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NewEng Collegetown FM
Highly profitable AC station w. Red Sox rights, owned tower, only signal in market. Asking 8.5x trailing BCF: 950K. Inquiries 781-848-4201 or
e-mail: [email protected]
WEB: radiostationsforsale.net

Florida Resort FM
Immediate ownership opportunity; partner retiring. Sale or equity investor, terms available. Rated market, high growth area. Excellent facility. Meet at NAB/Charlotte
E-mail: [email protected]

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Contact
June Barnes
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Back in
the Zona
Spanish Broadcasting System's WCMQ-FM "Clásica 92.3 FM" Miami yesterday brought back popular DJ Javier Ceriani to "Zona Cero," the station's popular morning show. SBS says the return was "of Biblical proportions," as Ceriani and the show's producers tried to re-create their own Noah's Ark with two flare tigers, a Capuchin ape, a crocodile and the goat "Ifalina."

Going out on top
Yesterday was the last day on the air for Jeff Pigeon, who had hosted mornings on Emmis' WIBC-AM Indianapolis since 1988. Pigeon announced Friday that he had decided to hang up his headphones before listeners grew tired of him, as the Indianapolis Star reported. Pigeon said his departure was by mutual agreement with Emmis. Co-host Terri Stacy will now fly solo, backed up by sports reporter Jake Query and the WIBC news team.

Job swap at NPR
Andrea Seabrook, who has served as reporter and substitute host for NPR News since 2001, has joined "All Things Considered" as its weekend host. For the past four years, Seabrook has covered Congress for NPR News programs, most recently as Congressional Correspondent. Seabrook swaps jobs with Debbie Elliott, who has been named Congressional Correspondent after serving as weekend host of ATC since September 2005.

US ad growth to slow before Olympics;
then a boost for TV
Growth in the US ad market here in the US will slow this year due to the credit squeeze and a housing slump, ZenithOptimedia said in its quarterly report yesterday. ZO cut its US growth forecast for 2007 to 2.5% from 3.3%, reflecting the sharp drop in property and construction advertising. But ZO said the whole industry would benefit in 2008 from the Beijing Olympics and predicted the games would help lift TV's share of the global ad market to a record 38.2% that year. ZO said TV would increase its share of global ad spending to 38.2% from 37.9% in 2007. Coverage of the Olympics would give an extra boost to television, particularly in China and its neighbors, despite the medium losing market share in many countries in North America and western Europe.

In 2008 ZO expects television's share of ad expenditure to fall 0.3 percentage points to 32.4% in North America, and 0.5% percentage points to 30.4% in western Europe. The group also again revised upwards its forecast for Internet ad growth to 29.9% this year, from an estimate of 28.6% made three months ago. It expects 85% growth between 2006 and 2009. Online video and local search are the new, fast-growing segments, but display, classified and the rest of search advertising was still growing rapidly. ZO expects Internet advertising to account for 9.5% of all expenditure in 2009, fractionally up from the 9.4% ZO forecast three months ago. Newspapers are expected to suffer as a result of the Internet growth, with the medium's share of world ad expenditure predicted to fall to 26.2% by 2009 from 29% in 2006.

Arbitron willing
to work with NYC
Arbitron isn't shutting down the Portable People Meter panel it just fired up in pre-currency mode in the New York market, as demanded by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (10/1/07 RBR #191). But the ratings company says "we appreciate" the interest of the city government in the new PPM service. "We are more than willing to present to the Council a complete review of our panel recruitment methods, the composition of the sample and how we apply the two statistical disciplines of random sampling and of weighting to ensure the validity of the Portable People Meter ratings as well as to ensure that all segments of the population are properly represented in the Portable People Meter surveys," Arbitron said in a statement sent to RBR late yesterday.

Publisher Perspective
NAB 2007 and Radio's Future
"No time to either sing praise or be critical but the time is now to think about the balance of the decade." This observation was from the NAB 2005 Philly convention. Since '05 nothing has changed and no less improved. The leaders I talked with spoke and looked real tired because during the past 5 to 7 years they have created no value for their shareholders - investors and it has beaten them down. (more in this RBR report)
10/01/07 RBR #191

Guidance for 2008
to 2010 and start now
If you sit and wait for someone else to do the heavy lifting for you then it is easier to just pucker up and plant your lips on the back of a tailpipe and breath in. If you did not experiment this year with ideas then do so now. Point 1. HD and Websites must be established as separate divisions inside your organization. Point 6. End Cluster Management and Programming. 1 GM and 1 PD can not do it all well. (more in this RBR report)
10/01/07 RBR #191

Small market radio is sizzling!
There was no gloom and doom Friday at the "Small market frenzy, boom or bust" panel at the NAB Radio Show. Small market operators are excited about growing revenues from lots of local accounts.

