RBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 22, Issue 2, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Tuesday Morning January 4th, 2005

Radio News®

JSAs have a short while to file
The Third Circuit, while at the very least delaying most of the FCC's 6/2/03 ownership ruling, did allow a few things to go into effect. One such new rule is making radio station joint sales agreements (JSA) attributable when calculating allowable cluster size caps in Arbitron-rated markets. The FCC is now calling in the paperwork on such agreements. All contracts concerning JSAs must be submitted to the Media Bureau by 2/22/05, where it will be placed in the appropriate license files. It will be available for public inspection at the Commission. Contracts for any future JSAs must be submitted within 30 days of execution. The requirement only affects radio stations in Arbitron-rated markets. Television stations and out-of-market radio stations are not obligated to file contracts. A rulemaking which may extend this requirement to television stations is under consideration, however, as are potential new rules for non-Arbitron radio stations. The FCC noted that JSAs which existed prior to the rule's effective date of 9/3/04 and result in an oversized cluster have a two-year grace period, and must be dissolved or otherwise brought into compliance by 9/3/06. JSAs struck between 9/3/04 and 1/3/05 have to be dissolved or brought into compliance within 90 days.

2004: Tough year for radio stocks
If you bet on a long-awaited revenue recovery to boost radio stocks in 2004, you may want to look into getting a new crystal ball. As we all know now, the tough times continued and investors turned away from radio stocks in droves. RBR's Radio Index fell 20% for the year and virtually all pure-play radio stocks finished 2004 down from where they began the year. The only exceptions were Beasley, which rose 6%, and Spanish Broadcasting System, which edged up less than 0.1%. Most multi-media companies also saw their stocks decline, although Disney rose 19% as ABC Television finally found a couple of hits and Michael Eisner announced plans to leave Disney following an unsuccessful hostile takeover bid by Comcast and a shareholders revolt which saw a 43% vote against Eisner. Meanwhile, satellite radio companies were Wall Street darlings as auto dealer sales boosted their subscriber numbers and both companies announced hundreds of millions in programming deals. Sirius shot up 141% for the year and XM 43%.

RBR observation: This is not a pretty sight. Worth saying again - tough times continued and investors turned away from radio stocks in droves. See the charts and hold on to your hair because if there is a reason to Go Private the numbers do not lie. | More... |

They said it in 2004: March
As the old year exits stage right and the new year makes its way to center stage, we thought we'd string together a compendium of quotes which appeared in RBR during the past year. Today: March 2004 and this one is a classic: "It was an interesting lunch with Hogan-a good lunch. It was in a wine cellar-I thought for a minute we were all walking in to sample 'The Cask of Amontillado.' John was going to get us all down there and brick us in!"-- Matt Feinberg, SVP/National Radio, Zenith Media Services | More... |

Citadel CEO Farid Suleman wants 200K from Stern
Citadel still has not restored Howard Stern to its stations in Grand Rapids, Syracuse, Providence, New Bedford and Harrisburg after his return from vacation. Opie and Anthony continue on WAQX-FM Syracuse and afternoon host Nipsey has moved to mornings at WQXA-FM Harrisburg. Stern said yesterday on his show that Citadel CEO Farid Suleman was "a weird dude" and is asking for a 200,000 buck reimbursement from Stern for continual mentioning of Sirius on his show. "It's like Fahrid has lost his mind or something. It's like he's on a Jihad of his own," Stern said of Suleman. Suleman also served notice to Stern's agent/syndicator Don Buchwald that Citadel is not canceling the show, but is taking a break for now.

Religious right putting senators in the crosshairs?
Focus on the Family, James Dobson's conservative Religious broadcasting outfit which supplies TV and radio programming, is threatening to target Democratic senators who stand in the way of any of President George W. Bush's judicial nominations. He as much as claimed the scalp of defeated Tom Daschle (D-SD), and said others, especially those from red states, may suffer the same fate, according to the Associated Press. One of those mentioned, Bill Nelson (D-FL), is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee. The others are Mark Drayton (D-MN), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Robert Byrd (D-WV).

Sirius breaks one million sub barrier
Santa was good to Sirius Satellite Radio. The company reports that it achieved its goal of reaching one million subscribers by the end of 2004. In fact, it had subscribers to spare - - hitting 1.1 million subs. "While we were looking to finish the year with 1 million subscribers, we are very pleased to have significantly exceeded that number. The combination of our innovative products, diverse content and greater awareness of the Sirius brand, along with strong growth from the retail and automotive channels, contributed to a better-than-expected year-end figure," said CEO Mel Karmazin. The new CEO is vowing to double that number in 2005, so the target for this year has been set at 2.2 million.

