by Tom Taylor | tom@in3media.com | 609.883.3321
Thursday, July 16th 2009
Who’s against “Fairness”?
 Pandora’s Tim Westergren wants radio to pay a performance right – out of fairness.
This T-R-I newsletter told you that Pandora’s leading a charmed life lately, and now its founder Tim Westergren seizes the moment to say that “We, along with the artists whose music we play, strongly support the establishment of a level playing field, a truly fair system, as articulated in the Performance Rights Act, H. R. 848.” He urges Pandora users to call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. No doubt some radio executives will read this and think “he’s got a lot of nerve.” It was’t that many years ago that the recording industry argued that Internet radio and satellite should pay a performance royalty precisely because they’re not like over-the-air radio. But now – it’s about “a level playing field.” The NAB still thinks it can hold the line in this 111th Congress. But Internet radio’s more of a competitor for AM/FM, thanks to the new streaming rates. And at least Pandora is now trying to raise the costs for broadcasters.
 It probably does’t mean much in the long run, but it gives conservative talk and Christian talk personalities more “Washington wants to control us” vibes. Obama’s against reviving the Fairness Doctrine for broadcast licensees and so is his new FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski. Also – such a requirement would probably fail a constitutional test. But then, so would the FCC’s 30-year-old indecency policy.
 Ed Stolz buys San Francisco’s “Energy 92.7” for $6.5 million.
Fans of the dance-music format are famously loyal (and worried), and they’ll read about this sale and get anxious about Stolz killing their format. But after reading through the sale contract at the FCC, I think that’s unlikely. Stolz’ Golden State Broadcasting is specifically buying the trademarks, intellectual property and continued right to use “KNGY” from the seller, Joe Bayliss-run Flying Bear Media. As for the station, it’s not a gorilla full-market signal, and this specialized format suits its coverage area very well. Energy is a Class A licensed to Alameda, and you can see its 60 dBu coverage map here. A quick stroll through the FCC database shows that Flying Bear won a construction permit to move the transmitter to the southwest, improving its coverage further down on the peninsula. That would change it from 3.6-kw at 420 feet to just 510 watts – but up at 1,112 feet. The way the dollars in the sale contract are laid out is interesting. Buyer Stolz puts $1 million into escrow now. If the deal doesn’t close by September 13 (just two months away), he’ll place the balance of $5.5 million into escrow. So he’ll have ponied up all the money, without actually closing. September 13 is also the date that he’ll begin LMAing Energy, in case the closing hasn’t occurred. (Ed's obviously itching to get into Energy.) Brokers are Media Venture Partners for seller Flying Bear and Michael Bergner for buyer Stolz.
 Greg doesn’t see the New York Times Company sale the way some other dealmakers do – “Univision thought it was worth $33.5 million to improve their signal. This doesn’t set the bar at $3 per person” for a big-market valuation that’s applicable to other deals. The Patrick Communications broker tells me “You’ve got two separate valuations – what Univision valued the deal at to upgrade their signal, which is about $9 a person. To me that’s setting the market value of a commercial FM in New York” – not the $45 million that the New York Times is getting, in total. The other side of the deal is the Times taking the lesser 105.9 facility it got in trade from Univision and handing that to non-commercial WNYC for $11.5 million. I still think the Times had major, major qualms about any potential sale of its remaining radio station. It wants and needs the immediate cash (think pawnshop here). But it was desperate to avoid being characterized as crushing a cultural jewel. Several readers have asked this – “Why doesn’t WNYC form a separate company and operate WQXR at 105.9 as a commercial station, just as WFMT does in Chicago?” There are other angles to this important deal story –
“The New York Times could’ve gotten a lot more money” for WQXR.
