by Tom Taylor | tom@in3media.com | 609.883.3321

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Google your local news…

Just when you thought radio couldn’t get any more competition…Google shows up again, with a new service named “News Near You.” If Google-the-aggregator is a royal pain for newspapers (taking content without returning revenue), then News Near You is a jab at local broadcast media, which has been shrinking its local news presence. The New York Times sees it as a rival to TV news - but the Times just seems to have TV on the mind, because of the visual aspect. It’s just as much a competitor to radio. The contributions to News Near You sometimes come from local radio stations. But mostly they’re from newspapers, colleges and (as the Times says) “a fledgling San Francisco outfit called VidSF, three friends who despise the local TV diet of fires and homicides.” There will be more guerilla startups like that, offering a diet of local happenings that supplants TV, radio and papers. And Google gets the chance to make some more money, placing ads against the video. Smart radio stations are looking for ways to be local – and to put local video on their sites. If they don’t do it, rest assured that somebody else will.

To Larry Wilson? That's the rumor T-R-I heard last night and it would make total sense. Larry's new Alpha Broadcasting just plunked down $11 million for Paul Allen's news/talk KXL (750) and sports "Game" KXTG (95.5). If you lay that combo over the CBS cluster of adult alternative KINK (101.9), country KUPL (98.7), "Rock 101" KUFO and talk/sports KCMD (970) - you've really got something special in Market #23. We know that Citadel founder Wilson is focusing his group-building efforts this time on the northwest. And we know that CBS has been talking for many, many months about divesting some of its smaller markets. To CBS, Portland is "smaller." (Though I think it's not interested in selling off Charlotte, Market #25.) There hasn't been much chatter recently about CBS shopping more properties. But it's clearly on the mind of Leslie Moonves, if he gets the right offer. The Portland Business Journal previously reported that Wilson "plans a $60 million buying spree." Maybe he's going to do a lot of that consumption right there in Portland. Stay tuned to T-R-I. Newstips to Tom@in3media.com.

Specifically – there’s a rumor that some discussed the possibility of pulling their advertising out of the newspaper if the Times ownership annihilated classical WQXR (96.3) with an outright sale to, let’s say, ESPN. Those threats from advertisers would carry a lot of weight. The Times was already acutely aware of the bad press it would earn by killing off WQXR’s decades-old format. (It had a dress rehearsal when it sold adult standards WQEW at 1560 to Radio Disney.) I don’t know whether there was actually a firm offer on the table from ESPN. But one probably wasn't far away. Bristol’s got both the shekels and the incentive to buy an FM in New York, and they’d surely have paid more than the $45 million the Times will net from Univision ($33.5 million) and WNYC ($11.5 million). Other players would have paid more than that, to preserve the commercial-classical format at 96.3. And I know there were interested parties out there raising money for that purpose, after hearing the distress calls from the Times. At least WQXR will live to play another day, though on a lesser signal.

The consequences of losing a station that can accept paid ads from Broadway shows and Carnegie Hall and the Met and the whole range of New York City’s arts community are starting to sink in. (This T-R-I newsletter had WCLV, Cleveland owner Robert Conrad’s earlier prediction that the cultural organizations will be “the big losers” in the sale.) Public radio’s WNYC is acquiring the intellectual property of WQXR (96.3) from the New York Times, plus the Newark-licensed 105.9 frequency that’s currently Univision’s Spanish “La Kalle” WCAA. But it’s going to operate the “new” WQXR as a non-commercial station, and that’s going to severely limit access by the arts organizations and promoters who’ve counted on WQXR. That’s good news for stations such as all-newsers “1010 WINS” and WCBS (880). You can also imagine adult-formatted music stations like “Lite” WLTW (106.7) or classic hits WCBS-FM (101.1) getting more Broadway money. WNYC will be able to accept some of those announcements as underwriting – but the FCC restricts the claims that can be made in such announcements. Just yesterday, the Commission announced a consent decree with the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico and its WPUC, Ponce over precisely that allegation – which will cost the licensee $17,000 in a “voluntary contribution.”

Meredith Attwell Baker became an official Commissioner on Friday, and yesterday Mignon Clyburn was sworn in by civil rights leader U.S. District Judge Matthew Perry – at the Columbia, SC courthouse that’s named for him. New FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is ready to get to work, mostly on broadband policy, based on Monday’s announcement of “the participants in first staff workshop for a National Broadband Plan.” Genachowski has to offer the politically correct quotes about enforcing the rules about indecency and such – but it could fall to either Baker or Clyburn to take up the indecency crusader role once played by departed Commissioner Debi Tate. Of course, Democrat Michael Copps is still manning the battlements, too.

