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Interep still looking for national to rebound
After reporting a decline in Q2 commission revenues, Interep CEO Ralph Guild says he remains optimistic that an upturn in national spot spending is coming - - but he isn't saying just when. "National radio ad spending has been unpredictable. Including all of our marketers, executive sales management and transactional sellers, we have proactively shifted our focus to aggressive new business initiatives such as calling on upper-level advertisers and agency decision-makers, and going after promotional, newspaper and print ad budgets. We are encouraged that our efforts have helped sustain our company during a challenging period due to economic and geopolitical factors that affected the total advertising climate," Guild said. "We remain optimistic for an upturn in national ad spending. Interep has an extraordinary legacy as a pioneer in our industry. We will continue to build our platform for long-term growth and profitability for our company, our clients and our shareholders," he added. Looking to the future, CEO Bill McEntee was hesitant to offer any firm predictions. "Predictions for future business bookings remain unclear. Buyers continue to book very close to a campaign's start date. To-date, third quarter bookings for national radio is soft. However, we are confident that our aggressive new business efforts will help improve our company's long-term sustainability," McEntee told shareholders.

Journalists, including Russert, ordered before grand jury
A Chicago district court judge has ordered NBC's Tim Russert and Matthew Cooper of Time Magazine to testify before a grand jury regarding the case of Valerie Plame, the CIA operative whose identity was allegedly leaked by a White House source. Threatened with jailing, Russert agreed to testify. Cooper did not, and was incarcerated and later released on bond, according to reports. Russert was interviewed under oath on Sunday, 8/8/04.

RBR observation: Forcing reporters to reveal sources treads on a slippery constitutional slope. But this case is even more perplexing. If they're going after Russert and Cooper, where is Robert Novak, the print/broadcast journalist who was the alleged recipient of the leak, and who revealed Plame's identity to the world in the first place?

NFL gets back into entertainment biz,
minus MTV
The NFL kicks off its 2004 season Thursday, 9/9/04, and once again ABC will have the honor of telecasting the opener. However, before that happens, the league will once again tempt fate and turn center stage over to a "star-studded lineup" of musical entertainers for an hour before kick-off between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. None of the key players in the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction will be on hand this time - - no Viacom/CBS/MTV, no Janet Jackson, no Justin Timberlake. Included in the lineup are Mary J. Blige, Destiny's Child, Elton John, Toby Keith, Lenny Kravitz and Jessica Simpson. According to the New York Post, boutique production company White Cherry will run the event.

RBR observation: What is this, a Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney movie? We're starting up the new season of what is arguably the most violent sport this side of professional prize-fighting, and the NFL says, "Hey, kids, let's put on a show?" Unless Elton John is planning on hitting Mary J. Blige with a bullet through traffic on a tough crossing pattern, or Jessica Simpson is planning to stuff Lenny Kravitz at the line of scrimmage on third and short, we simply aren't interested.

DNC, 527s helping Kerry keep pace with Bush
According to the LA Times, Democratic candidate John Kerry has had his message on acquired airspace to a far greater extent than Republican George W. Bush during the first week of August, despite the fact that he may not have spent a penny of his own. That is because the Democratic National Committee has put its own cash into play, spending 8M dollars during the week, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG. Add to that another 3.1M from Media Fund, one of the so-called 527 groups, and Kerry supporters easily bested the Bush campaign's outlay of 4.4M.

Conference Calls, Q2 2004

Interep: Revenues down, market share up
Interep reports that its commission revenue decreased 9.6% in Q2 to 20.6 million. That was primarily due to losing Citadel as a client in Q4 of last year. "While commission revenue was marginally down from other clients during the first six months of 2004, particularly in the second quarter, due primarily to a general softness in national spot advertising, the share of total national radio advertising dollars realized by our client stations ("same-station") actually increased 3.8 points over the same period," the company said in announcing its Q2 results. Interep said that during the first half of this year its marketing group generated 36 million in new business from major categories, including pharmaceutical, automotive, beverage, financial and consumer packaged goods. For Q2, the loss per share applicable to common shareholders increased to 0.59 cents from 0.44 a year earlier.

Disney earnings rise 21%
Disney CEO Michael Eisner declared himself "satisfied" with fiscal Q3 (April-June) as earnings per share rose 21% to 0.29 cents - - beating the Thompson One Analytics consensus by two cents. "The continued growth in our earnings this quarter, led by ESPN and our other cable networks, positions us well to deliver more than 50 percent growth in earnings for the year, as we predicted last quarter," declared Eisner. "Equally important, our strong earnings and cash flow growth demonstrate the overall strength of our businesses. During the recent downturn, we have remained focused on managing the Company for long term performance and extending the Disney legacy and we believe that the positive trends in our businesses validate that approach."

RBR observation: Things are still far from jolly in the Disney Kingdom, but every quarter that Eisner can show some improvement is a quarter that he is under less pressure to hit the road. The key, though, is fixing ABC. Nobody is yet promising when that will occur - - only that things may not be so dismal next season as they have been.
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Steve Grubbs: Challenges and opportunities in media abound - Part II
In this three-part series from our August print issue, we speak with Steve Grubbs, CEO of Omnicom's PHD. He's responsible for 4.5B dollars in global billings and seven US offices. Clients include DaimlerChrysler, Gap/Old Navy, Ralston Purina, J&J, Goodyear, Reebok, Gap, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Discovery Networks, Schwab and Energizer. Prior to joining PHD, Steve was CEO of OMD USA, Omnicom's other global media services network. Before that, Steve was EVP/Director of National TV Buying and Program Development at BBDO New York, where he served for 22 years. Steve's also a former Chairman of the AAAA's Network TV committee and currently serves on the board of directors of Advertising Information Services and E-sync Networks. Here, Steve gives an insightful take on holding the keys to innumerable, constantly-evolving media vehicles (continued from Monday). | More... |

Zimmerman wins S&K account
Omnicom's Zimmerman Partners has been named agency of record for S&K Famous Brands Inc, which operates the S&K Menswear retail stores. In announcing that it had won the 13M dollar account, Zimmerman said it will be working with S&K to enhance its market share. "We intend to work with them on everything from customer relationship management to direct mail to advertising - - it's not all about the ads, it's about the company's business direction as well," said Jordan Zimmerman, founder and Chairman of the agency which bears his name. S&K, based in Richmond, VA, has more than 240 stores in 70 markets.

Environmentalists go after Bush on FL Panhandle
The League of Conservation Voters has jumped into the campaign for Florida with a television ad campaign which takes on the environmental record of George W. Bush, specifically in regard to off-shore drilling within 30 miles of the Florida panhandle. The campaign aims to contrast Bush's words with his policies on the topic, accusing him of saying one thing while doing another. The campaign is scheduled to run in the Mobile-Pensacola and Panama City markets.

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2M - KJCK AM & FM, KQLA-FM Junction City KS (Junction City, Ogden KS). 100% of Platinum Broadcasting Inc. from Harold K. Johnson (24% to 0%); Russell M. Johnson (24% to 0%); Steven R. Struebing (18.03% to 0%); Nedrick L. Price (14% to 0%); Sondra R. Campbell (14% to 0%); and Robert V. Struebing (5.97% to 0%) to Paradise Broadcasting Inc., comprised of Michaell H. Daniels (0% to 51%); H. Phillip Howe (0% to 24.5%); and H. Evan Howe (0% to 24.5%). Cash. Includes non-compete. Existing duopoly. [File date 7/13/04.]

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