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Volume 24, Issue 31, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Wednesday Morning February 14th, 2007
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Radio News ®
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 Reps want DARS
to keep it national
Gene Green (D-TX) and Chip Pickering (R-MS) are once again going to bat for local radio. Trumpeting its importance its importance to the immediate communities in times of emergency, they are offering legislation to make sure satellite radio doesn't encroach on their territory. The "Local Emergency Radio Service Preservation Act of 2007" marks a return engagement for a bill originally offered during the last Congress. They note the local focus of much radio programming, the ubiquitous ownership of receivers, and even more importantly in times of emergency, common ownership of battery-operated receivers which continue to function when main power sources are knocked out. They further note that advertising is necessary to sustain local radio. It is therefore important to protect their existence by continuing to enforce DARS's commission, which is to "...provide only national programming..." and ensure that "...the new service will not affect local broadcasting..." They further note plans of satellite companies to offer locally differentiated programming, and would make that explicitly illegal, saying they "shall be restricted to simultaneously retransmitting the programming transmitted by satellite," without any shred of content that cannot be picked up by all DARS subscribers.
RBR observation: Broadcasters have long been suspicious of terrestrial repeaters being installed by DARS services. Unless the satellite services are willing to put boots on the ground in every community in the country to provide the same kind of emergency information that broadcasters do, they have no argument. Caveat: Broadcasters must continue to excel in this area. And while we've all heard about Minot ND over and over again, we believe the fact of the matter is that 99% of the time, broadcasters shine brightest when conditions are at their worst. And it is a vital service provided by no other medium, period.
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 It's a done deal...at last
Nine months ago we reported that Liberty Media had won the bidding to acquire the Atlanta Braves from Time Warner (5/5/06 RBR #89), beating, among others, the family of Lew Dickey, CEO of the Atlanta-based Cumulus Media radio company. Now the deal has finally been signed and sent to the Major League Baseball owners for approval. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the deal to cash out a portion of the large block of Time Warner Stock held by Liberty Media includes the baseball team, the Leisure Arts magazines of Time Inc. and about a billion in cash. Liberty Chairman John Malone has a reputation for going to great lengths to avoid having to pay taxes when he does a deal. This is no exception. By swapping stock for operating assets, along with cash, Liberty Media should be able to keep the tax bite to a minimum. According to the Wall Street Journal, the agreement values the Braves at 460 million and the craft magazines at 22 million, so Liberty Media will get about 1.48 billion for 60 million Time Warner shares, reducing its stake in Time Warner to 2.6% from the current 4%.
RBR observation: Will Cumulus Media CEO Lew Dickey and his family get yet another chance to be baseball owners? Malone's interest in the Atlanta Braves was based on tax avoidance, not the ego trip that drives so many rich people to buy a pro sports team. It is widely expected that the Braves will be back on the market in a few years. No doubt Lew and his brothers will be in there pitching again to become the owners of the hometown ball team.
One quarter not a trend
Radio groups are so far reporting nice revenue growth for Q4, but Wachovia analyst Marci Ryvicker warns that it is likely not a trend. She thinks Q1 guidance may be less enthusiastic. "Most radio groups provided better-than-expected Q4 guidance as a result of incremental political and easy comps. We think Q1 guidance will prove that Q4 was not a trend and that pricing power still remains an issue. However, we don't think fundamentals have worsened; thus, we don't expect estimates to go down," the analyst said in a note to investors. Of groups yet to report Q4 results, she notes that Entravision has "positive secular trends and improving segments," but warns that Cumulus set very high expectations for Q4 - and then faces tough Q1 comps.
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Tribune update: Nothing to report
The board of directors at Tribune Company issued an update late yesterday on its strategic review process. But all the update said was essentially: nothing yet. "The review process has been rigorous and will continue to move forward with the assistance of our outside financial and legal advisors," said William A. Osborn, Tribune's lead independent director and chairman of the special committee. "The board expects to make a decision on a course of action and have an announcement before the end of the first quarter," he added. The board of directors also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 18 cents per share.
 "Anna and the Astronaut"
That's what the Project for Excellence in Journalism calls the news week of 2/4/07-2/9/07. It goes further, calling it the week of tabloid news, thanks to the coverage given to the saga of Lisa Nowak, the flipped-out astronaut, trumped eventually by the demise of Anna Nicole Smith. Iraq still outweighed that pair of stories in the overall news hole, 22% (combining policy and events) to a combined 14% for the two tabloid tales. Coverage of the Anna Nicole Smith story was close to par with the Lisa Nowak story when you look at the individual media charts, except for one medium. If you guessed that Smith took over cable, you'd be correct. It occupied 9% of the news hole overall, and received that amount from radio and less everywhere else, but on cable, it grabbed a whopping 21% of the hole. PEJ looked at two days, 2/8/07 and 2/9/07, during which cable gave Anna Nicole 50% of its available time. The biggest story from the previous week to drop entirely off the chart was global warming, which then garnered a 5% share.
