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Volume 23, Issue 99, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Friday Morning May 19th, 2006

TV News ®

CW fills out the top 50
You now have to go all the way down to Paducah, KY, market #80, to find a Nielsen market that doesn't have a station committed to the fall launch of the CW network. With 11 new affiliates announced yesterday by the CW, it is now in all of the top 50 markets, indeed, all of the top 79 markets. National coverage is now over 90% of US TV households. The two largest holes were filled by deals with Clear Channel: WLYH-TV (Ch. 15, UPN) Harrisburg, PA, which CC operates for Television Station Group Holdings, will become the CW outlet in market #41; and CC-owned WLMT-TV (Ch. 30, UPN-WB) Memphis, TN, will be the CW affiliate in market #44. "It's another significant milestone to secure coverage in every Top 50 market as we continue to strengthen The CW's national distribution," said John Maatta, Chief Operating Officer, The CW.
| Here's the list of the 11 newest CW affiliates |

Analyst predicts spirited bidding for Univision
Wachovia Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker predicts a bidding war for Univision, with the price potentially going above 40 bucks per share. But while some mega-media companies have been kicking the tires, she expects the showdown will be between two consortia of private equity firms. As previously reported, one consists of Televisa, which is Univision's main program supplier and already a major shareholder, with equity participation by Bain Capital, Blackstone, Carlyle, Bill Gate's Cascade Investment and KKR. The other, still in formation, apparently includes Texas Pacific, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Madison Dearborn and Providence Equity - and there were reports yesterday that billionaire Haim Saban may join the group. Ryvicker lists CBS, Comcast, Disney, News Corp./Fox, GE/NBC, Time Warner and Viacom as big media companies that may have looked at Univision, but, in her view, won't submit formal bids, either because of price concerns, regulatory barriers, or both. So, which equity consortium will win? "Our answer is that it doesn't really matter. As long as there is enough interest in Univision to drive up the bidding price, we believe Univision shareholders will come out ahead of the game!" Ryvicker told clients. With no end in sight to the rapid growth of Hispanic media in the US, she sees the fundamental value of Univision at 38-40 per share and thinks the bidding could move above the high end of that range.

TV manages small gain at Media General
Against tough comps from a year ago, Media General's TV group still managed to grow revenues by 0.3% in April to 57.4 million. "National time sales increased while Local time sales declined, reflecting soft advertiser spending in several categories and a challenging comparison to an especially strong month in 2005 when this category grew 13.1%," said CEO Marshall Morton in his monthly report of revenues for the newspaper/TV/Internet company. Specifically, political revenues rose 57% to 405K for the TV group, with national up 0.6% to 10.8 million and local fell 2.8% to 20.5 million. Like so many other companies, Media General is seeing online revenues grow rapidly, albeit from a small base. Interactive media revenues shot up 36% to 2.5 million. Newspaper ad revenues rose 1.2% to 48.1 million, with retail down 1.9%, national down 21.5% and classified up 8.4%.

ComCom looks at Telecom
S. 2686, the Communications, Consumers' Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 was on the Commerce Committee agenda today, but was it a hearing or a rehashing? You'd almost expect a cop to be there saying, "Move along, folks, nothing to see here." The battle lines remain right about where they were. Here's a summary. Telcos want their entry into the video distribution business to be as easy and string free as possible. Cable doesn't think they should get a completely free ride, however, and should have to deal with the same hurdles cable has had to deal with, particularly when it comes to local franchising authorities (LFA). LFAs do not want to lose oversight over MVPDs in their jurisdiction, even if they continue to receive right of way fees as provided for in the bill, and also think that a 30-day up or down on approval is insufficient time for a proper negotiation. Consumer groups want the competition telcos may provide to cable, but they want to make sure it goes to all corners of the community, meaning no redlining out less desirable neighborhoods. Consumers, LFAs and cable all agree that the FCC is not capable of taking over oversight currently provided by LFAs. Both parties seem to think its time for national franchising. But Republicans in general are looking to grease the wheels for telcos to provide competition. John Sununu (R-NH) said that in general, failures in Telecom 1996 were due to overlegislating and failing to foresee in what direction technology was headed. Democrats in general are looking out for local authorities and consumers, and additionally want network neutrality rules with teeth. Byron Dorgan said the free market was fine, properly regulated, and that legislation had to do a better job of predicting the future than last time. Republican wrote the legislation, and are open to amendment; Democrats want more time, leading Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) to pointedly inform Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) that there have been some 15 hearings on the topic already.

