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Volume 24, Issue 17, Jim Carnegie, Editor & Publisher
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Thursday Morning January 25th, 2007
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Radio News ®
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 Death gives new ammo
to Entercom enemy
Ed Stolz has been battling in the courts and at the FCC for years with Entercom, ever since a California court ruled that Entercom had a binding deal to buy KWOD-FM Sacramento from him based on a signed letter of intent, even though Stolz did not want to go through with the deal. Although Entercom now owns and operates KWOD, Stolz has continued to fight and the death this month of a woman after participating in a contest at KDND-FM Sacramento, also owned by Entercom, has given him new ammunition. Updating a previous petition to deny the sale of 14 Memphis, Cincinnati, Austin and Rochester stations from CBS to Entercom, Stolz's attorney, Arthur Belendiuk, argues that Entercom is unfit to be an FCC licensee. "The record evidence shows that Entercom is a highly-leveraged criminal enterprise that cannot be relied on to serve the public interest. As this last tragedy demonstrates, it is willing to do anything for money, including recklessly endangering the lives of the public it has been licensed to serve," the filing states.
Mancow calls for end of
"dangerous voyeuristic radio stunts"
TRN-FM's, Erich "Mancow" Muller announced that he is creating the "Foundation For Responsible Radio" in response to the water intoxication death of Jennifer Strange, whose tragic death was the result of what Mancow calls a, "voyeuristic FM radio stunt." Sacramento's KDND held a water drinking contest called, "Hold your Wee for a Wii." Contestants were told to drink a certain amount of water every 15 minutes with the last person that didn't throw up or go the bathroom being the winner of Nintendo's latest gaming console called the 'Wii.' Jennifer Strange pulled out of the competition complaining of a headache and was found dead in her living room that afternoon by her mother. The 28-year-old mother of three had told fellow contestants that she was hoping to win the game console for her kids. Last week, Mancow made appearances on Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, and The O'Reilly Factor to discuss the incident: "Small markets feel the need to do this to get ratings and it is wrong. Voyeuristic Radio has died or gone to satellite...America doesn't want this stuff." Mancow said, "I want to set up a fund for this woman, I want to collect money for this woman's family, three kids left behind." Mancow is extending an invitation to the radio community to help in both raising funds for the family and the creation of his new foundation.
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 Watchdogs demand consent
to stiff payola penalties
A trio of watchdog organizations, Industry Ears, the Future or Music Coalition and Free Press, want the FCC to administer more than a "slap on the wrist" as it considers entering into a consent decree with the alleged miscreants rounded up by the Eliot Spitzer New York payola posse. Industry Ear's Paul Porter said, "There should be no free pass issued to the hundreds of stations benefiting from pay for play." Here, from a joint release, are the conditions the groups recommend the FCC adopt: " * An admittance of wrongdoing by Clear Channel, Citadel, Entercom and CBS Radio. * A five-year time span for the consent decree. * Stiff financial penalties for current and future payola abuses. * A strong plan for annual reporting to the FCC and third-party review of broadcast practices. * Disclosure to the FCC of internal reports and records of transactions. * FCC access to playlist information. * Transparency, conformity to payola rules, and inclusion of local and independent music in music testing pools used by some stations. * Requirements that new music testing include titles from major and independent record labels and artists that have met the required airplay criteria. * Weekly airplay for independent artists for the full term of the consent decree, including all stations found involved in payola. * Terms of this agreement made public via the Internet and on-air announcements."
RBR observation: Even if there was complete agreement between the FCC and the four radio companies that these are fair and reasonable terms, someone would have to trot on over to Capitol Hill and pass the hat for the cash the FCC would need to administer such a program. And when you get down to it, every musician with a demo tape thinks he should be on the air. If the FOM is allowed to write the airplay list for every station in America, it would only be a very short matter of time before some musician somewhere grumbles about how it seems to hate hip-hop-zydeco zither bands, and demand that the FCC get immediately to the bottom of it. A regulatory solution to this problem, if it even is a problem, will be elusive.
