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Friday May 9, 2008 Edition

Clear Channel executives are uncertain about merger deal (read more - San Antonio Biz Journal)

Former KGO AM 810 radio talk show host Bernie Ward offered a guilty plea to one count of sending child pornography over the Internet in December 2004 in a plea deal that will send him to federal prison for at least five years - The pornography came to light when a woman in Oakdale in Stanislaus County who had been exchanging sexual messages with Ward under the name of 'Sexfairy' alerted police that Ward had sent her an image of child pornography on Dec. 23, 2004, according to Oakdale police reports - "In terms of his freedom, his future, he's lost almost everything," his attorney, Doron Weinberg said. "He's not going to be able to come out [of prison] and return to the work he does so well" (read more ABC News) (read more - San Jose Mercury News)  (read more - Bob Egelko - San Francisco Chronicle)

From Mark Harrington -- Tribune chief executive Sam Zell said print-ad revenues "continue to be challenged by the weak economy's impact on real estate and classified advertising." He said the company's broadcasting operating results are "notably more stable." Broadcasting and entertainment groups saw operating revenue increase 3 percent to $292 million (read more - Newsday)

FCC chairman Kevin Martin remained mum Thursday, when asked by reporters at a news conference about when he might begin circulating an item on the 334-days-and-counting merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio + FCC member Jonathan Adelstein on Thursday said the agency should take into consideration the concerns raised by 11 attorneys general  (read more - Amy Schatz - WSJ) (read more - Ron Orol - The Deal)

Clear Channel Communications has reported results for its first quarter ended March 31, with revenues of $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2008, a 4% increase over the $1.5 billion reported for the first quarter of 2007 (read more - Business Wire)

Oil prices surpassed a record $126 per barrel today

From Anita Huslin -- Radio One yesterday said it lost $18.3 million in the first three months of the year, as a slump in national advertising sales overshadowed company efforts to revamp operations and hire on-air talent (read more - Washington Post)

The Project for Excellence in Journalism said it was surprised at how much the Comedy Central late-night program resembles The O'Reilly Factor, Hardball and other cable news shows in content (read more - Crain's NY Biz)

From Robert Feder -- Could Chicago television support two full-time local news channels? With Tribune Co. already 15 years into its CLTV cable news operation, the prospect of new competition arose this week + at US 99.5, Don Schwenneker replaces Channel 5's Brant Miller, who shifted to hosting mornings at Citadel Broadcasting's oldies WZZN-FM (94.7) (read more - Chicago Tribune)

From Jerry Del Colliano -- Farid Suleman, the bean counter loosely disguised as a wannabe Jack Welsh, is considering cutting his sales staff. Brilliant. And you wonder why this hapless radio industry can't get it turned around. He believes as much as half of revenues would come in with or without a salesperson. That's right. Open mouth, put foot in (read more - Inside Music Media)

From Richard Wagoner -- First there was Jack. Then Jill. Now comes Jose. Regional Mexican music station KLYY (97.5 FM) has switched formats to Spanish adult hits, playing what it wants - kind of a Jack FM in Spanish, even if it doesn't quite translate (read more - Long Beach Press-Telegram)

CelleCast founder and CEO Andrew Deal says it has launched its social media tools built to enhance the burgeoning user community. CelleCast Listener Central brings the popularity of sites such as MySpace and Facebook to a 490 million phones and the mobile, audio-on-demand environment. The CelleCast Listener Central page features a variety of social media tools including talkbacks, polls, playlists, top shows and user statistics and they're available to anyone with a phone

From John Mashek -- Limbaugh has built a huge audience of true believers. His listeners and viewers love hearing him ridicule and excoriate Democrats and even, now and then, Sen. John McCain. Limbaugh delights in crushing people. He can dish it out, so let's see if he can take it. When Mary Mapes, Dan Rather's producer at CBS, was fired over the controversial story of George W. Bush's draft status, Limbaugh ripped into her journalistic ethics. Mapes appeared at a seminar at Middle Tennessee University a few years ago and was asked about his charge. "I don't need to be lectured on ethics by an obese, thrice-married drug addict,' she said to applause. The latter point was a reference to Limbaugh's problems with pain medication. As for Limbaugh, he'll probably like this mention of him and his antics, even when it calls for undermining the ballot box (read more - US News and World Report)

From David Barron -- As the Rockets contemplate offseason roster changes, they're also contemplating a historic hire: selecting the successors - or successor - for longtime radio voices Gene Peterson and Jim Foley (read more - Houston Chronicle)

