Radio News ®

Decency enforcement: A bill amended
Here are the amendments to Fred Upton's (R-MI) "Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004," with legislative credit as supplied by Upton. | Full Story Click Here |

Indecency: An amendment not made
Democrats took the opportunity of the markup of H.R. 3717 "Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004" to remind their Republican colleagues that there are other broadcasting issues as yet unresolved which need attention. The amendments were made with the full intention of withdrawing them, just to have them read into the record, but the intent is clear. Battle lines over consolidation and crossownership remain drawn. | Full Story Click Here |

Christian "cautiously optimistic" about 2004
It may be an often-heard phrase, but Saga Communications CEO Ed Christian was sticking with saying he was "cautiously optimistic" about the year ahead when talking with analysts yesterday.
He noted that there had been a couple of previous false-starts to an advertising recovery, but right now things are looking good. Christian also noted that right now the recovery is stronger for Saga's radio stations than for TV. That's good news for Saga, which gets the overwhelming majority of its revenues and cash flow from radio.

Conference Calls, Q4 2003

Saga beats Q4 expectations
For yet another quarter market by lackluster performance industry-wide, Saga Communications was proud to report that its Q4 revenues were up 5.2% to $32.9M - - well above the $31M that Wall Street had been expecting. For the current quarter, Saga is telling The Street to expect growth of 2-4%. | Full Story Click Here |

Beasley sees Q1 growing 1%
Following a down quarter to end 2003, Beasley Broadcast Group is telling Wall Street to expect better things in 2004. Q4 revenues were down 1.7% to $32.1M and station operating income (SOI) fell 9.1% to $9.6M. But the company says Q1 revenues look to be up 1%. | Full Story Click Here |

Sen. McCain needs to get his facts straight
For many years we've noticed that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has a bad habit of making knee-jerk decisions and never bothering to check whether the facts back up his assumptions. He did it again Friday (2/27) by declaring at a Radio & Records seminar in Washington that consolidation is responsible for increasing incidents of indecent broadcasting. The facts certainly don't offer any support for that view. "If a company has 1,200 stations and may of those stations carry the same programming, that is going to exaggerate the problem," McCain was quoted as saying. So, where is the evidence to support that conclusion? Well, there isn't any. | Full Story Click Here |

Adbiz ©

Wall Street may be pushing radio as well
A day after discussing CC Radio CEO John Hogan's visit to NYC to talk shop with the buying community, we spoke with Natalie Swed Stone, Director of National Radio, OMD about her personal visit with Hogan as well. It turns out Hogan isn't the only one addressing ongoing issues of accountability, clutter, and marketing. Infinity President/COO Joel Hollander met with her as well recently. RBR observation: When Wall Street says "Jump"... | Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |

Young Audiences New York awards OMD CEO Joe Uva
It was a gala black tie event 3/1 in NYC. Young Audiences New York (YANY), a pioneer in creating arts education programs for NYC students, teachers and families, hosted its annual Children's Arts Medal Benefit, honoring OMD Worldwide CEO Joe Uva and actor Matthew Modine. The benefit raised over $500K, including a $9K bid in the live auction for a round of golf with Uva. Photo cutline: (l to r) Matthew Modine, Jon Stewart, David Rosemont, Joanne Bernstein-Cohen (Executive Director, Young Audiences New York), Joe Uva, Mark Lazarus. Photo credit: Lyn Hughes. RBR observation: So, the rest of you big radio executives - - why weren't you there?
| Full Story Click Here | RBR Observation |

Travel industry not using radio enough?
In response to a recent story about a Nevada tourism effort, we heard from one reader who says radio is being underutilized by the travel industry. Stan Campbell, President/Travel Media Network, tells RBR: "Tourism buys a ton of TV and Print but how often do they buy radio? Almost never. | Full Story Click Here |

Media, Markets & Money tm

Washington Beat

If you didn't hit goal in 2003, what are you going to do differently this year? - Part 2 of 3
By Jeffrey Myers, Personal Selling Principles
As broadcasters evaluate 2003 performance, it's also time to consider how to improve in 2004. As you evaluate your company's leadership, here are some questions that may help you assess whether you have good managers or strong leaders. | Full Story Click Here |

Transactions

$425,000 WJRO-AM Baltimore (Glen Burnie MD) from Erald Broadcasting Inc. (Erald Dietrich) to Metro Radio Inc. (Bruce A., Joan H., J. David and Robert Houston). $20K escrow, balance in cash at closing. LMA since 1/26/04. [File date 2/2/04.]

N/A WEAG-AM Starke FL from Dickerson Broadcasting Inc. (Benjamin F. Dickerson) to Spirit Radio of Northern Florida Inc., a subsidiary of the Diocese of St. Augustine (Victor Benito Galeone, pres). Donation to non-profit entity. Will form combo with CP for new FM station held by Spirit in Starke. [File date 2/2/04.]

N/A WHHQ-AM Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol (Elizabethton TN). Change in board for non-profit St. Thomas More Broadcasting Association Inc. [File date 2/2/04.]

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