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Volume 22, Issue 210, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Wednesday Morning October 26th, 2005

Radio News®

Stern leaves financial
challenge for Infinity
With an unprecedented task of re-launching 27 radio stations all at once (it wasn't so long ago that a single company couldn't even own that many), Infinity is in line for a financial hit. The question, though, is how much of a hit? Sarah McBride of the Wall Street Journal tried to pin down Joel Hollander during yesterday's telephone press conference, but didn't get any figures. "We view it as an opportunity. Certainly there are some issues on some advertisers that we'll lose, but the bigger opportunity to Infinity is to fish in a pond of advertisers that we were not able to secure on the Howard Stern show before - - whether they're the American Expresses, they're banks, airlines, Mercedes Benz, there's millions of dollars that have been spent in radio over the last 20 years and people that would not want to advertise in that content. We think the shows that we've put on the air are going to be very compelling and we're not sure exactly what percentage that's going to be at this time, but we absolutely believe there's going to be an opportunity for all of those categories going forwards," Hollander insisted.

RBR observation: The 100 million in annual advertising that Infinity's stations book for Stern's show may not even tell the whole story. Some of those stations are so dependent on Stern that a considerable amount of their ad sales for other dayparts come from package deals that advertisers have to take to get their spots on the sold-out morning show. At least now sales staffs at those 27 stations know what it is they're supposed to be selling for January (and some even sooner). And then there are the syndication revenues. Some of that will be replaced by syndication of the new shows to non-Infinity stations by Westwood One (Hollander says to expect announcements soon). But all of that will take time and, for now, no one can predict what audience numbers Roth, Carolla and Rover will generate for Infinity's stations or anyone else's. What is certain is that the biggest revenue hit will come in Q1 of 2006, coincidentally the first quarter for CBS Corp. to fly solo from Viacom. CEO Les Moonves and CFO Fred Reynolds are soon going to have to have some real numbers from Hollander in order to give guidance to Wall Street on Q1 for their new company. So if you are really interested in one conference call to start your 2006 New Year off with a bang this one will be it but in the mean time watch out as next Tuesday, 11/1/05 8:30am Viacom will get a taste from Wall Street on what is to come as Sumner Redstone and Moonves will report Viacom's Q3 earnings. Today's conference call was just for reporters not the money people that report to shareholders cause someone is going to want to know about the 100 million up for grabs and how Infinity is going to protect that revenue especially with such a long notice that Stern was leaving. RBR sees 2006 the year of what we entitled - A religious experience. Ps: Hey Infinity is not alone in this boat as many CEO's will be held accountable, a word we have not heard much of this year - accountability.

Free FM launches, Stern replacement strategy unveiled
A week after Infinity CEO Joel Hollander denied rumors that the company was about to launch a series of "Free-FM" stations (10/18 MediaMix), the company has done just that. As part of Infinity's Howard Stern replacement strategy, Free FM stations will feature an eclectic mix of local and national personalities on a hybrid of provocative, political, pop culture, news, music and lifestyle formats. Rather than replace Stern with one new morning show, Infinity is pinning its hopes on three - - David Lee Roth, Adam Carolla and Rover, along with local replacement in a few markets. "We've been working this thing for nine months. We talked to many different people - -whether it was Jay Moore, Heraldo Rivera, Chris Rock, Dennis Miller, etc. It was widely speculated that we had an agreement with Mancow, which we never did. The only place we really considered him for was Chicago. We think he's a good talent, he just didn't fit our plans," Hollander told RBR yesterday.
| Here's how the whole realignment is going down |

RBR observation: Do not wish to differ on Mancow as he is an excellent talent but RBR sources report Mancow and Hollander just did not see completely eye to eye. Plus Mancow has strong loyalty ties with Emmis and TRN. RBR sees the best bet for Mancow is keep doing what he is doing as you do not want to be the guy that replaces Stern but rather the guy after the guy that replaced Stern. Like Jay Leno will always be the guy that replaced Johnny Carson but David Letterman stands on his own. If you get what we drift.

