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Volume 22, Issue 95, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Friday Morning May 13th, 2005
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TV News®
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 Dueling letters over DTV hard date
Just a couple of days ago, NAB President & CEO Eddie Fritts was praising Consumer Electronics Association President & CEO Gary Shapiro for the way NAB and CEA were cooperating on the DTV transition (5/11/05 TVBR #93), but now the two are at odds over DTV information being distributed on Capitol Hill. Fritts charges that a letter sent Wednesday by CEA to Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who is pushing legislation for a hard date for broadcasters to surrender their analog licenses, was filled with "wildly inaccurate claims." According to Shapiro, "The fact is that the percentage of American homes relying only on an over the air signal is low and shrinking." CEA claims its research finds that only 13% of American homes would be without TV service if the DTV cutoff occurred today. Nonsense, says Fritts, the government's own research shows that the number is actually 19%. He also struck out at CEA for backing a near-term hard date for the analog license surrender, while its own members continue to sell analog-only receivers - - with sales of 59 million analog-only sets projected for 2004-2008.
| Read Shapiro's letter | Read Fritts' letter |
 VNR issue on back burner
There seems to be general agreement between Republicans, Democrats, bureaucrats, the news industry and the public relations community that government-produced video news releases (VNRs) should be clearly identified as products of the government. As in most things in Washington, the devil is in the details - - although in this case it seems to be an unusually small devil. In the end, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) said that the amendment attached to an appropriations bill by Robert Byrd (D-WV) which, as he pointed out repeatedly "...we all voted for," would do the job of preventing anything which could be labeled "covert propaganda" from coming out of any government agency.. According to many speakers at the committee session on VNRs, the Byrd amendment will be in force at least until the end of September and perhaps longer. Meanwhile, the FCC is gathering commentary on the topic. Acknowledging the temporary nature of the Byrd amendment, Stevens agreed to look into a long-term piece of legislation, but after the results of the FCC fact-finding mission are in. The issue is not about broadcasters, who are already required to disclose any relationship involving the exchange of consideration for any kind of air time. The legislation would resolve different interpretations of the law regarding the government's responsibility to provide disclosure. GAO says failure to do so constitutes covert propaganda, while the OMB placed the onus of disclosure on broadcasters using the VNRs.
NM Dems in the FEC crosshairs
Not long after hitting a local Republican campaign outfit (Arkansas) with a fine, the Federal Election Commission has turned its sights on a Democratic campaign outfit in New Mexico. The price is only one sixth that the Arkansans had to pay. The New Mexico case goes all the way back to 1997, when a special election was held for the House of Representatives 3rd District seat. It seems the party ran a get-out-the-vote campaign which did not mention any candidate, but did advocate strongly supporting Democratic candidates. The Dems there claimed this was therefore a generic ad flight, and was payable with nonfederal funds. However, there was only one Democratic candidate in the race, leading the FEC to conclude that "the communications were express advocacy on behalf of the candidate and therefore had to be paid for using only federal funds." The price for the indiscretion is 60K. The Arkansas Republicans earlier were hit with a 360K fine for soft money and reporting irregularities (5/4/05 TVBR #88).
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 Sirius problem:
Stern may backfire with carmakers
According to the Detroit News, the decision by Hyundai to make XM Satellite Receivers standard equipment in all of its cars for the 2007 model year (3/24/05 TVBR #59), rather than rival Sirius, came down to one issue: Howard Stern. The decision to go with XM over Sirius was made after surveying 300-400 Hyundai owners. Hyundai Motor America VP of Product Development John Krafcik told the Motown newspaper that company execs were stunned by how many people wrote-in, unprompted, that they were, in his words, "uncomfortable with programming from Stern." On a more minor point, Krafcik said the car company also preferred the way the XM logo looked on the receiver faceplate, saying that AM/FM/XM is "neat and clean." The Detroit News article noted, though, that some other carmakers don't have a problem with offering customers Sirius and Stern. Mercedes-Benz M-Class Product Manager Dave Larsen was quoted as saying Sirius has Positioned itself as "the premium provider," which he said fit more with the Mercedes-Benz brand.
TVBR observation: Guess those Hyundai owners haven't ever heard Opie & Anthony on XM's "High Voltage" channel and don't realize that XM also offers the Playboy Channel. Those are already up and running on XM, while Stern won't debut on Sirius until next year.
