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Volume 23, Issue 92, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Wednesday Morning May 10th, 2006
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Radio News ®
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Entercom confirms that Red Sox may
buy into stations
Greater Media's bidding for the Boston Red Sox radio rights, which reportedly would have included a stake in WBOS-FM, did indeed force Entercom to come up with a counter-proposal that could make the team a part owner of some of its Boston stations. The confirmation came in Entercom's 10-Q quarterly filing yesterday with the SEC: "On May 7, 2006, the Company renewed its rights agreement with the owners of the Boston Red Sox Baseball Club by entering into a multi-year agreement, effective with the start of the 2007 season, to broadcast and produce games, including related programming and promotional events, and to sell advertising time. In addition, the Company has provided the owners of the Boston Red Sox Baseball Club the option to invest as a minority partner in two of the Company's radio stations and certain stations to be acquired.� The rights agreement is subject to the approval of the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and the minority investment may be subject to the approval of the Federal Communications Commission."
RBR observation: Which stations? That's pretty easy to figure out, since the Red Sox games will be carried on WRKO-AM and WEEI-AM (5/9/06 RBR #91). The "certain stations to be acquired"? One would certainly be WBEC-FM Springfield, MA, which is already simulcasting WEEI.
Cash flows to CBS
CBS and Viacom are still debating just how much Viacom owes CBS to balance the books from their split, but Viacom has sent more of its cash over to the CBS coffers. In addition to the original 5.4 billion, Viacom has now paid CBS 167 million, plus 2.9 million in interest, while they continue to wrangle over an additional 293 million that CBS claims it is owed. That's now been submitted to a resolution process spelled out in the separation agreement. "While we had expected some adjustment to be negotiated, we had not expected such swift timing on the cash payment," Lehman Brothers analyst Anthony DiClemente said in a note to investors. He expects the remaining payment dispute to be resolved by the end of the current quarter.
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Stern may indeed return to terrestrial radio
We keep saying it (4/27/06 RBR #83), and now it seems someone has been heeding our suggestion. Howard Stern said on his Sirius program this week that he's been made an offer, a la Opie & Anthony/XM, to simulcast back on terrestrial radio. A New York Post article speculates that the bid came from Citadel's Farid Suleman, as he prepares to move into major markets by acquiring ABC Radio. Although he's said he won't go back to being censored by the FCC, Stern sounded tempted by the possibility of going head to head against his old rivals, O&A. "Can you imagine if I go across town against them in all those markets and just kick some a-? That would really be cool," the Post quoted Stern as saying. Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, who's paying Stern over 600 million bucks for five years of exclusive radio service, has thrown cold water on the idea of having a toned-down version of Stern's show on terrestrial radio, although he hasn't ruled out talking if an offer is made.
RBR observation: Is it really Citadel, or someone else? Although Stern and Suleman have known each other for decades, having both worked for Karmazin at Infinity, there was bad blood between Stern and Suleman last year. Howard railed at Farid on the air after Citadel was the first to jerk his show off its stations after the deal with Sirius was announced. Has that rift healed? Money talks...
California legislator targets junk food ads
Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont), co-sponsor of a bill which would attempt to tie audience demographics to alcohol advertising, is back with one of her own. This time the target is makers of nutritionally-challenged food blamed for the state's childhood obesity program. A tax on TV ads for such food is part of the bill. Alert reader Gregg Skall of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice clued us in on this one. Here's the key part of the bill. "This bill would also impose an excise tax on the purchase, for use by an advertiser, of advertising space, as defined, in excess of an established amount, for food advertisements of food products of poor nutritional quality, as defined, to be aired within this state at the rate of __% of the annual gross receipts of any advertiser, as defined. This bill would require an advertiser to report annually to the State Board of Equalization regarding the amount of advertising space purchased." Here is the overall thrust of the bill. "This bill would impose a tax on soda; qualified retailers, as defined; and, excess advertisements on foods of poor nutritional quality, as defined and as specified. The funds would be deposited into the Children's Health Insurance Fund created by this bill."
