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This reader has a nominee to run the NAB.

It will be a sad day when Eddie Fritts steps down from his NAB throne! He's worked very hard over the years and has had an amazing ability to know when to use diplomacy and when to get into the mud. Who will replace him? I'd put my money on one of two candidates: NAB veteran John David would be an excellent choice and I submit a dark horse could emerge from potential candidates and that would be MAB (Michigan Association of Broadcasters) President Karole White. She has many of the same qualities as Eddie has and, like Eddie had when he became the NAB boss, she has no political (or otherwise) baggage. She should be on a short list to guide our future as she's made the MAB the overwhelming leading state broadcaster's association in the country.

William J Wertz
Executive Vice President/Co-Owner
Fairfield Broadcasting Company
Kalamazoo MI

Two upped at NBC Uni
NBC Universal Television Studio has promoted Craig Kurland to Vice President of Business Affairs and Philip Matthys to Director of Business Affairs.

No more political money or more Olympics advertising. In '05 you're going to have to make money the old fashioned way - earn it. Keep up on trends and figuring new ways to earn ad dollars. The need is serious for a business-oriented publication. In radio or television, many of the challenges are the same -each industry can learn from the other.
No fluff. No hype. Just business.


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Analyst sees no silver lining in radio's dark cloud
Never one to be accused of being a pie in the sky optimist, even Wachovia Securities analyst Jim Boyle had expected more from radio than the 2% revenue decline for December that the Radio Advertising Bureau reported this week (2/2/05 RBR #23). He and other Wall Street analysts had been expecting a positive number, albeit only a 1% gain. But even that proved to be too high a hurdle. So, with such easy comps, are better times ahead? Nope, at least not soon, according to Boyle. "According to anecdotal evidence and early bookings, Q1 (estimated) '05 should also be mixed and disappointing," Boyle told clients. He's projecting a 1% revenue decline for this quarter, saying the big story is how much pain the radio industry will have to endure before getting any gain from Clear Channel's Less Is More initiative, and efforts by other groups as well, to get some pricing traction. "Radio should not get that much better in the near-term," Boyle warned. "The ongoing weakness in radio was, and is, caused by the lack of pricing power that began after the Iraq invasion, in our view." After several quarters of cutting rates to claim whatever business was available, he sees a long battle to shift the demand-supply equation back to radio's benefit this year.

Behind the NAB Supreme challenge
The National Association of Broadcasters is not challenging the Third Circuit remand of the FCC's 6/2/03 ownership rulemaking per se - - rather, it is going after two of the planks in the original rulemaking itself. NAB is saying that the Commission overstepped its bounds when it adopted Arbitron-based radio market definitions, and when it prohibited TV duopolies among any of the top four rated stations in a DMA. TVBR observation: Interesting that while NAB makes the re-regulation of radio a cornerstone of its claim that the FCC violated the 1996 Telecom Act, so far as we know not a single radio group has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court. Perhaps Clear Channel and Cumulus really are content to go forward with the entrenched advantage they have in so many markets. 02/02/05 TVBR #23

Another vacancy at TiVo
Hot on the heels of Mike Ramsay announcing that he's stepping down as CEO there's another vacancy to fill in the executive suite at TiVo Inc. President Marty Yudkovitz (pictured) has resigned, citing personal reasons. TVBR observation: TiVo faces some real challenges as it attempts to market itself as the elite brand name of digital video recorders (DVR) while many cable MSOs are passing out no-name competing brands to subscribers as part of digital TV packages. Just this week TiVo announced that it was opening its platform to other developers and providing them with early-access software development kits so they can create programs using TiVo's boxes. What remains to be seen is how many people are willing to pay for a jazzed-up DVR if they're already getting one for free (at least, it appears that way in a package deal) from their cable company. That's a big marketing problem to be addressed by TiVo's next CEO and President. 02/02/05 TVBR #23

What's with all the Spanish
stations jamming American
50-kWs at night?
We in Northern Virginia are now picking up WOR-AM NY better during the day than at night. Why? unknown Spanish-speaking AMs are blocking it out when the sun goes down. Same with WLS-AM Chicago at night - - it's hard to pick the station up due to these Spanish stations. In fact, It's all over the dial at night - - the same story on many 50-kW frequencies coming from the big cities. According to the FCC staffer - it could be from Cuba and that he will find out the source within two-three weeks. Editor's note: If you've had any issues of this nature you'd like to comment on, email them to cmarcucci@rbr.com We will continue the story/investigation.
02/02/05 TVBR #23

Eddie Fritts on the launching pad
Intends to step down as President and CEO not in 2006 as previously announced, but in just a couple of months. Rather than hang on to the end of his current contract, Fritts has been getting a handle on what he wants to do for the next stage of his life - - and he's ready to get on with it. TVBR observation: It's time for the NAB Executive Board to kick into high gear and get the search going for a new leader and public front man (or woman). NAB has already missed out on competing for some of the top candidates who recently became available - - most notably, former Rep. Billy Tauzin. What the Board must be held accountable for is securing the executive who has an overall full observation of issues facing broadcasters - - not just doing as the Board dictates, but setting a course of objectives to accomplish, with leadership playing the key role. 02/01/05 TVBR #22

Supreme challenge:
NAB, nets pick up the flag
Just because the FCC/DOJ have abandoned any thought of a Supreme Court challenge of the Third Circuit's decision on media ownership rules does not necessarily mean there will be no challenge. The NAB, the big networks and at least two group owners are planning to petition for a hearing. TVBR observation: Sooner or later, the US Supreme Court is going to have to decide the ownership concentration issue. The FCC's attempt at justifying its rules didn't make sense - - and the Philadelphia appeals court didn't really seem to understand the issues, so it punted most of them back to the FCC for another try. Unless the US Congress steps in, as it did in 1996 for radio, and writes new rules into law, we don't see any end to the current mess short of a Supreme Court ruling. Better sooner than later. 01/31/05 TVBR #21

Tribune feels LPM impact
in big 3 markets
The WB network may be a little soft right now anyway, but Tribune Co. told Wall Street analysts that its WB affiliates in New York, LA and Chicago are seeing even greater ratings declines, which the company blames on Local People Meters. With its portfolio of WB stations which got very little political spending, Tribune Company didn't experience the Q4 revenue boost enjoyed by so many other TV groups. Rather, its Broadcasting & Entertainment division revenues were essentially flat, falling a million bucks to 385 million. But expenses were up, so operating profits fell 4% to 149 million. Radio/entertainment revenues were down 0.8% to 32.8 million and operating cash flow plunged 60.3% to 3.5%, which the company said reflected the impact of fewer programs at Tribune Entertainment. 01/31/05 TVBR #21

Bush back-down bad
for broadcast stocks
The decision by the Bush Administration not to take the FCC ownership rules case to the Supreme Court is mostly negative for TV and newspaper stocks, according to Harris Nesbitt analyst Lee Westerfield. However, he sees a silver lining for Univision, whose Hispanic market domination is protected from competition.
01/31/05 TVBR #21

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