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FCC facing daunting
numbers game
Attorneys from law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice have given us a down and dirty legal eagle-eye view of the 3rd Circuit FCC ownership ruling. John Garaziglia and Greg Skall confirmed much of what we told you last Friday. They note that, unless Congress steps in, that the FCC faces a daunting task in trying to justify its cap structure. Note that not much of anything is assured, except perhaps for one thing: A great deal more time figures to elapse before we get to the end of this already extended process. Without further ado, here are their comments, addressed to their clients: Editor's note: Excellent job - print them out.
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3rd Circuit blockbuster: View from "The Street"
The analysts at SG Cowen & Co., James Marsh, David Murphy and Eric Nanes, have popped out a quick analysis of the landmark 3rd Circuit ruling on FCC ownership regs from an investor's perspective. We'll have further analysis in coming days. For today's take on the ruling, take a look here: | More... |

More reaction to the 3rd Circuit ruling
People and organizations continue to weigh in on the 3rd Circuit's decision to confirm much of the philosophy behind the FCC's 6/2/03 broadcast ownership ruling while requiring the Commission to justify or modify the numbers it arrived for its ownership cap structures. On Friday, we heard from FCC Chairman Michael Powell, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, Media Access Project President/CEO Andrew Schwartzman, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Gene Kimmelman, Senior Public Policy Director, Consumers Union and Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Today we'll put in Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND); FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein; Tribune Company Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis FitzSimons; David Honig, Executive Director, Minority Media & Telecommunications Council; and Hannah Sassaman, Program Director, Prometheus Radio Project on the record. And there will be more to come. | More... |

Ad buyers unperturbed by Infinity-Arbitron split
We've heard from more major ad buyers and they seem to be unanimous in the view that having Infinity drop its contract with Arbitron isn't going to lead to any change in how they buy advertising on Infinity stations. If anything, they say it will give them an upper hand in the bargaining process.

RBR observation: On the other side of the equation, it looks like the big change is going to be for Infinity's national reps to negotiate business without being able to use Arbitron numbers. It looks to us like some internal barriers are going to have to be erected at the rep firms to make sure that staffers don't cross the line and use forbidden Arbitron data when pitching for business. | More... | RBR Observation |

Alexander picks radio over TV
Long-time Tampa-St. Pete broadcast personality Nancy Alexander has announced that she will continue as half of the "Nancy & Mike" morning show on Clear Channel's WMTX-FM, but give up her second job as a TV reporter developing off-beat segments called "Out There" for Fox O&O WTVT-TV (Ch.13). "After five years of having what I think are two of the best jobs in broadcasting in the Tampa Bay area, I've decided to focus on one of my careers," Alexander said in a statement. However, local new reports said it was unclear whether Alexander had the option of continuing at WTVT. She had not appeared on the station's 10:00 pm newscast since May 31st, when she was cited for careless driving after leaving the scene of a traffic accident in St. Petersburg.

Adbiz ©

New Chairman for Interpublic
Interpublic Group, the world's second-largest advertising company, is getting a new Chairman. Michael Roth will take over around July 15, once his current company, The MONY Group, completes a sale to AXA Financial Services Group. Roth is no stranger to the ad business. He's been a member of the board of directors at Interpublic since 2002. David Bell, who had been serving as Chairman, isn't going anywhere. He'll still be President and CEO. But another key executive is hitting the road. Chris Coughlin, who joined Interpublic just last year as COO and CFO, has decided to "retire" (he's only 51) at the end of this year. Robert Thompson, currently Sr. VP of Finance, will take over as CFO. Interpublic's companies include McCann Erickson and Foote Cone & Belding.

Chicken vendor is quick on the draw
It didn't take David Gronewaller, President of GC Partners Inc., long to figure out what to do when he heard that a local hero was a fan of his company's Golden Corral franchise restaurants. After Fox's "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino said in an interview that she loved to eat at Golden Corral and particularly liked the fried chicken, Gronewaller arranged to deliver plenty of free chicken to a Barrino family reunion in Raleigh, NC. Also acting fast was Emily Biggs of EBA Advertising Inc., the agency of record for GC Partners. She designed T-shirts with the slogan "The Food Is Fantasia At Golden Corral" which where passed out to friends and family of the Idol winner, who hails from nearby High Point, NC.

Y&R holds onto 7-UP
The folks who created the quirky "Make 7-Up Yours" campaign, Young & Rubicam, have held onto the soft drink account after a strong review challenge from Crispin Porter + Bogusky. With the $25 million per year account again secured, Y&R is now focused on creating a campaign for the new 7-Up Plus, a Splenda-sweetened version that's fortified with calcium, vitamin C and fruit juice.

Avail auction place opens for business
A new multimedia service is opening up which offers to help companies sell off hitherto unsold inventory to the highest bidder. Called the GuRue Unsold Advertising Network, it offers avails in radio, television, billboard, newspaper, direct mail, telemarketing, product placement and sponsorships, among others. Bidders can use GuRue for free, and sellers pay a 7.5% commission on any sales. Info on the service, offered by media and technology company KaZaZZ, is available at gurue.com.

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

Monday Morning Shakers & Makers

Deals: 5/17/04-5/21/04
This week we put the "Pa" in pathetic. What the week has in common with the last two is low deal volume, going even a bit lower. What it does not have in common is value. The last two weeks both went over $100M. This one didn't come remotely close to $10M. In fact, it wasn't particularly close to $3M. There was no single deal that got all that close to $1M. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. (Still, it isn't the slowest week of 2004 - - that honor goes to 2/9-13, when a paltry five deals fetched an even paltrier $930,001)

Transactions

$4.5M WKSN-AM/WHUG-FM & WQFX-FM Jamestown NY (Jamestown NY, Russell PA) from Vox Allegany LLC & Southbridge Radio Corp. (Bruce G. Danziger) to Media One Group II LLC (James T. Embrescia, Thomas J. Embrescia, Lee Zapis). $400K letter of credit applied to $4.4M cash at closing, $100K holdback amount. Superduopoly with WJTN-AM & WWSE FM Jamestown NY. [File date 6/2/04.]

$300K WTAC-FM Christiansted VI from El Morro Broadcasting Inc. (Luis A. Mejia) to Philip E. Kuhlman and Ellen N. Kuhlman, Joint Tenants. $150K escrow, balance in cash at closing. [File date 6/2/04.]

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