1st eDiary arrives from Hawaii
Arbitron says the first electronic diary for radio listening was submitted last week by a 31 year old female in the Honolulu metro. The eDiary was introduced for the Winter 2007 ratings survey to allow participants to record their listening online, if they prefer that to keeping a paper diary. According to Arbitron, the first user submitted 11 entries, amounting to seven hours of listening to four radio stations. She reported that all of her listening took place in a car. What does she get for being first? Nothing. This is not a radio contest. "No, she doesn't get a t-shirt or tickets to the upcoming Standard Deviation concert," noted Arbitron Sr. VP of Press and Investor Relations Thom Mocarsky as he announced the first eDiarykeeper. By the way, since the first was submitted last week, Mocarsky says Arbitron has received many more eDiary submissions. Based on past testing, the company expects about one in 20 Arbitron diarykeepers to use the online option.
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 Will retrans battle
have radio implications?
The fight over TV retransmission consent has found its way to the Iowa legislature, but it won't end there. According to the Globe Gazette of Mason City, IA, the Iowa state government has no power to force an ending to the ongoing battle between Sinclair and Mediacom. But it still hauled execs and counsel from each in for a hearing. Mediacom repeated its willingness to pay a retransmission fee, but claims that Sinclair wants more per subscriber than it is getting in much larger markets, which amounts to discrimination against the citizens of Iowa. A spokesperson for the Iowa NAACP chapter also noted that poor residents who live outside the coverage contour of the Sinclair stations cannot afford to follow Sinclair's advice and switch to a DBS service. It was said that 25K subscribers fit into this category. In general, Democrats seemed to think Sinclair was not living up to its public interest obligations. But at least one Republican agreed with Sinclair, that this is a simple business dispute between a supplier and a distributor, and that the government had no place even holding the hearing in the first place.
RBR observation: Is public interest going to be the reason for some government entity, somewhere, to get into the middle of this? On the one hand, it is argued that broadcast stations deserve must-carry status because they are vital sources of local information, not duplicated by any national cable or satellite service. Moreover, satellite services must be prevented from providing local content themselves, because if they do it threatens the vitality of free, local, over-the-air service. So if all of this is true, how can the broadcaster getting all this legal protection turn around and pull the vital service? And will this seeming paradox spill over into the local radio v. satellite radio regulatory arena? Any thoughts? Our Bounceback mailbox awaits: [email protected].
No voting vote at NY Times Co.
To no one's surprise, the board of directors at the New York Times Company has declined to let shareholders vote on a proposal from a Morgan Stanley investment fund to eliminate the super-voting status of stock held by the Ochs-Sulzberger families. The measure would not have been binding, anyway, and the family has shown no interest in giving up its rights to name a majority of the company directors. In a letter to the four board members elected by holders of the publicly traded Class A stock, Hassan Elmasry, Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, insisted that his company is not trying to undermine the quality of journalism or editorial independence of the New York Times. Rather, he said, the objective is to protect the value of the company and its main franchise from what he called "continued mismanagement." Elmasry said that normally when his fund is dissatisfied with management, it sells the investment. But he insisted that shares of The New York Times Company are worth at least 50% more than the Wall Street trading price if the company "were managed and governed properly." Some 30% of the Class A shareholders withheld their votes at last year's annual shareholders meeting and Elmasry said Morgan Stanley and other holders "must again consider whether to withhold their votes" at the next meeting.
| Read the letter from Morgan Stanley |
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Ad Business Report TM
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First online radio ad auction Friday
 The first independent radio online ad auction is scheduled for this Friday via Bid4Spots and Spacial Audio. Bid4Spots currently serves a network of terrestrial stations that bid on advertisers' campaigns, and has expanded this concept to an online-only radio station network. Spacial Audio radio software products include station programming and ad insertion software. Spacial Audio also supplies the backbone for Bid4Spots' system. CBS Radio and Entercom use Spacial's StreamAds to power their online revenue. On Friday, advertisers will be placing their budgets in view of the stations participating in the auction. Stations receiving an invitation to bid on each campaign are pre-qualified by format and other criteria requested by the advertiser. All bids and budgets are secured and confidential. Stations respond with a CPM rate that they are willing to accept for delivering the advertiser's message. Hundreds of stations are signed up, and there's a group of advertisers waiting to list, says Bid4Spots.
