RBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 21, Issue 209, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Tuesday Morning October 26th, 2004

Radio News®

Activists mobilizing to influence FCC
The FCC has been getting an unprecedented earful from the public on both the media consolidation and indecency fronts - - a tidal wave of opinion which shows no sign of abating. And the increasingly imminent DTV transition figures to add a third stream of comment. The Public Interest, Public Airwaves Coalition wants the FCC to make sure that commercial broadcasters up their commitment to serving the public interest when using new digital capabilities, in particular multicasting. The FCC has already issued recommendations along these lines, including a dramatic increase in the amount of children's programming multicasters must provide on a weekly basis. In a letter to the Seattle Times by Common Cause President Chellie Pingree and Center for Creative Voices in Media President Jonathan Rintels, the activists said, "...this time, [FCC Chairman Michael K.] Powell must let the public weigh in on the fundamental question of what constitutes the public interest. If he does not, media conglomerates will meet behind closed doors to craft a deal that serves only their own corporate bottom-line interest, at the expense of the public. That is something the public has no interest in." The current campaign includes a web advertisement, starring Powell, which ends with an invitation to send a comment to the FCC immediately.

Taxing proposition from
the Bush administration
No less a White House player than Condi Rice is rejecting proposed legislation from John McCain (R-AZ) which would provide up to $1B in subsidies to make sure that owners of unmodified analog TV sets aren't cut off the day analog broadcasts go away. The White House would rather tax broadcasters for unreturned analog spectrum. According to reports, the White House sent a letter to members of Congress working on implementing 9/11 Commission recommendations. Part of that involves clearing spectrum currently used for television broadcast to turn over to public safety organizations. Setting aside money for set-top digital converters, mainly for the poor, was part of the so-called Ferree plan which was pushed in the Senate Commerce Committee by McCain, aiming for a date certain of 1/1/09 for vacating the TV spectrum. The McCain/Ferree plan was largely undone in committee by a Conrad Burns (R-MT) amendment and supported by the NAB, which either created a major loophole if you opposed the amendment, or guaranteed uninterrupted broadcast service to millions of Americans, if you supported the amendment.

RBR observation: We know what it's like when we threaten to deprive our children of TV. Does the Bush administration really understand what it's advocating here? Unapologetically pulling the plug on America's most addictive one-eyed appliance is almost certain to create motivated voters where there were none before, and they aren't going to be very happy with the plug-pullers.

More worries about "Less is More"
Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Paul Sweeney is the latest to express concerns that Clear Channel's "Less is More" initiative to reduce commercial clutter on its radio stations could not work out financially as the company hopes. He's removed Clear Channel from CSFB's Focus List. "Clear Channel's decision to reduce advertising inventory by 20% to 25% as part of their 'Less is More' strategy creates uncertainty into 2005 and underscores the secular challenges facing the entire industry," Sweeney said.

Bubba may need a new gig
Election Day is one week from today - - and while it doesn't appear than anyone has spent money on polling the Sheriff's race in Pinellas County, FL, University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus gave the Associated Press this assessment of Bubba Clem's chances of winning: "slim and none." The fired WXTB-FM Tampa morning jock (who had also been syndicated in other Florida markets) has gotten media attention for his run on the Democratic Party ticket against Republican Jim Coats, the Chief Deputy to the retiring Sheriff, but not much evidence of major voter support. Even leaders of his own party denounced Bubba in a letter to the St. Petersburg Times. "I'm not quite sure why he decided to run for office other than a publicity stunt," said Tom Steck, Chairman of the Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee. For his part, Clem told the newspaper that voters shouldn't judge his seriousness by the racy radio show he used to host. "Jesse Ventura didn't body slam his children. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't kill his children in real life," he said. Clem says he's running as the "anti-politician politician" and has charged that the local sheriff's office is rife with corruption.

