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Volume 24, Issue 27, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Thursday Morning February 8th, 2007

Radio News ®

Air America Radio sale
price is 4.25 million
According to US Bankruptcy Court documents, Air America Radio is set to change hands for a low price of 4.25 million. According to the agreement, the transaction between Air America's owner, Piquant LLC, and SL Green Realty Corp., a firm controlled by NYC commercial realtor Stephen Green (1/30/07 RBR #20), calls for Green's firm to repay up to 3.25 million in loans provided to Air America after it filed for Chapter 11 protection last October. However, the company listed total debts of 20.2 million, so a lot of people are not going to see their money owed. SL Green Realty will also give Piquant 500,000 to pay off AAR debts (the bulk of which is back rent of 349,000). Green's offer topped the next closest by more than 1.25 million. While Green controls the corporation purchasing Air America, two of the firms that were pre-bankruptcy investors in the radio network will collectively own a minority interest in the Green Company. The Air America purchase is expected to be finalized at a court hearing next week.

RBR observation: Perhaps with Green's deep pockets better signals can be purchased or at least affiliated for the net, going forward. For example, in DC, Air America's WWRC-AM affiliate doesn't even show up on the Arbitrons. It's a 1,000 watt daytime-only signal that barely covers the city and some inner suburbs.

Will punishment match the crime or the bank account?
At a conference on speech and the media, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said he expected that would be unlikely for a small broadcast station to be hit with the top drawer 325K indecency fine. But CBS's Les Moonves said the fines still put a chill into broadcast content. The conference was held by Common Sense Media and the Aspen Institute. According to Reuters, Copps said of the 325K amount, "Those fines are maximum fines. I would be totally amazed if the FCC would impose the highest fines on a smaller station." Moonves disagreed, calling the increase unfair and charging that broadcasters "...are more afraid of what they put on the air."

RBR observation: US Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) offered language to the House version of the Broadcast Decency Act that would have instructed the FCC to take the size of the offending broadcaster into account, but the House version was cast aside in favor of the bare bones Senate version. We disagree with Copps. If it is legally possible for an extremely angry Commission to hit someone with the top fine, it can happen. And without legislative guidance, how does the FCC determine what the small broadcaster discount is, anyway? Will there be an obscenity price guide tied to market size? Will using the wrong term for fertilizer cost one price in New York, another in Kansas City, another in Reno and still another in the Florida Keys?

Zell eying Tribune?
Chicago real estate billionaire Sam Zell made a lot of money in his previous media foray at Jacor Communications. Now the Chicago Tribune reports that he has entered the bidding for Tribune Company. Not much is yet known about what Zell is proposing for Tribune, but we do know that Zell, who is already quite rich, will soon be flush with cash from a bidding war that saw his Equity Office Properties Trust agree to be sold to Blackstone Group yesterday for 39 billion, including debt assumption. The flagship newspaper of Tribune Company reported that Zell is talking with the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which is the second largest shareholder of Tribune after the disgruntled Chandler family, about the proposed restructuring. The talks with the foundation and Tribune board are being called preliminary, but would apparently involve having Zell take an equity stake and having the company take on debt to fund a large dividend for shareholders. The foundation could then increase its stake by reinvesting its dividend proceeds into additional Tribune stock. The story suggested that Tribune might also spin-off its TV unit under the restructuring proposal - but all of this is said to be still in the talking stages.

RBR observation: Unlike some of the other billionaires trying to get into the big city newspaper business, we doubt that Sam Zell is driven by either ego or a political agenda. He sees a way to change the structure of Tribune Company and make money on these "old media" assets, which, despite their retraction, are still producing quite a bit of cash flow. Things worked out quite well when Zell was recruited by Randy Michaels to recapitalize Jacor in 1993, after the company and many of its peers were laid low by the double whammy of a recession and credit crunch. Zell and his associates cashed in handsomely when Jacor was acquired by Clear Channel in 1998 for 4.4 billion. Those years no doubt gave the real estate mogul an up-close look at how media companies work, which would give him the confidence to put together a plan for Tribune - not that Sam Zell is a man lacking in confidence anyway. While Jacor did not own any newspapers, it did own lots of radio stations across the country and two TV stations in Cincinnati and Tampa - and TV is one of the areas most in need of revitalization at Tribune. All this got us to wondering whether former Jacor CEO Randy Michaels, who is soon to run the New York Times TV group being acquired by Oak Hill Capital (1/18/07 TVBR #12), might be working with Zell on the Tribune deal. We tried to ask, but Randy isn't talking.

