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Volume 23, Issue 210, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Friday Morning October 27th, 2006

Radio News ®

What is Clear Channel worth?
The stock price jumped more than 9% in yesterday's trading to over 35 bucks after Clear Channel put itself up for sale (10/26/06 RBR #209). So, what is the company worth? The answer is whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay. Wall Street analysts are debating the ultimate price, with estimates running mostly in the mid to high 30s, although at least two see a possibility of 40-plus. Clear Channel has 496 million shares outstanding. At 35 bucks that works out to 17.4 billion. At 40 it goes to 19.8 billion. Add in 7.9 billion of debt and the total deal value works out to a range of 25.3-27.7 billion - a hefty price tag that means only very big players will be able to participate in this game. Marcia Ryvicker at Wachovia, who isn't convinced that a buyout will get done, is telling clients to value Clear Channel stock at 34-36 and continues to rate the stock Outperform. Anthony DiClemente at Lehman Brothers is skeptical that a second bidder will be found if the management buyout doesn't get done. He maintains an Equal Weight rating, although the stock is now well above his 30 bucks target price. Mark Wienkes at Goldman Sachs has withdrawn any rating on the stock and is waiting to see what happens. After all, the investment bankers at his firm are handling the auction. He had previously said an LBO or restructuring could make Clear Channel worth 35-38. Long a bull on Clear Channel, Jonathan Jacoby at Bank of America maintains his Buy rating, with CCU his "top pick" in the radio & TV sector. He figures the shares are worth 36-38, with a sum-of-the-parts value of 34-40. Gordon Hodge at Thomas Weisel Partners figures the sum-of-the-parts value of Clear Channel at 36-44, with a top end "fair value" of 41. He maintains a Peer Perform rating. Most bullish of all is Victor Miller at Bear Stearns, who maintains his Market Overweight rating. He thinks the company will bring over 40. In his view, an LBO offer led by the Mays family should be in the 39.75-40.50 range. But if there is a serious outside bid, Miller thinks the auction price could be 40-45.

RBR observation: Based on the email that Mark Mays sent to staffers late Wednesday, he sounds like a guy who believes he is going to win the bidding, saying that the announcement engaging Goldman Sachs is another way "to realize Clear Channel's full potential as a company." The Mays family is believed to be well along the process of putting together a buyout bid backed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Providence Equity Partners and Blackstone Group. While there are lots of big equity funds with lots and lots of cash, there are only a limited number who are interested in media deals - so we should essentially see a repeat of the players from the Univision and VNU auctions, although not necessarily in the same alliances. A rival bidding group is said to be shaping up with Thomas H. Lee Partners, Texas Pacific Group and Bain Capital. What about Carlyle Group, we wonder? And the big question: Who will make up their operating team to replace the Mays brothers and likely John Hogan as well if the rival group outbids the management-backed consortium?
| Read the email from Mark Mays to CCU staffers. |

Clear Channel sale will create
lots of station inventory
Regardless of who buys Clear Channel Communications, lots of radio stations will be going on the market for divestiture. We are not just talking about the smaller market clusters that the company has been slowly selling off to use up 1.5 billion in tax loss carryforwards. Some quite desirable larger market stations will also have to be divested once a sale or management buyout is agreed to. That's because Clear Channel has lots of markets with large clusters that were OK under the FCC ownership rules based on contour overlaps established in 1996, but not since a federal appeals court approved the new Arbitron/BIA market definitions adopted in 2003. Since Clear Channel does not have a majority shareholder - the Mays family owns less than 8% and there is only one class of stock - it appears that even a management buyout would constitute a change of control under the FCC rules and require all clusters to conform to the new rules. So, the auction of Clear Channel will be only step one, triggering a second step not unlike the 110 stations divested in 2000 from the Clear Channel-AMFM merger - only bigger.

