RBR's Daily Morning Epaper

Volume 21, Issue 237, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Tuesday Morning December 7th, 2004

Radio News®

RBR Exclusive
Infinity COO Joel Hollander Said to be a Go
With sources reporting what RBR had a hint of late last week that Infinity will join in the Houston market ranks of radio and television encoding. Remember this is just encoding and not accepting PPM and paying for it or making any commitment to Arbitron other than participation in the process. Infinity was one of the three radio hold outs but now joining only leaves Radio-One, which, is in contract extension negotiations so it is logical to use encoding as a little leverage. The other and firm no participation is Bob Neil at Cox Radio. Sources report Arbitron has or is about to be notified and that Hollander will not put out a press release saying why or any there for any reasons. To our observation it is a logical and standup roll with maybe a touch of logic from inside the higher levels of research at CBS who understand technology and research. Now the question - will Nielsen join in the Houston process which has been encouraged by the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) President Chris Rohrs and the Nielsen Customer Alliance which unanimously passed a resolution calling on Nielsen to participate in the Houston PPM test to which no response from the TV ratings company was given except Nielsen spokesman Jack Loftus told TVBR "We don't see any reason to participate right now." Maybe with Infinity Broadcasting participating just may be a swing vote Nielsen needs.

RBR observation: This is good a sign that Hollander is willing to step out of the box or the group head meeting room that includes Arbitron's Steve Morris and how many anti-trust lawyers. Bottom line - The group heads meet with Arbitron but lawyers have to be in the room. Morris leaves and nobody in the meeting can open their mouth to say a word - or it is anti-trust. So the meetings in many ways are just that - a meeting to have a meeting with no end result insight. Editor's note: Hollander was unavailable to our very late 10:35PM call for comment.

Coen bullish on 2005
Radio was one of the disappointments in 2004, while TV outperformed his forecast, but Universal McCann ad guru Bob Coen is expecting 2005 to be a growth year for US ad spending, even though TV won't look very impressive against 2004 numbers inflated by the Olympics and political ads. He's forecasting the total ad spending will be up 6.4% next year, with national outperforming local.

RBR observation: Don't break out the bubbly just yet. We have the charts and the full outline inside but TV "won't look good" and Radio growing somewhat slower than competing media in 2005. Internet advertising is a big Wow. You best start learning how to use this business model like what you are reading right this minute, RBR is not your normal email. | More... |

Disney dissidents won't offer own slate
Former Disney directors Roy Disney and Stan Gold have backed down a bit and say they won't offer their own slate of candidates for the company's board at the next shareholders' meeting. They say they're encouraged that the existing board is moving forward with a "thorough and bona fide" search to name a successor to CEO Michael Eisner. "Needless to say, we are assuming that the Board will continue to act in good faith to fulfill the promises it made to Disney stockholders over the course of the last nine months," the two dissidents said in a letter sent to current Disney board members. In their view, the board has committed to three key objectives: 1) to conduct the search for Eisner's successor; 2) that the search will be completed and a new CEO announced by June of 2005; and 3) "That Mr. Eisner will step down as both CEO and as a Board member upon culmination of this process." Even though they're encouraged by the direction the board is taking, Roy Disney and Stan Gold said they were "more than a little disheartened" that Eisner and Disney Chairman George Mitchell turned thumbs down on three candidates for the board of directors recommended by a group of large public pension funds. "After last year's shareholder revolt, we had hoped this year the Board would be more receptive to input from concerned stockholders," the letter said.

Fox proposes to stand and fight
News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting is not going to take the nearly 1.2 million bucks FCC indecency fine for an episode of "Married by America" lying down (10/13 RBR #200). It is asking the FCC to drop the charges. The since-canceled reality show was fingered for a intentionally blurred whipped cream sequence, among others. The fine itself is the factor of 7K dollars time 169 individual stations which aired the program. To put the fine in perspective, the maximum fine for a single indecent incident is 32.5K; back in April 2003, when the episode aired, the max was 27.5K. Using that number, the fine is about a quarter of what it could have been had the FCC decided to go for broke. To the best of TVBR's knowledge, however, the Fox fine represents the first time the FCC has held every station within a network accountable for the network's programming, whether the station is owned by that network of not. Viacom/CBS recently entered into a 3.5M dollar consent decree with the FCC essentially clearing its indecency docket, with the exception of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident, which it continues to contest.

