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Volume 22, Issue 16, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Monday Morning January 24th, 2005
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| Publisher Observation |
 The End to a New Beginning
for Broadcasters
The radio and television mediums are in a whirlwind rock tour with 2005 the year to straighten out its problems and get on the playing field by moving the ball to the goal line and score with the extra two point conversion. The radio and TV business have no time to waste and no time for a do over. Chairman Powell's resignation is not a surprise except for the fact he said good bye the day after the President was sworn in for this second term. Now that is fast and that speed is the only surprise. Go back to Dreg-Day June 2nd 2003 06/02/03 RBR #107 to when Radio got Re-Reg and TV got de-Reg when, as expected, the Federal Communications Commission voted strictly on party lines on a host of issues concerning broadcast and newspaper ownership 06/03/03 RBR #108 and then Sen. John McCain and crew wiped the smiles off their faces - 'Senators grilled Powell & Co. for Monday's vote' -The scene resembled a carnival shooting gallery. Senators from both sides of the political spectrum criticized the FCC for clearing the way for media giants to grow still larger.
RBR Observation then: Sen. McCain's borrowed prayer: "May the words we utter today may be tender and sweet because tomorrow we may have to eat-them." This is just the first act! 06/05/03 RBR #110 Think of what waits ahead and 2005 is the year for pro-active measures - Can't think of one? Well don't worry that's what we are here for - Now we go to school.
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Radio News®
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Powell presents his marching papers
"Today, I sent a letter to the President thanking him for the incredible privilege of chairing the Federal Communications Commission during his first term. With a mixture of pride and regret I informed him of my intention to step down as a commissioner and chairman some time in March. | More... |
RBR Poll Question
Michael Powell, Chairman of the FCC for four years, will leave the agency in March with some accomplishments and with many issues hanging in the wind for radio and television broadcasters. Today we ask you:
How would you rate Powell's performance as FCC Chairman?
1 - Excellent
2 - Good
3 - Fair
4 - Poor
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 A brief recap of the Powell FCC
Michael Powell was appointed to the FCC by Bill Clinton in 1998, and ascended to the chair under George Bush in 2001. A firm proponent of market forces, he generally pursued deregulatory policies during his time on the 8th Floor. His broadcast legacy is, to say the least, mixed. He attempted to extend the loosening of radio rules which took place in 1996 to television via the infamous 6/2/03 rulemaking. | More... |
What's next? There is a big if to all this
The Bush administration will have a month or two to consider a replacement for the Powell, and numerous names are being bandied about. One of the more obvious choices is fellow Republican Commissioner Kevin Martin, who would likely keep the Commission more or less on its present tack. Neither have we heard that Kathleen Abernathy has been ruled out, although it is widely believed she is keen on returning to the private sector. | More... |
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Powell reaction Part 1: The 8th Floor
Michael Powell's announcement Friday cranked the industry PR machinery into high gear. Everybody and their brother took a moment to weigh in, from John McCain to Eddie Fritts, all the way to Howard Stern's "Thank god he's gone." (Uhh, not quite yet, Howard.) In order to protect our loyal readers from contracting a serious case of Powell insulin shock, we will spool out the comments over the next few days. Today: Powell's colleagues on the FCC's 8th Floor. | More... |
Democrats turn attention to SSA
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is asking Social Security Administration Commissioner Jo Anne B. Barnhart to bring to a halt any activities by the SSA to promote the Bush administration's proposals for changes to the system. Among other things, Pelosi wants to head off any use of radio, TV and/or newspaper to disseminate "government propaganda." Pelosi has requested that Barnhart forward a number of items, including "All materials created for radio, TV, or newspapers." | More... |
 Eddie Fritts: The year ahead, Part 1
RBR/TVBR quizzed Eddie Fritts, President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, about the issues facing radio and TV broadcasters in 2005. This article appears in its entirety in the January debut issue of Radio and Television Business Report - The Real Business Magazine. For a free copy, call April McLynn: 703-492-8191. What are the biggest issues facing radio in general for next year? HD Radio is now ready for primetime. I'm encouraged by the announcement from some of the biggest groups that they will be transitioning their stations to digital in the next few years. I'm hopeful that all of the groups will follow suit. Radio can't be an analog player in a digital world. I'm convinced that our future will be secure if we embrace digital technology while never losing sight of the fact that localism is our franchise and ours alone.
