TVBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 21, Issue 222, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Friday Morning November 12th, 2004

TV News®

TVBR Observation:
Hello Houston you now have a
TX size PPM problem
Big time as Fran Kennish, Chairman, AAAA Media Research Committee, Senior Partner, Director of Media Research, Strategic Planning, Mediaedge:cia has fired off a message to all radio in the market and especially the hold out groups of Infinity, Cox and Radio One or anyone that are not participating in the Aribtron PPM trial. Bottom line radio people: The advertisers want the test and the hold outs are making radio look like obstructionists to progress and better ratings. Many agree that the PPM will elevate radio on the playing field but can not figure out why radio business is not supporting it. Here is the problem - and we have said it before - radio is its own worst enemy. We look at the signals of some of the hold outs and some do not have equal signal capabilities. In three words to the radio business with PPM and Houston hold outs - Suck It Up - and get on board no matter what the results. Can't fix it if you don't know what is broken. Kennish email tells the whole story. Ps: This is not just a radio issue it is also a TV - PM issue called People Meter.
| More... |

FCC stays out of Ryan dispute, so will PTC
More than 20 ABC affiliates decided to stay away from the airing of an uncut version of "Saving Private Ryan" last night. The FCC declined to make a ruling on the movie's decency in advance. Meanwhile, at least one leading exponent of the anti-indecency movement, the Parents Television Council, has stated that it will not dispute the airing. Stations owned by Citadel, Pappas, Belo, E.W. Scripps, Cox, Hearst-Argyle, Tribune and Sinclair were among those with cold feet. Uncut versions of the film have aired over ABC in 2001 and 2002. Its inclusion of the f-word was said by the FCC to have drawn one complaint, which was denied. However, the use of the f-word by rock group U2 frontman Bono in 2003 on NBC led to an FCC ruling which made it seem that any broadcast of the word, under any circumstances, would be liable for punishment. | More... |

Adelstein may return in package deal
Republicans in the Senate are looking to get anywhere between 80-100 names confirmed in the current lame duck session, mainly judicial nominees. The speculation is that Jonathan Adelstein's return to the FCC may be offered as a deal sweetener to get the package through before year's end. The roll of political football is certainly not new for the Tom Daschle protege. His nomination was held hostage twice before his initial confirmation, once each, for different reasons, by John McCain (R-AZ) and Trent Lott (R-MS). Although Adelstein has not seen eye to eye with the administration on a number of issues, most notably ownership deregulation, he is lauded by senators on both sides of the aisle for his work on rural communications and other issues, and a large number of Republicans in the Commerce Committee have signed on to efforts to put him on the Commission for what would be his first full term. He is currently finishing off the expired term of Gloria Tristani. Traditionally, the two parties have been reluctant to play hardball with one another when it comes to putting people into seats which legally go to one or the other - - floor fights have generally been confined to cases where there have been severe objections. The White House decision to hold up Adelstein's renomination had even the Republicans on Commerce Committee scratching their heads. It would seem that his close relationship with Daschle was almost certainly a factor.

TVBR observation: Some, including those of us here at TVBR, have speculated that the Bush administration would look for a FCC candidate which could be used for political purposes. We thought they possibly would discuss it with the next minority leader, which at this point looks like it will be Harry Reid (R-NV). However, an article in Communications Daily noted that at least one Republican Hill staffer thought that offering Adelstein up in exchange for 80 or so judges was more than fair.

Malone blows kisses to Murdoch
News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch may be worried about a possible takeover play by John Malone's Liberty Media (11/9/04 TVBR Daily Epaper #219), but Malone insists that his intentions in raising Liberty's stake in News Corporation are purely honorable. He just thinks the company as a good investment. "We view ourselves as allies of News Corporation and the Murdoch family, and we have no hostile intentions," Liberty Media CEO Robert Bennett said in his company's quarterly conference call. Despite those reassurances, Murdoch isn't taking any chances. News Corporation's board of directors is expected to meet next week to ratify the "poison pill" anti-takeover measure that was announced early this week.

