May 2003 Archive
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April 2003 -June
2003 
Links- internally where there are follow-up stories we try, at the end of each story, to put a pertinent link to the top of the next relevant story. Regarding external links see note at end of page.
RNW May comment - Public v Private Interests- considers whether current regulation, copyright and patents has become skewed in favour of the private rather than public interest and whether all should be subjected to regular re-evaluation, as US media regations now are by law.
RNW April comment - War, business, freedoms and responsibilities.
RNW March comment - is equipment design promoting form over function and making it too difficult to operate essential controls?
2003-05-31: US moves towards digital radio have received a setback following a demonstration of its HD technology to National Public Radio (NPR ) by iBiquity according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The report says that the demonstration "it went so badly that it seems likely to delay the nationwide transition to digital radio, which involves an obscure standards-setting organization called the National Radio Systems Committee."
The paper says that after hearing the test of iBiquity's system for AM broadcasts, members of an NRSC sub-committee decided the quality was not good enough to broadcast and suspended further work on an industry-wide standard to be used in building receivers although the NRSC has already approved iBiquity's FM system.
Milford Smith, vice president for engineering at Greater Media Inc. and chairman of NRSC's digital audio subcommittee, described the AM broadcasts he heard as "swirling [and] watery."
An iBiquity spokesman said it would make improvements and described the setback as a "short-term issue" that will not delay HD's inevitable nationwide distribution.
Previous iBiquity:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report:
2003-05-31: The US Center for Public Integrity has reported that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been involved in more than 70 private meetings between broadcasters and its officials and commissioners to discuss proposals to change US media ownership regulations.
It says that the number of meetings contrasted sharply with only five meetings held with the two major consumer groups working on the issue, the Consumers Union and the Media Access Project.
On March 11 it reports, 18 FCC officials met with executives and representatives of ABC and its parent company, Disney, in six different sessions, and other meetings included Rupert Murdoch of News Corp., which owns Fox, and Viacom President and COO Mel Karmazin.
According to the Center, all five FCC commissioners and 31 other top officials and a total of 63 executives and representatives of the nation's top ten television and radio broadcasters participated in such meetings since the rules were first proposed in September 2002.
It notes that such closed-door sessions -- ex parte meetings - are allowed under FCC rules and no detailed minutes are kept although non-FCC people who participate in the meetings are supposed to file a notice of the session by the end of the following day that includes a summary of what was discussed.
FCC spokesman David Fiske commented, "There is a very detailed public record of everything in the process, including the ex parte meetings."
"We want a wide variety of comments from everyone-including those from businesses. This is what good regulatory agencies do."
Others took a different view: Robert McChesney, author of "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" and research professor in the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, commented," Traditionally, these things have been done by the FCC without any sort of meaningful public involvement. This is just par for the course with the FCC. They are much more interested in protecting business than looking out for the public."
Danny Schechter, executive director of media watchdog group Mediachannel.org, was harsher:
"There is a complete lack of transparency in the rulemaking process at the FCC," he said.
"These issues get treated as just business issues, when they are vital to our democracy. When real money is involved, the work gets done in the dark of night."
Previous FCC:
Previous Fiske:
Previous Karmazin:
US Center for Public Integrity report:
2003-05-31: BBC Radio Five Live mid-morning host Fiona Glover is to leave the BBC in July to take a sabbatical from the BBC; She is to move to New York in September and will develop her writing career in the US.
Glover, whose book "I'm an Oil Tanker - Travels with My Radio" was published in 2001, has been commissioned to write a book based on the US radio industry.
She commented, Whilst I am sad to be leaving Radio Five Live after six years, as I've had a great time here, I was really flattered to be asked to write another book."
"It will follow the launch of a new kind of liberal radio station challenging the shock jocks in the run up to the presidential election. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."
Glover began her BBC career as a trainee reporter in 1993 and worked at a number of BBC local radio stations before joining its London station then Five Live. She moved from hosting the late-night Fi Glover Show on the station to the mid-morning show in January (See RNW Jan 13); her slot is to be filled by stand-ins John Pienaar, Julian Worricker and Juliet Morris, until a replacement is appointed.
BBC Radio Five Live Controller Bob Shennan said: "Fi will be a big loss to Radio Five Live, and we will miss her intelligence, wit and engaging style. We wish her all the best with her new writing challenge in the States."
Radio Five Live is also is revamping its soccer line-up next season following the move by Five's main sports anchor Ian Payne, to Sky Sports( See RNW May 16).
Soccer commentator Alan Green, who has commentated for the Five since it went on air in 1994, is to move over to present the channel's soccer phone-in show 6-0-6 on Saturdays from next season.
Mark Chapman, currently BBC Radio 1 breakfast sports presenter, is to host the Sunday show and will continue his weekday Radio 1 stints.
Current host Jonathan Pearce is moving to present Midweek Sport on Five, formerly hosted by Payne.
Previous BBC:
Previous Glover:
Previous Shennan:
2003-05-31: Seattle-headquartered Fisher Communications has announced a USD 44 million cash sale of its two Portland, Oregon, stations.
Entercom is to begin operating the stations - country format KWJJ-FM and talk KOTK-AM - through a time brokerage arrangement form June 1 and the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
The sale is part of a continuing programme of debt reduction by Fisher and its president and CEO William W. Krippaehne Jr. commented, "Taken together, these sales should help us achieve a considerable portion of our goal to reduce long-term debt by approximately one-half during 2003."
Previous Krippaehne:
Previous Fisher:
2003-05-31: UK Capital Radio has dropped DJ Steve Penk's late-night show a year after he rejoined the station following a walkout from Virgin Radio (See RNW Jan 26 2002).
Capital said the show had pushed Capital "as close to the edge" as it was prepared to go and wasn't working to its full potential. It added that it was looking for other opportunities for Pink within the group.
Previous Capital:
Previous Penk:
2003-05-31: The main changes in the most recent Arbitron-MeasureCast Internet ratings show MUSICMATCH artist match back at the top of the station rankings with Virgin dropping to third; in the network ratings, new subscriber The Adsertion Network came in at fifth rank, pushing Warp Radio down.
For the week to May 18, Arbitron-Measure Cast's top five stations ranked by Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) with (in brackets) TTSL and Cume persons (a measure of the cumulative audience -CP) for the previous week - were:
1: Internet only artist-match MUSICMATCH - TTSL 335,350 (290,073); CP 137,760 (119,652). Up from second with higher listening and reach.
2: Jazz format Jazz FM - TTSL 251,737 (238,388); CP 32,163 (31,906). Up from third with higher listening and reach.
3:Hot Adult Contemporary Virgin AM & FM - TTSL 247,702 (290,668); CP 55,744 (56,729). Down from top rank with lower listening and reach.
4: Classical format WQXR-FM- TTSL 226,360 (238,388); CP 31,937 (32,234). Same rank with lower listening and reach.
5: Jazz format KPLU-FM - TTSL 200,781 (187,539); CP 33,602 (31,723). Same rank with higher listening and reach.
The top five networks for the week to May 18 (Previous week's figures in brackets) were:
1: Live365.com - TTSL 3,160,752 (3,103,521); CP - 577,755 (566,744) Up from second with lower listening and higher reach.
2: Launch - TTSL 3,096,631 (3,194,088); CP - 687,282 (672,959). Down from first with lower listening and higher reach.
3: Chain Cast/StreamAudio TTSL 1,623,812 (1,640,162); CP 194,895 (205,589). Same rank with lower listening and reach.
4: MUSICMATCH Inc. TTSL 1,300,609 (1,266,290); CP 360,044 (349,670). Same rank with higher listening and reach.
5: The Adsertion Network TTSL 1,209,314; CP 127,487 - new subscriber.
*Warp Radio fell from fifth to sixth with TTSL 807,180, down from 820,835 and CP 150,318 , down from 154,768.
Previous Arbitron-MeasureCast weekly ratings:
2003-05-30: Forstmann-Little owned Citadel Broadcasting Corporation's initial public offering when it goes back on the market will be comprised of 17 million shares at an estimated price of USD 18 each, a total of USD 306 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The details were released by underwriters Goldman Sachs & Co., Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank Securities, Merrill Lynch & Co., Bear Stearns & Co., Citigroup, JP Morgan and Wachovia Securities but no date has been set.
