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Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 25, Issue 201, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Tuesday Morning October 14th, 2008
RADIO NEWS ®
wffoothill.com

The silver lining of recession
A professor says that a deep and prolonged recession will be good for some entertainment businesses, and the top of his list are traditional broadcast television and radio. The reason? No admission charge and no subscription charge. When people are counting their pennies, entertainment options that involve a ticket or any other kind of bill will be avoided. That's good for free broadcasting. Newspapers are going to face more trouble

RBR observation: On the theory that every silver lining has a cloud, we have to wonder if there will be any advertisers out there ready and able to take advantage of a burgeoning free broadcast audience. But if he's right, the age-old head-butting rivalry between broadcast and print may shift to a lower gear.

Fairness warnings still in the air
Even though there has been no steady drumbeat to revive the Fairness Doctrine that we are aware of, there has been a steady drumbeat opposing such a move. The latest rimshot appeared in an opinion piece from Michael Barone that details the aggressive media pushback strategy being used by the campaign of Barack Obama.

RBR observation: Barone mentions only one Congressional Democrat by name, David Obey (D-WI), and notes that Obey opposes a return of the Doctrine. He doesn't mention anybody in favor of bringing it back. There is a lot of smoke from opponents of reinstatement, but as yet we still aren't seeing much fire from proponents...

www.goviero.com

CBS Radio cuts staffers in LA
Last Friday afternoon the pink slips were flying at CBS Radio in LA-some 22 from what we've heard. Especially hard hit were anchors, reporters and producers at News stations KNX-AM and KFWB-AM. KFWB news bureaus in Long Beach and Orange County were also reportedly shut down as part of the cutbacks.

Howard Stern loses listeners, sway on Sirius XM
An LA Times story says Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed King of All Media, has lost his crown. The shock jock's syndicated morning radio show once drew a national audience of 12 million, but since jumping to satellite radio three years ago, his listeners have dwindled to a fraction of that. "Where once Stern routinely commanded a parade of Hollywood's hottest stars -- George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Julia Roberts -- today publicists are left to tout studio appearances by the likes of Chevy Chase, Joan Rivers or Hulk Hogan."

RBR observation: Could it just be that he's become stale? Could it just be that his free-reign of expletives and vulgar language has just left people bored? Sometimes the appeal in radio is saying things that adults know the meaning of that both passes FCC muster and kids don't understand. Stern's "sicko radio" just isn't entertaining anymore. He was more fun and entertaining when he had to watch what he said! And if you want a better laugh just scroll down to the Radio Stocks and see the big time price of Sirius XM stock.

HipCricket

ONLY ON RBR.COM
Ideas Working Now
Leaving the Lead Story Out of Show Opens
by Graeme Newell
A great proportion of any show open tease will usually be dedicated to the lead story. Focusing on the stories of the day is admirable, but often times the lead story may not be your most promotable component. Do your best to provide unique and unexpected coverage of the big story of the day. However, if your lead story content is not unexpected, look for other stories to promote. You always want to tease the best components of a show. Regardless of its location in the newscast, find the story that best whets the viewer's appetite. Often times, that story may not be the lead...
 

AD BUSINESS REPORT

ZenithOptimedia slows global ad spend growth to 4.3%
Revising downwards its earlier forecast of a 6.6% global ad spend growth for 2008, ZenithOptimedia has said that an overall slowdown will mean a lower growth at 4.3% for the year. "Though the bank failures will have a fairly small direct effect on advertising expenditure since financial advertising contributes only about 4% of global advertising expenditure, fears for the future will cause consumers to cut their spending, while companies carefully inspect their budgets to find cost savings," the report said.