Murdoch clarifies roll in Tribune bid
Some on Wall Street got excited when word came out recently that News Corporation was involved in the effort by the Chandler family to take control of most of Tribune Company and spin the TV group off to other shareholders (1/25/07 RBR #17). Asked about the potential deal in his quarterly conference call yesterday, News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch made it clear that he is only interested in the possibility of creating a joint operating agreement for News Corporation's New York Post and Tribune's Newsday to cut overhead costs at both newspapers. "That is pretty much the limit of our interest," Murdoch said, adding that he has no interesting in actually investing in the Tribune Company.

Princely half time show
generates controversy
At least one critic said it was the greatest Super Bowl half time show in the history of Super Bowl half time shows. And it seems that most observers noticed as the artist once again known as Prince lived up to expectations that his performance would be suitable for viewing by the entire family. But did you see the way he was holding that guitar? The guitar in question, according to the Associated Press, was one shaped like the symbol that formerly was the artist's name that he used during the song "Purple Rain." His silhouette was projected onto a screen, causing some to think there were phallic connotations. However, both the NFL and CBS said they have fielded very few complaints. Prince, like Paul McCartney before him, was chosen because he was considered low risk for a repeat of the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake controversy of 2004. Perhaps an earlier version of Prince may have posed a risk, but his entry into the ranks of Jehovah's Witness has been accompanied by a toned down act.

RBR observation: Sometimes a guitar is just a guitar. If you want to see symbolism, just go outside and look around. There will no doubt be ample objects for you to wrap your imagination around.

Disney radio sale to Citadel on track for summer
It is taking a long time to get all of the required regulatory approvals, but Disney CFO Tom Staggs told analysts and investors yesterday that closing of the 2.5 billion deal to sell ABC Radio to Citadel Broadcasting is expected "early this summer." Staggs said radio ad sales were up 3% in fiscal Q1, which ran from October through December 2006. He also said the current quarter is pacing up in the low single digits.

Wall Street Media Business Report TM

Earnings soar for Disney
Wall Street was expecting a good quarterly report from Disney for its fiscal Q1 (October-December), but it was even better than expected. Earnings per share shot up to 79 cents from 37 cents a year ago. Even after subtracting a one-time gain from asset sales, EPS was still 50 cents. The Thompson/First Call consensus had been 39 cents. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "Cars" super-charged sales for the movie studio operation, where revenues shot up 29% to 2.63 billion and operating income quadrupled to 604 million. Media Networks division revenues rose 6% to 3.91 billion and operating income rose 24% to 750 million. Much of those media gains came from the cable networks side, where revenues rose 12% to 2.09 billion and operating income was up 22% to 453 million. Broadcasting revenues crept up 1% to 1.82 billion and operating income increased 27% to 297 million.

Ad Business Report TM

Shining the light on radio's hottest topics
Many of the topics hashed out at RAB 2007 in Dallas will require the knowledge and participation of those that spend the bulk of radio's dollars: The agency buyers. Four our February SmartMedia Magazine, we asked about four important topics and questions circulating around the industry right now.
| Here's another one, continued from 1/31: |

PSA effort launches in SoCal
for 2016 Olympic bid
To build awareness of the Los Angeles 2016 Olympic bid, the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games (SCCOG) has launched a radio PSA campaign featuring a diverse cross-section of Southern California elected officials, celebrities and athletes. The campaign includes a series of six English-language and two Spanish-language, 30-second PSAs. The PSAs are expected to air in Southern California beginning later this month. The campaign features recordings by:

* Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City of Los Angeles (English and Spanish versions)
* Quincy Jones
* Oscar de la Hoya, Olympic gold medal boxer (English and Spanish versions)
* Janet Evans, Olympic gold medal swimmer
* Peter Vidmar, Olympic gold medal gymnast
* "Mighty Mo" Orozco, 10-year-old boxing phenomenon and 2016 Olympic hopeful

Los Angeles and Chicago are the two U.S. cities remaining in competition to be the United States Olympic Committee's (USOC) candidate to the International Olympic Committee to host the 2016 Games. SCCOG submitted its final plans to USOC on 1/22. The USOC has announced that it will make a final decision on 4/14.

