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Volume 24, Issue 44, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Monday Morning March 5th, 2007
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Radio News ®
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 Thumbs up for buyout
One of the major advisors to institutional investors is recommending acceptance of the 37.60 per share buyout offer for Clear Channel Communications. Even so, Proxy Governance says it has some reservations about whether the price is adequate. With the clock ticking down to the March 21st shareholders vote on the 26.7 billion bid by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital and Mays Family to take Clear Channel Communications private, the opinion of advisory firms such as Proxy Governance may hold the key to whether or not CCU's large shareholders vote to take the buyout. The endorsement, however, was lukewarm. The advisory firm suggested that the private equity firms negotiate with dissatisfied shareholders to raise the bid closer to 40 bucks. It noted, though, that the 37.60 bid was accepted by the CCU board after an exhaustive search to bring out all potential bidders. Meanwhile, CCU has sent another letter to shareholders urging them to vote for the buyout. It states that during the "go-shop" period for the deal, the company's financial advisor contacted 22 potential strategic and private equity buyers - and that not one expressed an interest in making a bid for Clear Channel. "We firmly believe there is not another competitive bidder for Clear Channel, and that 37.60 per share in cash maximizes value and certainty," the letter states.
RBR observation: The suspense builds. Will CCU be able to sell the deal to two-thirds of its shareholders, despite the opposition of its largest shareholder, the Fidelity mutual funds group? With a 10% no vote a given and at least 10% of the shareholders likely to not bother to vote - which puts them in the no column as well - it will be challenging for the would-be buyers to keep that 20% from creeping up past 33% and nixing the deal.
2007: Year of the little guy
In his quarterly conference call Friday, Regent Communications CEO Bill Stakelin was sounding pretty happy that he is not in big markets like New York City and Los Angeles, but rather places like Buffalo, Albany and Peoria. "While the talk seems to be that the large radio markets continue to struggle...I must say in the mid-sized markets I think we're seeing a little more positive picture throughout all of our markets. We're experiencing an increase at the present time of requests for avails and receptivity to our proposals from advertisers that continue to seek to reach their target audiences by way of local radio. Localism - that has been the foundation of Regent's operating strategy since we formed the company," Stakelin said. After reporting same station revenue growth of 5.5% in Q4, CFO Tony Vasconcellos said Q1 is pacing up in the low single digits.
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 Clear Channel signs for
PPM in Philadelphia
Holdout Clear Channel has changed its mind-it will now encode its stations and subscribe to Arbitron's PPM system in Philadelphia. This, after massive pressure from the agency and advertiser community, and after the system was recently accredited by the Media Rating Council for use in Houston (Arbitron has not yet received formal accreditation for the system in Philly). CC Radio CEO John Hogan informed folks in an e-mail Friday that he had reached a three year deal with Arbitron to use the PPM system in Philly for its six stations there. Hogan, in an interview with AP, said CCU was moving ahead in Philadelphia because Arbitron had already signed up a number of other broadcasters there and had decided to discontinue using the paper diaries there - they had no other choice. Hogan said Clear Channel's decision to adopt PPM would apply only to Philadelphia for now: "This was a decision of convenience rather than one of satisfaction," Hogan told the AP, also mentioning that PPM there would cost them nearly twice as much as diaries.
RBR observation: Yes, Clear Channel had no choice in Philly and will likely have no choice in other PPM rollout markets as well. CCU and some other broadcasters are still funding the Houston test for an alternative audience measurement system from Media Audit/Ipsos. If the numbers look good on that test, we're sure the RFP Committee will push hard for its accreditation. A lower price for service is a major driver. But accreditation takes time and meanwhile, PPM will continue to get established, market by market. Last and most important to remember is Media Audit/Ipsos is not scheduled for results until early 2008.
