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Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 23, Issue 162, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Monday Morning August 21st, 2006

Radio News ®

Cox has more than one
quiet deal up their sleeve

Cox Radio has more than one deal in the works that it is keeping quiet about, but has to report, at least in vague terms, in its quarterly SEC filings. These quiet deals have been noted in those quarterly filings for five straight quarters, but haven't yet been executed and Cox hasn't identified the stations or sellers involved. What little is known is this: In January 2005, Cox paid two million for an option to purchase certain radio stations. How many? Where? From whom? Wouldn't we like to know? Presumably Cox can't buy the stations right now (FCC ownership rules?), because it paid five million bucks to keep the option but refuse to exercise it when the current owner exercised his/her put rights under the contract - and Cox expects to do that again for another five million to maintain its option through December 2007. By then Cox will have made 12 million in payments which would apply to the final purchase price, so it is not likely to walk away. Rather, it would assign its purchase rights to a third party, as permitted by the agreement, if it cannot buy the stations itself. Meanwhile, a month after that deal was cut, Cox agreed in February 2005 to guarantee a five million loan that would enable another party to buy two stations and facilitate a signal upgrade by a Cox station, which was not identified. If the signal upgrade is approved by the FCC, Cox expects to purchase the two stations. Otherwise, the two will be sold again or refinanced and Cox expects to cover all, or most of its 5M guarantee. The worst case scenario, it said, would be an immaterial loss.

Listeners protest KZLA shift
With no Country station left in the LA market, former KZLA listeners are trying to convince someone else to fill the format gap created last week when Emmis switched the station to "Movin 93.9," with a Rhythmic Pop Contemporary format and Rick Dees in the morning (8/18/06 RBR #161). Organizer Karen Oliver admits that a protest demonstration outside the Emmis studios in Burbank on Friday drew only about 10 people, but she attributes that to it having been so hastily arranged. "People are still in shock," she said. Oliver says where she lives and works she can't receive any Country station from an adjacent market, so she may have to turn to satellite. Emmis' move to offer Country on an HD2 channel and Internet stream just doesn't cut it, she said, because the air staff is gone, which is what made KZLA special. "We are asking every Country artist to help make a stand against this format change. We have lost country music in Los Angeles and as artist they know that means it will be ever harder to get their music heard. I think the big names like Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Reba should band together and purchase a station out here and let's do this the right way," Oliver said. She gulped when RBR informed her that the last full-signal FM sold in LA went for 250 million bucks. But convinced that the Emmis change won't be reversed, she sees getting another station to flip or having Country artists buy their own station as the only real alternatives. Despite dropping Country from the KZLA (soon to get new calls) air signal, Emmis is continuing with some concerts that the station was committed to - but some fans are calling for their boycott. This note is posted on the KZLA website:

"Dear Faithful KZLA Listeners: KZLA is working to make country music available to everyone as soon as possible. Coming soon KZLA will be streaming live on kzla.com and is currently available on HD Radio. We encourage you to join our 'Country Club' fan base to get the latest updates on KZLA streaming, music, concerts and of course, COUNTRY BASH 2006 on Saturday October 14, 2006. Tickets for the Bash go on sale Saturday, August 26, 2006 at 10am at all Ticketmaster locations and on ticketmaster.com. We encourage you to come out and show your country pride by attending this concert to show that southern California loves country!"


DISCUS flings out compliance report
The Distilled Spirits Council has issued its fourth semi-annual report on the compliance of its membership with the association's Code of Responsible Practices for Beverage Alcohol Advertising and Marketing, covering the first half of 2006. It says it fielded only six complaints. Of those, three were found in violation of either content or placement provisions contained in the code. In all two of the three cases, the ads were voluntarily pulled from circulation. In the third, an Internet presentation, the complaint came from within the spirits industry, in reference to a non-DISCUS member, and the organization was trying to get the company to alter the promo. Only one of the six was in reference to a broadcast ad, which drew a third party complaint. Diageo's Bailey's Irish Cream ran an ad in which an individual poured himself a serving into a bucket, violating the code's provision to avoid the depiction of excessive use. Although Diageo claimed it was a timed pour and not in fact excessive, DISCUS said it sure looked excessive and that's what matters to the public. Diageo immediately pulled the ad. President Peter Cressy said, "Since the industry went to transparent public reports in March, 2005, the numbers of complaints and, most importantly, violations have generally declined. The distilled spirits industry's self-regulation through the Code and the transparent public reports have been highly effective."