In June last year Citadel filed plans to sell up to USD575 million worth of common stock but gave no further details. It has said it will use the proceeds to repay some USD 288 million of senior debt.
Forstmann-Little bought Citadel in June 2001 for USD 2 billion (See RNW June 30 2001).
Citadel was then trading on the Nasdaq exchange as CITC; in its new incarnation it will trade on the New York Stock Exchange as CDL.
In other US radio business, Saga Communications has agreed a USD 13 million deal to acquire smooth jazz stations WJZA-FM, Lancaster, and WJZK-FM, Richwood, both serving the Columbus, Ohio, market from Scantland Broadcasting Ltd.
No details were given but Saga says it expects to close the deal during the third quarter of this year.
Saga already owns AC WSNY-FM and Oldies WODB-FM in the market and Saga President and CEO Edward K. Christian said the stations were "highly complimentary" to its existing stations.
Elsewhere, Maryland-based First Media is paying USD 11.35 million for eight radio stations and a low-power TV station from MainQuad Communications.
Six stations are in North Carolina -- Urban Oldies WYTT-FM, Gaston; AC WZAX-FM, Nashville; Country WKTC-FM, Pinetops; Country WCBT-AM and WPTM-FM, Roanoke Rapids and Gospel WSMY-AM, Weldon.
The other two stations are Virginia FMs Urban AC WSMY-FM, Alberta and WLGQ-FM, Emporia.
In New Jersey, Nassau Broadcasting is selling Classic Rock WCHR-FM, Manahawkin, serving the Monmouth-Ocean market has been sold to Millennium Radio Group for an undisclosed amount. Millennium already owns three FMs and two AMs in the market; it bought these from Nassau in June 2001 for nearly USD 100 million (See RNW June 12, 2001).
In Puerto Rico, Media Power Group is to pay Arso Radio USD 6.8 million for four AMs - mixed tropical programmed WLEY-AM, Cayey and Spanish news and talk-formatted WDEP-AM, Ponce, WSKN-AM, San Juan and WKFE-AM, Yauco.
Previous Arso Radio:
Previous Forstmann-Little:
Previous Millennium:
Previous Nassau:
Previous Saga:
2003-05-30: UK radio ratings conducted by German research group GfK based on the wristwatch measuring Radiocontrol meter device that records everything listened to or watched by participants have shown speech stations to have much larger audiences than recorded by official UK radio ratings conducted by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) using a diary system.
The ratings, commissioned by the Wireless Group, which owns TalkSport, are to be released monthly and for the period of the Iraq war showed BBC Radio 4 with the most listeners in the UK
The GfK figures showed it had 17.9 million listeners per week compared to just under ten million listed by RAJAR, which put BBC Radio 2 at the top with 13.2 million listeners a week. Radio 2 also gained in the GfK figures, being show to have 15.2 million listeners a week.
Amongst other stations, TalkSport leapt up to more than 8 million listeners a week, making it the most listened to commercial station in the UK; it was shown as having only 2.4 million by RAJAR.
BBC pop music station Radio 1 had 12.6 million listeners a week compared to 10.5 million, and Radio 5 Live had 10.8 million compared to 6.3 million.
GfK also measured TV audiences and found a large boost for channels watched in pubs and clubs compared to official BARB (British Audience Research Bureau) figures. It showed Sky News and Sky Sports 2 more than doubled weekly audiences to 16.5 million people and 8.9 million.
GfK Media director Nick North said the figures showed the radio industry to be in "excellent shape".
RAJAR managing director Jane O'Hara said the two research methods were not comparable and pointed out that it used a sample 15 times as large as GfK's.
RAJAR says that the RadioControl system records four seconds in every minute of listening, which is then matched to transmissions and O'Hara commented, "…what the release of this data does do is to raise very starkly two important issues for the radio industry that neither GfK nor The Wireless Group has addressed."
"First, do audio-meters provide us with a greater form of accuracy or a different form of inaccuracy?"
"Second, what is the impact of changing the definition of listening? GfK and TWG have assumed that listening for 4 seconds in a minute is acceptable without revealing whether there is a potential for 'false listening', or how those very short listening periods impact listener volumes. "
RAJAR would be reporting on both these issues and others to the RAJAR board next month, she added.
RAJAR has recently completed tests running over more than a year of the GfK system and Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) and expects to reveal plans soon for a new system.
Previous Arbitron:
Previous GfK:
Previous O'Hara:
Previous RAJAR:
Previous Wireless Group:
2003-05-30: Demonstrations were staged around the US on Thursday calling on the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prevent further consolidation in US media.
The demonstrations, timed four days before June 2 when the FCC is to announce new regulations, were planned outside Clear Channel stations in 14 cities including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
Clear Channel, which now owns more than 1200 radio stations, has been a particular target for criticism because of its programming of syndicated national shows to local stations and voice-tracking in which a personality in one location hosts shows in a number pf places.
In Los Angeles , about 60 people marched outside Clear Channel talk format KFI-AM with signs reading, "No Choice, No Voice: Reclaim Our Airwaves."
"We're frozen out," said Karen Pomer, a member of the group Code Pink, which organized the protest and also rallied for peace during the war in Iraq. "All of this is benefiting conservative voices."
In New York a demonstration by about 150 people was staged outside Clear Channel's WWPR-FM hip-hop and urban station by United for Peace and Justice NY, an anti-war group. The demonstrators carried signs that read, "Farewell Free Speech, We'll Miss You" and "The Airwaves Belong to the People, not Clear Channel."
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous FCC:
San Francisco Chronicle/AP report:
2003-05-30: Ibiquity Digital has announced that University of Southern California classical station KUSC-FM has become the first non-commercial licensee of its HD In-Band on-Channel digital radio technology.
The introduction follows earlier launches of HD by commercial stations including its introduction at the start of this month by Clear Channel at its are Smooth Jazz WNUA-FM and Urban Adult Contemporary WVAZ-FM in Chicago.
Commenting on the KUSC adoption of the system, iBiquity president and CEO Bob Struble said," HD Radio technology opens the door for public broadcasters, such as KUSC, to offer digital quality and superior services to their loyal listeners." "Public radio offers the potential for listeners to get the local news and information they value, as well as the option for new and exciting secondary services - all offered on the same frequency."
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous iBiquity:
Previous Struble:
2003-05-30: The clash between Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) and Univision over the latter's planned takeover of Hispanic Broadcasting (HBC) is building up according to the New York Post which said the companies had been calling each other "liar".
The accusation was put into print by Univision a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal saying earlier adverts by some of those opposing the deal, notably by Bronx Democrat State Senator Efrain Gonzalez and his National Hispanic Policy Institute are "lies."
SBS chairman and CEO Raúl Alarcón, a 47-years-old old Cuban-American tried to buy HBC last year but lost out to Univision and also lost a federal lawsuit, against which he is appealing, to block the deal.
Both sides are lobbying heavily, with Alarcón in step with many politicians, mainly Democrats, urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to block the deal, which has already been passed by the Department of Justice following Univision's agreement to reduce its stake in Entravision.
The FCC is still holding up the deal and FCC chairman Michael Powell has said that no decision will be made until after the June 2 announcement of new US media regulations.
Previous Alarcón:
Previous FCC:
Previous Hispanic Broadcasting:
Previous Powell:
Previous SBS:
Previous Univision:
New York Post report:
2003-05-30: The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has said that use of a "sexually violent metaphor" during an NFL football sports report on CJAY-FM, Calgary, was" inappropriate for broadcast."
The CBSC had received a complaint by a listener after the announcer started by saying the, "Redskins got bent over and fisted by Philly 37-7."
He went on to say, "Can you feel that?! Can you, baby?!"
In its ruling, the CBSC comments, "The suggestion that one team 'got bent over and fisted' by another is obviously metaphorical, but it nonetheless creates an image of sexual violence."
