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Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 23, Issue 33, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Thursday Morning February 16th, 2006

Radio News ®

Mays brothers
sharing executive suite

Randall Mays has been promoted to President of Clear Channel Communications, although he'll continue to serve as CFO as well. Brother Mark continues as CEO, but has relinquished the President title to his younger sibling. "Randall has demonstrated outstanding operational and financial acumen in both his leadership of strategic initiatives as well as the company's realignment. His commitment to quality, combined with his focus on creating shareholder value, can now be more broadly applied across the company," said Lowry Mays, Chairman of the Board and father of both executives. Randall Mays has been a Director of Clear Channel since 1999.

SBS preparing for TV debut
Spanish Broadcasting System has invited local media in Miami for some munchies this afternoon as SBS unveils the first program for its new TV station, with closing on the 37.55 million bucks acquisition set for later this month (1/13/06 RBR #9). Once SBS takes over, WDLP-TV Key West-Miami will be rechristened "Mega TV." Today's press gathering is to kick off "Polos Opuestos" (Opposite Poles), a talk show which will be hosted by local media star Maria Elvira Salazar. She hosted a talk show of the same name for many years on WQBA-AM.

CommComm looks at
video franchising

Radio is watching this one from the Uecker seats. Nevertheless, when Capitol Hill takes notice of our end of the economy, it pays to notice back. This time around, the Senate Commerce Committee looked at the many-faceted issue of video franchising, an issue which brings participants from a number of directions into an intersectional collision. The Committee's predisposition could tell the tale on this one. That predisposition, restated in the opening remarks of Ranking Member Daniel Inouye (D-HI), favors fair entry for telco companies into the MVPD business, a level playing field for all providers of electronic communication services, and the retention of local oversight by state and local governments. He noted how telco entry could be a major step forward to meeting universal service goals. The end result could well be new competition and related benefits to consumers of entertainment, telephone and Internet services. Inouye asked, "...what changes to our communications laws, if any, are needed to promote fair competition and to protect consumers in the video services market? Toward that end, as we begin to think about legislative proposals to promote robust video competition, there are certain fundamental principles that should guide us in this debate. These principles are not Republican or Democratic principles, but rather, are bipartisan and pragmatic. That is why I was pleased to join with my colleague Senator Burns earlier this month, in bringing these ideas into the debate." Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) effectively disabused anyone of the notion that there would be an easy road to a framework everyone could learn to love. "I look forward to working with the interested parties and the members of this Committee to craft fair and even-handed legislation for the digital communications world that's expanding far beyond our rules," he said. "It's going to take a lot of patience and a lot of understanding to get a bill." Stevens is said to be looking into the possibility of streamlining the process by putting together a federal/state body composed of the FCC and state officials to come up with recommendations this year for consideration next year.

RBR observation: Broadcasters are not interested in providing telephone service or Internet access (at least we haven't heard about it if some are). However, they are interested in having their new digital signals passed on unmolested to viewers, whether it be in high-def or multicast mode. Since cable has not proven to be a congenial partner as the DTV hard date looms ever closer, the NAB has taken a seat squarely in the telco's cheering section (provided broadcast exclusivity rules now in place for CATV and DBS carriage are in place for telcos as well).


Video franchising: A compendium of commentary
Opinions are like mouths - - everyone has one. Here are remarks from several sources on the battle over possible video franchising legislation. A few notes. The cable industry, based on yesterday's testimony, appears resigned to the continued influence of local franchising authorities and is pushing hardest to make sure that their influence extends to the telcos when the move into the business in force. Consumer watchdogs are all for new competition for monopolistic cable systems, but want to ensure that Congress not give away the store to ease the way for new entrants and leave localities and consumers behind. Another watchdog dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government is backing Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) in his attempt to replace local franchising with a national system - - something the consumers group did not reject out of hand, as long as appropriate safeguards are included (the consumers group does not, however, expect to see appropriate safeguards). There was no ambiguity from the local government community - - it wants to protect local right of way and the rights of its citizens, and insists it will welcome new MVPD competitors, but must maintain its ability to regulate them.
| Read various viewpoints here |

K Street runs two ways
Lobbyists have found themselves in an unwelcome spotlight lately, joining the ranks of professions often held in disdain by the general public. But a recent article in BusinessWeek Online (BWO) points out that oftentimes it is not a case of lobbyists tossing cash at politicians in return for some favor; rather it is politicians passing the hat amongst the lobbyists in one way or another to get campaign contributions, no favors necessarily attached. According to BWO, oftentimes the lobbyists feel compelled to fill the hat just to keep the lines of communication open, whether they have an immediate need to talk to the legislator or not. The blame goes to the high cost of political campaigns, and the high cost of campaigns is blamed on the high cost of broadcast advertising, particularly on television. This goes hand-in-hand with the desire of incumbents to fortify themselves against any challengers when re-election time rolls around.