RBR observation: Is there any ill in America for which TV is not to blame? Broadcasters are governed by the Federal Communications Commission, not the US Department of Social Engineering. Most stations make a habit of covering public health issues such as childhood obesity in their local news programming, and many are happy to run free PSAs to help shed light on the problem. And...But why listen to us drone on? Following are the comprehensive and well-stated objections of Stan Statham of the California Broadcasters Association.
CBA responds
Stan Statham of the California Broadcasters Association went to bat to try and head off the latest attempt to use broadcasters as a tool to fix unrelated social problems. Here is his letter to Mike Machado (D-Linden) Chair of the Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee. "The California Broadcasters Association is composed of the 982 radio and television stations in this state. We would like to advise you of our opposition to SB 1118 (Figueroa). Under the guise of 'protecting' children, this bill implements a television-only advertising tax on legal products during programs that may not have a single child in the viewing audience. While this bill has a variety of constitutional and other problems, the language ignores the fact that children are generally not purchasing the foods and beverages in question - parents are. The bill implies the assessment of the tax would be a simple assignment of 2% to the cost of the commercial. However, the vast majority of the advertisements in question are purchased at the national network level (both broadcast and cable) for a nationwide and worldwide audience. What constitutionally viable formula would determine California's share of the international ad buy before assessing the 2%? SB 1118 would establish a misguided funding mechanism setting the precedent for advertising of any product to pay for a remotely connected social program though a special tax. This bill is no more appropriate that taxing advertising for all audio equipment such as iPods, MP3 players, earbuds and speaker systems to fund auditory tests for all schoolchildren. While we recognize the author needs a funding source for a useful program, this is an inappropriate solution leading in a dangerous direction."
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What should Jeff pay?
Stock speculators clearly think Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan is going to have to boost his 15.25 per share bid to succeed in buying out the public shareholders and taking Emmis private (5/9/06 RBR #91). Some Wall Street analysts are out with their own valuations for the company. At Wachovia Securities, Marci Ryvicker says the 15.25 bid has set a floor for the stock, but she notes that is only a 13.6% premium to what the stock had traded at before the buyout offer. The Dutch auction tender that Emmis did last year to buy back what was then 39% of its outstanding shares was at a 26% premium to the pre-offer price. The final pricing was 19.50 per share. She doesn't see the going private bid going to that level in the current market, but notes that a 25-30% premium would bring Smulyan's bid up to a range of 16.79-17.46. At Harris Nesbitt, Lee Westerfield notes that the buyout bid values Emmis' radio and magazine assets at 9.1 times projected fiscal 2007 EBITDA, or 7.3 times station operating income, "a steep discount to comps." Westerfield isn't proposing a specific price, but has left his target for the stock at 19. "In our view, a cash purchase of assets would fetch a higher offer for Emmis, a facet that the independent board may consider if/when seeking a fuller offer from [Smulyan's company]," the analyst wrote. He cautioned, though, that a competing bid is unlikely, since Smulyan has the voting power to reject a sale to anyone else. Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller pegs the value at 16.25-18.25, with a target of 17.50. "There will be a battle between multiple and premium forces in Emmis," he said. Miller said his price range was based on the recent sales of Susquehanna Radio and ABC Radio.
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| Wall Street Media Business Report TM |
Fiscal Q2 Conference Calls
Broadcasting soars at Disney
Higher ratings for ABC Television are paying off big time for Disney. Broadcasting revenues shot up 28% in fiscal Q2 (through April 1) to 1.8 billion. Segment operating income more than quadrupled to 160 million. Of course, ABC's gains were credited to higher primetime ratings and having the Super Bowl this year, but the broadcasting unit also saw revenue gains at the TV production unit, driven by higher license fees for "Scrubs," which airs on NBC, and increased international sales of Touchstone Television dramas. While ABC Radio is awaiting a sale to Citadel, Disney CFO Tom Staggs reported that radio revenues were down modestly in fiscal Q2 and are pacing lower as well in the current quarter. Cable networks revenues rose 9%, also to 1.8 billion, with operating income up 5% to 809 million. Companywide, revenues rose 3% to eight billion and operating income gained 7% to 1.4 billion. Earnings per share were 37 cents, beating the Thomson/First Call consensus by six cents.
