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Volume 22, Issue 163, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Friday Morning August 19th, 2005

Radio News®

NAB: Let IBOC rock
The National Association of Broadcasters is asking the FCC to sweep aside last-minute complaints and get radio on the road to IBOC ASAP. It notes that numerous concerned entities pushed the process to where it is now, and while admitting that certain uncertainties remain, contends that they can be worked out while moving ahead with the implementation of the new technology. One key issue is interference, among others. "While important to be adequately addressed," wrote NAB, "these issues have already been briefed to the FCC and are not germane to the scope of the issues in the present comment cycle. Moreover, we are optimistic that any interference to stations' protected areas will be adequately dealt with on a case-by-case basis either by the adjustment of IBOC digital energy or other means." NAB noted that those with conflicting opinions had the opportunity to voice their views and that most conflicts were resolved during that process. It concluded with the argument that the system on the table was arrived at deliberately, "and was fairly conducted and endorsed by the vote of many, independent participants."

Publisher observation: RBR totally agrees that you move forward because if you stand still long enough you are bound to catch the bullet and be left behind. It can be IBOC, PPM, LPM, or any technology remember it is a consumer device driven world and it is up to us in our fields to become more consumer user friendly. You can not work out the issues until you confront the inevitable and face them head on. Just as we at RBR/TVBR did in early 2000 by taking an RBR color magazine and a paper Fax publication and tested electronic delivery. This my colleagues produced much pain but the decision was made to stop printing the old fashion way in weekly magazine paper and go for the technology as the new breed was already into laptops and blackberry devices. Proof just by you reading RBR this morning was once and for 20 years a weekly color magazine. Content and presentation still there but it didn't happen overnight. You test, try, improve, and make mistakes but learn from them and grow or you will catch that bullet sooner now more than later.

Suddenly, everybody wants to measure radio
After many, many years of Arbitron operating without a major competitor in measuring US radio audiences, it seems that people are coming out of the woodwork in response to the request for proposals (RFP) that Clear Channel Radio issued in June (6/14/05 RBR #116). CC Radio says it's gotten more than two dozen responses so far - - and the deadline isn't until December 15th. The proposals will then be evaluated by representatives of CC Radio and other radio groups. "The response has significantly exceeded our expectations and shows there are a number of fast-moving companies that are qualified to create an electronic measurement system that meets the needs of a primary broadcast medium," said CC Radio CEO John Hogan. "We are surrounded by examples of companies fielding sophisticated technology to consumers in a short amount of time. And we are also surrounded by ratings systems that deliver overnight results to other mediums," Hogan noted. With advertisers demanding more accountability and faster data, he said it is no longer acceptable for the radio industry to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a diary-based system.

RBR observation: Sheer numbers, of course, aren't the most important thing, but it is good news for radio that so many companies are interested in the RFP. Maybe something really interesting will be put forth that no one had heard of previously. But we would also warn that many of the radio ratings wannabes probably have only a vague idea and nothing close to a ratings product ready for implementation. As far as we know, there are only four passive monitoring systems that actually have working devices or prototypes ready for testing and implementation. As for these two dozen potential ratings firms our question is - Who Are They?

Publisher note: Don't pop the cork just yet just because Clear Channel is happy getting two dozen responses as getting into the ratings game in radio or television is serious money business and radio has a history of not supporting anything new. History tells this story as published in RBR the History of Radio Ratings in March 2004 and it is worth another read.

Fox influence on election results undetectable
Does Fox News Channel stand in the center of the political spectrum alongside a generally liberal media, or is it far to the right of a generally centrist media? You can debate that all you want, according to a study by Stefano DellaVigna of the University of California and Ethan Kaplan of Stockholm University, as reported in the New York Times. NYT noted the Pew Research Center's finding that 60% of respondents in 2005 think the media is biased, compared to 45% who said the same in 1985. However, comparing presidential voting in towns which carried the then-fledgling Fox offering in 1996 and results from 2000, the new study showed a 6% increase in votes for George W. Bush over the results achieved by Bob Dole in 1996, going from 48% to 54%. In towns which did not have Fox on cable, the increase was 7%, from 47% to 54%. The authors of the study note that Fox programming may have energized people on both sides of the political fence to get out to the polls.

