Radio News ®

McCain, Leahy bill forwards LPFM
Two Senators, each with an important seat on different important Senate committees, are introducing a bill to expedite the implementation of low power FM stations. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is chair of the Commerce Committee, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is ranking member at the Judiciary Committee. The two claim that a disputed study on interference that the FCC commissioned from Mitre proved that interference won't be a problem. RBR observation: Will the LPFM rules the FCC has proposed cause interference? The simple truth is that no one knows. The Commission didn't do the study that the US Congress mandated - - instead trying to get by on the cheap and ordering up the Mitre study, which didn't prove anything one way or the other. Until real tests are run on real world conditions, we won't know whether lots of new LPFMs would cause interference. For Sen. McCain to claim that the Mitre study resolved anything is a flat out lie. | More... |

Chicago community group targets Clear Channel
Responding unfavorably to the canning of GM Marv Dyson by Clear Channel, a new citizens group consisting of members of the African-American community has been formed to monitor and attempt to influence Black-oriented radio in Chicago. It's called the Community Advisory Committee about Urban Radio. Its membership includes numerous representatives of the city's religious community as well as members of other secular organizations such as the National Black United Front. | More... |

Sumner sends another packing
Within a week, three top executives at companies controlled by Sumner Redstone have decided they'd had all they could take and resigned. First it was Mel Karmazin, then Jonathan Dolgen, both at Viacom. Then on Friday came word that the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Midway Games, where Redstone recently acquired majority control and put two representatives on the board (5/25/04 RBR Daily Epaper #102), will resign following the company's annual shareholders' meeting this Thursday (6/10). "I believe that Midway is a tremendous company with a bright future, but for personal and professional reasons the time has come for me to move on," said Neil Nicastro in announcing his resignation. It appears Redstone already had a replacement picked out before Nicastro's departure announcement. "I personally appreciate the dedication and skill Neil has brought to his work for Midway over the years. Midway will announce a highly qualified successor shortly following the June 10th annual meeting," Redstone said. At least for now, Nicastro's father, Louis Nicastro, will remain a board member. He is Chairman of WMS Industries, which once owned Midway and spun it off in an IPO.

Karmazin resigns from Westwood board
There's no surprise here. As we reported last week (6/2/04 RBR Daily Epaper #107), Mel Karmazin's agreement terminating his employment as President and COO of Viacom required him to resign from the board of directors at Westwood One as well if asked to do so by Viacom. Apparently the request had already been made. Westwood reported to the SEC on Friday that Karmazin had resigned his board seat, but the effective date was June 1st, the same day his resignation from Viacom was announced. Westwood One, the nation's largest radio network company, is managed by Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting, which is also a major Westwood shareholder.

CEA calls on FCC to support satellite radio
on localized programming
Seems XM Satellite Radio isn't the only entity petitioning the Commission to allow XM and Sirius to offer localized programming (5/28 RBR Daily Epaper #105): The Consumer Electronics Association on Friday called on the FCC to support new services being offered by XM and Sirius by rejecting a request from the NAB to ban satellite radio providers from offering localized weather and traffic info. CEA made the request in a letter delivered to the FCC specifically urging the commission to dismiss the NAB's Petition for Declaratory Ruling. The Petition essentially seeks to end the local traffic and weather services offered by XM and Sirius. "Technological innovation fuels the engine of the American economy and it is the lifeblood of the consumer electronics industry. The traffic and weather service offered by XM and Sirius is a prime example of this innovation," wrote CEA VP/Technology Policy Michael Petricone. "NAB, through its spurious Petition, is asking the Commission to stifle innovation by restricting the types of services that satellite radio providers can offer. CEA maintains that NAB's arguments merely serve the economic interests of some terrestrial broadcasters, to the detriment of satellite radio listeners nationwide."

AFRTS retains Rush
Responding to questions from CNN, a spokesperson for the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) said that it would continue airing one hour of "The Rush Limbaugh Show" in Iraq. Carriage of the show has been questioned due to some of Limbaugh's comments concerning the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. According to liberal watchdog Media Matters for America (MMFA), Allison Barber, the Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Internal Communications, said carriage of Limbaugh was based on his popularity in the US and had nothing to do with conservative vs. liberal viewpoints. She said that no liberal radio Talkers had managed to build an audience similar to his. Asked about why the very popular "Howard Stern Show" was not in the AFRTS lineup, she said that "his issue is one of content that's not appropriate." MMFA has petitioned Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to remove Limbaugh from the AFRTS lineup on grounds that his comments on the Abu Ghraib matter run contrary to stated positions from Rumsfeld and President Bush, and that they put the safety of American soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere at risk.

Adbiz ©

CBS hottest in the broadcast upfront
Maybe Mel was right - - Reuters reports CBS is ahead of the other broadcast nets in securing CPM increases for the 2004-05 broadcast season. The upfront will likely close early next week, with total spending during network primetime programs flat to slightly lower than last year's $9.3B. "Fox and CBS are the closest to being done," said one buyer. "NBC got into the ballgame late, maybe intentionally, but they're not being penalized for it." | More... |

KFC told to end lo-carb claims
The FTC has rules that KFC can no longer claim that its fried chicken is compatible with popular low-carb diets, after settling complaints about the chain's ads. KFC also may not run ads saying that eating its food is healthier than eating another food unless it can back the claims up scientifically, the ruling stipulates. The settlement stemmed from a complaint filed with the FTC by the Center for Science in the Public Interest over two KFC TV ads (11/11/03 RBR Daily Epaper #221). KFC pulled the ads in November. FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said the settlement is a signal to advertisers that the commission will not tolerate "misleading advertisements" to weight-conscious consumers. "For consumers to obtain healthier choices, we must make sure that companies promote their products honestly," he said.

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

Monday Morning Shakers & Makers

Deals: 4/26/04-4/30/04
We can definitely see a roller-coaster pattern to the filing pace of deals. Lets round out the last four weeks we've compiled: $89M, $29M, $97M, and now this: $24M. Cherry Creek gets a mention this time around, in the utter absence of any competition for said mention!

Transactions

$3.8M: KYOX-FM & KSTV AM & FM Stephenville TX (Comanche, Stephenville, Dublin TX) from 377 Broadcasting Inc. /Cen-Tex Media Inc. to Cherry Creek Radio LLC.

$172,072 WAFD-FM & WVAR-AM Webster Springs/Richwood WV. 62.5% of J & K Broadcasting Inc.

$45K: WMLC-AM Monticello MS from David H. Nichols II to Rivers LP.

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