This dealmaker tells me there were classical music/radio supporters who would’ve been interested in buying WQXR, New York (96.3) outright from the Times – and who thought it would take a lot more than the $11.5 million the Times sold it to WNYC for. But the Times management apparently bought into the “swap” scenario with Univision, and I’m told that Univision CFO Tim Ward is the guy who steered this thing into port. One of the many things we still don’t know is the terms. Will Univision pay $33 million cash at closing, or is the Times holding some seller paper? My bet is, the Times held out for cash, because that was its motivating factor. Among the other loose ends – how about WQXR’s translators in Stamford, CT, Asbury Park, NJ and Poughkeepsie, NY? Do they go along with the deal to WNYC, or stay with 96.3, the new home of “La Kalle”?
 Louisville’s talk scene just expanded, with WLRS dropping “everything that rocks.”
This is the second format adjustment at 105.1 since Dan Savadove’s Main Line Broadcasting bought Radio One’s Louisville stations in the Fall of 2007. First he shifted it from modern rock to active rock. Now Savadove’s turning off the stereo pilot light and plunging into the talk radio scene against powerhouses like Clear Channel’s WHAS (840). The new WLRS lineup drops the Metallica for talk with an edge, from this lineup – TRN’s Mancow (5-9am), Laura Ingraham (9am to noon) and Michael Savage (noon to 3pm). Then Premiere's Glenn Beck, 3-6pm. TRN's Jerry Doyle, 6-9pm, followed by its Monica Crowley, 9-10pm. Then Westwood's Jim Bohannon, 10pm-1am and TRN's Phil Hendrie, overnights from 1am to 5am. TRN’s Phil Boyce put six of his shows on WLRS and says “it’s my belief that every market can handle at least one FM talker, some maybe two, without hurting the ratings of the existing AM talker.” Boyce, the president of programming at TRN and of Talk Radio Network Syndications, clearly has more music-to-talk conversions in the oven. Louisville’s WLRS is a Class A licensed to Shepherdsville and its calls go back to the “Walrus” days of early album rock, when the Henson family operated WLRS at 102.3. The Kentucky Board of Radio-Info has been predicting that a music FM would flip in the River City for over a week (July 7 T-R-I newsletter). The Board quickly generated a couple of threads almost as soon as something happened after midnight Tuesday, when they heard Jim Bohannon’s voice. 
 Nielsen says sticker-diary sample sizes are running 40% above its target, in 51 markets.
Just to make sure Arbitron and Arbitron clients get the point about Nielsen’s intentions, it says “sample sizes were particularly high among 18-24 and 25-34 year olds." Those demos have been problems for Arbitron and all other researchers in recent years. Nielsen says the difference is its address-based sampling, which helps overcome the problems of reaching a population that’s increasingly going without landline phones. (As much as 20% of households, in some areas.) Again for Arbitron’s benefit, Nielsen says the average 139 index of returned diaries was working off a base that was already “projected to be twice as large as those previously available in the 51 markets.” That is – Arbitron. The highest over-sampling market in the list supplied by Nielsen is Shreveport, at 215, meaning that it's more than doubling its sample target. The other two-book-a-year Nielsen radio market is Huntsville, and it indexed at 131, meaning 31% higher return than the target. Westchester NY (105) and Bridgeport CT (112) were the lowest-ranking markets I spotted on the list. Nielsen did the field work for its first-ever modern radio ratings back in March and April, and will release the numbers (no exact schedule yet) sometime in August.
 This is Year Three of the very professional Summer curriculum put on at Boone’s Appalachian State University and named in honor of EZ Communications’ Art Kellar. Programming consultant Dan Vallie is the director of the program, and he’s imported a real-world teaching staff of group heads such as George Beasley and Don Curtis. Speakers include pros such as (alphabetically) Randall Bliss, Bob Bolak, Arroe Collins, Jack Daniel, Brian Freeman, Rick Jackson, Carly Laskey, Jonathan Mauney, Mick Mixon, Chase Murphy, Kent Pike, John Reynolds, Neal Sharpe, Sam Smith, Randi West and Bruce Wheeler. Tomorrow, WKZL, Winston-Salem’s Murphy in the Morning Show will originate from the Institute, and Monday, Brian Freeman of WSJS will anchor his “Triad’s First News” program live from Boone. The 15 students will also take field trips to the Charlotte-area Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Bank of America Stadium and the Time Warner Arena. The Kellar Radio Talent Institute runs July 13-22 – and good luck to ’em all.