RBR observation: The news here, ladies and gentlemen, is that we can expect free airtime for politicians to rear its ugly head once again as the lobbyist issue wends its slimy way through the halls of Congress. While we are open to numerous possible fixes to the issue of fair elections, giving politicians free airtime is not one of them. We've said it before and we'll say it again - - out of all the ways in which campaign information is disseminated to the public, broadcast advertisements are hands down the worst. How often have we seen a) empty messages put out simply to bolster name recognition; b) misleading statements presenting only half of an issue; or worse yet; c) wanton mudslinging at an opponent? At any rate, NAB needs to stay alert - - there's a good chance that we'll have to defend against a bevy of hungry politicians making yet another attempt to pick broadcaster pockets this year.


Ad Business Report TM

Prilosec OTC teaming with
NASCAR's Richard Childress

Prilosec OTC announced new sponsorships with Richard Childress Racing's No. 31 NEXTEL Cup Series team and NASCAR. Starting with the 2006 season, both relationships will elevate Prilosec OTC's marketing efforts within NASCAR. Later this season, Prilosec OTC will unveil the Victory of a Lifetime Sweepstakes, which award the Grand Prize winner and, accompanying friends and family: First Class travel, accommodations, tickets and behind the scenes access to 20, 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races; A custom made, street legal, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series inspired No. 31 Prilosec OTC Chevy; Behind the scenes access to Richard Childress Racing operations throughout the 2007 season. 2006 will also mark Prilosec OTC's inaugural season as a "Proud Partner of NASCAR." Prilosec OTC's NASCAR relationship includes heartburn remedy category exclusivity and will allow Prilosec OTC to integrate NASCAR marks into all Prilosec OTC, NASCAR related marketing initiatives. Prilosec first entered NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racing in 2004 as an Associate sponsor of Sterling Marlin and the No. 40 Dodge owned by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

Grey NY named Smokey Bones AOR
Grey New York has been selected as the AOR for Darden Restaurants' Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill. In addition to helping lead a repositioning effort aimed at broadening the appeal of the brand, Grey will be responsible for advertising and MediaCom will handle planning and buying. Smokey Bones, which debuted in 1999 and now operates over 120 restaurants across the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. Grey NY has served as the AOR for Darden's Olive Garden restaurants since 1984. Darden also O&Os Red Lobster, Bahama Breeze and Seasons restaurants.

Badgley Mischka taps Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for new effort
Iconix Brand Group announced that Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen will appear in its Badgley Mischka clothing brand's upcoming campaign. The multimedia campaign will debut in April issues of Vogue, Elle, InStyle, Vanity Fair and others. This effort will mark Ashley and Mary-Kate's first partnership with a luxury fashion house. The campaign will also be the first time the stars will promote a brand outside of their own clothing line.


Media Business Report TM
S&P: Media giants will continue to look
to tech companies to reach viewers

Leading entertainment companies will continue to seek agreements with the major U.S. wireless service providers to push their brand and programming content over wireless networks, observed four Standard & Poor's equity analysts at the recent third annual Media Summit in NYC. "Media/telecom partnerships help media companies wring out additional benefits of acquisitions by pushing content onto new platforms beyond the traditional print and television media," said Todd Rosenbluth, an analyst at Standard & Poor's. "In particular, we are seeing partnerships starting to form between wireless and broadband DSL providers such as Verizon and AT&T and we expect to see additional benefits as the telecom providers roll out video services with customized content." Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services chief media analyst, Tuna Amobi, sees emerging technology platforms spurring the convergence of multi-media applications, which could dramatically reshape the business models of media and entertainment companies. New media applications with long-term growth potential include MP3 players and portable gadgets; cell phones with broadband; network and web-based video on demand; Internet protocol; video over Internet; and home networking devices such as network ready DVRs, and media center personal computers. "Media operators that do not have a well- articulated digital strategy do so at their own peril," Amobi adds. S&P equity analyst, Kenneth Leon, pointed out that, in addition to the above technologies, other entertainment companies are pursuing mobile virtual network operator or reseller strategies, of which ESPN Mobile is the latest example. "Despite the low margin opportunities of running an MVNO [Mobile Virtual Network Operator], entertainment companies see benefit of extending their brand and programming to their customers through mobility," says Leon.


