TVBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 21, Issue 231, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Monday Morning November 29th, 2004

TV News®

Campaign 2004 broke all records
- - in a big way
One tally of total political ad spending on TV time is in - - and it's more than even the highest previous estimates that we're aware of. A group advocating public funding of campaigns (read that: theft of your airtime) is touting the tally as ammunition for its cause. Read this for their reasoning, but then go to the next story, which appears to blow their arguments out of the water.

TVBR observation: Anyone who thinks broadcast licenses are free hasn't tried to acquire one lately. New licenses, by law, now go to auction and if you want to buy an existing license you'll have to pay a multiple of cash flow in the double digits. On top of that, there are annual regulatory fees and it seems every year folks on Capitol Hill - - both Democrat and Republican - - propose new taxes on broadcasters as a way to help fill budget gaps. But those facts are ignored by the folks who see stealing your airtime as an easy way to "level the playing field" between candidates. These attempts at legalized theft won't go away, so broadcasters have to be vigilant in fighting back by emphasizing the role radio and TV play in informing voters - - as described in the following story.
| More... |

News you can use: Campaign 2004 floated all boats
The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press surveyed voters to find where they went for campaign coverage. Incredibly, use of television, newspaper, radio, magazine and Internet news sources all gained over the levels posted in 2000. TV went from 70% to 76%, but still has not caught up to the 82% it posted in 1992. Newspaper rose from 39% to 46%, but is way down from 57% in 1992 and 60% in 1996. Radio went from 15% to 22%, its highest total over the last four presidential elections. Magazines went from 4% to 6%, but did best with 11% in 1996. Not surprisingly, the big growth medium was the Internet, up from 11% to 21%. NBC won the network TV derby with 13%, besting ABC (11%) and CBS (9%). On the cable side, Fox's 21% beat CNN's 15%, with MSNBC (6%) and CNBC (2%) in the also-ran category. Local TV was cited by 12% of voters as a major source of campaign info.

TVBR observation:
Who will fill Rather's shoes?
Or should we say boots, since Dan is proud of his Texas roots? Les Moonves says he is searching both inside and outside CBS for the network's next "Evening News" anchor. Even so, the early betting is on two CBS News insiders - - John Roberts and Scott Pelley (pictured). Like Rather, they've made their mark as reporters. We wonder whether success in reporting really has much bearing on who is best suited to anchor. The model of promoting the top reporter to be a network's #1 "star" - - the principal anchor - - may be outdated. NBC broke out of that mold a bit in grooming Brian Williams as an anchor to succeed Tom Brokaw. Yes, Williams has done reporting as well, but he always had the anchor chair as his career goal and worked toward it. Moonves might do well to look at some of the top O&O and affiliate stations for anchors who really have an ability to relate to their audience. Oh, and try not to limit the search to white males. Barbara Walters and Harry Reasoner may not have clicked as an anchor team on ABC back in the 70s, but that doesn't mean that a woman can't win the hearts and minds of viewers. You only get to do this once every couple of decades, Les - - unless you screw up and have to do it again in a year or two - - so please don't rush and don't pick one of the obvious candidates without considering all possible options.

Ebersol survives plane crash
NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol survived a plane crash yesterday near the Montrose, CO regional airport, but was reported to be in serious condition at a hospital. At least two others on the charter plane were killed. Ebersol's wife, actress Susan St. James, was not on board the plane. Ebersol's eldest son, Charles, a senior at the University of Notre Dame, was also onboard the jet and survived the crash but missing is fourteen year old son Teddy. KUSA-TV Denver reported that the jet carrying six people burst into flames after crashing through a fence as it attempted to take off from the airport, which serves the Telluride Ski Area.

