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Volume 23, Issue 121, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Wednesday Morning June 21st, 2006

Radio News ®

FitzSimons stands firm
Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons insisted at the Mid-Year Media Review conference in New York that a majority of the company's board of directors, including the independent directors, are firmly behind Tribune's plan to buy back up to 25% of its outstanding shares for around two billion bucks, despite opposition from the Chandler Trusts, Tribune's second-largest shareholder. He said the tender offer is on track, with closing set for June 26th. In his presentation, FitzSimons tried to explain how the TM/CT partnerships now jointly owned by the Chandlers and Tribune, following its acquisition of Times Mirror, play into the current dispute. He accused the Chandler Trusts of pressing for changes which would benefit them to the detriment of other shareholders and FitzSimons said Tribune is not going to take a tax hit to accommodate the Chandlers.
| Read More... |

Dan Rather exit is official
After a couple of weeks of rumors, CBS News confirmed yesterday that Dan Rather is leaving after 44 years with the network. A primetime special on his CBS career will air this fall, CBS is making a contribution to his alma mater and the network is trying to paint the split in the best terms possible. "Of all the famous names associated with CBS News, the biggest and brightest on the marquee are Murrow, Cronkite and Rather... There will always be a part of Dan Rather at CBS News," said Sean McManus, President, CBS News & Sports. After stepping down from the network anchor position last year, Rather was to have been a regular contributor to "60 Minutes II," but that program was canceled and Rather ended up at "60 Minutes," which had too many correspondents as a result - not to mention that it had to open up space for incoming anchor Katie Couric and new contributor Anderson Cooper. A frustrated Rather then learned that there really wasn't an on-air job for him at CBS. "It just isn't in me to sit around doing nothing. So I will do the work I love elsewhere, and I look forward to sharing details about that soon," Rather said yesterday in his own statement.
| Read the CBS statement |
| Read Dan Rather's statement |

RBR observation: The easy conclusion to jump to is that Dan Rather was done in by the botched 2004 "60 Minutes II" report on President George W. Bush's military record. Maybe, but the "CBS Evening News" had already fallen to third place at that point, so there would have been intense pressure for an anchor change as NBC and ABC put their new people in place. We always found Rather to be a better reporter than anchor, so we look forward to seeing what he does next - and he has made it clear that retirement is not in the cards at age 74. Rather has already been in talks with Mark Cuban to develop something for Cuban's HDNet. Now, that might be interesting.

Multiplatform deal in Boston
New England Cable News (NECN) and WBIX-AM Boston have announced formation of a strategic media partnership. Effective this week, NECN programming is airing on the radio station 8-10 pm weekdays. "Adding NECN's award-winning news coverage to our lineup is a hug addition to WBIX's business-focused programming schedule," said Alex Langer, Chairman and CEO of 1060 Communications Corporation, which owns WBIX. NECN's partnership with WBIX is part of the cable station's "NECN Anywhere" initiative, which also includes an upgraded website with free video podcast downloads, free mobile web access for cell phone users and video-on-demand through Comcast. "By partnering with WBIX we are offering our audience yet another way to obtain news where they want it, how they want it and when they want it," said NECN President Philip Balboni. NECN is a partnership between Comcast and the Hearst Corporation.

AFTRA wants public to have a voice in ownership regs
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists isn't wasting any time in launching an offensive as the FCC gets ready to take up the Third Circuit remand of its 6/2/03 dereg attempt. In advance of the FCC's kick-off of the effort, it is calling for "...a timeline that will allow for meaningful public discourse on any re-write of media ownership regulations." AFTRA National Director of Legislative Affairs Thomas R. Carpenter noted the overwhelming public outcry that resulted in the FCC's 2003 attempt, despite "...no advance notice of what the Commission's intention was, and little opportunity for public comment." He continued "In spite of the FCC's attempt to push through an agenda of 'increased media consolidation', the public outcry was overwhelming. Americans sent millions of messages to the FCC, demanding sensible media ownership guidelines."

RBR observation: The bottom line is that there is zero chance that Kevin Martin's crack at the rules will be conducted quietly in the shadows.

Panel issues disaster broadcast reco
The FCC's independent panel reviewing preparations and responses to a disaster, prompted by last year's Katrina challenge, includes a number of items of interest for broadcasters, in particular a menu of waivers which the panel thinks should be ready to go into effect on a moment's notice. The automatic waiver menu would include the following. * Allowing noncoms to retransmit full commercial station crisis coverage, including commercials; * permission to use emergency antennas; * waiver on AM nighttime operations as long as its noncom; * waiver of rules on limited and discontinued operations; * tolling on CP deadlines; * automatic STAs, or STA grants with simple written/oral notification for stations forced into silence; * unlimited simulcasting on co-owned stations; * waiver on main studio staffing limits; and * waiver on reporting requirements on point-to-point communications.

