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Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 23, Issue 185, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Friday Morning September 22nd, 2006

Radio News ®

Rehr demands
satellite recall

Although both Sirius and XM had to halt production and redesign receivers found to cause interference to FM stations, NAB President David Rehr says too many of those interfering receivers are still in consumer hands and even on store shelves. He is demanding a voluntary recall by XM President Nate Davis and Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin. "We are all aware that Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin came from radio. He knows the importance of spectrum integrity. In fact, he certainly would demand that devices interfering with his signal be stopped immediately. Mr. Karmazin is duty bound and personally obligated to keep Sirius satellite radio from interfering with over-the-air signals," Rehr said in a speech to the NAB Radio Show in Dallas. NAB also released a letter that Rehr sent to Davis and Karmazin, saying it is irrefutable that the receivers will continue to cause interference and calling on the two executives to "voluntarily withdraw and replace all noncompliant satellite radio devices in circulation, as this is the only means sufficient to safeguard the public interest in free over-the-air radio services." There was no immediate reply from the satellite radio companies. At the same time, Rehr attacked XM and Sirius on the indecency issue, saying the satellite services cannot have it both ways. "XM and Sirius cannot continue to tell the FCC that they do not fall under indecency regulation, because they are a subscription only service - and then give away their service for free," Rehr said. He said the NAB will press the FCC to end the "free ride" for satellite radio companies and make satellite radio subject to the same indecency rules as broadcasters if they continue to give away free test periods.

Adelstein worried about indecency enforcement
FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein told the NAB Radio Show in Dallas that he used to be able to tell broadcasters to look to past Commission decisions for guidance on the FCC's indecency standard, but he's not so sure anymore. "I'm a little confused myself, which is not good for you," he told the gathering of broadcasters. Adelstein said that when he came to the FCC "there was virtually no enforcement at all," but now he thinks the pendulum may have swung too far the other direction. "This is a big issue for Chairman Martin," said Robert McDowell, the newest Commissioner, who noted that he has yet to vote on an indecency case. He was careful not to tip his hand, saying that he was concerned about a "coarseness in society" which concerns him as a parent, but also said he was mindful of the need to balance that with the First Amendment. At the bottom line, he admitted to not being able to give the gathering any clarity on what is or is not indecent. "So basically, you have 40% of the FCC saying, essentially, I don't know," McDowell said.
| Read More... |


A myth debunked
A communications attorney used the Q&A session at the FCC Breakfast yesterday in Dallas to get the Commission on record to debunk a rumor he says has been making the rounds - that it is illegal to air commercials or sponsorship announcements on HD Radio channels. The Commissioners pitched the question to Audio Bureau Chief Peter Doyle, who attributed the confusion to the experimental licenses used for HD, which say that FCC experimental licenses may not be used for commercial purposes. But he noted that the FCC is urging broadcasters to air their analog programming on one HD channel, which would of course include the same commercials or (for non-coms) underwriting announcements and has no problem with commercial content on HD-2 channels while waiting for rules to be finalized. "There is no Commission pushback on either commercials or underwriting on these digital channels," Doyle assured the broadcasters.

Tribune fills the table with options
Multimedia Tribune Company has been dealing with the ramifications of tough conditions in both of its two core lines of business, newspaper publishing and television broadcasting, all year. It's well on its way toward raising 500M by selling selected assets. But that may not be the end of the story. That feat was accomplished by spinning off WATL-TV Atlanta (180M), WCWN-TV Albany-Schenectady-Troy NY (17M), WLVI-TV Boston (113.7M) and peddling a 46M stake in Time Warner, raking in just over 350M total. However, newspapers in general are losing readers, and television in general is losing viewers, and investor unrest continues to plague the company. According to the Wall Street Journal, far more drastic measures than the targeted spin-offs thus far executed are on the table, including taking the company off the market entirely and into the private realm, or perhaps selling off the entire television station portfolio. The company still has a toehold in the radio business, but as toeholds go, its a big one: iconic Midwest clear station WGN-AM.

RBR observation: Selling the TV group would solve at least one problem. Tribune has been one of the companies which has been trying to build same-market newspaper/television combos. That strategy has been called into question in some quarters, but whether it's good or not has been moot, since FCC attempts to liberalize the rules governing such combinations has been held up by the Third Circuit remand of the 6/2/03 ownership rulemaking. All the companies in this boat have been forced to apply for waivers, and fend off watchdog challenges every time they do. So selling off TV properties would have an added sweetener in the form of reduced attorney and regulatory filing fees.