Selling ads without ratings all over the country
With Stern's departure, Infinity is starting from scratch in morning drive on an unprecedented number of stations. RBR asked Infinity CEO Joel Hollander, what has been the pitch to agencies? "We have negotiated some deals for next year. Some people have gone on good faith with some of the rumors, whether they were Roth or Carolla. Now we're getting into high gear for the first quarter," he said. What about what Stern said Monday about Infinity pulling the plug on him for Jack FM in two or three markets? "That was incorrect. We did not take him off the air there. The plan is RIGHT NOW still December 16. What they had wrong was that because we were flipping the station in Sacramento to Jack [KWHD-FM, flipped yesterday] that we were pulling him off the air as well," Hollander said. Your release mentioned Free FM will include an eclectic mix of personalities. What you can you tell us about them? "A lot of them are going to be local. Penn Jillette, a magician from Las Vegas is already out there. Certainly New York has a hole in afternoon drive, which I can't speculate on. They've talked to Colin Quinn, Jay Moore, other radio personalities. New York is the only one we haven't flipped yet. We are going to marketing all of these shows and formats in a big way in the markets that they exist," he said. What about Jimmy Kimmel being tapped as a consultant for the Adam Carolla Show? "He's going to help us locate talent for other radio stations around the company as kind of a breeding ground. The first time we had a conversation with him we mentioned there's no one breeding new talent in radio. That's going to be part of Kimmel's consultancy. There's going to be a big announcement about that in 60-90 days, about what his development program is going to be," Hollander added.

Publisher observation: Selling ads are just plain tough today no matter how much or less money you toss at a product. You need a brand and it has to be unique with many benefits to the local audience and advertisers. Branding either happens fast like iPod or you crash and burn. Hollander says it will take 12 to 24 months for all to catch on, well time waits for no one and either it works fast or it will not work at all.

Hearst to telecoms: United we stand
The cable industry is busy working to shore up its role as primary content gatekeeper to the television sets in most US households. Hearst-Argyle honcho David J. Barrett is suggesting that a new alliance between broadcasters and telecom providers, both subject to CATV blockade attempts, could be a win-win-win for broadcast, telecom and citizens. Addressing a US Telecom Association gathering in Las Vegas, Barrett said, "The timing of your entry into the video distribution business could not be more opportune. Just as you are revolutionizing the way local television signals are distributed to viewers, broadcasters are revolutionizing the content of local television programming. Our new high- definition technology promises to take local television service to a new level. And new compression and 'multicasting' technologies could allow each local television station to broadcast multiple different digital programming streams within a single digital signal." Barrett said it is already technically possible for a broadcast television station to offer high-def streams along with multiple standard digital streams simultaneously. "The programming possibilities are limitless. The future may include gavel-to-gavel coverage of special legislative proceedings, high school sporting events, political debates, and real-time election returns. It is this array of choices and niche programming that viewers may demand. Technology is no longer an impediment, and can bring to life many of these programming possibilities." Calling for a strong alliance, he added, "Given our shared commitment to expanding choice and enhancing content, the sooner we embark on this partnership the better. We are in the throes of a political battle in Washington with your cable and satellite competitors who want to restrict consumer access to multicast programming. If telephone companies can help us secure multicast carriage for all television viewers, you will find broadcasters across America welcoming your arrival to the program distribution market."

Looking forward at the Martin FCC
FCC Republican Chairman Kevin Martin recently sat down with Business Week to talk about general issues facing the Commission. The resulting article and interview provide no surprises to anyone paying attention to this e-space. Broadband deployment remains a primary Commission objective, but several broadcast issues are soon to be front and center again. One of these is indecency. We've heard since summer that some kind of mass ruling, taking in a significant portion of a significant backlog of cases, was imminent. It seems the 8th Floor is still looking for a way to present a ruling which will clarify matters. Martin indicated once again that the cable industry should provide family-friendly program tiers, stopping short of saying he'd impose such a requirement. Also, on the issue of the long-stalled court remand of the 6/2/03 media ownership rulemaking, he repeated pretty much what the court said - - the rules may or may not be flawed. The underpinnings for the rules as written were flawed. He said the FCC will have to collect more information and try to write rules that can be justified by the record.