RBR observation: Whether the Mays team or a rival consortium snares the prize, job one for the winning bidder is going to be reducing debt quickly. Either will have to put lots of radio stations up for sale, both to comply with FCC rules and to rationalize the overextended portfolio. For example, having already cut a deal to sell its Fargo cluster, it is hard to see a reason for Clear Channel to remain in other North Dakota markets. And if the non-Mays team wins it will be more likely to divest non-core assets such as Clear Channel Television, RCS and Inside Radio/M Street Publications. Another easy way for the winner to raise cash and pay down debt is to sell more of Clear Channel Outdoor to the public. With its super-voting shares, Clear Channel Communications can sell off a lot of its 90% stake in the billboard company and still retain voting control. Those super-voting shares become regular shares the moment they are sold to anyone else. So, while buying Clear Channel Communications from its public shareholders will require a big chunk of debt, there are options available to quickly reduce that debt load by billions and billions, while still retaining lots of cash flow.

Hearst-Argyle rules out radio buys
Even with all of the radio inventory coming on the market from CBS, Citadel and now likely Clear Channel divestitures, Hearst-Argyle is not looking to expand from the two Baltimore stations it manages for Hearst Corporation, even if some deals are available that combine TV and radio properties. Radio expansion is "not on our radar screen" said Hearst-Argyle CEO David Barrett in his quarterly conference call. While he called the Baltimore combo "far and away the best performers in that market," the Hearst-Argyle CEO said the company made a strategic decision years ago to exit radio, except for those two heritage Hearst stations. He said scale is important in radio just as it is in TV, where his company does have scale. "I never say never, but that [radio] is not something of strategic acquisition focus right now," Barrett concluded.

The cam-pain in New Jersey
Running for office in New Jersey can be a pain in the wallet. Guess what almost every state in the union has, except for New Jersey? If you said home-state television market, you win a hamburger that is even now sitting under a heat lamp somewhere on the New Jersey Turnpike, possibly at the Walt Whitman or perhaps even the Joyce Kilmer rest stop. But the lack of a hometown TV market is a big problem if you're a politician in the Garden State, particularly a politician running for statewide office, as are defending incumbent Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and challenger Tom Kean Jr. (R). Even tiny little Rhode Island has its own TV market. The NJ race has been perhaps the only Senate battle in which the Republicans have been able to launch a strong offensive on a Democrat-held seat this year, and it has by all accounts been a see-saw affair. According to the Associated Press, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has decided to come to Kean's aid with some advertising cash, but since it will have to purchase those ads in two of the most expensive media markets in the US - New York and Philadelphia - the price tag will be a war chest-draining 3.5M. AP noted that NRSC's Democratic counterpart has been active in the state for the past week trying to defend the seat.

RBR observation: This is one state where you'd think a major radio effort would make good sense. You're still talking cold hard cash, but there are lots of submarkets around New York, like Monmouth-Ocean and Morristown. Atlantic City-Cape May covers the area east of Philadelphia and Trenton covers the middle of the state. Surely some drivetime buys on stations with good traffic reports would get the message out for a lot less than 3.5M.

NPR wants satcasters
flagged for interference
National Public Radio has had its scientists and engineers check out FM modulators in use by satellite radio services and devices to run iPods through car stereos, and says that almost 40% exceed their FCC-approved signal strength. The excess allows them to overlay their programming on top of that being broadcast by licensed FM stations. The study echoes one produced by the National Association of Broadcasters which found that 75% of the devices were noncompliant. According to the Baltimore Sun, NPR is asking the FCC to recall the devices. NPR went so far as to question the candor of those who submitted paperwork for FCC approval in the first place. The satellite broadcasters, chiefly XM and Sirius, are aware of the problem and are trying to work through it without widespread interruption of service.

RBR observation: If NPR is successful in turning this into a lack of candor case, it could mean real trouble to those investigated. If a licensee commits a violation, discovers it and promptly brings it to the attention of the FCC, there may be a fine but that will probably be the end of it, and sometimes, depending on the nature of the violation, the FCC may take candor into account and let the violator off with an admonition. At an NAB Radio Show session in Philadelphia last year, no less than three FCC officials said that above all else, when dealing with the FCC, practice candor and truthfulness. They agreed that misrepresenting anything is the worst thing a licensee can do.

