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Volume 24, Issue 244, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Monday Morning December 17th, 2007
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Radio News ®
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 Broadcasters, associations strike back at micromanaging from DC
No one knows yet what will be in the Proposed Rulemaking on Broadcasting Localism that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will unveil at tomorrow's meeting, but based on what's been leaking from the Commission into press reports, broadcasters are worried that Martin wants to bring back the bad old days of excessive regulation and micromanaging by Washington bureaucrats.
| Read More |
RBR observation: If the rumors about what Chairman Martin has up his sleeve are true, he is seriously disconnected from reality. Rather than enhancing "localism," some of the proposals would serve to force many of the remaining "mom & pop" owners to consider selling out of the business.
Multicultural fined for contest violations
Demonstrating once again that the FCC is very serious about enforcing its rules about running on-air contests, Multicultural Radio's KAZN-AM Los Angeles (Pasadena, CA) has been fined 12,000 bucks for what the Commission notice of apparent liability calls its "repeated and willful violation" of the rules requiring a station to fully and accurately disclose the terms of contests and conduct the contest as advertised.
| Read More |
RBR observation: This is not the first time that we've seen a licensee get tripped up by a sponsor not delivering on a promised contest prize. At least in this case it was only a few TV sets and, at least by our reading of the FCC's notice of apparent liability, the station doesn't have to deliver the missing three sets because no prize winners were ever announced for them. In some other cases, stations have been on the hook to pay for expensive trips and other big prizes that weren't produced by the sponsor after a winner was announced on the air. As for station employees and their families not being eligible to win prizes - shouldn't that be in the handbook given to every new employee the day they are hired?
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Political Portal: 12/10/07-12/14/07
The highlight of the week was the return engagement of the five FCC commissioners on Capitol Hill. They visited the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet the prior week, and this time met with the Senate Commerce Committee (which has been operating without a specific communications subcommittee for several years now). The senators in attendance were basically unanimous in expressing their desire that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin postpone a vote on eliminating cross-ownership restrictions in the top 20 markets at the 12/18/07 open meeting. He said he anticipates having the vote anyway. John Kerry (D-MA) promised a congressional response. He did not say what that response would be. The usual leader of consolidation opposition, Byron Dorgan (D-ND), was not present.
The GAO issued a report criticizing the lack of government leadership on outreach for the DTV transition, which drew an immediate 99-page response from the FCC, largely built around years worth of technical and legal decisions underpinning the transition. But the Democratic commissioners agreed with the GAO that outreach was lacking. A hearing on minority ownership which was to have been held in the House Judiciary Committee was postponed. One of its major attractions was a scheduled appearance by Dan Rather. Look for the event to be rescheduled early next year.
 Political spending by medium
Local television will be the media venue of choice, as per usual, according to the assessment of Wachovia Capital Markets as Marci Ryvicker and associates. WCM looked at the spending patterns of the last two contests and provides projections going forward for a wide variety of media. Television, in its various forms, is expected to grab 67.6% of political business. Radio is expected to be ahead of 2004 in terms of revenue and share. It will come in ahead of 2006 in terms of raw dollars but its share is expected to decrease. It will be the third venue of choice, behind direct mail. Newspaper, internet and outdoor have yet to take hold in the politcal arena, looking at shares of 2.3%, 2.3% and 1.4% respectively.
| Year-by-year, medium-by-medium breakdown |
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Ad Business Report TM
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Heineken taps Wieden + Kennedy
Heineken has moved creative chores on its Heineken lager and Heineken Premium Light brands from Berlin Cameron to Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, without a review, according AdAge. The two brands spent a combined 73.4 million through the first nine months of 2007, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The story said Heineken informed Berlin last week it was moving the business to Wieden-the agency Berlin had actually beat after a review that ended in March. That review was led by former Heineken USA President Andy Thomas, who left in October. Wieden actually quit that review before it concluded, leaving Berlin for the pick, said AdAge.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
Withers grabs six from CCU selloff
 Russ Withers is the latest buyer in the Clear Channel Radio housecleaning. The Kalil & Co. brokers say he's buying the six stations in the Marion-Carbondale, IL market. And no, he is not a replacement buyer. No previous sale had been announced for this market. Also, while Withers Broadcasting has lots of stations in southern Illinois, including some quite close to the Marion-Carbondale market, none are actually in the Arbitron market, so this will allow him to greatly expand right in his home territory. The price of the transaction was not immediately announced. Clear Channel acquired the cluster from Cumulus in 2000 as part of a multi-market swap.
Washington pair goes to DLC
This headline could be construed as a deal involving the Democratic Leadership Council in the nation's capital, but DLC Media is in fact an Indiana radio outfit owned by David L. Crooks and Washington is a town in an unrated portion of that state. Crooks will sign a 500K promissory note covering the full value of a deal for WAMW AM & FM. The duo with form a de facto superduopoly with two Vincennes IN FMs which Crooks is associated with via LMAs, WFML-FM and WVUB-FM. The seller of the WAMW combo is William A. Greene d/b/a Greene Electronics.