Talk radio falsely bashed for anti-Muslim rhetoric
Here's the lead of an Associated Press story distributed on Wednesday: "Anti-Muslim Internet traffic and radio broadcasts are fueling an atmosphere of hate and contributing to increased discrimination, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Wednesday." How did we miss that, we wondered, since RBR/TVBR regularly receives press releases from CAIR? So we went to the organization's website and thoroughly read the release which we had glanced over and discarded on Wednesday. Yes, it says reported cases of harassment, violence and discrimination against Muslims in the US rose 49% in 2004 to 1,522 incidents. But while it cites "a general increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric," there's no mention of either radio or the Internet as being responsible. OK, must be in the actual report. Now, we admit that we didn't read all 63 pages, but we do have a computer with a handy, dandy word-search device. The word "radio" does not appear anywhere in the report. The only reference to "talk" is about Yusuf Islam (once known as Cat Stevens) becoming fodder for late-night TV talk show monologues when he showed up on a US government list of people barred from entering the country. As for the Internet, the report says cases of harassment of Muslims via the Web decreased from 7% of all complaints in 2003 to 1% in 2004.
TVBR observation: We doubt that the AP reporter just made up the accusations against talk radio and the Internet. Perhaps the person they spoke to at CAIR made such a comment off the cuff - - perhaps someone who hadn't actually read the report. We don't know. But we do know that the real story doesn't match up with the AP's radio-bashing lead.
Forget waiting for the commercials
LG Electronics has created the TV Refrigerator, at a cool 3,150 bucks. The refrigerator, available from major retailers, has a 13.1-inch liquid-crystal display built into the right door (opposite a water and ice dispenser in the left door). The television, reports the NY Times, includes an FM radio tuner and 1.5-watt stereo speakers, is cable- and satellite-ready (a coaxial port is built into the right door hinge) and provides inputs for a DVD player or VCR on the side of the door. And, of course, the refrigerator, which is 68 inches tall and weighs 335 pounds, comes with a wireless remote control.
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| Upfront 2005 |
 Who's hot? Who's not?
Wall Street assesses the Upfront
As the TV networks unveil their fall schedules and start booking ad purchases next week, it's not just Madison Avenue that will be watching. How the nets do in the upfront affects the bottom line and stock performance of their parent companies, so Wall Street is keeping a close watch on the goings on. In advance of the annual hoopla, Goldman Sachs is predicting that the total take from this year's upfront will be down 5% from last year, the first decline in five years, although CBS and ABC should do well because of their improved positions in the ratings. CIBC World Markets isn't so pessimistic, it projects a 2% rise in upfront bookings and also sees CBS and ABC as the big gainers. Read RBR/TVBR's synopsis of the two brokerage house's upfront projections.
Goldman Sachs predicts a down, 9.02 billion upfront
Goldman Sachs' annual broadcast upfront report is predicting a mid-single-digit percent decline in upfront dollars. The report says CBS and ABC should capture a greater share of a smaller pie, driven by strong ratings. | Highlights |
CIBC predicts broadcast upfront up 2%
CIBC World Markets' broadcast upfront preview estimated the broadcast upfront will rise by 2% (on flat unit sales), in line with both buy-side and sell-side expectations. CIBC, however, expects the networks to be more aggressive with ratings guarantees (at up 2%, not down 3%), implying CPMs will disappoint at +3% (vs. +5-6%). | Highlights |
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Adbiz©
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Motorola digital biz goes to FCBi
Motorola has awarded digital and relationship marketing of its 100 million global ad account to FCBi, part of IPG's Foote, Cone & Belding, after a review. The switch is the latest move by Motorola this year to realign its marketing and media agencies. In February, Motorola moved its US media Universal McCann to Carat. Universal continued to buy media for Motorola globally, however. In April Motorola hired 180 Amsterdam for a branding assignment.
 MediaCom names Tonya Deniz
to top research spot
MediaCom Worldwide welcomed Tonya Deniz as Worldwide Director of Research and Consumer Insights. She'll be leading MediaCom's global research team out of NYC in the development and implementation of tools, methods and systems. Deniz most recently headed up North American and Latin America research departments for MPG and Arnold. In her previously roles, she helped marketers navigate in the "new world" of communication. She has developed primary research on new communication technologies and approaches, including PVRs and product placement.
