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Volume 24, Issue 168, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Tuesday Morning August 28th, 2007
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Radio News ®
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Changes working at CBS Radio
Despite a slight year-over-year decline in ratings, Wachovia analyst Marci Ryvicker notes that CBS Radio was up in the Spring Arbitron ratings from the previous book, so the changes being made by new CEO Dan Mason appear to be working. She also says Emmis may finally have hit bottom, although she’s not ready to make that a firm call.
After crunching the Arbitron numbers, Ryvicker said CBS posted a 2% year-over-year decline, but was up 1% sequentially in the key 25-54 demo. “The sequential improvements give us hope that the changes made by Dan Mason since his appointment as President and CEO of CBS Radio have resulted in rating improvements,” she said in a research note, but added that she will be watching future books to see if those sequential gains are a trend. As for Emmis, following sequential share losses of 3%, 6% and 1% in the 18-34 target demo, the Spring ratings rebounded by 7%. “We take this as a positive sign but are hesitant to believe that a trend is forming due to the fact that in the Spring 2006 book Emmis showed similar signs of life, only to begin a downward spiral,” Ryvicker said, so she is waiting and watching. Even with the book-to-book improvement,
Emmis is still down 4% year-over-year in the 18-34 demo.
So, who does the analyst really like? Entercom has done well ratings-wise with its recent acquisitions, although the remainder of its station portfolio is still showing weakness in her view. Ryvicker expects ratings growth to return and Entercom gets her only “outperform” stock rating among the pure-play radio companies. She also believes Spanish-specialist Entravision is a good long-term investment.
Gateway sold to Acer for 710 million
One of the high-flying tech stocks of the 1990s that fell to earth this decade is about to disappear, with Gateway agreeing to be sold to Taiwan’s Acer for 710 million. Why is this a media story? Because Norman Waitt cashed out near the high to buy radio and TV stations, while brother Ted stayed with Gateway to what could now be called the bitter end. While Ted was very public and appeared in Gateway’s TV ads, elder brother Norm, though a co-founder, stayed in the shadows and retired from the company as it soared in the early ’90s. In 1998 Inc. magazine estimated that Norman Waitt’s Gateway stock was worth 1.1 billion just before he began selling it off to the point that he was no longer a 5% owner and, thus, no longer had to report stock sales to the SEC. Norm Waitt chose to invest that cash haul elsewhere, including a group of Midwestern radio and TV stations clustered around his base in South Dakota near Sioux City, IA. Via a merger, he is now a major shareholder of NRG Media, including syndicator Waitt Radio Networks. He also still owns one TV station, KMEG-TV (Ch. 14, CBS) Sioux City, and has other media investments in films, outdoor and interactive, along with real estate and other non-media holdings. Ted Waitt owned many more shares of Gateway, which peaked above 80 bucks a share in 1999, but has lately be trading around 1.20. He no longer runs the company, but remains a major shareholder. The buyout at 1.90 per share looks to be worth about 123 million for him.
RBR observation: There is no indication that Norman Waitt saw what was ahead for Gateway or had any animosity toward his brother. He just wanted to go do other things instead of selling computers for the rest of his life. According to his WaittCorp LLC website, the entertainment investments grew out of his “passion” for music. “From movies and production, to broadcast and outdoor, to new media technologies, WaittCorp is itself an example of how doing what your love can also mean living what you dream,” the website states. Seems like a pretty good philosophy for a happy life.
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Civil rights groups oppose satellite merger
The NAB continues to line up opposition to the proposed merger of XM and Sirius Satellite Radio as XM and Sirius do likewise to build the impression of widespread support for the merger. The latest effort by NAB has the Black Leadership Forum (BLF), an alliance of 34 national African-American civil rights and civic organizations, joining the “opposed” side. A letter from BLF President and CEO Gary Flowers to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says the proposed merger would “effectively stymie competition for Black-owned businesses.” He also attacks the a la carte proposal that XM and Sirius have linked to the merger. Although Martin is known to be a big proponent of a la carte, Flowers says it “would place Black-owned providers at a competitive disadvantage.”
Credit crunch shaves price
Home Depot’s sale of its construction supply business, HD Supply, to private equity investors appears to have fallen victim to the current scarcity of credit for big deals. Not that the deal is dead, just reduced. According to Bloomberg and other reports, Home Depot has agreed to an 18% price cut to get the sale done, to 8.5 billion, down from the original 10.3 billion announced in June. Why? The bankers who were supposed to lend the cash for the buyout insisted on better terms to cut their risk. Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Clayton Dubilier & Rice are the private equity investors in the deal, but, as with all such deals, they are borrowing most of the purchase price in hopes of future profits from the leverage. Bain is also one of the participants in the pending buyout of Clear Channel Communications.