RBR observation: Which means, if you're in a hurry for new rules, don't hold your breath. And get ready, America, for another round of the Copps-Adelstein Road Show. Another point - - Business Week noted how Martin has had a great deal of success thus far getting action out of an 8th Floor divided two-two between Democrats and Republicans (in the absence of a fill-in nomination by the White House for a third Republican commissioner). There's no big secret to how he's managed to pull it off - - he's steered well clear of the most controversial issues, the grand daddy of which is the aforementioned ownership proceeding. The real fun will start when they start kicking that political football around again. One final point: Martin is riding high right now due to his forceful and effective reaction to Hurricane Katrina, and rightly so. The FCC is one of the few corners of the federal government which can be proud of its actions in the aftermath of that disaster.

Representatives raking in more cash
Members of the US House of Representatives are outpacing themselves in preparation for the 2006 campaign. In the first nine months of 2005, they've raised 23% more cash over the same period in 2003. The 2005 YTD total is 202.4M. Not surprisingly, most of the money is being drummed up by incumbents. 201 sitting Democrats have raised 69.8M, and 217 sitting Republicans have picked up 95.8M. The tea leaves may be evident in the numbers for non-incumbents. Prospective challengers have raised 29.3M, a 34% increase over the same period in 2003. Democrats have more seats to challenge, of course, and have raised a bit more cash - - 15.5M compared to 13.8M for Republican challengers. However, the Democrat's total is huge - - it compares to only 4.9M raised by this point of 2003. Meanwhile, the Republicans are going in the wrong direction. Their September 2003 total was 16.7M, meaning that the elephants are significantly in the red while the donkeys are in the black by a factor of better than three.

HD Radio 2006

Interep hosts HD Radio panel at Ad Club Breakfast
In an effort to make the advertising industry more aware of the digital changes coming to terrestrial radio, Interep sponsored a breakfast panel yesterday entitled, "Time to Turn Up the Volume on HD Radio," with the Advertising Club of New York. The event was held at the Sky Club in New York City. Liz Dolan, co-host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show Satellite Sisters was moderator for the event. Panelists included: Mitch Dolan/ President of ABC Radio Station Group; Jacob Harb/ Product Planner, BMW; Scott Herman/ Executive VP, Eastern Region, Infinity Broadcasting; Dan Hodgson/ Senior VP Marketing, Polk Audio; and Bob Struble/ CEO, iBiquity.
| Read More... |

Adbiz©

David Verklin:
Mastering a digital future - - Part II
(from our July RBR/TVBR Solutions magazine)
David Verklin, CEO of Carat Americas, runs the largest independent media services company in North America, sporting 6 billion in billings annually. David shepherds over 350 clients including Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, RadioShack, Adidas, Hyundai, New Line Cinema, Electronic Arts, Kia, Black & Decker, Marriott and Philips Electronics. Here, David talks about the biz, with a special focus on his passion, new digital technologies and the marketing that goes with it.

The last time we talked, you said you get a briefing
at least once a day on what's going on digitally, the latest headlines.
Everyday, everyday, one part of our business or another. Be it Mitch [Oscar, EVP/Carat Digital], who is briefing me on what I call new advertising technology. Mitch is looking at new advertising technologies, from addressable to broadband, which I think is an opportunity to my Carat Digital to Carat Interactive guys, Isobar [Carat's interactive and digital media arm], other people. So everyday I'm trying to get briefed on something. Truthfully I think you almost need it to stay on, it's just moving so fast. There's new stuff every, everyday that I just need to be up to speed on.
| Read More... |

Stern replacements to see new ad contracts?
In a press conference yesterday detailing Howard Stern's replacement strategy, Infinity CEO Joel Hollander said that while Stern generated 100 million in annual revenue, his departure means new advertisers might be interested in the morning drive replacements across the country: "Certainly, there are some advertisers we will lose, but the bigger opportunity to Infinity is to fish in a pond of advertisers that we were not able to secure on The Howard Stern Show before. Whether they are American Expresses, banks, airlines, Mercedes-Benz, there are millions of dollars that have been spent in radio over the last 20 years, and people that would not want to advertise in that content. We think the shows that we've put on the air are going to be very compelling. We're not sure exactly what percentage that's going to be at this time, but we absolutely believe there's going to be an opportunity for all of those categories moving forward." The outline above in Radio News shows Joel Hollander's salt on the matter of ad contracts but RBR asked Matt Feinberg, SVP/National Radio, Zenith Media Services for his quick take: "I think Joel is right. I mean Howard was a tough ticket. I've been working in this business 15 or so years and I've only been involved with a Stern campaign once in a big way, six years ago. So I think he's right - - these new shows do represent new revenue streams for him. The question is will the aggregate revenue equal what Howard brought in? I think it's exciting what he's doing. Probably not all of those personalities are going to pan out, there will be some retooling, but that's to be expected. There could be some syndicated extensions of what they're doing, if they really kick butt, who knows?"

