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Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 22, Issue 172, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Thursday Morning September 1st, 2005

Radio News®

Broadcasters struggle in
post-hurricane floods

It will be some time before life returns to normal in areas hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina, including New Orleans, LA and Biloxi-Gulfport, MS - - and that goes for broadcasters as well. WLOX-TV Biloxi has its STA tower lying on the ground in front of its building, but the station has apparently managed to remain on the air, connected to the outside world by only a single satellite telephone. Fellow Liberty Corp. stations, particularly WAVE-TV Louisville, are updating the WLOX website with information sent out by the WLOX staff and gathered from other news sources. TV stations in New Orleans continue to operate from borrowed studios in nearby markets with technical assistance from co-owned stations. But in some cases, they're broadcasting primarily on the Internet, with transmitters off the air for extended periods of time. Of course, many areas are without electricity, cable TV and telephone service (either wired or cellular), making battery-operated radios the primary link to the outside world. Radio stations have been struggling to remain on the air, even as some whose staffs rode out the hurricane had to evacuate due to post-storm flooding and operate from transmitter sites or temporary facilities. While Emmis' WVUE-TV New Orleans remains off the air, co-owned WALA-TV Mobile is broadcasting. The company sent two planes from headquarters in Indianapolis to Mobile yesterday - - one with supplies (water, drinks, toiletries, food, equipment) and the other Emmis TV President
Randy Bongarten and other key personnel (Engineering, IT and HR) to assist Emmis employees at WALA-TV. Many WVUE employees have been temporarily moved to Mobile and Emmis said it hoped to account for all 94 of its New Orleans employees yesterday.

Aid efforts kick off across the nation
As broadcasters in hurricane and flood-ravaged regions struggle to deliver emergency information to their communities, their brethren across the country are cranking up efforts to send relief aid to the victims. Some examples: Clear Channel Radio Philadelphia announced "StormAID," using the resources of all six of its Philly stations to generate cash donations to the Red Cross; In Los Angeles, KABC-TV, KABC-AM, KSPN-AM & KLOS-FM joined with parent The Walt Disney Co. to collect donations for the Red Cross at Dodger Stadium and a site in Anaheim; Disney also announced a corporate contribution of 2.5 million to relief and rebuilding efforts; morning man Don Bleu at CC Radio's KIOI-FM San Francisco is asking listeners to drop off cash and checks at a live remote today; in Milwaukee, Journal's WTMJ-AM & TV are jointly promoting "Katrina: You Can Help" all day today to gather donations and the TV station will have a phone bank to take contributions during halftime of tonight's Packers-Titans NFL pre-season game; and broadcast equipment maker Orban/CRL was offering free technical assistance and loaner equipment to help damaged radio and TV stations get back on the air. What's your station doing to help? Let us know at [email protected].


FCC relieves broadcast Katrina victims
The FCC will do everything it can to help radio, television and MVPDs which found themselves in the path of Hurricane Katrina to get back up and running, and/or to get emergency information out to citizens in the stricken areas. Recognizing the essential role broadcasters play in such situations, it will expedite repairs and issuance of special temporary authority requests. It will also add additional time to the build-out deadline on CPs in the area. Here's the list of FCC measures to benefit affected broadcasters.
| More... |

SBS shocker: Bill Tanner exits
His five-year contract with Spanish Broadcasting System ended yesterday and
Bill Tanner decided not to sign a renewal as Executive Vice President of Programming. Instead, as of today, he's devoting full-time attention to his consulting business, Bill Tanner & Associates. "I'm going to retire from my 9-5 job at SBS, but I have been consulting a group of English stations here and there since 1992...I think the opportunity is great for people who need help in either Spanish or English, or both," he told RBR. Saying that CEO Raul Alarcon and the SBS people "have been very kind to me," Tanner says he's been offered a deal to consult the group and is thinking it over. Various people work with Tanner at Bill Tanner & Associates, depending on the type of station. "If I do an English language Sports station, I would bring in some of my friends that I work with at WQAM in Miami. If I do a Spanish-language Mexican Regional station, there are people here within SBS that I've worked with that I would have an opportunity to use their talents. The person that I always have worked closely with is Pio Ferro. He and I have done projects together for a long time," he said. Tanner isn't vacating his office at SBS and can continue to be reached there, although the official phone number for Bill Tanner & Associates is 310-948-4848.