RBR observation: This was certainly a different atmosphere from when the big market group operators were talking last week. The kind of fun radio that attracted most of us to the business still exists in small markets. The one big complaint heard at the small market session was about people. It is just so hard to hire, train and motivate good sales people in small markets.
10/01/07 RBR #191

PPM pushback in NYC
The NY Post reports City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and a group of her colleagues Friday urged a listener-research group to ditch PPM as the new way of monitoring New Yorkers' radio habits-saying the method will skew results against minority-audience stations. The latest episode is similar to the uproar when Nielsen was planning to use new technology to measure audiences.

RBR observation: Arbitron offered no comment at deadline, however, the studies Arbitron has released so far on measuring minority listening with PPM indicate the numbers have actually improved. Indeed, PPM isn't perfect, but it's better. "Crying the PPM wolf"
10/01/07 RBR #191

Radio 2020 launched in Charlotte
The joint effort by NAB, RAB and the HD Digital Alliance was kicked off by NAB President David Rehr, calling it "our roadmap to building radio's future." One key goal is to make sure "broadcast signals are available on every gadget, everywhere." The 13-year effort to re-brand and reignite radio as the industry reaches its 100th anniversary was built on research commissioned from Kelly O'Keefe, a noted expert in brand strategy. Other primary goals of Radio 2020 include innovation to meet changing consumer demands and reigniting consumer interest in radio.

RBR observation: Early in his speech, Rehr noted something we've heard from many of our readers. Why use the term "terrestrial radio?" As he correctly noted, that doesn't mean anything to consumers and doesn't accurately describe radio anyway. It is important for radio to frame the debate when radio broadcasting is discussed on Capitol Hill. That's Rehr's job and he seems to be the right guy for the job. But reigniting consumer excitement about radio is up to you, operating in your community. Innovation is still rare, but it sounds to us that the opportunity is much like the early days of FM's assent. Want a new channel that will appeal to the hard to attract 18-25 demo? Why not give some of the 18-25 year olds at your station free-rein (within FCC rules, of course) to program an HD2 channel? What they come up with might surprise you. And it might even make you some money down the road as enough HD receivers get into the market to reach critical mass.
09/28/07 RBR #190

2008 looking very different
for Radio and TV
Is 2008 "a year in the balance" for radio? Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller asked that question at the financing session that kicked off the NAB Radio Show in Charlotte. For the first time since radio deregulation in 1996, TV stocks now trade at a higher average EBITDA multiple than radio stocks. That's come about because the average pure-play TV stock is up 35% this year, while the average radio stock (excluding Clear Channel and Cumulus, who have buyout deals to go private) is down 30%. The best Miller could say for radio, though, is that it may have to deal with fewer negatives in 2008. Satellite radio is dealing with its own problems. Mainstream operators who have seen ratings and revenues shift to radio groups focused on Hispanic and Urban formats stand to bounce back as PPM rolls out to more markets.
09/27/07 RBR #189

Affiliate Sales Rep
WOR Radio Network's (WRN) needs an exec with Passion for Talk Radio. Self-starter w/ 2-5 yrs experience. Work independently and achieve goals to increase market coverage and audience delivery for our Nationally Syndicated programming. Business is about relationships and candidate with strong database in Talk Radio will win big time. Offering competitive salary + commission plan, health insurance and 401K. WRN is the place to be to succeed with stability. See Radio Careers

General Manager
Midwest & Life is good with this Small-Medium cluster in rated market. Top Aggressive, community minded GM needed. We're reentering ownership so don't be concerned that you're already working for us. Have a track record of performance, strong on sales and ideas. Ability to get the most out of a talented staff. Tired of the corporate jungle and want to work in real radio. This GM post for the person with Radio Passion. See Radio Careers

General Sales Manager
America's Legendary CHR station, KDWB, looking for a world class GSM to lead a talented sales team! We have 5 questions for our next GSM to answer. If you can say Yes to some or all then lets talk. A college degree is preferred with two years related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education/experience. Clear Channel's KDWB, EEO--Hey, it doesn't get any better than this. See Radio Careers

Hard finding that key person
to fill the important position at your organization? Media HeadHunters is the place that key media firms use to get results. See Media HeadHunters and get results with service.

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