Interpublic hires former
MTV exec Rosenthal
The Interpublic Group (IPG) has named former MTV Networks President/COO Mark Rosenthal Chairman and CEO of the group's media operations. In the new position, Rosenthal will be based in New York and will oversee Initiative Media, MAGNA Global, Universal McCann and a number of leading specialist media agencies. The move comes a day after IPG lost General Motors, which shifted its 3.2 billion buying account to Publicis/Starcom Mediavest's GM Planworks. "This is a unique opportunity," said Rosenthal, "to lead a new organization which can offer the full range of media capabilities to solve marketing problems. This organization has the potential to be unrivaled in combining its media buying power, creative insights and execution, and analytical horsepower to help clients build their brands and sell more products. Initiative and Universal will remain independent of one another and we'll also remain strongly committed to supporting MAGNA Global's unique strength as our aggregated negotiation unit."
 Trojan wants primetime placement
Church & Dwight, the manufacturer of Trojan condoms, wants to advertise on primetime television, and is reportedly is in talks with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox to air in the daypart within a month. The company believes its new Trojan campaign is appropriate for prime time because it stresses health issues such as HIV. ABC, CBS and NBC have accepted condom ads and review them on a case-by-case basis. There are no laws against prime-time condom ads. It just hasn't been done. A spokeswoman for NBC told the NY Post the network had reviewed the Trojan spots and would air them as early as 10 p.m. "given the health-oriented nature of this particular campaign." The earliest the network has run condom ads in the past is 11:30 p.m. A Fox spokesman said the network is reviewing the ads but hasn't made a decision. The current policy is to run a condom ad only in late-night - and only if it "speaks to the health issue."
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| Washington Beat |
Dole bullish on elephant prospects
Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) has fired off a status report to party members, providing early handicapping of the 2006 senatorial races. For starters, to date the Democrats are forced to defend three to-be-open seats - - in Minnesota, Maryland and (technically) Vermont, against only one - - Tennessee - - for her own party. She also thinks the Dems are vulnerable in four additional states: Florida, West Virginia, North Dakota and Nebraska. All four were carried by Bush in the last presidential election. She confesses vulnerable Republican seats in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
TVBR observation: Whether or not Dole is right, you can bet the advertising dollars will be flowing in each and every one of these locations.
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| Programming |
 Countdown to goodbye Raymond
With CBS' long-running hit "Everybody Loves Raymond" due to air its final episode next Monday (5/16), Nielsen Media Research has been reviewing the show's stats. The current season received a 10.8% average household rating with 16.7 million viewers tuning in, but that's neither the high nor the low for the show. Both the ratings and audience size have grown significantly since the premiere season. Ratings and viewership peaked in the 2001-2002 season with an 11.5% rating and 17.7 million viewers. | Ratings Chart |
CNBC cancels Dennis Miller Show
CNBC is canceling "Dennis Miller" in an attempt to revive the network's struggling primetime performance. Miller will be replaced with a second airing of "Mad Money With Jim Cramer" at 9 p.m. ET. The network will also replace "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" with a new business show at 7 p.m. that will debut in Q3. Both moves are part of a repositioning of CNBC's primetime back to the network's focus on financial news and away from failed attempts at entertainment, according to a report. Miller's cancellation comes on the heels of the cancellation of shows hosted by John McEnroe and Tina Brown.
 Zucker: "We have to do better this fall
than we're doing now"
NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker said Wednesday at a breakfast at Rockefeller Plaza he will not attempt to hide from the network's problems in addressing the buying community during next Monday's presentation of fall programming at Radio City Music Hall. "I will acknowledge up top the reality of the situation," Zucker told the audience. "We're not going to run from that. We're not going to hide from that. We're not going to let the elephant sit in the room. I'll handle the fact it was a tough year...Let's be honest. We have to do better this fall than we're doing now. We did not have a very good year. We lost 'Friends' and didn't replenish the schedule with newer, fresher hits." Zucker added that NBC still leads among affluent viewers and that the broadcast networks are currently separated by just a fraction of a rating point in the key 18-to-49 demo. He said NBC has a two-pronged strategy for the coming season: Home in on programs that could be immediate hits and develop strong shows that will pay off in the future.