From John Gorman -- What part of “you got screwed” don’t you understand? Was it when the just-named COO of the Tribune Corp. Randy Michaels ran that full-page ad in the L.A. Times with a headline that read, Sorry Radio, but the numbers send a clear signal and referencing that the paper has a bigger reach than the top 20 radio stations in Los Angeles? You were under the impression that the one formerly known as Benjamin Homel, was - one of us? You really believed he still gave a rat’s hind about radio? (read more - John Gorman)

From Richard Huff -- Word is that Lynda Baquero, now anchoring WNBC 4 at 6 p.m. with David Ushery, will come off that newscast at the end of the month when the sweeps period ends + Jeff Rossen, who has been at WABC/Ch. 7 for seven years, is jumping ship + WCBS/Ch. 2 recently launched a series of promos with Chris Wragge and Kristine Johnson that are unusual because they're in black and white (read more - NY Daily News)

Satellite Sister Julie Dolan is visiting Iraq this week and will present reports on the Satellite Sisters Show for the next few days

From Shane Magness -- Michael Dean has been working in the radio business for a long time - While working for 92.5 KOMA in 1991, he was given the opportunity to join the OU radio team when KOMA started broadcasting the OU basketball and football games.  Today, he is in his 17th season with OU (read more - The Oklahoman)

From Peter Smyth -- I firmly believe the FCC should enforce its long-standing and well-reasoned prohibition against a satellite radio monopoly, which it established in 1997 when it granted the spectrum licenses to XM and Sirius. The policy underlying this prohibition - to provide an opportunity for a competitive satellite service to benefit consumers - is every bit as valid today as it was back in 1997. Satellite radio is still relatively new and so far, there is no evidence that the competitive landscape has changed in such a way that a satellite monopoly is somehow justified (read more - Greater Media)

From Deborah Yao -- Comcast is considering setting an official limit on the amount of data that subscribers can download per month and charging a fee for those who go over (read more - USA Today)

From Lori Tipton -- Efforts are underway to turn some Valley airwaves green. KMBQ-FM 99.7 is hoping to convince its listeners to conserve energy and has started by broadcasting that message. The owner says he has bigger plans (read more - view the video - KTUU TV Alaska)

From Mel Phillips -- Peter (Smyth) and I are cut from the same radio cloth sharing a Kevin Bacon connection centered around the old WRKO-FM in Boston. It was at WRKO-FM that I made my programming debut and about 10 years later, Peter began his sales career at the same station, then WROR-FM. Peter was helpful in helping us organize the 25th anniversary of WRKO (AM) in the 90s and I wish him luck in his merger fight. I don’t think his opposition to the merger will matter but I have to give him credit for his strong stand and for fighting the good fight (read more - Mel Phillips)

From Fred Jacobs -- As (Tom) Bender always reminded me, the key to Classic Rock (and any format) is to hold up the mirror to the audience and simply reflect back their level of enthusiasm. We see this in every focus group and L.A.B. we conduct for our clients. A dozen people from varied backgrounds and socio-economic groups get together in a conference room to talk about the music and the station. Ninety minutes later, there's always a group of them in the parking lot arguing about concerts, albums, and other facets of the Classic Rock genre. The one thing they have in common is their passion for the music and what it represents in their lives (read more - Jacobs Media)

From Tim Cuprisin -- "Thinking of television mothers, who would you most like to have had as a mom when you were growing up?" The No. 1 mom is June Cleaver of "Leave it to Beaver" fame, followed by Clair Huxtable on "The Cosby Show" (read the rest of the top 5 TV mothers - Milwaukee JS)

From Eric Boehlert -- (Tim) Russert has been a target of (Arianna) Huffington's for years. She launched Russert Watch on her site to dissect the host's often-lacking Q&A approach on Meet the Press - And Huffington was especially critical of the NBC newsman's less-than-forthcoming role in the Valerie Plame leak investigation. In that context, it sure looked like payback: Huffington was critical of NBC News heavyweight Russert, and suddenly Huffington was banned from NBC and MSNBC at a time when she's looking for exposure to help promote her new book (read more - Media Matters)

Canadian journalist, turned politician -- turned journalist again, Arthur Kent - The Scud Stud - has a new lawsuit pending against the filmmakers of the recent Hollywood film “Charlie Wilson’s War” (read more - ERS News)

