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Radio News ®
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 Hogan in the not so hot seat
It was the considered opinion of Radio Business Report that the seat occupied by Clear Channel Radio President/CEO John Hogan would be hot enough to provide indoor heating for all of Capitol Hill on this brisk February morning. We were wrong. Viewing Hogan's :30 second video bite he stated: "As a broadcaster - as the CEO - as a father of a 9 year old girl -- I'm ashamed to be associated in any way with those words. They're tasteless - they're vulgar - they should not - do not - and will not represent what our radio stations are all about." Editors note: After viewing the video someone please hand me a Kleenex and not the little white pocket size! | Full Story Click Here |
 Howard Stern responds
to Clear Channel suspension
After being suspended from six Clear Channel stations, Howard Stern and crew were dumfounded on the air yesterday. "I'm under attack. They've been after me since 1992, and they're having their way with me," Stern said yesterday, then blamed Janet Jackson's Super Bowl exposure for sparking a new Washington attack on his show. A fan website (Marksfriggin.com) gave a blow-by-blow - "..Howard said that Mel Karmazin spoke to Clear Channel and told them they're in breach of contract but they apparently don't care. He said he really doesn't know what's going on and what he can talk about on the air. Robin said it was like they woke up in a different country with all of this stuff going on...." RBR observations: Stern has a real problem. Face it Howard you needed the publicity and you got it but at the wrong time and wrong place. Now look in to the mirror and ask yourself this question: 'Should broadcasters be thanking Clear Channel right now?'
| Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |
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Broadcasters get brownie points
for cleaning up the airwaves
The members of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet are taking credit for cleaning up the airwaves, even before getting its first piece of legislation on the matter out the door. Between its first effort on the topic 1/28, the Super Bowl and now, it has seen a major ruckus grow to epic proportions, with almost universal positive reaction from the broadcast community. | Full Story Click Here |
How shall I amend thee?
 Let me count the ways
"H.R. 3717, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004" made it out of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet clean - - that is unamended - - moving ahead to the next step, consideration by the full parent Energy and Commerce Committee, scheduled for next week. RBR observation: Some of the other ideas floating around on Capitol Hill are a lot more worrisome than increasing the fines. Broadcasters beware! Will someone please tell Rep. Wilson that indecency fines are already a factor in license renewals? The FCC can't figure what is or is not indecent
| Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |
Wall Street focuses on indecency impact
Clear Channel management, amazingly, got not one question about the FCC's anti-indecency actions in its conference call Tuesday, even though it is in the middle of the firestorm. But by yesterday, analysts were asking radio companies what they were doing to keep from being fined for indecent broadcasts. RBR observation: "Common sense" is a good start, but it still doesn't protect broadcasters from being fined by an FCC that has no idea what its own definition of indecency is. So, broadcasters will be easy targets for politicians of all stripes until the campaign season is over.
 | Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |
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Conference Calls, Q4 2003
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 Cox revenues fall short,
but March and beyond is looking good
Wall Street had been expecting Cox Radio to report Q4 revenues flat with last year, but the company came up short with a decline of 1% to $106.8M. Station operating income fell 3% to $$43.4M. | Full Story Click Here |
Regent sees Q1 growing mid single digits
Q4 revenues were down 1.8% to $21M at Regent Communications, which was in line with Wall Street expectations, and station operating income fell 2.7% to 6.5M. CEO Terry Jacobs noted, however, that the results were better looking at same station results, with revenues down 0.7% and operating income up 0.4%.
| Full Story Click Here |
Revenues up 12.8% at Salem
With no worries about the current furor over indecent programming, Religious radio specialist Salem Communications reported that its Q4 net revenues were up 12.8% to $45.8M. Station operating income (SOI) rose 24.9% to $17.8M. Even on a same station basis, revenues were up 11.7% and SOI was up 26.1%.
| Full Story Click Here |
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Adbiz ©
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 Nike campaign features
Andre Agassi, Marion Jones
Andre Agassi on the baseball mound? Marion Jones as a gymnast? It all makes perfect sense in Nike's new ad campaign, "What if?" The ads feature star athletes playing sports outside their specialties: Randy Johnson at a bowling alley, Lance Armstrong in a boxing ring and Serena Williams on the beach playing volleyball. The campaign was created by Wieden + Kennedy Portland, OR. The :15, :60 and :90-second spots will appear on several networks and on Nike's website until early April.
