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Volume 23, Issue 46, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Tuesday Morning March 7th, 2006
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Radio News ®
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 Less continues to be more
The declines are less dramatic as comped against 2005 months already impacted by Clear Channel's Less is More initiative, but inventory levels are still falling. Harris Nesbitt analyst Lee Westerfield reports that radio commercial air time in the top 10 markets was down 8.8% year over year in February. Perhaps not all of that was by design. "We see slack advertiser demand against NBC Olympics broadcasts and close-of-the-month price discounting as the explanation behind the surprisingly large commercial reduction, rather than resulting from supply-side commercial inventory reduction efforts like Less is More," said Westerfield, who estimates that radio advertising revenues were down 3-4% for the month. Already well past the first anniversary of LIM, Clear Channel reduced inventories more than the analyst expected from the already-reduced levels of February 2005. CC Radio's spot loads in the top 10 markets were down 8.6% for the month, but Westerfield expects to see them level off in the coming months. The only radio companies operating in multiple top 10 markets with bigger inventory declines in February were Emmis, down 11%, Radio One, whose spot loads were down 10.4%, and Susquehanna/Cumulus, which reduced 8.8%.
Quiet steps toward dereg not going unnoticed
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) did not exactly make national headlines when he went public with his belief the local radio station ownership caps are too low in many of the larger markets. He said it should go from eight to 10 in many markets, and as high as 12 in the largest markets. However, it didn't go unnoticed in San Antonio, where the San Antonio Business Journal (SABJ) has a front row seat for the actions of Clear Channel Communications. And SABJ has made it clear that another group has taken note: the watchdogs who helped derail, at least temporarily, the dereg efforts of the FCC back in 2003.
RBR observation: It remains to be seen what tack FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will take when he engages the Commission in the court-ordered redo of the 6/2/03 media ownership rulemaking, now that he is just days and/or weeks away from his first Republican majority. However, we can expect that every action will have an opposite reaction, but not necessarily an equal one. Not if changes are attempted quietly, that is. The watchdogs, who will no doubt be spurred on by Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, with a Capitol Hill chorus most likely featuring Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) in lead roles, will be howling just as loudly as they can in an attempt to recreate the circus atmosphere that accompanied Michael Powell's attempt at a rule rewrite. Stay tuned.
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 CBS Radio's Integrated marketing group relaunches
CBS Radio announced it has renamed its integrated marketing department the CBS Radio Altitude Group. Formerly known as Infinity Solutions and Beyond (ISB), the change reflects the division's expanded focus on creating multi-platform campaigns utilizing CBS Radio's broadcast and digital assets. The change is effective immediately. "As the exclusive gateway designed to take advantage of the entire range of CBS Radio assets, we are able to connect our clients' brands to listeners with local relevance and dynamic engagement," said Rich Lobel, Executive Vice President of the Altitude Group. "The group's positioning is about elevating ideas by taking them to new heights across multiple cross-channel touchpoints." In a related announcement, Stefan Willimann has joined the division as Vice President of Strategic Sales and Marketing. He will report to Lobel. Willimann joins CBS Radio from WorldNow, an Internet revenue solutions provider, where he was Vice President/Regional Director since 2004.
WSJ sees issue with AM HD interference
Well, we've certainly brought up the problem (6/9/04 RBR #112). Now The Wall Street Journal sees it as an issue, too (excerpts from a 3/2 story):
"Digital Signals Spark Static From AM Radio; Bill Harms of Elkridge, Md., likes to listen to Frank Sinatra crooning on Vegas Radio, which broadcasts at WTRI-AM 1520, a Washington-based station. But over the past year, he's had trouble tuning in to Vegas as he drives through certain neighborhoods. As he complained to WTRI owner Buddy Rizer in an email, ''there's a hiss, a hiss that did not exist in the past.'' A growing number of radio listeners are encountering similar interference -- hisses, whistles or static -- on their favorite AM stations. The problem for WTRI began about a year ago, when Bonneville International Corp.'s WTOP, the AM station at 1500, began using a digital signal that interfered with WTRI's analog signal in some broadcast areas. It's one of the unexpected consequences of the radio industry's transition to digital broadcasts.
