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Radio News ®
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It Didn't Happen in 2007
A lot of things happened last year, but a lot more things that might have happened did not. Here is our take on the most significant non-events of the year. You might call this the woulda-shoulda-coulda lists, except in some cases -- like the lack of any significant new indecency fines -- the non-event status is good thing. So without further ado, here are 18 things that did not take place:
| The List |
 Radio hopes for political windfall this year
Happy New Year 2008! With major ad sectors such as automotive still soft, broadcasters can at least prepare to count the money from what promises to be a political showdown where ad expenditures will easily break past records. Analyst Victor Miller and his Bear Stearns associate Tracy Young some time ago projected that political ad spending for the 2007-2008 cycle will total 2.5 billion bucks. Of course, the overwhelming bulk of that will go to television, but the Bear Stearns analysts estimate that radio will claim 275 million in 2008, an increase of about 22% from 2006. Some groups will see substantial dollars. Miller and Young figure Beasley, Cox Radio, Entercom and Radio One will see the most political activity because of the markets where their stations are located. Beasley, they note, gets 50.5% of its company revenues from "hot" political markets in Pennsylvania and Florida. Cox Radio gets 35%of its revenues from Florida. Entercom gets 34% of its revenues from a wide swath of states that have hot contests this year: Washington, Colorado, Missouri, Oregon, Virginia and North Carolina. Radio One gets 24% of its revenues from Pennsylvania, Florida (although it recently sold its lone Miami station), Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina.
2006 Political Revenues ($ in millions)
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Radio� Company
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Est. '06 Political Rev.
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% of Total
Rev.
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Cumulus Media
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$7.0
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2.1%
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Citadel Broadcasting
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$7.1
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1.6%
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Radio One
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$4.9
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1.3%
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Clear Channel
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$44.0
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1.2%
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Entercom
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$4.5
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1.0%
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Cox Radio
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$4.0
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0.9%
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Source: Bear Stearns & Co.
Changes to the RBR Radio Index
As the New Year begins, we are making some changes to the 10-year-old Radio Index that has been tallied daily by RBR. First of all, it has been renamed the RBR Radio Index and it now has a sibling in our other morning Epaper, the TVBR Television Index. In the past the index calculation was limited to companies whose primary business was radio AND whose stock price was above five bucks. Alas, radio has become an industry of many penny stocks and we have been reluctant to drop Citadel, Emmis, Radio One and Westwood One from the calculation because that would leave so few component stocks. So, the hurdle has been lowered to one buck. Those four stay in and both Regent and SBS rejoin the new, improved RBR Radio Index. In alphabetical order, the 14 components of the RBR Radio Index are: Arbitron, Beasley, Citadel, Clear Channel, Cumulus Media, Cox Radio, Emmis, Radio One, Regent, Salem, Saga, Spanish Broadcasting System and Westwood One. The RBR Radio Index will continue to be reported daily in RBR's "Stock Talk" section.
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National committees break even in November
Both the Republicans and Democrats maintain three national election committees -- one each attached to the Senate (DSCC & NRSC), one each to the House of Representatives (DCCC & NRCC), and then there are the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee (DNC & RNC). Between the six of them, they earned just shy of 25M during the month of November 2007, according to the Federal Election Commission as reported by CQPolitics.com, and almost split that total right down the middle. The Democrats managed a slight edge, 12.7M to 12.5M. The senatorial race went to the Democrats, 4.2M to 2.4M; as did the House, 4.1M to 2.7M. However, the best effort was turned in by the RNC with 7.4M, eclipsing DNC's 4.4M total and bringing the two parties close to even for the month. The Democrats maintained their 2008 cycle lead of over 10M raised. More importantly, they are sitting on 59M cash on hand, more than double the Republican total of 28.4M.
