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Welcome to RBR's Daily Epaper
Volume 22, Issue 93, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
Wednesday Morning May 11th, 2005

Radio News®

Emmis bombshell:
TV group for sale, buying stock
After talking for five years about possibly splitting its radio and TV units into separate companies, Emmis Communications has instead decided to exit the TV business. The company announced that it has retained the Blackstone Group as its financial adviser and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison as its legal counsel to evaluate strategic alternatives for the TV group, including a sale of the 16 TV stations. One option is a management buyout, headed by Emmis TV President Randy Bongarten. First, though, Emmis is making a major buyback of its own stock, announcing a dutch auction to purchase up to 20.25 million of its own shares in a range of 17.25-19.75. The company's stock jumped more than 20% on the news. In a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan said it had become necessary to sell the TV group to focus on the company's radio business. However, when Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller asked whether the TV sale might just be phase one, leading to an eventual total sell-off, he didn't get no for an answer. He questioned whether it was tougher for a radio group the size of Emmis to compete, noting how it had been "terrorized" by a format attack from Clear Channel in New York. RBR/TVBR later asked Smulyan whether he was disappointed that he hadn't been able to change the TV industry as much as he had hoped when he got in back in 1998. "No, quite the contrary. I think that's the hardest part about this. When you look at our performance the last four years, everything we thought we could do as radio operators and more has happened in operations. It's just that the nature of the two businesses are such that we just think it's hard to focus our energies in two industries which have challenges right now. That's just a decision made here, especially when our stock is priced at what it's been. Randy and his people could not have done a better job," Smulyan said.

RBR observation: Wall Street's valuation of his company has been a source of constant frustration for Smulyan for many years - - even before it became an issue for other companies like Viacom and Clear Channel. Being a pure play radio group (with a small magazine subsidiary) may finally win Emmis respect for its cash flow. But maybe not. Then what will Smulyan do? There's a perception that it if you want to run with the big dogs in New York, LA and Chicago, you have to be one of the big dogs - - or risk begin eaten. Back to TV, Smulyan insists that Emmis will continue to promote the Broadcasters' Initiative for a terrestrial DTV competitor to cable and satellite - - at least as long as Emmis is in the TV business. But Smulyan says it's going to take getting one of the network O&O groups on board to take that project to market.

April at Journal: Radio up, TV down
Journal Communications couldn't repeat its TV group's amazing performance in March, when revenues were up over the 2004 election year. TV revenues declined 2.1% to 6.56 million in April, even with recently acquired WGBA-TV Green Bay contributing 760,000. Radio, though, continued growing, with April revenues up 2.5% to 6.21 million. In all, broadcasting revenues were essentially flat, up 10,000 to 12.77 million. Publishing revenues rose 2.4% to 26.29 million. Total publishing/broadcast revenues rose 1.7% to 39.06 million, with ad revenues up 2.5% to 32.73 million.

Televisa sues Univision, directors quit
The battling between Univision and one of its largest shareholders, Mexico's Grupo Televisa, is clearly entering a new stage. Televisa has sued Univision in a California federal court, claiming that Univision has failed to pay Televisa some of the royalties due on its programming. It is seeking more than 1.5 million in damages. But there may be much more at stake. This could be a move by Televisa toward unraveling its agreement which gives Univision exclusive US rights to Televisa programming through 2017. At the same time, Univision informed the SEC that Televisa CEO Emilio Azcarraga Jean has resigned from the Univision board of directors, along with his designated alternate director, Alfonso de Angoitia. According to Univision, Televisa intends to nominate a new director and alternate to fill the board seat to which it is entitled by its Class T stock, but there was no indication when that will occur. Univision also denies the allegations of the Televisa lawsuit and "intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit."

RBR observation: The relationship between Univision and its two big foreign stockholders, Televisa and Venezuela's Cisneros family, has been especially rocky since Univision CEO Jerry Perenchio, who holds an absolute voting majority, installed Ray Rodriguez as President without consulting them (2/22/05 RBR #37). Azcarraga has repeatedly made it clear that he wants to be a player in the US market - - with or without Univision. Now that he's quit the Univision board and sued the company, we'll be watching to see if he follows the path blazed by Rupert Murdoch and seeks US citizenship.


