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Welcome to TVBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 23, Issue 245, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Tuesday Morning December 19th, 2006

TV News ®

Whiting's star rises;
VNU sells Euromags

As new CEO David Calhoun continues to remake VNU, the company has announced a deal to sell its European business-to-business publications, mostly computer titles, and confirmed plans to cut its payroll by 10%. Also, Nielsen Media Research CEO Susan Whiting was moved up to a corporate level post. VNU had put its Business Media Europe group up for sale in October as the first major divestiture since being taken private. There was no announcement of the price being paid by 3i, a European private equity/venture capital firm, but the Financial Times reported that the price tag was over 320 million euros (418 million bucks). The payroll reduction was the official corporate announcement of what RBR/TVBR reported last week (12/12/06 TVBR #240). In saying it plans to make permanent cost reductions of 10% over the course of 2007, VNU said the focus will be on simplifying its business processes and organizations structure, with most cuts from "non-client-facing activities." As we previously reported, Nielsen Media Research, the company cash cow, will not face cuts nearly as deep as some of the other divisions, such as the US publishing and trade show operations, including Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Mediaweek, R&R and such, and the ACNielsen consumer data operation. Meanwhile, Susan Whiting is becoming an even more important player at VNU, which RBR/TVBR had also predicted several times in recent months. Her title at Nielsen Media Research has been boosted from President to Chairman and she is now also Executive Vice President of VNU, reporting directly to Calhoun and providing counsel to VNU's Supervisory Board, which is made up of directors appointed by the new private equity owners.

TVBR observation: Why had we expected Whiting to move up? Back when the private equity firms were placing their bid to buy out the public shareholders of VNU, our sources said she was the executive who impressed the would-be buyers with her savvy observations on what worked at VNU and what needed to be fixed. Now she is going to have a key role in restructuring the entire company, under Calhoun, who is the heavy-hitter brought in from GE to captain the ship. Look for events to move fast in 2007. As costs are cut and businesses restructured, we expect VNU to reincorporate in the US from its current home in The Netherlands, take a new name built on the Nielsen brand name and then file for an IPO.

Sinclair calls Mediacom
talks "unsuccessful"

It looks again like 24 Sinclair Broadcast Group stations are coming off of Mediacom cable systems. After announcing a temporary extension of its retransmission agreement a few weeks ago, Sinclair said talks have gotten nowhere toward a new contract. "We do not believe we are any closer to a deal now than we were when we agreed to the short-term extension. We had hoped the extension would allow us sufficient time to come to an agreement, but we no longer believe that will be the case. It is unfortunate that no agreement has been reached, but this merely reflects a failure of a buyer and a seller to agree on terms," Sinclair VP/General Counsel Barry Faber said late yesterday. As it stands now, Medicom carriage of Sinclair stations is scheduled to end at a minute past midnight on January 6th in these markets: Des Moines/Ames (KDSM-Fox), Cedar Rapids (KGAN-CBS), Mobile- Pensacola (WEAR-ABC/WFGX-MyNet), Peoria/Bloomington (WYZZ-Fox), Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville (WLOS-ABC/WMYA-MyNet), Lexington (WDKY- Fox), Madison (WSMN-Fox), Nashville (WZTV-Fox/ WUXP-MyNet/WNAB-CW), Minneapolis (WUCW-CW), Paducah/Cape Girardeau (KBSI-Fox/WDKA-MyNet), Springfield/Champaign/Decatur (WICS-ABC/WICD-ABC), St. Louis (KDNL-ABC), Tallahassee (WTWC-NBC), Birmingham (WTTO-CW/WABM- MyNet), Norfolk (WTVZ- MyNet) and Milwaukee (WCGV-MyNet/WVTV-CW).


Media use up, and so is television
The Census Bureau has released a report noting that US consumption of the media is continuing its upward trend. According to USA Today, the average citizen will go from 3,333 hours a year in 2000 to an estimated 3,518 hours next year. That's 146 solid 24-hour days, or about five months. Veronis and Suhler places the lion's share of that time - 1,555 hours - in front of the television, with 43.6% going to broadcast and 56.4% to cable/satellite. The total is up from a combined 1,467 hours in 2000. And those predicting a long, slow decline for radio will have to think again. The senior broadcast medium is up from 942 hours to 974. However, the big winner will be no surprise, According to the Associated Press, internet use has gone from 104 hours to 195, in the process eclipsing both newspaper (201 hours to 175) and magazines (135 hours to 122). Book readers are about flat, down an hour to 106, while video gamers are on the rise, from 64 hours to 86.

