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Radio News ®
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Boyle applauds Clear Channel clutter cutting
Coming so soon after his criticism last week of the giant radio platforms we were interested to get Jim Boyle's take on Clear Channel Radio's decision to cut spot loads companywide. The Wachovia Securities analyst says Clear Channel is making a move in the right direction.
Editor's note: Boyle isn't backing off from his pronouncement that radio's biggest groups will continue to trail industry performance for several more quarters, but he credits Clear Channel for making a move in the right direction by cutting clutter. It is called - resisting the winds of Naples. | More... |
Moonves confirms Viacom will stand and fight
 Viacom is the owner of both CBS Television and Infinity Radio, both of which face liability for alleged indecency. Outgoing honcho Mel Karmazin vowed to fight any such charges last spring, a stance reinforced by Les Moonves. Moonves specifically addressed the Jackson/Timberlake wardrobe malfunction, which effectively threw gasoline on an already-raging anti-indecency firestorm last winter. Moonves said a fine for the incident would be unfair and perilous. He vowed to take the case to court.
RBR observation: If court review of FCC ownership regulation usually results in a finding of "arbitrary and capricious," wait 'til they get a load of the indecency regulations and guidelines. If this goes to court, we expect a long, loud fight - - everybody but everybody will weigh in on this one - - but in the end the FCC regs will wind up on the scrap heap and the Enforcement Bureau will be on their way back to the drawing board. | More... |
Holy Toledo, so that's where campaign cash is going
Toledo leads all comers in terms of the blanketing effect of advertising for George Bush and John Kerry, and Ohio is the home of four of the top five cities. Meanwhile, 60% of the viewing public is beyond antenna-shot of station which has carried even one ad, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus and the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project. Bush has outspent the Kerry campaign proper in 83 of 93 media markets, according to the study, but when Kerry surrogates such as MoveOn.org are taken into account, Kerry has the advantage in 62 of 93. | More... |
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Clear Channel and Viacom report this week
This week is starting out slow as far as quarterly reports by broadcast companies is concerned, but it will end with a bang. The only company reporting today is Journal Communications - - with the analysts' consensus that it will report earnings per share of $0.24. Sirius Satellite Radio reports Wednesday. Then it gets really interesting on Thursday - - Sumner Redstone will speak with analysts for the first time since Mel Karmazin left Viacom and Arbitron will give its first report since losing its second largest customer, Infinity (coincidentally owned by Viacom). Clear Channel reports Q2 results on Friday, with analysts sure to ask lots of questions about its just-announced plan to cut radio commercial inventories.
 Urban League set to welcome Hughes, others
Cathy Hughes, founder and chair of Radio One, America's largest African-American radio ownership company, is one of the distinguished featured guests at this year's conference of the National Urban League. Oh, and there are a couple of other guests you may have heard of... Hughes started her company with a standalone AM in Washington DC, and has seen it grow exponentially, up to its recent entrance into the cable television business. She will share the spotlight with a couple of gentlemen who have been in the news of late. John Kerry will address the conference Thursday, 7/22/04 at 10:00 AM and George W. Bush will speak Friday, 7/23/04 at 9:00 AM. The spotlight on Bush will be a little brighter than usual in light of his decision to skip a recent meeting of the NAACP. The conference is being held in Detroit and runs 7/21/04-7/25/04.
Fresh faces in Marconi list
Newer acts from mid-sized syndicators dominate this year's nominees in the high-profile "Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year" category for the NAB's Marconi Radio Awards. In fact, there's not a single entry from the big two - - Westwood One and Premier. The competition pits three morning shows - - Bob & Sheri, Tom Joyner and Lex & Terry - - against two syndicated talkers - - Neal Boortz and Clark Howard.
| Complete List |
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Adbiz ©
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Hogan's a "hero" with buyers
Buyers reacted positively to CC Radio CEO John Hogan's edict last week to cut inventory and clutter across the board: Here's what they had to say: | More... |
 Zenith upgrades 2004
ad spending forecast
Zenith Optimedia has raised its 2004 ad spending forecasts, saying the tepid European market was finally shaking off the effects of the ad downturn. Zenith said it expects global ad spending in major media (newspapers, magazines, television, radio, cinema, outdoor and Internet) to rise by 5.7% in 2004, from its December forecast of a 4.7% increase. In the US, Zenith forecast a 5.7% increase to $155.59 billion in 2004, up 0.7 percentage points from the December forecast, due to strength in network and cable television advertising. European ad spending is expected to rise 4.2% to $92.79B, compared with a previous forecast of a 3.7% increase. Asia-Pacific is expected to rise 6.4% to $74.26B, and Latin America to increase 5.4% to $15.23B. In 2005, Zenith expects global ad spending to rise 4.6%, with the U.S. up 3.8%, Europe up 4.0%, Asia-Pacific up 5.4% and Latin America up 5.0%.