RBR observation: If we were cable TV, we'd be embarrassed. The medium's overheated Anna Nicole coverage may well be enough to restore global warming back onto the chart next week all by itself.
| Top ten lists here |
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| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
Journal boosts dividend
Journal Communications announced that its board of directors has increased the quarterly dividend on its Class A and Class B stock by 15% to seven and a half cents per share. The higher dividend will be paid March 2nd to shareholders of record on February 20th. "Today's dividend increase reflects Journal Communications' strong cash flow and financial position, and underscores its commitment to building shareholder value," said Steven J. Smith, Chairman and CEO of Journal Communications.
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Ad Business Report TM
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A rep's view of DDS
Katz Media Group VP/CIO David Prager contacted us with follow-up information to our "eMediaTRADE aiming to include Donovan Data Systems" story (2/12/07 RBR #29). Donovan Data Systems' Director of e-business Harvey Kent had explained DDS went live with a full transaction radio e-business system solution a few months ago with Katz. Said Prager: "This responds to your articles on the "new" electronic ordering system for buyers and sellers of national and local radio advertising, which is currently being created by The Wicks-Arbitron-eMediaTRADE consortium (RBR 2/9/07 and 2/12/07).
 In the article, Harvey Kent, pictured, Donovan Data Systems' Director of e-business was quoted as saying, "We went live with a full transaction radio e-business system solution a few months ago with Katz." To expand on Harvey's statement, Katz Media Group has had a system in place for the past two years, which provides agencies with the ability to send orders electronically. Strata was the first agency system that developed the interface. DDS completed their development and went live during 2006. Last year alone, we received over $100 million of business from agencies electronically. In addition to being able to receive orders, Katz can and does send orders electronically to stations. Again, hundreds of stations have been receiving orders electronically for months. From a business perspective, we have already accomplished what's still being created by The Wicks-Arbitron-eMediaTRADE system. From a technical perspective, the methodology we're using is an actual deployment of the AAAA architecture. Unlike other approaches, ours involves data moving from one system to another without user action, i.e. there's no need to go to an additional website to upload or download the data. We are ready and able, right now, to receive data from any agency that is able to comply with the AAAA architecture and we're able to send to any station that is able to receive a AAAA compliant message. We eagerly await the completion of the Wicks-Arbitron-eMediaTRADE development that supports Web Services, so that they can participate too.
HD Digital Radio Alliance
launches first campaign for BMW
The HD Digital Radio Alliance today announced the launch of a major, 85-market radio advertising campaign highlighting BMW's in-car HD Radio offering. BMW recently became the first automotive manufacturer to offer factory-installed HD digital radio receivers as an option across all its 2007 models. The campaign will feature a mix of commercials on Alliance-member stations touting the consumer benefits of HD digital radio available in BMW cars - more programming and rich, digital quality sound - all with no monthly subscription. BMW has announced that it is offering HD digital radio in all of its models as a factory-installed option. BMW's advertising campaign is similar to the successful programs launched by the Alliance for Circuit City, RadioShack and other partners. The new ads tie HD Radio into BMW's brand attributes in surprising and fun ways. One spot notes that the "ultimate driving machine" now has "the ultimate radio." Another points out that the BMW driver can now experience "all kinds of new twists and turns with uncompromising performance - and that's just the radio." The spots can be heard online at www.hdradioalliance.com. "The BMW brand epitomizes what HD digital radio signifies in audio entertainment," said Peter Ferrara, HD Digital Radio Alliance CEO. "BMW has long been at the forefront in automotive technology, and their embrace of HD digital radio continues that leadership, offering consumers the best radio programming experience around. We're thrilled to work with them as we continue to educate consumers on the value of HD radio, the future of digital audio entertainment." The campaign by BMW is part of the HD Digital Radio Alliance's $250 million on-air advertising campaign that was announced in December.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
WOTT's up, Doc?
