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Volume 23, Issue 250, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Thursday Morning December 28th, 2006
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Happy New Year
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TVBR returns Wednesday, January 3, 2007.
The RBR/TVBR offices will be closed to observe the New Year's holiday on Monday and Tuesday, January 1-2.
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TV News ®
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 TVBR observation:
Viacom split a year later
A year ago, Sumner Redstone had it all planned out. By splitting Viacom in two, he could create two companies - one a high-energy Wall Street growth vehicle and the other a stable, profitable but slow-growth media company. It sort of worked out that way, but the reverse of what was planned. As 2006 comes to an end, "new" Viacom's stock price remains stuck in neutral and CBS Corporation is the Wall Street darling. Les Moonves and the "old media" gang at CBS have been spinning off non-core assets, like Paramount Parks and smaller market radio stations, while moving into cable TV, podcasting and online streaming. CBS has repeatedly raised its dividend and Moonves has vowed to collect retransmission cash from the cable MSOs for his O&O TV group when those contracts come up for renewal over the coming years. And Les, we would note, was supposed to have gotten the short straw, charged with running the boring, slow-growth old-line media company. The guy who supposedly got the better deal, Tom Freston, is unemployed - forced out in early September after failing to deliver on Redstone's view of the cutting-edge new media company that Viacom was supposed to become. Redstone called it "humiliating" that Freston let News Corporation grab a deal to acquire MySpace from under his nose. Forced to regroup after only a few months, Redstone looked to the Viacom board of directors to bring long-time associate Philippe Dauman back to an active day-to-day management role as Freston's successor. With just a few months in the hot seat, it remains to be seen what strategy Dauman will employ to get Viacom back on track with Redstone's expectations. At this point, Wall Street has definitely embraced CBS as the better bet. Its stock is up more than 23% this year, while Viacom is down over 2%.
Portland TV licenses challenged
The issue: Allegedly shoddy election coverage. Money in Politics Research Action Project (MiPRAP) has petitioned the FCC to deny renewals on grounds that the stations failed to meet their public interest obligations. All eight commercial stations in the market have been targeted. The stations are ABC KATU Channel 2 (Fisher); CBS KOIN Channel 6 (Montecito); NBC KGW Channel 8 (Belo); Fox KPTV Channel 12 & MNT KPDX Channel 49 (Meredith); Ion KPXG Channel 22 (O&O); Indy KNMT Channel 24 (National Minority TV); and CW KRCW Channel 32 (Tribune). The complaint concerns the 2004 election. MiPRAP claims that only 5% of local coverage from the four major network affiliates went to election coverage, and most of that ignored local politics in favor of presidential election coverage. "Voters are not served by broadcast TV news programs that provide little or no coverage of political campaigns," said MiPRAP executive director Janice Thompson. "This trend is in stark contrast to the dollars earned by TV stations on political advertising and is why we have filed a license renewal challenge with the FCC."
TVBR observation: The FCC just turned down a similar filing involving all the television stations in the Chicago DMA. The FCC issued what is practically a standard denial of the petition to deny, based on the fact that it is not in the business of regulating program content. Indeed, to do so would probably run afoul of both the First Amendment and the 1934 Communications Act. We expect the exact same result here.
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Radio boycotters face advertiser boycott in Philly
Arbitron is just weeks away from going live with PPM ratings in Philadelphia, but a reliable source in the market tells RBR/TVBR that neither Clear Channel nor Radio One stations are encoding. That's 37.5% of the market's billings. We also heard, but couldn't confirm, that Carat told Arbitron they are not going to buy any stations that are not encoded. If there were several agencies doing that, it would put enormous pressure on the radio companies to encode. The deadline for PPM encoding is Jan 11 in the market. Arbitron PPM President Pierre Bouvard tells RBR/TVBR: "In conversations with many agencies across the country, we hear they are making these kinds of demands for PPM encoding because of pressure from outside auditing firms who review their buys. If someone is not encoding, they will be essentially an unrated radio station. There are many advertisers that have dictates that say you can't buy unrated radio stations. That's why we will give any station an encoder for free."