TVBR observation: One more thing. The bill as written largely ignores broadcasting. However, Dorgan said this may be a proper vehicle for language on media ownership consolidation. He noted that the FCC was getting ready to open up another round of deregulation on cross-ownership and who knows what else as part of its court-ordered review of ownership rules. He promised to offer an amendment to this bill which would put the brakes on any further deregulatory action at the FCC.

Belo TV revenues up in April
April revenues rose 2.3% to 62.4 million in April at the Belo Corporation TV group. You may find it very interesting how that breaks down. The company said ad revenues for the Internet sites associated with its TV stations were up 76% - part of a 21.7% increase in "all other revenue" to 6.6 million, which revenues from TV spot sales rose 0.4% to 55.8 million. Local spot decreased 2.7%, national spot decreased 2.1%, with all of the gain coming from 1.9 million in political revenues. Newspaper ad revenues rose 3.7% to 59.5 million, with retail down 8.7%, general up 0.9% and classified up 5.5%.

Federal shield law introduced
A bipartisan group of senators has put forth a bill which will provide source protection for journalists. Such protection is present in a majority of states but is not part of the federal regulatory structure. Signatory to the measure, the Free Flow of Information Act of 2006, are Richard Lugar (R-IN), Arlen Specter (R- PA), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Charles Schumer (D-NY). If passed, the bill will protect both broadcast and print journalists. Newspaper Association of America President/CEO John F. Sturm commented, "More than 30 reporters have been subpoenaed or questioned about their confidential sources, their notes, and their work product over the last two years. While the bill introduced today does not provide an absolute protection for reporters from having to reveal confidential sources, we believe the legislation establishes important ground rules for confidential sources and reporters. It is a very positive step toward safeguarding the free flow of information to the public."

Ad Business Report TM

Sprite to rebrand in major campaign
Beginning this summer, Sprite is beginning a major packaging/branding update, focusing on the brand's "Lymon" taste. Sprite will hit the streets in full force with an array of programs that also includes a new ad. The will be fueled by the Sprite "SubLYMONal" effort, which features commercials that are actually the opposite of subliminal advertising. Each spot begins with a voiceover that says, "Welcome to 'SubLYMONal' advertising. For best results, do not blink." The commercials even indicate that they are "DVR Ready," tempting people to record and replay them to discover embedded content within. The Lymon-focused action in each ad is interrupted by flashing images and messages and each spot closes with the words, "SubLYMONal Message Complete" and the tag, "Obey." Consumers will be able to find special codes embedded in the commercials that can be entered at the brand's new site, www.SubLYMONal.com, to unlock exclusive content. Sprite's packaging graphics have also been completely redesigned. The new packaging design features the familiar silver, green and blue colors as well as the Sprite brand name and bubbles. The updated imagery is enhanced by the inclusion of a new "S" brand icon that will be featured on all packaging and marketing elements. The relaunch will begin 5/23 at Guastavino's in New York at the first Sprite Street Couture Showcase. The exclusive event will feature collections from five of fashion's top streetware designers, including Etnies, LRG, Rocawear, Triple Five Soul and WESC, as well as an influencer after party. The new campaign features four 30-second TV spots, one 60-second cinema ad, and numerous print and outdoor executions, was created by Sprite's AOR Crispin Porter + Bogusky Miami. Online, including the new website, were developed by AKQA San Francisco.

Chase launches first-ever Spanish-language TV effort
Chase's Consumer Bank is launching its first-ever Spanish-language television campaign on Univision and Telemundo. The TV ads are part of a broader new Spanish-language campaign called "Confia en ti. Confia en Chase," (Confidence in yourself. Confidence in Chase.), which includes print, radio, bus shelters and other outdoor. The Spanish-language campaign includes a 60-second launch commercial and three 30-second spots, and features the song "Todo Se Transforma," (Everything Transforms) by composer Jorge Drexler. He won an Oscar in 2005 for "Al Otro Lado del Rio" ("The Other Side of the River"), which he wrote for The Motorcycle Diaries. "Todo Se Transforma" amplifies the commercial's story, which shows how consumers can benefit from using banks. The ads were developed by Chicago advertising agency Lapiz. The commercials will run through the end of the year in New York, Chicago, Phoenix and Tucson Ariz; and Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso and Harlingen, Texas. The Spanish-language ads complement Chase's new general-market campaign, which also launched this month. Both campaigns use recognizable music and slice-of-life scenarios to showcase Chase products as ideal solutions for real-world situations. The general-market ads will air in TV markets nationally in the first national campaign since all 1,900 Bank One branches were renamed Chase.