Reuters demands release of Iraq staffers
Reuters appears to be getting nowhere with demands that the US military release two staffers held in Iraq - - or at least explain why they're being held. Both are Iraqis who were working as cameramen for Reuters' TV news service. One has been held since Sunday, when he was wounded and his soundman killed when their car was hit by gunfire, apparently from US troops, while they were driving in Baghdad. The other has been held since August 8th, when US troops arrested him after searching his home in Ramadi. He's being held at the Abu Ghraib prison and US authorities say he can be held up to 180 days for his case to be reviewed - - the first 60 days without being allowed any contact with his family or an attorney. "I am shocked and appalled that such a decision could be taken without his having access to legal counsel of his choosing, his family or his employers. I call on the authorities to release him immediately or publicly air the case against him and give him the opportunity to defend himself," said
David Schlesinger, Reuters Global Managing Editor.


Adbiz©

Omicom scores B of A
While four senior execs from agencies owned by Interpublic have visited Bank of America headquarters in Charlotte in recent days to try to retain the bank's advertising biz with Draft Worldwide, Initiative Worldwide, Jack Morton and MWW Group, Omicom got the client after a review. The 600 million dollar account is valued at 60 million to 65 million in annual revenue for IPG.

chemistri Becomes Leo Burnett Detroit
chemistri, a Publicis Groupe agency, took the name Leo Burnett Detroit, celebrating with an employee event at its Troy, MI HQ. The new name is a natural evolution for the advertising agency, which has been an independent Leo Burnett Worldwide operating unit since 2003, as it has become more closely aligned with Burnett's HQ in Chicago over the past two years. The Leo Burnett branding will further assist the Detroit agency in partnering with other Burnett offices worldwide to address the increasingly global nature of the GM business. Leo Burnett Detroit will be led by agency President
Jim Moore, who will report to Leo Burnett Worldwide CEO Tom Bernardin. Tor Myhren will lead the agency's creative department as executive creative director, reporting to Worldwide Deputy Chief Creative Officer Mark Tutssel. Leo Burnett Detroit will continue taking multi-disciplinary approaches in creating and developing idea-centric integrated marketing campaigns as it has been over the past three years. Publicis created the Chemistri name for the Detroit-area office of the now-defunct D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles. Publicis acquired D'Arcy's parent, Bcom3 Group. Meanwhile, the Chemistri Martin Group, the agency's partner for 300-plus Cadillac, Pontiac, Hummer and GM Service and Parts regional dealer ad groups, changes its name to the Martin Retail Group.

MasterCard International
launches "Get Wired" sweepstakes

MasterCard International today announced the launch of its "Get Wired" sweepstakes. The sweepstakes provides all MasterCard BusinessCard and Debit MasterCard BusinessCard cardholders with a chance to win one of three 50,000 technology makeovers for their small business, including a technology expert to help put it all together. The sweepstakes is one component of a larger global "Get Wired" campaign that will run through the remainder of 2005 and extend into 2006. The global campaign will feature unique events and initiatives in national and local markets. Every time small business owners use their MasterCard BusinessCard or Debit MasterCard BusinessCard between 9/1 and 11/30, they will be automatically entered to win a complete technology makeover. Sweepstakes will also launch this year in the UK, Netherlands and Canada, and extend to other countries in 2006. To support the campaign, MasterCard plans to rollout new broadcast, print and online "priceless" advertising that highlights the difference technology can make for small businesses. A new TV spot entitled "Flex" follows a small business owner on his way to work and captures the confidence that empowered small business owners feel when they have the tools they need to succeed. The broadcast commercial launches this week and will be featured during TV broadcasts of this year's World Series. Print will appear in BusinessWeek, TIME, US News & World Report, Business 2.0, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Fortune, Golf Magazine, National Geographic Gold and New York Times Magazine. Online advertising will appear on sites such as BusinessWeek.com, Yahoo! Small Business, Inc.com and Entrepreneur.com.

DMA to host panel discussion
at Advertising Week

The Direct Marketing Association will demonstrate the essential role direct marketing plays in successful integrated marketing strategies when the Association hosts a full range of activities during Advertising Week 2005, commencing on 9/26 in NYC. "As consumers pay less attention to overly-broad advertising appeals, and new marketing channels are being created by advances in technology, businesses now have new opportunities to direct their advertisements to consumers who are seeking information that's relevant to them," said
John A. Greco, Jr., The DMA CEO. "Although the lines between advertising and direct marketing are blurring, when integrated effectively the return-on-investment is crystal clear."
| More... |


Media Markets & MoneyTM
Two more crowd into the Burlington Hall
Hall Communications is getting a pair of FMs to add to its collection of stations in the Burlington VT-Plattsburgh market. Classic Rock WIZN-FM is one, owned by Burlington Broadcasters. The other, WBTZ-FM, is operated by Burlington under an LMA and owned by Plattsburgh Broadcasting. Hall will get it, though perhaps not until sometime in 2006. Star Media broker Doug Ferber handled the sale, which was valued at 17M. Hall's Art Rowbotham announced that station employees would retain not only their jobs, but their seniority, and would be supervised by VP/GM Dan Dubonnet, who already handles those chores at Hall's in-market properties, WJOY-AM, WKOL-FM and WOKO-FM.

