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Volume 24, Issue 55, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Tuesday Morning March 20th, 2007
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Radio News ®
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 New competition in non-com radio
Just last week we noted that NPR's "Morning Edition" is the most-listened-to morning show on radio, commercial or non-commercial (3/16/07 RBR #53). Now it is getting new competition as Public Radio International (PRI) and WNYC New York prepare to launch what's described as a personality-driven and mostly live news and information show. The debut is planned for early 2008, with the show to be produced at the new studios being built for WNYC is lower Manhattan, due to be occupied in late 2007. Already on board as collaborators are The BBC World Service, New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston. "The program will represent an entirely new sound in public radio's morning drive time. Departing from the highly-packaged format - with pre-recorded interviews and long features - that has become the medium's hallmark sound, it will bring a wholly live, open, and unprecedented personality-driven format to public radio's renowned news and information programming. Up-to-the-minute local, national and global news will be delivered by a charismatic host - to be announced later this year - and a vibrant team of national and international contributors," PRI and WNYC said in their announcement. Graham Griffith, former Executive Producer of NPR's "On Point" will be Executive Producer for the development stage of the new program
RBR observation: We note that WNYC - both AM and FM - carries "Morning Edition." The city-owned radio outlet plans to have the best of both worlds. It will air its own new show on its AM, while keeping "Morning Edition" on FM. Sounds like a no-lose plan.
NAB launches tech attack on XM/Sirius
According to consulting engineers at Meintel, Sgrignoli & Wallace(MSW), XM and Sirius have considerable hurdles to leap before they could make their service available to their existing customers, unless the customers want to buy both receivers. Further, in its NAB-commissioned report, MSW says neither operator has much room to accommodate imported programming from the other, and would likely have to sacrifice existing content to enable any additions to the lineup. MSW said, "The bandwidths, bit rates, data structures, and digital audio coding algorithms of these two systems are completely different, making it impossible for existing, dedicated XM and Sirius transmission and reception equipment to interoperate; The data capacities of both the XM and Sirius systems are filled with programming and significant spare capacity is not available. Expanding the number of program offerings on either the XM or Sirius platforms through more aggressive digital compression would result in degradation of audio quality unacceptable to consumers; Taking a program channel from one system and adding it to the other would likely require incumbent program channels to be removed on a one-for-one basis to make room for the new program channels." MSW also wonders where the interoperable receivers are - they were supposed to be available as a licensing condition but as yet have not been made available.
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Web still struggling with localism
A venture capitalist quoted in Business Week recently said that there is a pot of gold out there for the person who figures out how to create a truly local Internet gathering place aimed at neighbors, and the local businesses that would love to get their messages in front of them. The good news for broadcasters is that so far, this has proven to be an illusive goal. Much of the content on the Internet survives because it can gain critical mass by being found by like-minded but geographically diverse people. This possibility is shut off by definition for a local site. And there is still a problem, reported by entrepreneurs who have been trying to get such sites off the ground, of persuading advertisers to pay to be part of it.
RBR observation: It's abundantly clear that the web is sucking cash out of all other advertising media already, and it will not be good when someone figures out a way to create a viable local Internet community. Radio's defense of its local turf must be sincere, spirited and strong.
 Powell gets on board with mobile
Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell is betting on a digital future, and has just accepted a seat on the board of CMWare, which describes itself as a "provider of PC place-shifting solutions for mobile carriers." The company is looking to make computer-based media into a take-it-with-you item. "Consumers want to be able to access their media through their mobile devices anywhere and at any time," said Powell, "and companies like CMWare are leading this revolution. CMWare is taking place-shifting technology to new levels." CMWare President/CTO J. Gerard Aguilar said, "Providing mobile users 24/7 access to their complete PC media collection on any mobile handset is a challenge that CMWare is uniquely positioned to meet." He said that Powell's experience at the FCC would be a unique asset.
RBR observation: This looks like more than an honorary seat. CMWare says Powell "will guide the company as it continues to develop" its service. It all underscores the fact that, just as the media world today was not clearly envisioned ten years ago, it's virtually impossible to envision where it'll be in 2017.
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Hedge funds still growing...a lot!