TVBR observation: In some ways this is a bit of a déjà vu recalling the initial struggle over acceptance of Nielsen's Local People Meters, except that no encoding was needed for LPM and the major groups fighting the new meters had already signed contracts to subscribe to the new service. Since it is in the midst of going private, Clear Channel has the luxury of being able to take a hit in one market while continuing to push for testing of an alternative to PPM being developed by The Media Audit/Ipsos - and Radio One has its own quarrel with Arbitron over pricing. Meanwhile, we wondered about PPM data for TV in Philly. After all, broadcast and cable TV channels there were part of the initial US test of PPM and Arbitron has continued to produce some TV data in the current test market, Houston, even though Nielsen decided to pass on a joint venture. Arbitron tells RBR/TVBR that encoding by TV stations in Philadelphia will be a "Custom Research" service, not as part of the syndicated radio ratings service.
 Boston radio deal cleared despite listener objections
When Radio One sold WILD-FM to Entercom, it was to allow the buyer to extend the reach of its successful but signal-challenged WAAF-FM Worcester into the southern reaches of the Boston market. This was not good news for fans of Radio One's brand of music. But the FCC has cleared the deal. The station is now bearing the calls WKAF. The FCC said that "a significant number of WKAF-FM listeners have filed comments with Commission regarding the Assignment Application, expressing strong appreciation for the current programming on the station and asking the Commission to bar the proposed sale to Entercom." The Commission took the unusual step of allowing late comments to be entered into the record up to the 12/27/06 date of its letter regarding the issue, then promptly denied them. The FCC noted that "...it is well-settled policy that the Commission does not scrutinize or regulate programming formats, nor does it take potential changes in programming formats into consideration in reviewing assignment applications." The Commission further explained that "...the public interest is best served by promoting diversity in entertainment formats through market forces and competition among broadcasters." Since no other objections were raised about either licensee, the FCC said there was no point to any further consideration of the matter.
TVBR observation: The day the FCC starts taking programming into consideration when reviewing a transaction will be a sad day indeed for the First Amendment. It is a very good thing that the Commission continues to show no inclination to do so. Now if we can get similar coherent policy guidelines when it comes to FCC review of programming bordering on the indecent...
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| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
 Record year for Allbritton
While most broadcasters are wrapping of their business (and calendar) year this week, Allbritton Communications is already into its new year, having concluded its fiscal 2006 at the end of September. Even though the political mother lode was still coming in, Allbritton booked a record year. Net operating revenues for fiscal 2006 totaled 223.4 million, up 11.5% from the previous year. As you would expect, political advertising was up, jumping 80.3%. Local and national ad revenues increased 10.2%. "The increase in local and national advertising revenues reflected increased local and national advertising revenues in a majority of our markets, with particular growth in demand by local and national advertisers in our Washington, DC, Birmingham and Charleston markets. This increase in demand was partially attributable to established increases in ratings for certain ABC primetime programming over the past year, the strength of our local news franchises and our continued focus on new local business development. Additionally, the increase reflects increased advertising revenue related to the broadcast of the Super Bowl by the ABC network in February 2006 (broadcast by the FOX network in 2005 and the CBS network in 2004)," Allbritton said in its annual 10-K filing with the SEC. Operating income rose 38.7% to 84.9 million, a record high. Allbritton is privately owned by has public bonds. It owns seven ABC affiliates and an all-news local cable channel in Washington, DC.
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Ad Business Report TM
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New advertiser signs up for "NOW" on PBS
OK, they call them "corporate underwriters," but the intent is the same as advertising - to publicize their name and services to potential customers. In this case, Calvert has signed up as the newest underwriter for "NOW," a program known for its repeated criticism of corporate America. But that fits fine with Calvert, which is billed as a "leader in socially responsible investing." It is therefore unlikely that the corporations vilified on the program will wind up in the mutual funds offered by Calvert.
A different ad world online
If you look at yesterday's list of the Top 10 advertisers in traditional media and compare it to this list from Nielsen Monitor-Plus of the Top 10 US advertisers on the Internet, you will find only two companies on both lists - Time Warner and Verizon. While most major advertisers are evaluating how to use the Internet in their advertising programs, most have moved cautiously, while younger companies who see active web users as their target customers have moved aggressively to deploy the bulk of their marketing bucks online.