RBR observation: The committees are an important source of cash in the electoral hot zones. The liquid funds can be directed to close battleground states and districts to take advantage of opportunities to seize new ground in either house (or to seize a state in the presidential race, in the case of DNC and RNC), or the funds can be tapped to mount a defense of currently held territory if needed. This is a big portion of the cash that makes battleground areas beachfront property, with the downside of perhaps eating up too much inventory.
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7-Nov |
Cycle |
On hand |
| Senate (D) |
$4.2M |
$49.3M |
$25.5M |
| House (D) |
$4.1M |
$60.8M |
$30.7M |
| Committee (D) |
$4.4M |
$50.5M |
$2.8M |
| Total (D) |
$12.7M |
$160.6M |
$59.0M |
| Senate (R) |
$2.4M |
$28.7M |
$10.4M |
| House (R) |
$2.7M |
$43.4M |
$2.3M |
| Committee (R) |
$7.4M |
$76.9M |
$15.7M |
| Total (R) |
$12.5M |
$149.0M |
$28.4M |
Source: CQPolitics.com, FEC
Fox draws fire for Paul omission
Fox News Channel is hosting a Republican presidential candidate debate on 12/6/08, two days before votes are cast in the nation's first primary, and just three days after the first delegates are awarded via the Iowa caucuses. Five candidates will be on the stage: John McCain (R-AZ), Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), Mitt Romney (R-MA), Mike Huckabee (R-AR) and Fred Thompson (R-TN). The campaign of Ron Paul (R-TX) sees his absence from this list as a glaring omission. "Given Ron Paul's support in New Hampshire and his recent historic fundraising success, it is outrageous that Dr. Paul would be excluded," said Ron Paul 2008 campaign chairman Kent Snyder. "Dr. Paul has consistently polled higher in New Hampshire than some of the other candidates who have been invited. Paul supporters should know that we are continuing to make inquiries with Fox News as to why they have apparently excluded Dr. Paul from this event."
The NH Republican Party concurred. "Limiting the number of candidates who are invited to participate in debates is not consistent with the tradition of the first in the nation primary," said party chairman Fergus. "The level playing field requires that all candidates be given an equal opportunity to participate - not just a select few determined by the media prior to any votes being cast." Underscoring Paul's argument is the fact that he is well ahead of Thompson in polls from New Hampshire. According to reports, Fox is looking for double-digit national rankings in determining who will be invited.
RBR observation: We understand attempts to weed out the true pretenders from debates at some point. But Paul has demonstrated strength by a number of measures, not the least of which is his astonishing grassroots fundraising ability. Some have pointed out that a New Hampshire breakout is a key strategic element of a campaign which needs a boost to move into the upper echelon of candidates. The latest national polls we could find showed Thompson in the low teens, and one had him at 10% even, and sinking, while Paul was at 6% or so and gradually moving up. In short, Paul has earned national attention, is raking in cash, has a committed support base, and is polling ahead of one of the invited candidates in the state of the debate. Fox should make room.
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| Wall Street Business Report TM |
 Bond holders give consent to CCU
No surprise here. Clear Channel Communications reports that the overwhelming majority of its bondholders tendered their bonds to be bought back as the company goes private and also gave their consents to amend the terms of the bonds to allow for the buyout. CCU said it received tenders and consents for 94.76% of its 7.65% Clear Channel senior notes due 2010 and 86.16% of its AMFM Operating Inc. 8% senior notes due 2008 by the December 31st deadline. The company has now extended the deadline to January 16th, with the same terms, including the 30 bucks per 1,000 face value bonus for those who give their consents to the amendments. In all, the tender offers cover about 1.4 billion worth of bonds.
CommScope closes Andrew acquisition
As 2007 neared its close, CommScope Inc. closed on its 2.65 billion bucks acquisition of electronics equipment maker Andrew Corporation (6/28/07 RBR #126). Former Andrew shareholders received 13.50 in cash and 0.031543 shares of CommScope stock for each share of Andrew stock that they held. That fractional share, based on the recent trading price of CommScope shares, was valued at a buck-50, so the total value was 15 per share.
