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by Tom Taylor | tom@in3media.com | 609.883.3321
Monday, May 11th 2009
More CBS cuts?
 Where will CBS Radio find $80 million in cost savings this year?
That’s the amount Leslie Moonves pledges to cut at both radio and TV, and squeezing out $80 million in costs from radio somehow sounds more drastic than the $80 million that’s coming out of Moonves’ beloved TV division. Moonves told his Q1 call that “we have taken the opportunity to re-structure our programming and talent costs across the board.” Unlike Clear Channel with its two massive waves of cuts on January 20 and April 28, CBS has ordered layoffs on an ongoing basis. Overall, Moonves joins the “things have stopped getting worse” crowd, whose voices include Rupert Murdoch. CBS expects third and fourth quarters to be better, and Moonves offered what Wachovia analyst Marci Ryvicker calls “somewhat bullish” guidance, for full-year 2009. Back to radio specifically, CFO Fred Reynolds says margins could start getting really healthy again – “If we get any growth in revenue, you’re going to see margins come back to their historical norm…because we made fundamental changes in how we operate our business. Not just laying off a clerk here, a clerk there.” Didn’t know CBS Radio employed any “clerks”, did you?
 TV Newsday reports that news, and concludes that means “the board has no one in the wings” and that the association will “have to muddle through for several months while the committee finds, vets and hires a new boss.” T-R-I has speculated that it will be this Fall before there’s somebody permanently in charge, and I’m sticking to that. Meanwhile, former NAB Radio Board member Ray Lockhart tells me that Rehr “was in a tough position, at an NAB dominated by TV Board members who want everything done their way and they want it down right now...In my time on the NAB board, there were only a small handful of radio members who would stand up to the TV demands and back them down.” Lockhart says in those days “the battle cry was ‘TV screws it up and radio, with its grassroots knowledge, fixes it’, and it was so true. We radio members knew our Congressional representatives and our Senators and could talk to them on a first-name basis.” Lockhart wouldn’t mind seeing the radio part of the NAB membership break away – and he’s not the first radio executive to suggest that recently. Ray says “the next NAB head had better come from within the industry”, and he suggests Radio EVP John David as “an excellent choice…just what the NAB needs to smooth over the ruffled feathers.”
BIA says radio and TV did $805 million in online business in ’08.
This is the kind of stuff that will come up at next week’s Winning Media Strategies conference in D.C. (May 20-22) – the estimated $342 million for radio-created online revenue and $463 million for TV. BIA Advisory Services says that’s 7.3% of the $11 billion local online advertising money spent in 2008, as calculated by its Kelsey Group subsidiary. BIA’s Mark Fratrik says “We see a compounded annual growth rate of 18.6% for online broadcasting advertising over the 2008-2013 period.” And that’s the challenge. Fratrik says “it’s even more important for broadcasters to continue to step-up their mobile and Internet offerings” given what’s ailing traditional revenue sources. More about the “Winning Media Strategies” confab, for radio, TV and newspaper operators with speakers like Jeff Smulyan of Emmis and former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley, here.
WRNO, New Orleans helps the cops find a suicidal caller.
The despondent man called during a break in local host Michael Castner’s show. He hung up while Castner was calling the police, but when his mic was live again, the talkhost asked the man to call back – “without disclosing the situation to other listeners”, says the NOLA.com site. Fortunately, the man did call back, and WRNO (99.5) program director Jim Fisher spent what he calls “a surreal moment” in his life, talking with the depressed caller for the next hour. He elicited enough personal information – and the fact that he was driving a van and had a gun – for the police to locate him. Everybody’s okay.
L.A.’s Kevin & Bean go national starting today, with Westwood.