TVBR observation: Yes, we had the same question: Who or what is GUS plc? It turns out that it was the parent company of both Experian Group, a data and technology company best known for its credit reports, and Home Retail Group, a major UK-based retailer. The two were set free as separate public companies in October, so GUS plc itself no longer exists.
 Two still in the running for beer bash
Agencies Berlin Cameron and Wieden+Kennedy are still kegside as US beer importer Heineken continues its search for an agency of record to handle the brewer's English language advertising. Heineken is looking for an agency that can create "insight-driven communications" which will grow its flagship product, Heineken Lager, as well as drive growth for Heineken Premium Light, which is only in its second year of being distributed nationally. "We entered this process to identify an advertising agency that will support our goals to drive growth and build equity for the Heineken Brand, and we have been impressed with the insight, creativity and energy we have seen from the teams at Berlin Cameron and Wieden+Kennedy. We look forward to the final selection process, which we are confident will yield an agency partner that can help support our long-term objectives for the Heineken Brand," said Andy Glaser, Heineken Brand Director.
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| Media Business Report TM |
Half-off sale in Minnesota
Just a few months after a multi-billion bucks deal to acquire the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain (with a few spin-offs that followed), McClatchy dropped a surprise this week as it announced a deal to divest one of its largest newspapers at a considerable loss. Avista Capital Partners, a private equity firm, will buy the Minneapolis Star Tribune for 530 million, down more than half from the 1.2 billion that McClatchy paid Cowles Media for the paper in 1998. "This likely comes as a surprise to each of you," Publisher Keith Moyer was quoted by the Star Tribune as saying in a staff meeting to announce the sale. "These are indeed challenging times for newspapers, especially larger ones, such as ours," he added. McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement that the Twin Cities daily is profitable, but in analyzing its portfolio after the Knight Ridder acquisition, "it became clear that selling the Star Tribune strengthens McClatchy's competitive position."
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
 Capitol Hill likely to resume
shield efforts
Forcing reporters to reveal sources was a huge issue, particularly when former New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for refusing to do so in regard to the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. The reaction on Capitol Hill was bipartisan, with a number of Republicans supporting a strengthened federal shield for journalists. According to the Wall Street Journal, one of them will be moving legislation in the Senate and another in the House. They are Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Mike Pence (R-IN). Helping to keep the matter on the front burner is a shield controversy in progress in San Francisco, where two reporters are facing action for protecting sources in the Barry Bonds steroids case. Over 30 states are said to provide better protection to journalists than does the federal government.
TVBR observation: We support the shield whole-heartedly. But a rational person supporting the shield may see where a case involving matters of national security, like the outing of an undercover CIA operative, may tilt toward the side of forcing sources into the open. But a steroids case? We aren't lawyers, but it seems to us that this is at an extremely far remove from the nation's security. What's next? Forcing sources into the light of day on a big jay-walking case?
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| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
NBC taps Packers-Bears game
 New Year's Eve in Times Square may be exciting, but NBC is betting that a football game featuring the Green Bay Packers at the Chicago Bears will be an even bigger audience draw to ring out 2006. Under its flexible scheduling deal with the NFL, NBC elected to move the Bears-Packers game to Sunday evening for the regular season finale of the first year of "NBC Sunday Night Football." The Packers are one of five teams vying for the final playoff spot in the NFC, with five possible scenarios that would give Green Bay a playoff berth, all requiring a victory over Chicago, which has already clenched a playoff spot. It could also be the final game ever for retiring Packer quarterback Brett Favre if his team fails to make the playoffs.