Stinehour tapped as CEO at Archway
The small but growing group of female CEOs in radio has a new member. With 29 years of experience in radio sales, marketing and management, Kathy Stinehour has been named President and CEO of Archway Broadcasting Group, which owns and operates 12 stations in three markets. Al Vicente has moved up to Vice Chairman and will focus on acquisitions for the still-growing company. "Kathy will bring the operational focus that our company needs right now on its existing operations while we continue to pursue opportunities to add to our portfolio of radio stations," Vicente said in announcing the hiring of his successor as CEO. "I have had the privilege of working with and learning from some exceptional radio industry leaders over the years, such as Jimmy deCastro, Kenny O'Keefe, John Lynch, Jay Hoker and, most recently, Lew Dickey," said Stinehour. "I intend to apply everything they have taught me as I assume my new duties." Most recently VP/Market Manger for Cumulus in Toledo, OH, her resume also includes management positions with Hoker, Noble, Evergreen, Chancellor, AMFM and Clear Channel.

Blogs at 20 paces: Bozell v. Jarvis
Brent Bozell of Parents Television Council and Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine are waging a war of words over the virtual battleground of the Internet. The battle is over the bigger war on broadcast indecency. Bozell managed to besmirch the FCC while he was at it. Commenting on Jarvis' claim that there were in fact only three distinct complaints against the FCC-fined "Married by America" episode, Bozell said there were far more complaints. He wrote, "Mr. Jarvis doesn't know this, but I know this, and will charge here publicly: the FCC is lying in a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.

RBR observation: We've said it before and we'll say it again. Just about every viewer has two potent weapons at their disposal, the dial and the pocketbook. Use them. If you want to make doubly sure you message gets across, don't tell the FCC, tell the network, and more importantly, the advertiser. If enough people do this, both will get the message. | More... |

Adbiz©

Agency, others offer more comment on AAAAs story
We've received yet more responses and feedback regarding our coverage of the AAAAs letter to CC Radio CEO John Hogan voicing concerns about CC Radio's "Less is More" initiative (12/3 RBR #235), (12/6 RBR #236). From Houston-based Ad Results, which specializes in live reads: "We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the recent RBR article regarding Clear Channel's "Less is More" policy and the concerns voiced by the AAAA.

RBR observation: The more live reads stations can get their talent to do, the less likelihood of listeners opting for another station during a stop set. Live reads are very effective - - more so than :60s and :30s. As hard as it might seem to do live reads from DJs on national spots, we would suggest a few experiments in that direction as well. Live read ads cost more, so by instituting more of them, maybe less overall ads will be needed in each stop set to keep revenues stable. Plus live means local as a few successful PD like oldies WRBQ-FM, Tampa's Mason Dixon - Live - Local - Successful. | More... |

Discovery and Pepsi pact for
"Smart Spot" program
Discovery and Pepsi unveiled a multi-million dollar media partnership centered on promoting PepsiCo's new "Smart Spot" program designed to help consumers make choices that contribute to healthier lifestyles. The year-long partnership features six of Discovery's U.S. networks, exposure on Discovery.com and marks the largest advertising commitment to date for FitTV. The Smart Spot symbol is designed to help consumers identify more than 100 food and beverage products from PepsiCo that contribute to healthier lifestyles. Products with the Smart Spot designation -- over 55 billion servings in the US -- meet nutrition criteria from authoritative statements of the National Academy of Sciences and the FDA. "Through the breadth and depth of our media platforms, we're thrilled to offer PepsiCo a targeted opportunity to showcase their new Smart Spot program commitment in a variety of ways," said Joe Abruzzese, president, ad sales, Discovery Networks, U.S. "Discovery's thoughtful, quality programming on the important topics of health and fitness will help us connect with consumers about our Smart Spot products," said Ellen Taaffe, vice president of health and wellness marketing at PepsiCo. "Through trademarks like Quaker, Aquafina, Baked Lays, Gatorade, Tropicana and Dole, we have the kinds of products consumers trust to help them live healthier lifestyles. Discovery's programming is the bull's eye for delivering information about our brands and our commitment to healthier lifestyles." Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Health Channel, Travel Channel and FitTV will feature a variety of on-air ads, most notably healthy breakfast reminder messages that will air across these networks throughout the partnership.