RBR observation: Worries about the credit markets have put some downward pressure on the stock prices of broadcasting companies with buyout deals pending, notably Clear Channel, Cumulus Media and Tribune Company. As far as we can tell, all three have their financing in place with little chance of the lenders being able to drop out, which is good news for arbitrageurs looking to make a quick buck. But the sub-prime mortgage fiasco that’s echoing throughout the credit markets has definitely put a damper on doing any new deals in the billion-plus category.
McGavren Guild reups with WBEB-FM Philadelphia
Interep announced its McGavren Guild national representation firm has signed a five-year contract renewal with WBEB-FM in Philadelphia. “This renewal is indicative of the terrific job that the McGavren Guild team is doing on behalf of its client stations,” said Mike Walsh, Interep’s President/COO. “It’s a true testimonial of our long-standing relationship with WBEB, as well as McGavren Guild’s strong performance which will continue to foster additional growth for the station.” WBEB General Manager Blaise Howard added, “With our ratings stronger than ever, we believe that McGavren Guild is the ideal partner to tell our story to national advertisers. We look forward to continuing to work closely with them to grow our business over the next five years.”
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Ad Business Report TM
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WarpRadio partners with TargetSpot for advertising
WarpRadio.com and streaming media advertising company TargetSpot today announced a partnership allowing advertisers to utilize TargetSpot’s ad serving technology and marketplace on WarpRadio’s network of 130 radio stations that stream online. WarpRadio is the third company to partner with TargetSpot, which will launch this summer. In April, CBS RADIO announced that it would use TargetSpot’s technology and marketplace on its 140+ online radio station network. In June, Entercom Communications Corp. agreed to utilize TargetSpot for its nationwide network of 90+ streaming radio stations. TargetSpot’s technology allows businesses of all sizes to create, buy and place their own ad messages within streaming media. Using TargetSpot’s system, advertisers can create customized audio, video, banner and text ads with an jingles, sound effects and visuals provided by TargetSpot. Clients can also upload their current creative directly into their TargetSpot account. Ads are then targeted to a specific demo, location and/or station. Campaign costs vary with advertising revenue being shared among TargetSpot and the participating broadcaster.
Boston and books radio spots examined
Media Monitors took a look at book advertisements, the city of Boston and their use of spot radio. Last week in Boston, the #1 spot advertiser on the radio was COMCAST pushing their bundle of services running 842 spots. #2 was MATTRESS DISCOUNTERS with 521 spots, while FORD LINCOLN MERCURY was #3 airing 443 spots. Coming in #4 was the HD DIGITAL RADIO ALLIANCE with 439 units, while VERIZON was #5 airing 414 announcements. HONDA was #6 with 370 units, while IRA TOYOTA jumped from #45 the previous week, to #7 with 370 spots. TOYOTA, with their national campaign in Boston, jumped from 16th to 8th with 352 spots. The Commerce Bank & Trust Company's service called 1-800 EAST WEST MORTAGE was in at #9 with 344 units and HOME DEPOT was #10 airing 289 spots. You've heard of the New York Times Best Seller list, well now you get to see the National BOOK SPOT TEN from Media Monitors. These are the books that were advertised on the radio in America last week. PREACHER PRESIDENTS by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy was #1 with 349 spots. Coming in #2 was RAISING THE RUINS by Stephen Flurry running 260 spots. SWEET REVENGE by Diane Mott was #3 running 131 spots. NATURAL CURES by Kevin Trudeau was #4 airing 70 units. Next was RICHISTAN by Robert Frank with 62 units. WALL STREET JOURNAL by Glenn Ruffenach and Kelly Greene was #6 with 44 spots. Coming in #7 was 50 GREAT DIGITAL VIDEOS by Kim Komando with 41 spots, while THE BAD BREATH BIBLE by Dr. Harold Katz was #8 running only 41 units. COMPLETE IDENTITY THEFT by Terri Cullen was #9 with 37 spots and OUR DAILY BREAD from the RBC Ministries was #10 with 34 units. On the NATIONAL SPOT TEN last week, we see the HD DIGITAL RADIO ALLIANCE with 26,929 spots was the top advertiser on the radio. #2 was GEICO airing 23,801 announcements. CHRYSLER-JEEP-DODGE was #3 running 21,828 spots. #4 was HOME DEPOT with 19,884 and #5 was WAL-MART with 19,656.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
Teserio bags lion's share of Amsterdam AM
John A. Tesiero Jr. has a deal which will give him 76% control of WCSS-AM Amsterdam NY, in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy market. He'll pay a total of 61,155 to nine different shareholders. In all but one case, he's paying 525 dollars per share, but will pay 550 to the largest shareholder, Joe Isabel, in exchange for 25 of Isabel's total of 40 shares. Tesiero holds a similar 550 per share option for the remaining 40 as well. The station has been in a 1K/month LMA with Cranesville Block Company, which Tesiero is associated with.
