TVBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 23, Issue 42, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Wednesday Morning March 1st, 2006

TV News ®

VA moves toward CATV/telco competition
The state of Virginia has taken a step toward competition in the delivery of video programming to the home. Compromise legislation allows local franchising authorities to maintain a watchful eye over use of their own rights or way, but - - when considering a proposal by a new entrant to compete with incumbent cable systems, puts the LFA on the clock and codifies the expectation that a new entrant's contract will be level with the incumbent's. Verizon Virginia President Robert W. Woltz Jr. said, "Virginians today are another major step closer to having more competitive choices for their cable television services. In July, Virginia will join Texas as a pioneer in bringing cable choice to consumers more quickly. Everyone wins when companies compete, and now Virginians will see greater innovation, better value and real choice for subscription TV." July is when the measure will go into effect, if it gets a signature from Gov. Tim Kaine.

TVBR observation: In the US Senate, Commerce Committee Chair Ted Stevens (R-AK) has indicated that he'd like to see the road cleared of obstructions for telco MVPD wannabes, but seems resigned to a system that keeps LFAs in the loop at some level. The Virginia approach may be the way the nation ends up going, with state and national legislatures allowing LFAs to stand guard over their own infrastructure and receive reimbursement from the company utilizing it, under the condition that they move swiftly and fairly. This may well become a familiar model and the CATV/telco wars heat up.

The VA Senate summary of the provision
Licensing and regulation of cable television systems. Establishes a new procedure by which cable operators may obtain authorization to operate cable systems in localities. The new procedure provides for localities to grant ordinance cable franchises as an alternative to negotiated cable franchises. Ordinance cable franchises may be requested by certificated providers of telecommunications services with previous consent to use a locality's rights-of-way, after requesting to negotiate a cable franchise agreement. Upon receipt of an application for an ordinance cable franchise, the locality shall adopt necessary ordinances within 120 days.

Between a Rockefeller and a hard place?
The ever-popular Broadcast Decency Act of [insert year here] - - ever-popular in the House, that is, but ever-popular in the Senate only until such time as it comes up for a meaningful floor vote - - may well be put before the Senate Commerce Committee again this year, although it is questionable whether committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) will lift a finger to help it along. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) is planning to push a bill he co-authored with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) which would go much further than the measures crafted more tightly by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) in the House and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) in the Senate. From Rockefeller's website, here are the highlights of his proposal: "Providing the FCC with the authority, for the first time, to address graphic and gratuitous violence on television; directing the FCC to address violence and indecency on all TV programming, including cable and satellite; increasing fines for indecent content; doubling children's programming from 3-6 hours per week; and giving greater flexibility to local broadcasters and parents to reject offensive programming." Stevens has said he will pull back from any efforts to put indecency legislation on the books until a new voluntary effort by the cable industry to provide tiers of family-friendly programming has a chance to gain traction. Stevens also indicated his belief that any such decency legislation would go straight to court, regardless of how well it is crafted.

TVBR observation: There has been incredible legislative support for upping the ceiling on indecency fines to as much as 500K for an egregious offense. On the violence front, however, former Sen. Fritz Hollings pushed for a measure going back to 1993, and actually pushed such a measure through the Commerce Committee three times by overwhelming margins of by a 16-1, 19-1 and 17-1 (2/13/04 TVBR #30). The result: nothing. As for imposing programming restrictions on cable and satellite, the chances of getting something like that past the courts are far slimmer a prospect than the fine increase, which may be troublesome enough. It would appear that the cable company's family tier initiative has bought some time on Capitol Hill for everyone in the programming game.

Time for a name change
As TVBR predicted months ago (11/11/05 TVBR #222), Paxson Communications is jettisoning the name of its founder, now that Bud Paxson no longer has a role in day-to-day operations. The TV network and station group is now Ion Media Networks and the AMEX symbol will change from "PAX" to "ION" once shareholders officially OK the name change in June. "This new corporate identity mirrors our renewed commitment to find the best utilization and value proposition for our nationwide TV distribution and digital network platforms," said CEO Brandon Burgess. "The Ion Media Networks name highlights three aspects of our vision: our team's positive energy for building superior value with our assets; our commitment to bringing quality media content to our communities; and our ability to enable multiple networks across our digital broadcast spectrum," he said.

Wolzien to address TVB
He's being hailed as a "legendary media analyst" by the TVB, and we doubt that anyone would dispute that. Tom Wolzien was praised by many for his independent thinking in his nearly 14 years as an analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. before launching his own consulting firm, Wolzien LLC, last year. Wolzien has agreed to be a featured speaker at next month's TVB Annual Marketing Conference April 20th in New York, focusing exclusively this year on the topic "Television Goes Multiplatform," and will also moderate the "Our Changing World" conference session. "Tom is one of the industry's great thought-leaders and visionaries, and his insights on the future of multiplatform opportunities make him a true asset to this event," said TVB President Chris Rohrs. TVB had previously announced that Beth Comstock, NBC Universal President of Digital Media and Market Development, will be keynote speaker for the event (2/24/06 TVBR #39).

