RBR's Daily Morning Epaper

I encourage you to forward today's RBR onto a colleague or friend and Share the Voice. Have them Sign Up for a Trial Read on you. Have them Try it they will like it and thank you for it. Thanks, Jim Carnegie, Publisher and Broadcaster
SIGN UP HERE

Volume 23, Issue 97, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher

Wednesday Morning May 17th, 2006

Radio News ®

Entercom joins dividend payers
Entercom CEO David Field has been asked on several Wall Street conference calls whether his company might start paying a cash dividend to return value to shareholders. We now have the answer: Yes. Entercom announced that it will begin paying a quarterly dividend of 38 cents per share. The first payment will be June 29th to shareholders of record on June 15th. Based on yesterday's closing price of 28.52, the payments of 1.52 per year works out to a yield of just over 5.3%.

Is a bidding war looming for Univision?
That is exactly what Jerry Perenchio was hoping for when he put Univision up for sale. As we reported Monday, the world's richest man, Bill Gates, is part of a bidding group that includes Mexico-based Televisa, which already owns about 11% of Univision and is its main program supplier (5/15/06 RBR #95). But we also noted a few days earlier that another group might also bid (5/12/06 RBR #94). The Wall Street Journal reports that the competing bid is firming up, with the group now including Texas Pacific Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners and Providence Equity Partners.

RBR observation: How do you compete against Bill Gates and Televisa in bidding for Univision? Well, offering more cash is one way - and the bidding is now expected to easily go over 12 billion, perhaps 13 billion. But you also want to try to convince the directors of Univision that your deal will be able to get to closing and do so faster than the other guys. Any deal needs FCC approval, so you emphasize the potential objections to Televisa being foreign owned, even if the deal is structured to keep the foreign stake below US limits. Also, Televisa and Univision have been battling in court over program rights payments, so you want to emphasize whatever bad blood there is because of that. It's not just about the cash, but, in the end, it is still mostly about the cash.

Creative community goes to bat
for nets over indecency
"These FCC decisions are consistently inconsistent, and illustrate the significant problems with the Commission's enforcement of its own indecency rules." These are the words of Jonathan Rintels, Executive Director of the Center for Creative Voices in Media, who want to help out with the broadcast network challenge of FCC indecency fines in the Second Circuit. Rintels said the rules, "...are vague, arbitrary, insufficiently attuned to the context and quality of the program, and bear no relation to 'contemporary community standards,' as the Commission's own rules require. They substitute the Commissioners' creative and artistic choices for those made by media artists." The group disputes the argument that the rules are necessary to protect children, arguing that the heritage of an intact and functioning First Amendment. "The right to express what some consider offensive speech is the price Americans pay for freedom of political speech and we cannot afford to risk losing that freedom," said Peggy Charren, founder of Action for Children's Television. "It is not in the best interests of America's children to 'protect' them from expression that is itself protected by the First Amendment...unobjectionable and appropriate creative works that are challenging, controversial, original, and important." CCVM has filed a Motion to Intervene in the battle being brought by Fox and CBS v. the FCC.

Latest schedule includes no indecency mark-up
There is indeed a mark-up scheduled at the Senate Commerce Committee this week, which coincides with last week's hot rumor that Sam Brownback (R-KS) was finally going to get another crack at shedding the light of day on his Broadcast Decency Act. However, the only item to be considered will be S. 2802, the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act of 2006. The announcement sent out by the Committee state, rather pointedly, "No other legislative items or nominations will be considered."

RBR observation: We know that Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) would really like to give his pal Jack Valenti a chance to work the indecency issue from the parental control side, rather than the restriction of speech side. Stevens has said that the only sure result the Brownback bill, which followed the Fred Upton (R-MI) version twice passed by the house, is a trip to the courts. There is already one pitched court battle in progress, over a narrowly-defined issue and under a regime where the per-incident maximum is 32.5K. Either the Senate version, which would up the max to 325K, or the House version, which would take it to 500K and add all sorts of additional punitive bells and whistles, would all but guarantee a major court challenge. Nevertheless, it is amazing that calmer heads seem to be prevailing, seeing that being able to claim that you cleaned up Hollywood would make a marvelous stump speech plank back home in this election year. But it wouldn't do much good, since the breakdown was never Republican v. Democrat. It was everybody v. a handful of free speech hardheads (like us).

