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Volume 22, Issue 250, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Tuesday Morning December 27th, 2005
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TV News®
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 Next retransmission
showdown: Wyoming
Now that Nexstar has resolved that battles that pulled its TV signals off systems owned by two cable MSOs (12/20/05 TVBR #247), the retransmission payment battleground is shifting to Wyoming, where New Year's Day could see CBS affiliate KGWC-TV Casper and its KGWL-TV Lander, WY satellite removed from systems owned by Bresnan Communications. At that's just the beginning. WyoMedia, headed by Mark Nalbone, also owns or provides services to several other stations in the state, including Fox affiliates KFNB-TV, KFNE-TV, KFNR-TV and KLWY-TV and UPN affiliate KWYF. Nalbone has also told Bresnan to pull the plug on those signals, but the cable MSO is claiming it wasn't properly notified and has the legal right to continue carrying the UPN station through Febraury 28, 2006 and the Fox stations through December 31, 2008. Nalbone told TVBR that Bresnan is "trying to breath new life into expired agreements" and that all of the stations have to come off January 1st, except KFNR, where he has selected "must carry" in the Denver DMA. Bresnan also claims Nalbone is representing the local ABC affiliate, KTWO-TV, which is also demanding retransmission payment, but Nalbone says he doesn't speak for that station.
Bresnan is telling subscribers on its website that Nalbone is trying to make the company pay for signals that the public can receive free over the air - - and that if they have to pay for retransmission, the cost will have to be passed on to cable subscribers. Bresnan is offering A/B switches and rabbit ears so cable subscribers can continue to receive the local signals after they're removed from the cable lineup. Meanwhile, Nalbone told the Casper Star Tribune that the stations will be available on Echostar's Dish Network, which does pay for retransmission consent. "We feel like they're our partner, and cable's not our partner," he told the newspaper. Meanwhile, Bresnan has taken the battle to the FCC, seeking to block the long-pending assignments of the CBS and ABC stations on the grounds that WyoMedia unlawfully controls the acquiring companies. WyoMedia is owned by Marvin Gussman. Its General Manager, Nalbone, is a principal of the CBS stations' would-be buyer. The original buyer of the ABC station was to have been Gussman's daughter, but she has since been replaced by Barry Silverman. Bresnan says it can't show any relationship between Silverman and Gussman, but it wants the FCC to investigate the "suspicious aspects" of the buyer substitution. For his part, Nalbone told TVBR he wonders why Bresnan just now decided it had objections to transactions which have been pending for two or three years.
TVBR observation: Following the Nexstar battles with Cox and Cable One which began almost a year ago, we had expected to see several other broadcasters in showdowns with cable systems for January 1, 2006. Have the MSOs become more accommodating, or are there other threats to pull signals off cable that jut haven't been made public yet?
The blessing is given and they are confirmed
By unanimous acclimation on the evening of 12/21/05 (for those of you keeping score at home), the Senate approved a second term of the FCC for Democrat Michael Copps and a first term for Republican Debi Tate. The nominations had been pending since Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) succeeded in discharging them directly from the Committee to the Senate calendar 12/13/05. The new Copps term runs until 6/30/10. Tate, who is actually finishing off the term of departed Chairman Michael Powell, is booked until 6/30/07. A fifth seat remains to be filled. Stevens has volunteered publicly to take that matter into his own hands, but to date has not received the necessary White House cooperation to bring any of his suggestions before his committee for questioning.
TVBR observation: The renomination of Copps comes despite his fierce opposition to media ownership consolidation, and despite his effective campaign to get numerous public interest groups and citizens involved in a bureaucratic battle that typically is restricted to inside-the-Beltway players. Conventional wisdom holds that a big reason is his very conservative position on broadcast indecency, an issue in which he as been ahead of the parade, calling for massive fines and license revocation hearings. Although the fight against broadcast indecency has generally been bipartisan, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin must be pleased to have such a reliable ally on the issue. As for the consolidation issue, all the Republicans need do is fill that fifth seat to neutralize Copps and his Democratic colleague Jonathan Adelstein. Then it will be a matter of finding something they can slip past the judiciary. Tate, like Abernathy before, generally comes from the telco side of the communications business. Before Commerce earlier this month she seemed content to take in information before staking out any hard and fast positions. On broadcasting issues, we would expect her to take her cues from Martin, especially in the early going.