Pickle Programs says its software “for the first time in radio history” will automate the process of comparing how a client’s ad schedule ran versus the Arbitron People Meter ratings. Posting is something many radio operators have resisted, long before issues of sample size and credibility surfaced with the PPM. (Posting's been standard operating procedure in TV for years.) But Pickle finds an early adopter in Radio One, whose radio division chief Barry Mayo says they’ll use the software under the name “Accountability One.” (Radio One likes the continuity of “One” in its various businesses.) The hope is that more accountability leads to more confident spending by advertisers and agencies. "More spending” was Arbitron’s original promise for the PPM, years ago. In this economy, it’s hard to separate out its effect, but I can definitely find some skeptics at the station level. Pickle’s Chief Technology Officer Rick Galloway says “Radio posting become inevitable” with electronic measurement. He also cites “the growing anxiety among advertisers that they may not be getting what they pay for.” The Pickle website is here.

Looks like the hangup at the truncated June 26 special shareholders meeting convened to approve this maneuver was a technicality. Delaware law, under which Westwood One and many other companies are incorporated, required a vote by a separate class of shareholders on Proposal #1 – the one to inflate the number of shares from 300 million to five billion, to allow (Proposal #2) the 200-for-1 reverse stock split that should get Westwood’s stock price some respectability. That’s the thing that caused the adjournment on June 26 and required the issuance of a new proxy. But now it’s all done, thanks to yesterday’s meeting at company offices in Culver City, CA. That includes the shareholder recognition of Westwood’s recapitalization by the Gores Group, and amending the by-law about how many directors it takes to make further changes.

570 is the current “Family Values Talk Radio” KNRS, which is losing its format and its call letters to KTMY, Centerville, Utah – a sister Clear Channel station that’s been underutilized as a network-fed “La Preciosa.” Programmer Greg Foster confirms the stuff that Monday’s T-R-I newsletter told you about – Bob Lonsberry, Glenn Beck, Rush, Dr. Laura, Dave Ramsey, George Noory and the weekend shows are all migrating to 105.7. But now - Clear Channel says “within 45 days, KNRS will be heard exclusively on 105.7 FM, and a new radio station will debut on 570 AM.” My bet is that it will be a kind of secondary talk station, probably clearing programming from Premiere and other sources, but almost all syndicated. Nothing wrong with the 570 – it’s a nice low-dial signal with 5-kw in an area with very good ground conductivity.

One of this week’s intriguing rumors is coming from Clear Channel station people, who believe that San Antonio’s facing a daunting debt payment at the end of August, and they’re being asked to be as creative as humanly possible to “make the month.” The pressure’s pretty intense. Some folks also suspect there may be some personnel departures near the top, before long. Last week, Clear Channel quietly passed the one-year anniversary of its going-private deal with Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners (and isn’t the socially-correct one-year anniversary gift “paper”?). So far it hasn’t missed any payments that we know of. While two big media companies actually skipped their scheduled debt payments, with permission from lenders. Editor & Publisher says one of them is Canada’s Canwest, which recently sold its radio assets but is struggling with revenue from other businesses. E&P also says that Georgia-based Morris Communications didn’t make yesterday’s $9.7 million payment. That's on top of Morris missing an earlier $9.7 million payment that lenders had allowed to slide from February to last Friday. JPMorgan Chase is the leader of the Morris banking group. Without its forbearance, Morris could be looking at an accelerated payment of its long-term debt – all $419 million of it.

As Ad Age puts it – “World’s biggest radio company helps one that wants to be.” That’s Pandora founder Tim Westergren’s stated ambition, to be “the world’s biggest radio station.” With 30 million registered users, he’s getting there. And with that customer base, $35 million in new funding and a new SoundExchange royalty agreement in hand, Westergren aspires to “scale our ad sales effort immediately.” The Katz 360 shop can do that, since it’s experienced in selling the online inventory from all of CC’s iHeartRadio properties and a bunch of non-CC online stations that are part of the client list. Pandora recently began charging 99 cents to users who spend more than 40 hours a month with it and it’s been selling online ads since January.