Media Business Report TM

The advantage of subscribing
Should we call it the ad-vantage? If you subscribe to a program service, rather than getting it free off-air, the bargain between the programmer and consumer is that the programming will be free of commercial interruption. That is one of the reasons many have chosen to pay for satellite audio programming. They get to tune into a variety of music formats and listen in witho...oops! Not so fast. It looks as if, like basic cable channels before it, that the satellite services are going commercial. XM Satellite Radio is said to have introduced commercial messages on four music channels. (It already had them on Talk channels.) The Detroit News reports that at least one subscriber is dropping the service, and will switch to an iPod in his car. One analyst told TDN that more of this is probably on the way, and cautioned that the satellite companies will have to be very careful to avoid alienating more customers.

RBR observation: Hurry up with that HD, radio guys. And make sure the content is compelling. And remember: This doesn't mean that HD should avoid commercials. Listeners will no doubt be much more tolerant of them if the programming is free. But nobody wants to pay to be annoyed. If the satellite services are going to shove away their own customers, radio needs to be ready to snap them up before they disappear into iPod-land.

Media Markets & Money TM

How now, thou WWOW?
Conneaut OH AM station WWOW has officially changed hands. The 200K deal sending the station to John Marra Jr.'s Cause Plus Marketing is complete. The seller was Lawrence Weiess's Developing Radio LLC. According to broker Ray Rosenblum, the station is keeping a local morning Talk show, but otherwise is using an EWTN Network Catholic Talk format. Conneaut is on Lake Erie in the extreme northeast corner of Ohio, about halfway between Cleveland and Erie PA.

Clear Channel sell-off update
Clear Channel Communications and the brokerage firm handling the sell-off of many small and medium market stations, Kalil & Co., haven't yet set a deadline for bids to be submitted. However, Kelly Callan at Kalil tells RBR that some interested parties have already been submitting letters of intent and proposed asset purchase agreements - and Clear Channel is not discouraging that. "If they see something that makes sense, they probably are not going to wait," Callan said of the pre-emptive offers. By the way, he also noted that there has been interest expressed in each and every market that Clear Channel has put up for sale. Here is the list of the original 90 markets, with RBR counting 71 still available.
| View the Chart |

Washington Media Business Report TM

Here's how it's going to be in 2008
John Hall, rock star became John Hall (D-NY) by the skin of his teeth this year, ousting incumbent Sue W. Kelly with only 51% of the vote. He was aided in no small measure by the pro-Democratic tide which swept through the country in general and the northeast in particular, overcoming a natural disadvantage in the leans-Republican district. He also had help from neighbor Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), who pleaded his case to campaign chair Rahm Emanual, making sure that Hall was included in the distribution of national campaign cash. But the narrow victory shows that Hall is vulnerable, and according to CQPolitics.com, what has been predicted is happening. Hall is already working on his 2008 campaign. House leadership has bolstered his stature with the chair of a subcommittee, which they figure should assist him in serving his constituency. But the Republican Party is also focused on the district, which is said to be home to many potential candidates who are said to be willing to "...spend a substantial amount of money."

RBR observation: The message is simple. If you were in a hotly contested district in 2006, look for an encore in 2008.

Internet Media Business Report TM

CBS Corp. launches "CBS Mobile"
CBS Corp. has created CBS Mobile, a new platform within CBS Interactive dedicated to building and growing the company's mobile operation across its properties, including CBS Entertainment, CBS Sports and CBS News. Cyriac Roeding, who has served as Veep of CBS's wireless efforts since 2005, has been named EVP of the new formed division. At the same time, Roeding has announced the promotion of Jeff Sellinger from Director of CBS Wireless to VP/CBS Mobile. In his new role, Sellinger, who will continue to report to Roeding, will oversee the operational activities of CBS's various mobile initiatives.

