Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 24, Issue 250, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Friday Morning December 28th, 2007

RBR returns Thursday, January 3, 2008

The offices of RBR/TVBR will be closed Saturday, December 29 through Wednesday, January 2 so that our employees may enjoy the New Year festivities with their families.

Radio News ®

Small network eschews
anti-airplay musicians

Have the first shots been fired in the brewing battle between radio and labels over performance royalties/fees? A small, three station North Carolina group called Christian Listening Network, "[i]n sympathetic response to the cries of the Music First Coalition that radio airplay has hurt rather than helped musical performers," is making sure that all MFC members are kept off of its airwaves.

"Our Music Directors are diligent in selecting the best songs week after week," said CLN GM Dan DeBruler (pictured). He added, "It is illegal for US radio stations to accept direct compensation in any form in exchange for airplay. We play and promote the best songs and artists, then watch as they climb the charts. The result is increased record sales and improved ticket sales at live performances. If performing artists believe uncompensated airplay is hurting them to the extent they need legislation to stop it, we'll save them the trouble."

The MDs at WCLN-FM, WGQR-FM & WBLA-AM have been instructed to keep in touch with music reps in the event the "Performance Rights Act" is adopted and "negotiate individual fees with the artists whose music we play to ensure fair compensation."

RBR observation: This battle has essentially a cash grab by labels trying to find any possible income stream as their tattered business model continues to leak. They've been hiding behind musicians -- notably, most of the artists they've sent to Capitol Hill are not frequently heard on the air these days -- are Judy Collins, Sam Moore, Lyle Lovett or Alice Peacock on your current playlist? -- and they wouldn't stand to gain much from the Act. It will be interesting to see if the CLN is an isolated event or a harbinger of things to come.


Latest Arbitron battleground: Kansas
Come next month the first-ever ratings book will be issued by Arbitron for the new Salina-Manhattan, KS metro, unless the FCC grants a request by Manhattan Broadcasting Company to block Arbitron and Morris Communications from issuing those ratings. Attorney Richard Zaragoza of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman LLP, representing Manhattan Broadcasting, acknowledges that he is plowing new ground. So, does the FCC even have any authority to intervene? "I think they do," he told RBR. He notes that the Commission is currently very focused on the effects of consolidation and Zaragoza says a single broadcaster being able to dominate Arbitron ratings "can translate into enormous clout."

Manhattan Broadcasting, headed by President and CEO Richard Wartell, claims that Morris hatched the Salina-Manhattan metro plan without Arbitron consulting any of the other stations in the proposed metro, many of which already subscribe to Arbitron's county data. Wartell complains that the new metro is contrived, joining cities 67 miles apart with no commonality so that Morris can "cream-skim regional and national advertising dollars." He says the eight-county market was crafted to exclude two counties immediately adjacent to Manhattan, where his stations are strongest, to ensure that Morris' stations will always dominate the ratings and be able to go to advertisers and "show them the industry standard [Arbitron]." The complaint filed with the FCC also charges that Morris Communications VP Michael Osterhout, who heads the company's radio division, abused his position on the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council to push through the metro designed to favor his company. Osterhout declined to comment and referred RBR to his company's lawyer, James Bayes of Wiley Rein & Fielding, who said he was not yet ready to comment on the matter. RBR also sought comment from Arbitron, but none was forthcoming on Thursday.

Martin defends new rules
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is sticking by his assertion that the easing of cross-ownership restrictions in the top 20 Nielsen DMAs is a modest update of the rules and that the floodgates are not open to a new wave of dealmaking regardless of market size. Martin has asserted that crossownership dereg from the 2003 ownership rulemaking was almost endorsed by the court that sent most of the package back for reconsideration. The court remand could have been read as an invitation to open the entire US open to cross-owned combinations, asking only that the justification for such a rulemaking, and the cap limits attached to it for print, television and radio properties, be better justified. The court did not instruct the FCC as to whether the rule should be tightened, loosened or left alone. The toxic nature of the ownership dispute in general has been very much in evidence, as interested observers have criticized Martin for both going too far and not going far enough.

