|
Radio News ®
|
|
 Boyle sees improvement ahead
Following last week's report from the Radio Advertising Bureau which showed radio revenues down 3% in July, analyst Jim Boyle at Wachovia Securities is telling investors that July should be the bottom, with improvement ahead. The consensus of Wall Street analysts had been that July revenues would be down 2%, so the actual number was worse than expected. "We believe that this should signal the bottom as August is slightly positive and September is stronger than August," Boyle told clients.
| More... |
FTC strikes out in Garvey endorsement case
Former MLB first-baseman Steve Garvey was cleared of any liability by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission charging him with making false claims about a product he was endorsing. The case, which dates back to Y2K, involved infomercials for weight loss products from Enforma Natural Products. Law firm Venable LLP represented Garvey, and applauded the decision. Partner Edward Glynn added a cautionary note, however. "The Court set a very high standard of liability regarding celebrity endorsements and testimonials," he said. "This isn't carte blanche. If you're a celebrity spokesperson, you have to take at least sufficient steps so someone won't be able to say you were recklessly indifferent to the truth of product claims. You can't just show up, and say 'where's my script.'" The ads in question were for dietary supplements calls "Fat Trapper" and "Exercise in a Bottle." Part of Garvey's defense was that both he and his wife used the Enforma system and did in fact lose weight. He had also read material and discussed the product with users who supported the advertiser's claims. The FTC had sued Garvey and the infomercial producers for false advertising and other counts.
Lots more political cash waiting to be spent
 George W. Bush and John Kerry each have 75M dollars to spend, thanks to their acceptance of federal financing for their campaigns. And there's plenty more cash in the pipeline from a host of other interested parties, according to the Associated Press. Each party's national committee is allowed to spend up to 16M dollars in coordination with each candidate's campaign organization, and there is no limit to what they can spend of their own volition, provided it is not spent in concert with the candidate's own organization. According to AP, the Democratic National Committee had 62M in the bank at the beginning of August, and the Republican National Committee was sitting on 87M. Even more money will be coming from 527 groups, which are unlikely to be silenced before November despite efforts by the Bush campaign to put them out of business. AP says Kerry pulled in 233M beginning in January 2003, a record for Democrats, but still behind some 250M raised by Bush. Further contributions will most likely be directed toward key congressional races.
|
|
|
|
Revisiting the gurus, Part 2
The investment bankers at Veronis Suhler Stevens are focused more on long-term trends in communications businesses, so their annual forecast accentuated five-year outlooks. But VSS is expecting radio and TV to post revenue gains this year which are similar to the forecast we quoted yesterday from Universal-McCann guru Bob Coen. VSS expects total radio ad revenues to be up 6.7% this year and broadcast television 8.5%. | More... |
 Iger gets endorsement from Eisner
Long dismissed by most on Wall Street as unlikely to ever move up to the top job at The Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger has gotten an unexpected endorsement from CEO Michael Eisner. "There's nobody who has a better education and training to do that job," Eisner was quoted as saying of Iger by the Los Angeles Times. That came after Eisner told fellow Disney board members that Iger is his "preferred choice" as a successor. Just how important that endorsement will be isn't clear. Although Iger gets credit for making ESPN into a cash cow for Disney, he also gets blamed for the continuing problems at ABC. His contract as President of Disney comes up for renegotiation next year, before Eisner's potential retirement at the end of his current contract in 2006. Board members, who will meet this month to discuss, among other things, CEO succession, are under pressure from some investors to bring in new blood and bid farewell to both Eisner and Iger. The directors themselves remain under fire. After last March's unprecedented vote by over 45% of Disney shareholders to oust Eisner, which the board rebuffed, dissident shareholders Roy Disney and Stan Gold are expected to field their own slate of candidates next year to replace all of the directors with a new board that would likely want nothing to do with Eisner or Iger.
|
|
|
|
|
Adbiz ©
|
Infinity re-upping with Crystal Media
Some buyers have been apprised of the deal, some haven't. After all the hype surrounding the Crystal Media's Prestige net, we hear a new deal has been struck for Infinity inventory to once again comprise much of the net. | More... |
White & Baldacci now White & Partners
White & Baldacci, one of the DC area's largest independent advertising agencies, announced it has changed its company name to White & Partners and named partners in creative services, account planning, PR and account management. The company is assisting Hughes Network Systems on its DIRECWAY launch. White & Partners is currently shooting television ads for Navy Federal Credit Union and the Williamsburg, VA Convention & Visitors Bureau. W&P Public Relations, a sister company, recently landed the Hilton at Washington Dulles Airport as a PR account, announcing its 38 million expansion. The 40-year old company will continue with Matthew C. White as Chairman and CEO, son of the company's founder, E. James White.