TiVo and Amazon.com
announce new download service
TiVo and Amazon.com have unveiled "Amazon Unbox on TiVo," a soon-to-be-launched service feature that will provide TiVo subscribers with the ability to rent and purchase movies and television shows from studios and networks including CBS, Fox Entertainment Group, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment. Amazon Unbox on TiVo is currently in beta testing among a select group of TiVo subscribers and will be available soon to more than 1.5 million broadband-ready TiVo boxes. The Unbox video download service, which launched in September, offers thousands of movies, television shows and other videos for download to PCs and any Windows Media Video-compatible portable device. Now, in addition to PCs and portable devices, movies and television shows will be available to download directly to a customer's TiVo box for playback on their television set. To activate the service, subscribers will simply log on to Amazon.com and follow a few simple steps to establish a link between their broadband connected TiVo Series2 or Series3 box and their Amazon account. Once the initial set up is complete, eligible movies or television shows from Amazon Unbox can be downloaded directly to the customer's TiVo box. After the movie has been downloaded, the title will automatically appear in the subscriber's TiVo "Now Playing" list with all of their other recorded shows, easily viewed with just a click of the TiVo remote. Customers can purchase television episodes for 1.99, purchase most movies for between 9.99 and 14.99, or rent movies starting at 1.99. All purchased videos are automatically stored in each customer's "Your Media Library" at Amazon.com for future access and download.

Ratings & Research

Super Bowl fever benefited radio
Arbitron unveiled a custom sports study that profiles how adults aged 18 and older in Indianapolis and Chicago listened to and watched Super Bowl XLI on radio and television. Excitement as the big game approached drew listeners to radio in both markets, although Indianapolis Colts fans increased their listening more than their Bear-backing counterparts in Chicago. Half of adults in Indianapolis followed the pre-game coverage 'very closely' (surprisingly, 49% of women and 50% of men) compared to 29% of adults in Chicago (23% of women and 35% of men). Sports/Talk radio was a big beneficiary of the run up to the game. More than half of the adults in both cities (54% in Indy and 52% in Chicago) said that they listened to sports/talk radio in the week before the game.
| Here is more of what Arbitron found |

TVBR TV News

CBS television spin-off is no myth
Although accounts differ as to how many heads mythical canine Cerberus sports (we always thought there were just the three), it clearly will be in four television markets once it closes on a deal to acquire stations from CBS Corporation. Cerberus Capital Management worked with veteran TV exec Dick Reingold, formerly of Gannett, to put the transaction together. For 185M, it is getting CBS KEYE-TV in Austin TX; CBS KUTV-TV Salt Lake City UT and satellite KUSG-TV St. George UT; CW WLWC-TV Providence RI; and CW WTVX-TV West Palm Beach, which also provides two additional networks to the market via LPTVs, including MNT WTCN-CA and TV Azteca WWHB-CA. CobbCorp and Wachovia Capital Markets worked with Cerberus on the transaction.

TVBR observation: According to Wikipedia, one of Cerberus's most notable associates is former VP Dan Quayle. Referred to as a privately-held hedge fund, its entry into show biz will not be unprecedented. Although its holdings have it in business including paper, government service, real estate, retail, rental cars, financial services and - don't mess with them - firearms, they also own a chunk of Galaxy Cable. Interestingly, the small MSO, said to run mostly rural systems in 14 states, had a tiff with CBS relative Viacom back in 2003, with Viacom pulling basic cable stations (not broadcast stations) off the systems for nonpayment of carriage fees. It doesn't appear that Galaxy will be operating in range of any of the television stations being acquired; we couldn't find out for sure during a quick web search, but the only overlap state is Texas, and if the systems are rural, with total subs in the 80K-85K range as of 2003 or so, that would seem to rule out Austin. Too bad - that would have made for a fun intramural retransmission battle. OK, we admit it, no it wouldn't. It would be peaceful and boring. But the press thrives on strife and controversy. We can dream, can't we?

Transactions

3.8M WBTU-FM & WSHY-FM Ft. Wayne IN (Kendallville, Columbia City IN) from Artistic Media Partners Inc. (Arthur A. Angotti) to Oasis Radio 1 Corporation (Russell A. Oasis). 380K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Superduopoly with WJFX-FM New Haven IN. [File date 1/9/07.]

500K WLIL-AM Knoxville TN (Lenoir City TN) from BP Broadcasters LLC (Zollie D. Cantrell Sr.) to Fowler's Holdings LLP (Donald P. Fowler). 50K down payment, balance in cash at closing. Includes non-compete. Fowler has right of first refusal to acquire seller's WKZX-FM, and has an option to LMA WLIL-AM until closing for 15K/month. [File date 1/8/07.]