The decision to give regulatory blessing to a number of combinations already in existence has drawn widespread fire. Martin said in a press conference before the 12/18/07 FCC meeting that he assumed if the combinations were deemed in the public interest under a blanket prohibition policy, they should still be OK in a slightly relaxed regulatory environment. Still, they were added to the rulemaking at the last minute, which if nothing else may have presented the appearance of trying to slip them through. The remaining concerns are about the ease of getting waivers for smaller-market combinations. Martin continued to insist that there is a high bar standing in the way of such combinations, including three years of negative financial results and long-standing lack of ratings success, coupled to a requirement that news operations be increased by the new owner. Others fear that if the loopholes are there, they'll be used.

RBR observation: It's hard to argue against the loopholes are made to be used argument as the XM/Sirius merger situation moves forward. There are no other satellite audio services in existence and numerous antitrust experts have argued against the merger before Congress and elsewhere. Add that to the fact that their merger into one company was prohibited by the FCC at their birth, you'd have to assume that the current proposal would have no traction whatsoever. The fact that it's getting serious consideration would appear to lend credence to the phrase "anything goes."


Georgia lawmaker gives
thumbs down to XM/Sirius

Paul C. Broun (R-GA), pictured, has joined the ranks of Capitol Hill legislators who see that there is no basis for allowing the merger into monopoly between XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. He recently fired off a letter to three relevant bureaucrats on the matter. Included among the addressees were AG Michael B. Mukasey, FTC Chair Deborah Platt Majoras and FCC Chair Kevin Martin. Noting that the FCC chartered two competing services at the outset, Broun wrote, "The FCC decision has resulted in robust competition and expanded choice for the American consumer, all of which would be undermined by a merger of Sirius and XM. Without the presence of a similarly situated, direct competitor, a united Sirius/XM would be free to raise consumer prices, unchecked in the marketplace. The FCC has never before allowed the only two competitors in a given market to combine. Present circumstances do not warrant the FCC's complete reversal of its conclusions in the satellite licensing decision, or the consumer benefits and protections that have resulted from that decision. Please maintain the market competition that is analogous to the competition in the satellite television arena."

RBR observation: You would think that the FCC would have enough institutional memory of its reasoning in preventing the proposed DISH Network/DirecTV merger under former Chair Michael Powell to see that this is almost exactly the same thing. We would further remind the Commission that while we see many people at our local gym plugged into various audio devices, we have yet to see a single person wearing a satellite dish on their head. Despite the argument that the DARs companies are but a small little corner of a vast audio marketplace, an iPod is no replacement for a satellite radio subscription, nor does satellite radio replace an iPod. Ideally, satellite and terrestrial radio programmers help inform our choice of music to acquire FOR our iPod. The anti-monopoly arguments against this merger seem so straight-forward it is amazing that the proposal to completely overturn the founding charters of these companies is even getting serious consideration.


Wall Street Business Report TM
Credit crunch claims another victim
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the tight credit markets have at least postponed an attempt by the Hoiles family to buy out their private equity partners in Freedom Communications. The privately held company owns eight TV stations and several dozen daily and weekly newspapers. Blackstone Group and Providence Equity Partners backed one contingent of the Hoiles family in 2003 to buy out their cousins, rather than let the company be sold off entirely. The WSJ report says the family-controlled company had planned to borrow over a half billion bucks from GE Capital to fund a buyout of the two private equity firms, who had invested about 450 million in the '03 restructuring. The hush-hush deal would not have required any FCC filing until right at closing, since it would not have created a change of control, with the 55% owners, the Hoiles, acquiring the remaining 45%. But now, don't look for that to happen soon, since the borrowing will have to wait until the credit markets improve.