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Ad Business Report TM
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Wal-Mart, others issue RFP for online ad auction system
A group of advertisers led by Wal-Mart VP/Marketing Communications Julie Roehm issued a call for advertisers to contribute 50 million for a test of an online auction system to buy and sell TV ads. The initiative is also being backed by Hewlett-Packard, Masterfoods, Microsoft, Philips and Lexus.
"We can be the driver of change" to bring more transparency and efficiency to media buying, AdAge quoted Roehm at the ANA's Advertising Financial Management Conference yesterday.
The idea was sprung from Roehm when she was Director of Marketing Communications at Chrysler Group. She detailed it in RBR/TVBR Solutions Magazine's 10/05 issue:
"We have to build in cancellation rights, guarantees and it would seem to me that if we were to treat it more in the fashion of a stock market you'd treat it like an individual stock. You'd be able to look at each individual program and say this has this kind of value; this has this kind of value. I'll buy it now for this amount of price. I may perhaps be wanting to buy it at a premium over what it's even being sold for today. For me it's a win-win situation and my goal is to continue to think about it, but not to create conflict between the media and the client and the agency side. But try to discuss the opportunities to improve the process by which we can all win and feel like we're making progress.
The way other media is bought is less and less like the television upfront. I've been able to talk with a lot of companies who are really interested in seeing change and are advocates for change as well. I think sooner or later it's inevitable whether we fix the upfront or whether we go on to some other format that's necessitated by the evolving technology.
There's going to be change. Technology now is driving people to the point where they are going to be less concerned with who the distributor is of their actual programming and more concerned with what the actual program is itself."
The marketers also want to create a steering committee, working through the ANA, to choose what technology, auction forms and media types to use in the test. The ANA, through Exec VP Bill Duggan, is handling.
At the ANA conference, eBay presented an online trading platform that could be used. Said the AdAge story: "The Media Marketplace home page would allow an advertiser or agency to click on a desired network, age, gender and time; see the available inventory; see the time remaining in the auction; and then enter a bid. If successful, the buyer soon would get the message: "Congratulations! You are the Winning Bidder!"
The system could work in two ways: A forward auction, where buyers bid for available inventory; a reverse auction, where media sellers responded to a buyer's request for proposals for, say, 20 gross rating points for men age 18-34. Roehm's administrative assistant gave us the contact info for interested companies to receive the RFP by mail and participate in the process: [email protected] . The process will take 1.5-2 months for completion.
RBR observation: The new beginning of media sales is here get used to it but more importantly understand it as another form of accountability. Key with the systems there are a few out there as RBR reported in our February issue of Solutions Magazine. The system that gets there first and right wins. "Technology waits for no one."
SoftWave Media Exchange names independent members to Board
SoftWave Media Exchange, a leading open marketplace for the purchase, sale, management and distribution of ad time, announced the confirmation of four independent members to its Board of Directors, including:
-- Rick Boyko, Managing Director and Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University Adcenter
-- Gary Lee, Office of the Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Ogilvy & Mather North America
-- Bruce Lev, Managing Director, Loeb Partners, Corp.
-- Jerry Shereshewsky, Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Madison Avenue, Yahoo Inc.
The independent members will join the existing executive board members, including: Josh Wexler, CEO and Co-Founder; Stavros Aloizos, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder; and Chuck Omphalius, President and Co-Founder. SWMX also announced the launch of their corporate website at www.swmx.com.
We asked Wexler about the board additions: "We're trying to take the challenge of really looking at the advertising community, and by bringing on [these board members], we're making a commitment to being considered a part of the industry. In order for any company to succeed in media today, you are going to have to really build tools that are agency-friendly. And we've tried to do that via the functionality of our platform and the way that we're structuring our company."
Why the new name and website? "We're in the process of preparing to roll out a similar platform to what we have in radio, to television. The name of the company has been Softwave Media from day one, and we just felt coming up with 'Softwave Media Exchange' really gave us an umbrella with which to roll out platforms for other forms of media."
Do you plan on contacting Wal-Mart on the RFP [see related story]? "Yes, and I do think this is a clear indicator that marketers are looking for more efficient means of reaching their target audience. The goal is to move into a more automated and efficient platform, and Softwave hopes to be on that short list of companies that can help the industry move into that next level."