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Ad Business Report TM
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 Agencies on AAAAs conference
What did you take with you from the AAAAs conference last week?
Said Steve Grubbs, PHD CEO: Overall, for me, it was a very worthwhile trip. I got to hear some thoughts from some of my counterparts and some pretty insightful presentations from Yahoo and Mr. Gore. Most importantly for me was just connecting with people down there that I don't have the opportunity to see but once or twice a year. It's also good to see some of the people in the booths down there, some of which we have ongoing relationships and work with.
Jean Pool, EVP/Director of North American Operations Universal McCann, Chairman of Media Policy at the AAAAs, has been to 12 of the last 13 AAAAs conferences. She tells us this was one of the best. We asked if there was any reaction from her keynote speech, where she announced her initiative to get commercial audience data and bashed the problem of clutter (3/3/06 RBR #44).
RBR observation: Want to know why the networks hardly show up at the AAAAs? This may be one of the reasons. The last thing they need is to be stuck on a panel session with a point blank question such as 'why keep commercial ratings secret?'
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 Verklin: "We're not encumbered
by creative fighting for turf"
More from one of the most important panel sessions at the AAAAs last week: "The Shape of the Modern Media Organization." One of the issues was the debate about re-bundling and creative control/ownership of media. Lately, some creative agencies have complained that the unbundling of media services over the past several years has led them to lose strategic ground. While media has been consolidated, creative has been unbundled. Is that a good thing? Said David Verklin, Carat Americas CEO: "We have some advantages that my friends and colleagues up here don't have. We're not encumbered by creative agencies fighting for turf. I'm the commissioner of our baseball league. All of our teams have the ability to cooperate and work together a little bit easier than some other gentlemen up here who have to work with sister companies that don't want to collaborate. Should creative become re-bundled with media, actually under the media tent, considering how well media agencies have done after the initial unbundling?
Charlie Rutman, MPG CEO: I'm a proponent of collaboration. Media and creative have had to collaborate, and still collaborate, since the beginning of time...what I'm hearing is more about control and proximity, as opposed to collaboration. So I'm a little confused as to why collaboration is being superseded by control and proximity. I don't see any client benefit in separating strategy and implementation. Interestingly, I have not heard any complaints from the creative people. The notion that the creative community is still thinking :30 television commercials is crazy. These guys are thinking digital, wireless and everything else."
Jack Klues, Publicis Media Chairman and CEO: "None of us in our professional lives have ever said that the media and the message didn't have to be connected. I think all of us in our own ways have multiple models and our organizations are flexible enough to fit specific client needs with specific needs of an agency partner...but the notion that the answer to stronger connectivity between message and medium is the full-service agency model of 1980 doesn't make sense to me. The business has changed far too much. You're not going to find the businesses we're in somehow a department of some larger creative agency. This is a media business." More from the session tomorrow.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
 Evers steps in for grandfather
Citadel's acquisition of the major market stations from ABC has had a ripple effect in seven smaller markets. The corporate machinations involved in the deal (with Disney shareholders winding up with a majority of Citadel's stock) have forced 11 FM stations into a trust under the care and feeding of Media Venture Partners broker Elliot Evers. In all seven locations, Citadel was operating a cluster which was hunky-dory under the old contour market definitions but goes over the top under the Arbitron-geographic definitions which went into effect back in 2003. Clusters built before then were grandfathered with the stipulation that they must be whittled down to conform to the new definition if spun off. Evers will hand them back over to Citadel if it is determined the company is allowed to keep them one way or another. Otherwise, he will run them independently and peddle them to third party owners. Here's the list of stations, which Evers will run under an umbrella called The Last Bastion Station Trust:
Albuquerque NM: KBZU-FM
Charleston SC: WMGL-FM