Montana Democrats go blue in ad starring Republican
The national Democratic Senate Campaign Committee provided the cash in support of Senate seat Democrat challenger Jon Tester. The ad, however, is all about Tester's opponent, Commerce Committee stalwart Conrad Burns (R-MT), and a controversial off-color confrontation in which he chastised out-of-state firefighters during a forest-fire incident. According to the Associated Press, the ad starts with a disclaimer: "The following contains language by Conrad Burns unsuitable for Montana." The Montana Broadcasters Association is advising stations to either skip the ad, or at the very least get an opinion from their attorneys before putting it on the air. According to AP, MBA President Greg MacDonald warned stations, "While we have no idea how the Commission might come down on such language in a political spot, we also don't want to test the waters at 325K per violation." The DSCC said that Montana voters needed to know exactly what Burns said; the Burns campaign said they believe it's just the beginning of a prolonged bout of mudslinging from the Democrats.

House Democrats call for
FCC investigation

In was only a matter of time before Democratic House media issues point man Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) weighed in on the case of the suppressed FCC reports. Joined by David Price (D-NC), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and a posse totaling 34 Democrats, they have called on FCC Inspector General Kent R. Nilsson to look into the suppressed documents pertaining to the Commission's media ownership and localism proceedings. "If one or both of these reports were suppressed because they did not support official FCC policy, such actions could not only constitute fraud, but could also run counter to the FCC's stated goals of transparency and public involvement in its media ownership proceedings," they wrote. "We believe that a full accounting of the circumstances surrounding the possible suppression of these reports is essential if the FCC is to be perceived as acting in good faith on media ownership issues by Congress and the American people."

RBR observation: Psssst! Hey gang...it's OK. Chairman Martin already put him on the job. For those of you outside the Beltway, this is SOP in Washington. John McCain (R-AZ), in moments of look-at-your-watch boredom and frustration, likes to quote one of his predecessors (Dirksen? Udall?) to the effect that everything that is going to be said, has been said, but unfortunately not everyone has said it yet. It will probably be some time before this one blows over...


Wall Street Media Business Report TM
Taking note of a tender offer
Emmis Communications is ready to buy back some of its outstanding 6-7/8% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2012. It'll give 1K cash for 1K principal amount of notes up to $339.6M pursuant to asset sales provisions, and 1K for 1K up to 35.4M pursuant to a separate tender offer. The deadline is set for midnight, 10/19/06.


Executive Comment
Mark Mays is Wrong
Let me explain, from my perspective, why Mark Mays is wrong. First of all, we, in the radio industry, do not have to do things differently. We just have to do things better. The very first principle that Clear Channel forgot years ago was Radio is Local. In his statement, Mr. Mays compared radio to cable, newspaper and television. First of all, newspaper is a flailing industry in which consolidation hurt rather than help. Local television got hurt by cable, but has sustained local audiences with local content. Cable, for the most part, is national. Terrestrial radio is local. That is its specialty and what separates it from the rest of the mediums. Less than 10 years ago, the brilliant minds at CC thought it would be a great idea to save money by voice tracking and syndicating their programs across their 1,200 stations. They also thought to cookie cutter formats and nick names across the country while instilling national promotions and giveaways. How did that work for you Mark? There are some things that ought not to be nationalized. It even appears that it may take a lot longer for satellite radio to catch on, if it does at all. In my opinion, it appears that CC has done everything in its power to destroy a good a prosperous industry and have failed with almost every idea they have implemented. Not that it was their intention to do so, they just made bad decisions. Mark Mays was correct in one statement, "We have two customer bases; our advertising customers and our listening customers." The listening customers are local and for the most part, all advertisers are local. Its time that CC learn from all of their previous mistakes and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. They should perhaps focus on each market and their needs; create local programs with the appropriate content. Stop fooling around with :30's, :15's, and blinks. Stop with the Less is More stupidity. I realize that they must please Wall Street...but the only way to do that is to please Main Street first.

