigante. The role of host is played by Brindis, with game show hostess "Lola-Lola," complete with glittering gown and rotating stage. Supporting Brindis and Lola-Lola are backup singers, "the Lolaettes," debuting a Reliant jingle that urges customers to call 1-866-RELIANT to sign up for the electricity pricing plans that best meet their needs. Brindis is a veteran of the Spanish-language radio industry. According to Arbitron, Brindis is the No. 1 Spanish-language radio show in Texas and boasts more than 450,000 listeners weekly in Houston alone. The integrated marketing strategy includes radio, billboards and print featuring Brindis and Lola-Lola in the same manner as the television campaign. The new campaign started airing in September in the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Laredo markets.
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| Media Business Report TM |
Gap's Forth & Towne launches fall campaign
Gap Inc. is set to launch a new campaign for its Forth & Towne apparel brand. The campaign reflects Forth & Towne's position in the market as a brand that speaks directly to the grown-up chic woman, defining what being fashionable looks and feels like for a new generation of women. The new multichannel effort via, New York-based creative agency AR, supports the opening of 14 new stores Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara and Seattle this fall. The campaign revolves around the theme: "The Chic Revolution Begins." Print will appear in regional publications in new and existing Forth & Towne markets starting in September, with national magazines, Elle and More, following in December. The campaign will also appear in additional media vehicles including out of home, in-mail and direct mail.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
 Veronis Suhler Stevenson forecasts
modest growth for TV
The annual Communications Industry Forecast by Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) sees total spending on broadcast TV jumping 8.7% this year to 46.64 billion. Of course, that is the benefit of an Olympics and political year, following last year's 2.7% decline. Looking ahead, VSS says it expects on-air broadcast TV advertising, excluding barter syndication, to grow at an average annual rate of 2.9% from 2005 through 2010 to 48.35 billion.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
Fee for all
Peter Guttman of law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice has sent out the firms latest update on FCC fees, which have been increased based on a 7.7% increase in the Consumer Price Index from 10/03 to 10/05. The FCC takes that number, applies it the the current fee and rounds to the nearest five dollar figure. The fees apply to processing fees for anything from a license renewal to a call letter change.
| See old and new numbers here |
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| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
CBS Digital Media adds
"wireless hostess"
 CBS Digital Media announced that "The O.C.'s" Ashley Hartman has been signed as the company's first "wireless hostess." Hartman will be the face and the voice of CBS wireless and will serve as a guide to consumers in all of CBS's wireless endeavors. She'll appear on mobile phones in videos and alerts, as well as around mobile content on CBS websites where consumers purchase mobile content, such as wallpapers, ringtones and games. "Having a personality that consumers associate with CBS Mobile is going to make it easier for users to identify and navigate CBS's wireless offerings," said Cyriac Roeding, VP/Wireless, CBS Digital Media. "CBS is the first major media company to exclusively sign a 'face for wireless' and we're very happy to have found Ashley, who is dynamic, entertaining and a great hostess for our mobile content on carrier video portals and the web."
AT&T and MobiTV launch live TV subscription service
AT&T became the first U.S. broadband provider to offer a live TV subscription service with MobiTV to consumers through any broadband connection. The service expands upon an earlier agreement that enables AT&T to offer MobiTV to customers who use thousands of AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots. The "AT&T Broadband TV" service will initially have approximately 20 channels of live and made-for-broadband television content spanning national news, sports, entertainment and full-length music videos. Among the channels included in the initial channel lineup is Fox News, Bloomberg, Oxygen, History Channel, Comedy Time, Toonworld, Maxx Sports and the Weather Channel. The browser-based service features desktop integration for fast channel-changing, full-screen functionality and quality video playback. Subscribers can quickly access AT&T Broadband TV through a hyperlink or desktop shortcut. Users will have access to for a flat monthly subscription of 19.99. Additional television channels are on the way.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
Sprint mobile sports net Power View launches
Sprint debut testerday "Sprint Power View," a made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network. With this initiative, Sprint has the ability to provide millions of Sprint Vision and Power Vision customers the latest sports and entertainment news, features and original programming at no additional charge. This studio-based network will cover the gamut of sports and entertainment with a variety of shows. Sprint Power View shows are refreshed several times per day, seven days per week and will originate from the Sprint Power View desk located in NYC in partnership with IMG Media. Currently, Sprint Power View is compatible with dozens of Sprint mobile devices and is viewable via a downloadable Java application. Alternatively, all Sprint Power View shows reside within Sprint TV, on channels 35 and 33, also free of charge.