Not a surprise that CBS would choose longtime partner Westwood One for the syndication. Its Senior VP Max Krasny says the 15-year KROQ-FM morning show “is one of the strongest and most engaging acts in radio.” KROQ-based Kevin Weatherly (a Senior VP/Programming for CBS) says “it’s time to unleash them on the rest of the country.” Modern rock avatar KROQ (106.7) has sprung plenty of syndication talent on the country before, and in this case Kevin Ryder and Gene “Bean” Baxter are already filling some of the shoeprints left by Adam Carolla. Their show’s being heard in Phoenix (on KEDJ/103.9), Reno (KRZQ/100.9) and Fresno (KFRF/104.1). “Bean” (Baxter) says “we never got to do a morning show in places like Fresno and Reno on the way up” and jokes that “we are thrilled to have the chance on the way down.” He’s referring to what Hollywood calls “the origin story.” Ryder and Baxter were pals in the late 1980s but had never worked together on the same show. They conceptualized a new morning show as a team, did a demo reel – and got hired in L.A. Their main limitation in syndication is the same thing that affects the potential for all West coast-based talent from L.A.’s “Big Boy’s Neighborhood” to Bob “T-Man” Tepper in Seattle – the time zone difference with all those potential outlets back in the Eastern and Central time zones.
 
The NHL Pittsburgh Penguins get a full-time HD-2 channel from “The X.”
That’s Clear Channel’s modern rocker WXDX (105.9), and the team’s Dave Soltesz says they’re “excited to be the first [pro] team to venture into the world of 24/7 HD Radio.” Some of the programming will be a live and local daily show, some will be the NHL’s own daily “NHL Live” and league commissioner Gary Bettman’s weekly “NHL Hour.” The X’s new HD-2 channel will dip into the Penguins’ archives and also offer the games of its minor league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Bob Snyder of Beason Broadcast Partners has been working with the franchise on its broadcasting plans. WXDX recently signed a six-year renewal to keep the “Pens” on the X. The NFL Dallas Cowboys will also get extensive coverage on an HD Radio channel of Dallas flagship KRLD-FM (105.3).
Citadel’s first-quarter revenues dropped 23%, but it stays within lender covenants for 2009.
2010 is another story – Citadel uses the “D” word (default) for what could happen early in 2010. It says “based on the current economic and capital markets and the continuing decline in radio revenues, the company anticipates that it will be difficult” to meet its lender requirements in 2010. And that alarm-bell starts early, on January 15. Citadel staved off immediate danger with a March 31 amendment to its credit agreement. There were harsh terms, including a requirement that if it happens to have more than $30 million in cash, it must transfer the excess into a cash collateral account for the benefit of its lenders. Even more daunting, by January 15, it must have $150 million of available cash. And there are some even scarier numbers out there – At the end of the first quarter, Citadel was carrying $2 billion in debt.
Citadel revenue is down $47 million as of March 31.
Local revenue was off $27.3 million and national $19.6 million. Broken out another way, the radio station division was $30.3 million softer than the year before, and the former ABC Radio Networks was off $17.4 million. The radio stations now contribute 82% of Citadel’s revenue and the network 18% (down from 22% a year earlier). On the network side (now known as Citadel Media), Citadel no longer has Sean Hannity, but it also no longer has to pay him. Clear Channel’s Premiere does, and it now comps (pays guaranteed compensation) to Citadel for keeping him on its big-market stations. Another revenue change - Paul Harvey's no longer in the stable. Lots more interesting stuff in the Citadel 10-Q filing, here.
Will Citadel hit its numbers repping ESPN Radio Network, and be able to renew it?
Citadel Media signed a two-year deal when it closed the Disney deal on June 12, 2007 and that will renew automatically – but only "if certain sales levels are achieved as of June 2009.” If not, Citadel tells the SEC “the parties would need to negotiate any extension.” And at this moment in time, Citadel “cannot determine whether the Radio Network will achieve the required sales level” for automatic renewal. That brings up questions about whether the folks in Bristol might want to go it alone, or perhaps swing over to a new partner. Even if there’s a renewal, the terms may be less favorable to Citadel. Taylor’s Law Of Recent Deals is in full force here – any deals done in the last two-three years probably look too expensive by the light of the ad depression of 2008-2009. Three years ago, Entercom's David Field eagerly pursued the ABC radio properties to the very end, right up to the point where Citadel’s Farid Suleman agreed to accept a “collar” on the deal. Think Entercom’s now happy it came in second in the auction?