Fritts lauds CEA, tweaks NCTA
Addressing a meeting of the Advanced Television Systems Committee, NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts had kind words for both Gary Shapiro of the Consumer Electronics Association and Kyle McSlarrow of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. But after noting that cooperation between NAB and CEA has far exceeded the perception of cooperation, he said, regarding certain claims from NCTA, that "I get a chuckle..." Fritts said, "Despite our differences, I've got great respect for Gary Shapiro and Kyle McSlarrow, along with Kyle's predecessors, and the companies that they represent. Last month, Gary received an award at our NAB Convention in Las Vegas. I was struck by one of his comments which appeared in the trades. The reporter wrote, and I quote: 'Shapiro hailed a long and distinguished cooperation with NAB on technical standards. Despite headline-grabbing differences, the truth is that together, we (meaning CEA and NAB) have changed the world.' End quote." He followed that with, "I get a chuckle from my cable friends when they claim they've spent $90 billion or $100 billion 'investing' in the DTV transition. We all know that money is coming straight from consumers, who year in and year watch their cable bills rising three to six times the rate of inflation. Broadcasters, of course, don't have the luxury of charging monthly fees. Our service is free to end users. Yet despite the huge cash outlays and enormous challenges, we have embraced the move to digital. We realize that local stations cannot remain competitive as analog players in a digital world. Fritts also took on the inexplicable belief on Capitol Hill that broadcasters are enamored of running side-by-side digital and analog operations, calling it a "myth."
| Here's a full transcript of Fritts' remarks |

A tale of two media:
Dueling watchdogs
Dickens famously wrote that it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Such seems to be the perception right now when it comes to the state of the media in the United States. On the one side are people like MIT media consultant Benjamin M. Compaine and Adam T. Thierer, senior fellow and director of the PFF Center for Digital Media Freedom, who say consumers have more choice and media companies face more competition than ever before. On the other hand there is the Media and Democracy Coalition, made up of some 116 groups, which completely disagrees. Compaine, who has just released a study called "The Media Monopoly Myth: How New Competition is Expanding Our Sources of Information and Entertainment" at the behest of the New Millennium Research Council, notes that the big three networks were dominant throughout the 1970s, but now - - if you take ABC, CBS and NBC, add Fox and WB, and add all of the cable programming controlled by those five companies, they had 51% of television viewership in December 2003, less than the 1970s heyday. Compaine also says there is no evidence to support the contention that small, family-owned media companies, broadcast or otherwise, do a better job of producing quality entertainment or accurate, balanced news content. The Coalition, on the other hand, says that Telecom 1996, "...which promised lower prices, more competition and more diversity of viewpoints - - delivered just the opposite." The group has produced a "Bill of Media Rights," which contends that the role of government is to protect the interests of consumers of media, not the providers. "But too often," it says in the Bill's Preamble, "our nation's policymakers favor media conglomerates' commercial interest over the public's Constitutional rights, placing America's democracy, culture, and economy at risk." This battle will be played out all summer as new telecom legislation is considered. Stay tuned.

Climb every mountain, Ford every revenue stream
Noncom broadcasters and other noncommercial media will be the beneficiaries of a major grant from the Ford Foundation. The effort, which it's calling "Global Perspectives in a Digital Age," will shower 10M a year for a five year period on numerous public communications outlets. In a release, the Foundation said it is making the commitment of funds to "...help ensure that public media organizations whose past innovations fostered the rich array of programs we now take for granted will have funds to create a new generation of programming in a rapidly changing media environment. They will help established and newer public media ventures use new approaches and technologies to expand international news, public affairs and cultural programming and reach diverse audiences that can help them attain financial security. Ford is also supporting activity that encourages independent media organizations to share resources, ideas, outreach and distribution strategies." "An informed citizenry is vital to good governance and community life and these grants challenge media innovators to enrich our education and knowledge," said Ford Foundation President Susan Berresford. "The grantees will help us understand the news we receive from various sources, and contribute to the public dialogue that is essential in a healthy democracy." | See who's getting how much |


Adbiz©

Ogilvy lands Lenovo Group
Months after buying IBM's PC unit, Lenovo Group has officially kept IBM's AOR on the account, sans a review: Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, including Ogilvy, OgilvyOne, Ogilvy Interative and MindShare for planning and buying. The first ads are appearing this week in national newspapers and high-level pubs. IBM spent more than 113 million in measured media on its PC division in 2004, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

Mediaedge:cia names Nathalie Alfred partner
Formerly manager of marketing for MEC, Alfred will join MEC's Department of Business Development, spearheading the company's creative marketing and corporate communications efforts. She will report to Barbara Cipolla, Managing Partner and Director of Marketing and Business Development.