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 Comcast announces family tier
Time Warner was first out of the box with an announcement about family tier of basic cable channels. Now Comcast is out with a somewhat different approach. It is offering a combination of its variable most basic tier, which includes broadcast networks (including Hispanic Univision and Telemundo) along with religious and local access channels. The lineup varies locally due to network availability and the pricing varies due to variations in local franchising terms, but it averages 20-25 channels for about 12 dollars a month. Added to that will be 16 family-friendly channels for 14.95 per month and a digital box for 4.25 a month, bringing the average cost of the tier to 31.20. Included in the channel lineup are C-SPAN, C-SPAN 2, CNN Headline News, Discovery Kids, Disney Channel, DIY, Food Network, HGTV, National Geographic, Nickelodeon GAS (Games and Sports), Nickelodeon/Nick Too, PBS KIDS Sprout, Science Channel (Discovery), TBN, Toon Disney and The Weather Channel. Comcast COO Steve Burke commented, "Offering a Family Tier to our customers is one more step in Comcast's efforts to provide a broad array of family-friendly programming. The Family Tier will include some of our most popular children's, Hispanic and religious programming, as well as broadcast networks and local access channels."
TVBR observation: This tier is going to get gored just as Time Warner's was - - anti-indecency watchdogs are going to howl about paying extra to get less just to keep objectionable programming out of their homes. We'd guess that cable companies are going to have to do better than this, or face continued pressure for a la carte program selection for subscribers.
What else can Clear Channel spin off?
Clear Channel Communications has finally completed the major restructuring that it announced last spring (5/2/05 TVBR #86). A few weeks after the IPO of Clear Channel Outdoor as a 90% owned subsidiary of CCU with its own stock (CCO), CCU divorced itself from Clear Channel Entertainment last week by passing out shares of a new company, Live Nation (LYV), to shareholders - - one share of LYV for each eight shares of CCU owned. What's next? Might Clear Channel Television be spun off as a separate company? How about Katz Media Group? Not likely. The TV group and the rep company are too small to be viable as stand-alone public companies (as Katz already proved once). And it would make no sense to create a separate stock for Clear Channel Radio, since radio is CCU's main business. The restructuring is done and now the focus will be on running the remaining businesses. As predicted (and feared) by Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller (12/14/05 TVBR #243), Wall Street initially reacted to the spin-off of Live Nation by dropping CCU's stock price by 1.36, subtracting one-eighth of the share price of LYV. Miller insists that the real financial impact on CCU is much less, more like 20 cents a share, because of the future tax write-offs from its ill-fated venture into the concert business. By the end of trading Thursday (12/22) the CCU decline had been cut to 57 cents.
TVBR observation: If you're a new LYV shareholder looking to sell your stock, you may not have to look far for a buyer. The new company immediately announced that its board had authorized a 150 million bucks stock buyback. Back at Clear Channel corporate headquarters in San Antonio, it's time to hunker down and improve operating performance. With the easy comps from 2005 resulting from the Less is More initiative, which cut radio inventories to reduce clutter in 2005, there can be no excuses for not delivering growth in 2006.
Scientists find boon for broadcasters
 Time is money in the broadcasting business, and scientists the world over have come together to provide more time for everybody. For broadcasters, time translates into inventory - - but they will have to act fast. The extra time comes at the end of this week, at 7:00 PM Eastern time. And they'll have to BE fast - - the extra inventory, according to the US Naval Observatory, will amount to one second, needed by super-accurate atomic clocks to account for a slight slow-down in the rotation of the planet.
TVBR observation: Although many have reported client resistance to the concept of 15-second spots, we are sure that many of you have made the quarter-minute unit a viable portion of your rate card. And for those of you who have successfully plunged into even briefer units, all the way down to the lucrative but tough-sell 0:01 spot, the scientific community has granted you an entire unit of inventory with which to enrich your company and further blacken you bottom line before we close the curtain on 2005. Enjoy!
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| Publishers Perspective |
 Where's the media going,
television, the blogs,
Internet, cable?