Paxson forcing DTV must-carry to court
It's only a preliminary round, but Bud Paxson is at least going to have his day in court on whether the FCC has to require cable systems to carry all of the program channels that broadcasters transmit on their digital spectrum. Paxson Communications has been pushing hard for full digital multicast must-carry. After all, Bud cobbled together virtual nationwide coverage for his Pax network, without paying cable systems a dime, by demanding carriage of his assemblage of UHF signals under the must-carry rule. Extending that requirement to all DTV channels would make his company even more valuable - - and it's no secret that Bud is looking for a buyer. Since the FCC doesn't seem to be inclined to authorize must-carry for more than one DTV program channel per broadcaster, Paxson sued in the DC Federal Appeals Court, arguing that the law requires must-carry for all digital channels. All he's won so far is the court's ruling that the FCC does have to respond to the suit - - but that's a start. "We are obviously pleased by the action the Court took today by requiring the FCC to respond within 30 days to our filing with the Court on the subject of multi-cast must-carry. We believe the FCC can complete this action and grant multi-cast must-carry within a very short period of time," said Paxson CEO Bud Paxson.

Chernin's out reignites Disney speculation
The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Associated Press were all in a tizzy over the holiday weekend because the new contract that News Corporation filed with the SEC for President and COO Peter Chernin contains language which would allow him to leave to take the CEO job at another public company - - such as Disney, which is looking for a CEO. Sorry guys - - not news. That escape clause has been in Chernin's contract for years, as we've reported several times in the past - - most recently in September when Michael Eisner announced his coming retirement from Disney (9/24/04 TVBR #187). So, nothing has changed. And Chernin has been on everybody's short list to be interviewed for the top post at Disney since even before it became officially open.

TVBR observation: Our previous observation that Mel Karmazin didn't seem a good fit for the Disney job seems to have been right on the money. He's out of the race now, having opted instead for the top job at Sirius Satellite Radio (11/19/04 TVBR #227).

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TVBR News Analysis

Where things stand on indecency
The tangled web that is broadcast indecency enforcement is even more tangled than ever before after the FCC and Viacom agreed to veer off from a total head-on collision in the game of regulatory chicken they were playing. Let's look at where things stand. | More... |

Adbiz©

Branding Honor Salute
TVBR Observation-First
Close-up: "American Dreams" sponsorship included a touching Ford Mustang film;
we speak to Ford's Rich Stoddart

NBC's Sunday family drama 'American Dreams' - - if you did not view this episode, 11/21/04, then you missed one of the best TV has to offer this season in content, product placement, marketing, with specific integration in presentation as the viewer didn't break from content and miss the commercial ROI message. "Developed on multiple fronts beginning with a media discussion in the upfront season with the question: 1. 'What can we do that's different that's interesting? The world of media is changing. 2. An idea of sponsoring the fall season finale-commercial-free, by Ford. Irwin Gottlieb, CEO of Group M warned us early this year at the 4A's media conference by stating "We need to invest in keeping our creative partners up to date on technology, on media consumption patterns, our tools and analytics." The biggest opportunity was missed by local radio and local NBC affiliates not working together to cross-market, promo and sell. Radio and TV it is never too late as this is the new beginning. View tomorrow's media partnership today. | More... |

TVBR Observation: The biggest mark being missed is local radio and local NBC affiliates not working together to cross-market, promo and sell but it is never to late this is the beginning of the new marketing approach of content into programming. Called get More viewers and More impact for the advertising dollar. Less stop sets with More content and a lasting impression impact.

AFLAC duck stars in "unfortunate events" movie
This holiday season, while other poultry endured the misfortune of being served up as the main course at dinner, the AFLAC Duck has found good fortune in his alliance with "Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events." In late November, AFLAC will begin airing an unfortunate TV spot, starring the AFLAC duck encountering an experience alarming enough to be right out of a movie. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," is based on the first three books in the Lemony Snicket series, which was the first to knock the Harry Potter series out of the New York Times children's best-seller list. Famous for his starring role in these commercials, the AFLAC Duck has taken the next step in his career by waddling his way to Hollywood. The alliance between Paramount Pictures and AFLAC marks the first ever partnership between an insurance carrier and a film studio.