New AG may be tough nut
for reporters to crack
President Bush wasted no time filling the slot of Attorney General. The ink was barely dry on John Ashcroft's hand-written letter of resignation before the name of Bush counsel and protege Alberto R. Gonzales was put forth as Ashcroft's successor. At least one watchdog organization has questioned his efforts to shield administration activities from the press. On a general note, one way of assessing Gonzales is to note that he has already taken potshots from members of both the left and right wings of the American political scene. Democrats in the Senate are said to view him as a relatively moderate candidate for the position, and despite the concerns of many, he is not expected to have a difficult time gaining confirmation there. However, watchdog organization Alliance for Justice focused in part his relationship with the press. AFJ President Nan Aron said, "Gonzales has consistently pushed the limits of executive privilege in order to shield the Bush administration from oversight by Congress or scrutiny by the American people." Gonzales gained notoriety for calling provisions of the Geneva Convention "quaint," and in light of that Aron is particularly concerned about Gonzales' failure to make POW-related material public.

Where are multiples these days? Still high - - Part 1
If you've been waiting years for cash flow multiples to go down so you can go out and buy a few radio stations - - you can keep waiting. Brokers on the market's frontlines tell us that Wall Street worries about the radio business haven't hurt pricing and multiples remain at the heights where they've been since 1999. If anything, prices have firmed for smaller markets, which is where a lot of the transaction activity is these days. What's keeping prices high is a lack of inventory. Consolidators, for the most part, aren't parting with the stations they've acquired since deregulation in 1996. So when desirable properties come on the market, there are far more potential buyers than there are stations available to buy. "There's a lot of money on the sidelines chasing fewer deals. Even in the smaller markets - - what I would describe as larger unrated markets - - we're working on some projects now where the multiples are still very high. We're seeing stuff in the 10-11 range in large unrated markets. There's a lot of private equity money on the sidelines chasing deals, which is driving multiples up. They're certainly not cooling at all," said broker Todd Fowler of American Media Services. This article appears in its entirety in the October issue of RBR Solutions magazine. To subscribe to the all new January debut issue of Radio and Television Business Report - The Real Business Magazine, see below to receive it - or call April McLynn here to get your free copy: 703-492-8191.

Look for 4:30pm this afternoon

Conference Calls Q3 2004

Local soft for Block Communications
It goes to show you that the marketplace is not the same for every TV group. While others have been reporting strength in local sales, Block Communications says local was soft for its stations in Q3. TV revenues were up only 1.6% to 9.1 million, thanks to a 542K rise in political that more than offset a 507K drop in local. National was up 74K. Publishing revenues were up 4.2% to 62.5 million and cable revenues rose 6% to 29.1 million. Overall, company revenues were up 4.5% to 105.7 million. Block is privately owned, but has public bonds.

Adbiz©

NASCAR lifts liquor sponsors ban
NASCAR lifted a decades-old ban on liquor ads on cars Wednesday, opening the door for teams to be sponsored next season by distilled spirits. "We felt the time was right," Mike Helton, NASCAR President told the AP. "Attitudes have changed, and spirits companies have a long record of responsible advertising." NASCAR already allowed beer companies into the sport, but has restricted what liquor companies could do since at least the early 1970s, most recently denying a bid from Roush Racing in June to put a liquor company on the car that Jeff Burton drove. Following the 11/10 announcement, UK-based Diageo announced its Crown Royal whiskey will be the sponsor on another Roush car next season.

Finish Line names Starcom media AOR
Starcom USA Chicago has been named media AOR for athletic specialty retailer The Finish Line. The assignment includes all planning and buying - - previously handled in-house and by EchoPoint Media Indianapolis. Effective immediately, the assignment entails consumer-centric media strategy and investments across Finish Line's range of product offerings, including retail operations, performance and fashion footwear products, branded and private apparel lines as well as accessories. Finish Line operates nearly 600 stores throughout the U.S. and www.finishline.com .