Journal buys back shares
Journal Communications has bought back 3.2 million shares of the company’s stock for 32 million bucks from Matex Inc. and modified its agreement with Matex and the Albert Family Journal Stock Trust to eliminate the trust’s right to elect a second director to Journal’s board of directors. The purchase price of 10 bucks per share is at the low end of the recent trading range.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
20K falls through the cracks
Yet another station has been fined by the FCC for allowing public file maintenance to fall through the cracks. Like so many others, KPNZ-TV (Ch. 24, Inc.) Salt Lake City (Ogden, UT) turned itself in for the violations when it filed for its license renewal. The station admitted that it had failed to keep the required TV issues/programs list in its public file for most of the previous license term and, for shorter periods, had also failed to keep in the file records of its compliance with the children’s programming commercial limits and its EEO public file reports. Some of the station’s children’s television programming reports were also placed in the file after the applicable deadline. The licensee, Utah Communications LLC, told the FCC it had recreated most of the missing documents and placed them in the file and has instituted procedures to ensure future compliance. But, for the past violations, the station owner has been ordered to pay 20,000 bucks.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
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Hitachi strikes ad deal with FSN and FOXSports.com on MSN
Hitachi and Fox Cable Sports announced a multi-platform sponsorship agreement that gives Hitachi a major advertising presence on Fox Sports Net (FSN) and FOXSports.com on MSN this college football season. FSN has national television rights for Big 12 and Pac-10 football games, and is scheduled to carry 23 games this season. The new agreement calls for Hitachi to be the title sponsor of FSN’s Big 12 and Pac-10 college football halftime coverage, which this season will be titled The Hitachi Halftime Show. The deal also includes a product integration component as the show’s set will prominently feature seven state-of-the-art Hitachi plasma televisions. In addition, Hitachi will be the presenting sponsor for the 20 game telecasts FSN is scheduled to produce in high-definition, and Hitachi also will sponsor the College Football Scoreboard on FOXSports.com on MSN, one of the top sports sites on the Web, with more than 14 million unique visitors per month.
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| Ratings & Research |
Moms search before shopping
DoubleClick Performics recently released data resulting from a usage study targeting "moms," and completed in cooperation with Microsoft and ROI Research, which showed that of the nearly 1,000 moms surveyed, 89% use the Internet at least twice a day, and 90% have been using it for more than seven years. 86% of respondents said search engines are the most efficient way to find information, reports The Center for Media Research.
The data illustrates heavy search engine usage in support of online purchases, offline purchases, coordinating travel and many other planning activities among moms.
70% use search engines to gather information before making any online purchase
57% use search engines to gather information before making any offline purchase
64% use search engines to find out where to purchase products offline.
With regard to purchases made in the eight product categories under study, 92% of respondents say search engines were helpful in providing valuable information prior to purchasing, and 79% say the same for the offline purchases they made.
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| Transactions |
1.75M KRMX-AM/KNKN-FM Pueblo CO from Metropolitan Radio Group Inc. (Mark L. Acker) to United States CP LLC (W. Philip Robinson). 50K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with KRYE-FM CP Rye CO. United States CP replaces Todd P. Robinson as buyer. [File date 8/3/07.]
150K KELE-FM Mountain Grove MO from Quorum Radio Partner INc. (Robert Barnett) to First Broadcasting Capital Partners LLC (Ronald Unkefer, Gary Lawrence). Full amount included in letter of credit. Buyer will move KELE-AM to Ripley OH in the Cincinnati market, where it owns WOXY-FM, WAOL-FM & WAXZ-FM. That move will enable WAOL-FM to move from Class C3 in Ripley to Class A in Amelia OH. WAXZ-FM is moving out of the market to Salt Kick KY and its sale to Gateway Radio Works is pending. [File date 8/2/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Home sales down, so are stocks
A slowdown in home sales worried Wall Street and sent stock prices lower on Monday. The Dow Industrials fell 57 points, or 0.4%, to 13,322.
Radio stocks, however, had a up day, with no particular news to account for the move counter to the broader market. The Radio Index rose 0.734, or 0.6%, to 126.311. Emmis rose 3.1% and Citadel rose 2.2% as the best performers.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Monday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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50.16
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-0.70
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Google
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GOOG
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513.26
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-1.74
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Beasley
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BBGI
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7.19
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-0.03
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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25.36
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0.14
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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31.25
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-0.54
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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10.33
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0.10
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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31.19
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-0.61
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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62.25
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-0.40
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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4.21 |
0.09 |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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3.72
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-0.07
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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36.31
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-0.49
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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3.76
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-0.03
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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13.601
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0.20
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Regent
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RGCI
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2.80
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-0.07
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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10.33
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0.01
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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7.42
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-0.41
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Debut Bcg.