This ad flight courtesy of the judiciary
Tobacco companies have lost in the US District Court, and have been found guilty of racketeering and conspiracy in the deceptive marketing of "light" cigarettes. Tobacco companies can no longer use light, ultralight, low tar, or other descriptors designed to suggest that cigarettes bearing those adjectives are less dangerous than others. Among the penalties is the purchase of advertising to correct the misimpressions it created over the years. The requirement covers a number of large newspaper Sunday editions, with a two year term attached. On the television side, they are required to put on at least one 15-second prime time corrective advertisement weekly. They are also required to submit detailed marketing plans to the court for the next ten years.

RBR observation: It's not often that business comes in by order of the judge. Does this mean radio should post some media reps in the courtroom, to make sure the industry isn't left out of the next court-ordered buy as it was this time around?

Citizen journalists create dangerous waters
President Ronald Reagan back in the '80s and recently, President George W. Bush have provided case studies of the truism that public figures should always assume that the mic is hot. You may not be expecting it to be turned on, but speak frankly in front of it at your peril. It has gone beyond that, however. Public figures, and to an extent, anybody, needs to proceed as if there is a hot mic or camera around even when they do not appear to be present at all. Citizens are everywhere, many of them armed with portable recording devices of all types. The odds of an important event being captured for posterity (not to mention the 24/7 news cycle) are greater than they ever have been. But it's even gone beyond that. The off-the-cuff remarks of Sen. George Allen (R-VA) have gotten a great deal of airplay (and he must be kicking himself at some level because he was completely aware he was being videotaped at the time), and in large part it's because the video went viral over the Internet. Citizens no longer have to peddle their nuggets of reality to a broadcast news outlet. They can take the material to the web, where it has the chance to take off under its own power.

RBR observation: More and more broadcast and network outlets are using their own websites to deputize their core audience members as citizen journalists. It can beef up your local news coverage, give you piles of public interest accomplishments to share with the FCC at renewal time and most important, create a bond with the people that enable you to put food on the table. Formerly safe events may have suddenly become shark-infested waters for the newsworthy, but it's created an opportunity for broadcasters. Anything that makes your best fans feel more like part of the family is a good thing.


RBR News Analysis
Waiting for more shoes to fall
Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan indicated in his memo announcing three Executive Vice Presidents of Operations who have split up the country (8/18/06 RBR #161) that more changes are coming: "So while you may recognize some of the titles in this new approach, you should know that the job descriptions associated with them are likely very different than before. We will share more specific details with you over the next week." That has created a buzz within the company about just what else will change. One rumor heard repeatedly is that several Regional Vice Presidents are going to keep their titles but effectively be demoted - having to personally run a local market (after firing the current market manager) and oversee only smaller markets, while the large market managers will report directly to their new Exec. VP of Operations. If that happens, some of those Regional VPs are weighing whether to say adios to Hogan and Clear Channel. That is all rumor at this point, but causing some uneasiness in the management ranks. One thing is sure - the sooner Hogan makes the changes he is planning, the sooner his management team can get back to the tasks at hand without worrying whether an axe is about to fall.


