|
|
|
|
|
Volume 24, Issue 213, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
|
Wednesday Morning October 31st, 2007
|
|
|
TV News ®
|
 WGA sets membership meeting; strike looming
With Writers Guild of America writers poised to strike as early as tomorrow, the TV networks are readying reality shows, game shows and reruns if the trigger is pulled. Viewers would start seeing it all early next year, when popular fall series dry up from the lack of new episodes. WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) met yesterday with a federal mediator that has been involved since Friday. Talks have gone virtually nowhere since July on issues of upping compensation for profits on DVDs and video-streamed shows on the internet and mobile devices. The current contract was set to expire at midnight today. A WGA meeting is scheduled at the LA Convention Center tomorrow at 7 pm PT. If there is a strike, it'll be a boon for reality show producers. "I was in a network meeting today, and they were referring to the fact the timing is really good for reality producers," producer Mark Cronin told The AP. He and partner Cris Abrego have been consistently busy with shows such as "Flavor of Love," "I Love New York" and "The Surreal Life." See agency perspective in TV Ad Business Report
TVBR observation: If there is a strike there may be more than just the WGA writers to consider. First of all, there will be a lot more repeats deployed during December so there will still be some fresh products for February. On a handful of shows, additional scripts have already been ordered to hedge the bets. But a lot edits are made at the reading table, where actors who've gotten a feel for their characters know what they would say and make changes to the script for added impact or humor. That will go out the window for the most part, so quality would go down. As well, the Teamsters may walk out as well for solidarity with the WGA. The Teamsters handle live shows as well - the heavy lifting, the animal wrangling, moving props and sets. So a lot of the talk shows could be impacted - from Leno to The View. As well, SAG folks like Leno and Letterman may not cross a picket line at the set. News shows could be affected as well.
LIN settles retrans standoff
LIN Television announced late yesterday that it has come to a settlement with cable operator MetroCast, ending a standoff that had threatened to pull LIN stations off MetroCast systems in Connecticut (9/14/07 TVBR #180). A tentative agreement kept the stations from being pulled when the old agreement ran out October 7th. Those negotiations have now been completed and LIN said the new deal with the cable company, which has some 36,000 subscribers in Eastern Connecticut, includes both analog and high-definition carriage. "We are pleased with the outcome of our negotiations. Our stations are leaders in their markets and we've made substantial investments to bring our viewers high definition digital programming. The agreement reflects fair value to both parties and is in the best interest of the consumer" said LIN CEO Vincent Sadusky. The retrans deal will allow MetroCast cable subscribers to continue to watch LIN's two Hartford stations, WTNH-TV (Ch. 8, ABC) and WCTX-TV (Ch. 59, MyNetworkTV).
Looking for a stocking stuffer?
If your holiday shopping list calls for a TV station, here's a closer look at the five that Media General has decided it could part with to rationalize its portfolio. The largest market, strictly speaking, is Greenville-Spartanburg, but WNEG, Channel 32, comes without one of its major assets - a network affiliation. The station, licensed to Toccoa, GA, will no longer be a satellite of Media General's CBS affiliate, so the buyer will need to come up with a new programming strategy. WNEG does already have a separate identity from WSPA, since it produces 2.5 hours of local news, weather and sports programming daily. The others include two ABC affiliates, an NBC and a CW. According to estimates by BIA Financial Network, the five accounted for 39.3 million in combined billing last year.
Media General stations offered for sale
|
CALLS
|
Ch.
|
Net.
|
Market
|
Rank
|
Revs. '06**
|
|
WNEG-TV
|
32
|
*
|
Greenville-Spartanburg
|
36
|
2125
|
|
WCWJ-TV
|
17
|
CW
|
Jacksonville, FL
|
49
|
10575
|
|
WTVQ-TV
|
36
|
ABC
|
Lexington, KY
|
64
|
9750
|
|
WMBB-TV
|
13
|
ABC
|
Panama City, FL
|
154
|
7975
|
|
KALB-TV
|
5
|
NBC
|
Alexandria, LA
|
180
|
8900
|
|
Total revenues for stations offered for sale
|
|
39325
|
*WNEG, licensed to Toccoa, GA, is currently a satellite of WSPA-TV, Ch. 7, CBS, but will become an independent once sold -- **(000) -- Source: BIAfn Media Access Pro
|
|
|
News choppers back in the Phoenix skies
Belo's KTVK-TV (Ch. 3, Ind.) began flying a leased helicopter yesterday, meaning that all five TV news operations in Phoenix have resumed flying following the July 27th mid-air collision (7/30/07 TVBR #147) that killed two people from KTVK and two from Scripps' KNXV-TV (Ch. 15, ABC). KTVK has purchased a new helicopter, but its pilots are flying a leased one for now while the new chopper is rigged with TV equipment and painted with the station logos. In a video posted on the station website, pilot Bruce Haffner says he is honoring the memory of his friends, Scott Bowerbank and Jim Cox, by continuing to do what they loved, flying and reporting from the air. A second pilot was recently hired by the station. The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing to investigate the crash and has not made any determination of who was at fault. According to the Arizona Republic newspaper, officials have said that the KTVK helicopter was relatively stationary when the KNXV helicopter moved into it. Both stations and others were following a low-speed police chase at the time. Craig Smith and Rick Krolack from KNXV were also killed in the crash.