| See Sprint Power View shows here |
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| Ratings & Research |
 Couric wins week #1,
but ratings in downhill slide
Initial overnight numbers from Monday indicated that Katie Couric's streak of #1 ranked newscasts ended at four, but the final tally is not yet in. Meanwhile, CBS honcho Les Moonves is celebrating that his big talent raid on NBC paid off. The "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" was #1 for last week - the first weekly win for CBS in five years. Couric averaged an audience of 10.2 million, compared to 7.1 million for Brian Williams at NBC and 6.9 million for Charlie Gibson at ABC. As expected, Couric's debut newscast on Tuesday, September 5th, drew far and away the biggest audience. The bad news for CBS is that the audience erosion that was expected on Wednesday continued on Thursday, Friday and Monday. If the trend continues, CBS could be right back in third place in no time flat. But CEO Moonves was upbeat at a Merrill Lynch investor conference, noting that his company's newscast had been stuck in third place for a decade, so he was thrilled to have Couric win her first week. "It's still very early," Moonves said, but vowed that it will be a competitive three-way race from here on out.
TVBR observation: Unfortunately for Couric and everyone at CBS, in our view (and that of may other reviewers that we've read), the first day was the worst performance. Yes, it was the day after a holiday weekend and a slow news day, but the newscast was slow moving and lacking in interesting reporting (after the strong opening piece from Afghanistan). The newscasts were zippier and newsier later in the week, but many who sampled day one probably never gave Couric & Co. a second chance.
Football wins a week for NBC
The Peacock is doing a victory dance at the goal line. Two primetime NFL games in a single ratings week gave NBC an easy win in the Nielsen ratings. The games were the two most-watched shows of the week and three programs associated with the NFL telecasts also made it into the top 20. All in all, NBC scored a 6.4 households rating and 11 share, with Fox at 5.8/10, ABC 4.9/8 and the usual #1, CBS, falling to 4.8/8. Univision was at 2.0/3, WB 1.2/2, UPN (without its big market stations owned by Fox) 0.6/1, i and Telemundo tied at 0.5/1 and TeleFutura 0.3/1. Programming on the new MyNetworkTV owned by Fox is being reported as strip programming, rather than with the network tallies. | Here are the top 20 shows for the past week |
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| Stock Talk |
Stocks jump on Goldman earnings
There is nothing stock brokers like better than to see a stock brokerage company do really well. So, better-than-expected earnings by Goldman Sachs sparked a day of celebratory stock buying. The Dow Industrial average rose 101 points, or 0.9%, to 11,498.
Virtually all TV stocks were higher. Gray Television (common) shot up 5%, Media General rose 4.9%, Young 4.5% and Entravision 4%.
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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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5.37
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+0.01
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LIN TV
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TVL
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7.61
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+0.05
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Belo
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BLC
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16.00
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+0.31
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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56.41
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-0.03
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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29.35
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+0.09
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Media General
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MEG
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39.60
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+1.85
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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29.34
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+0.13
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Meredith
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MDP
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49.65
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-0.56
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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29.80
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+0.13
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News Corp.
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NWS
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19.45
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+0.31
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Disney
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DIS
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30.21
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+0.44
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Nexstar
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NXST
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4.17
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-0.01
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Emmis
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EMMS
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12.13
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+0.36
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NY Times
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NYT
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22.28
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+0.28
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.72
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+0.30
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Ion Media
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ION
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0.87
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unch
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Fisher
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FSCI
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43.36
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+1.14
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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8.08
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+0.07
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Gannett
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GCI
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54.99
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-1.04
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SBS
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SBSA
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4.37
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+0.14
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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34.67
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+0.24
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Scripps
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SSP
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46.09
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+0.19
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Granite
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GBTVK
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0.12
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-0.02
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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7.64
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+0.11
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Gray
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GTN
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6.77
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+0.32
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Time Warner
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TWX
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17.04
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+0.14
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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7.18
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+0.09
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Tribune
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TRB
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30.77
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+0.65
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.42
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+0.27
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Univision
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UVN
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35.40
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+0.55
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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11.30
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+0.22
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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755.41
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+4.41
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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61.86
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+0.77
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Young
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YBTVA
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2.81
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+0.12
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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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Glick gets the biz
Alexis Glick has joined Fox News Channel as Director of Business News. She was previously a correspondent for the NBC "Today" show and in her pre-TV days Glick was at Morgan Stanley.
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Below the Fold
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Wall Street Media Business Report
Televisa facing tight deadline
To make new Univision bid still working on a bid of at least 38 bucks per share...
Media Markets & Money
Another modest forecast
For TV growth this time Veronis Suhler Stevenson sees TV jumping 8.7% this year...
Ad Business Report
Fox, Tribune to auction ad space
No, not regular airtime, but online inventory...