"While an intent to convey dominance in reporting a sports score is understandable, the linking of such dominance to a sexual scenario in this context is both unnecessary and unjustifiable."
"The sexual connotation of the statement was further emphasized and exacerbated by the announcer's succeeding interjections ;Can you feel that?! Can you, baby?!'. The Prairie Panel thus considers the qualifying comments to be gratuitous. "
"There was no attempt to mask the sexual meaning with double entendres or innuendo. The sexual reference was obvious and would likely have been widely understood by the majority of the station's listeners."
Previous CBSC:
2003-05-29: Advocacy groups Common Cause and MoveOn.Org, which oppose further US media consolidation are to launch a series of print and TV advertisements to publicize the issues.
The TV advert, which starts airing today, shows a channel surfer who can't get Murdoch's [media magnate Rupert Murdoch] image off his TV set.
The voiceover says, "On June 2, the Republicans on the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] plan to get rid of an important regulation so that Rupert Murdoch can buy more TV stations, radio stations, newspapers -- giving him control over much of the news you hear. This monopoly is no game."
The print advert is based on the statement, "This Man Wants to Control the News in America. The FCC Wants to Help Him."
In all Moveon says it is to place the adverts in the run up to the June 2 Federal Communications Commission meeting at which proposed regulations will be announced and will spend around USD 80,000 on print adverts in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Daily Variety and another USD100,000 on TV adverts in New York and Washington D.C.
Common Cause on its web site singles out radio consolidation as a warning, saying, "The Telecommunications Act of 1996 lifted ownership limits for radio stations, leading to rapid consolidation by media conglomerates. Thousands of radio stations have changed hands at least once since the law was passed. Before the change, the most stations a company could own was 40. One company alone, Clear Channel - criticized recently for its censoring of artists and control over its homogenized music play lists - now owns more than 1,200 radio stations across the country.
At the FCC itself, the meeting called by Democrat Commissioner Michael J. Copps and fellow Democrat Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein on Tuesday heard from a wide range of organisations but without much hope of changing things since the Republican Commissioners Kathleen Abernathy and Kevin Martin have indicated that they will support proposals from chairman Michael K Powell.
Amongst those opposing easing restrictions was Black Association. of Journalists President Condace Pressley who argued that this would result in less journalism and fewer opportunities for minority journalists.
Copps again called for a delay but again with little or no hope as Powell has repeatedly rejected such calls..
Powell, in an interview with Reuters, defended the call for a relaxation in ownership limits and said that Copps and Adelstein had failed to make "substantive alternative proposals." He maintained that a diversity of viewpoints would continue even in a more consolidated media world and also said that a proposal was still being considered that would allow a company to own 10 stations in a 60-station market.
Previous Abernathy:
Previous Adelstein:
Previous Copps:
Previous FCC:
Previous Martin:
Previous Powell:
Common Cause web site:
Moveon web site:
2003-05-29: Today sees the release of the first large-scale use of the RadioControl watch system for radio ratings in the UK; they are being published by Nuremberg-based German market research group GfK (Growth from Knowledge) in conjunction with an initiative launched by Wireless Group chairman and Chief Executive Kelvin MacKenzie.
GfK, which was established nearly 70 years ago as Germany's first market research company, began its UK media research business GfK Media Ltd., in March this year and is involved in a test of the Radiocontrol meter with RAJAR (Radio Joint Industry Research), which currently uses a diary system but is also evaluating Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM), as well as with the Wireless Group.
Advance tasters of the results being issued that was published in the UK Times showed listeners tuning in to more stations than previously recorded but listening for shorter periods.
The paper reported that the BBC, and Radio 4 in particular, came out well with GfK figures for the period from March 10 to April 20 - which included the run-up to the war in Iraq - showing that Radio 4 had 17.9 million regular listeners a week compared to just under 10 million according to RAJAR's ratings.
The GfK survey also showed talk stations to have larger audiences than music stations, more than 8 million for TalkSport compared to 7.3 million for Classic FM; RAJAR's figures were 2.415 million for the former and 6.657 million for the latter.
Previous Arbitron:
Previous MacKenzie:
Previous RAJAR:
Previous Wireless group:
UK Times report:
2003-05-29: UK Emap shares ended Wednesday up just over 2.5% at 890 pence following strong figures for the year to the end of March and an upbeat assessment of its prospects.
Overall turnover for the year was down 6% to GBP967 million (USD 1.58 billion) because of the impact of its disposal of Emap USA in August 2001 but turnover on continuing operations - the same total - was up 3%, operating profit was up 5% to GBP 191 million (USD313 million) and it turned a 2002 loss of GBP 69 million (USD113 million) into a pre-tax profit of GBP 140 million (USD 229 million).
Chief Executive Tom Moloney commented, " Emap has proved its growth potential this year through a combination of solid organic growth, the launch of successful new products such as Closer, and bolt-on acquisitions, with the Excelsior acquisition in France moving us up to number two in this market."
"Whilst media markets in general remain volatile, we are confident of making solid progress in the coming year."
In divisional terms, Emap's consumer media group had underlying turnover up 6% to GBP 329 million (USD 538 million) and its profits were up 10% to GBP 51 million (USD 83 million) - both figures excluding digital; its communications division had an underlying 2% increase in turnover to GBP 192 million (USD 256 million) and a 1% underlying increase in profits to GBP 53 million (USD 87 million)- again excluding digital; and Emap performance, which includes its radio operations, had a 2% increase in underlying turnover to GBP 155 million (USD 253 million) and a 5% decrease, because of "due to increased launch investment and revenue pressure across higher margin radio operations" in underlying operating profit to GBP 37 million (USD 61 million).
Within the Performance division radio revenues were down 1% at GBP 89 million (USD 146 million) compared to an overall UK radio advertising market growth of 3% in the period with national revenues up 1% and local revenues up 5%.
Emap noted that its "relative performance was markedly different in the first half, down 7% against a market up 3%, to the second half, up 5% and outperforming a market up 3%, helped by a strong performance from Kiss in London in the last quarter."
It added," During the year Emap Performance has continued to build its digital radio networks and now has seven digital brands distributed over both screen-based and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) networks, giving it a greater digital presence than any other UK commercial radio operator."
"These brands are already well known to consumers as analogue radio, television and magazine brands, and will be supported by extensive cross-promotion. As listening starts to transfer from analogue to digital over the coming years Emap is well placed to increase radio market share further."
Looking forward Emap says," Bolt-on acquisitions remain central to Emap's growth strategy. Over the next 12 months the acquisition focus will be prioritised to delivering value enhancing bolt-on acquisitions in UK and European B2B, and on creating value within the potential consolidation of the UK radio sector. The company has the commitment, management depth and funding power to achieve this.
Concerning radio expansion, Moloney said that consolidation in the industry would not be as rapid as some people expected because of hurdles in the communications bill and from the competition authorities but added that Emap was on a strong position to move when the time was right.
"We have the financial firepower to do any deal we want to do but we will not do a deal that is not at the right price, " he said.
Moloney said Emap was not intending to sell radio interests and added, "We see it as a core business and we think there are a lot of exciting developments - look at digital radio"
Previous Emap:
2003-05-29: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has red-flagged on ownership concentration grounds a Florida change in ownership under which Styles Management Co Inc. would take control of five stations in the Panama City Market that had been in a partnership between Styles Media and Thomas DiBacco.
The five stations are WPCF-AM and FMs WILN, WVVE, WYOO & WYYX.
The market has 11 other commercial stations, six owned by Clear Channel, four owned by WAITT, and an AM owned by HourGroup Inc.
Previous FCC:
2003-05-29: Shares in UK Capital Radio fell back slightly following a surge by 50pence of 490 pence on Tuesday after reports that the Guardian Media Group (GMG) was considering a bid; they ended Wednesday down 10pence at 480 pence, valuing Capital around GBP 400 million (USD 655 million).
There were conflicting reports about the bid in UK newspapers; The Independent wrote of a GBP 500 million to GBP 550 million bid (USD 820-900 million), a premium of GBP 100-150 million (USD164-245 million), The Daily Telegraph carried the line that GMG had refused to rule out a bid but The Times reported that no bid would be made in the "foreseeable future."
