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Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 22, Issue 173, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Friday Morning September 2nd, 2005
RBR returns Tuesday, September 6th after the Labor Day Weekend.
The RBR/TVBR offices will be open as usual today, gathering the information
you'll need to start the next week, but closed on Monday.

Radio News®

Broadcasters nationwide
aiding hurricane victims
From coast-to-coast, radio and TV stations are spearheading efforts to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina and the devastating floods which followed the storm. Pictured are Gary Moore of KLOS-FM and Dallas Raines of KABC-TV welcoming motorists who lined up at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to donate money to the Red Cross for hurricane relief. The NAB announced late yesterday that stations across the nation have committed to raise a minimum of 100 million bucks for the relief effort - - the "BroadcastUnity for Katrina Relief" initiative. NAB itself has donated one million to the Red Cross and next Friday (Sept. 9) has been designated "BroadcastUnity Day" for fundraising efforts. Other broadcasters have been telling RBR/TVBR of their efforts. In Great Falls, MT, Scott Hershey and Bubba of Cherry Creek Radio assembled this audio montage to appeal for donations. Clear Channel Communications launched StormAid.com and began airing PSAs on over 1,000 radio and TV stations urging listeners and viewers to go there to make donations to the Red Cross. The site also contains updates on relief efforts from the company's stations in markets across the country. Numerous radio and TV stations have told RBR/TVBR of their relief efforts. Send yours to [email protected].
| More... |

Toll yet to be tallied
For radio and TV stations in Gulf Coast regions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, just staying on the air, or getting back on, has been the focus this week. No one yet knows the full extent of damage to communities, or how long it may take to recover. At the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters, President
Jackie Lett told RBR/TVBR that there are no communications with many hard-hit communities from Hattiesburg south, so she doesn't yet know how much damage local stations suffered, although quite a few radio stations are off the air. "We just don't know, especially our small stations," she said. "I've got many radio stations down. I know we've lost towers," she added. Those radio and TV stations that are operating in coastal areas are having to depend on generators. Most Mississippi TV stations have managed to continue broadcasting, although WHLT-TV Hattiesburg was off the air after suffering some tower damage. The market's other full-power station, WDAM-TV, remained on the air. At the Alabama Broadcasters Association, Executive Director Sharon Tinsley said "no one, to my knowledge, lost a tower." WPMI-TV and WJCT-TV Mobile were off the air briefly when the storm hit, but quickly resumed operation. Tinsley said the worst damage appeared to be to WPMI-AM Mobile, due to flooding from storm surge. Of course, the most extensive flooding was in Louisiana, where communications continue to be very difficult. RBR/TVBR tried repeatedly to reach the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, only to get a message from our phone carrier that all circuits were busy. After all, tens of thousands of refugees from New Orleans are now in Baton Rouge, putting an added burden on phone circuits. We did finally get through once - - only to reach voice mail.

"United Radio Broadcasters
of New Orleans" airing from
Baton Rouge; will be streaming soon
Entercom and Clear Channel combined their remaining stations still on air to form a simulcast, "United Radio of New Orleans - - Project Katrina" Listening to WWL via skywave (yes, its reduced power from 50 to 27 kW still makes it up to VA well), there were folks from CC Radio's WQUE-FM, Entercom's WWL-AM New Orleans and CC Radio's WJBO-AM at the mic at 'JBO's Baton Rouge studios building. Entercom is still operating New Orleans stations WTKL-FM, WEZB-FM and WLMG-FM and has turned off WSMB-AM and WKBU-FM. Entercom VP/Engineering Marty Hadfield tells us they are working with Peter Doyle at the FCC and Timothy Putprush at FEMA and they are "pulling out the stops to give us a higher powered generator for WWL's site. We are running at lower power to conserve fuel. We've still got 20 days left at 27kW. They are working to help us get the power back to 50Kw and to provide us with additional fuel." United Radio of New Orleans will soon be streaming, Hadfield says. "We are working to get one of CC Radio's Baton Rouge station streams converted over to the joint efforts here. Once we get that going, whoever wants to tag on to it can get it. This could happen any hour now. I think the stream will be posted at one of Clear Channel's disaster relief sites HERE, along with one of the ones we're setting up." You may also be able to access it from HERE, via the Listen Live link.