This is not my question but one that was asked this past Christmas morning by NBC's Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert to former NBC 'Nightly News' anchor Tom Brokaw and former ABC 'Nightline' host Ted Koppel. This interview by Russert was one for all of us in the media to view and learn from three excellent media professionals. Their level of creditability and integrity is beyond reproach but their forecast of how we all in the media business should conduct ourselves made this exclusive by Russert a must-view to remember our place in this media world. Brokaw summed it up by stating it is a new universe in the media or a new frontier like the Oklahoma land rush as it is a new landscape where they (we all in the changing media) are hoping to find land with a pot of oil somewhere. Brokaw's view is the internet was unknown five years ago and today it is a powerful tool to deliver news or propaganda and as I see it there is a very thin line between the two. There is a new universe of media and media business like planets but only the brightest are gonna survive or support life. Viewing Brokaw and Koppel was seeing what has been and where we are going so if you missed this one time insight exclusive best review it before you jump into 2006 and the new year will be unforgiving if you make mistakes as 2005 was your year to fix what was broken. Close to 40 years in this business and the past 23 years with RBR and now TVBR I can only say for the record that if you do not have a strong stomach for combat then it is time for a career change as 2006 is gonna be a wild ride.
| Dec. 25, 05 Meet the Press |
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Adbiz©
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Mandel on NY media coverage of transit strike
Jon Mandel, Chairman/MediaCom US and Chief Global Buying Officer MediaCom Worldwide first called to respond to a reader's criticism last week (12/22/05 RBR #249) And then, as an obsessive consumer of media, gave us a run-down of the quality of coverage of the city-wide transit strike in NYC.
First, on the RBR/TVBR reader: "Obviously, I know that the transit strike is a problem-I do have 178 co-workers who live in New York City who are having a bitch of a time getting here. That being said, as marketers, we have to be anthropologists. And the question is, what does this teach us? If you look at the incredible cutback in cars in the city and the massive amount of people taking the Long Island Railroad and Metro North, you see a massive humanity shift which shows that there are people coming from outside to a very large degree. That says we should do something about those people I'm referring to. We should do something about the both the traffic and paying for the services of the city-meaning people from outside the city. All you have to do is walk up to Harlem and see all the cars with Connecticut plates parked up there with people who then walked over and took the train from 125th Street. The question is, how selfish are they that they drive into the city and gum up the city and then get on a train that they could have gotten on in Greenwich [CT]?"
And on media coverage: "I am (a) a media junkie and (b) probably the most senior major fan of local radio. That being said, here's the Mandel quick take: Pre-strike-what was going on with negotiations: WCBS-AM, WINS-AM were far and away the leaders. Followed closely by the NY Daily News. Everybody else was a non-starter. However, during the strike, the clear winner in how to deal with it was a tie between the local television stations' websites, particularly WNBC.com, and XM Channel 211, which has stupendous traffic coverage. CBS and WINS did their usual mediocre traffic reporting, and the other local radio stations in the market don't know how to spell News, Traffic or Community. Not only that (for those of us walking anywhere), it should give everybody in the terrestrial broadcast world pause to look at the percentage of people walking with their ears plugged into MP3 players. And it dawned on me this morning, does Radio Shack even sell transistor radios anymore?!"
 SNTA retires annual
Syndication Day ad conference
The Syndicated Network Television Association (SNTA) is shuttering its annual SNTA Syndication Day ad sales conference in 2006. "The SNTA members decided it would be more productive to hold meetings at the media agencies during the 2006 pre-upfront period, in place of a Syndication Day conference. This change will allow for more of the dynamic dialogue that has made Syndicated Television the place where the best Ideas in communications planning are executed," said Mitch Burg, SNTA President. The reason? Perhaps some advertisers and agencies have been uncomfortable discussing strategy with competitors at SNTA Day's sessions. SNTA members will now have their ad sales teams arrange separate meetings with agencies/advertisers. Agencies will still have the option to have all SNTA members show up simultaneously at their offices for one-day comprehensive meetings.
TVBR observation: Remember the SNTA was a spin from NATPE back when a few feathers were being plucked. NATPE was going through a few changes and many thought it would not survive but it has. Many trade associations are going through change and SNTA is no different but it is a very small organization representing some impressive members which have their own national sales and marketing force which are 100% responsible for 100% of their own success. Any trade or association needs support and if it does not it goes away.
Kellogg's keeps buying with Starcom
Kellogg's has decided to re-up with Starcom for US buying after a review. MindShare and Carat were the other contenders. Billings are 500+ million on the account.
