TVBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 24, Issue 243, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Friday Morning December 14th, 2007

WGA Strike Central: Day 40

DGA won't negotiate
until after the New Year
Some good news for the WGA. The Directors Guild of America (DGA) issued two statements saying they have chosen to wait to negotiate with AMPTP to give WGA and the AMPTP more time to return to the negotiating table to conclude an agreement. "DGA will not schedule our negotiations to begin until after the New Year, and then, only if an appropriate basis for negotiations can be established. If that's the case, then the DGA will commence formal talks in the hope that a fresh perspective and the additional pressure we can bring to bear will help force the AMPTP to settle the issues before us in a fair and reasonable manner."
| Read the full DGA statements here |

TV News ®

LIN in retrans battles
LIN Television says it has reached an impasse in retransmission negotiations with Cable One and expects the MSO to stop carrying KASA-TV (Ch. 2, Fox) Albuquerque in New Mexico come tomorrow (12/15), when the current retrans agreement expires. LIN has also filed an FCC complaint against Atlantic Broadband for continuing to carry WIVB-TV (Ch. 4, CBS) Buffalo on systems in New York and Pennsylvania even though it has no retrans agreement with LIN. Since the complaint was filed this week, LIN told TVBR that Atlantic Broadband has removed WIVB from its systems in the Erie, PA DMA, where there is another CBS affiliate as well, but that the station remains on without LIN's consent in the Buffalo DMA.

LIN has duopolies in both markets, but the current disputes involve only one station in each situation. WNLO-TV (Ch. 23, CW) Buffalo is carried by Atlantic Broadband as a must-carry signal. The situation in Albuquerque is quite strange. LIN's retransmission consent contracts have different expiration dates since it acquired KRQE-TV (Ch. 13, CBS) from Emmis in 2006 and KASA from Raycom in 2007. LIN successfully completed a new retransmission consent agreement with Cable One for KRQE, but is now at an impasse regarding KASA. "We only want what is fair for our local Fox station. Cable One continues to pay money to niche cable programmers, with substantially less viewing," complained LIN Exec. VP of Digital Media Gregory Schmidt. Neither of the cable companies in the retrans standoffs with LIN is the major cable provider in the DMA in question. Atlantic Broadband is said to have about 14,000 subscribers in the Buffalo and Erie DMAs. In New Mexico, Cable One serves the communities of Rio Rancho (a northern suburb of Albuquerque) and Roswell/Chaves County.

TVBR observation: In the course of 2007 various TV group owners began to report substantial retransmission consent revenues in their quarterly conference calls. This has become an important new revenue stream - and one worth fighting for. Most MSOs seem to have accepted the fact that they now have to pay for the major broadcast networks (and the valuable news product of their local affiliates), but there will no doubt continue to be occasional retrans battles.

'Tis the season to take potshots at the Chairman
The Teamsters remain steamed about the pending sale of Tribune Company to an ESOP headed by Sam Zell. They claim that the "employee-owned" implication is hollow, since the employees will have no say in the company's governance, and that owning broadcast properties will be illegal since Zell, not the employee owners, will be running the stations. Meanwhile, watchdogs are also lining up to oppose next week's media ownership vote. "Apparently the FCC was tuned out during its public listening tour," said James P. Hoffa, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. "In its rush to judgment, the Commission has failed to enforce its current rules or protect the public interest." Hoffa notes that Zell and "his handpicked Board of Directors and ESOP Trustee" will be controlling the company. "This third party ownership violates the FCC's requirement that stations be controlled by their owners, and undermines the public interest and the FCC's mission of promoting localism and diversity."

Meanwhile, a group of consumer groups including Free Press, Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union filed comments on the ownership proceeding, and did not do so happily. "We meet this arbitrary deadline of Dec. 11 under protest," they wrote. "This proposal is a post-it note conclusion to one of the most complex, controversial and important public policies the Commission has made in many years. Unless Chairman Martin remedies procedural flaws, eliminates dangerous and vague exceptions, and thoroughly expands meaningful minority ownership and local programming needs, his plan will not serve the public interest or meet minimum legal fairness requirements for FCC rules. The Commission should offer a Further Notice that explains, defines and defends its new rule in a cogent and intellectually consistent manner. Only then can such a rule be expected to win the confidence of the public and stand the tests of time and judicial scrutiny."