Merger of broadcast manufacturers
Harris Corporation announced a deal to acquire Leitch Technology Corp. for approximately 450 million bucks. Leitch is a leader in providing high-performance video systems for the television broadcast industry, including routers and distribution equipment, signal processing, signal management and monitoring, servers and storage area networks, branding software and post-production editing systems.


Washington Beat
Will DTV date certain move back?
The movement in Congress to set a date certain for the end of analog over-the-air television broadcast was seemingly insurmountable. Members of both parties were in agreement that the benefits of DTV should start to be realized. More importantly, they want spectrum freed up for first responders, and they want to begin filling the Treasury with cash from the ample supply of bidders anxious to buy some of the beachfront spectrum which the broadcast exodus will open up for repurposing. However, the generally reported date of 12/31/08 may be subject to change, according to Congress-watchers at the NAB. The reason? Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), head of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee, may want to make sure that such a momentous change actually transpires while Congress is in session, in case there are any last minute issues to deal with, etc. Congress is generally not in session on New Year's Eve, so don't be surprised if the actual analog cut-off date moves back by a month or more.


Ratings & Research
Florida Keys added to Fall 2005
Arbitron Radio Markets Survey
Arbitron announced that Florida Keys will join the Fall 2005 Arbitron radio survey schedule. The Florida Keys market contains an estimated population of 70,800 persons who are age 12 and older, placing the market at rank #292 in the markets Arbitron will measure in the Fall. Arbitron plans to survey approximately one out of every 126 area residents twice each year. During a 12-week survey each Spring and a 12-week survey each Fall, approximately 560 respondents will use a standard seven-day diary to report their radio listening. The diary will also include consumer questions to help radio stations profile their listeners by nearly two-dozen socio-economic, retail and media categories.

Arbitron creates Advertiser/Agency Advisory Council
Arbitron will establish an Advertiser/Agency Advisory Council as a standing forum for collaboration with advertisers and their agencies. "We are organizing this council as an important source of input as we shape our services and define the direction of our business to meet evolving needs of the media and marketing industry," said
Owen Charlebois, president, U.S. Media Services. "In particular, as we make the transition to electronic measurement, we need advertisers and their agencies to be as involved in the process as broadcasters are."
| The goals of the council are to: |


TVBR - TV News
NAB puts on full court press
for multicast must-carry

The need for a strong, locally-oriented broadcasting system has been highlighted yet again by a state of emergency, this time in New Orleans. With that in mind, NAB is putting a DTV multicasting must-carry mandate at the top of the list as legislation pertaining to the transition wends its way through Capitol Hill. To that end, a fly-in of local broadcasters is scheduled for Thursday, 9/8/05. The target: Members of the Senate and House Commerce Committees, both of which are expected to get legislation through in the very near future. Two prominent members of the Senate Commerce Committee, are already on board as powerful multicast must-carry backers,
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). NAB is emphasizing that multicast puts no additional capacity burden on cable operators - - indeed, switching to digital should save them capacity whether used for HDTV or split signal. NAB contends that cable, which is working just as hard to thwart a mandate, is simply trying to avoid competition for its own programming services. Said NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts, "Multicasting is about more competition to cable, and that's why the cable gatekeepers are fighting multicasting so fiercely. Cable operators don't like competition. They like carving up exclusive territories, and providing programming in which only they own a financial stake." NAB will also push for some kind of subsidy for over-the-air, analog-only viewers left behind by the transition. Fritts said the NAB is comfortable with a 2009 date certain for the end of analog, and is willing to consider public interest mandates if they go along with the necessary must-carry mandate. It will also spend its own dime on a consumer education push. More to come.

Alaska/Hawaii ruling ads DTV ammo
The recent FCC ruling mandating multicast must-carry for direct broadcast satellite video service in Alaska and Hawaii, such as it is, has no direct effect on the relationship between broadcasters and MVPD services in the 48 contiguous states. However, according to NAB's
John Orlando, it did accomplish two things. First, it debunked the contention that multicast must-carry is somehow an extra burden on the MVPDs. It's not. It is just a different way of using the same amount of transmission capacity the broadcast stations are entitled to anyway for their high-definition programming. Second, it underscored the importance and desirability of local programming for the citizens of Alaska and Hawaii.

