Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 24, Issue 241, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Wednesday Morning December 12th, 2007

Radio News ®

Former programmer/DJ
sentenced to 7 years

Former WDJX-FM Louisville Program Director Todd Smith, known on the air as Todd Kelly, has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison and ordered to repay restitution of 74K. Kelly had pleaded guilty to setting up a phony charity to raise money after fraudulently claiming that he had been diagnosed with ALS, known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The Todd Kelly Foundation was established in 2002, purportedly to raise money for ALS research, and Kelly used his public image to solicit contributions. In addition to the radio station he worked at, Kelly got WAVE-TV (Ch. 3, NBC) to help sponsor fund-raising events. According to US Attorney David Huber in Louisville, Kelly admitted that none of the money raised ever went to ALS research. Rather, Kelly used foundation funds to pay for his own personal expenses, including car payments, cable and phone bills and vacations.

Kelly played the role to the hilt. RBR found a Louisville Courier-Journal article on the Internet from 2003 in which Kelly was quoted as comparing himself to George Bailey, the character played by Jimmy Stewart in the classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life." The story recounted how Kelly was facing an untimely end to his life but sought to have good come from it. "After a lifetime of giving to others, Kelly, 32, has for the past 2-1/2 years been busy receiving aid and encouragement in his fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease," the article gushed. Now, more than six years after announcing his phony "diagnosis," Kelly is healthy as ever, but facing seven years in federal prison. His mother, Sybil Smith, has also pleaded guilty in the case and faces sentencing in January.

RBR observation: This is clearly a case where everybody loses. Kelly is getting what he deserves, but the damage won't really be undone. Tens of thousands of bucks that could have, and should have, gone to legitimate charities, have been wasted. Some people in the Louisville area will no doubt be more cautious about giving to charities, fearful of being ripped-off again.

NAB weighs in on FCC ownership proposal
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's modest rule change proposals do not go nearly far enough, in the opinion of the National Association of Broadcasters. In filed comments, NAB says that one modification, allowing cross-ownership in the top 20 markets, presumes that they are not in the public interest in other markets. It argues that the record amply supports eliminating the restriction on such pairings anywhere and everywhere, and that the age of the rule (dating back to 1975) and the length of time it's been under review (since 1996) indicate it is both ripe for modification and more than sufficiently scrutinized. It further argues that it is time for easing restrictions on local television duopolies, particularly in the face of competition from multiple MVPD services. It notes that the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit called the rules arbitrary and capricious back in 2002. As to radio ownership caps, it supports retention of current levels at a minimum, and "urges the Commission to consider the continued relaxation of the local radio limitations set by Congress over a decade ago in a less competitive and diverse media marketplace."


'Tis the season to CYA
Technically, it's always the season to CYA in Washington, but the looming DTV transition is making some of the natives inside the Beltway very nervous. Ed Markey (D-MA) went viral today with news of a new Government Accountability Office report on the FCC/NTIA preparations for the DTV transition in which it "...found no comprehensive plan or strategy to measure progress or results," he said. The FCC fired right back with a 99-page report noting that it has "been planning for the DTV transition for more than 20 years." GAO noted that the FCC has been moving the technical aspects of the transition along. It also says that "the FCC, NTIA and other private sector stakeholders have made progress in educating consumers about the DTV transition, but these efforts are mostly in the planning phase, and challenges remain." It noted limited resources for outreach available on the government side. GAO also found problems with the digital-to-analog down-converter coupon program, with uncertainty remaining as to retailer participation and actual availability of the boxes. "If retailers' participation is limited or delayed, consumers might face difficulties redeeming their coupons...," possibly losing access to programming after 2/17/09.

The FCC took exception to the GAO report, firing back with a 99-page written response detailing 20 years of effort toward making the DTV transition a reality. The document detailed technical, policy and consumer outreach goals and the means of achieving them, and considered "other critical elements," such as stations with signals crossing the border into Mexico or Canada, and working with the NTIA to promote the down-converter box coupon program. But at least one member of the FCC took exception with the FCC itself. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said, ""This GAO Report confirms what I've been saying for well over a year. The FCC does not have a strategic plan for the DTV transition. There is not even a plan to come up with a plan. Only the FCC appears to be in a state of denial over what the GAO is telling us. Rather than making excuses, we need to come up with solutions. We need to establish an interagency task force now, and we need to reinstate our internal FCC working group immediately."