More color on the 2008 elections
We'll dig a little further into the Wachovia Capital Markets look at the upcoming election year produced by Marcie Ryvicker and staff. The battle for the House of Representatives is expected to be very hot. The Democratic Party wrestled control away from the Republicans in 2006. They are looking to grab more territory in near-miss districts. Meanwhile, the Republicans hope to reclaim their former territory by picking off vulnerable freshmen who came in last time. Wachovia expects total 2006 expenditure of 337M to be exceeded in 2008. WCM expects particularly hot races in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New Mexico, New York and Ohio, with at least moderate heat in Alaska, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. On the gubernatorial front, it'll be a limited slate in 2008. Elections are on the ballot in only 11 states. Heatseekers include Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina. The others are Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. WCM is expecting spending on these races to top 100M.

Tribune buyout may close next week
Sam Zell is quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying that next Thursday is the target date for closing the going private buyout that will make him and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan the only owners of Tribune Company. The complicated two-part buyout would become even more complicated if delayed into 2008. If the closing does not take place by the end of this month, the buyers will have to start paying interest at an annualized rate of 8% beginning New Year's Day, in addition to the 34 bucks per share buyout price, until the closing takes place.

Rupert claims his prize
Dow Jones & Company employees woke up today as employees of News Corporation and a part of the Rupert Murdoch empire. The 5.6 billion bucks acquisition went to closing yesterday after Dow Jones shareholders voted in favor of the buyout. Dow Jones stockholders will receive 60 bucks in cash for each share of common stock and Class B common stock that they own, except for those who elected to receive instead 2.8681 Class B common units of Ruby Newco LLC, a News Corporation subsidiary that will own all the shares of Dow Jones. In yesterday's vote, shares representing approximately 60.3% of the outstanding voting power of Dow Jones were cast in favor of the merger. Approximately 77.6% of the outstanding shares of common stock and approximately 54.1% of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock, mostly owned by the Bancroft family, were voted in favor of the transaction. Of the shares that were voted, approximately 94.7% of the common stock and 77.7% of the Class B common stock were voted in favor of the merger, the company reported.

With News Corporation now in charge, Leslie Hinton, a veteran News Corp. executive has taken over as CEO of Dow Jones, with Richard Zannino stepping down. Former Times of London Editor Robert Thomson has been named publisher of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. An ad running in major newspapers around the world today proclaims "Free People, Free Markets, Free Thinking" in announcing the merger of News Corporation and Dow Jones. While some Murdoch rivals, such as the New York Times, accepted the ad, The Financial Times and China Daily were among those who refused to print it.

Ad Business Report TM

WPP's GroupM invests 25 million in Invidi
Invidi Technologies, an addressable ad technology firm, announced it raised 25 million in its latest round of funding, led by WPP Group's GroupM. GroupM CEO Irwin Gotlieb has joined the board of Invidi (along with current board member Carat CEO David Verklin), which offers an end-to-end addressable television advertising and marketing solution at the headend, household and individual viewer level, via its Indivi ADS system. Invidi ADS makes it possible to send targeted television media by household, breaking the audience down by age, gender, location, income and ethnicity. GroupM's investment aims to help develop an addressable ad infrastructure across multiple television digital platforms. The system can deliver targeted addressable ads on cable, satellite and IPTV system infrastructures, giving clients an advanced delivery platform that accurately directs spots to millions of digital households. Invidi ADS delivers across an array of real time and time shifted digital set-top box and satellite receivers allowing a single point for ad campaign management that supports audience aggregation and national broadcast commercial targeting at the individual viewer level-and the ability to place multiple ads in a single commercial break.

Report: Down broadcast network ratings concerning
In a Bear Sterns report issued on broadcast network TV ratings, the company noted that ratings complexity "reigns in" the new broadcast season. As well, they're getting a bit concerned about the ratings shortfalls and unavailable makegood inventory out there.
| Excerpts: |

TVBR observation: Actually, in the short term, the major cable nets are in a bit of an inventory squeeze right now as well. Overall, the inability of network primetime to deliver on ratings guarantees (exc. Fox) is sending ad dollars all over the place to deliver the numbers for their clients-this is for Live and delayed viewing. If the trend continues, with the WGA strike destroying midseason and possibly next year's upfront, we may have to call this year the watershed that sent advertisers elsewhere-and kept many of them there. Nonetheless, we have likely seen the last of the record-breaking upfronts for network television. The eyes just aren't there anymore. Fragmentation from cable nets, VOD and online has really taken hold.