TVBR observation: TV broadcasters, both at the network and local level, are rapidly figuring out ways to repurpose content for new platforms, such as the Internet, iPods and cell phones. If you're still in a single platform mode, video over broadcast TV, you're going to be left behind. TVBR interviewed Chris Rohrs about the multiplatform revolution in the February issue of RBR/TVBR Solutions Magazine.
| Read That Article Here |

"Mad Money" man can calm down;
SEC subpoena on hold
Local investigators in California for the Securities and Exchange Commission didn't issue subpoenas only to Dow Jones reporters, resulting in a media outcry and castigation from their boss's, boss's boss, SEC Chairman Chris Cox. They also subpoenaed radio and TV stock commentator Jim Cramer and his company, TheStreet.com, in regards to contacts with news sources about publicly traded Overstock.com. Overstock has accused some stock short-sellers of working with journalists to drive down its stock price. "I didn't get the subpoena because I'm corrupt. I got it because I tried to get people out of a stock that we said was going lower, and went lower," Cramer said on his CNBC "Mad Money" show. According to an announcement from CNBC, the SEC has now backed down and will not pursue the subpoena at this time. SEC Chairman Cox has said that such "sensitive" subpoenas seeking material from journalists are supposed to be cleared by the SEC's top brass, not local investigators.

Wall Street Media Business Report TM

Saga's saga:
TV gains weren't enough to counter radio's drop
Saga Communications ended 2005 with Q4 revenues down 1.8%, as TV gains couldn't overcome a radio decline. The culprits: declines in auto and wireless telecom advertising. Radio revenues fell 2.6% to 31.4 million, but on a same station basis revenues were down 8.7%. Broadcast cash flow for radio was down 25.6% to 7.8 million, a drop of 27.3% same station. TV had a better quarter, with revenues up 5.1% to 4.1 million and BCF gaining 18.7% to 655K. But, as the numbers indicate, TV is a much smaller unit at Saga, compared to its much larger radio group.

Ad Business Report TM

CoverGirl signs Keri Russell
as spokesmodel
CoverGirl make-up has a new face joining its family of models. Keri Russell, soon to appear in the highly-anticipated "Mission: Impossible III," is the newest spokesmodel for the brand. Keri first captured the hearts of America in her role as Felicity Porter in the hit television series "Felicity." Joining CoverGirl's current roster of models including Christie Brinkley, Molly Sims and Queen Latifah, the 29-year-old California native's first CoverGirl ads will launch later this year. "Keri embodies the clean, fresh, natural look that defines CoverGirl," says Gina Drosos, Vice President and General Manager of Global Cosmetics, Procter & Gamble Beauty. "Her natural beauty and spirited personality shine through in everything she does." Since its introduction in 1961, CoverGirl has helped launch numerous modeling careers and was one of the first brands to link models' names and faces with a product. The long list of famous CoverGirl models includes Christie Brinkley, Cheryl Tiegs, Rachel Hunter, Tyra Banks, Niki Taylor and Molly Sims, and the brand is known for consistently signing models who embody both inner and outer beauty, such as current spokesmodel Queen Latifah.

Chrysler, GM campaigns differ in
targeting multi versus single products
This analysis of spot advertising on radio stations in top-rated North American markets is for the 7-day period of February 20-26, 2006 and based on data from Media Monitors.
| Read More... |

Arby's taps Joan Rivers,
Hulk Hogan for new campaign
As part of the launch of its Chicken Naturals menu, Arby's is introducing two new television ads featuring gossip maven, Joan Rivers, and wrestling legend, Hulk Hogan. The spots, which run through 3/25, shed light on why natural is only better in Arby's chicken. One ad reveals what stand up comedienne and queen of the red carpet Joan Rivers would look like "natural" had she forgone plastic surgery. An almost unrecognizable, very wrinkled, yet bejeweled Joan quickly realizes that natural only works for chicken. In another ad, the world's most famous wrestler, Hulk Hogan, also realizes that natural only works for Arby's chicken when he is transformed into a scrawny version of himself. Decked out in red and yellow wrestling tights, the puny Hulk strains to pull off his signature move - - ripping off his t-shirt. "Chicken Naturals is a prime example of that something different something better experience Arby's has been offering for more than 40 years," said Debra Mager, SVP/Advertising, Arby's Restaurant Group. "We wanted the creative to be larger than life to match the uniqueness of our new chicken as well as take a step out from what anyone else is doing in the category."