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| Media Business Report |
 Unions want in the news paper biz
In an effort to protect their paychecks, union members want to enter the bidding for part of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain. The Newspaper Guild says it wants to submit a buyout offer - - but not for the whole shebang, just eight of the larger papers where workers are represented by the union. The specific newspapers that the union is hoping to buy, in league with some "worker friendly" private equity firms, are the San Jose Mercury News, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Akron Beacon Journal, the Duluth News Tribune, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Monterey Herald and the Grand Forks Herald. "Standing still is not an option. Each of the 8 properties our advisory team has identified is profitable. We think there are solid business opportunities out there. We are going to go after those properties and we are going to attempt to persuade others in labor, management and the investment community to join us. We have formally requested that Knight Ridder open the process to include our bid," said Guild President Linda Foley. As Knight Ridder and its financial advisers consider buy-out bids, the company reported that November ad revenues were up 3.6% to 218.6 million, with retail up 5.9%, classified up 10.3% and national down 13.8%. Total revenues were also up 3.6% to 268.4 million. Year-to-date, ad revenues were up 2.9% at Knight Ridder to 2.2 billion, again with national as the only laggard, and total revenues were up 2.1% to 2.8 billion.
TVBR observation: Certain big investors may be upset with Knight Ridder's stock price, but the fact is 2005 has been a pretty lousy year for most ad-supported media and Knight Ridder has been performing as well as its peer group. It remains to be seen whether any private equity group can come up with a business plan that would boost profits enough to justify paying a premium price to buy out public shareholders. Supercharging a newspaper group is not going to be an easy task. Knight Ridder missed the boat long ago by not expanding into television as so many other newspaper groups did. Now it has to make the transition to an ever-increasing reliance on online delivery, without having the benefit of an additional cash flow stream from broadcast.
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| Media Markets & MoneyTM |
 NBC Uni buying out MSNBC partner
NBC Universal is going to fly solo in the cable TV news channel battles, buying out Microsoft's stake in MSNBC. Terms of the buyout weren't disclosed, but Microsoft will be bought out of MSNBC over the next two years. "Acquiring a controlling interest in MSNBC will allow us to fully integrate the channel into our news operations and our overall cable platform. MSNBC is a critical component of NBC News' success and has made some key viewership gains in recent months," said Steve Capus, President, NBC News, NBC Universal. While struggling to compete with Fox News Channel and CNN (although NBC Uni notes that MSNBC has lately been improving in audience numbers), the joint venture has enjoyed greater success online. While NBC Uni will buy 100% of the cable channel, it will continue its partnership with Microsoft for the online site. "Together, Microsoft and NBC Universal have grown MSNBC.com to the No. 1 news site. We are totally committed to taking MSNBC.com to even higher levels of success through our unparalleled marriage of technological innovation and news content," said Bruce Jaffe, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft.
Hoak goes for broke in small western markets
From Kalil & Co. we learn that the Hoak Media's 9.5M acquisition of a trio of Nebraska television stations - - two full-power, one low - - has closed. The seller was Greater Nebraska Television Inc. Hoak gets KHAS-TV (NBC 5) in Hastings, along with KNOP-TV (NBC 2) and KK11TW (Fox 11) in North Platte. Hoak cut two deals in 2003 to get into the business - - getting a Wichita TX station for 8.2M and a four full-power, one low-power TV group based in Colorado Springs for 10M.
NY Times sees tough Q4
As recently as early this month (12/9/05 TVBR #240), the New York Times Co. said it couldn't give Wall Street guidance on its Q4 financial expectations. Now, with the quarter almost over, the company has released some numbers - - and they're not upbeat. The Times Co. says earnings per share will be in the range of 45-47 cents, down sharply from 75 cents a year ago. That includes one-time charges of 23-24 cents for stock-based compensation expenses and staff reduction costs, vs. a two-cent charge a year ago, so the pro forma range of 66-69 cents is actually a bit ahead of the Thomson/First Call estimate of 60 cents.