Another hungry mouth?
"Marketing through mobile phones is poised to become the next killer app for advertisers." That's what research firm eMarketer says, anyway. It specializes in studies on market matters related to all things Internet and/or emerging, and it projects that the 421M in total spending on ads sent to cell phones will balloon to almost 5B by 2011. It does note however, that there will be some obstacles to overcome, "...not the least of which is consumers' reluctance to accept ads on their cell phones." eMarkerts's John du Pre Gauntt says that to make the ads work, cell providers will have to stop charging for every little service or download they provide - basically they'll have to trade content for the opportunity to sell cell ads.
RBR observation: Yeah, right. We realize we are in the curmudgeon wing of the cell phone revolution - we still remember back in the day when for +large portions of our life, nobody could reach us. It was very peaceful, and we got to drive in the company of other citizens who weren't using their vehicles as rolling phone booths. Having long since given up on this luxury of a bygone era, we still are proud and active members of the Do Not Call list. If you want to make absolutely sure that we will never, ever purchase your product or service, start annoying us on our cell phone. Given that, is du Pre Gauntt's prediction correct? 5B? We suppose trading content for annoyance may fly, but the real mobile phone ad money will probably come when people start watching TV on the cell phones, no doubt while they are driving.
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Year
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General ads
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Multimedia
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Total
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2006
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410M
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11M
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421M
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2007
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878M
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26M
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903M
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2008
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1,547M
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55M
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1,602M
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2009
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2,285M
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110M
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2,395M
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2010
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3,202M
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213M
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3,415M
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2011
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4,356M
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402M
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4,758M
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Julie Roehm sues Wal-Mart
for contract breach, defamation
We knew this was coming (12/11/06 TVBR #236): "In TVBR's professional observation: Some of the folks who have made these accusations might need some proof someday soon." Indeed, that day has come. Former Wal-Mart SVP/Marketing Communications Julie Roehm, who led the Wal-Mart agency review that chose DraftFCB/Carat and was abruptly fired from the mass retailer amid a bevy of rumors and accusations, has filed a suit against the retailer for breach of contract and likely defamation of character from being smeared in the press. Roehm is seeking undisclosed financial damages, along with items she left in her office (including computer files) in Bentonville, AR. Roehm claims Wal-Mart hasn't fulfilled numerous contract terms signed to when she joined the company a year ago-including a base pay of 325,000, a signing bonus of 250,000, annual incentive-based payments and stock worth up to 300,000, according to AdAge. The suit was filed last month in state court in Michigan, where she still keeps her still unsold house in Rochester Hills. The suit was later transferred to Federal Court, said AdAge. Roehm's employment agreement also provided for relocation benefits and one year of base salary, the suit claims, which has not been paid. Roehm alleges Wal-Mart employees made false and malicious statements to the media, where damages to her professional career were incurred. Bottom line, she says she was notified of her termination "ostensibly because [she] 'hasn't been fulfilling the expectations of an officer of the company.'" But she claims Wal-Mart "provided no specific examples of any conduct ... which did not fulfill the expectations of an officer of the company, because no such conduct exists," the AdAge story explained.
RBR observation: In our opinion, again, they hired a progressive marketer who ended up clashing with the more conservative culture there. The brass looked for any reason to terminate her-in this case her attending a DraftFCB meal and riding in Draft's sportscar. Employees shot off their mouth about her to the press regarding an affair with a co-worker and other defamations before speaking with proper legal counsel and now the company is getting sued. We feel this will get settled out of court with an admission from Wal-Mart that there was no proof to some of these claims and they did not represent the company's reasons for termination.