Actually, more than WOTT is up. The FM station is joined by four more in the same service and a pair of AMs in an upstate New York deal which has come home to roost. James Leven and Bruce Mittman and their Community Broadcasters LLC are the new owners, and Clancy-Mance Communications is the seller. According to Dick Kozacko of Kozacko Media Services, the pricetag is 5.423M. The stations serve Watertown, Gouverneur and Ogdensburg. Along with Rocker WOTT-FM, there are WBDI-FM and WBDB-FM, which simulcast Top 40, Light Rock WTOJ-FM, Oldies WGIX-FM, News/Talk WANT-AM and Talker WSLB-AM.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
Obesity confab postponed
 The Washington bureau of RBR/TVBR can provide first-hand testimony that weather conditions in the area are less than ideal. In fact, snow would be better than what we're getting, the dreaded wintery mix which figures to freeze into pure ice by morning rush hour. As such, the 2/14/07 Task Force meeting, "Media and Childhood Obesity," featuring Tom Harkin (D-IA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and assorted FCC commissioners, members of the communications industry, health experts and watchdogs, has been canceled.
RBR observation: It is only fitting that children get to enjoy their Valentine's Day treats without having boatloads of guilt dumped on them from frequent testifiers in Washington. The only more inappropriate day from a child's perspective for such a meeting would be Halloween.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
 ESPN.com, ESPN Radio launch local network of websites
ESPN.com and ESPN Radio announced the launch of a network of local ESPN-affiliate station websites that will integrate with ESPNRadio.com. The network will initially include the sites for ESPN's five owned stations in New York City (WEPN), Chicago (WMVP), Los Angeles (KSPN), Dallas (KESN) and Pittsburgh (WEAE). More sites will be added in the future. "Part of the nature of both sports and radio is that they have inherent local and community-based appeal," said Traug Keller, pictured, SVP/ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes. "This network of sites delivers local sports coverage and content to fans anywhere in the world, as well as national sports content to each city's listeners. It is a key part of our ongoing and extensive commitment to the Web and to digital audio." The network of sites follows the November launch of a nationwide local podcasting network and a Spanish-language podcasting and online radio initiative on ESPN.com and ESPN. Chicago's ESPN Radio 1000 site (www.espnradio1000.com) is the first to launch, with others following in coming weeks. Each will become part of the ESPN.com network of sites and will include new functionality and features, including: Live, 24/7 local ESPN Radio affiliate feed, including all local radio programming from the station; Live, 24/7 national ESPNRadio.com feed; Access to more than 20 local and national ESPN podcasts, and to ESPN.com's ESPN Radio Insider premium service with hundreds of hours of on-demand ESPN Radio content; Local and national sports news, scores and headlines from ESPN.com's news services; A city-specific interactive sports schedule and salendar; Local weather conditions and forecast details; Enhanced interactive ad units and both local and national sponsorship opportunities; ESPN.com universal navigation; ESPN1 Club allowing listeners to receive access to members only contests, insider information and the local affiliate station's newsletter; Interactive polls with real-time results display. In addition, ESPN.com has added a new national podcast from NBA legend and ESPN NBA commentator Bill Walton.
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| Transactions |
1.05M KHBM AM & FM/KGPQ-FM Monticello AR, KXSA-FM Dermott AR from Community Radio Network Inc. (P.Q. Gardner) to Pines Broadcasting Inc. (Jimmy Sledge, Gwen Sledge). Cash. Includes non-compete. Daisy chain cluster with KWRF AM & FM Warren AR forming three markets of four stations each. [File date 1/16/07.]
15K KTNP-AM Tonopah NV from Eastern Sierra Broadcasting (Chris Kidd) to Radio 1400 LLC, a subsidiary of Legacy Communications Corp. (E. Morgan Skinner, Lavon Randall). Cash. CP is for 1400 kHz with 1 kw-U. [File date 1/16/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Wall Street cheers Alcoa takeover
It's not even an official offer yet, but traders got excited over a report from London that two Australian mining companies are preparing to make a 40 billion bucks bid for American aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. The Dow Industrials shot up 102 points, or 0.8%, to 12,655.