Media Markets & Money TM
Connoisseur details its Erie acquisition
Jeff Warshaw's re-entry into the radio ownership biz took a step toward tangibility with the official FCC filing of its deal to acquire an Erie PA sixpack from NextMedia. It'll get WFNN-AM, WJET-AM, WFGO-FM, WRTS-FM, WUSE-FM & WRKT-FM for a total of 17.375M dollars. It will buttress his new radio group, which mostly consists of FM CPs won at auction last year (4/19/05 RBR #77). He sold the bulk of his earlier version of Connoisseur to Cumulus back in 1999.


Washington Media Business Report TM
Shopping for a venue
Today's Washington Beat story involves a process that will initially begin in Washington with the ultimate goal of taking the action out of Washington. The goal: Finding a city in which to hold the 2008 Republican National Convention. The Republican National Committee has announced its intention to begin venue shopping, and will be entertaining representative from prospective sites in Washington to get proposals. However, not just any old city will do. An invitation to make a pitch went out to a list of 31 cities (in 30 media markets). Included are Anaheim, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Tampa. The market overlap, of course, is between Anaheim and the larger nearby metropolis of which it is a portion, Los Angeles.

RBR observation: This is the sort of municipal influx that probably won't help your bottom line so much. It's hard to tie an ad flight to the presence of conventioneers. It may in fact hurt your bottom line, resulting in extra local news costs. But it provides an excellent chance for some of your local news talents to gain a little national exposure, perhaps greasing the wheels for their departure to bigger and better...Hey - - maybe broadcasters should lobby for the convention to go to some other city.


Entertainment Media Business Report TM
Jerry Doyle newest Independent Conservative to join KNEW
KNEW-AM San Francisco PD Bob Agnew has announced a series of major programming moves that will really define KNEW as the Independent Conservative Talk Radio station and differentiate KNEW from the other "right leaning " talk stations in the SF Radio market. First: TRN's Jerry Doyle comes to KNEW on 2/20 taking over the Noon to 3pm slot. Doyle's show is one of America's fastest growing programs with over 225 affiliates. "Jerry Doyle will be a great compliment and addition to Talk 910 KNEW," says Agnew. "He is no longer a registered Republican but a real independent thinker who is in line with KNEW's top ranked host Michael Savage. Savage brings the "Independent Conservative " theme to KNEW airwaves, Doyle backs it up."

The new lineup, effective March 2006:
6 -10AM Armstrong & Getty
10AM to Noon: Laura Ingraham
Noon to 3PM: Jerry Doyle
3 to 7PM: Michael Savage
7PM to 9PM: Jeff Katz Evening Wrap
9 to 11PM: Bill O'Reilly

Armstrong & Getty are a veteran Northern California morning team who focus on California issues and politics with a sense of humor and an engaging, casual style. Jeff Katz, live and local Bay Area personality, is presently in the noon to three slot. He is known for Police support campaigns, troops support and as an accomplished and popular public speaker around the Bay Area.


Internet Media Business Report TM
NetLogix and Adzilla pact to distribute
new revenue streams for WiFi

NetLogix and Adzilla New Media have partnered to provide a comprehensive package of ad serving solutions for municipal wireless (WiFi) business models. Areas already or close to deploying Wi-Fi clouds include Oakland County, MI, The Silicon Valley, CA San Francisco and Philadelphia. NetLogix, a player in municipal wireless consulting, deployment and network management services, signed on as the exclusive distributor of ZILLAcasting solutions for the Municipal Wireless market. NetLogix assists both carriers and municipalities with services including business modeling, technology assessment, RF analysis, network design and deployment, operations development and ongoing network management. Based on Adzilla's ZILLAcasting technology, city and service provider networks will have a new method for generating significant revenue streams from free Citywide Wi-Fi networks. ZILLAcasting makes network operators part of the Internet ad delivery process resulting in the delivery of more localized, accurate and relevant ads to Internet viewers. ZILLAcasting allows network operators to generate revenue through three different ad delivery methods that can be used in isolation or as a complementary mix: Ad Insertion, Ad Optimization and Ad Interstitials and the amount of revenue generated will increase based upon the targeting triggers available, the number of ads run, and the ad delivery methods utilized.

RBR observation: Municipal WiFi clouds are a real threat to the existing wireless (and wired) broadband services from companies like NEXTEL, Verizon and Comcast. The prices are either free or much less than what's offered by the established providers. With a Wi-Fi or Wi-Max service metro-wide, who needs wires and modems from Comcast? The only downside from metro-wide Wi-Fi clouds is a somewhat diminished throughput speed...rivaling DSL, but not cable broadband. As laptops with wireless cards flourish and big, bulky PCs diminish, Wi-Fi/Wi-Max is the wave of the future.