Carat names Martin Cass President in US
Executive Vice President Martin Cass has been named President of the US operation. Cass, who has 20 years of experience in the media and marketing communications industry, had been running Carat's P&G business globally. In addition, Cass was serving as Head of Communications Planning for Carat in the US.

www.rlradio.com

MEDIA MARKETS & MONEY

West North Carolina deal revisited
We have word from Receiver George Reed that the deal sending six radio stations in unrated portions of western North Carolina is not a bankruptcy, as we reported Monday. The 2.325M deal sending two AMs and four FMs to Donald W. Curtis Jr. kind of looks like one, though. Here's how they spelled it out in the contract. The deal is pursuant to a case heard in the General Court of Justice Superior Court Division for Buncombe County NC. The case, Branch Banking and Trust Company v. Aisling Broadcasting of Banner Elk, resulted in the receivership order and eventually the sale to Curtis's High Country Adventures. It is subject to overbid, with a requirement that such an offer beat Curtis by at least $85K.

 

TRANSACTIONS

$290K KYMN-AM Northfield MN from Ingstad Brothers Broadcasting LLC (Thomas E. Ingstad) to Northfield Media Inc. (Jeff Johnson). $25K earnest money, balance in cash at closing. LMA 10/1/08. [FCC file date 9/17/08]

$150K KIOU-AM Shreveport LA from Metropolitan Radio Group Inc. (Mark L. Acker) to Capital City Radio Corporation, a subsidiary of Wilkins Parent Group (Robert L. Wilkins, Luann Wilkins). $7.5K escrow, balance in cash at closing. [FCC file date 9/16/08]

www.bia.com

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WASHINGTON BUSINESS REPORT
Are 3rd parties raising the electoral Barr?
The left-right battle lines are clearly drawn in the contest between John McCain and Barack Obama, but both have gadflies on their flanks that could siphon off votes and damage prospects in key states were polls show a tight race. To Obama's left is now perennial candidate Ralph Nader, who many credit/blame with tipping the 2000 Florida results, and the entire election, to George W. Bush. But this time, there's a relatively strong candidate to the right of McCain, Libertarian and former Rep. Bob Barr. An article at the Rasmussen Polls website notes that each 3rd party candidate is a constant threat to grab a percent of the vote here or there, and it just may be enough to cost one or the other major party candidate a victory in a key state.

RBR observation:
All of which means the pressure will remain on McCain and Obama to keep pouring money into battlegrounds, not only to grab undecided voters but also to shore up members of the base who may be prone to stray toward the fringe candidates. But who are we kidding? That spending was probably going to keep flowing anyway.
www.sesac.com

INTERNET BUSINESS REPORT

FCC clears path for free wireless internet
T-Mobile USA isn't happy about it, but FCC engineers say that a theoretical free wireless internet service can safely co-exist with T-Mobile's 3G wireless service, which consumers have to pay for. With interference concerns brushed aside, spectrum may go to auction sometime next year. The winner would have to provide service to 50% of the nation within four years and 95% within ten.

RBR observation: A place we've vacationed at has free wireless internet. It is absolutely a great thing for tourists, most of whom seem to drag a laptop with them wherever they go these days. The service was supported by local advertisers who want the tourists to be aware of their existence. This isn't our area, but it seems to us that making such a service universal is bound to generate some pushback from commercial providers, though. We'll be watching.

 

WALL STREET BUSINESS REPORT
Redstone lightens hold on CBS/Viacom
CBS/Viacom honcho Sumner Redstone has sold $233M in non-voting stock held by his National Amusements, reportedly to meet loan covenants. This was just over half of the anticipated $400M sell-off widely reported last Friday 11/10/08. Wachovia's Marci Ryvicker counseled caution when thinking about this stock due to the uncertain advertising environment, but noted that the companies have attributes that make it worth keeping an eye on.
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RADIO STOCKS
A great day for Wall Street, and radio too
The Dow was up a whopping 936 points yesterday, finally. Radio stocks saw a great day as well, with big leaps that included Disney up 3.68; Cumulus up .93 and Lincoln National up 2.43.

