Radio News ®

Clear Channel's "Less is More" gets feedback
Since our write-up over the last two days about CC Radio's "Less is More" strategy and its impact on syndicators (8/25 RBR Daily Epaper #166) and networks (8/26 RBR Daily Epaper #167), we've been hearing a bit more from folks in the industry - - again off the record, of course: "Quick observation on 'Less is More.' The sales managers and AEs aren't so worried about the spot count. What's scaring everyone is the limitation on 'promos.' Promos have become a euphemism for the 21st century version of the old Bonus Spot. They're a big part of schedules nowadays. I think a station is limited to 2x per hour. I heard one of the services getting dropped in some cases was Bloomberg. CBS and ABC Network Radio are being negotiated in many markets - - they're negotiating with everybody. People are getting cut back left and right on product. But we're going to survive and knock on wood they haven't been too drastic on [us]," the anonymous source (for obvious reasons) said.

Air America promoting
national shout-out
Air America Radio has scored free national publicity yet again, this time by organizing a nationwide "shout out" to protest President George W. Bush when he steps up to the microphone to accept the Republican nomination next Thursday. Air America's highest-profile host, Al Franken, is being careful to draw a distinction between what the liberal radio network is promoting and any violent protests that might erupt next week in New York. "This is a form of protest that is very non-disruptive," Franken said in announcing the "Great American Shout-Out." The idea is a takeoff on the movie "Network," with anti-Bush forces urged to open their windows and scream a local negative wisecrack as the President takes the podium. Suggested wisecracks include "fuggedaboutdit" for New Yorkers and "No way, dude" in California. Not to be accused of underestimating his own influence, Franken is predicting that at least 100 million people will take part.

RBR observation: Air America may have squandered all of the free press that it got back at its Spring launch, but you've gotta give Al credit - - he still knows how to drum up publicity. Not only is Air America going to get free publicity about this little prank, but it also has people organizing "Shout-Out" parties all across the country - - even in markets where the network doesn't currently have an affiliate. Strong turnouts at those local gatherings might persuade a few GMs to look at adding Air America shows to their lineup. Or you could go out and by a gross of duct tape and have a 'Shut-Up' party. Only PD's that think of it as a science project will have fun with this.

Westwood One's Tom Leykis
attacked in Seattle
A man angry about on-air comments made by Westwood One talker Tom Leykis spotted the radio host outside a Seattle nightspot and kicked him in the head. Leykis was treated and required 17 stitches for a cut above his eye. He also sustained a scraped knee and a black eye in the attack early Monday, a police report said. No arrests had been reported by early Thursday. Leykis, on one of his regular trips to broadcast from KQBZ-FM, said he was getting some fresh air about 3:45 a.m. outside the Five Point Cafe when a man came out of the nightspot, took a photograph, then went back inside and showed the digital image to two others. "I was minding my own business. It was a person who knew who I was from the radio," Leykis told the AP. A woman who had been with Leykis then came out of the restaurant and all three men followed. One said Leykis once took a call from him and then insulted him on the air, calling him a name and questioning his virility. "You had no right to do that," the man said. One of the other men, the one who had taken the picture, then kicked Leykis in the head, knocking him to the ground. Both men fled and the third apologized as Leykis and the woman got into a taxicab to go to the radio host's hotel, where police and medical aid were summoned.

To sell, or not to sell? Is that your question? Part 5
So you've decided to put your radio or TV station up for sale. Fine. But now, how do you set the price? You don't want to leave any money on the table. On the other hand, you don't want to set the price too high, so that potential buyers are driven away by your unrealistic expectations. Broker Larry Patrick talks about how to set the right price. | More... |

Canadian station gets a reprieve
A Federal Court of Appeal in Canada has blocked the country's equivalent of the FCC, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), from shutting down CHOI-FM Quebec City until the courts have ruled on the station's appeal of its license revocation. After numerous complaints about politically incorrect comments on the Talk station, the CRTC announced in July that the station's license would not be renewed (7/16/04 RBR Daily Epaper #138). That set off a wave of protests in both Quebec City and the capital, Ottawa. The station's long-term future is still in doubt. The court order means only that CHOI will not have to shut down when its current license expires next month, but the issue of whether it will get a new license still has to be fought out in court.

Adbiz ©

Arby's names finalists in creative review
Arby's has named four finalists in a review for creative, with spending estimated at 15 million. The assignment had been handled since 1987 by Doner Southfield, MI, which declined taking part in the review that began in July. The finalists are Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners NY, Merkley & Partners NY, Mullen Wenham, MA and Venables, Bell & Partners San Francisco. The agencies eliminated from the review are Bartle Bogle Hegarty NY, Euro RSCG Worldwide NY, Martin/Williams Advertising Minneapolis and Modernista Boston. Wanamaker Associates Atlanta is handling the review Doner continues to handle creative duties on the accounts of 30 groups of Arby's franchisees. Planning and buying remain at Initiative Media. A decision in the creative review is expected by October.

Three Nebraska TV stations refuse to air PETA ad
Three Nebraska television stations have refused to run an ad promoting vegetarianism that shows a pig being bludgeoned and a chicken getting its beak burned off, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Wednesday. The ad has been pulled from the air on TV stations across the country following complaints from viewers about its content. PETA said the ad was rejected by Lincoln's ABC affiliate KLKN, CBS affiliate KOLN, and Fox affiliate KTVG in Kearney, before it was allowed to air. Kristine Ryan, general sales manager for KOLN, said she told PETA to send something a little less graphic but with the same underlying message. She said she never heard back. "We really didn't say no to it, I just asked for another option," Ryan told the AP. The station wasn't rejecting PETA, just the ad in question, she said.

Mothers Opposing Bush
premiering national TV ad for RNC
Mothers Opposing Bush - MOB - premieres its provocative new TV ad at a Meet the MOB Party, co-hosted by Fahrenheit 9/11 executive producer, Harvey Weinstein, and author/activist, Arianna Huffington, at the Tribeca Film Center in NYC. The MOB is an all-volunteer, bi-partisan, political action committee with a membership of 10,000 mothers (and others) representing nearly all 50 states. "Our TV ad epitomizes truth in advertising, underlining how this president's policies are not good for children, and not good for anybody," says Iris Krasnow, founder of the MOB. She adds that the mission of the MOB is to amplify the voices of mothers who feel the urgency of getting this "dangerous administration" out of office.

RBR observation: Elections make people do things they normally would never do. The MOB -when hearing this word it brings the image of Don Vito Corleone and that is a mother which sometimes is only one-half of a word. See - crazy things during an election.

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

Engineering

MusicMaster for Windows scheduling software
gaining ground
MusicMaster for Windows has been in development for six years and represents a radical departure from the commonly used DOS music scheduling programs such as MusicMaster for DOS or Selector. DOS technology is over 20 years old, and is quickly becoming obsolete in terms of new hardware and software releases. Stations are currently and will continue to face integration issues as they replace broadcast equipment and related software in the future. The new MusicMaster for Windows software was officially launched in January and now has upwards of nearly 300 users. We spoke with Mark Bolke, MusicMaster/A-Ware Software VP/COO. Tell us a bit about the product. | More... |

Transactions

KFLZ-FM Corpus Christi TX (Bishop TX) from Davila Broadcasting Inc. to Gerald Benavides.

WCKI-AM Greenville-Spartanburg SC (Greer SC) from Sira-Pack Radio Inc. to Mediatrix SC Inc.

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