RBR Stats
Yahoo! tops search engines
for influence to purchase

Media influence and/or engagement are hot topics in today's ROI driven ad world, and when it comes to the top search engines Yahoo! is the overall #1 choice for most influential on purchase decisions and Google is number 4. The findings are from BIGresearch's latest Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMMVII), which surveyed over 15,000 respondents. "When you look at the impact of Internet Advertising on specific purchase decisions and not just click throughs, the impact of internet advertising is a different story," said Joe Pilotta, VP/Research at BIGresearch.
| Read More... |


Transactions
12M WWAA-AM Atlanta (Adel GA) from Intermart Broadcasting of Georgia Inc. (James E. Martin Jr., Patricia S. Woods) to JW Broadcasting Inc. (Joseph Weber). 600K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WMLB-AM East Point GA. Station holds CP to move to Avondale GA. [File date 1/30/06.]

13K KIFO-AM CP Hawthorne NV from Eastern Sierra Broadcasting (Chris Kidd) to Radio 1450 LLC (E. Morgan Skinner, Lavon Randall). Cash. CP is for 1450 kHz with 1 kw-U, ND. [File date 1/27/06.]


Stock Talk
Market up slightly as Fed chief speaks
At first warnings of more rate hikes from new Fed chief Ben Bernanke sent stocks lower, but then the market moved higher as he indicated that the economy seemed to be on course. In the end, the Dow Industrials rose 31 points to 11,059.

Radio stocks were mixed. The Radio Index slipped 0.294, or 0.2%, to 172.392. Most stocks didn't move much. Emmis fell 1.7%, Radio One was down 1.5% and Regent rose 1.8%.


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

39.16

+0.02

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

23.84

-0.05

Beasley

BBGI

13.44

+0.10

Interep

IREP

0.25

unch

CBS CI. B CBS

25.61

+0.01

Jeff-Pilot

JP

59.26

-0.43

CBS CI. A CBSa

25.59

unch

Journal Comm.

JRN

12.42

-0.10

Citadel CDL
11.52 +0.10

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

10.18

-0.15

Clear Channel

CCU

28.57

-0.13

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

10.21

-0.05

Cox Radio

CXR

13.81

-0.03

Regent

RGCI

4.62

+0.08

Cumulus

CMLS

11.69

-0.12

Saga Commun.

SGA

9.94

-0.06

Disney

DIS

26.88

+0.13

Salem Comm.

SALM

14.14

-0.03

Emmis

EMMS

17.15

-0.29

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

5.82

+0.18

Entercom

ETM

28.59

-0.06

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

5.96

+0.02

Entravision

EVC

7.25

+0.01

Univision

UVN

33.84

-0.24

Fisher

FSCI

43.02

+0.13

Westwood One

WON

13.86

+0.01

Gaylord

GET

44.70

+0.70

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

25.25

+0.61



Bounceback

Send Us Your OpinionsWe want to
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Below the Fold

Media Business Report
Media will continue to look
To tech companies to reach viewers...

Entertainment Media
Business Report
Newest Independent Conservative
KNEW-AM San Fran announces series of major programming moves...

RBR Stats
Search engines influence buying
Media influence and/or engagement are topics in today's ROI ad world...

Media Markets & Money
Connoisseur details acquisition
In Erie as Jeff Warshaw's re-entry into the radio ownership...


Radio Media Moves

Bonita to Jersey Shore
Greater Media announced that Anita Bonita is now newsperson and co-host of "The Jersey Shore Morning Show" on WJRZ-FM Monmouth-Ocean, NJ. She's a veteran of several NYC radio and TV stations and most recently was Creative Services Director for SJS/ProMedia.

Upped at Univision
Univision Communications announced that Lisa Nolan, who previously served as Univision Network Senior Account Executive, has been promoted to Vice President/New York Sales Manager managing sales for Univision and TeleFutura, effective immediately.