NY Times looks at product placement "middlemen"
The NY Times reports the new emphasis on product placement in television has brought new players into the business - "brand wranglers who work with programmers and advertisers." Excerpts: | More... |
Dunkin' Donuts, CVS, Mitsubishi
enter Spanish-language projects
This fall many marketers are reportedly committing more dollars, doing original creative work in Spanish, and seeking more strategic insights into the U.S. Hispanic consumers to fuel their growth. Three were brought to light in a recent AdAge article. In Dunkin' Donuts' first original Spanish-language commercial, a very pregnant woman flings across the room the unappetizing breakfast tray her husband has brought and pretends the baby's forceful kick sent the tray flying. The husband is thrilled-their child will be a soccer star!-and happily takes his wife to Dunkin' Donuts for a breakfast sandwich. Hill, Holliday Hispanic's client, CVS, followed up its Hispanic radio and direct-marketing efforts by filming its first Spanish-language spot last week. It will break in November, as the pharmacy chain prepares to expand in heavily Hispanic states such as Florida and Texas. The company is also converting recently acquired Eckerd drugstores to the CVS brand. The store conversion gives CVS the opportunity to introduce bilingual signage during a redesign. Stores have all been classified at one of four different levels that determine the degree of Spanish-language store signage and communications. The levels, based on the Hispanic population in a store's neighborhood, go up to a high of 85%. Mitsubishi realizes it's time to stop using adapted work from its general-market agency. Mitsubishi has been "spending quite a bit" on local radio and TV ads translated into Spanish by Deutsch LA. After embarking on a U.S. Hispanic agency search, Mitsubishi executives plan to pick three finalists this month and assign them to develop a pilot ad program.
 Letter carriers play a starring role
in new postal service ads
The Postal Service is taking on a new look. Its own Letter Carriers are the stars of this fall's new campaign. It all began yesterday with a series of television and print advertising and in-store promotions. Capitalizing on the popularity of reality television, the new campaign focuses on actual postal employees who will explain the many ways customers can access postal services without having to visit a Post Office or stand in a line. In a national selection process, a Letter Carrier was chosen from each of the Postal Service's 80 administrative districts across the nation to serve as a local spokesperson. A select group of nine Letter Carriers was selected from the 80 to serve as national postal ambassadors. They will appear in national television, radio and print and make personal appearances to promote the Postal Service.
|
|
|
|
|
Media, Markets & Money tm
|
Back to the biz: Centennial resurfaces
Allen Shaw, who's been hanging his hat at Beasley Broadcasting since selling Centennial Broadcasting stations in New Orleans and Las Vegas to that venerable group, is venturing back out as head of a new group that'll use the same old name. Centennial Jr., as it was called by broker of record Frank Boyle, is kicking off with a pair of FMs in Roanoke-Lynchburg VA. The sellers are Karen and Robert Travis of Travis Media, and the stations are WZZI-FM and WZZU-FM. Each serves a portion of the twin-municipality market - - WZZI covers Roanoke from it's Vinton VA city of license, and WZZU-FM is actually licensed to Lynchburg. Boyle confirmed that the stations have been broadcasting an Oldies format since February. The deal is valued at 4.146M dollars. He also confirmed that Centennial will be on the hunt for more stations, although were it will strike next is still up in the air. Shaw is President/CEO of the new version. He's joined on the executive shingle by Chairman Gordon Gray Jr. and EVP/CFO Steven H. Watts. The sale of Centennial Sr. was closed for 113.5M dollars late in 2000 (RBR 12/18/00). In that deal, Beasley picked up three stations each in Las Vegas and New Orleans.
 Clear Channel hails a 33M dollar taxi
Medallion Financial Corp., whose main business is financing taxi companies and other niche markets (even including a few radio station loans over the years), is getting out of the advertising business, selling its Medallion Taxi Media to Clear Channel communications for 933,000 shares of stock which, with working capital adjustments, works out to about 33 million dollars. The taxi advertising unit was being carried on its books for only three million, so Medallion says it will record a gain of 30 million on its Q3 books. Clear Channel Outdoor already owns a sizeable taxi advertising business, so the deal is an obvious fit.
These Boots are made for closing...
Cherry Creek has taken the keys to three more stations - - KSTV AM & FM Stephenville TX and KYOX-FM Comanche TX. The sellers, Boots Elliott and Bob Hacshke of 377 Broadcasting, are enjoying a 3.8M dollar payday, according to broker Bill Whitley of Media Services Group.
|
|
|
|
|
Washington Beat
|
Congressional panels look at communications topics
Congress is officially back in session, briefly. Like a Top-40 station, lawmakers will focus on the hit topics, and nothing but the hit topics as much as possible so they can wrap up essential business at get back home to campaign - - at least that's what members of the House and about a third of the Senate are thinking. We'll be watching the defense appropriations bill carefully, to see what becomes of the rider which would drastically raise indecency fines, and, if the Senate has its way, repudiate the FCC's 6/2/03 ruling in its entirety.