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Ad Business Report TM
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"Al Dia" launches new campaign on radio, TV, outdoor
Al Dia, the Spanish language newspaper of The Dallas Morning News, launched a new ad campaign over the holidays utilizing multiple media vehicles including radio, television and outdoor. The campaign, "Open your eyes," features 30- and 15-second TV spots on several stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including Univision, Telefutura and Azteca America. The campaign will also include ads on major radio stations in the DFW region, as well as on billboards. Every ad features a close-up of a human eye, in which the iris reflects different cover pages of Al Dia at every blink. In this way, the campaign presents its sections and the relevant areas of interest for the reader, with an invitation for readers request free home-delivered subscriptions.
BBDO's Phil Dusenberry passes
Phil Dusenberry, former Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO North America, died 12/29 after battling lung cancer at 71. He joined BBDO in 1962 as a junior copywriter and later helped create GE's "We bring good things to life"; Visa's "It's everywhere you want to be" and Pepsi's "The choice of a new generation." His work won numerous industry awards. Dusenberry was named CCO of the NYC agency in 1986. In 1995 he was named Chairman of that office, and was named Chairman of the agency's NA operations until his retirement in '02.
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| HD Radio 2008 |
 Apple readying HD Radio push
for Macworld
Apple plans a push for iTunes Tagging-ready, HD Radio-equipped boomboxes with iPod docks during the mid-January Macworld Expo in San Francisco, reports iPod site iLounge. Remember, iTunes Tagging enables consumers using HD Radio receivers, equipped with a Tag button, to "tag" songs they hear on FM HD Radio stations, sync with their iPods and then be presented with the option to buy the selected songs on iTunes. Aside from Polk Audio's I-Sonic Entertainment System 2 and JBL, iPod accessory manufacturers such as Sony, Griffin Technology, and Cambridge Soundworks have all announced HD Radio products, although none have specifically announced iTunes Tagging support. These brands are likely the ones that will also be featured at Macworld hosting iTunes tagging. Alpine also announced a car HD Radio stereo with an iPod dock and iTunes tagging. Rumor has it JVC will be showing a similar iTunes tagging receiver at CES Las Vegas. Other brands will also debut iTunes tagging receivers at CES, we've heard. Apple plans to offer participating stations a revenue share for songs referred to and purchased on iTunes.
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| Media Business Report TM |
Scripps folds Cincinnati Post
As promised a few months ago (7/18/07 RBR #139), E.W. Scripps Company shut down the Cincinnati Post and its related edition called the Kentucky Post on New Year's Eve. Monday's final edition, which ended a 126-year run for the newspaper, carried a large "-30-" on the front page, the traditional symbol for the end of a newspaper dispatch. Scripps announced that it would end publication of the struggling daily because a joint operating agreement with Gannett's Cincinnati Enquirer was due to expire at the end of 2007. Similarly, Scripps recently put the Albuquerque Tribune up for sale, saying that it too would be shut down if no buyer is found. No deadline has been set and the company is reported to be in talks with one potential buyer. Any buyer, however, will have to operate without the current JOA whereby the market's #2 daily is published in conjunction with the Albuquerque Journal.
RBR observation: For all those inside the beltway shouting loudly to preserve the crossownership rule, please note that even a grandfathered crossownership situation was not enough to save the #2 newspaper in Cincinnati. Scripps continues to own and operate WCPO-TV (Ch. 9, ABC) and it will keep alive a low-cost web-only version of the Kentucky Post operating in conjunction with the TV station. Crossownership is not a panacea, but it might improve the journalistic landscape in some markets, particularly in markets much smaller than the top 20 where the FCC has timidly moved to discard this rule that has long since outlived its usefulness. Anyone who thinks there is any justification for keeping the crossownership rule in any market is simply out of touch with reality.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
Blayde cuts a deal on Kenai Peninsula
Cherie and Scott Curry and their Blayde Communications have cut a deal to acquire a five-station group in the Kenai-Soldotna area just southwest of Anchorage in Alaska. The group includes KSRM-AM, KSLD-AM & KKIS-FM, all licensed to Soldotna, Kenai's KWHQ-FM and KFSE-FM in Kasilof. Seller John C. Davis (KSRM Inc.) will receive 2.2M when the smoke clears under a fairly complex compensation clause in the contract. It calls for 20K put into escrow, a 420K promissory note, a 300K carry back note, repayment of three debts totaling 715K, assumption of another 197K in ongoing debt, with the remainder, about 548K, payable in cash at closing.