Adbiz©

Agent155 launches NYC subway effort
Agent155 Media Group San Diego, which provides multimedia content management tools providing exposure, networking and collaboration opportunities to models, performers, artists, athletes, musicians, filmmakers and agencies, announced it will implement an campaign mid-January through Viacom targeting commuters utilizing the New York City subway system. Says Christopher Martinez, Agent155 CEO: "We have been planning diligently with Viacom's team to put together a targeted ad campaign in the New York city subway system that will receive over 130 million impressions over the 30 days it will run. The ads will be displayed in the subway cars and on the platforms. We feel that this exposure will greatly impact our penetration to our targeted demographic, as well as generate immediate revenue from subscriptions, in one of the most progressive artistic and entertainment cities on the planet.'' Agent155 Media Group will continue its advertising and marketing throughout the U.S. and Europe over the coming months. "We are planning a London Tube campaign similar to the NYC program,'' Martinez added. "Reaching our demographic with our message is the most important aspect of our media campaign. We feel our efforts to date have been extremely effective and will continue to build our user base and subscription revenues moving forward.''

Office Depot
"Taking Care of Business"
with new branding campaign
Office Depot is reintroducing its brand to business customers with a number of initiatives and new internal and external positioning under the "Taking Care of Business" umbrella. New positioning includes a new tag, a new just-launched campaign and a new sports sponsorship platform. The new campaign brings forward the Taking Care of Business tag and selling proposition. New television and radio ads focus on how Office Depot is the partner that successful business people depend on to provide the essential tools they need to get the job done right. Another initiative is the company's new alliance with NASCAR. As part of a multi-year sponsorship agreement, Office Depot becomes the sport's first-ever "Official Office Products Partner." New initiatives, to be announced in the near future, will focus on four key areas: Value, Selection, Quality and Service - - and will include the introduction of exclusive product offerings, enhancements to the Advantage Rewards program, more frequent training and support, valuable supplemental services and expanded environmental stewardship. Office Depot employees returning to work after the holidays are being greeted by a new internal brand positioning program dubbed "Taking Care of Business. Taking Care of You." The program - - communicated through posters, banners and other signage; website messaging; videos; and collateral pieces - - highlights all of the ways in which the company supports and encourages employee development, rewards performance and provides the resources necessary for success.

February Radio & Television Business Report

"The Pros and Cons of Nielsen's Local People Meter and Arbitron's proposed Portable People Meter service"
After a rocky start, it's roll-out time of LPM & PPM. Will there be cooperation or more talk?

Engineered for Profit: "New tower standards coming: are you ready?" Did you know existing standards is currently in the midst of the biggest revision in years?

GM talkback: "How has LPM ratings changed selling in your market?" TV GMs say what they think-the good, bad and the ugly.

Media, Markets, and Money: Only one place tells it like it is with a run-down and overview of the biggest quarterly Radio and TV deals and outlook to 2005.

Media Markets & MoneyTM

Wolfhouse goes but Villalobos stays
A double deal has been struck for a superduopoly in Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz which carries a face value of 14.5M. And for a few hundred thousand more, the seller is coming with the stations. Wolfhouse Radio Group is the seller - - it is selling KTGE-AM, KRAY-FM, KHDV-FM and KMJV-FM for 12M dollars, and KEBV-FM for 2.5M dollars. In each case, the buyer is Latin Entertainment Network's LEN Radio Broadcasting, headed by Anthony M. Hernandez and Scott E. Wood. LEN is based in Orlando FL, so it probably makes a lot of sense to hire the seller to run the stations. Hector Villalobos has a three year employment contract which gives him the title Regional VP, and provides for annual compensation of 120K plus bonuses, commission and other benefits. The contract can be extended beyond that with the mutual agreement of both parties.

Wilks adds into Fresno
The Wilks Broadcast Group is making sure that there is no grace period on station trading in 2005 - - it is getting an FM trio in Arbitron's #68 market, Fresno, in a deal with Mondosphere Broadcasting. Michael Bergner, who represented the buyer, told RBR that Wilks is part of equity firm Wicks Group of Companies. The value of the deal was not disclosed. "We are very excited about taking over the operations of these radio stations," said Jeff Wilks. "We look forward to building on the broadcasting excellence already established in Fresno by Mondosphere Broadcasting and working together with the staff to continue their success."