RBR observation: Our CYA jesting notwithstanding, it is appropriate to make a lot of noise about the DTV transition. However, it may be slightly premature to go into panic mode. The NAB and its membership has a vested interest in seeing this go off without a hitch, and it should be gearing up for a big consumer education push in the very near future. Meanwhile, it is unfair to rag too hard on the FCC for not doing more to publicize the transition. The GAO is working for Congress, the very same institution that gave the FCC a budget of next to nothing for consumer outreach. We regularly see memos from the Commission, but the average citizen does not. The government has essentially handed the ball off to broadcasters, asking them to run it up the middle for a touchdown. And they probably will. The government meanwhile must make sure that any regulatory loose ends are tied off well ahead of the deadline. And it wouldn't hurt if Congress put a little more fiscal muscle behind the outreach effort.

Dan Rather, interrupted
The House Judiciary Committee is planning to get in on the broadcast oversight fun. However, its planned Antitrust Panel session on minority media ownership has been postponed from today by order of the Chairman. It was to feature HDTV anchor and former CBS newsman Dan Rather, as well as Radio One personality Joe Madison and a quartet of watchdogs. They include Minority Media and Telecommunications Council's David Honig; Carol Jenkins of the Women's Media Center; Adam Thierer from the Center for Digital Media Freedom; and S. Derek Turner of Free Press. No word if or when the hearing will return to the schedule.

RBR observation: Rather is somewhat of a surprising choice for a panel such as this. He has an axe to grind with his former employers at CBS, but that would seem to be a different issue for a different panel. Honig is a more natural selection, in fact THE natural selection. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has indicated that many of the minority ownership initiatives the FCC is considering come directly from Honig's MMTC.


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Ad Business Report TM

TNS: US ad spend grew 0.2%
in first nine months of '07

Total measured ad expenditures in the first nine months of 2007 inched upwards by 0.2% to 108.2 billion as compared to the prior year period, according to data released by TNS Media Intelligence. Total measured spending during the Q3 '07 was up 1.3% vs. 2006, reversing declines from the first half of the year. Internet display advertising continued to lead the market, increasing 17.2% to 8.4 billion in spend. Consumer magazines posted a 6.4% gain to 17.3 billion on flat ad page volume. Cable TV spending was up 4.7% to 12.7 billion and Outdoor advanced by 4.4% to 3.0 billion. Broadcast TV media continued to experience weakness in Q3 and turned in nine month spending declines even as the volume of ad time sold increased slightly. Spot TV spend, facing progressively more difficult comps against record-setting levels of 2006 political advertising, tumbled 6.8% to 11.2 billion. Network TV was down 3.0% to 16.2 billion despite an increase in ad time. Syndication TV fell 4.6% to 3.0 billion.

Ad spend in Newspaper and Radio remained soft during Q3. For the YTD period, marketers lowered their Local Newspaper spend by 5.1% to 16.6 billion with a commensurate reduction in ad space. Radio spend slipped 1.8%, to a total of 8.0 billion. Directional shifts in measured ad spending are illustrated and summarized by the share allocations of individual media types. Internet display advertising gained 1.1 share points and finished the period at 7.7% of total expenditures. Magazines accounted for 20.2% of measured spending, up from 19.3% a year ago. The offsetting share declines came from Newspapers (down 1.0 share point to 17.8%) and Local TV (down 0.8 share points to 11.2%).
| See the charts here |


Media Business Report TM
Campaign leads high-turnover list
Five events came out of nowhere to make it onto the top ten list on Project for Excellence in Journalism's news coverage chart for the week of 12/2/07-12/7/07. There was a compelling one-timers, the shooting spree in an Omaha mall, and ongoing stories returning to the list, particularly the Iran saga following release of the National Intelligence Estimate. Winter storms were the meteorological event of the week, and Venezuela made a rare appearance on the list. Still, the 2008 campaign trumped them all as it closes in on Iowa and New Hampshire, where the first votes will be counted.
| Top ten lists here |

Warner Home Video picks DG FastChannel,
Unicast for rich media ads

DG FastChannel, a major provider of digital media services to the advertising and broadcast industries, and Viewpoint Corporation , a leading Internet marketing technology company, today announced a deal to power Warner Bros. upcoming Premium Rich Media (PRM) ad campaigns. Warner Bros. will work with DG FastChannel and Unicast to promote new DVD releases for worldwide distribution in both traditional and online media channels. DG will handle the television distribution of broadcast ads, and Unicast will create unique PRM interactive ads for this campaign. Warner Bros. will leverage the Unicast 3D Video Cube ad format to create a rich media ad campaign for several new DVD releases during the holiday gift giving season. The Unicast 3D Video Cube will be launched to promote the Blade Runner 5-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD release, as well as the Harry Potter DVD release. The Unicast rich media team will take movie trailers digitized by DG FastChannel to create interactive ads which will feature movie clips, sweepstakes, as well as an option to click to buy the DVD. These PRM ads will run both domestically and internationally across multiple publishers.