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| Washington Business Report TM |
FCC prepares two more DTV workshops
 The deadline for the digital television conversion is just over a year away, and the FCC is helping to move the ball forward with a pair of Digital Television Consumer Workshops, to be held at its headquarters in Washington early next year. The first, pegged for 1/31/08, will address concerns about consumers in rural and tribal areas, and the second, scheduled for 2/28/08, will address concerns about citizens with disabilities. Each session is expected to last three to four hours.
RBR observation: OK, Rural Americans, Native Americans and Disabled Americans, now is your chance! Let's all crowd into the FCC conference room in Washington DC and learn about the DTV transition! What? Can't make it to Washington? Not to worry: About 200 people can pick up a webcast of the event. We kid the FCC. And the fact is, the FCC doesn't deserve this kidding in the least -- at a minimum, these forums will lend a hand to national and local officials and service organizations working with the targeted constituencies. Let us turn or sights instead on Capitol Hill. Certain elements of Congress have sharply criticized the FCC for its modest efforts at preparing the US citizenry for the transition. Others don't seem to think it's a problem at all. The simple fact is that this is the kind of outreach you get when you allocated next to no funding to the Commission. With the 1.5M or so Congress has given the Commission, about all they'll be able to do is put a picture of the missing analog signal on a milk carton. We expect that broadcasters and other stakeholders will get this job done, but we remind our friends on Capitol Hill that if they want meaningful action from the FCC, they need to give it something to act with.
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| Executive Comment |
 The truth about Minot
This is a note of personal thanks for being the first publication to step up and print the truth about the Minot "urban legend" (12/27/07 RBR #249). At the time of the incident, I was the Senior Vice President at Clear Channel overseeing a sixteen state territory called the Plains/Northwest and Minot was in my area of responsibility. Here are the Minot facts. The Minot radio stations were manned 24 hours a day, in fact during this period of time (Randy Michaels was still running Clear Channel), it was policy that there needed to be someone in all of our buildings 24/7. The issue in Minot was two fold...
| Read Jay's full comment |
Jay Meyers
Managing Director/COO
Cavalry Media Services, LLC
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| Ratings & Research |
Conference Board Help-Wanted Ad Index down
The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index -- a key measure of job offerings in major newspapers across America -- dipped one point in November. The Index now stands at 21. It was 29 one year ago. In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines occurred in the Pacific (-12.8%), Mountain (-12.5%), and West North Central (-12.4%) regions. Says Ken Goldstein, labor economist at The Conference Board: "The forward indicators of labor market activity offer little hope that the labor market will be spared. The latest readings on print want-ad volume show some slowing in recent months, after slowly losing steam through the spring and summer. Data for online advertising also point to reduced job recruitment efforts. Initial unemployment claims have edged higher. It's not good news when more people are signing up for unemployment checks, and the average length of unemployment is lengthening." In November there were 4,072,600 online advertised vacancies, a decrease of 89,100 or -2.1% from the October level, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series. There were 2.65 advertised vacancies online for every 100 persons in the labor force in November.