FCC orders kids to be bugged
9/19/05 marks the opening of a new era of children's television programming. On that day, programming deemed by broadcasters to meet the requirement to air three-hours of weekly educational/information programming for children will have to display an on-screen bug so identifying it. An anonymous marketer who spoke to MediaPost said that the viewing habits of children are not expected to be affected at all, but that more than a few parental eyebrows may be raised by what is considered to be "educational."

RBR observation: Many of us at RBR/TVBR have children of elementary school age and younger, and it will be very interesting indeed to see which shows get the bug and which do not. We'll be watching. There is speculation that the absence of the bug may have parents, not children, changing the channel. We'd speculate further that the presence of a bug deemed inappropriate may have parents and watchdogs complaining in masses to the FCC.

July down 3.8% for NYT Co. TV
Like other TV groups, the New York Times Company reports that July revenues were down due to the lack of last year's political spending. TV ad revenues fell 3.8% to 11.3 million. For the News Media group (newspapers/online/radio), ad revenues were up 3.4% to 162.5 million. National advertising rose 5.2%, retail 2.6%, classified 1.2% and other 11.3%. The Times Co. monthly report notes that ad revenues for recently acquired About.com shot up approximately 73% from a year ago.

Former Arbitron chief Shaker dies
Ted Shaker, who left a group VP job at ABC Television in 1971 for 17 years as President and CEO of American Research Bureau - - a then-struggling company today known as Arbitron - - has died at age 83. When he joined the company, ARB was a distant third in a three-way race to track television and radio audiences. Shaker introduced a number of innovations at Arbitron. Under his watch Arbitron devised a system that assured that minorities, a previously under-represented segment of the media audience, would be fairly represented in the company's research. During the 17 years of his tenure, revenues at Arbitron increased from 10 million to 150 million. Shaker retired from Arbitron in 1987. Prior to his Arbitron years, Shaker's career had included positions with Katz, CBS and ABC.

Adbiz©

Yahoo! kicks off ''This is Huge'' campaign
Coinciding with the release of its Yahoo! Music Unlimited, Yahoo! is launching an integrated marketing campaign that promotes the music offering in a unique way that captures the spirit and originality of the Yahoo! brand. Music fans have been helping the company test the service since 5/11, when a beta version was made available. With Yahoo! Music Unlimited, users get the opportunity to play music from a catalog of more than one million songs, transfer tracks to portable devices and share music with other subscribers through Yahoo! Messenger. | More... |

Shoney's Restaurants teams
with Cliff Freeman and Partners
Shoney's Restaurants has tapped Cliff Freeman and Partners as its new AOR. Freeman is also looking forward to digging back into the restaurant business -- and one that he grew up with in Vicksburg, MS. "I have always regarded Shoney's Restaurants with the highest level of affection, having grown up with the concept. It's exciting to be a part of a culture where we can have fun talking about a great brand with a great heritage." Freeman also enjoyed many late night trips to Shoney's while attending Florida State University in Tallahassee. The Shoney's/Freeman campaign will break in the fall with an annual advertising budget estimated at 20 million.

Miller Brewing extends contract with ACNielsen
ACNielsen announced Miller Brewing Company has extended its contract with the company to provide sales analysis and consumer insights. Miller will continue to rely on ACNielsen for retail sales tracking and analysis through its Scantrack, Liquor Track and Convenience Track services; consumer insights through its Homescan consumer panel, which is growing to 125,000 households by October under the company's "Mega Panel" initiative; retailer-specific analysis through ACNielsen's Account Level Services, including a new census-based solution custom designed for Miller; and anytime/anywhere Internet-based information access through the ACNielsen Answers portal.