Atomic Direct releases new radio spots
for White's Metal Detectors
Atomic Direct has released radio spots for White's Electronics, now airing on Clark Howard's national consumer advice radio show. The :30 and :60-second spots touch on the fun and recreational benefits of searching for hidden treasures with a White's metal detector. Atomic created the spots to complement the DRTV campaign Atomic produced in 2003. Atomic's team included executive producer Doug Garnett, agency producer John Gurney, and account executive Skye McEntire. The radio spots were produced by Russ Gorsline, of Rex Post in Portland, OR. White's Electronics is the nation's leading manufacturer of consumer metal detectors. Atomic Direct is a specialist-advertising agency that uses long-form and short-form direct response television for branded clients. The agency focuses on campaigns for clients with retail distribution because of the television's power to solve retail problems. Clients include Professional Tool Manufacturing (Drill Doctor), Newell/Rubbermaid, and The Sharper Image.
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Media, Markets & Money tm
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Third market for Bustos
Bustos Media, the radio group owned by radio veteran Amador Bustos, is entering its third market, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. It is buying an AM out of the eight-station Seattle cluster of Entercom for an undisclosed price. The station is KWNX-AM, on 1210 kHz. Bustos was the founder of the late, great Z-Spanish network and station group. He sold that some time ago, and since has bought stations in Portland OR and Salt Lake City, along with Spanish programming service OM Media Radio Network (5/24/04 RBR Daily Epaper #101). The Post-Intelligencer says Bustos will be the third owner with the fourth Hispanic station in Seattle. The others are groups, but not the usual suspects in the annals of the Hispanic radio wars. One is Multicultural, which programs in many languages, not just Spanish, and the other is Religious-specialist Salem, which has Spanish programming on two of its five in-market AMs.
Analyst says media companies have to give back cash
With media stocks performing poorly, but the big media companies still throwing off lots of free cash flow, analyst Douglas Shapiro at Banc of America Securities has been looking at the options and concludes that the companies have no choice put to start giving that cash back to their shareholders. Shapiro also concludes that the media giants would be better off today if they hadn't gone on their acquisition binges. For example, how would you like a $77 stock price for Viacom, instead of around $34?
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July Solutions Digital Magazine
Complimentary Report
Sports - Summer NFL training camp, Baseball, NBA draft just hit and what you need to succeed:
Programming - Sells with NTR - What works and what doesn't
Read RBR in 2 simple steps:
1.Create a simple account with Zinio to download the free Zinio Reader.
2. You can then download the free
July Issue of RBR.
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Thats it!
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RBR First Look
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 Clear Channel (CCU) cutting inventory across the board
RBR First reported this cut of the inventory knife last Friday afternoon, 7/16/04 Media Mix, and likely responding to Wall Street's concerns the latest being Wachovia Securities analyst Jim Boyle taking on big radio also last Friday morning 7/16/04 RBR #138. By Friday afternoon in a CCU management conference call, Radio CEO John Hogan announced the radio group will be cutting inventory across the board, beginning 1/1/05. There will be new limits set on inventory and structure. They want to be known as the leader on getting rid of clutter or in Hogan's conference call words - "It is our goal to revitalize, rejuvenate, and resuscitate radio." RBR spoke with Hogan late after that conference and hit him with seven (7) one-on-! one questions:
Q: Are you going to raise rates to make up for less inventory?
A: "We can raise them, but we can't make people pay them. What we have to do is deliver a better product..." For all seven (7) one on one Q & A's - | More... |
RBR observation: Both Clear Channel and Infinity need to show the leadership to help fix some of radio's problems-one of them being too much clutter, of course. We've been harping on this issue a bit, especially in our now-infamous "Naples is Calling" Publisher's Perspective in May RBR Solutions Magazine. RBR asked Infinity President Joel Hollander if he was following a similar path, "We don't need to put out a press release for something we've been doing for the last year."
Delivering a Sales & PD's Dream
Here are the new limits mandated from San Antonio - - Clear Channel's new commercial load limits effective 1/1/05 for all stations all formats. Sources report that many GM's and PD's are surprised and somewhat relieved by this bold move because it means going on the cheap will have to stop. Cheap meaning selling shorter spots but the creative will and must improve. With improvement means top quality creative writers and production departments and that takes spending money. As one source put it - "We get to stop the garbage humpy-humpy bar promotions just to get beer money." Next step on pulling off this spot load strategy will be Clear Channel budgets which are coming into focus as all budgets by all stations are due at the end of August, which is about six (6) weeks away. For spot load all Formats and variations charts see-| More... |
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Washington Beat
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Petition to deny denied
Martin L. Hensley petitioned the FCC to challenge the license renewals of three stations in Kentucky, WLSK-FM Lebanon, licensed to CBC of Marion County Inc., and WMSK AM & FM Morganfield, licensed to Union County Broadcasting. In his case of WLSK, Hensley left out a minor detail: allegations. Since he did not mention any problems he had with the station, particular or otherwise, the petition to deny has itself been denied. The case against the Morganfield stations remains pending.
