Intelligence Briefs

The individual on the licensee side of an LMA had best be prepared to get with the program, and by that we mean the FCC’s program of responsibilities that are retained by the licensee despite the fact that certain station operations have been turned over to a second party. As communications law expert John Pelkey explains, that specifically includes the exercise of control over what goes out over the air. Click through for the full story.

An Americana revival is sweeping across the country. While the individual expressions of Americana have increased exponentially over time, this cultural shift shows no signs of slowing down, and is far from reaching its zenith.

A very common element of a modern broadcast station transaction is an arrangement, often called a local marketing agreement or LMA, that allows the buyer to have a hand in the station’s operation prior to FCC approval. There is nothing at all wrong with this, says communications law expert John Pelkey, as long as the parties proceed with caution. And here’s step-by-step advice on what precautions to take.

Everything in radio is geared around the clock. In the micro-sense you have top of the hour legal, traffic and weather on the eights, and tickets on the twos. Portable people meter (PPM) based ratings have made these time specific “appointment listening” opportunities more important.

The TV viewing experience has undergone significant changes in the past three years—what I would call a TV revolution, not an evolution. From the advent of smartphones and tablets, to increases in broadband speeds, 3G and 4G wireless networks, and cloud infrastructures, emerging mobile technologies have led to an explosion in over-the-top (OTT) services and Internet protocol television (IPTV) that have transformed the TV viewing experience as we know it today.

Let’s just put it out there with a strong statement: No station should ever be bought unless it has been subjected to a rigorous due diligence process. As communications transaction expert Erwin Krasnow explains, there is a great deal at risk in this type of transaction, and no stone should be left unturned before signing on the dotted line. But Krasnow does much more than that – he explains how. Here is the last of three installments.

We can’t say that you asked for it, but we’ve always sort of had a hankering for a list of how markets are ranked by Arbitron on the one hand, Nielsen on the other hand, and by Eastlan on yet another hand (not to suggest there mutations are widely present in the broadcast nerd community). And yes, we suspect this list will be of particular interest to the nerdiest of broadcast and research professionals. But we think it’s very interesting.

In the wake of the Paula Deen scandal, the question emerges: Will brands learn anything from this debacle? Bill McKeveny, Vice President of Brand Development at Conversation, a New York-based advertising agency, thinks that brands can learn a lesson and change their behavior. “I think some brands will study more carefully what these celebrity personalities are like behind the camera," he said.

Let’s just put it out there with a strong statement: No station should ever be bought unless it has been subjected to a rigorous due diligence process. As communications transaction expert Erwin Krasnow explains, there is a great deal at risk in this type of transaction, and no stone should be left unturned before signing on the dotted line. But Krasnow does much more than that – he explains how in with this comprehensive three-part series.

Whenever I facilitate a brainstorm session for an organization, I follow a rule of having all the participants in the room scribble down every single idea they can think of within the first 5-10 minutes – and then throw them all away.

In early 2009, CBS Radio changed FM Talk-formatted KLSX in Los Angeles to the CHR format that is now KAMP, and so I took my

If a broadcaster owns multiple stations in a market, it usually will dispose of all of those stations when it comes time to sell. That is not always the case, however. On occasion, one of the stations will be an underperforming station that the broadcaster wishes to jettison. In other cases, the broadcaster may be over the ownership cap in that market and wishes to dispose of the station that places the broadcaster over the limit. In still other cases, the broadcaster may have an opportunity to “trade up” and to obtain a higher powered station only if it is able to sell a lower powered station.

A critical issue in a purchase and sale agreement for both the seller and the buyer --- indeed, a matter of the transaction’s life and death -- is the period of time that the representations and warranties and the rights to indemnification for breaches thereof will remain in effect beyond the closing. This provision, commonly referred to as the “survival clause,” is critical to the allocation of risk between the parties. “Survival” represents the period of time within which the parties have a right to make a claim under the representations and warranties and to file a lawsuit.

As a result of the Congressional appropriation agreement, the total amount that must be collected remains the same as last year - $339,844,000. However, the FCC seeks to rebalance the amounts to be assessed upon the licensees of each of its primary bureaus. Since 1998, when regulatory fees were first implemented, 30.2% of the total has been allocated to the Media Bureau, based upon the distribution of equivalent full-time employees at that time. A more recent analysis reveals that the percentage of Commission employee resources that are devoted to Media Bureau matters has risen to 37.5%. However, due to a cap of 7.5% on rate increases in any given year, the Media Bureau allocation for FY 2013 would rise only to 33.33%. (Presumably, most of the remainder would be applied to a further increase in FY 2014.)