The entry of hedge funds into radio and TV station financing in the past couple of years has been one of the biggest changes in the station transaction market - and broadcasting is not alone. Many other industries are seeing involvement from hedge funds as the aggressive managers seek new places to put their funds to work. Also, investors are literally lining up to pump more cash into hedge funds in hopes of generating better returns than many other investments. Hedgefund.net estimates total hedge fund asset levels increased by almost 6% in the last quarter of 2006 to 1.89 trillion from 1.79 trillion in the third quarter. The substantial rise in total asset level was the second largest quarterly increase since Q1 2005. For the entire year 2006, total hedge fund assets jumped by almost a quarter to 1.89 trillion from 1.53 trillion in 2005. Here are some of the major trends cited in a new report, "Hedge Fund Asset Flows & Trends Report 2006 - 2007," published by Institutional Investor News and HedgeFund.net:
| Read More... |
 House panel summons NTIA
Ed Markey (D-MA) has another communications session planned for the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. This time, the other government communications overseer will get its day in the Rayburn Building in a session called "Oversight of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Innovations in Interoperability" scheduled for Thursday, 3/22/07. Interoperability is a catchword tied to the return of analog spectrum by television stations. It's the noble goal of making it possible for the numerous entities involved in public safety during a time of emergency are able to communicate easily with one another. (As we understand it, the occasional rant by politicians, that we were thwarting first responders by allowing TV to squat on beachfront spectrum, can be considered grandstanding of the first order since there is still much work to be done before true interoperability is a functional reality.)
RBR observation: NTIA has been given actual responsibilities in forwarding the DTV conversion, and one of those is the implementation of the coupon program for digital-to-analog set-top converters. We understand that the Democratic leadership in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is not entirely happy with the program as it now stands, so expect that issue to come up when NTIA makes its appearance.
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Ad Business Report TM
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New Orleans and Airlines spots analyzed
This week Media Monitors looked at the city that care forgot: New Orleans. Also featured is a look at the Airlines who advertised on the radio last week. In a city that produces some of the finest cuisine in North America it is rather ironic that the #1 advertiser on the radio last week was McDonald's with 428 spots. The HD Digital Radio Alliance ran 326 spots and came in second with Toyota slotting in #3 with 325 commercials. Ramsey's Jewelers was in the 4th position with 251 spots. Two of the companies involved in the rebuilding of the Crescent City, Rooms To Go (236) in the 5th slot while Home Depot (197) was in the 9th position. Unique to this market, the Office of National Drug Control Policy was in the 6th position with 228 announcements. Geico, the largest radio advertiser on the radio, was in the 7 hole with 211 spots. Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge was 8th with 200 units with AT&T in the 10th position with 195 commercials. From across the pond, British Airways ran the most commercials last week on American radio with 1069 spots. Lufthansa was #2 with 621 ads. Midwest Airlines was number 3 with only 495 commercials. JetBlue Airways, coming off the Valentine's Day ice cold reaction to holding passengers on planes during delays was in at #4 with 447 spots. Continental Airlines was 5th with 353 spots while Southwest Airlines was free to run 342 spots about the country and hold down the #6 slot. WestJet, a smaller carrier serving major Canadian cities and select US cities, ran 328 commercials to bring them into the #7 position. Express jetwas 8th and AirTran was #9 with 276 spots. Coming in #10 was American Airlines with 263 spots. To put all this into proper perspective, the #1 Airline ran 1069 spots on the radio, while the #1 Auto Insurance Company, Geico, ran 28,740 spots and was #1 out of all radio advertisers. And a footnote, the #2 radio advertiser last week was The HD Digital Radio Alliance with 26,806 announcements.
 National Kidney Foundation
to honor Bill Cella
Bill Cella, Vice Chairman, DraftFCB will be honored by the National Kidney Foundation at its first Springtime in New York benefit reception, to be held Thursday, April 19, 2007 from 6:00-8:30 pm at The Allen Room at Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. An active board member of the National Kidney Foundation, Bill is one of the media industry's most respected executives. He served as chairman and CEO of MAGNA Global prior to joining DraftFCB.
