Top 5 Stories of the Week (Mar 24-30, 2008)

4. Britney Spears on CBS Sitcom. I missed that one.

3. XETV Loses Fox Affilliation.

2. Sabrina season four on DVD announced, features Britney Spears in one episode.

1. Final Four® features all number one seeds!

The Wires (Mar 29, 2008)

AP News: Clear Channel says buyout may not close.

The Wires (Mar 28, 2008)

DVice: From Leslie Shapiro -- What about my XM radios, not to mention that factory-installed XM in your new Ferrari Scaglietti? No problem - the satellites won’t be shot down from the sky, and your radio will continue to work. XM customers will continue to get XM through the same broadcast chain “pipeline” as they do now - same codecs, same satellites, same receivers, and the sound quality we love. What will change is the programming

CNN Money: Clear Channel said it was granted a temporary restraining order late Wednesday against a number of banks to force them to follow through with funding its $19.4 billion buyout with two private-equity firms. Under the order, the banks must not "interfere with or thwart consummation of the merger agreement"

Boston Globe: XM and Sirius say they plan to offer eight options that combine the companies' offerings, such as a "mostly music" package with 65 channels, for $9.99 a month -- less than the current flat rate of $12.95. Six of those eight options will be available on existing radios within six months of the deal's approval, the companies say. The two "a la carte" packages that promise the most flexibility, however, will require new radios

The Wires (Mar 27, 2008)

Bloomberg: From Pierre Paulden and Don Jeffrey -- Banks financing the $19.5 billion buyout of Clear Channel Communications Inc. stand to lose about $3 billion on the transaction because loan prices have tumbled since they promised to fund the deal

Trading Markets: The latest example of a government bailout of a troubled industry has nothing to do with Bear Stearns. It is, instead, the Justice Department's decision to give the green light to the merger of the satellite radio companies XM and Sirius. For the past several years, these two companies have been competing so hard for talent, distribution channels and customers that neither has been able to turn a profit, and probably wouldn't have for years. Consumers have been the big winners, with great programming at affordable prices

Chicago Tribune: From Phil Rosenthal -- It's talent agents who ought to be protesting this merger. Instead, the National Association of Broadcasters is lobbying hard, saying that eliminating competition would be bad for the public. The NAB had no such qualms when it came to radio consolidation a dozen years ago, which makes one suspicious their real motive is solely concern over a potential competitor. But the homogenization of broadcast radio by station groups dumping local talent in favor of syndicated fare has done more harm to broadcasters than satellite radio ever will. Satellite radio alone isn't the threat to broadcasters. It's satellite radio and iPods and the Internet and phones and whatever new technology comes along to do what broadcasters alone did for decades

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- I've said it many times -- Lee and Bain don't need a radio company in a world where radio is in a decline. That the value of buying Clear Channel might be in selling as much of it as they can. Isn't that the game plan for these buyout artists anyway? Randy Michaels and Sam Zell came to mind because they are putting together the best radio team in the industry that runs only newspapers and TV stations. Hello? Zell is a buyer. But Zell's M.O. is to buy at a discount and $39 is not much of a discount. Zell is a buyer

Jacobs Media: From Fred Jacobs -- In a style reminiscent of old radio war horses like Randy Michaels, satellite radio began calling out broadcast radio from the beginning. Remember, "Beyond AM, Beyond FM...XM?" Why wouldn't AM/FM operators get a little nuts when they saw these ads? But today, while satellite radio is an irritant, it has been losing momentum for a couple years now. We've seen evidence of this in our Tech Polls, conducted among 25,000+ rockers each year - just the kind of consumers that XM and Sirius have been targeting

L.A. Times: From David Lazarus -- When satellite radio broadcasters Sirius and XM argued that they should be allowed to merge into a monopoly because they actually compete against terrestrial radio, iPods, cellphones and other listening choices, I didn't buy it. Now, like the song says, I'm a believer - My hunch is that as it becomes easier to receive satellite programming on most car stereos, and as a la carte pricing as low as $6.99 monthly makes the service more affordable, satellite radio will find a core audience loyal enough to keep the business in the black. If, on the other hand, Sirius-XM starts behaving like the cable industry, raising rates at all-too-frequent intervals just to keep shareholders happy, it will be time for regulators to step in

FMQB: Clear Channel Could Sue Banks To Force Sale. A new report says that CC, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee may sue the banks financing the private equity firms to force the completion of the buyout.