Scott Evans, C.M.R.C
Senior Marketing Consultant
WOGK-FM, WNDD, WNDN
Ocala, FL


Ad Business Report TM

Burton: This is a great time for
radio and auto advertising

After reporting Lehman Broadcasting's concerns yesterday (9/21/06 RBR #184) that weakening national domestic auto advertising may trickle down to local spot, we asked for Detroit Radio Advertising Group President Bill Burton's take. Is local auto advertising in trouble? "I think what Lehman Bros. said is probably correct-that we're in challenging times in the automotive industry and that trickles down to the local level. But I see it just the reverse. This is opportunity time for radio. Local dealer groups typically spend 75% of their money on television. Because of our medium's price structure and the fact that frequency is paramount to selling anything, in this challenging economy, the economies of radio give us that much more opportunity. So yes, we're in challenging times, but I see it as opportunity time-whether it's a local car dealer or whoever it is, this is the time for radio to shine. What's one TV commercial going to do, say, opposed to half a dozen radio commercials? He adds, "As we speak, I'm walking into GM's headquarters in downtown Detroit. This is a big part of the presentation this morning to Betzy Lazar, who works for Michael Jackson, GM North America's VP/Marketing and Advertising. Then I will be at Cadillac and several other divisions. With each visit, I'm pointing out that these are challenging times, and with radio right in the middle of the dashboard, you need us right now. I will be meeting with Michael on Monday."

Editor's note: Be sure to catch our interview with Mike Jackson in our December RBR/TVBR Solutions Magazine.

GM and Hannity partner for "You're A Great American Car Give-Away"
General Motors and Sean Hannity are teaming up to give listeners an opportunity to win five vehicles in the "You're A Great American Car Give-Away" sweepstakes on The Sean Hannity Show. The contest employs an integrated, multi-platform strategy, using radio and Hannity's website, www.hannity.com, which has 28 million page views a month. "This is a tremendous opportunity for Sean Hannity's audience to experience GM's great line-up of cars, trucks and SUVs. It's great that the winners get to choose the vehicle they win, but it will be a difficult choice when you've got everything from Corvettes to Cadillacs," said Mark LaNeve, GM North America Vice President, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. All affiliates nationwide will be able to participate in the promotion. The sweepstakes will begin 9/25. Listeners will be directed to register their names for the car giveaway of the week. The following Monday, Hannity will announce a contestant's name per hour. Listeners will have until 6:00a.m. the next morning to send the Hannity program an e-mail to confirm they've heard their name. At week's end, there will be 15 qualifiers for that week's car. The winner will be announced from those 15 qualifiers the next Monday. The same process will be executed for consecutive weeks to give away the remaining cars. Winners will have three cars to choose from each week. Winner options range from Cadillac Escalade to Chevrolet Corvette.


Media Business Report TM
Cox takes WBGB from amen to AM
Cox Radio's 7.7M acquisition of WBGB-FM from Salem is officially on the books, and the station has already taken on its new identity. It is not an identity which it can call its own, however. Cox has put the News-Talk format of WOKV-AM 690 on the 106.5 mHz facility. Market Manager Bill Hendrich said, "The acquisition of WBGB-FM has allowed us to expand the reach of WOKV's very successful AM News/Talk station. This simulcast represents a tremendous growth opportunity. We look forward to introducing the Cox Radio brand to our newest listeners in the Jacksonville market." Salem also recently announced the sale of its three Jacksonville AMs to Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting. Both of those companies feature members of the Epperson family among their principals.


Washington Media Business Report TM
FCC FM CP store again
open for business

124 brand spanking new FM stations-to-be are going on the auction block. Specifically, it's FM Auction No. 70, and the FCC is planning to be gavel the session into order 3/7/07. As a first step, the FCC is soliciting comments on procedural matters. Comments are being sought on the rules of the auction, including things like round structure, how and when it will be considered complete, payment, eligibility and activity matters, bid amounts, withdrawal rules, etc. Comments are due 10/5/06, and reply comments are due 10/13/06. Bid amounts range from 200K to 1.5K. The FCC always tips off which CPs it thinks are going to be the hot properties when it establishes the minimum opening bid for each station. Nine will start in the six-digit range. Clocking in at 200K are a Class A at Burgin KY; a Class A at Firth NE; a Class A at Pendleton SC; a Class A at Oliver Springs TN; and a Class A at Pigeon Forge TN. Starting at 150K are a Class A at Plainview GA; and a Class A at Hewitt TX. Kicking off at 120K are a Class A at St. Florian AL; and a Class C3 at Baird TX.