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| Media Business Report TM |
Nielsen: US ad spend rose 4.6 % in 2006
Ad spending for the full year 2006 rose 4.6% over the same period last year due to gains across major media, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Ad spend increased in most reported media, led by Internet (35%), the top 100 Spot TV markets (9.1%), Spanish-Language TV (8.1%) and Outdoor (8.1%). Growth in a number of media remained flat or slightly down over last including B2B magazines, Coupons, smaller Spot TV markets, Network Radio, and Local Newspaper. Ad spending for the top 10 companies of 2006 reached 17.9 billion, remaining essentially flat from 2005, with just 1% growth. Six of the 10 advertisers experienced growth. AT&T and Verizon, both Telephone Services companies, showed the greatest percent growth in terms of percent, at 44.4% and 16.2%, respectively. A portion of this increase is due to merger and acquisition activity, and both companies greatly increased their spending in their Internet Service/Web Access business units.Offsetting these increases, two of the three automotive advertisers reduced ad spending. Specifically, GM spending was down 16% and DaimlerChrysler decreased its ad spending by 6.1%, while both Ford and Toyota continue to increase spending, and in particular on brands like Toyota Camry and Rav4, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan. Johnson & Johnson cut back overall spending on a number of brands including Orthoevra and Ditropan.
| View the Charts |
The first million is the toughest
 Or so goes the old saying, although we seem to recall that they were referring to dollars. In this case we're talking about books - yes, a million books. That's how many Xulon Press, owned by Salem Communications, has printed and sold since its launch in 2000. Salem says the explosion of the Christian book market has given a major boost to niche self-publishing companies such as Xulon, an on-demand publisher for Christian writers. "One million books is an exciting milestone," said Tom Freiling, founder and general manager for Xulon Press. "But we are even more excited about what the future holds. With the explosive growth we are experiencing, it wouldn't surprise me if someday we distribute a million books per year," he added. The landmark 1,000,000th book distributed by Xulon is David Harrell's "Out of the Depths: A Survivor's Story of the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis," with a foreword by Oliver North. A terrifying first hand account of the sinking of the Navy vessel torpedoed just weeks before the end of World War II by a Japanese submarine, the story portrays the harrowing struggle for survival of the writer's father, Edgar Harrell, a young Marine left stranded for five days before his final rescue. Xulon says it offers more than 3,200 titles from approximately 1,700 authors around the world.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
Citadel's list of possible divestitures
A little over a year ago (3/7/06 RBR #46), we reported on the formation of the Last Bastion Station Trust, a group of stations placed under the care and feeding of Media Venture Partners exec Elliot Evers. The group was formed to hold licenses of stations which may need to be spun off due to the Citadel/ABC Radio agreement. Citadel reminded the SEC on its 10-K, and now we're reminding you. These stations may soon be on the market, possibly as soon as this week, depending on the outcome of the FCC's look into the merger at its Thursday 3/22/07 Open Meeting. The stations on the bubble include: Albuquerque NM: KBZU-FM; Charleston SC: WMGL-FM; Lafayette LA: KNEK-FM; Little Rock AR: KVLO-FM, KPZK-FM, KARN-FM; Oklahoma City OK: WWLS-FM, KINB-FM; Portland ME: WCLZ-FM, WCYI-FM; and Saginaw-Bay City-Midland MI: WYLZ-FM. Citadel further noted that its proposed swap of WYZB-FM Fort Walton Beach FL (and 1.5M) for Star Broadcasting's WTKE-FM is being held up by Quantum Communications, which is suing to buy the station itself.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
Resume provides a clue to new hire
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has a new senior legal counsel. Jessica Rosenworcel will handle communications and media issues for the Committee. For a clue as to her approach, a brief scan of her most recent job provides plenty of evidence. The handled media and broadcast issues for FCC Commissioner Michael Copps (D). She also worked on competition and universal service for Copps prior to shifting to broadcast.
RBR observation: Rosenworcel will no doubt provide a very interesting perspective to the Committee's majority leadership as it conducts what figures to be an oversight-filled couple of years.