Lafayette LA: KNEK-FM
Little Rock AR: KVLO-FM, KPZK-FM, KARN-FM
Oklahoma City OK: WWKS-FM, KINB-FM
Portland ME: WCLZ-FM, WCYI-FM
Saginaw-Bay City-Midland MI: WYLZ-FM
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
MSRC II set to wind up
The final meeting of the second incarnation of the Media Security and Reliability Council will be called to order at FCC headquarters on Friday, 3/10/06 at 10:00 AM eastern and will run until 11:30. Formed by former FCC Chair Michael Powell following the events of 9/11/01, it was chartered to "...study, develop and report on best practices designed to assure the optimal reliability, robustness and security of the broadcast and multichannel video programming distribution industries." Among it's accomplishments have been vulnerability checklists for TV, radio, cable and DBS, released 1/16/04 and a model disaster recovery plan & incident Response Manual for the same quartet. Friday's meeting will feature release of the Local Market Cooperative Emergency Response Plan, which will focus on initiatives moving ahead in Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina and Oklahoma. The session will bring the charter of MSRC II to a close.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
 NBC Uni snares
iVillage in 600M deal
As competition by mega media companies heats up to acquire prime real estate on the World Wide Web, NBC Universal is shelling out 600 million to buy iVillage. NBC Uni TV chief Jeff Zucker says the deal will allow the company to marry its on-air branded content with interactive functionality on the Internet site visited by millions of women. The company says every part of NBC Universal will be used to support and drive iVillage forward, from TV to film to home entertainment. With the addition of iVillage, NBC Uni says it expects to see its "digital revenues" rise to about 200 million this year and grow 20% annually going forward. "Acquiring iVillage will enable us to bring our programming to a large and passionate online community. We look forward to building on the considerable brand strength iVillage has developed over the past 10 years and to giving our advertising clients new and exciting ways to reach a valuable demographic," said NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright in announcing the acquisition.
How will the synergy work? "From the 'Today Show' to 'Project Runway' to 'The Biggest Loser' to all the health & medical and lifestyles segments we do every day on every one of our owned and operated television stations, we will now be able to create a deeper, richer experience around our content for consumers across all emerging platforms," said Zucker, CEO of the NBC Universal Television Group. Shareholders of iVillage, which is publicly traded on Nasdaq as "IVIL," will receive 8.50 per share at closing, which is expected in Q2. That's a 6.5% premium to the closing price before the deal was announced. Upon completion of the transaction, the iVillage team will report directly to Beth Comstock, President NBC Universal Digital Media and Market Development, and continue to be based in New York.
RBR observation: Lots of dot-coms fell by the wayside, but those that found their market niche and survived are very valuable today - - and very appealing to multi-platform media companies looking for more platforms. Thus, News Corporation bought Intermix Media (MySpace.com) for 580 million and Viacom bought Neopets for 160 million and iFilm for 49 million. Now NBC Uni is focusing on female consumers with this iVillage deal. No doubt the owners of some other successful Internet companies will also be thinking that the time is ripe to cash out.
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| Ratings & Research |
 Wendy's chooses PPM too
Hmmm, you get all the agencies to sign on, you get all the clients to sign on....then will radio (so far we have SBS and Beasley) too? Arbitron announced Wendy's has entered into a multi-year agreement for Arbitron's PPM audience measurement service when it begins commercial deployment in the U.S. radio marketplace. Through this contract, Wendy's would have access to PPM data in order to evaluate their radio ad plans for all PPM markets. Believing that the PPM is the better way to measure radio, Wendy's is looking for a new way to improve the return on investment for their radio dollars. Said Shannon Pedersen, manager, media buying, Wendy's International: "By giving us an enhanced, more reliable view of who is listening to what radio programming, when and for how long, this cutting-edge technology will improve accountability and increase our return on investment of our advertising dollars. Since Arbitron is the only company that has completed all the necessary testing and has gone through an MRC audit, it's the only electronic option that can deliver the ratings credibility that the radio industry needs today."