Media Business Report TM

Reps say not so fast on XM/Sirius
House Judiciary Chair John Conyers (D-MI) and committee member Steve Chabot (R-OH) have fired off a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey urging that all due time be taken to consider the proposed merger of satellite audio services XM and Sirius. The legislators were concerned that department staff objections to the merger were being steamrolled by Assistant AG for Antitrust Thomas O. Barnett. News of the letter was damaging to both stocks. At least one analyst said that there was justification for fears of DoJ staff rejection of the merger, but that such a move could still be rejected in favor of the merger by senior lawyers there. The merger would still have to get past the FCC even if the DoJ does wave it through. Conyers and Chabot claimed to have no stated position on the merger at this point, but urged Mukasey to preserve his ability to effectively participate in the process.

Media Markets & Money TM

Insurance sale assures TV buy
Fisher Communications peddled 23.3% of its share of Safeco Insurance stock, raising cash to go towards its acquisition of KBAK-TV Bakersfield (CBS/29) and related low power television stations from Westwind Communications LLC. The sale of stock reaped 40.6M toward the 55M purchase price associated with the Bakersfield properties. The deal is expected to close next month.

Washington Business Report TM

Martin resolute about Tuesday vote
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had a picnic at last week's House hearing compared to yesterday's session. Just about every senator present at the Commerce Committee FCC oversight hearing asked Martin to cancel, postpone or otherwise delay next week's vote on eliminating cross-ownership restrictions in the top 20 markets. He just as frequently quoted the mandate of Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requiring the elimination of rules no longer needed due to changes in the competitive landscape and said he anticipates going ahead as planned. The question and answer period kicked off with outgoing Trent Lott (R-MS), who has worked with Byron Dorgan (D-ND) of late to head off further media consolidation. He wondered why Martin was worried about a newspaper issue. He perhaps got off the best line of the day, saying "I don't get why Republicans would be crying crocodile tears over newspapers having problems...Where I come from, we use them to wrap mullet." Lott set the tone, and even Ranking Member Ted Stevens (R-AK) said he felt the FCC was moving too fast on the issue.

John Kerry (D-MA) was a relentless interrogator, demanding to know why Martin felt the need to rush ahead with the cross-ownership vote despite the will of both the people and Congress indicating strong opposition. Martin cited the will of Congress in 1996 and the lack of a rule modification since 1975. Martin said he was trying to strike a balance between the public interest and the needs of communications companies; Kerry said he was inviting further congressional action. The bottom line was that Martin refused a direct request from Kerry to postpone Tuesday's vote. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who became the recipient of allegedly suppressed FCC reports and made them public during hearings on Martin's current term as commissioner, was also on the warpath. She said that it was ludicrous that the FCC's internal investigator, appointed by the Commission, let the Commission off the hook for burying information because it ran counter to the chair's policy goals. A Ken Ferree quote to that effect was cited, and Democratic Commissioner Copps and Adelstein agreed that it was curious. Martin said that the investigation failed to turn up illegal behavior, and Boxer promised to make it her business to put an independent investigator in charge of future issues.

TVBR observation: The lion's share of the questions went to Martin, with Copps and Adelstein sharing the duties of presenting the loyal opposition's case. Deborah Taylor Tate (R) and Robert McDowell (R) could almost have phoned in their testimony and watched the rest of the show from the comfort of their living room (it was aired on C-SPAN) for all the action they received once the question-and-answer period began. However, McDowell also cited the will of Congress as expressed in 1996 which favors deregulation, so we're looking for a tight 3-2 vote Tuesday in favor of Martin's proposal to open the top 20 markets to cross-ownership. But it certainly looks like that will not be the end of the story.

Cable Business Report TM

Discovery to be fully public
Discovery Holding Company has a non-binding letter of intent with Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership to combine their stakes in Discovery Communications and Animal Planet, creating a 100% publicly traded company, rather than the current 66.66% situation. No management changes are anticipated. Advance/Newhouse will trade its current stakes in Discovery Communications and Animal Planet for new preferred shares of the new public company. It will have the right to name two members to the board of directors. Just prior to the closing, discovery Holding Company will spin off to its shareholders Ascent Media Group, a technical media services company for television networks and movie studios.

