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Volume 23, Issue 174, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Thursday Morning September 7th, 2006

Radio News ®

Clear Channel buying more stock
If Wall Street keeps radio stocks beaten down, radio companies will just keep buying back more of their own stock - eventually paying off for the shareholders who remain. Clear Channel has announced a new buyback authorization of one billion bucks over the next 12 months. That comes as the company has bought back 582 million under its previously 600 million authorization. "We have now substantially completed our plan of returning approximately 1.6 billion to our shareholders that was announced last year. Today's announcement is a reflection of our Board's confidence in the Company's financial strength and our overall commitment to our shareholders. We continue to believe that the purchase of our common stock at the current stock price represents an attractive opportunity to benefit the long-term interests of the company and its shareholders," said CEO Mark Mays.

XM facing SEC probe
To no one's surprise, XM Satellite Radio says it has received a staff inquiry form the Securities and Exchange Commission about how it counts subscribers and calculates the costs of achieving its subscriber targets. The company is already facing lawsuits over those very issues by investors who claim they were misled by XM's counting. XM says it is cooperating with the SEC inquiry.

RBR observation: The truth is, there is no Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (GAAP) for how to count satellite radio subscribers. Only two companies have ever had to do that and XM and Sirius count them differently. Some people on Wall Street don't like the way XM counts, since some of the new "subscribers" are actually unsold cars sitting in dealer parking lots. It doesn't seem all that significant to us, since the most important thing is whether either company can get to operating cash flow break-even (supposed to happen in just a few months, they say) and then, eventually, to an actual profit.

Claim, disclaim
and counterclaim
Jim Talent (R-MO) and Claire McCaskill (would-be D-MO) are battling it out for one of Missouri's two seats in the US Senate. They have also been involved in a skirmish over proper disclaimers in broadcast advertisements, with Talent claiming that McCaskill failed to properly append disclaimers and is thus not entitled to pay LUC for the ads. The Missouri Broadcasters Association did something RBR/TVBR often does, which is consult attorney Gregg Skall of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. The verdict: For starters, a McCaskill radio ad met two of three prongs to qualify for LUC: It identified the candidate and it indicated that the candidate approved the message. It failed, however, to identify the office being sought. Nevertheless, the ad's radio flight occurred for the most part outside the LUC window, and was under no particular restriction. The window for primary elections in Missouri was 6/24/06 through 8/8/06, while the general election will run from 9/8/06 through 11/7/06. One of the ads in question ran 8/8/06. However, it still was not a problem, because although the ad mentioned Talent, the candidates were not running against each other in the primaries, so McCaskill was still not obliged to follow the same rules she will be bound by starting Friday. And even if she was in violation it might not matter, according to MBA. "As a practical matter, the Federal Election Commission, in prior rulings, has indicated that the loss of LUC entitlement is not binding upon broadcast stations, and the FCC has not spoken to this issue. In other words, the candidate that violates the disclaimer provisions of the Act loses the entitlement to the lowest unit charge. However, any station that continues to provide advertising to the candidate at lowest unit charge does not violate of the Act, provided they do not discriminate among all candidates.

CC Radio launches national mobile content program
Clear Channel Radio announced the launch of a national roll out of mobile radio programming that further extends its local radio station brands. The initiative kicks off with WHTZ-FM NY streaming live radio to cell phones via Cingular Wireless. CC Radio expects to launch similar programs on up to 100 more of its radio stations in the next 12 months. A minimal monthly subscription is required. Subscribers of Z100 Mobile can interact directly from their phones to listen to streamed and on-demand content including podcasts of celebrity interviews and popular segments. They can also find the title and artist of the last 10 songs played on-air, make a song request directly to Z100 and receive a text message alert 15 minutes before the song is played, get free station wallpapers for their phone, rate listener-submitted photos and obtain real-time reports on local traffic. DKNY Jeans is the first sponsor, providing daily fashion tips integrated within the mobile content package. Similar exclusive sponsorship opportunities will be available across local markets for terms as short as one month. "With Z100 reaching 2.5 million listeners each week, and 50 million consumers subscribing to Cingular Wireless, we are creating one of the largest audiences for any radio or mobile phone application in the U.S., thereby monumentally expanding Clear Channel Radio's mobile content portfolio," said Jeff Littlejohn, EVP/Distribution Development for CC Radio. "By connecting listeners to their favorite radio stations via cell phone, and adding interactive features, Clear Channel Radio has found an additional platform to deliver on-demand entertainment to, and drive listening among its active, on-the-go audiences across the country."