 Canada’s Corus Radio reports revenues down 15%, profits down 35%.
Topline revenue for the division once run by American John Hayes dropped from $77 million a year earlier (using Canadian dollars) to $65.5 million. The latest Corus numbers cover the fiscal quarter that ended May 31, and show profits in the radio division falling 35% to $16.1 million. I don’t know exactly what Canadian financial regulators require in the way of periodic “impairment tests”, but Corus just conducted one – and writes the value of its radio assets down by a whopping $175 million. That turned what would’ve been a $10 million or so gain before taxes into a loss of nearly $165 million. The rest of Corus is faring better. TV revenue was off 1%, with subscriber growth up and “continued growth in advertising targeted to women.” For the entire company, revenues fell 6%, weighed down by radio. Toronto-based Corus trades on the New York Stock Exchange as CJR, and even with the drop-off in radio revenue, President/CEO John Cassaday talks about “our ratings strength in television and radio.” People are still watching, still listening. Corus probably tripped the censorship filters of some software around the world this week, when it announced it’s buying the specialty TV channels Drive-In Classics and (this is the one) SexTV from CTVglobemedia for $40 million. Wonder if there were extra volunteers to handle the due diligence on SexTV?
XM Canada, still competing with Sirius in Canada, grows its revenues 30%.
Their U.S. parents merged nearly a year ago, but the competition continues unabated in Canada, where XM Canada parent Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings is doing just fine, thank you very much. XM Canada says Edmonton is now its second biggest market for subscribers, behind Calgary. (The U.S. satellite operators have never disclosed which geographical areas were strongest for them.) XM Canada trades as “XSR” on the Toronto Exchange, and it holds a six-year license to operate through mid-2011. It offers a total of 130 channels to subscribers, including 13 Canada-specific ones produced at its studios in Toronto.
 Ross On Radio #10 – “The Rock of Boston rolls away” and Final Listens to WBCN and WKLU.
CBS is giving historians of rocker WBCN (104.1) a whole month (until August 13) to write up their appraisals and encomiums, and our Sean Ross says “to fully appreciate WBCN, you have to look at the rest of the market. Boston is where Roxy Music crossed over to Top 40…any eclecticism that endures in Boston owes something to the WBCN of 30 years ago.” He accords WBCN a Final Listen, and then does the same for Indianapolis’ “Oldies 101.9” WKLU. Sean says “WKLU has been not just one, but two of the most intriguing stations of the last five years.” If you’re already subscribed to the Tuesday and Thursday Ross On Radio email columns, the one coming today is a dandy. If you’re not receiving Ross On Radio – at no charge to you – just go here.
New York PPMs for June – WCBS-FM is the new #2. “92.3 Now” grows slowly.
Clear Channel had good news (AC “Lite” WTLW stays #1, age 6+ AQH share). CBS had good news – classic hits WCBS-FM is #2, with what ratings maven Chris Huff tells me is the highest topline share for 101.1 since Spring 1991. (Though we're mixing diary and PPM results.) And all-newser WCBS-AM rises 4.1 to 4.4 to 4.5 with the Yankees (“highest topline share for the 880 frequency since Summer 1983”, says Huff). Even Mega Media’s dancing “Pulse 87” WNYZ-LP is rising, 0.6 to 0.7 to 0.8. (Pulse is the station that’s the audio portion of a low power Channel 6 TV station.) But CBS is experiencing a slower liftoff with CHR in New York City than in L.A. Its “Now 92.3” WXRK has oodles of cume (over 2.6 million), but the share has gone 1.5 to 1.8 to another 1.8 since the April People Meter results. While minority broadcasters Inner City, Spanish Broadcasting System and Univision don’t get much encouraging news. Inner City’s urban WBLS has dropped 4.0 to 3.6 to 3.5. SBS-owned “Mega”, which was once top five in the diary, goes 3.7 to 3.5 to 3.5. Univision’s “La Kalle” WCAA – soon moving to a much more robust signal – runs 1.5 to 1.5 to 1.6. And the city’s two young-end hip-hip/urban rivals aren’t having a stellar Summer. Emmis’ Hot 97/WQHT has trended 3.2 to 3.4 to 3.1. Clear Channel’s “Power 105.1” WWPR-FM is dropping 3.4 to 3.2 to 2.9. See the New York City June PPM – cumes and shares – here. Talk about the Big Apple numbers and trends on the New York Board of Radio-Info.com.