 Teen & Tween
media behavior divergent
The Nielsen Company announced findings of a new study, "Kids on the Go: Mobile Usage by U.S. Teens and Tweens." For mobile media and cross media behavior of U.S. "tweens" (ages 8-12), Nielsen found 5% of tweens access the Internet over their phone each month. While 41% of tween mobile Internet users say they do so while commuting or traveling (to school, for example), mobile content such as the Internet is also a social medium for this audience. 26% of tween mobile Internet users say they access the web while at a friend's house and 17% say they do so at social events. 35% of tweens own a mobile phone; 20% of tweens have used text messaging; 21% of tweens have used ring & answer tones.
Young mobile users are also turning to their phones for in-home entertainment. 58% of tweens who download or watch TV on their phone do so at home; 64% of tweens who download or play music on their phone do so at home; 56% of tweens who access the Internet on their phone do so at home. Nielsen also reports that tweens spend less time surfing the Internet than their teen counterparts. In this report, 48% of U.S. tweens said they spend less than one hour per day online. When they are online, 70% of tweens use the Internet for gaming. Comparatively, 81% of U.S. teens say they spend one hour or more per day online, with e-mail being the most pervasive online activity for this age group.
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 11/12/07-11/16/07
If you thought last week was slow, and it was, you may be relieved to know that station improved this time around. Actually, results were mixed. There was one less transaction, going from six to five, but more value was traded -- a whopping 659K -- despite the fact that yet again there was a television trade. But like last time, it was a small agreement in a small market.
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Total
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Total Deals
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5
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AMs
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1
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FMs
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3
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TVs
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1
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| Value |
3.24M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
Scaling the Mountain to #1
| More... |
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TV Transactions of the Week
Desert deal leads the way
| More... |
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| Transactions |
24M WNUE-FM Orlanda FL (Titusville FL) from Mega Commmunications of Daytona Beach Licensee LLC, a subsidiary of Mega Communications LLC (Eran Schreiber, treas.) to Entravision Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Entravision Communications Corporation (Walter F. Ulloa). Price is an estimate. 1.175M escrow, balance in cash at closing. Includes 266.475.62 and up to 500K for various engineering and construction costs. Cross-ownership with WVEN-TV Daytona Beach (Univision, Ch. 26). [File date 12/7/07.]
6.6M KUQI-TV CP Corpus Christi TX from Minority Voice Media TV 38 LLC (Lee W. Shubert, court-appointed receiver) to High Maintenance Broadcasting LLC (Lauryn Hoffman, Deidre Gillis, Vanisha Mallory). 300K escrow, 6.3M note. [File date 12/17/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Markets begin 2008 with a hangover
Oil hit 100 bucks a barrel and the Institute for Supply Management reported a drop in factory activity for December - enough bad news to send stocks tumbling on the first trading day of the New Year. The Dow Industrials plunged 221 points, or 1.7%, to 13,044.
Radio stocks were mostly lower. Nonetheless, a big 17.9% jump by volatile Beasley and a 5.4% rise by SBS gave the RBR Radio Index an up day, rising 0.419, or 0.4%, to 96.137. Emmis had the worst day, down 8.1%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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40.54
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-1.03
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Google
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GOOG
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685.19
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-6.29
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Beasley
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BBGI
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6.13
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+0.93
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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21.40
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-0.64
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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26.42
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-0.83
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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8.80
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-0.14
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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26.46
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-0.29
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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56.25
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-1.97
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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2.06 |
unch |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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2.35
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+0.01
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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34.49
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-0.03
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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2.36
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-0.01
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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11.89
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-0.26
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Regent
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RGCI
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1.50
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-0.04
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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7.82
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-0.22
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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5.99
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+0.10
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Debut Bcg.
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DBTB
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0.85
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unch
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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6.76
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+0.17
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Disney
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DIS
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31.84
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-0.44
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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3.05
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+0.02
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Emmis
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EMMS
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3.54
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-0.31
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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1.95
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+0.10
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Entercom
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ETM
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13.22
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-0.47
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SWMX
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SMWX
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0.00
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unch
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.62
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-0.21
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Westwood One
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WON
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2.00
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+0.01
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Fisher
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FSCI
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37.78
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-0.18
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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12.42
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+0.18
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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 [email protected]
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Below the Fold
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Executive Comment
The truth about Minot
Jay Meyers - note of thanks for being first to print the truth...