Viacom renews Nickelodeon
games license
If you thought that Midway Games had a lock on all Viacom-related video game deals now that Midway is owned by Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, think again. To the surprise of some observers, Nickelodeon, which is part of Viacom's MTV Networks, has renewed its video games licensing agreement with THQ Inc. through 2010. The deal includes such major titles as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly Odd Parents and Nicktoons. Because of all of the speculation about Midway, Viacom issued a separate announcement saying that it is "in discussions with Midway about properties in the Viacom Consumer Products portfolio for development into mutually beneficial game concepts by Midway."

No matter who gets elected,
broadcasters win big bucks, Part 1
Back in early May when Harris Nesbitt Gerard analyst Lee Westerfield projected that political ad spending this year would top 1.47 billion dollars, he was regarded as quite bullish - - perhaps overreaching a bit. After all, wasn't the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform law supposed to curtail "soft money" and rein-in spending? But with the election approaching, the numbers are bearing him out. In fact, Westerfield now says he expects the final tally to be in the 1.5-1.8 billion range. | More... |

Adbiz©

Campaign watch
The New York Times says that the presidential campaigns are boiling down to 11 states, which is where the candidates' time and money will be headed during this final week. They include Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. According to the Associated Press, the cash outlay will be around 40M dollars, 18M for Bush and 21M for Kerry. Meanwhile, at least one battleground TV station has decided enough is enough and is taking pains to service its regular customers. AP reports that WISC-TV Madison WI, a CBS affiliate owned by Morgan Murphy Stations, is accepting direct campaign ads but is shutting the door on any more from 527 organizations.

Washington Post examines MobilTrak in DC
The Washington Post did a piece on MobilTrak over the weekend which highlights how the model has evolved from a ratings service directed to agencies and radio stations to retailers - - especially car dealers. Excerpts: | More... |

Adidas launches "Unstoppable" campaign
Adidas announced the launch of a new national basketball-focused effort which highlights Houston Rockets all-star forward and Adidas athlete Tracy McGrady wearing his latest shoe the T-MAC 4. The campaign debuted on NBATV 10/24 along with a behind the scenes feature. "Unstoppable" will then launch on national network and cable television (NBC, FOX, ESPN, MTV) starting today. It features Tracy McGrady facing off against a host of miniature adversaries. This new campaign stays in line with Adidas' global branding initiative "Impossible Is Nothing," which was launched earlier this year. The campaign, titled "Unstoppable" was created by 180/TBWA San Francisco. Creative centers on the idea that even when he's alone on the court, Tracy McGrady continually focuses on and works hard at becoming the best player he can be. It highlights the desire, dedication and determination that he possesses to break through the many challenges he faces. The campaign will be supported with print, point of sale, public relations and on-line executions.

The spot begins with T-MAC taking some shots with his trainer on an empty court. As he is fed a ball, he turns and heads down the court. Immediately out of nowhere two helicopters fly past his head towing a rope between the two of them, trying to use it to restrain him. As he moves through this trap it is revealed that an entire host of people two inches high begin attacking him from all sides. Progressing down the court, the assault becomes larger and larger like bees swarming. SUV's, helicopters and paratroopers with grappling hooks are all out to prevent him from getting to the other end of the court. As he dribbles and heads farther down the court, more and more ropes are tied around his legs and body. SUV's driving between his legs catch these ropes in a well organized attack. Finally as he closes in on the basket, he jumps to go up for a monster dunk. As he sails in mid air we see just how many helicopters, SUV's, and men are hanging on to him. They cannot stop him. As he slams the ball, all the ropes break and he runs free to the other side of the court continuing his drill.