TVBR observation: The AK/HI ruling was based on a very focused reading of legislative language. Perhaps it's time to recap the FCC's prior and much bigger ruling on the issue, which came on February 10 (2/11/05 TVBR #30). One of Michael Powell's last acts as FCC chair was to shoot down multicast must-carry over cable systems. He got a 4-1 vote, but it was really more like 2-2-1. He and fellow Republican Kathleen Abernathy didn't say multicast would be a technical burden on cable, but did say it would be a First Amendment burden doomed to get shot down in court. Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein said lack of public interest mandates opened the possibility that local viewers would get nothing but time shifted programming and home shopping channels and said nay. Only Kevin Martin voted for multicasting, in particular to protect small, local niche broadcasters. The battle's shifted to Congress. But Martin's now chair. With some assurances to the two Dems on public interest, plus support from Martin, the FCC could've been won over on a bipartisan basis. There is already demonstrated bipartisan support for localism in Congress. This is doable. As NAB's Eddie Fritts told reporters yesterday, "I predict that multicasting will be a way of life in America."


Transactions
890K KBIZ-AM & KTWA-FM Ottumwa IA from Fairfield Media Group Inc. (Jay Mitchell) to O-Town Communications Inc. (Bruce Linder, Greg List). 89K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Superduopoly with KKSI-FM Eddyville IA & KRKN-FM Eldon IA. [File date 7/22/05.]

350K WTTC AM & FM Towanda PA from WATS Broadcasting Inc. (Charles C. Carver Jr.) to Cantroair Communications Inc. (Michael H. Bohner, Robert S. Gisler). 35K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WHGL-FM Canton PA. [File date 7/22/05.]


Stock Talk
Stock rise on Fed official's comments
Philadelphia Federal Reserve Anthony Santomero did not say that the Fed would stop increasing rates because of the economic impact of Hurricane Katrina, but he did say in comments on CNBC that high oil prices are a "tax," which the markets took as a hint at a change in the Fed's direction. Santomero is a member of the Fed's Open market Committee, which sets monetary policy and the Fed's rates. As a result, the Dow Industrials rose 69 points, or 0.7%, to 10,482.

Radio stocks also rose. The Radio Index gained 2.839, or 1.4%, to 209.322. Regent shot up 4.3% and both Cumulus and Saga rose 2.3%


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

42.00

-0.05

Jeff-Pilot

JP

49.73

+0.20

Beasley

BBGI

14.58

+0.22

Journal Comm.

JRN

15.98

+0.07

Citadel CDL
13.50 -0.10

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

14.08

+0.14

Clear Channel

CCU

33.30

-0.22

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

13.98

-0.06

Cox Radio

CXR

15.49

+0.29

Regent

RGCI

5.64

+0.23

Cumulus

CMLS

12.78

+0.28

Saga Commun.

SGA

14.52

+0.32

Disney

DIS

25.19

-0.10

Salem Comm.

SALM

18.55

+0.24

Emmis

EMMS

23.96

+0.44

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

6.88

+0.05

Entercom

ETM

33.45

+0.55

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

7.72

+0.07

Entravision

EVC

8.14

+0.17

Univision

UVN

26.90

+0.15

Fisher

FSCI

48.27

+0.17

Viacom, Cl. A

VIA

34.08

+0.08

Gaylord

GET

42.60

-0.90

Viacom, Cl. B

VIAb

33.99

+0.03

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

25.97

+0.02

Westwood One

WON

20.33

+0.21

Interep

IREP

0.60

unch

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

35.25

+0.80

International Bcg.

IBCS

0.01

unch

-

-

-

-

-



Bounceback

Send Us Your OpinionsWe want to
hear from you.

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

A response to WGN-TV's
Dominic Mancuso (8/31/05 RBR #171), who argued that "Nielsen is an unregulated monopoly" that has "no enforceable oversight." Join the debate by sending your comments to [email protected].

I feel it is necessary to remind Mr. Mancuso that the reason Nielsen is a "monopoly" (which it really isn't as there are other research companies) is that stations, in a bid to save money, stopped buying both Arbitron and Nielsen ratings. No matter which one they dropped, the other would be a so-called monopoly. This so-called monopoly is of the stations' doing due to their own shortsightedness. It is a case of "hello pot, this is kettle." We know from the national conversion, that strip programming is over reported in diaries for instance. This is particularly true where that strip programming is available in several places (think broadcast and cable windows overlapping). The problem is not the rating company, it is the programming.