Reward for bad behavior
Questions about the proposed XM-Sirius merger are coming up in just about every radio company quarterly conference call. In his call, Regent CEO Bill Stakelin expressed amazement that the FCC is even considering allowing XM and Sirius to merge. "I think that if we, as terrestrial broadcasters - I know this sounds defensive and everyone says, 'Oh, you guys just don't want competition' - no, but we do want a level playing field. We want everyone treated fairly. If we had been as loose and free with the rules and regulations of the FCC as satellite radio, we'd all be in license revocation hearings and we would all have letters on our desks telling us that we operate with a total lack of candor, which is the FCC's favorite phrase. So, I'm a little confused as to why they are giving serious thought to a bail-out or the allowing of the merger," Stakelin said.
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Little support for XM-Sirius merger
The poll conducted last week in the RBR and TVBR Morning Epapers found few of our readers backing the idea of letting the two satellite radio companies merge. Only 9.2% of the readers who voted said XM and Sirius should be allowed to merge with no special conditions attached. By far the largest vote, though not quite a majority, was for turning the merger down flat, 46.8%. The remaining votes were evenly split between the two other options. 22% said the two should be allowed to merge, but with the requirement that HD Radio chips be included in all receivers. Another 22% said the merger should be allowed, but only if the two companies return half their spectrum for reuse by the FCC.
 Ashcroft "condemns"
Meanwhile, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, hired by the NAB to examine the XM-Sirius deal, has blasted the proposed merger. Ashcroft, who served as head of DOJ until January 2005, sent a letter 2/27 to his replacement Alberto Gonzales saying the proposed merger "reduces the number of competitors from two to one, raises most serious competition concerns." Ashcroft compared the current merger to the attempted takeover by Echostar/DISH of Hughes. He said that merger would have reduced the competitors in the satellite television market in many areas from three to two. "[DOJ] recognized that reducing competition from three to two was anticompetitive and opposed the transaction, which was eventually abandoned," he said. He also cited the attempted and failed merger between Echostar and DirectTV Group, where the FCC reaffirmed its rule of not granting a single commercial license for satellite TV. Ashcroft suggested a thorough study of "consumer demands and preferences would show that terrestrial radio stations should not be considered part of the satellite radio market" when the merger comes under official review. The letter was forwarded to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The House Judiciary Committee's newly formed Antitrust Task Force has already held a hearing on it. This week the House Commerce Committee's telecommunications subcommittee, headed by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), will look into it as well.
| See the full Ashcroft letter here |
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| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
Big growth quarter for Regent
A lot of the revenue and station operating income (SOI) growth for Regent Communications in Q4 was because the company itself is so much bigger, having recently added a big Buffalo, NY cluster that it bought from CBS. But Q4 was also a growth quarter on a same station basis. Unadjusted, Q4 revenues shot up 30.7% to 25.6 million and SOI gained 52.1% to 9.7 million. On a same station basis, revenues were up 5.5% and SOI increased 7.1%. While digesting such a large acquisition, it looks like Regent will sit on the M&A sidelines for a least a little while. In his Q&A with analysts, CEO Bill Stakelin was asked about his interest in the 448 medium and small market stations being sold off by Clear Channel. "While we looked at the list, we didn't find anything that blew our skirt up," was the colorful explanation of why Regent will not be a buyer in that auction.
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Ad Business Report TM
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 Jim Stengel:
Building relationships through brands is the future of marketing
At the AAAAs convention last week in Las Vegas, Procter & Gamble's Global Marketing Officer made his return after three years with an inspiring speech about brands building more meaningful relationships with consumers. He began talking about the online virtual community "Second Life": "It has four billion residents/avatars and that number is growing every day. These avatars build everything from homes to businesses. They socialize with each other, the attend events. And they've built a robust economy there...Second Life is just one example of the pace of technology and how technology is being embraced by consumers-the people we serve." He said how this is also indicative of how consumers keep raising the stakes and why it's time for us to go "all in" as an industry and make a dramatic shift in our thinking. When Stengel spoke at the AAAAs three years ago, he gave the industry, including P&G, a "C minus" report card, due to its slow reaction to technology changes that were turning the marketing world upside down. While this year's grade would have been a "B," he said stressed there are no more report cards. "The report card is obsolete," he said. "...because the people we serve, our consumers, move faster than we do. We can no longer measure our success in terms of keeping up with technology because we are not in control." Stengel said there has to be a mindset shift to make brands relevant to today's consumer-from telling and selling to building relationships. The first step is in having a deep understanding of where the other person is coming from. At P&G, they've identified three major consumer value shifts that are foundational to understanding and building authentic relationships with consumers:
| Read More... |
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| Media Business Report TM |
Talkers get frivolous?