Nike, NBA expand advertising relationship
Nike has signed a new global marketing agreement with the NBA. The five-year, 100 million contract announced will allow the league and the sportswear giant to expand their global reach with TV ads using Nike's stable of NBA players in uniform. Nike promotional campaigns will appear during nationally televised NBA games, including on NBA TV, NBA Inside Stuff and on ABC. Though America is basketball's birthplace, the sport has soared in popularity in Europe and Asia. This year, 81 foreign players began the year on NBA rosters, and more than half of the hits on NBA.com, were from users outside the US. Nike will also be allowed to use NBA players in promoting its Converse brand, one of Nike's recent acquisitions.

Media Markets & MoneyTM

Gold Coast noncoms on the block?
Barry University is thinking about putting its FM and television stations on the block, and at least two other educational institutions and a citizens' group have expressed interest, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The stations, both licensed to West Palm Beach, are 90.7 WXEL-FM and Channel 42 WXEL-TV. The radio station is a Classical/NPR outlet, while the television station carries PBS fare. Expressing interest in the stations are Florida Atlantic University, Nova Southeastern University (which already has Channel 2 WPBT-TV in Miami), and a group described as Palm Beach County community leaders.

2005: Year of Local Muscle

January 2005 Debut!
Radio & Television
Business Report

What Radio & TV both need to overcome in 2005 is the focus of the January Report. If you don't get it then you won't know what lies ahead - so Get It! It's Free!

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Monday December 6th, 2004.

Washington Beat

FCC, NTIA compare notes
FCC Chairman Michael Powell and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Michael D. Gallagher got together earlier this week to discuss and coordinate spectrum policy issues. By law, the two agencies are required to work together on allocation of the scarce resource. Powell said, "I am pleased that the FCC and NTIA teams are continuing to work closely on these challenging issues that are important to the continued development of new and enhanced spectrum-based services for businesses, consumers and the military and other federal users. With mutual cooperation and a strong technical foundation, we are making great progress both on the introduction of new technologies and the identification of spectrum for those technologies, as well as improving our IT processes. I look forward to working with Assistant Secretary Gallagher to achieve our common goals." Gallagher added, "The close cooperation and mutual respect between NTIA and the FCC has led to a strong level of achievement. We have met President Bush's call for creating an innovation environment by implementing policies that support advanced wireless services, next generation networks, ultrawideband, and most recently, broadband over power lines. I am proud to say that we have made more spectrum - - both licensed and unlicensed - - available for new purposes than ever before, while continuing to protect critical government systems from harmful interference. I am thankful for Chairman Powell's leadership and contribution to our joint efforts."

TVBR observation: If Steve Irwin were here, he may well be saying, "Danger, danger, danger!" For the governed, the government in action often means problems old and new left in its wake, and even more new problems ahead. Let's hope that whatever the FCC and NTIA are cooking up steers well clear of the regulatory environment faced by broadcasters, which is already complicated enough. We should be OK this time, anyway. As TVBR Executive Editor Jack Messmer has frequently pointed out, the almost completely toothless NTIA's job is basically to churn out occasional papers spelling out what it might do if it were the FCC.

Programming

CBS apologizes for Arafat bulletin
Wednesday night's episode of "CSI:NY" is being rebroadcast tonight by CBS at 10 pm so viewers in some areas can see the ending, which was preempted Wednesday by a news bulletin of Yasser Arafat's death. Since the Palestinian leader had been on the verge of death for days, the event was hardly unexpected and CBS issued an unusual apology for interrupting its regular programming. "An overly aggressive CBS News producer jumped the gun with a report that should have been offered to local stations for their late news. We sincerely regret the error," CBS said.

Jennings still on a roll
The Internet rumors were wrong! (What a shock!) Ken Jennings did not see his "Jeopardy" winning streak come to an end on Tuesday of this week. He won another 30K, taking his total to 2,355,001. The all-time winning streak is now on hold again as Jeopardy conducts its College Championship through November 23rd, with Jennings coming back with a few days remaining in the November sweeps.