Early wake-up in Chicago
As morning drive time keeps pushing back, NBC is teaming up its O&O TV station, WMAQ-TV (Ch. 5) Chicago, with Emmis-owned WLUP-FM for a new local show for the earliest early birds. NBC5's "Barely Today," debuting January 15th, will be hosted by Bruce Wolf and will simulcast on WLUP "The Loop" (97.9 FM). "The radio simulcast with The Loop is unprecedented in the market. It will add another dimension to the audience involvement and we will have a unique programming event to start the day," said WMAQ President and General Manager Larry Wert, himself a former radio GM in Chicago. This new show will be mostly unscripted, topical discussion of the morning's top news headlines and water cooler stories. It will be more informal and will welcome callers to participate in the discussion. It will also look different. WMAQ says an "L" bar will graphically provide news headlines and weather information throughout the show. Wolf will initially be joined by a series of guest "side-kicks." He will also be joined by Ellee Pai Hong and Andy Avalos for news and weather updates. "We have seen morning audiences grow over the past several years. We believe there is a viable audience for local news and information at 4:30 am," said Frank Whittaker, WMAQ VP of News. In addition to the new half-hour show, Wolf will continue to report traffic and sports in the 5-7 am WMAQ newscasts. He will also continue to deliver sports reports on Jonathon Brandmeier's morning show on The Loop. NBC's Early Today will move to the 4:00 am time period on WMAQ, also effective January 15th.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
 Streaming device captures
on-line programming
Applian Technologies can take just about any kind of programming stream and transfer it to almost any kind of personal digital replay device. Replay A/V version 8 can grab XM and Sirius online programming, whatever's being played in web-only radio or video stations, podcasts, material from Windows Media, Real, Flash, Shoutcast, iTunes Radio and more. It can be used live or programmed to activate at a given time. It produces MP3s or CDs. Applian CEO Bill Dettering said, "Customers are thrilled that it is so easy to simultaneously record every radio show they want, plus video, music, Podcast, Webcams, TV Tuner Cards and more...There's a media revolution going on now, and Replay A/V is destined to be a huge part of it."
TVBR observation: Where Dettering sees a "revolution," we see a copyright nightmare. A difficult situation is only going to get worse, since the inventors sitting in their garages and basements, limited only by their own ingenuity, can work at a lightning clip. Meanwhile, the snail's pace of the regulatory process, which requires agency study, stakeholder and public commentary, bicameral and bipartisan congressional give and take, executive approval, judicial review and bureaucratic implementation, produces rules that become outdated before they've even truly caught up. And if they do by some miracle catch up, they can easily be thwarted or end-arounded by the same inventors. Stay tuned...
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| Ratings & Research |
CBS wins Christmas run-up
The week that ran through Christmas Eve was no contest in the ratings game, with CBS notching an easy victory in both Households and 18-49. NBC, with the limited run game show "Identity" was second in the money demo, followed by a tie for ABC and Fox, Univision, CW, a tie by Telemundo and TeleFutura, i and Azteca America. In HH, CBS scored a 5.7 rating and 10 share, followed by NBC at 4.8/8, ABC 4.1/7, Fox 3.6/6, Univision 1.8/3, CW 1.6/3, i and Telemundo tied at 0.4/1, TeleFutura 0.3/1 and Azteca America 0.1/0. CBS had four of the top five shows, with its NFL post-game show claiming the top spot.
| View the Chart |
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| Stock Talk |
Record close for the Blue Chips
Year-end bargain hunting by traders was credited with a buying spurt in the stock market yesterday. The Dow Industrials ended at a record higher, rising 103 points, or 0.8%, to 12,511.
Almost all TV stocks were higher. Emmis, which is nearly out of TV, rose 2.4%. Media General gained 2.1%.
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| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Acme
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ACME
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5.05
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unch
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LIN TV
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TVL
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10.05
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+0.05
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Belo
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BLC
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18.57
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+0.20
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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68.87
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+0.74
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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31.54
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+0.13
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Media General
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MEG
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38.39
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+0.79
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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31.57
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+0.14
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Meredith
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MDP
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56.54
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+0.55
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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35.56
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+0.09
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News Corp.