Media Business Report TM

Preaching to the preachers
Salem Communications is primarily a radio company, but this week it's been busy buying other stuff. First, it bought Xulon Press, a print-on-demand (POD) digital publisher of Christian books (5/18/06 TVBR #98). Now it has announced a deal to buy American Ministry Resources LLC, the owner of "Preaching Magazine," its companion web properties - www.Preaching.com, www.Preachingnow.com, www.Ministry.org - and the National Conference on Preaching, an annual conference for pastors and clergy. Salem is acquiring AMR from Dr. Michael Duduit, who also is editor of "Preaching Magazine." Duduit will join the staff of Salem Publishing and will continue in his role as editor. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Media Markets & Money TM

TV owner grabs radio in Chapter 11 spin-off
Steve Hegwood's On Top Communications filed Form 316s to put all of its stations into Chapter 11, adding the debtor-in-possesion suffix to the company name. Five stations in four markets are involved, and the sale of one has already been filed as well, on a Form 314. KNOU-FM Empire LA, south of New Orleans, WWHV-FM Virginia Beach in the Norfolk/Tidewater VA market, and two Albany GA stations, WFFM-FM Ashburn and WRXZ-FM Sylvester GA are the four remaining with the company for now. WRJH-FM Bruce MS, serving the Jackson MS market is the one being sold. It's headed for Roberts Radio Broadcasting for 1.95M. It'll be going into a cross-ownership situation with WRBJ-TV Magee MS, which for now is bringing UPN fare into the market over Channel 34. According to TVBR's tracking, the TV is signed up for the dawn of CW Network when UPN goes bye-bye.

Washington Media Business Report TM

Stevens modifies telecom schedule
Democrats are at least getting part of their wish on the telecom rewrite known as S. 2686, the Communications, Consumers' Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006. Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) has added a third hearing on the bill and moved back the mark-up. A 5/18/06 session remains on the schedule, to be followed by a 6/13/06 hearing which will consider the bill which by then will have undergone revision. Then, on 6/20/06, the revised version will be presented for mark-up. All sessions begin at 10AM Eastern.

TVBR observation: If the Committee adheres to this schedule, the bill will have to go to the floor, and then will have to be reconciled with the4 version Joe Barton (R-TX) has before the House of Representatives. When it gets into conference committee, it's anybody's guess what might come out. Stay tuned.

Entertainment Media Business Report TM

Only 2 new shows in CW lineup
The new CW network is going with an Urban comedy block on Sunday nights, kicked off by "Everybody Hates Chris," with the most popular shows from UPN and The WB filing virtually the entire schedule, including "Veronica Mars," "Gilmore Girls" and, yes, an 11th season of "7th Heaven." There are only two new shows on the new network: "The Game" as part of the Sunday block and "Runaway," a drama staring Donnie Wahlberg. "With the launch of The CW, we have an unprecedented programming advantage. By bringing together established hit series with innovative new shows, we were able to create a stellar schedule for our premiere season. Putting this lineup together was a programmer's dream with so many choices and so many passionate fans making their voices heard about the shows they love. We will launch in the fall with hit shows on all six nights, giving our affiliates a strong foundation to succeed from day one. The CW will be the destination network for viewers 18-34, and we will deliver quality, diverse programming that advertisers and viewers will embrace in a major way," said CW President of Entertainment Dawn Ostroff as she unveiled the newbie network's first-ever schedule for the 2006-'07 season.
| The CW's 2006-2007 Primetime Schedule |

Stable like a Fox for 2006-2007 primetime
Fox unveiled its primetime sked for the 2006-2007 television season, featuring the network's most "stable and balanced slate" in years. Three new dramas and two new comedies will complement returning favorites on every night of the week this fall, announced Peter Liguori, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting.
| Read More... |

