| WGA Strike Central: Day 93 |
 Chernin optimistic on strike settlement; Fox will have upfront
According to LA weekly, News Corp. President Peter Chernin did make it to Super Bowl XLII after all and was telling Hollywood folk that "the strike is over," according to emails coming "fast and furious" out of that venue. But when he spoke with Wall Street analysts yesterday, Chernin was more coy, refusing to declare an end to the strike at hand. "We are under a press blackout, but I am optimistic. We're having positive discussions, so I'm optimistic that we will get to some resolution," Chernin said in News Corporation's quarterly conference call. As for any cost savings because of the strike, Chernin said News Corporation executives are examining every part of their business - "although to be honest, we were examining every part of our business before the strike." But don't look for Fox to drop its Upfront as some other networks have done or are considering. "I think you are not going to see Fox abandon the Upfront. We believe the Upfront is a valuable way to interact with our advertisers - a valuable platform to interact with our advertisers - and from a marketer point of view, it is a good opportunity for them to plan their spending in advance for the year, so we think it's a valuable part of the process for both sides," Chernin said.
WGA tells members: Deal not done
As news from all angles (including the above) has been saying an end to the strike is expected this week, WGA sent a joint letter to its members Sunday saying no deal has yet been done and picketing needs to continue. "The facts: We are still in talks and do not yet have a contract," wrote WGA West president Patric Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship. "When and if a tentative agreement is reached, the first thing we will do is alert our membership with an e-mail message. Until then, please disregard rumors about either the existence of an agreement or its terms...Until we have reached an agreement with the AMPTP, it is essential that we continue to show our resolve, solidarity, and strength. Picketing will resume on Monday. Our leverage at the bargaining table is directly affected by your commitment to our cause. Please continue to show your support on the line." Nonetheless, stories continue to percolate that the two sides are close, but still need to agree on specific language of key provisions including what qualifies as "Internet promotion" (how much networks can run video clips on their websites before paying the writers). The loose agreement-you guessed it-is modeled on the DGA's recently signed contract which doubles residual payments for films and TV programming sold online; gives WGA jurisdiction for shows created for the web, and establishes a payment system for the ad-supported video streaming of shows. WGA dropped demands to unionize animated movies and unscripted/reality programming.
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TV News ®
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 Ed Wilson exits Fox to head
Tribune Broadcasting
"There is tremendous upside at Tribune," declared Ed Wilson as he jumped to the company as President of Tribune Broadcasting. Wilson was previously President of the Fox Television Network and his resume also includes important executive titles at NBC and CBS. His appointment is the highest executive change since Sam Zell took over as CEO of Tribune. He succeeds John Reardon, who had held the post since late 2005 (11/14/05 TVBR #223). So, what's the new challenge for a guy whose career has already been marked by major achievements? "The company has great stations in large, diverse markets where there is a constant demand for local news, information, and entertainment-and that plays to our strength. The combined resources of our TV stations, newspapers and web sites, give us a distinct advantage over our competitors in providing the most reliable, relevant, and interesting coverage of local news and events whenever and wherever viewers want it. We'll also be the first big media company that doesn't take itself too seriously. With Sam Zell in charge, we have a lot of rope to break the rules and do TV differently," Wilson said. Effective February 11th, he will be overseeing Tribune Broadcasting's 23 television stations, Superstation WGN, Tribune Entertainment and WGN Radio. "Ed is the most energetic and creative executive in broadcasting. Most people are too full of themselves to learn anything new before they ever get to the level of success Ed has achieved. As anyone who has ever been to the bar at a broadcasting convention knows, Ed is a great guy, who just happens to come out on top," said Randy Michaels, CEO of Tribune Interactive and Broadcasting.
TVBR observation: Now that we know how Randy does his hiring, everyone looking for a job with the new Tribune Company will be hanging out at the bar at The Bellagio in Las Vegas during the April NAB Convention.