Washington Media Business Report TM

DNC attracts 11 cities for 2008 DNC
Like the Republican National Committee, almost, the Democratic National Committee sent out feelers to about 30 cities to see if there was any interest in playing host to the Democratic National Convention when it next convenes in 2008. According to the Associated Press, 11 have responded to indicate interest, including Anaheim, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Phoenix and San Antonio. The convention will be held 8/25-28/08.

TVBR observation: A very public indication of no interest by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley had some in-state partisans miffed (2/17/06 TVBR #34). Perhaps they will be soothed by the apparent fact that the city has no expressed interest in the DNC either.

Ratings & Research

An Olympic win for NBC...and Fox
NBC won the most recent week's Nielsen race in HH and total viewers, powered by the Torino Winter Olympics, but Fox came on strong with "American Idol" and won both the 18-49 and 18-34 demos. As in previous weeks of February, the Olympics proved not to be the ratings blockbuster of past years. Nevertheless, NBC topped the HH tally with a rating of 11.8 and 18 share. Fox was next at 9.1/14, with ABC at 7.1/11, CBS 6.6/10, Univision 2.2/3, WB 1.9/3, UPN 1.8/3, Telemundo 0.6/3 and i 0.3/0. In the 18-49 demo, it was Fox, NBC, ABC, Univision, WB, UPN, Telemundo and i. NBC's best night of Olympics coverage, Thursday, was only the week's 4th rated show, with two nights of "American Idol" on Fox and the finale of "Dancing with the Stars" on ABC claiming the top three spots. Here's the list of the top 20.
| View the Chart |

Stock Talk

Good GDP news forgotten as home sales drop
The government reported that Q4 GDP growth was at an annual rate of 1.6%, up from the original estimate of 1.1%. But that wasn't enough to put Wall Street traders in a buying mood. Instead, they focused on the fifth straight monthly drop in existing home sales, fearing that one area that had been keeping the economy chugging along, real estate, is starting to weaken. The Dow Industrials fell 104 points, or 0.9%, to 10,993.

Most TV stocks were lower. Sinclair plunged 6.7%, with no news to account for the move. Saga fell 4.1% after reporting its Q4 results.

Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Acme	ACME		3.69	+0.09	LIN TV	TVL		9.33	-0.37
Belo	BLC		21.24	-0.39	McGraw-Hill	MHP		53.09	-1.22
CBS CI. B	CBS		24.46	-0.37	Media General	MEG		50.10	-0.85
CBS CI. A	CBSa		24.47	-0.33	Meredith	MDP		55.09	+0.18
Clear Channel	CCU		28.30	+0.03	News Corp.	NWS		17.15	+0.01
Disney	DIS		27.99	-0.39	Nexstar	NXST		4.06	+0.04
Emmis	EMMS		16.37	-0.29	NY Times	NYT		28.22	-0.68
Entravision	EVC		7.43	-0.07	Paxson	PAX		0.96	+0.01
Fisher	FSCI		42.80	+0.10	Saga Commun.	SGA		9.47	-0.40
Gannett	GCI		62.16	-0.63	SBS	SBSA		5.61	-0.09
Gen. Electric	GE		32.87	-0.45	Scripps	SSP		48.08	-0.35
Granite	GBTVK		0.14	unch	Sinclair	SBGI		7.19	-0.52
Gray	GTN		8.42	-0.13	Time Warner	TWX		17.31	unch
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		8.22	unch	Tribune	TRB		30.60	-0.12
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		23.87	-0.45	Univision	UVN		33.45	-0.38
Jeff-Pilot	JP		60.25	-0.70	Wash. Post	WPO		752.25	-6.85
Journal Comm.	JRN		12.31	-0.14	Young	YBTVA		3.03	+0.01

Bounceback

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TV Media Moves

Two get GM stripes
Univision has promoted two veteran sales executives to General Manager - - Steve Stuck for its Univision and TeleFutura stations in Sacramento and Maelia Macin for the Univision/TeleFutura combo in Austin, TX. Stuck had been General Sales Manager of KUVS-TV Sacramento and Macin was Local Sales Manager of KMEX-TV Los Angeles.

CFO succession
at Harris
Harris Corporation, which among other things is a major maker of broadcasting equipment, announced that Sr. VP & CFO Bryan Roub will retire from the company June 30th. Effective today, March 1st, Gary McArthur, who had been VP/Finance & Treasurer, is promoted to VP & CFO.

Below the Fold

Wall Street Media Business Report
Down quarter for Saga
Q4 down 1.8%, as TV gains couldn't overcome a radio decline...

Ad Business Report
Chrysler, GM campaigns differ
In targeting multi versus single products...