Three committee hearings are on the schedule.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell, Paxson Communications Chairman/CEO Bud Paxson and Association for Maximum Service Television President David L. Donovan are meeting with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his friends on the Senate Committee for Commerce, Science and Transportation today at 10:00 AM Eastern. The topic is "Spectrum for Public Safety Users," an issue inextricably tied to the DTV transition. Other witnesses include Gary Grube of Commercial, Government and Industry Solutions, Stephen T. Devine of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and Robert LeGrande II, Deputy CTO for the District of Columbia.
And there's more. At 11:00 AM, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing called "Law Enforcement Access to Communications Systems in a Digital Age." No other information has been made public.
Finally, next Monday, members of the same subcommittee will be in Chicago at the Neal F. Simeon Career Academy for a session entitled, "The Effect of Television Violence on Children: What Policymakers Need to Know."
|
 |
|
|
Transactions
|
|
KBUC-FM San Antonio (Jourdanton TX) from Reding Enterprises Ltd. to Border Media Partners LLC
KATD-FM Beaumont-Port Arthur TX (Silsbee TX) from Hilco Communications Inc. to Cumulus Media
| More Details |
|
|
|
|
|
Stock Talk
|
Stocks rise as oil falls
A drop in oil prices gave stocks a boost on Tuesday. The Dow Industrials rose 81 points, or 0.8%, to 10,341 - - the highest close in two months.
Radio stocks were not as fortunate, closing mixed. The Radio Index slipped 0.256, or 0.1%, to 223.175. Citadel was off 2.8% as the biggest drag on our index. Radio One's Class A stock declined 1.4% and its Class D 1.2%, despite being mentioned by Wachovia Securities analyst Jim Boyle as a "stand-out" in the radio sector (see Radio News). On the up side, Salem rose 2.6% and Beasley gained 2.1%.
|
|
|
|
|
Radio Stocks
|
Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
|
Arbitron
|
ARB
|
|
39.14
|
-0.04
|
Jeff-Pilot
|
JP
|
|
49.58
|
+0.98
|
|
Beasley
|
BBGI
|
|
15.96
|
+0.33
|
Journal Comm.
|
JRN
|
|
17.23
|
+0.21
|
| Citadel |
CDL |
|
14.16 |
-0.40 |
Radio One, Cl. A
|
ROIA
|
|
15.46
|
-0.22
|
|
Clear Channel
|
CCU
|
|
33.63
|
-0.31
|
Radio One, Cl. D
|
ROIAK
|
|
15.43
|
-0.19
|
|
Cox Radio
|
CXR
|
|
16.49
|
-0.19
|
Regent
|
RGCI
|
|
6.00
|
+0.10
|
|
Cumulus
|
CMLS
|
|
14.81
|
-0.16
|
Saga Commun.
|
SGA
|
|
17.98
|
+0.05
|
|
Disney
|
DIS
|
|
22.69
|
+0.32
|
Salem Comm.
|
SALM
|
|
26.12
|
+0.65
|
|
Emmis
|
EMMS
|
|
19.08
|
-0.15
|
Sirius Sat. Radio
|
SIRI
|
|
2.54
|
+0.21
|
| Entercom |
ETM
|
|
37.67
|
-0.01
|
Spanish Bcg.
|
SBSA
|
|
8.58
|
-0.02
|
|
Entravision
|
EVC
|
|
8.09
|
+0.08
|
Univision
|
UVN
|
|
32.83
|
+0.01
|
|
Fisher
|
FSCI
|
|
48.60
|
+0.50
|
Viacom, Cl. A
|
VIA
|
|
34.60
|
+0.34
|
|
Gaylord
|
GET
|
|
29.62
|
+0.04
|
Viacom, Cl. B
|
VIAb
|
|
34.13
|
+0.49
|
|
Hearst-Argyle
|
HTV
|
|
24.67
|
unch
|
Westwood One
|
WON
|
|
22.13
|
-0.21
|
|
Interep
|
IREP
|
|
0.86
|
-0.01
|
XM Sat. Radio
|
XMSR
|
|
29.05
|
-0.11
|
|
International Bcg.
|
IBCS
|
|
0.02
|
unch
|
-
|
-
|
- |
-
|
-
|
|
|
Have a news story you'd like to share? [email protected]
|
|
Bounceback
|
 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]
|
|
|
Stations For Sale
|
10 Station Cluster
Ten stations--Same State
$650K Cash Flow-Good Upside
Cliff at Clifton Gardiner & Co (303)758-6900
[email protected]
|
|
|
Upped & Tapped
|
ABC News Radio
hires two
Steve Jones, Vice President and General Manager of ABC News Radio, announced that Richard Cantu, formerly of WBBM-AM Chicago, and Alex Stone, formerly of KOA-AM Denver, have joined the ABC News Radio team. Cantu will anchor the network's hourly newscasts from New York, and Stone will broadcast from the West Coast as the new LA Bureau Correspondent.