RBR observation: The FCC noted that RBR's good friend and frequent contributor John Garziglia of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC represented CBC in the case.
 PIPA grassroots effort kicks off
Public Interest Public Airwaves (PIPA) Coalition has formally kicked off, pledging to get local TV stations to themselves pledge two hours of quality campaign coverage a week during the six weeks leading up to election day (7/16/04 RBR Daily Epaper #138). FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said, "Some broadcasters are committing to air more candidate-centered speech and public service announcements this year, but not enough of them. Wouldn't it be nice to see every broadcaster in this country step up to the plate and designate the rest of this election year as the 'Campaign for America' and devote some truly meaningful time to it?" PIPA, an organization of organizations, is going to use its various memberships to urge all local television stations to follow the two-hour per week campaign coverage minimum. Several recent studies were dusted off in support of the effort, including USC/U. Wisconsin-Madison studies showing that over half of US local news broadcasts were completely bereft of campaign coverage during the seven weeks leading into the 2002 mid-term election.
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Transactions
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$6.2M WKLU-FM Indianapolis (Brownsburg IN) from Quinn Broadcastiing Inc. (Daniel Quinn) to Indy Radio LLC (Russell Oasis). $500K escrow, balance in cash at closing. [File date 6/18/04.]
$10 WISH-FM Galatia IL. 50% of Galatia FM Joint Venture from Lynn O. Turner, Robert Romonosky (50% to 0%) to W. Russell Withers Jr. (50% to 100%). Cash. Duopoly with WEBQ-AM Harrisburg IL & WEBQ-FM Eldorado IL. [File date 6/17/04.]
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Stock Talk
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Stocks close mixed in nervous market
With Fed chief Alan Greenspan set to testify on Capitol Hill today, traders were hesitant to make new commitments on Monday - - and 3M giving a weak outlook on profits didn't help. The market closed mixed, with the Dow Industrials down 45 points, or 0.4%, to 10,094. The S&P 500 was down slightly, but the Nasdaq Composite up slightly.
Radio stocks had another down day. The Radio Index gave up 0.919, or 0.4%, to close at 215.724 - - another low for the year. Journal Communications, which reports earnings today, was up 0.6%. Spanish Broadcasting system was the day's big loser, down 3.2%. The best performer was Regent, up 2%.
Satellite Radio stocks took a beating, with Sirius down 6.4% and XM off 3.6%.
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Radio Stocks
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Here's how stocks fared on Monday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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$34.31
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+$0.19
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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$48.35
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+$0.07
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Beasley
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BBGI
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$14.66
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+$0.01
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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$18.20
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+$0.10
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| Citadel |
CDL |
$13.78 |
-$0.05 |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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$14.27
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-$0.42
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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$34.31
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-$0.51
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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$14.19
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-$0.33
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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$16.86
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+$0.08
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Regent
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RGCI
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$5.61
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+$0.11
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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$14.90
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-$0.18
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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$16.56
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-$0.14
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Disney
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DIS
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$23.49
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+$0.04
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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$24.74
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unch
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Emmis
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EMMS
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$19.71
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-$0.04
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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$2.31
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-$0.16
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| Entercom |
ETM
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$36.21
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+$0.22
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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$9.39
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-$0.31
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Entravision
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EVC
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$7.54
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+$0.04
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Univision
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UVN
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$29.24
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-$0.29
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Fisher
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FSCI
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$49.88
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+$0.41
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
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$34.24
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-$0.27
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Gaylord
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GET
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$30.75
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-$0.11
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
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$33.67
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-$0.31
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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$24.32
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+$0.09
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Westwood One
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WON
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$22.79
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-$0.12
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Interep
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IREP
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$0.99
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+$0.01
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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$24.28
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-$0.91
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International Bcg.
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IBCS
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$0.03
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-$0.01
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Have a news story you'd like to share? [email protected]
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RBR Audiocast
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07/20 - Get the feel of what you are scrolling down and reading... Listen to this morning's AudioCast and
Hold On To Your Hair!
 Listen Now
with Bob DeCarlo'
"In Da Morning"
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Bounceback
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We want to hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]
Correction: Dale Ganske's letter, published Monday 7/19/04 (7/19/04 RBR Daily Epaper #139) was originally written to David Oxenford of Shaw Pittman, not the fictional David Oxendine we inadvertently cited.