Hey! Nielsen: Pepsi, Budweiser led Super Bowl buzz
Hey! Nielsen presented findings yesterday of buzz generated by Super Bowl advertisers leading up to the big game. Buzz volume is depicted as a percentage of 13,550 messages about Super Bowl ads occurring between 11/1/07 and 1/29/08. Buzz for Pepsi was generated by behind-the-scenes and leaked footage of "Bob's House," an ad anticipated because it is geared towards a hearing-impaired audience. Budweiser also generated buzz by releasing ads early, but holding back the "punch lines." Doritos' buzz is from a CGM campaign on MySpace focused on getting a contestant's music video played during the Super Bowl; votes and judges determine the winner. Toshiba buzz comes from the highly engaged tech community speculating on whether or not Toshiba will use the ad to advertise their HD DVD player. Audi has generated buzz with car enthusiasts and advertising insiders; interest stems from the news that they have created a "cinematic" ad, based on "The Godfather," to counter typical car commercials.
| See the charts here |
 FCC set to place placement on agenda?
Watchdog Commercial Alert has been trying to get both the FTC and FCC to come up with new rules governing the advertising practice of product placement. The group taking a wide-ranging cross-media approach to the topic, and according to one report, the FCC may be ready to open an NPR on the topic. "We're running a campaign to require disclosure of product placement in all media, including TV, movies, videos, video games, books and 'adversongs,'" says Commercial Alert, which fired off a letter back in 2003 on the topic. The FTC, in a 2/10/05 reply, declined to do anything more than follow its existing case-by-case protocols. In an example, it saw no problem with judges on "American Idol" drinking out of Coca-Cola-labeled containers, since they made no comments about the quality of what they were drinking, and would therefore not require any special disclosure of a business arrangement between the soft-drink manufacturer and the network.
FTC did find a problem with a 30-minute infomercial which purported to be an investigative report but was in fact a commercial for a specific product. The FCC has still not responded to its letter, says Commercial Alert. But a report at tvweek.com notes that the FCC was prepared to put the issue on the table back during the 12/18/07 open meeting, tabling it due to a full agenda, and is now ready to try again. It is expected that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (R) will join with Michael Copps (D) and Jonathan Adelstein (D) in moving the ball forward. The likely votes of the remaining two Republicans, Deborah Taylor Tate (R) and Robert McDowell (R) are unknown.
TVBR observation: The FTC noted Commercial Alert's request that a product placement event we noted prominently with the word "ADVERTISEMENT" scripted onto the page. We aren't quite sure how you'd work disclosure into an adversong playing on a radio station somewhere. Perhaps you have to have a disclaimer, like "the second stanza was brought to you by Product X, and the modulation during the bridge was sponsored by Service Z." And if Product X happened to be a pharmaceutical, both video and audio services would have to work in a standard disclaimer on side effects and whatnot. It would probably drive sales departments right back into the business of selling spots.
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NBC finds drama in Canada
Like CBS a few days ago, NBC has dealt with the WGA strike by ordering up a dramatic series from north of the border. The Peacock net has signed for 13 episodes of "The Listener" (working title), about a young man who can read people's thoughts, from CTV and Saftesbury Films. In the series to begin shooting in late spring, Toby Logan, played by Craig Olejnik, is a young, big-city paramedic with the power to listen to people's thoughts. With his paramedic partner Osman Bey, played by Ennis Esmer, as his sidekick, Toby juggles life as a telepathic sleuth with that of an urban twenty-something. "This deal is another example of us reaching out to the international community to find innovative and interesting programming," said Teri Weinberg, Executive Vice President, NBC Entertainment. Created by Michael Amo, "The Listener" was developed by CTV with Shaftesbury Films beginning in 2006 with a pilot directed by Clement Virgo produced last summer. "The Listener" was part of CTV's first venture into pilot production in 2007. It was the first time CTV had ordered pilots as part of its development of new Canadian television series. "The Listener" is produced by Shaftesbury Films in association with CTV and NBC. Executive producers are Emmy and Gemini award-winning Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie for Shaftesbury Films, Russ Cochrane and Michael Amo. The Listener is distributed in the United States by Program Partners.
