by Tom Taylor | tom@in3media.com | 609.883.3321

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Disney to sell more stations

It’s been nearly 2-1/2 years since it sold 23 of its mainstream-formatted stations and the ABC Radio Networks to Citadel. For strategic reasons, it kept its five ESPN-flagged O&O's plus the large fleet of Radio Disney stations. But now I’m hearing that it’s got six Radio Disney outposts in medium-size markets up for sale. What that suggests is this – the Mouse may now believe it’s gaining enough distribution online, via satellite (TV and radio), cable and through mobile devices that it no longer needs that extensive chain of broadcast towers. That's at least the judgment in markets such as Albuquerque, West Palm Beach, Greensboro and three more I don’t know yet. Why would it sell? It can’t be because Disney needs the money, or that these individual stations are costly to run. Radio Disney’s basic operating strategy is to clear its network programming 24/7, and to do innovative selling well beyond the traditional :30 spot. The strategic vision was to employ radio as a spoke in the giant Disney kids-and-parents marketing machine. Disney used to aggressively market its radio format to non-owned stations, but it hasn’t done that in a while. It built up the mostly top-50 or top-75 market lineup of owned & operated stations it thought it needed. But now – it’s apparently decided it doesn’t need at least a half-dozen of them.

Not a surprise, since it was strongly sponsored by Committee Chair Pat Leahy (D-VT) and committee chairs usually get what they want. The bill subtitled “Equitable treatment for terrestrial broadcasts” doesn’t strike many broadcasters as very “equitable.” They argue that comparing them to satellite radio or other radio-like services is unfair, since many of those charge their subscribers or users. The Senate has clearly listened to the complaints about where the burden of a copyright royalty would fall. It prescribes “special treatment for small, non-commercial educational, and religious stations.” So any station with less than $1,250,000 in revenues pays $5,000 a year. Public radio stations would pay $1,000. A potentially cheaper "per-program license" would be an option for stations that don't play much music. And the typical airing of music from a church or “other religious assembly” wouldn’t be a “use.” S. 379 also protects songwriters (there's a section titled “no harmful effects on songwriters”). So stations couldn’t reduce their payments to ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, which represent songwriters and copyright owners, to help pay the new performance royalty. Read the text of the Senate bill here.

New frequency (96.3 instead of 105.9). New call letters (WXNY-FM, instead of WCAA). And a new identity, though the basic format’s still Spanish tropical. Morning man Luis Jimenez unveiled the new face of “X96.3” yesterday, one week after Univision engineered the frequency swap that finally provides a signal listeners can hear “in basements”, compared to the previous signal of 105.9. That’s the quote from Jimenez producer Maria Alma, who tells the Daily News “we’re very excited.” Look for at least one more piece of news coming at the Univision operation. The New York Board of Radio-Info.com is evaluating the changes now.

Market manager John Fullam tells the Inquirer he’s ready to “sit at the table” when the big play-by-play deals come up, now that he’s simulcasting sports WPEN (950) on WNUW (97.5). Adding, say, the defending World Champion baseball Phillies to that station would be a real cume magnet. The rights are with CBS right now and the games air on 50-kw WPHT (1210). But the Inquirer’s Michael Klein hears the recent renewal between CBS and the Phillies was for just the 2010 season. Before the team returned to WPHT in 2005 they were on WPEN while it was still playing music, and the signal limitations were an irritant for some. Now with the ability to promise both AM and FM coverage, Greater Media’s Fullam can throw a stronger pitch next year. CBS has tied up all the major sports teams in Philadelphia – NFL Eagles, NBA Sixers, NHL Flyers and the Phillies.

This time the “grassroots” are against the NAB position, not for it. There are lots of community radio activists out there, and now on the “inside” at the new Genachowski FCC and at some Congressional staff posts. Check the language of H.R. 1147, as reported out of committee yesterday – “As a result of consolidation of media ownership, there have been strong financial incentives for companies to reduce local programming and rely instead on syndicated programming produced for hundreds of stations.” It says “a renewal of commitment to localism…would bolster radio’s service to the public.” It cites radio's community service record during 2005’s Hurricane Katrina - not that of WWL and the Radio consortium, but of Low Power FMs. Many in Congress want to authorize the FCC to license hundreds and perhaps thousands of new LPFMs in even the largest markets, as a kind of antidote to consolidation. Also a recipe to improve diversity. So consolidators of the 1990s, if you’re still watching - be careful what you wish for.