XM converts debt to equity
XM Satellite Radio informed the SEC that it has converted 98.1 million bucks in 14% senior secured discount notes (due 2009) to 2,737,350 shares of XM common stock. The company didn't identify the holder who agreed to cash in the high-interest bonds. The exchange rate worked out to 35.84 per share, which is a slight discount to XM's recent trading price.

Washington Beat

A-O, you still owe
The FCC is sticking to its guns in the case of A-O Broadcasting's KTMN-FM in Cloudcroft NM. The station was hit for 25K (reduced from 28K) for a number of violations, chief among them exceeding RF radiation limits, with the potential for excessive exposure to the public. A second protest from A-O (the first resulted in the 3K discount) was rejected. Among the claims shot down by the FCC is entrapment. The FCC said such a claim is available in criminal or quasi-criminal matters, but is not available in a administrative proceeding involving public safety. However, they noted that FCC agents did nothing to provoke the licensee into committing its violations. The FCC noted that this is the first time it has assessed a fine for an RFR exposure limit violation.

Programming

Infinity launches "Spike Radio" in Vegas
The ultimate Sports and Talk hybrid? The first network for men has branched out to radio. Spike TV and Infinity launched Spike Radio, a new radio brand geared specifically to men on KSFN-AM Las Vegas. "Spike 1140 AM - Radio For Men" features Vegas favorites Tom Leykis, "Don and Mike" and "The Big Johnson Show." The station also broadcasts Dodgers baseball, USC Trojan football, and NFL Doubleheader Sunday. Coming soon, the station will add The Sporting News Network to the lineup. Also, Spike TV will produce brief segments weekdays on men's issues focusing on health, fitness, lifestyle, and the cable net's programs. "In such a short time, Spike TV has made an impact on guys and the television landscape," says Albie Hecht, Spike TV President. "We're very excited about extending our brand into radio, and hope this venture will lead us to partnerships in other major cities."

Transactions

KYKC-FM Byng OK from Central Oklahoma Communications Co. to The Chickasaw Nation.

WYKK-FM Quitman MS from Quitman Broadcasting Company to Educational Media Foundation.

| More... |

Stock Talk

New Year begins with a whimper
Wall Street traders apparently resolved to begin the New Year by thinning their portfolios, so with little news to steer the markets, stock prices slipped on Monday. Media stocks were particularly hard hit, with Credit Suisse First Boston downgrading newspaper companies. The Dow Industrials fell 54 points for the session, or 0.5%, to 10,729.

The Radio Index was off 2.594, or 1.1%, to 227.259. Citadel dropped 4.1%, perhaps because the company dropped Howard Stern from its stations, setting the stage for likely litigation. Cumulus was off 2.9%.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Monday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		39.01	-0.17	Jeff-Pilot	JP		51.00	-0.96
Beasley	BBGI		17.66	+0.13	Journal Comm.	JRN		17.80	-0.27
Citadel	CDL		15.52	-0.66	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		16.14	+0.04
Clear Channel	CCU		32.90	-0.59	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		16.10	-0.02
Cox Radio	CXR		16.22	-0.26	Regent	RGCI		5.21	-0.09
Cumulus	CMLS		14.65	-0.43	Saga Commun.	SGA		16.75	-0.10
Disney	DIS		27.85	+0.05	Salem Comm.	SALM		25.12	+0.17
Emmis	EMMS		18.97	-0.22	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		7.48	-0.14
Entercom	ETM		35.20	-0.69	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		10.44	-0.12
Entravision	EVC		8.32	-0.03	Univision	UVN		28.84	-0.43
Fisher	FSCI		48.50	-0.38	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		37.27	+0.19
Gaylord	GET		42.00	+0.47	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		36.64	+0.25
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		26.03	-0.28	Westwood One	WON		26.65	-0.28
Interep	IREP		0.77	+0.02	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		36.20	-1.42
International Bcg.	IBCS		0.02	unch	-	-	-	-	-

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Arbitrends

Upped & Tapped

New Zoo-keeper
in NYC
Carolina Bermudez, formerly of WHYI-FM Miami, has jumped to fellow Clear Channel station WHTZ-FM New York as co-host with Elvis Duran of the "Z Morning Zoo."