 Analyst turns believer
SMH Capital analyst David Miller has turned bullish on Clear Channel, rating the stock a "buy" because he now believes the private equity buyout at 39.20 per share will go to closing, likely by the end of March. "In our opinion, the current arb spread of 23% represents an opportunity too ripe to ignore," the analyst said in his upgrade announcement. Miller notes four levels of concern which have been depressing the stock price for Clear Channel. "1) Weak December pacings, with the RAB releasing data showing December national radio business down 12% and local business down 4%; 2) The rumored collapse of the Alliance Data/Blackstone deal; 3) News flow suggesting that CCU has put itself on a company-wide austerity program; and 4) Concerns about financing, obviously the most important tenet and reflective of wider credit spreads since the deal was announced in late 2006." But with the price beaten down so much, the SMH analyst has changed his call to "buy" for three reasons. "1) Bain Capital does not want to pay sky-high break-up fees; 2) CCU's austerity initiative was likely influenced by the sponsors themselves; and 3) CCU is still tremendously FCF generative, and should produce enough free cash in order to service 'consensus' terms. Yes, there is downside risk. Miller sees CCU shares falling to 25-26 if the buyout craters. But his call is that the deal is probably going to close in Q1 and anyone who buys the stock now will be richly rewarded with the 39.20 per share payout.
NAB resists cable programmer suit
A group of basic cable networks is suing the FCC at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, saying that the Commission's post-DTV-transition dual carriage rule threatens their place on the cable lineup and hence, their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The group includes Discovery, C-SPAN, TV One, A&E, The Weather Channel and Scripps Networks. The FCC requires that cable operators maintain dual analog and digital carriage of broadcast television signals for three years after the conversion on 2/17/09, with a decision on whether or not to extend the rule taken up later. Cable operators agreed to the rule, but it has been under fire all along from smaller systems with limited channel capacity, many represented by the American Cable Association (ACA). NAB EVP Dennis Wharton responded with a promise to see the FCC's ruling upheld, saying, "Today's lawsuit by a handful of self-serving pay TV programmers represents yet another attempt by cable interests to block a successful digital television transition. By reneging on the NCTA commitment to preserve cable carriage of local broadcast stations to all cable customers after February 2009, these programmers threaten to block consumer access to scores of foreign language and religious TV stations all over America. NAB salutes FCC Chairman Martin and his colleagues for adopting a rule preserving the viewability of diverse local broadcasting outlets, and we will aggressively fight the pay TV programmers' attempt to dictate terms and conditions of the DTV transition."
TVBR observation: It will be interesting to see what Congress has to say about all this. Both houses will hold hearings on DTV progress next week. All we can say is that the time for tying up loose ends is now. We hope that the Court takes into account the ticking clock before it sets its schedule and/or allows attorneys on either side to indulge in delaying tactics.
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| Wall Street Business Report TM |
TV biz strong for News Corp.
News Corporation CFO David DeVoe told analysts there had been no material impact on News Corp. from the ongoing WGA strike. And the financial results for Q4 certainly didn't contradict that. TV revenues were down slightly to 1.53 billion from 1.6 billion, but operating income for the TV unit more than doubled to 245 million from 112 million a year ago. Of course, that was before the current quarter even began, with the return of "American Idol" and what the company experienced on Sunday - some 250 million in gross revenues for the Fox network and its O&O stations for the Super Bowl, which CEO Rupert Murdoch proclaimed the biggest day in company history. Murdoch remains upbeat about the future, despite seeing potential challenges in the economic environment, with no way of knowing how great those challenges will be. "What is certain, however, is how better positioned we are than any other media company to weather whatever comes," he declared. Murdoch was also gung-ho on recently acquired Dow Jones & Company. And yes, he has decided that the subscription model will remain in place for the Wall Street Journal online site, although more WSJ content will be made available free on the web. News Corporation also reported an up quarter for its cable network businesses, with revenues of 1.2 billion, up from 920 million a year ago. Fox News Channel was credited with having a hand in that. Cable operating income rose to 337 million from 275 million, despite having to absorb around 50 million in start-up costs for Fox Business Network and the Big 10 Network.