Executive Comment

What's next....
the return of Bob Sillerman?
(commenting on Clear Channel hangs out
For Sale sign 10/26/06 RBR #209)

I have remarked over the last several months that it seemed as if the financial sector had literally disconnected itself from the main body of the economy, and, stuffed with investment monies, was simply selling things back and forth to each other, providing them a better alternative to having to return it, or not take fees on it. Now comes the other shoe. With media values at all time lows, the money guys are prepared for a repeat of the 1990s, where, not prisoners of their own parochial view of a formerly regulated industry, they swooped in, and made most of the money generated in the run up of values that followed dereg. CCU, whose fortunes under the stewardship of smart, but less experienced family members, have waned, appears to be first to the altar. Even guys not smart enough to keep from collapsing the entire rate structure of the radio industry (not to mention, bringing back the FCC into the content arena) know when they are worth more dead than alive, especially with this Wall Street crowd. Oh yes, and stay tuned for those big Wall Street firms that have quietly broken camp around us. They will reemerge as advisors to these equity people, offering their "inside knowledge" of industry targets. What's next....the return of Bob Sillerman?

Gary Stevens
President
Gary Stevens & Company, Inc.

Editor's note: Have feedback? Send in 250 words with photo to [email protected]

Wall Street Media Business Report TM

Clear Channel faces ratings drop
No, we're not talking about Arbitron or Nielsen ratings. All of the major bond ratings agencies have put Clear Channel on notice for possible downgrades following the announcement that it is putting itself up for sale. CCU has long been one of the few pure play broadcast companies with investment grade bonds, but that could soon change. The ratings agencies are all worried that the coming change - whether a management LBO or an equity consortium buyout - will result in much higher leverage. Moody's, S&P and Fitch all currently have CCU at their lowest investment grade rating. Thus, any downgrade will move the company into junk bond...er, excuse us..."high-yield" territory.

Q3 conference calls
Strong quarter for Hearst-Argyle
Hearst-Argyle stock jumped after Q3 results came in ahead of Wall Street expectations. Revenues rose 11% to 183 million, with ad sales up 10%, plus gains in digital and retransmission consent revenues. Included in that revenue figure was 23.4 million of political revenue, but CEO David Barrett says it appears that core non-political revenues were up 1.5-2.5%. Auto remains soft, but even so Barrett said some advertisers who were squeezed out in October because of political ad demand are booking post-election in November. Thus, Hearst-Argyle is projecting that Q4 and 2006 will come in at the high end of its previous guidance, which was for 2006 revenues of 756-777 million, including political revenues of 50-60 million.

Ad Business Report TM

Arbitron, VNU sign Wal-Mart
to Project Apollo
Arbitron and VNU announced Wal-Mart has signed a subscription agreement for the pilot panel of 'Project Apollo,' the single-source, national research service based on Arbitron's Portable People Meter system and ACNielsen's Homescan technology. Wal-Mart will also join the Project Apollo Steering Committee, a select group of seven advertisers who, along with their advertising agencies, are advising Arbitron and VNU on the design of the Project Apollo service. These advertisers are also gaining early insights into the link between consumer exposure to advertising on multiple media and their shopping/purchase behavior. In the aggregate, the seven advertisers on the Steering Committee spend more than 6.8 billion for advertising on measured media. "We are looking to Project Apollo as an innovative research service that will help us understand how multiple touchpoints of our media strategies work, including traditional vehicles and obviously our own store communication touchpoints," said Ramon Portilla, Director of Communication Insights, Wal-Mart. "We want to tap into Project Apollo's ability to help us reach consumers with more relevant messages through the ROI optimization of our unique touchpoints, to ultimately improve shopping experiences and sales results." "We are interested in seeing how the Apollo Project can help advertisers better understand the impact of in-store media as we continue to push the boundaries of this emerging medium with our new network for 2007," added Mike Hiatt, Director of Internal Media Networks