Diet Pepsi picks DDB after review
Diet Pepsi has chosen DDB NY for an assignment after a review that included the incumbent BBDO NY and TBWA\Chiat\Day in Playa del Rey, CA. The work could end up being aired during the Super Bowl. BBDO has held the Diet Pepsi account since 1964. The agency will continue to be the AOR for Pepsi North America. However, Diet Pepsi may move additional work over to DDB after the upcoming campaign. Pepsi spent 35 million in measured media on Diet Pepsi through September, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Media Markets & MoneyTM

Castro strikes yet again in the Metroplex
The Border Media Partners spending spree is continuing, with a filing for yet another AM station in the Dallas market. This time, the station is KJON-AM, which Tom Castro's organization is getting from Stanton Nelson's Carrollton Broadcasting of Texas for 3.25M dollars, according to Kalil & Co., which handled the sale for Nelson. The other stations are KXEB-AM Frisco, which is coming in the group deal with Amigo Radio and KFJZ-AM Fort Worth, a deal filed with the FCC just last week (12/6 RBR #236). KJON is a fairly recent addition to the Dallas-Ft. Worth market. Not so long ago, it wasn't even located in the state of Texas. It recently moved its city of license to Carrollton from Anadarko OK.

How now, brown 'DOW?
WDOW AM & FM, combo located in Dowogiac, in the southwest corner of Michigan north of South Bend IN and southwest of Kalamazoo, has been sold. According to Greg Guy of Patrick Communications, Joe Jason of Jason Communications stands to pick up 950K from buyuer Pete Sumrall's LeSea Broadcasting Inc. It'll be a territorial move for the buyer. LeSea, which operates mainly of the TV side - - Guy says its portfolio includes 12 full- and low-power TVs - - already has a pair of FMs in the aforementioned South Bend market.

Salem raises Q4 guidance
When it reported its Q3 results in early November, Salem Communications told Wall Street to expect Q4 same station revenues to be up in the mid to high single digits. Salem updated that yesterday to a double digit number - - 10%. The company now says revenues for the quarter should be 48.75 to 49.25 million.

Washington Beat

A yard long, 16K short
WLTH Radio in Gary IN has been hit with a forfeiture of 16K for a number of tower violations. WLTH-AM is a double-tower station, and the troubles were mainly with the daytime tower. The violations included failure to register the antenna structure, failure to exhibit red obstruction lighting, and failure to notify the FAA of an light outage in a timely manner. Among its defenses, WLTH said that the tower was not subject to any of these requirements, since it was less than 200' tall. However, WLTH's own subsequent report put its height at 202.97 feet, almost a full yard taller than 200'. An engineer's testimony and FAA records failed to support the station's claim that it did inform the flight agency. The station noted an unusual reason for the outage's existence in the first place: Apparently the lights were shot out by hunters.

When it comes to airtime,
Reid will share the wealth
Not so long ago, Trent Lott (R-MS) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) were familiar figures on the national airwaves. Their position as leaders of their parties' US Senate delegation put them in front of cameras and mics on countless occasions. Lott's successor, Bill Frist (R-TN) has taken that slot over for the Republicans. But it may not be the same story for the Democrat's Harry Reid (D-NV). According to the New York Times, the new Senate Minority Leader sees himself of but one of four national party leaders, and in comments he left room for others at that particular table. Besides himself, he named Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and former President Bill Clinton. Reid told reporters he would not "...hog all the TV shows or radio interviews." Reid is said he will be putting together a communications operation which will open up opportunities for many to carry the banner for the party in the near future.

Programming

Univision not worried by new competition
Clear Channel and Viacom may both be moving aggressively into the Spanish radio marketplace (the latter via its investment in SBS), but Univision Radio isn't worrying about losing its dominant position. "Obviously it's more competition for us, but I think it helps grow the business as well. What we've found is that if you have credible businesses out there preaching what we do in this field, overall the revenues will grow," Univision Communications CFO Jeff Hinson told a UBS Securities conference in New York. "People are just looking at Spanish language as a format," he said. Thus, Clear Channel may chose to convert more under-achieving stations to Spanish. "We're prepared for that. If anything, we hope that they'll grow the market," Hinson said.

Democratic director to work for The Ed Schultz Show
The director of North Dakota's Democratic Party Vern Thompson is resigning to go to work at Jones Radio Networks' "The Ed Schultz Show." He said Monday he will leave his job Jan. 1, to become program manager for the show heard on 65 stations, including outlets in Miami, Boston, Minneapolis, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle. It is also part of the talk-radio offerings on XM Satellite Radio. Thompson has been the state Democratic director since January 2001. He took the position after he narrowly lost a race for the state Public Service Commission the previous year.