Net Radio Sales to rep Cox Radio's streaming stations
Net Radio Sales announced an agreement with Cox Radio to represent its network of online stations to national advertisers. Streaming radio's fast growing audience has reached a level of critical mass that has brought a large number of national advertisers into the medium. With this announcement, Cox joins a growing list of broadcast companies that have selected Net Radio Sales to specifically develop national advertising revenues for their Internet radio group. "We are delighted to be working with Cox, one of the most forward thinking and online savvy broadcasters in the industry," said Jennifer Lane, President of Net Radio Sales. "Their group of stations has well established online audiences that extend the reach of our network. Cox has a sophisticated interactive initiative, and their success in revenue development thus far will be enhanced by our partnership." "Net Radio Sales will augment our established and highly successful local Internet sales initiative. Their emphasis on exact data for audience measurement of streaming radio is key to building credibility with national advertisers for this rapidly growing audience platform" said Gregg Lindahl, VP, Cox Radio Interactive. "Net Radio Sales is a leader in the development of this market, and we are very pleased to be working with them."

Media Markets & MoneyTM

Talkin' Turkey in Texas
Childress TX is a town on the eastern base of the Texas panhandle in Childress County - - nowhere near Arbitron-rated territory. An old fashioned combo, KCTX AM & FM, is being sold there, going from Kenneth Paul Harris Sr. to James G. Boles. Part of the deal will be handled in good old-fashioned legal tender. Boles will put 5K into escrow, and will add in enough cash at closing to bring the total up to 232K. But wait - - there's more: The seller will also get "...certain assets in Turkey, Hall County, Texas known as the Turkey Hotel..." Hall County borders Childress County to the west.

RBR observation: Pricing hotels in small Texas towns is more than a bit out of our comfort zone, so RBR will respectfully decline to bump up the value of the transaction on this occasion.

Susquehanna delaying ABC Radio sale?
That the latest claim from Reuters, which claims to have sources close to the ABC Radio negotiations. Disney is said to be holding off on any decision about selling all or part of ABC until it sees how the Susquehanna Radio sale goes, since some parties are in the bidding for both. The wire service says Disney has now pushed back any decision on whether to sell ABC Radio until around Thanksgiving.

Washington Beat

FEC must get started on rewrite
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is ordering the FEC to hunker down and take the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act closer to the way sponsors John McCain (R-AZ), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chris Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) wanted it taken. That means closing loopholes. The actual ruling in question was made back in September 2004 - - the current action was a refusal by the court to reconsider its prior rewrite order. Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer, who is on the legal team working on the Shays and Meehan challenge to the FEC's enforcement of their legislation, notes that the FEC was ordered back in 9/04 to get to work expeditiously to ensure that a fix was made in time for the 2006 election cycle, and notes that FEC's legal foot-dragging has put that in jeopardy. Wertheimer said, "All of this raises very serious questions about whether the FEC has failed to comply with the judge's order to proceed with 'reasonable expediency.' It is essential for the FEC to move immediately to comply with Judge Kollar-Kotelly's order and to adopt new regulations that are effective for the 2006 elections."

Ratings & Research

Carat reups with Nielsen Monitor-Plus
Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the advertising intelligence service of Nielsen Media Research, announced today that it has signed a multi-year renewal agreement with Carat USA, to be the agency's provider of advertising information services. Under the multi-year agreement, Nielsen Monitor-Plus will continue to supply U.S. competitive advertising intelligence to Carat USA. Nielsen Monitor-Plus also provides advertising info to Omnicom, Starcom MediaVest Group, Mediacom, and MPG. Other recent agency wins include Dailey & Associates, Crispin Porter Bogusky, The Vidal Partnership, Colle+McVoy, Dieste Harmel Partners, and Zubi Advertising.