Moody's turns negative on Emmis
In the wake of the bid by CEO Jeff Smulyan to buy out public shareholders and take Emmis Communications private (5/9/06 RBR #91), Moody's Investors Service has changed the company's outlook to negative, while affirming its current debt ratings. Moody's said it was concerned that the post-buyout entity could have higher leverage than anticipated by the firm's current ratings. "The ratings continue to reflect Emmis' renewed focus on its attractive radio assets (large market stations, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago), balanced by the competition present in these markets and Moody's longer-term concerns that the growth prospects for radio, particularly in large markets, will be challenging as advertising spending is spread across a growing number of mediums (e.g. Internet, satellite radio)," Moody's said.

Moody's affirmed the following ratings:
Emmis Operating Company:
- Senior Secured Debt - - Ba2 - Senior Subordinated Notes - - B2
Emmis Communications Corporation:
- Cumulative Preferred Stock - - Caa1 - Corporate Family Rating - - Ba3
The outlook is now negative.

Will Kerry spark windfall
for minority broadcasters?
The Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is John Kerry (D-MA), and he wants to make sure one segment of the small business community is not being forsaken by the federal government when it comes to handing out contracts. That would be minority advertising venues, whether they be print or broadcast. "For nearly six years we've had a policy in place that says the federal government is supposed to be advertising in minority publications and on radio and television stations that reach minority audiences. Are they doing that? Are they aggressively contracting with minority firms?" Kerry asked. "It's time we know how the government measures up in meeting its responsibility to reach out to all sectors of the American economy and in keeping its commitment to minority entrepreneurs." Kerry is requesting a study from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to determine which agencies have a plan for this, how many contracts were awarded to small/minority ad outlets, the total amount of federal cash spent on advertising along with the small/minority percentage.

RBR observation: With our tongues planted firmly in our cheeks, we note that we know of at least one minority who wasn't ignored in the promotional contracting process. That would be Armstrong Williams, who was infamously paid to tout No Child Left Behind in articles and during his TV appearances. The legality of that arrangement has been questioned since the relationship between Williams and the Department of Education wasn't disclosed. But we suppose if you're going to award government contracts for advertising, whether aboveboard or under the table, it is important to keep minorities and small businesses in mind. All kidding aside, it would be interesting to see this report, if only to get a full accounting of the government advertising tab and how it is allocated.

Wall Street Media Business Report TM

Rupert's poison pill still under attack
News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch may have struck a deal with the angry shareholders who had challenged News Corporation's poison pill extension in court (4/7/06 RBR #69), but the battle is not over. Now John Malone and Liberty Media, the largest holder of News Corporation stock besides Murdoch, have stepped into the fray. Liberty Media has asked a Delaware court to nix the settlement, saying it could unfairly block attempts to take over News Corporation. Liberty Media had previously indicated it would likely vote against the poison pill when it finally comes up for a vote by shareholders.

Ad Business Report TM

Banks bank on radio
According to MediaMonitors data, banks make up the vast majority of financial institutions advertising on radio. The data is based on the company's monitoring of radio spots on top-rated stations in major markets between May 8-14, 2006. National City Bank (#1) exceeded the 2500 mark in radio spots aired on top-rated stations this week. They have offices in all 50 states but they ran radio spots in only 9 markets, specifically Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis, plus Columbus and Dayton. Chase Bank (#10) has offices in more than 50 countries and ran just over 700 radio spots this week. Bank of America (#4) is 5,700 offices nationwide. Wells Fargo has 3,000 offices and 5,700 ATMs to support the 1,300 radio spots they ran last week in multiple radio markets nationwide. Fifth Third Bank (#2) is in 7 midwest states plus Florida and ran a little more than 1,800 radio spots this week to promote their offices in Detroit, Tampa, Orlando, Nashville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Dayton. SunTrust Bank (#6) operates from 14 states in the Southwest, and aired 1,200 radio commercials this week on stations in Washington DC and Baltimore as well as in Atlanta, Norfolk, Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh and Memphis. SunTrust is also running spots in three markets in Florida: Miami, Orlando, and West Palm Beach. Media Monitors data also shows that Compass Bank (#3), with offices in 6 Western states plus Alabama, aired over 1,600 radio spots in four Texas markets (Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio), two Arizona markets (Phoenix and Tuscon), plus Denver and Birmingham this week. Bank Atlantic, with locations just in Florida, uses only Florida radio advertising. Nine of the ten advertisers on this week's Spot Ten BANKS chart are actually banks, with Third Federal Savings & Loan (#7) being the sole S&L, with offices only in Ohio and Florida. The highest-ranking credit union is America First Credit Union which ranked #21 on the Media Monitors list of spot airplay, running just over 370 radio spots in the past week in select radio markets.