The Times quoted Guardian Radio Group managing director John Myers as confirming that the company was interested in expanding its commercial radio interests and that the group had amassed a war chest of about £165 million in cash to pursue acquisitions; it added that the rate at which the group expended its radio interests would depend in part on its attempts to purchase the whole of the Auto trader publishing business it currently co-owns with BC Partners (see RNW May 28)
Myers told the paper, "We are at the top of the first division (in commercial radio) and we want to be in the Premiership and I have been assured the funds will be available to do that."
The Independent noted that the Guardian had around GBP 120 million (USD 200 million) available in cash and quoted Myers as saying the company was "quite able" to raise the funds for a large acquisition.
It also noted that the group would not have significant regulatory problems with an acquisition; Myers commented, "By and large, we don't have to wait for the Bill. But that doesn't mean to say that we'll rush out and do a deal tomorrow."
"We are looking at all the big groups and running the rule over them," he said. "Of course Capital is one of these. That doesn't mean we've settled on one company."
Capital Radio has refused to comment.
Previous Capital:
Previous Guardian Media Group:
Previous Myers:
UK Independent report:
UK Telegraph report:
UK Times report:
2003-05-28: The US National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has come out broadly in favour of retaining the current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) definition of radio markets.
NAB President and CEO Eddie Fritts says the contour-based definition should be kept but that what he terms "large-signal " stations should be excluded from the count of stations in a market when their transmitters are more than 58 miles (90km) from the area where their signals overlap.
Fritts also calls for all current clusters to be "grandfathered" as long as they remain under their current ownership and also to permit free transfer of any existing station clusters that fall foul of revised rules.
Fritts notes that all such cluster came into being under existing contour-based definitions that date to 1992 and comments, "It would be strikingly unfair to now change the rules and require those stations to be divested or to limit their owners' ability to transfer them for full market value."
Fritts took a sideswipe at the idea of ratings-based definitions, saying that the contour approach "does not result in markets that are affected by past and potential future 'gerrymandering' by ratings service subscribers."
Previous FCC:
Previous Fritts:
Previous NAB:
2003-05-28: The UK Guardian Media Group (GMG) is considering a bit for Capital Radio following a seeming collapse in talks to buy out its co-owner in Autotrader that has left it with funds it is to use in building up its radio interests.
In all GMG will have some GBP 600 million (USD 985 million) to spend, and significantly more if it sold its 48% interest in AutoTrader that it currently co-owns with BC Partners.
Last year GMG paid some GBP 44 million (USD 72 million) to take control of Jazz FM from Clear Channel (See RNW Nov 7, 2002) and in 2001 it paid GBP 25 million ( USD 41 million) to purchase Scot FM from the Wireless Group (See RNW June 12, 2001)
GMG says it has not approached Capital adding it was "looking at Capital, but … not ruling anything out."
Capital shares ended the day 11% up at 490 pence following the news.
Previous Capital:
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Guardian Media Group:
Previous Wireless Group:
UK Guardian report:
2003-05-28: The Los Angeles Times in a feature linked to forthcoming US media regulation changes notes a move by some stations to play down their corporate ownership and tout their independence as they come to grips with "a brand-new worry - an audience that might actually care who owns the station."
Questions about" chain dominance", it says, "are influencing promotional decisions, particularly among rock broadcasters, many of which rely on an outsider image to hold young listeners" and it cites Larry Rosin, president of Edison Media Research, as commenting that he's beginning to see signs that listener habits are affected by a station's affiliation.
Although ownership issues haven't reached a "tipping point," Rosin said, "there are pockets where people do care."
His comments were backed up by radio consultant Dave Beasing who has advised a number of stations about campaigns built around anti-corporate themes.
One of them, KEDJ-FM, Phoenix, is beginning to air promotions with average-Joe sound bites, in which listeners offer their definitions of "independent" radio. In one sequence a male listener says, "You're not under the corporate authority." Another, which the station has not aired, has a female voice saying: "Independent means not owned by Clear Channel."
Scott Fey, the station's general manager, said focus groups had shown owner New Planet Radio, whose only station is KEDJ, that listeners knew with pinpoint precision which local stations were owned by Clear Channel, and what each station was doing. Those surveyed also were aware that the entertainment giant owned the local concert venues.
"The public at large was picking up on the business aspects of radio," Fey said.
Viacom's Rochester rock station WZNE-FM , part of its 180-station Infinity Broadcasting unit, notes the Times, pokes fun at an expansion-minded parent and San Diego's KBZT-FM, one of 17 Jefferson-Pilot Corp.-owned stations, bills itself as "anti-corporate, local and musically diverse" - while looking for extra points by taking shots at the radio industry's 800-pound gorilla.
"Not one of those cookie-cutter Clear Channel stations," runs a KBZT tagline.
KBZT has seen ratings rise to 5.1 from 2.6 among its target 18-to-34 demographic after six months of independence-themed promotions, but, says the Times, the boost may have come from a format change. Program director Garett Michaels, however, felt that the promotional gambit was working because of listeners' sentiments.
"We didn't say, 'Hey, let's pick on Clear Channel.' It was already there," Michaels said. "We just decided to pick up the ball and run with it."
Clear Channel, says the report, "doesn't push its name the way it used to" but it adds that executives are sceptical of the notion that fans care any more who owns the local station than they do what label puts out a favourite album.
"I doubt any consumer ever decided against purchasing Eminem's CD because it was owned by Interscope rather than Island Def Jam," said Tom Owens, Clear Channel's senior vice president of programming.
In the past Clear Channel encouraged stations to mention their corporate affiliation but not, says Owens, decisions are left to local market managers.
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Previous Viacom-CBS-Infinity:
Los Angeles Times report:
2003-05-28: Veteran CBC radio reporter David McLauchlin has died of cancer aged 56 in Montreal where he had been based since 1995.
He began his CBC career in the Maritime Provinces and among other posts was a writer-broadcaster for Information Morning in Saint John, the Eastern Townships correspondent for Radio News, field producer for Sunday Morning in Winnipeg, and national reporter for Radio News for the Prairies.
He has won a number of awards for his work including a 1981 Gabriel Award for best radio documentary of 1981 for his hour-long programme about three generations of a family of black musicians in Nova Scotia and a citation from the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada for his series about a generation of men from a Dene [RNW note - a people from Canada's Northwest Territories] community who died of cancer because they hauled uranium ore from a mine in jute sacks on their shoulders.
Previous CBC:
2003-05-27: The latest discussion on proposed US media laws is being held today at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), hosted by Democrat Commissioners Michael J. Copps and Jonathan Adelstein. They say they will be holding a roundtable discussion with some 20 organizations from all sides of the political spectrum in the afternoon.
Included will be artists, civil rights organizations, and consumer and political groups as well ass local broadcasters.
The FCC has announced that it is to stream live on the Internet its June 2 open meeting, starting at 0930 ET (1330 GMT) at which it will issue its report and order on media regulations.
Previous Adelstein:
Previous Copps:
Previous FCC:
2003-05-27: Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr has joined Chrysalis Radio's bid to win a new independent local radio FM licence for Glasgow and the surrounding west central Scotland area under the Arrow station brand according to the UK Guardian.
Glasgow born and bred Kerr, who has been appointed to the Arrow board as a non-executive director, commented, "I am convinced the Arrow will not only bring great, real music to listeners in west central Scotland, it will also provide opportunities for new up and coming talent as well."
"At the moment we are discussing the possibility of a programme that will focus on showcasing unsigned local bands - perhaps giving them their first big break in the business."
Glasgow currently only has one commercial FM, Scottish Radio Holdings' (SRH) Clyde FM, and theres expected to be keen bidding for the new FM..
Previous Chrysalis:
Previous SRH:
UK Guardian report:
2003-05-26: Yet again the issue of US media regulation was the dominant one in print over of broadcasting last week and in many cases it went over the same old ground. There were, however, some slightly different approaches, including one in an Art Buchwald column in the Washington Post that had not only an inimitable touch but also a number of neat twists.