Showtime creates multi-million effort for "Huff"
Showtime Networks is pulling out all the stops to ensure viewers make an appointment to see Dr. Craig Huffstodt on the new Showtime series Huff, premiering 11/7 at 10 PM (ET/PT). The 13-episode dramatic series is the story of Dr. Craig "Huff" Huffstodt, portrayed by four-time Emmy Award-winner Hank Azaria, a family man and a successful psychiatrist who gets a wake-up call after a tragedy occurs with one of his patients. The series co-stars Paget Brewster, Anton Yelchin, Blythe Danner and Oliver Platt. In an unprecedented move, the network will simultaneously air the premiere episode on its multiplex channels Showtime Too and Showtime Showcase. | More... |

Media Markets & MoneyTM

NM FM goes down the Hatch
Ned Bennett's Bravo Mic is getting its first radio station - - KVLC-FM 101.1 Hatch NM, in the unrated Las Cruces market, is going for $1.3M cash. The buyer lives just down the road and across the state line in El Paso. According to Ray Rosenblum, who brokered the deal, it's completely clean in terms of cross-ownership and clustering. Neither Bennett nor seller Scotty Sutherlin of Radio Property Development own any other broadcast properties. Bennett will pay cash for the Oldies outlet.

Like, it's duopoly Painesville, if you can dig it
Dale Edwards has clearance from Clarence to double up in the Cleveland market. That's Clarence as in Clarence Bucaro of Waters Edge Communications, which is selling WBKC-AM Painesville OH to Edwards' Radio Advantage One LLC for $450K. According to Jamie Rasnick of John Pierce & Co., the Classic/News/Sports station will be doubling with Urban Gospel WABQ-AM. Edwards also owns WRTK-AM down the highway in the Youngstown area.

Murdoch writes off satellite Internet
Rupert Murdoch was after the satellite TV business, not satellite broadband, when News Corporation bought control of DirecTV. Now DirecTV has dropped plans for the next generation of satellite Internet service, telling the SEC that it will take a 1.4-1.6 billion dollar charge to write-off its Spaceway system, whose first satellites were supposed to launch next year. However, the company said the Spaceway satellites may be reworked for use in delivering TV programming. DirecTV already has a satellite Internet service, Direcway, but it has recently focused on promoting broadband partnerships with regional telephone companies to sell DSL service packaged with DirecTV's satellite TV service. DirecTV's own website promotes the more expensive Direcway service as an alternative only in rural areas where DSL is not available.

Washington Beat

Copps talks consolidation with noncoms
Station managers affiliated wtih Eastern Public Radio and Southern Public Radio are confabbing in the close-in Washington DC suburbs 10/26-27, and will host FCC Commissioner Michael Copps late in the afternoon of day #2. The topic will be one of essentially peripheral concern to the noncommercial community - - media consolidation. Copps will address the session at the Four Points Sheraton in Bethesda on Wednesday, 10/27/04 at 3:30 PM Eastern. Noncommercial licensees are not subject to the same local station caps which are imposed on commercial broadcasters, and are not required to file engineering reports demonstrating compliance with the rules when involved in a station transaction. At the same time, they rarely bump up against the caps anyway.

Programming

More from Talkers'
"Talk Radio Heavyweight Battle Royale"
We now have pics from Talkers Magazine's "Talk Radio Heavyweight Battle Royale" held last Friday. Talkers presented a Presidential Election 2004 Debate at the Heritage Foundation in DC featuring 10 leading talk radio personalities. The two-hour event, which included five pro-Bush hosts versus five pro-Kerry hosts, took place before an audience and was carried live on C-SPAN.

Pictured (l-r): Kerry supporters Thom Hartmann, the Thom Hartmann Show; Stephanie Miller, Jones Radio Network; Karen Hunter, WWRL, New York; Lionel, WOR Radio Network; and Alan Colmes, Fox News. Talkers magazine publisher Michael Harrison moderated at podium (center). Bush supporters Bill Bennett, Salem Radio Network; Michael Graham, WMAL, Washington, DC; Steve Malzberg, WABC, New York; Shmuley Boteach, Liberty Broadcasting; and Dom Giordano, WPHT, Philadelphia.

Record service moves to the Internet
One of the new products we saw demonstrated during this month's NAB Radio Show in San Diego was the recently launched Promo Only MPE, a service that delivers new record releases to radio stations via secure Internet downloads. While the technology is nifty and has already been welcomed by hundreds of major radio stations, we see a side benefit for the rest of the radio industry - - democratization of record service.