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__FIRST__ __SECOND__,
here is another transaction brokered by Kalil & Co., Inc.
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| Washington Business Report TM |
Another pirate walks the plank
Marckenson Bazile is a member of the budget fleet on FM buccaneers. His operation on 100.9 MHz at Port St. Lucie FL (part of the Fort Pierce market) this past August was unlicensed. Bazile freely admits that. He says he was unaware that a license was required, which of course is no excuse and is not a viable way to duck the traditional 10K fine. Nor was the educational rather than for-profit nature of his broadcasting. He did, however, cooperate with authorities and was able to produce documents proving that 10K would produce a financial hardship. The FCC let him off with a 1,450 fine.
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| Internet Business Report TM |
 An extraordinary day
for CBS Radio websites
Last Thursday, Dec. 13, with storms battling the North East and the release of the Mitchell Report, many of CBS Radio's stations throughout the country experienced phenomenal increases in streaming listeners and website traffic. Streaming in New York for 1010 WINS (1010wins.com) increased 138% from the prior day, while WFAN (wfan.com) had 110% more listeners, and WCBS 880 (wcbs880.com) acquired 63% more listeners. In Boston, CBS Radio's WBZ-AM (wbz1030.com) increased its streaming listeners a massive 220%, while in Philadelphia KYW-AM (kyw1060.com) gained 44% more listeners from Wednesday to Thursday. Page views to CBS Radio's sites also increased a great deal from Wednesday to Thursday. New York's WCBS 880 jumped 127%, WFAN saw a 96% increase, while 1010 WINS gained 46% more page views. Additionally, Boston's WBZ-AM had an enormous 314% increase from day-to-day and Philadelphia's KYW had 120% more views.
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| Ratings & Research |
Target, Wal-Mart, Macy's top list of favorite holiday ads
TV ads are catching shoppers' attention in creative ways this year, from an Advent calendar filled with top toys to a bevy of celebrities decorating a department store for Christmas. According to a survey conducted for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) by BIGresearch, the top three holiday television advertisements this year come from Target, Wal-Mart and Macy's. Retailers rounding out consumers' top 10 favorite holiday TV ads include Best Buy, Sears, Kohl's, Kmart, JCPenney, Publix and Meijer. Though the results were consistent among most demographics, Best Buy overtook Target for the number one spot in the sought-after 18-24 year-old category. Additionally, Staples made the top ten list for men, Big Lots made the top ten list for women, and Zales' ads were in the top ten for young adults (18-24).
In addition to adding a bit of holiday cheer to TV programming, some consumers admit that holiday ads send them to certain stores and websites. According to the survey, 17.1% of consumers said that their favorite holiday advertisement persuaded them to shop with a specific retailer. An additional 31.5% of consumers said they already planned to shop there. Overwhelmingly, young adults were much more likely than other shoppers to say that holiday television ads sent them to specific stores (27.3% vs. 17.1%). Though shoppers remember their favorite television commercials, they admit that other advertising can be more effective in helping them determine where they will shop for holiday gifts. More than one-third of shoppers said that coupons (35.2%) influenced their decision about where to shop. Consumers also said they are persuaded by newspaper inserts (30.4%) and word of mouth (22.7%).
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 10/29/07-11/2/07
There was somewhat of a rebound in trading as October faded into November. The week hailed the return of at least one transaction on the television side as a network affiliate in Texas got set to change hands. A pair of regional cluster transactions fueled the action on the radio side. The value of the 29 radio stations in the mix was just a hair above that of the one TV station.
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Total
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Total Deals
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12
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AMs
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11
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FMs
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18
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TVs
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1
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| Value |
51.828M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
Indiana group fetches 11.1M
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TV Transactions of the Week
Nacogdoches, Longview and Tyler too
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| Transactions |
10.5M KDES-FM Palm Springs CA from R&R Radio Corporation (Frederic E. Supple) to LBI Radio License LLC, a subsidiary of Liberman Broadcasting Inc. (Lenard Liberman). 525K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Seller will assist buyer in securing permission to move KDES-FM to 104.7 Class A in Redlands CA at the transmitter site of KRQB-FM San Jacinto CA in the Riverside-San Bernardino market. Duopoly with KRQB-FM and cross-ownership with KRCA-TV Riverside. Liberman also owns two AMs and four FMs in adjacent Los Angeles market. Buyer is acquiring KWXY-FM in the Palm Springs market to replace KDES-FM. [File date 11/29/07.]
