TVBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 22, Issue 25, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Friday Morning February 4th, 2005

TV News®

NAB's Lombardo fights for
First Amendment rights
The Media Institute yesterday (2/3/05) hosted NAB Joint Board Chairman Philip Lombardo, CEO of Citadel Communications Co., who gave a talk on the effect the current indecency climate is having on the broadcasting industry. And he had a big question - - why is it the broadcasting industry, and only the broadcasting industry - - that is so under the gun? Lombardo noted that nearly 8M in fines (and consent decrees) had been tossed at broadcasters, while cable and satellite operators weren't cited for so much as a penny. He noted that broadcasters were being forced to censor material in advance, even though - - as was the case with "Saving Private Ryan" - - it had already been aired without incident in the past. He noted that live coverage of news events was putting broadcasters at risk for seven-figure fines. Without giving any specifics, Lombardo said he expected the indecency matter to wind up in court - - and soon. See inside for the full text of his remarks.

TVBR observation: If you don't have time to read Phil's speech right now, print it out and save it for the weekend. He definitely hits the nail on the head. Now we need Phil to stand tall against the Cable MSO's. People this is Holly xyzT reading. | More... |

Rate hike for indecency on House fast track
Attempts to revive last year's failed legislation which would raise FCC fines for indecent broadcasts up to a possible 500K per incident will not be allowed to languish this year. Two key members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are clearing a path to the House floor. The bill's sponsor, Fred Upton (R-MI), is chair of the committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Normally he would get first crack at such a bill, but this time around, E&C chair Joe Barton (R-TX) is planning to proceed straightaway to a vote by the full committee. Party leaders have promised to get the bill from there to the floor in short order, according to a Reuters report. Upton says that Barton's counterpart in the Senate, Ted Stevens (R-AK), who has just succeeded John McCain (R-AZ) in the Senate Commerce Committee chair, has asked that the House take the lead on the bill. It failed last year largely due to amendments added by the Senate which were seen as poison pills in the House, particularly language which would have repudiated the FCC's 6/2/03 media ownership rulemaking. A last-ditch attempt to attach it to a must-pass appropriations bill as a rider also sputtered out.

Journal Broadcast off to a strong start
We haven't heard a lot of optimism lately about 2005 broadcast ad sales, but Journal Broadcast Group is an exception. Although Q1 has started off soft for Journal Communications' daily newspaper in Milwaukee, the company is optimistic about broadcast performance. "In radio, pacings in period one [January] were stronger than we had expected, so the year is starting off very well, driven by automotive across nearly all of our markets. Entertainment has also gotten really good action, with the movie business this year, so radio's off to a good start. Looking into February, we don'wt see that changing a great deal," said Journal Communications President Doug Kiel, in the company's quarterly conference call. "In television, of course, remember this year we have [WGBA-TV] Green Bay additive to us...a little early softness in the Milwaukee market, but strength elsewhere. We'll see the first period looking very good for television when we're done with it." But he added that Q1 is still mixed - - that visibility is more limited for February and March in television than for radio. For the year, Journal is telling Wall Street to expect TV revenues to be flat to up slightly, even after adding in the Green Bay station, with radio up in the mid single digits. December finished with radio revenues essentially flat, down 60,000 to 8.57 million. TV revenues jumped 14.5% to 9.04 million, including 1.02 million from WGBA.

Pay for say spurs Fairness redux effort
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has introduced the "H.R. 501: Fairness and Accountability in Broadcasting Act," an attempt to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, which was done in back in the 80s under the Reagan administration. The payment of 240K by the Education Department to commentator Armstrong Williams is one of the engines driving this latest stab at bringing the Doctrine back to life.

TVBR observation: As long as Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Tom Delay (R-TX) are setting the agenda in the House of Representatives, Slaughter may as well attempt to roll a snowball though Death Valley in August. All the Democrats can really hope to do is make as much noise as possible. | More... |

Religious broadcasters petition Bush on multicast
Frank Wright, President of trade association National Religious Broadcasters has fired off a letter to President George W. Bush asking that he intervene on broadcasters behalf and prevent outgoing FCC chairman Michael Powell from issuing rules favoring cable companies on the issue of DTV multicast must-carry. "In recent days we have learned of an effort by [Powell] to unfairly punish broadcasters (including religious broadcasters) by allowing cable companies to avoid carrying our multiple signals in the digital environment," said Wright. Wright wants more of his constituent's programming available to viewers, and while acknowledging that there are difficult decisions to be made, he at least wants to assure careful, comprehensive consideration. He concludes, "To single out this particular issue pertaining to broadcasters seems singularly inappropriate. Moreover, given that Chairman Powell has announced his departure, it would seem exceedingly appropriate to wait and resolve this issue after you have selected the new chairman." The letter was copied to Karl Rove and all five FCC commissioners.