WCCO-TV cuts
tune-in ads for sweeps
In the wake of budget cuts, WCCO-TV has canceled its sweeps ads on all non-CBS Radio outlets, reported The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. WCCO GM Susan Adams Loyd told the paper the cancellations shouldn't be seen as a capitulation. "We're not pulling back on anything. We're simply repositioning our arsenal [of marketing dollars] for an ongoing battle that will continue well beyond the November 2006 sweeps." Loyd would not elaborate to the paper about WCCO's November marketing strategy beyond saying that the station would "engage our CBS partners," referring to CBS-owned radio stations WCCO-AM, WLTE-FM and KZJK-FM. WCCO has faced budgetary challenges in the past few months. In August, many local car dealers were infuriated by a commentary from senior anchor, Don Shelby. During his "In the Know" segment, Shelby said he decided to buy a Honda hybrid because "Detroit keeps building gas-guzzling giants and fights standards that would give American cars better mileage." An e-mail was circulated the next day among local car dealers advocating an ad boycott of the station. GM canceled its entire Q4 ad buy with the station (funded in part by a local GM dealers assoc.).

Media Markets & Money TM

AAA finishes Peoria exit
Robert J. Maccini and Stephan C. Sloan of Media Services Group say that a deal has been struck to sell WWCT-FM in Peoria. AAA Entertainment will be sending the station to David Jacobs' Independence Media Holdings for an undisclosed price, tying its final loose end in a deal cycle that began last December. At that time, AAA sold WDQX-FM and WXCL-FM to Triad for 5.2M. Then in May, it struck a 12.5M deal with Regent for WXMP-FM and WZPW-FM. Regent had to make room for them, and did so by selling WIXO-FM, WVEL-FM & WPIA-FM to Independence for 2.8M. So the immediate deal adds a fourth and final FM for the newcomer, which will compete against AAA's two other in-market station customers.

Washington Media Business Report TM

FTC opens alcohol ad
proceeding for comment
The Federal Trade Commission is looking into alcohol advertising, including the effectiveness of voluntary industry guidelines. Currently, companies are to avoid any media outlet which reaches an audience with an excess of 30% below the legal drinking age. Outside efforts have been kicked off to halve that. However, the FTC did not make a new 15% standard an explicit part of this proceeding. It says it is "...seeking information concerning, among other things, compliance with voluntary advertising placement provisions, sales and marketing expenditures, and the status of third-party review of complaints regarding compliance with voluntary advertising codes." Comments are due at the FTC by 11/24/06.

RBR observation: If you operate in an unrated market, or are part of a regional sports network, or simply run responsible advertisements on your station for beer or wine, it may be a good idea to weigh in on this topic. There are enforcement issues with an audience-based regulation when there is a lack of audience measurement tools, and there may well be a distinct lack of solid evidence that the problem of underage drinking is directly linked to advertising at the exclusion of all other causes. If you can make a case why the government should stay out of this, now is the time to make it to the FTC.

Entertainment Media Business Report TM

Dial Global launches "The Big Time with Whitney Allen"
Dial Global Programming announced "The Big Time with Whitney Allen" will launch on 1/8/07. RMA Country Personality of the Year Whitney Allen will host the live, five-hour weeknight show. "The Big Time with Whitney Allen" will feature the hottest country hits combined with artist interviews, audience interaction and high-impact production values. These same qualities have made Whitney's "The Big Time Saturday Night" the fastest-rising weekend show on country radio, airing on WGAR-FM/Cleveland, WUBE-FM/Cincinnati, KCYE-FM/Las Vegas, WKDF-FM/Nashville, KSKS-FM/Fresno, WCTO-FM/Allentown, KRST-FM/Albuquerque and more than 50 others. Stations will have two ways to affiliate with "The Big Time With Whitney Allen": via traditional program syndication or by affiliation with Dial Global's 24-hour digital format "Hot Country." "The Big Time with Whitney Allen" will be heard in January on the new Country 540 in Los Angeles, which is affiliated with the Dial Global Digital 24/7 Format "Hot Country," and which will launch "The Big Time Saturday Night" the week of October 30.