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| Washington Beat |
No fines for fractional infractions
A quartet of television licensees joined the public file parade, composed of the ever-lengthening list of stations that have exposed irregularities or omissions in their public file while applying for a license renewal. However, in three of the cases, the FCC considered the offenses so minor that it just mentioned them in passing on the way to renewing the license. In that group were Univision's WUVG-TV Athens GA (market: Atlanta), LeSea's WHNO-TV New Orleans (market: uhhh, New Orleans), and Time Warner's Superstation WTBS-FM Atlanta (market: uhhh, everywhere). All three had minor commercial overages during children's programming. The fourth, Televicentro's WIRS-TV in Puerto Rico, was accused of failure to publicize the existence and location of its Children's Television Programming Reports. However, the bulk of the infraction was laid at the doorstep of prior owner Maranatha Christian Network. Televicentro evidently continued the failure, for which it received the wrist slap of an FCC admonition, along with its license renewal.
TVBR observation: So the FCC is not unreasonable when in comes to inspecting the public inspection file. However, it is best to simply comply with the letter of the law - - and it's further a good idea to make a public file inspection a part of your due diligence when your company is in acquisition mode, and certainly it should be high on the list when you're moving in.
 Agree to decree:
File this one under contribution
A lot of television stations have been getting nailed for public file violations this license renewal cycle. So it may he heartening to hear that our friends on the radio side are also getting scrutinized. Here's a file story with a twist. Kevin and Alana Beamish, receivers of WJSZ-FM in Ashley MI, may well have been surprised to find themselves vulnerable to an FCC fine. They've been trustees of the station since the FCC approved that it be signed over to them by Curwood Broadcasting Company on 3/10/05. Apparently, the station was handed over without a properly maintained public file. In this case, the FCC has allowed the Beamishes to make a voluntary 6K contribution to the US Treasury, along with an agreement to certain terms and conditions designed to rectify the problem in the future, rather than hit them with a fine. It's sort of like getting in trouble with the principal at school, and getting punished, but it doesn't go into your permanent record file. Besides the contribution, they will make sure quarterly issues/program lists make it into the file, late-filed documents will be signed by the station manager and filed, and the staff will be thoroughly trained in the art of file management. The Beamishes or their successors, should they sell the station, will further be subject to audit for three years, with the aid of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.
TVBR observation: The receivers may have been subject to culture shock, if they went into this situation without prior broadcast experience. As a federally-regulated business, there are all kinds of rules to comply with over and above those which are common to most businesses. Still, the rules are the rules. It is good to see that the FCC has enough flexibility to take into account special circumstances in a fair and even-handed manner.
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| Ratings & Research |
 Telemundo signs to join NTI
Not only is Univision going to be included in Nielsen's National Television Index (NTI) as of yesterday (12/20/05 TVBR #247), but Telemundo has also signed up to be counted alongside ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, UPN, WB and i. "The inclusion of Telemundo in NTI is a sign of the maturation of Spanish language television and a clear recognition of a robust, healthy and growing market. From now on, as marketers target their audiences, they will now have a vehicle that will transparently evaluate audience delivery in Spanish side by side with English language networks," said Don Browne, Preisent of Telemundo, which is owned by NBC Universal. Like Univision, Telemundo will also continue its subscription to Nielsen's National Hispanic Television Index until September 2007, when the National People Meter sample, upone which NTI is based, will become Nielsen's sole sample for English and Spanish TV.
A tie for Raymond and Wheel
In the latest week's ratings for the syndicated television, "Everybody Loves Raymond" ended in a tie with "Wheel of Fortune." Of course, both are KingWorld products. Here are the top ten, as reported by the Syndicated Network Television Association, from Nielsen Media Research data.
| View the Chart |
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 11/14/05-11/18/05
As Elmer Fudd might say, it's vewwwwwwwy, vewwwwwwwy qwiet just about now. There were actually quite a few transactions, but they were generally of little consequence insofar as the upper echelons of the business are concerned. Suffice it to say, we feel sure that no ripples had the moxie to make it all the way to Wall Street.
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Total
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Total Deals
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18
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AMs
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10
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FMs
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11
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TVs
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0
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| Value |
7.493M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
Acker attack in Pueblo
| More... |
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TV Transactions of the Week
Has a winter hibernation begun? |
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| Transactions |
2M WBBM-TV Montgomery AL (Tuskegee AL) from Montgomery 22 Inc., a subsidiary of Equity Broadcasting Corp. (Gregory W. Fess) to Sagamorehill Broadcasting of Alabama LLC, a subsidiary of Sagamorehill Broadcasting LLC (Louis Wall). 200K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WNCF-TV. WBBM is an Indy on Channel 22; WNCF is an ABC affiliate on Channel 32. [File date 12/8/05.]