That’s the thrust of paragraph 9 of the Local Community Radio Act – that if 250-watt translators, which full-power broadcasters are eagerly embracing – are okay on third-adjacent and even second-adjacent channels…then why not drop in a lot more community stations? Translators are “using the very same transmitters that LPFM stations will use.” The FCC has repeatedly said it wouldn’t authorize stations that would create unacceptable interference to licensed full-power stations, so the bill says, what's the problem? It's listening to the many community activists who want a greatly expanded LPFM service for “schools, churches and other community-based organizations.” Strategically, the NAB has the same lobbying strategy on LPFM as for the performance royalty. They knew it would probably be passed by a favorably-inclined committee. Now the challenge is to keep the bill from being taken up by the full House. To do that, you persuade the House leadership that it would fail and be a waste of time on the legislative calendar. It’s worth reading the text of H.R. 1147, here.

The spectrum isn’t just magically there – it needs to be carved out with solid engineering studies. But politically, there’s the delicate task of allocating spectrum between non-commercial Low Power FM applications and FM translator licenses that are popular with many religious and public radio operators. The House bill says only that the Commission “shall ensure that licenses are available to both FM translator stations and Low Power FM stations. And that such decisions are made on the needs of the local community.” You can already predict what a mess this will be, if the Local Radio Community Act passes the House and Senate and is signed by the White House.

“First of the season” is the quote from classic hits WOGL (98.1) and they probably are, in terms of a major-market terrestrial station pushing an all-Christmas service on its own HD-2 channel, plus supplying it to the websites of four CBS siblings. Those are the sites associated with rocker WYSP (94.1), all-news KYW (1060) “Big Talker 1210” WPHT and all-sports WIP (610). As you’d expect with a CBS service, the “Christmas Classic” service is also available on CBS-run AOL Radio and the Yahoo Launchcast app for iPhone. But it’s not meant to be generic. WOGL PD Anne Gress says music director Tommy McCarthy (what an encyclopedia he has for a mind) coordinates “a custom blend put together right here in Philly, for Philly.” It temporarily replaces the 70s-based stream on WOGL/HD-2. The surprise holiday blitz debuted yesterday and will run through New Year’s Eve. The main WOGL.com site is here. The next guessing game is what date dominant AC “B101” WBEB decides to go all-Christmas – a different decision for owner Jerry Lee and PD Chuck Knight, now that AC attacker WNUW (97.5) has just dropped out to go all-sports. There’s less pressure on B101 now. It’s also an opening for WOGL and Christmas music. The Philadelphia Board is talking about the chess match now.

Kinda goes counter to the perception of beer-chugging blue-collar sports fans, doesn’t it? They’re still there. But a new Media audit study finds that “the higher the income, the more likely adults are to follow sports.” To put some numbers on it, 61.6% of “high-earning individuals” regularly follow baseball on TV or radio. That’s 20% higher than for all U.S. adults. 29.3% of affluent adults follow professional hockey, compared to 22.7%. And for pro football – 71.6% of adults earning $100,000 a year or more in household income follow that sport, which is 18% higher than the U.S. average. Because of the profile, “sports fans are more likely to stimulate the economy via major household purchases, and travel and leisure activities.” That’s the kind of stuff that salespeople at all-sports stations are saying all the time. (There’s a reason there are more than 500 all-sports stations.) It’s also the kind of qualitative data that’s bread-and-butter for a service like The Media Audit. Read its October “fyi” newsletter here.

The 10-year-old site started with Discussion Boards, and those continue to be a strong focus of news and commentary from you. Now the three Format Sections of the site let you comment on the columns and stories, as you see them. Each section offers extended coverage about radio and music industry news. You’ll find columns from experts, station spotlights and interviews with leaders in each of those formats. If you’re working in those three formats – go see what’s there. Just click here.

In Portland, Oregon – Strong Summer books for two Clear Channel music stations. AC “K103” KKCW has grown 4.8 to 5.7 to 6.5 since the Winter and is tops, with age 12+ AQH shares. Ratings scholar Chris Huff says K103 “claims the final diary win here by matching its longest winning streak ever with four consecutive #1 books.” (Portland’s one of the markets that goes “live” with the People Meter as of the December book.) In the Summer quarterly, CHR “Z100” KKRZ is up 4.3 to 4.7 to 5.2, and that’s Z100’s highest share since Winter 2001. While Clear Channel’s classic rock "Brew" KFBW, born out of oldies KQOL, has risen to #7, up 3.4 to 3.9 following an early-May format flip. Chris Huff says that 3.9 is the highest share ever on the 105.9 frequency.