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| TVBR TV News |
 Hispanic TV to capture
4.2% of TV ad spending by 2009
With more than 75 Spanish-language cable networks available to multichannel subs, Kagan Research expects those outlets to be the leaders in television ad revenue growth rates over the next decade. Kagan's "Economics of Hispanic Television in the U.S." reports that, compared with total U.S. media spending, Hispanic ad dollars are up significantly - - about 12.1% in 2005 compared with a 6.6% boost for all U.S. advertising markets. 2004 kept a similar pace, with Hispanic media up 12.1% vs. a 5.7% rise for all U.S. media markets. Kagan estimates 3.4% of TV ad dollars in 2005 went to Hispanics, who accounted for 10.2% of TV households; those shares should rise to 4.2% of TV ad spend and 11.1% of TV households by 2009.Kagan forecasts total Hispanic ad spend will achieve a hefty 10.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2004-'09, bettering 6.2% growth for all U.S. media. The beneficiaries of the boom include four over-the-air Spanish-language TV broadcasters - - Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura and Azteca. There still exists a significant gap between Hispanic ad spending and Hispanic population share. "Despite accounting for approximately 14% of the U.S. population, the Hispanic audience has been the 'forgotten demo,'" says Deana Myers, senior analyst at Kagan Research. "That has changed as advertisers look to target this group's rapidly growing buying power." Filling the ad spend gap of this increasingly valuable demographic will be a major focus of Hispanic media over the next ten years. Kagan estimates 3.4% of TV ad dollars in 2005 went to Hispanics, who accounted for 10.2% of TV households; those shares should rise to 4.2% of TV ad spend and 11.1% of TV households by 2009.
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| Transactions |
150K KHFD-FM CP Hereford TX from Edgewater Broadcasting Inc. (Clark Parrish) to Horizon Christian Fellowship (Michael MacIntosh et al). 25K monthly beginning 12/1/05. CP is for Class C2 on 88.7 mHz with 28 kw @ 230'. [File date 2/13/06.]
73,269 WWON-AM Waynesboro TN from Wayne County Community Radio LLC (Gerald E. Dilts) to Huntingdon Broadcasting Inc. (Brittany Garner). 60K cash at closing, 13,269 note. LMA 10/30/05. [File date 2/13/06.]
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| Stock Talk |
Radio stocks take a hit
There was no specific news to account for it - - perhaps it was a continuing reaction to the soft guidance in recent conference calls - - but radio stocks were down almost across the board in yesterday's trading. The Radio Index dropped 2.240, or 1.4%, to a year-to-date low of 162.317. Meanwhile, the broader market was down more modestly, with the Dow Industrials off 63 points, or 0.6%, to 10,959 as rising bond yields spurred stock selling.
Among radio issues, Beasley plunged 12.8% and Saga fell 5.4% as the day's worst performers. Emmis was up 1.8% as one of the few gainers.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Monday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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34.67
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-0.19
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.67
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-0.07
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Beasley
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BBGI
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10.89
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-1.60
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Interep
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IREP
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0.25
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unch
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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23.98
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unch
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Jeff-Pilot
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JP
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58.86
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-0.38
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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23.96
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-0.06
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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12.05
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+0.03
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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11.65 |
+0.07 |
Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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8.09
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-0.15
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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29.08
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+0.02
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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8.05
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-0.17
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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13.32
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+0.04
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Regent
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RGCI
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4.15
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-0.29
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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11.60
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-0.02
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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9.05
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-0.52
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Disney
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DIS
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27.88
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-0.34
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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13.98
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-0.05
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Emmis
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EMMS
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16.66
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+0.30
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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4.91
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-0.10
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| Entercom |
ETM
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28.97
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+0.10
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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5.50
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-0.11
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.75
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+0.04
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Univision
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UVN
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33.40
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-0.33
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Fisher
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FSCI
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42.73
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-0.23
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Westwood One
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WON
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10.99
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+0.04
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Gaylord
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GET
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44.92
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+0.67
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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21.36
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-0.17
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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
4A's Impression and Learning
Issue of clutter seems to have grabbed hold...
Media Markets & Money
Evers steps in for grandfather
Citadel's acquisition has had a ripple effect 11 FM stations into a trust...
Washington Media Business Report
MSRC II set to wind up
Final meeting of the second incarnation will be called to order at FCC Hq...