Media Markets & Money TM
Mapleton completes Spokane expansion
One of radio's growth companies is Adam Nathanson's Mapleton Communications LLC. It has now built its portfolio up to 41 stations with the addition of a seven-station cluster in Spokane WA. The Citadel spin-offs include KBBD-FM, KDRK-FM, KEYF-FM, KZBD-FM, KEYF-AM, KGA-AM & KJRB-AM. The deal was pegged at 22.5M in documents filed with the FCC. Mapleton's list of markets served now includes San Francisco, Monterey, Chico, Merced, Redding, San Luis Obispo and Tulare-Visalia in California, plus Medford-Ashland OR and, of course, Spokane WA.


Washington Business Report TM
More Reps recognize value of radio to musicians
The number of members of the House of Representative who have signed on to the "Local Radio Freedom Act," a measure from Gene Green (D-TX) and Mike Conaway (R-TX), has topped the 25% mark. The bill is an attempt to head off the RIAA's attempt to impose performance fees on broadcasters. The new additions to the bipartisan list include one presidential candidate, Ron Paul (R-TX). Also in the fold are Sue Myrick (R-NC), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Paul Broun (R-GA), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Tom Price (R-GA), Tim Johnson (R-IL), Michael Castle (R-DE), Candice Miller (R-MI), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), Leonard Boswell (D-IA) and John Sullivan (R-OK).


Entertainment Business Report TM
ABC Radio Networks/GAC Television Partnership
Television network Great American Country (GAC) and ABC Radio Networks have teamed up to produce a new syndicated nighttime country music radio show-GAC Nights: Live from Nashville. Hosted by Suzanne Alexander, GAC Nights: Live from Nashville is the only country music focused radio show originating live from the Music City. The show features exclusive news, artist interviews and backstage access to the biggest stars and events in country music. GAC Nights: Live from Nashville airs from the GAC studios on Nashville's Music Row, Monday-Friday, 7 p.m. to midnight.

Intel Radio Network
launching second show

IRN Founder Rick Senninger is close to launching "Talk That Matters," a new Conservative Talk Show focusing on what the general public is actually thinking, not what they should be thinking. The show launches 3PM 1/7. Description: "It is time to once again bring forth the ideologies of Reagan and Truman to a new generation who only read about them in history books. There is an entire culture that were children or not yet born when these principles were articulated by our most revered leaders. Talk That Matters will speak to that generation and all others, reminding us all that America is great because of her people."


Internet Business Report TM
M2O, GAP Broadcasting sign [eco] deal
Mass 2 One Media ('M2O'), a loyalty marketing company for radio has announced a long term partnership with GAP Broadcasting to integrate M2O's full spectrum of listener engagement applications for all GAP stations into its ONE database system known as [eco]. [eco] delivers broadcasters a ONE registration / ONE login Listener Engagement System, simplifying and enhancing the audience experience. [eco] also provides content solutions that engage, retain, track and reward all audience activity through many points of contact, including on-air, online, on-location, and mobile. [eco]'s interactive features have proven to increase online activity from 400% to 1,000%. Said GAP President George Laughlin: "We have great belief in radio's digital future at GAP and the [eco] system is the most successful tool I have seen yet to create digital interaction between radio and its audience. Additionally, this will present a significant revenue opportunity for GAP and I can't wait to have [eco] on all our stations."

AMS-I now TheRadio.Com;
tests streaming with Ford Sync

American Media Services-Internet announced that it has changed its name to TheRadio.Com LLC, reflecting the ongoing global shift to digital media and online radio. TheRadio.Com also launched "Millennium Number 1s," a contemporary Pop format, bringing its total number of online channels to 100.
| Read More |

RBR observation: In the future, when the cell phone and/or laptop are not needed for streaming audio (live internet will be built in the dash), the reception will be even better-vehicles will incorporate a high-gain antenna outside the vehicle.


Ratings & Research
Radio is prime mover in WOM promotions
While "Word Of Mouth" (WOM) is rapidly becoming a key ingredient in almost all integrated marketing promotions, the key to a successful campaign is coming up with the best way "to get the conversation started,'' according to Mike Valentino, CEO of TMPG, a media promotion company. Valentino claims that non-traditional radio is the most potent and cost-effective way to engage the conversation, "using popular, credible media celebrities who are key market influencers to reach out to the target audiences and convince them, for example, to sample a product or go to a client's website for more information.''