WaMu kicks off Hispanic campaign;
chooses Zubi as Hispanic AOR
Washington Mutual launched a Hispanic advertising campaign to support its new WaMu Free Checking product. The company also announced it has selected Zubi Advertising Services Miami as its new Hispanic ad agency of record. The radio, television, print and out-of-home ads will promote features of the new free Checking product that resonate with Hispanic consumers, such as free outbound wire transfers, free ATM withdrawals, free checks for life, and free low-balance alerts with online banking, among other features.

Interep releases "Cable Television Advertising/
A Guide for the Radio Marketer"
Interep has released a new research report on cable advertising to help radio sales people better understand and sell competitively against an advertising medium that has been averaging 14% annual growth since 2003. The report points out that while cable television has seen strong audience growth over the past decade, ad revenue growth is outpacing the organic growth of the medium. This growth is more remarkable considering some of the challenges facing cable, including the growing pervasiveness of DVRs, viewing fragmentation, and the increasing popularity of satellite dish services, which do not carry local cable advertisements. The report also outlines the complementary marketing benefits that radio brings to cable television campaigns, including local promotional tie-ins, events, the ability to reach consumers outside of the home and increased reach.

Highlights: Cable advertising's compounded annual growth rate since 2003 is 14%, compared to 6% for total advertising and 2% for radio; While total cable ad growth has increased 28% since 2003, cable viewing has increased 6%; 25% of cable advertising is local; approximately 27% of U.S. households receive "cable networks" via satellite, precluding the viewing of local commercials; The number of satellite subscribers has soared to 26.1 million, doubling since 2000; It is estimated that 18% of homes will have DVRs by Q4 2006; according to a study by TiVo, viewers with DVRs watch recorded programs 75% of the time and skip 60% of commercials.
| See the full report here |

Media Markets & Money TM

Price revealed in Colorado Springs
The Citadel acquisition of KRDO-FM from Pikes Peak Broadcasting in the Colorado Springs market (5/8/06 RBR #90) has hit the FCC database, meaning we now know the previously-unreleased price. The selling Hoth family will get 8.5M to part with the AC outlet, which follows their prior sale of KRDO-AM-TV to News Press & Gazette. For Citadel, its format should dovetail nicely with its three FMs (Classic Rock, Classic Hits and CHR, per BIA). The group also has a pair of AMs in the market, bringing News-Talk and Sports to the market.

Washington Media Business Report TM

ComCom witness list released
Round one of the two-part hearing on the offering from Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Ranking Member Dan Inouye (D-HI) kick off Thursday 5/18/06 at 10AM. The bill, S. 2686, the Communications, Consumers' Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006, is the Senate version of the Telecom 1996 rewrite, and the first of two hearings will itself be a two-parter. Broadcasters will be present only as extremely interested observers. However, NCTA's Kyle McSlarrow and USTelecom's Walter McCormick will each get to bat twice. Representatives from telcos, local government, satellite and consumers organizations will all be present as well. The first session will cover streamlining of the franchising process. The panel, in addition to McSlarrow and McCormick, will consist of, Mayor Michael A. Guido (U.S. Conference of Mayors), Julia Johnson (Video Access Alliance), and Gene Kimmelman (Consumer's Union). The second part will cover USF. The encore performances of McSlarrow and McCormick will be accompanied by Shirley Bloomfield (The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association), Steve Largent (CTIA-The Wireless Association), Joslyn Read (Satellite Industry Association), and Philip McClelland (Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate).

RBR observation: One of the big battles will be over the rules of the MVPD road as telcos come into competition with entrenched interests cable and DBS. The mission for broadcasters is to make sure they have first class accommodations on all of them. Since of the four groups, only broadcasters can effectively respond to a local emergency, it is in the best interests US citizens, and therefore of legislators and regulators, to make sure they get it.

