Radio News ®

More outrage at Forbes from broadcasters
We're continuing to hear from radio broadcasters who are boiling mad over the cover story in Forbes magazine that depicts broadcasters as "bullies" who've used their Capitol Hill clout to erect unfair barriers to hold back competition from satellite radio operators. Quite the contrary, says Whitney Radio President Bill O'Shaughnessy, who says it's XM Satellite Radio that has "run rings" around the NAB in Washington.

RBR observation: If you haven't read the Forbes story, here are a couple of examples of the more questionable claims in the article. The first isn't just questionable, it's downright false. The article accuses broadcasters of fighting against the licensing of satellite radio companies, then getting regulators to impose restraints to protect terrestrial radio. "The FCC's license forbade free, advertiser-supported satellite stations, instead requiring firms to sign up paying subscribers," the article states. It's hard to blame the NAB for such a provision, since it doesn't exist. Both satellite radio companies have chosen subscription-based business models, but nothing requires them to do so. At another point, author Scott Woolley states that, "In 1995 lawmakers slapped down digital newcomers by passing a law backed by the NAB and the Recording Industry Association of America" - - referring to the law that required performance royalty payments by satellite, Internet and other new digital media, while exempting terrestrial broadcasters. That makes it sound like the NAB and RIAA were in cahoots in drafting the law. In fact, broadcasters vehemently opposed the RIAA proposal, but the NAB withdrew its objections after winning the exemption for its members, taking no position on whether other media should have to pay royalties that broadcasters had fought against for decades. | More... |

Limbaugh snares Bush interview
As Democrats sought to make political hay of President George Bush telling NBC's Matt Lauer of the war on terror, "I don't think you can win it," the Republican President used an appearance on the "Rush Limbaugh Show" to clarify his position. "This is not a conventional war. It is a different kind of war," Bush said. He went on to say that terrorism can't be completely eliminated, but that the US can "win" by battling back against the terrorists and spreading democracy around the world to make it more difficult for terrorists to find support.

Media giants focus of NYC protests
Activists in the Big Apple for the Republican National Convention have more on their plate than the four-day festival to renominate George W. Bush. Some, led by broadcast watchdog Fairness and Accuracy and Media, have made time to pay a visits to some of America's largest media companies. Today (9/1) is the day for the "March on the Media," which will be carried live on Pacifica's WBAI-FM. At 7:00 PM, protesters will meet in front of Viacom/CBS headquarters, move on to Time Life/CNN at 8:00 PM and wind up at News Corp./Fox at 9:00 PM. "For the past few years, the mainstream media have marched in lockstep with the Bush administration. Now it's time to march on the media," reads a flyer advertising the event. "The corporate news outlets have become lapdogs rather than watchdogs, and we come to challenge their domination of the public discourse." Groups participating in the event include Paper Tiger TV, Prometheus Radio Project (famous for its challenge to the FCC rules in the 3rd Circuit), Reclaim the Media, Media Super Villain and others.

New York streets mostly peaceful so far
News organizations prepared staffers for the worst, expecting that street demonstrations this week in New York during the Republican National Convention could turn violent. But so far there have been no major disruptions, despite the presence of many more protesters than were seen during the Democrat's confab in Boston. For one thing, the NYPD are credited with doing an amazing job of keeping protesters separated from credentialed GOP delegates - - not just outside Madison Square Garden, but at Manhattan hotels and other locations where Republicans have gathered for convention-related events. According to one NPR report we heard, the cops tricked protesters who'd planned to confront delegates outside special Broadway matinees by changing the curtain time. There have certainly been more arrests than in Boston, but those have mostly gone smoothly, as has processing at a special holding facility set up on a Hudson River pier. Nevertheless, reporters, camera crews and others aren't letting down their guard. According to Newsday, some news organizations have gone so far as to have back-up satellite newsrooms ready to go in case a terrorist attack forces a shutdown at Madison Square Garden. Many journalists have been equipped by their employers with emergency packs with such things as flashlights and "escape hoods," although many appear to be keeping them in their hotel rooms, rather than carrying them at all times. Some news organizations even hired military experts to provide employees with survival training, much like that given to journalists who covered the Iraq war. So far, though, such preparations have proven unnecessary.