Look for 4:30pm this afternoon

TVBR Ratings

TiVo users Desperate to record Housewives
ABC's "Desperate Housewives" is again tops with TiVo owners, as they use their DVRs to record the new hit series even more often than the reality series that TiVo users have been addicted to - - NBC's "The Apprentice 2" and CBS' "Survivor." ABC's other new hit series, "Lost," is also a TiVo hit, coming in at #4. | More... |

Stock Talk

Broadcast stocks trail the market
Thursday was an up day for most stocks, with oil prices falling again. But radio stocks were mostly lower and TV stocks were mixed. The Dow Industrials gained 84 points, or 0.8%, to close at 10,470.

Paxson had an up day after suffering earlier this week. It rose 2.5%. The day's worst performer was Granite, down 4%.

Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Thursday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Acme	ACME		6.01	-0.11	McGraw-Hill	MHP		86.20	-0.22
Belo	BLC		24.30	+0.07	Media General	MEG		58.75	unch
Clear Channel	CCU		33.92	+0.03	Meredith	MDP		52.39	+0.31
Disney	DIS		26.59	-0.07	News Corp.	NWS		17.85	-0.01
Emmis	EMMS		19.54	-0.30	Nexstar	NXST		7.98	-0.02
Entravision	EVC		8.28	-0.03	NY Times	NYT		41.45	+0.69
Fisher	FSCI		48.25	unch	Paxson	PAX		1.23	+0.03
Fox	FOX		29.40	+0.04	Saga Commun.	SGA		18.25	-0.15
Gannett	GCI		83.57	+0.24	Scripps	SSP		48.45	-0.04
Gen. Electric	GE		35.80	+0.48	Sinclair	SBGI		6.80	+0.05
Granite	GBTVK		0.48	-0.02	Time Warner	TWX		17.25	+0.22
Gray	GTN		13.00	+0.08	Tribune	TRB		43.71	+0.08
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		12.15	unch	Univision	UVN		29.80	-0.20
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		25.70	-0.04	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		36.52	+0.19
Jeff-Pilot	JP		50.40	+1.00	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		35.76	+0.18
Journal Comm.	JRN		17.19	+0.19	Wash. Post	WPO		949.60	-2.30
Liberty Corp	LC		42.50	+0.50	Young	YBTVA		11.67	-0.14
LIN TV	TVL		18.10	+0.11	-	-	-	-	-

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Bounceback

Send Us Your Opinions We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to tvnews@rbr.com

Upped & Tapped

Geraci gets Nicked
Ron Geraci has moved up at Nickelodeon, from VP of Research to Senior VP of Research.

More News Headlines

MADD seeks media entries

Lyne landing at Martha's place?

WRNN chooses VCI for sales and traffic software

Competing Media

Big investor in
Hispanic magazines
Mexico's broadcast giant Grupo Televisa, which also happens to be a huge magazine publisher in the Spanish-speaking world, is entering the US market in a four million-buck transaction to acquire 51% of a new publishing company being formed with Hispanic Publishing Group, which will own 49%. The company will begin with HPG's two existing titles: Hispanic Magazine, with a 280,000 circulation, and Hispanic Trends, with a 75,000 circulation, both of which are published in English.

October Digital
Solutions Magazine

Who Will Sit on the Throne?
The election -What is in it
for Broacasters?

One On One
with PHD's Patrick McNew -
The man that over sees spot
for Chrysler Group.

Engineered For Profit
'05 budgets and capital expenditures, our close up look at who's planning to buy what next year.

October Zinio Solutions Magazine
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TVBR Radar 2004

Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

LPMs welcomed at Granite
Other TV group owners may be grousing about lower ratings under Nielsen's Local People Meters, now deployed in five markets, but LPM is being greeted like manna from heaven at Granite Broadcasting as COO John Deushane told analysts that the company's KBWB-TV San Francisco is getting a boost from LPM measurement, due to its skew toward younger demos as a WB affiliate, while the big four affiliates with their heavy news orientation have been taking hits under LPM.
TVBR observation: What did we say below with the Arbitron PPM? People get on with life with the People Meter. 11/11/04 TVBR #221