Media Markets & MoneyTM

ACME Television is in like Flint
A pair of mutually-exclusive would be licensees are ready to cut a deal that'll line one another's pockets, and at the same time, will allow a mid-small market TV operator to expand into a new market. The applicants are John Stebbins' Vista Communications and David Maltz's Pelican Broadcasting Company. They have both been angling for Channel 46 in Bay City MI, part of the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City DMA. (Actually, the CP is for Channel 61, uncomfortably close to the spectrum being redesignated for other purposes, so a move to Channel 46 is in the works.) Pelican will withdraw its application, leaving the CP to Vista, and both will receive 1.5M bucks from ACME Television, getting it into town for 3M total before construction expenses. Jamie Kellner's ACME has ten stations, three in New Mexico, a pair in Wisconsin and one each in Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee, Utah and Florida. Based on its frequently used MO, we're looking for Kellner to provide WB programming to good folks on and near the shores of Saginaw Bay and points inland.

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January 2005 Debut!
Radio & Television
Business Report

NAB Pres & CEO Eddie Fritts Warns as RBR/TVBR questioned:

RBR Q: What happened to the Congressional support for broadcast deregulation in the 1996 Telecom Act?
Fritts A: "They are energized like never before, and FCC Commissioner Copps has skillfully tapped into that."

If you want the January Debut issue, please register now. All orders must be in by
Monday December 6th, 2004.

Washington Beat

FCC defends Fidel Castro
Spanish Broadcasting System's WXDJ-FM Miami will have to pay up. Its 3.5K dollar fine for broadcasting a conversation with an individual without the individual's prior knowledge that the conversation was being taped for broadcast is being enforced. The fact that the unwitting star of the tape was none other than Cuban President Fidel Castro lends some distinction to the case. SBS appealed the fine, levied after the FCC received an informal complaint from an unidentified complainant. It said, for starters, that Castro was informed that he had been taped before the tape was broadcast, although after the tape was made. Second, neither Castro nor anyone else from Cuba complained. The FCC said none of that mattered. The privacy and dignity of the individual is paramount in this case, even if it is a foreign head of one of the last remaining communist states on the planet. Finally, SBS requested the identity of the complainant. The FCC said no dice, it is well within its rights to protect the identity of the individual, as requested.

TVBR observation: If we were SBS, we'd trumpet this fine as loud and as far as we could. They schnookered Castro and the FCC is getting them for it? You can't buy this kind of publicity!

TVBR Ratings

"CSI" celebrates #100 as #1
The program is not unaccustomed to being #1 in the weekly Nielsen ratings, but "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" outdid itself as its 100th episode drew its biggest audience ever - - more than 31 million viewers. Along with its two CSI spin-offs, which were also in the top 20, the crime drama helped CBS to another overall ratings win, averaging a 9.1 rating and 14 share in primetime. NBC was next, but well back at 7.2/11, followed by ABC at 6.8/11, Fox 4.4/7, UPN 2.8/4, WB 2.5/4 and Pax 0.4/1. Here are the top 20 primetime

shows for the week of 11/15-21. | More... |

TiVo owners prefer reality
Nielsen winner "CSI" does well with TiVo owners, but they still have a special affinity for reality programming. Donald Trump and NBC were back on top in the most recent week with "The Apprentice 2." | More... |

Monday Morning Makers & Shakers

Transactions: 10/18/04-10/22/04
Traders celebrated the end of the FCC freeze by staging the biggest trading week since the beginning of the year. Over 500M in value changed hands, almost all on the radio side. The big splash was the Emmis/Bonneville swap involving stations in Phoenix and Chicago. There was a lot of action, including big markets.

10/18/04-10/22/04	Total
Total Deals	24
AMs	24
FMs	21
TVs	1
Value	500.17M

| Complete Charts |

Radio Transactions of the Week
Bonneville gets K-TARred and feathered
| More... |

TV Transactions of the Week
Colorado Eagle fades to Gray
| More... |

Stock Talk

Post-turkey market goes nowhere
Stock prices closed mixed after a holiday-shortened day of listless trading on Friday. The Dow Industrials managed a gain of two points to 10,522.

TV stocks tended to be a bit lower. Gray Television's Common and Granite were each down 2.5%. Paxson declined 2.4%. On the up side, Sinclair gained 1.3% and Viacom Class A was up 1%.

Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Friday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Acme	ACME		6.00	+0.05	McGraw-Hill	MHP		88.52	+0.12
Belo	BLC		25.39	+0.17	Media General	MEG		62.25	+0.24
Clear Channel	CCU		34.76	+0.06	Meredith	MDP		53.12	-0.11
Disney	DIS		27.12	-0.22	News Corp.	NWS		18.07	-0.04
Emmis	EMMS		18.81	-0.06	Nexstar	NXST		8.39	+0.06
Entravision	EVC		8.25	-0.01	NY Times	NYT		41.01	-0.02
Fisher	FSCI		47.38	+0.35	Paxson	PAX		1.23	-0.03
Fox	FOX		29.69	-0.06	Saga Commun.	SGA		17.74	+0.01
Gannett	GCI		82.63	+0.17	Scripps	SSP		46.83	+0.35
Gen. Electric	GE		35.44	-0.20	Sinclair	SBGI		7.22	+0.09
Granite	GBTVK		0.39	-0.01	Time Warner	TWX		17.98	-0.11
Gray	GTN		14.75	-0.38	Tribune	TRB		43.08	-0.05
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		13.80	-0.20	Univision	UVN		30.57	-0.15
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		25.95	-0.13	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		36.25	+0.37
Jeff-Pilot	JP		50.21	-0.14	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		35.29	+0.24
Journal Comm.	JRN		17.75	+0.08	Wash. Post	WPO		950.75	-5.28
Liberty Corp	LC		44.40	-0.05	Young	YBTVA		10.19	-0.05
LIN TV	TVL		18.32	+0.03	-	-	-	-	-

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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

Want to sound off?
We're ready to listen.

I remember my first "sell" when a small town jeweler told me he hated the radio station but liked my enthusiasm and wanted some commercials on my show. Should have been a wake up call some 38 years ago! I did a good job selling myself but not a good job selling the franchise. My one major concern is using the tools we have in the shop. You continue to quote digital Radio as if it has some magical cure. The trades are spinning digital IBOC and forgetting it has tremendous costs with no improvement whatsoever in expanding the coverage area or improving the audio delivered to most sets in use in either analog or digital mode... | More... |

Jerry Smith, Eng.

Upped & Tapped

Poss kicks off
in Green Bay
He'll have only one Indian casino to visit if Joe Poss gets homesick for Las Vegas, where he was Local Sales Manager for KTNV-TV (Ch. 13, ABC). Journal Broadcast Group has promoted him to General Sales Manager at WGBA-TV (Ch. 26, NBC) Green Bay.

Keeping track
of the humans
When you get right down to it, that's what Anne Schepp will be doing at Journal Broadcast Group as the new Vice President of Human Resources. She's been an HR manager at the company since 2002.

RBR - Radio News

:60s vs. :30s: The pros and cons of
"shortening the standard" - - Part 2
A key element of Clear Channel Radio's "Less is More" initiative is to migrate advertisers to shorter spots. But to implement more :30s and less :60's across the board, there may be a catch. To make listeners happy by reducing clutter and keep stockholders happy by at least keeping revenues stable, something's got to give. And that is to charge more than 50% for the price of a :30 second spot. In fact, CC Radio CEO John Hogan has suggested that the price for a :30 could be as high as 70%-75% of the cost of a :60.
| More... |

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
Read RBR in 2 simple steps:
1.Create a simple account with Zinio and download the Zinio Reader.
2. You can then download the October Issue of RBR

TVBR Radar 2004

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

Viacom/FCC 3.5M deal leaves Nipplegate in dispute
Has followed the trail blazed by Clear Channel and Emmis, making a large payment to the US Treasury in return for a clean bill from the FCC in regards to numerous pending indecency actions. Pointedly, however, the consent decree does not include the 550K NAL regarding the Super Bowl halftime incident which aired on Viacom's CBS Television Network and was produced by its MTV basic cable franchise. TVBR observation: The total amount of Viacom's existing indecency vulnerability which had been previously announced amounts to 440K and change, according to the terms of the Decree, so there must be quite a bit as yet under the radar to make this look like a good deal to the powers that be at Viacom. For one thing, the undropped other shoe regarding Howard Stern - - Clear Channel was hit for half a million bucks for a show on just six stations, with nary a peep as to Viacom's bill - - will be whisked away without anyone ever seeing what the price tag was going to be for Sumner Redstone and all the other Stern stable mates. We just heard Les Moonves tell David Letterman that Viacom was going to fight the Janet Jackson fine about a week ago, and this certainly confirms the veracity of that statement. However, we thought Viacom was going to fight the entire body of indecency regulation.
11/24/04 TVBR #230