Ad Business Report TM

Burbank Creations moves to
Jones MediaAmerica for ad sales

Burbank Creations' daily comedy features, Earl Pitts, Uhmerikun and The Daily Aardvark, are moving to a new home for affiliates to download content, commercials, and affidavits. Beginning 1/1, Jones MediaAmerica will take over network ad sales, and distribution of the long-time features. "This transition should be seamless, with affiliates not noticing any change, except that of a new URL to visit for the downloads. I will personally e-mail the features myself if the new page at MAI is not ready for us yet," said Rick Consolo of Burbank Creations.


Media Markets & Money TM
Skinner adds in Tonopah
Morgan Skinner's Legacy Communications is getting a second station and its first FM station in Tonopah NV via the acquisition of KHWK-FM from Donald W. Kaminski. Skinner noted that the station fires off 6 kw worth of power from Mt. Oddie, but did not note the price tag. The station will join KTNP-AM, which Legacy bought for 15K in a deal filed last January. Tonopah is roughly between Reno and Las Vegas - we would note that there is a LOT of between between those two cities.

RBR observation: We don't yet know the price of Skinner's deal, but a prior sale to noncommercial Hilltop Church was filed 5/31/05 and apparently never made it to the finish line. According to documents filed with the FCC, the Hilltop contract stipulated a 325K price.


Washington Business Report TM
Deans call on FCC to focus
on newsgathering

A group of deans from prominent journalism colleges have taken to the OpEd pages of the New York Times, urging the FCC to keep local newsgathering first and foremost in mind when considering rule changes and license renewals. They noted that journalists have largely stayed out of the media ownership debate unless it bumps up against their own focus on First Amendment rights, but they cannot now help noticing the parallel trends of increased consolidation and decreasing newsgathering activity. They find FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's argument that allowing crossownership in the top 20 markets is necessary to allow newspapers to continue paying their own newsgathering staffs. They said it is important that broadcasters do their own work in this area rather than become a support staff for print media. They further wonder, if this is true and important, why Martin is denying journalists in smaller markets to benefit from these rules. They argue that the Internet, while great for distribution of news and dissemination of opinion, has not as yet come close to spawning full-fledged newsgathering operations to match those operated by traditional media. They also called for a renewed focus on local newsgathering when considering license renewals. Even though it was easy to earn a passing grade back in the days when broadcasters had to vigorously defend their stewardship of their license, the deans argue that it was still important and much preferable to the current so-called "postcard renewal" regime.

The authors of "A License for Local Reporting" from the 12/22/07 edition of the New York Times included Roderick P. Hart, dean of the University of Texas journalism school; Alex S. Jones, director of Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy; Thomas Kunkel, dean of the University of Maryland journalism school; Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia Journalism School; John Levine, dean of the Northwestern journalism school; Dean Mills, dean of the University of Missouri journalism school; David M. Rubin, dean of the Syracuse school of public communications; and Ernest Wilson, dean of the University of Southern California school of communication.


Entertainment Business Report TM
Coz Carson joins Richard Bey on WWRL Morning Show
Coz Carson, Midway Broadcasting's Talk WVON-AM Chicago PD resigned on-air to join Air America affiliate WWRL-AM NYC airwaves 1/2, replacing Mark Riley, who returns to crosstown WLIB. Coz will share the mic with talker Richard Bey as co-host of the morning show. Content will continue its social and political dialogue. Carson has also worked at WBMX Chicago; KMJQ, Houston; WIGO and WAOK, Atlanta. He also served as Florida bureau chief for NBC affiliate WALA-TV, Miami. Following the new morning line-up, listeners will hear the Air America voices of Lionel, 9am-12pm and Thom Hartman, 12pm-3pm followed by Randi Rhodes, 3pm-6pm. The evening line-up with Rachel Maddow airs 6pm-8pm, followed by "Clout with Richard Green" 8pm-10pm and "The Alan Colmes Show," 10pm-1am.


