For the FY 2007 net income was 31.9 million in comparison to 2006 net income of 16.8 million. Income from continuing operations for the full year, excluding the after-tax gain from the sale of stock of 26.2 million, was 4.0 million, compared to income from continuing operations for the year of 6.3 million. Income from discontinued operations for the full year 2007 was 1.7 million, compared to income from 2006 discontinued operations of 10.6 million. Said Fisher Communications CEO Colleen Brown (pictured): "2007 was a strong year for Fisher, building off an improved year in 2006. In the past two years we have driven sales growth, ratings growth, and margin growth. We have diversified our network and geographic footprint, built duopolies in our existing markets, entered the Spanish-language television business, launched an Internet division, and significantly improved our debt to cash flow ratio, while continuing to improve the performance of the company."

Note: on 1/1/08, Fisher closed on KBAK-TV (CBS) and KBFX-CA (FOX) Bakersfield, from Westwind Communications for 55 million cash.

Buyout roulette
Are you ready to make a quick killing with a big investment into Clear Channel? Its price is still well below the buyout price of 39.20, notes Boston Globe columnist Steven Syre. The result of a buy could be a lightning quick 25% gain. But of course there is a catch. "The sale of Clear Channel seems as if it's been going forever," he notes, "because it has. Initially, Bain and Lee emerged as the management-endorsed winners in November 2006. But public investors last spring drove the price higher, to its current level." And since then, deteriorating conditions in both the radio business and the credit/banking community have been driving the stock price down. It also is making the banks consider whether paying a hefty penalty to break off the wedding is preferable to walking all the way down the to the altar.

RBR observation: If the banks decide to ignore any shotgun-toting father-figure who really wants the wedding to go through, dodge the ensuing hail of buckshot and hightail it out of the wedding ceremony, there's no telling where Clear Channel stock might go. But it doesn't figure to shoot back up to 39.20. Stay tuned.

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RBR/TVBR helps all when asked

Dear Jim,
I wish to take this opportunity to accept your generous offer to extend my e-mail subscription to Radio Business Report under the kind terms (free!) described in your 02/08/08 RBR #27 message. Having lost my job at Entercom (as VP-Engineering for 17 years) it really means a lot to stay connected to the industry news through the authoritative & interesting RBR. Thank you for the extended hand to all of us who have felt the economic downturn so directly.

My best regards,
Marty Hadfield

And the RAB comments
just keep on comin'

I think the "big market" radio business is tanking because most of the good radio sales people have been fired. I don't know how many times I have been called in the last 10 years or by major market sales reps that are going to be fired or have already been so because they were making too much money. They had put together a high paying list at a station or group and the top corporate management comes in and restructures the group eliminating their jobs and turning their list over to a new hire. Some people bailed early because they saw what was coming and did not want to have the stigma of "just fired." The radio industry no longer seems to be in the sales business and yet that is what radio stations are supposed to do for their clients but can't do for themselves because they don't have the talented people anymore.

Dave Garland
Dave Garland Media Brokerage
Houston, Texas

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Carnegie Observation: Saving Radio

Battle of the Spot Monitoring Systems

FCC gets to the bare bottom of blue NYPD Blue episode

Fox News scores a first in Internet transmission during Bush visit

Supremes get set to decide to decide

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Radio is down in the month
The good news is that it will be easy to score a better revenue performance than radio scored during the month of January 2008 as reported by the Radio Advertising Bureau and Miller Kaplan Arase & Co. The bad news is we have to talk about January 2008. Total revenues for the month went 6% in the wrong direction. The ugliness breaks down like this: Local was down -5%, national was down -13%, for a combined spot drop of -7%. Unfortunately, the crystal ball readers on Wall Street are seeing more of the same stretching out month after month into the future.

RBR observation: We're reminded of an old Woody Allen joke back when he was doing stand-up. He said that typically an audience liked for the artist to finish up a performance with a positive comment. "I don't have a positive comment," he admitted. "Would you settle for two negatives?" We don't have much of a positive comment either, but we do note a silver lining in the ever-increasing non-spot category. Most of that cash is internet-based, and there are few better ways to drive internet traffic than via broadcast ads. We'd try to use that non-spot category any way we can to boost the bread-and-butter traditional spot numbers.
02/21/08 RBR #36

Arbitron: PUR, Format trends
down from Summer Book
In Arbitron's Fall book numbers, Format Trends and Persons Using Radio (PUR) were down significantly-record-breaking--especially among the youngest demos for PUR. For instance, From the Summer to Fall book, Teens 12-17 dropped a full point-from 9.1 to 8.1. The biggest format drops from the Summer book included Oldies, Rock and Smooth Jazz. But some were up-like News Talk and AC (a whopping 13.9 to 15.2). 12+ PURs were down from from 14.1 to 13.7-that's a lot in one year. The numbers were down almost across the boards, with younger demos down the most.

RBR observation: See the PUR numbers here in this special break out in RBR.
02/21/08 RBR #36

XM/Sirius pact is a year old
And it's still trapped in the bowels of the FCC and the Department of Justice. Meanwhile, The NAB and its retained research firm Carmel Group are continuing to apply pressure to keep the firms apart. the NAB reminded the FCC of the duo's shenanigans regarding terrestrial repeaters. There has long been concern among broadcasters that the satcasters would use the repeater network for locally originated programming; NAB asks the FCC to clear up the language so that this event does not occur.

RBR observation: Bravo NAB for keeping the pressure on and staying focused on the issue at hand as one plus one does not equal two it equals one and that one if approved becomes a monopoly.
02/20/08 RBR #35

Billboards reached millions on Super Tuesday results
Clear Channel Outdoor's digital billboard networks reached more than 12 million motorists and commuters during last week's Super Tuesday voting session, providing the public with real-time results of the Presidential Election Primaries through live RSS-feeds from msnbc.com.

RBR observation: Ok, these stats are very impressive but if radio learns anything but this brief report is the word - Digital - and the reach of the message, awesome.
02/20/08 RBR #35

Carnegie's Observation:
Stop Talking the Talk -
Start Walking the Walk
By engaging in the business environment that is now here - Digital Media. This is not a cheap shot but a wake up call. Last week I attended my umpteenth RAB and on a scale of 1 to 10 it was around a 4. I put it into perspective - the last 25 years I have seen five different Presidents at the RAB. A trade association president receives his or her marching orders from the board of directors and executive committee. The president's duty is then to execute the plan. Ok, lets look at this - executing a plan by a board of directors - if I am not mistaken the RAB board is made up in part by a number of CEOs running radio companies that are publicly traded, and they are having real tough times. The fish stinks at the head.
02/19/08 RBR #34

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