Radio News ®

Brownback looking to narrowcast decency bill
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), sponsor of the stalled Senate version of the Broadcast Decency Act of 2004, has his thumb out to see if a stripped down version of the bill can hitch a ride on a defense bill, according to Reuters. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill originated as legislative vehicles to greatly increase the amount of fines the FCC can assess companies found to be in violation of broadcast indecency standards. There were numerous differences between the two versions. However, a Byron Dorgan (D-ND) amendment to the Senate version which would freeze the FCC's 6/2/03 broadcast ownership rulemaking for a year is thought to be causing the Senatorial stall. A similar measure in the House version was withdrawn in committee to avoid saddling the measure with what many viewed to be a poison pill. According to Reuters, Brownback's amendment would include nothing more than a ten-fold increase in the FCC's top-drawer fine, taking it from $27.5K to $275K.

FCC wants your help in thinking small
The FCC's Media Bureau is looking at a series of 2000 studies on various aspects of increasing small business participation in the broadcasting and telecommunications fields. It is especially interested in ways to promote the elimination of entry barriers, with a special emphasis on techniques which will pass constitutional muster. | More... |

Harris vs. Withers vote tally today
Withers Broadcasting owner Russ Withers did indeed mount a challenge to the re-election of Alan Harris of Wagonwheel Communications for the third seat on the Radio Executive Council at yesterday's NAB Radio Board meeting and election. That was the only contested seat and the results of the balloting won't be announced until today. In the Joint Board meeting, Phil Lombardo of Citadel Communications was re-elected Chairman without opposition and, of course, Eddie Fritts was approved for two more years as President and CEO, heading to his retirement. In the Radio Board meeting, Bruce Reese of Bonneville International moved up from Vice Chairman to Chairman without opposition. David Field of Entercom was elected Vice Chairman, also running unopposed. The Television Board meets today.

Bear Stearns bullish on XM
Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck has told clients that XM Satellite Radio may soon raise its guidance for 2004. That follows word from the company at a recent Deutsche Bank Securities presentation (6/10/04 RBR Daily Epaper #113) that XM installations by General Motors and its dealers for the 2004 model year are already at the level which had been expected for the 2005 model year. The Bear Stearns analyst also says the company's prospects should be boosted by its new advanced-chipset products. Peck reiterated his "outperform" rating on XM's stock.

FCC's diversity committee makes its reco
Resurrection of the minority tax certificate was seen by the FCC's Advisory Committee on Diversity for the Digital Age at its meeting Monday. However, the committee also recognized that a return to the policy was beyond the Commission's authority. It came up with a number of other suggestions which it believes the Commission can put into effect without additional congressional authorization. The recommendations include the following: "...retaining and possibly expanding the Commission's Distress Sale Policy; creating incentives within FCC ownership and licensing rules; and considering a Supplier Diversity Program that might provide auction credits to companies that do business with diverse entities. The Committee also recommended that the Commission adopt a rule specifically prohibiting intentional discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or gender in the purchase or sale of any FCC-licensed facility." "The Committee's recommendations provide the Commission with an array of mutually reinforcing options for promoting diversity in the telecommunications and media markets," said Committee Chair Julia Johnson of NetCommunications. "We look forward to continuing to work with the Commission to implement these recommendations and evaluate new proposals for promoting diversity."

MMFA presses attack
on AFRTS' Limbaugh segment
David Brock of Media Matters for America has written to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once again, pressing for the deletion of an hour's worth of "The Rush Limbaugh Show" from AFRTS radio broadcasts in Iraq. Brock noted that Rumsfeld had not responded to his letter of 5/25/04. He attached a petition including 24K names with his follow-up letter. Brock noted that while President George W. Bush and other members of his administration continue to denounce the abuse at Abu Ghraib, "...Mr. Limbaugh has continued his inappropriate and divisive speech." Brock noted the comments of Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Internal Communications Allison Barber, who said that Limbaugh was being carried, and Howard Stern was not being carried, because of content issues. "By acknowledging that AFRTS bases programming decisions on whether the program's content is 'appropriate,' Barber tacitly condoned Limbaugh's reference to the Abu Ghraib abuses as 'brilliant' and his comparison of the torture to fraternity hazing." "I look forward to hearing from you and continue to hope the Department of Defense will send a clear signal to our troops that it does not sanction Mr. Limbaugh's remarks," Brock concluded.