Report: Nielsen parent a takeover target
Has the shareholder revolt over VNU's seven billion bucks deal to acquire IMS Health (1/4/05 TVBR #194) made VNU itself vulnerable to a takeover? The Wall Street Journal reports that a consortium of private equity firms, led by KKR and Blackstone Group, are weighing a buyout bid for VNU. That news sent VNU shares up 2.4% yesterday on the Amsterdam exchange. (VNU's shares do not trade in the US.) In addition to Nielsen Media Research and associated research operations, VNU also has a publication division in the US that includes Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter.

RBR observation: Can’t say we didn’t tell ya so of a heavy price tag of 7 billion to get a seat on the exchange. Now the hunter becomes the hunted. Maybe someone should call a time out and bring in a new play. KKR doesn’t waste time as they are known as ‘Barbarians knocking at your Gate.’

Marketing

AWRT names top 20 women in sales & marketing
American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) has announced its 2nd Annual "Sales & Marketing Women Who RULE in Radio & Television." This year, AWRT received a record number of outstanding nominations from AWRT members and supporters from across the nation. By vote of AWRT members, here are the "best of the best" in radio and television.
| The List |

Special Report from Telecom '05

Cable is yesterday's technology
Attorney Gregg Skall of Womble Carlyle and Don Hicks of the Missouri Broadcasters Association are attending Telecom 05 in Las Vegas, a major trade show for the telecommunications industry, and filed this special report.

The picture emerging from Telecom 05 is that cable is past its prime as a dominant video delivery system. Telcos are on the horizon and with unlimited broadband capacity in an IP delivered world and this could provide a critical opportunity for broadcasters by combining their unique ability to create high interest, local content. Most speakers here agree that the content owner is in the driver's seat, and that puts broadcasters in a very good position in the new world order. Telco executives, whose forbears said they never wanted to be more than common carriers of messages for others, are talking about being very serious video programming providers.

RBR (Skall/Hicks) Observation: It only takes a few of these sessions and a stroll through the exhibit hall before it smacks you in the face:
| Read More... |

Transactions

250K WHGG-AM & WABN-AM Johnson City-Bristol-Kingsport (Kingsport TN, Abingdon VA) from Appalachian Educational Communication Corporation (Guy Tilley, VP) to Information Communications Corporation (Kenneth C. Hill, pres). 1K deposit, 249K note. Buyer and seller are noncommercial. [File date 9/28/05.]

1 KOCV-TV Odessa-Midland TX (Odessa TX) from Extor County Independent School District (Wendell Sollis) to Permian Basin Public Telecommunications Inc. (John H. James et al). Cash plus ongoing provision of educational opportunities of students of ECISD and other similar considerations. LMA until closing. Noncommercial Channel 36 (DTV 22). [File date 9/28/05.]

Stock Talk

Confidence down, stocks down
A drop in the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index sent stock prices slightly lower on Tuesday. The Dow Industrials dropped seven points to 10,378.

Radio stocks dropped more. The Radio Index was off 2.714, or 1.4%, to 188.455. The day's worst performers were Cumulus, down 3.4%, and SBS, which fell 3.3%. Clear Channel rose 0.3% a day after delivering Q3 results that beat expectations.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		38.19	-0.71	Jeff-Pilot	JP		53.39	-0.13
Beasley	BBGI		14.25	-0.39	Journal Comm.	JRN		14.06	-0.20
Citadel	CDL		13.54	-0.25	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		11.65	+0.15
Clear Channel	CCU		30.83	-0.08	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		11.68	+0.15
Cox Radio	CXR		14.32	-0.22	Regent	RGCI		5.10	unch
Cumulus	CMLS		11.17	-0.39	Saga Commun.	SGA		12.63	-0.19
Disney	DIS		23.52	+0.22	Salem Comm.	SALM		17.70	-0.30
Emmis	EMMS		19.45	-0.60	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		6.18	+0.12
Entercom	ETM		28.27	-0.18	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		6.27	-0.21
Entravision	EVC		7.62	-0.07	Univision	UVN		25.54	+0.14
Fisher	FSCI		48.00	+0.36	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		31.09	-0.17
Gaylord	GET		43.65	-0.35	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		31.04	-0.12
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		24.10	-0.40	Westwood One	WON		18.52	-0.03
Interep	IREP		0.45	unch	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		30.85	+0.25
International Bcg.	IBCS		0.01	unch	-	-	-	-	-