 Los Angeles PPMs for June – CHR “Kiss” is still the king. “Amp” is tied for fourth place.
KIIS-FM has market-leading cume - over 3.6 million, age 6+ - and once again owns the top AQH share, going 4.9 to 5.3 to 5.0 since April. CBS competitor "Amp 97.1", with new calls of KAMP-FM, is now in fourth place with a 3.9, tied with sister classic hits KRTH (4.5 to 4.3 to 3.9). The top-ranking Spanish station is Univision's KLVE (3.4 to 3.9 to 3.8), at #6. Check out all the Los Angeles stations - both shares and cumes - on the Ratings Page of Radio-Info, here. The Los Angeles Board at Radio-Info.com has a bunch of topics goin’ on.
 Chicago PPMs – Cubs help WGN come home. Smooth jazz fans find a new home.
Tribune's talk WGN hustles past all-news WBBM-AM (5.3 to 5.5 to 5.2) into first place, advancing 5.3 to 5.0 to 6.1. Watch “True Oldies” WLS-FM – now fourth, growing 4.3 to 4.3 to 4.8. While sister WLS, doing talk, falls 4.8 to 4.3 to 4.0. And check out smooth jazz WLFM-LP, run by some former WNUA folks off the audio of a low power Channel 6 TV station – it’s gone from literally nowhere in April to a 0.1 in May and now a 0.9 in June, with the cume quadrupled. Meanwhile, the frequency that used to be smooth jazz WNUA became Spanish hot AC, and it’s gone 3.0 (doing jazz) 2.6 (switchover was May 22) and now a 2.0 (as Spanish “Mega 95.5”). Study the Chicago PPMs here. The Chicago Board at Radio-Info.com is here.
San Francisco PPMs – news/talk KGO cruises, soft AC KOIT claims second.
The cumes are interesting – KGO cumes literally half of KOIT’s 1,674,000 but tops it in age 6+ AQH share, 6.0 to 5.5. Country “Wolf” KBWF howls 2.9 to 2.8 to 3.7 – now ranked seventh. It’s interesting to see a country station beat urban KMEL (3.5) and rhythmic “Wild” KYLD (3.4). Chris Huff cracks open the history books to report that “3.7 is the highest topline share ever for the 95.7 frequency in San Francisco.” The San Fran numbers are here. The San Francisco Discussion Board is a lively place –
 Dallas PPMs – “Kiss” is tops.
Clear Channel CHR KHKS goes 5.6. to 5.4 to 6.0 since April. While CBS Radio’s classic hits KLUV makes a convincing climb (3.6 to 4.0 to 4.6) into third place, behind country “Wolf” KPLX (5.5 share this time). See the Dallas-Ft. Worth ratings on the Ratings Page, here. The Dallas Board at Radio-Info.com is fussing over all-sports “Fan” KRLD-FM – off to a sluggish 1.1 to 1.0 start.
Houston PPMs – Radio One’s urban pair is 1-2. “Hot” takes the CHR lead.