Dick Clark to auction
rock 'n 'roll collection
Dick Clark has decided to auction thousands of rock 'n roll memorabilia in his collection 12/5 and 12/6 in NYC via Guernsey's Auction House. One of the top items is the microphone Clark used for 31 years while hosting American Bandstand. "It was an extension of my right arm," Clark told Reuters. "I held onto it for several hours a day, every day." The auction will be no-reserve, meaning everything will be sold for the highest bid. Also to be auctioned off are one of Paul McCartney's four Hofner left-handed basses; an electric guitar Bruce Springsteen gave to Clark; a beaded glove pop star Michael Jackson wore; a bustier Madonna wore on her first tour; and a suit John Lennon wore as a Beatle. Clark told Reuters he keeps a 28,000-square-foot warehouse filled with memorabilia. Part of the profits of the auction will go to the T.J. Martell Foundation, which raises funds to battle cancer, leukemia and AIDS.

Ratings & Research

New ACNielsen service satisfies ''Where to Buy'' needs
ACNielsen announced the launch of ItemFinder, a new web-based service designed to satisfy consumer "where to buy" needs for specific products. ItemFinder will provide access to the most locations of any sales based locator available in the market - over 38,000 stores across the Food, Drug, Mass, Dollar, and Liquor channels - with options for incorporating additional client-provided data. ItemFinder uses ACNielsen's Scantrack weekly store-level consumption data to determine the in-stock position for items and combines it with ACNielsen's TDLinx retail location data which enables consumers to do city/state or zip-code-based searches on the manufacturer's website for the nearest store locations at which to purchase desired products. Consumer search results include convenient links to maps from Google and Yahoo! to further assist the consumer with proximity of store locations to their home or place of business. ItemFinder provides manufacturer clients with valuable insights about product and geography searches through monthly consumer search activity reporting, which will help them make better product distribution decisions. Its use will also help reduce cost in handling customer inquiries as well as to build loyalty among web-savvy consumers by servicing them in their channel of choice. It can also accommodate client-provided data where available and leverage TDLinx data to extend coverage on a custom basis, in both the U.S. and Canada. ACNielsen has already contracted with more than 10 manufacturer clients, including Merisant, Knouse Foods and Malt-O-Meal.

Transactions

1.4M WHRY AM Hurley WI/WUPM-FM Ironwood MI from Big G Little O Inc. (Charles H. Gervasio) to Bay Broadcasting Inc. (Gerald J. Hackman, John J. Nix). 1.25M cash for stock, 150K non-compete. [File date 10/12/06.]

550K KIUL-AM Garden City KS and KFLA-AM Scott City KS from Dakota Communications Ltd. (Duane D. Butt) to Steckline Communications Inc. (Gregory R. Steckline). 5.5K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Stations are not in rated markets, nor do they overlap one another. [File date 10/12/06.]

Stock Talk

Broadcast stocks jump on CCU auction
The announcement that Clear Channel was exploring "strategic options" ignited interest in radio and TV stocks. Even though the Dow Industrials set another record on good earnings reports form other sectors, broadcasting stocks generally outpaced the market. The Dow rose 29 points, or 0.2%, to 12,164.