Sacramento – Clear Channel’s two AM talkers finish 1-2. Those are perennial leader KFBK, Rush Limbaugh’s laboratory for developing his show in the 1980s before he went to WABC. It’s gone 6.3 to 8.2 to 7.7 since the Winter book. Second place goes to talk KSTE, 5.0 to 4.7 to 5.2. While currently-in-court CHR “End” KDND sits in third, 4.4 to 3.9 to 4.7.

Nashville – Urban “Beat” WUBT is clearly #1, 12+, even though it slips 8.2 to 7.5. There’s a spirited group around the #2-3-4 slots. Urban AC WQQK has a 6.3, soft AC “Mix” WJXA is at a 6.2 and CHR “River” WRVW a 6.1. How about the other two CHRs? Cromwell Group’s “Party” WPRT has moved 1.2 to 1.5 to 1.1 since the Winter. While Cumulus Media’s new sports-to-CHR “i Hits 106” WNFN is flat from the Spring, carrying a 0.9.

Memphis – Clear Channel’s powerhouse urban lineup still dominates, with four of the top five finishers. It’s led by #1 urban WHRK at a 9.4. Then there’s R&B-and-some-talk WDIA-AM with a 7.2. Black gospel WHAL at a 6.7. Citadel’s R&B oldies WRBO at a 6.6. and CC’s urban AC KJMS with a 6.5.

Tucson – It’s CHR KRQQ’s best book in a while – an 8.4, up from a Spring 7.4 and pushing #1 KIIM, the country station. It’s got an 8.9 this time. Also showing its vitamin intake is Lotus-owned classic rocker KLPX, ahead 3.5 to 5.2 and ranked #4.

Ratings any time, online at Radio-Info.com – Both Arbitron diary numbers and PPM numbers. They’re available on the Ratings Page here.