According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism's latest study, media gabmeisters mostly followed the news for the week of 2/18-23/07. But just as the Anna Nicole Smith saga was resurgent in its third week after dipping during its second, it surged on the talk shows as well. Except it surged all the way to the top picking up a 22% share of overall talk programming to edge out the 2008 campaign (19%) and the debate over Iraq policy (18%). No other talk topic topped 4%. However, the ride to the top by the Smith story is misleading, since it was fueled almost entirely by cable talk shows. PEJ notes that monitored cable shows gave it 142 minutes, compared to just nine minutes on talk radio, which itself was consumed with the election.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
Clear Channel deal includes Santa clause
With this we continue our shameful RBR history of misleading headlines, but perhaps we made you look. Anyway, Clear Channel is sending a pair of FMs in the Santa Fe market to noncommercial K-LOVE Network operator Educational Media Foundation. The stations are KBAC-FM Las Vegas NM and KSFQ-FM White Rock NM. The price is 1.5M cash. The clause? It seems that the license renewal for KBAC-FM has been held up by an FCC Letter of Inquiry, and while Clear Channel does not think the license is in jeopardy, a contract plank states that in the event the renewal process drags on too long, the two parties will figure out a station-by-station allocation (a process that was said to be in negotiation, if for no other reason than for tax purposes), separating out the KBAC portion of the transaction. At the same time, the two parties would strike a network affiliation agreement so that EMF is able to put its network on the station as planned, a tactic EMF often uses in situations where most commercial operators opt for some form of LMA.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
Looking for a promotion
Six Democrats and three Republicans are running for the White House. Sound a little low? Oh, yeah, that's just the ones who have made the mistake of officially announced, missing the opportunity to play the new presidential "Six Degrees of Announcing Your Candidacy" game. Many, many more are either exploring or believed to be exploring. Here's the latest rundown from CQPolitics.com. Democrats: Officially running: Sen. Barack Obama (IL), Sen. Joe Biden (DE), Sen. Christopher Dodd (CT), ex-Sen. John Edwards (NC), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH), ex-Sen. Mike Gravel (AK); Active exploratory committee: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Gov. Bill Richardson (NM); Widely mentioned as potential candidates: Activist Al Sharpton, ex-Gen. Wesley Clark (AR), ex-VP Al Gore (TN). Republicans: Officially running: ex-Gov. Mitt Romney (MA), attorney John H. Cox (IL), Sen. Sam Brownback (KS); Active exploratory committee: Gov. Mike Huckabee (AR), Rep. Ron Paul (TX), ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (NY), Sen. John McCain (AZ), ex-Gov. Tommy Thompson (WI), ex-Gov. James Gilmore (VA), Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA), Rep. Tom Tancredo (CO); Widely mentioned as potential candidates: Speaker Newt Gingrich (GA), Sen. Chuck Hagel (NE), ex-Gov. George Pataki (NY). On the other hand, several have confirmed that they are not running. On the Democratic side, the list includes ex-Gov. Tom Vilsack (IA), ex-Gov. Mark Warner (VA), Sen. Russ Feingold (WI), ex-Sen. Tom Daschle (SD), Sen. Evan Bayh (IN), Sen. John Kerry (MA). There is only one official drop-out on the Republican side, ex-Sen. Bill Frist (TN).
RBR observation: The exit of Vilsack from the Democratic race guarantees that early caucus Iowa will be a real test, since it takes away the favorite son factor. That means less candidates inclined to skip the state, and more inclined to advertise.