One On One
NAB CEO David Rehr
New Captain on deck at the NAB
Radio & Television Report Managing Editor Dave Seyler sat down with National Association of Broadcasters President/CEO David K. Rehr early in March. After briefly discussing children, Dr. Seuss and the truth of the story "Too Many Daves" in "The Sneetches and Other Stories," we moved on to the state of the broadcasting industry as he found it after three months on the job. Yesterday, David spoke about efforts to get CBS, NBC and FOX back in the NAB (9/21/06 TVBR #184).

Are there any plans, any movement in the efforts to get CBS, NBC and FOX back in?
We're actually reaching out to them. You know I can't give you a time that they're going to come back in but what I've told everybody here is let's anticipate that they will be back in which I believe they eventually will but let's also ensure that we're creating value for them.
| Read More... |


Entertainment Media Business Report TM
Sirius launching The Catholic Channel
The Archdiocese of New York and Sirius Satellite Radio announced The Catholic Channel will debut 9/26 exclusively on Sirius channel 159. The lifestyle radio channel will air nationally 7 days a week/24 hours a day, and will feature contemporary talk and live daily Mass from Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The Catholic Channel will feature a modern format with an open dialogue focused on Catholicism in the 21st century, especially as it is lived in today's world. Listeners will be encouraged to call in to talk about the issues that are on their mind and in the news - everything from what's happening in the Church today, to the headline stories of current events, and the latest in the world of entertainment, the arts and sports. Daily program hosts and guests will include members of the clergy and distinguished laity from across America.


Ratings & Research
Study: Radio holds 92% of lead-in audience during spot breaks
Radio ratings data from Arbitron's Portable People Meter and commercial occurrence data from Media Monitors indicate that the lowest rated minute during an average commercial break is 92% of the size of the audience before the spots began, according to a new study by Arbitron, Media Monitors and Coleman. "What Happens When the Spots Come On: The Impact of Commercials on the Radio Audience" is the first in a series of studies on the radio audience behavior during spot breaks. The study aims to dispel the belief among advertisers, agencies and radio executives that radio loses a considerable portion of its audience during commercial breaks. Arbitron, Media Monitors and Coleman analyzed 93,876 radio commercial breaks from November and December 2005 in Houston, comparing the audience level for each minute of a commercial break to the audience for the minute before the commercials began. Leslie Wood Research arrayed the data into discrete commercial pods/breaks by determining the date and start/stop times from Media Monitors. "This study shows that the long-held perception that listeners tune away from commercials in large numbers is simply not true. Radio does a remarkable job of holding its audience through commercial breaks," said Bill Rose, SVP/Marketing, Arbitron. "Radio's ability to hold onto 94% of its lead-in audience during commercial breaks in morning drive suggests greater listener engagement while people are starting their day and reinforces the value of advertising during radio's prime-time."

Key findings of the study
The lowest rated minute during an average commercial break in morning-drive is 94% of the lead-in audience. The high level of audience retention in the morning-drive daypart suggests greater listener engagement in the morning and substantiates the value of morning-drive inventory. The audience for one-minute breaks is nearly the same as the lead-in audience (99.6%), and the lowest rated minute in two-minute breaks is 94.7% of the audience prior to the spot break. The lowest rated minute during three-, four-, five- and six-minute breaks ranges from 87.7% to 89.4% of the lead-in audience. Radio audience levels do not drop significantly during the third, fourth, fifth and sixth minutes of a commercial break. While audience levels are higher during the first and second minutes of the longer break, they "level off" between the third and sixth minutes of a commercial break, as many listeners return to stations toward the end of stop sets. Younger listeners are more likely to tune out of commercials than older listeners. Even among younger listeners, however, radio audience levels remain very high during commercial breaks.

RBR observation: Ironically 92%-94% is pretty darn close to the level described last week by CBS-TV Research Guru David Poltrack for television (9/18/06 TVBR #181). He said for broadcast network primetime, tune out was about 5-6%. For cable, it was 11%. So for broadcast media in general, if people are viewing or listening to a program, the level of staying put is in the low to mid 90 percentile range. That's great news to bring to presentations, no doubt.