Internet Media Business Report TM

AOL buys Lightningcast
AOL as acquired broadband video advertising innovator Lightningcast. Founded in 1999, Lightningcast and its 34 employees - led by CEO Tom MacIsaac - will continue its current operations and work on behalf of clients as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Advertising.com of Baltimore, Maryland, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AOL. Lightningcast will continue to be based in DC.
| Read More... |

Ratings & Research

Oprah moves up
There was no dramatic shift in the latest syndicated TV ratings, supplied by the Syndicated Network Television Association (SNTA) from Nielsen Media Research data, but the "Oprah Winfrey Show" did move up from third to tie "Everybody Loves Raymond" for second. Both are KingWorld products.
| View the Chart |

Stock Talk

Another down day
Continued inflation fears sent stocks lower again on Thursday. The Dow Industrials fell 77 points, or 0.7%, to 11,129.

Most TV stocks joined in the retreat. Notable exceptions were Sinclair, up 2.2%, and LIN, up 1.7%. SBS fell 2.9% and Washington Post Company was off 1.7%.

Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Thursday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Acme	ACME		4.75	-0.05	LIN TV	TVL		9.04	+0.15
Belo	BLC		17.05	-0.09	McGraw-Hill	MHP		52.23	-0.57
CBS CI. B	CBS		25.35	-0.45	Media General	MEG		39.10	-0.44
CBS CI. A	CBSa		25.37	-0.46	Meredith	MDP		47.65	-0.05
Clear Channel	CCU		30.35	-0.16	News Corp.	NWS		19.90	+0.03
Disney	DIS		29.60	-0.16	Nexstar	NXST		5.62	+0.02
Emmis	EMMS		15.86	-0.05	NY Times	NYT		24.55	-0.25
Entravision	EVC		7.99	-0.15	Ion Media	ION		0.87	-0.01
Fisher	FSCI		42.12	-0.15	Saga Commun.	SGA		9.25	-0.05
Gannett	GCI		54.60	-0.03	SBS	SBSA		5.32	-0.16
Gen. Electric	GE		34.15	-0.27	Scripps	SSP		44.92	-0.82
Granite	GBTVK		0.22	+0.01	Sinclair	SBGI		8.19	+0.18
Gray	GTN		6.97	-0.03	Time Warner	TWX		17.40	-0.13
Gray, C1. A	GTNa		7.14	+0.09	Tribune	TRB		27.95	-0.14
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		22.50	-0.07	Univision	UVN		35.35	-0.10
Journal Comm.	JRN		11.82	unch	Wash. Post	WPO		785.04	-13.96
Lincoln Natl.	LNC		55.94	-0.41	Young	YBTVA		3.28	+0.10

Bounceback

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

In response to your TVBR observation (5/18/06 TVBR #98):

First, this was a letter from the AGs in response to an FTC request for comment. Second, the alcohol industry trade associations (and many advertisers) have already set standards for youth composition, notwithstanding different measurement and universes for different media, so clearly such a rule is possible. Finally, to your second point, only the 26 AGs on the Youth Access to Alcohol Committee were invited to sign the letter, so 20 of 26 may be the relevant proportion of "legal beagles."

Thanks for your consideration,

Joshua Ostroff
Virtual Media Resources
Natick MA

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'Today's Perspective'
New Media 2006
What is so new about the phrase "New Media" and what is new? Nothing - PERIOD!
www.jimcarnegie.com

Below the Fold

Media Business Report
Preaching to the preachers
Salem is primarily a radio company, this week it's been busy buying...

Ad Business Report
Sprite to rebrand
In major campaign beginning this summer...

Entertainment Media
Business Report
Only 2 new shows in CW lineup
Going with an Urban comedy, popular shows from the combination of the old...