CareerBuilder.com to return to Super Bowl in '06
CareerBuilder.com, with more than 20 million unique visitors, announced it will return to the television ad lineup for the Super Bowl in 2006. Similar to 2005, next year's advertising will be one component of a national, multi-faceted marketing blitz designed to drive continued brand awareness and underscore its leadership position in the industry. Said Matt Ferguson, CareerBuilder.com CEO: "The Super Bowl, an event reaching over 90 million viewers, proved to be a highly effective venue to further penetrate our target audience. Our overall marketing program has helped to drive our best-performing quarter to date. We increased our revenue by 88% year-over-year to 107 million in Q1 and attracted a record high of over 20 million unique visitors per month." CareerBuilder.com's 2006 marketing strategy will blend national outreach with grass roots promotions in local markets. It will include primetime network and cable television, local radio, print, interactive and stadium ads. The campaign will be complemented with advertising support from the more than 130 newspapers, 48 television stations and Web sites of owners Tribune Company, Gannett and Knight Ridder. In addition, CareerBuilder.com will continue to sign new partnerships to power co-branded online job search centers. CareerBuilder.com currently powers these centers for over 550 partners, including America Online and MSN.

AMEX asks cardmembers to
"Make Room to Heal"

For the second consecutive year, American Express announced its commitment to help support the "home-away-from-home" provided by Ronald McDonald House for children being treated at hospitals around the country as well as their families who travel with them. The "Make Room to Heal" campaign aims to raise up to 600,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). From 5/8-6/19, AMEX will make a donation to RMHC for every purchase made on an AMEX Card at participating merchants in the US and Canada. RMHC will use the funds to create new Ronald McDonald Houses or expand existing Houses in local communities so that more people in need can benefit from RMHC services. Donations are not tax deductible for Cardmembers and will be based on a 0.01 donation per AMEX transaction at participating merchants. RMHC has more than 245 Houses around the world that range in size from a four-bedroom House in Vienna, Austria, to an 84-bedroom House in NYC. Each night there are more than 6,000 bedrooms available around the world for seriously ill children and their families.


Radio & Television Business Report Magazine

June Magazine '05 Clock is Ticking-Heading for Closure

National Sales:
EDI - Electronic Data Interchange, sometimes synonymous with Electronic Invoicing
Kathy Crawford, MindShare President, Local Broadcast, speaks her mind on EDI, specifically stating what solutions she needs from the software and keying entries to get stations faster payment in an exclusive column. States straight up, "Lest you should all think that our work is done in the world of EDI. Think again!" EDI- the focus of the future of national spot dollar. Who is and who isn't involved. From the rep firms to the software companies, we get answers. The Clock is ticking on EDI. Closure in '05?

Reserve your Ad Marketing Space today. Advertising space is limited, contact:
June Barnes [email protected] ----- or ----- Jim Carnegie [email protected]


Media Markets & MoneyTM
Liu goes from renter into an owner
An LMA/option announced almost two year ago is moving from the LMA phase to the option exercise phase, according to documentation filed with the FCC. Arthur Liu's Multicultural Broadcasting is officially adding KSON-AM San Diego to the portfolio, bringing closure to a deal struck way back on 5/13/03, and a 100K/month LMA which began shortly thereafter on 7/1/03. It would appear that seller Jefferson-Pilot is giving Liu credit for some of those payments. Originally valued at 7.25M (7/1/03 RBR #128), the new filing pegs the price at 4.85M. Liu will get to further deduct any LMA payments occurring after 7/1/05. Jeff-Pilot remains a force in the market with a quartet of FMs.

What's Emmis got to sell?
Here's your shopping list if you want to get in on the bidding for TV stations at Emmis Communications. The company says it has about a billion bucks invested in its TV group, with a remaining tax basis of about 750 million. The TV group had 103,716,000 of broadcast cash flow for the most recent fiscal year. Let the bidding begin!