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| Stock Talk |
A bit of Christmas cheer for Wall Street
US stock markets were closed yesterday to observe the Christmas holiday. Stocks mostly posted modest gains in light trading on Friday. The Dow Industrials, however, fell six points, to 10,883, while most other indices were up slightly.
Most TV stocks were a bit higher. Saga rebounded 6.5% after falling earlier in the week. LIN rose 4.8%.
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| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Friday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Acme
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ACME
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3.54
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-0.06
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Media General
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MEG
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52.37
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+2.13
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Belo
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BLC
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21.73
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+0.42
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Meredith
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MDP
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51.83
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-0.07
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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31.96
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+0.24
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News Corp.
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NWS
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16.76
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+0.06
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Disney
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DIS
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24.27
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+0.08
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Nexstar
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NXST
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4.50
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-0.01
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Emmis
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EMMS
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19.93
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+0.31
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NY Times
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NYT
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26.40
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+0.04
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.26
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+0.11
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Paxson
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PAX
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0.91
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-0.01
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Fisher
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FSCI
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43.57
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-0.38
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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11.05
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+0.67
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Gannett
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GCI
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61.09
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-0.11
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SBS
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SBSA
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5.30
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+0.10
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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35.42
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unch
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Scripps
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SSP
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48.03
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+0.53
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Granite
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GBTVK
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0.20
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+0.01
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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9.36
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-0.07
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Gray
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GTN
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9.63
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-0.07
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Time Warner
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TWX
|
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17.68
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-0.02
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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8.96
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-0.05
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Tribune
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TRB
|
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30.52
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+0.09
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.92
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+0.23
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Univision
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UVN
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30.14
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+0.54
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
|
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57.46
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+0.26
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
|
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33.33
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+0.05
|
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
|
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13.89
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+0.02
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
|
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33.34
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+0.11
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Liberty Corp
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LC
|
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47.08
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+0.02
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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770.50
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+4.00
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LIN TV
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TVL
|
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11.82
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+0.54
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Young
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YBTVA
|
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2.62
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+0.12 |
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
|
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52.18
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-0.44
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-
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-
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- |
-
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- |
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Bounceback
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 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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TV Media Moves
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Two upped at Times
The New York Times Co. Broadcast Media Group has promoted two managers. Lou Abitabilo, who had been VP/GSM of WNEP-TV Scranton, is now Exec. VP/Station Manager. Wes Milbourn, who had been VP/GSM of KFOR-TV Oklahoma City, is now Exec. VP and Station Manager for the station and new duopoly partner KAUT-TV, along with continuing to serve as General Sales Manager of both stations.
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Below the Fold
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Ad Biz
SNTA retires conference
Remember this is a small organization...
Media Business Report
Who wants in the newspaper
Seems the Unions want to be in this business...
Media Markets & Money
NY Times sees it hard
Has released some numbers ...
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RBR - Radio News
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EEOooowwwwww - - One good fine
deserves another
KRMS AM & FM Osage Beach MO owner Viper Communications hit the daily double at the FCC last week, drawing two fines for two completely unrelated violations. In the first, the company held off filing a license renewal application because it had a pending application on file to modify the parameters of the FM. Viper argued that the situation was analogous to having a CP for a new station that was operating under test authority. The FCC said that was nonsense, and all filings must be submitted on time regardless of what has or has not been applied for. The pricetag: 3K - - but since Viper did get the renewal application in late but before the license expired, the Commission reduced the penalty to 1.5K. Then there was an 18-month period from 3/10/03 though 10/1/04 during which the FCC said Viper fell short of its responsibilities on the EEO front. During that period, Viper failed to use its outreach venues of choice - - job banks and newsletters of trade groups with substantial minority and female membership. It said the reason was that it had no upper-level job openings during that period. Not good enough, said the FCC, noting that there are many other acceptable outreach methods available to broadcasters. Given the limited scope of the violation, it held the fine down to 8K, for a 9.5K total. The licenses for both stations, located in unrated territory roughly between Jefferson City and Springfield, were renewed.
Radio's clear 50kw's are great Branding Irons
In an attempt grab some of the confused and disoriented NYC audience after Howard Stern's disappearance from the terrestrial airwaves, ABC Radio's News/Talk WABC-AM NY is going commercial free weekdays from 5-7AM, beginning 1/3. The move hopes to bring listeners to WABC's "Curtis and Kuby" morning show. The two-hour commercial free window may reportedly last as long as the Arbitron winter ratings period, which ends in March.