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| Media Business Report TM |
 Wal-Mart revamping
merchandising, marketing
Wal-Mart announced a reorganization of its U. S. marketing and merchandising areas that will align its merchants with key product areas, each with clearly identified customer segments. Retailing vet John Fleming will become the company's chief merchandising officer after leading its marketing division for almost two years. The company's merchandise initiatives will be focused on five divisions. Four of these -- grocery, entertainment, apparel and home -- will report to Fleming. He will also have responsibility for two newly created organizations, one focused on the customer experience and the other on planning, pricing and replenishment. The fifth division -- pharmacy and optical -- will continue reporting to Bill Simon, EVP of professional services and new business development. Simon reports to Eduardo Castro-Wright, Wal-Mart CEO. "As we enter year two, our focus will extend to merchandise assortment and marketing execution on the findings we identified in our customer research," said Castro-Wright. "I have a lot of confidence in the talent now charged with moving the company to the next level." Before heading up the Wal-Mart Stores U. S. marketing operation, Fleming grew Walmart.com into one of the country's top three destinations for online shopping. He spent 19 years with the department stores division (Dayton Hudson and Marshall Fields) of Target. In other merchandise changes, Doug Degn, EVP of food, consumables and hardlines, has decided to retire. He will stay on for several months to help in the transition. Claire Watts, EVP of merchandising, will now lead the apparel merchandising area and report to Fleming. Stephen Quinn is being promoted to EVP and CMO, replacing Fleming. Quinn joined the company in 2005 as senior vice president of marketing. Before coming to Wal-Mart he spent 13 years with the Frito-Lay division of Pepsico, most recently as chief marketing officer. Quinn will report to Castro-Wright. Carter Cast, CEO of Walmart.com, will now report to Castro- Wright.
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| Media Markets & Money TM |
Saga moves one out to move one in
Lowell Davey's noncom Bible Broadcasting Network is picking up WQEL-FM Bucyrus OH gratis from Franklin Communications Inc., a subsidiary of Ed Christian's Saga Communications. The donation in contingent on approval to move WQEL-FM to Richwood OH, which will replace Saga's WJZK-FM as it attempts to move closer to its Columbus OH radio station cluster. The target city of license for WJZK-FM is said to be Grandview Heights, but the document filed at the FCC left it open to consider an alternate town upon which to hang the station's hat. The BIAfn Radio Yearbook 2006 already identifies WJZK-FM as a marginal Columbus signal, so it should not face any cap problems when contemplating upgrade possibilities.
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| Washington Media Business Report TM |
Everything is food, food, food
The Nilsson tune we just referenced, from the Popeye movie, doesn't figure to be a big hit at this meeting. The FCC will be just one of many participants in the Media and Childhood Obesity Task Force, along with a wide variety of associations, food companies, watchdogs and medical groups. Advertising will be the key focal point of the group, which has scheduled its first meeting for Valentine's Day, Wednesday, 2/14/07. Two US Senators are participating, Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sam Brownback (R-KS and announced candidate for the presidency). Three FCC Commissioners are also participating: Chairman Kevin Martin, Deborah Taylor Tate and Michael Copps. Tate, who has unofficially claimed the 8th Floor point when it comes to childhood issues, said, "I am elated that so many diverse stakeholders will be participating in this timely and important Task Force. The overwhelming response from family groups, health experts, food and beverage companies, as well as the media and advertising industry, clearly indicates that we all recognize childhood obesity as a societal problem. Government cannot and should not be responsible for solving every societal problem; however, this affects not only our nation's health but our budget as well." Despite the participation of the commissioners, this is not an FCC event, and the venue has not yet been announced.
| List of participating organizations here |
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| Entertainment Media Business Report TM |
Bonneville's Washington Post Radio signs Kornheiser
 After a bidding war, Bonneville International signed sports columnist/ESPN commentator Tony Kornheiser yesterday to host a three-year midmorning show on its Washington Post Radio's AM and FM outlets in DC. Kornheiser, hosted a morning program on CC Radio Sports talker WTEM-AM DC until last year, when he left to become an announcer on ESPN's Monday Night Football. "The Tony Kornheiser Show" will debut 2/20 and air live on weekdays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., with a repeat airing immediately afterward. Others in the bidding war were Clear Channel and Red Zebra Broadcasting principal Dan Snyder.
WCSX previews HD2 Deep Trax channel
This weekend, WCSX-FM Detroit takes listeners deep into the Classic Rock music vault as they preview their HD multicast station, WCSX Deep Trax. The WCSX Deep Trax Free Weekend will kick off Saturday at 12noon and continue all weekend through Sunday night, commercial free. "Deep Trax" features the lesser heard gems from deep within the classic albums. WCSX Deep Trax delivers enormous variety with virtually no repetition and even fewer interruptions.