Washington Media Business Report
Fee for all
Update on FCC fees, which have been increased based on a 7.7%...
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More News Headlines
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News Corp acquiring VeriSign's Jamba unit
News Corp. and VeriSign announced a joint venture to become a global powerhouse in mobile entertainment. The deal has News Corp. paying 188 million for 51% interest in VeriSign's ring tone provider Jamba/Jamster unit, to combine it with Fox Mobile Entertainment assets including Mobizzo, which sells short video clips of TV programs such as Fox's own "24." Jamba will soon release its first products and offerings as a new entity, following the close of the transaction in late Q4, including MySpace Mobile Store and The Simpsons Mobile. Lucy Hood, formerly President of Fox Mobile Entertainment, will become CEO of the joint venture. The new Jamba will offer content from music and media companies, as well as original content created exclusively for mobile. Jamba partners include: Universal Music Group and Warner Music, among others. In addition, Jamba and Fox Mobile Studios have units that create original content ranging from the Crazy Frog sensation, to multiple animated characters, to genres such as Manga, Activism, and X-Sports. The unit is expected to draw from not only top Fox divisions but also News Corp companies around the world. Jamba will build a unique m-commerce engine to enable MySpace users to download ringtones, graphics and animations from top music and media companies. Jamba will exclusively offer mobile content from The Simpsons, through the industry's first subscription package tied to exclusive content called the "Yellow Plan." The plan will include an array of uniquely designed Simpsons mobile content, such as wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones and video. With key centers in Los Angeles and Berlin, the new entity will be the industry's only vertically integrated mobile entertainment company with unique capabilities to produce, market, sell and distribute mobile content globally.
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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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Might NBC Universal fly solo?
Speculation that General Electric might - or in their view should - spin off NBC Universal as an independent company. The 4th place NBC Television Network is seen as a drag on GE's stock. According to the report, Credit Suisse recently put a value of 35.5 billion on NBC Universal and AG Edwards estimated it at 40 billion. While the TV network may be in a rebuilding phase, NBC Universal has some other valuable assets, such as its cable networks, Telemundo, TV station group, TV and movie studios and theme parks.
TVBR observation: No doubt NBC Universal is the least synergistic of all the major parts that make up GE, but that's always been the case. Folks on Wall Street always like to speculate about how they would run a company differently if they were in charge. What matters, though, is whether GE CEO Jeff Immelt sees any reason to take NBC Uni out of his company. He has gotten out of insurance and a few other businesses since taking the GE helm in 2001. And for the businesses that remain, he has set strict targets that he expects his management team to hit. According to a profile yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, which like Barron's is owned by Dow Jones & Co., NBC Universal Television Group CEO Jeff Zucker says Immelt has given the NBC network two years to get back on track. If not, what happens then? Would Immelt fire the top brass at NBC Uni and bring in new blood, or look seriously at either selling the media company or spinning it off to shareholders?
09/12/06 TVBR #177
The gripes of wrath: Q2 2006
For what it's worth, indecency complaints received by the FCC were way down in Q2 2006 compared to the first quarter, dropping from about 142K to 52K. Most of the action was in the month of May, when 40K complaints came in, with about 11K in April and less than 1K in June. If you're looking for dog-and-pony show-style year-to-year comps, the month's complaint total was fairly horrific, jumping up from only 6.2K complaints in Q2 of 2005.
TVBR observation: It's almost impossible to figure out if there is any meaning to the numbers reported here. Perhaps you remember back when one complaint was lodged, acted upon, and later canceled, concerning an airing of the radio cut of Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady," after it had aired over 100K times before from coast to coast without incident. On the other end of the spectrum are massive click and send complaints fired off at the behest of anti-indecency watchdogs where citizens obliging impugn the contents of programming they did not see or hear. And the question remains: Who will be the lucky winner of the first new and improved 325K indecency NAL? If may be just one four-letter word away.
09/11/06 TVBR #176
TVB forecast: Down, then up
With no elections or Olympics next year, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) is projecting that TV spot revenues will fall 1-3% in 2007. But then the good news: 2008, which will be a presidential election year, is expected to bring an 8-10% increase in spot revenues.
TVBR observation: To view the data see this TVBR report worth a print out.
09/08/06 TVBR #175
Different views of CCU buyback
Some Wall Street analysts are bullish on the move by Clear Channel Communications to buy back another one billion bucks of its stock. One analyst, however, is taking a different view and complains that stock buybacks haven't done anything to support the company's stock price.
09/08/06 TVBR #175
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.
9/7/06 TVBR #174
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.
9/7/06 TVBR #174
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
9/6/06 TVBR #173
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