GM Planworks taps Mason Franklin
GM Planworks, the Starcom MediaVest Group agency dedicated to strategic media planning on behalf of General Motors Corp., has hired Mason Franklin as a SVP/Strategic Research Director. Franklin hails from GM-dedicated agency Chemistri where he served as SVP/Account Planning Director.
|
|
|
Competing Media
|
Jesse Jackson endorses Local People Meters
After months of attacks from civil rights leaders who claim that Local People Meters (LPMs) undercount minorities, Nielsen Media Research has gotten one major figure to stand on its side. Rev. Jesse Jackson has issued an open letter endorsing LPMs as "a step forward for inclusion and fairness." The letter, which was also signed by Martin L. King Jr. as Chairman of the Rainbow Push Coalition, of which Jackson is founder and President, says the LPM technology is an improvement over diaries and leads to more accurate results. | More... |
|
|
|
August Digital Magazine
|
Complimentary Report
No more Forward Pacing Reports.
We have the economic, political, and close up look at your 4th quarter of business and what must be done to hit budget by year's end.
GM of Cadillac, Mark LaNeve
tells it like it is on where he
spends ad dollars.
Read RBR in 2 simple steps:
1.Create a simple account with Zinio and download the free Zinio Reader.
2. You can then download the free August Issue of RBR
|
|
|
RBR Radar 2004
|
|
Click on these issues for Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
3rd Circuit Blockbuster:
New radio market defs good to go
The 3rd Circuit Court in Philadelphia, which remanded much of the FCC's historic 6/2/03 media ownership rulemaking back for modification or justification, is allowing the FCC to proceed with implementation with certain sections of it which the Court found to be acceptable. Key among them is the switch from contour to Arbitron-geographical radio market definitions. RBR observation: When the stay was imposed in September 2003, the FCC put a brief hold on station trading in order to remodify transaction forms, which had in turn already been modified over the summer to reflect the 6/2/03 ruling. The first, or rulemaking freeze lasted a couple of months; the second, the stay freeze was very brief. We will not be surprised to see another brief freeze while the FCC gets its forms in order. 09/07/04 RBR #174
Open the can of worms:
New rules meet the real world
Since the 3rd Circuit is allowing the FCC to go ahead with its new radio market definition, we looked at a few recently filed transactions. There are a few pending deals may be in trouble. RBR observation: Bottom line: As a tool to limit the size of radio station clusters, the switch from contour to Arbitron-definitions should have negligible impact. As a tool to greatly increase confusion in the world of station ownership and trading, the switch should be incredible. And we will suggest one more time - - it the FCC wants to eliminate some of the vast white space between those locations where Arbitron diaries are distributed, it should included Eastlan markets in its inventory of defined and rated areas.
09/07/04 RBR #174
Two more DC licenses under attack
Paxson's WPXW-TV (Pax, Channel 66) and Fox's WDCA-TV (UPN, Channel 20), two Washington stations which have had their license renewals challenged, now have company, and it double the fun for Fox. GE/NBC's WRC-TV (NBC, Channel 4) and Fox's WTTG-TV (Fox, Channel 5) are facing challenges of their own. 09/07/04 TVBR #174
Broadcasters firing back at Forbes
Publisher observation: It doesn't take the winds of Naples for me to agree with Cavagnaro in saying "Broadcasters who aren't serving their local communities are only inviting satellite to challenge their markets..." The ones that broke it better fix it fast because here comes da satellite with the likes of the cult following of Opie & Anthony. Certain people will pay just as certain people plug in their Ipods instead of listening to local. 09/03/04 RBR #173
XM, Sirius place banners
on Howard Stern's website
While Howard Stern has a counter on his website (www.howardstern.com) that goes from 16 months down to the seconds left in his current contract with Infinity, XM and Sirius Satellite Radio have decided to take advantage of his recent rants against the FCC. 09/03/04 RBR #173
DC TV licenses attacked
for kidvid shortfall
Rupert Murdoch and Bud Paxson have something in common - - their organizations are under a two-pronged assault for failing to provide the proscribed three-hours weekly of educational programming for children. 09/03/04 TVBR #173
|
|
|
 |
TV editor
Do you know the business of television? While other trade publications are cutting back, we're growing. Television Business Report (TVBR) is the hottest new electronic daily, backed by over 21 years of success at Radio Business Report. If you know who's who and what's what in TV & Cable, send resumes to [email protected] |
|
|