RBR observation: Most larger markets like Detroit have enough stations, where if all were multicasting, the end result could be a very competitive format offering to satellite. If the main formats folks (especially the 18-34 group) have jumped over to satellite are replicated for free in many markets, it may make them reconsider paying 12.95 a month for what they could get for free. Good format examples we've already seen include WCSX's Deep Trax format; WIYY-FM Baltimore's HD-3 Indie Rock format and WXKB-FM Ft. Myers' Reggae Hits HD-2 format. There are plenty of good examples out there, they just all need to be in the Top 50 markets. A simulcast of an AM sister station is not going to cut it.
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| Internet Media Business Report TM |
Yahoo's search ad system to release 2/5
Yahoo is anticipating a rapid adoption from advertisers for its new search advertising system (codenamed Project Panama) aimed to compete with Google's highly successful AdWords system. Yahoo CEO Terry Semel said Yahoo is prepared to begin the commercial rollout of the new system on 2/5, earlier than anticipated. "I'm happy to report that we have successfully transitioned the large majority of our revenue to the new search system known as Project Panama," Semel told investors during a conference call. He was also quoted by Reuters as saying said existing search ad customers would be converted to the new system by the end of Q1.
RBR observation: Should we speculate Project Panama has already been courting traditional media behind the scenes (like Google Audio/Google Radio) and might surprise announce a major inventory deal with radio? If their take is significantly less than Google's 50% on these inventory deals, they may have a decent shot!
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| Ratings & Research |
Broadband changing dynamics of ad business
 Nielsen Analytics released a new report revealing advertisers and television programmers are finding new and more lucrative ad opportunities with broadband video. The study also determined that the use of broadband video actually extends the reach of traditional TV, and that broadband consumers are young, affluent, highly educated, and tend to have high speed web access virtually 24/7, making it an integral part of their lifestyle.
| Read More... |
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| Transactions |
1.75M WLIR-FM Nassau-Suffolk (Hampton Bays NY) from Jarad Broadcasting of Hampton Bays LLC (John Caracciolo, Jed R. Morey, Ronald J. Morey) to BusinessTalkradio.net Inc. (B. Michael Pisani, Frank Lazauskas, Michael Metter). 150K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WBZB-FM, coming from same seller in concurrent transaction. [File date 12/27/06.]
1.75M WBZB-FM Nassau-Suffolk (Westhampton NY) from Jarad Broadcasting of Westhampton LLC (John Caracciolo, Jed R. Morey, Ronald J. Morey) to BusinessTalkradio.net Inc. (B. Michael Pisani, Frank Lazauskas, Michael Metter). 150K escrow, balance in cash at closing. Duopoly with WLIR-FM, coming from same seller in concurrent transaction. [File date 12/27/06.]
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| Stock Talk |
Records fall again
Stock prices moved up Wednesday as strong quarterly reports from Yahoo! and Sun Microsystems restored investor confidence in the tech sector. The Dow Industrials rose 88 points, or 0.7%, to a record close of 12,622.
Radio stocks rode the wave. The Radio Index hit a year-to-date high, rising 0.538, or 0.3%, to 159.094. That is nowhere near an all-time record, but the highest our index has been since May 16, 2006. There were no big movers for the day. Salem rose 1.5%, Fisher and Journal each rose 1.3%.
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| Radio Stocks |
Here's how stocks fared on Wednesday
| Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
Company |
Symbol |
Close |
Change |
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Arbitron
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ARB
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45.82
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+0.35
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Journal Comm.
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JRN
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13.31
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+0.17
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Beasley
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BBGI
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9.11
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-0.18
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Lincoln Natl.
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LNC
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66.76
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+0.71
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| CBS CI. B |
CBS |
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31.34
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-0.26
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Radio One, Cl. A
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ROIA
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7.44
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+0.02
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| CBS CI. A |
CBSa |
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31.37
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-0.22
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Radio One, Cl. D
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ROIAK
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7.46
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+0.01
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| Citadel |
CDL |
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10.32 |
+0.03 |
Regent
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RGCI
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3.09
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-0.02
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Clear Channel
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CCU
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37.19
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+0.14
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Saga Commun.