Ratings & Research
An Olympic win for NBC
But Fox came on strong with "American Idol"...

RBR - Radio News

CBS sues Howard Stern
for mega bucks
Howard Stern got more than 600 million bucks by moving from Infinity Radio (now CBS Radio) to Sirius Satellite Radio, but now CBS is claiming that it deserves a big chunk of that cash. It's sued Stern and his agent, Don Buchwald, in a New York state court, claiming multiple breaches of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment and misappropriation of CBS Radio's broadcast time. The announcement of the lawsuit by CBS didn't set a specific amount being sought, but a report in the New York Post said Stern's former employer wants a half billion bucks. Even before the lawsuit was filed, Stern called a press conference to fire the first volley at CBS. He disputed CBS' claim that he reached a "secret agreement" with Sirius Satellite Radio, since he disclosed it to CBS/Infinity executives and on the air. He also denied that he cost his former employer money by discussing satellite radio on his terrestrial radio show, insisting that it was a legitimate story - - and besides, it helped boost ratings. The CBS lawsuit claims the "secret" part was the more than 34 million shares of Sirius stock that Stern and Buchwald received last month (1/6/05 RBR #4) because Sirius exceeded a certain subscriber target in 2005. All of those subscriber gains came while Stern was still a CBS/Infinity employee and CBS claims he misappropriated its airtime to promote Sirius.
| Read more about the lawsuit |

RBR observation: Got to print out the legal action but there are two sides to a coin. Stern made no bones he was leaving and CBS higher ups left him on the air. CBS made money from Stern in the process even when Stern asked to be let out of his contract and said so on CBS 60-minutes. So where is the beef? Sirius is still struggling and CBS is out a bunch - No - a 'you know what' pot load of money without Stern. CBS should take a harder look at all their programming and money they are spending for current air talent because it is not working worth Jack, (cough)! Both are getting headlines and it seems that is what they need to drum up ad business. Sometime this year someone at CBS radio is going to walk the plank.

TVBR Radar 2005

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

TV is #1 news source
54% of Americans have a daily local broadcast TV news habit, and more than three out of four go there for news, if not every day, then several times a week. The total with a weekly habit is 77%.

TVBR observation: Use the stats in your sales and programming departments.
02/28/06 TVBR #41

Competition douses Olympic flame
The February sweeps ended but they pretty much wrapped up for NBC as the Torino Winter Olympics concluded. And while the Peacock net is crowing about winning three weeks in a row for primetime viewership, with an average 20.5 million viewers in primetime through Saturday, it's clear that the Olympics is no longer a guaranteed ratings bonanza. Rather than roll over and schedule reruns, as had been the practice in past Olympic months, ABC and Fox saw a ratings weakened NBC and decided to battle the Olympics head-on and were winners.

TVBR observation: Would it have made a big difference for NBC if popular figure skater Michelle Kwan hadn't been injured and skier Bode Miller had delivered even a single medal after all the hype he had going into the Winter Games? Perhaps it would have helped NBC's ratings somewhat. But we think there's really been a shift in how Americans relate to the Olympics it is call viewing now and not tape delay.
02/28/06 TVBR #41

MyNetwork TV a network or not
TVBR hears there's a bit of an issue out there as to whether MyNetwork TV is really a network or not. Care to clarify? Bob Cesa, EVP/Advertising Sales Twentieth Television & DIRECTV - "When something is new, some may not have heard everything the way we wanted it to come out. First of all, it is a network service that we're starting. We going to run in-pattern, just as the WB and UPN networks did, with the same stations. We haven't, certainly, cleared all of the stations. We've got a long way to go, but our launch pad is our 10 stations that reach 25% of the country...."
02/27/06 TVBR #40

More media agencies look
at MyNetwork TV
Jon Mandel, Chairman/MediaCom US was unmoved: "I don't know why you're calling me about a network-this is not a network. This is a syndicator with a group deal. All it is, is a syndicator selling a program to the vertically-integrated station group that's trying to get other people to go in. Big deal. Every syndicator wants to be a network. It's pretty funny-just because you call yourself a network doesn't make yourself a network."
02/24/06 RBR #39

FCC and/or CBS ready to
sound off on indecency?
According to numerous reports, the long-awaited next round in the indecency wars is about to commence. Decisions on 40-some separate cases are ready to be unveiled. The big enchilada will be the refusal of the Commission to back down from its 550K action against CBS Television for the infamous 2004 Super Bowl incident featuring Janet Jackson.

TVBR observation: After getting hit with a number of FCC fines, then-CBS honcho Mel Karmazin vowed to comply and fight but Karmazin is long gone but the fight of this incident continues.
02/24/06 TVBR #39

Director of Sales
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