New in RDN CENTRAL: All Comedy Radio "News Burps"
* New York Congressman Vito Fossella has admitted fathering a child with a Virginia woman. Further proof there’s too much pork in Washington.
* Alec Baldwin tells “60 Minutes” he’s considering running for public office. You can hear the ads already: “It’s 3 AM. The phone rings in the White House. Who do you want picking it up - and screaming that you’re a ‘fat little pig’?”
* Three “stoners” in Texas have been accused of digging up the head of a corpse and using it as a bong. I don’t even want to know what they used for munchies.
* First daughter Jenna Bush gets married tomorrow in Texas. When asked if he’s giving his daughter away, President Bush said, “No, we should let the capitalist system work.”
* Cher’s new show has opened in Las Vegas to rave reviews. The show was put together by Cirque du Soleil. Cher was put together by the medical team of Doctors Nip, Tuck and Lift.
"All Comedy Radio" - www.allcomedyradio.com - A unique and diverse format service is currently on HD-2 stations 24/7 in Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Denver, Kansas City, Memphis, New Orleans, Buffalo and others. For affiliate information for your HD-2 station contact: Al Perrotta at acrnews@mac.com

From Jay Stone -- CHUM's Phil Stone has died.  He was born in Glasgow and raised in Liverpool, two tough towns, especially at the beginning of the 20th century.  On May 27, 1957, Stone played the first rock record ever heard on Canadian radio. It was Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets. Stone didn't much enjoy rock music -- he often took off his headphones while it played -- but it made him famous. He had the late afternoon drive-home show and he was the top-rated disc jockey in the city (read more - Ottawa Citizen CA)

Former Paul Revere and the Raiders lead singer Mark Lindsay lives in Portland, Oregon, where he hosts a weekly show on K-Hits 106.7, and streaming on the 'net (visit www.MarkLindsay.com)  (view the video - KING 5 TV Evening Magazine)

From Dave Kohl -- It might be an unofficial audition, or it might be a move to try and spark interest, but ESPN plans to have Brett Favre in the Monday Night Football booth for the Sept. 8th opening telecast from Green Bay against the Vikings (read more - Dave Kohl)

From Ron Jacobs -- "A History of Hawaiian Radio" covers more than you might expect (including Michael Harrison interviewing me with snatches of local Pidgin English and Yiddish tossed in), primo excerpts of live Hawaiian music performed in our "Jungle Studio" plus an in-depth chat with world famous pianist George Winston, the person most responsible for the resurgence of ki ho'alu ("slack key" guitar music). Now - 36 years after Nixon was president, the Beatles were all alive and FM began to replace AM radio forever - Michael Harrison and Ron Jacobs are finally working together (read more - WhoDaGuyHawaii Blog)

From Mike Anderson -- I'm convinced Citadel CEO Farid Suleman is the Antichrist - After at least one round of gutting the once tall-standing ABC/Disney stations, resulting in the layoff of layoff of 2% of its workforce, Suleman says "This is going to be an ongoing process." Dandy. The next focus is on back-office operations (read more - StLMedia.net)

Spanish Broadcasting System reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31 (read more - PR Newswire)

Radio One Thursday reported a first-quarter loss from continuing operations of $10.5 million, or 11 cents a share (read more - Forbes)

Dave Graveline and his "Into Tomorrow" team brings you the latest in tech gadgetry and wizardry this weekend at www.graveline.com

The Conclave offers not only great advice, but details on the AC/Hot AC format symposium. “Talk to Her Now or She’ll Say Later”, part of the Formatics Learning Track at the Summer Learning Conference: At the Crossroads, is scheduled for 10:00am Friday, June 27th at the Marriott City Center, Minneapolis

Lou Dobbs Show has signed 50 affiliates in 50 days on the air says United Stations Radio Network

Peter Burton joins Bonneville as VP/General Manager and Dave Beasing will serve as the station’s Program Director as the senior management team for its new Los Angeles station The Sound (100.3 FM)

Former northwesterner Glenn Beck will have his program air on Portland’s NewsRadio 750 KXL-AM weekdays from 6 - 9 pm PT starting Monday May 12

Thursday May 8, 2008 Edition

From Henry K. Lee -- Former radio talk show host Bernie Ward, who pleaded not guilty in December to distributing and receiving child pornography via the Internet, plans to change his plea Thursday, federal court records show (read more - Henry K. Lee - San Francisco Chronicle)  (read more - NBC 11 TV)  (read more - San Jose Mercury News)

ARBitron numbers for Charleston SC, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Columbia SC, Greensboro - Winston-Salem, Greenville-Spartanburg, Harrisburg-Lebanon, Knoxville, Norfolk-VA Beach, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond and York (read the numbers)