Ad Business Report TM

Ford making production cutbacks
No word yet on what it will mean for advertising budgets, but Ford Motor Company announced major production cutbacks that will include temporary plant shutdowns in the US and Canada. Ford said Q4 production will be down 21% from a year ago, a drop of 168,000 cars and trucks. The current Q3 will see a smaller reduction of 78,000 (58,000 of which had previously been announced). "We know this decision will have a dramatic impact on our employees, as well as our suppliers," CEO Bill Ford told employees in a memo. "This is, however, the right call for our customers, our dealers and our long-term future." For full-year 2006, Ford now plans to produce 3.048 million vehicles at its North American assembly plants - 1.134 million cars and 1.914 million trucks -- a 9% reduction from 2005.

RBR observation: Ford isn't waiting this time around for the losses to hit. The company, suffering in sales now, specifically has very little in new product over the next couple years that consumers are likely to get excited about, according to reports from auto trade pubs. Ford has few solid sellers right now and is more worried about keeping afloat right now than launching new lines. Bottom line for American automakers right now - the lack of investment in improving production capacity from the oil companies is raising prices at the pump dramatically as well as increasing their profits dramatically. Most Americans don't perceive US-made cars to be as fuel-efficient at the Japanese, so they're not buying them as much. New, exciting lines in store or not - the price at the pump bears the most blame for our auto industry's woes right now.

Kodak consolidating media
Kodak will consolidate its 100 million global buying and planning business, which is currently being shared by MindShare and Carat. The review will include incumbent and outside shops. The money-saving move for the struggling company doesn't affect creative, which is handled by AOR Ogilvy & Mather.


Media Markets & Money TM
EMF strikes again
California-based Educational Media Foundation is doing its level best to be a ubiquitous operation, at least within the borders of the USA. To that end, it has found yet another eastern station to add to its portfolio. It's WKIV-FM Westerly RI, serving the New London CT market. Southern Rhode Island Public Radio Inc. is selling it for 100K. Folks on the ground in the New England shore won't notice much difference, though. The two parties signed a network affiliation agreement on 11/7/05, meaning that they're already able to hear EMF's K-LOVE Contemporary Christian format there. The station is at the very bottom of the dial, at 88.1 mHz, deep in reserved band territory.


Washington Media Business Report TM
Battle for the Senate
According to pollster Rasmussen Reports, if the election were held right now, the Republicans would likely retain control of the Senate, if only by dint of having a Republican vice president on hand to tilt any 50-50 tie votes that way. Rasmussen says Republicans would hold a 50-47 seat advantage. Three races are now deemed too close to call. The firm sees Democrat pick-ups in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The toss-ups are said to be in Ohio, Missouri and Montana. The situation is fluid, however. Several states have contests in which one candidate is holding a slim lead.

RBR observation: The closer the individual race, and the longer it remains close, the more money that will pour into the state from outside interested sources. And the fact that the margin of error for both parties is exceeding low insofar as control of the Senate is concerned will only heighten the intensity.


Engineering Business Report TM
Maximizing HD radio signals by maximizing isolation: antenna options for simulcasting HD
by Henry Downs, Technical Director of RF Components and Subsystems Development for Dielectric Communications

As In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) HD Radio is becoming a reality for a growing number of radio stations nationwide, so also are the logistical challenges of integrating digital transmissions into an existing infrastructure. As with analog, the goal of any station is to ensure that the maximum amount of power produced by the digital transmitter is radiated from a suitable antenna into free space, where it can be picked up by the listening audience. There are two components involved in the maximization process, namely insertion loss and digital to analog isolation. The insertion loss of any system is well understood and there are many proven techniques to minimize it, leaving broadcasters with the main challenge of isolating the analog and digital signals. This challenge is compounded by the fact that the analog radiated power level is 100 times greater than that for the digital. In the case of insufficient isolation, not only is the digital power loss greatly increased, but the analog power which feeds back towards the digital transmitter will inevitably be sufficient to cause the digital transmitter to fold back. The search for the most efficient antenna for simulcasting analog and HD radio has spanned the last decade and produced a number of options for broadcasters to pursue.
| Read More... |