 
With a 12% revenue drop in first quarter, Regent’s not the most badly-hit public company.
Compared to many of its peers, Regent’s 12.3% decline doesn’t look so horrible. One number that does look a bit scary is the net loss of $32.5 million. But if you dig a little, you see that’s almost entirely due to the non-cash impairment charge of $31.8 million taken on the market value of station licenses. Actual revenues fell from $20,833,000 to $18,263,000 for January-February-March. CEO Bill Stakelin says they were successful in reducing costs and in growing the Interactive segment (something you’ll hear from every CEO in this cycle). And Stakelin, a former head of the Radio Advertising Bureau, reminds you that actual listening has remained strong. And of course Regent’s mostly in small and medium markets, which is a plus on the revenue side right now. Back on the balance sheet, station operating income remains in the black, but falls from $6 million to $4.4 million. Regent stock (“RGCI”) gained 3 cents to close at 19 cents. Read its latest quarterly report here.
Rush Limbaugh gets an endorsement from Dick Cheney and a swipe from Wanda Sykes.
Rush was always closer to the Veep than to Bush 43 – and on yesterday’s “Meet the Press”, Cheney said that when it comes to being a Republican today, he’d take Rush over General Colin Powell. Cheney observed that since Powell endorsed Obama in the 2008 campaign, he should “close the loop and become a Democrat.” Cheney’s remarks will please the movement-Republican fans and certainly won’t hurt Limbaugh’s popularity. Two more thoughts on where Limbaugh stands today, and the first comes from Eric Boehlert of Media Matters. Boehlert (“BOWL-ert”) says Clear Channel-owned Premiere screwed up, business-wise, by offering Rush a 40% raise (another $14 million a year) when it did his eight-year $400 million renewal. One angle Boehlert misses in his jeremiad – that Clear Channel’s alleged over-payment of Limbaugh led immediately to the Sean Hannity deal, which also wasn’t exactly cheap. Premiere’s Charlie Rahilly might well reply that both talent signings were defensible and good business, even in today’s economy. Meanwhile - comedian Wanda Sykes’ jokes about Rush at Saturday night’s White House Correspondent Dinner drew smiles from President Obama, but criticism on the Sunday morning TV shows and the blogosphere. ABC News reports that Sykes kicked around Limbaugh’s famous hope that Obama’s policies fail. She jested that Limbaugh sounds like Osama bin Laden on that one, and says “I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin, he missed his flight." Not everybody laughed on that one.
No new Winter Arbitrons – but here are the highlights from London and Paris.
I regularly give Chris Huff titles like “ratings maven” and “ratings scholar”, and indeed, his passion for this stuff doesn’t stop at the U.S. border. He’s got the latest ratings from the UK and Paris. re: the UK - “In the Rajar sticker diary-based ratings for London (population 10,784,000, persons 15+), BBC 4 and its ‘speech-based news and current affairs’ format remains at the top, although it is off slightly (17.5-16.7). Among commercial outlets, Hot AC Heart 106.2 (5.0-5.9) rises to take back the crown from AC Magic 105.4 (6.0-5.7).” Read the Press Gazette coverage here. And in Paris? “RTL holds onto #1 (13.1-1.3). But France Inter sees a nice jump from the Fall of 10.4-12.0, for a solid second-place finish.” More about the Paris numbers here.
» Buzzing on the Boards
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At least one sponsor of the Jay Severin show on WTKK, Boston (96.9) has pulled its ads, says the Boston Board at Radio-Info.com. The Boston Globe reports the Retailers Association of Massachusetts says "If he comes back on [after the current suspension], we're not spending any money with him...we don't want to be associated with him." Another client who's used Jay successfully in the past says his attitude about Mexicans and swine flu "gives us pause." If Greater Media really does want to cut Severin loose from his contract, citing defections by advertisers is one way to help justify it. Check the latest on the Boston Board. 