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| Conference Calls Q3 2004 |
Immelt sees growth ahead for NBC Universal
NBC Universal is expected to be one of the strong growth vehicles for General Electric in 2005, with GE CEO Jeff Immelt telling analysts that NBC Uni segment profits should be up more than 50% this year. For Q4 2004, revenues at NBC Uni more than doubled to 4.34 billion, but that was against 1.93 billion a year earlier without the Universal Entertainment assets. Profits for the unit rose 60% in Q4 to 860 million. Overall, GE's revenues rose 18% in Q4 to 43.71 billion, with earnings also up 18% to 5.38 billion.
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Adbiz©
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 Cadillac to launch effort touting speed
Cadillac announced a TV and Internet campaign focused on the 0-60 mph acceleration of its V-Series cars, the Wall Street Journal reported. The campaign will include a series of five-second TV spots for its three CTS-V and STS-V sedans and the XLR-V roadster, all of which hit 60 in just under five seconds, Cadillac Marketing Director Jay Spenchian told the paper. Ads began airing during last weekend's NFL playoff games on Fox and CBS, and continue on other nationwide programming in the days running up to the Super Bowl. The ads will also appear on websites and at a new site: cadillacunderfive.com .
MediaMonitors presents AirCheck Spot Ten
2004 year in review
The AirCheck service from RCS's Media Monitors has released a variety of charts ranking 2004 spot advertising across format and category. The service now monitors the top 20+ markets with almost 500 stations, with more coming on board regularly. Here are a few more charts, continued from yesterday. | More... |
Miami radio stations bar ad critical
of property management group
Jefferson Pilot is getting publicity for refusing to allow a 60 second radio ad critical of the Continental Group to run on two of their stations - WMXJ-FM and WLYF-FM. The ad focuses on controversial business practices of the Continental Group, a Canadian owned property management firm operating in Miami. The ad is running on WIOD-AM and WKIS-FM. WQAM-AM, WKAT-AM have also agreed to air the ad. | More... |
 Pedigree launches 200 million
global branding effort
Masterfoods USA, the makers of Pedigree Food for Dogs, launched a new campaign as part of a broader marketing effort that communicates the brands' love of dogs. The new global marketing effort features dogs at their best and the way owners see their own dogs, and will be accompanied in the U.S. by a national public relations/dog-advocacy initiative designed to reward those who adopt homeless dogs from shelters and breed rescue associations. Consumer promotions also will support the new campaign throughout the year. | More... |
Dove Styling products launches campaign
Dove is using popular cartoon characters to launch Dove Styling products, its first venture into this territory-three animated moms and one clue-cracking teen free their styles. In true Dove fashion, the ad campaign taps real, everyday beauties, as known by the people of Springfield, Bedrock, Mystery, Inc. and the Skypad Apartments: | More... |
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| Media Markets & MoneyTM |
 Clear Channel puts a new spin on Eureka TV
It turns out that the original buyers for Clear Channel's KVIQ-TV 6 (CBS) in Eureka CA - - Sainte Partners - - can't buy the station, since the TV duopoly rules remain in limbo. So the pair have found a new buyer, with whom Sainte has worked out a shared services agreement. Raul Palazuelos' Raul Broadcasting Company is the new buyer. It'll be his second full-power station - - he already owns Telefutura affiliate KTAS-TV in the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo DMA. It's licensed to SLO, and carries its programming forth on Channel 33. He'll be able to concentrate on running that station, with Sainte handling many of the day-to-day chores in Eureka. Sainte owns KBVU-TV 29 there, which carries selections from Fox and UPN. It holds an option to acquire the station outright should the regulatory climate so permit. The value of the deal remains 2M dollars.
Steckline gets a fire sale in Wichita
We mean this quite literally. KMYR-AM suffered a fire back in 2003, and has been operating at reduced power ever since. The 1410 kHz facility is licensed for 5 kw during the day and 1 kW at night. So Greg Steckline is going to take it off the hands of seller Agape Communications and get it back up to speed. He's paying 1.3M for the privilege. Steckline will be returning to station ownership after a brief respite. He's selling five small market Nebraska stations to Legacy Communications for 4.75M, and consummation of KMYR deal is contingent on closing the Nebraska deal. Steckline told RBR he plans to change the calls of the station to KGSO and flip to Sports. Agape will still be around as well. It retains KSGL-AM in Wichita.