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NWS
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22.39
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+0.13
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Disney
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DIS
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34.54
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+0.01
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Nexstar
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NXST
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4.48
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-0.12
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Emmis
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EMMS
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8.25
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+0.19
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NY Times
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NYT
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24.28
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+0.26
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Entravision
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EVC
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8.31
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+0.05
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Ion Media
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ION
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0.50
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unch
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Fisher
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FSCI
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44.99
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+0.79
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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9.69
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+0.08
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Gannett
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GCI
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61.13
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+0.87
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SBS
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SBSA
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4.30
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-0.01
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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37.79
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+0.08
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Scripps
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SSP
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50.40
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+0.79
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Granite
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GBTVK
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0.10
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+0.01
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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10.90
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+0.12
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Gray
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GTN
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7.33
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+0.10
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Time Warner
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TWX
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22.10
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-0.12
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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8.23
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+0.13
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Tribune
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TRB
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31.54
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-0.21
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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25.94
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+0.07
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Univision
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UVN
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35.38
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+0.02
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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12.66
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+0.18
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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759.25
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+4.40
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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66.20
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+0.60
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Young
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YBTVA
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2.75
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-0.10
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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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Stations for Sale
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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
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Below the Fold
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Ad Business Report
New advertiser signs up
For "NOW" on PBS, OK, they call them "Corporate Underwriters," but the intent is the same as Advertising...
A different ad world online
If you viewed yesterday's list then this fills out the Top 10 US advertisers on the Internet. Take a close look see...
Media Business Report
Half-off sale in Minnesota
McClatchy dropped a surprise this week as it announced a deal to divest one of its largest newspapers...
Entertainment Media
Business Report
Early wake-up in Chicago
As morning drive time keeps pushing back WMAQ-TV (Ch. 5), with WLUP-FM does a Cross Platform in programming, for a new Local Show for the earliest early birds...
Ratings & Research
CBS wins Christmas run-up
No contest in the ratings game, with CBS notching an easy victory...
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More News Headlines
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Ninja pirate
fined in San Diego
Teenage Mutant Ninja Radio says on its website that it signed off the air "for a while" in October, "due to harassment by the FCC." But while the pirate broadcasts on 106.9 MHz have apparently ceased in San Diego, the FCC hasn't dropped the matter. It has ordered Alan M. Conrad to pay a fine of 10K, since he failed to respond to a notice of apparent liability issued in September after the FCC began inquiring about unlicensed broadcasts from his property in May. RBR/TVBR sent an email to Conrad via the contact address on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Radio website seeking comment, but he gave us the same response he gave the FCC - none.
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International
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MTV launching in
Pan-Arab region
The Arabian Television Network (ATN) announced that it will partner with MTV Networks International, a unit of Viacom Networks Europe, to launch MTV Arabiya in 2007. MTV Arabiya will be a 24-hour, free-to-air television channel catering to an Arabic-speaking youth audience across the Pan-Arab region. According to ATN, over half the population of the Middle East is under the age of 25. The channel's programming will consist of music videos, music-based programming, general lifestyle and animated programs, reality shows, comedy and dramatic series, news specials, interviews and documentaries. Launch is planned for the second half of 2007.
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RBR - Radio News
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Entercom settles with Spitzer for 4.25 million
As he prepares to move on from being Attorney General of New York to being sworn in next month as Governor, Eliot Spitzer has wrapped up his case against Entercom Communications for what Spitzer claimed were violations of the FCC's sponsor identification rules, although he incorrectly referred to it as "payola." Even the announcement from Spitzer's office late yesterday claimed "Entercom settles payola suit." Without admitting any violations, Entercom agreed to adopt some corporate reforms for its dealing with record labels, such as having a corporate compliance officer to monitor promotion practices. The company also agreed to make a 3.5 million contribution to non-profit music programs in the State of New York, to be funneled through the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and to pay the state 750K for the costs of its investigation. Unlike past occasions when he signed settlements for tens of millions with record labels, Spitzer did not hold a press conference to trumpet his success, nor did the announcement from the AG's office contain any quote attributed to Spitzer. For its part, Entercom is playing it low key. It sent this statement to RBR: "We are pleased to announce the conclusion of the Office of the New York Attorney General's investigation into alleged pay-for-play practices within our company. In the interests of the company, our employees and our shareholders, we have chosen to resolve this matter immediately and without extensive and costly litigation. The Court did not find any liability, nor are we admitting liability with this settlement. Rather, we are taking the opportunity to put the investigation behind us and move forward. Entercom takes the issue of payola seriously. We will continue to comply with federal sponsor identification rules, and we will continue to enforce our policies prohibiting payola. In addition, we will be implementing new policies to enhance and bring additional clarity to our compliance efforts and help establish new industry wide best practices."