 McDowell confirms
FCC attack on violence
FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell (R) confirmed before a gathering of the National Association of Broadcasters that the FCC intends to ask Congress for guidelines as to how far it can go in regulating broadcast violence. A Congress-requested Commission study on the topic is already two years overdue. McDowell noted that attaining such a goal would be very difficult since it abuts First Amendment and will likely run into definition difficulties. Chicago Tribune editorialist Steve Chapman was out with an opinion on the effort, and his position is evident from the title of his essay: "Government's only place in TV is out." He said that the government cannot tell what to say or what not to say, "Unless by 'government' you mean the Federal Communications Commission. It operates on the assumption that in its special realm, the 1st Amendment is a non-binding resolution." Chapman notes the perceived need to protect children, and the government's belief that existing parental controls are ineffective because parents don't use them. He countered that maybe parents don't use them because they don't think the problem is all that big a deal. He further criticized the FCC's recent 24M consent decree with Univision over a lack of educational children's programming, saying that if education is what they're after, most parents likely would turn off the TV entirely. He concluded, "It's high time broadcasters were placed under America's original; rule on how the government should regulate free expression: don't."
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| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
Jimmy de Castro's syndicates Bill Kurtis
Former AMFM Radio President and AOL exec Jimmy DeCastro is back in radio, syndicating A&E's Bill Kurtis (who also was WBBM-TV Chicago's anchor and a CBS Morning News anchor). Says The Chicago Sun-Times' Robert Feder: "Bill Kurtis, the media icon who's already conquered television news, documentaries and movies, is about to take on radio. If all goes as planned, Kurtis could become 'the next Paul Harvey'-presenting three new daily radio features on stations across the country from his studios in Chicago." Kurtis will offer one five-minute and one 15-minute daily news program and a mini-documentary series called "American Journal." Kurtis is expected to sign on this week as the first talent to affiliate of DeCastro's "The Content Factory," an entertainment programming partnership with Chris Crane, former VP/business development at Premiere Radio Networks, and John Coulter, head of partner development for Vibes Media and former VP of AMFM and Sporting News Radio. The new company will produce and distribute content across radio, satellite radio, the internet/mobile and TV, said Feder.
 WCBS and Yankees play ball
WCBS-AM "Newsradio 880" New York announced a multi-year deal to continue as the flagship station of the New York Yankees Radio Network. WCBS will carry all regular and post-season games, as well as six exhibition games, the first of which was Saturday, May 3rd. Veteran play-by-play announcer John Sterling, who has been the team's radio announcer since 1989, will once again be joined in the broadcast booth by Suzyn Waldman. Pre and post games are anchored by Sterling and Waldman, with special reports and features by WCBS sports reporters. The executive producer for the New York Yankees broadcasts on WCBS is Tim Scheld; David Mayurnik is producer and Carlos Silva is the broadcast engineer.
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| Ratings & Research |
More from Project Apollo study
More details were released Friday on Arbitron and Nielsen's "live" Project Apollo case study for a specific brand of pain reliever (2/28/07 RBR #41). Measures of media and purchase behavior from the 11,000 consumers in the Apollo pilot is starting to deliver on the promise of improved planning tools for the seven marketers who are participating in a joint marketing research service by. This case study is only one of the types of analysis that the seven Project Apollo participants are seeing sharing. Using data from Apollo, and specifically audience data among current brand users aged 25-54, to guide the selection of networks and dayparts, an advertiser of a specific brand of pain reliever would be able to garner a 16% increase in the delivery of consumers aged 25-54 who buy the brand when compared to a conventional ad schedule based on traditional media planning tools, all while keeping the total budget at the same level.
| Read More... |
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| Music Media Business Report |
EMI rejects Warner Music Group offer
EMI Group confirmed Friday that it had received a takeover bid of about 4.1 billion bucks from Warner Music Group - and that it had been rejected. "At a regular Board meeting of EMI held earlier today, WMG's proposal was considered by the Board which concluded that it is not in the best interests of EMI shareholders to entertain a pre-conditional offer which would entail prolonged regulatory uncertainty and unacceptable operational risk at a critical time for the Company. The Board also regards a price of 260 pence per share as inadequate, having regard to the stand-alone value of EMI, the synergies available from a combination with WMG and the risks identified above," EMI said in a statement. The 4.1 billion bid is actually less than EMI and WMG each offered for the other last summer - a round of bids that ended in a stalemate. But since then the record business has gotten worse, not better. What happens next? Stay tuned.