RBR observation: It's easy to see why 700 big radio stations signed up for this based on a single email blast from Promo Only. It doesn't cost their station anything (the record company pays the bill) and it means no more worrying about whether the FedEx guy shows up first with a new release at your door or at your competitor across town. But for small stations this should mean that they'll once again be getting new music at the same time it's released to the big guys. One of the first uses of the new service was for Universal Music to rush out a new single by Gwen Setfani after someone leaked a low-quality copy over the Internet. In short order Universal had the real release, in the high sound quality that the record company wants listeners to hear, out all over the country. Digital democracy at work. | More... |

Engineering

XM "Walkman"
likely to be a receiver
As much as we doubted the viability of stable reception using an antenna attached to the headphones (10/25 RBR Daily Epaper #208), word is spreading that XM's new portable Walkman-type unit will be a receiver, as well as an iPOD device for music/programming storage/playback. The new "Roady portable adapter" will include music category, display, memory, and favorites buttons. It will indeed use the headphones as an antenna. The formal announcement comes today.

Transactions

FM CP Austin (Dripping Springs TX) from Media for the Holy Family Foundation to Legacy of Austin Broadcasting Foundation.

WYRS-FM Monmouth-Ocean (Manahawkin NJ) from Penn Jersey Educational Radio Corporation to WYRS Broadcasting.

| More... |

Stock Talk

A worried market
With a still-tight election only a week away and oil prices uncertain, stock traders were not in a buying mood on Monday. The Dow Industrials slipped eight points to a new year-to-date low of 9,750. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were also slightly lower.

Radio stocks, however, were slightly higher. The Radio Index rose 2.698, or 0.3%, to 211.045. Cox Radio gained 3.3% and Cumulus rose 3.2% as the day's leaders.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Monday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		35.94	+0.36	Jeff-Pilot	JP		47.05	+0.46
Beasley	BBGI		15.00	+0.03	Journal Comm.	JRN		15.74	-0.12
Citadel	CDL		13.92	-0.07	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		13.93	-0.08
Clear Channel	CCU		30.42	-0.05	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		13.89	-0.04
Cox Radio	CXR		14.58	+0.46	Regent	RGCI		5.46	+0.18
Cumulus	CMLS		14.92	+0.46	Saga Commun.	SGA		17.01	+0.08
Disney	DIS		24.59	-0.03	Salem Comm.	SALM		25.52	+0.40
Emmis	EMMS		18.23	+0.04	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		4.01	+0.10
Entercom	ETM		30.87	+0.29	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		10.00	+0.20
Entravision	EVC		7.49	+0.12	Univision	UVN		29.42	-0.47
Fisher	FSCI		48.00	+0.83	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		34.09	-0.30
Gaylord	GET		31.43	+0.38	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		33.50	-0.34
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		25.23	+0.17	Westwood One	WON		20.93	+0.55
Interep	IREP		0.80	-0.03	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		32.74	+0.67
International Bcg.	IBCS		0.02	unch	-	-	-	-	-

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Arbitrends

Upped & Tapped

Infinity names Tim Sabean VP/Active Rock
Steve Rivers, President of Programming, Infinity Broadcasting, announced a reorganization of management over its more than 30 Rock stations. Tim Sabean has been named VP/Active Rock Programming. He joins Norm Winer, VP/Adult Rock Programming, and Kevin Weatherly and Oedipus, who oversee the programming operations of Infinity's Alternative Rock stations.

WYCD-FM Detroit names Chip Miller PD
Infinity's WYCD-FM Detroit announced the appointment of Chip Miller as PD. He joins the station from Memphis, where he was Operations Manager/Program Director of WGKX-FM.

NRSC names Bergman to co-chair DAB subcommittee
Michael Bergman, VP/Digital Technologies at Kenwood USA, has been named the new Co-Chairman of the DAB Subcommittee of the National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC).