TNS: US ad spend grew 4.1%
in first half of '06
Total advertising expenditures in the first six months of 2006 increased 4.1% to 73 billion as compared to the prior year period, according to TNS Media Intelligence, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing information. Spanish Language Media, paced by an enormous surge in June ad spending associated with the World Cup event, rose 20.5% to 2.40 billion. Internet display advertising, riding five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, rose 18.9% to 4.69 billion for the half-year. Expenditures on Network TV advanced 5.7% in the first half to 12.28 billion. Excluding February, when the Winter Olympics were telecast, the medium was up 1.2% for the remainder of the first half. Consumer Magazines encountered softening demand during the second quarter and finished the half year with a 4.4% increase in spending, to 10.90 billion. Local Newspapers, confronted with over 600 million in reduced automotive spending year-to-date, saw total expenditures erode by 3.9% to 11.65 billion. Radio media also lagged, down a combined 1.4% to an aggregate of 5.26 billion. The Internet continues to grow its share of total advertising expenditures. For the first half of 2006, the Internet accounted for 6.4% of total ad spending, up from 5.6% a year ago. Newspapers lost 1.3 share points over this period, slipping to 18.6% of expenditures and falling behind magazines.
| Read More... |

PPM tracking out-of-home TV viewing
Many TV stations and cable channels in Houston are still encoding for Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) test, even though Nielsen has passed on any joint venture to combine radio and TV ratings platforms. However, while primarily focused on radio, Arbitron is still interested in selling PPM data so TV/cable can have a supplementary service tracking out-of-home viewing. PPM data supplied to RBR/TVBR by Arbitron shows out-of-home viewing accounts for more than 20% of total viewing for one Houston TV station, KNWS (Ch. 51, Ind.), and two cable nets, TV Land and ESPN2. Most other stations and channels being tracked have out-of-home viewing percentages in the teens. Here's a look at the in-home vs. out-of-home TV data for the Houston PPM test.
| View the PDF |

Wall Street Media Business Report TM

Freston departure worries Wall Street
Sumner Redstone may have blamed Tom Freston for Viacom's poor stock price performance, but Wall Street analysts aren't thrilled with Redstone's fix. After all, the new guys were the ones who were supposed to fix Blockbuster - and failed. Viacom's stock fell for the second straight day after Freston's surprise ouster. It's not that investors and analysts were enamored of Freston. The stock price performance is evidence that they weren't. But there are now worries that a major media company is being run by two financial guys with long-time ties to Redstone, but limited experience running a large media company. There are also fears that, given their private equity backgrounds, Philippe Dauman and Thomas Dooley may be inclined to go on an acquisition hunt, which could hold down the stock price in the short run. Meanwhile, Freston should be able to afford some pretty good beer to cry in. He was paid 22.7 million last year and, after only eight months in the CEO chair, it looks like his going away package will total in excess of 50 million.

RBR observation: Redstone complained that Freston had not kept up with rival companies in digital media, so look for Dauman and Dooley to go shopping for Internet properties. Redstone was said to be livid that Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation beat out Viacom in bidding for MySpace - and he doesn't want to see that happen again.

Ad Business Report TM

Russo crafts a "Jerry-FM" takeover for MyNetworkTV
After reading our story this week on CC Radio selling one advertiser a station while they changed formats (9/5/06 RBR #172), here's something Rich Russo, JL Media's SVP/Director of Broadcast Services, mentioned he just did on an existing Jack format in Dallas (KJKK-FM). "We changed it to a commercial-free JERRY-FM for Jerry Seinfeld's debut on MyNetworkTV's KDFI-TV there. I bought the entire day at the station for the launch. We used a bunch of canned clips from the show. I also have something similar (not for Seinfeld) in a few weeks in another Top-10 market." We'll have that one for you as well. Russo adds, "It is instances like this, where a client, an agency and a station can take an idea and run with it. It is how radio shines and the flexibility and creativity separates radio from other mediums. I think we will to continue to see ideas and execution like this." Russo practices what he preaches-or is he a soothsayer? You decide. Here's something we ran in March of 2005 from his Kagan Panel speech: "How about we cut exclusive category deals, that's right--only one beer on a rock station, no ambush marketing by the competitor after a schedule is placed, cut a deal and freeze out everybody else. Pick a side and live with it. I would relish the opportunity to cut deals like that, the actual revenue would increase as you create a bidding war to have or get an exclusive. The losers on station X would trickle down to station Y and so on, it would be a gamble and the stations and or networks would have to program themselves better to stay at top of food chain. Higher ratings equal more interest equal more bidding and larger revenue. How's that to shake up and clean up our world? Play to win, not to tread water."