So, there will be two publicly traded stocks where now there is a complicated part public, part private ownership situation. "The new structure will enhance our ability to produce and distribute the high quality programming that has been our hallmark since the company was founded two decades ago. I'd also like to extend our sincere gratitude to John Hendricks, John Malone and Bob Miron whose many years of leadership and guidance have greatly benefited Discovery. We are thrilled that we will have their ongoing guidance and involvement in the company's future," David Zaslav, President and CEO, Discovery Communications.

TVBR observation: Wall Street had wanted for some time for Discovery to be a fully public company, but traders were strangely cool to the announcement, sending the stock of Discovery Holding Company lower. That may be because of questions about just what Ascent Media Group is worth - and whether it will be put up for sale or try to fly solo as a public company.

Entertainment Business Report TM

Presidential realignment for CBS
Due to the State of the Union Address on Monday, January 28th, CBS announced that the new series "Welcome to the Captain" (the former title was just "The Captain") and the new season of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" will now premiere on Monday, February 4th. "Welcome to the Captain" (8:30-9:00 pm ET/PT) is described as a comedy about a wildly eclectic group of people whose lives are intertwined through the place they all call home, a fabled Hollywood apartment building, El Capitan, which they've dubbed "The Captain." It stars Fran Kranz, Chris Klein, Jeffrey Tambor, Raquel Welch, Al Madrigal, Valerie Azlynn and Joanna Garcia. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (9:30-10:00 pm ET/PT) is a comedy about a divorced working mom trying to juggle motherhood, work and dating. It stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

FBN rings the bell
Fox Business Network (FBN) announced that it will debut a new one-hour morning program, "Opening Bell," beginning Monday, December 17th at 9:00 am EST. Anchored by Alexis Glick, the program will focus on the market openings, stock updates and major business headlines of the day. "Money for Breakfast," co-anchored by Glick alongside Peter Barnes, will now be presented from 6:00-9:00 am.

Ratings & Research

Wheel just keeps on turning
"Wheel of Fortune" and "Judge Judy" from CBS Television Distribution were again way out in front of the rest of the pack in the most recent week's syndicated TV ratings, provided by the Syndicated Network Television Association (SNTA), based on data from Nielsen Media Research. Also note the strong showing, tied for #7, by the movie "Armageddon," which was part of the Buena Vista VI package from Disney ABC Domestic Television.

Syndication: 11/26/07-12/02/07
# Live	PROGRAMS	ORIG	HHLD Rtg.
1	WHEEL OF FORTUNE	CTD	8.2
2	JUDGE JUDY	CTD	8.0
3	JEOPARDY	CTD	6.8
4	TWO AND A HALF MEN	WB	6.5
5	OPRAH WINFREY SHOW	CTD	6.1
6	EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND	CTD	5.9
7	BUENA VISTA VI	DAD	5.4
7t	ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT	CTD	5.4
7t	FAMILY GUY-M-F	2/T	5.4
10	DR. PHIL SHOW	CTD	5.0

Source: SNTA; Nielsen Media Research data

November sales rise 5.1%
Black Friday and other holiday promotions too good to pass up as November sales show strength in consumer spending. According to the National Retail Federation, retail industry sales for November (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) rose 5.1% unadjusted over last year and 1.2% seasonally adjusted from October. November retail sales released by the U.S. Commerce Department show total retail sales (which include non-general merchandise categories such as autos, gasoline stations and restaurants) increased 1.2% seasonally adjusted from last month and 6.9% unadjusted year-over-year. The strongest growth was seen by sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores where unadjusted sales grew 11.3% year-over-year and 2.2% seasonally adjusted from October. November retail sales also grew in many other areas. Eager consumers lined sidewalks at many retail establishments over Black Friday weekend to get their hands on discounted electronics and apparel items. Electronics stores sales grew 6.1% unadjusted from last year and 2.5% seasonally adjusted month-to-month; clothing and clothing accessories stores sales rose a very strong 8.2% unadjusted year-over-year and 2.6% from last month. Furniture and home furnishing stores sales also benefited from consumers stocking up on holiday items. Sales in those stores rose 2.5% unadjusted year-over-year and 1.0% seasonally adjusted month-to-month.

Stock Talk

Inflations worries again
A jump in the governments report on wholesale prices had Wall Street worrying about inflation. However, other government reports showed good news for retail sales and on the jobs front. So, the market closed mixed. The Dow Industrials rose 44 points to 13,518. The S&P 500 was up slightly and the Nasdaq Composite down slightly.