Disaster torches the competition
It was essentially a battle for second place among the ongoing journalistic narratives of 2007 as the California wildfires dominated coverage, claiming 38% of the total newshole, besting 30% for all media categories except newspapers and topping the 50% mark on television and cable. According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism coverage chart for the week of 10/21/07-10/26/07, the 2008 campaign received a bit more attention than the situation in Iraq, taking second place by a 9%-7% margin. No other story was able to break through for more than 3% of available space and time, and reporting on the US economy made it onto the top ten list with a miniscule 1% share. Coverage of a dangerous staph infection and AG nominee Michael Mukasey were the biggest to fall completely off the chart, but they were only at 3% and 2% anyway, so it wasn't that big of a drop.
| Top ten lists here |
 PTC rates the #20 TV shows
Parents Television Council is concerned about appropriate content for children ages 2-17, and they just came out with their first take on the 2007-2008 season. They come in three categories: most suitable (1-8); questionably suitable (9-14); and not suitable (15-20). Rated first to worst, here's the PTC kid-friendliness chart. Most Suitable: (1) Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC); (2) Sunday Night Football (NBC); (3) Deal or No Deal (NBC); (4) Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Fox); (5) The Singing Bee (NBC); (6) Don't Forget the Lyrics (Fox); (7) American Idol (Fox); (8) Supernanny (ABC). Questionably suitable: (9) America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC); (10) Dancing with the Stars (ABC); (11) So You Think You Can Dance (Fox); (12) Amazing Race (CBS); (13) Survivor (CBS); (14) The Simpsons (Fox). Not suitable: (15) House (Fox); (16) Grey's Anatomy (ABC); (17) Heroes (NBC); (18) C.S.I. (CBS); (19) American Dad (Fox); (20) Family Guy (Fox).
TVBR observation: We often disagree with PTC. When it comes to imposing massive indecency fines, imposing an a la carte business model on cable systems or generally bumping up against the First Amendment, we tend to oppose the organization with all due vigor. However, we have no problem whatsoever with PTC when it uses its resources to rate programming for its members and any others who choose to pay attention. This is an example of PTC's exercise of its own First Amendment rights, and that is a right we will always defend.
|
|
|
|
| Wall Street Business Report TM |
Lincoln Financial earnings decline
Lincoln Financial Group reported that Q3 net earnings declined 9% to 329.6 million, or 1.21 per share. Lincoln Financial Media saw revenues decline 0.2% to 59.7 million and station operating income was down 7.7% to 26.3 million. Income from operations fell 6.8% to 13.6 million. But the data put out after the market closed yesterday did not include the answer to the question on everyone's mind. Almost certainly someone will ask in this morning's quarterly conference call if the insurance company has decided whether or not to accept any of the bids to buy its radio and TV stations.
|
|
|
|
|
Ad Business Report TM
|
 WGA strike:
What it could mean to advertising
If the WGA strike goes through, advertisers, agencies and networks would all be in some sort of turmoil-depending largely on how long the strike lasted. Remember, the strike in 1988 lasted for 154 days. Shari Anne Brill, Carat USA VP/director of programming, wonders if "this economy could handle that." She notes the C3 ratings would be in trouble as well: "It makes it that much more severe, because this is the first year that we've switched to a currency metric, and we know that viewers don't really stay tuned as much to repeat telecasts and reality shows the way they would to their favorite scripted drama. How would we deal with compensation for multiple airings, and of course on multiple platforms?"
How would the media agencies be able to solve the deals that have already been signed for the upfront, should not all of the campaigns' reach, frequency and CPM goals be achievable? It may not be just about figuring out make-goods.
"I think we're going to figure it out as it happens. We're talking about a very different media environment from 1988. Today we have the digital outlets. But I think it still would be a mistake to pull out of network television because you still would get the better reach there than anywhere else. Where else are you going to go? There aren't as many original scripted programs on cable-and cable launches them in the summer. There would be some fresh episodes of Nip/Tuck and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, but I don't know if they've shot a full season."