Meanwhile, the Radio Index shot up 5.131, or 3.5%, to 152.049. As you would expect, Clear Channel led the way, soaring 9.7%. Citadel gained 5.6%, Emmis 5.4% and Cumulus 4.9%.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Thursday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		41.92	+0.42	Hearst-Argyle	HTV		25.00	+1.60
Beasley	BBGI		6.91	-0.04	Journal Comm.	JRN		11.95	+0.35
CBS CI. B	CBS		29.10	+0.49	Lincoln Natl.	LNC		64.91	+0.89
CBS CI. A	CBSa		29.05	+0.52	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		6.90	+0.30
Citadel	CDL		10.38	+0.55	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		6.83	+0.22
Clear Channel	CCU		35.48	+3.13	Regent	RGCI		3.62	unch
Cox Radio	CXR		16.26	+0.45	Saga Commun.	SGA		8.03	+0.07
Cumulus	CMLS		10.69	+0.50	Salem Comm.	SALM		13.36	+0.25
Disney	DIS		31.98	+0.78	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		3.84	+0.19
Emmis	EMMS		12.49	+0.64	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		4.81	+0.07
Entercom	ETM		26.64	+0.84	Univision	UVN		35.07	+0.02
Entravision	EVC		7.47	+0.16	Westwood One	WON		7.99	+0.29
Fisher	FSCI		42.57	+0.44	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		10.57	+0.40
Gaylord	GET		47.15	+0.15	-	-	-	-	-

Bounceback

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Below the Fold

Executive Comment
What's next....
the return of Bob Sillerman?
Gary Stevens weighs in with his take on Wall Street in general and Clear Channel in particular.

Ad Business Report
Wal-Mart to blast off on Apollo
Arbitron and VNU announced Wal-Mart has signed a subscription agreement for the pilot panel of Project Apollo.

Wall Street Media Business Report
Strong quarter for Hearst-Argyle
Hearst-Argyle stock jumped after Q3 results came in ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Washington Media Business Report
Booze news you can use
The FTC is looking into alcohol advertising, including the effectiveness of voluntary industry guidelines, as some are pressing for stricter mandatory rules.

Stations for Sale

Southern Small Markets
FMs and AM-FM Combos
Florida, Louisiana,
Mississippi, South Carolina
Call Gordon Rice @ 843 884-3590
[email protected]

Radio Media Moves

NRG Media names Kurt Luchs GM of Waitt Radio Networks
NRG Media announced Kurt Luchs as the new General Manager of its Waitt Radio Networks operations based in Omaha. Kurt is currently VP/General Manager of the American Comedy Network. Kurt has been in management in the media industry since 1988 and has spent the last six years at ACN.

More News Headlines

Mobile icon passes
Longtime WABB-AM & FM Mobile owner Bernie Dittman has passed away at the age of 79. The stations remain on the dwindling roster of successful independents. He acquired the AM in 1959 and was instrumental in helping FM catch on along the Gulf Coast in the early 70s. Just last year he was named Broadcaster of the Year by the Alabama Broadcasters Association.

WRTN becomes WVIP
Whitney Radio's WRTN-FM Westchester, NY welcomed home the call letters WVIP. The call sign first saw the light of day almost 50 years ago in 1957 when Martin Stone (the pioneering television producer of Howdy Doody and Author Meets Critic) and Ambassador John Hay "Jock" Whitney, first bestowed them on sister station WVOX-AM Westchester back in the 1960's when they were both part of the Herald Tribune Radio Network. The calls were previously in on 1380 AM, a Spanish religious outlet in suburban NYC.

Dr. Laura's new book debuts #5 on NYT list
Dr. Laura Schlessinger's "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands," which has sold over a million copies in hardcover, made its debut on the New York Times' Paperback Bestseller List at #5. In the book Dr. Laura urgently reminds women that they have the power to control the quality of their lives with their men - and shows them how to do it. Using transcripts from actual callers and letters from her audience, she reports how following her tips - to stop nagging and learn to respect and appreciate their husbands - has helped their marriages.