Ratings & Research

Arbriton travels with minorities
Arbitron has a new feature which further slices and dices info from the 2000 Census and from its own pool of data. The workday travel habits for three ethnic groups: Black, Hispanic and Asian, have now been quantified and are available free of charge at Arbitron's website. The new breakouts for each group include info on time spentw traveling, time of departure and method of transportation, whether it be car, carpool, bus, subway or their own two legs - - or even if they simply move from one place to another in their own residence. The info is designed to help radio stations plan their mornings around their listeners.

comScore Arbitron Online Radio Ratings debuts
Arbitron and comScore Media Metrix released the first US audience ratings from their new online radio ratings service - - with an estimate of 4.1 million people a week, age 12+, listening to three major online radio networks. | More... |

Transactions

WZFS-FM Chicago (Des Plaines IL) and KSFB-FM San Francisco (San Rafael CA) from Salem Communications Corporation to Univision Radio License Corporation.

WIND-AM Chicago, KHCK-AM Dallas-Ft. Worth (Dallas TX), KOBT-FM Houston (Winnie TX) and KOSL-FM Sacramento (Jackson CA) from Univision Radio License Corporation to Salem Communications Corporation.

| More... |

Stock Talk

Tough day for blue chips
Analyst downgrades of Pfizer, Alcoa and Verizon sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower on Monday and produced a mixed market. The Dow was off 45 points, or 0.4%, to end at 10,547. The S&P 500 was down slightly and the Nasdaq Composite up slightly.

Radio stocks were among the gainers. The Radio Index rose 0.718, or 0.3%, to 222.032. Journal Communications gained 2%. Salem, which raised its guidance after the market closed, was up 1.9%.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Monday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		37.46	-0.38	Jeff-Pilot	JP		50.64	-0.32
Beasley	BBGI		16.78	+0.28	Journal Comm.	JRN		17.27	+0.35
Citadel	CDL		15.05	-0.21	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		13.92	-0.09
Clear Channel	CCU		33.63	+0.48	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		14.00	+0.01
Cox Radio	CXR		15.69	+0.09	Regent	RGCI		5.90	+0.08
Cumulus	CMLS		15.22	-0.18	Saga Commun.	SGA		17.06	+0.24
Disney	DIS		27.32	-0.05	Salem Comm.	SALM		24.97	+0.47
Emmis	EMMS		18.31	-0.14	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		8.09	+0.54
Entercom	ETM		34.86	+0.11	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		10.67	+0.10
Entravision	EVC		7.75	-0.12	Univision	UVN		28.95	-0.11
Fisher	FSCI		46.48	+0.02	Viacom, Cl. A	VIA		36.87	-0.23
Gaylord	GET		38.10	-0.16	Viacom, Cl. B	VIAb		36.17	-0.10
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		25.49	-0.42	Westwood One	WON		23.58	+0.38
Interep	IREP		0.68	+0.04	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		37.73	+0.28
International Bcg.	IBCS		0.01	unch	-	-	-	-	-

__UNSUB__ to this email service.

Urgent Request

Now many that know Cathy and me personally, know we go the distance. This request for your assistance is from two people who have a vehicle of RBR & TVBR and are trying to help and bring a Merry Christmas to 40 lonely soldiers in a far away place and seeing the worst of war. Will you help us to help the medics & soldiers during this Holiday Season?

Ship to: (box the ADDRESS)
SFC Melick.
325th Field Hospital
APO AE 09355

Thank you and Merry Christmas
Jim & Cathy Carnegie

Bounceback

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

A reader had a less than satisfactory experience participating in FCC Auction No. 37

Integrity of Auction?
In a letter to the FCC, L. Topaz Enterprises, Inc. was falsely accused in the FM Auction No. 37 bidding process of "improprieties and collusion" and requested L. Topaz be eliminated from further bidding, allegedly by Robert Ingstad. The FCC placed a notice on the Nov. 15th Daily Digest denying such a request to "maintain the integrity of the auction process." The FCC also in its notice, said no such requests will be considered until after the auction and until the appropriate time "petitions to deny" may be filed, leaving me wide open for more false accusations. As President of L. Topaz, I went thru the ceiling when I spotted this notice on the 15th and placed several calls to the FCC to determine what this was all about. No one returned my calls until the following day, several bidding rounds having transpired...
| More... |

Dale A. Ganske, President
L. Topaz Enterprises, Inc.

Arbitrends

Upped & Tapped

Heading trio
in Twin Cities
Infinity Broadcasting has tapped St. Paul native Mary Niemeyer to be Market Manager in Minneapolis-St. Paul and General Manager of the company's three stations in the market - - WCCO-AM, WLTE-FM & WXPT-FM. She had been General Sales Manager of WCCO.