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Upped & tapped
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DuCoty jumps to NRG
WKQX-FM General Manager Chuck DuCoty is leaving Emmis to become COO of New Radio Group, reuniting with CEO Mary Quass and CFO Tami Gillmore, all of whom worked together at Capstar in 2001. DuCoty succeeds Lindsay Wood Davis, who is leaving for a new gig to be announced later this week.
WNEW-FM NY taps Frankie Blue as new PD/MD
The weeks-long rumor is true: Frankie Blue has been named Program Director/Music Director for Infinity's New Mix 102.7FM WNEW-FM, it was announced by station VP/GM Maire Mason. The appointment is effective immediately. Blue most recently served as Vice President of Operations/Programming at CC Radio's WKTU-FM New York.
New sheriff for Disney
Security is a big deal at Disney, what with its theme parks and cruise line, not to mention its movie studios, ABC, ESPN and local stations. The company has now lured away California's director of homeland security Ronald Iden, a former FBI agent, as Senior Vice President in charge of security.
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Stations For Sale
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Get away from all the hype and competition.
Paradise awaits! Pacific Island FM new in 2000. Great equipment and facilities! Excellent growth. Under radio'd. AM-CP goes with it! l.l million. For this and other listings contact: Dale A. Ganske,
Hawkeye Radio Properties, Inc.
(608) 831-8708
e-mail:[email protected] or [email protected]
Four Station Cluster
Very Profitable Four Station Cluster in Dynamic Alaska Market. Cliff at Clifton Gardiner & Co (303)758-6900
[email protected]
Powerhouse AM
10 KW AM in Rocky Mountain rated market. Can be top 25 market move-in! Cliff at Clifton Gardiner & Co (303)758-6900
[email protected]
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RBR Radar 2004
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Click on these issues for Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
Arbitron backs off blanket embargo
One element of the fallout from the Infinity defection from Arbitron was a decision by the ratings giant to make ratings for markets where Infinity is a player client-exclusive. The idewa was to assure that Arbitron's copyrights were protected and to assure that only clients are able to benefit from its research. That would effectively shut down commonly-published generic ratings information, such as 12+ ratings and rankers, since those are the markets in which Infinity has its radio strongholds. Editor's note: From here it only gets ugly and down hill. 07/19/04 RBR #139
Analyst: Hearing is
wakeup call for Nielsen
May have dodged any direct government intervention in the Local People Meter (LPM) dispute, at least for now, but analyst Lee Westerfield at Harris Nesbitt, says last week's Senate hearing was a wake-up call for Nielsen to take more seriously how it counts minorities. At the same time, Fox and Univision failed to get lawmakers to move toward government regulation of TV ratings. 07/19/04 TVBR #139
Is RIAA stream scheme redeemable?
Susquehanna SVP/GM Dan Halyburton appeared before Congress seeking to redress the unworkable current situation regarding streaming of radio station content over the Internet. Halyburton testified. "Just one of our stations - - KPLX in Dallas - - will pay almost $50K in fees this year to reach a small fraction of its over-the-air audience." Halyburton made numerous suggestions on how to fix the problem. 07/19/04 RBR #139
RBR Conformation
Boyle: Big radio groups are underperformers
Consolidation wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Wachovia Securities analyst Jim Boyle is out with a new report which concludes that giant radio companies are underperformers - - in revenue growth, ad market share and audience share. "Bigger has not been better in radio for two years and this should persist," he warned investors this week. The analyst says one of two things will have to happen - - either the giant groups will slim down to manageable levels by selling stations or radio will eventually crawl out of this downturn as a less management-intensive business with more of the cookie-cutter model that the big operators profess to distain.
RBR observation: Hit Naples on the head. Eight years into consolidation, management is spread too thin in the major companies to be effective at the local, regional or national levels - - and yet the companies continue to make revenue-raising and cost-cutting demands on those overstretched managers which are laughable. It's not likely that the genie is going to be put back into the bottle - - consolidation is here to stay. And there are only two companies which can lead the way on resolving these problems which are hurting the entire industry. Mark? Joel? We wait to see how you are going to get your companies back on track. We trust you're both too young for Naples to be calling. 07/16/04 RBR #138
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Suburban Chicago Radio Advertising Sales
NextMedia is looking for disciplined individuals who not only understand that their income is based on their efforts and performance, but who want it that way. This is a great opportunity with stations that are among the company’s fastest growing operations. Some training is provided. Radio or outside sales experience is beneficial. For more details see Radio Careers
Account Exec. NYC Based
United Stations Radio Networks home of great radio content with radio pro's and an independent leader in original network radio programming needs that confident AE to handle marketing & national advertising clients. Must be a self-starter with excellent negotiating and writing skills. Previous media sales and/or client experience a huge plus.
Editor's note: Working with Pro's - Dick Clark and Nick Verbitsky come along only once so see Radio Careers to contact Sr VP/Eastern Sales Dick Silipigni - he's not taking phone calls. |
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