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SGA
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9.84
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+0.03
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Cox Radio
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CXR
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15.65
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+0.07
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Salem Comm.
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SALM
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11.67
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+0.17
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Cumulus
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CMLS
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10.45
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+0.10
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Sirius Sat. Radio
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SIRI
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3.75
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-0.03
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Disney
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DIS
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35.35
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-0.23
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Spanish Bcg.
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SBSA
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4.10
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+0.01
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Emmis
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EMMS
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8.71
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+0.08
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SWMX
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SMWX
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1.70
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-0.05
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| Entercom |
ETM
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28.20
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-0.04
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Univision
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UVN
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35.89
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-0.01
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Entravision
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EVC
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7.85
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+0.04
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Westwood One
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WON
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7.09
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+0.01
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Fisher
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FSCI
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44.44
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+0.55
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XM Sat. Radio
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XMSR
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14.29
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-0.11
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Hearst-Argyle
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HTV
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25.98
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-0.26
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-
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Bounceback
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 We want to
hear from you.
This is your column, so send your comments and
a photo to [email protected]
Regarding the KDND-FM Sacramento "Hold Your Wee for a WII" contest...
 Where was the filtering process in all of this? And, where was the GM in all of this? Gone are the days, one can only assume, that during the department head meeting when various promotion ideas are introduced by the PD/OM to the other department heads and the GM to discuss station image, calendar availability, sponsorship/co-sponsorship, logistics, execution, personnel needs, pros & cons if not a little common sense feedback from the other department heads with final approval coming from the GM. It is during this 'filtering' process, (assuming the department heads take their jobs seriously and the GM understands that protecting the license is his/her primary responsibility), where the weaknesses and/or strengths of any promotion idea begins to come into focus. Once the critiquing begins, the promotion is evaluated, thrown out, approved or sent back for re-thinking with some suggestions attached. However it turns out, 4-5 different managers will have taken a levelheaded look at the big picture and voiced their opinions and/or concerns. I will be shocked if this particular promotion went through the above described or similar process. Which is why it has to be asked, "Where was the GM in all of this"?
Rodney H. Rainey
RadioMetrix Solutions
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Below the Fold
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Ad Business Report
Another hungry mouth?
"Marketing through mobile phones is poised to...
Media Business Report
Wal-Mart revamping
Reorganization of its US marketing & merchandising areas...
Media Markets & Money
Saga moves one out
To move one in is picking up FMer Bucyrus OH...
Ratings & Research
Broadband changing
Dynamics of ad business...
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Stations for Sale
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Pacific Northwest
2FM & 1AM
$795K and $650K w/terms
Two markets, discount for all-cash
MCH Enterprises: 805.543.3466
www.mchentinc.com
Market your Stations For Sale
in our daily epapers.
Contact June Barnes
[email protected]
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Radio Media Moves
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Brooks good to Go
Triad Broadcasting has promoted Michael Brooks to Market Manager of its Go Radio Broadcasting cluster of six stations in the Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN market, succeeding Nancy Odney, who recently resigned. Brooks had been Director of Sales for the cluster.
Winters heads north
Al Winters has joined Greater Media as morning driver of Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJZZ-FM Philadelphia. He was most recently morning host and music director of WLVE-FM Miami.
Mass gets morning call
Jimmy Mass has been named producer of The Wall Street Journal This Morning radio program, overseeing production of the show which is syndicated to more than 100 stations nationwide. Mass, who has held a number of positions at the Wall Street Journal Radio Network, will also oversee production of The Wall Street Journal This Weekend.
Butler joins Salem
Long-time Detroit broadcaster Jay Butler is the new afternoon host during "FaithTalk Afternoons" on WLQV-AM Detroit, owned by Salem Communications."Jay Butler is an icon in Detroit radio and will be a great asset as we take a leadership role in Christian talk for this region," said Chris MacCourtney, General Manager of WLQV and Salem Detroit.