The Wires (Mar 26, 2008)

tvweek: Trib Station Switches to Fox Tribe. Tribune Co.’s KSWB-TV in San Diego will shift its network affiliation to Fox at the end of August, dramatizing the willingness of new Tribune owner Sam Zell to depart from the approach of the company’s former management. KSWB is affiliated with The CW and was a founding affiliate of its now-defunct predecessor, The WB. The station will start the 2008-09 season carrying Fox’s popular NFL coverage (San Diego is the home of the Chargers), as well as a prime-time lineup fueled by such hits as “House,” “24” and “American Idol.” The talks were spearheaded by Randy Michaels, who has headed Tribune Co.’s Internet and broadcast operations since December, according to Tribune Broadcasting President Ed Wilson, who was president of the Fox Television Network before joining Tribune in February. Mr. Wilson said Tribune will add three to four hours of news per day to the lineup of KSWB, which currently simulcasts the local morning program produced by Tribune’s KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and broadcasts a late local newscast produced by NBC-owned KNSD-TV in San Diego. The station losing Fox affiliation is XETV-TV, which is based just across the Mexican border in Tijuana and was purchased by Grupo Televisa in 1996. McKinnon Broadcasting had been in talks with Fox Broadcasting about affiliation when Tribune reached out to Fox about making the switch. Read the rest at the link.

sosd: 'American Idol,' NFL to be seen on KSWB The Fox network is changing channels in San Diego. Starting Aug. 1, Fox – the home of NFL games, the World Series and “American Idol” – will switch its local affiliation from XETV/Channel 6 to KSWB/Channel 69 (Cable 5), which is owned by the Tribune Co. Among reasons given for the change is that XETV, which is owned by Grupo Televisa, broadcasts from a transmitter in Tijuana. Meanwhile, the CW network – whose prime-time lineup includes “America's Next Top Model,” “Smallville” and “Gossip Girl” – will be leaving KSWB for a yet-to-be-announced new local affiliate. SDN Note: Incorrect information correction: XETV was ABC from 1956-1973 (June 30), then independent.

PR Newswire: Tribune Broadcasting today announced that KSWB-TV in San Diego will join the Fox television network effective Aug. 1. The company also announced that veteran broadcasting executive Ray Schonbak has been named the station's vice president and general manager.

B&C: Tribune’s San Diego The CW Affiliate to Switch to Fox. As KSWB grabs the Fox affiliation this summer, it looks as though that leaves current Fox affiliate XETV, owned by Grupo Televisa, without an affiliation. XETV vice president and general manager Richard DoutrT Jones said he still hasn’t been officially notified by Fox, and he believes his affiliation contract exists through July 2010. (Fox countered that it expires in July 2008.) DoutrT Jones said XETV -- which has its transmitter across the border in Mexico but broadcasts in English -- has been an upstanding Fox affiliate over the course of their 21-and-one-half-year relationship. DoutrT Jones said the station may continue as an independent when KSWB grabs the Fox affiliation. He did not rule out taking over The CW affiliation, although those conversations have not yet occurred.

SDBJ: Fox Network to Change Channels in San Diego Market. Jon Hookstratten, executive vice president of distribution for the Fox network, says that chief among Fox’s gains in the affiliation switch is that the network will be collaborating with a station that has a transmitter in San Diego, the nation’s 27th largest TV market, rather than working with a station situated in another country. There was no mention of whether KSWB would change its call letters.