"It wasn't terrorism or a coup d'etat that turned the United States into a dictatorship. It was the information monopoly," he began.
Then a seemingly logical follow on …"The "King of Monopolies" was Rupert the First, who in a short time bought up every press, TV and radio outlet in the United States."
And the first twist!
"Rupert the First, in an unfriendly takeover, won control of Murdoch's properties. Rupert the First was a golfing partner of the president's and supported him in his call for a pre-emptive war against France, Germany, Russia and Cuba."
"He made sure anyone who said otherwise would be considered a traitor and, after being investigated by his newspapers, would be called before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where the person would be held in contempt."
And another one …" What no one knew was that Rupert the Second hated his father -- so much so that he was really a closet liberal. Instead of being to the right of his father, he was far left of him. He immediately started changing everything in the company."
..."The editorials in all his papers called for decent Medicare, the doubling of education funds and long prison terms for anyone who cheated on Wall Street."
And finally… "The FCC spokesman said, "When we gave a monopoly to the media, we never dreamed that someday it would be owned by a liberal."
"The commissioners met in an emergency session and voted 3 to 2 to reverse themselves and break up any media chain that owned more than one TV station and one newspaper."
Fantasy over, but not some alliances that the debate has wrought and that might well at one time have been considered fantastical.
As Frank Ahrens wrote, again in the Washington Post, "The Federal Communications Commission's likely action to relax major media ownership rules is forging some unexpected political alliances. For instance, for the first time a group known as "CodePink, Women for Peace" (so called because it present pink slips -- literally, a piece of frilly pink lingerie -- to public officials they wish to fire for poor job performance) finds itself on the same side of a fight as the National Rifle Association. "
"These ideologically disparate groups share a common concern. If the FCC votes to ease ownership rules, several organizations -- left and right -- fear they will lose access to the public airwaves. Traditional foes are even speaking a common language, shared by some Democratic and Republican lawmakers. "
And to put it in the words of the two "allies" concerned: "It does put us in the position of strange bedfellows," said Gael Murphy, Washington coordinator for CodePink "But we do believe in diversity and that includes hearing from people we don't want to hear from," she said, referring to the NRA.
Wayne R. LaPierre Jr., president of the NRA, said he had no problem siding with CodePink on this issue, saying his group routinely has ads rejected by what he calls ideologically opposed television networks and stations.
"I am all for citizens having the ability to express their views. Diversity is what America is all about," he said. "Where I have a problem is when I get four or five big media conglomerates choking off dissenting points of view. That will be worse if Powell's consolidation is allowed to go forward."
The Washington Post also a public service by wading through some of the comments filed to the Federal Communications Commission.
It included excerpts from comments by Viacom, NBC, Fox and Telemundo in a 398-page jointly filed comment and by Clear Channel; both were in favour of less regulation.
Then there was a difference in emphasis from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) whose 286 page filing included the line that "the need for some check on the power of the networks has always been recognized -- to assure that the system would continue to be true to the localism principles of broadcast allocation policy" and from advocacy group the Consumer Federation of America that in a 296 page comment said that "outlets that are commonly owned are less likely to provide diverse points of view. Owners have a tendency to impose their preferences and biases on the media they control. They may not do so all the time or on all issues, but at critical moments, when their interests are at stake, they are more likely to do so. . ."
And a selection of comments from individuals (who presumably didn't need hundreds of pages to make their point) but overwhelmingly seem to oppose further relaxation of media controls albeit from different perspectives.
Examples given included a comment from David Vearle Palmer of Vancouver, Washington, who wrote, "I am appalled that you would even consider expanding the percentages of media ownership. Most of the major media channels are already controlled by the political left. Fox News is the only major dissenting voice. This ruling makes it easy for those who control the media to now wipe out any fairness in news reporting."
"We may as well have state-owned television and radio. Our government should not destroy the ability of people who have dissenting opinions to get access to major media channels."
From Virginia Bolten, Missoula, Montana, came the comment, "To have 3-5 corporations owning the broadcasting networks and controlling the news, entertainment and information I receive is very frightening. I do not want nor care for canned programming being fed into my community, because someone in New York, Los Angeles or Washington, D.C., deems it fitting for me or my community."
And from Debra Dekelaita, Santa Rosa, California, "We can get more news than anyone wants concerning stupid scandals about movie stars and just about any other slimy subject except the subjects that really matter the most, like what our government is really up to. Investigative reporting is gone and the investigative reports that are done do not get air play. The hosts of radio and talk shows have become loud mouths -- rude, name-calling jerks who only cause and encourage division among the people."
And from north of the border, comment from Antonia Zerbisias in the Toronto Star which looks at the issue from a Canadian perspective (RNW note: Australia, Canada and the UK are also considering major changes in media regulation).
"Those in the media concentration camp," he writes, "say there's nothing to fear, that thanks to the proliferation of cable channels, hundreds and hundreds of them, plus the growth of the Internet, there is no such thing as a lack of diversity or a dearth of voices in this, the information age."
… "Except that it's not so simple. In the U.S. some six companies own just about everything on the TV dial. And when the FCC rule changes take effect, you can look for some of those companies to merge. As for the Internet, well, as reported in Salon yesterday, "Every single one of the top 20 news Web sites is under the thumb of a media giant." In most cases, they're the exact same media giants who control the TV dial."
"What's more, although independent Web sites exist, they lack the clout of a merged, converged media company. So they don't have the resources to do the sort of hard-hitting journalism that seems to be disappearing in favour of much more Laci Peterson-like sensation on CNN."
"The thing about the public airwaves," comments Zerbisias, " is that, like public parks, they are free and belong to everybody."
… "Canadians and Americans probably wouldn't sit idly while the corporate sector took over, say, their national parks. So why are they so silent when their airwaves are being claimed for permanent corporate ownership?"
"Could it be that there is something their corporate news media sources aren't telling them?"
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Washington Post - Excerpts of comments to the FCC:
2003-05-26: Congressional Democrats efforts to stop the Univision takeover of Hispanic Broadcasting are fuelled by fears of Republican inroads into Latinos political allegiances according to a report in the Washington Post.
Some 20 Democrats including the Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle have urged that the deal be blocked and the paper says that they fear the deal would place more power into the hands of Republican business executives who could influence the news heard by US Hispanics.
The paper quotes California representative Linda Sanchez as saying they were already concerned about the coverage they received on Univision and feared being further marginalised; she said the deal would create "a major giant in the Hispanic community that doesn't really give a balanced perspective or the full range of discourse on issues."
Univision's CEO Jerry Perenchio is a registered Republican and if the deal goes through he will end up heading a corporation that controls owning 65 Spanish-language radio stations, more than twice the number controlled by closest competitor, Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), which has 27 stations.
SBS is lobbying against the deal and its chairman and CEO Raúl Alarcón has retained three firms to fight the proposed merger.
P.C. Koch, SBS's lead lobbyist, says the merger would allow Republicans unfettered access to Latinos and cites a poll, showing that nearly 90 percent of bilingual Hispanics get their news exclusively from Spanish-language television and radio.
Daschle wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Michael K Powell saying, "If the Univision merger is approved, there may be less diverse programming, news sources, and viewpoints available to Spanish-speaking audiences," "This could significantly impact public debate and lead to less local and community-oriented programming."
The letter followed a similar one written by eight members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who said they were "concerned about the impact of consolidation on our constituents and the fact that Hispanic ownership and management of U.S. media has virtually vanished in recent years."
Democrats have accused Univision of biased news coverage and said that, during the recent coverage of the judicial nomination fight over Miguel Estrada, Univision barely covered Democratic opposition, instead painting Estrada in the most positive light.
Univision general counsel Doug Kranwinkle said Perenchio does not exercise editorial control over Univision's news coverage.
The Democrats are also concerned about the influence of Clear Channel chairman and CEO Lowry Mays, whose company owns nearly a third of HBC.
Mays, a Texan friend of President Bush and his father, gave 87 percent of his political donations to Republicans in the last election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics but Univision officials, argue the deal would reduce the influence of Clear Channel because it would control only 3 percent of voting interest in the newly formed company.