TVBR observation: OK advertisers. Broadcast television 678, internet 195. This is no contest, especially if you want to weave your product or service into the daily routine of your geographical market, something the internet is ill-suited to do. Advertisers, you'd be crazy not to have an internet presence. We've completely remodeled our changed our whole business concept around it. But we're a magazine, one of the mediums clearly leaking air. Broadcast television is not, and it remains one of the straightest and strongest paths to the local population that you can find.

PTC having hard time finding religion
Television is weaving less and less religion into its programming, according to the Parents Television Council, and when it does get it, more and more it's depicted in a negative light. "The results of this study clearly show that the entertainment industry is not reflecting the strong religious beliefs of Americans in its television programming. The industry is in fact hostile to people of faith - no matter if the person is Christian, Jewish, or Muslim," said L. Brent Bozell, president of the PTC. Bozell said reality programming which gives a platform to ordinary citizens was far more likely to include a positive expression of religious faith than was scripted programming, leading to an indictment of the Hollywood creative community. "...in scripted shows, where Hollywood writers express their worldviews, faith and religion become four letter words - to the tune of 95.5% negative portrayals," charged Bozell. "This is an industry that is completely out of touch with reality." Bozell said portrayals of religion are down from 2.3K in 2003-2004 to 1.4K in 2005-2006, and that in the most recent season negative portrayals outnumbered positive 35%-34%. Fox was the most negative, at 49.3%, followed by NBC (39.3%). UPN was about at the industry negativity rate (35.4%), while the others treated religion more benignly. Other results were ABC (30.4%), CBS (29%) and WB (21%).

TVBR observation: It seems obvious that the networks are completely agnostic about all facets of program content save one, expressed in the question "Do people watch it, causing advertisers to sponsor it?" We remember Mel Karmzin on Capitol Hill after the Dixie Chicks flap. He said if Clear Channel is down on the Chicks and they'll help him win in New York, then he's all over the Chicks. That strikes us as the typical executive attitude toward programming. If enough people turn on their TV or radio looking for positive statements on religion, they'll get it. The government, of course, has very little to say about programming, thanks to the First Amendment. PTC regularly steers its members to programs it thinks they will like. That's fine. It can get on its bully pulpit and shine its spotlight on those it likes and those it does not. That's fine too. But that's about all it can do, so until PTC gets enough people to tune their dials based on its expressed taste in programming, not much is likely to change.


Wall Street Media Business Report TM
Tribune brass to enter bidding?
Rumors always leak out when a company is up for sale - all the more so when the company up for sale is a media company. For example, there was no way to keep it secret that officials from Gannett have paid a second visit to Tribune Company headquarters to receive due diligence presentations on assets it may bid on. The visit was reported by Tribune Company's own flagship Chicago Tribune. The report said Gannett is particularly interested in the Los Angeles Times and New York/Long Island Newsday. Meanwhile, another Tribune paper, the LA Times, reports that Tribune management, headed by CEO Dennis FitzSimons, is in talks with private equity firms to make an LBO bid for the company. The report said the management group consortium includes Providence Equity Partners, Apollo Management and Madison Dearborn Partners. Also, the Chandler family, which owns about 20% of Tribune Co., is said to be talking with billionaire Ron Burkle about a joint bid for the company. Burkle had previously joined Eli Broad in a bid for the company (11/9/06 TVBR #219).

RBR observation: It is all very fluid as the board at Tribune tries to find a way to get maximum shareholder value out of the sale process. To be sure, pricing is not what they had initially hoped for, but there are valuable assets here, even in the struggling newspaper business. Different parties are interested in different pieces, so we could see any combination of buyers team up in the end. Well, maybe not any combination. The Chandlers blame FitzSimons for the company's problems, so it is pretty unlikely they will end up in the same bidding group.


Ad Business Report TM

Chase, The Media Group launch interactive TV campaign
Chase Card Services, ad agency T3 (The Think Tank), and The Media Group, announced the launch a fully interactive television campaign for Chase Freedom, the first credit card that allows cardmembers to change the types of rewards they earn as their needs change. Through Jan. 1, 2007, DISH Network will air the Chase Freedom interactive spots. With a click of the remote, viewers will be able to interact with the brand. Regularly scheduled TV commercials are embedded with a graphic overlay, or trigger, motivating viewers to leave the program they are watching to view a variety of long-form, minute-long videos that creatively demonstrate how to use Chase Freedom. Features of the commercials include describing how Chase Freedom can play into everyday life and a mechanism that takes viewers to an informational TV microsite to learn and request more information about the credit card. The long-form videos, "One man. One card. Thrilling adventures," are storyteller concepts which are comedic yet real-life situations centered around one character that is friendly, casual, conversational and helpful. The Chase spokesperson knows he is interrupting programming and is aware that the viewer has selected to receive more information. His point of view is that if you appreciate the freedom digital lifestyle affords, you will appreciate Chase Freedom. Viewers can also enter the Chase Freedom TV microsite through on-screen banners on the DISH Network shopping portal. Because more than 12 million DISH Network subscribers have interactive TV capabilities to view the Chase Freedom TV microsite, Chase will receive specific demographic info, down to the household level of those consumers who choose to interact.