Ratings & Research
Wendy's chooses PPM too
Hmmm, you get all the agencies to sign on...
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Stations for Sale
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Houston 50 kW AM
New transmitter site &
transmitting equipment
John W. Saunders
(713) 789-4222 or e-mail
[email protected]
Exclusive Listing
FM Radio Station in South
Florida. Great start-up opportunity
for a radio entrepreneur or a great addition for a radio group.
Please contact Joel B. Day
202-478-3737 (x3)
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More News Headlines
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Clinton and Bono
on double bill
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA) come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but have agreed to co-chair and keynote the 2006 Leadership Summit & Business Conference of American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT). Fred Graham and Savannah Guthrie from Court TV will be co-hosts. The event begins March 9th in the US Capitol and continues March 10th at a DC hotel. The keynoter for the second day's luncheon will be new NAB CEO David Rehr.
KGLA honored for Katrina lifeline
KGLA-AM "Radio Tropical" New Orleans owner Ernesto Schweikert will accept a Public Service Award for the station at tonight's National Council of La Raza annual awards gala in Washington DC - - honoring the station for keeping Spanish-speaking citizens of the region informed during and after Hurricane Katrina hit. Just days ago Schweikert filed to enter into TV as well (3/6/06 RBR #45).
Six Flags and National CineMedia pact for branded content
Six Flags and National CineMedia, the sales and marketing arm of the three largest theatre circuits in the U.S., announced a marketing alliance giving Six Flags a significant advertising presence in the theatres and screens of AMC Entertainment, Cinemark USA and Regal Entertainment Group Theatres through June and July, when nearly 60 million movie-goers will visit these three movie house circuits each month. The agreement includes a unique film component: Customized Six Flags branded content segments will run on select movie screens in AMC, Cinemark and REG theatres during National CineMedia's pre feature entertainment program, "FirstLook," within a 150-mile radius of respective Six Flags parks. In addition, participating theatres will distribute special Six Flags print promotions and coupons with the sale of every movie ticket and Six Flags will have a presence in every theatre lobby in multiple varieties, including posters, danglers and window cling displays.
Here come da judge
Gerry Graf, Executive Creative Direcator at TBWA/Chiat/Day New York will serve as Chief Judge for the 2006 Radio-Mercury Awards competition. Entries are due this week. This year's winners will be announced June 8th in New York.
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RBR Radar 2006
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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Like it or not,
the times they are a changing
At the AAAAs Media Conference Yahoo! COO Daniel Rosensweig said agencies and content providers need to rethink the rules of the business in order to be successful. Yahoo! sees a massive shift - - the consumer is now in charge.
RBR observation: Rosensweig's forecast caught our ear that the internet is going to be the center of all advertising. It's going to be connected to television, radio, and all devices. "We have the best chance we've ever had to actually create compelling environments, compelling messages and compelling marketing opportunities for these consumers." The key word is electronic as RBR editors viewed more execs with blackberry's sending and receiving content. Lots of thumbs got a workout.
03/06/06 RBR #45
Media honchos take
a look in the mirror
The Shape of the Modern Media Organization." Some of the biggest players in the biz participated: Jack Klues, Joe Uva, Irwin Gotlieb, Mark Rosenthal, Charlie Rutman, and David Verklin - Hone of the most compelling questions was - 'How happy are you with the way your shops are set up?' Most were happy, but a few good points were made -
RBR observation: Key at the agency level is the hard fought competition and the other C called Consolidation has occurred. Radio and TV are not the only businesses to see it happen but it has also happened at the agency level. Right now agencies face the problem of running these mega companies with One Big Long name with many agencies under one umbrella and many air miles being racked up by the CEO's. They are facing competition between one another as their landscape is also changing fast and quickly realizing that more - Collaboration - is needed between companies than Competition.
03/06/06 RBR #45
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Hard finding that key person to fill the important position at your organization? RBR's - Media HeadHunters is the place that key media firms use to get results. See www.mediaheadhunters.com and get results with service--Period.
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The Butler is in
Promotion 
Candee can 