» Arbitrons Summer Arbitrons back to top » 14. Puerto Rico - 3,327,100 - Subscriber-Only 23. Portland - 2,078,300 27. Sacramento - 1,824,400 44. Nashville - 1,237,500 49. Memphis - 1,069,400 60. Tucson - 839,600 62. Dayton - 824,200 - Subscriber-Only 66. Fresno - 741,800 Click on the city to review recently released PPMs. View a complete list of Arbitron markets here. » Buzzing on the Boards back to top » The Kansas City change of rhythmic “Vibe” KCHZ (95.7) to mainstream I reported on yesterday morning first bubbled up from the CHR/Mainstream Pop Board of Radio-Info.com. And the posters there make additional points about Cumulus Media’s head-butting of Wilks-owned “Mix 93.3” KMXV. One of those is that the KCHZ signal also reaches Topeka, making it the first mainstream top 40 there in some time. Also, that the early-early version of KCHZ was a mainstream CHR called “Z95.7.” See where the conversation is going on the Board. » Wheeling and Dealing back to top » In Parkersburg-Marietta, AC “V96.9” WVVV is sold to Seven Ranges Radio for $675,000. It’s a class A licensed to Williamstown, WV and the seller is BennCo. That’s Ronald Bishop, William Benns III, Roger Weigle and Barbara Peel. This cashes them out of the radio biz. While buyers Tom Taggart and Sam Yoho of Seven Ranges have crosstown AC WRRR, St. Marys, WV at 93.9. So yes, Taggart and Yoho will own both WRRR and WVVV – quite a coincidence. They also own classic rock WXCR, New Martinsville, WV (92.3), upstream from the river-straddling market of Parkersburg, WV and Marietta, OH. In Aberdeen-Hoquiam, Washington, Chris Devine’s College Creek Media finally sells an FM it raced to get on the air in 2008, then took silent for financial reasons. Now it’s dealing KABW, Westport (101.3) to – who else? – K-Love, or the Educational Media Foundation Christian broadcasting behemoth based near Sacramento. College Creek won the permit for Class A KABW in the late-2004 FCC auction and paid $400,000. Now – it’s selling it for $100,000. The station has to watch its spacing with first-adjacent KPLZ, Seattle at 101.5. But it should work just fine for K-Love. It’s licensed for 1.2-kw at minus 19 feet, but has a construction permit for 6-kw at 200 feet. » Sound Bites back to top » In Los Angeles, why has KTWV’s HD-3 channel been duplicating its own smooth jazz signal? The answer to the question a reader asked in yesterday’s T-R-I Newsletter appears in Gary Lycan’s latest column in the Orange County Register – It’s “for testing – HD 3 will soon be airing K-Frog, the country station in the Inland Empire.” So cool the rumors about smooth jazz KTWV (94.7) demoting its longtime format to HD-land. And tell Saul Levine’s “Go Country 105” KKGO that it’s got a bit more competition in SoCal. K-Frog is the Wave’s CBS-owned sister station in Riverside-San Bernardino and showed well in L.A. between the time country KZLA vanished and Go Country debuted. “We’ve survived”, says Greater Media CEO Peter Smyth, and his latest Corner Office memo says “business is slowly returning to something that looks like the new normal.” Smyth ticks off some bullet points – “We have become better businesspeople” after making “very difficult decisions.” He believes “the automotive advertising category is coming back…it is gratifying to see that Ford and General Motors are both serving notice to their competitors that they are determined to get up off the floor and compete.” (That’s from a guy who runs a cluster in Detroit, mind you.) Also – “We are starting to see some stability in the real estate market, with inventory starting to move and new home construction and home improvements starting to accelerate.” And this – “Credit is starting to become more available.” Smyth says “have some faith” – because the industry has proved that it can “operate in a violent contraction of the market and survive.” Of course Greater Media’s in a different financial position from a lot of its competitors. It’s privately held, it’s only done one big out-of-pocket purchase in the last three or four years (the Charlotte stations of Lincoln Financial Media), and it’s presumably got a lower debtload, even as it copes with the economic shrinkage of a market like Detroit. In the north of England, new owner UKRD puts its “Star” brand on three stations it acquired from The Local Radio Company earlier this year. Those are Durham FM, Alpha Radio and Minster Northallerton, and they’ll be live-and-local only in mornings (for the “breakfast show.”) After that daypart, they’ll share AC programming with other UKRD stations » Faces on the Radio back to top » Jason & Deb are suddenly in the penalty box, suspended for a week by Emmis-run Austin alt-rocker KROX (101.5). Seems they were discussing the problems with mud at Zilker Park, and Deb O’Keefe said something like “why don’t they just go hire some wet vacs at Home Depot?” In the charged atmosphere of Austin after this summer’s “Wetback” remark by KLBJ-AM’s morning show, that was probably going to get heard in a certain way by some casual listeners, and the American-Statesman says that’s just what happened. Deb’s British upbringing has her saying “hire” instead of “rent.” So she really was just saying, in essence, “rent some wet-vacs” for the mud cleanup. Emmis manager Scott Gillmore has suspended both O’Keefe and Jason Alvarez for a week without pay. Phillip Woodie is the new president of the joint-venture Lotus Entravision Reps, which has national sales responsibilities for about 125 Spanish-language stations. Woodie should be well-versed in the multi-cultural world, from stints at the Azteca American Network (president of network sales & marketing), Univision, ABC, and most recently Comcast Spotlight. He was Director of Sales & Marketing of Multicultural Networks there. He’ll be based in New York for Lotus Entravision Reps, a project of publicly-held station owner Entravision and Howard Kalmenson’s Lotus Communications. Because of the importance of the west coast to Hispanic radio buys, the rep designates Mary Hawley VP of Western Regional Sales, based in L.A. Bob Visotcky is succeeded as GM at the southern California “Jill FM” regional classic hits trimulcast by Tom Hoyt. The stations are KJLL, Mountain Valley, KJHL, Thousand Oaks and KAJL, Adelanto. The Los Angeles Board of Radio-Info.com is talking about the departure of Visotcky now. Johnjay & Rich, having peacefully entered San Diego at KHTS (93.3), now spread their Tucson-based syndicated morning show to Denver. As of October 26, they’ll occupy mornings at CHR “Party 95.7” KPTT, also owned by Clear Channel. Hank Spann, one of WWRL, New York’s early “Super 16” personalities, died Wednesday in California. The New York Board of Radio-Info.com says Hank and his peers (guys like Frankie Crocker, Bobby Jay, Eddie O’Jay, Gerry “B” Bledsoe”) played “sounds that you were just not getting anywhere else in NYC proper.” For breaking news about radio over the weekend, go to Radio-Info.com. Thanks for spending some of your day with this T-R-I Newsletter, from Chicago-based in3media. T-R-I - the news, and something extra. Tom Taylor

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