Supreme Court political ads
virtually absent from TV
Despite light, brief ad campaigns by two interest groups concerned with President Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court, political television advertisements have been virtually absent from broadcast and cable television, indicating a less intense fight over the nomination than many expected, experts say. These are the findings of a new report from the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project that analyzed data provided by Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The report analyzes political television advertising in all 210 markets across the nation. On 7/20, the day after President Bush nominated Judge Roberts to the Supreme Court, Progress for America launched an ad supporting Bush's nominee. PFA aired the ad, "Brilliant," 186 times on cable nets. The group ran the spot nine times on local television in the DC market. PFA ran the ad 138 times in 138 other local markets, once per market, which would allow the group to claim a national campaign spanning more than half of the nation's markets, while spending the least amount of money possible. These 138 markets represent 80.7% of TV Households. On 8/10, NARAL Pro-Choice America, began running its controversial ad, "Speaking Out," opposing the Roberts nomination. The NARAL spot ran a total of 200 times, 3 spots on cable networks, and 197 spots - - ostensibly aimed at the Senators from Maine and Rhode Island - - in the markets in Bangor, Portland/Auburn, and Presque Isle, Maine as well as the Providence, Rhode Island/New Bedford, market. Under intense pressure from liberals and conservatives from both political parties, NARAL pulled the ad. The second PFA spot, "How Low," placed by the organization's Progress for America Voter Fund, was a response to the NARAL ad and began airing on 8/11, and ran 32 times on cable television networks and once in the Laredo, TX market. The ads continued to air briefly after NARAL pulled their ad.

Media Markets & MoneyTM

Deal recipe in McCook revealed
The documents are in pertaining to a ready-made FM duopoly in an unrated portion of Nebraska. Legacy Communications owner Joseph Varicek will plunks 65K into escrow, pay an additional 935K at closing and, over time, pay another 300K under terms of a non-competition agreement, in exchange for KIOD-FM and KSWN-FM in McCook NE. The stations will become Legacy's sixth and seventh in the state. According to brokers Jody McCoy and Tom McKinley of Media Services Group, Legacy will run the stations under the name GI Family Radio.

Moody's goes negative on Clear Channel
Moody's Investors Service has changed its debt ratings outlook for Clear Channel to negative, after confirming the company's senior unsecured rating (Baa3) - - at least for now. Moody's said it's confirmation was justified by Clear Channel's "large, diverse holdings in radio and outdoor that consistently generate close to 1.6 billion of operating cash flow and over one billion in free cash flow before shareholder distributions." However, it noted concerns that there could be additional shareholder pressure to increase leverage to enhance equity returns, "particularly if the company fails to resume organic growth in its core radio business." Moody's added, "Given its weak year-to-date operating results and its planned shareholder distributions, it remains unclear whether or not the company will be able to continue target adjusted debt-to-EBITDA levels comfortably inside 4.25x and FCF-to-debt above 10%." Moody's warned that Clear Channel's debt ratings could be lowered if it consistently misses those targets.

The ratings that were confirmed include:
Senior unsecured notes -- Baa3;
Senior unsecured shelf -- (P)Baa3;
Senior subordinate shelf -- (P)Ba1;
Preferred shelf -- (P)Ba2;
Chancellor Media Corporation of Los Angeles senior unsecured -- Baa3.

Washington Beat

NCTA wants to downgrade costs
by upgrading affiliate status
The National Cable and Telecommunications Association is prodding the Copyright Office (CO) to revise its definition of what constitutes a network affiliated station and what constitutes an independent. It contends that the current 30-year-old definition, including only ABC, CBS and NBC in the affiliated group, is outdated. NCTA wrote, "This designation is significant because whether a television station is considered to be a 'network' or an 'independent' station affects the calculation of the amount owed in copyright royalty fees by larger cable systems for carriage of that station on a distant signal basis. Cable operators pay one-quarter of a distant signal equivalent (DSE) for 'network stations' and full DSE for 'independent stations.' The bottom line is that NCTA wants Fox, WB, UPN and PAX included on the indy list. It argues that all four meet the CO's definition of a network, including nationwide transmission, provision of a substantial portion of an affiliate's daily programming, occupying a substantial portion of the station's typical broadcast day. It argues that the nationwide portion is easily demonstrated - - Fox's reach is said to be 96%, UPN's to be 96.2%, WB's to be 92% and PAX's to be 84%. As for the other two criteria, it notes that there is no numerical definition of what "substantial" means, and suggests application of an FCC standard of 15 hours weekly for DSE purposes.