Tomorrow
Special report:
The explosion of Hispanic formats and networks
Spanish-language radio in the US used to mean a full time AM that was akin to the old full service station with a little talk, news, music, sports and community service. It has since evolved from that very thin basic radio model into a plethora of different formats that are hyper-targeted based on age, ethnicity, political, informational, sports and current events interests. We look at: Hispanic listeners in the U.S. are at different levels of cultural assimilation, and those levels vary by market; What are Spanish-language stations doing to keep listeners from migrating over to the pure Urban or Pop Rock stations where the young focus? On the Television side, a proliferation of Hispanic television stations in the last 15 years has brought on new networks to provide content. We look at Language and targeting younger generations: Until recently, the only game in town was Univision and Telemundo, but now with multicast digital platforms many non-Spanish language broadcasters are looking to place Hispanic programming in place - some bilingual.


Monday Morning Makers & Shakers

Transactions: 7/3/06-7/7/06
It was a short trading week, what with the Fourth of July falling on a Tuesday, and it showed. Only seven transactions were filed, two of which provided almost all of the value.

2/7/05-2/11/05

Total

Total Deals

7

AMs

4

FMs

3

TVs

2
Value
26.118M
| Complete Charts |
Radio Transactions of the Week
Station abandons its Raftt
| More...
|
TV Transactions of the Week
Fisher doubles in its hometown
| More...
|


Transactions
55M KASA-TV Albuquerque-Santa Fe NM (Santa Fe NM) from KASA License Subsidiary LLC, a subsidiary of Raycom Media Inc. (Paul H. McTear Jr.) to LIN of New Mexico LLC, a subsidiary of LIN Television Corporation (Vincent L. Sadusky). 2.75M escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with KRQE-TV Albuquerque and satellites. KASA is a Fox affiliate on Channel 2; KRQE is a CBS affiliate on Channel 13. The application includes a declaration from Nielsen stating that KASA is not a top 4 station in the market. It is #5. The top four are the CBS, NBC, ABC and Univision stations. LMA 8/31/06. [File date 7/28/06.]

2.04M KWKY-AM Des Moines IA. 85% of Putbrese Communications Ltd. from John E. & Debra Putbrese (91% to 13.65%) and Charles E. & Ella Mae Putbrese (9% to 1.35%) to Saint Gabriel Communications, a subsidiary of Trinity Communications Inc. (Joseph E. Teeling et al) (0% to 85%). 151.9K down payment, 788.1K cash at closing, 1.1M note. Buyer will also pay 27.1K to reimburse seller for facilities upgrade. Buyer is noncommercial. [File date 7/31/06.]

1.65M WJNT-AM Jackson MS (Pearl MS) from Buchanan Broadcasting Co. Inc. (Robert M. Buchanan Jr.) to Urban Radio II LLC, a subsidiary of Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (Pierre Sutton). 82.5K escrow, 917.5K cash at closing, 650K note. Superduopoly with WKXI AM & FM, WOAD AM & FM & WJMI-FM. [File date 7/28/06.]


Stock Talk
Five in a row
Stock prices were up every day last week, with investors maintaining the view that inflation is under control and the Fed won't resume rate hikes anytime soon. The Dow Industrials rose 47 points on Friday, or 0.4%, to spend the weekend at 11,381.

Radio stocks also moved up. The Radio Index gained 0.259, or 0.2%, to 135.715. There were no really big movers. Cumulus gained 1.8%. Radio One evened out its Class A and Class D shares at 5.79 - which meant that A moved up 1.2% for the day while D declined 0.9%. In theory their value is the same.


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Friday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

35.86

-0.41

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

22.03

+0.10

Beasley

BBGI

7.01

+0.05

Journal Comm.

JRN

10.78

-0.03

CBS CI. B CBS

27.52

+0.07

Lincoln Natl.