And by a bigger margin, too. Urban “Box” KBXX grows 6.7 to 6.8 to 7.8, age 6+. Chris Huff says “it’s the third time for KBXX to top Houston’s PPM, and both other times were summertime books.” Sister urban AC “Magic” KMJQ advances 7.0 to 7.3 to 7.6. In the CHR arena, Clear Channel’s “Hot 95.7” KKHH grows 3.8 to 4.3 to 4.5, past rival KRBE (5.0 to 4.8 to 4.3). Chris Huff tells T-R-I “I had to go back to Winter 1991 to find the last time KRBE fell to a direct format competitor – what was then-CHR KKBQ.” Scan the latest People Meter ratings from Arbitron here. The Houston Board of Radio-Info.com is here -
 Philadelphia PPMs – Watch out for classic rock WMGK.
Greater Media’s WMGK was #1 25-54 adults for the month. In the broader age 6+ sweep over the last three months, the trend sure is pretty-looking – 4.4 to 4.6 to 5.3. Of course this is Philadelphia, so Jerry Lee’s B101/WBEB is sitting up at #1, 7.3 to 7.4 to 7.1. Followed by all-news KYW, on a nice 5.8 to 6.0 to 6.3 run. That takes KYW past CBS sibling classic hits WOGL (6.7 to 6.4 to 6.2). Check the latest Philly ratings here. See the topics on the Philadelphia Board of Radio-Info.com here –
» Arbitrons June PPMs
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| 1. New York - 15,344,600 |
| 2. Los Angeles - 10,902,400 |
| 3. Chicago - 7,784,400 |
| 4. San Francisco - 5,969,400 |
| 5. Dallas-Ft. Worth - 4,973,000 |
| 6. Houston-Galveston - 4,639,000 |
| 8. Philadelphia - 4,352,800 |
Click on the city to review recently released PPM ratings. View a complete list of Arbitron markets here.
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» Buzzing on the Boards
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Mike O’Meara’s pending disappearance from the Westwood One talk lineup has the Sacramento board talking about that change, and the one at CBS-owned WJFK in Washington, D.C. O’Meara kept doing his local and syndicated show solo after Don Geronimo split from the longtime “Don & Mike” show, and now affiliates are getting 30-day cancellation notices. More on the Board.
"Sports Hub" WBZ-FM debuts August 13, and the Boston Board hopped on the topic of its talent lineup like NBA players chasing a loose ball on the floor. See the conversation (and participate) on the Board.
The Dance Board at Radio-Info.com – yes, there is one – is doing a dance over New York City’s “Pulse 87” being accepted as a reporter to Billboard. Pulse is the low power TV station that’s presenting itself as an FM music station and is being recognized by Arbitron as part of the FM dial. Now – recognition from Billboard.
» Wheeling and Dealing
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In Ontario, Canada, Thunder Bay's classic rock “Giant” and hot AC “Magic” are sold for $4.5 million. “Giant” CKTG at 105.3 really has a giant-size signal – 100,000 watts at 1,010 feet. But its sister “Magic” CJUK (99.9) operates with a puny 37 watts. Newcap pleaded with the CRTC several years for more power, but the regulator consulted the latest BBM ratings and decided that CJUK was reaching its target audience just fine. Newcap sells the pair to Acadia Broadcasting for $4.5 million, Canadian.
» Sound Bites
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Today’s the day PD John Sebastian finally parks the Madison Format Tour Bus, so we'll see where Mid-West Family’s “Q106” combo lands – and whether it’s still a simulcast. John’s guided the country station through days of stunting with oldies, smooth jazz and more, and today is the Final Destination. The current simulcast is WWQM, Middleton, WI at 106.3 and WWQN, Mt. Horeb at 106.7. The Q106 website is streaming, here. The Wisconsin Board of Radio-Info.com is doing its own handicapping – with a lot of betting about some kind of expanded, locally-focused presentation that’s still basically country.