Previous Alarcón:
Previous Clear Channel:
Previous Hispanic Broadcasting:
Previous Lowry Mays:
Previous SBS:
Previous Univision:
Washington Post report:
2003-05-26: Viacom's shareholders have approved a new board that now has 11 independent members and six company insiders compared to ten independents and eight insiders on its previous board.
Viacom chairman and CEO Sumner Redstone described the changes to investors as furthering the company's "commitment to good corporate governance."
He also suggested that the company might consider paying a dividend if tax regulations were changes, commenting that as soon as tax relief on dividends is granted the board would give the matter very serious consideration.
Previous Redstone:
Previous Viacom:
2003-05-25: The past week was as notable for what will be the UK Radio Authority's last full annual report before it is subsumed into the new British regulator, OFCOM, as for regular licence activity.
In Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), as well as more routine licence activity, has released proposed amendments to its Technical Planning Guidelines, which were first issued in August 1995.
It also revealed that it received seven submissions on whether to defer the allocation of further commercial FM radio licences in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, an issue that has reportedly led DMG to threaten to sue should there be a delay in the allocation (See RNW May 20).
the ABA says it will release details of the latter, apart from confidential material, when it has made a decision.
Concerning the planning guidelines ( 910 Kb PDF) ABA Chairman Professor David Flint said, "The proposed amendments provide for greater clarity in the application of the guidelines and address a number of editorial issues flowing on from previous amendments. The ABA welcomes submissions from affected and interested parties on the proposed changes."
On the licence front, the ABA has extended until the end of September this year the deadline for 5CS, Spencer Gulf North, South Australia, to convert from AM to FM; it has also changed a number of commercial radio licences in North West Western Australia
The changes involve moving the towns of Paraburdoo and Tom Price from the Karratha licence area to the Remote Western Australia licence area and also moving Broome from the Remote Western Australia licence area to the Port Hedland licence area.
In addition Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands, which formerly were not in any commercial radio licence area, have been added to the Remote Western Australia licence area
All the services in the areas involved - 6KA Karratha, 6RED Karratha, 6NW Port Hedland, 6HED Port Hedland, 6FMS Remote Western Australia and 6SAT Western Australia- are operated by Redwave Media Ltd
In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has had a fairly quiet week for radio activity. Its main activities (in province order) were:
Manitoba:
*Approved extension until February next year of the deadline for Native Communication Inc. to start operating transmitters of CINC-FM Thompson at Fox Lake and Lake Manitoba.
Newfoundland and Labrador:
*Approved a new low-power 20 watts English-language Type B community FM in McKay's.
The CRTC has also issued a public notice, with a deadline for interventions of June 25, concerning an application to amend the licence of radio station CIAM-FM, Fort Vermilion, Alberta, to change its frequency because of interference on its current frequency.
There was nothing radio-related from Ireland but In the UK, the Radio Authority has published its annual report and financial statement for 2002 (6.43 Mb PDF- site links to this), the last full year that it will operate (See RNW May 22):.
It has also announced that only one application was received for the Reading & Basingstoke digital multiplex licence.
This was from Now Digital Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of GWR Group, which is proposing an initial service of six channels in addition to carrying BBC Radio Berkshire.
The channels proposed are:
Contemporary hit radio - 2-Ten FM - provider: Thames Valley Broadcasting Ltd.
Gold - Classic Gold 1431/1485 - provider: Classic Gold Digital Ltd.
Modern rock - The Storm - provider: The Storm (Digital Radio) Ltd.
Easy listening - Saga - provider: Saga Group Ltd.)
Dance - Kiss -provider: EG Digital Ltd.)
An "Access" channel including Student broadcasting from 19.00 - 00.00 - provider: SBN Ltd.).
In the US, the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) is still working on new US media regulation rules but no details have yet been released although we have reported considerable reaction over the week.
In addition the FCC has been involved in a number of penalties and also red-flagged on concentration grounds Forever Communications planned purchase of WGBV-FM, Glasgow, Kentucky, from Royse Radio Inc.
The penalties involved were a reduction of USD 3,000 to USD 2,000 of a penalty of Titan Towers for failing to post a readily visible Antenna
Structure Registration (" ASR") number on a tower near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and the cancellation of a USD 2,000 penalty on Moffatt Properties Leasing LLC for failing to post an ASR number on a tower near Tupelo, Mississippi. Muffed had argued that it had posted the number but a contractor had bulldozed the ASR number sign.
The FCC was also involved in a workshop on cognitive radio, a technology that may have considerable use in the future; Through software-controlled use of spectrum it allows a signal to be shifted around different portions of the spectrum, with both transmitter and receiver adjusting themselves accordingly, thus allowing fuller use of spectrum.
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2003-05-25: Sirius has now closed its USD 175 million offering of 3.5% convertible notes due 2008 and says it is now fully funded with the net proceeds of just under USD 169 million expected to fund it to break-even.
The satellite radio company says it expects to reach 100, 000 subscribers during the current quarter and 300,000 by the end of this year.
The notes are convertible into Sirius common stock at the holder's option at a rate of USD1.38 per share; this compares with a closing price on Friday of USD 1.32 and a Friday high of USD 1.36.
Sirius President and CEO Joseph P. Clayton commented, "Our ability to raise this capital in today's financial markets environment is indicative of the confidence felt within the financial community about our business."
"With our subscriber base more than doubling during the first quarter of this year, our automotive partners firmly on board, and the introduction of portable 'Plug & Play' products this summer, we are feeling a strong wind in our sails."
Previous Clayton:
Previous Sirius:
2003-05-25: A BBC news release announcing that former US First Lady Hillary Clinton is to read excerpts from her memoirs on BBC Radio 4 from June 23-7 has been removed from its web site without any comment.
The release relating to Clinton's book "Living History" said the readings would provide "glimpses into the world of the White House and the pressures of media scrutiny" and in more contentious wording that "She also describes how she was the first First Lady to play a direct role in shaping American domestic policy and talks about her work as a resolute campaigner for health and women's welfare issues throughout the developing world."
Clinton commented, " Living History was a difficult book to write. Partly because there was so much I wanted to say and my publisher kept saying 'you can't say that much, you have to fit it into a book, not a multi-volume history'.
"It's not meant to be a history, it is a memoir, and I tried to express my feelings about everything that happened during those eight years."
Previous BBC:
2003-05-25: Just days after the New York Metropolitan Opera lost sponsorship from Texaco of broadcasts of its live Saturday matinee performances (See RNW May 22), the New York Philharmonic' Orchestra's live national radio broadcasts from next season have announced a new sponsor.
The sponsor, the New Jersey-based Kaplen Foundation, is providing more than USD 250,000 to sponsor the broadcasts, which will also be supported by the US National Endowment for the Arts.
The New York Philharmonic Live broadcasts, which air monthly on selected Thursdays, are produced by WFMT-FM, Chicago, and syndicated to more than 250 US radio stations.
The concerts, which will start their eighth season in September, had been funded for six seasons by Time Warner and AOL Time Warner and last year were sponsored by WQXR.com.
The Kaplen family foundation has agreed to sponsorship for one season and the orchestra's executive director Zarin Mehta commented in a statement, "In these economic times we are especially grateful for this remarkable and generous gift, which supports the importance that we attach to broadcasting live on a national basis."
2003-05-24: Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) has significantly outperformed the UK radio industry as a whole according to its figures for the six months to the end of March just released.
They show turnover from continuing operations up 28% to GBP 41.5million (USD 66 million), operating profit from continuing operations up 41% to GBP 9.6 million (USD 15.5 million) and overall pre-tax profits more than doubled at GBP 6.9 million (USD 11million) from GBP 3.4 million (USD 5.4 million) in the first six months of last year.
Profit before exceptionals and goodwill was up 51% to GBP 8.6 million (USD 13.8 million).
After taxes and dividends, SRH retained profits of GBP 2.4 million (USD 3.8 million) in the half-year compared to a full-year loss of GBP 22.5 million (USD 26 million) up to the end of September last year when it had a loss of GBP 21 million (USD 34 million) from the sale of its outdoor advertising business.