TVBR TV News

Belo reports TV weakness at all levels
It wasn't just the lack of political advertising that held down Belo's TV revenues in July. That was part of it, to be sure. Political revenues were a mere 150K, compared to 2.5 million a year ago. But the company reports that local revenues were down 2.4% overall and national declined 3.5%. In all, TV group revenues were down 7.1% in July to 48.4 million. The July report was much better for Belo's newspaper division, with revenues up 10.1% to 68.6 million, with ad revenues up 11.4%. Adjusting for an extra Sunday this year, the company said newspaper ad revenues were up 4.2%.

TVBR observation: By our calculation, non-political billings were down about 1.4 million in addition to the nearly 2.4 million shortfall in political. And don't forget, political wasn't as big of a deal for Belo last year as it was for many other broadcasters, since it is heavily concentrated in Texas and President Bush didn't have to advertise much to sew up his home state (nor did Sen. John Kerry waste any funds there).

Transactions

450K WSNA-FM South Webster OH from I-M Media Broadcasting Inc. (Denise Scharfetter) to Educational Media Foundation (Richard Jenkins). 22.5K escrow, 152.5K cash at closing, 275K note. LMA 5/6/05. EMF is technically acquiring right to buy station from Legend Communications of West Virginia, which has filed to acquire station from I-M for 350K. [File date 7/13/05.]

350K WKMM-FM Kingwood WV. 100% of MArpat Corporation from Patrick J. Crogan (60% to 0%) and Jane P. Crogan (40% to 0%) to Neil P. Waldeck (0% to 100%). 50K escrow, balance in cash at closing. [File date 7/13/05.]

Stock Talk

Stocks close mixed
Talk about a day of going nowhere. With little in the way of major news and oil prices still a worry, traders didn't want to make any commitments on Thursday. The Dow Industrials ended with a tiny rise of four points to 10,555, but other indices were down slightly.

Radio stocks had a down day, following the previous session's worries about retail sales. The Radio Index dropped 1.358, or 0.7%, to 205.367. Salem was the worst performer, down 3.3%, with no news to account for the move. Most other radio stocks were down less than 1%.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Thursday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		42.41	-0.15	Jeff-Pilot	JP		49.57	-0.29
Beasley	BBGI		14.10	-0.20	Journal Comm.	JRN		15.89	-0.03
Citadel	CDL		13.48	-0.03	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		13.87	+0.06
Clear Channel	CCU		33.87	-0.05	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		13.85	+0.05
Cox Radio	CXR		15.28	-0.07	Regent	RGCI		5.52	+0.01
Cumulus	CMLS		12.57	-0.12	Saga Commun.	SGA		13.90	-0.20
Disney	DIS		26.08	-0.21	Salem Comm.	SALM		17.97	-0.62
Emmis	EMMS		21.32	unch	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		6.48	-0.08
Entercom	ETM		33.10	-0.36	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		7.80	+0.01
Entravision	EVC		7.98	unch	Univision	UVN		27.00	-0.11
Fisher	FSCI		51.39	-0.15	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		34.84	-0.32
Gaylord	GET		45.32	+0.26	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		34.82	-0.22
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		25.77	unch	Westwood One	WON		20.55	-0.16
Interep	IREP		0.62	-0.06	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		33.37	+0.33
International Bcg.	IBCS		0.01	unch	-	-	-	-	-

Bounceback

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Radio Media Moves

Pamal heads
for Hill
Former Infinity Regional VP Ben Hill has joined Pamal Broadcasting as Market Manager for its nine-station cluster in Gainesville/Ocala, FL.

Kidd heads north
Kidd Chris, a semi-regular contributor to the "Howard Stern show," is moving up market-wise at Infinity Radio. Instead of mornings on KSRX-FM San Antonion, he'll now handle the 5-8 pm shift on WYSP-FM Philadelphia. Stern also airs on 'YSP - - but only until the end of this year.