TV stocks were also mixed. Gray Television (common) rose 4% and Hearst-Argyle 3.4%. Saga was off 5.4%.

Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on** **Thursday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Acme	ACME		2.79	+0.04	Lincoln Natl.	LNC		58.60	-0.02
Belo	BLC		16.61	-0.24	LIN TV	TVL		11.05	-0.11
CBS CI. B	CBS		26.58	+0.32	McGraw-Hill	MHP		45.47	+0.16
CBS CI. A	CBSa		26.54	+0.25	Media General	MEG		21.89	-0.10
Clear Channel	CCU		34.36	-0.13	Meredith	MDP		56.76	+0.83
Disney	DIS		32.76	+0.48	News Corp.	NWS		21.44	-0.21
Emmis	EMMS		4.46	+0.31	Nexstar	NXST		8.17	+0.13
Entravision	EVC		7.37	-0.02	Ion Media	ION		1.30	-0.06
Equity Media	EMDA		2.70	-0.09	Saga Commun.	SGA		6.54	-0.37
Fisher	FSCI		37.46	-0.01	SBS	SBSA		1.83	-0.02
Gannett	GCI		35.47	+0.07	Scripps	SSP		43.93	+0.33
Gen. Electric	GE		37.58	+0.33	Sinclair	SBGI		9.51	+0.11
Google	GOOG		694.05	-5.30	SWMX	SWMX		0.01	unch
Gray	GTN		8.39	+0.32	Time Warner	TWX		16.78	-0.18
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		8.82	+0.17	Tribune	TRB		32.79	+0.89
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		22.17	+0.73	Wash. Post	WPO		778.10	+6.92
Journal Comm.	JRN		8.86	+0.08	Young	YBTVA		1.18	-0.05

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Below the Fold

Cable Business Report
Discovery to be fully public
Has a non-binding letter of intent w/ Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership to combine their stakes...

Ad Business Report
Report: Down broadcast network
Ratings concerning in a Bear Sterns report issued over shortfalls & unavailable makegood inventory out there...

Media Markets & Money
Insurance sale assures TV buy
Fisher has peddled 23.3% of its share of Safeco Insurance ...

Ratings & Research
Wheel just keeps on turning
And "Judge Judy" were again way out in front of the rest of the pack...

Stations for Sale

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Contact
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TV Station Auction

WTVE-TV 51 / DTV25
Philadelphia DMA
Full-Power Commercial Independent. Licensed to Reading, PA. Carried on nearly 2 million households

The auction of WTVE will take place at 9:30 AM EST on January 3, 2008 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 900 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Qualified bids are due on December 21, 2007. The minimum bid price is $12 million and a refundable deposit of $200,000 is due on that date. A copy of the Sale Motion, Bidding Procedures and/or Bidding Procedures Order may be obtained by written request:

J. Scott Victor
Senior Managing Director
(610) 940-5802
jscott.victor@nationalcity.com

Michael J. Gorman, Associate
(610) 940-3615
michael.gorman@nationalcity.com

Ryan C. Cole, Analyst
(610) 940-2619
ryan.cole@nationalcity.com

More News Headlines

Kerry, Markey
focusing on NFL
John Kerry (D-MA) earlier this year inserted himself in the middle of a dispute over broadcast of Major League Baseball games, and now he's doing the same in over broadcasts of National League Football games. At issue is the exclusive carriage of certain games by the NFL Network, in particular an upcoming game featuring the undefeated New England Patriots v. the New York Giants scheduled for 12/29/07. The problem is the lack of a carriage agreement between the NFL and cable giants Comcast and Time Warner. Kerry has invited all concerned parties to attempt to broker a deal so that fans everywhere will be able to watch the game. The situation follows an earlier match-up between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, when both teams had 10-1 records and had inspired a great deal of interest among NFL fans. The baseball situation involved an exclusive arrangement between MLB and satellite service DirecTV which made a substantial number of games unavailable to cable subscribers. Kerry' colleague from the other chamber, Ed Markey (D-MA) also weighed in to make the game generally available to football fans.

Honors for Osgood
Charles Osgood, anchor of CBS News' "Sunday Morning" on TV and of CBS Radio Network's "The Osgood File," will be honored with the NAB Distinguished Service Award during the NAB Show. The award will be presented during the All Industry Opening Keynote Monday, April 14th in Las Vegas.