Two Sturms are better than one
Yesterday's TVBR (2/3/05 TVBR #24) featured stories on both John Sturm, head of the Newspaper Association of America, who is fighting the FCC's crossownership rule, and Steve Sturm of Toyota, who will be the keynote speaker at the TVB's annual marketing conference next month. A photo of Steve Sturm accidentally ran with the story about John Sturm. Here's what John Sturm really looks like.

Conference Calls Q4 2004

Journal jumped double digits for Q4
Broadcasting revenues shot up 21% to 51.2 million in Q4 at Journal Communications, with TV up 35.8% to 27.9 million and radio up 7% to 23.3 million. The TV figure included newly acquired WGBA-TV Green Bay, which contributed 2.8 million in revenues. Operating earnings from TV shot up 74.9% to 9.2 million (including 0.7 million from WGBA), while radio operating earnings declined 2.8% to 5.8 million. Company officials said that decline was due to increased spending on promotion for its radio stations. Publishing revenues rose 1.8% to 85.9 million and operating earnings from the newspaper side declined 2.7% to 11.1 million. In all, Q4 revenues at Journal Communications rose 2.7% to 215.6 million. Net earnings rose 10.8% to 22.7 million, including a 2.2 million gain on the sale of a property.

Adbiz©

Staples ''Easy Button'' spot detailed
Staples announced it is in the game this Sunday. During the Super Bowl, the office products retailer will showcase its new "Easy Button" campaign, which demonstrates how shopping at Staples is as easy as pressing a button. The campaign aims to bring Staples brand promise "we make buying office products easy" to life and support the tagline "Staples. that was easy." The 30-second spot, "Easy Button Launch," leverages the company's signature empathetic humor to depict a number of challenging tasks that appear to have no easy solution - a child in class who doesn't know the answer to his teacher's question; a cowboy wrangling a bucking horse; a father changing his twin infant's diapers; and a surgeon performing an unusual surgery. In every instance, all hope would be lost if not for the appearance of the "Easy Button." The spot closes with a v/or that says, "Wouldn't it be nice if there was an easy button for life? Now there's one for your business. Staples. that was easy." The new campaign by McCann Erickson kicked of with the "Easy Button Launch" spot in January and is the first creative in an integrated cross-channel campaign. Over the course of the year it will feature additional national, spot and cable television, national print, outdoor and online. "Easy Button" was shot in LA by Moxie Pictures and directed by Frank Todaro.

Porsche moves media account
Porsche North America has reportedly awarded its 45 million media account to Kastner & Partners, Santa Monica, CA after a review that began last November. In addition to the incumbent, PHD, Carmichael Lynch Minneapolis, also participated.

Piccadilly Restaurants unveils creative partnership
with Billy Ray Cyrus
Piccadilly Restaurants, one of the nation's largest Southern, home-style restaurant chains, announced today a new marketing campaign featuring country music and television star Billy Ray Cyrus. Billy Ray will appear in regional television and radio commercials and partner in community outreaches with the chain. "I believe Piccadilly represents the same values my fans appreciate - community, family, and wholesome living. My wife, kids and I love their fresh Southern food," said Billy Ray Cyrus. "The commercials are upbeat, a lot of fun and I think everyone will enjoy them." The spots were done by Heil-Brice Retail Advertising Newport Beach, CA. The spots with the tag, "Somebody Knows What They are Doing in the Kitchen," feature Billy Ray singing the accolades of Piccadilly's commitment to freshly prepared meals for the family desiring lots of choices.