Will broadcasters continue
airing in New Orleans?

What's the plan? We asked Entercom VP/Engineering
Marty Hadfield what the future may be, at least in the short term, for New Orleans media, such as WWL-AM there. There are hardly any listeners or viewers left, no electricity, no station revenues, etc. Is the plan to keep on broadcasting indefinitely, helping those that are left there? Said Hadfield: "Absolutely. Our intentions are to run our signal. I presume that Clear Channel is in the same mindset for their FMs in that area. There are people on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain that are in bad shape. We're actually trying to assess the likely remaining population and what the recovery period is going to be. Our intentions are to continue providing emergency information on a daily basis, until further notice. Insurance companies, as well, want people to know they have a company to contact. We don't believe that they are going to completely abandon New Orleans. There are all sort of theories floating around, but we hope this will create an incredible construction boom as time goes by. So far the governor and FEMA have said this place is going to be rebuilt. The Federal Government really holds all the purse strings as to whether or not New Orleans is rejuvenated in its present location. They also hold the purse strings of where they are going to put these 2 million or so misplaced people in this region."
To get an idea of how much is flooded in The Crescent City:

RAB, Ad Council and Red Cross
distributing disaster PSAs

As local radio stations across the country rally local support for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Radio Advertising Bureau, Ad Council and Red Cross have teamed up to make PSAs available for download from the RAB's website - - RAB.com. The ads were created pro-bono by Austin-based GSD&M and direct listeners to the Red Cross website where they can make donations and aid in the disaster relief. The support will enable the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling, and other assistance to those in need. Additional PSAs will be developed over the next few weeks to provide information about where victims of the disaster can go for resources and support. The RAB plans to make those spots available on its Web site as well. "Radio can be depended on to solicit support for the victims of Katrina and thousands of other disasters each year," said RAB President and CEO
Gary Fries.

Prospect for multicast is an 80-80 proposition
Nearly 80% of all full-power television stations in the US plan to provide additional options to local viewers via multicasting - - if a mandate exists that guarantees such programming will be on MVPD services. If there is no mandate, 80% will stay eschew such programming, according to an NAB poll of 450 stations. About half of the 450 are already offering some form of multicasting. Out of the vast majority with up-and-running splits streams, or with plans in the works, 85% said that some or all of the new offerings would be locally produced, against 6% that will exclusively use imported product and 9% that were unable to answer as yet. 90% of the respondents said the local news, weather and sports would be one of the local productions. Other types of programming being produced or in the works include public and community affairs, additional coverage of community and political events and meetings, religious programming, local high school and college sports, foreign language/ethnic programming, educational/children's programming and local cultural, arts and entertainment programming.

RBR observation: What often seems lost to us, when politicians and bureaucrats link DTV and multicasting with more coverage of local government and politics, is the near certain result that almost nobody will tune in and actually watch such programming, important though it may be. (When's the last time you tuned into local government access on cable - - and stayed awake to tell about it?) Broadcasting, while utilizing the public airwaves, was set up to be run by a civilian company in an essentially free market. It costs money to cover local politics, and the government is not going to be forking it over. The civilian companies which may end up charged with providing local political coverage will need to figure out a way to either make it pay for itself (a prospect we find highly unlikely) or to discover new funding sources to pay for it. That said, it would be interesting to see local debates and campaign events which currently aren't covered, and we would definitely have an interest in checking out local musicians and sports and other such material, and it's always nice to have more options for our children. We think the average viewer would be amenable to accepting channels which pay the freight via time-shifts and shopping shows to get this type of programming.


Carnegie Cuz Network Debuts
Blogging with Carnegie
Rebuild your Business Plan Now
2005 is almost over and expectations in many areas of operations have been under construction. Most of this year has caught the majority of Radio, TV, Newspapers, Agencies and Clients completely off guard. The Carnegie Cuz Network is intended to face challenges with thought provoking ideas and solutions.