Bounceback

Send Us Your Opinions We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]

It may be true that the MRC has fallen behind the times (10/25/05 RBR #209), and perhaps it should be overhauled given the changing technology and viewing behavior...although the Federal Trade Commission recently completed a review of the MRC and did not see the need for any changes. Regardless I think if we checked though, given it's original mandate it is inappropriate to add "representatives of the public interest" to the MRC as this is quickly going to add political overtones to an already complicated and clunky system. And as a broadcaster I think many of us may support giving the advertiser reps voting parity on the MRC as soon as they reach parity on subscription COSTS. In other words, broadcasters have historically paid the lion's share of the Nielsen tab. Not the advertising community... the broadcasters. Agencies and buyers are certainly important, but they do not bear the financial brunt of Nielsen costs like the broadcasters do. Of course the ad buyers want accurate measurement - - we all do. But the ad community also wants to drive down costs, while broadcasters want, and pay heavily for accurate, consistent measurement so they can run their businesses. Until the advertisers start sharing equally in the actual cost many broadcasters remain suspect of their motives when it comes to measurement. Now the Nielsen-funded task force wants more voices on the MRC. To what end? Why is the MRC even in question? The question is whether or not MRC recommendations have teeth, not who comprises the MRC.

Anonymous
(Highly respected by RBR/TVBR's publisher)

Below the Fold

Media Markets & Money
Susquehanna delaying ABC Radio sale? Disney is said to be holding off on any decision

RBR Special Report:
Cable is yesterday's technology
RBR observation: There is a robust business already in progress supplying mature technology for IPTV and VOD.

AdBiz
Stern replacements to see new ad contracts? Matt Feinberg "Howard was a tough ticket."

Washington Beat
FEC must get started on rewrite US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is ordering the FEC to hunker down

Radio Media Moves

Radio One
banks on Banks
Ian Banks has been named Director of Sales for the Indianapolis cluster of Radio One - - four radio stations and an LPTV. He had previously been National Sales Manager for Bonneville in Chicago.

Entercom ups Levin
Eugene Levin had been Controller at Entercom since 1977, added Treasurer to his title in 1987 and now will need new business cards again, as he's been promoted to Vice President, Treasurer and Controller.

Powell becomes senior advisor to Reactrix
An new innovation in outdoor advertising is about to go to test in the top 10 metros, and ex-FCC Chairman Michael Powell will be along for the ride. He has agreed to join the firm as a senior advisor. According to a release, here's the company's m.o. "Combining digital image projection and visioning technologies, the company's proprietary system projects vivid, interactive branded images that instantly respond to people who walk by or gesture over the display area, creating an 'immersive' media experience that makes floors, walls and tabletops "come alive."

Gertzog to NJBA board
Joshua Gertzog, Senior Vice President/Market Manager, Nassau Broadcasting has been named to the New Jersey Broadcasters Association Board of Directors. He fills the slot left vacant with the resignation of Don Dalesio, also of Nassau Broadcasting.

Stations for Sale

Prime Stations
TX, NM, CA, MI, IN, NC, VT, ME, TN, FL
For a description of all of our properties for sale go to
www.mediamergers.com
W.B. Grimes & Company,
(301) 253-5016,
Est. 1959- Thousands Sold

AZ C2 - 60 DBU
covers 2.1M in Phoenix Metro
plus N. Tucson. #1 growth metro new freq. and facilities.
Call Linda Corso, Tri-Media, Inc.
928-473-4390, 928-425-4800 or [email protected]

