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RBR Exclusive
The demise of Clear Channel in the rep business was devised over 1-1/2 yrs. ago
As told to RBR/TVBR Publisher Jim Carnegie by Interep Chairman/CEO Ralph Guild Sunday afternoon (11/16/03 2:20pm) that the plan unveiled last Friday with Steve Shaw, Tucker Flood and Mark Gray leaving Katz Radio Group (Katz and Christal) to form a new rep firm and secure the client base from the grips of Clear Channel Communications was initially devised by Katz Media CEO Stu Olds 1-1/2 years ago. Olds first brought the deal to Guild on Monday, August 13, 2001. The plan by Olds, according to Guild, was "He (Olds) could bring the core management team over to Interep, plus [he] controlled enough stations that they would follow." | Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |

Days of thunder roll over rep business;
Katz Radio and Christal Radio, where are you?
Early Friday morning (11/14/03) Steve Shaw, Tucker Flood and Mark Gray - - the three top executives at Katz Radio Group - - resigned and walked across the street to Interep to establish two soon-to-be-named national radio rep firms. The major bolt came shortly after, as up to 130 Katz Radio and Christal Radio staffers also walked and may have possibly begun to dismantle a major piece of Clear Channel Communications (CCU) organization. According to sources, the reasons varied but in short it boiled down to how Clear Channel's various executives conducted business and the lack of good human relations skills. | Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |

Lack of good human relations skills,
or was this an orchestrated coup?
As reported Friday afternoon in the RBR/TVBR afternoon Media Mix (11/14/04): Interep CEO Ralph Guild told RBR this all came together in about a week, with Steve Shaw contacting him after becoming frustrated with Katz Media Group owner Clear Channel steering business to its own Clear Channel Radio Sales, at the expense of clients repped by Katz and Christal. Clarification note: A simple line of miss communications, Shaw clarified this statement telling RBR/TVBR Publisher Jim Carnegie, "Not so, we never steered any business from Katz or Christal clients into Clear Channel Radio Sales." Shaw also highly praised the staff at Katz Radio stating, "I've never been more proud of a group of people in my life on the level of commitment they have to their clients and to the radio business." RBR observation: Now it's about the clients.
| Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |

RBR Exclusive
Old responds to ugly mess via email to all clients
Last night at 6:40pm, RBR received a copy courtesty of Stu Olds of the letter sent to client stations. This was sent out last night outlining details of what happened and were Katz is going forward. “Regrettably, those individuals lied and misled their employees about the very nature of their employment. They told their staff that because management was leaving, the Katz Radio Group would no longer exist and therefore they would be on the street with no job or health insurance.” Click here to read the full memo:

Conference Calls, Q3 2003

Big gains at Fisher
Fisher Communications doesn't have quarterly conference calls, but it has reported its Q3 financial results - - and they are better than most other companies, particularly for radio. Radio revenues rose 70.1% to $14.3M, due primarily, the company said, to its new contract to broadcast Seattle Mariners games. TV revenues were up 0.3% to $20.6M. Fisher said Seattle TV revenues were up 1.4%, while Portland was down 1.1%. Including its other operations, total revenues were up 20% for the quarter to $36.2M. Income from operations for radio turned positive to the tune of $6K, compared to a loss of $818K a year earlier, and TV's income from operations was in the plus column for $324K, compared to a loss of $1.1M. On the bottom line, Fisher reported a loss from continuing operations of $3.3M, or $0.38 per share.

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Center for Science in the Public Interest:
Stop taking money from alcohol advertisers
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has kicked off a campaign aimed at getting colleges and universities, athletic conferences, and the NCAA to stop taking money from alcohol advertisers. | Full Story Click Here |

Tobacco companies agree to drop ads
Four tobacco companies have agreed to not place ads in weekly newsmagazines that are distributed in middle schools and high schools as part of classroom programs. The companies, responding to a request from a committee of the National Association of Attorneys General, are: Brown & Williamson, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco. The attorneys general, in a letter to the companies, said the ads, which have appeared in Newsweek, Time and U.S. News & World Report, violate an agreement prohibiting marketing tobacco products to children.

Ohio Education Association launches
"Great Public Schools for Every Child"
The Ohio Education Association will launch a statewide advertising campaign to highlight the importance of public education during American Education Week, November 16-22. OEA's campaign "Great Public Schools for Every Child" includes spend on television, radio and newspaper. The ads call on citizens to value public education while focusing on the need for greater parental involvement to enhance their children's education.

Another media mouth to feed in DC?
Radio, TV, cable, newspaper and all the other advertising media in Washington DC may face a new competitor as early as this summer, according to an article in the Washington Post. It's the entire Metro transit system - - buses, subway cars, parking garages, even the subway tunnels themselves may be in the mix. | Full Story Click Here |

Hanes launches effort for
"Most Comfortable Underwear Ever"
Hanes announced their latest innovation in men's comfort -- the new ComfortSoft Waistband, a cotton-wrapped, tagless waistband for men.| Full Story Click Here |

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Programming

Blink goes Christmas
The new 102.7 Blink (WNEW-FM) kicked-off the holiday season with non-stop holiday music beginning today and continuing through midnight on Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25. 102.7 is New York's first station this season to present continuous holiday favorites.

Sun-Sentinel and WFTL-AM launch talker
The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel Company and the new WFTL-AM "Live 85" launched a new one-hour live daily news/talk show from the Sun-Sentinel newsroom in Fort Lauderdale. "Live from the Sun-Sentinel" is hosted by "Live 85" Program Director and News Host Bob Christy and will air daily at 11 a.m. It will feature live discussions of breaking news and developing stories with Sun-Sentinel staffers and other guests. Each Friday show will include a "Fun Friday" theme, showcasing entertainment ideas, including movie and festival information. WFTL is owned and operated by the James Crystal Radio Group; the Sun-Sentinel is a subsidiary of Tribune.

Blair Garner's 10th Anniversary celebration brought together the best in Country music
Pictured left to right at the Premiere Radio Networks studios 11/13, Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Blair Garner, Amy Grant, and Vince Gill. Throughout different points in the special broadcast, each of these artists and many others performed live on the nationally syndicated "After MidNite."

Monday Morning Shakers & Makers

Deals: 10/13-17
Arthur Liu and his Multicultural Broadcasting filed this week to buy the entire O&O portfolio of Radio Unica, paying $149,525,000. That, ladies and gentlemen, is more than the grand total of the biggest week we've recorded since the FCC lifted the transaction freeze in August. Five more radio deals carried price tags between $56.9M and $20M, plus there was a $10M TV deal. The ultimate tally of $344,763,500 is well more than double the total of that previous big week (8/25-29, if you're keeping score). Three other weeks have topped the total of 53 stations moved (the record so far is 60), but none have come close to the total of 21 stations in the top 50 markets - - no more than five such stations have moved in any week since the thaw until Multicultural's blockbuster.

Transactions

$6,500,000 KGWN-TV & KSTF-TV Cheyenne WY-Scottsbluff NE (Cheyenne WY, Scottsbluff NE) from Chelsey Broadcasting Companyh of Cheyenne LLC to Sagamorehill Broadcasting of Wyoming/Northern Colorad LLC.

$3,750,000 WLVG-FM Nassau-Suffolk (Center Moriches NY) from Way Broadcasting, related to Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. to IW Limited Liability Company, a subsidiary of Barnstable Broadcasting Inc.

$2,100,000 WVAM-AM & WPRR-FM Altoona PA from Vital Licenses LLC to Vital Broadcasting Licenses LLC, a subsidiary of Forever Broadcasting.

| More Details Click Here |

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