Delphi debuts new TV effort
Delphi Corp. will debut a new television ad campaign this Sunday to show how the company is taking automotive technology where it's never gone before. The new campaign, created by McCann Erickson Detroit and titled "Transformations," depicts how Delphi technologies can be used to benefit other industries outside the automotive arena, including medical, homeland security, and computers.
| Full Story Click Here |
 DirecTV moving account to BBDO, OMD
DirecTV plans to move its $100M account to Omicom's BBDO as part of its reorganization under News Corp. Reportedly, creative duties on the account were expected to move to BBDO from IPG's Deutsch. Omnicom's OMD unit will replace Starcom Mediavest Group, to handle all media buying and planning for DirecTV as well.
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| MARCH Solutions Electronic Magazine |
Accountability with ROI...that's the Buzz!
MARCH Solutions Electronic Magazine Report
2nd Quarter this report -
"How do you plead,
Effective or Not effective?
1. Read: Radio making strides as agencies put under scrutiny, p.8.
2. Learn: History of the deadly Ratings game Pro & Con, p.14.
3. Make Money: IBOC will become Value Added to radio,
p.24.
4. Period: The radio recovery taking hold, p.29.
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Washington Beat
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It's almost official: Barton in at Commerce
Joe Barton (R-TX) is just about ready to take over the Chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He was even introduced as Chairman by House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Fred Upton (R-MI) at yesterday's indecency hearing. Barton laughed and pointed out that there were still a few hurdles to clear before he takes over the important committee post from retiring Billy Tauzin (R-LA). A Democrat, Charles Gonzalez (D-TX) is also joining the committee as a minority member. A press conference scheduled for the afternoon to discuss the committee's new structure was postponed indefinitely.
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Programming
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 William J. Bennett to host new Salem Talker
Just as we predicted yesterday, Salem Communications' Salem Radio Network (SRN) has unveiled plans for a new conservative Talk show in morning drive. SRN announced that former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett will host the new show, beginning April 5th. "We'll deliver a fast-paced, eye opening national morning show with news, headline-making guests from the worlds of politics, media, sports and entertainment, and we'll open up a dialogue with listeners from coast to coast every morning," Bennett said. | Full Story Click Here |
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Transactions
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$5,000,000 WZCH-FM Chicago (Dundee IL) from Entravision Holdings LLC (Walter F. Ulloa) to NM Licensing LLC, a subsidiary of NextMedia Group LLC (Carl G. Hirsch, Steven Dinetz, Skip Weller et al). $250K escrow or letter of credit, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WZSR-FM Wooodstock IL. Buyer has many other stations in the Chicago area. [File date 1/26/04.]
$163,000 KIMY-FM Watonga OK from Orion Broadcasting Inc. (Ron Gabe) to South Central Oklahoma Broadcasting Inc. (Randall Christy, Mike Huddleston, Sharla Frederick). $500 deposit and additional $9.5K to pay broker Bill Whitley Media, $10K to James and Vera Dunn, assumption of debts of $133K and $10K. [File date 1/26/04.]
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Stock Talk
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Broadcasters mostly up on mixed day
Disappointing reports on factory orders and jobs held down blue chip stocks on Thursday, but there was still enough bargain hunting going on to push up some other sectors, such as technology and, yes, broadcast stocks. So, most radio and TV stocks finished higher, while the Dow Industrials declined 21 points, or 0.2%, to 10,580.
The Radio Index rose 1.081, or 0.4%, to 271.299. Citadel was the leader with a gain of 3.2%, although there was no news to account for the move. Of the three radio companies who reported earnings on Thursday, Salem was up 0.5%, while Cox Radio was down 0.6% and Regent fell 2.6%.