BE ups key engineer
Broadcast Electronics announced the promotion of Jay Linderer to Director, RF Engineering. In his new role, Linderer will be responsible for the design, development and overall engineering of all RF products manufactured by BE.

Rapino heading
CCU spin-off
Clear Channel Communications has promoted Michael Rapino to CEO of CCE SpinCo - - the soon to be spun-off CC Entertainment division. Clear Channel CFO Randall Mays is still Chairman of the spin-off, but has relinquished his Interim CEO title. Rapino had been President and CEO of Global Music for CCE's Clear Channel Music Group.

Young joins Radiosophy
Former Gateway executive Bruce Young has joined Radiosophy as Chief Technology Officer. Radiosophy founder Bill Billings, who recruited Young, has relinquished the CTO title to become VP of Technology. Radiosophy was created to build receivers for digital radio.

Stations for Sale

Suburban NYC AM
Good population coverage. Comes with studio/transmitter site. Fulltime station w. low night power, upgrade possible. 1.6M. 781-848-4201
[email protected]

More News Headlines

CC Entertainment
gets new trial
A federal judge in Chicago has ordered a retrial in the lawsuit by Jam Sports against Clear Channel Entertainment on allegations that CC Entertainment intentionally interfered with Jam Sports' contract to sponsor Supercross Dirt-Bike races. The judge ruled that there were was a "significant ambiguity" in the 70 million bucks that jurors awarded Jam Sports in the first trial.

Exhibit space sold out for NAB Radio Show
The NAB announced that exhibit space at The NAB Radio Show has been sold out. The NAB Radio Show will be held September 21-23, at the Philadelphia Convention Center. "The high demand for exhibit space demonstrates the value companies place on being at the most influential gathering of the radio industry," said Chris Brown, SVP/conventions & expositions at NAB. "Conference registration is also tracking significantly ahead of the last few years, so we expect this year's Radio Show to be a big success." Indeed most VPs/Engineering we polled for our September Print issue said they not only enjoyed last year's show quite a bit, but were definitely coming to this year's show as well. You can catch our print issue with the 2006 CapEx and Budgeting survey Part I at the show, where they detail the products they'll be looking for.

Editor's note: Indeed most VPs/Engineering we polled for RBR/TVBR September Solutions Magazine said they not only enjoyed last year's show quite a bit, but were definitely coming to this year's show as well. Catch this issue with the 2006 CapEx and Budgeting survey Part I at the show, where they detail the products they'll be looking for. RBR staff will be in Philly and see you there.

August Digital Magazine
Now Available

Legal Ease
Conversion from Analog to Digital. Little Less Taxing. This is free legal advice so take it.

Media, Markets & Money
Happy days in the wheel of deal fortune ... Or are they really there? With station Trading the Action.

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RBR Radar 2005

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

Cable pushes the envelope...
even on radio
WTRW-AM Two Rivers, WI owner Mark Heller tells RBR/TVBR that his minister dropped by the other day and noted that he'd just heard the word "nooky" air on the station. Heller said he couldn't believe that Scott Shannon would use that word on the air, but it turned out not to be the DJ, but rather a spot carried on ABC Radio's True Oldies Format - - a spot for A&E's " Dog the Bounty Hunter." RBR observation: It seems that the radio nets were caught off guard by the increasingly edgy content in the TV tune-in sector. The standards and practices departments tend to devote their greatest attention to such things as spots for Viagra and its competitors and making sure that ads for OTC pharmaceuticals comply with government regulations. No one expected to find objectionable content in an ad for A&E. But with complaints starting to come in from affiliates, they'll likely be paying closer attention to the cable spots. But and there always is a butt, someone has got to get a hold onto reality and not the TV programming they are putting out these days like 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' is a real dog and speaking of programming dog doodoo. 08/18/05 RBR #162

NAB pushes FCC on
IBOC fast track
In the latest round of filings at the FCC on setting a digital radio standard, the NAB has urged the Commission to dismiss opposing views and adopt IBOC ASAP.
08/18/05 RBR #162

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