GM buys extended Opie & Anthony Show
The creative uses of radio just keep on coming: GM announced yesterday it is extending warranties on 2007 models. As part of their plan to promote the new initiative, GM is sponsoring an "extended" edition of the Opie and Anthony Show today and tomorrow. The show, which normally concludes by 9AM on CBS Radio and other affiliated stations, will stay on the air an extra half hour commercial free courtesy of GM. They'll have a number of 5's, 10's, 30's and 60's during the show promoting the extended warranties.

NAB Day Time Planner

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

BROKERS
Todd Fowler/David Reeder/Gene Ferry/Bruce Pollock, American Media Services, Hilton Anatole, 843-972-2200, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Jack Higgins/Dan Graves/Joel Day/Denis LeClair, Cobb Corp, Hilton Anatole, office 239-478-3737, [email protected]

Andrew P. McClure, The Exline Company, Hilton Anatole, Suite 353 office 415-479-3484, cell 415-497-3855, [email protected]

Frank Boyle, Frank Boyle & Co., Sheraton Suites Market Center, 203-969-2020, [email protected]

Cliff Gardiner, Clifton Gardiner & Co., Hilton Anatole, 303-758-6900, [email protected]

Gordon Rice, Gordon Rice Associates,
843-884-3590, Hilton Anatole, [email protected]

Ed Henson, Henson Media, Inc., Louisville, KY, 502-589-0060, Hilton Anatole, [email protected]

John L. Pierce,
John Pierce & Company LLC,
859-647-0101, cell 859-512-3015, Hilton Anatole, [email protected]

Jamie Rasnick,
John Pierce & Company LLC,
859-647-0101, cell 513-252-1186, Hilton Anatole, [email protected]

Dick Kozacko/George Kimble,
Kozacko Media Services, office 607-733-7138, cell 607-738-1219, Hilton Anatole,
[email protected]

Larry Patrick/Greg Guy/Susan Patrick/Summer Foust,
Patrick Communications, Hilton Anatole
Suite #1034, 410-740-0250, [email protected]

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

Terry A. Greenwood,
TAG Media Consulting,
Hilton Anatole, office 410-931-3362, [email protected]

LAWYERS
Gregg P. Skall,
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC 202-857-4441, Hilton Anatole, [email protected]

TRAFFIC SOFTWARE
Eric Mathewson, Founder and CEO; Wide Orbit; 415-675-6751; Booth 617 and Hilton Anatole Presidential Suite;
[email protected]

Media Markets & Money TM

Git along, little dogie
A new entrant into the radio business is getting set to saddle up with KVCI-AM in Canton TX. Richard Don Harris and his RDH Land & Cattle Co. Inc. is getting the station for 185K from Canton Broadcasters, headed by Eric L. Jontra. An 18.5K escrow payment will be held after closing to cover possible "undisclosed liabilities and/or possible equipment failure," on top of a 166.5K cash payment. Canton is situated at the junction of I-20 and Rt. 19. It's about halfway between Tyler and Dallas and part of neither. An LMA was set to begin at the beginning of the month.

Washington Media Business Report TM

McDowell staffs up
The junior FCC commissioner has put together his staff. John Hunter will serve as Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor, bringing a background in telecommunications spanning both the phone and media sides. Angela E. Giancarlo will be Legal Advisor, Wireless & International; Cristina Chou Pauze takes on the role of Legal Advisor, Media Issues; Brigid Calamis will bring NAB and CompTel experience to the role of Deputy Chief of Staff; and Rafael Fernandez will serve as Staff Assistant.

RBR observation: McDowell's background is mainly in the wireline side of the Commission's areas of oversight. It's the sign of a good manager to beef up his staff in areas where he may not be as well versed in the issued.

Music Media Business Report TM

Vivendi buys BMG for 2B+
Vivendi's Universal Music group has won the heated bidding to acquire BMG Music Publishing from Bertelsmann for 1.63 billion euros, or roughly 2.09 billion bucks. The BMG catalog includes over one million copyrights and a roster of such chart-topping artists as Coldplay, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Christina Aguilera, R Kelly and Juan Gabriel, among numerous others. It runs the musical gamut from The Scorpions, Barry Manilow and Gilbert Becaud, to such seminal classical artists as Puccini and Ravel. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals in several companies. That is not expected to be a problem. Although a European court recently handed down an antitrust finding in a record label case, music publishing doesn't deal directly with the public.