Stations For Sale

Opportunities in the West for Groups or Owner Operators. Profitable combos. Major market move-ins (FM and LPTV). AM's, both Rated and Unrated. The Exline Team, Andy McClure, Dean LeGras, 415-479-3484, [email protected]

More News Headlines

Peabody calls for entries

Firm selected for Disney CEO search

Simpson stunned by tape gaffe

ABC Radio "Satellite Sister"
traveling to Zambia

September Digital Solutions Magazine

Complimentary Report

Quarterly Deals:
4.1 Billion spent on broadcast properties since the thaw
RBR/TVBR Observation:
Where is the action? We got it.

Less is More
CCU's already meaning less with syndicators and nets.

September Zinio Solutions Magazine
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RBR Radar 2004

Click on these issues for Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer launches payola probe
Keeping his political profile high as a crusader against corporate corruption has turned to the record industry and the independent promoters who work to win radio airplay. EMI, the only standalone publicly traded major label, confirmed Friday that it has been hit with a subpoena - - and says it is "cooperating fully" in the probe. RBR observation: Spitzer's timing is strange, since the independent promotion business has been drying up since major radio groups, led by Clear Channel, decided last year to quit doing business with them to avoid any hint of payola-like practices. If your radio station is still accepting payments from the indies, or allows your employees to do so, this should be a wake-up call. Stop it now. 10/25/04 RBR #208

Forrester Research picked
for PPM economic study
elected to conduct a study into how switching to Arbiton's Portable People Meter (PPM) would impact the radio business economically. The research study is being funded by Arbitron, but Forrester's bid was selected by a special committee of the Radio Advertising Bureau's PPM Task Force. RBR observation: If PPM is implemented for US media ratings, it won't be nearly as big an adjustment for TV and cable as for radio, which is still using paper diaries for ratings - - even in the largest markets. Radio guys are worried about how electronic measurement will change their ratings and how much more it's going to cost. 10/25/04 RBR #208

XM "Walkman" to be debuted?
Expected to unveil a "wearable" device, perhaps similar to a Walkman. A major product announcement is planned for 10/26 in New York with electronics manufacturer Delphi Corp. "XMSR is also likely to announce its wearable device next week. There is a good shot this 'Walkman' type device, in the near term, will differentiate XM's hardware from Sirius," a rival satellite radio system. RBR observation: A receiver with an iPOD-type harddrive may be what's in store-record your favorite tunes/shows at home and listen later on the go. However, we have to wonder about reception with such a device. Not too stable. Most likely: The device will be iPOD based, but only connectable to existing XM receivers-not an XM receiver in of itself. 10/25/04 RBR #208

Eisner called Ovitz
"psychopath" in memo
Lots of embarrassing material is coming out in a trial in Delaware where some disgruntled Disney shareholders are seeking compensation for what they claim was management's squandering of company assets to pay Michael Ovitz 140 million dollars to get rid of him after 14 months of employment back in 1996. The company's position is that it had no grounds to fire Ovitz for cause, so it had to buy out his entire contract. Witnesses that the plaintiffs put on the stand last week contended that there was plenty of cause to fire Ovitz.
10/25/04 TVBR #208

Spotload excess not
child's play for Viacom, ABC
The FCC is getting tough on children's programming. It has entered into consent decrees with, in one case, Viacom and Coxcom Inc., and in another, with ABC's International Family Entertainment, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications. The issue is commercial overages on children's programming, and the biggest upshot is a total of 1.5M going into the US Treasury. FCC Chairman Michael Powell. "All cable operators, DBS providers, commercial television broadcasters, and companies that provide children's programming should know that we will vigorously enforce our children's advertising limits. We will continue to take swift and appropriate enforcement to protect the interests of children." RBR observation: This is a biggie for all media to learn a lesson, don't mess with the kids. 10/22/04 RBR #207

Trump tops TiVo again
Owners love that boardroom! Donald Trump's "The Apprentice 2" on NBC is again the most-watched program among people with TiVo digital video recorders. Chart tells the winners. 10/22/04 TVBR #207

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