RBR observation: The FCC kicked it into gear with great speed and effectiveness when Katrina struck, and was one of the few government agencies which received universal praise for its actions. It is to be commended for taking that firm foundation and finding ways to improve. It will be a good thing for stations already operating under duress to know that they can simply do what needs to be done without waiting for an overseer hundreds of miles away to sign a permission slip.

Aikman to quarterback
NAB Radio Luncheon
NFL Hall of Famer Troy Aikman has been booked for an in-depth on-stage interview during the Radio Luncheon September 20th during the NAB Radio Show in Dallas. Aikman, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, is now host of "The Troy Aikman Show" on Sporting News Radio Network and also appears regularly on Cumulus Media Partners' KTCK-AM Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Wall Street Media Business Report TM

NY Times says ad market still sluggish
"While advertising revenues in the second quarter have exhibited year-over-year improvement, the ad market remains challenging. So far this month we have not seen a continuation of May's strength. However, ad revenues have been trending above those of last June," said New York Times Company CEO Janet Robinson as she updated the company's Q2 guidance. The Times Co. is now projecting that earnings per share for the quarter will be 41-43 cents, pretty much flat with results of 42 cents a year ago.

Ad Business Report TM

Arbitron releases pre-RADAR 89 data
Radio retains its position as a mainstay medium over the past year, according to the latest total radio listening estimates compiled by RADAR. The sample size for RADAR 89 has been increased to more than 106,000 diarykeepers. Initial findings in RADAR 89 indicate that, over the course of a typical week, radio reached over 94% of Persons 18+ who live in a household with an income of 75,000 or more. 94% of college grads listened to radio, as compared to 91% of people who did not go to college. 81% of Persons 18+ listened to radio while in their cars and 25% listened to radio at work. On 6/26, Arbitron will release the complete RADAR 89 Radio Network Audience Report results. Over the course of a week, radio reaches over 230 million people, or 93% of all persons aged 12 and older. And radio doesn't take the weekend off - more than 183 million people, or 74% of all Persons 12+, tune to radio on Saturday or Sunday.

When an ad flight
is truly a flight
If we remember correctly, David Letterman used to employ what he called a skycam on his old NBC late night show (at least when monkeycam wasn't in operation). Now, the other end of the transmission/reception equation is finally a reality as The Lightship Group introduces a 70'x30' LED television mounted on a blimp. They're making balloons better these days, but the real innovation was lighter TV receivers, making the concept possible. So instead of seeing the word "Goodyear" or whatever, actual television content can be shown. According to the Associated Press, the prototype blimp is headed for a month-long engagement overseas, then will return to answer the beck and call of a single client which has it for a year, at a cost of 5M.

RBR observation: One of the developers of the blimp says it defeats clutter, since it's the only thing of its kind up in the sky. We guess its all a matter of perspective. It takes away one more place one used to be able to look without being bombarded with advertising, and we shudder to think what the skies will be like if the concept really catches on. You can no longer walk into a public restroom or look at the floor of a supermarket without seeing an ad. What will be next, squirrels captured and released in tourist areas with their fur dyed to reflect the colors of a nut packaging company? Musical manhole covers playing shoe jingles? Talking telephone polls? (Hey, these are good. Excuse us while we head over to our local patent office.)

Media Markets & Money TM

Dierking finds centerpiece for KS group
Bruce Dierking's Dierking Communications has two AM-FM combos in northern Kansas. KNDA AM & FM Marysville are about a third of the state's full length away from its eastern border, and KQNK AM & FM Norton are about a third of the way in from the western edge. Now, thanks to Herbert and Ruby Hoeflicker, he'll have a pair of FMs just about in the state's center, on the same northern parellel as the other two combos. Sited along Waconda Lake, he's getting KZDY-FM Cawker City for 175K and KDNS-FM Downs for 276K, a 451K total. None of the stations are anywhere near Arbitron-rated territory.

Washington Media Business Report TM

FEC gets set to share its opinions
The Federal Election Commission has four questions before it which it will consider in an open meeting Thursday 6/22/06. Three are general, at least for RBR's purposes. One involves an elected official who is wondering if she can use her campaign website to sell a book she wrote if the proceeds go to charity. Two other organizations have questions about soliciting donations, one directly to specified candidates and the other to its on PAC. The remaining issue, however, is involves EchoStar, purveyor of satellite video service Dish Network. It wants to know if it can, under new regulations, "...air a series of PSA's featuring federal officeholders to promote charitable causes and raise awareness of health issues."