Top holiday ads include
Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy

According to a survey conducted for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) by BIGresearch, the top three holiday television ads this year come from Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Companies rounding out consumers' top ten favorite holiday TV ads include Macy's, JCPenney, Big Lots, Kmart, Old Navy, Kohl's and Gap. Though the results were consistent among most demos, Best Buy overtook Wal-Mart for the number two spot in the lucrative 18-24 year-old category, among men, and among Midwesterners. In addition to providing some entertainment, consumers say holiday-themed television ads serve another purpose: motivating them to shop with certain retailers. According to the survey, 16.9% of consumers said that their favorite holiday advertisement persuaded them to shop with a specific retailer. An additional 34.8 percent of consumers said they already planned to shop there. Young adults 18-24 were more likely to have a specific preference for holiday TV ads (34.2% of them could name a favorite ad, compared to 26.2% of all adults). Additionally, young adults were much more likely than other shoppers to say that holiday television ads sent them to specific stores (26.2% vs. 16.9%).

Entertainment Media Business Report TM
Couric gets snippy
Would Walter Cronkite or Dan Rather ever say "bite me" in an interview? Katie Couric didn't hold back in an interview with Esquire. And while the one remark is getting headlines, it is worthwhile to read the entire January issue interview on the Esquire website, although it is in their strange style of printing only the answers, without the questions. The snippy comment comes near the end, after a lot of commentary about her life and how she got to the point of being the first sole female news anchor for a network evening newscast. Couric says she had a perfect life until she was 40, rising to the "Today" show co-host spot without ever actually seeking the job. Then her husband died. "I hate it when people say, 'he lived a good long life.' My husband died when he was 42. He got ripped off," Couric told the magazine. Esquire itself was the target of her most caustic comment, noting some past criticism of her in its pages, after she commented on having to tell her daughter that she shouldn't take personally what bloggers say about her mom. "You guys even take a shot at me. You have something in the November issue, something about how since I've become an anchor, you don't know me anymore. You don't know me anymore? Bite me."

Primetime deal for Oprah
You can never have too much Oprah, so Oprah Winfrey has two new projects underway with ABC, both slated for primetime. First, Winfrey's Harpo Productions is working with ABC on a new alternative primetime series, with the working title "Oprah Winfrey's The Big Give." In this eight-episode show, 10 people will be challenged to take the money and resources they are given and multiply them to come up with the most powerful, sensational, emotional and dramatic ways to give to others. Each week the group will face a "big catch" that will test their nerve, drive, ingenuity and passion. Throughout the episodes, the field will be narrowed through what is described as "a unique method." The stakes will get higher and higher, with one person ultimately being chosen to have his/her wildest dream come true for making the biggest impact. In addition, ABC and Harpo are developing a primetime series tentatively titled "Your Money or Your Life." Each week will feature families facing a life crisis. They will need to make drastic and immediate changes before they are consumed by disaster. In every episode, an expert action team will move in and viewers will watch a dramatic total money and life makeover. "Oprah Winfrey getting into series TV is monumental. Our relationship with Harpo has been wonderful for us, and this latest partnership takes it to a phenomenal new level," said Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment.


Washington Media Business Report TM
Give me just a little more time
Did anybody out there think that the FCC was about to wrap up its review of the Second Circuit remand of its 6/2/03 attempt at a media ownership rulemaking in the next day or two? We didn't think so. So it should come as not big surprise that the deadline for filing reply comments on the topic has been extended. The deadline for original comments was 10/23/06, and the original reply deadline of 11/21/06 has already been extended 30 days to 12/21/06. Media General was the company looking for another extension. It notes that it may be most efficient to allow companies wishing to submit information for the record to wait until after the FCC releases its recently-announced ten-prong study of ownership issues. Failing to be granted that open-ended extension, it wanted the 30-day extension to be a 45-day, to address what is known about the studies and to avoid conflict with standard end-of-year administrative concerns. The latter extension was granted, to 1/16/07. The FCC notes that when its studies are released, there will be another opportunity for interested parties to comment.