Dial Global likes the clearances on more than 350 stations every weekend and the 11 million listeners – on the show it acquired when its parent Triton Media bought Jones. Kingsley’s association with weekly countdowns began in 1974, when he was producing “American Country Countdown, created by (who else?) Casey Kasem and Don Bustany. Bob succeeded original ACC host Don Bowman in 1978, and remained with the franchise until he and ABC parted ways at the end of 2005. I always got the impression that ABC just wanted a fresh face and voice, and that’s why they replaced Kingsley with country superstar Kix Brooks, of Brooks & Dunn. Billboard Radio Monitor said at the time that “the two sides failed to come to terms in a renegotiation, in part because of Kingsley's concerns over ABC Radio being for sale.” Maybe ABC was surprised, and maybe it wasn’t, when Kingsley’s KCCS Productions sidled over to Glenn Jones’ stable and began competing with American Country Countdown in early 2006. In a radio format and musical genre renowned for its loyalty, some stations stayed with Kingsley and switched to his new Jones-distributed Country Top 40. Some kept ACC, with new host Kix Brooks. Some used both. Kingsley’s now committed to Dial Global through 2014, for his weekly “Top 40”, the regular Christmas and other year-end stuff, and the specials they’re producing around mega-watt artists like Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. Kingsley, like Casey Kasem, is repped by Eric Weiss of the Weiss Agency.

The show lasted not quite two years, from a December 2007 launch with original host Suzanne Alexander, who came back to radio from the GAC cable TV channel to anchor “GAC Nights” with then-ABC Radio Networks. The 7pm-midnight music and interview show will go away on September 30 and Citadel Media says “we truly appreciate the efforts of the entire show crew and also wish to thank the stations that have been our affiliation partners.” Citadel says it’s still committed to country radio through American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks and its two 24/7 country formats – Today’s Best Country and Real Country. The exit of GAC Nights is a victory for Dial Global’s “Lia”, who’s been operating in the evening timeslot for years now.

There’s also a call from the Conservative Party’s shadow arts minister Ed Vaizey to publicize the salaries of high-flying talent like Jonathan Ross. (Ross signed a reported $18 million pound deal in 2006, running through 2010.) But Vaizey’s suggestions were quickly disavowed by the party itself. And the party suggests it won’t try to sell off Radio 1, despite charges that it’s not reaching its intended demographic target of younger Britons. Many feel that the BBC overall presents too formidable a competitor to commercial operators. But this exercise at least gives us a rare chance to get a valuation on a state-owned radio service.

Or – When do you declare “failure to launch”? Sean Ross, our intrepid executive VP of Music & Programming at Radio-Info.com, talks about station launches – and whether it’s realistic to expect immediate buzz. Promotion whiz Paige Nienaber believes “the first five hours of a station’s life are the most important.” He cites space shuttle trajectories for Norfolk’s recently launched CHR Hot 100.5 – which stunted as “Chinese classic hits Kung Pao” and garnered much local attention. But some other stations haven’t debuted quite so auspiciously, and Sean names some names. He also acknowledges Denver-area "stripper music Pole 101.5” for the elaborateness of its stunt-launch last Friday. (They’ve even posted vignettes of various fictional strip club dancers.) That, and more about Alan Burns’ question on “listener-driven content”, in the Ross On Radio that’s coming by email today to subscribers. If you’re not getting Ross On Radio – at no charge – just go here.

In San Antonio – Rhythmic “Beat” KBBT improves 6.1 to 6.7, total week 12+ AQH. That’s a recent high for the Univision station. Ratings scholar Chris Huff says “this is only the second time in the last decade that regional Mexican KROM (4.6 to 5.0) has hit the 5-share mark.”


Austin – Clear Channel is 1-2 this book with CHR KHFI (5.3 to 6.6) and country KASE (5.5 to 6.2). Chris Huff says KHFI’s last #1 book was last Summer, when it notched an identical 6.6.

New Orleans – urban WQUE (10.9 to 12.1) wins for the tenth time in 13 books, since Arbitron was able to re-start survey work after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Louisville – Clear Channel’s talk WHAS pulls an 11.4 and “extends the longest winning streak in its history, now up to seven surveys”, says Mr. Huff.

Pittsburg, Kansas – Country “Kow” KKOW-FM is nice and steady from its Fall-book 22.6 share, to a 22.0 this time. It and American Media Investments sister “Classic Country 860” KKOW-AM (with a 5.6) combine for better than a 27-share.