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| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
 Envision adds
"Business Bytes by Barbara Bailey"
Envision Radio Networks announces the launch of "Business Bytes by Barbara Bailey," a daily 60-second vignette available via barter. Business Bytes provides practical advice for employees in today's challenging job market as well as helpful management tips to be used by Fortune 500 professionals and small business owners alike. Bailey delivers compelling advice and entertainment to listeners each and every day.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
 Blip to blog, the ad goes along
Blip.tv, a video sharing site that focuses on independently produced shows, announced an extension of its advertising program called "cross-post advertising" which allows ads to travel with videos wherever they are viewed: on blip.tv, a show's Web site or blog, iTunes and elsewhere throughout the Internet. Using blip.tv technology, ads are embedded directly into videos, so the ads can "travel" with the videos, enabling advertisers to establish a unique connection with a show's brand and audience directly on the show's own website. "As advertisers seek to harness the open and distributed nature of today's Web, it's important that advertisements not be locked into one destination. Our cross-post advertising model allows any brand to capitalize on the growing popularity of online video and reach a targeted audience across multiple, well trafficked sites," said Mike Hudack, CEO of blip.tv. Blip.tv also announced that PNN.com, a new media network that allows anyone to share and publish stories online, is sponsoring three top blip.tv shows: HotRoast, a gossip show, Winning Hearts and Minds, which tells the story of American soldiers in Afghanistan and is produced pro bono by the New York media company Q2 and Blip on Blip, which reviews the top shows on blip.tv. PNN.com will benefit from cross-post advertising because its ads will now be seen not only on blip.tv, but on each show's website or blog, on iTunes and on the aggregator sites that feature these shows, including AOL Video. Every new episode of HotRoast, Winning Hearts and Minds and Blip on Blip carries a clickable banner directly under the videos that reads "sponsored by PNN.com" and a full-motion video advertisement promoting PNN.com at the end of each video. You can see examples of the ads at BliponBlip.blip.tv or at BliponBlip.wordpress.com. "When we decided to roll out our advertising campaign for PNN.com, blip.tv's cross-post technology was an important selling point. Our banners are placed directly adjacent to the videos, traveling with the videos wherever they go, giving PNN presence without being intrusive," said Lauren Elliott, founder and CEO of PNN.com.
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| Ratings & Research |
JWT: Four of five U.S. teens
share concern for the environment
Over 80% of American teens are bothered by the fact that the U.S. represents one of the world's leading sources of pollution, and more than half (54%) are strongly bothered by it. Indeed, a majority of teens (61%) actively agree that their generation will be more environmentally responsible than older generations, and more than three-quarters (78%) believe there is still time to repair the damage already done to the environment. A random and representative sample of 767 U.S. teens participated in an online survey commissioned by JWT to sound out current teen views on the environment. The majority of respondents ranged from 13 to 19 years old; the mean age was 14.6. The survey reveals that American teens are ready to take their share of responsibility for the environment, and they're not waiting for the government or corporations to step in: More than three-quarters (77%) agree with the statement that it's their responsibility to help save the environment, and only a few (8%) actively disagree that it's their responsibility. Still, most teens see a large role for both governments and corporations: About two-thirds (67%) agree with the statement that government should take the majority of the responsibility for saving the environment, and just 12% disagree. More than half (59%) believe corporations should take the majority of the responsibility for saving the environment. And as many as 80% believe corporations should obey an ethical code of conduct regarding the environment. The study also showed that teen awareness of environmental issues has grown since Hurricane Katrina turned climate change into a hot issue. Three-quarters of respondents (75%) say they know more about environmental issues than they did a year ago. What's more, two-thirds of respondents (66%) say they care more about environmental issues than they did a year ago, while only 10% don't care more. And more than a quarter of teens (28%) mentioned the environment when asked what they think about often.
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| Engineering Business Report TM |
 Beasley signs with James Loupas Associates
Beasley Broadcast Group has signed a two-year agreement with James Loupas Associates, Technical Advisors to Broadcasters. Brian Beasley, Beasley's Vice President of Operations, said the company would have an exclusive agreement with Loupas to provide audio processing consulting and other services for its stations in Philadelphia, Miami and Las Vegas. Loupas will also provide consulting services for the company's stations in other markets. Founded in 1976, James Loupas Associates provides technical consultation to the radio, television, and recording industries, as well as advice on psychoacoustics and audio ergonomics for general business applications. Jim Loupas, President, has developed a proprietary process for adjusting and processing the sound of a radio station to appeal specifically to its target audience.