Stock Talk

Up and down day ends up
Stocks went on a roller coaster ride as good news was overshadowed by bad and then the market ended the day barely on the up side. The good news events were strong earnings by Cisco and an upbeat productivity report from the US Labor Department. The bad was a drop in oil prices, which hurt energy stocks, and comments from Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser that an improving economy might force the central bank to raise short-term rates. In the end, the Dow Industrials rose about a half point to close at 12,667.

Radio stocks had a good day. The Radio Index rose 0.840, or 0.5%, to a year-to-date high of 160.220 - a level not seen since May of 2006. Lincoln National Corporation rose 3% after reporting strong quarterly results after the market close the previous day. Cumulus rose 2%.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		47.26	+0.27	Journal Comm.	JRN		13.47	+0.16
Beasley	BBGI		9.16	-0.06	Lincoln Natl.	LNC		70.42	+2.02
CBS CI. B	CBS		31.79	+0.20	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		7.42	+0.07
CBS CI. A	CBSa		31.76	+0.20	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		7.46	+0.07
Citadel	CDL		10.96	+0.06	Regent	RGCI		2.95	-0.11
Clear Channel	CCU		36.71	+0.01	Saga Commun.	SGA		9.59	+0.10
Cox Radio	CXR		15.85	+0.08	Salem Comm.	SALM		12.33	-0.06
Cumulus	CMLS		10.49	+0.21	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		3.68	unch
Disney	DIS		35.48	+0.29	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		4.09	-0.02
Emmis	EMMS		8.41	+0.01	SWMX	SMWX		1.35	-0.15
Entercom	ETM		29.15	+0.40	Univision	UVN		35.86	-0.01
Entravision	EVC		7.91	+0.06	Westwood One	WON		7.00	unch
Fisher	FSCI		43.58	-0.35	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		13.86	+0.07
Hearst-Argyle	HTV		26.22	+0.12	-	-	-	-	-

Bounceback

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

Just a comment about your article regarding the direction of radio and more specifically, revenue (2/7/07 RBR #26). First, political is a huge category, but not local revenue. Check with the national rep firms, including ours, on the political category. National, national, national! Also, our industry is in a sad state of affair. I hear daily from our clients words like homogenized, not targeted and worse, people don't listen to Radio anymore, scary! A large advertiser, who for years used radio 52 weeks a year and never had revisions, omitted radio from their plan entirely for 2007. A big hit in revenues for stations across the country. Who benefited from our loss? Cable, TV, Outdoor, Print and Internet.

The industry stopped selling Radio and its benefits. Even more so now with the convergence of new technologies that marry well with our medium, there are fantastic opportunities if we position it right. In my opinion we need to be selling radio (the basics), and oh by the way, we can now sell even more targeted campaigns with accountability for clients. The industry would do well by coming together as a team, individually quit trying to be everything to everybody. Get out there, create an industry specific campaign. Re-educate clients directly and agencies about the benefits of Radio. Otherwise I fear, cable, direct mail, internet and even out-of-home will further erode the dollars that traditionally were budgeted for Radio.

After all, Radio Is Targeted and It's About Time!

Gail Lawing
VP/Regional Manager - SE Region
Regional Reps Corp

Below the Fold

Ad Business Report
Shining the light on Hot Topics
When should ads begin in HD multicasts? How do you think the HD multicast ad model(s) should be formed?...

Media Business Report
The advantage of subscribing
Should we call it the ad-vantage? If you subscribe to a program service...

Washington Media Business Report
Looking this far In 2008
Message is simple, if you were in a hotly contested district in 06, look for an encore in 08...

Ratings & Research
New download service
TiVo and Amazon.com soon be "Amazon Unbox on TiVo,"...

Stations for Sale

Pacific Northwest
2FM & 1AM
$795K and $650K w/terms
Two markets, discount for all-cash
MCH Enterprises: 805.543.3466
www.mchentinc.com

Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact June Barnes
[email protected]

More News Headlines

John Rosso tapped to lead ABCRN effort
ABC Radio Networks has announced John Rosso will take on the additional role of heading up its rapidly expanding Digital Media division. As SVP/Affiliate Relations and Digital Media he will continue to oversee all affiliate relations, adding on the newly created position as head of Digital Media. "ABC Radio Networks is making advances in the digital media world with increased efforts in both content and sales" said Jim Robinson, President, ABC Radio Networks. "John's mission will be to enhance our existing on-line product offerings and to create revenue opportunities through development of new interactive content." Also effective immediately, TJ Lambert will now be in charge of leading affiliation efforts for all ABC Radio Networks general market programs and services as well as oversight of the Commercial Clearance Department. These new responsibilities are in addition to his existing duties. A 14 year veteran of ABC Radio networks, TJ currently serves as Vice President, Affiliate Relations for ESPN, ABC Music Radio, American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks and ABC Radio International.