Miami’s “Ticket” debuts a new morning team, trades Sporting News Radio for ESPN, and shakes up the rest of the day, too. The Miami Herald reports that Sid Rosenberg’s former morning shift will be occupied by noon-3pm talker Jorge Sedano, now partnered with Krystal Fernandez. They’ll be followed by ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd, doing battle with rival Neil Rogers at Beasley’s WQAM (560). Manager Howard Davis of Lincoln Financial Media’s “Ticket” WAXY (790) says the move to plug in the syndicated Cowherd isn’t about saving money – “our competition is not running sports at that time.” Meaning general-topic talkmeister Neil Rogers. Here’s the rest of the Ticket’s daytime roster – PD Steve White (who’s been filling in on mornings) plus Dan Le Batard. Jon Weiner, still doing 3-7p. While former 10am-noon host Jonathan Zaslow will devolve back to weekends and fill-ins. The Miami board’s talking it over now.
Ken Malden dies at 83, after launching sports talk radio in Miami on a long-ago night show. He was 83 and was cut loose at Beasley’s WQAM (560) just last year. The Herald says Ken (born Milton Harold Tokson in Malden, Massachusetts) had the good timing to arrive in the Miami market in 1959, as the great influx of Cuban residents hit south Florida. He covered that event as a newsman at then-WGBS radio and eventually became the PD there.
» Wheeling & Dealing
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In Canada’s market #8, Winnipeg, Evanov Communications wins approval for a new commercial FM operation at 106.1. That’s important, because in August it was okayed for a new license in Winnipeg, but not for the 104.7 frequency it originally applied for. In such cases, the CRTC regulator gives applicants three months to identify a new frequency, and Evanov found one with even more power than the 104.7 – 106.1 would have 40-kw instead of 6.5-kw. But Native Communication objected that 106.1 would interfere with its third-adjacent CICY in Selkirk at 105.5. In the U.S. that might carry more weight at the FCC. But Canada lets Evanov promise that it will “correct any inference in a timely and cost-effective manner” – and he wins the frequency. It’s that same third-adjacent protection that Low Power FM advocates want to strip away from full-power stations in the U.S. – with the NAB and others protesting that such an exemption would create a Swiss cheese coverage pattern for full-power stations.
» Sound Bites
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The case of slain ABC News Radio anchor George Weber is getting ugly. He’s being called “a sexual predator” who plied a 16-year-old boy with coke and vodka, and is responsible for the chain of events that led him to be cut more than 50 times with a knife and killed, during a weekend rendezvous at his Brooklyn apartment. As the New York Daily News says, it’s a case of the attorney (for teen John Katehis) blaming the victim. Weber and the teen met online. Some folks want to also blame Craigslist for creating the space for Weber to make the assignation for rough sex. In a posting on his own blog (not specifically referencing the Weber case) Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster points out that potential criminals were trolling newspaper classified ads long before there was an Internet.
Clear Channel’s been doing a classic rock format in Milwaukee named “The Brew” since 2004 – and now there’s a “Brew” in Portland, Oregon. The station is “Kool 105.9” KQOL, Vancouver, WA and it’s rockin’ more than it did when it was classic hits.
When a Las Vegas cop died following a domestic disturbance call last Thursday, Clear Channel-Las Vegas did a speedy turnaround and produced a fund-raiser over the weekend, working with representatives of the Injured Police Officers Fund. More from KNTV-TV here.
Woody Nelson’s “Rocket Radio” rock format is on the air at KORC in Waldport, Oregon (820). That’s the station Larry Profitt has been trying to sell, and he may have succeeded in doing so. For now, the Oregon Board at Radio-Info.com says the former adult standards is rockin’ out in the small coastal town of Waldport. It’s the second affiliate for Rocket Radio. The Oregon Board’s talking about it now.
East of Reno, standalone KHWG, Fallon, Nevada is off due to a transmitter fire. Fallon’s near the “Top Gun” Naval aviation training center, and its classic country “Mighty 750” isn’t feeling so mighty right now. The Lahonton Valley News has a pretty ominous-looking picture of a window-mounted air conditioning unit sitting on the ground beside a blistery and charred-looking wall. Owner and manager Dee Gregory hopes the station also known as “K-Hog” will be back on later this week. The cause of the fire appears to be embers from a controlled burn that jumped to the radio station building.