Internet Business Report TM
Randy Michaels to conduct
"Internet experiments"
with Trib properties

Randy Michaels, a longtime Sam Zell associate who is now Tribune's EVP and CEO of Interactive and Broadcasting, said in a recent Chicago Tribune story that the Baltimore Sun, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, Morning Call in Allentown, PA and Daily Press of Newport News, VA, will serve as a lab of sorts for Internet experiments. "There are some pretty obvious and unexploited opportunities," Michaels said. "I think blurting it out in the paper is probably not the right competitive idea, but I will say this: It's a little bit embarrassing that all media companies have made their Web sites and their Web efforts look too much like their traditional business."

Sheraton starts "worldwide pillow fight"
The feathers are flying as Sheraton Hotels & Resorts starts a worldwide pillow fight through the use of unique online technology showcased at a new interactive website, Sheratonplay.com. The site invites visitors to pick up a pillow and join a live virtual pillow fight, while simultaneously enabling them to book reservations or search travel options. While being showcased at Sheratonplay.com, the pillow fight technology will also run live on rich media banners across a range of websites where Sheraton advertises, inviting users to engage in the game -- live with other users across the web -- without ever leaving the site. When online at a participating website, users roll over a rich media banner from Sheraton at the top of the page to engage in the pillow fight. Multiple users, from anywhere in the world, can play against each other without ever leaving the web page they are viewing. Various web sites, including NFL.com, AOL Travel, Trip Advisor and Frommer's, will offer the rich media banner, and will be translated into multiple languages to reflect Sheraton's global presence. Sheratonplay.com was developed by Sheraton's online AOR Avenue A| Razorfish in conjunction with the rich media vendor Eyeblaster.


Ratings & Research
Retailers expected to bag 60 billion in sales in the next week
Retailers shouldn't write off the 2007 holiday shopping season just yet. Consumers are set to bag 60 billion worth of merchandise over the next seven days, experts say. Much of that spending -- nearly half -- is expected to come when consumers cash in gift cards. Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors, expects that retailers will ring up as much as 17% of their December sales in the last week of the month. That translates to about 60 billion in holiday-related purchases or roughly 12.6% of 474.5 billion that the National Retail Federation expects consumers will spend on holiday-related shopping. MasterCard Advisors did not break out how much of the 60 billion will be spent using gift cards. A survey conducted by the retail federation in November estimated that gift card-related sales this holiday season could reach 26.3 billion. Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst with NPD Group, estimates that more than 60% of holiday shoppers bought gift cards. Gift cards are especially critical this year because the retail federation expects holiday sales in November and December to grow 4% over last year - or their slowest pace of growth since 2002.

Consumer confidence gains in December
U.S. consumer confidence rose in December due to an increase in short-term expectations, though consumers "remain far from optimistic," the Conference Board reported Thursday. The consumer confidence index rose to 88.6 from a revised reading of 87.8 in November. The initial estimate for November was 87.3. December's confidence reading is below last year's level of 110.0, as consumers have been concerned about higher energy prices and falling home prices. Those expecting business conditions to improve in the next six months increased to 13.8% from 12.4%. Those expecting more jobs in the months ahead rose to 11.2% from 10.6%.


TVBR TV News
Now the big game is everywhere
Bending to intense Congressional pressure, the NFL has agreed to put Saturday's New England Patriots vs. New York Giants game on both CBS and NBC (12/27/07 TVBR #249), rather than going with the original plan to have the national telecast only on its fledgling NFL Network. Now, though, the "exclusive" hometown rights sold to stations in Boston and New York aren't so exclusive. And, as it happens, neither station which had contracted with the NFL Network for the local broadcast rights is an affiliate of either CBS or NBC, so the game is currently scheduled to air on three competing stations in each of the two markets.

In Boston, it is Hearst-Argyle's WCVB-TV (Ch. 5, ABC), which had long-ago signed with the NFL Network for the right to air the high-profile game. Hearst-Argyle will also broadcast it on WMUR-TV (Ch. 9, ABC) Manchester, NH, which is also part of the Boston DMA. But now, after selling out its advertising inventory to advertisers hot to be on the only place where home market Patriots fans will be able to see the game on broadcast TV, the game is suddenly scheduled to be carried on two other Boston stations, WBZ-TV (Ch. 4, CBS O&O) and WHDH-TV (Ch. 7, NBC).