The latest ratings online, diary and PPM, are at Radio-Info.com. You see every station, from a 0.1 share to double digits. The Radio-Info.com site also lists every format and every owner, and displays the recent history back to 2008. Keep checking it, here.

» Arbitrons Spring Quarterly Book back to top » 31. San Antonio - 1,675,200 39. Austin - 1,381,800 53. Louisville (Subscriber Only) - 953,500 55. New Orleans - 936,700 78. Baton Rouge - 570,300 189. Tupelo - 200,600 215. Muncie-Marion (Subscriber Only) - 168,800 233. Tuscaloosa - 153,700 245. Pittsburg, KS - 153,700 257. Florence-Muscle Shoals (Subscriber Only) - 124,100 Click on the city to review recently released PPM ratings. View a complete list of Arbitron markets here. » Buzzing on the Boards back to top » Another talk AM is now simulcast on FM, this time in State College, PA. Forever Broadcasting knocked off "Rock that really rocks" WQWK (103.1) yesterday, so it could (mostly) simulcast WRSC (1390) and its lineup of Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Dave Ramsey, Mark Levin, Jim Bohannon and George Noory. The only break in the simulcast is 9-10am, when 1390 does a local talkshow instead of the first hour of Beck. The FCC database yields the information that Forever Broadcasting is retaining control of the WQWK call letters by placing them on “ESPN Radio 1450” WMAJ. The Altoona/State College Board at Radio-Info.com mostly wonders why a successful rock station had to go away. The WBMX-AM calls are being parked in Charlotte, says the Charlotte Board of Radio-Info.com – just ahead of WBCN’s demise, and the move of WBMX-FM (now with the “-FM”) from 98.5 to 104.1. That’s done in order to safely make the call letter switch in Boston, since CBS will control “WBMX” somewhere else – Charlotte. So Charlotte’s sports WFNA (1660) is now WBMX-AM, at least for a while. » Wheeling and Dealing back to top » South of New Orleans, Sunburst filed a bit late for a new FM at 93.9 licensed to Dulac, Louisiana…but the FCC decided to let it slide, and to approve the substitution of a vacant allotment at 96.3 for the new one at 93.9. That lets Sunburst, which owns “Oldies 96.7” KMYO, Morgan City, do an upgrade from a Class C3 to a C2. The Commission’s also approving the reallotment of another 96.7 to Gray, Louisiana. Read the FCC’s decision – in one of those complex cases where “first service” to a previously-obscure hamlet is a determining factor – here. Denver-market “Mile High Sports” KCKK (1510) is sold to its longtime LMA operator for $450,000. The Littleton, Colorado-licensed KCKK is in the middle of upgrading its day and nighttime signals, and the timing of that depends on where $50,000 of the purchase price goes – to escrow, or directly to seller Tim Brown at NRC Broadcasting/People’s Wireless. KCKK’s now running 19-kw days and half that at night. Both the granted construction permit and a pending application would up that to 25-kw days and 10-kw at night. The controlling partner of buyer 4-K’s LLLP is Greg Merilatt, with an 88% general partnership interest and a 1% limited partnership interest. Jeffrey Merilatt and James K. Merilatt each have 5.5%, and Jeffrey is the “manager of radio-related activities.” Brown’s NRC Broadcasting continues to own the Denver “Jack” simulcast of KJAC, Timnath, CO at 105.5 and KCUV, Greenwood Village at 102.3. Billionaire Philip Anschutz has been in the news lately (he doesn’t like that), buying the conservative Weekly Standard magazine from Rupert Murdoch. NRC Broadcasting principal Tim Brown is a son-in-law of Anschutz, who’s also involved in concert and event promotion through AEG Live. Yes, that's the firm that was promoting the planned Michael Jackson shows in London. Don Curtis sells eastern North Carolina’s WYRN, Louisburg (1480) to Tarboro-based Jimmy Johnson on very friendly terms - $5,000 down, then $35,000 at closing, then the balance of $150,000 starting with seven monthly interest-only payments, followed by 77 more monthly payments. Total price is $190,000. Curtis Media currently has talker WYRN simulcasting with news/talk WDOX, Raleigh at 570. It’s running an interesting mixture of syndicated talkers like Dr. Laura, Dr. Joy Browne and Dr. Ronald Hoffman, plus the 5-6pm “Best of Catholic Answers” followed by “State Government News” – and blocks of “Triangle in Touch” programs featuring “local professionals” (brokered time?). Presumably WYRN owner