Media Info Bureau

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

Recently, the Interactive Advertising Bureau reported that digital ad revenues in the US reached $36.6 billion in 2012. As online publishers continue to lure advertisers to the Web and the public's appetite for all things Internet lingers on, one might think that marketing dollars are better spent online. However, digital advertising isn’t the only piece of the customer path puzzle; for many advertisers, the returns on online ad units continue to trail those of traditional broadcast buys. Yet brands are asking hard questions about TV campaigns: “Is TV right for us? Should we shift our ad spend to the Web?” Advertising and media agencies need to be ready to answer these questions with concrete data that reflects the full context of every customer touchpoint. This includes online assets as well as offline ones, such as direct mail, radio and, of course, television.

MMTC President David Honig has been on the beat trying to increase the diversity of ownership in the communications industry going all the way back to 1971, and believes the effort must continue until there is nothing short of “full participation.” Here’s a look at his multi-faceted and practical approach to reaching that goal.

How do you sell? We all are “idea sellers” now. None of us try to sell on price. There’s not a rep I know in the country that tells people they sell on low CPP’s or a high frequency. So the truth is we are more similar than ever before. We are all becoming more creative, social media savvy, and providing that extra push for customer service.

Get ready for installment number four of this six-parter following the broadcast audience to their cable channels of choice. Today we tap into the massive database of Prosper Insights and Analytics to discover just where the middle audiences are going. We think you’ll find the information both fascinating and useful Included in this study are the top 30 basic cable offerings for the overall 18+ operation, followed by every channel that has the support of at least 20% of a given format group.

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.

The streaming music services business is getting a lot of attention—and competition—lately with new and upcoming entrants like Apples iTunes Radio; Google’s All Access Music and MySpace’s My Radio. To get and keep subscribers, advertisers and social media buzz, each service is trying to offer the most music and features possible. We’re taking a look at that today with Jim Cady, Slacker CEO. The company was founded in 2004 by Celite Milbrandt and Dennis Mudd who launched it in March 2007. Dennis was the former CEO of MusicMatch, which was purchased by Yahoo Music and is now known as Yahoo! Music Radio. Cady is the former CEO of Rio.

One of the most-read observers of the business of broadcasting these days is Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker. We’ve given her a chance to pull back from her usual in-depth analysis of individual companies and comment on the broadcasting business in general. Among other things, she addresses the primary difference between the immediate futures of television and radio, and offers a hint as to who is most influencing her own media consumption.

In the radio and media sales world we hope that we can stand out. That we can prove our relationships are stronger and better than our competition. That our ideas are top notch and our service is second to none. All of those attributes are wonderful for a sales person but it really does help when the product or brand they align themselves with backs up their product with cold hard facts that they are noteworthy in the hustle and bustle of the social era.

We’ve checked out the cable choices of young radio and TV audiences. Now we move into those in the middle of the spectrum, starting with radio in the third of six installments in this series. The key is to discover where your own audience can be found when watching cable TV. We’ll tap into the massive database of Prosper Insights and Analytics to do this. We think you’ll find the information both fascinating and useful

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.)

The value of all television deals accepted by the FCC in April didn’t make it the priciest month of the year – that would be March. And radio trading in April took a back seat to February. But both came in second during the first four months of the year, making it overall the biggest month of broadcast dealing of the year to that point.