ChicagoTribune: Zell ready to flex Tribune Co. muscle. Excerpts: ...Like a possible affiliation change for Tribune Co.'s San Diego station, KSWB-TV, from The CW to Fox that initially was shot down by their predecessors atop the Chicago-based media concern. According to Zell, old Tribune management rejected an invitation to switch affiliation from The CW to Fox in San Diego, where Fox parent News Corp. now has an affiliate that transmits from over the border in Tijuana, Mexico. "The good news is, Randy and I found out about it four or five weeks ago," Zell said during a visit last week to Tribune's KPLR-TV in St. Louis. "I called Rupert [Murdoch of News Corp.], and I said, 'Rupert, what the [bad word] is going on?' ... He says, 'Well, why didn't you take it when we offered it in the first place?' I said, 'Well, you didn't call me. You called those [less bad word].' " Now how this will play out and on what timetable is unclear. Tribune has a contract with The CW, a joint venture of CBS Corp. and Time Warner's Warner Bros. Executives at CW couldn't be reached. "We're going to exercise some clout," Michaels said in St. Louis. "It's crazy that we let them give us shows that 18-to-24-year-old girls watch [as a lead-in] into the news. Someone sat down and said, 'We're going to come up with a program that no one who likes the news could possibly watch' and then they give it to us. What are they thinking? … We deserve to have something better than the [offal] they're feeding us."

PC Magazine: From Jamie Lendino -- With only one satellite radio standard in the future, odds are that more cars will come with a satellite tuner built in to the radio, making it easier and cheaper to add satellite radio service at any during the life of your vehicle. On higher-end cars, the antenna will probably come installed, too, and you'll get 90 or 180 days free service as a teaser. Who's unhappy? The terrestrial radio competitors (regular radio stations) who realize satellite gives you more music choices with fewer commercials (for a fee) and the HD Radio competitors who've been struggling to make headway in the car market. They're going on and on about the unfairness of the Justice Department giving the merger the go-ahead, just because Sirius and XM declared, a decade ago, that they'd never, never, ever merge. Hey, a minor technicality. Here's what's going to happen within five years; or, put another way, here are ten reasons why it's not such a big deal for most people

Bloomberg: From Don Jeffrey -- Clear Channel Communications Inc. plunged 22 percent in extended trading after the Wall Street Journal reported its $19.5 billion private-equity buyout is about to fall apart

WSJ: Clear Channel: The $19 billion privatization of Clear Channel Communications Inc. was near collapse as the private equity firms behind the deal and the banks financing it failed to resolve their differences over the terms of the credit agreement, people familiar with the matter said

Canadian Press: Next time you're listening to your favourite radio phone-in show, those pro-Conservative opinions you hear from callers might not be as spontaneous as they sound. Some of those apparently ad-libbed musings are actually being choreographed at the Conservative Party of Canada's national headquarters. The governing party has produced talking points for grassroots supporters on a variety of issues, feeding them lines on everything from climate change to child care

Hear 2.0: From Mark Ramsey -- Now that the DOJ has approved the Sirius/XM merger, it's likely the FCC will follow suit with a minimum number of conditions or "strings." Consider this deal done

Inside Music Media: From Jerry Del Colliano -- Yesterday the DOJ fired the shot heard 'round the entertainment industry. It paved the way for the long-anticipated merger of Sirius Satellite Radio with XM. Now the only thing standing in the way is FCC approval which will come -- maybe in a month or so. But the question is: how will the FCC screw up this merger by mandating add-ons that have little or nothing to do with the merits of the merger? Let us count the ways

Washington Post: From Anita Huslin -- Radio One yesterday announced that it is selling its Los Angeles station to Bonneville International for about $137.5 million - "We're not acquiring the personnel or the format from [Radio One]," Bonneville's Bruce Reese said. "We basically bought the operating equipment - the antenna, the transmitter and the studio to operate out of. When they move out, we'll move in"

Happy Hare: I am signing off of SignOn, because I’m overcommitted in helping launch the movie, “Kings of the Evening.” for Picture Palace Films. The film is in great demand in the trade, and now, I find that even my one day show is going that one bridge too far - Yippee! for chums Randy Michaels and Lee Abrams. Randy, now the media’s most powerful figure, just brought Lee Abrams aboard to join him at the Tribune Properties Chicago HQ, and gave him free rein to innovate 13 newspapers, 71 websites, 3 cables companies and 40 TV stations. Idle speculation : What with Randy’s love of radio and with Lee on board, can a big radio buy be far off?

