Echostar notes priced at 6 5/8%
Echostar has now priced its one billion dollar bond offering (9/20/04 TVBR Daily Epaper #184) - - and it's going to save quite a bit on interest payments. The new 10-year notes carry a coupon of 6 5/8% and the proceeds will be used to redeem the company's outstanding 10 3/8% notes, due 2007, which have been called for redemption in October.

TV stocks were left behind, closing mixed with most stocks little changed. Granite, a penny stock, did take a hit though - - falling 37.5% (that's 7.5 cents) as its president left for a diplomatic post (see TV News).

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McNamara upped
at NBC Uni
Jay McNamara has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales Strategy and Development at NBC Universal Television Distribution - - adding "Senior" to his previous title. He will "structure and direct" the company's portfolio of long-term TV licensing agreements worldwide and work on overseas growth projects.

Augustine to TW
Cynthia Augustine, formerly a senior media and human resources executive with the New York Times Company, has joined Time Warner as Senior Vice President of Talent Management. She'll oversee "people development," the company's worldwide recruitment and executive search efforts and its diversity efforts.

Sen. John 'Wayne' McCain looking for 1B in anti-blackout funds
Is preparing to ask for a significant taxpayer contribution to the televiewing of the unconnected when the digital television transition is finalized and analog broadcasts go away. McCain's plan would in effect be at least somewhat of an endorsement of the so-called "Ferree Plan," which would bring the end of analog broadcast about on 1/1/09, but would get there by counting analog receivers getting down-converted digital signals in the 85% digital-ready theshold which is the statutory target for the analog turn-off. 09/21/04 TVBR #184

Telecom 1996 up for review
Says Frank Blethen, the Seattle Times publisher took to the OpEd pages of the Washington Post 9/19/04 warning of the evils of excessive ownership concentration and media cross-ownership. Senate Commerce Committee is supposed to revisit the 1996 Telecommunications Act next year, an agenda item which could easily light off even more fireworks in the already incendiary history of the ownership debate. The Commerce Committee has already approved numerous reversals of the FCC 6/2/03 ownership rulemaking. Some of them have reappeared in other guises, such as the reversion to a 35% national potential audience reach cap for broadcast television group owners, down from the FCC's 45%. TVBR observation: This is great news if regulatory uncertainty is your cup of tea. People wishing to sit in on the Commerce Committee's proceedings should probably head over to the Russell Building on Capitol Hill right now and get in line. 09/21/04 TVBR #184

Campaign financing regs remanded
The US District Court in the District of Columbia has sent a slate of campaign rules written by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) back to be rewritten, saying that they opened up "an immense loophole" which Congress had no intention of putting on the books. 09/21/04 TVBR #184

HBO dominates the Emmys
Bada-Bing! Teaming up "The Sopranos," "Angeles in America" and other original fare, HBO, which used to be a cable network dependent on showing movies that had already run in theaters, ran rough-shod over the broadcast networks. In all, HBO took 32 Emmys. Compare that to Fox, which took second place with 10. Here's the list of winners of the major Emmys. TVBR observation: You answer the question - - What does this say for network TV programming and what the consumer wants and is willing to pay for? TA DUM. Content is King, people. Radio in many ways has lost that edge, Cochise, and soon that trend will come to TV as well - - so watch out for more product placement in place of creativity. 09/21/04 TVBR #184

TVBR Close-Up
Broadcast stocks: How low is low?
If you own radio or TV stocks, you know that they've fallen this year - - a lot. Most pure-play radio companies have lost at least a quarter of their value, many more than a third. TV stocks haven't done quite that badly, but are down double digits.
TVBR observation: The question now - have we hit bottom? TVBR's analysis chart inside tells the sad tale.
09/20/04 TVBR #183

Congressmen try to
head off Ferree plan
Two members of the House of Representatives have fired off a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell asking him to hold off on any attempt to force an end to the DTV transition according to the so-called "Ferree plan," which would achieve the mandated 85% viewership threshold by counting viewers getting digital signals downconverted for analog receivers along with viewers getting full benefit of digital broadcasting. TVBR observation: Excuse us, but Congress is the irresponsible government entity which came up with the 85% in, 15% completely shut out policy. The FCC has been forced to try and propel the DTV transition forward with no power whatsoever to do anything other than leave 15% of all Americans in the video dark. That's what Congress specifically told the FCC to do.
09/20/04 TVBR #183

Freeze frame:
When will the deal thaw happen?
Station trading and major changes - - to whit, FCC transactions utilizing Forms 301, 314, or 315 - - are frozen while the FCC gets its paperwork in order following the 3rd Circuit's decision to allow the new Arbitron-based radio market definition to be used as a yardstick for cluster sizing. When will the thaw happen?
TVBR observation: FCC has no way of knowing precisely when the freeze will be lifted, but that it is expected to be short-lived. 09/20/04 TVBR #183

MCG Capital raises
35.4 million in new capital
Completed a follow-on stock offering raising 35.4 million dollars by selling just over two million shares of new stock. MCG says the proceeds of the offering will be used to "originate loans to and make investments in small- and medium-sized private companies and for working capital and general corporate purposes." That is, after all, what the company is all about. In the broadcasting arena, MCG's investments include Crystal Media Network in radio syndication, the New Vision Broadcasting TV group and dick clark productions in TV production. MCG Capital also owns Kagan Research.
TVBR observation: For a close up look at where are the multiples and where are they going - look in your mail box for the November Solutions Magazine investigative report. MCG proves there is money available but the key is how much of your flesh does any investment firm or banker want? And with recent Wall Street types kicking especially the crap out of radio will these money guys take the bet on the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs in most cases are so misunderstood but have the brass set to bring media and TV problems back to when it worked.
09/17/04 TVBR #182

Tough August for Tribune
Proving again that this is a year of haves and have-nots in broadcasting, Tribune Company reported that its August TV revenues were down 4.2% to 98.2 million dollars. Tribune's group of mostly WB affiliates is not getting the heavy political spending enjoyed by competitors with news-intensive big-three network affiliates - - and, of course, it missed out on the Olympics spending that went to NBC stations. TVBR observation: Have and Have Not's again proves the theory that Content is King. Don't have it then you are a Have Not. 09/16/04 TVBR #181

The Consolidator CC Radio
to become a major Hispanic
radio player
Announced an expanded commitment to Spanish-language programming with an aggressive, multi-market initiative aimed at converting stations across a full range of market sizes to Hispanic formats. Under the plan, some 20 to 25 stations will be converted in the next 12 to 18 months alone. RBR observation: If you do the math on how network radio gets sold vs. spot radio, if you normally pitch a network and you've got deficiencies in certain markets, there's nothing you can do about it. Hopefully your network still gets bought or you have to negotiate a price or whatever. Using this scenario with CC O&Os, they can go and pitch their Premiere Spanish Network or whatever they want to call it, and any deficiencies they've got, they can in turn use their O&Os to make up the deficiencies and set any kind of pricing they want to - because they own the stations. 09/16/04 RBR #181