"It's not just Word of Mouth, it's professional Word Of Mouth. The conversation can be focused around key copy points or carefully scripted to ensure that the tone, messaging and personality of the brand on strategy and reflected in the DJ banter and are seamlessly integrated into the programming content. We carefully select DJs to serve as brand ambassadors for our clients,'' he said. Statistics indicate that there are 3.5 billion brand-related conversations per day. They also show that 80% of consumers trust recommendations from family, friends and 'influencers;' and that spending on WOM campaigns will rise from 980 million in 2006 to 1 billion by the end of this year, and to 3.7 billion in 2011.


Transactions
500K KKGZ-FM Missoula MT (Frenchtown MT) from Radioactive LLC (Benjamin L. Homel aka Randy Michaels) to GAP Broadcasting Missoula License LLC (Samuel L. Weller). 400K down payment, balance in cash at closing. Superduopoly with KGVO-AM, KLCY-AM, KLYQ-AM, KBAZ-FM, KYSS-FM & KENR-FM, forming two distinct markets. LMA until closing. GAP steps in as buyer for Clear Channel. [File date 11/23/07.]


__FIRST__ __SECOND__,
here is another transaction brokered by Kalil & Co., Inc.


Stock Talk
Wall Street boos the Fed
Stock prices had been generally higher yesterday, but plunged after the Fed announced a quarter percentage point rate cut. How's that? Well, many traders had been betting on a half point cut, so they thought the Fed's action was puny. The Dow Industrials ended the session with a loss of 294 points, or 2.1%, at 13,433.

Radio stocks followed the market. The Radio Index fell 3.532, or 2.5%, to a nine year low of 97.690. Emmis took a hit of 7.3%. Cox Radio fell 4.6%, as did Radio One's Class A stock. The Class D fell 4.2%.


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

41.39

-0.50

Google

GOOG

699.20

-19.22

Beasley

BBGI

6.40

-0.25

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

22.00

+0.22

CBS CI. B CBS

26.51

-0.58

Journal Comm.

JRN

8.74

-0.22

CBS CI. A CBSa

26.76

-0.33

Lincoln Natl.

LNC

58.29

-3.48

Citadel CDL
2.06 -0.04

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

2.26

-0.11

Clear Channel

CCU

34.94

-0.37

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

2.28

-0.10

Cox Radio

CXR

11.56

-0.56

Regent

RGCI

1.51

-0.11

Cumulus

CMLS

7.72

-0.37

Saga Commun.

SGA

6.55

-0.15

Debut Bcg.

DBTB

0.65

-0.30

Salem Comm.

SALM

6.72

-0.22

Disney

DIS

31.76

-0.59

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

3.50

-0.08

Emmis

EMMS

4.18

-0.33

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

1.83

-0.03

Entercom

ETM

14.94

-0.71

SWMX

SMWX

0.01

unch

Entravision

EVC

7.38

-0.17

Westwood One

WON

2.10

-0.09

Fisher

FSCI

37.85

-0.61

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

14.66

-0.26


Bounceback

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Below the Fold
Ad Business Report
TNS: US ad spend
Grew 0.2% in first nine months of '07...

Media Business Report
Campaign leads
High-turnover list & 5 events came out of nowhere...

Media Markets & Money
Mapleton completes
Spokane expansion and is One of radio's growth companies...

Washington Business Report
Recognizing value
Yep, more Reps recognize value of radio to musicians...




Stations for Sale

Silver City, NM
Powerful Hispanic FM
Lovington, NM
Heritage AM/FM Combo
Explorer Communications
E-mail: [email protected]

Seller Financing Available
Mississippi FM
Buy or Lease Studios, Tower
Gordon Rice Associates
(843) 884-3590
or E-mail Gordon Rice

Market your Stations For Sale
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Contact
Jim Carnegie
[email protected]



Radio Media Moves

Reid joins Journal
Effective this week, Chuck Reid has become General Sales Manager for Journal Broadcast Group's six-station cluster in Wichita, KS. Reid was previously VP/GM of Cox Media Kansas.

New CFO-to-be
Cox Enterprises announced that John Dyer, has been named Executive Vice President and will add the title of CFO in the summer of 2008. Dyer will succeed Robert O'Leary, who will continue serving on the Cox Enterprises board of directors. Dyer most recently served as Sr. VP and CFO at Cox Communications, the cable MSO subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Cox Enterprises is also the parent company of Cox Radio.