RBR observation: Let's see, how would we answer this? Hmmmmmm. A company selling video entertainment, as part of its general philanthropic instincts and principles, wants to put out a public health message. It's not going to use celebrities, doctors, public health officials, regular folks or its own executives to do this, though. It's going to use elected officials to get out its positive message. Senator X will no doubt look good on TV warning the public about the dangers of ear mites and praising EchoStar for its efforts to stamp out the ear mite scourge for good. Unless EchoStar is going to put out an equal number of these spots for all candidates in a given race, it seems to us that this is nothing more than free publicity for candidates of EchoStar's choosing. The FEC should shoot this down without a second thought.

TVBR TV News

Softwave enters
local cable arena
SoftWave Media Exchange, an electronic marketplace for the purchase, sale, management and distribution of ad inventory, announced the launch of SWMX Television (www.swmxtv.com). Initially serving the local spot cable market, SWMX Television is a dynamic open marketplace enabling advertisers and broadcasters to plan, execute and manage sophisticated media transactions on one platform, in one process, in real time. The Television exchange currently delivers access to a national daily cable audience of over 25 million viewers representing all of the major networks including, ESPN, MTV, CNBC, USA Network, Discovery Channel, TBS, TNT, CNBC and many more. By Q4, SWMX intends to expand the capabilities of the television platform to support the local broadcast market as well.
| Read More... |

TVBR observation: Like with radio, many cable broadcasters don't want to be disclosed. Softwave and other vendors have to be careful about what is discussed-what MSOs are participating in this case. Why? These companies are offering advertisers the ability to work on a flying standby basis. And the broadcast community really wants to protect their higher-rate business. SWMX, for example, provides them with significant additional revenues that they normally wouldn't get. Over the course of time they will get more comfortable with the idea that opportunistic buying is going to be a major piece of the pie. For example, SWMX has 13 of the 15 largest radio groups/900 radio clients participating on that side already, but they purposefully weren't part of the SWMX marketing push. That's just an example of the sensitivities involved. In July's RBR/TVBR Solutions magazine, Kathy Crawford, MindShare President/Local Broadcast, speaks about the online buying/auction systems and what she needs from them to make her job easier.

Transactions

3.65M WXLA-AM & WQHH-FM Lansing-East Lansing MI (Dimondale, Dewitt MI) from Mid Michigan FM Inc. (Helena DuBose) to The MacDonald Broadcasting Company (Kenneth H. MacDonald Jr.). 172.5K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WILS-AM, WHZZ-FM. [File date 5/30/06.]

2.3M WJZT-FM Tallahassee FK (Woodville FL) from 97.9 WJZST FM Inc. (Ernest A. Petrone) to WJZT Communications LLC (Vernon D. Smith). 575K cash at closing, balance in cash on 1/31/07. LMA until closing. [File date 5/30/06.]

Stock Talk

Mixed signals produce mixed day
A stronger-than-expected housing report was tempered by persistent concerns about inflation and rates. The Dow Industrials rose 33 points, or 0.3%, to 10,975, but other major indices were slightly lower.

Radio stocks were little changed. The Radio Index declined 0.250, or 0.2%, to 147.088. Radio One was the star performer, with its Class D up 1.5% and Class A up 1.3%. Entravision had the worst day, down 1.3%.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		36.78	-0.27	Hearst-Argyle	HTV		21.95	unch
Beasley	BBGI		6.56	-0.02	Journal Comm.	JRN		11.19	+0.10
CBS CI. B	CBS		25.79	-0.17	Lincoln Natl.	LNC		55.79	+0.40
CBS CI. A	CBSa		25.82	-0.15	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		6.98	+0.09
Citadel	CDL		8.70	+0.01	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		6.98	+0.10
Clear Channel	CCU		30.03	+0.22	Regent	RGCI		3.43	-0.17
Cox Radio	CXR		13.56	-0.02	Saga Commun.	SGA		9.40	+0.07
Cumulus	CMLS		10.40	-0.05	Salem Comm.	SALM		13.05	-0.07
Disney	DIS		29.23	+0.16	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		4.01	+0.03
Emmis	EMMS		16.00	-0.19	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		5.14	-0.06
Entercom	ETM		24.86	+0.14	Univision	UVN		35.40	-0.30
Entravision	EVC		8.13	-0.11	Westwood One	WON		7.65	unch
Fisher	FSCI		42.30	-0.50	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		13.40	+0.17
Gaylord	GET		41.36	+0.52	-	-	-	-	-

Bounceback

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Below the Fold

Ad Business Report
When an ad flight is truly a flight
70'x30' LED television mounted on a blimp...