More News Headlines

Wilma's impact
in the keys
While most mainland broadcasters rode out Hurricane Wilma with little trouble (although a couple of Miami TV stations were off the air temporarily), stations in the Keys were harder hit. We received this report from David Harris, VP/Market Manager for Clear Channel Radio-Florida Keys. "Key West and Florida Keys radio stations were the first affected by Wilma, and the storm took most stations down. WKEY-FM / Key West broadcast continuously throughout the storm with local wall to wall coverage up to Sunday night. WKEY then switched to a feed of Clear Channel sister news station WIOD out of Miami through most of Monday. WKEY was the only contact that local residents had with the outside world during the storm since all other radio stations in Key West were off-air and cable TV service was out. Local programming was reestablished about 2:00 PM Monday, and WAIL-FM and WKWF-AM were returned to service in Key West about 4:00 PM. In the Key Largo area, WFKZ and WCTH broadcast during and after the storm, but experienced some generator problems early during the storm's arrival. Service was re-established by mid-morning Monday. Currently we have 5 stations broadcasting local community service information."

Doug Stephan
adds affiliates
Doug Stephan's Good Day program has been added by KSAC-AM Sacramento, WMET-AM DC and WABJ-AM in Adrian MI. Doug Stephans weekend program the TalkRadio Count Down adds WASR-AM Wolfeboro NH and KSAC.

Michael Spears passes
Word came late yesterday that Michael Spears had died after a long battle with cancer. Many of you may remember him as "Hal Martin" in the hey-day of CKLW. Most recently he had his own consulting and production company. Sound clips from CKLW and other stations are posted on his personal website.

Fuel available for
wMiami area stations
Many parts of the Miami area are still without electricity following Hurricane Wilma and several radio stations are reportedly running low on fuel for their generators. This word of relief comes from Harris Corporation: "Harris will have 5000 gallons of diesel fuel in Miami, FL later this evening to help radio broadcasters in regions affected by Hurricane Wilma. The truck was fueled late this afternoon at Harris Corporation's Melbourne, Florida headquarters and will arrive about 10 pm ET this evening, Tuesday, October 25. Radio stations operating on generators can contact Hal Kneller from Harris in Melbourne at 941-286-3398, or Mark Goins from Harris in Mason, Ohio, at 513-312-6105 to place orders. The diesel fuel is available free to broadcasters in need until supplies run out."

RBR Radar 2005

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

Bounce Back, Ouch
Disagree with Mr. Price. It's not radio sales people or managers that don't get it, it's the owners or corporate big wigs. It's also not the RAB's fault, they are just catering to what's going on in Radio today. Actually, years ago, radio got out of the radio business and got into the print and event marketing business. Pressure to hit the bottom line has caused this rush to do NTR. The conglomerates like Clear Channel lead the charge, while they are low balling spots and devaluing radio's worth. Scott Harris VP/GM, KLLL/KMMX/KONE/KBTE, Lubbock, TX
10/25/05 RBR #209

What broadcasters
can learn from Telcos
A telephone industry convention, because so much of this convention is devoted to IPVideo delivery and the entry of telephone voice providers into the broadband "Triple Play" or "Quadruple Play" of Voice, Data, Video and Wireless delivery. From a cursory look at the schedule for this conference it becomes clear that telephone sees video delivery, and most likely Video on Demand (VOD) as their next big market.
RBR observation: Are TV broadcasters asleep at the switch? Cable and now, telephone are moving far out in front, are lining up the program creators like television networks and Hollywood studios, and now the newer creative content providers.
10/25/05 RBR #209

Politics Trumps Passion and Performance; John Gehron quits Clear Channel
He announced his own departure to his staff in a short email saying he was leaving "to pursue new goals," No replacement was named - - sources report it took a few by surprise but at the same time was really no surprise. Gehron would not get into any dirt but RBR has heard from credible sources that there were issues or personality conflicts, but our sources state that Gehron was doing his job above standards. Sources view it as politics trumping performance, which has a number of Clear Channel cluster manager! s waiting for the other shoe to drop. RBR observation: If you are going to leave then do it on your time frame as Clear Channel reports their earnings today. Gehron has been in the Chicago market since the early '70's as PD of the infamous 89 WLS. He has a strong programming mind and is one of the few today in the radio business that earned his way to the top, and understands that each station must perform for the cluster to succeed. So here it is again - "Departing over philosophical differences." You fill in the rest. 10/24/05 RBR #208

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