An Artistic NSM
Carrie McCaffery, a 23-year veteran of WNDV South Bend, IN, has been named National Sales Manager for four of Artistic Media's stations in South Bend and two in Fort Wayne. Russ Dodge will continue to handle national sales for the company's other two markets, in addition to his duties as Regional Sales Manager for Artistic Media's 14 stations in Indiana.

New Year changes
in Maine
Clear Channel Radio has promoted its Director of Sales for Maine, Larry Julius, to Market Manager in Bangor. Also, Bangor GSM Kelly Slater has been named Market Manager for CC Radio's stations in the Augusta and Rockland, ME markets.

Ditmer heads to Dayton
Former Westwood One Metro Networks Minneapolis/St. Paul GM Dean Ditmer has been named General Manager of Sinclair Broadcast Group's WKEF-TV (Ch. 22, ABC) Dayton. He'll also oversee LMA'd WRGT-TV (Ch. 45, Fox).

More News Headlines

"Good Day" adds National
Radio Network

Chuck Harder moves to
TalkStar Radio

Metro Networks partners with Code Amber to increase Amber Alert exposure

TVBR - TV News

TiVo goes mobile
Digital video recorders are no longer confined to home viewing. TiVo has announced new software - - TiVoToGo - - which allows users to take video programs with them on their laptop computers. There is no additional charge to subscribers for the new software. "We're all about delivering lifestyle benefits to our subscribers. Consumers don't want to be tied to their living room to watch their favorite entertainment," said Matt Wisk, TiVo's chief marketing officer. TiVo said it has "carefully designed" the TiVoToGo service enhancement to respect the copyrights of copy-protected content while offering flexibility to its subscribers. Programming that is protected with Macrovision copy protection - - including PPV, VOD and commercial DVDs - - will not be transferable to a laptop.

TVBR observation: Here's another reason why TV executives are anxious to see Nielsen move to a passive portable meter for ratings, such as Arbitron's Portable People Meter. But this is also merely another step toward the day when wireless broadband will make programming available just about anywhere - - making every Internet video site a competitor to local TV stations. Get ready. Change is coming fast.

RBR Radar 2005

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

They said it in 2004: February
Old year exits stage right with a compendium of quotes here's one to ponder "I'm sure in some way it was planned, because somehow it really seemed that way...."
RBR observation: Can you really believe people said this stuff.
01/03/05 RBR #1

Senate Dems look to
assert themselves in 2005
Faced with breaking in a new leader in the wake of the election defeat of Tom Daschle (D-SD), and they'll be doing so with the smallest contingent in decades. Only 44 Democratic senators will be facing 55 Republicans. Dissatisfied with Republican oversight of the Bush administration, the Dems have vowed to conduct oversight hearings of their own as they feel the need. Here is where it gets interesting for broadcasters. One of the go-to senators on this project is the very active Byron Dorgan (D-ND). "The Congressional watchdog remains fast asleep, and we intend to wake it up," 01/03/05 RBR #1

They said it in 2004:
Special Super Bowl edition
Nipplegate incident immediate aftermath of Janet Jackson's infamous wardrobe malfunction.
RBR observation: TA DUM with words of wisdom pour from mouths like - "I am outraged - I am shocked - We were extremely disappointed - CBS deeply regrets", and RBR loves this one - "If you sleep with dogs you'll get fleas." Wow, see what we have to look forward to in a few weeks with Super Bowl 39. Hey, who won Super Bowl 38? DA?
12/29/04 RBR #251

They said it in 2004: January
Joel Hollander, David Kantor, Natalie Swed Stone, Gary Fries, Mark Mays and Michael Powell had interesting quotes in January 2004. They spoke their peace and we shall see the pattern evolve into what is faced in 2005 as this quote is one of many - "I just don't see it as a significant threat to what we do." - - Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan discussing satellite radio.
12/28/04 RBR #250

VP/Programming for The Dr. Laura Show
Take On The Day, Inc., by Geoff Rich and Dr. Laura Schlessinger looking for an experienced PD to manage and market The Dr. Laura Show. Experience in talk radio programming, marketing and media relations. Based in L.A. Confidentiality respected. EOE

Major Market
Affiliate Director
Take On The Day, Inc. newly formed radio network producing and distribution of The Dr. Laura Show beginning 01/ 1/05. Candidate must have major market affiliate sales experience with Talk format. Cover letter, resume and salary requirements - Confidentiality respected. EOE

See Radio Careers for more info.

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