In New York it is News Corporation-owned WWOR-TV (Ch. 9, MyNetworkTV) which is now facing unexpected duplication from the network O&Os, WNBC-TV (Ch. 4) and WCBS-TV (Ch. 2). The station insists that the arrangement violates the contract is has in place with the NFL to be the only place in the New York DMA to see the broadcast over the air. "We fully expect the League to honor their commitment to My9 as the exclusive free over the air broadcaster for Saturday's telecast of the New England Patriots at New York Giants game," the station said in a statement. It doesn't look like that is going to happen, so look for the lawyers to get involved.

TVBR observation: The lesson for the NFL owners is that running to Capitol Hill with a business dispute can sometimes backfire. The NFL Network tried to get New England politicians, in particular, fired up to pressure cable companies in the region to sign up to put their fledgling network on their systems - and for Comcast to move it from a sports tier to basic, thereby making it available to more subscribers (and, just by an amazing coincidence, generating much greater subscriber fee payments for the NFL Network). What actually happened was that the politicians got mad at everyone involved - the NFL Network as well as the cable operators. So, the NFL owners, who own the NFL Network, made new enemies in the US Congress, some of whom threatened to reopen the league's antitrust exemption if the owners persisted in keeping one of the biggest football games of the year only on their low-penetration start-up network. The NFL owners thought they had a sure-fire way to bring the cable MSOs to their knees by holding back eight games this season to be shown only on the NFL Network. Instead they've foregone the cash that selling those games to a broadcast network would have brought in, they've generated lots of bad PR for themselves, they've made new enemies of powerful politicians of both parties - and they are stuck with a start-up cable network that the major MSOs are still refusing to pay for.


Transactions
2.1M KBKB-FM Fort Madison IA & KGRS-FM Burlington IA from GAP Broadcasting Burlington Licensee LLC, a subsidiary of GAPWEST Broadcasting II LLC (Samuel L. Weller) to Titan Broadcasting LLC (John C. Pritchard). 315K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Existing duopoly. LMA until closing. [File date 12/4/07.]

900K KBKB-AM Fort Madison IA & KBUR-AM Burlington IA from GAP Broadcasting Burlington Licensee LLC, a subsidiary of GAPWEST Broadcasting II LLC (Samuel L. Weller) to Pritchard Broadcasting Corporation (John T. Pritchard). 135K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Existing duopoly. LMA until closing. [File date 12/4/07.]


Stock Talk
Pakistan killing roils world financial markets
The assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto created turmoil in financial markets around the globe. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 192 points, or 1.4%, to 13,360.

Radio stocks were not spared. The Radio Index fell 2.487, or 2.5%, to 96.387. Fisher took the biggest hit, falling 7.4%. Emmis dropped 6%.


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Thursday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

42.09

-0.45

Google

GOOG

700.74

-10.10

Beasley

BBGI

5.15

-0.19

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

21.90

-0.28

CBS CI. B CBS

26.95

+0.08

Journal Comm.

JRN

9.08

-0.04

CBS CI. A CBSa

26.99

+0.08

Lincoln Natl.

LNC

57.60

-0.79

Citadel CDL
2.09 -0.01

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

2.29

-0.05

Clear Channel

CCU

34.59

-0.32

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

2.30

-0.08

Cox Radio

CXR

12.16

-0.18

Regent

RGCI

1.48

-0.03

Cumulus

CMLS

8.32

-0.21

Saga Commun.

SGA

5.90

unch

Debut Bcg.

DBTB

0.72

unch

Salem Comm.