RBR Radio News
RAB moving to cash on the barrelhead
Sometimes a percentage does not tell the whole tale, or at least it tends to distort it. Add to that the fact that most media report their results in hard dollar totals, and you will have two of the reasons that the RAB is going to add quarterly cash totals to its ongoing practice of calculating and releasing monthly revenue comparisons. RAB President/CEO Jeff Haley explained, "Our purpose is to give the marketplace a solid foundation on which to analyze radio. Quarterly reporting will stabilize the perspective on radio revenue. Disclosure of the dollar amounts will align radio with the other media's reporting practices and demonstrate the industry's position as a formidable player in the wireless media arena."

RBR observation: Knowledge is power, and the more of it the better. We've seen fear of knowledge in the past on occasion. For example, back when RBR was a weekly print product, it used to publish forward pacing reports. The purpose of these reports was to assist executives in managing their inventory. But when the dot-com bust started producing some ugly numbers, many saw the reports not as a tool for management but as a club to simply bash radio with, and stopped providing the accountants with the necessary raw data. The biz is poorer for this, in our opinion. And it will be richer for RAB's decision to shine its spotlight bright on the medium's raw power to attract paying customers. The caveat is that radio must do what it takes to pull those customers in. The gauntlet is thrown, and we think a strong focus on local content is the way for radio to prosper.

Publisher note: Look for our Special Report on how 8 key Association participants are confronting their issues within their medium. Read how: Jeff Haley (RAB), Chris Rohrs (TVB), Mitch Burg (SNTA), Sean Cunningham (CAB), John Sturm (NAA), Nancy Fletcher (OAAA), Sheryl Draizen (IAB) and Burtch Drake (AAAA) each confront the inevitable in 2007. This is coming in RBR-TVBR's January debut issue of SMARTMEDIA(tm), a re-branded Radio & Television Business Report publication.


Stock Talk
A down day to start the week
The winning streak on Wall Street ended at three sessions, as traders became a little cautious on Monday. The Dow Industrials were off four points to 12,441.

Most TV stocks were lower as well. LIN was down 1.6% and ACME also slipped 1.6%. It is worth noting that Nexstar is on the verge of moving back out of penny stock territory. It was up 2.5% to 4.95, just a nickel away from the five buck barrier.


Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Monday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Acme

ACME

5.07

-0.08

LIN TV

TVL

9.18

-0.15

Belo

BLC

17.97

-0.14

McGraw-Hill

MHP

69.10

+0.10

CBS CI. B CBS

31.99

unch

Media General

MEG

37.67

-0.37

CBS CI. A CBSa

31.93

-0.02

Meredith

MDP

56.22

-0.09

Clear Channel

CCU

35.52

+0.02

News Corp.

NWS

22.48

+0.18

Disney

DIS

34.49

+0.19

Nexstar

NXST

4.95

+0.12

Emmis

EMMS

8.15

+0.10

NY Times

NYT

24.10

-0.28

Entravision

EVC

8.00

+0.02

Ion Media

ION

0.51

+0.10

Fisher

FSCI

42.15

-0.51

Saga Commun.

SGA

9.24

+0.23

Gannett

GCI

61.04

-0.21

SBS

SBSA

4.33

+0.03

Gen. Electric

GE

38.00

+0.64

Scripps

SSP

50.30

-0.13

Granite

GBTVK

0.15

-0.01

Sinclair

SBGI

10.47

-0.01

Gray

GTN

6.77

+0.09

Time Warner

TWX

21.73

+0.07

Gray, C1. A

GTNa

7.78

+0.03

Tribune

TRB

31.67

-0.08

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

25.89

-0.11

Univision

UVN

35.35

+0.02

Journal Comm.

JRN

12.36

-0.12

Wash. Post

WPO

759.12

-1.88

Lincoln Natl.

LNC

64.52

-0.31

Young

YBTVA

2.23

-0.01


Bounceback

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hear from you.

This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to tvnews@rbr.com


TV Media Moves

The Dr. is in
Dr. Susan Hockfield, neuroscientist and President of MIT, has been elected to the board of directors at General Eleqctric. She takes the board to 16 members

Vacancy at CBS
CBS Corporation told the SEC that Judith Sprieser, former CEO of software firm Transora Inc., has resigned from its board. That leaves CBS without a majority of independent directors, but the company says it expects to name a new independent director soon to return to a 5/4 split.


Below the Fold

Ad Business Report
Chase, The Media Group Launch
Interactive TV campaign first credit card that allows cardmembers to change...

Top holiday ads include
Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy
remember ads serve another purpose...

Washington Media Business Report
Give me just a little more time
Did anybody out there think that the FCC was about to wrap up...