RBR observation: We can say with near certainty that the entire Emmis TV group will not end up with a single new owner. That's because of the situation in Honolulu, where it has a temporary waiver to own both the CBS and Fox affiliates. So look for those to end up in separate hands. | The List |

Honda hedges its XM bet
American Honda is putting XM Satellite Radios in its cars, but it's locking the value of some of its high-flying XM shares. It's hedged a big chunk of its XM stake through a forward sale agreement with Bank of America. Honda owns preferred stock and notes that are convertible into over 27.3 million shares of XM's publicly traded Class A common stock. It's now done the forward sale agreement with BofA covering notes convertible into 9.7 million XM shares (which becomes over 10.4 million at the end of this year). Honda continues to have a representative sitting on XM's board of directors. It installed XM receivers in 200,000 vehicles during the 2004 model year and says it will install 400,000 during the current model year.


Washington Beat
Media One gets to keep five in Jamestown
The Jamestown in question is the one in upstate New York, in the state's far northwestern corner. Media One already owns WJTN-AM & WWSE-FM there, and has in place a deal with Vox Allegany/Southbridge Radio to acquire WKSN-AM, WHUG-FM & WQFX-FM in the same area - - it's an unrated portion of the state, and WQFX actually serves the area from across the border out of Russell PA. A rival owner, Cross Country Communications (WKZA-FM Lakewood NY) petitioned the FCC to deny the deal. It took the unique tack of polling "30 experienced radio advertising buyers in the market to find out what stations they consider to be competitive players in the market..." Cross said six stations seemingly in the market should be tossed based on the results of their poll, leaving nine, which would give Media One over 50% of the remaining signals. The FCC responded did not buy this argument. It noted that Media One's contour study identified 20 viable stations, and further wrote, "Cross' methodology for selecting certain businesses and excluding others for survey purposes appears to be inherently subjective...Cross provides insufficient data even were we to accept these types of data and undertake a case-by-case analysis in the instant proceeding."

RBR observation: In other words, you can't suggest your own unique set of rules and expect to make any headway at the FCC.


Programming
Jimmy Buffett gets Sirius channel
Singer/songwriter/author Jimmy Buffett and Sirius have struck a deal to present a Radio Margaritaville music channel. The new 24-hour channel, featuring a wide variety of music, live broadcasts of Buffett's concerts and other unique programs, will debut this summer. Buffett launched Radio Margaritaville in 1998 as an Internet-only channel, which will still be available at www.radiomargaritaville.com. Sirius will also broadcast Radio Margaritaville live on a regular basis from a studio located at Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant at Universal City Walk in Orlando. The channel is expected to broadcast from its other Margaritaville Cafes and Restaurants currently located in Key West, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Jamaica and Cancun.


Transactions
3.2M WQCK-FM Baton Rouge LA (Clinton LA) from Bethany World Prayer Center Inc. (Michael W. Smith) to Educational Media Foundation (Richard Jenkins). 160K escrow, 330K cash at closing, 150K note to seller, 2.56M note to bank holding seller's debt. 92.7 mHz station will be converted to noncommercial status. [File date 4/12/05.]

1.1M WZRC-FM Albany-Schenectady-Troy (Hoosick Falls NY) from Great Northern Radio LLC (Bruce G. Danziger, Jeffrey D. Shapiro) to Capital Media Corporation (Paul F. Lotters). 100K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WHAZ-AM Troy NY, WMYY-FM Schoharie NY. [File date 4/12/05.]


Stock Talk
Tough day on Wall Street (except for Emmis)
Delta Air Lines warned that it might file for bankruptcy. Oil prices surged. The rumor mill said a couple of hedge funds were in trouble. All in all, a bad day for stocks. The Dow Industrials plunged 103 points, or 1%, to 10,281.

Most radio stocks were also lower, but Emmis alone gave the Radio Index a boost as it rose 19.4% after announcing a stock buyback and likely sale of its TV group (see Radio News). Salem was the worst performer, down 6.5%.


Radio Stocks

Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday

Company Symbol Close Change Company Symbol Close Change

Arbitron

ARB

39.59

+0.06

Jeff-Pilot

JP

49.94

-0.60

Beasley

BBGI

17.52

+0.07

Journal Comm.