Jon Mandel
Chairman
MediaCom U.S.


Arbitrends

Arbitron
Market Results
| Charleston |
| Chattanooga |
| Columbia |
| Knoxville |
| Raliegh |
| Tulsa |


Radio Media Moves

Promotion in
New Jersey
Clear Channel Radio Tri-State announced the appointment of Jim Furgeson as General Sales Manager and NTR (Non-Traditional Revenue) Director for its four Sussex County-based radio stations. This appointment follows three years as Director of Marketing and NTR for the northern New Jersey station cluster.


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]


Internatioanal

UK report on digital radio switchover
calls for more frequencies

The London-based Digital Radio Development Bureau's 8/30 report considered the criteria for analog radio switchover in the UK. The Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury said that in the UK, incomplete coverage of local radio services represents the greatest obstacle to the move to an all-digital environment. Lord Smith recommends that Ofcom [the UK's broadcasting regulator] should give urgent consideration to reconfiguration of existing frequencies to make more efficient use of existing DAB spectrum. The UK uses the Eureka-147 DAB system, which uses different frequencies than the FM band. The US's HD Radio system allows for more channels via multicasting.
| More... |


More News Headlines

NAB Daytime Planner


The following brokers will be attending the NAB. Call or email to make your appointment in advance.


American Media Services,
Todd Fowler, David Reeder,
843-972-2200, Marriott,
[email protected], [email protected]

Clifton Gardiner & Company,
Cliff Gardiner, 303-758-6900,
Ritz-Carlton Hotel,
[email protected]

Force Communications,
Hal Gore, John Laurer, Stan Raymond,
770-329-2234, Hilton Garden Inn, [email protected]

Frank Boyle & Co.,
Frank Boyle,
203-969-2020, Marriott Courtyard, [email protected]

Gordon Rice Associates,
Gordon Rice, 843-884-3590,
Marriott Downtown, [email protected]

Henson Media, Inc.
Ed Henson,
502-589-0060, Loews Hotel, [email protected]

John Pierce & Company LLC,
John Pierce, Cell 859-512-3015,
Jamie Rasnick, Cell 513-252-1186,
859-647-0101 Hilton Garden Inn,

Kozacko Media Services,
Dick Kozacko, Cell 607-738-1219,
George Kimble, 607-733-7138,
Marriott, [email protected]

MCH Enterprises, Inc.,
Brett Miller, Cell 805-680-2265,
805-237-0952, Marriott Courtyard,
[email protected]

Patrick Communications,
Larry Patrick, Greg Guy,
410-740-0250, Marriott, [email protected], [email protected]

Schutz & Company,
Bill Schutz, Cell 757-880-9251,
757-258-8740, Loews Hotel, [email protected]

Serafin Bros.,
Glenn Serafin,
cell 813-494-6875, 813-885-6060, Marriott Downtown, [email protected]





RBR Radar 2005
Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

Nielsen vs. Arbitron: The top 20
The major ratings services for both radio and TV have released their market ranking updates - - Nielsen for the 2005-2006 TV season and Arbitron for the next year of radio ratings, beginning with the Fall book. If you've spent your entire career in one broadcast medium, you may be surprised to see how different the market rankings are in the other.
RBR observation: Big question? Now do you know how to use your national status to your advantage locally? RBR will show you how in future reports. 08/31/05 RBR #171

Nielsen Monitor-Plus looks at creative in first half
Ad spending for the first half of 2005 rose 5.7% over the same period last year, due to gains across major media, according to figures released. There were 15,798 different creative used on national television in the first half of the year, airing over 4.8 million times, and accounting for 25.4 million. Each creative aired an average of 307 times. The large majority of the commercials were placed on cable television. RBR observation: Key word why cable had the most - creative since the watchdogs are not always nipping at their private parts. Creative was the big issue this past February at the 4A's and clients demanding better creative to brand their goods. Free media like Radio and TV can't take or will not accept certain creative so you lose and cable wins. End of story as broadcasters can only change their policies or lose more money next year. And, do not blame Nielsen - they are just providing the data - they are not making this stuff up.
08/31/05 RBR #171

AAA, ANA:
Advertisers adopt Ad-ID system
Jointly announced more than 300 of the nation's top advertisers have adopted Ad-ID, a universal ad coding standard. A total of 875 companies have registered in Ad-ID, and over 14,000 individual codes have been created for various forms of advertising. ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox are all Ad-ID compliant, as well as Donovan, Datatech, Harris, Talent Partners, Vyvx, MediaPlex, Verance and other systems.
08/31/05 RBR #171


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