LNC

60.36

+0.38

CBS CI. A CBSa

27.52

+0.12

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

5.79

+0.07

Citadel CDL
8.75 -0.01

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

5.79

-0.05

Clear Channel

CCU

27.90

+0.03

Regent

RGCI

4.20

+0.18

Cox Radio

CXR

15.26

+0.06

Saga Commun.

SGA

7.42

-0.08

Cumulus

CMLS

9.78

+0.18

Salem Comm.

SALM

11.35

-0.12

Disney

DIS

29.91

+0.01

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

3.91

+0.16

Emmis

EMMS

11.96

+0.06

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

4.35

unch

Entercom

ETM

24.48

+0.19

Univision

UVN

33.49

+0.01

Entravision

EVC

6.95

-0.03

Westwood One

WON

7.02

+0.06

Fisher

FSCI

39.72

-0.43

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

11.43

-0.03

Gaylord

GET

41.80

-0.07

-

-

-

-

-


Bounceback

Send Us Your OpinionsWe want to
hear from you.

This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to [email protected]

Broker Frank Boyle sent this tongue-in-cheek response to our story on the Baltimore Ravens seeking a hyphenated market designation for their town and the nearby nation's capital (8/14/06 RBR #157).

Wouldn't you have to follow the patterns of: Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hazelton and Harrisburg-Lancaster-York by including Philadelphia into this Metroplex strip? IE - you already have the BWI Airport...that leads to: PhiWasBal - or WasPhiBal - or PBW - or PeeWeeBee - I like that one... Whatever happens, Baltimore ends up like the middle child of three - gets no respect...even as Washingmore...

Frank Boyle




Below the Fold
RBR News Analysis
CCU Waiting for more shoes to fall

As more changes are coming...

Engineered For Profit
Maximizing HD radio signals

By maximizing isolation: Antenna options for simulcasting...

Ad Business Report
Ford making production cutbacks
What it means to your ad budget...

Media Markets & Money
EMF strikes again
Educational Media Foundation is doing its level best to be a ubiquitous operation...

Washington Media Business Report
Battle for the Senate
If the election were held right now, Republicans would likely retain control...

Radio Media Moves

New DOM at SIA
SIA Acoustics announced the appointment of Courtney Spencer as director of marketing. Spencer is an experienced audio industry executive and was VP/GM of Sony's pro audio division from 1990 to 2001. Spencer was COO of Dale Pro Audio and most recently, a partner in a start-up web-based acoustical products and consulting company. Spencer will be responsible for sales and marketing activities including new business development, and the company's PR, advertising and web efforts.


More News Headlines

Rick Dees is a busy man
Not only is he back doing mornings on Movin 93.9 in LA (8/18/06 RBR #161) and hosting his weekly syndicated show - Rick Dees will also host the 2006 National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast Saturday, November 4. Bruce DuMont, President of the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago, says the live broadcast via Premiere Radio Networks will air on WABC-AM New York, KABC-AM Los Angeles, both WGN-AM and WLS-AM Chicago, and numerous other stations coast-to-coast. Inductees this year include the late CBS newsman Douglas Edwards, former CBS radio anchor Christopher Glenn, ABC Radio President John Hare, Scott Shannon of WPLJ-FM New York and the late William B. Williams, formerly of WNEW-AM New York.

Opie and Anthony
add Vegas

Las Vegas's KXTE X107.5 Xtreme ROCK Radio is adding The Opie & Anthony Show to its programming line-up weekdays (10:00AM - 1:00PM, PST) beginning 8/28. The show is currently syndicated from XM Satellite Radio on CBS Radio stations in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Washington DC, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, and San Francisco.

Who holds Fox team?
The wife of abducted Fox News cameraman Olaf Wiig made a televised appeal to his captors Friday to release him and reporter Steve Centanni. "Please let him come home. Please," Anita McNaught, herself a freelance journalist, implored the hostage takers. A similar plea came over the weekend from Centanni's brother on Al Jazeera television. But the abduction is proving to be a mystery. Major Palestinian groups all denied any involvement in the Gaza kidnapping (8/15/06 RBR #158) and no one had claimed responsibility or made any demands that should be met to secure their release. That made the abductions unusual in a region where kidnappings are not unusual, but kidnappers usually make demands known quickly for the release of their captives.