JRN

16.37

-0.12

Citadel CDL
11.98 -0.12

Radio One, Cl. A

ROIA

13.43

+0.32

Clear Channel

CCU

30.40

-0.42

Radio One, Cl. D

ROIAK

13.42

+0.27

Cox Radio

CXR

15.87

+0.32

Regent

RGCI

5.75

-0.11

Cumulus

CMLS

12.25

-0.20

Saga Commun.

SGA

14.39

+0.34

Disney

DIS

26.95

-0.11

Salem Comm.

SALM

17.45

-1.21

Emmis

EMMS

18.44

+2.99

Sirius Sat. Radio

SIRI

5.19

-0.18

Entercom

ETM

32.52

+0.04

Spanish Bcg.

SBSA

8.51

-0.13

Entravision

EVC

7.49

-0.01

Univision

UVN

26.50

-0.60

Fisher

FSCI

48.83

+0.36

Viacom, Cl. A

VIA

35.15

-0.45

Gaylord

GET

40.17

-0.72

Viacom, Cl. B

VIAb

34.99

-0.46

Hearst-Argyle

HTV

25.26

+0.06

Westwood One

WON

19.14

-0.09

Interep

IREP

0.45

-0.05

XM Sat. Radio

XMSR

27.80

-0.84

International Bcg.

IBCS

0.01

unch

-

-

-

-

-



Bounceback

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This is your column, so send your comments to [email protected]


Upped & Tapped

NextMedia taps Dakin
NextMedia announced it hired Bob Dakin as Vice President /Director of Sales in Greenville/New Bern/Jacksonville, NC for its radio station cluster. Bob has over 18 years of experience in the radio industry, working most recently at Triad.

AM drive team
in Norfolk
Entercom announced the addition of former TV sports anchor Ted Alexander as morning co-host on WWDE-FM "2WD" Norfolk. He joins Jennifer Puller, who began her duties in March, to form the "2WD Breakfast Bunch."


Stations for Sale

Bankruptcy Sale:
New Mexico Radio Stations
US Bankruptcy Court is selling the assets of a New Mexico radio group - 1 AM and 2 FM's in Silver City and 1 AM and 2 FM's in Alamagordo. Stations generate over $800,000 of revenue, are currently profitable and have good upside potential. No broker fees. John Brooks, Consultant to US Bankruptcy Court(415)383-5967 [email protected]

Nevada "C" Class FM:
Positive C.F., Market Favorite. Upgrade Pending. Asking $1M. Residential Property
Available for $300K.
Brett Miller - MCH Enterprises, Inc.
Full Presentation Available.
[email protected]
805.237.0952


TVBR - TV News

NBC stands to lose
as much as 550 million
in upfront
After tumbling from first to fourth place in the ratings race this season among the crucial 18-49 audience, NBC stands to lose as much as 550 million in ad dollars, or 20% decline from last year. NBC's take is expected to be between 2.2 billion and 2.3 billion. "It doesn't sit well with us," NBC Universal Television Networks Group President Randy Falco told the NY Daily News. "We're like the New York Yankees, we've been No. 1 for 12 out of the last 18 seasons. Most people go to the Hall of Fame for that record." NBC's decline, highlighted by the loss of "Friends" and bombs like "Father of the Pride," has Fox, ABC and CBS primed for their presentations to advertisers starting Monday in NYC.

TVBR observation: Did we hear Falco correctly - "It doesn't sit well with us, .. We're like the New York Yankees.." Someone get a grip on reality as TVBR stands by our first of numerous observations on NBC about commitment, passion, and programming content especially with content in 05/02/05 TVBR #86 where the bottom line is Mr. Falco you can't win games like the Yankees with old relief pitchers when you don't even have a strong starting lineup. Our headline on NBC then still stands, "NBC-Network TV's Big Problem: No Passion." Mr. Falco NBC has become just a paycheck player because to win games you have to have Passion. You can play a round of golf and we will give you a mulligan on the back nine if you pick up American Dreams and build with youth programming. Or we agree with this part of your statement "...Most people go to the Hall of Fame for that record." Yep, last time we looked there are a number of late ball players in the Hall of Fame and most of them are dead. Last this observation on how to drive viewers with local radio by JL Media's Rich Russo on 05/04/05 TVBR #88 American Dreams is a good lead into Sunday night football because the programming has passion and youth.






RBR Radar 2005
Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.