Stevens flexes his Knowlegis muscles
Information firm Knowlegis has put in five months worth of research and turned it into a comprehensive database that charts and ranks federal legislators in terms of position, influence and legislative success, and turns it into a Power Score. Knowlegis CEO Brad Fitch explains, "We integrated every available piece of publicly available data to create an assessment of each Member of Congress. We developed criteria and a weighting formula that reflected how members exercise power. This may not be the totality of a member's contribution to his or her constituents, but it can serve as a valuable tool for citizens when they are judging their elected officials." Longevity obviously helps a legislator amass power, and so does being on a Commerce Committee. On the Senate side, Commerce Chair Ted Stevens (R-AK) is #8, nevertheless following recent past chair John McCain (R-AZ), whose front-page prominence across the nation translates into #3 in the Senate. Surprisingly, Ranking Member Daniel Inouye (D-HI), at #33, actually trails self-appointed communications watchdog Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who ranks #29. Former broadcaster Conrad Burns (R-MT) weighs in at #47. On the House side, Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) is way up there at #6. Fred Upton (R-MI), chair of the relevant subcommittee, is at #132, and up-and-comer Chip Pickering has some traveling to do at #301. On the opposite side of the aisle, Ranking member John Dingell (D-MI) is at #86, and Upton's opposite, Ed Markey (D-MA) is #139.

Entertainment Media Business Report TM

IDT sells its production business
to Liberty Media
Alternative telephone company IDT Corporation is getting out of the TV/movie production business, selling IDT Entertainment to Liberty Media for more than 413 million in cash and stock, plus an undisclosed amount of debt assumption. IDT isn't entirely out of media, since another subsidiary owns WMET-AM Washington, DC. What Liberty Media's Starz Entertainment Group is buying is a unit that creates both live action and computer generated animation programming for domestic and international distribution: broadcast/cable TV, movies and home video/DVD. "This transaction furthers our strategy of converting investments into strategic operating businesses that have synergies with our current companies. IDT Entertainment and Starz is a great combination," said Liberty Media CEO Gregory Maffei. "John Malone has been a great mentor and friend. I anticipate great things from our continuing business relationship," said IDT Chairman Howard Jonas, referring to Liberty Media's founder.

RBR observation: Liberty Media has long been an investor in IDT and its IDT Telecom subsidiary. It looks like this deal will give Liberty Media a way to cash out that investment without taking a tax hit. In addition to the 186 million bucks payment, IDT will receive about 227 million bucks in the form of IDT stock currently held by Liberty Media, plus its 5% stake in IDT Telecom, which is not a publicly traded security. It is well known that John Malone does not like to pay taxes when he does deals.

Internet Media Business Report TM

Hershey and eBay launch
''Get It with WrapperCash'' auction
Hershey is turning wrappers into cash as part of the world's sweetest interactive auction - "Get it With WrapperCash," powered by eBay. Hershey's began hosting daily auctions this week where wrappers from specially marked Hershey's candy bars, snack bars and cookies can be used to bid on amazing prizes. Up for auction are 12 Chrysler Crossfire cars, once-in-a-lifetime experiences and more. The bidding began 5/15 with daily auctions held through 10/31. During the first week, Hershey's will auction off a Chrysler Crossfire Roadster and a once in a lifetime experience to go behind the scenes at Hershey's to become a Master Chocolatier.

Transactions

0 KOEN-FM CP Oberlin KS from Salt and Light Communications Inc. (Larry Durham) to American Family Association (Donald E. Wildmon). Donation. CP is for Class A on 91.3 mHz with 250 w @ 118'. [File date 4/21/06.]

0 KTUR-FM CP Tucumcari NM from Southpoint Educational Radio Inc. (Rusty Benson) to American Family Association (Donald E. Wildmon). Transferred for buyer to build & operate. CP is for Class A on 91.7 mHz with 250 w @ 105'. [File date 4/21/06.]

0 KDVI-FM CP Devil's Lake ND from Southpoint Educational Radio Inc. (Rusty Benson) to American Family Association (Donald E. Wildmon). Transferred for buyer to build & operate. CP is for Class A on 89.9 mHz with 250 w @ 171'. [File date 4/21/06.]

Stock Talk

Radio stocks beat a down market
Inflation fears kept hold of Wall Street on Tuesday, pushing the Dow Industrials down nine points to 11,420. But radio stocks had a good day, with interest in the sector spurred by recent buyback action at Emmis and Cumulus. The Radio Index rose 2.102, or 1.3%, to 160.390. Saga rose 3.1%. Other big gainers were Citadel, up 2.9%. Cox Radio and Entravision, up 2.6% each, and CBS, up 2.6% for its Class B and 2.5% for Class A.