Within the group, SHR's stable of 23 analogue radio station produced revenues including acquisitions that were up by a third and like-for-like radio revenues for the six months were up 5% on last year, including an increase of 3% in sponsorship and promotions income. Local advertising revenues were up 3% and national was up 8%.
SRH noted that across the whole of Scotland survey area, SRH stations combine to enjoy a 51% reach, and market share of 31.9%; in Northern Ireland, SRH stations have a 49% reach and market share of 25.1%, and in the Republic of Ireland, Today FM was up 6% on the previous year to a record 995,000 listeners a week.
Digital - - SRH operates five digital multiplexes - - and Internet net expenditure was kept at a steady GBP 600, 000 (USD 960, 000),
In comparison, print revenues including acquisitions were up 21% on a year before and like-for-like print revenues were up 9%.
Commenting on the figures, SRH Chairman, Lord Gordon of Strathblane, said, "The strong first half growth in revenues and operating profits in both radio and publishing is extremely encouraging." SRH is well placed for continued growth with its market leading radio companies in recognised geographical marketing areas and well-established local press titles. Trading in the second half has also started strongly, underpinning the Board's expectation of a good result for the year as a whole."
SRH chief executive Richard Findlay commented that following the acquisition of GWR's share of Vibe Radio the company was looking at further opportunities in England, Ireland and Scotland for further acquisitions.
He added that he did not foresee regulatory problems for any acquisitions that SRH might go for, adding that the deterrent in the past had been high prices that had now "come down and that has given us an opportunity, with good financial strength behind us."
SRH says the outlook is healthy with double-digit rises in national radio advertising expected for April and May. Its shares, which ended Thursday at 670 pence touched 720 at one time and ended Friday 5.2% up at 705 pence
Previous Findlay:
Previous Lord Gordon:
Previous SRH:
2003-05-24: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has joined groups calling upon the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to release details of planned media regulation changes before its June 2 vote on them.
In a letter sent to FCC chairman Michael Powell and copied to the other commissioners, the ACLU requests that "that the Commission propose a specific rule or rules, hold public hearings, and allow the public and Congress to review and comment on any proposed rules prior to final adoption."
"Allowing greater concentration and cross-ownership of media may have a profound impact on Americans' access to a wide range of news, information, programming, and political commentary," it continues. "Despite tremendous advances in telecommunications, Americans predominantly gain information from television, radio, and newspapers. For the relatively small percentage of Americans who turn to the Internet for their news, television-affiliated web sites dominate."
"The mass media, therefore, provides the information Americans need to fully participate in our democratic society. Altering media ownership rules could seriously affect vigorous public debate and the marketplace of ideas."
It then says, "Hindering public comment is the fact that no rule has yet been proposed. The Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on media ownership, but proposed no actual rule upon which the public could comment."
"Thus, the public and Congress have had no opportunity to comment on specific changes and their possible effect on diversity. While there may be a difference of opinion on whether media concentration automatically results in lack of diversity, relaxation of the rules could have such a consequence. For this reason, the opportunity for the public and Congress to comment on a specific proposed rule is necessary."
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Previous Powell:
ACLU letter:
2003-05-24: The UK Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), which has a 29.8% stake in GWR, will ultimately either bail out or take control of the company according to GWR chief executive Patrick Taylor.
He commented according to a UK Guardian report, "As far as we are concerned they have made it clear to us they look at this business as long term investments."
"They have made it clear they are not in this business to be 30% shareholders. They will either gain control or sell out. But the resolution of all this may be five years away, 10 years away or 20 years away."
"They like the digital radio plan that we have, and they are great believers in opportunity to add value to the assets we have in digital radio.
Commenting on likely UK radio consolidation after the UK Communications Bill becomes law and in the wake of the ruling that forced GWR to divest itself of its interests in Vibe Radio Services (See RNW May 23), Taylor said GWR was better placed than rivals because its business did not overlap to the extent that applied to Capital, Emap and Chrysalis who were going to face "pretty significant regulatory difficulties."
"We don't overlap with them in any of these areas, so we're more likely to join forces," he added.
Taylor said financial considerations and return on investment would determine the progress of consolidation bids.
"The thing one needs to look at is the return on investment," he said. "That's all about price and all about the opportunity to grow the top line and cut out duplicative costs."
HE added that DMGT "would not dream" of selling its stake at the current trading price of GWR stock, and queried whether anyone else could make a return on the premium DMGT would require - he mentioned a GBP 3 price.
Taylor also commented that potential buyers like Clear Channel would be deterred by content provision restrictions in the UK, saying, "There is no way Clear Channel will be allowed to do in this country what they have done in the US."
Previous DMG:
Previous GWR:
Previous Taylor:
UK Guardian report.
2003-05-24: There was only minor change at the top in the latest Internet ratings from Arbitron-MeasureCast apart from a leap back up to fifth from 17th for Jazz format KPLU-FM after what had seemed an anomalously low week. Its move put two Jazz stations back into the top five but news was absent as WLS-AM fell to sixth spot but no well names disappeared - a feature recently as the service was moved to subscription only with other stations no longer being ranked.
For the week to May 11, Arbitron-Measure Cast's top five stations ranked by Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) with (in brackets) TTSL and Cume persons (a measure of the cumulative audience -CP) for the previous week - were:
1: Hot Adult Contemporary Virgin AM & FM - TTSL 290,668 (293,445); CP 56,729 (56,928). Same rank with slightly lower listening and reach.
2: Internet only artist-match MUSICMATCH - TTSL 290,073 (279,504); CP 119,652 (114,058). Same rank with higher listening and reach.
3: Jazz format Jazz FM - TTSL 238,388 (210,527); CP 31,906 (30,093). Up from fourth with higher listening and reach.
4: Classical format WQXR-FM- TTSL 238,388 (231,609); CP 32,234 (32,755). Down from third despite higher listening although reach was slightly down.
5: Jazz format KPLU-FM - TTSL 187,539 (70,267); CP 31,723 (17,909). Up from 17th with significantly higher listening and reach.
* News-Talk WLS-AM fell from fifth to sixth with TTSL of 177,432, down from 185,125 and CP of 27,568. down from 28,712.
The top five networks for the week to May 11 (Previous week's figures in brackets) were:
1: Launch - TTSL 3,194,088 (3,110,885); CP - 672,959 (681,866). Same rank with higher listening and lower reach.
2: Live365.com - TTSL 3,103,521 (3,058,731); CP - 566,744 (570,878) Same rank with higher listening and lower reach.
3: Chain Cast/StreamAudio TTSL 1,640,162 (1,615,336); CP 205,589 (205,158). Same rank with higher listening and reach.
4: MUSICMATCH Inc. TTSL 1,266,290 (1,249,452); CP 349,670 (354,170). Same rank with lower listening and reach.
5: Warp Radio TTSL 820,835 (835,054); CP 154,768 (158,874) - Same rank with lower listening and very slightly higher reach.
Previous Arbitron-MeasureCast weekly ratings:
2003-05-23: The US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has been told by the Center for Public Integrity that most of 2,500 trips made over the past eight years by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had been paid for by the telecommunications and broadcasting industries regulated by the agency.
The report, which was based on public records, details trips mainly to industry conventions, academic symposia and technical forums worth more than USD 250 taken by commissioners and staff between May 1995 and February this year; the total cost came to USD 2.8 million but all appear to be within US government guidelines.
The top destination for trips was Las Vegas, with 330 trips followed by New Orleans, with 173 trips then New York with 102 trips and London with 98 trips.
Biggest spenders were the National Association of Broadcasters which spent USD191,472 followed by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association which spent USD172,636 and the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association which spent USD 149,285.
FCC Chairman Michael K Powell "chalked up" the most industry sponsored travel and entertainment among active commissioners during the period covered by the with 44 trips costing USD 84,921and amongst the other commissioners, Republican Kathleen Abernathy took 14 trips costing USD 16,185, Democrat Michael Copps took 14 trips costing USD 15,410, Republican Kevin Martin, who joined the commission a month later in July 2001 has taken 12 trips valued at $14,857, and Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, who joined the Commission a month later in July 2001, took three trips costing USD 2,998.