Hicks, Muse exiting
Clear Channel very fast!
We suggested that it might take a while to monetize its entire stake in Channel Communications ). Nope - - it's dumping and running. Not only is the Dallas-based investment firm selling back 5.7 million shares to Clear Channel, it's also selling 16.8 million to Citigroup and then distributing what's left of its 37.5 million-share stake to the investors in the various Hicks, Muse funds to do with them as they wish. It's a good bet that a lot of them will soon be sold.
RBR observation: What's truly amazing is that the Hicks, Muse exit has had very little impact on Clear Channel's stock price. It fell 2.5% on news of the 5.7 million share sale back to the company. The eventual sale by Hicks, Muse had been anticipated for over a year after Tom Hicks retired from the investment firm and then resigned from the Clear Channel board. Beyond that, the stock price had already been beaten down so much that traders must believe it is as low as it can go. If so, it appears Hicks, Muse may be selling at the bottom and taking a loss of about 1.65 billion from what its Clear Channel stake was worth in 2000 when it merged AMFM Inc. into the company - - a 58% drop in value. Ouch! 05/10/05 RBR #92

Entercom David Field
praises Interep staff
After reading of the Interep-bashing in a couple of Wall Street conference calls Field stood up for the people who are out soliciting national business for his radio stations. He called the staff at Interep dedicated and hard-working. And while local is outpacing national at Entercom, as it is at most other groups, Field refused to criticize his national rep. Rather, he echoed the comments being heard from other group heads that both Katz and Interep need to do even more to develop new business - - as he put it, "a developmental mentality." RBR observation: Even as he was praising Interep's staff, there were hints in Field's comments of the issues facing Interep that he and other clients are concerned about. Of course, everyone wants to see the company recapitalized so that its future can be assured. His mention of "senior management issues" may refer to the desire we're hearing from several clients that they'd like to have Ralph Guild announce a succession plan. The generational baton has already been passed at many of the older radio groups and they'd now like to have their rep say who's going to lead the company forward, should the 76-year-old CEO tap dance in front of a bus. 05/10/05 RBR #92

Disney war: Round two
Roy Disney and Stan Gold aren't taking the selection of Bob Iger as Disney's CEO-to-be as a done deal. They've sued the company's management and directors, claiming that they defrauded shareholders by claiming they were going to conduct a broad search for a successor to Michael Eisner - - then anointed his chosen heir without ever seriously considering any other candidate. RBR observation: If Disney and Gold or anyone inside Disney could get a team of creative writers together they would have a fall hit sitcom on their hands. We are talking 'Desperate' here and ABC to announce next week to their TV affiliates their fall line up... wonder if a new sitcom called Roy and Stanley from Hollywood is in the Almost Broadcasting Company (ABC) plans? Sad part is ABC has the opportunity to become the almost come back network but not with this kind of material of infighting.
05/10/05 RBR #92

FCC flagged for digital flag rules
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has sent yet another FCC regulation down in flames - - this time it is a ruling which would have permitted use of a flag by content producers to prevent consumers from copying broadcast programming and resending it over the Internet. The American Library Association led a host of organizations in the successful challenge of the FCC's rule. The FCC had been joined in defending it by the Motion Picture Association of America. The court said that the FCC lacked the authority to make the ruling, explained in an opinion by Judge Harry T. Edwards.
RBR observation: Did the courts back in the 1600s and 1700s hold that merchant seamen had to put a "Pirates, help yourselves" sign on the treasure chests they were transporting? This will very much be a sticking point in getting the DTV transition completed, and Congress should give it immediate attention. That said, it seems you could make quite a comfortable living in Las Vegas betting against the FCC in court, if you could find an oddsmaker unaware enough to accept the bet. 05/09/05 RBR #91

Hicks, Muse reducing
Clear Channel stake
As CC is buying back 5.7 million shares of its stock from one of its largest shareholders. The buyback price was fixed at Wednesday's (5/4) close of 31.63 per share, so the repurchase of 5,690,800 shares will total 180,000,004 bucks. That's a far cry from the 430,395,204 they were worth on August 30, 2000, the day Hicks, Muse received them by merging AMFM Inc. into Clear Channel - - a decline in value of more than a quarter billion just for these shares. Based on SEC filings, Hicks, Muse will still have nearly 32 million shares of Clear Channel stock in the portfolios of its various investment funds after this buyback takes place. 05/09/05 RBR #91


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