Scripps Networks
opens "FrontDoor"
Scripps Networks, home to HGTV, is launching the beta site of a new, online real estate listing service, FrontDoor. (frontdoor.com) Said John Lansing, president of Scripps Networks: "With our family of brands, we are able to provide entertaining and easy to understand information to consumers covering the entire home-ownership lifecycle -- from search and decision-making with FrontDoor, to decoration and personalization with HGTV, maintenance and remodeling with DIY Network and HGTV Pro, then preparation to sell and start the cycle again with FrontDoor." To launch FrontDoor, Scripps Networks has partnered with other leaders in the home and shelter category including Realogy Corporation, parent of Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA and Sotheby's International Realty and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. FrontDoor already offers more than 300 videos, including original webseries created exclusively for FrontDoor, with more video content in development. The site also provides real estate and home finance tools and calculators to help consumers translate crucial knowledge to understandable terms.

TVBR Radar 2007

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

WGA Strike Central, Day 39
Nets looking to scrap the upfront?
Along with being the first to pull out of the now-cancelled Winter Television Critics Association tour, NBC may be the first net to officially scrap upfront events due to the WGA strike. Execs at each of the other big three confirmed the strike was driving the movement toward a mid-May week without any circus-like upfront events.
12/13/07 TVBR #242

WGA Strike Central, Day 38
WGA and AMPTP now
in all-out battle
WGA and AMPTP issued some fairly negative statements this week, assuring little chance they'll get back to the negotiating table anytime soon. The general theme seems to be, "Who 'ya gonna believe?" After negotiations had broken off again.

TVBR note: If you are following this day to day reality TV drama take a read of the AMPTP's version of the facts. Once this is over can't wait to see who makes a mini series out of it.
12/12/07 TVBR #241

'Tis the season to CYA
Technically, it's always the season to CYA in Washington, but the looming DTV transition is making some of the natives inside the Beltway very nervous. Ed Markey (D-MA) went viral today with news of a new Government Accountability Office report on the FCC/NTIA preparations for the DTV transition in which it "...found no comprehensive plan or strategy to measure progress or results," he said. The FCC fired right back with a 99-page report noting that it has "been planning for the DTV transition for more than 20 years."

TVBR observation: Our CYA jesting notwithstanding, it is appropriate to make a lot of noise about the DTV transition. However, it may be slightly premature to go into panic mode. The NAB and its membership has a vested interest in seeing this go off without a hitch, and it should be gearing up for a big consumer education push in the very near future. Meanwhile, it is unfair to rag too hard on the FCC for not doing more to publicize the transition. The GAO is working for Congress, the very same institution that gave the FCC a budget of next to nothing for consumer outreach. We regularly see memos from the Commission, but the average citizen does not. The government has essentially handed the ball off to broadcasters, asking them to run it up the middle for a touchdown. And they probably will. The government meanwhile must make sure that any regulatory loose ends are tied off well ahead! of the deadline. And it wouldn't hurt if Congress put a little more fiscal muscle behind the outreach effort.
12/12/07 TVBR #241

WGA Strike Central, Day 37
Ratings shortfalls abound now:
what about midseason?
As reports surface that NBC already begun reimbursing advertisers for Q4 primetime ratings shortfalls, we're hearing the shortfalls are almost across the board (except for Fox, which is up year to year). And there's no makegood inventory in Q4 to offer-at least in the weeks that count (If you're a retailer, you want inventory before the Christmas holiday). That means Q1 inventory is being offered to advertisers. What will this mean when midseason hits and ratings will likely plunge even further-without scripted programming from the WGA strike? Not pretty.

TVBR observation: NBC CEO Jeff Zucker said not all that long ago that the network would be looking more and more at affordable, reality programming. He said costs on scripted shows that don't make it are becoming prohibitive. So he's followed through with his promise, but is this the result? And down the line, they're not going to get any payment back to them in off-net syndication. Their goal is to try and find profitable programming product. If it tarnishes their image, so be it-they're making money for GE. There is more in this Special page report in TVBR.
12/11/07 TVBR #240

Google renews push
for white space access
Internet search guide Google says it has devices which can operate in the margins between television stations without interfering with licensed spectrum users, and says it's demonstrated two technologies for the benefit of US regulators. Broadcasters remain unconvinced that it's time to open the spectrum up to all comers.
12/11/07 TVBR #240

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