Share The Voice at www.jimcarnegie.com


Adbiz©

PTC applauds and pans advertisers
The Parents Television Council has issued its best and worst list of advertisers in a study which ran from January 2004 through January 2005. "Even though blame for television's increasingly offensive programming is often assigned to producers, writers, networks, and even viewers, sponsors supporting shows with graphic sexual content, foul language and violence share responsibility. Crude series thrive on television only because advertisers support them. Without the advertising dollars, the raunch would disappear," said PTC President
L. Brent Bozell. "America's Funniest Home Videos," "Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye," "It's a Miracle" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" received repeated mentions on the positive list. "The O.C.," "The Shield" and just about anything with the letters MTV in it were prominent on the negative list.
| Here's the winners and losers |

Shona Seifert submits industry code of ethics
Shona Seifert has turned in her "Proposed Code of Ethics for the Advertising Industry" as required by U.S. District Court Judge
Richard Berman. The former Ogilvy & Mather exec's document is part of the sentence Berman levied in July after concluding that "a slippage in ethics" was to blame by her and co-defendant Thomas Early to overbill the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy for services. Seifert warns agencies that "Government policies and practices are extremely complex...Don't take a government contract if your agency is not well versed in all the regulations." Seifert also noted that "ethics can't be imposed upon the advertising industry. They need to be understood and internalized by all of us."
| See the Code here |

Sprint debuts new branding
Sprint has opened for business under a new brand using the new tag, "Yes you can," new advertising, sponsorships and a makeover of its retail stores and pricing plans. "Today customers are being introduced to the new Sprint," said
Len Lauer, Sprint COO. "Sprint intends to deliver choice and flexibility in ways that no other communications service provider can match, and we're introducing it with an aggressive approach to the market." Heralding the arrival of the new Sprint is a campaign expected to saturate the market over the next several weeks. From print and broadcast to outdoor, to direct and online elements, Sprint will be hard to miss in September and into Q4. The interior of more than 1,600 stores (equal number of Sprint and Nextel stores) will be largely transformed by today. Customers will be able to walk into a new Sprint Store and be able to purchase both Sprint- and Nextel-branded products and services. Sponsorships include NASCAR (Nextel Cup Series), the NFL, NHL, PGA, US Ski and Snowboarding Team, US Open Tennis, Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NCAA, and key venues and events nationwide. Beyond sports, Sprint also is a sponsor of numerous entertainment properties locally and nationally, including the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards and Live Broadway.

Department store merger
gets FTC green light

Federated Department Stores has been given permission by the Federal Trade Commission to go ahead with its 17B acquisition of May Department Stores. FDS, which already has 456 venues called either Macy's or Bloomingdales, will add 491 stores with a variety of names, including Marshall Field's, Lord & Taylor, Filene's and Kaufman's, Hecht's and Strawbridge, Foley's, Famous Barr and Robinson-May. It will be far and away the largest US company in its niche, but FTC said it will nevertheless face stiff competition from a variety of retailers which are not large department stores of the same type.

TVBR observation: What is of interest here is that FDS may soon have a major marketing push on its agenda. We know in our area, where Hecht's has long been in operation, that the Hecht's brand name is going away, to be replaced - - we believe - - with the Macy's brand. The fact that we aren't sure is the reason for broadcasters to take notice. When Hecht's is gone, something will have replaced it. There will be no better media than broadcasting to make sure any doubt about that is erased from the minds of all potential customers. Your job - - to make sure all doubt about that fact is erased from the minds of marketers over at FDS.


Media Markets & MoneyTM
Close encounter in Nashville
WMDB-AM is now officially station #2 for Davidson Media Group in Music City. The 1.6M acquisition from Babb Broadcasting is closed, bringing it into the fold with WNSG-AM, itself acquired earlier this year from Mortenson for 2.7M. Broker John Pierce, who handled both deals, said, "With two AMs you can be assured that D.M.G. will be flipping one to Spanish."