Media Markets & Money
Blayde cuts a deal
On Kenai Peninsula...
HD Radio 2008
Apple readying
HD Radio push for Macworld...
Ratings & Research
Teen & Tween
Media behavior divergent findings on Kids on the Go...
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Stations for Sale
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 Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact
Jim Carnegie
[email protected]
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Radio Media Moves
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Cook Rejoins
McVay Media
 Charlie Cook, a 38 year broadcaster, has been active in country radio for 35-years. Charlie is returning to his role as VP/Country for McVay Media, a position he held from 1984-1996.
Baltimore sighted
in Florida
Not the Chesapeake Bay city, but rather veteran sports marketing executive Steven Baltimore. He has been hired by Genesis Communications to develop sales and marketing for its ESPN Radio affiliates in Florida.
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More News Headlines
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"Atheists Talk" to debut on Air America Minnesota
Minnesota atheists are taking their message to the air waves with a radio program that will debut in January on Air America Minnesota -- KNTF-AM. Called "Atheists Talk" -- the same name as a show the organization airs on cable access television -- the live broadcast featuring news, interviews, listener call-ins and special guests is believed to be the first show of its kind in Minnesota, August Berkshire, a spokesman for the Minnesota Atheists, told The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune. The show will air ironically on Sundays from 9-10 a.m. starting 1/13 when Oxford professor, evolutionary biologist and renowned atheist Richard Dawkins will be the featured guest. The weekly shows also will be streamed live on the radio station's website and made available as a podcast. Berkshire told the paper he will sell advertising to show sponsors that include the American Humanist Association, Humanists of Minnesota, the Secular Coalition for America, EvolveFish and Camp Quest of Minnesota.
Wal-Mart drops online movie downloads
Wal-Mart has shuttered its online movie download service it launched less than a year ago. The move follows the company's 2005 decision to abandoned efforts to build an online DVD rental service. The world's largest retailer instead turned its rental service over to Netflix. A Wal-Mart spokesperson said in a statement the company closed the store after Hewlett-Packard, which provided the software running the site, "made a business decision to discontinue its video download-only merchant store service." The move leaves Apple's iTunes store and Amazon.com's Unbox service as the largest providers of movie downloads (in November, AOL also scrapped its pay-for-download movie service). Wal-Mart still operates a music download service and continues to sell CDs and DVDs at retail stores and over the Internet for shipping by mail. And remember, Wal-Mart still accounts for some 40% of all DVD sales, according to The AP.
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RBR Radar 2008
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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The year of yearning to go private
Bounce Back from Dennis Jackson, Owner/Founder WCLX, WMEX, WQQQ, WRIP. Regarding "The year of yearning to go private" (12/27/07 RBR #249) As the year ends, let's connect the dots. The corporate conglomeration formula has been simple: 1/ Work with NAB to persuade Congress and FCC that consolidation of 80-90 stations and staffs must happen in order for radio to remain viable (note - do it just as inexpensive PC-based automation is proliferating); 6/ Buy back the stock for 35 cents on the dollar and "go private."
Publisher note: If there was an executive comment this year to end an old year Dennis Jackson hit the nail on the head. Dennis with experience put it on the line and it is so good we at RBR wish we wrote it. Got to read this one as it sets our pace for a new year. Bravo, Dennis Jackson, You da Man!
12/28/07 RBR #250
Michaels to conduct
"Internet experiments"
With Trib properties so get ready people he is back. Michaels on Internet experiments, "There are some pretty obvious and unexploited opportunities," Michaels said. "I think blurting it out in the paper is probably not the right competitive idea, but I will say this: It's a little bit embarrassing that all media companies have made their Web sites and their Web efforts look too much like their traditional business."