NYBSA offering
sales training

The New York State Broadcasters Association (NYBSA) is conducting 21/2 day sales training seminars in conjunction with the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). The seminars are open to all NYSBA radio station members. There is one class for beginners and another for experienced salespersons and space is limited to 30 per class level. The seminars will be presented in Buffalo and Syracuse, September 6-8, in New York City and Albany, September 11-13, and in Rochester, September 25-27. For more information or to register contact Dick Novik at the NYSBA, (518) 456-8888.


RBR Radar 2006
Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

Software providers readying
Arbitron PPM rollout
Arbitron says more than a dozen firms are on track to upgrade their systems from diary-based ratings data to Portable People Meter based ratings information. "Not only does Arbitron have to get its software reporting systems ready for Portable People Meter ratings, there are many other buying, planning, research, sales, traffic and presentation systems that the radio industry relies on that we want to see ready for PPM when it arrives" For the providers that are ready see
08/18/06 RBR #161

Product placement
continuing to surge

Advertisers more and more are trying to move from around to within broadcast programming, resulting in huge growth margins for the product placement business. According to PQ Media Research, placements globally grew 42.2% in 2005 and will come pretty close to matching that pace by the end of this year. The 2005 total revenue for product placement was pegged at 2.21B. It is predicted to hit 3.07B by the end of the year, a 38.8% growth rate.

RBR observation: There is no earthly reason for TV to have all the PP fun. Radio and the print media can dig their forks into this pie too. I say this, refreshed from a mouth-watering sip of Famous Olde Tyme Diet Barq's Root Beer (It's Good!), and after moving my in-office supply of Morton Salt and McCormick Pepper (do they have some kind of LMA going?) out of the way so I can reach my store-brand CVS dual power hand-held calculator. I'm working with my Audiovox CD plus cassette player turned off, because I'm distracted enough thinking about getting into my Hyundai Sonata and taking off for a vacation at North Carolina's fabulous Outer Banks resort area. See how easy that was?
08/18/06 RBR #161

Ad Agency Buyers comment
on ratings RFP issue
Clear Channel, which is leading the Next-Generation Electronics Ratings Evaluation Team RFP process, kicked everybody off the evaluation team that signed with Arbitron for PPM and also suspended negotiations with Arbitron on the new ratings system until it gets accreditation from the Media Ratings Council. CBS Radio, Emmis, Greater Media, SBS, Beasley and Bonneville are still off the RFP team. We asked a few buyers: What do you think about the RFP issue/controversy? These Ad Agency executives Sound Off, Irene Katsnelson, Annie Chen, Agnes Lukasewych, Rich Russo, Matt Feinberg, Natalie Swed Stone and Kim Vasey. Read their Agency Observation
08/17/06 RBR #160

Wi-Fi Walkman ready for retail
MarketWatch says within the next few weeks, Australian-based Torian Wireless will begin showing U.S. retailers a Wi-Fi "Walkman." The InFusion is a portable, battery-powered device which tunes in Internet radio stations. It also has an FM radio, an audio recorder, and an MP3 player. It does not have a built-in speaker. The retail price could be as low as 229 dollars.

RBR observation: There are a lot of niche players who'd like to take this on. Again, as RBR has been saying for 4 years, Technology Waits for No One.
08/17/06 RBR #160


Visit MediaHeadHunters.com

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Talk Radio Network
Seeking professionals in three areas to join our TRN team: Executive, Board Operator with 2 years experience and Staff Engineer that can take initiative. EOE. For complete details all three positions
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General Manager
Saga Communications has a rare opening at Rock 102 and Lazer 99.3. Excellent facilities, benefits and quality of living in Springfield, MA. EOE.
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