Radio stocks rode the wave. The Radio Index gained 2.213, or 1.4%. The big gainers were Saga, up 3.1%, Citadel 2.5%, and Cox Radio and Entercom, each up 2.2%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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46.61
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+0.31
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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13.30
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-0.17
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Beasley
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BBGI
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9.20
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+0.11
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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70.25
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+1.30
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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31.88
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+0.57
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Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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7.47
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+0.07
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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31.85
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+0.57
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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7.50
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+0.10
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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10.60 |
+0.26 |
Regent
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RGCI
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3.00
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+0.01
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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36.60
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+0.17
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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9.55
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+0.29
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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15.69
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+0.33
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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12.44
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+0.18
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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10.37
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+0.08
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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3.57
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unch
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Disney
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DIS
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34.59
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+0.67
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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4.09
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+0.06
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Emmis
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EMMS
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8.68
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-0.04
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SWMX
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SMWX
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1.05
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-0.20
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| Entercom |
ETM
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30.20
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+0.65
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Univision
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UVN
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35.89
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unch
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Entravision
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EVC
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8.22
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+0.13
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Westwood One
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WON
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7.05
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+0.10
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Fisher
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FSCI
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43.65
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+0.52
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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13.06
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+0.03
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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26.09
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+0.03
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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
A rep's view of DDS
Katz Media Group clears the picture on "eMediaTRADE aiming to include Donovan Data Systems...
HD Digital Radio Alliance
Launches first campaign for BMW...
Media Markets & Money
WOTT's up, Doc?
Actually, more than WOTT is up. The FM station is joined by 4 more...
Internet Media Business Report
ESPN.com, ESPN Radio
Launch local network of websites...
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Stations for Sale
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10 TX, AZ, NC, and GA
FM radio stations at an exceptional value offered for sale. Broker cooperation encouraged. Please visit www.toweritrust.com for complete information including pricing.
 Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact
June Barnes
[email protected]
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Radio Media Moves
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 Salem hires Butler
John Butler has been named National Program Director for News Talk programming at Salem Communications. Butler was most recently VP of Broadcast Media for Z Comm and before that PD of WMAL-AM Washington, DC.
From print to radio
Andrew Marchand, who has spent the past nine years as a reporter for the New York Post covering a wide range of sports, has joined WEPN-AM "1050 ESPN Radio" New York as its first-ever Managing Editor, beginning March 5th. In the new role, Marchand will provide on-air reports to each of 1050 ESPN Radio's programs and will also contribute extensively to the station's web site.
Ennis to CEA
Former News Corporation VP Bob Ennis has joined the investment banking and corporate finance team at Communications Equity Associates. Ennis was most recently President of Tensor Advisors LLC, a firm he founded to engage in strategic advisory and merchant banking activities in both old and new media.
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More News Headlines
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Courthouse to be
named for Limbaugh
Yes, the US House of Representatives has voted to name the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, MO for Rush Limbaugh - but not the Rush that you are probably thinking of. Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. was a prominent local attorney and practiced law right up to his death in 1996 at age 104 - at the time the oldest practicing attorney in the country. From time to time he appeared on the national radio show of his namesake grandson to discuss legal and political issues. Another grandson, Missouri Supreme Court Justice Stephen Limbaugh Jr., told the Southeast Missourian newspaper that the courthouse naming is an honor for the entire family. A vote by the US Senate is expected next month.
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TVBR - TV News
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Malone scores
Green Bay TV
Liberty Media is liberating one of the CBS O&O stations, WFRV-TV, hailing from the Green Bay portion of the Green Bay-Appleton WI DMA. The station will be accompanied by a considerable pile of CBS cash, all in exchange for Liberty's CBS stockpile. The Channel 5 facility is valued at 64M, and the pile of cash will be stacked until it reaches 170M, taking the total value of the stock being returned to CBS to 234M. Liberty SVP/Treasurer David Flowers said, "This transaction represents another step in our transformation of Liberty into a focused operating company. We are continuing to convert passive investments into operating businesses. We are impressed by the success achieved by the long-standing management team in Green Bay and look forward to welcoming them to the Liberty family." WFRV was acquired by CBS way back in 1991, along with WCCO-AM-TV/WLTE-FM Minneapolis-St. Paul in a 178.6M deal with Midwest Communications.
TVBR observation: The US Treasury was more or less left on the sidelines this week as two big deals by Liberty Media were structured the way founder John Malone always likes them - to avoid paying taxes to the maximum extent possible. The deal with CBS gets Liberty Media into TV station ownership.
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RBR Radar 2006
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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CBS Radio in the middle of a R.I.O.T.
CBS Corp. has created a new cross-platform unit that bridges its radio, Internet, outdoor and television sales ops. CBS RIOT will combine the assets of CBS Radio's 147 stations, CBS Interactive's local websites, CBS Outdoor's billboards and display faces, and the 39 O&O TV to give advertisers big reach on a local scale.
RBR observation: This is taking and using all assets of the media to their fullest extent, Period. For more details see this issue of RBR.
02/13/07 RBR #30
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* New Listing *
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