Let's say it is a long-lived strike leading into March, April or May. How would it affect the next upfront?
Says Brill: "I really don't want to think that far. Hopefully there will be some agreement at the negotiating table and that won't happen. The thought of it is just too gruesome [Yes, it's Halloween today]. I don't think anybody is well-served by dragging this out. I think everybody from viewers, raters, producers, studio owners and advertisers are all better served if everybody can come to an agreement."
Mediaedge:cia launches MEC Access
Mediaedge:cia has combined the resources of all of its sport, entertainment and cause marketing businesses and staff to form a new specialist division, MEC Access. MEC Access consists of existing Mediaedge:cia units including MEC Sponsorship, The Leverage Group and Sponsorcom. This unified offer is the first to be fully integrated into a media communications agency. With 30 locations globally, the new division will offer clients a one-stop shop for the creation and delivery of strategic partnerships and sponsorships across nine different platforms: arts, brand-to-brand, broadcast, cause, celebrity, film, gaming, music and sport. The Americas will be headed by Richard Yaffa, based in New York. Clients include Citi, Colgate Palmolive, DHL, Energizer, Sony Ericsson, TomTom, Visa and Xerox.
|
|
|
|
| Media Business Report TM |
 Purina chooses SMS advertising
to reach pet owners
Nestlé Purina PetCare has tapped Limbo, a mobile entertainment company, to sponsor daily, free text message alerts for pet lovers. Through Limbo's advertising-supported text message alert service, called Limbo Lowdown, advertisers like Purina can tap into the significant SMS inventory-more than 6 million monthly text messages-and content options now available from Limbo. Limbo Lowdowns include dynamic content offerings such as the ability to immediately receive celebrity gossip, sports scores, movie and music news, Bible quotes, jokes and horoscopes.
|
|
|
|
| Washington Business Report TM |
Panel named for House Commerce DTV session
Hearst-Argyle's David Barrett; Dennis Swanson from Fox Television Stations; and Univision CEO Joe Uva will be joining other stakeholders in yet another Congressional oversight hearing on the status of the DTV transition. The session is being hosted by Ed Markey's (D-MA) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. They'll need a wide table to seat this set of witnesses. Joining the aforementioned trio on the first panel will be Michael S. Willner of Insight Communications; Ron Bruno of the Community Broadcasters Association/Bruno Goodworth Network; John Taylor of LG Electronics; Jonathan Abbott of WGBH-TV Boston (PBS); Michael Vitelli of Best Buy; and Patrick Knorr of Sunflower Broadband.
|
|
|
|
| Entertainment Business Report TM |
 Hunt cleared in over 55% of US
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution says it has sold "The Bonnie Hunt Show" to stations covering more than 55% of US television households for its fall 2008 launch. The syndicated talker starring comedy writer, producer, director and performer Bonnie Hunt, from Telepictures Productions, has been cleared in 15 of the top 20 markets. Produced by Bob & Alice Productions and paraMedia, inc., in association with Telepictures Productions, The Bonnie Hunt Show will be executive produced by Hunt, Jim Paratore and Don Lake. "NBC selected The Bonnie Hunt Show as their top choice for fall '08, and in a little over three short weeks, many prominent broadcasters have also joined the Bonnie Hunt fan club," said Ken Werner, President, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. The new series has been sold to stations from Hearst-Argyle, Gannett, Belo, Scripps, McGraw-Hill, LIN, Allbritton, Fox, Tribune, Clear Channel, Young, Sinclair, Schurz, Miller, Bonten Media Group and Four Points. The NBC O&O group had previously announced a two-year pickup for "The Bonnie Hunt Show" in nine markets.
| See the market-by-market list |
|
|
|
|
| Ratings & Research |
Baseball good to Fox
No surprise here. The World Series boosted Fox to a weekly win in the Nielsen ratings. Unfortunately for the network, the Boston Red Sox swept the series 4-0 over the Colorado Rockies and Sunday's final day of the ratings week was also the final day of the 2007 World Series. All four games of the World Series made the top 20, but the final game was edged out of the top spot in both HH rating and total viewership by ABC's Dancing With the Stars." For the week, Fox had a HH rating of 8.8 and a 14 share, with ABC at 7.4/12, CBS 7.2/12, NBC 4.4/7, CW 1.9/3, Univision 1.8/3, Telemundo and MyNetworkTV tied at 0.6/1, Ion and TeleFutura tied at 0.3/1, and Azteca America 0.1/0. For the key 18-49 demo, it was Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, CW, Telemundo, a tie by MyNetworkTV and Telefutura, and a tie by Ion and Azteca America.
| Here are the top 20 shows |
|
|
|
|
| Stock Talk |
Waiting for the Fed
Stock prices pulled back Tuesday as traders waited to see if the Fed will deliver another rate cut today. The Dow Industrials fell 78 points, or 0.6%, to 13,792.