HipCricket taps VP
HipCricket, a mobile marketing company that creates measurable, real-time, one-to-one relationships between advertisers and their customers and prospects, has named Steven Siegel VP of Brand Solutions. Siegel has developed successful mobile marketing programs for brands and agencies such as Dunkin Donuts, The History Channel, McDonalds, Snapple, Verizon Wireless, Viacom, Mediacom and Ogilvy. Most recently, Siegel was Vice President of Mobile Marketing & Solutions at Enpocket (now Nokia Ad Solutions).


More News Headlines

ESPN, Sirius expand relationship
Sirius Satellite Radio and ESPN announced a multi-year extension to their current broadcast agreement, which will provide listeners with an enhanced ESPN channel. Sirius Ch. 121 will supplement its ESPNEWS programming with a new, exclusive, weekly ESPN The Magazine talk show, and exclusive simulcasts of some of ESPN's television mainstays. Sirius will continue to broadcast ESPN Radio on ch. 120, as well as ESPN Deportes Radio on ch. 181. ESPN The Magazine on Sirius, hosted by Gary Hoenig, GM and editor-in-chief of ESPN Publishing, and ESPN The Magazine Editor Gary Belsky, debuted yesterday (12-2 p.m. ET). SportsCenter (6 p.m., 11 p.m. M-F), will be among the network's television staples made available. Other ESPN television programming includes Around the Horn; College GameDay; Outside the Lines; Sports Reporters; NASCAR Now and Pardon The Interruption.

XM completely
off the hook

Our story yesterday on the SEC ending an investigation of XM Satellite Radio's reporting practices without any action (12/11/07 RBR #240) stated incorrectly that XM still faced purported class action lawsuits for the same matters. In fact, the class action litigation was dismissed in March, as we reported (3/30/07 RBR #63).

XM offering
free podcasts

XM Satellite Radio is making select original music, news, and sports programming available for free podcast download via xmradio.com and Apple's iTunes. Programming includes shows hosted by Bob Edwards, James Carville, Luke Russert, Mike Krzyzewski, Barry Switzer, Opie and Anthony and exclusive XM music and comedy.




RBR Radar 2007
Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

Fidelity cuts Clear Channel stake
Once the largest institutional shareholder of Clear Channel Communications, FMR Corp., parent of the Fidelity Mutual Funds group, has been selling off most of its shares. Once the owner of 9.8% of Clear Channel, FMR reported to the SEC Monday, 12/10/07, that it has cut that to 13.4 million shares, or 2.7%. That puts FMR below the 5% threshold for having to report further Clear Channel stock sales. FMR had been one of the leaders of the resistance to the initial going private offer for Clear Channel, helping push the bid up to the eventual 39.20 per share. The stock has been trading well below that, but with the closing dragging on into 2008, the mutual fund giant has apparently decided to take a lot of cash off the table now and move on.

RBR note: Remember Clear Channel is not closing as planned as it has been pushed back until June of next year. It is going to be a long 2008.
12/11/07 RBR #240

Imus clicks with People Meters
The return of Don Imus to the New York airwaves showed up big time in the market's PPM test sample. Arbitron reports that WABC-AM's AQH estimated 6+ listenership for the December 3rd debut show were up an average of 87% over the previous programming on the station. For the 6:00 am launch, the number of meters reporting exposure to WABC jumped 251%. By the final quarter hour nearly four hours later the audience estimate was still up 33%. Arbitron cautions that this is raw data and has not been weighted or qualified for in-tab. Besides, the market is still in pre-currency testing.

RBR note: See the numbers, view this special page in RBR.
12/11/07 RBR #240

Lots of initiatives to improve PPM
In Arbitron's monthly calls with reporters and clients for a PPM update, the company said lots of things are being done and considered to improve PPM sample performance. Hush-Hush on Houston MRC accreditation - There was, of course, no confirmation that the Media Rating Council MRC has moved to withdraw PPM accreditation in Houston and that Arbitron is appealing through the MRC's secret proceedings MRC, A few words, and only a few, The Media Rating Council (MRC) is famed for its extreme secrecy, but RBR did receive a response from MRC Executive Director George Ivie to our questions about PPM. Not that he had much to say. A: "I have no comment on this matter."

RBR observation: Mark your calendars. The next monthly PPM conference calls are set for January 3rd. Will Arbitron still be able to say then that PPM is accredited by MRC in Houston? If it can't resolve the issue in Houston and somehow move on to get accreditation in Philadelphia and then New York, how is delaying the rest of the roll-out a few months going to help? As for the MRC, The End. Now sit and watch the movie credits roll down the screen at the end of the movie, which of course nobody ever sits in anticipation for that long list to roll. (The Arbitron Agency Advisory Council for compete details in RBR)
12/10/07 RBR #239


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