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
2xKSJ & Camp Mobilize on the Gulf Coast
Ken Johnson, Ken Johnson Jr. and Charles Camp, and their company, .COM+ LLC, are getting the license for WZEW-FM Fairhope AL, which will go along with their WNSP-FM Bay Minette AL in the Mobile market. They presumably already have the keys, though, since they've been running the station in an LMA for almost four years. The total price, according to bankruptcy proceedings, will be 2.484M cash. That total will be defrayed by the remaining balance of a loan of over 465K they made to the seller back on 5/15/02, and by a partial credit for LMA fees paid since then. The seller is Baldwin Broadcasting.
Close encounter in Washington
The 33M acquisition of a trio of suburban Washington DC stations by Dan Snyder's Red Zebra Broadcasting is in the books. The stations are WBZS-FM 92.7 out of Prince Frederick MD, WBPS-FM 94.3 out of Warrenton VA, and WKDL-AM 730 out of Alexandria VA and the seller is Mega Communications. The stations are now co-owned with the NFL Washington Redskins. CEO Bennett Zier CEO commented, "With only 96 days until kickoff of the Redskins' first pre-season game, Red Zebra Broadcasting is getting ready to take to the field to serve and entertain our community. Closing this transaction is a significant first step."
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
Does McCain have another fly for
the ointment?
If they ever publish a list called "The Peeves of John McCain (R-AZ)," the cable television business will certainly be on it. He considers cable subscription hikes to be an annual rite of spring, and finds it unbelievable that subscribers are force-fed a channel lineup rather than having the option to subscribe only to those channels they wish to watch. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he is thinking of introducing legislation which would in effect give the industry one thing it wants if it's willing to stomach another that it doesn't. He would grant a national franchise to any cable company which offers a la carte channel selection.
RBR observation: The telecom bills currently going through both houses of Congress are already set to grant a national franchise to any cable company experiencing MVPD competition from a telco, so why cable would want to trade a la carte for something it's likely to get anyway is a mystery. It's our guess that a la carte, like multicast must-carry, is an issue that will probably be left for the 110th Congress.
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| Ratings & Research |
Research shows strong interest by Hispanic listeners in News/Talk
In a study by Broadcast Architecture, Hispanic radio listeners with an interest in News and Talk were very adamant in their interest to have more news on the radio to complement Talk programming. The research conducted in Southern California in the first quarter of 2006 indicated a potential shift to take audience from television by supplying them with relevant news in a timely manner on radio. The research commissioned Grupo Latino de Radio (GLR) Networks, coincides with a first year evaluation that has indicated a strong growth with radio affiliates adding news, information and sports to their line-up, while maintaining an interest in entertainment programming as well.
The highlights from the Broadcast Architecture research that interviewed Hispanic radio listeners, 25-54 year old, likely to tune-in to News and Talk, delivered their interest in the following:
*News reports 24 hours a day
*News once or twice per hour
*News when they want it
*National and international news as a first priority
*85% of target listeners like news and talk mix rather than one or the other by themselves
*The greatest interest in sports is soccer with Futbol Mexicano at the top of the list
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| Transactions |
3.8M KSQB-AM, KSQB-FM & KWSF-FM Sioux Falls SD (Sioux Falls, Dell Rapids, Flandreau SD) from Feller Broadcasting LLC (Rob Feller, Nick Feller) to Backyard Broadcasting South Dakota Licess LLC, a subsidiary of Backyard Broadcasting LLC (Barry Drake et al). 190K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Includes non-compete. Superduopoly with KELO-AM, KWSN-AM, KELO-FM, KRRO-FM, KTWB-FM. Sioux Falls SD was an Arbitron market at one time but is no longer, meaning contour overlap rules apply to station clusters. An engineering study found 47 signals in the relevant area. [File date 4/14/06.]
400K KJNZ-FM Hereford TX from Tahoka Radio LLC (Albert Benavides) to Hereford Broadcasting LLC (Jose A. Aguillon). 50K deposit, 50K payment by 2/1/07, 300K note. [File date 4/14/06.]