Internet Media Business Report
AOL buys Lightningcast
Broadband video advertising innovator

RBR - Radio News

CBS Radio signs
PPM contract
CBS Radio CEO Joel Hollander isn't waiting for the Next-Generation Electronics Ratings Evaluation Team to finish its comparison of competing systems for radio ratings - he has signed with Arbitron to have CBS subscribe in 35 markets where the Portable People Meter (PPM) is to be deployed under the roll-out plan that Arbitron announced in March to cover the top 50 markets by late 2010 (3/15/06 RBR #52). Arbitron had previously signed lots of ad agencies for PPM, but only Beasley and SBS among radio group owners. CBS is clearly a big catch for Arbitron. "CBS Radio is counting on the PPM to enhance the value of both our programming and the audiences we reach in the eyes of our advertisers. We're pleased to be the first major broadcaster to embrace the future by signing a contract for Arbitron's next-generation electronic audience measurement system. Radio has been searching for a more accountable method to provide advertisers with valuable information about its listeners, and I'm confident that the PPM will be supported throughout the industry," said Hollander in announcing the decision.

Arbitron CEO Steve Morris was clearly happy to have landed radio's second highest billing radio group for PPM. "We view this agreement as an endorsement of our electronic measurement technology from one of our largest and most sophisticated customers," Morris said. The move left Phil Beswick, Exec. VP of The Media Audit - which is the other company besides Arbitron still competing in the evaluation by the Next-Generation Electronics Ratings Evaluation Team - scratching his head, since CBS is a member of the group. But he is undeterred. "We've made a commitment to the radio industry and the ad agency industry to offer the Smart Cell Phone for media measurement," Beswick told RBR. He insisted that his company's proposal with partner Ipsos offers superior methodology at a lower cost. "We're going to carry forward with the broadcasters," he said.

RBR observation: Is it all over? Has PPM won? Not necessarily. CBS is a big fish, but Clear Channel is even bigger in radio. Should the remaining members of the Next-Gen group disagree with CBS and select the Media Audit/Ipsos entry for radio ratings, CBS would eventually have to go along. Arbitron's PPM is dependent on broadcasters encoding, leaving gaps where stations refuse to do so - as Cox and Radio One have demonstrated in Houston. One of the attractions of the Media Audit/Ipsos system is that it prefers encoding, but still produces ratings via sound-matching for stations that refuse to encode. We hear that a handful of other significant group owners, including some Next-Gen members, are considering signing PPM agreements as CBS has done. But the opera ain't over until the fat lady sings - and the fat lady lives in San Antonio.

TVBR Radar 2006

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

Granite sues over WB shutdown
After seeing the sale price drop 30 million bucks for his two stations in San Francisco and Detroit, Don Cornwell is going to court to try to get back some of that lost cash.

TVBR observation: We noted back in January when the launch of the CW network was announced that CBS and Time Warner/Tribune were careful to say that UPN and The WB were being shut down, not merged to create the new CW network. No doubt the lawyers for Granite will argue that what was announced on January 24th was "the merging of the UPN and WB television networks" - the terminology used yesterday in Granite's announcement of the lawsuit.
05/18/06 TVBR #98

Automotive spot TV
ad spending down 0.6% in Q1
On Spot TV declined slightly in Q1 '06, down 0.6% from 1st Qtr. '05. Spending by the so-called "Big Three" declined 4.5% while "All Other" grew 4%. Toyota edged Ford to become the #2 Spot spender for the Quarter. Toyota spending increased by 14.8% and their unit sales volume jumped 7.4% in a flat market for car sales. GM reduced Spot by 5.6% and saw unit volume fall 5.2%. All spending figures in the TVB analysis are inclusive of factory, Dealer Association and Local Dealer outlays.

TVBR observation: It will not get any better on the spending front from US auto but Foreign will be spending more and more to continue to build on the years of work of cultivating Brand Loyalty to their products. Next to watch make a big splash will be China auto. Key to US auto success and Detroit better wake up is local. National spot only is there to establish the brand of any product. The sale is made locally. Detroit should rethink that national spot and go local. Prove our point view the stats in
05/18/06 TVBR #98

Bounce Back
eBay and TV sales debate
'We continually remind ad agency buyers how you can achieve your agency goals (spending the client's money and collecting your commissions) and totally miss the client's potential audience. How would all of this transfer to an online world of buttons and automatic calculations? In my opinion, I totally understand the staffing and productivity issues, since most agencies, today, seem to have fewer people already doing more. (That's probably why we're still paid at 90-days, even with electronic invoicing where SOMEONE still has to physically approve payments.) It's still a world where, being the professionals we purport ourselves to be, we must work for the client, and not simply for the commission.' See what the broo-haha is about in Bounce Back in
05/17/06 TVBR #97

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