Radio Stocks

**Here's how stocks fared on Tuesday**
Company	Symbol	Close		Change	Company	Symbol	Close		Change
Arbitron	ARB		38.04	+0.14	Hearst-Argyle	HTV		23.10	+0.15
Beasley	BBGI		7.28	+0.06	Journal Comm.	JRN		11.86	-0.02
CBS CI. B	CBS		26.33	+0.67	Lincoln Natl.	LNC		57.57	-0.61
CBS CI. A	CBSa		26.26	+0.63	Radio One, Cl. A	ROIA		8.27	+0.12
Citadel	CDL		10.64	+0.30	Radio One, Cl. D	ROIAK		8.29	+0.16
Clear Channel	CCU		30.73	+0.67	Regent	RGCI		4.24	+0.04
Cox Radio	CXR		14.97	+0.38	Saga Commun.	SGA		9.45	+0.28
Cumulus	CMLS		11.08	+0.06	Salem Comm.	SALM		14.98	-0.15
Disney	DIS		30.35	+0.36	Sirius Sat. Radio	SIRI		4.22	-0.02
Emmis	EMMS		16.07	-0.03	Spanish Bcg.	SBSA		5.46	+0.10
Entercom	ETM		28.52	+0.22	Univision	UVN		35.86	+0.17
Entravision	EVC		8.64	+0.22	Westwood One	WON		8.88	+0.05
Fisher	FSCI		42.61	+0.36	XM Sat. Radio	XMSR		17.63	+0.67
Gaylord	GET		45.45	-0.09	-	-	-	-	-

Bounceback

Send Us Your Opinions We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to [email protected]

In response to Scott Evans' ill-informed comments regarding Clear Channel Radio (5/10/06 RBR #92):

It's sad to see people like Scott Evans get so brainwashed by the "informed media observers" who bash Clear Channel on a regular basis.

First of all, yes, Clear Channel's primary objective is to satisfy Wall Street and its stock holders. Last time I checked, that was called being a responsible business. I do appreciate Mr. Evans acknowledging Clear Channel/s ideas as innovative and progressive. But to call them quick fixes is ridiculous. The fact is, for many of CCR's properties, "Less Is More" took a leap of faith. They needed to realize that the short-term bottom line may take a hit, but in the long run, they are offering a preferable climate for listeners and advertisers. Similarly, the attempt to train advertisers to provide their messages in :30s and :15s (and :05s) instead of :60s is an attempt to reduce clutter and increase average rate-per-second. I fail to see how anyone can fail to "do the math" on that issue.

Finally, to address the paramount "sin" that Clear Channel is accused of .... killing localism .... let me just state that I have now worked in radio (on-air, sales, and management) for over 35 years. I have worked under ten different ownership groups... and I have never worked for a company that has COME CLOSE to allowing the local autonomy that Clear Channel has. We have more local news, sports, and contests on our seven radio stations than we have ever had. Our Morning Show DJ's are revered in our communities. We have won awards for community-based benefit promotions. And, I might add that we're looking forward to the challenge of HD because it will provide us with an opportunity to do even more local "niche" broadcasting. To say that Clear Channel is a Wall Street-driven company and that's why they're making innovative, progressive moves is akin to saying that your local supermarket is trying to be profitable by coming up with ways to better serve their customers. It's called smart business.

Mike Sullivan
Eau Claire, WI

Below the Fold

Ad Business Report
Cable Television Advertising
Guide for the Radio Marketer new research on cable advertising to help radio sales...

Media Markets & Money
Price revealed in Colorado Springs
Citadel acquisition of KRDO-FM...

Washington Media Business Report
Stevens flexes his Knowlegis muscles
5 months worth of research ranks federal legislators...

Internet Media Business Report
Hershey and eBay launch
''Get It with WrapperCash'' auction turning wrappers into cash...

Entertainment Media
Business Report
Liberty Media buys IDT's
Production house for more than 413M in cash & stock...

Radio Media Moves

TV to radio move
Entercom announced that Lee Kinberg has joined the company as Director of Operations for its four-station cluster in Boston. Kinberg has past experience in radio, but was most recently Director of Programming and Research for CBS O&O WBZ-TV Boston.

Going Wild in NYC
Wendy Wild has joined Clear Channel's WKTU-FM New York as weekend/shift personality. She was previously at Cox's WBLI-FM Long Island.

More News Headlines

NYC chooses Cemusa for public toilets
This week a review committee in New York City took a major step in approving Spain's Cemusa Inc. as the vendor to install 20 public toilets, 330 newsstands and 3,300 bus shelters-all chock full of out of home ad inventory. Over the next 20 years the city expects to book 1 billion in revenue from the deal. New York City will receive a 111 million check from Cemusa in about three weeks, Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall told Reuters, which added, "The company's sleek modern designs, including newsstands and bus shelters with translucent panels that will not block city views, helped it beat out other outdoor advertisers, including JC Decaux, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings and Viacom Outdoor, Weinshall said."