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| Stock Talk |
Radio stocks slip after Emmis jump
It was pretty much a given that radio stocks would give back some of Monday's gains on Tuesday after the excitement subsided over Emmis' buyout bid. The Radio Index declined 1.245, or 0.8%, to 162.894. The broader market had a mixed day, with the Dow Industrials up 55 points, or 0.5%, to 11,640, while the Nasdaq Composite was off slightly. Emmis declined 0.4%. The larger drops were by Saga, down 4.6%, and Cox Radio, off 3.7%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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36.70
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+0.12
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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23.15
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-0.18
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Beasley
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BBGI
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8.34
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+0.13
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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11.84
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-0.02
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
 |
26.67
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+0.07
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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58.32
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-0.74
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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26.68
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+0.08
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Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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8.44
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+0.09
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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10.54 |
-0.02 |
Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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8.46
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+0.11
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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30.00
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+0.08
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Regent
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RGCI
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4.30
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-0.02
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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14.99
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-0.58
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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9.35
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-0.45
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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11.56
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-0.18
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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15.32
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+0.25
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Disney
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DIS
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29.58
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+0.81
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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4.63
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-0.09
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Emmis
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EMMS
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16.18
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-0.07
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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5.47
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-0.03
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| Entercom |
ETM
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29.34
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-0.59
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Univision
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UVN
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35.83
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-0.20
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Entravision
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EVC
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8.81
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-0.18
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Westwood One
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WON
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9.11
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-0.05
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Fisher
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FSCI
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43.55
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-0.70
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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18.20
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+0.72
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Gaylord
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GET
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48.00
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+1.35
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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]
The Debate Continues...
It's sad to see people, like Scott Winchell (5/9/06 RBR #91), who can get so brainwashed by the powers that be at Clear Channel. Like I stated in my original commentary, "there is nothing wrong with being progressive in an ever-changing world." However, what Mr. Winchell doesn't realize is that Clear Channel's primary objective is to satisfy Wall Street and its stock holders. Their so-called innovative and progressive ideas are nothing but quick fix schemes to keep those quarterly reports in check. Winchell happily lists some of the progressive tactics CC has come up with such as:
-changes in "format content" - A brilliant move to take the localism out of radio.
-changes in "Inventory Management Systems" - Whose�original inventory management idea nearly sunk the entire company and followed up with another brilliant move to reduce :60's to :30's and :15's�which lowers rates and increases clutter giving rise to lower revenues and fewer listeners.
-the intro of "HD Radio" - which will ultimately double and triple the amount of radio stations, therefore fragmenting the entire local radio market down to the "dollar a holler" days.
I purposely left out details�about the problems with CC�in my last commentary because it would take multiple pages to outline.�� However this is what we currently know about the advertising culture: newspaper�continues to decline, TV ads are being digitally eliminated, direct mail is no longer cost-effective�and�the internet has spam and pop up�blockers in place.��Local radio is the one medium that remains as a true viable and effective�way to reach�a local audience.� Even�satellite radio is having serious issues and really won't make a serious impact because of "Localism."� For the most part, Clear Channel�has done everything possible to alienate local listenership with their cookie-cutter programming and national contesting.��I hope�Mr. Winchell would agree that those ideas were failures and recognize that the same people are continuing�to�try to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Mr. Winchell asked what world am I living in.� The world that I live in is the daily grind of trying to keep radio the premium medium that it is while battling the CC's, Entercom's and Citadel's that continue to bring the industry down to its knees.� It is comforting to see Jeff Smulyan realize the problems�of mixing radio and Wall Street�and has decided to�take Emmis Communications private.� I believe we will see other companies follow suit such as Entercom and SBS.� In the end, we may see Clear Channel be the lone publicly traded radio group and with that, their empire will eventually�crumble.�
However, I'm glad Mr. Winchell decided to respond to my commentary because we need a serious debate about how Clear Channel will eventually go down and how it will take the industry down with them.� In the meantime, those of you, like Scott Winchell, can live in�your CC Fantasy World.� I just hope you see the writing on the wall before it too late.
Scott Evans
Ocala, FL
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Below the Fold
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Wall Street Media Business Report
Broadcasting soars at Disney
Higher ratings are paying off big time
revenues shot up 28% in fiscal Q2...
Media Markets & Money
2xKSJ & Camp Mobilize
On the Gulf Coast getting the license
for WZEW-FM...