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| Stock Talk |
Wal-Mart's low price - - its stock
A 2005 earnings warning from retail giant Wal-Mart - - after missing its Q1 target - - sent stock prices skidding on Thursday, despite a government report that showed retail sales up 1.4% in April - - the best showing in six months. Wal-Mart's stock fell 2% for the day. The Dow Industrials dropped 111 points, or 1.1%, to 10,189.
TV stocks dropped as well. Other than the penny stocks, the day's worst performer was Nexstar, down 2.7% (and now only 15 cents away from penny stock territory itself). Univision rebounded 2.4% from the previous day's sell-off as the best performer.
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| Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Thursday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Acme
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ACME
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4.00
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+0.03
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McGraw-Hill
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MHP
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87.24
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-0.51
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Belo
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BLC
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23.62
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+0.22
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Media General
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MEG
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59.16
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+0.30
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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30.03
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-0.02
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Meredith
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MDP
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47.81
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+0.86
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Disney
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DIS
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26.75
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+0.08
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News Corp.
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NWS
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15.92 |
unch
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Emmis
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EMMS
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18.01
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-0.20
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Nexstar
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NXST
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5.15
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-0.14
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.35
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-0.03
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NY Times
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NYT
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32.69
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+0.24
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Fisher
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FSCI
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49.54
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+0.05
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Paxson
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PAX
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0.77
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-0.03
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Gannett
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GCI
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75.99
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-0.30
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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14.19
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+0.02
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Gen. Electric
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GE
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35.87
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-0.32
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Scripps
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SSP
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51.15
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+0.04
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Granite
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GBTVK
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0.18
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-0.04
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Sinclair
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SBGI
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7.96
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-0.03
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Gray
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GTN
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12.23
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+0.03
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Time Warner
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TWX
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17.04
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+0.09
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Gray, C1. A
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GTNa
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11.53
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unch
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Tribune
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TRB
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37.54
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-0.10
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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24.80
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-0.14
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Univision
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UVN
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25.92
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+0.60
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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49.46
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-0.68
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
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34.74
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-0.03
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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16.08
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-0.12
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
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34.59
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-0.02
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Liberty Corp
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LC
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36.74
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+0.03
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Wash. Post
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WPO
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816.25
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-0.75
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LIN TV
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TVL
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15.46
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-0.10
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Young
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YBTVA
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5.85
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-0.07 |
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Bounceback
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 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to tvnews@rbr.com
 In reference to the FCC Notice of Proposed FCC Rulemaking calling for public notification of a station sale (5/12/05 TVBR #94) - - This harks back to the time in the 60s when the FCC was concerned about format changes. There were two major cases in Chicago - the extended hearings and litigation over the change of WEFM from classical to rock; and the on-going hearings over the Chicago Tribune's ownership of WFMT, which finally forced the Tribune to give WFMT to Chicago's public television station WTTW. The FCC's power to regulate programming content was eventually negated. This rulemaking seems to be a step backwards.
Robert Conrad
President
WCLV, Cleveland, OH
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RBR - Radio News
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Pine rallies the
troops at Interep
Following last week's bashing of the rep firm in a couple of Wall Street conference calls, Interep Co-President/COO George Pine has distributed a memo to his staffers assuring them that the company is building business, despite reports to the contrary. In his memo to the troops, Pine said Interep has been the subject of "misinformed criticism" and he was out to set the record straight. "Here are the facts," he wrote. "The Interep stations collectively have outpaced the market in the first quarter and we are continuing to provide top-flight client service. Our commission revenue and share of national radio increased in Q1 and we well exceeded the marketplace." And he said things are looking good for Q2 and Q3. "Most clients are pacing up, with rare exceptions, and virtually all of our clients will be outpacing the market by midyear. Our performance is something to be proud of. We need to make this clear to all our client station groups. Unfortunately national billing trends do not equally favor all markets of all sizes," Pine told RBR as he read from the internal memo. While Pine didn't specifically mention critical comments last week in the Cumulus and Radio One calls, he noted that both SBS CEO Raul Alarcon and Entercom CEO David Field made a point of praising Interep's staffers in their conference calls. Several group heads have recently said both Interep and Katz need to focus more on finding new business. Pine said Interep Innovations generated 79 million in new business for client stations in 2004 and has already generated 20 million in new business in Q1 of 2005. Pine noted that Interep is working with Allen & Co. on refinancing Interep's public bonds and that it is CEO Ralph Guild's "number one priority." Pine told RBR there's no target date to complete that process. The bonds aren't due until 2008, but Interep would like to complete the refinancing sooner than that, if possible.