Mel Phillips: If we are indeed in a recession the winners will be: Online companies and diversified overseas companies, according to a report in the Media Buyer Planner . The losers will be Radio and TV, magazine publishers, newspapers and cable operators. Wow!!! That's a heap of hurt that probably even affects newspaper deliverers

http://www.myspace.com/party93hd2: Cox Radio, Inc.-Miami Dance-Station, Party 93.1 FM, is now broadcasting digitally in HD Radio on the expanded FM dial at 93.1 HD2. Phil Michaels-Trueba, who designed the original Party 93.1, will orchestrate the new HD Radio version. The station has also set up a MySpace profile at

The Wires (Mar 25, 2008)

XM RAdio: Merger of SIRIUS and XM Clears DOJ. SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) today announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has informed the companies that it has ended its investigation into the pending merger of SIRIUS and XM without taking action to block the transaction. This decision means the DOJ has concluded that the merger is not anti-competitive and it will allow the transaction to proceed. SIRIUS and XM each obtained stockholder approval in November 2007. The pending merger is still subject to approval of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC could impose conditions on the multi-million dollar, all-stock transactions that could limit the benefits to the merger or quash it altogether.

Radio One has sold KRBV 100.3 with an urban format that has gone nowhere on the rader. to Bonneville for $137.5 million, effectively putting Bonneville back into the Los Angeles market. 100.3 had previously been KKBT "The Beat" until flipping to its current format and call letters in 2006. The sale of KRBV is expected to close in the second quarter of the year. Bonneville left the L.A. market in 2000, when it swapped Country KZLA (now Rhythmic AC KVMN) to Emmis Communications for four stations in St. Louis. Bonneville also previously owned KBRT and KBIG in the L.A. area. It sold KBRT to another broadcaster before it swapped KBIG with KZLA which was owned by Chancellor in 1996. After the day the two station owners were swapped, all of the employees at their respective radio stations had to clear out their offices and move to the other station their employer now owned after the swap.

Washington Post: Who Will Emerge As The Future of Radio?

The Wires (March 24-30, 2008)

March 25: Chrysler says it will begin enabling cars with wireless Internet this year.

KDES-FM, Palm Springs, may change their call letters to KUXO pending a station sale.

March 26: TV Tech: Low-Power Broadcasters Sue Over Analog Blockage in Converter Box Program. Following through on its threats, the Community Broadcasters Association, representing low-power broadcasters, filed suit in federal court to block the distribution of over-the-air converter boxes that block analog signals.

March 28: State AGs: No to Sirius-XM merger. Attorneys General in 11 states are asking the FCC to reject this week's Department of Justice approval of the deal, and instead squash the proposed merger. In a joint letter to FCC chair Kevin Martin, the attorneys general say they're "disappointed" the DOJ allowed the deal to move forward "unchallenged."

KFI Tower Collapse Pix Posted. The partially built tower fell March 18.

Cox Launches ‘Party’ HD2 in Miami. Phil Michaels-Trueba designed the original format and is orchestrating the HD Radio version.

Low-Power Broadcasters Sue Over Converter Box Program. Following through on its threats, the Community Broadcasters Association, representing low-power broadcasters, filed suit in federal court to block the distribution of over-the-air converter boxes that block analog signals.

RBR has published an "intelligence brief" on Wi-Fi radio, with the thinking that such devices could be beneficial for broadcasters to scale up their audiences...

FlyTunes has announced that it is now offering over 160 channels of music and talk radio programming for mobile devices, from sources like Radio Paradise, SmoothJazz.com, NPR, TheScore.com, and local weather in the top 15 U.S. markets....