Lincoln Financial posts down quarter
 Lincoln Financial Group reported that Q4 net income was 113 million, or 42 cents per share, down from 381 million and EPS of 1.36 a year earlier. A big factor in that decline was a net realized loss on investments of 71 million after tax relating to the sale of some of its media assets. The insurance company put all of its media properties up for sale a few months ago, but sold only its TV group and its radio stations in Charlotte. What remains of Lincoln Financial Media is being reported under "other operations" in the parent company's quarterly reports. For Q4 communications revenues were down 6.4% to 26.5 million and communications expenses rose 1.5% to 13.5 million.
Meredith boosts dividend
The board of directors at Meredith Corporation has approved a 16% increase in the company's dividend. The quarterly dividend payout will increase by three cents to 21 and a half cents per share. The higher dividend will be paid March 14th to shareholders of record on February 29th. Meredith owns 12 television stations, one radio station, 25 subscription magazines and many other special interest publications.
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Ad Business Report TM
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Anheuser-Busch wins
 10th USA Today ad meter title
Anheuser-Busch grabbed the top spot in USA Today's Super Bowl Ad Meter for a record tenth year in a row. Anheuser- Busch's Budweiser ad featuring a Dalmatian training a Clydesdale to make the beer wagon team was the most popular, according to USA Today's Ad Meter. Volunteers gave the ad a score of 8.73 (on a scale of 0 to 10). For the first time, USA Today Ad Meter's second-by-second responses of the consumer ad testing panel are available to review. The top five ads and final ratings are:
1. Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser - Dalmatian trains Clydesdale - 8.73
2. FedEx - FedEx beats giant carrier pigeons - 8.26
3. Bridgestone - Critters scream with squirrel missed by car - 8.11
4. Doritos - Giant rat goes for guy's bag of chips - 7.94
5. Anheuser-Busch/Bud Light - Fire-breather heats up romantic dinner - 7.84
Fans vote winner in Doritos
"Crash the Super Bowl" challenge
Doritos announced Kina Grannis as the winner in its "Crash the Super Bowl" music challenge by airing a 60-second music video for her original song, "Message From Your Heart," during the Super Bowl XLII broadcast. Chosen by Doritos fans as their favorite music entry in the contest, Kina also receives a recording contract with Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA). First narrowed to 10 semi-finalists by a panel of judges including Grammy-award winning musician, songwriter and producer will.i.am, executives from IGA and the Doritos team, fans ultimately determined the three finalists and winner by casting votes at snackstrongproductions.com.
TiVo: E-trade talking and trading baby
tops in Super Bowl ad competition
TiVo announced this year's top Super Bowl commercial moments, based on aggregated, anonymous, second-by-second audience measurement data about how TiVo subscribers watched the game. Commercials featuring slapstick humor and celebrity appearances dominate the list, with stars like Justin Timberlake, Shaquille O'Neal, and Carmen Electra claiming a spot on the list. Yet, for all the star power they generated, the E-Trade talking baby may have upstaged them all, taking the coveted top spot thanks to a humorous look at using E-Trade. Doritos followed up on the success of their user-generated spots introduced last year, claiming the number three spot with an entertaining ad titled 'Mouse Trap.' Perennial list favorite Bud Light netted one spot in the top ten, a drop from the past several years in which they had three commercials on the list. Occup ying the vacancy include two spots featuring fitness water drinks -- Vitamin Water's 'Horse Race' spot and Life Water's 'Thriller.'
The top ten:
1. E-Trade: "Baby" (spitting up)
2. Pepsi Co: "Justin Timberlake"
3. Doritos: "Mouse Trap" (user-generated)
4. Coca-Cola: "James Carville and Bill Frist"
5. Ice Breakers: "Carmen Electra"
6. Bridgestone: "Headlights"
7. Bud Light: "Cavemen"
8. Vitamin Water: "Horse Race"
9. Cars.com Plan B: "Witch Doctor"
10. Life Water: "Thriller"
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| Washington Business Report TM |
LPFM app shot down with 3rd adjacency rule
The battle over allowing LPFMs to shoe-horn onto the dial by being able to occupy frequencies in the 3rd-adjacent slot to existing full-power stations has been going on for some time. The FCC has even recommended to Congress that such allocations can be done without interference, and efforts on Capitol Hill to shoot down 3rd-adjacency protection have largely been able to get enough support to acquire the force of law. However, it hasn't become law yet, so the application of Iglesia Pentecostal Cristo Missionera to put an LPFM on 93.7 MHz in Lorain OH (near Cleveland) has been denied. The station would be too close to 93.1 MHz WZAK-FM Cleveland. The FCC agreed that granting the station would be in the public interest, and stated in testimony to Congress that in its opinion it could operate safely from the channel requested. It remains, however, bound by the law and therefore cannot grant the CP. Commissioner Michael Copps (D) issued a concurring statement noting that the denial was completely proper given the current state of the law. He said he hoped, however, that it would be the last time that an LPFM CP was shot down for this reason. "Hopefully Congress will act soon to amend the statute," and that applicants such as Iglesia get a second chance to build a station.