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| Transactions |
9M KFCD-AM & KHSE-AM Dallas-Fort Worth TCX (Farmersville, Wylie TX) from Bernard Dallas LLC (David C. Lee) to Principle Broadcasting Network - Dallas LLC, a subsidiary of Mercury Capital III GP LLC (Charles W. Banta, Peter S. Handy, C. Teo Balbach, Sandra A. Miller). 225K escrow, 100K indemnity escrow, cash at closing minus LMA payments. Existing duopoly. LMA 1/1/07. Deal approved by US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. [File date 2/23/07.]
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| Stock Talk |
Wall Street loves merger news
This time it was word of a possible deal to merge two European banking giants, ABN Amro Holding NV and Barclays PLC, that got Wall Street traders excited. Neither is a Dow Industrials stock, but the DJIA rose 116 points anyway, or 1%, to 12,226.
Radio stocks also benefited from the M&A euphoria. The Radio Index rose 1.644, or 1.1%, to 152.949. Westwood One shot up 2.6%. Salem gained 2.3%.
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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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46.27
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+0.32
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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12.99
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+0.12
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Beasley
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BBGI
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9.00
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unch
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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66.54
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+0.35
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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30.65
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+0.44
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Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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6.89
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+0.08
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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30.63
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+0.44
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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6.83
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+0.08
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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9.70 |
+0.03 |
Regent
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RGCI
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2.99
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+0.09
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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35.64
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+0.48
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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9.79
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+0.02
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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13.60
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+0.19
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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12.15
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+0.27
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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9.23
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+0.09
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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3.29
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+0.05
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Disney
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DIS
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34.09
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+0.48
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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4.22
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-0.04
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Emmis
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EMMS
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8.02
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+0.16
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SWMX
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SMWX
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0.85
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-0.05
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| Entercom |
ETM
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27.30
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+0.14
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Univision
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UVN
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36.16
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+0.11
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Entravision
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EVC
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8.80
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+0.05
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Westwood One
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WON
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6.36
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+0.16
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Fisher
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FSCI
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46.79
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-0.19
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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13.44
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+0.28
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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26.12
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+0.35
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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
New Orleans and
Airlines spots analyzed...
Media Business Report
US ad spend rose 4.6 % in 2006
Over the same period last year due to gains across major media, Got to review the categories...
Media Markets & Money
Citadel's list of possible divestitures
A little over a year ago RBR reported on the formation of the Last Bastion Station Trust...
Ratings & Research
Four of five U.S. teens
Share concern for the environment...
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Stations for Sale
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Mississippi AM-FM
Recently Merged, Profitable Now
Significant Upside Remains
Gordon Rice Associates
(843) 884-3590
[email protected]
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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 Shifting
in Vegas
Mike O'Brian has been with Beasley Broadcast Group Las Vegas for five years, serving as PD and morning host for KSTJ-FM. Now he is moving within the cluster to join Classic Rock KKLZ-FM as part of the morning team with Jim Tofte and Dennis Mitchell.
 GSM joins Salem
Brad Anderson has joined Salem Communications as General Sales Manager for KTIE-AM, overseeing sales, marketing and promotion in the Inland Empire area, including San Bernardino, Riverside and Ontario. Prior to this new position, Anderson was advertising and operations manager for the Riverside Press Enterprise Business Press and served as special projects director for TMG Communications, a regional strategic development company.
Upped in Beantown
Interep's McGavren Guild Radio announced that Michael Nadeau, currently DOS of the Boston office, has been promoted to Vice President. Nadeau has been leading McGavren Guild's Boston office since 2004.
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More News Headlines
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KY AM hit by arson;
no insurance
WANO-AM Pineville, KY was hit with arson Sunday night with kerosene as the accelerant. The fire completely destroyed the station. Owner Josh Wilkey, doesn't have insurance. "People may think they've burnt my building down, it's my building, but you've hurt the community, you've deprived the community of their radio station, and you will for a few months while we rebuild," Wilkey was quoted as saying. The station just celebrated 50 years on the air Friday.