Ad Business Report
Wal-Mart, others issue RFP
For online ad auction system to contribute
50M for a test of an online auction system
to buy and sell TV...
Washington Media Business Report
Does McCain have another fly
For the ointment? Peeves - cable
television business certainly on it...
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Radio Media Moves
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Changes at Cox
Cox Radio has named Karen Cerulli General Sales Manager for WSB-FM Atlanta, moving from cluster mate WBTS-FM. Phil Brouillette, previously General Sales Manager for Susquehanna's KLIF-AM Dallas, will succeed Cerulli as GSM of WBTS.
Heading to Tucson
Darla Thomas has been named Operations Manager of Journal Broadcast Group's four-station Tucson Cluster. Thomas has over 14 years of radio experience, most recently as Program Director of Journal's KSRZ-FM Omaha.
Upped on Wall Street
Nancy Abramson has been named executive director of The Wall Street Journal Radio Network. She succeeds Paul Bell, who has been named vice president for partner businesses in Dow Jones's consumer media group. Abramson moves up to her new position after serving for the last seven years as director of affiliate relations for the Journal's radio network.
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More News Headlines
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PTC: You deserve
a gripe today
The Parents Television Council is upset with an episode of NBC's "Medium" and is taking it out on McDonalds and Staples. The show was deemed to be graphically offensive and on air when a significant number of children were in the audience. PTC is admonishing the two companies for sponsoring the show. According to PTC, the 2/6/06 show was about a serial killer who has relations with and then murders prostitutes. PTC says Nielsen Media Research figures show 500K children in the audience. Both companies responded to PTC, saying they do not control or influence the content of programs. Not good enough, according to PTC President L. Brent Bozell, who said, "We hope Staples and McDonald's will reconsider not only their sponsorship of this graphic and inappropriate program but also their irresponsible statements about not taking responsibility for their actions. We are calling on our over one million members to voice their outrage to both companies."
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TVBR - TV News
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Fitch disses pure-play
TV companies
Fitch Ratings - the lesser known of the major debt rating companies, after S&P and Moody's - is out with a report warning that new technologies such as video-on-demand (VOD) and digital video recorders (DVR), along with "existing cyclical issues," pose a threat to the credit quality of pure-play TV companies in a downturn scenario. Fitch warns that emerging technologies could accelerate the shift of ad dollars to other media and put downward pressure on TV rates.
"These companies have high fixed-cost structures, are not well diversified, and do not control a large portion of the content they broadcast. It will be more difficult for them to withstand declines in advertising revenues versus diversified broadcasters," said Brendan Buckley, Managing Director, Fitch Ratings. The ratings firm is more comfortable with diversified media companies, naming Tribune, Belo and Clear Channel as examples, which it says should be better positioned to withstand revenue declines. Best of all, it says, are the network conglomerates with their O&O station groups, which it says should be the least affected. "In addition to their diversified revenue sources, these companies also have the ability to sell content to VOD platforms, as well as embed content with product placements and/or commercials," Fitch concluded.
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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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Smulyan is saying bye-bye to Wall Street pressures
There had been widespread speculation that if Jeff Smulyan didn't win the bidding for the Washington Nationals baseball team, he might turn his personal resources toward taking Emmis Communications private. Sure enough, the Nationals were sold to another bidder last week and before the stock market opened on Monday, Smulyan had announced a bid to buy out Emmis' public shareholders (RBR/TVBR Bulletin 5/8/06). Smulyan's offer is to buy the 83% of Emmis' stock that he doesn't already own for 15.25 per share.
RBR observation: Smulyan is not saying how he will fund the nearly half-billion dollars stock buy. He does not have to that is the beauty of being a private company. His announcement did say that his new company is getting financial advice from The Blackstone Group, Banc of America Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities. Its legal advisor is Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. So, who's next? In the depressing Wall Street environment that they have had to endure for the past couple of years, no doubt nearly every public broadcasting group CEO would love to be able to take his/her company private and escape The Street's quarter-to-quarter scrutiny and demands. Most likely candidates are Hearst-Argyle Television and Cox Radio, whose majority shareholders, Hearst Corp. and Cox Enterprises, respectively have ready access to plenty of cash to do such a deal.
05/09/06 RBR #91
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or just 9 a month
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©2006 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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