Internet Media Business Report TM

MySpace and SNOCAP to sell music
directly through MySpace pages
MySpace announced a partnership with SNOCAP, an end-to-end provider of digital licensing and copyright management services for the digital music marketplace, that will provide artists and labels with tools that enable them to sell their music from their profile pages and distribute a digital storefront across the community. Through the partnership, SNOCAP will become the provider of digital music retail tools for MySpace, marking the first music e-commerce deal for both companies. The SNOCAP services will enable artists and labels with registered content to set pricing, create stores, and sell their music in MP3 format. MySpace artists will be empowered to sell their music directly on their profiles and provide fans with the HTML code to create their own digital storefront in support of their favorite bands. The service is expected to be available by the end of the year.

GM Talkback

Hispanic media managers:
Tell us about your ratings and audience trends.

Luis Diaz-Albertini, Vice President/GM/DOS CBS Radio Tampa:
WYUU 92.5 FM in Tampa switched format on August 7, 2005 from Young Country to Spanish Hot AC. Ever since the change, the station has experienced dramatic growth in ratings as reported by Arbitron and in advertising sales. With only two Spanish AM stations in the market to serve the nearly 300,000 Bay Area Hispanics we saw a clear opportunity to launch Tampa's only Spanish FM station. Tampa is the 18th largest Hispanic market in the country and WYUU super serves the Puerto Rican, Cuban and Central and South American population with a musical format of Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and limited Reggaeton. The station does play a mix of Mexican Regional music, but only in the Romantic genre and only by proven Mexican superstars. WYUU is a high energy, promotionally active, personality driven radio station whose main focus is on the music and servicing the community as the leading source for news and information. The station is already achieving Top 8 status in the two key selling demographics of Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-34. Ratings and revenues have grown every month since WYUU's inception and currently realizes a Cume audience of some 90,000 listeners and a market leading TSL of 14:30 hours. Revenue has also increased along with the ratings making this one of the best moves for the overall health and future success of the station.

Randy Nonberg, Una Vez Mas COO:
Spanish-language summer ratings are in flux due largely to Univision's coverage of the World Cup Soccer games and, to a lesser extent, summer reruns airing on all television networks. Typically HUT [Households Using television] levels drop and then will rebound after Labor Day. We are looking forward to the fall. Our stations are gearing up for the November book with heavy market promotions scheduled for our novellas, Mexican First Division soccer and La Academia, the number one Spanish-language reality show. Our promotions will include outdoor, radio and print. Azteca America is still a relative newcomer to the U.S. As a network, we are adding markets and improving distribution every month. We see continued branding as one of the keys to our ratings growth. It's important to remember that the U.S. Spanish-language television market is no longer a monopoly and that we expect that both the size of the pie and our share of it will grow markedly.

Tomorrow:
Juan Gonzalez, VP of Programming & Promotions, Bustos Media, LLC and Michael Hughes, Senior Vice-President/General Manager, "El Zol" WLZL-FM Washington, D.C.

Transactions

103M WKLB-FM Boston (Lowell MA) from Greater Boston Radio Inc., a subsidiary of Greater Media Inc. (Peter H. Smyth et al) to Nassau Broadcasting II LLC (Louis Mercatanti). Swap for WTHK-FM Philadelphia (Burlington NJ) plus 26M cash (4.42M escrow). Greater Media will retain the WKLB calls and format. [File date 8/11/06.]

100M WCRB-FM Boston (Lowell MA). 100% of Charles River Broadcasting WCRB License Corp. from Christopher S. Jones et al to Greater Media Inc. (Peter H. Smyth et al). Merger/stock transaction. 10M escrow. Superduopoly with WBOS-FM, WMJX-FM, WTKK-FM, WROR-FM. Greater Media is transferring WKLB-FM to Nassau Broadcasting in a cash/swap deal, and will move the WKLB calls and format to the WCRB facility. [File date 8/11/06.]

87M WTHK-FM Philadelphia (Burlington NJ) from Nassau Broadcasting II LLC (Louis Mercatanti) to Greater Philadelphia Radio Inc., a subsidiary of Greater Media Inc. (Peter H. Smyth et al). Swap for WKLB-FM Boston (Lowell MA) plus Nassau receives 26M cash (4.42M escrow). Superduopoly with WMMR-FM, WBEN-FM, WMGK-FM, WPEN-AM. Greater Media will retain the WKLB calls and format. [File date 8/18/06.]