Washington Beat
UCC takes on Univision over kidvid
In what it calls the first complaint lodged against an Hispanic television station for an alleged failure to live up to the FCC requirement that a certain amount of educational children's programming be aired on a weekly basis, the United Church of Christ has challenged the license renewal of Univision's WQHS-TV in Cleveland. UCC is specifically challenging Univision's claim that the program "Complices al Rescate" goes toward fulfilling the children's requirement. "'Complices al Rescate' is about suspense, intrigue and love, not education or information," said
Veronica Kramer, one of the UCC's complainants. If the show is deemed outside the educational sphere, the great majority of Univision affiliates have a problem, according to UCC, which claims that it is the only program most of them cite as counting toward compliance. Ex-FCC Commissioner and current UCC exec Gloria Tristani, "These programs cannot be allowed to slip under the radar and avoid compliance with the FCC regulations." Another Cleveland station, English-speaking WUAB-TV, a UPN affiliate, was also cited for counting cartoon "Sabrina" as an educational program. If the show has any educational content, Cleveland State U. professor Robert Abelman testifies that he is unable to locate it.

RBR observation: If you think this is fun now, just wait until the requirements shoot into the stratosphere for multicasting digital stations. If you have any ideas for educational children's programming at all, it is not too soon to get your development plans on the drawing board.


Ratings & Research
Ratings on hold in storm markets
With life dramatically disrupted and wide areas without phone service and/or electricity, broadcasters are busy being the only communications outlets in many areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama - - so ratings are the last thing anyone is thinking about. Arbitron had completed eight weeks of the Summer 2005 radio survey in New Orleans, Mobile and other four-book continuously measured markets before Hurricane Katrina hit. Spokesman Thom Mocarsky says Arbitron officials are monitoring the situation, but it's too soon to tell what the company will need to do about radio ratings in those markets. At Nielsen, spokesman Jack Loftus said overnight meter ratings were disrupted in New Orleans and Birmingham when the storm hit on Monday. The company hopes to soon be able to resume production of overnight meter ratings in Birmingham, but New Orleans is quite another matter. Biloxi and Mobile-Pensacola are diary markets and the next sweep month isn't until November, so Nielsen spokeswoman Karen Gyimesi says it's too soon to tell whether ratings in those markets will be affected.


TVBR - TV News
Multiple relief
telethons announced

NBC Universal and Viacom have announced plans for telethons to benefit hurricane victims, while plans are underway for an event that's likely to include all of the big four networks - - ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. And Viacom's BET is planning its own telethon. But no one is criticizing the nets for what could be viewed as competing telethons. Rather, relief agencies need all the help they can get. This is shaping up to be the biggest and longest disaster relief effort in US history - - and fund raising appeals can be expected for months to come. NBC Universal is airing "A Concert for Hurricane Relief" tonight at 8:00 pm (ET & PT) on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC. Hosted by
Matt Lauer, the broadcast will feature artists with ties to the devastated Gulf Coast region - - Tim McGraw, Harry Connick Jr. and Wynton Marsalis, to name three. Viewers will be urged to donate to the Red Cross to help hurricane/flood victims. Viacom has scheduled a benefit concert to air a week from tomorrow (September 10th) on three cable channels - - MTV, VH1 and CMT. Plans are in the works for a joint benefit broadcast one day next week that will span all of the big four networks - - ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. With the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association already set for this weekend, Lewis announced that he will also include celebrity appeals for hurricane relief donations and that MDA is donating a million bucks to help victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.


Transactions
520K KYFO-AM Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo (Ogden UT) from Bible Broadcasting Network Inc. (Lowell L. Davey) to AM Radio 1490 Inc., a subsidiary of Legacy Communications Corporation (E. Morgan Skinner Jr., Lavon R. Randall). 25K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with KNFL-AM Tremonton UT. Station received FCC permission to switch from noncommercial to commercial operation 2/15/05. [File date 7/25/05.]

240K WBLT-AM Roanoke-Lynchburg VA (Bedford VA) from WBLT Inc. (Keith B. Campbell) to 3 Daughters Media Inc. (Gary E. Burns). 12K escrow, balance in cash at closing. [File date 7/22/05.]


Stock Talk
An unsettled day on Wall Street
Concerns about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and mixed economic news made for a mixed day of stock trading. The Dow Industrials were off 22 points, or 0.2%, to 10,460 and the Nasdaq Composite was off slightly, but the S&P 500 was up a tad.