RBR observation: Preaching to the choir is fine, but Interep clearly needs to do a better job of getting its message out to Wall Street. Since the company no longer conducts quarterly conference calls and no analysts actively cover its stock, bad PR just kept building last week after Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey lashed out at Interep in his quarterly conference call. By the way, Pine says, "We're still in discussions and talking with Lew about continuing to do business together."
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Radio & Television
Business Report
The First Real Monthly
Business Media Magazine
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'05 Clock is Ticking -
Heading for Closure
June Magazine
National Sales:
EDI - Electronic Data Interchange, sometimes synonymous with Electronic Invoicing
Kathy Crawford, MindShare President, Local Broadcast, speaks her mind on EDI, specifically stating what solutions she needs from the software and keying entries to get stations faster payment in an exclusive column. States straight up, "Lest you should all think that our work is done in the world of EDI. Think again!" EDI- the focus of the future of national spot dollar. Who is and who isn't involved. From the rep firms to the software companies, we get answers. The Clock is ticking on EDI. Closure in '05?
Reserve your Ad Marketing
Space today Advertising space
is limited, contact:
June Barnes jbarnes@rbr.com
Jim Carnegie jcarnegie@rbr.com
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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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Battle for the UpFront bucks:
The Scorecard
Big bucks are on the line as the TV networks pitch advertisers and agencies for upfront commitments for next season. More than 8.5 billion is expected to be at stake. This horse race is a little easier to handicap: CBS is hoping to surpass NBC for the first time in total dollars booked - ABC is likely to be the most improved over last year, based on its improved ratings. is expected to book less upfront money than last year due to its ratings decline. We've put the Nielsen numbers together for you in a Scorecard. View the Network Primetime numbers
05/12/05 TVBR #94
Journal has its sights on Emmis TV
Hours after the group went on the auction block, Journal CEO Steve Smith was telling a Robert W. Baird investor conference in Chicago that his company was interested in buying the Emmis TV. In fact, Smith called Jeff Smulyan before last month's NAB'05 and told him that if Emmis were ever to consider selling Journal would be interested. But there's still a question of where values are in the market today, although he said that's less of an issue in TV than in radio.
05/12/05 TVBR #94
GM picks Starcom
MediaVest for 3.2B
Awarded Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Chicago with its 3.2 billion US buying account. The account had been with Interpublic's (Universal McCann's) GM-dedicated agency, GM Mediaworks Detroit for national and LCI New York, for regional buying. The move covers Dealer Association advertising as well (600 million in advertising). buying functions will move to the Planworks umbrella officially 10/1 (then, all a part of Starcom), with no name change expected. Dennis Donlin at GM Planworks is now in charge and tells RBR/TVBR what's ahead.
TVBR observation: As Donlin said, the moves will be "aggressive." This is Lazar's and LaNeve's plans being put into motion. 05/12/05 TVBR #94
Latest rumor: Disney may sell radio
Lot up for sale, the latest rumor to make the rounds is that Disney CEO-to-be Bob Iger may be interested in selling the ABC Radio group.
TVBR observation: This rumor seems to pop up about once each year. The only thing that might give it more credence this time is the changing of the guard at Disney. With Bob Iger taking over as CEO, he's looking at what sort of company he wants to be running going forward. But Disney has always been much more of a buyer than a seller, so don't be surprised if the radio operation stays right where it is. Also, there's the question of whether this is a great time to sell. With stock prices so low for the public companies, they can't pay a premium price for even beachfront properties at least nothing this big. That would greatly limit the pool of potential bidders.
05/12/05 TVBR #94
What's Emmis got to sell?
Here's your shopping list if you want to get in on the bidding for TV stations at Emmis Communications. TVBR observation: We can say with near certainty that the entire Emmis TV group will not end up with a single new owner. That's because of the situation in Honolulu, where it has a temporary waiver to own both the CBS and Fox affiliates. So look for those to end up in separate hands. 05/11/05 TVBR #93
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Established in 1979 we've conducted over 1 billion in transactions and seeking just one executive that desires to learn and become a player in the investment media station brokerage business. First quality in our firm - Integrity. - See TV Careers
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