SALM

6.85

-0.15

Disney

DIS

32.43

-0.39

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

3.14

-0.09

Emmis

EMMS

3.76

-0.24

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

1.95

-0.11

Entercom

ETM

14.15

-0.25

SWMX

SMWX

0.00

unch

Entravision

EVC

7.96

-0.45

Westwood One

WON

2.03

-0.08

Fisher

FSCI

37.03

-2.95

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

12.18

-0.44


Bounceback

Send Us Your OpinionsWe want to
hear from you.

This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to [email protected]

Regarding "The year of yearning to go private" (12/27/07 RBR #249)

As the year ends, let's connect the dots. The corporate conglomeration formula has been simple: 1/ Work with NAB to persuade Congress and FCC that consolidation of 80-90 stations and staffs must happen in order for radio to remain viable (note - do it just as inexpensive PC-based automation is proliferating); 2/ Obtain shareholder money at ballooned price during economic boom based on ultimately false premises of increased clout and negotiating power with major advertisers, and economies of scale; 3/ Install PC automation with cloned formats and fire local staffs to increase net (note: save even more by buying an automation supplier); 4/ Install dumbed down brand imaging nationwide so remaining listeners have a better chance of recalling on Thursday what they had on for background noise last Monday (note: no straight segues please, and sweepers should be standardized with animal or other simple name, followed by explosion, then deep, phased, or telephone voice giving dial position); 5/ Strategy has limited life when basic product sucks, so stock declines precipitously and investors lose out, so; 6/ Buy back the stock for 35 cents on the dollar and "go private."

| Read the full comment |

Dennis Jackson
Owner/Founder
WCLX, WMEX, WQQQ, WRIP


Below the Fold
Media Markets & Money
Skinner adds in Tonopah
Is getting a second station and its first FM station...

Washington Business Report
Deans call on FCC
To focus on newsgathering, finding FCC Chairman Martin's argument...

Internet Business Report
Randy Michaels to conduct
"Internet experiments" with Trib properties,...

Ratings & Research
Retailers expected to bag
60 billion in sales in the next wk...




Stations for Sale

Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.

Contact
Jim Carnegie
[email protected]




Radio Media Moves

Changes in Philly
Clear Channel Radio Philadelphia VP/Sales Ron de Castro has announced Becki West, GSM of Rhythmic AC WISX FM will additionally assume the position of GSM for Tropical WUBA-AM. Gary Steel is moving to the newly created position of LSM for both WISX and WUBA. Their appointments are effective immediately.

Mike adds Mike
Entercom's WMKK-FM "93-7 Mike" Boston has added Mike Morgan as Assistant Program Director. Morgan was previously Executive Producer of the morning show on Clear Channel's WJMN-FM Boston.

Hauptstueck joins ERI
Electronics Research, Inc. announced Jim Hauptstueck has joined ERI as Sales Operations Manager. Hauptstueck will manage ERI's inside sales support organization and ERI's authorized reseller network. He comes to ERI after more than 17 years with Harris' Broadcast Communications Division where he held positions of increasing responsibility in product line management including, sales support and management.



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

The year of yearning to go private
It seems most CEOs of publicly traded broadcasting companies wished in their hearts to leave Wall Street and go private in 2007. Of those who actually tried, not all succeeded. The biggest, of course, closed just last week, as Sam Zell. Analysis of Clear Channel and Cumulus Media see RBR.
12/27/07 RBR #249

More gloom and doom
about November
By the end of next week, we may see the RAB figures for November radio revenues, but Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby is pretty pessimistic about what the numbers will show. Jacoby has been checking with large market sources and found that their revenues were down about 7%, much worse than the 3% decline he had anticipated. Those big markets account for about 35% of all radio billings.

RBR observation: This is shaping up to finish a year best forgotten as one that is just getting worse. CL King analyst Jim Boyle has also said that November is likely to be down 4-5% (12/20/07 RBR #247). There appears to be no way for Santa to deliver a December that will produce a positive number for the whole year. The big worry now is whether there is anything on the horizon to keep 2008 from being more of the same. Political will help, but a real improvement in the general advertising climate is what is needed.
12/27/07 RBR #249

NBC, CBS to simulcast
Patriots-Giants game

The NFL has arranged an unprecedented three-way national simulcast of the NFL Network telecast of Saturday night's New England Patriots-New York Giants game when the Patriots will try to become the first NFL team to go 16-0 in a regular season.