Attacking Powell becoming
a cottage industry
Tom Shales, TV critic at the Washington Post, has had it in for FCC Chairman Michael Powell for some time now. In the past, he has frequently taken potshots at Powell in the course of his coverage of one TV event of another. Sunday 11/21/04 he went for broke with a full-length article called "Michael Powell Exposed: The FCC Chairman Has No Clothes." Within a couple of days, Renee Graham of the Boston Globe had joined in on the fun.
TVBR observation: We have all kinds of problems with the current war on indecency. Still, it's a little hard for us to lay all of this on Michael Powell alone. We've seen the lynching party on Capitol Hill up close and personal, and almost everyone there is equally eager to 1) throw a noose around the broadcasting industry's collective neck and 2) grill Powell on why he isn't doing anything about it. Powell almost has no choice but to go after alleged indecent broadcasts ferociously. Given that, why shouldn't he go ahead to the front of the parade? 11/24/04 TVBR #230

:60s vs. :30s: The pros and cons of "shortening the standard" - - Part 1
"Less is More" edict to reduce commercial clutter includes a push to reduce the standard. The :30, of course, is the standard length for TV spots and network radio as well. The thinking is listeners' attention spans are shorter and radio should strive for messages that fit with listeners' fast-paced lifestyles. It's billed as an effort to respond to client and agency feedback on commercial clutter and issues of concern. 11/24/04 RBR #230

How do diary keepers record their Christmas listening?
Whether a station switches to "all-holiday" this year or not, Arbitron says it's important to know how diary keepers reference holiday format stations and how seasonal entries are credited by Arbitron. The Holiday Diary keeping and Diary Crediting web page answers some of the most frequently asked questions on the topic, including: Do diary keepers write down listening to "Christmas Music"? 11/24/04 RBR #230

FCC and broadcasters pondering a Supreme challenge
The Acting Solicitor general has filed for an extension of time on behalf of the FCC as it considers whether or not to challenge the 3rd Circuit ruling on "Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC" in which most of the provisions of the FCC ownership ruling of 6/2/03 were remanded to the Commission for justification or modification. The clock is set to stop 12/2/04; the FCC wants until 1/1/05.
TVBR observation: The FCC has a few strategic options to weigh here. The court remanded the rules back to the FCC, and while many opponents of the 6/2/03 ruling saw that as a repudiation of them, in fact, it contained no language on way or the other as to how the rules should be rewritten. In fact, they don't even have to be rewritten at all if the FCC comes up with better justification. 11/23/04 TVBR #229

GSM Needed
Cumulus owned WZYP-FM, WHRP-FM, #2 and #5 rated Adult 25-54, WZYP-FM a heritage Top 40 and WHRP-FM is a mainstream urban in Huntsville, AL looking for quality pro and live in an economic oasis in the fastest growing city in the country. Rush your details to billg.west@cumulus.com fax to 256-232-6842 or call 256-216-0123. EEO.

Senior Sales Executive
Sunshine, no snow here, plus the market leaders in Gainesville-Ocala at two of the leading radio stations in N. Central FL, WOGK-FM (K-Country) and WIND-FM (classic rocker). Two years sales experience a must. Please send resumes to rkassi@windwogksales.com fax to R. Kassi 352-622-7822. No calls. EEO

GM & Equity
Tired of the rat race? New England radio group seeks self-starter to captain turnarounds. Community radio is still alive and well in this Central New England combo. Equity participation available Letter and Resume to: Worldradiotheatr@aol.com

See Radio Careers for more info.

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