Media Markets & Money
Dierking finds centerpiece
For KS group has 2 AM-FM combos...

Washington Media Business Report
FEC gets set to share its opinions
Has 4 questions it which it will consider...

TVBR-TV news
Softwave enters local cable arena
Radio's very own goes into TV...

Arbitrends

Stations for Sale

FM Stations
Nevada Boomtown-$950K; CA Coast-$1.5M; OR Coast-$700K; Northwest -$900K
MCH Enterprises, Inc.
(805) 237-0952
www.mchentinc.com

Chattanooga AM/FM
Jorgenson Broadcast Brokerage
(828) 859-6982
[email protected]

Radio Media Moves

Brantley signs
with Genesis
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Scot Brantley has signed with Genesis Communications to host the "Scot Brantley Show" on SportsRadio 1470 WHBO-AM Tampa, weekday afternoons. Since his football days, Brantley has had a successful, 16-year career in sports radio, hosting live talk shows and also in the broadcast booth as a color analyst on The Buccaneer Radio Network and the University of Florida Gator Radio Network.

Upped in Connecticut
Cox Radio announced the appointment of Bob Bayne to Operations Manager for WFOX-FM & WCTZ-FM Stamford-Norwalk, CT. He is an 11-year veteran of WCTZ.

WorldLink taps
Mary Pouliopoulos
Mary Pouliopoulos has been named EVP/Sales and Marketing, for WorldLink, a full-service, multi-platform media sales firm. In her new position, Pouliopoulos, who was formerly in a senior sales position with TWC Media Solutions/The Weather Channel, will be responsible for the day-to-day sales operations of WorldLink. She replaces Dan Casey, who is leaving WorldLink after six years with the company.

More News Headlines

Emmis Sports Marketing signs Monarch Sports
Emmis Sports Marketing announced it is now the exclusive sales partner for Monarch Sports. Monarch Sports holds the exclusive local and national radio broadcast rights to several college bowl games, including the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego and the All American Bowl in San Antonio for all-star, major college bound high-school seniors. According to David Barnett, Director of Emmis Sports Marketing, "This is a great opportunity for Monarch, ESM, and potential sponsors. For the first time, bowl game sponsors will have the opportunity to reach fans using radio and activation programs. Under the agreement, ESM will create and sell customized, call-to-action programs turning sponsorship dollars into sales."

Five get NY
Hall of Fame nod
The New York State Broadcasters Association has announced plans to induct five distinguished broadcasters into its Hall of Fame during the kickoff dinner of the association's 45th Executive Conference June 25th. The newly inducted class of 2006 includes:

Hal Jackson, The Legend, WBLS, New York City

Bruce Morrow, Everybody's Cousin, WCBS, New York City

Gabe Pressman, The Reporter's Reporter, WNBC-TV, New York City

Ernie Tetrault, Capital District Anchor for 60 years, WRGB, Schenectady

Irv Weinstein, Western New York's Legendary Anchor, WKBW, Buffalo

"Each of these broadcasters has made a significant contribution to the broadcast industry in New York State," said Ed Levine, Hall of Fame Chairman.

RBR Radar 2006

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

Univision bids
After being pushed back to give bidders more time to put together their offers bids for Univision were due 6/20/06. Don't expect to hear anything official about the bids or bidders, at least not from Univision. The company is so tight-lipped that we will be surprised if it even issues a notice that the bids have been received. It has not, in fact, ever publicly stated that today is the due date.

RBR observation: The latest development in the Univision auction is a Reuters report that some TV owners plan to challenge the FCC license transfers if the Televisa-Venevision group wins - not because of them, but because of their backers. KKR, Carlyle and Blackstone are also part of the Valcon group which recently acquired VNU, the owner of Nielsen Media Research. The TV groups are afraid of a conflict of interest. More in
06/20/06 RBR #120

Cumulus stock still falling
Shares of Cumulus Media that weren't bought back in the company's Dutch auction tender are now worth even less, with the price continuing to fall after the buyback priced near the low end of its range. Bear Stearns-company's increased leverage is a concern. Wachovia Securities-has lowered her EPS estimates for the company.

RBR observation: Stay with RBR and we will keep our eyes and ears open for you. This year as well as next will server as a potential road map of many public radio companies.
06/19/06 RBR #119

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