RBR observation: Not a bad idea if it has focus with marketing to let New Yorkers know it is happening but we also see a tremendous opportunity for 77 WABC with their 50kw clear at night. What a way to talk to a large audience if ABC would only market it to them. And that goes for all 50kw's at night. Radio has something in those cities where those unique signals are placed - it is called local and people from around the world can identify with them. Plus, from an advertiser point of view it is not All Nights you are buying - Wake up you are buying the world and this is why we printed this little bite size of info. Advertisers, clients use those 50kw signals and you will be surprised on your results with national spot to brand your products as a 50kw signal is one hell of a big branding iron.
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TVBR Radar 2005
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Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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Nielsen set to report
DVR time-shifted viewing
Not only is Univision going to be added to the national TV ratings at Nielsen Media Research, but Nielsen will for the first time begin reporting time-shifted viewing in households with digital video recorders (DVR), using the ratings company's new Active/Passive (A/P) People Meters. TVBR observation: Good to see Nielsen moving forward and not letting the issue of their parent VNU's problems be their problems.
12/22/05 TVBR #249
Eight more nabbed
in public file dragnet
FCC veteran Roy Stewart warned those assembled at the NAB Radio Show 2005 in Philadelphia that a lot of the upcoming fining action would be in the public file area. Eight more licensees, all on television side, will be contributing between 3K-10K to Uncle Sam because they inadequately contributed documents to the file for public inspection.
Publisher Observation: TVBR warned you and now we will help you even more for next year. "What Every Operator Needs to Know in the Public File" - Cover cost is $189.00 but It is Free in pdf print format and emails tomorrow - But - 'Only to Paid TVBR subscribers'.
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12/21/05 TVBR #248
Moody's downgrades VNU
There's more financial pressure on the management of Nielsen parent VNU. Moody's Investors Service has downgraded its long-term debt and that of its Nielsen Media Ratings Inc. subsidiary - - and kept them under review for a possible further downgrade. Unless VNU is sold (and the company has acknowledged getting takeover bids), Moody's says VNU is likely to focus on its core assets, particularly! its media ratings and data businesses, while suggesting that divestitures are likely in its B-to-B businesses (trade publications and trade shows). Publisher Courtesy: Any reader to a VNU trade such as Billboard, Ad or Media Week are welcome here at RBR, TVBR, Media Mix and our monthly Solutions Magazine - Independently owned for 23 years and dependable. We are going to grow again in 2006. Start this morning to receive
12/21/05 TVBR #248
Cablevision, JWT Detroit pact
Collaborating on Ford Motor Company's first VOD branding, entertainment and direct marketing campaign. The effort, focused in the NYC metro area, premieres later this month, and features two branded entertainment sections on the cable service's Optimum Autos interactive auto channel that highlights Ford's Fusion and Explorer models. Driving consumer traffic to the virtual channels will be a co-branded Ford/Optimum Autos banner on Cablevision's News 12 and Traffic and Weather channels that allow viewers to access the Ford VOD with a click of the remote control. The Ford channels will also be promoted in other strategic locations in the Cablevision landscape.
TVBR observation: Technology waits for no one and radio continues to stand still with technology. If you are waiting for someone to lead don't hold your breath. Every operator must take charge of their own businesses now.
12/20/05 TVBR #247
TV, you need to know this;
7 finalists for radio ratings competition
With only four passive monitoring devices in testing or beyond, the surprise is that Clear Channel got 34 submissions in response to its RFP for a new radio ratings system. Now seven finalists will be put through their paces by a panel.
TVBR observation: Clear Channel and its evaluation team have an aggressive timetable. The winner is supposed to be ready to begin deployment for real world radio ratings before the end of 2006. Arbitron has been happily pointing out, repeatedly to anyone who will listen, that PPM is ready to go now - - in fact, it's already being used outside the US - - while everyone else is playing catch-up. But that doesn't make it a slam-dunk for PPM. Advertisers and agencies have been telling radio for some time now that they want electronic audience measurement - - and they want it yesterday. So people in TV think you have a problem with 'LPM' - someone has got to wake up.