“Good Day! The Paul Harvey Story” is the self-explanatory title of what Paul Batura tells me is “a new [the first] exhaustive biography on the late, great Paul Harvey.” Paul died February 28, and this was a speedy job by Colorado Springs-based Batura. The publisher of “Good Day!” is Regnery and the release date is next Monday, May 18. There’s a preview now on Amazon, here. Batura tells T-R-I “it’s a pleasure to celebrate one of America’s good guys.”
» Faces on the Radio
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Brian Holmes is apparently Clear Channel “Premium Choice” material with his nighttime CHR “Freak Show.” Brian tells me “this is a very exciting time for ‘Holmes & the Freak Show’, having just hit our 14th #1 18-34 overall book in a row at WSNX, Grand Rapids (104.5). We were also #1 25-44 overall. Now my sights are sight on the top spots in Toledo and Laurel-Hattiesburg, as well.” The Freak Show is added at Clear Channel’s “92.5 Kiss FM” WVKS, Toledo and “SL 100” WNSL, Laurel-Hattiesburg, immediately. “Holmes & the Freak Show” is also on Clear Channel-programmed “Kiss XM 21” for a couple of hours, on the XM Satellite Radio lineup.
Tom Scott resigns from Clear Channel’s Williamsport, PA cluster after nine years of duty. He’s been the OM/PD at “Country Bill 95.5” WBYL, hot AC “Kiss 102.7” WKSB and CHR “Variety 97.7” WVRT. Tom tells me he had a rewarding time in Williamsport, and he anticipates with pleasure the chance to enjoy some time off before relocating his family to central Virginia.
Danielle Patacky, who’s been promotions manager at Westwood One, is the latest Westwood alumnus/alumna to join former Westwood CEO Peter Kosann at Compass Media Networks. She’ll be Director of Marketing & Affiliate Sales for Sports – meaning she’ll be saying the word “football” a great deal. Compass is about to announce specifics of its NFL offerings, and it’s planning a slate of college games. While she was at Westwood, Patacky did event management and marketing for the ACM Awards Radio Row product, the BET Music Awards, the Grammys, the Super Bowl, and the NCAA Final Four remotes.
Valerie Smaldone emails to say that one of her next post-WLTW, New York ventures is “teaching a course at the School of Visual Arts in New York City entitled ‘Becoming an Internet Radio Star.'” It runs five weeks and begins in June. More here.
Simon Pontin says goodbye to classical WXXI, Rochester, NY (91.5) on Friday – after 33 years there, mostly as the host of the morning “Sunshine Show” and “Salmagundy.” The 68-year-old is taking a buyout as the station looks to reduce costs. More at the Buffalo-Rochester Board at Radio-Info.com.
Al Risen dies, prompting the Kentucky Board at Radio-Info.com to recall the accomplishments of a jock who worked at some of Louisville’s great stations (WAKY, WKLO among them) and then later at Nashville’s WKDA and WSM. He hosted a syndicated show based at WSM. Later he worked in Florida, and it’s the Daytona Beach News-Journal which reports his death.
The T-R-I Quote of the Day is from Tom Leykis – “How many people would show up to the events [hosted] by a voice track?” Leykis (“LIKE-us”) is still being paid by CBS Radio’s KLSX, Los Angeles (97.1) but hasn’t been on the air since the station became CHR “Amp.” The Orange County Register’s Gary Lycan reports that Leykis just did a successful Cinco de Mayo party, even though he’s not on the air. Tom says “The turnout was huge…hundreds were there. It goes to prove that, while radio is the love of my life, it is now possible to do radio-type events without being attached to any particular station…Listeners are not loyal to radio stations as much as they are local to their favorite personalities…Speaking generally about broadcasting, I do not know how sales departments who have cut personalities out of their budgets can sell as much advertising as well as when they have live bodies to sell products and promote events. How many people would show up to the events promoted by a voice track?” - See you back tomorrow for the the next T-R-I newsletter - from Chicago-based in3media. Tom Taylor, at Tom@in3media.com.
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