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Radio Stocks
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Here's how stocks fared on Thursday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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$41.78
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-$0.02
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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$53.10
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-$0.07
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Beasley
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BBGI
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$17.82
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-$0.12
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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$18.80
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+$0.26
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| Citadel |
CDL |
$18.80 |
+$0.59 |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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$18.60
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+$0.43
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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$43.51
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+$0.07
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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$18.22
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+$0.17
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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$22.23
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-$0.13
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Radio Unica
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UNCA
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$0.69
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unch
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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$20.2
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+$0.24
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Regent
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RGCI
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$6.84
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-$0.18
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Disney
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DIS
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$26.73
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+$0.43
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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$18.40
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+$0.18
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Emmis
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EMMS
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$25.29
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+$0.14
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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$23.31
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+$0.11
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| Entercom |
ETM
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$46.50
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-$0.12
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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$3.00
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+$0.02
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Entravision
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EVC
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$9.52
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+$0.01
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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$11.19
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+$0.07
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Fisher
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FSCI
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$49.69
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-$0.31
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Univision
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UVN
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$35.01
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+$0.46
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Gaylord
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GET
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$29.05
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-$0.11
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Viacom, Cl. A
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VIA
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$39.32
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+$0.23
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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$26.32
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-$0.28
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Viacom, Cl. B
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VIAb
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$39.10
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+$0.20
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Interep
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IREP
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$2.22
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-$0.04
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Westwood One
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WON
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$30.96
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+$0.12
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International Bcg.
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IBCS
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$0.03
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unch
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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$24.63
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+$0.68
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RBR Audiocast
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02/27 - Get the feel of what you are scrolling down and reading ...Listen to this morning's AudioCast and
Hold On To Your Hair!
Click Here to Listen
with Bob DeCarlo'
"In Da Morning"
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Bounceback
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We want to hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]
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Competing Media
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Networks vs. affils: Who's responsble?
Four broadcast networks were represented at yesterday's third indecency session held by the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Also on hand was a TV group owner with affiliates among those networks. The debate centered on an affiliate's right to refuse network programming.
| Full Story Click Here |
TVB corrects Q4 network figures
TVB reports an error in the network TV figures provided by CMR for yesterday's report on Q4 TV revenues. | Full Story Click Here |
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Upped & Tapped
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JRN re-taps
Jessica Sherman
Jones Radio Networks (JRN) announced that Jessica Sherman has rejoined its News & Talk division as a Director of Affiliate Marketing. She will work with the company's stable of talk radio talent and services, including the current launch of the Ed Schultz Show. Jessica spent the last three years as Manager, Affiliate Marketing with Bloomberg Radio in New York City.
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RBR Radar 2004
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Click on these issues for Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
Clear Channel goes into self-policing mode; dumps Stern
Zero tolerance is the phrase of the day when it comes to indecent programming over that Clear Channel Communications airspace. The firing of Bubba the Love Sponge now it's pulled Howard Stern off the air as well. Editor's Note: In politics it's called CYA. 02/25/04 RBR #39
Researchers find Americans use more media than they say
This will be no surprise to anyone who's ever analyzed Arbitron or Nielsen data, but researchers at Ball State University in Indiana have documented that Americans use much more media in their daily lives than is reported in traditional surveys. RBR observation: More than anything else, this survey gives a boost to Arbitron's PPM and other devices that measure media usage - - at least electronic media - - without filtering by the person whose usage is being measured. And look at how poorly newspapers stack up compared to TV and radio. Wow! 02/25/04 RBR #39
Entercom's CEO David Field speaks of shorter radio ads
Field mentioned a few things he sees coming down the road in radio advertising-less 60's and increased shorter-length messages: RBR observation: Sometimes, change is good. Listeners might listen more if the spots are shorter.
02/25/04 TVBR #39
Clear Channel's caution
worries Wall Street
After the company issued cautious guidance for 2004 as it reported its final results for 2003. For all of '04, Clear Channel is telling investors to expect operating income to be up in the low double digits - - below the mid-teens that analysts had been looking for. Editor's Note: But he also didn't say that it was up. While he didn't add any insight on pacings, Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan told analysts that the improvement his division is experiencing is broad-based across regions and market sizes.
02/25/04 RBR #38
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