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| Internet Business Report TM |
Nielsen Online updates online race to the White House
In the weeks leading up to Super Tuesday, from 1/1st to 1/29 Barack Obama drove the largest share of blog discussions among the remaining presidential candidates, with 0.59%. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton ranked a close second, with 0.51% of discussion. The three Republican contenders were evenly matched; John McCain and Mike Huckabee each garnered 0.29% of discussion, while Mitt Romney accounted for 0.28%.Obama's surprise upset in Iowa on 1/3 provided excellent fodder for online discussion, as did Clinton's comeback in New Hampshire and John McCain's emergence as the Republican frontrunner.
| See the tables here |
 OMVC supports
NAB Study on Mobile
DTV ad revenue potential
The Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), an alliance of over 800 U.S. commercial and public broadcasters committed to the development of mobile digital television, endorsed the results of a study conducted by the NAB which identifies and quantifies substantial potential ad revenues to be generated by mobile digital television services. Additionally, OMVC notes that the study does not include the impact of additional revenue streams from subscription and VOD services. The NAB study assumes in its base case that a single mobile digital television standard will emerge by 2/09, but also examines scenarios in which the standardization process is delayed beyond 2009, and in which a standards war among multiple proponents occurs. In the base case, advertising on mobile DTV would generate 2 billion in revenues, of which 1.1 billion would be accrued by broadcasters, providing the industry with an estimated 9.1 billion in incremental market value. But the study also concludes that each month of delay in determining a single standard would cost broadcasters approximately 50 million in revenues and over 200 million in valuation. These figures include only cash flows from advertising-supported services and do not quantify the value of subscription based services.
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| Ratings & Research |
Super Bowl super for Fox
The cliff-hanger that saw the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots' plans for a perfect season kept viewers glued to their TV sets on Sunday. Overnight ratings data from Nielsen Media Research indicated that a record 97.4 million people watched the Super Bowl on Fox, topping the record that had stood since 1996. That also made Sunday's show-down the second-most-watch program ever on US television. The finale of "M*A*S*H" in 1983 still holds the record, as 106 million viewers.
 Movie package scoring for Ion
Ion Television's deal to have RHI program its Sunday evenings with a unique movie package is proving to be a good move for the flagship network of Ion Media Networks. The Sunday, January 27th airing of "Journey to the Center of the Earth," a two-hour original television movie starring Ricky Schroder and Peter Fonda, was the biggest audience draw yet for the RHI Movie Weekend block. Ion quotes Nielsen data that the movie was seen in more than 1.1 million households and attracted over 1.6 million viewers.
Super Bowl advertisers "fumble" in search, social media
Reprise Media released its 4th annual Search Marketing Scorecard (SMS), which ranks Super Bowl advertisers based on the level of integration between their television commercials and presence in search and social media - essentially measuring how prepared each brand is to capture online interest and buzz.
| Among this year's key findings: |
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| Stock Talk |
A day for profit-taking
Traders locked in some profits on Monday after last week's stock market gains. After all, the economy is still an iffy proposition. The Dow Industrials were down 108 points on Monday, or 0.9%, to 12,635.
TV stocks were lower as well. The TVBR Television Index was off 0.678, or 0.7%, to 95.545. Gannett fell 5.5% after a downgrade by Bear Stearns analyst Alexia Quadrani. Media General had a good day, up 5.4%.