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| Monday Morning Makers & Shakers |
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Transactions: 1/15/07-1/19/07
Week three of 2007 beat each of week one and week two by a tenfold amount of transaction value, but it all came from one - the sale of the New York Times television group to Oak Hill Partners. Other than that, the week was almost bereft of action. Only six radio stations changed hands.
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Total
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Total Deals
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5
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AMs
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2
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FMs
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4
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TVs
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9
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| Value |
576.065M
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| Complete Charts |
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Radio Transactions of the Week
Arkansas cluster expands
| More... |
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TV Transactions of the Week
Oak Hill snags NYT group
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| Transactions |
250M KDFC-FM/KMAX-FM/KOIT-FM San Francisco from Bonneville International Corporation (Bruce T. Reese) to Entercom Radio LLC (David J. Field). Like-kind exchange for KIRO-AM/KTTH-AM & KBSG-FM Seattle-Tacoma (Seattle, Tacoma WA) and WKRQ-FM/WUBE-FM, WSWD-FM & WYGY-FM Cincinnati OH (Cincinnati, Fairfield OH, Fort Thomas KY). Bonneville also pays 1M cash. Price is an RBR estimate. In Seattle, Entercom retains KMTT-FM, KNDD-FM, KISW-FM & KKWF-FM. In San Francisco, Bonneville retains KOIT-AM. [File date 2/2/07.]
250M KIRO-AM/KTTH-AM & KBSG-FM Seattle-Tacoma (Seattle, Tacoma WA) and WKRQ-FM/WUBE-FM, WSWD-FM & WYGY-FM Cincinnati OH (Cincinnati, Fairfield OH, Fort Thomas KY) from Entercom Radio LLC (David J. Field) to Bonneville International Corporation (Bruce T. Reese). Like-kind exchange for KDFC-FM/KMAX-FM/KOIT-FM San Francisco. Bonneville also pays 1M cash. Price is an RBR estimate. In Seattle, Entercom retains KMTT-FM, KNDD-FM, KISW-FM & KKWF-FM. In San Francisco, Bonneville retains KOIT-AM. [File date 2/2/07.]
15M WYTV-TV Youngstown OH from Chelsey Broadcasting Company of Youngstown LLC (Paul Goodman) to Parkin Broadcasting of Youngstown LLC (Todd Parkin). 1M escrow, balance in cash at closing. Station is ABC affiliate on Ch. 33 (DTV 36), and carries MNT on a digital side-channel. Application mentions possibility of SSA/option with New Vision Television. [File date 2/6/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Look out below!
Asian markets continued to press on US stocks Friday, with traders concerned about the impact of a rising yen on the US markets. A 120-point drop in the Dow Industrials, to 12,114, finished the worst week in four years for the blue chip index.
Radio stocks were also lower. The Radio Index fell 3.028, or 1.9%, to 153.450. Beasley was the only non-penny stock to post a gain, rising 1.4%. The biggest loser was Salem, plunging 9.4%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Friday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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44.12
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-0.69
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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13.02
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-0.27
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Beasley
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BBGI
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8.85
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+0.12
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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67.66
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-0.51
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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29.54
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-0.43
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Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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6.87
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unch
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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29.59
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-0.37
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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6.84
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-0.11
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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9.98 |
-0.24 |
Regent
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RGCI
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2.97
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unch
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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36.01
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-0.14
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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9.76
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-0.10
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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13.90
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-0.31
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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10.84
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-1.13
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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9.75
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-0.09
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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3.55
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-0.07
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Disney
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DIS
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33.95
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-0.44
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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4.45
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+0.07
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Emmis
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EMMS
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8.11
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-0.20
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SWMX
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SMWX
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1.01
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+0.16
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| Entercom |
ETM
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28.61
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-0.36
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Univision
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UVN
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35.98
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-0.01
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Entravision
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EVC
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9.06
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-0.01
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Westwood One
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WON
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6.59
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-0.23
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Fisher
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FSCI
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44.85
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-0.48
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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13.98
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-0.38
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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26.08
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-0.02
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-
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-
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-
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-
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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
P&G's Stengel
Building relationships through brands is the future of marketing...