Nielsen launches campaign
Nielsen Media Research will launch a branding advertising campaign in February to heighten awareness about who Nielsen is and how its TV reports accurately reflect the viewing habits of all different kinds of people. The campaign will focus on key media outlets in the Metropolitan Detroit area, along with other media markets across the country. | More... |

VNU Media and Marketing Guide for Super Bowl
As Super Bowl XXXIX approaches, several VNU businesses released trends related to the big game. VNU has combined data from numerous sources, including television ratings, advertising expenditures, Internet measurement, album sales, box-office, consumer and lifestyle information, merchandise sales, consumer segmentation and targeting, comprehensive market research, and retail consumer sales for an in-depth analysis of the event. The VNU information shows that the Super Bowl reached all areas of media and marketing. Continued from yesterday: | More... |

March Radio & Television Business Report

2005 Technology Odyssey..
The Changing Landscape
Ipods, DTV, FCC, Technology, People Meters. If you are in Business to Do Business in today's New Environment, Position your Company, Technology, Programming and what you do that Radio and Television executives need to know as budgets are being put into action. The Landscape is Changing Fast - March 2005 report is ahead of the curve as first quarter is closing fast.

Advertising/Marketing Placement - Contact
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June Barnes - 803 731 5951

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Washington Beat

Watchdog wants guard dog at FCC
Morality in Media President Bob Peters has joined with a wide variety of state and national pro-decency groups and leaders in calling for a pro-decency warrior to fill the hole at the FCC to be left when Chairman Michael Powell takes his leave next month. Peters wrote a letter to President Bush to put forth just that point. He noted the positive effects heightened FCC enforcement had in 2004, encouraging better self-policing by the broadcasting industry and chasing a handful of broadcast performers to satellite. He wants to be sure this project goes forward under a new FCC regime. "These were steps forward for the FCC, but if there is to be a lasting impact, these steps must be repeated and expanded upon until broadcasters understand they are not above the law - - and that won't happen unless Chairman Powell's successor is committed to enforcing indecency laws." However, that is not to say he is happy about other media becoming a haven for the indecent. "There is also a huge indecency problem on basic cable channels and, with broadcast radio shock jocks now moving to satellite radio, a major problem in the making in that medium. The FCC should be providing leadership in addressing these problems, instead of siding with the industry."

Programming

"Star Trek" at an end
After four seasons on UPN, "Star Trek: Enterprise" is being put to bed - - and for the first time in decades there's no new incarnation of the Star Trek franchise on the drawing boards. Declining ratings and high costs did in the fifth Star Trek TV series. The season finale will air on May 13th. "Star Trek has been an important part of UPN's history, and Enterprise has carried on the tradition of its predecessors with great distinction," said Dawn Ostroff, President, Entertainment, UPN. "We'd like to thank Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and an incredibly talented cast for creating an engaging, new dimension to the Star Trek universe on UPN, and we look forward to working with them, and our partners at Paramount Network Television, on a send-off that salutes its contributions to The Network and satisfies its loyal viewers." Not that you won't still be seeing reruns of the four previous series on TV for some time to come - - and "Enterprise" has been sold into syndication in over 90% of the country already to begin airing this fall. So is the franchise finished? Maybe, but we would note that there was an 18-year gap between the original "Star Trek," which ended in 1969, and "Star Trek: Next Generation," which premiered in 1987, to be succeeded by "Star Trek: Deep Space 9," "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Star Trek: Enterprise."

Stock Talk

Bad news sends stocks slightly lower
But it wasn't really much of a drop - - just a little slip. Disappointing earnings from Amazon.com and lower than expected productivity gains in a government report sent stocks a bit lower on Thursday. The Dow Industrials were down four points to 10,593.

TV stocks were also slightly lower. The market was not impressed with the quarterly report from Journal Communications - - it fell 2.9%. ACME was also down 2.9%. Nexstar fell 2.3%.

Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Thursday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Acme	ACME		5.77	-0.17	McGraw-Hill	MHP		94.00	+0.80
Belo	BLC		23.25	-0.30	Media General	MEG		62.99	-0.31
Clear Channel	CCU		32.70	-0.22	Meredith	MDP		47.76	+0.28
Disney	DIS		28.80	-0.03	News Corp.	NWS		17.32	-0.35
Emmis	EMMS		17.35	-0.02	Nexstar	NXST		8.34	-0.20
Entravision	EVC		7.62	-0.16	NY Times	NYT		38.67	-0.23
Fisher	FSCI		50.00	+0.23	Paxson	PAX		1.35	-0.10
Fox	FOX		33.40	-0.48	Saga Commun.	SGA		16.72	-0.28
Gannett	GCI		79.86	+0.22	Scripps	SSP		46.40	+0.01
Gen. Electric	GE		36.07	-0.18	Sinclair	SBGI		8.16	-0.10
Granite	GBTVK		0.35	unch	Time Warner	TWX		18.16	+0.02
Gray	GTN		14.72	+0.03	Tribune	TRB		40.26	-0.02
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		12.99	-0.15	Univision	UVN		26.35	-0.51
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		25.46	-0.33	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		37.54	-0.16
Jeff-Pilot	JP		50.66	-0.31	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		37.19	-0.16
Journal Comm.	JRN		16.70	-0.40	Wash. Post	WPO		915.70	-7.25
Liberty Corp	LC		39.70	-0.47	Young	YBTVA		9.91	-0.43
LIN TV	TVL		18.24	-0.27	-	-	-	-	-