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| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Monday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
|
Acme*
|
ACME
|
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2.82
|
+0.01
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
|
 |
8.27
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+0.01
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Belo*
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BLC
|
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16.74
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-0.06
|
Lincoln Natl.
|
LNC
|
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55.30
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-0.79
|
| CBS CI. B* |
CBS |
|
25.55
|
+0.04
|
LIN TV*
|
TVL
|
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12.79
|
+0.18
|
| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
|
25.57
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+0.05
|
McGraw-Hill
|
MHP
|
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43.58
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-0.48
|
|
Clear Channel
|
CCU
|
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30.78
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-0.99
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Media General
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MEG
|
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20.08
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+1.03
|
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Disney
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DIS
|
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30.90
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+0.24
|
Meredith
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MDP
|
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47.95
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+0.81
|
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Emmis
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EMMS
|
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2.84
|
unch
|
News Corp.
|
NWS
|
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19.96
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-0.05
|
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Entravision*
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EVC
|
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6.80
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-0.19
|
Nexstar*
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NXST
|
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7.79
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+0.02
|
| Equity Media* |
EMDA |
|
3.17 |
unch |
Ion Media
|
ION
|
|
1.44
|
unch
|
|
Fisher*
|
FSCI
|
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32.46
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-0.56
|
Saga Commun.
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SGA
|
|
5.65
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-0.08
|
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Gannett
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GCI
|
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35.42
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-2.05
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SBS
|
SBSA
|
|
1.70
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-0.04
|
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Gen. Electric
|
GE
|
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35.37
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-0.79
|
Scripps
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SSP
|
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41.85
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+0.26
|
| Google |
GOOG |
|
495.43
|
-20.47
|
Sinclair*
|
SBGI
|
|
8.92
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-0.15
|
|
Gray*
|
GTN
|
|
7.39
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-0.25
|
Time Warner
|
TWX
|
|
15.84
|
-0.23
|
|
Gray, C1. A
|
GTNa
|
|
8.42
|
unch
|
Wash. Post
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WPO
|
|
753.82
|
-4.76
|
|
Hearst-Argyle*
|
HTV
|
|
22.41
|
+0.05
|
Young*
|
YBTVA
|
|
0.84
|
-0.01
|
*Component of the TVBR Television Index
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Bounceback
|
 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to tvnews@rbr.com
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Below the Fold
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Ad Business Report
Anheuser-Busch
Wins 10th USA Today ad meter title...
TiVo: E-trade talking
Trading baby tops in Super Bowl ad competition...
Washington Business Report
LPFM app shot down
With 3rd adjacency rule, battle over allowing LPFMs to shoe-horn...
Internet Business Report
Nielsen Online
Updates online race to the WH...
Ratings & Research
Super Bowl super for Fox
The cliff-hanger kept viewers glued to their TV sets a record 97.4 million viewed a great game
Movie package
Scoring for Ion has deal to have
RHI program its Sunday evenings...
Super Bowl advertisers
Fumble in search, social media...
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Stations for Sale
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 Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact
Jim Carnegie
jcarnegie@rbr.com
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TV Media Moves
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Upped in Richmond
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that Steven Genett has been named General Manager of WRLH-TV (Ch. 35, Fox) Richmond, VA. He had been the station's General Sales Manager since 2006.
Nielsen's American Idell
Cheryl Idell, most recently Executive Vice President, Media and Marketing Planning at Twentieth Century Fox, is joining The Nielsen Company to lead the growth and drive the value of Nielsen's media analytics products. As Executive Vice President, Media Product Leadership, Idell will lead the development of new product offerings and analytical techniques that will offer expanded analytic capabilities to Nielsen's media clients.
 Sinkovitz
joins KNTV
Former KRON-TV (Ch. 4, MyNetworkTV) San Francisco anchor Tom Sinkovitz has been hired by crosstown competitor KNTV-TV (Ch. 11), the market's NBC O&O. Sinkovitz will be a political reporter and fill-in anchor for NBC11 News.