Jimmy Johnson has his own ideas about what to do with WYRN, operating with 500 watts daytime and 40 watts at night. Johnson also owns black gospel/R&B oldies WCPS, Tarboro (760) and he has a 30% interest in black gospel/Spanish Christian WXKL, Sanford at 1290. Another sale to a lay-Catholic group, this time in Baton Rouge. The station is WPYR at 1380, currently simulcasting Davidson Media’s New Orleans-market “La Fabulosa” WFNO at 830. WFNO, Norco itself is being sold (June 29 T-R-I newsletter) to Sunburst for $1.4 million. But up in the state capital of Baton Rouge the deal for WPYR (5-kw days, 62 watts at night) will take it to non-commercial operation by the buyer, Catholic Community Radio. Price - $350,000. » Sound Bites back to top » “Chickenman” and “Tooth Fairy” available for download. If you recognize those wise-cracking radio serials from the brain of Dick Orkin, you’ll know just what fun’s in store for those who go to the BFM Digital site. Dick Orkin’s brother Sandy is president of Radio Ranch and he says “New and old fans alike email us all the time and ask how they can get copies of the Chickenman and Tooth Fairy programs.” Dick and a small band of desperadoes created the satirical Chickenman series (“He’s everywhere, he’s everywhere”) when he was at WCFL, Chicago in the 1960s. The demand for some kind of sequel led to The Secret Adventures of the Tooth Fairy, which first aired on Larry Lujack’s show on WLS. Both series were widely syndicated to U.S. radio starting in the 1970s. Country consultant Bob Glasco is now working under his own pennant as “Glasco Media.” Bob’s been associated with Rusty Walker’s consultancy for nearly 20 years, after a successful career doing country in Phoenix. Bob’s website gets right to the core of radio’s dilemma in 2009 – “What does a programming consultant know about revenue models? I know the one we’ve been using isn’t working today”, and he diagnoses the problem and stands ready to consult on solutions. Bob is at 480-540-3707 and Bob@GlascoMedia.com. Last week’s top five national advertisers, per Media Monitors – Home Depot, Geico, HD Alliance, Autozone, McDonald’s. A pretty familiar collection, including the non-revenue HD Radio Alliance spots. The rest of the Spot 10 chart is familiar, except for one zippy newcomer. #6 through #10 are Verizon, Honda, Midas (new to the chart) Kohl’s and AT&T. Media Monitors shines the market spotlight on Ft. Myers, Florida, market #61, where the leading radio advertisers are Morgan & Morgan, Geico and Scratch & Dent World. See the latest weekly Spot 10 charts here. Suburban Washington, D.C. news/talk/sports WAGE (1200) shuts down both its broadcast signal and Internet stream – at least temporarily. DCRTV.com reported the economics-driven shutdown over the weekend and DullesDistrict.com observes that WAGE, Leesburg, VA is the only station licensed to Loudon County. New World Radio bought WAGE in 2005 and was able to win a power upgrade from 5-kw days to 50-kw on a new frequency of 1190 – but it hasn’t been able to build that out. It’s also got a pending app for 50-kw days and 1300 watts at night, also at 1190. The current authorization at 1200 is for 5-kw days and 1-kw nights. One of the obstacles – the exorbitant cost of real estate in tony Loudon County. » Faces on the Radio back to top » Michael Wiener wasn’t the public “face” of Infinity Broadcasting – but he did found it in 1972 with the prescient purchase of an FM in San Jose/San Francisco (KOME). He and Gerald Carrus were the original partners, and in 1981 came the very lucky hiring of Mel Karmazin to run the place. Infinity was eventually sold to Westinghouse, and Karmazin was able to maneuver Westinghouse leader Michael Jordan out the back door. The New York Times tracks Wiener’s later career as a philanthropist, supporting New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital and numerous performing arts organizations. Sins - Monday’s T-R-I got the first name wrong of “The Mechanic” who’s part of the Class of 2009 at the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame. That’s Bill Hoger, not Bob. Reader Tim Johnson says “Bill was an amazingly talented guy. I believe your audience will recognize his fictitious character [The Mechanic] before they would recognize his name.” The Hall says that Hoger was associated with WFOX, Gainesville (and Atlanta).

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