Here's how stocks fared on Monday

Company
Symbol
Close
Chng
Company
Symbol
Close
Chng

Arbitron*

ARB

40.00

+0.02

Fisher

FSCI

39.55

+3.52

Beasley*

BBGI

2.00

+0.31

Google

GOOG

381.02

+52.04

CBS CI. B
CBS

8.74

+0.64

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

15.80

+0.91

CBS CI. A
CBSa

8.97

+0.48

Journal Comm.

JRN

3.04

+0.54

Citadel*
CDL
0.37
+0.02

Lincoln Natl.

LNC

26.38

+2.43

CC Media

CCMO

7.00

-1.00

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

0.62

-0.14

Cox Radio*

CXR

8.00

+0.25

Radio One, Cl. D*

ROIAK

0.36

-0.03

Cumulus*

CMLS

2.68

+0.93

Regent*

RGCI

0.65

-0.12

Debut Bcg.

DBTB

0.10

-0.02

Saga Commun.*

SGA

4.92

+0.32

Disney

DIS

26.72

+3.68

Salem Comm.*

SALM

1.17

+0.15

Emmis*

EMMS

0.90

+0.19

Sirius XM

SIRI

0.51

+0.11

Entercom*

ETM

2.87

+0.42

Spanish Bcg.*

SBSA

0.32

+0.03

Entravision

EVC

1.80

0.00

Westwood One*

WON

0.34

+0.03

*Component of the RBR Radio Index
 
Bouncebacks

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Below the Fold

Only on RBR.com
Leaving the Lead Story

Out of Show Opens

Ad Business Report
ZenithOptimedia

Slows global ad spend growth
to 4.3%, revising downwards
its earlier forecast

Media, Markets & Money
West North Carolina

Deal revisited, deal sending 6
in unrated portions of western
NC is not a bankruptcy

www.cavellmertz.com


www.patcomm.com

Media Moves

Fleming to VP
Dial Global President of Sales, Eileen Decker announced the promotion of Tom Fleming, Dial Global's Midwest Market Manager, to Vice President, Midwest Sales. Fleming has been part of the growth of Dial Global since 2001 when he started working as a Sales Associate for Global Media in the Chicago office.

Hat trick for McGregor
At least it looks to us that Janet McGregor is going to need a lot of hats as she pursues her new responsibilities as Chief Operating and Financial Officer for the National Association of Broadcasters. She'll be in charge of: operations and investments for the nation's premier broadcaster advocacy group, not to mention overseeing the following departments: Conventions and Business Operations, Science and Technology, Information Technology and Administration. Oh, and they also want her to bring in new members from the radio and television communities.

Reeve moves
over and up

At the Cox radio cluster in Orlando, WMMO-FM LSM Shane Reeve is out. But not far out - he's now at sister WHTQ-FM, and with a promotion to GSM reflected on his new business cards.

BE ups Eric Power
Joseph Roark, CEO of Broadcast Electronics (BE), appointed Eric Power to the new position of Manager, Mechanical and PCB Design. Effective immediately, Power is responsible for BE's radio broadcast transmitter mechanical and printed circuit board design activities. He is a six-year employee of BE.


www.eastlanratings.com


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

New York files
suit against Arbitron

If Arbitron loses, this will hurt broadcasters in the long run because the media agencies want PPM as the currency--they've said it time and time again...
10/13/08 RBR #200

What is Reasonable Access?
Question that comes up again and again every political season is: to whom do I have to sell time? There are reasons for not wanting to carry some spots, for example...
10/13/08 RBR #200

Canary's mineshaft
song not pretty

Jeff Smulyan continues to insist that radio is suffering from a perception problem.

RBR observation:
Radio's relatively inexpensive rates compared to other media, coupled with the fact that it is doing a better job of holding its audience than is the newspaper industry, could fuel somewhat of a renaissance if general economic indicators continue to trend down. View the Smulyan video...
10/13/08 RBR #200

Product placements not created equal
Marketers and advertisers seeking to make the most out of slashed budgets will find some groups are more influenced by product placements than others.
10/13/08 RBR #200

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