Vancouver’s new “Shore 104” debuts – helping out a Seattle FM. CHHR was originally licensed by the CRTC at 104.1, which screwed up First Broadcasting’s intricate scheme to improve the signal of long-planned Seattle move-in KMCQ at 104.5. Magically – Shore Media Group applied to move CHHR from 104.1 to 104.3, so that Saga’s KAFE, Bellingham, WA could do the reverse, from 104.3 to 104.1. (You're following this, right?) It became a happy ending for everybody, with First probably helping Saga and others feel better about it in a substantial way. Now Vancouver, BC’s “Shore 104” debuts at 104.3, with an adult alternative station named “Roots, Rock & Rhythm.” The talent lineup includes Moose & Alex in the Morning, Steve Dunbar in middays and Bill Courage & Jody Vance in PM drive.
A grass fire topples one tower at Radio Disney's Sacramento station,
and that tower damaged a second tower and bent it over. KIID (1470) has some bad luck, after an apparent grass fire got to a fiberglass bottom insulator on the first tower. KIID normally runs 5-kw days and 1-kw nights, but T-R-I hears they're doing 400 watts non-directional daytime off the remnants of the array, and keeping some kind of night signal going. Sacramento's KCRA-TV says "a shack near the tower also burned" and that Disney expects the repairs will take two weeks.
Joplin, Missouri won’t have an all-sports station after August 3 – or at least it won’t have “Fan 1230”, Zimmer’s KZYM. The Neosho Daily News reports the imminent flip from sports and an ESPN Radio affiliation to talk. New shows include the syndicated Rick & Bubba, Dave Ramsey, Dr. Laura, John Gibson and Dennis Miller.
Female Program Directors can shine at the NAB Radio Show, with the new MIW Achievement in Programming Award. The Mentoring & Inspiring Women group just opened nominations for women who’ve been in PD or higher positions for the last five years. Nominations are due by August 7, with the winner announced at the Group PD Super Session at the NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia. Details and entry information here.
» Faces on the Radio
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D.L. Hughley – as T-R-I predicted two days ago – will headline the morning show of New York’s “Kiss 98.7” WRKS. And the suspicion still runs strong that this will be the beginning of a syndication effort for the popular comedian. His cast is Jacque Reid, comic Steve Wilson, Kiss veteran Raqiyah Mays, and New York personality Bob Slade. The new “D.L. Hughley Morning Show” starts building on Monday, July 20. T-R-I believes the Hughley and Emmis folks are talking with potential syndicators about a deal.
Adam Wilbur is the newly-hired Manager of Entertainment and Talk Programming for Peter Kosann’s Compass Radio Networks, working on the non-sports side of Compass. Adam ran his own Wilbur Entertainment syndication business and was VP of Fisher Entertainment. He’s been associated with shows and products such as John & Ken, Wireless Flash News, Sheet Happens Prep, John & Jeff, Ed Tyll, Beyond the Beltway with Bruce DuMont, Car & Driver, and Lionel.
Michelle McCaffrey, Sophia Trifonas and Chris Buehler all get recognized for promotions at Dial Global’s New York office. Michelle McCaffrey is the new Manager, Affiliate Services-Syndication. Sophia Trifonas becomes Manager, Affiliate Services-RADAR. Chris Buehler is Manager of Affiliate Compliance (cracking the whip). Fiona Brennan is the Director of Affiliate Services for Dial Global.
Don Pryor and Todd Jeffries are forced into a two-week suspension without pay from Emmis' KLBJ, Austin (590). Pryor's Tuesday morning attempt at humor used the word "wetbacks" and quickly angered a number of Hispanic leaders. Emmis GM Scott Gilmore quickly decides to suspend them, and later to suspend them for two full weeks, unpaid.
The Conclave opens today in Bloomington, MN and I look forward to covering it for you - and to doing what Paul Harvey used to say he did at meetings - "listening." Newstips and educated hunches to Tom@in3media.com. See you tomorrow, and thanks for your time. Tom Taylor
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