Media Markets & Money
Clear Channel deal
Includes Santa clause...
Entertainment Media
Business Report
A&E's Bill Kurtis
Going into syndication via Jimmy de Castro who is back...
Music Media Business Report
EMI rejects Warner
Music Group offer
Confirmed Friday that it had received a takeover bid...
Ratings & Research
More from Project Apollo study
Case study for a specific brand of pain reliever...
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Stations for Sale
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NorthEast FM's For Sale
Clusters, standalones, sticks
8x - 12x BCF, 950K - 7.2M
[email protected] or
781-848-4201
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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Atlanta bound
Cox Radio announced that Charlsie Moore has been appointed local sales manager for WALR-FM "Kiss 104.1 FM" Atlanta, effective March 19th. An 18-year media vet, Moore most recently held the position of general sales manager of Entercom's WQMG-FM Greensboro.
Doubling in Philly
Beasley Broadcast Group announced that Marian Newsome-McAdam will have the dual role of Music Director/Interactive Content Director at WRDW-FM "Wired 96.5" Philadelphia. Newsome-McAdam, a Philadelphia native, has extensive experience in the city's Rhythmic CHR market. She worked at WIOQ-FM for 11 years, starting as an intern and spending the last nine as Assistant Program Director/Music Director.
New board member
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation announced that Michael J. Regan has been elected to the Board of Directors. Regan is a former Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer of KPMG LLP and was the lead audit partner for many Fortune 500 companies during his 40 year tenure with KPMG. Regan is a member of the board of managers of Allied Security Holdings LLC.
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More News Headlines
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Reality producer
uses radio, TV to
kick off new show
Ricochet Television is a British outfit, producer of "Supernanny," and it is now casting for a new series pegged for ABC over the summer. It is looking for people in Houston, Dallas and Boston who are at least 50 pounds overweight. The name of the new program was not released, but the participants can earn cash (as well as the benefits of improved health) for participating. ABC O&O KTRK-TV and Clear Channel's KLOL-FM and KBME-AM are spearheading auditions in Houston, Belo Corporation's WFAA-TV is handling the process in Dallas, and another Clear Channel station, WJMN-FM, is taking charge of the process in Boston. The drama of the show is expected to be generated by chronicling the physical and mental challenges of the participants. Casting opportunities will be held throughout the country during the spring.
The Beat is back
That didn't take long. Entercom's Austin Hip Hop KXBT-FM 104.3 MHz station is being peddled to Univision for 20M, and likely headed for a new Hispanic format, but its demise was brief. The format and all of the laid-off employees have been offered a new home by Tom Castro's Border Media Partners just a few clicks up the dial at 104.9 MHz. Castro said, "We rescued the format because we believe in it. We know how passionate listeners are about this station. Corporate radio companies just don't understand how popular this format is with the public. BMP is fortunate to be a smaller and private radio company - in touch and able to react quickly." BMP operates mostly Hispanic formats among its seven in-market stations, and Castro said "The Beat" is a good fit with that since it appeals strongly to "acculturated young Hispanic adults."
Jay Freedman launches Fusion Innovative Marketing
Jay Freedman has launched Fusion Innovative Marketing, a multimedia cross-platform marketing firm. Fusion has already been hired to create and implement marketing campaigns for radio stations owned by broadcasters including Beasley, CBS Radio, ABC Radio, Cumulus, Greater Media, Emmis, Citadel and Entercom. Freedman is a 20 year marketing vet who spent nearly a decade as VP of Marketing for Clear Channel and Premiere Radio Networks. He also created strategies and marketing plans for SFX Sports, SFX Entertainment, CC Entertainment and Multimedia, supporting national marketing objectives and corporate initiatives. Fusion will concentrate in live events, sports promotion and marketing, and broadcast sales marketing. Fusion is based in LA, with an office in Miami.