RBR Radar 2006

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

Revenue Forecast,
More of the same
With radio revenues up only 1% last year, CL King analyst Jim Boyle notes that the string is now six years of nearly flat revenues. He doesn't see that string being broken in 2007, and in fact is looking for a 1% decline.

RBR observation: Remember when all the talk in radio was about how to get the industry's share of total ad spending to 8%? Well, it has been losing share lately. Boyle notes that radio's ad share fell from 7.8% at the end of 2000 to 7.1% now. Who has been moving up as radio slipped? You no doubt said the Internet first of all. That is correct, but cable TV and direct mail have also gained substantially, according to Boyle. So what does this decline and others gain tell you about the level of confidence the ad clients and agencies have in today's radio business? What and who has to turn this around? Will there be any new developments at this up coming RAB conference to help the entire radio medium get their act together? One thing for sure More leadership is required with Less bull. If radio is smart, and RBR means smarter than others, they will be the first to develop political sales teams as political is a big money category and it is all local.
02/07/07 RBR #26

Online ad spend
to grow 18% this year
Online ad spending in the US will grow 18% this year, faster than in any other media, according to a report by Outsell. Internet search advertising alone will grow 39%, the company is forecasting. Outsell also said concerns about the effectiveness of "pay-per-click" online advertising will lead to a decline of about 1% in 2007. The report was based on a survey of over 1,000 advertisers who collectively control about 6.5 billion in ad spend.
02/07/07 RBR #26

Interep Radio Network forming?
There may be an unwired "Interep Radio Network" being considered, to be rolled out across all of the 1,630 Interep-affiliated radio stations if it got off the ground. Initial data on the net says: * The Interep Radio Stations deliver 48.7% US Reach of Adults 25-54. * In the top crucial top 10 markets the reach is 62.9% Adults 25-54. * At any one time 6A-7P the Interep stations deliver a 6.1 national rating with an 25-54 AQH of 6,386,000.

RBR observation: 63% reach in Top 10 markets in Adults 25-54 is pretty good, so this may be a network worth forming. The proof will be in the pricing, of course. Also, does this mean Interep might be getting into the network radio business? It's a :30 second medium, but it could be handled by sending piggybacked commercials - :60 second pods with two :30 second spots. This is what many networks currently do.
02/06/07 RBR #25

FCC set to get 303M for 2007,
313M in 2008
President Bush is prepared to allow the FCC 303M to with in his 2007 Budget, but it will have to go out and get almost all of it on its own. 302M will be raised via regulatory fees. If everything goes through as proposed, that number will increase to 313M for FY 2008. The 2008 request came with an FCC-issued laundry list, and includes cash to promote the digital television transition.
02/06/07 RBR #25

Payola: FCC, broadcasters
ready to settle?
Word is out that an agreement is at hand in the FCC's investigation into radio payola. 10M or more is said to be on the table in a case involving Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Entercom and Citadel. According to reports, the settlement has all the earmarks of a consent decree. Generally, terms using that path allow companies to admit to no wrongdoing, while engaging in measures designed to alert employees to the problem being addressed and prevent its occurrence in the future.

RBR observation: The companies involved would do well to admit no wrongdoing, since it is highly probable that there was no wrong-doing done. As has been the case before in high-profile indecency cases, sometimes companies feel it better just to pay an amount certain to the US Treasury rather than run up unpredictably high attorney bills fighting for their rights in the courts, no matter how just they feel their cause to be. Finally, a question. How in the world would one figure out just when 7M worth of airplay has occurred? Putting a price on each spin almost amounts to the government developing its own bizarre payola menu. Then it would be time to sit back and field the complaints from the independent artists who were not included in the 7M indie windfall.
02/05/07 RBR #24

General Sales Manager
Independent Aggressive Radio is Great Radio. Like that ring of Independent Aggressive Radio? Then add in a great city like Tampa and you never leave. GSM post is open for that aggressive radio pro that likes independent thinking. Like getting local direct business and working with and for your clients? Thinking out of the box the way radio must be to succeed. View our check list.
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