Entertainment Media
Business Report
Primetime deal for Oprah
You can never have too much Oprah, she has 2 new projects underway with ABC...

RBR Radio News
RAB moving to cash
on the barrelhead
Sometimes a percentage does not tell the whole tale...




Stations for Sale

South Georgia
AM-FM-LPTV Combo
Includes 25kw FM
Zoph Potts @ (252) 940-1680
zophsnowden@earthlink.net

New York City
2 LPTVs for Sale

Price Reduced-both for $9 mil
Washington DC - $5 mil
Philadelphia - $2.5 mil
Atlantic City - $1 mil
GeorgeWKimble@aol.com
Kozacko Media Services
520-299-4869


Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact June Barnes
jbarnes@rbr.com

TVBR Radar 2006
Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

More divestitures coming
New owners take over at Clear Channel as details have finally been filed at the FCC for the 26.7 billion buyout of Clear Channel Communications. Mark and Randall Mays will be on the board, but their new equity partners will be in control.

TVBR observation: The game is changing at Clear Channel. We know who will be running the company in 2007, but will they still be there in 2008 or 2009? The Mays family will no longer have de facto control of a public company with No Majority shareholder. Instead, CEO Mark Mays, President/CFO Randall Mays and CC Radio CEO John Hogan will have to hit the performance marks set by their new bosses or risk being sent packing. Since the Mays brothers had previously agreed to dramatically reduce their golden parachutes, they obviously believe they are up to the new task.
12/18/06 TVBR #244

Double digit quarter for TV
TV station revenues shot up 10.4% in Q3. But TVB says it was not just political, that nine of the top 10 ad categories posted gains for the quarter. The biggest percentage increase among the top 25 advertising categories for local broadcast (national and local spot combined) in the quarter was posted by Government & Organizations, which is mostly political spending. The category was up 182.1% over the same period in 2005. ... it should be noted that local broadcast television posted gains in many large ad categories.. View the data in TVBR
12/15/06 TVBR #243

Clear Channel set to spin
two dozen big radio stations
We said it nearly a month ago, but now Clear Channel-owned and operated Inside Radio admits that the company will not be able to qualify to hold onto its non-compliant clusters when Clear Channel is taken private. The Clear Channel publication says company lawyers are estimating the ownership change will require the divestiture of as many as 24 radio stations in 19 markets - in addition to the 448 stations that the company is selling in smaller markets. The original story in RBR came after Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays told USA Today that he believed his family and their new partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, would be permitted to hold onto the grandfathered clusters. Our story demonstrated that was not the case, and that the only possibility was to ask the FCC for permanent waivers, which were unlikely to be granted.

RBR observation: As conceded by Clear Channel's owned publications of Inside Radio, permanent waiver requests would have been fought tooth and nail by a variety of anti-consolidation groups. The company is following a prudent course in not taking on that battle. At the very least it would delay closing for many, many months - and the permanent waivers probably would not be granted anyway. This is good news for other operators who are anxious to grow in those markets where CC Radio is over the new limits. We look for several of the buyers to be minority broadcasters, just as in the Clear Channel-AMFM spinoffs, which will score PR points for Clear Channel at the FCC and on Capitol Hill. As noted previously, Univision has asked for temporary waivers of six months for its required divestitures, so it is unlikely Clear Channel could persuade the FCC to give it any longer than that.
12/15/06 RBR #243

TVBR First
No more little loans
TVBR/RBR has confirmed that a restructuring took place in the past few days at Wells Fargo Foothill, which is a major lender to radio, TV and other media. Our sources say the biggest change is that the company is shutting down the lending unit that dealt on the low end of the market, loans in the 1-10 million range, and will concentrate on the higher-margin business for larger broadcast loans. That is bad news for smaller operators, since Wells Fargo Foothill had been one of the very few nationwide lenders that would make media loans below 10 million bucks. Despite numerous contacts from RBR/TVBR, there is no official comment from the company yet on the reorganization. Wells Fargo Foothill made a major move to target the 1-10 million media loan market in late 2004 when it acquired Westburg Media Capital.

TVBR observation: When one closes a door on business it opens the door of opportunity for another. Key, if any financial institution etc is open for business and conducting business for what they call Small Deals then let Broadcasters know. There are more looking to build in 2007 and if there are financial types conducting this business you will win over the big every time.
12/14/06 TVBR #242

Which medium is the
biggest eLoser?

A recent ZenithOptimedia forecast sees Internet advertising surpassing radio on a worldwide basis by 2009, but radio will only lose 0.4% of its share from 2006 through then. That matches the projection for magazines, and is not as severe as the drop for television. But the biggest loser is projected to be: Newspapers.
12/13/06 TVBR #241


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