RBR observation: Four and a quarter million is a long way from the 20 million plus that we understand Spitzer had initially demanded from the company, so we understand why Entercom elected to settle the lawsuit. Nevertheless, it is disappointing that this blowhard gets any further publicity for his misguided attacks on the radio and record industries and his gross misreading of the law. Let us hope he is a better governor than lawyer, or the people of New York are in for a lot of trouble. The settlement with Entercom is most notable for what Spitzer did not achieve. The company did not admit that its past practices violated any law. In fact, Entercom is free to continue its "CD Preview" and "CD Challenge" programs, which Spitzer had claimed were blatantly illegal. The only change is that going forward Entercom must inform BDS and Mediabase when labels pay for spins on those programs so the monitoring services can choose not to count them. The settlement also spells out that Entercom may solicit prizes or gifts to give away on the air or at station events. Entercom also may arrange for artists to appear or perform at events that its stations sponsor, even when those appearances are subsidized by a record label. Entercom employees may receive gifts of nominal value (less than 25 bucks) from record labels, such as t-shirts and coffee mugs, and Entercom stations may also accept free CDs and concert tickets, within set limits, for employee use. Entercom employees may also receive free meals from record label reps and personal gifts (worth up to 150 bucks) commemorating life events and holidays. Also, record labels may provide travel and lodging for Entercom employees to attend artist performances. In other words, Spitzer's lawsuit was a pile of garbage and he has dropped all of his allegations of so-called "payola" running rampant in corporate radio.
| Read the entire settlement |
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TVBR Radar 2006
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Television News you won't read any where else. TVBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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DirecTV: Malone takes over
in billionaire swap-meet
This deal had been percolating for so long that the only way Wall Street would have been surprised is if it had not gotten done. In the end, the terms to resolve the long standoff between News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch and Liberty Media Chairman John Malone were right in line with what we spelled out earlier this month (12/8/06 TVBR #238). Total details in this issue of TVBR.
TVBR observation: Early on there had been talk that Malone might take some of the smaller market Fox O&O group TV stations, which combined with the DirecTV stake would have been sufficient to get the non-cash portion of the 11 billion bucks swap over the hurdle to make it essentially tax-free for Liberty. Malone is known for going to great lengths to avoid having to pay the IRS when he does a deal. In the end, however, it was the regional sports nets that were used to fill that gap. So, we can begin speculating once again on whether News Corp./Fox will put some of its smaller O&Os on the market, as NBC did this past year. Murdoch came close to a deal to sell those smaller stations to Emmis a few years back. After failing in that effort to greatly expand his TV group, Jeff Smulyan eventually decided to get Emmis out of the television business, so he would not be a bidder if there is a new go-round.
12/27/06 TVBR #249
Bidders getting
serious about Tribune
The initial bids from private equity firms may have been underwhelming, but interest in Tribune Company is heating up - at least to the point where it appears there are at least four potential bidders getting serious about whether to make formal offers.
TVBR observation: Initial bids were said to have been only around 32 bucks a share, which was about where Tribune's stock has been trading for some time. But then Burkle and Broad entered the picture to stir up a little excitement. The latest presentations have been designed to open the books to the bidders and convince them that Tribune's assets are worth more than the value Wall Street has been ascribing to them. It appears all of the bidders are planning on major spin-offs, particularly since there is little hope of retaining the temporary FCC waivers that Tribune has for its newspaper-broadcast combinations. That means that the sell-off of TV stations begun by CEO Dennis FitzSimons, but limited until now to non-core markets, will likely jump into high gear once a buyer is chosen for the entire company. It is not often that you see stations for sale in New York, LA and Chicago, so 2007 will likely be a hot year for TV station trading.
12/22/06 TVBR #248
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