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| Washington Beat |
Putting the squeeze on the #37 freeze
The temporary freeze on FM Table of Allotment rulemakings necessitated by the recent Auction No. 37 is over. The FCC had to keep the table clear of such actions while it worked the new stations into the national allocation table. The freeze went into effect 6/7/04. The deadline for winning bidders to get their CPs in was 1/3/05. And as of 1/21/05, effective immediately, the freeze is considered thawed and applications are again being accepted, including proposals to change channel, class or coordinates.
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| Programming |
 DC's WHFS-FM
now streaming on the net
For all who still miss the recently nuked Infinity outlet WHFS-FM DC (1/13 RBR #9), AOL's Radio @ Netscape now offers a channel devoted to it. It's not the classic HFS, but the most recent incarnation (Progressive/Free-Form vs. Alternative). It has all the liners and imaging and programming includes new music, archive programming from WHFS and performances from past HFStivals. Download the free player.
From the Infinity release:
Infinity Broadcasting and America Online announced the launch of WHFS.com, a 24-hour, seven day a week audio stream of the former Infinity alternative rock station. The online radio station will be available to millions of listeners on the Web at WHFS.com and through the AOL Radio Network. "We heard loud and clear how important WHFS and its programming are to the Washington, D.C./Baltimore community, and through our partnership with AOL, we are thrilled to be able to bring WHFS back to its passionate and loyal fans," said David Goodman, EVP/Marketing, Infinity. "The legacy of WHFS as a pioneering music station will continue to live on for millions of listeners around the world." In a related announcement, Infinity Baltimore's FM Talk station, Live 105.7, also debuted on Friday "HFS on Live 105.7" weeknights beginning at 7:00PM and all day Saturdays and Sundays. Hosted nightly by Tim Virgin, the exclusive programming will feature personalities and music previously heard on the station, including well-known artists Green Day, Depeche Mode and Linkin Park, among others.
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 12/13/04-12/17/04
The station trading tally for the week was no great shakes, but it at least came out of an apparent hibernation - - the week before, total trading barely cleared 10M, not even close to the price tag on this weeks top deal. Modest transactions for fringe properties in bigger markets fueled a slow but respectable amount of FCC document filing. TV is still dormant, however.
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Total
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Total Deals
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10
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AMs
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5
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FMs
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9
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TVs
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0
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| Value |
44.467M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
NRC puts its stress on Strasburg
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TV Transactions of the Week
All quiet on the TV front...
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| Transactions |
KGLF-FM Doss TX and FM CP Dripping Springs TX from Legacy Austin Broadcasting Foundation Inc. to Educational Media Foundation
KBMD-FM Austin (Marble Falls TX) from Media for the Holy Family Foundation to La Promesa Foundation
| More... |
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| Stock Talk |
Winter chill cools stock prices
How's that? Well, cold weather is pushing oil prices higher, due to demand for energy. That, in turn, put downward pressure on oil prices on Friday. The Dow Industrials were off 78 points, or 0.8%, to 10,392.
Radio stocks did OK by comparison. The Radio Index actually crept up 0.060, or 0.03%, to 214.434. Most radio stocks didn't move much for the day. Beasley and Viacom's Class B were both down 1.9%. Fisher rose 1.6%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Friday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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37.54
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+0.03
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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50.07
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-0.23
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Beasley
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BBGI
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15.85
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-0.30
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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17.03
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+0.03
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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14.16 |
+0.07 |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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15.61
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+0.09
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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31.97
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+0.29
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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15.63
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+0.12
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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16.06
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-0.28
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Regent
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RGCI
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5.22
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+0.04
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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13.87
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-0.02
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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16.06
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-0.09
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Disney
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DIS
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28.15
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-0.37
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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22.21
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-0.15
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Emmis
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EMMS
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17.60
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+0.10
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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5.83
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+0.29
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| Entercom |
ETM
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31.90
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+0.15
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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10.22
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+0.17
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.54
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-0.10
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Univision
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UVN
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26.71
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-0.12
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Fisher
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FSCI
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49.40
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+0.78
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
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37.96
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-0.69
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Gaylord
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GET
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40.00
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-0.10
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
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37.54
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-0.72
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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25.53
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+0.23
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Westwood One
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WON
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25.01
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+0.27
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Interep
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IREP
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0.67
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unch
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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34.10
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-0.10
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International Bcg.
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IBCS
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0.01
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unch
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-
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-
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- |
-
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-
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__UNSUB__ to this email service.
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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]
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Stations For Sale
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Top 100 SE Market
Powerhouse 50 KW AM and Class A LPTV with Full market coverage. Great opportunity for an aggressive, innovative operator!