RBR Radar 2006

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

Clear Channel
hangs out For Sale sign
Just a day after word leaked out that company management had started talking with KKR about a possible buyout of public shareholders, the board of directors at Clear Channel Communications has thrown open the door to all comers. Late yesterday the company announced that the board had retained Goldman, Sachs & Company as its financial advisory to consider strategic alternatives - a Wall Street euphemism for putting the company up for sale. The announcement said there was no assurance that any transaction would take place and that there would be no further public comments on the options being explored unless a specific transaction is approved by the board. Clear Channel also moved its Q3 conference call to next Monday (10/30), so we will hear something from management a week earlier than previously planned, although it is unlikely that CEO Mark Mays and President Randall Mays will have anything to say about whether they and their father, Chairman and co-founder Lowry Mays, will attempt to buy the company with equity partners.

RBR observation: Our first thought upon hearing of the CNBC report of the KKR talks is that the Mays family would not be likely to take the risk of losing control of Clear Channel by taking on equity partners as the majority shareholders of the company. Should unforeseen circumstances make them come up short on their financial promises to their equity partners, Mark and Randall Mays could find themselves out on the street, with someone else brought in to run the company. Just ask Citadel founder Larry Wilson how that works. But the Mays family does not have voting control of Clear Channel now. Are they under pressure from other big shareholders to either buy the company or sell it to someone else? The bidding process has begun and there is now no turning back.
10/25/06 RBR #209

First analyst rates SWMX a buy
Its stock is still in penny stock territory, but SWMX (SoftWave Media Exchange) has attracted the attention of one Wall Street analyst, who has initiated coverage with a "strong buy" rating. CapStone Investments says the business model for SWMX is attractive due to potential high recurring revenue, operating leverage, high cash flows and a high return on invested capital. CapStone says the potential market for the advertising sales exchange run by SWMX for radio and cable TV could exceed six billion annually, with a potential addition of a half billion from the 2008 presidential campaign. With the stock currently trading around three bucks, CapStar put a target price of 4.50 on SWMX.

RBR note: If you have not checked out this model then do so today.
10/25/06 RBR #208

Clear Channel in buyout mode?
CNBC has reported that Clear Channel Communications is in talks with private equity firms, led by KKR, on a possible buyout of public shareholders. There has been no comment from the company and CNBC said its sources said the talks are in the early stages. However, the Mays family has long been frustrated with the low valuation of its stock by Wall Street and Clear Channel has repeatedly bought back its own shares because of the pricing.

RBR observation: And the Hits just keep on Come'n and the heat is being turned up.
10/25/06 RBR #208

Equity firms eye Tribune
and its pieces
You could pretty well guess that the big private equity firms would be in the bidding as Tribune Company seeks to divest big chunks of its TV and newspaper portfolios, perhaps even the whole company.

RBR observation: As we noted previously, top Tribune management, led by CEO Dennis FitzSimons, would prefer to sell only part of the company and keep the prime assets focused in the three biggest markets, New York, LA and Chicago. But the independent directors on the Tribune board have a fiduciary obligation to all shareholders and may not share his objectives. If the bids for the whole company come in with strong numbers, FitzSimons may have to beat the best or watch a new owner take over.
10/24/06 RBR #207

Campaign cash flowing in
and right back out
One report shows that the National Republican Congressional Committee has spend more than 35M since 9/1/06. Another showed national Democratic Committees lagging in funding but at the same time doing a good job of playing catch-up. 527s are dropping soft money into the action again. And the FEC notes that a heaping helping of the dish from the national committees has a negative odor to it. The consensus grand total of spending we've been seeing for this political cycle is 1.4B.
10/23/06 RBR #206

NBA Minute

Program Director
WCJK-FM/Nashville, one of the most successful JACK formats in the U.S., is looking for a PD. Qualified candidates will have programming experience, a proven track record, solid leadership skills, a true flair for creativity and, oh yeah, a JACK attitude. No calls. South Central Radio Group is EOE.
See Radio Careers

Account Executive(s)
Reach Media seeking experienced Account Executives to represent and sell various media products. Must have strong sales background in internet, event sponsorships, and/or network radio, particularly targeting the African-American demographic. Immediate openings in Dallas, New York, Chicago & Atlanta. Resume, references & salary history. EOE.
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--Period.

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