Look for Radio's morning drive
to get longer
Commute times are getting longer and longer everywhere and quite a few stations nationwide already have their morning drive talent beginning work at 5:00 am. But since Arbitron officially measures drive time as beginning at 6:00, advertisers often won't pay top rates for that first hour. People Meters: 800 of the devices deployed in Houston for the next PPM test set in Houston, TX but Arbitron is still negotiating with hold-out radio groups Infinity, Cox and Radio One. Ex. VP of Saga Communications Steve Goldstein is outgoing Council Chairman as VP of Operations for Rubber City Radio Group Nick Anthony is in. is also looking into ways to improve the look of the PPM device. Major issue with young men, age 18-24, remains a sore spot, no matter what the methodology. RBR observation: Hate us for saying this and it also applies to TV, get on with life and test the People Meters. Work with it and do the necessary work in progress. Or live with the paper diary as our world and business in radio and television are now more paperless. You are reading this observation on your computer not a paper fax. Get It? By the wayw, the three hold outs should suck it up and get on board no matter what the results. Can't fix it you don't know what is broken.
11/11/04 RBR #221

NFL: One TV deal to go
New six-year contracts worth about 25% more to the NFL will keep pro football on Fox and CBS on Sunday afternoons through the 2011 season, but negotiations are still continuing with Disney's ABC and ESPN for their primetime packages. Those negotiations could drag on for a while. Fox paying approximately 712 million per year for the NFC's Sunday afternoon games and Viacom's CBS paying approximately 622 million annually for the AFC's Sunday afternoon games. The NFL gets 3.5 billion bucks, five-year extension of its contract with DirecTV for exclusive subscription TV rights extending the satellite company's NFL Sunday Ticket through 2010. TVBR observation: The NFL is the marquee sports product for television, but deals still have to make some business sense. CBS claims it is making money Fox may be closer to break even, or maybe a slight loss, but it was the NFL contract it snatched from CBS in 1994 which catapulted Fox into TV's big leagues. (CBS got back into football by taking the AFC from NBC in '98.) "Monday Night Football" continues to be a big ratings draw for ABC, the network is reportedly losing as much as 170 million a year under the current contract, so it's not going to easily agree to the 25% increases that Fox and CBS signed for. Although Disney says its intention is to retain the primetime NFL packages for ABC and ESPN, there could be some tough negotiations ahead. And there's always NBC waiting in the wings. 11/10/04 TVBR #220

20th Television, CC Entertainment, XM partner for major Malcolm promo
To promote the off-net syndication of its award-winning sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle," 20th Television has entered into a major relationship with Clear Channel Entertainment and XM Satellite Radio on the "Malcolm in the Middle 'With You' Sweepstakes." The promo is built around the production and distribution of a dedicated song and promo music video to differentiate the series and its five days a week run in syndication from other programs in the marketplace. TVBR observation: This may be one of the first large-scale cooperative ventures where traditional radio and satellite radio have been used together for a major promotion, each helping the other-and syndicated television as well in the process. Lesson for the day: Radio, satellite radio and television all may be competitors, but as we move forward in this ever-complicated, changing media environment, these different media are facing more similar challenges. The sooner they can effectively learn to use each others' assets to their advantages in a cooperative manner, the better. The above story is a prime example of why one media shouldn't always consider another as its competitor. Learn more along these lines in the January debut issue of Radio and Television Business Report - The Real Business Magazine or call April McLynn here to get your free copy: 703-492-8191. 11/10/04 TVBR #220

Hello DC - We have a Problem
NAB postpones battle
with satellite radio
The National Association of Broadcasters has dropped an attempt to head off the inclusion of local content on satellite radio services XM and Sirius. The content in question is primarily traffic and weather reports at this time.
RBR observation: XM is jumping for joy while the NAB has decided to punt and says it wants to "...assess new information demonstrating the growing trend towards transforming what was intended to be a national radio service complementary to local broadcasting into one that will have a highly detrimental impact on local broadcasters' ability to serve the needs of their listeners." Problems? We got them. 11/10/04 RBR #220

Account Manager Arbitron Outdoor
Selling and servicing the Arbitron Outdoor products to outdoor media companies. 3-4 years media sales experience, Outdoor industry sales preferred.

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