Cliff at Clifton Gardiner & Co (303)758-6900
[email protected]
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Competing Media
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Place your bids
Bids are due today in the auction of Pulitzer Inc., whose newspapers include the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (Tucson) Arizona Daily Star and a number of smaller daily and non-daily newspapers in seven states. According to Friday's Wall Street Journal, the most likely buyers are Gannett and Lee Enterprises. Gannett, however, would face a crossownership hurdle in St. Louis, where it owns KSDK-TV. Bids are likely to be in the neighborhood of 1.8 billion (including assumption of 300 million in debt), which would be a modest premium to Pulitzer's current stock price.
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RBR Radar 2005
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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Clear Channel Radio buckles under pressure to allow :60s first in pod; Mandel comments
Their research shows that :30s can be just as effective as :60s, but bowing to pressure from advertisers, it has revised one element of its Less is More initiative and will sell :60s as first in pod. MediaCom honcho Jon Mandel says the complaints he articulated in RBR got through. "Well, you've got to remember, that somewhat came out of your publication (RBR/TVBR) and my ranting and raving. And I think the phrase, 'antitrust' somewhat got their attention. 01/21/05 RBR #15
Powell backing one-stream only
DTV carriage
One of the critical roadblocks to consummating the DTV transition is the issue of cable's must-carry requirement for broadcast television stations. Some form of the requirement will survive into the digital age. Cable wants to limit its carriage to one programming stream. Broadcasters, who may be able to squeeze as many as six streams into the same bandwidth used for one high-def stream. According to reports, FCC Chairman Michael Powell is siding with the cable industry. This is not sitting well with broadcasters. RBR observation: All of this today doesn't mean Jack since Powell is smoke, out, bye-bye and buy bonds and don't forget to play his record. Broadcasters you can now move forward but don't wait for others to do your job. Get out on the field and win your game. Powell is wrong on this issue.
01/21/05 RBR #15
Moonves worried about UPN ratings
You can add Viacom Co-President and COO Les Moonves to the list of broadcasters questioning whether Nielsen is undercounting black viewers - - and not just with Local People Meters. "CBS daytime is down significantly in the African-American numbers. We are questioning those numbers and looking if the sampling is right in those viewers," 01/21/05 RBR #15
Whiting gets nod for VNU post
Nielsen Media Research President and CEO Susan Whiting has been promoted to take over as head of parent company VNU's Media Measurement & Information group. Effective April 4th, Whiting, with the title of Executive VP of the MMI group, will be overseeing all of VNU's ventures worldwide in media measurement, media planning and software systems, entertainment services and publications. She'll continue to be based in New York. No doubt she'll be making more frequent visits to corporate headquarters in the Netherlands.
01/20/05 RBR #14
Forget satellite; worry about iPods
"Despite the buzz surrounding satellite radio, I believe iPods are a bigger threat, because you have a larger number of people with an alternative source of music," Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan. RBR observation: RBR said it last May '04, as the hurricane developed in Naples, FL. Unfortunately many in radio did not take our storm weather radar. Now many are trying to fix the damage after four hurricanes in a row. The Radio medium is resilient and can survive an onslaught from a number of areas including technology but can not survive an assault from everyone at the same time.
01/19/05 RBR #13
Nexstar undeterred by bad PR over retransmission fight
Judging by the letters to the editor in the San Angelo, TX Standard-Times, Nexstar is losing the PR battle in its fight with Cox Communications over retransmission consent payments. The word "greed" is frequently used, along with references to the company's non-local ownership (although the same is true of Cox), and the newspaper itself has taken the editorial position that Cox is in the right and that "Nexstar's demands aren't reasonable."01/19/05 RBR #13
More radio "lovers"
promoting satellite as well
It turns out that Alicia Keys isn't the only artist who's been promoting satellite radio while recording spots for the new PR campaign that's supposed to boost terrestrial radio. A little digging by RBR has found that Ludacris made a live appearance just this month to promote XM Satellite Radio. He was one of the artists who appeared on the "XM Performance Stage" at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
RBR observation: You've read what we've had to say about the new PR campaign. Now check out our Bounceback section to see what broadcasters are telling us. We're still waiting for an email telling us that the new PR campaign is a great idea. 01/18/05 RBR #12
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©2005 Radio Business Report/Television Business Report, Inc. All rights reserved.
Radio Business Report -- 2050 Old Bridge Road, Suite B-01, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 -- Phone: 703-492-8191
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