Foote adds
NABEF duties
The NAB Education Foundation has tapped veteran media executive Cornelius "Neil" Foote Jr. as the editor of its diversity business quarterly newsletter BroadReach. In addition to editing the business quarterly, Foote is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of North Texas specializing in electronic media, and also runs Foote Communications, a public relations and multicultural marketing firm.
Upped at ABC
Mark Bracco has been promoted to Vice President, Alternative Series and Specials, ABC Entertainment. He was previously Director, Alternative Series and Specials.
Rove joins Fox News
Karl Rove, Senior Advisor and former Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, has joined Fox News as a contributor. Rove will make his debut during Fox News Channel's (FNC) live primetime coverage of Super Tuesday on February 5th. At the White House, Rove oversaw the Office of Political Affairs, Office of Public Liaison, Office of Strategic Initiatives, and Intergovernmental Affairs Office. Prior to his tenure there, Rove was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential campaign and served as president of Karl Rove & Company, a public affairs firm based in Austin, Texas.
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More News Headlines
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Democrats dominate Super Duper air wars
At this point in the 2008 presidential race, the biggest warchests have been amassed by Democrats, and it has been showing in the run-up to the critical multi-state Super Duper primary battle. The Democrats are spending freely, while the Republicans are picking their spots. New York Times reports that Barack Obama (D-IL) began hitting the airwaves in Super Tuesday states on 1/12/08 and has spent just shy of 11M. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) started a bit later, on 1/17/08, and has spent a bit less, 8M. Obama also bit on the Super Bowl, according to the Associated Press. Although no campaign bit on a national ad during the marquee televised event of the year, Obama bought 30-second spots out of local inventory in selected markets. NYT said its numbers on Republican candidates was less specific, but that it appeared Mitt Romney (R-MA) has sunk 2M into the Super Tuesday states, about double the 1M spent by John McCain (R-AZ).
TVBR observation: Conventional wisdom has McCain in the driver's seat by Wednesday morning. The picture on the Democratic side isn't as clear, and if it continues to lack clarity as of Wednesday morning, that will be a major boon to the economies of the states lined up next on the calendar.
More "Truth" for Fox
Fox has ordered an additional 13 episodes of "The Moment of Truth," the new reality series which has been a ratings hit on Wednesdays, following "American Idol." Hosted by Mark L. Walberg, The Moment of Truth is produced by Lighthearted Entertainment Inc. Howard Schultz serves as creator/executive producer. Michael Maddocks serves as co-executive producer.
SNTA releases engagement, pod position studies
SNTA recently released two presentations at NATPE: an updated engagement presentation (following the presentation released last NATPE which measured, with the help of E-Scores, viewers' emotional connections with syndicated television personalities) and an updated survey from SNTA members (discussing syndicated pod positions). In an E-Score analysis of awareness and affinity among Adults 18-49, research finds that viewers form deep emotional bonds with syndication's stars. Syndication scored higher than television personalities, on average, across six key attributes of engagement: Awareness, Identify with, Influential, Intriguing, Stylish, Trendsetting and Trustworthy. These emotional connections, the study said, lead to increased commercial receptivity. The study claimed syndication's viewers are 20% more ad receptive, with a Relative Targeting Index of 120 for Syndication and 96 Network Prime. Syndication was shown to have more "A" positions than network and cable; a higher percentage of "first-minute" commercials in any break and shorter breaks than prime network and cable.
Syndication was shown to have 3x to 6x More "A's" than Network or Cable. Syndication had 86% "First-Minute" positions and 3x to 4x more "A/B" commercials than network or cable. Syndication also has shorter breaks, at just over two minutes in length. These findings are consistent with MAGNA Global analysis that syndication's Average Commercial Pod Length for 1/2 hour shows was 2:28; 2:45 for Network Prime and 3:01for Cable Prime. Syndication retains 95% of its program ratings during commercial breaks, while Network Prime loses 29% of its program ratings.
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TVBR Radar 2008
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Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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WGA Strike Central, Day 92
NY Times: new agreement
may come this week
Informal talks between WGA and AMPTP have eliminated the major roadblocks to a new contract, which could lead to a tentative agreement as early as this week, according to NY Times sources. The agreement may come without renewed formal negotiations, though both sides still need to agree on specific language of key provisions. If that process goes smoothly, an agreement may be presented to the governing boards of the WGA by the end of this week.