12/19/05 TVBR #246
Publisher Perspective on
Clear Channel's magnificent 7
For as long as I can remember yesterday has been the middle name of many ad agency executives wanting everything yesterday and not just ratings research. Going back to the mid-'70's when I worked in research at MediaTrend through today and nothing has changed, yet. Here is a question for our ad agency colleagues, 'Are your agency research departments willing to pay to play at the same rates as broadcasters?' Or do you want the radio broadcaster to pick up the total bill? Folks, get real here - good to explore new research but only big money will make this work. The radio business has just about run out of time on this subject as well as HD as the status of radio is fading into 3rd class status position. Last, there is no doubt that Clear Channel has its own agenda as what is good for Clear Channel is good for Clear Channel.
12/19/05 TVBR #246
A la carte pricing makes great theory, but bundling tough to beat
With sudden pressure from Washington D.C. to offer consumers basic cable TV channels individually, few realize the price per network is actually going down. The monthly subscription price is up because channel packages have gotten much bigger. Don't thins so - well read 12/19/05 TVBR #246
Time Warner first out of the gate
With family tier proposal which is most assured to PO a number of people. To get the 15-channel offering, subscribers will likely have to get a system's digital service and - - get ready for howls from the watchdog community - - they'll likely have to come up with 12.99 over and above the regular basic cable fee. TVBR observation: We can almost hear the keyboards grinding - - probably everywhere from PTC to the Consumers Union. What??!! We are forced to subsidize the filth on the basic basic tier, and then pay even more than the filth costs to get our family package??!! The outrage!! Just watch.
12/16/05 TVBR #245
Bidding begins for VNU
Nielsen parent VNU confirms that it's gotten multiple buyout inquiries, which its board is considering. It's not saying anything about the bidders, or whether they're being allowed to look at the company's non-public financial details. Indeed, analysts failed to get any hint of any more detail out of VNU CEO Rob van den Bergh. A report in the Financial Times said the VNU board was seeking at least 32 euros per share for the company. TVBR observation: Despite the collapse of the IMS merger, which was vehemently opposed by VNU's largest shareholders, we were surprised to hear van den Bergh mention that VNU is still going ahead to develop "strategic opportunities" with IMS. Does that add fuel to our previous report that IMS may be a bidder for VNU?
12/14/05 TVBR #244
Publisher observation
On VNU and the attention
Reality time, what is facing the Nielsen side of VNU is going to be difficult with forward motion of 'LPM' and making a decision during the first quarter next year on the Arbitron 'PPM' front as it takes commitment from the top of the company at VNU with technology and money. Not to say the toll it takes on the people inside of Nielsen. Remember this is research not a durable good like a TV station. Research is a fickle business especially when you are the leader as the business executives (the customer) loves you then hates you at any given time. Publishing side - To some extent the same can be said here but to a lesser degree as the money or the prize is Nielsen. Plus, whoever wins the potential battle better know something about the businesses of the titles that are being tossed around for headline attention like Billboard, Hollywood Reporter, Media Week. They look pretty on paper but you better know what the hell you are doing because this is not the old days with those brands. There is tremendous competition on the computer screen(s) today and to print those trade publications mentioned are not getting any healthier as trade publishing print consistently faces difficult time as I personally know from experience as the inevitable decision was faced and made in 2002 by us at RBR & TVBR. Remember expenses will go up for print trade publications just as US Postage prices are rising next year. Under any circumstances VNU bosses have to confront the inevitable and get on the record of attack now on this press coming from the WSJ instead of 'No comment.' TVBR was the first to forecast this show down now the problem is here as the other shoe has hit the floor.
12/12/05 TVBR #241
Four caught in public file dragnet
The FCC will be defraying the national debt to the tune of 40K if the latest quartet of notices of apparent liability on the public file rap stick. All four 10K fine proposals had a children's programming element. TVBR observation: Anyone else notice that if you have one file omission - - worth 10K - - you can have two or even three more at no extra charge. Publisher note: Look for TVBR's Special Report on what you need to know about your Public File and not cost your station a 10K fine. Written for TVBR by FCC leading lawyer Gregg Skall, it will be emailed in a PDF printable format as our Christmas present to you. Only daily members of TVBR will receive this special report. Have it or it could cost you 10K in a fine. To say the least, this report alone is worth the price of a 1 year gold subscription.
| Renew at TVBR subscriptions | 12/12/05 TVBR #241
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