Media orgs pool for polls
Knight Ridder and MSNBC are pooling resources with pollster Mason-Dixon to keep a finger on the pulse of likely voters in key swing states as the 2004 elections cycle toward an early November conclusion. The polls will follow the national political advertisements into key battleground states, and will be timed to gauge reaction to key campaign events, such as the conclusion of the Republican National Convention and debates. Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri are on the short list of states on the polling map. Other battlegrounds will be included as well. Most observers identify the "battleground" as states decided by about 6% of less in the 2000 presidential election. 18 qualify under that definition. Others have been added as events warranted, mainly by Democratic candidate John Kerry in reaction to perceived gains in strength in places like North Carolina (home of his running mate John Edwards), Louisiana, Virginia, Colorado and Nevada.

In Noam man's land, consolidation is academic
Columbia University professor Eli Noam has been tackling the problem of media consolidation for some time now - - long enough to have a book on the topic almost ready for distribution. "Media, Ownership and Concentration in America" takes a statistics-based approach to the problem. The professor does more than just enter bytes onto his hard drive - - he offers nothing less than an alternative way to measure media consolidation. | More... |

Adbiz ©

Nielsen signs Zenith for new product placement service; Hamilton comments
Nielsen Media Research announced it has signed a multi-year agreement with ZenithOptimedia Group for its new product placement service "Place*Views." ZenithOptimedia is the first major media specialist to subscribe. Nielsen launched the service earlier this year. Place*Views, a web-based application, provides data on brand occurrences that appear on broadcast TV. Place*Views allows users to identify which brands are featured, what type of placement is being used, when and where the placement has occurred, and the audience size and demo composition for the program minute at the time of placement. Product placement data is currently available beginning 9/03 for the 2004 broadcast season. Users are able to search the database by brand, advertiser, product category, program, and/or network. RBR/TVBR asked Richard Hamilton, CEO, Zenith Optimedia Group/The Americas about the move: | More... |

Worldwide Partners media directors meet in Philly
Media directors from 25 of the 37 regional agencies that comprise the American component of Worldwide Partners recently met in Philadelphia to figure out ways of improving accountability from local electronic media-with a heavy emphasis on cable and radio. Worldwide Partners (www.worldwidepartners.com) is a global membership org of independent agencies that collectively represent more than 3.6 billion in annual revenues. TVB, CAB and RAB were invited to make presentations. We tried TVB's Chris Rohrs for any details, but haven't heard back yet. The central focus of the meeting was reportedly to improve follow-up on clients' concerns about ROI and how to do comparable post-buys for local cable and radio. Worldwide agency personnel are frustrated that the local market measurement tools they're seeking from those media aren't being developed quickly enough.

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

Programming

Premiere's loss is Westwood's gain?
Looks like Westwood One has its answer to Premiere's Delilah: Nary a day after Premiere Radio Networks announced it was dropping "Leeza Gibbon's Hollywood Confidential" (8/31 RBR Daily Epaper #170), Westwood One announced it is offering "Leeza at Night," a new daily, five-hour music program debuting 11/8 on Hot AC stations across the country, including 12 Infinity O&Os. The show will feature Gibbons' sharing her unique take on entertainment news and the trends shaping American culture today, as well as taking call-ins from listeners nationwide.

Big sports names aid
WEEI radiothon
Boston's top sports brass came together 8/27 at Fenway Park for the 3rd Annual WEEI Jimmy Fund Radiothon. Pictured (l-r) are Boston Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge, New England Patriots Vice President of Player Operations Scott Pioli, Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein and Boston Bruins General Manager Mike O'Connell. WEEI Sports Radio, together with the Red Sox and New England Sports Network, raised more than 1.5 million dollars during the annual event. Proceeds benefit the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. WEEI notes that some of the donors were also notable - - Seth Myers of Saturday Night Live donated 100,000 and New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre 25,000.

WPEN gets younger with Oldies
Greater Media's WPEN-AM Philadelphia is leaving the '40s to play music from the late '50s and early '60s under the new moniker "Oldies 950 WPEN." As the station tries to bring back memories of Philly's great AM Top 40 stations of the past, such as WFIL and WIBG, it will feature legendary local jocks, including Charlie Bennett, Jim Nettleton, Jerry Blavat and Kim Martin. "The Oldies format is a natural evolution for WPEN," said Station Manager Brett Beshore. "WPEN as an Adult Standard format has a loyal listening that bridges the Oldies format. Our goal would be to continue to satisfy the musical tastes of our current listeners and introduce this format to a whole new available audience that we believe is being underserved by Philadelphia radio."

Transactions

KCBU-TV Salt Lake City (Prove UT) from Gary M. Cocola Family Trust to Univision Television Group Inc.

KNWX-AM Seattle-Tacoma (Auburn-Federal Way WA) from Entercom to Bustos Media.

WTRI-AM Brunswick MD from JMK Communications Inc. to Tricaster Communications.

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