02/04/08 TVBR #23
CCU takes "body blows,"
still standing
Bear Stearns analyst Vic Miller says Clear Channel has taken some "body blows," such as the leaked cost cutting memo first posted on RBR.com and troubles with station sale deals, but he thinks the company can withstand some body blows because 2007 BFC could come in ahead of expectations. That's largely due to stronger-than-expected performance at Clear Channel Outdoor, owned 89% by CCU, which fellow Bear Stearns analyst Chris Ensley has upgraded to "Outperform." Miller believes the buyout by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital at 39.20 per share will likely go to closing. If it doesn't, he sees CCU shares falling to a range of 25-26, but if his financial estimates are on target, he sees the real value around 34, which is still above where they have been trading lately. We've posted more of the thinking from these two analysts for you at RBR.com.
RBR observation: For a perspective in time RBR recommends you take a few minutes to scan and digest the Archives on RBR.com. Example: 5 years ago 2003 issue 24 - Clear Channel stock fared at 40.08 and by Friday that week issue #27 down to 37.70. Review CCU this week 2007, RBR issue # 24 - 36.43 and by Friday issue #28 - 36.65. After hard body blow last week, CCU closed Friday at 31.77. Patterns paint a picture and for complete analysis see RBR.com's the HOT LIST report #1
02/04/08 RBR #23
Gannett prepares for big TV year
Q4 broadcasting revenues were down 18% (down 22% without adjusting for one less week) and Q1 is pacing down low single digits for Gannett's broadcasting division, but executives told analysts to expect big things later in 2008 as Olympics and political advertising kick in. Meanwhile, Gannett CEO Craig Dubow dismissed any notion of selling or spinning off the company's TV stations. Rather, he sees a strong year for broadcasting this year. By the numbers, reported that total operating revenues from continuing operation in Q4 were 1.9 billion, down 11.9% from 2.2 billion in Q4 of 2006, which had one more week. Earnings per share from continuing operation were a buck-six, down from 1.47. Broadcasting revenues for the quarter fell 21.7% to 212 million - an 18% decline when adjusted for the quarter having one less week than a year earlier. Newspaper ad revenues declined 12.2% to 1.25 billion, an adjusted decline of 7.7%.
02/04/08 TVBR #23
WGA Strike Central, Day 89
WGA gives CBS a break
More good news for ongoing WGA-AMPTP negotiations: The WGA scrapped a controversial event it had planned in New York next week targeting CBS Corp. investors. The guild had invited dozens of Wall Street analysts to a one-hour presentation set for 2/5 on how the strike has negatively affected the television networks and their ratings--CBS in particular.
02/01/08 TVBR #22
Media General wants
hedge fund to back off
Media General CEO Marshall Morton repeated yesterday in his conference call with Wall Street analysts that he has repeatedly tried to speak with representatives of Harbinger Capital since last summer, when the hedge fund first disclosed that it had acquired a stake in the company, but that only this week, after saying it would nominate three candidates to the Media General board (1/28/08 TVBR #18), did Harbinger indicate any willingness to have a meeting.
02/01/08 TVBR #22
Highfields boosts CCU stake
Wall Street traders may be betting against Clear Channel completing its 26.7 billion buyout by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital and the Mays Family, but Highfields Capital is showing confidence. The investment fund led the shareholder movement that got the price boosted to 39.20 per share and has indicated that it wants to convert as much of its stake as possible to shares of the new private company, while taking cash for the rest. In its latest SEC filing, Highfields says it has boosted its stake in Clear Channel to 38,133,415 shares, or 7.7%, with recent purchases at prices ranging from 29.11 to 31.04.
02/01/08 RBR #22
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TVBR Classifieds
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Sales & Special Events Coordinator
Bow Tie Cinemas, a fast-growing, family owned cinema chain seeks energetic, detail oriented and organized individual to manage group sales, special events, house rentals. Must have excellent communication, multi-tasking and follow-up skills. Base salary, attractive commissions and benefits. To send resume and salary requirements via email 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
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