Almost all TV stocks joined in the retreat. Gray Television (common) fell 4%. Nexstar declined 2.7% and Media General 2.5%. Sinclair, however, had a good day, up 3.5%.
|
|
|
|
| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
|
Acme
|
ACME
|
|
3.99
|
+0.21
|
Lincoln Natl.
|
LNC
|
 |
66.26
|
-0.61
|
|
Belo
|
BLC
|
|
18.52
|
-0.05
|
LIN TV
|
TVL
|
|
14.14
|
-0.07
|
| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
|
28.38
|
-0.50
|
McGraw-Hill
|
MHP
|
|
50.23
|
+0.55
|
| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
|
28.42
|
-0.42
|
Media General
|
MEG
|
|
27.92
|
-0.72
|
|
Clear Channel
|
CCU
|
|
37.71
|
-0.10
|
Meredith
|
MDP
|
|
61.25
|
-0.17
|
|
Disney
|
DIS
|
|
34.29
|
-0.39
|
News Corp.
|
NWS
|
|
22.78
|
-0.22
|
|
Emmis
|
EMMS
|
|
5.08
|
-0.05
|
Nexstar
|
NXST
|
|
9.49
|
-0.26
|
|
Entravision
|
EVC
|
|
8.96
|
-0.15
|
Ion Media
|
ION
|
|
1.37
|
+0.06
|
| Equity Media |
EMDA |
|
2.75 |
-0.05 |
Saga Commun.
|
SGA
|
|
7.14
|
+0.03
|
|
Fisher
|
FSCI
|
|
48.37
|
-0.52
|
SBS
|
SBSA
|
|
2.62
|
-0.03
|
|
Gannett
|
GCI
|
|
41.87
|
+0.06
|
Scripps
|
SSP
|
|
44.31
|
+0.51
|
|
Gen. Electric
|
GE
|
|
40.48
|
-0.08
|
Sinclair
|
SBGI
|
|
12.09
|
+0.41
|
| Google |
GOOG |
|
695.99
|
+16.76
|
SWMX
|
SWMX
|
|
0.03
|
+0.01
|
|
Gray
|
GTN
|
|
9.36
|
-0.39
|
Time Warner
|
TWX
|
|
17.97
|
-0.13
|
|
Gray, C1. A
|
GTNa
|
|
9.75
|
unch
|
Tribune
|
TRB
|
|
30.01
|
-0.07
|
|
Hearst-Argyle
|
HTV
|
|
22.76
|
-0.31
|
Wash. Post
|
WPO
|
|
817.00
|
-1.60
|
|
Journal Comm.
|
JRN
|
|
8.79
|
-0.13
|
Young
|
YBTVA
|
|
2.30
|
-0.04
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bounceback
|
 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to tvnews@rbr.com
|
|
|
Below the Fold
|
Ad Business Report
WGA strike
What it could mean to advertising C3 ratings would be in trouble...
Media Business Report
Purina
Chooses SMS advertising to reach pet owners which is not puppy chow in dollars...
Washington Business Report
Big time Execs on Panel
Named for House Commerce DTV session Barrett; Swanson and Uva will be there...
Ratings & Research
Baseball good to Fox
No surprise here. The World Series Good for Fox but people still like Dancing...
|
|
|
Stations for Sale
|
 Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact
June Barnes
jbarnes@rbr.com
|
|
|
TV Media Moves
|
Ober goes online
Vault.com announced the appointment of former CBS News President Eric Ober as Senior Vice President, Television and Video. In his new position, Ober will be responsible for producing original Vault programming for the Vault.com web site and for a variety of other distribution partners.
|
|
|
More News Headlines
|
This vehicle may be hazardous to your health
Cars. They emit noxious vapors and consume massive quantities of energy derived from fossil fuels. They force massive amounts of land to be paved over for roads and parking lots. And the European Parliament is thinking about forcing their manufacturers to stick a warning into commercials for them. According to PR trade Daily Dog, as much as 20% of space and time may be required for auto ads, if the EP body gets its wish. However, DD notes that the EP really doesn't have all that much power. It has been known to attempt to shame European community entities which do have power into following a certain path, but whether or not it will have an effect on the 8.6B spent there to market cars is unclear. At the very least, EP may try to steer manufacturers away from touting speed and power (attributes associated with gas-guzzling) and toward emphasizing fuel efficiency and other environmentally-friendly attributes.