It took only five months for Randy Michaels to go from complete outsider to chief operating officer of Tribune Co. on Wednesday, putting the radio industry veteran in charge of newspapers and broadcasting at the media conglomerate (read more - Robert Feder - Chicago Sun-Times)  (read more - Chicago Tribune) 

Citadel reported first quarter financial results. Net revenues for the first quarter of 2008 were $205.8 million as compared to $92.9 million for the first quarter of 2007. The increase in revenues was a result of the acquisition of ABC Radio (read more - Street Insider)

From Stan Muse -- One-sixth of all goods sold come from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is not a monopoly, but it is a very competitive force in retail, benefiting consumers. Combining XM and Sirius will have the same effect, which is why their obsolete competitors savagely oppose the deal (read more - Seeking Alpha)

SIRIUS and XM Satellite Radio plan to release first quarter 2008 financial and operating results on Monday, May 12

In a 17 page decision, a New York judge rejected a request by Citigroup Inc. and five other banks to throw out a lawsuit by Clear Channel's buyers that accuses the lenders of refusing to fund the $19.5 billion acquisition (read more - WSJ) (read more - Reuters)

From Michael Klein - If experience is a guide, tickets will be sucked up in mere moments tomorrow for a summertime multimedia show by Sirius radio's Bubba the Love Sponge. Sponge - who was heard on Q102 for 73 days back in 1990, before he was fired for being too edgy - will bring Bubbapalooza to Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal on July 12 - Sponge spokeswoman Elise Brown said she was not certain whether Howard Stern would be in the audience (read more - Philly Inquirer)

Operation Oxycontin? -- Rush Limbaugh switched tactics the day after the Indiana/North Carolina primaries, called off the "Operation Chaos", and is now pushing for Barack Obama instead of Hillary Clinton -  “He will lose big, and you supers know it - but go ahead. Go ahead and get in the tank for him.” He advised Clinton not to drop out of the race. “You’ve come too far to quit,” he said. “Throughout your career, your marriage gave you successes you didn’t deserve. But this one, Mrs. Clinton, you do deserve” (read more - Boston Globe)  (read more - NY Magazine)  (read more - CNN)  (read more - Washington Post)  (read more - Cybercast News Service)

From Randy Dotinga -- About eight years ago, the host of a local morning show told me about a new technological wonder that had appeared at his station. The host - not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, if you know what I mean - thought it was called the Profit System. It was actually the Prophet System, a computerized gizmo that made it easier to pre-tape radio shows and then skedaddle. Radio personalities didn't even have to be in the same hemisphere when their shows ultimately aired. It wasn't called the Profit System. But it might as well have been. Clear Channel Communications, which owned the station, wanted to make more money. And if a radio host could tape his on-air bits from a four-hour show in 45 minutes, well, all the better. And if you didn't need to pay DJs to sit behind the microphone 24 hours a day, well, great! Neither of us knew it then, but Clear Channel's drive for profit would soon turn it into one of the most despised companies in America (read more - San Diego-NC Times)

From David Hinckley -- The term "corporate rock" isn't always a compliment. With Rudy and the Elftones, it's simply a fact. The band is comprised of executives and producers from WABC (770 AM) and WPLJ (95.5 FM). WPLJ President Mitch Dolan (guitar) and WABC President Steve Borneman (drums), who helped found it in 1993, are still there. They are, inarguably, suits (read more - NY Daily News)

Might Katie Couric’s woes about to take a turn for the better? Or the worse? So hard to tell! But one big rumor we are hearing is that executive producer Rick Kaplan, who was brought in to replace Rome Hartman this time last year, is being shown the door at the CBS Evening News. Oh, and The Early Show, where he’s interim executive producer (read more - Jossip)

Cleveland radio legend Murray Saul turns 80 (read more - Free Times)

From Bill Virgin -- The winter-quarter ratings book was a good one overall for KUBE-FM/93.3, while in the critical battle for morning listeners, it was very good for the market's two AM news stations (read more- Seattle PI)

From Sonny Melendrez -- Several years ago, at a radio conference in Los Angeles, I remember the legendary programmer, Paul Drew, was in the "hot seat" of the main session, allowing any and all questions from the audience. Before taking the first question, he shared an experience he had earlier that day. Paul had visited the McDonald's headquarters in Los Angeles and said he was impressed with a creed that was hanging on the walls of all the stores entitled, Press On. He sincerely read the pledge and continued with the session. The next radio mogul in the hot seat was the equally famous Pat O'Day who shared that he had visited a Kentucky Fried Chicken that day and found this message on their wall: "This week, push the mash potatoes" (read more - Sonny Melendrez)