Stock Talk

Wage news weighs on stocks
A government report that wages were up in Q2 and productivity down reignited fears on Wall Street of another Fed rate hike later this month. The Dow Industrials fell 63 points, or 0.6%, to 11,406.

Radio stocks joined the retreat. The Radio Index fell 2.510, or 1.8%, to 139.501. Salem was again the most volatile, falling 5.4%. Citadel fell 2.8% and Beasley 2.7%.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		36.70	-0.60	Hearst-Argyle	HTV		23.30	-0.04
Beasley	BBGI		7.12	-0.20	Journal Comm.	JRN		11.08	-0.13
CBS CI. B	CBS		28.30	-0.30	Lincoln Natl.	LNC		60.37	-0.16
CBS CI. A	CBSa		28.32	-0.25	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		6.29	+0.01
Citadel	CDL		8.98	-0.26	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		6.27	-0.01
Clear Channel	CCU		29.15	-0.12	Regent	RGCI		4.00	-0.06
Cox Radio	CXR		15.57	-0.28	Saga Commun.	SGA		8.09	-0.07
Cumulus	CMLS		9.94	-0.07	Salem Comm.	SALM		11.15	-0.63
Disney	DIS		29.61	-0.24	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		4.08	-0.11
Emmis	EMMS		11.88	-0.23	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		4.17	-0.12
Entercom	ETM		25.14	-0.40	Univision	UVN		34.70	-0.05
Entravision	EVC		7.44	-0.09	Westwood One	WON		6.99	-0.16
Fisher	FSCI		43.30	-0.55	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		12.32	-0.47
Gaylord	GET		43.12	-0.94	-	-	-	-	-

Bounceback

Send Us Your Opinions We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to [email protected]

Below the Fold

Wall Street Media Business Report
Freston departure worries
Wall Street
Sumner Redstone may have blamed Tom Freston for Viacom's poor stock price performance, but Wall Street analysts aren't thrilled with Redstone's fix...

Ad Business Report
Russo crafts a "Jerry-FM" takeover
Rich Russo, JL Media's SVP/Director of Broadcast Services, crafts a commercial-free Jerry-FM for Jerry Seinfeld's debut on KDFI-TV...

Media, Markets & Money
Git along, little dogie
A new entrant into the radio business is getting set to saddle up with KVCI-AM in Canton TX...

Music Media Business Report
Vivendi buys BMG for 2B+
Vivendi's Universal Music group has won the heated bidding to acquire BMG Music Publishing from Bertelsmann...

Stations for Sale

AUCTION: Small market AM/FM in the mid-west.
Cash flow 200K. FM CP for 100KW which will provide city grade into rapidly growing top 200 market. For more information, photos and auction detail e-mail Jim Lakoduk, agent,
[email protected].
Pifer's Auction and Realty.

Radio Media Moves

Mac to Jamz!
Cox Radio announced today the appointment of Kelly Mac to Assistant Program Director and Afternoon Drive Host of WJMZ-FM "107.3 Jamz!" Greenville, SC. She was previously an on-air personality for stations run by Cumulus, Citadel and Radio One.

More News Headlines

Chrysler offers zero percent financing on 2006 models
Chrysler Group is bringing back zero percent financing for 72 months on most 2006 models. The new round started last Friday and lasts until 10/2. It applies to all models except the LX platform including the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Charger and Magnum. The incentive announcement comes a day after Chrysler temporarily pulled its "Ask Dr. Z" spots to focus more on incentives and new models. The television and radio spots, featuring the DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche, started 7/1 and ended in August. The campaign featuring Zetsche will be reportedly brought back at a future date but will remain on the Internet. Chrysler is reviewing plans for the next phase of ads featuring Zetsche, but the branding will remain that its vehicles are equipped with German engineering. Since the Zetsche ads premiered, the company's sales have dropped dramatically, down 37.4% in July. However, a Chrysler spokesperson said the company has answered nearly 6 million questions filed on the campaign's website.

RBR observation: We mentioned yesterday that Ford's Bold Moves campaign didn't seem to be moving cars off the lot either (9/6/06 RBR #173). Nonetheless, there comes a point where advertising just can't be blamed for down sales. One just can't make the assumption that recent/ongoing Ford, Chrysler and GM campaigns all were ineffective and the reason for the Big Three's sales woes. Fact is, mortgage defaults are at an all-time high, we've got an extremely unstable Mideast, gas prices have scared folks away from committing to new vehicles (even though they're down a bit), the housing market bubble is slowly bursting and the economy in general isn't all that robust. No matter how creative a campaign is, if the money-and the confidence-isn't there, people will put off major expenditures.