Charleston, WV; Knoxville top markets for Diabetes medication purchasers
Scarborough Research, in conjunction with participation in the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Group's Annual Convention this week in Las Vegas, released an analysis which finds Charleston, WV, is the market with the highest incidence of people who purchased medicine for diabetes over the past year. Fifteen% of consumers in this market are diabetes medication purchasers. Knoxville, TN (14%), Memphis, TN (11%), Columbus, OH (11%), and Tulsa, OK (11%) round out the top local markets for diabetes medication purchasers. 8% of all consumers nationally purchased medication for this disease. The analysis also finds that Walgreens is the number one national drug store brand among diabetes medication purchasers. More than 3.1 million, or 18%, of these consumers purchased prescription drugs at Walgreens during the past year. CVS (17%), Wal-Mart (16%), Rite Aid (8%), and Eckerd Drug (4%) complete the top national drug store brands among diabetes medication purchasers. In Charleston, Wal-Mart is the top store among diabetes medication purchasers, as over one-quarter (27%) of these consumers purchased prescription drugs there during the past year. Rite-Aid (20%), CVS (14%), Fruth Pharmacy (8%), and Kroger (5%) are other leading stores among diabetes medication purchasers.
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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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Hollander hitting the Exit Door?
While CBS Radio has no comment on the matter, The NY Post reported Friday that CBS Radio Chairman and CEO Joel Hollander is "quietly laying the groundwork to step down before his contract expires at year's end after a discordant relationship with CBS boss Les Moonves...Hollander...is said to be tired of the continual battles with Moonves over the radio unit's direction."
RBR observation: Joel has weathered many storms at the helm of CBS Radio. We're not sure about this one. We're also not sure why this article came out-if it was the product of a conversation with Joel or not, it looks a bit like he may not make it to the end of the year. But he has surprised many before, so no surprises either way, we say. We've heard in the past Moonves has been in discussions with both Jimmy deCastro and Randy Michaels (who now has a new job in TV). We imagine this past weekend may have brought at least one of those conversations back to light. We would also predict some folks might be coming back that had been previously been fired. Last deals with boss Moonves and this is no secret as he has stated in a number of conference calls about the radio side of CBS, to him it is only a Margin Business.
03/19/07 RBR #54
TNS sees Internet growing fast
The changing media landscape was caught in a TNS Media Intelligence annual snapshot which saw TV's usual even-year growth, flat radio, declining newspaper and burgeoning internet. The advertising market as a whole was reported up by 4.1%. TGS measures five general media categories, and internet was part of "all other media," along with outdoor and free-standing inserts. Here is a category-by-category breakdown special page report in RBR.
03/19/07 RBR #54
Upset by Copyright Royalty
Board rate increases
KCRW- FM LA is the public radio station most affected by the new higher royalty rates for Internet music stations that were announced by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). KCRW's General Manager Ruth Seymour: "The CRB decision is truly egregious in that it treats successful non-commercial online music webcasters as if they were commercial stations. We support NPR's plans for a reconsideration of the CRB decision. KCRW believes that the record companies and artists whose music we champion deserve fair recompense. We trust that the music industry is open to good-faith negotiations.
RBR observation: The emphasis is on Concern: Do your own math and see how these new potential fees will affect your operation. The Internet is your workable asset of any radio group and operation with the marketing reach far beyond your current signal. If these fees are adopted any comparable competitive environment in today's Internet business is gone. Radio best get a Dog in this Fight. There is more conversation and concern over these proposed fees in this issue of RBR.
03/16/07 RBR #53
Zell bid for Trib losing steam
The flagship Chicago Tribune reports that the effort by Sam Zell to buy Tribune Company is losing momentum. That would apparently leave only one possibility - rebuilding from within. If the Zell plan is rejected, the board is likely to go ahead with the "self-help" plan put together by CEO Dennis FitzSimons and his management team. It would reportedly have the TV group spun off to shareholders as a separate company and then increase leverage at the remaining Tribune Company (newspaper/radio/Chicago Cubs) to pay shareholders a one-time dividend of about 20 bucks per share.
RBR observation: The remaining problem with the management plan is that it doesn't cash out the dissident Chandler family, who were pressing for the company to be sold or broken up. They would continue to be the largest shareholder - and likely continue to be a pain in the derriere for FitzSimons.
03/16/07 RBR #53
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Hard finding that key person
to fill the important position at your organization? Media HeadHunters is the place that key media firms use to get results. See Media HeadHunters and get results with service--Period.
Need assistance
contact Cathy Carnegie
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RBR Epaper -- 108 annual
or just 9 a month
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©2007 Radio Business Report, Inc. All rights reserved.
Radio Business Report -- 2050 Old Bridge Road, Suite B-01, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 -- Phone: 703-492-8191
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