Dial-Global
promotes & hires
Dial Communications-Global Media announced Eileen Decker has been promoted from SVP/Sales to EVP/Director of Sales. Dial-Global Senior Vice President of Sales Don Wachsmith has been placed in charge of the Western Region, in addition to his responsibility for the Midwest. In addition, Mary Margraf has been promoted from VP/Director of Traffic to VP/Director of Sales Planning. The company has also hired Melinda Haroutunian as its new Western Region Director of Sales.

November Digital
Solutions Magazine

GM Talkback
Larry Wert, Pres/Gm NBC's - WMAQ-TV, Tom Bender,
GM Greater Media/Detroit, Mike Mazursky, GM 4M Communications
page 6

Laying the Hits down -
Boom Boom Boom
Listen to past great air checks of
George Michael, Fred Winston, Bob DeCarlo & Tommy Turntable
page 12

November Zinio Solutions Magazine
Read RBR in 2 simple steps:
1.Create a simple account with Zinio and download the Zinio Reader.
2. You can then download the November Issue of RBR

RBR Radar 2004

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

RBR Close-Up
Clear Channel sends Hogan
Cleaning the Carpet
In a nutshell Kevin Gallagher, Chairman, AAAA Local TV/Radio Committee and Starcom SVP/Director of Local Investment Group isn't buying the "Less is More" initiative lock, stock and barrel. We've received responses! and feedback including from CC Radio CEO John Hogan via email, agencies, GMs and others regarding our discovery on the stand of the 4A's. RBR observation: quoting Irwin Gottlieb, CEO of Group M who forecasted the future of our media world in February this year at the 4A's conference: "Consider the long term. The agencies, the media vendors, the clients, we're all under tremendous pressure to get past short-term issues. Sure we all know what our long term strategic objectives are, ! it's just that for some reason the short term ones always seem to get in the way and preclude us doing anything about it. We've got to remember that it's a business that is based on accountability and complex intertwined relationships. Let me be blunt. If you are afraid of change this might be a good time to leave the business. If you choose to hang on and pursue opportunity buckle up because it's going to be a terrific ride." You will find them at least interesting inside this mornings report. 12/06/04 RBR #236

Powell takes his bully pulpit to NYT
FCC Chairman Michael Powell took to the OpEd pages of the New York Times to explain the FCC's position at ground zero in the broadcast indecency wars. He asked that people on both sides take a deep breath and try to appreciate the balancing act indecency enforcement requires. RBR observation: Hot seats don't get much hotter than the one Powell occupies in this debate. He is seen by one extreme as a would-be national nanny. 12/06/04 RBR #236

:60s vs. :30s: The pros and cons of
"shortening the standard" - - Part 5
" We wondered, is there a creative solution, using :30's vs. 60's, like buying two :30s in a pod? "Not if the model is unit count," warns Natalie Swed Stone, US Director, National Radio Investment, OMD. This article appears in its entirety in the November issue of RBR Solutions magazine. 12/06/04 RBR #236

Ad execs say US radio
business "diminished"
Reuters reports facing the worst slump in its 82-year history, the radio industry's own lack of imagination may be its undoing, ad execs said 12/2 last week. The industry has fragmented its business so narrowly that it has lost its national audience, David Lubars, chief creative officer of BBDO, said at the Reuters Advertising Summit. "Radio has really damaged itself as an industry," "With exception of talk radio, I hear the same music on every station," said Renetta McCann, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group's Americas region. "Music-based radio may have a content issue." RBR observation: Indeed. And here's a point that proves it, the Ad Agency executives are saying it load and proud and RBR & TVBR are beating the war drums on our media's behalf. But the young CEO's just are seeing the smoke signals they would rather change conventions where they are hip instead of improving and resolving the problems. 12/06/04 RBR #236

Radio Professionals
Salem Communications, the leading U.S. radio broadcaster focused on religious and family themes programming, seeking experienced candidates in Radio Sales, Programming, and Management for pending acquisitions in Miami and Omaha, EOE. Forward resumes to: Allen Power, VP Operations
2970 Peachtree Rd. NW, Suite 700 Atlanta, GA 30305

Senior Sales Executive
Sunshine, no snow here, plus the market leaders in Gainesville-Ocala at two of the leading radio stations in N. Central FL, WOGK-FM (K-Country) and WIND-FM (classic rocker). Two years sales experience a must. Please send resumes to [email protected] fax to R. Kassi 352-622-7822. No calls. EEO

GM & Equity
Tired of the rat race? New England radio group seeks self-starter to captain turnarounds. Community radio is still alive and well in this Central New England combo. Equity participation available Letter and Resume to: [email protected]

See Radio Careers for more info.

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