KYW to re-broadcast 9/11 coverage on the net
On the 5th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th, KYW-AM Philadelphia will look back at the events of the day through a variety of on-air and on-line programs. From 8 am-10 pm, KYW Newsradio's wall-to-wall coverage from the actual day will be replayed on-line. Listeners will be able to hear in real time the events as they unfolded on the air on that unforgettable day five years ago. To access the on-line replay as it airs, listeners can go to kyw1060.com and launch the audio stream.

TVBR - TV News

TV revenues up 6.8%
in first half of 2006
The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) reports that Q2 revenues rose 3.4%, bringing the first half of the year in with a gain of 6.8%. Of course, the best is yet to come, with the peak of political spending still ahead. Susan Cuccinello, SVP of Research for TVB, reports that 15 of the top 25 advertisers in local broadcast spent more in the second quarter of 2006 than they had in the same quarter of 2005. The top five percentage increases were posted by AT&T (up 127.8%), Ford Motor (up 54.8%), Berkshire Hathaway (up 41.6%), Honda Motor Co. (up 33.7%), and Toyota Motor Corp. (up 27.1%). Fourteen of the top 25 advertising categories spent more than in the same quarter a year ago. The biggest percentage increases were posted by Government & Organizations (up 90.3%), Telecommunications (up 36.9%), Beer & Wine (up 21.1%), Household Supplies (up 20.6%) and Financial (up 9.5%). Here are the numbers for Q2 and the first half.
| View the Chart |

RBR Radar 2006

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

Regent bulls into Buffalo
Another plank in the CBS Radio sell-off has been revealed, as Regent Communications makes off with the Buffalo herd which includes an AM and four FMs. The pricetag is 125M. The stations include WBLK-FM, WBUF-FM, WJYE-FM, WYRK-FM and WECK-AM. The deal follows the 262M sale of stations in Memphis, Rochester, Cincinnati and Austin to Entercom and the 45M sale of San Antonio properties to Border Media, and brings the total CBS take to 432M, with four more markets still on the shelf.
9/6/06 RBR #173

Sporting News sold, radio group next
Nearly two years after putting The Sporting News up for sale, Paul Allen's Vulcan Sports Media has announced a deal to sell the print publication, online operations and Sporting News Radio network to the American City Business Journals division of Advance Publications. Not included are the three O&O stations in New York, LA and Boston, which are also going to be sold soon, but to a different buyer.
9/6/06 RBR #173

White smoke from the RAB
We have a CEO! The Radio Advertising Bureau has gone outside the radio industry and picked a marketing guy as the successor to Gary Fries. The new President and CEO of RAB, effective September 18th, is Jeff Haley, currently Sr. VP of Global Marketing for Time Warner. RAB Board and Search Committee Chairman Joe Bilotta, COO of Buckley Radio, hailed Haley for his strong track record in media sales and sales management and his expertise in multiple media platforms, which was called crucial to the RAB role. "Jeff's qualifications, while not directly in radio, afford him the opportunity to bring to the RAB an intimate knowledge of the broad advertising, marketing and digital media space and its impact on both advertisers and broadcasters. We sought out an individual who will represent our great industry in this rapidly changing media environment," Bilotta told RBR.
9/5/06 RBR #172

Clear Channel wants more tiers
As of when we checked Friday, there were 38,857 comments filed so far in the FCC's latest proceeding on revising its ownership rules. Approximately 38,850 of them read, "Dear FCC: I write to urge you not to weaken the strong media ownership rules that have helped protect the rights of viewers and listeners like me. A strong democracy depends on its citizens having a wide variety of viewpoints to decide from. Those viewpoints should be diverse and derived from local sources, not simply homogenized, recycled feeds from big media companies saying the same thing in their 'local' newspaper and on their various 'local television stations'," with only the name and address of the sender different. The deadline for comments is September 22nd, so we expect to see a lot of major broadcasting and newspaper companies file their views in the next few weeks.
9/5/06 RBR #172

State Broadcast Association
President for one of the nation's top broadcast associations seeks a replacement for its retiring executive.
See Radio Careers

Talk Radio Network
Seeking professionals in three areas to join our TRN team: Executive, Board Operator & Staff Engineer.
See Radio Careers

General Manager
Saga Communications has a rare opening at Rock 102 and Lazer 99.3.
See Radio Careers

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