TVBR observation: The NFL is hardly acting out of the kindness of its heart. It was under heavy political pressure in Washington for planning to broadcast this high profile game exclusively on its own NFL Network, which most of the major MSOs have refused to carry on their basic cable tiers -- or at all, in many cases. When key Members of Congress threatened to re-examine the NFL's antitrust exemption, the league's attempt to keep the pressure on the cable companies began to crumble.
12/27/07 TVBR #249

The Zell era begins at Tribune
The electronic transfer of 4.2 billion bucks borrowed from a team of banks took place and Tribune Company became a private company, owned by Sam Zell and an ESOP. Tribune Broadcasting staffers, meet your new boss. This classic photo in RBR of Randy Michaels was taken during the Jacor era, when Randy sought to enliven an NAB Radio Show panel discussion by hosing down the audience and showing off his patriotic red, white and blue boxer shorts.

RBR note: Well get strapped in and hold on and hope we go for a ride of creative juices again to flow back in our media.
12/21/07 RBR #248

November was another tough month
The Wall Street consensus is that the monthly RAB report will show radio revenues down 2% for November, but CL King analyst Jim Boyle now expects it to be worse than that - more like down 4-5%. He's also worried that the Q4 guidance given by the public radio groups may prove to be "rosy." The average guidance is for Q4 to be down 1.5%, but Boyle thinks the quarter is likely to be down 3%.

RBR observation: Ok, we now are wondering what these brilliant CEO's are going to do in 2008 to reverse this trend? What, lets get united with one voice and sing around the camp fire - Cumbya! Right! Anyone this year do any "due diligence" on the pay checks, the money that many of the CEO's are taking out of their companies while their stock is going in the tank. Do some homework and you will find a number of these CEO's have lined their personal pockets with GOLD while they have fired, cut, devalued their companies with no shareholder value except to themselves. Santa has been good to a number of them this year. Hey, do some checking it will make you sick.
12/20/07 RBR #247

FCC action draws ample, mostly negative, commentary
"We're not done with this, not by a long shot," said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) in comments about the FCC vote relaxing cross-ownership rules in the top 20 markets. Dorgan has a bipartisan posse representing over a quarter of the Senate ready to take action to nullify the FCC's 3-2 party-line vote.

RBR note: Complete comments in this report page of RBR.
12/20/07 RBR #247

TV in the tank
TV's Q3 station revenues down 8.7%; total TV off 4.1% Reflecting the absence of political and Olympic revenues, local broadcast television ad revenues were down 8.7% in Q3 of 2007. Network TV was flat in the quarter and syndicated TV was down 3.3%. Combined with local, that translates into a 4.1% decline for total broadcast television in Q3. 17 of the Top 25 advertising categories in local broadcast TV were down in Q3. Government & Organizations, which includes political spending, was down 67.5%. The biggest category, Automotive, was down 7.5%, and #2 Telecommunications was up 11.0%.
12/20/07 TVBR #247

FCC and Martin
rumble in the Jungle
Everything hit the fan and the mediums are in a spin. FCC approves top-20 crossownership as FCC Chairman Kevin Martin got his 3-2 party-line vote to eliminate the crossownership ban in the top 20 Nielsen DMAs. A newspaper owner will be allowed to own a television station outside the market's top four, or a radio station, as long as eight independent voices remain and as long as the cross-owned entities maintain separate news operations. Plus, the Commission moved to impose localism requirements on television stations, requiring submission of a standardized form quarterly detailing various elements of local programming. It is now looking at extending these requirements to radio. Also they FCC moved to increase minority/female ownership.
12/19/07 RBR #246


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