270K WUSP-FM Wausau-Stevens Point WI (Nekoosa WI) Todd P. Robinson from Seehafer Broasdcasting Corporation (Donald W. Seehafer) to 15K, balance in cash at closing. Superduopoly with WOSQ-FM, WXCO-AM, WDLB-AM, WFHR-AM. [File date 11/28/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Inflation scare sinks stocks
A jump in the government's Consumer Price Index increased concerns about inflation and had Wall Street traders worried that the Fed might stop cutting rates as a result. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 178 points, or 1.3%, to spend the weekend at 13,340.
Radio stocks dropped with the market. The Radio Index was down 2.350, or 2.4%, to a nine-year low of 97.209. Beasley plunged 8.8% -- a day after an unexplained 21.5% jump. Radio One Class D was down 5.4% and its Class A 4.5%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Friday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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41.60
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-0.60
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Google
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GOOG
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689.96
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-4.09
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Beasley
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BBGI
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6.75
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-0.65
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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21.80
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-0.37
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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26.15
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-0.43
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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8.51
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-0.35
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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26.15
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-0.39
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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57.23
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-1.37
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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2.05 |
-0.05 |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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2.12
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-0.10
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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34.75
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+0.39
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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2.11
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-0.12
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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11.45
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-0.28
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Regent
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RGCI
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1.54
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-0.02
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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7.36
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+0.13
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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6.37
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-0.17
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Debut Bcg.
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DBTB
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0.56
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+0.01
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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6.70
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-0.31
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Disney
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DIS
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33.01
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+0.25
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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3.31
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-0.10
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Emmis
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EMMS
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4.46
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unch
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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1.85
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+0.02
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Entercom
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ETM
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14.50
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-0.40
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SWMX
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SMWX
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0.01
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unch
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.25
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-0.12
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Westwood One
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WON
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2.08
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-0.06
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Fisher
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FSCI
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36.25
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-1.21
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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13.55
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-0.44
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Bounceback
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 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to [email protected]
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Below the Fold
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Ad Business Report
Heineken taps Wieden + Kennedy
Two brands spent a combined 73.4M through the first nine months of '07...
Media Markets & Money
Withers grabs six
From CCU selloff, Russ is the latest buyer taking 6 in Marion...
Washington Business Report
Another pirate
Walks the plank and he is Marckenson Bazile is a member of the budget fleet on FM buccaneers...
Internet Business Report
CBS Radio websites
An extraordinary day Last Thursday, with storms battling the North East...
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Stations for Sale
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Silver City, NM
Powerful Hispanic FM
Lovington, NM
Heritage AM/FM Combo
Explorer Communications
E-mail: [email protected]
 Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact
Jim Carnegie
[email protected]
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Radio Media Moves
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Murphy named Motor City Market Manager
 CBS Radio has named Kevin Murphy Sr. Vice President and Market Manager of its six-station cluster in Detroit. Murphy had already been VP/GM of half the stations, WOMC-FM, WXYT-AM and WKRK-FM. Deb Kenyon, who recently became Director of Sales for the entire cluster, continues as VP/GM of WYCD-FM and WVMV-FM. Rich Homberg is VP/GM of WWJ-AM.
Meg meets Tom
"Meg in the Morning" debuts today on WWTJ-FM "Tom @ 107.5" Charlottesville, VA. Meg Matthews joins the Monticello Media station from Metro Airborne Traffic in Washington, DC and was previously on-air at WFLS-FM Fredericksburg, VA.
Director retires
Cox Radio announced that Paul Hughes will retire from the company's board of directors, effective 1/1/08. Hughes, the former President of Great Trails Broadcasting, has been a member of the Cox Radio board since the company went public in 1996.
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RBR Radar 2007
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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Citadel looks to trim down
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation announced that it has retained Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. to serve as its financial advisors for the divestiture of some of its stations. Citadel isn't saying just what it wants to sell, but says these divestitures are in addition to those required to be divested as a result of its acquisition of ABC Radio. Including those required divestitures related to ABC Radio, Citadel said it expects to generate 75-175 million in gross sale proceeds over the next 12-24 months.
RBR observation: Well, if the whole shooting match is only going to bring in 75-175 million, don't look for any primo beachfront property to be put up for sale. This is just a modest pruning of the group. And given that, we wonder why Citadel is bothering to involve investment bankers, especially two of them. It seems more like the type of assignment for a media broker. This is gonna get interesting so look out 2008.
12/14/07 RBR #243
Sinclair fights
payola/plugola charge
Television group owner Sinclair Broadcast Group is fighting an FCC Notice of Apparent Liability related to an appearance by pundit Armstrong Williams on at least one of its stations. Williams was found to have accepted cash from agencies in the Bush administration to use his television appearances to plug the No Child Left Behind program. The television show in question, says Sinclair, is not one of theirs, but rather is a program they aired via a syndication arrangement. They actually paid the producer of "America's Black Forum," Uniworld Group Inc., for the rights to air the program. That would be the opposite of benefiting from Williams' arrangement with the government.
12/13/07 RBR #242
'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."
12/12/07 RBR #241
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©2007 Radio Business Report, Inc. All rights reserved.
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