TVBR TV News

New study slams lack of
diversity in TV ownership

"In the landmark Prometheus v. FCC decision, the Third Circuit chastised the FCC for ignoring the issue of female and minority ownership," Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner and McGannon Communications Research Center Fellow Mark Cooper (who also works for the Consumer Federation of America). "But since 2003, the FCC has done very little to address the issue. The FCC has abdicated its responsibility to monitor and foster increased minority and broadcast ownership. In fact, the Commission cannot account for the actual state of female and minority ownership." So they decided to account for it, on the television side, in a report called "Out of the Picture: Minority & Female Ownership in the United States." The key findings: * Women make up 51% of population, but own only 4.97% of TV stations; * Minorities make up 33% of population, but own only 3.26% of TV stations; * Hispanics/Latinos make up 14% of population, but own only 1.11% of TV stations; * Blacks/African Americans make up 13% of population, but own only 1.3% of TV stations; * Asians make up 4% of population, but own only 0.44% of TV stations; * Non-Hispanic Whites own 76.6% of TV stations. The report notes that female and minority ownership issues are part of the redo of the 2003 effort, but charges that the FCC isn't even using data it has in its own possession properly. For example, they say in one report, stations owned by African American companies Radio One and Granite were missing from FCC stats. If the numbers aren't accurate, they wonder, how can the FCC begin to come up with a plan to improve them?


Transactions
50K KDDD AM & FM Dumas TX from North River Investments Inc. (Ken Ries, Chapter 78 Bankruptcy Trustee) to PBI LLC (Darrell Wait, Eddie Tubbs). 2K escrow, 48K note . LMA 4/1/06. [File date 9/8/06.]


Stock Talk
Nobody really was hammered, but...
Do we really have to talk about this? Radio companies having a good day on Wall Street included Cumulus and Emmis. They were flat. Lincoln National, which obviously has a few other businesses in its mix, gained 20 cents. Everybody else was down into the red zone. The good news, such as it is, that most everyone held the loss to under a dime.


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Thursday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

37.57

-0.29

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

23.06

-0.20

Beasley

BBGI

7.23

-0.02

Journal Comm.

JRN

11.04

-0.07

CBS CI. B CBS

28.25

-0.31

Lincoln Natl.

LNC

61.63

+0.20

CBS CI. A CBSa

28.30

-0.31

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

6.32

-0.04

Citadel CDL
9.59 -0.04

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

6.32

-0.05

Clear Channel

CCU

29.10

-0.18

Regent

RGCI

3.87

-0.01

Cox Radio

CXR

15.21

-0.24

Saga Commun.

SGA

7.95

-0.02

Cumulus

CMLS

9.87

unch

Salem Comm.

SALM

11.24

-0.21

Disney

DIS

30.71

-0.32

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

3.95

-0.01

Emmis

EMMS

11.94

unch

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

4.23

+0.03

Entercom

ETM

25.01

-0.38

Univision

UVN

34.37

-0.06

Entravision

EVC

7.44

-0.05

Westwood One

WON

7.31

-0.03

Fisher

FSCI

43.68

-0.24

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

13.51

-0.02

Gaylord

GET

45.12

-0.58

-

-

-

-

-


Bounceback

Send Us Your OpinionsWe want to
hear from you.

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

On Stern's rumored
"return" to free radio.

Every few months it seems that a number of stories appear about Stern returning to "Free Radio". I hear his Sirius show everyday, and he clearly has ZERO interest in free radio. The stories of his "return" are planted by free radio, and quietly disappear after a couple of days. His satellite audience continues to grow at twice the rate of XM, and by the end of 2006, Sirius will be in the black. As time goes on, and satellite radio spreads, free radio will become less and less relevant (as you well know). My advice is to sell you're stations now, because in a few years, they will be worth a fraction of their current value. IT'S OVER, DEAL WITH IT!

Lenny Freed




Below the Fold
One On One
NAB David Rehr
Part 3 Discusing Radio's Biggest issues today...

Ad Business Report
GM & Hannity partner for
"You're A Great American Car Give-Away" there will be 5...

Media Markets & Money
Cox takes WBGB from
Amen to AM for 7.7M acquisition of WBGB-FM from Salem...

Ratings & Research
Study: Radio holds 92%
Of lead-in audience during spot breaks...

Arbitrends

Arbitron
Market Results
| Cincinnati |
| Dallas |
| Denver |
| Houston |
| Minneapolis |
| Pittsburgh |

NBA Minute




Stations for Sale

Alaska 5 Station Cluster
All from same building
Great Group at 8X trailing BCF
Cliff at Clifton Gardiner & Co
(303)758-6900 [email protected]


Radio Media Moves

Radio One taps Bruce Demps as regional manager
As predicted in last Friday's RBR, Radio One announced it has hired Bruce Demps as Regional Manager of its Atlanta (WHTA-FM, WJZZ-FM, WPZE-FM, WAMJ-FM), Augusta (WTHB-AM, WAKB-FM, WAEG-FM, WTHB-FM, WFXA-FM,) and Miami (WTPS-AM) markets. He will report to Radio One's Chief Executive Officer and President, Alfred Liggins. Demps will be based in the Atlanta market. Mr. Demps is a 23 year vet of the radio business, spending the last 10 years with Clear Channel.