|
|
|
RBR - Radio News
|
LPFM clears Committee
The Senate Commerce Committee yesterday considered S.1675 Local Community Radio Act of 2007 in a mark-up session. We use the term "considered" loosely, since on an agenda that also included action on four other bills, a resolution and a number of nominations, the amount of extra time devoted to this bill was: zippy. A major thrust of the bill is to eliminate third-adjacency protections for full-power FM stations. This effort has been percolating for years and was considered in this Committee at least three years ago. The basis for allowing the loosened interference protection is a report from Mitre that has been criticized by the NAB as flawed and incomplete, but which has nonetheless been embraced by both Congress and the FCC. The entire slate of business passed, so presumably the next stop for S.1675 is the Senate floor.
RBR observation: Just as allowing unlicensed devices into TV white spaces is a questionable move during the high-stakes conversion to digital broadcast, playing around with minimum separations in the FM band while HD radio is trying to develop legs may also be a questionable idea. There is also the possibility that a flood of new LPFM grants will make it that much more difficult for signal-challenged AM stations to fill coverage holes with FM translators. If you have concerns about this bill on any count, the time to bring them to the attention of your Senators is now.
| Read the text of the bill here |
|
|
|
TVBR Radar 2007
|
|
Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
|
Senators request new
hearing on net neutrality
Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have reached across the aisle in the past to promote the concept of network neutrality. Concerns about cable and telephone companies playing an active gatekeeper role when providing internet access have prompted the duo to call for a new hearing on the topic.
TVBR observation: Put us down for net neutrality. You are reading this right now because you - and TVBR - both have access to a free and open internet. We occasionally are critical of companies that may be carrying us into the homes and businesses of our subscribers. The notion that this relationship between the press and citizens can be disrupted by the carrier runs counter to the founding principles of the United States and absolutely must be protected.
10/30/07 TVBR #212
Publisher Perspective
At the stroke of midnight
Right now, TVBR goes completely electronic. We cease printing SmartMedia mag but the content goes electronic. We have stated numerous times, "Technology Waits for No One." LPM and PPM are rolling, gathering real time data. Therefore, I am not waiting for the New Year's baby to arrive to bring forth our electronic improvements. This is the 2nd time in 25 years I have had to make this hard decision. The first time was 07/08/02 RBR Epaper #1 and my radio friends and colleagues thought I was friggen nuts. When we wish all a Happy New Year 2008, RBR/TVBR will turn 25 years young, our Silver Anniversary. (Reason and looking ahead worth a read see TVBR)
10/29/07 TVBR #211
|
|
|
TVBR Classifieds
|
New Listing
Ad Sales Rep
Imagine Media Ad Sales Without - Long Commutes, 8:30 Sales Meetings, Bonus Spots, or selling Print in an Electronic medium. More Reasons to consider Selling Advertising with TVBR. Honestly, we are so busy we can not service all the accounts. Can you help us? Our Budgets Are Realistic. Compensation plan is good. If you are good, our Compensation plan is Great. If you are Great, our Compensation plan is Unbelievable! In confidence, contact Publisher Jim Carnegie at publisher@rbr.com.
New Listing
Associate Web Editor
Ideal candidate will work with our News Team developing / delivering quality web & e-paper content on a daily basis requiring a tremendous amount of creativity, flexibility and an ability to work on a deadline. Skills: Intermediate understanding of how websites, web pages are constructed and ability to write "News" ready copy. Plus, important, must be a strong communicator both Verbal / Written and able to manage multiple tasks. See TV Careers
General Sales Manager
KSBI-TV, Oklahoma statewide independent network, is seeking an experienced GSM. Candidate with proven track record. Key is to have knowledge is sales strategy with contacts in national and regional business. Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Management or Business preferred. Enjoy making a great income. Opportunities are tremendous. See TV Careers
Additional Positions
Available in TVBR Classifieds.
See TV Careers.
Hard finding that key person
to fill the important position at your organization? TVBR Classifieds, Results with Service. Contact April McLynn at classifieds@rbr.com
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Help Desk
|
__EMAIL__ :
Having problems with our epapers?
Please send Questions/Concerns to:
Memberships@rbr.com
If you wish to remove your name completely from our database use this link __UNSUB__
|
|
|
|
©2007 Radio Business Report, Inc. All rights reserved.
Television Business Report -- 2050 Old Bridge Road, Suite B-01, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 -- Phone: 703-492-8191
|
|