Stations for Sale

Houston 50,000 kW AM
New transmitter site
& transmitting equipment
John W. Saunders
(713) 789-4222 or e-mail
[email protected]


TVBR - TV News

WB = Waitaminute, Buddy. TV dealers step back from the altar
Granite Broadcasting Corp. has opened the door for further negotiation while the prospective buyer of its San Francisco and Detroit television stations mulls over the 180M deal in light of the merger of junior broadcast networks UPN and WB (9/9/05 TVBR #177). Both KBWB-TV in San Francisco and WDWB-TV Detroit are WB affiliates, and in both cases do not appear likely to get the rights to the CW network resulting from the web-merge, since, in both cities, Viacom/CBS has the local UPN affiliate and a half-share in CW. The major change in station operations has given both participants in the deal to reconsider (1/27/06 TVBR #19). "The recent announcement by the WB Network has led AM Media to decide not to proceed forward with the transactions as originally contemplated," said Granite's Don Cornwell. "As AM Media continues to evaluate its interest in these stations, these amendments give us the ability to actively engage in dialogue with other interested parties. While it is our intention to sell the stations, we are prepared to operate them as independents in September." Once and now once-again prospective buyer AM Media is being backed by ACON Investments.

TVBR observation: This is why all those contracts have that section called "force majeur."


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RBR Radar 2005
Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

Shareholders said to favor
bust-up of VNU
As VNU management continues to evaluate a buyout bid from a consortium of private equity firms, the Wall Street Journal reports that several of the company's biggest institutional shareholders aren't satisfied with the 8.8 billion bucks offer. Instead, they're said to favor breaking VNU up into three companies and then selling the pieces.

RBR observation: Having already derailed VNU's proposed seven billion bucks acquisition of IMS Health, causing VNU CEO Rob van den Bergh to announce his resignation, VNU's big shareholders obviously have a lot of clout. The company's directors aren't likely to cross them again and approve a buyout bid that they won't like. After all, they might well have the votes to reject it anyway. Selling three companies will be more difficult than selling one, but then that's essentially what the equity consortium plans to do - - selling off unwanted pieces and then building up the remainder of VNU for a sale or IPO. The big shareholders apparently think they might as well do that themselves and eventually pocket the profits.
02/15/06 RBR #32

HDRadio.com launches
Complementing the new HD2 multicast formats launching in 28 markets, the HD Digital Radio Alliance announced the launch of HDRadio.com (www.hdradio.com) the new consumer info site for HD Radio. The site helps consumers. - But, this reader has been checking out the new website to promote HD Radio, I just listened to the demo on hdradio.com. I wonder who the genius was who decided to promote current AM and FM analog as mediums that sound terrible.

RBR note: For first reaction and comment read....
02/14/06 RBR #31

Feingold seeks
Senate hearing on payola
Has asked both Chairman Stevens (R-AK) Dan Inouye (D-HI) to put one of his pet issues on the committee's agenda. He cited his bill, the Radio and Concert Disclosure Act of 2005 (S.2058) as a starting point.

RBR observation: They say that the most common flaw of military leaders throughout the centuries is the use of tactics appropriate for the last war in the books, rather than new tactics appropriate for the war in front of them. Feingold seems guilty of fighting the last war. It is the observation of RBR to raise a flag of victory over the carcass of the old pay-for-play system and start looking ahead to the newer concerns - - pay-for-say, un-attributed fake news releases, undisclosed product placements, and false product endorsements from allegedly independent expert reviewers.
02/13/06 RBR #30

RBR First
GM share deals to be cancelled
Stations to monitor pod violations as GM Planworks SVP/Local Investment Director Kevin Gallagher made the announcement to all in the Television Business. Reps were called to a meeting and told that GM share deals would all be cancelled from Q2 on and that stations, not buyers, would then monitor pod violations. Said one industry source: "These moves lose GM multiple millions of ad time at a time when they need every dime they can get. In the local community the reps are out celebrating as are the stations."

RBR observation: This is good for radio so read the details
02/10/06 RBR #29

RBR First
CBS Radio may
dump
all RCS systems

It is an RBR First because we certainly voiced the concern after Clear Channel bought RCS last month that this could happen. RBR confirmed through two high-level sources independently at CBS Radio there have been meetings about pulling RCS systems company-wide. Source #2: "It's true. ! If you were running CBS Radio, would you want your number one competitor having inventory on your radio stations?" RBR, through our investigation, has also confirmed that while CBS Radio will honor their current contracts, the source stated, "We will be honoring our contracts, but we aren't going to do business with RCS." In an email response to CBS's issues Philippe Generali, President/CEO RCS wrote: "Confidentiality has been, and will always be the cornerstone of the RCS business. For more than 27 years, radio stations around the world have trusted RCS with their databases, format changes, and music libraries.

RBR observation: This is a hurdle RCS will have to overcome--the image that Clear Channel may have access to clients' proprietary databases. But all should just calm down and breathe into a brown paper bag and not put the cart before the horse. For more see
02/08/06 RBR #27



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