Emmis NY restructures Marketing Department
Emmis New York announced that effective immediately Brian D'Aurelio has been promoted to Senior Marketing Director. In his new role, D'Aurelio will oversee all marketing aspects for both CD101.9 (WQCD) and 98.7 KISS FM (WRKS). He most recently served as Director of Marketing for CD101.9. D'Aurelio's promotion follows that of Alex Cameron, who was recently named DOS for Emmis NY, and former HOT 97 FM (WQHT) Marketing Director Kevin Cox, who has now been named to a senior role in the station's sales department.




August RBR/TVBR
Digital Magazine

In August's RBR/TVBR Solutions Magazine:
* Hispanic media managers on ratings and audience trending.
* The explosion of Hispanic formats and networks.
* Denuo CEO, Publicis Media CIO Rashid Tobaccowala.
* Beth Comstock, President/Digital Media and Market Development, NBC Universal.
* One on One with David Kennedy.
* Magna Global CEO Bill Cella's days at WXYZ-TV.
* Jim Yager is out to do it all again.


Read RBR/TVBR in 2 simple steps:
1.Create a simple account with Zinio and download the Zinio Reader.
2. You can then download the
August Issue of RBR/TVBR


RBR Radar 2006
Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

No magic bullet for radio
Wall Street has a negative view of the radio business, but group heads in Wednesday's financial session at the NAB Radio Show in Dallas admit they don't see anything that will change that quickly. Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays says he is "trying to make lemonade out of lemons" by continuing to buy back stock. Greater Media CEO Peter Smyth thinks the key is for everyone to focus on improving the growth rate for radio. Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan credited that change in view to several years of low growth. The group heads disagreed a bit over why radio fell out of favor.

RBR observation: Groups heads had their say why radio is in trouble but the true reason from RBR perspective over the past three years is lack of RESPECT. Yes, Respect which radio has to regain in the eyes of not just Wall Street bean counters but at the Advertising level. Radio has taken a beating on negative press all over the place and nobody to blame but ourselves. Respect is what is First needed before Radio can Grow. Think about it.
09/21/06 RBR #184

Lenders still bullish on radio
The good news at the financial session to open the NAB Radio Show came in the panel with lenders, who say they still see plenty of reason to lend money for radio acquisitions, despite the difficulties of public companies on Wall Street. More details in
09/21/06 RBR #184

The new EOE:
Exposure, outrage, email
First came the revelation from Barbara Boxer that a suppressed 2004 FCC localism study had been unearthed, followed by the revelation that it had somehow survived destruction orders. Then came cries of protest from all corners of the far-flung anti-media consolidation universe. Now comes the inevitable click-and-send email campaign, aimed at the FCC.

RBR observation: Ouch! All we know is the Willie Sutton theory, which holds that if you're going to rob something, rob something that has money. RBR has pointed out a pile of money which pharmaceuticals are going to spend. Perhaps their product is one which would benefit from awareness above and beyond the professional medical community. Maybe you won't get the entire budget. In fact, you probably WON'T get the entire budget. But maybe you can get into the mix.
09/21/06 RBR #184

Boxer receives another
suppressed study
...and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has already ordered an internal investigation into the matter of the media ownership studies which seem to have been shelved while the FCC considered directly related rulemakings. Josh Silver of watchdog Free Press said, "This is a scandal. Apparently, FCC officials are willing to deep-six any research that contradicts industry's pro-consolidation claims. They can't be trusted...However, Martin, Powell and former Media Bureau Chief Ken Ferree have denied any knowledge of the reports (the first one, anyway), let alone having a role in their suppression.

RBR observation: We believe Martin when he said he had no clue as to the existence of these documents, and his swift action to address Boxer's concerns would also bear that out. He has expressed in the past a desire to clear the way for more local newspaper/broadcast combos, but we haven't heard any specific opinions one way or the other on the topic of upping local broadcast caps. This is definitely a stay tuned item.
09/20/06 RBR #183


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