Hatch gets four years and change
Richard Hatch, who won the first CBS "Survivor" reality TV show, then worked for a while as a radio personality, has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for failing to pay income taxes on the one million bucks prize and other income. The judge who handed down the sentence said he gave Hatch a harsher than expected sentence because he had lied repeatedly throughout the trial.

RAB movin' downtown
The Radio Advertising Bureau has moved its New York headquarters and national marketing center. It is now located at 22 Cortlandt Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10007.

At deadline:
Record labels sue XM
The major record labels filed suit yesterday against XM Satellite Radio, charging that a new receiver which allows listeners to store digital music violates the record companies' copyrights. The lawsuit filed in a New York federal court seeks 150K in damages for each song copied onto one of the new Inno devices, manufactured by Pioneer. XM vowed to fight back. ''These are legal devices that allow consumers to listen to and record radio just as the law has allowed for decades. The music labels are trying to stifle innovation, limit consumer choice and roll back consumers' rights to record content for their personal use,'' XM said in a statement.

RBR Radar 2006

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

Jeff in showdown with Jeff
on Emmis buyout price
Did the name Noonday Asset Management ring a bell when you heard it was pressing Jeff Smulyan to raise his 15.25 per share bid to buy out the public shareholders of Emmis Communications but you just couldn't quite place it? Try the May issue of RBR/TVBR Solutions Magazine, where Connoisseur Media CEO Jeff Warshaw talks about his new company - and how he has been advising Noonday, a subsidiary of Farallon Capital, since selling his previous radio group.

RBR observation: It is pretty easy to see why Noonday wants more. It was buying Emmis shares in April at prices ranging from 12.78 to 15.54 per share. We doubt that it was their objective to sell those 15.54 shares for 15.25. Emmis continues to trade above 16 bucks a share, so other folks besides Noonday are betting that Smulyan is going to raise his bid. Are you wondering what other broadcasters Noonday owns big pieces of? Then see
05/16/06 RBR #96

Analyst critical of radio receiver
Lehman Brothers analyst Anthony DiClemente has been testing a 299 bucks Boston Acoustic Receptor Radio HD. His bottom line: "Not enough bang for the buck." Yes, he liked the sound quality - "But the digital experience was not entirely user-friendly. is it worth 299 bucks? Not compared to a 2 GB iPod nano that sells for 199. "We believe a tabletop clock HD-radio which includes a CD player could have broader consumer appeal at a lower price point below $150," was DiClemente's conclusion.
05/16/06 RBR #96

Joining in the Clear Channel debate
Scott...Quit Your Bitching! I have heard enough. If you have worked for Clear Channel and you are carrying a grudge, then you need to come to terms with it and move on. If you haven't worked for Clear Channel then you are void of first-hand experience with the company infrastructure and internal programs that would, at the very least, surprise you.

RBR observation: Ouch that had to hurt. Want to join in read and then send your observation to [email protected]
05/16/06 RBR #96

Univision floodGates:
A marriage made in...Seattle?
Mexican telecommunication giant Televisa is serious about its play for US Hispanic media giant Univision. One of the main things holding it back is its Mexican heritage, which limits it to a 25% stake in US broadcast licenses. However, it has decided to sign up some partners.

RBR observation: Cascade Investment can be translated into two relatively small words that further translate into big bucks. The two words are "Bill" and "Gates." We will leave it to each of you out there in cyberspace to imagine just what might happen when the world's richest man gets a major foothold in the broadcasting business. But just to get things started: Battle lines are being drawn between broadcast, cable, telco and satellite interests. One of the big issues on the table is broadband deployment. More in
05/15/06 RBR #95

TV Media Sales Executive
TVBR needs just one (1) person that has the closing contacts in the Television & Cable business to bring in the Ad dollars to TVBR with our Monthly Solutions Magazine and earn 6 figures. NO Relocation necessary. Contact me in Confidence: [email protected] EOE
See TV Careers

Hard finding that key person
to fill the important position at your organization? TVBR's - Media HeadHunters is the place that key media firms use to get results. See www.mediaheadhunters.com and get results with service--Period.

Other Links

State Associations

Contact Us

Publisher question:
Reading RBR from a friend?
Receive your own morning copy at www.rbr.com

Help Desk

Having problems with our epapers?
Please send Questions/Concerns to:
[email protected]

If you wish to remove your name completely from our database use this link __UNSUB__

RBR Epaper -- 108 annual
or just 9 a month