Upped at Reach
Reach Media named Melody Talkington to VP/Affiliate Relations, working with the Tom Joyner Morning Show's 120 affiliates, handling affiliation sales, marketing and relations and will play a key strategic role in identifying ways for the company and its affiliates to build on the success of the show through audience growth, improved ratings and increased revenue. "Mel already has played an important and integral role in our Affiliate Relations department and helping to launch the Syndication One talk network," said Oscar Joyner, president of Reach.
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More News Headlines
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Murdoch on fringes of Tribune bidding
Our headline is a lot more accurate than what you may be seeing elsewhere, since it doesn't look like News Corporation actually wants any Tribune Company assets, but is participating in the Chandler family bid for potential mutual advantage. As first reported by the Financial Times, Rupert Murdoch is working with the Chandler family in their bid for the purpose of having Tribune's New York Newsday combine back office and operational functions with the New York Post, owned by News Corp., to save costs for both.
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RBR Radar 2006
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Radio News you won't read any where else. RBR--First, Accurate, and Independently Owned.
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PPM rollout moves on to NYC
Philadelphia is up and running and now Arbitron says it has begun recruiting panelists and installing equipment for its Portable People Meter rollout in New York and its imbedded metros, Nassau-Suffolk and Middlesex-Somerset-Union. PPM is scheduled to launch in those three markets on September 20th.
RBR observation: Arbitron still has a long way to go in signing up stations for PPM in New York. The announcement proudly proclaimed that Arbitron has signed contracts with five broadcasters who own 13 stations in the New York market - CBS, Emmis, SBS, Buckley and The New York Times. There are quite a few more stations that that in New York, including some substantial clusters owned by Clear Channel and Univision, to name just two. Arbitron says the 13 who are signed up account for over 50% of ad billings in the market, but that still leaves nearly half unaccounted for. The ratings company says national ad agencies accounting for more than 90% of national radio ad spending in the New York market are PPM subscribers. Now the Real Work Begins as Arbitron has a long Road ahead.
01/24/07 RBR #16
CC Radio shopper's guide:
Still plenty left
Clear Channel Radio has thus far announced sales of its stations in 17 markets from the original list of markets to be divested, which totaled 448 stations in smaller markets deemed non-strategic for the company. But that still leaves 73 markets up for grabs.
RBR observation: Not included in this list are the stations to be divested in larger markets where grandfathered combinations that exceed current FCC local ownership limits cannot be transferred intact as the company is taken private. Our sources say the company is not even talking with potential buyers about those stations yet. We do hear that the online due diligence site for qualified bidders seeking the smaller market stations has opened, so potential buyers, including those who attended the recent session for minority and female broadcasters, can now get down to the nitty gritty of bidding. RBR has the updated shopping list see
01/23/07 RBR #15
Special Report
Traffic systems evolving Prt 2
Discussion continues with your Traffic system and today we focus in on How is EDI integrated into this system?
01/23/07 RBR #15
XM lawsuit to Proceed
A federal judge in New York has refused to throw out a lawsuit by major record labels claiming copyright infringement by XM Satellite Radio, specifically its new receivers tied to mp3 recorders.
RBR observation: Think this doesn't matter to AM and FM stations? Think again. The record labels have long sought to collect performance royalties from broadcasters and have been repeatedly rebuffed by Congress. In this case, the record labels are trying to do an end-run around Congress to get the courts to rewrite the AHRA because the labels don't like the terms they agreed to in 1992. If they succeed in their attempt to collect additional payments from XM (Sirius has already agreed to pay), their lawyers will be ready to go after broadcasters for HD Radio receivers with digital recording devices included. It is only slightly reassuring that Judge Batts differentiated between "free radio" and "private radio broadcasts" in her ruling. Her basic belief that a radio/mp3 device is not the same as a radio/cassette device is just plain wrong. The technology has improved, but the legal right of consumers to make recordings for their own use is still protected by law.
01/22/07 RBR #14
Special Report: Traffic systems evolving to meet industry needs
RBR's annual report on the latest product upgrades, along with addressing a lineup of important issues agencies and broadcasters are concerned about. We discuss and investigate the who's who in Traffic. This annual Report is for to make your decisions one step easier.
01/22/07 RBR #14
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