Auction 37 wheezes to a close
The value of high standing bids closed well below the high water mark as the 62nd and final round of FCC Auction No. 37 was gaveled to a close. 110 bidders walked away with at least one station, and in all, 258 of the 288 sticks on the block were claimed. The total spent, after poking as high as the mid-180M dollar level, ended up at about 147.5M, an average of 571.5K per stick. College Creek was number one, picking up 38 CPs for 35.556M dollars.
The clock is running for the winners. They need to construct their station and file a license to cover CP to get their official license and turn the station on. Once that happens, they'll be good to go for eight years.
Sirius passes 800,000 subs
He had barely begun to unpack in his new office when Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin got to announce some good news: The company signed its 800,000th subscriber on Monday and is on track to hit its goal of one million by the end of this year. "Sirius is on a roll. We are very excited about this upcoming holiday season, now that we have such a wide array of innovative products on retail shelves. When you combine these new models with our programming initiatives such as the NFL, NBA, college sports, Eminem's 'Shade 45', Maxim Radio and, beginning in 2006, Howard Stern, you can easily see why we believe Sirius is the gift of choice for the holidays," said Karmazin. (Editor's note: Yeah, even after spending a few months on the beach in Naples, FL, Mel is still a salesman.)
Stern sidekick Robin Quivers signs syndicated talker deal
Robin Quivers, shock jock Howard Stern's longtime sidekick, has signed a deal with Sony Pictures Television to develop a syndicated talker for daytime TV, the company announced. The potential series could debut by fall 2005. Quivers will continue her work on Stern's radio show while developing her TV show, Sony said. There was no indication whether she planned to remain with Stern if her show gets greenlighted.
Infinity donates on behalf of Scott Muni
The Museum of Television & Radio announced a donation of the on-air archives of legendary radio personality Scott Muni from Infinity Broadcasting. Muni died in September at 74. The donation consists of interviews covering the better part of Muni's 31-year legacy on WNEW-FM, featuring a virtual who's who of contemporary music. Among those featured with Muni are all four members of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Sting, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Walsh, The Who, Paul Simon, and more.
WDIO-TV founder Frank Befera dies at 82
Frank Befera, who put WDIO-TV (Ch. 10, ABC) Duluth, MN on the air 38 years ago, has died at the age of 82. According to the station, now owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, Befera was taken with radio as a child and earned an electrical engineering degree. After serving in World War II, he returned home to Hibbing, MN as an engineer at WMFG-AM and managed to buy the station two years later. He went on to buy other radio stations and build Hibbing's first cable system before moving to Duluth to launch the TV station in 1966.
Are you reading this from a forwarded email?