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Bounceback

Send Us Your Opinions We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to tvnews@rbr.com

One reader responded with comments on big v. little (2/3/05 TVBR #24)

I read with great interest your article concerning Red Wolf Broadcasting and Citadel, whereby Citadel allegedly threatened to "squash you (Red Wolf) like a bug." If the big boys can't buy you, they'll try to squash you, is far too common. This happens frequently in very small markets with three or four stations, where the "big guy" in the small pond attempts to squash you. This problem isn't isolated to rated markets. | More... |

Dale A. Ganske, Pres.
L. Topaz Enterprises, Inc.

More News Headlines

Grin and Berra it? NOT

Radio contest hijacker gets prison

RBR - Radio News

Analyst says Less is More is working
After evaluating spot load data for of 200 stations in large markets, Harris Nesbitt analyst Lee Westerfield says commercial loads were down 13% in January from a baseline of last October and a lot more advertisers are, indeed, using 30-second spots.. The clutter cutting isn't yet pushing rates up, but Westerfield says that will come in time. | More... |

January Digital
Solutions Magazine

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

November Zinio Solutions Magazine
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TVBR Radar 2005

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

Peter Chernin, Pres/COO sees Fox in battle for ratings crown
The first half of the TV season may have been dismal for Fox but Chernin is predicting a strong finish. After admitting that the network was a "blemish" on the company's fiscal Q2 results, Chernin said the big question had been whether Fox could rebound in the second half of the TV season. 02/03/05 TVBR #24

Steamed Sturm to storm Supremes
The Newspaper Association of America, like a number of prominent television station ownership groups, is keen on relaxing the rules on broadcast/newspaper cross-ownership. NAA is petitioning the Supreme Court for a review of the FCC 6/2/03 media ownership rulemaking and the Third Circuit decision. 02/03/05 TVBR #24

SALES: VNU Media and Marketing Guide for Super Bowl
Super Bowl XXXIX approaches, several VNU businesses released trends related to the big game. VNU has combined data from numerous sources, including television ratings, advertising expenditures, Internet measurement, album sales, box-office, consumer and lifestyle information, merchandise sales, consumer segmentation and targeting, comprehensive market research, and retail consumer sales for an in-depth analysis of the event. The Chart is worth a close-up look see. Highly recommended reading and print out. 02/03/05 TVBR #24

TVBR BounceBack -This reader has a nominee to run the NAB
It will be a sad day when Eddie Fritts steps down from his NAB throne! He's worked very hard over the years and has had an amazing ability to know when to use diplomacy and when to get into the mud. Who will replace him? I'd put my money on one of two candidates: NAB veteran John David would be an excellent choice and I submit a dark horse could emerge from potential candidates and that would be MAB (Michigan Association of Broadcasters) President Karole White. TVBR observation: Who do you want in the NAB Pres/ CEO chair? Send your comments to: tvnews@rbr.com 02/03/05 TVBR #24

Red Wolf tries to bring down Citadel
"If you will not sell me your station I will squash you like a bug." Those, according to Red Wolf Broadcasting Corporation owner John J. Fuller, are the words of Citadel Chairman/CEO Farid Suleman, upon being spurned as suitor for Fuller's New London CT-market station WBMW-FM. Since then, hostilities have gotten out of hand, according to Fuller's counsel, Arthur V. Belendiuk of Smithwick & Belendiuk, in a filing submitted to the FCC. RBR observation: This is by no means the first time we've heard big v. little stories such as this. The story begs the question, should the ownership rules be such that big national groups can't bully small local owners around? Or is the free market the only answer, no matter how ugly? Your thoughts, please.
02/03/05 RBR #24

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

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

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