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RBR Radar 2007
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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3% gain! Don't touch that dial
Leave it right there, at 3%. That's where local business stands for 2007 compared to 2006, based on Radio Advertising Bureau/Miller Kaplan Arase & Co. numbers for the month of January. It wasn't that long ago that a 3% gain would have been cause for major snoring, but lately, any number that is curly and black looks good. Of course, this tale of a silver lining comes with a black cloud, and that is national business, which sported the same curly number as local, but colored red. However, the combination was good for a 2% gain in overall spot revenue, and non-spot revenue was up a hefty 13%. Non-spot remains, however, a small portion of total business, and the double-digit performance did not bring the bottom line any higher than the aforementioned 2%.
RBR observation: 2% may be a modest step forward, but it is a step forward nevertheless. And perhaps we can build on it. The crystal ball readers all seem to think we're in for another tough year, but they've predicted recoveries before and been wrong. Maybe this time they predicted slow and were wrong again. It's time for radio to rise up and make them look foolish by wildly exceeding expectations.
03/02/07 RBR #43
A call to action for
Communications Leadership
GroupM CEO North America/AAAAs Media Policy Committee Chairman Marc Goldstein spoke about four critical issues affecting the media business at the annual 4A's conference in Las Vegas. He asked for a call to action for the media community to fulfill the promise of this meeting's theme: 1. A new commercial ratings system. 2. Trumpet the benefits of a career in media investment management (in other words finding good people). 3. Continue to develop original creative and compelling content. 4. Get on board with e-biz-which calls for industry standards in handling media transactions. 5. Collaborate and stop arguing over control.
RBR observation: In short these points are not new but rather a consistent re-enforcement of those that were stated in the 2006 conference. Especially Collaboration instead of Arguing. For complete details see this report page in RBR.
03/02/07 RBR #43
XM/Sirius gets a Capitol Hill airing
Hearing at the House Judiciary Committee adjunct, the Antitrust Task Force did a good job of establishing where the both the fault lines and the battle lines lie in the proposed merger of the two DARS services, XM and Sirius. It also got an early seal of approval from Rick Boucher (D-VA), who said he believed that with conditions it was in the public interest. Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) claimed an open mind.
RBR note: This is just the beginning and to view the entire Panelist testimony summaries.
03/01/07 RBR #42
Houston PPM goes real April 5th
That's the date Arbitron says PPM will become commercialized in Houston, following the recent MRC accreditation. The Winter book will remain the ratings currency in Houston until the June PPM report is released July 18th. Here is how the switch-over from diaries will work in RBR.
RBR observation: We wait to see what Clear Channel will do, come April 5th. Will it stop encoding in Houston as PPM becomes real there? CC Radio does not encode in Philadelphia, where PPM is already the ratings currency. For that matter, will everyone who has been encoding in Houston for the PPM test - which is pretty much everyone after long-time holdout Cox Radio came onboard - or will some pull the plug on their encoders when it is no longer a test?
03/01/07 RBR #42
Moonves comfortable
with radio portfolio
After selling 39 radio stations in the company's smaller markets, CBS Corporation CEO Les Moonves says he is satisfied with the current portfolio - although he would never refuse to listen to a good offer.
RBR observation: The tough comps are gone now. CBS Radio has lapped the departure of Howard Stern to Sirius, so Q1 results will be measured against the first post-Stern quarter. While radio revenues were down 8% in Q4 to 498.2 million, that reflected both the lack of Stern, which required the reprogramming of 27 stations a year ago, and not counting several of the divested stations, which were already being operated under LMAs by their owners-to-be. On a same station basis, CBS said radio revenues were down 6% for the quarter, but that still includes the former Stern stations. Operating income before depreciation and amortization was down only 2% to 211.3 million for the quarter, so CBS Radio appears to be getting back on track.
02/28/07 RBR #41
Mixed quarter for Clear Channel
Radio revenues were up 7% in Q4 for Clear Channel Radio to 966.8 million, but that was less than Wall Street analysts had expected. Also, it was barely ahead of the revenues of 964.5 million booked in Q4 2004, before CC Radio took a deliberate hit for a year with its Less is More (LIM) program. For the full year, CC Radio even finished behind pre-LIM 2004. Meanwhile, CC Outdoor surged 13% to 830.7 million in Q4, even better than Wall Street had expected, and "other" rose 25% to 179 million.
02/26/07 RBR #39
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