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DBTB
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1.25
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0.24
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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10.59
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0.16
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Disney
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DIS
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33.84
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-0.03
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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2.79
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-0.05
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Emmis
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EMMS
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6.32
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0.19
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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4.72
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+0.11
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Entercom
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ETM
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20.85
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0.01
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SWMX
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SMWX
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0.08
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0.00
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Entravision
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EVC
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9.18
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0.03
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Westwood One
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WON
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2.92
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-0.15
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Fisher
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FSCI
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48.24
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-0.31
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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11.49
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-0.02
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Bounceback
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 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to [email protected]
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Below the Fold
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Ad Business Report
Boston and books
Radio spots examined in and the
#1 spot advertiser was COMCAST
pushing their bundle of services…
Media Markets & Money
Teserio bags
Lion's share of Amsterdam AM
has a deal giving him 76%
control of WCSS-AM…
Washington Media Business Report
20K falls through the cracks
Yet another station has been fined
for allowing public file maintenance…
Ratings & Research
Moms search before shopping
89% use the Internet at least twice a day,
90% using it for more than 7 yrs…
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Stations for Sale
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 Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact
June Barnes
[email protected]
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Radio Media Moves
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Johnson to AMS-I
Former Clear Channel Radio regional VP of programming Scott Johnson has joined American Media Services-Internet as Director of Programming. He will oversee all of the company’s Internet and HD Radio content.
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More News Headlines
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CBS translator killed in Iraq
CBS News says Anwar Abbas Lafta, a translator who had worked for CBS for the past 10 months in Iraq, was abducted from his home on Monday, August 20th. His body was found by police and identified by his relative on Saturday. He is the third CBS News employee to be killed in Iraq.
New Ryan Seacrest show launches in UK
For the first time in nearly 15 years, an American DJ will be syndicated throughout the U.K. and on London radio. Premiere Radio Networks and GCap's One Network announced the launch of The Entertainment Edge with Ryan Seacrest on UK radio waves. The custom show will air on Capital 95.8 FM on Saturdays and on Sundays on GCap's regional One Network, and will feature interviews with today's celebrities coupled with CHR chart topping songs. In addition, during each program E! Entertainment Television will sponsor two E! News updates with the latest celebrity news. The Entertainment Edge with Ryan Seacrest will launch 9/15.
WTKK adds Phil Hendrie in Boston
Greater Media announced the addition of The Phil Hendrie Show to the 96.9 FM TALK line-up debuting on 9/10. The overnight show is scheduled to air 1:00a to 5:00a weeknights. Hendrie got his radio broadcasting start over 30 years ago and began doing talk radio in 1990. The first Phil Hendrie Show was a comedy talk radio program that became renowned for its unique and controversial guests, who were actually fictional characters created and voiced by Hendrie himself.
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RBR Radar 2007
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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In praise of Houston PPM
Coverage last week
Thanks for spending the time this week getting to understand some of these PPM issues. I think I said before, I know we as an industry need electronic measurement, but it has to be right. I am afraid Arbitron has rushed into something that they are ill prepared for. This whole "seasonal" thing makes me nuts.....with all of the testing they've done didn't they see that they would have these problems with panel management?... Bob Neil, Cox Radio CEO
RBR note: To read Neil’s complete comments see this issue of RBR.
08/27/07 RBR #167
Bonneville-Washington Post Radio in
DC may be gone by Labor Day
That is what multiple DC area media outlets are forecasting. The year-and-a-half all-news partnership with the paper may be gone, or at least changed to a hybrid after Labor Day, when syndicated programming is added to WTWP-FM-AM DC. RBR already knows TRN’s Phil Hendrie is coming on board, but it has been reported that Bonneville will continue a non-Post radio talker on the station as soon as 9/4, with nationally syndicated personalities
RBR observation: We still think Spanish language is the way to go. WTWP-FM’s signal covers Northern Virginia suburbs south of the beltway very well—an area rich with Spanish-speaking immigrants, and an area not well covered by the only Spanish language FM in the region—CBS Radio’s WLZL-FM Annapolis.
08/27/07 RBR #167
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Sales Associate
A fast growing network radio company seeks a Sales Assistant for its Chicago office. The ability to multi-task and prioritize are paramount in this position, as is the willingness and desire to learn in a fast paced environment. Please send resumes with cover letter to: [email protected]
See Radio Careers
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