Deal makes Tanger portfolio Fuller than it was
According to media broker Frank Boyle, radio legend Bob Fuller of Fuller-Jeffrey fame had the rare pleasure of purchasing the exact radio station upon which he broke into the industry back when he was only 16 years old. Now, however, Boyle has helped Fuller sell it. A long line into the past can also be traced along with the buyer - - however, it's a three-generational line, not a single life-line as in Fuller's case. The station is WNBP-AM Newburyport MA. The buyer is North Shore 104.9, owner of WBOQ-FM Gloucester MA. That company belongs to Todd Tanger, scion of Marlin Broadcasting principals Woody Tanger (father) and Al Tanger (grandfather). Todd bought the WBOQ from the family about a year and a half ago (3/10/03 RBR Daily Epaper #48). At the time, Tanger said he'd be buildng a regional group and would be announcing a second purchase sometime in 2003. So he's a little behind schedule, but here it is, better late than never. Price of WNBP is said to be $500K. Fuller was glad to keep the station out of the hands of one of the conglomerates, saying, "This is a very emotional transaction for me, but I feel it will be in good hands and much better having a local owner."

P_t S_j_k strik_s _g_in
Perhaps you remember an earlier story from this year, entitled "P_t S_j_k be_omes _ gro_p owne_." (1/26/04 RBR Daily Epaper #16). At that time, we learned that "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak, a resident of Maryland state capital Annapolis and owner of that town's WNAV-AM, was buying WKHZ-AM Ocean City MD for 140K dollars. Now broker Dick Kozacko tells us Sajak has a 540K dollar deal for another Maryland AM. This time it's Oldies WTTR-AM in Westminster. William R. Lynett's Shamrock Broadcasting is the seller. Westminster is well to the northwest of Baltimore. Shamrock will retain WZBA-FM there.

Roy Disney dials up Guam
While Roy E. Disney is still fighting to oust Michael Eisner from the Walt Disney Company, he's found time to do a little investing in the Pacific. Roy Disney's Shamrock Holdings has announced a deal to buy all of the assets and business of the Guam Telephone Authority for 140 million dollars in cash, plus a 10 million note - - moving the last government-owned telephone company in the US and its territories into private hands. Shamrock will operate the phone company under its new subsidiary, TeleGuam Holdings.

Radio stocks managed modest gains. The Radio Index rose 0.731, or 0.3%, to 219.914. Entravision was the star performer, up 3.9%, and Salem rose 2.4%.

We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]

The Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction was one of the most enduring topics in short history of the RBR Bounceback section. Now that it's back in the news, we have another commentator.
Jay Austin, General Manager
KIOD/KSWN, McCook, Nebraska
| More... |

10 Station Cluster
Ten stations--Same State
$650K Cash Flow-Good Upside
Cliff at Clifton Gardiner & Co (303)758-6900
[email protected]

Monahan heading Beasley sales
Beasley Broadcast Group has created a new position of Vice President of Sales and tapped Heather Monahan to fill it, putting her in charge of company-wide initiatives to improve local revenue growth and manage the professional development of Beasley's sales force. She had previously been Director of Local Sales for Beasley's five-station cluster in the Ft. Myers-Naples market.

Leinwand named VP/Sales for WXRK
Alan Leinwand has been named Vice President, Sales, WXRK-FM New York, it was announced by Tom Chiusano, VP/GM of the station. The appointment is effective 9/20. Leinwand joins K-Rock from Infinity's WJFK-FM DC. Since 2000, he has served as VP/GM and also was responsible for the Washington Redskins Radio Network.

CRN taps Meserole as Director/Client Services
CRN International, a radio marketing provider, announced the recent hiring of Patricia Meserole in the newly created role of Director of Client Services. Prior to joining CRN, Meserole worked as a consumer promotions consultant for Kraft Foods.

Emmis sues CC Radio over former DJ

WFTL remained live and local during Hurricane Frances

Portsmouth, NH LPFM takes to the airwaves 9/12

Nielsen BDS signs with Philips for new technology

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

Back into the deep freeze!
RBR predicted, the FCC's Media Bureau has ordered a temporary freeze on the filing of all radio station transactions, based on last week's federal appeals court ruling that cleared the way for the Commission to start using Arbitron markets to determine whether or not a deal complies with local radio ownership limits. The FCC says it will issue guidelines soon on filing new applications and amending those that are pending. 09/09/04 RBR #176

Infinity's "Street Date" campaigns
to offer new advertiser opportunities
A multi-platform initiative tied to new album releases from big names in music. The campaign consists of a variety of live original programming, on-air promotion, long-form documentaries and customizable listener contests creating destination programming for all Infinity music formats. RBR observation: It is all about Branding with ROI.
09/09/04 RBR #176

TVB forecasts flat 2005,
big '06 gains
With 2004 revenues inflated by record election spending and the Summer Olympics, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) is predicting that 2005 will be essentially flat for spot TV (local and national combined), from down 1% to up 1%. TVBR observation: The facts are in the TVB's chart forecast for 2005 and 2006. Recommendation is to print it out. 09/09/04 TVBR #176

Viacom commences
Blockbuster spin-off
The question now is whether enough Viacom shareholders will take the company up on its exchange offer and turn in enough Viacom shares to cover that huge hoard of blockbuster shares. TVBR observation: If you're planning to cash out soon, the answer is easy - - take the premium and sell the Blockbuster shares. But if you are planning to hold the stock for a while, it's more difficult to decide. What is the future of the video rental business? Don't think there is a business model in the future for rentals. 09/09/04 TVBR #176

Improvement ahead
for radio with A But
Analyst Jim Boyle at Wachovia Securities is telling investors that July should be the bottom, with improvement ahead. First the good news: Boyle believes that the radio recovery should accelerate in Q4. The election advertising should be dramatic, squeezing inventory for TV and causing a spillover effect into radio. The heavy political spending may also use secondary media, such as radio. Finally, the very easy Q4 comp of negative 1% should enable radio to ramp up via mathematical help. The Bad news: Why might radio not get that much better? Boyle again believes that the ongoing weakness in the radio sector is caused by the lack of pricing power, as the largest groups continue to offer discounted ad rates to grab whatever available ad dollars exist... 09/08/04 RBR #175

Jesse Jackson endorses
Local People Meterws
Rev. Jesse Jackson has issued an open letter endorsing LPMs as "a step forward for inclusion and fairness." TVBR asked Nielsen spokesman Jack Loftus whether the ratings company had made a contribution to Jackson's Rainbow Push coalition. "No we have not," 09/08/04 TVBR #175

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