Adbiz ©

AOL Latino launches national
Spanish language campaign
AOL Latino announced the launch of its largest TV campaign reaching all major Spanish language Networks including Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura and Azteca America, as well as cable outlets. In addition to running television awds, radio spots will also break on national Hispanic radio Networks. On the local front, specialized promotions will kick off in Miami and Chicago. | More... |

CareerBuilder.com to tackle the Super Bowl
CareerBuilder.com announced it's suiting up for the launch of a national marketing effort in 2005 that will include its TV debut at the Super Bowl. The company is stepping up its outreach and significantly increasing its marketing spend to further extend its brand awareness amongst job seekers and employers across the country. The 2005 campaign will be the largest brand awareness initiative launched by the company to date, via a combination of primetime national network and cable television, local radio, print, spot television, interactive and outdoor. The campaign will be complemented with ad support from the more than 130 newspapers, 48 TV stations and websites of owners Tribune Company, Gannett and Knight Ridder. CareerBuilder will also be introducing a new creative treatment at Super Bowl XXXIX, which is currently being developed by Cramer-Krasselt. Cramer-Krasselt also developed CareerBuilder.com's "Plan Your Escape" campaign this year and the "Smarter Way to Find a Better Job" campaign in 2003.

Fox News redesigns website
with advertisers in mind
Fox News launched a major redesign of its website in an effort to increase its online viewers and advertising. The new design is the site's first large-scale change since 2001, creates new advertising spaces, emphasizes video and aims to make the site look more like the cable channel. Editor's note: Fox understands the internet.| More... |

CAIR two launch national PSA campaign
Today, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold a news conference in DC to launch a nationwide TV and radio PSA effort "I am an American Muslim," highlighting the Muslim community's support for religious diversity and service to the nation. Thespots are part of CAIR's ongoing efforts to challenge anti-Muslim discrimination and intolerance. The PSAs will be distributed by satellite on today at 2:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m. ET (11:15 a.m.-11:30 a.m. PT), on C-BAND, Intelsat Americas (IA) 6, Transponder 15, D/L: 4000 V. They will also be available on CAIR's web site (http://www.cair-net.org) following the news conference. CAIR will present 30 and 60-second PSAs featuring American Muslims of European, African-American, Hispanic, and Native American heritage. Each person in the PSAs states how they and their families have served America and ends by saying, "I am an American Muslim." The PSA launch comes following release of CAIR's annual report on the status of American Muslim civil rights that revealed a 70% increase in anti-Muslim incidents nationwide during 2003.

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

Engineering

The mission to bring
text messaging to radio - - Part I
In this four-part RBR E-paper series, everything you wanted to know about text messaging for radio: The mobile phone, because it usually follows its owner everywhere and is almost always on, opens up many new opportunities for marketers. Mobile marketing can drive a high level of response and consumer action while building brand recognition, loyalty and sales. The cost-per-contact in mobile marketing is a fraction of comparable costs in more traditional marketing channels, such as direct mail and call centers. For example, the cost per contact for direct mail begins at $1.00, while SMS (Short Message Service) carries a cost-per-contact starting at $.15.

Mobile messaging as a marketing tool is well-developed in Europe and Asia, but is still only emerging in the US. In fact, in many other countries, consumers send and receive far more text and visual messages - - including video with sound - - over their mobile phones than they do voice messages. Some of the SMS text services for radio decided the time was right to enter the US market on the heels of Fox's "American Idol." It made the market aware of its existence. Across the country in the first eight weeks of the show, viewers were asked to vote using this technology that they hadn't used much before. Some of the results were significant. It was only available through AT&T, to its 20M subscribers. Over the course of that first eight week program, they received 21M SMS votes. | More... |

Ratings & Research

Transactions

$10.8M: KDLH-TV Duluth MN-Superior WI (Duluth MN) from New Vision Group LLC to Malara Broadcast Group LLC.

$800K WTOT-AM/WJAQ-FM Marianna FL from MFR Inc. to Stage Door Development Inc.

$100K WGRT-FM Port Huron MI. 33% of Port Huron Family Radio Inc.

| More... |

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