RBR note: If you know anything about the little word Internet then read between the lines of the quote. We did and like Michaels RBR is now completely electronic. Next up our website. 2008 is going to be an experience for some and those who have not moved into the electronic internet world will feel the pain.
12/28/07 RBR #250
Now the big game is everywhere
Bending to intense Congressional pressure, the NFL has agreed to but Saturday's New England Patriots vs. New York Giants game on both CBS and NBC (12/27/07 TVBR #249), rather than going with the original plan to have the national telecast only on its fledgling NFL Network.
TVBR observation: The lesson for the NFL owners is that running to Capitol Hill with a business dispute can sometimes backfire. The NFL Network tried to get New England politicians, in particular, fired up to pressure cable companies in the region to sign up to put their fledgling network on their systems - and for Comcast to move it from a sports tier to basic, thereby making it available to more subscribers (and, just by an amazing coincidence, generating much greater subscriber fee payments for the NFL Network). What actually happened was that the politicians got mad at everyone involved - the NFL Network as well as the cable operators. So, the NFL owners, who own the NFL Network, made new enemies in the US Congress, some of whom threatened to reopen the league's antitrust exemption if the owners persisted in keeping one of the biggest football games of the year only on their low-penetration start-up network.
The NFL owners thought they had a sure-fire way to bring the cable MSOs to their knees by holding back eight games this season to be shown only on the NFL Network. Instead they've foregone the cash that selling those games to a broadcast network would have brought in, they've generated lots of bad PR for themselves, they've made new enemies of powerful politicians of both parties - and they are stuck with a start-up cable network that the major MSOs are still refusing to pay for.
12/28/07 TVBR #250
The year of yearning to go private
It seems most CEOs of publicly traded broadcasting companies wished in their hearts to leave Wall Street and go private in 2007. Of those who actually tried, not all succeeded. The biggest, of course, closed just last week, as Sam Zell. Analysis of Clear Channel and Cumulus Media see RBR.
12/27/07 RBR #249
More gloom and doom
about November
By the end of next week, we may see the RAB figures for November radio revenues, but Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby is pretty pessimistic about what the numbers will show. Jacoby has been checking with large market sources and found that their revenues were down about 7%, much worse than the 3% decline he had anticipated. Those big markets account for about 35% of all radio billings.
RBR observation: This is shaping up to finish a year best forgotten as one that is just getting worse. CL King analyst Jim Boyle has also said that November is likely to be down 4-5% (12/20/07 RBR #247). There appears to be no way for Santa to deliver a December that will produce a positive number for the whole year. The big worry now is whether there is anything on the horizon to keep 2008 from being more of the same. Political will help, but a real improvement in the general advertising climate is what is needed.
12/27/07 RBR #249
NBC, CBS to simulcast
Patriots-Giants game
The NFL has arranged an unprecedented three-way national simulcast of the NFL Network telecast of Saturday night's New England Patriots-New York Giants game when the Patriots will try to become the first NFL team to go 16-0 in a regular season.
TVBR observation: The NFL is hardly acting out of the kindness of its heart. It was under heavy political pressure in Washington for planning to broadcast this high profile game exclusively on its own NFL Network, which most of the major MSOs have refused to carry on their basic cable tiers -- or at all, in many cases. When key Members of Congress threatened to re-examine the NFL's antitrust exemption, the league's attempt to keep the pressure on the cable companies began to crumble.
12/27/07 TVBR #249
The Zell era begins at Tribune
The electronic transfer of 4.2 billion bucks borrowed from a team of banks took place and Tribune Company became a private company, owned by Sam Zell and an ESOP. Tribune Broadcasting staffers, meet your new boss. This classic photo in RBR of Randy Michaels was taken during the Jacor era, when Randy sought to enliven an NAB Radio Show panel discussion by hosing down the audience and showing off his patriotic red, white and blue boxer shorts.
12/21/07 RBR #248
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