None of the trips, notes the study, were sponsored by consumer groups or individuals.
Charles Lewis, director of the Center, questioned as a result whether the FCC could be objective in its review of US media regulation.
"I think travel is necessary and if it's necessary then the taxpayer should pay for it," he told the Washington Post. "When you're travelling on somebody's nickel and they're in your face while you're travelling, there might be a problem."
Abernathy, although refusing an interview about her trips, issued a statement saying, "The Commissioner believes that meeting with a diverse range of groups, including industry, consumer groups, and other interested parties, serves a crucial information-gathering purpose that is necessary to effective decision making."
"Commissioner occasionally travels to meet with interested parties for this purpose, particularly where parties seek to provide a tour or demonstration that cannot be provided in Washington, D.C."
Robert Pepper, chief of the FCC Office of Plans and Policy, who took 104 trips costing USD 149,595, commented, "We need to understand what the industry is doing and the industry needs to understand what we are doing. We need to get outside the Beltway in order to do that."
Pepper said the FCC should pay for such trips in an ideal world, but that isn't possible in an age of tight agency budgets. "I'm not crazy about having the industry pick up the tab, but I think it is the second-best option we have in tight fiscal times like now," he said. "The other option is for us to just stay home. That doesn't benefit anyone."
Mark Cooper, director of research at the Consumer Federation of America, commented of the hospitality, "It is silly to say they [FCC officials] don't lose some of their objectivity when they are being wined and dined like they are at these industry events. You would have to be superhuman not to."
Andrew Schwartzman, president and CEO of the Media Access Project, a consumer advocacy group, commented, "The problem for me is the access and the personal face time the industry gets with these top officials they bring out to their events. It's impossible for the public to get the same kind of access with those officials."
Republican former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said he found industry-funded trips useful, although he would have preferred to have had them paid for by the agency if funds had been available.
"It almost always benefits the public because the commissioners are better informed when it comes time to make decisions," he said. He took 58 industry-sponsored trips costing USD 51,483 during his tenure as a commissioner from November 1997 to May 2001.
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Washington Post report:
2003-05-23: UK GWR Group, which on Thursday announced its preliminary results to the end of March, has provisionally sold its 49% holding in Vibe Radio Services Limited ("VRSL") for £17.6 million (USD 28.1 million) in cash to Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH), which already owns the remainder of Vibe.
The sale follows a ruling by the UK Competition Commission that GWR had could not keep the holding (See RNW May 17) and is conditional upon prior approval by Britain's Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
GWR says it and SRH have also conditionally agreed that GWR's contracts to sell airtime for and provide other services to VRSL will be terminated and that the companies GWR and SRH have been in contact with the OFT and believe that regulatory clearance should shortly be forthcoming.
GWR Executive Chairman Ralph Bernard commented, "Following the Competition Minister's statement last week, we have reviewed the proposed remedies and concluded that they were commercially unworkable and we were not prepared to implement them. We believe that a swift disposal of our investment is in the best interests of GWR."
GWR says the disposal will be earnings neutral in the current financial year. It notes that from its inception in September 2002 until the end of March this year, VRSL had revenues of GBP 1.6 million (USD 2.6 million), profits before interest, tax and amortisation of GBP 240,000 (USD 384,000) and a pre-tax loss of GBP 925,000 (USD 1.48 million). On 31 March VRSL had net assets of GBP17.4 million (USD 27.8 million).
GWR has also announced a conditional sale of its Hungarian radio interests for a total of GBP 18 million (USD 29 million) in cash in two simultaneous transactions to Advent International and Mezzanine Management Central Europe.
The sale is the strategic disposal as the group concentrates on building up its UK resources. It virtually completes GWR's disposal of overseas holdings and Bernard commented that they had achieved "a substantially higher price than we initially expected."
The funds from both disposals will be used to reduce debt and Bernard, who said he was "disappointed" about having to sell the VRSL holding added that they had no acquisitions planned at the moment.
GWR's preliminary results showed the company losing turnover slightly - down 1% to GBP 127.1 million (USD 203.2 million), Operating profit, before goodwill and exceptional items down 10.4% to GBP 14.7 (USD 25.5 million) but an operating loss after goodwill and exceptional items trimmed from GBP 7.3 million (USD 11.7 million) to GBP 2.6 million (USD 4.2 million).
Within its revenues, underlying UK radio revenues were 2.3% down compared to last year, national radio revenues -- 59% of its total UK advertising revenues - were up 0.6% year on year, but local radio revenues were down by 6.6%, partly reflecting a shift of inventory towards the more lucrative national market during the year.
Overall GWR's loss after goodwill and exceptional items was down 2% to GBP 14.8 million (USD 23.7 million) - from 12.7 pence per share to 11.7 pence per share.
The figures were boosted from those in GWR's interims by the Hungarian sale for which it had provided GBP 11.8 million (USD 18.9 million) to reflect an anticipated write-down; subsequently it succeeded in getting an extension of its Danubius national licence at a substantially released fee. As a result it is releasing GBP 5 million of the provisions because of the price achieved.
Bernard commented of the year that GWR had "made excellent progress in delivering our stated strategy over the past twelve months."
"The company is now in a significantly stronger position, despite trading conditions during this period continuing to be difficult," he continued, noting that it had successfully re-organised UK operations with benefits now coming through, reduced staff with an annualised saving of GBP 3 million (USD 4.8 million) and "virtually completed the process of disposing of our overseas and non-core UK radio operations."
Debt, he said, was trimmed by GBP 65 million (USD 104 million) through disposals and by a further GBP 33 million (USD 53 million) on the disposals of just announced today to a total of approximately GBP 66 million (USD106 million)
Overall Bernard said the group felt "financially stronger and leaner" and "better placed than our peer group to take advantage of future consolidation across the country."
GWR Chief Executive Patrick Taylor described the Galaxy 101/Vibe deal as being a "fill-in" where the station was on offer and fitted in with the London News Radio deal, and said the VRSL disposal was not a strategic defeat.
He added that April and May advertising revenues would show low single digit with June expected to be a little better.
The markets welcomed the news and by early afternoon had marked GWR shares up 7% to 176.50 pence.
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2003-05-23: Proposals that Dallas City Council should move the city's classical music public station WRR-FM to a different frequency as part of a three-way swap that could boost its finances by some USD 60 million have received a cool reception from a council committee.
Under the swap WRR would move to the frequency currently used by urban contemporary station KRNB-FM, KRNB would move to the frequency used by Susquehanna 's 50,000 watts classic-rock KDBN-FM and KDBN would take over WRR's frequency. It would double KDBN's power and improve its coverage area but reduce WRR's power.
Other proposals mooted are for WRR and KDXX-FM to swap frequencies with a payment to the city of USD 45 million or for WRR be run under a "local marketing agreement" by public radio station KERA-FM, and that City Council meetings, currently broadcast on WRR, to be aired on KKDA-AM.
The Dallas Morning News said that Arts, Education and Libraries Committee chairwoman Veletta Forsythe Lill had described the idea of swapping frequencies as now "being on life support" although the full council is still to discuss the proposals on June 4.
The suggestions had come from a task force convened last year by Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and John Tyler, a member of the task force, told council members that the USD 60 million shouldn't be passed up.
"This is one of the sweetest deals I've ever seen," he said. "I don't think the city should hesitate a second in accepting this deal."
The committee itself was not unanimous in its views. Lill commented, "This is an asset that belongs to all of the citizens of Dallas. And if there are citizens who cannot hear the station, then we have marginalized those citizens."
All six of the committee's members said they have serious misgivings about the proposed swap and some council members had reported static when tuning in to the KRNB frequency but another task force member Martin Greenberg said he has crisscrossed the city in his car, flipping between the frequencies without encountering problems.
City Council member Mitchell Rasansky said he thinks WRR's signal should command a higher price than what has been offered.
"I'm not going to support this unless we get $100 million to $125 million," he said. "They're short changing the city."
He added that maintaining the station's current service area also is a priority, saying, "The whole city of Dallas has to hear this.
"We cannot take a chance on this. This is a jewel that we have."
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