Radio stocks were lower. The Radio Index was down 0.739, or 0.4%, to 208.583. There were no big movers. Salem was up 2.5% and Disney down 2%.


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Thursday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

41.92

-0.08

Jeff-Pilot

JP

49.82

+0.09

Beasley

BBGI

14.62

+0.04

Journal Comm.

JRN

15.88

-0.10

Citadel CDL
13.38 -0.12

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

13.97

-0.11

Clear Channel

CCU

33.01

-0.29

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

13.99

+0.01

Cox Radio

CXR

15.40

-0.09

Regent

RGCI

5.73

+0.09

Cumulus

CMLS

12.70

-0.08

Saga Commun.

SGA

14.25

-0.27

Disney

DIS

24.69

-0.50

Salem Comm.

SALM

19.02

+0.47

Emmis

EMMS

23.71

-0.25

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

6.92

+0.04

Entercom

ETM

33.10

-0.35

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

7.69

-0.03

Entravision

EVC

8.06

-0.08

Univision

UVN

26.95

+0.05

Fisher

FSCI

48.47

+0.20

Viacom, Cl. A

VIA

34.15

+0.07

Gaylord

GET

45.01

+2.41

Viacom, Cl. B

VIAb

34.13

+0.14

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

25.58

-0.39

Westwood One

WON

20.24

-0.09

Interep

IREP

0.61

+0.01

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

35.08

-0.17

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]

The debate over Nielsen's LPMs continues. In the last installment, MediaCom U.S. Chairman
Jon Mandel said broadcasters were to blame for Nielsen's "so-called monopoly" because they refused to pay for both Nielsen and Arbitron ratings (9/1/05 RBR #172).

I had to read Jon Mandel's response twice before I realized it wasn't a joke. What an incredibly namby-pamby, sniveling, mealy-mouthed reply. Besides foisting an answer that's woefully out of place, the oft-quoted U.S. Chairman of the world's 8th largest "media agency" seems to have been out sick or behind a door for the last 20+ years. To assert that TV stations are culpable for Nielsen's monopoly, because they stopped buying Arbitron's spot TV ratings service or that stations only have themselves to blame for crummy strip programming ratings is pathetic, condescending and finger pointing at its best. The entire industry's to blame for the situation we're in with Nielsen, because no one...not agencies, clients, stations or networks...wants to step up and pay for better research. As long as the industry continues with a Three Stooges approach to resolving this, we'll have Nielsen and their lousy methodology as a monopoly.

John Maher
Director of Planning
U.S. International Media


Arbitrends

Radio Media Moves

Huckaby upped
at Radio One
WKYS-FM DC Program Director Darryl Huckaby has been promoted to Vice President of Operations for the Russ Parr Morning Show, which is syndicated by Radio One.

Kohl jumps to Infinity
Clear Channel News/Talk guru Ken Kohl has jumped ship to head Infinity's soon-to-be-acquired KEAR-FM San Francisco as VP/GM. Gee, wonder what type of format to expect?

Drummons joins Greater Media
Most recently a senior writer and media supervisor at Caponigro Marketing Group, Lisa Drummond has joined Greater Media Detroit as Director of Creative Services.

Miller to Cox
Formerly with Citadel in Columbia, SC,
Chris Miller has joined Cox Radio in Greenville, SC as Director of Marketing and Special Events.


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

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.

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. What's your station doing to help? 09/01/05 RBR #172

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. 09/01/05 RBR #172

Jon Mandel
Chairman MediaCom U.S.
Fires back to WGN-TV's Dominic Mancuso, 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. The problem is not the rating company, it is the programming. 09/01/05 RBR #172

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


Visit MediaHeadHunters.com
Market Manager
To lead in Montgomery, Alabama our new Hallelujah 104 and our station group to new levels of success. Our three Urban stations now dominate the market and need this keep person to be community involved and provide leadership to a hungry sales staff. See our qualifications and if you have them you are encourage to joint our team at Clear Channel in Montgomery. In confidence contact us. See Radio Careers

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